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December 31, 2016 Saturday

 Trump's Indonesia Projects, Still Moving Ahead, Create Potential Conflicts

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - One resort, planned as the largest in Bali, will overlook a spectacular Hindu temple. The other, in the verdant hills of West Java, will adjoin a theme park. The properties will be so luxurious, the Trump Organization says, that even an impressive five-star rating will not do them justice. So it will give them six stars instead.
Even as President-elect Donald J. Trump promises to end foreign business deals that could pose conflicts of interest - there will be "no new deals" while he is in office, he has said - his company is moving ahead with two Indonesian projects that illustrate how tricky that pledge might be.
None of the construction work to build or renovate structures at the Indonesian resorts has even begun, but Mr. Trump has forged relationships with powerful political figures in Indonesia, where such connections are crucial to pushing through big projects. 
That tangle of relationships includes an Indonesian business partner who aspires to high office; a powerful politician accused of trying to extort billions of dollars from an American mining company; as well as Mr. Trump's adviser on regulatory issues, Carl C. Icahn, who is a top shareholder in the same mining company.
The resort projects, which a Trump spokeswoman said this past week were "binding contracts," have created a gray area of conflicting interests that could be hard to separate from an array of issues facing the United States and Indonesia, including trade and contested claims over the South China Sea.
Mr. Trump's local partner on the resorts, Hary Tanoesoedibjo, is a billionaire media mogul with his own political ambitions. He ran for vice president of Indonesia in 2014 and is organizing a political party for another possible run at national office in 2019. If Mr. Hary or his party wins a major role in government, the potential conflicts could escalate significantly.
"You could have two world leaders that are business partners," said Richard W. Painter, who served as a White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration. "It makes it almost impossible to conduct diplomacy in an evenhanded manner. That does not work."
Through the partnership with Mr. Hary, Mr. Trump has gained access to some of Indonesia's top political figures, including Setya Novanto, the speaker of the House of Representatives, who was temporarily forced to surrender his leadership post because of corruption allegations in 2015. Mr. Setya was heard on an audio recording seeking a $4 billion payment from the American mining giant Freeport-McMoRan.
Months before the recording came out in December 2015, Mr. Trump met with Mr. Setya during the presidential campaign at Trump Tower. After their lunch, Mr. Trump pulled Mr. Setya beforethecameras at a news conference and called him "a great man," adding, "We will do great things for the United States."
The knot of potential conflicts includes Mr. Icahn, the billionaire investor who will serve as a special adviser to Mr. Trump. He is one of the largest shareholders in Freeport, which does so much business in Indonesia that it is the country's largest taxpayer and has been seeking to extend its mining contract with the Indonesian government.
"This stuff is so murky," said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, a nonprofit group that has called for Mr. Trump to sell off his businesses to avert conflicts of interest. "It is not going to be clean moving forward. There are going to be complications as these projects move forward."
So far, Mr. Trump has provided little clarity about what he means by "no new deals," a vow made in a Twitter post he sent out in mid-December. His aides suggested in a series of interviews during the past week that even if construction had not started on a project, the Trump Organization would move ahead if it had a binding agreement.
For Mr. Trump, the Indonesian deals are licensing and management agreements in which he provides the use of his name and his company manages the resorts.
Even though no structures were built, Mr. Trump secured a considerable payout on the two deals, according to afinancial disclosure report that listed payments ranging from $1 million to $5 million for each of the projects between January 2015 through last May. That is far more than the $400,000 salary paid to the president, which Mr. Trump has said he will decline.
Mr. Trump created the corporations that manage these projects - including DT Bali Hotel Manager and DT Lido Hotel Manager - in late June2015, just a week after he declared his intention to run for president.
His companies already have operations in at least 20 countries, including the Philippines, India, Turkey and Britain, but the full extent of his foreign financial ties is unclear because he has refused to release his tax returns or disclose the identity of his lenders.
In addition to the no-new-deals pledge, Mr. Trump has said that his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., along with other executives, will manage the family's global real estate business.
The Trump Organization has recently moved to resolve potential controversies, in part by closing family foundations. It has also dropped a number of its proposed projects, including Trump Office Buenos Aires in Argentina; Trump Towers Rio andTrump Hotel Rio de Janeiro, both in Brazil; Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku in Azerbaijan; Trump Tower Batumi in Georgia; and Trump Riverwalk in Pune, India, representatives from the Trump Organization have said in the past week, in response to questions from .
But other projects - including some on which construction has not started or is not well underway - are moving ahead, including Trump Tower Mumbai and a Trump tower in Gurgaon, both in India; Trump Tower Punta del Estein Uruguay; Trump International Golf Club, Dubai,and Trump World Golf Club, Dubai, both in the United Arab Emirates; and Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver, in Canada, the Trump Organization confirmed.
Amanda Miller, the Trump Organization spokeswoman, said of the two Indonesian projects, "Construction is well underway and will proceed as planned."
In fact, construction has started only on a golf course and toll road as part of the Lido Lakes resort in West Java. Separating the enterprise from politics may also be difficult because Mr. Hary's MNC Group is building the road to the site as part of a government highway project.
No new structures have been built at Lido Lakes or at the resort near the stunning Tanah Lot temple in Bali. A 20-year-old hotel, the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali Resort, stands on the Bali property and could be renovated to create a Trump hotel, but that work has not begun.
In a recent interview in his Jakarta office, where an autographed Make America Great Again cap sits prominently on a table, Mr. Hary said he believed that his agreements with Mr. Trump did not present a conflict of interest for the president-elect.
"His family and children have the freedom to do business as long as it is arm's length and unrelated to the president's position," he said.
The two resorts will give the Trump brand a high profile in Indonesia - which has the world's largest Muslim population - with the Trump name adorning two luxury hotels and premier golf courses as well as high-end villas and condominiums. Yet the American president's name on the projects could also make them potential targets. During the campaign, Mr. Trump made statements about Muslims widely viewed as inflammatory. American hotels in Jakarta have been attacked by terrorists several times.
Mr. Hary said he began the partnership with Mr. Trump in 2015 when he was looking for a hotel partner for the resorts, but said he had negotiated a deal with his children before ever meeting with Mr. Trump.
"It's the children who run the company," he said.
After signing one deal and negotiating the other, he helped arrange a meeting in New York in September 2015 between Mr. Trump and his good friend, Mr. Setya, the House speaker, and Fadli Zon, the deputy speaker, whose district includes the city of Bogor, where the Lido project is.
Mr. Trump met the two politicians and several others for lunch at Trump Tower, where, among other things, they discussed the resort projects, the participants said.
"He was very warm, very enthusiastic," Mr. Fadli said. "He likes Indonesia. He knows about his investment in Indonesia, in Bali and Bogor. And he likes Indonesia, a big democratic Muslim country."
After lunch, Mr. Trump invited the Indonesians to join him downstairs for a campaign news conference, they said. When the event was ending, Mr. Trump brought Mr. Setya to the lectern and introduced him to the crowd, calling him "one of the most powerful men, and a great man."
Mr. Trump then turned to Mr. Setya. "Do they like me in Indonesia?" he asked.
Mr. Setya smiled and replied "yes."
The event drew criticism in Indonesia, where some accused the Indonesian politicians of meddling in a foreign election. But Mr. Setya and Mr. Fadli said they had been invited to the news conference and it would have been impolite to refuse.
"Nowadays, after Trump became president-elect, people came to appreciate what I did," Mr. Setya told The Times in a recent interview.
Mr. Setya, who heads Parliament's second-largest party, said he had requested another meeting with Mr. Trump before his inauguration to discuss a possible business deal, although he declined to say what it was. He said he also would carry a message to Mr. Trump from the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo.
Soon after returning from the New York meeting with Mr. Trump in 2015, Mr. Setya became embroiled in scandal. He was heard on the audio recording asking for 20 percent of the shares of Freeport's Indonesian subsidiary in exchange for helping the company extend its operating contract with the government. The value of the shares was about $4 billion.
The episode exploded into a Watergate-style moment, with the local news media repeatedly playing the damning portions of the recording to a rapt public. Mr. Setya defended the demand as a joke.
Mr. Setya was recently reinstated as speaker after a court ruled the recording was inadmissible as evidence.
Freeport is a frequenttargetof complaints by labor unions and environmentalists, and nationalist politicians want it to pay the government higher royalties. Its operating contract expires in 2021.
Mr. Fadli said he could see a role for President Trump in resolving the thorny Freeport issue. "Definitely he has to be involved in that because it is a big investment," he said.
Mr. Painter, the former White House ethics lawyer, said these complications demonstrated why Mr. Trump's company should not be involved in foreign property deals like those in Indonesia.
"They should be trying to pull out of deals around the world like this, rather than trying to expand," he said.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump accused the news media of exaggerating any potential conflicts presented by his business holdings.
"It's not a big deal; you people are making it a big deal, the business," Mr. Trump said on the steps of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he was spending the holidays. "They all knew I had big business all over the place."
Richard C. Paddock reported from Jakarta, and Eric Lipton from Washington.
PHOTOS: Donald J. Trump with Setya Novanto, the speaker of the Indo- nesian House of Representatives, in New York in 2015. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD DREW/ASSOCIATED PRESS) (A1); The billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo is Donald J. Trump's local partner on Indonesian resorts. (PHOTOGRAPH BY KEMAL JUFRI FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE) (A9)








 


December 24, 2016 Saturday

 A new order in the Middle East, Can Indonesia avoid descent into intolerance?, The Kremlin elected Donald Trump, Zimbabwe's new 'quasi-currency' is not the answer, Rex Tillerson for US secretary of State?; 
A roundup of global commentary for the Dec. 26, 2016 weekly magazine.

 
The Jordan Times / Amman, JordanA new order in the Middle East
"The rebels' last stand in Aleppo and the likely victory of the Russian-backed forces may usher a new era in the Middle East and a new balance of power...," writes Hassan Barari. "To be sure 'America's moment in the Middle East' is fast coming to an end.... It is clear that [President] Obama failed to understand the gravity of the situation in the Middle East. Unwisely, he alienated America's allies and appeased America's opponents. As a result, Iran and Russia felt emboldened to act in the manner they did.... It remains to be seen if [President-elect] Donald Trump will adopt a new strategy that could make a difference, but it seems that any effort will be a day late and a dollar short."
South China Morning Post / Hong KongCan Indonesia avoid descent into intolerance? 
"Indonesia's constitution was painstakingly negotiated by secular nationalist and Muslim leaders to unify an ethnically and culturally diverse nation...," states an editorial. "Blasphemy charges brought against the Christian and ethnic Chinese governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, whose trial opened [recently], therefore threaten pluralism and religious tolerance.... [President Joko] Widodo has been criticised for failing to temper the rhetoric from hardline clerics, who have been blamed for inciting hatred and inspiring terrorist attacks.... An ethnic and religious tinderbox is smouldering that can be extinguished only by leaders confronting extremism and taking tough action against those behind it."
Maclean's / TorontoThe Kremlin elected Donald Trump
"Some of the most important moments in history happen fast, like a flash of lightning...," writes Scott Gilmore. "Other epochal shifts are more subtle and incremental.... For the last two years we have been living through one of those less obvious historic transformations. [I]t happened, moment by moment, until we woke up in a cold day in December and realized that Moscow had effectively installed the next president of the United States.... By any definition of the word, this may be Russia's greatest coup since Sputnik.... European leaders are openly questioning America's role in NATO. Beijing is flying nuclear bombers over the South China Sea. Russian and Syrian troops are retaking Aleppo from the rebels. That's the sound of thunder in the distance; the world has changed."
The Zimbabwean / Harare, ZimbabweZimbabwe's new 'quasi-currency' is not the answer
"The Zimbabwe dollar was abandoned in 2009 after the government ran the printing presses so wildly that the national currency became worthless...," write Tendai Biti, former finance minister of Zimbabwe, and Todd Moss. "[A]s of November 28, 2016, Zimbabwe has a new quasi-currency 'bond note' that is supposed to trade at equal value to the US dollar.... [T]here's no reason to think that bond notes will have any but the most temporary effect.... Zimbabwe's economic problems are deep-rooted and require a holistic, sustainable solution. Bond notes are an attempt to address the symptoms of an ailing economy, not the causes. Without a political solution, the country's decline will continue unabated."
Deutsche Welle / BerlinRex Tillerson for US secretary of State?
"He's not even on the job yet, and Rex Tillerson is already facing a stiff headwind...," writes Miodrag Soric. "The 64-year-old has no government experience; as the CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation he cut business deals with autocrats.... Will the exploitation of natural resources and advantages in trade agreements now be more important than human rights? Will America's commitment to NATO, or the protection of international trade routes be thrown overboard because they are too costly?... For all of the concerns that Trump's cabinet of generals and billionaires has raised with the Europeans: Even secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson deserves a fair chance."  







