THE SECOND AMENDMENT AMENDED

July 31, 2012

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep Arms, shall not be infringed." Unless the "people" are a foreign nation and that nation is deemed a threat to ourselves or to our allies. Their rights are here and now declared null and void. They shall be disarmed by peaceful and political means and once that is achieved they shall be vanquished by military ones. And if the people suffer in the process let them be damned.

Today President Barack Obama is penalising China's Bank of Kunlun and Iraq's Elaf Islamic Bank for supporting "the increasingly desperate Iranian regime" to access the international financial system. He is not talking about a regime here, but a nation. How dare he gloat in making it desperate? Perhaps he should add a 28th amendment :

Any government we do not like will be automatically be termed a "regime" and it will therefore become a legitimate target for our wrath and that of any other nation we can bully into abiding by our principles. We will defend our interests by any means foul or fair.

President George W Bush possibly really did believe in his bias, but President Obama is beginning to look increasingly like a man who is prepared to sell his convictions for expediency and as such is coming across as an even more unsavoury character.

HONG KONG CRACKS "THE CHINA MODEL"

July 30,2012

Thousands of people took to the streets in Hong Kong yesterday to protest against a decision by Chinese authorities to force National Education lessons on the school curriculum of this semi-autonomous part of China. The police estimated the turnout at 32,000 people, while the organisers put the figure at almost three times that. The subject would be introduced to all primary schools in September and be extended to secondary schools by 2013. Exact details have not been issued, but a booklet called "The China Model" states that the objective is to promote and nurture Chinese identity. The problem is that this "identity" is the one China's "progressive, selfless and united" ruling party would like to impose.

Patriotism cannot be forced. Like religion, it is either taken for granted as we grow up with it, or it has to enchant and convince us. Hong Kong, which was part of the UK for about 150 until it was restored to China in 1997, would clearly need to be seduced. Anything less would amount to a violation.

"It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority... From the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason." (John Dahlberg)

ASSANGE: CORREA'S GUEST... OR HIS HOSTAGE?

July 29, 2012. Julian Assange's mother Christine will be pleading with authorities in Ecuador tomorrow to grant her son asylum in their country (refer to Globecatcher article on Ecuador Page). Mr Assange has been receiving sanctuary in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since July 19, 2012. Initial statements by embassy staff were very encouraging, but these were watered down by Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa who has still to pronounce Mr Assange's judgement. This has taken far too long now and any decision against allowing Mr Assange asylum in Ecuador will be seen as though the WikiLeaks founder was just being used as leverage with the US government. Ecuador already has problems because of its record on freedom of speech. Does it really want to throw this man who is a hero to so many and certainly a champion of free speech to his foes for a ransom? If he does he will have a lot more to lose than to gain. Not everyone may like a spy, but everyone hates a traitor.

"I know not whether Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in goal
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long."

ROHINGYA: FROM PERSECUTION TO INDIFFERENCE

July 28, 2012

The Rohingya, a Muslim community of about 800,000 people who live in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar, are not welcome in their own country. That is official: the president, Thein Sein, actually said so. Their persecution borders on ethnic cleansing, as they flee to Bangladesh on their west and Thailand to the east; but they are not welcomed there either.

A few years ago there were several instances reported of Rohingya refugees being dragged out to sea in barges by Thai military and left there to drift. The situation in Thailand has improved somewhat, but the policy is still to "help" them on. Even local villagers are being trained to detect and ward off potential refugees, so that they do not stop at Phuket or along the Andaman coast.

The situation in Bangladesh is no better. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose country has been accused by human rights organisations of relinquishing its responsibility towards the refugees, has also talked of "helping" the refugees. Speaking to Al Jazeera yesterday, while on a trip to the UK, she made light of the accusations and emphasised the support the Rohingya were receiving from Bangladesh to return home. She said that criticism should be placed at the door of Myanmar's regime where it squarely belongs. She has a point, but that can be said of almost any situation where help is required. Having said that, Bangladesh is a poor country; how much can it actually do?

Thailand, too, has its own problems. Only today it has been reported that a group of Muslim militants ambushed a contingent of soldiers, in the south of the country, killing four and wounded another two, while last Wednesday a roadside bomb killed five policemen.

Helping others is not always easy, be they friends or strangers, but it is these difficult decisions that define our humanity as individuals, or as nations.



"Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa..." Can only be uttered in hell: Dante's or the one we ourselves create.

MADAGASCAR MAKES HISTORY WHILE LEMURS ARE BECOMING HISTORY

July 27, 2012

Madagascar has gone through a turbulent few days. Last Sunday a mutiny was put down. The ring leader, Koto Mainty, was killed and his soldiers were arrested. A government official who tried to negotiate with the mutineers and another officer were also killed. On Wednesday, President Andry Rajoelina met his predecessor, Marc Ravalomanana, the president he had ousted in his 2009 coup, on a private island in the Seychelles. The talks, which were at the behest of other southern African nations, were inconclusive, as Mr Ravalomanana was told that he could return from his exile in South Africa, but would face immediate imprisonment on account of his guards opening fire on protesters storming the presidential palace during the prelude to his overthrow. Today Ravalomanana's wife was marched onto a plane heading for Thailand hours after she landed in the capital, Antananarivo, in an attempt to pave the way for her husband. The president described her return as "Provocative".

More talks will be scheduled...

Ring-tailed lemurs

In the meantime a report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has revealed that the island's original, unique and distinguished inhabitants, the lemurs, are heading for extinction. There are 103 species of Lemurs in Madagascar and over 90% of them are on the Threatened Species list. With so much happening, one wonders where these poor creature sit on the presidential agenda. They may be better off joining Madam Ravalomanana and taking the next plane out of there!

FLAGGING UP MORE THAN JUST A MISTAKE

July 26, 2012

"We shouldn't over-inflate this episode - it was unfortunate, it shouldn't have happened and I think we can leave it at that.”

This is what British Prime Minister David Cameron had to say about the incident concerning the displaying of the flag of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) instead of that representing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, when the women's football team of that nation went onto the pitch in preparation for their game against Columbia. The match, held at Hampden Stadium in Glasgow, was one of the first events of the 2012 Olympics, but it started over an hour late after the North Korean team stormed off in protest. Their representative at the International Olympic Committee admitted that their people were angry. Can anyone blame them?

Flag of North Korea

Whatever apologies the team and country may have received, Cameron's "get over it" attitude does not help the situation. The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-1953 conflict never formally ended and the deadly border clashes of November 2010 prove how volatile the situation is. How would Britain have reacted if found one of its teams playing under the banner of a country it was at war with? "So they stuck a swastika over Britain in stead of the Union Jack? Oh well, mistakes happen, now let's move on..." Not very likely; we would probably have ended up with one of Churchill's iconic speeches instead.

