Posts by Jaime Ortega-Simo:

Iran’s nuclear program discussed in Geneva

November 9th, 2013

 

By Jaime Ortega.



Western foreign ministers in Geneva , including U.S. Secretary of State , John Kerry  got together to discuss Iran’s nuclear program and its a sign that the agreement with Iran is imminent despite Israel complaints.

Kerry yesterday joined British foreign ministers , French and German , William Hague , Laurent Fabius and Guido Westerwelle respectively .

However, the current round of talks in the Swiss city between the six powers and Iran, Group 5 +1 will continue at least till later day today . This is because ” there are still things on the table to be resolved ,” as Kerry said yesterday afternoon after his arrival at the UN Palace in Geneva, that was chaired by the High Representative Catherine Ashton .

The U.S. diplomat was satisfied with the course of the negotiations, but also cautious. “I came to help reach an agreement between Iran and the 5 +1 countries . We bridge the gap , but no one has to be wrong : there are still major obstacles to overcome. ”

High-level diplomacy

Earlier on, the talks had developed with high -level diplomats. The closeness of agreement was  partial but important , on the sensitive Persian atomic issue raised at ministerial level. Today, at the negotiating table foreign minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Foreign possibly China , Baoodong Li, who last night was still in Beijing will join the negotiations.

According to some leaks , this Saturday in Geneva six Iranian Foreign Ministers , including Javad Zarif , could agree to announce a three-stage timetable for gradual mutual concessions between the parties , an agenda proposed by Tehran to try to get in a year or less the official closing of the nuclear Persian issue.

According to the same leaks , the first step could be a partial lifting of international and bilateral sanctions against Iran regarding its ambiguous nuclear program to as long as six months from Tehran to accept even more stringent inspections by the IAEA ( the International Agency for Atomic Energy ), and limit its uranium enrichment activities . Then other measures would be carried out to promote mutual trust, after every engagement has been fulfilled.  After sanctions are lifted and compromised there will be next expectations.

The search for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue is motivated by the need for Tehran to revive its economy now heavily affected by these sanctions. U.S. President Barack Obama will eliminate one of the problems in the Middle East , and possibly streamline the difficult attempt to end the civil war in Syria. Yesterday in Washington, Obama said that Iran could be given ” some relief ” while warning that , after a possible first agreement , “the structure of sanctions ” against Iran ” would remain in force”.

No Comments "

FARC and Santos reach historical agreement in Colombia

November 6th, 2013

 

By Jaime Ortega.

 

The Colombian government and the FARC announced yesterday in Havana that they had reached ” an agreement on the second agenda item ,” which paves the way for the political future of the guerrillas. It was the news I expected Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos , to formalize that aims to stay another four years in office , after months of criticism and popularity at a low ebb.

 

This agreement would allow the Colombian guerrillas involved in political affairs to leave their weapons behind once they officially sign the peace agreement. The treaty, explained Humberto de la Calle, chief negotiator of Colombia , allows for a statute providing security for the emergence of new political opponent movements, among which must arise with the demobilization of the FARC.

 

In addition , the agreement provides for the creation of ” special districts ” for “a transition period” after the signing of any peace agreement . Thus, FARC members from different regions of the country could occupy seats in the Chamber of Representatives in Colombia.

 

Abandonment of weapons

 

However, specific decisions that the Colombian guerrillas become a legal political party shall be treated by the parties later, when they discuss the point of abandoned weapons and return to civilian life, as pointed De la Calle . The negotiating team will sit in Havana November 18 .

 

” What we did in this agreement the government and the FARC was to agree a mechanism involving legitimate national political organizations in that space is given life by statute for the opposition ,” said De La Calle .

 

If FARC finally moves on the direction to peace and stability, the negotiation process will conclude successfully and come to politics, the executive will be forced to take special measures to ensure and promote a culture of reconciliation , coexistence and tolerance.

 

There will be many Colombians who will feel betrayed when he sees the guerrillas in democratic institutions . “It is a historic breakthrough, ” De La Calle said yesterday , however, others felt that they had taken no steps towards achieving read peace.

 

” This agreement is vague as there is no concrete progress to support it ,” stated Alfredo Rangel , a security expert in Colombia .

 

presidential re-election

 

The FARC has been followed and understood Santos desire to move towards peace , after a year of negotiating without concrete results and opposite popularity . And now , when he sought to discuss his expected re-election Santos reached an agreement.

 

However, there are still many points to discuss and it is not clear that the commitments will be attained easily , considering how difficult it has proven so far to achieve. The negotiations had been stalled for weeks by differences over the second of five issues agreed in the peace agenda. Both sides reached in late May a preliminary agreement on the first point, regarding land development in certain areas in Southern Colombia.

 

Certainly, the photographs of the FARC negotiators Ivan Marquez , Tanja , and Jesus Santrich sunbathing on a yacht while enjoying a vacation in the beaches of Cuba have failed to calm down a public that distrusts these talks to have a successful conclusion .

 

Santos: ‘ We are on the right track ‘

 

Santos said with respect to the agreements signed, that concerning the development of agriculture and the eventual guerrilla political participation , the talks have not progressed on schedule for him to have ” concrete results.”

 

“Today there is good news that shows that we are on the right track. The deal reached today is not only for the future participation of a guerrilla ,no! Is an agreement that serves the whole society and promotes pluralism, promotes tolerance and civic participation , ” said the president.

 

The Head of State added that since talks began last year with the FARC they have been “breakthroughs never achieved in the country ” with the guerrillas . ” I understand the impatience and scepticism of some, but we have to understand that peace is not with friends but with enemies and that a 50-year conflict is not resolved easily in 50 weeks ,” he said .

 

Also, Santos insisted that ” nothing is agreed until everything is agreed upon”, so that we can talk about peace “only if an agreement is reached , including the abandonment of weapons , demobilization and incorporation into civil life of the FARC. ”

 

Finally , the president said that ” this is the time to step up and stand firm in talks ” to achieve ” a Colombia without conflict and without drugs” , and urged his compatriots to support the possibility of a referendum on a possible final agreement.

 

The agreement is welcomed

 

Immune to criticism , Marquez , welcomed the agreement . “It is perhaps one of the most important achievements ,” he said . “Time to call all political parties and social organizations spokespersons to develop guidelines that allow us to finally have a statute for political opposition .”

 

The announcement of the agreement caused a sharp division in the country. While some praised the compromise and already talked about how to organize the transition after the guerrilla bears down its arms. Others preferred to wait to know the specifics of the agreement before deciding , but hoped that Santos in their quest for reelection , had not signed anything with the FARC that could later regret .

 

Government closed negotiators yesterday FARC and the sixteenth round of talks in Havana with an agreement on political participation will start soon. The parties will be back on November 18 to try to find ” a solution to the problem of illicit drugs .”

No Comments "

Seeking Opportunities in Crisis: Trilateral Cooperation in Meeting Global Challenges

November 6th, 2013

 

 

By The Trilateral Commission.

 



Read: Seeking Opportunities in Crisis: Trilateral Cooperation in Meeting Global Challenges

Recent developments, especially the devastating economic crisis, have highlighted the world’s growing interdependence and drawn attention to the need to reform the structures of global governance. The scope of the challenges facing the international community has led to heated debate as to the most effective and appropriate responses but also presents a singular opportunity to strengthen international cooperation. Drawing on the proceedings of the 2009 Trilateral Commission meeting in Tokyo, this volume outlines different perspectives on how countries from around the world should work together to ensure a sustainable economic recovery, jointly address global security threats, and improve governance at the regional and international levels.

No Comments "

Japan purchases U.S. drones

November 5th, 2013

 

By Jaime Ortega.

 

Japan and the U.S. are negotiating for next spring to allow relocation, of a contingent of U.S. drones in Japanese territory in order to strengthen security in the region , the Asahi newspaper reported .

 

With this strategy , the U.S. would move the three “drones ” to their military base on the island of Guam (located in the South Pacific, of the Japanese archipelago ) on the military base of Misawa ( northern Japan ), which has 5,200 troops.

 

The newspaper said the U.S. Global spy Hawk planes could be fully operational for next summer , a period in which the typhoon season in the region often prevents for them to be used in Guam.

 

With these ” drones “, the U.S. can capture images in high definition, radio waves and infrared rays to allow Japan to get information and analyze the activity in other military bases , ports and airports in the region , especially  North Korean and their nuclear threat.

 

The Global Drone Hawk is capable of flying at an altitude of 18,000 meters for more than 30 hours, while allowing routes to be programmed to cover and collect specific information.

 

In addition to this agreement , according to a report released in late July by the Japanese Ministry of Defense , Japan needs to increase its defensive capabilities with the purchase of spy planes and marine resources to meet the potential threat posed by China and North Korea.

