Posts by thedailyjournalist:
Official pictures of Russian jet fighters violating Norwegian airspace
November 15th, 2014
By Jaime Ortega.
Amid political tensions between Russia and the West, the Norwegian Air Force has detected two Russian planes flying over their coast on late October. It was this week when pictures were made public, through newspaper VG ‘.
The pictures show a sophisticated Sukhoi Su-34, an advanced attack aircraft and fighter-bomber Russian tandem, flying over the coast of Finnmark. The dubbed ‘Fullback’, was the first time a ship of this type was seen near Norway “but had already been identified by NATO flying before on other member countries” and demonstrates the military might that Russia is currently deploying .
The Norwegian Air Force were already on alert since last Octoberm when NATO Tupolev.95 reported that four and four fuel tankers had taken off from the Kola Peninsula to fly to the Norwegian Sea in international airspace. The Russian aircraft returned through the UK.
In turn, these flights coincided with intense activity of Russia in the Baltic. So earlier this week, the European Leadership Network, a “think tank based in London, published a report showing how the Russian armed forces are now acting more aggressively than in times past.
One hundred raids
The report lists 40 incidents in the past eight months, including violations of national airspace with close encounters at sea as air collision averted at the last moment. Other violation conducted by Russia followed as well on other serious events in different parts of the globe. Until the end of October the member countries of NATO have intercepted Russian aircraft on 100 occasions in their countries, triple the previous year, according to the Alliance.
Of all the incidents, three of which have been extremely risky, according to that think tank. So, last March 3 occurred 50 miles south of the Swedish city of Malmö on a close encounter between an SAS airliner operating the Copenhagen-Rome route with a Russian reconnaissance aircraft that had not relayed their position. The collision was not due to good weather conditions and the skill of the pilots, according to the report.
On September 5, an agent of the security services in Estonia, Kohver Eston, was kidnapped by Russian agents in an Estonian border post, therefore, NATO territory. He was taken to Moscow where he was accused of espionage. The incident happened just after President Obama’s tour of the Baltic countries.
The latest incident, which occurred in late October, was the detection of a submarine in the Stockholm archipelago, and therefore in Swedish territorial waters. Then, the supreme commander, General Sverker Göranson stressed that Sweden was ready to use military force to bring the ship to the surface if necessary. However, the search operation ended October 24.
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Nicolas Maduro defies relationship with Spain
October 25th, 2014
The Daily Journalist
“I have ordered that all relations with Spain be reviewed in response to the unfriendly act of meddling and support for right-wing groups who use violence in Venezuela by Rajoy’s party”. Declared the president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro as announced yesterday in a televised address that his government opened affecting the biggest political crisis in our country in recent years. The leader and Chavez follower spared no epithets against the Spanish government, urging Rajoy prime minister of Spain to “mind his own business.”
He referred to the meeting held last Wednesday in Madrid by the Spanish president and Lilian Tintori and Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, jailed since last February who recently has become one of the most militant activists for human rights protesting against Chavez’s crackdown.
Rajoy met with Tintori at the party headquarters in Genoa, 13, and not in La Moncloa. He did it to show that he received the activist as President of the People’s Party and not as representative of the Government; a diplomatic gesture pointed to not disturb Caracas. Rajoy, showed said the “EU concern about the trial of Leopoldo López and the need to respect freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate.” But to no avail, but as an insult interpreted the diplomatic wire in Caracas. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry on Thursday crossed “irresponsible and disrespectful” the meeting between Rajoy and Tintori. And yesterday, Maduro, went further to warn directly to his Spanish counterpart: “Respect Venezuela as we respect the Spanish people.” The successor to Chávez stressed that “respect for the inner life [third country] is sacred.”
“President Rajoy, the abuser is getting into the internal affairs of Venezuela, when simply has no moral right to speak of the Bolivarian Venezuela,” said Maduro, making clear their desire to provoke a crisis on bilateral first degree.
“Don’t mess with my country Rajoy, “Venezuela will be respected!” Did you hear? We had enough patience with people like you ultra-right conservatives who come now to support groups responsible for the deaths of more than 40 Venezuelans, responsible for terrorist attacks? “stressed the Venezuelan president, referring to jailed Leopoldo Lopez and 70 other opponents-mostly students-who were arrested in February after mass protests against Government paralyzed major Venezuelan cities.
However, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein, on Monday demanded the immediate release of Lopez and the other political prisoners, “whose arbitrary and prolonged detention causes international concern. ”
Foreign sources claimed last night that the Spanish Government has no intention at the moment to comment on this episode. This is a new hot potato extraordinarily complicated affecting bilateral relations for years, despite the strong economic interests shared by both countries and that there are matters of State that require collaboration, as the immigration issue more than 200,000 Venezuelans residing in our country may also need to be reviewed.
After the electoral victory in April 2013 Maduro and allegations of electoral fraud, Spanish Foreign Minister spoke in favor of an “audit” of the vote, which was described by Caracas as an “unacceptable interference”. Since then, Maduro demanded “rectification, otherwise we will take exemplary measures in all diplomatic, economic and political orders.” That fire it off days later the head of Spanish diplomacy with an explicit recognition of the victory of Maduro that Chavez picked as an apology.
More complicated was to repair relations between Spain and Venezuela in 2007 after the episode featuring the King Juan Carlos when he snapped the then President Chávez “Why do not you shut up”. For four months, bilateral diplomatic channels broke. The situation got fixed when the two protagonists of the event found in the Palace of Marivent (Mallorca) and the monarch gave Chavez a T-shirt printed with the unforgettable question.
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Evo Morales gets reelected for the third time
October 13th, 2014
The Daily Journalist.
Raising flags, letting off fireworks, dancing … So celebrated the new ruling on the doors of the Government Palace of Bolivia where Evo Morales asides. He went to the balcony to celebrate the electoral victory in the first round, allowing his mandate to rule for a third consecutive term until 2020 .
Interrupted by applause and choruses, Morales thanked for the success achieved in eight of the nine departments of Bolivia; He dedicated the victory to former president of Cuba, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez; and called on the opposition to end the confrontation and join his political project for the sake of Bolivia.
“Our opponents are nor interested in more confrontations, come, let us work with them for Bolivia (…) call on them to join, to work, are entitled to disagree, but that’s over our beloved Bolivia,” Morales said.
Opponents Samuel Doria Medina and Jorge Quiroga announced that Morales will oversee management from the Legislature.
Morales won 59 percent of the vote far from opposing Samuel Doria Medina, who won 25 percent according to Ipsos Bolivia, whose quick count data disseminated by the ATB network. Mori Equipment Company, the results came out the Red One, Morales gave 61 percent and the center-right Doria Medina, 24 percent, based on data from exit polls.
Morales won eight of the nine departments of Bolivia, including the prosperous region of Santa Cruz, who until Sunday was considered the electoral opposition stronghold. Before the election, Morales deployed in the region of Santa Cruz an intense campaign that included, among other activities, the conduct of the G77 plus China summit in June this year and a partnership with employers, the same as for six years were his political rivals congregate. The opposition, which he attended divided into four options to these elections, only won the Amazonian department of Beni.
Doria Medina considered that the result is a message to oversee the management of Morales. “We have assurance that there is more reelection, that the Constitution met. The laws ensure better health, public safety, education, that the economy of our country are properly handled. We will work to carry out this task of control, “he said.
Jorge Quiroga, who won third place with 9 percent, welcomed the vote achieved and said: “We guarantee and ensure that the voice of the opposition will be heard in Parliament and hope that other political forces fold and help defend democracy, justice and freedom. As for Bolivia we want for the future of our children. ”
Seventh electoral victory of Morales
Morales emphasized that this is his seventh election victory, four of whom were over 60 percent. Morales has not only the three national elections but referendums and local elections. “This election has won unity, dignity and sovereignty of the Bolivian people,” he said.
He dedicated the win to “all the peoples of Latin America and the world who struggle against capitalism and imperialism.” Specifically, he gave his victory to his two political mentors, former president of Cuba, Fidel Castro; and the late former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.
He called Bolivians for making plans “big” and, in that context, confirmed that a project to boost Bolivia develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. He also promised to turn the country into the powerhouse of South America.
When I first came to power in 2005, Morales won with 54 percent of the vote, while the 2009, rose to 64 percent. For this election, expected at least 70 percent of the vote, but, according to preliminary data, obtained about 60 percent.
For its part, Doria Medina is the third time running for the Presidency, but is the first to be located in the second, previously obtained lower positions.
The voting process went smoothly, except for some incidents, such as the fact that the ballots renamed the Plurinational State of Bolivia by plurinominal, prompting a wave of criticism on social networks. In a population of Santa Cruz, angry citizens because the records were lost, they burned 12 amphorae which require a repetition of the vote in the district in conflict.
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Could we ever obtain more global justice?
October 7th, 2014Community Questions.
To Judge Is An Honor. To Judge Justly Is An Ideal
” My analysis of the judicial process comes from this, and little more: logic, and history, and custom, and utility, and accepted standards of right conduct, are the forces which singly or in combination shape the process of the law. Which of these forces dominate depends largely upon the comparative importance or value of the social interests that will be uniform and impartial…. Uniformity ceases to be good when it becomes uniformity of oppression “
The Nature of the Judicial Process
Benjamin N. Cardozo 1921
Since 1959 the European Court of Human Rights has delivered 17000 judgements. Nearly half of those concerned five member states which are : Turkey ( 2994 ), Italy ( 2268 ), Russian Federation ( 1475 ), Poland ( 1042 ) and Rumania ( 1026 ). Nearly half of those judgements in which the Court found a violation included a violation of Article 6 which states that it is a violation of international law if a human rights case in the original country takes an inordinate amount of time. According to the rules of jurisdiction of the European Court of a human Rights ( ECHR ) admissibility to the ECHR is based on four factors: exhaustion of domestic remedies, six month deadline for applying to the court, complaints against a contracting state to the convention or applicant has suffered a significant disadvantage.
As of December 2013 there were almost one hundred thousand ( 100,000 ) pending applications to the ECHR. They were Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Serbia and various others. The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights in 2014 found an additional violations in Libya, North Korea, Palestine, Iraq, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Greece, Australia, Cyprus and the United States. The Manual of Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Attorneys as well as the Facilitators Guide shows that there are laws, rules, statutes, treaties and procedures in place as well as the training methodologies to assist judges in each country to perform their duties effectively and justly.