 


December 24, 2016 Saturday  


 In Indonesia, an Edict Aims to Keep Santa Hats Off Muslims, and Adds to Tensions

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Apit Abdullah does not believe in Santa Claus.
That is not surprising, considering that he is 18 years old. But Mr. Apit, a Muslim, was wearing a red Santa hat at the cafe where he works, inside the largest upscale shopping mall in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. 
  ''It's showing respect for the holiday,'' he said of his Christmas-themed hat as he cleaned a window. ''It's no problem.'' 
  Others, however, are trying to make it one.
  This month, the Indonesian Ulema Council, the country's largest body of Islamic clerics, issued a religious edict barring Muslims from wearing Christmas-themed clothing, specifically those working in shopping malls, department stores and restaurants.
  The council's edict, known as a fatwa, is not legally binding, but it is nonetheless adding to growing political, ethnic and religious tensions prompted by the prosecution of Jakarta's popular governor, who is Christian and ethnic Chinese, for blasphemy.
  Analysts as well as supporters of the governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, said that the case against him was orchestrated by opposition political parties to sideline him ahead of a hotly contested election scheduled for February. The blasphemy accusations set off street protests in Jakarta in recent weeks that drew hundreds of thousands of conservative Islamists demanding that Mr. Basuki be jailed or killed.
  Although Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, it has a secular government and influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities. Christmas decorations, including trees, Santa statues and light displays, are common at shopping malls and hotels across the country each December.
  On Sunday, members of the Islamic Defenders Front, a hard-line group with a long history of violence against religious minorities, conducted sweeps on stores in Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province and Indonesia's second-largest city, to check that Muslims were not wearing Christmas-themed clothing.
  Analysts said they fear the edict could provoke religiously motivated violence.
  ''The Islamists are pushing boundaries and gaining ground,'' said Rainer Heufers, executive director of the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies, a nongovernmental think tank.
  While the Indonesian National Police said that they would not enforce the religious order, officers made no effort to arrest the Islamists who visited stores in Surabaya, and in fact escorted them to prevent clashes with non-Muslims. There were no reports of altercations or anyone being injured, but there were accounts that the Islamists sought to intimidate shop managers and workers into obeying the edict.
  On Wednesday, the police killed three people suspected of terrorism in a firefight on the outskirts of Jakarta. They arrested three others armed with explosives who were believed to be planning suicide bombings on Christian targets on Christmas, further heightening tensions.
  The arrests and supposed plots have prompted foreign embassies, including that of the United States, to issue security warnings to their citizens living in or traveling through Indonesia.
  The Indonesian Ulema Council has defended its edict against Muslim workers wearing Santa hats, fake reindeer antlers and other Christmas-style clothing, saying it was ''based on feedback from Muslim congregations.'' The feedback asserted that Muslim shop workers were being compelled to wear clothing associated with Christianity, according to Ma'ruf Amin, the council's chairman.
  Many Indonesians, however, think the edict may be politically and racially motivated. Some note that in October, the council issued an edict forbidding Muslims from voting for non-Muslim candidates such as Mr. Basuki.
  The governor is on trial over comments he made during a speech to fishermen in late September, when he lightheartedly cited the Quran and said it would be perfectly acceptable for Muslim voters to choose a Christian in the February election.
  ''Recently we've seen politics mixed with religion, which is very dangerous,'' Alia Syarifiah, 28, a marketing professional, said as she waited for her order at a doughnut shop at a mall in central Jakarta. ''People are thinking harmful thoughts.''
  Ms. Alia, who is Muslim, was wearing a Christmas-style red dress in preparation for a holiday office party with her Christian colleagues. ''I'm dressed up for Christmastime, but I don't celebrate Christmas,'' she said. ''It's about showing respect.''
  Her server, Fharas Basmallah, 19, a Muslim who was wearing a Santa hat, said that she did not particularly like it but was asked by her employer at the doughnut shop to wear it.
  ''I'm not pro-hard-line,'' she said. ''Lately, these mass Muslim organizations are getting more strict. Maybe they want to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state.''
  For decades, some political parties and hard-line Muslim groups have pushed to turn Indonesia into an Islamic nation like Saudi Arabia or Iran. The most recent push, analysts say, started after the country began moving toward democracy and decentralization after the ouster of Suharto, the authoritarian president, in 1998.
  Autonomous provincial, district and city governments have over the past decade passed hundreds of bylaws inspired by Islamic law, or Shariah. The majority of the regulations single out women -- enforcing dress and morality codes -- while others are aimed at religious minorities or gay, lesbian and transgender Indonesians.
  Analysts say the edict against Muslims wearing Christmas-themed clothing is another example of the conservative agenda of Indonesian Islamist groups.
  ''They've seen a new space that they've got and are trying to push forward,'' Mr. Heufers said. ''Unfortunately, it's a very smart move.''
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December 19, 2016 Monday  


 A Dire Need for Engineers Is Going Unmet

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Like many college students, Abdul Hamid is not thinking too much about life after graduation.
After all, Mr. Hamid, 20, is only in his sophomore year at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, outside Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. He spends his days at the university's Faculty of Islamic Theology, where he majors in comparative religious studies, and his evenings hanging out with friends and listening to music. 
  Pressed about his postcollege plans, Mr. Hamid shrugged and smiled. ''Inshallah, teaching,'' he said, using the Arabic word for ''God willing.'' ''Most students in my field go on to teach young people at Islamic boarding schools.''
  But while that may be an honorable vocation in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, more religion teachers are not what Indonesia needs, say education experts, economists and business leaders here. 
  They say the country has a shortage of skilled workers -- in fields ranging from medical services to agriculture -- and will need tens of millions more in the coming decades. It particularly needs more engineers, a problem that could thwart President Joko Widodo's ambitious plans to upgrade Indonesia's outdated infrastructure.
  ''There's a whole range of professionals where there are problems,'' said Christopher Manning, a retired economics professor at Australian National University in Canberra, who has researched Indonesia's economy for decades. ''If you talk to any multinational corporations, there are questions about managers. There are questions about engineers.''
  Yet of Indonesia's six million university and postgraduate students, as many as 20 percent are majoring in Islamic studies, according to the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education. And those graduates often don't find work in their chosen field.
  Indonesia's economy, which a widely publicized 2012 analysis predicted would overtake Germany's and Britain's by 2030, has been growing at a disappointing rate of around 5 percent in recent years, slowed mostly by declines in the price of coal and other commodities. And its work force lags behind those of high-powered Asian nations like China, India and South Korea on global competitiveness and productivity indexes.
  ''The problem is quality skills and productivity,'' said Eko Prasetyo, president director of the Education Fund Management Institution, an arm of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance that has awarded more than 15,000 postgraduate scholarships since 2013.
  ''We have to produce more engineers. We have to produce more researchers,'' he said. ''We can't just be an economy led by natural resources.''
  After President Joko took office in 2014, his administration declared a dozen priority fields of study for state-funded scholarships, including information technology, nursing and tourism. But Mr. Joko, a socially conservative Muslim, included religious studies among those fields, even though it was already a popular choice for students.
  Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist for IHS Economics, which is based in London, said that producing more skilled workers, including engineers and technicians, should be ''one of the key strategic priorities for the Indonesian government over the next decade.''
  ''Indonesia is estimated to have an annual shortage of around 30,000 engineering graduates per year, and this is a key hurdle to infrastructure development and the growth of the manufacturing industry,'' he said. ''The Indonesian government needs to give a high priority to developing educational infrastructure to address these skill shortages, including universities for science and engineering as well as technical institutes.''
  The country is estimated to have 57 million skilled workers now, and would need 113 million by 2030 based on current growth rates, Mr. Biswas said.
  The challenge is a daunting one. Fewer than 10 percent of Indonesia's 250 million people have a university-level education, according to a 2015 national labor force survey conducted by the Indonesian Central Statistics Bureau. Most Indonesians who do have university degrees work as teachers, according to data from the Asian Development Bank. Just 8 percent are engineers.
  Analysts say this imbalance of professional talent is hampering Mr. Joko's government as he attempts, with great fanfare, to carry out hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of nationwide infrastructure projects, ranging from sea and airports to highways and new power plants.
  One of his ambitious goals is to create an additional 35,000 megawatts of electricity supply through new coal-fired plants by 2019, a big stretch that is now in its second year. But there is apprehension among business leaders about whether the government can pull it off.
  ''When they enter the construction phase, they will face this shortage of engineers. The question becomes: Where do those engineers come from?'' said Heru Dewanto, president director of Cirebon Power, which operates six power plants in West Java Province and is building a seventh.
  More than half of the engineering graduates produced by Indonesia go on to careers in other fields, like banking, said Mr. Heru, who is vice president of the Institution of Engineers Indonesia. ''Why? Because those jobs provide better incomes,'' he said.
  The same is true of graduates in many areas, including Islamic studies. Ainun Na'im, secretary general of the higher education ministry, said nearly half of Islamic studies graduates ended up in occupations unrelated to religion, like communications and public relations. And Indonesian graduates in a variety of fields take unrelated jobs not because they pay more, but because they cannot find work in their chosen profession.
  ''This occurs when, for example, a university graduate qualifies to be an accountant but can't find a job in that area, so rather than be unemployed they become a taxi driver,'' said Emma R. Allen, a country economist for the Asian Development Bank in Jakarta.
  Such ''high levels of mismatch are typically associated with weak labor productivity growth and slow transition to higher-value activities throughout the economy,'' Ms. Allen said.
  The problems with the country's educational system go deep. Just 43 percent of Indonesians have graduated from primary school, according to the government's statistics bureau. A June study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that looked at 34 countries found that Indonesians working in Jakarta scored last in literacy, numeracy and problem solving.
  The situation is improving. For instance, the number of Indonesians who finished primary school jumped to 57 percent in 2015 from 40 percent in 2002, according to government figures. And the proportion of college-age Indonesians attending universities has risen to 25 percent from 20 percent in the past decade. But analysts say much more is needed.
  ''In terms of quantity, that's a lot of achievement,'' said Sutarum Wiryono, an education senior project officer at the Asian Development Bank. ''But in terms of quality, it is not.''