 

According to the newspaper , in 2015 Japan plans to acquire three to four Global Hawk drones , which hopes to use to share information with the United States and conduct surveillance especially in the area of the Senkaku / Diaoyu , administered by Tokyo and habitual point of friction with China, that claims sovereignty .

 

In addition to issues of defense, these ” drones ” can help collect data on radioactive contamination in the area of the rugged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant .

 

After the start of the nuclear crisis caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 , Washington flew a Global Hawk on the plant to take photos and collect other data as part of relief operations conducted by the U.S. Army on Japanese soil .

No Comments "

Putin ready to cooperate with German authorities in latest Spying scandal

November 3rd, 2013

 

By Jaime Ortega.



“The Russian government has no problems in allowing Berlin to get more information from Snowden about the latest wiretapping  scandal. The Kremlin believes that the former agent of the U.S. intelligence services , Edward Snowden , is free to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in Germany in the case of telephone eavesdropping conducted by the U.S. National Security Agency to German Chancellor Angela Merkel .”

This is the message I received last night from the German government from Moscow to a first diplomatic score on the last episode of the spying scandal.

German Green MEP , Hans Christian Ströbele , re-met in Moscow along with two journalists  to bring back Snowden to the German capital.

Snowden was offered a letter to testify before the General Attorney and against the very German Bundestag , the German parliament.

The Berlin Foreign Ministry has confirmed that this meeting took place with the knowledge and permission of the Russian authorities, which have informed Berlin what Snowden can do as he harbors temporarily with the asylum offered by Russia which is “damaging to the U.S. ” , but otherwise ” is free to meet with anyone ,anytime . ”

 Extradition Agreement

On a possible collaboration with German authorities, Snowden’s  knowledge is necessary to explain in greater detail the U.S. illegal spying on German soil.

Russia’s opinion is that ” Germany is a friend that whenever possible we want to facilitate collaborations. ”

After consulting the opinion of President Putin’s spokesman , Dmitri Peskov , from Berlin he is perceived that Russia seems even willing to pass the “hot potato” as they call Snowden in Russia to Germany.

The only drawback that stands between the former agent and German investigators is a preventive extradition order , as requested by Washington , if it happens that Snowden sets foot in Germany  that Berlin would have to meet under the extradition agreement signed with the U.S. in 1978.

No Comments "

Hiding international headlines is not healthy for broadcast news

October 29th, 2013

 

 

By Jaime Ortega.



The U.S. media has not been transparent about how they report important national and international stories. Interest and government backup,  tend to block the news morality many networks ‘try’ to represent on their daily broadcast stations to the unaware public sphere.

 If you look at how Fox and MSNBC reported the latest world scandal, the NSA massive wiretap network involving 35 world  leaders who are close U.S. allies, one has to rethink the media’s report policy. Any media critic could conclude it the story was not taken into consideration  from either of the ideologically opposite networks that are supposed to be ‘fair and balanced.’

Its not just Fox and MSNBC, but also CBS, ABC, and other notable television stations that have buried or diminish the latest spying scandal. Some networks like CNN, have despicably lowered the story into the bracket of less important tabloid news, and even as of today, I have not seen any changes!

For these networks its more important to talk about a kidnapping case, which sadly happens almost everyday, than to show how the U.S. anemically harmed their reputation with its closest allies, and the consequences such behaviors entice for its strategical interest overseas.

The U.S. broadcast system unlike the press or radio, has shown disturbing signs over and over again, hiding important international stories that have great impact on the countries credibility as a super power. The sad part is that they haven’t learned from the lessons of the past.

This is partly because mainstream broadcast networks want the support of the government, that consequently rewards them with more political concessions, and less restrictions to amend certain laws for keeping the government out of trouble. A sort of Media lobbying that is not too spoken about, but happens beneath the radar.

These mainstream networks “will not” investigate a story like journalist are supposed to conduct, and will only enter an investigation when they clearly feel like the story has been openly un-lidded by other networks.

Media conglomerates are powerful institutions that posses many different types of enterprises that the government is likely to financially punish, if these mainstream networks that represent millions of Americans stay ‘out’ the Patriot Act boundaries they’re supposedly to comply. by helping national strategical interest to protect  U.S. political stability. Therefore these networks can continue to broadcast to secure their assets with government supervision. 

The U.S. mainstream broadcast media is corrupted, and if Fox News really hated Obama’s overall policies and the Democratic ideology, the NSA’s story would have been a perfect bullet to support their own ideological struggle and nail the opposition with a powerful blow. But the truth is that Bush also spied on its allies, and MSNBC and other networks also stayed quiet. 

In the end, both Fox, and MSNBC represent the same repetitive failure that keeps harming the reputation and integrity of investigative reporting many struggle to revive. Hint WMD’s.

Keep it up broadcast media, The Daily Journalist is watching and we’re only getting bigger and larger by the day.   

No Comments "

Obama approved Merkel’s intense surveillance by the NSA

October 27th, 2013

 

By Jaime Ortega.



U.S. president , Barack Obama , explicitly approved the National Security Agency (NSA ) to spy on German Chancellor Angela Merkel , in 2010, as reported by the German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag, as quoted by a U.S. intelligence source knowledgeable of these operations.

“Obama did not stop the action at the time, and kept the vigilance ,” said a source quoted by the German newspaper . The White House even commissioned a comprehensive report on Merkel. U.S. as the President did not trust the German Chancellor and instructed the NSA to figure out ” who exactly was this woman.”

Following the publication of the first reports where the U.S. the spied Merkel , Obama assured the chancellor in a telephone conversation that he knew that the NSA was spying on her.

However, according to Bild am Sonntag “, the NSA Director Keith Alexander said , Obama personally informed in 2010 of the operation of surveillance and interception of communications initiated to intercept the Chancellor’s voice conversations.

The result of this intelligence report, ended with the NSA agreement to intercept text messages sent to Merkel’s previous mobile phone and telephone conversations. However they were unable to access the,  communications from the main line that connectled with the Chancellery.

Direct line to the White House

Unlike usual the ‘ modus operandi ‘, the results of these operations were sent directly to the White House instead of the headquarters of the NSA , from the Fort Meade military base , located in the state of Maryland.

Shipments were made from the fourth floor of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin , located at the Brandenburg Gate , where  with the latest technology  the NSA personnel recorded the content of the conversations and text messages from the Chancellor.

As revealed on Sunday on the German weekly Der Spiegel , the U.S. government had two spy equipment in Germany with members of the CIA and NSA , one in Frankfurt and a second in Berlin where there was up to 18 agents NSA , according to internal documents of the agency.

Like Merkel , his predecessor , Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder , was also spied by the NSA when George W. Bush was the tenant of the White House. In his case , he wanted to know ” where are the Germans in terms of ideas “what if ” Schroeder can be of trust ,” according to ‘ Bild am Sonntag ‘ .

The former Social Democratic chancellor was one of the harshest critics of the Bush administration ‘s invasion of Iraq in 2002 and struck up a close relationship with the Russian president , Vladimir Putin , that raised fears in Washington.

 

Spy Scandal

 

After Der Spiegel published documents leaked by the former CIA analyst Edward Snowden ,that fled to Russia , it proved showed that Merkel was spied by the NSA . The White House has avoided confirming if it surveilled closely the german chancellor in the past, although reiterated , through his spokesman Jay Carney,  did not deny ” watching ” or ” monitoring ” Merkel.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Thursday quoted the U.S. ambassador , the same day that the German newspaper ‘Die Welt ‘ revealed that the NSA spied mobile phone Merkel from October 2009 to July 2013. The NSA also monitored the communications of 35 world leaders, according by wakefulness from British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ .

As a result , the Prime Minister , Mariano Rajoy, on Friday ordered the convening of the U.S. ambassador to Spain , James Costs, to request an explanation of the information appeared to suggest that Spain also was the target of massive espionage by NSA communications .

Previously, the president of Brazil , Dilma Rousseff , and Mexican and French counterparts , Enrique Peña Nieto and François Hollande , requested explanations from the Obama administration about the alleged spying on communications. In the case of France specially, where the NSA intercepted tens of thousands of communications.

The European Parliament has condemned the spying and called for action to revoke the new covenant ‘ safe harbor ‘ under which the EU shares banking data with a hundred American companies therefore stopping negotiations to sign a bilateral trade agreement.

At the European Council summit , Merkel and Hollande agreed to promote a “no espionage treaty” applicable to the United States respective intelligence agencies . A German spokesman said Merkel will propose to extend her disconfort in any spying against Germany and its counterparts.