Even though the judicial branch is supposed to be independent, various countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa are chosen by a head of state that is not just or has a unique mindset. According to the International Organization of Judicial Training as well as the European Judicial Training Network there are over one hundred judicial training academies globally. Curriculum in these academies include the following courses: jurisdiction, rule of law, evidence, administrative law, civil law, constitutional law, criminal law, family law, communication skills, computer skills, writing skills and ethics.
However, missing from these courses is human rights law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and similar legal documents do not have all countries as signators. There are only forty eight signatures. Some countries in the Middle East follow the Islamic philosophy of the Koran. Some Asian countries like North Korea totally disregard judicial training principles. The European Judicial Training Network recently created an exchange program for judges to learn best practice. In a recent issue of the Journal of the International Organization of Judicial Practice one article suggested a similar practice for exchanging judges from outside of the European arena. However, judges in the problem countries will be tough to bring on board. We need your input. Therefore, here are the questions that we are asking:
(1) Should we punish judges for not doing their job justly ? And if so, who should punish ?
(2) Should we bring the head of state of the country that is causing the problem to the International Criminal Court ?
(3) Should human rights law training be mandated in judicial training as well as the necessity to pass the course for graduation ?
(4) Should government officials including police forces be required to take human rights law ?
(5) What, in your opinion, should be done to eradicate all human rights violations globally?
Peter D. Rosenstein.
(He is a non-profit executive, journalist and Democratic and community activist. His background includes teaching; serving as Coordinator of Local Government for the City of New York; working in the Carter Administration; and Vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia)
“1– In the United States we have a quasi-independent judiciary. Under our constitution our Supreme Court- though appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate with a majority vote but there can be a filibuster to prevent that vote – but after it occurs this is a lifetime appointment. In this way they become Independent the third branch of our government- Legislative – Executives – Judiciary. That is the way it should be. They are often appointed and confirmed based on a bias they may have or the bias of the President and those who control the Senate. But we have seen they often do not make decisions as people expected them too once they are confirmed and know that position is a lifetime appointment.
Our judges below the Supreme Court are often different. The President does appoint federal judges but today our Senate can confirm them with only a majority vote without the right to filibuster which gives the Party in power in the Senate tremendous power. I don’t believe that these judges should be punished for deciding cases in a way we don’t want them too.
But a Supreme Court Justice may be impeached by the House of Representatives and removed from office if convicted in a Senate trial, but only for the same types of offenses that would trigger impeachment proceedings for any other government official under Articles I and II of the Constitution.
Article III, Section 1 states that judges of Article III courts shall hold their offices “during good behavior.” “The phrase “good behavior” has been interpreted by the courts to equate to the same level of seriousness ‘high crimes and misdemeanors” encompasses.
State judges are often appointed by a Governor and in some states they are elected. That varies state by state. In most cases they aren’t lifetime appointments. They are and should be able to be removed for criminal behavior
2– I am not fully aware of how judges in countries where their leaders appoint them are removed so can’t really answer this question. If a judge is directed by a head of state to do something that is punishable under the guidelines of the International Criminal Court then yes they should be brought to the courts.
3– I would think that his would be a good idea. But then training requirements of judges in each country differs and the issue would be who sets the curriculum for the course in each country? They would be trained in what their country sees as human rights which most of them already know. And many countries don’t have universal human rights under their laws.
4– I think that part of the requirement for police officials is that they learn the laws that they are hired to uphold. But then it isn’t the police who have the final decision but the courts so even if the police get it wrong it can be corrected if things work the way they are suppose too. Again Human Rights law whether we like it or not differs from country to country.
5– That is much too broad a question. I would ask that every nation in the UN recommit at least to the Declaration of Human Rights. Then we will have to rely on education and on the influence of those nations who believe in universal human rights to try to convince other nations of why they should observe them. This can be done with political and economic influence but we know it isn’t easy. The fight for women’s rights is a prime example. Even in the United States we couldn’t pass an Equal Rights Amendment to our constitution and we are considered to be as fair to women as just about any other country in the world. We can’t get many states to agree to marriage-equality or equal and human rights for the LGBT community. This is even harder in nations in which religion plays an even greater role or in fact is law.”
C. Bonjukian Patten.
(Financial Consultant owner of Bookkeeping/Office Management LLC working in the Greater NYC Area for clients in a cross section of industry)
If the world keeps having offspring there will be no more resources left for the people here already. If we force parents to pay for public schools for each child – they will stop having them. In turn we can extinguish others who are less useful – people in jail – by sending them into wars against our enemies – they will surely die. That or put these long term convicts on hard labor details – they will not last 1 month.”
Jaime Ortega-Simo.
(The Daily Journalist president and founder)
“1- Judges are appointed, not self elected. Judges have to play at the best of their abilities under fair and balanced models that might be bigger than the system they represent. In a democracy this might work to their advantage, but there is no such thing as a universal human judge. The case of the Virginia four, would be appropriate to look at; a case where justice turns into clear injustice and it doesn’t start with the Judges but with the inspectors reviewing the case.
2– That is a subjective question. Depends who are we talking about and who is going to benefit. Heads of state represent an ideology, that ideology could derive from people’s demands, so in that case, its the nation to blame not the man in-charge. However, theocratic republics like Iran play a different model in world politics. A spiritual leader represents the nations spiritual, financial and diplomatic ventures. The danger with religious governments is that they represent a wider agenda, spreading to other international systems unaffected by politics always basing their present destiny on a book. Could we blame the religion or the belief system? (Islam is a case and point)
Russia and China are both (in my opinion) Autocracies despite what other experts claim. They take care of the military while the population lives under the illusion of wealth. When we look at their media propaganda, I think its clear that much of their population believes it. So okay, we blame it on Xi-Jiping and Vladimir Putin, but the truth is that the population needs to stand up and fight for freedom instead of waiting for international help. To some extent they allow dictators to reign whether they approve it or not.
3– There is no such thing as universal human rights. Historically an ‘universal ideology’ of rights and wrongs has caused wars and chaos if anything! And if it exist, it lives on the shadows of those who appoint laws and oppose other cultural rules to satisfy their own agenda.
4– Depends what country. Police officers are trained to follow the laws of the constitution, whether they apply or not that really depends on their own supervision. Some police officers have unbalanced freedoms that should be looked with greater supervision, but then again you would have to create another unit to supervise the officers to keep them in constant check. I believe that would be good.
5– You cannot eradicate human violation laws globally, that is literally impossible. As in question 3, you have to conclude that winners and losers systems is appointed by several different ideological systems. The world will never unite as one government because national interest will always betray international law if needed. Look at Scotland and Catalunya present referendum initiatives. Justice is on the eye of the beholder. Should a man cut a thieves arm for stealing, as opposed to lock him under felony charges? What is justice? — The eye of the beholder!
Frank Palatnick.
( He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for ” networking global education administrators in order to understand other countries, cultures and specifically students in order to create a pathway to a sustained peace.)
“1–The judiciary are accountable to the public, and only the public. Therefore, if a judge fails to perform according to the rule of law as well as other standards I.e. Ethics, then the people shall be the ones to take action. In Arizona, United States, the judiciary, including the Supreme Court of the state, must be accountable to the people through/by an established commission called the ‘ Judicial Review Commission ‘. This commission, comprised of judges, attorneys and members of the public, evaluates judges on merit alone. The five basic pillars of standards that are used to assess their performance are: legal ability, integrity, communication skills, judicial temperament and administrative performance. Each year the commission publishes information that the public reviews which includes: published decisions, ratings from other judges and government officials, complaints against the judge, financial reporting and other pertinent data. The public is then required to vote for that judges continued employment or not.
2– In my opinion, the head of state of any country must be accountable for his/her actions by the people. If those actions violate the constitution or any other law, he/she must be brought to Justice. Not only through impeachment proceedings, but he/she must be brought in front of a neutral court I.e. The International Criminal Court. There should be no immunity or privileges.
3– Human Rights Law is, in my opinion, one of the most important issues/topics in the past millennia. That was documented by the issuance of the Code of Hammurabi. Human rights law will be more important in the future. The human condition in many countries across the globe demand we acknowledge and rigorously use whatever legal machinery to ensure that humankind can enjoy those rights to the fullest. Since the International Court of Justice as well as any other court in the world is entrusted with interpreting the law and punishing the violators of the laws, we must make sure that judges in these courts understand fully the ramifications of not having those rights as well as not enforcing those rights. We have seen in many cases around the world violations of immense proportions so as to render that country begging for assistance from any individual, organization or other government. Therefore, I feel that judicial training must include human rights law in their curriculum. They must also pass that course before graduation. I am aware that constitution law includes rights particular to that state/country’s constitution. However, some countries do not include rights found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which include specific human rights not mentioned in these countries. The course must include, therefore, the use of the ‘ Manual of Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Attorneys as well as the facilitation guide.
4– Should government officials, including the police force, be required to take human rights law ?All government officials, including the police force, the military ( not just the Uniform Code of Military Justice ) and all department heads should take, and be accountable to, human rights law.
5– In order to eradicate all human rights violations globally, we need to educate society, by any means available, no matter what geopolitical environment they’re in. For the oppressed nations/states extreme measures must be taken to get that knowledge to the common person/individual. We must, if necessary, create an ‘ Arab Spring ‘ environment in those oppressed areas I.e. North Korea. Human rights must be given to all individuals in order for society as a whole to flourish. We have seen to many cases where the common individual has been murdered, mutilated, humiliated and other extreme practices that prevent or cease the enjoyment of the use of basic individual minds. That must stop.”
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Project Echelon moves to Washington DC
October 5th, 2014
By The Daily Journalist.
To read document: Project Echelon moves to Washington DC
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What is Khorasan?
September 16th, 2014
By Jaime Ortega.
Option one (Khorasan part of Mujaheddin from the Caucasus)
The Khorasan is a region that encompasses large areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Iran, and is considered by jihadis to be the place where they will inflict the first defeat against their enemies. This area composes of Caucasus Mujaheddin.
After al Qaeda’s defeat in Iraq, the group began shifting its rhetoric from promoting Iraq as the central front in their jihad and have placed the focus on the Khorasan.
Is not certain that Khorasan terrorist militants originated from central Asia , but the group’s name originates from there.
Taliban fighters have fought alongside Al-Qaeda seeking refuge in northern Pakistan constantly hit by US drones, so it is possible that they jointed into ‘one cell’.
During 2012, an al Qaeda operative based along the Afghan-Pakistani border claimed that although US drone strikes have had an impact on the terror group’s operations, it were “still standing in Khorasan.”