 



December 18, 2016 Sunday  


 The personalized presidency

 
Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston was an astonishing piece of oratory. It was also a bit of sleight of hand.
Then a U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois, Obama wove his personal ancestry and biography - black and white, Kenya and Kansas, Hawaii and Harvard - into the American story of opportunity, multiplicity and solidarity. Not red vs. blue, but united. Out of many, one. David Axelrod calls the address a love letter to America. "In no other country on Earth is my story even possible," Obama declared, his most poignant line of the night.
Two words in that sentence would matter most. Throughout Obama's time in the White House, his touchstone would not be that singular country on Earth, whose politics he was never able to bind together. Rather, it would be the man himself.  My story.  This was a presidency preoccupied with Obama's exceptionalism as much as with America's. 
Modern presidents have often become conflated with the challenges and aspirations of their times. We speak of Richard Nixon's silent majority, Jimmy Carter's malaise, Ronald Reagan's morning in America and George W. Bush's wars. But with Obama, this personal identification has been compulsive, strategic and unceasing. In his 2006 manifesto, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama called himself "a prisoner of my own biography," yet throughout his presidency, biography would empower him. Whether in foreign policy, race relations, electoral politics, or even in the meaning of the hope and change he promised, Obama has turned to his life and symbolism as a default reference and all-purpose governing tool.
The personalized presidency can be inspiring. It can feel arrogant. And it can bypass some of the very norms and institutions Obama rhapsodizes about so frequently - a dangerous proposition as the country braces for an unpredictable, unmoored successor. 
Biography plays a central role in all political campaigns, with candidates deploying their life stories to buttress their arguments. During Obama's first presidential run, however, the story did not just strengthen the message - it became interchangeable with it. This was not by accident but by design. "Barack is the personification of his own message for this country, that we get past the things that divide us and focus on the things that unite us," Axelrod, the campaign's chief strategist, told the New York Times in 2007. "He is his own vision."
So much so, in fact, that when President-elect Obama endured criticism for recycling Clinton-era officials into top posts, he argued that it didn't matter, that he was enough. "I was never of the belief that the way you bring about change is to not hire anybody who knows how things work, and to start from scratch and completely reinvent the wheel," Obama said to  in January 2009. "I'm the one who brings change. It is my vision. It is my agenda."
Turns out he was the change we had been waiting for.
His effort to improve relations with the Muslim world, for instance, was premised on the notion that his personal story could make a difference. In his speech at Cairo University in June 2009, the president said that a "new beginning" was possible in the troubled relationship. "Part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience," he explained. He invoked his Kenyan family, with its generations of Muslims; recalled his childhood in Indonesia; and cited his work with Muslim communities in Chicago. His story was supposed to dispel foreign stereotypes of a self-interested, imperial United States and show that not all Americans shared apocalyptic visions of Islam.
Obama's personal narrative is so flexible that he has cited it as proof of his empathy for Israel, too. As the president told the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, he once interrupted Benjamin Netanyahu when he felt the Israeli prime minister was being condescending, lecturing him about the dangers Israel faced. "Bibi, you have to understand something," the president said. "I'm the African American son of a single mother, and I live here, in this house. I live in the White House. I managed to get elected president of the United States. You think I don't understand what you're talking about, but I do." (Tensions between the two leaders would endure throughout Obama's presidency nonetheless, with an animus that was reportedly both substantive and personal.)
Everyone was supposed to fall under the sway of the Obamaness. As a candidate, Obama explained the logic. "I think that if you can tell people, 'We have a president in the White House who still has a grandmother living in a hut on the shores of Lake Victoria and has a sister who's half-Indonesian, married to a Chinese Canadian,' then they're going to think that he may have a better sense of what's going on in our lives and in our country," Obama told journalist James Traub in 2007. "And they'd be right."
The Obama story would also surface around sensitive matters of national security. In a 2009 speech at the National Archives, the president stressed the importance of keeping America safe while upholding our laws and values, noting that the documents preserved in that building - the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights - were the foundation of liberty in America and a light for the world. And then, no surprise, it came back to him.
"I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to these shores in search of the promise that they offered. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn their truths when I lived as a child in a foreign land. My own American journey was paved by generations of citizens who gave meaning to those simple words - 'to form a more perfect union.' I've studied the Constitution as a student, I've taught it as a teacher, I've been bound by it as a lawyer and a legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as commander in chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never, ever, turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake."
Over time, Obama would rely on that lawyerly background to render lofty principles more malleable, with a "don't worry, it's me" approach to national-security powers. When the New York Times described the president's personal role in selecting terrorists (including a U.S. citizen) to target for attack, for example, it noted how "the control he exercises also appears to reflect Mr. Obama's striking self-confidence: he believes, according to several people who have worked closely with him, that his own judgment should be brought to bear on strikes." After not fully establishing the limits on such powers, Obama is turning them over to a new commander-in-chief with no less self-confidence and much less self-control. 
Obama drew on the personal to address the revelations in 2013 about the National Security Agency's electronic surveillance. After reassuring Americans on the extent of NSA oversight, he offered some unusual comfort. "I will leave this office at some point, sometime in the ... next 3                1                          /                             2               years, and after that, I will be a private citizen," Obama said. "And I suspect that, on a list of people who might be targeted so that somebody could read their emails or listen to their phone calls, I'd probably be pretty high on that list. It's not as if I don't have a personal interest in making sure my privacy is protected."
So because Obama worries about his own future privacy, we should trust that he would never violate ours? That argument requires a generous helping of self-regard. Then again, as Henry Kissinger suggested recently, "Obama seems to think of himself not as a part of a political process, but as sui generis, a unique phenomenon with a unique capacity." (And Kissinger seems like a guy who knows the feeling.)
Undoubtedly, it is in race relations that Obama's personal story as the first black president has taken on the most salience. His political ascent became a source of post-racial dreams and incessant racist attacks, and rendered Obama an African American studies professor for the nation during what would become the Black Lives Matter era. In that role, his lectures leaned heavily on his biography.
When videos of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons denouncing America threatened Obama's presidential bid, the candidate drew upon his story to deliver the most memorable speech of the 2008 race. "I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time. . . unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction," he said at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center. "... This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story."
Such faith may have been misplaced. Throughout his presidency, Obama staked so much on "a goodwill that his own personal history tells him exists in the larger country," journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates argues in the latest Atlantic, adding that "only a black man with that same biography could underestimate his opposition's resolve to destroy him." Obama's frequent calls for African American communities to take greater personal responsibility for their conditions, his preference for universal efforts to improve education and opportunity for all over targeted programs to help minority populations - these, too, reflect a trust forged through his particular experience.
The controversy surrounding Wright involved Obama's faith and relationship with his former pastor, so the personal emphasis there was inevitable. But when Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman in central Florida in February 2012, Obama, evocatively yet unmistakably, brought the discussion back to himself again. "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," the president remarked. After Zimmerman's acquittal, Obama detailed the indignities and injustices black men face in America, explaining that such experiences informed how African Americans viewed that verdict. Then, as he often has, the president concluded by stressing the strides the country has made.
"Each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race," Obama said. "It doesn't mean we're in a post-racial society. It doesn't mean that racism is eliminated. But when I talk to Malia and Sasha, and I listen to their friends and I see them interact, they're better than we are - they're better than we were - on these issues." It is noteworthy that he cited his family as evidence, an individualized benchmark of national self-improvement.
Similarly, when he spoke in 2014 on a grand jury's decision to not indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown, Obama reiterated that the nation was moving forward. "We have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the past several decades," he said. "I've witnessed that in my own life."
In his recent book, "The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America," Michael Eric Dyson lingers over that moment. "Obama lauded the racial progress that he said he had witnessed 'in my own life,' substituting his body for our black bodies, his life for ours, and signaled again how his story of advancement was ours." The problem, Dyson argues, is that despite his enormous symbolic power, Obama is an imperfect stand-in. "The ordinary black person possesses neither Obama's protections against peril nor his triumphant trajectory that will continue long after he leaves office," Dyson writes. "And Obama's narrative does not answer a haunting question: If America can treat him as badly as it does ... what will it do to the masses of Michael Browns in black communities?"
In multiple speeches, Obama has offered a distinct vision of American exceptionalism - that of a country constantly striving, sometimes struggling, to perfect itself. It is a process he interprets through his own story. In his 1995 memoir, "Dreams From My Father," Obama tells of his hope that "the larger American community, black, white, and brown, could somehow redefine itself - I believed that it might, over time, admit the uniqueness of my own life."
Perhaps, as president, Obama has turned so often to his story because of this belief that America was validating it. Or maybe because the inner circle of his 2008 campaign, the truest of true believers in the Obama story, exerted inordinate influence over his White House. Or perhaps Obama's tendency fits our era of oversharing, self-obsession and first-person arguments.
Or it could be simply that he believes, as he argued in a 2006 speech on faith and politics, that Americans are missing "a narrative arc to their lives," and he is supplying us with his own.
It certainly worked with voters when he was on the ballot. In both the 2008 and 2012 elections, Obama bested his opponents on the "cares about people like me" question in exit polls. But it was an appeal that remained with him alone. Indeed, one result of Obama's personalized presidency is that his electoral fortunes far outshined those of the Democrats. After his two presidential victories, Democrats suffered sharp reversals in both midterms, and the party has seen its power diminished at all levels under Obama.
"Washington Democrats hated the White House for believing that the Obama brand and the Democratic Party brand were distinct, and that one was paramount over the other," NBC's Chuck Todd writes in "The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House," published in 2014. "The White House did little to dispel the notion that Obama came first, over and above the party."
When Obama did inject himself into his party's contests, he often emphasized his legacy. "I am not on the ballot this fall," he stated in a speech on the economy delivered one month before the 2014 elections. "... But make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them." At the time, the president was deeply unpopular in key states, and his personalization of the race did no favors to his party.
In this year's presidential contest, Obama campaigned with more vigor and, at times, with arrogance. "I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election," he urged a Congressional Black Caucus gathering. "You want to give me a good send-off? Go vote."
That vote is now in, and the presidential candidate promising to dismantle the Obama legacy won, even while Obama  enjoys high approval ratings. Some voters who had cast their ballots for Obama, perhaps even twice, threw their support behind Donald Trump. "I don't have an explanation for that, to put it bluntly," White House press secretary Josh Earnest admitted.
The answer may not be so mysterious. Even in his party's most crushing defeat, Obama remains popular because this presidency was less about particular federal programs, or the Democratic Party, or certainly Hillary Clinton, than about Obama himself.
They fall low, he goes high.
The man soon supplanting Obama in the Oval Office is even more enamored with his own story and more dismissive of his own party, and promises to remake the nation on the strength of his personality. "Nobody knows the system better than me," Trump asserted at the Republican National Convention, "which is why I alone can fix it." It is a more concentrated and insidious iteration of the personalized presidency.
Trump came to national political prominence on the back of "birther" lies - in essence, an effort to erase Obama's story - and now seeks to unmake Obama's legacy, too. A president who used his story in an attempt to uplift and empower is giving way to a leader for whom the office seems an exercise in personal brand extension.
It is a far different ending than a captivating Illinois state senator may have imagined 12 years ago. The failure to fulfill that vision of a united America, or bring us closer to it, is now part of the Obama story, too.
"The spirit of national conciliation was more than the rhetorical pixie dust of Obama's 2004 speech to the Democratic National Convention, in Boston, which had brought him to delirious national attention," New Yorker editor and Obama biographer David Remnick wrote in 2014. "It was also an elemental component of his self-conception, his sense that he was uniquely suited to transcend ideology and the grubby battles of the day. Obama is defensive about this now."
But a new battle is coming, and that defensiveness may prove useful. Trump's vision for America threatens to make stories such as Obama's less likely. Will this most self-referential of presidents retreat to speeches and memoirs, or will he fight to preserve the country that indeed made his story possible? What if that's next - the Obama legacy no one saw coming, more about the nation than the man?
It would make for a great epilogue.
Twitter: @CarlosLozadaWP