No Comments "

United States spies on its closest allies

October 25th, 2013

 

 

By Jaime Ortega.



The United States credibility is suspended on a thin rope. A few countries have expressed their miss trust, as a few documents show signs of global leadership espionage.

Tension rises for alleged espionage conducted by the United States. According to revelations of the former contractor of the CIA, Edward Snowden, the United States spyed on different world leaders. The leaked document exclusively reveals to British newspaper ‘The Guardian’, that the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored the telephone conversations of 35 world leaders, after an officer from another department of the U.S. government provided the numbers.

According to the document, a mysterious government agent who is not identified, gave the NSA – 200 confidential phone numbers. The very agency officials encouraged them to share this information to carry out their political surveillance system.

This revelation increases the suspicions of leaders such as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has called President Obama himself to request an explanation of the alleged wiretapping to which she was subjected. Also the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, has openly criticized the U.S. government for its surveillance program.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney, has come out against the allegations to indicate that “America is not listening to other countries conversations or hear Merkel communications.”

The document published by the British newspaper dating back to October 2006 was referred to the intelligence directorate (SID). Its objective was to explain to the U.S. government how officials alternate with other world leaders and other politicians who could help the NSA with their contacts.

Germany and France now hold bilateral meetings with the U.S. Administration ” before the end of the year” to demand an explanation for the spying scandal, which in recent years had been carried out on at least 35 world leaders, including German Chancellor , Angela Merkel.

In a makeshift document at the meeting, Heads of State and Government of the Twenty-eight countries support the initiative led by the two countries and invites other countries to join voluntarily. The text, as reads the European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy in a press conference, said that the relationship between the two blocks “must be based on respect and trust, including the secret services .”

No Comments "

NSA spying operations in France enrage french diplomats

October 22nd, 2013

 

By Jaime Ortega.



The U.S. has severely received criticism by E.U. countries for their spying operations in Holland, and Germany, but France has become another target by the National Security Agency.

France called the U.S. Ambassador in Paris, Charles Rivkin, to inmediately give explanations today on the latest information about the espionage to which they were subjected too, among others, French businessmen and politicians .

This was stated by the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, in remarks to reporters upon his arrival for a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg.

” I immediately spoke the U.S. ambassador and I will be receiving him tat the Quai d’ Orsay ” said Fabius .

The French minister recalled that his Government had reacted ” strongly” in June when they heard the first details of the American espionage , but considered that based on the latest information “clearly we must go there.”

“This kind of practice between partners that threatens privacy, is totally unacceptable and must be secured as soon as possible to no longer be practiced ,” Fabius said.

This morning, the French Interior Minister , Manuel Valls , had already announced that his country would ask the United States ” precise explanations ” in the “coming hours ” on U.S. intelligence spying agenda.

According to documents from the National Security Agency (NSA ) released today by ‘Le Monde ‘ ,United States intercepted communications issued for more than 70.3 million from France in 30 days between late 2012 and early 2013 .

Over a span of 30 days between December 10, 2012 and January 8, 2013 , there was 70.3 million communications intercepted in France, according to documents published by the Web LeMonde.fr about NSA plans and were revealed by former adviser to the U.S. Agency Edward Snowden .

The average daily interceptions was three million, although there was a peak of nearly seven million on both December 24 and January 7, said the newspaper’s website, which stressed the ” mass  extent” of this espionage mission.

The main objectives of the NSA in France were suspected of having links to terrorist organizations, but also others related to world business, as well as politicians amd officials .

The spying device consisted of automatic recordings of conversations or messages when phones activated certain number that matters.

Text messages were captured included certain important keywords.

Furthermore, the historical record was kept of the connections of each objective defined number .

The techniques used for these interceptions appear in NSA documents with two different codes , ” DRTBOX ” and ” WHITEBOX ” that in the 30 days specified , representing 62.5 million and 7.8 million respectively.

‘Le Monde ‘ , which got its information from the documents stolen by former NSA agent Edward Snowden, then transmitted by the journalist Glenn Greenwald , recalled that France is the most spied by the number of communications captured by the United States, in Europe, surpassing Germany and the UK.

In the latter case, however, such monitoring was done with the consent of the British authorities.

No Comments "

Amnesty International ask Egypt to stop the Syrian refugee repression

October 17th, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.

On Friday, while another wreck of a boat full of migrants attempting to arrive at the coast of Lampedusa left dozens of bodies, 12 people died drowned shortly after leaving the coast of Alexandria. The ship was carrying 150 refugees, Syrians and Palestinians trying to leave Egypt to Europe.

 

In recent weeks, the Egyptian authorities have intercepted 13 illegal barges, filled with Syrian exiles who seek by all means leave the country. They pay approximately $3,500 per person to enroll in a journey to an unknown but harrowing end. It’s the last exit to the suffering crackdown by Egyptian authorities after leaving behind a country at war.

 

According to UN data, cited by Amnesty International (AIl), 946 Syrian refugees in Egypt have been arrested in recent weeks , of which 724 among them children – are still under arrest. In a report published on Thursday, entitled We can not live here anymore : Syrian Refugees in Egypt asks Cairo to end this “abhorrent policy of illegal detention and forcible return of hundreds of them.”

 

“The Egyptian authorities have an obligation to protect anyone who has left the conflict in Syria to find a safe place as a refugee. At present, Egypt is violating its international obligations radically to protect even the most vulnerable refugees , “says Sherif Elsayed Ali , head for immigration of the NGO , based in London.

 

According to AI, many detainees remain in custody even after the prosecution has ordered his release. They claim that not even humanitarian organizations have access to refugees and that the only alternatives are to accept the deportation of the illegally detained indefinitely. As a result , dozens of families have returned to part by force.

 

Figures from the Refugees United Nations Agency (UNHCR ) state that there are currently some 125,000 Syrians in Egypt, although unofficial estimates Egyptian Foreign Ministry put the figure up to 300,000 .

 

During the year -long presidency of Mohamed Morsi, Islamists promoted an open door policy for Syrians who decided to leave his country forced by the circumstances. But after the overthrow of President elected in the polls by the military, the government tightened the conditions of the entry root cutting the flow of migrants .

 

The new authorities dictated that the Syrians who came to the land of the Nile due before a visa are not required and a special permit issued by the regime of Bashar al-Assad . The campaign against the Syrians had already spread to the streets , where they were accused of supporting the Islamists and even lead to clashes with security forces in recent demonstrations prior to the coup.

 

Amnesty International is not the only NGO that condemns abuse that these citizens are subjected too, but other local associations as the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information also warn of the situation. The Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi , denied in a recent interview in Cairo that the problem had intensified under the auspices of the current interim government . “We are not forcing anyone to leave the country,” Egyptian Foreign Minister justified .

No Comments "

Agreement moves forward before deadline

October 15th, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.

 

Democrats and Republicans finalize a tentative agreement that would avert the threat of default and reopen the federal government. The text is the result of war initiatives whose protagonists are Sen. Mitch McConnell and Democrat Harry Reid who now require the support of the Senate and House of Representatives, whose president John Boehner can decide when a vote.

 

Senate leaders have not officially announced the terms of the proposal. And they might be just talk efforts as for now.  But the first details point to reopen the public until January 15 and raise the debt ceiling until early February. A calendar would open a window to negotiate the pending reforms of taxes and the state of welfare.

 

The difference in dates is a way of responding to the demands of the two major parties . The first allows the Democrats to delay the entry into force of the automatic cuts that come into action at the beginning of next year. The second allows the Republicans to keep the threat of bankruptcy if democrats default during the negotiations.

 

The agreement provides for a commission to be represented to senators and members of the House of Representatives and whose aim will be to reach an agreement to the public expenditure during the year. The commission should announce the resolution by mid- December. But for now it is unclear what will happen if the negotiation stalls.

 

The fine print of the agreement being negotiated by Senate leaders includes two clauses related to the health reform driven by Barack Obama. But none meets the demands of the Republicans, whose members aspired to repeal the rule or at least delay its entry into force.

At the request of Republicans , the White House will verify income levels who receive subsidies for compulsory health insurance contracts that provide for the reform to act. At the request of the Democrats, delayed until 2015 the entry into force of a tax that would require paying those who already have a policy of $63 per person. Moreover, the president’s health reform will remain intact despite being in the spotlight of the most conservative Republicans and be the trigger for the crisis that has caused the federal government shutdown .

No Comments "

Lampedusa immigrant’s stir EU policy

October 13th, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.

Hundreds dead Immigrants this month off the coast of Italy are only a small part of those who’ve perish at the gates of the European dream. About 1,500 drown each year in the Mediterranean, most of the coast of North Africa according to UN data. The last two tragedies have rocked European leaders, but political leaders are far from solving the fundamental problem: the lack of a common and effective approach to the phenomenon of immigration, before perceived as a source of progress and now seen as a threat to Europe.

