Monday, May 11, 2009

Re: PEOPLE'S WATCH ANDHRA PRADESH Digest Number 666


 
palashcbiswas,
 gostokanan, sodepur, kolkata-700110 phone:033-25659551



From: "PWAP@yahoogroups.com" <PWAP@yahoogroups.com>
To: PWAP@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, 11 May, 2009 0:43:18
Subject: PEOPLE'S WATCH ANDHRA PRADESH Digest Number 666

Messages In This Digest (20 Messages)

1a.
A friend has shared their Allvoices news report From: allvoices
2.
Hamas' peace gambit is a sneaky plan for war/other stories From: marc samberg
3a.
Re: [voiceofindiagroup] Modi, BJP and RSS Under Obama Lens From: Praful
4.
Muslims in American History: A Forgotten Legacy From: Ahumanb
5.
COLD CELLING AMERICA !!! Perjury, FALSE POLICE REPORTS... Witheld Ev From: Jud Witham
6.
Bania Janta Party Sabotaged Indian Agriculture From: Ravinder Singh
7.
Ashok Gulati, the Scoundrel € ¢â' '³ Gujarat Ranks 13 in Hunger From: Ravinder Singh
8.
Gujarat Ranks with Bangladesh in Ashok Gulati Report From: Ravinder Singh
9.
Half Pant Ruled States HUNGRIER than 1994 From: Ravinder Singh
10.
The coming evangelical collapse From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
11.
Afghanistan: Foreign troops targeted in bomb attacks From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
12.
Swine flu: Egypt kills 11,000 pigs to counter virus From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
13.
PAKISTAN Islamabad, final offensive against the Taliban. One million From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
14.
Angel or Demon? In the Vatican, Obama Is Both From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
15.
Half Pant NAZIS are Mediocre, Liars, Crooks, Cheats and Exploiters From: Ravinder Singh
16.
Congenital Liar Modi and His Admirers From: Ravinder Singh
17.
Invitation to conf on community governance and commodification of fo From: ashok.chowdhury@gmail.com
18.
PAKISTAN Taliban a threat to the whole country, Pakistani PM says From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
19.
The Pope's Toughest Job in the Holy Land: Winning over the Christian From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
20a.
Yuva Samvad Bhopal newsletter " DASTAK "– April- May 2009 issue From: ashokk34@gmail.com

Messages

1a.

A friend has shared their Allvoices news report

Posted by: "allvoices" noreply@allvoices.com

Sun May 10, 2009 10:33 am (PDT)



chnarendra (expressnarendra@ gmail.com) has posted an interesting
news report on www.allvoices. com <http://www.allvoice s.com> and
has shared it with you.

The news report Intervention urged to save the life of Sri Lanka
human rights defender can be found at
http://www.allvoice s.com/contribute d-news/3175270- intervention- ur\
ged-to-save- the-life- of-sri-lanka- human-rights- defender

<http://www.allvoice s.com/contribute d-news/3175270- intervention- u\
rged-to-save- the-life- of-sri-lanka- human-rights- defender
> .

We look forward to seeing you on allvoices!

Thanks,
The Allvoices Team
2.

Hamas' peace gambit is a sneaky plan for war/other stories

Posted by: "marc samberg" mechelsamberg@gmail.com   mechelsamberg

Sun May 10, 2009 10:34 am (PDT)



Contents:
Exposure of a Hezbollah network in Egypt: state of affairs, implications,
and reactions in Egypt and in the Arab and Muslim world
Hamas' peace gambit is a sneaky plan for war
Sultan Knish

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center

(IICC)
For annotated illustrated version

www.terrorism- info.org. il/malam_ multimedia/ English/eng_ n/html/hezbollah _e011.htm
April 28, 2009

Exposure of a Hezbollah network in Egypt: state of affairs,
implications, and reactions in Egypt and in the Arab and Muslim world 1

Overview

1. In late 2008, Egyptian security services exposed a Hezbollah
network which operated on Egyptian soil. Immediately following the exposure,

the affair was hushed up and received no media coverage. In early April
2009, the Egyptian government decided to make public the exposure, the
network members' interrogations, and the implications of Hezbollah's
activity on Egyptian soil.

2. That network is perceived and portrayed by the Egyptian
government as an Iranian "plot" to destabilize Egypt and further Iran 's
strategic objectives, being part of its drive for Middle Eastern hegemony.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who is viewed by the Egyptians as an
instrument used by the Iranian regime to further its objectives, received
special treatment from the Egyptian media, which referred to him, inter
alia, as the "monkey sheikh", "Iranian agent", and "militia leader in the
Iranian party of Lebanon". Accusations were also made against the Muslim
Brotherhood in Egypt , which was allegedly involved with and supported the
network. 2

3. Against this backdrop, Egyptian media (as well as Arab media
benefiting from Egyptian leaks) have been recently publishing a great deal
of highly detailed information on the Hezbollah network's activities in
Egypt . According to that information, the network was involved in smuggling

weapons and terrorist operatives into the Gaza Strip (mostly for Hamas, in
our assessment). It is also our assessment that those operatives had
undergone training in Iran , Syria , and Lebanon , and had been brought back

to the Gaza Strip with the assistance of Hezbollah. According to the
Egyptian media, the smuggling route passed through Sudan , Egypt , and the
Gaza Strip, via the Rafah tunnels. It appears that in some point (possibly
following Imad Mughniyah's death) the Hezbollah network was instructed to
carry out terrorist attacks on Egyptian soil, mostly against tourist sites
on the Red Sea coast where Israelis often stay.

4. The Hezbollah network was serving the strategic interests of
Iran, which strives to help build up the Hamas administration in the Gaza
Strip, even though Hamas, unlike Hezbollah, does not fully comply with the
Iranian dictates. Iran considers the establishment of the radical Islamic
entity in the Gaza Strip to be an important leverage for waging an armed
struggle against Israel along its southern border by providing Palestinian
terrorist organizations with rocket capabilities (as Iran did with Hezbollah

in Lebanon). The Gaza Strip is also seen as a convenient staging ground from

which terrorists can be dispatched to Israel , either directly or through
the breached Egyptian-Israeli border. What is more, the Iranians consider
the Hamas-controlled Islamist Gaza Strip to be a regional power which they
can use to increase their influence in the Arab and Muslim world, pose a
considerable challenge to Abu Mazen, and export radical Islam to such
pro-Western Arab countries as Egypt , using that country's geographical
proximity to the Gaza Strip. 3

5. The exposure of the Hezbollah network, which not only
provided Gaza Strip terrorist organizations with logistical assistance but
was also planning to perpetrate terrorist attacks on Egyptian soil, was a
warning sign the Egyptians could not ignore. Its activities meticulously
covered by Egypt 's media, the network was considered by the Egyptians as a
blatant Iranian interference in Egyptian internal affairs and as
compromising their national security. Sincerely concerned about the
potential implications of Iranian subversive activities on its territory,
Egypt launched a massive media campaign against Iran , led by President
Mubarak, Egypt 's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and the Egyptian
government-controll ed media. Joined by the media of Saudi Arabia and other
like-minded countries, the media campaign put Iran and its allies ( Syria ,
Hezbollah, and to a lesser extent Hamas) on the defensive.

6. With the parliamentary elections drawing near, Hezbollah
leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was put in an uncomfortable position by the
Egyptians' activity, admitted soon after the affair was exposed that the
leader of the network (known as Sami Shihab) and some of his operatives,
did, indeed, belong to Hezbollah. The media strategy adopted by Hassan
Nasrallah (and later also by his deputy, Sheikh Na'im Qassem) was to confirm

that the Hezbollah network was involved in smuggling weapons and "fighters"
(i.e., terrorist operatives) into the Gaza Strip, portraying that activity
as being perfectly legitimate seeing as, according to Hezbollah, supporting
the Palestinians was imperative. At the same time, Hezbollah denied the
Egyptian allegations that the network's activity was not limited to
logistics but also included terrorist attacks and subversion, claiming that
such accusations were groundless and that their sole purpose was to
compromise the "reputation" built by the organization in the Arab world,
including Egypt , since the second Lebanon war.

7. The Iranian and Syrian propaganda rushed to Hezbollah's aid,
all the while keeping a low profile in order to mitigate the Egyptian
attack. The Hamas movement, which was put in an uncomfortable position,
denied having anything to do with the affair, stressing, however, that
smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip was perfectly legitimate.

The Hezbollah network in Egypt - summary based on Egyptian and
Arab media reports

8. The Egyptian and Arab media have published a great deal of
detailed information about the activity of the Hezbollah network exposed in
Egypt . Some of that information is said to have originated in
interrogations of those detained in the affair, with several interrogation
protocols published in the Egyptian media. The picture that emerges from
those reports is that the network included 49 operatives and that it was
headed by a Hezbollah operative codenamed Sami Shihab (see below). Its
members were Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, Sudanese, Israeli Arabs, and

Syrians (Al-Hayat, April 13), 21 of whom were arrested (Al-Masri al-Youm,
April 29). The network started operating in Egypt in 2005 and was probably
exposed in late 2008. Most of its operatives were arrested by the Egyptian
security services, although it was reported that the search for additional
(Lebanese and Palestinian) operatives who sought shelter in the central
Sinai Peninsula was still underway.

9. On April 13, Al-Masri al-Youm published the interrogation
protocols of Muhammad Yussuf Ahmed Mansour, a Shi'ite Lebanese from the
southern suburb of Beirut , who entered Egypt using a fake passport. The
detainee admitted that he was a Hezbollah operative codenamed Sami Hani
Shihab, which was confirmed by Hassan Nasrallah's speech. 4 Following are
the main points related by the detainee in his interrogation by the Egyptian

security services:

a. He was sent to Cairo in 2005 to establish there a Hezbollah

network called " Egypt Branch". Its goal was said to be "supporting the
Palestinian cause". His direct commander in Lebanon was a Hezbollah
operative named Mohammad Qabalan, who was chosen for the mission because he
had visited Egypt in 2007 and 2008 and had considerable knowledge about the
southern Sinai Peninsula , where he spent some time using a fake Egyptian
passport on the name of Hassan al-Ghul. 5

b. Egypt Branch operatives surveyed tourist sites on the Red
Sea coast in order to collect information on Israeli tourists staying there
(Arab and Egyptian media reported that the network was planning to
perpetrate several showcase terrorist attacks at the tourist spots using car

bombs and explosive belts) . One of the network's operatives was a resident
of Port Said named Hassan al-Manakhili, who was instructed to gather
information in the region of Nuweiba and conduct reconnaissance missions in
the Ras al-Shaitan area (on April 23, the Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that
Hassan al-Manakhili and five other detainees from Port Said were instructed
by Sami Shihab to purchase a boat and rent a fish store in Port Said in
order to collect information on vessels going through the Suez Canal).

c. Mohammad Qabalan was involved in smuggling operatives and
weapons into the Gaza Strip for terrorist attacks against Israel . For that
purpose, the network acquired C- 4, a very high quality plastic explosive, 6

and stored it in the house of one of the network's operatives in El-Arish.
The explosives were then used to make explosive belts and explosive
suitcases. The network members also purchased some supplies for preparing
explosive devices, such as electric wires and iron pellets. Egyptian sources

close to the interrogation told an Al-Sharq al-Awsat reporter in Cairo
(April 18) that the explosives were meant to be transported to Israel by
Israeli Arabs for perpetrating terrorist attacks.

d. As part of the preparations for smuggling weapons, Mohammad

Qabalan went to Sudan "in order to attend to logistical matters". The
purpose of his visit in Sudan was "to meet with African and Sudanese
smugglers to smuggle fighters to Gaza ". The agreement was that the
smugglers would receive 2,000 dollars for each person smuggled into the Gaza

Strip and 16,000 dollars for a passenger car. The network was able to
smuggle "fighters" (i.e., terrorist operatives) into the Gaza Strip, but
their number was small, the detainee related.

e. Sami Shihab admitted that, as part of his activity in
Hezbollah, he was enlisted to that organization' s general recruitment
division. He underwent military training but suffered an injury to his
spinal cord. After his recovery, he joined Unit 1800, which deals with the
Palestinian issue through the "ring states" (that is, the countries which
surround Israel ). The detainee had undergone extensive intelligence
training, qualifying him for the assignments he was charged with.

10. Another detainee named Muhammad Ramadan admitted to
infiltrating Egypt (from the Gaza Strip) through the Rafah tunnels along
with another operative. Their purpose was to recruit operatives who could be

smuggled into Israel for perpetrating suicide bombing attacks there.
7Muhammad Ramadan met with Sami Shihab, the network's leader, who told him
that he was able to help him and provide him with the necessary means to
perpetrate terrorist attacks. According to Egyptian media reports, the
attacks were not carried out because several Israeli Arabs involved in the
affair were apprehended by the Israeli intelligence services.

The involvement of Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV in the affair

11. The Egyptian newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that the Hezbollah

network operatives in Egypt were assisted by a person working for
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV channel. They took advantage of his knowledge of the

Hebrew language and charged him with contacting elements inside Israel
through the Internet in order to collect information on Israeli tourists
visiting Egypt (Al-Akhbar, April 13).

12. Following the exposure of the affair, an Egyptian attorney
filed a plea calling for the termination of Al-Manar's broadcasts through
the Egyptian-controlled Nilesat satellite. According to the plea, Al-Manar
TV was broadcasting false information and violating legal ethics
(Al-Gomhuria, April 17). Al-Manar TV does broadcast through Arabsat (an
inter-Arab TV satellite dominated by the Saudis) and Nilesat (an Egyptian TV

satellite), while many countries in the world, mainly France , have taken
practical measures against the channel since 2004. 8 Hezbollah's reliance on

those Arab satellites allows Al-Manar TV to disseminate its inciting
broadcasts to the Middle East, North Africa, and countries in southern
Europe , where it enjoys great popularity.

Reactions in the Arab world

Egypt

13. The Egyptian official and non-official media, as well as
Egyptian leaders, including President Hosni Mubarak, took the opportunity of

the Hezbollah network's exposure to vehemently lash out against Iran ,
accusing it of being responsible for the anti-Egyptian "plot" and of using
the Palestinian issue to further its interests in the Middle East . At the
same time, the Egyptian government is also attempting to make a profit on
the internal scene by accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of being associated
with the Hezbollah network (an accusation which has yet to be proven). This
media attack may herald a new phase in the confrontation between Egypt (and
other pro-Western Arab countries) and the Iranian-Syrian axis, which directs

such terrorist organizations as Hezbollah and Hamas.

14. President Mubarak addressed the affair and Iran 's role in
it during his speech in Ismailia on the 27th anniversary of the liberation
of Sinai (April 23). 9 "We are aware of the connection between the national
security of Egypt and the security and stability of the Middle East, the
Gulf, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, Sudan , the Nile basin countries, and
Africa ," said Mubarak. "We affirm our Arab identity and will not allow the
interference of regional elements that are opposed to peace and are pushing
the region to the edge of an abyss [i.e., Iran ]. Those elements seek to
impose their influence and agenda on our Arab world, incite disagreements on

the Arab and Palestinian scene, and send their agents [i.e., Hezbollah] to
the region in order to threaten Egypt 's national security, harm its
borders, and compromise its stability." President Mubarak then reiterated
his threatening message to Iran : "I'm telling them: we are totally aware of

your plots. We will expose your plots and react accordingly. Stop
interfering in the Palestinian issue; beware the wrath of Egypt and its
people" (Middle East News Agency, April 23, 2009).

15. Following are more examples of the still ongoing Egyptian
media attack on Iran :

a. A weekly editorial by the editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram
accused Iran and Hezbollah of taking advantage of the Palestinian problem to

promote Iranian interests and disseminate Iranian revolutionary ideas. The
article argues that Egypt 's non-compromising stance against "the crimes of
Hezbollah" was ben eficial to the entire Arab world, and that eventually
Hamas will also understand that there is an Iranian conspiracy against it.
The article accuses Hezbollah of encouraging suicide bombing attacks which
resulted in the failure of the second intifada, unlike the success of the
first intifada, in which Hezbollah did not interfere.

b. In an article dated April 18, Ahmed Moussa, the deputy
editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram, claims that the Hezbollah network was not just
planning to perpetrate terrorist attacks but also "conspired" to stage a
coup in Egypt . According to Moussa, that "conspiracy" included three
countries: Iran , Syria , and Qatar . It allegedly also included three
organizations: Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood. In addition,
the article accuses the Al-Jazeera channel of manipulating Egyptian public
opinion, referring to it as "Al-Qatar channel which belongs to the country
of Al-Jazeera". The article goes into detail about Hezbollah's close
relations with Syria , arguing that the organization had received three
quarters of the Syrian army's weapons before its withdrawal from Lebanon .
Iran , on its part, "picked up the tab" for Syria and, in addition, exported

Grad rockets to Hamas. The author of the article also lashes out against
Hamas for causing a rift within the Palestinian entity, rebelling against
the legitimate government, objecting the continuation of the lull in the
fighting, and, "on the day the lull in the fighting ceased, firing its
useless rockets in order to prompt Israel to launch a military operation,
without giving any thought to the defenseless people of the Gaza Strip.".

c.The Al-Gomhuria newspaper published an article by its
editor-in-chief (April 16), claiming that the confrontation between Egypt
and " Iran and its proxies" originated in two distinct worldviews about
handling the conflict with Israel , leveling accusations against Iran 's
supporters in Egypt . He says that Egypt espouses the peace treaty model and

the democratic solution, while Iran espouses "liberation" through armed
resistance. The roots of that conflict are well known from the past;
however, a new phenomenon has been exposed in the present affair: "Up until
now, we haven't been aware of the existence of an intellectual 'elite' in
Cairo which is currently defending Iran's interests and Hezbollah, even
though they violated Egypt's territorial sovereignty. .." According to the
author, Hassan Nasrallah and the Iranian clerics who handle him strive to
turn the Arab world into a scene of terrorism using Hezbollah's sleeper
cells in the various countries.

d. In an interview to the Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat
(April 14), Egypt 's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit claimed that Iran
was holding several "inter-Arab cards" in order to "trade them" when it
decides to begin negotiating with the West. He further adds that Hezbollah's

gaining a foothold on the western Mediterranean coast, by Iran 's
initiative, is a clear message to the West, to Israel , to Egypt , and to
all Arabs: "We are here and we will influence your interests". Iran also
used Hezbollah to gain a foothold in Egypt "so that it can tell Egypt 'we
are here'". The Egyptian Foreign Minister also said that Iran considered
itself a revolutionary country striving to increase its influence on the
Arab and Muslim world, including the Gulf region and Afghanistan, and
possibly also the Islamic republics of Central Asia.

e. In the same interview, the Egyptian Foreign Minister was
also asked about the bombing of the arms convoy in Sudan . He replied that
the arms that were bombed originated in Iran , but did not specify the
identity of the convoy's attacker. He said that Egypt had discovered that
there were camel caravans which transported people, arms, ammunition, and
equipment to Egypt , from where they are intended to be transported to the
Gaza Strip through the Sinai Peninsula . He further noted, "It is obvious
that the arms [of the attacked convoy] came through the Red Sea from one of
the largest sponsors in the area ( Iran )" (parentheses in the original). He

also added that the Egyptians were aware of the attack on the arms convoy.
The Sudanese, who claimed that the attack was carried out without their
knowledge, kept silent (preferring not to make the affair public). Egypt 's
Foreign Minister called upon any country (possibly hinting at Sudan ) to
"increase its control [over its territory] to hunt down those organizations
and their funding sources".

f. Abdallah Kamal, the editor-in-chief of the Egyptian
newspaper Roz al-Yousef, who was cited in Al-Quds al-Arabi (April 20),
published an in-depth article covering the history of the relations between
Iran and Hezbollah. The article states that Hezbollah, which is an "armed
gang", is just a tool used by various countries, mainly Iran , Syria , and
Qatar . Those countries, the article says, do not carry out the activities
themselves but employ several organizations and assist them with funds,
training, and equipment.

g. Khaled Imam, the editor-in-chief of the Egyptian newspaper
Al-Masaa (April 24), called Hassan Nasrallah "the servant of the Iranian
clerics". He claimed that Nasrallah was seeking to harm Egypt , its people,
and its interests, and "to set the region on fire for Persian goals". He
condemned the Muslim Brotherhood' s "alliance" with Iran and Hezbollah, and
said "The problem with the Muslim Brotherhood is that they, like the
Iranians and Hezbollah, are liars at heart, regarding themselves as would-be

guardians of all Muslims".

16. On April 20, the Egyptian Foreign Minister's Assistant on
Asian Affairs summoned the head of the Iranian interests office in Cairo ,
Ambassador Hossein Rajabi. The former expressed his protest over statements
made by Iranian leaders, such as Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, who
claimed that the exposure of the Hezbollah network was a "silly, retarded
scenario". The Foreign Minister's Assistant also noted that the reports
which appeared on Iranian media were unacceptable, seeing as they reflected
an Iranian decision to meddle in Egypt's internal affairs (Middle East News
Agency, April 21). In an article published in Al-Ahram, Muhammad Amin
al-Masri claims that Larijani made two mistakes: "Claiming that Egypt
deliberately made public the Hezbollah network affair to influence the
election results in Lebanon , and defending Hezbollah by saying that it had
provided assistance to the Palestinians during the Israeli war against the
Gaza Strip" (Al-Ahram, April 25).

Iran

17. The affair receives modest coverage on Iranian media, and it

appears that officials in Tehran are attempting to hush up the affair and
avoid fanning the flames (as Egypt is doing). The Iranian Foreign Ministry
rushed to Hezbollah's aid, attempting to refute the Egyptian accusations:

a. At a press conference with Oman 's Foreign Minister, Iran's

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki noted that the accusations against
Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah leaders were groundless. He said that they
were meant to influence the coming elections to the Lebanese parliament
(ISNA, April 15).

b. Foreign Minister Spokesman Qashqavi said that the outcry
raised by the Egyptians was not serving Arab and Islamic countries,
particularly now, with " Palestine being occupied", and Lebanon , Syria ,
and Egypt 's national interests under the attack of the "Zionist regime"
(IRNA, April 14).

18. On the other hand, an editorial in Jomhuri Eslami, a
newspaper associated with the conservative bloc, was much more blatant and
clear regarding the affair. According to the editorial, the accusations
against Hezbollah were meant to push back the increasing internal resistance

against President Mubarak's government and that the increasing popularity of

Hezbollah and Hassan Nasrallah since the second Lebanon war was highly
concerning for President Mubarak. The article claims that Mubarak's
accusations against a "Lebanese citizen" arrested several months ago 10 were

meant to haul Mubarak from the quagmire in which he had sunk during the Gaza

war. According to the article, there are groups in Egypt , mainly the Muslim

Brotherhood, who are aware that the accusations are false. The Article
asserts that President Mubarak, who cooperated with Israel , is the one who
should be brought to trial and punished as a war criminal alongside the
leaders of the Zionist regime in the International Court . The article ends
by stating that Mubarak is rightfully concerned about the appearance of
"Nasrallahs" in Egypt and the expansion of "resistance culture" in Egypt ,
which will ultimately end Hosni Mubarak's unwelcome life (Jomhuri Eslami,
April 12).

Syria

19. In an interview to Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat (April
28), Syria's President Bashar Assad was requested to respond to the attacks
planned by Hezbollah against Israeli tourists in Sinai. Bashar feigned
ignorance and said that "Hezbollah has no interest to do so, because it did
deny it and said that it had nothing against Egypt or the Egyptians". Bashar

added that there had been media reports about Hezbollah's intentions to
attack Israel in 2008 in retaliation for the killing of Imad Mughniyah, but
that Syria had "no concrete evidence to that effect".

20. The Syrian propaganda also rushed to defend Hezbollah (even
if that defense was rather low-key) by portraying the assistance to the
Palestinians as being legitimate and by bringing up the claim that Egypt's
accusations against Hezbollah were nothing more than "political delusions".
Thus, for example:

a. In an article published in Al-Watan (April 14), Nizar
Salloum lashes out against the "political delusions" unprecedentedly
disseminated from Egypt in order to portray Hezbollah and its leader as a
threat on Egypt's sovereignty and national security. The article complains
that the terms "war criminal" or "highwayman" are not used to describe
Olmert or Netanyahu but rather Hassan Nasrallah, who sent Sami Shihab to
"logistical missions" which had to do with supporting the "Palestinian
resistance" in the Gaza Strip. The article's conclusion states that the
Egyptian policy is still the same as it was during Bush's era, missing an
"historical opportunity" to mend its ways.

b. Suleiman Haddad, the Chairman of the Foreign Ministers'
Committee in the Syrian People's Council, stressed Syria 's support of
Hezbollah. When asked whether Syria also supported the rule of the law, he
replied positively. He added, however, that a statement by Hezbollah's
leader, "a personality known for its credibility and nationalism" , made it
clear that meddling in the internal affairs of a country was the last thing
it would do (BBC Radio in Arabic, April 13).

