Blog @ MoreWhat.com

GENEVA — The United Nations called Switzerland’s ban on new minarets “clearly discriminatory” and deeply divisive, and the Swiss foreign minister acknowledged Tuesday the government was very concerned about how the vote would affect the country’s image.

Maybe the United Nations or those specific members expressing displeasure over the minaret ban should review a larger list of ‘clearly discriminatory’ actions and deeply divisive agendas present in the world today.

The Swiss government opposed the initiative but has sought to defend it as an action not against Islam or Muslims, but one aimed at improving integration and fighting extremism.

For those who are content to define opposition to special interest agendas as xenophobic or some other phobia consider this. Special interests pursuing political influence in order to provide special status to their agenda is a dangerous trend. The PR camouflage of an issue of equality is a sham. It echoes a familiar reaction to similar exercises in the past. All men are created equal, some more equal than others.

In the United States, for example, one can observe a plethora of organized efforts to promote agendas based on social, cultural, ethnic, racial or other special interests. The one interest that seems grossly underserved is that of being an American. As if that was somehow an unworthy goal. Perhaps if people would spend more time understanding what it is to be a citizen of their respective country of origin there would be less trouble in the world.

The statement above regarding improving integration and fighting extremism is on point. Imagine that. The Swiss referendum is at odds with the UN.

“A blanket prohibition of minarets is not consistent with OSCE commitments on freedom of religion or belief and the principle of non-discrimination based on religion,” Lenarcic said in Athens, where he will participate in the OSCE Ministerial Council, to be held tomorrow and Wednesday.

The referendum, launched by the Swiss People’s Party and the Federal Democratic Union, was backed by 57.5 per cent of voters and a majority of cantons.

The UN OSCE claims the Swiss are ‘not consistent with OSCE commitments’. But 57.5% of the Swiss voted to ban minaret construction. When will the UN learn? Contrary to the UN, the Swiss ban is supported on this blog.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

No one wants to air their dirty laundry in public. But that doesn’t stop it from happening. It seems that when most countries are the subject of criticism about their history those raising the issue are not from the target country. Currently some in the UK are defending their brand of healthcare against criticism from those debating a similar issue in the US. Iran and North Korea are getting criticized by just about every other country for their pursuit of nukes and their subsequent denials or lame justifications for it. And the US gets criticized for just about anything and everything. A likely downside to being on top of the pile. And Russia is not exempt from criticism either.

Sunday, August 23, marks the 70th anniversary of the so-called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - the non-aggression treaty signed in 1939 by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. The pact included a secret protocol dividing Eastern and Central Europe into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence. Days after it was signed, first German and then Soviet forces invaded Poland.

This kind of discussion will ruffle the Bear’s fur. Drawing comparisons between Stalin and Hitler will not go unnoticed in Russia. …’ in May, President Dmitri Medvedev issued a decree setting up a presidential commission to counter what he called attempts to “falsify history.” ‘ And then there is mention of something that seems akin to Russia’s Soviet legacy. ‘ Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu introduced legislation in parliament that would make it a crime to deny the Soviet victory in World War II.’ The criticism is having the expected reaction in the Kremlin and elsewhere.

So what else are the critics saying? Dmitry Furman of the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Europe calls the presidential commission to counter what it deems historical falsification an “idiotic undertaking” and a “very bad idea.” He also says Stalin’s government killed as many, or even more people than Hitler’s.

But, given the suffering Russians endured after Hitler turned on Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union, Furman says it is natural that many resist equating Stalinism and Nazism.

Furman says it is “very difficult psychologically” for Russians to put what they see as their “victors” in the Great Patriotic War, as they call World War II, on the same level with the vanquished Nazis.

This might be a case of forgetting to note that Stalin was not representative of the Russian people. It may be difficult indeed for Russia to come to grips with the legacy of a madman.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

A few days ago German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated new sanctions against Iran would be considered if no agreement on negotiations was reached by September. Iran continues to claim their nuclear program is for energy purposes while many other countries suggest they are pursuing nuclear weapons. This is not a new story. After previous sanctions, UN resolutions and other lame attempts to persuade Iran to abandon the pursuit of nukes this ineffective strategy has been no more successful than similar tactics against North Korea on the same issue.

Are the world’s most powerful nations as ignorant and inept as their actions in this matter demonstrate? Or is it a simple matter of no one wanting to be the first to take effective action against Iran and North Korea? Will this situation escalate among ‘rogue’ nations of the world until one of them launches a strike against a perceived or stated foe? Or will Israel lose its patience with the so-called international community and its lack of suitable action and take matters into their own hands?

If the US, Russia, China and other nations continue to postpone what is necessary regarding Iran, North Korea and others pursuing nukes the question will not be who has them but when will they be used. If that is allowed to happen the scenario returns to that of the sixties. Before, during and after the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962 the idea of MAD, mutually assured destruction, was considered the concept which avoided WWIII and a nuclear winter or the planet ceasing to exist. It is reasonable to assume those seeking nukes these days are not dissuaded by this concept.

So why are the other nations of the world doing nothing about this?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

crossposted at:
Maggie’s Notebook
Conservative Thoughts

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has circulated his latest reports on nuclear safeguards in Iran and Syria to Member States. The report outlines developments since the Director General´s report of 5 June 2009.

