WikiLeaks suspect to be moved to Fort Leavenworth after storm of protest at his treatment in Quantico military prison The US soldier accused of downloading hundreds of thousands of state secrets and passing them to WikiLeaks is to be moved from the military prison where he has been held for the past 10 months after international protests that he is being held in conditions amounting to torture. US officials quoted by AP said that Bradley Manning is to be moved from the military brig in Quantico marine base in Virginia to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He was arrested last year in a US base outside Baghdad where he had been working as an intelligence analyst and has since been charged with passing classified information to an unauthorised party. The charges relate to the posting by WikiLeaks of a trove of state secrets, including US embassy cables first published by the Guardian in tandem with other newspapers. In Quantico, Manning has been held in solitary confinement under a “prevention of injury order” which, his lawyer has argued, amounts to an unjustified form of coercion ahead of his court martial. In recent weeks he has been stripped of his clothes at night and left wearing only a smock. Campaigners who have demanded an end to the mistreatment of Manning in jail are sceptical about the move to Fort Leavenworth. The Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich, who has raised the case on Capitol Hill, said “nothing the department of defence has done so far with respect to PFC Manning provides any assurance that his basic human and constitutional rights are being protected. Any move does not change the fact that he has been held under conditions which may constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th amendment of the US constitution.” In its Twitter feed, WikiLeaks said there was no guarantee of better treatment for Manning in Fort Leavenworth and that access to the prisoner would still be limited to his lawyer and family. In the past days the outcry about Manning’s conditions has grown. The UN rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, criticised the US government for refusing him permission to visit Manning in private. Many of America’s most respected constitutional lawyers signed a joint letter denouncing Manning’s treatment as unconstitutional and possibly illegal. Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s general counsel, told reporters at a hastily announced briefing at the Pentagon: “Given the length of time he’s been in pretrial confinement at Quantico … and given what the likely period of pretrial confinement in the future … we reached the judgment this would be the right facility for him.” Bradley Manning WikiLeaks US military United Nations United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
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Here’s a hint, That person could be a liar, fraud, shill, or a race-baiter. Any guesses now? I could put up video, but why should I make you all watch Ratigan call Andrew Breitbart an “incredibly smart, passionate, effective guy” while letting Breitbart go all populist on him? Or watch Breitbart puff up and call himself the Upton Sinclair of the mainstream media? Please, if you’re going to vomit, aim the other way. Really, MSNBC and Dylan Ratigan should be ashamed of themselves. Oh, all right. If you really want to watch… Click here to view this media
Continue reading …Tucker Carlson Calls California Curriculum Changes To Include Gays and Muslims Propaganda
April 19, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Tucker Carlson is all ablaze with a neon-green tie and red-hot fury over the California Senate’s passage of a bill requiring California curriculum to include instruction regarding gays and Muslims . In fact, he’s so outraged over it that he calls it “propaganda”, with some strange reasoning attached. The purpose of the bill is to raise awareness of the place gays and Muslims take in history in an effort to raise awareness and hopefully, tolerance. This isn’t a bad thing, despite Tucker’s worrying over it. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago that a 15-year old with access to a gun shot another student at point-blank range just up the street from where I live because the other student was struggling with his sexual identity. This is the state where Harvey Milk was assassinated, after all. Should teachers teach that lesson in California history while failing to mention why Harvey Milk was assassinated? This is the state that just passed the odious Proposition 8 after an even more odious ad campaign. Should teachers simply ignore the reasons why our state constitution now actually defines marriage? To Fox Talkers, the answer to all of those questions is yes. Led by Tucker Carlson, they want California schoolchildren to learn about the Catholic priests who came and built missions, and about the gold in them thar hills, but gays and Muslims? Strictly off-limits. And just to pile on a little more, Carlson completely dodges the question of what age group will have this instruction in their curriculum, so of course he makes it sound like all the little kindergartners are going to have a lesson and coloring worksheet on Jane and Judy in the mosque. Here’s Carlson’s reasoning behind why he believes it to be propaganda: Second, it’s propaganda. It’s lying. Whenever a school system is mandated by law to teach happy news, non-controversial, complimentary facts about a group of people they are by definition excluding the unhappy facts. And they are therefore, lying. That’s propaganda. His reference to “happy news” stems from this: The measure further would prohibit the adoption of any materials that “reflect adversely” on gays or particular religions. School districts would have flexibility in deciding what to include in the lessons and at what grades students would receive them. Gretchen Carlson tries to get him to specify the age group to receive this instruction, to which he replies: Look, it doesn’t matter, because at any age teaching propaganda is wrong. No one is suggesting — and as far as I know has ever suggested — that people who are gay not be included in history. While that may be true, it’s also true that kids are not informed as to whether they were gay or not. Earlier in his diatribe, Carlson goes on about how Trotsky is a historical figure, but not because he’s gay. Perhaps not. But should that be ignored? The central question here is whether or not we teach all of history or just the parts some people like. It would be nice not to have a law mandating curriculum that teaches these sorts of facts, but they have for too long been buried and swept under the rug. Yes, it does matter, because homosexuality isn’t something that just burst onto the scene 3 years ago. It should be taught as a fact and historical figures should not have relevant facts omitted simply because they make the Tucker Carlsons of the world squirm.
