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Friday, September 30, 2011
Tell Southwest Airlines to apologise for over-reacting to public expression of endearment...
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Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Danger for US - China Ties - US actions criticised...
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The US is wrong if it assumes it can always be
business as usual after arms sales to Taiwan. As China rises, the
temptation to push back grows.
The Obama administration’s decision to sell $5.8 billion in arms to Taiwan
has been roundly criticized by Beijing, and has clouded bilateral
relations at a time of global economic uncertainty, increased tensions
in the South China Sea and ahead of the leadership transition in China
next year. Add in presidential elections in the United States and Taiwan
in 2012, and it’s clear that this is an extremely sensitive period in
Sino-US ties.
Unlike the $6.4 billion arms sales to Taiwan last year, which had been initiated by President George W. Bush in 2008 and only implemented by the current administration, Obama’s package to Taiwan reflects his administration’s own delicate balancing act between multiple interests. By providing one of the largest ever weapons sales to Taiwan, the White House hopes to satisfy demands from Taiwan for continuous US political and military support while staving off critics at home who charge he is backing down in the face of Beijing’s threats of retaliation.
But by choosing to upgrade Taiwan’s existing fleet of F16 A/B fighters rather than offering the newest F16 C/D models as requested by Taiwan, Obama has also tried to mitigate Beijing’s concerns and soften its response. Indeed, editorials in the West have already been quick to dismiss the expected outcry from China as simply a formality. Much thunder, little rain, they predict, arguing there’s very little the Chinese government can do
.
In the short term, it may well be the case that after some measured retaliatory response, the bilateral relationship will indeed return to normal, as we witnessed last year. The United States may be tempted to believe it can have it all: jobs for its arms industry at home, a strategic presence in East Asia and political leverage over mainland China’s ties with Taiwan, all the while maintaining good political and economic ties with Beijing.
But in the long run, continued US arms sales to Taiwan will have a profoundly negative impact on how the Chinese mainland perceives US intentions. One recent online opinion poll in China showed that 84 percent of those surveyed opposed US arms sales to Taiwan, with 76 percent demanding the Chinese government adopt strong retaliatory measures; more than 50 percent supported sanctions against US enterprises. While polls like this in China's state-controlled media may have to be taken with a grain of salt, a no doubt still angry Chinese public certainly isn’t good news for the United States.
Still, the retaliatory options for the Chinese government are limited, for now at least. Its economic interdependence with the United States is deepening, with $400 billion in annual bilateral trade at stake, mostly in China’s favour. Any punishment of US firms, then, could also hurt China’s own interests.
In addition, Beijing also has to balance its opposition to the US arms sales with support for the administration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, who Beijing hopes will prevail in next year’s poll. Ma advocates a stable and closer relationship with the mainland, while seeking US arms – it’s less about the beefing up of Taiwan’s military strength than ensuring political backing from Washington that gives Taipei leverage in its dealings with Beijing. Ma therefore remains the best choice for the mainland in terms of being able to provide a predictable and manageable cross-strait relationship.
Despite this, the Chinese leadership will be under increasing pressure to take more substantive steps in countering US arms sales. As China’s economy and military grow stronger, Beijing will have increasing leverage over Washington in the coming years. The current pattern of large scale arms sales to Taiwan, followed by vehement complaints and some response from China, followed by business as usual, can’t go on forever. It’s likely that Beijing will further strengthen its military capabilities with an eye on Taiwan at the regional level, and the US globally. If US sales continue, China will undoubtedly feel the urge to retaliate – an extremely dangerous prospect that will leave no winners.
China’s rise a reality, and the United States needs to understand that arms sales to Taiwan won’t change the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait. Washington therefore requires a long term vision for how to deal with China’s rise. Beijing, for its part, needs to reassure Taiwan that it won’t use force to achieve its goal reunification.
Ultimately, Washington and Beijing need to do more to weaken the hardliners in both countries who perceive the other as an enemy, and who believe that both sides need to prepare for a war they believe is inevitable. It’s the only way forward.
