752: Gender Binary

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Thu, 27 Aug 2015 22:47

Tour de Vin 2015 is right around the corner

Twin Liquors at Hancock Center hosted a sneak peek wine tasting event last week for the upcoming Tour de Vin, an annual festival from the Wine & Food Foundation of Texas. Vendors and wineries gave a preview of some of the wines they'll be presenting during Tour de Vin at the Fair Market on September 17th. The pre-tasting event featured mostly California wines, but Tour de Vin will include several wines from Texas and around the world.

Wines that stood out at the pretasting that you'll see at the main event include the 2012 Catena malbec and the trebbiano from Duchman Family Winery. Both have a length that exceeds their price points.

New This Year: Contest and Wine AppTour de Vin pre-tasting event

This year, the Wine & Food Foundation will hold a ''Box or Bottle'' contest at Tour de Vin, and attendees will try to guess a wine's packaging based on taste.

Festival-goers will also have the option to install a wine list application on their smartphones made especially for the event. We've all tasted a wine at least once and thought, ''I have to remember this,'' only to forget the name the next day. This won't be the case after this year's Tour de Vin. The application will help festival-goers remember a wine and find where to find it at Austin stores and restaurants.

This year, the Wine & Food Foundation plans to have booths set up in a manner that not only highlights specific types of wines, but also organizes wines by occasion. For example, birthday wines or weeknight wines will be curated and placed together for tasting.

Texas Wineries to AttendDuchman Family Winery trebbiano and aglianico wines

Texas wineries that will be featured at Tour de Vin include Duchman Family Winery (Driftwood), Fall Creek (Driftwood), Messina Hof (Fredericksburg) and McPherson Cellars (Lubbock).

A representative from Duchman Family Winery attended the pre-tasting event and provided samples of their Trebbiano and Anglianico wines. Duchman has an affinity for Italian grapes and makes wines from Italian grape varieties grown right here in Texas.

Up and Coming Local Chefs to Prepare Exclusive BitesLocal chefs to offer bites during Tour de Vin 2015

Up and coming local chefs will prepare special hors d'oeuvres for Tour de Vin 2015. Chefs who will be preparing this year's vittles include Andrew Wisehart from Gardner and Contigo, Ek Timrerek from Kin & Comfort, Jacob Weaver from Juliet, Jodi Elliott from Bribery Bakery and Joe Anguiano from VOX Table.

Where to Buy TicketsTour de Vin will take place Thursday, September 17, 2015 at Fair Market on East 5th Street. Tickets are on sale online for $70 (members $55).

Beneficiaries of this year's event include Dell Children's Hospital, the Sustainable Food Center and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Viticulture & Fruit Lab for biological research that protects Texas grapes.

@natalien_n wants to know:

What is your favorite Texas wine?

***We always have unique content on the Austinot, and we love to give things away. You know, like CDs, event tickets and other cool stuff. We only send out our Best of the Austinot newsletter two times/month. It's where we give you a recap of our best articles and give stuff away. Interested? Subscribe to Best of the Austinot here!

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Fri, 21 Aug 2015 13:49

Written by Adbusters in May 2002 and pinched from adbusters.org.How Many of You Know How to Watch Television?''How many of you know how to watch television?'' I asked my class one day. After a few bewildered and silent moments, slowly, one by one, everyone haltingly raised their hands. We soon acknowledged that we were all ''experts,'' as Harold Garfinkel would say, in the practice of ''watching television.''

The purpose of our un-TV experiment was to provoke us into seeing television as opposed to merely looking, and to stop the world as the first step to seeing. Here we engage in stopping the world by stopping the television.

For the experiment, students were asked to watch TV consciously. Insofar as this is sort of ''Zen and the art of TV watching,'' I said to them, ''I want you to watch TV with acute awareness, mindfulness and precision. This experiment is about observing television scientifically, with Beginner's Mind, rather than watching television passively with programmed mind. Ordinarily, if you are watching TV you can't also observe and experience the experience of watching TV. When we watch TV we rarely pay attention to the details of the event. In fact, we rarely pay attention.''

Count the Technical EventsIn this particular experimental odyssey, we are going to be exploring how we subject ourselves on a daily basis to the overwhelming sirens' song of TV entertainment (the great electronic cyclops) and, like Homer's Odysseus, we will need to strap ourselves to the mast''in this case, the mast of counting technical events. For 10 minutes simply count the technical events that occur while you are watching any show. This is a TET or Technical Events Test as Jerry Mander discusses it in Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. What is a technical event? We've all seen TV cameras in banks and jewelry stores. A stationary video camera simply recording what's in front of it is what I will call ''pure TV.'' Anything other than pure TV is a technical event: the camera zooms up, that's a technical event; you are watching someone's profile talking and suddenly you are switched to another person responding, that's a technical event; a car is driving down the road and you also hear music playing, that's a technical event. Simply count the number of times there is a cut, zoom, superimposition, voice-over, appearance of words on the screen, fade in/out, etc.

Now proceed with these experiments:

Watch any TV show for 15 minutes without turning on the sound.

Watch any news program for 15 minutes without turning on the sound.

Watch television for one half hour without turning it on.

The time requirements in these experiments are extremely important. I would urge you, the reader, to undertake the experiment personally rather than merely going on to read the results.

Anger and Resistance: What's the Meaning of This?!In examining the results of this experiment, one of the first things that consistently comes up is students' anger and resentment at being made to do such a thing''an anger and resentment very different from what comes up, say, in regard to the reading load or the writing requirements of the course. This anger, I think, is quite good and useful''not per se, but insofar as students notice their anger and then inquire into and examine the sources of that anger. For, in studying society, we often unconsciously assume we are studying ''them''''but we are not. We are studying ourselves and we resist that, we dislike that. It makes us uncomfortable and it makes us angry. Socrates wasn't given a medal and a tickertape parade after all. As the Russian existentialist philosopher Shestov said, ''It is not man who pursues truth, but truth man.''

One expression of this anger that comes up repeatedly is ''I wasted 30 minutes of my time.'' Is it possible that this is a very valuable waste of time? Is it possible that ''wasting time'' is a very valuable thing to do in studying society? Pursuing this experience puts us smack in the middle of the infamous Protestant Ethic in a very direct and personal way. We are almost re-creating through verstehen Max Weber's deep intellectual perplexity and fascination with what he saw as Benjamin Franklin's codification of the Protestant Ethic: ''Remember that time is money.'' After some discussion it invariably turns out that all the students admit to having wasted a lot more than a half hour in front of the TV set. So why this anger about watching TV for 30 minutes without turning it on?

Labor in the Mode of RelaxationWhen you turn the TV on, in effect, you turn the world off. The TV is only two feet high or so, yet we are fooled into thinking we are watching life-sized things. How is it that everything on it appears real and life-like?

Technical events produce the illusion of being natural and realistic. They produce the feeling of being non-produced (a good cut is one you don't notice, as the editors say). In the same way, we are unaware that the practice of watching TV is a practice because we have never experienced it as a phenomenon in its own right. Doing the Technical Events Test forces us to notice that watching TV is a practice, an active, ongoing achievement that we accomplish ''for another first time through'' each time. We see what the texture of the experience of watching TV consists of. We are shocked into seeing what it is we've been doing all these years.

Counting the technical events brings about what Thomas Kuhn would call a ''paradigm shift.'' When you focus on the technical events you can't focus on the plot or storyline. You learn very quickly how difficult it is to divide your attention. Either you watch the program or you count the technical events. You are unable to do both at the same time. In terms of the phenomenology of perception, this is a little like the famous demonstration of either seeing-the-vase or seeing-two-profiles, but not seeing both simultaneously in any sustained manner.

In doing the TET, we notice the discrete segments of independent footage that are presented with a rapid-fire quality. As we watch, we, the ''passive'' viewers, apparently put together, synthesize and integrate the scenes: we link, we knit, we chain, we retain the past and anticipate the future. We methodically weave them all together into a coherent narrative. A high-speed filling-in-the-blanks and connecting-the-dots occurs. Our actively synthesizing mind, our labor, goes on while we sit back, relax and absorb. This high-speed integration of often wildly disconnected phenomena (angles, scenes, persons, music) is experienced in the mode of blank and passive absorption. It would seem that our minds are in high gear without our knowing. Mander addresses this pointedly:

This difference between internally generated and imposed imagery is at the heart of whether it is accurate to say that television relaxes the mind.

Relaxation implies renewal. One runs hard, then rests. While resting the muscles first experience calm and then, as new oxygen enters them, renewal.

When you are a watching, absorbing techno-guru, your mind may be in alpha, but it is certainly not ''empty mind.'' Images are pouring into it. Your mind is not quiet or calm or empty. It may be nearer to dead, or zombie-ized. It is occupied. No renewal can come from this condition. For renewal, the mind would have to be at rest, or once rested, it would have to be seeking new kinds of stimulation, new exercise. Television offers neither rest nor stimulation.

Television inhibits your ability to think, but it does not lead to freedom of mind, relaxation or renewal. It leads to a more exhausted mind. You may have time out from prior obsessive thought patterns, but that's as far as television goes. The mind is never empty, the mind is filled. What's worse, it is filled with someone else's obsessive thoughts and images.

TV and the Social Construction of RealityThe Technical Events Test dramatically reveals the functions of the political institution of television in (a) training us to shorten our attention span, (b) making ordinary life appear dull, (C) injecting a hypnotic quality into our ordinary awareness and (d) coercing us into its reality.

Television is the quintessential short-term medium. Like jugglers, television lives for the split second. Its relationship to viewers is measured in tiny fractions. Solemn hierarchies of men and women react to overnight program ratings with something approaching nervous breakdowns, because one percentage point can mean $30 million a year. The result of this manic concern is to design programming that will serve attention-getting rather than the humanistic substance that will stay with the viewer. The ratings race serves the advertisers, not the audience.

It is easier to shorten attention spans and increase distraction than to lengthen attention spans, increase concentration, and calm, quiet and still the mind. There is an old Zen analogy that the way to calm, clear and quiet the mind is similar to the way to clear a muddy pool''not by action, by doing, by stirring it up, but by stillness, by letting it be, by letting it settle itself. The function of TV is to create, maintain and constantly reinforce what''in the Zen tradition''is often called ''monkey-mind.'' The question to ask is: What is the good of a jumpy, volatile, scattered and hyper monkey-mind?

Hypnosis UnlimitedSince the emergence of long-term space flight in orbit above the earth, a new physiological phenomenon has arisen among our astronauts. They found that as a result of long-term weightlessness, some rather drastic physical changes began to occur in their bodies. They experienced a marked and dramatic reduction of muscle size. Even their hearts became markedly smaller. The astronauts also experienced a loss of co-ordination abilities '' such as the ability to focus on and follow moving objects with their eyes. All of this seems to be due to taking the human organism outside the experience of gravity. In order to preserve their earthbound physiology in conditions of weightlessness, astronauts need to do two to three hours of custom-designed exercises per day. Perhaps watching TV produces the equivalent mental condition of weightlessness for the human mind, together with the attending shrinkages and deteriorations. The normal, invisible, all-pervasive pressure of mental gravity, of our ordinary, active, inncessntly thinking mind is suspended when we turn on the television.

Coercing Us Into RealityOur culture and education conspire to condition us, to create a reliance on media to reinforce our actions, feelings and self-perceptions. When we seek media confirmation we acknowledge and assume that our personal experiences are not qualified as reality any longer. We lose the drive to pursue direct experience as well as the drive to participate in co-creating reality. We no longer do, we watch, and reality is someone else's creation. As Todd Gitlin has said, it's not until an event (institution, thought, principle, movement, etc.) crosses the media threshold that it takes on a solid reality for us. Stretched out across our world is the media membrane, over the threshold of which''and only over the threshold''lies legitimate, confirmed reality, and though we don't have to believe what the media tell us, we can't know what they don't tell us.

TV Without SoundJust as Charles Tart talks about us being caught up in a consensus trance, we can talk about a narrative trance, a narrative-consciousness. We have been programmed to become narrative subjects, subjected to the developmental narrative mode, intertwined with the storyline. In the TET we're suspending our narrative consciousness and hence de-stabilizing the narrative subject. We identify not with a character, nor with the omniscient author, but with the camera. During usual viewing, however, our eyes do not see what is actually there because our narrative-trained mind overrides our eyes. We don't see with our eyes, we see with our programming, and we are programmed to see stories. TV programs are made so that we don't notice the ''technical events,'' the details '' so that we don't pay attention. We are programmed to be unaware of the programming, the non-narrative structure and possibilities of that structure. To watch TV programs is to be lifeless and unresisting. This is the state that allows the commercials to take full effect and operate our minds for us.

The Nature of the NewsAs a usual daily routine, only the unusually tragic or triumphant is shown''not the ordinary routines and day-to-day reality of our lives. It is true that the news show has fewer technical events. There is a good reason for this. With fewer technical events the news show appears realistic relative to other shows in the TV environment. Further, it appears super-realistic relative to the commercial shows in this environment. As earlier, we witnessed the joining of technical events in a coherent narrative. Here, we witness the reduction of worldly events into a narrative.

The problem is not that TV presents us with entertaining subject matter, but that TV presents all subject matter as entertaining. This transcends TV and spills over into our post-TV life experiences. TV trains us to orient toward and tune in to the entertainment quality of any experience, event, person. We look for that which is entertaining about any phenomenon rather than qualities of depth, social significance, spiritual resonance, beauty, etc. In this sense TV doesn't imitate life, but social life now aspires to imitate TV.

Further, we become greedy. Not greedy in the traditional sense in reference to material wealth, rather, we experience a greed to be entertained. It's not just a need for entertainment, but a downright greed for entertainment, and it becomes a 24-hour obsession. In the absence of entertainment, we usually entertain ourselves with plans for future entertainment.

As one formula puts it, Media Power = Political Power Squared The TV has shown us that politicians can't be trusted but TV can. That is, according to Joshua Meyrowitz in No Sense of Place, implicit in showing us this about politicians is the message, ''We who are showing you this, the TV, can be trusted.'' We can trust TV, and the institution of TV, to reveal how politicians and the institution of politics can't be trusted.

Discoveries About SelfTV has become such a mechanical friend, such a substitute for social interaction, that one's solitude becomes acutely magnified, doubly experienced and doubly reinforced if one is deprived of its glowing, life-like presence (as if one wouldn't still be alone if it were on). If one is alone in one's room and turns on the TV, one actually doesn't feel alone anymore. It's as if companionship is experienced, as if communication is two-way. We have achieved a new level of isolation, solipsism and withdrawal. ''It's just an object when it's turned off,'' hundreds of students have bemoaned. When it is turned off it more clearly reveals itself as an object, as an appliance''rather than as a friend, a companion. It is shocking after all these years to discover this. Mander captures the phenomenology of the situation well:

Television is watched in darkened rooms '... it is a requirement of television viewing that the set be the brightest image in the environment or it cannot be seen well. To increase the effect, background sounds are dimmed out just as the light is. An effort is made to eliminate household noises. The point, of course, is to further the focus on the television set. Awareness of the outer environment gets in the way'... . Dimming out your own body is another part of the process. People choose a position for viewing that allows the maximum comfort and least motion '... thinking processes also dim. Overall, while we are watching television, our bodies are in a quieter condition over a longer period of time than in any other of life's nonsleeping experiences. This is true even for the eyes '... the eyes move less while watching television than in any other experience of daily life.

Almost every household's living room is arranged around the television set. As a weight room is arranged for weight training, our living rooms are arranged for TV training. The furniture is purposely arranged for the transcendent practice of ''watching TV,'' rather than for the immanent, human practice of communication or interaction. The interior design of the average American living room with its lines of attention, hierarchy, and transcendent TV is very similar to the interior design of the average American church with its transcendent altar, lines of homage and gestures of genuflection.

TV and the Illusion of KnowingMarshall McLuhan says TV opens out onto an electronic global village. It would seem, rather, that it gives us only the illusion of being. It reinforces security by presenting danger, ignorance by presenting news, lethargy by presenting excitement, isolation by promising participation. The media confines reality to itself. And it limits knowledge by giving the illusion of knowledge. In the same way that the most effective way to deflect, diffuse and terminate a social movement is to announce that it has been achieved (the feminist movement must contend with this on an almost daily basis), the most effective way to deflect inquiry is to present it as fulfilled. TV acts in this guise as a thinking presentation device which offers non-experience as experience and not-knowingness as knowing.

In the words of Mat Maxwell, ''Television becomes the world for people'... . The world becomes television.'' The overall and cumulative effect of the media is to heighten our insensitivity to reality. Rather than breaking the chains of ignorance, political domination and illusion in our Platonic cave, something insidiously similar yet different is going on. Instead of actually turning away from the shadows to see the realities, instead of actually leaving the darkness of the cave and going up into the sunlight, we merely watch an image of ourselves doing this, we fantasize about doing it and think it's the same.

NDAA and Overturning of Smith-Mundt Act

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA) allows for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders and strikes down a long-time ban on the dissemination of such material in the country.[14][15][16]

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Propaganda in the United States is propaganda spread by government and media entities within the United States. Propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to influence opinions. Propaganda is not only in advertising; it is also in radio, newspaper, posters, books, and anything else that might be sent out to the widespread public.

Domestic[edit]World War I[edit]The first large-scale use of propaganda by the U.S. government came during World War I. The government enlisted the help of citizens and children to help promote war bonds and stamps to help stimulate the economy. To keep the prices of war supplies down, the U.S. government produced posters that encouraged people to reduce waste and grow their own vegetables in "victory gardens." The public skepticism that was generated by the heavy-handed tactics of the Committee on Public Information would lead the postwar government to officially abandon the use of propaganda.[1]

World War II[edit]During World War II the U.S. officially had no propaganda, but the Roosevelt government used means to circumvent this official line. One such propaganda tool was the publicly owned but government funded Writers' War Board (WWB). The activities of the WWB were so extensive that it has been called the "greatest propaganda machine in history".[1]Why We Fight is a famous series of US government propaganda films made to justify US involvement in World War II.

In 1944 (lasting until 1948) prominent US policy makers launched a domestic propaganda campaign aimed at convincing the U.S. public to agree to a harsh peace for the German people, for example by removing the common view of the German people and the Nazi party as separate entities.[2] The core in this campaign was the Writers' War Board which was closely associated with the Roosevelt administration.[2]

Another means was the United States Office of War Information that Roosevelt established in June 1942, whose mandate was to promote understanding of the war policies under the director Elmer Davies. It dealt with posters, press, movies, exhibitions, and produced often slanted material conforming to US wartime purposes. Other large and influential non-governmental organizations during the war and immediate post war period were the Society for the Prevention of World War III and the Council on Books in Wartime.

Cold War[edit]During the Cold War, the U.S. government produced vast amounts of propaganda against communism and the Soviet bloc. Much of this propaganda was directed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under J. Edgar Hoover, who himself wrote the anti-communist tract Masters of Deceit. The FBI's COINTELPRO arm solicited journalists to produce fake news items discrediting communists and affiliated groups, such as H. Bruce Franklin and the Venceremos Organization.

War on Drugs[edit]The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, originally established by the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988,[3][4] but now conducted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy under the Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998,[5] is a domestic propaganda campaign designed to "influence the attitudes of the public and the news media with respect to drug abuse" and for "reducing and preventing drug abuse among young people in the United States".[6][7] The Media Campaign cooperates with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and other government and non-government organizations.[8]

Iraq War[edit]In early 2002, the U.S. Department of Defense launched an information operation, colloquially referred to as the Pentagon military analyst program.[9] The goal of the operation is "to spread the administrations's talking points on Iraq by briefing ... retired commanders for network and cable television appearances," where they have been presented as independent analysts.[10] On 22 May 2008, after this program was revealed in the New York Times, the House passed an amendment that would make permanent a domestic propaganda ban that until now has been enacted annually in the military authorization bill.[11]

The Shared values initiative was a public relations campaign that was intended to sell a "new" America to Muslims around the world by showing that American Muslims were living happily and freely, without persecution, in post-9/11 America.[12] Funded by the United States Department of State, the campaign created a public relations front group known as Council of American Muslims for Understanding (CAMU). The campaign was divided in phases; the first of which consisted of five mini-documentaries for television, radio, and print with shared values messages for key Muslim countries.[13]

NDAA and Overturning of Smith-Mundt Act[edit]The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA) allows for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders and strikes down a long-time ban on the dissemination of such material in the country.[14][15][16]

Ad Council[edit]The Ad Council, an American non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various private and federal government agency sponsors, has been labeled as "little more than a domestic propaganda arm of the federal government" given the Ad Council's historically close collaboration with the President of the United States and the federal government.[17]

International[edit]Through several international broadcasting operations, the US disseminates American cultural information, official positions on international affairs, and daily summaries of international news. These operations fall under the International Broadcasting Bureau, the successor of the United States Information Agency, established in 1953. IBB's operations include Voice of America, Radio Liberty, Alhurra and other programs. They broadcast mainly to countries where the United States finds that information about international events is limited, either due to poor infrastructure or government censorship. The Smith-Mundt Act prohibits the Voice of America from disseminating information to US citizens that was produced specifically for a foreign audience.

During the Cold War the US ran covert propaganda campaigns in countries that appeared likely to become Soviet satellites, such as Italy, Afghanistan, and Chile.

Recently The Pentagon announced the creation of a new unit aimed at spreading propaganda about supposedly "inaccurate" stories being spread about the Iraq War. These "inaccuracies" have been blamed on the enemy trying to decrease support for the war. Donald Rumsfeld has been quoted as saying these stories are something that keeps him up at night.[18]

Psychological operations[edit]The US military defines psychological operations, or PSYOP, as:

planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.[19]

The Smith-Mundt Act, adopted in 1948, explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at the US public.[20][21][22] Nevertheless, the current easy access to news and information from around the globe, makes it difficult to guarantee PSYOP programs do not reach the US public. Or, in the words of Army Col. James A. Treadwell, who commanded the U.S. military psyops unit in Iraq in 2003, in the Washington Post:

There's always going to be a certain amount of bleed-over with the global information environment.[23]

Agence France Presse reported on U.S. propaganda campaigns that:

The Pentagon acknowledged in a newly declassified document that the US public is increasingly exposed to propaganda disseminated overseas in psychological operations.[24]

Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the document referred to, which is titled "Information Operations Roadmap." [22][24] The document acknowledges the Smith-Mundt Act, but fails to offer any way of limiting the effect PSYOP programs have on domestic audiences.[20][21][25]

Several incidents in 2003 were documented by Sam Gardiner, a retired Air Force colonel, which he saw as information-warfare campaigns that were intended for "foreign populations and the American public." Truth from These Podia,[26] as the treatise was called, reported that the way the Iraq war was fought resembled a political campaign, stressing the message instead of the truth.[22]

See also[edit]References[edit]^ abThomas Howell, The Writers' War Board: U.S. Domestic Propaganda in World War II, Historian, Volume 59 Issue 4, Pages 795 - 813^ abSteven Casey, (2005), The Campaign to sell a harsh peace for Germany to the American public, 1944 - 1948, [online]. London: LSE Research Online. [Available online at http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/archive/00000736] Originally published in History, 90 (297). pp. 62-92 (2005) Blackwell Publishing^National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 of the Anti''Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub.L. 100''752, 102 Stat. 4181, enacted November 18, 1988^Gamboa, Anthony H. (January 4, 2005), B-303495, Office of National Drug Control Policy '-- Video News Release, Government Accountability Office, footnote 6, page 3 ^Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 (Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999), Pub.L. 105''277, 112 Stat. 268, enacted October 21, 1998^Gamboa, Anthony H. (January 4, 2005), B-303495, Office of National Drug Control Policy '-- Video News Release, Government Accountability Office, pp. 9''10 ^Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub.L. 105''277, 112 Stat. 268, enacted October 21, 1998^Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006, Pub.L. 109''469, 120 Stat. 3501, enacted December 29, 2006, codified at 21 U.S.C. § 1752^Barstow, David (2008-04-20). "Message Machine: Behind Analysts, the Pentagon's Hidden Hand". New York Times. ^Sessions, David (2008-04-20). "Onward T.V. Soldiers: The New York Times exposes a multi-armed Pentagon message machine". Slate. ^Barstow, David (2008-05-24). "2 Inquiries Set on Pentagon Publicity Effort". New York Times. ^Rampton, Sheldon (October 17, 2007). "Shared Values Revisited". Center for Media and Democracy. ^"U.S. Reaches Out to Muslim World with Shared Values Initiative". America.gov. January 16, 2003.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 14:05

By Donna Braquet, Director of the Pride Center

With the new semester beginning and an influx of new students on campus, it is important to participate in making our campus welcoming and inclusive for all. One way to do that is to use a student's chosen name and their correct pronouns.

