No Agenda Episode 593 - "Abundance of Caution"
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- Special Executive Producers: Sir Dr. Sharkey, Sir Baz Von Bateau, Li Jiang, Sir Kurt of the Frozen North
- Executive Producers: Sir Brett Mahoney, Shane O'Hare
- Associate Executive Producer: Sir S. Russell Williams, Daniel Carda
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- Knighthoods: Kurt Danielson -> Sir Kurt of the Frozen North,
- Titles: Sir S Russell Williams -> Baronet, Brian House -> Sir Baz Von Bateau
- New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) nashownotes.com
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- Ace of Spades
- Chinese Year of the Horse
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- PR
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- SF Meetup
- Gents - quick note from Producer and Knight Sir JD - if you can read or mention on today's show
- that would be awesome. I promise some value for value for the Sunday show.....
- ____________________________________
- No Agenda SF meetup and 2030 Cyber Force kickoff!
- Next week marks the annual gathering of Cyber Security Professions in San Francisco. Come join your
- fellow No Agenda Knights, producers, and cyber professionals for a meet up!
- Weds 5pm at John Colin's on Minna Street. San Francisco, CA
- More details on the Sunday show - show your support and thank you for your courage!
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- youwillobey.us
- I picked up www.youwillobey.us last week while listening to the podcast.
- Something just clicked in my head to see if anyone had picked up .us
- Obey.us was parked but I was floored when I got this one. I got it for 5
- yrs. The DNS lookup should be propagating now.
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- TODAY
- Our second Mattress together
- Thursdays are nice-I get to talk to you again
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- World Day of Social Justice, 20 February
- "As we seek to build the world we want, let us intensify our efforts to achieve a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable development path built on dialogue, transparency and social justice."
- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonMessage for the 2013 World Day of Social Justice
- Pakistani peacekeepers with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) teach young Liberians to lay bricks as part of a job training programme offered by the Pakistani contingent. Tubmanburg, Liberia. UN Photo/Staton Winter
- Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.
- For the United Nations, the pursuit of social justice for all is at the core of our global mission to promote development and human dignity. The adoption by the International Labour Organization of the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization is just one recent example of the UN system's commitment to social justice. The Declaration focuses on guaranteeing fair outcomes for all through employment, social protection, social dialogue, and fundamental principles and rights at work.
- The General Assembly proclaimed 20 February as World Day of Social Justice in 2007, inviting Member States to devote the day to promoting national activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development and the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly. Observance of World Day of Social Justice should support efforts of the international community in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all.
- Insiders say Obama is about to award 24 medals of Honours this week
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- Austin Club
- Head of Texas Teachers Retirement Fund
- CPA's son - $300k for state senate seat
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- History The Austin Club
- The Millett Opera House, at 110 East Ninth Street, has been the home of The Austin Club since 1981. Built by city father Captain Charles F. Millett in 1878, the building was designed by leading architect Frederick E. Ruffini. When completed, the opera house was second in size and grandeur only to the Galveston Opera House. It had 800 moveable seats, balcony, private boxes and an exquisite hand-painted ceiling, a portion of which now hangs in the club's House Conference Room.
- The building's 24-inch-thick limestone walls have stood the test of time and witnessed much revelry and history. In the late 1800's, Austin's 11,000 citizens made the building the social center of the city. The Opera House had programs ranging from medicine shows to legislative sessions while the new Capitol was being constructed. It also hosted church services, political conventions, graduations, dances and recitals, as well as opera and theater productions. Notables who performed in front of its kerosene footlights include John L. Sullivan, Williams Jennings Bryan, John Phillip Sousa, Lily Langtry, Joseph Jefferson, James O'Neill and John Wilkes Booth's brother, Edwin.
- In 1896 the building was converted to a skating rink and household storage space. Subsequent owners included the Knights of Columbus, who added the front portico in 1911. In 1940 the Austin Public Free Schools purchased the property. It was threatened with destruction in 1956 but survived when a prominent printing and office supply company took out a long term lease and restored much of the first floor.
- In 1979 the school system approved a 50-year lease to The Austin Club, which continued the extensive renovation and moved into its historic new quarters on December 15, 1980. It is fitting that The Austin Club is situated in such graceful surroundings. The club is the oldest in downtown Austin, having been founded in 1949 with 483 members. At the time the capital's population was only 132,459 and the tallest building was fourteen stories.
- The club, and its membership, has grown with the city. Two generations of staff and members have benefited from the club's timeless standard of elegance and hospitality.
- Share in the company of our distinguished membership, including top leadership in Texas business and government.
- If you wish to join this tradition of prestige and excellence, please see Membership Information.
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- Stuart Bowen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Stuart W. Bowen, Jr. (born 1958), is an American lawyer who serves as the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), a position he has held since October 2004. He previously served as the Inspector General for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA-IG), a position to which he was appointed in January 2004. Mr. Bowen's mission includes ensuring effective oversight of the $63 billion appropriated for Iraq's relief and reconstruction.[1]
- Background[edit]Born in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 1958, Mr. Bowen attended the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, earned a B.A. from the University of the South/Sewanee, attended Vanderbilt University Law School, and received a J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, where he served on the Law Journal's Editorial Board. He spent four years on active duty as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force, earning the rank of Captain and the Air Force Commendation Medal. From 1991 to 1992, Mr. Bowen was Briefing Attorney to Texas Supreme Court Justice Raul Gonzalez; and from 1992 to 1994, he was an Assistant Attorney General of Texas, with a litigation practice focused on the civil prosecution of state licensee regulatory violations and appellate work in state and federal court.
- From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Bowen held a variety of positions on Texas Governor George W. Bush's staff, including Deputy General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, and Assistant General Counsel. He was part of President Bush's legal team handling the post-election litigation in Florida during November-December 2000; his work helped ensure that overseas military ballots were properly counted. Mr. Bowen subsequently served as Counsel to the Bush-Cheney transition team.
- From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Bowen served President Bush as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Staff Secretary and Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel.[citation needed] In 2003, he became a partner at the law firm of Patton Boggs LLP, working out of its Washington, D.C. office.[2]
- Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction[edit]As Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Mr. Bowen is tasked with auditing and investigating the use of taxpayer funds appropriated for the Iraq reconstruction effort. Since 2004, he has managed the production of 390 audits and inspections, producing financial benefits in excess of $1.5 billion; his investigations have yielded over 83 convictions, with recoveries in excess of $192 million via forfeiture orders, fines, and seizures.
- Mr. Bowen has supervised the production of 35 quarterly reports to the Congress, travelled to Iraq 34 times, and testified before the Congress on 35 occasions. He managed the compilation of seven lessons learned reports, including HARD LESSONS (Government Printing Office February 2009), a book-length report on the entire Iraq reconstruction enterprise, which provides 13 recommendations for improving the US approach to overseas stabilization and reconstruction operations. All of these reports are available at www.sigir.mil.
- Mr. Bowen's work has earned a number of awards, including: The David Walker Excellence in Government Award for Performance and Accountability from the National Intergovernmental Audit Forum; Outstanding Inspector General's Report to Congress from the Council of Inspectors General for Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE);Outstanding Investigative Task Force Award (CIGIE); Outstanding Inspection Report Award (CIGIE); Outstanding Investigative Case Accomplishment Award (CIGIE); Outstanding Audit Team Award from the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE); Outstanding Inspection Team Award (PCIE); Gaston Gianni Special Award for Outstanding Inspector General's Office (PCIE); Newsmaker of the Year Award from the Engineering News-Record; St. Thomas More Award for Distinguished Public Service from The St. Mary's University School of Law/San Antonio; and a Best and Brightest Award from Esquire Magazine. Because of the nature of its subject matter, Mr. Bowen's work has required media engagement, including appearances on CSPAN, NPR, PBS, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CNBC, and BBC, as well as numerous interviews with international and local print journalists. Mr. Bowen's writings have appeared in a variety of publications including The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, National Defense University's Prism Quarterly, The Journal of International Peace Operations, and books published by King's College London and The National Defense University.
- The SIGIR mission in Baghdad has not been without tragedy. On March 24, 2008, a rocket impacted the Embassy grounds killing Paul Converse, a SIGIR auditor. Paul was posthumously awarded the Jefferson Star by the State Department, its highest honor. Five other SIGIR staff members have been wounded while serving in Iraq.
- Personal[edit]Mr. Bowen is married to Adriana Sanchez Bowen (a lawyer from Bogota, Colombia) and has five children: Marshall, who graduated from Texas A&M, in 2012 and now works at Caddo & Associates in Austin, Texas; Gentry, who attends the University of Texas, Class of 2015; Sophie, who attends the University of the South/Sewanee, Class of 2016; Mallory, who attends Regents School of Austin; and Nathalie, who was born in 2010. He is a direct descendant of Chief Justice John Marshall, and his father, a West Point graduate (Class of 1956), served as a fighter pilot in Vietnam during 1966, flying 100 missions over the North and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and numerous Air Medals.
- Mr. Bowen is licensed by the Texas State Bar, Board Certified in Administrative Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, a variety of lower Federal courts, and all Texas State courts.
- References[edit]External links[edit]PersondataNameBowen, Jr. Stuart W.Alternative namesShort descriptionDate of birth1958Place of birthDate of deathPlace of death
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- BadChad's take on Shit Magnetism
- On the last show you told the story about your trip to the theatre and
- the unfortunate demise of the patron nearby. Since this has occurred to
- you several times in various settings I thought I should tell you about
- In the Emergency Medicine world, Shit Magnetism is a physical property
- of an individual who is seemingly ever present for disaster. We
- frequently notice this early on, especially in the case of Paramedic
- students. We are only with them for a couple months while they intern so
- when we notice a sudden uptick in f*d calls when they are present we
- consider them a "Shit Magnet". For instance we have a Shit Magnet
- student currently riding with some of my friends across town. Since he
- got there they've run three hangings, a couple cardiogenic arrests and a
- kid who self-immolated. There are medics who are perpetual shit magnets.
- Always on the worst calls.
- The inverse of this is a "White Cloud", or a person when present,
- provides shit repulsion. Their calls are generally mundane and sometimes
- he students end up having their internships extended for lack of
- You my friend, may be a Shit Magnet.
- This is neither blessing nor curse. Some Shit Magnets are destined to
- just to Bear Witness. Some are destined to intervene. Shit magnetism is
- independent of personal feeling on the subject.
- Knowledge is power though. You will define how you use your shit
- magnetism. Personally I'd get familiar with CPR and the use of AED's,
- pay attention to hotel floor plan exit diagrams, and read that little
- tri-fold card in the airplane seat-back. But then again, you have Micky
- and based on your description of her actions at the incident she sounds
- like a solid incident manager. That by the way, was HOT.
-
- House of Cards
- Presstitutes Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough and AshleyBanfield are actually actors
- Multiple emails about the heart attack gun missing me
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- Hot Pockets Recalled: Nestle Pulls Philly Cheese Steak From Shelves | TIME.com
- We don't know what an unsound animal is, but we're pretty sure we don't want to eat one
- Getty ImagesIf you were planning to eat a Hot Pocket today, you might want to reconsider that decision. Several varieties have been recalled after it came to light that some of the products' meat had not undergone proper inspection, CBS Baltimore reports.
- More specifically (and more vomit-inducingly), some of the meat '-- if affiliated with the California-based Rancho Feeding Corporation '-- could have come from ''diseased and unsound animals,'' according to a news release from the USDA. The Giant supermarket chain has pulled the Philly Steak & Cheese and Croissant Crust Philly Steak & Cheese varieties, according to CBS Baltimore.
- Oh man. Let's hope Jim Gaffigan hears about this and works it into his next comedy special:
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- F-Russia
-
- Really need to pay attention to John Kerry
- State Department seems to be running a lot of this
- Always had a chip on his shoulder about being eleted to public office
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- Skull and Bones blueblood John Kerry seeks destruction of Syria
- John Forbes Kerry, the current United States Secretary of State, is a blue-blooded patrician oligarch and member of the infamous Yale Skull and Bones secret society.
- Kerry has already signaled that he will be more aggressive and ruthless than his predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, when it comes to implementing the US program of destroying the sovereign and independent nation states of the world, and replacing them with micro states, mini states, rump states, failed states, warlords, and chaos. Accordingly, Kerry wants to increase aid to the Syrian rebels, whom his own department has branded as terrorists.
- Even in a millionaire's club like the United States Senate, Kerry stood out as the richest senator. His father, Richard Kerry, was a foreign service officer for the US State Department involved in United Nations affairs. Kerry's paternal grandparents, the Silesian Fritz Kohn and the Budapest-born Ida L¶we were Jews from a suburb of Vienna, Austria-Hungary who came to the United States and converted to Roman Catholicism at the beginning of the 20th century, changing their name to Kerry after selecting it at random from a map of Ireland. Fritz Kohn/Kerry had a shoe business which went bankrupt during the crash of 1921, leading to his suicide. Today's John Forbes Kerry was raised as a Roman Catholic, which he says he has remained.
- John Kerry's pedigree and the initial money for his education come from his mother, who was born Rosemary Isabel Forbes. The Forbes family had arrived in Massachusetts in the mid-18th century, much later than many of the Boston Brahmins, but Ralph Bennett Forbes soon married Margaret Perkins, a daughter of the notorious family controlling Perkins & Co., one of the selected American firms partnering with the British East India Company in shipping opium from India to China, and tea from China to Europe and North America. Thanks to this strategic marriage, the Forbes were directly allied to families like the Cabots, the Cushings, and others. Ralph Bennett Forbes worked for the Perkins syndicate as an opium-runner. His son, John Murray Forbes, was for a time one of the dominant personalities of the foreign clique controlling the Chinese emperor.
- John Murray Forbes made a strategic move for the family to go legit, shifting their fortune from opium and slaves into investments in US railroads. John Murray Forbes later played a prominent role in the committee of Boston Brahmins who financed and incited John Brown to carry out murderous provocations against the slaveholding states, not with the goal of ending slavery, but rather with the goal of fomenting a civil war which would destroy the United States government.
- John Murray Forbes managed the acquisition by the Perkins interests of Alexander Graham Bell's innovations in the telephone. His son became the president of the American Bell Telephone Company in 1879. The Forbes family is also noted for having financed Ralph Waldo Emerson and his transcendentalists.
- This intermarried cabal of New England opium families has historically dominated the Skull and Bones secret society at Yale University, a freemasonic death cult to which presidents like William Howard Taft, George Herbert Walker Bush, and George W. Bush have belonged. In the presidential contest of 2004, George W. Bush and his opponent, John Forbes Kerry, were both members of Skull and Bones, guaranteeing that nefarious association profound influence on the presidency no matter which party would win.
- As a child, Kerry summered at the Forbes family estate in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, France. Here he became a close friend of Brice Lalonde, his first cousin and later one of the leaders of the French radical environmentalist movement. Kerry attended the Fessenden School near Boston, and then St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. His tuition was paid by his great aunt, Clara Winthrop. One of Kerry's schoolmates at St. Paul's was Robert S. Mueller III, who has implemented the fraud of the global war on terror over the past 10 years in his capacity as FBI Director. Kerry also signaled his Anglophilia by founding the John Winant Society, named after a pro-British US ambassador to London. Kerry met President John F. Kennedy and dated a half-sister of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.Kerry's Skull and Bones Pedigree Is Ominous for the World
- With his profile as a well-connected although not rich preppie with a strong family link to the New England opium syndicate of the 19th century, Kerry at Yale had the inside track for membership in the elitist Skull and Bones, otherwise known as the Russell Trust.
- Kerry's St. Paul's and Yale background does not make him an intellectual - quite the opposite. Those institutions, as Harvard President Charles Eliot once observed, were designed among other things to serve ''the stupid sons of rich men.'' A review of Kerry's career suggests that he is superficial, narcissistic, and lacking any mental depth.
- One of Kerry's roommates was fellow Skull and Bones member Harvey Bundy, who was the grandson of Harvey Hollister Bundy who had worked closely with US Secretary of War Henry Stimson during World War II. Stimson and Bundy were part of a Skull and Bones clique which included Robert Lovett and George Harrison who were responsible for many of the worst actions of the United States during World War II, including the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan.
- Harvey Hollister Bundy's two sons, William and McGeorge, along with Averill Harriman - all Skull and Bones - were leading advocates of US military escalation in Vietnam. McGeorge Bundy was also the National Security Council Director on whose watch President Kennedy was assassinated. (Boston Globe, June 15, 2003) Super-hawk William Bundy came to Yale to deliver a warmonger speech and spent an evening talking with Kerry and his roommates. He urged them to become officers and to go to Vietnam. Skull and Bones members have committed some of the greatest crimes in American history, most recently with the two Bushes. What will Kerry add to this chronicle of infamy?
- Even before he graduated from Yale in 1966, Kerry enlisted to become an officer in the United States Navy. He had asked his draft board to allow him to study in Paris for a year, but this had been rejected. There is some indication that he planned to use his military career as the basis for running for political office. Kerry first served as an ensign on board a guided-missile frigate in the waters off Vietnam. He soon volunteered to command a fast-patrol craft or swift boat, and was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay. In the course of various combat actions, Kerry was awarded three purple hearts for wounds received, plus a Bronze Star and a Silver Star.Kerry's military service became controversial during the 2004 campaign, when a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth alleged that some of his decorations were undeserved. They maintained that Kerry's three purple hearts were awarded on the basis of trifling injuries which may have had nothing to do with combat. These allegations are discussed in the book Unfit for Command by O'Neill and Corsi. All but one of Kerry's surviving subalterns substantiated his story against these criticisms. Kerry was defended by the pro-establishment historian Douglas Brinkley, noted for his attempts to shore up the reputations of ruling class figures like James Forrestal and Dean Acheson.
- In any case, three purple hearts in those days meant that Kerry could avoid combat duty, which he did. In November 1969, Kerry requested and soon received an early release from serving in the Navy because he wanted to become a candidate for Congress. According to some accounts, Kerry had expected to run as a war hero, but was taken by surprise by the massive shift in US public opinion against the Vietnam War, which had occurred after the Tet Offensive in 1968, and during the mass protests of 1969. Kerry soon acquired the profile of an opponent of the Vietnam War, as reflected in an article published in the Harvard Crimson of February 18, 1970. He failed to gain traction and dropped out of the race. But one of Kerry's ancestors had been the Whig Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1838 to 1840, and he was determined to claim what he felt was his birthright of a political career.
- Kerry Admitted to War Crimes in Vietnam
- Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans against the War, which provided him with his springboard to fame. In April 1971, Kerry became the first veteran of the Vietnam War to testify in Congress in favor of ending the conflict. He spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he was sponsored by the powerful chairman, J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The next day, Kerry took part in a famous demonstration in which he joined thousands of other veterans in throwing their medals, ribbons, and memorabilia over a fence in front of the United States Capitol. Kerry soon became a media celebrity on the ABC network's Dick Cavett Show and other programs. On NBC's Meet the Press, Kerry acknowledged that he and other US personnel in Vietnam were committing atrocities and war crimes in violation of the Geneva Convention.
- American history offers some examples of politicians from the wealthy, old money elite who could nevertheless transcend the prejudices and self-interest of their own background and become authentic national leaders. This escape from the stultified elite consensus often involves intense personal suffering, which forces the individual to reflect on the real meaning of life. Franklin D. Roosevelt was crippled by polio. John F. Kennedy suffered acutely from Addison's disease. Has John Forbes Kerry ever had his character tampered by suffering?
- The answer is apparently no. Based on a quick scan of Kerry's life, his only brush with suffering came as a result of his own reckless driving: during one Yale summer vacation in the mid-1960s, Kerry was involved in a serious accident near the family estate in Brittany. According to one account, the French police first thought he was dead. In the event, he spent many weeks in the hospital.
- Kerry ran for Congress again in 1972 on a ticket headed by Senator George McGovern, but lost to a Republican. Kerry went to law school and soon became the district attorney of Lowell, Massachusetts. After setting up a successful private law firm, Kerry ran for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts on the Michael Dukakis ticket. One of his main issues was acid rain and pollution.
- Kerry ran for United States Senate from Massachusetts in 1984, taking over a seat left vacant by Paul Tsongas. In the Senate, his record was that of a center-left liberal of the Kennedy machine. One of Kerry's few significant accomplishments was the April 1986 report of his subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which exposed drug trafficking operations by the Contras in Nicaragua. Kerry also ordered an October 1986 staff investigation denouncing the illegal gun running activities in Nicaragua of Lt. Col. Oliver North, of other figures of the Reagan National Security Council, and of the CIA. These reports contributed to blowing the lid off the Iran-Contra scandal in November 1986.
- A Hollow Man of Monumental Complacency
- My only meeting with Kerry came in 1992 at the Democratic National Convention in New York City. Kerry and I were both scheduled at about the same time to address a meeting of the New Hampshire state delegation in the Hotel Pennsylvania, across the street from Madison Square Garden. I offered to let him go first, but he declined. My speech was a call to the New Hampshire delegates to support a plank in the Democratic platform demanding a federal law to abolish the death penalty. This was a time when Gov. Bill Clinton was cynically presiding over the execution of poor, mentally impaired black convicts like Barry Lee Fairchild in Arkansas as a means of demonstrating his ''New Democrat'' centrism.
- When Kerry spoke, I was struck by his massive persona of complacency, arrogance, and pride - and at the same time by his mediocre and pedestrian intellect. In the 2004 campaign favorite Republican epithet for him was ''haughty,'' and this is accurate. He was also ridiculed for his boring speeches; one comedian mocked him as ''Al Gore without the flash and the sizzle.'' When Kerry spoke to voters in Spanish, a late-night comic praised him for showing everybody he could be boring in two languages.
- In 2000, Kerry was on a short list of possible vice presidential candidates to share the Democratic ticket with the environmentalist oligarch Al Gore. In October 2002, Kerry - who had voted against the first Gulf War in 1990 - voted to give George W. Bush authority to attack Iraq. When no weapons of mass distraction were found, he blamed Bush for misleading him.
- Flip-Flopper Kerry Unable to Defeat the Unpopular Bush in 2004
- Kerry's 2004 failed campaign for president must stand as a monument to his mediocrity, superficiality, and lack of direction. He was a man without a core. He was unable to defeat G. W. Bush, who was becoming increasingly unpopular. The comic David Letterman quipped: ''Gas prices are up, the stock market is down, Iraq is a mess and John Kerry is saying 'How am I going to beat this guy?'''
- Kerry was never able to offer a convincing rationale for why he should be president. Jon Stewart estimated that Kerry had tried to use six different messages in 18 months. It was said that Kerry's campaign commercials concluded with the candidate saying ''I'm John Kerry and I approved this message - if I have one.'' His personality was perceived as wooden, along the same lines as Mitt Romney's last year. Letterman reported: ''John Kerry spent the day reading to preschoolers'... and the kids said Kerry actually lacked warmth and failed to articulate a clear message.''
- Kerry lacked the courage needed to call for an end to the Iraq and Afghan wars, and instead claimed that he could wage war more intelligently and more effectively than G. W. Bush. In the November 2004 election, Kerry was aware of powerful evidence that the Bush forces had stolen the vote in Ohio using rigged voting machines, but he declined to fight this blatant vote fraud.
- Kerry was widely attacked by Republicans in 2004 as an incorrigible flip-flopper on many issues. The Republican attack machine cited Kerry's March 16, 2004 remarks at Marshall University in West Virginia that he had voted in favor of an $87-billion supplemental appropriation to finance combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan - before he had voted to eliminate this expenditure. ''I was for it before I was against it'' became the Republican paraphrase of this incident, which did significant harm to the blas(C) Kerry. Careful observers of Kerry were able to catalog almost a dozen significant flip-flops by Kerry.
- Kerry's super-rich lifestyle has given him problems over the years. In 2004, he foolishly invited the press to photograph them while he was windsurfing, which provided film footage that the Republicans used to illustrate his habit of flip-flops - he went whichever way the wind was blowing. It was revealed in 2010 that Kerry had ordered a custom-built $7-million yacht, which he kept at Portsmouth, Rhode Island to avoid paying $437,000 in Massachusetts sales-tax.
- Kerry, who served for many years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was associated with the foreign policy of the Obama administration from 2009 on. Obama's initial Middle East policy was heavily influenced by the 2006 Iraq Study Group, which represented an attempt by the broader foreign policy establishment of the US ruling elite to restrain the reckless aggression of the Bush-Cheney regime.
- One of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group was to carry out negotiations with Syria with a view to breaking the alliance between Damascus and Tehran. This outlook was bluntly expressed by James Baker III, a co-chair of the study group. Kerry was part of the attempt to implement this approach, undertaking a personal charm offensive of shuttle diplomacy towards President Assad of Syria and his wife in 2009 and 2010. When the NATO destabilization of Syria began in early 2011, Kerry's contacts with Assad became acutely embarrassing to him.
- ''I was for Assad before I was against him'' might sum up Kerry's egregious flip flop on this topic. Kerry's current speeches demanding the immediate ouster of Assad make a sharp contrast with his expressions of friendship from as late as 2011. In recent years, Kerry has become a more and more outspoken warmonger. In the spring of 2011, Kerry was one of the first voices in the US Congress to be raised in favor of a no-fly zone over Libya.Kerry's first wife was the late Julia Thorne. Jet-setter Julia Thorne was the twin sister of David Thorne, Kerry's roommate at Yale and a fellow member of the Skull and Bones cult. The Thorne family had gotten rich on Wall Street. It appears that Julia Thorne's inheritance was used to finance Kerry's law degree and his initial political campaigns. By 1982, Julia was suffering from severe psychological depression and separated from Kerry.
- Kerry Wants More Power for Agenda 21 Demagogue Beppe Grillo
- David Thorne, Kerry's roommate and former brother-in-law, had a career as a businessman and political consultant before becoming Obama's appointee as US ambassador to Italy in 2009 - doubtless in exchange for big money contributions to the Obama campaign. Kerry's well-established commitment to radical environmentalism may well be reflected in the efforts of right-wing demagogue Beppe Grillo to impose the Agenda 21 program of energy austerity on Italy, in effect destroying the country. In a meeting last week with Italian politicians at Villa Taverna, the residence of the American ambassador to Italy, Kerry stressed that the State Department considered the dangerous crackpot Grillo as a ''credible interlocutor.''
- Kerry's second wife is Maria Teresa Thierstein Simµes-Ferrara Heinz, whom he married in 1995. Teresa was born in the east African nation of Mozambique, at that time a part of the Portuguese colonial empire. Her parents were both members of the Portuguese colonial elite during the fascist regime of dictator Antonio Salazar, who ruled from 1932 until 1968. Portuguese colonialism was especially racist and oppressive towards black Africans. Teresa's father was a medical doctor specializing in tropical diseases. Her mother, who was born Irene Thierstein, came from one of the colony's wealthiest British families.
- Teresa became fabulously rich through her February 1966 marriage to Henry John Heinz III, an heir to the H. J. Heinz Company fortune, based on ketchup, mustard, pickles, and other food products. Heinz was a former Republican member of the House of Representatives from the Pittsburgh area who served in the US Senate from 1976 until his April 1991 death in the crash of a helicopter with a small plane. Teresa was left as the chairwoman of the $1.3-billion Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies, where she supervises the disbursement of grants to various oligarchical causes. One of her favorite causes is naturally radical environmentalism. Senator Heinz introduced Teresa to Kerry on Earth Day, 1990. She serves on the board of the Environmental Defense Fund. In 1992, she was a delegate to the Rio Earth Summit representing nongovernmental organizations. This means that Teresa Heinz Kerry was present at the creation of Agenda 21, currently at a vital prong of the US-UK offensive against the nation state, as seen with Beppe Grillo.
- Teresa, who was a registered Republican until 2003, was notoriously abrasive during the 2004 campaign. She told a Pennsylvania newspaper that ''only an idiot'' would refuse to support Kerry's healthcare policies. ''The common man doesn't look at me as some rich witch,'' she assured the public. Teresa also clashed with a writer for the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, owned by the reactionary blueblood Richard Mellon Scaife. ''Shove it,'' said Teresa, accusing the paper of misquoting her. On the one hand, Teresa may lack the necessary qualifications to join in her husband's diplomacy. On the other hand, she may be the perfect choice for a ''getting to know you'' session with Beppe Grillo.
- Kerry and Teresa: Life Styles of the Rich and Famous
- As the haughty Kerry showed during his presidential campaign, the couple is totally out of touch with the real problems of ordinary Americans, to say nothing of populations in the developing countries. Kerry's personal fortune, including a number of Forbes family trusts, gives him assets worth between $230 million and $320 million. This already makes Kerry wealthier than that infamous plutocrat, 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
- According to Forbes magazine (no known relation to Kerry), Teresa's personal net worth is estimated at about $750 million, although the Los Angeles Times pointed out that guesses about her wealth have ranged from a mere $165 million to as much as $3.2 billion. If the latter figure is correct, then Teresa would have been able to buy Mitt Romney a dozen times over. Her botox bill alone is said to be beyond the reach of most American working families. In 2004, it was reported that Kerry paid $1,000 to get his hair cut. Kerry also showed his class prejudice by warning disadvantaged students to study hard and get good grades, or else they would have to join the US military and get stuck in Iraq. Kerry has recently asserted that Americans have the right to be stupid - which he obviously thinks they are, if only for not making him president. Kerry and Teresa are typical of the powerful Lear Jet Liberal faction of the Democratic Party.
- In 2004, Kerry was widely satirized for marrying for money. Conan O'Brien reported that, when Kerry needed $80 million for his campaign, he had two ways to raise the money: he could either appeal to Democratic donors, or else go through his wife's purse. Jay Leno joked: ''Senator John Kerry released his plan today to eliminate the deficit. He said all we have to do is to find a really rich country like Switzerland and marry it.''
- Kerry and Teresa have a $7-million townhouse on Boston's Beacon Hill, a $9-million seaside estate on the island of Nantucket, a $5-million ski chalet in Idaho, a $4-million estate in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), and a $5-million residence in Georgetown, close to Kerry's new office at the State Department in Foggy Bottom.
- Kerry's Reckless Love of Danger
- One more aspect of Kerry's character deserves mention: from time to time he has recklessly exposed himself and others to needless danger. In a 1967 incident, Kerry almost got Thorne and himself killed when he tried to fly a small plane under the span of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Kerry flew the plane into a flock of seagulls, and he and Thorne were lucky to get out alive. We have already recalled his reckless driving and automobile crash in France. Some say he was gung-ho in Vietnam.
- Do these incidents belong to Kerry's youth, or is this dangerous impulse still with him? If Kerry is still drawn to danger, he has now for the first time in his life acquired a position that might allow his advice to influence high-level decisions in favor of lunatic military adventures.
- During her time as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton contributed much to the destruction of Libya and helped launch the attack on Syria. Kerry seems determined to outdo her, seeking to complete the destruction of Syria and to place Italy on the road to ruin. And after that? Let the world beware of John Forbes Kerry of Skull and Bones.
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- John Kerry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- John Kerry68thUnited States Secretary of StateIncumbentAssumed officeFebruary 1, 2013PresidentBarack ObamaDeputyWilliam Joseph BurnsPreceded byHillary Rodham ClintonUnited States Senatorfrom MassachusettsIn officeJanuary 3, 1985 '' February 1, 2013Preceded byPaul TsongasSucceeded byMo CowanChairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign RelationsIn officeJanuary 6, 2009 '' February 1, 2013Preceded byJoe BidenSucceeded byBob MenendezChairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipIn officeJanuary 4, 2007 '' January 3, 2009Preceded byOlympia SnoweSucceeded byMary LandrieuIn officeJune 6, 2001 '' January 3, 2003Preceded byKit BondSucceeded byOlympia SnoweIn officeJanuary 3, 2001 '' January 20, 2001Preceded byKit BondSucceeded byKit Bond66thLieutenant Governor of MassachusettsIn officeMarch 6, 1983 '' January 2, 1985GovernorMichael DukakisPreceded byThomas Phillip O'Neill IIISucceeded byEvelyn MurphyPersonal detailsBornJohn Forbes Kerry(1943-12-11) December 11, 1943 (age 70)Aurora, Colorado, U.S.Political partyDemocraticSpouse(s)Julia Stimson Thorne(m. 1970''1988; divorced)Maria Teresa Thierstein Simµes Ferreira(m. 1995''present)RelationsCameron Forbes Kerry (brother)ChildrenAlexandra Forbes KerryVanessa Bradford KerryParentsRichard John KerryRosemary Isabel ForbesResidenceGeorgetown, Washington, DC (official)Boston, Massachusetts (private)Alma materYale University (B.A.)Boston College (J.D.)ProfessionLawyerPoliticianReligionRoman CatholicismSignatureWebsitehttp://state.gov/secretaryMilitary serviceAllegiance United States of AmericaService/branch United States NavyYears of service1966''1978RankLieutenantUnitUSS Gridley (DLG-21)Coastal Squadron 1CommandsPCF-44PCF-94Battles/warsVietnam WarAwardsSilver StarBronze Star MedalPurple Heart (3)John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American politician who is the 68th and current United States Secretary of State. He has served in the United States Senate, and was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry was the candidate of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election but lost to incumbent George W. Bush.
- The son of an Army Air Corps veteran, Kerry was born in Aurora, Colorado. He attended boarding school in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and went on to graduate from Yale University class of 1966, where he majored in political science and became a member of the Skull and Bones secret society. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1966, and during 1968''1969 served an abbreviated four-month tour of duty in South Vietnam as officer-in-charge (OIC) of a Swift Boat. For that service, he was awarded combat medals that include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. Securing an early return to the United States, Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War in which he served as a nationally recognized spokesman and as an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. He appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs where he deemed United States war policy in Vietnam to be the cause of "war crimes."
- After receiving his J.D. from Boston College Law School, Kerry worked as an Assistant District Attorney. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts under Michael Dukakis from 1983 to 1985. He won a tight Democratic primary in 1984 for the U.S. Senate and was sworn in the following January. On the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he led a series of hearings from 1987 to 1989 which were a precursor to the Iran''Contra affair. Kerry was reelected to additional terms in 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008.
- In 2002, Kerry voted to authorize the President "to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein", but warned that the administration should exhaust its diplomatic avenues before launching war. In his 2004 presidential campaign, Kerry criticized George W. Bush for the Iraq War. He and his running mate Senator John Edwards lost the race, finishing 35 electoral votes behind Bush-Cheney. Subsequently, he established the Keeping America's Promise PAC.
- Kerry became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2009. Having been nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 94''3 on January 29, 2013, Kerry assumed the office on February 1, 2013.
- Early years (1943''1966)[edit]Childhood[edit]John Forbes Kerry was born on December 11, 1943 in Aurora, Colorado, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital to Foreign Service Officer/attorney Richard John Kerry (1915''2000) and World War II nurse Rosemary Isabel Forbes (1913''2002) of the Forbes family and Dudley''Winthrop family. Rosemary was born in Paris, France, to American parents. Kerry has two sisters, Diana (born in 1947) and Margaret (aka Peggy; born in 1941), and a brother, Cameron (born in 1950). Cameron Kerry is the General Counsel of the US Department of Commerce.[1] His father was a member of the Army Air Corps at the time.[2]
- Kerry has said that his first memory is from when he was three years old, of holding his crying mother's hand while they walked through the broken glass and rubble of her childhood home in Saint-Briac, France. This visit came two and a half years after the United States had liberated Saint-Briac from the Nazis on August 14, 1944. The family estate, known as Les Essarts, had been occupied and used as a Nazi headquarters during the war. When the Germans abandoned it, they bombed Les Essarts and burned it down.[citation needed]
- The sprawling estate was rebuilt in 1954. Kerry and his parents would often spend the summer holidays there. During these summers, he became good friends with his first cousin Brice Lalonde, a future Socialist and Green Party leader in France, who ran for president of France in 1981.[citation needed]
- While his father was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, Kerry was sent to Massachusetts to attend boarding school. In 1957, he attended the Fessenden School in West Newton, a village in Newton, Massachusetts. The Fessenden School is the oldest all-boys independent junior boarding school in the country. There he met and became friends with Richard Pershing, grandson of World War I U.S. Gen. John Joseph Pershing. Former Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy also attended the Fessenden School, although several years prior to Kerry.[citation needed]
- The following year, he enrolled at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and graduated from there in 1962. Kerry learned skills in public speaking and began developing an interest in politics. In his free time, he enjoyed ice hockey and lacrosse, which he played on teams captained by classmate Robert S. Mueller III, former director of the FBI. Kerry also played bass guitar for the prep school's band The Electras, which produced an album in 1961. Only 500 copies were made, one of which was auctioned on eBay in 2004 for $2,551.[citation needed]
- In 1959, Kerry founded the John Winant Society at St. Paul's to debate the issues of the day; the Society still exists there.[3][4]
- According to Kerry, when he told the president he was about to enter Yale University, Kennedy grimaced, because he had gone to rival Harvard University. Kerry later recalled, "He smiled at me, laughed and said: 'Oh, don't worry about it. You know I'm a Yale man too now.'" According to Kerry "The President uttered that famous comment about how he had the best of two worlds now: a Harvard education and Yale degree", in reference to the honorary degree he had received from Yale a few months earlier. Later that day, a White House photographer snapped a photo of Kerry sailing with Kennedy and his family in Narragansett Bay.[citation needed]
- Yale University[edit]In 1962, Kerry entered Yale University, majoring in political science and residing in Jonathan Edwards College.[5]:35 He graduated with a Bachelor of Artsdegree in 1966. Kerry played on the soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and fencing teams; in addition, he took flying lessons.[5]:37, 43
- In his sophomore year, Kerry became the Chairman of the Liberal Party of the Yale Political Union, and a year later he served as President of the Union. Amongst his influential teachers in this period was Professor H. Bradford Westerfield, who was himself a former President of the Political Union.[6] His involvement with the Political Union gave him an opportunity to be involved with important issues of the day, such as the civil rights movement and Kennedy's New Frontier program. He also became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones Society. He also traveled to Switzerland[7] through AIESEC Yale.[8][9]
- Under the guidance of the speaking coach and history professor Rollin Osterweis, Kerry won many debates against other college students from across the nation.[10] In March 1965, as the Vietnam War escalated, he won the Ten Eyck prize as the best orator in the junior class for a speech that was critical of U.S. foreign policy. In the speech he said, "It is the spectre of Western imperialism that causes more fear among Africans and Asians than communism and thus, it is self-defeating."[11]
- Overall, Kerry had lackluster grades at Yale, graduating with a cumulative average of 76 over his four years. His freshman-year average was a 71, but he improved to an 81 average his senior year. He never received an "A" during his time at Yale; his highest grade was an 89.[12]
- Military service (1966''1970)[edit]Duty on the USS Gridley[edit]On February 18, 1966, Kerry enlisted in the Naval Reserve.[13] He began his active duty military service on August 19, 1966. After completing 16 weeks of Officer Candidate School at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Newport, Rhode Island, Kerry received his officer's commission on December 16, 1966. During the 2004 election, Kerry posted his military records at his website, and permitted reporters to inspect his medical records. In 2005, Kerry released his military and medical records to the representatives of three news organizations, but has not authorized full public access to those records.[14][15]
- During his tour on the guided missilefrigateUSS GridleyGridley, Kerry requested duty in Vietnam, listing as his first preference a position as the commander of a Fast Patrol Craft (PCF), also known as a "Swift boat."[16] These 50-foot (15 m) boats have aluminumhulls and have little or no armor, but are heavily armed and rely on speed. "I didn't really want to get involved in the war", Kerry said in a book of Vietnam reminiscences published in 1986. "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing."[17] However, his second choice of billet was on a river patrol boat, or "PBR", which at the time was serving a more dangerous duty on the rivers of Vietnam.[16]
- Military honors[edit]During the night of December 2 and early morning of December 3, 1968, Kerry was in charge of a small boat operating near a peninsula north of Cam Ranh Bay together with a Swift boat (PCF-60). According to Kerry and the two crewmen who accompanied him that night, Patrick Runyon and William Zaladonis, they surprised a group of men unloading sampans at a river crossing, who began running and failed to obey an order to stop. As the men fled, Kerry and his crew opened fire on the sampans and destroyed them, then rapidly left. During this encounter, Kerry received a shrapnel wound in the left arm above the elbow. It was for this injury that Kerry received his first Purple Heart.[18]
- Kerry received his second Purple Heart for a wound received in action on the Bo De River on February 20, 1969. The plan had been for the Swift boats to be accompanied by support helicopters. On the way up the Bo De, however, the helicopters were attacked. As the Swift boats reached the Cua Lon River, Kerry's boat was hit by a RPG round, and a piece of shrapnel hit Kerry's left leg, wounding him. Thereafter, they had no more trouble, and reached the Gulf of Thailand safely. Kerry still has shrapnel in his left thigh because the doctors tending to him decided to remove the damaged tissue and close the wound with sutures rather than make a wide opening to remove the shrapnel.[19] Kerry received his second Purple Heart for this injury, but like several others wounded earlier that day, he did not lose any time off from duty.[20][21]
- Eight days later, on February 28, 1969, came the events for which Kerry was awarded his Silver Star. On this occasion, Kerry was in tactical command of his Swift boat and two others in an eight boat formation. Their mission on the Duong Keo river included bringing a demolition team and dozens of South Vietnamese Marines to destroy enemy sampans, structures and bunkers as described in the story The Death Of PCF 43.[22] Running into an ambush, Kerry "directed the boats to turn to the beach and charge the Viet Cong positions" and he "expertly directed" his boat's fire and coordinated the deployment of the South Vietnamese troops, according to the original medal citation (signed by Admiral Zumwalt). Going a short distance farther, Kerry's boat was the target of an RPG round; as the boat hove to and beached, a Viet Cong ("VC") insurgent armed with a rocket launcher emerged from a spider hole and ran. While the boat's gunner opened fire, wounding the VC in the leg, and while the other boats approached and offered cover fire, Kerry jumped from the boat to chase the VC insurgent, subsequently killing him and capturing his loaded rocket launcher.[23][24][25]
- Kerry's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander George Elliott, joked to Douglas Brinkley in 2003 that he didn't know whether to court-martial Kerry for beaching the boat without orders or give him a medal for saving the crew. Elliott recommended Kerry for the Silver Star, and Zumwalt flew into An Thoi to personally award medals to Kerry and the rest of the sailors involved in the mission. The Navy's account of Kerry's actions is presented in the original medal citation signed by Zumwalt. The engagement was documented in an after-action report, a press release written on March 1, 1969, and a historical summary dated March 17, 1969.[26]
- On March 13, 1969, on the Song Bi Hp (Bay Hap river), five Swift boats were returning to their base after performing an Operation Sealords mission to transport South Vietnamese troops from the garrison at Ci NÆ°á>>c and MIKE Force advisors for a raid on a Vietcong camp located on the Rach Dong Cung canal. Earlier in the day, Kerry received a slight shrapnel wound in the buttocks from blowing up a rice bunker. Debarking some but not all of the passengers at a small village, the boats approached a fishing weir; one group of boats went around to the left of the weir, hugging the shore, and a group with Kerry's PCF-94 boat went around to the right, along the shoreline. A mine was detonated directly beneath the lead boat, PCF-3, as it crossed the weir to the left, lifting PCF-3 "...about 2-3 ft out of water".[27]
- James Rassmann, a Green Beret advisor who was aboard PCF-94, was knocked overboard when, according to witnesses and the documentation of the event, a mine or rocket exploded close to the boat. According to the documentation for the event, Kerry's arm was injured when he was thrown against a bulkhead during the explosion. PCF 94 returned to the scene and Kerry rescued Rassmann from the water. Kerry received the Bronze Star for his actions during this incident; he also received his third Purple Heart.[28]
- Return from Vietnam[edit]After Kerry's third qualifying wound, he was entitled per Navy regulations to re-assignment away from combat duties. Kerry's preferred choice for re-assignment was as a military aide in Boston, New York or Washington, D.C.[29] On April 11, 1969, he reported to the Brooklyn-based Atlantic Military Sea Transportation Service, where he would remain on active duty for the following year as a personal aide to an officer, Rear Admiral Walter Schlech. On January 1, 1970 Kerry was temporarily promoted to full Lieutenant.[30] Kerry had agreed to an extension of his active duty obligation from December 1969 to August 1970 in order to perform Swift Boat duty.[31][32] John Kerry was on active duty in the United States Navy from August 1966 until January 1970. He continued to serve in the Naval Reserve until February 1978.[33]
- Anti-war activism (1970''1971)[edit]After returning to the United States, Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Then numbering about 20,000,[34] VVAW was considered by some (including the administration of President Richard Nixon) to be an effective, if controversial, component of the antiwar movement.[35] According to Nixon Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, "I didn't approve of what he did, but I understood the protesters quite well", and he declined two requests from the Navy to court martial Reserve Lieutenant Kerry over his antiwar activity.[36]
- On April 22, 1971, Kerry became the first Vietnam veteran to testify before Congress about the war, when he appeared before a Senate committee hearing on proposals relating to ending the war. He was still a member of the United States Navy Reserve, holding the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade.
- The day after this testimony, Kerry participated in a demonstration with thousands of other veterans in which he and other veterans threw their medals and ribbons over a fence erected at the front steps of the United States Capitol building to dramatize their opposition to the war. Jack Smith, a Marine, read a statement explaining why the veterans were returning their military awards to the government. For more than two hours, almost 1000 angry veterans tossed their medals, ribbons, hats, jackets, and military papers over the fence. Each veteran gave his or her name, hometown, branch of service and a statement. Kerry threw some of his decorations as well as some given to him by other veterans to throw. As Kerry threw his decorations over the fence, his statement was: "I'm not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice, and to try and make this country wake up once and for all."[37]
- Operation POW[edit]Kerry's prominence also made him a frequent leader and spokesman at antiwar events around the country in 1971. One of particular note was Operation POW, organized by the VVAW in Massachusetts. The protest got its name from the group's concern that Americans were prisoners of the Vietnam War, as well as to honor American POWs held captive by North Vietnam.[citation needed]
- The event sought to tie antiwar activism to patriotic themes. Over the Memorial Day weekend, veterans and other participants marched from Concord to a rally on Boston Common. The plan was to invoke the spirit of the American Revolution and Paul Revere by spending successive nights at the sites of the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill, culminating in a Memorial Day rally with a public reading of the Declaration of Independence.[citation needed]
- The second night of the march, May 29, 1971, was the occasion for Kerry's only arrest, when the participants tried to camp on the village green in Lexington. At 2:30 a.m. on May 30, 1971, local and state police awoke and arrested 441 demonstrators, including Kerry, for trespassing. All were given the Miranda Warning and were hauled away on school buses to spend the night at the Lexington Public Works Garage. Kerry and the other protesters later paid a $5 fine, and were released. The mass arrests caused a community backlash and ended up giving positive coverage to the VVAW.[38][39][40]
- Kerry eventually quit the organization over differences with its more radical leaders and members. Kerry was later criticized during his political campaigns for his antiwar activities with VVAW.[citation needed]
- Early political career (1972''1985)[edit]1972 campaign[edit]In February 1972, after Kerry previously passed on an opportunity to run in another district, his wife, Julia bought a house in Worcester. Residence there would have required Kerry to run for Congress against an incumbent Democrat, Harold D. Donohue. Instead however, the couple rented an apartment in Lowell. The incumbent in that district, F. Bradford Morse, was a Republican who was thought to be retiring.[citation needed]
- Counting Kerry, the Democratic primary race in 1972 had 10 candidates. One of these was State Representative Anthony R. DiFruscia of Lawrence. Both Kerry's and DiFuscia's campaign HQs were in the same building. On the eve of the September primary, Kerry's younger brother Cameron and campaign field director Thomas J. Vallely, both then 22 years old, were found by police in the basement of this building, where the telephone lines were located. They were arrested and charged with "breaking and entering with the intent to commit grand larceny", but the case was dismissed about a year later. At the time of the incident, DiFruscia alleged that they were trying to disrupt his get-out-the vote efforts. Vallely and Cameron Kerry maintained that they were only checking their own telephone lines because they had received an anonymous call warning that the Kerry lines would be cut.[41]
- Although Kerry's campaign was hurt by the election-day report of the arrest, he still won the primary, narrowly beating state Representative Paul J. Sheehy. DiFruscia placed third. Kerry lost in Lawrence and Lowell, his chief opponents' bases, but placed first in 18 of the district's 22 towns.[citation needed]
- In the general election, Kerry was initially favored to defeat the Republican candidate, former state Representative Paul W. Cronin, and an independent, Roger P. Durkin. A major obstacle, however, was the district's leading newspaper, the conservative leaningSun. The paper editorialized against him. It also ran critical news stories about his out-of-state contributions and his "carpetbagging", because he had moved into the district only in April. Subsequently released "Watergate" Oval Office tape recordings of the Nixon White House showed that defeating Kerry's candidacy had attracted the personal attention of President Nixon.[42]
- The final blow came when, four days before the election, Durkin withdrew in favor of Cronin. Cronin won the election, becoming the only Republican to be elected to Congress that November in a district carried by Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern.[citation needed]
- District Attorney tenure[edit]After Kerry's 1972 defeat, he and his wife bought a house in Lowell. He spent some time working as a fundraiser for the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), an international humanitarian organization. In September 1973, he entered Boston College Law School. In July 1974, while attending law school, Kerry was named executive director of Mass Action, a Massachusetts advocacy association.[citation needed]
- He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Boston College in 1976. While in law school he had been a student prosecutor in the office of the District Attorney of Middlesex County, John J. Droney. After passing the bar exam and being admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1976, he went to work in that office as a full-time prosecutor.[citation needed]
- In January 1977, Droney promoted him to First Assistant District Attorney. In that position, Kerry had dual roles. First, he tried cases, winning convictions in a high-profile rape case and a murder. Second, he played a role in administering the office of the district attorney by initiating the creation of special white-collar and organized crime units, creating programs to address the problems of rape and other crime victims and of witnesses, and managing trial calendars to reflect case priorities.[citation needed] It was in this role in 1978 that Kerry announced an investigation into possible criminal charges against then Senator Edward Brooke, regarding "misstatements" in his first divorce trial.[43]
- Election for U.S. Senate[edit]The junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas, announced in 1984 that he would be stepping down for health reasons. Kerry decided to run for the seat. As in his 1982 race for Lieutenant Governor, he did not receive the endorsement of the party regulars at the state Democratic convention. Congressman James Shannon (a favorite of HouseSpeakerTip O'Neill) was the early favorite to win the nomination, and he "won broad establishment support and led in early polling."[44] Again as in 1982, however, Kerry prevailed in a close primary. In his campaign, he promised to mix liberalism with tight budget controls. As the Democratic candidate, he was elected to the Senate despite a nationwide landslide for the re-election of Republican president Ronald Reagan, for whom Massachusetts voted by a narrow margin. In his acceptance speech, Kerry asserted that his win meant that the people of Massachusetts "emphatically reject the politics of selfishness and the notion that women must be treated as second-class citizens." Kerry was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in January 1985.[citation needed]
- U.S. Senate term (1985''2013)[edit]Iran''Contra hearings[edit]On April 18, 1985, a few months after taking his Senate seat, Kerry and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa traveled to Nicaragua and met the country's president, Daniel Ortega. Though Ortega had won internationally certified elections, the trip was criticized because Ortega and his leftistSandinista government had strong ties to Cuba and the USSR and were accused of human rights abuses. The Sandinista government was opposed by the right-wingCIA-backed rebels known as the Contras. While in Nicaragua, Kerry and Harkin talked to people on both sides of the conflict. Through the senators, Ortega offered a cease-fire agreement in exchange for the US dropping support of the Contras. The offer was denounced by the Reagan administration as a "propaganda initiative" designed to influence a House vote on a $14 million Contra aid package, but Kerry said "I am willing..... to take the risk in the effort to put to test the good faith of the Sandinistas." The House voted down the Contra aid, but Ortega flew to Moscow to accept a $200 million loan the next day, which in part prompted the House to pass a larger $27 million aid package six weeks later.[45]
- Meanwhile, Kerry's staff began their own investigations and, on October 14, issued a report that exposed illegal activities on the part of Lieutenant ColonelOliver North, who had set up a private network involving the National Security Council and the CIA to deliver military equipment to right-wing Nicaraguan rebels (Contras). In effect, North and certain members of the President's administration were accused by Kerry's report of illegally funding and supplying armed militants without the authorization of Congress. Kerry's staff investigation, based on a year-long inquiry and interviews with fifty unnamed sources, is said to raise "serious questions about whether the United States has abided by the law in its handling of the contras over the past three years."[46]
- The Kerry Committee report found that "the Contra drug links included..... payments to drug traffickers by the U.S. State Department of funds authorized by the Congress for humanitarian assistance to the Contras, in some cases after the traffickers had been indicted by federal law enforcement agencies on drug charges, in others while traffickers were under active investigation by these same agencies."[47] The US State Department paid over $806,000 to known drug traffickers to carry humanitarian assistance to the Contras.[48] Kerry's findings provoked little reaction in the media and official Washington.[49]
- The Kerry report was a precursor to the Iran''Contra affair. On May 4, 1989, North was convicted of charges relating to the Iran/Contra controversy, including three felonies. On September 16, 1991, however, North's convictions were overturned on appeal.[50]
- George H. W. Bush administration[edit]On November 15, 1988, at a businessmen's breakfast in East Lynn, Massachusetts, Kerry made a joke about then-President-electGeorge H. W. Bush and his running mate, saying "if Bush is shot, the Secret Service has orders to shoot Dan Quayle." He apologized the following day.[51]
- During their investigation of Noriega, Kerry's staff found reason to believe that the Pakistan-based Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) had facilitated Noriega's drug trafficking and money laundering. This led to a separate inquiry into BCCI, and as a result, banking regulators shut down BCCI in 1991. In December 1992, Kerry and Senator Hank Brown, a Republican from Colorado, released The BCCI Affair, a report on the BCCI scandal. The report showed that the bank was crooked and was working with terrorists, including Abu Nidal. It blasted the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, the Customs Service, the Federal Reserve Bank, as well as influential lobbyists and the CIA.[52]
- Kerry was criticized by some Democrats for having pursued his own party members, including former Secretary of DefenseClark Clifford, although Republicans said he should have pressed against some Democrats even harder. The BCCI scandal was later turned over to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.[53]
- Precursors to presidential bid[edit]In 1996, Kerry faced a difficult re-election fight against Governor William Weld, a popular Republican incumbent who had been re-elected in 1994 with 71% of the vote. The race was covered nationwide as one of the most closely watched Senate races that year. Kerry and Weld held several debates and negotiated a campaign spending cap of $6.9 million at Kerry's Beacon Hill townhouse. Both candidates spent more than the cap, with each camp accusing the other of being first to break the agreement.[54] During the campaign, Kerry spoke briefly at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Senator Kerry won re-election with 53 percent to Weld's 45 percent.[citation needed]
- In the 2000 presidential election, Kerry found himself close to being chosen as the vice presidential running mate.[55]
- A release from the presidential campaign of presumptive Democratic nominee Al Gore listed Kerry on the short list to be selected as the vice-presidential nominee, along with North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt, New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.[56]
- Personal life and background[edit]One of Kerry's maternal great-great-grandfathers was Robert Charles Winthrop, the 22nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The first governor of Massachusetts Bay ColonyJohn Winthrop is a direct Kerry forebear.[57] Kerry is also a descendant of other prominent American colonial ancestors, including Thomas Cornell (settler) and Joris/George Woolsey.[58] He is also a descendant of Thomas Dudley through his maternal grandmother Margaret Winthrop.
- Kerry was raised as a Roman Catholic by his Catholic father and Episcopalian mother. As a child, Kerry served as an altar boy. Although the extended family enjoyed a great fortune, Kerry's parents themselves were upper-middle class; a wealthy great aunt paid for Kerry to attend elite schools in Europe and New England. He also attended St. Paul's as a teenager.[59]
- It was discovered in 2003 by genealogist Felix Gundacker[60] that Kerry's paternal grandparents were born Jewish as "Fritz Kohn" and "Ida Lowe" in Austria, changed their names to "Frederick and Ida Kerry" from "Kohn" in 1900 and converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism in 1901.[5][61] or 1902.[62] Fritz' elder brother Otto had earlier, in 1887[61] or 1896,[60] also embraced Catholicism. The "Kerry" name, widely misinterpreted as indicative of Irish heritage, was reputedly selected arbitrarily: "According to family legend, Fritz and another family member opened an atlas at random and dropped a pencil on a map. It fell on County Kerry in Ireland, and thus a name was chosen."[5][62] Leaving their hometown M¶dling, a suburb of Vienna where they had lived since 1896, Fred and Ida, together with their son Eric, emigrated to the United States in 1905, living at first in Chicago and eventually moving to Brookline, Massachusetts, by 1915.[5]
- The village where Fritz Kohn was born in 1873 was at that time known as Bennisch and was a part of Silesia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but is today known as Horn BeneÅov in the Czech Republic. After learning of his ancestral connection with their village, the mayor and citizens sent congratulatory correspondence to John Kerry with regard to his political pursuits.[61]
- For a time, Fred Kerry was a prosperous and successful shoe merchant. He and Ida along with their children Richard (who would become the father of John Kerry) and Mildred were able to afford to travel to Europe in the autumn of 1921, returning on October 21. A few weeks later, on November 15, Fred Kerry filed a will leaving everything to Ida and then, on November 23, walked into a washroom of the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston and committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a handgun. The suicide was front-page news in all of the Boston newspapers, reporting at the time that the motive was severe asthma and related health problems, but modern reports cite family sources saying that the motive was financial trouble: "He had made three fortunes and when he had lost the third fortune, he couldn't face it anymore", according to granddaughter Nancy Stockslager.[5]
- John Kerry has said that although he knew his paternal grandfather had come from Austria, he did not know until informed by The Boston Globe on the basis of their genealogical research that Fred Kerry had changed his name from "Fritz Kohn" and had been born Jewish,[62] nor that Ida Kerry's brother Otto and sister Jenni had died in Nazi concentration camps.[60]
- Kerry is described by Sports Illustrated, among others, as an "avid cyclist",[63][64] primarily riding on a road bike. Prior to his presidential bid, Kerry was known to have participated in several long-distance rides (centuries). Even during his many campaigns, he was reported to have visited bicycle stores in both his home state and elsewhere. His staff requested recumbent stationary bikes for his hotel rooms.[65]
- In 2003, Kerry was diagnosed with and successfully treated for prostate cancer.[66]
- During the 2012 Obama reelection campaign, Kerry participated in one-on-one debate prep with the president, impersonating the Republican candidate Mitt Romney.[67]
- Family[edit]Kerry was married to Julia Stimson Thorne in 1970, and they had two daughters together:
- Alexandra was born days before Kerry began law school. In 1982, Julia asked Kerry for a separation while she was suffering from severe depression.[68] They were divorced on July 25, 1988, and the marriage was formally annulled in 1997. "After 14 years as a political wife, I associated politics only with anger, fear and loneliness" she wrote in A Change of Heart, her book about depression. Thorne later married Richard Charlesworth, an architect, and moved to Bozeman, Montana, where she became active in local environmental groups such as the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Thorne supported Kerry's 2004 presidential run. She died of cancer on April 27, 2006.
- Kerry and his second wife, Portuguese-born Maria Teresa Thierstein Simµes Ferreira, the widow of Republican Pennsylvania Senator Henry John Heinz III, were introduced to each other by Heinz at an Earth Day rally in 1990. They did not meet again until after Heinz's death, at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. They married on May 26, 1995, in Nantucket. Teresa's three sons from her previous marriage to Heinz are Henry John Heinz IV, Andr(C) Thierstein Heinz, and Christopher Drake Heinz.
- The Forbes 400 survey estimated in 2004 that Teresa Heinz Kerry had a net worth of $750 million. However, estimates have frequently varied, ranging from around $165 million to as high as $3.2 billion, according to a study in the Los Angeles Times. Regardless of which figure is correct, Kerry was the wealthiest U.S. Senator whilst serving in the Senate. Kerry is wealthy in his own name, and is the beneficiary of at least four trusts inherited from Forbes family members, including his mother, who died in 2002. Forbes magazine (a major business magazine named for an unrelated Forbes family) estimated that if elected, Kerry would have been the third-richest U.S. President in history when adjusted for inflation.[69] This assessment was based on the couple's combined assets, but Kerry and Heinz signed a prenuptial agreement that keeps their assets separate.[70] Kerry's financial disclosure form for 2011 put his personal assets in the range of $230,000,000 to $320,000,000,[71] including the assets of his spouse and any dependent children. This included slightly more than three million dollars worth of H. J. Heinz Company assets, which increased in value by over six hundred thousand dollars in 2013 due to Berkshire Hathaway announcing they would purchase the company.[72]
- Religious beliefs[edit]Kerry is a Roman Catholic, and is said to carry a rosary, a prayer book, and a St. Christopher medal (the patron saint of travelers) when he campaigned. While Kerry is personally against abortion, he supports a woman's legal right to have one. Discussing his faith, Kerry said, "I thought of being a priest. I was very religious while at school in Switzerland. I was an altar boy and prayed all the time. I was very centered around the Mass and the church." He also said that the Letters of Paul moved him the most, stating that they taught him to "not feel sorry for myself."[59]
- In an interview with Christianity Today, Kerry said of his faith: "I'm a Catholic and I practice, but at the same time I have an open-mindedness to many other expressions of spirituality that come through different religions..... I've spent some time reading and thinking about religion and trying to study it, and I've arrived at not so much a sense of the differences, but a sense of the similarities in so many ways." He said that he believed that the Torah, the Qur'an, and the Bible all share a fundamental story which connects with readers.[73]
- Since his time in Switzerland, he is fluent in French and German.[74]
- Controversy[edit]With the continuing controversy that had surrounded the military service of George W. Bush since the 2000 Presidential election (when he was accused of having used his father's political influence to gain entrance to the Texas Air National Guard, thereby protecting himself from conscription into the United States Army, and possible service in the Vietnam War), John Kerry's contrasting status as a decorated war hero posed a problem for Bush's re-election campaign, which Republicans sought to counter by calling Kerry's war record into question. As the presidential campaign of 2004 developed, approximately 200 Vietnam veterans formed a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT, later renamed Swift Vets and POWs for Truth) to oppose Kerry's campaign. The group held press conferences, ran ads and endorsed a book questioning Kerry's service record and his military awards. The group included several members of Kerry's unit, such as Larry Thurlow, who commanded a swift boat alongside of Kerry's,[75] and Stephen Gardner, who served on Kerry's boat.[76] The campaign inspired the widely used political pejorative 'swiftboating', to describe an unfair or untrue political attack.[77] Most of Kerry's former crewmates have stated that SBVT's allegations are false.[78][79][80][81]
- Voting record[edit]Overall[edit]Most analyses place Kerry's voting record on the left within the Senate Democratic caucus.[82] During the 2004 presidential election he was portrayed as a staunch liberal by conservative special interest groups and the Bush campaign, who often noted that in 2003 Kerry was rated the National Journal's top Senate liberal. However, that rating was based only upon voting on legislation within that past year. In fact, in terms of career voting records, the National Journal found that Kerry is the 11th most liberal member of the Senate. Most analyses find that Kerry is at least slightly more liberal than the typical Democratic Senator. Kerry has stated that he opposes privatizing Social Security, supports abortion rights for adult women and minors, supports same-sex marriage, opposes capital punishment except for terrorists, supports most gun control laws, and is generally a supporter of trade agreements. Kerry supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and Most Favored Nation status for China, but opposed the Central American Free Trade Agreement.[citation needed]
- In July 1997 Kerry joined his Senate colleagues in voting against ratification of the Kyoto Treaty on global warming without greenhouse gas emissions limits on nations deemed developing, including India and China.[83] Since then, Kerry has attacked President Bush, charging him with opposition to international efforts to combat global warming.[84]
- On October 1, 2008, Kerry voted for Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as the TARP bailout.[85]
- Iraq[edit]In 1991, during the debate before the Gulf War, Kerry initially opposed the immediate use of military force to expel Iraqi soldiers from Kuwait. The United Nations had imposed sanctions on Iraq, and Kerry argued that the sanctions then in place should be given more time to work.[citation needed]
- On December 14, 2001, 3 months after the attacks of 9/11, Kerry said on Larry King Live that "I think we clearly have to keep the pressure on terrorism globally. This doesn't end with Afghanistan by any imagination. And I think the president has made that clear. I think we have made that clear. Terrorism is a global menace. It's a scourge. And it is absolutely vital that we continue against, for instance, Saddam Hussein."[citation needed]
- Kerry said on October 9, 2002; "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." Bush relied on that resolution in ordering the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Kerry also gave a January 23, 2003 speech to Georgetown University saying "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator; leading an oppressive regime he presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real." Kerry did, however, warn that the administration should exhaust its diplomatic avenues before launching war: "Mr. President, do not rush to war, take the time to build the coalition, because it's not winning the war that's hard, it's winning the peace that's hard."[86]
- Kerry had spoken before the war about the sorts of weapons many believed Saddam Hussein had. On the Senate floor on October 9, 2002, he said that "According to the CIA's report, all U.S. intelligence experts agree that Iraq is seeking nuclear weapons. There is little question that Saddam Hussein wants to develop nuclear weapons."[citation needed]
- After the invasion of Iraq, when no weapons of mass destruction were found, Kerry strongly criticized Bush, contending that he had misled the country: "When the President of the United States looks at you and tells you something, there should be some trust."[87]
- Leadership[edit]During his Senate career, Kerry has sponsored or cosponsored dozens of bills. Some of his notable bills have addressed small business concerns, education, terrorism, veterans' and Vietnam War POW/MIA issues, marine resource protection and other topics. Of those bills with his sponsorship, as of December 2004, 11 have been signed into law.[citation needed]
- Kerry chaired the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs from 1991 to 1993. The committee's report, which Kerry endorsed, stated there was "no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia."[88] In 1994 the Senate passed a resolution, sponsored by Kerry and fellow Vietnam veteran John McCain, that called for an end to the existing trade embargo against Vietnam; it was intended to pave the way for normalization.[89] In 1995, President Bill Clinton normalized diplomatic relations with the country of Vietnam.[90] His long-time senior Senate staff included Chief of Staff David "Mac" McKean and Legislative Director George Abar.
- Kerry was the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 1987 to 1989. He was reelected to the Senate in 1990, 1996 (after winning re-election against the then-Governor of Massachusetts Republican William Weld), 2002, and 2008. In January 2009, Kerry replaced Joe Biden as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[91]
- As a role model for campus leaders across the nation and strong advocate for global development, Kerry was honored by the Millennium Campus Network (MCN) as a Global Generation Award winner in 2011.[92][93]
- Committee assignments[edit]During his tenure, Kerry served on four Senate committees and nine subcommittees:
- Committee on Commerce, Science and TransportationSubcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and SecuritySubcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet (Chairman)Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export PromotionSubcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast GuardSubcommittee on Science and SpaceSubcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and SecurityCommittee on FinanceCommittee on Foreign Relations(Chairman)2009-2013Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipCommission on Security and Cooperation in EuropeJoint Select Committee on Deficit ReductionCaucus memberships[edit]Seniority[edit]From the beginning of the 113th United States Congress until his resignation, Kerry ranked as the 7th most senior US Senator. Due to the longevity of Ted Kennedy's service, Kerry was the most senior junior Senator in the 111th United States Congress. On Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Kerry became the senior senator from Massachusetts following Ted Kennedy's death.[citation needed]
- 2004 presidential campaign[edit]In the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries, John Kerry defeated several Democratic rivals, including Sen. John Edwards (D-North Carolina.), former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and retired Army General Wesley Clark. His victory in the Iowa caucuses is widely believed to be the tipping point where Kerry revived his sagging campaign in New Hampshire and the February 3, 2004, primary states like Arizona, South Carolina and New Mexico. Kerry then went on to win landslide victories in Nevada and Wisconsin. Kerry thus won the Democratic nomination to run for President of the United States against incumbent George W. Bush. On July 6, 2004, he announced his selection of John Edwards as his running mate. Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, who was Kerry's 2004 campaign adviser, wrote an article in Time magazine claiming that after the election, Kerry had said that he wished he'd never picked Edwards, and that the two have since stopped speaking to each other.[94] In a subsequent appearance on ABC's This Week, Kerry refused to respond to Shrum's allegation, calling it a "ridiculous waste of time."[95]
- During his bid to be elected president in 2004, Kerry frequently criticized President George W. Bush for the Iraq War.[96] While Kerry had initially voted in support of authorizing President Bush to use force in dealing with Saddam Hussein, he voted against an $87 billion supplemental appropriations bill to pay for the subsequent war. His statement on March 16, 2004, ''I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it,'' helped the Bush campaign to paint him as a flip-flopper and has been cited as contributing to Kerry's defeat.[97]
- On November 3, 2004, Kerry conceded the race. Kerry won 59.03 million votes, or 48.3 percent of the popular vote; Bush won 62.04 million votes, or 50.7 percent of the popular vote. Kerry carried states with a total of 252 electoral votes. One Kerry elector voted for Kerry's running mate, Edwards, so in the final tally Kerry had 251 electoral votes to Bush's 286. Although, as in the previous election, there were disputes about the voting, no state was as close as Florida had been in 2000 (see 2004 United States presidential election controversy and irregularities).
- Post-presidential election activities[edit]2008 presidential election[edit]Immediately after the 2004 election, some Democrats mentioned Kerry as a possible contender for the 2008 Democratic nomination. His brother had said such a campaign was "conceivable", and Kerry himself reportedly said at a farewell party for his 2004 campaign staff, "There's always another four years."[98]
- Kerry established a separate political action committee, Keeping America's Promise, which declared as its mandate "A Democratic Congress will restore accountability to Washington and help change a disastrous course in Iraq",[99] and raised money and channeled contributions to Democratic candidates in state and federal races.[100] Through Keeping America's Promise in 2005, Kerry raised over $5.5 million for other Democrats up and down the ballot. Through his campaign account and his political action committee, the Kerry campaign operation generated more than $10 million for various party committees and 179 candidates for the US House, Senate, state and local offices in 42 states focusing on the midterm elections during the 2006 election cycle.[101] "Cumulatively, John Kerry has done as much if not more than any other individual senator", Hassan Nemazee, the national finance chairman of the DSCC said.[102]
- On January 10, 2008, Kerry endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama for president.[103] He was mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate for Senator Obama, although fellow Senator Joe Biden was eventually chosen. After Biden's acceptance of the vice presidential nomination, speculation arose that John Kerry would be a candidate for Secretary of State in the Obama administration.[104] However, Senator Hillary Clinton was offered the position.[105]
- "Stuck in Iraq" controversy[edit]On October 30, 2006, Kerry was a headline speaker at a campaign rally being held for Democratic California gubernatorial candidatePhil Angelides at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. Speaking to an audience composed mainly of college students, Kerry said, "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."[106]
- The day after the remarks were made public, leaders from both sides of the political spectrum criticized Kerry's remarks, which he said were a botched joke. Republicans including President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, said that Kerry's comments were insulting to American military forces fighting in Iraq. Democratic Representative Harold Ford, Jr. called on Kerry to apologize.[107]
- Kerry initially stated: "Let me make it crystal clear, as crystal clear as I know how. I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy."[108] Kerry also responded to criticism from George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.[109]
- Kerry said that he had intended the remark as a jab at President Bush, and described the remarks as a "botched joke",[110] having inadvertently left out the key word "us" (which would have been, "If you don't, you get us stuck in Iraq"), as well as leaving the phrase "just ask President Bush" off of the end of the sentence. In Kerry's prepared remarks, which he released during the ensuing media frenzy, the corresponding line was "... you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush." He also said that from the context of the speech which, prior to the "stuck in Iraq" line, made several specific references to Bush and elements of his biography, that Kerry was referring to President Bush and not American troops in general.[111]
- After two days of media coverage, citing a desire not to be a diversion, Kerry apologized to those who took offense at what he called the misinterpretation of his comment.[112]
- Yacht moored in Rhode Island[edit]According to the Boston Herald, dated July 23, 2010, Kerry commissioned construction on a new $7 million yacht (a Friendship 75) in New Zealand and moored it in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where the Friendship yacht company is based.[113] The article claimed this allowed him to avoid paying Massachusetts taxes on the property including approximately $437,500 in sales tax and an annual excise tax of about $500.[114][115] However, on July 27, 2010, Kerry stated he had yet to take legal possession of the boat, had not intended to avoid the taxes, and that when he took possession, he would pay the taxes whether he owed them or not.[116]
- Afghanistan/Pakistan[edit]Kerry "has emerged in the past few years as an important envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan during times of crisis," a Washington Post report stated in May 2011, as Kerry undertook another trip to the two countries. The killing of Osama bin Laden "has generated perhaps the most important crossroads yet," the report continued, as the senator spoke at a press conference and prepared to fly from Kabul to Pakistan.[117] Among matters discussed during the May visit to Pakistan, under the general rubric of "recalibrating" the bilateral relationship, Kerry sought and retrieved from the Pakistanis the tail-section of the U.S. helicopter which had had to be abandoned at Abbottabad during the bin Laden strike.[118] In 2013, Kerry met with Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to discuss the peace process with the Taliban in Afghanistan.[119]
- Secretary of State (2013''present)[edit]Nomination[edit]On December 15, 2012, several news outlets reported that President Barack Obama would nominate Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State,[120][121] after Susan Rice, widely seen as Obama's preferred choice, withdrew her name from consideration citing a politicized confirmation process following criticism of her response to the 2012 Benghazi attack.[122] On December 21 Obama proposed the nomination[123][124] which received positive commentary. His confirmation hearing took place on January 24, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the same panel where he first testified in 1971.[125] The committee unanimously voted to approve him on January 29, 2013, and the same day the full Senate confirmed him on a vote of 94''3.[126][127] In a letter to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Kerry announced his resignation from the Senate effective February 1.[128]
- Tenure[edit]Kerry was sworn in as Secretary of State on February 1, 2013.[129]
- After six months of rigorous diplomacy within the Middle East, Secretary Kerry was able to have Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agree to re-launch stalled Mideast peace talks. Senior U.S. officials stated the two sides were able to meet on July 30, 2013 at the State Department without American mediators following a dinner the previous evening hosted by Kerry.[130] On 27 September 2013, he met with IranianForeign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif during P5+1 and Iran summit. It was the highest-level direct contact between the United States and Iran in last six years and makes him the first U.S. Secretary of State that had met with his Iranian counterpart since Iranian Revolution.[131][132][133]
- In the State Department, Kerry quickly earned a reputation "for being aloof, keeping to himself, and not bothering to read staff memos." Career State Department officials have complained that power has become too centralized under Kerry's leadership, which slows department operations when Kerry is on one of his frequent overseas trips. Others in State describe Kerry as having "a kind of diplomatic attention deficit disorder" as he shifts from topic to topic instead of focusing on long-term strategy. When asked whether he was traveling too much, he responded, "Hell no. I'm not slowing down." Despite Kerry's early achievements, morale at State is lower than under Hillary Clinton according to department employees.[134] However, he has high approval ratings among Americans as Secretary of State.[135]
- In January 2014 having met with Secretary of State, ArchbishopPietro Parolin, Kerry said "We touched on just about every major issue that we are both working on, that are issues of concern to all of us. First of all, we talked at great length about Syria, and I was particularly appreciative for the Archbishop's raising this issue, and equally grateful for the Holy Father's comments '' the Pope's comments yesterday regarding his support for the Geneva II process. We welcome that support. It is very important to have broad support, and I know that the Pope is particularly concerned about the massive numbers of displaced human beings and the violence that has taken over 130,000 lives".[136]
- Syria[edit]Following the August 21, 2013 chemical weapons attack on the Ghouta suburbs of Damascus attributed to Syrian government forces, Kerry became a leading advocate for the use of military force against the Syrian government for what he called "a despot's brutal and flagrant use of chemical weapons."[137]
- In what was widely described as a "gaffe", Kerry said on September 9 in response to a reporter's question about whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could avert a military strike: "He could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week. Turn it over, all of it, without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that. But he isn't about to do it, and it can't be done, obviously." This unscripted remark initiated a process that would lead to Syria agreeing to relinquish and destroy its chemical weapons arsenal, as Russia treated Kerry's statement as a serious proposal. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would work "immediately" to convince Syria relinquish and destroy its large chemical weapons arsenal.[138][139][140][141]
- Syria quickly welcomed this proposal and on September 14, the UN formally accepted Syria's application to join the convention banning chemical weapons, and separately, the U.S. and Russia agreed on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons by the middle of 2014. On September 28, the UN Security Council passed a resolution ordering the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons and condemning the August 21 Ghouta attack.[142]
- Latin America[edit]In a speech before the Organization of American States in November 2013, Kerry remarked that the era of the Monroe Doctrine was over. He went on to explain, "The relationship that we seek and that we have worked hard to foster is not about a United States declaration about how and when it will intervene in the affairs of other American states. It's about all of our countries viewing one another as equals, sharing responsibilities, cooperating on security issues, and adhering not to doctrine, but to the decisions that we make as partners to advance the values and the interests that we share."[143]
- Electoral history[edit]See also[edit]References[edit]^Cameron F. Kerry, Washington Post "Who runs Gov" bio.^"John Kerry's online office: About John Kerry". Retrieved January 25, 2010. ^Goldhaber, Samuel Z. (February 18, 1970). "John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress". ^Kranish, Michael (June 15, 2003). "A privileged youth, a taste for risk". The Boston Globe. ^ abcdefKranish, Michael; Mooney, Brian C.; Easton, Nina J. (April 27, 2004). "John Kerry: The Complete Biography by The Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 8, 2008. ^Martin, Douglas. "H. Bradford Westerfield, 79, Influential Yale Professor". The New York Times. January 27, 2008.^"At 50, AIESEC ponders its future". Yale Daily News. January 22, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^"Welcome to AIESEC". Aiesec.org. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^"AIESEC Yale". Yale.edu. Retrieved 2013-04-22. ^"Yale Debate Team, 1965''1966, Yale University Manuscripts & Archives Digital Images Database, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut". Images.library.yale.edu. 2013-06-18. Retrieved 2013-06-26. ^Leibenluft, Jacob (February 14, 2003). "Kerry '66: 'He was going to be president'". Yale Daily News. Retrieved December 22, 2012. ^"Yale grades portray Kerry as a lackluster student". The Boston Globe. 7 June 2005. ^https://web.archive.org/web/20040723192004/http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/Request_For_History_of_Service.pdf^Kranish, Michael (June 7, 2005). "Kerry allows Navy release of military, medical records". The Boston Globe. ^Gerstein, Josh (June 21, 2005). "Kerry Grants Three Reporters Broad Access to Navy Records". ^ abOfficial Record Copy of request for duty in Vietnam. Retrieved November 4, 2009.^Kranish, Michael (June 16, 2003). "Heroism, and growing concern about war". The Boston Globe. ^Brinkley, Douglas. "John Kerry's first Purple Heart". Salon. Retrieved January 3, 2007. ^Rasmussen, Eric (2004). "Primary Sources: John Kerry's Vietnam Medals" (PDF). Truth and Unfit for Command A Review. kerryvietnam.org. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ^Rasmussen, Eric (2004). "Primary Sources: John Kerry's Vietnam Medals" (PDF). Truth and Unfit for Command A Review. kerryvietnam.org. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ^Rasmussen, Eric (2004). "Part I: John Kerry in Vietnam" (PDF). Truth and Unfit for Command A Review. kerryvietnam.org. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ^"LTJG Peter N. Upton, The Death Of PCF 43". Mwweb.com. April 12, 1969. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^"Silver Star Medal '' John F. Kerry" (PDF). Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Rasmussen, Eric (2004). "Primary Sources: John Kerry's Vietnam Medals" (PDF). Truth and Unfit for Command A Review. kerryvietnam.org. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ^Rasmussen, Eric (2004). "Primary Sources: John Kerry's Vietnam Medals" (PDF). Truth and Unfit for Command A Review. kerryvietnam.org. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ^Rasmussen, Eric (2004). "Primary Sources: John Kerry's Vietnam Medals" (PDF). Truth and Unfit for Command A Review. kerryvietnam.org. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ^Rasmussen, Eric (2004). "Primary Sources: John Kerry's Vietnam Medals" (PDF). Truth and Unfit for Command A Review. kerryvietnam.org. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ^"Bronze Star Medal '' John F. Kerry" (PDF). Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^"Thrice wounded", Official Record Copy via findlaw.com, March 2, 1969.^United States Navy. "Temporary Orders and Ranks (Internet Archive mirror)" (PDF). Archived from the original on April 26, 2004. Retrieved September 8, 2006. ^http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/jkerry/rqstswiftboat.pdf^http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/jkerry/releaseactduty.pdf^Critics countered on Kerry record of inactive service '' Naval Reserve tour is defended; Boston Globe; September 10, 2004.^Lembcke, Jerry (Fall 2003). "Still a Force for Peace". ^Williams, Brian. "Nixon targeted Kerry for anti-war views". ^Jan, Tracy; Bryan Bender (December 21, 2012). "Roots of John Kerry's secretary of state ambition lie in wake of 2004 defeat". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 12, 2012. "Just three months after losing his campaign to be president" ^Oliphant, Tom (April 27, 2004). "I watched Kerry throw his war decorations". The Boston Globe. ^Unfinished Symphony: Democracy and Dissent '' Documentary, 2001.^Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists, Mary Susannah Robbins, pp. 78''90.^Lexington Minute-Man Newspaper, May 23, 1991.^Mooney, Brian C. (June 18, 2003). "First campaign ends in defeat". The Boston Globe. ^Purdum, Todd S (September 24, 2004). "Echoes of a 1972 Loss Haunt a 2004 Campaign". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2008. ^"/ Photo gallery". Boston.com. June 16, 1978. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Kornacki, Steve (February 7, 2011) Will things finally, really work out for John Kerry?, Salon.com.^Farrell, John Aloysius (June 20, 2003). "With probes, making his mark". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 21, 2006. ^"White House Official Linked To Arms Deliveries to Contras". The New York Times. October 15, 1986. p. 6. ^"Selections from the Senate Committee Report on Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy chaired by Senator John F. Kerry". Retrieved April 21, 2006. ^Cockburn, Alexander; Jeffrey St Clair (October 1, 1999). Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. Verso. ISBN 1-85984-258-5. ^Corn, David (July 16, 2001). "Defining John Kerry" (subscription required). The Nation. ^Johnston, David (December 24, 1992). "Bush Pardons 6 In Iran Affair, Aborting A Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up' Bush Diary at Issue 6-Year Inquiry Into Deal of Arms for Hostages All but Swept Away". The New York Times. ^"Senator repudiates 'Shoot Quayle' joke". St. Louis Post-Dispatch Archives/AP via Nl.newsbank.com. November 17, 1988. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Sirota, David; Baskin, Jonathan (September 2004). "Follow the Money". ^"The BCCI Affair '' 19 Ed Rogers and Kamal Adham". Fas.org. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Rimer, Sara (October 25, 1996). "Promises Yield to Old-Fashioned Politics". New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Battenfeld, Joe (July 14, 2000). "Kerry's stock rises in VP sweepstakes". CNN. ^"Gore Trims VP List To Six '' Senators Have Inside Track / Bradley could be `wild card' pick". San Francisco Chronicle. August 4, 2000. Retrieved January 9, 2013. ^"'Outsider' label follows Kerry in Massachusetts despite years in office", AP via Lodi News-Sentinel, July 6, 2004, via Google News.^Early Long Island Ancestors of Celebrities in the National Treasure | Your Future, Your Past. Familyforest.wordpress.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.^ abCaldwell, Deborah. "Not a Prodigal Son". beliefnet.com. ^ abcBerger, Joseph (May 16, 2004). "Kerry's Grandfather Left Judaism Behind in Europe". The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2008. ^ abcWhitmore, Brian (February 22, 2004). "Hearing of roots, Czech village roots Kerry on". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 8, 2008. ^ abcKranish, Michael (June 15, 2003). "A privileged youth, a taste for risk". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 8, 2008. ^Maloney, Tim (July 24, 2005). "Kerry Au Tour". ^"Politics? Armstrong has Kerry's vote..... maybe". CNN. July 23, 2005. ^"JK hotel needs". Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. ^"Sen. Kerry's Surgery A Success". CBS. February 11, 2003. ^Rama, Padmananda (November 8, 2012). "Likely Suspects: Guessing Obama's Second-Term Cabinet". NPR via northcountrypublicradio.org. ^McLellan, Diana, Madame Ex, "Lunch with Diana McLellan", Washingtonian (Washington Magazine Inc.) (July 1996), archived from the original on November 23, 2005. ^Ackman, Dan (October 29, 2004). "Kerry Would Be Third-Richest U.S. President If Elected". Forbes.com. ^"What is George W. Bush's net worth vs. John Kerry's net worth?". Ask Yahoo!. August 23, 2004. Archived from the original on August 24, 2004. ^Healy, Patrick (2011). "John Kerry Personal Finance". Open Secret. ^Julia La Roche (February 14, 2013). "John Kerry May Have Made $670,000 On Today's Heinz Deal". Business Insider. Retrieved February 18, 2013. ^Stricherz, Mark (October 1, 2004). "John Kerry's Open Mind". Christianity Today. ^"En fran§ais, le num(C)ro de charme de John Kerry". Lemonde.fr. Retrieved 2013-04-22. ^"'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for August 19". MSNBC. 2004-08-19. Retrieved 2013-04-22. ^Brinkley, Douglas (March 9, 2004). "The Tenth Brother". Time. ^Casey, Leo (Spring 2009). "No redemption song: The Case of Bill Ayers". Dissent (University of Pennsylvania Press) 56 (2): 107''111. doi:10.1353/dss.0.0041. ISSN 0012-3846. "In recent elections, the patriotism and good names of Democratic war hero candidates, from John Kerry to Max Cleland, had been impugned so successfully that a neologism for such smears'--to 'swift boat''--was coined out of the assault on Kerry." ^Coile, Zachary (August 6, 2004). "Vets group attacks Kerry; McCain defends Democrat". San Francisco Chronicle. ^Zernke, Kate (May 28, 2006). "Kerry Pressing Swift Boat Case Long After Loss". The New York Times. ^Akers, Mary Ann (June 20, 2008). "John Kerry's Vietnam Crew Mates Still Fighting Swift Boating". Washington Post. ^Lehigh, Scot (August 20, 2004). "Kerry comrades have credibility on their side". Boston Globe. ^How Liberal is John Kerry? FactCheck.org. Retrieved January 28, 2013.^"U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote". Senate.gov. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^"Kerry says U.S. 'a sort of international pariah'". USA TODAY. January 27, 2007. ^"U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote". Senate.gov. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^"Kerry Makes It Official". CBS. September 2, 2003. ^"Bush defends Iraq war in face of WMD findings". CNN. January 28, 2004. ^"Report of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs". U.S. Senate. January 13, 1993. Retrieved January 3, 2008. ^Greenhouse, Steven (January 28, 1994). "Senate Urges End to U.S. Embargo Against Vietnam". The New York Times. Retrieved January 6, 2008. ^Walsh, James (July 24, 1995). "Good Morning, Vietnam". Time. Retrieved January 5, 2008. ^Bryan Bender (November 20, 2008). "Kerry poised to cap long journey". The Boston Globe. ^"Global Generation Awards Honor Gen Y's Humanitarian Heroes - The Next Great Generation". Boston.com. Retrieved 2013-04-22. ^"Dushku honored at Global Generation Awards". Boston.com. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2013-04-22. ^Shrum, Robert (May 30, 2007). "Kerry's Regrets About John Edwards". Time.com. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Pitney, Nico (January 13, 2008). "Kerry Disregards Bob Shrum Book: "Ridiculous Waste Of Time"". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^"Text of Kerry's Acceptance Speech,", NBC News, July 29, 2004. "Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't make it so. Saying we can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it so. And proclaiming mission accomplished certainly doesn't make it so."^Barone, Michael; Cohen, Richard E. (2009). The Almanac of American Politics 2010. Washington, D.C.: National Journal Group. p. 731. ISBN 978-0-89234-120-7. "Bush's job approval hovered under 50%, and he trailed Kerry in polls for much of the seven-month campaign. Kerry performed well in debates, being judged the winner in snap polls in all three. Yet he lost. One reason may have been encapsulated by his March 16 defense of his 2003 vote against the supplemental appropriation for Iraq: 'I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.' The Bush campaign painted Kerry as a flip-flopper..." ^Johnson, Glen (November 9, 2004). "Kerry run in '08 called conceivable". The Boston Globe. ^"Keeping America's Promise". Keepingamericaspromise.com. July 5, 2007. Archived from the original on 2006-11-16. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Johnson, Glen (December 5, 2004). "Kerry creates PAC to back candidates". The Boston Globe. ^Mooney, Brain C. (October 9, 2006). "Kerry's barnstorming sparks talk of a run". The Boston Globe. ^Klein, Rick; Kranish, Michael (October 21, 2006). "Kerry is pressured to share campaign wealth". The Boston Globe. ^"Kerry endorses Obama over '04 running mate". CNN.com. January 10, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Hosenball, Mark (June 23, 2008). "A Bid for an Obama Cabinet". Newsweek. ^"Hillary Clinton reportedly accepts Barack Obama's Cabinet offer". Latimesblogs. November 21, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2010. ^Ryan, Andrew (October 31, 2006). "Kerry says he "botched joke" and lashes out at GOP". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 11, 2007. ^"Kerry Events Cut as Democrats Criticize Iraq Remark (Update5)". bloomberg.com. November 1, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2013. ^Loven, Jennifer (November 1, 2006). "Some Democrats join Republicans in pressing Kerry for apology". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. ^"Statement of John Kerry Responding to Republican Distortions, Pathetic Tony Snow Diversions and Distractions". Friends of John Kerry. October 31, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2007. ^Sandalow, Marc (November 2, 2006). "'Botched joke' feeds a frenzy among Dems, GOP and media". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. ^Zernike, Kate (November 1, 2006). "Flubbed Joke Makes Kerry a Political Punching Bag, Again". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2007. ^Stout, David (November 1, 2006). "Kerry Apologizes for Iraq Remark". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2007. ^"Friendship Yacht Company". Friendship Yacht Company. Retrieved August 29, 2010. [dead link]^Sen. John Kerry skips town on sails tax, Boston Herald, July 23, 2010.^Massachusetts Boat Excise Rate, cityofboston.gov.^"Kerry Says He Mishandled Furor Over Yacht Taxes". NPR.org. The Associated Press. July 30, 2010. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. ^Partlow, Joshua. "Kerry: U.S. relationship with Pakistan at 'critical moment'". Washington Post. Retrieved May 15, 2011. ^Brulliard, Karin. "Pakistan to return U.S. helicopter tail, Kerry says". Washington Post. Retrieved May 17, 2011. ^Kumar Sen, Ashish. "Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Pakistani army chief to discuss Taliban". The Washington Times. Retrieved March 26, 2013. ^Tapper, Jake (December 15, 2012). "John Kerry to Be Nominated to Be Secretary of State, Sources Say". ABC News. Retrieved December 15, 2012. ^"John Kerry To Get Secretary Of State Nomination, Reports ABC". Huffington Post. December 15, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2012. ^"Susan Rice drops out of running for secretary of state, cites 'very politicized' confirmation process publisher=NBC News". December 12, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012. ^Landler, Mark (December 21, 2012). "Kerry Is Pick for Secretary of State, Official Says". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2012. ^"Remarks by the President at Nomination of Senator John Kerry as Secretary of State", The White House, December 21, 2012.^Senator John Kerry's confirmation hearing to serve as US Secretary of State scheduled for next week '' Boston.com 1-16-13.^Curry, Tom (January 29, 2013). "Senate votes to confirm Kerry as secretary of state". NBC News. Retrieved January 29, 2013. ^"Senate Roll Call Vote". January 29, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013. ^Kerry, John (January 29, 2013). "Letter to Deval Patrick". boston.com. Retrieved January 30, 2013. ^"CLINTON OUT, KERRY IN AS SECRETARY OF STATE". Associated Press. Retrieved February 1, 2013. ^"Middle East Peace Talks To Resume". Retrieved July 30, 2013. ^Diplomats hail new Iranian attitude in nuke talks^U.S., Iran voice optimism and caution after rare encounter^Remarks After the P-5+1 Ministerial on Iran^Rohde, David (20 November 2013). "How John Kerry Could End Up Outdoing Hillary Clinton". The Atlantic. ^Arkin, James (16 September 2013). "Poll: John Kerry's approval tops President Obama's". Politico. ^[1]^"Kerry Becomes Chief Advocate for U.S. Attack". The New York Times. 30 August 2013. ^"Syria timeline: how Kerry's gaffe became a plan". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 September 2013. ^"John Kerry's Gaffe Heard Round the World". The Wire. 9 September 2013. ^"Kerry's Syria 'gaffe' gains swift traction". AFP. 9 September 2013. ^"White House's Syria gaffe offers Obama a chance to climb back from war". The Guardian. 9 September 2013. ^"Timeline of events leading up to Syria chemical disarmament". AFP. 6 October 2013. ^Johnson, Keith. "Kerry Makes It Official: 'Era of Monroe Doctrine Is Over'". Wall Street Journal. ^Kerry, John. "Diaries". Daily Kos. Retrieved March 12, 2010. Further reading[edit]Brinkley, Douglas (2004). Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War. New York: William Morrow & Company. ISBN 0-06-056523-3. Kerry, John; Vietnam Veterans Against the War (1971). The New Soldier. New York: MacMillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-073610-X. '--'-- (1997). The New War: The Web of Crime That Threatens America's Security. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81815-9. '--'-- (2003). A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-03260-3. '--'-- Heinz Kerry, Teresa (2007). This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-431-6. Kranish, Michael; Mooney, Brian C.; Easton, Nina J. (2004). John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography by The Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 1-58648-273-4. McMahon, Kevin; Rankin, David; Beachler, Donald W.; White, John Kenneth (2005). Winning the White House, 2004. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-6881-0. O'Neill; Corsi, Jerome R. (2004). Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 0-89526-017-4. External links[edit]Official[edit]Information[edit]Statements and interviews[edit]Media coverage[edit]John Kerry: Candidate in the making, Michael Kranish, The Boston Globe, June 15, 2003When John Kerry's Courage Went M.I.A., Sydney H. Schanberg, The Village Voice, February 17, 2004]Frontline: The Choice 2004, PBS, two-hour special comparing Kerry and BushResearcher Alleges Potential Plagiarism in 11 Passages of Kerry's Writings, Josh Gerstein, New York Sun, October 26, 2004Profile: John Kerry, Paul Reynolds, BBC News, November 5, 2004 John Kerry
- Chairpersons (Democratic)Ranking Members (Republican)
- John Winthrop(1588''1649)
- Thomas Dudley(1576''1653)
- John Winthrop the Younger(1606''1676)
- Simon Bradstreet(1603''1697)
- Joseph Dudley(1647''1720)
- Wait Still Winthrop(1642''1717)
- Fitz-John Winthrop(1638''1707)
- John Winthrop, F.R.S.(1681''1776)
- John Still Winthrop(1720''1776)
- Thomas Lindall Winthrop(1760''1841)
- Francis Bayard Winthrop(1754''1817)
- Robert Charles Winthrop(1809''1894)
- Thomas Charles Winthrop(1797''1873)
- Francis B. Winthrop, Jr(1787''1841)
- Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.(1834''1905)
- Robert Winthrop(1833''1892)
- Katherine Wilson Taylor(1839''1925)
- Theodore Winthrop(1828''1861)
- James Grant Forbes(1879''1955)
- Beekman Winthrop(1874''1940)
- Katherine Taylor Winthrop(1866''1943)
- Hamilton Fish Kean(1862''1941)
- Rosemary Forbes(1913''2002)
- Robert Winthrop Kean(1893''1980)
- John Forbes Kerry(1943'')
- Thomas Howard Kean(1935'')
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- List of Skull and Bones members - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University, was founded in 1832. Until 1971, the organization published annual membership rosters, which were kept at Yale's library. In this list of notable Bonesmen, the number in parentheses represents the cohort year of Skull and Bones, as well as their graduation year.
- There are no official rosters published after 1982 and membership for later years is speculative. Some news organizations refer to them as a power elite.[1]
- Founding members (1832''1833 academic year)[edit]19th century[edit]1830s[edit]John Wallace Houston (1834), Secretary of State of Delaware (1841''1844), associate judge Delaware Superior Court (1855''1893)[2]John Hubbard Tweedy (1834), delegate to the United States Congress from Wisconsin Territory (1847''1848)[2]William Henry Washington (1834), Whig U.S. Congressman from North Carolina (1841''1843)[2]John Edward Seeley (1835), US Representative from New York[2]Thomas Anthony Thacher (1835), Professor of Latin at Yale University (1842''1886)[3]:47Henry Champion Deming (1836), U.S. Representative from Connecticut[4]:112William Maxwell Evarts (1837), U.S. Secretary of State, Attorney General, Senator, grandson of Roger Sherman[3]:131, 199[5]Chester Smith Lyman (1837), astronomer, Yale professor of Industrial Mechanics and Physics[2]Allen Ferdinand Owen (1837), US Representative from Georgia[2]Benjamin Silliman, Jr. (1837), Yale professor of chemistry[3]:64Morrison Remmick Waite (1837), Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court[3]:89Joseph B. Varnum, Jr. (1838), Speaker of the New York State Assembly[2]Richard Dudley Hubbard (1839), Governor of Connecticut, US Representative[2]Thomas Marshall Key (1838), Colonel U. S. Army, Political Adviser to Major General George B. McClellan /
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- The 16 Most Powerful Members Of 'Skull And Bones'
- New members divulge intimate personal details, including their full sexual histories, before they're inducted. They also agree to give part of their estates to the club. But, in return, they receive the promise of lifelong financial stability '-- so they won't feel tempted to sell the club's secrets, Robbins writes.
- Until 1971, the organization published annual rosters, kept on file at the university's library. While most recent members of the society remain tight-lipped about those secrets, we at least know the identities of some of most powerful Bonesmen.
- Among those business titans, poets, politicians, and three U.S. Presidents, we picked the honor roll.
- William Howard Taft '-- Class of 1878 (Pictured above)
- As the only person to serve as both president and Supreme Court chief justice, Taft earned his spot on our list. The portly 27th president went by "Old Bill" during his Yale days but later earned the nickname "Big Lub."
- Taft also allegedly received the honorary title of "magog," meaning he had the most sexual experience, while in the secret club.
- Young Taft probably found entrance into the club rather easily. His father, former Attorney General Alphonso Taft, co-founded Skull and Bones as a Yale student in 1832.
- Walter Camp '-- Class of 1880
- Known as the "father of American football," Camp, with other classmates, developed the game from the Brits' version of rugby. He played in the first rugby game at Yale against Harvard in 1876.
- Camp created many of modern football's rules, such as assessment of points and limiting the field-team to 11 men per side. But most importantly, he brought organization and esteem to the game, serving on the rules committee until his death.
- Camp also established the National College Athlete Association, still operating today. During World War I, most of the armed forces conditioned using his tactics.
- Amos Alonzo Stagg '-- Class of 1888
- Yale's greatest football player of all time (sorry, Calvin Hill), Stagg also contributed to popularizing the game. He remains the only man elected into both the Basketball Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame, also the only person to enter the latter as both a player and coach. While he didn't invent basketball, he contributed to the game's spread, especially at the college level.
- Stagg coached various collegiate teams for 71 years '-- the longest run of any coach.
- In other sports accomplishments, he also invented the batting cage for baseball and the overflow trough built into swimming pools.
- W. Averell Harriman '-- Class of 1913
- The future governor of New York and almost presidential candidate clearly enjoyed his time at Yale.
- Immediately after graduation, Harriman inherited one of the largest fortunes in the country from his railroad-baron father. Harriman, however, took a job as Yale's crew coach and stuck around New Haven.
- "Thor," as his fellow Bonesmen referred to him, continued to enjoy himself around town as a Yale celebrity before moving on to his many future successes like secretary of commerce and ambassador to the Soviet Union.
- Robert Lovett '-- Class of 1918
- As Harry Truman's secretary of war, many have called Lovett "the architect of the Cold War." But he took an even more prominent role heading the Korean War.
- He felt the U.S. not only disarmed after World War II but disintegrated. He raised the military budget $49 billion to meet the growing threat in Korea, invigorating anti-communist sentiments that permeated the Cold War.
- "[Lovett] has truly been the eyes, ears and hands of the Secretary of War in respect to the growth of that enormous American airpower which has astonished the world and played such a large part in bringing the war to a speedy and successful conclusion," President Truman wrote when Lovett received the Distinguished Service Medal in 1945.
- Henry Luce '-- Class of 1920
- Considered a magazine magnate even today, Luce launched multiple publications: Time, Time Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, among smaller side projects.
- During his time at Yale, he met Briton Hadden who would become his lifelong business partner. Hadden and he served as chairman and managing editor at the Yale Daily News, respectively.
- Luce's fellow Bonesmen also referred to him as "Baal," referencing a mythological, ancient, Aramaic demon.
- Lyman Spitzer '-- Class of 1935
- A noted astrophysicist, Spitzer dreamed up the idea behind the Hubble Space Telescope '-- the first method to observe space uninhibited by the Earth's atmosphere. He also lobbied NASA and Congress for the funds and oversaw production of the actual machine.
- After 44 years, NASA launched the Hubble into space. The Hubble remains there today, providing stunning images of the universe and making new discoveries.
- Although we don't know much about Spitzer's time as a Bonesman, NASA did name the Spitzer Space Telescope in his honor.
- Potter Stewart '-- Class of 1937
- The son of a Midwestern congressman, Stewart became the editor of The Yale Law Review during his time at Yale.
- As a Supreme Court justice, Potter sat firmly in the middle of an ideological war on the bench. Notably, he wrote a dissent in Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965, invalidating a Connecticut law which banned contraceptives, as a violation of the right to marital privacy. His opinions in various cases also helped solidify Fourth Amendment protections.
- Stewart also became famous for this quote about hardcore pornography: "I know it when I see it."
- McGeorge Bundy '-- Class of 1940
- Before becoming one of JFK's "Wise Men," Bundy may have relied on his big brother to help him get into Skull and Bones. William Bundy, who graduated a class earlier, went on to serve as State Department liaison official, notably during the Bay of Pigs invasion.
- "Odin," as fellow Bonesmen called him, however, left his own mark on the world, though potentially not all positive.
- One of the Kennedy's advisors, for whom a journalist coined the term "best and brightest," Bundy heavily impacted the evolution of the Vietnam War. After his death, fellow officials used his notes to express regret about many policies enacted during the era.
- George Herbert Walker Bush '-- Class of 1948
- Skull and Bones Yearbook, 1948
- Before Bush became the second Bonesman to occupy the Oval Office, he also piloted in WWII and served as ambassador to Red China, director of the CIA, and of course, VP to Ronald Reagan.
- President during the end of the Cold War, Bush obviously supported space exploration. The American people have also criticized and exalted his involvement in the Gulf War, notably Operation Desert Storm.
- One of Bush's little-known contributions, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, was one of the most pro-civil-rights legislation in decades. But he also vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1990.
- William F. Buckley Jr. '-- Class 0f 1950
- Known for his outspokenness and transatlantic accent, Buckley symbolized the most conservative brand of politics.
- At Yale, he acted as chairman of the Yale Daily News and was a member of the debate team. Buckley later founded the political magazine the National Review, still in production today. He also wrote many spy novels throughout his life.
- John F. Kerry '-- Class of 1966
- The current secretary of state and former senator from Massachusetts, Kerry spent a childhood abroad with his diplomat father before attending Yale and gaining membership into Skull and Bones.
- While at Yale, he served as the (liberal) president of the Yale Political Union, although his candidacy in the 2004 presidential race didn't end quite as well.
- Kerry's period as an on-campus Bonesman just missed '-- by two years '-- intersecting with the man he would come to challenge in that messy political head-to-head.
- Frederick Wallace Smith '-- Class of 1966
- Smith, an often forgotten Bonesman, founded FedEx, the first and largest express delivery company in the world. He currently serves as president, chairman, and CEO of the multibillion-dollar company.
- He earned his degree in economics, and many speculated he might land a role in John McCain's potential presidential cabinet or even be his VP pick.
- Defying ideological borders, Smith was close friends with both Bush and Kerry during his days at Yale.
- Smith also made a brief cameo in the movie "Cast Away." (If you'll recall, Wilson, the friendliest volleyball, arrived in a FedEx box.)
- George W. Bush '-- Class of 1968
- Media Library - Yale Whiffenpoofs
- "W's" family name had become synonymous with Skull and Bones by the time the handsome chap arrived on Yale's campus. There were rumors that Bush almost missed getting tapped by the group, but he ended up becoming the third Bonesman to become President.
- We don't know much about Bush's time in the club. "My senior year I joined Skull and Bones, a secret society, so secret I can't say anything more," he wrote in his 1999 autobiography, "A Charge to Keep." Bush, however, carries a certain disdain for Yale's brand of East Coast elitism, according to The Atlantic.
- Reportedly, Bush was also a "magog," or the most sexually experienced member, just like Taft.
- Stephen A. Schwarzman '-- Class of 1969
- The club tapped Schwarzman only a year behind George W. Bush and he came to prominence under the future president's administration when his hedge fund, The Blackstone Group, went public in 2007.
- The SEC filings for Blackstone's IPO revealed that Schwarzman had made an average of $1 million per day for the fiscal year ending December 2006. Forbes estimates his personal fortune at around $7.7 billion.
- In 2010, Schwarzman famously compared the Obama administration's plan to raise taxes to Hitler's invasion of Poland. He apologized after the media hullabaloo.
- Dana Milbank '-- Class of 1990
- YouTube/New Report SaveFrom.net
- Milbank begins the newest generation of Bonesmen on the list. A controversial journalist by all political walks, he has covered both the Bush and Obama presidencies extensively, offending both at one time or another.
- Milbank currently writes a column for the Washington Post called "Washington Sketch." His name has also appeared in the New Republic and Wall Street Journal.
- Milbank authored "Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Teabagging of America," among other less well-known books.
- Austan Goolsbee '-- Class of 1991
- Another newbie Bonesman by usual standards, Goolsbee, 41, serves as the youngest chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in the history of the White House as well as the youngest current member of Obama's cabinet.
- The Texas-born economist was presumably tapped in 1989 while studying economics and performing with the Yale improve troupe "Just Add Water."
- He's also a professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.
- "You do not fuck with us" is the message
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- Distorting Russia | The Nation
- (Reuters/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Pool)
- The degradation of mainstream American press coverage of Russia, a country still vital to US national security, has been under way for many years. If the recent tsunami of shamefully unprofessional and politically inflammatory articles in leading newspapers and magazines'--particularly about the Sochi Olympics, Ukraine and, unfailingly, President Vladimir Putin'--is an indication, this media malpractice is now pervasive and the new norm.
- There are notable exceptions, but a general pattern has developed. Even in the venerable New York Times and Washington Post, news reports, editorials and commentaries no longer adhere rigorously to traditional journalistic standards, often failing to provide essential facts and context; to make a clear distinction between reporting and analysis; to require at least two different political or ''expert'' views on major developments; or to publish opposing opinions on their op-ed pages. As a result, American media on Russia today are less objective, less balanced, more conformist and scarcely less ideological than when they covered Soviet Russia during the Cold War.
- The history of this degradation is also clear. It began in the early 1990s, following the end of the Soviet Union, when the US media adopted Washington's narrative that almost everything President Boris Yeltsin did was a ''transition from communism to democracy'' and thus in America's best interests. This included his economic ''shock therapy'' and oligarchic looting of essential state assets, which destroyed tens of millions of Russian lives; armed destruction of a popularly elected Parliament and imposition of a ''presidential'' Constitution, which dealt a crippling blow to democratization and now empowers Putin; brutal war in tiny Chechnya, which gave rise to terrorists in Russia's North Caucasus; rigging of his own re-election in 1996; and leaving behind, in 1999, his approval ratings in single digits, a disintegrating country laden with weapons of mass destruction. Indeed, most American journalists still give the impression that Yeltsin was an ideal Russian leader.
- Since the early 2000s, the media have followed a different leader-centric narrative, also consistent with US policy, that devalues multifaceted analysis for a relentless demonization of Putin, with little regard for facts. (Was any Soviet Communist leader after Stalin ever so personally villainized?) If Russia under Yeltsin was presented as having legitimate politics and national interests, we are now made to believe that Putin's Russia has none at all, at home or abroad'--even on its own borders, as in Ukraine.
- Russia today has serious problems and many repugnant Kremlin policies. But anyone relying on mainstream American media will not find there any of their origins or influences in Yeltsin's Russia or in provocative US policies since the 1990s'--only in the ''autocrat'' Putin who, however authoritarian, in reality lacks such power. Nor is he credited with stabilizing a disintegrating nuclear-armed country, assisting US security pursuits from Afghanistan and Syria to Iran or even with granting amnesty, in December, to more than 1,000 jailed prisoners, including mothers of young children.
- Not surprisingly, in January The Wall Street Journal featured the widely discredited former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, branding Putin's government as one of ''deceit, violence and cynicism,'' with the Kremlin a ''nerve center of the troubles that bedevil the West.'' But wanton Putin-bashing is also the dominant narrative in centrist, liberal and progressive media, from the Post, Times and The New Republic to CNN, MSNBC and HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher, where Howard Dean, not previously known for his Russia expertise, recently declared, to the panel's approval, ''Vladimir Putin is a thug.''
- The media therefore eagerly await Putin's downfall'--due to his ''failing economy'' (some of its indicators are better than US ones), the valor of street protesters and other right-minded oppositionists (whose policies are rarely examined), the defection of his electorate (his approval ratings remain around 65 percent) or some welcomed ''cataclysm.'' Evidently believing, as does the Times, for example, that democrats and a ''much better future'' will succeed Putin (not zealous ultranationalists growing in the streets and corridors of power), US commentators remain indifferent to what the hoped-for ''destabilization of his regime'' might mean in the world's largest nuclear country.
- Certainly, The New Republic's lead writer on Russia, Julia Ioffe, does not explore the question, or much else of real consequence, in her nearly 10,000-word February 17 cover story. Ioffe's bannered theme is devoutly Putin-phobic: ''He Crushed His Opposition and Has Nothing to Show for It But a Country That Is Falling Apart.'' Neither sweeping assertion is spelled out or documented. A compilation of chats with Russian-born Ioffe's disaffected (but seemingly not ''crushed'') Moscow acquaintances and titillating personal gossip long circulating on the Internet, the article seems better suited (apart from some factual errors) for the Russian tabloids, as does Ioffe's disdain for objectivity. Protest shouts of ''Russia without Putin!'' and ''Putin is a thief!'' were ''one of the most exhilarating moments I'd ever experienced.'' So was tweeting ''Putin's fucked, y'all.'' Nor does she forget the hopeful mantra ''cataclysm seems closer than ever now.''
- For weeks, this toxic coverage has focused on the Sochi Olympics and the deepening crisis in Ukraine. Even before the Games began, the Times declared the newly built complex a ''Soviet-style dystopia'' and warned in a headline, Terrorism and Tension, Not Sports and Joy. On opening day, the paper found space for three anti-Putin articles and a lead editorial, a feat rivaled by the Post. Facts hardly mattered. Virtually every US report insisted that a record $51 billion ''squandered'' by Putin on the Sochi Games proved they were ''corrupt.'' But as Ben Aris of Business New Europe pointed out, as much as $44 billion may have been spent ''to develop the infrastructure of the entire region,'' investment ''the entire country needs.''
- Overall pre-Sochi coverage was even worse, exploiting the threat of terrorism so licentiously it seemed pornographic. The Post, long known among critical-minded Russia-watchers as Pravda on the Potomac, exemplified the media ethos. A sports columnist and an editorial page editor turned the Olympics into ''a contest of wills'' between the despised Putin's ''thugocracy'' and terrorist ''insurgents.'' The ''two warring parties'' were so equated that readers might have wondered which to cheer for. If nothing else, American journalists gave terrorists an early victory, tainting ''Putin's Games'' and frightening away many foreign spectators, including some relatives of the athletes.
- The Sochi Games will soon pass, triumphantly or tragically, but the potentially fateful Ukrainian crisis will not. A new Cold War divide between West and East may now be unfolding, not in Berlin but in the heart of Russia's historical civilization. The result could be a permanent confrontation fraught with instability and the threat of a hot war far worse than the one in Georgia in 2008. These dangers have been all but ignored in highly selective, partisan and inflammatory US media accounts, which portray the European Union's ''Partnership'' proposal benignly as Ukraine's chance for democracy, prosperity and escape from Russia, thwarted only by a ''bullying'' Putin and his ''cronies'' in Kiev.
- Not long ago, committed readers could count on The New York Review of Books for factually trustworthy alternative perspectives on important historical and contemporary subjects. But when it comes to Russia and Ukraine, the NYRB has succumbed to the general media mania. In a January 21 blog post, Amy Knight, a regular contributor and inveterate Putin-basher, warned the US government against cooperating with the Kremlin on Sochi security, even suggesting that Putin's secret services ''might have had an interest in allowing or even facilitating such attacks'' as killed or wounded dozens of Russians in Volgograd in December.
- Knight's innuendo prefigured a purported report on Ukraine by Yale professor Timothy Snyder in the February 20 issue. Omissions of facts, by journalists or scholars, are no less an untruth than misstatements of fact. Snyder's article was full of both, which are widespread in the popular media, but these are in the esteemed NYRB and by an acclaimed academic. Consider a few of Snyder's assertions:
- §'''On paper, Ukraine is now a dictatorship.'' In fact, the ''paper'' legislation he's referring to hardly constituted dictatorship, and in any event was soon repealed. Ukraine is in a state nearly the opposite of dictatorship'--political chaos uncontrolled by President Viktor Yanukovych, the Parliament, the police or any other government institution.
- §'''The [parliamentary] deputies'...have all but voted themselves out of existence.'' Again, Snyder is alluding to the nullified ''paper.'' Moreover, serious discussions have been under way in Kiev about reverting to provisions in the 2004 Constitution that would return substantial presidential powers to the legislature, hardly ''the end of parliamentary checks on presidential power,'' as Snyder claims. (Does he dislike the prospect of a compromise outcome?)
- §'''Through remarkably large and peaceful public protests'...Ukrainians have set a positive example for Europeans.'' This astonishing statement may have been true in November, but it now raises questions about the ''example'' Snyder is advocating. The occupation of government buildings in Kiev and in Western Ukraine, the hurling of firebombs at police and other violent assaults on law enforcement officers and the proliferation of anti-Semitic slogans by a significant number of anti-Yanukovych protesters, all documented and even televised, are not an ''example'' most readers would recommend to Europeans or Americans. Nor are they tolerated, even if accompanied by episodes of police brutality, in any Western democracy.
- §'''Representatives of a minor group of the Ukrainian extreme right have taken credit for the violence.'' This obfuscation implies that apart perhaps from a ''minor group,'' the ''Ukrainian extreme right'' is part of the positive ''example'' being set. (Many of its representatives have expressed hatred for Europe's ''anti-traditional'' values, such as gay rights.) Still more, Snyder continues, ''something is fishy,'' strongly implying that the mob violence is actually being ''done by russo-phone provocateurs'' on behalf of ''Yanukovych (or Putin).'' As evidence, Snyder alludes to ''reports'' that the instigators ''spoke Russian.'' But millions of Ukrainians on both sides of their incipient civil war speak Russian.
