Deutschland A-Z

From the DW:
"Germany from A to Z"

Important topics in a nutshell. Thirty-eight tips for understanding Germany and the Germans.

 

Army

The German military has about 180,000 active troops. Armed deployments must be approved by parliament. Rare exceptions such as immediate defense needs allow for deployment without a Bundestag vote. A battle-weary West Germany cautiously built its new army in the aftermath of two losing World Wars in the first half of the 20th century. The army was formally established in 1955, six years after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany - and with much contention. During the Cold War, the sole purpose of the West's army was national defense. In the 1990s, a united Germany sent its military abroad on peacekeeping missions, generally in cooperation with NATO, of which Germany is a member.

Asylum

As a matter of principle, Germany grants asylum to people who are politically, religiously or ethnically persecuted. Applications are subject to a thorough verification process. Officials will deny asylum to those who they determine do not meet the standards. Applicants must then leave the country within a specified time period.

Associations

Germany is a land of associations, with the number quintupling over the past 40 years - to about 600,000 now registered nationwide. However, the rate of membership has not: In 1990 62 percent of citizens belonged to a club, by 2000 that number had dropped to 53 percent, and in 2014 only about 44 percent held membership in an association. Germans are especially fond of sports clubs, with about one in five holding membership in one. However, there are also associations dedicated to hobbies and interests, music and singing, gardening and animal-breeding, and bowling.

Auschwitz

The camp in occupied Poland was one of seven extermination sites used by Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler. Nearly 1 million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz compound from 1940 to 1945, in addition to tens of thousands of Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and others, for a total of 1.1 million people. The Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, a date that has become known as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Nazis killed more than 11 million people during the Holocaust, including 6 million Jews, but also Roma, LGBT people, political opponents, Slavs and people with disabilities.

Automobiles

The German Carl Benz is known as the inventor of the modern automobile. And the automobile industry is an essential branch of the national economy. German cars are internationally renowned. In 2014, about 44 million cars were registered in Germany. Two out of every three adults is an automobile owner in a country that drives on the right-hand side of the road.

Bread

Bread is considered a basic element of Germany's food pyramid, and there is a large variety of it. German bakeries often offer shelf after shelf of bread, with different grains and grain combinations and several methods of baking. Southern Germans enjoy "bread time," a meal between meals made up of bread, butter, cheese and/or sausage - often washed down with a liter of beer.

Carnival

As winter makes its exit, the Rhineland and parts of southern Germany suit up for Carnival. It's an exuberant binge before Lent, the 40-day Catholic fasting period ahead of Easter. In the main celebration cities of Cologne, Dusseldorf and Mainz, Carnival features several days of street festivals beginning on the last Thursday before Lent and ending on Ash Wednesday. Millions put on costumes over the course of the week.

Christianity

About 60 percent of Germans consider themselves Christian - the bulk of them members of the official Catholic or Protestant churches. However, Germany is officially secular and religion is considered a private affair. Still, Christianity pervades Germany, with most holidays having a biblical basis. Several "other" religions have also found a home in Germany, which is home to about nearly 4.5 million Muslims, or up to 5.5 percent of the population; another 1 percent comprises a combined 270,000 Buddhists, 200,000 Jews, 120,000 Hindus, 60,000 Yazidi, 5,000 to 10,000 Sikhs and 6,000 Bahai.

Clocks

Germany is a land of clocks. They're all over the streetscape - from the towers of churches to the watches on so many wrists. Punctuality is a virtue, and tardiness is extremely uncivil. Keeping appointments is obligatory. One should inform the other party if one cannot.

Constitution

Enacted on May 23, 1949, Germany's Basic Law sets forth the rights officially enjoyed by the country's citizens. It was written with the abuses of Nazism in mind, as well as the failures of the interwar Weimar Republic. The constitution foremost emphasizes human dignity for citizens: the right to free personal development, individual freedom, life and physical integrity. In theory, these rights are a citizen's first defenses against state transgressions. The constitution also emphasizes binary gender equality and forbids discrimination on religious, political or most other grounds. The Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe decides on constitutional matters.

Culture

Germany is a country rich in culture, with long traditions of theater, opera, museums, publishing and festivals. Officially, culture is a matter handled by individual states. The federal government only holds sway over a few cultural institutions.

Deutschland

The German name for Germany, home to 80 million people and the most populous member of the European Union. The country was divided into the eastern German Democratic Republic and western Federal Republic for four decades following World War II. Reunification on October 3, 1990, integrated the former East Germany into the Federal Republic. Germany has 16 states, each with their own governing bodies for education, culture and police. The country boasts Europe's largest economy. As a founding member of the EU, Germany helped bring about the euro.

Education

Compulsory for all children aged 6 and older, education is very important in Germany. A basic education generally consists of 10 years of schooling, which, along with books and other learning and teaching materials, is funded by the state. Higher education is also generally funded. One may apply for university or career training after at least 12 years of basic education. Particular to Germany is a system that places students with a company for on-the-job training in addition to studies to prepare for a career.

Equality

In Germany, which appointed its first female chancellor in 2005, men and women have equal rights and all forms of discrimination are officially forbidden. Authorities and aid organizations are at the ready to help those who experience domestic violence. Many cities have emergency shelters for women who have experienced abuse.

European Union

The European Union is the only body of its type in the world, with 28 member states ceding a portion of their sovereignty to a supranational authority. With 500 million inhabitants, the European Union is the world's largest common market. However, the EU is more than an economic body: It has the important function of maintaining peace in Europe, which experienced continentwide war twice in a 30-year period in the early 20th century.

Football

Germany won the 2014 World Cup - and three before that: 1954, 1974 and 1990. Soccer - as it is known in the US - is the national sport. About 7 million children, youths and adults are registered with the German Football Association (DFB) as active players, making it the world's largest sport authority. The most successful German soccer team is Bayern Munich, which has won 25 national championships and five Champions League titles. With more than 250,000 members, the Bayern Munich fan club is the world's second largest.

Forests

Although Germany is very densely populated, 32 percent of the country is covered in forest. With 42 percent of their land covered by woods, the states of Hessen and Rhineland-Palatinate have the most forest. Such green spaces are very important to Germany's lumber industry - and also to the country's spiritual life. Forests were a frequent theme in 19th-century Romanticism, painted both as a tribute to nature, but also as a form of worship. In addition to lumber, forests provide a place for rest and relaxation.

Freedom

Freedom is the prevailing spirit in Germany. State paternalism and constraints are frowned upon and tolerance is preached. It's a country where some people can remember the lessons of the repression under National Socialism or the former German Democratic Republic. Since the 1960s and '70s, various student and liberation movements led by feminists and LGBT people have fought to keep such repressive regimes from repeating themselves.

Holocaust

The Holocaust was the mass murder of about 6 million Jews and 5 million other people by Nazi Germany between 1940 and 1945, primarily in seven industrialized extermination camps, most of which were located outside of traditionally national borders in Central Europe. Germany additionally ran about 1,000 concentration camps within its borders and the territories it controlled. The most notorious of these was the Auschwitz extermination compound.

Homeland (Heimat)

Homeland is an oft-romanticized vision of one's place of origin, upbringing or identity. It is often closely tied to regions: the Rhineland, Central German Uplands, coast or mountains, for examples.

Homosexuality

Germans have a general social acceptance of LGBT people, and most forms of discrimination are officially forbidden. Registered partnerships offer most benefits of marriage.

Immigration

For years, German leaders had spoken out against the idea of the country as a land of migrants. This stance was especially apparent in the use of the term "guest worker," which was long used to describe the South Europeans who began coming to Germany in the 1960s for officially temporary industrial sector jobs. As a result, the country has become a de facto land of migrants, though not in the same sense that the United States or Canada is. Businesses seeking skilled workers have long advocated for more immigration, and the social security payments made by foreign employees have helped allay strains on the country's aging population.

