WaPo Film Critic Bashes ‘Disney’s Prom’ Because It Requires No Censorship for TV
May 7, 2011 No Comment
Washington Post film critic Sandie Angulo Chen slammed the
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The theory of general relativity is as relevant to us today as it was when it was formulated, as a discovery about space-time reveals After working for half a century and spending £500m, scientists last week revealed that they have detected strange fluctuations in Earth’s orbit. Space-time is bent and then twisted round our planet as it rotates, announced researchers with Nasa’s Gravity Probe B project. The effect is tiny but crucial, they added – and was predicted almost 100 years ago by Albert Einstein in his great theory of gravity, general relativity. According to Einstein, an apple falls to the ground not because it feels the force of Earth’s gravity but because the apple is responding to the curvature of space-time near the Earth’s surface caused by the planet’s huge mass. In the same way, the Sun bends space in a manner that allows Earth to revolve around it. Crucially, the theory raised a host of other predictions that scientists have been confirming for the past century. The findings of Gravity Probe B are the latest in a long list of these many vindications of Einstein’s genius and reveal how his great theory touches our lives in unexpected ways. “We have completed this landmark experiment of testing Einstein’s universe,” said project leader Francis Everitt, of Stanford University. “And Einstein survives.” Everitt began work on Gravity Probe B in 1962 and has worked on nothing else since, although he had many close shaves, with the satellite being cancelled and then revived on seven occasions before it was eventually launched in 2004. Then, after the probe reached orbit, spurious electrical signals were found to be distorting data that it had sent back. It took five years’ study before scientists found how to extract clean data from it. Results of the analyses of this data were revealed last week. They showed that Earth does indeed bend space-time. It was also found that, as our planet rotates, it drags space-time with it – a phenomenon known as frame-dragging. The effect is like spinning a spoon in a cup of tea, causing the liquid to start swirling round inside the cup. These phenomena are tiny, it should be noted. In the case of frame-dragging, space around Earth turns at a rate of 37 one-thousandths of a second every year because our planet pulls it round as it revolves – a rate predicted by Einstein. “The probe’s results are a great achievement, but we should not think of them as a new proof that general relativity is right,” said Graham Farmelo, physicist and author. “Einstein was shown to be correct long ago, only a few years after he came up with the theory. However, we are still testing out all its predictions. The results from Gravity Probe B are just the most recent, successful outcomes.” In fact, the premise of Einstein’s theory of general relativity was proved within three years of its publication in 1916. British astronomer Arthur Eddington was involved in an expedition to Príncipe island in west Africa, where he photographed the total solar eclipse of 1919. The photographs showed that the positions of stars whose light rays passed near the Sun appeared to have been slightly shifted because their light had been curved by the Sun’s huge gravitational field. This was noticeable only during an eclipse because the Sun’s brightness would otherwise obscure the affected stars. “Eddington presented these as a triumph for general relativity, and Einstein, who was known to physicists but not the public, became a star overnight,” said Farmelo. For his part, Einstein never had any doubts that he was right. When asked how he would have reacted if Eddington’s observations had disproved his theory, he replied: “I would have felt sorry for the dear Lord. The theory is correct.” Since then, scientists have produced many other confirmations. One example was provided by US astronomers Russell Hulse and John Taylor, who discovered two dense collapsed stars, known as neutron stars, that were in orbit around each other and that were losing energy that could only be explained through the gravitational radiation, another phenomenon predicted by Einstein. In 1993 Hulse and Taylor were awarded that year’s Nobel prize for physics. “General relativity touches our lives in many unexpected ways,” added physicist Dr Charles Wang, of Aberdeen University. “Another effect that is predicted by general relativity is the phenomenon known as gravitational time dilation. This states that time slows down as gravitational strength increases, a fact that has been confirmed by GPS satellites. These carry atomic clocks that have to run at a different speed to those on the ground because gravity is greater there. If you didn’t, the world’s GPS system would break down.” “Einstein’s theory of general relativity is one of the most beautiful pieces of scientific work in history,” added Farmelo. “But it is not the whole story. It explains how massive objects affect space and