- §'Snyder reproduces yet another widespread media malpractice regarding Russia, the decline of editorial fact-checking. In a recent article in the International New York Times, he both inflates his assertions and tries to delete neofascist elements from his innocuous ''Ukrainian extreme right.'' Again without any verified evidence, he warns of a Putin-backed ''armed intervention'' in Ukraine after the Olympics and characterizes reliable reports of ''Nazis and anti-Semites'' among street protesters as ''Russian propaganda.''
- §'Perhaps the largest untruth promoted by Snyder and most US media is the claim that ''Ukraine's future integration into Europe'' is ''yearned for throughout the country.'' But every informed observer knows'--from Ukraine's history, geography, languages, religions, culture, recent politics and opinion surveys'--that the country is deeply divided as to whether it should join Europe or remain close politically and economically to Russia. There is not one Ukraine or one ''Ukrainian people'' but at least two, generally situated in its Western and Eastern regions.
- Such factual distortions point to two flagrant omissions by Snyder and other US media accounts. The now exceedingly dangerous confrontation between the two Ukraines was not ''ignited,'' as the Times claims, by Yanukovych's duplicitous negotiating'--or by Putin'--but by the EU's reckless ultimatum, in November, that the democratically elected president of a profoundly divided country choose between Europe and Russia. Putin's proposal for a tripartite arrangement, rarely if ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and EU officials.
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- But the most crucial media omission is Moscow's reasonable conviction that the struggle for Ukraine is yet another chapter in the West's ongoing, US-led march toward post-Soviet Russia, which began in the 1990s with NATO's eastward expansion and continued with US-funded NGO political activities inside Russia, a US-NATO military outpost in Georgia and missile-defense installations near Russia. Whether this longstanding Washington-Brussels policy is wise or reckless, it'--not Putin's December financial offer to save Ukraine's collapsing economy'--is deceitful. The EU's ''civilizational'' proposal, for example, includes ''security policy'' provisions, almost never reported, that would apparently subordinate Ukraine to NATO.
- Any doubts about the Obama administration's real intentions in Ukraine should have been dispelled by the recently revealed taped conversation between a top State Department official, Victoria Nuland, and the US ambassador in Kiev. The media predictably focused on the source of the ''leak'' and on Nuland's verbal ''gaffe'''--''Fuck the EU.'' But the essential revelation was that high-level US officials were plotting to ''midwife'' a new, anti-Russian Ukrainian government by ousting or neutralizing its democratically elected president'--that is, a coup.
- Americans are left with a new edition of an old question. Has Washington's twenty-year winner-take-all approach to post-Soviet Russia shaped this degraded news coverage, or is official policy shaped by the coverage? Did Senator John McCain stand in Kiev alongside the well-known leader of an extreme nationalist party because he was ill informed by the media, or have the media deleted this part of the story because of McCain's folly?
- And what of Barack Obama's decision to send only a low-level delegation, including retired gay athletes, to Sochi? In August, Putin virtually saved Obama's presidency by persuading Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to eliminate his chemical weapons. Putin then helped to facilitate Obama's heralded opening to Iran. Should not Obama himself have gone to Sochi'--either out of gratitude to Putin, or to stand with Russia's leader against international terrorists who have struck both of our countries? Did he not go because he was ensnared by his unwise Russia policies, or because the US media misrepresented the varying reasons cited: the granting of asylum to Edward Snowden, differences on the Middle East, infringements on gay rights in Russia, and now Ukraine? Whatever the explanation, as Russian intellectuals say when faced with two bad alternatives, ''Both are worst.''
- Read Next: Alex Lund: ''What Did Sochi Get for $51 Billion? Highways, Railroads and a Lot of White Elephants''
- Make you look like you hate gays
- Embarass you during the Olympics with Kiev
- Make it look like you beat up hot punk chicks with guitars
- Facebook buys Ukranian WhatsApp - Jan Koum
-
- Blame Syria on you and start up bombing actions again
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- Ukraine
- The World is watching EUROPE watching Kiev on TV
- Happening during Putin's Sochi moment
- Independence Square - Great Name
- Its about The North America+EU vs. Eurasia
- Democratically elected president should not have to 'quit' which is what USA is demanding
- Ukraine will be split in two pieces, similar to Berlin, only now on Russia's border
- Looks like everyone has lost control of the situation
- Could turn into full blown revolution
- Warsaw is also manipulating
- Isn't this what Occupy Wallstreet was as well?
- Klitschko lives in Germany
- Berlin and Moscow are strengthening ties
- Putin speaks fluent German
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- Putin doesn't want exclusivity with Kiev, has offered to talk with EU about cooperation
- Putin’s proposal for a tripartite arrangement, rarely if ever reported, was flatly rejected by US and EU officials.
- Lets invade The Netherlands and Belgium!
-
- Kiev blijft onrustig, Europese ministers weg
- 20/02/14, 10:15 '' bron: AP, ANP, Reuters, redactie
- (C) afp. Barricades op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein in Kiev.
- UPDATE De drie Europese ministers die vandaag met de Oekra¯ense president Viktor Janoekovitsj zouden praten, hebben de Oekra¯nese hoofdstad Kiev spoorslags verlaten, vooralsnog zonder met Janoekovitsj te spreken. Een van de drie, de Poolse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Radoslav Sikorski, zei dat ze uit veiligheidsoverwegingen zijn uitgeweken en mogelijk elders met Janoekovitsj spreken.
- Na de bloedige veldslag dinsdag in Kiev hebben de Oekra¯ense president Viktor Janoekovitsj en de oppositie een bestand afgesproken. De partijen maakten dat gisteravond bekend na een crisisbijeenkomst. Het is echter nog steeds onrustig in de hoofdstad, met name op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein. Het extreem-rechtse deel van de oppositie zal de wapenstilstand niet respecteren, zo heeft de leider gemeld.
- EenheidDe internationale druk op de regering neemt ondertussen verder toe. President Obama van de Verenigde Staten verklaarde vannacht dat een bestand alleen niet voldoende is. Volgens hem moet er toegewerkt worden naar 'een regering van eenheid' en zullen er uiteindelijk vrije verkiezingen moeten komen. Hij benadrukte ook dat de crisis in Oekra¯ne en die in Syri geen onderdeel zijn van een soort Koude-Oorlogspelletje tussen de VS en Rusland.
- In een verklaring op de website van president Janoekovitsj staat dat 'gesprekken beginnen met als doel het bloedvergieten te beindigen en de situatie te stabiliseren'. Behalve Janoekovitsj waren de oppositieleiders Vitali Klitsjko, Arseni Jatsenjoek en Oleg Tjagnibok bij het gesprek aanwezig. De extreem-rechtsen waren niet aanwezig. De regering heeft de afgelopen dagen gezegd dat juist zij verantwoordelijk waren voor het geweld op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein.
- Op het plein waren woensdagavond en in de nacht nog altijd duizenden demonstranten. Een ring van brandende barricades moest voorkomen dat de oproerpolitie het plein zou ontruimen. Betogers gooiden met brandbommen en vuurwerk. Het leek in de nacht evenwel niet tot een groot treffen te komen zoals een dag eerder.
- Legerleider ontslagenNa de bloedige strijd op dinsdag, waarbij zeker 28 mensen om het leven kwamen en duizend mensen gewond raakten, volgden de ontwikkelingen elkaar woensdag snel op. Zo ontsloeg Janoekovitsj legerleider kolonel-generaal Volodimir Zamana. Het is onduidelijk wat de reden daarvan was. Als vervanger is admiraal Joeri Iljin aangesteld.
- Eerder liet het Oekra¯ense ministerie van Defensie weten dat het leger mogelijk deel zou nemen aan een landelijke 'antiterreuractie'. De Oekra¯ense geheime dienst SBU kondigde die actie woensdag aan.
- Internationale druk neemt toeOndertussen worden de protesten vanuit de internationale gemeenschap luider. Het Amerikaanse ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken kondigde woensdag aan geen visas meer te verlenen aan een twintigtal 'seniore' leden van de Oekra¯ense regering. Als dit geen effect sorteert, is de VS bereid in overleg met de EU verdere stappen te zetten om de Oekra¯ense president te dwingen af te zien van geweld en te overleggen met de oppositie.
- De Duitse bondskanselier Angela Merkel en de Russische president Vladimir Poetin spraken af dat ze er alles aan zullen doen om verder escalatie van het geweld in het Oost-Europese land te voorkomen.
- Ook de NAVO liet van zich horen. Het bondgenootschap kondigde aan dat de band met Oekra¯ne ernstige schade zal oplopen als het leger van Oekra¯ne zich gaat bemoeien met de crisis. En secretaris-generaal Ban Ki-moon van de Verenigde Naties eiste 'een direct einde aan het geweld'.
- Invloedsfeer RuslandDuitsland en andere EU-lidstaten staan lijnrecht tegenover Rusland. De EU steunt de oppositie die aansluiting wil bij het Westen. Rusland wil Oekra¯ne binnen zijn eigen invloedsfeer houden en staat achter de pro-Russische Janoekovitsj.
- Donderdagochtend bezoeken de Duitse, Franse en Poolse ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken de Oekra¯ense hoofdstad Kiev. Ze willen een inschatting maken van de situatie ter plekke. In Brussel buigen de Europese ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken zich donderdagmiddag over de crisis en mogelijke sancties.
- Nederland is voorstander van gerichte maatregelen tegen Oekra¯ne, mogelijk ook tegen leden van de oppositie. Volgens minister Frans Timmermans (Buitenlandse Zaken) kan het bij de sancties gaan om bijvoorbeeld het bevriezen van tegoeden, reisverboden of een wapenembargo.
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- Germany and Russia to 'avoid Ukraine escalation'
- The barricades in Kiev on Wednesday night. Photo: DPA
- Published: 20 Feb 2014 13:02 GMT+01:00Updated: 20 Feb 2014 13:02 GMT+01:00
- UPDATE: Germany's foreign minister arrived in Kiev on Thursday morning for talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, as the death toll continued to rise.
- Reporters were not allowed in the closed meeting between Foreign Minster Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his counterparts from Poland and France.
- Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two had agreed "to do everything to avoid an escalation of violence" in Kiev.
- But overnight fresh violence broke out and more people were killed in the Maidan square '' with the Thursday's death count thought to be at around 30 by midday.
- Despite President Viktor Yanukovych appearing to distance himself from further violence as calling for a ceasefire on Wednesday, running street battles took place that night between police and demonstrators '' with reports spreading from eyewitnesses that police were firing rounds at protesters.
- Merkel said on Wednesday that: "We have decided to stay in very close contact with Russia," she said, adding that "everything must be done to launch a political process."
- Foreign ministers from 28 EU states were set to discuss sanctions on Thursday afternoon. Head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration Andriy Klyuyev warned that this would make the situation worse, like ''throwing oil into a fire.''
- European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday he had spoken to Yanukovych and urged him to engage in a "sincere and constructive political dialogue with the opposition".
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- New Unrest Rocks Ukraine Capital, Deaths Reported
- KIEV, February 20 (RIA Novosti) '' At least 25 people were reportedly killed Thursday in renewed unrest in Ukraine's capital as the violent standoff between the government and opposition pushed the former Soviet nation to the verge of all-out civil conflict.
- The killings broke a short-lived suspension of hostilities that followed the clashes this week that claimed 28 lives, including those of at least 10 police officers.
- The violence in Ukraine is the worst the nation has seen since it gained independence in 1991.
- The AFP news agency cited its correspondents as saying they had seen at least 25 protesters killed in central Kiev. The Reuters agency reported a death toll of 21, while an Associated Press journalist counted 18 bodies.
- The deaths reported Thursday brings the estimated total of those killed in the space of three days to more than 50.
- New fighting broke out as senior EU envoys were due to meet with President Viktor Yanukovych for talks on the deepening political violence gripping the country.
- The talks took place against the backdrop of increasing talk in Western capitals of imposing sanctions against Kiev over the unrest.
- US President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged the Ukrainian government to stem the surge of violence in the ex-Soviet country and warned that there would be ''consequences'' if the deadly clashes continued.
- Russia said sanctions would only serve to increase tensions.
- ''Threatening sanctions and other means of influencing the situation are inappropriate and can bring no good and can only exacerbate the confrontation,'' said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.
- On Thursday morning, riot police withdrew from Kiev's Independence Square, which has served as the focal point of months-long demonstrations against Yanukovych's government. The police had pushed back demonstrators into the square after a day of fighting that ran into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
- More than 800 people were injured in that round of unrest.
- After the departure of police from Independence Square, calls rung out from meeting organizers on a stage erected in the space occupied by protesters for barricades to be built to keep out police.
- Eyewitnesses reported seeing police officers being taken hostage and beaten by radical elements among the protesters.
- Announcers appealed to people not to cross barricades to avoid being targeted by what they said were snipers firing onto people in the crowd.
- Eyewitnesses on Twitter posted numerous photos apparently showing police officers wielding automatic and sniper rifles. The photographs could not be independently verified.
- Authorities earlier in the day accused the opposition of harboring violent elements, who they said included snipers firing at police. The Interior Ministry said Thursday afternoon that 29 policemen were being treated for gunshot wounds.
- The ministry said law enforcement officers would use weapons as permitted under the law, which allows the use of force to protect civilians and repel attacks on police and public offices.
- The increasingly intransigent standoff between the government and opposition took a bloody turn Tuesday after a crowd marching on parliament was confronted by law enforcement officers. Pictures from the front lines showed rioters ripping up cobblestones to hurl at police.
- Riot police pushed the crowd back to barricades surrounding Independence Square. A section of the square had until Thursday morning been occupied by police.
- As of Thursday morning, authorities said 28 people, including at least 10 police officers, had been killed in the clashes. Most of the officers killed reportedly bore gunshot wounds.
- Authorities and opposition representatives have traded accusations over who was responsible for escalating the violence. Police say radical protesters have secured hundreds of firearms.
- Mass protests initially erupted in late November after the government backed away from deals to deepen political and economic cooperation with the European Union and instead opted for closer ties with Russia.
- Although at first discontent was focused on that about-face move on EU ties, protests have since taken on a more general anti-government quality, calling for the president's ouster and early elections.
- In a statement that appeared to underline the broader national risk posed by the unrest in Kiev, the head of the regional legislature in heavily ethnic Russian-populated Crimea, in southern Ukraine, warned on Thursday that the country could fall apart if the situation worsened.
- Ukraine is deeply divided between its east, where much of the country's industry is concentrated and people have closer ties with Russia, and the west, which is more orientated toward Europe and where people favor Ukrainian ahead of the Russian language, which was made compulsory in Soviet times.
- Violence rippled out in all directions, to both the east and west of the country, overnight Tuesday from Kiev. As well as Lviv, the occupation of government buildings by anti-government activists and confrontations with police were reported Wednesday in the western cities of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lutsk, Rovno and Ternopil.
- Updates throughout the day.
-
- Germany, Russia want to 'avoid escalation' in Ukraine: Merkel
- PARIS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday she had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two had agreed "to do everything to avoid an escalation of violence" in Ukraine.
- Merkel said she had "informed" Putin of plans to send the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany and France to Kiev on Thursday morning.
- "We have decided to stay in very close contact with Russia," she said, adding that "everything must be done to launch a political process" in Ukraine.
- Merkel was speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso after talks in Paris.
- Barroso said he had spoken to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and urged him to engage in a "sincere and constructive political dialogue with the opposition".
- He said he had told Yanukovych that "violence is not the answer" to Ukraine's political crisis.
- "I have hope that president Yanukovych can have a real answer to these very strong messages from the European Union," Barroso said.
-
- Ukraine leader names new army chief after clashes
- KIEV, Ukraine: As fires burned at the barricades in central Kiev for a second straight night, Ukraine's embattled president replaced the army chief Wednesday and the military said it would take part in a national anti-terrorist operation to restore order.
- The move, announced in a decree from President Viktor Yanukovych, came a day after 25 people were killed and over 425 injured in clashes between police and protesters at the sprawling protest camp in the Ukrainian capital. Officials have often referred to the protesters who have demanded Yanukovych's resignation for months as "terrorists."
- The violence this week was the worst in nearly three months of anti-government protests that have paralyzed Kiev. The two sides are locked in a stalemate over the identity of this nation of 46 million, whose loyalties are divided between Russia and the West. The protests began in late November after Yanukovych turned away from a long-anticipated deal with the EU in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia.
- The political maneuvering has continued since, with both Moscow and the West eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic. Three EU foreign ministers - from Germany, France and Poland - were heading to Kiev on Thursday to speak with both sides before an emergency EU meeting back in Brussels to consider sanctions against those responsible for the recent violence in Ukraine.
- In an escalation of the tensions, Ukraine's top security agency accused protesters Wednesday of seizing hundreds of firearms from its offices and announced a nationwide anti-terrorist operation to restore order.
- Earlier in the day, demonstrators forced their way into the main post office on Kiev's Independence Square, also known as the Maidan, after a nearby building they had previously occupied was burned down Tuesday in fierce, fiery clashes with riot police. Thousands of activists armed with fire bombs and rocks had defended the square, a key symbol of the protests.
- "The revolution has turned into a war with the authorities," said Vasyl Oleksenko, 57, a retired geologist from central Ukraine. "We must fight this bloody, criminal leadership. We must fight for our country, our Ukraine!"
- The bad blood now runs so high it has fueled fears the nation could be sliding toward a messy breakup. While most people in the country's western regions resent Yanukovych, he enjoys strong support in the mostly Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions, where many want strong ties with Russia.
- Neither side now appears willing to compromise, with the opposition insisting on Yanukovych's resignation and early elections and the president prepared to fight till the end.
- Opposition lawmaker Oleh Lyashko warned that Yanukovych himself is in danger if he does not offer some concessions.
- "Yanukovych, you will end like (Moammar) Gadhafi," Lyashko told thousands of angry protesters. "Either you, a parasite, will stop killing people or this fate will await you. Remember this, dictator!"
- For his part, Yanukovych blamed the protesters for the violence and said the opposition leaders "crossed a line when they called people to arms."
- "I again call on the leaders of the opposition ... to draw a boundary between themselves and radical forces, which are provoking bloodshed and clashes with the security services," the president said in a statement. "If they don't want to leave - they should acknowledge that they are supporting radicals. Then the conversation with them will already be of a different kind."
- He called for a day of mourning Thursday for the dead.
- In Moscow, the Kremlin said it put the next disbursement of its bailout on hold amid uncertainty over Ukraine's future and what it described as a "coup attempt."
- French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters that he and his counterparts from Germany and Poland would meet both sides in Ukraine ahead of the EU meeting on possible sanctions. He said he hoped the two sides "will find a way for dialogue."
- Possible sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes, which could hit hard the powerful oligarchs who back Yanukovych.
- Ordinary Ukrainians, meanwhile, are struggling amid a stagnating economy and soaring corruption. They have been especially angered to see that Yanukovych's close friends and family have risen to top government posts and amassed fortunes since he came to power in 2010. Yanukovych's dentist son, Oleksander, has become a financial and construction magnate worth $187 million, according to Forbes Ukraine.
- The latest bout of street violence began Tuesday when protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of ignoring their demands to enact constitutional reforms that would limit the president's power - a key opposition demand. Parliament, dominated by his supporters, was stalling on taking up a constitutional reform to limit presidential powers.
- Police responded by attacking the protest camp. Armed with water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets, police dismantled some barricades. But the protesters held their ground through the night, encircling the protest camp with new burning barricades of tires, furniture and debris.
- On Wednesday morning, the center of Kiev was cordoned off by police, the subway was shut down and most shops on Kiev's main street were closed. But hundreds of Ukrainians still flocked to the opposition camp, some wearing balaclavas and armed with bats.
- One group of young men and women poured petrol into plastic bottles, preparing fire bombs, while a volunteer walked by distributing ham sandwiches. Other activists were busy crushing the pavement into bags to fortify the barricades.
- In the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, where most residents yearn for stronger ties with the EU and have little sympathy for Yanukovych, protesters seized several government buildings, including the governor's office, police stations, and offices for prosecutors, security officials and the tax agency. They also broke into an Interior Ministry unit and set it on fire.
- In another western city, Lutsk, protesters handcuffed the regional governor, a Yanukovych appointee, and tied him to the stage on a central square after he refused to resign. In the city of Khmelnitsky, three people were injured when protesters tried to storm a law enforcement office.
- Government buildings were stormed or besieged in other western cities.
- Ukraine's ailing economy is a major factor in the crisis. On Monday, Russia said it was ready to resume providing the loans that Yanukovych's government needs to keep the country afloat. This raised fears among the opposition that Yanukovych had made a deal with Moscow to stand firm against the protesters.
- President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in a statement that Putin spoke to Yanukovych overnight by phone. The next Russian bailout payment is on hold, he said, because the priority is to settle the crisis, which he described as a "coup attempt."
- In tit-for-tat statements, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement blaming the West for failing to condemn the opposition for the latest violence, while EU leaders took the opposite stance.
- "Today, President Yanukovych has blood on his hands," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said.
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- Kiev Jews alarmed at rising anti-Semitism - Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews
- Following series of anti-Semitic attacks in recent weeks, Ukrainian capital's Jewish community demanding security protection from country's authorities. 'The situation is only getting worse,' says community memberTali Farkash
- Anti-Semitic activity in Ukraine appears to be on the rise amid reports of another anti-Semitic attack Friday night.
- Dov Ber Glickman, 30, a member of Kiev's Jewish community, was assaulted by three youngsters as he was making his way home from a Shabbat meal at Yeshivat Orach Chaim in the Ukrainian capital's Podil neighborhood.
- After knocking him to the ground, Glickman's assailants stabbed him three times, apparently in his arms and legs. His screams apparently scared them off.
- Racist Attack? Ukrainian cops accused of anti-Semitism / jn1.tvYoung Jewish man says two officers assaulted him in Lviv police station, tried to extort money from him. 'When they discovered I was Jewish they made me sit on the floor and urinated on me,' he alleges
- Full storyBleeding, Glickman managed to make his way back to the main synagogue building, where the yeshiva is located, and collapsed at the mikveh (ritual bath). He received initial treatment at the scene, while the synagogue guard alerted rescue personnel who took him to hospital.
- Hillel Cohen, chairman of the Hatzalah Ukraine emergency service, told Ynet that the victim had lost a lot of blood after suffering a wound to a main artery, and had lost consciousness. Glickman required surgery, and he is now in moderate condition.
- "The frightening thing is that they arrived by car, and were apparently organized," said Cohen, adding that the entire community was shocked by the incident. "We will have to be much more alert now: Avoid sending children out alone, pay attention if we are being followed."
- The Shabbat attack has heightened the local Jewish community's sense of persecution, after a Israeli Jewish teacher was beaten up at the entrance to his building last week. Locals said the attack was in the same area and carried out in the same way as the assault on Glickman. The incident was defined as a clear act of anti-Semitism.
- Cohen believes the rise in anti-Semitic incident is nor random, although he says the community has no idea whether it's one gang with anti-Semitic intentions or a multitude of incidents. The nationalistically-motivated protests against the Ukraine government may definitely have to do with the recent escalation, he adds.
- "There were puddles of blood there," described Rabbi Binyamin Gottfarb, principal of the local cheder (traditional elementary school). "The community panicked, and throughout Shabbat there were discussions on how to handle this serious incident which is repeating itself week after week, in the same place and in the same method. It seems the situation is just getting worse."
- Cohen and Gottfarb added that on Saturday afternoon, several members of the Jewish community had spotted a young local following one of the yeshiva students. He was "writing down every street the yeshiva students walked on," Gottfarb noted.
- They caught him, took him to the synagogue and called the police. "They asked him why he was following the yeshiva student, and the moment he started stuttering it was clear that there was something wrong with him."
- "In his pocket they found a booklet with sketches of the streets near the synagogue," Cohen added. "The police arrested the guy, but we're concerned because it already looks like a method. They young man who followed the yeshiva student appeared to be neat and organized."
- According to Cohen, "We already felt the anti-Semitic atmosphere heating up several weeks ago. I was asked to talk about peace between the citizens in front of half a million of protestors at the square, alongside a priest and a mufti. But the government is responding slowly. Let's hope for the best."
- In his speech, Cohen called on Ukraine's residents not to harm its minorities, saying that "every day when a Jew prays, he asks for peace in the world. We have also spoken with the Muslims, and it's definitely forbidden under any circumstances that neo-Nazi or racist symbols be seen in this square, God forbid.
- "This is a country that accepted everyone for 23 years now, and we hope it will continue in this way. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Jews from around the world come here to pray at the holy places, and for them this country is historically important. The great leaders of our nation grew up here, and we want to come and see a people leaving in peace. One people. It's important that we '' the minorities living here '' are not harmed."
- But today the Hatzalah chairman and his friends feel real fear, he says, and they are demanding tight security for the synagogues, as well as patrols, "and most importantly, a firm hand against the anti-Semitism raising its head."
- Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis and the chief rabbi of Moscow, accused the Ukrainian government of showing dangerous tolerance towards recent anti-Semitic statements.
- "The tolerance both on the part of the authorities and on the part of the opposition towards protestors in Ukraine, who made anti-Semitic statements during the protests, signaled anti-Semitic elements that it's okay to attack Jews and kill them, God forbid. We demand that the authorities defend Ukraine's Jews against these rioters, and eradicate any anti-Semitic phenomenon with proper determination."
- Rabbi Goldschmidt added that he was praying for Glickman's speedy recovery and expressed his support for Ukraine's Chief Rabbi Dov Bleich, vice president of the Conference of European Rabbis, the head of the Torah and charity institutions and the local Jewish community in their "struggle to revive the Ukrainian Jewry."
- Kobi Nachshoni contributed to this report
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- Kerry raises idea of sanctions against Ukraine government '' CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs
- A senior administration official told CNN that Secretary of State John Kerry will raise the specter of sanctions on the Ukrainian government in remarks in Paris within the next couple hours.
- The official said Kerry will reiterate Vice President Joe Biden's message to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych that his government must protect its people and that Kiev can either choose dialogue and compromise or violence and mayhem.
- The official said the U.S. is closely coordinating its response with allies and friends, including the very real potential of sanctions.
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- Readout of Vice President Biden's Call with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych
- Office of the Vice President
- Vice President Biden called Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych today to express grave concern regarding the crisis on the streets of Kyiv. He called on President Yanukovych to pull back government forces and to exercise maximum restraint. The Vice President made clear that the United States condemns violence by any side, but that the government bears special responsibility to de-escalate the situation. The Vice President further underscored the urgency of immediate dialogue with opposition leaders to address protesters' legitimate grievances and to put forward serious proposals for political reform. The United States is committed to supporting efforts to promote a peaceful resolution to the crisis that reflects the will and aspirations of the Ukrainian people.
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- UKRAINIAN ARMAGEDDON
- Branded extremists, radicals, criminals and foreign agents. This is how Ukraine's bandits in power (or the so-called government) see protesters of Euromaidan. Hundreds of thousands of open-minded and freedom-seeking demonstrators, for whom dignity, human rights and liberty are not just plain words, are apparently terrorists. At least, this is how yesterday's horrifying developments, claiming at least 20 innocent lives in Kyiv, were justified '' as anti-terrorist operations. Clubs, tear gas, flash grenades and Molotov cocktails are again a reality after almost 3 weeks of a standstill in Ukraine's capital.
- What began as a protest against Ukrainian President Yanukovych's decision not to sign an Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, with the EU in late 2013 has spiraled into much bigger demands. Seen as a pro-European uprising in the East, the latest dynamics highlight a much more complicated political scene. Current demonstrations represent a fight for democratic values, rule of law and a change of the country's corrupt political system. In fact, the EU's inaction and inability to broker a solution diminishes, to some extent, local support for the European Union. The absence of a decisive Western stance definitely harms the image of a flexible Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU. Coupled with expressions of concern that are not backed by real actions, this only irritates Ukrainians more .
- Nevertheless, many things have happened since the beginning of Euromaidan then: deaths of peaceful protesters, draconian dictatorship laws and their later abolishment, seizure of state administrations across the whole country, grotesque Belarus-style repression, clashes with the riot policy and open violence on the street. However, the lasttwo to three weeks were relatively peaceful, without major breaking news in the headlines of international media. Now, remember this point, we'll return to it later.
- Mstyslav Chernov, 2014Thus, the main battles seemed to have moved from the streets to a pure political dimension. The fulfilment of the amnesty law in return for the evacuation of seized administration buildings by protesters brought the situation back to square one. Juicy debates on constitutional changes (which would entail a return to the 2004 Constitution, limiting the President's powers), the appointment of a new prime minister, and Ukraine's federalization scenarios dominated the internal political agenda. Everything WAS relatively calm and non-violent. Yet, also a bit suspicious. As if somebody was trying to buy time. Up until yesterday.
- After the Verkhovna Rada,the Ukrainian parliament, failed to register these topics for discussion at yesterday's parliamentary session, alluding to contradicting rules of procedure, renewed violence broke out on the streets of Kyiv. What followed next seems like a series of actions planned well ahead. The unprecedented complete (!) blockade of the capital's metro system, malfunctions of the internet, the shut-off of the leading opposition-supporting TV news channel, police snipers on the rooftop of buildings in the centre, the limitation of physical access to Kyiv, quick and compact location of internal security forces, armoured personnel carriers (war vehicles!) circulating on the streets and well-organised ''Titushki'' '' thugs, hired by the government to help the riot police to beat the people. In fact, Ukraine's capital found itself in a state of emergency just in a couple of hours, without being officially introduced by the authorities. A state of emergency is not a 1-day decision. Such actions have to be planned and prepared for. This apparent preparation brings us to the point of the recent two to three weeks of a suspicious ''Silence of Ukrainian Lambs''.
- What does it mean for the EU?
- You are dealing with a bunch of murderers who seized power in Ukraine.You cannot fight a system soaked through with Soviet-type corruption and kleptomania by only expressing concern and disgrace.Sanctions on officials, their business sponsors and legislators responsible for violent crackdowns on mass protests in Ukraine are one of the measures you can take.A failed state at your borders is a direct security threat for you.If you think the best way-out is to leave the solution of the crisis to Russia '' you are deeply mistaken. Its appetite does not stop at the Polish-Ukrainian border.Euromaidan's fate will have serious international repercussions. It's not only about Ukraine. It's about you, the EU, and your ability to defend values the Union stands for. Or at least used to.To me, like for the majority of Ukraine's protesters, it seems quite ironic and paradoxical, that non-EU citizens have to remind the EU of this. Nevertheless, it is for the Ukrainians, not the EU, the USA, Russia or any other actor to decide the country's future. The war against the criminals and murderers in power has to be won by Ukraine's society '' people, who are more mature in a political and societal sense than their so-called political elite. ''Freedom or Death'' is what you hear now on the streets of Ukraine.
- Olesia OgryzkoYou may call it a man-made disaster, or the best creation of humanity. You might want to destroy it, or award it with the Nobel Peace Prize. Tastes on the EU differ, but what does not is the strong interest for it. At least in this blog. What is mine?I, myself, am a ''Euro-traveler''. I took up this profession and full-time job when I was 6 months old. Back then, this Ukrainian baby was already a convinced ardent Europhile wanting to discover the European family of nations '' the civilization my country naturally belongs to.
- Hence, having spent half of my life in various EU countries, and the other half in a non-EU state, I try to highlight topics on this blog from a combined perspective. Along with International Relations and European Public Affairs, which I have as my educational background, my interests also encompass energy, geopolitics and democracy promotion.
- Feel free to criticize, compliment or simply contact me in Ukrainian, German, English, Russian, Spanish or Dutch at lesia@europeanpublicaffairs.eu.
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- TIMING-Clashes in Ukraine signal escalation of US-EU intervention - World Socialist Web Site
- By Oliver Campbell and Peter Symonds19 February 2014Violent clashes between police and protesters yesterday in Kiev mark an escalation of the campaign by the pro-Western opposition to oust Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The opposition, backed by the United States and German governments, aims to install a far-right regime committed to integrating Ukraine within the European Union and implementing its demands for austerity measures.
- Bloody street-fighting erupted when opposition protesters marched on parliament, demanding it pass a planned law to decrease Yanukovych's powers. When the vote went against them, the opposition supporters attacked the headquarters of the ruling Party of the Regions. Clashes between police and protesters erupted and spread throughout the city.
- The unrest has been the bloodiest since the pro-EU protests began some three months ago. Latest reports indicate that at least 19 people have been killed, including police and protesters. Hundreds, possibly thousands, have been injured, at least 200 people seriously.
- The opposition demonstrators, many of whom are affiliated with the neo-fascist Svoboda party and other extreme right-wing groups, appeared to be heavily armed. One of the fascistic organisations involved, Right Sector, called for all those with arms to take them to Independence Square and engage in combat with the authorities.
- Media footage shows anti-government protesters, some wearing helmets emblazoned with fascist symbols, firing rifles and small arms at riot police, as well as throwing molotov cocktails. During the storming of the Party of Regions headquarters, they killed at least one office worker. Several interior troops were reportedly taken as ''prisoners'' before government forces secured control of the building.
- Opposition leaders called on supporters to continue fighting. Vitali Klitschko, head of the UDAR (Punch) party, which has close ties to the German state, demagogically told demonstrators: ''We will not leave here. This is an island of freedom. We will defend it.'' Violent clashes continued throughout the night and early Wednesday morning, paralysing the city.
- The bloody scenes in Kiev are the direct result of the campaign waged by the US and Germany to oust Yanukovych after he rejected proposals for closer EU ties and signed a deal with Russia accepting financial aid. In their efforts to prise Ukraine out of Moscow's orbit and isolate Russia, the Washington and Berlin are openly working with the extreme-right parties.
- Top US State Department official Victoria Nuland has repeatedly visited opposition leaders in Ukraine, including the head of the Svoboda party, Oleh Tyahnybok. Leaked phone calls between Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, exposed the extent of Washington's micro-management of opposition leaders as it seeks to install a new client regime. (See: ''Leaked phone call on Ukraine lays bare Washington's gangsterism'')
- The protests and violence in Kiev followed a meeting in Berlin on Monday in which opposition leaders Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on top German officials, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, for greater support, including to press for sanctions on the Ukrainian government.
- Also on Monday, Russia agreed to purchase $2 billion in Ukrainian bonds, giving the Yanukovych regime a financial breathing space that would have been unwelcome in opposition circles as well as in Berlin and Washington.
- In the wake of the clashes in Kiev, the US, Germany and the EU immediately blamed Yanukovych and ratcheted up the pressure for his removal. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared: ''Whoever is responsible for decisions that may lead to further bloodshed in the center of Kiev and other parts of Ukraine should expect Europe to reconsider its previous reservation on imposing sanctions on individuals.''
- According to a White House statement, Vice President Joe Biden contacted the Ukrainian regime to express Washington's ''grave concern'' over the violence, and ''made clear that the United States condemns violence by any side, but that the government bears special responsibility to de-escalate the situation.''
- The US and German responses signal an intensification of the imperialist drive to install a puppet regime in Kiev and transform the Ukraine into a bastion for further provocations and intrigues aimed at dismembering Russia itself and reducing it to a dependent semi-colony. The promotion of right-wing Ukrainian nationalists is part of a broader strategy of exploiting the many ethnic, national and religious divisions within the former Soviet Union to secure dominance over the region.
- The subordination of Ukraine is one of the longstanding geo-strategic ambitions of German imperialism, stretching back to World War I. Germany's current aggressive policy toward Ukraine coincides with the revival of German militarism. At the recent Munich Security Conference, top German officials stated that the time had come when Berlin had to abandon the post-war restraints and restrictions on the use of military force.
- US imperialism has pursued a relentless strategy of weakening and isolating Russia for more than two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Starting with the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Washington has encouraged and supported so-called colour revolutions in the former Soviet republics. It invaded Afghanistan to establish a base of operations into Central Asia and sought, through sanctions and military threats, to carry out regime-change in Iran and Syria, Russia's closest allies in the Middle East.
- The ability of imperialism to intervene aggressively is the direct outcome of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the restoration of capitalism and the opening up of the former Soviet republics to the plunder of global transnational corporations. In opposing the present imperialist intervention in Ukraine, no political support should be given to Yanukovych or Russian President Vladimir Putin, who represent corrupt, grasping oligarchs who have enriched themselves at the expense of the working class.
- The only social force capable of opposing the imperialist intrigues, military threats and drive to war is the international working class. The starting point is a rejection of all forms of nationalism and a political fight to unify workers in Ukraine with their class brothers and sisters throughout Europe, Russia and internationally. That requires a common struggle to abolish the bankrupt profit system and establish a planned world economy to meet the pressing social needs of all.
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- MERKEL'S DIRTY GAME IN UKRAINE
- By Hannes HOFBAUER When Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel asks the public to give space for more negotiations between the Ukrainian president and the opposition leaders before deciding on possible sanctions, everybody understands well that she thinks about sanctions against President Viktor Yanukovych and his surroundings and not against the militant right in the streets of Kyiv. How could it be otherwise? The well-known foundation of her party, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, made a political figure out of the Germany-situated boxer Vitali Klitschko, thereby supporting his rise as a prominent leader of the opposition. And her former foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, stood clear in the manifestation front against the elected parliament and presidency together with Oleh Tyahnybok from the far right Swoboda>>.
- This alliance is not a new one. Let us have a look at the long historic ties between representatives of the Western core countries and Ukrainian rightists and/or secessionists. We do not want to go back as far into history to stress the year 1772, when Vienna as the centre of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation>> took control over parts of the vanishing Polish State subordinating the multi-ethnic (mainly Polish and Ukrainian) population into Habsburg Galicia. Nor do we want to focus on the cultural intervention under the Polish king Sigismund III., who laid the path for orthodox Christians to unify with Latin Christianity by the Union of Brest>> in the year 1594/95. In the second half of the 18th century this grabbing for orthodox souls was renewed under the flag of the Viennese ruler Maria Theresa. The implementation of Greco-Catholic bishops and dioceses brought millions of Ukrainians under the religious jurisdiction of Rome, without pushing them towards the Latin liturgy. The historic split between the Ukrainian West and East/South is rooted in this fact.Today's opposition on the Majdan square identifies itself with much more dangerous historic figures. And Berlin, Vienna, and Brussels, not to speak of Warsaw, back them. The far right is dominating the streets in the Ukrainian capital. They openly celebrate fascist heroes of the 1930ies and 1940ies. And the West applauds. Some may call it an irony, that the official Germany and the official European Union take every opportunity to discredit and fight so-called right-wing populists at home and at the same time support the Ukrainian coalition of the three oppositional groups and the radical blocks within the manifestations. We do not consider this as an irony, but as a strategic alliance with historical roots. Since generations anti-Russian Ukrainians have been instrumentalized by Western politics, without reaching their own national goals, however.Just have a look at Oleh Tyahnybok's Swoboda>>, who supported the orange Viktor Yushchenko and his presidential campaigns since 2001. Both '' and many others of the oppositional movement '' understand themselves and their fight in the tradition of Stepan Bandera, one of the main figures of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists>> (OUN). Bandera was freed from prison in September 1939, when the Wehrmacht overran Poland. Under Polish jurisdiction he had been sentenced to death '' later to livelong prison '' for murdering the Polish Minister of interior, Bronislaw Pieracki, in 1934. After German expansion into Polish Galicia, which had been incorporated into the Soviet Union according to the Hitler-Stalin-Pact in 1939, Bandera got logistic support from Berlin, and his OUN formed the fore-front against the Red Army. In this function they massacred Hundreds of Jews and Communists on the 30th of June 1941 in Lvov under the shelter of the Wehrmacht.Stepan Bandera and his Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists>> (OUN), which was '' by the way '' founded in Vienna in February 1929, nowadays are present all over the Western parts of Ukraine, mainly those, which had belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1772 and 1918. Monuments of Bandera can be found in more than 25 cities, such as Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and many others. Eight towns honour him with honorary citizen titles, and many streets are named after him. On the 22nd of January 2010, the Day of the Unity of Ukraine>>, President Viktor Yushchenko awarded Bandera the title Hero of Ukraine>>. At the end, Bandera himself turned out to be a tragic hero>>. His project of an independent Ukrainian state failed. Berlin opposed his idea. The vision of a Nazi->>Grossraum>> did not contain an independent statehood. Bandera fell in Germany's disgrace and was put to prison in 1942. Only when the front moved westward, Hitler again remembered Bandera's anti-Russian and anti-Soviet (not to speak of his anti-Polish) qualities and freed him in September 1944. Bandera for the second time collaborated with the Nazis. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army>>, founded in October 1942 by the radical part of the OUN-B, fulfilled their duty against Moscow far beyond the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union took rule over the whole Ukraine. After Nazi-Germany surrendered, Bandera's fighters oozed behind the lines of the Red Army and started a decade of dirty war. London and Washington helped them by air-dropping fighters against the Reds. Bandera himself fled to Munich, where he lived under a wrong name '' apparently backed by German authorities '' till a KGB-agent killed him in front of his apartment in October 1959.From the All-Ukrainian Union Swoboda>> to Yushchenko and the streets of Kyiv, Stepan Bandera is the historic model for their vision of the Ukrainian future. An often used slogan in the period of the 1990s regarding the Eastern European transformation of the post-Soviet states as a return to Europe>> implies an unwanted truth: After the Soviet period Ukraine has returned to the situation before 1945. In this backward sense the perception of Bandera as a hero is a logic consequence.Swoboda>>, the radical right of the Ukrainian parliamentary spectrum and one of the dominating forces in the streets of Kyiv, carries the banner of this heritage. Founded in 1991 under the name Social-National Party of Ukraine>>, it earned its first spores during the fight for churches. In 1992 and 1993 Western Ukrainian Greco-Catholics, who had been illegal during Soviet times, tried to take over churches from the Moscow patriarchy, thereby attacking and even killing orthodox priests. The Social-Nationalists were on the fore-front in this bloody fight, ideologically backed by the Viennese foundation Pro Oriente>>. This catholic organization officially promotes good relations between all Christian churches, well understood under the umbrella of the Roman pope, proselytist offers included.Atheists (and communists) are forbidden to take Swoboda>>-membership, as the homepage of the party openly declares. Its perception of history defines the years between 1918 and 1991 as a time of occupation by Bolshevist Russia>>, although the Western provinces of today's Ukraine were under Polish rule in the inter-war-period. The ideological position is undoubtedly right, anti-Russian, anti-orthodox and anti-Communist.History does not repeat itself. What nevertheless seems to be a repetition is the functionalization of radical anti-Russian, right-wing movements for Western geopolitical and economic interests. Since the Ukrainian President Yanukovych refused to sign the so-called Association Agreement with the European Union on the Vilnius summit in November 2013, Brussels puts new pressure on Kyiv; and therefore uses old alliances.The exploitation of radical right-wing local elements for Western interests can also be seen in other cases in contemporary history. Just remember the breaking apart of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, when Berlin and Brussels '' later with the help of Washington '' dynamized inner conflicts to civil war and foreign intervention. Without any shame fundamentalist Islamists in Bosnia and descendants of fascists in Croatia were used to blast the multinational Yugoslavia into pieces. The American special emissary for the Balkans at the time, Richard Holbrooke, justified these alliances in his memoirs To end a War>>, naming his partners our chain dogs>>. They were necessary to get rid of the enemy, to get rid of Serbian's Slobodan Milosevic, he argued und continued to answer critics: This is not the time for hyposensitivity>>, but later on we should try to control them>>. The current Ukrainian scenario looks spooky similar. The West is well aware of using fascists, who would not be tolerated in his own sphere, to manage a regime-change in Kyiv'... Only afterwards Berlin, Brussels and Washington will try to get rid of their rightist chain dogs>>. If this should fail, Europe could arrange with fascism. It would not be for the first time.Yanukovych seems to be conceded a last chance by Brussels to give up political leadership in exchange for the recognition of his and his oligarchic family's property by the European Union. This offer somehow already constitutes the first step to discredit the opposition. For the moment no oppositional leader is ready to accept this deal.The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is an initiative of Russophobe Fourth Reich governing its relationship with the post-Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Intended to enslave former Soviet states, it's camouflaged as a venue for discussions of trade, economic strategy, travel agreements, and other issues between EU and its eastern neighbors.Basil Venitis,venitis@gmail.com,http://venitism.blogspot.com,@VenitisStrategically, EaP is an attempt to expand Russophobe EU's sphere of influence in the quest for oil. For example, EU puts severe pressure on EaP countries to not recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This is not promoting democracy, but blackmail. It's about pulling countries from the positions they want to take as sovereign states. EaP countries should join the Eurasian Union and forget about Russophobe EU. Any kind of association and signing a deeper and more comprehensive fair trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine would be a kind of economic suicide for Ukrainian side. Thepasteconomic conflict between Russia and Ukrainewas a clear proof that Ukraine's economy is very closely connected to Russia. These are the ties that have remained from the Soviet times.Ukraine is a part of the post-Soviet economic area which is now integrating into the Eurasian bloc. EU is not capable of compensating all the financial losses that Ukraine would encounter in case of closer cooperation with EU. Even the opposition, if it comes to power, wouldn't be ready to sign free trade agreement withEU,if it studies the possible results of such an agreement, as well as of the association agreement. This pro-European rhetoric aims at causing internal crisis and early elections.American Senator John McCain promotes EaP.RussophobeMcCain is a Cold War throwback and someone who remains mentally-unbalanced between flashbacks from a prisoner of war cell in Hanoi and to present-day reality.Enslaving a country to Fourth Reich is very bad for its economy and liberty of people. Just see how EU destroyed Greece and how Greeks lost their freedom.
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- Kiev Is Burning. This Is Happening Right Now. Livestream Of The Scene Here. | Thought Catalog
- Thousands of Ukrainian government police armed with stun grenades and water cannons attacked an opposition camp today in an attempt to dislodge the protesters. The result is 9 confirmed dead, 2 policemen and 7 opposition members, and large fires in Kiev which seem generally under control at this time. The Associated Press reports:
- The police dismantled some of the barricades on the perimeter of Independence Square, and many of the protest tents were set on fire. But the 20,000 demonstrators fought back, armed with rocks, bats and fire bombs, and singing the Ukrainian national anthem.
- Related ThoughtI Am A Ukrainian, This Needs To Go ViralOpposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged the protesters to defend the camp.
- ''We will not go anywhere from here,'' Klitschko told the crowd, speaking from a stage in the square as fires burned around him, releasing huge plumes of smoke into the night sky. ''This is an island of freedom and we will defend it,'' he said.
- In addition to the fighting in the streets of Kiev, there is at least one report that protesters set the police station on fire in the city of Ternopli in retaliation.
- Here is the best news summary of what's happening and below is the livestream from Espreso TV.
- Tagged20 Somethings, Authoritarian, Inspirational, Kiev, News, Olympics, Protests, Russia, Sochi, Ukraine, World Events
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- Violent clashes in Ukraine leave 9 dead
- KIEV, Ukraine: Ukraine's political crisis escalated sharply Tuesday, with at least nine people reported killed and scores injured in violent, often fiery battles between anti-government demonstrators and police in Kiev.
- The clashes outside parliament erupted after the opposition accused the government of ignoring its demands even after nearly three months of protests that have paralyzed the capital. It was the worst violence since the protests began in late November.
- As darkness fell, opposition leaders warned that security forces may be preparing to clear a sprawling protest tent camp on Kiev's Independence Square. Law enforcement agencies vowed to bring order to the streets and shut down subway stations in the capital.
- Yet an evening deadline set by the authorities to end street clashes passed and there was no immediate action to clear the camp.
- Thousands of protesters streamed to the square to defend the camp, where Orthodox priests prayed for peace.
- "We see that this regime again has begun shooting people; they want to sink Ukraine in blood. We will not give in to a single provocation," opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the protesters. "We will not take one step back from this square. We have nowhere to retreat to. Ukraine is behind us, Ukraine's future is behind us."
- Olha Bilyk, spokeswoman for the Kiev city police, told The Associated Press that two policemen were killed, likely by gunshot wounds, in Tuesday's clashes and seven civilians died, including three who were shot.
- Shouting "Shame!" thousands of angry protesters hurled stones at police and set trucks blocking their way on fire. Riot police retaliated with stun grenades and fired what appeared to be small metal balls, as smoke from burning tires and vehicles billowed over Kiev.
- The clashes dimmed hopes for an imminent solution to the political crisis - and tensions also soared following new steps by Russia and the European Union to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.
- The protests began in November after President Viktor Yanukovych froze ties with the EU in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia, but the political maneuvering continued and Moscow later suspended its payments. On Monday, however, while opposition leaders were meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia offered a fresh infusion of the billions of dollars that Ukraine needs to keep its ailing economy afloat.
- U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Payatt called for dialogue, but also threatened both sides with sanctions.
- "We believe Ukraine's crisis can still be solved via dialogue, but those on both sides who fuel violence will open themselves to sanctions," Payatt said on Twitter.
- MSM Distracts with Clooney at Whitehouse and SHOE BOMBS
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- Report: Detained Venezuelan Protesters Were Beaten Repeatedly, Raped with Rifles
- by Frances Martel19 Feb 2014, 1:42 PM PDTpost a comment21-year-old Juan Manuel Carrasco and 25-year-old Jorge Luis Le"n relived their detention to Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Carrasco, a Spanish citizen, is seeking to bring his abuses to court there along with Le"n because, in the words of their attorney, "our justice system is crap."
- Carrasco and Le"n were detained in the city of Valencia during the protests and held in custody between 55 and 60 hours. They were both repeatedly beaten, so much so, says Le"n, that "I pretended I was dead so they would take me to the morgue. To make sure I wasn't dead, they poked me in the anus with a bayonet, and when I jumped, they kicked me."
- Le"n also notes that upon the arrival of the head of the Tocuyito National Guard, the guards allegedly directed a dog to attack them, shouting, "Bite them in the neck!" The dog, Le"n notes, merely licked their wounds. He also told El Mundo that the guards "played soccer" with the two prisoners: "They would kick us in the back and yell 'gol!'"
- Carrasco's account begins to differ after the guards allegedly grew tired of these antics. Carrasco was separated from Le"n and the other prisoners, which the latter thought indicated he would for sure be executed. Instead, Carrasco says, he was raped. In the graphic account Carrasco gave to the judge, he says, "They dropped my pants and stuck the barrel of a rifle in my anus." Carrasco says he lost consciousness three times during the episode, but each time was slapped in the face so hard he came back to his senses.
- He alleges that the guards who raped him were not Venezuelan, but Cuban: "I could tell from their accents." The regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicols Maduro has close ties to the oldest standing communist tyranny in the Americas, with Maduro making frequent visits to Cuban premier Raºl Castro and his allegedly still alive older brother, Fidel. Venezuelan protesters often remark that they are "a Cuban colony" now and hope to regain independence from the Castro regime.
- Despite the horrific, near-North Korea levels of abuse suffered by the two protesters, they tell the newspaper that there seemed to be a logical enough reason for the abuse, and that they might not be the only victims: the soldiers holding them in custody had not slept for 25 hours, they were told, and one guard complained that he was scheduled to be married that day, but the protests had forced him to come into work.
- Venezuelan authorities have detained an unknown number of protesters and opposition members in the name of peace in the country, and yesterday detained the leader of the "Popular Will" opposition party, Leopoldo L"pez, currently the most high-profile political prisoner in the country. L"pez is being held on murder and terrorism charges for the deaths of the protesters in the February 12 rally, though witnesses agree the shootings were perpetrated by assassins potentially working for the government. Adding to the obviously political nature of the arrest, protests today in solidarity with L"pez resulted in yet another death, despite his detention: 22-year-old beauty queen Genesis Carmona.
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- Hugo Chvez - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Hugo Rafael Chvez Fras (Spanish pronunciation: [ËuÉ£o rafaËel ËtÊaβes Ëfɾi.as]; 28 July 1954 '' 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelanpolitician and the President of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. He was the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when it merged with several other parties to form the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which he led until 2012.
- Following Chavismo, his own political ideology of Bolivarianism and Socialism of the 21st Century, he focused on implementing socialist reforms in the country as a part of a social project known as the Bolivarian Revolution. He implemented the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution, participatory democratic councils, the nationalization of several key industries, and increased government funding of health care and education and made significant reductions in poverty with oil revenues.[1][2] The Bolivarian Missions have entailed the construction of thousands of free medical clinics for the poor,[3] the institution of educational campaigns that have reportedly made more than one million adult Venezuelans literate,[4] and the enactment of food[5] and housing subsidies.[6]
- Born into a working-class family in Sabaneta, Barinas, Chvez became a career military officer, and after becoming dissatisfied with the Venezuelan political system, he founded the secretive Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200) in the early 1980s to work towards overthrowing it. Chvez led the MBR-200 in an unsuccessful coup d'(C)tat against the Democratic Action government of President Carlos Andr(C)s P(C)rez in 1992, for which he was imprisoned. Released from prison after two years, he founded a socialist political party, the Fifth Republic Movement, and was elected president of Venezuela in 1998. He was re-elected in 2000. During his second presidential term, he introduced the system of Bolivarian Missions, Communal Councils, and worker-managed cooperatives, as well as a program of land reform, while also nationalizing various key industries. He was re-elected in 2006 with over 60% of the vote. On 7 October 2012, Chvez won his country's presidential election for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles, and was elected for another six-year term.[7]
- Closely aligning himself with the communist governments of Fidel and then Raºl Castro in Cuba and the socialist governments of Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, his presidency was seen as a part of the socialist "pink tide" sweeping Latin America. Along with these governments, Chvez described his policies as anti-imperialist, being a prominent adversary of the United States's foreign policy as well as a vocal critic of US-supported neoliberalism and laissez-fairecapitalism.[8] He supported Latin American and Caribbean cooperation and was instrumental in setting up the pan-regional Union of South American Nations, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, the Bank of the South, and the regional television network TeleSur. Chvez was a highly controversial and divisive figure both at home and abroad. On occasion he used undiplomatic language towards other world leaders, having compared US president George W. Bush to a donkey[9] and the devil.[10]
- After winning the October 2012 presidential election, he was to have been sworn in on 10 January 2013, but the National Assembly of Venezuela agreed to postpone the inauguration to allow him time to recover from medical treatment in Cuba,[11] resulting from a return of the cancer that was originally diagnosed in June 2011. Chvez died in Caracas on 5 March 2013 at the age of 58.[12][13]
- Chvez used habilitating laws, which allowed him to perform functions normally reserved to the Venezuelan Congress, on four occasions: starting in 1999 for 6 months, in 2000 for 12, in 2007 for 18 and in 2010 for 12 months.[14] The use of such habilitating laws was heavily criticized by the opposition.[15]
- Early life[edit]Childhood[edit]Hugo Chvez was born on 28 July 1954 in his paternal grandmother Rosa In(C)z Chvez's home, a modest three-room house located in the rural village Sabaneta, Barinas State. The Chvez family were of Amerindian, Afro-Venezuelan, and Spanish descent.[16] His parents, Hugo de los Reyes Chvez and Elena Fras de Chvez, were working-lower middle class schoolteachers who lived in the small village of Los Rastrojos.
- Hugo was born the second of seven children, including their eldest, Adn Chvez.[17][18] The couple lived in poverty, leading them to send Hugo and Adn to live with their grandmother Rosa,[19] whom Hugo later described as being "a pure human being... pure love, pure kindness."[20] She was a devout Roman Catholic, and Hugo was an altar boy at a local church.[21] Hugo described his childhood as "poor...very happy", and experienced "humility, poverty, pain, sometimes not having anything to eat", and "the injustices of this world."[22]
- Attending the Julin Pino Elementary School, Chvez's hobbies included drawing, painting, baseball and history. He was particularly interested in the 19th-century federalist general Ezequiel Zamora, in whose army his own great-great-grandfather had served.[23][24] In the mid-1960s, Hugo, his brother and their grandmother moved to the city of Barinas so that the boys could attend what was then the only high school in the rural state, the Daniel O'Leary High School.[25]
- Military Academy: 1971''1975[edit]Aged seventeen, Chvez studied at the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences in Caracas. At the Academy, he was a member of the first class that was following a restructured curriculum known as the Andr(C)s Bello Plan. This plan had been instituted by a group of progressive, nationalistic military officers who believed that change was needed within the military. This new curriculum encouraged students to learn not only military routines and tactics but also a wide variety of other topics, and to do so civilian professors were brought in from other universities to give lectures to the military cadets.[26][27][28] Living in Caracas, he saw more of the endemic poverty faced by working class Venezuelans, something that echoed the poverty he had experienced growing up, and he maintained that this experience only made him further committed to achieving social justice.[29][30] He also began to get involved in local activities outside of the military school, playing both baseball and softball with the Criollitos de Venezuela team, progressing with them to the Venezuelan National Baseball Championships. Other hobbies that he undertook at the time included writing numerous poems, stories and theatrical pieces, painting[31] and researching the life and political thought of 19th-century South American revolutionary Sim"n Bolvar.[32] He also became interested in the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara (1928''67) after reading his memoir The Diary of Che Guevara, although he also read books by a wide variety of other figures.[33]
- In 1974, he was selected to be a representative in the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho in Peru, the conflict in which Simon Bolvar's lieutenant, Antonio Jos(C) de Sucre, defeated royalist forces during the Peruvian War of Independence. In Peru, Chvez heard the leftist president, General Juan Velasco Alvarado (1910''1977), speak, and inspired by Velasco's ideas that the military should act in the interests of the working classes when the ruling classes were perceived as corrupt,[34] he "drank up the books [Velasco had written], even memorising some speeches almost completely."[35] Befriending the son of Panamanian President Omar Torrijos (1929''1981), another leftist military general, Chvez subsequently visited Panama, where he met with Torrijos, and was impressed with his land reform program that was designed to benefit the peasants. Being heavily influenced by both Torrijos and Velasco, he saw the potential for military generals to seize control of a government when the civilian authorities were perceived as serving the interests of only the wealthy elites.[34][36] In contrast to military presidents like Torrijos and Velasco however, Chvez became highly critical of Augusto Pinochet, the right-wing general who had recently seized control in Chile with the aid of the American CIA.[37] Chvez later related that "With Torrijos, I became a Torrijist. With Velasco I became a Velasquist. And with Pinochet, I became an anti-Pinochetist."[38] In 1975, Chvez graduated from the military academy, being rated one of the top graduates of the year (eight out of seventy five).[39][40][41]
- Early military career: 1976''1981[edit]I think that from the time I left the academy I was oriented toward a revolutionary movement... The Hugo Chvez who entered there was a kid from the hills, a Ilanero with aspirations of playing professional baseball. Four years later, a second-lieutenant came out who had taken the revolutionary path. Someone who didn't have obligations to anyone, who didn't belong to any movement, who was not enrolled in any party, but who knew very well where I was headed.
- Following his graduation, Chvez was stationed as a communications officer at a counterinsurgency unit in Barinas,[43] although the Marxist-Leninist insurgency which the army was sent to combat had already been eradicated from that state, leaving the unit with much spare time. Chvez himself played in a local baseball team, wrote a column for the local newspaper, organized bingo games and judged at beauty pageants.[44] At one point he found in an abandoned car riddled with bullet holes a stash of Marxist literature that apparently had belonged to insurgents many years before. He went on to read these books, which included titles by such theoreticians as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, but his favourite was a work entitled The Times of Ezequiel Zamora, written about the 19th-century federalist general whom Chvez had admired as a child.[45] These books further convinced Chvez of the need for a leftist government in Venezuela, later remarking that "By the time I was 21 or 22, I made myself a man of the left."[46]
- In 1977, Chvez's unit was transferred to Anzotegui, where they were involved in battling the Red Flag Party, a Marxist-Hoxhaist insurgency group.[47] After intervening to prevent the beating of an alleged insurgent by other soldiers,[48] Chvez began to have his doubts about the army and their methods in using torture.[46] At the same time, he was becoming increasingly critical of the corruption in both the army and in the civilian government, coming to believe that despite the wealth being produced by the country's oil reserves, Venezuela's poor masses were not receiving their share, something he felt to be inherently un-democratic. In doing so, he began to sympathise with the Red Flag Party and their cause, if not their violent methods.[49]
- In 1977, he founded a revolutionary movement within the armed forces, in the hope that he could one day introduce a leftist government to Venezuela: the Venezuelan People's Liberation Army (Ej(C)rcito de Liberaci"n del Pueblo de Venezuela, or ELPV), was a secretive cell within the military that consisted of him and a handful of his fellow soldiers. Although they knew that they wanted a middle way between the right wing policies of the government and the far left position of the Red Flag, they did not have any plans of action for the time being.[48][50][51] Nevertheless, hoping to gain an alliance with civilian leftist groups in Venezuela, Chvez then set about clandestinely meeting various prominent Marxists, including Alfredo Maneiro (the founder of the Radical Cause) and Douglas Bravo, despite having numerous political differences with them.[52][53] At this time, Chvez married a working-class woman named Nancy Colmenares, with whom he would go on to have three children: Rosa Virginia (born September 1978), Maria Gabriela (born March 1980) and Hugo Rafael (born October 1983).[54]
- Later military career and the Bolivarian Revolutionary Army-200: 1982''1991[edit]Five years after his creation of the ELPV, Chvez went on to form a new secretive cell within the military, the Bolivarian Revolutionary Army-200 (EBR-200), later redesignated the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200).[26][55][56] Taking inspiration from three Venezuelans whom Chvez deeply admired, Ezequiel Zamora (1817''1860), Sim"n Bolvar (1783''1830) and Sim"n Rodrguez (1769''1854), these historical figures became known as the "three roots of the tree" of the MBR-200.[57][58] Later describing the group's foundation, Chvez would state that "the Bolivarian movement that was being born did not propose political objectives... Its goals were imminently internal. Its efforts were directed in the first place to studying the military history of Venezuela as a source of a military doctrine of our own, which up to then didn't exist."[59] However, he always hoped that the Bolivarian Movement would become politically dominant, and on his political ideas at the time, remarked that "This tree [of Bolvar, Zamora and Rodrguez] has to be a circumference, it has to accept all kinds of ideas, from the right, from the left, from the ideological ruins of those old capitalist and communist systems."[60] Indeed, Irish political analyst Barry Cannon noted that the early Bolivarian ideology was explicitly capitalist, but that it "was a doctrine in construction, a heterogeneous amalgam of thoughts and ideologies, from universal thought, capitalism, Marxism, but rejecting the neoliberal models currently being imposed in Latin America and the discredited socialist and communist models of the old Soviet Bloc."[61]
- In 1981, Chvez, by now a captain, was assigned to teach at the military academy where he had formerly trained. Here he introduced new students in his so-called "Bolivarian" ideals, and recruited those whom he felt would make good members of the MBR-200, as well as organizing sporting and theatrical events for the students. In his recruiting attempts he was relatively successful, for by the time they had graduated, at least thirty out of 133 cadets had joined it.[62] In 1984 he met a Venezuelan woman of German ancestry named Herma Marksman who was a recently divorced history teacher. Sharing many interests in common, she eventually got involved in Chvez's movement and the two fell in love, having an affair that would last several years.[63][64] Another figure to get involved with the movement was Francisco Arias Crdenas, a soldier particularly interested in liberation theology.[65] Crdenas rose to a significant position within the group, although he came into ideological conflict with Chvez, who believed that they should begin direct military action in order to overthrow the government, something Crdenas thought was reckless.[66]
- However, some senior military officers became suspicious of Chvez after hearing rumours about the MBR-200. Unable to dismiss him legally without proof, they re-assigned him so that he would not be able to gain any more fresh new recruits from the academy. He was sent to take command of the remote barracks at Elorza in Apure State,[67] where he got involved in the local community by organizing social events, and contacted the local indigenous tribal peoples, the Cuiva and Yaruro. Although they were distrustful due to their mistreatment at the hands of the Venezuelan army in previous decades, Chvez gained their trust by joining the expeditions of an anthropologist to meet with them. His experiences with them would later lead him to introduce laws protecting the rights of indigenous tribal peoples when he gained power many years later.[68] While on holiday, he retraced on foot the route taken by his great-grandfather, the revolutionary Pedro P(C)rez Delgado (known as Maisanta), to understand his family history; on that trip, he met a woman who told Chvez how Maisanta had become a local hero by rescuing an abducted girl.[69] In 1988, after being promoted to the rank of major, the high-ranking General Rodrguez Ochoa took a liking to Chvez and employed him to be his assistant at his office in Caracas.[70]
- Operation Zamora: 1992[edit]In 1989, Carlos Andr(C)s P(C)rez (1922''2010), the candidate of the centristDemocratic Action Party, was elected President after promising to oppose the United States government's Washington Consensus and financial policies recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Nevertheless, he opposed neither once he got into office, following instead the neoliberal economic policies supported by the United States and the IMF. He dramatically cut spending, and put prominent men in governmental posts. P(C)rez's policies angered much of the public.[71][72][73] In an attempt to stop the widespread protests and looting that followed his social spending cuts, P(C)rez ordered the violent repression and massacre of protesters, known as El Caracazo, which "according to official figures ... left a balance of 276 dead, numerous injured, several disappeared and heavy material losses. However, this list was invalidated by the subsequent appearance of mass graves", indicating that the official death count was inadequate.[74][75][76] P(C)rez had used both the DISIP political police and the army to orchestrate El Caracazo. Chvez did not participate in the repression because he was then hospitalized with chicken pox, and later condemned the event as "genocide".[77][78]
- Disturbed by the Caracazo, rampant government corruption, the domination of politics by the Venezuelan oligarchy through the Punto Fijo Pact, and what he called "the dictatorship of the IMF", Chvez began preparing for a military coup d'(C)tat,[76][79] known as Operation Zamora.[80] Initially planned for December, Chvez delayed the MBR-200 coup until the early twilight hours of 4 February 1992. On that date, five army units under Chvez's command moved into urban Caracas with the mission of overwhelming key military and communications installations, including the Miraflores presidential palace, the defense ministry, La Carlota military airport and the Military Museum. Chvez's immediate goal was to intercept and take custody of P(C)rez, who was returning to Miraflores from an overseas trip. Despite years of planning, the coup quickly encountered trouble. At the time of the coup, Chvez had the loyalty of less than 10% of Venezuela's military forces,[81] and, because of numerous betrayals, defections, errors, and other unforeseen circumstances, Chvez and a small group of rebels found themselves hiding in the Military Museum, without any means of conveying orders to their network of spies and collaborators spread throughout Venezuela.[82] Furthermore, Chvez's allies were unable to broadcast their prerecorded tapes on the national airwaves, during which Chvez planned to issue a general call for a mass civilian uprising against the P(C)rez government. Finally, Chvez's forces were unable to capture P(C)rez, who managed to escape from them. Fourteen soldiers were killed, and fifty soldiers and some eighty civilians injured during the ensuing violence.[83][84][85]
- Realising that the coup had failed, Chvez gave himself up to the government. On the condition that he called upon the remaining active coup members to cease hostilities, he was allowed to appear on national television, something that he insisted on doing in his military uniform. During this address, he invoked the name of national hero Sim"n Bolvar and declared to the Venezuelan people that "Comrades: unfortunately, for now, the objectives we had set for ourselves were not achieved in the capital city. That is, those of us here in Caracas did not seize power. Where you are, you have performed very well, but now is the time for reflection. New opportunities will arise and the country has to head definitively toward a better future."[86] Many viewers noted that Chvez had remarked that he had failed only "por ahora" (for now),[26][87][88][89][90] and he was immediately catapulted into the national spotlight, with many Venezuelans, particularly those from the poorer sections of society, seeing him as a figure who had stood up against government corruption and kleptocracy.[91][92][93]
- Chvez was arrested and imprisoned at the San Carlos military stockade, where he remained wracked with guilt, feeling responsible for the coup's failure.[94][95] Indeed, pro-Chvez demonstrations that took place outside of San Carlos led to his being transferred to Yare prison soon after.[96] The government meanwhile began a temporary crackdown on media supportive of Chvez and the coup.[97] A further attempted coup against the government occurred in November, which was once more defeated,[79][98] but then led to P(C)rez himself being impeached a year later for malfeasance and misappropriation of funds for illegal activities.[99][100]
- Political rise: 1992''1998[edit]While Chvez and the other senior members of the MBR-200 were in prison, his relationship with Herma Marksman broke up in July 1993.[101] She would subsequently become a critic of Chvez.[102] In 1994, Rafael Caldera (1916''2009) of the centrist National Convergence Party was elected to the presidency, and soon after taking power, freed Chvez and the other imprisoned MBR-200 members as per his pre-election pledge. Caldera had however imposed upon them the condition that they would not return to the military, where they could potentially organise another coup.[103][104] After being mobbed by adoring crowds following his release, Chvez went on a 100-day tour of the country, promoting his Bolivarian cause of social revolution.[105] Now living off a small military pension as well as the donations of his supporters, he continued to financially support his three children and their mother despite divorcing Nancy Colmenares around this period. On his tours around the country, he would meet Marisabel Rodrguez, who would give birth to their daughter shortly before becoming his second wife in 1997.[106][107]
- Travelling around Latin America in search of foreign support for his Bolivarian movement, he visited Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and finally Cuba, where the Communist leader Fidel Castro (1926'') arranged to meet him. After spending several days in one another's company, Chvez and Castro became friends with the former describing the Cuban leader as being like a father to him.[108] Returning to Venezuela, Chvez failed to gain mainstream media attention for his political cause. Instead, he gained publicity from small, local-based newspapers and media outlets.[109] As a part of his condemnation of the ruling class, Chvez became critical of President Caldera, whose neoliberal economic policies had caused inflation and who had both suspended constitutional guarantees and arrested a number of Chvez's supporters.[110] According to the United Nations, by 1997 the per capita income for Venezuelan citizens had fallen to US$ 2,858 from US$ 5,192 in 1990, while poverty levels had increased by 17.65% since 1980, and homicide and other crime rates had more than doubled since 1986, particularly in Caracas.[111] Coupled with this drop in the standard of living, widespread dissatisfaction with the representative democratic system in Venezuela had "led to gaps emerging between rulers and ruled which favoured the emergence of a populist leader".[112]
- A debate soon developed in the Bolivarian movement as to whether it should try to take power in elections or whether it should instead continue to believe that military action was the only effective way of bringing about political change. Chvez was a keen proponent of the latter view, believing that the oligarchy would never allow him and his supporters to win an election,[113] while Francisco Arias Crdenas instead insisted that they take part in the representative democratic process. Crdenas himself proved his point when, after joining the Radical Cause socialist party, he won the December 1995 election to become governor of the oil-rich Zulia State.[114] Subsequently changing his opinion on the issue, Chvez and his supporters in the Bolivarian movement decided to found their own political party, the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR '' Movimiento Quinta Repºblica) in July 1997 in order to support Chvez's candidature in the Venezuelan presidential election, 1998.[83][115][116][117]
- 1998 election[edit]The election of a leftist president in Venezuela in 1998 foreshadowed what would, in the following seven years, become a wave of successes for left-leaning presidential candidates in Latin America... Luiz Incio "Lula" da Silva in Brazil in October 2002, then Lucio Guti(C)rrez in Ecuador in January 2003, N(C)stor Kirchner in Argentina in May 2003, Tabar(C) Vzquez in Uruguay in October 2004, Evo Morales in Bolivia in December 2005, Rafael Correa in Ecuador in November 2006, and then Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, also in November 2006. While some of these moderated [towards the centre or centre-right] significantly shortly after taking office, such as Guti(C)rrez and da Silva, they represent a wave of left-of-center leaders whose election came as a bit of a surprise given the... disorientation within the left around the world.
- Gregory Wilpert, German-American political analyst (2007).[118]At the start of the election run-up, most polls gave Irene Sez, then-mayor of Caracas' richest district, Chacao, the lead. Although an independent candidate, she had the backing of one of Venezuela's two primary political parties, Copei.[119] In opposition to her right-wing and pro-establishment views, Chvez and his followers described their aim as "laying the foundations of a new republic" to replace the existing one, which they cast as "party-dominated"; the current constitution, they argued, was no more than the "legal-political embodiment of puntofijismo", the country's traditional two-party patronage system.[120] This revolutionary rhetoric gained Chvez and the MVR support from a number of other leftist parties, including the Patria Para Todos (Motherland for All), the Partido Comunist Venezolano (Venezeuelan Communist Party) and the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement for Socialism), which together fashioned a political union supporting his candidacy called the Polo Patriotic (Patriotic Pole).[117][121]
- Chvez's promises of widespread social and economic reforms won the trust and favor of a primarily poor and working class following. By May 1998, Chvez's support had risen to 30% in polls, and by August he was registering 39%.[122] Much of his support came from his 'strong man' populist image and charismatic appeal.[123] This rise in popularity worried Chvez's opponents, with a part of the media proceeding to attack him with a series of allegations, which included the claim '' which he dismissed as ridiculous '' that he was a cannibal who ate children.[124] With his support increasing, and Sez's decreasing, both the main two political parties, Copei and Democratic Action, put their support behind Henrique Salas R¶mer, a Yale University-educated economist who represented the Project Venezuela party.[125]
- Chvez won the election with 56.20% of the vote. Salas R¶mer came second, with 39.97%, while the other candidates, including Irene Sez and Alfaro Ucero, gained only tiny proportions of the vote.[100][126] Academic analysis of the election showed that Chvez's support had come primarily from the country's poor and the "disenchanted middle class", whose standard of living had decreased rapidly in the previous decade,[127] although at the same time much of the middle and upper class vote had instead gone to Salas R¶mer.[128] Following the announcement of his victory, Chvez gave a speech in which he declared that "The resurrection of Venezuela has begun, and nothing and no one can stop it."[126]
- Presidency: 1999''2013[edit]First presidential term: 2 February 1999 '' 10 January 2001[edit]Chvez's presidential inauguration took place on February 2, 1999, and during the usual presidential oath he deviated from the prescribed words to proclaim that "I swear before my people that upon this moribund constitution I will drive forth the necessary democratic transformations so that the new republic will have a Magna Carta befitting these new times."[129][130] He subsequently set about appointing new figures to a number of government posts, including promoting various leftist allies to key positions; he for instance gave one of the founders of MBR, Jesºs Urdaneta, the position in charge of the secret police; and made one of the 1992 coup leaders, Hernn Gr¼ber 'dreman, governor of the Federal District of Caracas.[131] Chvez also appointed some conservative, centrist and centre-right figures to government positions as well, reappointing Caldera's economy minister Maritza Izaquirre to that same position and also appointing the businessman Roberto Mandini to be president of the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.[132] His critics referred to this group of government officials as the "Boliburguesa" or "Bolivarian bourgeoisie",[133][134] and highlighted the fact that it "included few people with experience in public administration."[129] He also made several alterations to his presidential privileges, scrapping the presidential limousine, giving away his entire presidential wage of $1,200 a month to a scholarship fund,[135] and selling off many of the government-owned airplanes, although alternately many of his critics accused him of excessive personal expenses for himself, his family and friends.[136] The involvement of a number of his immediate family members in Venezuelan politics has also led to accusations of nepotism, something Chvez denies.[137] Meanwhile, in June 2000 he separated from his wife Marisabel, and their divorce was finalised in January 2004.[138]
- Although he publicly used strong revolutionary rhetoric from the beginning of his presidency, the Chvez government's initial policies were moderate, capitalist and centre-left, having much in common with those of contemporary Latin American leftists like Brazil's president Lula da Silva.[139][140] Chvez initially believed that capitalism was still a valid economic model for Venezuela, but that it would have to be Rhenish capitalism that would be followed rather than the neoliberalism which had been implemented under former governments with the encouragement of the United States.[141] He followed the economic guidelines recommended by the International Monetary Fund and continued to encourage foreign corporations to invest in Venezuela,[142] even visiting the New York Stock Exchange in the United States in an attempt to convince wealthy investors to do so.[143][144] To increase his visibility abroad, Chvez spent fifty-two days of his first year as president outside of Venezuela, travelling the world meeting various national leaders, such as American President Bill Clinton, Governor of Texas George W. Bush and Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin.[145]
- While he was remaining fiscally conservative, he introduced measures in an attempt to alleviate the poverty of the Venezuelan working class. Chvez immediately set into motion a social welfare program called Plan Bolvar 2000, which he organised to begin on 27 February 1999, the tenth anniversary of the Caracazo massacre. Costing $113,000,000, Plan Bolvar 2000 involved 70,000 army officers going out into the streets of Venezuela where they would repair roads and hospitals, offer free medical care and vaccinations, and sell food at cheap prices.[146][147][148] Chvez himself described the Plan by saying that "Ten years ago we came to massacre the people. Now we are going to fill them with love. Go and comb the land, search out and destroy poverty and death. We are going to fill them with love instead of lead."[149] In order to explain his latest thoughts and plans to the Venezuelan people, in May he also launched his own Sunday morning radio show, Al" Presidente (Hello, President), on the state radio network, as well as a Thursday night television show, De Frente con el Presidente (Face to Face with the President). He followed this with his own newspaper, El Correo del Presidente (The President's Post), founded in July, for which he acted as editor-in-chief, but which was later shut amidst accusations of corruption in its management.[150] In his television and radio shows, he answered calls from citizens, discussed his latest policies, sang songs and told jokes, making it unique not only in Latin America but the entire world.[151]
- Constitutional reform[edit]Chvez then called for a public referendum '' something virtually unknown in Venezuela at the time '' which he hoped would support his plans to form a constitutional assembly, composed of representatives from across Venezuela, as well as from indigenous tribal groups, which would be able to rewrite the nation's constitution. The referendum went ahead on 25 April 1999, and was an overwhelming success for Chvez, with 88% of voters supporting the proposal.[152][153]
- Following this, Chvez called for an election to take place on 25 July, in which the members of the constitutional assembly would be voted into power.[154] Of the 1,171 candidates standing for election to the assembly, over 900 of them were opponents of Chvez, but despite this, his supporters won another overwhelming electoral victory, taking 125 seats (95% of the total), including all of those belonging to indigenous tribal groups, whereas the opposition were voted into only 6 seats.[152][155][156] On 12 August 1999, the new constitutional assembly voted to give themselves the power to abolish government institutions and to dismiss officials who were perceived as being corrupt or operating only in their own interests. While supporters of the move believed that it could force reforms that had been blocked by corrupt politicians and judicial authorities for years, many opponents of the Chvez regime argued that it gave Chvez and the Bolivarians too much power at the expense of their political opponents, and was therefore dictatorial.[157][158]
- The elected members of the constituent assembly put together a new constitution, and a referendum on the issue of whether to adopt it was held in December 1999; the referendum saw an abstention vote of over 50%, although amongst those voting, 72% approved the new constitution's adoption.[156][159][160] The new constitution included increased protections for indigenous peoples and women, and established the rights of the public to education, housing, healthcare and food. It added new environmental protections, and increased requirements for government transparency. It increased the presidential term from five to six years, allowed people to recall presidents by referendum, and added a new presidential two-term limit. It converted the bicameral legislature, a Congress with both a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, into a unicameral one comprising only a National Assembly.[161][162][163][164] The constitution gave greater powers to the president, not only by extending their term but also by giving them the power to legislate on citizen rights as well as the economic and financial matters that they were formerly unable to do.[165] It also gave the military a role in the government by providing it with the mandated role of ensuring public order and aiding national development, something it had been expressely forbidden from doing under the former constitution.[165] As a part of the new constitution, the country, which was then officially known as the Republic of Venezuela, was renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Repºblica Bolivariana de Venezuela) at Chvez's request, thereby reflecting the government's ideology of Bolivarianism and the influence of Sim"n Bolvar on the nation as a whole.[155][156]
- Second presidential term: 10 January 2001 '' 10 January 2007[edit]Under the new constitution, it was legally required that new elections be held in order to re-legitimize the government and president. This presidential election in July 2000 would be a part of a greater "megaelection", the first time in the country's history that the president, governors, national and regional congressmen, mayors and councilmen would be voted for on the same day.[166][167][168] For the position of president, Chvez's closest challenger proved to be his former friend and co-conspirator in the 1992 coup, Francisco Arias Crdenas, who since becoming governor of Zulia state had turned towards the political centre and begun to denounce Chvez as autocratic.[169] Although some of his supporters feared that he had alienated those in the middle class and the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy who had formerly supported him, Chvez was re-elected with 59.76% of the vote (the equivalent of 3,757,000 people), a larger majority than his 1998 electoral victory,[170][171] again primarily receiving his support from the poorer sectors of Venezuelan society.[172]
- That year, Chvez helped to further cement his geopolitical and ideological ties with the Cuban government of Fidel Castro by signing an agreement under which Venezuela would supply Cuba with 53,000 barrels of oil per day at preferential rates, in return receiving 20,000 trained Cuban medics and educators. In the ensuing decade, this would be increased to 90,000 barrels a day (in exchange for 40,000 Cuban medics and teachers), dramatically aiding the Caribbean island's economy and standard of living after its "Special Period" of the 1990s.[173] However, Venezuela's growing alliance with Cuba came at the same time as a deteriorating relationship with the United States: in late 2001, just after the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in retaliation for the 11 September attacks against the U.S. by Islamist militants, Chvez showed pictures of Afghan children killed in a bomb attack on his television show. He commented that "They are not to blame for the terrorism of Osama Bin Laden or anyone else", and called on the American government to end "the massacre of the innocents. Terrorism cannot be fought with terrorism." The U.S. government responded negatively to the comments, which were picked up by the media worldwide.[174]
- Meanwhile, the 2000 elections had led to Chvez's supporters gaining 101 out of 165 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, and so in November 2001 they voted to allow him to pass 49 social and economic decrees.[175][176] This move antagonized the opposition movement particularly strongly.[168]
- At the start of the 21st century, Venezuela was the world's fifth largest exporter of crude oil, with oil accounting for 85.3% of the country's exports, therefore dominating the country's economy.[177][178] Previous administrations had sought to privatise this industry, with U.S. corporations having a significant level of control, but the Chvez administration wished to curb this foreign control over the country's natural resources by nationalising much of it under the state-run oil company, Petr"leos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA). In 2001, the government introduced a new Hydrocarbons Law through which they sought to gain greater state control over the oil industry: they did this by raising royalty taxes on the oil companies and also by introducing the formation of "mixed companies", whereby the PdVSA could have joint control with private companies over industry. By 2006, all of the 32 operating agreements signed with private corporations during the 1990s had been converted from being primarily or solely corporate-run to being at least 51% controlled by PdVSA.[177]
- Opposition and the CD[edit]During Chvez's first term in office, the opposition movement had been "strong but reasonably contained, [with] complaints centring mainly on procedural aspects of the implementation of the constitution".[168] However, the first organized protest against the Bolivarian government occurred in January 2001, when the Chvez administration tried to implement educational reforms through the proposed Resolution 259 and Decree 1.011, which would have seen the publication of textbooks with a heavy Bolivarian bias. The protest movement, which was primarily by middle class parents whose children went to privately run schools, marched to central Caracas shouting out the slogan "Don't mess with my children." Although the protesters were denounced by Chvez, who called them "selfish and individualistic," the protest was successful enough for the government to retract the proposed education reforms and instead enter into a consensus-based educational program with the opposition.[179] That year, an organization known as the Coordinadora Democrtica de Acci"n Cvica (CD) was founded, under which the Venezuelan opposition political parties, corporate powers, most of the country's media, the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the Frente Institucional Militar and the Central Workers Union all united to oppose Chvez's regime.[175][180] The prominent businessman Pedro Carmona (1941'') was chosen as the CD's leader.[175] They received support from various foreign sources.
- The CD and other opponents of Chvez's Bolivarian government accused it of trying to turn Venezuela from a democracy into a dictatorship by centralising power amongst its supporters in the Constituent Assembly and granting Chvez increasingly autocratic powers. Many of them pointed to Chvez's personal friendship with Cuba's Fidel Castro and the one-party socialist government in Cuba as a sign of where the Bolivarian government was taking Venezuela.[175] Others did not hold such a strong view but still argued that Chvez was a "free-spending, authoritarian populist" whose policies were detrimental to the country.[181] For instance, Venezuelan lawyer and academic Allan R. Brewer-Caras, a prominent and vocal opponent of Chvez, made the claim that under his regime the country had "suffered a tragic setback regarding democratic standards, suffering a continuous, persistent and deliberate process of demolishing institutions and destroying democracy, which has never before been experienced in the constitutional history of the country."[182] Other academics have argued that the opposite was true, and that "the Chvez government is in fact more democratic than previous ones" because of the increased checks and balances introduced by the 1999 constitution and the introduction of workers' councils.[183]
- The pro-Chvez political analyst Gregory Wilpert argued, in his study of the Bolivarian administration, that the opposition movement was dominated primarily by members of the middle and upper classes. He further argued that this wealthy elite was particularly furious at the Bolivarian government because they themselves had lost much of their dominance over Venezuelan politics with the introduction of the 1999 constitution and the relegitimization of all areas of government that it required.[184] He went on to argue that this wealthy elite subsequently used its control of the country's mass media to create an anti-Chvez campaign aimed primarily at the middle classes, stirring up the latent racism and classism that existed in Venezuelan culture.[185][186] One of the most prominent examples of this was through the popularization of the racist term ese mono ("that monkey"), which began to be applied to Chvez by his opponents,[153][187][188] who would also often accuse him of being "vulgar and common".[170][187][189] Both Venezuelan and Western opposition media also characterized Chvez's supporters, who were known as the Chvistas, as being "young, poor, politically unsophisticated, antidemocratic masses" who were controlled, funded and armed by the state,[190] and they were regularly referred to as "hordes" in opposition media discourse, which also commonly referred to the Bolivarian Circles as "terror circles".[188] Such descriptions have been refuted by certain academics, such as Crist"bal Valencia Ramrez, who, after studying Chavista groups, have argued that they consist of people from many classes of society and are educated and largely non-violent.[191] Chavista-run organizations have since claimed to have been the target of violent attacks from opposition groups: for instance, the Ezequiel Zamora National Farmers' Coordinator estimated that 50 Chavista leaders involved in the land-reform program had been assassinated during 2002 and 2003.[192]
- Coup, strikes and the recall referendum[edit]On 11 April 2002, mass protests took place in Caracas against the Bolivarian government, during which guns were fired, and violence ensued involving both pro- and anti-Chvez supporters, the police, and the army.[193] Twenty people were killed, and over 110 were wounded.[194] A group of high-ranking anti-Chvez military officers, likely supported by figures in the business community, media, and certain political parties,[which?] had been planning to launch a coup against Chvez and used the civil unrest as an opportunity.[195] After the plotters gained significant power, Chvez agreed to be detained and was transferred by army escort to La Orchila, and although he requested to be allowed to leave the country, he refused to officially resign from the presidency at the time. Nonetheless, the wealthy business-leader Pedro Carmona declared himself president of an interim government.[196] Carmona abolished the 1999 constitution and appointed a small governing committee to run the country.[168] Protests in support of Chvez along with insufficient support for Carmona's regime, which many felt was implementing totalitarian measures, led to Carmona's resignation, and Chvez was returned to power on 14 April.[197]
- Chvez's reaction to the coup attempt was to moderate his approach, implementing a new economic team that appeared to be more centrist and reinstated the old board of directors and managers of the state oil company Petr"leos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), whose replacement had been one of the reasons for the coup.[198][199] At the same time, the Bolivarian government began preparing for potential future uprisings or even a US invasion by increasing the country's military capacity, purchasing 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles and several helicopters from Russia, as well as a number of Super Tucano light attack planes from Brazil. Troop numbers were also increased, with Chvez announcing in 2005 the government's intention to increase the number of military reserves from 50,000 to 2,000,000.[200]
- In December 2002, the Chvez presidency faced a two-month management strike at the PdVSA when he initiated management changes. As Wilpert noted, "While the opposition labelled this action a 'general strike', it was actually a combination of management lockout, administrative and professional employee strike, and general sabotage of the oil industry."[201] The Chvez government's response was to fire about 19,000 striking employees for illegally abandoning their posts and then employing retired workers, foreign contractors, and the military to do their jobs instead. This move further damaged the strength of Chvez's opposition by removing the many managers in the oil industry who had been supportive of their cause to overthrow Chvez.[201]
- Following the failure of these two attempts to remove Chvez from power, the opposition finally resorted to legal means in order to try to do so. The 1999 constitution had introduced the concept of a recall referendum into Venezuelan politics, so the opposition called for such a referendum to take place. A 2004 referendum to recall Chvez was defeated. 70% of the eligible Venezuelan population turned out to vote, with 59% of voters deciding to keep the president in power.[171][202] Unlike his original 1998 election victory, this time Chvez's electoral support came almost entirely from the poorer working classes rather than the middle classes, who "had practically abandoned Chvez" after he "had consistently moved towards the left in those five and a half years".[203] Meanwhile, some figures in the opposition movement began calling for the United States military to intervene and invade the country in order to topple Chvez.[202]
- "Socialism of the 21st century"[edit][Bolivarian] socialism would be 'based in solidarity, in fraternity, in love, in justice, in liberty, and in equality' and would mean the 'transformation of the economic model, increasing cooperativism, collective property, the submission of private property to the social interest and to the general interest', created 'from the popular bases, with the participation of the communities'. This socialism was not a dogma, however, but 'must be constructed every day'.
- Barry Cannon, Irish political analyst (2009)[61]The various attempts at overthrowing the Bolivarian government from power had only served to further radicalize Chvez. In January 2005, he began openly proclaiming the ideology of "Socialism of the 21st Century", something that was distinct from his earlier forms of Bolivarianism, which had been social democratic in nature, merging elements of capitalism and socialism. He used this new term to contrast the democratic socialism, which he wanted to promote in Latin America from the Marxist-Leninist socialism that had been spread by socialist states like the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China during the 20th century, arguing that the latter had not been truly democratic, suffering from a lack of participatory democracy and an excessively authoritarian governmental structure.[61]
- In May 2006, Chvez visited Europe in a private capacity, where he announced plans to supply cheap Venezuelan oil to poor working class communities in the continent. The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone welcomed him, describing him as "the best news out of Latin America in many years".[204]
- Third presidential term: 10 January 2007 '' 10 January 2013[edit]In the presidential election of December 2006, which saw a 74% voter turnout, Chvez was once more elected, this time with 63% of the vote, beating his closest challenger Manuel Rosales, who conceded his loss.[202] The election was certified as being free and legitimate by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center.[205][206][207] After this victory, Chvez promised an "expansion of the revolution."[208]
- United Socialist Party of Venezuela and domestic policy[edit]On 15 December 2006, Chvez publicly announced that those leftist political parties who had continually supported him in the Patriotic Pole would unite into one single, much larger party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV).[117] In the speech which he gave announcing the PSUV's creation, Chvez declared that the old parties must "forget their own structures, party colours and slogans, because they are not the most important thing for the fatherland."[117] According to political analyst Barry Cannon, the purpose of creating the PSUV was to "forge unity amongst the disparate elements [of the Bolivarian movement], providing grassroots input into policy and leadership formation, [and] uniting the grassroots and leadership into one single body."[209] It was hoped that by doing so, it would decrease the problems of clientelism and corruption and also leave the movement less dependent on its leadership:[209] as Chvez himself declared, "In this new party, the bases will elect the leaders. This will allow real leaders to emerge."[209]
- Chvez had initially proclaimed that those leftist parties which chose to not dissolve into the PSUV would have to leave the government, however, after several of those parties supporting him refused to do so, he ceased to issue such threats.[210] There was initially much grassroots enthusiasm for the creation of the PSUV, with membership having risen to 5.7 million people by 2007,[209][211] making it the largest political group in Venezuela.[212] The United Nations' International Labour Organization however expressed concern over some voters' being pressured to join the party.[213]
- In 2007, the Bolivarian government set up a constitutional commission in order to review the 1999 constitution and suggest potential amendments to be made to it. Led by the prominent pro-Chvez intellectual Luis Britto Garca, the commission came to the conclusion that the constitution could include more socially progressive clauses, such as the shortening of the working week, a constitutional recognition of Afro Venezuelans and the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.[202] It also suggested measures that would have increased many of the president's powers, for instance increasing the presidential term limit to seven years, allowing the president to run for election indefinitely and centralizing powers in the executive.[202] The government put the suggested changes to a public referendum in December 2007.[214] Abstention rate was high however, with 43.95% of registered voters not turning out, and in the end the proposed changes were rejected by 50.65% of votes.[202][215] This would prove to the first electoral loss that Chvez had faced in the thirteen electoral contests held since he took power,[202] something analysts argued was due to the top-down nature of the changes, as well as general public dissatisfaction with "the absence of internal debate on its content, as well as dissatisfaction with the running of the social programmes, increasing street crime, and with corruption within the government."[216]
- In order to ensure that his Bolivarian Revolution became socially engrained in Venezuela, Chvez discussed his wish to stand for re-election when his term ran out in 2013, and spoke of ruling beyond 2030.[217] Under the 1999 constitution, he could not legally stand for re-election again, and so brought about a referendum on 15 February 2009 to abolish the two-term limit for all public offices, including the presidency.[218] Approximately 70% of the Venezuelan electorate voted, and they approved this alteration to the constitution with over 54% in favor, allowing any elected official the chance to try to run indefinitely.[217][218][219]
- Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and the Bank of the South[edit]The Bolivarian government placed a great emphasis on providing financial and medical aid to the rest of Latin America, bolstered by the profits produced by the Venezuela oil industry: indeed, in the first eight months of 2007 alone, Venezuela spent $8.8 billion in doing so, something which was "unprecedented for a Latin American country" in terms of scale.[220] Adding to this, the Chvez administration sought greater political, economic and military alliances with those Latin American countries who had seen leftist, and in particular socialist governments elected in the early 21st century.[221] The widespread success of left-leaning candidates at the time had led to what political analysts have described as a "pink tide" sweeping the region, although there was a great deal of diversity within this leftist trend. Those that became the closest allies of Bolivarian Venezuela were Evo Morales and his Movement for Socialism, which was elected into power in Bolivia in 2005, and Rafael Correa and his PAIS Alliance, who won the election in Ecuador in 2006.[118]
- Mainstream media backed by the U.S. government alleged that Chavez's government gave money, weapons and support to the FARC, a rebel guerilla movement in Colombia known for extensive kidnappings and control of the drug trade. The suspicion of Venezuelan support was supposedly repeatedly confirmed. In 2005, captured laptops belonging to FARC leaders showed Chavez's involvement and support. The FARC rebels sought Venezuelan assistance in acquiring surface-to-air missiles. These files were confirmed by Interpol as being authentic.[222] Files found in Equador showed FARC spent $400 000 to support the presidential campaign of Rafael Correa, an ally of Chavez. The documents allege that Chavez met personally with rebel leaders.[223]
- In 2007, the socialist Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista National Liberation Front were elected into government in Nicaragua, and his administration immediately entered into deals with the Venezuelan government. On Ortega's first day in power, Chvez announced plans to aid the impoverished Central American country by forgiving the $30 million it owed Venezuela, and agreed to supply them with a further gift of $10 million in aid, as well as providing them with a $20-million loan with little or no interest and designed to benefit the country's poor.[224]
- In 2004, Venezuela had been one of the founding states in the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).
- As of 26 September 2009, Chvez, along with allies such as Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, had set up a regional bank and development lender called Bank of the South, based in Caracas, an attempt to distance himself from financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. Chvez first mentioned the project before winning the Presidential election in 1998.[225] Chvez maintains that unlike other global financial organizations, the Bank of the South will be managed and funded by the countries of the region with the intention of funding social and economic development without any political conditions on that funding.[226] The project is endorsed by Nobel Prize winning, former World Bank economist Joseph Stiglitz, who said: "One of the advantages of having a Bank of the South is that it would reflect the perspectives of those in the south," and that "It is a good thing to have competition in most markets, including the market for development lending."[227]
- As the Arab Spring erupted across North Africa and the Middle East in 2010, Chvez openly criticised those leaders who had been backed by the U.S., such as Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, but at the same time championed those who had adhered to Arab socialist ideals, such as Syria's Bashar al-Assad, whom he called "a humanist and a brother" in spite of Assad's government's violent crackdown on protesters.[228] Following the outbreak of the Libyan civil war, in which forces opposed to the socialist government rose up against the regime, Chvez, who had always had good international relations with Libya '' describing its ceremonial leader Muammar Gaddafi as "a friend of mine"[228] '' offered to act as an intermediary between the government and the rebel-controlled National Transitional Council (NTC); however the latter declined the offer.[229] During the subsequent 2011 military intervention in Libya, in which western forces attacked the Libyan army in support of the NTC, Chvez criticised the "indiscriminate bombing" of the country, accusing the United States of simply trying to "lay its hands on Libya's oil".[230] Upon the killing of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, Chvez proclaimed that "We shall remember Gaddafi our whole lives as a great fighter, a revolutionary and a martyr. They assassinated him. It is another outrage."[231]
- Fourth presidential term: 10 January 2013 '' 5 March 2013[edit]On 7 October 2012, Chvez won election as president for a fourth time, and for the third time he won a six years term. He defeated Henrique Capriles with 54% of the votes versus 45% for Capriles, which was a lower victory margin than in his previous presidential wins, in the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election[7][232] Turnout in the election was an unheard-of 80%, testifying that the election was hotly contested between the two candidates.[233] There was significant support for Chvez amongst the Venezuelan lower class. Chvez's opposition blamed him for unfairly using state funds to spread largesse before the election to bolster Chavez's support among his primary electoral base, the lower class.[232]
- The inauguration of Chvez's new term was scheduled for 10 January 2013, but as he was undergoing medical treatment at the time in Cuba, he was not able to return to Venezuela for that date. The National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello proposed to postpone the inauguration and the Supreme Court decided that, being just another term of the sitting president and not the inauguration of a new one, the formality could be bypassed. The Venezuelan Bishops Conference opposed the verdict, stating that the constitution must be respected and the Venezuelan government had not been transparent regarding details about Chvez's health.[234]
- Acting executive officials produced orders of government signed by Chvez, which were suspected of forgery by some opposition politicians, who claimed that Chvez was too sick to be in control of his faculties. Guillermo Cochez, recently dismissed from the office of Panamanian ambassador to the Organization of American States, even claimed that Chvez had been brain-dead since 31 December 2012.[235][236] Near to Chavez's death, two American attach(C)s were expelled from the country for allegedly undermining Venezuelan democracy.[citation needed]
- Due to the death of Chvez, Vice President Nicolas Maduro took over the presidential powers and duties for the remainder of Chvez's abbreviated term until presidential elections were held. Venezuela's constitution specifies that the speaker of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, should assume the interim presidency if a president cannot be sworn in.[237]
- Political ideology[edit]Hugo Chvez defined his political position as Bolivarianism, an ideology he developed from that of Sim"n Bolvar (1783''1830) and others. Bolvar was a 19th-century general who led the fight against the imperialist Spanish authorities and who is widely revered across Latin America today. Along with Bolvar, the other two primary influences upon Bolivarianism are Sim"n Rodrguez (1769''1854), a philosopher who was Bolvar's tutor and mentor, and Ezequiel Zamora, (1817''1860), the Venezuelan Federalist general.[238] Political analyst Gregory Wilpert, in his study of Chvez's politics, noted that "The key ingredients for Chvez's revolutionary Bolivarianism can be summarized as: an emphasis on the importance of education, the creation of civilian-military unity, Latin American integration, social justice, and national sovereignty. In many ways this is not a particularly different set of principles and ideas to those of any other Enlightenment or national liberation thinker."[239]
- Although he was a leftist ever since his days at the military academy, after becoming president Chvez's political position progressed further left, rejecting moderate leftist ideologies like social democracy or the Third Way and instead embracing democratic socialism. He propagated what he called "socialism for the 21st century", but according to Gregory Wilpert, "Chvez has not clearly defined twenty-first century socialism, other than to say that it is about establishing liberty, equality, social justice, and solidarity. He has also indicated that it is distinctly different from state socialism", as implemented by the governments of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.[240] As a part of his socialist ideas, he emphasised the role of so-called "participatory democracy", which he claimed increased democratic participation, and was implemented through the foundation of the Venezuelan Communal Councils and Bolivarian Circles which he cited as examples of grassroots and participatory democracy.[241]
- Democracy is impossible in a capitalist system. Capitalism is the realm of injustice and a tyranny of the richest against the poorest. Rousseau said, 'Between the powerful and the weak all freedom is oppressed. Only the rule of law sets you free.' That's why the only way to save the world is through socialism, a democratic socialism... [Democracy is not just turning up to vote every five or four years], it's much more than that, it's a way of life, it's giving power to the people... it is not the government of the rich over the people, which is what's happening in almost all the so-called democratic Western capitalist countries.
- Hugo Chvez, June 2010[141]Chvez was well acquainted with the various traditions of Latin American socialism, espoused by such figures as Colombian politician Jorge Eli(C)cer Gaitn,[242] former Chilean president Salvador Allende,[242] former Peruvian president Juan Velasco Alvarado,[32] former Panamanian president Omar Torrijos[36] and the Cuban revolutionariesChe Guevara and Fidel Castro.[242] Other indirect influences on Chvez's political philosophy are the writings of American linguist Noam Chomsky[243] and the Gospel teachings of Jesus Christ.[244][245]
- Chvez's connection to Marxism was a complex one. In May 1996, he gave an interview with Agustn Blanco Mu±oz in which he remarked that "I am not a Marxist, but I am not anti-Marxist. I am not communist, but I am not anti-communist."[246] In a 2009 speech to the national assembly, he said: "I am a Marxist to the same degree as the followers of the ideas of Jesus Christ and the liberator of America, Simon Bolivar."[247][248] He was well versed in many Marxist texts, having read the works of many Marxist theoreticians, and often publicly quoted them. Various international Marxists supported his government, believing it to be a sign of proletariat revolution as predicted in Marxist theory.[249] In 2010, Hugo Chvez proclaimed support for the ideas of Marxist Leon Trotsky, saying "When I called him (former Minister of Labour, Jos(C) Ram"n Rivero)" Chvez explained, "he said to me: 'president I want to tell you something before someone else tells you ... I am a Trotskyist', and I said, 'well, what is the problem? I am also a Trotskyist! I follow Trotsky's line, that of permanent revolution," and then cited Marx and Lenin.[250][251]
- Policy overview[edit]Economic and social policy[edit]Oil products were the keystone of the Venezuelan economy during Chvez's presidential period. Chvez gained a reputation as a price hawk in OPEC, pushing for stringent enforcement of production quotas and higher target oil prices. According to Cannon, the state income from oil revenue "increas[ed] from 51% of total income in 2000 to 56% 2006";[252] oil exports "have grown from 77% in 1997 [...] to 89% in 2006";[252] and "this dependence on oil is one of the chief problems facing the Chvez government".[252] The economist Mark Weisbrot, in an analysis of the Chvez administration, said: "The current economic expansion began when the government got control over the national oil company in the first quarter of 2003. Since then, real (inflation-adjusted) GDP has nearly doubled, growing by 94.7 percent in 5.25 years, or 13.5 percent annually."[253] The inflation rate was over 20 percent in January 2013.[254] According to Ian James, citing estimates from the Venezuelan Central Bank, the Venezuelan government "controlled" the same percentage of the economy as when Chvez was elected in 1998, with "the private sector still control[ling] two-thirds of Venezuela's economy".[255] For the year 2009, the Venezuelan economy shrank by an average of 2.9% due to the global recession.[256]
- After his election in 1998, more than 100,000 state-owned cooperatives '' which claimed to represent some 1.5 million people '' were formed with the assistance of government start-up credit and technical training;[257] and the creation and maintenance, as of September 2010, of over 30,000 communal councils, examples of localised participatory democracy; which he intended to be integrated into regional umbrella organizations known as "Communes in Construction".[258] In 2010, Chvez supported the construction of 184 communes, housing thousands of families, with $23 million in government funding. The communes produced some of their own food, and were able to make decisions by popular assembly of what to do with government funds.[259] In September 2010, Chvez announced the location of 876 million bolivars ($203 million) for community projects around the country, specifically communal councils and the newly formed communes. Chvez also criticised the bureaucracy still common in Venezuela saying, when in discussion with his Communes Minister Isis Ochoa, that "All of the projects must be carried out by the commune, not the bureaucracy." The Ministry for Communes, which oversees and funds all communal projects, was initiated in 2009.[258]
- Every factory must be a school to educate, like Che Guevara said, to produce not only briquettes, steel, and aluminum, but also, above all, the new man and woman, the new society, the socialist society.
- Hugo Chvez, May 2009[260]Chvez supported the creation of a series of Bolivarian Missions which claimed to be aimed at providing public services to improve economic, cultural, and social conditions. A 2010 OAS report[261] indicated achievements in addressing illiteracy, healthcare and poverty,[262] and economic and social advances.[263] Barry Cannon wrote that "most areas of spending have increased".[264] "[S]pending on education as a percentage of GDP stood at 5.1% in 2006, as opposed to 3.4% in the last year of the Caldera government."[264] Spending on health "has increased from 1.6% of GDP in 2000 to 7.7% in 2006".[264] Spending on housing "receives low public support", increasing only "from 1% in GDP to 1.6% in 2006".[264] Teresa A. Meade wrote that Chvez's popularity "rests squarely on the lower classes who have benefited from these health initiatives and similar policies."[265] Under Chavez, Venezuelans' quality of life improved according to a UN Index[2] and the poverty rate fell from 48.6 percent in 2002 to 29.5 percent in 2011, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America.[2] The Missions have entailed the construction of thousands of free medical clinics for the poor,[3] the institution of educational campaigns that have reportedly made more than one million adult Venezuelans literate,[4] and the enactment of food[5] and housing subsidies.[6]
- The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) reported that the Venezuelan economy grew on average by 11.85% in the period 2004''2007.[266] According to The Washington Post, citing statistics from the United Nations, poverty in Venezuela stood at 28% in 2008,[267] down from 55.44% in 1998 before Chvez got into office.[268] Economist Mark Weisbrot found that, "During the ... economic expansion, the poverty rate [was] cut by more than half, from 54 percent of households in the first half of 2003 to 26 percent at the end of 2008. Extreme poverty fell by 72 percent.[269] These poverty rates measured only cash income, and did take into account increased access to health care or education."[253][270] Under his presidency, the Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, dropped from nearly .5 in 1998 to .39 in 2011, putting Venezuela behind only Canada in the Western Hemisphere.[254] Nicholas Kozloff, Chvez's biographer, stated of Chvez's economic policies: "Chvez has not overturned capitalism, he has done much to challenge the more extreme, neo-liberal model of development."[220]
- Food[edit]In the 1980s and 1990s health and nutrition indexes in Venezuela were generally low, and social inequality in access to nutrition was high.[271] Chvez made it his stated goal to lower inequality in the access to basic nutrition, and to achieve food sovereignty for Venezuela.[272] The main strategy for making food available to all economic classes was a controversial policy of fixing price ceilings for basic staple foods implemented in 2003.[273] In 2012, total food consumption was over 26 million metric tonnes, a 94.8% increase from 2003.[274]
- According to official statistics from the Ministry of Land and Agriculture, soybean production in Venezuela has grown by 858% to 54,420 tons over the past decade, and production of rice has risen by 84%, reaching close to 1.3 million tons yearly.[275] Chvez's presidency has also seen significant increases in milk production, as much as 50% over ten years reported by some sources.[276] Between 1998 and 2006 malnutrition related deaths fell by 50%.[253][277] In October 2009, the Executive Director of the National Institute of Nutrition (INN) Marilyn Di Luca reported that the average daily caloric intake of the Venezuelan people had reached 2790 calories, and that malnutrition had fallen from 21% in 1998 to 6%.[278]
- In 2011, Datanlisis, an independent polling firm found that powdered milk could be found in less than half of grocery stores in Venezuela and that liquid milk was even more scarce in the country.[279] Chvez blamed "speculators and hoarders" for these scarcities.[280]
- Chvez's strategy in response to food shortages consisted mainly of increasing domestic production through nationalizing large parts of the food industry. The price ceilings increased the demand for basic foods while making it difficult for Venezuela to import goods causing increased reliance on domestic production. According to some commentators this policy may have increased shortages.[279][280]
- Chvez was strictly enforcing a price control policy, denouncing anyone who sold food products for higher prices as "speculators".[273] In January 2008, Chvez ordered the military to seize 750 tons of food that sellers were illegally trying to smuggle across the border to sell for higher prices than what was legal in Venezuela.[281] In February 2009, Chvez ordered the military to temporarily seize control of all the rice processing plants in the country and force them to produce at full capacity, which he claimed they had been avoiding in response to the price caps.[282] In May 2010, Chvez ordered the military to seize 120 tons of food from Empresas Polar after inconsistencies in reports from the Empresas Polar conglomerate were said to have been detected by authorities.[283]
- In March 2009, the Venezuelan government set minimum production quotas for 12 basic foods that were subject to price controls, including white rice, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, powdered milk, cheese, and tomato sauce, which is intended to stop food companies from evading the law. Business leaders and food producers claimed that the government was forcing them to produce this food at a loss.[284] Chvez expropriated and redistributed 5 million acres of farmland from large landowners, saying: "The land is not private. It is the property of the state... The land is for those who work it." But, the lack of basic resources made it difficult or impossible to make full use of the expropriated lands by its new tenants '' leading to a lower overall degree of productivity in spite of a larger overall area of land under cultivation.[285]
- As part of his strategy of food security Chvez started a national chain of supermarkets, the Mercal network, which had 16,600 outlets and 85,000 employees that distributed food at highly discounted prices, and ran 6000 soup kitchens throughout the country.[286] In 2008 the amount of discounted food sold through the network was 1.25 million metric tonnes,[253] often sold at as much as 40% below the price ceiling set for privately own stores. Simultaneously Chvez expropriated many private supermarkets.[286] According to Commerce Minister Richard Canan, ''The average [savings] for the basic food bundle (at the Mercal Bicentennial markets) is around 30%. There are some products, for example cheese and meat, which reach a savings of 50 to 60% compared with capitalist markets.''[287] The Mercal network was criticized by some commentators as being a part of Chvez's strategy to brand himself as a provider of cheap food, and the shops feature his picture prominently. The Mercal network was subject to frequent scarcities of basic staples such as meat, milk and sugar '' and when scarce products arrived, shoppers had to wait in line.[286]
- In 2010, after the government nationalized the port at Puerto Cabello, more than 120,000 tons of food sat rotting at the port.[288] In May 2010, during a shortage of beef, at least 40 butchers were detained on charges of speculation for allegedly selling meat above the regulated price; some of them were held at a military base and later strip-searched by police.[289]
- Human rights[edit]In the 1999 Venezuelan constitution, 116 of 300 articles were concerned with human rights; these included increased protections for indigenous peoples and women, and established the rights of the public to education, housing, healthcare, and food. It called for dramatic democratic reforms such as ability to recall politicians from office by popular referendum, increased requirements for government transparency, and numerous other requirements to increase localized, participatory democracy, in favor of centralized administration. It gave citizens the right to timely and impartial information, community access to media, and a right to participate in acts of civil disobedience.[162][163]
- In 2008, Human Rights Watch released a report reviewing Chvez's human rights record over his first decade in power.[290] The report praises Chvez's 1999 amendments to the constitution which significantly expanded human rights guarantees, as well as mentioning improvements in women's rights and indigenous rights, but noted a "wide range of government policies that have undercut the human rights protections established" by the revised constitution.[290] In particular, the report accused Chvez and his administration of engaging in discrimination on political grounds, eroding the independence of the judiciary, and of engaging in "policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression, workers' freedom of association, and civil society's ability to promote human rights in Venezuela."[291] The Venezuelan government retaliated for the report by expelling members of Human Rights Watch from the country.[292] Subsequently, over a hundred Latin American scholars signed a joint letter with the Council on Hemispheric Affairs criticizing the Human Rights Watch report for its alleged factual inaccuracy, exaggeration, lack of context, illogical arguments, and heavy reliance on opposition newspapers as sources, amongst other things.[293][294][295] The International Labor Organization of the United Nations expressed concern over voters being pressured to join the party.[213]
- In 2010, Amnesty International criticized the Chvez administration for targeting critics following several politically motivated arrests.[296]Freedom House listed Venezuela as being "partly free" in its 2011 Freedom in the World annual report, noting a recent decline in civil liberties.[297] A 2010 Organization of American States report found concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism, press freedom, threats to democracy,[298][299] as well as erosion of separation of powers, the economic infrastructure and ability of the president to appoint judges to federal courts.[298][299][300] OAS observers were denied access to Venezuela;[300] Chvez rejected the OAS report, pointing out that its authors did not even come to Venezuela. He said Venezuela should boycott the OAS, which he felt is dominated by the United States; a spokesperson said, "We don't recognize the commission as an impartial institution". He disclaimed any power to influence the judiciary.[301] A Venezuelan official said the report distorted and took statistics out of context, and said that "human rights violations in Venezuela have decreased".[302] Venezuela said it will not accept an IACHR/OAS visit as long as Santiago Cant"n remains its Executive Secretary, unless the IACHR apologizes for what he[clarification needed] described as its support of the 2002 coup.[261][303]
- Venezuelan Judge Maria Afiuni was arrested in 2009 on charges of corruption, after she ordered the conditional release on bail of banker Eligio Cede±o, who had been held on charges of fraud and other crimes due to alleged illegal currency trading activities. Some human rights officials alleged the arrest was politically motivated; Cede±o "had been in pretrial detention for nearly three years, despite a two-year limit prescribed by Venezuelan law".[304] Cede±o later fled to the U.S. to avoid prosecution. Following Afiuni's arrest, several groups, including the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Episcopal Conference of Venezuela, Human Rights Watch, the Law Society of England and Wales, the U.S. Department of State, and the European Union Parliament accused Chvez of "creating a climate of fear" among Venezuela's legal profession.[304][305][306][307][308][309][310][311] The European Parliament called it "an attack on the independence of the judiciary by the President of a nation, who should be its first guarantor".[312] A director of Human Rights Watch said, "Once again the Chvez government has demonstrated its fundamental disregard for the principle of judicial independence."[304]
- Media and the press[edit]Although the freedom of the press was mentioned by two key clauses in the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela, in 2008, Human Rights Watch criticized Chvez for engaging in "often discriminatory policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression."[291]Freedom House listed Venezuela's press as being "Not Free" in its 2011 Map of Press Freedom, noting that "[t]he gradual erosion of press freedom in Venezuela continued in 2010."[313]Reporters Without Borders criticized the Chvez administration for "steadily silencing its critics".[314] In the group's 2009 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders noted that "Venezuela is now among the region's worst press freedom offenders."[314]
- The large majority of mass media in Venezuela remained privately owned, but subject to significant state control. The Venezuelan government required that all private television stations dedicate at least 25%[clarification needed] of their airtime to programs created by community groups, non-profits, and other independent producers. In 2007,[dated info] private corporations controlled 80% of the cable television channels, 100% of the newspaper companies, and 706 out of 709 radio stations.[315][316]
- In July 2005 Chvez inaugurated TeleSUR, a Pan-American equivalent of Al Jazeera that sought to challenge the present domination of Latin American television news by Univision and the United States-based CNN en Espa±ol.[317] In 2006 Chvez inaugurated a state-funded movie studio called Villa del Cine (English: Cinema City).[318] According to Chvez, the goal of this indigenous film industry was to counter what he described as "the dictatorship of Hollywood", the lack of alternative media.[319]
- Chvez had a Twitter account with more than 3,200,000 followers as of August 2012.[320][321][322] Chvez's Twitter account has been described as a way for people to bypass bureaucracy and contact the president directly. There was a team of 200 people to sort through suggestions and comments sent via Twitter. Chvez said Twitter was "another mechanism for contact with the public, to evaluate many things and to help many people",[323] and that he saw Twitter as "a weapon that also needs to be used by the revolution". In a Twitter report released in June 2010 Venezuela was third globally for the prevalence of Twitter with 19% of the population using it.[325]
- In 2010 availability of Internet service in Venezuela rose by 43%.[citation needed] The Venezuelan state instituted Infocenters, community spaces equipped with computers with internet connections which are free to use.[325] By January 2011 there were 737 infocenters, and the programme was awarded a prize by UNESCO.[326]
- In the days before the 11 April 2002 coup, the five main private Venezuelan TV stations gave advertising space to those calling for anti-Chvez demonstrations.[327][328] In 2006, Chvez announced that the terrestrial broadcast license for RCTV would not be renewed, due to its refusal to pay taxes and fines, and its alleged open support of the 2002 coup attempt against Chvez, and role in helping to instigate the oil strike in 2002''2003.[329] RCTV was transmitted via cable and satellite and was widely viewable in Venezuela until January 2010, when it was excluded by cable companies in response to an order of National Commission of Telecommunications.[330][331][332] The refusal to renew its terrestrial broadcast license was condemned by a multitude of international organizations, many of whom have claimed that the closure was politically motivated, and was intended to silence government critics.[333][334][335][336]
- Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) questioned whether, in the event a television station openly supported and collaborated with coup leaders, the station in question would not be subject to even more serious consequences in the United States or any other Western nation.[337] In a poll conducted by Datanalisis, almost 70 percent of Venezuelans polled opposed the shut-down, but most quoted loss of their favourite soap operas rather than concerns about limits on freedom of expression.[338]
- In popular culture[edit]Syndicated cartoonists from around the world created cartoons, illustrations, and videos of Hugo Chvez's controversial political career and the reactions to his death.[339][340][341][342]
- Oliver Stone directed the 2009 documentary "South of the Border", where he "sets out on a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America, while interviewing seven of its elected presidents." [344]Crime and punishment[edit]During the 1980s and 1990s there was a steady increase in crime in Latin America. The countries of Colombia, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Brazil all had homicide rates above the regional average.[345]
- During Chvez's administration, homicide rates in Venezuela more than tripled, with one NGO finding the rate to have nearly quadrupled. The majority of the deaths occur in crowded slums in Caracas.[346][347] The NGO found that the number of homicides in the country increased from 6,000 in 1999 to 19,000 in 2011[348][349] and 21,692 in 2012.[350][better source needed] In 2010 Caracas had the highest murder rate in the world.[351] For 2012 there were 13,080 murders in Venezuela and 14,670 murders in neighboring Colombia.[352]
- Chvez maintained that the nation is no more violent now than it was when he took office.[353] Although critical of Chvez, an International Crisis Group report claimed that when Chvez took office, there were factors beyond his control that led to the crime epidemic throughout Venezuela. The study went on to say that cross border activity, mainly with Colombia, was also an important factor. It claimed that international organised crime filters between the two countries had led to higher rates of kidnapping, drug trafficking, and homicides. Furthermore, Chvez supporters claimed that the states with the highest murder rates were controlled by the opposition.[354]
- Between 2000 and 2007, 6,300 Venezuelan policemen were investigated for violations of human rights. Because decentralization of police was blamed for their ineffectiveness, the 1999 constitution required the National Assembly to form a national police force to fight crime; however, legislation on this became bogged down in numerous legislative discussions. In 2006, the government established the National Commission for Police Reform (Conarepol), in which a range of civil society representatives, politicians, and academics investigated law enforcement in Venezuela and made recommendations. This included setting up a national police force designed to operate with high standards of professionalism and specific training in human rights. It also included initiatives whereby communal councils could participate in police supervision by being able to request investigations into police behaviour and file recommendations and complaints.[348]
- In 2008, Chvez passed a decree designed to implement Conarepol's recommendation on the national police force, and the National Bolivarian Police (PNB),[355][356] and Experimental Security University began operations in 2009. According to the PNB, murder was reduced by 60%, robberies by nearly 59%, and gender-based violence by 66% in the pilot areas where the PNB was active in and around Caracas.[356] However, not all homicides due to encounters with police are reported.[357] According to the publications El Espectador and Le Monde diplomatique, rising crime in rural and urban areas of Venezuela was partly due to increased cross-border activity by Colombian right-wing paramilitary groups like guilas Negras.[358]
- The decree was criticized because it was negotiated behind closed doors and did not follow Conarepol's recommendations to deal with human rights and because "politicization of the force could undercut the goal of professionalization".[357][359]
- Foreign policy[edit]Chvez refocused Venezuelan foreign policy on Latin American economic and social integration by enacting bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements, including his so-called "oil diplomacy".[360][361] Chvez stated that Venezuela has "a strong oil card to play on the geopolitical stage ... It is a card that we are going to play with toughness against the toughest country in the world, the United States."[362] Chvez focused on a variety of multinational institutions to promote his vision of Latin American integration, including Petrocaribe, Petrosur, and TeleSUR. Bilateral trade relationships with other Latin American countries also played a major role in his policy, with Chvez increasing arms purchases from Brazil, forming oil-for-expertise trade arrangements with Cuba, and creating unique barter arrangements that exchange Venezuelan petroleum for cash-strapped Argentina's meat and dairy products. Additionally, Chvez worked closely with other Latin American leaders following the 1997 Summit of the Americas in many areas '' especially energy integration '' and championed the OAS decision to adopt the Anti-Corruption Convention. Chvez participated in the United Nations Friends groups for Haiti, and pursued efforts to join and engage the Mercosur trade bloc to expand the hemisphere's trade integration prospects.[363]
- Iran[edit]Hugo Chvez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, respectively, both described themselves on the world stage as opposed to American imperialism. Citing this commonality of opinion, they formed a close alliance embarked on a number of initiatives together. On 6 January 2007, the two announced that they would use some money from a previously announced $2 billion joint fund to invest in other countries that were "attempting to liberate themselves from the imperialist yoke", in Chvez's words.[364] The two presidents declared an "axis of unity" against "US imperialism".[365]
- Chvez developed strong ties with the government of Iran, in particular in the area of energy production, economic, and industrial cooperation.[366] He visited Iran on several occasions, the first time in 2001,[367] when he declared that he came to Iran to "prepare the road for peace, justice, stability and progress for the 21st century".[366]Mohammad Khatami also visited Venezuela on three occasions. During his 2005 visit, Chvez awarded him the Orden del Libertador and called him a "tireless fighter for all the right causes in the world".[368] In May 2006, Chvez expressed his favorable view of the production of nuclear energy in Iran announced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and denied that they had plans to develop atomic weapons.[369]
- Personal life[edit]Chvez married twice. He first wed Nancy Colmenares, a woman from a poor family in Chvez's hometown of Sabaneta. Chvez and Colmenares remained married for 18 years, during which time they had three children: Rosa Virginia, Mara Gabriela, and Hugo Rafael, the latter of whom suffers from behavioural problems.[370] The couple separated soon after Chvez's 1992 coup attempt. During his first marriage, Chvez had an affair with historian Herma Marksman; their relationship lasted nine years.[371] Chvez's second wife was journalist Marisabel Rodrguez de Chvez, whom he separated in 2002 and divorced in 2004.[372] Through that marriage, Chvez had another daughter, Rosin(C)s.[373] Both Mara and Rosa provided Chvez with grandchildren.[370][374] Allegations were made that Chvez was a womanizer, and had been throughout both his marriages, but these have remained unproven and are contradicted by statements provided by other figures close to him.[375]
- Chvez was a Catholic. He intended at one time to become a priest. He saw his socialist policies as having roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ,[376] (liberation theology) and he publicly used the slogan of "Christ is with the Revolution!"[377] He had some disputes with both the Venezuelan Catholic clergy and Protestant groups like the New Tribes Mission.[378][379] Although he traditionally kept his own faith a private matter, Chvez over the course of his presidency became increasingly open to discussing his religious views, stating that both his faith and his version of Jesus' personal life and ideology had a profound impact on his liberation theology.