Wenran Jiang is associate professor of political science at the University of Alberta and senior fellow at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Unlike the $6.4 billion arms sales to Taiwan last year, which had been initiated by President George W. Bush in 2008 and only implemented by the current administration, Obama’s package to Taiwan reflects his administration’s own delicate balancing act between multiple interests. By providing one of the largest ever weapons sales to Taiwan, the White House hopes to satisfy demands from Taiwan for continuous US political and military support while staving off critics at home who charge he is backing down in the face of Beijing’s threats of retaliation.
But by choosing to upgrade Taiwan’s existing fleet of F16 A/B fighters rather than offering the newest F16 C/D models as requested by Taiwan, Obama has also tried to mitigate Beijing’s concerns and soften its response. Indeed, editorials in the West have already been quick to dismiss the expected outcry from China as simply a formality. Much thunder, little rain, they predict, arguing there’s very little the Chinese government can do
.
In the short term, it may well be the case that after some measured retaliatory response, the bilateral relationship will indeed return to normal, as we witnessed last year. The United States may be tempted to believe it can have it all: jobs for its arms industry at home, a strategic presence in East Asia and political leverage over mainland China’s ties with Taiwan, all the while maintaining good political and economic ties with Beijing.
But in the long run, continued US arms sales to Taiwan will have a profoundly negative impact on how the Chinese mainland perceives US intentions. One recent online opinion poll in China showed that 84 percent of those surveyed opposed US arms sales to Taiwan, with 76 percent demanding the Chinese government adopt strong retaliatory measures; more than 50 percent supported sanctions against US enterprises. While polls like this in China's state-controlled media may have to be taken with a grain of salt, a no doubt still angry Chinese public certainly isn’t good news for the United States.
Still, the retaliatory options for the Chinese government are limited, for now at least. Its economic interdependence with the United States is deepening, with $400 billion in annual bilateral trade at stake, mostly in China’s favour. Any punishment of US firms, then, could also hurt China’s own interests.
In addition, Beijing also has to balance its opposition to the US arms sales with support for the administration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, who Beijing hopes will prevail in next year’s poll. Ma advocates a stable and closer relationship with the mainland, while seeking US arms – it’s less about the beefing up of Taiwan’s military strength than ensuring political backing from Washington that gives Taipei leverage in its dealings with Beijing. Ma therefore remains the best choice for the mainland in terms of being able to provide a predictable and manageable cross-strait relationship.
Despite this, the Chinese leadership will be under increasing pressure to take more substantive steps in countering US arms sales. As China’s economy and military grow stronger, Beijing will have increasing leverage over Washington in the coming years. The current pattern of large scale arms sales to Taiwan, followed by vehement complaints and some response from China, followed by business as usual, can’t go on forever. It’s likely that Beijing will further strengthen its military capabilities with an eye on Taiwan at the regional level, and the US globally. If US sales continue, China will undoubtedly feel the urge to retaliate – an extremely dangerous prospect that will leave no winners.
China’s rise a reality, and the United States needs to understand that arms sales to Taiwan won’t change the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait. Washington therefore requires a long term vision for how to deal with China’s rise. Beijing, for its part, needs to reassure Taiwan that it won’t use force to achieve its goal reunification.
Ultimately, Washington and Beijing need to do more to weaken the hardliners in both countries who perceive the other as an enemy, and who believe that both sides need to prepare for a war they believe is inevitable. It’s the only way forward.
Wenran Jiang is associate professor of political science at the University of Alberta and senior fellow at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Is it time to withdraw NZ troops from Afghanistan
Image via Wikipedia
Lance Corporal Leon Smith was flown by helicopter to a hospital 10 minutes away, but died on the operating table soon after he arrived there. Photo / New Zealand Defence Force
Lance Corporal Leon Smith was shot in the head during an operation in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, at a compound suspected of housing Taleban bomb-makers preparing for an attack in the capital.
An Afghan Crisis Response Unit of about 50 men went to the compound with an Interior Ministry arrest warrant.
They were accompanied by legal officers and about 15 of the 38 SAS troops in Afghanistan.
