Helena Hauff - Mary Anne Hobbs ICONS Mix
3 hours ago
Monday 25 April 2011
Berlusconi's senators try to bring fascism back to Italian politics
A group of Italian senators is pressing for a decades-old ban on Benito Mussolini's Fascist party to be lifted in a move that has provoked fierce condemnation from political opponents and Jewish leaders.
The five members of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling People of Liberty (Pdl) party, led by Senator Cristano De Eccher, presented a bill to the Italian senate arguing that a constitutional rule that prohibits the "reorganisation in any form [of the dissolved Fascist party]", is outdated and should be scrapped.
Mussolini rose to power after the end of the First World War and by the mid-1920s established a fascist dictatorship. His National Fascist Party ruled the country until 1943 and was a key ally of Nazi Germany. The party's reformation has been explicitly banned since the 1950s, when Italy's post-war constitution also outlawed Fascist symbols.
Senate Speaker Renato Schifani, also of the Pdl, was said to be "aghast" at the attempt to lift the ban, says a report by the news agency Ansa.
Emanuele Fiano, the Democratic Party's home affairs spokesman, told The Independent: "A founding basis of this Italian republic is its opposition to fascism. The laws banning the reformation of the Fascist party or apologising for it should remain untouchable."
Roberto Pacifici, leader of the Jewish Community of Rome, said: "It's an extremely worrying proposal." James Walston, a politics professor at the American University in Rome, said: "This is another manifestation of the long-term rehabilitation of fascism in Italy. It might not happen soon, it might never happen, but it's been under way since 1994. People are setting out to revise Italian history." In 1994, during Mr Berlusconi's first term as Prime Minister, direct heirs to Mussolini's Fascist party were given jobs in government for the first time since the party was banned.
One neo-Fascist was Mirko Tremaglia, the Minister for Italians Abroad, who as a young man defended Mussolini's Salo' Italian Social Republic, as recently as 2002 lamented the Second World War pivotal defeat of the Italians and the Afrika Korps at El Alamein. A senior figure in Mr Berlusconi's present cabinet, Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, is also often accused of being a neo-Fascist. He was part of the old National Alliance party, which had its roots in the neo-Fascist Italian Social Movement formed by Mussolini supporters in 1946.
The present Speaker of the lower house, Gianfranco Fini, was head of the National Alliance, until it merged with Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia two years ago. But over a period of several years he has renounced his former neo-Fascist sympathies and appears to have made a remarkable transition to a modern-right politician.
His description in 2003 of the "absolute evil" of the fascist era, prompted Mussolini's granddaughter, Alessandra, to quit the party to form her own Social Action grouping with other disgruntled right-wingers.
Press reports suggest that a senator from Mr Fini's own small centre-right Fli (Future and Freedom) party signed the proposal but was immediately threatened with expulsion from the party unless he rescinded his support for the initiative.
Michael Day @'The Independent'
The Guantanamo Files
David Michael Hicks
Considering that they have David Matthew Hick's name wrong, it doesn't really bode well for the rest of the info...
Hundreds escape by tunnel from Kandahar prison
More than 470 inmates at an Afghan jail have escaped through a tunnel hundreds of metres long.
Officials at the jail in Kandahar city said the tunnel had been dug from the outside and many of those who escaped were Taliban insurgents.The Kandahar provincial governor's office said some escapees had since been recaptured but gave no details.
A spokesman for the Taliban said it had dug the 320m (1,050ft) tunnel and that it had taken five months to construct.
Zabiullah Mujahid said about 100 of those who escaped were Taliban commanders, and most of the others were fighters with the insurgency.
The jailbreak is the second major escape from the prison in three years.
In June 2008, a suicide bomber blew open the Kandahar prison gates and destroyed a nearby checkpoint, freeing about 900 prisoners, many of them suspected insurgents.
The prison holds about 1,200 inmates.
"A tunnel hundreds of metres long was dug from the south of the prison into the prison and 476 political prisoners escaped last night," said prison director General Ghulam Dastageer Mayar.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said it was ready to provide assistance if requested by Afghan officials.
@'BBC'
wikileaks WikiLeaks
You can bet the Murdoch press and the Pentagon will do its tired old routine about redactions tomorrow. Don't be fooled.