time, but it tells us little about how very small sub-atomic particles behave.” This point was acknowledged by Wang. “We still have to test how gravity behaves at a sub-atomic, quantum level,” he said. “We hope to do that with a project called the Space-Time Explorer Quest, which the European Space Agency is now studying.” Together with Wang’s group, scientists at Birmingham, the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory and the National Physical Laboratory, along with German researchers, have proposed building a probe that would use caesium or rubidium atoms, cooled close to absolute zero, to test the effect of gravity at the sub-atomic level and, they hope, provide data that could reconcile relativity and quantum theory. “That won’t be for another 10 years or more,” said Wang. “That means we are going to have a lot of work to do on general relativity for quite some time.” Albert Einstein Space The sun Robin McKie guardian.co.uk
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Nicolas Sarkozy is said to be trying to stop Laurent Blanc from resigning over comments on quotas for black and Arab players The future of French football coach Laurent Blanc, at the centre of a row over quotas of non-white players in the national squad, is hanging in the balance after he was reported to be on the verge of resigning. The former Manchester United and Marseille defender was said to be ready to step down as the manager of Les Bleus after he was secretly taped discussing proposals to reduce the number of black and Arab players in the side. Ouest-France , France’s biggest-selling daily newspaper, claimed Blanc planned to resign at a press conference on Mondaydespite the French football federation pleading for him to stay. It quoted an anonymous government source saying that France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, was ready to call the 45-year-old and ask him to reconsider the decision. A spokesman for Blanc denied the reports and said he would not be quitting. The ministry of sport and the football federation also rejected the claims. “I had him on the telephone and we spoke of him coming to Paris to be interviewed and of what happens after the inquiry, but at no stage was there any question of that [resignation],” Philippe Tournon, spokesman for the French national team, told the news agency AFP. Separate inquiries have been launched into the claims that emerged a week ago on the investigative website Mediapart . A federation official has been suspended and Blanc has been given until Monday morning to appear before the two inquiries to respond to the allegations. In 1998, when France won the World Cup, the country’s national squad was a potent symbol of the nation’s ethnic makeup and was nicknamed the “black-blanc-beur” (black-white-Arab) team. On the secret tape made of the meeting last November, however, federation officials, including Blanc, are heard discussing a plan to cap the number of 12- and 13-year-old black and Arab hopefuls at sports academies, which feed into the national team, to 30%. Blanc initially denied any knowledge of the quota proposal. When Mediapart published a transcript of the tape, he issued a qualified apology. “I admit some remarks made during a work meeting, taken out of their context, may be misinterpreted. As far as I am concerned, I apologise if I have hurt some feelings. But I, who am against any form of discrimination, do not accept being accused of racism or xenophobia,” he said in a statement. He added that the only point of the meeting was to “discuss the future of French football and deal with the delicate problem of players with dual nationality”. The affair has sparked controversy internationally. France Race issues France Europe Kim Willsher Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …When teachers push back, all of a sudden Glenn Beck loves the unions — at least, the idea of them
May 7, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Glenn Beck is obviously a profoundly confused guy. He wants to portray himself as a defender of the average working guy — even though nearly every one of his programs is a propaganda hour for corporate power, including that of the corporation he works for. (For the time being, anyway.) Yesterday he invited some teachers into his studio, selected from a group of people who were dissenting from business as usual at their schools. He was astonished to discover — after having spent much of the show acting as though the unions hated these people and might bomb their cars — that most of these teachers nonetheless were happy to defend their unions, and pushed back against his portrayal of the teachers’ unions as being riddled with far-left radicals who wanted to destroy America. Faced with this, Beck resorted to a defensive position in which he spewed out a line of pure gobbledygook that had NOTHING to do with anything he had ever said previously on any of his shows BECK: I’m not against — believe it or not — I just talked to my mother-in-law — I’ve told this story before — was arrested on a union march with Jesse Jackson! And I just told her just the other day, she said, ‘Man, our union’ or uh — ‘ our school is out of control.’ And I said, ‘Mom, I will march with you’ — she works at Yale. They treat their employees like garbage. Unions — I’m not against unions! I’m against corporations being so wildly out of control with no one watching over them. There’s not stop! Right now, call the police on GE. Who you gonna call? Who you gonna call? All the way to the White House! There’s no one to call! Because they’re all in bed. OK? If somebody’s abusing the system in a corporation or in schools or whatever, and there’s no union — who you gonna call? What, are you gonna get another job? You’re not gonna get another job! You know what I mean? So, it’s the balance of things. When unions become too powerful, they get out of control. When business becomes too powerful, out of control, it’s ‘do the right thing’. And that’s what’s not being taught anymore. Can you make any sense of that? I sure can’t. Especially because it has nothing whatsoever to do with the sustained attacks on unions that have been part and parcel of Beck’s show for the past year and more. Here are a couple of examples from the past month: Click here to view this media As you can see, Beck’s has attacked unions for being infiltrated throughout by conniving evil radicals who want to destroy the American way of life. Controlling corporations has never been mentioned previously. Indeed, Beck starts out defending his position initially by referring to all of his “proof” that the unions are far-left radicals — and then, when faced with the real world concerns of teachers, he suddenly shifts gears and starts claiming that he loooooves unions and wants to march with them because they’re the only counterweight to corporations — even though this has not a thing to do with teachers’ unions, who are not doing battle with corporations directly at all. Just goes to show: Not only is Beck a pathological liar, he’s a two-faced weasel to boot.
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Fears mount that regime of Bashar al-Assad is planning to repeat the siege tactics it deployed in Deraa Syrian tanks rolled into the Mediterranean coastal town of Banias on Saturday and opened fire on demonstrators as President Bashar al-Assad continued the violent crackdown on his opponents. A day after clashes with anti-government protesters that left at least 30 dead nationwide according to activists and an eyewitness, fears mounted that the Syrian regime was planning to repeat the siege tactics it deployed in Deraa, another key opposition centre. Those fears were bolstered by reports yesterday that Syrian forces had shot dead three women demonstrating on a coastal road near Banias. Ammar Qurabi of the National Organisation for Human Rights said the women, part of a small all-female gathering, had been protesting against the siege and the cutting of power lines when they were killed by plainclothes security forces or pro-government gunmen. Their bodies were taken to hospital in a Sunni district of the besieged town. “Banias is now surrounded from all directions, not a single person can go in or out,” said a resident, who did not wish to be identified. He added that electricity and phone lines had been cut and residents were charging their mobile phones on car batteries. Activists said gunboats could be seen off the Banias coastline and gunfire was heard after tanks approached from three directions in the early hours. As civilians made human chains to protect neighbourhoods, eyewitnesses added that Sunni rather than Alawite neighbourhoods were being targeted. Banias, which has an oil refinery and is the main point of export for Syrian oil, is a predominantly Sunni city close to the Jebel Ansuriya stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect. It has a potentially explosive mix of religious groups and sects. The latest attacks came in defiance of a US sanctions regime already imposed and despite the expected announcement that the EU will announce sanctions next week against 14 regime officials, although not Assad . The eyewitness said an atmosphere of fear and apprehension had taken over the town, adding that two-thirds of the population had already fled, notably women and children. Activists in touch with residents confirmed his account, saying the town, which has become a leading focus of anti-regime demonstrations, was now besieged. The activists also spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns. The moves came after human rights groups said at least 30 were shot dead in anti-government protests on Friday’s “day of defiance” and rights group Sawasieh raised the total death toll since mid-March to 800. “The use of tanks makes us think they are planning to siege the city like Deraa,” said one analyst in the capital. Banias’s persistent restiveness – like that of the southern stronghold, which was surrounded by tanks on 25 April – has irked the government. And, like Deraa’s Omari mosque imam Ahmed Sayasna, Banias has a prominent cleric, Anas Airout, who has come out in support of the protesters. As news of the tanks’ arrival broke in the capital on Saturday , supporters