Lebanon

21. The timing that the affair hit the media was inconvenient
for Hezbollah, seeing as the elections for the Lebanese parliament are due
June 7, 2009. The main reason for that inconvenience is that Hezbollah's
portrayal as a terrorist organization involved in subversive activities and
serving Iranian interests compromises its efforts to present itself as a
legitimate Lebanese "party", as well as its desire to receive inter-Arab and

international legitimacy.

22. Owing to the above reasons, Hezbollah has kept a low profile

on the media when addressing the affair, in an attempt to douse the flames
fanned by the Egyptian government. Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hassan Nasrallah's
deputy, has continued to follow the media strategy outlined by Hassan
Nasrallah when the affair was first exposed. That media strategy rejects the

Egyptian allegations, attempts to trivialize the issue by portraying it as
support of the "resistance" (i.e., terrorist organizations) , and emphasizes
that it is the duty of the Arab world to provide the Palestinians with such
assistance.

23. In that context:

a. In an interview granted to AFP, Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed

that the Egyptian allegations were slanderous, worthless, and unproven. He
said that the Egyptians were trying to get back at Hezbollah because of its
position during Israel 's activity in the Gaza Strip (Operation Cast Lead).
Egypt also wants to hurt Hezbollah's reputation in the Arab and Muslim
world. He reiterated once again (echoing Hassan Nasrallah's rhetoric) that
the Hezbollah operative arrested in Egypt was involved in transporting arms
and supplies to the Gaza Strip. "That is not an accusation" but rather every

Muslim's duty (AFP, April 15).

b. In an interview to an Egyptian newspaper, Sheikh Naim
Qassem claimed that it was every Arab and Islamic country's duty to help the

Palestinians. He said that Hezbollah had not violated Egypt 's sovereignty
but rather performed an "elementary act" that it was morally obliged to do
"for the sake of Palestine ". At the end of the interview, he called upon
the Egyptian government, "which made up all that mess", to stop the media
and political campaign, and to release the detained "honorable jihad
warriors" ( Al-Shuruq , Egypt , April 14).

c. Ali Fayad, a Hezbollah candidate for the Lebanese
parliament in the Marjayoun-Hasbaya district, claimed that Hezbollah was not

conducting political or military activities in Egypt , and that it was not
meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries. He added that smuggling
weapons was not a violation of sovereignty, and called on Egypt and
Hezbollah to settle their differences (FTV channel, Lebanon , April 20).

24. On the internal Lebanese scene, the affair further
accentuated Hezbollah's image as an organization with a regional agenda,
serving Iranian interests outside of Lebanon . Nevertheless, Hezbollah's
opponents from the March 14th camp were careful with their words and did not

took advantage of the incidents for media bickering to promote the election
campaign for the Lebanese parliament. The Lebanese government also kept a
low profile on the media in order to distance itself from the affair and
avoid the impression that it was a crisis between the states of Lebanon and
Egypt .

Condemnations of Hezbollah's interference in Egypt 's internal
affairs in a report by the UN Secretary-Genera, and Hezbollah's response

25. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the Hezbollah
network exposed in Egypt in the ninth semi-annual report he submitted to the

UN Security Council about the implementation of Security Council Resolution
1559 (2004). 11 The report states, inter alia (Paragraph 50), "Recent
clandestine and illegal militant activities by the militia beyond Lebanese
territory indicate that its objectives extend beyond Lebanon and, as such,
pose a threat to regional peace and stability . I call upon Hizbullah to
cease any militant activities outside Lebanon and to complete its
transformation into a solely Lebanese political party." 12

26. The UN Secretary-General also condemned Hezbollah's
interference in Egypt 's political affairs (Paragraph 42): "I am alarmed
that Hezbollah publicly admitted to providing support to Gaza-based
militants from Egyptian territory. I condemn such unwarranted interference
in the domestic affairs of a sovereign member state."

27. Hezbollah spokesmen launched an offensive against UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon even before the report about Security Council
Resolution 1559 was formally published (based on excerpts from the report
made public in advance):

a. On May 25, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said that "Ban
[Ki-moon] was putting the UN on high alert for Israel 's safety", turning a
blind eye to the "crimes and massacres" perpetrated against the Lebanese and

the Palestinians (Ilaf website, April 25).

b. Ali Fayad, a Hezbollah parliament candidate, claimed that
Ban Ki-moon's stance on "Hezbollah's attempt to help the Palestinian people
in Gaza " was meant to "take the matter out of proportion and portray it as
a regional crisis". He said that the Secretary-General' s position was
propagating the feeling among the people of the Middle East that the UN
institutions are favoring Israel, following a biased policy, and "covering
up the Israeli crimes" (Al-Nashra website, April 28).

Hamas

28. The Hamas movement, which was put in an uncomfortable
position as a result of the exposure of its ties with the Hezbollah network
in Egypt , made an effort to distance itself from the affair while keeping a

low profile on the media. Muhammad Nazzal, a member of the Hamas political
bureau, claimed that Hamas had "nothing to do with the affair, and any
attempt to associate it is blackmail against it". He said that Hamas did not

cooperate with Hezbollah, but expressed solidarity with Hezbollah
"considering the campaign against it" (Al-Quds al-Arabi, April 14). Fawzi
Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, claimed that the Egyptians
made no accusations against Hamas and that Hamas's relations with the
Egyptians were close. At the same time, however, he noted that transporting
weapons to the Gaza Strip should not be construed as a "crime" ( Al-Sabil ,
Jordan , April 13).

29. However, Moussa Abu Marzouq, deputy chairman of the Hamas
political bureau, made it clear that Hamas had no intention of stopping the
arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip: "We are a resistance movement, and it is

well known that resistance movements do not get their weapons through
official contracts of arms deals between countries. We import our weapons in

channels we believe will ensure that, and it is our right to arm our people
to defend our interests and our rights (Palestine-info website, April 23).

Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states

30. Saudi media also joined Egypt 's media campaign against Iran

, even though it was not as extensive or aggressive. For example, an
editorial in the Saudi daily Al-Jazeera (April 11) noted that the security
apparatuses and justice systems in Egypt and Morocco saved their countries
from the schemes of "the forces of evil". They also sent a warning signal to

other Arab and Muslim countries that they could become the target for
Shi'ite religious activity and for terrorist operations which serve the
interests of a "certain country" in the Middle East, which undermines and
threatens the security of Arab countries (referring to Iran ). 13

31. Cartoonists in Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states
besmirched Hassan Nasrallah and lashed out against Iran . However, some of
them stressed that the disagreement between Egypt and Hezbollah was serving
Israel and that the Palestinians were the victims.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

1 This is a follow-up and supplement to our April 13 Information

Bulletin: " Egypt exposes a Hezbollah network on its soil, claiming it not
only smuggled weapons into the Gaza Strip but also planned to carry out
terrorist attacks and subversion activities. Hassan Nasrallah admitted a
detained Hezbollah operative was involved in smuggling but denied other
accusations" . See also: " News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict" (April 7-14, 2009).

2 Al-Masri al-Youm, a newspaper which published the names of the

detainees belonging to the network, noted that one of them was a member of
the Muslim Brotherhood and had recently joined the Hezbollah network
(Al-Masri al-Youm, April 28).

3 For more details, see our January 12, 2009 Information
Bulletin: "Iranian Support of Hamas" .

4 The same Lebanese was portrayed by Egypt 's media as the one
in charge of the Hezbollah network in Egypt . In his speech, Hassan
Nasrallah admitted that he was indeed a Hezbollah operative involved in
smuggling weapons and operatives to the Gaza Strip.
5 The Egyptian intelligence services' interrogation showed that
Hezbollah used the names of deceased Sunni Lebanese to forge passports for
Hezbollah operatives (Al-Arab, April 22, 2009).

6 This kind of explosives is manufactured by the Iranians, and
it is possible that they smuggle it to the Gaza Strip.

7 The Egyptian media does not mention the terrorist organization

to which Muhammad Ramadan and his associate belonged, as part of a larger
trend to focus on Iran and Hezbollah and play down the role of Hamas, which
the Hezbollah network assisted. The Egyptian media also noted that among the

detainees were two Fatah operatives who admitted during questioning to
infiltrating Egypt from the Gaza Strip. They had been given instructions to
go to Sudan as well as to Syria and Lebanon to undergo training for suicide
bombing attacks (Al-Masri al-Youm, April 16).

8 The Egyptian media made a point of mentioning that in recent
years Egypt has been facing pressure exerted by outside elements (including
the US) to terminate the broadcasts of Al-Manar on the Egyptian Nilesat
satellite (Al-Ahram al-Masai, April 16, 2009).

9 When the affair just began, it was reported that Hosni Mubarak

held a telephone conversation with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, in

which he said that the Egyptian justice system was committed to put those
responsible to trial (Haaretz, April 13, 2009).

10 The Iranians continue to hide what even Hassan Nasrallah
admitted-that the commander of the network was a Hezbollah operative who was

involved in smuggling arms and "fighters".

11 On September 2, 2004, the UN Security Council passed
Resolution 1559, which called, inter alia, for the demilitarization of all
the militias in Lebanon , including Hezbollah and Palestinian militias in
the refugee camps, in order to extend Lebanese sovereignty on the entire
territory of Lebanon . Those demands have yet to be implemented. See our
July 25, 2006 Information Bulletin: "Disarming Hezbollah and extending the
sovereignty and authority of the Lebanese government to south Lebanon , in
accordance with Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004) and the Taef Accord
(1989)". 12 Source: the United Nations website, Ninth semi-annual
report
of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council
Resolution 1559, S/2009/218.

13 For more reactions on Saudi media, see MEMRI report dated
April 27: " Egypt : The Hizbullah Cell in Egypt - A Joint Conspiracy by Iran

, Syria , Qatar , Hizbullah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood" (by Y.
Yehoshua).

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********
http://www.nydailyn ews.com/opinions /2009/05/ 08/2009-05- 08_hamas_ peace_gambit_ is_a_plan_ for_war.html? print=1&page= all
Hamas' peace gambit is a sneaky plan for war by Charles Krauthammer
May 8th 2009
*
*"Apart from the time restriction [a truce that lapses after 10 years] and
the refusal to accept Israel's existence, Mr. Meshal's terms approximate the
Arab League peace plan . . . "

* - Hamas peace plan, as explained by The New York Times

"Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"
- Tom Lehrer, satirist
*
The Times conducted a five-hour interview with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal at
his Damascus headquarters. Mirabile dictu, they're offering a peace plan
with a two-state solution. Except. The offer is not a peace but a truce that
expires after 10 years. Meaning that after Israel has fatally weakened
itself by settling millions of hostile Arab refugees in its midst, and after
a decade of Hamas arming itself within a Palestinian state that narrows
Israel to 8 miles wide - Hamas restarts the war against a country it remains
pledged to eradicate.

There is a phrase for such a peace: the peace of the grave.

Westerners may be stupid, but Hamas is not. It sees the new American
administration making overtures to Iran and Syria. It sees Europe, led by
Britain, beginning to accept Hezbollah. It sees itself as next in line. And
it knows what to do. Yasser Arafat wrote the playbook.

With the 1993 Oslo accords, he showed what can be achieved with a fake peace
treaty with Israel - universal diplomatic recognition, billions of dollars
of aid and control of Gaza and the West Bank, which Arafat turned into an
armed camp. In return for a signature, he created in the Palestinian
territories the capacity to carry on the war against Israel that the Arab
states had begun in 1948 but had given up after the bloody hell of the 1973
Yom Kippur War.

Meshal sees the opportunity. Not only is the Obama administration reaching
out to its erstwhile enemies in the region, but it begins its term by
wagging an angry finger at Israel over the Netanyahu government's ostensible
refusal to accept a two-state solution.

Of all the phony fights to pick with Israel. No Israeli government would
turn down a two-state solution in which the Palestinians accepted
territorial compromise and genuine peace with a Jewish state. (And any
government that did would be voted out in a day.) Netanyahu's own defense
minister, Ehud Barak, offered such a deal in 2000. He even offered to divide
Jerusalem and expel every Jew from every settlement remaining in the new
Palestine.

The Palestinian response was (for those who have forgotten): No. And no
counteroffer. Instead, nine weeks later, Arafat unleashed a savage terror
war that killed 1,000 Israelis.

Netanyahu is reluctant to agree to a Palestinian state before he knows what
kind of state it would be. That elementary prudence should be shared by
anyone who's been sentient the last three years. The Palestinians already
have a state, an independent territory with not an Israeli settler or
soldier living on it. It's called Gaza. And what is it? A terror base,
Islamist in nature, Iranian-allied, militant and aggressive, that has fired
more than 10,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians.

If this is what a West Bank state is going to be, it would be madness for
Israel or America or Jordan or Egypt or any other moderate Arab country to
accept such a two-state solution. Which is why Netanyahu insists that the
Palestinian Authority first build institutions - social, economic and
military - to anchor a state that could actually carry out its
responsibilities to keep the peace.

Apart from being reasonable, Netanyahu's two-state skepticism is beside the
point. His predecessor, Ehud Olmert, worshiped at the shrine of a two-state
solution. He made endless offers of a two-state peace to the Palestinian
Authority - and got nowhere.

Why? Because the Palestinians - going back to the UN resolution of 1947 -
have never accepted the idea of living side by side with a Jewish state.
Those like Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who might want to entertain
such a solution, have no authority to do it. And those like Meshal, who have
authority, have no intention of ever doing it.

Meshal's gambit to dress up perpetual war as a two-state peace is yet
another iteration of the Palestinian rejectionist tragedy. In its previous
incarnation, Arafat lulled Israel and the Clinton administration with talk
of peace while he methodically prepared his people for war.

Arafat waited seven years to tear up his phony peace. Meshal's innovation?
Ten - then blood.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *****
from NY to Israel Sultan Reveals The Stories Behind the
News<http://sultanknish. blogspot. com/> [image:
Link to Sultan Knish] <http://sultanknish. blogspot. com/>

Friday Afternoon Roundup - All the Change That's Fit to Hope
For<http://feedproxy. google.com/ %7Er/FromNyToIsr aelSultanReveals TheStoriesBehind TheNews/% 7E3/nDpwa16JFts/ friday-afternoon -roundup- all-change. html>

Posted: 08 May 2009 03:54 PM PDT

The Deficits keep rising, unemployment figures are out
sigh<http://gatewaypundi t.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/obama- unemployment- climbs-to- 89-highest. html>t,
the talking heads keep smirking and the thuggery continues. After the
Obamamessiah Hope and Change Express threw the Fifth Amendment and billions
in taxpayer money out the window, so his UAW union backers could take over a
major American automaker and insure their cushy featherbedded jobs will took
anything from Serta and Sleepys...

The ride continues as Obama does more traveling around the world, as if he
had bet Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg that he could race him around the world,
while humiliating himself and America in the process.

Unlike Geert Wilders<http://gatesofvienn a.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/unwanted. html>,
Michael Savage and whatever random people the daffy Home Secretary dug up
from a 5 minute internet search for the words "Radical Extremist", we can
assume that Obama will be welcome back.

But first up he'll be visiting Germany to apologize
for<http://gatewaypundi t.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/of-course- obama-will- recognize- german.html>World
War 2. And then more
apologies<http://gatewaypundi t.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/obama- will-give- apology-speech- to.html>to
the Muslim world. At the rate Obama is going, the Presidency has
become
indistinguishable from an international, "Sorry We Ever Did the Right" tour.

Of course the Middle East is still on the agenda, because apparently the
best way to say Sorry to the Muslim world is to hand them Israel on a
platter. The latest shot involves browbeating Israel over its nuclear
capability<http://hotair. com/archives/ 2009/05/06/ obama-to- force-israel- to-give-up- nukes/>
.

President Obama€  '²s efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to
expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel€  '²s
nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and
Israeli officials and nuclear specialists say.

The issue will likely come to a head when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu meets with Mr. Obama on May 18 in Washington. Mr. Netanyahu is
expected to seek assurances from Mr. Obama that he will uphold the U.S.
commitment and will not trade Israeli nuclear concessions for Iranian ones.

Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, speaking Tuesday at a U.N.
meeting on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), said Israel should
join the treaty, which would require Israel to declare and relinquish its
nuclear arsenal.

However, Ms. Gottemoeller endorsed the concept of a nuclear-free Middle East
in a 2005 paper that she co-authored, €  '³Universal Compliance: A Strategy for
Nuclear Security.€  '´

€  '³Instead of defensively trying to ignore Israels nuclear status, the United
States and Israel should proactively call for regional dialogue to specify
the conditions necessary to achieve a zone free of nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons,€  '´ she wrote.

The paper recommends that Israel take steps to disarm in exchange for its
neighbors getting rid of chemical and biological weapons programs as well as
Iran forgoing uranium enrichment.

Of course the beauty of this charade is that Israel gets to play Japan and
Iran gets to play North Korea, which can promise 80 times over to end its
nuclear program, only to keep going full speed.

So the Obama Administration is set to compromise confidential information
between allied states, while equating Israel's defensive nuclear capability
with Iran's offensive nuclear capability.

This way Obama can fulfill his promise to oppose Iran's nuclear
capabilities, by instead opposing nuclear weapons in general-- and then
blame Israel for not going along.

Of course if Israel does go along, it will have traded its best defense
against a nuclear attack, MAD, in favor of empty promises from Iran, which
will be able to develop nuclear weapons anyway in order to strike a now
defenseless Israel.

Catch 22, is the favorite
game<http://sultanknish. blogspot. com/2007/ 08/zbignew- brezezinksi- barack-obama- and.html>of
the Obama Administration when it comes to Israel, and whatever you do,
you lose.

As Norman Podhoretz writes in Commentary
Magazin<http://www.commenta rymagazine. com/viewarticle. cfm/how-obama- s-america- might-threaten- israel-15132>
e

o wonder, then, that the Obama administration is already reverting to the
old pre-Bush assumptions that have repeatedly been discredited in practice:
that Israeli €  '³intransigence€  '´ is the main obstacle to ending the conflict
with the Palestinians; that €  '³restarting€  '´ the €  '³peace process€  '´ therefore
requires putting the onus back on Israel; and that this in turn necessitates
forcing Israel back to the 1967 borders. In other words, Jerusalem must be
redivided and the major centers of Jewish population in the West Bank that
Bush had promised would remain part of Israel must also be evacuated and the
West Bank as a whole be made Judenrein.

And when we've handed all that over to Obama's Hamas allies on a platter, in
exchange for another round of terrorism... the same pattern that has played
out non-stop over the 17 years that Israel has worked to achieve peace
through concessions. .. we can expect to see Hamas running both Gaza and the
West Bank... while Israel is being pressured to open the Egypt and Jordanian
borders, as well as dismantle the checkpoints into Israel, and not respond
to the terrorist attacks and weapons smuggling that open borders and a Hamas
run Palestinian Authority is sure to create.

Anyone need a map?

As Melanie Philips writes in her Spectator
<http://www.spectato r.co.uk/melaniep hillips/3593841/ the-grand- bargain.thtml>
column

This, says CR, is based on the totally mistaken belief that Ahmadinejad is a
Stalin figure, a devil with whom it is possible to do deals €  '¶ whereas in
fact the correct analogy for Ahmadinejad is not Stalin but Hitler:

Unlike the monster Stalin, who, in the years leading up to World War II,
consistently put the Soviet Union's national interest, as he saw it, ahead
of the country€  '²s Communist ideology, to the point of betraying overseas
Communists (his €  '±useful idiots€  '²) and the cause of world revolution-- from
China to Germany--Ahmadineja d intends to overthrow the balance of power,
globally as well as regionally, by destroying Israel, driving America (the
€  '±Great Satan€  '²) out of the Middle East, and dominating the region for decades
to come--for starters. He dreams of a €  '±world without America and Israel€  '² and
he intends to make his dreams come true.

If this theory is correct €  '¶ big if €  '¶ the explanation for forcing Israel to
sacrifice its security on the grounds that a Palestine state is necessary to
get the Arab states on side in the fight to contain Iran clearly doesn€  '²t
hold up. In which case, Obama would be throwing Israel under the bus just
because he wants it gone altogether -- as analysed here in terrifyingly
plausible detail.

The one thing you can reliably count on from Obama is that his image is too
fragile to play the Bad Cop, which is why he'll always take on the Good Cop
role, while letting his subordinates and proxies do the dirty and ugly
deeds.

Want to pressure Israel? Let Biden step out and do it, he's got experience.
Let Rahm work his magic by pressuring AIPAC's big donors into promoting the
two state solution <http://www.israelna tionalnews. com/News/ News.aspx/ 131232>.
Let James L. Jones and his string of appointees lay down the law for Israel
in diplomatic language, Obama will be paying a visit to a
concentration camp<http://www.israelna tionalnews. com/News/ Flash.aspx/ 164796>,
and issuing platitutdes about hope and redemption.

The fist is still there, it's just covered in a whole lot of disingenuous
hand waving and smiley face stickers. "No, we're not pressuring Israel. It's
tough love. It's a friendly suggestion. No one is more Pro-Israel than us,
except maybe Hamas."

Meanwhile Dymphna at Gates of Vienna has cited and discussed my article Obama's
Plan to Destroy
Israel<http://gatesofvienn a.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/sultan- knish-obamas- plan-to-destroy. html#readfurther>,
and added her own commentary which makes for interesting reading.

Also interesting is a translated editorial in
favor<http://gatesofvienn a.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/unwanted. html#readfurther>of
Wilders...

It was pathetic to hear the British foreign minister David Miliband defend
the decision, and the Orwellian behavior of the British government was
underlined by Jacqui Smith€  '²s request that €  '· in the future €  '· Islamic terror
be described as €  '±anti-Islamic activity€  '². It aroused some unpleasant memories
of the rejection by communist regimes of critical foreigners whose critical
manifestations could be interpreted as threats against public order and
undermining society.

Of course the more ideologically stratified a political system becomes, the
more need it has to keep people with dissenting opinions out. But the
question here is not merely one of ideological stratification, but
furthermore is an acknowledgment of the inherent instability within the
system itself.

Talk of incitement to violence is a transparent admission of how unstable a
system based on denial and dhimmism really is.

Exposing Liberal Lies has more on the Obama Administration as a
rerun<http://exposinglibe rallies.blogspot .com/2009/ 05/jimmy- carter-ii. html>of
the Carter Administration

Maggie's Notebook remembers the heroic saga of the Philadelphia
V<http://www.blogger. com/Lest% 20We%20Forget: %20The%20Heroic% 20Saga%20of% 20the%20Philadel phia%20V>

Philadelphia took up its fire support station as the transports offloaded
troops in the early morning darkness of 8 November. Shore batteries opened
fire at 0428, and within two minutes Philadelphia joined New York (BB-34) in
bombardment of Batterie Railleuse [manned by our good friends, the Vichy
French!] which, with four 130mm. guns, was the strongest defense unit in the
Safi area. Later in the morning, Philadelphia bombarded a battery of three
155mm. guns about three miles south of Safi. Spotter planes from the cruiser
also got into the act by flying close support missions. One of
Philadelphia' s aircraft discovered and bombed a Vichy French submarine 9
November in the vicinity of Cape Kantin. The next day the Vichy submarine
Medeuse, one of eight that had sortied from Casablanca, was sighted down by
the stern and listing badly to port beached at Mazagan, north of Cape
Blanco. Thought to be the same submarine previously attacked off Cape
Kantin, Medeuse was again spotted by a plane from Philadelphia and was
subsequently bombed.

At IsraPundit, an article by Arieh Eldad, "The Sun Orbits the Palestinian
State" <http://www.israpund it.com/2008/ ?p=13213# more-13213>

For hundreds of years, the Catholic Church believed that the sun orbits the
earth. Whoever dared oppose this view was branded insane or a heretic.

Religious dogmas are not overturned by logic. An argument between the
believers of different faiths is rarely resolved by rational argument. The
prophet Habukuk says, €  '³The righteous man lives by his faith.€  '´ (Today we say,
€  '³A man lives by his faith,€  '´ and by this we mean that every man has his own
personal belief system, and all do not need to believe in one thing.)