Flag of South Korea

Hospitality and diplomacy are not trivial matters and the "mistake" and the Prime Minister's reaction to it indicate that there is something seriously wrong somewhere, even if it is simply the education system in Britain or the lack of savoir faire of some of its politicians.

TAJIKISTAN'S TRAGIC STANCE...

July 25, 2012

President Emomali Rakhmon has eased his offensive in the Gorno-Badakhshan region after clashes there have left many dead. Official estimates put the death toll at 42: 12 soldiers and 30 militants. Eyewitness accounts suggest that the real figure is much higher and since the reason given for the pause was so that the dead and wounded could be attended to, this evaluation seems more likely.

The clashes started when government forces poured into the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in search of opposition strongman Tolib Ayombekov and three of his supporters who have been accused of the murder of senior security chief, General Abdullo Nazarov. Mr Ayombekov denies the charges and is refusing to give himself up.

Despite President Rakhmon's autocratic and authoritarian rule, he has a very tenuous hold of of the Gorno-Badakhshan province. This must be very worrying for him, particularly as: 1) Gorno-Badakhshan makes up about half of Tajikistan; 2) its proximity to Afghanistan endows it with a crucial role in the fight against drug trafficking; 3) it forms a strategic supply route for NATO forces and as such has become a source of much needed revenue.

Most concerning of all, however, is the prospect of the this restless area falling under the influence of a fundamentalist Afghanistan once the US and its allies start to withdraw in 2014. At the start of the civil war in 1992, after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Gorno-Badakhshan immediately declared itself independent, although it did not stay so for long. The war ended in 1997 and cost the lives of approximately 60,000 people. The power sharing agreements that followed have since been eroded by President Rakhmon. It is not surprising therefore that he would seek any pretext to subdue the province while he still can. A better plan would have been to modernise and liberalise his country to such an extent as to make any prospect of repression repugnant to his people. As it is stands, even if the Taliban took over, some people would not even notice the difference.

RENDER UNTO CAMERON...

July 24, 2012

It is morally wrong to preach to people about what is morally wrong... Hold on, I had better rephrase that; but first let us have some context here.

UK INCOME 2008

Last month the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, accused the comedian Jimmy Carr of being "morally wrong" for using the Jersey linked K2 legal tax avoidance scheme. At the same time the Take That star, Gary Barlow, was being attacked from various quarters for similar "immorality". Now the Treasury Minister, David Gauke, has said it is "morally wrong" to pay tradesmen cash in hand in order to receive a discount, which would probably result in the worker not claiming those earning and by so doing avoid paying tax. Jimmy Carr was so hounded, that he had to make a grovelling public apology about his "terrible error of judgement". When both media and politicians agree, you have not got a hope in hell. If I had been in Jimmy Carr's place I would have answered rather differently:

"What I did was perfectly legal. If the government does not like it, then I suggest it changes the law. I will not be preached to about what is morally right or wrong by politicians who squander tax payers money. Was it morally right, for instance, to give £500 billion of tax payers money to mismanaged banks? Seeing as I am not breaking the law, I consider it a privilege to be able to decide for myself what worthy cause I would like to give my tithes to."

If he had responded thus, perhaps the Treasury Minister would not have felt so bold as to launch another attack, this time on working class people who are already being squeezed dry by this government. It is bad enough when religious leaders try to tell us what is right and wrong without taking context into account, although at least their general principles are usually sound, for a politician to do so is bizarre.

UK EXPENDITURE 2009

When right and wrong is written in stone, we end up with 10 commandments, an Eightfold Path, Five Pillars and the like. As they say , only "fools rush in, where angels fear to tread."

BOUTEFLIKA AND AL-MALIKI TAKE SIDES

July 23, 2012

Arab League foreign ministers have taken a significant step in isolating Syria's President Bashar al-Assad by calling on him to step down. Following a meeting this weekend hosted by Qatar, a statement was published this morning advising the Syrian president to "renounce power" and take up the offer of a "safe exit". The ministers also encouraged the rebel Free Syrian Army to form a transitional government of national unity with the rest of the opposition. The committee included ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Sudan and Oman, as well as Algeria and Iraq, who were the only two countries to express reservations. Why?

As for Algeria, its stance is understandable. A few years ago President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had little trust for the Syrian regime, as documents released by WikiLeaks show, but the "Arab Spring" must have left him feeling vulnerable, even if the wave of protests did leave him largely unscathed. It is therefore not surprising that he would caution against the supporting of an uprising. It is "not the prerogative of this council" to interfere, he warned.

Even more telling is Algeria's relationship with Russia. Last March, Russia's then President Dmitry Medvedev sent a Statement of Congratulations to President Bouteflika on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The message concludes with these kind, but prescriptive words:

"We are broadening mutually beneficial ties in trade and economic, energy, military technical, cultural and humanitarian, and other sectors. [Sic] We are strengthening the practice of coordinating our actions in the international arena. It is a pleasure to remark that many of Russia and Algeria’s approaches to the current situation in the Middle East and North Africa are the same or similar. Overall, in supporting the process of transformation in the region, we seek to ensure that it is peaceful and developmental, determined by the Arab peoples themselves, without any ready-made formulas imposed or foreign interference threatening an emergence of new zones of political and ethnic and religious instability. This fundamental attitude is also reflected in our approach to the dramatic events in Syria.”

Iraq's position is more confusing. True, it too is vulnerable; in fact its uprising is already happening. Only today, a coordinated series of attacks in Shia neighbourhoods over 18 towns and cities has killed at least 100 people. But the insurgency here is Al-Qaida linked. Does Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki really believe that Nato is suddenly going to say: "Goodie, another uprising! Let's support our brothers in Al-Qaida topple that wishy-washy government once and for all!"? If anything, its thanks to Bush and Blair that he is there in the first place: and that certainly was an intervention that warranted reservations! I cannot guess what is motivating him, unless he too is trying to ingratiate himself with Putin. So if anyone can shed some light on this: please tell us...

CIRCUMCISION: SHOULD IT BE AXED? ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST

July 22, 2012

Circumcision is a tricky subject, particularly after June 26, 2012 when a court in Cologne, Germany, announced that circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounted to bodily harm and as such was punishable by law. Last Thursday, in Switzerland, Zurich University Children’s Hospital decided to stop performing non-essential circumcisions while it considered the ethics of the matter more closely. In the meantime Germany’s constitutional court is making arrangements to legally protect the practice at a national level. The Prime Minister Angela Merkel is behind the move and has said that banning the practice would make Germany a laughing stock with the rest of the world.