A Statement by the United States Government
“It is unfortunate that The New York Times and other news organizations have made the decision to publish numerous documents obtained illegally by Wikileaks concerning the Guantanamo detention facility. These documents contain classified information about current and former GTMO detainees, and we strongly condemn the leaking of this sensitive information. “The Wikileaks releases include Detainee Assessment Briefs (DABs) written by the Department of Defense between 2002 and early 2009. These DABs were written based on a range of information available then.
“The Guantanamo Review Task Force, established in January 2009, considered the DABs during its review of detainee information. In some cases, the Task Force came to the same conclusions as the DABs. In other instances the Review Task Force came to different conclusions, based on updated or other available information. The assessments of the Guantanamo Review Task Force have not been compromised to Wikileaks. Thus, any given DAB illegally obtained and released by Wikileaks may or may not represent the current view of a given detainee.
“Both the previous and the current Administrations have made every effort to act with the utmost care and diligence in transferring detainees from Guantanamo. The previous Administration transferred 537 detainees; to date, the current Administration has transferred 67. Both Administrations have made the protection of American citizens the top priority and we are concerned that the disclosure of these documents could be damaging to those efforts. That said, we will continue to work with allies and partners around the world to mitigate threats to the U.S. and other countries and to work toward the ultimate closure of the Guantanamo detention facility, consistent with good security practices and our values as a nation.”
Geoff Morrell
Pentagon Press Secretary
Ambassador Dan Fried
Special Envoy for Closure of the Guantanamo Detention Facility
Via
“The Guantanamo Review Task Force, established in January 2009, considered the DABs during its review of detainee information. In some cases, the Task Force came to the same conclusions as the DABs. In other instances the Review Task Force came to different conclusions, based on updated or other available information. The assessments of the Guantanamo Review Task Force have not been compromised to Wikileaks. Thus, any given DAB illegally obtained and released by Wikileaks may or may not represent the current view of a given detainee.
“Both the previous and the current Administrations have made every effort to act with the utmost care and diligence in transferring detainees from Guantanamo. The previous Administration transferred 537 detainees; to date, the current Administration has transferred 67. Both Administrations have made the protection of American citizens the top priority and we are concerned that the disclosure of these documents could be damaging to those efforts. That said, we will continue to work with allies and partners around the world to mitigate threats to the U.S. and other countries and to work toward the ultimate closure of the Guantanamo detention facility, consistent with good security practices and our values as a nation.”
Geoff Morrell
Pentagon Press Secretary
Ambassador Dan Fried
Special Envoy for Closure of the Guantanamo Detention Facility
Via
Asher_Wolf Asher Wolf
*bangs head against wall repeatedly* RT @LowyInstitute 52% of Aust. support sending troops to South Korea in case of war with North Korea
The Guantánamo Files
The documents meticulously record the detainees’ “pocket litter” when they were captured: a bus ticket to Kabul, a fake passport and forged student ID, a restaurant receipt, even a poem. They list the prisoners’ illnesses — hepatitis, gout, tuberculosis, depression. They note their serial interrogations, enumerating — even after six or more years of relentless questioning — remaining “areas of potential exploitation.” They describe inmates’ infractions — punching guards, tearing apart shower shoes, shouting across cellblocks. And, as analysts try to bolster the case for continued incarceration, they record years of detainees’ comments about one another...
Continue reading
Assange won't be happy w/ this leak to the NYT...the Washington Post and Daily Telegraph had been working w/ WikiLeaks on these files...
WikiLeaks: Guantanamo Bay terrorist secrets revealed
Sunday 24 April 2011
Futura(ma) 1964-65
Finally saw a copy of Futura's book at Melbourne' s State Library.
If anyone sees a cheapish copy for sale please let me know...
Norio Ohga, former Sony president, dies
The former president and chairman of Sony, Norio Ohga, who was credited with developing the compact disc, has died aged 81, the company has said.
Ohga, who led the company from 1982 to 1995, died of multiple organ failure in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.Sony's chairman, Sir Howard Stringer, said his predecessor's foresight and vision had transformed the company into a global entertainment leader.