We should not assume someone's gender by their appearance, nor by what is listed on a roster or in student information systems. Transgender people and people who do not identity within the gender binary may use a different name than their legal name and pronouns of their gender identity, rather than the pronouns of the sex they were assigned at birth.

IntroductionsIn the first weeks of classes, instead of calling roll, ask everyone to provide their name and pronouns. This ensures you are not singling out transgender or non-binary students. The name a student uses may not be the one on the official roster, and the roster name may not be the same gender as the one the student now uses.

This practice works outside of the classroom as well. You can start meetings with requesting introductions that include names and pronouns, introduce yourself with your name and chosen pronouns, or when providing nametags, ask attendees to write in their name and pronouns.

Gender-neutral pronounsWe are familiar with the singular pronouns she, her, hers and he, him, his, but those are not the only singular pronouns. In fact, there are dozens of gender-neutral pronouns.

A few of the most common singular gender-neutral pronouns are they, them, their (used as singular), ze, hir, hirs, and xe, xem, xyr.

These may sound a little funny at first, but only because they are new. The she and he pronouns would sound strange too if we had been taught ze when growing up.

How do you know?How do you know what pronoun someone uses? If you cannot use the methods mentioned above, you can always politely ask. ''Oh, nice to meet you, [insert name]. What pronouns should I use?'' is a perfectly fine question to ask.

The more we make sharing of pronouns a universal practice, the more inclusive we will be as a campus. When our organizational culture shifts to where asking for chosen names and pronouns is the standard practice, it alleviates a heavy burden for persons already marginalized by their gender expression or identity.

Learn moreTo learn more about gender identity, gender-neutral pronouns, or transgender topics, consider signing up for a Safe Zone workshop at safezone.utk.edu.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 06:21

Federica Mogherini (Italian pronunciation: [fedeËrika moÉeËrini]; born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician and the current High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission in the Juncker Commission since 1 November 2014.

Mogherini was Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 21 February 2014 until 31 October 2014 in the centre-leftCabinet of Matteo Renzi.[1]

She is a member of the Italian Democratic Party and the Party of European Socialists.

Early life and education[edit]Federica Mogherini was born on 16 June 1973 in Rome, Italy, to the family of the film director and set designer Flavio Mogherini (1922''1994).

Mogherini attended the Sapienza University of Rome where she studied Political Science graduating with a Diploma in Political Philosophy with a thesis entitled "Relationship between religion and politics in Islam",[2][3] which she wrote whilst on the Erasmus programme at Aix-en-Provence, France.

Political career[edit]A member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation from 1988, in 1996 Mogherini joined the Youth Left after the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party before its transformation into a social democratic party. In 2001 she became a member of the National Council of the Democrats of the Left (DS), later serving on its National Executive Board and Political Committee. In 2003 she started working at the DS's Foreign Affairs Section, where she was given responsibility for relations with international movements and parties, later becoming the team's coordinator; after that she was given responsibility for Foreign Affairs and International Relations on the staff of DS Party chairman Piero Fassino. In this role, she oversaw relations with Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the Middle East peace process. Mogherini was in charge of maintaining relations with the Party of European Socialists, the Socialist International and other left-wing parties, including with the US Democratic Party.

After the formation of the Italian Democratic Party (PD), on 4 November 2007, Mogherini was appointed to the staff of its founding chairman Walter Veltroni (with whom she had already worked as assistant during his term as mayor of Rome).

In 2008 Mogherini was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing the constituency of Veneto. Serving in the 16th legislature, she became secretary of its Defence Committee, a member of the Italian parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe, and of Italy's parliamentary delegation to the Western European Union.

On 24 February 2009, she was appointed to the staff of the incoming chairman of the PD Dario Franceschini, with responsibility for equal opportunity. Since then she has been notable as a member of Franceschini's faction (Area Democratica).[4] She has also served as Vice-President of the Italy-USA Foundation.[5]

In February 2013 Mogherini was returned to parliament for the Emilia-Romagna constituency. During the 17th Italian legislature she served again on the Defence Committee (replacing Lapo Pistelli after he was appointed Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs), on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and on the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, and later its president from April 2013. On 1 August 2013 she was elected as head of the Italian delegation to the parliamentary assembly of NATO.[6]

On 9 December 2013, the new chairman of the PD Matteo Renzi appointed Mogherini to his staff, with the responsibility of European relations.

Mogherini is a Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.[6]

Italian government minister[edit]Mogherini joined the Renzi Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the third woman after Susanna Agnelli and Emma Bonino to hold this post. Her first public engagement following her appointment was to meet, along with Italy's Defence Minister, the wives of Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, the two Italian marines detained in India after the Enrica Lexie incident.

Under her direction, the Foreign Ministry worked for the release of Mariam Ibrahim. Italy's good relations with the Sudan helped in securing the release of this Sudanese woman who was finally permitted to fly to Italy on an Italian government government plane]].[7][8]

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy[edit]In July 2014, given the large number of Italian MEPs belonging to the S&D group following the European election, 2014, the European Council considered her as a candidate for the position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Jean-Claude Juncker's new European Commission. On the 13th July 2014, the Financial Times among other European newspapers reported that her nomination proposal had been opposed by some eastern European countries, including Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, where her stance towards Russia concerning the Ukrainian crisis was considered to be too soft.

Nonetheless, on 2 August 2014, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi formally nominated her by letter to EC President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, as Italy's official candidate for EU Commissioner.

On 30 August, Europe's socialist Prime Ministers met prior to the convening of the European Council, at which she received the approval of the Party of European Socialists. On the same day the President Herman Van Rompuy announced that the European Council had decided to appoint the Italian Minister as its new High Representative, effective from 1 November 2014.

At her first press conference she declared her efforts will be devoted to establishing discussions between Russia and Ukraine to solve the crisis between the two countries.

On November 8, 2014 she stated that "Gaza and the world cannot afford another war".

Criticism[edit]Criticism of Mogherini ranges from claims of her being pro-Russian and too close to the Kremlin, to not taking the threat of Russia seriously.[9][10][11][12][13] Others deem Mogherini's approach to Russia no different than that of Germany's and France's.[14]

Other activities[edit]Honours[edit]Personal life[edit]Mogherini married Save the Children official Matteo Rebesani, son of Colonel Domenico Rebesani; they have two daughters: Caterina (b. 2005) and Marta (b. 2010).

References[edit]^"Italy's Mogherini and Poland's Tusk get top EU jobs". BBC News. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014. ^"Mogherini: Italy's young rising star". AFP. 2014-08-30. Retrieved 2014-08-31. ^Vincenti, Daniela (2014-08-30). "Profile: Federica Mogherini, the next EU foreign affairs chief". EurActiv. Retrieved 2014-08-31. ^"A Matteo manca solo la fiducia". L'Unit (in Italian). Retrieved 1 September 2014. ^"Uragano Sandy, Mogherini: "Solidariet e amicizia al popolo americano, gli USA sapranno reagire"=". 30 October 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2014. ^ aburl = http://www.blogmog.it/index.cfm?target=chisono^"Sudan: amb. in Italia, Meriam a Roma grazie a amicizia tra nostri paesi". Adnkronos (in Italian). Retrieved 1 September 2014. ^"Woman who faced death for faith is free". CNN website. ^Higgins, Andrew; Neil Macfarquhar (30 August 2014). "Russia Pushing Ukraine Conflict to 'Point of No Return,' E.U. Leader Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2014. ^"Tusk and Mogherini '' A Good Lesson". Retrieved 31 August 2014. ^"Tusk, Mogherini Named to Top EU Posts Amid Russia Discord". Retrieved 31 August 2014. ^"Diligent Italian leftist accused of pro-Russian bias By Alvise Armellini, dpa". Retrieved 1 September 2014. ^"Who is Federica Mogherini - the new woman in charge of EU foreign policy?". Retrieved 31 August 2014. ^Wright, Thomas (28 August 2014). "Mogherini is the Wrong Choice for Europe". Brookings Institution. Retrieved 30 August 2014. ^Federica Mogherini: Declaration of interestsEuropean Commission.^Federica Mogherini: Declaration of interestsEuropean Commission.^Federica Mogherini: Declaration of interestsEuropean Commission.^Federica Mogherini: Declaration of interestsEuropean Commission.External links[edit]

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 06:37

Statement attributable to the Secretary-General on recent refugee/migrant tragediesNew York , 28 August 2015I am horrified and heartbroken at the latest loss of lives of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean and Europe.

Yesterday saw the grim discovery of the bodies of more than 70 people inside a truck abandoned near the Austrian border with Hungary. Reports indicate that many of the victims were Syrian asylum seekers '' including children.

Recent days have brought yet more news of hundreds of refugees and migrants drowning in perilous journeys on the sea.

Earlier this year, I visited search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Despite the concerted and commendable efforts of the joint European search and rescue operation '' which has saved tens of thousands of lives '' the Mediterranean Sea continues to be a death trap for refugees and migrants.

These repeated tragedies underscore the ruthlessness of people smugglers and traffickers whose criminal activities extend from the Andaman Sea to the Mediterranean to the highways of Europe. It also highlights the desperation of people seeking protection or a new life.

A large majority of people undertaking these arduous and dangerous journeys are refugees fleeing from places such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. International law has stipulated -- and states have long recognized -- the right of refugees to protection and asylum. When considering asylum requests, States cannot make distinctions based on religion or other identity '' nor can they force people to return to places from which they have fled if there is a well-founded fear of persecution or attack. This is not only a matter of international law; it is also our duty as human beings.

I commend those leaders and communities who have stepped up to our shared responsibilities and obligations. But much more is required. I appeal to all governments involved to provide comprehensive responses, expand safe and legal channels of migration and act with humanity, compassion and in accordance with their international obligations.

Let us also remember: the high number of refugees and migrants are a symptom of deeper problems '' endless conflict, grave violations of human rights, tangible governance failures and harsh repression. The Syrian war, for example, has just been manifested on a roadside in the heart of Europe.

In addition to upholding responsibilities, the international community must also show greater determination in resolving conflicts and other problems that leave people little choice but to flee. Failing that, the numbers of those displaced '' more than 40,000 per day '' will only rise.

This is a human tragedy that requires a determined collective political response. It is a crisis of solidarity, not a crisis of numbers.

I am encouraged that these issues will be an area of focus and priority when world leaders gather at the United Nations headquarters in New York next month for the opening of the General Assembly. I am organizing a special meeting devoted to these global concerns on September 30.

Statements on 28 August 2015

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 06:42

Only European migrants with jobs lined up should be allowed in to the UK, Theresa May has said, as she blamed Europe's "system of no borders" for the recent migration crisis.

The Home Secretary said the principle of free movement within the EU has allowed jobless citizens to move countries in search of work and benefits, putting pressure on public services and infrastructure.

She added that the events of this summer, which has seen hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees risking their lives to reach Europe, should act as "wake-up call" to EU leaders.

Earlier this week official data showed net migration in to Britain had reached a record high, hitting 330,000 in the year to March.

Mrs May said the figure was "far too high" and "simply unsustainable".

Writing in The Sunday Times, Mrs May said: "Reducing net EU migration need not mean undermining the principle of free movement.

"When it was first enshrined, free movement meant the freedom to move to a job, not the freedom to cross borders to look for work or claim benefits.

"Yet last year, four our of 10 EU migrants, 63,000 people, came here with no definite job whatsoever."

Earlier this month Mrs May visited Calais to inspect new security measures preventing migrants from reaching England via the Channel Tunnel.

She also blamed the "European system of no borders" for exacerbating the migration crisis which has dominated Europe this summer.

"This is a wake-up call for the EU. Its leaders must consider the consequences of uncontrolled migration - on wages, jobs and social cohesion of the destination nations; on the economies and societies of the rest; and on the lives and welfare of those who seek to come here," she said.

"If we want to control immigration - and bring it down to the tens of thousands - we must take some big decisions, face down powerful interests and reinstate the original principle underlying free movement within the EU."

Unprecedented numbers of migrants are reaching EU borders, surpassing 100,000 in July alone and reaching more than 340,000 this year so far.

Italy and Greece are struggling to cope with the daily influx of migrants and refugees, while Macedonia has declared a state of emergency.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 06:43

(Paul Vicente)

I AM not going to beat about the bush. The numbers are far too high. This government has an objective to reduce annual net migration to the tens of thousands '-- but the latest figures, released on Thursday, show it is three times that level, at 330,000.

The unprecedented number has led some to say we can't control immigration in the modern world '-- that we simply have to manage it or accept it as the consequence of a successful economy.

I disagree. Net migration at that volume is simply unsustainable. It puts pressure on infrastructure, such as housing and transport '-- and public services, such as schools and hospitals.

In our Immigration Act of 2014, we made it harder for illegal migrants to access public services, and restricted the ability of temporary migrants to benefit from systems to which they had not contributed.

We introduced the immigration health surcharge to ensure that

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 07:54

U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Michael Ratney visited Moscow today, August 28, for consultations with Russian officials on the ongoing conflict in Syria. These meetings in Moscow are part of consultations to follow up on Secretary Kerry's recent discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Doha and Kuala Lumpur, as well as ongoing efforts to support the Syrian opposition and to work toward greater convergence of views among both foreign governments and the Syrians themselves on a political transition in Syria and the defeat of extremists.

The United States remains strongly committed to achieving a genuine, negotiated political transition away from Bashar al-Assad that brings an end to the violence and leads to a future that fulfills Syrians' aspirations for freedom and dignity. The United States supports the Syrian people's aspirations for a democratic, inclusive, and unified Syria. The regime of Bashar al-Assad has violently suppressed what began as a peaceful protest movement in 2011. Assad has proven through his brutal and repressive tactics that he has lost all legitimacy, and he must go as part of a genuine political transition.

The United States continues to lead international efforts to defeat ISIL in both Syria and Iraq. We are cognizant that Assad's continued tenure fuels extremism and inflames tensions in the region. That is why a political transition is not only necessary for the good of the people of Syria, but an important part of the fight to defeat the extremists. The Special Envoy's visit to Moscow provided an opportunity to discuss these issues with Russian officials.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 07:43

ROSZKE, Hungary, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Hungary called on Tuesday for more money from the European Union to handle a rising tide of migrants crossing the Balkans, as a new wave hit its southern border and further exposed the cracks in EU policy towards the worst refugee crisis since World War Two.

More than 100,000 migrants, many of them refugees from conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, have entered Hungary, part of Europe's Schengen zone of passport-free travel, this year en route to the more affluent countries of western and northern Europe.

The influx ticked up on Monday to its highest daily rate this year - 2,093 - as many race to beat a fence that Hungary is building on its 175-km (110-mile) border with Serbia to keep them out.

A Reuters reporter saw hundreds stream unhindered into Hungary from Serbia on Tuesday, part of a larger movement in recent weeks whisked north by boat and bus as cash-strapped governments in Greece, Macedonia and Serbia try to move them on as fast as they can.

"We have skills, we can survive anywhere," 30-year-old Hassan, an IT engineer from Syria, said after walking across the border into Hungary. "We don't just come to Europe to eat and sleep. We're looking for safety. It's better to walk across half of Europe than to stay in Syria."

A record 50,000, many of them Syrians, reached Greek shores by boat from Turkey in July alone. Greece, embroiled in a debilitating economic crisis, is ferrying them from overwhelmed islands to the mainland, from where they head north to Macedonia and points beyond.

Macedonia tried to keep them out last week with razor-wire and stun grenades, but gave up in the face of huge and determined crowds. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said it expected the influx into Macedonia to continue at a rate of 3,000 per day for months.

Some 8,000 were estimated to be in Serbia, many spending the night in city parks.

Belgrade's Lasta bus company said it increased its daily departures to the northern town of Subotica from seven to 24. "In the coming days we may expect an increase," the company told Reuters in an email.

Hungarian authorities are rolling out a low, barbed-wire barrier along the border with Serbia, while construction crews race to complete a more substantial 3.5-meter-high fence.

"EUROPE HAS FAILED"

Critics point out that the vast majority of migrants who enter Hungary do not linger, determined to reach the likes of Austria, Germany and Sweden where they join up with relatives and friends in search of work and security.

But the Hungarian government under right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has taken a harder line than other EU states, saying such an influx carries risks of terrorism, crime and unemployment. He says the EU has failed to offer a coherent solution, and also faces pressure at home from far-right opponents.

Orban's chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said Hungary should be given more money by the EU. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has pledged nearly 8 million euros in aid and various other measures. But Lazar told the daily Magyar Hirlap newspaper it was not enough.

"The European Union distributes border protection funds in a humiliating way. Old member states have nicked the money from new members," he was quoted as saying.

"If we do not take meaningful steps, we will become a lifeboat that sinks beneath the weight of those clinging onto it," Lazar said in what appeared to be a reference to the deaths of over 2,000 migrants this year trying to reach Europe on overcrowded boats across the Mediterranean.

Not since the wars of Yugoslavia's collapse in the 1990s has the cash-strapped western Balkans seen such large movements of people. Germany says it expects a record 800,000 asylum-seekers to arrive this year, in a crisis overwhelming authorities in Europe from the Greek islands to the French port of Calais.

The European Commission has made clear its disapproval of the Hungarian fence, with its Cold War echoes in ex-Communist eastern Europe, but Hungary faces no sanction for building it.

On Monday, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker criticized bickering EU governments for "finger pointing" instead of confronting the migrant crisis with viable measures.

His deputy, Frans Timmermans, told Europe 1 radio on Tuesday that "Europe has failed. Europe has to get moving."

"So far, many member states have thought they can go it alone. That doesn't work. We have to do it together."

(Additional reporting by Reuters Television, Fatos Bytyci in PRESEVO, Serbia, Aleksandar Vasovic in BELGRADE, Alastair MacDonald in BRUSSELS, Stephanie Nebehay in GENEVA, Krisztina Than in BUDAPEST; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Also on HuffPost:

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 07:39

The tragic disaster in the Mediterranean Sea that killed an estimated 800 boat people fleeing from their countries has rightly moved the world community to focus on what can be done to protect vulnerable refugees trying to escape conflicts. International leaders owe it to the victims of this heart-breaking catastrophe to fix the problems, not just react to the side effects.

The U.N. and international officials cannot simply focus on what else Western nations can do to integrate millions of people into their countries. We must collectively confront those that are creating the instability '' and stop them.

The long-term solution to this growing crisis is to confront the reasons people leave their country in the first place. While migration is inevitable, the fact remains that most people leave their homes to escape violence and the certain persecution that comes from it. Today, terrorism and Islamic radicalism are a major cause of our refugee crisis.

The U.N. and international officials cannot simply focus on what else Western nations can do to integrate millions of people into their countries. We must collectively confront those that are creating the instability '' and stop them.

The U.N. and other international bodies, along with wealthier nations, could manage the unavoidable migration from poorer countries if there were greater focus on stopping the larger chaos created by leaders who finance and support terrorism in the name of Islam.

The side effect of this violence and other instabilities creates the very real and immediate challenge of how to humanely deal with the millions of young men, women and children risking their lives to escape it all. The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres calls it ''the greatest humanitarian disaster since World War II.''

But the U.N. and leaders like Guterres must recognize the problem before it can offer solutions that will work. Otherwise, we will continue to spend millions of dollars on the effects of the real problem while ignoring a solution that could help end or dramatically alleviate the suffering. The U.N. and international officials cannot simply focus on what else Western nations can do to integrate millions of people into their countries. We must collectively confront those that are creating the instability '' and stop them.

Syria is a perfect example. The deplorable Syrian refugee crisis was created because Syrian President Bashar al-Assad started a war on his people and the international community refused to confront him. Today, 200,000 people have been killed in Syria and 7.5 million people displaced. Imagine if in March 2011, the world had acted against Assad.

Kenya's generosity also serves as a lesson and a warning sign of how dealing with just the side-effects of migration without confronting the real problem can be an unfolding and greater disaster.

In 1991, Kenya welcomed Somali refugees fleeing terrorism and war in their homeland to a UN-mandated camp consisting of mud huts and tents in North East Kenya.

In 25 years, this ''temporary'' refugee camp has grown to house 600,000 Somalis in what Kenyan officials today say is an Islamic radical training ground for al-Shabaab militants. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks inside Kenya, including the Westgate Mall in Nairobi and most recently at a Kenyan university.

Kenya has recently decided it must shutdown the camp for the safety of its citizens. The UN, however, is telling Kenya it must keep the camp open to house the refugees.

Commissioner Guterres says, ''Some people argue that letting in refugees and other foreigners poses a threat to our society's way of life.'' He goes on to say, ''we can't deter people fleeing for their lives. They will come. The choice we have is how well we manage their arrival, and how humanely.''

But his singular focus on managing the crisis is troubling. No one should want to manage suffering without acting to stop it. It isn't real compassion if we aren't committing to end it. Ignoring the actual problem is not only costly, it is inhuman.

Richard Grenell is a Fox News Contributor. He served as the spokesman for four U.S. Ambassadors to the U.N. including John Negroponte, John Danforth, John Bolton and Zalmay Khalilzad. Follow him on Twitter@Richard Grenell..

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 07:01

GETTY

Tories set to block plans to let Mediterranean migrants locate to BritainTory MPs are furious at a new quota drawn up by European Commission bureaucrats that would more than double the numbers of people accepted by the UK to over 60,000 a year.

The proposal, backed by commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, is already threatening to be the first crisis confronting David Cameron's new Tory government.

Theresa May, reappointed as Home Secretary at the weekend, has pledged to block the move.

Tory MP Nigel Mills said: ''This is a very aggressive approach for the European Commission to take when they know the concerns that people have in this country.

''They are better off trying to find a solution to this problem of people fleeing from North Africa rather than making threats that are totally unacceptable to the British people.''

David Nuttall, another Tory MP, said: ''I'm pleased to hear that the Home Office is fighting this.

''We have already provided millions of pounds to help people affected by this crisis. I don't see why the EU should be allowed to say who can come to live in this country.

''If the European Commission continues pressing ahead with this, it will be just one more reason for Britain to leave the EU.''

The quota proposals were drawn up in response to the refugee crisis that has seen hundreds of people drown off the coast of Italy as the attempt to flee Libya.

They are designed to create ''a mandatory and automatically triggered relocation system to distribute those in clear need of international protection within the EU''.

Brussels officials insist the plan will ''ensure a fair and balanced participation of all member states to this common effort.''

CROWN

Personnel from HMS Bulwark help rescued individuals onto a Royal Navy Landing CraftRelated articlesI'm pleased to hear that the Home Office is fighting this. We have already provided millions of pounds to help people affected by this crisis. I don't see why the EU should be allowed to say who can come to live in this country.

David Nuttall, Tory MP

A commission document states: ''The EU needs a permanent system for sharing the responsibility for large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers among member states."

Britain is being pressed to take tens of thousands more refugees because of its strong economic performance and low unemployment.

Refugees would be shared out according to a ''redistribution key'' weighing up national income, population, employment rates and previous acceptance of asylum seekers under the proposals.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is backing the move after her country had 200,000 asylum applications last year.

But a Home Office spokesman said the proposal was ''unacceptable'' to the UK.

He said: ''The UK has a proud history of offering asylum to those who need it most but we do not believe that a mandatory system of resettlement is the answer.

We will oppose any EU Commission proposals to introduce a non-voluntary quota.

''Our focus must be on targeting and stopping the callous criminals who lie behind this vile trade in human beings.

''Therefore we will continue to focus our efforts on enhancing work between the law enforcement agencies, working within the countries of origin and transit and establishing a more effective process of returning illegal migrants.''

Tom Pursglove, the new Tory MP for Corby, said: ''The Home Office is absolutely right to fight this.

''I don't think it is for the EU to tell us how many migrants we should take.

Immigration was a huge issue on the doorstep in my constituency in the general election campaign. Getting back control of our borders is a red line issue.''

Britain accepted 31,745 refugee cases last year but could see the number more than double to the level seen in other EU countries.

France accepted 64,310 cases last year and Italy took 64,625.