At 1.30 pm, when Prime Minister John Key, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp and Defence chief Lieutenant General Rhys Jones announced Lance Corporal Smith's death - without naming him - the operation was continuing. It ended later in the afternoon
.
General Jones said he had reports that two civilians, a child and a man, had been injured.
He said insurgents shot Lance Corporal Smith as coalition forces set up a cordon around the compound.
He was flown to a medical base about 10 minutes away where a neurosurgeon was available, but died on the operating table.
However Dutch investigative journalist, Bette Dam, told Radio New Zealand Afghan authorities had told her the soldiers may have been caught up in a family feud.
She said she was told the SAS and the Afghan allies were incorrectly told by one family that the home was occupied by Taleban bomb-makers.
The governor of Warduk told her the Afghan man who was killed, Younus Khan, was innocent, as were nine others who were injured.
"The governor's office told me that the people actually in the house that got raided were unarmed," she said.
"A lot of things are not clear yet, but for me, from he governor's office and even from the head of the response unit, there seems to be a different situation than you expect, like a Taleban being in the house, trying to Kabul, here at a hotel or whatsever - that seems not the case."
She understood the bullet that killed Lance Corporal Smith "came from in or around" that house.
Ms Dam said it was a possibility the victims were related to the government in some way and the governor's office were attempting to cover this up.
Late last night, Defence Force officials refused to give any other details about Corporal Smith.
Aged in his early 30s, Lance Corporal Smith is the fourth New Zealand soldier to die in just over a year.
The Defence Force and the Government still describe the SAS troops' role as "mentoring" the Afghan Crisis Response Unit (CRU), despite two New Zealand deaths in two months.
Last month, Corporal Douglas Grant died after he was shot through a gap in his armoured vest during a Taleban raid in the capital, Kabul.
Prime Minister John Key said Lance Corporal Smith had "paid the highest price for his service to this country and we will mourn his death".
"His death, however, does not alter our commitment to helping Afghanistan. It continues to be the Government's intention to keep the SAS in Afghanistan until March as planned."
The PM said he deeply regretted Lance Corporal Smith's death, "but I don't regret the decision that we made to commit the SAS to Afghanistan".
"I think they are playing their critical part to free the world from global terrorism."
The SAS is on its fourth deployment to Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.
A foreign policy analyst at the University of Auckland says the SAS soldiers appear to have moved from their mentoring role.
Associate Professor Stephen Hoadley said two deaths in two months showed the unit was involved in frontline combat.
"The two deaths is certainly an indication that the SAS is no longer leading from behind, but is now leading from in front."
Professor Hoadley said there was a "slight disjunction" between what the public was being told and what the SAS was doing in Afghanistan.
"It appears that the SAS is doing a bit more than mentoring and training - and that may lead some to question whether the Government is telling the whole story."
Earlier, General Jones said the operations involving the SAS were led by the CRU, but the New Zealanders could be drawn on.
"Their primary role, though, is to train and assist in the decision-making and the execution that the Afghanis do in conducting that operation.
"To provide the level of advice and support and reassurance that the Afghans need, our people need to be quite close to the operation."
The death forced a change in Mr Key's plans. He cancelled arrangements to host Georgian Prime Minister Nikoloz Gilauri at his country's World Cup match against Romania last night in Palmerston North.
Mr Key said he would still have dinner with Mr Gilauri, but "I think it would be insensitive for me to go to the game"
The second death of a NZ SAS trooper in Afghanistan in just over a month, is beginning to create some opposition in New Zealand just a couple of months out from the general elections in November. The NZ Government plans to withdraw remaining SAS soldiers from Afghanistan in March, 2012, next year. They will not be replaced.
http://news.msn.co.nz/video.aspx?videoid=0ede9481-c880-4036-97e7-040e8e7987f7
http://blogging-along-with-pete.wallinside.com
Sunday, September 25, 2011
The lowdown on the Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform - the Wasp...
Image via Wikipedia
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Mike Tassey posing with the Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform, WASP.