Below are some points for and against the practice.

Arguments in favour of circumcision

• The practice goes back thousands of years and is prescribed in certain religions such as the Jewish and Muslim faiths. In Genesis 17:10-12, for instance, God is said to have commanded Abraham as follows:

“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed”.

A ban would therefore deny the followers of these religions the right to practice an essential element of their faith

• The World Health Organization (WHO) states that there is firm evidence to suggest that circumcision can reduce the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infections in men by up to 60 percent

• The WHO also claims that circumcision can reduce genital herpes by about 30 percent, genital ulcer disease by 47 percent and Human Papillomavirus- that causes penile cancer, by 35 percent

• Banning circumcision would be socially divisive and could be seen as deliberately targeting minority groups

• Circumcision can be more hygienic and can therefore reduce the risk of developing urinary tract infections

Arguments against circumcision

• Circumcising small boys on religious grounds mutilates them before they can make an informed choice on the matter

• In Abraham’s days when hygiene may have been a lot poorer, circumcision served a function beneficial to health. Religious practices have changed with the times, so this one could too. The quotation from Genesis also endorses slavery, for instance

• The latest Zimbabwe Health Demographic Survey (ZHDS 2010/2011) indicates that the HIV prevalence rate among circumcised males between the ages of 15 and 49 in Zimbabwe is higher than that of the uncircumcised males, because of the misconception that the procedure protects one against HIV infection

• Circumcising young boys on preventative medical grounds violates the principle of consent to treatment

• Circumcision reduces the sensitivity around the head of the penis resulting in less pleasure during sex

• Circumcision can be dangerous and even deadly. Complications can include excessive bleeding and post-operative infections, such as herpes

My take on it? well, I am rather attached, so I may be a bit biased.

JAMES HOLMES, ANDERS BREIVIK AND GUNS FOR THE BOYS

July 21, 2012

Yesterday, James Holmes, a 24-year-old young man was arrested on the spot for the killing of 12 people at a premier of Batman in Denver USA. Another 58 people were injured in the attack, some of them seriously.

Today is the eve of the first anniversary of Anders Behring Breivik's bombing of the government buildings in Oslo and his shooting spree at the camp of the Workers' Youth League of the Labour Party on the island of Utøya. The bomb attack cost 8 lives, while 69 people, mostly teenagers, were slaughtered at Utøya.

Tomorrow several heads of state and politicians will defend gun ownership. Well, not tomorrow, maybe, they are usually a bit more subtle than that and are rather quiet at the moment, but soon enough nonetheless. Us politicians will probably be at the top of that list. The same politicians who treat the likes of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela with disdain. The very Hugo Chavez whose government passed a law on June 1, 2012 criminalising the commercial sale of firearms to civilians. No one should be too lofty to learn, be it from our enemies or events. It is what life is all about.

ITHAKA (K.P. Kavafis)

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your journey be a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

WE ALL OWE HAITI A DEBT

July 20, 2012

Haiti has had a dreadful deal with its international relations. It is about time we did something about it. Bill Clinton, who is the United Nations' envoy to Haiti, has now admitted that it was likely that the Cholera epidemic was started by UN workers from Nepal, but he almost made light of the fact by adding that the priority was to fight the outbreak, rather than dwell on its causes. The epidemic cannot be contained without clean water supplies and drainage: that is the very least the UN should offer.

Haiti’s timeline of foreign related disasters:

• 1492: On 5 December Christopher Columbus landed at Môle Saint-Nicolas and claimed the island for Spain.

• 1503 (circa): Queen Anacaona and her husband Caonabo who tried to resist the Spanish invasion are captured and executed.

• 1507: smallpox and other epidemics began to wipe out local populations who did not have the immunities to these imported diseases. This disaster became a pattern in the New World. Ill treatment exacerbated the situation.

• The Spanish immediately began to exploit the indigenous population. Many were forced to work in their gold mines, while the less productive or more resistant were either killed or sold into slavery.

• 1512–1513: The Laws of Burgos gave the natives some rights, but still allowed them to be exploited by feudal-like system known as the “encomiendas”. Many were coerced to convert to Christianity.

• 1517: Charles V authorized the importation of slaves from Africa following the near annihilation of the indigenous Taíno population.

• 1600s: The west of the island, which had started to become popular with French pirates and buccaneers, began to attract colonial families from neighbouring islands owing to its crop-growing potential and cheap labour.

• 1697: With the Treaty of Ryswick, France and Spain formally divided the island of Hispaniola between them, eventually leading to the creation of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The French, whose portion of the island is called Saint-Domingue, prosper thanks to their exploitation of slavery which reaches levels of sheer brutality. A mixed race population begins to emerge as the colonialists take advantage of their female slaves.

• 1794: Inspired by the French Revolution, Domingue, Toussaint Louverture, a former slave, takes control of Saint-Domingue after a successful revolt.

• 1802: Napoleon tries to regain Saint-Domingue, but fails because of disease that decimates his forces.

• 1803: Toussaint Louverture is invited to negotiate, but is abducted and sent to France where he dies under his captors hands. Jean-Jacques Dessalines takes over and manages to defeat the French.

• 1804: On the 1 January Saint-Domingue is formally declared independent and called "Ayiti". Approximately 100,000 slaves died during the rebellion, as well as over half of the 40,00 or so colonists.

• 1806: Dessalines is assassinated by internal factions.

• 1825: King Charles X’s forces attempt to retake the island and in order to avoid the risk of defeat, President Boyer agrees to pay a massive indemnity. Haiti has never fully recovered from the financial drain of these bizarre payments which have left most of its people in poverty to this day.

• 1876: The US finally eases the restrictions it had imposed on Haiti and recognises the government there.

• 1912: Syrians living in Haiti destroy the Presidential Palace in an anti-government attack.

• 1914: US, British and German forces occupy Haiti with the pretext of protecting their nationals during a period of social unrest.

• 1915: The US takes over the administration of Haiti and remains in control until 1934.

• 1957–1986: During the Duvalier family dictatorship Colombian Drug traffickers take root in Haiti.

• 2004: President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is ousted following a rebellion. Aristide and his bodyguard claim that they were abducted by US forces. Recent Wikileak documents indicate the the US and the UN were complicit in undermining his return to government.

• 2010: On the January 12 an earthquake strikes killing about 316,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. The US takes a huge administrative fee to coordinate the charity relief funds.

• 2010: Cholera is confirmed. It is believed to have been introduced by Nepalese UN workers.

• 2012: The epidemic has so far killed 7,000 people and the UN connection has been confirmed.