On top of those figures, Mr Juncker wants Europe to resettle an additional 20,000 asylum seekers identified by the United Nations every year by 2020.

Allowing more asylum seekers to come to Britain would make it even harder for Mr Cameron to hit his target of reducing annual net migration to the ''tens of thousands.''

Mr Juncker's plan is due to be discussed and voted on at a meeting of EU leaders on June 25.

The row comes as the United Nations is set to examine a draft resolution drawn up by UK officials authorising the use of military action against people smuggling networks operating from Libyan waters.

EU foreign and security policy co-ordinator Federica Mogherini will present the proposals, which are said to call for the ''use of all means to destroy the business model of the traffickers''.

Royal Navy flagship HMS Bulwark, sent to the Mediterranean by Prime Minister David Cameron to assist with operations at the height of the crisis last month, could be involved, as well as helicopter gunships putting traffickers' vessels out of action.

A number of EU member states - including Britain, France and Spain - are believed to be ready to contribute to the Italian-led mission, but it faces opposition from the Libyan authorities.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 13:21

Search side effects of psychiatric drugs

Search >At least 35 acts of school-related acts of violence, including mass school shootings, have been committed by individuals taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs documented in 22 drug regulatory agency warnings to cause mania, psychosis, hostility, aggression and homicidal ideation.

Fact: At least 35 school shootings and/or school-related acts of violence have been committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs resulting in 169 wounded and 79 killed (in other school shootings, information about their drug use was never made public'--neither confirming or refuting if they were under the influence of prescribed drugs). The most important fact about this list, is that these are only cases where the information about their psychiatric drug use was made public. (See full list below)

The below list includes individuals documented to have been under the influence of psychiatric drugs and not only includes mass shootings, but the use of knives, swords and bombs. 22 international drug regulatory agency warnings cite side effects including mania, violence, psychosis and even homicidal ideation.

Tallahassee, Florida '' November 20, 2014: 31-year-old Myron May, a Florida State University alum, opened fire in the school's library, wounding three before he was shot and killed by police. ABC Action News found a half-filled prescription for the antianxiety drug Hydroxyzine in his apartment after the shooting. In addition, according to May's friends, he had seen a psychologist and had been prescribed the antidepressant Wellbutrin and the ADHD drug Vyvanse. He also checked himself in to a mental health center called Mesilla Valley Hospital around September of 2014. Shortly after this, his friends discovered the antipsychotic Seroquel among his prescriptions.Seattle, Washington '' June 5, 2014: 26-year-old Aaron Ybarra opened fire with a shotgun at Seattle Pacific University, killing one student and wounding two others. Ybarra planned to kill as many people as possible and then kill himself. In 2012, Ybarra reported that he had been prescribed the antidepressant Prozac and antipsychotic Risperdal. A report from his counselor in December of 2013 said that he was taking Prozac at the time and planned to continue to meet with his psychiatrist and therapist as needed.Milford, Connecticut '' April 25, 2014: 16-year-old Chris Plaskon stabbed Maren Sanchez, also 16, to death in a stairwell at Jonathan Law High School after she turned down his prom invitation. According to classmates and a former close friend, Chris was taking drugs for ADHD.Sparks, Nevada '' October 21, 2013: 12-year-old Jose Reyes opened fire at Sparks Middle School, killing a teacher and wounding two classmates before committing suicide. The investigation revealed that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and had a generic version of Prozac (fluoxetine) in his system at the time of death.St. Louis, Missouri '' January 15, 2013: 34-year-old Sean Johnson walked onto the Stevens Institute of Business & Arts campus and shot the school's financial aid director once in the chest, then shot himself in the torso. Johnson had been taking prescribed drugs for an undisclosed mental illness.Snohomish County, Washington '' October 24, 2011: A 15-year-old girl went to Snohomish High School where police alleged that she stabbed a girl as many as 25 times just before the start of school, and then stabbed another girl who tried to help her injured friend. Prior to the attack the girl had been taking ''medication'' and seeing a psychiatrist. Court documents said the girl was being treated for depression.Planoise, France '' December 13, 2010: A 17-year-old youth held twenty pre-school children and their teacher hostage for hours at Charles Fourier preschool. The teen was reported to be on ''medication for depression''. He took a classroom hostage with two swords. Eventually, all the children and the teacher were released safely.Myrtle Beach, South Carolina '' September 21, 2011: 14-year-old Christian Helms had two pipe bombs in his backpack, when he shot and wounded Socastee High School's ''resource'' (police) officer. However the officer was able to stop the student before he could do anything further. Helms had been taking drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.Huntsville, Alabama '' February 5, 2010: 15-year-old Hammad Memon shot and killed another Discover Middle School student Todd Brown. Memon had a history for being treated for ADHD and depression. He was taking the antidepressant Zoloft and ''other drugs for the conditions.'' He had been seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist.Kauhajoki, Finland '' September 23, 2008: 22-year-old culinary student Matti Saari shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine. He was also seeing a psychologist.Fresno, California '' April 24, 2008: 17-year-old Jesus ''Jesse'' Carrizales attacked the Fresno high school's officer, hitting him in the head with a baseball bat. After knocking the officer down, the officer shot Carrizales in self-defense, killing him. Carrizales had been prescribed Lexapro and Geodon, and his autopsy showed that he had a high dose of the antidepressant Lexapro in his blood that could have caused him to be paranoid, according to the coroner.Dekalb, Illinois '' February 14, 2008: 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amount of Xanax in his system. He had been seeing a psychiatrist.Jokela, Finland '' November 7, 2007: 18-year-old Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School in southern Finland, then committed suicide.Texas '' November 7, 2007: 17-year-old Felicia McMillan returned to her former Robert E. Lee High School campus and stabbed a male student and wounded the principle with a knife. McMillan had been on drugs for depression, and had just taken them the night before the incident.Cleveland, Ohio '' October 10, 2007: 14-year-old Asa Coon stormed through his school with a gun in each hand, shooting and wounding four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon had been placed on the antidepressant Trazodone.Sudbury, Massachusetts '' January 19, 2007: 16-year-old John Odgren stabbed another student with a large kitchen knife in a boy's bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. In court his father testified that Odgren was prescribed the drug Ritalin.North Vernon, Indiana '' December 4, 2006: 16-year-old Travis Roberson stabbed another Jennings County High School student in the neck, nearly severing an artery. Roberson was in withdrawal from Wellbutrin, which he had stopped taking days before the attack.Hillsborough, North Carolina '' August 30, 2006: 19-year-old Alvaro Rafael Castillo shot and killed his father, then drove to Orange High School where he opened fire. Two students were injured in the shooting, which ended when school personnel tackled him. His mother said he was on drugs for depression.Chapel Hill, North Carolina '' April 2006: 17-year-old William Barrett Foster took a shotgun to school and took a teacher and a fellow student hostage at East Chapel Hill High School. After being talked out of shooting the hostages, Foster fired two shots through a classroom window before fleeing the school on foot. Foster's father testified that his son had stopped taking his antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs without telling him.Red Lake, Minnesota '' March 21, 2005: 16-year-old Jeff Weise, on Prozac, shot and killed his grandparents, then went to his school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation where he shot dead 5 students, a security guard, and a teacher, and wounded 7 before killing himself.Greenbush, New York '' February 2004: 16-year-old Jon Romano strolled into his high school in east Greenbush and opened fire with a shotgun. Special education teacher Michael Bennett was hit in the leg. Romano had been taking ''medication for depression''. He had previously seen a psychiatrist.Red Lion, Pennsylvania '' February 2, 2001: 56-year-old William Michael Stankewicz entered North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School with a machete, leaving three adults and 11 children injured. Stankewicz was taking four different drugs for depression and anxiety weeks before the attacks.Ikeda, Japan '' June 8, 2001: 37-year-old Mamoru Takuma, wielding a 6-inch knife, slipped into an elementary school and stabbed eight first- and second-graders to death while wounding at least 15 other pupils and teachers. He then turned the knife on himself but suffered only superficial wounds. He later told interrogators that before the attack he had taken 10 times his normal dose of antidepressants.Wahluke, Washington '' April 10, 2001: Sixteen-year-old Cory Baadsgaard took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage. He had been taking the antidepressant Effexor.El Cajon, California '' March 22, 2001: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman, on the antidepressants Celexa and Effexor, opened fire on his classmates, wounding three students and two teachers at Granite Hills High School. He had been seeing a psychiatrist before the shooting.Williamsport, Pennsylvania '' March 7, 2001: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was taking the antidepressant Prozac when she shot at fellow students, wounding one.Oxnard, California '' January 2001: 17-year-old Richard Lopez went to Hueneme High School with a gun and shot twice at a car in the school's parking lot before taking a female student hostage. Lopez was eventually killed by a SWAT officer. He had been prescribed Prozac, Paxil and ''drugs that helped him go to sleep.''Conyers, Georgia '' May 20, 1999: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with the stimulant Ritalin when he opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates.Columbine, Colorado '' April 20, 1999: 18-year-old Eric Harris and his accomplice, Dylan Klebold, killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 26 others before killing themselves. Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox. Klebold's medical records remain sealed. Both shooters had been in anger-management classes and had undergone counseling. Harris had been seeing a psychiatrist before the shooting.Notus, Idaho '' April 16, 1999: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school, narrowly missing students. He was taking a prescribed antidepressant and Ritalin.Springfield, Oregon '' May 21, 1998: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 25. Kinkel had been taking the antidepressant Prozac. Kinkel had been attending ''anger control classes'' and was under the care of a psychologist.Blackville, South Carolina '' October 12, 1995: 15-year-old Toby R. Sincino slipped into the Blackville-Hilda High School's rear entrance, where he shot two Blackville-Hilda High School teachers, killing one. Then Toby killed himself moments later. His aunt, Carolyn McCreary, said he had been undergoing counseling with the Department of Mental Health and was taking Zoloft for emotional problems.Chelsea, Michigan '' December 17, 1993: 39-year-old chemistry teacher Stephen Leith, facing a disciplinary matter at Chelsea High School, shot Superintendent Joseph Piasecki to death, shot Principal Ron Mead in the leg, and slightly wounded journalism teacher Phil Jones. Leith was taking Prozac and had been seeing a psychiatrist.Houston, Texas '' September 18, 1992: 44-year-old Calvin Charles Bell, reportedly upset about his second-grader's progress report, appeared in the principal's office of Piney Point Elementary School. Bell fired a gun in the school, and eventually wounded two officers before surrendering. Relatives told police on Friday that Bell was an unemployed Vietnam veteran and had been taking anti-depressants.Winnetka, Illinois '' 20 May 1988: 30-year-old Laurie Wasserman Dann walked into a second grade classroom at Hubbard Woods School in Winnetka, Illinois carrying three pistols and began shooting children, killing an eight-year-old boy, and wounding five others before fleeing. She entered a nearby house where she shot and wounded a 20-year-old man before killing herself. Dann had been seeing a psychiatrist and subsequent blood tests revealed that at the time of the killings, she was taking the antidepressant Anafranil.For more information read Another School Shooting, Another Psychiatric Drug? Federal Investigation Long Overdue

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 19:53

(C) Associated PressHunter Biden.

Last night we heard the best 'excuse' yet if you are caught with an Ashley Madison account, from Dan Loeb - "due diligence."Today, not to be outdone by a married hedge fund manager, Vice-President Joe Biden's son "Hunter" has unleashed his own set of excuses for member ship of the extramarital affairs website, as Breitbart reports - Biden thinks international agents, possibly Russian, who objected to his board membership with a Ukrainian gas company set up a fake account to discredit him.

However, IP mapping suggests otherwise...

As Breitbart reports,

Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden's account on the extramarital dating website Ashley Madison was used and likely created on the Georgetown University campus while Biden was teaching there.

Business executive Robert "Hunter" Biden, reportedly an adviser to his father's political career, told Breitbart News Monday that he suspected his enemies of creating a fake Ashley Madison account for him in order to discredit him. The email address provided for "Robert Biden's" account matched a personal email address once used by Biden, the vice president's son confirmed.

Biden thinks international agents, possibly Russian, who objected to his board membership with a Ukrainian gas company set up a fake account to discredit him. A source close to Biden told People Magazine after the first Breitbart story ran that the IP address for the account traces to Jacksonville, Florida.

But account information shows that the profile, which was confirmed by a credit card purchase in 2014, was used at the latitude/longitude point of 38.912682, -77.071704.

(C) www.zerohedge.com

That latitude-longitude point just happens to exist on the Georgetown University campus, at an administrative building on Reservoir Road. And Hunter Biden just happened to be teaching there around the time the account was set up.Faced with the new information, representatives for Biden said that the vice president's son would not comment on the story beyond his original statements to Breitbart News denying that the account was his.

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 19:53

Business executive Robert ''Hunter'' Biden, reportedly an adviser to his father's political career, told Breitbart News Monday that he suspected his enemies of creating a fake Ashley Madison account for him in order to discredit him. The email address provided for ''Robert Biden's'' account matched a personal email address once used by Biden, the vice president's son confirmed. (EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden: Ashley Madison Account Created In My Name By America's Enemies).

Biden thinks international agents, possibly Russian, who objected to his board membership with a Ukrainian gas company set up a fake account to discredit him. A source close to Biden told People Magazine after the first Breitbart story ran that the IP address for the account traces to Jacksonville, Florida.

But account information shows that the profile, which was confirmed by a credit card purchase in 2014, was used at the latitude/longitude point of 38.912682, -77.071704.

That latitude-longitude point just happens to exist on the Georgetown University campus, at an administrative building on Reservoir Road. And Hunter Biden just happened to be teaching there around the time the account was set up.

Georgetown adjunct assistant professor Robert Hunter Biden taught a Spring 2014 semester class at Georgetown called ''Art of Advocacy In and Out of Government.'' The three-credit class, the only one Biden ever taught, was a lecture at Georgetown's Intercultural Center, which is located on Reservoir Road less than a third of a mile from the point where the account was created, according to Google Maps, which is not 100 percent precise but close when it comes to finding the exact origin point of the account. Though the class wrapped about six weeks before the account was confirmed, teachers and professors often return to the campus for grading and other endeavors.

The IP address associated with Biden's account shows that the account user was on a Mobile device. An expert tells Breitbart News that the latitude/longitude location was flagged during the account setup process.

The account's owner tried to make a credit card purchase confirming the account on June 25, 2014 with a Visa card for $268.99, which would have given him membership on the site at the ''Affair Guarantee'' level. The issuing bank declined that purchase and reported it as possible fraud, which an expert tells Breitbart News means that the information the account-holder gave matched the card exactly and the purchase was attempted over a cell phone, triggering an alarm.

Faced with the new information, representatives for Biden said that the vice president's son would not comment on the story beyond his original statements to Breitbart News denying that the account was his.

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 19:52

Hunter Biden tells Breitbart News that the account is not his, but rather was created by one of America's enemies to discredit him. He thinks it could have been due to his sitting on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, which outraged supporters of Vladimir Putin's Russian regime.

Robert Hunter Biden, known colloquially as Hunter, is a business executive, a husband, a father, and reportedly one of Joe Biden's closest advisers as the vice president considers launching a presidential campaign. Hunter, who met his wife Kathleen in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, has contacted some of his dad's supporters in advance of a possible Biden candidacy.

But he insists that he's not the ''Robert Biden'' who was a fan of ''Anything Goes'' relationships with women on the website Ashley Madison, which arranges affairs for married people. Biden confirmed that the email address listed on the account belongs to him. But he thinks his enemies had access to his personal information, possibly through hacking his other online accounts '' and that they fabricated the Ashley Madison account in his name.

''I am certain that the account in question is not mine,'' Biden told Breitbart News. ''This account was clearly set up by someone else without my knowledge and I first learned about the account in question from the media.''

''In fact, I no longer use the email address linked to this account as I became aware that this email account may have been compromised,'' Biden said. ''This is unfortunately not the first time that someone has used my name and identity to try to discredit me.''

Hunter Biden made global headlines in 2014 for joining the board of the Ukraine-based gas company Burisma Holdings during the height of the crisis in Ukraine. Biden's father, Vice President Joe Biden, was engaged in an effort at the time to help Ukraine lessen its dependence on fuel from Russia.

Hunter Biden's appointment certainly could have inflamed the Russians, who rely on exporting fuel to Europe.

Representatives for Hunter Biden told Breitbart News on background that he was the victim of concerted efforts by international enemies to get at his personal information. Biden's Twitter account was hacked and his email account may also have been hacked. The representatives stopped short of confirming that the Russians were behind these smear efforts, and wouldn't confirm exactly who did it.

The ''Robert Biden'' Ashley Madison account was validated with a credit card payment in June 2014 in the amount of $280.

The date of birth used to launch the account was also the correct day and month, but 10 years younger than Hunter Biden. Hunter was born on Feb. 4, 1970, but the Ashley Madison account in question has a date of birth listed at Feb. 4, 1980.

''From my understanding through press accounts, it is very easy to set up an account without someone's knowledge as there is no requirement that an email address be verified and I am certain that is what happened in this case,'' Biden said.

Here's a screenshot of ''Robert Hunter Biden's'' Ashley Madison account information, which Breitbart News found while searching in the aftermath of a hack on the website and its client list.

Vice President Joe Biden is seriously considering running for president in 2016 as Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton battles a federal investigation into her use of a private email server at the State Department. Clinton's poll numbers, dropping in the face of a progressive primary challenge by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), have opened the door for Biden or another national Democrat to pursue the party's nomination.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest provided some clout to a possible Biden candidacy Monday, telling reporters that President Obama believes choosing Biden for the 2008 ticket was the best political decision he's ever made.

''I think that should give you some sense of the president's view of Vice President Biden's aptitude for the top job,'' Earnest said.

Jordan Schachtel contributed to this report

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Source: BlackListed News

Sat, 29 Aug 2015 18:54

Last night we heard the best 'excuse' yet if you are caught with an Ashley Madison account, from Dan Loeb - "due diligence." Today, not to be outdone by a married hedge fund manager, Vice-President Joe Biden's son "Hunter" has unleashed his own set of excuses for member ship of the extramarital affairs website, as Breitbart reports - Biden thinks international agents, possibly Russian, who objected to his board membership with a Ukrainian gas company set up a fake account to discredit him. However, IP mapping suggests otherwise...

As Breitbart reports,

Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden's account on the extramarital dating website Ashley Madison was used and likely created on the Georgetown University campus while Biden was teaching there.

Business executive Robert ''Hunter'' Biden, reportedly an adviser to his father's political career, told Breitbart News Monday that he suspected his enemies of creating a fake Ashley Madison account for him in order to discredit him. The email address provided for ''Robert Biden's'' account matched a personal email address once used by Biden, the vice president's son confirmed.

Biden thinks international agents, possibly Russian, who objected to his board membership with a Ukrainian gas company set up a fake account to discredit him. A source close to Biden told People Magazine after the first Breitbart story ran that the IP address for the account traces to Jacksonville, Florida.

But account information shows that the profile, which was confirmed by a credit card purchase in 2014, was used at the latitude/longitude point of 38.912682, -77.071704.

That latitude-longitude point just happens to exist on the Georgetown University campus, at an administrative building on Reservoir Road. And Hunter Biden just happened to be teaching there around the time the account was set up.

* * *Faced with the new information, representatives for Biden said that the vice president's son would not comment on the story beyond his original statements to Breitbart News denying that the account was his.

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 18:26

Listen to this weekend's World Crisis Radio at http://tarpley.net/world-crisis-radio/

With A Report From Michael Chiotinis In Athens

Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq '-- the zone of ISIS control is shown in the center in gray. Close down the Turkish-Syria border, and ISIS is doomed ''no US forces needed.

''Caliph'' Baghdadi, genocidal ruler of ISIS '' without help from Allen and Erdogan, this monster would have been out of business long ago.

US Special Envoy to Syria Michael Ratney '-- Started peace mission in Moscow this week.

Speaking on NPR's Diane Rehm Show on Friday, August 28, 2015, New York Times White House correspondent Mark Landler patronized and belittled US peace negotiator Michael Ratney, suggesting that Ratney is obscure, while figures like Richard Holbrooke and General John Allen [sic!] are household words. These remarks show the pervasiveness and impudence of the neocon networks presently mobilized to drive this nation into another catastrophic war over trumped-up charges against Syria and Iran.

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 17:41

The Baal Shamin temple was destroyed by ISIS militants in the last monthThe UN's satellite pictures now confirm the 2000-year-old temple is gone Came after archaeologist killed for refusing to reveal location of 'treasures'Experts fear ISIS may continue to destroy all Palmyra's ancient wondersBy Flora Drury For Mailonline

Published: 05:54 EST, 29 August 2015 | Updated: 11:13 EST, 29 August 2015

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The difference between the two images of the Syrian desert is not immediately obvious.

But a closer look reveals the photo is in fact proof of the destruction of a 2,000-year-old temple, blown to smithereens by a gang of violent extremist thugs hiding behind the pretext of religion.

The first of the satellite images was taken on June 26, the second was taken on August 27 - after the the Baal Shamin temple was destroyed by ISIS militants.

The small, rectangle structure can just be made out in the first, a grey mess of rubble can be seen in the second.

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Confirmation: The Temple of Baal Shamin had stood in the desert for 2,000 years, but was destroyed by ISIS at some point in the last months, as these images - taken in June (top) and this week (bottom) prove

Erasing history: The terror group blew up the magnificent temple (pictured) on Sunday, after laying explosives

Hit list: The temple was the latest in a number of ancient treasures to be destroyed by the group

The grainy images show that the famed temple, considered the second-most significant in ancient Palmyra, 'has been blown to bits,' spokesman Einar Bjorgo said, adding: 'It has been flattened.'

The UN training and research agency UNITAR said it believed the main building had been razed to the ground, but the surrounding columns 'seem to be less affected'.

Local witnesses to the destruction - described as 'immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity' by UNESCO - say ISIS had been laying explosives around the temple for a month.

But it is thought the extremists, who have become known for destroying the ancient wonders they find in the lands they conquer, may have only blown it up last Sunday.

It came just days after fighters beheaded the 82-year-old retired chief archaeologist of Palmyra, and posted pictures of his body on the internet.

Khaled Assad was held hostage by ISIS for over a month before he was beheaded: the vile militants hope to get the man who had devoted his life to his home town to reveal where its treasures were hidden.

He refused, and paid for it with his life.

Murdered: Khaled al-Asaad was killed by ISIS because he refused to tell them where its treasures were hidden

'Oasis of the Syrian desert': ISIS has already destroyed the Temple of Baal Shamin, the Lion of al-Lat and several statues in the city of Palmyra - and experts warn its many other treasures could be next

Yet all he loved is now in danger of being destroyed by ISIS, who seized the city in May from government forces.

Dr Robert Bewley, Project Director at the School of Archaeology at Oxford, predicted the ancient city will be razed to the ground 'monument-by-monument' by ISIS - to wring every last propaganda opportunity out of the destruction.

Dr Bewley claimed the terror group is determined to destroy Palmyra, known as 'the oasis in the desert' because of its ancient history famed for well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins, piece by piece.

Bloodbath: The terror group could also destroy Palmyra's Roman amphitheatre (pictured)

Public execution: In July, ISIS forced 25 young men to shoot captured soldiers in the ampitheatre

He said: 'One fear is that ISIS will do piecemeal damage over the coming weeks to keep the publicity machine running, so it will be a slow but equally destructive approach.'

Already, ISIS have destroyed the statue of the lion of Al-Lat, while they've used the ancient Roman ampitheatre as an arena for their vile mass executions.

TURKISH FIGHTER JETS JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST ISIS WITH FIRST STRIKESTurkish fighter jets have carried out their first airstrikes as part of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group in Syria, Turkey announced on Saturday.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the jets began attacking IS targets late on Friday across the border in Syria that were deemed to be threats to Turkey.

After months of hesitance, Turkey agreed last month to take on a more active role in the fight against ISIS.

Turkish jets used smart bombs to attack IS positions in Syria, without crossing into Syrian airspace and later Turkey granted U.S. jets access to a key air base close to the Syrian border.

Fight: Turkey has joined the coalition, which has been bombing ISIS (Pictured: American squadron)

'Our fighter aircraft together with warplanes belonging to the coalition began as of yesterday evening to jointly carry out air operations against Daesh targets that also constitute a threat against the security of our country,' the Foreign Ministry said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. 'The fight against the terrorist organization is a priority for Turkey.'