The statement was given by Abu Zubaydah al Lubnani, a Lebanese al Qaeda operative, in an interview published on jihadist web forums. Lubnani’s interview was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
It is possible that this group could have being operating for over 6 years inside Pakistan. Sending recruits and veterans to Syria, to fight against Al-Assads regime.
Option 2 (Khorasan part of Al-Qaeda)
According to the AP
The group composes of jihadis from Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Europe — poses a more direct and imminent threat to the United States, working with Yemeni bomb-makers to target U.S. aviation, American officials say.
At the center is a cell known as the Khorasan group, a cadre of veteran al-Qaida fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan who traveled to Syria to link up with the al-Qaida affiliate there, the Nusra Front.
But the Khorasan militants did not go to Syria principally to fight the government of President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials say. Instead, they were sent by al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to recruit Europeans and Americans whose passports allow them to board a U.S.-bound airliner with less scrutiny from security officials.
In addition, according to classified U.S. intelligence assessments, the Khorasan militants have been working with bomb-makers from al-Qaida’s Yemen affiliate to test new ways to slip explosives past airport security. The fear is that the Khorasan militants will provide these sophisticated explosives to their Western recruits who could sneak them onto U.S.-bound flights.
Option 3 (Khorasan part of ISIS)
Other reports explain that Al-Qaeda is currently not related with Khorasan, and like the Islamic State, they branched originally from Al-Qaeda only to pledge loyalty to the new caliph Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, not recognized by Al-Zawahiri.
“The global jihad movement split in two on April. Members of al-Qaeda will now had to choose between two different emirs. The so-called “Khorasan pledge” was the final nail in the coffin of the reconciliation between al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The rift no longer pertains to Syria only, but has spread to the other arenas of global jihad,”
Nine al-Qaeda emirs from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran declared their allegiance to the new emir of the faithful, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – the head of ISIS – in what is being termed as the “Khorasan pledge.” A few days later, ISIS spokesperson Mohammed al-Adnani declared that “al-Qaeda deviated from the rightful course,” indicating that “it is not a dispute about who to kill or who to give your allegiance. It is a question of religious practices being distorted and an approach veering off the right path.”
This is a turning point in the clash – currently limited to the Syrian arena – between Baghdadi and Ayman al-Zawahiri, threatening to create an open conflict throughout jihadist movement. The anticipated split had been declared by ISIS advisor Abu Ali al-Anbari. “Either we eliminate them or they will eliminate us,” he said in one of the reconciliation sessions, repeating the sentence three times.
Conclusion:
What is Khorasan?
The Khorasan Pledge could be a program, ideology or simply a cell; But regardless of the outcome, they are not affiliated with Al-Qaeda anymore and seem to be part of ISIS agenda to draft new recruits worldwide,’if’ indeed it is a program.
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Interior Exempts Insider Threats of Privacy Docs
September 1st, 2014
By Department of Interior.
Click to read report : Interior Exempts Insider Threats of Privacy Docs
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ISIL, the expansion of a system that should be stopped?
August 18th, 2014
The Daily Journalist Opinion.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was the offspring of Tawhid Al-Jihad, created by Abu Musab Al Zarwaqui a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war in cooperation with other Salafist Islamist sympathizers on early 2000.
The group rearranged after the US invasion of Iraq and was notorious for killing ex members of the Iraqi National Guard who were Saddam loyalist. They also kidnapped and beheaded journalist from many different western countries.
In 2006 with the help of Ayman Al-Zawahiri the JTJ joined forces with Al-Qaeda Iraq (AQI) and created the umbrella organization of Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) who started to be very successful on their campaigns against anti-sunni targets.
AQI started to decline financially and eventually separated from ISIS on terms of ideology once it officially became an independent cell, but with the civil war in Syria,Al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda Syria) Joined forces with ISIS to defeat Bashar Al Assad. Once helping the Free Syrian Army, they became enemies also turning their back on Al Nusra, and the Islamic Front…
ISIS is now on a dangerous rampage and is now called ISIL (the mutated form of international ISIS), on central Iraq and on northern Syria, beheading minorities, mostly Christians, Kurds, Yazidis, Alowites, Chiias… including children and other gruesome pictures which unfortunately I had access too. Probably the most dangerous terrorist cell to ever have existed.
-Would Iraq be better off with Saddam Hussein and his two tyrannical sons, than with the forced indoctrination of westernization on Iraqi soil? Is brutal dictatorship the best solution to control sectarian and religious violence on Iraq and most Muslim countries as history has repeatedly showed?
Sokari Enkine.
(An independent writer, a blogger for 9 years and a life long political activist; co-editor of African Awakenings and Queer African Reader both published by Pambazuka/Fahamu Press; she writes regularly for Pambazuka.org and New Internationalist)
Why is it that the west led by the US feel they must provide “humanitarian aid” to fleeing Iraqi civilians yet sit back and condone the murder of over 600 children and hundreds of Palestinian civilians, bombing of schools, shelters and hospitals, and god knows how many thousands injured and a continued occupation? But if one Israeli soldier is missing or killed in combat, there is a massive outrage by the US and UK?
Why is it that these same governments fail to condemn the racist & even some genocidal statements by Israeli / Zionist?
Why is it that some people are worth saving yet others are not?
As for whether Islam is a peaceful religion – well I am not a Muslim but read the Koran and you will find more peace within its words than in the Christian bible which is full of death murder, revenge, and destruction.
The question should be why do some Muslims and really a tiny percent feel they must take up arms and commit acts of terrorism? When Christians were murdering and lynching Black people in the south of the US or murdering and dehumanizing Black South Africans under apartheid did anyone question the fact that the white perpetrators of these crimes were devout Christians that went to church every Sunday?
THIS IS modern history – 20th C history, and not some distant past when we cannot even begin to narrate the terrible acts of violence committed under Christianity. Whole people have been wiped out under the banner of Christianity yet we are supposed to ignore this fact because.
You speak of the danger to the US from ISIS / ISIL? Right now the gravest danger to US citizens as I see it is to young Black kids who are being murdered on the streets of US cities by cops and white folks who have demonized Black youth.
This whole series of questions contribute to a distortion of reality
Peter D. Rosenstein.
(He is a non-profit executive, journalist and Democratic and community activist. His background includes teaching; serving as Coordinator of Local Government for the City of New York; working in the Carter Administration; and Vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia)
1- At this time there is no support in the United States for putting ground troops back in Iraq. But we must try to help eliminate ISIL in any other way we can. The airstrikes in support of the efforts of the Kurdish pesh merga forces are crucial and seem to be helping. But in the long run the Iraqi military must be the ones to defeat ISIL. They can and should get the support of the United States and the largest possible coalition we can build to do that.
2- I fully support the humanitarian efforts and intervention on Iraqi soil by the West. We must do all we can to stop the mass slaughter of innocents being carried out by ISIL and to help those fleeing with food and water and whatever they need to stay alive.
3 – I don’t definitively know the answer to that but we must assume that at some point they will have the potential to do that if they aren’t stopped.
4 – I don’t think the word exterminated is appropriate. But I think we must stop the leadership of these groups in any way we can and take away the means they have to terrorize the world. Religious fanatics unfortunately will always exist and they have through the ages but without leadership and finances and weapons they have less ability to commit acts of terror on a large scale basis.
5- I think we must recognize that the true religion of Islam is a religion of peace. We must also recognize that the religion is being hijacked by fanatics who want to kill in the name of the religion. Those of the Islam faith who believe in peace, and most do, will have to speak out and even fight if necessary to save their religion and their proud heritage.
6 – We can’t move backwards and try to pretend we know what would have been better. I was against the Iraqi war that the United States entered because I believe that it was up to the Iraqi people to overthrow Saddam Hussein. He was a brutal tyrant.
But then we must deal with the world as it is today and the fact is there really is only one super power left in the world and that is the United States. But we shouldn’t always act alone and the need to build coalitions and to support rather than take over for the good people in any nation is important to achieving just solutions to their problems. The final solution in Iraq will be up to the Iraqi people but we do need to continue to help both tactically and with humanitarian aid as long as that is needed. We cannot walk away now.
Barna Donovan.
(He is the acclaimed author of three books on film and audiences, is a graduate of the film school of the University of Miami and he earned his doctorate from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey)
1. At this point it seems like there is no one easy solution to the ISIL threat and with every passing day it looks like it will be impossible to keep more American troops out of Iraq. Some number of boots, unfortunately, will have to be on the ground. ISIL forces have spread far enough throughout Iraq that, as most military analysts advise, it would be impossible to neutralize the threat by air strikes alone. Given ISIL’s ruthlessness, it is only a matter of time before the terror group will attempt to counter aerial attacks by using human shields.
Furthermore, even if the U.S. attempts to simply keep a limited number of troops as advisors or as aids in humanitarian relief efforts, those troops can come under fire themselves and will in any case require supply and logistical efforts to keep them safe and doing their jobs. Thus, while a full scale deployment to rout out and destroy ISIL’s command structure might be more effective than air strikes and advisors functioning in a very limited capacity, U.S. public support for another full scale ground war is also very unlikely today.
2. The U.S. cannot stand by and refuse any attempts at humanitarian intervention in Iraq. The reports of ISIL atrocities coming out of Iraq every day rival anything that could have been committed by the most depraved of medieval barbarians. We are witnessing the sort of religious and ethnic cleansing in Iraq today that the world has repeatedly vowed – all the way from the Holocaust to Cambodia’s killing fields massacres and the ethnic cleansings of the Bosnian war – never to tolerate and leave unchallenged.
A danger in not intervening in ISIL’s reign of terror, in their attempt at overthrowing an Iraq so many thousands of Americans have bled and died for, is that it will be interpreted as a sign of the west’s weakness and lack of resolve in protecting itself and its interests. While it might be regarded as a cliché by some, the fact is that all that evil needs to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
3. This is exactly the reason why the ISIL situation is so dangerous and why the U.S. can not afford to not challenge this terrorist army’s rampage across Iraq. According to numerous reports, ISIL’s march across Iraq had them looting banks and amassing hundreds of millions in cash and gold bullion.
Today they are not only much richer than al-Qaeda was before 9/11 – many analysts have already declared them the richest terrorist organization in history – but they are vowing to bring the jihad to the U.S. and, according to one of their recent videos, “raise the flag of Allah in the White House.” With the money at their disposal right now, they are certainly in a position to recruit and arm enough like-minded fanatics to carry out terror attacks against the west and the U.S. So terrorist attacks on U.S. soil are not only a possibility but, in my opinion, should be considered a clear and present danger.