		 


December 17, 2016 Saturday

 Jakarta's governor on trial for blasphemy

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - The minority Christian governor of Indonesia's capital sobbed in court on the first day of his blasphemy trial as he recalled the role of Muslim godparents in his childhood and said he would never intentionally insult Islam. 
The national upheaval over the governor's alleged blasphemy has challenged Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam, shaken the government, and exposed religious and racial fault lines in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Protests against Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, led by hard-liners and drawing hundreds of thousands of people, have kept the capital city of Jakarta on edge in the past six weeks. A Nov. 4 protest there turned violent, with one death and dozens of police and protesters injured.
Ahok, an ally of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, faces up to five years in prison if found guilty. He is the first ethnic Chinese governor of Jakarta and the first Christian in more than half a century.
"As a person who grew up among Muslims, it is not possible for me to intentionally insult Islam because that is the same as disrespecting the people I appreciate and love," Ahok said in court Tuesday.
He broke down in tears twice while making his statement, in which he talked about the affection of his godparents and remembered how he helped poor Indonesians perform the Hajj pilgrimage when he was a district chief a decade ago.
The blasphemy controversy erupted in September when a video circulated online in which Ahok lightheartedly said that people were being deceived if they believed his detractors who asserted that the Quran prohibits Muslims from having a non-Muslim leader. He is seeking a second term as governor in a February election.
State Prosecutor Ali Mukartono told the court that Ahok insulted Islam and desecrated the Quran by using one of its verses to fool people and boost his chances of winning re-election.
In his court statement, Ahok said his comments were not an interpretation of the Quran, and that he was only referring to certain politicians "who exploited the verses incorrectly because they do not want to compete fairly in the election competition."
Several hundred members of anti- and pro-Ahok groups gathered outside the court, but were kept apart by police. The trial, which is being broadcast live, could take two to three months.
Ahok's lawyers asked the five-judge panel to throw the case out, and the trial was adjourned until next Tuesday.
Police investigators and religious experts were divided about whether Ahok should be prosecuted, but the case proceeded as political pressure on the government mounted.







 


December 15, 2016 Thursday  


 ITALY LAWMAKERS APPROVE NEW GOVERNMENT

 
ROME - A week after Matteo Renzi resigned as prime minister of Italy, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni took his place, winning the support of both chambers of Parliament in back-to-back confidence votes on Tuesday and Wednesday. 
Mr. Gentiloni said his government - described by the opposition as a "photocopy" of Mr. Renzi's because nearly all the ministers were the same - would last "as long as it has the confidence of Parliament," setting out an ambitious and wide-ranging agenda.
Among his short-term priorities, he listed supporting Italy's banking sector and assisting the population of towns ravaged by earthquakes this year.
Blasphemy trial begins
JAKARTA, Indonesia - The minority Christian governor of Indonesia's capital sobbed in court Tuesday on the first day of his blasphemy trial as he recalled the role of Muslim godparents in his childhood and said he would never intentionally insult Islam.
The national upheaval over Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's alleged blasphemy has challenged Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam, shaken the government and exposed religious and racial fault lines.
The controversy erupted in September when a video circulated online in which Gov. Ahok lightheartedly said that people were being deceived if they believed his detractors who asserted that the Quran prohibits Muslims from having a non-Muslim leader.
He is seeking a second term as governor in elections due in February.
State Prosecutor Ali Mukartono told the court Gov. Ahok insulted Islam and desecrated the Quran by using one of its verses to fool people and boost his chances of winning the election.
Record-size Atlantic wave
In February 2013, a buoy in the North Atlantic measured a towering 62-foot wave between Iceland and the United Kingdom.
In an announcement Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization concluded it was "the highest significant wave height" ever recorded by a buoy, surpassing the previous highest wave, measured at 59.96 feet in December 2007, also in the North Atlantic.
Russian presidential run
MOSCOW - Even in an era of political upsets, this one's a long shot.
Alexei Navalny, the opposition politician who helped lead street protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2011, announced Tuesday that he would run for president of Russia in 2018, sending a rare jolt of electricity through Russia's subdued opposition.
Mr. Navalny's candidacy, the first declared by any politician, marks the beginning a long election cycle that seems headed for one, inevitable conclusion: a victor anointed by Mr. Putin.
There's a good chance that will be Mr. Putin himself.
Google, Cuba sign deal
HAVANA - Google and the Cuban government have signed a deal allowing the internet giant to provide faster access to its data by installing servers on the island that will store much of the company's popular content.
The deal removes one of the obstacles to a normal internet in Cuba, which has some of the world's most limited and expensive access.








 


December 14, 2016 Wednesday  


 DON'T LET FAKE NEWS FOOL YOU; 
PLAIN TALK

 
An old conservative acquaintance sent an email shortly after last month's presidential election and included a link to a "news story" that claimed 3 million illegal aliens had voted for Hillary Clinton on Election Day.
The Infowars.com report quoted Greg Phillips of the VoteFraud.org organization, who contended this would mean that Clinton didn't win the popular vote after all.
Phillips, my emailer would have discovered by checking, is a right-wing provocateur who is convinced that there's massive vote fraud in America despite research that has shown the exact opposite. Plus, VoteFraud.org is one of those conspiracy sites that spreads the word that 12 "election night gatekeepers" control all U.S. elections ? they include the TV networks, both Fox and CNN, both political parties and the manufacturers of voting machines. This cabal, VoteFraud tells us, begrudgingly let the Donald Trump victory stand Nov. 8 out of fear that their fraud would have been detected by the overwhelming Trump majority, which it estimated could be as high as 70 percent of the vote. 
This is perhaps where House Speaker Paul Ryan gets his notion that Donald Trump was handed a "mandate" by the national electorate when, in fact, he lost the popular vote by over 2.5 million.
I point this out because fake news like this and the fact that all too many people eat it up as gospel is becoming a serious problem for American democracy. Just note the bizarre case of the nutcake who was convinced that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring out of a D.C. pizza parlor and showed up with guns to take matters into his own hands.
It becomes even more serious when the soon-to-be-president of the United States places stock in these fake stories, too, and spreads them to his 16 million Twitter followers, who have come to believe just about anything. No sooner had the "news" about the 3 million illegal alien votes zipped its way around the internet than Trump grabbed it for one of his famous fact-free tweets. Yes, 3 million illegals had somehow gained access to America's voting machines and, of course, every one of them voted for Hillary Clinton. How else to explain how Clinton could have possibly received more Americans' votes than he?
Otherwise, apparently, the election was on the up and up ? in states that made him president via the Electoral College.
It was only eight years ago that the campaign to discredit Barack Obama as a non-U.S. citizen who was born in Kenya got legs ("We Republicans can't understand why there are such sore losers today when we calmly accepted Obama's victory"). A "news" story went viral, "proving" Obama is a fraud whose real name is "Barry Soetoro" who got student aid from Indonesia, a Muslim country.
I can't tell you how many people shipped that story to me and how many fake news sites picked it up. Again, if anyone had bothered to check, they would have learned Barry Soetoro was the name Obama took after his mother married an Indonesian named Lolo Soetoro. While in Indonesia he took the name of his stepfather, something not at all unusual when a divorced parent remarries. It happens in Wisconsin all the time, by the way.
And guess who was front and center proclaiming that Barry Soetoro was a foreign-born non-U.S. citizen? Donald Trump, of course. Obama took his old name back when he came home to Hawaii to live with his grandparents and then went off to the mainland for his higher education.
The real problem is that too many of us shirk our responsibility as U.S. citizens. In order for democracy to work, the Founding Fathers assumed the people would be informed. It's why they pushed public education and enacted the First Amendment to guarantee freedom of speech, religion and the press.
The internet has given us all an opportunity to quickly check facts and sources, to expand our knowledge and make us informed citizens.
But if we fail to question even the most outlandish "news stories," we're turning our country over to the lunatics among us.
That's why fake news presents such a danger to our democracy.







 


December 14, 2016 Wednesday  


 Governor of Jakarta Issues Tearful Denial as Blasphemy Trial Opens in Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Christian governor of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, tearfully denied on Tuesday that he had intended to insult Islam as his trial on blasphemy charges began.
Some analysts have said the trial is a plot to keep the governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, from being elected to the office, which he inherited when his predecessor won the presidency in 2014. Others say that his comments are being exploited in an effort to incite ethnic and religious hatred against Mr. Basuki, who is ethnic Chinese and the first Christian in nearly 50 years to govern Jakarta.  
  Mr. Basuki, known as Ahok, is charged with violating blasphemy laws during a speech to fishermen in September.
  In that address, Mr. Basuki lightheartedly cited a verse of the Quran that warns Muslims against taking Christians and Jews as allies. He said at the time that given Indonesia's transition to democracy in 1999, it was perfectly acceptable for Muslim voters to choose a Christian in the election for governor in February.
  The remark was directed at ''unscrupulous politicians who don't want to compete fairly in the election,'' Mr. Basuki, 50, told the three judges at the trial. If found guilty, he faces up to five years in jail.
  After decades of authoritarian rule, Indonesia has come to be seen as a relatively stable, tolerant democracy. Suharto, the army leader who became president and ruled  Indonesia for 32 years after seizing power in the late 1960s, signed a decree about three decades ago banning provocative political discourse on ethnicity, race and religion in an effort to maintain public order, and racial and religious harmony.
  The practice of avoiding those sensitive topics appears to have been broken in the pending election for the governorship of Jakarta, the most powerful provincial post in the country and one that President Joko Widodo, a longtime ally of Mr. Basuki's, used as a springboard to the presidency.
  ''The manipulation of race and religion, such as the blasphemy charge against Ahok, in a political campaign to crush an opponent, breaks the long-held taboo against using these issues brazenly to gain political advantage,'' said Douglas Ramage, a political analyst based in Jakarta.
  The United States and other Western nations have long held up Indonesia, which has more than 190 million Muslims but also influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities, as a model for religious pluralism and democracy in the region. The case may threaten that reputation.
  ''Economics, religion, ethnicity and wealth inequality are all mixed in Indonesia in a volatile way. So a moment like this, the Ahok trial, is potentially explosive,'' said Jeffrey A. Winters, a professor of politics at Northwestern University who is a longtime observer of Indonesian affairs.
  Supporters of Mr. Basuki, as well as many independent analysts, have said that opposition parties fielding candidates in the coming election have used the governor's comments to elicit ethnic and religious hatred against him.
  ''In Indonesia's democratic reform era, people like Ahok are being added'' to the political elite, said Yenny Wahid, co-chairwoman of the Indonesia-U.S. Council on Religion and Pluralism, an independent advocacy group.
  ''But some people are saying, 'Chinese dominate the economic sphere in Indonesia. Now you want to dominate politics?' It creates fear,'' added Ms. Wahid, the daughter of former President Abdurrahman Wahid, a revered Islamic cleric who fought for religious pluralism in Indonesia.
  Mr. Basuki has also been attacked for his Chinese ancestry on social media in recent months.
  Common slurs leveled against Mr. Basuki have suggested that he ''hates Islam'' and should ''go back to China.'' Mr. Joko, whose governing party supports Mr. Basuki's bid for the governorship, has also been the subject of attacks.
  Islamist groups, including organizations that have long demanded that the secular government be replaced by an Islamic state, have continually protested Mr. Basuki's tenure. They have appealed to Muslim residents in the city not to vote for him. If he wins, he would be the first ethnic Chinese Christian directly elected to the office.
  In recent weeks, hard-line Muslim groups have staged three mass protests in Jakarta against Mr. Basuki that drew hundreds of thousands of people -- most from outside the capital -- to demand that the governor be jailed for blasphemy. Some called for him to be lynched.
  One march in early November ended in riots that killed one person and injured more than 200, but a protest this month that drew more than 200,000 ended peacefully.
  Neither Mr. Basuki nor Mr. Joko has directly accused opposition parties of being behind the protests. But the president has said that ''political actors'' had taken advantage of Islamist anger to incite violence. Both opposition parties, the Great Indonesia Movement Party, also known as Gerindra, and the Democratic Party, have denied being involved in planning the protests, but they have supported the goal of jailing Mr. Basuki for blasphemy and have sought to link Mr. Joko to that controversy.
  Before a large demonstration against Mr. Basuki this month, the Indonesian police arrested 11 people on charges including treason against Mr. Joko's government.
  One of Mr. Basuki's opponents in the election is Anies Baswedan, a former minister of higher education. He is backed by Gerindra, which is led by Prabowo Subianto, a former general who lost the bitterly fought 2014 presidential election to Mr. Joko.
  The other candidate is Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party, a former army officer and the son of Mr. Joko's predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.







