Thursday, March 06, 2014
The Queen's 'Hidden-away' Cousin Katharine Bowes-Lyon Dies at 87
Katharine Bowes-Lyon, the niece of the late Queen Mother, died on February 23 but her death was only announced by her family yesterday. She was laid to rest at a private family funeral.
She and her late elder sister Nerissa, who also had learning disablities, were two of the four daughters of the Queen Mother's elder brother John Bowes-Lyon.
In an era when families treated the disabled with shame and even young unmarried women who got pregnant were locked in asylums or hospitals, the sisters were hidden away from polite society for much of their lives, even while the Queen Mother was patron of Mencap, the charity for what used to be known as the mentally handicapped, people with learning disabilities. » | Richard Palmer | Thursday, March 06, 2014
Rumsfeld on Ukraine, Obama-Putin, and America
Russia Today TV Presenter Liz Wahl Quits On Air
On Tuesday, Abby Martin signed off her programme with an ad-libbed attack on the Kremlin. Now her colleague Liz Wahl has added her voice to the disquiet among the channel's on air staff by announcing her resignation on air.
Katy Watson reports. (+ BBC video) » | Thursday, March 06, 2014
Crimea Will Be Part of Russia 'In a Few Days' - Deputy PM
Speaking to the BBC's World Affairs editor John Simpson, he said that he was confident that up to 75% of Crimean citizens would support such a move.
MPs in Crimea have asked Moscow to allow the southern Ukrainian region to become part of the Russian Federation. There will be a referendum to ratify the parliament decision on 16 March. (+ BBC video) » | Thursday, March 06, 2014
The Irresponsible Bank of England Keeps Interest Rate Down At Record Low
BBC: UK interest rates kept at record low: UK interest rates have been held at 0.5% for another month, the Bank of England has said. » | Thursday, March 06, 2014
Crimea Parliament Backs Joining Russia, Sets Referendum for March 16th
Peter Hitchens on Ukraine: Don't Lump Those Who Want Change in with Neo-nazis
Obama Warns Israel Time Is Running Out On Palestinian Peace
Obama's Foreign Policy Based on 'Fantasy'?
Ron Paul: We Have 'No Business' Being Involved in Ukraine
Ed Miliband: 'I'm a Zionist and Oppose Boycotts of Israel'
Speaking at a Board of Deputies event the Labour leader said he was opposed to boycotts of Israel and warned of the need to be “ever-vigilant”against antisemitism.
Asked whether he would work to ensure religious slaughter and circumcision practices could continue in Britain, Mr Miliband said: “Yes, these are important traditions. The kosher issue has recently been brought to my attention. Ways of life must be preserved.”
He added: “I take antisemitism very seriously. Any kind of delegitimisation of Israel is something we should call out for what it is and not tolerate it.
“I think the boycotts of Israel are totally wrong. We should have no tolerance for boycotts. I would say that to any trade union leaders.” » | Marcus Dysch | Thursday, March 07, 2013
HT: crosscop »
Krim-Krise: Parlament der Krim stimmt für Anschluss an Russland
Das Parlament der ukrainischen Halbinsel Krim hat nach russischen Angaben für einen Anschluss an Russland gestimmt. 78 der 81 Abgeordneten der Autonomen Republik unterstützten in Simferopol eine entsprechende Beschlussvorlage, meldete Itar-Tass unter Berufung auf den Vizepremier der Krim, Rostam Temirgaljew.
Das Parlament hat 100 Sitze. Russlandtreue Kräfte hatten das Gebäude vor wenigen Tagen gestürmt. Inwieweit dies die Zusammensetzung des Parlaments veränderte, ist unklar. » | ZEIT ONLINE, dpa, AFP, Reuters, tst | Donnerstag, 06. März 2014
Krim-Krise: Obama verhängt Strafmaßnahmen gegen Russland
Washington - Die US-Regierung hat mehrfach betont, dass sie das Vorgehen Russlands auf der ukrainischen Krim missbilligt. Jetzt hat US-Präsident Barack Obama erste Sanktionen gegen jene verhängt, die er für Verantwortliche der Krise hält.
