Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Embracing Halloween

From the BBC:
"The people embracing their disabilities for Halloween"

For some with physical disabilities Halloween has become an opportunity to embrace their bodies and celebrate difference.  A number of people are sharing photographs of their creative costumes which highlight and incorporate their disability.  April, from Chicago, US, shared a photo of herself dressed up with the caption "Halloween is Christmas for us amputees", an image that has been up-voted more than 115,000 times on Reddit. April told the BBC that she wanted to "share some portion of my experience" to help others with disabilities see their bodies more positively.  And she said she has been delighted that others have shared their own examples. One Reddit user wrote: "I'm missing half my right leg. Halloween two years ago I would lay on the floor in front of the front door in a pool of fake blood and my girlfriend would answer trick or treaters with blood on her shirt and a fake meat cleaver. Reactions were priceless." Another said: "My mum is a double amputee and when older trick or treaters come she has me pull her prosthetic arm off and run around with it." April said that she has reached a "peaceful medium" where she has accepted her body and wants to "find every way to take advantage of it".  While many people applauded her creativity and attitude, some pointed out that those with disabilities face real barriers which cannot be overcome with positivity alone.   One Reddit user wrote: "A plucky attitude is not going to make up for a lack of wheelchair ramps. It's true that a defeatist attitude can be your undoing, but there are legitimate limitations and challenges that don't care whether or not you 'let them be'". Former Paralympian Josh Sundquist describes himself as a "Halloween enthusiast" and has created a number of amazing costumes which celebrate his physique. This year the US stand-up comedian dressed up as the genie from Aladdin, inspired by Disney animator Broose Johnson, who has two prosthetic legs.   Josh was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer when he was nine and subsequently had his left leg amputated.  Josh told the BBC that as a teen he wore a prosthesis everyday: "I didn't want people to know I had one leg," he said. "It takes a long time to make the psychological adjustment to be comfortable with your body after an amputation." It was this acceptance of his body that enabled him to make his costumes. He said: "Without embracing the way my body is, it would be impossible."   The unveiling of his Halloween costumes have become eagerly awaited events for his fans, with his latest costume garnering cheers of "awesome", "amazing" and "so creative".  Josh says that he shares his creations to "interrupt people's day with something that might delight them". In 2013, John decided to mix his creativity with his seemingly impressive upper-body strength to dress as a flamingo. 

Toni, 28, from Kent, UK, lost her eye a few years ago to cancer.  She shared an image of herself dressed as Carl Grimes, a character who loses his eye in the zombie-apocalypse show The Walking Dead.  She wrote: "I think humour helps with the loss [of my eye] as well as knowing I did the right thing getting it removed."  Toni told the BBC that since losing her eye she has come to "understand how little our appearance really matters" and that sharing the photo was a way of confronting people's ideas about appearance.  Referring to her own appearance Toni said she struggles with the representation of disability in the media - "usually only villains wear eye patches" - though she said that is slowly changing. 

^ It is great that Halloween can be an escape for them. I only wish it could be more then just one day a year. ^



Canada's Witches

From the BBC:
"Canada's last witch trials: Women accused of fake witchcraft"

A law against pretending to practise witchcraft will soon be repealed in Canada. But that hasn't stopped local police from prosecuting those who use the "dark arts" to bilk people for thousands of dollars. Two Canadian women have been charged with pretending to practise witchcraft, breaking a little-known law in Canada's criminal code that could soon be out the door. The first charge was levied against Dorie "Madeena" Stevenson, a fortune teller from Milton, Ontario on 18 October after a months-long investigation.  She is accused of defrauding a client of C$60,000 ($45,700; £35,700) in cash and property. A week later, Toronto psychic Samantha Stevenson was also arrested in a similar but unrelated investigation.  Police allege she convinced a man the only way to get rid of "evil spirits" in his home would be to sell it, and transfer the proceeds into her account. The accused often advertise themselves as a psychic or religious healer, and demand large sums of money to help remove curses or evil spirits from clients, police say.  "What we typically see is a tendency for perpetrators to take advantage of persons when they are in their most vulnerable state," wrote Det Sgt Dave Costantini of Halton Regional Police, in a press release.   "Victims are manipulated into believing something bad will happen to them unless they remit cash. We even see incidents where victims are required to make purchases and remit these purchases in order to be cleansed.  "When victims cannot be squeezed any longer, the perpetrators rely on the victim's embarrassment in not contacting police." The charges could lead to Canada's last witch trials, as the section of the law banning pretending to practise witchcraft will soon be repealed.  In June 2017, the federal government proposed a bill repealing dozens of outdated sections of the criminal code, including the law against pretending to be a witch.  "I suspect police had just forgotten [the laws against witchcraft] existed, and it was the publicity over the fact that they were being removed that made police even remember that they were there," said Dalhousie University law professor Stephen Coughlan.

Is witchcraft illegal in Canada?
It is not illegal to practise witchcraft in Canada - either as part of a religion like Wicca or as an occult practice.  However, according to Section 365 of Canada's Criminal Code, it is illegal to "fraudulently pretend to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration".  The law has generally been interpreted as a provision against using the occult to perpetuate fraud, say by someone promising to cure a disease with magic. The conviction can lead to a C$2,000 fine and up to six months in jail. 