Income tax

Whether self-employed or contracted, all workers in Germany are meant to contribute income tax, which is generally automatically withheld from wages by the authorities. Rent and investment income are also subject to tax. Tax evasion is severely punished.

Integration

Over the decades, people from many parts of the world have migrated to Germany. To avoid the emergence of "parallel societies," Germany has created an integration regime, offering courses in language, national values, politics, economics, land and people. Civil societies and associations also play an important role in integration. The federal government has an integration commissioner and several states have a minister dedicated to integration.

Justice

Germany has enshrined the separation of powers, giving judges maximum independence. Judicial security is highly valued and protected, and courts also critically examine the actions of authorities. Should circumstances require, citizens can also appeal judicial decisions to higher courts.

Kohl, Helmut

Born in 1930, Helmut Kohl was chancellor from 1982 to 1998. Having served during the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, he is best known as the "Chancellor of Unity," bringing the country back together after four decades of East-West estrangement. Passionate about the EU, Kohl also helped bring about the euro, the currency now used in 19 of 28 member states.

Merkel, Angela

Born in the German Democratic Republic in 1954 and educated as a physicist, Angela Merkel assumed the chancellorship in 2005. She had led the Christian Democrats since 2000. An East German Protestant, Merkel easily took charge of the West German conservatives, introducing several changes, such as an end to compulsory military or public service and unplugging the nuclear energy sector.

Nationhood

Germany came about in a way very different from European nations such as the United Kingdom, France or Spain. The first German state was declared in 1871, under Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck - as testified to by hundreds of monuments to the man across the young country. In the centuries leading up to Bismarck's declaration, Germans lived in several smaller states controlled by various local dynasties. And, of course, not eight decades into its existence, the country was divided again, until 1989, into East Germany and the Federal Republic, only to reunite in 1990.

Ottomotor

Named after co-inventor Nicolaus August Otto and patented in 1877, the Ottomotor is the first two- or four-stroke combustion engine. The German invention is now found under the hood of several million cars worldwide, as well as in millions of motorcycles.

Partition, German

After World War II, Germany spent four decades divided on Cold War lines: in the west, the capitalist Federal Republic, a member of NATO, and in the east the Soviet-influenced German Democratic Republic, a Warsaw Pact member. With people leaving the East in droves by 1961, authorities built a wall to keep them in. The German Democratic Republic ordered soldiers to shoot anyone trying to flee over the highly militarized border between the two countries. Eight hundred and seventy-two people were shot. The German Democratic Republic opened the border on November 9, 1989. On October 3, 1990, East and West reunited to form the complete Federal Republic of Germany. Since then, October 3 has been a national holiday.

Physical punishment

Spankings and other forms of corporal punishment of children rarely come up in everyday conversation - they are no longer allowed. Germany used to permit a certain level of corporal punishment, but officials have since determined that children have a right to a violence-free upbringing. Partners are also forbidden from abusing one another, and corporal punishment is not allowed in schools, youth correctional facilities or the military.

Political parties

According to Article 21 of the constitution, Germany's parties "participate in the formation of the political will of the people." By law, "their internal organization must conform to democratic principles." With about half a million members each, Germany's two biggest political parties are the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats. Bavaria's Christian Social Union has about 140,000 members. The Left, Greens and Free Democrats have about 60,000 members each. Any group of citizens can found a party at any time. They have to follow the constitution, form it according to democratic rules, put forth a program and charter - and, of course, have members.

Quality

Germans are fond of being known for their efficiency - something often referred to by foreigners, as well, by way of both praise and stereotype. Both inside and outside the country, for decades the label "Made in Germany" has been taken as an endorsement of a product's reliability, value and longevity.

State of law (rule of law)

By law, state power is officially kept in check in Germany. Laws - especially the Basic Law - are intended to ensure freedom in particular. The constitution has the special function of ensuring human dignity, freedom, justice and the security of rights. In practical terms, this means that the official decisions of all types of authorities can be appealed to independent courts.

Xenophobia

According to Webster, xenophobia means "fear or hatred" of foreigners. In Germany, xenophobia manifests in verbal, physical and political attacks on people from elsewhere - often against refugees. By the end of October 2015, Germany's Federal Criminal Office had registered more than 460 xenophobic attacks, more than twice as many as in the same period in 2014.

Yoga

Yoga is a form of physical and spiritual exercise that originated in India and has its roots in the Hindu religion. Still considered an "exotic" form of exercise in the 1960s and '70s, yoga has since become quite common. Nearly every city offers an assortment of courses for many types of yoga, each with its different emphases - on physical fitness, flexibility, spiritual exercise or some combination of those.

Zeitgeist

A word that needs no translation - largely because it has been taken up as is by English and so many other languages - zeitgeist refers to the spirit of the times, be it cultural, political or social. It's rarely used in the negative, and to keep the good times going, more than a few bars abroad have named themselves that. It's also rarely used in the present, so don't look too hard for the zeitgeist: You might just be missing the moment.

 

^ Having lived in West Germany and then in Germany as well as travelling throughout the country several times since I think I am well-versed on Germany and the German people as well as any foreigner can be. The topics in bold are the ones I think should be included in a Germany A to Z list. Certain ones I don't think belong on this list include: Equality, Freedom, Homosexuality (since homosexuals are not permitted to marry and given the history of Germans murdering homosexuals until they are given full-rights you can't use those three words to describe the country.) Yoga is just plain dumb to add to a list that describes a country - unless it is enshrined in their Basic Law. ^

http://www.dw.com/en/germany-from-a-to-z/a-18812923

21st Pioneer?

From the BBC:
"Russia to Get 21st-Century Version of Kids' Pioneers Organization"

 

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the creation of a schoolchildren's movement aimed at promoting national values and apparently modeled on the Soviet Union's Young Pioneers organization. The Russian Schoolchildren's Movement is being established to “perfect state policy in the area of educating the young generation, [and] to support the forming of personalities on the basis of the value system inherent to Russian society,” Putin said in a decree signed Thursday and posted on the government's official document website.The date when the decree was signed and published, Oct. 29, is the anniversary of the founding in 1918 of the Soviet Union's Young Communist League, or Komsomol: a group that comprised high-schoolers, college students and young professionals. The potential symbolism of the timing prompted many in Russia to speculate that the new schoolchildren's movement would resemble yet another of the Soviet Union's youth organizations, intended for yet younger citizens: the Young Pioneers. “On Komsomol's birthday, Putin signed a decree on creating new Pioneers,” the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily said in a headline on its website Thursday. The newspaper went on to clarify, however, that the new movement was not an attempt to recreate the pioneers, because unlike its Soviet-era predecessor, the new organization would be free from Communist or any other ideology. The shape and scope of the new movement remained unclear. Education Ministry officials appeared unfamiliar with Putin's plans, while a social affairs official in Russia's Cabinet said the new movement was “exclusively the presidential administration's” idea, RBC news agency reported. But others argued the new group could fill a niche that had been left vacant for decades since the 1991 Soviet collapse. In a country that saw an upsurge in crime, drug use and, more recently, radical Islamist movements amid the easing of government restrictions that followed the Soviet collapse, supporters of the new movement see it as a way of providing a purpose for young Russians. While several modern Pioneers organizations exist, mostly run by the Communist party, they do not operate at a national level like the new Russian Schoolchildren's Movement. While Putin's decree did not specify the values that the new movement was supposed to develop in children, the Russian leader has been increasingly calling for patriotic education recently, as Moscow's relations with the West have grown fetid over the crises in Ukraine and Syria. Moscow's official rhetoric accuses Western governments of seeking to destroy Russia, while criticism of Kremlin policies is frequently denounced as a sign of belonging to the “fifth column” or subscribing to “extremist” views. The Soviet Union had three massive youth organizations: Oktyabryata for young children, starting with elementary school students, Pioneers for middle schoolers, and Komsomol, into which applicants were admitted starting from high-school age. Komsomol membership was in most cases obligatory to gain admission to elite colleges and universities. In another recent reintroduction of Soviet-era practices, Putin signed a law earlier this month that re-establishes physical training standards known in Russia by its acronym GTO, which stands for “Ready for Labor and Defense.”
 