The statement did not provide further detail on the targets or say how many jets were involved.

In Washington, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the Turkish airstrikes were 'fully integrated' in the coalition campaign.

'We commend Turkey for its participation in counter-ISIL air operations alongside other coalition nations in the international campaign to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL,' Cook said, using an alternative acronym for IS.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 14:20

A new social network, backed by Anonymous, hopes to take on Facebook and the other social media giants with a commitment to privacy, security and transparency about how posts are promoted.

The site, Minds.com, has the same basic options as any other social network: users send updates to their followers, who can comment or promote posts that they read. But unlike its competitors it doesn't aim to make money from gathering data '-- instead, it encrypts all messages, so that they can't be read by advertisers or by governments.

The app's other big differentiating feature from other networks is that it rewards people for interacting with posts, by voting, commenting or uploading. Users are given points that can then be exchanged for views, meaning that the posts of active members will be more promoted by the network.

The site describes that mechanism as a ''network that rewards you with reach''. As such, it is more straightforward than the Facebook algorithm '-- which the company little discusses and seems to work on a complicated mix of engagement, clicks and now the time spent looking at certain posts.

The site has been officially launched with desktop and mobile apps. But the group behind the project has made it entirely open source, so that anyone can contribute to the design and upkeep of the network.

An Anonymous-affiliated page with over a million followers, 'ART of Revolution', put out a call to support the site. ''Let us collaborate to help build minds.com and other open-source, encrypted networks to co-create a top site of the people, by the people and for the people'', the message read.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 14:03

The FCC wants to require device makers to lock down the software and firmware on computers with radio devices (wifi, bluetooth, etc) and we need to stop them.

Here are the proposed rules from the NPRM that we are goign to comment on: Save_WiFi/RulesHere is the list of all specific request for comment the FCC has made in this NPRM: Save_WiFi/RFCHere is where we are drafting specific language for our letters and comments to the FCC: Save_WiFi_letter_languageHere is joint letter we're creating to submit to the FCC on the NPRM: Joint LetterSend your comments to the FCC.Comment deadline: October 9, 2015Reply Comment Deadline: November 9, 2015.More infoThe FCC has proposed rules (ET Docket No. 15-170) that will require device makers with WiFi and other Radio Frequency (RF) devices to cryptographically lock down the RF-controlling software on those devices so as to prevent users from installing the software of their choice. This means not only routers, but also many phones, tablets, laptops, and any number of new devices that are wifi capable would now be required to implement a low level DRM system that prevents users from re-flashing or modifying the operating system and/or firmware on those devices.

We have been fighting for years the unjust laws that serve to protect companies that use DRM to restrict users. This new regulation goes beyond protecting those who use DRM, this would be a law requiring device makers to implement low level DRM technology to restrict users from upgrading the operating system and/or firmware of many devices.

Fortunately, the FCC is accepting public comments on this issue. The deadline for comments is September 8th, so we need to act quickly.[1] Thanks to people from OpenWRT, ThinkPenguin, LibreCMC, and elsewhere, we already have some momentum building around this issue. But we need to come at this problem both singularly and together by growing a coalition that helps spread a more unified message to the FCC as well as encouraging supporters of those organizations and groups to submit comments to the FCC.

Bad precedent for FCCThe FCC is going beyond what is fair or reasonable with these requirements. While their intent is to prevent users from being able to make use of the radio device in ways that violate FCC rules, they have imposed a set of requirements that are far broader reaching than preventing use of the radio device alone.

We should find out: Does the FCC have authority to impose such a broad rule? Are there legal objections we can cite?

How this is bad for individuals and disrupts the marketThese regulations are especially oppressive to small companies and to free software developers. Individuals and small companies wanting to make changes to their own products, or want to build custom devices, or provid custom services will not be forced out of the market if they don't wish to use proprietary software or if they will be required to pay licensing fees to those who control the DRM signing keys that allow the upgrading of software and firwmare on the devices.

Talking pointsThese talking points have been expanded into language which could be used for jointly crafting letters. See: Save WiFi letter language

These are a set of talking points against the proposed rules. Once improved (and verified!), they can be used for crafting communications.

The rule prevents device owners from fixing their device in a case where the device is transmitting in an illegal manner. Since they are liable for operating a device that is violating the law, their only choice to is to stop using the device.The rule prevents security fixes if a router is found to be insecure. This could manifest itself through intentionally created backdoors used for industrial and national espionage.Firmware from manufacturers is often full of holes. Security experts recommend installing third-party firmware[2]A manufacturer isn't required to provide fixes to the user even if the device is found to be insecure or operating outside of authorizationManufacturers will often not patch routers with serious security holes [3]Prevents companies from buying US routers and reflashing with custom firmware to then sell or rent to an end user, a somewhat common occurrence.Discourages innovation and research in the US in wireless technologies, such as mesh networkingCommunity implemented the fq_codel algorithm for eliminating bufferbloat-based network congestion by using a version of OpenWrt [4]. The fixes for this are now in the Linux kernel [5].Mesh networking research depends on low-level access and modification of kernel on the router.Vendors have not developed mesh networking support; instead it's been done primarily by the community on open and modifiable drivers and firmware/ [6]Research into wireless networking requires low-level access to drivers and firmware.Nearly 7,200 academic articles related to open drivers and firmware. The research cannot occurred without the ability to modify the device's software.(I think) Ham radio operators are allowed to operate at a higher power in portions of the unlicensed spectrum than non-licensed operators. This requirement prevents them from modifying low cost routers for operating long range wifi networks, such as would be useful in a disaster situation.The law permits amateur radio operators to increase the transmit power on commercial routers beyond its regular limits, where the wifi frequencies overlap with frequencies. This system works particularly well for emergency communication. See Broadband-Hamnet.Broadband-Hamnet uses a mesh networking protocol so this interacts with the issues on innovationNo FCC complaints about improper usage of routers were related to flashing third-party firmware. Most were related to commercial wifi providers breaking the law. In some cases, the official router web administration for the routers used in the complaint had a UI for operating in an illegal fashion. For example, it was possible to turn off all DFS or allow test operation on all possible channels which are both wildly irresponsible to place in a standard router UI.The key problem necessitating the rule change, the need to make sure DFS is running near airports with Terminal-area Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), is primarily relevant for those operating a wifi router outside within a mile or so of 45 airports in the US.What this mean for you as a user:your choices will be restrictedyou have to stick with the features provided by your router vendor's firmwareyou have to stick with the factory firmware which uses outdated software. you most rely on your router vendor for security fixesyou will have no way to verify, what's running on your device. you could be under domestic or foreign agencies surveillanceWhat it means you as a business:This ruling will force you to spend additional money and resources on:

locking down all future deviceslocking down all current devices before June 2016recertify all current devices before June 2016either have special US version of your devices or loose marketshare elsewherethis raises serious competition and innovation concerns on the industryreplacing any GPLv3 Software like Samba because of "Tivoization"Who is with us?Organization plus point of contact

Free Software Foundation, Joshua GayLibreCMC, Bob CallOpenWRT, contact?American Radio Relay League, Chuck Skolaut or Dan HendersonSoftware Freedom Law Center (SFLC), J.D. BeanTelecommunications Industry Association, April Ward (Note: They're against us)Note: the rule change also simplifies how a number of pieces of hardware are certified which probably explains their support. Are we sure they're actually in favor of the changes we're opposed to?prpl Foundation, Eric SchultzOrganizations we want to support this

Hams

Adam Leibson, KC1EDTChip Rosenthal, KE5VHVMartin Rothfield, W6MRRResources We propose to modify the SDR-related requirements in Part 2 of our rules based in part on the current Commission practices regarding software configuration control. To minimize the potential for unauthorized modification to the software that controls the RF parameters of the device, we propose that grantees must implement well-defined measures to ensure that certified equipment is not capable of operating with RF-controlling software for which it has not been approved. RelatedThese are different NPRMs or discussions which are unrelated but might help us better understand the NPRM we have on hand.

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Source: FCW: The business of federal technology

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 22:38

GSA's Jim Ghiloni says that "with OASIS, we cracked the nut for large" IDIQ contracts.

The General Services Administration's $60 billion One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract was one of the most anticipated agreements the agency has produced in the past decade. And despite being barely a year old, the service-oriented acquisition vehicle is already reshaping the way GSA handles other massive multiple-source procurements.

From the beginning, GSA wanted to use OASIS to show how the agency was reinventing itself as a more efficient smart shopper for its government customers. Observers say it has succeeded and the OASIS DNA can already be seen in other big upcoming contracts, including the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract that is the cornerstone of the agency's buying strategy for next-generation telecommunications services, the Alliant 2 IT governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC), and the Human Capital and Training Solutions contract.

OASIS allows agencies to buy a wide range of vetted goods and services under one contracting vehicle.

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, said OASIS is a valuable model that has demonstrated the importance of working with a broad coalition of federal agency and industry leaders to create large, complex contracting vehicles.

''OASIS is among the most significant outreach efforts'' GSA has ever undertaken, he added.

A pioneering approach

The agency collaborated with industry for two years before issuing a request for proposals. During that time, GSA officials gathered comments, ideas and suggestions from meetings with stakeholder groups and individual companies. They also launched an online interactive community to solicit even more input.

''GSA was willing to attend just about any meeting,'' Chvotkin said.

Officials repeated that open, collaborative approach when they created the RFP for the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract, which is due by the end of September. As it did with OASIS, the agency held numerous face-to-face consultations and on-the-record, open meetings with vendors. GSA also hosted an online community for interested parties where it posted proposed changes and news about the contract.

In addition, OASIS officials pioneered a new approach to accepting vendors into the various service pools in each contract. Instead of the pass/fail grade typically used to assess vendors, GSA opted to rely on a quantitative, point-based methodology that scored vendors' proficiency and sought bids with the highest technical rating and acceptable pricing.

GSA officials said the point structure better weighed the various capabilities, experience and performance of potential offerers to identify the 40 best in each of the contracts' pools of awardees.

The framers of Alliant 2, GSA's GWAC for total IT solutions, have said they are using the same methods for that vehicle.

''We watched all the protests be resolved,'' said John Cavadias, the GSA senior contracting officer responsible for the Alliant 2 RFP. The standard of highly technically rated and fair and reasonable pricing ''was found to be innovative, but within the rules, allowable.''

The OASIS contracts were awarded in May 2014 but were delayed by a tangle of protests that took a few months to resolve. Some experts were concerned that the delays might sap OASIS' momentum, but all the protests were ultimately resolved in GSA's favor.

Attracting civilian agencies

Jim Ghiloni, the OASIS program director at GSA, said the agency's efforts, even with the protests, are building steady momentum, and early commitments from the Air Force and Army were a big help.

''With OASIS, we cracked the nut for large'' indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, he said.

In 2013, the Air Force signed a memorandum of understanding with GSA that committed the service to spending an estimated $472 million over five years under OASIS. The Army followed suit soon after with its own agreement. Those early commitments helped the contract ''hit the ground running,'' Ghiloni said.

However, he added, those agreements also meant OASIS ran the risk of being viewed as a Defense Department-centric contract. Although he said the numbers could be higher, civilian agencies have made nearly 80 awards under OASIS Small Business, with $160 million in obligations so far. The unrestricted OASIS vehicle has seen 13 awards totaling $56 million in obligations from civilian agencies. Ghiloni said some large task orders are still under evaluation and are due by the end of the fiscal year.

The contract got a valuable bump in July when the largest civilian agency of all, the Department of Homeland Security, signed a memorandum of understanding to use OASIS. DHS has also said it will not issue a follow-on contract for its Technical, Acquisition and Business Support Services contract and will instead rely on OASIS and other resources.

Ghiloni said agencies' OASIS task orders receive an average of five bids and generally take 90 days to 120 days to be completed. Anecdotal data indicates that customers save about 10 percent through OASIS compared to other contracts, he added.

Building better tools

To help agencies with the decision-making process, GSA is expanding its online tools and making it easier to sort through pricing, purchasing and market research data, he said. GSA unveiled a dashboard tool in early July that allows federal procurement professionals to customize OASIS data by federal agency and industry partner, and use it to build individualized, downloadable reports that can be exported to spreadsheets.

Ghiloni said the dashboard provides interactive, near-real-time information on the status of OASIS and OASIS Small Business task orders, including obligation values, the receiving agency and the industry partner for individual orders. Users can filter the data in multiple ways, drill down from the agency to the bureau level, and look at both the number and dollar value of task orders awarded to a particular industry partner.

Ghiloni said he intends to add even more electronic tools to help OASIS users and potential users see more deeply into the contract's data when making their buying decisions.

He added that it has been a challenge to build systems that are better at capturing data because OASIS is breaking new ground. ''We're building this stuff from scratch,'' he said. ''It's gone pretty well. The tools are good. They'll be better in two years.''

According to Chvotkin, however, the toughest challenge facing OASIS might be its own success. ''GSA's biggest competitor is GSA,'' he said.

He said the agency's myriad other contract efforts, including its schedule contracts, might pale in comparison to vehicles like OASIS that have electronic tools to tabulate data on what products are being bought and who's buying them, then spit out pinpoint reports. Additionally, some vendors might have to make difficult decisions about which of the new and old contracts they want to pursue and how they pursue them, he added.

Chvotkin said the next few months are crucial for OASIS because the contract has to show it is viable for a wider federal audience. DHS' agreement is ''a bellwether test,'' he said.

If other civilian agencies find value in OASIS in the coming months, it could pave the way for wider acceptance, he said, adding that if a significant number of agencies don't show up by the end of the year, it might mean they're not coming anytime soon.

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Fri, 28 Aug 2015 01:01

CubeSats were once just a cheap way for university students to build and launch a satellite. But they have become the hottest new technology in the space industry. NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office (''spy satellites,'') Aerospace Corporation and even Boeing have all launched and operated CubeSats. And now, the NASA Educational Launch of Nano satellite (ELaNa) program, which offers free launches to education and encourage science missions, is open to US non-profit corporations like AMSAT. Project Fox is AMSAT's answer to this new, emerging technology. AMSAT is developing a family of CubeSats with amateur radio transponders that can support advanced science experiments. We are working with universities on science and education missions that qualify for the NASA ELaNa program. This provides us with a way to put ham radio transponders into orbit and provides our university partners with a reliable platform for space-based research projects.

Fox-1 Engineering Prototype.

Our Phase 1 Fox satellites are 1-Unit CubeSats. They each include an analog FM repeater that will allow simple ground stations using an HT and an ''arrow'' type antenna to make contacts using the satellite. This was the mode made so popular by AO-51. The Phase 1 CubeSats also have the capability of operating in a high-speed digital mode for data communications. Two of our phase 1 Fox satellite projects (Fox-1 and Fox-1B ''RadFXSat'') have already been accepted into the NASA ELaNa program for free launches. AMSAT has purchased a launch for a third (Fox-1C) on a Spaceflight SHERPA with a 3Q 2015 launch to SSO.

Why Are The Fox Satellites ''Only'' In Low Earth Orbit (LEO)?Cost, launch opportunities, and user needs. High Earth Orbit (HEO) satellites are simply not affordable today. An excellent replacement for AO-13 is in storage in Germany. So far, the cheapest available launch is $10 million. While efforts continue to find an affordable launch, this underlines why the type of satellites we are used to are no longer affordable. By comparison, launch costs into LEO for CubeSats is in the $100k range, and is often free if paired with a suitable education-oriented mission. However, the technology developed and tested is planned to be usable, or upgradable, to HEO missions when they arise. CubeSat technology can essentially be ''snapped together'' to form larger, more capable spacecraft. Likewise, the engineering management procedures developed will provide us with the needed experience and contacts for other missions.

What is a CubeSat?A CubeSat is a small and standardized satellite that packs a lot of ''bang for the buck.'' As shown in the CubeSat (1 Unit) photo below and in the technical description these satellites are very small and therefor cheaper to launch. With a standardized structure to construct the electronic, mechanics, and other systems around a more modular and long-term engineering process can allow for sub-systems to easily be re-used. CubeSats also come in larger sizes, this is achieved by ''stacking'' so-to-speak a standard 1 unit CubeSat structure on-top of another. This increased size allows for larger payloads such as cameras and additional electronics!

Small Satellites:A one unit (1U) satellite is 10 cm (4'") on a side. They can be longer, with a 3U being 30 cm (12'") in length.Each unit has a maximum mass of 1.33 kg, approximately 2.9 lbs.Self Contained:Each satellite must be completely self contained for launch. This standardization actually makes more launches available.Fox Status and SpecificationsDevelopment Phase: Approved by the Board of Directors. Design in progress. Prototype hardware deliveredProjected Launch: Fox-1: 2015. Fox-1C: 2015. Fox-1B (RadFXSat): 2016.Space Frame Structure: Standard 1U (One Unit) CubeSat.Space Frame Size: 10 cm X 10 cm X 10 cm.Mass: Approximately 1.33 kg, ~ 3 lbs.Orbit: Nominal 600- 800 km, circular, depending on launcher.RF: 500 mW EIRP, U/V (Mode B). Deployable antennas. FM only.Fox-1 Electronics: Simple IHU.Power source: Fixed Solar Arrays.Batteries: NiCadFox-1 AMSAT Symposium Presentation Resources (PDF)2012 Symposium Fox Overview2012 Symposium Fox Mechanical Design2012 Symposium Fox Thermal Design2012 Symposium Fox Radiation Mitigation2013 Symposium Fox Satellite Program Overview2014 Dayton Hamvention Engineering Presentation2014 Symposium Engineering Review (Fox excerpt)

Telemetry and Other ExperimentsEach Fox satellite will have a basic communications facility, plus other features and experiments. The ARRISat-1 project serves as a good conceptual model. For those interested in the performance and other experiments, mufti-OS software will be available to display the data in real time, and to forward it to a server for later study and analysis. The display will resemble this prototype console.

A screenshot of the FoxTLM software being developed for the Fox-1 CubeSat.

Join AMSATWithout your active financial and technical support we cannot develop new spacecraft.ContributeSmall or large, it all adds up to enable AMSAT-NA to return to space.Spread the wordSpread knowledge and excitement at your local radio club, hamfests, friends, and other amateur radio and technical events.

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Fri, 28 Aug 2015 14:12

The Pentagon today announced a partnership with 162 companies and universities -- including Apple, Boeing, and Harvard -- to develop and produce a line of high-tech military gear designed to be flexible enough to be worn by both soldiers and even be "molded onto the outside of a jet" (via Reuters). The forward thrust of consumer technology is generating more trust for the Pentagon in the companies of Silicon Valley, a move that Defense Secretary Ash Carter has been attempting to guide for a few years.

"I've been pushing the Pentagon to think outside our five-sided box and invest in innovation here in Silicon Valley and in tech communities across the country," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in prepared remarks on Friday.

"Now we're taking another step forward."

The new technology would use advanced printing processes to produce "stretchable electronics" that would be outfitted with an array of sensors to be able to track everything from the vitals of the soldier wearing it to the structural integrity of the ship or warplane to which it is attached. All told, the United States government has confirmed it will contribute $75 million over the course of five years for the project, with the partnered companies offering another $90 million, and local government contributions bringing the grand total to just north of $171 million.

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Source: FCW: The business of federal technology

Sat, 29 Aug 2015 18:11

FirstNet woos potential biddersBy Adam MazmanianAug 28, 2015The FirstNet public safety network is one of the most complex technology projects underway in government. The push for the network came in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, during which first responders from different agencies and jurisdictions were unable to communicate with one another.

As a result, Congress mandated the construction of a nationwide, interoperable broadband communications network that can be accessed by first responders across jurisdictional lines while allowing for improved connectivity and the integration of new media, such as video and text, into first responder radios.

In the future, all U.S. first responders will be able to tune their radios to Band 14 to access the network.

FirstNet, an authority within the Commerce Department, has secured its promised $6.5 billion in seed capital, thanks to a successful spectrum auction, and a 20 MHz swath of spectrum in the LTE band, considered highly desirable for its range and efficiency.

But soon the real work begins. FirstNet must convince private carriers and telecommunications firms to help create the network through new telecom construction and the creative reuse of existing infrastructure such as long-haul transport, microwave towers and network equipment.

And although $6.5 billion is real money, it is nowhere near what it will cost to build and maintain the network. At an Aug. 27 industry day, FirstNet President TJ Kennedy offered industry incentives to participate -- primarily access to the FirstNet spectrum on a shared-use basis, a share in user feeds, and access to a rapidly transforming marketplace for broadband-powered public safety devices and applications.

"The reality is this is a great business deal," Kennedy said.

The initial drafts of the FirstNet solicitation ask vendors to come up with strategies for either comprehensive or regional solutions. Early requirements that every square foot of the U.S. be covered with a terrestrial network have been rolled back somewhat, and the prospect exists for satellite coverage or the use of specially equipped drones to act as transmitters in wilderness areas during search and rescue missions or wildfires.

A key to FirstNet is that public safety users have priority on the network. One of the technology challenges is how to allow for surges of use during public safety emergencies and weather events, and the big question for vendors is what happens to their customers in such situations.

But Kennedy told vendors that there were some key advantages to FirstNet participation. For one thing, access to the network's spectrum could wind up being much cheaper than on the open market, given the big spending by telecoms in the AWS-3 spectrum auction. Additionally, the spectrum could come online far faster than is typically the case.

"We plan to have cleared spectrum to be available on Day One," Kennedy said.

There are still plenty of outstanding questions, however. The drafts of the FirstNet solicitation drew more than 650 queries from potential bidders on issues such as the business model, cybersecurity, interoperability and integration of devices on the network. The agency plans to answer those questions and issue a final solicitation in December.

About the Author

Adam Mazmanian is FCW's senior staff writer, and covers Congress, health IT and governmentwide IT policy. Connect with him on Twitter: @thisismaz.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 13:34

LOS ANGELES (AP) '-- Results for some of the states that participated in Common Core-aligned testing for the first time this spring are out, with overall scores higher than expected though still below what many parents may be accustomed to seeing.

Full or preliminary scores have been released for Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. They all participated in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, one of two groups of states awarded $330 million by the U.S. Department of Education in 2010 to develop exams to test students on the Common Core state standards in math and English language arts.

Scores in four other states that developed their own exams tied to the standards have been released. The second testing group, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is still setting benchmarks for each performance level and has not released any results.

Even when all the results are available, it will not be possible to compare student performance across a majority of states, one of Common Core's fundamental goals.

What began as an effort to increase transparency and allow parents and school leaders to assess performance nationwide has largely unraveled, chiefly because states are dropping out of the two testing groups and creating their own exams.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told state leaders in 2010 that the new tests would "help put an end to the insidious practice of establishing 50 different goal posts for educational success."

"In the years ahead, a child in Mississippi will be measured against the same standard of success as a child in Massachusetts," Duncan said.

Massachusetts and Mississippi students did take the PARCC exam this year. But Mississippi's Board of Education has voted to withdraw from the consortium for all future exams.

"The whole idea of Common Core was to bring students and schools under a common definition of what success is," said Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "And Common Core is not going to have that. One of its fundamental arguments has been knocked out from under it."

No Child Left Behind, President George W. Bush's signature education law, requires states to test students each year in math and reading in grades three to eight and again in high school. Congress has been debating ways to overhaul the law. The House and Senate have approved differing versions this summer that would maintain the testing requirement but let states decide how to use the results.

The Common Core-aligned tests fulfill the federal requirement, yet are significantly different from the exam that students are accustomed to taking.

Rather than paper-and-pencil multiple choice tests, the new exams are designed to be taken by tablet or computer. Instead of being given a selection of answers to choose, students must show how they got their answer. Answer correctly and get a more difficult question. Answer incorrectly, get an easier one.

Field tests administered last year indicated that a majority of students would not score as proficient in math and reading on the tests. So this summer, states have braced for the results, meeting with parents and principals to explain why the results will be different.

At Los Angeles Unified School District, Cynthia Lim, executive director of the Office of Data and Accountability, said the preliminary results received by the nation's second largest district are "lower than what people are used to seeing." District officials are consulting with school leaders about how to explain to parents and students that new test results should not be compared with old ones.

"I think we are getting richer information about student learning," she said.

Overall, the statewide scores that have been released are not as stark as first predicted, though they do show that vast numbers of students do not qualify as proficient in math or reading.