- Illness[edit]In June 2011, Chvez revealed in a televised address from Havana, Cuba, that he was recovering from an operation to remove an abscessed tumor with cancerous cells.[380] Vice President Elas Jaua declared that the President remained in "full exercise" of power and that there was no need to transfer power due to his absence from the country.[381] On 3 July, the Venezuelan government denied, however, that Chvez's tumour had been completely removed, further stating that he was heading for "complete recovery".[382] On 17 July 2011, television news reported that Chvez had returned to Cuba for further cancer treatments.[383]
- Chvez gave a public appearance on his 57th birthday, in which he stated that his health troubles had led him to radically reorient his life towards a "more diverse, more reflective and multi-faceted" outlook, and he went on to call on the middle classes and the private sector to get more involved in his Bolivarian Revolution, something he saw as "vital" to its success.[384] Soon after this speech, in August Chvez announced that his government would nationalize Venezuela's gold industry, taking it over from Russian-controlled company Rusoro, while at the same time also moving the country's gold stocks, which were largely stored in western banks, to banks in Venezuela's political allies like Russia, China and Brazil.[385]
- On 9 July 2012, Chvez declared himself fully recovered from cancer just three months before the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, which he won, securing a fourth term as president.[386] In November 2012, Chvez announced plans to travel to Cuba for more medical treatment for cancer.[387]
- On 8 December 2012, Chvez announced he would undergo a new operation after doctors in Cuba detected malignant cells; the operation took place on 11 December 2012.[388] Chvez suffered a respiratory infection after undergoing the surgery but it was controlled.[389] It was announced 20 December by the country's vice-president that Chvez had suffered complications following his surgery.[390] It was announced on 3 January 2013 that Chvez had a severe lung infection that had caused respiratory failures following a strict treatment regimen for respiratory insufficiency.[391] However he was reported to have overcome this later that month,[392] and it was reported that he was then undergoing further treatment.[393] On 18 February 2013, Chvez returned to Venezuela after 2 months of cancer treatment in Cuba.[394] On 1 March 2013, Vice President Nicols Maduro said that Chvez had been receiving chemotherapy in Venezuela following his surgery in Cuba.[395] On 4 March, it was announced by the Venezuelan government that Chvez's breathing problems had worsened and he was suffering a new, severe respiratory infection.[396]
- After his first cancer surgery in 2011, Chvez indicated that a baseball-sized tumor had been removed from his pelvis, but never revealed what type of cancer he suffered from then or later when further surgery, chemotherapy and radiation were used.[397]
- However, on 27 February 2012, Wikileaks released an internal Stratfor email, dated 6 December 2011, that detailed the earlier cancer as well as putting the blame on his doctors and Chavez's personal habits. It also details the cause for his second trip to Cuba.
- The tumor started as a growth close to the prostate, it spread to the colon, which is what led to a lot of confusion in the [unknown] about the treatment of prostate v. colon cancer in hormonal v. chemotherapy. A reliable source on the medical has explained that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and into the bone marrow up to the spine, ie. very serious.[398]
- Chavez temporarily stopped the chemo in order to make an appearance at the recent CELAC meeting. The medical team is made up of both Russian and Cuban doctors. Both sides are clashing. The Russian team blamed the Cubans for an improper surgery the first time in trying to remove the tumor. The second surgery over the summer was basically the Russian team trying to clean up the Cuban team's mistakes. The Russians complain that the Cubans dont have the right imagery treatment to properly treat Chavez. The Cuban medical diagnosis is 2 years. The Russian medical diagnosis, due to improper medical equipment, is less than one year. The source on the medical team complains that Chavez is a very 'bad patient.' He doesn't listen to his doctors, and he ceases treatment when he has to make a public appearance. Now the Russian and the Chinese doctors are going at it because Chavez sought the advice of a Chinese doctor that advocates more natural treatments and the Russians are saying this is "horse shit treatment". Only Chavez can get the most politicized medical team in the world.[398]
- On 5 March 2013, Vice President Nicols Maduro announced on state television that Chvez had died in Caracas at 16:25 VET (20:55 UTC).[399] The Vice President said Chvez died "after battling a tough illness for nearly two years."[399] According to the head of Venezuela's presidential guard, Chvez died from a massive heart attack, and his cancer was very advanced when he died.[400] Gen. Jose Ornella said that near the end of his life Chvez could not speak aloud, but mouthed, "Yo no quiero morir, por favor no me dejen morir" (I don't want to die. Please don't let me die).[400] The funeral was planned to be held in Caracas.[401][402][403][404][405] Chvez is survived by four children and four grandchildren.[406]
- Vice President Maduro and Chvez's supporters had suggested foul play was behind Chvez's illness and death.[399][407] Maduro speculated that Chvez had been poisoned or infected by enemies, and expressed a belief that the claim could someday be tested scientifically. It was unclear whether Maduro was referring to Chvez' cancer, or his respiratory infection. During the same address, Maduro announced the expulsion of an attach(C) to the U.S. embassy for what he called "a plot against the government" of Venezuela.[408][409][410][411][412] Chvez himself had claimed to be "a victim of U.S. assassination attempts."[413] The U.S. Department of State dismissed the allegation as "absurd".[414] Argentine doctor Eduardo Cazap dismissed Venezuelan claims of the existence of a cancer-inducing weapon: "Our body is extremely resistant to all the factors that could affect it. And when you need to produce cancer in an experimental manner you need to use huge amounts of drugs or huge amounts of toxins".[415]
- His death triggered a constitutional requirement that a presidential election be called within 30 days. Chavez's Vice President, Maduro, was elected president.
- Honours and awards[edit]Recognition[edit]The United States-based Time magazine included Hugo Chvez among their list of the world's 100 most influential people in 2005 and 2006.[423][424] In a 2006 list compiled by the British magazine New Statesman, he was voted eleventh in the list of "Heroes of our time".[425] In 2010 the magazine included Chvez in its annual The World's 50 Most Influential Figures.[426] His biographers Marcano and Tyszka believed that within only a few years of his presidency, he "had already earned his place in history as the president most loved and most despised by the Venezuelan people, the president who inspired the greatest zeal and the deepest revulsion at the same time."[427]
- In 2008 Chvez was awarded the Blue Planet Award[428] by the Ethecon Foundation,[429] one of the comparatively very few 'grass-root' foundations.[430]
- Honorary degrees[edit]During his term, Chvez was awarded the following honorary degrees:[431]
- Eponyms[edit]Several other cities of the world had expressed their intention of naming one of their streets Hugo Chvez, for example: Minsk (Belarus),[452]Durban (South Africa),[453]Rio Gallegos (Argentina),[454]Maturn (Venezuela)[455] or Louga (Senegal).[456]
- See also[edit]References[edit][edit]^Ian James (4 October 2012). "Venezuela vote puts 'Chavismo' to critical test". Yahoo. Retrieved 2 February 2013. ^ abcCharlie Devereux & Raymond Colitt. March 7, 2013. Venezuelans' Quality of Life Improved in UN Index Under Chavez. Bloomberg. Retrieved: 7 March 2013. Human Development Index^ ab"Estrategia de Cooperaci"n de OPS/OMS con Venezuela 2006-2008" (PDF). Pan American Health Organization. June 2006. pp. p. 54. Retrieved 31 December 2006. (Spanish)^ abMrquez, Humberto (28 October 2005). "Venezuela se declara libre de analfabetismo". Inter Press Service. Retrieved 29 December 2006. (Spanish)^ abBarreiro C., Raquel (4 March 2006). "Mercal es 34% ms barato". El Universal. Retrieved 29 December 2006. (Spanish)^ ab"Banco de la Vivienda transfiri" 66 millardos para subsidios". El Universal. 10 November 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2006. (Spanish)^ ab"Venezuela's Chvez re-elected to extend socialist rule". Reuters. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012. ^Ellner 2002^"Hugo Chavez: Memorable moments". BBC News. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013. ^Chavez calls bush Satan^"Chavez swearing-in delay legal, rules Venezuela Supreme Court". World.myjoyonline.com. 2013-01-09. Retrieved 2013-03-08. ^Castillo, Mariano (5 March 2013). "Venezuelan leader Hugo Chvez dies". CNN. Retrieved 5 March 2013. ^Cawthorne, Andrew (5 March 2013). "Venezuela's Hugo Chvez dies from cancer: VP". Reuters. 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Retrieved 14 April 2012. ^Jones 2007. pp. 54''56.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 37.^Chvez quoted in Jones 2007 pp. 54''55.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 38.^Jones 2007. pp. 57''59.^Jones 2007. p. 59.^ abChvez, quoted in Jones 2007. p. 59.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 39.^ abMarcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 41.^Chvez, quoted in Jones 2007. pp. 60''64.^Jones 2007. pp. 63''65.^Wilpert 2007. p. 15.^Cannon 2009. p. 54.^Jones 2007. pp. 65''77.^Jones 2007. p. 634.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 48''49, 56.^Wilpert 2007. p. 16.^Gott 2005. pp. 23''24.^Cannon 2009. p. 56.^Chvez, quoted in Jones 2007. p. 80.^Chvez, quoted in Jones 2007. p. 81.^ abcCannon 2009. p. 58.^Jones 2007. pp. 83''85.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 51''53.^Jones 2007. pp. 86''90.^Jones 2007. pp. 92''93.^Crdenas, quoted in Jones 2007. pp. 92''93.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 50.^Jones 2007. p. 98-102.^Jones 2007. p. 103.^Jones 2007. pp. 105, 108.^Cannon 2009. pp. 36''37.^Kozloff 2006. pp. 43''44.^Gibbs 2006. p. 270.^Inter-American Court of Human Rights 1999.^Pretel 2005.^ abKozloff 2006. pp. 46''47.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 55.^Jones 2007. pp. 122''123, 126.^ abCannon 2009. pp. 55''56.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 64.^Gott 2005. p. 64.^Gott 2005. p. 63.^ abSylvia and Danopolous 2003. p. 66.^Gott 2005. p. 69.^Jones 2007. pp. 131''155.^Chvez quoted in Jones 2007. p. 157.^Gott 2005. p. 23.^Jones 2007. p. 157.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 75.^International Crisis Group 2007. p. 04.^Gott 2005. p. 67.^O'Keefe 2005.^Cannon 2009. p. 41.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 75''77.^International Crisis Group 2007. pp. 04''05.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 91''92.^Jones 2007. pp. 161''165.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 95.^Tarver and Frederick 2005. p. 167.^ abCannon 2009. p. 37.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 104''105.^Jones 2007. pp. 177''181.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 107''108.^Jones 2007. pp. 182''186.^Jones 2007. pp. 187''188.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 235''236.^Jones 2007. pp. 190''191, 219.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 214''215, 220.^Jones 2007. pp. 192''195.^Jones 2007. pp. 195''198.^Cannon 2009. pp. 35''36.^Cannon 2009. p. 48.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 116.^Jones 2007. pp. 202''203.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 119.^Jones 2007. p. 204.^ abcdCannon 2009. p. 59.^ abWilpert 2007. pp. 01''02.^Jones 2007. pp. 205''207.^"Chvez's constitutional reform; A hard look at the rationale & proposals", Latin America Weekly Report, 12 January 1999, Venezuela; Politics; WR-99-02; P. 18^Jones 2007. p. 214.^Trinkunas, Harold; Jennifer McCoy (February 1999). "Observation of the 1998 Venezuelan Elections: A Report of the Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government" (PDF). Carter Center. pp. p. 49. Retrieved 30 December 2006. ^Sylvia and Danopolous 2003. p. 67.^Jones 2007. p. 218.^Jones 2007. pp. 220''223.^ abJones 2007. p. 223.^Wilpert 2007 pp. 18''19.^Cannon 2009. pp. 41''42.^ abMarcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 127.^Jones 2007. p. 226.^Jones 2007. p. 229.^Jones 2007. p. 230.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. xx.^Romero 2010.^Jones 2007. p. 234.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 151''153, 250''251.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 250''255.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 243.^Wilpert 2007 p. 03.^Ellner 2005.^ abSackur and Chvez 2010.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 148''149.^Kozloff 2006. p. 61.^Jones 2007. pp. 234''236.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 154.^Gott 2005. pp. 178''179.^Kozloff 2006. pp. 83''84.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 138.^Chvez quoted in Jones 2007. p. 231.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 193''195.^Jones 2007. p. 237.^ abMarcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 130.^ abJones 2007. p. 238.^Jones 2007. p. 239.^ abJones 2007. p. 240.^ abcInternational Crisis Group 2007. p. 05.^Jones 2007. p. 241.^Belos 1999.^Kozloff 2006. p. 94.^Cannon 2009. pp. 61''62.^Wilpert 2007. pp. 31''41.^ abWilpert 2003.^ ab"Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela". Embassy of Venezuela in the US. 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2006. ^International Crisis Group 2007. pp. 05''06.^ abInternational Crisis Group 2007. p. 06.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 140.^Kozloff 2006. p. 88.^ abcdCannon 2009. p. 63.^Cannon 2009. p. 42.^ abMarcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 141.^ abRamrez 2005. p. 79.^Cannon 2009. pp. 42''44.^Kozloff 2008. pp. 23''24.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 208''209.^ abcdInternational Crisis Group 2007. p. 07.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 143.^ abKozloff 2008. pp. 18''23.^Cannon 2009. p. 32.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 143''145.^Ramrez 2005. p. 80.^Cannon 2009. p. 01.^Brewer-Caras 2010. p. i.^Ramrez 2005. p. 83. See for example L"pez 2003 and Wilpert 2007.^Wilpert 2007. pp. 04''05.^Wilpert 2007. p. 20.^The role of racism and classism in Venezuela is explored in Cannon 2009. pp. 38''41.^ abMarcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 260.^ abCannon 2009. p. 46.^Cannon 2009. p. 45.^Ramrez 2005. p. 81.^Ramrez 2005. p. 84.^Ramrez 2005. pp. 83''84.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 171''172.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 168.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 170''171.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 175''184.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 181''185.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 185.^Wilpert 2007. p. 24.^Kozloff 2008. p. 71.^ abWilpert 2007. p. 25.^ abcdefgCannon 2009. p. 64.^Wilpert 2007. p. 19.^The Observer 2006.^International Crisis Group 2007. p. 01.^BBC News 2006.^"Chvez wins Venezuelan election". Gulf News. 4 December 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006. ^Ireland On-Line. Chvez promises more-radical turn toward socialism. (4 December 2006). Retrieved 4 December 2006.^ abcdCannon 2009. p. 60.^Cannon 2009. pp. 59''60.^Walter, Mathew. ''Venezuela May Lower Voting Age, Add Gay Rights in Constitution.''Bloomberg. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2010.^Fuentes, Federico. ''Massive Turnout in PSUV Primaries Shows Support for Change.''Green Left Weekly. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.^ ab(Spanish)"En Pdvsa y Sidor se concentra criminalizaci"n de las protestas '' Economa". El Universal. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2010. ^Ellsworth, Brian (16 August 2007). "Venezuela's Chvez calls for end to term limits". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2007. ^Romero, Simon (4 December 2007). "Venezuela Vote Sets Roadblocks on Chvez Path". New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2010. ^Cannon 2009. pp. 64''65.^ abCarroll 2009.^ abCannon 2009. p. 65.^Forero, Juan (16 February 2009). "Chvez Wins Removal of Term Limits". The Washington Post. ^ abKozloff 2008. p. 45.^"Hugo Chavez; His Policies and Who Will Fill the Gap in Latin America?". The World Reporter. Retrieved 10 March 2013. ^Forero, Juan (16 May 2008). "FARC Computer Files Are Authentic, Interpol Probe Finds". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 March 2013. ^"FARC files 'show ties to Chavez'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 6 March 2013. ^Carl 2007.^McElhinny, Vince. "Bank of the South."[dead link] Bank Information Center. November 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2010.^Carlson, Chris. "Brazil To Join Bank of the South". Venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 28 September 2010. ^Rory Carroll in Caracas (12 October 2007). "Nobel economist endorses Chvez regional bank plan". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 28 September 2010. ^ abOtis, John (20 June 2011). "Hugo Chvez and the Arab Spring". Boston: The World. Retrieved 2 November 2011. ^Chulov 2011.^BBC News 2011a.^"As it happened: Libya's Col Gaddafi killed". BBC. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011. ^ ab"Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez wins another 6-year term, electoral council says". Fox News Channel. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012. ^Neuman, William (7 October 2012). "Chvez Wins a Third Term in Venezuela Amid Historically High Turnout". NYT. Retrieved 8 October 2012. ^"Church warns Venezuela govt on constitution". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013. ^"Nuevos rumores de muerte para Hugo Chvez". Univision Communications Inc. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013. (Spanish)^"Former envoy claims Venezuela's Chvez is dead". PanARMENIAN.Net. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013. ^"Even after death, Hugo Chavez gets his choice of successor". National Post. Retrieved 6 March 2013. ^Cameron, Maxwell (2001). "Venezuela's Hugo Chvez: Savior or Threat to Democracy?". Latin American Research Review36 (3): 263. . Online at [1][dead link]^Wilpert 2007 p. 16.^Wilpert 2007 p. 07.^Sojo, Cleto A. (Venezuelanalysis.com, 31 January 2005). "Venezuela's Chvez Closes World Social Forum with Call to Transcend Capitalism". Retrieved 20 October 2005.^ abcWall Street Journal Claims Chvez Oil Policy "Aims to Weaken US", Stephen Lendman, COA News[dead link]^Suggett, James. "Noam Chomsky Meets with Chvez in Venezuela, James Suggett, M(C)rida, 27 August 2009". Venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 28 September 2010. ^Hugo Chvez: Charming provocateur, Robin Lustig, BBC News, Paris^"Chvez promises a socialist Venezuela as he starts new 6-year term", 10 January 2007, USA Today.^Quoted in Jones 2007. p. 236.^http://en.ria.ru/world/20100116/157569985.html^http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSwUO-4oXjY^See for instance Woods 2006 and Ali 2006.^Malinarich, Nathalie (10 January 2007). "Chvez accelerates on path to socialism". BBC News. ^http://www.marxist.com/chavez-trotskyist-president120107.htm^ abcCannon, p. 87.^ abcdWeisbrot, Mark, Ray, Rebecca, and Sandoval, Luis. 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Reuters. 2 July 2007. ^ abVENEZUELA E IRN EN CAMINO HACIA UNA 'ALIANZA ESTRATGICA'.El Universal (21 May 2001). . Retrieved 1 July 2006. (Spanish)^Hugo Chvez de visita en Irn hasta el lunes.El Universal (18 May 2001). . Retrieved 1 July 2006. (Spanish)^Presidente Jatami recibi" condecoraci"n Collar de la Orden del Libertador.[dead link]Radio Nacional de Venezuela (1 March 2005). (Spanish)^"Chvez exige respetar Irn y aclara que no tiene plan nuclear".El Universal (21 May 2006). . Retrieved 1 July 2006. (Spanish)^ abMarcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 254''255.^Byrne, Jennifer. "Venezuela '' Bolivarian Revolution".Foreign Correspondent. 3 June 2003. Retrieved 11 November 2005.^(Spanish)"Actriz Venezolana Ruddy Rodrguez Niega Romance con Hugo Chvez."IBL News. 30 June 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2007.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 254.^Guevara, Aleida, and Hugo Chvez. Chvez, Venezuela and the new Latin America. New York: Ocean Press. 2005. p 95.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 230''232.^"Chvez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments". Reuters. 19 May 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2010.^Chvez quoted in Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 140.^Alford 2005.^(Spanish) Otaola, Javier. "Chvez y sus 'demonios'."La Jornada. 12 February 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2006.^"President Chvez's address to the Nation". El Universal, 1 July 2011^"Venezuelan VP rules out declaring temporary absence of Chvez"[dead link]^"Maduro niega que haya secretismo sobre salud de Chvez"[dead link]. El Nacional, 3 July 2011^WCBS-TV (New York) morning news report, 17 July 2011, 07:40 am^BBC News 2011b.^The Guardian 2011.^Naranjo and Cawthorne, Mario and Andrew. "Venezuela's Chvez says "totally free" of cancer, again". Yahoo News. Retrieved 9 July 2012. [dead link]^"Hugo Chvez heading to Cuba for more treatment". CBS News. Retrieved 27 November 2012. ^"Chvez to undergo new cancer surgery". CNN. Retrieved 9 December 2012. ^"CHVEZ SUFFERS RESPIRATORY INFECTION AFTER SURGERY". Associated Press. Retrieved 19 December 2012. ^"Venezuela VP: Chvez Suffers 'New Complications'". Associated Press. Retrieved 31 December 2012. [dead link]^"Chvez battling 'severe' lung infection, respiratory failure". CNN. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013. ^"Venezuela's Chvez 'overcomes infection'.". Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2013-02-02. ^John Pike (2013-01-26). "Chvez Begins New Treatment Course '' Vice President.". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2013-02-02. ^"Hugo Chvez 'back in Venezuela' after Cuba cancer care". BBC. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013. ^"VENEZUELA SAYS CHVEZ RECEIVING CHEMOTHERAPY". Associated Press. Retrieved 2 March 2013. ^"Venezuela says Chvez's breathing problems have worsened". Reuters. Associated Press. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013. ^AP (5 March 2013). "Hugo Chvez, 58, dies after battle with cancer". New York Post. ^ ab"The Global Intelligence Files - Re: INSIGHT - VENEZUELA - Update on Chavez's health, power struggle, etc. - VZ302". Wikileaks.org. Retrieved 2013-10-03. ^ abc"Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez dead, VP says". Foxnews.com. Associated Press. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-07. ^ abAssociated Press. March 07, 2013. Heart attack killed a suffering Hugo Chavez, head of Venezuela's presidential guard says. FOX News. Retrieved: 9 March 2013.^http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9780372/Hugo-Chavez-dies.html^"Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez dead, VP says". Fox News. 2013-03-05. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^Frank Bajak (2013-03-05). "Hugo Chvez, Fiery Venezuelan Leader, Dies at 58". ABC News. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^Jonathan Watts (2013-03-05). "Hugo Chvez, president of Venezuela, dies in Caracas". London: the Guardian. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^Kraul, Chris (5 March 2013). "Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chvez dead after struggle with cancer". latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^Associated, The. "Chavez Family". Npr.org. Retrieved 2013-03-07. ^"Hugo Chvez, Venezuelan President, Dead at 58". ABC News. Retrieved 5 March 2013. ^"Venezuela Expels 2 US Diplomats; Vice President Claims Hugo Chvez was Poisoned | Fox News Latino". Latino.foxnews.com. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^"Venezuelan VP: Chvez was Poisoned '' Latest News Briefs". Israel National News. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^Cawthorne, Andrew (5 March 2013). "Venezuela's Hugo Chvez dies from cancer". Reuters. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^"Hugo Chvez, Venezuela's Anti-U.S. Socialist Leader, Dies at 58". SFGate. Retrieved 2013-03-05. [dead link]^"Venezuela accuses enemies of Chvez plot '' This Just In '' CNN.com Blogs". News.blogs.cnn.com. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^"FOX News Confirms: Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez Dies " FOX News Radio". Radio.foxnews.com. Retrieved 2013-03-05. ^"S rejects Venezuela's conspiracy claims". AFP. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013. ^Alexander, Ruth (January 14, 2012). "Hugo Chavez's US 'cancer plot' put to the numbers test". BBC News. Retrieved March 7, 2013. ^Condecoro Fidel a Hugo Chavez con Orden Jose Marti Londres2012.ain.cu (Spanish)^CIDADOS ESTRANGEIROS AGRACIADOS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS Ordens.presidencia.pt (Portuguese)^"Highest Badge of Honor Granted to Chavez". Fars News Agency. 30 July 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2013. ^"Syrian President Awarded Iran's Medal of Honor". People's Daily. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2013. ^"Presidentes Chvez y Morales fueron distinguidos con la orden Augusto C(C)sar Sandino". Diarioelprogreso.com. 13 January 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2013. (Spanish)^Imposici"n de Orden Amistad de Pueblos al Presidente de la Repºblica Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Chvez Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela - Washington D.C., U.S.A. (Spanish)^"ÐÑедÑедник Ð'икоÐ>>Ð¸Ñ ÐоÑÑÑ
Ñмно одÐ>>иковао УÐ"а ЧавеÑа, ÐÑедÑедника Ð'енеÑÑеÐ>>е". Predsednik.rs. 2013-03-06. Retrieved 2013-03-07. ^Padgett 2005.^Padgett 2006.^Cowley 2006.^New Statesman 2010.^Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 148.^"Pr¤sident Hugo Chvez und Meister Abreu erhielten "Blue Planet Award" in Deutschland". Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela. 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2013-04-05. ^"Botschaft von Venezuela begr¼t ethecon-Preis an Jos(C) Abreu und Hugo Chavez". ethecon - Stiftung Ethik & konomie. 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-05. ^"What do Hugo Chavez, Vandana Shiva, and Diane Wilson Have In Common?". Chelsea Green Publishing. 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-05. ^(Spanish)"Gobierno en Lnea: Biografa del Presidente Hugo Rafael Chvez Fras". Government of Venezuela. 2005. Retrieved 15 October 2011. ^"UNI otorgar "Honoris Causa" a Chvez". El Nuevo Diario. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2013. (Spanish)^UMSA entrega ttulo de Honoris Causa a Chvez Eldiario.net, 24 January 2006 (Spanish)^"Universidad de Arte y Ciencias Sociales de Chile entrega Doctorado Honoris Causa al presidente Chvez". Venezuelan Ministry of Communications and Information. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Universidad de Damasco otorg" Doctorado Honoris Causa al presidente Chvez". Venezuelan Ministry of Communications and Information. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Chvez fue investido doctor "honoris causa" por la Universidad de Trpoli". El Espectador. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Chvez fue investido doctor "honoris causa" por la Universidad de Trpoli". Am(C)rica Economa. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Haiti renames airport for Hugo Chavez". Associated Press. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. ^"Haiti renames airport for Hugo Chavez". The Jakarta Post (AP). 19 April 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. ^"Barrio "Hugo Chvez" de Managua espera algºn da ser visitado por su dolo". El Nuevo Diario (AFP). 27 November 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Barrio de Pehuaj" llevar el nombre de Hugo Chvez". La Naci"n (Telam). 8 March 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Gobierno de Calle Inspecciona el Complejo Alfarero Hugo Chvez en Bolvar". Ministry of Public Works and Housing (Venezuela). 23 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"SC Aprueba calle nombre Hugo Chvez". Ayuntamiento de Moca. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Rotulan una calle en RD con nombre de Hugo Chvez". Diasporadominicana.com. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"A partir de hoy la Prolongaci"n avenida Venezuela se llamar Presidente Hugo Chvez". Ciudadoriental.org. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Rotulan calle en honor al Comandante Hugo Chvez". Ayuntamiento de La Vega. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Designan calle de La Vega "Comandante Hugo Ch vez"". El Sol Dominicano. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Inauguraci"n de la Plaza Hugo Chvez en Mayadel, Sur del Lbano". Embajada de la Repºblica Bolivariana de Venezuela en Lbano. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Palestinian city names street after Chavez". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. ^"Calle de Rusia lleva el nombre de Lder de la Revoluci"n Bolivariana Hugo Chvez". Venezolana de Televisi"n. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Moscow names street in memory of Hugo Chavez". Itar-Tass. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. ^"Ladutko in favor of naming Minsk street after Hugo Chavez". Belarusian Telegraph Agency. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. ^"Durban to rename street after Chavez". The Independent. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. ^"Quieren llamar "Hugo Chvez" a una calle de Ro Gallegos". La Naci"n. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Plaza R"mulo Gallegos podria llamarse Comandante Hugo Chvez". Elsoldematurin.info. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)^"Avenida en Senegal se llamar "Hugo Chvez"". ltimas Noticias. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013. (Spanish)Bibliography[edit]Books[edit]Ali, Tariq (2006). Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope. London and New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-84467-102-1. Brewer-Caras, Allan (2010). Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chvez Authoritarian Experiment. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19587-4. Bruce, Iain (2008). The Real Venezuela: Making Socialism in the 21st century. London: Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-2736-5. Cannon, Barry (2009). Hugo Chvez and the Bolivarian Revolution: Populism and Democracy in a Globalised Age. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-7771-5. Carroll, Rory (2013). Commandante: myth and reality in Hugo Chvez's Venezuela. New York: The Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-457-9. Corrales, Javier and Penfold, Michael (2011). Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chvez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8157-0497-3. Gates, Leslie C. (2010). Electing Chvez: The Business of Anti-Neoliberal Politics in Venezuela. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 978-0-8229-6064-5. Gott, Richard (2005). Hugo Chvez and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. London and New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-84467-533-3. Hawkins, Kirk A. (2010). Venezuela's Chavismo and Populism in Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-76503-9. Jones, Bart (2007). Hugo! The Hugo Chvez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution. Hanover, New Hampshire: Steerforth Press. ISBN 978-1-58642-135-9. Kozloff, Nicholas (2006). Hugo Chvez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the United States. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-7315-3. Kozloff, Nicholas (2008). Revolution!: South America and the Rise of the New Left. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-61754-4. Marcano, Christina and Tyszka, Alberto Barrera (2007). Hugo Chvez: The Definitive Biography of Venezuela's Controversial President. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-45666-7. McCaughan, Michael (2005). The Battle of Venezuela. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-58322-680-3. Tarver, H. Michael and Frederick, Julia C. (2005). The History of Venezuela. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33525-9. Trinkunas, Harold A. (2005). Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela: A Comparative Perspective. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-5650-5. Wilpert, Gregory (2007). Changing Venezuela by Taking Power: The History and Policies of the Chvez Government. London and New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-84467-552-4. Woods, Alan (2006). The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective (Third Edition). London: Well Red Books. ISBN 978-1-900007-21-4. Academic articles[edit]Ellner, Steve, S. (2002). "The 'Radical' Thesis on Globalization and the Case of Venezuela's Hugo Chvez". Latin American Perspectives (Thousand oaks, California: SAGE Publications) 29 (6): 88''93. doi:10.1177/0094582X0202900609. JSTOR 3185001. Gibbs, Terry, T. (2006). "Business as Usual: what the Chvez era tells us about democracy under globalisation". Third World Quarterly (London: Routledge) 27 (2): 265''279. doi:10.1080/01436590500492931. JSTOR 4017674. L"pez Maya, Margarita (2003). "Hugo Chvez Fras: His Movement and His Presidency". In Ellner, Steve; Hellinger, Daniel. Venezuelan Politics in the Chvez Era: Class, Polarization and Conflict. Boulder: Lynne Riener. pp. 73''92. ISBN 978-1-58826-297-4. Ramrez, Crist"bal Valencia, C. b. V. (2005). "Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution: Who Are the Chavistas?". Latin American Perspectives (Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications) 32 (3): 79''97. doi:10.1177/0094582X05275532. JSTOR 30040243. Sylvia, Ronald D. and Danopoulos, Constantine P., R. D.; Danopoulos, C. P. (2003). "The Chvez Phenomenon: Political Change in Venezuela". Third World Quarterly (London: Routledge). 24 (1) (1): 63''76. doi:10.1080/713701367. JSTOR 3993630. Zºquete, Jos(C) Pedro, Jos(C) Pedro (Spring 2008). "The Missionary Politics of Hugo Chvez". Latin American Politics and Society (Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell) 50 (1): 91''121. doi:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2008.00005.x. JSTOR 30130840. News articles and reports[edit]Alford, Deann (14 October 2005). "Venezuela to Expel New Tribes Mission". Christianity Today (Carol Stream, Illinois: Christianity Today International). Retrieved 25 March 2011. Beaumont, Peter (7 May 2006). "The new kid in the barrio". The Observer (London: Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 25 March 2011. Bellos, Alex (17 December 1999). "New Venezuela hands Chvez wide powers". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 25 March 2011. Carl, Traci (11 January 2007). "Nicaragua's Ortega Signs Trade Pact". The Washington Post (Washington D.C.: The Washington Post Company). Retrieved 12 May 2011. Carroll, Rory (16 February 2009). "Hugo Chvez wins referendum allowing indefinite re-election". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 27 March 2011. Chulov, Martin (3 March 2011). "Libyan rebels reject Hugo Chvez mediation offer". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 25 March 2011. Cowley, Jason (22 May 2006). "Heroes of our time '' the top 50". New Statesman (London). Retrieved 27 March 2011. Padgett, Tim (18 April 2005). "Hugo Chvez: The Radical with Deep Pockets". Time (New York City: Time Inc.). Retrieved 25 March 2011. Padgett, Tim (30 April 2006). "Hugo Chvez: Leading the Left Wing Charge". Time (New York City: Time Inc.). Retrieved 25 March 2011. Padgett, Tim (3 March 2008). "War Drums in Latin America". Time (New York City: Time Inc.). Retrieved 25 March 2011. Pretel, Enrique Andres (21 September 2009). "Venezuela exhumes unnamed dead in riot investigation". London: Reuters. Retrieved 30 March 2011. Romero, Simon (16 February 2010). "Purging Loyalists, Chvez Tightens His Inner Circle". The New York Times (New York City: The New York Times Company). Retrieved 10 April 2011. Shifter, Michael, M. (May''June 2006). "In Search of Hugo Chvez". Foreign Affairs (New York City: Council on Foreign Relations) 85 (3): 45''59. doi:10.2307/20031966. JSTOR 20031966. "Chvez to nationalise Venezuelan gold industry". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). 18 August 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2011. "Chvez offers oil to Europe's poor". The Observer (London: Guardian Media Group). 14 May 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2011. "Chvez wins Venezuela re-election". London: BBC News. 4 December 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2011. "Venezuela President Hugo Chvez meets Libyan delegation". London: BBC News. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011. "Venezuela President Hugo Chvez in middle class appeal". London: BBC News. 30 July 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011. "50 People Who Matter 2010: 10. Hugo Chvez". New Statesman (London). 21 September 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2011. Interviews[edit]Websites and e-publications[edit]External links[edit]MultimediaArticles and InterviewsMiscellaneousPersondataNameChvez, Hugo RafaelAlternative namesChvez Fras, Hugo RafaelShort descriptionVenezuelan PresidentDate of birth28 July 1954Place of birthSabaneta, Barinas, VenezuelaDate of death5 March 2013Place of deathCaracas, Venezuela
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- Venezuela - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela[a]Repºblica Bolivariana de Venezuela (Spanish)Anthem: Gloria al Bravo PuebloGlory to the Brave PeopleCapitaland largest cityCaracas10°30'²N66°58'²W>> / >>10.500°N 66.967°W>> / 10.500; -66.967National languageSpanish[b]Ethnic groups (2011[1])DemonymVenezuelanGovernmentFederalpresidentialconstitutional republic - PresidentNicols Maduro - Vice PresidentJorge Arreaza - Speaker of the National AssemblyDiosdado CabelloLegislatureNational AssemblyIndependence - from Spain5 July 1811 - from Gran Colombia13 January 1830 - Recognized30 March 1845 - Current constitution20 December 1999 Area - Total916,445 km2 (33rd)353,841 sq mi - Water (%)0.32[d]Population - 2011 census28,946,101 (44th) - Density30.2/km2 (181st)77/sq miGDP (PPP)2013 estimate - Total$408.805 billion[2] - Per capita$13,634[2]GDP (nominal)2013 estimate - Total$382.424 billion[2] - Per capita$11,527[2]Gini (2010)39[3]mediumHDI (2013) 0.748[4]high ·71stCurrencyBolvar fuerte[e] (VEF)Time zoneVET(UTC''4½)Drives on therightCalling code+58ISO 3166 codeVEInternet TLD.vea.^ The "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" has been the full official title since the adoption of the new Constitution of 1999, when the state was renamed in honor of Sim"n Bolvar.b.^ The Constitution also recognizes all indigenous languages spoken in the country.c.^ Some important subgroups include those of Spanish, Italian, Amerindian, African, Portuguese, Arab and German descent.d.^ Area totals include only Venezuelan-administered territory.e.^ On 1 January 2008, a new bolivar was introduced, the bolvar fuerte (ISO 4217 code VEF) worth 1,000 VEB.Venezuela (i//VEN-É-ZWAYL-É, Spanish pronunciation: [be.neËswela]), officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela[1] (Spanish: Repºblica Bolivariana de Venezuela[reËpu.βlika βoliβaËɾjana °e βeneËswela]), is a country on the northern coast of South America. Venezuela's territory covers around 916,445 square kilometres (353,841 sq mi) with an estimated population of approximately 29,100,000. Venezuela is considered a state with extremely high biodiversity, with habitats ranging from the Andes mountains in the west to the Amazon Basin rainforest in the south, via extensive llanos plains and Caribbean coast in the center and the Orinoco River Delta in the east.
- Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 despite resistance from indigenous peoples. It became one of the first Spanish American colonies to declare independence (in 1811) but did not securely establish independence until 1821 (as a department of the federal republic of Gran Colombia, gaining full independence in 1830). During the 19th century Venezuela suffered political turmoil and dictatorship, and it was dominated by regional caudillos (military strongmen) well into the 20th century. The country has had democratic governments since 1958; before that, like most countries of Latin America, it suffered some coups and military dictatorships. Economic shocks in the 1980s and 1990s led to a political crisis causing hundreds of deaths in the Caracazo riots of 1989, two attempted coups in 1992, and the impeachment of President Carlos Andr(C)s P(C)rez for embezzlement of public funds in 1993. A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw the 1998 election of former career officer Hugo Chvez and the launch of the Bolivarian Revolution, beginning with a 1999 Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution of Venezuela.
- Venezuela is a federalpresidential republic consisting of 23 states, the Capital District (covering Caracas), and Federal Dependencies (covering Venezuela's offshore islands). Venezuela also claims all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River; this 159,500 square kilometres (61,583 sq mi) tract was dubbed Guayana Esequiba or the Zona en Reclamaci"n (the "zone being reclaimed").[5]
- Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America;[6][7] the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the capital, Caracas, which is also the largest city in Venezuela. Since the discovery of oil in the early 20th century, Venezuela has been one of the world's leading exporters of oil and has the largest oil reserves. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa, oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues. The 1980s oil glut led to an external debt crisis and a long-running economic crisis, which saw inflation peak at 100% in 1996 and poverty rates rise to 66% in 1995[8] as (by 1998) per capitaGDP fell to the same level as 1963, down a third from its 1978 peak.[9]
- The recovery of oil prices after 2001 boosted the Venezuelan economy and facilitated social spending, although the fallout of the 2008 global financial crisis saw a renewed economic downturn. By late 2010 Venezuela's economy had some growth,[10] though this has been sluggish and accompanied by high inflation and shortages.[11] In February 2013, Venezuela devalued its currency due to the rising shortages in the country.[12] Shortages of items included toilet paper, milk, flour and other necessities.[13] As of November 2013, Venezuela's inflation has also greatly increased to 54%.[14]
- Etymology[edit]In 1499, an expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda visited the Venezuelan coast. The stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the navigator Amerigo Vespucci of the city of Venice, so he named the region "Veneziola".[16] The name acquired its current spelling as a result of Spanish influence,[16] where the suffix-uela is used as a diminutive term (e.g., plaza / plazuela, cazo / cazuela); thus, the term's original sense would have been that of a "little Venice".[17] The German term for the area, "Klein-Venedig", also means little Venice (literally "small Venice").
- Nonetheless, although the Vespucci story remains the most popular and accepted version of the origin of the country's name, a different reason for the name comes up in the account of Martn Fernndez de Enciso, a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda crew. In his work Summa de geografa, he states that they found an indigenous population who called themselves the "Veneciuela", which suggests that the name "Venezuela" may have evolved from the native word.[18]
- History[edit]There is evidence of human habitation in the area now known as Venezuela from approximately 15,000 years ago; leaf-shaped tools from this period, together with chopping and plano-convex scraping implements, have been found exposed on the high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal in western Venezuela.[19]Late Pleistocene hunting artifacts, including spear tips, have been found at a similar series of sites in northwestern Venezuela known as "El Jobo"; according to radiocarbon dating, these date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC.[20]
- It is not known how many people lived in Venezuela before the Spanish Conquest; it may have been approximately one million,[21] and in addition to today's indigenous peoples the population included groups such as the Carib, Auak(C), Caquetio, Mariche, and Timoto-cuicas. The number was reduced after the Conquest, mainly through the spread of new diseases from Europe.[21] There were two main north-south axes of pre-Columbian population; producing maize in the west and manioc in the east.[21] Large parts of the llanos plains were cultivated through a combination of slash and burn and permanent settled agriculture.[21]
- Colonization[edit]In 1498, during his third voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus sailed near the Orinoco Delta and then landed in the Gulf of Paria. Amazed by the great offshore current of freshwater which deflected his course eastward, Columbus expressed in his moving letter to Isabella and Ferdinand that he must have reached heaven on Earth (terrestrial paradise):
- Great signs are these of the Terrestrial Paradise, for the site conforms to the opinion of the holy and wise theologians whom I have mentioned. And likewise, the [other] signs conform very well, for I have never read or heard of such a large quantity of fresh water being inside and in such close proximity to salt water; the very mild temperateness also corroborates this; and if the water of which I speak does not proceed from Paradise then it is an even greater marvel, because I do not believe such a large and deep river has ever been known to exist in this world.[22]
- His certainty of having attained Paradise made him name this region Land of Grace, a phrase that has become the country's nickname.
- Spain's colonization of mainland Venezuela started in 1522, establishing its first permanent South American settlement in the present-day[update] city of Cuman. In the 16th century Venezuela was contracted as a concession by the King of Spain to the German Welser banking family (Klein-Venedig, 1528''1546). Native caciques (leaders) such as Guaicaipuro (c. 1530''1568) and Tamanaco (died 1573) attempted to resist Spanish incursions, but the newcomers ultimately subdued them; Tamanaco was put to death by order of Caracas' founder Diego de Losada.[23]
- In the 16th century, during the Spanish colonization, indigenous peoples, such as many of the Mariches, themselves descendants of the Caribs, converted to Roman Catholicism. Some of the resisting tribes or leaders are commemorated in place names, including Caracas, Chacao, and Los Teques. The early colonial settlements focused on the northern coast,[21] but in the mid-18th century the Spanish pushed farther inland along the Orinoco River. Here the Ye'kuana (then known as the Makiritare) organized serious resistance in 1775 and 1776.[24]
- Spain's eastern Venezuelan settlements were incorporated into New Andalusia Province. Administered by the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo from the early 16th century, most of Venezuela became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in the early 18th century, and was then reorganized as an autonomous Captaincy General starting in 1776. The town of Caracas, founded in the central coastal region in 1567, was well-placed to become a key location, being near the coastal port of La Guaira whilst itself being located in a valley in a mountain range, providing defensive strength against pirates and a more fertile and healthy climate.[25]
- Independence[edit]After a series of unsuccessful uprisings, Venezuela'--under the leadership of Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan-American marshal who had fought in the American Revolution and the French Revolution'--declared independence on 5 July 1811. This began the Venezuelan War of Independence. However, a devastating earthquake that struck Caracas in 1812, together with the rebellion of the Venezuelan llaneros, helped bring down the first Venezuelan republic.[26] A second Venezuelan republic, proclaimed on 7 August 1813, lasted several months before being crushed as well.
- Sovereignty was only attained after Sim"n Bolvar, aided by Jos(C) Antonio Pez and Antonio Jos(C) de Sucre, won the Battle of Carabobo on 24 June 1821. Jos(C) Prudencio Padilla and Rafael Urdaneta's victory in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo on 24 July 1823, helped seal Venezuelan independence. New Granada's congress gave Bolvar control of the Granadian army; leading it, he liberated several countries and founded Gran Colombia.
- Sucre, who won many battles for Bolvar, went on to liberate Ecuador and later become the second president of Bolivia. Venezuela remained part of Gran Colombia until 1830, when a rebellion led by Pez allowed the proclamation of a newly independent Venezuela; Pez became the first president of the new republic. Between one-quarter and one-third of Venezuela's population was lost during these two decades of warfare (including perhaps one-half of the white population),[27] which by 1830 was estimated at about 800,000.[28]
- The colors of the Venezuelan flag are yellow, blue and red, in that order: the yellow stands for land wealth, the blue for the sea that separates Venezuela from Spain, and the red for the blood shed by the heroes of independence.[29]
- Slavery in Venezuela was abolished in 1854.[28] Much of Venezuela's 19th century history was characterized by political turmoil and dictatorial rule,[30] including the Independence leader Jos(C) Antonio Pez, who gained the presidency three times and served a total of eleven years between 1830 and 1863. This culminated in the Federal War (1859''1863), a civil war in which hundreds of thousands died, in a country with a population of not much more than a million people. In the latter half of the century Antonio Guzmn Blanco, another caudillo, served a total of thirteen years between 1870 and 1887, with three other presidents interspersed.
- In 1895, a longstanding dispute with Great Britain about the territory of Guayana Esequiba, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezuela saw as Venezuelan territory, erupted into the Venezuela Crisis of 1895. The dispute became a diplomatic crisis when Venezuela's lobbyist William L. Scruggs sought to argue that British behavior over the issue violated the United States' Monroe Doctrine of 1823, and used his influence in Washington, D.C. to pursue the matter. Then US President Grover Cleveland adopted a broad interpretation of the Doctrine that did not just simply forbid new European colonies but declared an American interest in any matter within the hemisphere.[31] Britain ultimately accepted arbitration, but in negotiations over its terms was able to persuade the US on much of the details. A tribunal convened in Paris in 1898 to decide the issue, and in 1899 awarded the bulk of the disputed territory to British Guiana.[32]
- In 1899, Cipriano Castro, assisted by his friend Juan Vicente G"mez, seized power in Caracas, marching an army from his base in the Andean state of Tchira. Castro defaulted on Venezuela's considerable foreign debts, and declined to pay compensation to foreigners caught up in Venezuela's civil wars. This led to the Venezuela Crisis of 1902''1903, in which Britain, Germany and Italy imposed a naval blockade of several months, before international arbitration at the new Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague was agreed. In 1908 another dispute broke out with the Netherlands, which was resolved when Castro left for medical treatment in Germany and was promptly overthrown by Juan Vicente G"mez.
- The discovery of massive oil deposits in Lake Maracaibo during World War I would prove pivotal for Venezuela, and soon transformed the basis of its economy, from a heavy dependence on agricultural exports. It prompted an economic boom that would last into the 1980s; by 1935, Venezuela's per capita gross domestic product was Latin America's highest.[33] G"mez benefited handsomely from this, as corruption thrived, but at the same time, the new source of income helped him centralize the Venezuelan state and develop its authority.
- He remained the most powerful man in Venezuela until his death in 1935, although at times he ceded the Presidency to others. The gomecista dictatorship system largely continued under Eleazar L"pez Contreras, but from 1941, under Isaas Medina Angarita, was relaxed, with the latter granting a range of reforms, including the legalization of all political parties. After World War II the globalization and heavy immigration from Southern Europe (mainly from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France) and poorer Latin American countries markedly diversified Venezuelan society.
- In 1945, a civilian-military coup overthrew Medina Angarita and ushered in a three-year period of democratic rule under the mass membership Democratic Action, initially under R"mulo Betancourt, until R"mulo Gallegos won the Venezuelan presidential election, 1947 (generally believed to be the first free and fair elections in Venezuela). Gallegos governed until overthrown by a military junta led by Marcos P(C)rez Jim(C)nez and Gallegos' Defense Minister Carlos Delgado Chalbaud in the 1948 Venezuelan coup d'(C)tat.
- P(C)rez Jim(C)nez was the most powerful man in the junta (though Chalbaud was its titular President), and was suspected of being behind the death in office of Chalbaud, who died in a bungled kidnapping in 1950. When the junta unexpectedly lost the election it held in 1952, it ignored the results and P(C)rez Jim(C)nez was installed as President, where he remained until 1958.
- The military dictator P(C)rez Jim(C)nez was forced out on 23 January 1958.[34] In an effort to consolidate the young democracy, the major political parties (with the notable exception of the Communist Party of Venezuela) signed the Punto Fijo Pact. Democratic Action and COPEI would dominate the political landscape for four decades.
- The 1960s saw substantial guerilla movements, including the Armed Forces of National Liberation and the Revolutionary Left Movement, which had split from Democratic Action in 1960. Most of these movements lay down their arms under Rafael Caldera's presidency (1969''74); Caldera had won the 1968 election for COPEI, being the first time a party other than Democratic Action took the presidency through a democratic election.
- The election of Carlos Andr(C)s P(C)rezin 1973 coincided with the 1973 oil crisis, which saw Venezuela's income explode as oil prices soared, while oil industries were nationalized in 1976. This led to massive increases in public spending, but also increases in external debts, which continued into the 1980s when the collapse of oil prices during the 1980s crippled the Venezuelan economy. As the government started to devalue the currency in February 1983 in order to face its financial obligations, Venezuelans' real standard of living fell dramatically. A number of failed economic policies and increasing corruption in government led to rising poverty and crime, worsening social indicators, and increased political instability.[35]
- Economic crisis in the 1980s and 1990s led to a political crisis which saw hundreds dead in the Caracazo riots of 1989, two attempted coups in 1992,[36] and the impeachment of President Carlos Andr(C)s P(C)rez (re-elected in 1988) for corruption in 1993. Coup leader Hugo Chvez was pardoned in March 1994 by president Rafael Caldera, with a clean slate and his political rights reinstated.
- Bolivarian Revolution[edit]A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw Chvez elected President in 1998, and the subsequent launch of a "Bolivarian Revolution", beginning with a 1999 Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution of Venezuela.
- In April 2002, Chvez was briefly ousted from power in the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'(C)tat attempt following popular demonstrations by his opposers,[37] but he was returned to power after two days as a result of popular demonstrations by his supporters and actions by the military.[38]
- Chvez also remained in power after an all-out national strike that lasted more than two months from December 2002 to February 2003, including a strike/lockout in the state oil company PDVSA. The strike produced severe economic dislocation, with the country's GDP falling 27% during the first four months of 2003, and costing the oil industry $13.3bn.[39] Capital flight before and during the strike led to the reimposition of currency controls (which had been abolished in 1989), managed by the CADIVI agency. In the subsequent decade the government was forced into several currency devaluations.[40][41][42][43][44] These devaluations have done little to improve the situation of the Venezuelan people who rely on imported products or locally produced products that depend on imported inputs while dollar denominated oil sales account for the vast majority of Venezuela's exports.[45]
- Chvez survived several further political tests, including an August 2004 recall referendum. He was elected for another term in December 2006 and re-elected for a third term in October 2012. However, he was never sworn in for his third period, due to medical complications. Chvez died on 5 March 2013 after a nearly-two-year fight with cancer.[46] The presidential election that took place on Sunday, 14 April 2013, was the first since Chvez took office in 1999 in which his name did not appear on the ballot.[47]
- Nicols Maduro is the president of Venezuela since 14 April 2013, after winning the second presidential election after Chvez's death, with 50,61% of the votes against the opposition's candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski who had 49,12% of the votes. The Democratic Unity Roundtable contested his appointment as a violation of the constitution. However, the Supreme Court of Venezuela (TSJ) rules that under Venezuela's Constitution, Nicols Maduro is the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and was invested as such by the Venezuelan Congress (Asamblea Nacional).[48][49][50]
- Geography[edit]Venezuela is located in the north of South America; geologically its mainland rests on the South American Plate. It has a total area of 916,445 square kilometres (353,841 sq mi) and a land area of 882,050 square kilometres (340,560 sq mi), making it the 33rd largest country. The territory it controls lies between latitudes 0° and 13°N, and longitudes 59° and 74°W.
- Shaped roughly like a triangle, the country has a 2,800 km (1,700 mi) coastline in the north, which includes numerous islands in the Caribbean Sea, and in the northeast borders the northern Atlantic Ocean. Most observers describe Venezuela in terms of four fairly well-defined topographical regions: the Maracaibo lowlands in the northwest, the northern mountains extending in a broad east-west arc from the Colombian border along the northern Caribbean coast, the wide plains in central Venezuela, and the Guiana Highlands in the southeast.
- The northern mountains are the extreme northeastern extensions of South America's Andes mountain range reach. Pico Bolvar, the nation's highest point at 4,979 m (16,335 ft), lies in this region. To the south, the dissected Guiana Highlands contains the northern fringes of the Amazon Basin and Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall as well as tepuis, large table-like mountains. The country's center is characterized by the llanos, which are extensive plains that stretch from the Colombian border in the far west to the Orinoco Riverdelta in the east. The Orinoco, with its rich alluvial soils, binds the largest and most important river system of the country; it originates in one of the largest watersheds in Latin America. The Caron and the Apure are other major rivers.
- Venezuela borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Cura§ao, Aruba and the Leeward Antilles lie near the Venezuelan coast. Venezuela has territorial disputes with Guyana (formerly United Kingdom), largely concerning the Essequibo area, and with Colombia concerning the Gulf of Venezuela. In 1895, after years of diplomatic attempts to solve the border dispute, from Venezuela, the dispute over the Essequibo River border flared up, it was submitted to a "neutral" commission (composed of British, American and Russian representatives and without a direct Venezuelan representative), which in 1899 decided mostly against Venezuela's claim.[51]
- Venezuela's most significant natural resources are petroleum and natural gas, iron ore, gold and other minerals. It also has large areas of arable land and water.
- Climate[edit]Venezuela is entirely located in the tropics over the Equator to around 12° N. Its climate varies from humid low-elevation plains, where average annual temperatures range as high as 35 °C (95.0 °F), to glaciers and highlands (the pramos) with an average yearly temperature of 8 °C (46.4 °F). Annual rainfall varies between 430 mm (16.9 in) in the semiarid portions of the northwest to over 1,000 mm (39.4 in) in the Orinoco Delta of the far east and the Amazonian Jungle in the south. The precipitation level is lower in the period from November to April and later in the year from August to October. These periods are referred to as Hot-Humid and Cold-Dry seasons. Other charasteristic of the climate is this variation throughout the country by the existence of a mountain range called "Cordillera de la Costa" which crosses the country from east to west. The majority of the population lives in these mountains.[30]
- The country falls into four horizontal temperature zones based primarily on elevation, having Tropical, Dry, Temperate with Dry Winters, and Polar (Alpine tundra) climates, amongst others.[52][53][54] In the tropical zone'--below 800 meters or 2,625 feet'--temperatures are hot, with yearly averages ranging between 26 and 28 °C (78.8 and 82.4 °F). The temperate zone ranges between 800 and 2,000 meters (2,625 and 6,562 ft) with averages from 12 to 25 °C (53.6 to 77.0 °F); many of Venezuela's cities, including the capital, lie in this region. Colder conditions with temperatures from 9 to 11 °C (48.2 to 51.8 °F) are found in the cool zone between 2,000 and 3,000 meters (6,562 and 9,843 ft), especially in the Venezuelan Andes, where Pastureland and permanent snowfield with yearly averages below 8 °C (46 °F) cover land above 3,000 meters (9,843 ft) in the pramos.
- The highest temperature recorded was 42 °C (108 °F) in Machiques,[55] and the lowest temperature recorded was ''11 °C (12 °F), it has been reported from an uninhabited high altitude at Pramo de Piedras Blancas (M(C)rida state),[56] even though no official reports exist, there is knowledge of lower temperatures in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de M(C)rida.
- Biodiversity[edit]Venezuela lies within the Neotropic ecozone; large portions of the country were originally covered by moist broadleaf forests. One of seventeen megadiverse countries,[57] Venezuela's habitats range from the Andes mountains in the west to the Amazon Basin rainforest in the south, via extensive llanos plains and Caribbean coast in the center and the Orinoco River Delta in the east. They include xeric scrublands in the extreme northwest and coastal mangrove forests in the northeast.[30] Its cloud forests and lowland rainforests are particularly rich.[58]
- Animals of Venezuela are diverse and include manatees, Three-toed sloth, Two-toed sloth, Amazon river dolphins, and Orinoco crocodiles, which have been reported to reach up to 6.6 m (22 ft) in length. Venezuela hosts a total of 1,417 bird species, 48 of which are endemic.[59] Important birds include ibises, ospreys, kingfishers,[58] and the yellow-orange Venezuelan Troupial, the national bird. Notable mammals include the Giant Anteater, jaguar, and the capybara, the world's largest rodent. More than half of Venezuelan avian and mammalian species are found in the Amazonian forests south of the Orinoco.[60]
- For the fungi, an account was provided by R.W.G. Dennis[61] which has been digitized and the records made available on-line as part of the Cybertruffle Robigalia database.[62] That database includes nearly 3,900 species of fungi recorded from Venezuela, but is far from complete, and it is likely that the true total number of fungal species already known from Venezuela is higher. The true total number of fungal species occurring in Venezuela, including species not yet recorded, is likely to be far higher, given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7% of all fungi worldwide have so far been discovered.[63]
- Among plants of Venezuela, over 25,000 species of orchids are found in the country's cloud forest and lowland rainforest ecosystems.[58] These include the flor de mayo orchid (Cattleya mossiae), the national flower. Venezuela's national tree is the araguaney, whose characteristic lushness after the rainy season led novelist R"mulo Gallegos to name it "[l]a primavera de oro de los araguaneyes" (the golden spring of the araguaneyes).
- Venezuela is among the top twenty countries in terms of endemism.[64] Among its animals, 23% of reptilian and 50% of amphibian species are endemic.[64] Although the amount of available information is still very small, a first effort has been made to estimate the number of fungal species endemic to Venezuela: 1334 species of fungi have been tentatively identified as possible endemics of the country.[65] Some 38% of the over 21,000 plant species known from Venezuela are unique to the country.[64]
- Environment[edit]Venezuela is one of the ten most biodiverse countries on the planet, yet it is one of the leaders of deforestation due to economic and political factors. Each year, roughly 287 600 hectares of forest is permanently destroyed and other areas are degraded by mining, oil extraction and logging. Between 1990 and 2005, Venezuela officially lost 8.3% of its forest cover, which is approximately 4 313 000 hectares. In response, federal protections for critical habitat were implemented; for example, 20% to 33% of forested land is protected.[60] The country has a biosphere reserve that is part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[66] In 2003, 70% of the nation's land was under conservation management in over 200 protected areas, including 43 national parks.[67]Venezuela's 43 national parks include Canaima National Park, Morrocoy National Park and Mochima National Park. In the far south is a reserve for the country's Yanomami tribes. Covering 32,000 square miles (almost 83,000 square kilometers), the area is off-limits to farmers, miners, and all non-Yanomami settlers.
- Government and politics[edit]Following the fall of Marcos P(C)rez Jim(C)nez in 1958, Venezuelan politics were dominated by the Third WayChristian democraticCOPEI and the center-left social democraticDemocratic Action (AD) parties; this two-party system was formalized by the puntofijismo arrangement. Economic crises in the 1980s and 1990s led to a political crisis which saw hundreds dead in the Caracazo riots of 1989, two attempted coups in 1992, and impeachment of President Carlos Andr(C)s P(C)rez for corruption in 1993. A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw the 1998 election of Hugo Chvez, who had led the first of the 1992 coup attempts, and the launch of a "Bolivarian Revolution", beginning with a 1999 Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution of Venezuela.
- The opposition's attempts to unseat Chvez included the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'(C)tat attempt, the Venezuelan general strike of 2002''2003, and the Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004, all of which failed. Chvez was re-elected in December 2006, but suffered a significant defeat in 2007 with the narrow rejection of the Venezuelan constitutional referendum, 2007, which had offered two packages of constitutional reforms aimed at deepening the Bolivarian Revolution.
- There are currently two major blocs of political parties in Venezuela: the incumbent leftist bloc United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), its major allies Fatherland for All (PPT) and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), and the opposition bloc grouped into the electoral coalition Mesa de la Unidad Democrtica. This includes A New Era (UNT) together with allied parties Project Venezuela, Justice First, Movement for Socialism (MAS) and others. Hugo Chvez, the central figure of the Venezuelan political landscape since his election to the Presidency in 1998 as a political outsider, died in office in early 2013, and was succeeded by Nicols Maduro (initially as interim President, before narrowly winning the Venezuelan presidential election, 2013).
- The Venezuelan president is elected by a vote, with direct and universal suffrage, and is both head of state and head of government. The term of office is six years, and (as of 15 February 2009) a president may be re-elected an unlimited number of times. The president appoints the vice president and decides the size and composition of the cabinet and makes appointments to it with the involvement of the legislature. The president can ask the legislature to reconsider portions of laws he finds objectionable, but a simple parliamentary majority can override these objections.
- The president may ask the National Assembly to pass an enabling act granting the ability to rule by decree in specified policy areas; this requires a two-thirds majority in the Assembly. Since 1959 six Venezuelan presidents have been granted such powers.
- The unicameral Venezuelan parliament is the Asamblea Nacional ("National Assembly"). The number of members is variable - each state and the Capital district elect three representatives plus the result of dividing the state population by 1.1% of the total population of the country.[68] Three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples. For the 2011''2016 period the number of seats is 165.[69] All deputies serve five-year terms.
- The voting age in Venezuela is 18 and older. Voting is not compulsory.[70]
- The legal system of Venezuela belongs to the Continental Law tradition. The highest judicial body is the Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, whose magistrates are elected by parliament for a single twelve-year term. The National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral, or CNE) is in charge of electoral processes; it is formed by five main directors elected by the National Assembly. Supreme Court president Luisa Estela Morales said in December 2009 that Venezuela had moved away from "a rigid division of powers" toward a system characterized by "intense coordination" between the branches of government. Morales clarified that each power must be independent adding that "one thing is separation of powers and another one is division".[71]
- Foreign relations[edit]Throughout most of the 20th century, Venezuela maintained friendly relations with most Latin American and Western nations. Relations between Venezuela and the United States government worsened in 2002, after the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'(C)tat attempt during which the U.S. government recognized the short-lived interim presidency of Pedro Carmona. Correspondingly, ties to various Latin American and Middle Eastern countries not allied to the U.S. have strengthened.
- Venezuela seeks alternative hemispheric integration via such proposals as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas trade proposal and the newly launched pan-Latin American television networkteleSUR. Venezuela is one of the six nations in the world'--along with Russia, Nicaragua, Nauru, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu'--to have recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Venezuela was a proponent of OAS's decision to adopt its Anti-Corruption Convention, and is actively working in the Mercosur trade bloc to push increased trade and energy integration. Globally, it seeks a "multi-polar" world based on strengthened ties among Third World countries.
- Military[edit]The Bolivarian National Armed Forces of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana, FANB) are the overall unified military forces of Venezuela. It includes over 320,150 men and women, under Article 328 of the Constitution, in 5 components of Ground, Sea and Air. The components of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces are: the Venezuelan Army, the Venezuelan Navy, the Venezuelan Air Force, the Venezuelan National Guard, and the Venezuelan National Militia.
- As of 2008, a further 600,000 soldiers were incorporated into a new branch, known as the Armed Reserve. The President of Venezuela is the commander-in-chief of the national armed forces. The main roles of the armed forces are to defend the sovereign national territory of Venezuela, airspace, and islands, fight against drug trafficking, to search and rescue and, in the case of a natural disaster, civil protection. All male citizens of Venezuela have a constitutional duty to register for the military service at the age of 18, which is the age of majority in Venezuela.
- Law and crime[edit]Corruption in Venezuela is high by world standards, and was so for much of the 20th century. The discovery of oil had worsened political corruption,[72] and by the late 1970s, Juan Pablo P(C)rez Alfonso's description of oil as "the Devil's excrement" had become a common expression in Venezuela.[73] Venezuela has been ranked one of the most corrupt countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index since the survey started in 1995. The 2010 ranking placed Venezuela at number 164, out of 178 ranked countries.[74]
- This corruption is shown with Venezuela's significant involvement in drug trafficking, with Colombian cocaine and other drugs transiting Venezuela towards the United States and Europe. Venezuela ranks fourth in the world for cocaine seizures, behind Colombia, the United States, and Panama.[75] In 2006 the government's agency for combating the Illegal drug trade in Venezuela, ONA, was incorporated into the office of the Vice-President of the country. However, many major government and military officials have been known for their involvement with drug trafficking; especially with the October 2013 incident of men from the Venezuelan National Guard placing 1.3 tons of cocaine on a Paris flight knowing they will not face charges.[76]
- Venezuela is among the most violent places on Earth. In Venezuela, a person is murdered every 21 minutes.[77] Violent crimes have been so prevalent in Venezuela that the government no longer produces the crime data.[78] In 2013, the homicide rate was approximately 79 per 100,000, one of the world's highest, having quadrupled in the past 15 years with over 200,000 people murdered.[79] The country's body count of the previous decade mimics that of the Iraq War and in some instances had more civilian deaths even though the country is at peacetime.[80] The capital Caracas has one of the greatest homicide rates of any large city in the world, with 122 homicides per 100,000 residents.[81] In 2008, polls indicated that crime was the number one concern of voters.[82]
- Venezuela is especially dangerous toward foreign travelers and investors who are visiting. This is due to the nation's class struggle and poor economy that is devoid of needed foreign currency. The United States State Department and Government of Canada has warned foreign visitors that they may be subjected to robbery, kidnapping for a ransom or sale to terrorist organizations and murder, and that their own diplomatic travelers are required to travel in armored vehicles.[83][84] The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all travel to Venezuela.[85] Most visitors have been murdered during robberies and criminals do not discriminate against their victims. Recently, former Miss Venezuela 2004 winner Monica Spear and her husband were murdered with her 5 year old daughter being shot while visiting, and an elderly German tourist was murdered only a few weeks later. [86][87]
- There are approximately 33 prisons holding about 50,000 inmates.[88] They include; El Rodeo outside of Caracas, Yare Prison in the northern state of Miranda, and several others. Venezuela's prison system is heavily overcrowded; its facilities have capacity for only 14,000 prisoners.[89]
- Subdivisions[edit]Venezuela is divided into 23 states (estados), a capital district (distrito capital) corresponding to the city of Caracas, and the Federal Dependencies (Dependencias Federales, a special territory). Venezuela is further subdivided into 335 municipalities (municipios); these are subdivided into over one thousand parishes (parroquias). The states are grouped into nine administrative regions (regiones administrativas), which were established in 1969 by presidential decree.
- The country can be further divided into ten geographical areas, some corresponding to climatic and biogeographical regions. In the north are the Venezuelan Andes and the Coro region, a mountainous tract in the northwest, holds several sierras and valleys. East of it are lowlands abutting Lake Maracaibo and the Gulf of Venezuela.
- The Central Range runs parallel to the coast and includes the hills surrounding Caracas; the Eastern Range, separated from the Central Range by the Gulf of Cariaco, covers all of Sucre and northern Monagas. The Insular Region includes all of Venezuela's island possessions: Nueva Esparta and the various Federal Dependencies. The Orinoco Delta, which forms a triangle covering Delta Amacuro, projects northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.
- Economy[edit]The Central Bank of Venezuela is responsible for developing monetary policy for the Venezuelan bolvar which is used as currency. The currency is primarily printed on paper and distributed throughout the country. The President of the Central Bank of Venezuela is presently Eudomar Tovar, who also serves as the country's representative in the International Monetary Fund. According to the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, Venezuela has the weakest property rights in the world, scoring only 5.0 on a scale of 100; expropriation without compensation is not uncommon. Venezuela has a mixed economy dominated by the petroleum sector, which accounts for roughly a third of GDP, around 80% of exports, and more than half of government revenues. Per capita GDP for 2009 was US$13,000, ranking 85th in the world.[34] Venezuela has the least expensive petrol in the world because the consumer price of petrol is heavily subsidized.
- More than 60% of Venezuela's international reserves is in gold, eight times more than the average for the region. Most of Venezuela's gold held abroad is located in London. On November 25, 2011, the first of US$11 billion of repatriated gold bullion arrived in Caracas; Chvez called the repatriation of gold a "sovereign" step that will help protect the country's foreign reserves from the turmoil in the U.S. and Europe.[90] However government policies quickly spent down this returned gold and in 2013 the government was forced to add the dollar reserves of state owned companies to those of the national bank in order to reassure the international bond market.[91]
- Manufacturing contributed 17% of GDP in 2006. Venezuela manufactures and exports heavy industry products such as steel, aluminium and cement, with production concentrated around Ciudad Guayana, near the Guri Dam, one of the largest in the world and the provider of about three-quarters of Venezuela's electricity. Other notable manufacturing includes electronics and automobiles, as well as beverages, and foodstuffs. Agriculture in Venezuela accounts for approximately 3% of GDP, 10% of the labor force, and at least a quarter of Venezuela's land area. Venezuela exports rice, corn, fish, tropical fruit, coffee, beef, and pork. The country is not self-sufficient in most areas of agriculture. In 2012, total food consumption was over 26 million metric tonnes, a 94.8% increase from 2003.[92]
- Since the discovery of oil in the early 20th century, Venezuela has been one of the world's leading exporters of oil, and it is a founding member of OPEC. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa, oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues. The 1980s oil glut led to an external debt crisis and a long-running economic crisis, which saw inflation peak at 100% in 1996 and poverty rates rise to 66% in 1995[8] as (by 1998) per capita GDP fell to the same level as 1963, down a third from its 1978 peak.[9] The 1990s also saw Venezuela experience a major banking crisis in 1994. The recovery of oil prices after 2001 boosted the Venezuelan economy and facilitated social spending. In 2003 the government of Hugo Chvez implemented currency controls after capital flight led to a devaluation of the currency. This led to the development of a parallel market of dollars in the subsequent years with the official exchange rate less than a sixth of black market value. The fallout of the 2008 global financial crisis saw a renewed economic downturn.
- In early 2013, Venezuela devalued its currency due to growing shortages in the country.[93] The shortages included necessities such as toilet paper, milk, and flour.[94] Fears rose so high due to the toilet paper shortage that the government occupied a toilet paper factory.[95] Venezuela's bond ratings have also decreased multiple times in 2013 due to decisions by the president Nicols Maduro. One of his decisions was to force stores and their warehouses to sell all of their products, which may lead to even more shortages in the future.[96] Venezuela's outlook has also been deemed negative by most bond-rating services.[97] According to a Johns Hopkins University professor, Venezuela had a 297% implied inflation rate for 2013.[98]
- With social programs such as the Bolivarian Missions, Venezuela made progress in social development in 2000s, particularly in areas such as health, education, and poverty. Many of the social policies pursued by Chvez and his administration were jumpstarted by the Millennium Development Goals, eight goals that Venezuela and 188 other nations agreed to in September 2000.[99]
- Petroleum and other resources[edit]Venezuela has some of the largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world, and consistently ranks among the top ten world crude oil producers.[100] Compared to the preceding year another 40.4% in crude oil reserves were proven in 2010, allowing Venezuela to surpass Saudi Arabia as the country with the largest reserves of this type.[101] The country's main petroleum deposits are located around and beneath Lake Maracaibo, the Gulf of Venezuela (both in Zulia), and in the Orinoco River basin (eastern Venezuela), where the country's largest reserve is located. Besides the largest conventional oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere,[102] Venezuela has non-conventional oil deposits (extra-heavy crude oil, bitumen and tar sands) approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil.[103] The electricity sector in Venezuela is one of the few to rely primarily on hydropower, and includes the Guri Dam, one of the largest in the world.
- In the first half of the 20th century, US oil companies were heavily involved in Venezuela, initially interested only in purchasing concessions.[104] In 1943 a new government introduced a 50/50 split in profits between the government and the oil industry. In 1960, with a newly installed democratic government, Hydrocarbons Minister Juan Pablo P(C)rez Alfonso led the creation of OPEC, the consortium of oil-producing countries aiming to support the price of oil.[105]
- In 1973, Venezuela voted to nationalize its oil industry outright, effective 1 January 1976, with Petr"leos de Venezuela (PDVSA) taking over and presiding over a number of holding companies; in subsequent years, Venezuela built a vast refining and marketing system in the U.S. and Europe.[106] In the 1990s PDVSA became more independent from the government and presided over an apertura (opening) in which it invited in foreign investment. Under Hugo Chvez a 2001 law placed limits on foreign investment.
- The state oil company PDVSA played a key role in the December 2002 '' February 2003 national strike which sought President Chvez' resignation. Managers and skilled highly paid technicians of PDVSA shut down the plants and left their posts, and by some reports sabotaged equipment, and petroleum production and refining by PDVSA almost ceased. Activities eventually were slowly restarted by returning and substitute oil workers. As a result of the strike, around 40% of the company's workforce (around 18,000 workers) were dismissed for "dereliction of duty" during the strike.[107][108]
- Transport[edit]Venezuela is connected to the world primarily via air (Venezuela's airports include the Sim"n Bolvar International Airport in Maiqueta, near Caracas and La Chinita International Airport near Maracaibo) and sea (with major sea ports at La Guaira, Maracaibo and Puerto Cabello). In the south and east the Amazon rainforest region has limited cross-border transport; in the west, there is a mountainous border of over 2,213 kilometres (1,375 mi) shared with Colombia. The Orinoco River is navigable by oceangoing vessels up to 400 kilometres (250 mi) inland, and connects the major industrial city of Ciudad Guayana to the Atlantic Ocean.
- Venezuela has a limited national railway system, which has no active rail connections to other countries. The government of Hugo Chvez had tried to invest in expanding it, but Venezuela's rail project is being put on hold due to Venezuela not being able to pay the $7.5 billion and owing China Railway nearly $500 million.[109] Several major cities have metro systems; the Caracas Metro has been operating since 1983. The Maracaibo Metro and Valencia Metro were opened more recently. Venezuela has a road network of nearly 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) in length, placing the country around 45th in the world;[110] around a third of roads are paved.
- Demographics[edit]Historical populationYearPop. ±% p.a. 19505,094,000'-- 19607,562,000+4.03%197010,681,000+3.51%198015,036,000+3.48%199019,685,000+2.73%200024,348,000+2.15%201128,400,000+1.41%[111][112]Source: United NationsVenezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America;[6][7] the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the capital Caracas, which is also the largest city. About 93% of the population lives in urban areas in northern Venezuela; 73% live less than 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the coastline.[113] Though almost half of Venezuela's land area lies south of the Orinoco, only 5% of Venezuelans live there. The largest and most important city south of the Orinoco is Ciudad Guayana, which is the sixth most populous conurbation.[114] Other major cities include Barquisimeto, Valencia, Maracay, Maracaibo, M(C)rida, San Crist"bal and Barcelona-Puerto La Cruz.
- Ethnic groups[edit]The people of Venezuela come from a variety of heritages. It is estimated that the majority of the population is of mestizo, or mixed, ethnic heritage.
- Nevertheless, in the 2011 census, which Venezuelans were asked to identify themselves according to their customs and ancestry, the term mestizo was excluded from the answers. The majority claimed to be mestizo or white '-- 49.9% and 42.2%, respectively.[1] Practically half of the population claimed to be moreno, a term used throughout Ibero-America that in this case means "dark-skinned" or "brown-skinned", as opposed to having a lighter skin (this term connotes skin color or tone, rather than facial features or descent).
- Ethnics minorities in Venezuela consist of groups that descend mainly from African or indigenous peoples; 2.8% identified themselves as "black" and 0.7% as afrodescendiente (Afro-descendant), 2.7% claimed to belong to indigenous peoples, and 1.1% answered "other races".[1][115]
- Among indigenous people, 58% were Wayºu, 7% Warao, 5% Kari±a, 4% Pem"n, 3% Piaroa, 3% Jivi, 3% A±u, 3% Cumanagoto, 2% Yukpa, 2% Chaima and 1% Yanomami; the remaining 9% consisted of other indigenous nations.[116]
- According to an autosomal DNA genetic study conducted in 2008 by the University of Brasilia (UNB), the composition of Venezuela's population is 60.60% of European contribution, 23% of indigenous contribution, and 16.30% of African contribution.[117]
- During the colonial period and until after the Second World War, many of the European immigrants to Venezuela came from the Canary Islands,[118] which had a significant cultural impact on the cuisine and customs of Venezuela.[citation needed] However, with the start of oil exploitation in the early 20th century, companies from the United States began establishing operations in Venezuela, bringing with them US citizens. Later, during and after the war, new waves of immigrants from other parts of Europe, the Middle East, and China began; many were encouraged by government-established immigration programs.[citation needed] Between 1900 and 1958 more than one million Europeans immigrated to Venezuela.[citation needed] In addition, Venezuela also experienced immigration from other Latin American countries (especially Colombia) in the mid-to-late 19th century.[citation needed]
- According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Venezuela hosted a population of refugee and asylum seekers from Colombia numbering 252,200 in 2007, and 10,600 new asylum seekers entered Venezuela in 2007.[119] Between 500,000 and one million illegal immigrants are estimated to be living in the country.[120]
- The total indigenous population of the country is estimated at about 500 thousand people (2.8% of the total), distributed among 40 indigenous peoples.[121] The Constitution recognizes the multi-ethnic, pluri-cultural, and multilingual character of the country and includes a chapter devoted to indigenous peoples' rights, which opened up spaces for their political inclusion at national and local level in 1999. Most indigenous peoples are concentrated in eight states along Venezuela's borders with Brazil, Guyana, and Colombia, and the majority groups are the Wayuu (west), the Warao (east), the Yanomami (south), and the Pemon (southeast).
- Languages[edit]Although the country is mostly monolingual Spanish, many languages are spoken in Venezuela. In addition to Spanish, the Constitution recognizes more than thirty indigenous languages, including Wayuu, Warao, Pem"n, and many others for the official use of the indigenous peoples, mostly with few speakers - less than 1% of the total population. Immigrants, in addition to Spanish, speak their own languages. Arabic is spoken by Lebanese and Syrian colonies on Isla de Margarita, Maracaibo, Punto Fijo, Puerto la Cruz, El Tigre, Maracay, and Caracas. Portuguese is spoken not only by the Portuguese community in Santa Elena de Uair(C)n but also by much of the population due to its proximity to Brazil. The German community speaks their native language, while the Colonia Tovar speaks mostly an Alemannic dialect of German called coloniero. English is the most widely used foreign language in demand and is spoken by many professionals, academics, and members of the upper and middle classes as a result of oil exploration by foreign companies, in addition to its acceptance as a lingua franca. Culturally, English is common in southern towns like El Callao, for the English-speaking native influence evident in folk songs and calypso Venezuelan and French with English voices. Italian instruction is guaranteed by the presence of a constant number of schools and private institutions because the Italian government considered mandatory language teaching at school level. Other languages spoken by large communities in the country are Chinese and Galician, among others.
- Religion[edit]According to government estimates, 92% of the population is at least nominally Roman Catholic, and the remaining 8% are either irreligious, Protestant, or a member of another religion.
- In Venezuela, a population of Santera followers has been growing since 2008.[122] The rituals can cost 40,000 bolivars and include the slaughtering of a rooster, a chicken, or a goat.[123] Santera is a mixture of Christianity and Voodoo and involves worshipping Christian saints and various Pentecostal-style possessions.
- Culture[edit]The culture of Venezuela is a melting pot, which includes mainly three different families: The indigenous, African, and Spanish. The first two cultures were in turn differentiated according to the tribes. Acculturation and assimilation, typical of a cultural syncretism, caused an arrival at the current Venezuelan culture, similar in many respects to the rest of Latin America, although the natural environment means that there are important differences.
- The indigenous influence is limited to a few words of vocabulary and gastronomy and many place names. The African influence in the same way, in addition to musical instruments like the drum. The Spanish influence was predominant (due to the colonization process and the socioeconomic structure it created) and in particular came from the regions of Andalusia and Extremadura, the places of origin of most settlers in the Caribbean during the colonial era. An example of this includes buildings, music, the Catholic religion, and language.
- Spanish influences are evident in bullfights and certain features of gastronomy. Venezuela was also enriched by other streams of Indian and European origin in the 19th century, especially from France. In the latest stage in the major cities and regions oil of U.S. origin and manifestations of the new immigration of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, increasing the already complex cultural mosaic. For example, from United States comes the influence of taste for baseball, US-style fast food, and current architectural constructions.
- Art[edit]Venezuelan art was initially dominated by religious motifs, but began emphasizing historical and heroic representations in the late 19th century, a move led by Martn Tovar y Tovar. Modernism took over in the 20th century. Notable Venezuelan artists include Arturo Michelena, Crist"bal Rojas, Armando Rever"n, Manuel Cabr(C); the kinetic artistsJesºs Soto and Carlos Cruz-Dez; and contemporary artist as Marisol and Yucef Merhi.
- Literature[edit]Venezuelan literature originated soon after the Spanish conquest of the mostly pre-literate indigenous societies; it was dominated by Spanish influences. Following the rise of political literature during the Venezuelan War of Independence, Venezuelan Romanticism, notably expounded by Juan Vicente Gonzlez, emerged as the first important genre in the region. Although mainly focused on narrative writing, Venezuelan literature was advanced by poets such as Andr(C)s Eloy Blanco and Fermn Toro.
- Major writers and novelists include R"mulo Gallegos, Teresa de la Parra, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Adriano Gonzlez Le"n, Miguel Otero Silva, and Mariano Pic"n Salas. The great poet and humanist Andr(C)s Bello was also an educator and intellectual (He was also a childhood tutor and mentor of Simon Bolivar). Others, such as Laureano Vallenilla Lanz and Jos(C) Gil Fortoul, contributed to Venezuelan Positivism.
- Music[edit]Indigenous musical styles of Venezuela are exemplified by the groups Un Solo Pueblo and Serenata Guayanesa. The national musical instrument is the cuatro. Typical musical styles and pieces mainly emerged in and around the llanos region, including Alma Llanera (by Pedro Elas Guti(C)rrez and Rafael Bolvar Coronado), Florentino y el diablo (by Alberto Arvelo Torrealba), Concierto en la llanura by Juan Vicente Torrealba, and Caballo Viejo (by Sim"n Daz).
- The Zulian gaita is also a popular style, generally performed during Christmas. The national dance is the joropo. Venezuela has always been a melting pot of cultures and this can be seen in the richness and variety of its musical styles and dances: calipso, bambuco, fula, cantos de pilado de maz, cantos de lavanderas, sebucn, and maremare.[124]Teresa Carre±o was a world-famous 19th century piano virtuoso. In the last years, Classical Music has had great performances. The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, under the baton of its principal conductor Gustavo Dudamel and Jos(C) Antonio Abreu, has hosted a number of excellent presentations in many European concert halls, notably at the 2007 London Proms, and has received several honors. The orchestra is the pinnacle of El Sistema, a publicly financed voluntary sector music education program now being emulated in other countries.
- Sport[edit]Baseball is Venezuela's most popular sport, with the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League existing since 1945.
- Besides baseball, Venezuela's most popular sports are basketball and football.[125] Venezuela hosted the 2012 Basketball World Olympic Qualifying Tournament and is set to host the 2013 FIBA Basketball Americas Championship, which will take place in Poliedro de Caracas. Football, spearheaded by the Venezuela national football team is gaining popularity as well.
- Venezuela will hold the Copa Am(C)rica every 40 years, according to the Conmebol rotation policy. (2007, 2047, 2087, 2127, 2167, 2207, 2247, 2287...)
- Venezuela is also home to Formula 1 driver, Pastor Maldonado. At the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, he claimed his first pole and victory and became the first and only Venezuelan to have done so in the entire Formula 1 history. Maldonado has increased the reception of Formula 1 fans in Venezuela and is now inspiring thousands of young Venezuelan children to aim for Formula 1.
- In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Venezuelan Rub(C)n Limardo won gold in fencing.
- Cuisine[edit]The Venezuelan cuisine, one of the most varied in the region, reflects the climatic contrasts and cultures coexisting in Venezuela. Among them are hallaca, pabell"n criollo, arepas, pisca andina, tarkar de chivo, jalea de mango, and fried camiguanas.
- Other[edit]Venezuela is well known for its successes in beauty pageants. Miss Venezuela is a big event in the country, and Venezuela has received 6 Miss World, 7 Miss Universe, 6 Miss International and 2 Miss Earth titles.
- Venezuela ranks first Global Beauties list because it is the country that has won more titles integral beauties. It also has a Guinness World Record, after Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008, Stefania Fernandez crowned Miss Universe 2009, marking the first time in the competition over 50 years that a country gets the same title consecutively.
- It is the most successful country in Miss World and Miss International and Miss Universe second only surpassed by USA.
- Carlos Raºl Villanueva was the most important Venezuelan architect of the modern era; he designed the Central University of Venezuela, (a World Heritage Site) and its Aula Magna. Other notable architectural works include the Capitolio, the Baralt Theatre, the Teresa Carre±o Cultural Complex, and the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.
- Education[edit]The literacy rate for the adult population was already 91.1 by 1998.[126] In 2008, 95.2% of the adult population was literate.[127] Net primary school enrollment rate was at 91% in 2005.[127] Net secondary enrollment rate was at 63% in 2005.[127] Venezuela has a number of universities, of which the most prestigious are the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), founded in Caracas in 1721, the University of Zulia (LUZ) founded in 1891, the University of the Andes (ULA), founded in M(C)rida State in 1810, and Sim"n Bolvar University (USB), founded in Miranda State in 1967. Currently, large numbers of Venezuelan graduates seek for a future elsewhere due to the country's troubled economy and heavy crime rate. It is believed nearly 12% of Venezuelans live abroad with Ireland becoming a popular destination for students.[128]
- Venezuela has a national universal health care system. The current government has created a program to expand access to health care known as Misi"n Barrio Adentro.[129][130]
- Infant mortality in Venezuela is 19.75 deaths per 1,000 births for 2013, lower than the South American average (by comparison, the U.S. stands at 5.9 deaths per 1,000 births in 2013).[131] Child malnutrition (defined as stunting or wasting in children under age five) stands at 17%; Delta Amacuro and Amazonas have the nation's highest rates.[132] According to the United Nations, 32% of Venezuelans lack adequate sanitation, primarily those living in rural areas.[133] Diseases ranging from typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis D are present in the country.[134]Obesity is prevalent in approximately 30% of the adult population in Venezuela.[135]
- Venezuela has a total of 150 plants for sewage treatment. However, still 13% of the population lack access to drinking water, but this number has been dropping.[136]
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ISBN 978-1-60980-116-8. ^L"pez Maya, Margarita (2004). "Venezuela 2001''2004: actores y estrategias". Cuadernos del Cendes21 (56): 109''132. ISSN 1012-2508. ^Han Shih, Toh (11 April 2013). "China Railway Group's project in Venezuela hits snag". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 14 December 2013. ^Country Comparison :: Roadways. The World Factbook. cia.gov^CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion Population 1971''2008 IEA (pdf) pp. 83''85^Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision. Esa.un.org (6 December 2012). Retrieved on 20 April 2013.^"Coastal and Marine Ecosystems'--Venezuela" (PDF). EarthTrends Country Profiles. World Resources Institute. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. Retrieved 10 March 2007. ^"Cuadro Magnitud y Estructura Demogrfica". Ine.gob.ve. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 25 April 2010. ^"Censo arrojo datos socioecon"micos nunca antes abordados" (in Spanish). El Arag¼e±o. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012. "Del total de la poblaci"n censada (27.272.930 personas), 49,9% se reconoci" como moreno o morena; 42,2% como blanco o blanca; 2,8% se autodefini" como negro o negra; mientras que como indgena 2,7% (lo cual representa 725.128 personas que se reconocen como tal) y afrodescendiente 0,7%. El grupo que se reconoci" como afrodescendiente, conformado por 181.157 personas, se encuentra ubicado principalmente en la regi"n central y occidental del pas. De esa poblaci"n afrodescendiente, 42.264 viven en Miranda; 21,281 en Carabobo; 19.874 en Aragua; 18.675 en Distrito Capital y 15.019 en el Zulia." ^Bentez, Deivis. "Poblaciones Indgenas en aumento segºn censo poblacional 2011" (in Spanish). PRENSA MINPPPI. Retrieved 10 October 2012. "Los resultados arrojados por el censo poblacional realizado por el Instituto Nacional de Estadsticas en el 2011 demuestra que las poblaciones indgenas ha aumentado progresivamente con respecto al censo del a±o 2001.Segºn los datos estadsticos publicados por el INE, el total de poblaci"n que se declar" indgena por sexo, arroj" un resultado de 50,46% hombre y 49,54% mujeres representando 365.920 hombres y 359.208 mujeres para un total de 725.148 personas que se declararon indgenas de Venezuela.As mismo, se tom" el porcentaje de poblaci"n por entidad donde el estado Zulia es la entidad con ms indgenas con un 61%, seguido del estado Amazonas con 10%, Bolvar con un 8%, Delta Amacuro con 6%, Anzotegui 5%, Sucre 3%, Apure y Monagas 2% mientras que en otras entidades existe un 3% de poblaci"n indgena.Entre tanto, los pueblos indgenas con mayor poblaci"n se encuentran los Wayuu 58%, Warao 7%, Kari±a 5%, Pem"n 4%, Piaroa, Jivi, A±u, Cumanagoto 3%, Yukpa, Chaima 2%, el pueblo Yanomami 1% y otros pueblos con un 9%." ^Godinho, Neide Maria de Oliveira (2008). "O impacto das migra§µes na constitui§£o gen(C)tica de popula§µes latino-americanas". Universidade de Braslia. Retrieved 1 August 2012. ^"The Spanish of the Canary Islands". personal.psu.edu. ^"World Refugee Survey 2008". U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. 19 June 2008. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. ^Venezuela '' Population. U.S. Library of Congress.^> Censos de poblaci"n y vivienda. INE (23 February 2012). Retrieved on 16 April 2012.^Updated 114 minutes ago 25 November 2012 7:39:07 PM +00:00 (8 February 2008). "Santeria surges in Venezuela '' World news '' Venezuela | NBC News". MSNBC. Retrieved 25 November 2012. ^"Hasta 40 mil bolvares cuesta hacerse "El Santo" '' Actualidad | ltimas Noticias". Ultimasnoticias.com.ve. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012. ^"Key Facts Venezuela". Turpial Travel & Adventure. ^World's Most Popular Sports '' Most Popular Sports in Venezuela accessed 20 January 2013^Venezuela. Umsl.edu. Retrieved on 20 April 2013.^ abc"Human Development Report 2009 '' Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)". Hdrstats.undp.org. Retrieved 25 April 2010. ^Goodman, Joshua (31 January 2014). "Venezuela's Best and Brightest Camp on Sidewalks". ABC News. Retrieved 9 February 2014. ^"Health Care for All: Venezuela's Health Missions at Work". Venezuela Information Office. 2007. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008. ^Castro, Arachu (2008). "Barrio adentro a look at the origins of a social mission". David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University. Archived from the original on 2009-05-12. Retrieved 29 January 2009. ^"The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 9 February 2014. ^Venezuela at the Wayback Machine (archived March 18, 2007)[dead link]. FAO.org.^Venezuela. Unicef.org.^Venezuela Guardian. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 20 September 2006.^"The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 9 February 2014. ^Hugo Rafael Chvez Fras Cumpliendo las metas del milenio at the Wayback Machine (archived May 11, 2011)[dead link]. Repºblica Bolivariana de Venezuela '' Gabinete Social (2004) ISBN 980-6456-12-2External links[edit] Links to related articles
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- Pussy Riot whipped, pepper sprayed in Sochi | Stuff.co.nz
- CRACKDOWN: Pussy Riot members Maria Alekhina (pink balaclava) Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (blue balaclava) are whipped by a Cossack militiaman.
- The Pussy Riot punk group has been attacked in Sochi by Cossacks wielding whips and pepper spray, as they were about to perform a song.
- Eyewitnesses said members of the group had just put on their trademark brightly coloured balaclavas in a restaurant in downtown Sochi in preparation for the performance.
- But when they left the restaurant they were set upon by around a dozen Cossacks - local militia who are used by police to help patrol the town, AP reported.
- One Cossack smashed their guitar, and others tried to rip off the group's balaclavas.
- Group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova tweeted that "Cossacks attacked us, beat us with whips and abundantly sprayed us with pepper gas".
- Another band member, Maria Alyokhina, tweeted a photo of a man with a bloodied face.
- She said the man was a member of Pussy Riot, and had a "cracked eyebrow after the attack of the Cossacks"
- She also tweeted photographs of what she said were bruises on her chest left by the batons of the Cossacks, and a ripped fingernail.
- A local activist associated with the group said the male member of Pussy Riot had been "brutally beaten" by the Cossacks.
- In Russian, David Hakim said the Cossacks had used pepper spray and beaten them with whips.
- His account was backed up by a reporter for VICE News, Simon Ostrovsky, who said "group of Cossacks just thrashed Pussy Riot in Sochi with whip handles and pepper spray".
- He said one of the Cossacks had been detained.
- However, AP reported that when police arrived and questioned witnesses, no-one was arrested.
- On Tuesday, members of Pussy Riot were detained for three hours by police, reportedly for questioning over a theft at a local hotel.
- They said they were in Sochi to perform a song called Putin will teach you to love the motherland.
- It was "dedicated to prisoners of the swamp [referring to a May 2012 political protest that turned violent in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square], corrupt Olympics, ecologist Vitishko and suppressed freedoms in Russia".
- According to some news reports they were also filming a video clip for the song.
- Activist filmmakers Gogol's Wives, who have been following Pussy Riot, Tweeted late Tuesday night that a Cossack had been walking with a whip around the hotel where they were staying.
- On Wednesday morning the IOC warned Pussy Riot not to come to the Olympic park for any political demonstration.
- After the arrest on Tuesday there were some reports that they would try to perform at the Olympic park, half an hour away.
- "If they did it would be wholly inappropriate," said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.
- A local activist later tweeted a photo of Pussy Riot, apparently recovered from the attack, performing in front of the Olympic rings outside the local administrative offices in Sochi.
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- Thousands protest in Venezuela after opposition leader's arrest '-- RT News
- Published time: February 18, 2014 21:32Edited time: February 19, 2014 04:51Leopoldo Lopez (C), an ardent opponent of Venezuela's socialist government facing an arrest warrant after President Nicolas Maduro ordered his arrest on charges of homicide and inciting violence, uses a megaphone to calm supporters down after they blocked the way to the national guard personnel who were transporting him after his surrender, during a demonstration in Caracas, on February 18, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)
- Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, wanted for inciting violence, has turned himself over to authorities amid a mass rally by his supporters in Caracas in a move he said would ''wake up'' Venezuelans who want changes in the South American nation.
- Tens of thousands of opposition supporters blocked the streets of the Venezuelan capital after Lopez's arrest, reports Reuters citing witnesses.
- Re-emerging after days of hiding, Lopez addressed some 5,000 of his followers during an anti-government demonstration in the Venezuelan capital on Tuesday, minutes before surrendering to the National Guard.
- Lopez said he was not afraid of going to prison to defend his beliefs and constitutional right to peacefully protest against President Nicolas Maduro.
- ''I have nothing to hide,'' he told supporters with a megaphone, standing next to a statue of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, Reuters cited. ''I present myself to an unjust judiciary. They want to jail Venezuelans who want peaceful, democratic change.''
- The crowd was chanting for Lopez not to hand himself over. But the hardline opposition leader announced that if his imprisonment would serve to ''wake up Venezuelans'' who want to peaceful and democratic changes, his ''wretched jailing'' would be worth it.
- After his short speech, Lopez descended from the statue and turned himself in to police. Protesters reportedly surrounded the van that held him, demanding freedom for their leader.
- Lopez, a 42-year-old US-educated economist, has been heading last week's protest marches demanding Maduro's resignation and voicing their discontent over a long list of problems including from record-breaking inflation and high crime-rate to corruption and product shortages. Analysts believe that the bulk of the opposition's support is centered in the struggling middle class, unhappy with government policies that have generally been more favorable to Venezuela's poor.
- The peaceful gathering in Caracas ended with violent clashes between a group of students and security forces; three people got killed in the unrest. Lopez's supporters claim that the victims were shot by pro-government forces.
- Maduro's government blamed the violence on Lopez, whom the president accuses of leading a US-backed "fascist" plot to oust the socialist government. Lopez was sought by authorities on an arrest order stemming murder and 'terrorism' to vandalism of public property. The opposition politician, former Mayor of Chacao Municipality of Caracas, claims though that he is being made a scapegoat by a dictatorial government.
- Tuesday's opposition rally, as well as a competing pro-government march in central Caracas, comes a day after the Venezuelan government gave three American diplomats 48 hours to leave the country claiming they were supporting opposition plots to overthrow Maduro and meeting with students to incite anti-government sentiment.
- The diplomatic relationship between the US and Venezuela has been extremely strained for over a decade, since Venezuela's former leader Hugo Chavez faced an unsuccessful coup attempt in 2002 with strong allegations of US involvement. Expulsions of both country's top diplomats and consular officers have been commonplace since that time.
- The US has denied the recent accusations of any involvement in the opposition's recent moves. State Department spokesman Jen Psaki called the allegations that the United States was helping to organize protestors in Venezuela ''baseless and false.''
- ''We support human rights and fundamental freedoms '-- including freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly '-- in Venezuela as we do in countries around the world. But as we have long said, Venezuela's political future is for the Venezuelan people to decide. We urge their government to engage all parties in meaningful dialogue.''
- Meanwhile, Caracas' received a message of support from Bolivian leader Evo Morales who also suggested that Washington was attempting to stage a coup in Venezuela.
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- BBC News - Pussy Riot members 'arrested in Sochi'
- 18 February 2014Last updated at 08:05 ET Two members of the protest group Pussy Riot say they have been arrested in the Russian resort of Sochi where the Winter Olympics are being held.
- Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who were freed from jail in December, said they had been detained in the centre of the town on suspicion of a criminal offence.
- They spent two years in prison for a singing a protest song in a cathedral.
- The town of Sochi is some distance from where the Games are taking place.
- Nadezhda Tolokonnikova told the BBC's Steven Rosenberg that she and Maria Alyokhina were being held at a police station after being detained on suspicion of "theft". They have not yet been officially charged.
- Ms Tolokonnikova said that they had arrived in Sochi on Sunday to perform a new song, Putin Will Teach You To Love Your Motherland, about "political repression in Russia".
- She tweeted that the authorities used "force" during the detentions near a ferry terminal about 30km (20 miles) north of the seaside Olympic venues.
- HooliganismMs Tolokonnikova also claimed that since their arrival, they had been detained several times. She described Sochi as a "police town".
- Local human rights activist Semyon Simonov told the Associated Press news agency that he was with the two women when they were stopped and accused of theft.
- Mr Simonov said that several other activists were also detained by police at the same time. He said that the women were being held at a police station in Adler, a suburb of Sochi where the Olympic Park is located.
- Ms Alyokhina and Ms Tolokonnikova were convicted of hooliganism after staging a protest in Moscow's largest cathedral in 2012 in opposition to President Vladimir Putin's government.
- Earlier this month, six members of Pussy Riot signed an open letter insisting that the two should no longer be described as members of the punk rock collective.
- The remaining members of the group said the pair had forgotten about the "aspirations and ideals of our group" and were wrong to appear at an Amnesty International concert in New York.
- In a separate development, the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday defended the removal of a transgender Italian gay rights activist from an Olympics arena, arguing that she was "escorted peacefully" from the premises and not detained.
- Former Italian MP Vladimir Luxuria - dressed in rainbow colours - was taken away by four unidentified men in a car with Olympic markings as she tried to enter an arena Monday night for a women's hockey game.
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- Comrades in arms: Britain and Russia to sign defence deal - Telegraph
- The deal covers 'unclassified' technology, so it is unlikely to allow co-operation on advanced battlefield equipment such as missile systems.
- Nevertheless treaty is regarded by defence chiefs and diplomats as a major step forward in the relationship between Britain and Russia, which went into deep freeze following the polonium murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London and the granting of asylum in Britain to some of Mr Putin's rivals.
- The British and Russian security services have worked together to defend the Sochi Olympics, and last year British veterans of the Arctic Convoys, which ferried supplies to the USSR in World War II, were awarded medals recognising their bravery after decades of prevarication by ministers.
- President Putin wants to dramatically boost Russia's arms exports to compete with the European defence industry. He has also announced a radical expansion in military spending in order to overhaul an army and navy that are reliant on hopelessly outdated weapons from the Soviet era. The deal means that British factories are in line to benefit from those orders.
- The Russian authorities are keen for a closer business relationship with Britain. Only 600 British firms currently trade in Russia, compared to 7000 German.
- The release of British Greenpeace activists who were jailed after protesting on a Russian oilrig, following lobbying from MPs and extensive back-channel negotiations, was seen privately as a minor diplomatic breakthrough.
- The US has in recent years spent hundreds of millions of dollars on buying Russian Mi-17 helicopters to give to the Afghan armed forces, although Congress has protested at Russia's role in supplying arms to the Syria conflict.
- In 2010 Russia bought two helicopter carrying warships from France, in a deal that caused surprise in a country that had strong shipbuilding industry during the Soviet period.
- A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ''Work is ongoing on a Military Technical Cooperation Agreement (MTCA) between the UK MOD and Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation which will provide a framework for Russian and UK defence companies to cooperate at an unclassified level.''
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- Has President Putin married former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva | Mail Online
- Renewed rumours President Putin has married gold-medalist Alina KabayevaSpeculation erupted in September that the pair were marrying in the town of Valdai after political opponent tweeted about the nuptials30-year-old Olympic gymnast filmed this week flashing a wedding ring at TV cameras while she attended an eventVladimir Putin, 61, was spotted wearing a ring on his wedding ring finger when he met the Egyptian defence minister last weekIn Russia wedding rings are worn on the right hand rather than the leftBy Daily Mail Reporter
- PUBLISHED: 17:01 EST, 15 February 2014 | UPDATED: 10:42 EST, 16 February 2014
- There was renewed speculation over Vladimir Putin's love life last night after TV footage showed his rumoured girlfriend wearing a 'wedding ring'.
- As the Russian President was hosting the Winter Olympics in Sochi, glamorous champion gymnast Alina Kabayeva, 30, was at a children's sporting event in the industrial city of Nizhnekamsk, where she showed her ring finger to TV camera crews, prompting a flurry of internet comments.
- Putin, 61, was also shown wearing a wedding ring during a meeting with the Egyptian defence minister last week, before a Kremlin-friendly news website withdrew the picture saying it predated last June's announcement that he and his wife Lyudmila were to divorce.
- Rumours flooded the internet that Russian President Vladimir Putin has married glamorous Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva, right
- Miss Kabayeva flashing a ring on her wedding ring finger while at an event in Nizhnekamsk, left. Putin, 61, was also spotted wearing a wedding ring while last week. In Russia, the wedding band is worn on the right hand
- Miss Kabayeva, right, is pictured with a ring on her wedding ring finger, attending the short track events on day three of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Iceberg Skating Palace
- Russian women wear the wedding ring on their right hand.
- The Kremlin has previously denied claims President Putin married Miss Kabayeva in the town of Valdai in September
- At the time Alexei Navalny, Putin's most charismatic political rival, tweeted: 'I'm told that Putin and Kabayeva are marrying today at the Iver Monastery. All of Valdai sealed off.'
- However, Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, later dismissed the claims as 'an internet exercise to relieve boredom'.
- Valdai is in the Novgorod region, where 60-year-old Putin was based in September for an international conference involving politicians and journalists.
- The Kremlin were forced to deny that Putin had tied the knot with Miss Kabayeva in the town of Valdai in September, late last year
- Speculation of the pair's union was rife after Alexei Navalny, Putin's most charismatic political rival, tweeted: 'I'm told that Putin and Kabayeva are marrying today at the Iver Monastery. All of Valdai sealed off'
- Putins aides have repeatedly denied he is involved in a relationship with the gold medal-winning gymnast, 30, pictured. Claims that the pair have children together have also been dismissed
- His aides have repeatedly denied he is involved in a relationship with the gold medal-winning gymnast.
- Claims that the pair have children together have also been dismissed.
- This week the former KGB man indicated he may stand for office again in 2018.
- Putin was first elected in 2000 and served two four year terms until he handed control of the country to puppet president Dmitry Medvedev who served until 2012 when Putin was reelected, this time for a six-year term.
- If reelected the hardline ruler will have been in power for nearly a quarter of a century which will make him the nation's longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin.
- Putin stepped out of the presidential limelight and became prime minister in 2008 to observe a limit of two consecutive terms.
- However, he maintained his grip on power from the shadows with his longtime ally, Dmitry Medvedev, serving as a placeholder.
- Share or comment on this article
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- LGBTQ Protest in Russia-OLYMPICS
- Moscow's Sochi 'Hunger Games' Rally Included LGBT IssuesSuch queer bravery by a handful of peaceful activists, putting themselves out on the streets of Moscow with bright, visible LGBT symbols and easy to read to signs in Russian, with hostile agitators expressing their opposition to gay liberation and uniformed police officers to end the rally, and with various cameras recording it all, needs the attention of American and global activists.I'm cross-posting from Ruslan Porshnev's fantastic QueeRussia news portal, a true asset in English that you should be reading regularly, this incredible story in text and video. I salute the activists who organized and participated in this action. Bravo!
- On February 15, about 50 people attended a sanctioned rally against corruption and repression in a 'Hyde Park' zone located inside the Gorky Park, Moscow. Participants waved rainbow flags, held a banner saying ''The Sochi Hunger Games 2014'" , as well as posters in support of LGBT rights, ecologist Eugene Vitishko and prisoners of May, 6 ('Bolotnoye' case).Police tried to ban the posters against the Olympics, insisting that the Olympics is not related to corruption and repression which was the declared theme of the rally. Police threatened to disperse the rally and to arrest participants, so the posters about the Olympics were put away by the decision of the organizers, about 40 minutes after the rally began.A number of Orthodox activists, who were allegedly accidentally passing by, also demanded the police to remove LGBT symbols from the event, but the police did not mind the rainbow flags, Grani.ru reports. In a press release posted prior to the event organizers said:
- The government has spent $50 billion to host the Winter Games in Sochi '' they will become the most expensive Olympics in history! This amount could be spent on building 500 modern medical centers or five thousand schools. Big business and officials make profits on kickbacks, but for the locals there is unemployment or slave labor, demolished houses and destruction of nature. [...]
- Sochi 'kickbacking event' is not an international holiday, this is Russian ''Hunger Games.'' The real players here are political prisoners, powerless migrant workers, LGBT, poor pensioners, residents deprived of shelter. But they lose, this carnival is not for them.
- There is no freedom and no holiday! There is a cause for joy only when we achieve the abolition of all repressive laws and set activists free, when the majority will win a real opportunity to address issues of political structure in Russia and dispose of its wealth.
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- NANGO
- NANGO is swahili slang for 'equality'
-
- Starting an NGO
- In general, any group of individuals may come together to form an
- informal organization in order to jointly discuss ideas or common
- interests, and they can do so without any government involvement or
- approval. If a group seeks particular legal benefits, such as exemption
- from federal and state taxation, it may choose to formally incorporate
- and register as an NGO under the laws of any of the 50 U.S. states.[1] Individuals do not need to be U.S. citizens to create a new NGO.
- Registration requirements, and forms of organization, vary from state
- to state, but are generally very simple, so that anyone can incorporate
- an NGO in just a few days at the state level. The process typically
- involves providing a short description of the organization, its mission,
- name, the address of an agent within the state, and paying a modest
- fee. Most states have a general incorporation statute that makes this
- process a routine matter, not subject to approval by the legislature or
- any other government official. This approach removes the risk that a
- government official might abuse his or her power in determining which
- organizations should be allowed to exist or not. In several states,
- certain NGOs formed for religious, educational and other charitable
- purposes must also register with a state charity official charged with
- protecting charitable assets and regulating the charitable solicitation
- of funds from the public.