 

^ I have tried to read Russian and world media sources (in Russian and English) to see if this new Organization would be obligatory for all Russian children the way the Pioneers was. I wasn't able to find anything concrete out. It seems that no one (other than maybe Putin) knows what his new decree and organization will be about. I admit that there needs to be more programs, etc for Russian youth, but am not sure if re-creating a mandatory, government-run Pioneer-like group is the answer. I was a Boy Scout and that helped me (it was also voluntary and not government-run.)

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-to-get-21st-century-version-of-kids-pioneers-organization/541127.html
 

Happy Halloween!

Got my candy corn ready and going to watch scary movies. Nothing like Halloween on my mountain.

Obama Wrong

From the Stars and Stripes:

"8 times Obama said there would be no ground troops or no combat mission in Syria"

 

It's generally a bad idea for presidents, or would-be presidents, to make iron-clad promises about foreign policy. And President Barack Obama has been stymied repeatedly when it comes to this. The White House announced Friday that a small number of special forces will be put on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria — a new strategy that pretty clearly contradicts past Obama and administration statements that U.S. forces would not be put on the ground there. As the United States got drawn into the fight against the Islamic State earlier this year, the White House repeatedly emphasized this point — a move to assure the nation that we wouldn't be drawn into a new war like Iraq or Afghanistan. Asked Friday about the incongruence of Obama's past comments and putting these boots on the ground, White House press secretary Josh Earnest repeatedly emphasized that these are not combat troops — a distinction that many disagree with, we would note — and suggested promises to not put boots on the ground were being taken "out of context." "You've read one quote that, to be fair, is out of context," he said when NBC's Kristen Welker pointed to Obama saying in 2013 there would be no U.S. boots on the ground. But Obama has actually said no boots on the ground repeatedly in 2013, before adjusting his language slightly — but notably — in 2014. Here's a recap of how he — and one of his top foreign policy aides — have talked about it, in 10 quotes.

Aug. 20, 2013

"Again, I repeat: We're not considering any open-ended commitment. We're not considering any boots-on-the-ground approach."

— Obama at a news conference at the White House with Baltic leaders

Aug. 30, 2013

"And in no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground; that would involve a long-term campaign."

— Obama in remarks with the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia at the White House

Aug. 31, 2013

"Now, after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets. This would not be an open-ended intervention. We would not put boots on the ground."

— Obama in a statement on Syria at the White House

Sept. 7, 2013

"What we're talking about is not an open-ended intervention. This would not be another Iraq or Afghanistan. There would be no American boots on the ground."

— Obama in his weekly address

Sept. 9, 2013

"This will not be Iraq or Afghanistan. There will be no American boots on the ground — period."

— National Security Advisor Susan Rice

Sept. 10, 2013

"I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria."

— Obama in a televised national address from the White House

More recently, in 2014, Obama talked less about "no boots on the ground" and more about those hypothetical troops not having a "combat" mission or be actually fighting — a distinction the White House keyed on Friday.

Sept. 5, 2014

"With respect to the situation on the ground in Syria, we will not be placing U.S. ground troops to try to control the areas that are part of the conflict inside of Syria."

— Obama in remarks at a NATO conference

Sept. 10, 2014

"I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil."

— Obama in his plan to destroy the Islamic State

Sept. 19, 2014

"The president has ruled out the option of deploying American boots on the ground in Iraq and in Syria in a combat role."

— Earnest in a press briefing

Sept. 20, 2014

"I won't commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq, or in Syria."

— Obama in his weekly address

Even Friday though, the White House's decision to parse what is and isn't a combat troop is being picked apart.

 

^ It's surprise that Obama doesn't do what he says he will. In his two terms he has shown time and again that he doesn't have a realistic grasp on most things (domestic or international.) He helped cause the current situation in the Middle East when he sent all US soldiers home from Iraq which allowed ISIS to gain large areas of land in Iraq and Syria. Then he had to admit his mistake and send soldiers back. As reported above he stated many times that there wouldn't be American ground troops (only airstrikes) but sending soldiers (Special Ops or not) on the ground is having American ground troops. I can't wait until we get a new President in 2017 and they can (hopefully) fix the numerous issues he has created - although I don't really care for any of the announced candidates (Republican, Democrat or Independent.) ^

 

 

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/8-times-obama-said-there-would-be-no-ground-troops-or-no-combat-mission-in-syria-1.376154
 

Gulag Museum

From the BBC:
"New Russian Gulag museum recreates Soviet terror"

 

The Russian authorities have opened a new museum in Moscow dedicated to the millions who were persecuted in Soviet labour camps in 1930-1950 - in the so-called Gulag system. The opening coincided with a national day of remembrance for the victims of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.  Earlier, thousands of victims' names were read out near the Lubyanka, the former base of the KGB secret police.  The new Gulag museum is bigger than a previous one founded in 2001. Under President Vladimir Putin's rule Russian officials have tended to downplay Stalin's crimes, focusing more on Stalin's role in the Soviet World War Two victory over Nazi Germany. Portraits of Stalin have reappeared in public - yet they were taboo for decades after his death and the 1956 denunciation of Stalinism by his Communist successor Nikita Khrushchev.  The new five-storey museum shows personal effects of Gulag prisoners, the dimensions of prison cells, and original doors from camps in remote Magadan, Anadyr and Vorkuta. Up to 170 prisoners were crammed into one cell.  There are also grim discoveries from execution pits - bullets and casings, and wire used to tie up victims. An estimated 20 million people died during Stalin's reign of terror. At the height of the terror, in the 1930s, victims accused of plotting against Soviet power were executed en masse.   On entering the museum visitors hear the chilling clank of cell doors being shut and loud footsteps in prison corridors. "I want visitors to be able to touch the doors and immerse themselves in this theme, to feel it," said museum director Roman Romanov, quoted by the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta. A huge map of Russia shows the camp locations - described in detail in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's chronicle The Gulag Archipelago, which was banned by the Soviet authorities. And visitors can also read about the experiences and suffering of individual prisoners.  By focusing on the Stalin period the museum does not however include the persecution of dissidents that went on after Stalin's death.