In Idaho, nearly 50 percent or more of students tested were proficient or above in English language arts. The results were lower for math: less than 40 percent were proficient in five grade levels. In Washington, about half of students across the state earned proficient scores. In Vermont, English proficiency scores hovered below 60 percent and dipped to as low as 37 percent in math.

States using the Smarter Balanced tests are using the same cut scores but different descriptors. What is "below basic" in one state might be "slightly unprepared" in another.

Initially, Duncan said the department would ask the two consortia to collaborate and make results comparable. But while the Smarter Balanced test has four achievement levels, the PARCC exam will have five.

When the testing groups were created, PARCC was a coalition of 26 states and Smarter Balanced 31; some states belonged to both. This year, 11 states and the District of Columbia took PARCC exams. Arkansas, Mississippi, and Ohio have since decided to withdraw from the exams. Eighteen states participated in the Smarter Balanced test this year. Of those, three states have since decided to abandon one or all of the grade level tests.

"It's always disappointing to have a state drop out," said Kelli Gauthier, a spokeswoman for Smarter Balanced. "But we feel really confident in the group that we have."

Sarah Potter, communications coordinator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the frequent changes in which test will be given and what students will be tested on has frustrated teachers and parents. The state participated in Smarter Balanced this spring but lawmakers have appropriated $7 million to develop a new state-based assessment plan.

"We are losing that that state-to-state comparability after this year, unfortunately," Potter said. "But our Legislature has said we should have Missouri standards so that is the route we are taking."

Aside from the defections, the exams have also experienced from technical glitches and an opt-out movement that surfaced this spring. Results in Nevada, Montana and North Dakota were hit with widespread technical problems; Nevada counted last year's scores a total loss.

In Oregon, slightly more than 95 percent of students took the exam, just making the federal requirement for participation. For black and special education students, as well as some districts, the requirement was not met, meaning the state could potentially lose federal funds.

Most states have not been able to release test scores before the start of classes, a delay that was expected in the exam's first year, but nonetheless frustrating for some teachers and parents.

"From a high school senior's perspective, it's gotta be really tough," said Renata Witte, president of the New Mexico PTA. "You want to get those college applications in and you need this information to complete them."

___

Associated Press writers Donna Gordon Blankinship in Seattle and Sally Ho in Las Vegas contributed to the report.

___

Follow Christine Armario on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cearmario

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Archived Version

Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:08

Zionism (Hebrew: ×...Ö´×Ö¼×•Ö¹× ×•Ö¼×ª, IPA: [tÍsijo̞Ënut], translit.Tziyonut, after Zion) is a nationalist and political movement of Jews and Jewish culture that supports the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel (also referred to as Palestine, Canaan or the Holy Land).[2][3][4] Zionism emerged in the late 19th century in central and eastern Europe as a national revival movement, called Hovevei Tziyon, and soon after this most leaders of the movement associated the main goal with creating the desired state in Palestine, then an area controlled by the Ottoman Empire.[5][6][7]

The primary goals of Zionism until 1948, were the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel ("Eretz Israel" in Hebrew), ingathering of the exiles, and liberation of Jews from antisemitic discrimination and persecution that occurred in their diaspora. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism continues primarily to advocate on behalf of Israel and address threats to its continued existence and security.

A religious variety of Zionism supports Jews upholding their Jewish identity defined as adherence to religious Judaism, opposes the assimilation of Jews into other societies, and has advocated the return of Jews to Israel as a means for Jews to be a majority nation in their own state. In a less common usage, the term may also refer to non-political, cultural Zionism, founded and represented most prominently by Ahad Ha'am. Another less common meaning is the political support for the State of Israel by non-Jews.

Advocates of Zionism view it as a national liberation movement for the repatriation of a persecuted people to the homeland they were dispersed from millennia before.[8][9][10]Critics of Zionism view it as a colonialist,[11]racist[12] and exceptionalist[13] ideology that led advocates to violence during Mandatory Palestine, followed by the exodus of Palestinians, and the subsequent denial of their human rights.[14][15][16][17]

OverviewThe common denominator among all Zionists is the claim to Eretz Israel as the national homeland of the Jews and as the legitimate focus for the Jewish national self-determination.[18] It is based on historical ties and religious traditions linking the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.[19] Zionism does not have a uniform ideology, but has evolved in a dialogue among a plethora of ideologies: General Zionism, Religious Zionism, Labor Zionism, Revisionist Zionism, Green Zionism, etc.

After almost two millennia of existence of the Jewish diaspora without a national state, the Zionist movement was founded in the late 19th century by secular Jews, largely as a response by Ashkenazi Jews to rising antisemitism in Europe, exemplified by the Dreyfus affair in France and the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire.[20] The political movement was formally established by the Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl in 1897 following the publication of his book Der Judenstaat.[21] At that time, the movement sought to encourage Jewish migration to the Ottoman Palestine.

"I believe that a wondrous generation of Jews will spring into existence. The Maccabeans will rise again. Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who wish for a State will have it. We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own homes. The world will be freed by our liberty, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. And whatever we attempt there to accomplish for our own welfare, will react powerfully and beneficially for the good of humanity."

Theodore Herzl, concluding words of The Jewish State, 1896[22]Although initially one of several Jewish political movements offering alternative responses to assimilation and antisemitism, Zionism grew rapidly and became the dominant force in Jewish politics with the destruction of Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe where these alternative movements were rooted.

The movement was eventually successful in establishing Israel on May 14, 1948 (5 Iyyar 5708 in the Hebrew calendar), as the homeland for the Jewish people. The proportion of the world's Jews living in Israel has also steadily grown since the movement came into existence and over 40% of the world's Jews now live in Israel, more than in any other country. These two outcomes represent the historical success of Zionism, unmatched by any other Jewish political movement in the past 2,000 years. In some academic studies, Zionism has been analyzed both within the larger context of diaspora politics and as an example of modern national liberation movements.[23]

Zionism also sought assimilation into the modern world. As a result of the Diaspora, many of the Jewish people remained outsiders within their adopted countries and became detached from modern ideas. So-called "assimilationist" Jews desired complete integration into European society. They were willing to downplay their Jewish identity or even to abandon their traditional views and opinions in an attempt at modernization and assimilation into the modern world. A less radical form of assimilation was called cultural synthesis.[citation needed] Those in favor of cultural synthesis desired continuity and only moderate evolution, and were concerned that Jews should not lose their identity. "Cultural synthesists" emphasized both a need to maintain traditional Jewish values and faith, and a need to conform to a modernist society.[24]

In 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that designated Zionism as "a form of racism and racial discrimination". The resolution was repealed in 1991 by replacing Resolution 3379 with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86. Within the context of the Arab''Israeli conflict, Zionism is viewed by critics as a system that fosters apartheid and racism.[25]

TerminologyThe term "Zionism" itself is derived from the word Zion (Hebrew: ×...×ון, Tzi-yon'Ž), referring to Jerusalem. Throughout eastern Europe in the late 19th century, there were numerous grassroots groups promoting the national resettlement of the Jews in what was termed their "ancestral homeland", as well as the revitalization and cultivation of Hebrew. These groups were collectively called the "Lovers of Zion." The first use of the term is attributed to the Austrian Nathan Birnbaum, founder of a nationalist Jewish students' movement Kadimah, who used the term in 1890 in his journal Selbstemanzipation (Self Emancipation).[26]

OrganizationMembers and delegates at the 1939 Zionist congress, by country/region (Zionism was banned in the Soviet Union). 70,000 Polish Jews supported the Revisionist Zionism movement, which was not represented.[27]Country/RegionMembersDelegatesPoland299,165109USA263,741114Palestine167,562134Romania60,01328United Kingdom23,51315South Africa22,34314Canada15,2208The multi-national, worldwide Zionist movement is structured on representative democratic principles. Congresses are held every four years (they were held every two years before the Second World War) and delegates to the congress are elected by the membership. Members are required to pay dues known as a shekel. At the congress, delegates elect a 30-man executive council, which in turn elects the movement's leader. The movement was democratic from its inception and women had the right to vote.[28]

Until 1917, the World Zionist Organization pursued a strategy of building a Jewish National Home through persistent small-scale immigration and the founding of such bodies as the Jewish National Fund (1901 '-- a charity that bought land for Jewish settlement) and the Anglo-Palestine Bank (1903 '-- provided loans for Jewish businesses and farmers). In 1942, at the Biltmore Conference, the movement included for the first time an express objective of the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel.[29]

The 28th Zionist Congress, meeting in Jerusalem in 1968, adopted the five points of the "Jerusalem Program" as the aims of Zionism today. They are:[30]

Unity of the Jewish People and the centrality of Israel in Jewish lifeIngathering of the Jewish People in its historic homeland, Eretz Israel, through Aliyah from all countriesStrengthening of the State of Israel, based on the prophetic vision of justice and peacePreservation of the identity of the Jewish People through fostering of Jewish and Hebrew education, and of Jewish spiritual and cultural valuesProtection of Jewish rights everywhereSince the creation of modern Israel, the role of the movement has declined and it is now a peripheral factor in Israeli politics, though different perceptions of Zionism continue to play a role in Israeli and Jewish political discussion.[31]

Labor ZionismMain article: Labor ZionistsLabor Zionism originated in Eastern Europe. Socialist Zionists believed that centuries of oppression in antisemitic societies had reduced Jews to a meek, vulnerable, despairing existence that invited further antisemitism, a view originally stipulated by Theodor Herzl. They argued that a revolution of the Jewish soul and society was necessary and achievable in part by Jews moving to Israel and becoming farmers, workers, and soldiers in a country of their own. Most socialist Zionists rejected the observance of traditional religious Judaism as perpetuating a "Diaspora mentality" among the Jewish people, and established rural communes in Israel called "kibbutzim". The kibbutz began as a variation on a "national farm" scheme, a form of cooperative agriculture where the Jewish National Fund hired Jewish workers under trained supervision. The kibbutzim were a symbol of the Second Aliyah in that they put great emphasis on communalism and egalitarianism, representing to a certain extent Utopian socialism. Furthermore, they stressed self-sufficiency, which became an important aspect of Labor Zionism. Though socialist Zionism draws its inspiration and is philosophically founded on the fundamental values and spirituality of Judaism, its progressive expression of that Judaism has often fostered an antagonistic relationship with Orthodox Judaism.[citation needed]

Labor Zionism became the dominant force in the political and economic life of the Yishuv during the British Mandate of Palestine and was the dominant ideology of the political establishment in Israel until the 1977 election when the Israeli Labor Party was defeated. The Israeli Labor Party continues the tradition, although the most popular party in the kibbutzim is Meretz.[citation needed] Labor Zionism's main institution is the Histadrut (general organisation of labor unions), which began by providing strikebreakers against a Palestinian worker's strike in 1920 and until 1970s was the largest employer in Israel after the Israeli government.[33]

Liberal ZionismGeneral Zionism (or Liberal Zionism) was initially the dominant trend within the Zionist movement from the First Zionist Congress in 1897 until after the First World War. General Zionists identified with the liberal European middle class to which many Zionist leaders such as Herzl and Chaim Weizmann aspired. Liberal Zionism, although not associated with any single party in modern Israel, remains a strong trend in Israeli politics advocating free market principles, democracy and adherence to human rights. Kadima, the main centrist party during the 2000s that is now defunct, however, did identify with many of the fundamental policies of Liberal Zionist ideology, advocating among other things the need for Palestinian statehood in order to form a more democratic society in Israel, affirming the free market, and calling for equal rights for Arab citizens of Israel. In 2013, Ari Shavit suggested that the success of the then-new Yesh Atid party (representing secular, middle-class interests) embodied the success of "the new General Zionists."[34]

Dror Zeigerman writes that the traditional positions of the General Zionists'--"liberal positions based on social justice, on law and order, on pluralism in matters of State and Religion, and on moderation and flexibility in the domain of foreign policy and security"'--are still favored by important circles and currents within certain active political parties.[35]

Philosopher Carlo Strenger describes a modern-day version of Liberal Zionism (supporting his vision of "Knowledge-Nation Israel"), rooted in the original ideology of Herzl and Ahad Ha'am, that stands in contrast to both the romantic nationalism of the right and the Netzah Yisrael of the ultra-Orthodox. It is marked by a concern for democratic values and human rights, freedom to criticize government policies without accusations of disloyalty, and rejection of excessive religious influence in public life. "Liberal Zionism celebrates the most authentic traits of the Jewish tradition: the willingness for incisive debate; the contrarian spirit of davka; the refusal to bow to authoritarianism."[36][37] Liberal Zionists see that "Jewish history shows that Jews need and are entitled to a nation-state of their own. But they also think that this state must be a liberal democracy, which means that there must be strict equality before the law independent of religion, ethnicity or gender."[38]

Nationalist ZionismNationalist Zionism originated from the Revisionist Zionists led by Jabotinsky. The Revisionists left the World Zionist Organization in 1935 because it refused to state that the creation of a Jewish state was an objective of Zionism. The revisionists advocated the formation of a Jewish Army in Palestine to force the Arab population to accept mass Jewish migration. Revisionist Zionism evolved into the Likud Party in Israel, which has dominated most governments since 1977. It advocates that Israel maintain control of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and takes a hard-line approach in the Israeli-Arab conflict. In 2005 the Likud split over the issue of creation of a Palestinian state on the occupied territories, and party members advocating peace talks helped form the Kadima party.[citation needed]

Religious ZionismIn the 1920s and 1930s Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (the first Chief Rabbi of Palestine) and his son Rabbi Zevi Judah Kook saw great religious and traditional value in many of Zionism's ideals, while rejecting its anti-religious undertones. They taught that Orthodox (Torah) Judaism embraces and mandates Zionism's positive ideals, such as the ingathering of exiles, and political activity to create and maintain a Jewish political entity in the Land of Israel. In this way, Zionism serves as a bridge between Orthodox and secular Jews.[citation needed]

While other Zionist groups tended to moderate their nationalism over time, the gains from the Six-Day War have led religious Zionism to play a significant role in Israeli political life. Now associated with the National Religious Party and Gush Emunim, religious Zionists have been at the forefront of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and efforts to assert Jewish control over the Old City of Jerusalem.[citation needed]

Green ZionismMain article: Green ZionismGreen Zionism is a branch of Zionism primarily concerned with the environment of Israel. The only environmental Zionist party is the Green Zionist Alliance.[citation needed]

Neo-Zionism and Post-ZionismDuring the last quarter of the 20th century, classic nationalism in Israel declined. This led to the rise of two antagonistic movements: neo-Zionism and post-Zionism. Both movements mark the Israeli version of a worldwide phenomenon:

Emergence of globalization, a market society and liberal cultureLocal backlash[39]Neo-Zionism and post-Zionism share traits with "classical" Zionism but differ by accentuating antagonist and diametrically opposed poles already present in Zionism. "Neo Zionism accentuates the messianic and particularistic dimensions of Zionist nationalism, while post-Zionism accentuates its normalising and universalistic dimensions".[40] Post-Zionism asserts that Israel should abandon the concept of a "state of the Jewish people" and strive to be a state of all its citizens,[41] or a binational state where Arabs and Jews live together while enjoying some type of autonomy.[citation needed]

Zionism and Haredi JudaismMost Haredi Orthodox organizations oppose Zionism; they view Zionism as secular, reject nationalism as a doctrine and consider Judaism to be first and foremost a religion. However, some Haredi movements (such as Shas since 2010) do openly affiliate with the Zionist movement.

Haredi rabbis do not consider Israel to be a halachic Jewish state because it is secular. However, they generally consider themselves responsible for ensuring that Jews maintain religious ideals and since most Israeli citizens are Jews they pursue this agenda within Israel. Others reject any possibility of a Jewish state, since according to them a Jewish state is completely forbidden by Jewish law, and a Jewish state is considered an oxymoron.

Two Haredi parties run in Israeli elections. They are sometimes associated with views that could be regarded as nationalist or Zionist, and have shown a preference for coalitions with more nationalist Zionist parties, probably because these are more interested in enhancing the Jewish nature of the Israeli state.

The Sephardi-Orthodox party Shas rejected association with the Zionist movement, however in 2010 it joined the World Zionist Organization, its voters also generally regard themselves as Zionist and Knesset members frequently pursue what others might consider a Zionist agenda. Shas has supported territorial compromise with the Arabs and Palestinians but generally opposes compromise over Jewish holy sites.

The non-Hasidic or 'Lithuanian' Haredi Ashkenazi world is represented by the Ashkenazi Agudat Israel/UTJ party has always avoided association with the Zionist movement and usually avoids voting on or discussing issues related to peace because its members do not serve in the army. The party does work towards ensuring that Israel and Israeli law are in tune with the halacha, on issues such as Shabbat rest. The rabbinical leaders of the so-called Litvishe world in current and past generations, such as Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach and Rabbi Avigdor Miller, are strongly opposed to all forms of Zionism, religious and secular, but allow for slight cooperation in the form of participating in Israeli political life, including both passive and active participation in elections.

Many other Hasidic groups, most famously the Satmar Hasidim as well as the larger movement they are part of in Jerusalem, the Edah HaChareidis, are strongly anti-Zionist. One of the best known Hasidic opponent of all forms of modern political Zionism was Hungarianrebbe and Talmudic scholar Joel Teitelbaum. In his view, the current State of Israel, which was founded by people that included some anti-religious personalities in seeming violation of the traditional notion that Jews should wait for the Jewish Messiah, is seen as contrary to Judaism. The core citations from classical Judaic sources cited by Teitelbaum in his arguments against modern Zionism are based on a passage in the Talmud, Rabbi Yosi b'Rebbi Hanina explains (Kesubos 111a) that the Lord imposed "Three Oaths" on the nation of Israel: a) Israel should not return to the Land together, by force; b) Israel should not rebel against the other nations; and c) The nations should not subjugate Israel too harshly. According to Teitelbaum, the second oath is relevant concerning the subsequent wars fought between Israel and Arab nations.

Other opponent groups included in the Edah HaChareidis include Dushinsky, Toldos Aharon, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, Spinka, and others, numbering tens of thousands in Jerusalem, and hundreds of thousands worldwide.

The Neturei Karta, an orthodox Haredi religious movement, strongly oppose Zionism and Israel; it considers the latter a racist regime.[42] The movement equates Zionism to Nazism, stating "Apart from the Zionists, the only ones who consistently considered the Jews a race were the Nazis."[43] Naturei Karta believes that Zionist ideology is totally contrary to traditional Jewish law and beliefs and the teachings of the Holy Torah[44] and that Zionism promotes antisemitism.[45]

The Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement has traditionally not identified itself as Zionist, although in recent years it has adopted a nationalist agenda and opposed any territorial compromise to become Neo-Zionist.[citation needed]

Particularities of Zionist beliefsZionism was established with the goal of creating a Jewish state. Though later Zionist leaders hoped to create a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael, Theodor Herzl "approached Great Britain about possible Jewish settlement in that country's East African colonies."[46] Aliyah (migration, literally "ascent") to the Land of Israel is a recurring theme in Jewish prayers. Rejection of life in the Diaspora is a central assumption in Zionism.[47] Underlying this attitude is the feeling that the Diaspora restricts the full growth of Jewish individual and national life.[citation needed]

Zionists generally preferred to speak Hebrew, a Semitic language that developed under conditions of freedom in ancient Judah, modernizing and adapting it for everyday use. Zionists sometimes refused to speak Yiddish, a language they considered affected by European persecution. Once they moved to Israel, many Zionists refused to speak their (diasporic) mother tongues and gave themselves new, Hebrew names. Hebrew was preferred not only for ideological reasons, but also because it allowed all citizens of the new state to have a common language, thus furthering the political and cultural bonds between Zionists.[citation needed]

Major aspects of the Zionist idea are represented in the Israeli Declaration of Independence:

The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses.[48]

HistoryPopulation of Palestine by ethno-religious groups[49]YearMuslimsJewsChristiansOthersTotal1922486,177 (74.91%)83,790 (12.91%)71,464 (11.01%)7,617 (1.17%)649,0481931493,147 (64.32%)174,606 (22.77%)88,907 (11.60%)10,101 (1.32%)766,7611941906,551 (59.68%)474,102 (31.21%)125,413 (8.26%)12,881 (0.85%)1,518,94719461,076,783 (58.34%)608,225 (32.96%)145,063 (7.86%)15,488 (0.84%)1,845,559Since the first centuries CE most Jews have lived outside Land of Israel (Eretz Israel, better known as Palestine by non-Jews), although there has been a constant presence of Jews. According to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Eretz Israel is a land promised to the Jews by God according to the Hebrew and Greek Bibles and the Quran, respectively. The Diaspora began in 586 BCE during the Babylonian occupation of Israel. The Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, which was central to Jewish culture at the time. After the 1st century Great Revolt and the 2nd century Bar Kokhba revolt, the Romans expelled the Jews from Judea, changing the name to Syria Palaestina. The Bar Kokhba revolt caused a spike in antisemitism and Jewish persecution. The ensuing exile from Judea greatly increased the percent of Jews who were dispersed throughout the Diaspora instead of living in their original home.[citation needed]

Zion is a hill near Jerusalem (now in the city), widely symbolizing the Land of Israel.[50]

In the middle of the 16th century Joseph Nasi, with the support of the Ottoman Empire, tried to gather the Portuguese Jews, first to Cyprus, then owned by the Republic of Venice, and later to Tiberias. This was the only practical attempt to establish some sort of Jewish political center in Palestine between the fourth and 19th centuries.[51] In the 17th century Sabbatai Zevi (1626''1676) announced himself as the Messiah and gained over many Jews to his side, forming a base in Salonica. He first tried to establish a settlement in Gaza, but moved later to Smyrna. After deposing the old rabbi Aaron Lapapa even the Jewish community of Avignon prepared to emigrate to the new kingdom in the spring of 1666. The readiness of the Jews of the time to believe the messianic claims of Sabbatai Zevi may be largely explained by the desperate state of European Jewry in the mid-17th century. The bloody pogroms of Bohdan Khmelnytsky had wiped out one-third of the Jewish population and destroyed many centers of Jewish learning and communal life. Finally, Joseph Nasi was forced by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV to visit him and, to the surprise of his followers, in the presence of the Sultan he converted to Islam.[52][53]

In the 19th century, a current in Judaism supporting a return to Zion grew in popularity,[54] particularly in Europe, where antisemitism and hostility towards Jews were also growing, although this idea was rejected by the conferences of rabbis held in that epoch. Nonetheless, individual efforts supported the emigration of groups of Jews to Palestine, pre-Zionist Aliyah, even before 1897, the year considered as the start of practical Zionism.[55]

The Reformed Jews rejected this idea of a return to Zion. The conference of rabbis, at Frankfurt am Main, July 15''28, 1845, deleted from the ritual all prayers for a return to Zion and a restoration of a Jewish state. The Philadelphia conference, 1869, followed the lead of the German rabbis and decreed that the Messianic hope of Israel is "the union of all the children of God in the confession of the unity of God". The Pittsburg conference, 1885, reiterated this Messianic idea of reformed Judaism, expressing in a resolution that "we consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community; and we therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning a Jewish state".[56]

Jewish settlements were established in the upper Mississippi region by W.D. Robinson in 1819 and near Jerusalem, by the American Consul Warder Cresson, a convert to Judaism, in 1850. Cresson was tried and condemned for lunacy in a suit brought forward by his own wife and son. The basis of the suit was that only a lunatic would convert to Judaism from Christianity. After a second trial, revolving upon the centrality of American freedom of faith issues and antisemitism, Cresson won the bitterly contested suit.[57] He emigrated to Ottoman Palestine and established an agricultural colony in the Valley of Rephaim of Jerusalem. He hoped to "prevent any attempts being made to take advantage of the necessities of our poor brethren ... (that would) ... FORCE them into a pretended conversion."[58] Moral but not practical efforts were made in Prague, by Abraham Benisch and Moritz Steinschneider in 1835. In the United States, Mordechai Noah attempted to establish a Jewish refuge opposite Buffalo, N.Y. on Grand Isle, 1825. The early Jewish efforts of Cresson, Benisch, Steinschneider and Noah failed.[59][page needed][60]

Sir Moses Montefiore, famous for his intervention in favor of Jews around the world, including the attempt to rescue Edgardo Mortara, established a colony for Jews in Palestine. In 1854, his friend Judah Touro bequeathed money to fund Jewish residential settlement in Palestine. Montefiore was appointed executor of his will, and used the funds for a variety of projects, including building in 1860 the first Jewish residential settlement and almshouse outside of the old walled city of Jerusalem'--today known as Mishkenot Sha'ananim. Laurence Oliphant failed in a like attempt to bring to Palestine the Jewish proletariat of Poland, Lithuania, Romania, and the Turkish Empire (1879 and 1882). The official beginning of the construction of the New Yishuv in Palestine is usually dated back to the arrival of the Bilu group in 1882, which commenced the First Aliyah. In the following years, Jewish immigration to Palestine started in earnest. Most immigrants came from Russia, escaping the frequent pogroms and state-led persecution. They founded a number of agricultural settlements with financial support from Jewish philanthropists in Western Europe. Further Aliyahs followed the Russian Revolution and Nazi persecution. However, at the end of the 19th century, Jews still were a minority in Palestine.[citation needed]

In the 1890s, Theodor Herzl infused Zionism with a new ideology and practical urgency, leading to the First Zionist Congress at Basel in 1897, which created the World Zionist Organization (WZO).[61] Herzl's aim was to initiate necessary preparatory steps for the attainment of a Jewish state. Herzl's attempts to reach a political agreement with the Ottoman rulers of Palestine were unsuccessful and other governmental support was sought. The WZO supported small-scale settlement in Palestine and focused on strengthening Jewish feeling and consciousness and on building a worldwide federation.[citation needed]

The Russian Empire, with its long record of state-organized genocide and ethnic cleansing ("pogroms"), was widely regarded as the historic enemy of the Jewish people. As much of its leadership were German speakers, the Zionist movement's headquarters were located in Berlin. At the start of World War I, most Jews (and Zionists) supported Germany in its war with Russia.[citation needed]

The Balfour Declaration and the Palestine MandateIn 1903, the Zionist congress declined an offer by the British to establish a homeland in Uganda. Lobbying by a Russian Jewish immigrant, Chaim Weizmann and fear that American Jews would encourage the USA to support Germany culminated in the British government's Balfour Declaration of 1917, which endorsed the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, as follows:

His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.[62]

In 1922, the League of Nations adopted the declaration, and granted to Britain the Palestine Mandate:

The Mandate will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home ... and the development of self-governing institutions, and also safeguard the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.[63]

Weizmann's role in obtaining the Balfour Declaration led to his election as the movement's leader. He remained in that role until 1948 and then became the first President of Israel.