Circulation of the reports is restricted; they cannot be released to the public unless the IAEA Board decides otherwise.

General Mohamed ElBaradei has circulated his latest report on nuclear safeguards in Iran to the Agency´s Board of Governors, the 35-member policymaking body. The Board next convenes in Vienna on 7 September.

So here’s a recent Arab response on Iran’s nuclear program.

Israeli nuclear weapons and Western hypocrisy
By Yusuf Fernandez (Source: thepeoplevoice.org)

Once again, Arab states have announced that this year they will submit a resolution at September’s general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to force Israel to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and open up its secretive military nuclear program to international inspections.

The article also suggests ‘Israel’s rejection to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the main obstacle to global nuclear disarmament.’ After stating that Israel has nukes with a 2000 km range and able to reach any Arab capital the article changes direction with ‘Israel is one of the few states in the world that have refused to sign the NPT and is reportedly the only state in the Middle East having nuclear weapons.’

Reportedly the only state in the Middle East having nukes, indeed. ‘Iran has repeatedly assured that its nuclear program is peaceful…’ Repeatedly ‘assured’ is the key here.

You may recall that Saddam Hussein commented after being apprehended from a hole in the ground that he did nothing to convince the world Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction for fear of looking weak to ‘his’ neighbors in the region. Had he not chosen that strategy he may have avoided another confrontation with the US military accompanied by the inevitable outcome. As if Desert Storm in 1991 was not proof enough he could not win a war against the US after invading Kuwait.

Like Iraq’s former ‘leader’ Saddam Hussein, Iran’s leadership behaves in a similar manner allowing statements calling for the destruction of Israel to stand refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist and yet claim their nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful. They now promote the notion of ‘Western hypocrisy’ while they express the desire to destroy Israel and at the same time define their nuclear program as ‘peaceful’.

If you are curious to know who is Yusef Fernandez the following is from Frontpage magazine. ‘Yusuf Fernandez, the spokesman for the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities…‘

Some additional information may be found useful as well.

In 1967 the first law allowing the Muslims to organize themselves, after a parenthesis of centuries, was promulgated in Spain, leading to the establishment in 1968 of the first local Muslim Association in Spain in Melilla, and in 1971, the first national association, the Association of Muslims in Spain (AME), which has its headquarters in Madrid. Under the Spanish Constitution the Statutory Law of Religious Freedom is promulgated, now in force, and the Union of Islamic Communities in Spain was constituted (UCIDE), as well as the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI), which together constitute the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE), which is a member of the Muslim Council of Cooperation in Europe (MCCE)[1]in Brussels, which is a consultative body to the European Union.

So the IAEA reports to this point have solved nothing as indicated in numerous reports in the ‘media’.

Yossi Melman / The IAEA report on Iran lacks the bottom line

‘IAEA hiding incriminating evidence’

UN nuclear watchdog denies hiding Iran information

UN reports increase in Iranian uranium programme

IAEA to report Iran atom slowdown ahead of talks

Iran, Syria have not carried out sufficient cooperation in …

Iran is continuing nuclear activity, says United Nations watchdog

Iran Claims Report ‘Vindicated’ Nuclear Program

Iran dismisses nuclear assessment

Iran is stonewalling the UN nuclear watchdog agency about “possible military dimensions” to its suspect nuclear programme, officials have said.

The UN is urging the regime to clarify the mysterious role of a foreign explosives expert and shed light on other issues.

A senior Iranian envoy angrily denounced the assessment as “fabrication,” insisting his country has gone out of its way to be transparent and co-operative.

In its latest report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it has pressed the Islamic Republic to clarify its uranium enrichment activities and reassure the world that it is not trying to build an atomic weapon.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and geared solely toward generating electricity. The United States and key allies contend the country is covertly trying to build an atomic weapon.

These stories support comments suggesting the ‘international community’ response to the nuclear ambitions of Iran, North Korea and others is impotent. They do nothing about the problem outside of promoting resolutions at the equally impotent United Nations. This criticism includes the IAEA.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The community organizer who is friends with the domestic terrorist William Ayers, hate monger Jeremiah Wright and hires friends from the most corrupt political machine (Illinois) has the audacity of something other than hope to reference the founding fathers and call on the public to support his agenda that is anything but American.

Like mutually exclusive terms President Obama insults the meaning of this nation’s Independence Day when he tries to connect the principles of the founding with his socialist agenda. Those who have dismissed the idea that his agenda is socialist overlook nationalizing private industry, spending and government expansion with the intent of complete government control that will render this great country into nothing more than a banana republic.

Addressing our dependence on foreign energy by taxing all we use rather than a transition approach that draws on our own fossil fuel resources until alternatives become viable in a free market is counter to American ideals which rely on the innovation of a free people. Expecting the public to buy into a universal or socialized, government-run healthcare system rather than encouraging free market solutions also runs counter to American ideals. With these two examples only God may know what the Obama agenda has planned for education, immigration and the remainder of his ideas for transforming the United States into another socialist country like some in the EU and others in this hemisphere.

