PoliticsUSA: Tea Party debate: Michelle Malkin reports on the Republican Prez candidates debate in Tampa

Michelle Malkin (Sep13,2k11)

Notes on the CNN/Tea Party Express GOP debate: Night of the Texas two-step-stumble

Michelle Malkin (Michelle Malkin)

12 Sep 2011 22:52

If you subscribe to my Twitter feed, you’ve already seen all my fast and furious live-tweeting of tonight’s GOP debate in Tampa.

Go here and scroll down for the whole tweet-fest.

Speaking of Fast and Furious, it was once again skipped as a debate question — as were any major Obama scandals (Solyndra, Interior Department corruption, DOJ corruption).

Rick Perry lost big-time as he tried to do the Texas two-step on the Gardasil executive order and earned a wave of boos from the grass-roots Tea Party crowd on the Texas DREAM Act illegal alien student bailout.

Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum effectively refuted Perry’s “err on the side of life” cop-out and offered powerful defense of parental sovereignty. Bachmann also astutely pointed out the Merck conflict of interest and Santorum emphasized the difference between vaccines for traditional communicable diseases vs. HPV. Watch the exchange here. Perry’s press team immediately sent out a rehashed press release “setting the record straight” within minutes of the exchange, prompting debate watchers to jibe that that’s what the debates are for.

When I raised the issue a month ago, I was dismissed as “fringe.”

Judging from the overwhelming negative response to Perry on this issue from the Tea Party crowd, the “fringe” is mainstream Tea Party.

I repeat:

Perry supporters continue to invoke the “opt out” clause as a defense of the Texas measure. But undergirding the Perry decree is the anti-free market belief that it is necessary and right to force private insurance companies to pay for middle-school-age children’s Gardasil injections. Under Texas law, health insurance plans must provide coverage for all mandated vaccinations.There is no “opt out” provision from this mandate. So if Perry’s EO had been implemented, every private insurance plan would have been required to pay for Gardasil vaccinations.

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Journaletics: Ignorance of religion/s: Dominates news reporting professions

Blind Spot, new book on journalism profession and the ignorant reporting of religion in new stories is presented in a Vimeo video by Dr. Paul Marshall, see our special page attached to rW2.

— Owlb, general editor

EconomicsUSA: Labor Day: 10 Great Things Courtesy of Labor Unions

Good online magazine (Sep5,2k11)
article by Nona Willis Aronowitz
picture by Northland Photo Collective

Just in time for Labor Day, Gallup released a poll revealing that just 52 percent of Americans approve of labor unions, a percentage that's nearly the lowest since Gallup started polling in 1936. Predictably, the gap widens once you look at political affiliation, with 78 percent of Democrats giving unions props as opposed to just 26 percent of Republicans.

Unions haven't had the best luck lately, but on this Labor Day, we give you 10 things we wouldn't have without them:

1. The Fair Labor Standards Act, which protected minors against child labor.

2. The concept, if not the total reality, of an eight-hour work day.

3. Time and a half for working overtime.

4. THE WEEKEND.

5. Health insurance and other fringe benefits given by employers.

6. Sick days.

7. Minimum wage and living wage laws (and any increases to either).

8. Worker safety laws (and workers' compensation when you do get hurt on the job).

9. Social Security and Medicare (which unions both pushed for and spend their time defending).

10. The benefit for which unions get criticized the most: Protection from being fired for no good reason.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's tons more here.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Gexydaf.


— Materials from Good online magazine and Northland Poster Collective are reposted here by EconoMix

PoliticsLibya: Civil War: Decisive tilt to rebels and its National Transitional Council

Christian Science Monitor (Sep10.2l11)
article by Scott Peterson, video by BBC (Sep11,2k11)




Tripoli, Libya

Vengeful graffiti aimed at former Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi and his lieutenants can be found around this city, which is emerging from decades of his brutal reign. But calls for revenge in revolutionary Libya are turning out to be rare sentiments.

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  In Pictures: Rebels take Tripoli

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Libya's new rulers have instead focused on national reconciliation, forgiveness, and the rule of law at every turn, aware of the risks to the post-Qaddafi Libya of tit-for-tat violence and revenge that bred such instability inIraq since 2003.

Despite a history of violence that includes brutality against Libyans by Italians during the colonial era, and the psychological and sometimes physical stress of living under Mr. Qaddafi, many Libyans say that the peace that prevails in Tripoli, and the goodwill evident so far, signal the possibility of a relatively calm transition.

IN PICTURES: Rebels take Tripoli

There are exceptions. Giant blue letters sprayed across the walls of Abu Salim, Libya's most notorious prison, call for the death of Qaddafi's former military intelligence chief: "In God's name, Abdullah al-Sanoussi will be murdered here in revenge for the blood of the martyrs who died here." Mr. Sanoussi ordered the killing of 1,200 prisoners at Abu Salim in 1996, one of the most brutal events carried out by the former regime.

"Some people like to express themselves, but real action is different; once you implement real justice, this will disappear," says former prisoner Mustafa Krer, after reading the fresh prison graffiti during a visit there with his family.