^  This is desperately needed - especially in Russia. Every single citizen in the Soviet Union knew someone (friend or relative) that went into the Gulag - that doesn't even include the millions in the former Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe. People today need to know the truth since it was kept a secret until 1991 and then not widely publicized after. The Germans are made to learn about Hitler and his crimes and the Russians and other former Soviets need to learn the crimes of Lenin, Stalin and the other Communists. Even when the Gulag camps were closed in the 1950s people were still tortured and imprisoned in psychiatric hospitals where they were pumped with drugs on a regular basis. There needs to be a museum about those crimes as well. I am interested in visiting the Gulag Museum and see just how in-depth it is. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34675413

Easing Sanctions

From the BBC:

"EU and US to ease sanctions on Belarus President Lukashenko"

 

The EU is to suspend most of its sanctions against Belarus including an asset freeze and travel ban on President Alexander Lukashenko. The decision follows the freeing of the country's remaining six political prisoners in August. The US has also said it will ease sanctions, but urged Belarus "to improve its record with respect to human rights and democracy". Mr Lukashenko is believed to want closer ties with Western countries. He is reported to be eager to reduce Russia's leverage as he comes under pressure from Moscow to allow a Russian air base in his country. Russia wants to establish the base to counter what it sees as Nato's eastward advance, but Belarus argues that such a base will not reduce military and political tensions in the region.   In a statement confirming its decision, the EU said that it was taking account of "the context of improving EU-Belarus relations". From Saturday it will suspend "for four months the asset freeze and travel ban applying to 170 individuals and the asset freeze applying to three entities in Belarus," the Council of the European Union statement said.  However an arms embargo will remain in force as will sanctions against four members of President Lukashenko's security services who are suspected of orchestrating the disappearances of political opponents. The move will be reviewed at the end of February and sanctions could be re-imposed if the EU sees a deterioration in human rights, the rule of law and press freedoms. The US Treasury for its part said that from Saturday it would allow most transactions with nine sanctioned entities in Belarus for the next six months. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the US was taking the step "in light of the positive move by the Belarusian government to release all six of its political prisoners on 22 August". Mr Kirby said that the move "opens the door to expanded commercial ties" while urging the government of Belarus to do more "to improve its record with respect to human rights and democracy". Mr Lukashenko, 61, has governed the former Soviet republic almost unchallenged for 21 years.

 

 

^ It does seem like Belarus wants to stop its isolation and open itself to EU and the US. They are in a Union with Russia, but still try to forge their own path. I think its difficult for Belarus and other countries neighboring Russia because if they are viewed as a threat then Russia can invade, occupy and annex them as they did the Crimea. I have Belarussian friends and hopefully things will get better for them now. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34674183
 

Hocus Pocus

From Yahoo:

"The Magical Tale of How 'Hocus Pocus' Went From Box-Office Flop to Halloween Favorite"

 

When Hocus Pocus opened in theaters in July 1993, it didn’t seem to put a spell on anyone. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the Bette Midler-starring comedy about three Salem witches thrust into present day “an unholy mess.” Roger Ebert’s review said the movie’s three bumbling spell-casters “don’t have personalities; they have behavior patterns and decibel levels.” The Associated Press was even harsher: “The only real curses in this film,” wrote Patricia Bibby, “will be yours as you walk up the aisle to leave.” Ticket sales weren’t any better. The movie debuted in fourth place at the weekend box office, quickly dropped out of the top 10, and ultimately earned just $39.5 million, a disappointment for its studio, Walt Disney. (It probably didn’t help that it opened against the equally family-friendly Free Willy and had to compete against dino juggernaut Jurassic Park.)Almost as soon as it arrived, Hocus Pocus seemed poised to go poof and disappear. But over the past two decades, the movie about a trio of resurrected witchy women has come back from the dead, enchanting old fans and luring in new ones on DVD, streaming video, and annual TV airings;sparking social media love from fans who never met an image of Midler’s Winifred Sanderson they couldn’t turn into a meme; emerging as a central part of Walt Disney World’s Halloween celebration; and possibly spawning a sequel, if the film’s creatorhas his way. What It’s a Wonderful Life is to Christmas, Hocus Pocus has officially become to Halloween. It only took a couple of decades — give or take. How did it happen? We asked two of the men who crafted its story, and others, to explain. Hocus Pocus began as a bedtime story that David Kirschner, producer and co-writer of the film, told his two young daughters in the 1980s. That narrative’s basic elements would, eventually, inform the movie’s plot: A 17th-century boy named Thackery Binx tries to save his sister from three evil witches, who turn him into a cat, but who are eventually put to death by the townspeople of Salem, Mass. Three hundred years later, the witches reappear on Halloween night, after a virgin lights the black flame candle. Kirschner’s ideas sprang from his longtime love of All Hallows’ Eve as well as some personal events from his childhood: Binx the cat, for example, was named after Inks, an actual black cat he took in as a boy. “Halloween is a huge deal in our home, and it has been since our daughters were little,” Kirschner says.  Shooting began in October 1992, with Kenny Ortega — who’d served as the choreographer on Dirty Dancing and recently directed Newsies — at the helm. Other notables were involved as well: John Debney, who would later earn an Academy Award nomination for his work on The Passion of the Christ, composed the score, while James Horner — who had already earned several Oscar nods, and would later win for his Titanic score — co-wrote “Sarah’s Theme,” the “Come little children” siren song Parker croons while riding her broomstick. (Horner died earlier this year in a plane crash.) With so much talent assembled, it seemed like Hocus Pocus couldn’t miss. Then it did. When it came out, it laid a tiny little bit of an egg, so we didn’t expect much,” Midler said last year in a Reddit AMA. “And now look at it! OCTOBER is HOCUS POCUS MONTH!” In the years that followed, Hocus Pocus did indeed achieve a cult status that eventually bled into the mainstream. According to information compiled by movie data site the Numbers, between October of 2008 and Oct. 4 of this year, it generated $21 million in DVD and Blu-ray revenues, the majority of which was earned in the October months. As of this writing, Hocus Pocus is No. 2 on Amazon’s list of bestsellers in the movies and TV category, and second on iTunes’ ranking of most popular movies for children and families. The repeated broadcasts of Hocus Pocus on television, most notably during ABC Family’s annual “13 Nights of Halloween” programming block, also have made the film’s popularity go “amok, amok, amok.” In 2011, 2.8 million people tuned in to the primetime broadcast of the movie on Oct. 29, the Saturday before Halloween. The Oct. 19 debut of Hocus Pocus during this year’s “13 Nights” attracted 1.7 million viewers, according to data provided by ABC Family. This year for the first time, Orlando’s Walt Disney World added a Hocus Pocus show —the “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular” — to its Halloween festivities, making the Sanderson sisters as integral to the Magic Kingdom as Space Mountain. Allison McKinnon, a spokeswoman for the park, says that 22 out of the 25 Halloween party nights sold out in advance, a new record.  Now that Hocus Pocus is universally beloved, will there be a sequel? Midler, Najimy, and Parker have publicly expressed willingness to star in one in the past. Just this week, Midler toyed with a follow-up again, sending out a tongue-in-cheek tweet about the sequel being delayed because Disney is “having trouble finding a virgin.”

 

^ I was living in Germany when the movie first came out in the US and never got to see it until  years later. I have to say that I now watch it at least once every Halloween. It's got a scary element (albeit Disney scary and not horror movie scary) and also a "feel good" vibe to it. ^

 

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/the-magical-tale-of-how-hocus-pocus-went-from-144105863.html

Fewer Shows

From Disability Scoop:
"TV Featuring Fewer Characters With Disabilities"

For the first time in two years, the number of characters with disabilities on prime-time television is on the decline, a new report finds. There are just eight regularly appearing characters with disabilities expected this year on scripted prime-time programs on ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC, representing 0.9 percent of all characters. Last season, by comparison, there were 11 such characters with disabilities. The figures come from an annual report out this week from GLAAD, a media advocacy organization for the gay and lesbian community. The analysis offers an assessment of minority representation on television during the 2015-2016 season, including a look at disabilities. FOX leads the networks with four characters with disabilities on its schedule, while ABC is expected to have two and there are one each at CBS and The CW. NBC will have none, the report found. On cable, ABC Family will feature two characters with disabilities and there is one on Showtime. The streaming service, Hulu, also claims a single character with a disability. For the report, characters were considered to have a disability if they would be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.Portrayals of disabilities are slated to appear on Fox in “Empire,” “Rosewood” and “Scream Queens” in addition to ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Marvel’s Agent Carter” as well as CBS’s “NCIS: New Orleans” and “The 100” on The CW. Cable shows include “Switched at Birth” and “Pretty Little Liars” on ABC Family and “Shameless” on Showtime. Hulu will feature a character with a disability on the Australian drama “Neighbours,” the report said.