DAG HAMMARSKJOLD DEATH "NOT AN ACCIDENT"

July 19, 2012

Dag Hammarskjöld was a rara avis. It was not surprising that he should have become a seasoned academic and politician, since he was born to a family with roots in politics that spanned centuries, while his own father, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917. What is impressive is the vision and integrity that accompanied him throughout his career, particularly while Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was the second Secretary-General, succeeding Trygve Lie in 1953, and he is widely considered responsible for having given the post its dynamic and unique quality. He died in a plane crash in September 1961, while on a delicate diplomatic mission and for his efforts was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, like Yasser Arafat, he too appears to be speaking from beyond the grave.

Dag Hammarskjöld

Hammarskjöld was on a peace mission to the Congo, shortly after its independence from Belgium, when his plane came down in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). It was a journey into a hornets nest. The former colonial power, it is alleged, backed by the US and Britain, were supporting the separatists from the Katanga Province and were determined that he should fail in order to protect their interests, especially mining, in that area. Being so good at what he did, eliminating him was the only was to stop him from succeeding.

Inquiries into Hammarskjöld death were vague and there were many contradictions in the official versions of events. Evidence to suggest foul play, however, has been springing up from very different sources ever since the unexplained "accident" happened, much of it from reliable sources, including witnesses to the actual disaster, Hammarskjöld's own nephew, Desmond Tutu (when chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission) and findings from an independent investigation by The Guardian news paper. Now a full investigation has been commissioned which will present its finding to the UN as soon as it is completed.

Sometimes we owe a great debt to conspiracy theorists: without them time would not be able to nurture those elements of truth that only they may be keeping alive.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH ELECTIONS GOAD AZERBAIJAN

July 18, 2012

Azerbaijan has reacted angrily to the presidential elections that are planned for tomorrow in the Armenian backed and self-proclaimed republic of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Turkey, which shares a tiny border with Azerbaijan, has also condemned the move, describing it as an affront to Azerbaijani sovereignty and in breach of international law. The concerns are understandable given the turbulent history of the region.

The area is nestled well within the borders of Azerbaijan, although the make-up of the population is predominantly Armenian. Both countries claimed it when they experienced independence for the brief period between the fall of the Russian Empire in 1918 and their annexation into the Soviet Union in 1923. During the Soviet era, the disputed area was given autonomous status as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), but trouble started to flare again as the iron curtain began to fray. A referendum held with neighbouring Shahumian in December 1991 led to a declaration of independence and this, in turn, was followed by full scale war with Azerbaijan which lasted until 1994. Armenia maintained the upper hand and the truce left the region in control, although its status as an independent republic was only recognised by Transnistria, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia, which, like Nagorno-Karabakh, are also unrecognised by any UN member state.

The Minsk Group of countries, co-chaired by the US, France and Russia, have been actively working to resolve the issues since the early 1990s. In 2008 a UN resolution demanded "the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan."

So it is really negotiating time, not time to raise the stakes. The funny thing is that the map of Armenia and Azerbaijan looks so silly. Anyone with a sense of geography must contemplate it with the uncontrollable urge of wanting to tidy it up:

"Okay, we'll stick Nakhchivan over there, cut and paste Nagorno-Karabakh in its place; and that settles it!"

"NO, no, no!" Says another. "All we need is a little corridor there, around the Iranian border and bridge over there from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh and we hardly have to displace a soul!"

By the end of it they would probably need their very own The Minsk Group to stop them from killing each other.

But the map is important. If we look at it carefully, it is not unlike the ying yang symbol. And the great thing about that, is that it is the diversity that gives it its power and keeps it all together. If they see the potential of that, who knows: they may start to live happily together after all.

TEDDY BEARS TAKE ON THE KGB IN BELARUS

The teddy bears carrying anti-government slogans that parachuted into Belarus earlier this month are still causing the KGB there a headache! The Swedes who claim to be responsible for the landings posted a two-part video evidencing their foray into Belarusian territory, but the KBG are dismissing the raid as a western scheme to discredit their security services. Today the Lithuanian military also denied the possibility of the plane having flown to Belarus from Sweden, as it would have been intercepted in its trajectory over Lithuanian airspace.

Meanwhile, Anton Suryapin, a journalism student in Minsk is being held in custody for being an accomplice to the teddy bears. He was arrested on the 13th July for having posted photos of the bear-insurgents on his blog.

The Democracy Index ranks Belarus at 139 and lists it as an authoritarian regime. The president, Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko is considered by some as the last dictator in Europe. His repressive Soviet-style regime has earned him sanctions from the European Union.

With the Teddy bear army on the loose, here's a word of advice for President Lukashenko:

"If you go out in the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic."

We're right behind you Anton and gathering more recruits!

UNESCO' S EQUATORIAL GUINEA INTERNATIONAL PRIZE ATTACKED

July 16, 2012

The UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences will be awarded tomorrow in Paris amidst much controversy. The issue is not about the leading scientists from Egypt, Mexico and South Africa who are receiving the prize, but regards UNESCO, who is awarding it under the auspices of Equatorial Guinea's president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Mr Obiang, who is subsidising the prize to a tune of 3 million US dollars, is known for exploiting his nation's generous oil revenues, while most of his citizens live in such abject poverty, that Equatorial Guinea is left with one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.

This is scandalous when one considers that it is estimated that profits from the country's oil and gas revenues alone could allow its population of 600,000 people an income of $37,000 a year. It is understandable, then, that several human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Sherpa and Transparency International are outraged. They see UNESCO's association with Mr Obiang as an endorsement of his regime and would like to see the money spent on the people who need it most within his own borders. The fact that Mr Obiang's son and Vice-President Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue is a UNESCO diplomat and that he being investigated in France over money-laundering, does not help the problem.

HONDURAS: A HOUSE DIVIDED...

July 15, 2012

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."

So said Abraham Lincoln on this day in his famous speech in 1858. The same applies to so many governments today. Of course, slavery is more or less abolished, but forced inequalities brought on by oppressive or complacent regimes is a form of slavery for those who have not got a hope in hell to rise out of their misery. Take Honduras for example. Despite having been elected by the conservative vote in January 2006, President Manuel Zelaya had veered to the left when he comprehended that his country was "a house divided", but this only led to his removal by a military coup d'etat before he could do much about it. The gap between the haves and have nots in Honduras is so great, that left wing revolutionaries have resorted to forcefully seizing land and protecting it with guns and militias while the "dispossessed" are allowed to cultivate it to make a living. The Unified Farmworkers Movement has become increasingly organised at this and is in a dangerous tug of war with the government of President Porfirio Lobo Sosa.