And then we have the impotent GOP. Based on the report below the Senator who lost an election to the community organizer was chosen to give the opposition party response to ObamaGov. While we can all debate whether or not it would have been wise to have a united response from the US regarding turmoil in Iran the larger issues of our own nation under the leadership of Barack Obama seems more to the point or at least an issue of primary importance. We can do little to help others if we cannot help ourselves and the GOP response appears to be a continuance of Republicans being lost in the wilderness.

Will someone please find a way to encourage this nation’s leaders to remove their collective heads from their collective hind quarters and return sensible government to a young nation which just observed its 233rd birthday.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Pres. Barack Obama

On U.S. Independence Day, President Barack Obama is calling on Americans to remember the spirit of the nation’s founders, and to embrace his domestic initiatives. Republican Senator John McCain, meanwhile, wants stronger U.S. language against Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters.

President Obama, in his weekly address, asks Americans to remember the sacrifices and achievements of the men who voted for independence 233 years ago.

“We are called to remember how unlikely it was that our American experiment would succeed at all; that a small band of patriots would declare independence from a powerful empire; and that they would form, in the new world, what the old world had never known - a government of, by and for the people,” he said.

In July, 1776, the representatives of 13 British colonies in America, gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, voted to declare independence from Britain and formed a new nation. At the same time, colonists in hastily-organized and poorly-financed militias battled the British Army for several years, until London officially recognized U.S. independence.

Mr. Obama called on Americans to recall those patriots’ spirit and support his plans to reform the U.S. education, health care and energy policies.

“We are not a people who fear the future,” he said. “We are a people who make it. And on this July 4th, we need to summon that spirit once more. We need to summon the same spirit that inhabited Independence Hall 233 years ago today.”

The president is celebrating Independence Day with a traditional barbecue and fireworks on the White House lawn, with 1,200 military families invited to attend. He is also celebrating his daughter Malia’s eleventh birthday. Mr. Obama leaves late Sunday for a week-long trip to Russia, Italy and Ghana.

Sen. John McCain (file photo)

In the weekly Republican Party message, Senator John McCain of Arizona is also paying tribute to the nation’s founding fathers, who he says “stood up to a powerful oppressor and claimed their natural right to liberty.”

McCain is also invoking the patriots’ spirit as he calls on the Obama administration to speak out more forcefully in support of the anti-government protesters in Iran.

“They did not ask us to arm them or come to their assistance with anything other than public declarations of solidarity and public denunciations of the tyrants who oppress them. We have a moral obligation to do so,” he said.

Senator McCain is rejecting earlier White House claims that a more vocal response by Washington would have supported the Iranian government’s claims of U.S. interference.

“Do they really believe Iranians do not know why they are protesting, and who is oppressing them? Do they think Iranians whose votes were discarded, whose voices have been ignored, whose lives have been threatened by the regime they wish to be rid of, will think America has put them in that position?” he said.

U.S. Independence Day is traditionally celebrated with picnics, parades, concerts, fireworks displays, and readings of the Declaration of Independence.

It is probably too early to draw a conclusion on President Obama’s reported ‘go ahead’ order on the Navy Seals mission to end the hostage situation involving Somali ‘pirates’ (thugs, terrorists, extortionists) and a now famous Captain Phillips of the ship Maersk Alabama. With one 16 year old perp in custody and Phillips still being held hostage, under imminent threat of death, the Navy team took out the remaining three thugs effectively freeing the captain from his captors.

If reports are accurate and President Obama twice gave the order to proceed then he should receive credit for doing the right thing. But that is what he is supposed to do, the right thing. While doing the right thing is subject to debate even in this case the outcome could have been a problem. What if the plan went forward and disaster was the result? That is the difficulty in doing the right thing under these circumstances. There would have been no shortage of criticism. So it was not an easy call contrary to what popular opinion might be but it was the right thing to do. And on that note this blog offers its first positive response to the new President.

Be it known that it is for this event and this event only that the positive response is offered. For between the Presidential agenda and the main stream media, what of it still remains viable, the phony treatment of current events distort reality. A report from AP this weekend emphasizes this assertion.

Obama Hopes to Use Dealmaking Skills Honed Abroad
Sunday, April 12, 2009 8:33 AM
WASHINGTON –

Let’s make a deal.

President Barack Obama honed his dealmaking skills on his maiden international trip, to Europe and the Middle East.

The trip helped burnish his image abroad. But can he translate that into getting his legislative priorities through Congress, where partisan lines continue to harden?

Analysts say the generally positive reception to his first venture on the international stage can’t hurt. But foreign-policy successes don’t necessarily mean achievements at home.

What analysts say any of that? Where are they? Why does the AP report not refer to them by name and offer supporting resources or evidence? Could it be the author is making it up? Like Obama suggested of those who presented less than flattering information on him during the 2008 campaign. ‘They’re just making it up.’

Analysts say. Sources say. Unnamed sources say. High level sources close to the President say. Under the promise of anonymity so and so said. This is not convincing. Right out of the gate on this one the AP is helping support the notion that the MSM is a fraud.