The law has rarely been applied in the 21st Century, although it is not unheard of:
- In 2017, astrologist and psychic Murali Muthyalu was charged with witchcraft after a client allegedly paid $100,000 to have a curse removed. The witchcraft charge was dropped and he pleaded guilty to fraud
- In 2012, a man who billed himself as a "healer" was charged with witchcraft after clients paid him tens of thousands of dollars to remove curses. All charges were dropped after he agreed to pay restitution
- In 2009, Vishwantee Persaud was charged with witchcraft in addition to multiple fraud charges. The charge of witchcraft was eventually dropped. Prosecutors withdrew the witchcraft charge after she pleaded guilty to fraud

The law has been criticized for targeting women and cultural groups where beliefs in magic are more widespread. "The provision that differentiates this type of fraud from others is mired in historic oppression of women and religious minorities, and is not necessary to prosecute fraud," wrote Natasha Bakht and Jordan Palmer in a working paper published in the journal Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues.  All this is about to change.  A proposed bill to repeal antiquated or redundant criminal offences passed its third reading in the Senate last week, and it is expected to come into force as soon as it receives royal assent. The bill would repeal the law against pretending to be a witch, as well as other old-fashioned prohibitions such as laws against duelling and blasphemous libel.   Coughlin, the legal expert, told the BBC the bill is necessary to help bring the criminal code, parts of which date back to 1892, into the modern era. "A lot of them are just out of step with the time, out of step with the facts or really, are duplicative of other offences," says the Dalhousie University professor.  "In the case of the witchcraft [law], realistically any behaviour that would fall within that provision... would also be captured by other provisions in the criminal code, like fraud." Until the law comes into force, however, police have every right to charge being with pretending to practice witchcraft.  "It's not uncommon for police to lay every charge they can think of, simply because it gives them a bargaining chip," he says.  Canadian Monica Bodirsky, a witch and artist in Toronto, welcomed the change in the law, which she said is "a holdover from stereotypes and fears of witches being evil". She says current fraud laws are strong enough to target people who take advantage of others, and that witches shouldn't be singled out. "Fraud is fraud," she says. There's a big difference between providing a service - like a tarot reading - and preying on people's beliefs or fears of magic to manipulate them out of large sums of money, she said. "Fortune telling and phony psychics, it's very easy to tell the difference generally by the price tag," she says. She charges for tarot readings, and believes genuine fortune tellers never tell clients they're cursed or that they can cure an illness.  Instead, she says she offers general life advice, and clients have the choice whether to take her advice or not. She says you shouldn't have to prove that magic is real in order to practise it, or earn a living from it.  "If you're going to invest $20, $40, $60 in a tarot reading and you find it's irrelevant to you, or did you no good, why would that being any different than going to a reiki treatment and finding that didn't work?" she asked.  "Would you charge a reiki practitioner with fraud?"

^ This seemed appropriate for Halloween. ^




Iran's Danish Plot

From the BBC:
"Denmark accuses Iran of activist murder plot"

Denmark has accused Iran's intelligence agencies of planning to assassinate an Iranian activist on Danish soil. The target was believed to be a member of an Arab separatist movement, Denmark's intelligence service said. Denmark has recalled its ambassador from Tehran and is consulting other EU countries about imposing new sanctions against Iran. A massive police operation in Denmark last month linked to the case led to the bridge to Sweden being closed.Iran has dismissed Denmark's allegations.

What is Iran accused of?
Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen described the alleged planned assassination by Iran of an exiled separatist leader in Denmark as "totally unacceptable" The Iranian ambassador to Copenhagen was summoned to the foreign ministry over the allegations. A Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin was arrested in Sweden on 21 October in connection with the alleged plan. The man denies the charges. Authorities conducted a massive manhunt on 28 September which led to road closures, trains and ferries being cancelled, and bridges being shut across Denmark. On Tuesday, Danish intelligence chief Finn Borch Andersen confirmed the measures had been taken to prevent the alleged plot. The alleged target was meant to be a senior member of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), Mr Andersen said. The group seeks a separate state for ethnic Arabs in a region of western Iran. The Norwegian suspect had been observed photographing the residence of the ASMLA leader, Danish security services said in a statement. Following a deadly shooting at a military parade in Iran in September, in which more than 25 people were killed, Iran accused Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain of harbouring members of militant opposition groups. That attack was claimed by a different Arab separatist group and the Islamic State group, although neither offered proof of their claims.

What has the response been?
 An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said such "biased reports" and allegations pursued "the enemy's plots and conspiracies" to harm the developing relations between Iran and Europe, according to Tasnim news agency. Mr Rasmussen said, after a meeting with his British counterpart Theresa May in Oslo, that he appreciated her support. "In close collaboration with UK and other countries we will stand up to Iran," he tweeted. Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said Denmark would discuss further actions with European partners in the coming days. The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, congratulated Denmark on arresting "an Iranian regime assassin". In August, Donald Trump re-imposed US economic sanctions on Iran, following the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this year. EU leaders remain committed to the original agreement. On Friday, France expelled an Iranian diplomat over a bomb plot against a rally organised by Iranian opposition groups, diplomatic and security sources said.

