A Royal Event?

From the BBC: 

"Easter Rising centenary: Royal Family and UK government to get invite"

Representatives of the Royal Family, UK government and unionism will be invited to Irish ceremonies marking the Easter Rising centenary in three years' time. The 1916 event saw rebels take over a number of buildings in Dublin as part of an uprising against British rule.  British troops put down the rebellion and many ringleaders were executed. Announcing the invite, the Irish foreign minister urged nationalist and unionist communities to honour history without antagonising their neighbours. Eamon Gilmore, who is also the Republic of Ireland's deputy prime minister (Tánaiste) made the remarks in a speech to the British Irish Association in Cambridge on Saturday. During his address, he criticised a recent republican parade in County Tyrone and said he was "concerned at the way in which the past is exercising a corrosive effect on political life and on community relations" in Northern Ireland.  Mr Gilmore said people have "a responsibility to prepare and carry out our commemorations in a way that gives no offence and is mindful of the sensitivities of all citizens".

"I don't underestimate the challenges this will involve but I know they are surmountable, especially if we take our lead from the gracious and mutual respect shown by Queen Elizabeth and President McAleese in Dublin two years ago," the tánaiste added. In May 2011, the Queen made her first visit to the Republic of Ireland, during which she laid a wreath at Dublin's Garden of Remembrance, dedicated to those who fought for Irish freedom. The four-day state visit, hosted by the then Irish President Mary McAleese, was hailed as a diplomatic triumph that improved Anglo-Irish relations.

Mr Gilmore told the British Irish Association: "If we are true to the lead that they showed, then I would hope that we can host representatives of the Royal Family and the British government, along with the leaders of unionism, in Dublin in three years' time in remembering the Easter Rising.

The foreign minister added that during his trip to Belfast last week, he met community leaders working in sectarian interface area who were "under extreme pressure after a full year of almost continuous tensions". Mr Gilmore said the message he got from the people he spoke to was that they "fear a return of sectarian violence" and the loss of progress that had been gained in the 15 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.   Police in Northern Ireland have come under pressure, and sometimes under physical attack, during a number of contentious parades this year, and at street protests linked to the dispute over the flying of the union flag at Belfast City Hall. However, Mr Gilmore told the British Irish Association that he remained "hopeful" that problems could be resolved, with support from the British and Irish governments, the US administration and European peace funding.

^ It seems fitting that Queen Elizabeth 2nd should be invited and attend these ceremonies (especially after her historic visit to Ireland two years ago.)  The Queen has  been in the US (for the 200th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence from the UK in 1976) and so I see no difference in her going, in two years, back to Ireland. Of course there is still tension between Ireland and the UK because of Northern Ireland and it seems the violence there is back - I noticed the un-easiness when I was there in 2010 and have written about the constant attacks. Despite what happens in Northern Ireland I hope the UK and Ireland can mend their strained relations. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24000517

Peacekeepers Guilty

From the BBC:

"Dutch state liable for three Srebrenica deaths - court"

The Dutch supreme court has ruled that the Netherlands was liable for the deaths of three Bosnian Muslim men killed in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The men had been ordered to leave a UN compound run by Dutch peacekeeping forces when Bosnian Serb forces overran it. The ruling upheld an earlier decision by an appeals court in 2011. Considered Europe's worst massacre since WWII, 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed in the atrocity. The case centred on three Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) who were working for the Dutch force, Dutchbat, during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. They were electrician Rizo Mustafic and the father and brother of former UN interpreter Hasan Nuhanovic. The three men were among thousands who took shelter in the UN compound as Bosnian Serb forces commanded by Gen Ratko Mladic overran Srebrenica on 11 July 1995. Two days later, Dutch peacekeepers forced the Bosniaks out of the compound. Mr Nuhanovic and the relatives of Mr Mustafic, who launched the case in 2003, had argued that the three men should have been protected by the peacekeepers. The Dutch government had argued that the soldiers were under United Nations' control.  In 2011, the court ruled that the Dutch troops should not have handed the three men over to Bosnian Serb forces.  "The (appeals) court decision is upheld," Judge Floris Bakels said as relatives of the victims broke down in tears and hugged each other. He said it would be "unacceptable" for countries not to be able to hold their peacekeepers to account. "It's great, it's really great," said Mr Nuhanovic, who also lost his mother in Srebrenica, but he said it is only one of "many battles" being fought in Bosnia as "hundreds of war criminals still roam the streets". Mr Mustafic's daughter Alma, who was 14 at the time of his death, said she was "very relieved". "It's always very difficult to grieve, but I hope this decision will help us," she said. The final ruling means that relatives of the victims can now claim compensation from the Dutch state. Correspondents say the ruling may have an impact on future UN peacekeeping missions, as states could be reluctant to participate in foreign military operations amid fears of being held responsible for situations that get out of control. The United Nations has said it is too early to say whether there will be any implications for international peacekeeping in future.

^ I agree that any country that is a peacekeeping force (whether under the UN or not) has to be held accountable on their actions. The Peacekeepers in Bosnia during the war are guilty of not doing a thing to stop the genocide - how is that keeping peace? My dad was a peacekeeper in Croatia and Bosnia after the Dayton Accords ended the wars and I saw pictures he took of all the destruction. I could even see it when my mom and I went to Mostar (Bosnia) 14 years ago the war ended. I wonder if this ruling will have any bearing on other Peacekeeping forces - in the past - such as the Canadian, French and Belgian forces in Rwanda during the massacres there? ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23986063

Russian Image

From the MT:   

"Russia's Image Mostly Negative, Poll Says"

Russia's image among citizens of other countries has taken a beating in recent years, with people in 39 countries around the world more likely to have negative opinions of Russia than positive ones, a survey published Tuesday showed. The slump in other countries' perception of Russia comes as Moscow takes a lead role in the Syria crisis, where it has sided with the regime of embattled President Bashar Assad, and is preparing to host major events such as the G20 meeting of the world's leading economies this week, researchers who conducted the poll for the Pew Research Center noted.

In fact, they said Russia's increasing involvement in Middle Eastern affairs could help to explain why the majorities of Egyptians (64 percent), Israelis (77 percent), Jordanians (70 percent), Turks (66 percent), the Palestinian territories (57 percent) and Lebanese (53 percent) said they viewed Russia in a bad light. Compared to six years ago, when the poll was first conducted, Russia's image has seen particularly steep falls in Jordan and Egypt, where the percentage of citizens with a positive view of Russia fell by 23 and 16 percentage points, respectively. The declines could reflect "dissatisfaction with Russia's involvement in Middle Eastern affairs," the Pew researchers said. Between 2007 and 2013, Russia's image significantly improved in only Indonesia and Argentina, going up by seven percentage points in both countries, the poll found. Europeans also took a dim view of Russia, with majorities in six countries — the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain — saying they saw their vast Eastern neighbor in a negative light. The British were divided over how they felt, with 39 percent saying they had a negative view of Russia compared with 38 percent who saw it positively. Greece, meanwhile, was "the one country in Europe where warmer views of Russia prevail," the poll said: 63 percent of Greeks expressed a positive opinion of Russia compared with only 33 percent who were negative. In 23 countries polled in Africa, Asia and the Americas, Russia got an easier ride: Only in Brazil, Japan, the Philippines and South Africa did a majority of respondents see Russia negatively. In China, 39 percent viewed Russia favorably, while 49 percent said they saw Russia in an unfavorable light. Russia can also take heart in the fact that, in the U.S., poll respondents took a kinder view of Russia than most Europeans, Middle Easterners and South Americans. Although 43 percent of Americans saw Russia in a negative light, 37 percent had a favorable view of Russia, which, to cite just three examples, compares favorably with Brazil, where only 34 percent were positive about Russia, and Turkey and Pakistan, where just 19 percent of poll respondents in each country had a positive view of Russia. The poll was conducted before U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden fled to Russia, where he was eventually granted temporary asylum, and before tensions soared between Washington and Moscow over Syria after an apparent chemical weapons attack last month that the U.S. has blamed on the Assad regime — a claim that Syria and Russia vehemently deny. About 800 to 1,200 people were interviewed by phone or face-to-face between March and May this year in each of the countries included in the poll except China, where more than 3,000 were polled.