4. Democracy, unfortunately, is not any sort of a dependable solution for dealing with violent religious fanatics. Democracy, in fact, is incompatible with religious fanaticism and fundamentalist religious organizations are inherently undemocratic. A fundamentalist religious movement, or a sect or a cult will demand unyielding and unquestioning adherence to the commandments of the faith.
When the commandments of a faith are believed to be the absolute truth of an infallible deity, there will be no room for debate, dissent, or any of the activities of democracy. Such movements are also led by a class of priests and religious authorities that will command their followers rather than be led by the will of their people. If the leaders of a theocracy believe they know the will of an almighty deity, there is hardly any room for questioning and disagreement. Looking at the depravity of the violence ISIL is capable of committing to further its agenda of imposing a fundamentalist Sharia law across Iraq and Middle East and to wipe out those who do not convert to their same extremist version of Islam, it does not look like we can realistically expect this organization to ever negotiate or accept any political compromises with the U.S. and the west.
As far as ISIL members are concerned, they are on the side of god, on the side of righteousness, and all those who oppose their beliefs deserve to be exterminated. This is an organization that respects only strength, ruthlessness, and violence and one that can only be dealt with, unfortunately, with force.
5. This is a complex issue because, on the one hand, a mistake the U.S. has often made – particularly under the George W. Bush administration – was believing that the imposition of democratic systems across the Middle East will be the antidote to terror. President Bush, in fact, had clearly said that democratic countries will not produce terrorism. The problem, however, is that democracy can not be so easily introduced to societies that not only do not have democratic traditions but whose histories and cultures are steeped in religious rule.
That said, however, it’s also inaccurate to say that Islam is inherently a violent religion. Islam has many of the same tenets of peace, charity, love, and forgiveness as all other major religions do. Islam, unfortunately, has, in recent history, been hijacked by extremists who have perverted the tenets of the faith into something that condones and encourages violence and repression. While it might be true that most of the conflicts with terrorism involve Islamic terror groups, those terror groups do not represent the majority of Muslims any more than Jim Jones or David Koresh were representatives of the majority of Christians.
6. In hindsight we know that the U.S. committed to an invasion of Iraq based of faulty, inaccurate, and often downright dishonest intelligence about weapons of mass destruction. We also know that Saddam Hussein and his sons ran Iraq like a sadistic gang of thugs. The brutality of their regime is offensive to American and democratic sensibilities. Foreign policy, however, needs to be formed through pragmatism.
America’s elected officials need to craft foreign policy with the safety and interests of America and Americans being of paramount concern and we now know that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was less of a threat to the U.S. than what we have to deal with in Iraq today. The war in Iraq became a quagmire we were barely able to extricate ourselves from and now ISIL and the fundamentalist terrorists overrunning that country are threatening to pull us back into that same quagmire yet again.
Jose Luis Chalhoub Naffah.
(He is a political scientist with a masters in international oil trading and an independent politics consultant on politics and geopolitical risk based in Venezuela, focusing on Russia AMD Middle East issues. He speaks fluently English Russian Fench and Arabic. Director of BYBLOS CONSULTING a firm specializing in political risk analyses)
The Islamic State for Iraq and Sham (Syria and Iraq) resembles much of what Boko Haram is doing currently for example in Nigeria with its primary focus on christian population, and with the ISIS targeting mainly on iraqi christian minority and yazidis, there´s a danger that we can face a so called clash of civilization first theoriced by Samuel Huntington, and with the Vatican amazingly justifying the US intervention on behalf of christians there on iraqi´s soil.
The ISIS responds actually to a shia sunni ever growing divide along different fault lines in the Middle East and the whole arab world, and undoubtedly funded by the House Al Saud to diminish iranian influence over Iraq. The thing that actually amazes me is the whole motive that prompted the White House to finally and sadly late to intervene through air strikes is the threat of taking over of the Kurdistan oil rich region by the ISIS insurgency, which could end up in a definitive partition of the Kurdistan autonomus region off the whole Iraq territory, strongly supported by Washington, but i would like to see the turkish position towards this issue (the kurdish issue) now that Mr Erdogan was reelected and its stance on turkish traditional alliance with the US.
So, it looks like that under the umbrella of this shiia-sunni confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, there´s a controlled chaos promoted by Washington and the European Union under the known and traditional rule of divide and conquer trying to collapse the whole nation state concept in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf and the Islamic world, redrawing the old borders designed after the 2nd World War under such agreements and treaties such as the ones of the Sykes-Picot and the likes, on behalf of the great powers interest, and of course pointing at controlling the huge energy resources of the Persian Gulf.
The same will happen with countries such as Libya and Afghanistan, and threats over Lebanon by the ISIS, that will keep on check Washington´s ability to cope with these situations.
One interesting thing is how ISIS is dealing and trading oil to freshen its money flow taking over refineries and wells, showing that all this issue has to do with oil geopolitics, and how Islam is interpreted by any tiny or small group on its own way to take grip of power, undermining its basic and fundamental principles and concepts. And this is basically by the longstanding confrontation between shias and sunnis and one place to look at this clash is in Lebanon where the threat of ISIS is on.
Islamic religious extremism and radicalism is what´s undermining its image worldwide and reinforced by western leaned media, and this is precisely by the lack of a unified religious hierarchy and the growing divide between Saudi Arabia and Iran which has always been the source of the HAMAS, the Hezbollahs and the ISIS and if this issue is not resolved, there will be many of these groups trying to take the lead in the so called name of Islam and for Washington to understand the very basic roots of this conflict is hard. The only logic has been oil and gas. It wont matter anything else. But, surprisingly where´s China and Russia answer to this intervention?
C. Bonjukian Patten.
(I am a Financial Consultant with my own Bookkeeping/Office Management LLC working in the Greater NYC Area for clients in a cross section of industry)
My short answer is that America is not and should strive to not get involved with other countries problems and had POTUS GW Bush kept us out of Iraq (when they clearly had nothing to do with 911) we wouldn’t be there in the first place.
Other than that – I believe that Iraq is better off without Hussein unfortunately countries like this that are Muslim will succumb to other extremist rulers because they are misguided. The only way America should get involved with other countries like this will be to protect our interests abroad and at home.
The biggest problem I see in America today is illegal dreamers and aliens who must be deported.
Claude Nougat.
(Passionate traveller (80 countries+) 25 years experience in United Nations: project evaluation specialist; FAO Director for Europe/Central Asia)
These are very topical issues that are likely to stay with us a long time, perhaps through the rest of this century. Someone said back in 2000 (I don’t remember who, maybe you or one of your readers can help) that the “21st century will be a religious century or it won’t exist!”
Is “forced indoctrination of westernization on Iraqi soil” possible? Can it ever give fruits and return the country to a (semblance) of democracy and peace? It certainly doesn’t look that way now. Forced indoctrination – no matter how good and valuable – is always a bad idea because it is forced.
That of course is also the driving force behind Islam: forced indoctrination. And, no matter how many victories the Jihadists will score, it will, in the end, turn out to be a bad idea. Precisely because it is forced. Brutal dictatorship will necessarily arise in contrapposition, like a Hegelian antithesis to the thesis, but that doesn’t mean the synthesis is the next and final step.
The synthesis could be a long time coming, as thesis and antithesis alternate without ever moving to the next step – it could even take several generations for people to learn what peace and human free choice entails and why it is better than the alternative (which to be clear here, is: no free will, Islam or death!)
My personal opinion is that to intervene in the Middle East was a mistake back in Saddam’s days, and now in Bashar Al Assad’s time, it is still a mistake. There are two main Islams at war with each other (Sunnis and Shiites) and no one can stop them from fighting each other. The position in the West now is minimalist and intended to help protect minorities (Christians, Kurds etc) and that is commendable. Let us hope we can stop there, with the “protection-of-minorities” mission and not go further; the danger is obviously that we might get dragged into a conflict that is of no concern to us.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed (the cross being of course a very Christian symbol…)
Jaime Ortega-Simo.
(The Daily Journalist president and founder)
1- Based upon strategic interest, the US holds the worlds key as the largest sovereign power to take out this Islamic organization without international support. In history, the nation with the power of rule has the ability to not abide with demand, but with reality.
Iraq, should be left alone. Supporting the Shia Mahdi Armi, only endorses the Iranian expansion into the Middle East, which is nay a good solution.
Kurd’s have been oppressed by both sectarian groups, so its good they have a chance to regain back some authority in the region. Kurdistan is doing very well financially speaking, and unlike Mosul, or Baghdad its showing peaceful growth.
2- The problem with the Middle East is that support doesn’t solve any issues overall. You kill a monster, to help nurture the next one. Also support last a blink of an eye on these countries, you help them get rid of a problem and soon after you accomplish the mission, culture starts to creep in and they want to kick you out.
Based on ideological beliefs, which is what their culture mandates infidels cannot dwell on the lands of Islamic nations. Its okay to help them eliminate a threat, but its not okay to promulgate western values that many admire. I find that sheer hypocrisy.
I believe minorities, should be helped and relocated to nations were they will be able to adapt better and not beheaded based upon their beliefs. Who wouldn’t?
3- ISIL has the financial means to strike any western country, no matter how good their national security is. Sadly I think, based upon intelligence, they will be successful… They will target something which represents a capitalist evil symbol. Ex KGB scientist sell information for cheap.
4- Democracy is an imaginary dogma. Democracy was used by the Greeks as a philosophical argument to explain rights and freedoms of individuals. Capitalism and Socialism don’t represent true democracy, but somehow given ignorance and lack of understanding, people miss interpret its true meaning.
Islam outside of its religious claims, is also a political well structured system that would scoff out democracy if it truly had its way. Did democracy help when The Islamic Brotherhood and Hamas, won their elections? I laugh at this!
Violence is one system that works very well in the Middle East. What the US needs to do is forget about rights, go where ISIL is located an exterminate their group without remnants, violently and cold blooded. I am firm believer, that war triggers peace, and not the other way around. History and nature dictate that for themselves, and oppose ‘democracy’.
1258, Mongol reprisal in Baghdad.
5- Islam did not began as a peaceful religion. Raids, forced conversion and violence is the grounds of its true foundation; history doesn’t require of ignorant opinion in regards with its origin, despite what some advocates openly deny. Islam was the twin brother of the Holly Roman Catholic Church, but in the Middle East. Same origins, no real difference.