^ This is why the EU should not support Iran. The US was smart to realize the threat Iran poses to the world and now it is the EU's turn (especially France, Germany and the UK.) ^

Canadian Terrorist

From the BBC:
"Father of 'Jihadi Jack' asks Canada to help bring son home"

The father of a British-Canadian national detained in Kurdish-held northern Syria is asking Canadian officials to help secure his release.  John Letts is also pleading for their assistance in the repatriation of other Canadians being held in the region.  His son, Jack Letts, 23, dubbed "Jihadi Jack", travelled to Syria in 2014.  He was later captured by the Kurdish-led YPG - the group fighting against the Islamic State - when he left IS territory. Mr Letts said his son has been detained for the past 18 months and that his health is failing.  "I need your help to save my son's life," he told journalists in Ottawa, where he was meeting officials on Tuesday to discuss his son's case and those of other detained Canadians.  John Letts and his wife are facing charges of funding terrorism after sending their son money two years ago, which they say was to fund their son's escape from Syria.  They have pleaded not guilty.  Mr Letts said they have not been able to speak openly about their son's case in the UK due to contempt of court rules.  "In fact there's a very good chance I'll be sent to prison again when I fly back tomorrow," he said.  "Unfortunately I don't have any choice but to speak out because I love my son and think he's innocent." The couple, who along with their son have dual citizenship, have made repeated attempts to get the British and Canadian governments to intervene and bring their son home.  Mr Letts said Canadian officials had been initially helpful when his son was first captured, but have since said it would be too dangerous to have him removed.  He said his son was "naive and very religious" when he travelled to Syria at the age of 18 and denies he was there to fight with IS.  Jack Letts converted to Islam while at Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford, England.  It is unclear how much evidence exists about the true nature of his activities in Syria.  At the Ottawa press conference, Mr Letts appeared alongside Families Against Violent Extremism (Fave), which said there are currently nine Canadian adults and several children, including a number under the age of six, being held in Kurdish prison camps in Syria.  Fave said it is concerned that the families are housed in tents and lack adequate clothing to handle the approaching winter.  "These people need to be brought home to Canada and they need to be brought home now," said Fave director Alexandra Bain.  Ms Bain said representatives from the UK-based legal Reprieve would travel to northern Syria to help facilitate their return if Canada agrees to supply the detainees with travel documents. Canada says that there is no safe way to get these Canadians out of the region. There are also concerns they would be detained by authorities and face charges in neighbouring countries if they did manage to leave Syria.  In a statement, Canada's Foreign Affairs department told the BBC that its ability to provide consular assistance is "extremely limited" but that it is engaged to the extent possible in the cases raised by Fave.  "Canadian diplomats have established a communications channel with local Kurdish authorities in order to verify the whereabouts and well-being of Canadian citizens," it said.  There has been significant debate in both Britain and Canada over what should happen to returning IS fighters who are still in Syria.

^ I have to say that I don't really care what happens to Jihadi Jack and the other Canadian terrorists (except that they should never be released and allowed to be free.) They are terrorists and it doesn't matter what nationality they have. The Kurds captured them and so it is up to the Kurds to decide what to do with them. There are many Jihadists returning to the UK, France, Germany, etc. and are carrying out violent attacks against innocent people throughout Europe (and who knows how many more attacks are planned.) Canada and the world needs to deal with these Jihadists in a more permanent way (I would prefer them to killed, but would settle for them being detained for the rest of their lives.) ^

Same Old Speech

From the MT:
"Russia Will 'Vigorously Defend' Rights of Compatriots Abroad, Putin Says"

Russia will strongly defend the rights of its compatriots abroad, President Vladimir Putin said at the World Congress of Compatriots in Moscow on Wednesday.  Rossotrudnichestvo, the government agency for promoting Russia in the world, estimates that about 30 million Russian compatriots live abroad. According to Putin, Russophobia as well as other forms of “aggressive nationalism” are spreading in countries around the world.  “It happens in Ukraine, in the Baltics. In other countries. We know about this,” the president was cited as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. “History is being rewritten and a battle is being fought against monuments and the Russian language,” he added. Putin vouched to decisively protect the rights and interests of compatriots, using “all existing bilateral and international mechanisms.” The president’s comments came after he signed a decree to ease the process for compatriots to return to Russia and claim citizenship, Interfax reported earlier on Wednesday. Putin estimated that about 800,000 compatriots had moved back to Russia in the past 12 years.

^ Putin said this in the past and that's why the Russian Military invaded and occupied South Ossetia, Abkhazia, the Crimea and the Donbas. It is also the same exact speech that Adolf Hitler used (he said German compatriots instead of Russian compatriots) in the 1930s and why he invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia and Austria. It seems Putin is simply reading off of Hitler's playbook. We all know how that ended. Putin should just focus on helping the millions upon millions of Russians living inside the Russian Federation  - most who are struggling to get the basics. ^

Birthright Facts

From USA Today:
"US birthright citizenship explained: What is it, how many people benefit"



President Donald Trump is trying to follow through on one of his campaign promises by ending birthright citizenship, a 150-year-old law established in the Constitution that grants U.S. citizenship to anybody born on U.S. soil. The law has been the target of anti-immigration groups for years, who say it has been abused by undocumented immigrants and companies that peddle “birth tourism.” But birthright citizenship is now ingrained in multiple U.S. laws, the Constitution, and been upheld by the Supreme Court.  Trump’s announcement that he will end the practice through an executive order just days before the midterm elections is sure to draw immediate legal challenges that could lead all the way to the Supreme Court. For now, here’s a look at some of the key aspects of birthright citizenship.