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Bradley Manning, accused of leaking classified material, is to be moved after international condemnation of his treatment Bradley Manning, the soldier being held on suspicion of leaking classified material to Wikileaks, is being moved to a different prison after what the Associated Press describes as “international criticism about his treatment”. Manning had been held at the brig of the US Marine base in Quantico, in Virginia, since July last year in conditions that have been described as ” inhumane “, while Amnesty International has said that Manning’s treatment potentially violates his human rights. At times during his solitary confinement in Quantico, Manning has been labeled a suicide risk, kept under close watch and has at times been forced to strip naked at night. According to the AP report , Manning is being moved to Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas: The officials say an announcement that Army Pfc. Bradley Manning will be moved is expected Wednesday at the Pentagon. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the move has not yet been made public. In January, Manning’s lawyer made a formal protest at his treatment , saying that holding him in maximum security custody for five months and placing him on suicide watch amounted to abuse. Manning was arrested in May 2010 on suspicion of having passed restricted material to WikiLeaks, and later charged with transferring classified data and national security information to unauthorised sources. Bradley Manning WikiLeaks US constitution and civil liberties United States Kansas US military Richard Adams guardian.co.uk
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Exclusive: Labour leader calls for review of regulation and practices after News International’s admission of wrongdoing Ed Miliband has become the first political leader to call for an independent review of newspaper regulation and practices after the admission by News International that it hacked into the phones of celebrities and politicians then failed to carry out full inquiries into the wrongdoing. Miliband told the Guardian: “I think there does need to be a review after the police inquiries have been completed and any criminal cases that flow from it. “I think it is in the interests of protecting the reputation of the British press that these matters should not simply be left to rest, and lessons have to be learned.” He is aware that a front-rank politician, especially a party leader, is taking a political risk by challenging the media over its practices, including the powerful News International stable, but he argued: “The press itself will want to look at how self-regulation can be made to work better because it clearly did not work very well in relation to these issues here.” He went on: “What happened was very bad, and it is right to say that, but there are very good traditions in our press, and they have to be maintained, but we have to get rid of the bad ones, and we have to find a way of doing that.” He argued: “My strong instincts are that we do not want governmental regulation of these issues, but I don’t think the Press Complaints Commission has covered itself in glory.” The PCC, chaired by the Tory peer Lady Buscombe, is responsible for newspaper regulation and has been widely criticised for failing to challenge News International over the scale of phone hacking. Miliband said: “It is not about government imposing this on the press, but I think the review needs to have some independence, both from government and from those involved in the day-to-day running of newspapers. I think that would help the industry. There has to be a sense that the future is not going to be like the past. Wider lessons have to be learned.” He stressed he had no grand plans about who should run the inquiry. Labour is aware that Lord Fowler, the chairman of the Lords communications select committee and a former Conservative party chairman, has been calling for a judge-led inquiry into the newspaper industry. Miliband added: “I would separate out the backward looking issue of who did what wrong, and any criminalitity, on the one hand and the forward looking issue of what lessons need to be learned.” He stressed: “The immediate priority is to have this police inquiry, for it to do its work and to get to the bottom of what really happened. We now know because News Interantional have said so the media did some things they regret. This inquiry has got to take its course and it is very important it does that”. He added: “My clear view is that self regulation continues to be the right thing. We do not want the government regulating the press.” He was also pleased the police were investigating suggestions that newspapers regularly paid police for stories. “The first police investigation clearly did not uncover the full facts, but in the second investigation they seem to be going about it the right way, and I am sure they too will want learn lessons from it.” In a wide-ranging interview while on the election trail, Miliband also