With the images of the first wreck, European interior ministers on Tuesday were unable to commit resources to nurture a rescue operation in the Mediterranean, the Commission admitted. This is just a sample of the slowness that characterizes community decisions. In this case , aggravated by fears aroused among the rulers addressed without immigration demagoguery. The rise of populism that is against a soft approach to this problem.

Maltese Prime Minister , Joseph Muscat said yesterday he was ” abandoned ” by the rest of the EU and called on countries to mobilize to agree ” on the change of rules. No change is equivalent to making the Mediterranean a cemetery. ”

COUNTRY

The influx of immigrants in the Mediterranean shows no signs of abating anytime soon. The outbreak of the Arab Spring, in 2011, and migratory mismanagement have been seen by some of the countries that overthrew the old regimes. This happened in that year, although paradoxically there was a significant decline in entries by sea, especially between Italy and Malta ,main doors during the riots. Data are Frontex, the EU agency for border control, which amounts to 72 437 people identified EU borders in 2012 .

Still, the numbers are very volatile and probably so far this year are already rebounding. The change of scenery in Egypt , added to the lack of control in Libya’s borders – a real loophole of persons of several nationalities, mainly sub-Saharan – EU scare. “Libya is the most complicated because it has gone into semblance of state apparatus.”

So the EU has launched a border control mission , which is now being deployed to help them create a network,” explains Bernardino León, Special Representative of the European Union for the Southern Mediterranean . For transiting Libya largely from the Horn of Africa ( Eritrea , Somalia … ) . And that trafficking networks are the most organized of the whole area, says a spokeswoman for Frontex.

Regional instability falsely invites to remember the days when the dictatorships of the area had an iron hand to control borders. But the figures do not endorse that analysis. ” It is understandable that you look in fear to Egypt, but stability can not be achieved by simply buying authoritarian governments. Flows to Europe began to grow for many years , before spring. Dictators did not guarantee much control as they originally promised , “says Richard Youngs , an expert on European foreign policy think tank Carnegie.

More than the type of government of the countries of origin, the key to mitigate the flows is the ability of the Union to agree with their rulers and compensatory measures. It is no coincidence that the country with more impermeable borders, is Morocco. Since last July, Rabat has signed an agreement with the EU mobility program to help stop illegal immigration. Besides other advantages, including two key elements: the North African country agrees to readmit any of immigrants from Europe to intercept there and, in exchange, Brussels would help facilitates visas. Leeway legally in exchange for greater firmness in illegal.

These conditions generate controversy on both sides of the Mediterranean, explains Leon. The EU would grant that costs more open to legal entries and African leaders who also support the complaints of its population forced by readmissions. So its “negotiated slowly and cautiously ” describes Leon, who aspires to achieve something similar with Tunisia and Egypt.

The other element that is used in Europe is the border control. This week, the European Parliament has given its approval to Eurosur a surveillance system to coordinate all EU external borders, so that the authorities in each country have real-time access to information from other Member States. The plan will begin in December this year and will be fully implemented a year later.

After what happened in Lampedusa, the Community authorities wanted to stress that this mechanism enhances the ability to rescue shipwrecked flotillas, or at least it tries. Because the resistance of member countries increased commitments to hinder any further progress. ” But Europe has to manage migration, ” says Anna Terron, former Secretary of State for Immigration in Spain and now in charge of the company Instrategies, advising the European Commissioner for Internal, Cecilia Malmström.

In practice the germ of these events is in the legislation. In public, all ministers show their solidarity with Italy, but privately different European sources put their hands to their head by the laws of that country, that penalize those who help illegal immigrants for the problems posed to control its maritime borders and up to the alleged under-performing European funds for these purposes.
Of all the elements, the most serious is the

No Comments "

The re-elected president of Azerbaijan accused of fraud

October 9th, 2013

 

By Jaime Ortega.

The president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has won the presidential election in this country, according to preliminary data . The main opposition candidate Hasanli Jamil, was left with 8% of the votes .

Aliyev has been, in power since 2003 and would get 83% of the votes of the entire cast, havin a third presidential term for more than five years, according to the survey conducted by the company Prognoz. He is the leader of the Caucasus that takes longer  in power.

Hasanli Jamil,  denounced fraud in many polling stations in the country. Some sectors of the opposition even released images of the same people voting at the same table.

 

Results before voting

Azerbaijan has experienced spectacular economic growth over the last decade, and tried to provide an image of modernity in these elections incorporating a mobile application that allowed voters to continue the count.

But the invention collapsed when a coordination error made users receive the results shortly before polling stations would open. Until the data appeared it reflected constituencies. The Central Electoral Commission has tried to step out saying they were previous test on data electoral process, but immediately afterwards recalled that in the data appeared contenders who did not take part in the above .

A television monitoring the opposition managed to capture an image of the screen before the data was removed. By posting the embarrassing online document obtained 2,000 likes on Facebook in two minutes. Apparently, were pressured into withdrawing Internet history, but the scandal was unstoppable.

International organizations have criticized the country’s democratic progress to be close to zero, plus some encounters with Islam.

The campaign has been criticized . ” We can not say that it was a fair campaign , because there is a huge difference between the resources that the party in power had compared to the opposition, and some opposition candidates have registered to attack other candidates,” said Bakhtiyar Hajiyev , advisor to one of the contestants who have faced President

No Comments "

Secret Societies in America: Foundational Studies of Fraternalism

October 8th, 2013

 

 

The Daily Journalist commentary.

Secret societies have an historical tendency to influence people in power. A place where magic and secrecy collide to serve an unknown porpoise set to carry out a mission to fulfill a cause. Many Americans, complain about these despicable acts, where strange rituals take place and secret agendas get written outside from public scrutiny.

It is uncertain to what extent these Secret Societies have extended or what goals they intend for the future. What is clear however is that many of these secret societies are still active, possibly stronger than ever before, and that is something that should be taken more seriously specially in today’s advance world because the last thing any society needs despite corrupt politicians, are politicians that believe they have a secret destiny to accomplish to fulfill a fairy tale story. 

 

By William D. Moore.

 



Bohemian Groove: Palo Alto CA. ” Annual The cremation of Care” 2001 

 

FRATERNAL organizations were a characteristic feature of American society during the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout the nineteenth century Americans had organized and joined voluntary ritualistic groups, basing their activities upon a model established by Freemasons in North America as early as the 1730s. In 1897, W.S. Harwood, writing in the NorthAmerican Review, dubbed the post-bellum period the “Golden Age of Fraternalism.”

He noted that fraternal organizations, then commonly called “secret societies,” claimed 5.5 million members while the total U. S. adult population was approximately 19 million.At the time, the five largest fraternal groups – Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and Knights of the Maccabees – had a combined membership of more than 2.5 million.

Albert C. Stevens, compiler of the invaluable Cyclopedia of Fraternities, estimated that 40 percent of all adult males held membership in at least one fraternal order. By bringing together foundational studies of American fraternalism, this volume seeks to assist and promote the burgeoning scholarship on this aspect of American life.

Throughout most of the twentieth century, American scholars largely ignored groups like the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Columbus, the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of Foresters, and even the Freemasons.

Individuals who sought to examine and explain the American experience disregarded the fraternal affiliations of prominent figures, including presidents and captains of industry, or treated these biographical details as peculiar and inconsequential. Ritual-based orders, and their millions of members, were largely perceived to be unworthy of scholarly investigation.

Fraternal Studies

Following the celebration of the American bicentennial in 1976, however, a cohort of scholars forged a new and vital literature which has demonstrated the significance of these groups toviii American society. Founded by the Supreme Council, 33º, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, USA, as a patriotic gift to the American people, the Museum of Our National Heritage, in Lexington, Massachusetts, generated the earliest contributions to this scholarship.

Under the leadership of Clement M. Silvestro, an accomplished and respected museum professional who previously had served as director of the American Association for State and Local History and associate director of the Chicago Historical Society, this institution established a mission of collecting and analyzing the material culture of American fraternalism.

Barbara Franco, a graduate of the Cooperstown Graduate Program in museum studies, mounted a series of innovative and influential exhibitions, with accompanying catalogues, which insightfully examined the fascinating, but under appreciated, physical manifestations of America’s culture of voluntarism.

While Franco and the Museum of Our National Heritage were exhibiting fraternal materials, other scholars also became interested in the subject. In 1982, Harper & Row published Christopher J. Kaufman’s Faith & Fraternalism: The History of the Knights of Columbus, 1882-1982.