What is birthright citizenship?
The principle that anybody born on U.S. soil becomes a U.S. citizen. It was added to the Constitution in 1868 in the first sentence of the 14th Amendment, which reads: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. The amendment was designed to grant citizenship to freed slaves after the Civil War, overriding the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision by the Supreme Court that had forbidden African-Americans from ever gaining citizenship and the Naturalization Act of 1790 that conferred citizenship only on free white persons "of good character." In practice, it has become a bedrock of U.S. immigration law that has allowed anybody born in the U.S. to become citizens. Congress also has passed laws extending birthright citizenship to people born in U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

How many people benefit?
Citizenship was granted to about 275,000 babies born to undocumented immigrant parents in 2014, representing about 7 percent of all births in the country that year, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Those numbers represented a drop from the peak years of illegal immigration, topped in 2006 when about 370,000 children were born to undocumented immigrants, or 9 percent of all births, according to the Pew estimate. Data from Pew shows that 90 percent of undocumented immigrants who give birth in the U.S. arrived in the country more than two years before giving birth. Those numbers do not include pregnant mothers who obtain visas to travel to the U.S. shortly before giving birth. Russians routinely fly to South Florida, and there is an entire industry in China designed to coach pregnant women on how to deal with U.S. immigration authorities so they can enter the United States for the sole purpose of giving birth to American citizens. Mexicans also contribute a large share: 21 percent of births in Arizona in 2014 were to undocumented immigrants, and 25 percent of births in Texas that year were to undocumented immigrants, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that opposes birthright citizenship and advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration. Altogether, the center puts the total number of babies born through birth tourism at about 36,000 a year.

How many countries grant it?
Trump has said the U.S. is the only nation in the world to grant birthright citizenship. The Center for Immigration Studies identified at least 30 nations that grant birthright citizenship, however, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. John Skrentny, a sociologist at the University of California-San Diego, told Politifact in 2015 that birthright citizenship is a holdover from colonial times, when European countries granted lenient naturalization laws in order to  conquer new lands. That's why the practice is almost exclusively used in the Western Hemisphere.

^ This is what I wrote the other day. ^


Halloween History

From History.com:
"History of Halloween"

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated each year on October 31, and Halloween 2018 occurs on Wednesday, October 31. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating sweet treats.  Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.  When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween. On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It’s widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.  Celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups as well as the American Indians meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included “play parties,” public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other’s fortunes, dance and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally.  Borrowing from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.  By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide Halloween parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague some celebrations in many communities during this time.  By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated.  Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats.  Thus, a new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas. The American Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives.  The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food and money. The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry.  On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.  On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.  Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition. It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.  Today’s Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This idea has its roots in the Middle Ages, when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into black cats.   We try not to walk under ladders for the same reason. This superstition may have come from the ancient Egyptians, who believed that triangles were sacred (it also may have something to do with the fact that walking under a leaning ladder tends to be fairly unsafe). And around Halloween, especially, we try to avoid breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road or spilling salt.  But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead.  In particular, many had to do with helping young women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they would someday—with luck, by next Halloween—be married. In 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it.  In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl’s future husband. (In some versions of this legend, the opposite was true: The nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.)  Another tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugary concoction made out of walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night she would dream about her future husband.   Young women tossed apple-peels over their shoulders, hoping that the peels would fall on the floor in the shape of their future husbands’ initials; tried to learn about their futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water; and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands’ faces.  Other rituals were more competitive. At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry; at others, the first successful apple-bobber would be the first down the aisle. Of course, whether we’re asking for romantic advice or trying to avoid seven years of bad luck, each one of these Halloween superstitions relies on the goodwill of the very same “spirits” whose presence the early Celts felt so keenly.

^ I like to know the history of our holidays and traditions. My Halloween will consist of eating candy corn and watching scary movies - a tradition I have done for years. ^



Halloween!


Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Suspended DMZ Tours

From the Stars and Stripes:
"Popular tours to DMZ village suspended"

Tours to the Korean truce village of Panmunjom have been suspended while authorities await guidance on new arrangements to comply with a far-reaching military agreement. Agencies notified tourists last week and offered refunds for those who had prepaid for a visit to the tightly controlled Joint Security Area, the heart of the heavily fortified border that sits about 35 miles north of Seoul.
 The tours to the JSA — the only point along the 155-mile long border where North and South Korean troops face each other — are popular with foreign tourists eager for a glimpse of the communist state. The U.S.-led United Nations Command, which administers the southern side of the jointly patrolled area, confirmed the tours have been postponed. The command’s military armistice commission was “looking into dates when they can resume,” it said. “There will be no crossings until the State Department has created and coordinated guidance for the crossings,” a UNC official said in an email Tuesday, discussing the issue on condition of anonymity. The military armistice commission anticipates that crossings will be very controlled at first with name accountability and a head count, the official said while stressing that guidance will come from the State Department. Visitors have long been allowed into only certain parts of the area — including the blue conference building where the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War was signed — as part of tightly controlled tour groups led by authorized agencies. But the inter-Korean military agreement reached last month called for the JSA to be disarmed and for civilians to be allowed in the area with “freedom of movement” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The two Koreas, backed by the UNC, announced last week that they had completed the withdrawal of firearms and military posts from the area as part of the agreement, which is aimed at reducing tensions amid diplomatic efforts to persuade the North to give up its nuclear weapons. The UNC — which is led by Gen. Vincent Brooks, who also commands U.S. Forces Korea — announced Monday that the work done to date had been verified. It also said a third meeting planned for Tuesday between UNC, North and South Korean officials to discuss further implementation of the military agreement had been postponed. “The trilateral talk will be rescheduled and is being coordinated between” the three parties, according to a press release. The website NK News quoted travel industry sources as saying that North Korean authorities expect tourists visiting the JSA on its side to be able to freely cross the Military Demarcation Line as early as Thursday. It said the news was reportedly relayed by the Korean International Tourism Company. In addition to the UNC statement, South Korea’s defense ministry said discussions are ongoing and no definite date has been fixed for the JSA border crossings to begin. “The issue related to the free traffic or sightseeing is a matter in need of review and consultation,” ministry spokesman Lee Jin-woo told reporters Monday. It’s also not clear how the changes may affect Americans who face a travel ban imposed after the death last year of Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who fell into a coma while detained in the North. Currently, Americans can step into the North while in the building where the armistice was signed, a popular feature of the tours. But the military agreement suggests tourists would be allowed deeper into the North Korean side of the area. Representatives of several South Korean tour agencies said the JSA tours have not been allowed since Oct. 25, when the UNC informed them to be on standby as the area was temporarily closed. One employee reached on the phone declined to be interviewed, saying he was too busy processing refunds for visitors who had prepaid for upcoming JSA tours, which have required advance notice to provide time for approval from the U.N. security battalion. The JSA tours are usually combined with visits to other sites such as an observation tower and an old North Korean infiltration tunnel near the Demilitarized Zone, a 2.5-mile wide no man’s land that bisects the peninsula largely along the 38th Parallel. Those tours have not been affected