Washington belegt eine Gruppe von Russen und Ukrainern mit Einreiseverboten in die USA. Die Visabeschränkungen sollen sich gegen eine "Reihe von Regierungsbeamten und Personen" richten. Außerdem soll das US-Vermögen von "Einzelpersonen und Institutionen" eingefroren werden. Namen wurden nicht genannt.
Bestraft werden sollen jene, die die "Souveränität und territoriale Integrität der Ukraine bedrohen" und "die demokratischen Prozesse und Institutionen des Landes" untergraben, heißt es in einer Erklärung des Weißen Hauses. Die USA behielten sich weitere Schritte vor, abhängig von der Lage auf der Krim. » | kgp/Reuters/AP | Donnerstag, 06. März 2014
End Religious Slaughter of Animals without Stunning First, Urges Top Vet
Religious slaughter of animals to produce halal and kosher meat should be banned if more humane methods are not adopted, the leader of Britain’s vets has said.
John Blackwell, who took over as president elect of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) last year, claimed killing animals by letting them bleed to death after slitting their throats causes unnecessary suffering.
He called on Muslims and Jews to allow the livestock to be stunned unconscious before they are killed.
The farm vet said the ritual slaughter of poultry, sheep and cattle which are still conscious should be outlawed, as it is in Denmark[.]
“As veterinary surgeons, it is one of the most important issues on our radar. This is something that can be changed in an instant.,” he told The Times [£]. » | Miranda Prynne, News Reporter | Thursday, March 06, 2014
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Hillary Clinton Veering from White House Response to Russia?
Right-Wing Extremism: Germany's New Islamophobia Boom
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Stachus is one of Munich's nicest squares. It is rich in tradition and filled with pedestrians -- and perfect for Michael Stürzenberger's purposes. Hand balled into a fist, he paces back and forth and screams, "The Koran is the most dangerous book in the world." Because a couple dozen people have come to demonstrate against Stürzenberger, police officers in bullet-proof vests are watching over the area.
A decade ago, Stürzenberger, 49, was the spokesperson for the Munich office of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union. But since 2012 he has been active in a splinter party called Die Freiheit ("The Freedom"), of which he was elected federal chairman three months ago. He preaches hate against Islam and compares the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf." For two years now, he's been collecting signatures opposing the planned construction of an Islamic center in Munich. He has already held over one hundred anti-Islam rallies.
The Freiheit leader isn't alone. Several supporters, have joined him on Stachus, some carrying signs such as "No mosque on Stachus," or "Stop the enemies of democracy." Stürzenberger screams that Sharia instructs men to hit women. His voice cracks. "We don't want that in Bavaria!" A retiree asks where he can sign "against Islam."
For most Munich residents, Stürzenberger's verbal assaults are an embarrassment. CSU city councilwoman Marian Hoffman compares his incitements to the "droning speeches of the Nazis." The city government of Mayor Christian Ude, a member of the center-left Social Democrats, is worried about possible conflict during the upcoming local elections. Munich, he says, has become the focus of "experimentation" by radical anti-Islamists with the right-wing populists from Die Freiheit testing whether or not their attacks on the Muslim minority have majority appeal. If Stürzenberger gathers enough signatures for a citizens' initiative against the mosque, it would send a signal across Bavaria and beyond that Muslims are not welcome. » | SPIEGEL Staff | Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Putin Speaks Ukraine, Yanukovich, Maidan, Crimea (Full Video)
Hillary Clinton Compares Vladimir Putin’s Actions in Ukraine to Adolf Hitler’s in Nazi Germany
Putin’s desire to protect minority Russians in Ukraine is reminiscent of Hitler’s actions to protect ethnic Germans outside Germany, she said.
Putin has been on a campaign to give Russian passports to anyone who has Russian connections, Clinton said.
The Russian leader has recently done so in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which, Clinton said, is similar to what happened in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. Hitler resettled tens of thousands of ethnic Germans who were living in parts of Europe to Nazi Germany. » | Karen Robes Meeks, Long Beach Press Telegram | Tuesday, March 04, 2014
George P Bush Looks to Continue Family's Political Legacy
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| Land Commissioner candidate George P. Bush speaks during a visitation even while on the campaign trail Wednesday, Feb. 19. 2014 |
George P Bush, the grandson of George HW Bush, has won his first election in Texas as he looks to continue the political dynasty.