So beautiful and yet so dangerousVillage in Copán, Honduras

Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world and journalists who speak out are often eliminated. Last week Bueso Gutierrez, who was a journalist for a Christian radio station, became the 21st journalist to be killed in Honduras in the last three years.

On May 28, 2011 Zelaya was allowed to return to Honduras from his exile: what better man to engender reconciliation? President Porfirio Lobo Sosa would do well to use him before things crumble altogether.

CUBA WELCOMES US SHIPMENT AFTER A 50 YEAR TRADE EMBARGO

Anyone with a romantic vision of Cuba’s revolution should avoid reading the details, if they intend to keep it that way, that is. Like most great revolutions, Cuba’s was hijacked. People from all walks of life had joined the uprising to oust the corrupt dictator and American darling: Fulgencio Batista. A proportion originated from Cuba’s professional and privileged ranks and had a lot more to lose than Fidel Castro. After victory, however, many of these enlightened souls were imprisoned or killed. The lucky ones managed to escape abroad, mostly to the US, where there now are over a million exiles and their descendants. Ever since those events in 1959, the relations between the US and Cuba have been so strained, they very nearly caused a nuclear war.

Now, with a less militant American President in the Whitehouse and with Fidel Castro in the background, as his more reasonable brother, Raul, takes on the reins of power, the icy situation may be finally beginning to thaw. About time! The US embargo has been causing the islanders unfair and unnecessary hardship and even Pope Benedict XVI, when touring Cuba last March, criticised the US about it.

So the sight of the Ana Cecilia sailing into the port of Havana yesterday must have been a real symbol of hope and reconciliation. The cargo ship which had sailed out from Miami, USA, was carrying humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, food and clothing. This must now lead to the resumption of trade between the two countries, so that humanitarian aid will not be necessary in the future. It seems a bit incongruous to ostracise Cuba on the one hand and to invite China to make your Olympic costumes on the other.

TIMELINE OF US-CUBAN RELATIONS

October 1873 to February 1875
The Virginius Incident: The Virginius, a fast American ship leased to Cuban insurrectionists who were fighting for independence, is captured by the colonial power, Spain. The Spanish execute 53 members of the mostly American crew. The executions stop at the behest of the British government, whose citizens also formed part of the crew.

April 1898 to August 1898
The Spanish-American War: This was predominantly caused by America's support of the Cuban revolt and ended with Spain's defeat and the Treaty of Paris.

December 1898 to April 1899
The Treaty of Paris is signed and ratified: Spain surrenders control of Cuba to the US (together with Puerto Rico, parts of the West Indies, Guam, and the Philippines). Spain is however compensated by the US with a payment of twenty million dollars.

May 1902
Cuba becomes independent from the US and declares a republic.

February 1903
The Cuban-American Treaty: America assumes territorial control of the area around Guantánamo Bay through the agreement of a perpetual lease.

October 1940 to October 1944
The US backed Fulgencio Batista is president of Cuba.

March 1952
Batista ousts outgoing President Carlos Prío Socarrás in a military coup when he realises that he would lose the forthcoming elections. He is soon after recognised by the US.

January 1959
Batista flees to the Dominican Republic as revolutionary forces under Che Guevara begin to close in on his palace.

February 1959
The anti-American Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister.

April 1961
Bay of Pigs Invasion (Batalla de Girón): American-supported Cuban exiles attempt to reclaim Cuba, but are defeated by Soviet trained Cuban forces.

November 1961
Operation Mongoose is endorsed by US President Kennedy: its aim is to destabilise the communist Cuban regime by any covert means possible (including, perhaps, the alleged exploding cigar plot on Castro).

October 1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis: The US blockades Cuba and raises the threat of a nuclear confrontation. The blockade is in retaliation for the installation of ballistic nuclear missiles on Cuba by the USSR; the missiles possessed the ability of striking most of the United States.

November 1962
The US blockade is officially lifted after secret negotiations with the USSR which resulted in concessions from both sides.

January 2009
Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the US, having been elected in November 2008. Once in office, he began to ease restrictions on Cuba by allowing travel to Cuba from the US and permitting unlimited remittances to Cuba from Cuban Americans.

December 2009
US citizen Alan Gross was arrested for distributing laptops and communications equipment to members of Cuba's small Jewish community under a US State Department contract. It emerged that the equipment had sophisticated satellite communication systems that was intended to support dissidents operating in Cuba. Gross was charged in 2011 and is serving a 15-year prison sentence in Cuba.

July 14, 2012
The first post-revolution shipment of supplies from the US arrives in Cuba.

July 2012
Despite Barack Obama's 2008 electoral promises to close the prison camp at Guantánamo, 168 detainees still remain incarcerated there.

RUSSIA CONTINUES TO SPIRAL INTO THE PAST

With every day that passes Russia is looking more and more like the old Soviet Union: its anti-protest laws, its unqualified support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its arbitrary imprisonments, such as that of the lovely Mikhail Khodorkovsky whose sentence keeps creeping up, the closer it gets to his planned release. How can Putin get away with it? This week saw the approval of another oppressive law which would increase censorship and control of the internet. With hallmark hypocrisy, the law was marketed as a weapon against sites that promote child pornography, suicide or drugs. In reality it will give the government powers to pick and choose which sites it deems safe (for its own political survival).

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

The clearest sign of a Russian Spring, will be the release of Khodorkovsky, who has been languishing in prison since October 25, 2003. Prior to his arrest, he was the head of the oil company Yukos and one the richest man in the world, but his downfall was his his opposition to Putin.

The good news is that this brilliant mind is still allowed to write and he does so, with insight, in various publications around the world, as well as in his own website: www.khodorkovsky.com

Khodorkovsky's final words at his second trial on November 2, 2010, are a lasting testimony to his resolve and integrity and will continue to be a blemish on the justice system in his country, for as long as he is kept behind bars:

"I am ashamed for my country.

Your honour, I think we all perfectly understand the significance of our trial extends far beyond the fates of Platon [Lebedev] and myself. And even beyond the fates of all those who have innocently suffered in the course of the reprisals against YUKOS that have taken place on such a huge scale, those I found myself unable to protect, but about whom I have not forgotten. I remember every day.

Let's ask ourselves, what does the entrepreneur, the top class organizer of production, or simply an educated, creative individual, think today looking at our trial and knowing that the result is absolutely predictable?

The obvious conclusion a thinking person would come to is chilling in its simplicity: the bureaucratic and law enforcement machine can do whatever it wants. There is no right of private property. No person who conflicts with the "system" has any rights whatsoever.

Even when enshrined in law, rights are not protected by the courts. Because the courts are either also afraid, or are part of the "system". Does it come as a surprise that thinking people do not strive to realize themselves here in Russia?