^ They really need to bring these tours back (especially for the US military and their families stationed in South Korea which is currently 23,468 soldiers - not including family members.) I remember my mom telling me about her trip to the DMZ when my Dad was stationed there and I have seen the pictures from the tour. When she went on the tour the DMZ was the most dangerous and deadly since the 1953 Ceasefire with numerous North Korean tunnels found and the Ax Murder Incident in which 2 American soldiers were killed by the North Koreans and several Americans were wounded. These tours for US soldiers and their families aren't just about sightseeing, but about showing why they are in South Korea protecting them (kind of like US soldiers taking trips to East Berlin during the Cold War.) ^ 


Ending Birthright

From Reuters:
"Trump: End birthright citizenship for some US-born babies"

President Donald Trump is making another hardline immigration play in the final days before midterm elections, declaring that he wants to order an end to the constitutional right to citizenship for babies born in the United States to non-citizens. With seven days to go before high-stakes elections that he has sought to focus on fearmongering over immigration, Trump made the comments to "Axios on HBO." Trump, seeking to energize his supporters and help Republicans keep control of Congress, has stoked anxiety about a caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the U.S.-Mexico border. He is dispatching additional troops and saying he'll set up tent cities for asylum seekers. The president has long called for an end to birthright citizenship, as have many conservatives. An executive order to revoke the right would spark a court fight over whether the president has the unilateral ability to change an amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment guarantees that right for all children born in the U.S. Asked about the legality of such an executive order, Trump said, "they're saying I can do it just with an executive order." He added that "we're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States," though a 2010 study from the Center for Immigration Studies showed that 30 countries offered birthright citizenship. An excerpt of the interview was posted on Axios' website on Tuesday. The president said White House lawyers are reviewing his proposal. It's unclear how quickly he would act and the White House did not provide further details. A person familiar with the internal White House debate said the topic of birthright citizenship had come up inside the West Wing at various times over at least the last year, but has some internal detractors. White House lawyers have debated the topic, and expect to work with the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to develop a legal justification for the action. It is one of many immigration changes being discussed including asylum law changes, and barring the migrant caravan from entering the country. But administration officials said there would likely be no decisions until after the midterms, due in part to the president's trip to Pittsburgh. Legal experts questioned whether Trump has the authority to do this by executive order. Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, said Tuesday that the Constitution is very clear. "If you are born in the United States, you're a citizen," he said, adding that it was "outrageous that the president can think he can override constitutional guarantees by issuing an executive order, Jadwat said the president has an obligation to uphold the Constitution. Trump can try to get Congress to pass a constitutional amendment, "but I don't think they are anywhere close to getting that." "Obviously, even if he did, it would be subject to court challenge," he added. Suzanna Sherry, a professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School specializing in constitutional questions, said those advising Trump that he can change the Constitution via executive order are simply mistaken. "He can't do it by himself and, in fact, he can't do it even if Congress passed a statue." "I think it would take a Constitutional amendment," she said. "I don't see it as having any plausible legal basis," she said. But others suggest the president may have an opening. Jon Feere, a senior adviser at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is among those who has long argued that that the president could limit the citizenship clause through executive action. "A president could direct his agencies to fall in line with his interpretation of the Supreme Court's rulings, which are arguably limited to children of permanently domiciled immigrants (the court has never squarely ruled on children born to tourists or illegal aliens). He could direct his agencies to issue Social Security numbers and passports only to newborns who have at least one parent who is a citizen or permanently domiciled immigrant," he wrote in 2015 in an op-ed in the Hill. In the final days before the Nov. 6 midterms, Trump has emphasized immigration, as he seeks to counter Democratic enthusiasm. Trump believes that his campaign pledges, including his much-vaunted and still-unfulfilled promise to quickly build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, are still rallying cries for his base and that this latest focus will further erode the enthusiasm gap.
Trump voiced his theory that birthright citizenship could be stripped during his campaign, when he described it as a "magnet for illegal immigration." During a 2015 campaign stop in Florida, he said: "The birthright citizenship - the anchor baby - birthright citizenship, it's over, not going to happen." The first line of the 14th Amendment states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1866 during the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War. It was ratified in 1868 by three-fourths of the states. By extending citizenship to those born in the U.S., the amendment nullified an 1857 Supreme Court decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford), which ruled that those descended from slaves could not be citizens. Republicans in Congress continue introducing bills to end birthright citizenship, including legislation this session from conservative GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa who has aligned himself with some nationalist political leaders abroad. King's bill has almost 50 co-sponsors in the House. King's legislation though would likely face a cool reception in the Senate where there is no companion bill pending, and a handful of senators supported past efforts. King said he had not discussed the issue with the president at any length in recent months, but that it had come up "in passing" several times in group discussions. He said he hadn't personally considered birthright citizenship to be part of the caravan issue and applauded the president for connecting the issues. "Sending this message out, it's another component of saying to the caravan: Don't come in here. Some are pregnant, no doubt" he said.  He stressed there's never been a Supreme Court case on the issue, "so it's never been tested."