of the protesters said the international community’s response had been too slow, allowing a brutal crackdown to push to the limit the protesters’ resolve. The international community, like Syrian protesters, has rejected military intervention and has struggled to find ways of putting pressure on the Assad regime. On Saturday some Syrians in the capital expressed frustration at the lack of momentum, claiming that many more people wanted change than the protests numbers suggested. “When a television show gets one complaint, you know there are 100 more who are unhappy but couldn’t be bothered to write,” said one young man who identified himself as Omar. “It’s the same here, but each protester may be worth 200 or 300 people who are too scared to come out.” Katherine Marsh is the pseudonym of a journalist living in Damascus Syria Bashar Al-Assad Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Human rights Katherine Marsh guardian.co.uk
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The home movies of the al-Qaida leader in Abbottabad were among material seized following the US raid Video footage of Osama bin Laden shot at the terror leader’s hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, along with propaganda tapes, have been released by the Pentagon. The home videos were among material seized following the raid by US troops last week in which Bin Laden was shot dead. The material suggests he played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al-Qaida and its associates in Yemen and Somalia, two senior US officials said. It also suggests that Bin Laden was much more involved in directing the terror group’s personnel and operations over the past decade than some analysts had previously thought. However, the US would not confirm reports that the material gave clues about the whereabouts of al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. A senior defence official said that recent protests in Islamabad over the raid would not stop Washington from moving against terrorists that threaten America. There are no plans to scale back US training of the Pakistani frontier corps and army, he added. One of Bin Laden’s wives, Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah, has told Pakistani security officials that he may have lived in the country for more than seven years before his discovery. She told investigators that Bin Laden had stayed in a nearby village before moving to the garrison town of Abbottabad. “Amal told investigators that they lived in a village in Haripur district for nearly two and a half years before moving to Abbottabad at the end of 2005,” a security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The disclosure may further anger Washington. Pakistani officials have denied sheltering Bin Laden. Osama bin Laden al-Qaida Global terrorism Pakistan United States Amy Fallon guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Wikileaks: Al Qaeda Threatened Nuclear Reprisal If Bin Laden Was Caught Or Killed
May 7, 2011 No CommentWikileaks is just full of information that no one remembered to tell us, huh? It sure would be good if someone would explain how much credibility the U.S. puts in these threats: Recently-released WikiLeaks documents show that detained al Qaeda members have predicted nuclear reprisals if Osama bin Laden were captured or killed. The classified Defense Department files, obtained from detainee interviews at the Guantanamo Bay prison, were released by the document-sharing Web site a week before the raid in Pakistan that resulted in bin Laden’s demise. (See list of related CNET stories .) Abu al-Libi, al Qaeda’s third in command and “operational chief” before he was captured in 2005, reportedly said the nuclear device was “located in Europe” and would be used in retaliation over bin Laden’s death, according to the leaked files . The phrase “nuclear hellstorm” appears in the Defense Department’s dossier on Khalid Shaykh Muhammad , who allegedly confessed to masterminding the September 11 attacks and will be tried by a military tribunal. Another detainee, Sharif al-Masri, reportedly said that if al Qaeda was able to move the bomb to the United States, they would be able to find operatives of Europeans of Arab or Asian descent to use it. He said, the records show, if bin Laden “were to be captured or killed, the bomb would be detonated in the US” and that al-Libi “would be one of those able to give the order.”The claims–which could, of course, be false–add more detail to suspicions in Washington about possible reprisals following Sunday’s special forces raid in Pakistan. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, told Fox Business yesterday that “we have to assume that al Qaeda is going to try to retaliate as quickly, as lethally as possible.” John Brennan, deputy national security advisor, said this morning that the administration is taking “measures to guard against any type of reaction, adverse reaction to the news of bin Laden’s death,” including deciding whether to release photographs and video. Brennan made those remarks on CBS News’ Early Show (CNET is a sister news organization).
