Sunday, 1 April 2012

Secular Café: Santorum again attacks JFK's position on church and state

Secular Café
For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world
Santorum again attacks JFK's position on church and state
Apr 1st 2012, 22:26

Oh well, I hope this puts paid to his electoral chances.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...elections-2012

Quote:

On Friday, as Mitt Romney continued to consolidate establishment support for his presidential candidacy within the Republican Party, getting the endorsement of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc) days ahead of the Wisconsin primary, Rick Santorum soldiered on in a seemingly different quest.

Santorum wrote a 2,400-word essay essentially defending the substance of what he was trying to convey a month ago when he said that former President John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech on church and state made him want to "throw up."

Santorum has since said he regretted using that specific phrase, but his essay on the RealClearReligion website did not pull punches in going after Kennedy.

"Kennedy took words written to protect religion from the government and used them to protect the government from religion," Santorum said, referring to the phrase "separation of church and state."...

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Secular Café: Syrian breakdown and the threats ahead

Secular Café
For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world
Syrian breakdown and the threats ahead
Apr 1st 2012, 20:14

The vile Assad regime may well collapse, and who could mourn it? But what comes after it may not be at all good.

What if this lot get a grip on power or participate in an anarchic situation?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...82S0O120120329

Quote:

Sheikh Abu Abdullah Zahed, a Lebanese Muslim cleric with influence amongst radical youth, is part of a growing effort to push the uprising in Syria towards militant Islam.

Hardline Sunni Muslims in Lebanon are maneuvering for influence over Syrians across the border who have spent the last year fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

"At first Syrians called on the West and NATO. Now they are calling on God," said Zahed, sitting in his library, where black Islamic flags hang on the walls.

As opposition groups abroad squabble over politics and Assad's army pounds rebellious cities, Muslim hardliners want to make religion the unifying basis of the revolt.
Because Syria is believed to have a large arsenal of undeclared and very nasty chemical weapons, including nerve gases. If the extreme Islamists could get their hands on even a proportion of them, that would mean terrorist troubles all over the place.

This report is mainly worried about the effect on US troops, but they are by no means the only potential victims.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dot...emical-weapons

Quote:

The senators want the Obama administration to spell out the planning it has done to prepare for and "address" the potential that the Assad regime's stockpiles of chemical weapons might go missing. "In the event of a regime collapse, it is difficult to overstate the danger these weapons could pose to allies and U.S. forces in the region if they fall into the wrong hands," the letter states.

The senators pointed to the apparent seizure of Libyan shoulder-fired missiles during that nation's internal conflict. Those missing weapons show "that non-state terrorist groups will seek to secure these weapons in the midst of chaos and an apparent lack of security or custody of these weapons," the senators wrote.

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Secular Café: Anti-abortion climate 'will deter new generation of doctors'

Secular Café
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Anti-abortion climate 'will deter new generation of doctors'
Apr 1st 2012, 19:38

Quote:

British Pregnancy Advisory Service attacks politicisation of abortion and warns of impact on future healthcare

A new generation of doctors will be put off from becoming involved in abortion services by high-profile protest campaigns and a political "witch-hunt", providers fear.

The current climate is already causing anxiety among doctors who are concerned that their practice will be called into question, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said, as activists behind a new campaign to demonstrate outside abortion clinics were joined at one protest in London by a Catholic bishop.

The warning comes as the BPAS and pro-choice campaigners say they feel "under siege" after the government ordered an unannounced inspection of more than 250 clinics in England, claiming as many as a fifth were pre-signing consent forms for terminations. The inspections by officials from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) were said to have found evidence of blank forms being signed in anticipation of women seeking a termination. Although doctors do not have to see the woman in person, they must certify that they are aware of her circumstances and why she wants to go ahead with the procedure.

A spokesperson for the BPAS said: "Abortion is a vital yet stigmatised area of women's healthcare which few doctors train in. The current politicisation of abortion provision is likely to make it even harder to recruit a future generation of abortion doctors who are prepared to provide the care that a third of women will need in the course of their lifetimes."