-
- NoAgendaNGO.com
- I was listening to show 592 and I am on board with the No Agenda NGO so I registered
- noagendango.com and its currently linking to noagendashow.com
- If there is anything you would like to do with this domain just let me know. I am a firm believer
- in your value for value model and I have been an $11.11 donor since 2011. I hope that this domain
- is a step towards becoming an official NGO. I have looked up the steps towards becoming an NGO
- recognized by the UN and it looks pretty straight forward to setup an organization profile and then
- you can claim that you're an NGO with a official UN profile. Here's the URL
- If No Agenda is accepted you can designate producers to sit in on official UN meetings and other
- great linkedin opportunities. you could probably hand out some really cool titles as well.
- I hope this information is helpful.
-
- Producer Ben wants a gig at NANGO
- After many years of sys-admin work, I find myself 'between jobs.' It would be much less social, and
- professionally, awkward if I could tell people I'm with the NA-NGO instead of looking for work- even if
- it's a non-payed role. What do you say- can I join the team? I'd be happy to provide a resume, as well
- as professional and personal references. To be clear, I just want to tell people that I'm with NA-NGO,
- not really do any work. I feel that this opportunity could really help get me back on track as a
- respectable wage slave, so I hope you'll agree to this.
- Gay Sex lowers your carbon footprint
-
- In NGO's We Trust
-
- Human Rights Work of Memorial
- ''Memorial'' began initially as an historical and educational association with a significant part of its work dedicated to protecting human rights. Each of ''Memorial'''s regional divisions is involved in protecting human rights, specifically in vindicating the rights of former prisoners.
- The organization appeals to society to not forget the cruel and massive human rights violations in our country's past, but also not to ignore that human rights violations continue to occur.
- In the spring of 1989, authorities brutally broke up a meeting in Tbilisi, leading to many deaths. In Moscow, ''Memorial'' organized a series of protest actions. Through the year, ''Memorial'' repeatedly posted pickets at the building of the General Procurator of the U.S.S.R. demanding freedom for all the then-remaining political prisoners in the U.S.S.R. Towards autumn, a legal defense group grew out of this work: the association ''Memorial''. In 1991 ''Memorial'''s Human Rights Center was established to organize and coordinate ''Memorial'''s human rights' work.
- The Human Rights Center ''Memorial'' Moscow concentrates its activities on human rights violations in zones of armed conflicts in the Russian Federation, so called ''hot spots'', and on the protection of refugees and victims of discrimination and political persecution. Accordingly, several programmes have been set up, which often are closely interlinked.
- The Human Rights Center works in partnership with ''Memorial'''s regional organizations, many which also work to protect human rights. Much of the activity is carried out in Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Nizhniy Tagil, Novosibirsk, Orel, Ryazan, Tomsk, Kharkov, Chelyabinsk and other towns.
-
- Semyon Simonov human rights centre - Google Search
- Pussy Riot Members Arrested In Sochi After Plans To Film Music Videowww.huffingtonpost.co.uk/.../pussy-riot-sochi-_n_4806979.html?...- Cached12 minutes ago ... Amnesty International said nine people in total were arrested, including SemyonSimonov of the human rights centre Memorial, journalists from ...BBC News - Pussy Riot members 'arrested in Sochi'www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26240794- Cached8 minutes ago ... Local human rights activist Semyon Simonov told the Associated Press newsagency that ... defended the removal of a transgender Italian gay rights activistfrom an Olympics arena, ... Men inside the detention centre at Homs ...Pussy Riot members arrested at Winter Olympics - RT Newswww.rte.ie/news/2014/0218/505059-pussy-riot/- Cached3 hours ago ... Among those arrested in recent days were Semyon Simonov of the human rightscentre Memorial, journalists from Radio Free Europe and the ...Caucasian Knot | Semyon Simonov deprived of fan's passport sues ...eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/27146/- CachedJan 31, 2014 ...Semyon Simonov, the coordinator of the network "Migration and Law" of theHuman Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has filed a lawsuit to the ...2 members of punk band Pussy Riot held in Sochi | HamptonRoads ...hamptonroads.com/2014/02/2-members-punk-band-pussy-riot-held-sochi
- 3 hours ago ...Semyon Simonov told The Associated Press he was. ... "Bringing Human RightsHome" concert at the Barclays Center in New York. New York ...Russia: Rights Group Targeted in Sochi | Human Rights Watchwww.hrw.org/news/2013/07/25/russia-rights-group-targeted-sochi- SimilarJul 25, 2013 ...Semyon Simonov, coordinator of Memorial's Migration and Law Network in ...who are building the Main Media Center for the Olympic Games.Sochi Migrant Workers Targeted for Expulsion - Human Rights Watchwww.hrw.org/news/2013/.../russia-sochi-migrant-workers-targeted-expulsion
- Oct 3, 2013 ... Popkov and Semyon Simonov, head of the Memorial Human Rights Center'sMigration and Law Program's Sochi Office, also visited the Sochi ...Caucasian Knot - Semyon Simonov, the coordinator of ... - Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/caucasian.knot/posts/632116870159652- CachedSemyon Simonov, the coordinator of the network "Migration and Law" of theHuman Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has filed a lawsuit to the Adler District ...russia - Monaco Lifewww.monacolife.net/?action=select&tag=russia- Cached2 hours ago... been arrested in the centre of Sochi, human rights activists said this ...SemyonSimonov, said other activists were also detained by police.Human Rights Watchwww.hrw.org/
- We investigate human rights crises around the world. Learn the facts.human rightswww.hrc.org/
- Learn about HRC's efforts to promote equal LGBT rights.human rightswww.splcenter.org/
- Fighting Hate, Teaching Tolerance, Seeking Justice. Learn More.
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- Semyon Simonov-Caucasian Knot | Semyon Simonov deprived of fan's passport sues "Sochi- 2014" OC
- Semyon Simonov, the coordinator of the network "Migration and Law" of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has filed a lawsuit to the Adler District Court against the "Sochi-2014" Organizing Committee (OC) demanding to repeal the provision in the rules on issuance of the Olympic fan's passports that admits refusal without explanations.
- According to his data, the OC refused to grant fan's passports to several oppositional activists.
- Mr Simonov treats the actions of the OC as persecution for his legal assistance to migrant workers, who were involved in building Sochi facilities.
- The spokesman of the "Sochi-2014" has confirmed in his interview with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the OC reserves the right to refuse to issue a fan's passport without giving reasons, despite the presence of tickets to sporting events with the applicant.
- "Jointly with the HRC 'Angora', we found no authority with the OC to restrict citizens' access to the Olympic Games. It is responsible for preparing and holding the Olympic Games in Sochi, but not for obstructing citizens' access to the Olympics. To do so, they need to have reasons. When they fail to give them '' it's a double violation," the lawyer Alexander Popkov gave his comment.
- See earlier reports: "Chernyshenko: 70% of Olympic tickets sold out", "During Olympic Games, "Aeroflot" cuts Moscow-Sochi flight tariff down to 5000 roubles", "In Sochi, more than 800 hotels get "stars" on the eve of 2014 Olympic Games".
- Author:Svetlana Kravchenko; Source:CK correspondent
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- International Committee of the Fourth International - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is the name of two Trotskyistinternationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site, and another linked to the Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.
- Foundation[edit]The International Committee originated as a public faction of the Fourth International. It was formed in 1953 by a number of national sections of the FI that disagreed with the course of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International led at that time by Michel Pablo (Raptis) and Ernest Mandel (Germain). The Committee was co-ordinated by the American section, the Socialist Workers Party, and included the British section led by Gerry Healy and Pierre Lambert's Parti Communiste Internationaliste (PCI) in France. Trotskyist groups in various other countries, notably in Austria, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and Nahuel Moreno's group in Argentina, also joined.
- The grouping's founding statement was an open letter of the National Committee of the SWP which outlined the disputes it had with Pablo's faction within the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. It reiterated what it saw as the basic principles of Trotskyism and described the direction of the "Pabloite" faction as "revisionist", claiming that this threatened the survival of the Fourth International, the liquidation of the Trotskyist program and definite steps taken towards its organisational liquidation. As an example, the letter explained that Pablo expelled a majority of the French section of the International, because they disagreed with the International's policy of working within the Stalinist Communist Party of France. This policy was described as one of entrism sui generis, entryism of a special kind, in which the Trotskyists were to join the Stalinist or Socialist mass parties with a long term perspective of working within them.
- Some critics of the Open Letter counter that the SWP and their co-thinkers in The Club had failed to defend the French majority against Pablo, and that they had shared the 1951 perspectives of International on war-revolutions and the need for deep entryism in the Communist Parties. The Club's entryism into the Labour Party in Britain resembled entrism sui generis. However, Pablo aimed for the FI to implement entryism more deeply than the leaders of the ICFI felt wise: They were also concerned by Pablo preparedness to enforce entrism, if necessary by splitting sections or appointing new leadership teams.
- The Open Letter went on to explain that, in the SWP's view, what it described as Pabloite Revisionism was the result of a lack of confidence in the revolutionary capabilities of the working class and an impressionistic, overly positive, assessment of the strength and prospects of Stalinism. Pablo had, in 1951, argued that the transition between capitalism and socialism will probably take several centuries. The supporters of the Open Letter read this to suggest there would be "centuries of deformed workers states", and this phrase is often mistaken attributed to Pablo or to his formulation of what was called the war-revolution thesis.
- The ICFI saw this as an abandonment of the principles that Trotsky fought for since the rise of Hitler and the consequent establishment of the Fourth International. The founders of the ICFI wanted the International maintain its organizational independence as the world party of the working-class, asserting that Pablo's policies would leave them an adjunct of the Stalinists. His faction's heavy-handed tactics of removing members who disagreed with his radical revisions made compromise appear impossible.
- An excerpt from the concluding part of the "Open Letter" reads:
- "To sum up: The lines of cleavage between Pablo's revisionism and orthodox Trotskyism are so deep that no compromise is possible either politically or organizationally. The Pablo faction has demonstrated that it will not permit democratic decisions truly reflecting majority opinion to be reached. They demand complete submission to their criminal policy. They are determined to drive all orthodox Trotskyists out of the Fourth International or to muzzle and handcuff them."
- "Their scheme has been to inject their Stalinist conciliationism piecemeal and likewise in piecemeal fashion, get rid of those who come to see what is happening and raise objections."
- Linked below is a history of the founding of the ICFI and the "Open Letter".
- 1953 to 1963[edit]In the eyes of the ICFI, Pabloite liquidationism meant permanent dissolution into the Communist Party in every country. After the ICFI withdrew from the FI in 1953, many sections of the ISFI entered communist parties. However, it later became clear that the sections of the ISFI did not dissolve, or enter permanently. Nevertheless, the ISFI's political trajectory led its sections to mistakes as well as, in one case, participation in bourgeois governments when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) entered the government of Ceylon and was expelled from the International. The ICFI sees similar pressures at work now: describing as "Pabloites" those former Trotskysists who today are enforcing IMF dictates in Brazil as members of the Lula government.
- Some sections of the ICFI have practiced temporary entryist policies, but continually emphasized to their membership that this was a short-term move. They maintained, however, the principle that only the Fourth International, as a consciously Marxist organization of the working class can lead the world revolution.
- The SWP, partly because of McCarthyism and politically repressive laws, found it hard to cooperate on a world scale in a democratic centralist International. The first conference could not take place until 1958, and the SWP officially only acted as observers at the event, being prevented from affiliating to the ICFI by US law[citation needed].
- As early as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the leadership of the American SWP was beginning to show signs of convergence with the developing political line of the organisations grouped in the ISFI. The disappearance of the Socialist Union, the American affiliate of the ISFI, removed one such barrier to a political reunion. Ever greater agreement with regard to the Algerian War of Independence, and the Cuban Revolution of 1959 also brought the SWP and the ISFI closer together. In 1960, the Indian and Japanese sections of the IC reunified with the ISFI sections. Meanwhile, inside the ISFI, Pablo had lost much of his political influence, removing yet another barrier to reunification. In 1962, the ICFI and ISFI formed a Parity Committee to organise a World Congress of the two factions.
- ISFI and the leadership of SWP revised the basic Trotskyist principle that only a conscious Marxist leadership can ensure a successful socialist revolution. Instead they argued that "unconscious Trotskyists" would come to power in colonized countries as well as within the Stalinist bureaucracies. It was no longer necessary to build a mass Trotskyist party. Anyone who opposed these conceptions was silenced or expelled, breaking with the basic Leninist principle of inner-party democracy.
- In 1963 the SWP and the smaller Austrian, Canadian, Chinese and New Zealand sections of the ICFI agreed to reunite with the ISFI at the World Congress, to form the United Secretariat of the Fourth International.
- This was immediately opposed by the Revolutionary Tendency of the SWP, and by the SLL in Britain and the PCI in France, as well as many orthodox Trotskyists throughout the world. Those currents still valued the political lessons learned from the 1953 split. They saw the SWP's decision as an abandonment of the most basic principles of the Fourth International, and of Trotskyism, and as an attempt to ingratiate itself to the growing middle class protest movement in the United States.
- The RT, SLL and PCI argued that the anti-war movement in the US contained the same types of people the Pabloites had sought to attract during the mass exodus of people from the Stalinist Parties after the revelations of Stalin's atrocities in the 1950s. They called this "opportunism" because it represented what they saw as a revision of Marxism for the sake of attracting new members from the radicalizing middle class.
- 1963 to 1971[edit]Within the SWP, as well as within the rest of the ICFI, an opposition to the reunification came together. Some of the Latin American sections of the ICFI also left the ICFI to join the USFI, allowing the SWP and its allies to claim that a majority of the sections of the ICFI had joined the USFI. In the eyes of the ICFI, the Latin American sections had adopted Pabloism and were dependent on their connections to the SWP.
- Within the SWP, some members who had studied the meaning of the 1953 split opposed the reunification. These were gathered around Tim Wohlforth and James Robertson in the Revolutionary Tendency. They echoed the SWPs Open Letter, arguing that the leaders' turn to Pabloism coincided with the introduction of Stalinist ideas, followed by an expulsion of those members who exposed the leadership's lack of principles. The SWP had supported the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro. However, Robertson's followers embarrassed Wohlforth and the SLL by suggesting that the SWP could not be saved. With Wohlforth laying the evidentiary basis for claims of "party disloyalty" the RT leaders were expelled from the party, forming Spartacist.
- Wohlforth now led a Reorganized Minority Tendency until it too was expelled from the SWP and went on to found the American Committee for the Fourth International.
- When the Fourth International had split in 1953 the Lanka Sama Samaja Party of Sri Lanka (LSSP) refused to take any side and maintained contacts with both the ISFI and ICFI while arguing for a joint congress. After the ISFI criticised the LSSP's parliamentary tactics in 1960, the LSSP was the notable absence from the ISFI's 1961 World Congress. In 1964, the LSSP joined the bourgeois government of Sri Lanka, which the ICFI and USFI condemned as betraying Trotskyist principles. The ICFI and USFI no longer considered the LSSP a Trotskyist party at that point, and encouraged Sri Lankan Trotskyists to leave that party. Some time later a new organization, the Revolutionary Communist League was formed out of the left wing which split from the LSSP to form the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary).
- In 1966, a "third world conference" of the ICFI occurred in England. Delegates were present from the SLL, Lambert's PCI and Loukas Karliaftis's Greek organisation, which had joined the IC in 1964. Michel Varga, a PCI member, represented the exile Hungarian League of Revolutionary Socialists, which he had founded in 1962. Two groups from the US sent delegates: that of Tim Wohlforth and that of James Robertson. Observers came from a group in French-speaking Africa, a small group in Germany later to form the Bund Sozialistischer Arbeiter, and individuals who had left USFI sections in Ceylon and Denmark. Non-voting observers came from Voix Ouvri¨re and a state capitalist tendency in Japan.
- One result of this Congress was the expulsion of the Spartacist tendency after the failure of Robertson to attend a conference session. Robertson said this was due to exhaustion; the IC argued that Roberton's alleged refusal to apologise reflected a rejection of communist methods, and he was asked to leave. The Spartacists would go on to form the International Spartacist Tendency. The ICFI now claims that the Sparticists were never interested in an agreement, and desired to go off in their own direction.
- If the Sparticists did not desire to break off into their own organization, the ICFI now argues, a misunderstanding at the conference could have been solved. The ICFI also says the Sparticists are nationalist in their orientation, refusing to be controlled by an international organization, as well as supporting politically affirmative action, black nationalism, Stalinist regimes and denying the existence of globalization. [1]
- In the wake of the 1966 congress, pressures started to build between the SLL and PCI. The Congress did not attempt to present the ICFI as 'the Fourth International', rather it positioned the IC as a force that defended what it saw as the political continuity of Trotskyism and called for the 'rebuilding and reconstruction of the Fourth International'. The PCI came to feel that the SLL was ultimatistic, because the SLL argued that the programme of the IC had to be the basis for further revolutionary organisation. The PCI's differences were reflected in its openness to the Algerian MNA and the Bolivian POR. Early in 1967 the PCI changed its name to Organisation Communiste Internationaliste (OCI), a move that also suggested the OCI's greater modesty. By May 1967, the OCI argued that the IC was not functioning well, and that key decisions of the 1966 conferences "remained dead letters". It argued: "The SLL has had its own international activity, so has the OCI. Germany and Eastern Europe have remained the 'private hunting-grounds' of the OCI...".
- By the late 1960s all far left tendencies were growing and the ICFI was no exception. Increased membership, cheaper airflights and phone contact also allowed contacts to become more regular overseas. In this way the ICFI was able to grow in Sri Lanka. New sections appeared in Germany, in 1971, and Ireland.
- 1971 to 1985[edit]The OCI and its supporters around the ICFI left the ICFI in 1971. This reflected growing differences, primarily over the OCI's support for the Partido Obrero Revolucionario (POR) and the SLL's emphasis on Marxist philosophy in the training of its newer members.
- Both the SLL and OCI were at this point developing connection to Trotskyists in other countries, but in different ways.
- The OCI had sought to bring the Bolivian POR into the ICFI. In addition to these groups the OCI was cultivating the exiled Hungarian League of Revolutionary Socialists (LRSH) led by Michel Varga, a former leader of the students during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and of the German Socialist Workers League (BSA). Moreover the Argentine Workers' Policy group led by Jorge Altamira was close to the OCI. In general, the OCI rejected the point of view of the SLL important to educate the newer members on the philosophical underpinnings of Marxism. More importantly, differences over the actual development of the revolution, especially in Latin America forced the break between the OCI and SLL. It should be noted that almost all of the ICFI in Latin America went to the new pro-OCI international tendency leaving the SLL supporters there with only a handful of members, notably in Bolivia and Peru. The SLL took the majority of the ICFI in Greece which went on to build a very influential organization in that country under the Colonels.The contest between the two political lines could not last and in 1971 the OCI and its allies would leave the ICFI to form their own international tendency, which later became known as the Organising Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International. In 1979 it fused with a grouping led by Nahuel Moreno. The ICFI later considered this a major tragedy, stemming from the relative inexperience of the majority of the members entering into revolutionary politics during a revolutionary upsurge of the international working class. The OCI and the OCRFI considered the ICFI to be an ossicifed political sect incapable of growing beyond their 'mother' section in the UK. The OCRFI in fact outpaced the ICFI in growth from then on. Some members of OCI continued to support the ICFI, however, which allowed the ICFI to regain a very small foothold in French politics. Some members of the SLL continued to support the OCI, later the PCI as it became known and set up the Socialist Labour Group in Britain, affiliated with the OCRFI and defending their positions. It was joined shortly afterward by the above mentioned League for a Workers Republic in Ireland, further depleting the ICFI ranks.
- Delegates from eight countries attended the fourth world conference of the IC in April 1972. In conjunction with a massive growth in membership and preparations for what they believed would be "mass influence", the SLL renamed itself the Workers Revolutionary Party in 1974 and remained a part of the ICFI along with affiliated sections in Ireland, Greece, Germany, Spain, Australia, the USA, Ceylon and Peru.
- 'Security and the Fourth International'[edit]In the middle of the 1970s, two leaders of the ICFI group in the United States, Workers' League, developed political differences with the majority: Tim Wohlforth and Nancy Fields, his partner. A number of political and organisational disputes unfolded, which the ICFI described as a series of disruptions and explusions animated by Fields. It was brought to the attention of the Workers' League's Central Committee that Fields' uncle had worked for the CIA's computer division, and it criticized the fact that neither Fields nor Wohlforth had revealed that to the League. Fields and Wohlforth had denied that Fields had connections with state agencies. In August 1974, the League's central committee suspended Fields from membership and removed Wohlforth as national secretary pending a commission of inquiry, in a unanimous vote that included Wohlforth's. Both left the League and eventually joined the SWP for a few years. An investigation conducted by the Workers' League concluded that Fields did not have connections to the CIA and the two were requested to resume their membership. However, they refused.
- Wohlforth wrote an extended attack on the International Committee in Intercontinental Press. Intercontinental Press began a campaign denouncing the ICFI for the Wohlforth incident, with its editor Joseph Hansen writing that the concern over security indicated "paranoia" on the part of the IC's central leader, Gerry Healy. The ICFI thought this reaction was surprising, given the role that state infiltration had played in the Trotskyist movement, including in the assassination of Trotsky. In addition, this came only a few years after the revelations of the US government's Cointelpro program, in which the FBI illegally infiltrated many groups and political parties and conducted provocations against opponents of the war in Vietnam. From 1961 to 1976, fifty-five FBI informants held SWP offices or committee positions and fifty-one served on executive committees of the party.
- In May 1975, the sixth congress of the ICFI initiated a "Security and the Fourth International" investigation into "the circumstances surrounding the assassination of Leon Trotsky". By mid-1977, the Security campaign used publicly available government documents, and court testimony by Soviet agents tried in the United States, to allege that some leading figures of the American SWP, including a figure close to Leon Trotsky, were agents of the US or USSR governments. They noted that Joseph Hansen had met FBI agents numerous times over a number of months in 1940 to give them information about Stalinists in the US alleged to have participated in the assassination of Trotsky, and claimed that this was done without the knowledge of the Trotskyist movement. FBI documents describing these meetings were published by the Workers League. Hansen claimed that this contact had been agreed by the SWP's leadership. Felix Morrow, who had been an SWP leader in 1940, said in 1975 that he thought that the SWP would not have authorised Hansen's meetings. The ICFI concluded that the documents, along with FBI documents suggesting that Hansen had met with a recruiter for the Stalinist GPU two years before Trotsky's assassination, and his refusal to answer questions put, showed that Hansen was a government agent.
- The investigation intensified in 1978 after the decision by the SWP leadership to warn Alan Gelfand, a lawyer who had joined the SWP late in 1975, just after the start of the 'Security' Campaign. In 1977 and 1978 Gelfand asked questions concerning the Workers League's charges inside the SWP. In March 1978, Gelfand was warned by the local executive committee against publicly questioning the leadership of the SWP. "Gelfand's Open Letter to the SWP leadership". Rather than attempt to answer Gelfand's concerns, the political committee considered the raising of these questions as a slander against Hansen, and warned Gelfand in April 1978 that he would be disciplined if he continued to seek answers.
- In December 1978, Gelfand took the US Government to court: his brief summarised the Workers League's charges and demanded that the US government name its informers in the SWP. The SWP expelled him the following month, leading Gelfand to take both the US Government and the SWP to court, arguing that since those expelling him were, in his opinion, agents of the US government, his civil liberties were being infringed upon by the US Government.
- The ICFI came to Gelfand's aid and, in the course of the trial, made many claims about US government infiltration into the SWP as part of CoIntelPro and earlier. The ICFI also wanted to investigate infiltration by the USSR, considering the resources that the Stalinists had devoted to infiltrating and physically destroying the Fourth International culminating in the murders of Erwin Wolfe in Spain, Lev Sedov in France, and Leon Trotsky in Mexico. It had been known that the murderer of Trotsky had been a boyfriend of one of his secretaries, who was introduced to her by a Stalinist agent in France. The investigation of the ICFI later revealed that Cannon's secretary, Sylvia Callen, had been a Stalinist informer working through the CPUSA, and had been formerly married to a KGB agent, a fact that was confirmed by Grand Jury testimony. (See External link to FBI file on Jack Soble, at bottom of this page.) The judge in the Gelfand case only released the grand jury testimony after the case had been closed.
- The ICFI's investigation into the SWP and defense of Alan Gelfand was opposed by almost all Trotskyist groups: no current outside the ICFI supported it. Most Trotskyist organisations joined forces to defend the SWP leadership, including the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, Pierre Lambert's OCI, Nahuel Moreno's PST, Robertson's Spartacist League, the Chinese RCP, Lutte Ouvri¨re, the Revolutionary Workers Party in Sri Lanka and the SWP united to brand it "a Shameless Frame-up". After the Workers' Revolutionary Party left the ICFI in 1985, WRP secretary Cliff Slaughter also repudiated the investigation.
- Both sides claimed that the other had no factual detail to support its charges: The ICFI argues that the defense of the SWP leadership, and the charge that the ICFI's campaign was a 'frame up,' are slanders against Workers' League without factual backing. Those who supported the SWP against the ICFI argued that it was a breach of socialist principals to bring the courts into the labour movement, (although the ICFI did not bring the courts in, a supporter of the ICFI who was in the SWP did) and that the ICFI's charge that the SWP was controlled by agents of the US and Soviet states to be groundless.
- 1985 to Present[edit]By the end of the 1970s, the revolutionary upsurge of the '60s and '70s had subsided. Membership of the ICFI fell, and the WRP leadership was not prepared for this. It entered into alliances with nationalist leaders in the under-developed countries.
- This aroused the consternation of some members throughout the ICFI. The WRP had gained members and prominence in Great Britain, but the leadership increasingly went its own way against the ICFI as a whole.[citation needed]
- This conflict erupted in the mid-80s and ended with the disintegration of the WRP. The various currents of the WRP attempted to found their own ICFIs each claiming to be the official one, yet they did not break with their old policies systematically and won no new international support. They disintegrated, and as of 2006[update], only two active ICFIs survives, one led by David North of what was then known as the Workers' League in the United States. North and his supporters gained the allegiance of half of the remaining national sections, with the Greek, Spanish and Peruvian sections splitting and the German, Australian, and Sri Lankan sections, as well as a fraternal grouping in Ecuador, supporting North. The other ICFI is based on the surviving group that still holds the name of WRP and refers to itself as the British section of an ICFI, with another sections in Russia/Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Greece. The Russian section is called the Workers Revolutionary League which is the Soviet section of the ICFI and has members in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. (Source 'Marxist Review' September 2008 Volume 23 Issue Number 8)
- Anticipating an outbreak of US militarism after the collapse of the USSR[citation needed], the ICFI associated with the SEP prepared for a new radicalization of the working class. For this reason, its sections reorganised into Socialist Equality Parties throughout the world.
- After a year of council meetings,[citation needed] in 1998 the American section of the ICFI launched the World Socialist Web Site.
- Current sections [SEP][edit]Supporters
- India - Socialist Labour League in IndiaPakistan - Marxist Voice in PakistanMajor publications[edit]"News Line", daily print newspaper of the Workers Revolutionary Party."The Heritage We Defend", a review of the postwar history of the Fourth International, by David North.How the WRP Betrayed TrotskyismThe ICFI Defends TrotskyismTrotskyism vs. Revisionism Volume 1: The Fight Against Pabloism In The Fourth International (1974) ISBN 0-902030-54-X, this volume contains documents from the period leading up to the 1953 split in the Fourth International and includes James P Cannon's Open Letter.Trotskyism vs. Revisionism Volume 2: The Split In The Fourth International (1974) ISBN 0-902030-55-8, this volume contains documents from the 1953 split in the Fourth International.Trotskyism vs. Revisionism Volume 3: The Socialist Workers Party's Road back to Pabloism (1974) ISBN 0-902030-56-6, this volume contains documents from the struggle within the International Committee against the turn by the most of its sections towards reunification with the International Secretariat.Trotskyism vs. Revisionism Volume 4: The International Committee Against Liquidationism (1974) ISBN 0-902030-57-4, this volume contains documents from the 1963 reunification of most of the ICFI with the United Secretariat.Trotskyism vs. Revisionism Volume 5: The Fight for the Continuity of the Fourth International (1975) ISBN 0-902030-72-8, this volume contains documents from the 1966 World Congress of the ICFI.Trotskyism vs. Revisionism Volume 6: The Organisation Communiste Internationaliste Breaks with Trotskyism (1975) ISBN 0-902030-73-6, this volume contains documents relating to the 1971 split by the French Organization Communiste Internationaliste (OCI) with the ICFI.Trotskyism vs. Revisionism Volume 7: The Fourth International and the Renegade Wohlforth (1984), this volume contains documents from the political struggle waged within the Workers League against Tim Wohlforth, who deserted his post as national secretary in 1973.Marxism, Opportunism and the Balkan Crisis: Statement of the International Committee of the Fourth International (1994) ISBN 0-929087-69-0Globalization and the International Working Class: A Marxist Assessment (1998) ISBN 978-0-929087-81-8, the ICFI analysis of the globalization of the world economy and its impact to the working class movement.External links[edit]The 'Open Letter' to Trotskyists Throughout the World SWP resolution, 1953For Early Reunification of the World Trotskyist Movement SWP resolution, 1963David North, The Founding of the ICFIDavid North, About Cannon's Open LetterDavid North, The 1985 SplitDavid North, The Workers' League becomes the Socialist Equality PartyWorld Socialist Web Site Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)Gelfand Case: A Legal History of the Exposure of US Government Agents in the Leadership of the Socialist Workers Party by Alan Gelfand (1985), Vol. 1 ISBN 978-0-929087-02-3, Vol. 2 ISBN 978-0-929087-03-0FBI file on Jack Soble, GPU agent References to GPU assassin Zborowski begin on page 17 (also at top of page 41); references to "SOFIE" (a.k.a. Sylvia Franklin) who acted as Trotsky's secretary in Coyoacn, begin near the bottom of page 27 to page 28, also on pages 49 to 50.Permanent Revolution, essays by SEP dissidents Alex Steiner and Frank Brenner.
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- The LGBTQQIAAP (or LGBTTIQQ2SA) Community, and Why | Gay, Explained.Gay, Explained.
- When I was first out, in the early 1980s, we called ourselves the Gay community.
- Then Lesbians got angry about their lack of visibility and wanted separate billing, which meant we had to distinguish the Bi people too, and soon the letters piled up into a huge jumble as everybody left out of hetero ''normality'' wanted in.
- Sometimes gay men lament that we can't just be the gay community again, while those who don't want to be left behind push for ever-expanding identification.
- I laughed recently when I saw LGBTQQIAAP:
- L: Lesbian. Women attracted to women.G: Gay. Men attracted to men.B: Bisexual. People attracted to both sexes.T: Transgendered. People who are the opposite sex internally than the body they are born into, whether male to female (MTF) or female to male (FTM).Q: Queer. People who don't want to label themselves by their sex acts but do want to claim being different, eccentric, and fabulous. Reclaimed from a hate term, Queer can still be highly offensive, depending on usage.Q: Questioning. People still working out who they are attracted to.I: Intersex. People born into bodies that are not clearly, or only, male or female; hermaphrodites.A: Asexual. People who just aren't that into sex with anybody.A: Allies. Straight people who support the XXXX community.P: Pansexual. People attracted to others by individual personality, not gender.In Canada they make it LGBTTIQQ2SA by adding respect for a non-European category:
- 2S: Two-spirit. The visionaries and healers of aboriginal communities, the gay and lesbian shamans.All of this tumult because we define heterosexuality so narrowly. As I mentioned in discussing heteronormativity, the straight world defines heterosexuality so narrowly they define most humans out of it. The result is everyone, including most straight people, wonder what they are doing wrong.
- The LGBT+ community is the ''everyone else'' community. One of the funny things about living in San Francisco is seeing all the straight people who love the gay community partly because it offers everyone a place where narrow old restrictions don't apply. People get to be themselves. A nice discussion of straight people experiencing gay bars here.
- Part of our role as the LGBTQQIAAP(+2S) community is to make the space for everyone, straight or gay. It is the place everyone can just cut the crap and be who they are, Out and Proud.
- I wish we could just acknowledge that People Vary, and leave it at that.
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- AFRIKA
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- Ugandan minister claims nation is 'tolerant' as gays 'not slaughtered'
- Uganda's LGBT community face severe persecution in a country where a new law has been dubbed the world's worst anti-gay bill.
- The new legislation, passed in December and confirmed last week, criminalised 'the promotion or recognition' of homosexual relations. After a first conviction, offenders can face a 14-year prison sentence with further convictions bringing life imprisonment.
- Despite this, the minister of state for ethics and integrity Simon Lokodo claimed: ''We are tolerant. That's what we are saying: we are not slaughtering them.''
- ''They can come and be helped to come out of this unfortunate situation,'' he said of the estimated 500,000 Ugandan homosexuals, continuing: ''It's like a drug addict. Drug addiction is not an innate situation, it is acquired. But they can be transformed and become better.''
- ''So we are saying anybody found committing this incredible and abominable act should be checked and isolated from society.
- He finished by saying: ''If you are found practising it, we shall take you to a cell.''
- Uganda's controversial anti-gay law was initially blocked by President Yoweri Museveni in December, however, last Friday the president signalled his approval with a government spokesperson tweeting ''this comes after 14 medical experts presented a report that homosexuality is not genetic but a social behaviour.''
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- Facts And Myths About Uganda's 'Kill The Gays' Bill | ThinkProgress
- By Zack Ford on November 26, 2012 at 1:59 pm
- "Facts And Myths About Uganda's 'Kill The Gays' Bill"
- As the Uganda Parliament prepares to once again consider the infamous ''Kill The Gays'' bill, a lot of confusion about what the ''anti-homosexuality'' bill actually does has once again arisen in the media. Many news outlets '-- notably the BBC, among others '-- reported last week that lawmakers had dropped the death penalty provision, but without confirmation of a language change, it's impossible to conclude whether this is another bait-and-switch that basically isn't true.
- According to the BBC, ''substantial amendments'' were made, but MP Medard Segona could provide no further details. It is just such a proposed amendment that has repeatedly caused confusion about the fate of the death penalty in the bill, replacing the word ''death'' with a reference to a preexisting Penal Code Act that does allow for the death penalty. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda; the sole purpose of this bill is to enhance the extent of the punishment and number of ways offenses can be prosecuted. It is irresponsible to suggest that the death penalty has been removed without a thorough investigation of the bill's new language.
- Box Turtle Bulletin has thoroughly dissected the proposed law's original text, pointing out that even without a death penalty, the law would still ''represent a barbaric regression for Uganda's human rights record.'' Here's what BTB found:
- Clauses 1 and 2:Anybody Can Be Gay Under the Law. The definition of what constitutes ''homosexual act'' is so broad that just about anyone can be convicted.Clause 3:Anyone Can Be ''Liable To Suffer Death''. And you don't even have to be gay to be sent to the gallows.Clause 4:Anyone Can ''Attempt to Commit Homosexuality''. All you have to do is ''attempt'' to ''touch'' ''any part of of the body'' ''with anything else'' ''through anything'' in an act that does ''not necessarily culminate in intercourse.''Clauses 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10:How To Get Out Of Jail Free. The bill is written to openly encourage '-- and even pay '-- one partner to turn state's evidence against another.Clauses 7, 11, and 14:Straight People In The Crosshairs. Did you think they only wanted to jail gay people? They're also targeting family members, doctors, lawyers, and even landlords.Clause 12:Till Life Imprisonment Do You Part. And if you officiate a same-sex wedding, you'll be imprisoned for up to three years. So much for religious freedom.Clause 13:The Silencing of the Lambs. All advocacy '-- including suggesting that the law might be repealed '-- will land you in jail. With this clause, there will be no one left to defend anyone.Clause 14:The Requirement Isn't To Report Just Gay People To Police. It's To Report Everyone. Look closely: the requirement is to report anyone who has violated any the bill's clauses.Clauses 16 and 17:The Extra-Territorially Long Arm of Ugandan Law. Think you're safe if you leave the country? Think again.Clause 18:We Don't Need No Stinking Treaties. The bill not only violates several international treaties, it also turns the Ugandan constitution on its head.Clauses 15 and 19:The Establishment Clauses For The Ugandan Inquisition. These clauses empower the Ethics and Integrity Minister to enforce all of the bill's provisions. He's already gotten a head start.The bill has passed out of committee and been placed on the Parliamentary agenda and it could come up as early as tomorrow, or linger for weeks as has happened in the past. If and when it does pass, news outlets must carefully examine its extremities and report them accurately. There is no redeeming value to this bill, and lawmakers who support it have every reason to soften their language while maintaining their most insidious ''anti-homosexuality'' intentions.
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- Ugandan President vetos anti-gay bill - The Globe and Mail
- At a time of persecution for homosexuals in dozens of countries in Africa and around the world, the decision in Uganda was a brief respite: a presidential veto of a notorious bill that could imprison gays for life.
- But the announcement on Friday was accompanied by such bizarre reasoning, along with further vows of repression of gays, that it was unlikely to reverse the disturbing trend that has stretched from Russia and India to Nigeria and Cameroon in recent months.
- The Ugandan anti-gay bill, approved by its parliament last month, has become the most infamous of Africa's growing wave of official attacks on homosexuality because it originally called for gays to be subjected to the death penalty in some cases. Homosexuality is already criminalized in Uganda, but the new bill would make the penalties much harsher.
- The death-penalty clause seems to have been dropped from the latest version of the Uganda bill, although the legal text has not been widely released and some activists suspect the clause is still included.
- Uganda's media reported on Friday that President Yoweri Museveni had sent an eight-page letter to parliament, criticizing the anti-gay bill and saying that the parliamentary vote wasn't legally correct. But the President also unleashed a barrage of verbal attacks on gays, including some strange theories about the reasons for their sexual orientation.
- Earlier this week, Nigeria announced that its president had signed a law to imprison gays for up to 14 years. The approval of the anti-gay law was accompanied by a wave of arrests of gays in several Nigerian states, and police were reportedly circulating lists of suspected gays who are under surveillance.
- Last year, Russia passed a law to ban the distribution of homosexual ''propaganda'' to minors, effectively making it illegal to speak out for gay rights. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that gays will be welcome at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi as long as they ''leave children in peace.'' In India, meanwhile, the Supreme Court in December struck down a court decision that would have overturned the criminalization of homosexuality.
- This week, the newly approved Nigerian law has been widely condemned by leaders of the United Nations, Canada, the United States and others. Activists are worried that the Nigerian and Ugandan laws could hamper the fight against HIV and AIDS. But polls in Nigeria suggest the anti-gay law is supported by more than 90 per cent of the population.
- Surveys in other African countries have found similarly huge majorities opposed to gays. Of the 54 countries in Africa, 36 have laws that criminalize homosexuality. Church leaders and politicians have often lobbied for anti-gay laws. The prejudices against homosexuality are rooted in influences from Western evangelists, Christian missionaries, British colonial laws and nationalistic interpretations of African traditional beliefs.
- Western protests against the Ugandan anti-gay bill were undoubtedly a factor in Mr. Museveni's decision to oppose the law, since Uganda is heavily dependent on foreign aid. Among the many protests was a strong warning from British billionaire Richard Branson, who called for businesses to boycott Uganda.
- Analysts warn that some African countries are supporting anti-gay laws as a way of standing up against what they see as unfair Western pressure and interference. Anti-gay laws have become an easy way for African leaders to portray themselves as patriotic and to distract attention from thornier issues of poverty and corruption.
- In his lengthy letter to Uganda's parliament, reported on Friday by a Ugandan newspaper, Mr. Museveni denounced gays as ''abnormal'' and ''disgusting'' people who often practise homosexuality ''for mercenary reasons.'' He was alluding to a popular Ugandan theory that young people are financially induced into homosexuality.
- Some women, he claimed, become lesbians because of ''sexual starvation'' after they failed to marry. He added: ''It could be that the Western societies, on account of random breeding, have generated many abnormal people.''
- Adopting a philosophical tone, he said: ''The question at the core of the debate on homosexuality is: What do we do with an abnormal person? Do we kill him/her? Do we imprison him/her? Or do we contain him/her?''
- According to a separate report quoting a Ugandan member of parliament, Mr. Museveni could still approve the anti-gay bill if the parliament agrees to ''moderate'' the bill by deleting some of its harsher provisions. One MP was quoted as saying that the bill is ''unstoppable'' and will be passed repeatedly by parliament until it becomes law. The President's veto can also be overturned by a two-thirds majority.
- Homosexuals in Uganda, including foreigners, have often been physically attacked, threatened, harassed or arrested for their sexual orientation. One prominent gay-rights activist, David Kato, was killed in his home in 2011 after a Ugandan newspaper published the names, addresses and photos of a number of gays, along with a headline reading ''Hang Them.''
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- Here It Is: The Text of Uganda's Proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill | Box Turtle Bulletin
- Here It Is: The Text of Uganda's Proposed Anti-Homosexuality BillJim BurrowayOctober 15th, 2009We just received early this morning the full text of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill that was introduced into Uganda's Parliament yesterday. It is greatly expanded from the earlier draft dated April 20, 2009.
- Like the earlier draft, the current bill reiterates a lifetime imprisonment on conviction of homosexuality, and defines a new category called ''aggravated homosexuality'' with provisions for the death penalty upon conviction. Among the factors which can lead to ''aggravated homosexuality'' is if one partner is HIV-positive. This bill would mandate HIV testing to determine eligibility for ''aggravated homosexuality.''
- Also like the earlier draft, the bill includes a complete ban on all LGBT activities '-- including blogging '-- which could be construed as ''promoting homosexuality.'' This infringement on free speech, peaceful assembly, and redress of grievances marks the elimination of fundamental human rights for LGBT Ugandans. The bill also bans all organizations which advocate on behalf of LGBT citizens and holds their leadership criminally liable with fines and imprisonment for up to seven years.
- The bill also retains provisions which require that if someone knows that someone is engaging in homosexuality, that person is to report them to the police within twenty-four hours or face fines and/or up to a three year prison sentence themselves. The bill also extends jurisdiction to acts committed outside Uganda by Ugandan citizens. In other words, if a Ugandan citizen is known to be in a gay relationship outside the country, he will risk lifetime imprisonment (or death, if he's HIV-positive) upon his return. The bill also provides for the extradition of citizens from abroad.
- The bill also voids all treaties and international obligations which violate '' the spirit and provisions enshrined in this Act.''
- The new bill adds some additional provisions over the previous draft. This bill adds the category of ''attempted homosexuality'' and provides a penalty of seven years in prison. For ''attempted aggravated homosexuality,'' the penalty is lifetime imprisonment. It also provides for compensation for ''victims'' of homosexuality, a provision in law which is sure to result in consensual partners turning against their partner to not only avoid the draconian legal penalties, but to claim the status of victim and seek compensation.
- Further, the bill now adds an explicit ban on same-sex marriage. Anyone who enters into a same-sex marriage, either in Uganda or abroad, will liable for a lifetime imprisonment. New charges of ''aiding and abetting homosexuality'' and ''conspiracy to engage in homosexuality'' would carry a prison sentence of seven years. There is also a new charge for operating a brothel, with a definition so broad as to include any hotel owner. That, too, carries a prison sentence of seven years.
- The original PDF of the document is here (PDF: 847KB/16 pages), and the full text is provided below.
- Click here to see BTB's complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.
- THE ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL. 2009.MEMORANDUM
- 1.1. The principleThe object of this Bill is to establish a comprehensive consolidated legislation to protect the traditional family by prohibiting (i) any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; and (ii) the promotion or recognition of such sexual relations in public institutions and other places through or with the support of any Government entity in Uganda or any non governmental organization inside or outside the country.
- This Bill aims at strengthening the nation's capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats to the traditional heterosexual family.
- This legislation further recognizes the fact that same sex attraction is not an innate and immutable characteristic.
- The Bill further aims at providing a comprehensive and enhanced legislation to protect the cherished culture of the people of Uganda. legal, religious, and traditional family values of the people of Uganda against the attempts of sexual rights activists seeking to impose their values of sexual promiscuity on the people of Uganda.
- There is also need to protect the children and youths of Uganda who are made vulnerable to sexual abuse and deviation as a result of cultural changes, uncensored information technologies, parentless child developmental settings and increasing attempts by homosexuals to raise children in homosexual relationships through adoption, foster care, or otherwise.
- 2.1. Defects In existing law.This proposed legislation is designed to fill the gaps in the provisions of other laws in Uganda e.g. the Penal Code Act Cap. 120.
- The Penal Code Act (CapI20) has no comprehensive provision catering for anti homosexuality. It focuses on unnatural offences under section 145 and lacks provisions for penalizing the procurement, promoting, disseminating literature and other pornographic materials concerning the offences of homosexuality hence the need for legislation to provide for charging, investigating, prosecuting, convicting and sentencing of offenders.
- This legislation comes to complement and supplement the provisions of the Constitution of Uganda and the Penal Code Act Cap 120 by not only criminalizing same sex marriages but also same-sex sexual acts and other related acts.
- 3.0. The objectives of the BillThe objectives of the Bill are to:
- (a) provide for marriage in Uganda as that contracted only between a man and a woman;
- (b) prohibit and penalize homosexual behavior and related practices in Uganda as they constitute a threat to the traditional family;
- (e) prohibit ratification of any international treaties, conventions, protocols, agreements and declarations which are contrary or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act;
- (d) prohibit the licensing of organizations which promote homosexuality.
- 3.1. Part I of the Bill incorporating clause 1 provides for preliminary mailers relating to interpretation of the words and phrases used in the Bill.
- 3.2. Part II of the Bill incorporating clause 2 to 6 prohibits homosexuality and related practices by introducing the offences of engaging In homosexuality, and the penalties of imprisonment upon conviction. This pan also provides for protection, assistance and support for victims of homosexuality.
- 3.3. Part III of the Bill incorporating clause 7 to clause 14 creates offences and penalties for acts that promote homosexuality, failure to report the offence and impose a duty on the community to report suspected cases of homosexuality.
- 3.4. Part IV of the Bill incorporating clause 15 to clause 17 provides for the jurisdiction of Uganda Courts in case of Homosexuality, including extra territorial jurisdiction.
- 3.5. Part V of the Bill incorporating clauses 18 and 19 provides for miscellaneous provisions on International Treaties, Protocols. Declarations and conventions and the Minister to make regulations to give effect to the Act.
- Schedule of the Bill gives the value of the currency point.
- HON DAVID BAHATI,Member of Parliament, Ndorwa County West Kabale.
- THE ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL, 2009.ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES.PART I '-- PRELIMINARY
- PART ll-PROHIBITION OF HOMOSEXUALITY.
- 2. The offence of homosexuality3. Aggravated homosexuality.4. Attempt to commit homosexuality.5. Protection, assistance and payment of compensation to victims of homoseuxality6. Confidentiality.
- PART Ill '-- RELATED OFFENCES AND PENALTIES.
- 7. Aiding and abating homosexuality.8. Conspiracy to engage in homosexuality.9. Procuring homosexuality. by threats, etc.10. Detention with intent to commit homosexuality.11. Brothels.12. Same sex marriage.13. Promotion of homosexuality.14. Failure to disclose the offence.
- PART IV '-- JURISDICTION.
- 15. Jurisdiction.16. Extra-territorial Jurisdiction.17. Extradition.
- PART V '-- MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
- 18. International treaties.19. Regulations.
- A BILL FOR AN ACTENTITLEDTHE ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY ACT, 2009.
- An Act to prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex; prohibit the promotion or recognition of such relations and to provide for other related matters.
- BE IT ENACTED by Parliament as follows:
- In this Act. unless the context otherwise requires ''
- ''authority'' means having power and control over other people because of your knowledge and official position; and shall include a person who exercises religious. political, economic or social authority;
- ''bisexual'' means a person who is sexually attracted to both males and females;
- ''child'' means a person below the age of 18 years:
- ''currency point'' has the value assigned to it in the Schedule to this Act;
- ''disability'' means a substantial limitation of daily life activities caused by physical. mental or sensory impairment and environment barriers resulting in limited participation;
- ''felony'' means an offence which is declared by law to be a felony or if not declared to be a misdemeanor is punishable without proof of previous conviction, with death or with imprisonment for 3 years or more.;
- ''gay''" means a male person who engages in sexual intimacy with another person of the same sex;
- '''gender''" means male or female;
- ''HIV'' means the Human Immunodeficiency Virus;
- ''homosexual''' means a person who engages or attempts to engage in same gender sexual activity;
- ''homosexuality''' means same gender or same sex sexual acts;
- ''lesbian'' means a female who engages in sexual intimacy with another female;
- ''Minister''' means the Minister responsible for ethics and integrity;
- ''misdemeanor'' means an offence which is not a felony;
- ''serial offender'' means a person who has previous convictions of the offence of homosexuality or related offences;
- ''sexual act'' includes ''
- (a) physical sexual activity that does not necessarily culminate in intercourse and may include the touching of another's breast, vagina, penis or anus:
- (b) stimulation or penetration of a vagina or mouth or anus or any part of the body of any person, however slight by a sexual organ;
- (c) the unlawful use of any object or organ by a person on another person's sexual organ or anus or mouth;
- ''sexual organ'' means a vagina, penis or any artificial sexual contraption;
- ''touching'' includes touching'--
- (a) with any part of the body;
- and in particular includes touching amounting to penetration of any sexual organ. anus or mouth.
- ''victim'' includes a person who is involved in homosexual activities against his or her will.
- PART II '-- HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELATED PRACTICES.
- 2. The offence of homosexuality.(1) A person commits the offence of homosexuality if-
- (a) he penetrates the anus or mouth of another person of the same sex with his penis or any other sexual contraption;
- (b) he or she uses any object or sexual contraption to penetrate or stimulate sexual organ of a person of the same sex;
- (c) he or she touches another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.
- (2) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.
- 3. Aggravated homosexuality.(1) A person commits the offense of aggravated homosexuality where the
- (a) person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of 18 years;
- (b) offender is a person living with HIV;
- (c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offence is committed;
- (d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offence is committed;
- (e) victim of the offence is a person with disability;
- (f) offender is a serial offender, or
- (g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy overpower him or her so as to there by enable any person to have unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex,
- (2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.
- (3) Where a person is charged with the offence under this section, that person shall undergo a medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status.
- 4, Attempt to commit homosexuality.(1) A person who attempts to commit the offence of homosexuality commits a felony and is liable on conviction to imprisonment seven years.
- (2) A person who attempts to commit the offence of aggravated homosexuality commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.
- 5. Protection, assistance and payment of compensation to victims of homosexuality.(1 ) A victim of homosexuality shall not be penalized for any crime commuted as a direct result of his or her involvement in homosexuality.
- (2) A victim of homosexuality shall be assisted to enable his or her views and concerns to be presented and considered at the appropriate stages of the criminal proceedings.
- (3) Where a person is convicted of homosexuality or aggravated homosexuality under sections 2 and 3 of this Act, the court may, in addition to any sentence imposed on the offender, order that the victim of the offence be paid compensation by the offender for any physical, sexual or psychological harm caused to the victim by the offence.
- (4) The amount of compensation shall be determined by the court and the court shall take into account the extent of harm suffered by the victim of the offence. the degree of force used by the offender and medical and other expenses incurred by the victim as a result of the offence.
- 6. Confidentiality.(1) At any stage of the Investigation or trial of an offence under this Act, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judicial officers and medical practitioners, as well as parties to the case, shall recognize the right to privacy of the victim.
- (2) For the purpose of subsection (I), in cases involving children and other cases where the court considers it appropriate. proceedings of the court shall be conducted in camera, outside the presence of the media.
- (3) Any editor or publisher, reporter or columnist in case of printed materials. announcer or producer in case of television and radio, producer or director of a film to case of the movie industry. or any person utilizing trimedia facilities or information technology who publishes or causes the publicity of the names and personal circumstances or any other information tending to establish the victim's identity without authority of court commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty currency points.
- 7. Aiding and abating homosexualityA person who aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage in acts of homosexuality commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years.
- 8. Conspiracy to engage in homosexuality.A person who conspires with another to induce another person of the same sex by any means of false pretence or other fraudulent means to permit any person of the same sex to have unlawful carnal knowledge of him or her commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years.
- 9. Procuring homosexuality by threats, etc.(1) A person who''
- (a) by threats or intimidation procures or attempts to procure any woman or man to have any unlawful carnal knowledge with any person of the same sex, either in Uganda or elsewhere;
- (b) by false pretences or false representations procures any woman or man to have any unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex, either in Uganda or elsewhere; or
- (2) A person shall not be convicted of an offence under this section upon the evidence of one witness only, unless that witness is corroborated in some material particular by evidence implicating the accused.
- 10. Detention with intent to commit homosexuality.A person who detains another person with the intention to commit acts of homosexuality with him or herself or with any other person commits an offence and is liable on conviction for seven years.
- 11. Brothels.(1) A person who keeps a house, room,set of rooms or place of any kind for the purposes of homosexuality commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years.
- 2) A person being the owner or occupier of premises or having or acting or assisting in the management or control of the premises, induces or knowingly suffers any man or woman to resort to or be upon such premises for the purpose of being unlawfully and carnally known by any man or woman of the same sex whether such carnal knowledge is intended to be with any particular man or woman generally, commits a felony and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years.
- 12. Same sex marriage.A person who purports to contract a marriage with another person of the same sex commits the offence of homosexuality and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.
- 13. Promotion of homosexuality.(1) A person who ''
- (a) participates in production, procuring, marketing, broadcasting, disseminating, publishing pornographic materials for purposes of promoting homosexuality;
- (b) funds or sponsors homosexuality or other related activities;
- (c) offers premises and other related fixed or movable assets for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality;
- (d) uses electronic devices which include internet, films, mobile phones for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality and;
- (e) who acts as an accomplice or attempts to promote or in any way abets homosexuality and related practices;
- commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a line of live thousand currency points or imprisonment of a minimum of five years and a maximum of seven years or both fine and imprisonment.
- (2) Where the offender is a corporate body or a business or an association or a non-governmental organization, on conviction its certificate of registration shall be cancelled and the director or proprietor or promoter shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years.
- 14. Failure to disclose the offence.A person in authority, who being aware of the commission of any offence under this Act, omits to report the offence to the relevant authorities within twenty-four hours of having first had that knowledge, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty currency points or imprisonment not exceeding three years.
- 15. Jurisdiction.Save for aggravated homosexuality that shall be tried by the High Court, the magistrates court shall have jurisdiction to try the other offences under this Act.
- 16. Extra- Territorial Jurisdiction.This Act shall apply to offenses committed outside Uganda where ''
- (a) a person who, while being a citizen of or permanently residing in Uganda, commits an act outside Uganda, which act would constitute an offence under this Act had it been committed in Uganda; or
- (b) the offence was committed partly outside and or partly in Uganda.
- 17. Extradition.A person charged with an offence under this Act shall be liable to extradition under the existing extradition laws.
- PART V '-- MISCELLANEOUS.
- 18. Nullification of inconsistent international treaties, protocols, declarations and conventions.(1) Any International legal instrument whose provisions are contradictory to the spirit and provisions enshrined in this Act, are null and void to the extent of their inconsistency.
- (2) Definitions of ''sexual orientation'', ''sexual rights'', ''sexual minorities'', ''gender identity'' shall not be used in anyway to legitimize homosexuality, gender identity disorders and related practices in Uganda.
- 19. Regulations.The Minister may, by statutory instrument. make regulations generally for better carrying out the provisions of this Act.
- One currency point is equivalent to twenty thousand shillings.
- Click here to see BTB's complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.
- CommentsPOST COMMENT | COMMENT RSS 2.0
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- Uganda dismisses Obama pressure on anti-gay law
- KAMPALATue Feb 18, 2014 2:38pm EST
- Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni attends the opening ceremony of the 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, January 30, 2014.
- Credit: Reuters/Tiksa Negeri
- KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda on Tuesday dismissed U.S. president Barack Obama's call to its leader Yoweri Museveni not to sign an anti-homosexuality law, saying the U.S. was trying to blackmail the east African country.
- On Sunday, two days after President Museveni said he would sign the law widely criticized abroad as harsh and unjust, Obama warned that would complicate United States relations with Uganda and be a "step backward for all Ugandans."
- A senior Obama administration official said Washington - a major aid donor sending more than $400 million a year - would review U.S. relations with Uganda, a key regional ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in Somalia.
- But Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo said aid should not be tied to Uganda's stand on homosexuality.
- "We don't like to blackmail others. It's very dishonest, very irresponsible and unfriendly of persons to attach behavior of another community to their sharing resources," Lokodo told Reuters TV in Kampala.
- Homosexuality is taboo in many African countries. It is illegal in 37 nations on the continent and activists say that few Africans gays dare to live their sexuality openly, fearing imprisonment, violence and loss of their jobs.
- In one of those countries, Gambia, President Yahya Jammeh called homosexuals "vermin" on Tuesday and said his government would fight them like malaria-causing mosquitoes.
- Museveni has not yet said when he plans to sign the law.
- The anti-gay bill was introduced in 2009 and initially proposed a death sentence for homosexual acts, but was amended to prescribe jail terms including life in jail for what it called aggravated homosexuality.
- That category includes gay sex with a minor, where the victim is infected with HIV and where the victim is vulnerable such as a disabled person.
- Lokodo said that were he to meet Obama, he would tell him that he had made the right choice in marrying a woman.
- "I would tell him point-blank that he chose the right direction and this direction was to marry Michelle," he said.
- "They have produced children, why does he encourage and promote others, men and women of same sex, to live together and have no offspring like him?"
- Obama, a Democrat who has lobbied to expand rights for gay Americans and supports same-sex marriage, and has urged African nations to end discrimination against homosexuals.
- In a statement, UNAIDS, the United Nation's agency on HIV/AIDS, also warned that the law would make more gay people shun HIV testing and treatment when faced with prosecution or jail.
- (Editing by James Macharia and Tom Heneghan)
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- Mission and Vision | Gender DynamiX
- MissionUsing a human rights framework, we undertake to support transgender people to access and advocate for their rights ; increase awareness and visibility of transgender people in South Africa; promote freedom of expression of gender identity; focusing on transgender, transsexual and other gender non-conforming people. We assist significant others, family, friends and colleagues of trans people with information and education; we lobby government, civil society, national and international decision-makers and the media to combat prejudice against transgender people; and we strive to play an integral role in transgender activism in South Africa, Africa and globally by participating in relevant human rights networks.
- VisionGender DynamiX envisions a society where everyone is free to express their gender, within, across and beyond the male-female binary without fear of discrimination.
-
- Challenges Remain for LGBT in South Africa
- A woman holds her hands up during the Durban Pride parade where several hundred people marched through the city center in support of gay rights, July 30, 2011 file photo.
- A few weeks ago, the first traditional Zulu gay wedding ceremony was held in South Africa. The country has one of the most liberal legal frameworks regarding gay rights and protections. Because of this, South Africa has become a land of exile for many African gays persecuted in their home countries. But even here, challenges remain as anti-gay attacks still happen.
- Tiwonge Chimbalanga greets people as she walks proudly in the street of her neighborhood near Cape Town. Everybody knows her around here. In 2009, while still living in her native Malawi, Tiwonge, who is a transexual woman, was sentenced to 14 years of prison for having held a traditional engagement ceremony with her then-fiance. Homosexuality is illegal in Malawi, like in 37 other countries in Africa.
- So with the help of Amnesty International and the South African NGO Gender Dynamix, she decided to go into exile in South Africa in 2011, she recalls.
- Tiwonge says that when she was in Malawi, she thought of South Africa as being a free place for gays. So when she got here, the one thing that she expected was freedom.
- In South Africa, not only is homosexuality allowed, but lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders (LGBT) also have had the right to marry and adopt children for years. To this day, it is still the only country in Africa to allow such freedoms.
- But everything is not perfect in the rainbow nation. In fact, attacks against LGBT still happen on a regular basis. Tiwonge agrees she continues to face challenges.
- Tiwonge says about four months after she arrived she was attacked and beaten up, with her money and her passport stolen. And recently, she was stabbed in the back by some Malawan people.
- Her new next-door neighbor, who is from DRC, was kicked out of his apartment and was beaten up when his landlord realized his tenant was gay.
- Discrepancies between the legislation and the reality within South African society can be explained by the context in which the current South African constitution was drafted, says Noel Kututwa, Southern Africa director for Amnesty International.
- After the white-minority rule ended in the 90s and Nelson Mandela's party took power, a new constitution was drafted with a core focus on equality for everyone, with no exception.
- "And as part of the fight for freedom, justice and equality that South Africa went through, the African National Congress, then led by former president Nelson Mandela, was anchored around human rights," said Kututwa.
- Kututwa says South Africa's LGBT community was included in that concept of human rights, or rather, was not excluded. The debate about their rights came later on, when the constitution was already adopted.
- "At the time that it was adopted, it was really futuristic," said Kututwa. "It was even going beyond what even the country was even ready for at that time. And that [became] quite clear when one looks at gay and lesbian rights, that it is a contentious issue. There are certain sections of the society with the South African society who don't accept those rights."
- Tiwonge is now an activist. She volunteers in an NGO which helps LGBT who apply for exile in South Africa and is in contact with the gay community in Malawi to push LGBT rights forward in her native home country.
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- lgbt ngo africa - Google Search
- LGBT Organizations Worldwide | International Spectruminternationalspectrum.umich.edu/global/worldwideorgs- Cached - SimilarAfrica. Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre offers news and research onhuman sexuality in Africa, including LGBT issues.Africa - International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commissioniglhrc.org/region/africa- CachedFrom its base in Johannesburg, South Africa, IGLHRC's Africa Program fights for... rights at the Commission and the NGO Forum that immediately precedes the ...South African Directory of NGOs - South Africa Connectedwww.rainbownation.com/directory/index.asp?category=1169- Cached - SimilarA listing of NGOs websites in South Africa. ... Directory of South African NGOswebsites ... A website on gay and lesbian affairs in Africa. www.mask.org.za/.List of LGBT rights organizations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_rights_organizations- Cached - SimilarAfrica[edit]LGBTI | NGO PulseThe Gay and Lesbian Network is a young and dynamic NGO working ... andsupports the work of thousands of NGOs in South Africa through various ICT, ...Gay | NGO PulseThe African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR) is a coalition of 15Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex [LGBTI] and Men who haveSex ...Chi Mgbako: Africa's LGBT Rights Movement - Huffington Postwww.huffingtonpost.com/.../africas-lgbt-rights-movement_b_856695.html- Cached - SimilarMay 4, 2011 ... Years after Fannyann's death, the state of LGBT rights in Africa may at first ...African NGOs and community groups championing the rights of ...Africa's LGBT Rights Movement - Fordham LawMay 3, 2011 ...African NGOs and community groups championing the rights of Africa's sexualminorities are publicly condemning institutionalized homophobia ...Challenges Remain for LGBT in South Africawww.voanews.com/content/challenges...lgbt...africa/1652570.html- Cached - SimilarMay 1, 2013 ... She volunteers in an NGO which helps LGBT who apply for exile in South Africaand is in contact with the gay community in Malawi to push ...African LGBT Business & Human Rights Forum | FacebookPreparations for the 2nd African LGBT Business and Human Rights Forum areongoing. Promises to be an even better event, together with more NGO's, ...NGO In Africawww.build-africa.org/NGO+In+Africa
- Support hundreds of childrenby pledging to support a school.Gay Rightswww.hrc.org/
- Learn about America's movementtoward equal rights in your area.NGO africawww.africaheartwoodproject.org/
- Africa Heartwood Project' can help.A registered 501(c)3 Charity & NGOSupport global gay rightswww.allout.org/
- Fight for equality everywhereJoin the international movementNGO Working For Africawww.womenandchildrenfirst.org.uk/
- Working to Save Lives of Mothers &Babies in Africa. Learn More!The BOMA Project: Kenyawww.bomaproject.org/
- U.S. nonprofit with goal tohelp women in Kenya out of poverty.NGO in africawww.soles4souls.org/tanzania
- Volunteer Trop To TanzaniaMake A Difference!LGBT Rights - Sochi 2014mm.hrw.org/
- Watch this HRW video andstand with Russia's LGBT community.
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- DIY rainbow revolution goes global | News.com.au
- Wladi Dirksen (L) with the creator of the DIY Rainbow Crossing Facebook page, James Brechney.Source: Facebook
- Wladi Dirksen (L) with the creator of the DIY Rainbow Crossing Facebook page, James Brechney.Source: Facebook
- The DIY rainbow crossing by Noel Posus was a colourful variation to the theme.Source: Twitter
- The first sighting of a DIY Rainbow Crossing in Kenya, Africa.Source: Facebook
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in Paddington, NSW.
- A colourful DIY rainbow crossing in Northmead, NSW.Source: Facebook
- A DIY rainbow crossing overlooking Terrigal Beach, NSW.Source: Facebook
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in Andrew Boy Charlton Pool, Sydney.Source: Facebook
- A DIY rainbow crossing in Kent Town, Adelaide.Source: Facebook
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in Brisbane.Source: Facebook
- Australians hit the pavements in protest this weekend, but this time it was of the colourful kind.
- In response to the removal of the rainbow crossing at Sydney's Taylor Square, DIY rainbows are sprouting up everywhere; from sidewalks and streets in Canberra'...to Kenya.
- And by the sounds of it, chalk supplies are running low.
- "There's been a lot of reports about chalk shortages,'' James Brechney, the creator of the Facebook page who started the DIY rainbow revolution, told news.com.au.
- "People were reporting where to get chalk because of the volatility in supply over the weekend; the variety stores ran out of chalk and were quite perplexed as to why chalk was in such demand.
- "But we do expect chalk supplies to replenish during the week.''
- It all started last Thursday night after Brechney chalked his own DIY Rainbow in Commonwealth Street in Surry Hills, Sydney.
- "I just thought it would be really funny to put on Facebook, I thought I'd get 50 Likes on my wall.''
- Underestimating the power of social media, Brechney's single post soon went viral and thousands of Likes and messages of support later, he admits he's a little overwhelmed by the response.
- "I can't keep track of how many crossings there are, it's phenomenal.
- "I think it's such a great way to celebrate the end of a short lived crossing. Now it's about a whole bunch of stuff; celebrating diversity, celebrating fun.''
- For Darlinghurst resident Noel Posus, chalking his own DIY rainbow crossing was about connecting people with the history of the neighbourhood.
- "I was as disappointed as other people that the rainbow crossing was ripped up, but more importantly how it was ripped up; the political shenanigans just seemed ridiculous. It bothered me a lot,'' he said.
- "When I saw the social media campaign I thought 'this is amazing, I want to be able to do this'.
- "It's something I can create with my neighbours and my friends, it's not a t-shirt or a rally I need to go to, it's something creative we can make together.''
- Erected in February to mark 35 years of Sydney Mardi Gras, the rainbow crossing was met with much debate over its initial cost and value to the community and Australian tourism.
- In the end, Roads Minister Duncan Gay approved its removal, believing it was a safety hazard because people spent more time on the road than crossing it.
- But Australians seem to be listening to Mr Brechney's advice to "don't get angry, get chalking'', with DIY rainbow crossings appearing in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
- It is expected more are to come.
- "The big things like landmarks and attractions are really important and trickle up to serious issues,'' said Mr Brechney.
- "I don't expect the rainbow crossing to be reinstated but I think it's a great way to get a message of love out to the society from the gay community.''
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in Marrickville, NSW.Source:
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in Perth, Western Australia.Source: Facebook
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing close to where it all began at Taylor Square, Sydney.Source: Facebook
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in Northcote, Melbourne.Source: Facebook
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in St Kilda, Melbourne.Source: Facebook
- A DIY Rainbow Crossing in Camperdown, NSW.Source: Facebook
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- Africa's Gays Await Nighttime Knock on Door as Crackdown Widens - Bloomberg
- By With assistance from Fred OjamboFebruary 17, 2014 4:26 AM ESTBy Yinka IbukunFeb. 17 (Bloomberg) ''- When Ayo answered a knock at his door one evening last month, four Nigerian secret service officers barged in and found gay pornography on one of the phones and laptops he and six friends had in the apartment.
- The officers announced they were taking everyone to jail for being gay. Ayo, 27, and four of his friends gained their freedom by bribing the police the equivalent of $600. Two others had no cash and spent three nights in detention.
- Ayo, who's gay, is sure they'll be back. ''I don't want to be used as business for whenever police need money,'' he said in the southern city of Ibadan, speaking on the condition that his full name wasn't used for fear of further harassment. Oyo state police spokeswoman Olabisi Ilobanafor said no arrests had taken place.
- While gay sex has been illegal in Nigeria since before its independence from the U.K. in 1960, President Goodluck Jonathan signed a law last month that bans gay groups, imposes a 14-year jail sentence for same-sex couples who live together and 10 years for people who make a ''public show of same-sex amorous relationships.''
- Homosexuality is a crime in 38 of 54 sub-Saharan Africa nations, according to Amnesty International. From Senegal, where a conviction for gay sex can mean five years in jail, to Sudan, where it can bring the death penalty, Africa's gays are facing an unprecedented crackdown.
- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has decided to sign a bill that carries a life sentence for multiple convictions of having gay sex, according to a Feb. 15 e-mailed statement from his office.
- 'Stop' Homosexuality''I totally agree with everybody that anybody who is promoting homosexuality we must stop him,'' he said in the statement. ''This must be stopped by law and harshly.''
- Since the Ugandan parliament passed the bill in December, two people were arrested and forced to undergo anal examinations to prove they weren't having same-sex relations, Amnesty International said in a Feb. 9 statement.
- U.S. President Barack Obama condemned Museveni's decision to sign the bill in a Feb. 16 statement, saying it will ''be a step backward for all Ugandans and reflect poorly on Uganda's commitment to protecting the human rights of its citizens.''
- The experience of Ayo and his friends was relatively mild compared to that of 14 gay men who were dragged from their houses in the capital, Abuja, at about 1 a.m. on Feb. 13 by a mob wielding iron bars and sticks, according to Ifeanyi Orazulike, executive director of The International Centre on Advocacy for the Right to Health, a non-governmental organization that works with sexual minorities.
- Beaten, DraggedFour men were beaten and dragged to a nearby police station and spent the night on a cement floor, Orazulike said. The local police chief set them free the next morning, saying they hadn't been caught having gay sex, he said.
- ''How do you subject people to such torture simply because they are gay?'' Orazulike said. ''I feel terrified.''
- Abuja police spokeswoman Altine Daniel said by phone yesterday that she hadn't received confirmation from the local police chief that the attack had occured.
- National police spokesman Frank Mba said concern about the new law is unfounded and the authorities will ''be firm, but we will also be fair.''
- In northern Nigeria, where some states follow Shariah, or Islamic law, the consequences for someone convicted of having homosexual sex can be far worse: death by stoning.
- 'Religious Beliefs'Nigerian officials play down the impact of the new legislation, which presidential spokesman Reuben Abati described in an interview as consistent with the country's ''cultural and religious beliefs.'' That view was echoed by Ugandan Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo, who said ''all cultures of Uganda condemn the homosexuality acts.''
- Other legislation approved by Uganda's Parliament in December bans ''provocative'' clothing, including short skirts, as well as pornography, Lokodo said.
- Increasing anti-gay legislation may be a deliberate attempt by governments to deflect criticism from policies that have failed to create jobs and improve the quality of life for their citizens, Neela Ghoshal, a Nairobi-based senior researcher on gay rights for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a phone interview on Jan. 27.
- ''When the public gets worried about economic and governance issues, politicians try and swing it back to social issues the public can identify with, and poise themselves as the defenders of the African people against homosexuality,'' she said.
- U.S. EvangelicalsU.S. evangelical missionaries too have found traction in Africa by championing the issue. Their role has been portrayed in ''God Loves Uganda,'' a documentary directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams.
- ''They are much more active in Africa than elsewhere and they have really taken hold of the idea of homosexuality as a threat to the African family,'' Ghoshal said.
- In Nigeria, elections next year and the growing opposition to Jonathan's ruling Peoples Democratic Party may be playing a role, said Charmaine Pereira, the director of the Abuja-based Initiative for Women's Studies in Nigeria.
- ''You often find politicians trying to find scapegoats at times of political transitions,'' she said in a telephone interview. ''It seems designed to create a moral panic, create an idea in people's heads that there are hordes of people rushing out to marry each other. People here weren't clamoring to get married in the first place.''
- Rights groups say the vagueness of Nigeria's new law makes everyone susceptible to extortion by law enforcement officers and blackmail from rivals.
- ''The way that law is worded now, it's open season on everybody,'' said Abayomi Aka, human rights officer at Lagos-based The Initiative for Equal Rights. ''It doesn't call for any evidence.''
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- Statement by the President on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda
- Office of the Press Secretary
- As a country and a people, the United States has consistently stood for the protection of fundamental freedoms and universal human rights. We believe that people everywhere should be treated equally, with dignity and respect, and that they should have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential, no matter who they are or whom they love.
- That is why I am so deeply disappointed that Uganda will shortly enact legislation that would criminalize homosexuality. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, once law, will be more than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda. It will be a step backward for all Ugandans and reflect poorly on Uganda's commitment to protecting the human rights of its people. It also will mark a serious setback for all those around the world who share a commitment to freedom, justice and equal rights.
- As we have conveyed to President Museveni, enacting this legislation will complicate our valued relationship with Uganda. At a time when, tragically, we are seeing an increase in reports of violence and harassment targeting members of the LGBT community from Russia to Nigeria, I salute all those in Uganda and around the world who remain committed to respecting the human rights and fundamental human dignity of all persons.
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- Land Grabs in Africa by US Corporations, Universities Leading to a New Colonialism - Atlanta Black Star
- Across the African continent, land grabs by corporate conglomerates, American universities and European financial speculators have prompted worry among Africans concerned about a new form of colonialism taking shape.
- Universities like Harvard and Vanderbilt are using British hedge funds and European financial speculators to buy or lease vast areas of African farmland in deals'--and according to a new study by the California-based Oakland Institute, some of the speculation may force many thousands of people off their land.
- In addition, a landmark G8 initiative that was hailed by President Obama two years ago as a boon to Africa because it would boost agriculture and relieve poverty has instead had the destructive effect of moving African governments to change seed, land and tax laws to favor private investors over small farmers.
- In the 10 nations that made more than 200 policy commitments as a result of the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition initiative'--which pledged to accelerate agricultural production and lift 50 million people out of poverty by 2022'--laws and regulations are being altered to give giant agribusinesses unprecedented access to decision-makers over the past two years. The countries are making it easier for companies to do business in Africa through the easing of export controls and tax laws, and through governments corraling huge chunks of land for investment.
- As a result of the initiative, the Ethiopian government has said it will ''refine'' its land law to encourage long-term land leases and strengthen the enforcement of commercial farm contracts, while Malawi has promised to set aside 200,000 hectares of prime land for commercial investors by 2015. Ghana will make 10,000 hectares available for investment by the end of next year while Nigeria is moving to the privatization of power companies.
- ''The scramble for Africa is never good,'' former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano said on Al Jazeera America. ''We have known that since Berlin and we fought against it. But investment is welcomed if it is done in a win-win situation when people benefit from this investment.''
- This trend toward buying land in Africa has come from the 2008 spike in food prices, a concern about global food security as well as an impending energy crisis, said Oxfam trustee Nkoyo Toyo. However, she warned that investments might not be as good as they seem, and that U.N. records show alarmingly rapid sales of African land.
- ''The problem with this type of investment is not that we do not want to see investment. It's that we see investments that are increasingly not addressing the needs of the continent,'' she said. ''We hear that at least 33 million square hectares of land are lands which have been acquired in just less than 10 years.''
- As for the American universities, much of their money is being channelled through London-based Emergent asset management, which runs one of Africa's largest land acquisition funds, run by former JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs currency dealers, according to The Guardian.
- The report by Oakland Institute said Emergent's clients in the U.S. may have invested up to $500 million in some of the most fertile land in the expectation of making 25 percent returns.
- In response, Emergent said the deals were handled responsibly.
- ''Yes, university endowment funds and pension funds are long-term investors,'' a spokesman said. ''We are investing in African agriculture and setting up businesses and employing people. We are doing it in a responsible way '... The amounts are large. They can be hundreds of millions of dollars. This is not landgrabbing. We want to make the land more valuable. Being big makes an impact, economies of scale can be more productive.''
- Olivier de Schutter, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, said governments had been making promises to investors ''completely behind the screen,'' with ''no long-term view about the future of smallholder farmers'' and without their participation.
- ''There's a struggle for land, for investment, for seed systems, and first and foremost there's a struggle for political influence,'' de Schutter told The Guardian.
- Zitto Kabwe, the chairman of the Tanzanian parliament's public accounts committee, told the Guardian he was ''completely against'' the commitments his government has made to bolster private investment.
- ''By introducing this market, farmers will have to depend on imported seeds. This will definitely affect small farmers. It will also kill innovation at the local level. We have seen this with manufacturing,'' he said.
- ''It will be like colonialism. Farmers will not be able to farm until they import, linking farmers to [the] vulnerability of international prices. Big companies will benefit. We should not allow that.''
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- Congo River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The Congo River (Le fleuve Congo)River ZaireRiverThe Congo River near Mossaka
- CountriesAngola,Burundi,Cameroon,Central African Republic,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Gabon,Republic of the Congo,Rwanda,Tanzania,ZambiaMouthAtlantic OceanLength4,700 km(2,920 mi)[1]Basin4,014,500 km2(1,550,007 sq mi)[1]Discharge - average41,000 m3/s(1,447,901 cu ft/s)[1] - max75,000 m3/s(2,648,600 cu ft/s)[1] - min23,000 m3/s(812,237 cu ft/s)[1]The Congo River (French: (le) fleuve Congo, pronounced: [(lÉ) flÅ'v kÉ--ÌÉÉ--]; in the past also known as the Zaire River) is a river in Africa and the world's deepest river with measured depths in excess of 220 m (720 ft).[2] It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged. Additionally, its overall length of 4,700 km (2,920 mi) makes it the ninth longest river.
- The Congo gets its name from the ancient Kingdom of Kongo which inhabited the lands at the mouth of the river. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, both countries lying along the river's banks, are named after it. Between 1971 and 1997 the government of then-Zaire called it the Zaire River.
- Basin and courseEditThe Congo's drainage basin covers 4,014,500 square kilometres (1,550,000 sq mi).[1] The Congo's discharge at its mouth ranges from 23,000 cubic metres per second (810,000 cu ft/s) to 75,000 cubic metres per second (2,600,000 cu ft/s), with an average of 41,000 cubic metres per second (1,400,000 cu ft/s).[1]
- The river and its tributaries flow through the Congo rainforest, the second largest rain forest area in the world, second only to the Amazon Rainforest in South America. The river also has the second-largest flow in the world, behind the Amazon; the third-largest drainage basin of any river, behind the Amazon and Plate rivers; and is one of the deepest rivers in the world, at depths greater than 220 m (720 ft).[2][3] Because its drainage basin includes areas both north and south of the equator, its flow is stable, as there is always at least one part of the river experiencing a rainy season.[4]
- The sources of the Congo are in the highlands and mountains of the East African Rift, as well as Lake Tanganyika and Lake Mweru, which feed the Lualaba River, which then becomes the Congo below Boyoma Falls. The Chambeshi River in Zambia is generally taken as the source of the Congo in line with the accepted practice worldwide of using the longest tributary, as with the Nile River.
- The Congo flows generally northwards from Kisangani just below the Boyoma falls, then gradually bends southwestwards, passing by Mbandaka, joining with the Ubangi River, and running into the Pool Malebo (Stanley Pool). Kinshasa (formerly L(C)opoldville) and Brazzaville are on opposite sides of the river at the Pool, where the river narrows and falls through a number of cataracts in deep canyons (collectively known as the Livingstone Falls), running by Matadi and Boma, and into the sea at the small town of Muanda.
- The Congo River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the larger Mid-African province, which in turn is part of the larger African massive physiographic division.
- Economic importanceEditAlthough the Livingstone Falls prevent access from the sea, nearly the entire Congo is readily navigable in sections, especially between Kinshasa and Kisangani. Large river steamers worked the river until quite recently. The Congo River still is a lifeline in a land with few roads or railways.[5]
- Railways now bypass the three major falls, and much of the trade of Central Africa passes along the river, including copper, palm oil (as kernels), sugar, coffee, and cotton. The river is also potentially valuable for hydroelectric power, and the Inga Dams below Pool Malebo are first to exploit the Congo river.
- Hydro-electric powerEditThe Congo River is the most powerful river in Africa. During the rainy season over 50,000 cubic meters (1,800,000 cu ft) of water per second flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Opportunities for the Congo River and its tributaries to generate hydropower are therefore enormous. Scientists have calculated that the entire Congo Basin accounts for thirteen percent of global hydropower potential. This would provide sufficient power for all of sub-Saharan Africa's electricity needs.[6]
- Currently there are about forty hydropower plants in the Congo Basin. The largest is the Inga Falls dam, about 200 km (120 mi) southwest of Kinshasa. The prestigious Inga Project was launched in the early 1970s and at that time the first dam was completed. The plan as originally conceived called for the construction of five dams that would have had a total generating capacity of 34,500 megawatts. To date only two dams have been built, which are the Inga I and Inga II, with a total of fourteen turbines.[6]
- In February 2005, South Africa's state-owned power company, Eskom, announced a proposal to increase the capacity of the Inga dramatically through improvements and the construction of a new hydroelectric dam. The project would bring the maximum output of the facility to 40 GW, twice that of China's Three Gorges Dam.[7]
- It is feared that these new hydroelectric dams could lead to the extinction of many of the fish species that are endemic to the river.[8]
- Natural historyEditThe Congo River formed 1.5-2 million years BP during the Pleistocene.[9]
- The Congo's formation may have led to the allopatric speciation of the bonobo and the common chimpanzee from their most recent common ancestor.[10] The bonobo is endemic to the humid forests in the region, as are other iconic species like the Allen's swamp monkey, dryas monkey, aquatic genet, okapi and Congo Peafowl.[11][12]
- In terms of aquatic life, the Congo River Basin has a very high species richness, and among the highest known concentrations of endemics.[13] Until now, almost 700 fish species have been recorded from the Congo River Basin, and large sections remain virtually unstudied.[14] Due to this and the great ecological differences between the regions in the basin, it is often divided into multiple ecoregions (instead of treating it as a single ecoregion). Among these ecoregions, the Lower Congo Rapids alone has more than 300 fish species, including approximately 80 endemics[8] while the southwestern part (Kasai Basin) alone has about 200 fish species, of which about a quarter are endemic.[15] The dominant fish families''at least in parts of the river''are Cyprinidae (carp/cyprinids, such as Labeo simpsoni), Mormyridae (elephantfishes), Alestidae (African tetras), Mochokidae (squeaker catfishes), and Cichlidae (cichlids).[16] Among the natives in the river is the huge, highly carnivorous giant tigerfish. Two of the more unusual endemic cichlids are the whitish (non-pigmented) and blind Lamprologus lethops, which is believed to live as deep as 160 metres (520 ft) below the surface,[8] and Heterochromis multidens, which appears to be more closely related to cichlids of the Americas than other Africa cichlid.[17] There are also numerous endemic frogs and snails.[16][18] Several hydroelectric dams are planned on the river, and these may lead to the extinction of many of the endemics.[8]
- Several species of turtles, and the slender-snouted, Nile and dwarf crocodile are native to the Congo River Basin.
- TributariesEditLiteratureEdit1837: Silence '' A Fable is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, written in 1837 (see: bibliography). Although the first paragraph of this story contains the sentence: "The region of which I speak is a dreary region in Libya, by the borders of the river Zaire." it would not immediately appear to refer to the Equatorial-African River Zaire (River Congo), as the River Zaire of the story is described as being in Libya, which is in North Africa. It may be, however, that, given the level of geographical knowledge of Africa at the time of writing, the name Libya is used as a generic name for the African continent. In this case the story may, in fact, be an attempt to describe the River Congo of Equatorial Africa. It was adapted into a radio program of the same name.1914: American poet Vachel Lindsay portrays a dark and savage society around the Congo River in his 1914 poem The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race.1980: The Congo River is featured in a chapter of Michael Crichton's novel Congo (published in 1980), as well as in the 1995 film based on the book.1995: The Congo River is featured in the action film Congo, by director Frank Marshall, although it is not mentioned by name in the film. The film is based on the 1980 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton.1996: British author Redmond O'Hanlon has a travelogue published by Penguin Books under the title of Congo Journey (1996).2006: The river's history is discussed in the book Brazza, A Life for Africa (by Maria Petringa, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006).2007: The Congo River and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the scenario for the 2007 book Blood River by journalist Tim Butcher,[21] based on his intrepid travels up and down Africa's second longest river. Blood River was an attempt to retrace Henry Morton Stanley's trip down the Congo River, documented in Through the Dark Continent (first published, 1878), and was shortlisted for the 2008 British Book Awards.2012: Phil Harwood's book "Canoeing the Congo" [22] and amateur film "Mazungu Canoeing the Congo" document his five month solo journey by Canadian canoe.ReferencesEdit^ abcdefgBossche, J.P. vanden; G. M. Bernacsek (1990). Source Book for the Inland Fishery Resources of Africa, Volume 1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. pp. 338''339. ISBN 978-92-5-102983-1. ^ abOberg, Kevin (July 2008). "Discharge and Other Hydraulic Measurements for Characterizing the Hydraulics of Lower Congo River, July 2008". U.S. Geological Survey. ^"Monster Fish of the Congo". National Geographic Channel. 2009. ^The Congo River. Rainforests.mongabay.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-29.^See, for instance, Thierry Michel's film Congo River^ abAlain Nubourgh, Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC). Weetlogs.scilogs.be (2010-04-27). Retrieved on 2011-11-29.^Vasagar, Jeevan (2005-02-25). "Could a $50bn plan to tame this mighty river bring electricity to all of Africa?". World news (London: The Guardian). Retrieved 2010-04-30. ^ abcdNorlander, Britt (20 April 2009). "Rough waters: one of the world's most turbulent rivers is home to a wide array of fish species. Now, large dams are threatening their future". Science World. ^Leonard C. Beadle (1981). The inland waters of tropical Africa: an introduction to tropical limnology. Longman. p. 475. ISBN 978-0-582-46341-7. Retrieved 2 April 2011. ^Caswell JL, Mallick S, Richter DJ, et al. (2008). "Analysis of chimpanzee history based on genome sequence alignments". PLoS Genet.4 (4): e1000057. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000057. PMC 2278377. PMID 18421364. ^Kingdon, Jonathan (1997). The Kingdon Guide to African Mammals. London: Academic Press Limited. ISBN 0-1240-8355-2. ^BirdLife International (2008). "Afropavo congensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2 May 2011. ^Dickman, Kyle (2009-11-03). "Evolution in the Deepest River in the World". Science & Nature. Smithsonian Magazine. ^Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (2008). Sudanic Congo '' Oubangi. Accessed 2 May 2011.^Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (2008). Kasai. Accessed 2 May 2011.^ abFreshwater Ecoregions of the World (2008). Upper Lualaba. Accessed 2 May 2011.^Kullander, S.O. (1998). A phylogeny and classification of the South American Cichlidae (Teleostei: Perciformes). pp. 461''498 in Malabarba, L., et al. (eds.), Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes, Porto Alegre.^Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (2008). Lower Congo Rapids. Accessed 2 May 2011.^Through the Dark continent. Open Library. Retrieved on 2011-11-29.^Described in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as "a mighty big river": "But there was in [the map of the African continent] one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land."^Paul Theroux (27 May 2011). "The places in between". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 June 2011. ^Harwood, P. (2012). Canoeing the Congo: First Source to Sea Descent of the Congo River. Matador. ISBN 978-1780880075.External linksEditLast modified on 13 February 2014, at 06:04
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- Nile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- NileRiverCountriesEthiopia,Sudan,Egypt,Uganda,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Kenya,Tanzania,Rwanda,Burundi,South SudanCitiesJinja,Juba,Khartoum,CairoPrimary sourceWhite Nile - elevation2,700 m(8,858 ft) - coordinates02°16'²56'"S029°19'²53'"E>> / >>2.28222°S 29.33139°E>> / -2.28222; 29.33139Secondary sourceBlue Nile - locationLake Tana, Ethiopia - coordinates12°02'²09'"N037°15'²53'"E>> / >>12.03583°N 37.26472°E>> / 12.03583; 37.26472Source confluencenear KhartoumMouth - locationMediterranean Sea - elevation0 m(0 ft) - coordinates30°10'²N031°06'²E>> / >>30.167°N 31.100°E>> / 30.167; 31.100 [1]Length6,853 km(4,258 mi)Width2.8 km(2 mi)Basin3,400,000 km2(1,312,747 sq mi)Discharge - average2,830 m3/s(99,941 cu ft/s)The Nile (Arabic: اÙÙÙÙ, an-NÄl; Ancient Egyptian: Iteru & Ḥ'pÄ; Coptic Egyptian: '²'²''²'²£'²±, P(h)iaro; Amharic: á'á£á?, ÊAbbai) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world.[2] It is 6,853 km (4,258 miles) long. The Nile is an "international" river as its water resources are shared by eleven countries, namely, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.[3] In particular, the Nile is the primary water resource and life artery for Egypt and Sudan.[4]
- The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, with the most distant source still undetermined but located in either Rwanda or Burundi. It flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile is the source of most of the water and fertile soil. It begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia at 12°02'²09'"N037°15'²53'"E>> / >>12.03583°N 37.26472°E>> / 12.03583; 37.26472 and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
- The northern section of the river flows almost entirely through desert, from Sudan into Egypt, a country whose civilization has depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, and nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt are found along riverbanks. The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
- EtymologyIn the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥ'pÄ or Iteru, meaning "river", represented by the hieroglyphs shown on the left (literally itrw, and 'waters' determinative).[5] In Coptic, the words piaro (Sahidic) or phiaro (Bohairic) meaning "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great") come from the same ancient name.
- The etymology of the English name Nile (Latin: NÄlos; Greek: Î'εáÎ>>ÎÏ[6]) is disputed.[7] Possible etymologies include the SemiticNahal meaning "river".[8]
- CourseAbove Khartoum the Nile is also known as the White Nile, a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between Lake No and Khartoum. At Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift.
- The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometres (1,256,591 sq mi), about 10% of the area of Africa.[10] The Nile basin is complex, and because of this, the discharge at any given point along the mainstem depends on many factors including weather, diversions, evaporation and evapotranspiration, and groundwater flow.
- SourcesThe source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. The Kagera River, which flows into Lake Victoria near the Tanzanian town of Bukoba, is the longest feeder, although sources do not agree on which is the longest tributary of the Kagera and hence the most distant source of the Nile itself.[11] It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi,[12] or the Nyabarongo, which flows from Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda.[13] The two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border.
- In 2010, an exploration party[14] went to a place described as the source of the Rukarara tributary,[15] and by hacking a path up steep jungle-choked mountain slopes in the Nyungwe forest found (in the dry season) an appreciable incoming surface flow for many miles upstream, and found a new source, giving the Nile a length of 4199 miles (6758 kilometers)
- Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the "holy water" of the first drops of the Nile develop.[16]
- Lost headwatersFormerly Lake Tanganyika drained northwards along the African Rift Valley into the White Nile, making the Nile about 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) longer, until it was blocked in Miocene times by the bulk of the Virunga Volcanoes.
- In UgandaThe Nile leaves Lake Victoria at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda, as the Victoria Nile. It flows north for some 130 kilometres (80 mi), to Lake Kyoga. The last part of the approximately 200 kilometres (100 mi) river section starts from the western shores of the lake and flows at first to the west until just south of Masindi Port, where the river turns north, then makes a great half circle to the east and north until Karuma Falls. For the remaining part it flows merely westernly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta. The lake it self is on the border of DR Congo, but the Nile is not a border river at this point. After leaving Lake Albert, the river continues north through Uganda and is known as the Albert Nile.
- In South SudanThe river flows into South Sudan just south of Nimule, where it is known as the Bahr al Jabal ("Sea of the Mountain", possibly from Nahr al Jabal, "River of the Mountain"). Just south of the town it has the confluence with the Achwa River. The Bahr al Ghazal, itself 716 kilometres (445 mi) long, joins the Bahr al Jabal at a small lagoon called Lake No, after which the Nile becomes known as the Bahr al Abyad, or the White Nile, from the whitish clay suspended in its waters. When the Nile floods it leaves a rich silty deposit which fertilizes the soil. The Nile no longer floods in Egypt since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970. An anabranch river, the Bahr el Zeraf, flows out of the Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile.
- The flow rate of the Bahr al Jabal at Mongalla, South Sudan is almost constant throughout the year and averages 1,048 m3/s (37,000 cu ft/s). After Mongalla, the Bahr Al Jabal enters the enormous swamps of the Sudd region of South Sudan. More than half of the Nile's water is lost in this swamp to evaporation and transpiration. The average flow rate of the White Nile at the tails of the swamps is about 510 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s). From here it soon meets with the Sobat River at Malakal. On an annual basis, the White Nile upstream of Malakal contributes about fifteen percent of the total outflow of the Nile River.[17]
- The average flow of the White Nile at Malakal, just below the Sobat River, is 924 m3/s (32,600 cu ft/s); the peak flow is approximately 1,218 m3/s (43,000 cu ft/s) in October and minimum flow is about 609 m3/s (21,500 cu ft/s) in April. This fluctuation is due the substantial variation in the flow of the Sobat, which has a minimum flow of about 99 m3/s (3,500 cu ft/s) in March and a peak flow of over 680 m3/s (24,000 cu ft/s) in October.[18] During the dry season (January to June) the White Nile contributes between 70 percent and 90 percent of the total discharge from the Nile.
- In SudanBelow Renk the White Nile enters Sudan, it flows north to Khartoum and meets the Blue Nile.
- The course of the Nile in Sudan is distinctive. It flows over six groups of cataracts, from the first at Aswan to the sixth at Sabaloka (just north of Khartoum) and then turns to flow southward before again returning to flow north. This is called the Great Bend of the Nile.
- In the north of Sudan the river enters Lake Nasser (known in Sudan as Lake Nubia), the larger part of which is in Egypt.
- In EgyptBelow the Aswan High Dam, at the northern limit of Lake Nasser, the Nile resumes its historic course.
- North of Cairo, the Nile splits into two branches (or distributaries) that feed the Mediterranean: the Rosetta Branch to the west and the Damietta to the east, forming the Nile Delta.
- TributariesAtbara RiverBelow the confluence with the Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbara River, roughly halfway to the sea, which originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana, and is around 800 kilometres (500 mi) long. The Atbara flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very rapidly. During the dry period of January to June, it typically dries up. It joins the Nile approximately 300 kilometres (200 mi) north of Khartoum.
- Blue NileThe Blue Nile (Ge'ez á¥áá á'á£á ṬiqÅr ÊÄbbÄy (Black Abay) to Ethiopians; Arabic: اÙÙÙ٠اÙأزرÙ'; transliterated: an-NÄl al-Azraq) springs from Lake Tana in the Ethiopian Highlands. The Blue Nile flows about 1,400 kilometres to Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to form the Nile. Ninety percent of the water and ninety-six percent of the transported sediment carried by the Nile[20] originates in Ethiopia, with fifty-nine percent of the water from the Blue Nile (the rest being from the Tekez(C), Atbarah, Sobat, and small tributaries). The erosion and transportation of silt only occurs during the Ethiopian rainy season in the summer, however, when rainfall is especially high on the Ethiopian Plateau; the rest of the year, the great rivers draining Ethiopia into the Nile (Sobat, Blue Nile, Tekez(C), and Atbarah) have a weaker flow.
- The flow of the Blue Nile varies considerably over its yearly cycle and is the main contribution to the large natural variation of the Nile flow. During the dry season the natural discharge of the Blue Nile can be as low as 113 m3/s (4,000 cu ft/s), although upstream dams regulate the flow of the river. During the wet season the peak flow of the Blue Nile often exceeds 5,663 m3/s (200,000 cu ft/s) in late August (a difference of a factor of 50).
- Before the placement of dams on the river the yearly discharge varied by a factor of 15 at Aswan. Peak flows of over 8,212 m3/s (290,000 cu ft/s) occurred during late August and early September, and minimum flows of about 552 m3/s (19,500 cu ft/s) occurred during late April and early May.
- Bahr el Ghazal and Sobat RiverThe Bahr al Ghazal and the Sobat River are the two most important tributaries of the White Nile in terms of discharge.
- The Bahr al Ghazal's drainage basin is the largest of any of the Nile's sub-basins, measuring 520,000 square kilometres (200,000 sq mi) in size, but it contributes a relatively small amount of water, about 2 m3/s (71 cu ft/s) annually, due to tremendous volumes of water being lost in the Sudd wetlands.
- The Sobat River, which joins the Nile a short distance below Lake No, drains about half as much land, 225,000 km2 (86,900 sq mi), but contributes 412 cubic metres per second (14,500 cu ft/s) annually to the Nile.[21] When in flood the Sobat carries a large amount of sediment, adding greatly to the White Nile's color.[22]
- Yellow NileThe Yellow Nile is a former tributary that connected the Ouadda¯ Highlands of eastern Chad to the Nile River Valley c. 8000 to c. 1000 BC.[23] Its remains are known as the Wadi Howar. The wadi passes through Gharb Darfur near the northern border with Chad and meets up with the Nile near the southern point of the Great Bend.
- HistoryThe Nile (iteru in Ancient Egyptian) has been the lifeline of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age, with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt resting along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan. Climate change at the end of the most recent ice age led to the formation of the Sahara desert, possibly as long ago as 3400 BC.
- The EonileThe present Nile is at least the fifth river that has flowed north from the Ethiopian Highlands. Satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile. An Eonile canyon, now filled by surface drift, represents an ancestral Nile called the Eonile that flowed during the later Miocene (23''5.3 million years before present). The Eonile transported clastic sediments to the Mediterranean; several natural gas fields have been discovered within these sediments.
- During the late-Miocene Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea was a closed basin and evaporated to the point of being empty or nearly so, the Nile cut its course down to the new base level until it was several hundred feet below world ocean level at Aswan and 8,000 feet (2,400 m) below Cairo.[24] This created a very long and deep canyon which was filled with sediment when the Mediterranean was recreated. At some point the sediments raised the riverbed sufficiently for the river to overflow westward into a depression to create Lake Moeris.
- Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Nile until the Virunga Volcanoes blocked its course in Rwanda. The Nile was much longer at that time, with its furthest headwaters in northern Zambia.
- The integrated NileThere are two theories about the age of the integrated Nile. One is that the integrated drainage of the Nile is of young age, and that the Nile basin was formerly broken into series of separate basins, only the most northerly of which fed a river following the present course of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. Said postulated that Egypt itself supplied most of the waters of the Nile during the early part of its history.[25]
- The other theory is that the drainage from Ethiopia via rivers equivalent to the Blue Nile and the Atbara and Takazze flowed to the Mediterranean via the Egyptian Nile since well back into Tertiary times.[26]
- Salama suggested that during the Paleogene and Neogene Periods (66 million to 2.588 million years ago) a series of separate closed continental basins each occupied one of the major parts of the Sudanese Rift System: Mellut rift, White Nile rift, Blue Nile rift, Atbara rift and Sag El Naam rift.[27] The Mellut Rift Basin is nearly 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) deep at its central part. This rift is possibly still active, with reported tectonic activity in its northern and southern boundaries. The Sudd swamps which form the central part of the basin may still be subsiding. The White Nile Rift System, although shallower than the Bahr el Arab rift, is about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) deep. Geophysical exploration of the Blue Nile Rift System estimated the depth of the sediments to be 5''9 kilometres (3.1''5.6 mi). These basins were not interconnected until their subsidence ceased, and the rate of sediment deposition was enough to fill and connect them. The Egyptian Nile connected to the Sudanese Nile, which captures the Ethiopian and Equatorial headwaters during the current stages of tectonic activity in the Eastern, Central and Sudanese Rift Systems.[28] The connection of the different Niles occurred during cyclic wet periods. The River Atbara overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to the main Nile during the 70,000''80,000 years B.P. wet period. The White Nile system in Bahr El Arab and White Nile Rifts remained a closed lake until the connection of the Victoria Nile to the main system some 12,500 years ago.
- Role in the founding of Egyptian civilizationThe Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "Egypt was the gift of the Nile". An unending source of sustenance, it provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization. Silt deposits from the Nile made the surrounding land fertile because the river overflowed its banks annually. The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat, flax, papyrus and other crops around the Nile. Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine-plagued Middle East. This trading system secured Egypt's diplomatic relationships with other countries, and contributed to economic stability. Far-reaching trade has been carried on along the Nile since ancient times. The Ishango bone is probably an early tally stick. It has been suggested that this shows prime numbers and multiplication, but this is disputed. In the book How Mathematics Happened: The First 50,000 Years, Peter Rudman argues that the development of the concept of prime numbers could only have come about after the concept of division, which he dates to after 10,000 BC, with prime numbers probably not being understood until about 500 BC. He also writes that "no attempt has been made to explain why a tally of something should exhibit multiples of two, prime numbers between 10 and 20, and some numbers that are almost multiples of 10."[29] It was discovered along the headwaters of the Nile (near Lake Edward, in northeastern Congo) and was carbon-dated to 20,000 BC.
- Water buffalo were introduced from Asia, and Assyrians introduced camels in the 7th century BC. These animals were killed for meat, and were domesticated and used for ploughing'--or in the camels' case, carriage. Water was vital to both people and livestock. The Nile was also a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people and goods. The Nile was an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. Hapy was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra, the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death.
- As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life, the ancient calendar was even based on the 3 cycles of the Nile. These seasons, each consisting of four months of thirty days each, were called Akhet, Peret, and Shemu. Akhet, which means inundation, was the time of the year when the Nile flooded, leaving several layers of fertile soil behind, aiding in agricultural growth.[30]
- Peret was the growing season, and Shemu, the last season, was the harvest season when there were no rains.[30]
- The search for the source of the NileDespite the failed attempts of the Greeks and Romans to penetrate the Sudd wetlands in South Sudan, the upper reaches of the Nile remained largely unknown to them. Various expeditions failed to determine the river's source. Agatharcides records that in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a military expedition had penetrated far enough along the course of the Blue Nile to determine that the summer floods were caused by heavy seasonal rainstorms in the Ethiopian Highlands, but no European of antiquity is known to have reached Lake Tana.
- The Tabula Rogeriana depicted the source as three lakes in 1154.
- Europeans began to learn about the origins of the Nile in the 15th and 16th centuries, when travelers to Ethiopia visited Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile in the mountains south of the lake. Although James Bruce claimed to be the first European to have visited the headwaters,[31] modern writers give the credit to the JesuitPedro Pez. Pez's account of the source of the Nile[32] is a long and vivid account of Ethiopia. It was published in full only in the early 20th century, although it was featured in works of Pez's contemporaries, including Baltazar T(C)llez,[33]Athanasius Kircher[34] and by Johann Michael Vansleb.[35]
- Europeans had been resident in Ethiopia since the late 15th century, and one of them may have visited the headwaters even earlier without leaving a written trace. The Portuguese Jo£o Bermudes published the first description of the Tis Issat Falls in his 1565 memoirs, compared them to the Nile Falls alluded to in Cicero's De Republica.[36]Jer"nimo Lobo describes the source of the Blue Nile, visiting shortly after Pedro Pez. Telles also used his account.
- The White Nile was even less understood. The ancients mistakenly believed that the Niger River represented the upper reaches of the White Nile. For example, Pliny the Elder wrote that the Nile had its origins "in a mountain of lower Mauretania", flowed above ground for "many days" distance, then went underground, reappeared as a large lake in the territories of the Masaesyli, then sank again below the desert to flow underground "for a distance of 20 days' journey till it reaches the nearest Ethiopians."[37] A merchant named Diogenes reported that the Nile's water attracted game such as water buffalo.
- Lake Victoria was first sighted by Europeans in 1858 when the British explorerJohn Hanning Speke reached its southern shore while traveling with Richard Francis Burton to explore central Africa and locate the great lakes. Believing he had found the source of the Nile on seeing this "vast expanse of open water" for the first time, Speke named the lake after the then Queen of the United Kingdom. Burton, recovering from illness and resting further south on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, was outraged that Speke claimed to have proved his discovery to be the true source of the Nile when Burton regarded this as still unsettled. A very public quarrel ensued, which sparked a great deal of intense debate within the scientific community and interest by other explorers keen to either confirm or refute Speke's discovery. British explorer and missionary David Livingstone pushed too far west and entered the Congo River system instead. It was ultimately Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley who confirmed Speke's discovery, circumnavigating Lake Victoria and reporting the great outflow at Ripon Falls on the Lake's northern shore.
- European involvement in Egypt goes back to the time of Napoleon. Laird Shipyard of Liverpool sent an iron steamer to the Nile in the 1830s. With the completion of the Suez Canal and the British takeover of Egypt in the 1870s, more British river steamers followed.
- The Nile is the area's natural navigation channel, giving access to Khartoum and Sudan by steamer. The Siege of Khartoum was broken with purpose-built sternwheelers shipped from England and steamed up the river to retake the city. After this came regular steam navigation of the river. With British Forces in Egypt in the First World War and the inter-war years, river steamers provided both security and sightseeing to the Pyramids and Thebes. Steam navigation remained integral to the two countries as late as 1962. Sudan steamer traffic was a lifeline as few railways or roads were built in that country. Most paddle steamers have been retired to shorefront service, but modern diesel tourist boats remain on the river.
- The modern eraThe Nile has long been used to transport goods along its length. Winter winds blow south, up river, so ships could sail up river, and down river using the flow of the river. While most Egyptians still live in the Nile valley, the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam ended the summer floods and their renewal of the fertile soil, fundamentally changing farming practices. The Nile supports much of the population living along its banks, enabling Egyptians to live in otherwise inhospitable regions of the Sahara. The rivers's flow is disturbed at several points by the Cataracts of the Nile, which are sections of faster-flowing water with many small islands, shallow water, and rocks, which form an obstacle to navigation by boats. The Sudd wetlands in Sudan also forms a formidable navigation obstacle and impede water flow, to the extent that Sudan had once attempted to canalize (the Jonglei Canal) to bypass the swamps.[38][39]
- Nile cities include Khartoum, Aswan, Luxor (Thebes), and the Giza '' Cairo conurbation. The first cataract, the closest to the mouth of the river, is at Aswan, north of the Aswan Dam. This part of the river is a regular tourist route, with cruise ships and traditional wooden sailing boats known as feluccas. Many cruise ships ply the route between Luxor and Aswan, stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo along the way. Security concerns have limited cruising on the northernmost portion for many years.
- A computer simulation study to plan the economic development of the Nile was directed by H.A.W. Morrice and W.N. Allan, for the Ministry of Hydro-power of the Republic of the Sudan, during 1955''1957[40][41][42] Morrice was their Hydrological Adviser, and Allan his predecessor. M.P. Barnett directed the software development and computer operations. The calculations were enabled by accurate monthly inflow data collected for 50 years. The underlying principle was the use of over-year storage, to conserve water from rainy years for use in dry years. Irrigation, navigation and other needs were considered. Each computer run postulated a set of reservoirs and operating equations for the release of water as a function of the month and the levels upstream. The behaviour that would have resulted given the inflow data was modeled. Over 600 models were run. Recommendations were made to the Sudanese authorities. The calculations were run on an IBM 650 computer. Simulation studies to design water resources are discussed further in the article on Hydrology transport models, that have been used since the 1980s to analyze water quality.
- Despite the development of many reservoirs, drought during the 1980s led to widespread starvation in Ethiopia and Sudan, but Egypt was nourished by water impounded in Lake Nasser. Drought has proven to be a major cause of fatality in the Nile River basin. According to a report by the Strategic Foresight Group around 170 million people have been affected by droughts in the last century with half a million lives lost.[43] From the 70 incidents of drought which took place between 1900 and 2012, 55 incidents took place in Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania.[43]
- Water sharing disputeThe Nile's water has affected the politics of East Africa and the Horn of Africa for many decades. Countries including Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya have complained about Egyptian domination of its water resources. The Nile Basin Initiative promotes a peaceful cooperation among those states.[44][45]
- Several attempts have been made to establish agreements between the countries sharing the Nile waters. It is very difficult to have all these countries agree with each other given the self-interest of each country and their political, strategic, and social differences. On 14 May 2010 at Entebbe, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda signed a new agreement on sharing the Nile water even though this agreement raised strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan. Ideally, such international agreements should promote equitable and efficient usage of the Nile basin's water resources. Without a better understanding about the availability of the future water resources of the Nile River, we could expect more conflicts between these countries relying on the Nile for their water supply, economic and social developments.[4]
- Modern achievements and explorationThe White Nile Expedition, led by South African national Hendrik Coetzee, became the first to navigate the Nile's entire length. The expedition began at the source of the Nile in Uganda on January 17, 2004 and arrived safely at the Mediterranean in Rosetta, four and a half months later.[46]
- On April 28, 2004, geologist Pasquale Scaturro and his partner, kayaker and documentary filmmaker Gordon Brown became the first people to navigate the Blue Nile, from Lake Tana in Ethiopia to the beaches of Alexandria on the Mediterranean. Though their expedition included others, Brown and Scaturro were the only ones to complete the entire journey.[47] The team used outboard motors for most of their journey. On January 29, 2005 Canadian Les Jickling and New Zealander Mark Tanner completed the first human powered transit.
- A team led by South Africans Peter Meredith and Hendrik Coetzee on April 30, 2005, became the first to navigate the major remote source of the Nile, the Akagera river, which starts as the Ruvyironza in Bururi Province, Burundi.
- CrossingsCrossings from Khartoum to the Mediterranean Sea[clarification needed]
- The following bridges cross the Blue Nile and connect Khartoum to Khartoum North:
- The following bridges cross the White Nile and connect Khartoum to Omdurman:
- Black Nile BridgeFitayhab BridgeAl Dabbaseen Bridge (under construction)[when?]Omhuraz Bridge (proposed)[citation needed]the following bridges cross from Omdurman: to Khartoum North:
- Shambat BridgeHalfia BridgeThe following bridges cross to Tuti from Khartoum states three cities
- Shandi Bridge, ShendiAtbarah Bridge, AtbarahMerowe Dam, MeroweMerowe Bridge, MeroweAswan Bridge, AswanLuxor Bridge, LuxorSuhag Bridge, SuhagAssiut Bridge, AssiutAl Minya Bridge, MinyaAl Marazeek Bridge, HelwanFirst Ring Road Bridge (Moneeb Crossing), CairoAbbas Bridge, CairoUniversity Bridge, CairoQasr al-Nil Bridge, Cairo6th October Bridge, CairoAbu El Ela Bridge, Cairo (removed in 1998)New Abu El Ela Bridge, CairoImbaba Bridge, CairoRod Elfarag Bridge, CairoSecond Ring Road Bridge, CairoBanha Bridge, BanhaSamanoud Bridge, SamanoudMansoura 2 Bridges, MansouraTalkha Bridge, TalkhaShirbine high BridgeShirbine BridgeKafr Sad - Farscor BridgeInternational Coastal Road BridgeDamietta high Bridge, DamiettaDamietta Bridge, DamiettaKafr El Zayat Bridges, Kafr El ZayatZefta Bridge, ZeftaCrossings from Rwanda to KhartoumImages and media of the NileRiverboat on the Nile, Egypt 1900
- View of the Nile from a cruiseboat, between Luxor and Aswan in Egypt
- A felucca traversing the Nile near AswanA river boat crossing the Nile in Uganda
- City lights define the river valley as it snakes across the desert
- Valley of the Nile near Luxor, Egypt
- The river Nile flows through Cairo, here contrasting ancient customs of daily life with the modern city of today.
- River and mountain scenery on the Nile
- People living on the banks of the Nile
- See alsoReferences^Nile River at GEOnet Names Server^"Nile River". Encyclop...dia Britannica. ^Oloo, Adams (2007). "The Quest for Cooperation in the Nile Water Conflicts: A Case for Eritrea". African Sociological Review11 (1). Retrieved 25 July 2011. ^ abMohamed Helmy Mahmoud Moustafa ElsanabaryTeleconnection, Modeling, Climate Anomalies Impact and Forecasting of Rainfall and Streamflow of the Upper Blue Nile River Basin. Canada: University of Alberta. 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012 ^Faulkner, Raymond O. (1962). Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith Institute. p. 33. ^"Nile". Oxford English Dictionary (3 ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. December 2009. ^An overview is given by: Carles Mºrcia (2006). Greek: Î'εáÎ>>ÎÏ : El nom grec del riu Nil pot ser d'origen amazic? Aula Orientalis24: 269-292^"Nile". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 20, 2013. ^"The Nile River". Nile Basin Initiative. 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011. ^EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal[dead link]^McLeay, Cam (July 2, 2006). "The Truth About the Source of R. Nile". New Vision. Retrieved August 31, 2011. ^"Nile River". Retrieved February 5, 2011. ^"Team Reaches Nile's 'True Source'". BBC News. March 31, 2006. Retrieved April 4, 2011. ^Described in Joanna Lumley's Nile, 7 pm to 8 pm, ITV, Sunday 12 August 2011.^"Journey to the source of the Nile". Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-09-06. ^Next on Egypt's to-do: Ethiopia and the Nile^Hurst H.E. et al (2011). "The Nile Basins |volume 1 The Hydrology of the Blue Nile and Akbara and the Main Nile to Aswan, with some Reference to the Projects Nile control Dept. paper 12". Cairo: Government Printing office. ^by J. V. Sutcliffe & Y. P. Parks (1999). "12". The Hydrology of the Nile. IAHS Special Publication no. 5. p. 161. ^Egyptian Dust Plume, Red Sea^Marshall et al., Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental and climatic change from Lake Tana, source of the Blue Nile PDF (247 KB), 2006^Shahin, Mamdouh (2002). Hydrology and Water Resources of Africa. Springer. pp. 276, 287''288. ISBN 1-4020-0866-X. ; online at Google Books^"Sobat River". Encyclop...dia Britannica Online Library Edition. Encyclop...dia Britannica. Retrieved January 21, 2008. ^Keding, Birgit (2000). "New Data on the Holocene Occupation of the Wadi Howar Region (Eastern Sahara/Sudan)". Studies in African Archaeology7: 89''104. ^Warren, John (2006). Evaporites:Sediments, Resources and Hydrocarbons. Berlin: Springer. p. 352. ISBN 3-540-26011-0. ^Said, R. (1981). The geological evolution of the River Nile. Springer Verlag.^Williams, M.A.J.; Williams, F. (1980). Evolution of Nile Basin. In M.A.J. Williams and H. Faure (eds). The Sahara and the Nile. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 207''224.^Salama, R.B. (1987). "The evolution of the River Nile, The buried saline rift lakes in Sudan". J. African Earth Sciences6 (6): 899''913. doi:10.1016/0899-5362(87)90049-2. ^Salama, R.B. (1997). Rift Basins of Sudan. African Basins, Sedimentary Basins of the World. 3. Edited by R.C. Selley (Series Editor K.J. Hsu) pp. 105''149. ElSevier, Amsterdam.^Rudman, Peter Strom (2007). How Mathematics Happened: The First 50,000 Years. Prometheus Books. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-59102-477-4. ^ abSpringer, Lisa; Neil Morris (15 January 2010). Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4358-3589-4. ^Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile^History of Ethiopia, circa 1622^Historia geral da Ethiopia a Alta, 1660^Mundus Subterraneus, 1664^The Present State of Egypt, 1678.^S. Whiteway, editor and translator, The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1441''1543, 1902. (Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1967), p. 241.^Natural History, 5.10^Shahin, Mamdouh (2002). Hydrology and Water Resources of Africa. Springer. pp. 286''287. ISBN 1-4020-0866-X. ; online at Google Books^"Big Canal To Change Course of Nile River". October 1933. Popular Science] (short article on top-right of page with map).^H.A.W. Morrice and W.N. Allan, Planning for the ultimate hydraulic development of the Nile Valley, Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers, 14, 101, 1959.^M.P.Barnett, Comment on the Nile Valley Calculations, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B, vol. 19, 223, 1957.^D.F. Manzer and M.P. Barnett, Analysis by Simulation: Programming Techniques for a High-Speed Digital Computer, in Arthur Maas et al, Design of Water Resource Systems, pp. 324''390, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1962.^ abBlue Peace for the Nile, 2009; Report by Strategic Foresight Group^The Nile Basin Initiative[dead link]^Cambanis, Thanassis (25 September 2010). "Egypt and Thirsty Neighbors Are at Odds Over Nile". New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2010. ^National Geographic released a feature film about the expedition in late 2005 entitled The Longest River.^Scaturro and Brown chronicled their adventure with an IMAX camera and two handheld video cams, sharing their story in the IMAX film Mystery of the Nile and in a book of the same title.Further readingJeal, Tim (2011). Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure. ISBN 978-0-300-14935-7Tvedt, Terje, ed. The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age: Conflict and Cooperation Among the Nile Basin Countries (I.B. Tauris, 2010) 293 pages; studies of the river's finite resources as shared by multiple nations in the post-colonial era; includes research by scholars from Burundi, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.Annotated bibliographyThe following is an annotated bibliography of key written documents for the Western exploration of the Nile.