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• Hit F5 or the auto-refresh button for the latest news • Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Get all the latest scores from around Europe 33 min An outstanding cross from Bale, spanked low across the face of the goal from the left corner of the area, just evades Van der Vaart and Defoe before zipping away for a goal kick. That’s the sort of cross Gary Lineker fantasised about 25/8. 33 min “Tom Huddlestone is one of a select band of players who’ve played for a club with whom he’s shared his initials,” says Niall Mullen. “Mick Channon and William Wright are the only other ones I know. Anyone else?” If only Fergie had signed Matthew Upson, eh. Eh. 32 min Southern, who is putting himself about with a fair bit of zest, muscles Pavlyuchenko off the ball with disdain to start another Blackpool attack. 30 min “I’m also rooting for Blackpool in this one,” says Jamie. “I spent many a happy year sloping round the Golden Mile, usually handing out casual violence. I remember once, I saw a guy leaning against a wall in a manner which suggested he needed to be punched in a better direction. So I did. Annoyingly, he never thanked me. Hopefully he realises I was only doing it for his own good.” 28 min Spurs aren’t on their game at all. As Chris Waddle says on ESPN, playing Van der Vaart wide right doesn’t really work, and at the moment Blackpool are having much more of the game than we might have expected. 27 min “That Danny Rose goal’s so good it should be on Broadway,” says Dennis Johns, and you know what’s coming here don’t you. “Can you imagine it? Broadway! Danny Rose!” 26 min I’ve just remembered that Van der Vaart is playing in this match. He controls Modric’s excellent reverse pass before sweeping a right-footed shot straight at Gilks from the edge of the box. 24 min Gomes makes an outstanding save from Adam. Kornilenko’s shot was blocked brilliantly by Gallas, and the ball looped across the box to Adam, who hit a beautiful low volley towards the far corner. Gomes plunged to his left to save. From the resulting corner, Kornilenko headed over from eight yards. He should have scored. 23 min “I’m rooting for Blackpool in this one,” says Phil Sawyer, ” despite having spent my teenage years sloping round the Golden Mile, where casual violence was never very far away. I remember once, while leaning against a wall waiting for a taxi, a passing gent punched me in the jaw without even breaking his stride. I was upset at the time, but now I realise that that kindly soul was merely trying to give me a physical demonstration of what life had in store for me.” 21 min Eardley is rightly booked for a cynical foul on Rose. 20 min “If one player – Christopher Samba – played for Blackpool instead of Blackburn, I reckon that Blackpool would be up now and Blackburn down,” says Gary Naylor. “Makes the big guy’s wages look like value.” Yeah, Mark Hughes doesn’t get enough credit for that signing. What was it, £500,000? 18 min Modric’s 25-yard shot takes a deflection off a defender and spins just wide of the far post with Gilks motionless. A goal is coming. 17 min Spurs, though nowhere near their best, are starting to dominate. Bale’s cross finds Defoe in far too much space on the penalty spot, but his first touch is a little heavy and that allows Evatt to charge out and block his shot. 16 min Pavlyuchenko’s dummy allows Defoe to race towards goal from the edge of the centre circle, but Baptiste shows excellent pace and strength to first keep up with him and then usher him away from goal. Excellent defending. 13 min Rose, scorer of that amazing goal against Arsenal last season , wins a corner on the left. It eventually finds its way to Bale on the right wing. He comes infield and drives a low, bobbling 20-yard shot towards the near post that Gilks pushes away with both hands. 12 min Apart from the ever excellent Modric, who is pinging crossfield passes left and right, Spurs have been pretty sluggish thus far. 10 min “Come on, surely the genuine neutral would rather have Spurs win today, and pip Man City’s Evil Empire for fourth, even if does mean Wee Blackpool go down?” says Ryan Dunne.. “The latter are indeed a very entertaining side, but this is in part because they can’t defend, and invariably get rogered by decent strikers. Arguably not much of a credit to the league!” That’s cold, man. They’ve still won as many away games as the league leaders, which is pretty impressive. 