In the very next paragraph after such a pathetic beginning with the AP report the following was concluded. Obama helped negotiate a compromise among world powers to battle the global recession, helped break a deadlock over NATO’s next secretary-general and helped coordinate NATO’s strategy for Afghanistan. Where do they get this stuff? The G20 was a flop. Go read the statements of Merkel, Sarkozy, Brown and others at the G20. You will, if you haven’t already, see a different outcome from this particular international political show. Economic pledges of a trillion dollars do not a success make. No ‘fighting’ troops to Afghanistan from the EU is not an accomplishment. There is nothing about the G20, the UN, NATO or Obama that suggest the glowing report offered by the AP.

He agreed to restart languishing nuclear arms control talks with Russia, laid down a marker on terms for a Palestinian state, delivered a strong pitch for allowing Turkey to join the European Union and sought to heal a rift between the U.S. and the Muslim world.

Appeasement, surrender, appeasement, appeasement in that order on the last misguided excerpt from the report by AP. For a more realistic view on the nonsense that is President Obama’s agenda and his crews’ efforts thus far is another promotion from this blog to read yet another piece from George Will.

Rice really thinks there is a community out there. To believe that is to believe, as liberals do, that harmony is humanity’s natural condition, so discord is a remediable defect in arrangements.

Regarding North Korea’s missile launch, Rice was very stern. She said the U.N. Security Council would “meet,” and there would be “consultation with our partners,” who “all need to come together” and “add to” the 2006 U.N. resolution that North Korea had just disregarded, the one that demanded a halt to future missile-related activity, including launches. The Security Council met. It could not even bring itself to say North Korea’s launch had violated the resolution against launches.

The column by Will must be read in its entirety as the lone excerpt provided here doe not do it justice. Plus it is good to refer to other sources from this blog that have, shall we say, ’street cred’ in making the case or point suggested here. With more talent like George Will in the MSM they might have a better chance for survival as well as being taken seriously.

It would be wonderful if this blog could expand this one time positive response to the President’s action on the Phillips’ rescue to his entire agenda. But there is currently no evidence the remainder of his plans will be an exercise in doing the right thing.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

There are two links at the bottom of this post if you need more scary liberal talk than comes out of the link just below from a liberal heaven. The mention of global governance, progressive thinkers and ‘alleviating the plight’ of ‘most affected’ should scare you right down to your conservative roots. There are 20, count ‘em, 20, libs talking world domination at the link below. The G20 meet so they come up with 20 Marxists to promote socialism for the planet.

Progressive policies for the G20, new ippr publication
01 April 2009

A coordinated global fiscal stimulus, measures to alleviate the plight of those most affected by the recession, an overhaul of the system of global governance and the establishment of public banks are just some of the solutions proposed for the G20 by a group of eminent international progressive thinkers.

The Institute for Public Policy Research is the UK’s leading progressive think tank, producing cutting edge research and innovative policy ideas for a just, democratic and sustainable world.

You might not have expected the Financial Times to offer a headline like the one below. Cannot determine if they are applauding a new world order or making a joke. You know, that rare brand of Brit humor.

The first bricks in a new world order
April 2 2009 19:31

Some useful progress, but still a way to go. That must be the conclusion of the Group of 20 summit in London. Gordon Brown, UK prime minister and chairman of the meeting, set out a six-point plan to save the world. This reflected some real achievements: a generous increase in funding for the International Monetary Fund, a new issuance of special drawing rights and a boost for trade finance. He sounded disappointingly thin on other key areas – notably cleaning up banks and future fiscal stimulus. More detail would have been reassuring.

Here are the links mentioned at the top of the post. Enter at your own risk. Watch out for the body snatchers.

http://g20.org/
http://www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/

Again, for those who dismiss the threat of socialism as a wild conspiracy theory get someone to read this post and references for you and explain it to you.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The world favors closing the Guantanamo facility.  Well, much of the world favors it.  After urging its closing for years European countries are now realizing the ‘political and security implications’ of releasing detainees.  Aside from the ‘activists’ and defense lawyers calling for the facility’s closure ‘much of the world’ may not be so comfortable with releasing detainees now that it is clear many have returned to terrorist groups.

China called for the return of 17 ‘nationals’ who are Uighurs.  And what exactly is China’s record with their Uighur population?  Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan suggests support for the war on terror will be easier to win if this happens.  While some say situations like the Gitmo story encourage recruitment among terror groups are we to take that information without qualification?  How do you determine how many would join terror groups with or without events like Abu Ghraib and keeping detainees in Gitmo?  And does the reaction to terrorism by the rest of the world really have an impact?  Have those who cowered to terrorism or the threat of it been spared the senseless violence?  If you have a powerful response to terror or a moderate one does it make a difference and who has the data or proof to offer?

‘A number of former Guantanamo detainees said the decision has come too late’ so what does it matter? And then there is the problem of where detainees go.  The second report raises the issue of how successful would countries be in receiving detainees without the threat of further terrorist activity?  After a DoD report on the number of released detainees who returned to terrorist groups and acknowledgment of that by such groups what is the litmus test on detainees?  Is their guilt or innocence to be determined by what they do after release?  How’s that for intelligence?

Yemen says they will get many detainees in the next few months and ‘make sure they do not escape and rejoin terrorist groups.’ That’s reassuring. NOT.  Is this the Obama Administration’s first major blunder in the making?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Much of the world is welcoming President Barack Obama’s decision to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, but the global response also indicates an awareness of the challenges involved in shutting down the unpopular detention facility.