^ Russia is a good country and the people (well the ones that allow you to get to know them) are really hospitable. It is a shame that politics (good or bad) always seem to sway other nations' feelings on a country. It has been done to the US ever since the 1940s and Russia, it seems, has also be plagued with the stereotypes. I remember being in Russia and strangers coming up to me (when they learned I was American) and ask me stupid questions like: "Why don't you go tell Bush......." or when I was sitting right next to them watching the Olympics in the US and they didn't like something they blamed me. I would counter: "Why don't you go tell Putin...." That usually shut them up - any mention of authority usually makes a Russian stop talking and put their heads down and walk away. I remember taking the tram everyday and when we go to the former KGB building I would see (looking out the tram's window) people would go out of their way to walk across the street rather than walk in front of the building. I guess old habits die hard. It would be nice if Russia could get to show it's strengths the same way it would be nice if the US could do so also.  ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russias-image-mostly-negative-poll-says/485540.html

German Memory

From the BBC:

"German president visits France WWII massacre site"

German President Joachim Gauck has become the first senior dignitary from his country to visit Oradour-sur-Glane in France, where 642 people were killed by Nazi troops in June 1944. The ruins of the village are preserved just as they were after the massacre. President Gauck said that he had accepted a French invitation to visit the site with "gratitude and humility". More than 200 children were among the victims of the World War II atrocity that left deep scars in France. After the war Gen Charles de Gaulle - who later became France's president - ordered the village not to be rebuilt but instead remain a memorial to the evils of Nazi occupation. A new village was built nearby. "I want to reach out to the victims and tell them: I am at your side," President Gauck told Europe 1 radio ahead of the visit.  "I am 73-years-old, I was born during the war, I was steeped in the discussion of our guilt... I will tell the victims and their families: 'We know what was done.'" Mr Gauck said on Tuesday that he would not refrain from making the point to others during his visit that "the Germany that I have the honour of representing is a different Germany from the one that haunts their memories".  He was joined in Oradour-sur-Glane by his French counterpart, Francois Hollande, and together they visited the village square, where residents were rounded up by Nazi troops ostensibly to have their identity papers checked.  They also walked around a church where women and children were incarcerated before it was set on fire. The village's men were taken to a barn where they were shot with machine-guns. The two presidents were accompanied by two of the three living survivors, including 88-year-old Robert Hebras.  He was 19 at the time of the massacre, and survived because he was buried under the bodies of other men who had been shot. "I was consumed by hatred and vengeance for a long time," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. At a joint news conference on Tuesday, Mr Hollande praised Mr Gauck's decision to go to the massacre site as a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation. In 2010, Germany reopened a war crimes case into the attack when a historian discovered documents implicating six suspects who were now in their 80s.

Prosecutors said 12 members of the SS-Panzer Division "Das Reich" - which had spent three years on the Russian front before being deployed to the Normandy battlefields to fight Allied invasion forces - were suspected of involvement in the massacre. The reason for the mass killings is unclear. One theory is that the Nazis sought to avenge the kidnapping of one of their officers, but another is that Das Reich troops were angered by what they believed was theft of a large amount of gold by villagers. President Gauck, a former East German human rights activist, has paid two other visits to the sites of Nazi mass killings in Europe - the Czech village of Lidice, near Prague, and the Italian hamlet of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany.

^ It is good that a German official stands-out openly and not only declares that he was alive during the war (although he was 5 when it ended) and that the German people knew what was going on, but he also declares that Germany today is not the same Germany as in 1944 - when the massacre happened (which is true.) The German President (like the Chancellor) lived in East Germany and so has lived under two dictatorships. While no words can make-up for the innocent men, women and children murdered it does go a long way to show remorse and reconciliation. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23958458

Romania's Past

From the BBC:
"Genocide charge for Romanian who ran communist prison"

Romanian prosecutors have charged a communist-era prison commander, Alexander Visinescu, with genocide. It is the first such charge in Romania since the 1989 revolution which led to the execution of former communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu. Mr Visinescu, 88, could face life in prison if found guilty. He was head of the Ramnicu Sarat prison in 1956-1963.  Prosecutors say political prisoners there suffered beatings, hunger, cold and lack of medical treatment.  Mr Visinescu lives in Bucharest and went to the prosecutor-general's office on Tuesday, where he was indicted. He told prosecutors he was only following orders. Former political prisoners, quoted by the Romanian news agency Agerpres, described him as "a very cruel man".  The Romanian Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes (IICCMER) listed him among 35 former communist officials whom it accuses of human rights abuses. It asked prosecutors to launch the case against Mr Visinescu "for first degree murder". The institute said the prison regime at Ramnicu Sarat "can be considered as one of extermination, given the inhumane imprisonment conditions, which eventually led to the death of several political prisoners". About 500,000 Romanians, including priests, teachers, doctors and peasants, were jailed as political prisoners in the 1950s as the communist authorities imposed a totalitarian system. In harsh prison conditions about one-fifth of those inmates died, historians say.

^ I don't understand why countries take so long to do what should be done right away. Communism ended in Romania in 1989 - 14 years ago. I guess it is better late than never for these places considering some former Communist dictatorships (Russia, most of the former USSR, etc) still have no desire to do a think against those that murdered and imprisoned innocent people. 60+ years since the end of World War 2 and Germany is still dealing with it's Nazi past - yet not much is done about East Germany's Communist past. I hope this case in Romania is just the beginning and that more lustration takes place in the former Iron Curtain. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23945391

Never Too Late

From the BBC:
"Germany may charge 30 Auschwitz Nazi guards"

German justice officials have said 30 former Auschwitz death camp guards should face prosecution.

The Baden-Wuerttemberg state justice ministry, heading the investigation, said 49 guards had been investigated, of whom 30 should be prosecuted. The 30 are spread across Germany, and another seven are living abroad. They are said to be aged up to 97. Auschwitz was the biggest Nazi death camp. More than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, were murdered there. The case of Ukrainian-born John Demjanjuk two years ago changed the legal situation concerning people who worked at the death camps.  Demjanjuk died last year while appealing against his five-year jail sentence for complicity in the murder of more than 28,000 Jews at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

A judge had ruled that even though there was no clear evidence that he had committed murder directly, his mere activities as a worker at the death camp facilitated mass murder.  Previously German courts only considered cases where Nazi suspects were accused of personally committing atrocities. In July the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish organisation which investigates Nazi war criminals, launched a poster campaign in Berlin seeking evidence on such fugitives from justice, with the slogan "Late - but not too late".  The justice agency in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Wuerttemberg, which heads German investigations into Nazi war crimes, said that of the 49 ex-guards from Auschwitz, in Nazi-occupied southern Poland, nine had died.  The agency said it was now handing over its findings to prosecutors in the German states.  Six of the cases will be handled by Baden-Wuerttemberg, seven by Bavaria, two by Saxony-Anhalt, four by North Rhine-Westphalia, four by Lower Saxony, two by Hesse and one each by Rhineland-Palatinate, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.  The agency says it now plans to re-examine the actions of all former Nazi staff who served in extermination camps and special killing squads. It says the work will be "extremely time-consuming" and will include research in archives kept in Russia, Belarus and Brazil.  In the next six months the agency plans to re-examine the files on Nazis who served at Majdanek death camp in eastern Poland. More than 7,000 SS personnel served at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp complex in 1940-45, but only a few hundred were ever prosecuted.

The Nazis murdered most of their victims - Jews, Roma and Sinti and other persecuted groups - in gas chambers. Many others were shot, starved to death or killed in medical experiments.

 ^ This is good news - that the German Government is not only talking about bringing the Nazis to justice, but is actually doing what they said. It would have been nice if the Germans had this policy in the 1940s-2000s when the majority of the Nazis were still around. Better late than never.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23942519

Анти-Гай!

From the BBC:

"Brutal videos fuel Russian anti-gay campaign"

At the Lighthouse Cabaret Club in Sochi, host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, the music is loud, the tobacco smoke thick and the dance floor packed with gay couples enjoying an evening out.

It is a relaxed atmosphere. And from the smiles and open displays of affection here, you may think that being gay in Russia is not a problem.  But the club's co-owner, Andrei Tanichev, tells a different story. "There's more aggression and it's becoming more dangerous on the streets," Andrei tells me.

"Many gay people have changed how they dress, they've removed earrings, changed their hairstyles, to avoid having problems. Even back in the USSR, where homosexuality was a criminal offence, gays were treated better than they are now in Russia. Ordinary people see us as criminals. They hate us."  There is evidence of that attitude in a series of shocking videos posted online by a Russian vigilante group. In one, a man is being forced to drink urine to "cure him" of being a homosexual.

Then a metal bucket is placed over the man's head and hit with what looks like a baseball bat and a police truncheon. Attacks like this, filmed and posted online, are being carried out across Russia by an ultra-nationalist group. It claims its objective is to name, shame and punish suspected paedophiles.