Jewish migration to Palestine and widespread Jewish land purchases from feudal[citation needed] landlords led to landlessness among Palestinian Arabs and fueled unrest. There were riots in 1920, 1921 and 1929, in which both Jews and Arabs were killed.[64] Britain was responsible for the Palestinian mandate and, after the Balfour Declaration, it supported Jewish immigration in principle, but in reaction to the violent events that followed, the Peel Commission published a report proposing new provisions and restrictions.[citation needed]

In 1927, UkrainianJewYitzhak Lamdan, wrote an epic poem titled "Masada" to reflect the Jewish plight of the Jews, calling for a "last stand".[65] Upon the German adoption of the swastika, Theodore Newman Kaufman, a racistfascist, bent on provoking a race war and eliminating his perception of "inbred Germanism", published Germany Must Perish!Anti-German articles, such as the Daily Express calling for an "Anti-Nazi boycott", in response to German antisemitism were published prior to Adolf Hitler's rise, as well. This has lent to the conspiracy theory that Jews started the holocaust, although Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels was largely responsible for ignoring the patriotic Jew, and instead promoting anti-German materials as "evidence" that the Jews needed to be eradicated.

The Rise of HitlerIn 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany, and in 1935 the Nuremberg Laws made German Jews (and later Austrian and Czech Jews) stateless refugees. Similar rules were applied by the many Nazi allies in Europe. The subsequent growth in Jewish migration and the impact of Nazi propaganda aimed at the Arab world led to the 1936''1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. Britain established the Peel Commission to investigate the situation. The commission did not consider the situation of Jews in Europe, but called for a two-state solution and compulsory transfer of populations. Britain rejected this solution and instead implemented the White Paper of 1939. This planned to end Jewish immigration by 1944 and to allow no more than 75,000 further Jewish migrants. This was disastrous to European Jews already being gravely discriminated against and in need of a place to seek refuge. The British maintained this policy until the end of the Mandate.[citation needed]

The growth of the Jewish community in Palestine and the devastation of European Jewish life sidelined the World Zionist Organization. The Jewish Agency for Palestine under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion increasingly dictated policy with support from American Zionists who provided funding and influence in Washington, D.C., including via the highly effective American Palestine Committee.[citation needed]

During World War II, as the horrors of the Holocaust became known, the Zionist leadership formulated the One Million Plan, a reduction from Ben-Gurion's previous target of two million immigrants. Following the end of the war, a massive wave of stateless Jews, mainly Holocaust survivors, began migrating to Palestine in small boats in defiance of British rules. The Holocaust united much of the rest of world Jewry behind the Zionist project.[66] The British either imprisoned these Jews in Cyprus or sent them to the British-controlled Allied Occupation Zones in Germany. The British, having faced the 1936''1939 Arab revolt against mass Jewish immigration into Palestine, were now facing opposition by Zionist groups in Palestine for subsequent restrictions. In January 1946 the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was a joint British and American committee set up to examine the political, economic and social conditions in Palestine as they bear upon the problem of Jewish immigration and settlement therein and the well-being of the peoples now living therein; to consult representatives of Arabs and Jews, and to make other recommendations 'as may be necessary' to for ad interim handling of these problems as well as for their permanent solution.[67] Ultimately the Committee plans was rejected by both Arabs and Jews; and Britain decided to refer the problem to the United Nations.[citation needed]

Post-WWIIIn 1947, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) recommended that western Palestine should be partitioned into a Jewish state, an Arab state and a UN-controlled territory, Corpus separatum, around Jerusalem.[68] This partition plan was adopted on November 29, 1947 with UN GA Resolution 181, 33 votes in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstentions. The vote led to celebrations in the streets of Jewish cities.[69] However, the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab states rejected the UN decision, demanding a single state and removal of Jewish migrants, leading to the 1948 Arab''Israeli War.

On May 14, 1948, at the end of the British mandate, the Jewish Agency, led by David Ben-Gurion, declared the creation of the State of Israel, and the same day the armies of seven Arab countries invaded Israel. The conflict led to an exodus of about 711,000 Palestinian Arabs,[70] known in Arabic as al-Nakba ("the Catastrophe"). Later, a series of laws passed by the first Israeli government prevented Palestinians from returning to their homes, or claiming their property. They and many of their descendants remain refugees.[71][72] The flight and expulsion of the Palestinians has since been widely, and controversially, described as having involved ethnic cleansing.[73][74] According to a growing consensus between Israeli and Palestinian historians, expulsion and destruction of villages played a part in the origin of the Palestinian refugees.[75]Efraim Karsh, however, states that most of the Arabs who fled left of their own accord or were pressured to leave by their fellow Arabs, despite Israeli attempts to convince them to stay.[76][77]

Since the creation of the State of Israel, the World Zionist Organization has functioned mainly as an organization dedicated to assisting and encouraging Jews to migrate to Israel. It has provided political support for Israel in other countries but plays little role in internal Israeli politics. The movement's major success since 1948 was in providing logistical support for migrating Jews and, most importantly, in assisting Soviet Jews in their struggle with the authorities over the right to leave the USSR and to practice their religion in freedom, and the exodus of 850,000 Jews from the Arab world, mostly to Israel. In 1944-45, Ben-Gurion described the One Million Plan to foreign officials as being the "primary goal and top priority of the Zionist movement." The immigration restrictions of the British White Paper of 1939 meant that such a plan was not able to be put into large scale effect until the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May 1948. The new country's immigration policy had some opposition within the new Israeli government, such as those who argued that there was "no justification for organizing large-scale emigration among Jews whose lives were not in danger, particularly when the desire and motivation were not their own" as well as those who argued that the absorption process caused "undue hardship". However, the force of Ben-Gurion's influence and insistence ensured that his immigration policy was carried out.

Non-Jewish support for ZionismPolitical support for the Jewish return to the Land of Israel predates the formal organization of Jewish Zionism as a political movement. In the 19th century, advocates of the Restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land were called Restorationists. The return of the Jews to the Holy Land was widely supported by such eminent figures as Queen Victoria, Napoleon Bonaparte,[83]King Edward VII, President John Adams of the United States, General Smuts of South Africa, President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia, philosopher and historian Benedetto Croce from Italy, Henry Dunant (founder of the Red Cross and author of the Geneva Conventions), and scientist and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen from Norway.[citation needed]

The French government through Minister M. Cambon formally committed itself to "... the renaissance of the Jewish nationality in that Land from which the people of Israel were exiled so many centuries ago."[citation needed]

In China, top figures of the Nationalist government, including Sun Yat-sen, expressed their sympathy with the aspirations of the Jewish people for a National Home.[84]

Christians supporting ZionismSome Christians have actively supported the return of Jews to Palestine even prior to the rise of Zionism, as well as subsequently. Anita Shapira, a history professor emerita at Tel Aviv University, suggests that evangelical Christian restorationists of the 1840s 'passed this notion on to Jewish circles'.[86] It was common among the Puritans to anticipate and frequently to pray for a Jewish return to their homeland.[87] One of the principal Protestant teachers who promoted the biblical doctrine that the Jews would return to their national homeland was John Nelson Darby. His doctrine of dispensationalism is credited with promoting Zionism, following his 11 lectures on the hopes of the church, the Jew and the gentile given in Geneva in 1840.[88] However, others like C H Spurgeon,[89]both Horatius[90] and Andrew Bonar, Robert Murray M'Chyene,[91] and J C Ryle[92] were among a number of prominent proponents of both the importance and significance of a Jewish return, who were not dispensationalist. Pro-Zionist views were embraced by many evangelicals and also affected international foreign policy. Notable early supporters of Zionism include British Prime Ministers David Lloyd George and Arthur Balfour, American President Woodrow Wilson and British Major-GeneralOrde Wingate, whose activities in support of Zionism led the British Army to ban him from ever serving in Palestine. According to Charles Merkley of Carleton University, Christian Zionism strengthened significantly after the Six-Day War of 1967, and many dispensationalist and non-dispensationalist evangelical Christians, especially in the United States, now strongly support Zionism.[citation needed]

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a strong supporter of Israel and Zionism,[85] although the Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend is a work falsely attributed to him.

In the last years of his life, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Joseph Smith, declared, "the time for Jews to return to the land of Israel is now." In 1842, Smith sent Orson Hyde, an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to Jerusalem to dedicate the land for the return of the Jews.[93]

Some Arab Christians publicly supporting Israel include US author Nonie Darwish, and former Muslim Magdi Allam, author of Viva Israele,[94] both born in Egypt. Brigitte Gabriel, a Lebanese-born Christian US journalist and founder of the American Congress for Truth, urges Americans to "fearlessly speak out in defense of America, Israel and Western civilization".[95]

Muslims supporting ZionismMain article: Muslim ZionismMuslims who publicly defended Zionism include Dr. Tawfik Hamid, former member of a terrorist organization and current Islamic thinker and reformer,[97] Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community,[98] and Tashbih Sayyed, a Pakistani-American scholar, journalist, and author.[99]

On occasion, some non-Arab Muslims such as some Kurds and Berbers have also voiced support for Zionism.[100][101][102]

During the Palestine Mandate era, As'ad Shukeiri, a Muslim scholar ('alim) of the Acre area, and the father of PLO founder Ahmad Shukeiri, rejected the values of the Palestinian Arab national movement and was opposed to the anti-Zionist movement.[103] He met routinely with Zionist officials and had a part in every pro-Zionist Arab organization from the beginning of the British Mandate, publicly rejecting Mohammad Amin al-Husayni's use of Islam to attack Zionism.[104]

Some Indian Muslims have also expressed opposition to Islamic anti-Zionism. In August 2007, a delegation of the All India Organization of Imams and mosques led by Maulana Jamil Ilyas visited Israel. The meeting led to a joint statement expressing "peace and goodwill from Indian Muslims", developing dialogue between Indian Muslims and Israeli Jews, and rejecting the perception that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is of a religious nature.[105] The visit was organized by the American Jewish Committee. The purpose of the visit was to promote meaningful debate about the status of Israel in the eyes of Muslims worldwide, and to strengthen the relationship between India and Israel. It is suggested that the visit could "open Muslim minds across the world to understand the democratic nature of the state of Israel, especially in the Middle East".[106]

Hindu support for ZionismAfter Israel's creation in 1948, the Indian National Congress government opposed Zionism. Some writers have claimed that this was done in order to get more Muslim votes in India (where Muslims numbered over 30 million at the time).[107] However, conservative Hindu nationalists, led by the Sangh Parivar, openly supported Zionism, as did Hindu Nationalist intellectuals like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Sita Ram Goel.[108] Zionism as a national liberation movement to repatriate the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland appealed to many Hindu Nationalists, who viewed their struggle for independence from British rule and the Partition of India as national liberation for long-oppressed Hindus.

An international opinion survey has shown that India is the most pro-Israel country in the world.[109] In more current times, conservative Indian parties and organizations tend to support Zionism.[108][110] This has invited attacks on the Hindutva movement by parts of the Indian left opposed to Zionism, and allegations that Hindus are conspiring with the "Jewish Lobby."[111]

Marcus Garvey and Black ZionismZionist success in winning British support for the formation of a Jewish National Home in Palestine helped inspire the Jamaican nationalist Marcus Garvey to form a movement dedicated to returning Americans of African origin to Africa. During a speech in Harlem in 1920, Garvey stated: "other races were engaged in seeing their cause through'--the Jews through their Zionist movement and the Irish through their Irish movement'--and I decided that, cost what it might, I would make this a favorable time to see the Negro's interest through."[112] Garvey established a shipping company, the Black Star Line, to allow Black Americans to emigrate to Africa, but for various reasons he failed in his endeavour.

Garvey helped inspire the Rastafari movement in Jamaica, the Black Jews[113] and the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem who initially moved to Liberia before settling in Israel.

Opposition to ZionismZionism is opposed by a wide variety of organizations and individuals. Among those opposing Zionism are some secular Jews,[114] some branches of Judaism (Satmar Hasidim and Neturei Karta), the former Soviet Union,[115] some African-Americans,[116] many in the Muslim world, and Palestinians. Reasons for opposing Zionism are varied, and include the perceptions of unfair land confiscation, expulsions of Palestinians, violence against Palestinians, and alleged racism. Arab states in particular strongly oppose Zionism, which they believe is responsible for the 1948 Palestinian exodus. The preamble of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which has been ratified by 53 African countries as of 2014, includes an undertaking to eliminate Zionism together with other practices including colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid, "aggressive foreign military bases" and all forms of discrimination.[117][118]

Zionism had also been opposed by some Jews for other reasons even before the establishment of the state of Israel because "Zionism constitutes a danger, spiritual and physical, to the existence of our people.'.".[119][page needed] The book also states "The booklet which we are publishing here, 'Serufay. Ha Kivshbnim Maashimim' ('The Holocaust Victims Accuse'), serves as an attempt to show, by means of testimonies., documents and reports, how Zionism and its high-level organizations brought a catastrophe upon our people during the era of the Nazi holocaust."[page needed]

Catholic Church and ZionismThe initial response of the Catholic Church seemed to be one of strong opposition to Zionism. Shortly after the 1897 Basel Conference, the semi-official Vatican periodical (edited by the Jesuits) Civilta Cattolica gave its biblical-theological judgement on political Zionism: "1827 years have passed since the prediction of Jesus of Nazareth was fulfilled ... that [after the destruction of Jerusalem] the Jews would be led away to be slaves among all the nations and that they would remain in the dispersion [diaspora, galut] until the end of the world." The Jews should not be permitted to return to Palestine with sovereignty: "According to the Sacred Scriptures, the Jewish people must always live dispersed and vagabondo [vagrant, wandering] among the other nations, so that they may render witness to Christ not only by the Scriptures ... but by their very existence".

Nonetheless, Theodore Herzl travelled to Rome in late January 1904, after the sixth Zionist Congress (August 1903) and six months before his death, looking for some kind of support. In January 22, Herzl first met the Secretary of State, Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val. According to Herzl's private diary notes, the Cardinal agreed on the history of Israel being the same as the one of the Catholic Church, but asked beforehand for a conversion of Jews to Catholicism. Three days later, Herzl met Pope Pius X, who replied to his request of support for a Jewish return to Israel in the same terms, saying that "we are unable to favor this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews going to Jerusalem, but we could never sanction it ... The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people." In 1922, the same periodical published a piece by its Viennese correspondent, "anti-Semitism is nothing but the absolutely necessary and natural reaction to the Jews' arrogance...Catholic anti-Semitism - while never going beyond the moral law - adopts all necessary means to emancipate the Christian people from the abuse they suffer from their sworn enemy".[120] This initial attitude changed over the next 50 years, until 1997, when at the Vatican symposium of that year, Pope John Paul II rejected the Christian roots of antisemitism, expressing that "... the wrong and unjust interpretations of the New Testament relating to the Jewish people and their supposed guilt [in Christ's death] circulated for too long, engendering sentiments of hostility toward this people."[121]

Characterization as colonialism or ethnic cleansingZionism has been characterized as colonialism, and Zionism has been criticized for promoting unfair confiscation of land, involving the expulsion of, and causing violence towards, the Palestinians. The characterization of Zionism as colonialism has been described by, among others, Nur Masalha, Gershon Shafir, Michael Prior, Ilan Pappe, and Baruch Kimmerling.[11]

Others, such as Shlomo Avineri and Mitchell Bard, view Zionism not as colonialist movement, but as a national movement that is contending with the Palestinian one.[122]David Hoffman rejected the claim that Zionism is a 'settler-colonial undertaking' and instead characterized Zionism as a national program of affirmative action, adding that there is unbroken Jewish presence in Israel back to antiquity.[123]

Noam Chomsky, John P. Quigly, Nur Masalha, and Cheryl Rubenberg have criticized Zionism, saying it unfairly confiscates land and expels Palestinians.[124]

Edward Said and Michael Prior claim that the notion of expelling the Palestinians was an early component of Zionism, citing Herzl's diary from 1895 which states "we shall endeavour to expel the poor population across the border unnoticed '-- the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly."[125] This quotation has been critiqued by Efraim Karsh for misrepresenting Herzl's purpose.[126] He describes it as "a feature of Palestinian propaganda", writing that Herzl was referring to the voluntary resettlement of squatters living on land purchased by Jews, and that the full diary entry stated, "It goes without saying that we shall respectfully tolerate persons of other faiths and protect their property, their honor, and their freedom with the harshest means of coercion. This is another area in which we shall set the entire world a wonderful example '... Should there be many such immovable owners in individual areas [who would not sell their property to us], we shall simply leave them there and develop our commerce in the direction of other areas which belong to us."[127][128]Derek Penslar says that Herzl may have been considering either South America or Palestine when he wrote the diary entry about expropriation.[129] According to Walter Lacquer, although many Zionists proposed transfer, it was never official Zionist policy and in 1918 Ben-Gurion "emphatically rejected" it.[130]

Ilan Pappe argued that Zionism results in ethnic cleansing.[131] This view diverges from other New Historians, such as Benny Morris, who accept the Palestinian exodus narrative but place it in the context of war, not ethnic cleansing.[132] When Benny Morris was asked about the Lydda Death March, he responded "There are circumstances in history that justify ethnic cleansing. I know that this term is completely negative in the discourse of the 21st century, but when the choice is between ethnic cleansing and genocide - the annihilation of your people - I prefer ethnic cleansing."[133]

Saleh Abdel Jawad, Nur Masalha, Michael Prior, Ian Lustick, and John Rose have criticized Zionism for having been responsible for violence against Palestinians, such as the Deir Yassin massacre, Sabra and Shatila massacre, and Cave of the Patriarchs massacre.[134]

In 1938, Mahatma Gandhi rejected Zionism, saying that the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine is a religious act and therefore must not be performed by force. He wrote, "Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs ... Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home ... They can settle in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs. They should seek to convert the Arab heart."[135]

Characterization as racistDavid Ben-Gurion stated that "There will be no discrimination among citizens of the Jewish state on the basis of race, religion, sex, or class."[136] Likewise, Vladimir Jabotinsky avowed "the minority will not be rendered defenseless...[the] aim of democracy is to guarantee that the minority too has influence on matters of state policy."[137]

However, critics of Zionism consider it a colonialist[11] or racist[12] movement. According to historian Avi Shlaim, throughout its history up to present day, Zionism "is replete with manifestations of deep hostility and contempt towards the indigenous population." Shlaim balances this by pointing out that there have always been individuals within the Zionist movement that have criticized such attitudes. He cites the example of Ahad Ha'am, who after visiting Palestine in 1891, published a series of articles criticizing the aggressive behaviour and political ethnocentrism of Zionist settlers. Ha'am wrote that the Zionists "behave towards the Arabs with hostility and cruelty, trespass unjustly upon their boundaries, beat them shamefully without reason and even brag about it, and nobody stands to check this contemptible and dangerous tendency" and that they believed that "the only language that the Arabs understand is that of force."[138] Some criticisms of Zionism claim that Judaism's notion of the "chosen people" is the source of racism in Zionism,[139] despite, according to Gustavo Perednik, that being a religious concept unrelated to Zionism.[140]

In December 1973, the UN passed a series of resolutions condemning South Africa and included a reference to an "unholy alliance between Portuguese colonialism, Apartheid and Zionism."[141] At the time there was little cooperation between Israel and South Africa,[142] although the two countries would develop a close relationship during the 1970s.[143] Parallels have also been drawn between aspects of South Africa's apartheid regime and certain Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, which are seen as manifestations of racism in Zionist thinking.[144][145][146]

In 1975 the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, which said "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination". According to the resolution, "any doctrine of racial differentiation of superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust, and dangerous." The resolution named the occupied territory of Palestine, Zimbabwe, and South Africa as examples of racist regimes. Resolution 3379 was pioneered by the Soviet Union and passed with numerical support from Arab and African states amidst accusations that Israel was supportive of the apartheid regime in South Africa.[147] The resolution was robustly criticised by the US representative, Daniel Patrick Moynihan as an 'obscenity' and a 'harm ...done to the United Nations'.[148] 'In 1991 the resolution was repealed with UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86,[149] after Israel declared that it would only participate in the Madrid Conference of 1991 if the resolution were revoked.[150]

''''The United States ...does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act'... The lie is that Zionism is a form of racism. The overwhelmingly clear truth is that it is not.'' Daniel Patrick Moynihan, speaking in the UN General Assembly after Resolution 3379 was passed, 1975.[148]''Arab countries sought to associate Zionism with racism in connection with a 2001 UN conference on racism, which took place in Durban, South Africa,[151] which caused the United States and Israel to walk away from the conference as a response. The final text of the conference did not connect Zionism with racism. A human rights forum arranged in connection with the conference, on the other hand, did equate Zionism with racism and censured Israel for what it called "racist crimes, including acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing".[152]

Some supporters of Zionism, such as Chaim Herzog, argue that the movement is non-discriminatory and contains no racist aspects.[153]

Anti-Zionism or AntisemitismSome critics of anti-Zionism have argued that opposition to Zionism can be hard to distinguish from antisemitism,[154][155][156][157][158] and that criticism of Israel may be used as an excuse to express viewpoints that might otherwise be considered antisemitic.[159][160]Martin Luther King Jr. condemned anti-Zionism as antisemitic.[161] Other scholars consider certain forms of opposition to Zionism to constitute antisemitism.[157] A number of scholars have argued that opposition to Zionism and/or the State of Israel's policies at the more extreme fringes often overlaps with antisemitism.[157] In the Arab world, the words "Jew" and "Zionist" are often used interchangeably. To avoid accusations of antisemitism, the Palestine Liberation Organization has historically avoided using the word "Jewish" in favor using "Zionist," though PLO officials have sometimes slipped.[162]

Some antisemites have alleged that Zionism was, or is, part of a Jewish plot to take control of the world.[163] One particular version of these allegations, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (subtitle "Protocols extracted from the secret archives of the central chancery of Zion") achieved global notability. The protocols are fictional minutes of an imaginary meeting by Jewish leaders of this plot. Analysis and proof of their fraudulent origin goes as far back as 1921.[164] A 1920 German version renamed them "The Zionist Protocols".[165] The protocols were extensively used as propaganda by the Nazis and remain widely distributed in the Arab world. They are referred to in the 1988 Hamas charter.[166]