In Europe, many countries that have been urging closure of the prison for years are now debating whether to take in ex-detainees after they are released - decisions with serious political and security implications.

In Afghanistan, where many of the detainees were captured, President Hamid Karzai said closing Guantanamo will make it easier to win international support for the war against terrorism.

Human rights groups said ordering the prison’s closure is a step in the right direction, but they also are urging the new administration to follow through.

Amnesty International said it “sends an important message to the rest of the world that the USA is now closing a dark chapter in its history.” Human Rights Watch official Jennifer Daskal said, “By shutting down a global symbol of abuse [it] will deprive terrorists of a powerful recruitment tool.”

China Thursday called again for the return of 17 Chinese nationals being held at Guantanamo. The men are Uighurs, a Muslim minority group living in part of northwestern China.

And Cuba called for the closure of the entire U.S. military base at Guantanamo. In an interview with Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency, Cuban President Raul Castro said the base should be shut down and the territory it occupies returned to what he calls its legal owners - the Cuban people.

In Saudi Arabia, the families of some detainees still being held in the prison have welcomed the decision to close it, hoping to be reunited with their relatives. But a number of former Guantanamo detainees said the decision has come too late.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

Yemen’s president says his country is preparing to take back 94 Yemeni prisoners from the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh told Yemeni security officials Saturday the U.S. will release the prisoners within the next three months, and promised to make sure they do not escape and rejoin extremists groups.

U.S. President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday to close the controversial facility within one year, but there are questions about what to do with the terrorists suspects still held there.

Earlier this week, two men claiming to be former prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay facility appeared on a video tape, claiming they had rejoined al-Qaida and are now senior militant officials in Yemen.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry Saturday expressed support for the U.S. decision to shut the center, saying it adds what it called a “much needed moral dimension in dealing with terrorism.”

According to a list compiled by the Washington Post, there are currently six Pakistani nationals being held at Guantanamo. They include top suspects accused of planning the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Meantime, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says his government is seeking permission to meet with two Malaysians held at Guantanamo, and to have them serve their sentences in their home country. He also praised the decision to shut the facility.

Some U.S. lawmakers have voiced concerns that shutting Guantanamo may allow some dangerous detainees to be set free.

The U.S. Defense Department says as many as 61 former Guantanamo prisoners have returned to terrorism. On Friday, U.S. security officials confirmed that a man released from the facility in late 2007 has become the deputy leader of al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen.

Mr. Obama has ordered a review of all 245 detainees at the center, to decide how to prosecute those that may have committed crimes.

The report below may make disputes between energy suppliers in the US and their customers seem less of a critical issue. What initially seemed to be a hardline dispute over the negotiation of pricing contracts between the former Soviet Union and the Ukraine has accusations of theft. So the EU is getting no gas from Russia until the Ukraine proves it is not stealing gas? That’s a controversy you wouldn’t want to be on the short end with the Russians in the middle of winter. It puts one at a considerable negotiating disadvantage. Sucks to be them.

If memory serves this is not the first time a problem like this has emerged among the same parties. One would think you might want to have other options for delivery for your gas supplies to avoid being held hostage by a disagreement. And the one thing Americans should understand is our well known reliance on foreign energy supplies puts us in a situation not so different from this. If it is fuel for your transportation that is one thing. If it heats your home in the middle of winter it takes on a whole new significance.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Deliveries of Russian gas to Europe remain suspended after negotiations on Friday aimed at agreeing on a mechanism to monitor gas flow through Ukraine failed to bring any result. Russian state-run energy firm Gasprom, which has pledged to resume deliveries to Europe once the deal is signed, has said Ukraine disrupted Friday’s talks. Kyiv, meanwhile, is saying that Ukraine is prepared to sign a deal on a monitoring mechanism as soon as possible.

Millions of Europeans are left shivering in some of the coldest temperatures of the winter so far, as Russia, which supplies one-quarter of all gas consumed in European Union countries, continues to halt deliveries of its gas.

Moscow cut its supplies to Ukraine on January first following a price dispute and on Wednesday, it also stopped all shipments to Europe through pipelines running across Ukraine, accusing Ukrainian authorities of stealing gas.

The Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko strongly denied Russia’s charges strongly denied Russia’s charges and said that Ukraine did not steal one cubic meter of Russian gas.

European gas line monitors arrived in Kyiv on Friday morning. Filip Cornelis, who head of group said, “The purpose of our monitoring mission is to verify on an independent basis the flows of gas coming into the Ukrainian system and be able to compare them on an independent basis with the precise flows of gas that reach the European customers with whom Gazprom has commercial contracts.”

Russia pledged to resume the pipeline delivery of Russian gas across the territory of Ukraine after independent monitors are installed. Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller pledged Gazprom would resume shipments to Europe once the monitoring teams deploy to pipeline-pumping stations across Ukraine.

Now Russian President Dmitri Medvedev insists that they could not proceed until Moscow and Kyiv sign a protocol on how the mission will operate. Negotiations on developing such mechanism failed on Friday.