disclosed he was engaging closely with the so-called “Blue Labour” project associated with Lord Glasman, the controversial political theoretician ennobled by Miliband. Glasman has argued Labour has become disconnected from its traditional working class voters by developing a top-down model of government that became remote, bossy and managerial. Miliband said: “People value local institutions in their lives that go beyond the bottom line from the local high street, the local post office, the NHS and the local Sure Start. Local people have got be able to have more say about their area, its character and whether they have a local Tesco. People have got to have more say about 24-hour drinking and nightclubs, and what is changing in their area. We need strong communities.” He said he disagreed with Glasman’s claim in a forthcoming interview that Labour caused a massive rupture of trust by lying about immigration, but said the party had to talk more about the big issues underlying immigration’s impact on working-class people, including the undercutting of wages. “I don’t agree we lied,” he said. “We underestimated the impact of eastern European migration and flexible labour markets. The two came together and we got aspects of that badly wrong.” He also said the elections on 5 May represented “a chance to change the contours of British politics for the rest of the parliament” and he did not rule out the coalition imploding if the Lib Dems were hit hard. Nick Clegg had made a fundamental mistake in aligning himself with the Conservatives and becoming a prisoner of David Cameron, Miliband argued. He suggested trust in the Lib Dem leader had been destroyed. “There is a fundamental lesson about politics – if you go round making promises and then breaking them, it is disastrous for you personally and pretty bad for politics generally, and that is what has happened. “When you say you are going to vote against rise in tuition fees and parade round students saying that and then do the opposite, it just makes people cynical and jaded.” He also promised to say more about the Labour government’s mistakes. Faced by polls showing the party is blamed by most people for the deficit, he accepts “there is more work to win back economic credibility”. He added: “We have been very clear about mistakes on bank regulation and the fact that we did not build a broad enough industrial base. “We should have acknowledged earlier that our four-year deficit reduction plan did involve spending cuts, but what I am not going to do is to buy into the Tory argument that the deficit is all the fault of Labour overspending. “It is not true, it is just not true, I am not going to say because it is not the case.” Press freedom Newspapers & magazines Newspapers Ed Miliband News International Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
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Prince William and Kate Middleton can headline a royal wedding like Jennifer Aniston can open a movie. They can’t • Pull up a pink gin and tug your forelock at the first Lost in Royalbiz – your daily look at the wedding the media would have you believe is all about class. And perhaps it is. After all, who are these fabled gazillions who genuinely care about it? One certainly doesn’t know such people socially. Chances are, you think Prince William and Kate Middleton can headline a royal wedding like Jennifer Aniston can open a movie. Which is to say, they can’t. They wouldn’t even get top billing at one of the Reverend Moon’s events, sure to be outdone in the charisma stakes by approximately 25,000 couples from suburban Seoul. Yet much like Jennifer Aniston’s cinematic career, so-called royal wedding fever does sustain the media – and as an avowedly republican newspaper, the Guardian will obviously be devoting eleventy thousand column inches to it all. If you don’t like it, why not register your displeasure by putting in a full day’s work on the bank holiday you’re getting out of it? I know I will be. • We begin with the launch of behind-the-scenes feature Know Your Pundits, wherein we celebrate the experts glossing the Royal Wedding for no-marks like us. First up is novelist Kathy Lette, who parlays a fleeting encounter with Kate Middleton at some polo event last year into a Reader’s Digest article about what the couple “are REALLY like”. As always when Kathy makes a foray into print, the only source of mild intrigue is how she will shoehorn one of her trademark sexual puns into what follows, perhaps in this case making arch reference to the Regina Monologues. Ah yes, call off the search. “I’ve no doubt,” Kathy declares, “the down-to-earth KM has already concluded that the ‘cream of British society’ just means rich, thick, and prone to whipping.” • And so to the news that Ms Middleton’s dress is now heavily tipped to be designed by dark horse Sophie Cranston, founder of little-known label Libelula. Alas, this column finds itself in the desperately vulgar position of being able to “exclusively reveal” something: namely, that Sophie was also a pupil at Downe