- 17th centuryHistoria da Ethiopia, Pedro Pez (aka Pero Pais), Portugal, 1620A Jesuit missionary who was sent from Goa to Ethiopia in 1589 and remained in the area until his death in 1622. Credited with being the first European to view the source of the Blue Nile which he describes in this volume.Voyage historique d'Abissinie, Jer"nimo Lobo (aka Girolamo Lobo), Piero Matini, Firenze; 1693One of the most important and earliest sources on Ethiopia and the Nile. Jer"nimo Lobo (1595-1687), a Jesuit priest, stayed in Ethiopia, mostly in Tigre, for 9 years and travelled to Lake Tana and the Blue Nile, reaching the province of Damot. When the Jesuits were expelled from the country, he too had to leave and did so via Massaua and Suakin. "He was the best expert on Ethiopian matters. After Pais, Lobo is the second European to describe the sources of the Blue Nile and he did so more exactly than Bruce" (transl. from Henze).18th century
- With time on his hands and at the urging of a friend, Bruce composed this account of his travels on the African continent, including comments on the history and religion of Egypt, an account of Indian trade, a history of Abyssinia, and other material. Although Bruce would not be confused with "a great scholar or a judicious critic, few books of equal compass are equally entertaining; and few such monuments exist of the energy and enterprise of a single traveller" (DNB). "The result of his travels was a very great enrichment of the knowledge of geography and ethnography" (Cox II, p. 389.) Bruce was one of the earliest westerners to search for the source of the Nile. In November 1770 he reached the source of the Blue Nile, and though he acknowledged that the White Nile was the larger stream, he claimed that the Blue Nile was the Nile of the ancients and that he was thus the discoverer of its source. The account of his travels was written twelve years after his journey and without reference to his journals, which gave critics grounds for disbelief, but the substantial accuracy of the book has since been amply demonstrated.1800''1850
- St. John traveled extensively in Egypt and Nubia in 1832''33, mainly on foot. He gives a very interesting picture of Egyptian life and politics under Mohammed Ali, a large part of volume II deals with the Egyptian campaign in Syria.Travels in Ethiopia Above the Second Cateract of the Nile; Exhibiting the State of That Country and Its Various Inhabitants Under the Dominion of Mohammed Ali; and Illustrating the Antiquities, Arts, and History of the Ancient Kingdom of Meroe, G. A.Hoskins. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, London; 1835.Modern Egypt and Thebes: Being a Description of Egypt; Including Information Required for Travelers in That Country, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, John Murray, London, 1843The first known English travelers guide to the Lower Nile Basin.1850''1900
- Lake Regions of Central Equatorial Africa, with Notices of The Lunar Mountains and the Sources of the White Nile; being The Results of an Expedition Undertaken under the Patronage of Her Majesty's Government and the Royal Geographical Society of London, In the Years 1857''1859, Sir Richard Burton. W. Clowes, London; 1860Sir Richard Burton's presentation of his expedition with John Speke. Ultimately, Burton's view of the sources of the Nile failed and Speke's prevailed.Travels, researches, and missionary labours, during eighteen years' residence in eastern Africa. Together with journeys to Jagga, Usambara, Ukambani, Shoa, Abessinia, and Khartum; and a coasting voyage from Mombaz to Cape Delgado. With an appendix respecting the snow-capped mountains of eastern Africa; the sources of the Nile; the languages and literature of Abessinia And eastern Africa, etc. etc., Rev Dr. J. Krapf, Trubner and Co, London; 1860; Ticknor and Fields, Boston; 1860Krapf went to East Africa in the service of the English Church Missionary Society, arriving at Mombasa, Kenya in 1844 and staying in East Africa until 1853. While stationed there he was the first to report the existence of Lake Baringo and a sighting of the snow-clad Kilimanjaro. Krapf, during his travels, collected information from the Arab traders operating inland from the coast. From the traders Krapf and his companions learned of great lakes and snow-capped mountains, which Krapf claimed to have seen for himself, much to the ridicule of English explorers who could not believe the idea of snow on the equator. However, Krapf was correct and had seen Mounts Kilimanjaro and Kenya, the first European to do so.Egypt, Soudan and Central Africa: With Explorations From Khartoum on the White Nile to the Regions of the Equator, Being Sketches from Sixteen Years' Travel, John Petherick. William Blackwood, Edinburgh; 1861Petherick was a well known Welsh traveler in East Central Africa where he had adopted the profession of mining engineer. This work describes sixteen years of his travel throughout Africa. In 1845, he entered the service of Mehemet Ali, and was employed in examining Upper Egypt, Nubia, the Red Sea coast and Kordofan in an unsuccessful search for coal. In 1848, he left the Egyptian service and established himself at El Obeid as a trader and was, at the same time made British Consul for the Sudan. In 1853, he removed to Khartoum and became an ivory trader. He traveled extensively in the Bahr-el-Ghazal region, then almost unknown, exploring the Jur, Yalo and other affluents of the Ghazal and in 1858 he penetrated the Niam-Niam country. Petherick's additions to the knowledge of natural history were considerable, being responsible for the discovery of a number of new species. In 1859, he returned to England where he became acquainted with John Speke, then arranging for an expedition to discover the source of the Nile. While in England, Petherick married and published this account of his travels. He got the idea to join Speke in his travels, and in this volume is an actual subscription and list of subscribers to raise money to send Petherick to join Speke. His subsequent adventures as a consul in Africa were published in a later work.Speke had previously made an expedition with Sir Richard Burton under the auspices of the Indian government, during which Speke was convinced that he had discovered the source of the Nile. Burton, however, disagreed and ridiculed Speke's account. Speke set off on another expedition, recounted here, in the company of Captain Grant. During the course of this expedition he not only produced further evidence for his discoveries but also met up with Sir Samuel Baker and provided him with essential information which helped Baker in his discovery of the Albert Nyanza. The importance of Speke's discoveries can hardly be overestimated. In discovering the source reservoir of the Nile he succeeded in solving the problem of all ages; he and Grant were the first Europeans to cross Equatorial Eastern Africa and gained for the world a knowledge of about 500 miles (800 km) of a portion of Eastern Africa previously totally unknown.External linksPeople and things in the Quran
- Note: The names are sorted alphabetically. Standard form: Islamic name / Bibilical name (title or relationship)
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- Kodok - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Kodok (Kothok) (Arabic: ÙÙدÙÙ') (formerly Fashoda) is a town in the north-eastern South Sudanesestate of Upper Nile. Kodok is the capital of Shilluk country, formally known as the Shilluk Kingdom. Shilluk has been an independent kingdom for more than sixteen centuries. Fashoda is known as the place where the British and French nearly went to war in 1898.
- According to Shilluk belief, religion, tradition and constitution, Fashoda serves as the mediating city for the Shilluk King. It is a place where ceremonies and the coronation of each new Shilluk King takes place. For over 500 years, Fashoda was kept hidden and acted as a forbidden city for the Shilluk King, but as modern educations and traditions emerge, Fashoda is now known to the outside world. Fashoda is believed to be a place where the spirit of Juok (God), the spirit of Nyikango (the founder of Shilluk Kingdom and the spiritual leader of Shilluk religion), the spirit of the deceased Shilluk kings and the spirit of the living Shilluk King come to mediate for the Kingdom of Shilluk's spiritual healing. Fashoda is preserved as a quiet place for the spirit of God, where the sounds and speeches of God (Juok) can be heard and received by the King, leaders, and elders. For the Shilluk, Fashoda is a city of mediation and peace.
- Historically, Fashoda is chiefly known for being the site of the 1898 Fashoda Incident between the United Kingdom and France. The British were attempting to create a solid block of influence from southern Africa through East Africa to Egypt, which was already under British control. Meanwhile, the French were attempting to expand from West Africa along the southern border of the Sahara Desert in order to control all of the trade through the Sahel. The intersection of these lines of intended control passed through Kodok, and a standoff between armed expeditionary forces led the two countries to the brink of war. The outcome in Britain's favour contributed to the stabilisation of colonial claims and the eventual end of the 'Scramble for Africa'. The incident gave rise to what is known as the 'Fashoda syndrome' in French foreign policy. In 1904, the development of the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale prompted the British to change the town's name to Kodok (Kothok) in the hope of obliterating the memory of the incident.
- The Evangelical Church Mission Society (CMS) was assigned in 1898 by the British colonial administration to Kodok (Kothok) awarded to the missionary, after they had been denied the location of Khartoum. The Catholic Verona Fathers were also given the area west of the Nile and the Presbyterian Church (USA) the east to the Ethiopian border. From 1900, the missionaries were in low numbers and encountered territorial disputes, but in the 1920s, complains were made by the CMS about the expansion of the Catholics on their territory. In January 1933, a Catholic Mission was established in Kodok (Kothok) and since 1974 has been classified under the Diocese of Malakal. From the 1930s, Kodok (Kothok) was also a centre of the Presbyterians, so Kodok(Kothok) has a major Christian influence.
- In 1955, the population of Kodok (Kothok) was about 9,100. During the First Sudanese Civil War in 1964, during the reign of Muhammad Ahmad Mahjub, Kodok (Kothok) was the scene of a massacre by the military in Khartoum. Similar massacres in 1964 and 1965 also took place in other cities in southern Sudan.[1]
- In the 1990s, Kodok(Kothok) suffered a serious famine and saw many charities brought to the region, especially Operation Lifeline Sudan. In the years 2004 and 2005, at the end of the Second Sudanese Civil War, many refugees returned but the security situation in 2004 was still very critical.
- Today the inhabitants of Kodok (Kothok) are mainly involved in subsistence farming and grow as a staple of their diet millet and rear cattle. From the mid-1990s they began marketing gum arabic, obtained from Acacia seyal and sold to Arab traders from the north. There are also ongoing local disputes in the area between Kodok (Kothok) and the south of Malakal on the Nile for land rights and water distribution.
- Last modified on 26 August 2013, at 11:53
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- Fashoda Incident - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The Fashoda Incident or Fashoda Crisis of 1898 was the climax of imperial territorial disputes between Britain and France in Eastern Africa. A French expedition to Fashoda on the White Nile sought to gain control of the Nile River and thereby exclude Britain from the Sudan, and possibly force the British out of Egypt as well. The British held firm as Britain and France were on the verge of war. It ended in a diplomatic victory for the British. It gave rise to the 'Fashoda syndrome' in French foreign policy, or seeking to assert French influence in areas which might be becoming susceptible to British influence.
- BackgroundEditDuring the late 19th century, Africa was rapidly being occupied by European colonial powers. This period in African history is usually called the Scramble for Africa. The two principal powers involved in this scramble were Britain and France, along with Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.[1]
- The French thrust into the African interior was mainly from the continent's Atlantic coast (modern Senegal) eastward, through the Sahel along the southern border of the Sahara, a territory covering modern Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Chad. Their ultimate goal was to have an uninterrupted link between the Niger River and the Nile, hence controlling all trade to and from the Sahel region, by virtue of their existing control over the caravan routes through the Sahara. France also had an outpost near the mouth of the Red Sea in Djibouti (French Somaliland), which could serve as an eastern anchor to an east-west belt of French territory across the continent.
- The British, on the other hand, wanted to link their possessions in Southern Africa (modern South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Zambia), with their territories in East Africa (modern Kenya), and these two areas with the Nile basin. Sudan (which in those days included modern South Sudan and Uganda) was the key to the fulfilment of these ambitions, especially since Egypt was already under British control. This 'red line' (i.e. a proposed railway, see Cape-Cairo railway) through Africa was made most famous by the British and South African political force Cecil Rhodes, who wanted Africa "painted [British] Red".
- When one draws a line from Cape Town to Cairo (Rhodes' dream) and another line from Dakar to French Somaliland (now Djibouti) by the Red Sea in the Horn (the French ambition), these two lines intersect in eastern South Sudan near the town of Fashoda (present-day Kodok), explaining its strategic importance. The French east-west axis and the British north-south axis could not co-exist; the nation that could occupy and hold the crossing of the two axes would be the only one able to proceed with its plan.
- Fashoda was also bound up in the Egyptian Question '' a long running dispute between the United Kingdom and France over the legality of the British occupation of Egypt. Since 1882 many French politicians, particularly those of the parti colonial, had come to regret France's decision not to join with Britain in occupying the country. They hoped to force Britain to leave, and thought that a colonial outpost on the Upper Nile could serve as a base for French gunboats. These in turn were expected to make the British abandon Egypt. Another proposed scheme involved a massive dam, cutting off the Nile's water supply and forcing the British out. These ideas were highly impractical, but they succeeded in frightening many British officials.
- StalemateEditA French force of just 120 tirailleurs soldiers and 12 French officers (Captain Marcel Joseph Germain - Captain Albert Baratier - Captain Charles Mangin - Captain Victor Emmanuel Largeau - Lieutenant F(C)lix Fouqu(C) - teacher Dy(C) - Doctor Jules Emily Major - Warrant Officer De Prat - Sergeant George Dat - Sergeant Bernard - Sergeant Venail - the military interpreter Landerouin) set out from Brazzaville in a borrowed Belgian steamer, under Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand with orders to secure the area around Fashoda, and make it a French protectorate. They steamed up the Ubangi River to its head of navigation and then overland through jungle and scrub to the deserts of Sudan. They travelled across Sudan to the Nile River. They were to be met there by two expeditions coming from the east across Ethiopia, one of which, from Djibouti, was led by Christian de Bonchamps, veteran of the Stairs Expedition to Katanga.[2]
- After an epic 14-month trek across the heart of Africa the Marchand Expedition arrived on 10 July 1898, but the de Bonchamps Expedition failed to make it after being ordered by the Ethiopians to halt, and then suffering accidents in the Baro Gorge.[3] On 18 September a powerful flotilla of British gunboats arrived at the isolated Fashoda fort, led by Sir Herbert Kitchener and including Lieutenant-Colonel (later General) Horace Smith-Dorrien.
- As the commander of the Anglo-Egyptian army that had just defeated the forces of the Mahdi at the Battle of Omdurman, Kitchener was in the process of reconquering the Sudan in the name of the Egyptian Khedive, and after the battle he opened sealed orders to investigate the French expedition. Kitchener, a fluent French speaker, landed at Fashoda wearing Egyptian Army uniform, and the two commanders behaved with admirable restraint. Both sides insisted on their right to Fashoda but agreed to wait for further instructions from home. [4]
- News of the meeting was relayed to Paris and London, where it inflamed the imperial pride of both nations. Widespread popular outrage followed, each side accusing the other of naked expansionism and aggression. The crisis continued throughout September and October, and both nations began to mobilise their fleets in preparation for war.[citation needed]
- ResolutionEditIn naval terms, the situation was heavily in the United Kingdom's favour, a fact that French deputies acknowledged in the aftermath of the crisis. Though the French force was larger, the British had them outgunned. The French army was far larger than the British one, but there was little it would have been able to do against Britain without efficient naval support. Significant credit has been given to Marchand for remaining calm.[5]
- The military facts were undoubtedly important to Th(C)ophile Delcass(C), the newly appointed French foreign minister. He saw no advantage in a colonial war with the British, especially since he was keen to gain their friendship in case of any future conflict with Germany. He therefore pressed hard for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. The reopening of the Dreyfus Affair had done much to distract French public opinion from events in the Sudan and with people increasingly questioning the wisdom of a war over such a remote part of Africa, the French government quietly ordered its soldiers to withdraw on 3 November.
- In March 1899, the French and British agreed that the source of the Nile and the Congo rivers should mark the frontier between their spheres of influence.
- The Fashoda incident was the last serious colonial dispute between Britain and France, and its classic diplomatic solution is considered by most historians to be the precursor of the Entente Cordiale.[6]
- ReferencesEdit^Thomas Pakenham, Scramble for Africa: The White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876-1912 (1991)^Michel C´te, Mission de Bonchamps: Vers Fachoda la rencontre de la mission Marchand travers l'Ethiopie, Paris, Plon, 1900.^Levering Lewis, David: The Race to Fashoda, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, New York (1987, 1995) pp. 133, 135, 210.^Alan Moorehead, The White Nile, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1962, also published by Penguin^E.g., "Marchand of Fashoda: He Arrives at Toulon and is Greeted with Immense Enthusiasm", The Deseret Evening News, May 31, 1899.^Horne, Alistair (2004). La Belle France. USA: Vintage. pp. 298''299. ISBN 978-1-4000-3487-1. Further readingEditBates, Darell The Fashoda incident of 1898: encounter on the Nile. Oxford: OUP, 1984, ISBN 0-19-211771-8.Churchill, Sir Winston (1902). The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan. Chapter 17 is devoted to Fashoda, covering actions on the ground more than international diplomacy. It is available online at: Project Gutenberg Edition of The River War.Eubank, Keith. "The Fashoda Crisis Re-Examined," Historian, Spring 1960, Vol. 22 Issue 2, pp 145-162Levering Lewis, David The Race to Fashoda: European Colonialism & African Resistance in the Scramble for Africa. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987,ISBN 1-55584-058-2. (UK, Bloomsbury, 1988)Riker, T. W. "A Survey of British Policy in the Fashoda Crisis," Political Science Quarterly Vol. 44, No. 1 (Mar., 1929), pp. 54-78 in JSTORSmith-Dorrien, Sir Horace, Memories of Forty-Eight Years' Service, John Murray, 1925. '-- Eyewitness in charge of British artillery.Taylor, A.J.P. "Prelude to Fashoda: The Question of the Upper Nile, 1894-5," English Historical Review Vol. 65, No. 254 (Jan., 1950), pp. 52-80 in JSTORWright, Patricia Conflict on the Nile: the Fashoda incident of 1898. London: Heinemann, 1972, ISBN 0-434-87830-8.*Andrew, C. M.; Kanya-Forstner (1975). "Gabriel Hanotaux, the Colonial Party and the Fashoda Strategy". Journal of Imperial Commonwealth History (3): 22''104. Coordinates: 9°53'²N32°07'²E>> / >>9.883°N 32.117°E>> / 9.883; 32.117
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- Chinese troops bolster UN peacekeeping mission in Mali | South China Morning Post
- Chinese peacekeepers wearing blue UN berets in Bamako. Photo: Xinhua
- A unit of Chinese soldiers arrived in Mali on Thursday to strengthen the United Nations peacekeeping force in the troubled west African nation's rebel-infested north, sources said.
- A foreign diplomatic source in the capital Bamako said 245 Chinese troops would join a 150-strong contingent which has been stationed since December in Gao, the largest city in Mali's northern desert and the target of sporadic Islamist violence.
- A source from the UN's MINUSMA force confirmed the deployment but said he wasn't immediately able to provide details.
- UN peacekeepers took over security in July last year from the pan-African AFISMA military mission, which had been supporting French troops who entered Mali to push back an Islamist incursion that was advancing on the capital.
- France is winding down its deployment from a peak of around 5,000 soldiers but is to keep 1,000 troops in Mali beyond the Spring.
- MINUSMA is made up largely of Africans but China offered in May last year to supply more than 500 troops in what was to be its biggest contribution to UN peacekeeping.
- The mission played a key security role in presidential polls last year which saw former premier Ibrahim Boubacar Keita become the country's first democratically elected leader since a March 2012 military coup.
- UN officials have acknowledged that peacekeepers face the threat of guerrilla attacks and will encounter a number of logistical difficulties in northern Mali's harsh environment, where water is scarce and temperatures sore above 40 degrees Celsius.
- Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq last year called MINUSMA ''one of the most logistically challenging missions the United Nations has ever launched''.
- Jihadists in northern Mali were weakened by the French-led military campaign but remain active, hiding out in the vast desert and committing sporadic attacks against foreign and Malian troops.
- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a report released in early January that MINUSMA had grown to 5,539 soldiers by December 16, around half of its planned eventual strength of 11,200.
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- Forum on China''Africa Cooperation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- 2000, Beijing, ChinaEdit2003, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaEditThe second ministerial conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 15 to 16 December 2003. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, six African presidents, three vice presidents, two other prime ministers, and one president of the senate as well as President Alpha Oumar Konare of the Commission of African Union and the representative of the UN Secretary General attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. More than 70 ministers from China and 44 African countries attended the conference. The Conference passed the Addis Ababa Action Plan (2004''2006).
- 2006, BeijingEditThe FOCAC Summit and the third ministerial conference were held in Beijing from November 3 to 5, 2006. Hu Jintao, President of China, and heads of state or heads of government from 35 African countries attended this Summit.[2] President Hu rolled out $5 billion worth of concessionary loans to Africa during the summit. As one of the "Eight Measures" for Sino-African relations President Hu announced the creation of the China-Africa Development Fund to further Chinese investment in Africa with US$1 billion of initial funding with its fund expected to grow to US$5 billion in the future.[3]
- 2009, Sharm el-Sheikh, EgyptEditThe fourth ministerial meeting of the FOCAC was held at Soho-Square, in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on 8 to 9 November 2009. The meeting reviewed how the consensus of the Beijing Summit has been implemented. It also adopted a Sharm el-Sheikh declaration and an action plan for 2010''2012 to chart the path for further China''Africa cooperation. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and African heads of state or government from 49 countries attended the opening ceremony. Also addressing the opening session were the presidents of Liberia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sudan, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Central African Republic, and Tanzania; the prime ministers of Ethiopia, C´te d'Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the vice presidents of Seychelles, Ghana, and Burundi; the President of the National Assembly of Gabon; and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.[4] Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Commerce Minister Chen Deming led a delegation to attend the meeting.[5][6][7]
- A $10 billion low cost loan was announced on November 9, 2009, double the $5 billion loan announced and implemented at the 2006 Beijing Summit. A 1 billion U.S. dollar special loan for small and medium-sized African businesses was also established. China also announced eight new policy measures aimed at strengthening relations with Africa were "more focused on improving people's livelihoods".[8] Wen announced that China will write off the debt of some of the poorest African nations. He said China will construct 100 new clean-energy projects on the continent covering solar power, bio-gas and small hydro-power and gradually lower customs duties on 95 percent of products from African states with which it has diplomatic ties. He also stated that China would undertake 100 joint demonstration projects on scientific and technological research, receive 100 African postdoctoral fellows to conduct scientific research in China and assist them in going back and serving their home countries. The number of agricultural technology demonstration centers built by China in Africa will be increased to 20, 50 agricultural technology teams would be sent to Africa and 2,000 agricultural technology personnel would be trained for Africa, in order to help strengthen Africa's ability to ensure food security.
- China also will provide medical equipment and anti-malaria materials worth 500 million yuan to the 30 hospitals and 30 malaria prevention and treatment centers built by China and train 3,000 doctors and nurses for Africa. Wen further stated that China will build 50 China''Africa friendship schools and train 1,500 school principals and teachers for African countries and increase the number of Chinese government scholarships to Africa to 5,500 by 2012. China will also train a total of 20,000 professionals of various fields for Africa over the next three years.[9]
- The head of the United Nations food agency, World Food Programme, Executive Director Josette Sheeran praised the forum's role in food security, agriculture and infrastructure in Africa.[10]
- 2012, BeijingEditThe fifth ministerial meeting of the FOCAC was held in 2012 in Beijing.
- Further readingEditReferencesEdit^"The 1st Ministerial Conference", Sina.com, 26 October 2006, originally published by Xinhua News (accessed 19 March 2009)^Kawakami, Osamu. "China rivalry marks TICAD IV / Govt seeks African support on climate change, UNSC membership,"Daily Yomiuri. Mary 31, 1008.^Yan, Zhou (28 May 2010). "CAD Fund to boost footprint in Africa". China Daily. Retrieved 22 February 2012. ^http://allafrica.com/stories/200911091294.html^http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/27/content_12341880.htm^http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/08/content_12411216.htm^http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/10/content_12420444.htm^Barney Jopson, Jamil Anderlini (Nov 9, 2009). "China pledges $10 billion in low-cost loans to Africa". The Washington Post. ^http://www.china.org.cn/world/2009-11/09/content_18849890.htm^http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32896&Cr=wfp&Cr1=americaExternal linksEdit
- Last modified on 29 January 2014, at 20:11
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- Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
- LUSAKA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Three gunmen who committed robbery against a Chinese-owned enterprise Wednesday...
- Zambian police shoot dead three robbers targeting Chinese-owned enterprise
- [more>>] English.news.cn 2012-08-28ããMAPUTO, Aug 28 (Xinhua) -- The 48th Maputo International Trade Fair opens in...
- The 48th Maputo International Trade Fair opens
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- Defining New Terms of Engagement in the China''Africa Relations | Feature Article 2014-02-17
- Feature Article of Monday, 17 February 2014
- Defining New Terms of Engagement in the China '' Africa Relations
- In Africa, exports are booming and export markets have become more diversified. Foreign direct investments have increased by a factor of six over the past decade. Private entrepreneurs have emerged as a dynamic force for change, driving innovation and transforming outdated business models. There is an emergent middle class, although its size is often exaggerated. For the first time in over a generation, the number of people living in poverty have fallen; fewer children are dying before their fifth birthday and more are getting into school.
- Africa and the WestAfrica has had 50 years of development partnership with the West and even though still continues to, but really, there is not much change experienced on the continent. This has sent a lot of frustration shared by people not only on the African continent but by people in the West as well. Questions are been thrown at the West as to why after several years and several billions poured into Africa, there has not been a significant change on the continent. This and other questions are very legitimate to be tabled before both the donor west and recipient Africa.
- The most intriguing aspect is that, Africans themselves are up on their toes and asking questions as to whether they are better off without the West/traditional donors or are there alternatives to this model. Can we as Africans form a different development partnership which can bring us the change that we so seek?
- The coming of ChinaFor the past decade, there has been a new friend of Africa in town '' that whom the whole people are pointing at, saying, '' 'I like that'; 'I want that'. I am talking about China in Africa. For many Africa's, China is now the number trading partner.
- The country has emerged as Africa's largest trading partner. Two-way trade has increased dramatically to an all-time high of $166.3 billion, triple the figure for 2006. Both imports and exports have registered impressive growth rates. According to estimates, there are around 800 Chinese firms in Africa, investing in the infrastructure, energy and banking sectors.
- This enthusiasm has led Africa to sit at the same table with China, the new development partner. The China-Africa relation started dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. But the relationship came to the fore in 2006 when 48 African leaders attended a joint forum in Beijing. The Forum on China - Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is the name of the joint meeting between the People's Republic of China and the states of Africa. There have been five summits held to date, with the most recent meeting having occurred from July 19 - 20, 2012 in Beijing, China.
- The Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) which was held historically on November 2006, marked the beginning of a new chapter of China-Africa relations. This forum held in Beijing saw in an enthusiastic attendance of about 43 African heads of states.
- This however has created some form of schism especially between the West-Europe and China's share of trade on the continent. Without doubt, China for the past decade has made a significant share of trade with the African continent. In 2014 and beyond, a lot more China would be seen as governments are seeking to sign new deals and enter into great deals '' infrastructure deals with China.The CriticsIn an August 30, 2012 article published by the Express Tribune, it stated that ''It is indeed ironic, that the very nations that divided up Africa and its peoples in the last quarter of the 19th century are accusing the Chinese of being neocolonialists. The original scramble for Africa took place between 1884 and 1885 following a conference in Berlin. As in other parts of the globe, the colonial powers left deep imprints on the continent. Some of the main problems that continue to plague Africa were perpetuated, nee fostered, by the colonial powers to further their own ends. The frequent outbreak of violence between Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda is one such example where Belgian policy favoured the minority Tutsis much to the chagrin of the majority Hutus. Post-independence, this historical sense of deprivation has often led to acts of ethnic cleansing carried out by the majority. Economic exploitation and policies favouring firms from the metropole were also promoted by the colonial powers''.
- On the other hand, Chinese investment in the region is not based on extracting monopoly contracts for its firms. Similarly, in terms of development lending, as opposed to conditional lending by multilateral agencies (such as the World Bank) controlled by developed countries, Chinese aid to the region is unconditional and usually spent on infrastructure projects that have a greater impact on people's lives. Sinopec, one of the leading Chinese state-owned oil companies, acquired oil concessions in Angola on the back of an oil-backed credit of $2 billion from China's Eximbank to rebuild the country's railways, state buildings, hospitals and roads. Far from being seen as neocolonialist, the ''Beijing consensus'' between African countries and China '-- to borrow a term coined by Joshua Cooper Ramo of the UK-based Foreign Policy Centre '-- is viewed as a much more attractive alternative economic development model in the continent, compared to the Washington consensus.
- The Chinese StrategyThe Chinese strategy is hinged on a very simple economic principle '' ''we are here for development''. On government to government level- the Chinese approach has been non-interference, no political strings attached and mutual benefits. Of course, one would be very na¯ve to ignore the Chinese interest. Whichever way, their involvement with Africa has saved the continent on many fronts. It has helped Africa to diversify and hence helped to escape the hard consequences of the recent past global economic and financial crises as was felt heavily in other parts of the world.
- In 2006, the Chinese government adopted Africa-China policy detailing how their engagement with Africa is going to be mutually beneficial. The policy was characterized on sincerity, friendship and equality, mutual benefit, reciprocity and common prosperity; mutual support and close coordination as well as learning from each other and seeking common development.
- African countries was able to weather the global economic crisis fairly well due in large part to a shift away from their tradi¬tional trading partners'--primarily the United States and the European Union'--toward China, India and other emerging markets.
- Globally, there is been the debate of whose system is working and going forward, would continue to work to spur economic growth and development. Is it the West's private capitalism or China's state capitalism; liberal democracy or the de-emphasis on democracy; West's political rights over economic rights or China's economic rights over political rights.
- Again, there are a lot of issues that have been raised internationally and diplomatically, as to the ethics of China's involvement in Africa. Also, there is the question as to whether China is really an emerging market or should they be classified as a fully developed economy together with the fact that they are also a member of the UN Security Council? And based on that, should they be playing a greater role in terms of conflict resolutions in Africa?
- The point is that, Africa wants to develop-grow and transform its economies. In 2014 and beyond, African countries would continue to cultivate and build on these new and promising economic relationships with China, obviously with a new approach that would be mutually beneficial. Whiles Europe continuous to be Africa's trading partner, China, in particular, has emerged as an important and dy¬namic export destination for Africa. China's share of exports from Africa has increased significantly over the last decade from 3 percent in 1998 to 15 percent in 2008. In 2009, Chi¬na overtook the United States to become Africa's largest trading partner. China again is by far the fastest growing external source of infrastructure financing for the continent-the roads, dams, rails etc.
- At the level of attitude, China sees its interest in development as directly linked with Africa. Of course, that is what has necessitated for the constant engagement between African countries and China. China has a huge population to feed; talk of domestic demand for potable water, arable land, oils, minerals etc. China therefore sees Africa as the best destination to meet the increasing demand domestically.
- The Africa strategyA wind of policy swing began blowing in 2013 and would continue in 2014 and beyond to position Africa well in this relationship. Over the last decade, the China-Africa relationship has been dictated by China's interest in Africa's natural resources. Therefore, for African coun¬tries to maximize the potential benefits from this partner-ship, in 2014 and beyond, African governments must articulate their own com¬prehensive China policy, which should include strategies for engagement beyond natural resources.
- Moreover, African government should take the advantage of increasing trade ties with China to gain access to other Asian markets more broadly and to diversify the African region's ex¬port products.
- China will continue to remain an important trading partner for Africa over the next decade. Therefore Africa should look at means to maximize on this relationship to spur economic growth and development, reduce poverty and reduce youth unemployment.
- Chartered Economist (ACCE-Global) writes on the macro-economy and global affairs.He is also an African Affairs Analyst and Emerging Markets Strategist.
- Tel: +233 -241 229 548Email: py.frimpong@yahoo.com/py.frimpong90@gmail.com
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- The Initiative for Equal Rights | Legal Aid, Policy Advocacy/Law Reform
- On the 9th November 2009, I was in far away Awoyaya, along Lagos Epe Express road. My phone rang and my older brother demanded to know my whereabouts. I was with my Uncle. He further asked me if I knew any guy whose mother owns a beer parlor in the neighborhood. I answered in affirmative to the question.
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- THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER ON ADVOCACY FOR THE RIGHT TO HEALTH (also known as Alliance Rights Nigeria)
- Alliance Rights Nigeria (ARN) is an not-for-profit NGO that provides Prevention, Treatment, and Care services to the LGBTI community in Nigeria. ARN also conducts advocacy programs, researches, and human rights activism. ARN has a staff strength of 4 Full time staff, and 8 volunteers, with offices in Abuja and Lagos. ARN also has representatives in Cross river, Anambra, Kano, and Kaduna states. Please see the ARN full Profile in Archives.
- ABUJA OFFICE:ALLIANCE RIGHTS NIGERIA,
- CSO HOUSE (same building as NEPWHAN),
- #4 JABA CLOSE, AREA 11, GARKI - ABUJA
- LAGOS OFFICE: WESTMINSTER AVENUE (same building as NEPWHAN),SURULERE, LAGOS
- TEL: +234 (0)9 874.8265 +234 (0)807.230.6477
- alliance_rights@yahoo.co.uk
- http://msmnigeria.page.tl
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- International Centre on Advocacy for the Right to Health | The Communication Initiative Network
- International Centre on Advocacy for the Right to Health (ICARH) (also known as Alliance Rights Nigeria) is an independent research initiative established in 1999 to contribute to policy issues affecting the rights of sexual minorities and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Nigeria. The organisation works through research, analysis, training, awareness campaign development and advocacy to promote the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gendered (LGBT) persons and advance the eradication of various forms of persecution, violence, stigma, and discrimination in Nigeria.Communication Strategies:
- The International Centre on Advocacy for the Right to Health's (ICARH) education package includes technical support enabled by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (IHAA) and is part of the support for community-based organisations (CBOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the area of HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and sexuality in the South West States of Nigeria. ICARH works to:
- conduct research into national laws affecting sexual minorities in Nigeria;organise conferences, seminars, workshops, meetings, and open debates on issues concerning men who have sex with men (MSM), LGBT, and commercial sex workers in Nigeria;develop the capacity as a monitoring organisation to other developing bodies implementing intervention activities as it relates to sexual minorities and PLWHA in Nigeria;embark and carry out sensitization workshops and seminars to create awareness of the link between human rights and HIV/AIDS as it relates to sexual minorities, with the aim of reducing discrimination and stigmatisation;liaise with government and research institutions to find solutions to the problem of HIV/AIDS and human rights violations and to publish occasional reports on these violations; andprovide networking and collaboration opportunities with other non-governmental organisations with similar objectives.Some of ICARH's programmes include the following:
- Well-being in Difference Workshops and seminarsThe Gay and Lesbian adolescent sexuality education seriesMen-Alive support groups for Positive LivingThe Alliance AIDS Initiative: HIV/AIDS Prevention education, care and support for and with MSMMSM round tables on sexuality, sexual health and rightsNigerian sexual minorities conferencesThe Nigerian LGBT Pride and Carnival (Black-Gold Pride)Legal AidThe organisation has also carried out a participatory community assessment (PCA) with a broad representation of MSM in Ibadan, Nigeria, including those living with HIV/AIDS to determine their knowledge of, and attitude to HIV/AIDS/sexual transmitted infections (STIs), and their access to care and support services. In addition, it provides HIV/AIDS prevention education for men who have sex with men.
- HIV/AIDS, Health, Sexual Minorities
- The organisation's goal is to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst MSM and to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS within the MSM community in Ibadan metropolis.
- Center for the Right to Health (CRH), RENEGAIDS, Male Attitude Network (MAN), ILGA, The Independent Project (TIP), The Mens Health Network, The Sexual Minorities Against AIDS in Nigeria (SMAAN).
- Nigeria-AIDS eForum on August 16 2004 and ICARH website on March 24 2009.
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- Founder Bio | Think Security Africa
- Adunola Abiola, Founder of Think Security Africa
- TSA was founded by Adunola Abiola, she is also the senior analyst.
- Born in London to Nigerian parents, Adunola has an academic and professional background in security issues, with a special focus on Africa.
- Adunola's interactions with members of African security forces and people impacted by insecurity, were both the foundation and inspiration for TSA. She has provided policy guidance to government and security officials at the highest level in various African countries, at the same time as establishing grassroots ties in communities across Africa. Adunola took an early interest in classical military strategy, and has been researching and working on issues directly and indirectly related to security in Africa for over a decade.
- Adunola started her university career at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the London School of Economics,both in London. She later wet onto the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. Throughout her academic career she studied under a number of distinguished professors.
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- Inequality
- Inequality- not a zero sum game.
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- North Korea
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- NK leaders accused of crimes against humanity - Al Jazeera English
- NK leaders accused of crimes against humanity
- UN-mandated report says leaders, including Kim Jong-un, complicit in extermination, starvation and slavery of people.North Korea's regime is committing crimes against humanity including the extermination, starvation and enslavement of its population, and its leadership should be hauled before an international court, a UN-mandated inquiry team has said.
- The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea published its report on Monday, with evidence of torture, rape and murder inside the country's labour camps where political prisoners are held.
- Presenting the report, the commission's chairman Michael Kirby charged that the leaders of the state, including the supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, should answer evidence that they preside over such crimes against their people.
- Kirby said: "The commission of inquiry came to the conclusion that there is abudant evidence ... those who are in positions of power are accountable. All lines of authority stop at the supreme leader."
- However, he said that the commission was not a tribunal nor a prosecutor, and it was for an international court to decide on any prosecution.
- "We have not judged the supreme leader. Our job is to assemble the material and express conclusions."
- Kirby said: "In the course of this inquiry we have been asked, 'can you expect anything to be done?' I do. This report will galvanise action from the international community.
- "How can we [ensure] those accountable to their own people, to their victims and to the bar of history? We expect and hope that the international community will respond."
- "At the end of the second world war, so many people said: If only we had known... Now the international community does know. There will be no excusing of failure of action because we didn't know."
- The UN commission was set up last March to begin building a case for possible criminal prosecution. It called more than 80 public hearings, and also used evidence gathered by the human rights group, Amnesty International.
- Its report, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next month, said: "Systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, its institutions and officials.
- It detailed "extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence".
- "In many instances, the violations of human rights found by the commission constitute crimes against humanity. These are not mere excesses of the State; they are essential components of a political system."
- Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor James Bays said the UNHCR can only refer the evidence to the Security Council before any charges can be laid in the International Criminal Court.
- China, North Korea's only international ally, is a permanent member, and has the power of veto.
- North Korea earlier on Monday hit out at the UN in a statement sent to Reuters. The government called the UN report "fabricated and invented" and an "instrument of political plot".
- "However, we will continue to strongly respond to the end to any attempt of regime-change and pressure under the pretext of 'human rights protection'," it said.
- "The DPRK once again makes it clear that the human rights violations mentioned in the so-called 'report' do not exist in our country."
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- North Korea human rights abuses resemble those of the Nazis, says UN inquiry
- North Korea's leadership is committing systematic and appalling human rights abuses against its own citizens on a scale unparalleled in the modern world, crimes against humanity with strong resemblances to those committed by the Nazis, a United Nations inquiry has concluded.
- The UN's commission on human rights in North Korea, which gathered evidence for almost a year, including often harrowing testimony at public hearings worldwide, said there was compelling evidence of torture, execution and arbitrary imprisonment, deliberate starvation and an almost complete lack of free thought and belief.
- The chair of the three-strong panel set up by the UN commissioner on human rights has personally written to North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, to warn that he could face trial at the international criminal court (ICC) for his personal culpability as head of state and leader of the military.
- "The commission wishes to draw your attention that it will therefore recommend that the United Nations refer the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [the formal name for North Korea] to the international criminal court to render accountable all those, including possibly yourself, who may be responsible for the crimes against humanity," Michael Kirby, an Australian retired judge, wrote to Kim.
- At a press conference to launch the report, Kirby said there were "many parallels" between the evidence he had heard and crimes committed by the Nazis and their allies in the second world war. He noted the evidence of one prison camp inmate who said his duties involved burning the bodies of those who had starved to death and using the remains as fertiliser.
- "When you see that image in your mind of bodies being burned it does bring back memories of the end of world war two, and the horror and the shame and the shock," Kirby said. "I never thought that in my lifetime it would be part of my duty to bring revelations of a similar kind."
- Holding up a copy of the report, Kirby said other nations could not say of North Korea, as happened with the Nazis, that they did not know the extent of the crimes: "Now the international community does know. There will be no excusing a failure of action because we didn't know. It's too long now. The suffering and the tears of the people of North Korea demand action."
- Asked how many North Korean leaders and officials could ultimately be held responsible, Kirby said it could reach the hundreds.
- The inquiry heard public evidence in Seoul, Tokyo, London and Washington. Among more than 80 witnesses, along with 240 people who gave confidential interviews to avoid reprisals against relatives in North Korea, were escapers from the country's feared prison camps, including one who reported seeing a female prisoner forced to drown her newborn baby because it was presumed to have a Chinese father.
- The near-400-page main report concludes there is overwhelming evidence that crimes against humanity have been, and are still being, committed within the hermetic nation.
- It says: "These are not mere excesses of the state: they are essential components of a political system that has moved far from the ideals on which it claims to be founded. The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world."
- North Korea refused to participate in the investigation or allow the commission to visit, and immediately rejected the findings, calling them "a product of politicisation of human rights on the part of EU and Japan in alliance with the US hostile policy".
- The report recommends that the UN refer the situation in North Korea to the ICC. While North Korea is not a signatory to the treaty that created the ICC, the UN security council can extend the court's remit in exceptional cases.
- In practice this would probably be vetoed by China, which has close links with North Korea and maintains a policy of sending back people found to have fled across the border, despite widespread evidence that they face mistreatment and detention on their return. The commission's report heavily criticises China for this, saying the policy appears to breach international laws on refugees.
- The report concludes that many of the crimes against humanity stem directly from state policies in a country which, since it was formed from the division of Korea, has been run on a highly individual variant of Stalinist-based self-reliance and centralised dynastic rule. The inquiry found "an almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion", with citizens brought into an all-encompassing system of indoctrination from childhood.
- Perhaps the most chilling section describes the vast network of secret prison camps, known as kwanliso, where hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are believed to have died through starvation, execution or other means. It is estimated that between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners are still held, in many cases secretly.
- Satellite images released by the UN showing Political Prison Camp No 25, Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province. Source: UN OHCHR. Analysis courtesy of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea Copyright: Digital GlobeThe report says: "Their families are not informed of their fate or whereabouts. Persons accused of political crimes therefore become victims of enforced disappearance. Making the suspect disappear is a deliberate feature of the system that serves to instil fear in the population."
- Other particularly disturbing parts of the report detail the experiences of women who are interned on their forced return from China when it is believed they could be pregnant from a Chinese man, something which contravenes North Korea notions of racial purity. Aside from the drowning of the newborn baby the panel heard testimony of forced abortions, sometimes using chemicals or beatings, or surgical procedures without anaesthetic.
- Other sections of the report cover abuses such as the lack of food. While natural disasters were in part to blame for a famine that killed huge numbers in the 1990s, the report notes that the North Korean state has "used food as a means of control over the population". It adds: "It has prioritised those whom the authorities believe to be crucial in maintaining the regime over those deemed expendable."
- The commission also condemns the almost complete lack of freedom of movement for North Koreans both within their country and abroad, the discrimination of the so-called songbun system, where the state politically classifies people based on their birth and family, and the large-scale abduction of people from other countries, mainly Japan and South Korea.
- The report says the abuses clearly meet the threshold needed for proof of crimes against humanity in international law. t adds: "The perpetrators enjoy impunity. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is unwilling to implement its international obligation to prosecute and bring the perpetrators to justice, because those perpetrators act in accordance with state policy."
- Video produced by Human Rights Watch featuring testimony from camp survivorsAsked whether he believed the report would change anything immediately in North Korea, Kirby recalled a UN mission he led in the early 1990s to report on human rights abuses in Cambodia, some years before that country's eventual UN-led tribunal on Khmer Rouge crimes. He said: "Bearing witness, collecting the stories, recording them and putting them there for future use can sometimes bear fruit a little later."
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- Report of the Commission of Inquiry on HR in the Democratic People s Republic of Korea
- ResourcesThe ReportReport of the commission of inquiry on humanrights in the Democratic People's Republic ofKorea - A/HRC/25/63
- Report of the detailed findings of thecommission of inquiry on human rights in theDemocratic People's Republic of Korea -A/HRC/25/CRP.1372 pages
- Media OutreachNorth Korea: UN Commission documents wide-ranging and ongoing crimes against humanity, urges referral to ICC
- Report of Commission of Inquiry on DemocraticPeople's Republic of Korea to go public on 17FebruaryFrench
- For further information about the Commission of Inquiry, please contact:
- Rolando G"mez: +41 22 917 9711, rgomez@ohchr.orgC(C)dric Sapey: +41 22 917 9695, csapey@ohchr.orgRupert Colville: +41 22 917 9767, rcolville@ohchr.orgRavina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169, rshamdasani@ohchr.orgC(C)cile Pouilly: +41 22 917 9310, cpouilly@ohchr.org
- Questions & Answers Questions and Answers on the Report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea17 February 2014
- EnglishBackground informationSatellite imagesSatellite images of currently existing political prison camps (kwanliso) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - - 28 January 2014
- Download complete set as a PDF or click images below for individual high-resolution PNG files.
- Political Prison Camp No. 14, Kaechon County, SouthPyongang '' Prisoner HousingAnalysis courtesy of the U.S. Committee for Human Rightsin North Korea / (C) Google Earth
- Expansion area adjacent to Political Prison Camp No.14 (potential residual detention complex of PoliticalPrison Camp No. 18)Analysis courtesy of Amnesty International/ (C) Digital Globe
- Political Prison Camp No. 15, Yodok, South Pyongan ''OverviewAnalysis courtesy of Amnesty International / (C) Digital Globe
- Political Prison Camp No. 16, Myonggan, NorthHamgyong '' main administrative areaAnalysis courtesy of Amnesty International / (C) Digital Globe
- Political Prison Camp No. 25, Chongjin, North Hamgyong ProvinceAnalysis courtesy of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (C) Digital Globe
- Location of political prison camps (kwanliso) and ordinary prison camps (kyohwaso)in the Democratic People's Republic of KoreaPDF | PNGPhotosClick images to download high-resolution (200 dpi) files.
- Public Hearings held in Tokyo by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(C) OHCHR
- VideosPublic Hearings (Programs, Videos, Transcripts)
- The Commission of Inquiry conducted Public Hearings in Seoul (20-24 August 2013), Tokyo (29-30 August 2013), London (23 October 2013) and Washington, D.C. (30-31 October 2013) during which almost 80 victims and witnesses of human rights violations as well as experts provided testimony on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
- Graphic illustrationsDrawings submitted to COI by former prisoner Mr Kim Kwang-il
- Download complete set as a PDF or click images below for individual high-resolution PNG files.
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- Shocking U.N. Report Outlines the Horrors of Life Under Kim Jong Un in North Korea | TheBlaze.com
- GENEVA (AP) '-- A U.N. panel warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday that he may be held accountable for orchestrating widespread crimes against civilians in the secretive Asian nation, ranging from systematic executions to torture, rape and mass starvation.
- It is unusual for a U.N. report to directly implicate a nation's leader. But in a letter accompanying a yearlong investigative report, the chairman of a three-member U.N. commission of inquiry, retired Australian judge Michael Kirby, directly warned Kim that international prosecution is needed ''to render accountable all those, including possibly yourself, who may be responsible for crimes against humanity.''
- ''Even without being directly involved in crimes against humanity, a military commander may be held responsible for crimes against humanity committed by forces under the commander's effective command and control,'' Kirby wrote.
- Protesters shout anti-North Korea slogans with placards of defaced images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the late leader Kim Jong Il in the background during a rally in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014. North Korea marked the anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il, on Sunday. The banners in foreground read: ''The strength of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, left'' and ''North Korean people's revolution immediately!'' (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
- He urged Kim to take ''all necessary and reasonable measures'' to stop crimes against humanity and insure that they are properly investigated and prosecuted. Kirby added, however, there was no indication the North Korea would do so.
- The investigative commission's 372-page report is a wide-ranging indictment of North Korea for policies including political prison camps with 80,000 to 120,000 people, state-sponsored abductions of North Korean, Japanese and other nationals, and lifelong indoctrination.
- ''They are wrongs that shock the conscience of humanity,'' Kirby said, comparing them with Nazi atrocities.
- Details of the findings were reported Friday by The Associated Press.
- Speaking to reporters after the release of the report, Kirby said it was impossible not to include Kim's name in the list of suspects because of what he described as the government's totalitarian nature.
- A man watches a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. North Korea's top government Thursday proposed the rival Koreas stop slandering each other from later this month, halt hostile military acts and work toward preventing a nuclear disaster on the divided peninsula. The letters read ''Stop slandering and joint military exercise''. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon
- Kirby referred to prison camps, which North Korea says do not exist. ''However, the satellite images show the prison camps and we had testimony, which is quoted in the report, which tells the stories of the prison camps'' that include starvation and stunted growth in babies, he said.
- North Korean officials did not cooperate with the panel's investigation, saying in correspondence last year that the country ''totally and categorically rejects'' the probe ordered by the U.N.'s 47-nation Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva.
- The commission's three members '' which also include Sonja Biserko of Serbia and Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia '' said the findings are based on testimony from 80 witnesses at four public hearings in Seoul, Tokyo, London and Washington last year plus more than 240 confidential interviews with victims and others.
- North Korea is unlikely to face prosecution because China, one of five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, generally opposes such referrals to the International Criminal Court.
- ''Too many times in this building there are reports and no action,'' Kirby said of the United Nations. ''Well, now is a time for action. We can't say we didn't know.''
- Retired Australian judge Michael Kirby, chairperson of the commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, shows the commission's report during a press conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
- Before the report's release, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said her country's position was ''very clear.''
- ''We think we should establish a constructive dialogue to solve the disputes over the human rights issues based on equal footing and mutual respect,'' Hua told reporters in Beijing. ''It will not help the situation to bring the issue to an international court.''
- Kirby also wrote to China's U.N. ambassador in Geneva saying there's evidence that Chinese officials have in some cases shared with North Korean officials ''information about the contacts and conduct'' of North Korean nationals subject to repatriation.
- The ambassador, Wu Haitao, responded by denying that repatriated North Korean citizens from China face torture in North Korea.
- U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said the report showed that North Korea's human rights situation ''is among the world's worst.''
- The report will create pressure for release of the remaining Japanese, South Korean and other abductees still in North Korea, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday in Tokyo.
- ''I think together the United States and Japan will work to guarantee the return of the abductees to their families and to their homes,'' Royce told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has worked on the abduction issue for more than a decade.
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- EUROLand
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- Italy's new prime minister: is Renzi a young Blair, Berlusconi '' or the Fonz?
- In 1994, the year that Silvio Berlusconi won his first general election, a bespectacled 19-year-old with luxuriant hair and an earnest expression appeared on one of the billionaire's television channels as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, or, as it is known in Italy, La Ruota della Fortuna. In his brown suit and carefully fixed tie, the teenager is not immediately recognisable, but his voice is. At a certain point during the show, he is heard to declare: "I would like to give the answer." Twenty years on, Matteo Renzi is still saying the same thing '' only now the problem isn't a word game, but Italy itself.
- On Friday, as Enrico Letta, the prime minister who had struggled for nine-and-a-half months to hold together a fractious coalition government, handed in his "irrevocable" resignation, Renzi, the man who had in effect ousted him, appeared on the verge of becoming the youngest leader in the history of the republic.
- It is expected that Giorgio Napolitano, the 88-year-old president who has already begun consultations for a new executive, will now ask the 39-year-old mayor of Florence to try to form a government capable of mustering a majority. Whether the self-avowedly ambitious centre-left leader will fare any better than his party colleague in a bitterly divided parliament is, for the moment, unclear.
- He was showing no outward sign of being cowed. At a Valentine's Day gathering in Florence on Friday, he said that, although it was "quite delicate" of him to say so: "This is one of the most beautiful moments for me in five years."
- Many, however, do not share his enthusiasm '' including some who have backed him for years as the brightest and best hope for Italy. After calling on the Democratic Party (PD) to rebel against the prime minister and orchestrating what Letta indirectly branded a "palace coup", he now looks likely to enter Palazzo Chigi '' the prime minister's official residence '' without having been voted in by the public and, some say, with blood on his hands.
- Many observers have said that a politician who built his persona on a rejection of the old political guard appears to have manoeuvred himself into pole position with skills that could have come straight from the rulebook of his fellow Florentine Niccol² Machiavelli.
- And, while most supporters understand why holding an election now under the old system is not advisable, many would have preferred to see him continue his work to push through a replacement electoral law from outside parliament, and keep his golden-boy image untarnished by the trouble that almost certainly lies ahead.
- In his speech to the PD's national committee on Thursday, Renzi made it clear he was taking what he saw as a necessary gamble to save Italy "from the quagmire" and set it, finally, on a path of radical reform. Such was the urgency, he said, that he needed to take the risk.
- "He who is in politics has the duty of taking a risk sometimes," he said. "If I had not taken risks at certain points in my life I would still be in my second term as president of Florence province."
- Frank, bold and with a touch of arrogance, the comments were Renzi down to a T. Moreover they referred to what is considered one of his defining moments: the point in September 2008 when he decided that, having become Italy's youngest provincial president at 29, he wanted more: namely, the mayorship of Florence.
- To do so, however, he had to enter the PD primaries '' something he was given to understand in no uncertain terms was not on his party bosses' agenda. In his 2011 book, Fuori! (Out!), the man who came to be known as Il Rottamatore '' The Scrapper '' for his disregard for the old political machine recalled being told to "wait in line" for his turn to come.
- "I didn't want the others, them, to decide the timings," he wrote. "I didn't want to submit to their rules, the rules of a generation that has already given all it had to give." Renzi stood in the primaries, and won.
- Soon, he was not only mayor of Florence but the politician with the most consistently high approval ratings in Italy. His blend of chutzpah and dynamism seduced many voters who felt he articulated their own exasperation with an ageing, sclerotic political class. His position as a moderate within the PD '' an eclectic mixture of former communists and Christian Democrats, among others '' allowed him to appeal to centre-right voters tired of Berlusconi and centre-left voters who had lost hope for their own party. He told the Guardian last year that Tony Blair was a role model for him - an admission that is still considered controversial among many on the Italian left.
- As mayor '' ensconced in his splendid office in the historic Palazzo Vecchio, where a fresco of the 16th-century siege of Florence covers the wall behind his desk '' Renzi could have permitted himself a bit of breathing space. But, in a hurry as ever, his eye had wandered beyond the Arno to an altogether different place: the headquarters of the PD.
- At the end of a long and vigorous battle for the party leadership in 2012, Renzi, despite crisscrossing the country in a camper van, lost out to Pier Luigi Bersani, the candidate of the PD's old guard. It was his first real defeat. Months later, he met David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who had had his own well-publicised defeat in a party leadership election.
- The Guardian understands that the British politician advised Renzi to learn the right lessons from his loss, encouraging him to stick to a "forward agenda" for Italy and try to be part of a progressive politics proposed by figures such as Hillary Clinton. As it turned out, the effects of defeat did not last long: under Bersani, the party ran a lacklustre general election campaign and squandered its chances of a commanding majority in parliament. He resigned last year.
- Renzi, meanwhile, was continuing his celebrity-like political career. He was photographed, Fonz-like, in a leather jacket and dark glasses and appeared '' but, this time, did not compete '' in a television talent show. For those who were concerned that he was simply too charismatic, telegenic and image-conscious to be reliable, these actions were all the confirmation they needed: Renzi, they cried, was a kindred spirit of Berlusconi, and too slick to be serious.
- Among the other criticisms were that his policies were not always clear, and that he lacked experience, having never held a seat in parliament and spent almost all his career at a local level.
- Despite these reservations, however, Renzi finally won over his party in December, winning his second leadership contest by a landslide. The victory set up a peculiar dynamic in the country in which the PD leader, never one to hold back, unleashed an almost daily barrage of criticism on a government which, though a coalition, was led by a member of his party.
- He struck a controversial deal with Berlusconi to push through electoral reform, but, for weeks, it seemed he had calculated that it would be better to operate from the sidelines than enter the fray.
- His mind appeared to have changed, to dramatic effect, this week. Will his ousting of Letta '' his biggest risk to date '' pay off? After his appearance on La Ruota della Fortuna, Renzi went home with 48m lire (about £20,000) in his pocket.
- He '' and many others '' will be hoping that fortune smiles on him now.
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- Change of government in Italy - World Socialist Web Site
- By Marianne Arens15 February 2014On Thursday evening, Enrico Letta announced his resignation as prime minister of Italy. His own Democratic Party (PD) had effectively passed a motion of no-confidence in its own premier.
- Matteo Renzi, who was elected party secretary in December, and who calls himself ''Rottamattore'' (Scrapper'--of the old politics and the political class that supports it), has organised a kind of palace coup to overthrow Letta. Renzi called together the party leadership and in a 20-minute speech, presented an emergency programme he calls ''Impegno Italia'' (Italy Engagement) to be realised by a new government that would remain in office until 2018 without elections being held.
- Letta did not come to the meeting, and several of his followers left the room, after which the statement was adopted by a majority of 136 to 16 votes. In this way, the party effectively passed a no-confidence motion in its own premier. Letta announced his resignation and said he would submit it to President Giorgio Napolitano on Friday.
- In his speech to the party leadership, Renzi declared that a new government of ''a radical new beginning and profound changes'' cannot wait for new elections. Italy could not afford another six months ''in the swamp'' until a new electoral law was adopted. The country had to become a ''place of simplicity and courage.'' For this, the PD must be prepared to take a risk.
- Renzi wants to take over the government himself. According to reports from L'Unit , he already has a complete list of the government team in his pocket. He intends to continue the current coalition with the right-wing parties Scelta Civica and Nuovo Centro Destra. The leader of the latter, former deputy prime minister Angelino Alfano, has not yet signalled his support.
- Matteo Renzi has announced immediate constitutional changes, including a new electoral law and the abolition of the Senate (upper house of parliament). He had already claimed that the abolition of the bicameral system and the provincial administrations could bring '¬1.5 billion in savings in state business expenses.
- Before his coup, Renzi was assured of the support of Italian big business. On Wednesday, he was to meet for a lengthy discussion with Giorgio Squinzi, president of Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation, who has publicly praised Renzi's plans for labour market reform.
- Where previous governments put the emphasis on austerity measures to reduce the high national debt, driving the economy deeper and deeper into recession, Renzi wants to pay attention to the labour laws and social provisions, which have so far offered Italian workers little protection. His role models in this regard are Tony Blair, Britain's Labour prime minister (1997-2007), and Gerhard Schr¶der, German social democratic chancellor (1998-2005), who eliminated decades-old labour rights and thus created a large low-wage sector.
- Renzi's proposal for a new labour law, his so-called Jobs Act, will provide relief for employers in every way and make the labour market more ''flexible'' by means of a unified labour contract. White- and blue-collar workers would only receive full remuneration, employment rights and protection against dismissal after three years' probation. These measures will lead to contract and agency working spreading even faster than before in Italy, and the salaries and wages of Italian workers falling dramatically.
- The Cassa Integrazione, the government-sponsored scheme that provides paltry payments for laid-off workers, is to be abolished and replaced by a uniform unemployment benefit. Workers in companies like Fiat can then be more easily dismissed and forced by low unemployment benefits to accept a lower-paid job. Despite a massive government deficit, Renzi wants to cut corporate taxes by another 10 percent.
- If Renzi's coup succeeds, he will be the fourth prime minister in four years. Enrico Letta was in office just 10 months. He is now being depicted by the Swiss business newspaper NZZ as the ''steward of standstill'', a ''stopgap'' and the ''last resort''.
- Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, which is not in the government, has called for an open debate in parliament regarding the change of administration. Berlusconi, however, had already held several hours of conversation with Renzi at PD headquarters in January. Previously, he had proposed an ''extra-grand'' coalition, in which Beppe Grillo of the Five-Star Movement would sit in addition to himself and Renzi.
- Renzi was encouraged by the attitude of leading trade unionists to undertake his internal coup. CGIL chief Susanna Camusso had welcomed his approach as ''correct'' because young workers would thereby supposedly find it easier to find work. Even so-called lefts, like Maurizio Landini of the metalworkers' union FIOM and Nichi Vendola of the SEL (Sinistra Ecologia Libert ), have showered Renzi with praise.
- The latest change of government shows once again that the PD, which originated in the Italian Communist Party, is today a direct executive organ of the Italian and European bourgeoisie and banking world. The smaller Christian Democratic wing, which includes both Matteo Renzi and Enrico Letta, has taken control and is supported by old functionaries of the Communist Party, such as Massimo D'Alema, Pierluigi Bersani and Guglielmo Epifani.
- The background to this development is Italy's economic crisis. The national debt has risen in the last decade by more than '¬500 billion and exceeded '¬2 trillion a year ago. As a result of several drastic austerity programmes implemented by the governments of Berlusconi, Monti and Letta, Gross Domestic Product has decreased continuously. A symbol of this economic decline could be seen a few days ago with the departure of the Fiat headquarters from Italy.
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- Hundreds of thousands evicted in Spain since 2008 crash
- By Carlos Hernndez and Alejandro L"pez19 February 2014The brutal consequences of evictions being carried in Spain by the banks in collaboration with the courts and police was evidenced once again recently when Antonio Argobia, a chronically ill and disabled 54-year-old, was thrown out of his home in the working class neighbourhood of Lavapi(C)s in Madrid.
- Two weeks ago, in the early morning, police cordoned off the street where Argobia rented an apartment and refused entrance to anyone who could not prove they lived or worked there, attempting to pre-empt an anti-eviction demonstration of the type that has become so common in Spain.
- Soon after, a group of riot police broke down the door of Argobia's apartment with a battering ram without any prior negotiation and with minimal warning. In the apartment were a mediator from a local Stop the Evictions (Stop Desahucios) campaign and two photographers from international news agencies, all of whom were arrested and charged with disobedience for refusing to leave the apartment. Argobia was carried out wearing just his pyjamas and put in a police van.
- Throughout the morning, several hundred local people and protesters gathered outside the police cordon. When a group of them sat down on the street in an attempt to prevent the armoured police vans leaving, officers in riot gear dragged them away and began wielding their batons, causing several injuries.
- Undeterred, the protesters chased the police, throwing everything from shoes to stones, trashcans and potted plants while shouting ''Murderers!'' and ''Police out of the neighbourhoods of Madrid!''
- Last Wednesday night, Francisco Vald(C)s and Josefina Aranda, both in their 80s, and two sons who lived with them were evicted from the home in which they had lived since 1942. Josefina is disabled and unable to move from her bed.
- Over 20 Civil Guards, officials from a judicial commission and two bulldozers were sent to evict and demolish their house. The elderly Vald(C)s was involved in 11 years of litigation after paying a substantial sum in rent in good faith to someone who was not the real owner. Father and son explained that they did not have time to remove their belongings from the house before it was demolished and that the cost of renting somewhere else would leave them with no money for food, as their income is so low.
- The terrible distress suffered by Argobia and the Vald(C)s family is a daily occurrence in Spain. Typical are recent media reports highlighting a demonstration outside the BBVA bank in Zamora, protesting the eviction of a family with two young children and another family evicted from their small farm by the regional Castilla y Le"n government after it slashed the subsidy on which they depended.
- The outrage of the anti-eviction protesters is not hard to understand. They have become a major political issue in Spain, with widespread disgust at the police response and massive sympathy for those unable to pay their rents or caught in the mortgage trap at the same time as the banks have been bailed out with tens of billions of euros on low interest.
- Since the financial crisis hit Spain in 2008, through the end of 2012, there have been hundreds of thousands of forced evictions. According to a document published last May by the country's top legal body, the General Council of Judicial Power (CGPJ), there were 252,621 foreclosures, with an additional 198,116 pending review. It is clear that most foreclosures result in evictions.
- Stories of people taking their own lives on receiving eviction notices continue to shock the country, although they have now become commonplace in the Spanish press. During the last two years, 16 such cases have been reported. Horrifying stories of people throwing themselves off balconies, or hanging or burning themselves alive in their homes, often as bailiffs approach seeking repossession, appear with shocking frequency.
- The social catastrophe can be seen in a study by the National Statistics Institution in January this year, which show the number of suicides in Spain in 2012 grew 11.3 percent over the previous year, the largest recorded increase and now the leading cause of violent death ahead of traffic accidents.
- The main organised opposition to the evictions is the Movement of Mortgage Victims (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca, PAH), which was formed in 2009 on the basis that sufficient pressure would force the Popular Party (PP) government to change the eviction laws.
- To this end, the PAH launched an anti-evictions petition with three main demands: a backdated halt to evictions, the creation of a pool of social housing, and a new law to allow those who have had their homes foreclosed to write off their debts by handing the property over to the bank.
- The petition received 1.5 million signatures, but none of the demands were included in the PP's new Law to Protect Debtors, Debt Restructuring and Social Renting. The law was so narrow that only a very small proportion of those facing eviction were covered, and it did not apply to existing eviction orders. Regional and local authorities were given powers to provide low-rent housing to evicted families, but only a fraction of those affected were covered. Most regions were so highly indebted and subject to deficit targets that they were unable to provide the accommodation or, where they did, cut expenditure on other services.
- After the petition failed, the PAH sowed illusions in a judgment by the European Court of Justice, whose only criticism was that the speed of evictions violated European Union consumer protection laws.
- The support the petition received is proof of the huge resentment within the Spanish population to the endless austerity measures and social cuts, and the betrayals carried out by the unions and parties like United Left (Izquierda Unida, IU), which is imposing cuts in collaboration with the Socialist Party (PSOE) in the regional government of Andalusia. But workers must break with the bankrupt perspective of pressure politics pursued by organisations like the PAH and their hangers-on in the pseudo-left. The struggle must be aimed at the expropriation of the ill-gotten wealth of the financial elite and the nationalization of the banks and major corporations, under the democratic control of the working class.
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- German government steps up military operations - World Socialist Web Site
- By Ulrich Rippert17 February 2014The German government is fiercely promoting an aggressive imperialist foreign policy. At the beginning of the year, it declared an end to the previous policy of military restraint. Shortly thereafter, it announced plans to develop a new strategy for Africa.
- Last Wednesday, this was followed by the announcement that the German Navy was to be sent to the Mediterranean to fulfill a ''robust mandate''. Official statements revealed that the frigate Augsburg is to aid in securing the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons on a US vessel, Cape Ray. The use of combat forces is not ruled out in the operation.
- This decision is in line with US President Barack Obama's announcement that he reserves the right to militarily intervene in Syria. At a joint press conference with French President Fran§ois Hollande in Washington on Tuesday, Obama stressed that a military option in Syria was not off the table.
- At the same time, Berlin is toughening its foreign policy offensive in the Ukraine. In his first official visit to Moscow last week, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) warned the Russian government against escalating the Ukrainian power struggle. ''Nobody should seek to ignite the fuse to that powder keg'', said Steinmeier.
- In fact, Berlin itself is fanning the flames of conflict in Ukraine. It supports the opposition and co-operates closely with Vitali Klitschko and his UDAR party, which is strongly supported by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Via the Adenauer Foundation, the German foreign ministry also has links to Oleh Tyahnibok, chairman of the far-right anti-Semitic Svoboda party.
- The foreign policy offensive for more robust Bundeswehr (German army) operations abroad are high on the agenda of the first meeting of the CDU-SPD coalition committee early next week. Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) and Development Minister Gerd M¼ller (Christian Social Union, CSU) will meet afterwards to discuss details and coordinate procedures.
- Foreign office spokesman Martin Sch¤fer emphasised that a future focal point of the new foreign policy will be Africa. He added that a new Africa strategy was overdue, but its deliberation and development had been underway in the interior ministry for a long time. ''Africa is much more than a continent of crises. There are also a lot of opportunities there'', said Sch¤fer, adding: ''Several African countries show growth rates that are significantly higher than those in the European Union.''
- Sch¤fer went on to say that Germany wanted to significantly expand economic cooperation with a number of African countries. He revealed that the German economy is looking to profit from both the market opportunities and natural resources available in Africa. However, the foreign office prefers to keep its own interests in the background, claiming that it is mainly motivated by humanitarian and security concerns. Sch¤fer said the goals of German ''economic support'' were to stabilise African countries and avoid further conflicts.
- Immediately after the Munich Security Conference two weeks ago, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen travelled to Senegal and Mali to announce the expansion of the Bundeswehr's training contingent in Mali from 180 to 250 soldiers.
- During her visit to barracks on the Niger River, where a vanguard battalion of approximately 100 German soldiers is already stationed, she rejected criticism of the expansion of Bundeswehr missions abroad. ''There have been times when 11,000 male and female soldiers were serving abroad. Currently, there are 5,000 because operations in Afghanistan are drawing to a close'', she said. She declared that the Bundeswehr had the capacity to undertake additional operations.
- On Monday of last week, Berlin also confirmed that there is discussion of renewed Bundeswehr participation in the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) in the crisis-torn East African state of Somalia. Until the end of last year, Germany had been involved in training Somali military units in Uganda, deploying about 20 soldiers there. When the mission moved into Somalia early this year, the Bundeswehr initially terminated its engagement, because the security situation was considered to be too unstable. This assessment has apparently now been revised.
- At the end of January, the n-tv news channel reported on what lies behind the humanitarian arguments currently used to propagate the new Africa strategy.
- Titled ''Uranium, gold, diamonds, minerals: Germany discovers Africa'', its report examined German business interests regarding the country. It began with a quotation from Wolfgang Ischinger, who heads the Munich Security Conference. Ischinger said Germany had a lot of catching up to do and ''Africa should not be left to the Chinese.''
- The programme warned that, compared to China, Germany was lagging behind. Since the early 1990s, China had been engaging in a ''veritable spending spree'', acquiring strategic resources and increasingly winning favour in many African countries. The secret of Chinese policy towards Africa was seen to lie in the fact that, in exchange for raw material supplies, Beijing was building ''schools, hospitals and stadiums for the common people.''
- The n-tv report cautioned that a new German strategy with respect to Africa should not be perceived as a neo-colonial venture. However, it also suggested that, ''if Germany engaged with France, for example in central Africa, one would be able to speak of a European instead of a German raw materials policy.''
- The television report went on to propose that the Central African Republic (CAR) could develop into a testing ground for this kind of cooperation. Although the landlocked African country north of the Congo is almost twice the size of Germany, it has virtually no infrastructure. Some 60 percent of the population is illiterate and very poor. However, the former French colony possesses great economic advantages: it is rich in gold, diamonds, uranium, timber, coffee and numerous other commodities.
- It was also speculated that other mineral resources would likely be available in the country; these included copper, graphite, iron ore, kaolin, lignite, limestone, manganese, quartz, salt and tin. ''And by no means can it be said that the Central African Republic has yet been fully explored'', the n-tv report enthused.
- The ''new Africa strategy'' has nothing to do with safeguarding humanitarian aid, as Steinmeier and von der Leyen claim. Rather, it recalls the ''scramble for Africa'' that occurred at the height of imperialism on the eve of World War I'--when Germany colonised what is now Namibia, Tanzania, Cameroon, and Togo. The current deployment of combat troops in Mali also serves the imperialist interests of the German economy. Geostrategic interests, like those pursued by the German Africa Corps (DAK) during the Second World War, are also part of the strategy.
- All the German parliamentary parties are backing this belligerent policy. The SPD has taken the lead in the government regarding issues of war and enjoys the support of the Greens and the Left Party.
- Last autumn, Left Party parliamentary deputy Stefan Liebich jointly drafted and endorsed a strategy paper, authorised by the Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and entitled ''New Power - New Responsibility''. In mid-January, he produced a strategy paper together with Green Party politician Agnieszka Brugger, which supported Bundeswehr missions abroad, when they are covered by a United Nations mandate and allegedly serve ''the advancement of human rights.''
- As Left Party representative in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag (German parliament), he explained last week that there were many compelling arguments for deploying German armed forces in the Mediterranean. He added: ''Mind you, we're glad to see that the Syrian chemical weapons are being destroyed.''
- Christine Buchholz, defence policy spokeswoman for the Left Party parliamentary faction, likewise stated: ''We welcome the fact that the Syrian poison gas is being destroyed.''
- The Left Party is involved at the highest level in the turn in German foreign policy and the revival of German imperialism and militarism, and is playing a key role in driving war propaganda by disguising it in humanitarian phrases.
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- Cameron appeals to ''quiet patriots'' to save the United Kingdom
- By Steve James and Chris Marsden19 February 2014A speech by British prime minister David Cameron this month amounted to recognition that the British government is in danger of losing the September 18 vote on Scottish independence.
- Speaking in London's Olympic velodrome, Cameron draped himself in the Union Jack, evoked the long and bloody traditions of British militarism and appealed to patriots to mobilise to save the United Kingdom.
- Cameron's speech deepened what is fast becoming a major crisis.
- Opposed by its Labour predecessor, the Cameron government agreed in 2012 to the Scottish National Party (SNP) referendum plan.
- By insisting on a yes/no question on independence, Cameron reckoned that Scotland was certain to decisively reject the SNP's proposition and put paid to the question for a generation. More devolution within the UK would then follow.
- However, Cameron's gamble has been shown to be reckless. While the ''yes'' campaign, remains behind in the opinion polls, the number of ''don't knows'' is increasing as the poll date approaches.
- Central to the ''yes'' camp's appeal is the endlessly repeated lie that the brutal austerity being imposed by Westminster can only be alleviated by Scottish independence. And in his speech, Cameron made clear his government is intent on deepening the assault on living standards in all sections of working people in every corner of Britain'--described euphemistically as ''getting behind enterprise, dealing with our debts, a plan to give the people of this country peace of mind and security for the future''.
- His one feint at expressing popular concerns could only sound as a grotesquely cynical note. ''In this country'', claimed the wealthy hypocrite responsible for the most sustained fall in living standards ever seen across Britain, ''we don't walk on by when people are sick, when people lose work, when people get old.''
- Cameron could do no more than fall back on appeals to nationalism. He appealed ''not so much to the people of Scotland but to the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland''. Cameron sought to warn ''quiet patriots'', ''shoulder shruggers'' and those who ''think we'd be better off without Scotland'' that Scottish independence would be a serious blow.
- He quickly revealed his true concerns to be the ability of British imperialism to compete against its rivals, stressing that ''in the United Kingdom, Scotland is part of a major global player'.... An open economy of 63 million people; we're the oldest and most successful single market in the world, and with one of the oldest and most successful currencies in the world. That stability is hugely attractive for investors. Last year we were the top destination for foreign direct investment in Europe.''
- ''Together we're stronger at getting out there and selling our products to the world'.... We come as a brand'--and a powerful brand,'' he stressed.''
- Cameron then celebrated the Scottish contribution to British militarism:
- ''Together, we get a seat at the UN Security Council, real clout in NATO and Europe, the prestige to host events like the G8. Together we've got the finest armed forces on our planet. I think of the fighter pilots originally operating from RAF Lossiemouth who flew sorties over Libya; the legendary Scottish titles now part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, like the Black Watch and the Highlanders.'...
- ''It's about Lord Lovat on the beach on D-Day, the bagpipes playing as his brigade landed ashore. It's about HMS Sheffield, HMS Glasgow, HMS Antrim, HMS Glamorgan grey ships ploughing through grey seas for 8,000 miles to the Falkland Islands,'' he added for good measure.
- All of this could have been written as a political broadcast on behalf of the pro-independence campaign. Indeed the ''yes'' side, into which all ex-left parties are integrated, has developed momentum precisely because the ''no'' camp incorporates the Tories, Labour and the Liberal Democrats'--parties who are hated and associated with austerity and illegal wars such as in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
- This legitimate sentiment is being channelled behind the SNP and the bourgeois forces it represents, in large part thanks to the universal line-up of the pseudo-left behind the call for an ''independent'' Scotland.
- No one wants or should want to be part of ''Brand UK.'' But the ''no'' camp want to replace this only with ''Brand Scotland'''--the creation of a new capitalist enclave based upon the gutting of welfare in order to facilitate low corporation tax and other measures designed to create a cheap investment platform with access to the European market.
- The reality is that, in its essentials, the SNP's aims are at one with the agenda outlined by Cameron'--differing only in that they want more of the spoils from the exploitation of the working class to remain in their pockets and their business associates in Edinburgh and Glasgow. That is why the SNP wants to be able to set tax rates, but keep the pound and the monarchy, and to have membership of the European Union and the NATO military alliance. That is why its record in office has been one of imposing cuts whenever they have been demanded, relying on a favourable dispensation of UK taxes to make them slightly less onerous in some spheres. This would all escalate after any vote for independence.
- For working people, the fundamental question that must determine the attitude taken to the referendum campaign is: what will facilitate a struggle against the ruling class?
- The constant refrain of groups such as the Scottish Socialist Party and others gathered under the banner of the Radical Independence Convention is that anything that weakens the UK is by definition anti-imperialist and progressive. This is a lie. Today we are very close to the breakup of the UK, but this has led only to an outpouring of nationalist filth with workers urged to line up behind the Union Flag or the Saltire.
- The end result is the division of the working class at a time when a unified struggle against militarism and in defence of jobs, wages and essential provisions such as the National Health Service is of paramount importance. The SSP knows this very well. It claims to be ''a working class party,'' only to boast, ''But we work with other parties on the immediate objective of independence. The SSP was the first party in Scotland to sign up to the cross-party Independence Convention, which now draws together the SSP, the SNP, the Greens and a range of individuals.''
- As far as the SSP et al are concerned, the Scottish working class are nothing but election fodder for the SNP. The working class in England may as well not exist'--they merit no mention at all in the SSP's policies.
- The implications go far beyond Scotland.
- Throughout the UK, the same demands for a bigger slice of the cake that inspire the bourgeoisie and their petty bourgeois placemen in Scotland are being raised in Wales and even in England's northern regions and cities such as Sheffield. This balkanisation, with the disastrous results already witnessed in the former Yugoslavia, is now in danger of being repeated across Europe'--beginning with the break of Catalonia and other regions from Spain.
- Workers in Scotland should register a no vote, not out of loyalty to the UK state but in recognition of the need to continue and deepen three centuries of struggle against the common enemy by the British working class. That fight today demands not the setting up of new capitalist states, but the overthrow of capitalism and the formation of a workers' government. It must be waged not only on an all-UK basis, but as part of the struggle for the United Socialist States of Europe.
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- Is income inequality a zero-sum game? - Worcester Telegram & Gazette - telegram.com
- Wednesday, January 29, 2014
- Is income inequality a zero-sum game?
- By Peter S. Cohan WALL & MAINThe theme of President Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address (SOTU) is purported to be income inequality. Income inequality has been getting worse ever since 2001, and the extremes have continued under Mr. Obama.The most concise way to articulate that income inequality is from Oxfam, which conducted a study that found that the 85 wealthiest individuals had a net worth equal to the poorest 3.5 billion.The report said: "Wealthy elites have used their political power to get lower tax rates, hide wealth offshore, and otherwise serve their own interests, to the disadvantage of those at lower income levels."
- This brings me to the supreme irony of last week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. One of its themes was the same as the main idea in Mr. Obama's SOTU address '-- income inequality.
- The irony is that the very people who are responsible for income inequality decided that it is good optics to talk about what they can do to alleviate it.
- And statistics compiled by The Economist magazine reveal just how elite the Davos attendees really are. Of the 2,622 people who were invited to last week's Forum, just 15 percent were women. 66 percent of the delegates came from Western countries that house a mere 12 percent of the world's population.
- And if success is measured by being invited to Davos, Harvard's admissions department is doing an excellent job of picking the world's winners. Davos delegates who graduated Harvard outnumbered the rest. Sixty percent were in business, while 14 percent came from government. The 46 presidents and prime ministers represented 1.8 billion of the world's 7.1 billion people. One in eleven was a reporter, while the total worth of the 15 richest was around $285 billion.
- But for all their success, the executives who run the companies represented at Davos are doing worse than the average when it comes to increasing shareholder wealth. While the 104 public companies represented by Davos delegates account for $12 trillion in stock market value '-- about 20 percent of the world's total '-- they underperformed both the S&P 500 and MSCI World Index, according to The Economist.
- And when it comes to the topic of income inequality, the Davos discussion left much to be desired. As the Daily Beast reported, "Whatever happened to inequality?' someone asked in my van. 'It kind of disappeared,' said a woman from Montreal. 'Oh, we talked about it a lot,' said a young delegate from South Africa. Everyone else looked puzzled."
- Ultimately, income inequality most pronounced feature at Davos was as a joke about the irony of discussing it there.
- "Once the conference was in full swing, few people talked, and even fewer seemed to care, about inequality. Indeed, they appeared to be living it, loving it, and laughing about it. Without question, the most popular video on laptops and iPads was Jon Stewart's Mountain Few segment on The Daily Show about the hypocrisy of the event," according to the Daily Beast.
- I think the critical question on income inequality is whether wealth is a zero sum game '-- that is, if the poorest 3.5 billion are poor because the 85 wealthiest are taking money from them. If income inequality is a zero sum game, then it raises a political question, namely, whether the majority should use its power to redistribute the money of the wealthiest to those who are not as well off.
- Perhaps it is the fear of this happening that spurred Silicon Valley venture capital veteran, Tom Perkins '-- co-founder of the venerable Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers '-- to write a letter to the Wall Street Journal, in which he likened those who protest Google buses that take its workers from San Francisco to its Mountain View offices to the Nazis' November 1938 destruction of Jewish-owned stores during Kristallnacht.
- Mr. Perkins strikes me as emotionally and mentally unhinged, as does the editor who decided to let this run. But his emotions provide an interesting insight into the problem that is created when someone lives in a democracy that is strained by the equating of money with speech, as was formalized in the Supreme Court's January 2010 Federal Election Commission vs. Citizens United decision.
- Simply put, wealthy individuals like Mr. Perkins have the power to use their money to influence elections in a way that the rest of the country does not. And yet, America preserves elements of democracy in its elections. So people like Mr. Perkins feel increasingly isolated from the rest of the population '-- and the anger of people in San Francisco who can no longer afford to live there is making him feel threatened.
- But I don't think that income inequality is a zero sum game. I think the solution to income inequality is for more people to start their own companies, rather than expect the government or big companies to provide everyone with a secure middle class livelihood.
- Unfortunately, entrepreneurship is very risky. Only three percent of startups succeed. And only one in 10,000 become worth $1 billion or more.
- Absent successful entrepreneurship, the best hope for reviving the middle class may be for U.S. companies to get fed up with outsourcing manufacturing to places like China and India '-- due to quality control problems '-- and bring those jobs back here.
- And if that is not enough, there is always the distant possibility of government pump priming to create jobs that could ultimately help spur new companies. Congress ought to spend $50 billion to encourage a build out of national infrastructure '-- bridges, roads, tunnels, dams, electrical grids, putting wires underground, and creating tax incentives for businesses to invest their huge cash hoards into productivity-enhancing technologies.
- None of these solutions will eliminate income inequality. So people like Mr. Perkins and the Davos types should be prepared to make a big contribution to the safety net for those less fortunate.
- After all, those one-percenters will never be able to repay the $23.7 trillion in cash and guarantees that the U.S. government gave them to bail out the excesses that led to the financial crisis of 2008.
- Peter Cohan of Marlboro heads a management consulting and venture capital firm, and teaches business strategy and entrepreneurship at Babson College. His email address is peter@petercohan.com.
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- Email about the VW UAW vote
-
- Adam,
- The VW plant is located here in Tennesse.A group
- of employees became suspicious that the UAW was
- using bogus signatures to convince management that
- they had a majority and so over 600 employees signed
- a petition saying they wanted nothing to do with union
- and were granted a secret vote.
- P.S. Management supported the UAW
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- University of Illinois faculty members strike in Chicago
- By our reporters19 February 2014On Tuesday, 1,100 faculty members at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) went on strike for the first time in the school's history. After 60 bargaining sessions over 16 months failed to reach an initial contract agreement, the faculty union called a two-day strike. Classes were canceled for 27,500 students at the largest university in the Chicago area.
- The UIC faculty was recently organized as United Faculty Local 6456 (American Federation of Teachers), in July 2012. A federal mediator was brought into the negotiations in November 2013 after talks broke down, and in December, 95 percent of the faculty voted to authorize a walkout.
- Bennie, a professor in the Germanic studies department spoke with the WSWS while picketing on Tuesday. Discussing the university's demands, she said, ''The effect is to have less full time faculty positions in favor of temporary adjuncts, which are far more disposable, without any real job security, and paid less. In this sense, we are by no means a unique case. What is happening here at UIC is happening nationwide. No matter where you go, student tuition is increasing, and young people are increasingly burdened by student debt with no real opportunities.''
- As is the case on many university campuses, faculty pay differs widely at UIC. Vice Chancellors and various upper-level administrators make $200,000-300,000 per year in base salary alone, along with some faculty in medicine and business. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the teaching staff'--instructors and lecturers'--typically earn between less than $30,000 and $50,000 per year in one of the more expensive cities to live in the US.
- The university is reported to control $1.3 billion in unrestricted funds and has reportedly made $200 million in profits. It has also imposed a number of tuition hikes in recent years. Another issue in the strike is faculty involvement in university governance. In recent years, the multiplication of highly paid administrative positions'--accountable to the various offices, but unaccountable to faculty and students'--has created resentment among the low-paid faculty.
- Bennie said, ''I've been teaching here for more than ten years and over the time I have been here, the climate has really changed. In contrast to the plight of teachers and students, the administration has been ballooning. Some of these people now make 10-12 times more than full time faculty and none of directly serves the interests of students.
- ''By comparison,'' she continued, teaching faculty positions have become less rewarding. The few token gestures in merit-based awards such as bonuses, honorary dinner receptions and pins only go to a select few, and wouldn't be needed if people were actually valued and had their pay and teaching resources reflect that.
- ''What you end up with is a marginal quality of higher education. More and more emphasis is placed on producing degrees in the shortest span and content rather than a well-rounded quality education. By comparison to other city and state universities, UIC has a large section of students who come from comparatively disadvantaged backgrounds, along with a large population of students from first generation immigrant families.
- ''If they were really investing in the quality of education for students, they should be putting money into classrooms, labs, and faculty. Many faculty from other universities look at the UIC strike are taking courage, seeing this strike as a first step towards a larger movement to defend the interests of teachers and students in higher education.''
- Standing behind the University of Illinois Board of Trustees attack on the UIC faculty is the state of Illinois, which is in the process of implementing an austerity program in every area of the budget. Most recently, the Democratic-controlled state legislature passed a law gutting pensions for state and municipal workers'--including university faculty'--premised on a budget crisis manufactured by both big business parties.
- The attack on the right to public education is being spearheaded by the Obama administration, which has overseen the layoff of hundreds of thousands of teachers, the shutdown of more than 4,000 public schools and a doubling of the number of students enrolled in charter schools. He has also embarked on a policy to more closely tailor higher education to the needs of corporate America and imposing sweeping cost-cutting measures aimed against college faculty and other workers.
- The attacks have been particularly savage in Chicago, where Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has carried out the largest number of school closings in the city's history. He has also championed attacks on the pensions of state and municipal workers.
- There is enormous opposition to these attacks and striking faculty members enjoy widespread sympathy. But the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)'--the parent organization of the United Faculty'--the SEIU and other city unions have no intention and will do nothing to mobilize the support of teachers and other workers to defend the UIC faculty. Allied with the Democratic Party, the AFT, NEA, the Chicago Teachers Union and others have collaborated in the passage of anti-teacher legislation'--such as Senate Bill 7'--the betrayal of the 2012 strike by 28,000 Chicago teachers and the closure of 50 public schools.
- The AFT and IFT executives have no doubt insisted that the UIC strike be limited to two days so as not to upset their cozy relations with the state Democratic Party. The union executives, including AFT President Randi Weingarten'--who makes more than $400,000 a year'--also have the closest ties to Obama and share his plans to slash higher education costs on the backs of faculty and college employees.
- In their drive to channel ever-greater amounts of society's wealth into their personal bank accounts, the American ruling class is determined to return to the days when only the sons and daughters of the wealthy had access to education. That is why the fight to defend the right to education is, above all, a struggle for social equality and a vast redistribution of wealth to meet the needs of society as a whole.
- Such a fight requires the political mobilization of the broadest layers of the working class against both big business parties and the profit system they defend. To do this, UIC faculty members must organize rank-and-file committees, free from the control of the AFT and other unions, to appeal directly to the students and workers throughout Chicago, the US and internationally to defend their struggle.
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- untermensch - Google Search
- Untermensch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaUntermensch (German for under man, sub-man, sub-human; plural:Untermenschen) is a term that became infamous when the Nazi ideologyracialused it to ...Images for unter menschUrban Dictionary: Untermenschwww.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Untermensch- Cached - Similar"Under Man" A term used by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to describe thecommon man. Likened to sheep, the Untermensch is a social animal spo...Untermensch - WiktionaryEtymology[edit]. From German Untermensch, from unter (''under, below'') +Mensch (''person, human''). Pronunciation[edit]. (UK) IPA: /ËÊntÉmÉnÊ/. Noun[edit].Untermensch - Oxford Dictionarieswww.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american.../Untermensch- CachedDefinition of Untermensch in American English in Oxford dictionary. Meaning,pronunciation and example sentences. English to English reference content (US).Der Untermensch www.HolocaustResearchProject.orgwww.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/deruntermensch.html- Cached - SimilarThe Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team has faithfully translated thisinfamous Nazi text from the original versions printed in both the German and ...The Holocaust/Anti-Semitism/Untermensch - Wikibooks, open books ...en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Holocaust/Anti.../Untermensch- Cached - SimilarUntermensch (German for under man, sub-man, sub-human; plural:Untermenschen) is a term from Nazi racial ideology used to describe supposedlyinferior ...Der Untermensch (2013) - IMDbwww.imdb.com/title/tt2773518/- CachedDirected by Kays Mejri. With Simon Vermeulen. Portraying the treatment ofhomosexuals during World War II, this short aesthetic contemporary dance filmdraws ...Untermensch (2011) - IMDbDirected by Michael Aloyan. With Daniel Dorr, Dragos Berghia, Robb Hughes,Peter Vinding. Set in the fall of 1942, Untermensch, follows the story of a Russian ...dict.cc | Untermensch | W¶rterbuch Englisch-Deutschwww.dict.cc/?s=Untermensch- Cached'bersetzung f¼r Untermensch im Englisch-Deutsch-W¶rterbuch dict.cc.Der Untermensch | tiff.nettiff.net/filmsandschedules/festival/2013/deruntermensch- CachedA contemporary dance film depicting the mistreatment of homosexuals during theSecond World War, Kays Mejri's Der Untermensch is a unique artistic ...Searches related to unter mensch
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- mongrel definition - Google Search
- Mongrel - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster ...an individual resulting from the interbreeding of diverse breeds or strains;especially : one of unknown ancestry. 2. : a cross between types of persons orthings.mongrel - definition of mongrel by the Free Online Dictionary ...An animal or a plant resulting from various interbreedings, especially a dog ofmixed or undetermined breed. 2. A cross between different breeds, groups, ...Mongrel | Define Mongrel at Dictionary.comany animal or plant resulting from the crossing of different breeds or varieties. 3.any cross between different things, especially if inharmonious or indiscriminate.Urban Dictionary: mongrelwww.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mongrel- Cached - Similarmongrel. A cross-breed, can be a derogatory name for those of mixed heritage.that mixed girl ... Log in with Facebook to save your favorite definitions and share ...mongrel: definition of mongrel in Oxford dictionary (American ...www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american.../mongrel- CachedDefinition of mongrel in American English in Oxford dictionary. Meaning,pronunciation and example sentences. English to English reference content (US).Mongrel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA mongrel or mutt is a dog that is not the result of breeding and belongs to nobreed. ... The implication that such dogs must be a mix of defined breeds maystem ...mongrel - definition. American English definition of mongrel by ...www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/mongrel- Cached - SimilarDefine mongrel in American English. What is mongrel? mongrel meaning andmore by Macmillan Dictionary.mongrel - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.comwww.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mongrel
- Some people have purebred dogs, but you might have a mongrel '-- a mutt that ispart this, part that, and part the other thing (but to you he's a 100 percent dog ...What does mongrel mean? definition and meaning (Free English ...www.audioenglish.org/dictionary/mongrel.htm- CachedDefinition of mongrel in the AudioEnglish.org Dictionary. Meaning of mongrel.What does mongrel mean? Proper usage of the word mongrel. Information about ...mongrel - Collins English Dictionary | Always Free Onlinewww.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mongrel- Cached - SimilarYou are here; > Home; > English Dictionary; > Definition of ''mongrel''. EnglishDictionary ... A mongrel is a dog which is a mixture of different breeds.ËmÊÅÉrÉl ...Searches related to mongrel definition
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- Department of Homeland Security cancels national license-plate tracking plan
- Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of a plan by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to develop a national license-plate tracking system after privacy advocates raised concern about the initiative.
- The order came just days after ICE solicited proposals from companies to compile a database of license-plate information from commercial and law enforcement tag readers. Officials said the database was intended to help apprehend fugitive illegal immigrants, but the plan raised concerns that the movements of ordinary citizens under no criminal suspicion could be scrutinized.
- The data would have been drawn from readers that scan the tags of every vehicle crossing their paths, and would have been accessed only for ''ongoing criminal investigations or to locate wanted individuals,'' officials told The Washington Post this week.
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- Homeland Security is seeking a national license plate tracking system - The Washington Post
- The Department of Homeland Security wants a private company to provide a national license-plate tracking system that would give the agency access to vast amounts of information from commercial and law enforcement tag readers, according to a government proposal that does not specify what privacy safeguards would be put in place.
- The national license-plate recognition database, which would draw data from readers that scan the tags of every vehicle crossing their paths, would help catch fugitive illegal immigrants, according to a DHS solicitation. But the database could easily contain more than 1 billion records and could be shared with other law enforcement agencies, raising concerns that the movements of ordinary citizens who are under no criminal suspicion could be scrutinized.
- A spokeswoman for DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) stressed that the database ''could only be accessed in conjunction with ongoing criminal investigations or to locate wanted individuals.''
- The database would enhance agents' and officers' ability to locate suspects who could pose a threat to public safety and would reduce the time required to conduct surveillance, ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said.
- ''It is important to note that this database would be run by a commercial enterprise, and the data would be collected and stored by the commercial enterprise, not the government,'' she said.
- But civil liberties groups are not assuaged. ''Ultimately, you're creating a national database of location information,'' said Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. ''When all that data is compiled and aggregated, you can track somebody as they're going through their life.''
- ICE issued a notice last week seeking bids from companies to compile the database from a variety of sources, including law enforcement agencies and car-repossession services.
- Agents would be able to use a smartphone to snap pictures of license plates that could be compared against a ''hot list'' of plates in the database. They would have 24-hour, seven-day-a-week access, according to the solicitation, which was first noted last week by bloggers.
- ''The government would prefer a close-up of the plate and a zoomed-out image of the vehicle,'' the document said. The images would go in a case file report that would include maps and registration information, as well as the car's make and model.
- The agency said the length of time the data is retained would be up to the winning vendor. Vigilant Solutions, for instance, one of the leading providers of tag-reader data, keeps its records indefinitely.
- Nationwide, local police as well as commercial companies are gathering license-plate data using various means. One common method involves drivers for repossession companies methodically driving up and down streets with cameras mounted on their cars snapping photos of vehicles. Some police forces have cameras mounted on patrol cars. Other images may be retrieved from border crossings, interstate highway on-ramps and toll plazas.
- ''The technology in use today basically replaces an old analog function '-- your eyeballs,'' said Chris Metaxas, chief executive of DRN, a subsidiary of Vigilant Solutions, which since its founding in 2009 has amassed one of the largest warehouses of license-plate data in the country. ''It's the same thing as a guy holding his head out the window, looking down the block, and writing license-plate numbers down and comparing them against a list. The technology just makes things better and more productive.''
- Vigilant's National Vehicle Location Service (NLVS), which holds more than 1.8 billion records, is offered to law enforcement agencies across the country. ICE has tested the service at no charge, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union under a Freedom of Information Act request.
- ''The results have been excellent, accounting for approximately 100 arrests in a 6-month time period,'' said one of the DHS documents obtained by the ACLU, dated Jan. 9, 2012. ''Some of the cases that resulted in arrests were formerly thought to be cold cases.''
- In one 2010 case, a mother and two adult children began using a post office box after they were ordered to be deported, according to the document. Three vehicles were registered to a house the family owned, but the house was rented out and the cars were never parked there. Two of the three vehicles were found, at different addresses, using the NVLS, the document said.
- Some questions about ICE's plan remain open. The agency could not say how long the data would be stored, which other law enforcement agencies would have access to it and what constitutes an ''investigative lead'' to allow database querying.
- The FBI since 2004 has partnered with nearly every state and dozens of local agencies to compare license plates against the National Crime Information Center database and said the data have helped locate more than 800 wanted people. The bureau has been working on a privacy impact assessment of its license-plate reader program since early 2012, but no assessment has been made public, said Jeramie Scott, national security counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group.
- Customs and Border Protection, another DHS agency, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is part of the Justice Department, also have deployed cameras along the country's borders.
- But DHS's effort appears to be the first time a federal law enforcement agency is seeking such extensive access to a broad repository of data capturing the movements and images of American motorists from metropolitan areas.
- The ACLU said it has no objection to law enforcement officials checking license plates to see whether they're associated with a stolen car or a felon evading arrest. But the government's access to vast amounts of data on ordinary, law-abiding citizens raises concerns about potential abuse, advocates said. ''This is yet another example of the government's appetite for tools of mass surveillance,'' said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the ACLU, which issued a report last year that criticized the growing use of the devices without adequate privacy protections.
- The DHS effort arises as states are confronting policy choices about the use of license-plate readers. Laws vary across jurisdictions on how long data can be stored and who may have access. Some delete the data after 48 hours. Others keep it indefinitely. About 20 states have passed or proposed legislation that would restrict the use of such readers or the storage of the data. Utah has a law prohibiting commercial companies from using automated high-speed cameras to photograph license plates. Vigilant has filed a First Amendment lawsuit to overturn the ban.
- This month, the Virginia General Assembly shelved for a year legislation that would have banned local police from collecting data from license-plate readers. The state attorney general last year declared the collection of such data illegal.
- Maryland is considering legislation that would ban non-government deployment of tag readers and regulate their use by government agencies.
- Only a handful of companies gather license-plate data on a national scale, industry officials said. But DRN and Vigilant are the dominant players in the industry, with DRN capturing an estimated 70 percent of the commercial market and Vigilant about 90 percent of the law enforcement market, said Jack Bernstein, chief executive of Locator Technologies, another company in that field.
- ''I know the data is really valuable,'' Bernstein said, ''and I know the potential for abuse is significant.''
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- Department of Homeland Security invests $6.9 million to spy on Boston commuters
- By Mike Ingram19 February 2014The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has begun installing hundreds of high-definition cameras on buses throughout the transit system as part of a plan to implement video surveillance across the entire bus and subway fleet. The video installation is to be paid for with a $6.9 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
- The cameras are equipped with Verizon's 4G LTE network to allow the digital video feed inside the bus to be streamed in real time to the MBTA control center, where staff will be able to monitor passengers in real time. The video feed, which provides a 360-degree view of the inside of buses, will also be available to MBTA Transit Police from inside their cruisers.
- The MBTA has said it plans to install the new system on 225 buses by the end of the summer, and an additional 210 buses will have existing systems, with cameras currently trained on the fare box, transferred to the new system. These upgrades will also allow live streaming. The 435 cameras will allow monitoring of two thirds of all bus trips. Officials hope to receive funding to place cameras on all the system's buses and on any new train cars. Randy Clarke, senior director of security and emergency management for the MBTA, told the Boston Globe it is the most extensive surveillance program on a major transit system in the country, with three cameras installed on each bus.
- A report published on rt.com in December 2012 noted: ''Cities across America are equipping their public transport systems with audio recording devices, potentially storing every word spoken by passengers onboard.'' The web site reports that multimillion-dollar upgrades are underway in several US cities, including San Francisco; Eugene, Oregon; Traverse City, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; Hartford, Connecticut; and Athens, Georgia. Much of the funding for these upgrades comes from the Department of Homeland Security.
- Boston transit officials claim the mass surveillance is intended as a deterrent to crime, citing 28 attacks on drivers so far this year. However, Transit Police superintendent Joseph O'Connor acknowledged to the Globe that ''crime is relatively low on buses.''
- The new surveillance program has nothing to do with fighting crime, but is part of efforts of the US state to gather an unprecedented amount of information about the US population, as revealed in the documents released by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
- In addition to the massive data gathering and processing at NSA centers, local law enforcement agencies are engaged in routine political spying. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, a national network of so-called fusion centers was established. Today, there are a reported 78 of these centers located in states and major urban areas across the country.
- According to the Homeland Security web site, ''State and major urban area fusion centers serve as focal points within the state and local environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT) and private sector partners.''
- The site claims the fusion centers ''provide interdisciplinary expertise and situational awareness to inform decision-making at all levels of government. They conduct analysis and facilitate information sharing while assisting law enforcement and homeland security partnership preventing, protecting against, and responding to crime and terrorism.''
- There are two such centers in Massachusetts, the Commonwealth Fusion Center in Maynard and the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) in Boston. These centers played a major role in the police-military lockdown of the Boston area in the aftermath of the Marathon bombings of April 15 last year.
- An October 2012 report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts and the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) gave a rare view into the real purpose of these centers and the surveillance they conduct. The report, titled ''Policing Dissent: Police Surveillance Activity in Boston,'' summarizes documents obtained by the ACLU and NLG after suing for access on behalf of six groups and four activists. The report states that the documents ''show that officers assigned to the BRIC are collecting and keeping information about constitutionally protected speech and political activity. The documents provide the public with its first glimpse into the political surveillance practices of the Boston Police Department.''
- The documents cited in the report present the widescale political spying conducted against antiwar protesters, civil rights campaigners and other political activists, none of it related to criminal activity. The files obtained as result of the lawsuit include so-called intelligence reports written by officers and illegally shared across security agencies and kept on file.
- The Code of Federal Regulations provides that federally funded surveillance projects may collect and maintain information on individuals ''only if there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is involved in criminal conduct or activity and the information is relevant to that criminal conduct or activity.'' The regulations also stipulate that surveillance teams ''shall not collect or maintain criminal intelligence information about the political, religious or social views, associations, or activities of any individual or any group...unless such information directly relates to criminal conduct.''
- The BRIC's own guidelines state: ''The BRIC will not seek or retain and originating agencies will agree to not submit information about individuals or organizations solely on the basis of their religious, political, or social views or activities; their participation in a particular noncriminal organization or lawful event; or their races, ethnicities, citizenship, places of origin, ages, disabilities, genders, or sexual orientation.''
- The report makes clear, however, that this is precisely the information that officers have been gathering in Boston for years. One intelligence report cited talks of a March 23, 2007, meeting at the Central Congregational Church in Jamaica Plain, noting that the meeting ''was arranged by Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo'' and that a ''BU professor emeritus/activist'' (the late Howard Zinn) and Cindy Sheehan, a member of Gold Star Families for Peace whose son was killed in Iraq, ''will be speaking at the March 24 demonstration.''
- Another report refers to an FBI source who provided information to the Boston police on protesters' plans to ''pass out fliers promoting their cause.'' A phone call between officers from the BRIC and Metro DC Intelligence Section with officials discussing how many activists from the Northeast attended a Washington, D.C., peace rally is also documented.
- The authors of the report write that ''Videos taped at public demonstrations and 'intelligence reports' written by officers assigned to the BRIC show pervasive monitoring of peaceful demonstrations. Nine out of the 13 reports obtained by the ACLU and NLG discuss only political activity, never mentioning criminal or even potentially criminal acts; two reference nonviolent civil disobedience. Nonetheless, all of the reports include the category 'Criminal Act' and use labels such as 'Extremist,' 'Civil Disturbance' or 'homSec-Domestic.' ''
- The Homeland Security-funded mass surveillance programs in Boston and other cities across the country have as little to do with fighting crime as the NSA data collection has to do with fighting terrorism. They are directed not at criminal elements and terrorists but at social and political dissent. The preparation of police state measures in anticipation of a mass movement against social inequality and war is well advanced.
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- State Dept. contractor to go to jail under Espionage Act for tipping off journalist | EguidEz
- The Tabraiz on February 8, 2014 - 2:24 am in World News
- The lawyer for Stephen Kim, a 46-year-old former contract analyst for the US Department of State, told District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Friday that their client is ready to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure of secret government information, Reuters reported that afternoon.
- Prosecutors say Kim disclosed privileged information to Fox News reporter James Rosen in 2009 regarding a possible nuclear test being planned by North Korea in retaliation to sanctions from the west. The next year a grand jury conducted an investigation that ended with them agreeing Kim ''knowingly and willfully'' shared information ''about the military capabilities and preparedness of a particular foreign nation.'' As a result he was indicted and charged with making false statements as well as violating the Espionage Act of 1917.
- According to a report published by Fox on Friday, a Department of Justice official said the ''government's investigation and prosecution of this matter has concluded'' upon news that Kim had agreed to enter a plea deal. A federal judge must still approve this plea, which would then cancel plans for a trial previously scheduled to begin this April.
- Kirk Stark, the trustee of the Stephen Kim Legal Defense Trust, wrote previously on the support group's website that, ''Faced with the impossible choice between admitting to the government's accusations or defending himself against a federal criminal action, Stephen pleaded not guilty and hunkered down for the fight of his life.'' Weeks before a trial was expected to begin, however, Kim reportedly changed his plea early Friday.
- Rosen of Fox News was never charged for any involvement in the State Dept. leak, but it was revealed in 2012 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had acquired his phone records and professional emails while conducting the probe into Mr. Kim, and at one point considered the journalist a possible criminal co-conspirator. Coupled with a similar investigation unearthed at that time about a Justice Department investigation into the Associated Press, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder agreed last year to reform how the government handles probes involving professional reporters.
- Kim is one of eight persons charged under the Espionage Act by the Obama administration for leaking privileged information, a position he holds alongside the likes of WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning and NSA whistleblowers Thomas Drake and Edward Snowden, among others.
- ''The Justice Department shows no sign of rethinking its campaign to punish unauthorized disclosures to the news media, with five criminal casesso far under President Obama, compared with three under all previous presidents combined,'' New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane wrote in 2011. Since then this number has only increase after the administration pursued Snowden, as well as Navy linguist and a former Central Intelligence Agency officer with Espionage Act charges.
- Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison last August after being convicted by a military judge of espionage and other counts for her role in sharing classified Army documents with the transparency site WikiLeaks. Espionage Act charges against Drake, a former high-ranked official within the secretive intelligence agency, were later dropped after he agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. Former CIA specialist John Kiriakou had less favorable results when he entered a plea deal in 2012. He is currently serving a 30-month sentence after pleading guilty to a single count of disclosing information that identified a covert agent. He had faced upwards of 45 years before the plea agreement was accepted.
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- Employment Law Guide - Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay
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- Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA)(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/FairLaborStandAct.pdf), as amended(29 USC ½201 et seq(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/29/201.html).;29 CFR Parts 510 to 794(http://www.dol.gov/dol/cfr/Title_29/Chapter_V.htm))
- Who is CoveredThe Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is administered by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The Act establishes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor. These standards affect more than 130 million workers, both full'time and part'time, in the private and public sectors.
- The Act applies to enterprises with employees who engage in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce. For most firms, a test of not less than $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business applies (i.e., the Act does not cover enterprises with less than this amount of business).
- However, the Act does cover the following regardless of their dollar volume of business: hospitals; institutions primarily engaged in the care of the sick, aged, mentally ill, or disabled who reside on the premises; schools for children who are mentally or physically disabled or gifted; preschools, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education; and federal, state, and local government agencies.
- Employees of firms that do not meet the $500,000 annual dollar volume test may be covered in any workweek when they are individually engaged in interstate commerce, the production of goods for interstate commerce, or an activity that is closely related and directly essential to the production of such goods.
- In addition, the Act covers domestic service workers, such as day workers, housekeepers, chauffeurs, cooks, or full'time babysitters, if they receive at least $1,700 in 2009 in cash wages from one employer in a calendar year, or if they work a total of more than eight hours a week for one or more employers. (This calendar year threshold is adjusted by the Social Security Administration each year.) For additional coverage information, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #14: Coverage Under the FLSA(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs14.htm).
- The Act exempts some employees from its overtime pay and minimum wage provisions, and it also exempts certain employees from the overtime pay provisions only. Because the exemptions are narrowly defined, employers should check the exact terms and conditions for each by contacting their local Wage and Hour Division office(http://www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm).
- The following are examples of employees exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements:
- Executive, administrative, and professional employees (including teachers and academic administrative personnel in elementary and secondary schools), outside sales employees, and certain skilled computer professionals (as defined in the Department of Labor's regulations) 1Employees of certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishmentsEmployees of certain small newspapers and switchboard operators of small telephone companiesSeamen employed on foreign vesselsEmployees engaged in fishing operationsEmployees engaged in newspaper deliveryFarm workers employed on small farms (i.e., those that used less than 500 "man'days" of farm labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year)Casual babysitters and persons employed as companions to the elderly or infirmThe following are examples of employees exempt from the overtime pay requirements only:
- Certain commissioned employees of retail or service establishmentsAuto, truck, trailer, farm implement, boat, or aircraft salespersons employed by non'manufacturing establishments primarily engaged in selling these items to ultimate purchasersAuto, truck, or farm implement parts'clerks and mechanics employed by non-manufacturing establishments primarily engaged in selling these items to ultimate purchasersRailroad and air carrier employees, taxi drivers, certain employees of motor carriers, seamen on American vessels, and local delivery employees paid on approved trip rate plansAnnouncers, news editors, and chief engineers of certain non'metropolitan broadcasting stationsDomestic service workers who reside in their employers' residencesEmployees of motion picture theatersFarmworkersCertain employees may be partially exempt from the overtime pay requirements. These include:
- Employees engaged in certain operations on agricultural commodities and employees of certain bulk petroleum distributorsEmployees of hospitals and residential care establishments that have agreements with the employees that they will work 14'day periods in lieu of 7'day workweeks (if the employees are paid overtime premium pay within the requirements of the Act for all hours worked over eight in a day or 80 in the 14'day work period, whichever is the greater number of overtime hours)Employees who lack a high school diploma, or who have not completed the eighth grade, who spend part of their workweeks in remedial reading or training in other basic skills that are not job specific. Employers may require such employees to engage in these activities up to 10 hours in a workweek. Employers must pay normal wages for the hours spent in such training but need not pay overtime premium pay for training hoursBasic Provisions/RequirementsThe Act requires employers of covered employees who are not otherwise exempt to pay these employees a minimum wage of not less than $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Youths under 20 years of age may be paid a minimum wage of not less than $4.25 an hour during the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer. Employers may not displace any employee to hire someone at the youth minimum wage. For additional information regarding the use of the youth minimum wage provisions, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #32: Youth Minimum Wage ½ FLSA(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs32.pdf).
- Employers may pay employees on a piece'rate basis, as long as they receive at least the equivalent of the required minimum hourly wage rate and overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. Employers of tipped employees (i.e., those who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips) may consider such tips as part of their wages, but employers must pay a direct wage of at least $2.13 per hour if they claim a tip credit. They must also meet certain other requirements. For a full listing of the requirements an employer must meet to use the tip credit provision, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the FLSA.(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf)
- The Act also permits the employment of certain individuals at wage rates below the statutory minimum wage under certificates issued by the Department of Labor:
- Student learners (vocational education students);Full'time students in retail or service establishments, agriculture, or institutions of higher education; andIndividuals whose earning or productive capacities for the work to be performed are impaired by physical or mental disabilities, including those related to age or injury.The Act does not limit either the number of hours in a day or the number of days in a week that an employer may require an employee to work, as long as the employee is at least 16 years old. Similarly, the Act does not limit the number of hours of overtime that may be scheduled. However, the Act requires employers to pay covered employees not less than one and one'half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, unless the employees are otherwise exempt. For additional information regarding overtime pay requirements, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA.(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs23.pdf)
- The Act prohibits performance of certain types of work in an employee's home unless the employer has obtained prior certification from the Department of Labor. Restrictions apply in the manufacture of knitted outerwear, gloves and mittens, buttons and buckles, handkerchiefs, embroideries, and jewelry (where safety and health hazards are not involved). Employers wishing to employ homeworkers in these industries are required to provide written assurances to the Department of Labor that they will comply with the Act's wage and hour requirements, among other things.
- The Act generally prohibits manufacture of women's apparel (and jewelry under hazardous conditions) in the home except under special certificates that may be issued when the employee cannot adjust to factory work because of age or disability (physical or mental), or must care for a disabled individual in the home.
- Special wage and hour provisions apply to state and local government employment. For these special provisions, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #7: State and Local Governments Under the FLSA.(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs7.pdf)
- Employee RightsEmployees may find out how to file a complaint by contacting the local Wage and Hour Division office(http://www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm), or by calling the program's toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). In addition, an employee may file a private suit, generally for the previous two years of back pay (three years in the case of a willful violation) and an equal amount as liquidated damages, plus attorney's fees and court costs.
- It is a violation of the Act to fire or in any other manner discriminate against an employee for filing a complaint or for participating in a legal proceeding under the Act.
- Recordkeeping, Reporting, Notices and PostersNotices and PostersEvery employer of employees subject to the FLSA½s minimum wage provisions must post, and keep posted, a notice(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/flsa.htm) explaining the Act in a conspicuous place in all of their establishments. Although there is no size requirement for the poster, employees must be able to readily read it. The FLSA poster is also available in Spanish(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/flsaspan.htm), Chinese(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/minwagecn.pdf), Russian(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/FLSAPosterRuss.pdf), Thai,(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/MinWageThai.pdf)Hmong,(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/MinWageHmong.pdf)Vietnamese(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/minwageViet.pdf), and Korean(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/minwageKorean.pdf). There is no requirement to post the poster in languages other than English(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/flsa.htm).