The 37-year-old lawyer is the nephew of George W Bush, who was governor of Texas before becoming president, and the son of Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor considered a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate.
The younger Mr Bush is widely hailed as a future star of the party. His mother is Mexican and he speaks Spanish, offering an inroad to Latino voters who vote overwhelmingly for the Democrats. » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Exclusive Interview with Barbara Bush
Who Is the Real Vladimir Putin?
Saakashvili: Putin 'Wants to Be Feared'
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Außenpolitisch ist Barack Obama eine Niete
Was dem regelmäßigen Besucher des "großen Welttheaters", wie Churchill einst die politische Szene von Washington nannte, besonders auffällt in dieser letzten Phase der Obama-Präsidentschaft, ist vor allem in der Ukraine-Krise die Verwirrung und sogar Verzweiflung über die undurchsichtige Außenpolitik des Präsidenten.
Bei aller Anerkennung seiner Rhetorik und seiner Willenskraft in der Innenpolitik wird Obama die Begabung, sich außenpolitisch positiv zu profilieren und durchzusetzen, gemeinhin abgesprochen. In fast allen meinen Gesprächen mit jüngst zurückgetretenen, aber auch weiterhin aktiven hohen Staatsbeamten war eine Enttäuschung über Obamas Außenpolitik zu spüren. Wahrnehmbar ist seine Rückzugspolitik aus den großen Krisenherden der Welt in einem Augenblick, in dem der Einsatz der noch immer führenden Weltmacht USA dringlichst benötigt wird.
Obamas übereilter Rückzug aus Afghanistan, Verteidigungsminister Hagels Entschluss, die Armee auf ihr Vorweltkriegsniveau zu reduzieren, der "Ruck" der Wehr- und Außenpolitik in Richtung Ostasien, aber vor allem die Nicht-Intervention in Syrien haben alte Alliierte vor den Kopf gestoßen und drohen Änderungen auf dem diplomatischen Schachbrett zu Ungunsten der westlichen Alliierten mit sich zu bringen. » | Von Lord Weidenfeld | Dienstag, 04. März 2014
Purchasing Power? The Russia Sanction Ripple Effect
View from Moscow: Ukraine Blame: US Criticism of Moscow At Odds with White House Policies
British Officials Oppose Sanctions Because Russia's Elite Are London's Cash Cows
It is the primary residence of Andrey Yakunin. His father, Russian Railways chief executive Vladimir Yakunin, is a former KGB agent and longtime pal of President Vladimir Putin. He was also a lead organizer of the Sochi Olympics and heads National Glory of Russia, an organization that aims to protect Russians from Western culture. (In a barely-readable book called Problems of Contemporary World Futurology, he predicted the collapse of the West in 10-20 years). His wife, Natalya, is in the same trade. She heads Sanctity of Motherhood, which propagates the “many-child family” through traditional Russian values and Orthodox Christianity. Their son Andrey is a fund manager, a graduate of the London Business School, and a specialist in “mid-market business hotels,” particularly ones that adjoin Russian train stations. His son Igor, in turn, attends a posh English private school.
The Yakunin family is Putin’s Kremlin in microcosm, a hypocritical spookocracy that rejects everything about the West except its money, houses, and consumer goods. It also encapsulates the Kremlin’s weakness. If Putin’s Ukraine adventure causes Europe to freeze assets and inconvenience the Kremlin elite, then Putin will find himself losing support fast—from the constituency he needs the most.
Putin may project a macho image by getting his guns out at any opportunity, but his actual power is based on elite support, and the elite supports him because he has made it rich beyond the dreams of avarice. For example, Vladimir Yakunin and Putin were neighbors in St. Petersburg. Putin made Yakunin head of Russian Railways, and now, Yakunin owns a palace outside Moscow, where the bathhouse alone has a reported floor area of 15,000 square feet. Read on and comment » | Oliver Bullough | Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Should White House Impose Sanctions on Russia?
Inside Story: Russian Defence or Dominance?