 


December 14, 2016 Wednesday

 WORLD WATCH

 

ABSTRACT
Indonesian Christian Gov Basuki Tjahaja Purnama makes impassioned defense in courthouse, saying he was joking in referring to Quranic verse saying Muslims should not take Christians or Jews as their leaders;  crowds outside demand his jailing (S)




1



 


December 13, 2016 Tuesday

 Jakarta Christian governor trial tests Indonesia's religious freedom; 
Jakarta's first Christian governor is on trial for blasphemy over his previous remarks regarding the Quran, an accusation some say is politically motivated.

 
The Christian governor of Jakarta, capital of the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, sat through an emotional hearing on Tuesday as he faced charges of insulting Islam.
Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, drew condemnation from conservative Islamists for criticizing political opponents' use of a Quranic verse to suggest that Muslims should not vote for non-Muslim leaders. He was accused of blasphemy, with tens of thousands of Indonesians marching in protest this fall.
"I had no intention of insulting Muslims and insulting the clergy," Ahok said during the trial, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. 
While Indonesia is a young, multicultural democracy often touted as a model for religious freedom in a diverse, yet Muslim-majority society, it has over the past decade seen a rise in conflicts between different religious groups and a spread of more conservative views.
"The manipulation of race and religion, such as the blasphemy charge against Ahok, in a political campaign to crush an opponent, breaks the long-held taboo against using these issues brazenly to gain political advantage," Douglas Ramage, a political analyst in Jakarta, told .
The trial, which is scheduled to resume on Dec. 20, was preceded by major demonstrations in Jakarta this fall calling for Ahok's ouster. His lawyers argue that the prosecution was "irregular" and "heavily influenced" by public pressure, as reported by the Jakarta Post.
The Ahok case arrives amid other tests of religious tolerance, with offenses carried out by both Muslims and Christians. An Islamist group shut down a Christmas celebration in Bandung, West Java, last week by claiming that they did not have a permit, as Voice of America reports. On the other end, a Christian group in East Nusa Tenggara led police to arrest nine Muslim men whom they charged with lacking proper documentation for conducting services in the predominantly Catholic province.
"What happened in Bandung is not new," Bonar Tigor Naipospos, the deputy chairman of the Setara Institute, a human rights organization, told Voice of America. "In the years since [former President] Suharto's fall, intolerant groups have proliferated across Indonesia.... They're always pretty smart about playing up certain issues to gain public support - like Christmas."
In 2015, a 33 percent increase in incidents of religion-related violence in Indonesia, according to report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which cited statistics from Setara Institute. Among the most populous countries in the world - Indonesia currently ranks fourth - Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey have the highest overall restrictions on religion, according to a June report from Pew Research Center. 
"The hardliners' take on what religious freedom [is] ... it's one that rejects the rights of anybody who says something that may deviate from a conservative understanding from Islamic orthodoxy," Robert Hefner, a professor at Boston University who studies Muslim societies, told  in November. 
The rise of more vocal hardline-views began after former President Suharto's ouster, following his 1980s push for Indonesia to become a more secular nation, forged against the backdrop of extremism-fueled violence. Since then, however, groups with more conservative ideologies have gained influence, especially against Christians, Shiite Muslims, and followers of Ahmadiyah, an Islamic religious movement. The government has also passed laws to complicate the process of building places of worship, and has forbidden Ahmadis from proselytizing, as reported by The Economist.
Complicating matters is Indonesia's geography, spread out over strings of islands, where local governments sometimes impose religious restrictions that have, in turn, shut down houses of worship, or prompted attacks.
Some officials have spoken out against the attacks and rise of religious hardliners, with the most prominent Muslim groups vocally condemning actions of some extremist groups such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI). But the laws in place and weak local regulations, some say, are still contributing to religious intolerance.
Current Indonesian President Joko Widodo has emphasized the importance of understanding, tolerance, and dialogue, according to the BBC, declaring that striking that balance has long been part of Indonesia's history as a multicultural society.
"Apart from Muslims, Indonesia is also home to Christians, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists and Confucians," Mr. Widodo said last week at the Bali Democracy Forum.  "The peace values are upheld by all religious adherents in Indonesia."




1



 


December 13, 2016 Tuesday  

 Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson, Aleppo: Your Morning Briefing; 
Asia and Australia Edition

 
Good morning. 
Here's what you need to know:
 A Times investigation reveals how Russia aimed the perfect weapon at the U.S. presidential election: cyberattacks honed in elections elsewhere.
Intelligence officials believe an operation to collect information evolved into an effort to harm one candidate, Hillary Clinton, and tip the election to her opponent, Donald J. Trump.
Above, the Democratic National Convention's hacked server on a table in the organization's basement, next to a reminder of a past breach: a filing cabinet jimmied in the Watergate burglary of its offices in 1972.
_____ 
 Mr.  Trump is lining up veteran members of the Republican foreign policy establishment to endorse his choice for secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson.
With Mr. Tillerson as chief executive, Exxon Mobilclashed with China and befriended Vietnam over disputed territory in the South China Sea.
Mr. Trump, above at Trump Tower on Tuesday, also selected Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, to lead the Energy Department, placing him in charge the country's aging nuclear arsenal.
Here's the latest on the transition.
_____
 Jobs, jobs and more jobs. That will be the top-line issue when Mr. Trump holds a summit with some of America's tech leaders, including Elon Musk of Tesla, above, Timothy D. Cook of Apple and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
The tech community, which was largely averse to Mr. Trump's campaign, may be asked to spread its wealth beyond places like Silicon Valley and Seattle.
And the Federal Reserve is expected to give the American economy a vote of confidence, raising interest rates slightly for the first time in a year.
Our analyst cautions that Mr. Trump's promised stimulus could set off a round of rapid rate increases to stave off inflation.
_____
 Russia, Turkey and Syrian rebel groups reached an agreement for rebels to leave their last pockets of territory in the ravaged city of Aleppo.
Evacuations were expected to begin shortly, leaving the city fully in the hands of government forces, a definitive victory.
But there was confusion over whether the deal would assure safe passage for civilians, who the U.N. said had been shot in the streets by the score.
_____
 In Indonesia, the Christian governor of Jakarta, at the start of his trial on blasphemy charges, tearfully denied that he had meant to insult Islam.
Critics say the case threatens Indonesia's reputation as a model for religious freedom and democracy in the region.
_____
 A child sex abuse scandal is exploding through British soccer.
Since Andrew Woodward, above, became the first professional player in Britain to go public with his account of repeated rapes by his childhood coach, at least 20 former players have come forward. The police are looking into the possibility of hundreds of victims at 98 soccer clubs, from the amateur level to the Premier League.
Business
 India's demonetization crisis has catapulted millions of small and micro-businesses into a cashless economy, with the country's leading electronic money service now reporting a half a million new customers each day.
 Japan's Asahi will pay $7.8 billion to Anheuser-Busch InBev for a group of some of the most popular beers in Central and Eastern Europe.
 A Southern California start-up, Apeel, has created an imperceptible, edible coating for fruits and vegetables that extends shelf life and could bring sweeping changes to the produce industry and grocery aisles.
 And don't view retirement as a light at the end of a career tunnel, our personal finance writer warns. He offers a few tips to rearrange your work life.
 Wall Street stocks are up. Here's a snapshot of global markets.
In the News
 More than 8,000 people gathered in Nanjing for China's third annual national memorial day for the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Japanese invasion in 1937. [Xinhua]
 South Korean lawmakers will question medical staff members over President Park Geun-hye's whereabouts directly after a deadly 2014 ferry disaster. [Reuters]
 Communist rebels in the Philippines, the National Democratic Front, said they would sign a formal cease-fire if President Rodrigo Duterte agreed to release political prisoners. [Manila Times]
 Malaysia's Federal Court rejected a final appeal by the former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to overturn a five-year jail term for sodomy. [Malaysiakini]
 Anastasia Lin, a Canadian who was barred from the 2015 Miss World competition in China because of her criticism of the Chinese government, has been ordered by pageant organizers not to speak publicly during this year's finals, now underway in Washington. []
 Mexico's 17,063 homicides by the end of October was the country's highest 10-month tally since 2012, raising fears of a return to all-out warfare among criminal gangs. []
 A review of data from 151 countries found wide gaps in education among followers of the world's major religions. []
Noteworthy
 Smuggled TV shows, movies and radio programs are helping North Koreans see the outside world, and planting seeds of doubt about their government, a prominent author argues.
 Satellite images provide a picture of how the world's lakes and rivers have been altered over the past three decades by drought and global warming.
 Some road trip. A 4,250-mile, 16-day trip through six African countries with five children. What could go wrong?
  "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," opens this week in Asia and the U.S., with projections of one of the biggest December debuts. Here's our spoiler-free review.
Back Story
We told you last week about a fight in Canada over a proposed official bird, the gray jay.
Canadians have also sparred over whether poutine (fries topped with cheese curds and gravy) should beat out maple syrup as their most representative food (no).
In some places, trademark foods are not so self-evident.
Many Britons consider chicken tikka masala, a colonial adaptation featuring a bright orange sauce, as their national dish - more so than fish and chips. The concoction, one official said, "is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences."
In other places, there's no question about the winner.
For example, New Mexico reveres the local chile. It's nowhere near as hot as peppers in China, India or the Caribbean, but it is perhaps the most consistent ingredient in the state's dishes.
Lawmakers in the late '90s declared the state's official question to be "Red or green?" As in: Which variety of chile sauce do you want?
One answer plays no favorites. Order "Christmas," and you'll get both.
Can't handle the heat? Reach for a glass of milk, which neutralizes the capsaicin that makes your taste buds sting.
It's also the official beverage of 21 states.
Anna Holland contributed reporting.
_____
Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings.
What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes.com.