House, the school at which Kate spent two ill-starred terms, and which would go on to inspire one recent News of the World splash, and a deluge of Fleet Street follow-ups. Should you require further detail, Sophie would have been a few years above Kate, but both girls were in Tedworth house. Indeed, following a painstaking journalistic investigation already believed to be attracting the admiration of the Pulitzer committee, I can further reveal that the girls’ housemistress was the sensationally charmless Mrs Gwatkin, who once led me by my ear back to my own house (Aisholt – we won all the lax cups), having caught me after-hours within her purview, despite my attempts to escape using a goods lift. (Hey, don’t hate the playa, hate the game). Apologies if you’re having trouble picturing this incident – I did ask the Guardian art department to create a graphic showing the route from Tedworth goods lift, down the Kitchen Passage (the catering end, not the bit with the tuck shop in), across the Vestibule and back into Aisholt, but it turns out they had other stuff on. • As for Prince William’s appeal to the wider dominions, much light is shed by a recent piece in the Sun by Kathy Lette, who, the paper informs us somewhat vaguely, “knows Wills”. “Egalitarian, earthy, sceptical Aussies detest pomp and ceremony,” explains Kathy. “We think the cream of society just means rich, thick and prone to whipping.” • From the Downing Street press office, no less, comes official confirmation that wedding attire means a lounge suit for David Cameron, to whom almost nothing is more important than not appearing posh. Yet does this go far enough, I inquire of No 10? Couldn’t the PM wear something by Sean John, accessorised with a nine-carat gold-plated necklace bearing the legend “Mo money, mo problems”? “Is this a serious inquiry?” asks a spokeswoman. Deadly serious. Requires an official response. “I highly doubt the prime minister is going to wear a tracksuit to the royal wedding,” she eventually obliges. Long may this co-operative mindset continue. • To the Sydney Morning Herald, finally, where a certain royal expert is struck by a flash of inspiration. “Australians have chronic sceptic-emia,” reveals Kathy Lette in a trenchant comment piece. “We detest pomp and ceremony. To us, the ‘cream of society’, just means rich, thick and prone to whipping.” It never loses its bite, does it? Let its author henceforth be known as Regina Dentata, and not leave it long before granting us players of Lette Bingo a full house. Royal wedding Kate Middleton Prince William Monarchy Weddings Marina Hyde guardian.co.uk
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• Hit F5 or the auto-refresh button for the latest updates • Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk with your wit and whimsy Half-time email “Think that little cameo before halftime sums up the shortcomings of Michael Carrick: 1664 minutes of league action this season, and apparently that is his first booking,” says Paul Keane. “I’m not advocating Scholes type ‘tackles’, but he should be sailing close enough to the wind that he picks up the occasional yellow…,,and his record is not because he is such a brilliant tackler. It explains why United get dominated in middle of the park when relying on him, and why he is (and only ever will be) what is commonly referred to as a “luxury player”. Well, 1664 is a neat number, as he could do with some Dutch courage, or any type of courage. That said, and while I know what you mean, I don’t think it’s fair to criticise him for lack of bookings. He reads the game pretty well, and nobody criticises, say, Rio Ferdinand for the fact he is so rarely booked. His greatest problem is his relatively newfound lack of moral courage with the ball, in my always humble one. Talking of an underrated XI of the season , this is a great link from Gary Naylor . Chris Brunt can go in too. So: Baines, Brunt, Tiote, Vaughan, Campbell. Perhaps Albrighton and Kuyt. Anyone else? Half time: Newcastle United 0-0 Manchester United … and it was a fitting end to a breakneck half that was full of incident. It could easily be 2-2; as it is, a level scoreline is just about fair. See you in 10 minutes for the second half. 45+2 min An excellent Manchester United counter-attack ends with Giggs’s smart, angled pass and a shot from Hernandez that is blocked by Coloccini. That’s the last touch of the half… 45+1 min Michael Carrick, who has had better weeks, is booked for a foul on Shola Ameobi just past the halfway line. I think it was accidental. 44 min A great chance for Lovenkrands. Barton, again in a deep position on the right, spanks over a superb curling cross that beats the two Manchester United centre backs and finds Lovenkrands 12 yards from goal. He picks the right option, trying to head it back across goal and into the boot corner, but makes a mess of it and it goes wide. That was such a good cross from Barton, reminiscent of David Beckham in his pomp. 42 min Coloccini strides across to make a vital interception from Hernandez, who was moving through on goal after a cute pass from Giggs. 