- Covered employers are required to post the general Fair Labor Standards Act poster; however, certain industries have posters designed specifically for them. Employers of Agricultural Employees (PDF)(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/wh1386Agrcltr.pdf) and State & Local Government Employees (PDF)(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/wh1385State.pdf) can either post the general Fair Labor Standards Act poster(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/flsa.htm) or their specific industry poster. There are also posters for American Samoa (PDF)(http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/americanSamoa/ASminwagePoster.pdf) and Northern Mariana Islands (PDF)(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/cnmi.pdf).
- Every employer who employs workers with disabilities under special minimum wage certificates is also required to post the Employee Rights for Workers with Disabilities/Special Minimum Wage Poster(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/disab.htm).
- RecordkeepingEvery employer covered by the FLSA must keep certain records for each covered(http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/overtime/glossary.htm?wd=covered), nonexempt(http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/overtime/glossary.htm?wd=non_exempt)worker. Employers must keep records on wages, hours, and other information as set forth in the Department of Labor's regulations. Most of this data is the type that employers generally maintain in ordinary business practice.
- There is no required form for the records. However, the records must include accurate information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned. The following is a listing of the basic payroll records that an employer must maintain:
- Employee's full name, as used for Social Security purposes, and on the same record, the employee's identifying symbol or number if such is used in place of name on any time, work, or payroll recordsAddress, including zip codeBirth date, if younger than 19Sex and occupationTime and day of week when employee's workweek beginsHours worked each day and total hours worked each workweekBasis on which employee's wages are paid (e.g., "$9 per hour", "$440 a week", "piecework")Regular hourly pay rateTotal daily or weekly straight-time earningsTotal overtime earnings for the workweekAll additions to or deductions from the employee's wagesTotal wages paid each pay periodDate of payment and the pay period covered by the paymentFor a full listing of the basic records that an employer must maintain, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements Under the FLSA(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs21.pdf). Employers are required to preserve for at least three years payroll records, collective bargaining agreements, and sales and purchase records. Records on which wage computations are based should be retained for two years. These include time cards and piecework tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules, and records of additions to or deductions from wages.
- ReportingThe FLSA does not contain any specific reporting requirements; however, the above referenced records must be open for inspection by the Wage and Hour Division's representatives, who may ask the employer to make extensions, computations, or transcriptions. The records may be kept at the place of employment or in a central records office.
- Penalties/SanctionsThe Department of Labor uses a variety of remedies to enforce compliance with the Act's requirements. When Wage and Hour Division investigators encounter violations, they recommend changes in employment practices to bring the employer into compliance, and they request the payment of any back wages due to employees.
- Willful violators may be prosecuted criminally and fined up to $10,000. A second conviction may result in imprisonment. Employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements are subject to civil money penalties of up to $1,100 per violation.
- For child labor violations, employers are subject to a civil money penalty of up to $11,000 per worker for each violation of the child labor provisions. In addition, employers are subject to a civil money penalty of $50,000 for each violation occurring after May 21, 2008 that causes the death or serious injury of any minor employee ½ such penalty may be doubled, up to $100,000, when the violations are determined to be willful or repeated.
- When the Department of Labor assesses a civil money penalty, the employer has the right to file an exception to the determination within 15 days of receipt of the notice. If an exception is filed, it is referred to an Administrative Law Judge for a hearing and determination as to whether the penalty is appropriate. If an exception is not filed, the penalty becomes final.
- The Department of Labor may also bring suit for back pay and an equal amount in liquidated damages, and it may obtain injunctions to restrain persons from violating the Act.
- The Act also prohibits the shipment of goods in interstate commerce that were produced in violation of the minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor, or special minimum wage provisions.
- Relation to State, Local, and Other Federal LawsState laws on wages and hours also apply to employment subject to this Act. When both this Act and a state law apply, the law setting the higher standards must be observed.
- Compliance Assistance AvailableMore detailed information about the FLSA, including copies of explanatory brochures and regulatory and interpretative materials, is available on the Wage and Hour Division's Web site(http://www.dol.gov/whd/), or by contacting a local Wage and Hour Division office(http://www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm). Another compliance assistance resource, the elawsFair Labor Standards Act Advisor(http://www.dol.gov/elaws/flsa.htm), helps answers questions about workers and businesses that are subject to the FLSA.
- The Department of Labor provides employers, workers, and others with clear and easy-to-access information and assistance on how to comply with the FLSA. Among the many resources available are:
- Additional compliance assistance information is available on the Compliance Assistance ½By Law½(http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm) Web page.
- DOL ContactsWage and Hour Division(http://www.dol.gov/whd/)Contact WHD(http://www.dol.gov/whd/contactform.asp)Tel: 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243); TTY: 1-877-889-5627
- The Employment Law Guide is offered as a public resource. It does not create new legal obligations and it is not a substitute for the U.S. Code, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations as the official sources of applicable law. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is complete and accurate as of the time of publication, and this will continue. Later versions of this Guide will be offered at www.dol.gov/compliance or by calling our Toll-Free Help Line at 1-866-4-USA-DOL (1-866-487-2365) (1-866-487-2365).
- 1These regulations were revised effective August 23, 2004(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/main.htm).
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- Minimum Wage - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor
- Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
- The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Many states also have minimum wage laws. Some state laws provide greater employee protections; employers must comply with both.
- The FLSA does not provide wage payment collection procedures for an employee's usual or promised wages or commissions in excess of those required by the FLSA. However, some states do have laws under which such claims (sometimes including fringe benefits) may be filed.
- Administrator Interpretations, Opinion and Ruling LettersField Operation Handbook ChaptersChapter 10 '-- FLSA Coverage - Employment Relationship, Statutory Exclusions, Geographical Limits (PDF)Chapter 11 '-- Individual Coverage - FLSA (PDF)Chapter 12 '-- Enterprise Coverage - FLSA (PDF)Chapter 21 '-- Retail or Service Establishment Exemptions (PDF)Chapter 23 '-- Newspaper and Other Communication Exemptions (PDF)Chapter 25 '-- Other Exemptions (PDF)Chapter 30 '-- Records, Minimum Wage, and Payment of Wages (PDF)Chapter 31 '-- Hours Worked (PDF)Applicable Laws and Regulations
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- 64% Earning At/Below Minimum Wage Are Under 30; 63% Work in Restaurants, Bars, Retail | CNS News
- (CNSNews.com) - Sixty-four percent of Americans who earned the minimum wage or less in 2013 were 29 years old or younger, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and 63 percent of those who earned the minimum wage or less worked in restaurants, bars or retail.
- People 30 years or older equaled only about 36 percent of the total who earned the minimum wage or less in 2013--and equaled only 0.8 percent of the people employed in the United States.
- President Barack Obama has made one of his key economic initiatives for this year an effort to get Congress to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour.
- In 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 143,929,000 people employed in the United States during the average month. Of those, 75,948,000'--or 52.8 percent--were paid an hourly rate.
- Of the 75,948,000 who were paid an hourly wage in 2013, 3,300,000 earned at or below the minimum wage.
- That means only about 4.4 percent (3,300,000) of hourly wage earners (75,948,000) earned the minimum wage or less in 2013--or only about 2.3 percent (3,300,000) of all U.S. employees (143,929,000).
- But the 2.3 percent of American employees paid at or below the minimum wage in 2013 was not evenly distributed across age groups and industries.
- 50.4 percent'--1,663,000'--earning at or below the minimum wage were 24 years old or younger.
- Another 436,000 were from 25 to 29 years of age. That means 63.6 percent'--or 2,099,000'--of the workers earning at or below the minimum wage in 2013 were 29 years old or younger.
- The 1,201,000 employees who were 30 years or older and earned the minimum wage or less equaled 36.4 percent of those who earned the minimum wage or less--and only 0.8 percent of the 143,929,000 employed in the United States.
- Where did Americans earning at or below the minimum wage work?
- The industry that employed the largest number of workers at or below the minimum wage in 2013, according to BLS, was the ''food services and drinking places'' industry.
- ''Industries in the Food Services and Drinking Places subsector prepare meals, snacks, and beverages to customer order for immediate on-premises and off-premises consumption,'' says BLS. This included ''full service restaurants,'' ''limited-service eating places,'' ''special food services,'' and ''drinking places (alcoholic beverages).''
- In 2013, according to BLS, businesses of this type employed 1,610,000 people at or below the minimum wage. That means 48.78 percent of all workers earning at or below the minimum wage were working in restaurants and bars.
- This industry, according to the BLS, employed 10,503,600 people in January at an average hourly wage of $12.37. But it had an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent'--41 percent above the national unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.
- The industry that employed the second largest number of people at or below the minimum wage was the ''retail trade industry,'' which, according to BLS, ''comprises establishments engaged in retailing merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the sale of merchandise.''
- This ''retail trade'' industry employed a total of 15,259,500 people in January and had an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent'--or about 29 percent above the national rate of 6.6 percent.
- 468,000 of the people employed in the retail trade industry in 2013, according to BLS, made at or below the minimum wage.
- The combined 2,078,000 peoplewho earned at or below the minimum wage working in restaurants, bars and retail in 2013 equaled 62.96 percent of the overall total of 3,300,000 who earned at or below the minimum wage.
- ''The presence of a sizable number of workers with wages below the federal minimum does not necessarily indicate violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as there are exemptions to the minimum wage provisions of the law,'' says BLS in its annual report for 2012 on the characteristics of people earning the minimum wage.
- For example, explains the Congressional Research Service, ''a 'tipped employee''--a worker who 'customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips''--may have his or her cash wage from an employer reduced to $2.13 per hour, as long as the combination of tips and cash wage from the employer equals the federal minimum wage.''
- Of the 1,610,000 workers who made at or below the minimum wage working in the ''food services and drinking places'' industry in 2013, 1,079,000 were paid below the prevailing minimum wage, and 531,000 were paid at the minimum wage.
- Also, according to CRS, employers can be certified by the Department of Labor ''to pay full-time students who are employed in retail or service establishments, an agricultural occupation, or an institution of higher education a wage at least 85% of the federal minimum wage ($6.16 at the current minimum wage).''
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- AP News : Intellectually disabled struggling to find work
- SAM HANANELPublished: TodayWASHINGTON (AP) - Most Americans with intellectual or developmental disabilities remain shut out of the workforce, despite changing attitudes and billions spent on government programs to help them. Even when they find work, it's often part time, in a dead-end job or for pay well below the minimum wage.
- Employment is seen as crucial for improving the quality of life for people with these disabilities and considered a benchmark for measuring the success of special education programs. Yet the jobs picture is as bleak now it was more than a decade ago.
- Only 44 percent of intellectually disabled adults are currently in the labor force, either employed or looking for work, while just 34 percent are actually working, according to a survey by Special Olympics and conducted by Gallup and the University of Massachusetts at Boston. That compares with 83 percent of nondisabled, working-age adults who are in the workforce.
- "The needle has not changed in more than four decades," said Gary Siperstein, professor at the University of Massachusetts and one of the authors of the study. "We just can't move the barometer. And we've invested a lot of resources with lots of good programs around the country."
- Intellectual disability can include conditions such as autism or Down syndrome. But the vast majority of cases are those with limited intellectual capacity - generally an IQ of about 75 or less - and limitations in handling basic life skills, such as counting money or taking public transportation.
- About 28 percent of working-age adults with intellectual disabilities have never held a job. Even those who do manage to find jobs often end up working only part time and get lower pay than workers without disabilities, the study found. On the positive side, 62 percent of disabled people who work in a competitive setting have been there three years or more, showing they can work and stay with it.
- "A lot of the problem has to do with low expectations," said Lynnae Ruttledge, a member of the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency that advises the government on disability policy. "Schoolteachers don't have high expectations, and parents tend to be very protective of their children."
- But attitudes are changing, she said. There are now more programs to help disabled children to gain work experience while still in school, making it easier to find a job. Many intellectually disabled people work in fast food, and retail chains such as Walgreens, Best Buy and Safeway that have stepped up to hire them.
- Another hurdle is that about 30 percent of intellectually disabled people who work do so in sheltered workshops, where they perform basic tasks but are segregated from nondisabled workers. They can legally be paid less than the minimum wage under a 1938 federal law that allows wages to be based on comparing their productivity level with that of a nondisabled worker.
- Disability rights advocates call these workshops an outdated relic and say it's discriminatory to pay them less than other workers. Critics say they don't do enough to build skills or help transition intellectually disabled workers into a mainstream work setting.
- Defenders argue that thousands of severely disabled people would be left sitting at home without the carefully structured environments. Of the 420,000 disabled people who work at sheltered workshops, only 5 percent ever leave for other jobs alongside nondisabled workers.
- Matthew McMeekin, 35, of Bethesda, Md., has spent 14 years working at Rehabilitation Opportunities Inc., a nonprofit sheltered workshop where he and other disabled workers are bused each workday to stuff envelopes, collate files or shrink-wrap products - all for far less than the state minimum wage of $8.25 an hour.
- "He's not working there for the money," says his mother, Bebe McMeekin. "He has a job to go to every day for eight hours a day, five days a week. On Fridays he brings home a paycheck. He has a work environment with his friends that he's gotten to know there."
- Asked whether he would ever consider working anywhere else, McMeekin says an emphatic "No!" and rattles off the names of all his work friends. His mother says it would be hard for him to get another job considering his limitations and vision problems.
- The National Council on Disability has called on the federal government to phase out sheltered workshops, a move some states are already making. Vermont became the first state to end the use of sheltered workshops and subminimum wage employment in 2003.
- "Sheltered workshops at least give them some social context and self-esteem, but it is still segregating, not really mainstreaming them," said Stephen Corbin, senior vice president of community impact at Special Olympics. "We prefer a competitive employment situation."
- Disability rights groups won a victory on Wednesday when President Barack Obama signed an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for federal contract workers. The order includes several thousand disabled workers at sheltered workshops run by federal contractors.
- At the other end of the spectrum is Ken Melvin, of Crawfordsville, Ind., a truck driver who is among the few intellectually disabled people living independently and working full time at a regular job. Melvin, 45, earns about $50,000 a year making deliveries and pickups. He's married with four children, has been a member of the National Guard and even served in Afghanistan.
- "My biggest disability is reading," Melvin says. "I can read something and not understand it until I've read it 18 or 19 times."
- Even simple tasks can be hard, such as putting his shoes on. He was 11 years old before he learned to put his clothes on correctly.
- But at school, one of his teachers who had a farm helped him learn to drive a tractor, then a truck. He got his commercial driver's license at 19 and has been driving for a living ever since.
- "Anyone looking to hire someone with a disability, they are going to get someone that's more determined and more focused because they've got to be," Melvin said.
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- Summers: US faces a 'Downton Abbey' economy - CNBC
- The U.S. is at risk of becoming a "Downton Abbey" economy, as the gap between the top 1 percent and the poor widens, former US treasury secretary Larry Summers has warned.
- In a comment piece for the Financial Times, Summers highlighted that the share of income going to the top earners in the U.S. has increased sharply, while real wages and family incomes remain stagnant. These conditions will last beyond the normalisation of the economic cycle and budget deficits, Summers added.
- (Read more: Making the rich poorer isn't the American Dream: Summers)
- "The cumulative effect of all these developments is that the U.S. may well be on the way to becoming a Downton Abbey economy. President Barack Obama is right to be concerned. Those who condemn him for 'tearing down the wealthy' and engaging in un-American populism are, to put it politely, lacking in historical perspective," Summers wrote.
- Jim Davis | Boston Globe | Getty Images
- Summers, who was at one time in the frame to take over Ben Bernanke as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, added that President John Kennedy sent the FBI to audit executives' personal tax returns following a spike in steel prices, while President Richard Nixon insisted on tax investigations "of the books of companies which raised their prices more than 1.5 per cent above the January ceiling" he said.
- Recent analysis by Oxfam, released ahead of last month's World Economic Forum held in Davos, found that 85 of the richest people in the world have accumulated as much wealth between them as half of the world's population.
- (Read more: Larry Summers and the never-ending bubble economy)
- The charity said the tiny elite of multibillionaires, who could fit into a double-decker bus, have piled up fortunes equivalent to the wealth of the world's poorest 3.5 billion people, boasting a collective worth of $1.7 trillion.
- Oxfam also calculated that almost half the world's wealth, $110 trillion, is owned by just 1 per cent of its population. The group said 70 percent of people live in countries where the gap between the rich and poor has widened in the last 30 years.
- Policies that prefer the rich, such as the capital gains exemption, the ability to defer tax on unrealised capital gains, and the tax-free nature of gains on assets that passed on at death reinforce inequality, however identifying policies that reduce inequality "is not enough" said Summers.
- Larry Summers vs George Osborne
- Larry Summers said was is in agreement with U.K. finance minister George Osborne on stimulating investment, but conceded that he had not always been a fan of Britain's austerity policy.
- "To be effective they must also raise the incomes of the middle class and the poor. Tax reform has a major role to play. The current tax code is so badly designed that it is very likely to be having the effect of reducing economic growth. It also allows the rich to shield a far greater proportion of their income from taxation than the poor. For example, last year's increase in the stock market represented an increase in wealth of about $6 trillion, of which the lion's share went to the very wealthy," he added.
- President Obama used his State of the Union address last month to highlight the growing disparity between America's richest and poorest citizens, saying that, after four years of economic growth with sky-high corporate profits and stock prices, average wages had not changed.
- "Those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled," he said.
- (Read more: Why government probably can't close the rich-poor gap)
- "The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by '' let alone get ahead. And too many still aren't working at all," he added.
- In his Financial Times piece, Summers suggested closing loopholes enjoyed by the wealthy, which would enable taxes to be cut elsewhere. He suggested measures such as earned income tax credit, which could raise the incomes of the poor and middle class by more than they cost the Treasury, by giving people incentives to work and save.
- He said it was ironic that advocates of the free market are often those that are least in favour of curbing tax benefits for the rich, and sooner or later inequality needs to be addressed.
- However policies that aim instead to thwart market forces rarely work, he said, and usually "fall victim to the law of unintended consequences," said Summers.
- '--By CNBC's Jenny Cosgrave: Follow her on Twitter @jenny_cosgrave
- The U.S. is at risk of becoming a "Downton Abbey" economy, former US treasury secretary Larry Summers has warned.
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- Why Taxpayers Will Bail Out the Rich When the Next Storm Hits - CNBC
- And FEMA has given property owners a break even when the changes are opposed by the town hall official in charge of flood control. Although FEMA asks the local official to sign off on the map changes, it told NBC that its policy is to consider the applications even if the local expert opposes the change.
- "If it's been flooded, it's susceptible to being flooded again. We all know that," said Larry A. Larsen, director emeritus of the 15,000-member national Association of State Floodplain Managers. "FEMA is ignoring data that's readily available. That's not smart. And it puts taxpayer money at risk."
- The Gulf Coast experience
- The neighboring resorts of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach on the South Alabama coast include a stretch of beach that was flooded by Hurricanes Erin and Opal in 1995, Danny in 1997, Georges in 1998, Ivan in 2004, and Katrina in 2005. The map changes here offer a vivid example of the risks that come with such reclassifications.
- The direct hit by Ivan was the worst, bringing not gently rising floodwaters but a 14-foot wall of water that leveled buildings and flooded more than a mile inland. That's why flood maps show most of this beach as a "coastal velocity wave zone," the area with the highest risk of damage from storm surge.
- (Read more: Floodinsurance battle reaching high-water mark)
- But nearly all of the condominium towers are no longer in that high-risk zone, including a 17-story condominium built where the old Holiday Inn was wiped away by Ivan's winds and waves, and another where the McDonald's was a total loss. From 2011 through 2013, FEMA granted applications remapping 66 out of 72 waterfront condo towers in Gulf Shores to lower-risk flood zones or off the flood maps entirely. Four others have applications pending. Just two applications have been denied. And next door in Orange Beach, the map lines have been redrawn around four high-rise condo buildings.
- On a single day, Oct. 25, 2012 '-- a day when FEMA was closely monitoring Hurricane Sandy as it barreled toward the Atlantic Coast '-- a FEMA manager issued a document reclassifying a full mile of the coastal property in Gulf Shores. That document, just one of the 533 cases found nationwide by NBC News, redrew the lines to exclude 25 condo buildings from the highest-risk flood zone.
- The beachfront condo the Island Tower collected $11,562 for its damage from Katrina, and more than $250,000 from Ivan.
- The Island Tower's condo association was paying $143,190 a year into the National Flood Insurance Program. Now that it's been reclassified into a lower-risk flood zone, its premium is $8,457 a year, a saving of 94 percent, according to records examined by NBC News.
- Just down the beach is the Royal Palms. It collected $58,230 for damages during Katrina, and $889,730 from Ivan. The Royal Palms was paying $218,484 a year, but after being changed to a lower-risk flood zone, now pays only $6,845, saving 97 percent.
- (Read more: US Senate passesbill to delay hikes in flood insurance)
- The map changes in just these two towns resulted in at least $5 million a year in lost revenue to the flood insurance program, according to records examined by NBC News. All of these changes were approved by FEMA despite opposition from the city officials in charge of floodplain management.
- Elsewhere in Gulf Shores, homeowners are paying as much as $12,000 a year in flood insurance premiums for their single-family homes, according to insurance records. These homeowners are paying as much as several large condo buildings combined.
- Properties from Alaska to Maine
- Because waterfront properties are expensive, and it costs thousands of dollars to hire an engineer to press a case with FEMA, the remapped properties tend to be luxurious, either the first or second homes of industrialists, real estate developers and orthopedic surgeons.
- The 533 properties include a $4 million home in the Hamptons resort on Long Island, N.Y., owned by a married couple who direct Wall Street investment firms.
- In Miami, the beneficiaries include the twin 37-story condos at ritzy Turnberry Isle in Sunny Isles Beach, and also the Regalia, "the most luxurious building in South Florida."
- In Naples, Fla., a $19 million home was remapped last year out of the high-risk zone. The owner, Robert A. Watson, former president and CEO of units of Westinghouse Electric and Transamerica, said his property is protected by a floodwall, and he sought the map change last year not to save money but because FEMA has changed the map elevations in that area so many times. He said he wanted to know for sure that a guesthouse would be permitted. (He called mandatory flood insurance "a massive scam on the American people.")
- In New York, FEMA granted the Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club's request to be remapped from the high-risk flood zone in August 2012 '-- just two months before the club was damaged and its outbuildings destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, which stacked up yachts at its docks like pick-up sticks. The club told NBC that its engineering study showed that FEMA's map was wrong.
- (Read more: Eminent domain is NJ's new storm over Sandy)
- "Sandy was a once in a millennium event, and therefore cannot be the sole determination for planning," said Eric L. Gordon, attorney for the yacht club.
- On North Carolina's Hatteras Island, the Frisco section was swamped by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. The storm produced a new body of water, Isabel Inlet, isolating the island for months. An entire neighborhood, flooded then, was remapped in 2011 by FEMA out of the high-risk flood zone.
- Number of changes more than doubled last year
- These map changes were rare until the mid-2000s, but their numbers have skyrocketed in recent years. We found a handful of cases each year in the early 2000s, then 44 cases in 2008, 68 in 2009, 90 in 2010, 87 in 2011, 68 in 2012, and 152 in 2013. The true number of flood map changes is probably far higher than our count of 533. We were able to examine documents for only about half of FEMA's map changes in coastal states, because searchable documents were not available on the FEMA website. And our count excluded thousands of map changes each year near rivers and streams.
- On the Pacific Coast, where the hurricane threat is lower but tsunamis are a risk, dozens of properties on Puget Sound have benefitted from map changes. Though low-lying Florida, with the highest number of flood zone properties, has the most cases that NBC documented, with 124, Washington state was a close second with 116, followed by Maine (79), California (35) and Massachusetts (35). We were able to confirm map changes in every coastal state except New Hampshire, with its tiny shoreline, and Louisiana, where most of the coastline is marsh, and where Katrina's high waves set a new bar for flood maps, overriding previous map changes.
- FEMA reviewing cases identified by NBC
- Although FEMA would not make any official available for an interview on the record, spokesman Dan Watson issued this statement: "In order to ensure the public knows their flood risk and insurance is priced accurately, FEMA works with communities and property owners to incorporate the best available data into the nation's flood maps. Individuals can request amendments and changes to the maps, but those requests must meet regulatory as well as scientifically established, technical requirements. ... FEMA has no tolerance for fraud and we refer any allegations or suspicions of fraud to the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General."
- Property owners send their applications for map changes along with measurements and elevation data certified by an engineer or surveyor. These are evaluated by contractors for FEMA, which then issues the letter approving or denying the changes. Although the contractors do most of the work, FEMA said it has auditing procedures to check a random sample of the work done by its contractors.
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- SnowJob
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- On the UK's Equating of Journalism With Terrorism - The Intercept
- As my colleague Ryan Devereaux reports, a lower UK court this morning, as long expected, upheld the legality of the nine-hour detention of my partner, David Miranda, at Heathrow Airport last August, even as it acknowledged that the detention was ''an indirect interference with press freedom''. For good measure, the court also refused permission to appeal (though permission can still be granted by the appellate court). David was detained and interrogated under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
- The UK Government expressly argued that the release of the Snowden documents (which the free world calls ''award-winningjournalism'') is actually tantamount to ''terrorism'', the same theory now being used by the Egyptian military regime to prosecute Al Jazeera journalists as terrorists. Congratulations to the UK government on the illustrious company it is once again keeping. British officials have also repeatedly threatened criminal prosecution of everyone involved in this reporting, including Guardian journalists and editors.
- Equating journalism with terrorism has a long and storied tradition. Indeed, as Jon Schwarz has documented, the U.S. Government has frequently denounced nations for doing exactly this. Just last April, Under Secretary of State Tara Sonenshine dramatically informed the public that many repressive, terrible nations actually ''misuse terrorism laws to prosecute and imprison journalists.'' When visiting Ethiopia in 2012, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns publicly disclosed that in meetings with that nation's officials, the United States ''express[ed] our concern that the application of anti-terrorism laws can sometimes undermine freedom of expression and independent media.'' The same year, the State Department reported that Burundi was prosecuting a journalist under terrorism laws.
- It should surprise nobody that the UK is not merely included in, but is one of the leaders of, this group of nations which regularly wages war on basic press freedoms. In the 1970s, British journalist Duncan Campbell was criminally prosecuted for the crime of reporting on the mere existence of the GCHQ, while fellow journalist Mark Hosenball, now of Reuters, was forced to leave the country. The monarchy has no constitutional guarantee of a free press. The UK government routinely threatens newspapers with all sorts of sanctions for national security reporting it dislikes. Its Official Secrets Act makes it incredibly easy to prosecute journalists and others for disclosing anything which political officials want to keep secret. For that reason, it was able to force the Guardian to destroy its own computers containing Snowden material precisely because the paper's editors knew that British courts would slavishly defer to any requests made by the GCHQ to shut down the paper's reporting.
- That such repressive measures come from British political culture is to be expected. The political elite of that country cling desperately to 17th century feudal traditions. Grown adults who have been elected or appointed to nothing run around with a straight face insisting that they be called ''Lord'' and ''Baroness'' and other grandiose hereditary titles of the landed gentry. They bow and curtsey to a ''Queen'', who lives in a ''palace'', and they call her sons ''Prince''. They embrace a wide range of conceits and rituals of a long-ago collapsed empire. The wig-wearing presiding judge who issued this morning's ruling equating journalism with terrorism is addressed as ''Lord Justice Laws'', best known for previously approving the use of evidence to detain people that had been derived from torture at Guantanamo (he can be seen here).
- None of this behavior bears any relationship to actual reality: it's as though the elite political class of an entire nation somehow got stuck in an adolescent medieval fantasy game. But the political principles of monarchy, hereditary privilege, rigid class stratification, and feudal entitlement embedded in all of this play-acting clearly shape the repressive mentality and reverence for state authority which Her Majesty's Government produces. That journalism disliked by the state can be actually deemed not just a crime but ''terrorism'' seems a natural by-product of this type of warped elite mindset, as does the fact that much of the British press led the way in demanding that the Guardian's journalism be criminalized (not unlike how many members of the American media have become the most devoted defenders of the NSA and have taken the lead in demonizing the journalistic transparency brought to that and other government agencies).
- As we made clear long ago, the obvious objective of these attacks '' to intimidate the journalists working on this story and deter future disclosures '' will remain completely unfulfilled. Since David's detention and the compelled destruction of the Guardian's computers, there have been a spate of top secret GCHQ documents reported on and published around the world: many of which, to its credit, have been published by the Guardian itself.
- They include detailed reports on GCHQ's attempts to compromise basic encryption methods used to safeguard internet security, the GCHQ's role in spying on the Brazilian oil company Petrobras, the GCHQ's targeting of UN charities and officials, the GCHQ's use of ''dirty tricks'' including ''honey traps'' and fake victim blog posts, the GCHQ's attacks on ''hactivists'', GCHQ's surveillance of YouTube and Blogger activity and related activities to covertly influence internet discourse, GCHQ's surveillance through phone apps such as ''Angry Birds'', and '' just yesterday '' GCHQ's covert monitoring of visitors to the WikiLeaks website. Needless to say, there is much more GCHQ reporting to do, and nothing about today's ruling '' or anything else the UK Government can do '' will stop that.
- It is not difficult to apprehend the reason the UK government is so desperate to criminalize this reporting. The GCHQ itself made the reason clear in a once-secret memo previously reported by the Guardian. The British agency ''has repeatedly warned it fears a 'damaging public debate' on the scale of its activities because it could lead to legal challenges against its mass-surveillance programmes.'' Among other things, ''GCHQ feared a legal challenge under the right to privacy in the Human Rights Act if evidence of its surveillance methods became admissible in court.'' In particular, the spying agency feared that disclosures ''could lead to damaging public debate which might lead to legal challenges against the current regime.'' Privacy groups have now commenced such lawsuits against the GCHQ.
- In sum, the UK Government wants to stop disclosure of its mass surveillance activities not because it fears terrorism or harm to national security but because it fears public debate, legal challenges and accountability. That is why the UK government considers this journalism to be ''terrorism'': because it undermines the interests and power of British political officials, not the safety of the citizenry. I've spent years arguing that the word ''terrorism'' in the hands of western governments has been deprived of all consistent meaning other than ''that which challenges our interests'', and I never imagined that we would be gifted with such a perfectly compelling example of this proposition.
- As David told The Intercept this morning, he intends to appeal this ruling, and to keep appealing it, until the end if necessary '' up to the highest UK court and then to the European Court of Human Rights '' not because he cares what the British Government calls him, but because of the press freedoms at stake. But whatever the outcome, the reporting will continue as aggressively as ever no matter how many threats are made by the British (or American) governments to prosecute.
- UPDATE: The court ruling, which is here, leaves no doubt that the GCHQ (and/or the NSA) was actively monitoring the communications of myself, David and/or the Guardian. Here, for instance, is paragraph 11:
- Similarly, Paragraph 8 recounts David's travel to Berlin to meet with Laura Poitras and his intention to carry journalistic materials back to Rio, and then Paragraph 9 quotes the pre-detention report filed by security officials:
- It may be perfectly normal for a country lacking constitutional guarantees of press freedom (such as the U.K.) to have their surveillance agencies eavesdrop on the communications of journalists and their family members, but that conduct, by itself, is rather radical.
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- GG REPORTING ON THEMSELVES-UK Court: David Miranda Detention Legal Under Terrorism Law - The Intercept
- A British lower court has ruled that London police acted lawfully in employing an anti-terror statute to detain and interrogate David Miranda for nearly nine hours at Heathrow Airport last summer, even while recognizing that the detention was ''an indirect interference with press freedom.''
- Miranda, a Brazilian national, was carrying secret documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden from one reporter to another '-- from Laura Poitras in Berlin to Miranda's partner, Glenn Greenwald, in Rio de Janeiro.
- Greenwald and Poitras have published extensive revelations from the documents that Snowden provided them, primarily at the Guardian and the New York Times; both are now editors at The Intercept. Greenwald was working for Guardian US at the time.
- In a decision released Wednesday morning, three judges on London's High Court of Justice ruled that while Miranda's detention was ''an indirect interference with press freedom'' it was justified and legitimate due to ''very pressing'' issues of national security.
- The review of Miranda's detention was widely seen as a test of how far governments that have adopted aggressive anti-terror policies will go '-- and will be allowed to go '-- in terms of treating journalists who expose secrets as criminals and terrorists themselves.
- And yet, the ruling was not entirely surprising; the UK has historically been an outlier when it comes to both press freedoms and anti-terror policies.
- Miranda said his suit will continue. ''I will appeal this ruling, and keep appealing until the end, not because I care about what the British government calls me, but because the values of press freedom that are at stake are too important to do anything but fight until the end,'' he said in a statement to The Intercept.
- Though Miranda's case was heard in what is called the High Court, that is only the first level of judicial review in the UK. Two more remain within the British legal system, followed by the European Court of Human Rights.
- ''I'm of course not happy that a court has formally said that I was a legitimate terrorism suspect, but the days of the British Empire are long over, and this ruling will have no effect outside of the borders of this country,'' Miranda added. ''I'm convinced they've hurt their own country far more than me with this ruling, as it emphasizes what the world already knows: the UK has contempt for basic press freedoms.''
- Home Secretary Theresa May praised the ruling saying, ''This judgment overwhelmingly supports the wholly proportionate action taken by the police in this case to protect national security.''
- May added, ''Although the courts have fully supported the use of schedule 7 [of the UK anti-terrorism act] in this case, we constantly work to ensure that our counter-terrorism powers are effective and fair. That is why parliament has recently approved further safeguards proposed by the government for the use of this essential border and ports security power.''
- London's Metropolitan Police said it was ''pleased'' with the court's decision, adding that the anti-terror statute invoked to justify Miranda's detention is a ''key part of our national security capability and a vital tool used by the police to help keep the public safe.''
- ''We carefully considered the use of schedule 7 in this case and our assessment was that the use of the power was legally and procedurally sound,'' the police said.
- According to documents made public during Miranda's civil suit, police determined that he was subject to the anti-terror law because he was ''likely to be involved in espionage activity'' and met the technical definition of a terrorist because he was ''knowingly carrying material, the release of which would endanger people's lives'' and was promoting a ''political or ideological cause.''
- After the police's justification was made public in November, leading UK human rights groups and a member of the British parliament expressed outrage, saying it appeared baseless and threatened to have damaging consequences for investigative journalism, the Guardian reported .
- Greenwald told The Intercept the UK has the unique distinction of being the only foreign government that has equated the NSA coverage he and Poitras are responsible for to terrorism.
- ''The journalism Laura and I have done with the Guardian and other major news organizations has spawned international debate and reform, and has been honored with top journalism awards all over the world, but it is only in the UK where our journalism is considered not just criminal but 'terrorism','' he said in a statement.
- ''We made clear long ago that we would not ever be deterred in any way in reporting aggressively on these documents by this kind of thuggish behavior from the British government, and we have been and will continue to be very true to our word,'' Greenwald added. ''It is ironic that as the world rightfully condemns the Egyptian military regime for imprisoning Al Jazeera journalists on the ground that their journalism is a form of 'terrorism', the UK Government yet again shows the repressive company it keeps by doing the same.''
- Miranda was stopped at Heathrow airport at 8 a.m. August 18, 2013 while en route to the home he shares with Greenwald in Rio de Janeiro. He was traveling from Berlin, where he had met with Poitras. The Guardian paid for Miranda's flight, as he was transporting materials related to the NSA stories.
- The officers who stopped Miranda informed him that he would be questioned under schedule 7 of the UK's terrorism act. The controversial law, enacted in 2000, aims to prevent individuals who may be involved in the ''commission, instigation or preparation of acts of terrorism'' from entering the country. The law '' which critics say unfairly targets minority communities '' does not require ''probable cause'' or an identifiable suspicion to justify a detention. Subjects are not afforded an automatic right to legal counsel and refusal to cooperate with the process is considered a criminal offense.
- Under schedule 7, subjects can be held for up to nine hours. While the vast majority of detentions are concluded in under an hour, Miranda's detention very nearly met the full maximum of nine hours. His personal belongings were seized, including his laptop, cell phone, two memory sticks, a pair of DVDs, a Sony video game console and a hard drive.
- Upon returning to Brazil, Miranda said British authorities threatened to imprison him if he did not cooperate. He said he was not questioned about his alleged role in terrorism or his relationship to terrorist groups, though he said he was asked about Snowden, Poitras and Greenwald.
- Miranda's detention sparked anger in his home country. The government of Brazil issued a statement asserting his detention was ''without justification since it involves an individual against whom there are no charges that can legitimate the use of that legislation.''
- As news of the incident broke, some British politicians raised doubts about the application of the terrorism law. ''The clause in this act is not meant to be used as a catch-all that can be used in this way,'' said Labour MP Tom Watson. ''It's almost impossible, even without full knowledge of the case, to conclude that Glenn Greenwald's partner was a terrorist suspect,'' he added.
- White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed the UK had provided a ''heads up'' that Miranda was going to be detained, but that it ''was not something we requested.''
- On August 20, two days after Miranda's detention, Britain's Home Office moved to aggressively defend the action, arguing he was in possession of ''highly sensitive stolen information that would help terrorism'' and revealing that Prime Minister David Cameron was given advance warning of the police operation.
- ''The government and the police have a duty to protect the public and our national security,'' a Home Office spokesperson said. ''Those who oppose this sort of action need to think about what they are condoning.''
- Miranda filed a legal action against the British government, and in November the court disclosed a Ports Circulation Sheet (PCS) detailing the official assessment offered to explain why Miranda should be stopped. The undated document was prepared by Scotland Yard in consultation with the counterintelligence agency MI5, and was distributed to British border posts in advance of Miranda's arrival.
- ''Intelligence indicates that Miranda is likely to be involved in espionage activity which has the potential to act against the interests of UK national security. We therefore wish to establish the nature of Miranda's activity, assess the risk that Miranda poses to national security and mitigate as appropriate,'' the PCS said. ''We assess that Miranda is knowingly carrying material, the release of which would endanger people's lives. Additionally the disclosure or threat of disclosure is designed to influence a government, and is made for the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause. This therefore falls within the definition of terrorism and as such we request that the subject is examined under schedule 7.''
- Miranda's attorneys argued that the stop was unlawful and a violation of Miranda's right to freedom of expression. And they said his detention marked the first time the terrorism act had been implemented to seize journalistic materials.
- Home Office attorney Stephen Kovats conceded that the material was journalistic in nature. He added, however, ''We do not understand that raw 'Snowden data' is journalistic material.''
- The government argued that it had to intercept the material Miranda was suspected of carrying, lest it fall into the wrong hands. Miranda's attorneys, meanwhile, said that if the government wanted the Snowden documents, it should have put in an application to a judge prior to the stop. Attorney Mathew Ryder said the government was appealing to ''doomsday scenarios'' rather than responsibly considering whether the terrorism act had been proportionately applied.
- Tuesday's decision found the judges on the side of the government. Lord Justice Laws, with whom the two other judges concurred, wrote that it was clear the authorities stopped Miranda to ''ascertain the nature of the material he was carrying.'' He added that schedule 7 was ''capable of covering the publication or threatened publication '... of stolen classified information which, if published, would reveal personal details of members of the armed forces or security and intelligence agencies, thereby endangering their lives.''
- Miranda said he has no regrets. ''I am very proud of the work I did,'' he said. ''In fact, in light of today's decision equating journalism with terrorism, I am more certain than ever that I did the right thing, since governments like this really need transparency.''
- UPDATE AT 7:45 A.M. EST: Greenwald has published a blog post on The Intercept: On the UK's Equating of Journalism with Terrorism. The Guardian is providing live coverage of reaction to the decision.
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- Edward Snowden is Glasgow University's new Rector - News in Brief - The Ecologist
- We are proving to the world that we are not apathetic to important issues such as democratic rights.
- The result of the online election was announced to candidates and their supporters in the Bute Hall shortly after polls closed at 5pm yesterday
- Chris Cassells, Mr Snowden's spokesman for the Rectorial election campaign, said: "We are delighted to see Edward Snowden elected as the new Rector of the University of Glasgow.
- "We have a proud and virtuous tradition of making significant statements through our Rectors and today we have once more championed this idea by proving to the world that we are not apathetic to important issues such as democratic rights.
- "We would like to thank all other candidates as well as the students who nominated them for promoting an exciting and relevant debating atmosphere over the last few weeks."
- Snowden is also Chairman of the University Court
- The Rector is elected by the students of the University and not only represents the students but is also, ex-officio, the Chairman of the University Court, the body which administers the resources of the University.
- David Newall, Secretary of Court at the University of Glasgow, said: "This has been a record turnout for a Rectorial Election and I warmly congratulate Edward Snowden on his success.
- I would also like to thank Charles Kennedy for the contribution he has made to the University over the last six years."
- But will he be able to attend?
- As part of his new role, Snowden is expected to attend the following dignified occasions:
- Commemoration Day in JuneOpen Day in SeptemberFreshers' Address in SeptemberThe Chancellor's Dinner in October/NovemberThe Court Dinner in December.Whether he will be able to do so remains to be seen, despite the good wishes of outgoing Rector Charles Kennedy, the former Liberal Democrat leader:
- "It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve the students of the University of Glasgow for the past six years. The post of Rector is an important one, and I would like to wish my successor all the very best for his term of office."
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- Edward Snowden wins UK university role
- LONDON: Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency analyst who revealed US surveillance of phone and Internet communications, was elected rector of Glasgow University in Scotland on Tuesday.
- The analyst was nominated by a group of students at the university who said they had received his approval through his lawyer.
- The group said: "We are incredibly delighted to see Edward Snowden elected as the new rector of Glasgow University."
- The statement said the institution had a "virtuous tradition of making significant statements through our rectors".
- It added: "Our opposition to pervasive and immoral state intrusion has gone down in the records.
- "What is more, we showed Edward Snowden and other brave whistleblowers that we stand in solidarity with them, regardless of where they are."
- The largely symbolic post of rector mainly involves representing the university's students. The successful candidate is expected to attend meetings with the governing body and other authorities.
- Snowden received temporary asylum in Russia in August -- a move that infuriated the United States -- and is believed to be living in the Moscow area.
- Previous holders of the rector's post at Glasgow University include Winnie Mandela and Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu.
- The current holder is former Liberal Democrat party leader Charles Kennedy.
- Snowden defeated former champion cyclist Graeme Obree, author Alan Bissett and a local vicar.
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- Snowden Documents Reveal Covert Surveillance and Pressure Tactics Aimed at WikiLeaks and Its Supporters - The InterceptThe Intercept
- Top-secret documents from the National Security Agency and its British counterpart reveal for the first time how the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom targeted WikiLeaks and other activist groups with tactics ranging from covert surveillance to prosecution.
- The efforts '' detailed in documents provided previously by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden '' included a broad campaign of international pressure aimed not only at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but at what the U.S. government calls ''the human network that supports WikiLeaks.'' The documents also contain internal discussions about targeting the file-sharing site Pirate Bay and hacktivist collectives such as Anonymous.
- One classified document from Government Communications Headquarters, Britain's top spy agency, shows that GCHQ used its surveillance system to secretly monitor visitors to a WikiLeaks site. By exploiting its ability to tap into the fiber-optic cables that make up the backbone of the Internet, the agency confided to allies in 2012, it was able to collect the IP addresses of visitors in real time, as well as the search terms that visitors used to reach the site from search engines like Google.
- Another classified document from the U.S. intelligence community, dated August 2010, recounts how the Obama administration urged foreign allies to file criminal charges against Assange over the group's publication of the Afghanistan war logs.
- A third document, from July 2011, contains a summary of an internal discussion in which officials from two NSA offices '' including the agency's general counsel and an arm of its Threat Operations Center '' considered designating WikiLeaks as ''a 'malicious foreign actor' for the purpose of targeting.'' Such a designation would have allowed the group to be targeted with extensive electronic surveillance '' without the need to exclude U.S. persons from the surveillance searches.
- In 2008, not long after WikiLeaks was formed, the U.S. Army prepared a report that identified the organization as an enemy, and plotted how it could be destroyed. The new documents provide a window into how the U.S. and British governments appear to have shared the view that WikiLeaks represented a serious threat, and reveal the controversial measures they were willing to take to combat it.
- In a statement to The Intercept, Assange condemned what he called ''the reckless and unlawful behavior of the National Security Agency'' and GCHQ's ''extensive hostile monitoring of a popular publisher's website and its readers.''
- ''News that the NSA planned these operations at the level of its Office of the General Counsel is especially troubling,'' Assange said. ''Today, we call on the White House to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the extent of the NSA's criminal activity against the media, including WikiLeaks, its staff, its associates and its supporters.''
- Illustrating how far afield the NSA deviates from its self-proclaimed focus on terrorism and national security, the documents reveal that the agency considered using its sweeping surveillance system against Pirate Bay, which has been accused of facilitating copyright violations. The agency also approved surveillance of the foreign ''branches'' of hacktivist groups, mentioning Anonymous by name.
- The documents call into question the Obama administration's repeated insistence that U.S. citizens are not being caught up in the sweeping surveillance dragnet being cast by the NSA. Under the broad rationale considered by the agency, for example, any communication with a group designated as a ''malicious foreign actor,'' such as WikiLeaks and Anonymous, would be considered fair game for surveillance.
- Julian Sanchez, a research fellow at the Cato Institute who specializes in surveillance issues, says the revelations shed a disturbing light on the NSA's willingness to sweep up American citizens in its surveillance net.
- ''All the reassurances Americans heard that the broad authorities of the FISA Amendments Act could only be used to 'target' foreigners seem a bit more hollow,'' Sanchez says, ''when you realize that the 'foreign target' can be an entire Web site or online forum used by thousands if not millions of Americans.''
- GCHQ Spies on WikiLeaks VisitorsThe system used by GCHQ to monitor the WikiLeaks website '' codenamed ANTICRISIS GIRL '' is described in a classified PowerPoint presentation prepared by the British agency and distributed at the 2012 ''SIGDEV Conference.'' At the annual gathering, each member of the ''Five Eyes'' alliance '' the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand '' describes the prior year's surveillance successes and challenges.
- In a top-secret presentation at the conference, two GCHQ spies outlined how ANTICRISIS GIRL was used to enable ''targeted website monitoring'' of WikiLeaks (See slides 33 and 34). The agency logged data showing hundreds of users from around the world, including the United States, as they were visiting a WikiLeaks site ''contradicting claims by American officials that a deal between the U.K. and the U.S. prevents each country from spying on the other's citizens.
- The IP addresses collected by GCHQ are used to identify individual computers that connect to the Internet, and can be traced back to specific people if the IP address has not been masked using an anonymity service. If WikiLeaks or other news organizations were receiving submissions from sources through a public dropbox on their website, a system like ANTICRISIS GIRL could potentially be used to help track them down. (WikiLeaks has not operated a public dropbox since 2010, when it shut down its system in part due to security concerns over surveillance.)
- In its PowerPoint presentation, GCHQ identifies its target only as ''wikileaks.'' One slide, displaying analytics derived from the surveillance, suggests that the site monitored was the official wikileaks.org domain. It shows that users reached the targeted site by searching for ''wikileaks.org'' and for ''maysan uxo,'' a term associated with a series of leaked Iraq war logs that are hosted on wikileaks.org.
- The ANTICRISIS GIRL initiative was operated by a GCHQ unit called Global Telecoms Exploitation (GTE), which was previously reported by The Guardian to be linked to the large-scale, clandestine Internet surveillance operation run by GCHQ, codenamed TEMPORA.
- Operating in the United Kingdom and from secret British eavesdropping bases in Cyprus and other countries, GCHQ conducts what it refers to as ''passive'' surveillance '' indiscriminately intercepting massive amounts of data from Internet cables, phone networks and satellites. The GTE unit focuses on developing ''pioneering collection capabilities'' to exploit the stream of data gathered from the Internet.
- As part of the ANTICRISIS GIRL system, the documents show, GCHQ used publicly available analytics software called Piwik to extract information from its surveillance stream, not only monitoring visits to targeted websites like WikiLeaks, but tracking the country of origin of each visitor.
- It is unclear from the PowerPoint presentation whether GCHQ monitored the WikiLeaks site as part of a pilot program designed to demonstrate its capability, using only a small set of covertly collected data, or whether the agency continues to actively deploy its surveillance system to monitor visitors to WikiLeaks. It was previously reported in The Guardian that X-KEYSCORE, a comprehensive surveillance weapon used by both NSA and GCHQ, allows ''an analyst to learn the IP addresses of every person who visits any website the analyst specifies.''
- GCHQ refused to comment on whether ANTICRISIS GIRL is still operational. In an email citing the agency's boilerplate response to inquiries, a spokeswoman insisted that ''all of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight.''
- But privacy advocates question such assurances. ''How could targeting an entire website's user base be necessary or proportionate?'' says Gus Hosein, executive director of the London-based human rights group Privacy International. ''These are innocent people who are turned into suspects based on their reading habits. Surely becoming a target of a state's intelligence and security apparatus should require more than a mere click on a link.''
- The agency's covert targeting of WikiLeaks, Hosein adds, call into question the entire legal rationale underpinning the state's system of surveillance. ''We may be tempted to see GCHQ as a rogue agency, ungoverned in its use of unprecedented powers generated by new technologies,'' he says. ''But GCHQ's actions are authorized by [government] ministers. The fact that ministers are ordering the monitoring of political interests of Internet users shows a systemic failure in the rule of law.''
- Going After Assange and His SupportersThe U.S. attempt to pressure other nations to prosecute Assange is recounted in a file that the intelligence community calls its ''Manhunting Timeline.'' The document details, on a country-by-country basis, efforts by the U.S. government and its allies to locate, prosecute, capture or kill alleged terrorists, drug traffickers, Palestinian leaders and others. There is a timeline for each year from 2008 to 2012.
- An entry from August 2010 '' headlined ''United States, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Iceland'' '' states: ''The United States on August 10 urged other nations with forces in Afghanistan, including Australia, United Kingdom, and Germany, to consider filing criminal charges against Julian Assange.'' It describes Assange as the ''founder of the rogue Wikileaks Internet website and responsible for the unauthorized publication of over 70,000 classified documents covering the war in Afghanistan.''
- In response to questions from The Intercept, the NSA suggested that the entry is ''a summary derived from a 2010 article'' in the Daily Beast. That article, which cited an anonymous U.S. official, reported that ''the Obama administration is pressing Britain, Germany, Australia, and other allied Western governments to consider opening criminal investigations of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and to severely limit his nomadic travels across international borders.''
- The government entry in the ''Manhunting Timeline'' adds Iceland to the list of Western nations that were pressured, and suggests that the push to prosecute Assange is part of a broader campaign. The effort, it explains, ''exemplifies the start of an international effort to focus the legal element of national power upon non-state actor Assange, and the human network that supports WikiLeaks.'' The entry does not specify how broadly the government defines that ''human network,'' which could potentially include thousands of volunteers, donors and journalists, as well as people who simply spoke out in defense of WikiLeaks.
- In a statement, the NSA declined to comment on the documents or its targeting of activist groups, noting only that the agency ''provides numerous opportunities and forums for their analysts to explore hypothetical or actual circumstances to gain appropriate advice on the exercise of their authorities within the Constitution and the law, and to share that advice appropriately.''
- But the entry aimed at WikiLeaks comes from credentialed officials within the intelligence community. In an interview in Hong Kong last June, Edward Snowden made clear that the only NSA officials empowered to write such entries are those ''with top-secret clearance and public key infrastructure certificates'' '' a kind of digital ID card enabling unique access to certain parts of the agency's system. What's more, Snowden added, the entries are ''peer reviewed'' '' and every edit made is recorded by the system.
- The U.S. launched its pressure campaign against WikiLeaks less than a week after the group began publishing the Afghanistan war logs on July 25, 2010. At the time, top U.S. national security officials accused WikiLeaks of having ''blood'' on its hands. But several months later, McClatchy reported that ''U.S. officials concede that they have no evidence to date that the documents led to anyone's death.''
- The government targeting of WikiLeaks nonetheless continued. In April 2011, Salonreported that a grand jury in Virginia was actively investigating both the group and Assange on possible criminal charges under espionage statutes relating to the publication of classified documents. And in August of 2012, the Sydney Morning Herald, citing secret Australian diplomatic cables, reported that ''Australian diplomats have no doubt the United States is still gunning for Julian Assange'' and that ''Australia's diplomatic service takes seriously the likelihood that Assange will eventually be extradited to the US on charges arising from WikiLeaks obtaining leaked US military and diplomatic documents.''
- Bringing criminal charges against WikiLeaks or Assange for publishing classified documents would be highly controversial '' especially since the group partnered with newspapers like The Guardian and The New York Times to make the war logs public. ''The biggest challenge to the press today is the threatened prosecution of WikiLeaks, and it's absolutely frightening,'' James Goodale, who served as chief counsel of the Times during its battle to publish The Pentagon Papers, told the Columbia Journalism Review last March. ''If you go after the WikiLeaks criminally, you go after the Times. That's the criminalization of the whole process.''
- In November 2013, The Washington Post, citing anonymous officials, reported that the Justice Department strongly considered prosecuting Assange, but concluded it ''could not do so without also prosecuting U.S. news organizations and journalists'' who had partnered with WikiLeaks to publish the documents. According to the Post, officials ''realized that they have what they described as a 'New York Times problem''' '' namely, that any theory used to bring charges against Assange would also result in criminal liability for the Times, The Guardian, and other papers which also published secret documents provided to WikiLeaks.
- NSA proposals to target WikiLeaksAs the new NSA documents make clear, however, the U.S. government did more than attempt to engineer the prosecution of Assange. NSA analysts also considered designating WikiLeaks as a ''malicious foreign actor'' for surveillance purposes '' a move that would have significantly expanded the agency's ability to subject the group's officials and supporters to extensive surveillance.
- Such a designation would allow WikiLeaks to be targeted with surveillance without the use of ''defeats'' '' an agency term for technical mechanisms to shield the communications of U.S. persons from getting caught in the dragnet.
- That top-secret document '' which summarizes a discussion between the NSA's Office of the General Counsel and the Oversight and Compliance Office of the agency's Threat Operations Center '' spells out a rationale for including American citizens in the surveillance:
- ''If the foreign IP is consistently associated with malicious cyber activity against the U.S., so, tied to a foreign individual or organization known to direct malicious activity our way, then there is no need to defeat any to, from, or about U.S. Persons. This is based on the description that one end of the communication would always be this suspect foreign IP, and so therefore any U.S. Person communicant would be incidental to the foreign intelligence task.''
- In short, labeling WikiLeaks a ''malicious foreign target'' would mean that anyone communicating with the organization for any reason '' including American citizens '' could have their communications subjected to government surveillance.
- When NSA officials are asked in the document if WikiLeaks or Pirate Bay could be designated as ''malicious foreign actors,'' the reply is inconclusive: ''Let us get back to you.'' There is no indication of whether either group was ever designated or targeted in such a way.
- The NSA's lawyers did, however, give the green light to subject other activists to heightened surveillance. Asked if it would be permissible to ''target the foreign actors of a loosely coupled group of hackers '... such as with Anonymous,'' the response is unequivocal: ''As long as they are foreign individuals outside of the US and do not hold dual citizenship '... then you are okay.''
- NSA Lawyers: ''It's Nothing to Worry About''Sanchez, the surveillance expert with the Cato Institute, says the document serves as ''a reminder that NSA essentially has carte blanche to spy on non-Americans. In public statements, intelligence officials always talk about spying on 'terrorists,' as if those are the only targets '-- but Section 702 [of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act] doesn't say anything about 'terrorists.' They can authorize collection on any 'persons reasonably believed to be [located] outside the United States,' with 'persons' including pretty much any kind of group not 'substantially' composed of Americans.''
- Sanchez notes that while it makes sense to subject some full-scale cyber-attacks to government surveillance, ''it would make no sense to lump together foreign cyberattackers with sites voluntarily visited by enormous numbers of Americans, like Pirate Bay or WikiLeaks.''
- Indeed, one entry in the NSA document expressly authorizes the targeting of a ''malicious'' foreign server '' offering Pirate Bay as a specific example ''''even if there is a possibility that U.S. persons could be using it as well.'' NSA officials agree that there is no need to exclude Americans from the surveillance, suggesting only that the agency's spies ''try to minimize'' how many U.S. citizens are caught in the dragnet.
- Another entry even raises the possibility of using X-KEYSCORE, one of the agency's most comprehensive surveillance programs, to target communications between two U.S.-based Internet addresses if they are operating through a ''proxy'' being used for ''malicious foreign activity.'' In response, the NSA's Threat Operations Center approves the targeting, but the agency's general counsel requests ''further clarification before signing off.''
- If WikiLeaks were improperly targeted, or if a U.S. citizen were swept up in the NSA's surveillance net without authorization, the agency's attitude seems to be one of indifference. According to the document '' which quotes a response by the NSA's Office of General Counsel and the oversight and compliance office of its Threat Operations Center '' discovering that an American has been selected for surveillance must be mentioned in a quarterly report, ''but it's nothing to worry about.''
- The attempt to target WikiLeaks and its broad network of supporters drew sharp criticism from the group and its allies. ''These documents demonstrate that the political persecution of WikiLeaks is very much alive,'' says Baltasar Garz"n, the Spanish former judge who now represents the group. ''The paradox is that Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks organization are being treated as a threat instead of what they are: a journalist and a media organization that are exercising their fundamental right to receive and impart information in its original form, free from omission and censorship, free from partisan interests, free from economic or political pressure.''
- For his part, Assange remains defiant. ''The NSA and its U.K. accomplices show no respect for the rule of law,'' he told The Intercept. ''But there is a cost to conducting illicit actions against a media organization.'' Referring to a criminal complaint that the group filed last year against ''interference with our journalistic work in Europe,'' Assange warned that ''no entity, including the NSA, should be permitted to act against a journalist with impunity.''
- Assange indicated that in light of the new documents, the group may take further legal action.
- ''We have instructed our general counsel, Judge Baltasar Garz"n, to prepare the appropriate response,'' he said. ''The investigations into attempts to interfere with WikiLeaks' work will go wherever they need to go. Make no mistake: those responsible will be held to account and brought to justice.''
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- People | Investigative News Network
- Kevin Davis '-- Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director
- Kevin Davis is CEO and Executive Director of the Investigative News Network (INN), a growing consortium of more than 80 nonprofit newsrooms producing nonpartisan investigative and public interest journalism. Davis oversees INN's efforts to promote the sustainability of its member organizations, and increase the impact of their reporting through collaboration.
- As a former digital publisher, Davis has more than 16 years of experience in strategic development and growth at news and media organizations. He was responsible for operations at Los Angeles-based news organizations Variety.com and TheWrap.com.
- Since his appointment to INN, Davis has spoken and lectured about the nonprofit, investigative journalism sector at conferences and institutions across the United States, including the Online News Association, Investigative Reporters & Editors, the National Alliance for Media Arts + Culture, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, USC Annenberg, Syracuse University, Ohio State University and the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he was the 2011 Hearst Professional-in-Residence.
- In 2011, Davis and INN Board Chair Brant Houston accepted the Manship Prize on behalf of INN at LSU's School of Mass Communication. Davis also testified about nonprofit journalism and the IRS at the FCC's 2011 hearing on "the Information Needs of Communities," hosted by Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
- Davis can be reached by email at kevin.davis@investigativenewsnetwork.org or on Twitter.
- Lisa Williams -- Director of Digital Engagement
- Lisa Williams is the Director of Digital Engagement for INN, where she helps INN members develop strategies to connect with funders, partners, and audience members. Prior to joining INN, Williams founded Placeblogger, which was a winner of the Knight 21st Century News Challenge, a program that awards $5 million dollars annually to innovators with projects that aim to define the future of journalism. Ms. Williams has been fellow at the MIT Media Lab's Center for Civic Media, worked at The Boston Globe's online arm, Boston.com, and began a local news site, H2Otown, that became a national model of online engagement. Ms. Williams has won many professional awards and distinctions, including the 2009 New Media Women Entrepreneur of the Year award, ''Top 25 Women to Watch in Tech'' in 2010 by AlwaysOn/Stanford Innovation Forum, 50 Women To Watch In 2013 / Digital Media by Journalists.co.uk, and was a 2007 Peter Jennings Fellow at the National Center for the Constitution.
- Lisa can be reached at lisa@investigativenewsnetwork.org or on Twitter at @lisawilliams.
- Adam Schweigert '-- Director of Technology
- Adam Schweigert is the Director of Technology with the Investigative News Network where he is responsible for leading all of the organization's technology-related efforts including developing publishing tools, managing content syndication and measuring the impact of members' journalism.
- He joined INN in September 2012 after founding his own digital consultancy, Media Toybox. Before that he served as Director of Strategy for Mindset Digital, a Columbus, Ohio based firm providing customized social media training and strategic consulting to Fortune 500 companies and institutions of higher education and spent the previous 8 years working in public media heading up digital efforts at two NPR/PBS member stations, WOSU Public Media in Columbus, Ohio and Indiana Public Media (WFIU/WTIU) in Bloomington, Indiana.
- He holds degrees in music composition, music theory and oboe performance from The Ohio State University and has pursued graduate study in music composition, electronic music and nonprofit management at Indiana University.
- Denise Malan, INN/IRE Director of Data Services
- Denise Malan is director of data services for INN and Investigative Reporters and Editors, responsible for helping INN newsrooms collaborate on investigative data projects. As a joint employee of INN and IRE, she also helps INN members take advantage of the vast resources at IRE, including a database library and training.
- Denise has been a journalist for 10 years, covering education, government, politics, the environment and enterprise stories on a variety of subjects. She was data/investigative editor at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Texas for three years, joining INN and IRE in June 2013.
- Denise can be reached by email at denise@ire.org or on Twitter @DeniseMalan.
- Shelby Ilan '-- Administrator
- Shelby Ilan is the Executive Assistant to Kevin Davis at INN, and the administrator for the organization. She has been with INN since its inception in 2010. Shelby holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from San Diego State University. She has worked in the nonprofit, social-services sector for the past 16 years. For the past 13 years Shelby has also been an instructor of Hebrew studies.
- Brant Houston '-- Chair of the Board
- Brant Houston is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Investigative News Network, which he helped launch in 2009. Houston holds the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting and teaches investigative and advanced reporting in the Department of Journalism in the College of Media at Illinois.
- Houston became the chair after serving for more than a decade as the executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), a 3,500-member organization, and as a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Before joining IRE, he was an award-winning investigative reporter at daily newspapers for 17 years.
- Houston also is the author of three editions of the textbook, "Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide," and co-author of the fourth edition and fifth edition of "The Investigative Reporter's Handbook." Currently he is working on projects involving nonprofit journalism, ethnic media newsrooms, and new technologies for news-gathering.
- ConsultantsIrma Simpson '-- Fundraising
- Irma Simpson is a fundraising consultant to Investigative News Network. From 1985 to 2006, she worked at Gannett Co., Inc. in the Washington, D.C. metro area, first as executive assistant to the vice president of public affairs and government relations, and from 1990 to 2006 as manager of the newly-formed Gannett Foundation. The foundation made grants in more than 100 communities where Gannett operated newspapers and TV stations, as well as journalism grants on a national basis, and an employee matching-gift program. By 2006, the foundation was annually contributing approximately $12 million in grants and matching gifts. She was a popular speaker on corporate and foundation grant making in the DC area, and taught certificate courses in fundraising at both American and George Washington universities.
- She is a graduate of the University of Iowa and has served on the Dean's Advisory Board for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the past 10 years. She lives in Bradenton, Florida.
- Board of DirectorsBrant Houston (Chair of the Board) Knight Chair of Investigative Reporting, Journalism Dept., College of Media, University of Illinois. See full bio above.
- Charles ''Chuck'' Lewis (Treasurer) is founding executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop and a tenured professor of journalism at the American University School of Communication in Washington. A former ABC and CBS News 60 Minutes producer and bestselling author, he founded the Center for Public Integrity in 1989, its International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 1997 and he co-founded Global Integrity in 2005. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (1998) and given the PEN USA First Amendment Award in 2004.
- Robert ''Rosey'' Rosenthal is the Executive Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting. An award-winning journalist, Robert Rosenthal has worked for some of the most respected newspapers in the country, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer and, most recently, the San Francisco Chronicle. Rosenthal worked for 22 years at the Inquirer, starting as a reporter and eventually becoming executive editor in 1998. He became managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle in late 2002, and joined CIR as executive director in 2008.
- Laura Frank is the executive director of I-News, the Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network. I-News delivers multimedia reports to news outlets across the Rocky Mountain region and is a founding member of the national nonprofit Investigative News Network. Frank, a Denver native, has nearly two decades experience at daily newspapers, radio and public television. She was an investigative reporter at the Rocky Mountain News until it closed in 2009. Her stories have won top awards in both print and broadcast, and helped release innocent people from prison, protect abused children, and win aid for sick nuclear weapons workers.
- Margaret Wolf Freivogel is the founding editor of the St. Louis Beacon, a non-profit organization that provides news that matters for the St. Louis region. The Beacon focuses especially on politics, the economy, health, education and the arts. In addition to its website (stlbeacon.org), the Beacon reaches St. Louis-area residents through in-person events, partnerships with other media, and through email and social media.
- Previously, Margie worked for 34 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a reporter, Washington correspondent and assistant managing editor. Her Washington reporting won several awards, including the National Press Club Washington Correspondent's Award and the American Bar Association Gavel Award. She recently received a lifetime achievement award from the St. Louis Press Club. She was president of Journalism and Women Symposium, a national organization. Margie grew up and currently lives in Kirkwood, Mo., and graduated from Stanford University. She is married to William H. Freivogel, director of the school of journalism at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. They have four children and two grandchildren.
- Vivian Schiller, Chief Digital Officer at NBC News, leads the digital strategy for both NBC News and MSNBC to ensure future growth and innovation. She joined NBC in July of 2011. Her responsibilities include strategic oversight of the network's digital extensions on the web and in mobile, as well as interaction with the Joint Venture that oversees the msnbc.com digital network. In addition, she will provide direction to the network's new emerging properties such as EducationNation.com and theGrio.com.
- Schiller was most recently President and CEO of NPR, leading all of NPR's worldwide media operations, including the organization's partnerships with a network of more than 900 public radio stations. During her tenure, NPR received the highest honors in excellence in journalism, grew its audience by double digits, and earned recognition in the mobile and digital space.
- Prior to joining NPR, Schiller served at The New York Times Company as Senior Vice President and General Manager of NYTimes.com. Schiller led the day-to-day operations of NYTimes.com, the largest newspaper website on the Internet, overseeing product, technology, marketing, classifieds, strategic planning, and business development.
- Previously, Schiller spent four years as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Discovery Times Channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications. Schiller launched the network, and under her leadership, Discovery Times Channel tripled its distribution while achieving critical acclaim for its award winning journalistic programming.
- Schiller also served as the head of CNN Productions, where she led CNN's long-form programming efforts. Documentaries and series produced under her auspices earned multiple honors, including three Peabody Awards, four Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and dozens of Emmys.
- Neal Shapiro joined New York public media provider WNET as President in February 2007, becoming President and Chief Executive Officer on February 4, 2008. WNET is the parent of New York public television stations Thirteen and WLIW21 and operates NJTV, the state-wide New Jersey public television network.
- At the helm of WNET, Shapiro has revitalized programming, set new fundraising records and inaugurated a new, all-glass studio at Lincoln Center.
- Before coming to WNET, Shapiro was President of NBC News from June 2001 to September 2005, where he oversaw the global operations of NBC Universal's top-ranked news division: Today in the morning, NBC Nightly News in the evening and Meet the Press on Sunday morning. He oversaw Dateline NBC, which, at the time, was the most-watched and most-honored news magazine on television and personally directed the successful anchor transition from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams. From 1993 to 2001, Shapiro was executive producer of Dateline NBC.
- Before NBC, Shapiro spent 13 years at ABC News, where he produced for all the network's news programs and worked with Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer, Ted Koppel and Sam Donaldson, among others.
- Shapiro has won 34 Emmys, 31 Edward R. Murrow Awards, nine Sigma Delta Chi Awards, three Alfred I DuPont-Columbia University Silver Batons, three George Foster Peabody Awards, three George Polk Awards, three Overseas Press Club Awards and many more.
- Shapiro graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University in 1980 with degrees in history and political science. He has taught journalism at Tufts and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and has lectured at many universities, including MIT and Stanford. He sits on the Boards of Gannett, Tufts University and Investigative News Network (INN). He is married to ABC News Correspondent Juju Chang, they have three sons and live in New York City.
- Kevin Davis '-- CEO & Executive Director, Investigative News Network. See full bio above.
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- Funders | Investigative News Network
- The Investigative News Network extends its sincere thanks to our funders, without whom the formation and work of this organization would not be possible.
- The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.
- For 30 years, Atlantic Philanthropies has made grants to advance opportunity and lasting change for those who are unfairly disadvantaged or vulnerable to life's circumstances. As a limited life foundation, Atlantic makes grants through its Ageing, Children & Youth, Population Health, Reconciliation & Human Rights, and Founding Chairman Programmes.
- The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation's mission is to invest in the future of journalism by building the ethics, skills and opportunities needed to advance principled, probing news and information. EEJF does so through contributions to media institutions and journalism schools nationwide, primarily in areas of investigative reporting, youth education, professional development, and special opportunities.
- The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The Foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.
- The Robert R. McCormick Foundation is committed to fostering communities of educated, informed and engaged citizens. Through philanthropic programs, Cantigny Park and museums, the Foundation helps develop citizen leaders and works to make life better in our communities. The Foundation was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The Robert R. McCormick Foundation is one of the nation's largest foundations, with more than $1 billion in assets.
- The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people. Working in every part of the world, the Open Society Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities.
- Founded in 1940, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund advances social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. The RBF's grantmaking is organized around three themes: Democratic Practice, Peacebuilding, and Sustainable Development.
- The Surdna Foundation seeks to foster sustainable communities in the United States'--communities guided by principles of social justice and distinguished by healthy environments, strong local economies, and thriving cultures. For over five generations, the Foundation has been governed largely by descendants of John Andrus and has developed a tradition of innovative service for those in need of help or opportunity.
- The William Penn Foundation, founded in 1945 by Otto and Phoebe Haas, is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia region through efforts that foster rich cultural expression, strengthen children's futures, and deepen connections to nature and community. In partnership with others, the Foundation works to advance opportunity, ensure sustainability, and enable effective solutions.
- Make a donation to the Investigative News Network.
- For more information on how you can make a tax-deductible donation to the Investigative News Network, contact INN's CEO Kevin Davis.
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- About INN | Investigative News Network
- We, representatives of nonprofit news organizations, gather at a time when investigative reporting, so crucial to a functioning democracy, is under threat. There is an urgent need to nourish and sustain the emerging investigative journalism ecosystem to better serve the public.'-- The Pocantico DeclarationIn 2009 journalists from 27 nonpartisan, nonprofit news organizations gathered at the Pocantico Center in New York to plan the future of investigative journalism. The result of that meeting, the Pocantico Declaration, established the Investigative News Network and laid a foundation of collaboration among a new cohort of nonprofit newsrooms dedicated to serving the public interest.
- Today INN has grown to more than 80 organizations in North America and soon worldwide. Members share content and resources, connect with professional- and business-development services, and lead the evolving practice of journalism in the public interest.
- MissionINN's mission is to help nonprofit news organizations produce and distribute stories with impact; to achieve cost efficiencies by pooling resources and services; and to develop new revenue streams that will help member organizations become sustainable, mission-driven, nonprofit businesses.
- INN facilitates collaborative projects, both within the membership and with external media partners.
- We also provide back-office support in technology and infrastructure development; help members share best practices for publishing and distributing content; and a robust communication network to engage our members, our funders and our audiences.
- While aiding our active members, we also seek to incubate and foster new nonprofit newsrooms by providing professional development and fiscal-sponsorship services.
- MembersThe organizations that comprise the network are diverse, with beats that range from the local to the global, and that often explore the intersection of the two. Some cover specific industries and sectors, such as education or healthcare. Others cover communities, from small towns to big cities. All of them use investigative and public-interest reporting to advance their mission.
- Their newsrooms are composed of reporters, editors and producers that have been recognized by a constellation of news-industry awards: Pulitzers, Emmys, Peabodys, DuPonts, and laurels from the Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors and many others.
- Their high-impact stories have exposed corruption and inspired legal and policy reforms; alerted the public to environmental perils, financial scams and faulty products; and informed communities about the issues of business and government that affect daily life.
- Their journalism is delivered in every medium '-- text, audio, video, digital, broadcast and even print. They are pioneering data journalism, developing and deploying apps, and exploring new methods of community engagement.
- The INN members do this work at a time of tectonic shifts in media technology, culture and economy. They do it because journalism's mission of public service demands nothing less from them. They do it because a viable, sustainable Fourth Estate is essential for healthy democracy.
- Membership RequirementsTo be a member of INN, an organization must be organized as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) (such as INN). It also must be transparent about funding sources and produce investigative and/or public-service reporting. For more information and to apply to become a member, please review our complete membership standards and then submit your application.
- FundingINN, and all its members, have a commitment to transparency in funding. All member organizations must display and make available funders who donate over $1,000.
- INN thanks its funders and the volunteer efforts of its board and members, without which its work would not be possible.
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- George Polk Awards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. PBS described it as "one of only a couple of journalism prizes that means anything."[1]
- The awards were established in 1948 in memory of George Polk, a CBS correspondent who was murdered while covering the Greek Civil War. In 2009, John Darnton was named curator of the George Polk Awards.[2]
- See List of George Polk Award winners for the recipients of the award.[3]
- Josh Marshall's blog, Talking Points Memo, was the first blog to receive the Polk Award in 2008 for their reporting on the US Attorney Scandal.[4]
- Categories[edit]Foreign ReportingRadio ReportingPhotojournalismEconomics ReportingBusiness ReportingLabor ReportingLegal ReportingNational ReportingInternet ReportingMagazine ReportingState ReportingEducation ReportingLocal ReportingTelevision ReportingIn addition, the George Polk Career Award is given in recognition of an individual's lifelong achievements.
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- Intercept Editors Win Polk Award for Coverage of Snowden Documents - The InterceptThe Intercept
- Intercept editors Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras have won the George Polk Award, one of the highest prizes in journalism, for revealing expansive National Security Agency surveillance programs detailed in documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden. They shared the national security reporting award with the Guardian's Ewen MacAskill and the Washington Post's Barton Gellman.
- Whether Greenwald and Poitras will return to the U.S. to collect their prize remains to be seen, however, as senior government officials have repeatedly employed rhetoric equating the journalism the Polk Award is recognizing to criminal activity. Greenwald is currently living in Brazil; Poitras in Germany. Both are American citizens.
- House intelligence committee chair Rep. Mike Rogers '' who once jokingly offered to help former NSA Director Michael Hayden add Snowden to a U.S. kill list '' called Greenwald ''a thief selling stolen material'' earlier this month. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has repeatedly referred to journalists reporting on the Snowden documents as ''accomplices.''
- Long Island University announced the winners of the 65th annual George Polk Awards in Journalism on Sunday evening.
- The announcement praised Greenwald, Poitras, MacAskill and Gellman for using ''their extensive backgrounds covering national security to explore the purloined files and reveal their stunning import, describing how the NSA gathered information on untold millions of unsuspecting '-- and unsuspected '-- Americans, plugged into the communications links of major Internet companies and coerced companies like Yahoo and Google into turning over data about their customers.''
- The awards were established in honor of CBS correspondent George Polk, who was murdered in 1948 while covering the Greek civil war. The awards ''place a premium on investigative and enterprise work that is original, requires digging and resourcefulness, and brings results.'' They will be presented at a ceremony in New York City on April 11.
- Other winners this year included James Yardley of the New York Times for coverage of the disastrous Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh; Eli Saslow of the Washington Post for writing about the lives of food stamp recipients; Shawn Boburg of the Record of Northern New Jersey for tracing the decision to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge; four reporters for the Center for Public Integrity for reporting on how regulators and prosecutors have failed to hold a single major player on Wall Street accountable for the reckless behavior that sparked the 2008 financial crisis; and Matthieu Aikins for his Rolling Stone investigation into the role of U.S. forces in the deaths of 10 Afghan civilians in late 2012.
- Past winners have included Edward R. Murrow, I.F. Stone, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, Seymour Hersh, Christiane Amanpour, Anthony Shadid and Intercept editor Jeremy Scahill.
- ''Many of the journalists we have recognized did more than report news,'' award curator John Darnton said in a statement. ''They heightened public awareness with perceptive detection and dogged pursuit of stories that otherwise would not have seen the light of day. Repercussions of the NSA stories in particular will be with us for years to come.''
- Under the Obama administration, six government employees and two contractors '' Snowden included '' have been the targets of felony criminal prosecutions under the Espionage Act, double the number under all previous administrations combined. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice, under a veil of secrecy, has subpoenaed and seized journalists' phone and email records in at least two investigations.
- The administration's concerted effort to investigate unsanctioned leaks has had a chilling effect on the relationship between reporters and sources, as documented in a special report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists last year.
- In October, Free Press '' a journalism advocacy organization '' delivered a letter with more than 75,000 signatures to the Department of Justice, calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to ''protect freedom of the press and our freedom to travel without fear of unwarranted interference.
- ''Both Poitras and Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, U.S. citizens who have led the reporting on recent NSA revelations, worry that their safety and security would be compromised if they returned to the U.S.,'' the letter said.
- One month after the letter was delivered, Holder indicated the U.S. government was not, at that moment, considering prosecuting Greenwald. ''Unless information that has not come to my attention is presented to me, what I have indicated in my testimony before Congress is that any journalist who's engaged in true journalistic activities is not going to be prosecuted by this Justice Department,'' Holder told the Washington Post.
- ''I certainly don't agree with what Greenwald has done,'' the attorney general added. ''In some ways, he blurs the line between advocate and journalist. But on the basis of what I know now, I'm not sure there is a basis for prosecution of Greenwald.''
- The DOJ did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this article.
- In an email to The Intercept over the weekend, Josh Stearns, Press Freedom Director at Free Press, said:
- U.S. journalists who have exercised their First Amendment rights around the world should be welcomed home, not harassed and detained. It is unconscionable that American journalists are afraid to return home for fear of their own safety and the security of their work. A number of recent cases raise real questions about press freedom at the U.S. border where journalists have been detained and had their electronics searched because of their reporting or because of their ethnicity. Neither is acceptable.
- And too often, when journalists and newsrooms go looking for answers they are stonewalled. The intimidation and harassment of journalists at U.S. borders is bad enough, but the utter and complete lack of accountability is outrageous. That's why more than 75,000 people signed a petition to the Department of Justice calling for assurances that Greenwald, Poitras and other journalists could travel freely back to America.
- Poitras and Greenwald expressed their appreciation for the award Sunday night, and said they are weighing their options on the question of return.
- ''I would love to accept the Polk award in person with Glenn and Ewen, but I'm not sure I feel safe to travel to the U.S.,'' Poitras said in an email. ''Listening to senior members of the government describe reporters working on the NSA story as 'accomplices' concerns me. On the other hand, receiving this award for the NSA reporting might be the perfect moment to confront this kind of intimidation.''
- Greenwald added, ''Given that we've been accused of 'terrorism' by the UK government and 'accomplices' by the U.S. government, having our colleagues recognize our work for what it is '-- journalism '-- is gratifying.''
- NSA Articles Cited by the Polk Awards:
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- How the Center for Public Integrity is Funded | Center for Public Integrity
- Award-winning investigative journalism is priceless '-- but it is not free. The Center for Public Integrity is supported through foundations and individuals like you. The Center for Public Integrity does not accept contributions from governments. For more information about supporting the Center for Public Integrity, please contact Chief Development Officer Robin Heller at 202-481-1242. The Center for Public Integrity maintains a strict firewall between funding and our editorial content. We take funding to support our editorial priorities, such as the environment, money in politics or international reporting, but funders must understand that they never determine the Center for Public Integrity's editorial direction. Our funders support us because our investigations are non-partisan, fair, have impact and raise the level of debate on complex issues of critical, global importance.
- Our annual report features those supporters who gave $250 or more. Our next annual report (2013) will be published in 2014. At that time, we will list our 2013 supporters. The 2013 list will include such new supporters as:
- Graeme Wood, $1.5 million, in support of the International Consortium of Investigative JournalistsCarnegie Corporation, $400,000, in support of reporting on nuclear issuesAtlantic Philanthropies, $75,000, in support of juvenile justice reporting
- The following are Center for Public Integrity supporters who gave $250 or more in 2012:
- MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL FUNDERSAdessium FoundationRita Allen FoundationFord FoundationGrantham Foundation for the Protection of the EnvironmentJohn S. and James L. Knight FoundationJohn D. & Catherine T. MacArthur FoundationOmidyar NetworkOpen Society FoundationsPark FoundationVanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramWyncote Foundation
- OTHER INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORTERSParks & Paula Sheller Adams Family FoundationAmgen Matching Gift ProgramAtlantic Philanthropies of New YorkBelleJar FoundationBerkshire Taconic Community FoundationSanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLCCalifornia Community FoundationThe California EndowmentAnnie E. Casey FoundationCommunity Foundation of LouisvilleDeer Creek FoundationIsadore Sadie Dorin FoundationJohn F. Eisberg and Susan Kline CharitableEmmett FoundationEthics and Excellence in Journalism FoundationJoseph & Bessie Feinberg FoundationThe Fertel FoundationFidelity CharitableThe Finzen-Clark Family FoundationFoundation for the CarolinasFund for the RepublicGE FoundationGoldman Sonnenfeldt FoundationGoogle Matching Gifts ProgramGreater New Orleans FoundationHarnisch Family FoundationJames G. Hart FoundationWilliam and Flora Hewlett FoundationHarvard UniversityThe Hijikata Family FoundationJohn Hirschi Donor Advised FundJewish Community Federation and Endowment FundJustGiveW.K. Kellogg FoundationMichael and Ina Korek Foundation TrustKresge FoundationMarkle FoundationThe McCormick FoundationThe Minneapolis FoundationCharles Stewart Mott FoundationStewart R. Mott FoundationThe Mulago FoundationNational Press FoundationNetwork for GoodNewspaper Guild Freedom Award FundThe New York Community TrustThe David and Lucile Packard FoundationThe Park FoundationPender Educational Trust Fund of the El Dorado Community FoundationWilliam Penn FoundationPiedmont Financial TrustPloughshares FundPrinceton University Class of 1969Lynn R. & Karl E. Prickett FundPublic Welfare FoundationRockefeller Brothers FundRockefeller Family FundRotberg Komens Bray FoundationRuth & Jacques Sartisky FoundationSchwab Charitable FundThe Seattle FoundationSkeist Family Charitable TrustSurdna FoundationTides CenterTroy FoundationThe Usdin-Weil FoundationWallace Genetic FoundationWichita Falls Area Community Foundation Zemurray Foundation
- Leadership Circle ($10,000 and above)Mary C. BinghamSamuel ChapinDan EmmettBruce A. FinzenBevis LongstrethGilbert S. OmennPeter G. PetersonScott SieglerFred StanbackKaren E. Winner
- Integrity Circle ($5,000-$9,999)Edith S. BinghamMatthew W. GranadeHolly GrayJames G. HartArianna HuffingtonJimmy W. JanacekJames A. KiernanOlivia O. MaJan NicholsonThomas SedoricHarry ShearerMichael Sonnenfeldt
- Democracy Circle ($1,000-$4,999)Henry ArnholdSteven BloomDr. Leland C. BrendselWayne L. BullaugheyWilliam E. BuzenbergMr. and Mrs. Charles EisendrathBrian FixJonathan Hart and Meg StevensMr. and Mrs. David KaplanSean KellyJerry KnollMr. and Mrs. George W. KrummeJay M. Lapeyre, Jr.Jennifer 8. LeeCharles R. LewisJames J. LippardSusan LoewenbergBill H. ManningStephen and Linda NashSam PrattKarl PreissnerMyrta J. PulliamEugene RotbergMichael SartiskyLouise SimoneMarianne Szegedy-MaszakMatthew ThompsonJane Carver TurnerPaul A. VolckerMarvin F. Weissberg
- Muckraker's Circle ($500-$999)Mildred Ball and Keith MarshallGeorge W. BauerEmily S. Bingham and Stephen R. ReilyNolan A. BowieTom and Kristin ClydeJonathan C. CoopersmithSheila S. CoronelPeter GoldmanFrancis HaganCarol HeimerBen HemmenJohn HirschiHenrik KaufholzDavid KayeKim KendallMark KleimanRichard P. KlingeleJean LecuyerLuis A. MaldonadoPat McPeakeErik McWilliamsEleanor MillerHeather MiyagiRoger H. MuddEric RaetzNancy L. ShepherdMark S. ThompsonMichael TiemannMary B. Williams
- Reporter's Circle ($250-$499)James J. J. BagleyWilliam C. BradleyWilliam Hodding Carter, IIIDr. David L. ChittendenCheree B. CleghornCharles A. ClemonsJohn A. DavidsonDavid DothSonya DuheKaren L. EnnisHarvey FernbachRoger FidlerCornelia FloraDan GillmorMr. and Mrs. Aaron S. HamburgerBruce HannMr. and Mrs. John M. HardingMatt HoenckGreg HowellStella E. JacobsLinda LernerSue S. LyonHarriet C. McGuireBarbara J. MeislinJoAnn and Russ MelgarMichael A. NeigoffMargaret L. NewhouseFrances C. NyceDavid D. PassageLawrence G. PaulMatthew PickeringCharles PillerStephen D. ScheryKathleen W. SelvidgeJulie Ann SetnoskyRoger SteebyAndrew Szegedy-MaszakPeter D. ThompsonRama VemulapalliJeffrey WalterJames M. Wellman
- Watchdog CircleThe Center for Public Integrity gratefully acknowledges the critical and ongoing support of its 2012 Watchdog Circle supporters via monthly giving.Susan AllenJames J. Bagley, IIJoyce & Henry BakerChristine BaurRick BeckerBob BorquistZoe C. BrownCheree B. CleghornWilliam T. CollinsPeter CutlerDorothy L. DeckerChristine A. DobyGretchen DoegeHalvor EriksteinSherla FinneganMatt HoenckCarlos E. HuertasSteven M. JacobsJo Lynn KegleyKim KendallMark KleimanElizabeth KruegerJennifer L. LambeStephen MaceLuis A. MaldonadoCindy MaloufTracy A A. ManginoAl McCoskeyJoAnn and Russ MelgarJudith J. MenderMyles O'MalleyAllison ParelmanBarbara PaytonSharon RaymondGayle Reaves-KingDoris J. J. RohlingScott SeagraveDr. John L. SeymourClaricy A SmithRichard SollbergerRoger SteebyAndrew Szegedy-MaszakMarianne Szegedy-MaszakIna Claire VandevertRama VemulapalliMr. and Mrs. Richard and Jane A. WeigleWilliam WeinmannBill Wolbrecht
- We have made every effort to provide an accurate listing of our funders. If your listing requires correction, please contact us at (202) 481-1267.
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- 'Why Have You Gone to Russia Two Times in Three Months?''--Heathrow Customs Agent Interrogates Snowden Lawyer | The Dissenter
- A lawyer who represents National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden and has spoken on his behalf numerous times was detained while going through customs at Heathrow airport in London.
- Jesselyn Radack told Firedoglake she was directed to a specific Heathrow Border Force agent. He ''didn't seem interested'' in her passport. She was then subjected to ''very hostile questioning.''
- As Radack recalled, she was asked why she was here. ''To see friends,'' she answered. ''Who will you be seeing?'' She answered, ''A group called Sam Adams Associates.''
- The agent wanted to know who was in the group. ''Ray McGovern, Annie Machon, Thomas Drake, Craig Murray,'' she answered. She said she is part of the group as well.
- ''Where will you meet?'' Radack answered, ''At the Ecuadorian Embassy.'' Then, the agent asked, ''With Julian Assange?'' Radack said yes.
- The interrogation continued, ''Why have you gone to Russia twice in three months?'' Radack said she had a client in the country. ''Who?'' She answered, ''Edward Snowden.''
- ''Who is Edward Snowden?'' asked the agent. Radack said he is a whistleblower and an asylee. Then, the agent asked, ''Who is Bradley Manning?'' To this, she answered, ''A whistleblower.''
- For whatever reason, the agent asked, ''Where is he?'' ''In jail,'' Radack told the agent. (Now, she is known as Chelsea Manning.)
- The agent said, ''So he's a criminal?'' Radack corrected the agent, ''He's a political prisoner.'' The agent asked if she represented Manning and she said no. Then he followed up, ''But you represent Snowden?'' She replied, ''Yes, I'm a human rights lawyer.''
- Former NSA employee and whistleblower Thomas Drake was with her and witnessed the interrogation. The agent barked the questions at Radack and had a ''threatening demeanor.
- Radack said she was ''stone face cold'' during the interrogation but afterward was shaking and in tears. ''How did he know to bring up those names?''
- Notably, Radack mentioned she was told she was on an ''inhibited persons list.'' Jennifer Robinson, an Australian human rights lawyer who has represented WikiLeaks, discovered she was on this list in April of 2012.
- According to a report by Australian journalist Bernard Keane, this is a term the Department of Homeland Security uses. From a DHS document:
- 'Inhibited status', as defined in this rule, means the status of a passenger or non-traveling individual to whom TSA [Transportation Security Administration] has instructed a covered aircraft operator or a covered airport operator not to issue a boarding pass or to provide access to the sterile area.
- Keane highlighted the fact that in March 2012, ''as part of the US government's seemingly remorseless attempt to impose its laws on the rest of the world, the UK agreed to new rules that required airlines to provide the Department of Homeland Security with details of passengers even if they weren't traveling to the United States, but to countries near the US, such as Canada, Mexico and Cuba.''
- Radack reacted to the intimidation and harassment afterward, ''The government, whether in the US, UK, or elsewhere does not have the authority to monitor, harass or intimidate lawyers for representing unpopular clients.''
- Her interrogation by a Border Force agent comes just after The New York Times reported, based off a document from Snowden, that NSA ally, Australia, has used the Australian Signals Directorate to spy on American lawyers. The spying involved Indonesia trade talks.
- The Australians told officials at an NSA liaison office in Canberra, Australia, that ''information covered by attorney-client privilege may be included'' in the intelligence gathering, according to the document, a monthly bulletin from the Canberra office. The law firm was not identified, but Mayer Brown, a Chicago-based firm with a global practice, was then advising the Indonesian government on trade issues.
- On behalf of the Australians, the liaison officials asked the N.S.A. general counsel's office for guidance about the spying. The bulletin notes only that the counsel's office ''provided clear guidance'' and that the Australian agency ''has been able to continue to cover the talks, providing highly useful intelligence for interested US customers.''
- The American Civil Liberties Union's Alex Abdo, a staff attorney for the organization's National Security Project, said the story confirmed the fear that ''NSA's surveillance rules give short shrift to the privacy of communications between lawyers and their clients.''
- ''It's another example of the NSA's troubling 'mission creep' beyond national security,'' Abdo added. ''Attorney-client communications are sacred in our legal tradition and should not be wiretapped except in extraordinary circumstances.''
- In August of last year, David Miranda, journalist Glenn Greenwald's partner, was detained for nearly nine hours under a United Kingdom terrorism law at Heathrow airport. He had electronics equipment seized and agents were looking to intercept documents from Snowden by detaining him.
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- Journalists Win Polk Award for Snowden Reporting -- Daily Intelligencer
- Most people don't know the winners of the George Polk Awards in Journalism for 2013 by name, but they probably do know their work, including Frontline's "League of Denial," the New York Times' "Invisible Child" series, and the Record of Northern New Jersey's reporting on the GWB lane closures before it was dubbed Bridgegate. The four winners of the national security reporting award are the exception. Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras of The Guardian, and Barton Gellman of the Washington Post are being honored for articles they wrote based on the documents leaked by Edward Snowden. The reporters have become part of the story, with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper demanding last month that Snowden's "accomplices" return the "remaining stolen documents that have not yet been exposed to prevent even more damage to U.S. security." "Accomplice or award-winning journalist" is the new "traitor or patriot."
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- SNOWDEN EFFECT-Securosis Blog | RSA Conference Guide 2014 Deep Dive: Identity and Access Management
- One of the biggest trends in security gets no respect at RSA. Maybe because identity folks still look at security folks cross-eyed. But this year things will be a bit different. Here's why:
- The Snowden EffectCompanies are (finally) dealing with the hazards of privilege '' a.k.a. Privileged User Access. Yes, we hate the term ''insider threat'' '' we have good evidence that external risks are the real issue. That said, logic does not always win out '' many companies are asking themselves right now, ''How can I stop a 'Snowden Incident' from happening at my company?'' This Snowden Effect is getting traction as a marketing angle, and you will see it on the RSA Conference floor because people are worried about their dirty laundry going public.
- Aside from the marketing hype, we have been surprised by the zeal with which companies are now pursuing technology to enforce Privileged User Access policies. The privileged user problem is not new, but companies' willingness to incur cost, complexity, and risk to address it is. Part of this is driven by auditors assigning higher risk to these privileged accounts (On a cynical note, we have to wonder, ''What's the matter, big-name audit firm? All out of easy findings?''). But sometimes the headline news does really scare the bejesus out of companies in that vertical (that's right, we're looking at you, retailers). Whatever the reason, companies and external auditors are waking up to privileged users as perhaps the largest catalyst in downside risk scenarios. Attackers go after databases because that's where the data is (duh). The same goes for privileged accounts '' that's where the access is!
- But while the risk is almost universally recognized, what to do about it isn't '' aside from ''continuous improvement'', because hey, everyone needs to pass their audit. One reason the privileged user problem has persisted so long is that the controls often reduce productivity of some of the most valuable users, drive up cost, and generally increase availability risk. Career risk, anyone? But that's why security folks make the big bucks. High-probability events gets the lion's share of attention, but lower-probability gut-punch events like privileged user misuse have come to the fore. Buckle up!
- Nobody cares what your name is!Third-party identity services and cloud-based identity are gaining momentum. The need for federation (to manage customer, employee, and partner identities), and two-factor authentication (2FA) to reduce fraud are both powerful motivators. But we expected last year's hack of Mat Honan to start a movement away from passwords in favor of certificates and other better user authentication tools. But what we got was risk-based handling of requests on the back end. It is not yet the year of PKI, apparently.
- Companies are less concerned with logins and more concerned with request context and metadata. Does the user normally log in at this time? From that location? With that app? Is this a request they normally make? Is it for a typical dollar amount? A lot more is being spent on analytics to determine 'normal' behavior than on replacing identity infrastructure, and fraud analytics on the back end are leading the way. In fact precious little attention is being paid to identity systems on the front end '' even payment processors are discussing third-party identity from Facebook and Twitter for authentication. What could possibly go wrong? As usual cheap, easy, and universally available trump security '' for authentication tools, this time. To compensate, effort will need to be focused on risk-based authorization on the back end.
- Posted at Sunday 16th February 2014 12:00 pm Filed under:
- If you like to leave comments, and aren't a spammer, register for the site and email us at info@securosis.com and we'll turn off moderation for your account.
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- Ministry of Truth
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- Government Monitors in Newsrooms? | Free Speech, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ
- The Obama Administration's Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is poised to place government monitors in newsrooms across the country in an absurdly draconian attempt to intimidate and control the media.
- Before you dismiss this assertion as utterly preposterous (we all know how that turned out when the Tea Party complained that it was being targeted by the IRS), this bombshell of an accusation comes from an actual FCC Commissioner.
- FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai reveals a brand new Obama Administration program that he fears could be used in ''pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.''
- As Commissioner Pai explains in the Wall Street Journal:
- Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs," or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.
- The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about "the process by which stories are selected" and how often stations cover "critical information needs," along with "perceived station bias" and "perceived responsiveness to underserved populations."
- In fact, the FCC is now expanding the bounds of regulatory powers to include newspapers, which it has absolutely no authority over, in its new government monitoring program.
- The FCC has apparently already selected eight categories of ''critical information'' ''that it believes local newscasters should cover.''
- That's right, the Obama Administration has developed a formula of what it believes the free press should cover, and it is going to send government monitors into newsrooms across America to stand over the shoulders of the press as they make editorial decisions.
- This poses a monumental danger to constitutionally protected free speech and freedom of the press.
- Every major repressive regime of the modern era has begun with an attempt to control and intimidate the press.
- As Thomas Jefferson so eloquently said, "our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."
- The federal government has absolutely no business determining what stories should and should not be run, what is critical for the American public and what is not, whether it perceives a bias, and whose interests are and are not being served by the free press.
- It's an unconscionable assault on our free society.
- Imagine a government monitor telling Fox News it needed to cover stories in the same way as MSNBC or Al Jazeera. Imagine an Obama Administration official walking in to the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal and telling it that the American public would be better served if it is stopped reporting on the IRS scandal or maybe that reporting on ObamaCare ''glitches'' is driving down enrollment.
- It's hard to imagine anything more brazenly Orwellian than government monitors in newsrooms.
- Is it any wonder that the U.S. now ranks 46th in the world for freedom of the press? Reporters Without Boarders called America's precipitous drop of 13 places in its recent global rankings ''one of the most significant declines'' in freedom of the press in the world.
- Freedom of the press is proudly extolled in the First Amendment, yet our nation now barely makes the top fifty for media freedom.
- We cannot allow the unfathomable encroachment on our free speech and freedom of the press to continue.
- We've seen, and defeated, this kind of attempt to squelch free speech before in the likes of the Fairness Doctrine and the Grassroots Lobbying Bill (incidentally one of my first projects at the ACLJ). Each one of these euphemistically named government programs is nothing more than an underhanded attempt to circumvent the Constitution and limit free speech '' speech that the government finds inconvenient. They're equally unconstitutional, and they each must be defeated.
- Join the ACLJ as we take a stand. Sign the ACLJ's Petition to Stop the Obama FCC's Free Speech Monitors.
- This article is crossposted on Red State.
- Tags >>Obama, FCC, IRS, free speech
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- Matt Taibbi to Lead First Look's Next Digital Magazine | Business Wire
- NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Look Media, the news organization created by Pierre Omidyar, today announced that acclaimed journalist and New York Times best-selling author Matt Taibbi will launch First Look's second digital magazine. Taibbi will help assemble a top-notch team of journalists and bring his trademark combination of reporting, analysis, humor and outrage to the ongoing financial crisis '' and to the political machinery that makes it possible. The magazine will launch later this year.
- Taibbi comes to First Look from Rolling Stone, where he served as a contributing editor for the past 10 years. During his tenure, he built a large and devoted following that has grown to rely on his in-depth and irreverent reporting on Wall Street and Washington. Whether busting Goldman Sachs for market manipulation or revealing the hidden roots of the student loan crisis, Taibbi has exposed and explained the most complicated financial scandals of the day with a fresh and compelling approach to journalism that has enraged and inspired millions of readers.
- ''Matt is one of the most influential journalists of our time,'' said Eric Bates, executive editor of First Look Media. ''His incisive explorations of the financial crisis '' and Wall Street's undue influence over our political system '' have played a key role in helping to inform the public and transform the national debate. He is a journalist who can explain what a credit default swap is and why it's important '' and, make you bust out laughing while he's doing it. I look forward to having him on our team and helping him launch a dynamic new site unlike any other.''
- While at Rolling Stone, Taibbi won a National Magazine Award for his reporting on the 2008 presidential election, and was a finalist for his coverage of Occupy Wall Street. The author of two New York Times bestsellers, he earlier worked as reporter for the Moscow Times, an English-language expatriate newspaper, and co-founded The eXile, a bi-weekly newspaper based in Moscow. The paper became infamous for its satirical wit, as well as for hard-nosed reporting of corruption in both the Russian government and the American aid community. The paper was the only publication to correctly predict the 1998 Russian financial crisis.
- ''This is an incredible opportunity and a wonderful creative challenge,'' said Taibbi. ''I'm looking forward to helping build a team that produces hard-hitting coverage of politics and the economy, but delivers it in a way that's fun, funny, and accessible. It's a new golden age for reporting and it's a real privilege to be part of this effort to create something innovative and lasting.''
- Taibbi will be based in New York City. The name and launch date of his digital magazine will be announced in the coming months. First Look Media's first online publication, The Intercept, led by Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill, launched on February 10.
- First Look Media seeks to reimagine journalism for the digital age, combining the promise of technological innovation with the power of fearless reporting. Founded by Pierre Omidyar, the organization will pursue original, independent journalism that is deeply reported and researched, thoroughly fact checked, and beautifully told. We are driven above all by a belief that democracy depends on a citizenry that is not just highly informed, but deeply engaged. In all our work, we are committed to strict standards of accuracy and honesty, a willingness to report our own errors and inconsistencies, and a deep respect for the transformative power of true stories. To learn more, visit www.firstlook.org.
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- Syria
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- Syria crisis: Image of four-year-old boy Marwan crossing into Jordan captures plight of refugees
- The little boy, named Marwan, was just one of around 1,000 refugees making the long and difficult journey to escape the war-torn country, and was temporarily separated from the rest of his family during the ''chaos and confusion'' of the border crossing itself.
- Marwan was carried across into Jordan by officials with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) '' and was reunited with his mother around 10 minutes later.
- At no point did the UNHCR say the boy made the full crossing alone, but the powerful image was seized upon by social media users on Sunday, and become one of the most shared pictures of the day.
- Andrew Harper, the agency's representative in Jordan who took and posted the original image, explained what happened in a series of tweets.
- He wrote: ''Just to let you know that Marwan was safely reunited with his mother soon after being carried across the Jordan border.
- Andrew Harper posted a wider image from the UNHCR's Jared Kohler showing Marwan at the back of a large group of refugees before he met officials (Twitter) ''Marwan's story is that he was temporarily separated from his family in the chaos of the mass refugees' crossing into Jordan.
- ''When refugees cross, which happens every day, it is the most vulnerable that UNHCR staff Border Guards look out to help.
- ''Unfortunately in every mass refugee crossing it is the elderly, sick, pregnant and often children that fall behind the main groups.''
- While assisting refugees across the border on Sunday, the UNHCR said it was ''honoured'' to be accompanied by the education activist and 2013 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Malala Yousafzai.
- Malala, 16, was pictured as she was briefed by agency officials, spoke to those fleeing Syria and helped carrying supplies.
- Malala Yousafzai (second from left) talks to a newly-arrived 5-year-old-girl and her family (UNHCR) UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told the Mirror: '' The Syria conflict has now been going on for three years and at the moment we are dealing with 2.4 million refugees.
- ''The important statistic is that over one million of these refugees are children.
- ''Because they miss out on education we are calling them the 'lost generation' of Syria.
- ''Unfortunately there are lots of Marwans out there.''
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- Media caught manipulating photo of "alone" Syrian boy in desert
- (wideshut.co.uk) '' Headlines across the mainstream press early this morning reported on the sad story of a four year old Syrian boy found alone in the desert, fleeing to Jordan.
- Mirror.co.uk for example, published the following:
- A four-year-old boy separated from his family while fleeing Syria has been found crossing the desert alone.
- Clutching a plastic bag containing his possessions, Marwan makes his way across the border into Jordan.
- The brave youngster was helped by United Nations staff who managed to reunite him with his worried family.
- Skeptical of the emotional shot, I posted a link to the story on Facebook, with some comments:
- I don't like stories like this because they lack just the right amount of detail to tug at the most amount of heart strings. How long was he in the desert? Did he cross the whole entire desert? If the camera pans around is there really a road and some buildings there and he's not so far out in the wilderness?
- Readers quickly responded and it has become apparent that the boy was not alone as such '' he was part of a massive troupe of refugees and was quickly reunited with his family by the UN.
- The original close-up was taken by @And_Harper. He explains in his Tweets how the media took his photo out of context:
- Another photo confirms that he wasn't alone of stranded in the desert, rather lagging behind a large group:
- Of course it's not like a four year old refugee is having a whale-of-a-time or anything, but this is just another example of how careless or deliberately contrived conflict reporting can be. It certainly isn't hard to deceive the public or tug at their heart strings to help push an agenda.
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- Bank$ters
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- 33 year old JP Morgan investment banker jumps to his death in Hong Kong: 3rd mysterious death in the past 3 weeks
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- Elite$
- Ever consider they have drugged Prince Charles, and they have fun making up these crazy outfits they make him dress in?
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- Agenda 21
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- WMD-DEF-18 U.S. Code § 2332a - Use of weapons of mass destruction | LII / Legal Information Institute
- (a)Offense Against a National of the United States or Within the United States.'--A person who, without lawful authority, uses, threatens, or attempts or conspires to use, a weapon of mass destruction'--(1)against a national of the United States while such national is outside of the United States;(2)against any person or property within the United States, and(A)the mail or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce is used in furtherance of the offense;(B)such property is used in interstate or foreign commerce or in an activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce;(C)any perpetrator travels in or causes another to travel in interstate or foreign commerce in furtherance of the offense; or(D)the offense, or the results of the offense, affect interstate or foreign commerce, or, in the case of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, would have affected interstate or foreign commerce;(3)against any property that is owned, leased or used by the United States or by any department or agency of the United States, whether the property is within or outside of the United States; or(4)against any property within the United States that is owned, leased, or used by a foreign government,shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, and if death results, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
- (b)Offense by National of the United States Outside of the United States.'--Any national of the United States who, without lawful authority, uses, or threatens, attempts, or conspires to use, a weapon of mass destruction outside of the United States shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, and if death results, shall be punished by death, or by imprisonment for any term of years or for life.(c)Definitions.'--For purposes of this section'--(1)the term ''national of the United States'' has the meaning given in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22));(2)the term ''weapon of mass destruction'' means'--(A)any destructive device as defined in section 921 of this title;(B)any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;(C)any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of this title); or(D)any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life; and(3)the term ''property'' includes all real and personal property.Source
- (Added Pub. L. 103''322, title VI, § 60023(a),Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1980; amended Pub. L. 104''132, title V, § 511(c), title VII, § 725,Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1284, 1300; Pub. L. 104''294, title VI, § 605(m),Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3510; Pub. L. 105''277, div. I, title II, § 201(b)(1),Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681''871; Pub. L. 107''188, title II, § 231(d),June 12, 2002, 116 Stat. 661; Pub. L. 108''458, title VI, § 6802(a), (b),Dec. 17, 2004, 118 Stat. 3766, 3767.)Amendments
- 2004'--Pub. L. 108''458, § 6802(b)(1), struck out ''certain'' before ''weapons'' in section catchline.Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108''458, § 6802(b)(2), struck out ''(other than a chemical weapon as that term is defined in section 229F)'' after ''mass destruction'' in introductory provisions.Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 108''458, § 6802(a)(1), amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: ''against any person within the United States, and the results of such use affect interstate or foreign commerce or, in the case of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, would have affected interstate or foreign commerce; or''.Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 108''458, § 6802(a)(2), (3), added par. (4).Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 108''458, § 6802(b)(3), struck out ''(other than a chemical weapon (as that term is defined in section 229F))'' after ''mass destruction''.Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 108''458, § 6802(a)(4)''(6), added par. (3).2002'--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107''188, § 231(d)(1), substituted ''section 229F)'--'' for ''section 229F), including any biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178)'--'' in introductory provisions.Subsec. (c)(2)(C). Pub. L. 107''188, § 231(d)(2), substituted ''a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of this title)'' for ''a disease organism''.1998'--Pub. L. 105''277, § 201(b)(1)(A), inserted ''certain'' before ''weapons'' in section catchline.Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105''277, § 201(b)(1)(B), inserted ''(other than a chemical weapon as that term is defined in section 229F)'' after ''weapon of mass destruction'' in introductory provisions.Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105''277, § 201(b)(1)(C), inserted ''(other than a chemical weapon (as that term is defined in section 229F))'' after ''weapon of mass destruction''.1996'--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104''132, §§ 511(c), 725(1)(A), (B), in heading, inserted ''Against a National of the United States or Within the United States'' after ''Offense'', and in introductory provisions, substituted '','without lawful authority, uses, threatens, or attempts'' for ''uses, or attempts'' and inserted '','including any biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178)'' after ''mass destruction''.Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 104''132, § 725(1)(C), inserted before semicolon at end '','and the results of such use affect interstate or foreign commerce or, in the case of a threat, attempt, or conspiracy, would have affected interstate or foreign commerce''.Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104''132, § 725(4), added subsec. (b). Former subsec. (b) redesignated (c).Subsec. (b)(2)(B). Pub. L. 104''132, § 725(2), as amended by Pub. L. 104''294, § 605(m), added subpar. (B) and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows: ''poison gas;''.Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104''132, § 725(3), redesignatedsubsec. (b) as (c).The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 3, 2012, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.
- The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Tuesday, August 13, 2013
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- An empty field implies a standard amendment."new" means a new section or new note, or all new text of an existing section or note."nt" means note."nt [tbl]" means note [table]."prec" means preceding."fr" means a transfer from another section."to" means a transfer to another section."omitted" means the section is omitted."repealed" means the section is repealed."nt ed change" and "ed change" - See the Editorial Classification Change Table [pdf].The Public Law field is linked to the development of the law in the Thomas system at the Library of Congress.
- The Statutes at Large field is linked to the text of the law, in the context of its volume of the Statutes at Large, at the Government Printing Office. Please note that it takes a while for these pages to get posted, so for very recent legislation, you need to look at the "enrolled" version at the Thomas site.
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- 18 USCDescription of ChangeSession YearPublic LawStatutes at Large
-
- DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE DEF-18 U.S. Code § 921 - Definitions | LII / Legal Information Institute
- (Added Pub. L. 90''351, title IV, § 902,June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 226; amended Pub. L. 90''618, title I, § 102,Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1214; Pub. L. 93''639, § 102,Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2217; Pub. L. 99''308, § 101,May 19, 1986, 100 Stat. 449; Pub. L. 99''360, § 1(b),July 8, 1986, 100 Stat. 766; Pub. L. 99''408, § 1,Aug. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 920; Pub. L. 101''647, title XVII, § 1702(b)(2), title XXII, § 2204(a),Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4845, 4857; Pub. L. 103''159, title I, § 102(a)(2),Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1539; Pub. L. 103''322, title XI, §§ 110102(b), 110103(b), 110105(2), 110401(a), 110519, title XXXIII, § 330021(1),Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1997, 1999, 2000, 2014, 2020, 2150; Pub. L. 104''88, title III, § 303(1),Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 943; Pub. L. 104''208, div. A, title I, § 101(f) [title VI, § 658(a)], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009''314, 3009''371; Pub. L. 105''277, div. A, § 101(b) [title I, § 119(a)], (h) [title I, § 115], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681''50, 2681''69, 2681''480, 2681''490; Pub. L. 107''273, div. C, title I, § 11009(e)(1),Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1821; Pub. L. 107''296, title XI, § 1112(f)(1)''(3), (6), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2276; Pub. L. 109''162, title IX, § 908(a),Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3083.)References in Text
- For definition of Canal Zone, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), see section 3602(b) of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.Amendments
- 2006'--Subsec. (a)(33)(A)(i). Pub. L. 109''162, which directed the general amendment of ''section 921(33)(A)(i) of title 18'', was executed to par. (33)(A)(i) of subsec. (a), to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Prior to amendment, cl. (i) read as follows: ''is a misdemeanor under Federal or State law; and''.2002'--Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 107''296, § 1112(f)(2), substituted ''Attorney General'' for ''Secretary of the Treasury'' in concluding provisions.Subsec. (a)(4)(B). Pub. L. 107''296, § 1112(f)(1), substituted ''Attorney General'' for ''Secretary''.Subsec. (a)(13), (17)(C). Pub. L. 107''296, § 1112(f)(6), substituted ''Attorney General'' for ''Secretary'' wherever appearing.Subsec. (a)(18). Pub. L. 107''296, § 1112(f)(3), added par. (18) and struck out former par. (18) which read as follows: ''The term 'Secretary' or 'Secretary of the Treasury' means the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate.''Subsec. (a)(19). Pub. L. 107''296, § 1112(f)(6), substituted ''Attorney General'' for ''Secretary'' in two places.Subsec. (a)(35). Pub. L. 107''273added par. (35).1998'--Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 105''277, § 101(h) [title I, § 115(1)], substituted ''an explosive'' for ''the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell''.Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 105''277, § 101(h) [title I, § 115(2)], substituted ''an explosive'' for ''the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge''.Subsec. (a)(16). Pub. L. 105''277, § 101(h) [title I, § 115(3)], added par. (16) and struck out former par. (16) which read as follows: ''The term 'antique firearm' means'--''(A) any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; and
- ''(B) any replica of any firearm described in subparagraph (A) if such replica'--
- ''(i) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or
- ''(ii) uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.''