A Libyan-Canadian activist, he was arrested in 2000 and imprisoned at Abu Salim for eight years. He says he faced frequent beatings and a week in a metal box in the scalding sun. Now the prison is closed, empty of inmates and filled only by visitors – and some looters – looking for a glimpse into the closed-off world of Qaddafi's Libya.

"Yes, I am angry," says Mr. Krer. "But we are going to build a new country, and we have to build it on a strong foundation. One step is reconciliation, and giving rights to others."

Krer says he does not forgive all his jailers, because many "were tough, were terrorists, in a way, [who] meant what they did. And if they catch me now, they will do the same."

But Krer and many other Libyans exude a raw optimism that Libya might avoid the society-changing violence that marred transitions in countries like Iraq and Romania. "Libyans can rise above this violence," adds Krer. "Libyans are somehow merciful with each other. If we provide some conditions like justice, equality, and freedom, I think we will be good with each other."

Such high expectations are widely heard in the afterglow of Libya's revolution, which took control of Libya on Aug. 20. Tripoli was taken with little fighting, and has so far involved few of the vicious acts and manhunts that accompanied the rebel takeover of Benghazi last February.

The National Transitional Council (NTC) has sent public service announcements to Libyan mobile phones. An Aug. 25 message read: "Remember when you capture any loyalist of Qaddafi, remember that he is a Libyan like you, and his family is your family also."

An Aug. 28 message read: "It's forbidden to take revenge against prisoners, and beating and hunting them down inside the prisons."

Those messages have been sinking in, and are frequently reinforced. During his first press conference in Tripoli on Thursday night, Mahmoud Jibril, Libya's acting premier, said that "the ability to forgive and reconcile for the future" was one of Libya's biggest challenges.

"The choice before the Libyans is either to take actions against those who made our past, or to make a new future for themselves and their future sons and generations – and that is not an easy feat," said Mr. Jibril.

refWr+t recommended, read more ...

— CSM materials posted here by Politicarp

PoliticsDRC: Congo devastated: 'conflict-minerals' finance terrorists

Business & Human Rights (Aug31,2k11)

How Congress Devastated Congo

David Aronson in New York Times 07 Aug 2011

The...Dodd-Frank [Law]...includes an obscure provision that requires public companies to indicate what measures they are taking to ensure that minerals in their supply chain don’t benefit warlords in conflict-ravaged Congo...Unfortunately, the...law has had unintended and devastating consequences...The pastor at one church told me that women were giving birth at home because they couldn’t afford the $20 or so for the maternity clinic. Children are dropping out of school because parents can’t pay the fees...Meanwhile, the law is benefiting some of the very people it was meant to single out. The chief beneficiary is Gen. Bosco Ntaganda...Ostensibly a member of the Congolese Army, he is in fact a freelance killer with his own ethnic Tutsi militia, which provides “security” to traders smuggling minerals across the border to neighboring Rwanda. All this might be a price worth paying if the law were having its intended effect of economically asphyxiating the warlords who turned eastern Congo into the deadliest conflict zone since World War II...But...[t]he law has not stopped their depredations. [refers to Apple, Intel]

Read full item here

What Conflict Minerals Legislation Is Actually Accomplishing in Congo [DRC]

Sasha Lezhnev, Enough Project, in Huffington Post [USA] 09 Aug 2011

Ending the world's deadliest conflict is no easy task, but a growing consensus of Congolese civil society, electronics and metals companies, investors, and governments are now taking action to do so. A chief driver of their work is the Dodd-Frank legislation on conflict minerals, which is why a coalition of 40 Congolese human rights groups called it "the leverage needed to instill and impose ethical business practices in the Great Lakes region." David Aronson's op-ed "How Congress Devastated Congo," misses the critical link in eastern Congo: the continuing role of the minerals trade as a fuel for violence and a major source of revenue for armed groups and military units responsible for atrocities. The Dodd-Frank legislation is the first policy initiative to start to change that equation in 15 years.

Read full item here

[PDF] Global Witness response to David Aronson’s article on the Dodd-Frank Act

Global Witness 17 Aug 2011

For the past decade and a half, the trade in metals that power our laptops and make our cell phones vibrate has helped to fuel the devastating war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Dodd Frank Act…is a groundbreaking measure that aims to cut off a major source of cash for for abusive armed groups in the region…Business lobby groups are pulling out the stops to ensure that these regulations are delayed or diluted...As Mr Aronson’s reporting and our own recent research in eastern Congo shows, the international demand for Congolese minerals is currently at a low ebb...The idea that the Dodd Frank Act amounts to a long-term embargo is not correct, however. Indeed...the past few weeks have seen major international companies unveiling plans to invest in and source from mines in areas of Congo covered by the law...Other positive effects of the law are being felt.

Read full item here

A Conflict Over ‘Conflict Minerals’

UN special representative for sexual violence in conflict; Peter Rosenblum (professor at Columbia Law School); Global Witness; Enough Project 15 Aug 2011

To the Editor:...In fact, the United States government should be commended for its leadership in trying to regulate “conflict minerals” and to starve rebels of the resources and weapons they need to kill and rape...The “conflict mineral” provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which put the burden on companies to know and disclose the source of their supply, are a small but vital step in shifting the incentives away from the warlords...David Aronson’s attack on the Dodd-Frank law’s provisions on “conflict minerals” does not tell the full story...As a Congolese civil-society advocate, I have seen how the Dodd-Frank legislation on “conflict minerals” provides “the leverage needed to instill and impose ethical minerals business practices,” according to a coalition of Congolese human-rights groups.

