Saturday, April 07, 2012

England Bans Public Cigarette Sales

England has banned the display of cigarette packets in supermarkets and other large stores. The government says the ban will encourage those trying to give up the habit, but its opponents say that it is discriminatory. Al Jazeera's Rory Challands reports from London.


My comment:

The government is busy de-normalizing cigarette smoking; yet at the same time they do nothing about drug-taking. In fact, drug-taking appears to be becoming an ever more normal part of life for many. To me, this seems perverse.

I would say that they've got their work cut out if they want to rid society of this habit. All they are doing is driving it into the private sphere. But in so doing, they are making people that would otherwise be tolerant, less tolerant, because they keep hammering away at so-called dangers of second-hand smoke. (Where's the evidence?)

By segregating smokers like this, they are causing loneliness for many. These days, nobody wants you in their home if you smoke. And if you get invited, and you smoke, you have to go out into the garden to puff away. How demeaning that is! And how unwelcoming, too.

If the government ever succeeds in de-normalizing smoking, indeed if they succeed in banishing it, they will find that the habit will be replaced by something else. And that something else will probably be far more injurious to health than even smoking is. At least smoking kills slowly (in most cases). It does not bend the mind, or make people's behaviour odd.

I have to shake my head when I think how much this once tolerant nation has changed. My parents' generation were fine, upstanding citizens, who dressed well, spoke well, etc. Many of those people smoked, and sometimes a lot. But they were decent people: honourable, courteous, upstanding, welcoming, caring.

And today? What have we? Take a look around your local supermarket! Many might not smoke cigarettes, but take a look at the way they're dressed, listen to how they speak, listen to the foul language, observe the multiple tattoos and piercings on their bodies. How healthy is it to inject ink under the skin? And what is the government doing about that?

I don't have children, but if I did, I would much prefer that they be exposed to a little passive smoking than for their minds to be polluted by the excesses of the modern age.

Lastly, I should like to say that even though I am not in any way homophobic – far from it, actually – one really has to wonder the direction a society is taking when it will soon be legal for two men/women to marry, and walk down the street holding hands (and kissing?), yet it is already illegal for a man to light up in the public arena.

My poor father must be turning in his grave.
– © Mark


This comment also appears here
Polls Show British PM Cameron Losing Support

British voters are losing confidence in Prime Minister David Cameron to see them through the economic crisis, according to the latest opinion polls. The leader of the country's coalition government has staked his political reputation on reducing the UK's debt and reforming public finances. A series of blunders, however, has seen the government back-track on some of those measures. Al Jazeera's Harry Smith reports from London.

Australian Energy Company CEO Stands Down after Slew of Racist Remarks on Facebook

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An Australian energy company has lost contracts and had its ties with a football club cut after its CEO made a slew of offensive remarks on Facebook about Aborigines, Asians, Jews, Muslims and women.

The comments were described by Julia Gillard, Australia's Prime Minister – who was herself the target of some remarks – as "very nasty". But the company boss, Ben Polis, denied he was "like a neo-Nazi racist", saying he once dated a half-Aboriginal woman and employed an Asian cleaner.

Mr Polis, 30, stood down from his position as chief executive of the company he founded, EnergyWatch, today after a meeting with the senior managers.

His comments were deemed "abhorrent" by the Aussie Rules football club, Melbourne Demons, which terminated its £1.3 million annual deal with the company, its major sponsor. A football club, Melbourne Victory, and a rugby club, Melbourne Rebels, also terminated their sponsorship deals. » | Jonathan Pearlman in Sydney | Thursday, April 05, 2012
New Dark Age Alert! Kuwaiti Preacher Sheik Nayef Hajjaj Al-Ajami: Allah Transformed the Jews, the "Scum of Mankind," into Apes and Pigs | Kuwait TV - November 25, 2011

Egyptian Author Sayyid Al-Qimni: We Have Tried Islamic Rule for 1,400 Years and It Has Failed | Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) - February 23, 2012

Egyptian Philosopher Murad Wahba: The Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabism Have Made Us Develop "Antibodies" against the 21st Century | CBC TV (Egypt) - March 8, 2012

Qatari Attorney General Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri on the Justice System in Qatar: "If Fatima, Daughter of the Prophet, Had Stolen, I'd Have Chopped Off Her Hand" | Al-Jazeera TV (Qatar) - February 29, 2012

Algerian Cleric Ali Belhadj, Former Vice-President of the Islamic Salvation Front, Calls Sarkozy "Despicable" for Having Muhammed Merah Buried in France; French Citizen Tears Up His Passport, Calling Sarkozy a "Pig" and Justifying Merah's Actions (March 30, 2012)

David Ignatius: Obama’s Signal to Iran

THE WASHINGTON POST: President Obama has signaled Iran that the United States would accept an Iranian civilian nuclear program if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei can back up his recent public claim that his nation “will never pursue nuclear weapons.”