 

^ This is a sad trend. It should ne the other way around (more shows with the disabled on it) because the country and the world still has a long way to go to accept and to stop discriminating against the disabled.  ^

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/10/28/tv-fewer-disabilities/20909/

Suspending Post

From the G & M:
"Canada Post suspending community mailbox installations"

 

The country’s national mail carrier has halted the installation of community mailboxes, one week after the Trudeau Liberals were elected with a pledge to scrap the move away from door-to-door delivery. “Canada Post is temporarily suspending future deployment of the program to convert door-to-door mail delivery to community mailboxes,” the Crown agency said in an emailed statement. The move means nearly half a million households that were to be converted over the next two months will keep their current mail service. “Efforts are now underway to place the comprehensive program on hold in an orderly fashion,” said the statement. “Customers impacted by this decision will receive a letter within the next few weeks advising them of the status of their mail delivery service.” But those already converted over the last 10 months will not get door-to-door service back — at least not under Canada Post’s current plan. The union representing postal employees said it was elated with the news. But the Canadian Union of Postal Workers will be pushing the Liberal government to reverse the cuts to postal services that have been made so far, said the organization’s national president. CUPW has been pushing Canada Post to expand its business into ventures such as postal banking services, similar to those adopted in other countries including the United Kingdom and France. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promised during the election campaign to reverse cuts to door-to-door mail delivery that were begun under the Harper Conservative government. And with the Liberals elected to a majority government, some Liberal MPs said they were getting an earful from constituents who wanted to know why the boxes were still being installed. There were several localized protests against the installations in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, with some people defiantly taking to standing or lying on dirt piles to prevent workers from placing cement foundations for the mailboxes. Canada Post, however, was adamant that it was moving ahead with the mailbox conversions, telling CUPW late last week — after the election results were known — that it would not back away from the plan. It also placed ads to hire door-to-door canvassers to sell the merits of community mail delivery in British Columbia. But late Monday, the Crown agency said it would rethink its plan. “We will work collaboratively with the Government of Canada to determine the best path forward given the ongoing challenges faced by the Canadian postal system,” the corporation said. Canada Post has been warning for some time that it expects home mail delivery revenues to continue to decline. It announced in 2013 a plan to phase out door-to-door delivery and cut up to 8,000 jobs, mainly through attrition. The corporation said it handled nearly 1.2 billion fewer pieces of mail in 2013 than in 2006. Canada Post Group reported in May that letter mail volumes fell 8.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, or by 41 million pieces, compared with the same period a year earlier. At the same time, however, the agency said it recorded a 10-per-cent increase in overall revenues and a before-tax profit of $24 million in the first three months of the year, contrasting with a $37-million loss during the same quarter in 2014. Canada Post Group includes the Canada Post mail service, Purolator and other businesses.

 

 

^ This is an easy campaign promise for Trudeau to keep (if he had anything to do with the decision other than being elected.) Trudeau has promised Canadians a wide-range of changes (taken from the Liberal Party of Canada's website: fix health care system, helping the middle class, making the Federal Government more "accessible" and "transparent", making the Canada Revenue Agency "fairer," restoring the long-form census, making Statistics Canada fully independent, ending "unfair" tax breaks, provide more affordable housing, fighting poverty for children and the elderly, invest in better, cleaner public transportation, make parental benefits more flexible, supporting caregivers, fix Employment Insurance, invest more in Canada's North, give more retirement security, take in more Syrian refuges, help the world's poor, "renew and repair" relations with the United States and Mexico, restore Canada's leadership in the world, promote international peace and security, invest more in the Canadian military, give veterans more compensation, legalize marijuana, end MSM Blood Donation Ban, etc.) These are a lot of issues that are not all as easy to solve, fix, reform or repeal as this mailbox issue is. Hopefully, Trudeau and the Liberals haven't bitten off more than they could chew. ^

 

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canada-post-erecting-community-mailboxes-despite-liberal-delivery-pledge/article26981780/

 

http://www.liberal.ca/realchange/

UNIFIER

From the Government of Canada:

"Operation UNIFIER"

 

Operation UNIFIER is Canada’s contribution to support Ukrainian forces through capacity building, in coordination with the U.S. and other countries providing similar training assistance. Military assistance is one component of Canada’s support to Ukraine across development, security, democracy, and humanitarian aid. As part of Canada’s response to requests from the Government of Ukraine, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), with support from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), is providing military training and capacity building to Ukraine forces’ personnel to support Ukraine in its efforts to maintain sovereignty, security, and stability. The training mission occurs under the rubric of the Multinational Joint Commission which includes Ukraine, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Canada joined the Joint Commission in January 2015, and co-chairs, with Ukraine, the Sub-Committee on Military Policing.

 

The Task Force:

Canada is deploying approximately 200 CAF personnel to Ukraine until March 31, 2017. CAF members will come from all parts of Canada, depending on the skillset and capability that they bring to the conduct of a particular training program. In large part, the first group of CAF personnel will come from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group at Garrison Petawawa. Any follow-up deployments will include troops mostly from 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group at CFB Valcartier. CAF members will be deployed on both a sustained and periodic basis depending on the type of training being conducted. The CAF’s primary focus will be on tactical soldier training, also known as small team training, which consists of individual weapons training, marksmanship, moving, communication, survival, and ethics training.

Other training activities will include:

• explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and improvised explosive device disposal (IEDD) training;
• military police training consisting of Use of Force and Basic Investigative Techniques courses;
• medical training that provides casualty evacuation and combat first aid training;
• flight safety and language training;
• reconnaissance and mechanized operations training; and
• logistics system modernization.

The training began in summer 2015 and is taking place primarily at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre (IPSC) in Starychi. Training is also taking place at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence Demining Centre in Kamyanets-Podilsky and other locations in western Ukraine. The language and flight safety training will take place in Canada. Furthermore, the CAF are partnered with Ukraine in the Military Training and Cooperation Program (MTCP), an ongoing engagement that will continue to offer a series of opportunities to enhance peace support operations, interoperability, military capacity building, and professional development. Military assistance is one component of a broad Canadian support in the fields of development, security, democracy and humanitarian aid. Since January 2014, the Government of Canada has announced more than $700 million in additional assistance to Ukraine, including a broad range of initiatives to strengthen security, promote economic stability and growth, advance democracy, human rights, rule of law, and to promote a civil society. Canada’s assistance to Ukraine includes the purchase and shipment of non-lethal military equipment. This includes the ongoing process of procuring and shipping specialized equipment such as tactical communications systems, a mobile field hospital, explosive ordnance disposal equipment, tactical medical kits, and night vision goggles. This type of equipment is helping to enhance the capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

 

Canada and Ukraine

• 28 November 2014 – The first shipment of donated non-lethal military supplies (cold weather clothing including approximately 3 000 pairs of boots 2 400 coats, 3 500 pants and 3 300 pairs of gloves) arrived in Kyiv Boryspil Airport, Ukraine via Royal Canadian Air Force CC-177 Globemaster.
• 8 December 2014 – Rob Nicholson, Minister of National Defence announced that Canada had signed a Declaration of Intent with Ukraine for joint military training and capacity building.
• 10 January 2015 – The first of two sealift shipments of non-lethal military supplies arrived in the port of Odessa, Ukraine.
• 29 January 2015 – The second of two sealift shipments of non-lethal military supplies arrived in the port of Odessa, Ukraine.