But from the tone of the videos the encounters come across as homophobic attacks. In another online clip, a woman armed with a gun and dressed in camouflage jokes that she's "out on safari" hunting for paedophiles and gays. She starts shooting towards an imaginary "rainbow target".  The woman's name is Yekaterina. We track her down in St Petersburg, where she heads the local branch of the vigilante group "Occupy Paedophilia".  "Our priority is uncovering cases of paedophilia," Yekaterina explains to me. "But we're also against the promotion of homosexuality. And if - along the way - we encounter people of non-traditional sexual orientation, we can kill two birds with one stone."  In Russia gay-rights activists believe such aggression is a direct result of the controversial new law signed by President Vladimir Putin. The legislation bans the spread of information about "untraditional sexual relations" to anyone under 18. It portrays homosexuality as a danger to children and the family.   "The law itself is not a danger in terms of its application. But it's a great danger in terms of what kind of opinions it shapes," believes Anastasiya Smirnova of the human rights group Russian LGBT Network. "It entitles people to mob rule, to organised violence against those they perceive to be dangerous to society, to families and to children. People take over the role of the authorities to react against what they think is a violation."  Moscow has come in for huge international criticism over this law. There have even been calls in the West for a boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi. The Russian authorities believe that is a massive overreaction. After all, they have not banned homosexuality, merely restricted the spread of information about it.  Part of the reason is that the Orthodox Church and the state are forging a new national identity for Russia, based on traditional conservative values. There is no room for Western liberal ideas - social, political or sexual.   Back at the gay cabaret in Sochi, club owner Andrei believes the debate about homosexuality is designed to distract Russians from more pressing problems at home and to unite the country behind the government.  "Your average Russian citizen sitting at home watching TV now understands who he needs to fight against, who the enemy is," Andrei tells me. "It's gays - and the Western countries who support them. And the more the West supports gays in Russia, the more Russian people hate us - because the accepted wisdom here is that the West is evil."

^ I completely agree with the nightclub owner. These attacks on homosexuals is merely a way to scapegoat them and give ordinary Russians someone to place all their blame on. In Nazi Germany it was the Jews and in the Soviet Union it was non-Communists. With life being so hard for the typical Russian (most Russians look 10-15 years older than they actually are) they need something to hope for. There's a saying: "We will wait and we will see." The Russians are always waiting and now they are seeing (and being told) that homosexuals and those that support them are the enemy. For most Russians it is better to hate one group that you are officially allowed to hate then hate your way of life, standard of living and your government  - which you have no control over. I really wish people would consider the "Straight but not Narrow" idea. That means heterosexuals support equal rights for homosexuals the same way a white person supports equal rights for blacks, a man supporting equal rights for a woman or a non-disabled supporting equal rights for the disabled. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23901290

Cuban Cartoon Love

From Yahoo:
"Cubans nostalgic for Russian cartoons of their youth"

More than two decades since they vanished from Cuban TV with the fall of the eastern communist bloc, quirky Soviet-era cartoons are fueling a wave of nostalgia for middle-aged Cubans. The "Russian cartoons" as Cubans tend to call them -- though they were from several different allied countries -- have inspired T-shirts honoring old shows like the Soviet "Mashinka and the bear", Poland's "Lolek and Bolek", and the Hungarian hit "Gustavo."Of course, it is a generational thing. The shows were broadcast in Cuba from the 1960s to the 1980s. Some older Cubans remember Disney characters from before the 1959 revolution, like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck who, not surprisingly, never won the Cold War Cuban government's seal of approval. And today's kids see a few Cuban cartoons -- and some select international programming. But for middle-aged Cubans, their childhood heroes came from the Warsaw Pact. These Soviet-era characters -- along with more made in East Germany or Bulgaria -- are touchstones that still hold a surprisingly warm place in the hearts of Cubans who grew up in a far-flung ally of the Soviet Union. But, despite their communist roots, the revival of interest in the cartoon characters was driven by commercial ambitions. "I realized that people were getting really into it, and I thought it might go OK as a business," said Darwin Fornes, who designed the brightly colored T-shirts cranked out at a factory in colonial-era Old Havana.
Despite tough economic times in Cuba, "sales have been better than anybody would ever have guessed," he told AFP. Cubans are relentless punsters, and Fornes named his business "Chamakovich" -- a mix of the Cuban slang for a kid "chamo" and the Eastern European-sounding "kovich." "These images mean so much to me. They bring my childhood flooding back. That's what happens to everybody who gets caught up in them," said the designer, 28, wearing a yellow T-shirt with the wolf and hare from "Nu, pogodi!" -- translated as "I'll get even, eh". He had a first lot of 300 T-shirts made and was happy to see them sell out fast -- though Cubans earn the equivalent of under 20 dollars a month. "People see what we are offering, and I send them to our stand at the street fair," said Fornes whose idea mushroomed out of the interest people had when he spotlighted the cartoon characters on his Facebook page. "Chamakovich" has drawn enough attention to have earned a spot on a state news program, which in the only Communist-run country in the Americas has not until now put much focus on local business development. Cuba's government under President Raul Castro, 82, still controls most of the economy, but Cubans are allowed to seek self-employment in a wide range of professions. Some older Cubans never cared for the artistically uncomplicated Soviet-era cartoon imports, and many parents at the time joked that naughty kids would be punished by being forced to watch them. But "those of us who were kids when they were on TV enjoyed them a lot," smiled Fornes. Plenty of Cubans on the island and abroad who agree with him have started collecting images, T-shirts and videoclips of their childhood classics. Dainerys Machado, a journalist, said she recently downloaded 10 gigabytes of the Soviet-era cartoons as a blast from the past.

^ I watched many of these old cartoons when I was living in Russia and didn't really care for them. The story-lines are pretty off-putting and the quality of the cartoons are bad (compared to cartoons from the West in the 1950-1990s.) I guess if you live in Cuba (or the USSR) and weren't allowed to see anything else then it was better than the bleak, communist world outside. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/cubans-nostalgic-russian-cartoons-youth-170138777.html

Uncomfortable Past

From the DW:
"Former comfort woman tells her uncomforting story"

Lee Ok-Seon spent three years in a Japanese military brothel in China against her will during WW II. Nearly 70 years after the surrender of Japan, she visited Germany to make her story known.  Bravely, she talks about that tragic day when she was abducted off the street in the southeastern city of Busan by a group of men. It was late afternoon - sometime between 5 and 6 pm, and Lee Ok-Seon was 14 years old when she was thrown into a car and trafficked to a brothel, a so-called "comfort station," in China for the Japanese military where she was raped every day until the end of the war. At that moment, she had no idea that she would never see her family again nor step foot in her home country for nearly six decades. She had no idea what torture awaited her. The 86-year-old woman does not give specific details as to what she experienced there. She summarizes it in one sentence: "It was not a place for human beings. It was a slaughter house." After she says that, her voice sounds harder. Those three years shaped the rest of her life. "When the war was over, others were set free, but not me."  Lee Ok-Seon's is not an isolated case, although it is not known exactly how many other women shared the same fate. "According to estimates, there must have been around 200,000 such women. But this has never been confirmed," explains Bernd Stöver, a historian at Potsdam University. He finds it unnerving that the women are referred to as "comfort women," a "euphemism for what they really were: sex slaves." It was not only women from the Korean Peninsula, which was under Japanese colonial rule between 1910 and 1945, who were forced into prostitution; there were also women from China, Malaysia and the Philippines, to name a few. The brothels, which were set up throughout the entire area under Japanese occupation, were meant to keep up morale among Japanese soldiers and avoid the rape of local women. For the mostly underage women forced to work there, on the other hand, it was a daily sacrifice. Many of them did not survive the torment; an estimated two thirds of them died before the end of the war. We were often beaten, threatened and attacked with knives," Lee Ok-Seon remembers. "We were 11, 12, 13 or 14 years old and we didn't believe anyone would save us from that hell." During her time there, she explains, she was completely isolated from the outside world and trusted no one. It was a state of constant despair. "Many girls committed suicide. They drowned or hung themselves." At one point she also thought this was her only alternative. But she couldn't do it. "It is easy to say, 'I'd rather be dead.' It is so much more difficult to actually do it. That is a big step."  Lee Ok-Seon decided to live and ended up surviving the war. After the Japanese capitulation in late summer of 1945, the owner of the brothel disappeared. The women were suddenly free again, but also confused and disoriented. "I didn't know where I should go. I had no money. I was homeless and had to sleep on the streets." She didn't know how to get back to Korea or if she really wanted to go back - the shame she felt was overwhelming. "I decided I would rather spend the rest of my days in China. How could I have gone home? It was written on my face that I was a comfort woman. I could have never looked my mother in the eyes again." It wasn't until the year 1991 that the first former "comfort woman" went public with her story. She encouraged and inspired 250 other women to finally talk about their experiences as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the war and demand recognition and an apology from the Japanese government. Since then, the women and their supporters meet every Wednesday outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. They hold placards and shout slogans. But they have yet to receive what they demand.  Japan has trouble dealing with its dark past, according to historian Stöver. The government in 1993 did commission and publish a study officially recognizing the existence of "comfort women" and the role of Japanese soldiers. "After that, the government did apologize on multiple occasions. But it never really drew any consequences." Stöver explained the apologies were isolated occurrences; there was never a full admission of guilt nor was there any official financial compensation program. Aside from payments made to a few hundred people by a fund set up by the government, the women have received no money. And it is not likely they will in the future: "In 2007, the Japanese Supreme Court decided they have no claim to damages." A bitter pill for the victims. And even today, on occasion, Japanese politicians simply deny the existence of the comfort women. Or they play it down. During his time in office in early 2007, incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for example, said there was "no proof that the women were forced" to work in the brothels. He later apologized for the statement. Earlier this year, Toru Hashimoto, governor of Osaka, told journalists that in times of war, sex slavery was "necessary" to keep the discipline among the troops. Lee Ok-Seon thinks the statement is crass and outrageous: "I cannot grasp how anyone can say such a thing. Whoever refuses to accept what the Japanese did back then is not a human being."