President Medvedev said Moscow had no trust left in the good intentions of the Ukrainian side and that Russia will act only after the documents are signed.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, is in Moscow meeting with Russian leaders Saturday after overseeing Friday’s negotiations in Kyiv.

Moscow wants Ukraine to pay the full market price for gas without the discount Ukraine has enjoyed since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. But Ukraine, which is struggling through economic crisis, says Russia wants double what Ukraine is prepared to pay. Moscow’s last offer was 250 U.S. dollars for a cubic meter of gas, but Gazprom said the offer no longer stands after Ukraine rejected it and that it will charge Ukraine $450.

EU authorities have warned that even after Moscow resumes gas shipments, it will take at least three days before the deliveries reach all EU member countries.

Is there anything good to come of the current and so-called global economic crisis? Below is another report suggesting there might be. Although situations like the current international turmoil invite participants and observers to discard any uncomfortable or distasteful epiphany that results during times like these it is incumbent on the rest of us to keep them alive.

The epiphany suggested above is the revelations surfacing that the rest of the world is to one degree or another dependent on the bad old USA for their economic survival. Certainly the reverse is also true and in a perfect world everyone would cooperate with everyone else. But how often is America criticized by nearly everyone else on the planet? Why is it so often suggested that all the bad in world emanates from the US? This whole global mess dominating the conversation of late may in fact shed some light on how the world really works and what the US component contributes.

Sabre rattling and war mongering are not the least of the complaints expressed and directed toward the US. No one seemed to mind when the US led forces to expel Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army from Kuwait. There was a coalition of forces but we all know who carried the largest burden in human and financial risk. No one on the right side of WWII seemed to mind the US supporting Britain in the early years or landing at Normandy or liberating France or anything else right up to the surrender of Germany and Japan. Oh ya, there was the little matter of a couple of bombs and two cities in Japan. That may be criticized now but you can be certain few were raising objections as the war ended.

And how about after WWII, who spent immense quantities of money rebuilding what the war destroyed? After the spirit of cooperation between Russia and the US faded at the end of WWII, who stood as the only nation ready, willing and able to confront the only other true superpower? To this day, all the criticism about the US and military and national security measures employed avoids the very real likelihood that American strength and intervention is quite probably the reason the planet still spins and we are all here to complain about this year’s set of problems and who is responsible for them.

There is little discussion attending to the obvious fact that the reason this crisis is global is due to the fact that all the other countries experiencing financial difficulties participated in how we got here just as much as the US. A fine example in the last few months was China scaling back on purchasing US debt especially that which was or is backed by real estate assets. Can anyone say subprime? Everyone hopped on the gravy train.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is again referenced in the report below as she was in the one here yesterday from the same source, VOA. You can add BASF, a VP from the EU and others to the list. Oh no, on the one hand recipients of orders from US companies as well as international business partnerships will suffer if the US auto industry cannot be turned around and on the other hand propping them up is viewed with disdain as unfair competition. These days on this planet the US simply cannot win. No can please all the people all the time but a little honesty from those who benefit from American resources would be appreciated. If for no other reason than it would be a truthful evaluation.

Sure, the United States makes mistakes and Americans do not always do the right thing. Show me a country and people who do. But for all the good the US has done for others in the rest of the world a little balance between compliment and complaint would make the statements more credible. But then around the world just like in the US all politics is local and much of what is said may be intended for a select audience which resides elsewhere, namely the sources own constituency.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Guenter Verheugen, EU VP of Enterprise and Industry

Sluggish sales and disappearing profits for the U.S. auto industry are being blamed for growing problems around the world.

The world’s largest chemical company, BASF, says Wednesday it is suspending production at 80 plants, affecting about 20,000 workers.

BASF officials say the company is preparing for “tough times” after the auto industry canceled orders on short notice. The German-based chemical giant makes a variety of products used in automobiles, including chemicals used in exterior paint, emissions control devices known as catalytic converters and plastics used in engine components.

BASF also says orders from the construction and textile industries have decreased dramatically.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s Industry commissioner is blaming the troubles of European automakers on the ailing U.S. auto industry.

Guenter Verheugen says the EU should take “extraordinary measures” to prevent German carmaker Opel from collapsing. Verheugen warns if Opel - a division of U.S.-based General Motors - fails, it would hurt the entire European auto industry.

Also Wednesday, Japan’s largest carmaker said it would shutter production at its U.S. and Canadian plants for two extra days in December. Toyota also said it would lay off about 250 temporary workers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday European officials would closely monitor the type of help the U.S. offers its auto industry, saying she did not want European companies to be at a competitive disadvantage.

Verheugen says any aid to European automakers would be targeted, and not part of a larger, industry-wide bailout.

We are all “bank holding companies” now   (Michelle Malkin)

There will be plenty of support provided President-elect Barack Obama from liberals and anyone else who voted for him. To keep the discussion honest some of us will have to present the less positive aspects of this new development. Questions raised during the campaign and not answered by the Obama/Biden team are again surfacing in responses from around the world on the US election results. This post starts with European leaders weighing in with their reaction to the new President.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown began with a comment that was relatively benign. He said he looked forward to working with the new President. A statement one might expect if the source was trying to remain somewhat neutral. The part that raises questions similar to those from the campaign would be his conclusion that Obama is ‘a true friend of Britain’ and that he has shared values and policies with Britain for solving current economic issues. What information did Gordon Brown have access to that the rest of us have been denied? Or more precisely how did Mr Brown come up with that analysis? No one else seems to know what he will do for sure when this whole thing gets under way.