Ohga was still a senior adviser to the company at the time of his death.
In 1953, Sony's co-founders recruited Ohga while he was still studying at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and hoping to pursue a career as an opera singer. They sensed his knowledge of sound and electrical engineering would benefit the firm.
He was an executive by his 30s - a rarity in a Japanese company - becoming the president of CBS Sony Records (now Sony Music Entertainment) in 1970s.
From the start, he recognised the potential of the compact disc, and personally drove Sony's initiatives to introduce the format.During the development of the CD, it was Ohga who pushed for a disc that was 12cm (4.8in) in diameter, because it provided sufficient capacity at 75 minutes to store all of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Sony sold the world's first CD in 1982 and CDs overtook LP record sales in Japan five years later. Ohga's specifications are still used today, and have shaped formats developed since, including MiniDisc and DVD.
In 1989, he oversaw the $3.4bn purchase of Hollywood studios Columbia Pictures, which was criticised as unwise and costly at the time.
Ohga also presided over the launch of Sony's game business, which went on to develop the successful "PlayStation" console.
"By redefining Sony as a company encompassing both hardware and software, Ohga-san succeeded where other Japanese companies failed," said Sony Chairman Howard Stringer, using the Japanese honorific.
"It is no exaggeration to attribute Sony's evolution beyond audio and video products into music, movies and game, and subsequent transformation into a global entertainment leader to Ohga-san's foresight and vision," he added.
Ohga stepped down as Sony's president in 1995 and continued to serve as chairman and representative director until 2000.
He was also the chairman of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
@'BBC'
Iain Sinclair: The Festival of Britain, 60 years on
@'The Guardian'
'US cannot change ME uprisings course'
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the United States cannot change the course of the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.
Larijani said on Saturday that the popular uprisings have “turned a new page” and “will change the situation in the region,” IRNA reported. He stressed that the US and Israel's efforts to change the course of the uprisings would be ineffective.
“The recent events in the region are so deep that the Americans cannot change the situation. They should accept that the regional nations want democracy,” Larijani said.
The Iranian Parliament speaker stressed that Iran should continue its “duty” to defend the nations against what he called “a modern dictatorship.”
Larijani further called on international bodies to “remove their earplugs and hear the voice of the people.”
Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, have recently witnessed massive protests against their autocratic regimes.
The protests have been inspired by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year which ended the long rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak respectively.
@'PressTV'
cshirky Clay Shirky
@ggreenwald Obama "resorts to brazen hypocrisy & factually confused claims to defend Manning's treatment" http://bit.ly/eMUvGU
Woman brutally beaten for using women’s toilet in fast-food restaurant
Trigger warning: violence against trans women
Restroom panic, sometimes also known as bathroom panic; the terms mean the same. They refer to the sense of moral outrage and indignation experienced by some cis people on realising that trans people (generally trans women) use the same public toilets as they do. It’s an irrational fear grounded in the transphobic notion that trans women, regardless of our legal, medical or surgical status should be denied access to restrooms consistent with our gender presentation.
Too often the reasoning behind this idea seems to be that we will assault cis women if we’re not kept out of public toilets. Yet no proponent of this cissexist justification has ever come up with irrefutable proof – court case reports, police records, press reports, just one thing – to show that even one trans woman has ever attacked or otherwise assaulted a cis woman in one of “their” restrooms. Quite the reverse, in fact: there have been numerous instances of trans women being harassed and assaulted by cis people in public conveniences without fear of reprisal.
The latest manifestation of this ciscentric hysteria reached new depths last Monday, 18 April, in a McDonald’s restaurant in Baltimore with a vicious assault being captured on cellphone video:
The video shows two women — one of them a 14-year-old girl — repeatedly kicking and punching the 22-year-old victim in the head, as an employee of the Rosedale restaurant and a patron try to intervene. Others can be heard laughing, and men are seen standing idly by.
Toward the end of the video, one of the suspects lands a punishing blow to the victim’s head, and she appears to have a seizure. A man’s voice tells the women to run because police are coming.[Baltimore Sun]
Trigger warning: Here is a link to the video of the attack [YouTube]
As far as I know, the victim is still in hospital, where she was taken after the attack, and no update has yet been issued regarding her condition.