Russia Today Host Who Criticised Kremlin Sent to Crimea
A TV presenter working for a Kremlin-funded channel who spoke out against Russia's military invasion in Ukraine live on air has been sent by the broadcaster to Crimea to "better her knowledge" of the situation.
In an off-message tirade, Abby Martin, a Washington-based American news anchor for Russia Today, shocked mostly pro-Russian viewers by announcing she "cannot stress enough" how strongly she felt about presence of its troops in Crimea, saying "Russia was wrong".
The host addressed the camera in unscripted remarks at the end of the station's Breaking the Set segment, saying: "Just because I work here, for RT, doesn't mean I don't have editorial independence and I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any military intervention in sovereign nations' affairs.
"I will not sit here and apologise or defend military aggression," she went on.
The English-language Russia Today is widely perceived as the voice of the Kremlin, with Reporters Without Borders describing it as a "step of the state to control information." » | Josie Ensor | Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Obama: Russia's Actions Are Not a Sign of Strength
Team Obama Wins Fight to Have Christian Home-school Family Deported
They wanted to live in a country where they could raise their children in accordance with their Christian beliefs.
The Romeikes were initially given asylum, but the Obama administration objected – claiming that German laws that outlaw homeschooling do not constitute persecution.
“The goal in Germany is for an open, pluralistic society,” the Justice Department wrote in a legal brief last year. “Teaching tolerance to children of all backgrounds helps to develop the ability to interact as a fully functioning citizen in Germany.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Romeike’s appeal – paving the way for the Christian family of eight to be deported. » | Tod Starnes | Todd’s American Dispatch | Monday, March 03, 2014
Tory Councillor Who Shared Burka Joke on Facebook Expelled from Party
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| Tory councillor Chris Joannides has been expelled from his party after comparing Muslim children wearing burkas to bin[-]bags on Facebook |
A Tory councillor has been expelled from his party after comparing Muslim children wearing burkas to bin[-]bags on Facebook.
Chris Joannides, a councillor for Enfield, in north London, also upset colleagues by complaining that his job as a local councillor was interfering with his social life.
Conservative Central Office has now dropped him as a candidate for the local elections in May and expelled him from the party for 12 months.
The decision comes after Mr Joannides posted a photograph showing a woman and child dressed in the traditional Muslim clothing standing next to two bin[-]bags.
A caption read: "I saw her standing there and I told her she had three beautiful children. She didn't have to get all ****** off and threaten me. It was an honest mistake!" » | Hayley Dixon | Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Did Sarah Palin Predict the Ukraine Crisis Back in 2008?
Judge Jeanine: Obama's Policies Reducing US to Paper Tiger
Sen. Inhofe Concerned with 'Weakened Condition' of US Abroad
Monday, March 03, 2014
Krim-Konflikt: Europas Ohnmacht gegenüber Russland
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| Wladimir Putin und Premierminister Dmitri Medwediew |
Wie soll der Westen auf den Aufmarsch der russischen Armee auf der Krim und auf die unverhohlene militärische Drohung des Kreml gegen die Ukraine reagieren? In den europäischen Hauptstädten und in Washington herrscht Rat- und Hilflosigkeit. US-Präsident Barak Obama warnt Wladimir Putin zwar davor, sich zu isolieren. Und die Europäer mahnen beide Seiten, den Konflikt nicht weiter anzuheizen. Doch Obamas Drohung wird Putin kaum beeindrucken und auch Europa kann oder will nicht mit Konsequenzen drohen.
Denn militärisch werden sich weder die USA noch die Europäer in der Ukraine engagieren. Die neue Führung in Kiew und die ukrainische Armee haben dem russischen Riesen ebenfalls kaum etwas entgegenzusetzen. So kann Russland ungestört Truppen auf die Krim verlegen. Faktisch hat es die ukrainische Halbinsel, die jahrhundertelang zum russischen Reich gehörte, annektiert und dort auch politisch über eine Marionetten-Regierung in der Provinzhauptstadt die Macht übernommen.