^ Japan needs to not only admit to itself, the world and its' victims their past mistakes, but stop others from trying to "wash" away their horrible deeds and rewrite history. Most countries have laws making it illegal to deny the Holocaust happened and yet there is nothing about denying the massacres, rapes, etc that the Japanese did. Today is the day the Japanese formally surrendered to the US and so it seems appropriate to post this story today. ^


http://www.dw.de/former-comfort-woman-tells-her-uncomforting-story/a-17060384
 

Cyrillic Croatia

From the BBC:   
"Croatians tear down Serbian signs in Vukovar"

Dozens of protesters in the Croatian town of Vukovar have torn down signs written in the Serbian Cyrillic script. The signs had been put up because of a law that makes bilingual signs mandatory in any area where more than one-third of the population belongs to an ethnic minority. Vukovar was reduced to rubble during the war for independence with Serb-dominated Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The town has now been rebuilt, but ethnic tensions remain. The signs were put up on some of Vukovar's official buildings on Monday morning, but not long afterwards Croatian war veterans wielding hammers came to remove them. "The protesters managed to overcome the police protection and smash new signs in Cyrillic on the local tax office and police station," the state news agency Hina reported. "Cyrillic letters used to come to Vukovar on army tanks," one of the protesters, called Josic, told local media, referring to the occupation of the town by Serb rebels during the 1991-1995 war. The Croatian and Serbian languages are linguistically similar, but Croats use Latin script while Serbs use Cyrillic.  Croatia became the European Union's 28th member in July.

^ I can understand why the people of Vukovar (and the rest of Croatia) feel the way they do - especially after all the suffering done in the town and the rest of the country in the 1990s, but the war ended 18 years ago and it is time for all sides (Croat, Serb, Bosniak, Slovene, Montenegrian, Macedonian, Kosovar and Bosnian) to move forward. Croatia is now part of the EU and so they clearly want to break from their past and look to the future. Signs in the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets should be a common sight now throughout the country. I know in Bosnia (which isn't part of the EU) the Latin alphabet is used only in the Bosnian Federation while the Cyrillic alphabet is used only in the Serbian Republic (both of which are part of the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.) I also know that in Serbia (also not part of the EU) it has become common to see websites and signs in both Serbian Cyrillic and Serbian Latin alphabets. These examples show how people and Governments have tried or have not tried to move forward since the end of the Yugoslav Wars. When I was in Croatia it was before they were part of the EU we had a private tour of Dubrovnik and the woman told us that the Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrian and Serbian languages are the exact same exact for their alphabets - unlike Slovene, Albanian and Macedonian - and that when Serbs come to Croatia they speak English so no one will know (from their accents) that they are Serbian. I assume the same is true of a Croat in Serbia. That is a sad testament to the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the Wars. While I understand it is hard to forgive people who murdered your friends and family I also understand that things in the Balkans will not get better until people from all sides can live, work and travel freely. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23934098

CDN Reservists

From the Globe and Mail:
"Canadian Forces ombudsman to examine reservists’ long wait for severance"

 Part-time soldiers who leave the military sometimes have to wait a year or more for their severance pay because of a troubled system that is to be investigated by the Canadian Forces ombudsman.

A spokeswoman says the backlog is the result of staffing shortages within the department, which officials are trying to correct. This is the latest in a series of grievances for reserve soldiers, who often face not only discrimination within the ranks because of their part-time status, but on an institutional level when it comes to benefits and care. Canadian Forces ombudsman Pierre Daigle has written extensively about the treatment of reserve members, who hold civilian jobs but dedicate weekends and vacations to military training. Mr. Daigle’s office has received numerous complaints about severance and pegs the waiting time between nine and 17 months. “The position of the ombudsman is that excessive delays in providing CF members with their hard-earned financial entitlements is unfair and potentially places a financial burden on departing member and their families,” spokesman Jamie Robertson said. The ombudsman will conduct a systemic investigation this fall, Mr. Robertson added.
Captain Amber Bineau, a National Defence Department spokeswoman, said full-time soldiers wait up to 18 weeks for their severance. Severance for both full and part-time soldiers is based upon length of service determined by an audit of the individual’s personnel file. She said the department has received at least 13 complaints in the past year about delays getting severance cheques out.

^ It seems that the Canadian Government is full of long wait periods and lots of excuses. I remember I had to wait 18 months for my Citizenship Card and that was considered an "easy" case. Tourists and students also have to wait long periods to learn whether they will get a Canadian visa or not. Canada is a small country (in terms of population) and you would think it could get things done more easily and effectively than the US (which has millions of more people) but it seems that Canada can not get it's act together. Regardless, no solider (full-time or part-time) serving any country should have to "fight" their own Government for the benefits they are owed. That is a disgrace that plagues millions of soldiers around the world - their governments use them and then lose them.  ^


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-forces-ombudsman-to-examine-reservists-long-wait-for-severance/article14060533/

Hotline Is A Hot 50

From MT:

"50 Years Later, U.S.-Moscow Hotline Still Relevant"

The Washington-Moscow Hotline is not just a Cold War relic. It's a system for top-level crisis communications that remains a useful tool for U.S. and Russian leaders at odds over their relations with Syria and Iran, experts say, as U.S. officials mark the 50th anniversary of the hotline's first transmitted test message. The next crisis could be just around the corner, said Roald Sagdeev, a former director of the Soviet space exploration program and now a professor of physics at the University of Maryland. "It's very important to make sure we can keep this, especially at the time of what's happening in Syria," he said Wednesday. Sagdeev is among Thursday's scheduled speakers at Fort Detrick, a military installation where the Army maintains a satellite link for the hotline.

Despite popular myth and movie lore, the U.S. president does not use a red phone to talk with his Russian counterpart. In fact, the connection established in 1963 was for written communications only. A voice component was added decades later as the system evolved from an undersea telegraph cable to today's exchange of data by both satellite and fiber optics. The link was set up after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis to avert the accidental outbreak of war. It went live Aug. 30, 1963 with the U.S.-generated message, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back 1234567890."