1


 


December 11, 2016 Sunday  
 

 Indonesian Police Arrest 4 Near Jakarta as Terrorist Plot Is Foiled

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Indonesian police said on Saturday that they had safely detonated a bomb in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Jakarta and had arrested four people accused of planning an attack on the presidential palace this weekend, including a woman suspected of being a would-be suicide bomber. 
The thwarted plot was likely to cause particular concern in Indonesia because of the possibility that women with links to militant networks are now being recruited into more active roles, including planning and carrying out attacks. 
  ''This marks a new chapter of terrorism in Indonesia, where the suicide bombing was to be carried out by a woman,'' a terrorism analyst, Ridwan Habib, said in an interview with Indonesian TV.
  People living within a 300-yard radius of a boardinghouse where the pressure-cooker bomb was found were evacuated during the police operation.
  Two men and a woman were arrested in the neighborhood, said Boy Rafli Amar, a spokesman for Indonesia's national police. A fourth suspect, a man, was arrested in Solo, a city on the Indonesian island of Java, said a Jakarta police spokesman, Argo Yuwono.
  The bomb had the potential to cause damage within a wide area, Mr. Yuwono said.
  Umar Surya Fana, the police chief of Bekasi, a Jakarta satellite city where the plot was foiled, said the suspects had been monitored by the police's counterterrorism squad as they traveled to Jakarta from Solo.
  The police said they believed that the suspects were planning to bomb a presidential guard-changing ceremony on Sunday that is a tourist attraction in Jakarta, Mr. Fana said.
  The woman's will, which was found during the counterterrorism operation, stated her desire to take part in ''amaliyah,'' an Arabic term used by extremist groups for attacks or suicide bombings.
  ''They deliberately chose the target on a Sunday, when many families are hanging out around the national monument and near the palace, with the intention of causing a lot of casualties,'' said Mr. Habib, the analyst.
  The police said those arrested were suspected of being part of a militant network responsible for a bomb-making lab raided last month in the province of West Java that was operating under the direction of Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian fighting with the Islamic State in Syria.
  Those arrested in the raid last month planned to bomb targets in Jakarta, including the Parliament and Myanmar's embassy.
  Indonesia, a largely Muslim nation, has carried out a sustained crackdown on militants since 2002, when 202 people were killed in bombings on the tourist island of Bali by radicals affiliated with Al Qaeda. But a new threat has emerged in the past several years from Islamic State sympathizers.




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December 7, 2016 Wednesday  


 To Indonesia, a wistful, worrisome U.S. transition

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - When Barack Obama visited Jakarta in 2010, on his first state visit to Indonesia, university students lined up outside the hall starting at 4 a.m., eager to catch a glimpse of the American president who had spent four years of his youth here.
Arlian Buana, a journalist who was a student at the time, remembers Obama's eloquent speech about how his childhood in Jakarta exposed him to the basic goodness of Islam. "Obama wanted to show that Indonesia offered a model for how Islam and democracy could be compatible," Arlian remembered. "Not since [former president] Sukarno has Indonesia witnessed such an amazing orator."
Obama lived here from 1967, when he was 6 years old, to 1971, after his mother had married an Indonesian geographer. He went to Indonesian-language schools, and in his memoir, "Dreams From My Father," he wrote about the contentment he felt living in that society.
News of his election in 2008 was greeted ecstatically here, and though there have been inevitable feelings of disappointment since then, Indonesians still savor their connection to the U.S. president. 
Pew data shows that Indonesian approval of the United States rose to about 70 percent shortly after Obama was elected, from around 30 percent during the George W. Bush years. Indonesian approval of the United States has remained well above 50 percent throughout Obama's presidency.
But with that presidency drawing to a close, America's approval rating is set to take a tumble in Indonesia, the country that has more Muslims than any other nation in the world. President-elect Donald Trump's purported negative views of Islam, and his declaration that the United States should restrict Muslim immigration, have been widely disseminated and condemned in Indonesia.
Dino Djalal, who was Indonesia's ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2013, wrote in a post for the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia that he was concerned that Trump's attitudes toward Islam could damage U.S.-Indonesian relations. "If Donald Trump restricts Muslim immigration to the United States, the Indonesian government must speak up, even if that means raising the issue with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation," Dino wrote. He expressed hope that Trump would moderate his positions once in office.
The concerns about Trump go beyond his views on Islam. Indonesian economists and politicians worry that if America becomes more protectionist, other countries will respond in kind, which could ultimately damage Indonesian exports.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a prominent Indonesian foreign-policy thinker who serves as deputy secretary to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, was especially worried about Trump's talk of abandoning America's allies in the region.
"I was appalled, simply appalled, when Donald Trump said in one of his many speeches that he would like to see Japan become a nuclear power," Dewi said. "That is a recipe for disaster."
Dewi warned that Indonesia's continued economic growth is dependent on regional stability.
"A lot of the economic gains would be lost," she said, if Asian countries engage in an arms race so they can protect themselves without relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
The anxiety that Indonesians feel in the weeks after Trump's victory couldn't contrast more strongly with the jubilation when Obama was elected. Eight years ago, then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono congratulated Obama by reminding the new president of his deep ties to Indonesia, with local fans financing a $10,000 bronze statue of Obama as a boy living in Jakarta.
When Obama visited Indonesia in 2010, he referred to it as a homecoming and emphasized the similarities between the United States and Indonesia, the world's second- and third-largest democracies. "We are two nations which have traveled different paths," Obama said at the time. "Yet our nations show that hundreds of millions who hold different beliefs can be united in freedom under one flag."
The bronze statue sits in the courtyard of the leafy public school Obama attended in the center of the city. Edi Kusyanti, director of State Elementary School Menteng 1, said that every student here is taught that Obama is kind and hard-working. Edi saw these attributes reflected in the Obama presidency.
Evan Laksmana, a research fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, says that Obama has left important legacies In Indonesia. An agreement between the United States and Indonesia, signed in 2010, created groups to build partnerships on climate change and the environment, and significantly increased the amount of Fulbright foreign-exchange scholarships offered by the U.S. government to American and Indonesian students and academics. It's "less of a high-profile thing, but it's actually a good thing," Laksmana said.
He acknowledged that some in Indonesia's foreign-policy community say that Obama's "pivot" to Asia was underwhelming and that they are disappointed that ties between the United States and Indonesia did not ramp up significantly during his presidency.
"It's the expectations game. Precisely because Obama was supposed to have this epic relationship with Indonesia, we would [expect to] see more high-profile activities and events between the two countries," Laksmana said. But, he said, by enhancing person-to-person ties, the Obama administration created "strong ballast" in the relationship.
Now there is concern that Trump's anti-Islam rhetoric could undermine that. Rizki Andini, a 25-year-old Indonesian student from Jakarta's suburbs, said that she had wanted to pursue a master's degree in the United States beginning two years ago but became anxious after hearing about attacks such as the 2015 Chapel Hill, N.C., shootings, when three Arab American Muslims were killed by a man with a history of making anti-Muslim statements.
"This [anxiety] increased after Trump's racist and Islamophobic campaign, which I didn't expect to receive such strong [public] support. It made me reconsider my desire to study in the United States," Rizki said. Ultimately, she said, the rise of Trump was one reason she turned down a Fulbright fellowship and instead took an Australian scholarship.
Alan Feinstein, director of the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation, which oversees the Fulbright program to Indonesia, acknowledged in an email Indonesian anxieties about studying in the United States.
"Ever since the campaign began and since Trump's statements about barring Muslims' entry to the U.S. or setting up a registry [for Muslims], et cetera, Indonesians have asked us what this means for those wanting to study in the U.S.," he said.
For Arlian, the Indonesian who was impressed by Obama's speech during his state visit, it was disappointing that Trump won the election after saying such negative things about Islam. But Arlian understood how it could happen.
He noted that Indonesia, itself a large, plural democracy, has, like many countries around the world, seen a rise in sectarian rhetoric directed against religious and ethnic minorities, such as Christians and ethnic-Chinese Indonesians.
"Trump represents their frustrations," Arlian said. "This is what democracy is like. Maybe it will happen to Indonesia in a few years."
But he hopes it won't.
foreign@washpost.com




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December 4, 2016 Sunday  

 Donald Trump, Fidel Castro, Aleppo: Your Monday Briefing; 
Asia Pacific Edition

 
Good morning. 
Here's what you need to know:
 President-elect Donald J. Trump's freewheeling phone calls to world leaders are upending decades of diplomacy and increasing scrutiny of his impending choice for secretary of state.
China filed an official complaint with the White House after Mr. Trump rattled the region by speaking with Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen.
The perception of a possible business conflict in Taiwan further complicates the three-way relationship: a Trump Organization representative discussed investing on the island in September.
_____ 
 Mr. Trump renewed his hard line on American companies that plan to move operations to other countries, warning of a coming tax of 35 percent on goods moved "back across the border" to be sold.
One of Mr. Trump's signature ideas - slapping high tariffs on Chinese imports - would raise costs for many American companies. Our reporters traced the ripple effects such a move would have on the global supply chain.
The Trump family's international business empire and those who have interacted with himself and his children create a web of complications.
_____
 Italian voters rejected a constitutional reform on which Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had staked his government.
Mr. Renzi said he would resign, intensifying the populist wave crashing through the European Union.
But in Austria, voters rejected Norbert Hofer, above, a right-wing populist bidding to become the first far-right head of state in Europe since World War II.
_____
 The Obama administration ended a major standoff with thousands of Native Americans and their supporters just before evacuation orders went into effect.
The Army Core of Engineers announced that it would not approve permits for an a section of an oil pipeline near a Sioux reservation in the Dakotas that tribal leaders said would threaten water supplies and sacred sites.
This video was taken live at the scene after the announcement.
_____
 "Long live Fidel!" thousands of people cried along a two-mile route to the cemetery in eastern Cuba where Fidel Castro's ashes were interred after nine days of mourning.
Here is a selection of images from his half a century in power, which left a complicated legacy of revolutionary transformation and economic turmoil.
_____
Business
 A steady stream of emissaries from China's tech industry are visiting Silicon Valley to see how ideas emerge far from Communist Party controls.
 Analysts expect a burst of trading in Chinese tech stocks as a new trading link, Shenzhen and Hong Kong Connect, makes its debut.
 Australia's Duet Group is expected to confirm a $7.5 billion offer fromCheung Kong Infrastructure, owned by Li Ka-Shing, Asia's third-richest man.
 Big banks are putting the world's rainforests in peril. At least $43 billion in loans and financing has gone to companies linked to deforestation and forest burning in Southeast Asia alone.
 Mexico is holding its first auction of deepwater oil and gas blocks, a much-anticipated opening to foreign oil companies.
 Here's a snapshot of global markets.
In the News
 In Oakland, Calif., the death toll rose to 30 after a blaze tore through a warehouse hosting a musical event, one of the deadliest structure fires in the United States in years. []
 Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, condemned Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims. Myanmar dismissed his criticism as a political gimmick to garner Malay Muslim votes. [Straits Times]
 The Philippine vice president is resigning from President Rodrigo Duterte's Cabinet, the latest sign of strong internal dissent over his controversial policies. [Associated Press]
 New Zealand's prime minister, John Key, resigned, saying "those who are dearest to me" had made too many sacrifices. [New Zealand Herald]
 The Trump campaign's praise for Vladimir V. Putin appears to have been a message to white extremists on both sides of the Atlantic. []
 Aid trucks that reached the besieged city of Mosul, Iraq, were overwhelmed by men, women and children who fought over bags of flour and baskets of apples. [The Associated Press]
 Tens of thousands of Indonesians rallied in Jakarta for tolerance and unity after protests by hard-line Muslims against the Christian governor of the city. [ABC Online]
 Hawaii has been hit with unusually heavy snows of up to three feet, with more coming. [BBC]
 Thai police officers arrested a student activist for sharing a profile of the country's new king on Facebook. []
 The U.N. Security Council votes today on a draft resolution that would demand a seven-day truce in Aleppo, Syria, where tens of thousands of civilians are caught in heavy fighting. [Reuters]
  Conor McGregor, a mixed martial artist, is developing a reputation as someone who can do anything. But can he box? []
Noteworthy
 A tribe in Indonesia, the Mentawai, is clinging to its ancient customs despite decades of government intrusion and a younger generation eager to move on.
 "Your Name," a huge hit by the Japanese animated filmmaker Makoto Shinkai, started a one-week Oscar qualifying run in Los Angeles and opened on 7,000 screens across China.
 The Double Dutch Holiday Classic, an annual tournament at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, featured five teams from Japan, where the sport is hugely popular and renowned for a choreographed, hip-hop style.
 New York's Metropolitan Opera is playing an opera written by a woman for the first time in more than 100 years.
 Sammy Lee, who faced prejudice and discrimination to become the first Asian-American to win an Olympic gold medal, died at 96.
Back Story
The decision by the American air conditioner maker Carrier to keep some jobs from being relocated to Mexico comes as its industry faces scrutiny over pollution.
A recent global accord will curb hydrofluorocarbons, a chemical common in most air-conditioners that contributes to global warming. So the race is on to find greener alternatives as demand for air conditioning rises around the world.
At Santa Clara University in California, heating and cooling systems are fueled by rooftop solar panels. And hydrofluoroolefins, an HFC substitute that is more energy efficient, are becoming popular.
These technologies probably weren't on the mind of the American engineer Willis Carrier, above, who paved the way for modern air conditioning.
In 1902, with cold water and an ammonia compressor, he figured out a way to control air temperature and the moisture in it.
Some of air conditioning's next steps might be a return to the more distant past.
In parts of the Middle East, the medieval wind tower is making a comeback. A physics professor has designed a smaller version of the structure, which pulls fresh air into buildings.
"We've taken a traditional technology," the professor explains, "and dragged it into the 21st century."
Giovanni Russonello contributed reporting.
_____
Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.
Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings.
What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes.com.