Although in many ways his work is a conservative organizationally commissioned institutional history, Kaufman successfully demonstrated that the Knights of Columbus had played a significant role in the development of the American Catholic church and within American society as a whole. Princeton University Press in 1984 published Lynn Dumenil’s Freemasonry and American Culture, 1880 – 1930 which originated as her doctoral dissertation at the University of California Berkeley.

This seminal work sought to understand the role of voluntary associations within the industrializing United States and focused upon issues related to the secularization of the fraternity. Dumenil argued that Freemasonry mirrored American society, and thus an analysis of the group could provide insight into middle-class attitudes towards work, leisure, success, morality, and religion during a period of profound change resulting from industrialization, urbanization, and modernization.

Both Kaufman and Dumenil examined groups with exclusively male memberships, but neither utilized gender as a mode of analysis. Kaufman viewed the Knights as Catholics; Dumenilix understood the Masons as bourgeois. Neither author focused upon these groups as representing men purposefully gathering with other men. In the early eighties, gender studies were still largely concerned with the social construction of femininity.

Scholars were not yet investigating how American manhood was defined historically. In 1989, two monographs propelled the study of masculinity to the forefront of scholarly discussions of American fraternalism. Mary Ann Clawson’s Constructing Brotherhood: Class, Gender, and Fraternalism offered a sociological argument which posited that fraternalism was a resource with which Americans constructed power relations in a manner that emphasized gender identity while camouflaging class distinctions.

Grounded in social history,

Clawson’s study is rich in numerical details concerning membership demographics and financial relationships. The same year, Mark Carnes’ Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America proffered a psychosexual analysis of American fraternal rituals. Carnes built upon Dumenil, but examined what the rituals performed by fraternalists revealed about how participants situated themselves within the world and in relation to existential human issues such as death, kinship, and interpersonal responsibility.

Carnes’ impact upon the field is visible in Franco’s subsequent article “The Ritualization of Male Friendship and Virtue in Nineteenth-Century Fraternal Organizations” which appeared in 1997. During this period, the American historical establishment encouraged scholarship that investigated how institutions have structured culture and society. Carnes, Clawson, and Dumenil participated in this discourse.

Subsequent scholars, seeking to further illuminate these issues, continued to scrutinize the history and practices of fraternal groups. In Service Clubs in American Society: Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions, Jeffrey Charles provided the first serious analysis of the twentieth-century groups which evolved out of the nineteenth-century secret orders.

Similarly, in his volume entitled From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967, David Beito examined the social, medical and financial benefits provided by fraternal organizations.12 Steven C. Bullock’s Revolutionary Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social Order, 1730-1840 will be, for the foreseeable future, the most essential resource for individuals examining the first century of Masonry in the United States.

In the new century, scholars have used fraternal organizations to examine the bonds which link individuals together to form society. Robert Putnam’s much-cited Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community made the term “social capital” part of our common American vocabulary. Putnam suggests that the decline of secret societies in the twentieth century is one manifestation of a larger decay of American social institutions which has left individuals alienated and disconnected from their families, friends, and neighbors. Reacting to Putnam’s work, Theda Skocpol, a sociologist at Harvard, led a group of scholars to examine the influence of fraternal groups upon black Americans.

This work culminated in “What a Mighty Power We Can Be”: African American Fraternal Groups and the Struggle for Racial Equality published by Princeton University Press.15 In contrast to Putnam and Skocpol, Jason Kaufman has argued, in his For the Common Good? American Civic Life and the Golden Age of Fraternity, that fraternal societies were corrosive, rather than beneficial, and that they exacerbated ethnic, race, religious, and class distinctions.

Recent increased scholarly attention to fraternalism has resulted in conferences and academic fellowships. Established in 2007 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry provides a forum for scholars from around the world to discuss Freemasonry and fraternalism. This biannual conference has featured work on American fraternal organizations at each of its gatherings.

Similarly, in January of 2010, the Nationa Heritage Museum, in Lexington, Massachusetts, sponsored a symposium entitle “New Perspectives on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism” which drew participants from across the United States. The papers from this conference subsequently were published in a special issue of the new Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism.

Following a model implemented at a number of European universities, the University of California at Los Angeles, under the leadership of Margaret Jacob, an eminent scholar of European Freemasonry, has established a program in Freemasonry and Civil Society, which hosts a postdoctoral fellowship. With the support of the Masonic Grand Lodge of California, this fellowship assist emerging scholars with doctorates in pursuing research, while also providing opportunities for students to study the impact of xifraternalism upon the United States and other nations.

Similarly, in 2008 the Oklahoma Masonic Charity Foundation contributed funds to endow a faculty chair in gender studies at Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Administered through the Center for Gender Studies within the OSU College of Arts and Sciences, this interdisciplinary chair promotes scholarship concerning masculine ideals, social networks, and moral attitudes.

This Volume

Bringing together nineteen essays about American secret societies published before the current blossoming of scholarly interest in fraternalism, this collection presents the foundation which underpins the later historiography. Some of these contributions appear regularly in the bibliographies of the books previously addressed. Others, although less regularly acknowledged in footnotes, are included because of the important insights their authors provide and the perspectives they offer into periods of fraternal growth and decline.

The articles are organized into four categories. The first, entitled “Journalistic Studies,” documents how fraternalism has been portrayed in the American periodical press. These sources reveal transformations in the clubs and orders, but also demonstrate changing styles in popular prose. The section called “Historical Studies” presents two important articles from the middle decades of the twentieth century. These works by Schlesinger and Davis are noteworthy for their early recognition of fraternalism’s relevance.

Essays by Georg Simmel and Noel Gist comprise the category termed “Sociological Studies.” These writings provide perspectives which have informed the work of subsequent authors. Finally, the last division gathers six essays concerning the insurance functions of America’s secret societies. Although fraternal benefit programs have been examined by authors including Clawson and Beito, this aspect of the phenomenon has yet to receive adequate attention.

Period commentary on the virtues and drawbacks of systems developed to provide financial stability to the groups’ members during industrialization’s economic turmoil is central to this division. By gathering into one volume these essays, which otherwise can prove complicated to locate and difficult to access, we hope to foster further intellectual investigation and scholarly discourse.

Wexii are optimistic that this collection will attract and inspire readers who will, in turn, contribute to our understanding of America’s “secret societies” and the numerous individuals who promoted, reshaped, and belonged to them over their centuries of existence.

Secret Societies in America

W. S. Harwood has been widely recognized for identifying the final decades of the nineteenth century as the “Golden Age of Fraternity.” This essay provides a balanced contemporary overview of the fraternal organizations which swelled to importance in the years following the Civil War. Harwood celebrates the role that the societies played in providing economic relief and fostering reverence while recognizing that they simultaneously could harm their members by tempting men to squander resources on frivolous adornments while luring them away from their families and business endeavors.

SECRET SOCIETIES IN AMERICA 

W.S. Harwood 1897, North American Review 164 (May 1897), 617-624.

THE membership of the secret fraternal orders of the United States in the month of December, 1896, was, in round numbers, 6,400,000. Taking the adult male population of the nation at the present time to be nineteen millions, and allowing that some men belong to more than one order, it will be seen that, broadly speaking, every fifth, or possibly every eighth, man you meet is identified with some fraternal organization, for the preservation of whose secrets he has given a solemn oath, a pledge more binding in its nature than perhaps any other known among men.

In this vast number have not been included the many thousands who are members of the various labor organizations, though they, to a greater or lesser extent, are knit together by secret threads; nor about 500,000 members of the secret military orders, as the G. A. R.; nor has any account been taken of the many other thousands who are identified with the fraternities of the colleges.

Perhaps even more significant than the fact that there are so many millions of oath-bound men in the United States is the further fact that auxiliary to and a part of these orders are military branches, having at the present time about two hundred and fifty thousand members in the prime of life, who are trained in military tactics and who know the sword and musket manual as well as does the cleverest “regular,” many of them thoroughly informed as to the history, the present needs, and the possibilities of military life. Some of these organizations are of quite recent date.

Indeed,Secret Societies in America since the closing of the War of the Rebellion there has been a remarkable increase in their number in this country. And in the last two decades, especially, there has been a strong growth. The beneficiary nature of some of the orders, combined with the secret work and the fraternal element, has no doubt attracted many men to seek entrance.

It is far beyond reasonable computation to attempt to indicate the amount of money given by these fraternal orders in a single year in aid of their members. Many of the benefactions do not come into consideration in the making up of reports, and many are the result of purely fraternal generosity. Some idea, perhaps, may be gleaned from the formally announced amount which is given every year in benefits of one kind and another—money paid for caring for the sick, burying the dead, supporting the widows and orphans of deceased members, and in sums paid out to the widows of deceased members in the form of insurance.