Samuel Huntington in his book The Clash of Civilizations counted over 130
armed conflicts around the world in the year 2000. Approximately 95 percent
of these were between Moslems and their neighbors. Islamic borders are
bloody. Almost everywhere on the planet, Moslems are attempting to expand at
the territorial expense of their neighbors. The illness is global. But for
some reason the believers think that the conflict in the Land of Israel is
local, of a different nature, and territorial concessions will resolve the
conflict. In like manner did many Europeans believe in 1938 that territorial
concessions to Hitler would satisfy his hunger and bring peace. For who
could believe then that Hitler wanted to take over the world? And who
believes today that Islam wants to take over the world? If only the Jews
would give up their homeland, there would be peace.

IsraelMatzav meanwhile covers the Coming Obama- Netanyahu
schism<http://israelmatzav .blogspot. com/2009/ 05/coming- obama-netanyahu- schism.html>,
which I would argue is already here.
The confrontation between Obama and Netanyahu is coming. The dispute between
Obama and Netanyahu over the 'two-state solution' is a real dispute, but in
the current context it is so unimportant - as pointed out by Krauthammer -
as to make it look phony.

The real schism is over Iran. Obama naively trusts in his own ability to
negotiate with Iran (or is just indifferent to Israel's continued existence)
because his risks from being wrong are much smaller. For Israel and
Netanyahu, the risks are existential. Israel must act when it deems it
necessary to do so. If that means a schism with the United States - at least
so long as Obama is in power - so be it.

At Shemittah Rediscovered meanwhile a petition to Jewish organizations in
the US<http://shemittahred iscovered. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/sign-our- petition- obama-prepares- to.html>not
to abandon Israel in the face of pressure from the Obama
Administration.

Avid Editor looks back at the May 8th 1945
anniversary<http://avideditor. wordpress. com/2009/ 05/08/anniversar y-8may1945/>

Desert Conservative takes on Obama's threat to withhold Stimulus
funds<http://www.desertco nservative. com/2009/ 05/08/can- you-belive- this/>from
California

Via a New Dark Age is Dawning, the joys of an NHS system filled with Muslim
doctors<http://librabunda. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/muslim- dentist-refused- to-treat- female.html>

MAIL Online: A Muslim dentist refused to treat patients unless they wore
traditional Islamic dress, it was alleged today.

Omer Butt, 32, ordered women to put on head scarves or he would not register
them or their families at his NHS-funded clinic, it was claimed.

At least two patients were left in pain after they declined to follow his
self-imposed rules, the General Dental Council heard.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **

--
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort.
~Herm Albright~

http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/ProJewishP roZionistGroup/ ?yguid=368134690

http://launch. groups.yahoo. com/group/ stillnotjustmusi canymore/ ?yguid=368134690

http://groups. yahoo.com/ adultconf? dest=%2Fgroup% 2Fwhateverreturn s%2F%3Fyguid% 3D368134690

http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/shieldofda vid/?yguid= 373549731
3a.

Re: [voiceofindiagroup] Modi, BJP and RSS Under Obama Lens

Posted by: "Praful" technocate@yahoo.co.in

Sun May 10, 2009 10:35 am (PDT)



Thanks Ravinder singh ji for all this information,

But u don€ ¢â' '¹t think u are just one of those Indians which like everything made in USA, even u now want commissions from USA, what happen to Indian judiciary.

Till if u like USA lot then just search on net, I think u know how to use google then just paste US army spreading Christianity in Afghanistan.

Search American Soldiers in Bible Row in Afghanistan, hope your eyes will open€ ¢â' ¦â' ¦â' ¦â' ¦â' ¦.

Thanks & Regards,

PrafulKumar

From: voiceofindiagroup@ yahoogroups. co.in [mailto:voiceofindiagroup@ yahoogroups. co.in] On Behalf Of Ravinder Singh
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 10:09 PM
To: IndianJustice@ yahoogroups. com; India-Force@ yahoogroups. com; indianthinkers@ yahoogroups. com; voiceofindiagroup@ yahoogroups. co.in; groundroots@ yahoogroups. com; PWAP@yahoogroups. com; Branded_Indian@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: [voiceofindiagroup] Modi, BJP and RSS Under Obama Lens

Modi, BJP and RSS Under Obama Lens

Shortly conduct of Modi, BJP and RSS shall be put under lens of USIRF Commission.

Corrupted Judicial Enquiries and obstruction of justice by Modi will get exposed to India and world community.

Ravinder Singh
May08. 2009

Will Gujarat welcome USCIRF?

State, Orissa Focus Of US Group€ ¢â' '¹s Visit Next Month

TIMES NEWS NETWORK May06, 2009

Ahmedabad: Gujarat and Orissa appear to be in the crosshairs of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which is expected to travel to India next month.

The USCIRF, while releasing its Annual Report 2009 in Washington on May 1, said it had kept the chapter on India on hold, and that it would release the India report only after its members travel to India for the very first time in June this year.

The USCIRF is a statutory body created by the US Congress and funded by the US government.

For the past several years, this body has been trying to visit India to gauge different dimensions of € ¢â' '¸religious freedom€ ¢â' '¹ in the country, but each time, it was denied permission by the Centre.

In an unprecedented move, the UPA government has permitted USCIRF to officially visit India.

The visit, two months from now, will have particular focus on Gujarat and Orissa € ¢â' '´ both non UPA states. Gujarat is in the dock for the carnage of 2002 when the USCIRF organised a public hearing in June 2002 in Washington. This time, with the chief minister engaged in a hectic political campaign, officials said they were not aware of the visit by the US team.

The findings of the commission led to the denial of a US visa to Narendra Modi in 2005, which still stands. How then, does the government of Gujarat see the ensuing visit of the USCIRF? Will it roll out the red carpet, as it did for other foreign delegations during the Vibrant Gujarat investors€ ¢â' '¹ summit in January 2009?

The USCIRF is likely to study the status of Muslims in the post 2002 scenario, in keeping with the recent findings of the SIT and directives from the Supreme Court. Also on the USCIRF radar is the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2003 which was made into a law from April 2008.

Says Fr. Cedric Prakash, director of Prashant, an Ahmedabad-based Jesuit centre for human rights, justice and peace, € ¢â' '¼The development mask is fine but this will be a very minute examination.€ ¢â' '½


Will Bajrangi€ ¢â' '¹s bail get cancelled?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: The SIT might just not get after Babu Bajrangi, the prime accused in Naroda Patia massacres of 2002 yet. This is because of a rider Supreme Court has put for cancellation of bails granted to accused.

Bajrangi, who is accused of leading the mob to murder 98 persons in Naroda Patia was in jail for more than a month till he was granted bail by Justice Akshay
Mehta of Gujarat

High Court on October 19, 2002. And the following year, Apex court ordered a stay on trial of nine cases, which have been investigated by the SIT recently.

Now, the court has lifted a stay on trial in these cases including Patia and authorised investigating agency to request public prosecutor to seek cancellation of the bail already granted to accused.

But this can be applicable to those cases in which bail had been granted by high court or sessions court principally on the ground that trials had been stayed.

When asked whether Bajrangi and others like him
Would be sent back to jail in order to reduce threat perception for witnesses, an SIT official said, € ¢â' '¼We will scan the list of accused out on bail to see which ones fit this criteria.€ ¢â' '½




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

4.

Muslims in American History: A Forgotten Legacy

Posted by: "Ahumanb" ahumanb@yahoo.com   ahumanb

Sun May 10, 2009 10:36 am (PDT)



Muslims in American History: A Forgotten Legacy
€ ¦ 
By Dr. Jerald Dirks
€ ¦ 
Dr. Jerald Dirks is a former minister (deacon) of the United Methodist Church. He holds a Master's degree in Divinity from Harvard University and a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Denver. Author of "The Cross and the Crescent: An Interfaith Dialogue between Christianity and Islam" (2001), and "Abraham: The Friend of God" (2002). He has published over 60 articles in the field of clinical psychology, and over 150 articles on Arabian horses.
€ ¦ 
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=_uGv7l_ T5KM&feature= PlayList& p=0F0317FB8B81E5 CD&index= 0&playnext= 1

5.

COLD CELLING AMERICA !!! Perjury, FALSE POLICE REPORTS... Witheld Ev

Posted by: "Jud Witham" jurisnot2@yahoo.com

Sun May 10, 2009 10:41 am (PDT)



All feed back on COLD CELLING or other TORTURES in US Jails is wanted...Please Disseminate Widely€ ¢Â  THANKS

--- On Sat, 5/9/09, Jud Witham <jurisnot2@yahoo. com> wrote:

I demanded and was finally POLYGRAPHED by the ATF by their Contractor a former Navy Intel Officer and US Marshal's contractor.€ ¢Â  I passed my Polygraph... remember I DEMANDED IT.
€ ¢Â 
COLD CELLING is widespread in American Domestic Jails
€ ¢Â 

ABC Focuses on Detainee Who Suffered "Torture" by Air Conditioning ...... "who had never seen air-conditioning before, thought it was a kind of torture. ... in the roof and a light, and they pumped cold air from a hole in the ceiling. ...www.mediaresearc h.org/cyberalert s/ 2002/ cyb20021120. asp - 63k - Cached

The history of CIA torture - By Darius Rejali - Slate Magazine[ T]he cell and room were air-conditioned and were very cold. ... or squat for long periods in front of blasting air-conditioning units or fans, ...www.slate. com/id/2213959 - Cached

--- On Sat, 4/25/09, Jud Witham <jurisnot2@yahoo. com> wrote:

POLYGRAPHS FOR ALL AT THAT JAIL !!!!€ ¢Â  START WITH RON CLEEK and DONNA OSBORN !!!!!
€ ¢Â 
My Federal case was FRAUDULENTLY DISMISSED..they claim I refused to give them my Soc. Sec. #€ ¢Â  they were given it 23 times
I KNOW HOW THEY LIE, CHEAT AND STEAL to make cases.
€ ¢Â 
Judson Witham

Hey Mr. Stuart Taylor Jr.
€ ¢Â 
They USE Cold Celling, TAZINGS and BEATINGS...FALSE ARRESTS and MALICIOUS PROSECUTIONS throughout America To...Not Far from BRANSON Methuri for instance
€ ¢Â 
"The cell and room were air-conditioned and were very cold."
€ ¢Â 
Maybe they should FREEZE these Corrupt Cops and their KORT Bailiff Buddies, those from the Public Pretenders Offices the JAIL STAFF they all KNEW ABOUT THE CHILLING CELLS

This is the "NOT" A Christian County's Record !!!
€ ¢Â 
ACLU Sues Missouri Authorities Over "Deplorable" Conditions at County Jail (10/6/1999)

€ ¢Â 

Teenager With Broken Back TAZED 19 times
€ ¢Â 
Christian County jail inmate dies | KY3 | Related Content
Oct 4, 2007 ... by KY3 News. Christian County jail inmate dies ... Mickey Davidson, 45, of Rockaway Beach, was held on a warrant for fraudulently stopping ...
www.ky3.com/ home/related/ 5282996.html - 74k - Cached - Similar pages
€ ¢Â 
Springfield News Leader... Greene County Missouri.... RON CLEEK WAS THERE

Settlement reached in death of inmate -a cold room - a cold room - a
cold room Greene County to pay $100,000 of $350,000 in Michael
Graham's case.€ ¢Â  "HE DIED ON ACCOUNT OF COLD CELLING"
€ ¢Â 
Greene County Missouri.... RON CLEEK WAS THERE

Link: Read Full Story

"Because they didn't care for him, his condition continued to
deteriorate and he was never taken to the hospital, and he
ultimately died." He DIED because of a paper smock
and a cold room 'I'm going to die'

In the days before he died, Graham was seen lying on a bunk or the
floor and occasionally defecated on himself, according to suicide-
watch logs that noted the inmate's activities every 15 minutes.
"so they placed him on suicide watch
in a smock and in a cold room
with little food."

Inmate Graham is to remain" on suicide watch "and be issued a
mattress only." (what being half naked they held back his BLANKETS)
Michael Graham Died Of Pneumonia (Criminally Negligent Homicide at
very least, Premeditated MURDER a possibility. ) ( If a Parent were
to treat a child in this manner the State Would Prosecute For
CERTAIN ) a cold room - a cold room - a cold room

€ ¢Â 
Bryan Ross of ABC News ends his report on Arabian Tortures and Murders by telling folks the US Officials simply remarked to the whistleblower " Get Your FAMILY and move out of the Country as soon as possible"
€ ¢Â 
http://www.freedoms phoenix.com/ Find-Freedom. htm?At=0055119& From=News
€ ¢Â 
FUNNY THING IS...ATF Agents in Springfield advised ME and MY FAMILY to MOVE OUT from our home as well.€ ¢Â  RON CLEEK you and your BASTARD SCUM BAG FRIENDS will be EXPOSED...so you keep on LYING...USING PERJURERS TO PROSECUTE CASES because it's only a matter of time....The COLD TORTURES and your PERJURIES will be exposed
€ ¢Â 
http://www.freedoms phoenix.com/ Find-Freedom. htm?At=0055120& From=News
€ ¢Â 
Another DEAD inmate, The Killer Cold of Missouri's Jails | Fired ...Mickey Davidson's cell in Ozark County was allegedly "cold and damp. .... where he was pronounced dead at 3:32 p.m. Davidson was from ...
www.firedupmissouri .com/node/ 6358 - 43k - Cached - Similar pages
EVERYONE KNOWS about the COLD used in OZARK - POLYGRAPHS FOR ...€ ¢Â He was taken to Cox South hospital in Springfield, where he was pronounced dead. The Greene County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Mickey Davidson ...
www.loveforlife. com.au/node/ 2537 - 32k - Cached - Similar pages
Abu Ghraib on the FINELY - CIA COLD TORTURE IN Christian County MO ...
Oct 5, 2007 ... Abu Ghraib on the FINELY - CIA COLD TORTURE IN Christian County MO Jail ... KEVIN McBride, Holly Lockhard, Khalifah Faruq. ...
www.firedupmissouri .com/node/ 6411 - 44k - Cached - Similar pages

http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090424/ ap_on_go_ ca_st_pe/ us_pentagon_ abuse_photos
€ ¢Â 
To CHICKEN TO POLYGRAPH
€ ¢Â 
http://www.freedoms phoenix.com/ Find-Freedom. htm?At=0055119& From=News
€ ¢Â 

What a God Damned LIAR
€ ¢Â 
ACLU: Pentagon to release images of prisoner abuse
€ ¢Â 
http://www.freedoms phoenix.com/ Find-Freedom. htm?At=0055120& From=News
€ ¢Â 
I will SOONER OR LATER fully expose the TORTURES employed by the Christian County Missouri Sheriff's Department and the "road apples" from that Department who think TAZING FOLKS for DICTATORIAL CONTROL and using € ¢Â "COLD CELLING" € ¢Â to inflict torture and then LIE and COVER IT UP will all be exposed.
€ ¢Â 
You see I demanded to be POLYGRAPHED and I was for 3 1/2 HOURS....Judson Did Just Fine telling the TRUTH.€ ¢Â  Now it's RON CLEEKS, JOE MATLOCKS, Mike Robertson's and MSHP Troop D's turn !!!!
€ ¢Â 
"These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib," Amrit Singh, staff attorney with the ACLU, said in a statement. "Their disclosure is critical for helping the public understand the scope and scale of prisoner abuse as well as for holding senior officials accountable for authorizing or permitting such abuse."
€ ¢Â 
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090424/ ap_on_go_ ca_st_pe/ us_pentagon_ abuse_photos
€ ¢Â 
ACLU: Pentagon to release images of prisoner abuse
€ ¢Â 
HOMICIDE BY AC - Torture In Missouri USA Jails - Environmental
Manipulation Torture Techniques - Excessive Air Conditioning and
Christian County Jail

The same man..... was chilled with an air conditioner until his
heartbeat had dropped to 45 beats per minute.

He was taken to a hospital and treated, then shipped back for more
of the same. The abuse stopped only when the FBI stepped in.

http://www.aclu. org/intlhumanrig hts/gen/21236prs 20051024. html

Just Like Mike Graham's

COLD CELLING TORTURE

at the Greene County MO. Jail !!

THEY KILLED HIM

http://www.aclu. org/intlhumanrig hts/gen/21236prs 20051024. html

NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today made public an
analysis of new and previously released autopsy and death reports of
detainees held in U.S. facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of
whom died while being interrogated. The documents show that
detainees were........ .... subjected to sleep deprivation and to hot
and cold environmental conditions.

http://news. amnesty.org/ pages/torture- methods-eng

"environmental manipulation" , where detainees are exposed to
extremes of heat and cold

http://www.pbs. org/wgbh/ pages/frontline/ torture/intervie ws/lagouranis
.html

But it was cold, so we were keeping them hovering around hypothermia
in this environment of what they call "environmental manipulation"
with the music and strobe lights.

Just what does the language of torture really mean?

http://www.channel4 .com/news/ microsites/ T/torture/ defs.html

Environmental manipulation
Subjecting prisoners to extremes of hot and cold.

Central to the torture was sleep deprivation, a newish discovery
enshrined in a 128-page secret manual produced by the CIA in July
1963 called Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation.

http://www.gwu. edu/~nsarchiv/ NSAEBB/NSAEBB122 /

http://www.counterp unch.org/ reed05212004. html

Huge concealed air-conditioner- heaters could turn the room in
minutes from icy cold to a desert scorch.

http://www1. umn.edu/umnnews/ Feature_Stories/ Diagnosis3A_ torture.html

In another case, medics at Guantanamo Bay, under doctors'
supervision, ran three bags of saline into a prisoner via an IV
tube. Thus bloated, the prisoner soon had to urinate but was denied
the chance and so had to void his bladder all over himself. The same
man, says Miles, was chilled with an air conditioner until his
heartbeat had dropped to 45 beats per minute. He was taken to a
hospital and treated, then shipped back for more of the same. The
abuse stopped only when the FBI stepped in.

http://everything2. com/index. pl?node=torture% 20by%20air- conditioner

Although it may sound surreal, torture by air-conditioner has been
used as a method of interrogation by a number of authorities over
many years.

It leaves behind no evidence of physical abuse, and is an effective
method of extracting information .

Torture by air-conditioner was reportedly used by the Chinese
authorities against practitioners of Falun Gong; the Singapore
police force to extract confessions from murder suspects; and by the
Israeli authorities interrogating Palestinian suspects. In 1999 the
Israeli Supreme Court banned the use of air-conditioners as a method
of interrogation.

In the case of Zainal Kuning, a manual laborer in Singapore in 1989,
torture by air-conditioner was used to extract a confession from
him - that he had stabbed an elderly caretaker to death in a botched
robbery attempt. He confessed to a crime that he was later proved
innocent of, despite knowing that the penalty for the crime would be
to have him hanged. After being taken in for questioning, the
officers demanded that he confess. After being questioned for 7
hours without food or water, and desperately needing to urinate, his
handcuffs were removed and he was pushed into the shower.

"Still dripping, he was led back to the inspector's office, and made
to stand on a chair and hold two telephone directories at arm's
length. The officers sat at a table in front of him.

Behind them was the instrument of torture - the air-
conditioner. ..For the next fourteen hours, Zainal testified, he was
forced to stand in front of the air-conditioner, holding the
telephone directories. .. Every hour or so he was marched back to the
shower and drenched again." --Chris Lydgate, "Lee's Law"

Leaving no scars or any physical evidence to prove that any torture
has taken place, it is little wonder that allegations of torture by
air-conditioner are so widespread. To stand, dripping with water, in
front of one of these powerful atmospheric cooling systems is to
suffer a unique form of agony.

http://www.manilati mes.net/others/ special/2005/ feb/25/20050225s pe1.ht
ml

Around 4 p.m. of the same day, Lt. Rodolfo Aguinaldo of the 5th CSU
resumed interrogating Linda Posadas. She was subjected to the air-
conditioner treatment.

OPEN CHALLENGE TO Christian County Missouri - USA

Sheriff Mike Robertson,

PA Ron Cleek and

Circuit Judge James Eiffert

I request that you ALL submit to SWORN STATEMENTS

Regarding the use of Overly COLD or

EXTREME Air Conditioning of the cells at the

Christian County Jail in Ozark Missouri

You see Gentleman Kevin McBride, Mr. Faruq, Holly Lockhard and many
others KNOW ALL ABOUT the Extreme COLD used to ENVIROMENTALLY
MANIPULATE your prisoners

Whether they are GUILTY or NOT

I'll bet Not A Single Missouri Official has been held accountable
for the TORTURES you engage in.

RON CLEEK you know the AC Thermostats the ones you told Donna Osborn
About, they were NOT broken, they were set to the COLDEST POSSIBLE
SETTING

MAYBE you all are willing take a POLYGRAPH !!!!!!!!!!

judson witham <jurisnot@.. .> wrote:
This Story is being PLASTERED ALL ACROSS THE WORLD, I have LOTS OF
EMAIL CONTACTS. You should NOT have TORTURED ME and used PERJURY
after PERJURY after PERJURY to attempt to FALSELY SEND ME TO
PRISON.

PA Ron Cleek STOP using Perjury to make your cases !!!

Judson Witham

judson witham <jurisnot@.. .> wrote:
************ ********* ********* ********* **

U.S.: States Negligent in Use of Lethal Injections
Execution Method May Cause Agonizing Death

NEW YORK - April 24 - Incompetence, negligence, and irresponsibility
by U.S. states put condemned prisoners at needless risk of
excruciating pain during lethal injection executions, Human Rights
Watch said in a report released today. Lethal injections are used in
37 of the 38 death penalty states in the United States and by the
federal government. Every execution in 2005 was by lethal injection.
The 65-page report, "So Long as They Die: Lethal Injections in the
United States," reveals the slipshod history of executions by lethal
injection, using a protocol created three decades ago with no
scientific research, nor modern adaptation, and still unchanged
today. As the prisoner lies strapped to a gurney, a series of three
drugs is injected into his vein by executioners hidden behind a
wall. A massive dose of sodium thiopental, an anesthetic, is
injected first, followed by pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes
voluntary muscles, but leaves the prisoner fully conscious and able
to experience pain. A third drug, potassium chloride, quickly causes
cardiac arrest, but the drug is so painful that veterinarian
guidelines prohibit its use unless a veterinarian first ensures that
the pet to be put down is deeply unconscious. No such precaution is
taken for prisoners being executed.

"The U.S. takes more care killing dogs than people," said Jamie
Fellner, U.S. program director at Human Rights Watch and co-author
of the report. "Just because a prisoner may have killed without care
or conscience does not mean that the state should follow suit."

Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all circumstances
and calls for its abolition. But until the 38 death penalty states
and the federal government abolish capital punishment, international
human rights law requires them to ensure they have developed a
method of execution that will reduce, to the greatest extent
possible, the condemned prisoner's risk of mental or physical pain
and suffering.

Human Rights Watch urges that states suspend execution by lethal
injection until they have conducted a thorough review and assessment
of existing and alternative methods.

The drug sequence used in the United States was developed in 1977 by
a medical examiner in Oklahoma who had no expertise in pharmacology
or anesthesia. Texas quickly adopted Oklahoma's protocol, and at
least 34 other states then did too. (Nevada's protocol remains
secret). Human Right Watch found that none of the states consulted
medical experts to ascertain whether the original three-drug
sequence could be adapted to lessen the risk of pain to the prisoner
by using other drugs or methods of administering them.

"Copycatting is not the right way to decide how to put people to
death," said Fellner. "If a state is going to execute someone, it
must do its homework, consult with experts, and select a method
designed to inflict the least possible pain and suffering."

Without adequate or properly-administer ed anesthesia, prisoners
executed by the three-drug sequence would be conscious during
suffocation caused by the paralytic agent, and would feel the fiery
pain from the potassium chloride coursing through their veins. Logs
from recent executions in California, and toxicology reports from
recent executions in North Carolina, suggest prisoners may in fact
have been inadequately anesthetized before being put to death.

Corrections agencies have rejected the option of executing prisoners
with a single massive injection of a barbiturate, even though that
should provide a painless death, because such a method would force
executioners and witnesses to wait about 30 minutes longer for the
prisoner's heart to stop beating. Corrections officials have also
resisted eliminating the pancuronium bromide € ¢â' '³ the paralytic agent € ¢â' '³
even though its use makes it much harder to tell if a prisoner is
sufficiently anesthetized. The drug is not needed to kill the
prisoner, nor does it protect him from pain: it appears intended
mainly to keep his body from twitching or convulsing while dying. It
also masks any pain the prisoner might be feeling, since he cannot
move, cry out, or even blink his eyes.