There are examples of anti-Zionists using accusations, slanders, imagery and tactics previously associated with antisemites. On October 21, 1973, then-Soviet ambassador to the United Nations Yakov Malik declared: "The Zionists have come forth with the theory of the Chosen People, an absurd ideology." Similarly, an exhibit about Zionism and Israel in the former Museum of Religion and Atheism in Saint Petersburg designated the following as Soviet Zionist material: Jewish prayer shawls, tefillin and PassoverHagaddahs,[167] even though these are all religious items used by Jews for thousands of years.[168]

On the other hand, anti-Zionist writers such as Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Michael Marder, and Tariq Ali have argued that the characterization of anti-Zionism as antisemitic is inaccurate, sometimes obscures legitimate criticism of Israel's policies and actions, and is sometimes a political ploy to stifle criticism of Israel.[169]

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The Jewish-American writer Dan Kurzman, in his book Genesis 1948 '... describes the view of one of the Deir Yassin's killers: 'The Sternists followed the instructions of the Bible more rigidly than others. They honored the passage (Exodus 22:2): 'If a thief be found '...' This meant, of course, that killing a thief was not really murder. And were not the enemies of Zionism thieves, who wanted to steal from the Jews what God had granted them?'Ehrlich, Carl. S., (1999) "Joshua, Judaism, and Genocide", in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Judit Targarona Borrs, ngel Senz-Badillos (Eds). 1999, Brill. p 117-124.Hirst, David, The Gun and the Olive Branch: The Roots of Violence in the Middle East. 1984, p 139.Lorch, Netanel, The Edge of the Sword: Israel's War of Independence, 1947''1949, Putnam, 1961, p 87Pappe, Ilan, The ethnic cleansing of Palestine, Oneworld, 2007, p 88^William R. Slomanson. Fundamental Perspectives on International Law. p. 50^Karsh, Efraim (1997). Fabricating Israeli History. Frank Cass. p. 55. ^Sarig, Mordechai (1999). The Social and Political Philosophy of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Valletine Mitchell. p. 50. ^shlaim, Avi (9 June 1994). "It can be done". London Review of Books16 (11): 26''27. Retrieved 2012-10-16. ^Korey, William, Russian antisemitism, Pamyat, and the demonology of Zionism, Psychology Press, 1995, pp 33''34Beker, Avi, Chosen: the history of an idea, the anatomy of an obsession, Macmillan, 2008, pp 139Shimoni, Gideon, Community and conscience: the Jews in apartheid South Africa, UPNE, 2003, p 167^Perednik, Gustavo. "Judeophobia". The Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism. ".. This identity is often explicitly worded by its spokespersons. Thus, Yakov Malik, the Soviet ambassador to the UN, declared in 1973: ''The Zionists have come forward with the theory of the Chosen People, an absurd ideology.'' (As it is well known, the biblical concept of ''Chosen People'' is part of Judaism; Zionism has nothing to do with it). "^Resolution 3151 G (XXVIII) of December 14, 1973 by the UN General Assembly^Israel and Black Africa: A Rapprochement? Ethan A. Nadelmann. Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 183''219^Brothers in arms '-- Israel's secret pact with Pretoria (The Guardian, February 7, 2006)^UN envoy hits Israel 'apartheid' (BBC, Feb. 23, 2007)^It's time to rethink Zionism (The Guardian, Feb. 17, 2009)^Zionism as a Racist Ideology, by Kathleen and Bill Christinson (Counterpunch, November 8 / 9, 2003)^UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, Racial Discrimination (Council on Foreign Relations, November 10, 1975)^ abTroy, Gil (2012). Moynihan's Moment: America's Fight Against Zionism as Racism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 368. ISBN 9780196360331. ^260 General Assembly Resolution 46-86- Revocation of Resolution 3379- December 16, 1991 '-- and statement by President Herzog Dec 16, 1991, VOLUME 11''12: 1988''1992^Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 320. ISBN 0-465-04195-7.^Anger over Zionism debate (BBC, Sept. 4, 2001)^US abandons racism summit(BBC, Sept. 3, 2001)^Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog's Response To Zionism Is Racism Resolution. November 10, 1975. "You dare talk of racism when I can point with pride to the Arab ministers who have served in my government; to the Arab deputy speaker of my Parliament; to Arab officers and men serving of their own volition in our border and police defense forces, frequently commanding Jewish troops; to the hundreds of thousands of Arabs from all over the Middle East crowding the cities of Israel every year; to the thousands of Arabs from all over the Middle East coming for medical treatment to Israel; to the peaceful coexistence which has developed; to the fact that Arabic is an official language in Israel on a par with Hebrew; to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Is that racism? It is not! That, Mr. President, is Zionism."^Laquer, Walter (2003). A History of Zionism. Random House. p. XXiii. ^Ottolenghi, Emanuele (2003-11-29). "Anti-Zionism is anti-semitism". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2003-11-29. ^"Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Fall 2004. Retrieved 2012-11-17. ^ abcAnti-semitism in Germany: the post-Nazi epoch since 1945 By Werner Bergmann, Rainer Erb, page 182, "Continuity and Change: Extreme Right Perceptions of Zionism" by Roni Stauber in Anti-semitism worldwide 1999/2000 Tel Aviv University^Marcus, Kenneth L. (2007), "Anti-Zionism as Racism: Campus Anti-Semitism and the Civil Rights Act of 1964", William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal15 (3): 837''891 ^Temko, Ned (October 17, 2006). "Critics of Israel 'fuelling hatred of British Jews'". The Guardian (London). ^http://www.h-net.org/~antis/papers/jcr_antisemitism.pdf^Dr. King (January 20, 2003). "Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitism". FrontPage Magazine. Retrieved July 12, 2014. ^Mitchell, Thomas G. (2000). Native vs. Settler. Greenwood Press. p. 48. To most Arabs the terms Jew or Jewish and Zionist are interchangeable. After the introduction of European anti-Semitism into the Arab world in the thirties and forties through the Axis powers, Arab propaganda has displayed many classic Nazi anti-Semitic claims about the Jews. For public relations purposes the PLO has never wanted to be accused of being anti-Semitic but rather only of being anti-Zionist. Occasionally its leaders slip, as Arafat did when he referred to the "Jewish invasion" in his speech. ^Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide, Serif 2001 chapter 3^A Hoax of Hate^Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide, Serif 2001 page 75-76^Hamas charter, article 32: "The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" ..."^Korey, W., "Updating the Protocols," Midstream, May 1970, p. 17.^Prager, D; Telushkin, J. Why the Jews?: The Reason for Antisemitism. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983. page 169-175.^Professor Noam Chomsky argues: "There have long been efforts to identify anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in an effort to exploit anti-racist sentiment for political ends; "one of the chief tasks of any dialogue with the Gentile world is to prove that the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is not a distinction at all," Israeli diplomat Abba Eban argued, in a typical expression of this intellectually and morally disreputable position (Eban, Congress Bi-Weekly, March 30, 1973). But that no longer suffices. It is now necessary to identify criticism of Israeli policies as anti-Semitism '-- or in the case of Jews, as "self-hatred," so that all possible cases are covered." '-- Chomsky, 1989 "Necessary Illusions".Philosopher Michael Marder argues: "To deconstruct Zionism is ... to demand justice for its victims - not only for the Palestinians, who are suffering from it, but also for the anti-Zionist Jews, "erased" from the officially consecrated account of Zionist history. By deconstructing its ideology, we shed light on the context it strives to repress and on the violence it legitimises with a mix of theological or metaphysical reasoning and affective appeals to historical guilt for the undeniably horrific persecution of Jewish people in Europe and elsewhere."[1][2]American political scientist Norman Finkelstein argues that anti-Zionism and often just criticism of Israeli policies have been conflated with antisemitism, sometimes called new antisemitism for political gain: "Whenever Israel faces a public relations d(C)bcle such as the Intifada or international pressure to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, American Jewish organizations orchestrate this extravaganza called the 'new anti-Semitism.' The purpose is several-fold. First, it is to discredit any charges by claiming the person is an anti-Semite. It's to turn Jews into the victims, so that the victims are not the Palestinians any longer. As people like Abraham Foxman of the ADL put it, the Jews are being threatened by a new holocaust. It's a role reversal '-- the Jews are now the victims, not the Palestinians. So it serves the function of discrediting the people leveling the charge. It's no longer Israel that needs to leave the Occupied Territories; it's the Arabs who need to free themselves of the anti-Semitism. '-- http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/5104Tariq Ali, a British-Pakistani historian and political activist, argues that the concept of new antisemitism amounts to an attempt to subvert the language in the interests of the State of Israel. He writes that the campaign against "the supposed new 'anti-semitism'" in modern Europe is a "cynical ploy on the part of the Israeli Government to seal off the Zionist state from any criticism of its regular and consistent brutality against the Palestinians ... Criticism of Israel can not and should not be equated with anti-semitism." He argues that most pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist groups that emerged after the Six-Day War were careful to observe the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. '-- Ali, Tariq. "Notes on Anti-Semitism, Zionism and Palestine", Counterpunch, March 4, 2004, first published in il manifesto, February 26, 2004.Primary sourcesHerzl, Theodor. A Jewish state: an attempt at a modern solution of the Jewish question (1896) full text onlineHerzl, Theodor. Theodor Herzl: Excerpts from His Diaries (2006) excerpt and text searchFurther readingArmborst-Weihs, Kerstin: The Formation of the Jewish National Movement Through Transnational Exchange: Zionism in Europe up to the First World War, European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2011, retrieved: August 17, 2011.Beller, Steven. Herzl (2004)Brenner, Michael, and Shelley Frisch. Zionism: A Brief History (2003) excerpt and text searchButler, Judith: Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism. Columbia University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0231146111Cohen, Naomi. The Americanization of Zionism, 1897''1948 (2003). 304 pp. essays on specialized topicsFriedman, Isaiah. "Theodor Herzl: Political Activity and Achievements," Israel Studies 2004 9(3): 46''79, online in EBSCOHacohen, Dvorah (1991), "BenGurion and the Second World War", in Jonathan Frankel, Studies in Contemporary Jewry : Volume VII: Jews and Messianism in the Modern Era: Metaphor and Meaning, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195361988 Hakohen, Devorah (2003), Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and Its Repercussions in the 1950s and After, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 9780815629696 David Hazony, Yoram Hazony, and Michael B. Oren, eds., "New Essays on Zionism," Shalem Press, 2007.Kloke, Martin: The Development of Zionism Until the Founding of the State of Israel, European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2010, retrieved: June 13, 2012.Laqueur, Walter. A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel (2003) survey by a leading scholar excerpt and text searchMedoff, Rafael. "Recent Trends in the Historiography of American Zionism," American Jewish History 86 (March 1998), 117''134.Motyl, Alexander J. (2001). Encyclopedia of Nationalism, Volume II. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-227230-7. Pawel, Ernst. The Labyrinth of Exile: A Life of Theodor Herzl (1992) excerpt and text searchSachar, Howard M. A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time (2007) excerpt and text searchShimoni, Gideon. The Zionist Ideology (1995)Taub, Gadi. The Settlers and the Struggle over the Meaning of Zionism (2010, Hebrew, English)Taylor, A.R., 1971, 'Vision and intent in Zionist Thought', in 'The transformation of Palestine', ed. by I. Abu-Lughod, ISBN 0-8101-0345-1, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, USAUrofsky, Melvin I. American Zionism from Herzl to the Holocaust (1995), a standard historyWigoder, Geoffrey, ed. New Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel (2nd ed. 2 vol. 1994); 1521ppExternal links

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:06

Founded in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America (''ZOA'') is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. With offices around the country and in Israel, the ZOA is dedicated to educating the public, elected officials, media, and college/high school students about the truth of the ongoing and relentless Arab war against Israel. ZOA is also committed to promoting strong U.S.-Israel relations. ZOA works to protect Jewish college and high school students from intimidation, harassment and discrimination, and in fighting anti-Semitism in general.

Since its founding in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America has been fighting for the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. Under the leadership of such illustrious presidents as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, and current National President Morton A. Klein, the ZOA has been on the front lines of Jewish activism.

With a national membership of over 25,000, and chapters throughout the United States (including Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, South Jersey and Washington D.C.), the ZOA today works to strengthen US-Israeli relations, through educational activities, public affairs programs, working every day on Capitol Hill, and by combating anti-Israel bias in the media, textbooks, and on campuses.

Wherever our message is needed, our voice is being heard.

The ZOA is the only organization that documents and exposes Palestinian Arab violations of the Road Map plan. The ZOA leads the efforts on behalf of American victims of Palestinian Arab terrorism. The ZOA's campaigns have repeatedly led to the defeat of hostile critics of Israel who were nominated for important government positions.

The ZOA has played a key role in Congress regarding victims of terrorism, keeping Jerusalem unified under Israeli sovereignty, fighting Hamas and Fatah, and working on the imposition of sanctions on Syria and Saudi Arabia.

The ZOA's growing Campus Activism Network organizes college students to combat Arab propaganda on campuses from coast to coast. The ZOA regularly brings student activists to Israel for leadership training programs; we are preparing the Jewish activist leadership of the future.

The ZOA's Center for Law & Justice works through the courts to help Israel and the Jewish people. The Center has filed suit against the State Department for ignoring the law requiring that ''Jerusalem, Israel'' be stamped on the passports of U.S. citizens who are born there. The Center also helped bring about the shutdown of ten pro-terrorist web sites. The ZOA initiated a groundbreaking case under federal civil rights laws to rectify the anti-Semitic/anti-Israel climate on campus.

The ZOA speaks out for Israel '' in reports, newsletters, and other publications'...in speeches in synagogues, churches, and community events, in high schools and colleges from coast to coast'...in e-mail action alerts'...in op-eds and letters to the editor'...in radio and television appearances by ZOA leaders.

Always on the front lines of pro-Israel activism, ZOA has made its mark.

''The ZOA is the most credible advocate for Israel on the American Jewish scene today.''

The Wall Street Journal

''The ZOA is one of the most important and influential Jewish groups in the U.S. today.''

The Jerusalem Post

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:05

Call it a public display of political affection: Sen. Ted Cruz has invited Donald Trump to Washington next month for a rally against the Iran nuclear deal.

The two Republican rivals are set to appear at an event organized by the Tea Party Patriots, the Center for Security Politics, and the Zionist Organization of America, according to the Cruz campaign.

Mort Klein, the ZOA president, said the rally has been in the works for weeks, though Trump's inclusion is a relatively new development.

"I think it's of great value to have a person who will likely command coverage of this rally, of this issue, like Donald Trump would be able to," he said. "I think it's a good thing. I don't care if he sucks the air out of the room."

Klein, who said the rally is tentatively set for September 9th, continued: "Maybe [Trump] will be covered more than anyone else at the rally. Fine. The issue's all that matters to me, and getting it covered, and trying to stop this disaster for our country."

Cruz has made his opposition to the Iran agreement a key part of his campaign platform, vowing to "rip to shreds" the deal on the first day of a Cruz presidency.

Trump, who said Thursday the Texas senator "has been so nice to me," also opposes the Iran deal. Still, he acknowledged he'd likely be stuck with it if he became president.

"I would police that contract so tough that they don't have a chance," he told NBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press" this month. "As bad as the contract is, I will be so tough on that contract."

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:04

Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are jointly hosting a rally on Capitol Hill on Sept. 9 to protest the nuclear deal with Iran.

The event, being organized by Tea Party Patriots, the Center for Security Policy and the Zionist Organization of America, will be staged on the West Lawn of the Capitol, the groups said in a statement.

Cruz, the keynote speaker, invited Trump to speak, the statement said.

The joint event underscores the strengthening ties between the two Republicans.

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Trump, the clear front-runner in the GOP presidential primary, has refrained from launching his harshest barbs at Cruz, who is also running for president, and the Texas senator has likewise declined to join in the attacks against Trump that have become common among many of their Republican rivals. Instead, Cruz has said he is ''grateful'' for Trump's focus on immigration despite the controversial nature of his comments.Like many Republicans, both candidates have blasted the Obama administration over the nuclear deal with Iran, which would set limits on the country's ability to build a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting sanctions on its oil and financial sectors.

Iran will become ''so rich and powerful'' once the deal goes into effect, Trump said in July.

''Ultimately, they're going to have nukes all over the place,'' he added.

Cruz, meanwhile, has called the deal ''catastrophic'' and ''disastrous.''

Their rally will likely occur ahead of a congressional vote on the deal in mid-September, after two frenzied months of lobbying over the agreement.

Though majorities in both chambers are expected to vote to kill the deal, it remains unclear whether Senate lawmakers will be able to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster of the legislation. It's also unlikely that opponents of the deal would be able to override a veto of the bill from President Obama.

Congress will return from its monthlong recess on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Tea Party Patriots CEO and co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said the group organized protests at 185 different local congressional offices across the country recently.

"This 'deal' does not prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons; it virtually guarantees it," she said in a statement. "Congress must reject this terrible deal."

This story was updated at 6:45 p.m.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:02

GREENVILLE, S.C.'--Donald Trump revealed Thursday that he's been coordinating with Ted Cruz for a joint appearance at an event opposing the Iran deal in Washington.

''We are talking to Ted Cruz, who is a friend of mine and a good guy, about doing something very big over the next two weeks in Washington,'' the billionaire businessman said after a rally in South Carolina. ''It's essentially a protest against the totally incompetent deal that we're making with Iran.''

A spokeswoman for the Texas senator said Cruz invited Trump to join him on the Capitol grounds ''to call on members of Congress to defeat the catastrophic deal that the Obama Administration has struck with the Islamic Republic of Iran.''

The spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, said the event will be co-sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots, the Center for Security Policy and the Zionist Organization of America.

Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, said the rally will take place Sept. 9.

More than any other Republican in the race, the Texas senator has steadfastly avoided publicly criticizing Trump, even after he shot to the top of the polls. As a litany of others trashed The Donald for his comments about Mexican immigrants and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Cruz carefully avoided any harsh words.

The Texan even traveled to Trump's New York office last month to pay his respects, invite Trump to the U.S-Mexico border and build the rapport, hoping that he can eventually peel away some of the mogul's support.

[Ted Cruz invited Donald Trump on a roadtrip to the U.S.-Mexico border]

"We want to win over all the supporters of other candidates," Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler said earlier this month. ''[Trump] has the most voters that we hope to eventually win their support."

The approach has begun to pay dividends, at least in the short term.

Earlier this year, Trump -- who previously demanded to see President Obama's long-form birth certificate -- said Cruz's 1970 birth in Canada, where his parents were working in the oil fields, was ''a stumbling block'' for his candidacy. Cruz's mother is a native-born U.S. citizen.

Now Trump is sounding a much friendlier tune. During a 51-minute speech to a crowd of 1,400 supporters '-- after ripping into former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, ex-Texas Gov. Rick Perry and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham '-- Trump began praising Cruz.

''Sen. Cruz has been so nice to me,'' he said. ''Ted Cruz has been so great.''

A major Trump criticism of the Iran deal has been that the United States government did not do more to secure the release of prisoners, including The Washington Post's Jason Rezaian and a Christian pastor.ent

Frazier said the timing of the event not locked in yet because of the groups and campaigns involved, so it's too soon to say if it will happen next week.

''We are thankful for all their hard work on this effort and will have more details on time, date, and location as they are finalized,'' she said.

Katie Zezima contributed to this story

James Hohmann is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post.

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Source: The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 22:46

Statue of Riad Sulh (so-called founding father of Lebanon). It says: "I am Michel Dik: take it from the hands of Sa`ahah". Michel Dik assassinated Sulh for his role in the execution of Antun Sa`ahah, the founder of SSNP.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 08:02

'Œ‚HomeMailSearchNewsSportsFinanceWeatherGamesAnswersScreenFlickrMobileMore'‹PoliticsCelebrityMoviesMusicTVGroupsHealthStyleBeautyFoodParentingMakersTechShoppingTravelAutosHomesTry Yahoo News on Firefox >>Skip to NavigationSkip to Main contentSkip to Right rail👤Sign In''‰Mail'šHelpAccount InfoHelpSuggestions

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:17

2013 Mass Shooting List, 2014 Mass Shooting List. There is also the ongoing 2015 Mass Shooting List

Media UsersOur license is a simple Creative Commons Attribution license. If you cite to us, all we ask is that you source us with a link for your viewers/readers to http://www.shootingtracker.com - a good example is provided by our recent use on Hardball w/ Chris Matthews. In addition, we would appreciate notice through either an email to media@shootingtracker.com or a simple tweet to our official twitter so that our 7,500+ subscribers know your piece is out there.

About this ProjectWelcome to the world's only crowdsourced mass shooting tracker, as featured on the Huffington Post, cited by United Press International, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Young Turks, the FX Network's "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell", Gawker, and more! This tracker is proudly crowdsourced using the power of our subscribers at GunsAreCool.

The most obscene incidents of gun violence usually do not make the mainstream news at all. Why? Because their definition is incorrect. The mainstream news meaning of "Mass Shooting" should more accurately be described as "Mass Murder".

The old FBI definition of Mass Murder (not even the most recent one) is four or more people murdered in one event. It is only logical that a Mass Shooting is four or more people shot in one event.

Here at GrC, we count the number of people shot rather than the number people killed because, "shooting" means "people shot".

For instance, in 2012 Travis Steed and others shot 18 people total. Miraculously, he only killed one. Under the incorrect definition of mass shooting, that event would not be considered a mass shooting! Arguing that 18 people shot during one event is not a mass shooting is absurd.

The only requirement is that four or more people are shot in a spree or setting, likely without a cooling off period. This may include the gunman himself (because they often suicide by cop or use a gun to kill themselves to escape punishment), or police shootings of civilians around the gunman. The reasoning behind the latter being that if the shooter is arrested, he will often be charged with injuring people the police actually shot, as that is a foreseeable result of a shooting spree.

Besides the plain-reading value of tracking mass shootings this way, another benefit is that it removes medical care (which affects the outcome) from the action (shooting a bunch of people). The gun lobby benefits from our ability to save those who would otherwise die, even though those gun shot victims are still just as shot and will never be the same. The NRA evades the gigantic costs of gun injuries to society and shifts the burden to taxpayers who often pay the costs for the medical care of the wounded.

Maintaining a list like this also punches a hole in the NRA argument that if mass shootings are televised, more mass shootings will occur via copycats. In fact, many of these shootings do not receive more than a day's worth of local coverage. Yet mass shootings continue to occur anyway. We actually think mass shootings should receive more publicity, not less.

We refuse to ignore the victims of gun violence who survive mass shooting sprees, and we believe the media does a disservice to mass shooting victims by virtually ignoring them unless large numbers are killed.

Imagine this scenario:

[4 people are shot by a lone gunman who then kills himself. The victims are all alive at the moment.]

A reporter goes up to a victim who has been shot and asks "What's happened here?" The victim replies "There has been a mass shooting, that gun owner just shot four of us." The reporter replies "Sorry, that wasn't a mass shooting."

"But we still got shot. I'm bleeding from a bullet wound."

"But you didn't die. Even if you did die, the others might live. The media really hasn't properly labeled and tracked mass shootings, are we supposed to start with yours?"

"That would be nice. Where did you get your definition?"

"From a guy on the internet who read the definition of mass murder from a 2005 report on the FBI website."

"Oh. Well did you read it too?"

"No."

"Well I did. Here is how they define mass *murder*, and *not* mass shootings, these are direct quotes:

Old Definition:"Generally, mass murder was described as a number of murders (four or more) occurring during the same incident, with no distinctive time period between the murders."New Generally Accepted Definition:"The general definition of spree murder is two or more murders committed by an offender or offenders, without a cooling-off period."http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder/serial-murder-1#two

Let's summarize and keep it simple by giving an accurate and precise definition of a mass shooting:

A mass shooting is when four or more people are shot in an event, or related series of events, likely without a cooling off period.

And guess what? Now we are giving you the tools to track it. So please report mass shootings accurately.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 13:59

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 07:59

Federica Mogherini (European Union) on the tragic deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean and People smuggling - Security Council Media Stakeout (11 May 2015)

Federica Mogherini (European Union) on the tragic deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean and People smuggling - Security Council Media Stakeout (11 May 2015)

Informal comments to the media by H.E. Ms. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission on the tragic deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean and People smuggling as well as the Cooperation between the United Nations and the European Union.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 07:11

Home Secretary Theresa May has signed a UK-France deal to tackle the Calais migrant crisis, as plans for a "control and command centre" are announced.