Dr Paula Franklin, medical director of Marie Stopes, which like the BPAS has contracts to provide terminations on the NHS, said she was concerned that the heightened scrutiny was having an effect on "existing clinics and on doctors and nurses who come every day to the centres, many of whom have to navigate through sometimes angry – sometimes not – protesters. That is difficult for them.It isn't easy to find doctors who will work in termination services. For some time now, relatively few of them have chosen to go into terminations. It is a problem."

On Wednesday, the Guardian published a letter from a group of senior clinicians and researchers who said they were "deeply concerned" about the way the public discussion on abortion is proceeding and about how the service will manage to carry on.

Cont...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...bortion-health

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Secular Café: Goldman Sachs co-owns the biggest forum for sex trafficking of under-age girls in the US.

Secular Café
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Goldman Sachs co-owns the biggest forum for sex trafficking of under-age girls in the US.
Apr 1st 2012, 15:39

Quote:

Financiers and Sex Trafficking

THE biggest forum for sex trafficking of under-age girls in the United States appears to be a Web site called Backpage.com.

This emporium for girls and women — some under age or forced into prostitution — is in turn owned by an opaque private company called Village Voice Media. Until now it has been unclear who the ultimate owners are.

That mystery is solved. The owners turn out to include private equity financiers, including Goldman Sachs with a 16 percent stake.

Goldman Sachs was mortified when I began inquiring last week about its stake in America's leading Web site for prostitution ads. It began working frantically to unload its shares, and on Friday afternoon it called to say that it had just signed an agreement to sell its stake to management.

cont.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/op...afficking.html

e.g. http://www.queensda.org/newpressrele...8_2012_ind.pdf

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Secular Café: Muslim Brotherhood backflip in bid for Egyptian president

Secular Café
For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world
Muslim Brotherhood backflip in bid for Egyptian president
Apr 1st 2012, 14:22

Quote:

EGYPT's dominant political party, the Muslim Brotherhood, is set for a confrontation with the armed forces after announcing it will field a candidate in presidential elections.

The announcement follows almost a year of denials by the Muslim Brotherhood that it would contest the all-important elections.

The party ran as the Freedom and Justice Party in the recent parliamentary elections on the basis that it would not field a presidential candidate.

It became the largest party in Egypt's new parliament with 47 per cent of the seats.

The hardline Nour party won 24 per cent, giving the two Islamist parties a strong majority in the chamber that will draw up Egypt's new constitution.

Given its strong showing in the parliamentary elections, the Muslim Brotherhood is now highly likely to win the presidency.

cont...
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226315897573

I like democracy, I just wish they wouldn't vote for these guys :(

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Secular Café: any good liberal bloggers y'all can recommend?

Secular Café
For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world
any good liberal bloggers y'all can recommend?
Apr 1st 2012, 13:43

conservative bloggers are welcome too, but i just love being a dirty lib :evil:

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Secular Café: UK's very own Homeland Security Measures!

Secular Café
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UK's very own Homeland Security Measures!
Apr 1st 2012, 09:56

Enjoy!

Quote:

Email and web use 'to be monitored' under new laws

The government will be able to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone in the UK under new legislation set to be announced soon.

Internet firms will be required to give intelligence agency GCHQ access to communications on demand, in real time.

The Home Office says the move is key to tackling crime and terrorism, but civil liberties groups have criticised it.

Attempts by the last Labour government to take similar steps failed after huge opposition, including from the Tories.

A new law - which may be announced in the forthcoming Queen's Speech in May - would not allow GCHQ to access the content of emails, calls or messages without a warrant.

But it would enable intelligence officers to identify who an individual or group is in contact with, how often and for how long.
'Unprecedented step'

In a statement, the Home Office said action was needed to "maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes".

"It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public," a spokesman said.

"As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review we will legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows to ensure that the use of communications data is compatible with the government's approach to civil liberties."

But Nick Pickles, director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, called the move "an unprecedented step that will see Britain adopt the same kind of surveillance seen in China and Iran".

"This is an absolute attack on privacy online and it is far from clear this will actually improve public safety, while adding significant costs to internet businesses," he said.

"If this was such a serious security issue why has the Home Office not ensured these powers were in place before the Olympics?"
....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17576745

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