- Subsec. (a)(34). Pub. L. 105''277, § 101(b) [title I, § 119(a)], added par. (34).1996'--Subsec. (a)(33). Pub. L. 104''208added par. (33).1995'--Subsec. (a)(27). Pub. L. 104''88substituted ''section 13102'' for ''section 10102''.1994'--Subsec. (a)(17)(B). Pub. L. 103''322, § 110519, amended subpar. (B) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (B) read as follows: ''The term 'armor piercing ammunition' means a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium. Such term does not include shotgun shot required by Federal or State environmental or game regulations for hunting purposes, a frangible projectile designed for target shooting, a projectile which the Secretary finds is primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes, or any other projectile or projectile core which the Secretary finds is intended to be used for industrial purposes, including a charge used in an oil and gas well perforating device.''Subsec. (a)(17)(C). Pub. L. 103''322, § 110519, added subpar. (C).Subsec. (a)(22)(C)(iii). Pub. L. 103''322, § 330021(1), substituted ''kidnapping'' for ''kidnaping''.Subsec. (a)(30). Pub. L. 103''322, § 110102(b), which added par. (30) defining ''semiautomatic assault weapon'', was repealed by Pub. L. 103''322, § 110105(2). See Effective and Termination Dates of 1994 Amendment note below.Subsec. (a)(31). Pub. L. 103''322, § 110103(b), which added par. (31) defining ''large capacity ammunition feeding device'', was repealed by Pub. L. 103''322, § 110105(2). See Effective and Termination Dates of 1994 Amendment note below.Subsec. (a)(32). Pub. L. 103''322, § 110401(a), added par. (32).1993'--Subsec. (a)(29). Pub. L. 103''159added par. (29).1990'--Subsec. (a)(25) to (27). Pub. L. 101''647, § 1702(b)(2), added pars. (25) to (27).Subsec. (a)(28). Pub. L. 101''647, § 2204(a), added par. (28).1986'--Subsec. (a)(10). Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(1), substituted ''business of manufacturing'' for ''manufacture of''.Subsec. (a)(11)(A). Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(2), struck out ''or ammunition'' after ''firearms''.Subsec. (a)(12). Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(3), struck out ''or ammunition'' after ''firearm''.Subsec. (a)(13). Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(4), struck out ''or ammunition'' after ''firearms''.Subsec. (a)(17). Pub. L. 99''408designated existing provisions as subpar. (A) and added subpar. (B).Subsec. (a)(20). Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(5), amended par. (20) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (20) read as follows: ''The term 'crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year' shall not include (A) any Federal or State offenses pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices as the Secretary may by regulation designate, or (B) any State offense (other than one involving a firearm or explosive) classified by the laws of the State as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of imprisonment of two years or less.''Subsec. (a)(21). Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(6), added par. (21).Subsec. (a)(22). Pub. L. 99''360inserted provision that proof of profit not be required as to a person who engages in the regular and repetitive purchase and disposition of firearms for criminal purposes or terrorism and defined terrorism.Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(6), added par. (22).Subsec. (a)(23), (24). Pub. L. 99''308, § 101(6), added pars. (23) and (24).1975'--Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 93''639substituted ''to use solely for sporting, recreational or cultural purposes'' for ''to use solely for sporting purposes''.1968'--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90''618inserted definitions of ''collector'', ''licensed collector'', and ''crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year'', amended definitions of ''person'', ''whoever'', ''interstate or foreign commerce'', ''State'', ''firearm'', ''destructive device'', ''dealer'', ''indictment'', ''fugitive from justice'', ''antique firearm'', ''ammunition'', and ''published ordinance'', and reenacted without change definitions of ''shotgun'', ''short-barreled shotgun'', ''rifle'', ''short-barreled rifle'', ''importer'', ''licensed importer'', ''manufacturer'', ''licensed manufacturer'', ''licensed dealer'', ''pawnbroker'', and ''Secretary'' or ''Secretary of the Treasury''.Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 90''618substituted provisions determining that a member of the armed forces on active duty is a resident of the State in which his permanent duty station is located for provisions defining ''firearm'', ''destructive device'', and ''crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year''.Effective Date of 2002 Amendment
- Amendment by Pub. L. 107''296effective 60 days after Nov. 25, 2002, see section 4 ofPub. L. 107''296, set out as an Effective Date note under section 101 of Title 6, Domestic Security.Effective Date of 1998 Amendment
- Pub. L. 105''277, div. A, § 101(b) [title I, § 119(e)], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681''50, 2681''70, provided that: ''The amendments made by this section [amending this section and section 923 of this title] shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998].''Effective Date of 1995 Amendment
- Amendment by Pub. L. 104''88effective Jan. 1, 1996, see section 2 ofPub. L. 104''88, set out as an Effective Date note under section 701 of Title 49, Transportation.Effective and Termination Dates of 1994 Amendment
- Pub. L. 103''322, title XI, § 110105,Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2000, provided that subtitle A (§§ 110101''110106) of title XI of Pub. L. 103''322(amending this section and sections 922 to 924 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section) and the amendments made by that subtitle were effective Sept. 13, 1994, and were repealed effective as of the date that is 10 years after that date.Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
- Pub. L. 101''647, title XVII, § 1702(b)(4),Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4845, provided that: ''The amendments made by this section [amending this section and sections 922 and 924 of this title] shall apply to conduct engaged in after the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1990].''Effective Date of 1986 Amendments; Publication and Availability of Compilation of State Laws and Published Ordinances
- Pub. L. 99''408, § 9,Aug. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 921, provided that: ''The amendments made by this Act [amending this section and sections 922, 923, and 929 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section] shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Aug. 28, 1986], except that sections 3, 4, and 5 [amending section 923 of this title] shall take effect on the first day of the first calendar month which begins more than ninety days after the date of the enactment of this Act.''Pub. L. 99''360, § 2,July 8, 1986, 100 Stat. 767, provided that: ''This Act and the amendments made by this Act [enacting section 926A of this title, amending this section and section 923 of this title, and repealing former section 926A of this title], intended to amend the Firearms Owners' Protection Act [Pub. L. 99''308, see Short Title of 1986 Amendment note below], shall become effective on the date on which the section they are intended to amend in such Firearms Owners' Protection Act becomes effective [see section 110 ofPub. L. 99''308set out below] and shall apply to the amendments to title 18, United States Code, made by such Act.''Pub. L. 99''308, § 110,May 19, 1986, 100 Stat. 460, provided that:''(a) In General.'--The amendments made by this Act [enacting section 926A of this title, amending this section, sections 922 to 926 and 929 of this title, and section 5845 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, repealing title VII of Pub. L. 90''351, set out in the Appendix to this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section] shall become effective one hundred and eighty days after the date of the enactment of this Act [May 19, 1986]. Upon their becoming effective, the Secretary shall publish and provide to all licensees a compilation of the State laws and published ordinances of which licensees are presumed to have knowledge pursuant to chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this Act. All amendments to such State laws and published ordinances as contained in the aforementioned compilation shall be published in the Federal Register, revised annually, and furnished to each person licensed under chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this Act.''(b) Pending Actions, Petitions, and Appellate Proceedings.'--The amendments made by sections 103(6)(B), 105, and 107 of this Act [enacting section 926A of this title and amending sections 923 and 925 of this title] shall be applicable to any action, petition, or appellate proceeding pending on the date of the enactment of this Act [May 19, 1986].''(c) Machinegun Prohibition.'--Section 102(9) [amending section 922 of this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [May 19, 1986].''Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
- Pub. L. 90''618, title I, § 105,Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1226, provided that:''(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the provisions of chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by section 102 of this title [amending this chapter], shall take effect on December 16, 1968.''(b) The following sections of chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by section 102 of this title shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this title [Oct. 22, 1968]: Sections 921, 922(l), 925(a)(1), and 925(d).''Effective Date
- Pub. L. 90''351, title IV, § 907,June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 235, provided that: ''The amendments made by this title [enacting this chapter and provisions set out as notes under this section and repealing sections 901 to 910 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade] shall become effective one hundred and eighty days after the date of its enactment [June 19, 1968]; except that repeal of the Federal Firearms Act [sections 901 to 910 of Title 15] shall not in itself terminate any valid license issued pursuant to that Act and any such license shall be deemed valid until it shall expire according to its terms unless it be sooner revoked or terminated pursuant to applicable provisions of law.''Short Title of 2005 Amendment
- Pub. L. 109''92, § 5(a),Oct. 26, 2005, 119 Stat. 2099, provided that: ''This section [amending sections 922 and 924 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 922 of this title] may be cited as the 'Child Safety Lock Act of 2005'.''Short Title of 2004 Amendment
- Pub. L. 108''277, § 1,July 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 865, provided that: ''This Act [enacting sections 926B and 926C of this title] may be cited as the 'Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004'.''Short Title of 1994 Amendment
- Pub. L. 103''322, title XI, § 110101,Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1996, provided that subtitle A (§§ 110101''110106) of title XI of Pub. L. 103''322(amending this section and sections 922 to 924 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section) could be cited as the ''Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act'', prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103''322, title XI, § 110105(2),Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2000, effective 10 years after Sept. 13, 1994.Short Title of 1993 Amendment
- Pub. L. 103''159, title I, § 101,Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1536, provided that: ''This title [enacting section 925A of this title, amending this section, sections 922 and 924 of this title, and section 3759 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 922 of this title] may be cited as the 'Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act'.''Pub. L. 103''159, title III, § 301,Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1545, provided that: ''This title [amending sections 922 to 924 of this title] may be cited as the 'Federal Firearms License Reform Act of 1993'.''Short Title of 1990 Amendment
- Pub. L. 101''647, title XVII, § 1702(a),Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4844, provided that: ''This section [amending this section and sections 922 and 924 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 922 of this title] may be cited as the 'Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990'.''Short Title of 1988 Amendment
- Pub. L. 100''649, § 1,Nov. 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 3816, provided that: ''This Act [amending sections 922, 924, and 925 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 922 of this title and section 1356 of former Title 49, Transportation] may be cited as the 'Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988'.''Short Title of 1986 Amendments
- Pub. L. 99''570, title I, subtitle I, § 1401,Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207''39, provided that: ''This subtitle [amending section 924 of this title] may be cited as the 'Career Criminals Amendment Act of 1986'.''Pub. L. 99''308, § 1(a),May 19, 1986, 100 Stat. 449, provided that: ''This Act [enacting section 926A of this title, amending this section, sections 922 to 926 and 929 of this title, and section 5845 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, repealing title VII of Pub. L. 90''351, set out in the Appendix to this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section] may be cited as the 'Firearms Owners' Protection Act'.''Short Title
- Pub. L. 90''618, § 1,Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1213, provided: ''That this Act [enacting sections 5822, 5871 and 5872 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, amending this section, sections 922 to 928 of this title, and Appendix to this title, and sections 5801, 5802, 5811, 5812, 5821, 5841 to 5849, 5851 to 5854, 5861, 6806, and 7273 of Title 26, repealing sections 5692 and 6107 of Title 26, omitting sections 5803, 5813, 5814, 5831, 5855, and 5862 of Title 26, and enacting material set out as notes under this section and Appendix to this title, and section 5801 of Title 26] may be cited as the 'Gun Control Act of 1968'.''Restrictions on Amendment of Regulations as to Curios or Relics
- Pub. L. 113''6, div. B, title II, Mar. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 248, provided in part: ''That, in the current fiscal year and any fiscal year thereafter, no funds appropriated under this or any other Act shall be used to pay administrative expenses or the compensation of any officer or employee of the United States to implement an amendment or amendments to section 478.118 of title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, or to change the definition of 'Curios or relics' in section 478.11 of title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, or remove any item from ATF Publication 5300.11 as it existed on January 1, 1994''.Construction of Pub. L. 103''159 With Section'552a'of'Title'5
- Pub. L. 103''159, title I, § 105,Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1543, provided that: ''This Act [enacting section 925A of this title, amending this section, sections 922 to 924 of this title, and section 3759 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 922 of this title] and the amendments made by this Act shall not be construed to alter or impair any right or remedy under section 552a of title 5, United States Code.''Statutory Construction; Evidence
- For provisions relating to statutory construction of, and admissibility of evidence regarding compliance or noncompliance with, the amendment by section 101(b) [title I, § 119(a)] of Pub. L. 105''277, see section 101(b) [title I, § 119(d)] of Pub. L. 105''277, set out as a note under section 923 of this title.Study By Attorney General
- Pub. L. 103''322, title XI, § 110104,Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2000, which provided that the Attorney General was to study the effect of subtitle A (§§ 110101''110106) of title XI of Pub. L. 103''322and to report the results of the study to Congress not later than 30 months after Sept. 13, 1994, was repealed by Pub. L. 103''322, title XI, § 110105(2),Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2000, effective 10 years after Sept. 13, 1994.Congressional Findings and Declaration
- Pub. L. 99''308, § 1(b),May 19, 1986, 100 Stat. 449, provided that: ''The Congress finds that'--''(1) the rights of citizens'--
- ''(A) to keep and bear arms under the second amendment to the United States Constitution;
- ''(B) to security against illegal and unreasonable searches and seizures under the fourth amendment;
- ''(C) against uncompensated taking of property, double jeopardy, and assurance of due process of law under the fifth amendment; and
- ''(D) against unconstitutional exercise of authority under the ninth and tenth amendments;
- require additional legislation to correct existing firearms statutes and enforcement policies; and''(2) additional legislation is required to reaffirm the intent of the Congress, as expressed in section 101 of the Gun Control Act of 1968 [section 101 ofPub. L. 90''618, set out below], that 'it is not the purpose of this title to place any undue or unnecessary Federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms appropriate to the purpose of hunting, trapshooting, target shooting, personal protection, or any other lawful activity, and that this title is not intended to discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.'.''Pub. L. 90''618, title I, § 101,Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1213, provided that: ''The Congress hereby declares that the purposes of this title [amending this chapter] is to provide support to Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials in their fight against crime and violence, and it is not the purpose of this title to place any undue or unnecessary Federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms appropriate to the purpose of hunting, trapshooting, target shooting, personal protection, or any other lawful activity, and that this title is not intended to discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, or provide for the imposition by Federal regulations of any procedures or requirements other than those reasonably necessary to implement and effectuate the provisions of this title.''Pub. L. 90''351, title IV, § 901,June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 225, provided that:''(a) The Congress hereby finds and declares'--
- ''(1) that there is a widespread traffic in firearms moving in or otherwise affecting interstate or foreign commerce, and that the existing Federal controls over such traffic do not adequately enable the States to control this traffic within their own borders through the exercise of their police power;
- ''(2) that the ease with which any person can acquire firearms other than a rifle or shotgun (including criminals, juveniles without the knowledge or consent of their parents or guardians, narcotics addicts, mental defectives, armed groups who would supplant the functions of duly constituted public authorities, and others whose possession of such weapon is similarly contrary to the public interest) is a significant factor in the prevalence of lawlessness and violent crime in the United States;
- ''(3) that only through adequate Federal control over interstate and foreign commerce in these weapons, and over all persons engaging in the businesses of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in them, can this grave problem be properly dealt with, and effective State and local regulation of this traffic be made possible;
- ''(4) that the acquisition on a mail-order basis of firearms other than a rifle or shotgun by nonlicensed individuals, from a place other than their State of residence, has materially tended to thwart the effectiveness of State laws and regulations, and local ordinances;
- ''(5) that the sale or other disposition of concealable weapons by importers, manufacturers, and dealers holding Federal licenses, to nonresidents of the State in which the licensees' places of business are located, has tended to make ineffective the laws, regulations, and ordinances in the several States and local jurisdictions regarding such firearms;
- ''(6) that there is a casual relationship between the easy availability of firearms other than a rifle or shotgun and juvenile and youthful criminal behavior, and that such firearms have been widely sold by federally licensed importers and dealers to emotionally immature, or thrill-bent juveniles and minors prone to criminal behavior;
- ''(7) that the United States has become the dumping ground of the castoff surplus military weapons of other nations, and that such weapons, and the large volume of relatively inexpensive pistols and revolvers (largely worthless for sporting purposes), imported into the United States in recent years, has contributed greatly to lawlessness and to the Nation's law enforcement problems;
- ''(8) that the lack of adequate Federal control over interstate and foreign commerce in highly destructive weapons (such as bazookas, mortars, antitank guns, and so forth, and destructive devices such as explosive or incendiary grenades, bombs, missiles, and so forth) has allowed such weapons and devices to fall into the hands of lawless persons, including armed groups who would supplant lawful authority, thus creating a problem of national concern;
- ''(9) that the existing licensing system under the Federal Firearms Act [former sections 901 to 910 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade] does not provide adequate license fees or proper standards for the granting or denial of licenses, and that this has led to licenses being issued to persons not reasonably entitled thereto, thus distorting the purposes of the licensing system.''(b) The Congress further hereby declares that the purpose of this title [enacting this chapter and repealing sections 901 to 910 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade] is to cope with the conditions referred to in the foregoing subsection, and that it is not the purpose of this title [enacting this chapter and repealing sections 901 to 910 of Title 15] to place any undue or unnecessary Federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms appropriate to the purpose of hunting, trap shooting, target shooting, personal protection, or any other lawful activity, and that this title [enacting this chapter and repealing sections 901 to 910 of Title 15] is not intended to discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, or provide for the imposition by Federal regulations of any procedures or requirements other than those reasonably necessary to implement and effectuate the provisions of this title [enacting this chapter and repealing sections 901 to 910 of Title 15].''Administration and Enforcement
- Pub. L. 90''618, title I, § 103,Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1226, as amended by Pub. L. 107''296, title XI, § 1112(s),Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2279, provided that: ''The administration and enforcement of the amendment made by this title [amending this chapter] shall be vested in the Attorney General.''Pub. L. 90''351, title IV, § 903,June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 234, provided that: ''The administration and enforcement of the amendment made by this title [enacting this chapter and provisions set out as notes under this section] shall be vested in the Secretary of the Treasury [now Attorney General].''Modification of Other Laws
- Pub. L. 90''618, title I, § 104,Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1226, as amended by Pub. L. 99''514, § 2,Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2095, provided that: ''Nothing in this title or the amendment made thereby [amending this chapter] shall be construed as modifying or affecting any provision of'--''(a) the National Firearms Act (chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) [section 5801 et seq. of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code];
- ''(b) section 414 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 (22 U.S.C. 1934), as amended, relating to munitions control; or''(c) section 1715 of title 18, United States Code, relating to nonmailable firearms.''Pub. L. 90''351, title IV, § 904,June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 234, as amended by Pub. L. 99''514, § 2,Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2095, provided that: ''Nothing in this title or amendment made thereby [enacting this chapter and provisions set out as notes under this section] shall be construed as modifying or affecting any provision of'--''(a) the National Firearms Act (chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) [section 5801 et seq. of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code]; or
- ''(b) section 414 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 (22 U.S.C. 1934), as amended, relating to munitions control; or''(c) section 1715 of title 18, United States Code, relating to nonmailable firearms.''Definition of ''Handgun''
- Pub. L. 99''408, § 10,Aug. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 922, provided that: ''For purposes of section 921(a)(17)(B) of title 18, United States Code, as added by the first section of this Act, 'handgun' means any firearm including a pistol or revolver designed to be fired by the use of a single hand. The term also includes any combination of parts from which a handgun can be assembled.''
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-
- About Us | The Planetary Society
- Who are we? We are YOU!We are dads, moms, grandparents, teachers, kids, scientists, engineers, and space geeks. We are those who reach out into the Universe to seek answers to those deep questions: Where did we come from?, and Are we alone?
- We are wowed and awed by the discovery of new things, the mysteries of science, the innovations of technology, the bravery of astronauts, and by the stunning images sent back to us from other worlds.
- We know that space exploration is vital to humankind...and it is just plain fun!
- -Bill Nye, CEOThe Planetary Society
- What we doWe create. We educate. We advocate.
- With your support, The Planetary Society sponsors projects that will seed innovative space technologies, nurtures creative young minds, and is a vital advocate for our future in space.
- Right now we are'...Why we do itOur Mission is to '...Create a better future by exploring other worlds and understanding our own.
- What you can doWant to get more involved? We are YOUR place in space.We're excited to share with you the many ways you can participate with us to play a part in the future of space exploration.
- From joining our online community to volunteering to becoming a member of our New Millennium Committee, we have something just right for you.
- You can'...How we startedThe Planetary Society, founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman, to inspire and involve the world's public in space exploration through advocacy, projects, and education. Today, The Planetary Society is the largest and most influential public space organization group on Earth.
- The Planetary Society is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States.
- Our volunteer Board of Directors is responsible for governing and setting The Planetary Society's policies and future directions. They are all leaders, chosen for their passion about and knowledge of space exploration.
- The Planetary Society is proud to honor those in our community who help to promote the future of space exploration through two very special awards, The Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science and The Thomas O. Paine Memorial Award for the Advancement of Human Exploration of Mars.
- Founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman, The Planetary Society is has inspired the people of Earth to explore other worlds, understand our own, and seek life elsewhere for over 30 years.
-
- Marsha Blackburn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Marsha Wedgeworth Blackburn[1] (born June 6, 1952) is an Americanpolitician.[2][3] A member of the Republican Party,[2][3] she represents Tennessee's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.[3]
- Early life and education[edit]Born Marsha Wedgeworth in Laurel, Mississippi,[citation needed] she attended Mississippi State University, earning a B.S.[2] in home economics.[4] In college, she joined Chi Omega[2][3] and worked as a student manager for the Southwestern Company, selling books door-to-door.[4]
- Blackburn was a founding member of the Williamson CountyYoung Republicans.[3] She became chair of the Williamson County Republican Party[3] in 1989.[4] In 1992, she was a candidate for Congress and a delegate to the 1992 Republican National Convention.[4] She lost the congressional race,[3] but remained active in politics.[4] Blackburn was appointed executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment, and Music Commission in 1995 by Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist[3] and held that post through 1997.[4] In 1998, she was elected to the Tennessee State Senate[2] where she served for six years and rose to be minority whip.[4]
- In 2000, she took part in the effort to prevent the passage of a state income tax championed by Sundquist[3] and to ask for accountability for spending increases related to TennCare.
- U.S. House of Representatives[edit]In 2002 Republican Ed Bryant gave up his seat as Representative from Tennessee's 7th District so that he could run for Senate. Blackburn ran against Democrat Tim Barron for the seat and was overwhelmingly elected, thus becoming the first woman in Tennessee history to be elected to Congress without following her husband.[citation needed]In 2004 she ran unopposed and was re-elected.
- In 2006, she successfully ran for a third term in the House of Representatives.[2] In November 2007, she ran for the position of Republican Conference chair, but lost.[5][6][7] She joined Mitt Romney's presidential campaign as a senior advisor.[8] In May 2007, she resigned her position in the Romney campaign and endorsed former U.S. senator Fred Thompson for president.[9][10][11] She was re-elected in 2008, 2010 and 2012; garnering no Democratic Party challenger in 2012.
- Blackburn has been a member of the following committees:
- She was also a member of the following caucuses:
- She served as an assistant whip in the 108th and 109th Congress, and served as a deputy whip for the 110th and 111th Congress.[12][13] During the 110th Congress she was the communications chair for the Republican Study Committee. She served as a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee for a third consecutive term.[citation needed] In 2008, she won her primary race by gaining 62 percent of the vote against Shelby County registrar of deeds, and former fellow state senator Tom Leatherwood.[14][15]
- Political campaigns[edit]Redistricting after the 2000 Census moved Blackburn's home from the 6th District into the 7th District. The 6th District Democraticincumbent Congressman, Bart Gordon, had faced three tough races in the 1990s, including a near-defeat in 1994, seemingly due to the 6th's inclusion of Williamson County, the wealthiest county in the state and the most Republican county in Middle Tennessee. It appeared that the Democratic-controlled Tennessee General Assembly wanted to protect Gordon by moving Williamson County into the already heavily Republican 7th District.[16] To maintain approximately equal district sizes (as required by Wesberry v. Sanders '' 1964) and to compensate for the increase in 7th District population by the addition of Williamson County, the General Assembly shifted some of the more Democratic parts of Clarksville to the nearby 8th District. This created a district that is 200 miles long, but in some parts of Middle Tennessee is only two miles wide'--roughly the width of a highway lane as depicted on a map. According to Memphis Magazine, the gerrymandered district "stretches in reptilian fashion... from the suburbs of Memphis to those of western Nashville".[3]
- In 2002, 7th District incumbent Republican congressman Ed Bryant decided to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Fred Thompson. Blackburn entered the primary to replace Bryant. The party realignment from conservative Democratic, or "Dixiecratic," to Republican occurred largely due to conservative white reaction to 1960s developments such as Civil Rights and, among evangelical Christian residents particularly, the outlawing of school prayer, as well as perceived attacks upon Southern white culture. Nearly all the rural counties, but also many Memphis and Nashville suburbanites hold a political worldview similar to the district's neighbors in places like Mississippi and Alabama. Despite the heavy presence of African Americans in some rural parts of the district east of Memphis, black political activity is nowhere as effective as that in Tennessee's two largest cities. Even if that were not the case, their numbers are insufficient to overcome the white majority.
- Of the four serious candidates, she was the only one from the Nashville suburbs, while the other three were all from Memphis and its suburbs. The three Memphians split the vote in that area, allowing her to win the primary by 20 points. Her primary win was tantamount to election in November. In the general election, she defeated Democratic nominee Tim Barron. She was the fourth woman elected to Congress from Tennessee, but the first not to serve as a stand-in for her husband. (Irene Bailey Baker and Louise Reece had served as caretakers after their husbands died in office, and Marilyn Lloyd replaced her husband on the ballot when he died after the primary election.) She is also the first Republican to represent part of Nashville since Reconstruction. A small portion of Nashville, roughly co-extensive with the Davidson County portion of the state senate district, was shifted from the heavily Democratic 5th District to the 7th District after the 2000 Census.
- She ran unopposed for reelection in 2004, which is somewhat unusual for a freshman member of Congress, even from a district as heavily Republican as the 7th. Washingtonian's September 2004 "Best and Worst of Congress", obtained from a survey of Congressional aides, identified her as one of the three best freshman members. She has been reelected four more times with only nominal opposition. Redistricting after the 2010 census made the district more compact and suburban; it lost its shares of Nashville and Memphis.
- Political positions[edit]Blackburn is a fiscal and social conservative. She opposed the Affordable Care Act, stating that with the passage of the bill, "freedom dies a little bit today."[17] She subsequently supported efforts to repeal the legislation, arguing that it "means well" but fails to live up to its promise.[18] When pressed by MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on the claim that the legislation included "death panels" for the elderly, she would not reject this assertion.[19][20]
- In April 2009, she questioned former Vice President Al Gore during an energy-related congressional hearing: "The legislation that we are discussing here today, is that something that you are going to personally benefit from?''.[21]The Independent, a London-based periodical, has credited her for "famously put[ting Gore] on the spot about his business interests in the [energy] industry" during this confrontation.[22] Gore vociferously refuted the implied accusation, pointing out that every penny he makes from renewable technology investment goes to a non-profit.[23]
- In 2013, she was chosen to manage debate on a bill promoted by House Republicans which would criminalize all abortions after 22 weeks' gestation, with limited exceptions for rape or incest.[24] She replaced the bill's sponsor, congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), after Franks made controversial claims that the chances of pregnancy resulting from rape were "very low".[25][26]
- At October 2013 congressional hearings on the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as "Obamacare", Blackburn charged that the health.gov website violated HIPAA and health information privacy rights. The next day, when a CNN interviewer pointed out that the only health-related question that the web site asks is "do you smoke?", Blackburn repeated her criticism of the site for violating privacy rights.[27]
- She scored 100% on American Conservative Union's 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009 Ratings of Congress.[28][29][30] According to her campaign website, National Journal described her as a "freshman to watch" and a "top House conservative" in 2003 and 2004, Americans for Tax Reform called her a "taxpayer hero" in 2003, and the National Right to Life praised her for supporting the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act.[citation needed] In 2008, Blackburn was named one of the "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington,[31] although the Federal Election Commission unanimously rejected CREW's complaint.[32]
- Electoral history[edit]*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1992, write-ins received 10 votes.
- Tennessee's 7th congressional district: Results 2002''2012[33][34]YearDemocraticVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct2002Tim Barron51,79026%Marsha Blackburn138,31471%Rick PattersonIndependent5,4233%*2004(no candidate)Marsha Blackburn232,404100%2006Bill Morrison73,36932%Marsha Blackburn152,28866%Kathleen A. CulverIndependent1,8061%*2008Randy Morris98,20731%Marsha Blackburn214,21469%2010Greg Rabidoux54,34125%Marsha Blackburn158,89272%J.W. StoneIndependent6,3193%*2012Credo Amouzouvik61,05024%Marsha Blackburn180,77571%Howard SwitzerGreen4,5842%**Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2002, write-ins received 31 votes. In 2006, James B. "Mickey" White received 898 votes; William J. Smith received 848 votes; John L. Rimer received 710 votes; and Gayl G. Pratt received 663 votes.
- Personal life[edit]Blackburn is married to Chuck Blackburn,[3] and they live in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville.[35] The couple has two children.[3] Her husband is the founder of the International Bow Tie Society (IBTS).[35] She is Presbyterian[2] and her church, Christ Presbyterian Church,[2] is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America.[36][37] She is a member of The C Street Family, a prayer group that includes members of Congress.[38]
- References[edit]^Legistorm summary page for Rep. Marsha Wedgeworth Blackburn^ abcdefghijklBarnette, Amy, Marsha Blackburn -- 7th Congressional District, The Commercial Appeal, 30 June 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2013.^ abcdefghijklBaker, Jackson, Marsha Blackburn - Beacon of the Right, Memphis Magazine, July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2013.^ abcdefgThe Marsha Blackburn Collection web page,Mississippi State University Congressional and Political Research Center. Retrieved 5 December 2013.^ANDREWS, HELENA (Apr 15, 2008). "The lady prefers 'congressman'". Politico. ^Ostermeier, Eric (June 13, 2013). "Meet the Three House Women Who Go by "Congressman"". Smart Politics. ^Kleinheider (January 7, 2009). "Marsha Blackburn Has Not Yet Decided On A Run For Guv". NashvillePost.com. ^"Governor Mitt Romney Announces Two New Senior Advisers"^"Blackburn endorses Fred Thompson"^Elizabeth Bewley (March 6, 2012). "Blackburn says Romney victory in TN wouldn't surprise her". The Tennessean. ^David Lightman and Chris Echegaray (November 16, 2010). "TN senators back freeze on special spending". The Tennessean. p. 2. ^"Blackburn to speak at GOP dinner". Shelbyville Times-Gazette. April 1, 2008. ^"Biography". official U.S. House website. 2010-03-30. ^BEADLE, NICHOLAS (August 8, 2008). "Blackburn beats Leatherwood". The Jackson Sun. ^L., James (August 8, 2008). "8/7 Primary Results Round-up". Swing Stage Project. ^DAVIS, KENT (2010-01-12). "2011 Redistricting TN". TN Precinct Project. ^Nagourney, Adam (March 22, 2010). "Republicans Face Drawbacks of United Stand on Health Bill". New York Times. ^Steinhauer, Jennifer (January 19, 2011). "Approaching Civility (if Perhaps Falling Short of Eloquence) in Debate". New York Times. ^"Blackburn wont deny reform will create death panels". MSNBC. 2009-08-25. ^Grier, Peter (August 21, 2009). "'Death panel' controversy remains very much alive". Christian Science Monitor. "It [the "death panel" charge] has been widely debunked by fact-checking journalism organizations." ^Allen, Nick (3 November 2009). "Al Gore 'profiting' from climate change agenda". The Daily Telegraph. ^Usborne, David (4 November 2009). "Al Gore denies he is 'carbon billionaire'". The Independent. ^Ensha, Azadeh (April 27, 2009). "Gore to Blackburn: 'You Don't Know Me'". New York Times. ^Peters, Jeremy (June 17, 2013). "G.O.P. Pushes New Abortion Limits to Appease Vocal Base". New York Times. ^Tiron, Roxana; James Rowley (June 13, 2013). "Republicans Pick Female Lawmaker to Manage Abortion Bill". Bloomberg News. ^Parkinson, John (June 12, 2013). "Rep. Trent Franks Claims 'Very Low' Pregnancy Rate From Rape". ABC News. ^Cavendish, Steve This Is What Happens When Marsha Blackburn Can't Answer A Simple Question, Nashville Scene, 25 October 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.^"2005 Votes by State Delegation". ACU Ratings. Retrieved 2010-03-14. [dead link]^"2007 Votes by State Delegation". ACU Ratings. Retrieved 2010-03-14. [dead link]^"2009 Votes by State Delegation". ACU Ratings. Retrieved 2010-03-14. ^Sullivan, Bartholomew. "Blackburn added to 'most corrupt' in Congress list". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 2010-08-29. ^"FEC Dismisses Complaint Against Blackburn", Associated Press (February 16, 2009).^ ab"Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved 2008-01-10. ^ABC News "2012 General Election Results"^ abInternational Bow Tie Society wibesite "Founder's Bio" page. Retrieved 5 December 2013.^PCA/Denomination, Christ Presbyterian Church, "About Us"^[1], Associated Press^Inside The C Street House, Salon.com July 21, 2009External links[edit]PersondataNameBlackburn, MarshaAlternative namesBlackburn, Marsha WedgeworthShort descriptionpoliticianDate of birthJune 6, 1952Place of birthLaurel, Mississippi, United StatesDate of deathPlace of death
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- Obama, Maurice Strong, Al Gore key players cashing in on Chicago Climate Exchange | Peak Prosperity
- Re: Obama, Maurice Strong, Al Gore key players cashing in ...
- As usual, Paul brings us a great video, Stefan Molyneux points out the hypocrisy of the celebrities who have comfortably rallied to the cause. We can also see quite a bit of hypocrisy on the part of policy makers. For example:
- 1) Why are we continuously moving towards "globalization" and "outsourcing" when it is very energy intensive to ship products half way around the world.
- One would suspect that an opposite policy would be pursued if there were a sincere concern with carbon emissions and energy usage. Surely local manufacturing and productive capabilities offer us a huge opportunity to reduce our energy needs and carbon footprint. According to an article that appeared in the Mail Online, 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world
- Today award-winning science writer Fred Pearce '' environmental consultant to New Scientist and author of Confessions Of An Eco Sinner '' reveals that the super-ships that keep the West in everything from Christmas gifts to computers pump out killer chemicals linked to thousands of deaths because of the filthy fuel they use.
- We've all noticed it. The filthy black smoke kicked out by funnels on cross-Channel ferries, cruise liners, container ships, oil tankers and even tugboats. It looks foul, and leaves a brown haze across ports and shipping lanes. But what hasn't been clear until now is that it is also a major killer, probably causing thousands of deaths in Britain alone. As ships get bigger, the pollution is getting worse. The most staggering statistic of all is that just 16 of the world's largest ships can produce as much lung-clogging sulphur pollution as all the world's cars.
- The recession has barely dented the trade. This Christmas, most of our presents will have come by super-ship from the Far East; ships such as the Emma Maersk and her seven sisters Evelyn, Eugen, Estelle, Ebba, Eleonora, Elly and Edith Maersk. Thanks to the IMO's rules, the largest ships can each emit as much as 5,000 tons of sulphur in a year '' the same as 50million typical cars, each emitting an average of 100 grams of sulphur a year. With an estimated 800million cars driving around the planet, that means 16 super-ships can emit as much sulphur as the world fleet of cars.
- For decades, the IMO has rebuffed calls to clean up ship pollution. As a result, while it has long since been illegal to belch black, sulphur-laden smoke from power-station chimneys or lorry exhausts, shipping has kept its licence to polluteAmazingly, they pleaded poverty. Two-thirds of the world's ships are registered in developing countries such as Panama. These are just flags of convenience, to evade tougher rules on safety and pay for sailors. - complete article link
- 2) Excluded from the Copenhagen Agenda: Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) and Climate Change
- The High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) based in Gokona, Alaska, has been in existence since 1992. It is part of a new generation of sophisticated weaponry under the US Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, HAARP constitutes a system of powerful antennas capable of creating "controlled local modifications of the ionosphere" [upper layer of the atmosphere]:
- HAARP has been presented to public opinion as a program of scientific and academic research. US military documents seem to suggest, however, that HAARP's main objective is to "exploit the ionosphere for Department of Defense purposes." (See Michel Chossudovsky, The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction: "Owning the Weather" for Military Use, Global Research, September 27, 2004
- "Intervention in atmospheric and climatic matters ....will unfold on a scale difficult to imagine at present... [T]his will merge each nation's affairs with those of every other, more thoroughly than the threat of a nuclear or any other war would have done." (Quoted in Spencer Weart, Environmental Warfare: Climate Modification Schemes, Global Research, December 5, 2009)
- Weather manipulation is the pre-emptive weapon par excellence. It can be directed against enemy countries or 'friendly nations' without their knowledge, used to destabilise economies, ecosystems and agriculture. It can also trigger havoc in financial and commodity markets. The disruption in agriculture creates a greater dependency on food aid and imported grain staples from the US and other Western countries." (Michel Chossudovsky, Weather Warfare: Beware the US military's experiments with climatic warfare, The Ecologist, December 2007)
- "Weather-modification offers the war fighter a wide-range of possible options to defeat or coerce an adversary... In the United States, weather-modification will likely become a part of national security policy with both domestic and international applications. Our government will pursue such a policy, depending on its interests, at various levels." (US Air Force, emphasis added. Air University of the US Air Force, AF 2025 Final Report, http://www.au.af.mil/au/2025/ emphasis added)
- The manipulation of climate for military use is potentially a greater threat to humanity than CO2 emissions. Why are environmental modification techniques (ENMOD) not being debated by the civil society and environmentalist organizations? - complete article link
- 3) How Did the Chinese Create Snow?
- Not to be outdone by the west, China is tampering with the weather as reported in this article from Time Magazine
- "Everybody complains about the weather," the old saying goes, "But nobody does anything about it." That is, until now. A Nov. 1 snowfall in Beijing '-- the city's earliest since 1987 '-- is due, Chinese scientists say, to a campaign of "cloud-seeding" to encourage precipitation. If true, it's the wettest success yet in a long-standing effort to bring moisture artificially to the parched northern regions of China. So how'd they do it?
- The method of cloud-seeding used by the Chinese involves dosing the atmosphere with silver iodide, a chemical solution either dropped from planes or shot up from the ground. (Other methods use salt or dry ice.) The silver iodide particles supercharge cloud formation, as they act as excellent condensation nuclei. Once clouds form, they also start a positive feedback effect. As droplets freeze and are added to the cloud, they release their heat, creating an updraft which draws additional moisture from the ground into the atmosphere.
- But if you choose to believe in cloud-seeding, the Chinese scientists may have even overdone it. The snowstorm lasted for 11 hours, disrupting flights in and out of Beijing and hampering shipping off the Chinese coast. The Chinese may be becoming the world's best at managing weather. In a 2008 experiment, scientists seeded clouds in advance of the Beijing Olympics, successfully ensuring clear skies for the opening ceremony. - complete article link
- 4) Is the international banking cartel fighting a secret war on the planet?
- Formerly a well-traveled Far East correspondent for Forbes magazine, Fulford, fluent in Japanese, is hosting What is This?, his weekly podcast from Tokyo, and alleges "Hazel" Takana, Japan's finance minister, told him in 2007 "a group of American and European oligarchs" threatened to strike the country with manufactured earthquakes unless he ceded control of the Japanese banking system.
- Fulford's allegation is accompanied by a critical explanatory note in the webpage's "more info" opition; it cites similarities in Japan's 2007 'quakes with those more recently striking China: "Benjamin Fulford reports from Tokyo on a mysterious plasma weapon seen prior to the Niigata earthquake [... on 16] July, 2007 and red, white and blue lights seen prior to the recent earthquake in China. Both quakes targeted nuclear facilities... coincidence?" - complete article link
- I don't know if the above video is accurate. But I do think there is enough evidence to say with some certainty that the feigned climate concerns are nothing more than another scam designed to steal the wealth of the middle class while greatly damaging our productive capability. The criminals running the scam are arrogant enough to openly enrich themselves by the "solutions" that they offer. In the old days, this would be seen as a giant conflict of interest but sadly today we just accept the corruption.
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- Maurice Strong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Personal lifeEditChildhood and youthEditMaurice Strong was a child during the Great Depression, enduring serious poverty; his father was laid off at the beginning of the depression era and thereafter supported his family on odd jobs; his mother succumbed to mental illness and died in a mental hospital. He was born in Oak Lake, Manitoba, a town on the Canadian prairies on the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[6]
- In 1948, when he was nineteen, Strong was hired as a trainee by a leading brokerage firm, James Richardson & Sons, Limited of Winnipeg where he took an interest in the oil business winning a transfer as an oil specialist to Richardson's office in Calgary, Alberta. There he made the acquaintance of one of the most successful leaders of the oil industry, Jack Gallagher who hired him as his assistant. At Gallagher's Dome Petroleum, Strong occupied several key roles including vice president of finance, leaving the firm in 1956 and setting up his own firm, M.F. Strong Management, assisting investors in locating opportunities in the Alberta oil patch.[7]
- In the 1950s he took over a small natural gas company, Ajax Petroleum, and built it into one of the leading companies in the industry, Norcen Resources. This attracted the attention of one of Canada's principal investment corporations with extensive interests in the energy and utility businesses, Power Corporation of Canada. It appointed him initially as its executive vice president and then president from 1961 until 1966.
- In 1976, at the request of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Strong returned to Canada to head the newly created national oil company, Petro-Canada.[8] He then became chairman of the Canada Development Investment Corporation, the holding company for some of Canada's principal government-owned corporations.
- American Water DevelopmentEditOn December 31, 1986 American Water Development Incorporated (AWDI), a corporation controlled by Strong and his associates, William Ruckelshaus, Richard Lamm, Samuel Belzberg, and Alexander Crutchfield Jr.,[9] filed an application with the District Court for Water Division 3 in Alamosa, Colorado[10] for the right to pump underground water from the lands of the Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4 and other lands in Saguache County, Colorado in Colorado's San Luis Valley and sell it to water districts in the Front Range Urban Corridor of Colorado. The project was opposed by neighboring water rights owners, local water conservation districts, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and the National Park Service who alleged the project would affect others water rights and cause significant environmental damage to nearby wetland and sand dune ecosystems by reducing the flow of surface water.[9] After a lengthy trial, Colorado courts ruled against AWDI and required payment of the objectors' legal fees, $3.1 million.[10][11]
- United Nations workEditStrong first met with a leading UN official in 1947 who arranged for him to have a temporary low-level appointment, to serve as a junior security officer at the UN headquarters in Lake Success, New York. He soon returned to Canada, and with the support of Lester B. Pearson, directed the founding of the Canadian International Development Agency in 1968.
- Stockholm ConferenceEditIn 1971, Strong commissioned a report on the state of the planet, Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet[12] and co-authored by Barbara Ward and Rene Dubos. The report summarized the findings of 152 leading experts from 58 countries in preparation for the first UN meeting on the environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. This was the world's first "state of the environment" report.
- The Stockholm Conference established the environment as part of an international development agenda. It led to the establishment by the UN General Assembly in December 1972 of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and the election of Strong to head it. UNEP was the first UN agency to be headquartered in the third world.[13] As head of UNEP, Strong convened the first international expert group meeting on climate change.[14]
- Maurice Strong was one of the commissioners of the World Commission on Environment and Development, set up as an independent body by the United Nations in 1983.
- Earth SummitEditHis role in leading the UN's famine relief program in Africa was the first in a series of UN advisory assignments, including reform and his appointment as secretary general of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, best known as the Earth Summit, and held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.[15][16] According to Strong, participants at the Rio Conference adopted sound principles but did not make a commitment to action sufficient to prevent global environmental tragedy, committing to spend less than 5% of the $125 billion he felt appropriate for environmental projects in developing nations. He was seconded in that opinion by U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali who stated to the delegates, "The current level of commitment is not comparable to the size and gravity of the problems,"[17]
- After the Earth Summit, Strong continued to take a leading role in implementing the results of agreements at the Earth Summit through establishment of the Earth Council, the Earth Charter movement, his chairmanship of the World Resources Institute, membership on the board of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Stockholm Environment Institute, The Africa-America Institute, the Institute of Ecology in Indonesia, the Beijer Institute of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and others. Strong was a longtime Foundation Director of the World Economic Forum, a senior advisor to the president of the World Bank, a member of the International Advisory of Toyota Motor Corporation, the Advisory Council for the Center for International Development of Harvard University, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Wildlife Fund, Resources for the Future, and the Eisenhower Fellowships. His public service activities were carried out on a pro bono basis made possible by his business activities, which included chairman of the International Advisory Group of CH2M Hill, Strovest Holdings, Technology Development Inc., Zenon Environmental, and most recently, Cosmos International, and the China Carbon Corporation.
- In 2012 for Rio+20 he contributed to a book by Felix Dodds and Michael Strauss Only One Earth - the Long Road via Rio to Sustainable Development which reviewed the last forty years and the challenges for the future.
- Strong lobbied to change NGO perspectives on World Bank.[18] Strong is believed by some to have inspired the works of Al Gore on climate change. In 1999 he took on the task of trying to restore the viability of the University for Peace, headquartered in Costa Rica, established under a treaty.[19] The University of Peace's reputation was at risk as the organization had been subjected to mismanagement, misappropriation of funds and inoperative governance. As chairman of its governing body, the Council, and initially as rector, Strong led the process of revitalizing the University for Peace and helped to rebuild its programs and leadership. He retired from the Council in the spring of 2007.
- From 2003 and 2005, Strong served as the personal envoy UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to lead support for the international response to the humanitarian and development needs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.[20]
- 2005 Oil-for-Food scandal and hiring practice criticismsEditIn 2005, during investigations into the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Programme, evidence procured by federal investigators and the U.N.-authorized inquiry of Paul Volcker showed that in 1997, while working for Annan, Strong had endorsed a check for $988,885, made out to "Mr. M. Strong," issued by a Jordanian bank. It was reported that the check was hand-delivered to Mr. Strong by a South Korean businessman, Tongsun Park, who in 2006 was convicted in New York federal court of conspiring to bribe U.N. officials to rig Oil-for-Food in favor of Saddam Hussein. Mr. Strong was never accused of any wrongdoing.[21] During the inquiry, Strong stepped down from his U.N. post, stating that he would "sideline himself until the cloud was removed."
- Shortly after this, Strong moved to an apartment he owned in Beijing.[21] He said that his departure from the U.N. was motivated not by the Oil-for-Food investigations, but by his sense at the time, as Mr. Annan's special adviser on North Korea, that the U.N. had reached an impasse. "It just happened to coincide with the publicity surrounding my so-called nefarious activities," he insists. "I had no involvement at all in Oil-for-Food ... I just stayed out of it."[21]
- UN Secretary General's tributeEditSecretary-General of the United NationsKofi Annan, near the end of his term, paid the following tribute to Maurice Strong:
- Looking back on our time together, we have shared many trials and tribulations and I am grateful that I had the benefit of your global vision and wise counsel on many critical issues, not least the delicate question of the Korean Peninsula and China's changing role in the world. Your unwavering commitment to the environment, multilateralism and peaceful resolution of conflicts is especially appreciated.
- Honours and awardsEditMaurice Strong has received a number of honours, awards and medals. He has received 53 honorary doctorate degrees and honorary visiting professorships at 7 universities.
- Among the honours and awards:
- Other honours and awards include:
- References and notesEdit^http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rGxIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xYIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2928,8434969 Article in The Vindicator June 30, 2000^Mike Williams (December 12, 2010). "Strong warnings and long tunnels" (One Planet Radio interview). BBC. Retrieved June 9, 2011. ^http://www.canadasworld.ca/timeline/19841993^http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/report_of_maurice_strong_environmental_dialogue.pdf^"Short Biography". www.mauricestrong.net. Retrieved 2010-05-14. ^Strong, Maurice; Forward by Kofi Annan (2001). Where on Earth are We Going (Reprint edition ed.). New York, London: Texere. pp. 48''55. ISBN 1-58799-092-X. "The Depression was one of the great shaping forces in my life..." ^Strong, Maurice; Forward by Kofi Annan (2001). Where on Earth are We Going (Reprint edition ed.). New York, London: Texere. pp. 75''89. ISBN 1-58799-092-X. "The Depression was one of the great shaping forces in my life..." ^"Maurice F. Strong Is First Non-U.S. Citizen To Receive Public Welfare Medal, Academy's Highest Honor". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2008-01-20. ^ abStephen Gascoyne. "The Grit of a Colorado Water War Plan to Pump Water from the San Luis Valley Threatens Future of a National Monument". The Christian Science Monitor (Quetia, subscription required). Archived from the original on October 3, 1991. Retrieved September 19, 2012. ^ abColorado Supreme Court (Decided: May 9, 1994). "American Water Development Inc. v. City of Alamosa" (Court decision). Retrieved June 9, 2011. ^"Rural area beats back water diversion plan" article by Barry Noreen, High Country News May 30, 1994^Ward, Barbara; Dubos, Rene. Only One Earth. May 25, 1972. Andre Deutsch ISBN 0233963081^http://www.unep.org Website of the United Nations Environment Programme^"A super agency?". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2008-01-14. [dead link] Member account login required to access full article.^Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio, 1992^Tribute Special Supplement: On the Road to Rio. (1991). World Media Institute, Ottawa, Canada^"Rio Organizer Says Summit Fell Short:" Environmental Principles Approved", article by Michael Weisskopf and Julia Preston in The Washington Post June 15, 1992, accessed September 8, 2010^http://www.mauricestrong.net/2008072115/strong-biography.html^"University of Peace Makes New Appointments and Agrees on Major Expansion". Science Blog. Retrieved 2008-01-05. ^"UN urges North Korea-US talks". London: British Broadcasting Corporation. April 4, 2003. Retrieved 2008-01-05. ^ abcRosett, Claudia (October 11, 2008). "Maurice Strong: The U.N.'s Man of Mystery - WSJ.com". online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2010-03-16. ^http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12032003^http://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/study+practice/blaney+recipients.html#strong^http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/1307 Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=1624 Retrieved on December 27, 2007^Canada Gazette Part I, Vol. 132, No. 26^http://www.af-info.or.jp/index/index_e2.html Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://mea.gov.in/pressbriefing/2004/07/09pb01.htm Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/headsup/archives/mar_1999.cfm?attr=20 Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.unac.org/en/news_events/pearson/1989.asp Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=55 Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.audubon.org/local/index.html Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/tylerprize/previous.html Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1737 Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.rsc.ca/index.php?page_id=70&lang_id=1 Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.raic.org/index_e.htm Retrieved on December 27, 2007^http://www.davidsuzuki.org/About_us/Board_of_Directors.asp Retrieved on January 13, 2008^http://www.iisd.org/about/staffbio.aspx?id=381 Retrieved on January 13, 2008External linksEditPersondataNameStrong, MauriceAlternative namesShort descriptionCanadian businessmanDate of birthApril 29, 1929Place of birthDate of deathPlace of death
- Last modified on 14 October 2013, at 18:02
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- Burn Wise | US EPA
- Burn Wise is a partnership program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that emphasizes the importance of burning the right wood, the right way, in the right wood-burning appliance to protect your home, health, and the air we breathe. Within this site you will find information for consumers to make informed decisions about what it means to burn wise. State and local agencies will discover ways to improve air quality in their communities through changeout programs and education. And partners will learn about how they can work with EPA to bring cleaner-burning appliances to market.
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- EPA's Wood-Burning Stove Ban Has Chilling Consequences For Many Rural People - Forbes
- It seems that even wood isn't green or renewable enough anymore. The EPA has recently banned the production and sale of 80 percent of America's current wood-burning stoves, the oldest heating method known to mankind and mainstay of rural homes and many of our nation's poorest residents. The agency's stringent one-size-fits-all rules apply equally to heavily air-polluted cities and far cleaner plus typically colder off-grid wilderness areas such as large regions of Alaska and the American West.
- (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)[/caption]
- While EPA's most recent regulations aren't altogether new, their impacts will nonetheless be severe. Whereas restrictions had previously banned wood-burning stoves that didn't limit fine airborne particulate emissions to 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the change will impose a maximum 12 microgram limit. To put this amount in context, EPA estimates that secondhand tobacco smoke in a closed car can expose a person to 3,000-4,000 micrograms of particulates per cubic meter.
- Most wood stoves that warm cabin and home residents from coast-to-coast can't meet that standard. Older stoves that don't cannot be traded in for updated types, but instead must be rendered inoperable, destroyed, or recycled as scrap metal.
- The impacts of EPA's ruling will affect many families. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2011 survey statistics, 2.4 million American housing units (12 percent of all homes) burned wood as their primary heating fuel, compared with 7 percent that depended upon fuel oil.
- LocalLocal governments in some states have gone even further than EPA, not only banning the sale of noncompliant stoves, but even their use as fireplaces. As a result, owners face fines for infractions. Puget Sound, Washington is one such location. Montr(C)al, Canada proposes to eliminate all fireplaces within its city limits.
- Only weeks after EPA enacted its new stove rules, attorneys general of seven states sued the agency to crack down on wood-burning water heaters as well. The lawsuit was filed by Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, all predominately Democrat states. Claiming that EPA's new regulations didn't go far enough to decrease particle pollution levels, the plaintiffs cited agency estimates that outdoor wood boilers will produce more than 20 percent of wood-burning emissions by 2017. A related suit was filed by the environmental group Earth Justice.
- Did EPA require a motivational incentive to tighten its restrictions? Sure, about as much as Br'er Rabbit needed to persuade Br'er FoxFox to throw him into the briar patch. This is but another example of EPA and other government agencies working with activist environmental groups to sue and settle on claims that afford leverage to enact new regulations which they lack statutory authority to otherwise accomplish.
- ''Sue and settle '' practices, sometimes referred to as ''friendly lawsuits'', are cozy deals through which far-left radical environmental groups file lawsuits against federal agencies wherein court-ordered ''consent decrees'' are issued based upon a prearranged settlement agreement they collaboratively craft together in advance behind closed doors. Then, rather than allowing the entire process to play out, the agency being sued settles the lawsuit by agreeing to move forward with the requested action both they and the litigants want.
- And who pays for this litigation? All-too-often we taxpayers are put on the hook for legal fees of both colluding parties. According to a 2011 GAO report, this amounted to millions of dollars awarded to environmental organizations for EPA litigations between 1995 and 2010. Three ''Big Green'' groups received 41% of this payback, with Earthjustice accounting for 30 percent ($4,655,425). Two other organizations with histories of lobbying for regulations EPA wants while also receiving agency funding are the American Lung Association (ALA) and the Sierra Club.
- In addition, the Department of Justice forked over at least $43 million of our money defending EPA in court between 1998 and 2010. This didn't include money spent by EPA for their legal costs in connection with those rip-offs because EPA doesn't keep track of their attorney's time on a case-by-case basis.
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has concluded that Sue and Settle rulemaking is responsible for many of EPA's ''most controversial, economically significant regulations that have plagued the business community for the past few years''. Included are regulations on power plants, refineries, mining operations, cement plants, chemical manufacturers, and a host of other industries. Such consent decree-based rulemaking enables EPA to argue to Congress: ''The court made us do it.''
- Directing special attention to these congressional end run practices, Louisiana Senator David Vitter, top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has launched an investigation. Last year he asked his Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell to join with AGs of 13 other states who filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking all correspondence between EPA and a list of 80 environmental, labor union and public interest organizations that have been party to litigation since the start of the Obama administration.
- Other concerned and impacted parties have little influence over such court procedures and decisions. While the environmental group is given a seat at the table, outsiders who are most impacted are excluded, with no opportunity to object to the settlements. No public notice about the settlement is released until the agreement is filed in court'...after the damage has been done.
- In a letter to Caldwell, Senator Vitter wrote: ''The collusion between federal bureaucrats and the organizations entering consent agreements under a shroud of secrecy represents the antithesis of a transparent government, and your participation in the FOIA request will help Louisianans understand the process by which these settlements were reached.''
- Fewer citizens would challenge EPA's regulatory determinations were it not for its lack of accountability and transparency in accomplishing through a renegade pattern of actions what they cannot achieve through democratic legislative processes.
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- Climate Consensus Con Game
- At the outset, let's be quite clear: There is no consensus about dangerous anthropogenic global warming (DAGW) -- and there never was. There is not even a consensus on whether human activities, such as burning fossil fuels to produce useful energy, affect global climate significantly. So what's all this fuss about?
- Let's also be quite clear that science does not work by way of consensus. Science does not progress by appeal to authority; in fact, major scientific advances usually come from outside the consensus; one can cite many classic examples, from Galileo to Einstein. [Another way to phrase this issue: Scientific veracity does not depend on fashionable thinking.] In other words, the very notion of a scientific consensus is unscientific.
- The degree of consensus also depends on the way the questions are phrased. For example, we can get 100% consensus if the question is "Do you believe in climate change?" We can get a near-100% consensus if the question is "Do you believe that humans have some effect on the climate?" This latter question also would include also local effects, like urbanization, clearing of forests, agriculture, etc.
- So one has to be rather careful and always ask: What is the exact question for which a consensus has been claimed?
- Finally, we should point out that a consensus can be manufactured -- even where no consensus exists. For example, it has become very popular to claim that 97% of all publications support AGW. Here the key question to ask is: Which publications and what exactly is the form of support?
- Thanks to the revelations of the Climategate e-mails, we now have a more skeptical view about the process which is used to vet publications. We know now that peer-review, once considered by many as the 'gold-standard,' can be manipulated -- and in fact has been manipulated by a gang of UK and US climate scientists who have been very open about their aim to keep dissenting views from being published. We also know from the same e-mails that editors can be bullied by determined activists.
- In any case, the peer-review process can easily be slanted by the editor, who usually selects the reviewers. And some editors misuse their position to advance their personal biases.
- We have, for example, the case of a former editor of Science who was quite open about his belief in DAGW, and actively discouraged publication of any papers that went against his bias. Finally, he had to be shamed into giving voice to a climate skeptic's contrary opinion, based on solid scientific evidence. But of course, he reserved to himself the last word in the debate.
- My occasional scientific coauthors David Douglass (U. of Rochester) and John Christy (U. of Alabama, Huntsville) describe a particularly egregious instance of the blatant subversion of peer-review -- all supported by evidence from Climategate e-mails.
- Further, we should mention the possibility of confusing the public, and often many scientists as well, by clever use of words. I will give just two examples:
- It is often pointed out that there has been essentially no warming trend in the last 15 years -- even though greenhouse forcing from carbon dioxide has been steadily increasing. At the same time, climate activists claim that the past decade is the warmest since thermometer records were started.
- It happens that both statements are true; yet they do not contradict each other. How is this possible?
- We are dealing here with a case of simple confusion. On the one hand we have a temperature trend which has been essentially zero for at least 15 years. On the other hand, we have a temperature level which is highest since the Little Ice Age ended, around 1800 A.D.
- Note that 'level' and 'trend' are quite different concepts -- and even use different units. Level is measured in degreesC; trend is measured in degC per decade. [This is a very general problem; for example, many people confuse electric energy with electric power; one is measured in joules or kilowatt-hours; the other is measured in kilowatts.]
- It may help here to think of prices on the stock market. The Dow-Jones index has more or less been level for the last several weeks, fluctuating between 15,000 and 16,000, showing essentially a zero trend; but it is at its highest level since the D-J index was started in 1896.
- This is only one example by which climate activists can confuse the public -- and often even themselves -- into believing that there is a consensus on DAGW. Look at two typical recent headlines:
- "2013 sixth-hottest year, confirms long-term warming: UN" "U.S. Dec/Jan Temperatures 3rd Coldest in 30 Years"
- Both are correct, but neither mentions the important fact that the trend has been flat for at least 15 years -- thus falsifying the greenhouse climate models, all of which predict a strong future warming.
- And of course, government climate policies are all based on such unvalidated climate models -- which have already been proven wrong. Yet the latest UN-IPCC report of Sept 2013 claims to be 95% certain about DAGW! Aware of the actual temperature data, how can they claim this and keep a straight face?
- Their laughable answer: 95% of climate models agree; therefore the observations must be wrong! One can only shake one's head sadly at such a display of "science."
- Another trick question by activists trying to sell a "consensus": "If you are seriously ill and 99 doctors recommend a certain treatment, would you go with the one doctor who disagrees?"
- It all depends. Suppose I do some research and find that all 99 doctors got their information from a single (anonymous) article in Wikipedia, what then?
- Both sides in the climate debate have made active use of opinion polls. In 1990, when I started to become seriously involved in climate-change arguments and incorporated the SEPP (Science & Environmental Policy Project), I decided to poll the experts. Having limited funds, and before the advent of widespread e-mail, I polled the officers of the listed technical committees of the American Meteorological Society -- a sample of less than 100. I figured those must be the experts.
- I took the precaution of isolating myself from this survey by enlisting the cooperation of Dr Jay Winston, a widely respected meteorologist, skeptical of climate skeptics. And I employed two graduate students who had no discernible expertise in climate issues to conduct the actual survey and analyze the returns.
- This exercise produced an interesting result: Roughly half of the AMS experts believed there must be a significant human influence on the climate through the release of carbon dioxide -- while the other half had considerable doubt about the validity of climate models.
- Subsequent polls, for example those by Hans von Storch in Germany, have given similar results -- while polls conducted by activists have consistently shown strong support for AGW. A classic case is a survey of the abstracts of nearly 1000 papers, by science historian Naomi Oreskes (UC San Diego); published in 2004 Science, she claimed a near-unanimous consensus about AGW. However, after being challenged, Oreskes discovered having overlooked some 11,000 abstracts -- and published a discreet Correction in a later issue of Science.
- On the other hand, independent polls by newspapers, by Pew, Gallup, and other respected organizations, using much larger samples, have mirrored the results of my earlier AMS poll. But what has been most interesting is the gradual decline over the years in public support for DAGW, as shown by these independent polls.
- Over the years also, there have been a large number of "declarations, manifestos, and petitions" -- signed by scientists, and designed to influence public opinion -- starting with the "Leipzig Declaration" of 1995. Noteworthy among the many is the Copenhagen Diagnosis (2009), published to build up hype for a UN conference that failed utterly.
- It is safe to say that the overall impact of such polls has been minimal, compared to the political consequences of UN-IPCC (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change) reports that led to (mostly failed) attempts at international action, like the Kyoto Protocol (1997-2012). One should mention here the Oregon Petition against Kyoto, signed by some 31,000 (mostly US) scientists and engineers -- nearly 10,000 with advanced degrees. More important perhaps, in July 1997 the US Senate passed the Byrd-Hagel Resolution against a Kyoto-like treaty by unanimous vote -- which probably dissuaded the Clinton-Gore White House from ever submitting Kyoto for Senate ratification.
- Is Consensus still an issue?
- By now, the question of a scientific consensus on AGW may have become largely academic. What counts are the actual climate observations, which have shaken public faith in climate models that preach DAGW. The wild claims of the IPCC are being offset by the more sober, fact-based publications of the NIPCC (Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change). While many national science academies and organizations still cling to the ever-changing "evidence" presented by the IPCC, it may be significant that the Chinese Academy of Sciences has translated and published a condensation of NIPCC reports.
- In the words of physicist Prof Howard "Cork" Hayden:
- "If the science were as certain as climate activists pretend, then there would be precisely one climate model, and it would be in agreement with measured data. As it happens, climate modelers have constructed literally dozens of climate models. What they all have in common is a failure to represent reality, and a failure to agree with the other models. As the models have increasingly diverged from the data, the climate clique have nevertheless grown increasingly confident -- from cocky in 2001 (66% certainty in IPCC's Third Assessment Report) to downright arrogant in 2013 (95% certainty in the Fifth Assessment Report)."
- Climate activists seem to embrace faith and ideology -- and are no longer interested in facts.S. Fred Singer is professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and director of the Science & Environmental Policy Project. His specialty is atmospheric and space physics. An expert in remote sensing and satellites, he served as the founding director of the US Weather Satellite Service and, more recently, as vice chair of the US National Advisory Committee on Oceans & Atmosphere. He is a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute and the Independent Institute, and an elected Fellow of several scientific and engineering organizations. He co-authored the NY Times best-sellerUnstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 years. In 2007, he founded and has since chaired the NIPCC (Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change), which has released several scientific reports [Seewww.NIPCCreport.org]. For recent writings, see http://www.americanthinker.com/s_fred_singer/ and also Google Scholar.
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- The Keystone effect? Farmers blaming grain backlog on oil-by-rail surge | Financial Post
- Has the Keystone XL domino effect spread to Canadian farmers? Many are blaming a backlog in Western Canadian grain movements on the surge in oil transportation by rail, in turn the result of insufficient pipeline capacity, caused by environmental opposition to oil sands growth.
- The situation is so serious Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall appointed a delegation of provincial cabinet ministers Wednesday to meet with grain and rail companies and solve the ''urgent matter.''
- ''This grain movement backlog is a very serious situation for the entire province and it is a high priority for our government,'' Mr. Wall said in a statement. ''The delays in moving grain have led to lower prices for our producers at the farm gate and are harming our reputation as a reliable supplier of agriculture products throughout the world. We want every possible avenue explored to ensure our producers have the ability to market and deliver their grain in a timely manner.''
- He even suggested to reporters that the federal government slap fines on railway companies for poor performance, and that transportation of grain, which is seasonal, be made a priority over other commodities.
- ''There is a disproportionate hit on agriculture,'' from tight rail capacity, Mr. Wall said. ''You can make the case that certain times of the year, post harvest until now, there is a real acute need for some attention to agriculture.''
- Grain producers in Western Canada have been fuming for months about their inability to move a bumper crop.
- Meanwhile, they have been watching with angst as the oil industry becomes a new competitor for rail space, and as they, too, project bigger crops.
- What they are seeing is just the beginning. TransCanada Corp., the proponent of the stalled Keystone XL from Alberta to Texas, forecasts rail transportation of oil out of Western Canada will increase from 400,000 to 500,000 barrels a day in 2014 and to one million barrels a day by 2015 because it is virtually unrestricted.
- For their part, CN and CP are blaming an unusually harsh winter, which has forced them to reduce the length of trains and slowed down their network.
- ''CP's position is that it's a situation where there has been a record crop, combined with periods of extreme weather,'' said Ed Greenberg, spokesman for CP. ''CP has responded '... by moving more Canadian grain than in previous years, and our railway continues to work directly with our customers to address their shipping requirements as quickly and efficiently as possible.''
- Railways are also downplaying their role in moving growing quantities of Western Canadian oil.
- But many aren't buying it. There have been many cold winters in the past and similarly large crops, but ''we haven't seen this degree of backlog,'' Mr. Wall said.
- Yorkton, Sask.-based Terry Tyson, grain procurement manager at Grain Millers Inc., said ''there is no question that a much greater deal of the system capacity is being used by oil traffic'' and ''the capacity drain is significant.''
- The shortage is impacting the agricultural sector and has many looking at options.
- ''[The] U.S. midwest milling industry, which lives on Canadian oats, has already brought Scandinavian oat cargoes up the Mississipi before the ice came on,'' he said. ''There will be more of that happening, even while Canadian farmers have a crop and a half bursting their bins.''
- There is also increasing demand for trucking, but spare capacity is also scarce and rates are soaring, he said.
- Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Winnipeg-based Western Grain Elevator Association, said it's obvious rail companies are apportioning their capacity differently '-- with the oil and gas industry getting a larger portion and the grain industry a smaller one.
- The oil industry uses special cars to move oil, but competes with the grain industry for locomotives and crews, he said.
- Insufficient capacity has resulted in a shortfall of 55,000 orders of railway cars since last year's harvest.
- ''Unless the railways are prepared to seriously add capacity in some way with crews, with infrastructure, with locomotives and rail cars, where do they get that capacity from? It's going to come from other industries '' grain, potash, mining, forest products, etc.''
- Mr. Sobkowich said the agriculture industry isn't looking to suppress oil shipments. What it wants is railway companies to increase overall capacity so there is enough to go around.
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- Propane prices dropping, still high : Schuyler
- Things are looking down, in a good way, in the propane market.
- Propane prices continue moderating from record highs but remain higher than typical for this time of year, as the nation's energy infrastructure and companies tried to get supplies where they are needed.
- Warmer temperatures helped in the Midwest. The retail price Feb. 14 was quoted at $2.479 per gallon in eastern Nebraska.
- Nebraska's average retail residential price of liquid propane gas as of Feb. 10 was $3 per gallon, down from $3.36 a week earlier, and over $4 the week before that, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That was the lowest average price among a group of 11 Midwest states, but it remained more than $1 per gallon above what it was a month ago, and almost twice what it was at the beginning of the heating season.
- More than 57,000 Nebraska homes heat with propane, about 8 percent.
- The Northeast, Midwest and South, where propane heating is most common, have been suffering from record high prices because of a combination of factors, unusually cold weather, logistics problems, heavy use during the fall to dry crops and record exports.
- Ginger Willson, director of the Nebraska Energy Office, said the Greenwood propane terminal was holding 63 percent of capacity Feb. 13, triple what it was just a couple of weeks ago. Inventories have rebounded, still below a five-year average, but better, she said.
- "We're seeing prices come down a little," she said. "Propane in our terminals are at adequate levels and have been for about a week. ... We're hoping this situation is stabilizing a little bit."
- In part, that's because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is allowing some increased flows in pipelines, which end up moving more propane throughout the nation's network and get some of the truck traffic off the highways, Willson said. Propane retailers' truckers had been wandering the nation looking for supply.
- But the nation's propane supply remains low, and more blasts of winter cold would quickly send prices back up, Roy Willis, president and CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council, told the Associated Press.
- "It's really a weather-driven issue '-- another prolonged cold snap could strain supplies and prices for the next couple of months. Winter isn't done with us," he said Feb. 13. "When stockpiles get this low, and you get below-freezing temperatures for a week to 10 days, consumption levels go up and up and up, and prices go right along with it."
- National propane supplies were depleted by a late harvest that increased demand from farmers who needed to dry an unusually large amount of grain before storage. The colder-than-normal winter across much of the nation drained supplies further.
- Willis said propane supplies have been replenished somewhat, helping lower prices slightly in the last couple of weeks, following a collaboration between the government and industry to move supplies from large propane storage areas, primarily in the South, into the Northeast and Midwest. Propane shipments from North Africa and Europe have also helped, he said.
- Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska's 1st District recently called for Congress to investigate what has been a shock to those who need propane for heating their homes.
- ''Many people in vulnerable circumstances are being hurt by this price shock,'' Fortenberry said in a news release. ''Congress should determine the full causes of the supply and demand shift, and ensure that there is no market manipulation. The same old excuses won't do '-- these are captured markets and many persons have no other recourse. Congress should also examine how exports are related to supply shortages and rapid price escalation.
- ''I recognize many local Nebraska suppliers are equally frustrated and are doing what they can to help people adjust,'' Fortenberry said. He called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's allowing emergency emergency diversion of additional supply "a bit of good news."
- Fortenberry said he and a dozen of his Midwest colleagues sent a letter to the chairmen of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Subcommittee on Energy and Power urging them to schedule a hearing to find solutions to the propane problem.
- Fortenberry recently supported a measure that would prohibit the export of natural gas produced on public lands.
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- Railcar report: Orders slowing; backlog remains | Railway Age
- The Railway Supply Institute's American Railway Car Institute (ARCI) Committee on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, released its railcar industry order, delivery, and backlog statistics for the third quarter, with tank cars and covered hopper cars continuing to account for most activity.
- Industry-wide orders totaled 12,753, down almost 16% from 15,151 in the third quarter of 2012 and also down 14% from 14,850 cars ordered in the second quarter of this year. Deliveries of 12,647 cars were up 2.4% from 12,346 cars a year ago, and also up just 1% from 12,511 cars delivered in the second quarter of 2012.
- The third-quarter backlog of 73, 848 cars was up just marginally from the backlog of 73,706 cars at the end of the second quarter, but still up 22.6% from the 60,244 car backlog at the end of 2012, according to ARCI statistics.
- "Overall, the industry order number continued to show a downward trend in tank car concentration, which accounted for 5,149 or 40% (down from 6,944 or 47% during 2Q13) of the total orders in the quarter," observed analyst Steve Barger of KeyBanc Capital Markets, Inc. in a note Friday afternoon to clients. "Covered hopper orders, which were the second largest concentration, came in 4,154 or 33% of the total (slightly above 32% last quarter). Together, these two car types accounted for 73% of the total orders in the quarter versus 79% last quarter.
- "Specific to tank cars, we note the industry orders of 5,149 are a step down from the record 19,267 during 1Q13 and below the 1Q11-2Q13 average of ~9,500," Barger observed. "For context, we note tank cars account for roughly 20% of the industry-wide fleet of railcars, while non-tank cars account for 80%."
- Barger, looking ahead, said, "Based on current production run rates of approximately 30,400 per year (~27,600 last quarter), we estimate the industry has 1.9 years of tank backlog visibility, suggesting the OEMs are quoting delivery times into 2015."
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- Google makes huge investment in clean energy
- When you conduct a search on Google, your query goes across the Internet, hits a server, gets processed and is sent back to you in microseconds. You would be surprised how much energy is consumed in that process.
- In its latest quarter, Google spent $2.25 billion on data center and infrastructure spending, a huge area of costs for the company. That's one of the reasons the company is aggressively moving to solar, wind and other alternative energies to power its data centers and banks of servers scattered around the world.
- If you ask top executives at Google, Apple, Facebook or Microsoft, they will all tell you they are gigantic consumers of energy. And it's for this reason that top companies in Silicon Valley are in a race to be the leader of clean and renewable energies.
- But more than any other, Google is the most aggressive in advancing a clean energy agenda, analysts say. Google has made 15 wind and solar investments totaling more than $1 billion.
- "We've invested over a billion dollars in 15 projects that have the capacity to produce two gigawatts of power around the world, mostly in the U.S., but that's the equivalent of Hoover's Dam worth of power generation," said Rick Needham Google's director of energy and sustainability, standing along Google's solar arrays at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
- (Read more:Atmosphere tense at a Google bus stop in San Francisco)
- On Thursday, one of Google's solar investments kicked into operation. Google and several partners flipped the switch on the world's largest solar thermal project in Ivanpah, near the California-Nevada line. The project uses 347,000 sun-facing mirrors to produce 392 megawatts of electricity. Ivanpah's clear energy will power electricity for more than 140,000 California homes.
- "Silicon Valley is leading the charge to be more efficient, to work on solutions to some of these problems. Google is ahead of the pack and we'll have to wait and see how it works out. They are certainly trying many different initiatives to figure out how best to manage their footprint in the environment, as well as how to manage the cost of all their energy," said Ben Schachter, senior Internet analyst at Macquarie Securities.
- And while Google isn't alone among Silicon Valley's top tech companies to embrace alternative energy usage, no other company is looking at solar and wind as integrated in fueling its internal operations and also making sizable external investments.
- "The fact is that all of these things, procuring power for ourselves, investing in power plants, renewable power plants, they all make business sense, they make sense for us as a company to do. We rely on power for our business," Needham added.
- (Read more:Interns for the win: Top 10 corporate internships)
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- SHADOW PUPPET THEATRE-Amy Goodman: The Comcast-Time Warner Merger Threatens Democracy - Truthdig
- Copps is not the only former FCC commissioner with an opinion on the merger. Meredith Attwell Baker served briefly there, from 2009 to 2011. President Barack Obama appointed Baker, a Republican, to maintain the traditional party balance on the FCC. Baker was a big supporter of the Comcast-NBCU merger. It surprised many, however, when she abruptly resigned her FCC commission seat to go work for'--you guessed it'--Comcast. She was named senior vice president for governmental affairs for NBCU, just four months after voting to approve the merger.
- The Comcast-Time Warner Merger Threatens DemocracyPosted on Feb 19, 2014By Amy Goodman
- Comcast has announced it intends to merge with Time Warner Cable, joining together the largest and second-largest cable and broadband providers in the country. The merger must be approved by both the Justice Department and the FCC. Given the financial and political power of Comcast, and the Obama administration's miserable record of protecting the public interest, the time to speak out and organize is now.
- ''This is just such a far-reaching deal, it should be dead on arrival when it gets to the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission for approval,'' Michael Copps told me days after the merger announcement. Copps was a commissioner on the FCC from 2001 to 2011, one of the longest-serving commissioners in the agency's history. Now he leads the Media and Democracy Reform Initiative at Common Cause. ''This is the whole shooting match,'' he said. ''It's broadband. It's broadcast. It's content. It's distribution. It's the medium and the message. It's telecom, and it's media, too.'' Back in 2011, when Comcast sought regulatory approval of its proposed acquisition of NBC Universal (NBCU), Copps was the sole ''no'' vote out of the five FCC commissioners.
- Copps is not the only former FCC commissioner with an opinion on the merger. Meredith Attwell Baker served briefly there, from 2009 to 2011. President Barack Obama appointed Baker, a Republican, to maintain the traditional party balance on the FCC. Baker was a big supporter of the Comcast-NBCU merger. It surprised many, however, when she abruptly resigned her FCC commission seat to go work for'--you guessed it'--Comcast. She was named senior vice president for governmental affairs for NBCU, just four months after voting to approve the merger.
- As for the regulators, the news website Republic Report revealed that the head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, William Baer, was a lawyer representing NBC during the merger with Comcast, and Maureen Ohlhausen, a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, provided legal counsel for Comcast before joining the commission. If you wonder how President Obama feels about the issue, look at who he appointed to be the new chairperson of the FCC: Tom Wheeler, who was for years a top lobbyist for both the cable and wireless industries.
- A leading organization on media policy in the U.S., Free Press, issued a statement following the announcement of the proposed merger. Craig Aaron, the group's president, said: ''No one woke up this morning wishing their cable company was bigger or had more control over what they could watch or download. But that'--along with higher bills'--is the reality they'll face tomorrow unless the Department of Justice and the FCC do their jobs and block this merger.'' Free Press hopes millions will reach out to the FCC and the Justice Department to voice disapproval of the Comcast/Time Warner merger.
- In Congress, one of the most vocal opponents is someone who actually knows a bit about the TV industry, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken. Franken rose to national prominence as a comedian and writer on the early years of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live.'' He clearly doesn't find the prospect of a larger Comcast very funny. ''Cable rates have risen significantly over the last two decades, and my constituents express frustration at being squeezed by unacceptably high cable bills every month. Many consumers would switch cable providers if only they had a viable option to do so,'' he wrote in a letter to the FCC, Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.Coincident with the attempted merger is a renewed fight over net neutrality, the basic rules governing how the Internet operates, especially whether Internet service providers like Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T and Verizon should be able to favor some websites over others. Should there be rules that allow people equal access to the website of a small human-rights organization in Russia or a group of Occupy activists in New York, as, say, the websites of Wal-Mart or the National Rifle Association? A growing fear among Internet activists is that the U.S. regulatory system, beholden to lobbyists and corporate donors, will forfeit net neutrality, creating what Michael Copps calls ''the cable-ization of the Internet.''
- The public has confronted monstrous mergers before, and blocked them. So, too, have they faced corporate attempts to stifle the fundamental freedom of the Internet. Freedom of speech, freedom to connect and communicate, is the lifeblood of a democracy. The fight to preserve and expand the diversity and vibrancy of our media system is one that cannot be left to bought-out regulators and corporate lobbyists.
- Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
- Amy Goodman is the host of ''Democracy Now!,'' a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,000 stations in North America. She is the co-author of ''The Silenced Majority,'' a New York Times best-seller.
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- RESTRICTED STOCK AND RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS for ABBOTT MEDICAL OPTICS INC (EYE)
- These excerpts taken from the EYE 10-K filed Feb 24, 2009.Restricted Stock Units
- Restricted stock units (''RSUs'') are rights to receive shares of common stock at a future date or over a vesting period. RSUs are granted at a price equal to the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant, subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to vesting. Prior to vesting, ownership of the units cannot be transferred. RSUs carry no cash dividend or voting rights and the underlying shares are not considered issued and outstanding until when, and if, the RSUs vest. The cost of the awards, determined to be the fair market value of the RSUs on the date of grant, is expensed ratably over the period of vesting.
- Table of ContentsThe following table summarizes the restricted stock award (restricted stock and restricted stock units) activity for the year ended December 31, 2008 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
- Number ofShares WeightedAverageGrant DateFair ValueNonvested stock at December 31, 2007
- (121) 35.71 Nonvested stock at December 31, 2008
- 922 $28.26 Restricted Stock Units
- STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">Restricted stock units (''RSUs'') are rights to receive shares of common stock at a future date or over a vesting period. RSUs are granted at aprice equal to the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant, subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to vesting. Prior to vesting, ownership of the units cannot be transferred. RSUs carry no cash dividend orvoting rights and the underlying shares are not considered issued and outstanding until when, and if, the RSUs vest. The cost of the awards, determined to be the fair market value of the RSUs on the date of grant, is expensed ratably over the periodof vesting.
- Table of ContentsThe following table summarizes the restricted stock award (restricted stock and restricted stock units)activity for the year ended December 31, 2008 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
- Number ofShares WeightedAverageSIZE="1">Grant DateFair Value
- Nonvested stock at December 31, 2007
- (121) 35.71 Nonvested stock at December 31, 2008
- 922 $28.26 Restricted Stock Units
- STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">Restricted stock units (''RSUs'') are rights to receive shares of common stock at a future date or over a vesting period. RSUs are granted at aprice equal to the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant, subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to vesting. Prior to vesting, ownership of the units cannot be transferred. RSUs carry no cash dividend orvoting rights and the underlying shares are not considered issued and outstanding until when, and if, the RSUs vest. The cost of the awards, determined to be the fair market value of the RSUs on the date of grant, is expensed ratably over the periodof vesting.
- Table of ContentsThe following table summarizes the restricted stock award (restricted stock and restricted stock units)activity for the year ended December 31, 2008 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
- Number ofShares WeightedAverageSIZE="1">Grant DateFair Value
- Nonvested stock at December 31, 2007
- (121) 35.71 Nonvested stock at December 31, 2008
- 922 $28.26 Restricted Stock Units
- Restricted stock units are rights to receive Shares at a future date or over a vesting period. Restricted stock units are granted at a price equal to the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant, subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to vesting. Prior to vesting, ownership of units cannot be transferred. Restricted stock units carry no cash dividend or voting rights, and the underlying Shares are not considered issued and outstanding until when and if the restricted stock units vest. The cost of awards, determined to be the fair market value of the restricted stock units on the date of grant, is expensed ratably over the period of vesting.
- Stock awards in 2008 were composed of 6,740 restricted stock units that were awarded to each non-employee director on May 29, 2008, the date of our 2008 annual meeting of stockholders, plus such number of units, if any, that were awarded to such directors in lieu of payment in cash of their annual retainers. The grant date fair values for these awards were $216,599 for Mr. Rollans; $209,442 for each of Dr. Link and Mr. Mussallem; $202,308 for each of Mr. Chavez, Mr. Heinrich and Ms. Neff; $159,387 for Mr. Palmisano, and $154,616 for each of Mr. Morfit and Ms. Dvila.
- (3)No stock options were awarded to our non-employee directors in 2008. All stock options previously granted to non-employee directors are vested. As of December 31, 2008, the aggregate number of vested stock option awards and unvested restricted stock units outstanding for each of our non-employee directors are set forth below:
- No. of Options No. of UnitsMr. Chavez
- 322,108 10,390Mr. Heinrich
- 29,500 12,469Mr. Palmisano
- Table of Contents(4)In fulfillment of the terms of an agreement that Ms. Dvila had with VISX, Incorporated, for which Ms. Dvila was serving as Chief Executive Officer at the time it was acquired by the Company in May 2005, we provide Ms. Dvila with certain health and welfare benefits during a 36-month period that expired in May 2008. The elements of these benefits in 2008, and the expense to the Company of providing them, are as follows: medical and vision insurance coverage ($5,267), dental insurance coverage ($504), life and AD&D insurance coverage ($363) and short-term disability insurance (self-funded, administration fee of $33 per year).
- (5)In fulfillment of the terms of an agreement that Mr. Palmisano had with IntraLase Corp., for which Mr. Palmisano served as President and Chief Executive Officer at the time it was acquired by the Company in April 2007, we provide Mr. Palmisano with certain health and welfare benefits during a 36-month period expiring in April 2010. The elements of these benefits in 2008, and the expense to the Company of providing them, are as follows: medical and vision insurance coverage ($10,534); dental insurance coverage ($1,007); and life and AD&D insurance coverage ($1,038).The following are the elements of the Company's director compensation:
- ' Annual retainer, paid in cash or restricted stock units at the election of the director, in the following amounts:
- ' Chairman of the audit and finance committee: $65,000.
- ' Chairman of the organization, compensation and corporate governance committee: $57,500.
- ' Chairman of the science and technology committee: $57,500.
- ' Other board of directors members: $50,000.
- ' Discretionary annual grant of restricted stock units (6,740 units awarded in 2008).
- With the exceptions of Ms. Dvila and Mr. Palmisano, as discussed in the table above, the Company does not provide any perquisites or benefits to its non-employee directors. The Company does reimburse directors for their reasonable expenses associated with board of directors service, such as travel expenses and telephone charges.
- As previously reported, in May 2006, the board of directors determined that it would not establish fixed compensation for its presiding director but would, instead, determine the amount of compensation warranted periodically. At its May 29, 2008 meeting, the board of directors approved $20,000 in compensation to Mr. Rollans for his service as presiding director over the prior 12 months, after considering the time required to be devoted to the duties of the position. Additionally, as previously reported, on December 19, 2008, the board of directors approved the payment of $50,000 in compensation to Mr. Rollans.
- The Company's non-employee directors may forego some of their entire annual cash retainer in exchange for restricted stock units issued under the Company's incentive compensation plans, with a face value equal to the amount of the annual cash retainer foregone. Non-employee directors have the ability to make this election each year.
- All restricted stock units granted in 2008 will vest on the date of our 2011 annual meeting of stockholders, with the exception of units granted in lieu of cash retainers, which vest on the date of our 2009 annual meeting. At the Acceptance Time (as defined in the Merger Agreement), each unvested restricted stock unit awarded under any of the Company incentive compensation plans will vest in full and be settled for Shares of the Company's common stock in accordance with the terms of the applicable incentive compensation plan of the Company.
- Table of ContentsThe organization, compensation and corporate governance committee reviews director compensation periodically and recommends changes, if any, to the board of directors for approval. The board of directors last adjusted director compensation in May 2007. As one factor in determining the aggregate amount and individual components of such compensation, the committee solicits, reviews and considers analyses and recommendations from the compensation consultant retained by the committee who, among other things, presents peer group and published survey data and recommendations for the committee and the board of directors to consider. In determining the amounts, the board of directors seeks to adequately compensate directors for their time committed to board of directors activity and to align the directors, through grants of restricted stock units, with the long-term interests of the Company's stockholders. From 2002-2004, board of directors members received annual stock option awards pursuant to a pre-set formula set forth in the Company's 2002 incentive compensation plan, which was approved by the Company's stockholders. In 2005, the Company discontinued this program in favor of a restricted stock program because the Company believes that the primary focus of the directors should be to protect and grow stockholder value and that restricted stock best achieves alignment with this objective and reduces stockholder dilution as compared to stock options. In 2007, we switched from restricted shares to restricted stock units, consistent with our grant methodology and administrative procedures for employees. In 2007, we also replaced meeting fees with higher annual retainers for ease of administration and better alignment with industry practices.
- This excerpt taken from the EYE 8-K filed Jun 4, 2008.RESTRICTED STOCK AND RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS
- 6.1Award of Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock UnitsThe Committee may grant awards of Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units to Employees, Consultants and Independent Directors. The Committee shall determine the number of shares of Restricted Stock or Restricted Stock Units awarded, Purchase Price (if any), the terms of payment of the Purchase Price, the restrictions upon the Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units, and when and under what circumstances such restrictions shall lapse. The terms and conditions of the Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units shall be set forth in the statement evidencing the grant of such award of Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units.
- All shares of Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units granted or sold, pursuant to the Plan will be subject to the following conditions:
- (a) The Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged, hypothecated or otherwise disposed of, alienated or encumbered until the restrictions are removed or expire;
- (b) The Committee may require that the certificates representing Restricted Stock granted or sold to a Participant pursuant to the Plan remain in the physical custody of an escrow holder or AMO until all restrictions are removed or expire;
- (c) Each certificate representing Restricted Stock granted or sold to a Participant pursuant to the Plan will bear such legend or legends making reference to the restrictions imposed upon such Restricted Stock as the Committee in its discretion deems necessary or appropriate to enforce such restrictions; and
- (d) The Committee may impose such other conditions on Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units as the Committee may deem advisable including, without limitation, restrictions under the Securities Act, under the Exchange Act, under the requirements of any stock exchange upon which shares of the same class are then listed and under any blue sky or other securities laws applicable to such shares.
- 6.3Lapse of RestrictionsThe restrictions imposed upon Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units pursuant to Section 6.2 above will lapse in accordance with such schedule or other conditions as are determined by the Committee and set forth in the statement evidencing the grant or sale.
- 6.4Rights of ParticipantSubject to the provisions of Section 6.2 or restrictions imposed pursuant to Section 6.2, and to the payment of the full Purchase Price, if any, the Participant will have all rights of a stockholder with respect to the Restricted Stock granted or sold to such Participant under the Plan, including the right to vote the shares and receive all dividends and other distributions paid or made with respect thereto; provided, however, that in the discretion of the Committee, any non-cash distributions with respect to the Common Stock shall be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 6.2. Holders of Restricted Stock Units will have no rights of a stockholder until shares of Common Stock are issued upon vesting of the units.
- 6.5Termination of Employment, Consultancy or DirectorshipUpon a Participant's termination of employment or, if applicable, termination of consultancy or directorship, for death or Total Disability, all of the restrictions imposed on the Participant's Restricted Stock shall lapse, and all of the Participant's Restricted Stock Units will become vested and payable, as of the Participant's last date of employment or, if applicable, consultancy or directorship. In all other cases (other than a Job Elimination), unless the Committee in its discretion determines otherwise, upon a Participant's termination of employment or, if applicable, termination of consultancy or directorship, for any reason, (i) all of the Participant's Restricted Stock that are unvested at that time shall be repurchased by AMO at the Purchase Price (if any) and (ii) all of the Participant's Restricted Stock Units that are unvested at that time shall expire.
- 6.6Termination of Employment Due to Job EliminationUpon an Employee's termination of employment due to Job Elimination, the terminating Employee shall have the restrictions lapse on each grant of Restricted Stock in an amount equal to the difference between (i) the total number of shares of Restricted
- Stock granted multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of full calendar months from the date of grant until the Employee's last day of employment and the denominator of which is the total number of months of the vesting schedule pursuant to the original award and (ii) any shares of Restricted Stock that vested prior to the date of termination of employment, and any remaining shares of unvested Restricted Stock shall be repurchased by AMO at the Purchase Price (if any). With respect to Restricted Stock Units, upon an Employee's termination of employment due to Job Elimination, the terminating Employee shall become vested in each award of Restricted Stock Units in an amount equal to the difference between (y) the number of units awarded multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of full calendar months from the date of grant until the Employee's last day of employment and the denominator of which is the total number of months of the vesting schedule pursuant to the original award and (z) any Restricted Stock Units that vested prior to the date of termination of employment, and any remaining unvested Restricted Stock Units shall expire.
- 6.7Payment of Restricted Stock UnitsFollowing the end of the vesting period for a Restricted Stock Unit (or at such other time as the applicable Restricted Stock Unit Agreement may provide), the holder of a Restricted Stock Unit shall be entitled to receive one share of Common Stock for each Restricted Stock Unit, unless the Participant has elected otherwise, provided however, any such election is valid in accordance with Code Section 409A or any successor regulation.
- This excerpt taken from the EYE DEF 14A filed Apr 25, 2008.RESTRICTED STOCK AND RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS
- 6.1Award of Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock UnitsThe Committee may grant awards of Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units to Employees, Consultants and Independent Directors. The Committee shall determine the number of shares of Restricted Stock or Restricted Stock Units awarded, Purchase Price (if any), the terms of payment of the Purchase Price, the restrictions upon the Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units, and when and under what circumstances such restrictions shall lapse. The terms and conditions of the Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units shall be set forth in the statement evidencing the grant of such award of Restricted Stock and/or Restricted Stock Units.
- All shares of Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units granted or sold, pursuant to the Plan will be subject to the following conditions:
- a)The Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged, hypothecated or otherwise disposed of, alienated or encumbered until the restrictions are removed or expire;
- b)The Committee may require that the certificates representing Restricted Stock granted or sold to a Participant pursuant to the Plan remain in the physical custody of an escrow holder or AMO until all restrictions are removed or expire;
- c)Each certificate representing Restricted Stock granted or sold to a Participant pursuant to the Plan will bear such legend or legends making reference to the restrictions imposed upon such Restricted Stock as the Committee in its discretion deems necessary or appropriate to enforce such restrictions; and
- d)The Committee may impose such other conditions on Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units as the Committee may deem advisable including, without limitation, restrictions under the Securities Act, under the Exchange Act, under the requirements of any stock exchange upon which shares of the same class are then listed and under any blue sky or other securities laws applicable to such shares.
- 6.3Lapse of RestrictionsThe restrictions imposed upon Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units pursuant to Section 6.2 above will lapse in accordance with such schedule or other conditions as are determined by the Committee and set forth in the statement evidencing the grant or sale.
- 6.4Rights of ParticipantSubject to the provisions of Section 6.2 or restrictions imposed pursuant to Section 6.2, and to the payment of the full Purchase Price, if any, the Participant will have all rights of a stockholder with respect to the Restricted Stock granted or sold to such Participant under the Plan, including the right to vote the shares and receive all dividends and other distributions paid or made with respect thereto; provided, however, that in the discretion of the Committee, any non-cash distributions with respect to the Common Stock shall be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 6.2. Holders of Restricted Stock Units will have no rights of a stockholder until shares of Common Stock are issued upon vesting of the units.
- Table of Contents6.5Termination of Employment, Consultancy or DirectorshipUpon a Participant's termination of employment or, if applicable, termination of consultancy or directorship, for death or Total Disability, all of the restrictions imposed on the Participant's Restricted Stock shall lapse, and all of the Participant's Restricted Stock Units will become vested and payable, as of the Participant's last date of employment or, if applicable, consultancy or directorship. In all other cases (other than a Job Elimination), unless the Committee in its discretion determines otherwise, upon a Participant's termination of employment or, if applicable, termination of consultancy or directorship, for any reason, (i) all of the Participant's Restricted Stock that are unvested at that time shall be repurchased by AMO at the Purchase Price (if any) and (ii) all of the Participant's Restricted Stock Units that are unvested at that time shall expire.
- 6.6Termination of Employment Due to Job EliminationUpon an Employee's termination of employment due to Job Elimination, the terminating Employee shall have the restrictions lapse on each grant of Restricted Stock in an amount equal to the difference between (i) the total number of shares of Restricted Stock granted multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of full calendar months from the date of grant until the Employee's last day of employment and the denominator of which is the total number of months of the vesting schedule pursuant to the original award and (ii) any shares of Restricted Stock that vested prior to the date of termination of employment, and any remaining shares of unvested Restricted Stock shall be repurchased by AMO at the Purchase Price (if any). With respect to Restricted Stock Units, upon an Employee's termination of employment due to Job Elimination, the terminating Employee shall become vested in each award of Restricted Stock Units in an amount equal to the difference between (y) the number of units awarded multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of full calendar months from the date of grant until the Employee's last day of employment and the denominator of which is the total number of months of the vesting schedule pursuant to the original award and (z) any Restricted Stock Units that vested prior to the date of termination of employment, and any remaining unvested Restricted Stock Units shall expire.
- 6.7Payment of Restricted Stock UnitsFollowing the end of the vesting period for a Restricted Stock Unit (or at such other time as the applicable Restricted Stock Unit Agreement may provide), the holder of a Restricted Stock Unit shall be entitled to receive one share of Common Stock for each Restricted Stock Unit, unless the Participant has elected otherwise, provided however, any such election is valid in accordance with Code Section 409A or any successor regulation.
- These excerpts taken from the EYE 10-K filed Mar 3, 2008.Restricted Stock Units
- Restricted stock units (RSUs) are rights to receive shares of common stock at a future date or over a vesting period. RSUs are granted at a price equal to the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant, subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to vesting. Prior to vesting, ownership of the units cannot be transferred. RSUs
- Table of Contentscarry no cash dividend or voting rights, and the underlying shares are not considered issued and outstanding until when and if the RSUs vest. The cost of the awards, determined to be the fair market value of the RSUs on the date of grant, is expensed ratably over the period of vesting.
- The following table summarizes the restricted stock award (restricted stock and restricted stock units) activity for the year ended December 31, 2007 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
- Number ofShares WeightedAverageGrant DateFair ValueNonvested stock at December 31, 2006
- (45) 42.41 Nonvested stock at December 31, 2007
- 621 $36.56 Restricted Stock Units
- FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Restricted stock units (RSUs) are rights to receive shares of common stock at a future date or over a vesting period. RSUs are granted at a price equal to the fair market value of the underlying common stock on thedate of grant, subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to vesting. Prior to vesting, ownership of the units cannot be transferred. RSUs
- Table of Contentscarry no cash dividend or voting rights, and the underlying shares are not considered issued and outstanding until when and if the RSUs vest. The cost of theawards, determined to be the fair market value of the RSUs on the date of grant, is expensed ratably over the period of vesting.
- Thefollowing table summarizes the restricted stock award (restricted stock and restricted stock units) activity for the year ended December 31, 2007 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
- STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">
- Number ofShares WeightedAverageGrant DateFair ValueNonvested stock at December 31, 2006
- (45) 42.41 Nonvested stock at December 31, 2007
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- Facebook to Acquire WhatsApp - Facebook Newsroom
- Acquisition accelerates Facebook's ability to bring connectivity and utility to the worldLeading mobile messaging company will continue to operate independently and retain its brandWhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum to join Facebook Board of DirectorsMENLO PARK, CALIF. '' February 19, 2014 '' Facebook today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire WhatsApp, a rapidly growing cross-platform mobile messaging company, for a total of approximately $16 billion, including $4 billion in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares. The agreement also provides for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp's founders and employees that will vest over four years subsequent to closing.WhatsApp has built a leading and rapidly growing real-time mobile messaging service, with:
- Over 450 million people using the service each month;70% of those people active on a given day;Messaging volume approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume; andContinued strong growth, currently adding more than 1 million new registered users per day.The acquisition supports Facebook and WhatsApp's shared mission to bring more connectivity and utility to the world by delivering core internet services efficiently and affordably. The combination will help accelerate growth and user engagement across both companies."WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "I've known Jan for a long time and I'm excited to partner with him and his team to make the world more open and connected."
- Jan Koum, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO, said, ''WhatsApp's extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we provide. We're excited and honored to partner with Mark and Facebook as we continue to bring our product to more people around the world.''
- Facebook fosters an environment where independent-minded entrepreneurs can build companies, set their own direction and focus on growth while also benefiting from Facebook's expertise, resources and scale. This approach is working well with Instagram, and WhatsApp will operate in this manner. WhatsApp's brand will be maintained; its headquarters will remain in Mountain View, CA; Jan Koum will join Facebook's Board of Directors; and WhatsApp's core messaging product and Facebook's existing Messenger app will continue to operate as standalone applications.
- Upon closing of the deal, all outstanding shares of WhatsApp capital stock and options to purchase WhatsApp capital stock will be cancelled in exchange for $4 billion in cash and 183,865,778 shares of Facebook Class A common stock (worth $12 billion based on the average closing price of the six trading days preceding February 18, 2014 of $65.2650 per share). In addition, upon closing, Facebook will grant 45,966,444 restricted stock units to WhatsApp employees (worth $3 billion based on the average closing price of the six trading days preceding February 18, 2014 of $65.2650 per share). As of February 17, 2014, Facebook had 2,551,654,996 Class A and B shares outstanding plus approximately 139 million dilutive securities primarily consisting of unvested RSUs. The Class A common stock and RSUs issued to WhatsApp shareholders and employees upon closing will represent 7.9% of Facebook shares based on current shares and RSUs outstanding.
- In the event of termination of the Merger Agreement under certain circumstances principally related to a failure to obtain required regulatory approvals, the Merger Agreement provides for Facebook to pay WhatsApp a fee of $1 billion in cash and to issue to WhatsApp a number of shares of Facebook's Class A common stock equal to $1 billion based on the average closing price of the ten trading days preceding such termination date.
- Facebook was advised by Allen & Company LLC and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP; and WhatsApp was advised by Morgan Stanley and Fenwick & West, LLP.
- Webcast and Conference Call Information
- Facebook will host a 30-minute conference call to discuss the acquisition at 3:00 pm PT / 6:00pm ET today. The dial-in number for the call is (866) 751-3284 (toll free) and (973) 935-8772 (international), conference ID: 2907041. The live webcast of the call can be accessed at the Facebook Investor Relations website at investor.fb.com. Facebook uses the website http://investor.fb.com as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
- Following the call, a replay will be available at the same website. A telephonic replay will be available for one week following the conference call at (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406, conference ID 2907041.
- Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.
- WhatsApp is a personal real-time messaging network allowing millions of people around the world to stay connected with their friends and family.
- Investors:Deborah Crawfordinvestor@fb.com / investor.fb.com
- Press:Tucker Boundspress@fb.com / newsroom.fb.com
- WhatsApp Contact:press@whatsapp.com
- Forward Looking StatementsThis press release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the expected completion of the acquisition, the time frame in which this will occur, the expected benefits to Facebook and WhatsApp from completing the acquisition, and the expected financial performance of Facebook following completion of the acquisition. Statements regarding future events are based on the parties' current expectations and are necessarily subject to associated risks related to, among other things, regulatory approval of the proposed acquisition or that other conditions to the closing of the deal may not be satisfied, the potential impact on the business of WhatsApp due to the announcement of the acquisition, the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the definitive agreement, and general economic conditions. Therefore, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. For information regarding other related risks, see the ''Risk Factors'' section of Facebook's Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2013. The forward-looking statements included herein are made only as of the date hereof, and neither party undertakes an obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason.
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- MyReligionIsPhysics comments on Hi Reddit! I'm Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel. Ask me anything!
- 19 Feb12pmBrian M. KrzanichChief Executive Officer, Intel Corporation19 Feb1pmSammy AshCOO of Sam Ash Music19 Feb3pmJehane Noujaim, Karim Amer, Khalid Abdalla and Ahmed HassanFilmmakers and cast of The Square19 Feb4:30pmNick FreudenbergAuthor, Founder: Corporations and Health Watch19 Feb6pmRaylene Yung & FB privacy teamFacebook Engineering Manager20 Feb12pmJim BellNBC Olympics Executive Producer20 Feb12:30pmBen LawskySuperintendent of the NY Department of Financial Services20 Feb12:30pmJason Ellisauthor, The Awesome Guide to Life20 Feb1pmGrammar GirlPodcaster, NY Times bestselling author & grammar expert20 Feb6pmJohn DensmoreDrummer, The Doors21 Feb2pmHumble Bundle 11Game creators21 Feb4pmPhil KeoghanHost of THE AMAZING RACE21 Feb4pmtyDIInternational DJ21 Feb5pmTroy Baker and Courtnee DraperActors/Voice Actors, Bioshock Infinite21 Feb5:30pmElaine Stritch & Chiemi KarasawaSubject and director, ELAINE STRITCH SHOOT ME22 Feb4pmGreg SesteroAuthor of The Disaster Artist24 Feb12pmJim SciuttoCNN's Chief National Security Correspondent24 Feb2pmRobert MayDirector, KIDS FOR CASH25 Feb9amKim HarrisonAuthor, THE UNDEAD POOL25 Feb11amEd ZitronFormer journalist, PR expert25 Feb11amElvis Duran and the Morning ShowRadio show25 Feb11amCrispin GloverActor25 Feb1pmCarrie Brownstein and Fred ArmisenCo-creators, co-writers and co-stars of PORTLANDIA25 Feb4pmThe DollyrotsPop punk band25 Feb4pmHerschel WeingrodScreenwriter: TRADING PLACES, TWINS, SPACE JAM, Producer: FALLING DOWN25 Feb5pmAndrew Young & Andrew "Bo" Young IIICivil Rights icon and son25 Feb6:30pmLil JonGrammy Award winning artist and TV Star26 Feb1pmCarlton CuseScreenwriter and producer, Lost and Bates Motel26 Feb1pmNdemic Creations (James Vaughan)Creator of Plague Inc26 Feb3:30pmElijah WoodActor26 Feb8pmUCLA AdmissionUCLA Admission Team27 Feb8:30pmBill RitterCo-anchor on WABC-TV28 Feb3pmYuval Adler, Ali WakedWriter-Director & Writer : Bethlehem4 Mar2pmJesse VenturaGovernor, Vet, Wrestler, TV Host
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- Streaming Wars: Netflix Traffic Gets Throttled By Broadband Companies, Leading To "Unwatchable" Results | Zero Hedge
- For years, the Netflix streaming business has been growing like a parasite, happy to piggyback on established broadband infrastructures, where the broadband companies themselves have becomes competitors to Netflix for both distribution and content. Until now. Emboldened by the recent Net Neutrality ruling, which has put bandwidth hogs like Netflix which at last check was responsible for over 30% of all downstream US internet traffic...
- ... broadband providers are finally making their move, and in a preliminary salvo whose ultimate compromise will be NFLX paying lots of money, have started to throttle Netflix traffic. The WSJ reports that the war between the broadband-ers and the video streaming company has finally emerged from the "cold" phase and is fully hot.
- Netflix Inc. subscribers have seen a lot more spinning wheels lately as they wait for videos to load, thanks to a standoff deep in the Internet.
- The online-video service has been at odds with Verizon Communications Inc. VZ and other broadband providers for months over how much Netflix streaming content they will carry without being paid additional fees.
- Now the long simmering conflict has heated up and is slowing Netflix, in particular, on Verizon's fiber-optic FiOS service, where Netflix says its average prime-time speeds dropped by 14% last month. The slowdown comes as Netflix is rolling out the new season of its Emmy-winning series "House of Cards."
- Not surprisingly, Netflix wants broadband companies to hook up to its new video-distribution network without paying them fees for carrying its traffic. But the biggest U.S. providers'--Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and AT&T Inc. '--have resisted, insisting on compensation.
- And while there is no legal basis with which Netflix can be pushed to pay for traffic, backbone companies are quietly putting the squeeze on the House of Cards maker where it hurts most: watching enjoyment.
- Until the standoff gets resolved, the bulk of Netflix's traffic continues to flow across Internet intermediaries, including low-cost carrier Cogent Communications Group Inc. People familiar with Cogent's and Netflix's thinking say the cable and telephone companies are delaying upgrading existing connections. Executives at major broadband providers, meanwhile, privately blame the traffic jam on Netflix's refusal to distribute its traffic more efficiently.
- Netflix said it carefully plans its routing to make sure customers have the best experience possible. Verizon said it treats all Internet traffic equally. Neither side is budging, people familiar with the matter said, leading to growing congestion.
- The result is that the speed of NFLX traffic is crashing, something which will make watching its High Definition content increasingly more unpleasant as buffering times mean more time sitting watching spinning circle, and less time watching content.
- The end result: "unwatchable programming":
- The bottleneck has made Netflix unwatchable for Jen Zellinger, an information-technology manager from Carney, Md., who signed up for the service last month. She couldn't play an episode of "Breaking Bad" without it stopping, she said, even after her family upgraded their FiOS Internet service to a faster, more expensive package.
- "We tried a couple other shows, and it didn't seem to make any difference," she said. Mrs. Zellinger said she plans to drop her Netflix service soon if the picture doesn't improve, though she will likely hold on to her upgraded FiOS subscription.
- She and her husband thought about watching "House of Cards," but she said they probably will skip it. "We'd be interested in getting to that if we could actually pull up the show," she said.
- Netflix acknowledges the sluggish performance, though spokesman Joris Evers said that "generally our members are able to watch Netflix, albeit perhaps at a lower quality and with potentially some startup delays at the busiest times of day."
- Verizon has a policy of requiring payments from networks that dump more data into its pipes than they carry in return. "When one party's getting all the benefit and the other's carrying all the cost, issues will arise," said Craig Silliman, Verizon's head of public policy and government affairs.
- Ironically, as described above, it is the broadband companies that end up the winners from the NFLX throttling, even as subscribers give the streaming company a chance, then promptly cast it away after a month or so of unwatchable results.
- What happens next is that subscribers, unhappy with the throttled distribution whose download speeds will keep declining over time, switch over to competing services - there certainly is an overabundance of those. And in a world in which Amazon can burn through endless cash and be rewarded by the idiot market, it is only a matter of time before broadband companies preferentially reward Jeff Bezos at the expense of putting Netflix ultimately out of business. At which point they can redirect their attention to Amazon Prime of course, and repeat the entire process once more, unless of course Amazon itself hasn't become the dominant (and money-losing of course) broadband provider by then.
- As for Netflix' relentless parabolic stock price action: good luck with that particular house of cards.
- Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 4.5(12 votes)
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- WAR ON PASSWORDS-Google buys SlickLogin, looks to swap passwords for inaudible sound waves
- If Google's latest acquisition is anything to go by, entering a password on a website could soon be as easy as placing your smartphone near your computer. Israeli startup SlickLogin confirmed today it has become the latest company join Mountain View's ranks (although it'll work from Google's local offices), bringing its patented sound-based smartphone technology with it. While neither party has disclosed much information, Google's intentions seem clear: the company already offers its two-factor authentication tech free to everybody, but it can be a pain to enter a six-digit authentication code (which changes every minute). SlickLogin's system, however, requires no additional technology, just place your phone near your computer and inaudible sounds played through the speakers take care of the rest. The Israeli team says Google is already "working on some great ideas that will make the internet safer for everyone," except maybe from your dog, who could hear all of your future passwords.
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- Google Admits Google+ Was Just A Ploy To Track Your Behavior Online
- As a social network, Google+ is just a bunch of empty circles spinning in a barren wasteland. But Google could give a fuck if consumers prefer Facebook. What the $400 billion data vacuum really wanted, reportsThe New York Times, is to track everything you do online and sell that personal information to advertisers.
- No shock there. Critics sawthiscoming as far back as 2011 when Google+ started forcing profiles to use their real names and Google+ suddenly became your sign-in for other Google services. But the company finally confessed their long con to theTimes, albeit with a corporate spin:
- "Google Plus gives you the opportunity to be yourself, and gives Google that common understanding of who you are," said Bradley Horowitz, vice president of product management for Google Plus.
- Since it launched, the type of data Google+ collects has become even more valuable'--and Google is getting better at collecting it than Facebook, reports the Times:
- The reason is that once you sign up for Plus, it becomes your account for all Google products, from Gmail to YouTube to maps, so Google sees who you are and what you do across its services, even if you never once return to the social network itself [...]
- Thanks to Plus, Google knows about people's friendships on Gmail, the places they go on maps and how they spend their time on the more than two million websites in Google's ad network. And it is gathering this information even though relatively few people use Plus as their social network.
- Now that search advertising, the primary source of Google's profits, has slowed, the company has gotten more aggro about tracking what you do online, says theTimes:
- Plus is now so important to Google that the company requires people to sign up to use some Google services, like commenting on YouTube. The push is being done so forcefully that it has alienated some users and raised privacy and antitrust concerns, including at the Federal Trade Commission. Larry Page, Google's chief executive, tied employee bonuses companywide to its success and appointed Vic Gundotra, a senior Google executive, to lead it. [...]
- The way Google is tying its search engine, which dominates the market, with a less popular product in Plus has set off antitrust concerns. The Federal Trade Commission raised the issue during its recent antitrust investigation of Google, according to two people briefed on the matter. That investigation closed without a finding of wrongdoing.
- (Anti-trust investigations in the EU weren't as easy to wriggle out of. Google just published the details of its settlement.)
- But it's not just consumers that are getting suckered into Google+. The Times says brands are being lured into starting a G+ account because Google promises them "prime placement on the right-hand side of search results, with photos and promotional posts," the kind of advertising you'd normally have to pay for. Not only that, but brands are compelled to join Google+ in order to show up higher in Google's search results.
- The Economist has more fans on Google Plus than on Facebook '-- six million versus three million '-- and its journalists use Plus features like Hangouts. Yet Chandra Magee, The Economist's senior director of audience development, emphasized the value of Plus as a search engine optimization tool.
- "There is potential there to help us get in front of new audiences," she said. "But it also helps with our S.E.O. strategy because our posts on Google Plus actually show up in our search engine results."
- This is the Silicon Valley equivalent of having your cake, eating it too, then licking everyone else's slice.
- To contact the author of this post, please email nitasha@gawker.com.
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- Scary UFC Copyright Propaganda Matters to Everyone | TorrentFreak
- You're probably thinking, I don't watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship, why should I care about what they have to say? Well, when a world leader in PPV can obtain a website's member list and set about threatening to sue each and every one of them for simply viewing an unauthorized stream, the gravity of the situation should start to sink in.
- To some it's just a couple of half-naked men or nowadays women (NSFW) wriggling round in a sweat and blood filled cage in a pointless display of mindless violence. To others it's the pinnacle of unarmed combat, the planet's most elite warriors pushing their bodies and minds to the limit while showcasing the very best of martial arts.
- Whatever your stance, the UFC and its aggressive approach to copyright enforcement matters to you, because where they tread today, others may tread tomorrow. And it's a scary path indeed, one that would tick all the boxes of ''overly-paranoid file-sharer'', if such a meme existed.
- The file-sharing site honeytrap is a much-feared beast, set up to ensnare unsuspecting users in order to subject them to an awful but largely undocumented fate. But while in 2005 the MPAA were believed to have obtained the database of then-famous torrent site LokiTorrent, nothing has been publicly done with that data. Almost certainly, no one has been sued.
- Since then dozens of sites have come and gone, many along with whispers that some evil entity or other has secured access to thousands of user's details. No proof has ever surfaced to show a grain of truth in that notion, but now '' not for the first but for the second time '' the UFC is claiming to have done just that.
- In 2012, the UFC announced that it had obtained the user database of a site called Greenfeedz, along with a promise it would chase down its members for watching unauthorized UFC streams.
- While the announcement caused concern at the time, little was known about the outcome. However this week the UFC were back again, categorically stating they were going to sue people who watched unauthorized streams on another site. But how were those people identified? By the UFC obtaining the site's database, that's how.
- ''As part of the on-going initiative against online piracy, Zuffa, LLC, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization, successfully took down and seized the records of www.cagewatcher.eu, a website that illegally streamed two UFC pay-per-view events,'' the UFC announced.
- ''UFC has obtained details of the streaming site's userbase, including email addresses, IP addresses, user names and information pertaining to individuals who watched pirated UFC events including UFC 169. Also recovered were chat transcripts from the website. Using this data, UFC will work with Lonstein Law Office to prosecute identified infringers.''
- If the UFC is to be taken on face value, anyone watching an unauthorized video on YouTube or Vimeo for example, can be subjected to legal action by the UFC. However, rather than go through the messy process of subpoenas and the like, the UFC can turn up at any unauthorized site, threaten the owner, and walk away with the site's entire database and use it for legal action.
- The UFC says it's carried through with its threats too, stating that Lonstein Law Office has ''successfully prosecuted hundreds of claims for the UFC organization for sites illegally streaming content and individual users since 2007.''
- In order to find out more, MMA site Bloody Elbow did some digging and found a case dating to just after the UFC made its Greenfeedz announcement. It turns out the UFC did indeed have some success against one individual. However, the case navigated an extremely unusual track.
- Probably understanding they were on delicate ground in respect of a regular copyright infringement prosecution, the UFC took action under Title 47 of the United States Code, Section 553, which prohibits people from intercepting or receiving ''any communications service offered over a cable system, unless specifically authorized to do so.'' Basically the UFC claimed that the individual had received a PPV signal without paying for it.
- Since the defendant didn't show, the court noted this was an admission of guilt, even though it was established that ''there is no evidence that defendant obtained any financial gain from his illegal receipt of the copyrighted broadcasts since he viewed them on his home computer.''
- Case won by the UFC via default judgment, with the target landed with a bill for $11,948.70.
- How the UFC is intimidating others into settling isn't clear, but it seems very likely that this judgment will be waved in front of users from sites where the databases have been obtained, with the threat that they will suffer the same fate unless they pay a few thousand dollars.
- And this is why the UFC's actions are important to everyone.
- If big companies like Zuffa can intimidate site owners into ratting out their users, those users can be bullied into paying settlements. Remember, there is no official discovery process here, no friendly ISP to contest the handing over of their subscribers' details. Just an aggressive copyright holder bullying victims over the simple viewing '' not distribution '' of a video stream.
- Note: First Amendment attorney Marc Randazza previously told us that if anyone was threatened by the UFC for simply viewing a stream, he would defend their case for free.
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- AP News : Next up: TV ads just for you, dear voter
- PHILIP ELLIOTTPublished: TodayIn this photo taken Nov. 5, 2013, Steve Maskell of McLean, Va., right, votes in an election, including that for Virginia governor between Republican Ken Cuccinelli and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, in McLean, Va. It wasn't immediately clear to some Virginia voters that they were getting more attention than their neighbors during last year's gubernatorial contest. They were targeted by Democratic strategists who were going after just a few thousand voters and used technology that pointed to specific individuals for a knock on the door, a call on the phone or an ad on their social networks. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)WASHINGTON (AP) - The days when political campaigns would try to make inroads with demographic groups such as soccer moms or white working-class voters are gone. Now, the operatives are targeting specific individuals.
- And, in some places, they can reach those individuals directly through their televisions.
- Welcome to Addressable TV, an emerging technology that allows advertisers - Senate hopefuls and insurance companies alike - to pay some broadcasters to pinpoint specific homes.
- Advertisers have long bought ads knowing that only a fraction of the audience was likely to respond to them. Allowing campaigns - political or not - to finely hone their TV pitches to individuals could let them more efficiently spend their advertising dollars.
- "With a traditional TV buy you can end up paying for a lot of eyeballs you don't care about," said Chauncey McLean, chief operating officer of the Analytics Media Group, an ad and data firm. "Addressable TV is a powerful tool for those that are equipped to use it. If you know who you want to talk to and what you want to say, you can be much more precise."