Read full item here

Ignore the naysayers, restrictions on DRC conflict minerals remain vital

Salil Tirpathi, Guardian [UK] 10 Aug 2011

A string of recent media comments have argued that a piece of US legislation aimed at ending conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) actually hurts civilians….[They] all make the…point…that requiring companies to identify the source of their minerals will drive investment away from the DRC and keep people poor. It is a familiar argument…It is also…wrong…[M]inerals from the DRC provide revenue for armed groups to buy weapons to continue fighting. Eastern Congo, where these minerals are found, is an area where murders, massacres, rapes, and other acts of gender-based violence are widespread. According to Global Witness, companies from around the world…are working to extract the region's precious resources. To gain access, they must deal with commanders accused of ordering mass atrocities. This exposes them to potential criminal liability and complicity in rights violations….The challenge for companies working in the DRC…is to develop measures which ensure they source from entities not party to conflict.

Read full item here

— Business&HR materials reposted here by Politicarp & EconoMix

EuropeEconomics: Recession? : No recession as financial institutions stand firm

BBC News (Sep6,2k11)

Jose Manuel Barroso said authorities were doing all they could to tackle the eurozone's debt problems

Barroso says Europe will avoid 

return to recession

Continue reading the main story

Global Economy

• End of the world as we know it?
• Europe's Wile E Coyote moment?
• Charting Europe's economic woes
• What turmoil means for you

Europe will not slide back into recession, and the euro remains "strong and resilient", the president of the European Commission has said.

Jose Manuel Barroso added that the Commission and national governments were "doing all it takes" to tackle the debt problems in the eurozone area.

His comments came after rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) said last week that the risk of a double dip recession in the eurozone had grown.

Yet S&P said that it should be avoided.

Read the whole article on the BBC News site.

— EconoMix

PoliticsCanada: New Democratic Party: Split regarding unions role in party

Globe and Mail, Toronto (Sept4,2k11)

NDP solidarity cracks over 

role of unions in picking leader

The first clean split among federal New Democrats since Jack Layton passed away last month rests on an issue that strikes at the historical heart of the party: the role of union members in choosing the next leader.

The matter is the first in what promises to be a number of sharp policy debates among the various candidates and factions that Mr. Layton managed to hold together during his time as NDP leader.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/video-how-will-the-ndp-cope-with-losing-jack-layton/article2142162/

The article is by 

DANIEL LEBLANC

Ottawa— From Monday's Globe and Mail

Published Sunday, Sep. 04, 2011 7:38PM EDT

Last updated Sunday, Sep. 04, 2011 9:47PM EDT

This one's definitely a refWr+tRecommend!

At the same time, another important article in the mass media on Canadian politics will be found in a second Globe & Mail feature article, Without any fanfare, Canada has grown up.  The stimulating piece is by John Ibbitson, G&M's Ottawa correspondent.

Leader of the itsy-bitsy teenie weenie Greenie Party complains about the present Conservative-majority govt under Stephen Harper which the article renders more understandable, comprehensible. 

“We have never had a prime minister who was less interested in a national vision, and in particular in a strong, shared national-provincial vision,” laments Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party.

One day, a political party may come to power in Ottawa that once again seeks to impose pan-national programs in the interest of a Greater Canada.

But if the country has grown up, then parties of the left as well as the right may prefer co-operation to confrontation, accommodation to imposition. After all, one thing grown-ups learn is to give each other space.

— Politicarp

TurkeyPolitics: Religion: Muslim Party heads secular state, Muslim liberalism

Source with link (date)

This startled me:

HOMEPAGE FEATURE

Making the Case for Muslim Liberty

BY THE WORLD ⋅ AUGUST 29, 2011 ⋅ POST A COMMENT

Mustafa Akyol (Courtesy of thewhitepath.com)

Audio: Play | Download

Meeting Mustafa Akyol on a Friday night during Ramadan in the Asmalimescit quarter of Istanbul, you probably couldnt tell it was the holy month for Muslims worldwide.

In fact it is a lot emptier than usual tonight but not because of the holiday. Shortly before Ramadan, witnesses say, municipal police brutally grabbed tables and chairs off the street while customers were still eating and drinking at them. The controversy is only the latest in Turkey’s perennial conflict between its Islamic faith and its secular government. Akyol says the restaurant owners accuse the city of forcing Islamic morality on the public.

“Some people say ‘well, they weren’t paying the rents and people couldnt walk on the streets, because there were too many chairs and there was a pragmatic reason to do that,’” Akyol says. “Others say ‘Oh, this is an Islamic minded municipality, so they’re trying to minimize the space where you can drink alcohol.’”

Akyol is a writer and columnist from an urban, educated secular background. He considers himself a believer in keeping with Turkey’s moderate Islamic tradition.

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