Politics play second nature on Islamic countries, religious ideologies rule supreme on everyday decisions and few illuminates can ignore such reality. In the end of the day, the non-Islamic people are consider infidels yes or yes, its in the doctrine. That’s is why, western values will not alter or transform their well based structure. So yes, its a clash of civilizations and unlike the Jesuits and Templar’s of the Holly Roman Catholic Church, the Jihadist have become the fly that needs to be swash.
6) The Middle East needs tyrants and brutal dictators to control its sectarian differences. Eliminating Saddam, was the single and most stupid mistake the US has committed in the past 20 years. It shows how ineffective and ludicrous the CIA has become as an intelligence Agency.
Western allies if anything should have prevented the Arab Spring, supporting the know dethroned dictators on countries like Syria, Lybia and Egypt. For what porpoise is to help get rid of a problem, and make the following worst? Some people in Washington need an IQ check.
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Brainwaves can predict audience reaction for television programming
August 4th, 2014
Georgia Institute of Technology.
Media and marketing experts have long sought a reliable method of forecasting responses from the general population to future products and messages. According to a study conducted at the City College of New York (CCNY) in partnership with Georgia Tech, it appears that the brain responses of just a few individuals are a remarkably strong predictor.
By analyzing the brainwaves of 16 individuals as they watched mainstream television content, researchers were able to accurately predict the preferences of large TV audiences, up to 90 percent in the case of Super Bowl commercials. The findings appear in a paper entitled “Audience Preferences Are Predicted by Temporal Reliability of Neural Processing,” which was just published in the latest edition of Nature Communications.
“Alternative methods such as self-reports are fraught with problems as people conform their responses to their own values and expectations,” said Jacek Dmochowski, lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral fellow at CCNY at the time the study was being conducted. However, brain signals measured using electroencephalography (EEG) can, in principle, alleviate this shortcoming by providing immediate physiological responses immune to such self-biasing. “Our findings show that these immediate responses are in fact closely tied to the subsequent behavior of the general population,” he added.
Lucas Parra, Herbert Kayser Professor of Biomedical Engineering at CCNY and the paper’s senior author explained that, “when two people watch a video, their brains respond similarly – but only if the video isengaging. Popular shows and commercials draw our attention and make our brainwaves very reliable; the audience is literally ‘in-sync’.”
In the study, participants watched scenes from The Walking Dead TV show and several commercials from the 2012 and 2013 Super Bowls. EEG electrodes were placed on their heads to capture brain activity. The reliability of the recorded neural activity was then compared to audience reactions in the general population using publicly available social media data provided by the Harmony Institute and ratings from USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad Meter.
“Brain activity among our participants watching The Walking Dead predicted 40 percent of the associated Twitter traffic,” said Parra. “When brainwaves were in agreement, the number of tweets tended to increase.” Brainwaves also predicted 60 percent of the Nielsen ratings that measure the size of a TV audience.
The study was even more accurate (90 percent) when comparing preferences for Super Bowl ads. For instance, researchers saw very similar brainwaves from their participants as they watched a 2012 Budweiser commercial that featured a beer-fetching dog. The general public voted the ad as their second favorite that year. The study found little agreement in the brain activity among participants when watching a GoDaddy commercial featuring a kissing couple. It was among the worst rated ads in 2012.
The CCNY researchers collaborated with Matthew Bezdek and Eric Schumacher from Georgia Tech to identify which brain regions are involved and explain the underlying mechanisms. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), they found evidence that brainwaves for engaging ads could be driven by activity in visual, auditory and attention brain areas.
“Interesting ads may draw our attention and cause deeper sensory processing of the content,” said Bezdek, a postdoctoral researcher at Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology.
Apart from applications to marketing and film, Parra is investigating whether this measure of attentional draw can be used to diagnose neurological disorders such as attention deficit disorder or mild cognitive decline. Another potential application is to predict the effectiveness of online educational videos by measuring how engaging they are.
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US Eases Iran Nuclear Sanctions
August 4th, 2014By Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Click here to read report: US Eases Iran Nuclear Sanctions
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Technology that protects against bomb attacks
July 29th, 2014
The Daily Journalist.
A new type of steel-reinforced concrete protects buildings better from bomb attacks. Researchers have developed a formula to quickly calculate the concrete’s required thickness. The material will be used in the One World Trade Center at Ground Zero.
Earthquakes and explosions produce tremendous forces. Pressures in the immediate vicinity of a car bomb are in the range of several thousand megapascals, and even further away from the detonation itself, pressures are still in the order of several hundred kilopascals. Pressure in a bicycle tire – at about three bar – corresponds to about 300 kilopascals.
The One World Trade Center at Ground Zero shortly before the official opening. One safety measure adopted was the use of specially formulated safety concrete, developed by DUCON Europe GmbH & CO KG. Fraunhofer scientists were able to accurately compute how much of this concrete could be efficiently used to best effect.
Credit: © Fraunhofer EMI
“So people at a good distance from the detonation point are not so much endangered by a pressure wave – our bodies can usually cope pretty well with them – it’s flying debris that poses the real danger,” explains Dr. Alexander Stolz from the Safety Technology and Protective Structures department at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Speed Dynamics, Ernst Mach-Institut, EMI in Efringen-Kirchener, a German town just north of Basel. This is exactly what happens to conventional reinforced concrete when it is hit by an explosion’s pressure wave: it is so brittle that individual and often large pieces are torn off and fly through the air uncontrolled.
Dr. Stephan Hauser, managing director of DUCON Europe GmbH & CoKG, has developed a concrete that merely deforms when subjected to such pressures – and doesn’t break. Behind the development is a special mixture made from very hard high-performance concrete, combined with finely meshed reinforced steel. The EMI has been supporting Hauser for many years in the optimization of his patented innovation.
In particular, the researchers take responsibility for dynamic qualification testing of the material under extreme loads. This also involves characterizing the material and calculating characteristic curve profiles. The researchers have developed a mathematical formula that simply and quickly computes the required thickness of the new concrete for each specific application. “Calculations used to be based on comparable and historical values,” says Stolz. “Now we can use a universal algorithm.”
The formula was developed during a test series with the new shock tube in Efringen-Kirchen. “We can simulate detonations of different blasting forces – from 100 to 2,500 kilograms TNT at distances from 35 to 50 meters from buildings. And that’s without even having to use explosives,” says Stolz. The principle behind it is this: The shock tube consists of a (high-pressure) driver section and a (low-pressure) driven section, which are separated by a steel diaphragm. Air can be compressed in the driver section to a pressure of up to 30, bar, i.e. to approximately 30 times atmospheric pressure at sea level. The steel diaphragm is ruptured when the desired level of pressure is reached: the air is forced through the driven section as a uniform shock front that hits the concrete sample being tested, attached to the end of the shock tube.
“With conventional concrete, the impact pressure ripped out parts of the sample concrete wall, which failed almost instantly, while the ductile and more flexible security version of the concrete merely deformed. There was no debris, and the material remained intact,” says Stolz. Thanks to its ductile qualities, the security concrete is considerably less bulky and yet more stable than conventional steel-reinforced concrete. Thinner building components are possible. “As a rule of thumb, you get the same stability with half the thickness,” says Stolz.
Formula also appropriate for earthquake and blast protection.
Designing elements with the ductile concrete is easier with the new computational formula. The material’s high load capacity, many years of experience in its use in a variety of applications, and ultimately its load limits under explosive charge led to it being used in the new One World Trade Center in New York.
The building rests on a 20 story, bombproof foundation that reaches 60 meters underground. Overall, at points within the building where safety is especially critical, several thousand square meters of safety concrete have been used to shore up the construction. Over the past few years, the skyscraper has been growing steadily upwards on the southern tip of Manhattan, on the site of the old World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.
On September 11, 2001, an unprecedented act of terror resulted in the collapse of the towers, burying more than 3000 people under the debris. At 541.3 meters, the One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the USA and the third tallest in the world. “Our formula allows us to calculate the exact thickness of the concrete required to meet the safety considerations posed by such a special building,” says Stolz.
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Unhappiest cities in the US revealed in new study
July 25th, 2014By Harvard University.
The analysis, co-authored by Joshua Gottlieb of the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver School of Economics, suggests people may be deciding to trade happiness for other gains.
The working paper “Unhappy Cities,” released last week by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, relies on a large survey that asks respondents about their satisfaction with life. This measure, which is often interpreted as a measure of happiness, indicates that individuals may willingly endure less happiness inexchange for higher incomes or lower housing costs.
“Our research indicates that people care about more than happiness alone, so other factors may encourage them to stay in a city despite their unhappiness,” says Gottlieb. “This means that researchers and policy-makers should not consider an increase in reported happiness as an overriding objective.”
Gottlieb and his co-authors investigated which regions of the U.S. tend to report lower life satisfaction, and found that residents of declining cities appear less happy than those who live in other parts of the U.S. Long-term residents of these cities appear equally as unhappy as newer residents, suggesting that the city’s unhappiness persists over time. Historical data indicate that cities currently in decline were also unhappy in their more prosperous past.
Read the full study here. High resolution images available upon request. Gottlieb’s co-authors for “Unhappy Cities” are Harvard University’s Edward Glaeser and Oren Ziv.
BACKGROUND
Top 10 happiest metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million (as of 2010):
1. Richmond-Petersburg, VA
2. Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA
3. Washington, DC
4. Raleigh-Durham, NC
5. Atlanta, GA
6. Houston, TX
7. Jacksonville, FL
8. Nashville, TN
9. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL
10. Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ
Top 10 unhappiest metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million (as of 2010):
1. New York, NY
2. Pittsburgh, PA
3. Louisville, KY
4. Milwaukee, WI
5. Detroit, MI
6. Indianapolis, IN
7. St. Louis, MO
8. Las Vegas, NV
9. Buffalo, NY
10. Philadelphia, PA
U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest reported happiness:
1. Charlottesville, VA
2. Rochester, MN
3. Lafayette, LA
4. Naples, FL
5. Baton Rouge, LA
6. Flagstaff, AZ
7. Shreveport, LA
8. Houma, LA
9. Corpus Christi, TX
10. Provo, UT
The least happy American regions are:
1. Scranton, PA
2. St. Joseph, MO
3. Erie, PA
4. South Bend, IN
5. Jersey City, NJ
6. Johnstown, PA
7. Non-metropolitan West Virginia
8. Springfield, MA
9. New York, NY
10. Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY
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Crash of MH17 sparks UN Security Council emergency meeting
July 22nd, 2014
By Alton Parrish.