...I am far from being an ideal person, but I am a person with ideals. For me, as for anybody, it is hard to live in prison, and I do not want to die here. But if I have to, I will have no hesitation. What I believe in is worth dying for. I think I have shown this."

VATILEAKS TIMELINE

July 12, 2012

August 13, 2011:
Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano`, who was dedicated to fighting corruption in the Catholic Church is informed that he would be sent to the US as the apostolic nuncio.

October 19, 2011:
Vigano` officially appointed nuncio to the US: this is seen by some as a move to derail his anti-corruption campaign.

May 24, 2012:
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi who was working to clean up the Vatican finances, is sacked as banker to the Holy See, officially for not carrying out important functions commensurate with his role.

May 25, 2012
The Vatican confirms the arrest of Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s butler in connection with leaks concerning intrigues in the Holy See that have been passed on to the press.

May 26, 2012
The Italian journalist, Gianluigi Nuzzi, publishes his book Sua Santità - le carte segrete di Benedetto XVI which clearly indicates that he had access to top secret documents. Nuzzi later claimed that he had a number of sources. Controversial information includes dubious contracts, cover-ups and bitter rivalries within the church's top hierarchy.

July 12, 2012
The Vatican's prosecutor declares that Paolo Gabriele would not be allowed to move to a position of house arrest. Normally the maximum a prisoner would be detained without trial is 50 days, but in exceptional cases this period could be doubled. Gabriele, who is imprisoned in a small solitary cell, is said to be spending much of his time in prayer. The fact that he is being kept under raps is a sign that what he knows may be too explosive and that the Holy See would not want to risk the possibility of it being divulged. If this is the case, Gabriele is possibly fearing for his life.

YEMENI POLICE CADETS SLAUGHTERED IN SANAA

July 11, 2012

So far the picture is that of a suicide bomber launching himself into a crowd of police cadets killing about ten of them and wounding many more as they poured out of their academy at the end of their classes. The attack is likely to be in retaliation for President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi's crackdown on terrorist organisations operating from Yemen and it has been suggested that Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP)has already claimed responsibility for the atrocity. Last May, a similar explosion in the capital, Sanaa, killed 90 soldiers during a military parade rehearsal.

One of the saddest things about this kind of slaughter is how immune we have become to it; that is, as long as it happens where we would expect it to: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria... Countries with fanatical elements that terrorise the peaceful majority. Of course, they can mushroom anywhere, but when they do they are the exceptions we take note of. The bombers, suicide bombers and those who manipulate them, however, must be even more immune. They believe they have been given the divine right over life and death, even though no known scripture exhorts: "Blessed are those that kill, maim and terrorise in the name of God, especially their own people, for they shall bring joy into the world." I have said it before and I will say it again, unless religious leaders unite and make it abundantly clear that gratuitous violence is anathema, people will continue to deceive themselves and others that "the end justifies the means".

Etcheded on a toilet wall, I once read these no so foolish words: "fighting for peace is like f***ing for virginity." Whoever wrote this had a point.

TENSIONS MOUNT BETWEEN CHINA AND JAPAN OVER DISPUTED ISLANDS

July 10, 2012

The Japanese call them the Senkaku Isles, the Chinese the Diaoyu or Diaoyutai Islands and they have been disputed since the 19th century. In 1885 Japan reconsidered its intention to claim the islands, because of their proximity and associations with China, but the first Sino-Japanese War gave it the opportunity to ignore the sensitivities of the Qing Empire and annex them, declaring that they had been unclaimed (terra nullius). The islands were formally ceded, together with the island of Formosa (Taiwan) at the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. A few years later a Japanese business man developed a bonito processing plant on the islands which continued to operate until the Second World War. When Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces in 1945, the treaty of Shimonoseki was rescinded and the islands passed to American control, which only formally ended in 1972. The Japanese government are now leasing the islands from the Kurihara family, who had purchased them from the Tatsushiros in the 1970s.

One of the disputed islands

Japan is now making waves by stating that it is considering buying the islands from the Kuriharas. The islands are uninhabited, but blessed with fishing stock and more importantly, offshore gas and oil reserves. Japan, claims that China and Taiwan have only expressed an interest in the archipelago since the deposits were confirmed in the late sixties. The nationalistic Tokyo Governor, Shintaro Ishihara, has already been actively raising money for the purchase and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's recent counter proposal to buy the islands was supposed to soften the blow with regards to China and Taiwan. This was not going to be very likely and has raised the tension levels considerably.

There have been some spectacular and highly successful land purchases in history. The USA in particular has bought or given compensation for many of its territories, notably the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 and the Alaska Purchase from the Russian Empire in 1867. The problem with this particular case is that Japan would not be paying China (and/or Taiwan) for the purchase, but its own nationals. Offering to compensate China, on the other hand, would be weakening its claim: a silly move when it already has the upper hand. Besides, Japan would not have the sort of money a nation would want for real estate with views overlooking prospective gas and oil rigs. No, it would not... but China certainly would and being at a disadvantage, it would have much to gain by doing so. There you have it; do I hear any offers?

SOUTH SUDAN IS ONE TODAY: MANY HAPPIER RETURNS...

July 9, 2012

The worlds newest UN recognised nation celebrates its first year today. It has much to think about as it blows that candle out.

While the military parades roll through the streets of the capital, Juba, one would hope that all the blood was well scrubbed off the uniforms and equipment. Admittedly, it has not been easy for President Salva Kiir and his government. On the one hand he has to deal with with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir who is constantly flexing his muscles and referring to his southern neighbours as "insects" to be crushed; on the other, tribes within his own borders are frequently rebelling and raiding each others land with the most devastating consequences imaginable. The problem is that President Kiir always takes the bate.

In January President Kiir seemed to display tactical courage when, in protest at Sudan's demands for transit fees, he reduced oil production to starve the pipeline that runs through Sudan to the Red Sea. The move was detrimental to both nations, but both are sticking to their guns, so the pipes are still dry. The deadlock it is like a game of poker caught in a Buñuel film... And history is being made.

Next we have the border clashes. By March these had escalated to a point where any meaningful dialogue between Juba and Khartoum had ceased. On the 10th April, responding to provocation from al-Bashir's forces, South Sudan occupied the oil-rich and disputed South Kordofan town of Heglig. In response to international condemnation, President Kiir responded bluntly that it traditionally belonged to the south anyway. Whether it was this pressure that forced the South Sudanese forces to relinquish it or the might of the north, is uncertain, but the clashes continue...And history is being made.

Finally there is the internal strife, which perhaps is the worst of all. Hundreds of people have died this year alone because of Shilluk rebellions and violence between the Murle and Lou Nuer communities. The army has added to the tragedy by slaughtering hundreds of Shilluk, Murle and Nuer in an attempt to disarm them. There are also countless reports of rape and torture... And all the while history is being made.