8 min Dawson gives away a silly free kick, 25 yards from goal. It’s to the right of centre, which makes it perfect for the left of Charlie Adam. But in fact it’s taken by the right-footed Eardley, who whips it into the wall. 7 min Dawson makes a smooth interception, strides forward and thrashes a 30-yard shot that spins off the sliding Vaughan and just over the bar. That was lovely play. 5 min Spurs finally get some meaningful possession after four minutes of watching Blackpool pass the ball around. Modric drills a beautiful crossfield pass to Kaboul, who spanks his cross out of play for a goal kick. 3 min Blackpool have started nicely, with much more of the ball than Spurs. Adam plays a smart one-two in midfield and then feeds the ball wide to Crainey, whose cross comes to nothing. 2 min “Dear Jesus,” says Kimberley Taylor. “Please don’t let Blackpool go down. The end.” As the kids say, this. 1 min Blackpool, in tangerine, kick off from left to right. Spurs are in white. In fact it’s Danny Rose rather than Gareth Bale who is playing at left-back for them. Team news Tottenham (4-4-2) Gomes; Kaboul, Gallas, Dawson, Rose; Van der Vaart, Modric, Sandro, Bale; Pavlyuchenko, Defoe. Subs: Cudicini, Lennon, Jenas, Crouch, Bassong, Kranjcar, Corluka. Blackpool (4-3-3) Gilks; Eardley, Baptiste, Evatt, Crainey; Southern, Vaughan, Adam; Kornilenko, Campbell, Taylor-Fletcher. Subs: Kingson, Ormerod, Cathcart, Phillips, Puncheon, Reid, Beattie. Referee Lee Probert (Wiltshire) There have been 118 goals in Blackpool’s Premier League matches this season, which puts them top of that particular league . As with the infectious Luton side of 1982-83 , and of course the heroic Foggia team of 1991-92 , they have decided to enjoy their first season in the top flight and sod the consequences. It’s such an admirable approach and most of us will hope that, as with Luton in 1982-83, they find a way to avoid relegation. If they do so by getting a result at Old Trafford on the last day, Ian Holloway’s celebration would surely be a neat companion to David Pleat’s giddy dance around Manchester 28 years ago . Preamble Hello. This is a fixture tinged with a wee bit of sadness. Tottenham and Blackpool are arguably the most fearless, attacking and likeable sides in the Premier League, yet modern football is no country for dreamers, and both teams are struggling to achieve their targets for the season. Spurs need snookers to reach the Champions League, and now find themselves under extreme pressure from Liverpool for a Europa League place, while Blackpool have dropped into the relegation zone after Wigan drew at Aston Villa. Both sides have extremely tough fixtures to come, so they could really do with picking up points today. Spurs play Manchester City and Liverpool away in the next eight days, while Blackpool go to Old Trafford on the last day of the season. They have stopped the rot to some extent with consecutive draws against Newcastle and Stoke, but have still won only one of their last 15 league games. That was a 3-1 victory over Spurs at the end of February, a match that started a dismal run of one victory in 11 for Tottenham. Both teams are desperate for three points today, which, coupled with their nature, means only one thing: a 0-0 draw attack, attack, attack attack attack. Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Blackpool Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk
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Both parties can say expected wins are proof that their power-sharing arrangement is working Barring a major upset it now looks like the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin will return to the new Northern Ireland assembly with more or less the same number of seats as the previous one. For both parties the assembly poll has been a success and they would argue proof that their power-sharing arrangement is working. At the time of writing 72 of the 108 Northern Ireland assembly members have now been elected. The DUP has 32 seats, Sinn Féin 19, the SDLP 8 and the Ulster Unionists on 8 while the cross community Alliance party has 4 with 1 independent elected. The vote of confidence their respective electorates gave them is also a clear rebuff to the republican dissidents seeking to destabilise Northern Ireland through their renewed violent campaigns. Some of the results on the Sinn Féin side do put the size and influence of the anti-ceasefire republican groups into some perspective. Take the constituency of Upper Ban for instance where in the towns of Lurgan and Craigavon there is a small but militant band of dissident republicans aligned to the Continuity IRA and Republican Sinn Féin. Yet nationalist and republican voters in that constituency gave Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd close to 7,000 