Mission timeline

• 14 April 2015 – Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will deploy approximately 200 CAF personnel to Ukraine until March 31, 2017.
• 13 June 2015 – Approximately 8 personnel in the field of EOD and IEDD departed for Ukraine to liaise with Ukrainian military partners, observe training, and prepare training plans. They were augmented in late August by approximately 12 combat engineers.
• 20 June to 4 July – A team of approximately 30 CAF personnel in the field of tactical soldier training observed U.S. instructions to Ukrainian forces and further refined the CAF training plans.
• 5 August to early Sept – A theatre activation team of approximately 90 personnel deployed to Ukraine to set up the CAF facilities and support structure necessary to the deployment of the Task Force.
• 25 August – Approximately 60 personnel from the main task force – including Headquarters (HQ), Small Team Training unit and support personnel – arrived in Ukraine.
• 31 August – A second group of approximately 90 CAF personnel, to complete the deployment of approximately 150 CAF personnel as the main Task Force, arrived in Ukraine.
• 14 September – The beginning of the military training mission was marked with dual ceremonies at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre in Starychi, and at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence Demining Centre in Kamyanets-Podilsky.
• 14 September – The Counter Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) training portion began at the Demining Centre in Kamyanets-Podilsky.
• 19 September – The first class of Ukrainian military personnel trained by the CAF graduated from C-IED training at the Demining Centre in Kamyanets-Podilsky.

 

^ It's interesting to see just what the Canadian Military is doing to help the Ukrainians. There has been lots of talk and speeches made by many different people, but this is real concrete aid. The world as a whole has done little more than talk with regards to the Ukraine, the Russian annexation of the Crimea or the Russians supplying soldiers and weapons to the ethnic Russian terrorists in eastern Ukraine. Now even less is being done (or said) to support the Ukraine because of the refugee crisis in Europe and the Russians bombing Syria. I am curious to see what will happen now in the Ukraine - will the US, Canada and EU just accept things as fact - which they should never do - or will there ever be real peace in the Ukraine? It will also be interesting to see what the new Canadian Prime Minister (Trudeau) will do with regards to the Ukraine. He already said he will stop the Canadian bombings in Iraq and Syria against ISIS. Of course there is a large and powerful Ukrainian-Canadian population within Canada so he may have to address the situation in the Ukraine along with all his numerous domestic campaign promises he made. ^

http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/operations-abroad/op-unifier.page

Cheaper Medicines

From Yahoo:

"Drug compounder offers cheap version of costly Turing drug"

 

Stepping into the furor over eye-popping price spikes for old generic medicines, a maker of compounded drugs will begin selling $1 doses of Daraprim, whose price recently was jacked up to $750 per pill by Turing Pharmaceuticals. San Diego-based Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Inc., which mixes approved drug ingredients to fill individual patient prescriptions, said Thursday it will supply capsules containing Daraprim's active ingredients, pyrimethamine and leucovorin, for $99 for a 100-capsule bottle, via its site: www.imprimiscares.com. The 3 1/2-year-old drug compounding firm also plans to start making inexpensive versions of other generic drugs whose prices have skyrocketed, Chief Executive Mark Baum told The Associated Press. "We are looking at all of these cases where the sole-source generic companies are jacking the price way up," Baum said in an interview. "There'll be many more of these" compounded drugs coming in the near future. The high price of prescription medicines in the U.S. — from drugs for cancer and rare diseases that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year down to once-cheap generic drugs now costing many times their old price — has become a hot issue in the 2016 presidential race.  News that Turing, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and other drugmakers have bought rights to old, cheap medicines that are the only treatment for serious diseases and then hiked prices severalfold has angered patients. It's triggered government investigations, politicians' proposals to fight "price gouging," heavy media scrutiny and a big slump in biotech stock prices. At the eye of the storm is former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, head of Turing Pharmaceuticals, scorned last month for buying rights to and then increasing by more than 5,000 percent the price of Daraprim, a 62-year old drug with no competition. The startup drugmaker paid Impax Laboratories $55 million in August for rights to Daraprim, which treats a rare parasitic infection called toxoplasmosis that mainly strikes pregnant women, cancer patients and AIDS patients. Imprimis, which primarily makes compounded drugs to treat cataracts and urological conditions, will work with health insurers and prescription benefit managers in each state to make its new capsules and other compounded generic medicines widely available, Baum said.

"We're geared up. We're ready to go as soon as the orders come in," he said. Compounded drugs are typically made to fill a doctor's prescription for an individual patient, sometimes because the mass-produced version is in short supply or completely unavailable and sometimes to allow for customized formulations or dosages. Compounders don't need Food and Drug Administration approval to do that, unlike drugmakers making huge batches of drugs on complex production lines. Baum said Imprimis will produce its pyrimethamine/leucovorin capsules, using bulk ingredients from manufacturing plants approved by the FDA, at its own facilities in Allen, Texas; Folcroft, Pennsylvania; Irvine, California, and Randolph, New Jersey. Turing's Shkreli, under fire from all sides, said late last month that he would lower the price of Daraprim, but hasn't so far. A Turing spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday but recently noted the company is capping patient copayments at $10.

 

^ The high price of healthcare in the US (for doctors, specialists, hospitals and medicine) is ridiculous. The only reason they  - those in the healthcare system - charge so much is because they can. They tend to be greedy people who would rather make money than help those who need it. I know first-hand how expensive medicines can be and it is just plain wrong. There needs to be more government over-sight to stop the monopolies charging so much for their medicines. ^

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/drug-compounder-offers-cheap-version-194229044.html

ADA Suits

From Disability Scoop:

"Businesses Seek Relief From Congress Over ADA Suits"

 

Amy Rowland spent Wednesday telling her story on Capitol Hill. The owner of the Bulldog Northeast bar and grill in Minneapolis says she was the victim of a lawyer who charged her business with violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act in hopes of a quick cash settlement. After spending $15,000 in legal fees on a preliminary hearing and facing tens of thousands more for future court dates, Rowland settled her case for $8,000. Now, she’s urging Congress to rein in a legal tactic that has been used on scores of Minnesota businesses and on thousands of businesses across the country. “You have no notice, no time to do remedies,” Rowland said as she sat in the office of Republican U.S. Rep. Ted Poe of Texas. Poe has introduced a bill that would require businesses to be notified of specific ADA violations and be given up to six months to fix them before they can be sued. Poe said the bill’s intent is twofold. First, it would “make sure violations of the ADA are solved,” he said. Second, it would prevent “frivolous lawsuits.” Paul Hansmeier, a Minneapolis lawyer who has brought many ADA-related suits, including the one against Rowland, defended his legal actions and said they would continue. Eric Wong, who has a disability and sued Rowland, was the plaintiff in at least 32 other cases filed by Hansmeier. Hansmeier’s first notice to Rowland came in what appears to be a form letter that provides no specific details of what she might be doing wrong. The letter says only that “your property has issues that prevent persons with disabilities from patronizing your tenant’s business on a full and equal basis.” Rowland denies that her business was violating the ADA. Hansmeier told the Star Tribune that his client couldn’t fit his wheelchair up to tables in the front room of the Bulldog. Making Wong use wheelchair-accessible tables in the backroom smacked of “Jim Crow” laws, Hansmeier said. The attorney denied any wrongdoing on the part of his clients or himself in filing multiple suits for disability law violations ranging from table access to threshold heights on doorways to the slope of parking lots. He offered what he said was a quote from a California judge that “serial litigation is no more about plaintiffs than it is about businesses.” Hansmeier added: “To the extent that businesses keep breaking the law, I’ll keep doing this.” Hansmeier also said that making plaintiffs wait six months to sue was not fair to those being denied access. Poe told reporters that he would consider shortening the “fix-it” period to 90 days. But he maintained that notification protocols and repair opportunities are necessary to discourage lawyers from filing suits that are more about fast cash than human rights.