1


 


December 4, 2016 Sunday  


 Modern World Tugs at a Tribe Clinging to Its Ancient Ways

 
DOROUGOK, Indonesia -- The older man wore just a loincloth, revealing taut muscles and leathery skin from decades of living deep in the rain forest. Like other members of his tribe, he was covered head to toe in tattoos. Though he appeared strong, he had a pronounced hunch, and a cough from smoking too much tobacco.
The man, Teu Kapik Sibajak, grabbed his ax on a recent morning and went off through the forest to chop down a sago palm tree. Mr. Kapik delivered precise blows before he and a few friends stooped down and rolled pieces of the thick, heavy trunk toward his house. ''Hard work, this!'' he announced. 
  But the effort would be worth it: The tree's leaves provide the roof for his wooden long house; its starchy insides can be cooked and eaten, or fed to the household's pigs, ducks and chickens. 
  Mr. Kapik and his wife, Teu Kapik Sikalabai, are among the last of the Mentawai people living traditional lives deep in the forest on the remote island of Siberut.
  They, and others like them, have for decades resisted Indonesian government policies that pressured the forest-bound indigenous groups to abandon their old customs, accept a government-approved religion and move to government villages. That shift, along with the inevitable lure the modern world has for their children, has led to major disjunction between generations of Mentawai.
  The Mentawai tribe, which today numbers around 60,000, is a rare Indonesian culture that was not influenced by Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim currents over the last two millenniums. Instead, their traditions and beliefs strongly resemble those of the original Austronesian settlers who came to this vast archipelago from Taiwan around 4,000 years ago. If the tribe's culture disappears, one of the last links to Indonesia's early human inhabitants will go with it.
  Their physically demanding lives now pose a challenge for their children. ''They have to work although they're already very old, work until they can't work anymore,'' said Petrus Sekaliou, the Kapiks' son. Mr. Sekaliou wears Western clothing and, unlike his parents, can communicate in fluent bahasa Indonesian, the national language.
  Mr. Sekaliou, 42, lives in Mongorut village on the outskirts of the forest, a brisk 90-minute walk from his parents. He farms and does odd jobs there, and tries to visit his parents every weekend.
  When his parents can no longer fend for themselves, Mr. Sekaliou said, his plan is to leave his children in the care of his wife, and move back to the forest until his parents die. The alternative -- moving his parents to the village, where motorbikes whir and teenagers banter on cellphones -- would be too wrenching in their old age.
  ''They're happy in the forest,'' he said. ''This is what they know.''
  Mr. Kapik, his father, is of a special class known as Sikkerei -- shamans, forest healers and keepers of the Mentawai's animist faith. He and his wife insist they are not going anywhere.
  ''I would never move from here,'' Ms. Kapik said.
  Since arriving on the island of Siberut around 2,000 years ago, the Mentawai people had limited exposure to the outside world. It wasn't until Indonesia gained its independence in 1945, and the new country's leaders sought to turn this archipelago into a nation with a common language and culture, that the Mentawai culture began to be fundamentally transformed.
  By law, all citizens of Indonesia had to accept one of Indonesia's officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism or Buddhism. But the Mentawai, like many other Indonesian animist tribal peoples, didn't adopt a state-recognized religion.
  In 1954, the Indonesian police and other state officials arrived on Siberut to deliver an ultimatum: The Mentawai had three months to select either Christianity or Islam as their religion and cease practicing their traditional faith, which was considered pagan. Most Mentawai selected Christianity, in part because Islam forbids the raising of pigs, which is central to their culture.
  Over the next few decades, Indonesian police officers worked with state officials and religious leaders to visit Mentawai villages to burn traditional headdresses and other items the tribe used during religious rituals.
  The Kapiks fled deeper into the forest to avoid the state's incursions, without success. Ms. Kapik recounted how the commander of the local police had once forbidden them to get tattoos or sharpen their teeth, both customs among the Mentawai.
  ''It made me so angry,'' she said. So she rebelled.
  In the late 1960s, Ms. Kapik said, she decided that she would ignore the ban and tattoo her legs. The police commander, Nikodemus Siritoitet, noticed the new tattoos during one of his visits to the Kapiks' home in the forest. He punished her by forcing her, without pay, to cultivate land in the hot sun for a week.
  ''It was miserable,'' she said. ''I was never brave enough to get tattooed again.''
  Reimar Schefold, a Dutch anthropologist who lived among the Mentawai in the late 1960s, had his own brushes with Mr. Siritoitet, who objected to his research into the tribe's traditional life.
  ''It was a time when much of the old heritage was destroyed,'' Dr. Schefold said. ''When they held rituals, the police would come and burn their traditional equipment -- 'the burning of the idols,' as they considered it.''
  The forced-conversion campaign deepened during the early years of the right-wing Suharto dictatorship, which worried that families, such as the Kapiks, who had not embraced a state-approved religion would be susceptible to Communist influence.
  Only after Western tourists began paying visits to the forest people in the 1990s did the local government recognize the commercial advantages of allowing traditional Mentawai to live freely. By that point, an entire generation had been raised without the touchstones of traditional life.
  Today, according to the Mentawai anthropologist Juniator Tulius, only around 2,000 Mentawai practice their traditional beliefs.
  The tug between the old and new continues in the villages. In 2014, the Indonesian government established a single-payer universal health care system. Two years ago, a clinic that provides free health care to all was set up in Saibi Samukop, a village on the edge of the forest.
  But a doctor there, Winda Anggriana, 26, said many residents had rejected her advice, in favor of consulting with shamans in the forest. ''It's deeply regrettable,'' she said, listing patients with treatable conditions who had died during her nearly two years of working on the island.
  A sharp divide has emerged between churches about how to handle the traditional Mentawai animist faith, in which many villagers still believe. In July, the Lutheran church in Mentawai celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first conversions of Mentawai people. During an interview, a Lutheran priest insisted there could be no synchronicity between Christianity and an animist faith.
  Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church, which has repeatedly apologized for its treatment of indigenous communities in Latin America and elsewhere, is open to the Mentawai's practicing aspects of their traditional faith alongside Catholicism, said the Rev. Tangkas Dame Simatupang, the pastor of Saibi's Catholic church. The pastor added, as an example, that Mentawai parishioners should cross themselves before consulting their ancestors.
  Attempts to revive Mentawai tradition have begun, however haltingly. Indonesia began its transition toward democracy in 1998, and the youngest generation of Mentawai came of age during a less restrictive era. Activists have successfully pushed to add Mentawai culture to local elementary school curriculums. Today, Mentawai elders can worship and dress as they wish.
  Still, many Mentawai are reeling from what they have lost over decades of government oppression. ''My kids don't know about their culture whatsoever,'' said Mr. Sekaliou, the villager who will soon move back into the forest to tend to his parents.
  Mr. Sekaliou said he was disappointed by his life in the village, saying he looked forward to staying with his parents during their twilight years. ''Personally, I prefer living in the forest,'' he said. ''I'm happier there. I don't have to stress about finding work every day.''
  On a recent evening, as he watched his father return from feeding his pigs, he added: ''The older generation is happier than we are.''




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December 4, 2016 Sunday  


 Island-hopping: Choosing a few from thousands

 
With more than 13,000 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. Only about 6,000 of the islands are inhabited, but that still leaves a lot of options for island-hopping.
Most travelers know about Bali, the surf-and-sand island of "Eat, Pray, Love" fame, and Java, home to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and 60 percent of the country's population.
But I recently traveled with friends to two lesser-known -- though still tourist-friendly -- islands, and from there, a few even smaller islands, that gave glimpses of local culture while offering heart-stirring views of serene aqua water, dazzling waterfalls and thrilling volcano peaks. 
Lombok
Next door to world-famous Bali, Lombok offers many of the same attractions as its better-known neighbor: waterfalls, white-sand beaches, snorkeling and scuba diving, but with a fraction of the tourists. Here are some of its top destinations:
nSenggigi. Located on the northwest part of Lombok, Senggigi is the main tourist area lined with hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, massage parlors and more. The town of Senggigi is where visitors can set up tours or find guides to take them to different parts of the island.
nSendang Gile and Tiu Kelep waterfalls: Icy, cold and slippery, these waterfalls are probably some of the most awe-inspiring sights on the island. We hired a guide to lead us to them.
nAuthentic handicrafts: Banyumulek is a village known for its world-class pottery. We visited a family of three generations creating pieces of various sizes. Farther inland, Sukarara is a community where visitors can learn about the process of traditional hand-weaving and attempt to give it a try themselves. Pottery is available for purchase at Banyumulek, and sarongs, wall hangings, blankets and scarves are available for purchase at Sukarara.
nGili islands: A string of three tiny islands off the northern coast of Lombok, the Gili islands are popular for their laid-back feel and lack of traffic. We headed to Gili Air because it was the closest, hiring a private speedboat and driver and spending a few hours walking around the island and jumping in and out of the water. Don't forget to get your picture taken at one of the well-known water swings.
Flores
Known mainly for being the jumping-off point to Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the island of Flores is much larger than you may think. I made the mistake of thinking we could fly into the city of Maumere, the largest town on the island, and take local transport to the western side of the island and head on to the Komodo area. I was wrong. It turned out to be at least a 12-hour drive, and with just a few days on Flores, we decided to stick around Maumere instead of being rushed. But we were not disappointed.
One interesting aspect of visiting Flores was the Christian influence here. Indonesia is the world's largest majority-Muslim country, but here Christian churches and a large cross can be seen along the coast. Flores means flowers in Portuguese; it was a colonial outpost for Portugal in the 16th century.
Other attractions here:
n Local market: An authentic slice of life here, with vendors selling fruit, livestock and chatting with each other and customers.
n Pangabatang Island: We decided on the fly to try to visit Pangabatang Island, an uninhabited island about an hour off the coast of Flores. With the help of some friendly locals, we flagged down a bemo, a public transport van, found out one of the women on board was married to a boat captain, and headed to meet him at the fishing village of Nangahale. He spoke no English, but I was able to communicate with my rudimentary Indonesian language skills, and we hopped on his rickety boat. We sat in stunned silence snapping photos of some of the most scenic water views we'd ever seen. Once at Pangabatang, we suntanned, jumped in and out of the sea, and, of course, took selfies. One note of warning: Ferry sinkings and boat accidents are not uncommon -- including a glass-bottomed boat that capsized off Bali in early November, killing three people, among them a Japanese tourist. So use your judgment on boat rides, especially if traveling with kids.
n Mount Egon: Hiking Mount Egon takes several hours and lots of stamina. It's very steep with lots of loose gravel. We hired a guide to take us up to the summit, where a volcanic crater and outstanding views made the trek worth it.
Tips
n Learn a little bit of the language, Bahasa Indonesia, and it will help tremendously.
n Being on time is relative. A 7 a.m. meeting time with your guide may actually mean 8 a.m. Sip some coffee and wait.
n There are three time zones across Indonesia. Keep this in mind when booking flights.
n Approximately 13,000 Indonesian rupiah equals U.S. $1.
Getting there:
Several direct flights go from the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta and from Bali to Lombok each day.
Getting to Flores is more complicated and takes longer. From Jakarta, flights can connect through Bali or even Kupang. Be ready for small planes, small airports and adventure.
Slow ferries between the islands are also an option.
Pottery for sale at Banyumulek on the island of Lombok in Indonesia is seen. Photos/Kristi Eaton via AP
Visitors pose in the water at Tiu Kelep, one of most awe-inspiring views on the island of Lombok.
A local captain guides his boat near Pangabatang Island in Indonesia. Home to more than 13,000 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. Though only about 6,000 are inhabited, that still leaves a lot of island hopping for beach and scuba enthusiasts.
A woman cuts a fish at the local market in Maumere on the island of Flores in Indonesia.
A crater on Mount Egon on the island of Flores.