"Prison officials have been more concerned about sparing the
sensitivities of executioners and witnesses than protecting the
condemned prisoner from pain," said Fellner. "They are more
concerned with appearances than with the reality."

Although prisoners have for years brought legal claims that lethal
injections were unconstitutionally cruel, courts have until recently
given short shrift to their arguments. Troubled by new and powerful
evidence of possibly botched executions, federal courts in
California and North Carolina have this year refused to permit
scheduled executions to take place using the standard lethal
injection protocol. On April 26, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear
oral arguments about the procedures a prisoner must follow to
challenge lethal injections.

Until recent years, the United States was the only country in the
world that used lethal injection as an execution method. Several
other countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty have
followed: China started using lethal injection in 1997; Guatemala
executed its first prisoner by lethal injection in 1998; and the
Philippines and Thailand have had lethal injection execution laws in
place since 2001 (although to date, they have not executed anyone by
this method).

judson witham <jurisnot@.. .> wrote:
Dear Judge Gatain, Mr. Lee and Mr. Meiers, Attorney General Jay
Nixon and copy to

Captain J. Bret Johnson, chief of staff MSHP
1510 East Elm Street P.O. Box 568
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102

The BASEMENT Jail Holding Cells at Christian County Jail are rather
uniquely capable of extremely LOW or COLD Temperatures. The
environment is CONCRETE and STEEL, being in the lowest portion of
the building as COLD SINKS as it is heavier than Hot Air. The A/C
ducts in the ceiling of the holding cells BLAST very cold air into
the cells from MANY TONS of AC on the Roof Of The Court House Jail
Complex. BATF agents visiting me in my cell as well as Bill Sharp
of Sharp Bonding, Many Lawyers from Green County's Public Defenders
Office as well as Donna Osborn from the Christian County Headlinery
are all FIRST HAND knowledgable of the Cold and or were informed by
PA Ron Cleek and the Sheriff that the AC Thermostats were BROKEN ??
Janitors, Cooks, Former Jailers and MANY Inmates including Steve
Kissee, Aikem Faruq, myself and others have all been subjected to
the COLD CELLING or Torture By Air Conditioning as I have previously
described to RON CLEEK and the TROOP D MSHP investigators during the
Holly Lockhard/ Kevin McBride Abuse investigation back in 2003.

The visitors area were detainees and inmates can be talked to by
their Lawyers, The Common Areas adjacent the Basement Jail Area are
all COLD but nowhere as Cold as the 7 X 10 holding cells. I
experianced extreme physical shaking, endless and uncontrolable
teeth chattering and was unable to sleep the entire time I was being
REFRIGERATED.

The DIRTY LITTLE SECRET of this form of torture is WELL KNOWN the
Joe Matlock, His Guards, Janitors and Cooks and many, many others
who worked and or were TORTURED in the Jail. A young Black Man Mike
Grahm DIED in a COLD ROOM in Green County Jail under similar
conditions. Green County Tax Payers paid Mr. Grahm's Mother nearly
$400,000.00 in connection with the young Black Mans Death.

Judson Witham

Springfield Missouri

Settlement reached in death of inmate -a cold room - a cold room - a
cold room Greene County to pay $100,000 of $350,000 in Michael
Graham's case.

Link: Read Full Story

"Because they didn't care for him, his condition continued to
deteriorate and he was never taken to the hospital, and he
ultimately died." He DIED because of a paper smock and a cold room
'I'm going to die'

In the days before he died, Graham was seen lying on a bunk or the
floor and occasionally defecated on himself, according to suicide-
watch logs that noted the inmate's activities every 15 minutes.
"so they placed him on suicide watch in a smock and in a cold room
with little food."

Inmate Graham is to remain" on suicide watch "and be issued a
mattress only." (what being half naked they held back his BLANKETS)
Michael Graham Died Of Pneumonia (Criminally Negligent Homicide at
very least, Premeditated MURDER a possibility. ) ( If a Parent were
to treat a child in this manner the State Would Prosecute For
CERTAIN ) a cold room - a cold room - a cold room

http://www.fas. org/irp/crs/ RL32567.pdf

Congressional Research Service € ¢Ë'¼ The Library of Congress

Pg. 39

Use of Scenarios Designed to Convince the Detainee that Death or
Severely Painful Consequences are Imminent. This technique was
listed as a "Category III technique" that could only be used to
interrogate the most uncooperative detainees at Guantanamo with the
approval of the Commanding General.163 Category III techniques also
included exposure to cold weather or water (with medical monitoring)
and "the use of a wet towel and dripping water to induce a feeling
of suffocation. "164 There seems to be little doubt that such methods
would violate the Geneva Conventions, 165 as constituting coercion,
threats, and possibly mental torture.166 As such, these techniques
are also likely to be considered inhumane by Geneva Convention
standards.

ABC Focuses on Detainee Who Suffered
"Torture" by Air Conditioning

http://www.mediares earch.org/ cyberalerts/ 2002/cyb20021120 .asp#1

the man complained about how "they pumped cold air from a hole in
the ceiling. This was the punishment. The air was very cold."

"Torture" by air conditioning. ABC highlighted the plight of a
Pakistani who survived being detained at the U.S. facility at
Guantanamo Bay. After Jennings on Tuesday night noted how "human
rights organizations have complained the U.S. is violating the
prisoners' rights," reporter Bob Woodruff narrated a story about
about the man's mistreatment, including how the man, "who had never
seen air-conditioning before, thought it was a kind of torture."
Woodruff added that "no one, he says, has even apologized" for his
ordeal.

http://www.cbsnews. com/stories/ 2004/12/04/ iraq/main659101. shtml

On one occasion, the temperature in a room was lowered so much the
barefooted detainee shivered.

http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/articles/ A29742-2004Jun9. html

The existence of the Guantanamo list was previously known, and a few
of its methods have been cited in The Washington Post, including
allowing interrogators to subject detainees to irritatingly hot or
cold temperatures and to reverse their normal sleep patterns.

Seven of those approved techniques are not included in U.S. military
doctrine, and are listed as: "change of scenery up; change of
scenery down; dietary manipulation; environmental manipulation;
sleep adjustment (reversal) ;

http://www.publicat ions.parliament. uk/pa/cm200607/ cmselect/ cmfaff/44/
44we03.htm

extremes of heat and cold through manipulation of air conditioning.

http://www.bmj. com/cgi/content/ full/330/ 7490/543

British Medical Journal.

Snow warned us, "What you are about to see is both shocking and
upsetting." And so it was. Channel 4's torturers were a squad of
former US army guards and interrogators, and definitely not to be
messed with. These men seemed to know what they were doing. They had
all the moves, the taunts, the carefully targeted sadism. They knew
about short shackling, about stress positions, about subjecting
detainees to white noise and uncomfortably hot and cold extremes
(known, euphemistically, as "environmental manipulation" ),

Torture by air-conditioner

by cole_p ? Mon Aug 09 2004 at 6:07:11

Although it may sound surreal, torture by air-conditioner has been
used as a method of interrogation by a number of authorities over
many years. It leaves behind no evidence of physical abuse, and is
an effective method of extracting information.

Torture by air-conditioner was reportedly used by the Chinese
authorities against practitioners of Falun Gong; the Singapore
police force to extract confessions from murder suspects; and by the
Israeli authorities interrogating Palestinian suspects. In 1999 the
Israeli Supreme Court banned the use of air-conditioners as a method
of interrogation.

In the case of Zainal Kuning, a manual laborer in Singapore in 1989,
torture by air-conditioner was used to extract a confession from
him - that he had stabbed an elderly caretaker to death in a botched
robbery attempt. He confessed to a crime that he was later proved
innocent of, despite knowing that the penalty for the crime would be
to have him hanged. After being taken in for questioning, the
officers demanded that he confess. After being questioned for 7
hours without food or water, and desperately needing to urinate, his
handcuffs were removed and he was pushed into the shower.

"Still dripping, he was led back to the inspector's office, and made
to stand on a chair and hold two telephone directories at arm's
length. The officers sat at a table in front of him. Behind them was
the instrument of torture - the air-conditioner. ..For the next
fourteen hours, Zainal testified, he was forced to stand in front of
the air-conditioner, holding the telephone directories. .. Every hour
or so he was marched back to the shower and drenched again." --Chris
Lydgate, "Lee's Law"
Leaving no scars or any physical evidence to prove that any torture
has taken place, it is little wonder that allegations of torture by
air-conditioner are so widespread. To stand, dripping with water, in
front of one of these powerful atmospheric cooling systems is to
suffer a unique form of agony.

http://www.middleea st.org/archives/ 1999_01_13. htm

Or he is undressed and made to sit in front of a blasting air-
conditioner for hours.

judson witham <jurisnot@.. .> wrote:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DIVISION OF MISSOURI
SOUTHERN DIVISION

JUDSON WITHAM

PLAINTIFF
NO. 04-3401-CV-S- FJG

VS
.
CHRISTIAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S
DEPT., ET AL

JURY TRIAL

Plaintiff's - "Environmental Manipulation" Facts and Supporting
Materials

Dear Judge Gatain, Mr. Lee and Mr. Meiers, Attorney General Jay
Nixon and copy to

Captain J. Bret Johnson, chief of staff MSHP
1510 East Elm Street P.O. Box 568
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102

In regards to the USE OF EXCESSIVE AIR CONDITIONING at the Christian
County Jail by ASheriff Joe Matlock and Mike Robertson, Christian
County prosecutor Mr. Ron Cleek advised Mrs. Donna Osborn at the
Christian County Headliner News "that the HVAC system was supposed
to be broken" in response to her inquirey regarding the COLD CELL
or FREEZER Cell Torture of myself and others. Mr. Ron Cleek's
claims the HVAC system or Airconditioning Thermostats at the
Christian County Jail simply are LIES. He as well wrote me by E
MAIL advising me the Thermostats Were Broken. Many witnesses exist
including former Jail Guards, Former Jail Cooks, Maitanance Workers,
Janitorial Staff, BATF Agents and many BOND AGENTS as well as former
and likely current detainees and inmates.

The use of "Enviromental Manipulation" is a widely and near ancient
form of MODERATE TORTURE employed from China to Nazi Germany, IRAQ
and well in this case to Christian County Jail in Ozark Missouri.
Just a couple years ago a Mr. Mike Graham DIED in a COLD ROOM
wearing a paper smock in the Green County Jail, I'm certain you all
heard how that Young Black Man was caused to DIE as a result of the
COLD CELLING in Springfield Missouri.

In my case I reported the Freezer like Cold connected to my FALSE
ARRESTS in Christian County to Troop D MSHP Officers at their State
Highway Offices along Missouri 14 just East of Ozark. Below you can
find some excerpts NOT ALL INCLUSIVE MIND YOU of the REALITY of the
use of COLD or "Environmental Manipulation" used to Moderately or IN
FACT in some cases SEVERLY Torture Human Beings. This form of
TORTURE was used on me and apparently others may STILL be so treated
at the Christian County Jail.

Judson Witham

http://www.humanrig htsfirst. org/media/ 2006_alerts/ etn_0119_ mccain.htm

22 High-Level Retired Military Leaders and Human Rights First Urge
President Bush to Fully Implement the McCain Amendment

Expressly Prohibit Interrogation Methods that Violate Amendment:
Methods of interrogation that violate this standard should now be
expressly prohibited including: water boarding (mock drowning) and
other forms of mock execution; sleep deprivation; stress positions;
exposure to extreme hot and cold temperatures;

http://web.amnesty. org/library/ Index/ENGAMR5114 92006

Use Of Cold or "Enviromental Manipulation"

He has described his cell as built of steel from floor to ceiling
with a very cold temperature setting on the air conditioner.
According to the information released under the FOIA, another
detainee has called this room the "freezer".

The Schmidt/Furlow investigation had concluded in 2005 that during
the period July to October 2003, Mohamedou Slahi had been subjected
to "environmental manipulation" , in other words to extremes of hot
and cold using the air-conditioning.

had water repeatedly poured over his head; had pictures of "swimsuit
models" hung round his neck; was subjected to hooding, loud music,
white noise, and to extremes of heat and cold through manipulation
of air conditioning.

http://www.guardian .co.uk/comment/ story/0,, 1985727,00. html

While in isolation he has, in addition to the temperature extremes,
been subjected to other sensory torments. His cell is frequently
unbearably cold because the air conditioning is turned up to the
maximum. Sometimes his captors take his orange jump suit and sheet,
leaving him only in his shorts. For a week at a time, Bisher
constantly shivers and is unable to sleep because of the extreme
cold. Once, when Bisher attempted to warm himself by covering
himself with his prayer rug, one of the few "comfort items"
permitted to him, his guards removed it for "misuse".

http://www.commondr eams.org/ views05/1202- 28.htm

The ACLU website further reveals how: "a 27-year-old Iraqi male died
while being interrogated by Navy Seals on April 5, 2004, in Mosul,
Iraq. During his confinement he was hooded, flex-cuffed, sleep
deprived and subjected to hot and cold environmental conditions,
including the use of cold water on his body and hood. The exact
cause of death was "undetermined" although the autopsy stated that
hypothermia may have contributed to his death.

http://www.hnn. us/articles/ 32497.html

--Second, sensory disorientation through temporal and environmental
manipulation exemplified sleep deprivation, protracted isolation,
and extremes of heat and cold, light and dark, noise and silence,
isolation and intensive interrogation.

http://humanrights. ucdavis.edu/ McCoy.pdf

heat and cold, light and dark, noise and silence--for a systematic
attack on all human stimuli.

e.) The fusion of these two techniques, sensory disorientation and
selfinflicted
pain, creates a synergy of physical and psychological trauma
whose sum is a hammer-blow to the existential platforms of personal
identity.

http://humanrights. ucdavis.edu/ McCoy.pdf

a.) After a visit from the Guantanamo chief General Miller in
September
2003, the U.S. commander for Iraq, General Ricardo Sanchez, issued
orders for sophisticated psychological torture.

b.) As I read from those orders, please listen for the combined
sensory
disorientation, self-inflicted pain, and attacking Arab cultural
sensitivities.

U. Environmental Manipulation: Altering the environment to create
moderate discomfort (e.g. adjusting temperatures or introducing an
unpleasant smell)€ ¢â' ¦

U.S. Operatives Killed Detainees During Interrogations in
Afghanistan and Iraq (10/24/2005)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@...

CIA, Navy Seals and Military Intelligence Personnel Implicated
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today made public an
analysis of new and previously released autopsy and death reports of
detainees held in U.S. facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of
whom died while being interrogated. The documents show that
detainees were hooded, gagged, strangled, beaten with blunt objects,
subjected to sleep deprivation and to hot and cold environmental
conditions.

http://www.aclu. org/intlhumanrig hts/gen/21236prs 20051024. html

FROM ACLU - The records reveal the following facts:
A 27-year-old Iraqi male died while being interrogated by Navy Seals
on April 5, 2004, in Mosul, Iraq. During his confinement he was
hooded, flex-cuffed, sleep deprived and subjected to hot and cold
environmental conditions, including the use of cold water on his
body and hood. The exact cause of death was "undetermined" although
the autopsy stated that hypothermia may have contributed to his
death. Notes say he "struggled/ interrogated/ died sleeping." Some
facts relating to this case have been previously reported. (In
April 2003, Secretary Rumsfeld authorized the use of "environmental
manipulation" as an interrogation technique in Guant€ ¢Ã¡namo Bay. In
September 2003, Lt. Gen. Sanchez also authorized this technique for
use in Iraq. Although Lt. Gen. Sanchez later rescinded the
September 2003 techniques, he authorized "changes in environmental
quality" in October 2003.)

judson witham <jurisnot@.. .> wrote:
From: judson witham <jurisnot@.. .>
Subject: Cold as Inhumane, Abusive, Cruel, Inhumane and Tortuous
Degrading Treatment
Detainee and Prisoner Abuse Christian County Jail

To: RHONDA_ENSS@ ...

To Judge Gatain By Fax

CC: plee@..., ssmeier@...

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DIVISION OF MISSOURI
SOUTHERN DIVISION

JUDSON WITHAM

PLAINTIFF
NO. 04-3401-CV-S- FJG

VS
.
CHRISTIAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S
DEPT., ET AL

JURY TRIAL

Plaintiff's ADDITIONAL FACTS Supporting Cold Celling Torture as Cold
as Torture being Cruel Inhumane and Unusual Punishment

Dear Judge Gatain, Mr. Lee and Mr. Meiers:

During my incarcerations at the Christian County Jail, I was kept in
a Holding Cell that was extremely Air Conditioned like a Milk Cooler
or Soda Cooler / Refrigerator (Maybe 40 or 50 degrees) The cells in
the booking area were so cold I was literally SHAKING LIKE A LEAF
and CHATTERING my teeth uncontrollably for many hours and days. I
was unable to sleep the entire time. It was also miserably cold in
the Jails Infirmary were I spent a day recovering from an angina
attack.

The use of COLD as a sensory assault or form of TORTURE has been
used throughout the World for Centuries by the Worlds worst REGIMES.
Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Nazi and even American Militaries and
CIA have employed COLD to soften up and torture DETAINEES and
PRISONERS of War.

The Geneva Conventions and the Universal Declaration On Human Rights
strictly prohibit the use of Environmental Extremes such as Cold to
Torture and Missouri State Laws forbid the ABUSE of prisoners. What
was done to me and apparently others is TORTURE using COLD.

The Cold I describe was inhumane and abusive, My extreme
uncontrollable shivering and intense teeth chattering, being unable
to sleep or get any warmth was NOT HUMANE TREATMENT and in FACT was
tortuous.

See the limited excerpts and references below.

Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 221
Jails and Jailers
Section 221.310

August 28, 2006

Humane treatment of prisoners.
221.310. It is hereby made the special duty of the court having
criminal jurisdiction, at each term, to inquire and see that all
prisoners are humanely treated.
(RSMo 1939 € ¢Â§ 9206)

http://www.hypother mia.org/

http://www.hrw. org/campaigns/ torture.htm
U.S. Torture and Abuse of Detainees
Human Rights Watch

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment."
€ ¢â' '´The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 (1948)

Each day brings more information about the appalling abuses
inflicted upon men and women held by the United States in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the world. U.S. forces have used
interrogation techniques including hooding, stripping detainees
naked, subjecting them to extremes of heat, cold, noise and light,
and depriving them of sleep€ ¢â' '´in violation of the Geneva Conventions
and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This apparently routine
infliction of pain, discomfort, and humiliation has expanded in all
too many cases into vicious beatings, sexual degradation, sodomy,
near drowning, and near asphyxiation. Detainees have died under
questionable circumstances while incarcerated.

http://www.sarbc. org/hypo. html

Search and Rescue British Columbia

Hypothermia
Altitude Illness - Hypothermia
Cold Injuries & Cold Water Near Drowning Guidelines "Alaska
Protocols"
Hypothermia (cold survival)
Hypothermia - Physiology, Signs, Symptoms and Treatment
considerations
Hypothermia - Powerpoint - EXE (zip) Download here (690k)
Hypothermia - Powerpoint - ZIP Download here (657k)
Hypothermia Prevention, Recognition and Treatment
Hypothermia- Related Deaths -- Alaska, October 1998-April 1999
Hypothermia - SPECIAL SITUATIONS Andrew D Weinberg, MD An important
study to be read! Excellent paper! ***
Hypothermia / Surviving the cold / Workers' Compensation Board of
B.C. link updated again
Hypothermia Treatment Devices, Protocols & Articles Courtesy of
Robert Douwens at Res-Q Products
OA Guide to Hypothermia & Cold Weather Injuries
Safety And Survival Hypothermia
Special Report On Cold Stress (Hypothermia) And Heat Stress
THERMAL AND CARDIOVASCULAR CHANGES DURING THREE METHODS OF
RESUSCITATION FROM MILD HYPOTHERMIA John Hayward One of the most
important studies to be read! Check out the difference between
cardiac, esophageal, tympanic, rectal temperatures. ***
Winter Camping and Hypothermia
Hypothermia Graphics
Warning Signs of Hypothermia
Heat Loss - Losing it 5 ways
Treatment in the Field/Hospital
H.E.L.P. and Huddle - Cold Water Survival
More Links

http://montages. blogspot. com/2004/ 05/american- empire-of- torture.html

Last week, the U.S. military acknowledged that two Guantanamo Bay
guards had been disciplined in connection with use of excessive
force against detainees. And U.S. defense officials confirmed the
existence of a list of approved interrogation techniques, dating to
April 2003, that included reversing sleep patterns, exposing
prisoners to hot and cold, and "sensory assault," including use of
bright lights and loud music.

Research editor Margot Williams contributed to this report. (Dana
Priest and Joe Stephens, "Secret World of U.S. Interrogation: Long
History of Tactics in Overseas Prisons Is Coming to Light,"
Washington Post, May 11, 2004, p. A01)Here is a testimony of one man
who endured torture for two years in Guantanamo, a British citizen
Tarek Dergoul:
'I was in extreme pain and so weak that I could barely stand. It was
freezing cold and I was shaking like a washing machine.
Dergoul also disclosed personal experience of the techniques
pioneered by the former Guantanamo commandant, General Geoffrey
Miller, to 'set the conditions' for detainees' interrogation, which
Miller then took to Iraq.

He said they included humiliation, prolonged exposure to intense
heat and cold, sleep deprivation, being kept chained in painful
positions, and the threat of 'rendition' to an Arab country where,
his interrogators said, he would be subjected to full-blown torture.

So what are these 20 techniques? A US military spokeswoman
said: 'They come from a classified document and we don't discuss its
contents.' But the Senate has heard they include sleep deprivation,
binding in uncomfortable positions and the use of excessive cold or
heat. Dergoul said he experienced and witnessed all of them.

http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Torture

Depending on the culture, torture has at times been carried on in
silence (official denial), semi-silence (known but not spoken about)
or openly acknowledged in public (in order to instill fear and
obedience).

Since torture was in general not accepted in the late twentieth
century, professional torturers in some countries tended to use
techniques such as electrical shock, asphyxiation, heat, cold,
noise, and sleep deprivation which leave little evidence, although
in other contexts torture frequently results in horrific mutilation
or death. Evidence of torture also comes from the testimony of
witnesses.