This verbal message was sent through Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited Khamenei last week. A few days before traveling to Iran, Erdogan had held a two-hour meeting with Obama in Seoul, in which they discussed what Erdogan would tell the ayatollah about the nuclear issue and Syria.

Obama advised Erdogan that the Iranians should realize that time is running out for a peaceful settlement and that Tehran should take advantage of the current window for negotiations. Obama didn’t specify whether Iran would be allowed to enrich uranium domestically as part of the civilian program the United States would endorse. That delicate issue evidently would be left for the negotiations that are supposed to start April 13, at a venue yet to be decided.

Erdogan is said to have replied that he would convey Obama’s views to Khamenei, and it’s believed he did so when he met the Iranian leader on Thursday. Erdogan also met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other senior Iranian officials during his visit. Read on and comment » | David Ignatius | Opinion Writer | Thursday, April 05, 2012
Cardinal Keith O'Brien Urges Christians to 'Proudly' Wear Cross

BBC: Britain's most senior Roman Catholic Church cleric has called for Christians to wear a cross every day.

In his Easter Sunday sermon, Cardinal Keith O'Brien will tell worshippers to "wear proudly a symbol of the cross of Christ" each day of their lives.

The leader of the Church in Scotland, he will voice concern at the growing "marginalisation" of religion.

His comments come as a case is going to the European Court of Human Rights to allow employees to wear crosses.

In his Easter message, Cardinal O'Brien is expected to refer to remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 that Christians "need to be free to act in accordance with their own principles".

Former nurse Shirley Chaplin, from Exeter, and Nadia Eweida, from Twickenham, who worked with British Airways, are taking their call for all employees to be able to wear a cross at work to the European Court of Human Rights.

Both women lost their discrimination cases in 2010. Read on and comment » | Saturday, April 07, 2012
Wahl in Ägypten: Ehemaliger Mubarak-Vize will doch Präsident werden

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Erst vor wenigen Tagen hatte Omar Suleiman seine Kandidatur abgesagt, jetzt tritt der ehemalige Geheimdienstchef doch an: Der frühere Vize von Mubarak will Ägyptens Präsident werden. Zuvor hatten die Muslimbrüder überraschend einen eigenen Kandidaten aufgestellt.

Kairo - Kurz vor dem Ende der Anmeldefrist für die Kandidaten der ägyptischen Präsidentschaftswahl hat der ehemalige Geheimdienstchef Omar Suleiman seinen Hut doch in den Ring geworfen. Suleiman habe am Freitag einen entsprechenden Antrag eingereicht, berichtete die Zeitung "Al-Ahram".

Suleiman hatte seine Kandidatur erst vor wenigen Tagen abgesagt und dies mit fehlenden finanziellen und organisatorischen Mitteln begründet. Eine Demonstration von Hunderten von Anhängern vor seinem Haus habe ihn aber zum Umdenken gebracht, berichtete die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Mena. "Euer Aufruf war ein Befehl, und ich bin ein Soldat, der noch nie in seinem Leben einen Befehl verweigert hat", wird Suleiman zitiert. Er sei "tief berührt" von der Unterstützung seiner Anhänger und werde nun trotz der "Hindernisse und Schwierigkeiten" antreten. » | lgr/dpa/AFP | Freitag, 06. April 2012
Tunisia Chief Backs Conviction for Islam Insult

BOSTON GLOBE: TUNIS, Tunisia—Two men have been convicted and sentenced to prison in Tunisia for posting Facebook images of the Prophet Muhammad in a compromising position, a court decision that drew support Friday from the presidency of this once staunchly secular country.

Jaber Majeri and Ghazi Jribi were convicted on March 28 by a Tunisian court for "insulting the sacred" after they posted images of the prophet purportedly being intimate with one of his wives, Aisha. They were each sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and fined $800.

The verdict, which was made public Thursday, has been condemned by some as an attack on freedom of expression and a mark of the rising tide of religious conservatism in the country since a popular uprising ousted a dictator a year ago.

Since the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a moderate Islamist party Ennahda won elections in October but has promised not to enshrine Islamic law in the new constitution. That has put it at odds with a vocal minority of hardline Muslims known as Salafis.