At the Black Hat and Defcon security conferences in Las Vegas next week, Mike Tassey and Richard Perkins plan to show the crowd of hackers a year’s worth of progress on their Wireless Aerial Surveillace Platform, or WASP, the second year Tassey and Perkins have displayed the 14-pound, six-foot long, six-foot wingspan unmanned aerial vehicle. The WASP, built from a retired Army target drone converted from a gasoline engine to electric batteries, is equipped with an HD camera, a cigarette-pack sized on-board Linux computer packed with network-hacking tools including the BackTrack testing toolset and a custom-built 340 million word dictionary for brute-force guessing of passwords, and eleven antennae.
“This is like Black Hat’s greatest hits,” Tassey says. “And it flies.”
Read more:http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2Xtff6/www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/07/28/flying-drone-can-crack-wifi-networks-snoop-on-cell-phones/
http://blogging-along-with-pete.wallinside.com
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Veiled French Muslim women flout ban in freedom bid...
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Veiled French Muslim women flout ban in freedom bid...News from PARIS – A Frenchwoman who wears an Islamic face veil, despite a nationwide ban, wants to run for president in next year's elections.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Kenza Drider said she wants to defend the rights of all French women.
She is among a group of women mounting an attack on the law that has banned Muslim face veils from the streets of France since April. They want to prove the measure contravenes fundamental rights.
The law's backers, including President Nicolas Sarkozy, say the veils imprison women.
Drider said she plans to declare her candidacy Thursday in Meaux, a city east of Paris run by top conservative lawmaker and Sarkozy ally Jean-Francois Cope, who championed the veil ban.
Two other women stopped for wearing veils are facing trial Thursday, also in Meaux.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/12/french-veil-ban-woman-niqab-fined
http://blogging-along-with-pete.wallinside.com
Kiwipete
Monday, September 19, 2011
Accused priest denies his guilt - not guilty of male rape...
Accused priest Monsignor Ian Dempsey denies his guilt - not guilty of male rape...
Accused Catholic clergyman Ian Dempsey,
with members of his parish in Adelaide's Brighton, makes a statement to
the media yesterday. Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: The Australian
FLANKED by his parishioners, the senior Catholic clergyman
accused in parliament of raping another priest has denied the
allegations and said he may seek to make a statement in the Senate to
clear his name.
Monsignor Ian Dempsey fronted the media outside his Brighton parish in
Adelaide's southern suburbs yesterday to deny having raped the leader of
the Traditional Anglican Communion, Archbishop John Hepworth, more than
40 years ago."I am aware of John Hepworth's unsubstantiated allegations against me through an inquiry instigated by the archbishop," Monsignor Dempsey said yesterday.
"I have made it clear in writing to the inquiry that I categorically deny the allegations, which I note are said to relate to events that occurred some 45 years ago and have nothing at all to do with under-age people."
He later told The Australian that he was relieved to have finally spoken about the allegations, before going on a month of annual leave. Monsignor Dempsey said he would consider applying to the president of the Senate to address the allegations levelled against him by South Australian senator Nick Xenophon. "If they are the same privileges as the senator used last night, it could be an avenue whereby I could be able to correct some of the things he said which were inaccurate," Monsignor Dempsey said.
On Tuesday night, Senator Xenophon named Monsignor Dempsey as Archbishop Hepworth's last surviving alleged abuser, after the Adelaide Archdiocese ignored the independent MP's demands that Monsignor Dempsey be stood down during an investigation into the claims.
Senator Xenophon told the Senate that people of the parish had a right to know that the allegations had been outstanding for four years, and that the church leadership had failed to make "appropriate inquires" or stand the priest down.
The Archbishop of the Adelaide Diocese, Philip Wilson, yesterday attacked Senator Xenophon for naming Monsignor Dempsey and saying the church had not responded properly.
"We have shown Archbishop Hepworth every courtesy, sensitivity and care in the process," Archbishop Wilson said.
Senator Xenophon also questioned the appropriateness of the federal government's appointment of David Cappo, the vicar-general of the Adelaide Archdiocese, as chairman of Julia Gillard's new Mental Health Commission, due to the alleged delay in investigating Archbishop Hepworth's complaint.