I have seen numerous commentaries online (Google News) and two themes are emerging. First, that the attack was motivated by race (the victim is white, her attackers are black). In my opinion, this is reverse racism and has no place in any discussion of this attack. In addition, it overlooks the fact that one of the attackers is herself quoted as saying that the fight was “over using a bathroom.” (Baltimore Sun). Finally, it ignores the published statistics showing that over 70% of transphobic violence is against women of colour (WoC). (Trans Murder Monitoring project) In that context, this attack is an exception to the norm – not that that makes it any better.
The second emerging commentary seems to be a call for the dismissal of the restaurant staff for failing to step in and stop the attack. In my view, this is a kneejerk reaction and I wonder what practical benefit it would have. Disciplinary action should certainly be taken by McDonalds but let’s not forget that any of the other customers could have intervened. One did, eventually – and another recorded the now viral cellphone video. So what action should be taken against those customers? It seems to me that education on trans issues should be a priority here, in the hope that the seeds of attitudinal change can be planted.
I believe it’s time to stop centring cis women’s unfounded concerns above the safety of trans women. Like it or not, trans women are women and, as such, we have as much right as any other woman not to be brutally assaulted when using public toilets.
(Cross-posted from Bird of Paradox)
Restroom panic, sometimes also known as bathroom panic; the terms mean the same. They refer to the sense of moral outrage and indignation experienced by some cis people on realising that trans people (generally trans women) use the same public toilets as they do. It’s an irrational fear grounded in the transphobic notion that trans women, regardless of our legal, medical or surgical status should be denied access to restrooms consistent with our gender presentation.
Too often the reasoning behind this idea seems to be that we will assault cis women if we’re not kept out of public toilets. Yet no proponent of this cissexist justification has ever come up with irrefutable proof – court case reports, police records, press reports, just one thing – to show that even one trans woman has ever attacked or otherwise assaulted a cis woman in one of “their” restrooms. Quite the reverse, in fact: there have been numerous instances of trans women being harassed and assaulted by cis people in public conveniences without fear of reprisal.
The latest manifestation of this ciscentric hysteria reached new depths last Monday, 18 April, in a McDonald’s restaurant in Baltimore with a vicious assault being captured on cellphone video:
The video shows two women — one of them a 14-year-old girl — repeatedly kicking and punching the 22-year-old victim in the head, as an employee of the Rosedale restaurant and a patron try to intervene. Others can be heard laughing, and men are seen standing idly by.
Toward the end of the video, one of the suspects lands a punishing blow to the victim’s head, and she appears to have a seizure. A man’s voice tells the women to run because police are coming.[Baltimore Sun]
Trigger warning: Here is a link to the video of the attack [YouTube]
As far as I know, the victim is still in hospital, where she was taken after the attack, and no update has yet been issued regarding her condition.
I have seen numerous commentaries online (Google News) and two themes are emerging. First, that the attack was motivated by race (the victim is white, her attackers are black). In my opinion, this is reverse racism and has no place in any discussion of this attack. In addition, it overlooks the fact that one of the attackers is herself quoted as saying that the fight was “over using a bathroom.” (Baltimore Sun). Finally, it ignores the published statistics showing that over 70% of transphobic violence is against women of colour (WoC). (Trans Murder Monitoring project) In that context, this attack is an exception to the norm – not that that makes it any better.
The second emerging commentary seems to be a call for the dismissal of the restaurant staff for failing to step in and stop the attack. In my view, this is a kneejerk reaction and I wonder what practical benefit it would have. Disciplinary action should certainly be taken by McDonalds but let’s not forget that any of the other customers could have intervened. One did, eventually – and another recorded the now viral cellphone video. So what action should be taken against those customers? It seems to me that education on trans issues should be a priority here, in the hope that the seeds of attitudinal change can be planted.
I believe it’s time to stop centring cis women’s unfounded concerns above the safety of trans women. Like it or not, trans women are women and, as such, we have as much right as any other woman not to be brutally assaulted when using public toilets.
(Cross-posted from Bird of Paradox)
Commentator - "And now Liverpool can relax". Yep, we were all worried at 4-0 with 5 minutes to go.
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