^ The automatic birthright citizenship should have been done away decades ago. While Trump is wrong (that the US is the only country that has it) it is only found in North and South America - without restrictions. I have heard people use Canada as a main example and while any person born in Canada is a Canadian citizen the Canadians do have a very restrictive nationality law in that 2 Canadian parents both born outside of Canada cannot give I Canadian citizenship to their child if that child is not born in Canada - which oftentimes makes that child "stateless." So using Canada as a model or example is not the best since Canada helps to add to the refugee and stateless population every year even though there is no war going on there.

Birthright Citizenship (Jus soli or "Right of the Land") should have been done away decades ago. US Citizenship should only be given to those born (in the US or in another country to at least one American parent - - whether they are married or not and whether they are native-born or naturalized.)  Birthright Citizenship isn't just found in the US, but throughout most of North and South America (most of the countries in Europe that had it have since done away with it.)

 There is a whole internationally organized criminal system called "Birth Tourism" that uses "anchor babies" (a pregnant foreigner comes to the US - sometimes legally, but mostly illegally - and has their child who then becomes a US citizen by birthright citizenship and then the parents and even extended family use that anchor citizenship to come here. Then the family of the "anchor baby" is owned by the people who organized and paid for the "Birth Tourism" and go into other criminal activities (like drugs, sex trafficking, smuggling, etc.)

1. As of right now Birthright Citizenship does not extend to every piece of US soil. It only extends to: the 50 States, DC and the territories of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam and the former US territory of the Panama Canal Zone (for those born there between 1903 and 1999.) People born in these jurisdictions are automatically US Citizens.

2. People born in the US territory of American Samoa are only US Nationals (not US Citizens.)

According to the Foreign Affairs Manual, which is published by the Department of State, "Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities abroad are not part of the United States within the meaning of the [Fourteenth] Amendment." That means that currently a person born outside the US (even when their parents are on official Federal Government orders) does not automatically become a US Citizen at birth.

US Citizenship through Birth Abroad (Jus sanguinis or "Right of Blood):

-If the child is born outside the US to two American parents who are married and one of those parents has lived any amount of time inside the US before their child's birth then that child is automatically a US Citizen and must be registered at the US Embassy.

- If a child is born outside of the US to only one American parent after November 1986 (but their parents are married) then the citizen parent has to have lived at least five years in the US before the child's birth (a minimum of two of these five years in the US were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.) Then that child is a US citizen and must be registered at the US Embassy.

- If a child was born outside the US to only one American parent between 1952 and 1986 (but their parents were married) then the citizen parent had to have lived at least ten years in the US before the child's birth (a minimum of 5 of these 10 years in the US were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.) Then that child is a US citizen and must be registered at the US Embassy.

- If a child was born outside the US to only one American parent (but their parents weren't married) then the mother (or the father, if the child was born on or after June 12, 2017) was a US citizen and physically present in the US for a continuous period of one year prior to the child's birth then that child is a US citizen and must be registered at the US Embassy.


While I don't think Birthright Citizenship can be done away with as easy as through an Executive Order I also don't think it needs a new Constitutional Amendment. The US Supreme Court just needs to clearly define the current laws regarding US Citizenship - something they have been unwilling to completely do in the 229 years since they were established. 

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. ^




Blasphemy Out

From the BBC:
"Irish vote to scrap offence of blasphemy"