These amounts range in size from ten to twenty thousands of dollars per annum, to seven million five hundred thousand for a single organization. Many of the organizations pay out over a million dollars per year in this way. While it is difficult to arrive at positive figures as to the amount which has been paid out by the fraternal orders in the United States since their establishment, yet, allowing for the amount paid out in the year 1896 and not included in the annual reports of the grand secretaries of the various bodies, the enormous total of $475,000,000 has been given by these organizations in beneficences.

It should be stated, also, that this is exclusive of the three larger orders, the Masonic, the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. As nearly as can be computed these three orders have paid out in the same line one hundred and seventy-six millions more, making all told the vast sum of nearly six hundred and fifty millions of dollars.

A tabular statement follows, but it should be clearly understood that the amount of money recorded as paid out in benevolences by the various orders does not include the private monetary gifts of the members. Did it include these private beneficences the sum must be immensely augmented. It is impossible to ascertain the amount which is given in this personal manner, for the significant reason that it is all given for the aid of those who would scorn such aid were the fact made public that they were to be made the recipients of it.

Inecret Societies in America the period between the years 1892-93, and the close of the year 1896, many men holding responsible positions were compelled to relinquish these positions because of the prevailing hard times, and during this period thousands, indeed, tens of thousands, of dollars have been given by fellow-craftsmen to such of these unfortunates as were members of secret orders. It was not money given in charity, it was not a premium on mendicancy; it was not alms : it was the visible token of the great-heartedness which is one of the vital elements in fraternal life.

Take, for instance, one body, the Masonic, which may be considered typical of all. In connection with each lodge there is a relief committee whose duties are done with delicacy, whose acts are performed in tender and sympathetic secrecy. These committees ascertain the needs of those members who are facing hard fortune, aid them with money, with clothing, with provisions; or, if possible, secure positions for future bread-winning. No record is kept in any form for the public eye of these private beneficences.

Indeed, in some cases, not even the names of the members of the committee itself are known to the other members of the lodge to which they belong. So in all these orders there are like acts. The sum which the members of the fraternal orders give to such of their members as are in need would amount to several millions of dollars per year, were only one dollar per capita given; it is undoubtedly largely in excess of such an amount.

There are large and well-equipped homes for orphans of deceased members, too, and for aged and indigent members, for which many thousands of dollars are expended annually. The figures hereinafter given were secured by the writer in the month of December, 1896. In some instances the general secretaries of the organizations—from whom, in the main, the data were secured—estimated the membership and the revenue for several months past, dating from the annual meeting of the orders held in the summer or spring of 1896.

The close contact of these officers with the subordinate lodges, the frequency of reports from the lodges and the intimate relationship between the general secretaries and the subordinate lodges give the general officers unusual avenues of information and make the figures practically complete to the month of January, 1897. It should be stated that, as there is no general grand lodge of the Masonic order, and as no reports are made from secret Societies in America the lodges to any superior body, the amount of money contributed in public beneficences by this order has been in some measure estimated from the best general information obtainable.

Here is the table itself :

Name of order. Membership. Amount paid
in beneficences.

Masonic                                                    750,000 $90,000,000
Odd Fellows                                             810,000 74,600,000
Knights of Pythias                                  475,000 10,362,000
Ancient Order United Workmen        361,301 71,729,180
Royal Arcanum                                       189,161 38,206,422
Modern Woodmen of America            204,332 7,229,985
Knights and Ladies of Honor             85,000 12,000,000
United American Mechanics              56,000 3,000,000
Catholic Knights of America              26,000 7,007,133
Order United Friends                            15,000 4,931,700
Benevolent Protective Order Elks      32,500 500,000
Equitable Aid Union                             16,610 7,742,748
United Order Pilgrim Fathers            22,000 2,321,030
National Provident Union                   6,300 1,293,450
Improved Order Red Men                     165,000 14,200,000
Ancient Order Foresters                       36,825 80,000,000
Royal Templars                                       168,000 4,573,025
Tribe of Ben Hur                                     11,294 49,250
Catholic Benevolent Union                 45,250 7,031,481
Knights of the Maccabees                    244,704 7,233,930
American Legion of Honor                  52,100 33,672,676
Order Scottish Clans                              4,000 575,000
National Union                                       47,791 7,539,948
Knights of the Golden Eagle               60,000 1,811,186
Ancient Order of Hibernians              98,000 * 681,928
Order B’rith Abraham                            11,785 1,121,500
Improved Order Heptasoths               31,118 2,114,000
B’nai B’rith Improved                             2,700 132,550
B’nai B’rith Independent                       34,925 43,175,000

Secret Societies in America

Catholic Mutual Benefit Association      41,800 6,600,000
Order of Chosen Friends                            29,413 11,617,000
Ancient Order Druids                                  16,500 3,806,697
Foresters of America                                   140,575 4,795,291
Independent Order Foresters                    110,000 4,070,000
Order Golden Chain                                    11,550 2,228,221
Royal Society Good Fellows                      13,164 3,124,154
Home Circle                                                   8,140 1,650,000
Independent Order Free Sons Israel       14,300 4,860,900
Irish Catholic Benevolent Union             16,500 2,750,000
Knights of Honor                                         118,287 62,009,200
Knights of Malta                                          17,600 ……..
Fraternal Mystic Circle                               11,423 952,091
Knights of St. John and Malta                 5,350 237,420
New England Order Protection               23,186 1,336,000
Independent Order Rechabites                 3,520 ……..
Woodmen of the World                               76,962 1,370,107
Unt. Ord. of Odd Fellows (colored)        130,350 † 238,783
United Amrican Mechanics,                     187,000

Order Sons of St. George                            34,108 ……..
Masonic (colored)                                       224,000 ……..
Sons of Temperance                                    25,474 ……..
Independent Order Good Templars        281,600 ……..
                                                                          5,454,329 $649,082,471

 

Of course the table does not include anything of the expenditures of the orders for room rent, for uniforms, for banquets, for regalia, for lodge-room furnishings. There are about seventy thousand lodges in the United States, and, allowing them an average of fifty dollars per month for lodge-room rent—a low estimate, as many of the orders have expensive suites of rooms in great city buildings costing thousands of dollars in rental per annum—allowing but fifty dollars per month as the average throughout the towns and cities of the country, it will be seen that there is spent annually the sum of fortytwo millions of dollars for the bare rental of lodge-rooms.

The furnishings and decorations of some of the lodges are rare and costly. Many splendid buildings have been erected for lodge uses primarily, and much money is invested by the orders in property of various kinds. But while these secret orders are a vast power for good in giving aid and comfort to their members, in caring for the sick and ministering to the distressed in mind, body, and estate; while they give vast sums in beneficence and afford wide opportunity for developing the social side of their members, yet they are not an unmixed blessing to the race.

The newspaper paragraphers have a sound basis in fact for their threadbare joke about the man who cannot find his latch-key hole when he reaches home after the lodge banquet. This is not the place to discuss the temperance question or to dwell upon the evils of inebriety, but one should note in a consideration of the vast influence of these fraternal organizations the inimical possibilities of conviviality.

Yet another danger must be considered in estimating the influence of secret societies. One does not trifle with truth in saying that no human gauge can measure the sorrow that comes to some families through the too close attention of husband and father to the lodge-room. There is a strange and powerful attraction for some men in the mysticism of the ritual.

There is a peculiar fascination in the unreality of the initiation, an allurement about fine “team” work, a charm of deep potency in the unrestricted, out-of-the-world atmosphere which surrounds the scenes where men are knit together by the closest ties, bound by the most solemn obligations to maintain secrecy as to the events which transpire within their walls. In the business life of the land instances are not wanting where men have become so infatuated with their secret society work that Secret Societies in America they have sacrificed position and even financial standing that they might satisfy their craving for greater knowledge of the secret workings of many of the leading organizations.

In the commonplace vernacular of the lodge devotees, these were “jiners”—men found in every community who are more eager to be initiated into some new order than to be strengthened in business standing. I think it will not be denied by any fair-minded and conservative member of these organizations that a very large number, throughout the whole United States, suffer in pocket, and not infrequently in business position, in gratifying their desire to belong to, and take all the degrees in, all the secret societies that appeal to their love for novelty and mystery.

There are many elevating and ennobling elements in these fraternities, but the broad, rich acres of man’s selfishness are nowhere more carefully fertilized, tended, tilled, and reaped than in the lodgeroom. It would all but revolutionize a large section of American Society if the wives and growing-up daughters of the households of the men who belong to these organizations should insist on their right to spend for their own adornment or their own personal pleasure dollar for dollar spent by husband or brother for dues and initiations, for regalia and uniforms and swords, for plumes and banners and banquets.