Archbishop Wilson said he was "fully supportive of the manner in which Monsignor Cappo has given priority to this matter and the sensitive way in which he has dealt with it".
"I am deeply distressed that Senator Xenophon has named the priest in parliament," Archbishop Wilson said. "The damage to the priest's reputation is obvious and severe and -- in my opinion -- this serves to undermine the presumption of innocence which all of us are entitled to enjoy."
Archbishop Wilson said Monsignor Cappo had met Archbishop Hepworth on at least eight occasions between the time the issue was first raised in 2007 and February this year.
"On my behalf, Monsignor Cappo urged Archbishop Hepworth, at the end of each meeting, to give his permission to proceed with an investigation into the allegations," Archbishop Wilson said.
"On each occasion Archbishop Hepworth declined, indicating that he was not in a proper emotional state to deal with an investigation.
"He was also informed that if he was alleging any form of abuse, including rape, that this is a criminal allegation and he should go to the police."
Archbishop Hepworth said yesterday he had been encouraged to go to police only twice.
Archbishop Hepworth raised allegations on the weekend that he had been raped and sexually abused by Melbourne priest Ronald Pickering and father John Stockdale, who have both since died, while studying at the seminary in Adelaide aged 15. He also alleged he had been raped later by another priest, who Senator Xenophon named in parliament as Monsignor Dempsey.
Archbishop Hepworth did not regret Senator Xenophon naming Monsignor Dempsey in parliament.
"I have a sense of peacefulness now because I've done the best I could," he said.
Monsignor Dempsey has a right of reply in the Senate if he feels he has been defamed. He can write to the Senate president to have a formal right of reply, which is then referred to the Senate privileges committee. The committee can then decide on whether to release the statement and publish it in Hansard.
Senator Xenophon was yesterday criticised from all sides of politics for using parliamentary privilege to name Monsignor Dempsey.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith said members of parliament needed to tread carefully when airing allegations under privilege.
"If you are a member of parliament and have the benefit of parliamentary privilege you need to use that very carefully," Mr Smith said. "And when you name an individual or individuals in the parliament you firstly have to be sure and clear of your ground and you have to have made a considered and deliberate judgment as to why that's necessary."
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham said parliamentary privilege should be used "cautiously, judiciously, sparingly".
"It's not the role of politicians to play police, prosecutor, judge and jury," Senator Birmingham said.
Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said that using parliamentary privilege circumvented rights and liberties.
"We've got to make sure that everybody has got a certain presumption of innocence until proven otherwise," Senator Joyce said.
"If you have got the story wrong, then you've done an incredible injustice to the person."
Senator Xenophon told The Australian he did not regret his actions but said he was baffled by the church's decision not to tell him that the priest was being sent on leave.
"All this could have been avoided (on Tuesday)," Senator Xenophon said.
"I just want to make it clear that all I was asking for was a proper investigation and if they had told me the priest in question was going on leave it could have changed the course of action."
Acknowledgements: Additional reporting: Milanda Rout
Senator Nick Xenophon names and shames rapist priest...
Australian Senator Nick Xenophon names and shames rapist priest...
Xenophon names and shames priest
Nick Xenophon has used parliamentary privilege to name a priest accused of raping an Archbishop.
Senator Nick Xenophon has named a Catholic priest who is at the centre of rape allegations. AdelaideNow
UPDATE 6.50pm: THE Catholic priest who was last night named by
Senator Nick Xenophon over sex abuse claims has today denied any
wrongdoing.
The priest had previously categorically denied raping Adelaide-based Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth decades ago.He further denied the claims in a brief statement read to journalists this afternoon.
Flanked by a supportive parishioner and chair of the parish council, the priest reiterated his denial.
"Firstly I wish to state I am aware of John Hepworth's unsubstantiated allegations against me through an inquiry instigated by the Archbishop of Adelaide.
"As the inquiry is ongoing I have nothing further to say apart from denying the allegations."
He said he was going on holiday this weekend, as arranged before the allegations surfaced over the weekend.
The independent SA Senator last night lobbed a grenade at the Adelaide archdiocese, naming the respected local priest that he claims is at the centre of rape allegations.