Starvation, cold and damp

http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Hypothermia

Stages of Hypothermia in Humans
Stage 1
Body temperature drops by 1€ ¢Â°C - 2€ ¢Â°C below normal temperature C (1.8€ ¢Â°-
3.6€ ¢Â°F, or between 96.8€ ¢Â°F - 95€ ¢Â°F). Mild to strong shivering occurs.
Unable to perform complex tasks with the hands; the hands become
numb. Blood vessels in the outer extremities contract, lessening
heat loss to the outside air. Breathing becomes quick and shallow.
Goose bumps form, raising body hair on end in an attempt to create a
insulating layer of air around the body (a vestigial response, but
useful in other species).
Stage 2
Body temperature drops by 2€ ¢Â°C - 4€ ¢Â°C (3.6€ ¢Â°F - 7.2€ ¢Â°F, or between 95€ ¢Â°F -
91.4€ ¢Â°F). Shivering becomes more violent. Muscle miscoordination
becomes apparent. Movements are slow and labored, accompanied by a
stumbling pace and mild confusion, although the victim may appear
alert. Surface blood vessels contract further as the body focuses
its remaining resources on keeping the vital organs warm. Victim
becomes pale. Lips, ears, fingers and toes may become blue.
Stage 3
Body temperature drops below approximately 32€ ¢Â°C or 90€ ¢Â°F (normal is
37€ ¢Â°C or 98.6€ ¢Â°F). Shivering usually stops below 32€ ¢Â°C; difficulty
speaking, sluggish thinking, and amnesia start to appear; inability
to use hands and stumbling are also usually present. Cellular
metabolic processes shut down. Below 86€ ¢Â°F (30€ ¢Â°C) the exposed skin
becomes blue and puffy, muscle coordination very poor, walking
nearly impossible, and the victim exhibits incoherent/irration al
behavior or even a stupor. Pulse and respiration rates decrease
significantly but fast heart rates (ventricular tachycardia, atrial
fibrillation) can occur. Major organs fail. Clinical death occurs.
Because of decreased cellular activity in stage 3 hypothermia, the
body will actually take longer to undergo brain death.
If any symptoms of hypothermia are present, especially confusion or
changes in mental status, the local emergency service should be
immediately contacted.
If the person is unconscious, check their airway, breathing, and
circulation. If necessary, begin rescue breathing or CPR. If the
victim is breathing less than 6 breaths per minute, begin rescue
breathing.
Take the person inside to room temperature and cover him or her with
warm blankets. If going indoors is not possible, get the person out
of the wind and use a blanket to provide insulation from the cold
ground. Cover the person's head and neck to help retain body heat.
Once inside, remove any wet or constricting clothes and replace them
with dry clothing.
Warm the person. If necessary, use your own body heat to aid the
warming. Apply warm compresses or packs to the neck, chest wall,
armpits and groin. If the person is alert and can easily swallow,
give warm, sweetened, nonalcoholic fluids to aid the warming.
Stay with the person until medical help arrives.
Assume that you should obtain a doctor if the victim has been
exposed for 24 hours or more.
DO NOT assume that someone found lying motionless in the cold is
already dead.
DO NOT use direct heat (such as hot water, a heating pad, or a heat
lamp) to warm the person.
DO NOT give the person alcohol.[1]
DO NOT rub the person's limbs because this may cause further tissue
damage
Hospital Treatment
In a hospital, warming is accomplished by external techniques
(blankets, warming devices) for mild hypothermia and by more
invasive techniques such as warm intravenous fluids or even lavage
(washing) of the bladder, stomach, chest and abdominal cavities with
warmed fluids for severely hypothermic patients.[citation needed]
These patients are at high risk for arrhythmias (irregular
heartbeats), and care must be taken to minimize jostling and other
disturbances until they have been sufficiently warmed, as these
arrhythmias are very difficult to treat while the victim is still
cold. An important tenet of treatment is that a person is not dead
until they are warm and dead. Remarkable accounts of recovery after
prolonged cardiac arrest have been reported in patients with
hypothermia. This is presumably because the low temperature prevents
some of the cellular damage that occurs when blood flow and oxygen
are lost for an extended period of time.
Prevention
In air, most heat is lost through the head [2]; hypothermia can thus
be most effectively prevented by covering the head. Having
appropriate clothing for the environment is another important
prevention. Fluid-retaining materials like cotton can be a
hypothermia risk; if the wearer gets sweaty on a cold day, then
cools down, they will have sweat-soaked clothing in the cold air.
For outdoor exercise on a cold day, it is advisable to wear fabrics
which can "wick" away sweat moisture. These include wool or
synthetic fabrics designed specifically for rapid drying.

Heat is lost much more quickly in water. Children can die of
hypothermia in as little as two hours in water as warm as 16€ ¢Â°C (61€ ¢Â°
F, 289 K), typical of sea surface temperatures in temperate
countries such as Great Britain in early summer. Many seaside safety
information sources fail to quote survival times in water, as well
as the consequent importance of diving suits. This is possibly
because the original research into hypothermia mortality in water
was carried out in wartime Germany on unwilling subjects. There is
an ongoing debate as to the ethical basis of using the data thus
acquired.

There is considerable evidence, however, that children who suffer
near-drowning accidents in water near 0€ ¢Â°C (32€ ¢Â°F, 273 K) can be
revived up to two hours after losing consciousness. The cold water
considerably lowers metabolism, allowing the brain to withstand a
much longer period of hypoxia.
Medically Induced
See induced hypothermia
See also
Hyperthermia
Cryonics
First aid
Frostbite
Hibernation
Mountain rescue
Torpor
Winter sport
Brown adipose tissue allows babies higher chance of survival by
converting fat into heat (from a Discovery Channel documentary on
Survival)
References
^ [1]
^ [2]
External links
CanyonWiki:Hypother mia
Canadian rescue workers internet site (hypothermia division)
Hypothermia
http://www.hypother mia.org/
Windchill chart in km/h windspeeds and € ¢Â°C temperature measures
Help the Aged charity (United Kingdom) - hypothermia in the elderly,
death information, advice, downloads etc.
Table of hypothermia effects at different water temperatures
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Hypothermia"

http://www.npr. org/iraq/ 2004/prison_ abuse_report. pdf

8. (U) In addition, several detainees also described the following
acts of abuse, which
under the circumstances, I find credible based on the clarity of
their statements and
supporting evidence provided by other witnesses
(ANNEX 26):
a. (U) Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on
detainees;
b. (U) Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;
c. (U) Pouring cold water on naked detainees;

http://kspope. com/torvic/ torture-abst. php

http://kspope. com/kpope/ index.php

By Ken Pope

Torture is also practiced in an astonishing array of forms. Physical
torture may involve beating, burning, cutting, starving, hanging
(e.g., by the thumbs or feet), kicking, mutilating, forcing body
parts into icy or boiling water, blinding, puncturing ear drums,
removing body parts, applying acid or electric shocks, administering
drugs or noxious materials, holding the person under water or
otherwise preventing access to air, breaking bones, denying adequate
shelter from extremely hot or cold weather, and so on. Some methods
have become so common that they are given their own names such
as "Bell," "Buzzer," "Carry On," "Chepuwa," "Falanga," "Helicopter
Trip," "Necklacing, " and "Telephone" [see Glossary].

Ken Pope received graduate degrees from Harvard and Yale and is in
independent practice as a licensed psychologist. A diplomate in
clinical psychology, he has authored or co-authored over 100
articles and chapters in peer-reviewed scientific and professional
journals and books. He is a charter fellow of the American
Psychological Society (APS) and was elected fellow of American
Psychological Association Divisions 1, 2, 12, 29, 35, 41, 42, 44,
and 51. Ken has worked at using the tools of scientific psychology
to help those in need. He identified underserved and neglected
populations; conducted research to better understand their needs;
developed empirically grounded interventions to improve their
welfare; and advanced their care by sharing research-based clinical
guidance in articles, lectures, and books.
Recommended Resources
Conroy, J. (2000). Unspeakable acts, ordinary people: The dynamics
of torture. New York: Knopf.
Duner, B. (1998). An end to torture: Strategies for its eradication.
London: Zed.
Innes, B. (Ed.) (1998). History of torture. New York: St. Martin's.
Pope, K.S., & Garcia-Peltoniemi, R. (1990). Responding to victims of
torture: Clinical issues, professional responsibilities, and useful
resources. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 22, 269-
276

http://www.november .org/stayinfo/ breaking2/ INS-Torture. html

"Concrete. Cold, cold, cold, cold. And they'll cut the AC up high,
high, high, and you'll be butt-naked.. . You're on your belly... And
when time to eat, they loose one hand. So you eat, and they strap
you back. It's torture, man... It was like a nightmare there. I
never know people could live like that. See, because I growed up in
my life, I never see color 'cause I think that God created all men
as one, you know? You and me, as one. 'Cause God created one
man, 'cause he was one God. And when a person could do that to a
person, there is-of the devil. There is evil. But right now I'm
still sitting in jail."

http://www.prisonpl anet.com/ articles/ february2006/ 140206bto_ torture.h
tm

Torture by American interrogators of detainees in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, has also been documented. An unnamed FBI agent reports:

"On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a
detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor,
with no chair, food, or water. Most times they had urinated and
defecated on themselves, and had been left there from 18, 24 hours
or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning was turned down so
far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted
detainee was shaking with cold. When I asked the MPs what was going
on, I was told that interrogators from the day prior had ordered
this treatment, and the detainee was not to be moved. On another
occasion, the A/C had been turned off, making the temperature in the
unventilated room probably well over 100 degrees. The detainee was
almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He
had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout
the night."

Here's an article about this from today's New York Times:
High-Ranking Officers May Face Prosecution in Iraqi Prisoner Abuse,
Military Officials Say

Kate Zernike

FORT HOOD, Tex., Jan. 16 - The Army reservist accused of being the
ringleader of the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison failed to convince a
jury he was following orders when he mistreated detainees, but
higher-ranked officers still may be prosecuted, military officials
and lawyers for the officers say.

The reservist, Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr., who was sentenced
here on Saturday to 10 years in prison, could offer no witnesses or
evidence to prove that higher-ups authorized the treatment seen in
the photographs that set off the abuse scandal: naked detainees
leashed and crawling, or forced to masturbate, simulate oral sex or
stack in a pyramid.

But the scandal, which exploded last spring, has led to several
Pentagon investigations that have found what one called "personal
responsibility at higher levels," not only for failure to supervise
and enforce discipline, but also in some cases for condoning and
encouraging mistreatment of detainees in cell blocks and during
interrogations.

And at Specialist Graner's trial, prosecutors did not deny sworn
testimony that military intelligence soldiers, civilian
interrogators and some officers asked soldiers to carry out
questionable treatment, like striking detainees and having female
soldiers point and laugh as male detainees showered.

A lawyer for one of the officers, who did not want to be named
before his client is charged, said prosecution seemed more likely
now. "Maybe six weeks ago we thought that the worst that was going
to happen was a slap on the wrist, and he was not going to be
charged," the lawyer said. "Things seem to be moving to the
forefront."

Several witnesses at the Graner trial testified that Col. Thomas M.
Pappas, the highest-ranking military intelligence officer at Abu
Ghraib, and Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, the head of the Joint
Interrogation and Debriefing Center at the prison, had either known
about or specifically encouraged tactics like using dogs to threaten
detainees.

The two men were among five officers recommended for discipline in a
Pentagon report in August, which said they bore responsibility for
what happened even though they were not directly involved in abuse.
That report implicated 29 other military intelligence soldiers in at
least 44 cases of abuse from July 2003 to February 2004, including
one death, beatings, using dogs to threaten adolescent detainees,
and having prisoners stripped naked and left for hours in dark,
poorly ventilated cells that were stifling hot or freezing cold.

The report said that while the claims of Specialist Graner and other
military police soldiers that they had been acting at the behest of
military intelligence were "self-serving, " they did "have some basis
in fact."

A classified portion of the report said Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez,
the former top commander in Iraq, approved the use there of some
interrogation practices intended to be limited to captives held in
Afghanistan and Guant namo Bay, Cuba.

Five investigations have been completed; four others, including one
announced two weeks ago into Federal Bureau of Investigation reports
of abuse at Guant namo Bay, are continuing.

Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said Sunday that he
did not know whether other people would be charged, or when the
results of two investigations that are now months overdue would be
completed. "There is no timetable associated with the inquiry
process," Colonel Venable said. "As individuals are identified for
potential wrongdoing they'll be dealt with appropriately. "

Three low-ranking military police soldiers face courts-martial for
the abuse at Abu Ghraib.

Paul Bergrin, a lawyer for Sgt. Javal Davis, whose trial is to begin
here Feb. 2, said that following orders was only one part of his
defense. He would also emphasize how interrogators set a bad
example, chaining detainees naked to the bars of their cells,
striking them and leaving them in isolation units.
"There's a lot of things that Sgt. Javal Davis saw and lived through
that wasn't portrayed" in the Graner case, Mr. Bergrin said.

The findings of the Pentagon report that implicated military
intelligence soldiers were forwarded to military commanders and the
Justice Department for possible criminal charges. But so far, only
one military intelligence soldier, Specialist Armin Cruz, has been
charged. He was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Lawyers for some of the people implicated in the various reports
said the Graner trial would make it harder to prosecute their
clients.

"Whatever Graner was spewing was contradicted by the prosecution and
soundly rejected by the jury," said Hank Hockeimer, a lawyer for
Steven Stefanowicz, a civilian contractor who several witnesses at
the trial testified had encouraged them to be rough with
detainees. "He has zero credibility. "
Human rights groups still are not completely satisfied and have
demanded that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld be held
responsible for what happened at Abu Ghraib.

The Center for Constitutional Rights responded to the Graner verdict
by calling for a special prosecutor to investigate Mr. Rumsfeld's
role in creating policies that governed treatment of
prisoners. "Whatever Charles Graner did, however heinous his acts
may have been, we believe he is taking the fall for the architects
of a policy that empowered him to torture and abuse those being held
at Abu Ghraib," said Michael Ratner, the center's president.

Lawyers for the low-ranking soldiers who have been charged say they
remain skeptical that higher-ups will ever be charged.

"The higher up they go, the more problems they have with people
leading to the Pentagon," said Harvey Volzer, who represented Megan
Ambuhl, who was discharged from the military as part of a plea
bargain in the Abu Ghraib abuses. "Pappas gives them Sanchez, and
they don't want that. Sanchez can give them Rumsfeld, and they don't
want that.

"Rumsfeld can lead to Bush and Gonzales, and they definitely don't
want that," Mr. Volzer said, referring to President Bush and to
Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel and attorney general
nominee, who argued in a memorandum that parts of the Geneva
Conventions were "quaint" and "obsolete."

Mr. Bergrin noted that when he asked a military judge to allow
testimony by Colonel Pappas, Colonel Jordan and others at Sergeant
Davis's court-martial, he was told they could not testify because
prosecutors planned to charge them.

"I think the military is using these young enlisteds as scapegoats,"
he said.

Rice and the Press Make it Unclear
Tim Rutten: Regarding Media
Los Angeles Times
December 10, 2005

Most American journalists deal poorly with governmental and
corporate hypocrisy and duplicity for a couple of reasons. The
antidote to official doublespeak is context and the acknowledgment
of contradiction, but making that part of your reporting requires a
certain amount of mental effort and a willingness to hold more than
the next deadline in mind. Pointing out that what a powerful person
says today contradicts what they said yesterday or what others of
equal authority have said risks making a story seem contentious. Far
safer to make a fetish of that faux-fairness that housebreaks
reporting by rendering it a subset of stenography.

Take, for example, this week's coverage of Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice's pirouettes from one European capital to another,
vainly attempting to simultaneously deny and justify the Bush
administration' s embrace of torture as state policy.

The Washington Post's editorial page, which has been a rare voice of
clarity and moral sanity on this issue, got the matter exactly right
Tuesday when it described Rice as employing "the same legalistic
jujitsu and morally obtuse double talk that led the Bush
Administration into a swamp of human rights abuses in the first
place. Ms. Rice insisted that the U.S. government 'does not
authorize or condone torture' of detainees. What she didn't say is
that President Bush's political appointees have redefined the
term 'torture' so that it does not cover practices, such as
simulated drowning ['water boarding' is the grisly term of art],
mock execution and 'cold cells' that have long been considered
abusive by authorities such as her State Department."

http://www.aclu. org/safefree/ torture/E. pdf

Prisoners report that they are subjected to extremely cold
temperatures in the isolation cells and .......

Respectfully Submitted (02- 12- 07)

Judson Witham
Box 4863
2250 N. University Parkway # 48 Provo , Utah 84604

Copies To Judge Gaitan By FAX and EMAIL
as well as US MAIL 2-05-07
Fax 816-512-5643

Certificate Of Service

By US MAIL and EMAIL the following Lawyers are being NOTICED of this
Brief on Cold as Torture being Cruel Inhumane and Unusual Tratment
0n Feb 12, 2007

M. Douglas Harpool
Baird, Lightner, Millsap & Harpool, PC
Two Corporate Centre
1949 East Sunshine Street
Suite 2-102
Springfield, MO 65804
417/887-0133
Fax: 417/887-8740
Email: dharpool@...

Peter Allen Lee
Two Corporate Centre
1949 East Sunshine Street
Suite 2-102
Springfield, MO 65804
(417) 887-0133
Fax: (417) 887-8740
Email: plee@...

Steven S. Meier Attorney at Law LLC
218 North Massey Boulevard Nixa , MO 65714
(417) 725-8686
Fax: 417-877-7948
Email: ssmeier@...

JOIN US AT AMERICANREALWIDEMIN DS-SUBSCRIBE@ YAHOOGROUPS. COM€ ¢Â 

On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 2:19 PM, Jud Witham <jurisnot2@yahoo. com> wrote:

Start with looking into WHY...Kevein McBride REFUSED to SHOWER at the Not A Christian County Jail....Then ask Paul Duchsherer (Green County Public Defenders Office) and all the Bondsmen that go IN AND OUT to POLYGRAPH.€ ¢Â  Ask Aikeem Faruq and the many others LIKE HOLLY LOCKHARD...get a list of those INCARCERATED during 2001 through 2005 and ask about the COLD CELLINGS

Ron Cleek is a Chicken Shit LIAR...that' s CERTAIN

--- On Thu, 4/23/09, Jud Witham <jurisnot2@yahoo. com> wrote:

LYING CHICKEN SHIT RON CLEEK and Sheriff Joe Matlock, Sheriff Mike Robertson and the NOT A Christian County Jail Staff...LETS ALL POLYGRAPH
€ ¢Â 
Come On Ron Cleek Sheriff Robertson WHAT HAVE YOU GOIT TO LOSE ????
€ ¢Â 
Just Ask Donna Osborn and Prosecutor Ron Cleek about BROKEN THERMOSTATS IN THE JAIL...what a GOD DAMNED FAT LYING BASTARD Ron Cleek Is
http://www.firedupm issouri.com/ node/6411
€ ¢Â 
To CHICKEN TO POLYGRAPH

What a God Damned LIAR
€ ¢Â 
€ ¢Â 
TORTURE INCORPORATED. ..USA Inc.
€ ¢Â 
I was TORTURED during a series of FALSE ARRESTS and MALICIOUS PROSECUTIONS in "NOT" a Christian County Missouri.
€ ¢Â 
ALL the cases were DROPPED and I won One Jery Verdict...in other words this INNOCENT whistleblower was subjected to CHILL BOX TORTURE as a punishment for EXPOSING how Seniors, The Disabled and Poor are TARGETTED for Property Seizures in Missouri.€ ¢Â  MY WORK AT http://www.geocitie s.com/jurisnot2/ was also THROWN IN MY FACE during the YEARS of BULL SHIT I and my family had to endure at the hands of TORTURE INCORPORATED. ...USA Inc.
€ ¢Â 
I HATE THE SCUMMY BASTARDS...yes They Gave Me an ATTITUDE..SCREW' EM
€ ¢Â 
PS: I lost more than $75k in vehicles, was FORCED to LIQUIDATE our Farm and they turned our lives (my FAMILY) to CRAP....all with the BLESSING and IMPUNITY from the US Government and FEDERAL JUDGE FERNANDO GAITAN and the 8th Circuit KORT of BULL SHIT
€ ¢Â 
I HATE THE SCUMMY BASTARDS...yes They Gave Me an ATTITUDE..SCREW' EM

--- On Sat, 4/25/09, Jud Witham <jurisnot2@yahoo. com> wrote:

From: Jud Witham <jurisnot2@yahoo. com>
Subject: Witheld Evidence ??
To: madp@moabolition. org, Humane-Rights- Agenda@yahoogrou ps.com, prison-news- network@googlegr oups.com, PRUP@yahoogroups. com, law-justice- humanrights@ yahoogroups. com, the-convicts- co-op@yahoogroup s.com, humane-rights- agenda@yahoogrou ps.com, "TheBrokenSystem@ yahoogroups. com" <TheBrokenSystem@ yahoogroups. com>, "Debra Barton" <debs_barton@ hotmail.com>
Cc: madp@moabolition. org
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2009, 2:33 PM

If what you say is accurate and true..YES include my name on the petition.
€ ¢Â 
Judson Witham
2250 N. University Prkwy No. 48
Box 4863
Provo, Utah 84604
€ ¢Â 
PLEASE send me a link to all matters that discuss this case.
€ ¢Â 
I was repeatedly and falsely MALICIOUSLY arrested in "Not A Very Christian County, MO..ALL my cases were DROPPED and I won ONE Jury Verdict "NOT GUILTY".€ ¢Â  During the process our home was BOMBED..our Land Set On Fire (several times) our vehicles and my FAMILY ATTACKED and we were repeatedly ROBBED.
€ ¢Â 
I was TORTURED in the Jail at Ozark with HYPER AIRCONDITIONING for days.
€ ¢Â 
I know how they LIE CHEAT AND STEAL to make cases..we lived the nightmare for 5 years.€ ¢Â  I demanded a POLYGRAPH and after a 3 1/2 Hour Poly...the ATF returned to me my guns...and advised me to MOVE OUT OF THE STATE for my Family's Saftey.€ ¢Â  GOD KNOWS I AM BEING HONEST
€ ¢Â 
Judson Witham

--- On Sat, 4/25/09, Norma J F Harrison <normaha@pacbell. net> wrote:

From: Norma J F Harrison <normaha@pacbell. net>
Subject: Re: Humane-Rights- Agenda Take action to prevent MO Execution
To: Humane-Rights- Agenda@yahoogrou ps.com, prison-news- network@googlegr oups.com, PRUP@yahoogroups. com, law-justice- humanrights@ yahoogroups. com, the-convicts- co-op@yahoogroup s.com, humane-rights- agenda@yahoogrou ps.com, "TheBrokenSystem@ yahoogroups. com" <TheBrokenSystem@ yahoogroups. com>, "Debra Barton" <debs_barton@ hotmail.com> , madp@moabolition. org
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2009, 1:01 AM

madp@moabolition. org€ ¢Â  I'd like to find out why, when I click on this address in the body of the letter, it opens a new internet browser page for me.
Meanwhile, please add my name to the petition, if you get this.
t/u
Norma Harrison
1312 Cornell
Berkeley, Ca. 94702
510-527-9584

From: Carol L carolleo864@ yahoo.com To: prison-news- network@googlegr oups.com; PRUP@yahoogroups. com; law-justice- humanrights@ yahoogroups. com; the-convicts- co-op@yahoogroup s.com; humane-rights- agenda@yahoogrou ps.com; "TheBrokenSystem@ yahoogroups. com" TheBrokenSystem@ yahoogroups. com Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 1:33:58 AM
Subject: Humane-Rights- Agenda Take action to prevent MO Execution
€ ¢Â 

€ ¢Â 

Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty
Dear Debra,

Dennis Skillicorn has been sentenced to be executed on May 20th, 2009. There are several reasons why Dennis' case is particularly troubling. Dennis was not the triggerman in the 1994 murder of Richard Drummond. Skillicorn was a quarter mile away in a car when Allen Nicklasson killed Drummond. Nicklasson has repeatedly stated that Dennis Skillicorn was in no way involved with the murder. Since his imprisonment 14 years ago, Dennis has has served in a variety of leadership and ministry positions and been a model inmate.

Vist www.moabolition. org/skillicorn for a list of his work while imprisoned, and to download a one-page fact sheet about his case.

You can help:

Write Send a letter asking that Dennis' death sentence by commuted so he can continue his good works in prison. Send letters to Steve Long, Chair, Board of Probation and Parole, 1511 Christy Drive, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101, FAX (573) 751- 8510.

Sign MADP will submit a group clemency petition on behalf of our members. To join this petition please email us at madp@moabolition. org, include your full name and address and we'll add you to the petition.

Toward Justice,

Colleen Cunningham
Executive Director€ ¢Â 
438 N. Skinker Blvd.
St Louis, MO 63130
This email is sent from: 438 N. Skinker Blvd.
St Louis, MO 63130

6.