It will be jointly run by British and French police to target people smugglers, the Home Office said.

Daniel Sandford reports.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 06:49

European ministers have agreed tighter controls at railway stations.

France called the emergency meeting in Paris, attended also by security and transport officials, after the foiled attack on a train on 21 August.

A heavily-armed man was overpowered on the Amsterdam to Paris train.

Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 06:46

The BBC's Tom Burridge has visited a reception centre in the German capital Berlin, as Europe's migrant crisis grows.

Earlier on Friday Hungarian police arrested four people after finding the bodies of 71 migrants, thought to be Syrian, in a lorry in Austria.

The German government has insisted that it will not be overwhelmed by a substantial increase in the number of migrants heading for the country.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 06:03

SEOUL '-- When you have an alcoholic in the family, South Korean President Park Geun-hye recently told advisers, you can hide all the bottles and take him to rehab. But you can't make him quit until he is ready to quit.

Here, the alcoholic in the family is Kim Jong Un.

With this week's agreement to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Park is trying to help her North Korean counterpart beat what analysts describe as his addiction to an endless cycle of behaving badly, then insisting on being rewarded to stop '-- whether with heavy fuel oil from the United States during past nuclear talks or truckloads of rice and fertilizer from his estranged cousins to the south.

''North Korea's provocations have become bolder because the world is used to their belligerence, so they need to create higher tensions to get more attention,'' said Lim Eul-chul, director of research at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. ''It's like your body becoming more tolerant to the same dose of medicine.''

For that reason, South Korea needs to try to break the chain of provocation and agreement, Lim said.

South Korea has agreed to stop its propaganda broadcasts as North Korea expresses regret for recent provocations. (Reuters)

At first glance, the deal reached in the early hours of Tuesday after three days of marathon talks would appear to do that.

After several weeks of steadily increasing tensions, which included North Korean forces being moved into combat-ready positions, Pyongyang expressed ''regret'' for a land mine attack that seriously injured two South Korean soldiers this month.

In return, Seoul switched off speakers on the border that had been blaring messages into the North calling Kim's regime ''incompetent,'' although it did not dismantle the speakers as originally demanded. The South said it would not resume the broadcasts ''unless an abnormal case occurs.''

But North Korea did not get any of the material inducements that usually accompany such deals, and it did not ask for any, a senior government official said Wednesday on the customary condition of anonymity.

Seoul did, however, signal that it was open to lifting sanctions imposed on the North after the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan naval corvette, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. Pyongyang has refused to admit responsibility or to apologize for that attack.

Those sanctions are ''an issue that could totally be handled through dialogue'' during talks resulting from this week's deal, Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman for the South's Unification Ministry, told reporters Wednesday.

All inter-Korean trade and aid projects other than humanitarian assistance have been suspended because of the sanctions, sharply curtailing the economic links between the neighbors.

[North Korea says it's 'not interested' in an Iran-style nuclear deal]

On both sides, an effort is now underway to spin the deal in their favor.

A briefing Wednesday for foreign reporters in Seoul felt like a grammar lesson '-- the agreement was meaningful, the government official said, because the sentences had subjects and objects. Previously, it was not clear that North Korea was expressing regret to South Korea, he said.

Never mind that Pyongyang merely expressed regret, rather than issuing the apology that the South had demanded. ''We believe that the North Korean side made an acknowledgment and an apology for the recent provocations,'' he said.

In North Korea, the deal was being explained in a rather different way.

''The South must have learned a serious lesson that it will bring an armed clash if it creates a groundless case and provokes the other side,'' Hwang Pyong So, director of the general political bureau of the North Korean army and one of the two Northern representatives at the talks, said on the North's Korean Central Television.

The real question is what happens next. Can Park maintain what she calls her ''firm principles'' and continue with her policy of ''trustpolitik,'' and can North Korea break its addiction to reward for bad behavior?

Analysts expect the next month at least to be quiet. The two sides have agreed to hold another round of reunions, at the end of September, for families separated during the Korean War.

But what happens in October is anyone's guess.

When more substantive discussions on generally improving relations convene, analysts here say North Korea is likely to present its usual shopping list of things it needs to continue the talks.

In addition, North Korea on Oct. 10 will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of its ruling communist Workers' Party. Many analysts expect Pyongyang to mark the occasion with a show of military might, perhaps even by testing an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Seoul is declining to say whether that would constitute an ''abnormal'' provocation. ''Long-range rockets are always a provocation, but whether this is a normal or abnormal situation, this is something we should consider in the context of the time,'' the senior government official said.

There has been at least one immediate winner: Park. The deal, reached at the half-way point of her five-year term, could hardly have come at a better moment for the president, who has appeared to lurch from crisis to crisis and has not been able to establish any sort of legacy.

''She has shown she can be firm with North Korea,'' said Choi Kang of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. ''I think she managed the whole situation well, and public opinion has been very supportive.''

Inter-Korean relations are now at their best since Park's conservative predecessor took office more than seven years ago, and South Koreans feel better for it.

Park's approval ratings have risen above 40 percent for the first time in months. Six out of 10 South Koreans surveyed by Realmeter, a pollster, said this week that they support the deal.

Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.

Read more:

S. Korea agrees to end broadcasts as North expresses regret for provocations

North Korea threatens action in South Korea over anti-Pyongyang broadcasts

North Korea is stepping up uranium production '-- but for power or nukes?

Anna Fifield is The Post's bureau chief in Tokyo, focusing on Japan and the Koreas. She previously reported for the Financial Times from Washington DC, Seoul, Sydney, London and from across the Middle East.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:34

See more in the cross-post on the NewsBusters blog.

A story that the networks would have almost assuredly covered if George W. Bush was still President, the major broadcast networks failed to cover on Wednesday a front-page New York Times report that a Pentagon inspector general is investigating the possibility that intelligence assessments on the U.S. fight against ISIS may have be altered to reflect a better picture than reality allowed.

As per the pattern when ABC, CBS, and NBC refuse to acknowledge a story, the Fox News Channel's Special Report usually does the exact opposite in coming through for their viewers with a news brief or full segment (the latter in this case).

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:11

See more in the cross-post on the NewsBusters blog.

On Thursday, the CBS Evening News seized on the deadly shooting of two local news reporters in Roanoke, Virginia to promote the idea that gun control should be treated like ''a public health issue'' akin to seat belts, airbags, and anti-smoking campaigns.

In a tease early on in the program, fill-in anchor Maurice DuBois explained that ''[s]ome public health officials say gun violence, just like car accidents and smoking-related illnesses can be prevented or at least reduced.'' He then promised that ''[w]e'll have both sides of that issue later.''

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 05:01

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said Thursday he and fellow presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz were talking about ''doing something very big over the next two weeks in Washington,'' adding that ''it's essentially a protest against the totally incompetent deal that we're making with Iran.''

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 04:49

See more in the cross-post on the NewsBusters blog.

On the Friday morning network newscasts, CBS This Morning and NBC's Today showed no interest in picking up on an ABC News report that former President Bill Clinton sought approval from his wife's State Department for speeches that involved African dictators and North Korea with the speaking fee for the former engagement worth $650,000.

Although Clinton did not give either speech, ABC's Good Morning America provided their viewers with the latest development in the Clinton Foundation scandal with co-host Robin Roberts leading into chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl's report by ruling that there's ''new trouble for Hillary Clinton'' as ''[s]ome new e-mails obtained by ABC News that many have an impact on her campaign.

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 04:45

Video cross-posted here at NewsBusters. Al Sharpton's weekday MSNBC program PoliticsNation will move to Sunday morning starting in September, and the folks at Morning Joe gushed at the new opportunities this would give to the PoliticsNation host. Joe Scarborough called Sharpton's move ''happy news'' and eagerly told Meet the Press' Chuck Todd ''It's a perfect tee up for chuck Todd...You have a strong lead in now. You've got a strong number three hitter for your cleanup fourth.''

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Sun, 30 Aug 2015 04:26

[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]

ABC, CBS, and NBC 's evening newscasts on Friday all failed to cover Hillary Clinton's latest inflammatory attack on Republicans '' this time on illegal immigration. Clinton slammed the GOP earlier in the day on the issue, and made a thinly-veiled comparison to the Holocaust: "I find it the height of irony that a party, which espouses small government, would want to unleash a massive law enforcement effort...to go and literally pull people out of their homes and their workplaces, round them up, put them...in buses, boxcars '' in order to take them across our border."

ABC's World News Tonight aired a report on Bill Clinton's controversial request to speak in North Korea while his wife was secretary of state. Jonathan Karl, who covered the story earlier in the day on Good Morning America, included a clip from the press conference where the former New York senator made her "boxcar" reference. However, he didn't mention that Nazi-invoking comment. On NBC Nightly News, Kristen Welker zeroed in on "Hillary Clinton and her fellow Democratic rivals playing to a friendly room at the DNC summer meeting in Minneapolis." But like Karl, Welker omitted Mrs. Clinton's remarks on illegal immigration. CBS Evening News didn't include any reports on the 2016 presidential race.

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 21:36

Calls its cynical and undemocratic at DNC Summer Meeting.

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Hosting OrganizationSeriesMore Videos FromRTTWH: Democratic National Committee Summer MeetingMore VideosClips from This VideoView all clips from this videoRelated VideoAugust 28, 2015Democratic National Committee Summer Meeting, Morning SessionFormer Governor Lincoln Chafee (D-RI) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who were both seeking the'...

August 28, 2015Martin O'Malley at Democratic National Committee Summer MeetingFormer Governor Martin O'Malley (D-MD), who was seeking his party's presidential nomination in 2016,'...

August 28, 2015Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Committee Summer MeetingHillary Clinton spoke to attendees of at this year's Democratic Nation Committee Summer Meeeting today to make'...

August 28, 2015Lincoln Chafee at Democratic National Committee Summer MeetingFormer Governor Lincoln Chafee (D-RI), who was seeking his party's presidential nomination, addressed the'...

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 18:47

"We are not dealing with a failure of the EU, but rather with a glaring failure of some governments, who don't want to take responsibility"

The head of the European Parliament has launched a scathing attack on some European countries he accuses of failing to take in refugees.

Martin Schulz says amid the European blame game the Mediterranean Sea is being turned into a ''mass grave'' while ''gruesome scenes'' are being played out at borders.

''We are not dealing with a failure of the EU, but rather with a glaring failure of some governments, who don't want to take responsibility and thereby impede a joint European solution,'' Schulz, a German Social Democrat, said in an interview with the country's Die Welt newspaper.

It came as 683 migrants and refugees arrived at Messina in Sicily on Saturday after being rescued from boats in the Mediterranean by the Italian coast guard.

The bodies of two who died trying to cross from Africa were also brought ashore.

In Austria police stopped another truckload of refugees close to the German border. Three severely dehydrated children were among more than two dozen on board.

In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) hundreds again boarded trains bound for Serbia, many heading for other northern destinations.

''Maybe Norway, maybe Germany, maybe Austria, we don't know,'' said one man. ''We are from Syria. We have a lot of problems'... I am from Derik (a small city in the northeast)'... (it) is the name of the city. We have a lot of problems. You know what is happening in Syria''.

Some 3,500 people take the train every day in the village of Gevgelija.

Three people have been arrested in Libya suspected of helping launch a boat packed with migrants that sank, killing up to 200 people.

At the end of last week the EU's border control agency Frontex held a rescue drill off the Libyan coast, on board the Norwegian rescue vessel Siem Pilot.

During the exercise, as the ship drew closer to the North African coast, the crew practiced what they would have to do in the coming hours '' trying to rescue people desperately seeking a new life in Europe.

''Sometimes we have very very poor, very sick, very sad people who are in great distress,'' said Tomas, a military adviser and rescue diver.

''We have seen children ten years old travelling alone. No parents, no father or mother, just alone. That's tough to see.''

Earlier the agency said it had helped save 3,400 migrants off Libya over the previous week.

The EU's 28 member states have not agreed on binding quotas for the distribution of refugees.

The difficulty of agreeing a common policy was manifest in June when leaders angrily rejected European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker's proposal that they accept binding quotas to share out asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece.

''The governments of some member states must finally remove their blockade and end this unworthy game,'' Martin Schulz told Die Welt.

He did not single out any states. However, Hungary, which is part of Europe's passport-free Schengen zone, is building a fence along its border with Serbia to contain what it calls a threat to European security, prosperity and identity.

Britain has a long-standing exemption from EU rules on border issues, along with Ireland and Denmark. Eastern European states have pleaded immigrants would simply not fit in.

Germany expects to receive a record 800,000 refugees and asylum-seekers this year.

''The current refugee crisis shows what happens when there is less Europe,'' Schulz said.

''The Mediterranean becomes a mass grave, gruesome scenes play out at borders, there is mutual blame '' and those in greatest need, seeking our protection, are left without help.''

Schulz said some EU countries, ''who don't care about European integration'', had prevented agreement on a Europe-wide plan to tackle the refugee crisis.

''That is more than cynical, when one looks at the plight of the refugees,'' he added.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also called on governments to do more to meet their international obligations in their response to refugees and migration.

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 18:42

Bill Maher took on the uncritical media and their coverage of Donald Trump's unbridled hate speech toward immigrants in this country, after shaming Republicans for not standing up against it.

Dana Rohrabacher (R-Stupid), defended Trump's xenophobia by claiming he's defending middle class Americans who are adversely affected by illegal immigration. That is utter bullshit. Middle class people benefit from immigrants who aren't afraid to do the jobs they don't want to do.

Wendy Davis jumped in and called it what it is: Race-baiting. She went on to say "It's a page right out of the George Wallace playbook."

Michael Weiss nailed it when he said Trump is "a European-style demagogic politician in the American context." That's exactly right, and I'd go one step farther and agree with this article calling Trump a "proto-fascist."

The first half of the definition fits the Trump movement pretty well. His slogan "Make America Great Again" isn't too far from the average political bromide, but its intention is much different than, say, Reagan's "Morning in America." Reagan did deal in his fair share of veiled race-baiting, but Trump straight-up rants about how non-white foreigners are ruining the country. From claiming unauthorized Mexican immigrants are drug dealers and "rapists," to saying he wants to deport 11 million people, to arguing that China is "killing us" on trade, Trump's political message is uncut xenophobia if not outright racism '-- all of which is coupled with how he, as a very masculine tough guy who will never back down, is going to fix everything. Just watch him give the bum's rush to the most famous Hispanic journalist in the country!

This has been an enormous political success, with hundreds of thousands of people enthusiastically flocking to the Trump banner (just look at the people in this picture). With the exception of Bernie Sanders, Trump is now drawing bigger crowds than any other candidate. That mass basis is a key foundation of fascism '-- without the delirious crowds, the fascist demagogue is little more than a deranged street preacher. Many of those supporters are out-and-proud white nationalists, as documented in a fascinating New Yorker investigation.

'†' Story continues below '†'

So we've got the victim complex, the incipient personality cult, the mass nationalist support, and the obsession with purifying the polity (like this Trump fan arguing that the government should pay a $50 bounty to murder people crossing the border).

With that said, Maher takes on the whole thing, taking on the media monster that surrounds Trump, mocking them for claiming they have to cover him because he's at the top of the polls.

Maher supposes, "Maybe he's at the top of the polls because you cover him endlessly."

Even here, every damn day I hope I don't have to write yet another Trump post, and every day I end up writing one, if only to debunk all of the lies he tells in the span of 30 seconds or so.

For example, Friday he sucked up the entire Friday news cycle by trashing Huma Abedin and John Kerry during a speech, which was aired (commercial-free) by MSNBC and Fox News. Only CNN cut away.

Maher is funnier than Trump, while getting his licks in on our stupid, starstruck media while speaking some truth to the insane news editors who keep pretending a proto-fascist outrunning the rest of the Republican field is somehow a story they should cover uncritically, with no followup, no fact-checking, and no counterpoint.

I'll take two Bernie Sanders rallies straight up with no commercials as recompense, cable news.

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Sat, 29 Aug 2015 18:15

August 29, 2015 | 4:30 | Public Domain

In this week's address, the President spoke about his upcoming trip to Alaska, during which he will view the effects of climate change firsthand. Alaskans are already living with the impact of climate change, with glaciers melting faster, and temperatures projected to rise between six and twelve degrees by the end of the century.

Download mp4 (167MB) | mp3 (10MB)

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Fri, 28 Aug 2015 14:55

Male treehoppers make their abdomens thrum like tuning forks to transmit very particular vibrating signals that travel down their legs and along leaf stems to other bugs '-- male and female. Courtesy of Robert Oelmanhide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Robert OelmanMale treehoppers make their abdomens thrum like tuning forks to transmit very particular vibrating signals that travel down their legs and along leaf stems to other bugs '-- male and female.

Courtesy of Robert OelmanAnimals, including humans, feel sound as well as hear it, and some of the most meaningful audio communication happens at frequencies that people can't hear. Elephants, for example, use these low-frequency rumbles to, among other things, find family or a mate across long distances. Whales do it, too.

But you don't have to weigh a ton to rumble. In fact, you don't have to be bigger than a pea. Consider, for example, the treehopper, a curious little sap-sucking insect that lives on the stems of leaves. Or the tree cricket, which communicates by rubbing together toothlike structures on its wings, the way you might draw your thumb across the teeth of a comb.

University of Missouri biologist Rex Cocroft has spent much of his career listening closely to treehoppers. In 1999, a team from NPR's Radio Expeditions program rendezvoused with Cocroft at a locust tree in a backyard in Virginia. Soft-spoken and bespectacled, he was pressing a phonograph needle up against the stem of a leaf.

"I'm just trying to get a good contact here," he said at the time. "Mind you, this is not in the manufacturer's instructions for these phonograph cartridges." But then, there's no guidebook for listening to treehoppers. Cocroft created his own.

He knew that needles in those cartridges are exquisitely sensitive to vibration. So he connected a wire from the cartridge through an amplifier to his headphones. This is what he heard.

Sound of vibrations generated by male treehoppers along a stem

"All the signals that you are hearing are produced by males," Cocroft explained. They do it by vibrating their abdomens to make a wide assortment of bizarre sounds.

It works like this: The insect uses muscles in its thorax and abdomen to shake the abdomen, which vibrates "rather like a tuning fork," Cocroft said. "These vibrations are transmitted to the stem through the insect's legs, and then travel out in both directions along the stem, where they can be picked up by any other treehopper within a meter, or so, on the same plant."

There is almost no airborne sound produced with these vibrational signals, Cocroft explained. "If a treehopper were to stand on your finger and produce a signal, you would feel the vibration but hear no sound."

It's the phonograph needle and cartridge that pick up the vibration of the plant stem '-- and transform it into what we hear as sound in the recordings. But the treehoppers are picking up the signals via very sensitive vibration sensors in their legs.

Treehoppers communicatingSome signals, not surprisingly, seem to be aimed at attracting females, Cocroft said. And some are aimed at other males.

Male treehoppers "purring" to other males

"So we're hearing purring, bdddddrrrr sounds," Cocroft explained '-- "sounds that males give ... when two males meet each other, when they are mate-searching on a branch." Normally, a person couldn't hear any of this, because the sound travels along the stem, inside it. And that's how other treehoppers detect it.

So, how did such a weird insect telegraph evolve?

Well, Cocroft said treehoppers, like many insects, have very sensitive legs. And they stand around on stems, which are good at transmitting vibrations. So they just used what nature gave them to communicate with each other. As social animals, that's what they need to thrive, said Cocroft.

"They have so many different forms of social behavior and grouping," he explained. "And once you have animals living in groups, then you have all sorts of interesting possibilities for communication."

Such as, for example, treehopper scouts that tap out a signal to others that there's a predator nearby.

Technology helped scientists like Cocroft reveal this hidden vibrational world '-- tech like phonograph needles, and devices called accelerometers that measure vibration. His work helped usher in a new generation of insect eavesdroppers '-- including Laurel Symes, an evolutionary biologist now at Dartmouth College, who has spent much of her professional life studying crickets.

Unlike Cocroft, Symes tunes into vibrations we can hear '-- from male tree crickets.

"If you look closely at one of the wings," she says, "it has a whole bunch of tiny teeth on it. And that rubs against the vein on the other wing '-- and that causes the whole wing to vibrate, sort of like a drumhead would."

When a tree cricket rubs its wings together, tiny features of the wing rub against each other to create a species-specific chirp. Courtesy of J. diBiccarihide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of J. diBiccariWhen a tree cricket rubs its wings together, tiny features of the wing rub against each other to create a species-specific chirp.

Courtesy of J. diBiccariTree crickets don't seem to have as big a vocabulary as treehoppers do. What they do have is a remarkable ability to discriminate tiny differences in sound frequency, with acuity worthy of a concert violinist.

The females listen carefully. And the reason? Well, in the deep woods, you'll hear all sorts of crickets chirping. Those are the males of numerous species, all saying, "Come and get me." To us, they sound pretty much the same.

But the sounds actually are different. The speed at which they rub their wings together '-- the pulse rate '-- varies from species to species.

Symes discovered that females pick up on that.

"They've evolved to be very, very good at recognizing the exact thing they are looking for," she says: the sound of a potential mate from their own species.

There's a good reason to very picky, Symes says: "If you don't get it right, you lose." If you pick the wrong species of male to mate with, she says, you won't make little crickets.

She actually rigged up a clever sound experiment to test how good the females are at detecting the right chirp. Symes synthesized the sounds made by various male crickets on a computer '-- each was identical to the natural sound it was mimicking '-- and then she played it back to two species of females through a speaker.

Here's a male cricket chirp at 43 pulses per second.

Chirp of a male tree cricket '-- 43 pulses per second

The females of one species hustled over to the loudspeakers when they heard that sound, looking for a mate. The other females? Meh, not interested. Then Symes used a different chirp '-- at 51 pulses per second, it's just eight pulses a second faster than the first one.

Chirp of different male tree cricket '-- 51 pulses per second

It's so close in speed to the previous one that most human listeners can't hear the difference. But the female crickets of the second species '-- the ones that ignored the first sound '-- got all romantic with the speaker.

What's happening, Symes says, is that crickets (there are about 140 species in North America alone) have divided up the sound spectrum into sonic niches. Each species has its own frequency, like a radio station. And they manage this highly specialized communication with a brain the size of a pinhead.

Laurel Symes on the hunt for crickets. Courtesy of Laurel Symeshide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Laurel SymesLaurel Symes on the hunt for crickets.

Courtesy of Laurel Symes"One of the things that makes them cool," says Symes, "is that they have really simple sensory systems '-- yet they parse this really complex world."

It took Symes years, and many nights in weird places, to decipher what was happening. She had to go to where the crickets live and record them '-- like up a tree on the Mexican border, where border patrol agents wondered just what the heck she was doing.

"You're partway up a tree," she recalls, "and the vehicle pulls up and stops and flips on a light '-- 'What're you doing out here tonight, ma'am?' and 'Oh, I'm just collecting crickets.' They believed me. That's what amazed me."

Now she's so tuned into the cricket world that she thinks '-- and sometimes sounds '-- like them. We asked her to imitate one species of cricket.

Yes, Symes can do 60 pulses a second herself, just from memory. She says 60 pulses is a lot like a humming refrigerator. In fact, she's always listening to vibrations, whether she wants to or not: crickets, fans, air conditioners.

"We think that we know what's going on out there," she says, "and we're [only] getting this tiny slice of all of the sound in the world."

Cocroft feels the same way. Today he says he dreams about wiring up the outdoors and amplifying it, and just drifting through it '-- ears wide open. He says most of this sonic world still remains to be discovered.

"It's a very intense world, and so little of it, really, has ever been listened to," he says. "It's possible still for anyone to go out into a weedy field or roadside and tap into those plants '-- and hear very interesting sounds that no one has ever heard before."

Sounds that have been rounded and shaped by millions of years of evolution, and the struggle to survive.

This story is part of Morning Edition's weekly seriesClose Listening: Decoding Nature Through Sound. The summer series is exploring the culture of listening that's developed among scientists seeking to understand how animals communicate. Bill McQuayis an audio producer at theCornell Lab of Ornithology. Alison Richards, NPR's senior editor for science, is the series' editor.

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Fri, 28 Aug 2015 01:00

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