Sarkozy of France is buying into the Obama and DNC hope mantra. He says this election raises hope for just about everyone on the planet. This entire hope and change slogan seems to be long on optimism and short on details. Are people so simplistic to believe that just putting someone else besides George Bush in the White House will cause some sort of global enlightenment? Will all the barriers between people of the world be suddenly vanquished? No one yet has provided a coherent agenda that may be forthcoming from the Obama/Biden team. Why all the high praise and complimentary expressions for a huge unknown?

The German Chancellor and EU foreign policy chief expressed closer cooperation and an emphasis on change, respectively, as their appraisal of President-elect Obama. Aside from possibly echoing the hope and change mantra, a more realistic assessment of Merkel’s statement may be the reason many foreign powers are happy about Obama being elected. Appeasement and caving to the demands of foreign governments may be the hope from abroad regarding the new US Presidential Administration.

The statements from foreign leaders sound as uninformed as those from people on the street where one person said they are excited that Obama might bring some changes. This is a sentiment that was repeated regularly during the campaign and now again afterwards. It is alarming that people can base such an important decision on such flimsy rhetoric. The reliance on the idea of hope and change as a reason to vote for Obama and Biden is absolutely stunning. Perhaps privately those being quoted from around the world are laughing hysterically at the foolish Americans who chose a President on a vague idea and promise. One which Barack Obama quickly extinguished in his acceptance speech when he said things may not get done in one year or his entire first term. Rather than help the middle class he expressed everyone’s need to sacrifice.

That was President-elect’s first speech, the acceptance speech. You may wish to read or hear it again. It is available around the internet in text and mp3 form. The first words he uttered after the deal was done. After the campaign was over and the votes were in and tallied for the most part Mr Obama made a speech. It could very well be that all bets are off based on his comment that nothing may get accomplished in his first term.

As stated at the top of this post someone has to bring up the less than positive as the MSM and staunch Obama/Biden supporters will dominate the discussion. You may or may not wish to consider the possibility you were just sold something equating to the well known swamp land in Florida or the Brooklyn bridge or just the simple bill of goods the value of which are suspect.

You may not but foreign leaders around the world may get what they want from President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress.

Stanford Matthews
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This picture of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni could work for a caption contest. Lookin’ a little saggy there Nick, is the better half giving you the ‘what for’ starting on your wedding day? Wuz up, Nick, is she suggesting a beach diet? Gotta have some fun with a country’s leader when they marry a high profile celeb, current creds subject to debate, and then lectures the world on finance, Africa and who should or shouldn’t be subjected to the humiliating experience of membership in the UN.

But you have to give Sarkozy some credit. He’s done more to raise France’s reputation in the world since being elected than, uh, since, uh, I dunno, Napolean? Suggesting Marie Antoinette might be tasteless, but she was given a bad rap by the MSM or something.

Can’t be helped. On this blog any opportunity to exploit Carla Bruni at France’s expense is just too hard to resist.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

France Calls for Global Summit on Financial Crisis
By VOA News
23 September 2008
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for an emergency summit of world leaders to address what he calls the most serious financial crisis the world has experienced since the 1930s.

In a speech at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, Mr. Sarkozy said the international community has a political and moral responsibility to deal with the effects of such crises. He said world leaders should act now to create globalized institutions that will regulate financial activity and rebuild a system of capitalism where rules of caution apply to all.

Mr. Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, also called for solidarity between Europe and Russia. He said Europe wants a partnership with Russia, but he warned that Moscow must not compromise respect for international law or territorial sovereignty.

Mr. Sarkozy mediated a truce ending last month’s conflict between Russia and Georgia for control of Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On Iran, the French leader said Europe respects Tehran’s right to peaceful nuclear activity. But he said it cannot accept a nuclear-armed Iran that would endanger the peace and stability of the entire region.

Turning to Africa, Mr. Sarkozy said the world cannot wait to achieve peace and end the “tragedy” in Sudan’s western Darfur region. He said Europe also is committed to helping Somalia combat piracy off its coasts.

Mr. Sarkozy said Europe is working to ensure Africa has a place among the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and in what is currently the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations.

The French president called for enlarging the U.N. Security Council and the G8 in an effort to make the institutions more representative. He said the world can wait no longer to bring India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil into the fold of international institutions.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.

Is this an extension of the useless acts of terrorism or suicide bombers or simply a case of random insanity that certainly suggests a trend based on all the cases reported over the years. About the only thing this report suggests is school violence is not exclusively an American phenomenon. That provides no satisfaction but does point to the need for resolution of the problem. It seems that this sad state of affairs cannot simply be blamed on poor parenting or similar oversight. But it does seem that something is lacking in terms of recognizing the risk and attending to a practice capable of preventing the behavior.