- Data geeks look at everything from voting histories to demographics, magazine subscriptions to credit scores, all in the hopes of identifying their target audience. The advertiser then hands over a list of targets and, without the viewer necessarily realizing it, the ads pop on when viewers sit down to watch a program if their broadcaster has the technology.
- "This is the power of a 30-second television commercial with the precision of a piece of direct mail targeted to the individual household level," said Paul Guyardo, chief revenue officer at DirecTV. "Never before have advertisers had that level of precision when it came to a 30-second commercial."
- The level of precision on televisions has long been a dream for political campaigns, which are decided by relatively small groups of voters. President Barack Obama's campaign in 2012 experimented with it on a small scale, but too few homes were in broadcasting systems equipped to handle house-by-house decisions.
- But earlier this year, DirecTV and Dish Network announced a partnership that would allow political clients to reach into about 20 million households by matching up customers' identities with their satellite receiver, much like a telephone number rings at a specific handset.
- At the same time, NBC and parent company Comcast are opening the door for advertisers to target specific households using video-on-demand services in 20 million more households. The communications giant is not yet ready to implement the targeting during live broadcasts, though.
- And GroupM, which handles about one-third of the world's ad buys, recently formed a division to handle such addressable advertising.
- "We can send different commercials to different households based on what we know about these people. Instead of one message per state, it could be 12 messages per state," said Michael Bologna, GroupM's director of emerging communications and president of the newly formed Modi Media.
- The broadcast companies are expected to be able to charge more per viewer than for other ad orders, but in exchange advertisers get a greater confidence that their message is finding its target. For instance, Allstate has used such an approach to weed out homeowners when it is pitching rental insurance on some broadcast systems.
- Such specific political outreach has been possible for years as strategists buy, build and scour detailed data on each home to determine whether it is worth the time to knock on a door, to register a voter or to phone them to remind them to cast a ballot.
- In recent years, Democrats have built an advantage on that data front.
- The Republican National Committee has made catching up a priority, saying it would focus on data this year and leave advertising to outside groups. The RNC has announced one effort, branded Para Bellum Labs, to help the party build its list of likely supporters for races up and down the ballot.
- The RNC has a lot of catching up to do. Obama's two presidential campaigns had a better grasp of the data.
- Last year, Democrats built on those abilities in Virginia's gubernatorial contest. Strategists there used technology that pointed to specific individuals for a knock on the door, a call on the phone or an ad on their social networks.
- It wasn't immediately clear to those Virginia voters that they were getting more attention than their neighbors. But behind the scenes, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe's advisers were going after just a few thousand voters. For instance, his strategists pinpointed 494,000 voters and flooded them with Facebook messages criticizing McAuliffe's rival, Ken Cuccinelli.
- "It's a shift from identifying groups to identifying people," said Andrew Bleeker, president and CEO of Bully Pulpit Interactive, the main firm advising McAuliffe on digital strategy.
- But there are limits. Fewer than half of all households have a cable box or satellite receiver that allows the broadcasters to splice in ads on some televisions and not others.
- The providers are limited to selling about two minutes of addressable advertising per hour. An hourlong show on a broadcast network has about 14 minutes of commercials. Cable varies, but they generally have about 17 minutes of commercials in a 60-minute slot.
- Building the list of targeted voters is tough and sometimes costly.
- And there's no way of telling that the targeted viewer is the one who sees the ad. All that can be known is that it made its way into the households; federal laws prohibit the provider from telling the campaigns any details about specific viewers or their individual habits.
- Yet this option, reaching maturity in time for November's elections, could help campaigns and candidates more efficiently spend the hundreds of millions of dollars that are already being raised.
- Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott
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- BTC
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- The First Bitcoin ATM In The US Is Opening In Austin, Texas | TechCrunch
- USA! USA! We are now officially almost as good as Canada! Why? Because the folks at Robocoin are officially turning on the first U.S.-based Bitcoin ATM at the HandleBar in Austin, Texas.
- The ATM, placed prominently in the Austin tavern, will be much like any other ATM you've used. You walk up, put in some money, and pull out bitcoin. Bitcoin owners will be able to sell through the machine and you will receive a receipt and an amount of BTC will be credited to your virtual wallet. The company already has ATMs in Vancouver and has shipped them to Asia, where they were briefly outlawed.
- The company will turn on their ATM on Thursday, February 20, at 2pm. This ATM is just the beginning.
- ''Robocoin will be EVERYWHERE! We've just arrived in Texas and have already shipped to Seattle, Washington and Alberta, Canada,'' said founder Jordan Kelley.
- ''Austin's Robocoin is going to a really cool location downtown at the HandleBar. We have a bunch more shipping to amazing locations in Canada. We're also still moving forward with Hong Kong, but we underestimated how long the international hardware certification process would take.''
- The enrollment system lets you sell bitcoin using a government ID as well as biometric data which ''gives Robocoin Operators full customer visibility, trackability and reporting tools to support global compliance,'' said Kelley. Obviously this may dissuade some of the more paranoid BTC sellers, but that might be the point.
- ''Now we're building a global infrastructure of passionate and dedicated Robocoin operators who are all fully aligned with the mission of making bitcoin safe and accessible to the masses. Robocoin is completely removing bitcoin's barriers to entry and helping bring bitcoin into the real world,'' he said.
- The machines are built using ''bank-grade'' hardware and network security. The computer is inside a safe along with the associated cash and the servers aren't publicly accessible from the Internet.
- Getting a Robocoin installed in your business takes a little doing, though. Kelley said that owners need an official Money Transmitter License (MTL) or to register as a Money Service Business (MSB). But Kelley sees the Robocoin's audience, 18-40 year-old early adopters, as an ideal customer for a forward-thinking coffeehouse or bodega.
- Kelly is looking forward to growth and isn't worried too much about the government.
- ''We're optimistic that the government will see us as allies. Look, bitcoin is here to stay, just like the internet. We think governments will look to regulate this emerging economy and will identify and support the businesses that are prepared to play ball,'' said Kelley.
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- Elite$
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- Prince Charles Does ''Sword Dance'' With Wahhabi Fanatics'...
- RIYADH (AFP) '' Britain's Prince Charles, dressed in a traditional Saudi robe and a checkered red and white keffiyeh, joined members of Saudi Arabia's royal family in performing the ''Ardah'' sword dance near Riyadh.
- Charles, who arrived Monday on his second visit to the kingdom in a year, swayed his sword to the rhythm of drumbeats at the annual cultural and heritage Al-Janadriya festival, late on Tuesday near Riyadh.
- He was accompanied in the dance by several princes, including deputy prime minister Moqren bin Abdul Aziz and National Guard chief Prince Mitaab, who is King Abdullah's son.
- The Prince of Wales, in a regional tour without his wife Camilla, early Wednesday visited Al-Dir'iyah, the first capital of the Saudi dynasty where the remains of many palaces and restored buildings are located.
- The heir to the British throne met during his Saudi visit with several Saudi officials, including Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
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- TPP/TTIP
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- The Chicago Council on Global Affairs-Board of Directors
- Board of DirectorsLester Crown BOARD CHAIRMANChairman, Henry Crown and Company John F. Manley BOARD VICE CHAIRMANPresident, Chicago City Capital Group, Inc. Michael H. Moskow BOARD VICE CHAIRMANSenior Fellow on the Global Economy, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs Shirley Welsh Ryan BOARD VICE CHAIRMANChairman, Pathways.Org Leah Joy Zell BOARD TREASURERFounder and Portfolio Manager, Lizard Investors LLCDouglas A. Doetsch BOARD SECRETARYPartner, Mayer Brown LLP
- Eduardo M. AlvarezSenior Vice President, Booz & Company Anthony K. Anderson Jose ArmarioCorporate Executive Vice President, Worldwide Supply Chain, Development and Franchising, McDonald's Corporation
- Henry S. BienenPresident Emeritus, Northwestern University
- Greg BrownChairman and Chief Executive Officer, Motorola Solutions, Inc.
- Stephen M. ChipmanChief Executive Officer, Grant Thornton LLP
- Francie Comer Donald A. CookeSenior Vice President, Philanthropy, Robert R. McCormick Foundation Richard H. CooperFounder, General Welfare Group, LLC Ellen Costello Former Chief Executive Officer and U.S. Country Head, BMO Financial Corp.
- John DeBlasioFounder and Executive Director, GPD Charitable Trust
- Marilyn R. DiamondHonorary Consul General of Morocco to Chicago Craig J. DuchossoisChief Executive Officer, The Duchossois Group Jim EdgarUniversity of Illinois John R. EttelsonPresident and Chief Executive Officer, William Blair & Company Charles L. EvansPresident and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of ChicagoPaul J. FinneganCo-Chief Executive Officer, Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC Michael M. FroyPartner, Dentons US LLP Christopher B. GalvinChairman, Harrison Street Capital, LLC Ilene S. GordonChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ingredion Incorporated Scott GordonChairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rosenthal Collins Group, LLC J. Douglas GrayPresident, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Everett Smith Group, Ltd.Michael D. HalesPartner, A.T. Kearney, Inc.Charles S. HallabPartner, Baker & McKenzie LLP
- Fay Hartog LevinFormer US Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Bruce A. HeymanManaging Director, Goldman, Sachs & Co.
- Verne G. Istock Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, First Chicago NBD Corporation David W. Johnson Managing Director and Sector Head, Healthcare and Higher Education, BMO Capital Markets GKST Inc.Richard A. JosephJohn Evans Professor of International History and Politics, Department of Political Science, Northwestern University
- James C. KennyChief Executive Officer and President, JCK LLC
- R. Paul KinscherffChief Financial Officer for International Finance, The Boeing Company
- Peter M. LiebExecutive Vice President and General Counsel, Aon plc John W. MadiganRetired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tribune Company Lynn M. MartinFormer U.S. Secretary of Labor Liam McCarthyPresident and Chief Operating Officer, Molex Incorporated Robert P. McNeillExecutive Vice President, Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management
- Leo MelamedChairman Emeritus, CME Group, Inc.Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Melamed & Associates, Inc. Marcel J. MolinsSenior Counsel, Baker & McKenzie LLP Wayne L. MooreRetired Partner, Goldman, Sachs & Co. Clare Mu±anaPresident, Ancora Associates, Inc.
- Jeffrey C. NealFounding Partner, Horizon Capital Advisors, LLC
- Michelle ObamaFirst Lady of the United States
- William A. OsbornRetired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Northern Trust Corporation Eboo PatelFounder and President, Interfaith Youth Core Sheila A. PenroseChairman, Jones Lang LaSalle Douglas A. PertzPresident and Chief Executive Officer, Recall CorporationRichard W. PorterPartner, Corporate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
- Jose Luis PradoPresident, Quaker Foods North America and Global Baking Center of Excellence, PepsiCo
- Anne R. PramaggiorePresident and Chief Executive Officer, ComEdQuintin E. Primo IIIChairman and Chief Executive Officer, Capri Capital Partners, LLC Margot PritzkerPresident and Founder, WomenOnCall.org Frank S. PtakPresident and Chief Executive Officer, The Marmon Group LLC
- Imad I. QasimPartner, Sidley Austin LLP Kimberly K. QuerreyPresident, SQ Advisors, LLC Michael RobertsChief Executive Officer and Founder, Westside Holdings John W. RoweChairman Emeritus, Exelon Corporation Sunil M. SanghviDirector, McKinsey & Company
- Jennifer F. ScanlonSenior Vice President, USG Corporation and President, International, USG Corporation
- Morton O. SchapiroPresident, Northwestern UniversityPaul E. SchicklerPresident, DuPont Pioneer Pamela SchollPresident, Dr. Scholl Foundation Samuel C. Scott IIIRetired Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Corn Products International, Inc
- Alejandro Silva Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Evans Food Group Ltd. Adele SimmonsVice Chair and Senior Executive, Metropolis Strategies
- Virginia SimmonsDirector, McKinsey & Company James H. M. SprayregenPartner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP Fred G. SteingraberChairman, Board AdvisorsChairman Emeritus, A.T. Kearney
- Louis B. SusmanFormer US Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, BDT Capital Partners
- Glenn F. TiltonChairman of the Midwest, JPMorgan Chase & Co.Kay P. TorshenFounder and Chief Executive Officer, Torshen Capital Management, LLC Charles A. Tribbett IIIManaging Director, Russell Reynolds Associates David J. Vitale Chairman, Urban Partnership Bank Frederick H. Waddell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Northern Trust Corporation Michael E. WernerPresident and Chief Executive Officer, Globe Union Group, Inc. Eric E. WhitakerChairman and Chief Executive Officer, TWG Partners, LLC
- Keith E. WilliamsPresident and Chief Executive Officer, UL LLC Linda S. WolfRetired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide Robert J. ZimmerPresident and Trustee, The University of Chicago
- John H. BryanRetired Chairman, Sara Lee Corporation Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr.Chairman, Old Harbour Partners Arthur L. KellyManaging Partner, KEL Enterprises L.P. Patricia B. Koldyke Fred A. KrehbielCo-Chairman, Molex Incorporated Josephine B. Minow John M. RichmanRetired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kraft, Inc. John E. RiellyPresident Emeritus, The Chicago Council on Global AffairsAdjunct Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University Geoffrey B. ShieldsDean Emeritus, Vermont Law School Richard L. ThomasRetired Chairman, First Chicago NBD Corporation Robert E. Wieczorowski
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- The Three Amigos Summit, Part II: Infographic Summarizing US-Mexico Attitudes | RUNNING NUMBERS
- To help shed light on public perceptions of the US-Mexico relationship in advance of North American Summit tomorrow in Toluca, Mexico, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs partnered with Centro de Estudios Sociales y de Opini"n Pºblica (CESOP), Centro de Investigaci"n y Docencia Econ"micas (CIDE), Instituto Tecnol"gico Aut"nomo de M(C)xico (ITAM), and the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute to carry out just-released opinion surveys in Mexico and the United States. See last week's posting or the full report for details. Some preliminary key findings summarized in the infographic below.
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- TPP-NAFTA Partners Meet to Negotiate TPP Deal - Truthdig
- NAFTA Partners Meet to Negotiate TPP DealPosted on Feb 19, 2014
- President Obama tastes a sip of tequila at the urging of Mexican President Enrique Pe±a Nieto in Mexico City in May. (White House/Pete Souza)
- The Trans-Pacific Partnership is like NAFTA on steroids, so it makes some sense that Canada, the United States and Mexico hope to fix the old, ostensibly bad trade deal with another, bigger one.
- President Barack Obama, his Mexican counterpart, President Enrique Pe±a Nieto, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada are all in Toluca, Mexico, on Wednesday to hash out the details.
- Among those not invited to the meeting, there is concern that the new deal could be even worse than NAFTA.
- Mexicans, for instance, have good reason to fear the devouring by foreign interests of the national oil company PEMEX, and Americans, already struggling to compete with globalized manufacturing, fear the loss of jobs. Everyone has cause to be concerned about environmental impacts and questions of national sovereignty'--the TPP would reportedly supersede local labor and business laws.
- The Christian Science Monitor:
- Perhaps the biggest challenge for the North American leaders is winning their populations over to TPP's vision of a broadened trade agreement.
- If the leaders take a break from their discussions to listen to what's going on beyond the walls around them, they may hear the chants of protesters who aim to derail any expansion of NAFTA.
- Obama, too, faces stiff resistance at home from trade-pact opponents '' concentrated largely in his own Democratic Party. If a free-trade agreement with Mexico was bad for American workers, as some companies moved south of the border where labor was cheaper, they say, how much worse will a pact be that includes the likes of Vietnam?
- '--Posted by Peter Z. Scheer
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- Obama in Mexico for less friendly 'three amigos' talks
- TOLUCA, Mexico: US President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico on Wednesday for a North American summit with the Mexican and Canadian leaders focused on trade but marked by frictions between the "three amigos."
- Obama landed in Toluca, near Mexico City, for the day of talks with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in an ornate government palace.
- The partners of the 20-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are locked in several thorny disputes likely to surface in the talks and at a joint news conference at day's end.
- More than 5,000 soldiers and police officers patrolled city streets lined with metal fences, while the leftist opposition planned to stage a protest.
- Pena Nieto has sought to turn attention away from Mexico's security problems, which have left more than 77,000 people dead in a seven-year-old drug conflict, and towards trade and his sweeping economic and energy reforms.
- Although the allies want to find ways to improve NAFTA, their talks come with some discord on other issues.
- Obama will no doubt face a new entreaty from Harper to quickly make up his mind on the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would carry crude from Canada's oil sands across the continental United States to Texas.
- Canada is deeply frustrated at delays in the project, which is awaiting a construction permit and has caught Obama's administration between its backers in the environmental community and claims it will create thousands of jobs.
- But Harper is unlikely to get an answer, as Secretary of State John Kerry continues his deliberations on whether to give the project the go-ahead.
- "What President Obama will do is explain to (Harper) where we are in the review ... and indicate that we'll of course let our Canadian friends know when we've arrived at a decision," said a senior US official on condition of anonymity.
- A State Department report last month concluded that the pipeline would not significantly impact global warming, as Canada would extract the dirty tar sands oil even if it is not built.
- Pena Nieto will, meanwhile, likely offer Obama some support, but also a measure of frustration over the failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform in the United States.
- The US president made the issue a centerpiece of his agenda but has seen his hopes of enacting a law to bring more than 11 million illegal immigrants, many of them of Mexican origin, out of the shadows repeatedly frustrated by Republicans.
- Pena Nieto's government has also been investigating claims sourced to documents leaked by fugitive US contractor Edward Snowden that US National Security Agency (NSA) eavesdropping programs targeted his communications and those of two predecessors.
- Mexico and Canada have their own dispute over tough visa requirements that were imposed by Ottawa on Mexican travelers in 2009 to curb an influx of refugee applications.
- Pena Nieto called on Harper after a bilateral meeting in Mexico City on Tuesday to negotiate a solution to eliminate the visas "in a near future."
- Officials want to put the focus on improving NAFTA, but they say the deal will not be reopened despite bottlenecks that are slowing truck movements at the US- Mexico border.
- Officials say NAFTA can be revitalized via the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact that Washington is hoping to conclude this year.
- But Obama's partners will be keen to know how he plans to overcome opposition from fellow Democrats to the deal in a mid-term election year, as well as his hopes of securing "fast-track" powers to swiftly conclude the deal.
- Despite the niggling frictions, US officials are in no doubt of the value of close relations with their closest neighbors.
- A third of US exports go to Mexico and Canada and the trade supports 14 million jobs on US soil, US officials say.
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- Obama's TPP negotiators received huge bonuses from big banks
- Published time: February 18, 2014 17:12Stefan Selig.( Reuters / Mike Segar )
- A controversial trade deal being touted by the White House is expected to give American corporations broad new authority if approved. Now according to newly released documents, big banks gave millions to the execs that are now orchestrating the agreement.
- Investigative journalist Lee Fang wrote for Republic Report on Tuesday this week that two former well-placed individuals within the ranks of Bank of America and CitiGroup were awarded millions of dollars in bonuses before jumping ship to work on the Trans-Pacific Partnership on behalf of the White House.
- The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is a widely-contested trade deal between the US and 11 other nations adjacent to the Pacific Rim, and has been negotiated by representatives for those countries in utmost secrecy. According to leaked excerpts of the TPP and remarks from experts following the news closely, though, it's believed that the arrangement would allow corporations to oppose foreign laws while at the same time limiting the abilities for governments to regulate those entities.
- On Tuesday, Fang wrote that two major United States-based financial firms have significantly awarded former executives who have since attracted the attention of President Barack Obama and subsequently been offered positions that put them directly involved in TPP talks.
- Former Bank of America investment banker Stefan Selig, Fang acknowledged, received more than $9 million in bonus pay after he was nominated to join the Obama administration in November. And Michael Froman, the current US trade representative, was awarded over $4 million from Citigroup when he left them in 2009 in order to go work for the White House. Republic Report were provided those statistics through financial disclosures included in Fang's article.
- When Selig was asked to head the International Trade Administration by the White House last November '-- a Commerce Department job '-- the New York Times considered it ''a rare appointment of a Wall Street banker by the Obama administration.'' If he is confirmed by the Senate as expected, he will work directly with US trade officials on hammering out final arrangements for the TPP. Froman has been the US trade representative since last June, and according to his biography on that department's official website, is directly overseeing TPP discussions.
- In Fang's report, he noted that such hefty bonuses aren't unusual on Wall Street.
- ''Many large corporations with a strong incentive to influence public policy award bonuses and other incentive pay to executives if they take jobs within the government,'' he wrote.
- But with the TPP expected to have serious implications on the corporate and financial realms, the appointments of Selig and Froman raise new questions about the potential influence of Wall Street on an already widely-disputed trade deal.
- ''The controversial TPP trade deal has rankled activists for containing provisions that would newly empower corporations to sue governments in ad hoc arbitration tribunals to demand compensation from governments for laws and regulations they claim undermine their business interests,'' Fang acknowledged. ''A fact-sheet provided by Public Citizen explains how multi-national corporations may use the TPP deal to skirt domestic courts and local laws. The arrangement would [allow] corporations to go after governments before foreign tribunals to demand compensations for tobacco, prescription drug and environment protections that they claim would undermine their expected future profits.''
- ''Not only do US treaties mandate that all forms of finance move across borders freely and without delay, but deals such as the TPP would allow private investors to directly file claims against governments that regulate them, as opposed to a WTO-like system where nation states (ie the regulators) decide whether claims are brought,'' Boston University associate professor Kevin Gallagher told Fang.
- When WikiLeaks released a draft version of a section of the TPP last year, the anti-secrecy group warned that ''Particular measures proposed include supranational litigation tribunals to which sovereign national courts are expected to defer, but which have no human rights safeguards''
- ''No wonder they kept it secret,'' internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom told RT at the time. ''What a malicious piece of US corporate lobbying. TPP is about world domination for US corporations. Nothing else.''
- Last month, leaked memos obtained by the Huffington Post suggested that the US has lost almost all international support from the 11 other Pacific Rim nations engaged in TPP discussions.
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- Drone Nation
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- Air Force stimulates brain waves to improve performance of drone operators - Nation - The Boston Globe
- WASHINGTON '-- For some modern soldiers, caffeine is just not enough to stay vigilant, especially for the growing ranks of digital warriors who must spend hours monitoring spy drone footage and other streams of surveillance data.
- So the Pentagon is exploring a novel way to extend troops' attention spans and sharpen their reaction times: stimulate the brain with low levels of electricity.
- It sounds like science fiction, but commanders in search of more effective tools than the ubiquitous cups of coffee and energy drinks are testing medical treatments designed to treat such brain disorders as depression to determine whether they can also improve the attentiveness of sleepdeprived but otherwise healthy troops.
- Early experiments using ''noninvasive'' brain stimulation have been performed on several dozen volunteers at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. The results show the technique improves both alertness and acuity, researchers say.
- ''We found that people who receive the stimulation are performing consistently,'' R. Andy McKinley, a biomedical engineer who oversees the research, said in an interview.
- Project officials want to study the effects further '-- especially to determine whether it is safe to stimulate the brain regularly '-- but said there have been few side effects, such as some skin irritation from the electrodes, as well as mild but brief headaches. They expressed confidence that the work could ultimately result in a pair of easy-to-apply electrodes becoming standard issue for some military personnel.
- But the hardware is unlikely to be standard issue for civilians any time soon. For now, researchers don't envision non-military application for the high-tech caffeine high.
- The research grew out of a recognition that while computers have automated many military functions, humans are needed in ever-larger numbers to monitor massive amounts of information in order to make crucial battlefield decisions.
- ''It used to be the people who would win the arm wrestling match would win the war,'' said Alan Shaffer, the acting assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering. ''In the future it is going to be who can process information most quickly and react to that. If you can't make sense of all the information coming in around you and get to a decision it has little value.''
- For decades what is known more broadly as electroconvulsive therapy carried a stigma '-- due in large part to early treatments that administered large doses of electricity to psychiatric patients without anesthesia, often causing memory loss, fractured bones, and other serious side effects.
- But such therapy now relies on carefully controlled doses of electrical current, which are passed into certain regions of the brain to cause, in effect, a minor seizure, or more rapid nerve impulses. Some of the techniques have been embraced by the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, and the US Surgeon General as a valuable tool to treat various psychiatric disorders, especially major depression.
- But research into its effects on healthy subjects remains limited.
- ''There is some evidence that it does seem to work,'' said Dr. William ''Scott'' Killgore, an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School who specializes in the mental health treatments. ''There have been a few studies that if you use it in the right place it can help mathematical calculations when people are sleep-deprived.''
- Still, he cautioned, ''it is not very precise yet.''
- For example, stimulating certain parts of the brain reduces activity in others.
- ''The hard part is to know what to turn on and what to turn off,'' said Killgore, who is involved in a separate Pentagon study to help determine which parts of the brain are most effective to stimulate. ''It gets somewhat complicated. It is a really exciting idea but it is slow going.''
- The new Pentagon effort is described as one of the most in-depth studies of electric stimulation on healthy individuals.
- Specialists call the two different techniques being studied transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation.
- The first has been more widely used in the medical community and relies on a magnetic field to pass the electrical current into the brain. The second technique passes electrical current directly into the brain. For example, in one of the tests, one milliampere is applied for 10 minutes; by comparison, the amount of electrical current needed to power a car's instrument panel is on average about 150 milliamperes.
- The Pentagon research is focused on two primary goals: increasing alertness and improving overall cognitive performance.
- Monitoring intense streams of data can quickly become so repetitive '-- especially when there is no action '-- that attentiveness and recognition can deteriorate in as little as 20 minutes. And troops responsible for analyzing computer images for intelligence information '-- unlike some pilots or other front-line personnel '-- are not eligible for prescribed drugs that might help.
- ''Fatigue is one of the major factors our active duty military endure every day,'' said Justin Nelson, one of the project's researchers.
- After undergoing the brain stimulation, however, the test subjects proved alert at the end of the test periods '-- some up to several hours '-- ''just like they were at minute one,'' said McKinley.
- According to Lindsey McIntire, another one of the researchers, the brain stimulation demonstrated significantly better results than caffeine ''and without the side effects,'' such as jitters, elevated heart rates, and the propensity for a person to ''crash'' when the caffeine wears off.
- In one scenario, the test subjects '-- some who received caffeine, some brain stimulation, and the rest nothing '-- were kept awake for a full 30 hours to see who would measure best in wakefulness and vigor.
- ''I wasn't sure what to expect,'' said Staff Sergeant William Raybon, one of the participants. ''When I was initially hooked up to the electrodes there was a small tingling sensation.
- But he said that despite being so sleep-deprived, he felt ''refreshed'' after undergoing the treatment.
- Subjects such as Raybon who received the brain stimulation ''performed about twice as well as people who got nothing,'' said McKinley.
- As for those who were given coffee?
- ''Caffeine had tanked at this point,'' said McIntire.
- Another aspect of the military research is whether the treatments can make troops better thinkers.
- In one such test, subjects were required to follow a series of procedures to identify on screen an aircraft entering friendly airspace.
- The study, which also relied on control groups that drank coffee or nothing at all, found that those who did not receive one of several types of brain stimulation ''performed significantly worse than any of the stimulation groups,'' according to the findings.
- The Air Force Research Laboratory has conducted five separate studies, each costing about $200,000, shared by the Air Force, Army, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
- ''We are beyond the proof-of-concept phase,'' McKinley said. ''We are working on something that would be easy to apply that you could potentially field.''
- But some specialists such as Killgore aren't so sure that the science is quite there yet to use on healthy subjects regularly, especially direct currents of electricity, which he said relies on ''much newer technology than the other ones.''
- McKinley, too, acknowledged that there are still many questions to be answered, especially concerning any long-term effects.
- ''As far as using it every day, there is almost no data on that,'' he said. The Ohio laboratory is ''ramping up a study to do that very thing.''
- Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeBender
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- DoTW
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- Clooney, Damon visit White House to screen new movie
- This photo combo made from file photos shows President Barack Obama, left, and actor George Clooney.(Photo11: Carolyn Kaster/Chris Pizzello AP)
- TagsSHARE1167CONNECT11EMAIL11MORE11President Obama got a visit on Tuesday night from George Clooney, Matt Damon and Bill Murray.
- The Hollywood stars were among the cast and crew on hand for a screening of The Monuments Men at the White House family theater. The film tells the story of a World War II platoon that was ordered by President Roosevelt to go into Germany to rescue masterpieces stolen by Nazis.
- The movie was written and produced by Clooney, a generous donor to Obama's political campaigns, and Grant Heslov.
- Damon, a onetime booster of Obama, has expressed his disappointment with the president's performance in the White House. Most recently, Damon told BET last year that Obama "broke up with him," and he expressed concerns about U.S. drone operations under Obama and revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about the agency's spying programs.
- Obama tweaked the disenchanted Damon with a joke at the 2011 White House Correspondent Association Dinner.
- "Matt Damon said he was disappointed in my performance. Well, Matt, I just saw The Adjustment Bureau, so right back atcha, buddy!" Obama said.
- Here's the White House's full guest list for the screening:
- · Robert Edsel, writer of the book The Monuments Men
- · Harry Ettlinger, member of the original Monuments Men group
- · Bill Burns, deputy secretary of State
- · Heather Higginbottom, deputy secretary of State
- · David Wade, State Department chief of staff
- · Richard Stengel, undersecretary of State for public affairs
- · Evan Ryan, assistant secretary of State for educational and cultural affairs
- · John McHugh, secretary of the Army
- · Sara Bloomfield, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
- · Rabbi Jack Moline, Agudas Achim Congregation
- · Susan Hildreth, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services
- · David Ferriero, archivist of the United States
- SHARE1167CONNECT11EMAIL11MORE11
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- Turkey
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- Turkey president signs controversial Internet law into force
- ANKARA: Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, said Tuesday he had signed into force a controversial law voted in by the government that would tighten controls over web use.
- Gul said on his Twitter feed he promulgated the law -- which the opposition and rights groups say infringes on citizens' freedoms -- after the government assured him it would soften parts of it through later amendments.
- "I am aware of the problems mainly on two points.... These concerns will be taken into account in the new law," he said.
- An opposition lawmaker earlier confirmed the planned amendments to aspects of the bill concerning some powers of Turkey's telecommunications authority.
- "The steps are positive but not enough," Akif Hamzacebi of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was quoted as saying by NTV television.
- Under the bill, the Telecommunications Communications Presidency (TIB) can demand that Internet providers block pages deemed insulting or considered an invasion of privacy.
- But the government is now proposing that the TIB will have to inform a judge about any decision to block a web page, according to the Hurriyet newspaper.
- The judge would then have to issue a ruling within 48 hours or the TIB move would be deemed invalid.
- The Internet bill has sparked outrage both at home and abroad and fuelled concerns over the state of democracy in the EU-hopeful country under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- The legislation came on top of moves to curb the judiciary and a government purge of police and prosecutors in the face of corruption probe that has targeted close Erdogan allies.
- Erdogan has vehemently denied accusations of online censorship, and said Tuesday the proposed Internet curbs were aimed at countering "blackmail" and "threats".
- "The Internet will not be censored, freedoms will not limited," Erdogan told his lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament.
- He said the number of Internet subscribers in predominantly Muslim Turkey had swelled to 34 million from 20,000 since the AKP came to power in 2002.
- Defenders of the law say the new restrictions protect individual rights while critics argue they amount to nothing more than a fresh assault on freedom of expression and an attempt to stifle dissent.
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- Tens of thousands of Turks stage anti-government protests in Istanbul - WORLD - Globaltimes.cn
- Tens of thousands of people staged a mass protest against the Turkish government here in Istanbul on Saturday.The protest, under the theme of "Justice for Turkey," attracted tens of thousands of people who are marching in the Asian side of Istanbul.
- The demonstration started around 2:30 p.m. local time (GMT 1230) . Organized by Fenerbahce soccer team, doctors and lawyers are also among the protesters.
- By leaving a comment, you agree to abide by all terms and conditions (See the Comment section).
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- Scenes showing Turkish reporter falling due to water cannon raises eyebrows
- H¼sna Sarı, a female reporter for Ulusal TV, is sent flying by a blast from a water cannon during a police attack. AA Photo
- Images that show a reporter falling after being hit by a water cannon during a demonstration in Ankara have caused reactions to the Turkish police's harsh interventions.The police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a group of around 3,000 protesters on Feb. 13 when they gathered to protest the Ergenekon and ''Balyoz'' (Sledgehammer) coup trials and controversial specially authorized courts (YM).
- The police violently intervened against the crowd and cameras captured moments when water cannon targeted the group, driving the journalist and the protesters away due to the pressurized water.The journalist was identified as H¼sna Sarı of the Ulusal television channel.
- ''It was a peaceful demonstration. We couldn't predict that an incident was likely. When I was standing in front of the police barricade, the police started to use tear gas and the water cannon without warning,'' H¼sna Sarı told DoÄan News Agency on Feb. 14.
- ''At that moment, I was recording in front of my cameraman. I was caught in the crossfire. By showing my microphone, I tried to explain to the police that I was a journalist. The water hit my back severely. I remember how I flew and fell down. I tried to stand up, but I was targeted by the water cannon again for a few more times. I felt intense pain in my ribs. My friends took me to a hospital. I believe the police intentionally target members of the press,'' Sarı added.
- Some foreign media organs shared the images on their websites, underlining the violent police intervention occurring in the country.
- The protestors wanted to march on Parliament over reports that the limit of five years for detentions without convictions would not be applied in the Ergenekon and Balyoz trials.Twelve protesters were detained by the police.
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- EARon
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- Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline stalled - World Socialist Web Site
- By Alan Leigh15 February 2014A $7.6 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline remains stalled amid continuing US-led sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, and the threat of penalties for any company that participates in the project. Uncertainty over the pipeline is another symptom of sharpening regional rivalries as Saudi Arabia seeks to strengthen ties with Pakistan and Iran turns towards India.
- There are obvious signs of frustration in Tehran. Iran has completed its 900-kilometre section of the pipeline, from the South Pars gas field to the Pakistani border. In December, Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Ali Majedi threatened to invoke the penalty clauses of the agreement signed in Ankara between Iran and Pakistan in March 2010.
- Under the agreement, construction of the pipeline is due to be completed by the end of 2014. Either side is liable for a penalty of $US1 million a day if it fails to meet the deadline. Pakistan is yet to begin work on its section of the pipeline.
- Washington has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the pipeline, ever since the project, which initially also involved India, was first proposed in 1994. From the outset, the US insisted that Pakistan and India had to look elsewhere for energy supplies. Under pressure from the US, India withdrew from the project in 2009 after signing a nuclear pact with Washington, legitimising its nuclear weapons and giving it access to US nuclear technology.
- Despite continuing American threats, the Pakistani government proceeded with the Ankara deal, in January last year approving a $1.5 billion deal with the Iranian government to build the 785-kilometre section within Pakistan's territory. The funding was to be split three ways between Iran, China and Pakistan. The US State Department responded the following day by again threatening Islamabad with sanctions.
- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated construction work in March 2013, but the project stalled. Various foreign corporations expressed interest in the project but backed off under US pressure. According to an article in this week's Frontier Post, Pakistan's Oil and Gas Development Corporation and the National Bank of Pakistan reportedly withdrew from the project because of the fear of US sanctions.
- The US reaffirmed its threats following the interim nuclear deal reached last November between Iran and the P5+1 grouping (the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany). ''It's my understanding there's no change in position,'' State Department spokesperson Marie Harf declared last month, insisting that the deal ''maintains the core architecture of oil, banking and financial sanctions in place.''
- The Obama administration will place onerous conditions on Tehran before any comprehensive agreement is reached. Washington's real aim in the P5+1 talks is to ensure the subordination of Iran to US economic and strategic interests in the Middle East and Central Asia. One aspect is the promotion of alternate pipelines, such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project, which exclude Iran and involve major US energy corporations.
- The Pakistani government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which was elected last June, is attempting to manoeuvre between various competing interests. After coming to office, Sharif assured Iran that his government was committed to the IP pipeline, but at the same time announced an interest in the TAPI pipeline'--despite its passage through politically unstable Afghanistan.
- Growing ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also appear to be a factor in Pakistan's stalling on the IP pipeline. Saudi Arabia, which regards Iran as a dangerous regional rival, is bitterly opposed to the interim agreement between Iran and the P5+1 and has embarked on its own diplomatic offensive to isolate Iran. Nawaz Sharif has longstanding ties with Saudi Arabia which, after his ousting in the 1999 military coup, pressed Islamabad to release him from jail and allow him to go into exile.
- Saudi's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal made a trip to Pakistan last month'--the first top-level Saudi official to do so in six years. According to the Saudi officials, Saud Al Faisal has been seeking Islamabad's support to establish a 100,000-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) military force to counter the threat from Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, who is also the country's defence minister, is due to visit Pakistan next week.
- As relations with Pakistan cool, Iran has been looking to Islamabad's rival India. The Indian-based Hindu reported in December that Iran had indicated interest in the Middle East to India Deepwater Pipeline (MEIDP) that would run directly across the Arabian Sea, from Oman to India, bypassing Pakistan. According to the Hindu, Ali Amini, the director of marketing at the National Iranian Gas Exports Company, announced that agreements have already been reached with three Indian companies for the sale of gas.
- India and Iran already have significant ties. India expressed interest in the development of a deep-sea port at the Iranian city of Chabahar as far back as 2002, partly in response to the construction of a deep-water port at Gwadar, Pakistan by China. Since then India has been involved in the development of the Iranian ports of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar and the building of rail and road links from Afghanistan to the Iranian border.
- The development of a Chabahar port and transport route gained momentum with unveiling of India's Connect Central Asia policy in 2012. New Delhi was also prompted by the takeover of the Gwadar port by the Chinese state-owned firm from a Singapore-based company. India regards China as a regional rival that is encroaching in the Indian Ocean which New Delhi regards as its sphere of influence.
- India's immediate aim is to connect India through Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports in Iran to Bamiyan in Afghanistan and Bandar Anzali on the Caspian Sea. The port and the transport corridor running northward through Iran and Afghanistan will link India to Central Asia, Russia, and eventually European markets. It is estimated that after completion it will reduce the distance by 40 percent and cost by 30 percent compared to the currently used Indian Ocean-European transport route via the Red Sea, Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.
- Under the US-led occupation of Afghanistan, India has significantly increased its economic involvement and diplomatic presence in Kabul, in part to undermine Pakistan's long-standing influence. Access through Iran to Afghanistan'--avoiding Pakistan'--is thus vital to its ambitions in Central Asia. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with India's national security adviser late last month on the side lines of the Munich Security Conference to discuss Afghanistan.
- The stalled IP pipeline is symptomatic of sharpening tensions and realignments throughout the region'--a product above all of Washington's reckless wars and interventions over the past decade.
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- Iran-Pakistan Pipeline Shows America's Declining Influence | TransitionistasTransitionistas
- The Iran-Pakistan branch of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline (IPI) seems to be coming online. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has announced he will visit Iranfor the groundbreaking of the Pakistan branch of a new gas pipeline on March 11. It will be his second visit to Iran in less than a month, part of a deepening petro-relationship that is worrying the United States.
- The pipeline is controversial, to say the least, in the US. The State Department hasthreatened Pakistan with sanctions for dealing with the regime in Iran, offering a electrification projects to replace any sort of benefit Pakistan would get from the petro-deal.
- The challenge facing Islamabad is that it is next door to Iran, while the U.S. is not. In the long-run, it is not in their interest to remain at loggerheads with Tehran even if the U.S. wants them to be. In his press statements, foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan has been open about this. ''Yes, we know about their concerns but hope our friends, including the US, will understand our economic compulsions,'' said Khan.
- Iran has already proposed building a new oil refinery at the Pakistan port of Gwadar.
- The Pakistan-Iran pipeline is separate from a larger regional project to link India with the natural gas fields of Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan (the so-called TAPI pipeline, or Trans-Afghanistan pipeline) . It is a goal that has been lurking in the back rooms of the energy industry since the 1990s: how can one efficiently extract and export the vast energy wealth of the Caspian region without going through Russia or China?
- Two decades ago Argentina-based Bridas and Texas-based Unocal were in bitter competition for who would get the Taliban's permission to build a pipeline across Afghanistan. Bridas came close to signing a deal, but pulled out a year later. Unocal actually brought a Taliban delegation to visit the Texas homes of its executives. Unocal eventually pulled out when the Taliban made unreasonable demands.998, Unocal also pulled out when crashed oil prices combined with international opprobrium over the Taliban's human rights record and terrorism made the deal too difficult to finalize.
- The Asia Development Bank has been pushing TAPI for years, though the insecurity in Afghanistan remains a constant barrier to anything concrete coming to pass.
- While TAPI languishes in development hell, Pakistan and Iran have pushed forward with their own pipeline.From Iran's perspective, anything that gives them an economic connection with the region and is outside the regulatory reach of the U.S. government is a boon. From Pakistan's perspective, too, the prospect of getting income and energy without U.S. strings attached is deeply attractive.
- What can the U.S. do? Apart from levying additional sanctions on Iran and possibly cutting Pakistan off from some aid projects, the U.S. doesn't have much leverage to apply here. At least until the last conventional combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan, the U.S. is relying on Pakistan to keep the supply lines open, which gives them the advantage in the relationship.
- The I-P pipeline is another indication that America's capacity to influence, bend, and shape south Asia to its will is degrading yet further. The strategy in Afghanistan, which was never really much of one, had as its critically weak center the relationship with Pakistan. Until the withdrawal is complete, American options for throwing its weight around in the region will take a backseat to making sure everyone '-- and everything '-- can be withdrawn safely.
- American antagonism toward Iran is common knowledge. But anger toward Pakistan is growing in Washington. In conversations with policymakers and Congressional staff, there is a clear, and growing, frustration with Pakistan's decisions: funding the insurgency in Afghanistan along with other terror groups, the constant brinksmanship with India, the failure to find Osama bin Laden up the road from their premier military academy, and its increasingly cozy relationship with Iran. After the bin Laden raid in particular, there was open talk of simply cutting them off entirely '-- though, once again, that would have imperiled American efforts in Afghanistan.
- Once the withdrawal from Afghanistan is more or less complete, there will be a turning point in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. Where it will turn is reliant upon Pakistan as much as it is the U.S.: few here think the country is unimportant, but whether the relationship becomes a warm collaborative one or an increasingly bitter frenemy one pivots on Islamabad's decisions over the next year. This new pipeline with Iran probably suggests where the relationship is ultimately headed: back to crisis.
- Next Up: Rand Paul Drones On & On About DronesYou're reading Transitionistas, a space for expert analysis and fresh opinion.
- Planning a live event and want to bring this level of intellect to a panel or keynote? The Transitionistas are available for speaking engagements.
- About Joshua FoustJoshua Foust is the editor of the Geopolitics channel at Transitionistas. He is the national security columnist for the PBS show "Need to Know," and is a contributor to The Atlantic. Joshua was recently a fellow at the American Security Project, founded by John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. Before that fellowship, he was a senior intelligence analyst for the U.S. military, a civilian adviser to the U.S. military in Afghanistan, a political analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency in Yemen, and the in-house futurist for the U.S. Army's Intelligence and Security Command. After his time in DC, he has very strong feelings about seersucker suits.
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- Out There
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- Outernet | Information for the World from Outer Space
- Outernet | Information for the World from Outer SpaceInformation for the World from Outer SpaceUnrestricted, globally accessible, broadcast data.
- Quality content from all over the Internet.
- Available to all of humanity.
- By leveraging datacasting technology over a low-cost satellite constellation, Outernet is able to bypass censorship, ensure privacy, and offer a universally-accessible information service at no cost to global citizens. It's the modern version of shortwave radio, or BitTorrent from space.
- Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. '-- Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- What Problem is Outernet Solving?There are more computing devices in the world than people, yet only 60% of the global population has access to the wealth of knowledge found on the Internet. The price of smartphones and tablets is dropping year after year, but the price of data in many parts of the world continues to be unaffordable for the majority of global citizens. In some places, such as rural areas and remote regions, cell towers and Internet cables simply don't exist. The primary objective of the Outernet is to bridge the global information divide.
- Broadcasting data allows citizens to reduce their reliance on costly Internet data plans in places where monthly fees are too expensive for average citizens. And offering continuously updated web content from space bypasses censorship of the Internet. An additional benefit of a unidirectional information network is the creation of a global notification system during emergencies and natural disasters.
- Access to knowledge and information is a human right and Outernet will guarantee this right by taking a practical approach to information delivery. By transmitting digital content to mobile devices, simple antennae, and existing satellite dishes, a basic level of news, information, education, and entertainment will be available to all of humanity.
- Although Outernet's near-term goal is to provide the entire world with broadcast data, the long-term vision includes the addition of two-way Internet access for everyone. For free.
- How Does it Work?Outernet consists of a constellation of hundreds of low-cost, miniature satellites in Low Earth Orbit. Each satellite receives data streams from a network of ground stations and transmits that data in a continuous loop until new content is received. In order to serve the widest possible audience, the entire constellation utilizes globally-accepted, standards-based protocols, such as DVB, Digital Radio Mondiale, and UDP-basedWiFi multicasting.
- Citizens from all over the world, through SMS and feature-phone apps, participate in building the information priority list. Users of Outernet's website also make suggestions for content to broadcast; lack of an Internet connection should not prevent anyone from learning about current events, trending topics, and innovative ideas.
- What Will Outernet Deliver?Project TimelineDecember 2013Phase I Technical Assessment
- June 2014Development of prototype satellites and testing of long range WiFi multicasting.
- September 2014Transmission testing in flight-like environments (requesting time on the International Space Station)
- January 2015Launch and testing of constellation operations
- April 2015Establish manufacturing process for hundreds of satellites
- June 2015Begin deployment of Outernet as launch schedule permits
- Who is Building Outernet?Support the OuternetOuternet is being incubated by Media Development Investment Fund, a New York-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. MDIF has supported freedom of expression and information access since 1995.
- All contributions are 100% tax-deductible.
- * Sadly, BitCoin and Dogecoin donations are not tax-deductible at this time
- Feedback, Questions, PartnershipsWe are eager to hear from you. Although we monitor the forums very closely, we happily respond to phone calls and emails, as well. If your organization is interested in a content partnership or distribution agreement, please do not hesitate to reach out.
- 37 W 20th Street, Suite 801New York, NY10011USAhttps://www.outernet.is/
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- Tang (drink) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Tang was used by some early NASA manned space flights.[6] In 1962, when Mercury astronaut John Glenn conducted eating experiments in orbit, Tang was selected for the menu,[2] and was also used during some Gemini flights. In 2013, Buzz Aldrin stated that "Tang sucks".[7]
- The creator of Tang, William A. Mitchell, also invented Pop Rocks, Cool Whip, a form of instant-set Jell-O, and other convenience foods.[8]
- Original TangEditTang is sold both in powdered and ready-to-drink form; they both have similar tastes. The recommended usage of original powdered Tang is two tablespoons per 8 US fluid ounces (240 ml) of water. A single 8 US fl oz (240 ml) serving of Tang provides 9 grams (0.32 oz) of sugar; 40 kilocalories (167 kJ); 100% RDA of vitamin C; 10% RDA of vitamin A, calcium, vitamin E, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin B6, and no caffeine.
- Kraft also makes a sugar-free version of Tang, containing aspartame, which comes in individually measured packets and was introduced in March 1985.
- Other versionsEditIn 2007, Kraft introduced a new version of Tang which replaced half of the sugar with artificial sweeteners. The new packaging advertises "1/2 the Sugar of 100% juice".[9] The artificial sweeteners used in the new formulation are sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and neotame. The new formula is more concentrated and distributed in smaller containers, with a 12.3 US fl oz (360 ml) (348 g (12.3 oz)) container making 8 US quarts (7,600 ml).
- The recommended usage is two and one-half teaspoons per 8 US fluid ounces (240 ml) of water. The lid on the new smaller plastic container acts as a measuring cup which may be used to make one or two quart quantities, the same as the original Tang.
- As of December 2009, the 12.3 US fl oz (360 ml) lower calorie Tang has been discontinued and is no longer available from Kraft.
- In 2009, another version of Tang emerged in 20 US fl oz (590 ml) containers making only 6 US quarts (5,700 ml). Two level tablespoons make one serving (8 US fl oz (240 ml), 90 calories) with 0 g fat, 35 mg (0.54 gr), 22 g (0.78 oz) total carbohydrate (sugar), and 0 g protein. Its list of ingredients include sugar, citric acid (provides tartness), and less than 2% of: natural and artificial flavor, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), maltodextrin, calcium phosphate (prevents caking), guar and xanthan gums (provides body), sodium acid pyrophosphate, artificial color, yellow 5, yellow 6, BHA (to help protect flavor).
- In popular cultureEditFans of the animeNeon Genesis Evangelion often refer to the orange colored, translucent liquid LCL, featured within the series as both a medium to connect the pilot's brain waves to their Evangelion and as a fictional means of achieving Liquid breathing, as "Tang", due to the two liquids incidental resemblance to each other.[10][11]ReferencesEdit^Steyn, Mark (November 2004). "Tastemaker With a Sweet Tooth". Atlantic Monthly. ^ ab"Spinoff Frequently Asked Questions". NASA.gov. ^Courter, Barry (May 13, 2007). "Boomers collect artifacts, memories of NASA's heyday". Times Free Press. ^Olver, Lynne (2000). "Food Timeline : popular American foods by decade : Tang, The "Space Age" Drink". foodtimeline.org. ^Pearlman, Robert Z. (November 23, 2006). "Space Food: From Squeeze Tubes To Celebrity Chefs". Space.com. ^"Space Food Hall of Fame". NASA.gov. ^Now He Tells Us: 'Tang Sucks,' Says Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin : The Two-Way : NPR^Muir, David (April 19, 2006). "Candy Celebrates 50 Years of Popping " (video). ABC News.^Turner, M. (April 13, 2001). "Tang Ingredients". Everything2.com.[dubious'' discuss]^LCL - EvaWiki - An Evangelion Wiki - EvaGeeks.org^Evangelion Director Shocks the Anime World Without Making a Movie Where Everyone Turns Into Tang | RocketNews24Further readingEditExternal linksEdit
- Last modified on 1 February 2014, at 05:00
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- ISEE-3 Spacecraft Returns after Being Forgotten
- Hack-A-Day has issued a challenge to hams and hackers:
- http://hackaday.com/2014/02/14/call-for-hams-and-hackers-welcome-iceisee-3-home/#more-114769
- If a BITX 20/40 would help, I stand ready to assist!
- Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20
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- 2030
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- 2030-22 Facts About The Coming US Demographic Shock Wave | Zero Hedge
- Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
- Today, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers will retire. This is going to happen day after day, month after month, year after year until 2030. It is the greatest demographic tsunami in the history of the United States, and we are woefully unprepared for it. We have made financial promises to the Baby Boomers worth tens of trillions of dollars that we simply are not going to be able to keep. Even if we didn't have all of the other massive economic problems that we are currently dealing with, this retirement crisis would be enough to destroy our economy all by itself. During the first half of this century, the number of senior citizens in the United States is being projected to more than double. As a nation, we are already drowning in debt. So where in the world are we going to get the money to take care of all of these elderly people?
- The Baby Boomer generation is so massive that it has fundamentally changed America with each stage that it has gone through. When the Baby Boomers were young, sales of diapers and toys absolutely skyrocketed. When they became young adults, they pioneered social changes that permanently altered our society. Much of the time, these changes were for the worse.
- According to the New York Post, overall household spending peaks when we reach the age of 46. And guess what year the peak of the Baby Boom generation reached that age?...
- People tend, for instance, to buy houses at about the same age '-- age 31 or so. Around age 53 is when people tend to buy their luxury cars '-- after the kids have finished college, before old age sets in. Demographics can even tell us when your household spending on potato chips is likely to peak '-- when the head of it is about 42.
- Ultimately the size of the US economy is simply the total of what we're all spending. Overall household spending hits a high when we're about 46. So the peak of the Baby Boom (1961) plus 46 suggests that a high point in the US economy should be about 2007, with a long, slow decline to follow for years to come.
- And according to that same article, the Congressional Budget Office is also projecting that an aging population will lead to diminished economic growth in the years ahead...
- Lost in the discussion of this week's Congressional Budget Office report (which said 2.5 million fewer Americans would be working because of Obamacare) was its prediction that aging will be a major drag on growth: ''Beyond 2017,'' said the report, ''CBO expects that economic growth will diminish to a pace that is well below the average seen over the past several decades [due in large part to] slower growth in the labor force because of the aging of the population.''
- So we have a problem. Our population is rapidly aging, and an immense amount of economic resources is going to be required to care for them all.
- Unfortunately, this is happening at a time when our economy is steadily declining.
- The following are some of the hard numbers about the demographic tsunami which is now beginning to overtake us...
- 1. Right now, there are somewhere around 40 million senior citizens in the United States. By 2050 that number is projected to skyrocket to 89 million.
- 2. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 46 percent of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 29 percent of all American workers have less than $1,000 saved for retirement.
- 3. One poll discovered that 26 percent of all Americans in the 46 to 64-year-old age bracket have no personal savings whatsoever.
- 4. According to a survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, "60 percent of American workers said the total value of their savings and investments is less than $25,000".
- 5.67 percent of all American workers believe that they "are a little or a lot behind schedule on saving for retirement".
- 6. A study conducted by Boston College's Center for Retirement Research found that American workers are $6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire comfortably.
- 7. Back in 1991, half of all American workers planned to retire before they reached the age of 65. Today, that number has declined to 23 percent.
- 8. According to one recent survey, 70 percent of all American workers expect to continue working once they are "retired".
- 9. A poll conducted by CESI Debt Solutions found that 56 percent of American retirees still had outstanding debts when they retired.
- 10. A study by a law professor at the University of Michigan found that Americans that are 55 years of age or older now account for 20 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States. Back in 2001, they only accounted for 12 percent of all bankruptcies.
- 11. Today, only 10 percent of private companies in the U.S. provide guaranteed lifelong pensions for their employees.
- 12. According to Northwestern University Professor John Rauh, the total amount of unfunded pension and healthcare obligations for retirees that state and local governments across the United States have accumulated is 4.4 trillion dollars.
- 13. Right now, the American people spend approximately 2.8 trillion dollars on health care, and it is being projected that due to our aging population health care spending will rise to an astounding 4.5 trillion dollars in 2019.
- 14. Incredibly, the United States spends more on health care than China, Japan, Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia combined.
- 15. If the U.S. health care system was a country, it would be the 6th largest economy on the entire planet.
- 16. When Medicare was first established, we were told that it would cost about $12 billion a year by the time 1990 rolled around. Instead, the federal government ended up spending $110 billion on the program in 1990, and the federal government spent approximately $600 billion on the program in 2013.
- 17. It is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.
- 18. At this point, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately $328,404 for every single household in the United States.
- 19. In 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits. Today, that number has fallen to 2.5 workers, and if you eliminate all government workers, that leaves only 1.6 private sector workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits.
- 20. Right now, there are approximately 63 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits. By 2035, that number is projected to soar to an astounding 91 million.
- 21. Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.
- 22. The U.S. government is facing a total of 222 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities during the years ahead. Social Security and Medicare make up the bulk of that.
- So where are we going to get the money?
- That is a very good question.
- The generations following the Baby Boomers are going to have to try to figure out a way to navigate this crisis. The bright future that they were supposed to have has been destroyed by our foolishness and our reckless accumulation of debt.
- But do they actually deserve a "bright future"? Perhaps they deserve to spend their years slaving away to support previous generations during their golden years. Young people today tend to be extremely greedy, self-centered and lacking in compassion. They start blogs with titles such as "Selfies With Homeless People". Here is one example from that blog...
- Of course not all young people are like that. Some are shining examples of what young Americans should be.
- Unfortunately, those that are on the right path are a relatively small minority.
- In the end, it is our choices that define us, and ultimately America may get exactly what it deserves.
- Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 3.7(26 votes)
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- 2030-Middle-class consumer to increase 4.8 billion by 2030 | Astro Awani
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- KUALA LUMPUR: Middle-class consumers will increase to 4.8 billion by 2030 and 95 per cent of them will be from developing countries, said United Kingdom Foreign Secretary's special representative on climate change, Prof Sir David King.He said, currently the world has 1.8 billion middle-class consumers and that three billion more were expected by 2030.
- "Ninety per cent of that growth will be from the Asia-Pacific region as cities in the developing world face the steepest challenge," King said at the Low Carbon Cities (Opportunities and Challenges) forum held at British High Commissioner Simon Featherstone's residence in the capital, Monday.
- He said there would be an estimated 3.3 billion urban population in Asia and 1.3 billion urban population in Africa by 2050.
- "All countries must work to address the current consumption rate of the world's resources..proper urban development is key to managing the growing global population," he said.
- King said due to the increasing middle class consumers, several challenges included the fact that 95 per cent of food production was highly dependent on oil, 80 per cent of the world's population live in areas with high threat to water security.
- He said 60 per cent of the world's ecosystem was already either degraded or unsustainably used and 11 per cent of remaining natural areas could be lost by 2050.
- "Based on climate change such as rising sea levels and temperatures, it is clear we must radically change our behaviour soon," he said.
- Green Tech Malaysia chief executive officer, Ahmad Hadri Haris, who served as the moderator, said it was time for all parties to work together to address climate change before it was too late.
- Ahmad Hadri said there was no better model of good urban development than Iskandar Malaysia, which has a comprehensive green development plan from 2006 to 2025.
- "I think there is a lot of strong will to get things done. We should look at the whole perspective for cities in Malaysia and how we can progress in a sustainable way," he said.
- Meanwhile, Head of Iskandar Malaysia Planning and Compliance, Maimunah Jaffar said it had a Low Carbon Society blueprint with a 12-point action plan to help it reduce carbon emission.
- She said the points include integrated green transportation, green industry, low carbon urban governance, low carbon lifestyle, community engagement, green buildings and construction.
- "Malaysia is already at the forefront when talking about carbon reduction, with policies and incentives in place. But it is also currently still on a voluntary and not regulatory basis, so it is up to the local authorities or government agencies whether they want to take steps to reduce their carbon emission," she said.
- About 100 local and international participants from government and private sector attended the fruitful three-hour forum.
- Tags: Middle-class consumers, developing countries, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, David King
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- 2030-South Africa in 2030
- A new paper, compiled by Jakkie Cilliers of the Institute of Security Studies (iSS), has explored what the South African social, economic and political landscape could look like by the time of the National Development Plan's maturation in 2030.
- The paper uses known indicators and projections made in numerous sectors, by prominent commentators and studies, as well as past scenarios to paint its stories of South Africa's future.
- While by no means set in stone or described as predictions, Cilliers identifies three possible ''pathways'' for South Africa, lining up with the government's National Development Plan (NDP) goals for 2030.
- ''Each (pathway) is rooted in South Africa's current reality and provides plausible combinations of events,'' Cilliers said.
- ''They are not predictions, but plausible storylines that set out the most likely implications of decisions and actions by South Africans and their leaders.''
- According to Cilliers, the ANC leadership is central to all three scenarios, but the country's political future will also be affected by the future of organised labour and the extent to which opposition parties can mobilise young voters.
- Setting the sceneDespite what mainstream media and 'common understanding' would have us believe, ''it is important to emphasise that South Africa is not doing badly compared with international standards,'' Cilliers said.
- The country's economy remains the largest on the African continent, and maintains a seat of prominence on the global political map in terms of its placement in BRICS, a leading role in the African Union, and a temporary spot on the UN security council.
- The country, too, has a good handle on business, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) being the largest stock exchange on the continent.
- However, the country's problems are clear: unemployment, a growing trade deficit, social unrest and growing corruption amongst politicians are well-known and well-reported.
- According to Cilliers, by making the right decisions, South Africa's leadership is sitting in a position where it has the potential to allow the country thrive and boost its economy by 23% by the time of the NDP's maturation in 2030.
- On the other hand, poor decisions could lead the country in the opposite direction, and see the economy shrink by 18%, while social unrest intensifies.
- Vladimir Melnik / Shutterstock.com
- Bafana Bafana '' staying the sameThe Bafana Bafana scenario is named after the national South African soccer team. ''This is essentially a forecast of 'more of the same','' Cilliers said.
- ''Bafana Bafana is simply the well-known story of a perennial underachiever, always playing in the second league when the potential for international championship success and flashes of brilliance are evident for all to see.''
- In this scenario, South Africa stays its current course, toeing the line between decisive socio-economic action by the ruling party, and keeping with populist views to keep the masses' support.
- Under these conditions, South Africa will see:
- The ANC retain a large portion of votes in future elections (above 50%);The ANC govern with coalitions as it loses third majority in parliament;Voter apathy increase, as the population loses faith in government;Party loyalty, not merit, dominate major position appointments;The NDP fluffed about, but ultimately shelved as yet another failed project;Heavy reliance on private companies to service social needs;South Africa remain in international standing, but lose its influence;Economic growth pick up to 3.8% per annum as middle class grows.Madiba Magic
- Madiba Magic '' a brighter futureMandela Magic is the story of a country with a clear economic and developmental vision, which it pursues across all sectors of society, Cilliers said.
- ''In this scenario, Team South Africa plays to a single game plan and is consistent in execution during every match, refining and harmonising its strategy as it goes along.''
- ''Changing the productive structures of South Africa's economy is complex and challenging, however. Competition is stiff and the barriers to success are high.''
- According to Cilliers, this scenario could play out in one of two ways:
- The future is ANC '' with the ANC shifting policies and taking clearer focus and leading growth with a 60%+ dominance.
- Under these conditions, South Africa will see the ANC:
- Reform to reclaim Mandela's legacy;Bolster triparteid alliances;Stabilise civil services and boost delivery of key services;Maintain independence of judiciary, criminal justice system and uphold transparency.Alternatively, with the ANC falling out of favour as voters opt for other parties in future elections, there will be a drive in competition amongst political leaders to deliver services better than their competitors in a true multi-party democracy.
- Under these conditions, South Africa will see:
- Factionalism eat away at the ANC;The ANC dip below 50% of the vote, leading to rule under coalition governance;Opposition parties flex their political muscles, with the DA ultimately heading 3 of 9 provinces;Private sector become the engine for growth.Both of these scenarios will ultimately see:
- A major turnaround in the socio-politcal landscape;A competitive drive to hit NDP targets and govern better;South African carbon emissions pick up drastically as industry thrives;Economic growth pick up to 5.1% per annum by 2030.Sapa
- A Nation Divided '' sinking shipA Nation Divided' reflects a South Africa that steadily gathers speed downhill as factional politics and policy zigzagging open the door to populist policies, Cilliers says.
- ''It is not one set of decisions or developments that might cause the former Rainbow Nation to spiral down to even worse levels of social violence, unemployment and poor performance.''
- ''This is a story of the absent coach, no game plan and individual players who rely only on themselves, sometimes passing the ball, but only when absolutely necessary.''
- In this scenario, the ANC lets go of the reins of the country, and allows politics to muck up any solid plan for social, economic and political development.
- Under these conditions, South Africa will see:
- A breakdown of the tripartheid allianceCosatu fall apart as unions splitCorruption, cronyism, and state control increaseANC remain in power, however, ultimately only with 47% of the voteVoter apathy increaseEconomy slow down as lending and patronage cause debt to balloonNDP 2030 abandoned with no clear plan to replace itOutcome summary (click to enlarge)
- More on South AfricaWhy digital tax is good for South Africa
- South Africa's critical skills shortage
- Sexting and cyber-bullying in South Africa
- Where South Africa's corruption takes place
- South Africa to lose African crown
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- VIDEO
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- VIDEO-EU musters outrage over Ukraine crackdown and considers sanctions threat | euronews, world news
- International concerns have been raised about events in Ukraine and, at a hastily-convened meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers are to decide whether to call for sanctions.
- Until now they have been sceptical about the effectiveness of targeted bans to spur change in the country.
- Meanwhile European Investment Bank PresidentWerner Hoyer has already announced the freezing of the bank's involvement in projects such as a metro line extension.
- ''We have for the time being stopped our activities because it is necessary to wait and see what the economic and political developments in the country will be. And we align fully with the European External Action Service and the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union,'' announced Hoyer.
- Opinion seems to be leaning towards the EU backing sanctions to penalise Ukraine's crackdown.
- Reporting for euronews James Franey, said:
- ''It seems like such a long time ago that protesters were descending onto Maidan square in Kiev waving EU flags, but since then the bloc has struggled to remain relevant and able to influence events in its own backyard. And even if EU foreign ministers decide that sanctions are the next step to solve this crisis, for most of the demonstrators it will be too little too late.''
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- VIDEO-'Three amigos' summit: Can US, Mexico, and Canada modernize NAFTA? (+video) - CSMonitor.com
- The countries' leaders meet in Mexico today to discuss expanding the 20-year-old pact. But, their publics harbor lingering doubts '' including that some nations have benefited more than others.
- With his hands on the wheel of what looks to be a large black American sedan, President Obama tells the gas station attendant '' who happens to be Mexican President Enrique Pe±a Nieto '' ''Fill'er up '' and I'll take the gas station, too.''
- Skip to next paragraphSubscribe Today to the Monitor
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- The cartoon in the left-leaning Mexico City daily La Jornada captures the sentiment of worried Mexicans who question Mr. Pe±a Nieto's controversial reform of Mexico's state-run petrochemical sector. The fear is that foreign investors '' and in particular oil-thirsty gringos '' will finally be able to get their hands on Petroleos Mexicanos, or PEMEX, which many Mexicans still consider to be the country's crown jewel.
- But in a broader sense, the cartoon speaks to the lingering doubts for many Mexicans about their economic path under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which turned 20 this year.
- Those concerns about the economic future and the impact of an inexorably globalizing marketplace are front and center as Pe±a Nieto welcomes his two NAFTA colleagues, Mr. Obama and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to a North American leaders' summit today.
- The barely six-hour summit in Toluca '' about 39 miles southwest of Mexico City '' is billed by all three NAFTA governments as an opportunity to highlight the need to ''bring NAFTA into the 21st century.''
- The plan is to modernize NAFTA by way of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a much broader trade accord being negotiated by 12 Pacific Basin countries '' including the three NAFTA partners. The TPP, whose rules would apply to NAFTA trade, would regulate trade in sectors like e-commerce and some services that didn't even exist when NAFTA was negotiated. It will also address issues like labor and environmental standards that were purposely left off the NAFTA table.
- ''We've got 21st-century trade with a 20th-century framework,'' says Arturo Sarukhn, who until 2013 was Mexico's ambassador to Washington.
- NAFTA ''detonated the integrated supply and production chains'' that mean the three countries increasingly produce ''North American'' and not national products, he says. A car produced in North America will on average cross borders eight times before it is ready for the showroom, for example.
- What the 1994 trade pact hasn't done is keep up with key changes in the global economy, he adds.
- Perhaps the biggest challenge for the North American leaders is winning their populations over to TPP's vision of a broadened trade agreement.
- If the leaders take a break from their discussions to listen to what's going on beyond the walls around them, they may hear the chants of protesters who aim to derail any expansion of NAFTA.
- Obama, too, faces stiff resistance at home from trade-pact opponents '' concentrated largely in his own Democratic Party. If a free-trade agreement with Mexico was bad for American workers, as some companies moved south of the border where labor was cheaper, they say, how much worse will a pact be that includes the likes of Vietnam?
- ''What may make sense from the perspective of CEOs may not reverberate with public opinion,'' says Sarukhn, now an associate analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington. He notes that the ''two huge elephants in the room during NAFTA negotiations'' '' environmental standards and labor standards and mobility '' were left off the table because the pact simply wouldn't have passed with them.
- Senior administration officials involved in preparing the Toluca summit say all three leaders are aware of a need to communicate more effectively about NAFTA's benefits '' and why it's time for an update.
- NAFTA has fostered modernization of North American manufacturing, proponents say, created higher-paying jobs in Mexico in export-related manufacturing, opened Mexico to cheaper consumer products, and created a boom for US farmers.
- ''President Obama is well aware of the voices that have been raised in opposition to NAFTA,'' says one senior administration official. From the White House perspective, a large part of the criticism stems from what NAFTA left out. If that's the case, then a new trade pact that brings in labor and environmental standards should be seen as a plus, officials reason.
- ''The point I'd make is that TPP in part is intended to plug those holes,'' the official says.
- Supporters of NAFTA point to the explosion in North American trade the pact has spawned and to growth in trade-related jobs, particularly in Mexico. But critics counter that while the big numbers '' $1.2 trillion in US trade annually with Mexico and Canada, better than a three-fold increase since NAFTA's inception '' may look good, the micro level is less rosy.
- ''We've had quite enough time to get an idea of what's happened under NAFTA, and we can say at this point that much of it has been negative,'' says Laura Carlsen, director of the Center for International Policy's Americas program in Mexico City.
- She ticks off a list of what she says are direct results of NAFTA: Some 2 million small Mexican farmers leaving the land largely as a result of huge increases in American corn imports; the expansion of Mexico's informal economy; and sluggish economic growth leaving more Mexicans below the poverty line. ''The daily lives of millions of Mexicans have gotten worse as a result of this trade policy,'' Ms. Carlsen says.
- Such sentiments highlight the difficult sales job facing the three summit leaders '' especially if they hope to see TPP win political support.
- But there are some signs the job might get easier.
- New surveys from the US and Mexico by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that Americans have gradually grown more positive toward NAFTA. At the same time, a majority of Mexicans say NAFTA has been good overall for Mexico '' including in creating Mexican jobs.
- One thing hasn't changed in 20 years, however. People in both countries, but especially in the US, believe that if NAFTA as a whole has been somewhat positive for their country, it's been a whole lot better for the neighbors.
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- VIDEO-Chelsea Clinton: Gay RIghts 'the Unfinished Business of the 21st Century' | MRCTV
- MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them '-- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
- MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 1900 Campus Commons Drive, Reston, VA 20194. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
- Copyright (C) 2014, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
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- VIDEO-Obama: U.S. Does Not See Ukraine, Syria Crises as 'Some Cold War Chessboard' | MRCTV
- patrick.goodenoughPatrick covered government and politics in South Africa and the Middle East before joining CNSNews.com in 1999. Since then he has launched foreign bureaus for CNSNews.com in Jerusalem, London and the Pacific Rim. From October 2006 to July 2007, Patrick served as Managing Editor at the organization's world headquarters in Alexandria, Va. Now back in the Pacific Rim, as International Editor he reports on politics, international relations, security, terrorism, ethics and religion, and oversees reporting by CNSNews.com's roster of international stringers.
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- VIDEO- BREAKING! SHOE BOMB TERROR ALERT ISSUED! - YouTube
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- VIDEOCivil Society Afghanistan | Video | C-SPAN.org
- February 19, 2014Specialists from the World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE) talked about U.S. civil society engagement in Afghanistan.'Former Afghanistan War commander General John Allen also participated in the discussion.
- Javascript must be enabled in order to access C-SPAN videos.
- People in this videoAllen, John R.Commander (Former)International Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan)Hosting OrganizationRelated Video
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- VIDEO-NBC News: Govt advises airlines of potential new security threat, involving explosives in shoes
- DHS advises airlines of new security threat
- Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014 | 3:34 PM ETNBC's Pete Williams reports airlines have been notified to pay extra attention to explosives in the shoes of travelers from overseas to U.S flights.
- The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday told airlines about a potential new security threat and urged them to pay extra attention to flights from overseas into the United States
- Several officials familiar with the advisory told NBC News that "very recent intelligence" considered credible warns of possible attempts to attack passenger jets using explosives concealed in shoes.
- As a result, officials say, airlines will be playing extra attention to passenger shoes on flights to the US from overseas. Those passengers may also experience increased scrutiny in pat downs and full-body screening.
- The bulletin to airlines urges screeners to use the explosive trace detection swabs to check shoes that are worn and in carry-on bags.
- The officials say the threat information was not specific to any particular airline, country, or time.
- There is no indication of a specific plot, they say.
- More from NBC News:Passengers tell of terror on hijacked jetAirlines dig out from stormMany wrong landings averted, report shows
- But after assessing the information, the Department of Homeland Security advised airlines earlier Wednesday of the possible threat and urged greater security scrutiny on U.S.-bound flights.
- One official described the level of concern over this new information as moderate.
- "It's a reminder that we are under constant threat and an advisory to airlines be on their A game," said another official familiar with the threat intelligence.
- The threat information is unrelated to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, several officials said.
- "Out of an abundance of caution, DHS regularly shares relevant information with domestic and international partners about relevant threat information as we work to meet our mission of keeping the traveling public safe," the Department said in response to a question from NBC News. "These types of regular communications are part of that important priority.
- "Our security apparatus includes a number of measures, both seen and unseen, informed by the latest intelligence and as always DHS continue to adjust security measures to fit an ever evolving threat environment."
- The Department of Homeland Security has warned airlines of a new security threat involving shoes on flights from overseas points to the United States.
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- VIDEO- Homeland Security Building Nationwide License Plate Tracking System - YouTube
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- VIDEO- Obama Taking Second Look At Military Strike Options In Syria! - YouTube
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- VIDEO-: Pussy Riot whipped by Cossack in Sochi performance fail - YouTube
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- VIDEO-Cossacks use whips on Pussy Riot members
- Members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, told USA TODAY Sports that they were beaten with whips by Cossack militia members outside a downtown Sochi restaurant Wednesday. (USA TODAY, USA NOW)
- A Cossack militiaman attacks Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and a photographer as she and fellow members of stage a protest performance in Sochi.(Photo11: Morry Gash AP)
- SHARE11694CONNECT11EMAIL11MORE11SOCHI, Russia '-- Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, told USA TODAY Sports by phone that members of the band were beaten with whips by Cossack militia members outside a downtown Sochi restaurant Wednesday.
- The incident occurred roughly 24 hours after she, bandmate Maria Alyokhina and more than 10 others were detained for questioning by police over an alleged theft at a Sochi hotel.
- Tolokonnikova said the group was about to perform when they were jumped.
- BRENNAN:Pussy Riot punctures Putin's Olympics bubble
- Others witnessed the incident, including VICE News reporter Simon Ostrovsky, who said on Twitter he videotaped it.
- According to The Associated Press, six group members '-- five women and one man '-- had put on their signature ski masks and were pulling out a guitar and microphone when at least 10 Cossacks and other security officials moved in. One Cossack appeared to use pepper spray, another whipped several group members while others ripped off their masks and threw the guitar in a garbage can, the news agency reported.
- Alyokhina tweeted a photo of a man, who participated in the action, with a bloody cut over his left eye.
- The group's attorney, Alexander Popkov, told USA TODAY Sports by phone that three members of the group had been hospitalized to treat injuries from the attack. Pussy Riot had chosen that location to film for a music video, he said.
- The AP reported the altercation lasted less than three minutes.
- The 24-year-old Tolokonnikova and 25-year-old Alyokhina were released Dec. 23 following a 21-month imprisonment for a protest performance in a Moscow cathedral that led to charges of hooliganism and blasphemy.
- On Tuesday, Tolokonnikova sent a series of tweets detailing the duo's activities in Sochi and revealed that they also had been detained for about seven hours on Sunday and 10 hours on Monday, when they were held by the FSB, the Federal Security Service.
- Tolokonnikova said she and Alyokhina were in Sochi to carry out a Pussy Riot action _ the song "Putin will teach you to love the motherland."
- Last SlideNext SlideSHARE11694CONNECT11EMAIL11MORE11
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- VIDEO- Ukraine: Drone's eye of the Kiev battlefield - YouTube
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- VIDEO-School Safety Expert Threatened for Questioning Sandy Hook : Federal Jack
- UPDATE: WOLFGANG HAS BEEN VISITED TWICE BY THE LOCAL SHERIFF'S DEPT SINCE THIS INTERVIEW WENT OUT, EVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF ANOTHER INTERVIEW. CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE UDATE.
- (FEDERALJACK) Wolfgang W. Halbig doesn't believe anyone was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, and he's looking for some answers. So many answers, in fact, that he was paid a visit by some police investigators telling him to back off.
- Mr. Halbig isn't your average ''conspiracy theorist.'' He's worked in public education as a teacher, dean, assistant principal, principal of an alternative school and as the Director for School Safety and Security for the Seminole County Public Schools, a school district of approximately 65,000 students.
- A former Florida State Trooper and United States Customs Inspector, Mr. Halbig was invited by the U.S. Department of Justice to train over 3,500 school police officers, school superintendents and school principals. He travels the country providing presentations and keynotes to a variety of school board associations and conferences and is a nationally-recognized school safety and security expert and consultant, who has provided safety training and school assessments for more than 4,000 school districts nationwide.
- Dave Gahary spoke with Wolfgang about why he doesn't believe the official story of the Sandy Hook Elementary School event, in this interesting interview.
- SEE ALSO:Cops Harass School Safety Expert Wolfgang Halbig During Radio Interview Questioning The Sandy Hook Massacre
- Debunking The MSM Attack on Professor James Tracy
- Prof. James Tracy: Sandy Hook, Boston, Logical Fallacies & More
- The Sandy Hook Shooting '' Fully Exposed
- How the Newtown massacre became a Mind-Control television event
- Reaction to FAU professor's Newtown conspiracy is misguided and misinformed
- CT. COP on Sandy Hook Inconsistencies: ''THINGS DON'T ADD UP''
- Tags: AK-47, AMMO, AR-15, BULLETS, Connecticut School Shooting, FALSE FLAG TERROR, False Flag Terrorism, Gun Control, GUNS, HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINES, Politics, SANDY HOOK, Sandy Hook Elementary School, SANDY HOOK WEIRDNESS, US News
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- VIDEO- Nestl(C) Recalls Hot Pockets Following Massive Meat Recall - YouTube
-
- VIDEO-Barbara Walters talks about her vibrator
- What do Barbara Walters, Victoria Beckham and Bradley Cooper have in common? They each have a juicy secret to share! (Daily Dish, USA TODAY)
- Pray tell, Barbara Walters. What is thy vibrator's name?(Photo: Lour Rocco, AFP/Getty Images)
- SHARE237CONNECTEMAILMOREIt was a "hot topic," all right.
- The Viewsters started chatting on Monday's show about "self love." And as things often go with sex, one thing led to another.
- In talking about getting older, Walters, 84, told Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy, Sherri Shepherd and guest host Ross Mathews, "I was very happy at 65, I liked it more than 66. That's enough isn't it?"
- "Do you have more confidence and more self-love?" McCarthy asked.
- "You know, self love, Barbara," Shepherd said suggestively. "Friday night self love!"
- Whoopi then chimed in and said, "You start talking about that vibrator of yours again, I can't handle it!"
- And then Walters offered, "You know what it's called? A selfie!" And she threw up her hands with a smile.
- "The name of Barbara's vibrator is 'selfie,' " Goldberg reiterated. "Fantastic."
- The term selfie just got a whole new meaning.
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- VIDEO-Obama: 'Unchecked' Carbon Pollution Had 'Severe Impacts on Our Weather' | CNS News
- President Barack Obama (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
- (CNSNews.com) '' While announcing new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said ''unchecked'' carbon pollution prior to his administration's efforts to raise fuel economy standards ''was having severe impacts on our weather.''''Carbon pollution was going unchecked, which was having severe impacts on our weather,'' Obama said in a speech at a Safeway distribution center in Upper Marlboro, MD.
- For decades, fuel efficiency standards had been ''stuck in neutral, even as other kinds of technology leapt forward,'' the president said. The economy was ''vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices.''
- ''Every time oil prices shot up, the economy got hurt. Our automakers were in danger of being left in the dust by foreign automakers,'' he said.
- After taking office, the Obama administration ''set in motion the first ever national policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing gas pollution for all new cars and trucks sold'' in the U.S.
- ''Our levels of dangerous carbon pollution that contributes to climate change has actually gone down even as our production has gone up,'' he said.
- The administration had set the goal of raising fuel economy standards to 35.5 miles per gallon for a new vehicle by 2016 '' an increase of more than eight miles per gallon over the average at the time.
- Some automakers have already exceeded that goal, he said.
- ''Some are already making cars that beat the target of nearly 55 miles per gallon. They've got plug-in hybrids. They've got electric vehicles. They're taking advantage of the investments that the Recovery Act made in American advances in battery technology, so cars are getting better, and they're getting more fuel efficient all the time,'' Obama said.
- The new goal: doubling the distance cars and light trucks can travel before needing to refuel.
- ''We're gonna double the distance our cars and light trucks can go on a gallon of gas by 2025. We're gonna double it, and that means '' that's big news '' because what it means is you got to fill up every two weeks instead of every week, and that saves the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time,'' Obama said.
- ''I'm assuming you can use $8,000 that you're not paying at the gas station, and in the process, it cuts American oil consumption by 12 billion barrels,'' he added.
- ''And for anybody who said this couldn't be done or that it would hurt the American auto industry, the American auto industry sold more cars last year than any time since 2007. And since we stepped in to help our automakers retool, the American auto industry has created almost 425,000 new jobs,'' he added.
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- VIDEO-Huge asteroid to fly by earth on Tuesday morning '' Watch it live | euronews,
- An asteroid the size of three football pitches is set to make a close brush with Planet Earth early on Tuesday morning.
- Near-Earth asteroid 2000 EM26 poses no threat of actually hitting the planet, but the online Slooh Space Camera will track the asteroid as it passes by Earth on Tuesday morning.
- The live Slooh webcast will start 02:00 GMT on February 18, and you can watch it on YouTube.
- Scientists estimate that 2000 EM26 is around 885 feet (270 meters) in diameter, and it is whizzing through the solar system at a break-neck 27,000 mph (12.37km/s), according to Slooh. During its closest approach, the asteroid will fly about 8.8 lunar distances from Earth.
- One year ago, on February 15, 2013, the world witnessed two amazing events '' one expected and the other not. Astronomers anticipated the arrival of super-close asteroid 2012 DA14 '' a 40,000-ton space rock, 98 ft (30 m) in diameter, due to miss Earth by a measly 17,200 miles (27,680 km) '' closer even than our geosynchronous satellites.
- In fact, NEA 2012 DA14 was the closest object of such size to fly past Earth in our lifetimes. Slooh successfully tracked DA14 live from its Canary Island observatory using special imaging techniques.
- On that same day, however, something else unexpectedly tore through the skies over Chelyabinsk, Russia, damaging thousands of houses, breaking innumerable windows, and causing injuries from broken glass.
- This object, later discovered to be an asteroid, was 65 ft (20 m) in diameter and exploded 18 miles above Siberia releasing the equivalent energy of more than 20 atomic bombs (approximately 460 kilotons of TNT).
- While analysts continue to debate the significance of the event, many believe the residents of Chelyabinsk were extremely lucky to escape this celestial encounter with no loss of life. To commemorate the February 15 event, the Russian government announced that ten gold medals for winners on February 15th at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics will be embedded with Chelyabinsk meteor fragments.
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- VIDEO-NATIVE ADVERTISING-Tom Brokaw Plugs Angelina Jolie Movie in Commercial Posing as Feature During Olympics | Showbiz411
- Join the daily SHOWBIZ411 free e-newsletter
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- VIDEO-BBC News - Scottish independence: Barroso says joining EU would be 'difficult'
- 16 February 2014Last updated at 10:00 ET Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
- Mr Barroso made his comments during an interview with Andrew Marr
- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said it would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible" for an independent Scotland to join the European Union.
- Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr he said an independent Scotland would have to apply for membership and get the approval of all current member states.
- Scotland's Finance Minister described his comments as "pretty preposterous".
- John Swinney said Mr Barroso's view was based on a false comparison.
- The referendum on Scottish independence will be held on 18 September, with voters being asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
- New stateIn his interview with Andrew Marr, Mr Barroso said: "In case there is a new country, a new state, coming out of a current member state it will have to apply."
- Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
- John Swinney described Mr Barroso's comments as "pretty preposterous"
- He said it was important that "accession to the European Union will have to be approved by all other member states of the European Union."
- He went on: "Of course it will be extremely difficult to get the approval of all the other member states to have a new member coming from one member state."
- Mr Barroso cited the example of the Spanish not recognising Kosovo.
- He said: "We have seen Spain has been opposing even the recognition of Kosovo, for instance. So it is to some extent a similar case because it's a new country and so I believe it's going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, a new member state coming out of our countries getting the agreement of the others."
- However, Mr Barroso made clear that it was up to the people of Scotland to decide their future, and he said he did not want to interfere in that process.
- In its White Paper on independence, launched in November, the Scottish government said the country would look to gain membership through Article 48 of the Treaty of the European Union.
- It said such a move could be achieved within 18 months of a "Yes" vote.
- Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme, Mr Swinney said: "I think President Barroso's remarks are pretty preposterous.
- "He's set out his position linking and comparing Scotland to the situation in Kosovo.
- Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
- "Scotland has been a member of the EU for 40 years - we're already part of the European Union."
- Mr Swinney said there was no indication any member state would veto Scotland's membership, including Spain where Catalan separatists are pushing for independence.
- He added: "The Spanish Foreign Minister said if there is an agreed process within the United Kingdom by which Scotland becomes an independent country then Spain has nothing to say about the whole issue.
- "That indicates to me quite clearly that the Spanish government will have no stance to take on the question of Scottish membership of the European Union."
- Mr Swinney also denied Scotland would have to join the euro if it became a member of the EU in its own right.
- He said to adopt the euro, countries first had to be a member of the exchange rate mechanism and Scotland had "no intention" of signing up.
- 'Lack of clarity'When asked in a BBC interview for his response to the European Commission president's comments, Labour leader Ed Miliband said he thought recent developments on issues like EU membership and currency showed: "Alex Salmond's case is coming apart".
- He said: "I think we can give people greater hope for Scotland within the United Kingdom ensuring that we make ourselves a socially just country, rather than all the risks associated with Scotland going it alone."
- Former chancellor and chairman of the pro-Union Better Together campaign, Alistair Darling, said the "wheels had begun to fall off the wagon" of the nationalists' campaign.
- He added: "You now see that Alex Salmond is a man without a plan.
- "Both the lack of clarity on the currency, as well as on Europe, means that Scotland would be taking a wholly unnecessary and undesirable risk if it were to vote to separate this autumn."
- Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
- On Monday, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond is due to address pro-independence business leaders in Aberdeen.
- He has vowed to "deconstruct" the chancellor's case against a currency union in a speech at the Business for Scotland event.
- He will say George Osborne's position that a vote for independence would mean walking away from the pound, is "ill-thought out and misinformed".
- Other SNP politicians have also dismissed Mr Barroso's remarks. Angus MacNeil, MP for the Western Isles, told the BBC he thought the comments were "nonsense".
- He said: "Barroso saying that the EU is not a club for members or nations who want to be a member of it is probably a very new and revolutionary step.
- "It is however I think Barroso at form playing more politics and it'll have the same effect as George Osborne - it'll help Scotland."
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- VIDEO-Obama: Signing Up for Obamacare Is 'Just Part of Growing Up' | The Weekly Standard
- An interview former NBA star Charles Barkley conducted with President Obama aired last night on TNT. In the interview, President Obama defended Obamacare and called signing up for the health care program "just part of growing up":
- Barkely asked, "What do you think of the term Obamacare?"
- "I like it. I don't mind. And I tell you, five years from now, when everybody's saying, 'Man, I'm sure glad we got healthcare,' there are going to be a whole bunch of people who don't call it Obamacare anymore because they don't want me to get the credit. But you don't know what life will throw at you. And sometimes people don't recognize, particularly young people, how important it is to have coverage until you get sick and you realize you may lose everything you have, or your parents may lose everything they have, trying to make you well. So we're encouraging people to sign up. They've got until March 31 to sign up for this year."
- Barkley followed up, "So, if you can speak to a specific group, I guess you really talking about young adults --
- "Folks our age, I mean I wouldn't call us old yet --" Obama started.
- "We're knocking on the door."
- "We are knocking on the door. So once you are 50, you wake up sometimes -- does this happen to you, Chuck? -- you wake up and something hurts and you don't know exactly what happened. Right?"
- "Everything hurts when I wake up," said Barkley.
- "When you were young, you know, you had to actually have an injury before something hurts. We'd like to encourage more young people to sign up, partly because since they're healthier, their premiums are actually generally going to be fairly cheap. They can find good options for less than their cable bill, less than their cell phone bill. And it's just part of growing up -- is making sure you're taking care of your body, your health. If you have a young family, you have to make sure that your family's protected with health insurance, as well. This allows you to do it," said Obama.
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- VIDEO-American Idol singer MK Nobilette becomes show's first openly gay contestant and advances | Mail Online
- PUBLISHED: 02:20 EST, 13 February 2014 | UPDATED: 09:58 EST, 13 February 2014
- American Idol's first openly gay contestant on Wednesday made it through to the next round as the judges proclaimed 'the world is changing'.
- MK Nobilette, 20, sang Ed Sheeran's The A-Team in her solo round.
- 'She's like a quiet storm,' said judge Jennifer Lopez who later whispered the singer gave her goose bumps with her performance.
- Quiet storm: MK Nobilette impressed the judges during her solo song and advanced on Wednesday to the live rounds
- 'You're not the typical American idol,' Jennifer told the tomboyish hopeful as MK met with judges to learn her fate.
- 'Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing?' judge Harry Connick Jr. wondered aloud. 'Do you fit in, do you not fit in?
- 'I have my own thoughts on that, too,' said MK.
- Not typical: MK told the judges she was 'very obviously gay' before learning her fate
- 'I'm very obviously gay, and there are always gonna be people in America and everywhere else who are definitely going to hate,' she said candidly.
- 'But I think that in the last two years there have been a lot of things that have really changed that, and have really made it a positive thing,' she added.
- 'Thank goodness,' said Harry.
- 'This is a tough day,' said Jennifer as she wrestled with whether to keep the singer on the show.
- Times changing: Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. agreed that MK could be the next American Idol
- 'The world is changing, I think. We think that you could be an American Idol,' J-Lo told the singer.
- 'Strongly,' Harry added as MK made it into the top 15 girls.
- 'You have a great voice, MK,' said Harry.
- First openly gay Idol contestant M.K. wows the judges
- Solo song: MK sang Ed Sheeran's The A-Team and gave J-Lo goose bumps
- 'Thank you guys so much,' she said, crying. 'Can I hug you?'
- 'The world is changing,' Keith repeated as he too seemed to fight back tears.
- The decision came during a two-hour broadcast in which the final top 30 contestants began to be revealed.
- 'This is incredible,' said MK, who is also known as Emkay Brazil.
- So happy: MK cried upon learning that she advanced to the live rounds
- Ride down: MK flashed two thumbs up after learning she made the top 30
- She first tried out at the San Francisco auditions saying she gave it a shot because the show is her aunt's favourite.
- Fans were quick to praise the show and MK on Twitter.
- @chelsthellama wrote: 'What MK just said on idol made me cry even more. The world is changing. Beautiful.'
- Hugging it out: MK hugged J-Lo and the other judges after learning she made it to the live rounds
- And @imquiteadorable said: 'Kudos to the American Idol judges for choosing the talented, openly gay MK for the top 15 girls.'
- Previous seasons had featured gay contestants, but their sexuality had not been openly addressed on the show before.
- MK's announcement came on the heels of American college football player Michael Sam, 24, announcing he was gay ahead of the professional National Football League's upcoming draft.
- Past finalists: Clay Aiken, left, shown on American Idol in 2003, and Adam Lambert, shown on the show in 2009, disclosed they were gay after being on the show
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- VIDEO-Remarks on Climate Change
- SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Robert. Thank you very, very much. I don't know. I think some of you were cheering twice for the same university. I don't know. (Laughter.) It seemed to come from the same place anyway.
- What a pleasure to be here at America, where we are looking at all of the air conditioning pipes running right through here. I love it. The spirit and feel of this place is very special and it's wonderful to see our friends up here from Kalimantan and also everybody from Sumatra. Thank you very much for being with us. Can you hear me? Yeah! Wave! (Laughter.) Do a few selfies, everybody will '' (laughter.) Anyway, it's really a pleasure to be here. I see a lot of iPads up in the air sort of flashing away.
- This is special. Ambassador Blake, thank you for doing this. Thank you all for coming here today. I want to welcome all of those of you who are tuning in elsewhere, some of you who are watching on a home webcast, and we're delighted to have you here. It's really a pleasure for me to be able to be back in Jakarta, back in Indonesia, where you have one of the richest ecosystems on Earth. And you live in a country that is at the top of the global rankings for both marine and terrestrial biodiversity, and you have a human ecosystem that includes some 300 ethnic groups, speaking at least 700 languages '' extraordinary place.
- But because of climate change, it is no secret that today, Indonesia is also one of the most vulnerable countries on Earth.
- This year, as Secretary of State, I will engage in a series of discussions on the urgency of addressing climate change '' particularly on the national security implications and the economic opportunities. And I want you to think about those. But I wanted to start right here, in Jakarta, because this city '' this country '' this region '' is really on the front lines of climate change. It's not an exaggeration to say to you that the entire way of life that you live and love is at risk. So let's have a frank conversation about this threat and about what we, as citizens of the world, need to be able to do to address it.
- Some time ago I travelled to another vibrant city '' a city also rich with its own rich history '' Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And I was there, sitting in a big room, surrounded by representatives from about 170 countries. We listened as expert after expert after expert described the growing threat of climate change and what it would mean for the world if we failed to act. The Secretary General of the conference was '' he was an early leader on climate change, a man by the name of Maurice Strong, and he told us '' I quote him: ''Every bit of evidence I've seen persuades me that we are on a course leading to tragedy.''
- Well, my friends, that conference was in 1992. And it is stunning how little the conversation has really changed since then.
- When I think about the array of global climate '' of global threats '' think about this: terrorism, epidemics, poverty, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction '' all challenges that know no borders '' the reality is that climate change ranks right up there with every single one of them. And it is a challenge that I address in nearly every single country that I visit as Secretary of State, because President Obama and I believe it is urgent that we do so.
- And the reason is simple: The science of climate change is leaping out at us like a scene from a 3D movie. It's warning us; it's compelling us to act. And let there be no doubt in anybody's mind that the science is absolutely certain. It's something that we understand with absolute assurance of the veracity of that science. No one disputes some of the facts about it. Let me give you an example. When an apple separates from a tree, it falls to the ground. We know that because of the basic laws of physics. No one disputes that today. It's a fact. It's a scientific fact. Science also tells us that when water hits a low enough temperature, it's going to turn into ice; when it reaches a high enough temperature, it's going to boil. No one disputes that. Science and common sense tell us if you reach out and put your hand on a hot cook stove, you're going to get burned. I can't imagine anybody who would dispute that either.
- So when thousands of the world's leading scientists and five reports over a long period of time with thousands of scientists contributing to those reports '' when they tell us over and over again that our climate is changing, that it is happening faster than they ever predicted, ever in recorded history, and when they tell us that we humans are the significant cause, let me tell you something: We need to listen.
- When 97 percent of scientists agree on anything, we need to listen, and we need to respond.
- Well, 97 percent of climate scientists have confirmed that climate change is happening and that human activity is responsible. These scientists agree on the causes of these changes and they agree on the potential effects. They agree that the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide contributes heavily to climate change. They agree that the energy sources that we've relied on for decades to fuel our cars and to heat our homes or to air condition our homes, to '' all the things that provide us electricity like oil and coal '' that these are largely responsible for sending those greenhouse gases up into the atmosphere. And the scientists agree that emissions coming from deforestation and from agriculture can also send enormous quantities of carbon pollution into our atmosphere.
- And they agree that, if we continue to go down the same path that we are going down today, the world as we know it will change '' and it will change dramatically for the worse.
- So we know this is happening, and we know it with virtually the same certainty that we understand that if we reach out and touch that hot stove, we're going to get burned. In fact, this is not really a complicated equation. I know sometimes I can remember from when I was in high school and college, some aspects of science or physics can be tough '' chemistry. But this is not tough. This is simple. Kids at the earliest age can understand this.
- Try and picture a very thin layer of gases '' a quarter-inch, half an inch, somewhere in that vicinity '' that's how thick it is. It's in our atmosphere. It's way up there at the edge of the atmosphere. And for millions of years '' literally millions of years '' we know that layer has acted like a thermal blanket for the planet '' trapping the sun's heat and warming the surface of the Earth to the ideal, life-sustaining temperature. Average temperature of the Earth has been about 57 degrees Fahrenheit, which keeps life going. Life itself on Earth exists because of the so-called greenhouse effect. But in modern times, as human beings have emitted gases into the air that come from all the things we do, that blanket has grown thicker and it traps more and more heat beneath it, raising the temperature of the planet. It's called the greenhouse effect because it works exactly like a greenhouse in which you grow a lot of the fruit that you eat here.
- This is what's causing climate change. It's a huge irony that the very same layer of gases that has made life possible on Earth from the beginning now makes possible the greatest threat that the planet has ever seen.
- And the results of our human activity are clear. If you ranked all the years in recorded history by average temperature, you'd see that 8 of the 10 hottest years have all happened within the last 10 years. Think about it this way: all 10 of the hottest years on record have actually happened since Google went online in 1998.
- Now, that's how fast this change is happening. And because the earth is getting hotter at such an alarming speed, glaciers in places like the Arctic are melting into the sea faster than we expected. And the sea is rising '' slowly, but rising '' and will rise to dangerous levels. Scientists now predict that by the end of the century, the sea could rise by a full meter. Now, I know that to some people a meter may not sound like a lot, but I'll tell you this: it's enough to put half of Jakarta underwater. Just one meter would displace hundreds of millions of people worldwide and threaten billions of dollars in economic activity. It would put countries into jeopardy. It would put countless '' I mean, come to the local level '' it would put countless homes and schools and parks, entire cities at risk.
- Now, climate change also tragically means the end of some species. The changing sea temperature and the increasing amount of acidity '' the acidity comes from coal-fired power plants and from the pollution, and when the rain falls the rain spills the acidity into the ocean. And it means that certain species of fish like cod or sardines can no longer live where they once lived. This is devastating for the world's fisheries. And scientists predict that fisheries will be among the hardest hit. Just think about the fishermen who sell their fish catches at Pasar Ikan. Think about it. There are some studies that say that Indonesia's fisheries could actually lose up to 40 percent of what they currently bring in '' so a fisherman who usually has about a hundred fish to sell one day would suddenly only have 60 or so for sale. The impact is obvious.
- Climate change also means water shortages. And if you have these enormous water shortages, then you have a change in the weather '' because of the weather patterns, you're going to wind up with droughts, the lack of water. And the droughts can become longer and more intense. In fact, this isn't something around the corner '' this is happening now.
- We are seeing record droughts right now, and they're already putting a strain on water resources around the world. We've already seen in various parts of the world '' in Africa, for instance '' people fighting each other over water, and we've seen more conflicts shaping up now over the limits of water. Back in the United States, President Obama just the other day visited California, where millions of people are now experiencing the 13th month of the worst drought the state has seen in 500 years. And no relief is in sight. What used to be a 100-year or a 500-year event is now repeating itself within 10 years.
- Furthermore, climate change means fundamental transformations in agriculture worldwide. Scientists predict that, in some places, heat waves and water shortages will make it much more difficult for farmers to be able to grow the regular things we grow, like wheat or corn or rice. And obviously, it's not only farmers who will suffer here '' it's the millions of people who depend on those crops that the farmers grow. For example, the British government research showed that climate change may have contributed to the famine that killed as many as 100,000 people in Somalia just back in 2010 and 2011.
- And scientists further predict that climate change also means longer, more unpredictable monsoon seasons and more extreme weather events. Now, I'll tell you, I can't tell you '' no weatherman on TV or anybody is going to be able to look at you and tell you '' that one particular storm was absolutely the result of climate change. But scientists do predict that many more of these disastrous storms will occur if we continue down the current path. Ladies and gentlemen, I saw with my own eyes what the Philippines experienced in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan and I will tell you it would be absolutely devastating if that kind of storm were to become the normal thing that happens every single year in many places.
- On top of the unspeakable humanitarian toll, the economic cost that follows a storm like that is absolutely massive. I don't mean just the billions that it costs to rebuild. We've seen here in Asia how extreme weather events can disrupt world trade. For example, after serious flooding in 2011, global prices for external computer hard drives rose by more than 10 percent. Why? Because electronic manufacturing zones around Bangkok were out of commission, wiped out by the weather. So it's not just about agriculture '' it's also about technology. It's about our global economy. It's about potentially catastrophic effects on the global supply chain.
- Now, despite all of these realities '' despite these facts '' much of the world still doesn't see or want to see the need to pursue a significant response to this threat. As recently as 2011, a survey of city officials here in Asia found that more than 80 percent of the population said they did not anticipate climate change hurting their cities' economies.
- And despite more than 25 years of scientific warning after scientific warning after scientific warning '' despite all that, the call to arms that we heard back in Rio back in 1992 '' despite that, we still haven't globally summoned the urgency necessary to get the job done. And as a result of this complacency, last year the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere reached the highest point in human history '' despite all the warnings.
- Now, I know that these are some dramatic scientific facts '' statistics. But think of it this way: If the worst-case scenario about climate change, all the worst predictions, if they never materialize, what will be the harm that is done from having made the decision to respond to it? We would actually leave our air cleaner. We would leave our water cleaner. We would actually make our food supply more secure. Our populations would be healthier because of fewer particulates of pollution in the air '' less cost to health care. Those are the things that would happen if we happen to be wrong and we responded. But imagine if the 97 percent of those scientists are correct and the people who say no are wrong. Then the people who say no will have presented us with one of the most catastrophic, grave threats in the history of human life. That's the choice here.
- Notwithstanding the stark choices that we face, here's the good thing: there is still time. The window of time is still open for us to be able to manage this threat. But the window is closing. And so I wanted to come to Jakarta to talk to you because we need people all over the world to raise their voices and to be heard. There is still time for us to significantly cut greenhouse emissions and prevent the very worst consequences of climate change from ever happening at all. But we need to move on this, and we need to move together now. We just don't have time to let a few loud interests groups hijack the climate conversation. And when I say that, you know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about big companies that like it the way it is that don't want to change, and spend a lot of money to keep you and me and everybody from doing what we know we need to do.
- First and foremost, we should not allow a tiny minority of shoddy scientists and science and extreme ideologues to compete with scientific fact. Nor should we allow any room for those who think that the costs associated with doing the right thing outweigh the benefits. There are people who say, ''Oh, it's too expensive, we can't do this.'' No. No, folks. We certainly should not allow more time to be wasted by those who want to sit around debating whose responsibility it is to deal with this threat, while we come closer and closer to the point of no return.
- I have to tell you, this is really not a normal kind of difference of opinion between people. Sometimes you can have a reasonable argument and a reasonable disagreement over an opinion you may have. This is not opinion. This is about facts. This is about science. The science is unequivocal. And those who refuse to believe it are simply burying their heads in the sand.
- Now, President and I '' Obama and I believe very deeply that we do not have time for a meeting anywhere of the Flat Earth Society. One of the arguments that we do hear is that it's going to be too expensive to be able to address climate change. I have to tell you, that assertion could not be less grounded in fact. In fact, it's exactly the opposite. Serious analysts understand that the costs of doing nothing far outweigh the costs of investing in solutions now. You do not need a degree in economics or a graduate degree in business in order to understand that the cost of flooding, the cost of drought, the cost of famine, the cost of health care, the cost of addressing this challenge is simply far less '' the costs of addressing this challenge are far less than the costs of doing nothing. Just look at the most recent analysis done by the World Bank, which estimates that by 2050, losses '' excuse me one second '' losses from flood damage in Asian ports '' fishing ports, shipping ports '' the losses in those ports alone could exceed $1 trillion annually unless we make big changes to the infrastructure of those ports.
- Finally, if we truly want to prevent the worst consequences of climate change from happening, we do not have time to have a debate about whose responsibility this is. The answer is pretty simple: It's everyone's responsibility. Now certainly some countries '' and I will say this very clearly, some countries, including the United States, contribute more to the problem and therefore we have an obligation to contribute more to the solution. I agree with that. But, ultimately, every nation on Earth has a responsibility to do its part if we have any hope of leaving our future generations the safe and healthy planet that they deserve.
- You have a saying, I think, here in Indonesia, ''Luka di kaki, sakit seluruh badan''. (Laughter.) I '' for those that don't speak as well as I do '' (laughter) '' it means ''when there's a pain in the foot, the whole body feels it.'' Well, today in this interconnected world that we all live in, the fact is that hardship anywhere is actually felt by people everywhere. We all see it; we share it. And when a massive storm destroys a village and yet another and then another in Southeast Asia; when crops that used to grow abundantly no longer turn a profit for farmers in South America; when entire communities are forced to relocate because of rising tides '' that's happening '' it's not just one country or even one region that feels the pain. In today's globalized economy, everyone feels it.
- And when you think about it, that connection to climate change is really no different than how we confront other global threats.
- Think about terrorism. We don't decide to have just one country beef up the airport security and the others relax their standards and let bags on board without inspection. No, that clearly wouldn't make us any safer.
- Or think about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It doesn't keep us safe if the United States secures its nuclear arsenal, while other countries fail to prevent theirs from falling into the hands of terrorists. We all have to approach this challenge together, which is why all together we are focused on Iran and its nuclear program or focused on North Korea and its threat.
- The bottom line is this: it is the same thing with climate change. And in a sense, climate change can now be considered another weapon of mass destruction, perhaps the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction.
- Now I mentioned earlier, a few minutes ago, that last December I went to Tacloban in the Philippines, not long after Typhoon Haiyan. I have to tell you: I've seen a lot of places in war and out of war and places that have been destroyed, but in all the time of my life, I don't think I've ever seen devastation like. We saw cars and homes and lives turned upside-down, trees scattered like toothpicks all across a mountainside. And most devastating of all, so quickly, that storm stole the lives of more than 5,000 people '' women, and children who never saw it coming.
- The fact is that climate change, if left unchecked, will wipe out many more communities from the face of the earth. And that is unacceptable under any circumstances '' but is even more unacceptable because we know what we can do and need to do in order to deal with this challenge.
- It is time for the world to approach this problem with the cooperation, the urgency, and the commitment that a challenge of this scale warrants. It's absolutely true that industrialized countries '' yes, industrialized countries that produce most of the emissions '' have a huge responsibility to be able to reduce emissions, but I'm telling you that doesn't mean that other nations have a free pass. They don't have a right to go out and repeat the mistakes of the past. It's not enough for one country or even a few countries to reduce their emissions when other countries continue to fill the atmosphere with carbon pollution as they see fit. At the end of the day, emissions coming from anywhere in the world threaten the future for people everywhere in the world, because those emissions go up and then they move with the wind and they drop with the rain and the weather, and they keep going around and around and they threaten all of us.
- Now, as I've already acknowledged, I am the first one to recognize the responsibility that the United States has, because we have contributed to this problem. We're one of the number '' we're the number two emitter of greenhouse gas emissions. The number one is now China. The fact is that I recognize the responsibility that we have to erase the bad habits that we have, which we adopted, frankly, before we understood the consequences. Nobody set out to make this happen. This is the consequence of the industrial revolution and the transformation of the world, and many of the advances that we made that have changed the world for the better came from these steps. But now we do know the attendant consequences that are linked to these actions.
- President Obama has taken the moral challenge head on. Over the past five years, the United States has done more to reduce the threat of climate change '' domestically and with the help of our international partners '' than in the 20 years before President Obama came to office.
- Thanks to President Obama's Climate Action Plan, the United States is well on our way to meeting the international commitments to seriously cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and that's because we're going straight to the largest sources of pollution. We're targeting emissions from transportation '' cars trucks, rail, et cetera '' and from power sources, which account together for more than 60 percent of the dangerous greenhouse gases that we release.
- The President has put in place standards to double the fuel-efficiency of cars on American roads. And we've also proposed curbing carbon pollution from new power plants, and similar regulations are in the works to limit the carbon pollution coming from power plants that are already up and already running.
- At the same time, Americans have actually doubled the amount of energy we are creating from wind, solar, and geothermal sources, and we've become smarter about the way we use energy in our homes and in our businesses. A huge amount of carbon pollution comes out of buildings, and it's important in terms of the lighting, in terms of the emissions from those buildings, the air conditioning '' all these kinds of things thought through properly can contribute to the solution. As a result, today in the United States, we are emitting less than we have in two decades.
- We're also providing assistance to international partners, like Indonesia. This year the Millennium Challenge Corporation launched the $332 million Green Prosperity program to help address deforestation and support innovation and clean energy throughout the country. We also implemented what we called ''debt for nature'' swaps, where we forgive some of the debt '' and we have forgiven some of Indonesia's debt '' in return for investments in the conservation of forests in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
- But the United States '' simple reality: just as I talked about the scientific facts in the beginning, this is a fact '' the United States cannot solve this problem or foot the bill alone. Even if every single American got on a bicycle tomorrow and carpooled '' instead of '' or carpooled to school instead of buses or riding in individual cars or driving, or rode their bike to work, or used only solar powers '' panels in order to power their homes; if we each, every American, planted a dozen trees; if we eliminated all of our domestic greenhouse gas emissions '' guess what? That still wouldn't be enough to counter the carbon pollution coming from the rest of the world. Because today, if even one or two economies neglects to respond to this threat, it can counter, erase all of the good work that the rest of the world has done. When I say we need a global solution, I mean we need a global solution.
- That is why the United States is prepared to take the lead in bringing other nations to the table. And this is something that President Obama is deeply committed to. And as Secretary of State, I am personally committed to making sure that this work is front and center in all of our diplomatic efforts. This week I will be instructing all of the chiefs of our missions at American embassies all over the world to make climate change a top priority and to use all the tools of diplomacy that they have at their disposal in order to help address this threat.
- Now I have just come here today, I arrived last night from China, where I met with government leaders and we discussed our cooperation, our collaboration on this climate change front at length. The Chinese see firsthand every single day how dangerous pollution can be. I recently read that an 8-year-old girl was diagnosed with lung cancer because of all the air pollution that she was inhaling. Eight years old. And the devastating human toll pollution, it takes comes with a very hefty price tag: Air pollution already costs China as much as 8 percent of its GDP because two things happen as a result of the pollution: healthcare spending goes up and agricultural output goes down.
- Now I am pleased to tell you that the leaders of China agree that it is time to pursue a cleaner path forward. And China is taking steps, and we have already taken significant steps together through the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group that we launched in Beijing last year.
- Just yesterday, we announced a new agreement on an enhanced policy of dialogue that includes the sharing of information and policies so that we can help develop plans to deal with the UN climate change negotiation that takes place in Paris next year, in planning for the post-2020 limit to greenhouse gas emissions. These plans are a key input into UN negotiations to develop a new global climate agreement, and we have hopes that this unique partnership between China and the United States can help set an example for global leadership and global seriousness.
- Now make no mistake: this is real progress. The U.S. and China are the world's two largest economies. We are two of the largest consumers of energy, and we are two of the largest emitters of global greenhouse gases '' together we account for roughly 40 percent of the world's emissions.
- But this is not just about china and the United States. It's about every country on Earth doing whatever it can to pursue cleaner and healthier energy sources. And it's about the all of us literally treating the pain in the foot, so the whole body hurts a little less.
- Now this is going to require us to continue the UN negotiations and ultimately finalize an ambitious global agreement in Paris next year. And nations need to also be pursuing smaller bilateral agreements, public-private partnerships, independent domestic initiatives '' you name it. There's nothing to stop any of you from helping to push here, to pick things that you can do in Indonesia. It's time for us to recognize that the choices the world makes in the coming months and years will directly and substantially affect our quality of life for generations to come.
- Now I tell you, I'm looking out at a young audience here. All of you are the leaders of the future. And what we're talking about is what kind of world are we going to leave you. I know that some of what I'm talking about here today, it seems awful big, and some of it may even like it's out of reach to you. But I have to tell you it's not. One person in one place can make a difference '' by talking about how they manage a building, how they heat a school, what kind of things you do for recycling, transportation you use. What you don't '' I think what you don't hear enough about today, unfortunately, and I've saved it for the end, because I want you to leave here feeling, wow, we can get something done. There's a big set of opportunities in front of us. And that's because the most important news of all: that climate change isn't only a challenge. It's not only a burden. It also presents one of the greatest economic opportunities of all time.
- The global energy market is the future. The solution to climate change is energy policy. And this market is poised to be the largest market the world has ever known. Between now and 2035, investment in the energy sector is expected to reach nearly $17 trillion. That's more than the entire GDP of China and India combined.
- The great technology '' many of you have your smart phones or your iPads, et cetera, here today '' all of this technology that we use so much today was a $1 trillion market in the 1990s with 1 billion users. The energy market is a $6 trillion market with, today, 6 billion users, and it's going to grow to maybe 9 billion users over the course of the next 20, 30, 40 years. The solution to climate change is as clear as the problem. The solution is making the right choices on energy policy. It's as simple as that. And with a few smart choices, we can ensure that clean energy is the most attractive investment in the global energy sector.
- To do this, governments and international financial institutions need to stop providing incentives for the use of energy sources like coal and oil. Instead, we have to make the most of the innovative energy technology that entrepreneurs are developing all over the world '' including here in Indonesia, where innovative companies like Sky Energy are building solar and battery storage and projects that can help power entire villages.
- And we have to invest in new technology that will help us bring renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro power not only to the communities where those resources are abundant ''but to every community and to every country on every continent.
- I am very well aware that these are not easy choices for any country to make '' I know that. I've been in politics for a while. I know the pull and different powerful political forces. Coal and oil are currently cheap ways to power a society, at least in the near term. But I urge governments to measure the full cost to that coal and that oil, measure the impacts of what will happen as we go down the road. You cannot simply factor in the immediate costs of energy needs. You have to factor in the long-term cost of carbon pollution. And they have to factor in the cost of survival. And if they do, then governments will find that the cost of pursuing clean energy now is far cheaper than paying for the consequences of climate change later.
- Make no mistake: the technology is out there. None of this is beyond our capacity.
- I am absolutely confident that if we choose to, we will meet this challenge. Remember: we're the ones '' we, all of us, the world '' helped to discover things like penicillin and we eradicated smallpox. We found a way to light up the night all around the world with a flip of the switch and spread that technology to more than three quarters of the world's population. We came up with a way for people to fly and move from one place to another in the air between cities and across oceans, and into outer space. And we put the full wealth of human knowledge into a device we can hold in our hand that does all of the thinking that used to take up a whole room almost this size.
- Human ingenuity has long proven its ability to solve seemingly insurmountable challenges. It is not a lack of ability that is a problem. It is a lack of political resolve that is standing in our way. And I will tell you as somebody who ran for elected office, when you hear from the people, when the people make it clear what they want and what they think they need, then people in politics respond.
- Today I call on all of you in Indonesia and concerned citizens around the world to demand the resolve that is necessary from your leaders. Speak out. Make climate change an issue that no public official can ignore for another day. Make a transition towards clean energy the only plan that you are willing to accept.
- And if we come together now, we can not only meet the challenge, we can create jobs and economic growth in every corner of the globe. We can clean up the air, we can improve the health of people, we can have greater security; we can make our neighborhoods healthier places to live; we can help ensure that farmers and fishers can still make a sustainable living and feed our communities; and we can avoid disputes and even entire wars over oil, water, and other limited resources. We can make good on the moral responsibility we all have to leave future generations with a planet that is clean and healthy and sustainable for the future.
- The United States is ready to work with you in this endeavor. With Indonesia and the rest of the world pulling in the same direction, we can meet this challenge, the greatest challenge of our generation, and we can create the future that everybody dreams of.
- Thank you all very much for letting me be with you. Thank you. (Applause.)