Bania Janta Party Sabotaged Indian Agriculture

Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com   progressindia008

Sun May 10, 2009 10:42 am (PDT)



Bania Janta Party Sabotaged Indian Agriculture
€ ¢Â 
In this Tribune Editorial you can see how BJP tried to dismantle MSP and PDS.
€ ¢Â 
€ ¢â' '¼The cumbersome structure of middlemen eats away a big part. Before asking the farmers to shift to pulses and oilseeds, Mr Shanta Kumar should restore their confidence in the government€ ¢â' '¹s capacity to ensure a remunerative price and timely procurement.€ ¢â' '½
€ ¢Â 
I describe BJP as Party of Scoundrels. BJP wanted Punjab and neighboring states producing up to Four Tones of food per hectares to Switches to pulses cultivation that yield 0.6T to 0.8T per hectare crops.
€ ¢Â 
Punjab contributes 20 million tones of food for PDS in India.
€ ¢Â 
Scoundrels wanted to SABOTAGE it so that Banias could make additional profits.
€ ¢Â 
Ravinder Singh
May09, 2009€ ¢Â 
€ ¢Â 
http://www.tribunei ndia.com/ 2001/20011214/ edit.htm# 1
No agriculture policy
€ ¢Â 
IT is sad to say that India has no agriculture, actually foodgrains production, policy. Really there is an unfinished conflict between the Agriculture Ministry now headed by Mr Ajit Singh and the Consumer Affairs Ministry looked after by Mr Shanta Kumar. The former is a self-proclaimed champion of the cause of farmers, particularly of the Jats dominating western UP, Haryana and Punjab. Do not forget that there is an election in UP and Punjab early next year. But Mr Shanta Kumar hails from Himachal Pradesh and the Assembly election is far off. So the tussle is on. Mr Kumar wants to end the three-decade- old system of minimum support price (MSP) and procurement of every grain offered in any mandi. Mr Ajit Singh wants to continue the practice so that wheat and rice growers are insulated from rapacious middlemen. This policy difference has affected the most the Government of Punjab. Early this month the Badal government has written a strongly worded letter to
the Centre, demanding that it should lift 6.5 million tonnes of foodgrains valued at slightly less than Rs 13,000 crore because the wheat and paddy are rotting and will soon become unfit for human consumption. But Mr Shanta Kumar is content to point out that the Centre is reimbursing the annual interest of nearly Rs 1600 crore and the state has nothing to complain about. The issue is not as simple as this. A part of the grains stored in the state is more than two years old and alarmingly becoming unfit to eat. In other words, they are turning out to be just waste.
€ ¢Â 
Mr Shanta Kumar wants to get out of the MSP and procurement plan so that the government, to be precise the FCI, is relieved of the responsibility of storing a huge stock of foodgrains, several times the need of the buffer stock and operational requirements. Today the FCI has 65 million tonnes of foodgrains, and at the current rate of lifting it will take nearly seven years to remove the stock. By then six years of procurement would have added to the storage problem. This is a gigantic dilemma and the Centre has no clue to overcome this. It laid much emphasis on the Prof Gopal Naik report and wanted to introduce an income-insured scheme (IIS). But this was shot down by a high- level committee headed by Prof Abhijit Sen. A basic problem of agriculture is the absence of reliable marketing mechanism. A number of studies have shown that the grower receives a fraction of what the consumer pays.. The cumbersome structure of middlemen eats away a big part. Before
asking the farmers to shift to pulses and oilseeds, Mr Shanta Kumar should restore their confidence in the government€ ¢â' '¹s capacity to ensure a remunerative price and timely procurement.
€ ¢Â 

7.

Ashok Gulati, the Scoundrel € ¢â' '³ Gujarat Ranks 13 in Hunger

Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com   progressindia008

Sun May 10, 2009 10:42 am (PDT)



Ashok Gulati, the Scoundrel € ¢â' '³ Gujarat Ranks 13 in Hunger
€ ¢Â 
http://www.ifpri. org/pubs/ cp/ishi08. pdf
I can€ ¢â' '¹t make out how much money he charged for FABRICATING Gujarat on top in Agriculture report. His organization club rate Gujarat under € ¢â' '¼Alarming Hunger€ ¢â' '½ category and Gujarat ranks 13 among 17 large states. States ahead are Punjab, Kerala, AP, Assam, Haryana, TN, Rajasthan, WB, UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Orissa. Only three large states below Gujarat are Chhatisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and MP.
€ ¢Â 
Tragedy of India is people who have neither any qualification nor working experience only manipulators & crooks are in charge of agriculture policy. Even before we could get rid dubious experts like MS Swaminathan, Ashok Gulati a scoundrel is gaining prominence.
€ ¢Â 
I am angry when I find Askok Gulati believes he can fool 1.2 billion people all the time. More critical because they are Touts of Corporate and Traders cum Moneylenders.
€ ¢Â 
The way SEZ Loot was unleashed on Farmers, he was prominent functionary SABOTAGING INDIAN AGRICULTURE.
€ ¢Â 
http://economictime s.indiatimes. com/articleshow/ 2085183.cms? prtpage=1
€ ¢â' '¼However, small holders have high transaction costs in the marketing of their produce. To overcome this problem, one needs to cluster them in economically viable groups, be it through contract farming or freeing the land lease market, or any other method of aggregation, and then vertically linking them with processors and retailers. It reduces their risk, promotes investments and returns in farming.€ ¢â' '½Â 

In another message you will find BJP tried tried to FREEZE MSP and DISMANTLE PDS. People like Gulati are key instruments in this.
€ ¢Â 
Askok B Sharma is mailing agent of KBC. He doesn€ ¢â' '¹t deserve any response.
€ ¢Â 
Hungry and Starving population is fed Cotton, and fruits and vegetables is lunatic idea of Modi.
€ ¢Â 
Thank Kranti for your insight of Gujarat.€ ¢Â 
€ ¢Â 
Ravinder Singh
May
€ ¢Â 
http://www.agribusi ness-solutions. org/?q=cv/ ashokgulati
Dr. Ashok Gulati is currently IFPRI Director in Asia based in IFPRI€ ¢â' '¹s New Delhi Office.€ ¢Â During January 2001 to February 2006, he was Director of the Markets, Trade and Institutions Division of IFPRI in Washington D.C. Before joining IFPRI, Ashok Gulati was a NABARD Chair Professor at the Institute of Economic Growth in Delhi ; Chief Economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, Delhi. Dr. Gulati has also been a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of India; a member of the State Planning Board of Karnataka; a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh; a member of the Board of Directors of ICICI Banking Corporation; and many other such positions. Dr. Gulati has done Masters in Economics and Ph.D. from Delhi School of Economics.
€ ¢Â 
His special areas of research include analysis and policy advice on issues related to agricultural markets and development of value chains; agriculture trade liberalization and negotiations in WTO with a focus on the likely implications on developing country interests; etc.
€ ¢Â 
Dr Gulati has published widely in national and international research journals, rendered policy advice to the Government of India, and interacted closely with the corporate sector involved in agri-business, the farmer groups, and the civil society organizations.
€ ¢Â 
From: kranti jyoti <krantijyoti71@ yahoo.co. in>
Ashok Gulati Joins Liar€ ¢â' '¹s Club of Modi
Date: Saturday, 9 May, 2009, 8:12 PM

Dear Mr.Sharma,
I don't know what part of of Gujarat you have traveled lately. I come from south Gujarat, which is more prosperous and greener than rest of Gujarat. During late January and first week of February I was travelling from Ankaleshwar, Bharuch to Zagadia. From Surat to Bardoli Vyara and part of dang distric, spent full week travelling surrounding areas of Navsari and Valsad. Where are properly build roads? I found only dusty broken roads. I invite you to visit Navsari and travel to once vibrant town of Jalalpore. It must be excellent example of modi's vibrant Gujarat ! Main road from Navsari railway station leading to Jalalpore is in total mess. Then if you visit surrounding areas of cities like Surat again you can find same pitiable conditioned roads. Have you seen police thanas or government buildings? Have you smell smog or polluted air in the evening and early morning? How many cities have public transport facility? Some how cities like Navsari, Surat,
Valsad have no public transport facility. One has to use rickshaws. Have you smell kerosene fume in most of cities? Have you seen polluted water in rivers Tapi, Purna, Par etc? Have you seen polluted water near Vapi industrial belt? Nothing have done despite many complained! Did€ ¢Â you visit temples? One Saibaba temple near Navsari we found hundreds of beggars about half of them were local labour community including children under age of ten. During Keshubhai and Modi's time population of beggars must have€ ¢Â increase by 200%.Population of tantric, fake gurus and sadhu must have gone up by 400% and so is their wealth. Grabbing fertile land by black marketers is noble profession in vibrant gujarat. Gujarat is one of the most corrupted states in India.

kranti
€ ¢Â 
Posted by: "Ashok B Sharma" ashokbsharma@ yahoo.com
Sat May€ ¢Â 9,€ ¢Â 2009 3:00€ ¢Â am (PDT)

I personally do not support the political philosophy of Narendra Modi nor do I belong to the school of economic philosophy of Ashok Gulati. I also do not believe in the corporate-led€ ¢Ã'¢Â  so-called development model. I believe in people-centric development model. € ¢Ã'¢Â I have been reading carefully what my friend Ravinder Singh has been posting on IHRO Yahoogroup and the type of selective€ ¢Ã'¢Â (not complete) data he is presenting. Unfortunately I cannot agree to his views which I feel is directed against a particular region of the country.

Let me make it clear, I am not a Gujrati and, therefore, I feel no one can hold me responsible for entertaining any bias. I have recently traveled extensively in Gujarat. Really I feel the infrastructure Gujarat has today is unparrallel. The enterprising spirit of Gujaratis is unique. Let us appreciate the fact that the state had faced all odds - both natural and manmade calamities - successive droughts, floods, earthquake and riots - and yet it has successfully come out of all these difficult situations. This is possible due to the enterprising skills of Gujaratis, which is unparrelled. Today Gujarat is way ahead of Punjab in many socio-economic aspects - My friend Ravinder should realise this.

Punjab fortunately did not face the difficulties Gujarat had faced. I do not underrate the role of Punjab, particularly its role in Green Revolution and ensuring food security. It has today become a history, but I feel that Punjab can again give its unique leadership in the near future. Let us not have any sense of negative regionalism. Let us work for the€ ¢Â upliftment of the entire country. Gujarat is as important to us as Punjab, UP, Bihar, Kerala or any other part of the country

tks & rgds
Ashok B Sharma
€ ¢Â 
Posted by: "Arun1951" arun1951@gmail. com € ¢Â 
Sat May€ ¢Â 9,€ ¢Â 2009 4:43€ ¢Â am (PDT)

I would be much interested to know Ashok Gulati's data on Bt cotton yields.
What is the truth?

Has the yield gone up? Costs gone up as well? What is the net income of Bt
cotton farmers? Data from other regions show a different story. If Gulati
claims higher yield then he must be a unique researcher.

Has Gulati factored in environmental cost of growing Bt cotton?

The mainstream media is not telling the truth. Visiting each and every
village to decipher the truth is expensive and the way Government of India
has sold out to biotech firms, they are never going to fund an independent
assessment of the economics of Bt farmers.

That is why I had said that some of the BJP [as also other political
leaders] should be tried for treason.

Sincerely
Arun Shrivastava
€ ¢Â 

8.

Gujarat Ranks with Bangladesh in Ashok Gulati Report

Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com   progressindia008

Sun May 10, 2009 10:42 am (PDT)



Gujarat Ranks with Bangladesh in Ashok Gulati Report
€ ¦ 
Half pants and half brains are thrilled when Modi procures endorsements of unqualified Ashok Gulati when the international report released in February, 2009 clubs Gujarat along side Bangladesh in severity of Hunger.
€ ¦ 
http://www.ifpri. org/pubs/ cp/ishi08. pdf
€ ¦ 
Before Half Pants came to power in 1994 Gujarat was ranked 10th now it ranks 13th Hungriest 17 states. Assam was ranked 14th now rank 4th.
€ ¦ 
45% of Gujarat children are Underweight and 23% population is calorie deficient.
€ ¦ 
Since Gujarat has issued 6 million people more in ration cards malnutrition of 45% points to rampant corruption in PDS. States like Assam and TN are short of food but much less corrupt hence rank above Gujarat.€ ¦  
€ ¦ 
Half Pant Ruled States were Hungrier than before.
€ ¦ 
Ravinder Singh
May10, 2009
€ ¦ 
Posted by: "S kumar" kumar_8134@yahoo. com € ¦ 
Fri May€ ¦ 8,€ ¦ 2009 4:44€ ¦ pm (PDT)

RAVINDER SINGH!! and other critics of RSS, BJP, NARENDRA MODY and GUJARAT, READ WHAT THE KHAKHI SHORTS COULD ACHIEVE BY HONESTY< DISCIPLINE AND SELFLESS HARD WORK.

IT IS THE KHAKHI SHORTS WHO SAVED THOUSANDS FROM EARTHQUAKE DAMAGED BUILDINGS DANGLING DANGEROUSLY FROM COLLAPSED BALCONIES OF MULTISTOREYED BUILDINGS OR SWIMMING AND SAVING DROWNING/ STRANDED€ ¦Â PEOPLE DURING FLOODS OR DISTRIBUTING FREE FOOD TO THE POOR THROUGH MANY OF ITS OPENINGS WHERE ANYONE IRRESPECTIVE OF CASTE, CREED OR RELIGION COULD JUST WALK IN AND FILLHIS BELLY!!

THIS IS GUJARAT THAT LEADS OTHERS IN INDIA. SHAME ON UPA AND ITALIAN MAFIA WHICH HAS LOOTED THE COUNTRY AND STASHED THE FUNDS IN SWISS BANKS.

WE IN GUJARAT ARE VERY€ ¦Â  Proud to be the GUJARATI and an INDIAN S' OF ALL CREEDS AND COLOURS....

SOME FROM THE NATIONAL MEDIA AND PSEUDO SECULARISTS LICK YOUR WOUNDED EGOES AND AGENDAS SUPPORTED BY OUR ENEMIES WITHIN AND OUTSIDE.GUJARAT MODEL WITH FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL WILL ULTIMATELY WIN..ALL OVER..

Come to Gujarat to see all of Indians of all creeds from all states performing at their BEST abilities at all levels of government and other agencies taking it ahead..throw out mulayams mayavatis jayas leftists lalloos and alloos from your respectable MP loksabha seats this time and vote for true secularism !! Nobody is perfect but at least some are on the right path-DIRECTION, we can correct them.YOU€ ¦Â  CAN DO NOTHING FOR THOSE WHO ARE DRIVING US FAST IN A BLIND ALLEY...IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION..

NOW READ THIS AND LEARN WHY TO USE YOUR VOTES WELL...WHY MODEL GUJARAT ??
€ ¦ 

9.

Half Pant Ruled States HUNGRIER than 1994

Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com   progressindia008

Sun May 10, 2009 10:42 am (PDT)



Half Pant Ruled States HUNGRIER than 1994
€ ¢Â 
Since Bania Janta Party adopted anti farmer policies and wanted to throw away farmers from their parties in favor of Corporate Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa and MP are hungrier than in 1994. Even Bihar has not improved ranking even as Centre tripled state budget in four years.
€ ¢Â 
But most notable feature of the Ashok Gulati report is that Half Pants rule in all Hungry States and are most corrupt in public distribution of food. INC ruled Assam had best and least corrupt PDS in India.
€ ¢Â 
€ ¢â' '¼A few states have outperformed others in enhancing food and nutrition security, and this improvement is apparent in upward changes in the ranks between the
Nutrition Index and the ISHI 2008. Noteworthy among these is the increase in the ranking of Assam. The state was one of the poorest performers and ranked 14th on the Nutrition Index in 1994, but became one of the best performers in 2008, in spite of having had the lowest growth rate of per capita income over the past 14 years among all states. Tamil Nadu also performed well and improved its ranking from 12th in 1994 to 6th in 2008..€ ¢â' '½
€ ¢Â 
Table 5 presents the rankings of states within India using the India State Hunger Index in 2008 and the Nutrition Index in 1994. Some distinct changes in ranking occurred over time. Particularly striking is the poor performance of the states of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. In 1994, Madhya Pradesh ranked 11th out of the 15 states, whereas it ranked last (17th) in 2008. Given the large contribution of child underweight to the ISHI scores, the decline in ranking could be due to
the lack of improvement in child undernutrition rates in Madhya Pradesh over the past seven years. Similarly, Orissa, which ranked 5th on the Nutrition Index in 1994, now ranks 12th on the ISHI 2008. Haryana, despite its impressive economic performance, also seems to have performed poorly in terms of reduction of hunger; although it was ahead of all other states in 1994, it now
ranks 5th on the ISHI 2008.
€ ¢Â 
Ravinder Singh
May10, 2009
€ ¢Â 
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States 2008 Rank

Rank 1994

1. Punjab

4

2. Kerala

2

3. AP

6

4. Assam

14

5. Haryana

1

6. Tamil Nadu

12

7. Rajasthan

3

8. West Begal

7

9. UP

8

10. Maharashtra

13

11. Karnataka

9

12. Orissa

5

13. Gujarat

10

14. Chhatisgarh

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15

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17. MP

11
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10.

The coming evangelical collapse

Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it   sitrep_comalp

Sun May 10, 2009 10:44 am (PDT)



The coming evangelical collapse
An anti-Christian chapter in Western history is about to begin. But out of the ruins, a new vitality and integrity will rise.
By Michael Spencer
from the March 10, 2009 edition

Oneida, Ky. - We are on the verge - within 10 years - of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals. ) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.

Why is this going to happen?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

3. There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile. Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive.

4. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to "do good" is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

6. Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

7. The money will dry up.

What will be left?

.Expect evangelicalism to look more like the pragmatic, therapeutic, church-growth oriented megachurches that have defined success. Emphasis will shift from doctrine to relevance, motivation, and personal success - resulting in churches further compromised and weakened in their ability to pass on the faith.

.Two of the beneficiaries will be the Roman Catholic and Orthodox communions. Evangelicals have been entering these churches in recent decades and that trend will continue, with more efforts aimed at the "conversion" of Evangelicals to the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

.A small band will work hard to rescue the movement from its demise through theological renewal. This is an attractive, innovative, and tireless community with outstanding media, publishing, and leadership development. Nonetheless, I believe the coming evangelical collapse will not result in a second reformation, though it may result in benefits for many churches and the beginnings of new churches.

.The emerging church will largely vanish from the evangelical landscape, becoming part of the small segment of progressive mainline Protestants that remain true to the liberal vision.

.Aggressively evangelistic fundamentalist churches will begin to disappear.

.Charismatic- Pentecostal Christianity will become the majority report in evangelicalism. Can this community withstand heresy, relativism, and confusion? To do so, it must make a priority of biblical authority, responsible leadership, and a reemergence of orthodoxy.

.Evangelicalism needs a "rescue mission" from the world Christian community. It is time for missionaries to come to America from Asia and Africa. Will they come? Will they be able to bring to our culture a more vital form of Christianity?

.Expect a fragmented response to the culture war. Some Evangelicals will work to create their own countercultures, rather than try to change the culture at large. Some will continue to see conservatism and Christianity through one lens and will engage the culture war much as before - a status quo the media will be all too happy to perpetuate. A significant number, however, may give up political engagement for a discipleship of deeper impact.

Is all of this a bad thing?

Evangelicalism doesn't need a bailout. Much of it needs a funeral. But what about what remains?

Is it a good thing that denominations are going to become largely irrelevant? Only if the networks that replace them are able to marshal resources, training, and vision to the mission field and into the planting and equipping of churches.

Is it a good thing that many marginal believers will depart? Possibly, if churches begin and continue the work of renewing serious church membership. We must change the conversation from the maintenance of traditional churches to developing new and culturally appropriate ones.

The ascendency of Charismatic- Pentecostal- influenced worship around the world can be a major positive for the evangelical movement if reformation can reach those churches and if it is joined with the calling, training, and mentoring of leaders. If American churches come under more of the influence of the movement of the Holy Spirit in Africa and Asia, this will be a good thing.

Will the evangelicalizing of Catholic and Orthodox communions be a good development? One can hope for greater unity and appreciation, but the history of these developments seems to be much more about a renewed vigor to "evangelize" Protestantism in the name of unity.

Will the coming collapse get Evangelicals past the pragmatism and shallowness that has brought about the loss of substance and power? Probably not. The purveyors of the evangelical circus will be in fine form, selling their wares as the promised solution to every church's problems. I expect the landscape of megachurch vacuity to be around for a very long time.

Will it shake lose the prosperity Gospel from its parasitical place on the evangelical body of Christ? Evidence from similar periods is not encouraging. American Christians seldom seem to be able to separate their theology from an overall idea of personal affluence and success.

The loss of their political clout may impel many Evangelicals to reconsider the wisdom of trying to create a "godly society." That doesn't mean they'll focus solely on saving souls, but the increasing concern will be how to keep secularism out of church, not stop it altogether. The integrity of the church as a countercultural movement with a message of "empire subversion" will increasingly replace a message of cultural and political entitlement.

Despite all of these challenges, it is impossible not to be hopeful. As one commenter has already said, "Christianity loves a crumbling empire."

We can rejoice that in the ruins, new forms of Christian vitality and ministry will be born. I expect to see a vital and growing house church movement. This cannot help but be good for an evangelicalism that has made buildings, numbers, and paid staff its drugs for half a century.

We need new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being His people in the midst of a powerful, idolatrous culture.

I'm not a prophet. My view of evangelicalism is not authoritative or infallible. I am certainly wrong in some of these predictions. But is there anyone who is observing evangelicalism in these times who does not sense that the future of our movement holds many dangers and much potential?

. Michael Spencer is a writer and communicator living and working in a Christian community in Kentucky. He describes himself as "a postevangelical reformation Christian in search of a Jesus-shaped spirituality. " This essay is adapted from a series on his blog, InternetMonk. com .

http://www.csmonito r.com/2009/ 0310/p09s01- coop.html
11.

Afghanistan: Foreign troops targeted in bomb attacks

Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it   sitrep_comalp

Sun May 10, 2009 10:45 am (PDT)



Afghanistan: Foreign troops targeted in bomb attacks

Kabul, 8 May (AKI) - Four British soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in Afghanistan, the British defence ministry announced on Friday. Two of the soldiers died in a suicide motorbike bombing against their convoy in the town of Gereshk in southern Helmand province.

Twenty civilians were also killed in the bombing and 30 were wounded, Afghanistan' s Pajhwok news agency said.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission said that 16 Afghans died in the Gereshk attack.

The other two British soldiers died in attacks in Helmand. One died in a separate bombing, while the fourth soldier was shot dead during a military patrol.

The four deaths brought to 157 the number of British ISAF soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001. There are around 8,000 British forces stationed in the country out ISAF's current total force of around 56,000 troops.

Also on Friday, a US military spokesman said that reports that over 100 civilians were killed in a US-led airstrike earlier this week were "grossly exaggerated" .

Local people claimed that up to 150 civilians died in air and ground attacks against several villages in the western Afghan province of Farah earlier this week during clashes with insurgents.

The Red Cross said it had seen the bodies of dozens of civilians, including women and children, after the attacks which destroyed buildings where they sought shelter.

The findings of a joint Afghan and US military investigation into the incidents were expected to be released on Saturday.

Afghan civilians casualties have been a source of ongoing tension between the US and Afghan leaders.

More than 2,100 civilians were among thousands of people - mainly insurgents - killed in warfare with insurgents since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Security /?id=3.0. 3293412796
12.

Swine flu: Egypt kills 11,000 pigs to counter virus

Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it   sitrep_comalp

Sun May 10, 2009 10:46 am (PDT)





Swine flu: Egypt kills 11,000 pigs to counter virus

Cairo, 8 May (AKI) - Egyptian authorities have destroyed 11,000 pigs in what they say is a bid to contain the risk posed by the worldwide outbreak of swine flu. According to Jamal Mubarak, son of the president and deputy-secretary of the National Democratic party, said the issue deserved "maximum attention".

"At the moment not a single case of anyone affected by the swine flu virus has been found in the country," Mubarak told the local daily, al-Ahram. "The situation deserves maximum attention."

Despite assurances from the United Nations' World Health Organization that there is no risk of contracting the virus from pork consumption, Egyptian authorities are expected to accelerate the slaughter of all the pigs in the country next week.

There are reportedly animals waiting to be killed in abbattoirs in al-Qalaj and al-Munib.

The cull has sparked tensions with members of Egypt's Coptic Christian community of over six million people, from which most of the country's pig farmers come.

Authorities have also increased security checks because of fears that pork meat sales will continue in secret.

In Egypt there has only been one suspected case of swine flu reported - a 32-year-old pregnant woman.

The young woman went to hospital with a high fever, but the results of her medical tests have not been confirmed by the ministry of health.

Panic over swine flu in Egypt has been heightened by the fact that it suffered at least 26 deaths from bird flu - the highest number of any country outside Asia.

But the World Health Organization has stressed that pork products would not be a source of infection and influenza viruses are not known to be transmissible to people through consumption of processed pork or other pork products.

Cooking meat will readily inactivate any viruses potentially present in raw meat products, WHO said in a statement.

WHO said on Thursday that 2,371 people in 24 countries now had confirmed cases of swine flu.

Mexico has reported 1,112 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 42 deaths.

http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Security /?id=3.0. 3292909088
13.

PAKISTAN Islamabad, final offensive against the Taliban. One million

Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it   sitrep_comalp

Sun May 10, 2009 10:47 am (PDT)



05/09/2009 15:48
PAKISTAN
Islamabad, final offensive against the Taliban. One million civilians flee
by Qaiser Felix
The provincial government and United Nations announce a humanitarian emergency in Swat Valley. The death toll from the clashes is 170 fundamentalists and 10 soldiers. The United States approves an aid package of 1.9 billion dollars.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - 170 Taliban and 10 Pakistani soldiers have died in fighting in the Army's final offensive against the Islamic fundamentalists in Swat Valley. Another six people were killed in a missile attack launched by a US drone in the province of South Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan. Meanwhile a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding : provincial government officers and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees speak of "more than one million people" driven from their homes by the war.