Senator Xenophon said the church only "has itself to blame''.
Naming the priest in the Senate, Senator Xenophon said: "This creates a serious moral dilemma for me. It has put me as a representative of the people of SA in a situation where I have privileged information.
"And the problem with privileged information is that it can be misused to benefit only a select few.
"The question is do the people that attend this priest's parish have a right to know that serious allegations of sexual assault have been levelled at their priest?
"If my family attended this church and if church leadership had refused to stand this priest down pending a proper investigation would I believe I had a right to know?'
Senate president John Hogg warned Senator Xenophon about the purposes of parliamentary privilege before he spoke.
Senator Xenophon said: "I don't provide this information to the Senate lightly.
"But ultimately I believe given the inaction of the Catholic Church in SA, by not setting up a proper process or standing the priest down, they have created a situation where an appropriate duty of care has not been shown to the parish.''
The South Australian Catholic Church had earlier asked Mr Xenophon not to name the priest.
“The priest concerned has categorically denied the allegations and has been a person of good standing in the archdiocese for a very long time,” the church said.
Senator Xenophon said he had received overwhelming public support for his decision to name the priest. He said he would continue his push for action by the Church.
“Today I have received a large volume of correspondence from constituents expressing serious concern about the way their claims of abuse have been processed by the Catholic Church in South Australia, and I will be working with those people in the coming days,” he said.
Victorian laws 'out of touch'
Senator Xenophon also said laws that gagged and detained "name them and shame them" crusader Derryn Hinch should be reformed.
Senator Xenophon told news.com.au Victorian laws "were demonstrably out of touch with community views and community concerns”.
Hinch, serving five months home detention, cannot praise the maverick Senator for naming the accused rapist – but his wife Chanel Hinch did just a few hours ago exclusively to news.com.au
“What this does is highlight the ludicrousness of the law currently in place in Victoria. This has to change soon," she said.
“I applaud Senator Xenophon for naming in Parliament last night a Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse.’’
News.com.au sought permission to interview Hinch from the Attorney General but this was denied.
A spokesperson for Victorian Attorney General said Hinch could not be spoken to and another for the Melbourne Magistrate’s court said this would not change unless a legal challenge was mounted to the existing court order banning him from speaking publicly.
Hinch was placed under home detention in July this year and gagged from working as a journalist or speaking to the media after he named two convicted sex offenders at a public rally and then again on his personal blog in 2008.
Lawyers acting for Mr Hinch fought all the matter way to the High Court, arguing that Victoria’s Sex Offenders Monitoring Act was unconstitutional because court proceedings must be conducted publicly but lost the case.
Hinch, who is currently recovering from a life-saving liver transplant, was sentenced to five months house arrest and banned from carrying out any media-related work including blogging, tweeting or giving interviews.
The court also banned others from carrying out media work for him.
Senator Xenophon said he had received overwhelming public support for his decision to name a priest accused of raping Adelaide-based Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth about 40 years ago. He would continue his push for action by the Church.
“Today I have received a large volume of correspondence from constituents expressing serious concern about the way their claims of abuse have been processed by the Catholic Church in South Australia, and I will be working with those people in the coming days,” he said.
Kiwipete
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
As a young priest he was abused - now forty years later he is breaking his silence...
Archbishop John Hepworth has broken his silence. The Church of England primate of the traditional Anglican Communion, a breakaway faction that is seeking unity with Rome, has broken his forty year silence after the Catholic church apologised to him for the abuse he suffered as a youth. He said that four decades on, he was still scared of going near a Catholic church. He said he had fled the church in fear, and was still afraid. He was irrational, scared of the hurt and scared of the organisation.
As a 15 year old student at the St Francis Xavier Seminary in Adelaide, South Australia, his abuse began in 1960 and for the next decade he was raped repeatedly and regularly by three men. Two of these are now dead, but the third still runs a parish in South Australia. He had been at the Seminary for only a month before being taken by a prefect to the rooms of an older seminarian, John Stockdale.