In the great majority of cases the amount of money paid out for the actual expenses of the lodge, as the dues of the order, is not great; it is in the field of personal gratification that the vast unaccounted-for sum is expended. It is probable that, for mere personal gratification, aside from any real or imaginary benefits, the members of the various secret organizations in the United States will spend annually in banquets, railroad and travelling expenses, costly gifts to retiring officers, testimonials, elaborate uniforms, and rare swords not less than two hundred and fifty millions of dollars, and this is allowing but fifty dollars a year as an average for the delightful, but probably wholly unnecessary, expenses connected with the fraternities. It is quite likely the sum is considerably more than this.

But the importance of these fraternal organizations and their tremendous power for good must not be overlooked if we would arrive at a just appreciation of their significance. So numerous, so powerful, have these orders become, that these closing years of the century might well be called the Golden Age of fraternity.

So strongecret Societies in America has their hold become upon so many millions of people that the occasions have not been infrequent where other ministers than the priests of the Church of Rome have inveighed against the lodge, and sought to show its pernicious activity in tearing down what the church would build up, or, to put it more mildly, they have protested against the usurping influence of the lodge, its tendency to induce men to accept it as their church, and to make its standards and forms and laws their guide of right conduct.

While the secret society has its peculiar dangers it has great elements of good. Its influence in making thoughtless men reverential, in increasing respect for government by law; its influence in maintaining and promoting allegiance to country, these are important elements of its service. While men with evil tendencies and deformed moral natures are known to be members of fraternal orders, and while, when so known, they are not always as promptly removed as might be wished, yet I think it is but fair to say that cases are exceedingly rare in reputable organizations where men of known badness are admitted. Indeed, one of the greatest powers of the secret fraternal orders of the present day is found in the element of selection.

No other organization in the immediate hands of man, and unidentified with religion, so universally sets so high a standard of sobriety, integrity, and honesty; none other, when a seeker for admission appears, so sharply scrutinizes his past, so searchingly investigates his present. The prime essential in all secret organizations of this character is that the initiate shall be a manly man; after that a companionable man.

Nor should it be lost sight of that there is a demand upon these millions of oath-bound men in our land, whom we meet at every turn in the street, who touch elbows with us in business and in society, many of whom are leaders in the laity life of the church, and who are increasingly numerous in the ministerial ranks of the churches, it should not be forgotten that there is a most imperative demand upon the consciences of these men— the acknowledgment of a Supreme Being as ruler over all. To this should be added a rarely lacking, positive, unequivocal, and constant reverence for the Scriptures.

Not that any test of religious belief is exacted, but I think it will be fair both to those who are inside and those who are outside of these organizations to say that the Bible, taken as the most sacred book of the Christian nations, is a work to which peculiar reverend secret Societies in America is always given in fraternal organizations. No other organization of men in the world, with the single exception of the church, so universally, so consistently, and so insistently demands that recognition of divine authority which is at once the test and the evidence of the highest type of life.

It may be urged that the hidden power of the fraternal orders is used at times to influence the course of elections; that men who are members of these organizations band themselves too closely together even outside of their society; that they seek to aid a brother before one not bound by the same oath. While we may make some allowance for weaknesses in this regard upon the part of some, I do not think it follows that, because a man is a member of one of these organizations, he stands ready to stultify himself when he enters the polling booth or when he comes into social or commercial contact with those who are not members of his organization.

It is perhaps quite within bounds to say that these orders are increasing in membership in the United States at the rate of between two hundred and fifty and three hundred thousand members annually. Possibly the vast increase during the last twenty-five years may have been an abnormal one, but the indications all point to a constant augmentation of this enormous secret power.

Perhaps in no other country in the world could these orders thrive so constantly and at the same time be so free from any suggestion of national censure. If all their secrets were paraded before the eyes of the world, we should find none directed against the best interests of our country.

No Comments "

Pro-Mursi Islamist lose their life’s in protest

October 7th, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.

Touched yes, sunken no. Yesterday, the bloodiest in El Cairo since August security forces brutally evicted Islamists camping and showed that Radical Islamists can challenge even the police and army in the streets across the country. Its members, that were demobilized in recent weeks have recovered from the blow and have shaken off the fear.

 

Neither the state propaganda, repeated by the current street battles on state television and private channels or the wide campaign of arrests has successfully managed to silence the cry of those who denounce the coup to demand the return of Mohamed Mursi, held missing since July. The authorities are using force and advancing at any costs, as the absence of any political negotiation hint to condemn Egypt to a prolonged instability.

 

Four decades later on Sunday, Egypt celebrated the ‘ victory ‘ in the Arab-Israeli war of 1973 between tight security and dotted rival protests. The enemy is already out. The Muslim Brotherhood and its allies , demonized by the new regime protested the streets across the country against the coup that overthrew Mohamed Mursi as the symbolic leader of Tahrir Square in Cairo who reinforced by army and police has surrendered to the military and its leader Abdelfatah to Sisi.

 

The clashes between Islamists and security forces left at least 51 dead and 268 injured across the country, according to the Ministry of Health. The Muslim Brotherhood have reported that Mursi supporters have been killed in central Cairo’s Ramsis street, in the capital district and Delga Doki, about 300 kilometers south of Cairo. In addition, Egyptian security forces have arrested 423 people in Cairo.

 

Delga, located in the province of Minia, was under control of Islamists from the brutal eviction of the camps on August 14 until three weeks ago, when the security forces launched an offensive to regain it. The four protesters were killed when the Islamist march approached and chanted Mursi and threw stones at the police, who responded by opening fire.

 

The Arab country celebrates the anniversary which paved the way to regain the Sinai in alertness. Authorities have tightened security after five islamist protesters on Friday were killed in several clashes with the police. Both sides, bearded and related to the military leadership , have been cited in Tahrir which has sparked fears of a new bloody day .

 

The president warned yesterday that anyone who protests against the military during this Sunday will be considered a foreign agent. “Not worthy convert authorities cons battle in a conflict against the nation ,” said presidential spokesman Ahmed al Muslimani told the state news agency Mena . The Interior Ministry , meanwhile , said that preclude “any act outside the law or attempt to interfere with services , roads and avenues by those who instigate chaos.”

 

Tribute to heroes

The burning of cars and public streets roams the television programming on the outskirts of Tahrir, the same  perimeter that in 2011 defeated Hosni Mubarak.

 

The first thing in the morning was the F- 16 of the Egyptian army crossed the sky of the capital. Last night in a televised speech , interim president Adli Mansur urged to participate in the festivities. ” Celebrate the victory against ( Israel 1973 ) and support the army in any neighborhood, street and square in Egypt ,” she insisted .

 

The Brotherhood , however , does not shrink threats and challenges . On Friday his acolytes staged a show of force with more mass protests since the eviction of camps in Cairo, that left more than 600 dead. And this Sunday, thousands have taken mass manifestation to the streets in several neighborhoods of Cairo , Alexandria and the Nile Delta cities and the south.

The alliance brings together all the Islamists which has called demonstrations to convert ” a tribute to the national heroes and patriotic Army ” against the current military leadership responsible for the coup that unseated Mursi last July 3. ” Authentic leaders are those who fulfill their responsibility in difficult circumstances and point their guns at the real enemy, on the borders of the country ,” the bloc said in a statement .

No Comments "

The IMF warns about U.S. Government halt

October 4th, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.

It is already the third day break in the U.S. government for the lack of funds and a new warning to lawmakers in Washington to solve their differences soon. The voices came from the International Monetary Fund. The managing director of the organizations, Christine Lagarde, warned on Thursday that the political drama could end up causing ” serious damage, not just to the U.S. economy , but the economy of the entire planet.”

 

Lagarde, in a speech before the annual autumn meeting organized by the agency and the World Bank, said the partial cessation of the U.S. administration ” is already bad enough .”

 

“But the failure to raise the federal debt ceiling is much worse,” he said . As has been repeated  time and time  again, the U.S. must address its fiscal problems calmly and quickly.

 

The big Wall Street executives warned on Wednesday that things can get really ugly if it gets to 17 October without a deal to raise the debt limit. They enter into a territory never explored, with effects that can be very severe not only for the U.S. economy , but also for the global financial system and that worries the IMF.

 

The U.S. Treasury again warned Congress of “catastrophic” consequences if the federal debt ceiling is not raised and solved, saying it will cause a recession that “could be the same or worse than in 2008.”  He also notes that the first signs are seen that the current tax debate is affecting the financial market . Therefore believes that the only way out of this crisis is “acting now.”

 

Technically, the greatest economic power in the world is in a default situation because they have no funds to meet its legal obligations. The US hit that limit, and set at 16.7 billion in May. However, achieved thanks to the extraordinary accounting measures to maintain its ability to borrow without going over.