42 min “Keep the updates coming as it’s keeping me sane from a nagging wife,” says Paul, who will be served any minute now, and not necessarily with his dinner. “I need the sympathy and a Newcastle goal.” 41 min Smalling is penalised for putting his hands on Ameobi (I think), 20 yards from goal and fractionally infield from the left side of the box. Barton shapes a curler towards the far post, and Van der Sar makes a comfortable tumbling save. 40 min “Have you any idea how annoying it is when you refer to just ‘United’?” says Raymond King. “It is also extremely insulting to Newcastle and all the other Uniteds such as Leeds, West Ham, Sheffield etc.” It’s force of habit; sorry. I’ll do my best not to engage your wick any more. 39 min It’s all Manchester United now, and Nani’s 20-yard shot is well blocked. 37 min “Let’s jump to an assumption,” says Ben Hendy. “If United win the title, will this be Fergie’s worst title-winning team, or will they just be a team that really knew how to pace a season? They seemed to stroll and luck their way through many of their early games but since the wake up call of that run of defeats they’ve looked bright and fresh (Saturday aside) and looked especially good and in control against Chelsea.” The worst, and by a distance, with 1996-97 second. In my always humble opinion. 35 min This is Manchester United’s best spell in terms of sustained possession, and Giggs eventually wins a corner off his former team-mate Simpson. It’s a poor corner from Giggs – how many times has that been typed or spoken in the last 20 years – and easily cleared. 33 min Hernandez towers above Simpson to head O’Shea’s cross towards goal, but he couldn’t generate enough power and it was a comfortable save for Krul. Still, Hernandez looks extremely sharp in what remains a very open game. 32 min “Gravity beats Nani again,” says Niall Mullen. “Stupid Isaac Newton.” 31 min “In the week of the PFA awards, any nominations for underrated team of the season?” says Niall Murphy. “Tiote in midfield certainly. DJ Campbell up front?” Yep, wouldn’t argue with those. I haven’t seen much of Blackpool, but when I have Vaughan has been really good. I really like Albrighton, too, although I don’t suppose he’s underrated. Dirk Kuyt? Is he underrated any more? 30 min Another long cross from the excellent Barton goes all the way across the box to Gutierrez, who takes a touch and then thrashes into the side netting at the near post from a tightish angle. 29 min Nani dives in the penalty area after a nothing challenge from Gutierrez. Utterly pathetic, and he should have been booked. 28 min Nani shanks a loose ball over the bar from the right side of the box. He has been terrible so far. 27 min “Is Gutierrez always this good or is it just because O’Shea’s trying to mark him?” asks David Naylor. “He looks to be quite a player on this evidence.” So did 97-year-old Beryl Nosiadek when she came up against O’Shea the other week. 25 min Manchester United are being bullied in midfield. Anderson, one of the few in that area who is usually up for a scrap, has been pretty anonymous. It’s been excellent stuff from Newcastle, though. 24 min Manchester United have settled into the game after that very difficult start, yet they still look extremely fragile at the back. Giggs pulls Gutierrez over 25 yards from goal, pretty central, and Barton clips it straight at Van der Sar. 21 min Gutierrez is giving O’Shea major problems – it’s almost as if they’ve targeted the wheezing lummox – and wins another corner. It comes to nothing. 19 min Rooney misses a great chance. Hernandez fought for a loose ball with Coloccini and helped it towards Rooney, who skipped past the last man Williamson and then, from around 12 yards and to the left of centre, tried to sweep a right-footed shot high into the net. It looked like he had skied it, especially when a goal kick was given, although replays showed it hit the body of the keeper Krul. Still, Rooney should have scored. 18 min Hernandez forces a rudimentary save from Krul with a decent effort from a tight angle on the right side of the box. He looks very sharp. 17 min Hernandez tries to guide a curler into the top-right corner from 25 yards, but he sets it a fraction too wide and it doesn’t come back enough. 16 min A good move from Newcastle ends with Gutierrez winning a corner on the left. Barton drills it to the far post and Vidic heads clear, but the ball comes straight back at United and this time Barton’s deep cross from the left is headed wide by Ameobi. Newcastle had two against one then – Ameobi and Williamson on Vidic – but they got in each other’s way. 15 min Carrick, trying to redeem that shocker on Saturday, moves smoothly away from Tiote 25 yards out but then drags a weak shot across goal and wide. 13 min The keen to Newcastle’s early dominance – they have had 70 per cent of the possession – has been their energy without the ball. It’s almost as if they tried to lull United into a false sense of security by sitting them off for the first two minutes, but after that they bombed them for an exhilarating ten-minute spell. 