Stockdale, now dead, had plied him with wine before forcing painful and vigorous anal sex on the 15 year old boy. The abuse continued for two years before he was 'passed on' to Ronald Pickering, a British priest who had moved to Melbourne and was visiting Adelaide. When father Pickering had later died, it was discovered that he had abused hundreds of boys over a 20 year period.
He remembers comments made at St Francis Xavier that such and such a priest had been sent back to Ireland because he was at the 'alter boys'.
Archbishop Hepworth spoke of the ruthless, cruel and effective way to ensure a victim's silence. After the abusive priest had repeatedly raped and subjected a teenage boy to years of abuse, the aging priest returned to his victim, by then an ordained priest himself, and admitted his crimes - in the confessional box itself.
The rapist priest knew as well as his victim that under the law of the Confessional Seal this meant he could never be exposed. But forty years later the victim is breaking his silence!
An Australian politician announces he will name and shame too!
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/abused-bishop-ready-to-forgive/story-e6frg6n6-1226133531732
Aussie politician to name and shame. http://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/latest/a/-/article/10246093/church-implores-senator-not-to-name-priest/
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Riverman Reports from Down Under...: War at the toss of a coin - US abuses power it no ...: Image via Wikipedia War at the toss of a coin - US abuses power it no longer has. RT interviews Lawrence Wilkerson, ex-chief of s...
War at the toss of a coin - US abuses power it no longer has...
Image via WikipediaWar at the toss of a coin - US abuses power it no longer has.
RT interviews Lawrence Wilkerson, ex-chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Dick Cheney told what he wanted to hear. Claim that Iraq has 200 millions of barrells of oil that surpasses Saudi Arabia. The US Executive and the President are too powerful to control. 40% of Americans approve of torture if necessary. The US should have concentrated on Afghanistan not Iraq.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQE8E4LeG6o
Thursday, September 08, 2011
China increases internet surveillance...
Image via Wikipedia
Police have told cafes, hotels and other businesses in central Beijing to install surveillance technology for Wi-Fi users or face fines and possible closure, in a further tightening of internet controls.
China has the world's largest and most sophisticated web censorship and monitoring system, which it has tightened still further after the Middle Eastern uprisings. Measures included blocking major virtual private networks, which allow people to evade internet controls.
The new software, which costs about 20,000 yuan (£1,900), allows officials to check the identities of users and monitor their activity. Businesses that fail to comply face a fine of the same size and could have their licences revoked.
Strict controls already apply at internet cafes, which poorer people rely on for access.
It is unclear how strictly the measures will be enforced, and it appears that only Dongcheng district has told owners of the regulations. A staff member at its internet security unit said the initiative was city-wide, but Beijing police headquarters had not responded to a faxed query at time of writing.
The Dongcheng police officer added: "This regulation is made to enhance internet security and to assist public security bureaux to break criminal cases. Details of implementation are confidential."
According to the New York Times, a notice from the district office said the measure would tackle offenders seeking to "conduct blackmail, traffic goods, gamble, propagate damaging information and spread computer viruses".
"This is undoubtedly an invasion of Wi-Fi users' privacy," said Jason Chen, a 22-year-old Beijing resident.
"We have already felt the restriction on university campuses, since they have always been monitored. But this time, the control is stretching to cafes and people's feeling of violation is sharper. If cafes cancel their Wi-Fi I will care a lot, and I believe young people will react strongly."
Some venues in Dongcheng complained they were already losing custom after cutting off Wi-Fi.
"It is just unbelievable. Customers are not happy either," said Leona Zhang, manager of the Contempio bar.
"Some owners simply think this is for the public security bureaux to make money from us. The charge is the same regardless of size, even for small ones with only two or three tables."
Businesses in other parts of Beijing said they had not heard of the measure.
"If the regulation was implemented here, it would struggle to be accepted. The cost is too high," said a worker at the New Seven Day Bar in Haidian.
"Furthermore, there is also the privacy of our customers to protect."
China has the world's largest and most sophisticated web censorship and monitoring system, which it has tightened still further after the Middle Eastern uprisings. Measures included blocking major virtual private networks, which allow people to evade internet controls.