The apparent deliberate downing of a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine highlights the need for an urgent resumption of a ceasefire and a serious effort to end the ongoing crisis, the United Nations political chief told an emergency meeting of the Security Council yesterday.
The UN Security Council holds a moment of silence in honor of the victims of crashed flight MH17.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, carrying 298 people, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed on Thursday in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border.
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that while the UN has at this point no independent verification of the circumstances regarding the tragic crash, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is alarmed at what seem to be “credible, numerous reports” that suggest that a sophisticated surface-to-airmissile was used.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns this apparently deliberate downing of a civilian aircraft,” said Mr. Feltman. “This horrifying incident serves as the starkest reminder of how dire the situation in eastern Ukraine has become – and how it affects countries and families well beyond Ukraine’s borders.”
A separate statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said that “this horrifying incident must at the very least prompt a serious and sustained effort to end the fighting in Ukraine.” It also stressed the need for accountability for the tragedy.
Both the Secretary-General and the Security Council have called for an international investigation into the incident. The Council, in a press statement, also stressed the need for all parties to grant immediate access by investigators to the crash site.
Mr. Feltman said the UN is fully ready to cooperate, and it has been in touch with the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which has offered to Ukrainian officials its investigative capacity in order to put together an international team.
Among the casualties of the crash was a staff member of the World Health Organization (WHO), Glenn Thomas, who was on his way to an international AIDS conference in Australia. The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said in a statement that a number of other passengers on the flight were also on their way to participate in the conference.
Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
“The UNAIDS family is in deep shock. Our hearts go out to the families of all the victims of this tragic crash,” said Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “The deaths of so many committed people working against HIV will be a great loss for the AIDS response.”
On the Ukraine crisis, Mr. Feltman reported that following the 30 June announcement by President Petro Poroshenko of the end of the 10-day ceasefire and subsequent resumption of the security and law enforcement operation in the east, the fighting between Government forces and armed groups has intensified dangerously, resulting in numerous deaths.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, a number of towns, including notably the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, as well as various smaller villages in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, have been returned to their control.
However, Mr. Feltman said, relentless fighting has continued particularly in and around the cities of Lugansk and Donetsk, where the armed groups appear to have consolidated their presence. Earlier this week, a fierce battle was also fought over the international airport in Lugansk that now appears under the Ukrainian Government’s control.
The situation on and around the border between Ukraine and Russia is of “particular concern,” he said, noting that, while it is impossible for the UN to independently verify these accounts, a number of fatal incidents as well as intense fighting have been reported in recent days.
“As the Secretary-General has reiterated on countless occasions, armed groups need to immediately disarm and stop engaging in unlawful and violent acts,” the official stated.
“At the same time, we continue to strongly urge the Ukrainian authorities to act with maximum restraint and to make every effort possible to ensure the protection of civilians caught in the fighting.”
While estimations of the total number of civilian casualties vary, the UN human rights office reports there have been approximately 500 casualties so far and 1,400 people injured. Also, the UN refugee agency estimates that the crisis has displaced some tens of thousands of people.
“Grievances can and must never justify endangering the lives of those one claims and aims to represent and protect,” Mr. Feltman stated. “As the fighting continues, we are, however, disconcerted by the apparent lack of tangible progress toward a political solution.
“A first, critical step would be the immediate resumption of a ceasefire,” he stated.
“Establishing a path to peace in Ukraine, as in areas of conflict elsewhere in the world, requires a concerted effort by national actors from across the political spectrum, backed by strong and unified support of the international community,” said Mr. Feltman, who is expected to return to Kiev and Moscow in the coming days in the spirit of the Secretary-General’s good offices.
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Masterspy-DoJ Deny Spying US Persons Opposing US
July 12th, 2014By The Director of National Intelligence.
Joint Statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice on Court-ordered Legal Surveillance of U.S. Persons.
Joint Statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice on Court-ordered Legal Surveillance of U.S. Persons It is entirely false that U.S. intelligence agencies conduct electronic surveillance of political, religious or activist figures solely because they disagree with public policies or criticize the government, or for exercising constitutional rights.
Unlike some other nations, the United States does not monitor anyone’s communications in order to suppress criticism or to put people at a disadvantage based on their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.
Our intelligence agencies help protect America by collecting communications when they have a legitimate foreign intelligence or counterintelligence purpose.
With limited exceptions (for example, in an emergency), our intelligence agencies must have a court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to target any U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident for electronic surveillance.
These court orders are issued by an independent federal judge only if probable cause, based on specific facts, are established that the person is an agent of a foreign power, a terrorist, a spy, or someone who takes orders from a foreign power.
No U.S. person can be the subject of surveillance based solely on First Amendment activities, such as staging public rallies, organizing campaigns, writing critical essays, or expressing personal beliefs.
On the other hand, a person who the court finds is an agent of a foreign power under this rigorous standard is not exempted just because of his or her occupation.
The United States is as committed to protecting privacy rights and individual freedom as we are to defending our national security.
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Drone Lighting For Perfect Photography
July 12th, 2014By MIT.
In the researchers’ experiments, the robot helicopter was equipped with a continuous-light source, a photographic flash, and a laser rangefinder.
Courtesy researchers
Based only on the specification of the “rim width” — the desired width, from the camera’s perspective, of the subject’s illuminated border — the helicopter not only assumes the right initial position but readjusts in real time as the subject moves, enabling delicate rim lighting of action shots.
According to Manohar Srikanth, who worked on the system as a graduate student and postdoc at MIT and is now a senior researcher at Nokia, he and his coauthors —MIT professor of computer science and engineering Frédo Durand and Cornell’s Kavita Bala, who also did her PhD at MIT — chose rim lighting for their initial experiments precisely because it’s a difficult effect.
“It’s very sensitive to the position of the light,” Srikanth says. “If you move the light, say, by a foot, your appearance changes dramatically.”
Intuitive control
With the new system, the photographer indicates the direction from which the rim light should come, and the miniature helicopter flies to that side of the subject. The photographer then specifies the width of the rim as a percentage of its initial value, repeating that process until the desired effect is achieved.
The helicopter automatically adjusts its position to maintain the same lighting effect as the subject moves.
Courtesy of the researchers
Quick study
As Srikanth explains, that required some algorithmic streamlining. “When we first started looking at it, we thought we’d come up with a very fancy algorithm that looks at the whole silhouette of the subject and tries to figure out the morphological properties, the curve of the edge, and so on and so forth, but it turns out that those calculations are really time-consuming,” Srikanth says.
Although the experiments took place in a motion-capture studio, the only measurement provided by the motion-captures system was the helicopter’s horizontal position, which onboard sensors should be able to approximate adequately.
Courtesy of the researchers
Instead, the algorithm simply looks for the most dramatic gradations in light intensity across the whole image and measures their width. With a rim-lit subject, most of those measurements will congregate around the same value, which the algorithm takes to be the width of the rim.
In experiments, this quick approximation was able to keep up with the motions of both the subject and the photographer while maintaining a consistent rim width.
The researchers tested their prototype in a motion-capture studio, which uses a bank of high-speed cameras to measure the position of specially designed light-reflecting tags with millimeter accuracy; several such tags were affixed to the helicopter.
But, Srikanth explains, the purpose of the tests was to evaluate the control algorithm, which performed well. Algorithms that gauge robots’ location based only on measurements from onboard sensors are a major area of research in robotics, and the new system could work with any of them. Even rim lighting, Srikanth says, doesn’t require the millimeter accuracy of the motion-capture studio. “We only need a resolution of 2 or 3 centimeters,” he says.
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Could inmates help the system by joining the military?
July 5th, 2014Community Opinion.
Having inmates lock in prison proposes an expensive budget for any government to big to ignore. Tax payers pay the government for these services in order to establish security among citizens of every nation. Some governments are more corrupted than others, so I just want to focus on western countries, rather than other foreign governments where the judicial system is flawed.
On the western hemisphere crime seems lower specially in continents and countries like Europe, Japan, South Korea… as opposed to other western democracies like the US. The US generally tops the list of most imprisonments per-capita, in comparison to other democratic countries, probably also because of its size.
Crime has a large financial impact on security in many different cities across the US. Detroit, MI always tops the FBI list in murder related crimes .
The legend says that increasing the death penalty would wipe out crime, as seen in a few countries on the Middle East, but it might just be that having easier access to guns could be the real cause of the problem. Some believe, drug consumption impacts crime to higher numbers, and with its legalization crime would eventually go down. Depends what you believe of course.
But with the way the global economy is heading more prisons mean higher expenditure from tax payers and more borrowed money from the fed, no matter where you reside. So it would deem a good idea that prisoners should help with productivity on their spare time, rather than be unproductive, and locked inside without serving a constructive gateway to society.
In fact, historically speaking Armies from different empires jointed prisoners, and mashed them with the militia to avoid sacrificing regular troops. Controversial maybe for some, but strategical and nonetheless effective. During war there is no Mickey Mouse stories, so the re-institution of that ancient military program could turn out to be a good solution, at least financially speaking.
Why sacrifice the soldier with a family, when you can simply joint the army with prison camps, possibly even saving more money to defend your country by not risking fathers and sons. I guess it depends on your moral beliefs.
1) Why has crime risen in some western democracies and others not?
2) What would work better to stop and prevent crime: Stricter death penalty laws? Legalize drugs? Something else?
3) Are guns the main reason why the US tops the highest crime per-capita amongst other democratic nations? Could eliminating guns, dramatically save tax payers money spent in developing, and funding new prisons to incarcerate more criminals?
4) Should inmates be used for labor to help foment the economy? Example: Making prisons also places for production. Having them work in agriculture, services or using their spare time to be productive rather than passive?
5) Would you be against using prisoners to become soldiers trained for battle, as a better alternative to sacrificing soldiers who have a life outside the Army?
6) What “one thing” would you change about your legal system to help reduce crime?
Frank’s Palatnick.
( He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for ” networking global education administrators in order to understand other countries, cultures and specifically students in order to create a pathway to a sustained peace)
“The International Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential ( 2010) states in one of its subsections ” Some scientists think that certain genetic characteristics may give rise to a predisposition to criminal or violent behavior. Some people may be genetically ill equiped to cope with frustration or other emotional crises. The impairment of of intelligence caused by chromosome defects may give rise to sociopathic behaviors in individuals. Neurotransmitters such as seratonin, norepinephrine and dopamine may also play a role in provoking violent behavior “.