The best news this year, perhaps, has been the accords with China which has pledged billions of US dollars to support the building of the nascent nation's infrastructure. Let us hope that that does not mean tanks and other ammunition.

So the first pages of South Sudan's history will not make for happy reading. Chapter two is about to begin. President Kiir: please surprise us and show us what you can pull out of that cowboy hat!

DEMOCRACY IS NOT MADE UP OF VOTES

July 8, 2012

Over the last week or so, we have seen elections taking place in some pretty volatile countries: Mexico, East Timor and Libya. Such elections always leave me wondering what sort of democracy we are hoping to achieve. Many democratic systems are inherently flawed because they make the bold assumption that the majority is always right. It has been said that democracy is "two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner". A democracy that does not guarantee the opposition party or parties their rights is as good as a dictatorship.

Ensuring people are given impartial information on what it is they are voting for is also crucial. Too often people do not know or even care and they may simply cast their ballot on a whim. Sometimes the motivation is simply familiarity: "better the devil you know!" Hence the power of dynastic politics. This does not only apply to average sized countries like the Philippines and Bangladesh, but also to some of the largest, such as India (with the Gandhis) and the US (with the Bushes and the Clintons). For obvious reasons, constitutional monarchies have largely escaped this particular sentimental dynamic, but this certainly does not make their voting any more informed.

Perhaps the greatest concern, when it comes to voting, is the self-interested, unscrupulous and power-hungry people we are left to vote for. Occasionally they cannot even be trusted to behave when in front of the cameras. This week alone, for instance, we saw: the Jordanian MP, Mohammed Shawabka, throwing a shoe at a political activist and then pulling a gun out on him, on a live chat show; we saw the far right Greek MP, Ilias Kasidiaris, physically assault two female opponents on a televised debate; and we saw the dishonouring of the British House of Commons, as the Chancellor, John Osborne and the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, hurled insults and accusations at each other over the Libor rate-rigging scandal. Of course, not all politicians are corrupt and everyone is, within reason, entitled to a bad day. The fact is, however, that if politicians were more accountable to their promises and for their actions, we would all feel a good deal safer. The process to becoming a politician should also be more transparent, so that merit can have a more meaningful role.

In a word, a meaningful political system is not made up of votes alone: it is also founded on vision, cooperation and good intentions.

KARZAI FINDS WILLING DONORS IN TOKYO CONFERENCE, AS MORE WOMEN ARE SLAUGHTERED.

July 7, 2012

Representatives of a number of affluent nations, including the US, are meeting in Japan in order to discuss aid to Afghanistan. It is likely that tomorrow will see the the war-torn nation receive pledges of $4 billion dollars over the next few years, despite concerns over corruption.

Corruption aside, what about the countless women that are being abused in the name of Allah? Schools that dare offer education to girls, for instance, are under constant threat, while women are being publicly executed for adultery, to the cheers of murderous peasants, oblivious to the sacredness of life and the fact that it "takes two to tango".

Bamiyan:the smaller of the two sculptures, before its destruction

The ruins of the gigantic and magnificent 6th century Buddhas of Bamiyan, blown up on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in 2001 for being too pagan, are scars on the nation's administration, as is the blood of all these innocent victims of bigotry.

Bamiyan: the larger of the two Buddhas, while it was still standing

As long as President Hamid Karzai panders to these bigots, there will be no hope for Afghanistan.

Even more guilty are the religious leaders from every denomination who are always so reluctant to condemn violence. They must assert that religion is in no way compatible with the desecration of life and make it clear that using the name of any god as the pretext for murder is the greatest blasphemy imaginable.

GUARDED HOPE IN LIBYA AND EAST TIMOR

This weekend the people of Libya and East Timor will be going to the polls. They have a few things in common, but mostly hope and fear.

The half-island nation of East Timor has had a troubled history. It freed itself from Portuguese rule in 1975, only to be occupied by Indonesia soon after. The subsequent struggle cost the lives of approximately 200,000 people, over half due to direct conflict and the rest through malnutrition. The 1999 UN sponsored referendum, which resulted in a clear vote for independence, was followed by such vicious reprisals by militias backed by Indonesia, that first Australia and then the UN had to intervene. The situation was so volatile, that the UN stayed and administered the nation for three years.

Independence was formally declared on May 20, 2002 with Xanana Gusmão sworn in as the country's first President. The dire economic situation, however, led to further outbreaks of violence and further interventions from Australia and the UN. 1,200 UN police officers are still stationed there and are expected to leave as long as the situation does not deteriorate after the election.

The two main parties are the left-wing Fretilin Party who are running on a social platform and the centre left National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) which is currently in power, with Xanana Gusmão as Prime Minister.

East Timor could be rich thanks to its off-shore oil deposits and the only thing that is keeping prosperity at bay is greed, corruption and ineptitude.

Libya's story is similar. After an interim period following Italy's colonial rule, which saw France and Britain administer the nation from 1943 to 1951, Libya was formally declared an independent monarchy under King Idris. This former freedom fighter and grandson of Ali as-Senussi, the founder of the Senussi Muslim sufi order, was then overthrown by Muammar Gaddafi's 1969 coup. He in turn was ousted and killed in October 2011 by events following the "Arab Spring". We then had a transitional government, more internecine fighting and now an election. And we must not forget the oil.

Sabratha, Roman Theatre Libya

When Sartre said: "l'enfer c'est les autres" he had a point, but the inverse is also true. Whoever these new leaders may be, let them bring the prosperity that is within both nations' reach.

MALTESE WATERS AWASH WITH MIGRANTS

July 5, 2012

Coast guards have rescued 84 Somali "boat people" today as their dingy started to take in water. The patrol boat had been shadowing the overcrowded vessel and intervened once it became evident that the dingy had started to take in water. Only yesterday, another boat had been approached and three women and a baby were rescued, while the remaining 40 refugees chose to continue their perilous journey to Sicily. Last year alone, a total of 2,000 people are said to have drowned in the Mediterranean. Who knows how many others died without a trace!

The boat that picked up today's refugees

And the lucky ones? They probably wish they had drowned too.

Refugees, including children, are put into detention centres (prisons, really) and left to languish there for months on end. Children are abused and many people die within European borders. Is this civilisation?

Of course the problem is a difficult one. There are approximately 15,000,000 recognised refugees and a total on 42,500,000 internally displaced people in the world. In Europe the number of refugees rose by 15%, although in southern Europe the increase is closer to 90%!

Some would say: "If Europe were too welcoming, it too would sink! So what is the solution?