Army spokesman General Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the military had launched a "full-scale operation" in Swat, with 12,000 to 15,000 armed forces personnel taking part in the operation. He said the operation will continue till "its logical conclusion" and complete" elimination of extremists from the area". Abbas said militants are trying to block the exodus of innocent civilians by preventing their departure through coercion, road blocks and making the people hostage; for this reason operations are being conducted with lot of caution.

The approximate number of terrorists in Swat is around 4000 and while the militants in Swat are predominantly Pakistani, they have been joined by Afghans, Tajiks and Uzbeks. He said drug money coming from Afghanistan was the biggest source of finances received by the militants who also generate funds by kidnapping for ransom.

Meanwhile the government of the North West Frontier Province (Nwfp) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees speak of "more than one million people" driven from their homes by the war. Wajid Ali Khan, NWFP Environment Minister, has launched an appeal to the International community for "food and basic goods for the refugees". The UNHCR estimated that between 150 thousand and 200 thousand people had arrived in safe areas of the NWFP over the last few days with another 300 thousand on the move or about to move. Those fleeing the latest escalation of hostilities in Lower Dir, Buner and Swat join another 555,000 who have left their homes in Fata and the NWFP since August last year.

Finally the US government has approved 1.9 billion dollars for Pakistan, 591 million above the request. In the past week Washington had put pressure on both Pakistan and Afghanistan, putting copious amounts of funding on the balance, in return for concrete measures against the Taliban. The money is needed to support local agriculture and guarantee food to the population as well as improve internal security and education.

http://www.asianews .it/index. php?l=en& art=15199& size=A
14.

Angel or Demon? In the Vatican, Obama Is Both

Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it   sitrep_comalp

Sun May 10, 2009 10:48 am (PDT)



Angel or Demon? In the Vatican, Obama Is Both
"L'Osservatore Romano" praises him. Two prominent scholars of the pontifical academy of social sciences rail against him. The complete text of the accusation, signed by Michel Schooyans in conjunction with the archbishop of Dijon, Roland Minnerath

by Sandro Magister

ROME, May 8, 2009 - At the end of April, "L'Osservatore Romano" surprised everyone a little with the admiration it expressed for Barack Obama after his first hundred days as president of the United States. It was wide-ranging admiration: not only for his strategy in international politics, but also on ethical questions "that are very pressing for the Catholic bishops."

The amazement arose from the contrast between the Olympic calm of the Vatican newspaper - according to which Obama's first hundred days not only "did not shake the world," but even gave encouraging signs "in support of motherhood" - and the outspoken criticism of Obama on the part of a growing number of American faithful and bishops, led by Cardinal Francis E. George, archbishop of Chicago and president of the United States episcopal conference.

The criticisms concern the measures that have been taken or announced by the new president in regard to unborn life, as well as the decision of the Catholic university of Notre Dame to give Obama a degree "honoris causa"on May 17: many view this honor as unjustifiable, given the new president's pro-abortion positions.

An important part in the latest controversy was played by Mary Ann Glendon, a very prominent Catholic scholar and a professor of law at Harvard University - where her students included Obama himself - and the United States ambassador to the Holy See during the last part of the Bush administration. Glendon, who is staunchly "pro-life," refused to receive an award from Notre Dame University on the same day on which Obama will be given his honorary degree. And she explained her refusal in a letter to the president of Notre Dame, Fr. John I. Jenkins, in which she says she is "dismayed" by the Catholic institution' s decision to honor someone who acts "in defiance of our fundamental moral principles."

***

But immediately after the pro-Obama article in "L'Osservatore Romano," something diametrically opposed came out of the Vatican: radical criticism of the new American president.

From May 1-5, in the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican gardens, the plenary assembly of the pontifical academy of social sciences was held on the theme "Catholic social teaching and human rights."

The academy is made up of about three dozen scholars from many different countries, and of different viewpoints. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, an economics professor at Columbia University, is a member of the academy, and spoke at the assembly. At the end of the sessions, the members of the academy were received by Benedict XVI, who gave a speech to them.

But who is the president of the academy? Mary Ann Glendon. She was its president before she was made the United States ambassador to the Holy See, and was reinstated after the end of this mandate.

So on the morning of May 1, it was Glendon's responsibility to open the working sessions. She also gave one of the introductory addresses.

But the first to speak were French archbishop Roland Minnerath and Belgian priest Michel Schooyans.

The two coordinated their remarks. Minnerath addressed the issue of the "subjective rights" of the person, stressing the contrast between the tradition of the Church and that of secularist Enlightenment thinking. Schooyans attempted to "demonstrate the effectiveness of the ideas presented by Minnerath when they are applied to an analysis of contemporary problems." He specifically applied them to the Obama presidency and to the European leader who most resembles him, Tony Blair.

Schooyans dedicated the entire second half of his address to analyzing and demolishing the "messianism" of Obama and Blair. In his view, this is devastating not only in the area of human rights, but also in the religious sphere.

His radical criticism is perfectly clear in the text of his remarks. The second part of these are reproduced below in their entirety.

But first, it is helpful to recall some of the personal details of the two speakers.

Roland Minnerath, 62, has been archbishop of Dijon since 2004. He previously taught Church history and Church-state relations at the theological faculty of Strasbourg. Before this, he was part of the Vatican diplomatic corps, with a stint at the nunciature in Germany. He still works as an advisor for the foreign section of the secretariat of state. Joseph Ratzinger knows him well. He appointed him to the international theological commission, and made him special secretary of the synod of bishops in 2005. He is on the coordinating committee of the pontifical academy of social sciences and had the task of preparing the latest plenary assembly.

Michel Schooyans, a Belgian priest, is professor emeritus of the Catholic University of Louvain. He is a leading specialist in anthropology, political philosophy, bioethics, and demographics. He is a member of three pontifical academies: the one for social sciences, the one for life, and the one named after St. Thomas Aquinas. One of his books, published in 2006, is entitled "Le terrorisme € ¦à visage humaine [The human face of terrorism]," and has many points in common with the address he gave at the Vatican last May 1. His latest publication in Italy, printed by Cantagalli in 2008, is entitled "La profezia di Paolo VI [The prophecy of Paul VI]," and is a vigorous defense of the encyclical "Humanae Vitae."

Here is the second part of his address to the plenary assembly of the pontifical academy of social sciences, delivered at the Vatican, in French, on the morning of Friday, May 1, 2009:

Obama and Blair. Messianism reinterpreted

by Michel Schooyans

The election of Barack Obama as president of the United States has raised many expectations all over the world. In the United States, the voters chose a young, mixed race, brilliant president. He is expected to keep his promise of correcting the errors of the president who preceded him. Some excessive terms have even been used, for example the assertion that the time has come to "rebuild" the United States, or to reorganize the international order. This shows the influence of Saul D. Alinsky (1909-1972), one of the intellectual guides of the new president and Hillary Clinton. There has been no lack of zeal among the dynamic new president's admirers, who demonized the beleaguered president George W. Bush, calling for the dismantling of the politics that he developed as soon as possible. Now the Bush administration, although it did have its merits, was characterized by failures that have been acknowledged, even by the president's inner circle. Nonetheless, on one essential and fundamental point, President Bush promoted a policy worthy of respect and continuity: he offered both unborn children and medical personnel legal protection, certainly less than sufficient but still effective.

The voters who put Barack Obama into the presidency did not perceive the weakness and ambiguity of the statements made by their candidate concerning this decisive point. Moreover, once elected, one of President Obama's first actions was to revoke President Bush's measures to protect the unborn child's right to life.

President Obama is thus reintroducing the right to discriminate, to "set aside" some human beings. With him, the right of every human person to life and liberty is no longer recognized, much less protected. As a result, President Obama disputes the reasoning invoked by his fellow African-Americans when they demanded, rightly, the recognition of the right of all to the same dignity, to equality and freedom. In its prenatal version, racism has been restored in the United States.

The new president is thus dragging the law into a process of regression that is altering the democratic nature of the society that elected him. In fact, a society that calls itself democratic but whose leaders, invoking subjective "new rights," permit the elimination of some categories of human beings, is a society that has already set out on the road of totalitarianism. According to the World Health Organization, 46 million abortions are performed worldwide each year. By revoking the legal provisions protecting life, Obama is expanding the gruesome list of the victims of criminal laws. The way has been opened for abortion to become a legal demand. The law itself can be thrown into disrepute whenever it is exploited and twisted to legalize anything whatsoever, and is put, for example, at the service of a plan to eliminate the innocent. From this point on, the reality of the human being no longer has any importance.

The evident result of the change determined by Obama is that the number of abortions in the world will increase. President Bush had cut funding for programs that involve abortion, particularly outside of the United States. The reversal of this measure by the new administration limits the right of medical personnel to conscientious objection, and allows Obama to increase funding for public and private organizations, both national and international, that develop programs of birth control, of "maternity without risk," of "reproductive health" that include and promote abortion among their methods of contraception.

President Obama thus inevitably appears as one of the main proponents of the aging of the population in the United States and in nations that "benefit" from birth control programs that are presented as a precondition for development. How can a well-informed political leader ignore the fact that a society that aborts its children is a society that is aborting its future?

The measure taken by Barack Obama is destined to have repercussions on a worldwide level. Traditional American "messianism" boasted that it offered the best model of democracy to the world. With the permission to kill innocent people legally, this claim is growing dimmer. In its place is emerging a "messianism" that proclaims the extinction of the moral principles written in the Declaration of Independence (1776) and in the Constitution of the United States (1787). From now on, the reference to the Creator is rejected. No human reality can assert itself anymore by virtue of its intrinsic dignity. What matters now is the will of the president. According to his own words, the president no longer needs to make reference to the moral and religious traditions of humanity. His will is the source of law. What does the American congress think about this?

Now, since the influence of the United States is what matters most in international relations, bilateral and multilateral, and especially at the UN, it can be predicted that sooner or later abortion will be presented at the UN as a "new human right," a right that permits demanding abortion. The result will be that there will no longer be any room in the law for conscientious objection. This same process will allow the president to express his desire to put other subjective "new rights" on the list, like euthanasia, homosexuality, unilateral divorce, drug use, etc.

Remake religion? Remake Christianity?

President Obama can count on support for these programs from Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Booth. One of the aims of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the think tank founded by the former British prime minister, will be that of remaking the major religions, just as his colleague Barack Obama will remake global society. With this purpose, the foundation in question will try to expand the "new rights," using the world religions for this end and adapting these for their new duties. The religions will have to be reduced to the same common denominator, which means stripping them of their identity. This cannot be done without establishing international law as inspired by Hans Kelsen (1881-1973), and charged with approving all of the laws of sovereign nations. This system of law will also have to be imposed on the world religions in such a way that the new "faith" may be the unifying principle of global society. This new "faith," this unifying principle, must allow the advancement of the Millennium Development Goals. These goals include "Promote gender equality and empower women" (number 3) and "Improve maternal health" (number 5). We know very well what these expressions cover and imply. The launching of the Foundation's program has been announced with a campaign against malaria. This is part of goal number 6: "Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases." The announcement was made in such a way that subscribing to this campaign will mean subscribing to the Millennium Development Goals as a whole.

In fact, Tony Blair's project extends and amplifies the United Religions Initiative, which appeared several years ago. It also extends the Global Ethic Declaration, one of the main proponents of which is Hans K€ ¦üng. This plan cannot be realized except at the price of the sacrifice of religious freedom, of the imposition of a "politically correct" interpretation of the Sacred Scriptiures, and of the sabotage of the natural foundations of law. Machiavelli had recommended that religion be used for political purposes . . .

The former British prime minister's highly propagandized "conversion" to Christianity, as well as his interview with the gay magazine "Attitude" in April of 2009, make Tony Blair's intentions concerning religion even more clear, beginning with the Catholic religion. The Holy Father's statements, especially about condoms, belong to another generation. The fresh "convert" does not hesitate to explain to the pope not only what he must do, but also what he must believe! Is he Catholic? Blair does not believe in the authority of the pope.

So now we are back in the time of Hobbes, if not of Cromwell: it is civil power that defines what one must believe. Religion is emptied of its distinctive content, its doctrine; nothing remains but a residue of morality, as defined by the Leviathan. It is not said that one must deny God, but from now on God has nothing to do with the history of men and their rights: it is a return to Deism. God is replaced by the Leviathan. It is up to this to define, if it wishes, a civil religion. It is up to this to interpret, if and how it wishes, the religious texts. The question of the truth of religion no longer has any relevance. Religious texts, in particular the biblical ones, must be understood in their purely "metaphorical" sense; this is what Hobbes recommends (III, XXXVI). At the most, only the Leviathan can interpret the Scriptures. Religious institutions must also be reformed to adapt them to the changes. Some religious figures must be taken hostage and made to approve the new secularized "faith," that of the "civil partnership. "

The rights of man as understood in the realist tradition are here put to the sword. Everything is relative. There are no rights left, except for the ones defined by the Leviathan. As Hobbes writes, "The law of nature and the civil law contain each other and are of equal extent" (I, XXVI, 4). Nothing remains of the truth, except for what the Leviathan says. It alone decides how the change should take place.

The return of the two-headed eagle

Blair's project cannot be realized without bringing back into question the distinction and relations between Church and state. This project threatens to set us back to an age in which political power was ascribed the mission of promoting a religious confession, or of changing it. In the case of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, this is also a matter of promoting one and only one religious confession, which a universal, global political power would impose on the entire world. We also recall that the intellectual foundations for the Blair project, impregnated with New Age thinking, were laid by the United Religious Initiative and by the Global Ethic Declaration, and it is supported by many similar foundations.

This project clearly recalls the history of Anglicanism and its foundation by "defender of the faith" Henry VIII. In effect, the realization of this project presupposes the creation of a worldwide government and a global thought police. As has been seen in the case of Barack Obama, the architects of the worldwide government are dedicated to imposing a system of legal positivism that puts law behind a supreme will, which determines the validity of particular laws. In short, if Blair's project should ever be realized, the agents of the world government would impose, as a new Act of Supremacy, a single religion, validated by the interpreters of the supreme will, the Vicar General of which may already have been found (Hobbes, III, XXXVI).

What the analysis of Barack Obama's decisions and Tony Blair's project reveals is that an alliance is coming between two converging intentions, one aimed at subjugating law and the other at subjugating religion. This is the new version of the two-headed eagle. Law and religion are exploited to "legitimize" anything at all.

This twofold exploitation is deadly for the human community. This is what emerges from the various experiences that have taken place in the context of the nanny state. This, by virtue of wanting to please individuals, has multiplied subjective "rights" of attribution, for example in the areas of divorce, sexuality, the family, population, etc. But by doing this, the nanny state has created countless problems that it is incapable of resolving. With the extension of these "rights" of attribution on a worldwide scale, the problems of instability and marginalization are increased to such an extent that no world government will be able to solve them.

The same is true for religion. Since the separation of Church and state was achieved, it has been inadmissible for the state to use religion to reinforce its own dominion over hearts, bodies, and consciences. As Archbishop Roland Minnerath says, the state cannot shackle religious truth, and must even guarantee the free search for this.

Toward political-legal terrorism

Through these channels, and with the support of the Blairs, the president-jurist Obama is preparing to launch a new American messianism, in a totally secularized form. He is supported in this by his faithful colleague, a presumed candidate for the presidency of the European Union. The supreme will of the president of the United States will ratify the law of nations and the law concerning relations among nations. In his footsteps, the "Thirty-Nine Articles" of the new religion will be promulgated by his British colleague.

From the summit of this pyramid, the will of the Prince is destined to circulate through the international channels of the UN to the individual national channels. In perspective, this process, as can be guessed, extinguishes the authority of the national parliaments, abolishes the authority of the executive branch, and ruins the independence of judicial power. These are the reasons why, in Obama's thinking, an international criminal court should have a larger role, and must be armed in order to coerce the recalcitrants - for example, the Catholics - who reject this view of power and law, of law as a servant of power. How can one not see this blinding truth: that we are witnessing the emergence of an unprecedented form of political-legal terrorism?

To finish, let us make the effort to remember that the Church does not have a monopoly on respect for the human right to life. This respect is proclaimed in the greatest moral and religious traditions of humanity, which often predate Christianity. The Church fully recognizes the value of arguments from reason in favor of human life. As Archbishop Minnerath has admirably demonstrated, the Church completes and consolidates this argumentation by drawing on the contribution of theology: respect for creation; man as the image of God; love of neighbor; the new commandment; etc. These arguments are frequently presented in the Church's statements, and in the many Christian documents on this question.

But when the highest authorities of the nations, and even of the world's leading power, waver on respect for fundamental human rights, it is the Church's duty to appeal to all men and women of good will to unite for the purpose of creating a single front to defend the life of every human being. The first attitude required of all, according to the responsibilities of each one, is conscientious objection, which Obama is trying to circumscribe. But this objection must be accompanied by efforts in the political sphere, in the media and the universities. The mobilization must be general and must have the central objective of all morality, and especially all Catholic morality: to acknowledge and love one's neighbor, beginning with the smallest and most vulnerable.

RELATED LINKS

> Tony Blair Faith Foundation

> Millennium Development Goals

> United Religions Initiative

> Global Ethic Foundation

> Attitude

__________

The introductory booklet for the plenary assembly of the pontifical academy of social sciences, held at the Vatican from May 1-5, 2009, with the schedule for the working sessions:

> XV Plenary Session on Catholic Social Doctrine and Human Rights

Benedict XVI's address to the participants, on May 4:

> "As you gather for the fifteenth plenary session..."

__________

The commentary in "L'Osservatore Romano" on April 30, 2009, on the start of the Obama presidency:

> One hundred days that didn't shake the world

__________

Mary Ann Glendon's letter to the president of Notre Dame University, Fr. John I. Jenkins, in which the president of the pontifical academy of social sciences criticizes the awarding of a degree "honoris causa" to Obama:

> "Dear Father Jenkins..."

__________

English translation by Matthew Sherry, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

http://chiesa. espresso. repubblica. it/articolo/ 1338321?eng= y
15.

Half Pant NAZIS are Mediocre, Liars, Crooks, Cheats and Exploiters

Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com   progressindia008

Sun May 10, 2009 10:48 am (PDT)



Half Pant NAZIS are Mediocre, Liars, Crooks, Cheats and Exploiters
€ ¢Â 
Dear Mukesh Varma,
In last few months I have studied important documents like the approach paper to 10th Plan, Budget of States under both NDA and UPA etc I am horrified at the gross incompetence of Half Pant Nazis who systematically planned to dismantle PDS, MSP for farmers etc on one hand and provide public funded Storage to Traders so that they can legally HOARD foodgrains and let scoundrel banias like Ambanis 50% to 90% share in publicly funded companies. How HPN restricted NRIs investment in to Indian Companies but let Ambanis to take out any amount to foreign countries, repealed FERA leaves no room for doubt about HPN real intentions.
€ ¢Â 
http://www.planning commission. nic.in/plans/ planrel/appdraft .pdf
€ ¢Â 
When Ambani Goondas raising FALSE theft bills of Rs.5 lakh or his Telecom company send goons to recover inflated Telephone bills you must look at Half Pant Nazis for the loosening of administrative control.
€ ¢Â 
When you find Traders, moneylenders and Hoarders were advanced more loans than to farmers and SMEs- you ought to blame Half Pant Nazis.
€ ¢Â 
The IFPRI report actually released by Ashok Gulati officially is consistent with agricultural production of these states.
€ ¢Â 
Nation is to run by qualified professionals not by a bunch of scoundrels.
€ ¢Â 
Narendra Modi and Advani are top crooks make a fool all the time.
€ ¢Â 
Half Pant Nazis are biggest threat to 1.2b people of India.
€ ¢Â 
http://planningcomm ission.nic. in/plans/ stateplan/ sdr_pdf/shdr_ guj04.pdf
€ ¢Â 
Gujarat Human Development Report 2004 forwarded by Narindra Modi and Printed in Ahemdabad EXPLODES all Modi Lies.
€ ¢Â 
Robbing Madhya Pradesh of Narmada River Waters
€ ¢Â 
Even after Robbing MP bigger state of its Narmada Waters that means Entire Bundelkhand and Malwa Region Regions have practically no water resource Gujarat has not recorded food production increase noticeably more than 1997-8.€ ¢Â 
€ ¢Â 
I was listening to Modi lies on TV. There is not a single word about Food Production in Gujarat even as over Rs.50,000 crores had been spent on SSP related projects.
€ ¢Â 
Nitish Kumar cum Sushil Modi falsely blamed Central Government for not providing flood relief but these Scoundrels firstly didn€ ¢â' '¹t release Rs.1 crore to repair Kosi embankment and then let Kosi run down unchecked for three months until monsoon was over to invite Tenders, just few kilometers from Ludhiana Three Breaches in Satluj Rivers were plugged by farmers last year without any external aid.
€ ¢Â 
Tragedy for India is Scoundrels who shamed India are touts of corporate and Banias but yet again promise Loan Waivers to farmers.
€ ¢Â 
But the challenge are € ¢â' '¼How to Restore 50% of Public Equity in Corporate?€ ¢â' '½ and € ¢â' '¼How to ensure No Middlemen between Farmers/ Industry and Consumers?€ ¢â' '½
€ ¢Â 
Half Pant Nazis are silent on this.
€ ¢Â 
Half Pant Nazis are silent on Prescribing minimum 10 year jail term to Death Penalty for Corporate who transfer money to Switzerland.
€ ¢Â 
Ravinder Singh
May10, 2009
€ ¢Â 
Re: Gujarat Ranks with Bangladesh in Ashok Gulati Report
Posted by: "Mukesh Varma" mukeshvarma@ yahoo.com € ¢Â 
Sun May€ ¢Â 10,€ ¢Â 2009 12:09€ ¢Â am (PDT)

Ravinder Singh-ji,

I have been reading your analysis on various issues during last 3 years and have been your admirer. I have also been in agreement with those who rated you as an "inventor". However, your postings during last€ ¢Â few weeks on Guajarat/BJP/ RSS€ ¢Â do not seem to be€ ¢Â in line with your caliber.€ ¢Â 

These€ ¢Â postings are giving me a feeling that some vested interest€ ¢Â is "ghost writing"€ ¢Â for you. Please do not be misled by these motivated analyses and go€ ¢Â and see the things for yourself. I have been visiting Gujarat state regularly for the past 30 years and have seen the multidimensional progress made by this state during last 7 years. Nobody would believe€ ¢Â the report that says Gujarat is hungry. Gujaratis are known to be feeding the hungry anywhere in the world!!!

And what is wrong with half pants? Do you want to see the people of this developing country in 3 piece suits??

-- MV
€ ¢Â 

16.