Taking this one step further, epigenetics, a recently new subdivision of genetics ( 2010), posits that how the fetus is nurtured by both the mother and the immediate environment can have a proportional positive affect on the possibility of the child’s impact on society.
In effect, the loving, well fed and well relaxed mother will give birth to a child that will ‘ pay it forward ‘. The Epigenome, the mapping of the biological organelles that can effect the DNA, shows that, due to this loving, the methylation of the DNA ( a scientific term for the turning on or off of specific parts of our DNA ) affects the physical characteristics of the newborn which include certain parts of the brain.
According to another new developing science entitled ‘ Pre and Perinatal Psychology ‘ scientists have found that stress hormones may affect the mental, emotional and social well being of the child. Scientists state that research indicates findings where maternal stress has been associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia in male offspring and may alter fetal brain growth.
Data also indicates that maternal stress, infection and/or exposure to famine contribute to an elevated risk of depression in offspring. Of critical importance, the brain continues to develop into adolescence and so later influences, such as exposure to child abuse and neglect, must also be taken into account. Studies have consistently shown that adults who experience maltreatment as children are at a much greater risk of developing mood disorders.
In that light, the answer to the question ” What one thing would I change about the legal system to reduce crime ? ” is to alter legal and judicial training to require lawyers and judicial officers/practitioners to fully understand fetal rights and development as it pertains to the Daubert standard of evidence.
The Daubert standard is a universally acknowledged level of scientific validation. It demands that anyone speaking in a courtroom must not only be extremely knowledgeable about the issue being discussed but he/she must be able to prove it through published articles in peer reviewed scholarly journals.
According to the International Bar Association, which publishes the Manual of Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Attorneys, as well as the International Organization of Judicial Training, which created the standards of judicial practice, there are no specific courses that encompass the understanding of fetal rights and development.
Yes. There are course that cover scientific evidence as it relates to epidemiology , medical testimony, neuroscience, mental health evidence and similar topics. This can be shown by viewing the aforementioned websites. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child both have rights that include fetal rights. However, they do not give the evidence for those rights.
I am currently working with an educator in Bangladesh on improving the training of nurse practitioners as well as parents on fetal development and care. I have also begun groundwork on an International Encyclopedia of Judicial Practice that has as one of its peer reviewers a Chief Judge of the Appelate Courts of Egypt.
It will include among many other sections one on ‘ Fetal Rights and Development ‘. I have also prepared a draft of a letter that will be forwarded to the International Bar Association to request the alteration of the ‘ Manual of Human Rights ‘ previously mention including the reasoning behind the understanding and caring of the fetus. In short/conclusion, crime can be almost eradicated if we improve the understanding of the human being from conception and the need/mandate to honor that new being.”
Deborah Weir.
( She lectures at universities in New York and Connecticut and is a faculty member at the NY Institute of Finance.)
“No. Six: the one thing to reduce crime – decriminalize drugs.
When we rescinded the Volstead Act, crime decreased because liquor was legal.”
Peter D. Rosenstein.
(He is a non-profit executive, journalist and Democratic and community activist. He once served as Coordinator of Local Government for the City of New York working in the Carter Administration: and Vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia.)
“1) Why has crime risen in some western democracies and others not?
There are varying factors for a rise in crime. It can be more poor people just looking for subsistence; anger at the wealthy or those who people believe don’t care about them; drug trafficking; lack of adequate gun laws; and then again it might be what we consider a crime such as how restrictive drug laws are.
2) What would work better to stop and prevent crime: Stricter death penalty laws? Legalize drugs? Something else?
I am opposed to the death penalty and have never seen any studies which show that strict death penalty laws prevent crime. As to drug laws clearly if the United States were to legalize marijuana crime statistics would go down. There would be less arrests and less violence over who can sell drugs and who controls the operations.
3) Are guns the main reason why the US tops the highest crime per-capita amongst other democratic nations? Could eliminating guns dramatically save tax payers more money spent in developing and funding new prisons to incarcerate more criminals?
Reducing the number of guns in the United States would clearly reduce violent crime. Unfortunately there is also a culture in the US that condones individuals having guns. People like to cite the 2nd amendment as the permission to buy and carry a gun and the Supreme Court has so far upheld that view. It is my view that the drafters of the Constitution believed that the right to carry arms was meant for militias and not individuals but I am not on the Supreme Court so my opinion at this time holds little value other than to try to elect anti-gun politicians who will try to strengthen our gun laws. I think if we eliminated most of the guns we would not only cut prison costs but most likely cut healthcare costs as well.
4) Should inmates be used for labor to help foment the economy? Example: Making prisons also places for production. Having them work in agricultural fields, services or using their free time to be productive rather than passive?
I have no problem with inmates being asked to participate in the production of certain items. In the United States we have for years had prisoners make license plates and there are many items that could be produced effectively by prisoners. But I also think that we must pay prisoners for working if they are producing goods for sale. It is a wise use of their time and general manufacturing and agriculture are productive uses of prisoners time.
5) Would you be against using prisoners to become soldiers trained for battle, as a better alternative to sacrificing soldiers who have a life outside the Army?
I am opposed to asking and training prisoners to become soldiers. Prison means incarceration and that is not the life of a soldier. Second we have no right to ask prisoners to fight in battle and risk their lives if they aren’t given the options of every other soldier and that isn’t compatible with incarceration.
6) What ‘one thing’ would you change about your legal system to help reduce crime?
I don’t think there is one thing but if it would be the case it would most likely be making private ownership of a gun, other than a hunting rifle, illegal. I think a more realistic way to reduce crime would reduce the penalty for smoking marijuana and then look at making it legal after we work out the issues that are involved in that.”
C. Bonjukian Patten.
(She a Financial Consultant with my own Bookkeeping/Office Management LLC working in the Greater NYC Area for clients in a cross section of industry)
1) Why has crime risen in some western democracies and others not?
Crime depends on the sheer amount of people living in these areas.
We as human beings have to stop breeding and then we have to take care of the living who are here already. These people who love babies and are pro-life don’t give a shit about kids dying from Ebola disease in Africa or saving a child already born to a pedophile. The hypocrisy of human beings today is mind blowing. Our population is out of control and it seems that all the people being born are soul less or have the souls of animals; dark-hearted people who turn out to be serial killers or worse, dictators, murderers, rapists. Not too many children being born of the light these days.
2) What would work better to stop and prevent crime: Stricter death penalty laws? Legalize drugs? …Something else?
Crime in America has worsened because of the selling of guns, parents working two and three jobs to make ends meet and leaving their kids latch key and without guidance. If we start putting parents of teenagers and young people who bring guns into schools to kill others – IN JAIL these senseless killings would stop.
We also have to change our laws. When a drug pusher who pushes pot can get a life sentence over the pedophile, rapists and murderers who get out on parole to repeat their crimes; we know our judicial system is flawed and is in desperate need of repair.
Re haul of our judicial system, legalize ALL drugs; let states reap in that revenue and if people overdose it’s their choice to do so. We cannot police others who indulge in committed relationships with drugs and other addictions.
I believe we should send rapists, murderers and pedophiles to work camps; hard labor 24 hours a day. That would kill them off one by one. The strongest can live forever on these “devils island” type prisons. Our prisoners today are coddled and this would take care of the bleeding hearts against the death penalty.
If things in our world do not get better you can be sure to see the rise of vigilante killings; steeped in vengeance and anarchy against the people who commit these heinous crimes and that is my other suggestion. If our law makers are unwilling to do their jobs – I suggest as punishment these criminals are released to the families of their victims. I feel sure they would know what to do with them. I would know.
3) Are guns the main reason why the US tops the highest crime per-capita amongst other democratic nations? Could eliminating guns dramatically save tax payers more money spent in developing and funding new prisons to incarcerate more criminals?
Guns are one of the problems in our society. Get rid of the sheer amount of guns on the planet and that would allow people to have a fighting change against others. Apathy is another reason there is so much crime on this planet. People don’t care UNTIL it happens to them or someone they know. That’s why when I go out into the world I walk around with knives, stun guns and I am fully prepared to do battle with anyone I come across at a moment’s notice. You may think that this is a terrible way to live but I find it comforting to have sidearms on me.
But the way to incarcerate criminals would be these death camps that no one gets out alive from. Work till you drop on a desert island pounding rocks all day long. No one can survive that. The depression along would kill you.
4) Should inmates be used for labor to help foment the economy? Example: Making prisons also places for production. Having them work in agriculture, services or using their free time to be productive rather than passive?
No, as I said, put them on desert islands all around the world; places they can never get away from surrounded by water, sharks , nature that will kill them. Force them to pound piles of rocks 24 hours a day. That is what I want to see happen for RAPISTS, MURDERERS (serial killers) and PEDOPHILES. These three types of criminals are the worst of the worse and cannot be rehabilitated imo.
For any other petty criminal; your idea for labor to help foment economy, production in agriculture, or production in making cars, etc – is a good idea. For drug dealers of pot – life time sentences is ridiculous. Let them out immediately.
5) Would you be against using prisoners to become soldiers trained for battle, as a better alternative to sacrificing soldiers who have a life outside the Army?
I am against this. Soldiers have always had a few rotten apples in their ranks in the past. What I mean by that is rapists, serial killers and the people who love to kill others. Those are the types that volunteer to go into the military today. Not all of them are like this but many are not above raping fellow women soldiers and that is being addressed in our society today but it was a long time coming.
What I would suggest however is for these millions of “dreamers” illegals who sneak into USA and the young ones who are being allowed over the border now should forced to go into the military if they are of age. If they live they can stay and pay back their taxes. They should not be paid to go into our military. I think instead of using our citizen young Americans who are here legally and who are born here – let’s use these Mexican and Latin american illegals. They have to prove themselves and this is the best way to do so. imo.
6) What “one thing” would you change about your legal system to help reduce crime?
We must change our laws. That would reduce crime. Don’t let these criminals out time and again to commit their crimes over and over. Give people more power in our laws to protect ourselves and reduce the power of the police. That is one of the problems that police have too much power. In their ranks they, too, have criminals.
Adrew McKillop.
(He has UK national holding a four-year Masters level Economics qualification (UCL London), engineering technology and science qualifications (RAE Farnborough), and more than 10 years professional translating experience in technicaland financial French > English (energy and defense sectors).”
“Maybe not directly related although I say it is.