The very least would be to abide by the law. Malta has a decent enough Asylum Policy and yet people are detained there for up to a year. The situation in Cyprus, which has just taken over the European presidency, is even worse.

So could the Common Asylum System being worked on by the EU work?

It may not be looking very likely, but it has to. After that policymakers should start thinking creatively on how to give these people a decent chance. It would possibly be cheaper to buy a whole chunk of Somalia or Afghanistan, than pay for these people to be kept in these detention centres they loath. Why not create regenerative projects within these countries that would discourage them from making the journey in the first place? Where possible, work with national government.

Whatever you do, please don't let them drown in the Med's terrifying depths, or the murky depths of Europe's bureaucracy.


"Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes;

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:

Ding-dong.

Hark! now I hear them —

Ding-dong, bell."

THE DISCOVERY OF THE HIGGS BOSON HAILED AS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN HISTORY

4th July 2012

I cried when I watched Peter Higgs on television this afternoon, standing there, just as the head of the CERN laboratory confirmed, with 99.999% certainty, that the Higgs Boson had been discovered. “I would have never thought it possible in my lifetime,” explained the 83-year-old physicist.

Location of the Large Hadron Collider which straddles Switzerland and France

The subatomic particle had been predicted by Higgs and other colleagues in the 1960s and it is considered crucial to the explanation of mass in the universe, in line with the Standard Model. This generally accepted model, which defines matter, needed this missing link for its cohesion. The discovery depended on the Large Hadron Collider, a circular 27 kilometre underground tube, built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva. By using this particle accelerator to smash two protons together at velocities close to the speed of light, scientists are supposed to create conditions comparable to the immediate aftermath of the big bang, where particles would have been more independent. The particle discovered has the mass of about 130 protons.

The particle had been nicknamed "the God Particle" because of its role in giving substance to everything that exists. Of course the particle represents quantity, rather than quality which would certainly have been closer to any definition of God. Nevertheless, this fairy-dust, does possess a certain magic, being so close to the unfolding of reality as we know it. I look forward to buying some as soon as it is available in the shops.

TOM CRUISE CELEBRATES 50 TODAY WITH THE NEWS THAT HE IS THE HIGHEST PAID ACTOR IN HOLLYWOOD

3rd July 2012

And let's face it: he looks great. Shame about the divorce announcement, could she not have at least waited until his birthday was over? "When you gotta go, you gotta go" and that goes for divorce too, or at least separation, but perhaps they have already been through that bit. Anyway, there you have it: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are divorcing after five years of marriage and Katie wants sole custody of their six-year-old girl: Suri.

So much to gossip about and yet all the papers seem to be obsessed with is Tom Cruise's religion. Even Rupert Murdoch Tweeted that followers of Scientology were "creepy" and maybe even "evil". Was that the Rupert Murdoch? Oh well, he ought to consider it.

Surely Scientology is not that much stranger than any other religion? Look at the Abrahamic faiths: they believe in some pretty heavy stuff. Religions speak to us in many ways, and often they use symbolism and allegory, a bit like modern art. If it can speak to our souls in ways that make us better human beings, let it. At the end of the day, as Jesus said: "A tree will be judged by its fruits." Scientology has a long way to go before it get even close to the atrocities inflicted in the names of so many other religions.

GLAXOSMITHKLINE PRESCRIBES ITSELF A HEADACHE
2nd July 2012

A US court has fined the giant pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)a record $3bn for a string of offences, including bribery and falsifying information. The case focused on three drugs: Paxil, Wellbutrin (Bupropion) and Avandia. The former two, which are antidepressants, were being promoted inappropriately to adolescents and even children, while at the same time doctors were being offered hefty bribes in order to carry out the practice. GSK admitted the charges and also conceded having misinformed the public with regards to the drug Avandia, which is used to ease diabetes.

Perhaps she should not have taken those drugs!
GSK, which is a constituent of the FTSE Index and one of the top earning companies on the London Stock Exchange, is not new to court cases. In 2007, for instance, it was charged for falsely depicting its blackcurrant drink brand, Ribena, as being rich in vitamin C, only to be exposed by a couple of teenage girls working on a school project in New Zealand. It emerged that, once diluted, Ribena had no discernible vitamin C at all.

The company is also at the centre of a controversy regarding animal welfare, because it uses the Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) animal-testing organisation, whose practices are challenged by animal rights organisations, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) who had secretly filmed their mistreatment of animals in the late 1990s. Of course it has not all been bad: GSK has not only been at the cutting edge of research into finding ways of curing various diseases, it has also worked strategically to eradicate some of them, in particular the parasitic disease lymphatic filariasis. As well as this, GSK has a glowing reputation with regards to equality and diversity. So is it just another Jekyll and Hyde company, or are there opposing forces, pulling in different directions? If it is the latter, then this court case should offer a welcome opportunity for GSK to clean up its act. if the former: then let it be a wake up call.

SHAMIR DIES LEAVING ISRAEL NO NEARER TO PEACE

1st July 2012

Yitzhak Shamir, who was the Israeli Prime minister from 1983 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1992, has died today, aged 96. Shamir was Polish by birth and had moved to Palestine in 1935. His tenure was marked by a Palestinian uprising and the 1991 Gulf War. He had a deep distrust of his Arab neighbours who he maintained “will always dream to destroy” Israel and he resisted any concessions to the Palestinians. 1n 1998 he resigned from the Likud Party to pursue his right wing inclinations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Shamir and praised his deep loyalty to the nation.

Pearly gates

Shamir’s brand of intransigence may be more dependent on the Israeli-Palestinian issue than his character. Apart from the historical problem concerning the dispossession of the Palestinians, a Jewish State would automatically exclude the possibility of democracy, because the likelihood is that Arabs will, in the not too distant future, outnumber the Jews. That is why successive Israeli governments have insisted on the Palestinians accepting the existence of Israel as a Jewish State and why the Arabs continue to refuse to do so. Even if the 1948 Palestinian refugees were never allowed to return, the higher birth rates of Palestinians would soon put a Jewish State, that depended on a demographic advantage, in jeopardy. Yasir Arafat understood this when he declared that the “Palestinian womb” was their best weapon and when, prior to the Oslo accords in 1993, he recognised the State of Israel’s right “to exist in peace and security”, without mentioning "a Jewish State for a Jewish people".

Not so pearly gates

It is too late to undo the history, so are we left with two nations (even though one of them is not generally recognised as such) fighting for their political and material survival and both thinking that time is on their side. With such stakes and perceptions it would be difficult to imagine a solution soon. Not until ethnicity is put to the service of humanity and religion to spirituality.

Shamir was a man of his time. Let us move on now to more creative ones.