Presidents had used the text-only hotline more than 15 times by 1990, according to Fort Detrick's spokesman at the time, Norman Covert. Starting with President George H.W. Bush in the 1990s, telephone calls have replaced written messages as the preferred mode of communication between the nations' leaders, said Michael Bohn, a former White House Situation Room manager and author of "Presidents in Crisis: Tough Decisions from Truman to Obama." He said that when the link was created, written messages were seen as a safer way of expressing oneself. "In a tough situation, you have to be careful what you say. The process of sitting down and writing it out clears your head a little bit and makes you slow down a little bit and think twice," Bohn said. President Barack Obama now speaks by phone with President Vladimir Putin. They spoke as recently as March, when Obama phoned Putin to welcome Russian cooperation on international efforts to confront Iran's nuclear ambitions. "You know, 50 years ago was a long time ago, and the abilities to communicate — it just wasn't as easy as it is today," said James Goldgeier, dean of the American University School of International Service. "We just take it for granted now that we can text and we can Skype and we can communicate immediately with anyone over a variety of different mechanisms, and even that we can see the people we communicate with." Craig Bouma at Fort Detrick manages the twin satellite dishes and a staff of 16 civilian Army employees: eight technicians and eight linguists who work around the clock. The station also handles secure communication lines for the Defense Department and the State Department, Bouma said. Bouma said the workers have daily interaction with their Russian counterparts in written exchanges that sometimes reveal cultural differences. "The Russians express themselves in very flowery text: 'Dear esteemed colleague, greetings. Welcome to the shift,'" Bouma said. Bouma would not say if the system could also carry video, citing national security concerns. Goldgeier said video capability should be added if it does not already exist.

^ You would think that a hotline would have been set-up long before the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis - if it had we wouldn't have been at the brink of nuclear war. I don't think Stalin would have allowed one to be used, but he was gone in 1953 so there were 9 long years it could have been created (especially after the Berlin Wall was built in 1961.) It is surprising that it isn't used more often with all the problems that involve both countries, but like the article says each side is probably too afraid of saying the wrong thing. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/50-years-later-us-moscow-hotline-still-relevant/485307.html

Life Of A Passport Eh!

From Passport Canada:

"History of passports"

One of the earliest references to passports was made in about 450 B.C. Nehemiah, an official serving King Artaxerxes of ancient Persia, asked permission to travel to Judah. The King agreed and gave Nehemiah a letter "to the governors of the province beyond the river" requesting safe passage for him as he travelled through their lands.  Today's Canadian passports still carry such a letter of request. Inside the front cover is a letter issued in the name of Her Majesty the Queen. Like Nehemiah's letter, it also asks for safe passage and protection for the holder of the passport.  Not until the reign of King Louis XIV of France did these "letters of request" become popular. The King granted personally signed documents to his court favourites. The letter was dubbed "passe port," literally meaning "to pass through a port," because most international travel was by sailing ships. Hence the term "passport".  Within 100 years of Louis XIV's reign, almost every country in Europe had set up a system to issue passports. Besides needing passports from their own countries, travellers also had to have visas issued by the countries they wanted to visit, much as we have travel visas today.

The rising popularity of rail travel in the mid-19th century led to an explosion of tourism throughout Europe and caused a complete breakdown in the European passport and visa system. In answer to the crisis, France abolished passports and visas in 1861. Other European countries followed suit, and by 1914, passport requirements had been eliminated practically everywhere in Europe. However, World War I brought renewed concerns for international security, and passports and visas were again required, as a "temporary" measure.  The story of the Canadian passport is entwined with Canada's history, both as a colony of Great Britain and as a neighbour of the United States.  Before 1862, Canadians, as British subjects, could travel freely to and from the United States without passports. To travel to Europe, however, a Canadian had to obtain a British passport from the Foreign Office in London. Those who were not British subjects by birth could still go to the United States with a certificate of naturalization, which was issued by local Canadian mayors mainly for the purposes of voting in municipal elections.  During the American Civil War, however, authorities in the United States wanted more reliable certification from people living in Canada. In 1862, the Governor General, Viscount Monck, introduced a centralized system for issuing passports. For the next 50 years, a Canadian passport was really a "letter of request" signed by the Governor General.  It is difficult to trace the history of Canadian passports in the first few years after Confederation because so few were issued. The financial statements of the Secretary of State in 1878 record an annual passport revenue of $50. Since passports then cost $1 each, we know 50 must have been issued. Over the next few years, annual revenues varied between $35 and $50.  In those early years, passports were issued as single-sheet certificates and stamped with the official seal. In 1915, Canada switched to the British form of passport, a ten-section single sheet folder printed in English only.  A series of international passport conferences (1920, 1926 and 1947) led to a number of changes to the Canadian passport. The 1920 conference recommended that all countries adopt a booklet-type passport, which Canada began issuing in 1921. Another recommendation of 1920, that all passports were to be written in at least two languages, one of which was to be French, led to the first bilingual Canadian passport in 1926. The 1920 conference also recommended that passports should be valid for at least two years and preferably for five. It is interesting to note that, since 1919, Canadian peacetime passports were already valid for five years, with the possibility of a five-year extension Between 1947 and 1970, Canadians could only apply for passports by mail to Ottawa. Requirements were very simple, and applicants claiming birth in Canada did not have to provide proof.  However, within a few years, the increased number of lost and stolen passports pointed to the need to tighten requirements. This need was reinforced by the escape of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., using a fraudulently-obtained Canadian passport.  The Royal Commission on Security in 1969 recommended much more stringent application requirements. It also supported plans to open Passport Canada offices across Canada for better service to the public. In 1970, three Passport Canada offices opened—in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver—to accept and process applications submitted in person. There are now 34 offices across Canada, which process more than 70 per cent of the over 4 million Canadian passports issued each year.  Machine-readable passports, introduced in Canada in 1985, meet the standard set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The new format was smaller, and the bearer's personal information, photograph and passport details were laminated to prevent tampering. In the special machine-readable zone, personal information and passport details were repeated in a format that could be scanned at checkpoints.  In 1991, additional security features were built into the Canadian passport and more stringent processing requirements were put in place. By 1993, a new style of passport was introduced that contained unique features to prevent replication or alteration. In order to protect the integrity of the passport and to remain current with international security technology, Canada is a regular participant at ICAO conferences and is recognized as a leader in technological developments in passport design and processing systems.  At the turn of the century, Passport Canada invested in new technology to modernize its operations and create a more secure passport that was introduced domestically in 2002 and abroad in 2006. This passport featured a digitally printed photo of the bearer embedded into the identification page of the booklet, holographic images, and a second hidden photo of the bearer that could only be viewed under ultraviolet light. On July 1, 2013, Passport Canada started issuing a new, even more secure electronic passport, known as the ePassport. This new-generation passport has an electronic chip embedded in the book to provide greater protection against fraud and tampering, and contribute to domestic and international travel security. From its simple beginnings as a letter of safe conduct, the passport has become the single most important international identity document a traveller can carry.

^ I had a previous version on this posted a while back, but now it's updated. It's interesting to learn how these came into being and how they have changed over the years. Other than during the American Civil War both Canadians and Americans did not need passports to enter each other's territory. That changed in 2009 when everyone is forced to have either a Passport (if going by air), Passport Card or enhanced Driver's License (if going by land or sea.) It may no seem like a big deal  - especially if you don't live on the border - but over 50% of Canadians live within 2 hours of the US border. I remember when I went to Campobello Island, New Brunswick a few years ago. It is completely separated from New Brunswick and the rest of Canada - especially in winter - and so people there have to have a Passport to go over the bridge to Maine and do their shopping and get gas - there are no gas stations on the Island. There are many more examples of American and Canadian border towns being negatively impacted due to these strict American laws - Canadian law doesn't require you to have a Passport. Sometimes it is a matter of trying to cross the street and needing a Passport. The majority of the US-Canadian border isn't manned or watched so smugglers, etc go to an un-maned spot and cross over leaving the law-abiding citizens with strict travel rules to follow. ^

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/pptc/hist.aspx?lang=eng

New Education

From MT:

"With New Law, Free Education Could Become Thing of the Past"

 In the Soviet Union, you couldn't pay for schooling even if you wanted to. After the fall of the socialist empire, private education appeared, but free, public schooling was still available to all.