Blasphemy is to be decriminalised in the Republic of Ireland after voters overwhelming supported a referendum to remove it as an offence in Irish law. The result, announced late on Saturday night, saw 64.85% of the electorate voting Yes to decriminalise blasphemy, while 35.15% voted No. Blasphemy has been an offence for centuries but was not defined in Irish law until the Defamation Act of 2009. Both the 2009 Act and the 1937 Irish Constitution will now be amended.  Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan welcomed the result, saying there was "no room for a provision such as this in our constitution". "Ireland is rightly proud of our reputation as a modern, liberal society." The referendum took place on the same day as voters went to the polls to elect the Irish president, which saw Michael D Higgins returned for a second seven-year term. The last successful conviction for blasphemy in Ireland was in 1703 and the last attempted prosecution was in 1855 - both cases were taken when Ireland was under British rule. Many voters were unaware that such an offence existed in modern Irish law until 2015, when the actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry was investigated over comments he made in a TV interview. Mr Fry had been asked by an RTÉ programme what he would say to god if there was an afterlife. He replied that he would ask why the world had been created with "such misery" and cited children with bone cancer as an example of suffering.  "Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded stupid god who creates a world so full of injustice and pain?" the actor said. "The god that created this universe, if it was created by a god, is quite clearly a maniac, utter maniac, totally selfish." A member of the public made a formal complaint about Mr Fry's comments to gardaí (Irish police).  Officers investigated the matter under the 2009 Defamation Act, which stated that anyone convicted of uttering or publishing "blasphemous matter" could be fined up to 25,000 euros (£22,300). The Act defined blasphemous matter as "grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion". In 2017, the Stephen Fry investigation was dropped, reportedly because officers could not find a substantial number of people that had been outraged by his remarks.  The last person to be prosecuted for blasphemy in Ireland was a Catholic priest who was accused of burning a bible in Kingstown (now called Dún Laoghaire) in 1855. Fr Vladimir Petcherine argued in court that he was attempting to burn "evil" literature and did not realise a bible was among the pile of books on his bonfire. The priest was found not guilty.  Sixteen years after achieving independence from Britain, the Republic of Ireland drew up a new constitution which included a clause on blasphemy. The 1937 Constitution states: "The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law." However, blasphemous matter was not defined until 2009, when it was included in an overhaul of defamation legislation.  The then Justice Minister Dermot Ahern faced criticism from many liberal commentators for what they saw as curtailing freedom of speech.  At the time, Mr Ahern admitted blasphemy was an "arcane concept" and said he would prefer to abolish the offence, but that would require a referendum. The Republic of Ireland was then caught in the middle of a major banking crisis which was putting the state's solvency at risk, and a referendum would have been seen as an unnecessary expense on the public purse. Friday's referendum was purposely organised in tandem with the presidential election. The turnout was 43.79% and 951,650 people voted to decriminalise blasphemy. Mr Ahern's current successor, Charlie Flanagan, will now work to remove the word "blasphemous" from Article 40.6.1 of the constitution. The justice minister will now also move to repeal sections 36 and 37 of the Defamation Act 2009.

^ This is one of those laws you can't believe are still on the law books in the second decade of the 2st Century. I'm glad the Irish voters turned it down. ^

War Of The Words

Happy "War of the World's Day!" 80 years and still finding gullible people.

Repression Summary

From Anyday Guide:
"Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repressions in Russia"

October 30 is Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repressions in Russia. This is an official day of remembrance, that was established in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
 October 30 is the anniversary of the first observation of Political Prisoners Day in 1974. Prisoners of the Mordovia and Perm labor camps organized a hunger strike and lit the candles in commemoration of the innocent victims of the political repressions. Political prisoners started organizing hunger strikes annually. Since 1987 the activists started supporting the prisoners by organizing mass demonstrations. After the collapse of the Soviet Union October 30 officially became Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repressions in Russia. Various mourning events are held on this day, including special classes at schools, ceremonies of laying wreaths and flowers at the monuments of the victims of political repressions. Other post-Soviet countries, including Ukraine and Kazakhstan, also have alike days of remembrance, but they fall on other dates.

^ This gives a brief and good summary of what the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repression in Russia is about. ^

Repression Remembrance



In the 74 years the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics existed (1917-1991) tens of millions of men, women and children became victims of political repression within the Soviet Union alone. That does not count the millions upon millions of additional men, women and children politically repressed by the Soviets in: Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Soviet-occupied Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Albania (or the millions of people politically repressed by the local Communists in those countries.)
 Lenin called them “Enemy of the People” (враг народа) in November 1917 and made it legal by Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code) in February 1927  - all 15 Soviet Republics had a similar Article in their Penal Code. Any person could be called an “Enemy of the People” but whole groups were singled out: Tsar Nicholas II and the Imperial family, aristocrats, the bourgeoisie, clerics, business entrepreneurs, anarchists, kulaks, monarchists, Mensheviks, Esers, Bundists, Trotskyists, Bukharinists, the "old Bolsheviks", the army and police, emigrants, saboteurs, wreckers, "social parasites" , Kavezhedists, those considered bourgeois nationalists (notably Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Armenian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian nationalists, Zionists and Basmachi.)  
An "Enemy of the People" could be imprisoned, expelled or executed, and lose their property to confiscation. Close relatives of enemies of the people were labeled as "Traitor of Motherland Family Members" (члены семьи изменника Родины)  and prosecuted. They could be sent to a Gulag, punished by the involuntary settlement in unpopulated areas, or stripped of citizen's rights. Being a friend of an enemy of the people automatically placed the person under suspicion.
While “Enemy of the People” affected the whole 74 years the USSR existed there were numerous campaigns to “wipe-out” this group of people:
-          The Red Terror (Красный террор): December 1917 to February 1922 between 100,000 and 200,000 men, women and children were murdered.

-          Collectivization Program (Коллективизация): 1928-1948 between 6 to 13 million men, women and children were murdered. 

-          The Great Purge or the Great Terror (Большой террор): 1937-1938 between 950,000 to 1,200,000 men, women and children were murdered.

-          Forced Population Transfer of whole groups (Poles (1939–1941 and 1944–1945), Romanians (1941 and 1944–1953), Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians (1939-1941 and 1945–1949), Volga Germans (1941–1945), Ingrian Finns (1929–1931 and 1935–1939), Finnish people in Karelia (1940–1941, 1944), Crimean Tatars, Crimean Greeks (1944) and Caucasus Greeks (1949–50), Kalmyks, Balkars, Karachays, Meskhetian Turks, Karapapaks, Far East Koreans (1937), Chechens and Ingushs (1944) - -  1930s to 1950s between 1 million and 1.5 million men, women and children were murdered. 
From 1927-1953 Joseph Stalin had an estimated 61 million men, women and children (Enemies of the People) murdered. 
It was only after he died that the Soviet Government created a political term called “Rehabilitation” (реабилитация) under which an “Enemy of the People” or a “Traitor to the Motherland Family Member” – those that had been repressed and criminally prosecuted without due basis – were given State Acquittals and allowed to live in exile within the Soviet Union – most were posthumously granted as the person had already been executed or died in a labor camp.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Brexit Coin