first preference votes on Thursday electing him, a running mate and almost another party candidate in the once unionist-dominated region. O’Dowd has been a constant critic of ongoing CIRA violence in the North Armagh area over the last few years and to the republican dissidents he has become something of a hate-figure. The support for him however at the ballot box is a clear pointer that the overwhelming number of nationalists living in Northern Ireland continue to support the peace process and don’t want a return to violence. On the DUP’s flank is the Traditional Unionist Voice comprised mainly of former party members bitterly opposed to Ian Paisley’s original decision to enter into government with Sinn Féin. The TUV leader is set to take a seat in the Paisley heartland of North Antrim this weekend but when he goes to Stormont when the new Assembly opens Jim Allister will cut a lonely figure. It seems likely now that he will be the only anti-powersharing unionist elected to the devolved parliament. Although promising to be a “thorn in the side” of the DUP he will barely leave a scratch on the largest of Northern Ireland’s parties. The low turnout this time around may also be a sign that the voters are less fired up by tribal passions than previous elections. Yes, the main parties are still divided on confessional/sectarian lines but the constitutional status of Northern Ireland was not in doubt in this election. Arguably the existential question of which state we are in was more applicable to Scotland given the SNP’s triumph. Unless something catastrophic happens, expect the DUP-Sinn Féin love-in to continue at Stormont with the other parties in the coalition, namely the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists complaining about being cut out of the carve up of ministries, power, influence. From the viewpoint of a healthy democracy though there remains the question of a viable opposition. If the SDLP, UUP and Alliance go back into government with the two larger parties it will mean that the number of opposition assembly members can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In those circumstances would it be better for say the UUP to decline going into the executive and instead taking on the role of official opposition as some of their external advisers have urged them to? Maybe the allure of power is still too tempting for any of the main parties to spurn. Either way the compulsory coalition of post-troubles Northern Ireland is probably going to continue rolling on. Northern Ireland Northern Irish politics AV referendum Alternative vote Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Sinn Féin Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …More ‘isolated incidents’: Wave of racist-right crimes hits Spokane area — but it’s not alone
May 7, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Last weekend, my old friend Bill Morlin wrote a major Sunday piece for the Spokane Spokesman-Review describing how the old scourge of white-supremacist hatred and the violence that always accompanies it has been on the rise again: There’s also been a spike in racist activity and hate crimes in Spokane and other Pacific Northwest communities – indeed, almost everywhere in the United States. Racist graffiti, acts of malicious harassment and distribution of hate literature in 1980 marked the emergence of the Aryan Nations in North Idaho, recalls Marshall Mend, a founding member of the human relations task force. For nearly three decades, the Aryans and their splinter-group associates were responsible for a series of crimes, including murders and bombings, throughout the United States. The Aryan Nations held annual gatherings of hatemongers, burned KKK crosses and even got permits for disruptive parades down Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, all of which severely tarnished the region’s image. Most local hate activity disappeared with a multimillion-dollar court verdict in 2000 that bankrupted the Aryan Nations. Four years later, Aryan founder Richard Butler died, and some wishfully thought hate, too, had disappeared in this region. Now, though, there are two new self-proclaimed Aryan leaders in North Idaho – Gerald O’Brien and Paul Mullet – who are fighting each other for power. There are two competing Aryan Web sites. Another splinter faction, the Aryan Nations Revival, based in New York state, dissolved last week and, according to a Web posting, threw its support to O’Brien’s faction. Meanwhile, almost a dozen hate crimes have been reported in the past 14 months to authorities in Kootenai and Spokane counties. The region’s spike in hate