As a new law comes into force regulating Russia's education system, critics of it fear that a good education may now become a privilege you need to pay for. The law, which came into force Sept. 1, in time for the start of the new school year, will replace legislation passed in 1992 that guarantees free access to pre-school education, eight-year schooling and vocational education, as well as to higher education on a competitive basis. The 1992 law also makes a basic eight-year school education compulsory and establishes its secular nature. The Education and Science Ministry insists that these principles remain in place with the new law. But critics say the law in fact nullifies all of them. "The most terrible thing is that the new law on education violates the Constitution," argued Yelena Klimova, an activist in the Kaluga region who co-authored an open letter against the law to President Vladimir Putin in May. "Now authorities can do anything they want with education. They have the law," Klimova said. The contradictory interpretations stem from the complex language of the 142-page legislation, which institutes often subtle changes in all levels of education, from pre-school to universities. The Education and Science Ministry says the law will expand opportunities for students and make essential changes to the education system.   "We are prepared for the transition to the new law," said Natalya Tretyak, a first deputy education and science minister, at a press conference Friday, RIA Novosti reported. "We have been awaiting this transition and are confident that work under the conditions of the new law will be to the benefit of our students, teachers and all of society." When asked about the divergent views on the law, an Education and Science Ministry spokesman referred a reporter to an explanatory brochure posted on the ministry's website. The brochure says education remains free of charge on all levels but the law only guarantees the general availability of vocational education without mentioning pre-school education, basic eight-year schooling or higher education. The law seems to create a loophole by saying that educational organizations "have the right … to provide generally available and free basic and vocational education" but failing to oblige them to provide it. "The free-of-charge basis is guaranteed only by the letter of the law," Oleg Smirnov, an expert with the All-Russian Education Fund, said by telephone. "The main educational aspects rest upon additional education, which is, for that matter, not free of charge," Smirnov said. Smirnov was referring to the fact that only a certain set of classes defined by the government is guaranteed to be free for students. The emergence over the years of additional classes that require payment from students' families is a major concern for many Russians. In a Levada Center poll conducted in May, respondents were asked to name the biggest problems in schools: the top answer was "the rise in additional education-related expenses," cited by 47 percent of those surveyed. The Education and Science Ministry brochure names nine main benefits of the new law, including the introduction of new forms of education, such as distance-learning, and increased availability of pre-school and professional education. Yelena Shimutina, deputy director of the Moscow state secondary education center Tsaritsyno and head of the Institute for Development of Joint State and Public Management of Education, a nongovernmental think tank, praised these new features, such as the introduction of computer technologies. In her view, other advantages include the right to get state financing to study at private schools; the right for school and university students to choose their subjects of study; broader powers for parents and students to influence the educational process; and additional opportunities for disabled children to access education.

^ This new laws seems to be a bunch of double-talk, but I am curious to see how it is actually applied throughout the country. I remember going to a Russian elementary school in Yaroslavl to speak to a group of students (of course it was when I was first learning Russian so it was a little difficult.) First the school ran a double shift - meaning one group of students came in the morning and the other at night. The students were so excited to see a foreigner-  most had never seen one - that they stayed after school ended just to talk to me - I was bumped by a World War 2 (called the 2nd Great Patriotic War in Russia) veteran who randomly came to the school and decided to talk to the kids. When it was my turn the kids wanted to know what an American school looked like and I felt bad telling them the truth - especially seeing and hearing how their school was. It must have seemed like I was telling them a fairy tale or about another planet. In the end it was a success. That was really my one and only time at a public Russian school (except for the school/orphanage for the disabled - but I am not sure if that was public or private.) Hopefully, these new laws will help ALL the kids in Russia and get them ready for today's world rather than the world of the 20th Century. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/with-new-law-free-education-could-become-thing-of-the-past/485313.html

Flag = Hatred

From BBC:

"Why do people still fly the Confederate flag?"

A row has erupted in Virginia over a proposal to fly a huge Confederate flag outside the state capital, Richmond. One hundred and fifty years after the Civil War, the flag can still be seen flying from homes and cars in the South. Why? Recently, there's been a row in Texas over car licence plates bearing the flag, a man arrested after shouting abuse while waving it at a country music concert, and the ongoing fallout from South Carolina flying the flag in front of the State House. Now plans by a heritage group, the Virginia Flaggers, to erect a large Confederate flag on a major road outside Richmond has drawn considerable fire from critics who say it's a symbol of hate.  African Americans, especially older ones, are traumatised when they see the flag, says Salim Khalfani, who has lived in Richmond for nearly 40 years and thinks it risks making the city look like a "hick" backwater that is still fighting the Civil War.  "If it's really about heritage then keep the flag on your private property or in museums but don't mess it up for municipalities and states who are trying to bring tourists here because this will have the opposite effect."  African-American author Clenora Hudson-Weens saw people waving the flags on the street in Memphis a few weeks ago. "I just said to them 'This is 2013' and they just smiled. I personally believe in some traditions but this is a tradition that is so oppressive to blacks. I wouldn't be proud waving a flag that has an ambience of racism and negativity." So has the flag historically been more about slavery or heritage?  You could say that both sides are correct if you look at how the flag has evolved, says David Goldfield, author of Still Fighting The Civil War.

When the Confederacy debated the adoption of a new flag in Richmond in 1862, it was clear this was to be a symbol of white supremacy and a slavery-dominated society, he says. After the war, the flag was primarily used for commemorative purposes at graves, memorial services and soldier reunions, but from the perspective of African Americans, the history and heritage that they see is hate, suppression and white supremacy, says Goldfield, and the historical record supports that. "On the other hand, there are white southerners who trace their ancestors back to the Civil War and want to fly the flag for their great-grandfather who fought under it and died under it." And for them, it genuinely has nothing to do with racism. However, he thinks they should respect the fact it does cause offence and not fly it in public. The flag wasn't a major symbol until the Civil Rights movement began to take shape in the 1950s, says Bill Ferris, founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, It was a battle flag relegated to history but the Ku Klux Klan and others who resisted desegregation turned to the flag as a symbol.  He likens it to the swastika but others see it very differently. bSince attempts by campaigners in the 1990s to remove the flags from public buildings, he thinks the issue has died down in the US. In 2001, Georgia changed the 45-year-old design of its state flag after pressure to remove the Confederate symbol. Although the number of incidents is diminishing it's not going away, he says, because it just takes a couple of well-publicised episodes to get it back on people's radars, and feelings inflamed. The South, he says, needs a new emblem to reflect its changing character.

^  I have written about this for a long time and my feelings haven't changed. Whether the Confederate Flag was used as a symbol of slavery during the Civil War or not it was used by the South in it's campaign to keep the Blacks and other minorities down during the time of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement. The Confederate flag is one the same level as: the Swastika and the Communist Hammer and Sickle and should not be legal to own or fly. There's a saying that history is written by the victors. Well, the North won the Civil War (just like the US won World War 2 and the Cold War) and so all those oppressive symbols should be banned. I lived in Virginia (it was the worst place I have ever lived in both the US and around the world) and they openly support the racist symbols of the Confederacy. For those that are watching Big Brother this season I'm sure they "liked" Aaryn's excuse that she is from Texas (a Southern state and formerly part of the Confederacy) and so she was only making racist comments as a joke. Call it what you want, but racism is racism whether it is done by Whites, Blacks or as a joke. There was a road that non-Southerners called "Route 1" why Southerners called "Jefferson Davis Highway"  - the so-called president of the Confederacy. It is not surprising that it is like that as Virginia was the capital of the Confederacy - until we burn Richmond to the ground and then won the war. If people if the South really want to stop the hateful stereotypes then they need to make a clean-break from everything and anything related to the Confederacy or Jim Crow. Until they do that as a region then non-Southerners will continue to see them as backward racists. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23705803

English Moscow Cops

From MT: 
"Cops Offered Bonuses for Speaking Foreign Languages"

Police chiefs are rolling out incentives and opportunities for cops on the Red Square beat to study English, a skill that will certainly win applause from the hordes of tourists that throng the area. Police officers patrolling the square and Moscow's other pedestrian areas will receive additional pay if they can master phrases in English, Moscow City police chief Anatoly Yakunin said Thursday. "It's our principled position, and we will definitely do this in the course of the year," he said, Interfax reported. Yakunin said the opportunity to develop multilingual police officers appeared after acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin allotted a separate budget for police bonuses in a decree Tuesday. The city police force is on the lookout for English-speaking officers to staff the downtown precincts, Yakunin said. It is also considering offering language courses. "It's a must that we post officers who speak foreign languages to the central district's pedestrian areas in the span of a year," he said.

^ This only makes sense considering that most other Russians don't speak English (or any foreign language) and most non-Russians don't speak Russians. If they can find people who can speak English then they should pay them extra - I had a hard time doing so even in tourist places like airports, train stations and information booths. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/cops-offered-bonuses-for-speaking-foreign-languages/485235.html

Legal Pot

From Yahoo:
"U.S. allows states to legalize recreational marijuana within limits"

In a move marijuana advocates hailed as a historic shift, the Obama administration on Thursday began giving U.S. states wide leeway to experiment with pot legalization and started by letting Colorado and Washington carry out new laws permitting recreational use. The Justice Department said it would refocus marijuana enforcement nationwide by bringing criminal charges only in eight defined areas - such as distribution to minors - and giving breathing room to users, growers and related businesses that have feared prosecution. The decisions end nearly a year of deliberation inside President Barack Obama's administration about how to react to the growing movement for relaxed U.S. marijuana laws. Advocates for legalization welcomed the announcement as a major step toward ending what they called "marijuana prohibition." The leeway for the states will go only so far, though, if Colorado, Washington or other states show they are unable to control the drug, the Justice Department said in a statement. Forty-two percent of Americans age 12 or older have used marijuana at some point, according to a 2011 survey by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Obama has said he used marijuana when he was young.