Tunisian society has become polarized between those demanding more religion in public life and those who want to preserve secular traditions. » | Bouazza Ben Bouazza | Associated Press | Friday, April 06, 2012

Friday, April 06, 2012

Ghadhafi-Sohn Saif al-Islam in der Haft Gewalt ausgesetzt

NZZ ONLINE: Der Sohn des früheren libyschen Machthabers Ghadhafi, Saif al-Islam, ist in der Haft in Libyen körperlicher Gewalt ausgesetzt. Dies erklärte die Verteidigung am Internationalen Strafgerichtshof (ICC) am Donnerstag. » | sda/afp | Donnerstag, 05. April 2012
Papst bekräftigt Nein zu Priesterinnen und fordert Gehorsam

REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Vatikan-Stadt - Papst Benedikt XVI. hat sein Nein zu Priesterinnen und zur Abkehr von Doktrinen der römisch-katholischen Kirche bekräftigt.

In der traditionellen Gründonnerstagsmesse forderte das Kirchenoberhaupt Gehorsam von Priestern und Laien ein, die bei der Ordination von Frauen und beim Zölibat gegen den Vatikan Stellung bezogen haben. Der Papst reagierte damit auf eine Gruppe katholischer Geistlicher in Österreich, die sich in einem "Aufruf zum Ungehorsam" über "endgültige Entscheidungen des kirchlichen Lehramts" hinwegsetze.

Der in diesem Monat 85 Jahre alt werdende Papst erinnerte an die Erklärung seines Vorgängers Johannes Paul II. von 1994, wonach der Ausschluss von Frauen vom Priesteramt Ausdruck des göttlichen Auftrags der Kirche sei. Im Jahr darauf hatte der heutige Papst als Chef der Vatikanischen Glaubenskongregation diese Position als unabänderlich bekräftigt. » | Reuters | Freitag, 06. April 2012
"Schwulenpropaganda" – Festnahmen in Russland

WELT ONLINE: Die russische Stadt St. Petersburg hat kürzlich ein Gesetz erlassen, das Aufklärung über Homosexualität verbietet. Jetzt gab es die ersten Festnahmen wegen eines Verstoßes dagegen.

Erstmals seit dem umstrittenen Verbot von "Schwulenpropaganda" im russischen St. Petersburg sind in der Touristenmetropole zwei Menschen wegen Verstoßes gegen das Gesetz festgenommen worden. » | dpa/smb | Freitag, 06. April 2012

Verwandt »
Cancer de la prostate : trois-quarts des Français de plus de 75 ans ont été dépistés entre 2008 et 2010

lePARISIEN.fr (LA PARISIENNE): Plus des trois-quarts des hommes âgés de plus de 75 ans ont réalisé au moins un dépistage, par dosage de l'antigène spécifique prostatique (PSA), du cancer de la prostate en France sur la période 2008-2010, selon une étude publiée jeudi 5 avril par l'Assurance maladie. Dans un rapport publié hier, mercredi 4 avril, la Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) a pourtant révélé que le dépistage systématique du cancer de la prostate ne présentait aucun intérêt, dans la population générale comme dans les populations à risque.

Le taux d'hommes de plus de 75 ans ayant réalisé au moins un dépistage du cancer de la prostate est plus élevé dans l'Hexagone que dans de nombreux autres pays (Etats-Unis, Royaume-Uni, Suède). » | Relaxnews | jeudi 05 avril 2012
La France rejette l'indépendance du Nord-Mali

EUROPE 1: La France rejette la déclaration d'indépendance du Nord-Mali proclamée par un groupe touareg, estimant qu'il n'est pas question de remettre en cause la souveraineté du Mali, a déclaré vendredi le ministre des Affaires étrangères Alain Juppé.

"La France est attachée à l'intégrité territoriale du Mali, il n'est pas question de remettre en cause la souveraineté de ce pays", a déclaré le ministre des Affaires étrangères Alain Juppé vendredi à Bordeaux. » | Par Europe1.fr avec AFP | vendredi 06 avril 2012
Half a Million Mac Computers ‘Infected with Malware’

BBC: More than half a million Apple computers have been infected with the Flashback Trojan, according to a Russian anti-virus firm.

Its report claims that about 600,000 Macs have installed the malware - potentially allowing them to be hijacked and used as a "botnet".

The firm, Dr Web, says that more than half that number are based in the US.

Apple has released a security update, but users who have not installed the patch remain exposed.

Flashback was first detected last September when anti-virus researchers flagged up software masquerading itself as a Flash Player update. Once downloaded it deactivated some of the computer's security software.

Later versions of the malware exploited weaknesses in the Java programming language to allow the code to be installed from bogus sites without the user's permission. » | Thursday, April 05, 2012
Syrian Refugees Flood Turkey


Read the article here | Ivan Watson, Kareem Khadder and Yesim Comert , CNN | Friday, April 06, 2012
Austerity Drives Up Suicide Rate in Debt-ridden Greece


Read the article here | Teo Kermeliotis, for CNN | Friday, April 06, 2012

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