Noch weiß niemand, ob sich das russische Expansionsstreben auf die Krim mit ihrer russischsprachigen Bevölkerungsmehrheit beschränkt, oder ob Putin versuchen wird, auch die Ostukraine mit ihrer Schwerindustrie und ihren engen Beziehungen zu Russland unter Kontrolle zu bringen. Auch in diesem Fall könnte er sich auf Hilferufe der russischsprachigen Bevölkerung berufen. Das Land würde damit zweigeteilt – ein Alptraum für die meisten Menschen in der Ukraine, aber auch für den Westen. » | Ein Kommentar von Ludwig Greven | Sonntag, 02. März 2014
Crisis in the Ukraine: What Is Putin's Endgame?
Ukraine: What Should US Do Now?
As Moscow tightens its grip on the Crimean Peninsula, Washington is facing up to a harsh reality: In Ukraine, there’s a vast imbalance in power and national interests between the United States and a resurgent imperial Russia.
After the cold war, the influence of the West expanded quickly up to Russia’s borders. Moscow had to accept a unified Germany, as well as NATO memberships for nations that used to be the USSR’s buffer zone, from Poland to Latvia. Now Vladimir Putin has seized on an opportunity to push back: He’s poured thousands of troops into Crimea in an apparent attempt to destabilize a new Western-oriented Ukrainian government.
America’s problem is that it is no longer 1997. Russia is not preoccupied with internal political and economic turmoil. And in past decades, the West expanded its influence beyond the area it is prepared to use force to defend. Mr. Putin understands this – and so do President Obama and his Republican critics.
Thus there’s little saber rattling in Washington. GOP lawmakers are talking about responses that differ only modestly from the Obama administration’s: draw up economic sanctions, put planning for the upcoming G8 summit in Sochi, Russia, on hold, and so forth.
“There [are] not a lot of options on the table,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R) of Michigan, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Instead, Republicans are using the crisis as an opportunity to talk more broadly about what they say is Mr. Obama’s overall foreign policy weakness. Their question essentially is less “what next?” than “who lost Sevastopol?” » | Peter Grier, Staff Writer | Washington | Monday, March 03, 2014
Pope Francis Drops F-bomb
Pope Francis inadvertently demonstrated his own fallibility during an address in St Peter’s Square when he mistakenly said the Italian word for “f**k”.
In the 12 months since he was elected, the Argentinean Pope, who worked with the poor in the slums of Buenos Aires being before [sic] made pontiff, has shown a healthy sense of humour and an unerring ability to connect with ordinary people.
But he accidentally went a little too far in using the language of the street after mispronouncing the word “caso”, which means example, as “cazzo” – Italian for f--- or, in other contexts, cock.
“If each of us were to accumulate wealth not only for ourselves but to put at the service of others, in this f--- [pause], in this case God’s providence would manifest itself in this gesture of solidarity,” he told a large crowd, delivering his ‘Angelus’ address from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.
The 77-year-old Jesuit Pope corrected himself almost immediately after making the gaffe during the audience at the Vatican on Sunday, but it was posted by Italians on YouTube and other social media and has since spread round the world. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Monday, March 03, 2014
New Cold War? Obama, Putin Are Split
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: There are many differences in style and substance between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the Ukraine crisis has brought into sharp relief the most important one: The American leader believes the world has moved beyond the Cold War, and his Russian counterpart seems more comfortable moving back into it.
In fact, this difference probably is true of the countries the two men lead, not just of the leaders themselves. Americans tend to see the Cold War in the rearview mirror as a wildly expensive period of ideological struggle that was settled decisively in favor of the rightful victor, democratic capitalism. Russians tend to view it as a period in which Moscow played its rightful role as a superpower with a large and clearly defined sphere of influence and an important voice on every world issue.
The differences help explain the depth of the disconnect between the U.S. and Russia as they circle each other warily over the future of Ukraine. By the American reckoning, a new set of standards ought to apply to 21st century international behavior, and the grounds for excusing one superpower's behavior because it believes it is involved in an existential struggle against the other have largely disappeared. By the other reckoning, the Russian one, big nation-states still have the clear right to protect their regional influence and interests. » | Gerald F. Seib | Monday, March 03, 2014
Did Obama's Foreign Policy Stumbles Lead to Ukraine Crisis?
Republicans Call for an About Face on US Policy on Russia
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