 

 

^ Americans have become lawsuit addicts in the past 20 years. With that said the ADA has been around for 25 years and so there is no reason every business, organization, etc in the country shouldn't know the law and they should make their buildings accessible. I agree that business that are breaking the ADA should be written notice of the violations and be given an initial fine (for breaking the law) and then given 90 days to fix the issues or face stiffer action. The main issue here is making every place open to everyone and I think this proposal would do just that. ^

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/10/22/businesses-congress-ada-suits/20894/

 

Korean Reunions

From the Stars and Stripes:

"Koreans celebrate reunions across DMZ, 1st in more than year "

 

Hundreds of mostly elderly Koreans — some in wheelchairs or leaning on walking sticks, most overcome by tears, laughter and shock — began three days of reunions Tuesday with loved ones many have had no contact with since war divided the North and South more than 60 years ago. About 390 South Koreans traveled to the North's scenic Diamond Mountain resort. Dressed in business suits, formal dresses and traditional hanbok, they brought long johns, medicine, parkas, calligraphy works and cash to give as presents to about 140 family members in the North. The reunions, as always, are a mixture of high emotion and media frenzy. Journalists crowded around South Korean Lee Soon-kyu, 85, as she met with her North Korean husband, Oh Se In, 83. As camera flashes bathed them in glaring white light, she cocked her head and looked with amazement at Oh, who wore a dapper suit and hat and craned backward to take in Lee. The images are broadcast throughout South Korea, where the reunions are big news. North Korea's government, which analysts believe worries that scenes of affluent South Koreans might influence its grip on power, published a report about the reunions through its state media that said the North Korean participants explained to their South Korean relatives how their lives have been "happy" and "worthwhile" under the North's socialist system. The deep emotions stem partly from the elderly reuniting after decades spent apart, partly from the knowledge that this will be their only chance. None of the past participants has had a second reunion. The reunions, the first since February of last year, are a poignant yet bitter reminder that the Korean Peninsula is still in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 fighting ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The Koreas bar ordinary citizens from visiting relatives living on the other side of the border and even from exchanging letters, phone calls and emails without permission.

The Korean War separated millions of Koreans from family members for a multitude of reasons. What they have in common is shock that their homeland remains so bitterly split after so much time.

Choi Hyeong-jin, 95, reunites this week with his youngest daughter, who was 2 when he left her and is now 64. "I am not sure if I will even be able to recognize her. I don't even remember how she looked as a baby," Choi said. North and South agreed in August to resume family reunions during talks to end a standoff that began when land mine blasts blamed on Pyongyang maimed two South Korean soldiers. The rivals have a history of failing to follow through with cooperation agreements. These reunions may have been in danger had North Korea gone through with threats to conduct a satellite launch earlier this month. The launch would have likely canceled the reunions because Seoul and Washington see such firings as cover for banned tests of long-range missile technology. South Korea uses a computerized lottery system to pick participants while North Korea reportedly chooses based on loyalty to its authoritarian leadership. Most people who apply for the reunions are elderly and desperate to see their loved ones before they die. Nearly half of the 130,410 South Koreans who have applied to attend a reunion have died. Family reunions were part of a slew of now-stalled rapprochement projects the two Koreas agreed upon following first-ever summit talks between their leaders in 2000. About 18,800 Koreans have since participated in 19 face-to-face reunions and about 3,750 others have been reunited by video.

 

 

^ It's sad to hear about these reunions.  The world knows that North Korea will eventually have to open itself up more to the rest of the world (the way Cuba and other Communist countries) have had to. The Communists in North Korea have been desperately clinging to a crumbling system and country because they know that if their citizens found out the truth about their crimes it won't be good for them - the Commies. Whenever people in Communist countries are given the freedom of choice (ie the Soviet Union) they choose anything but Communism. These relatives are in their 80s-90s and may not live to see that day come. ^

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/koreans-celebrate-reunions-across-dmz-1st-in-more-than-year-1.374063

Commie Jail

From Yahoo:

"Russian Communists call for 15 days in jail for coming out as gay"

 

Two senior Russian Communist MPs on Friday presented a draft bill calling for people who come out as gay to serve up to 15 days behind bars. Ivan Nikitchuk and Nikolai Arefyev are proposing a fine of up to 5,000 rubles ($80) for people who publicly say they are gay.Those who come out in educational institutions or government offices should serve up to 15 days in police cells, they say. Homophobia is still widespread in Russia, with 37 percent telling the Levada independent polling agency in May that homosexuality is an illness, and 18 percent saying it should be punished by law. The MPs told the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia they came up with the measure because a hugely controversial ban on "gay propaganda" to minors signed into law by President Vladimir Putin in 2013 was not proving effective. But the proposal appeared extreme even for Russia and was not expected to get passed by parliament. Even Saint Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, who is among the strongest backers of the existing gay propaganda law, questioned the need for new measures. "We can't sentence people to 15 days just for admitting (their sexual orientation)," Milonov told AFP. The Communist lawmakers said they plan to submit the bill to parliament later Friday. Nikitchuk, the 71-year-old deputy head of the parliament's natural resources committee, said the bill would only apply to gay men. "We think women are more reasonable people and more able to manage their emotions," Nikitchuk told the Russkaya Sluzhba Novostei radio station. "Lesbians, the threat has lifted, you can reveal yourselves," opposition politician Alexei Navalny joked on Twitter. The proposed legislation prompted criticism both from supporters and opponents of gay rights. "Chewing over this topic of homosexuality is a breach of ethical norms. I'm sure the draft won't get through parliament," pro-Kremlin United Russia party senator Alexei Alexandrov told RIA Novosti. "Those interested in this topic are going too far. I would advise them -- both homosexuals and homophobes -- to leave it in peace."  Under the Soviet Union, homosexuality was a criminal offence punishable by prison.

 

^ They say that those that protest too much  usually have something to hide. Maybe these Commies are hiding something.  As for the growing homophobia in Russia. The Russians are very superstitious and have always needed a scape-goat to help them feel better about how hard their lives have been throughout the centuries rather than face reality. The traditional Russian scape-goat were the Jews, but since the collapse of the USSR that has moved to homosexuals. Russians have always wanted and needed a strong leader to tell them what to think and do (whether it was/is a Czar, a Communist dictator or Putin) those leaders do as they please and like to play off the ordinary Russians' fears. Russians tend to not want to believe that something bad happen (famine, war, the collapse of their empire, etc) because of their leaders or officials. They tend to want a local scape-goat and so Jews or homosexuals  - found throughout the country - are the "perfect" people to blame. It's sad that a people like the Russians need and want such a thing, but that is how it always was and probably how it will always be. These Commie MPs are trying to add  fuel to the homophobia with this new proposal. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-communists-call-15-days-jail-coming-gay-191258315.html

Secret Russians

From the DW:

"The silent secession of eastern Ukraine"

 