Another problem of modern living that does not lend itself to a simple solution. If we learn anything in the 21st century it should be how to solve the tough problems even when the easier ones get missed on a regular basis.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Nine Dead in Finland School Shooting
By VOA News
23 September 2008

At least nine students were killed and several others wounded on Tuesday when a gunman opened fire at a vocational school in Finland.

The shooting took place in the western town of Kauhajoki, about 300 kilometers northwest of the capital, Helsinki. Police say the gunman was a student at the school and that he had been taken to a hospital after turning the gun on himself.

Authorities say they spoke to the gunman on Monday after seeing a video he had posted on the Internet Web site YouTube showing himself dressed in dark clothing, firing at a shooting range with a handgun.

Tuesday’s shooting comes nearly a year after a male student named Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed eight people at a school in southern Finland before taking his own life.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

The approach of the general election featuring the selection of a new President in the United States has seen an incredible amount of turmoil surrounding the current political season. The war on terror while producing success such as the troop surge in Iraq has fallen on the deaf ears and blind eyes of the Democratic party as they criticize the party occupying the White House in the form of President Bush and also offer no congratulations that the US has suffered no further attacks on American soil during his watch. Struggles in the financial sector are also blamed solely on the President and his party by the members of the political opposition.

These situations are not an entirely American ordeal of course as the leaders of Russia in the form of Vladamir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev are experiencing similar controversy. The report below may suggest a change in tone from the Kremlin although recent events are more reminiscent of the Cold War than not. Two Russian Tu-160 bombers left Venezuela this week after conducting air patrol flights in the region. They may return in November for a joint exercise that hasn’t been seen since the Cold War that Putin claims he doesn’t want to be ‘dragged into with the West.’

Just like in the old days of the Cold War, Russia flexed its muscle in a small way with the Tupolev jets but in a more symbolic but provocative way with its nearly simultaneous testing of a new ICBM. The Bulava carries six warheads and can travel 10,000 km. Not surprisingly the Russian media expressed the missiles ability to penetrate any future missile shield. A statement likely directed against the US plans to install missile shields in Poland or elsewhere to protect allies from the likes of Iran or other ‘rogue’ nations bent on expanding their influence through terrorist actions.

The apparent change in tone from Mr Putin was not likely in response to European Union members limp challenge to Russia’s thumping of nearby Georgia. After ruling out sanctions, the EU held a meeting and then condemned Russia for the move. Do you suppose they are somewhat timid due to Russia’s control over so much of their oil supply?

Almost mirroring US financial sector woes Russian President Medvedev blamed the move on Georgia as risking the orderly flow of business in the financial markets of Russia. More turmoil and upheaval in Russia may be faced by the ‘privileged class‘ with ties to the West, international finance centers and of all things NATO complicating their agenda. It may be difficult to tell if the Georgian conflict and repercussions from it were responsible for the need to prop up their markets with this week’s 20 billion cash infusion or if Russia was simply experiencing the same problems the rest of the world was.

Perhaps after some time to digest current events and take the world’s temperature, Putin took a different approach to public affairs in the report below. Just like the financial woes in the US and elsewhere, politicians may be making too much of it too soon. If in six months we’re hearing no more of it the proof that most of the talk was purely political will be obvious. Just as obvious as the players doing nothing to prevent future problems and that they were just being politicians.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Putin Rejects Cold War, Backs Economic Integration

By VOA News
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says his nation is seeking full integration into the world economy and will not be dragged into another Cold War era with the West.

Mr. Putin was speaking to Russian officials and business leaders in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia is becoming “increasingly authoritarian” and “aggressive.” At an event hosted by the German Marshall fund, Rice delivered her strongest comments to date about Russia’s invasion of Georgia and other recent actions.

She said the U.S. goal is to make clear to Russia’s leaders that their choices are putting Russia, in her words, “on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance.”

She said that for Russia to reach its full potential, it must be fully integrated into the international political and economic order. She said Russia is in the “precarious position of being half in and half out.”

In Moscow, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said Thursday that relations with the United States remain a priority for Russia. He said it would be politically short-sighted to squander the achievements and potential in relations by reviving stereotypes of the past.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the prime ministers of Italy and Spain have suggested a region-wide policy of expelling illegal immigrants from their countries.Mr. Sarkozy, a strong advocate of immigration reform, spoke Tuesday at a wide-ranging news conference in Paris.

He told reporters that both Spain and Italy have in the past month suggested a joint expulsions policy, and said he welcomes the progress of his ideas in Europe.

The French leader also defended his recent decision to sign multi-billion-dollar trade and investment deals with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Separately, he said that his government will stop funding the English-language version of the state-owned 24-hour news channel, France 24. He said he is not prepared to support programming that is not voiced in French.

France 24 currently broadcasts in French, English and Arabic.

In defending his support for the trade and investment agreements with Libya, Mr. Sarkozy noted that the Libyan leader has scrapped his suspect nuclear program and released six foreign medical workers imprisoned in Libya since the late 1990s.

Mr. Sarkozy also defended his recent decision to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin after his “United Russia” party’s victory in widely criticized parliamentary elections last month. President Sarkozy said he could not justify criticizing Mr. Putin one day for suspect electoral practices, and then ask him for help to resolve the ongoing international dispute with Iran over its suspect nuclear program.
By VOA News
08 January 2008