 ^ I think pot should only be legal for medical uses and the Federal Government should allow it only in those situations. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/u-not-sue-colorado-washington-over-recreational-pot-173124195.html

Ft Hood Shooter

From the BBC:
"Nidal Hasan gets death penalty for Fort Hood rampage"

A military jury has sentenced a former US Army psychiatrist to die by lethal injection for killing 13 soldiers and wounding 32 at a Texas Army base. Maj Nidal Hasan, 42, was convicted last week of the November 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood. The defendant had tried to admit his guilt but military law bans guilty pleas in death penalty cases. The Virginia-born Muslim said he opened fire to protect Taliban insurgents from troops about to deploy to Afghanistan.  The jury handed down its sentence after two hours of deliberations on Wednesday. But it could be years, possibly decades, before Maj Hasan is executed because of the long appeals process in the military justice system. His execution must eventually be authorised by the president.

^ Good riddance to pure trash. People who join the military since 1973 (when it became all-volunteer) have no excuse to being deployed. No one forced them to join. They may not agree with a battle or war, but they signed-up knowing they could fight - hence the military part. This guy is a disgusting example of what an American soldier is not and I hope they fry him. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23871617

Cast A Giant Shadow (1966)

I came across this movie by accident and am really glad that I did. It is a great movie. It is the kind of war movie that you have to love: great fight scenes, famous cast, based on a true story and transcends a time or group of people. Kirk Douglas plays the main character : Mickey Marcus. Angie Dickinson plays his wife, Emma. Yul Brynner, Senta Berger, Topol,  Frank Sinatra and John Wayne  help round out the star-studded cast. Marcus was a real person. An American who served his country bravely and proudly during World War 2 and made a name for himself. He then went to help the Jews in Palestine as they prepared for the Arab invasions and battles in the newly-formed Israel. He used his West Point training and his bravery to mold the civilians - some just off the boats  - into what would become the Israel Defense Forces. His work along with the dedication of ordinary men, women and children to fight (with their bare hands if needed) stopped the Arabs from taking Israel and murdering them all - which is what the countries that fought (and continue to fight) Israel call for. The fact that Marcus was an American and that the US was the first nation to recognize Israel shows how strong the relationship is between our two countries. While other nations openly support those that call for the destruction of Israel and the Jews the US-Israeli bond has only grown stronger over the decades. No nation who every attacked Israel since 1948 has won and I do not believe that any ever will. The Israelis know that while the Arabs and Muslims that fight them can loose many wars and continue on as a people if Israel loses just one war it will be the end of 60 + years.

This movie is universal. You do not have to be Israeli or Jewish (I'm not) to see and appreciate its message: good people can not stand by and watch bad things happen. You have to help in whatever way you can. Also any country that has been constantly attacked (invasions, battles, wars, suicide bombs and missiles) during the past 65 years and yet continues to remain the sole democracy in the Middle East and not only respects the freedoms that the rest of the world does but also thrives proves that Israel and the Jews are a strong force that deserve the respect and support of other democracies.

50 Years: Dream

From the BBC:

"Obama: Economic equality is our great unfinished business"

US President Barack Obama has linked the ongoing struggle for economic equality in America with the goals of the 1963 March on Washington, in a speech marking its 50th anniversary. Mr Obama, the first black US president, said ensuring economic opportunity was "our great unfinished business".

Members of the King family and veterans of the march also spoke. Mr Obama gave his address at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington DC almost 50 years to the minute after Martin Luther King Jr culminated the march with his celebrated I Have a Dream speech. Mr Obama began by honouring King, as well as the many African-American and white marchers who descended on Washington to protest for civil rights 50 years ago.  But he said the 1963 march "teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history, that we are masters of our fate". Mr Obama was joined on the stage by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, who also spoke. Former President George W Bush, who is recovering from a heart procedure, sent a message of support.

 

^ Any person who is President at any major anniversary likes to take the credit for what others have done Obama is no different here. I think it was Morgan Freeman who said that Obama is not the first Black President, but the first half-White, half-Black President and that he was raised solely by his White mother and her White parents. Regardless, what race Obama is the main point today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech and how things have changed (and how they haven't) in the past 50 years. Racism is still everywhere in the country. Every race discriminates against other races. It has just moved below the surface. 50 years ago there were public signs, burning crosses, etc to show your dislike for anther group of people and today it is more hidden, but still there. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23861859

No Shirts, No Disabled!

From the WMUR:

"Veteran says diner owner kicked him, service dog out"

James Glaser, of Gardnerville, Nev., brings his dog, Jack, everywhere.   "At night when I start having night sweats and tremors and nightmares, he'll actually jump on top of me and wake me up and give me kisses and hugs," he told WCVB. Glaser suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after two stints in Iraq with the Air Force. Jack, a 3-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, is his service dog, trained and certified to help Glaser get through attacks. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, because Jack serves such a vital function, Glaser is supposed to be allowed to take him just about anywhere.

But when the two, along with Glaser's wife, walked into Oxford's Big I's Diner on Saturday morning, they were quickly shown the door. "I hear, 'Get that (expletive) fake service dog out of here,'" Glaser recalled the owner, Russell Ireland, shouting at him. Glaser argued with the owner and showed him Jack's certification papers -- to no avail. "He says he doesn't give a righteous whatever, and him or I are not welcome back in his restaurant," Glaser said. Even the Oxford police showed up and explained to Ireland that Jack is a service dog for a disabled veteran. "I told him, as well as the other officer, that, 'We do believe you're wrong, that Mr. Glaser should be able to come in with his service dog,'" Sgt. Anthony Saad told WCVB of his conversation Saturday morning with Ireland. "He still maintained his position."Saad had to inform Glaser, his wife and Jack that the owner wanted them off the property.  Glaser hasn't forgotten. He sent a letter Monday to the ADA offices in Washington, D.C., asking them to look into the case and to fine Big I's for discrimination. In the meantime, he's organizing a boycott of the restaurant. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't want him to get a single cent from anybody in these United States," Glaser said. Ireland talked with reporters outside Big I's Monday afternoon. He apologized to any veterans he offended. "I have nothing against veterans at all. They're the backbone of the country. It's what makes us the United States," he said. He also apologized to Glaser specifically, admitting he handled the situation poorly. But he stopped short of saying he'd allow Glaser and Jack back in. Ireland said he had seen the two in the restaurant before, though he wasn't aware of Jack's status as a service dog, and felt it was bad business to have a dog in a restaurant. "Do you need it to help you get to the bathroom? By all means. Do you need to cuddle it and sneak it a piece of sausage? No, I'd rather not have it in my place," he argued. Big I's has received hundreds of threatening phone calls in the last two days, according to Ireland, including one in which the caller threatened to burn the building down with the workers inside. Glaser, for his part, said any such threats are unacceptable

^ This is a disgrace. Not only does it put a slap against the faces of  all the disabled in general, but also all the men and women who fought and became disabled. I wish the police had the power in these circumstances to shut-down a business that broke the law rather than have to take it to court and wait years. If you have proof that you are disabled and that your dog/animal is trained to help you then you should be able to go anywhere you want to - just like everyone else. Glaser has it right in starting a boycott on Ireland and his business. Making threats on someone who breaks the law is pointless and can get you in trouble with the law yourself, but taking a non-violent stand and taking a person's livelihood away is a much better and bigger statement of doing what is right. I hope people in and around Oxford stop spending their money in the diner and turn their backs on Ireland. I also hope Glaser gets a court case against Ireland and wins  - maybe that will shut not only Ireland's diner, but also his disgusting mouth. ^

 

 http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/veteran-says-diner-owner-kicked-him-service-dog-out/-/9857858/21663254/-/item/2/-/dajecn/-/index.html

 

Syria - Serious!