Ukraine's Donbass is adopting Russian currency, schoolbooks and, soon maybe, passports. Russia, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula last year, hasn't had to take any formal control to move the secession along.  It is often just a single letter that makes the difference. On the outskirts of Donetsk, separatists have removed a diacritical mark from the sign announcing the city's name - thus transforming a Ukrainian word into a Russian one. Separatists love to have their picture taken here. For the past several months, street and city signs with Ukrainian names have been replaced with signs written in Russian throughout the country's east. "It's another country now," says Igor Martynov, who was named mayor of Donetsk by the separatists. Ukrainian flags and crests will continue to be removed from the public sphere as well. During negotiations in Minsk, it was agreed that the 2-3 million residents of the regions surrounding Donetsk and Luhansk would receive more autonomy but remain part of Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande most recently reiterated those points during meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Paris this October. Yet, exactly the opposite is taking place. Although guns have been silent since the beginning of September, the separation of the coal mining region Donbass from the rest of Ukraine, which was begun in the spring of 2014, is quietly continuing. Largely unnoticed by the world at large, facts are being created on the ground. This is happening without Russia having to formally take control of the region, or having to annex it like it did with the Crimean Peninsula. The separatists first introduced the Russian ruble alongside the Ukrainian hryvna months ago. Then, on September 1, the ruble was declared the official currency of the Luhansk Oblast. The separatists justified the move with claims that Ukraine no longer sends money to the province. The resumption of retirement and salary payments was agreed to in Minsk; however, the implementation thereof is nowhere in sight. There have also been changes in education. According to media reports, "humanitarian convoys," as Moscow calls them, brought some 500 tons of schoolbooks to the separatist provinces. Students in Donetsk and Luhansk now learn from Russian textbooks, which are different from Ukrainian textbooks, especially in subject areas such as history. Russian curricula are also being widely adopted. Further, separatist troops are apparently increasingly under Russian control. Since the beginning of the conflict, Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of supporting the separatists with weapons and fighters. Something Russia denies. Nonetheless, within the framework of the Minsk Protocol, Russia has officially sent military advisers into the rogue provinces. They are charged with overseeing the ceasefire. To that end, the Russian and rebel Ukrainian militaries are operating a shared headquarters. "The Russians have placed observers in every battalion and every larger unit," explained Alexander Chodakowski, security chief of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic," in mid-October. That is how Russia controls the troops. What many separatists desire most are Russian passports. Denis Pushilin, a separatist leader from Donetsk, does not rule out the possibility that residents of the "People's Republic" may soon be able to apply for Russian citizenship. Citing "well-informed interlocutors," the Russian government newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" reported on the issue by saying that Moscow has not yet given such instructions, but that could change in the future. On Tuesday, a separatist-friendly online website reported that by the end of this year a government agency is to be installed in the southern Russian port city of Rostov-on-Don with the power to issue Russian passports to residents of the Eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk provinces according to a "simplified process." The portal quoted a "high-ranking source" in the "Luhansk People's Republic" as saying that the Russian location was chosen so as not to create an outcry. It certainly would not be a new approach. Moscow has acted similarly in other former Soviet republics once conflicts became frozen - in Georgia for instance, where Russian passports were also issued. Rebellious provinces such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia were later recognized as independent states. Western observers like Winfried Schneider-Deters have come to the conclusion that the quiet rapprochement between Eastern Ukrainian separatists and Russia is in direct conflict with official Kremlin policy and the Minsk Protocol. The publisher and Ukraine expert believes that Moscow does not want to freeze the conflict. "Putin wants this entity within the Ukrainian state - with the intention of it being a permanent source of irritation," says the expert. If that cannot be successfully established, then Russia may initiate its "Plan B" for the Donbass: Irrevocable separation from Ukraine.

 

 

^ This comes as no surprise. Russia has done the same thing in other territories it has troops in: Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. The first two territories are supposedly "independent" but what independent country citizens receive government pensions, passports, etc from another country? Russia is doing what is has been doing for the past decade. Anyone who is shocked doesn't have  even basic knowledge of Moscow or the Russians.  They both tend to do the same things as have always been done in their country throughout the centuries - they just change the name or try different lies to hide the truth (which usually doesn't work.) I have heard people say the people in this region should be called "dumb ass" instead of "Donbass"for believing that their lives will get better if they become part of Russia - especially after you see what happened in annexed Crimea. ^

 

http://www.dw.com/en/the-silent-secession-of-eastern-ukraine/a-18802074

Poor PR

From the BBC:
"Obama calls on Congress to avoid 'humanitarian crisis'"

The Obama administration is urging Congress to devise a plan for Puerto Rico's massive $72 billion (£47 billion) debt in order to avoid a "humanitarian crisis". The US Treasury Department urged lawmakers on Thursday to make a blueprint that would permit Puerto Rico to restructure its debt. A plan would include more oversight over Puerto Rico's finances. It includes Medicaid expansion and an expansion of low-income tax credits.  "Puerto Rico is out of cash and running out of options," said Antonio Weiss, a Treasury Department official, to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which presides over Puerto Rico. "In the very near future, Puerto Rico will face impossible choices among providing essential services, delivering promised pension benefits and paying its debt." The proposal is unlikely to be approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, which has opposed increased spending. In August the US territory failed to make a debt payment, saying it did not have the funds to pay more than $50m (£32m) due on bonds. It is by far the most indebted territory or state per capita in the United States, and unemployment is at almost 14% - more than double the national average - and over the last decade there has been little or no growth, resulting in the economy teetering on the brink of collapse.

 

 

^ The Federal Government does need to do something to bail-out Puerto Rico from is default. The current economic situation on the US Territory should silence any calls for independence because they have show they can't handle basic things like a budget (much less foreign relations, immigration, a military and all the other issues an independent country has to make.) Any county, town or city that defaults or declares bankruptcy should have their budgets, books and basic services taken over by the US State or US Territory that it resides in. Any US State or US Territory that defaults or declares bankruptcy should have their budgets, books and basic services taken over by the Federal Government. The control should only be returned when the officials have shown they can do complete certain requirements relating to monetary issues. The US should not become like the EU whose member-states simply throw money to bail-out other member countries (Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Ireland, etc) and have no say in how things are handled. I know some are wondering who would bail-out the US Federal Government if their defaulted or declared bankruptcy. Hopefully, that would never happen but if it does then the whole world would collapse. The 1929 Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression. that followed hit every corner of the planet and that was 16 years before the United States became a Super Power. ^

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34609583

Down Russians

From the MT:
'Parents Ask Moscow School to Remove Girl With Down Syndrome From Yearbook"

 

A Moscow school has allegedly moved to edit a girl with Down syndrome out of its yearbook, after several parents complained that her picture ruined the glossy album, a student's mother said.  The school has asked parents this week to return the newly printed class photo album, the mother, Olga Sinayeva, said on her Facebook page.  “The album is all so very pompously glossy, with all kinds of poetry about school, friendship and mutual understanding, with pages separated by parchment paper,” Sinayeva said Tuesday.  “The reason why children were asked to return this album is simple: Many parents can't stand the photograph of the girl, Masha, who has Down syndrome, the daughter of the homeroom teacher, next to their children,” Sinayeva said.  Masha, 7, is not a student in the class, but sits with the fourth-graders her mother teaches, according to Sinayeva. She has been accepted to begin regular school next year, but for now, the teacher, a single mother, takes Masha to work with her because she has nobody with whom to leave her, Sinayeva said.  “The mom is teaching, Masha is sitting quietly … [she] doesn't get in anybody's way,” Sinayeva said, adding: “Masha practically lives in this class, tries to interact, hugs everyone, she is kind and defenseless, but children shrink away from her.”  The parents of at least five students have had their children transferred to other classes to avoid sitting in the room with Masha, Sinayeva said.  Comments to her Facebook post include a remark by another woman, Gulmira Kushekova, saying that when her daughter, who also suffers from Down syndrome, was accepted to a “regular” kindergarten, the parents of three other students removed their children from that class, “saying it was humiliating for them.”  The incident comes on the heels of a protest this month by residents of an apartment building in the southern Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, who had refused to approve the opening of an educational center that would be able to accommodate children with special needs, according to media reports. Earlier this year, the younger sister of Russian model Natalia Vodianova was ordered to leave a cafe in Nizhny Novgorod because staff said the young woman with autism and cerebral palsy was “scaring off customers.”

^ This is disgusting plain and simple. Anyone who supports the discrimination of the disabled are horrible people who deserve nothing good in their life. They are unintelligent bigots who can't make good things happen in their own lives and so they have to "attack" the disabled to make themselves feel better for their own short-comings. The Russian Government needs to step-in and protect ALL of their law-abiding citizens against any form of discrimination. If they do nothing they are just as guilty as the people who "attack" the disabled. ^

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/parents-ask-moscow-school-to-remove-girl-with-down-syndrome-from-yearbook/540104.html