crimes follows a national trend that started after the country elected its first black president in 2008. Besides more hate groups, experts say they also are seeing an increase in secretive, anti-government militia activity. Sure enough, in the week that followed, there were three major stories involving white-supremacist violence in the Inland Empire. First came the arrest of a Pullman white supremacist who apparently was leading hate-crime attacks on taco-truck drivers . No, really: A Whitman County man who bragged online about being involved with racist taco truck protests in Kootenai County was arrested on a federal gun charge Wednesday. Jeremiah Daniel “J.D.” Hop, who describes himself as an anti-race-mixing activist on the racist website Vanguard News Network, is accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators spent most of Wednesday searching Hop’s home near Pullman, as well as another property in Whitman County associated with the suspect, said Don Robinson, supervisor for the FBI’s Coeur d’Alene office. Hop, who was arrested Wednesday morning, is not a member of the Aryan Nations but is involved in racist circles, Robinson said. Hop was convicted of third-degree rape of a child in 2005. The guy is obviously a genius. I thought everyone loved taco trucks. And the child-rape conviction just reminds us, once again, that a lot of these people have, well, issues. Such as Kevin Harpham, the neo-Nazi arrested for planting a lethal backpack bomb along the parade route of this year’s MLK parade in downtown Spokane. He was further charged with federal hate crimes this week. Meanwhile, the Spokesman’s Meghann M. Cunniff reported on what Harpham’s online postings revealed about his mindset — and his politics: He also wrote of being influenced by writings and podcasts by Edgar Steele, the former Aryan Nations lawyer who is currently awaiting trial on federal charges that he hired a man to kill his wife. Harpham promoted a speaking engagement by Steele in Florida in 2006 and wrote in 2007 that he “finally broke down and had to go out buy some silver,” because of Steele’s influence. Harpham eventually became an active supporter of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination; he urged others to make individual rather than group contributions to help avoid any links between white supremacists and Paul’s candidacy. Harpham claimed in 2007 to have made two contributions, one for $50 and another for $25, to the Paul campaign but contradicted himself in other posts, saying he supports the campaign but wouldn’t spend money on it. “I don’t care about getting America back on its feet, what I want is for Ron Paul to provide the conditions for us to build White communities with our own businesses and schools,” he wrote on Christmas Eve 2007. “We could do very well under these conditions and start amassing great wealth to expand.” But as Paul’s presidential prospects faded and the U.S. economy tanked, violent themes began emerging in more of Harpham’s online comments. Harpham last posted on Jan. 16, a day before the bomb was discovered. Ten days earlier, he had offered to let fugitive white supremacist Craig Cobb stay at his home. It’s unclear whether Cobb, who faces hate crime charges in Canada, took him up on the offer. Oh, yes, and speaking of Edgar Steele — he was found guilty of plotting to murder his wife and mother-in-law this week too. And it seems the wife, who has remained loyal through it all, is now denouncing the verdict: A murder-for-hire trial comes to an emotional end. A federal jury convicted Edgar Steele on Thursday of plotting to kill his wife and mother-in-law. But Steele’s wife vows to set the record straight. The Boise jury found Edgar Steele guilty on all four counts. The trial was moved to Boise for fairness at the request of the defense. Despite those efforts, Cyndi Steele said her husband’s trial was some kind of federal government conspiracy. “They took our life and turned it into an ugly story, it is farthest from the truth,” said Cyndi. The story began when a mechanic found a pipe bomb under Cyndi Steele’s car. Investigators said a hired hand, Larry Fairfax, planted the bomb at the request of her husband, Edgar Steele. “I am the wife, the proud wife of Edgar J. Steele, and I am here to tell you that this is a cover-up, a frame-up to cover-up Larry Fairfax’s crime against me,” said Cyndi. I have a hunch she’s going to be showing up on Fox News to plead her case. In any event, these are obviously all just “isolated incidents” that have no larger significance whatsoever. Move along, please.
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