From the Globe and Mail:

"If Syria is attacked, don’t expect a big Canadian role"

 With the apparent use of chemical weapons against civilians, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has crossed Barack Obama’s red line. There is now renewed discussion of the possibility of Western intervention. With a Russian veto certain at the United Nations Security Council, Mr. Obama’s staff is looking at the Kosovo example to see how to get as much international support and legitimacy for any military options.  Hitting Syria with cruise missiles is relatively cost-free (even in a time of sequestration). But it would be kabuki theater, as the missiles would do some minimal damage but not make a difference on the ground. It might satisfy demands to “do something,” but maybe not even that. There is some discussion of a no-fly zone – an option that would theoretically not allow us to avoid using ground troops, as we did in Libya – but people are confusing what really happened in Libya with a no-fly zone. Sure, NATO stopped Libya from flying its planes and helicopters, but it did far more than that. Its stance of “protecting civilians” really meant taking the side of the rebels against Moammar Gadhafi and becoming the source of close air support that any land force would want and need. In Syria, a no-fly zone on its own would not make that much impact since Mr. Assad could still rely on missiles and artillery to do significant damage to his opposition and to the civilians. A Libyan-type operation faces a key constraint: the Syrian opposition is deeply divided and much of it hostile to the West, so taking sides is really hard. The use of ground forces would be necessary to secure the chemical weapons and probably to remove Mr. Assad. Yet most countries are unlikely to take that kind of risk and pay that kind of price after several wars and a 5-year period of austerity.

We not only face some huge questions about how to respond to the Syrian use of chemical weapons, but about who will be joining the United States. If we are to learn from the 1999 Kosovo action (aside from how to act in concert without a United Nations resolution) and from Libya, the first lesson is that getting a NATO decision is really difficult, and that even when you reach consensus in NATO’s Brussels headquarters, that does not mean that everyone will contribute. Previous efforts to help Syria’s neighbour Turkey (a NATO member), which is how a NATO decision would be justified, have often foundered on the sad reality that many NATO countries are fairly antagonistic towards Turkey. France and the United Kingdom might be likely to join such an effort because of historic interests in the region, large immigrant communities with ties to those being harmed. While both are in the middle of significant austerity-induced military cuts, they still have the capabilities to help out. Germany is far less likely to join in despite still having a fairly robust (in European terms) military. Germany opted out of Libya, which had far fewer risks, so it is hard to see how German leaders would be more enthusiastic about a more complex Syrian mission. Also, Germany has elections coming up. Poland, which ducked out of the Libyan effort but did operate in dangerous places in Afghanistan, apparently is more willing to participate here. So, when the question turns to what will Canada do, it is hard to believe that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be as enthusiastic this time as he was two years ago. The probability of success is low. The Libyan mission should remind people that these efforts take much time and money. Given that the budget situation back in Ottawa is still quite tight, and Mr. Harper’s focus has been on putting the military back in the background as the 2015 election approaches, it is not clear why the Prime Minister would decide that Canada will make a meaningful contribution. However, there is a wild card in the Canadian outlook. Mr. Harper’s enthusiasm for Israel and antipathy towards Iran are both well known. Given that Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian militia, has sided with Mr. Assad, it might be the case that Syria is viewed through the same lens that led to Canada’s closing of its embassy in Tehran and of Iran’s embassy in Ottawa. Another added layer of complexity is that many of the forces arrayed against Mr. Assad within Syria are hostile to Israel and to the West, so it is not clear what would be best for Israel, except perhaps a stalemate. Would the West be so cynical as to do just enough to keep the civil war going? Would Mr. Harper support such an effort? It is not clear, but with a majority in parliament, the Prime Minister has a far freer hand now than he did when the Libyan effort started. Would it harm relations with the United States to stay out of it? Probably not. Given Mr. Obama’s ambivalence, it is hard to see how anyone in the U.S. would mind other countries being less enthusiastic. Moreover, Mr. Obama’s diplomacy would be focused on Russia, China and Europe. Finally, Canada would not be alone, no matter which course of action it follows, as some NATO members will participate, some will opt out, and others will contribute in a most token way. Mr. Harper has surprised people before, with the sudden announcements of the Afghanistan training mission and the military assistance to France in Mali last year. So predicting what he will do next can be a foolish enterprise, but if I had to bet, I would put my money on Canada not taking a substantial part in the upcoming effort against Syria.

^ I saw this article and thought to myself: "So much for Never Again." Countries and people from the 1940s on keep screaming that we will never allow a massacre of innocent civilians take place like it did during World War 2. Like in past conflicts (Vietnam, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, etc) that cry has gone un-noticed and the killings happened. Many people say those conflicts were civil wars and so is Syria so we shouldn't get involved. The civil war stopped in Syria when the Government there used chemical weapons to attack its citizens. Now it seems that the US and possibly France and the UK will take a stand (I'm sure Isrcouael would too, but like the 1991 Iraq War we are probably asking them to take a step-back so it doesn't anger the Arab/Muslim World.) If the rebels (as the Syrian Government claims) used the chemical weapons on themselves or on civilians then why didn't the Syrian Government allow inspectors to come in right away instead of covering up the attacks? It doesn't matter if 1 or 1,000 people were killed with the chemicals. Once that weapon was used it opened Pandora's Box and the conflict went from a civil war to a war that every, civilized nation needs to support in some way. Most countries probably won't do much (if anything) militarily. They usually only talk big and have nothing to support their talk. It doesn't surprise me that Russia is still siding with the Syrian Government (they did the same with Libya until the "rebels" won and then hey changed sides quickly.) Russia tends to side with dictatorships that use awful measures to kill its own people just like the USSR did. I did see a Russian official on the TV basically saying that the only thing Russia has to use in the Syrian question is talk because their military isn't up to the challenge. Regardless, every country around the world has a duty to side against any country that uses chemical or nuclear weapons against its own people. As usual, the US is taking the lead because we tend to stand-up and follow our words with action while the rest of the world sits on its hands and talks. I don't personally care one way or the other about Syria - I have no desire to every go there - even before the war - but the point is: talk is just that and when one side not only goes against your talk, but uses dangerous weapons than the time for talk is over. That is the true sign of a great nation - hoping diplomacy and sanctions work, but if they don't then not being against using force. ^

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/if-syria-is-attacked-dont-expect-a-big-canadian-role/article13968129/

 

Canadians In Space

From the Globe and Mail:

"Canada could send first astronaut to the moon within two decades"

Canada could be sending its first astronaut to the moon under an ambitious long-term plan being developed by a group of space agencies around the world. A return to the moon within the next two decades is part of the recently updated Global Exploration Roadmap – a far-reaching plan developed by more than a dozen space agencies. Canada is among the 14 space agencies participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, which first started developing the strategy in 2007. An early phase of the plan would put a new space station into orbit around the moon, and use it as a staging point to ferry astronauts back and forth. It’s part of a roadmap that lays out human and robotic missions in the solar system over the next 25 years, with the other components including a moon settlement and a proposal by NASA to capture a near-Earth asteroid. Jean-Claude Piedboeuf, the director of space-exploration development at the Canadian Space Agency, says there’s an agreement among space agencies that returning to the moon is a stepping stone to a more distant target: Mars. There would be human missions in the lunar vicinity and on its surface until 2030, at which point sights would be set on the red planet. The CSA official suggested astronauts could again be moon-bound in about 15 years. It would be the first human visit to the shining orb since 1972, when NASA astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt spent 75 hours there. This time, there could well be Canadian visitors. “We’re proposing a vision where Canada could have an astronaut, effectively a Canadian who will be in lunar space, either in orbit or on the moon and could operate a Canadian rover in the same way that Canadians operate a Canadarm on the space station,” Mr. Piedboeuf said. Canada is working to get one of its two active astronauts, David Saint-Jacques or Jeremy Hansen, to visit the space station between 2016 and 2019. The plan would see a small human settlement established on the moon. Astronauts could use it to mine lunar resources, while also learning how to survive away from Earth. The scenario proposes the use of a “Deep Space Habitat,” which would serve as a staging post. The habitat, a sort of mini-space station, could be placed at a so-called Lagrange point near the moon. Lagrange points are locations where gravity balances itself out and where a space station could theoretically be stationary. The recent retirement of the U.S. shuttle program was a critical moment – the end of one era, and the start of the next one described in the Global Exploration Roadmap. Now the Americans and Russians are developing long-range rockets and space capsules, like NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which will be used to send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. But it’s unclear whether the way to Mars will actually be led by national space agencies – like NASA, the CSA, the European Space Agency, and the Russian, Japanese, Indian and South Korean agencies.

^ I guess it is good that Canada wants to make a name for itself (for once) with regards to space since up to now it has been the Soviets/Russians and the Americans making all the headlines. ^

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-could-send-first-astronaut-to-the-moon-within-two-decades/article13946610/