Congenital Liar Modi and His Admirers

Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com   progressindia008

Sun May 10, 2009 10:49 am (PDT)



Congenital Liar Modi and His Admirers
€ ¢Â 
Liar Modi supporters would never believe any fact even if supported by hundreds of documents.
€ ¢Â 
This time I have downloaded Gujarat Human Development Report 2004 distributed by Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute and forwarded under signature of Narindra Modi. Print copy available for Rs.600. Following link will download 33mb file in to your computer.
€ ¢Â 
http://planningcomm ission.nic. in/plans/ stateplan/ sdr_pdf/shdr_ guj04.pdf
€ ¢Â 
Best Agriculture Year 1994-5
€ ¢Â 
You can see per capita income from agriculture at constant 1980-81 prices varied from Rs. 792 in 1980-81 to Rs. 729 in 1990-91 to Rs. 896 in 1994-95 and to Rs. 491 in 2000- 2001.
€ ¢Â 
Agricultural income of Gujarat in 1997-98 at 1993-94 constant prices was Rs.. 16,846 the congenital lairs take the imaginary of Rs.9000 for 2000 at 2000 prices and claims present agricultural income 48,000 at current price.
€ ¢Â 
Why can€ ¢â' '¹t Narindra Modi give figures of food production and imports for PDS from 1990 onwards?
€ ¢Â 
85 thousand organized sectors jobs were created in 7 years in Gujarat, 3% of Gujarat population 18,02 lakh is employed in Gujarat.
€ ¢Â 
Ravinder Singh
May10, 2009
€ ¢Â 
Table 2.1. Population growth in a century grew from 4% of India to 5% of India. So population growth from 9.1m to 50.05m contributed substantially to poverty in Gujarat.
€ ¢Â 
Table 2.8. Per capita Agriculture income in Rs 792 at 1980-81 prices.
€ ¢Â 
>> A striking feature of sectoral incomes in Gujarat is the highly fluctuating
character of per capita income from the primary sector, which varies from Rs. 792 in 1980-81 to Rs. 729 in 1990-91 to Rs. 896 in 1994-95 and to Rs. 491 in 2000- 2001 (Table 2.6). A recent publication of the Directorate of Economics
and Statistics (2002) shows that there are wide fluctuations in total agricultural income in the state (at 1993-94 prices), from Rs. 9,793.43 crore in 1993-94 to Rs. 16,846.18 crore in 1996-97, to Rs. 10,606.71 crore in 2000-2001, indicating a long term negative trend. (Page 56)
€ ¢Â 
Industrial Growth and Human Development
Gujarat is one of the most industrialized states in India. It contributes more than 13 per cent of national industrial production. As far as the state economy is concerned, manufacturing sector contributes 32.6 per cent of the state income and employs about 16 per cent of the workforce. This indicates that this sector enjoys a relatively high share in the state income and its workers enjoy
higher productivity and income levels than workers in the primary sector. This sector is important for human development because rapid industrial growth can raise employment, wages, and incomes of people directly
and indirectly.
€ ¢Â 
Gujarat state ranked 8th in industrial development among the major states in India when the state was formed in 1960. The favourable policies of the state government as well as the enterprising population pushed the sector up over the years, with the result that the state is at the forefront of industrial development today. The industrial base of Gujarat got increasingly diversified with petrochemicals and fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and drugs, dyestuffs, as well as engineering and electronics industries.
€ ¢Â 
Small-scale Sector
€ ¢Â 
The small-scale sector shows a slightly different pattern of growth. No significant improvement in the rate of increase in the SSI units is observed in the post reform period.
€ ¢Â 
On the contrary, there is a slight deceleration in the growth rate. CARG of the SSI sector was 10.19 per cent during 1980-90 and 8.09 per cent during 1990-95 (Table 2.11). SSI registration in the 1990s shows annual fluctuations, 13,027 in 1993-94, 14,437 in 1999-00 and 13,469 in 2000-01, with a CARG of 0.33 percent during the period 1993-2000 (Department of Economics and Statistics 2002). Official data also indicate that there has been a significant decline in the registration of SSI units; CARG showing negative growth in chemical and chemical products (-10.36), metal projects (-6.04), non-metallic mineral products (-9.06), basic metal industries (-8.44), transport equipments & parts (-6.77), tobacco and tobacco products (-7.95), wool, silk, and synthetic fibre textiles
(-8.08), electrical machinery and appliances (-5.82) and miscellaneous manufacturing industries (-10.89). Increase rate has been observed only in € ¢â' '¸other services€ ¢â' '¹ (16.96), cotton textiles (2.35), hosiery and garments (3.45) and repair services (3.84). Even the location and composition of SSI units does not show
major changes.
€ ¢Â 
€ ¢ð'°'¢'« Composition of industries: The predominance of pollution-prone industries in the industrial structure of the state economy is largely because of historical developments. There is a now a need to go into non-polluting, knowledge-based industries. The state government has initiated some efforts in this area but it has a long way to go to achieve any rate of success.
€ ¢Â 
Table 2.15 Employment in organized sector increased marginally from 14.38 lakh in 1983 to 17.17 in 2000 to 18.02 lakh in June 2007.
€ ¢Â 
SER 2008 > 6.83. Employment in the public sector establishments covered under EMI scheme in Gujarat has decreased from 8.15 lakh at the end of June-2006 to 7.93 lakh at the end of June-2007 .Where as Employment in the private sector has increased from 9.44 lakh at the end of June-2006 to 10.09 lakh at end of the June-2007.

17.

Invitation to conf on community governance and commodification of fo

Posted by: "ashok.chowdhury@gmail.com" ashok.chowdhury@gmail.com

Sun May 10, 2009 10:49 am (PDT)



*Note : Hindi invite is attached*

* *

*Stop commodification of forests Protect Livelihoods
Save Forest Resources*

* *

*National Conference on *

*€  '±Resisting commodification of Forests; *

*Establishing community governance over forest resources€  '²*

* *

*Venue: Dehradun *

*Dates: 10-12 June 2009 *

* *

Dear comrades,

For centuries the forest people of India have been struggling to reestablish
their sovereign rights over forests, which were taken away by the colonial
British government in the 18th century. Since then many historic movements
were carried out by the forest people against the eminent domain of the
State. These struggles, spread over different regions, continued even after
independence, since the forest people were yet to achieve freedom from the
eminent domain of the State and the elites.

Now, more than 60 years after Independence, the forest people have got a
sense of freedom with the enactment of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act or the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006
which was passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2006. Despite many
shortcomings and apprehensions in the process of enactment and
implementation of this historic act, it is a very important event in the
forest peoples€  '² struggle.

The State and the elites who have had total control of forest resources for
such a long period will not cede their domain easily and instead will do
everything to stop the implementation process to ensure that the act only
remains on paper. Moreover, even the civil administration barring some
exceptions is not been very keen in implementing the act since it will
create new power structures in the forest areas.

Political parties, generally speaking are apathetic to the empowerment of
forest communities. So, among these diverse problems in effective
implementation each problem has to be tackled specifically at different
stage. One needs to keep in mind, while deciding specific and overall
strategies for implementation, that the conflict between the forest people
and forest and civil bureaucracy and that with the elites is inevitable in
this process. Such conflicts should be resolved within the democratic
premise thorough a militant & continuous mass movement.

The irony in the implementation of the FRA is evident from the fact that the
Chhattisgarh Government which has been advertising that it has settled
maximum claims under the Act, is also the one which created the maximum
inter-community friction by its anti-Act position that only tribals (STs)
will be given rights under the FRA. On the other hand, states such as Uttar
Pradesh, under pressure from forest communities and movements, have decided
to go by the spirit of the Act, keeping the Forest Department out of the
implementation of the FRA.

This will be a long term struggle and no shortcuts are possible. The long
term goal of movements should be to establish community governance over
forests. This is inherent in the FRA and this is the main challenge for the
movement groups. Active members in the movement along with the ever-growing
conscious communities will have to develop the appropriate framework of
community governance, based on specific situation of each forest region and
its history.

The NFFPFW in its Second General Conference, held in October 2006 at Ranchi
had adopted these important political resolutions on which future strategies
would be developed.

1. Establishment of community governance over forest resources

2. To resist commodification of forest resources

Since the conference, some initiatives have been taken in some areas in
Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand.

These two political questions are closely linked and cannot be separated
from each other. This will be the basic premise on which the forest rights
movement and the movement for environmental justice will have to come
together to build a larger mass movement to protect the resources and to
protect the livelihood & cultural rights of the natural resource dependent
people. This is the main challenge before the movement groups.

The Ranchi conference also decided that in order to meet this challenge
effectively and successfully, it is essential to strengthen community
leadership. Members from the forest community would lead the long-term
struggle from the front and not be passive participants.

This is a critical juncture for the movement and it is imperative that
active members of the movement and friends and sympathisers collectively
decide on effective strategies to strengthen the long-term relationship of
the forest rights movement and environmental justice movement with other
peoples€  '² movements. In the absence of a proper coordination among these
diverse movements, capitalist and market forces are still in a dominant
position in controlling the forests and other natural resources resulting in
an exacerbation of the environmental crisis. In the guise of resolving this
crisis, these forces are strengthening their profiteering through various
free market bilateral and multilateral negotiations.

At the same time working people are getting organised; protesting and
resisting against the capitalist onslaught all over the world. Whether it is
the WTO negotiations or the G-20 meetings in London to resolve the financial
crisis, there are protests being organised across the world.

The climate crisis represents yet another opportunity for the market forces
to make profits. But at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) in Bali in 2007 and earlier this year at the 2009 World
Social Forum (WSF) in Belem, Brazil, forest people, working people and
groups from the environment justice movement came together to raise their
united voices against capitalist destruction of natural and human resources.

India is now in the process of electing the 15th Lok Sabha. There is
uncertainty over who will form the Government. It is quite evident that the
next Government will not be a stable one despite statements to the contrary
by various political parties. It is also evident that given the history and
experience of the major national and regional parties, free market policies
will continue in the new regime.

In such a situation it will be the responsibility of the movement groups to
put pressure on the government to implement pro-people policies. This will
ensure more political space for the peoples€  '² movements.

This national conference is being organized to discuss these serious issues
and to plan a comprehensive strategy for future actions. The constituent
organisations of NFFPFW and other movement based organizations working in
the forest rights campaign will be participating in this conference along
with many other friends and support groups.

Your participation will be very crucial to make the programme a success. The
details of agenda and other logistics will be sent to you shortly.

Please send your confirmation to us at the earliest.

We look forward to welcoming you in Dehradun. Dehradun acquires special
significant at this juncture as it is India€  '²s forests capital. It is also
the capital of Uttarakhand, whose 65% of the area is notified as forest
lands.

*The three-day conference will be held at Radha Guest House, Niranjanpur,
Opp Sabzi Mandi, Dehradun.*

With warm wishes and in solidarity,

*Munnilal* (Convenor, NFFPFW), *Ashok Chowdhary* (Founding Member, NFFPFW),
*Roma* (NFFPFW Kaimoor region and Special Invitee State Level Monitoring
Committee on FRA, UP), *Budhinarayan* (Kaimoor Kshetra Mahila Majdoor Kisan
Sangarsh Samiti, Member State Level Monitoring Committee, UP),
*Matadyal*(Patha Dalit Adhikar Manch),
*Nathu Kol* (Member State Level Monitoring Committee, UP), *Ganga
Arya*(Vangram Bhoo Adhikar Manch, Uttrakhand),
*Ramchander Rana* (Tharu Adivasi Mahila Majdoor Kisan Manch, Member SLMC,
UP), *Noor Alam* (Vangujjar Kalyan Samiti, Uttrakhand), *Ch. Bashir Ahmed
Khatana* (All India Nomadic Gujjar Association, J&K), *Shanta
Bhatacharjee* (Gramin Majdoor Union, UP),
*Guman Singh* (Himalaya Niti Abhiyan), *Renu* (Bhoo Adhikar Manch,
Jaunpur), *Rajnish* (Vikalp Social Organization) , *Prithvi Singh* (Ghad
Kshetra Majdoor Morcha), *M. Hanif & Vinod Pathak* (Human Rights Law Centre)

*Contact: Regional Coordination Centre, NFFPFW, c/o Uttarakhand Mahila
Manch, Sarawati Vihar, Kala Gaon, (Near Homeguard Commandant Office),
Haridwar Bye-pass, Dehradun, Uttarakhand*

*Email: nffpfwnz@gmail. com, vangram@gmail. com*

*Phone no: 09412990913, 09412348071*

*Postal Address: c/o NFFPFW (North Zone), 18, Ruchipura, Majra, Dehradun,
Uttrakhand*

--
C/O Vikalp
11, Mangal Nagar
Saharanpur - 247001
Uttar Pradesh, India
Ph 91-132-2661276
18.

PAKISTAN Taliban a threat to the whole country, Pakistani PM says

Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it   sitrep_comalp

Sun May 10, 2009 10:50 am (PDT)



05/08/2009 16:37
PAKISTAN
Taliban a threat to the whole country, Pakistani PM says
by Qaiser Felix
Prime Minister Gilani says army intervention is the only way to protect peace and the unity of the nation. Army and political parties back prime minister. Human rights commission calls for a task force to cope with refugee emergency.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - The "army has been called in to uphold the sanctity and integrity of the country, to eliminate militants and ensure the security of the people," Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said in an address to the nation. More importantly, the government's decision to use the iron fist against the Taliban in the Swat Valley has earned it support across the political spectrum. The country's human rights commission has warned however of a looming refugee crisis, calling on the authorities to set up a task force to tackle the emergency.
In a live TV and radio broadcast Pakistan's prime minister said that the time has come for the government to take the necessary steps against Taliban militias, who have violated the peace and quiet of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Mr Gilani said that based on the agreement signed with the Taliban, which led to the implementation of Sharia in the Swat Valley, the militants were supposed to lay down their weapons. Unfortunately they did not.

Instead the militants violated the deal in the Swat Valley and Malakand and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. The result has been that innocent and unarmed civilians are under constant threat, the prime minister said.

The government's decision to act against the Taliban comes after a three-way summit in Washington between the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan, which focused on security and assistance.

Calling on the nation to stand united, Mr Gilani pledged a billion rupees (US$ 12 million) to meet the immediate needs of internally displaced people.

His appeal has been welcomed by both the army and parliament which are both solidly behind the prime minister.

Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani vowed that the Pakistan Army would mobilise all available resources to launch a 'decisive operation' to crush the Taliban.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the only party that opposed Sharia law in parliament, called Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's decision bold and timely and assured its support against the Taliban.

Similarly, the Awami National Party said that Gilani had taken the right decision.

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid said that the prime minister's speech was very logical

For his part NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the government had no option but to launch a military operation.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called upon the federal government to immediately set up a special task force to implement a relief plan for the large number of people displaced in the ongoing conflict in the country's northern part, a number which may soon reach a million.

Their needs are both urgent and substantial and the provincial government alone cannot cope with their needs.

For this reason a plan should be drawn up to help meet the refugees' short and long term needs.

http://www.asianews .it/index. php?l=en& art=15192& size=A
19.

The Pope's Toughest Job in the Holy Land: Winning over the Christian

Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it   sitrep_comalp

Sun May 10, 2009 10:52 am (PDT)



The Pope's Toughest Job in the Holy Land: Winning over the Christians
The Israelis invited him, the Muslims are in favor of his visit. But not his own faithful in the area: most of the opposition to his trip has come from them. The reasons for the rejection. And the unknowns

by Sandro Magister

ROME, May 6, 2009 - The Sunday before leaving for the Holy Land, in a Saint Peter's Square overflowing with faithful, Benedict XVI said in a few words what the aim of his trip will be:

"With my visit, I intend to strengthen and encourage the Christians of the Holy Land, who must face numerous difficulties on a daily basis. As successor of the apostle Peter, I will communicate to them the closeness and support of the entire body of the Church. Moreover, I will be a pilgrim of peace, in the name of the one God who is Father of all. I will bear witness to the Catholic Church's efforts on behalf of those who strive to practice dialogue and reconciliation, in order to reach a stable and lasting peace in justice and mutual respect. Finally, this trip cannot help but have significant ecumenical and interreligious importance. From this point of view, Jerusalem is the city-symbol par excellence: it is there that Christ died in order to gather together all of the scattered children of God."

From these words - reiterated at the general audience on Wednesday, May 6 - it can be gathered that in order to promote peace and dialogue among the peoples and religions in the Holy Land, the pope is relying first of all on the Christians living there.

A bold wager. It's not only that Christians has been reduced to a tiny minority in the region, less than 2 percent of the population, which is mainly Jewish and Arab. It must also be kept in mind that the Christians in the area have been the most skeptical in reacting to the announcement of the pope's trip. Many of them, including priests and bishops, have said that his visit is inopportune.

It has taken a great deal of effort to smooth over this front of rejection. The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, has confirmed this in an interview: the reasons of the opponents were even explained to Benedict XVI in person.

The main concern of the opponents was that the pope's trip - in part because of his extremely positive stance on religious dialogue with Judaism - could be to Israel's political advantage.

Benedict XVI firmly stood his ground. For its part, Vatican diplomacy did all it could to pacify the opposition.

This explains, for example, the benevolence that the Vatican showed toward Israel's archenemy, Iran, during and after the controversial Geneva conference on racism: a benevolence that many observers judged as disproportionate.

It may also explain the silence of the Vatican authorities and the pope himself on the treacherous hanging of the young Iranian woman Delara Dalabi in Tehran. In cases of this kind, publicized all over the world, the Holy See almost always raises its voice in defense of the victims of human rights violations: but this time, it decided to remain silent.

***

It must be noted that Iran, in turn, is treating the Holy See with unusual benevolence. Receiving the new apostolic nuncio to Tehran, Archbishop Jean-Paul Gobel, in April of last year, President Ahmadinejad called the Vatican a positive force for justice and peace in the world.

Shortly afterward, he sent a high-level delegation to Rome, headed by Mahdi Mostafavi, a direct descendent of the prophet Mohammed, the president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization in Tehran, and a former foreign minister: one of Ahmadinejad' s trusted men and "spiritual advisers," with whom he meets "at least twice a week."

The Iranian delegation and an authoritative Vatican delegation held a closed door meeting from April 28-30, on the theme "Faith and reason in Christianity and Islam," which concluded with a meeting with Benedict XVI.

There is a tiny Catholic community in Iran, which is subjected to smothering supervision. This also helps to explain the "realism" demonstrated by Vatican diplomacy in this and other Muslim countries. Discretion is believed to be more effective than open denunciation in order to save what can be saved.

For example, the Vatican has stigmatized Ahmadinejad' s repeated anathemas against the existence of Israel only once, and in veiled form. It did this in a statement from the press office all the way back on October 25, 2005. Since then, silence.

But diplomatic "realism" does not explain everything. Ahmadinejad' s anti-Jewish anathemas sound familiar to a significant portion of the Arab Christians living in the Holy Land. For them as well, the very existence of Israel is the cause of all evils.

It must be kept in mind that such thoughts do not circulate only among Arab Christians, but also among leading representatives of the Catholic Church who live outside of the Holy Land, and in Rome.

One of these, for example, is Jesuit Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian by birth, one of the Islamologists most respected at the Vatican, who two years ago, in a "decalogue" for peace in the Middle East, wrote:

"The root of the Israeli-Palestinian problem is not religious or ethnic; it is purely political. The problem dates back to the creation of the state of Israel and the partitioning of Palestine in 1948 - following the persecution systematically organized against the Jews - decided by the great powers without taking into consideration the populations present in the Holy Land. This is the real cause of all of the wars that followed. In order to remedy a grave injustice committed in Europe against one third of the world's Jewish population, Europe itself, supported by other powerful nations, decided to commit and committed a new injustice against the Palestinian population, which was innocent in the slaughter of the Jews."

Having said this, Fr. Samir maintains in any case that the existence of Israel is today a matter of fact that cannot be rejected, independently of its original sin. This is also the official position of the Holy See, which has long been in favor of two states, Israeli and Palestinian.

Not only that. For Fr. Samir, the Arab Christians living in the Holy Land, although they are few in number, are "the only ones capable of promoting peace in the region, because they do not want to address the issue in religious terms, but according to justice and law."

According to Fr. Samir, in fact, the Arab-Israeli conflict will not end as long as there is a religious war between Judaism and Islam. Only if it is brought back to its political and "secular" characteristics can it find peace. And the Christians are the ones best equipped for the task.

***

On the eve of Benedict XVI's trip to the Holy Land, Fr. Samir expanded on these ideas about the role of Christians in the region in an interview with the Italian weekly "Tempi."

He said, among other things:

"Previously, the Nahdah, the Arab renaissance that took place between the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century was essentially produced by the Christians. Now once again, a century later, the same thing is happening, although the Christians are in the minority in Arab countries. Today the 'new' elements in Arab thinking are coming from Lebanon, where the interaction between Christians and Muslims is the most lively. Here there are five Catholic universities, in addition to the Islamic and state institutions. There are radio and television stations, newspapers and magazines of Christian origin, for which everyone writes, Muslims, secularists, Christians. Today, the cultural impact of the Christians in the Middle East takes place through the means of communication: Lebanon has become the leading center for book publication in the entire Arab world, printing Saudi books, Moroccan... The Muslims also understand that the Christians are the most active groups and the most dynamic cultural elements, as is often the case with minorities. Christians in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries also have connections and contacts with the West, and for this reason their cultural role is fundamental. Many Muslims, including authoritative leaders, in both Lebanon and Jordan, but also in Saudi Arabia, have stated this publicly: we do not want the Christians to leave our countries, because they are an essential part of our societies."

To this optimistic picture, Fr. Samir naturally adds the caution that Christians are in danger almost everywhere in Muslim countries. Beginning with Saudi Arabia, another country that the Holy See approaches from an impartially "realistic" stance, which culminated on November 6, 2007, with the welcoming of the Saudi king with full honors at the Vatican, avoiding any mention of the systematic violations of human rights in the country.

Returning to the Israeli-Palestian question, the role of Christians is seen more pessimistically by another leading expert on the region, the Custodian of the Holy Land, Franciscan Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa. In his view, today in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "Christians no longer count for anything, politically. "

Moreover, they are the most chilly in welcoming the pope's visit, despite the fact that he put them first on the list of the reasons for his trip.

Benedict XVI has a tough job ahead of him in the Holy Land. More than the Israelis, who invited him, more than the monarchy of Jordan, which has thrown open the doors for him, he will first have to win over the Christians in the region.

__________

The schedule of Benedict XVI's trip to the Holy Land, minute by minute, on the Vatican website:

> Pilgrimage 8-15 may 2009. Program

The online newspaper on the papal trip, edited by the Custody of the Holy Land:

> Terrasanta.net

__________

On political relations between the Vatican and Israel, on www.chiesa:

> In Gaza, the Vatican Raises the White Flag (4.1.2009)

And between the Vatican and Iran:

> When the Turbans of Persia Pay Homage to the Pastor of Rome (7.5.2008)

http://chiesa. espresso. repubblica. it/articolo/ 1338286?eng= y
20a.

Yuva Samvad Bhopal newsletter " DASTAK "– April- May 2009 issue

Posted by: "ashokk34@gmail.com" ashokk34@gmail.com

Sun May 10, 2009 10:56 am (PDT)



*dear comrades*
**
*YUVA SAMVAD , Gwalior organized a OPEN DISCUSSION on the subject "KAMGAR :
AAJ aur KAL", today. The discussion was centred around the history,
achivements and failures of trade union movements in india . The discussion
was attended by the representatives of CPM, CPI, CPI(ML), AITUC, CITU,
GUCTU, Railway Men's Association, NAGAR NIGAM SAFAI KARMCHARI UNION, Medical
Representatives Association, LIC' s Union, AG Office Association, All India
Lawyers Association and Stree Adhikaar Sangathan.*
**
*Obviously There were a clear deviation of point of views relating to the
present scenario of trade union movement but at the same time all were
aggree that the present trend is not satisfactory and we are unable to
present an acceptable model of Socialism to the society.*
**
*This is why it was decided that a bigger discussion should be organized on
the issue : "Reasons for the collapse of Twentieth century socialism and
Socialism for our times"*
*and YUVA SAMVAD was given the responsbility to organize it.*
**
*It was also decided to start a joint KAMGAR JODO ABHIYAN . Details of which
will be discussed later.*

**
*ashok*
*YUVA SAMVAAD, Gwalior*

--
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2009/5/8, YUVA SAMVAD <yuvasamvadbhopal@ gmail.com>:
>
> *Dear Friends, *
>
> * *
>
> *Greetings from Yuva Samvad Bhopal *
>
> * *
>
> *Please find enclosed Yuva Samvad Bhopal newsletter " **DASTAK** "€ ¢â' '³
> April- May 2009 issue.*
>
> *Comments, suggestions and feed-backs are most welcome for this issue
>
>
> *
>
> *Please circulate "** DASTAK** "** in your wider network. *
>
> * *
>
>
> *Best Regards*
>
>
>
> *Yuva Samvad*
>
> *DASTAK Team*
>
> *Bhopal*
>
> *
> *
>
> *09754762958*
>
> *09424401459*
>
>
>
>
> *Yuva Samvad is an informal group of youth in Madhya Pradesh who got
> together because they share a common set of values, vision and zeal to work.
> The group does not work in any structured manner. The informal group
> welcomes anybody who shares a similar thought and vision on social issues.
> The group universally stands against communal ism and believes in promoting
> human rights. We are working on the issues like Communal ism, Displacement,
> and other concerned issues like caste, Gender Etc. *
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
>
> **
>
> **
>
>
> --
> "We will have to face the risk of Expression
> and have to demolish the monastery and fort".
>
> YUVA SAMVAD
> BHOPAL
> MADHYA PRADESH
> http://naidakhal. blogspot. com/
> http://yuvasamvaad. webs.com/
>
>

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