 

The Treasury leeway is exhausted, and could even happen a few days before the date hits the guillotine, at which point the government will have to start prioritizing what to pay before its in their hands. Two weeks after that time , the situation will be really ugly because debt is the core engine to provide liquidity to the economy.

 

In his speech, Lagarde mentioned the burden that is causing the derivative spending cuts of the last political clash between democrats and republicans. The U.S. must have a plan that allows you to reduce debt. ” Political uncertainty does not help meet that challenge,” he lamented. So considered “critical” to resolving the impasse.

 

Citigroup economists consider that the last thing you need at this time of recovery is uncertainty and lack of confidence. So ask the president, the Democrats and Republicans to behave as adults. Like other analysts, as Moody’s reiterates that the closer the October 17 gets, most will run the risk of falling into another recession.

 

In the scenario drawn by Christine Lagarde , the U.S. is now an important shade . Not only because of the fiscal crisis. The other point of attention is the process of withdrawal of monetary stimulus and how that may affect emerging countries. ” The output will start soon ,” he predicts , a process towards monetary normalization waiting is done ” with care ” .

 

“A special responsibility “

 

“Its going to affect many markets and people around the world, the U.S. has a special responsibility “clinched the senior official. Lagarde stressed in his speech the strength of emerging markets, to say that the last five years were those who ” kept the global economy afloat .” But that momentum is moderating and growing in half points below 2010.

 

The end of cheap money policy in the advanced economies is causing capital flows to these backed up markets. A looser monetary policy could help compensate in some countries, but there are others, such as Brazil, where high pressure ” has less room for maneuvering the economy.” Neither looks much to resort to fiscal policies.

 

Regarding the situation in Europe, they predicts that after six quarters in recession, the economy will grow next year by about 1 %. But a 12% average unemployment is still considered ” too high ,” especially among youths, in which one between two do not work. While acknowledging the progress in fiscal and financial integration , says that “we must do more.”

 

The IMF next week will publish its economic forecasts. Without giving figures, talks about global growth described as ” tenuous” . In some advanced economies , he says, they’re finally “signs of hope ” through a more robust expansion is needed for the return of financial stability and public accounts to be cleaned up. Although Lagarde said that ” the fog of crisis begins to rise” , she believes that the full recovery of the recession will be a process that will take more than a decade.

No Comments "

Democrats block Republican measures to revert a federal halt

October 2nd, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.

The Republicans who control the House of Representatives have failed tonight in their efforts to finance part of the government operations in the first day of the partial shutdown of the federal U.S. government.

Thanks in part to the blockade of the Democratic caucus , Republicans failed to muster the two-thirds support in the House of Representatives needed to three different measures to finance the operations of the federal bureaucracy .

The three measures presented on the floor of the House, known as “continued resolutions ” sought to finance the operations of national parks , programs to help veterans, and activities of the Government in the U.S. capital.

The bill to fund veterans programs , for example, only had the support of 33 Democrats. The other two measures were not supported by the two-thirds of the 433 seats in the lower house.

In general , Democrats in both the House and the Senate , maintain a united front against budgetary measures that do not solve the biggest problem on the financing of government operations .

The Senate Democrats insist that the House must approve the budget measure that the Senate passed and extends for six weeks the funds for government operations. The Republicans , however, have insisted on subjecting any vote to partial measures to finance part of the operations of the federal bureaucracy.

Democrats, like Harry Reid among of the the majority leaders in the Senate, have argued that partial measures proposed by Republicans are not serious and that they must fund all federal operations not only to the ones they favor.

Hours before the vows, the Democratic minority leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, derided Republican proposals by comparing them to ” the release of a hostage at a time”.

A White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage told reporters that Republican proposals “are not the way to run a government,” and that President Barack Obama ‘s veto if they come to his office.

However, legislative sources assured reporters that Republicans will try again Wednesday to vote to submit the three measures. Figure legislative resort to another only requires a simple majority for such action is approved .

Leaders of both houses of Congress continue to negotiate a solution to a budget dispute that has caused the partial closure of the Government for the first time in 17 years.

No Comments "

Timor-Leste’s president visits Cuba

September 28th, 2013

 

 

By Jaime Ortega.

 



 

Timor-Leste and Cuba strengthen ties once again. The Southeast Asian country has paid several visits during the past few years.

Cuban Army General Raul Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, received on the afternoon of Friday September 27 at the Palace of the Revolution, Taur Matan Rua, the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor -Leste.

Matan is on an official visit to our country. After the official welcoming ceremony, the two leaders discussed the excellent state of bilateral relations and expressed their willingness to strengthen ties of cooperation, particularly in the area of ​​health and education.

In the discussion, security was also issued, and intelligence about strategical landmarks where geopolitical interest plays a role for both countries.

 

They also exchanged about international news. The meeting was also attended by His Excellency Constancio Pinto, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and for Cuba, comrade Salvador Valdes Mesa, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and vice President of the State Council, and Marcelino Medina, Acting Foreign Minister.

 

No Comments "

Earthquake hits Balochistan

September 26th, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale has shaken Balochistan, a province in western Pakistan , that has killed at least 328 people and injured hundreds , according to the latest official figures published .

According Saifuraman Khan , spokesman for the disaster management agency in the province of Baluchistan , learned shortly after the earthquake that the victims recorded in Awaran at least 30% of the houses to have been destroyed. As the hours continue to run it assumes that there will be many more fatalities, since the earthquake has destroyed entire villages.

” We have registered more than 370 people injured , but rescue teams are still working, and fear that people will still remain trapped, living or dead , under the rubble,” said the spokesman of a local disaster management, Saifuramán Khan.

The source also said that the count and the focus in the Awaran rescue has been mostly affected towns in the district and the neighboring mashke area in the remote province of Balochistan.

“A total of six districts – Awaran , Kech , Gwadar , Panjgur , Chaghi and Khuzdar – and a population of more than 300,000 people have been affected ,” added the spokesman meanwhile provincial government of Balochistan , Mohammad Baledi .

Authority spokesman National Disaster Management ( NDMA ) , Kamran Zia , has indicated that the earthquake occurred near Khuzdar area, that covers ten miles.

“At noon arrived specialized rescue teams that hope to accelerate the relief effort ,” said Zia , who acknowledged that there is expected to increase the number of victims .

Hospitals in the region are on high alert , according to the spokesman .

Meaning in Karachi

Besides in Balochistan and its capital, Quetta, the earthquake has been felt in major towns of the neighboring province of Sindh and its capital Karachi, the largest city in the country with 18 million inhabitants , as well as the neighboring areas India .

Last April, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale epicenter in the Iranian city of Saravan , near the border with Pakistan , killed at least 70 neighbors in Mashkil an area also located close to Baluchistan.

No Comments "

Pakistan: Taliban kills 78 christian by blowing up church

September 22nd, 2013

By Jaime Ortega.



At least 78 people have died , including seven children and 34 women, and more than a hundred were injured in a double suicide bombing near a church in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar , police said .

The attack happened just before noon, local time, in the Kohati Gate City , capital of the restive province of Khyber – Pakhtunkhwa . Security forces have cordoned off the area and the injured are being shifted to Lady Reading Hospital, the largest in the city.

At the time of the explosion there were more than 600 faithful christian gathered at the site and most were leaving the temple , according to witnesses cited by the private television channel Geo TV .

The bombings and other violent events have been scaling with constant pace in this province, which borders the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, a territory that has never been under complete control of the state and home to Taliban and jihadi groups factions.

In a statement, the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he was ” shocked” by the attack and said that “terrorists have no religion ” and that “attacking innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and any faith.” Sharif has shown in recent weeks posture for approaching the Pakistani Taliban and other related groups.

Overtures

On day 9, a multiparty conference organized by his government agreed to provide the insurgents start a dialogue to end the violence , but has not yet begun any formal negotiations .

Pakistan is officially an Islamic republic , established in 1947 after independence from the British Empire as a homeland for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent .

Currently and according to official data not updated since more than a decade ago , about 97 % of the more than 180 million inhabitants are Muslims, while Christians account for less than 2% of the population.

Attacks against religious minorities has intensified in recent years , although recently more branches have been targeted specially Shia Islam .

In March 2011 the Minister assassinated Minorities, like the Catholic Shahbaz Bhatti, which has been perhaps the largest attack against representatives of the Christian faith in recent times .

Also they’ve been cites ​these years several of notorious cases from accusations to Christians of blaspheming Islam, a crime in Pakistan punishable with the death penalty and is usually used  by radicals to get away with first degree murder.

No Comments "