The new software, which costs about 20,000 yuan (£1,900), allows officials to check the identities of users and monitor their activity. Businesses that fail to comply face a fine of the same size and could have their licences revoked.
Strict controls already apply at internet cafes, which poorer people rely on for access.
It is unclear how strictly the measures will be enforced, and it appears that only Dongcheng district has told owners of the regulations. A staff member at its internet security unit said the initiative was city-wide, but Beijing police headquarters had not responded to a faxed query at time of writing.
The Dongcheng police officer added: "This regulation is made to enhance internet security and to assist public security bureaux to break criminal cases. Details of implementation are confidential."
According to the New York Times, a notice from the district office said the measure would tackle offenders seeking to "conduct blackmail, traffic goods, gamble, propagate damaging information and spread computer viruses".
"This is undoubtedly an invasion of Wi-Fi users' privacy," said Jason Chen, a 22-year-old Beijing resident.
"We have already felt the restriction on university campuses, since they have always been monitored. But this time, the control is stretching to cafes and people's feeling of violation is sharper. If cafes cancel their Wi-Fi I will care a lot, and I believe young people will react strongly."
Some venues in Dongcheng complained they were already losing custom after cutting off Wi-Fi.
"It is just unbelievable. Customers are not happy either," said Leona Zhang, manager of the Contempio bar.
"Some owners simply think this is for the public security bureaux to make money from us. The charge is the same regardless of size, even for small ones with only two or three tables."
Businesses in other parts of Beijing said they had not heard of the measure.
"If the regulation was implemented here, it would struggle to be accepted. The cost is too high," said a worker at the New Seven Day Bar in Haidian.
"Furthermore, there is also the privacy of our customers to protect."
Sunday, September 04, 2011
The dark side to Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel brought out into the sunlight...
Image by joanneteh_32(loving Laduree) via Flickr
The dark side to Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel brought out into the sunlight...Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was feted around the world as a pioneering fashion icon who changed the way women dressed and thought about themselves. Many biographies have been written and movies made about her incredible career - but there is a dark side that was apparently hidden but has now come out into the sunlight and the gaze of the world media.
Does it matter now many decades later? Of course it does and she will have to accept it for what it was - a dark chapter in her life the world has a right to know, and has found out. Chanel had a German lover and more intrigue followed.
It was reportedly known during WW11 that in Paris Coco Chanel had a German lover - Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, who was portrayed by many biographers as a blond, blue-eyed charmer - a kind of tennis-playing playboy type. But they didn't know the real von Dincklage, either!
He was actually a high-powered member of the Nazi Party, a third generation war hero and had been a German intelligence officer (the Abwehr) sinjce 1919, and had met top Nazi leaders Hitler and Goebbels in 1941.
He had been Coco Chanel's lover for 9 years, reportedly one of a long stream of rich men who had furthered her career.
And Dincklage was the reason Chanel was able to live at the "Ritz" - the Ritz Hotel in Paris, which the Nazis had requisitioned for their exclusive use. He was also the recruiter for her secret career - spying for the Abwehr, and ultimately going on two missions to Madrid
.
When researching for his now published book, " Sleeping with the Enemy", American author, Hal Vaughan, was researching the activities of an American intelligence officer H. Gregory Thomas, when he came across an intriguing document showing that in 1940, he Thomas, had been sent to Paris by the Wertheimer Bros, 70% owners of Chanel's perfume business, to steal the formula for Chanel No 5. During this research he came across a document that proved Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel had spied for the Nazis - she was Agent F-7124 in the Abwehr's Berlin register. He soon realised that there were many reports about Chanel.
" One must not let oneself be forgotten, one must stay on the toboggan. The toboggan is what people who are talked about ride on. One must get a front seat and not let oneself be put out of it"
Coco Chanel
She once bragged that she was able to launch the House of Chanel "Because two gentlemen were outbidding each other for my hot little body."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/world-war-2/8704910/Coco-Chanel-was-a-Nazi-agent-during-Second-World-War.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Chanel
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3002772/coco_before_chanel_movie_trailer_1/
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