11 min United win their first corner; it’s taken by Giggs and comes to nothing. 9 min Apparently the auto-refresh button isn’t working. No idea why, as it’s set up in the article. Sorry about that. 8 min Newcastle win back-to-back corners. The second is eventually cleared to Tiote, who hits a vicious daisy-cutter from 25 yards that Van der Sar saves comfortably. It was a lovely strike, though, and this has been a fantastic start from Newcastle. They are all over United, pressuring them high up the pitch. 6 min This is a great spell for Newcastle. Barton drives over an excellent, angled cross from a narrow position on the right. It clears everyone except Ameobi, who stretches out his right foot to turn it towards goal from the corner of the six-yard box. He couldn’t control the shot, however, and it was straight at Van der Sar. 5 min A fine run infield from Gutierrez, aided by some feeble defending from Nani, O’Shea and finally Carrick, ends with a curling shot from the edge of the box that is well blocked by Smalling at the expense of the corner. 4 min Barton gets too clever for his own good. Gutierrez’s cross from the left was only half cleared by the head of Smalling and came to Barton, beyond the far post and in a bit of space. He took a touch but then, instead of smacking the ball towards goal, tried a cute cut back that was cleared. 2 min A vital save from Tim Krul. It was devastating, penetrative play from United. Evra clipped a long pass down the left to Rooney, who had curved his run to stay onside, and he sidefooted a beautiful ball across the face of goal for Hernandez. He met the ball only four yards from goal and tried to sidefoot it wide of Krul, who spread himself bravely to smother the chance. Superb goalkeeping. 1 min United (Manchester), in red, kick off from left to right. Sam Allardyce is the co-commentator. Is this a first? “I did the math,” says Ric Arthur. “Arsenal are two points ahead of Chelsea with six games to play each. If United lose today and Arsenal win their remaining games, they will probably be champions. So it’s not the math, is it? You are factoring in some choke factor here, such as that Chelsea could beat Man U, but Arsenal couldn’t.” Not so much that as the fact that Arsenal are in miserable form and have a much tougher run-in than Chelsea. Which is not to say that they will finish below Chelsea, simply that it looks more likely than not at this stage. There is potential for a repeat of 2007-08, when Arsenal were United’s main challengers for nine-tenths of the season before being overtaken by Chelsea at the death. Team news Wayne Rooney returns after serving a two-match ban for inciting the most laughable moral panic since someone at the Daily Mail heard the lyrics to Pulp’s Sorted for E’s & Wizz. Professional scapegoat Dimitar Berbatov is not even on the bench, although he is with the squad. For Newcastle, the excellent Cheick Tiote also returns from suspension. Newcastle United (4-4-2) Krul; Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson, Enrique; Barton, Guthrie, Tiote, Gutierrez; Ameobi, Lovenkrands. Subs: Soderberg, Perch, Ryan Taylor, Ireland, Steven Taylor, Ranger, Kuqi. Manchester United (4-2-3-1) Van der Sar; O’Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Anderson; Nani, Rooney, Giggs; Hernandez. Subs: Kuszczak, Owen, Park, Fabio, Evans, Valencia, Gibson. Referee Lee Probert (Wiltshire) You do the math(s) United need 13 points from their last six games to be certain of the title, and 11 to finish above Chelsea, who appear to be their main challengers. Preamble Newcastle United v Manchester United may not be one of the classical fixtures of English football, but it has frequently produced classic matches and moments, from Philippe Albert’s chip to arguably the greatest team performance of the Premier League era . There were eight goals that day and, as much as anything, this fixture has been a serial netbotherer: there have been 519 goals in 152 matches between this sides, a startling level of productivity that has actually – at St James’ Park at least – increased in modern times. There have been 56 goals in 16 Premier League games on this ground; over the last decade, we’ve seen 37 in eight matches. Worth knowing, then, that you can get odds of 10-1 on a 0-0 draw. You can get even longer odds on Arsenal or Chelsea denying United (Manchester) a record 19th title. Those odds might be a little generous but, while the big-boned lady has no business clearing her throat just yet, United will probably have to pay tribute Sir Alex Ferguson’s beloved Devon Loch if they are to lose the title. Since three points for a win was introduced in 1981, no side has failed to win the title having had such a lead with six games to play. The closest case was Blackburn in 1994-95. They led by eight points at this stage and, although they almost did do a Devon Loch – they lost three of their last five games and would have lost a fourth but one of the all-time-great goalkeeping performances from Tim Flowers – they crept over the line because United (Manchester) failed to win at West Ham on the final day. In the end, Blackburn’s remorseless excellence for six-sevenths of that season meant that they had enough points in the bank, just about. United may well have enough in the bank to allow for a late-season blip, especially with Arsenal giving haemorrhaging points in the comedy style, but they won’t want to take the risk. That’s a ludicrous statement of the obvious really; I don’t know why I typed it. Football-team-wants-to-win-games shocker. Duh. Pulitzer please! Premier League Newcastle United Manchester United Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk
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Party congress endorses Raúl Castro’s economic reforms, but disappoints those hoping for new, younger leaders Cuba’s communist party has endorsed President Raúl Castro’s economic reforms but retained the old guard leadership, disappointing those who hoped for new blood at the top. A party congress on Tuesday confirmed Castro, 79, as first secretary and named José Ramón Machado Ventura, an 80-year-old political veteran, as his deputy, wrapping up a four-day gathering in Havana. The first congress in 14 years approved more than 300 proposals to liberalise the island’s creaking economy, potentially setting Cuba on a gradual path to Vietnam-style capitalism in all but name. Fidel Castro, 84, made an unannounced appearance alongside his brother and successor, prompting a standing ovation and tears from the 1,000 delegates. The former president, who wore a blue tracksuit and was helped to his seat by an aide, has relinquished all party and state posts for the first time in half a century. He wrote in a state website post published on Tuesday that he did not want any honorary position. “I think I have received too many honours. I never thought I would live so many years. Raúl knew that I would not accept at this time any position in the party.” His appearance was interpreted as a sign of support for the changes and a farewell to what was almost certainly his last congress. Raúl, who succeeded Fidel in 2008, surprised many by proposing a limit of two five-year terms for senior office holders, including himself, to “rejuvenate” the geriatric leadership. Nevertheless Machado, an old-school ideologue, was named as his deputy and Ramiro Valdés, a grizzled 78-year-old vice-president, was named number three. Several younger colleagues were promoted to lower-ranking posts on the 15-member ruling committee, including Marino Murillo, 50, who is tasked with implementing the reforms, Adel Izquierdo, 65, the economy minister, and Lázara Mercedes López Acea, 46, head of the party in Havana. “Murillo is one to watch. Whatever changes come to Cuba will come not from the opposition but within the ruling class,” said one European diplomat in Havana. In his website column Fidel hinted that younger committee members may call the shots while older, ostensibly more senior colleagues fade away. “There were some colleagues who, because of their years and poor health, can no longer do service to the party, but Raúl thought it would be very tough on them to exclude them from the list of candidates.” Many of the 300 proposals to shake up the centrally planned economy are already in evidence. In recent months Cubans have taken out more than 170,000 licences for new businesses such as flower stalls, beauty parlours, barber shops, taxis and restaurants. The hope is that a liberated private sector will soak up a million workers laid off from the state sector, a fraught mass cull so far delayed by bureaucratic resistance. In a speech closing the congress Raúl told Cubans to be patient: “Modernising the economic model is not a miracle that can be accomplished overnight like some believe.” The congress reportedly approved plans to legalise the selling and buying of cars and houses, some of the most closely watched proposals, but it was not immediately clear if all restrictions would be removed. Subsidies, notably a monthly ration book, are expected to be slashed. The changes, billed as steps to save socialism rather than usher in capitalism, are expected to be voted into law by the national assembly in coming weeks. Cuba Raúl Castro Communism Fidel Castro Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Tea Partier Allen West Wants Corporate Tax Rate Cut in Half in Exchange for Raising Debt Ceiling