From the BBC:
"Special 50p coin to mark Brexit"

A commemorative 50p coin will be issued to mark the UK's departure from the European Union (EU) next year. The Budget documents confirmed the coin would be made available in spring 2019. According to The Sun, the coin will feature the Queen's head and the date 29 March 2019 and on the reverse the phrase "Friendship with all nations".  A 50p coin was struck when the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973 and when the UK held the presidency of the EU in 1998. It is not yet known exactly what the new Brexit coins will look like.  Last year, the Royal Mint issued more than 66 million new 50p pieces in five different designs featuring the Beatrix Potter characters Peter Rabbit, Tom Kitten, Jeremy Fisher and Benjamin Bunny, as well as the physicist Isaac Newton.  Earlier this year, it minted two special 50p coins to mark the 60th anniversary of Michael Bond's first Paddington Bear book. The Sun newspaper has claimed the minting of the new 50p as a "victory" saying it had "campaigned for the Government to create an enduring gesture to mark Brexit as a landmark national moment". The newspaper quoted sources as saying Brexit was "an historic moment which will rightly be commemorated". It also said, according to Treasury sources, the department had been secretly working on plans for the coin for months, before Conservative MPs began to campaign for one. 

^ With all the years of chaos and disruption Brexit has caused every single person in the UK since the vote to leave and all the years of chaos and disruption Brexit will continue to cause I don't think anyone should celebrate Brexit  - at least not for another decade or so. The British Government should focus on trying to resolve at least some of the countless issues that haven't been addressed with Brexit and it's affect on the UK and the EU before minting a Brexit coin to commemorate it. ^


Merkel Leaving

From the BBC:
"Angela Merkel to step down as German chancellor in 2021"

Germany's Angela Merkel has said she will step down as chancellor in 2021, following recent election setbacks. "I will not be seeking any political post after my term ends," she told a news conference in Berlin. She also said she would not seek re-election as leader of the centre-right CDU party in December. She has held the post since 2000. The CDU was severely weakened in Sunday's poll in the state of Hesse, the latest in a series of setbacks. Both the CDU and its national coalition partners, the Social Democrats, were 10 percentage points down on the previous poll there. The election comes just weeks after Mrs Merkel's Bavarian sister party, the CSU, suffered huge losses in a state parliament vote. Parties like the left-leaning Greens and the far-right, anti-immigration AfD have grown in national support following the 2017 general election, as backing for the major centre parties has waned. Angela Merkel did her best to maintain her famous poker face but at times she looked rather sad as she announced what amounted to an official - albeit drawn-out - farewell to German politics.  She has always insisted that if she is to lead Germany, she must also lead her party.  The announcement is intended to silence critics in her party and win back the voters who have deserted the CDU in favour of parties like AfD and the Greens, but it also reflects her dwindling grip on power.  Much depends on her successor as party leader. If it is a loyalist - like Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer - Germany might see a smooth transition to a new chancellor, possibly allowing Mrs Merkel to see out her term.  But the vultures are circling. Already an old rival, Friedrich Merz, has announced his candidacy. If one of Mrs Merkel's adversaries prevails as party leader, her chancellorship becomes uncomfortable and possibly untenable.  Mrs Merkel said she took "full responsibility" for poor performance. "As chancellor and leader of the CDU I'm politically responsible for everything, for successes and for failures," she said. "When people are telling us what they think of how the government was formed and what they think of our work during the first seven months of this parliament... then it is a clear signal that things can't carry on as they are. "The time has come to open a new chapter."  She also made it clear she would not handpick her successor as party leader and would "accept any democratic decision taken by my party".  Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer would be the obvious choice for Merkel loyalists to replace her. She is currently the party secretary. However, Health Minister Jens Spahn, a leading critic of the chancellor's open-door migration policies, has also announced his candidacy. And Friedrich Merz, a former leader of the CDU-CSU parliamentary group and an old rival to Mrs Merkel, has thrown his hat into the ring.  Mrs Merkel's CDU plunged 11 percentage points to 27% in Sunday's elections in the central state of Hesse, according to preliminary results. This was the party's worst showing in the state since 1966. The SPD, which is in coalition with the CDU nationally, fell by a similar amount to 19.8%.  The main beneficiaries were the Greens, who paradoxically share power with the CDU in the state and have now drawn level with the SPD, and the far-right AfD, who rose to 13%. The Hesse vote follows a pattern of losses for the two main parties, with the AfD doing particularly well in eastern states. Also on 14 October, the CDU's Bavarian ally, the CSU, lost its absolute majority in the state's parliament which it has dominated since 1957. Like in Hesse, the SPD also lost badly and the Greens and AfD surged. While the Greens appear to have benefited from the SPD's slump in support, it seems clear that the centre-right has lost voters to the AfD. Part of the reason could be anger at Mrs Merkel's decision to open Germany's borders to large numbers of migrants, a move which the AfD has vehemently opposed.

^ This is long over-due. I don't think Presidents, Prime Ministers or Chancellors should be allowed to rule indefinitely. When they do it becomes more of a dictatorship than a position. Merkel has been in office for 13 years now and when she finally leaves in 2021 it will be 16 years with her as Chancellor. I like how the US limits Presidents to 8 years. ^