Neoliberal Anarchists
Concerning western societies and nations, the “new economy” ideologues of the early 1980s can be fingered as black flag wavers. Their Black Bloc economic ideology militated for the total triumph of a magic disembodied thing called “the market” which would sweep away all traces of antique leftovers from the 18th century – the nation states. Thanks to “the market”, society would be self-organizing and self-running, of course based on capitalist principles applying the Adam Smith slogan that individual greed magically produces and results in collective good. It can only make sense!
The Italian authority on fascism, Renzo de Felice and the British historian Eric Hobsbawm, an authority on “modern nation states” and the nationalist movements which produced them, both argue that the 20th century was very special. Hobsbawm called it “the short century” due to it playing out the hangovers and leftovers from the 19th century nationbuilding era and process that he dates to a precise period starting about 1750-1800. Before then, nothing like what we call “modern nation states” existed. By the era of fascism and nazism in the 1920s in Italy and Germany, the nation state had dissolved into a strange puddle of extreme hyper-nationalism, degenerate ideology and people-politics
Reasons why the “golden era of nation states” can be pushed back to before the 20th century – long before our 21st century – also include Marxism and religion, the new challenge and the old challenge to nation states. However since at latest the 1980s, we also have the killer challenges of the neoliberal economy and globalization, the Internet and dumbing down or de-culturation.
Certainly since that early end of the 20th century, we have the clear existence but no definition of “failed states”. Our only interest is to know how fast the failed-state process runs, like one bad apple put in a crate of apples which infects all the others. All we know about the failed states is “they don’t work” but in the case of the so-called mature democracies of the west, neoliberal ideology has rooted for a global one world state of no-nations held together only by the globalized economy.
This was the supposed evolutionary path. The end of nations was a desired goal.
Accelerated End of The Nation
The neoliberals argued that before the nation state, the global economy already existed, albeit informal and person-to-person or company-to-company, notably based on trade. The absence of national currencies and trade laws was no handicap. The absence of air, train, motorway travel and instant global telecoms was also no handicap. Business was business! The interlude of the nation state only added unnecessary new barriers to the global economy. They said it would wither and fall away – exactly like the black flag djihadists swarming from former Syria into ex-Iraq also proclaim.
Today we are becoming aware of the coming death of nations. We have the probable coming three-nation Iraq, the already de facto three nation state of Libya, the possible separation of Scotland from England, Catalonia and the Basque country from Spain, the Tyrol north from Italy, the real and recent separation of the two Sudans – with almost inevitable border rivalry and conflict mostly driven by oil. There are separatist movements active in Mali and across the Sahel, Xinjiang separatists in China, multiple challenges to the Russian Federation including separatist movement in Tatarstan, Chechnya and elsewhere. Even the small state of Belgium is menaced by movements for local autonomy extending to full declaration of independence by two new states.
Hobsbawn analyzes the historical trends of “modern nationbuilding”, finding that as early as the 1840s and 1850s it had already overreached. Too large nations were created too quickly, from over-diverse components, sometimes using fantasist claims to separate identity, generating new and further internal-separatist movements. Examples he gives include the Garibaldi movement founding modern Italy and the so-called Pan-Slavic nationalist movement, which played a leading role in founding modern Russia and the multiple warring states of the Balkans, whose rivalries between themselves and with external powers helped spark World War I.
The post-1945 world, set by the UN Charter, was simply a remake of 19th century nationalism. It was constructed on “indivisible and recognized” nation states which however accepted power-sharing for the goal of peace and economic development. The UN Security Council was going to be the final arbiter on illegal attempts at changing national frontiers, defining the key concepts of national aggression and war crimes, marshaling “the international community” to punish aggressors and criminals. Defending the nation state!
The “UN system” tried to defend the concept of modern nation states and, due to real world trends accelerating the breakdown of nation states, can only be out-of-synch and dysfunctional. As we know from at least the three past decades, secessionist and separatist movements sometimes aided and abetted by existing nation states, deny the existence of supposed “historic” nation states occupying national territories which are “recognized by the international community”. Over and above resource issues and competition for resource ownership and the economic power it brings, other factors like mass population movements also related to the economy, have all radically weakened the 19th century notion of the “modern nation state”. The people voted with their feet and trampled nation states.
Imperialism and Religion
Alongside Imperialism – which denies national borders and identities – religion always exercized an anti-national role except in certain highly specific cases where the mix-and-mingle of ethnic and religious sentiments could be exploited in the nationbuilding process. Historians like de Felice and Hobsbawm focus the role of anti-religious and anti-imperial movements which spilled over from the “historic era” of modern nationbuilding – which as already noted had overreached by as early as the 1850s. This created the concept of “non-confessional and egalitarian” nationalism, ideally suited to growing democratic movements in the increasingly urban and industrial societies of late 19th century Europe, the US, Russia, China and other existing or future national states.
The modern nationbuilding concept won itself an extension of shelf life, also extended by the anti-imperial, nationalist and hyper-nationalist rejectionist movements of Stalinist Russia, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, and nationalist movements in European colonies, before and after World War II.
But that reprieve is all long gone. The “modern nation state” is menaced by resurgent religion, especially in regions where Islam is the dominant religion. It is also menaced by economic globalization, Internet, culture-convergence, mass entertainment and mass communication. The will to fight for “the nation” is inversely proportional to the intensity and degree of public sentiment that “the nation” is worth defending. For this to be true, “the nation” has to have special virtues.
To be sure Iraq and Ukraine are two current key examples of “failed states” where a layer-by-layer process of denial of the nation state has reached a tipping point. Supposed “surprise” by US glove puppet media journalists that Iraq army personnel “are abandoning without a fight” can be attributed to their total ignorance of reality on the ground. For Sunni personnel in the Iraq army, ISIS fighters paid for by Saudi Arabia and by other Gulf petromonarchy, anti-democratic, autocratic minority Sunni regimes cannot be treated as mortal enemies. Obedience to Shia muslim prime minister Nouri el-Maliki can even be construed, by Sunni Iraqi army personnel, as a form of treason.
The American “game plan” for rebuilding Iraq after America first invaded and destroyed it, featured what we can call “bourgeois democracy”. Shia communities make up about 60% of Iraq’s population, so they obviously had to have power. This obviously sharpened and intensified very long-dated and traditional Shia-Sunni rivalries – but it wasn’t obvious to western politicians!
The Short 20th Century
Hobsbawm used this title for one of his books to underline that if the 19th century of Imperialism on one hand, and nationalism on the other dragged on a long time, the 20th century of the “modern democratic state and liberal market economy” had a short, bloody and riotous lifespan. The European middle class petit bourgeois concept of “the liberal market economy” was at all times confronted by communism, imperialism, crony capitalism and the bankster cabal, resurgent religion, and pure anarchy – called “ungovernability” today. The 19th century “modern nation state” was born to fail and went down fighting – fighting itself – but today only the path and process of failure concerns us.
Hobsbawn uses various metrics and time intervals, but we could say his “short 20th century” possibly only existed from 1945 to about 1995. The century had a 50-year or half-century span. During that time, the myth of the “indivisible nation state” and the myth of the “liberal market capitalist economy” could run together, and could fool a lot of elite persons as to their life expectancy and credibility.
Well before Y2K, the bastard offspring of modern liberal market capitalism – Marxism – has been totally discredited and denied. Marxism was purely and simply a “reverse video” inversion-and-reversal of market capitalism, so it is no surprise to any intelligent person that Marxism had to fail. The failure of Marxism only proved that its model and mentor of liberal market capitalism was a failure – nothing else. Communism nevertheless speeded the death of nationalism, and certainly in the Islamic-majority countries accelerated the retreat to traditional religious ideology.
The very long-dated struggle between Anarchy and The State in some cases intensified attempts to defeat nationalism, due to the ideological belief that nations are themselves precursors of anarchy. Trying to keep the flame of “perpetual revolution” alive, especially Mao Tse Tung’s Great Leap Forward were defended, by him, as a counterweight to resurgent Chinese nationalism. His “great experiment” probably killed more than 30 million Chinese – mostly by starvation.
Today’s so-called Islamic Resurgence can be called another mutant offspring of pseudo nationalism – in this case Arab nationalism – in which ideological Imperialism is mixed-and-mingled with racism, disguised as internationalism, to produce a cocktail only able to spark wars, ethnic cleansing, purges and mayhem. What we are witnessing, however, is a mega-process. Following this historic interval and the real termination of the 20th century – shutting down its attempts to save the nation state – nations as we presently know them will inevitably disappear.”
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China Military Modernization and Force Development
July 4th, 2014
By Anthony H. Codesman, Ashley Hess and Nicholas S. Yarosh.
Click here to read report: China Military Modernization and Force Development
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Jean-Claude Juncker new President of the European commission
June 28th, 2014
By The Daily Journalist.
The Heads of State and Government of the EU have designated the Luxembourg politician, Jean-Claude Juncker as the new President of the European Commission. The decision has been taken with the vote for all countries except the UK and Hungary, who voted against.
President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has given the news via Twitter: “.Decision made! The European Council proposes to Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission.”
The appointment must now be ratified by the European Parliament by a vote and a secret ballot requiring absolute majority. The compromise reached between the European People’s Party (EPP), which is a candidate Juncker-socialist (S & D) and the Liberals (ALDE) suggests that there will be no surprises in the full July 16.
‘Juncker Commission’
In any case, the new ‘Juncker Commision’ will not begin work until 1 November. Until that date the president-elect will have to conform his curatorial team and get the approval of the European Parliament. All other appointments, including that of High Representative and President of the European Council, will be discussed at an extraordinary summit the same July 16, after the appointment of Juncker’s official. EU sources said, although not participate in the meeting, the opinion of the Luxembourg politician will be taken into account in selecting the next head of European diplomacy.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, has led to the last opposing Juncker. This morning he had said it was “the wrong person” and the vote was, along with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, who alone has opposed.
The president of the ‘popular front’ in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, was the first to react to the appointment and expressed his satisfaction that the European leaders have respected this method of choice until now unpublished, in which the candidate with more votes in the European election force would be proposed by the European Council.
“The voice of European citizens has been heard. With this decision the Heads of State and Government have taken an important step towards greater democracy and transparency in Europe,” he noted in a statement.
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Verizon Confidential Report on Stratfor Hack
June 21st, 2014
By Verizon.
To read document click here: Verizon Confidential Report on Stratfor Hack
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China’s Corruption
June 9th, 2014
By Australian Government Research.
Click to read report: China’s Corruption
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