April 19, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media On ABC’s This Week, wingnut tea partier Rep. Allen West did his best to make his buddies the Koch Brothers proud — Rep. Allen West Takes Debt Ceiling Hostage For Huge Corporate Tax Cut : Republicans have, for months, been laying out various demands that they want in exchange for voting to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, even though failure to do so would have widespread and disastrous consequences . Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner estimates that the country will reach its legal borrowing limit around May 16 . Calling it a “ leverage moment ,” some of the demands Republicans have cited are a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and various versions of spending caps or cuts . Today on ABC’s This Week, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) added one more demand to the list — cutting the corporate tax rate in half: AMANPOUR: Congressman West, do you believe it when the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Fed, say that the stakes [regarding the debt ceiling] are this high? WEST: Well, one of the things, having served 22 years in the United States military, I don’t believe in leadership by fear and intimidation. I think that leaders have to come up with viable solutions. I agree with one of the things [Rep.] Joe Walsh just brought up, we need to have a balanced budget amendment… But I think also, now is a great time, when we can cut our corporate business tax rate in half. Bring it from 35 percent to 20 to 22 percent because there’s a lot of capital just sitting out there that we could use to invest in long-term sustainable job growth …This is not about a debt ceiling being raised, this really comes down to a debt suggestion. I guess most of these corporations already paying next to nothing or zero as their effective tax rates isn’t quite good enough for West. I don’t know about anyone else, but I think this completely irresponsible game of chicken and hostage taking by the GOP and our politicians on raising the debt ceiling is getting really old, really fast.
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Military says insurgents likely to use large-scale attacks to try to regain lost ground and derail transition process The Taliban are likely to use “large-scale, spectacular attacks” to try to destabilise the transition process in Afghanistan once the fighting season begins this summer, British military commanders have warned. They are expecting a change of tactics as insurgents try to regain ground lost to coalition and Afghan forces over the past six months. The warning came from Major General John Lorimer during a briefing at the Foreign Office in which officials attempted to set out the political and military progress that has been made in Afghanistan over the past year, and the problems that lie ahead. Lorimer said commanders in the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) and the Afghan military were predicting a backlash from insurgents, who have been under sustained pressure over the winter. However, commanders believe the Taliban’s strength has been so degraded that its fighters will have to find different ways of trying to derail a transition process that will see local forces take responsibility for seven provinces by July. “Over the last few months, we have been saying that the type of incident might change this year,” said Lorimer. “We were suspecting that we may see more spectaculars, more intimidation of locals. The insurgents have been under pressure over the winter – that inevitably will have an effect on their military operations. The anticipation is that they will probably move to different types of attack. The potential is that they will try large-scale attacks that make an impact in terms of the press.” Targeted assassinations of influential political figures is one likely method of attack, as well as suicide bombings. Michael O’Neill, the head of the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team, said: “The insurgency in Helmand, and elsewhere, clearly feels under pressure and one of the reasons they resort to [such] tactics is a result of this pressure. “We’ll see over the next three months. There’s a key test everyone is conscious of. In the late spring and early summer as we get past the poppy harvest, will the insurgents manage to get back and re-establish their position in areas they previously controlled? There are indications that they will find that more difficult, but we’ll see.” Both he and Lorimer said the Taliban would try to knock public confidence in a political process that will see the steady withdrawal of Nato troops over the coming months and years, but neither thought they would succeed. “There is a sense of momentum this year. There is a growing confidence that this steady progress is amounting to something,” said Lorimer. “I don’t think they will have an effect in terms of the progress that has been made.” O’Neill said poppy production in Helmand had fallen for a third consecutive year, a sign, he said, of growing law and order in the province. And while some of the relationships with tribal leaders were fragile, he praised Mohammad Gulab Mangal, the governor of Helmand, for trying to solve problems by brokering political settlements. Senior officials within the Foreign Office believe Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, should also clamp down on corruption, and that some high-profile investigations and convictions would help to bolster confidence in his leadership. Taliban Afghanistan Military Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk
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