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December 3, 2016 Saturday  


 WORLD BRIEFING; 
INDONESIA; 
Blasphemy protest grows

 
At least 200,000 conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital in the second major protest in a month against its minority Christian governor, who is being prosecuted for alleged blasphemy.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who is a political ally of the Jakarta governor, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, and angered hard-liners by being out of the city during the first protest, unexpectedly went to the national monument to join Friday prayers with the sprawling crowd.
A protest Nov. 4 against Ahok, the first ethnic Chinese to be Jakarta governor and the first Christian in half a century, attracted about 100,000 people. It turned violent, with one death and dozens injured. 




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December 3, 2016 Saturday  


 San Bernardino honors those killed, injured in terror attack

 
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - At the moment when shooters unleashed terror on San Bernardino a year ago, county employees remembered their fallen colleagues in silence Friday morning. 
A bell rang 14 times in memory of each person slain in the terror attack that also wounded 22 others at the Inland Regional Center. 
"We will never forget that day or the victims of this senseless act of violence. We strive to move forward and search for the good that is in us all," said Lavinia Johnson, executive director of the center. 
During the ceremony outside the center, employees of nearby businesses who sheltered county workers during the chaos were thanked by Keith Nelson, the center's chairman. 
Among those attending was Zen Martinsen, 56, a clerical supervisor for the county. While she didn't know the victims, she said county employees are like family. 
"This affects everybody and I think it's just really important that terrorism doesn't win," she said. "We can't let it win." 
It was one of a series of events scheduled in the city of 216,000 east of Los Angeles to mark the anniversary of the Dec. 2, 2015, attack by husband-and-wife assailants on a holiday luncheon for county health employees. Investigators say the attackers were inspired by the Islamic State group. 
Most of those killed in the attack by county health inspector Syed Rizwan Farook, and Farook's Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, were Farook's colleagues. 
The building where the attack occurred is still closed and is undergoing remodeling. It is expected to reopen in early 2017, and a memorial to the victims is planned, Kevin Urtz, the center's associate executive director said. 
House passes defense policy bill that now goes to Senate
WASHINGTON - The Republican-led House on Friday overwhelmingly backed a $611 billion defense policy bill that rejects a number of President Barack Obama's key proposals for managing the nation's vast military enterprise. 
Lawmakers passed the legislative package, 375-34. The bill now goes to the Senate where a vote is expected early next week. 
The bill, crafted after weeks of talks between House and Senate negotiators, prohibits Obama from following through on his long-standing campaign pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
The bill also bars the Pentagon from reducing the number of military bases even though senior U.S. defense officials said there is excess capacity, and it awards U.S. troops their largest pay raise in six years. Obama had recommended a smaller pay increase. 
Retired Navy official receives
 6-year term in bribery scandal
WASHINGTON - A retired U.S. Navy official was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison after he admitted taking more than $350,000 in bribes and sexual favors from an Asian defense contractor.
Paul Simpkins, a former contracting supervisor based in Singapore, is the sixth Navy official to receive prison time in a corruption scandal that has rattled the maritime service since the first defendants were arrested in 2013. Another half-dozen current and former Navy officers have pleaded guilty but are still waiting to learn their sentences. More arrests are expected.
In exchange for the bribes, Simpkins, 61, of Haymarket, Va., steered multimillion-dollar Navy business deals to Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based contractor known as "Fat Leonard."
Expert: Flint water improving, but stick with filters on faucets
DETROIT - Water in Flint, Mich., continues to improve, researchers reported Friday after finding no detectable levels of lead in 57 percent of homes during another round of tests. 
Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, a scientist who revealed Flint's alarming lead levels in 2015, said the "public health crisis" is nearing an end, although he urged residents to continue to use filters on kitchen faucets - perhaps for as long as it takes to replace the old steel lines that bring water into homes. 
Flint's roughly 100,000 residents receive free bottled water and filters. Flint has a lead problem because it used water from the Flint River for 18 months without treating it to prevent pipe corrosion. As a result, the water caused lead to leach from old pipes and through home taps. 
U.S., Russia studying how to stop fighting in Syria
ROME - The United States and Russia are studying new ways to break a monthslong diplomatic deadlock over how to stop the fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. He said the "ideas" will be tested in follow-up discussions between American and Russian diplomats next week. 
Kerry would only describe those fresh approaches as designed to lead to talks between Syria's government and rebels, a goal that has remained elusive since early 2014, while stressing that the U.S. and Russia won't wait for Donald Trump's presidency to begin on Jan. 20. But given the repeated failures of the former Cold War foes to halt Syria's 51/2-year civil war, it is unclear how much hope the new effort holds. 
Kerry will meet again with Lavrov on Wednesday in Hamburg, Germany. 
Blasphemy protest in Indonesia
 tops 200,000
JAKARTA, Indonesia - At least 200,000 conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital Friday in the second major protest in a month against its minority Christian governor who is being prosecuted for alleged blasphemy. 
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who is a political ally of the Jakarta governor, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, angered hard-liners by being out of the city during the first protest. He went to the national monument to join Friday prayers with the sprawling crowd. He called for protesters to disperse peacefully. They cheered and then broke into chants calling for Ahok's arrest, but later people streaming peacefully out of the area. 
A protest Nov. 4 against Ahok, the first ethnic Chinese to be Jakarta governor and the first Christian in half a century, attracted about 100,000 people. 
Held in Iran: The New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights says Karan Vafadari, an Iranian-American art gallery manager, and his Iranian wife, Afarin Niasari, have been detained in Iran, the latest in a series of arrests involving dual nationals in the Islamic Republic. Iran does not recognize dual nationality.
Saudi shuffle: The Saudi king has ordered a shake up of the country's top religious institution and advisory councils in a series of royal decrees. King Salman on Friday also ordered removal of the minister of labor Mofreg al-Haqbani and replaced him with Ali Ghafis. The reshuffles affected the country's top religious body.




2


 


December 3, 2016 Saturday  
 

 Indonesian Police Arrest 10 for Suspected Treason

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Indonesian police arrested 10 people in predawn raids on Friday for suspected treason against President Joko Widodo, officials said.
The group was plotting to ''take advantage'' of a huge rally held Friday morning by conservative Islamists demanding the arrest of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is popularly known as Ahok, the Christian governor of Jakarta, said Gen. Boy Rafli Amar, a spokesman for the Indonesian national police. 
  Mr. Basuki, who is ethnically Chinese and the first Christian since 1965 to run Jakarta, is a close political ally of Mr. Joko. 
  Some conservative Islamic groups have accused Mr. Basuki of blaspheming Islam in comments he made about the Quran. They have staged three mass rallies since late October; Friday's march drew more than 200,000 people, according to estimates by the local news media.
  General Rafli told reporters that the group, unrelated to those that organized the march, ''intended to incite people to overthrow the legitimate government by mobilizing the masses there and take advantage of situation.''
  He added, ''They wanted to revoke the mandate of president and vice president and form a transitional government.''
  But some political analysts said the arrests reflected political maneuvering ahead of the election for Jakarta governor in February.
  Mr. Joko was the previous governor of Jakarta, using the post to catapult to the presidency. There are fears among Indonesian nationalists that Mr. Basuki could do the same, or be Mr. Joko's running mate for the presidential election in 2019, handing power to an ethnically Chinese politician, analysts said.
  Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, but it has a secular government and influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist populations.
  Among those arrested Friday were several prominent figures who openly oppose both Mr. Joko and Mr. Basuki.
  They include Rachmawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of the founding Indonesian president, Sukarno, and the sister of Megawati Sukarnoputri, herself a former president and the current chairwoman of Mr. Joko's governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. Ahmad Dhani, a famous Indonesian pop singer and politician, and two former army generals were also arrested.
  Some analysts were skeptical about whether the group was actually attempting to overthrow the government.
  ''Most of those arrested are well-known figures who have had long careers as antigovernment agitators, without ever having accomplished any significant momentum toward their goals,'' said Kevin O'Rourke, a longtime Indonesia analyst.
  ''They do not include prominent leaders of the recent protests against Jakarta Governor Basuki,'' Mr. O'Rourke said. ''However, some media reports have drawn connections between some of those arrested.''
  Prabowo Subianto, a former army general who lost the 2014 presidential election to Mr. Joko, expressed doubt that there was a serious plan for a coup d'état.
  ''I'm sure the state apparatus have reasons, but I don't think those people wanted to do it,'' he said, referring to a government takeover. ''They may have some kind of 'romantic' vision. But I think to charge them with treason is maybe a bit too much.''
  General Rafli said the group was plotting to provoke those attending Friday's rally into committing violence just as the rally was scheduled to end after midday prayers. He declined to give specifics.
  ''They were a different group from the protesters,'' he said. ''They were just trying to seize the moment.''
  The Islamic groups organizing the protests have seized on a reference Mr. Basuki made to the Quran in September before the election campaign: He lightheartedly cited a verse that warns against taking Christians and Jews as friends. The groups said that he should be prosecuted and jailed under Indonesia's blasphemy laws.
  Analysts have said that the protests against Mr. Basuki were not about religion, but in fact orchestrated by national secular opposition parties and antigovernment figures to sabotage his campaign. Two major opposition parties are also fielding candidates for the election, in which Mr. Joko's governing party is backing Mr. Basuki.
  The protests are also designed, analysts said, to politically weaken Mr. Joko, who two years ago became the first Indonesian president from outside the country's military or traditional political elite, before the 2019 elections.
  The political jockeying -- as well as widespread fears of violence during Friday's rally -- compelled Mr. Joko's security forces to make arrests, analysts said.
  ''The government showed it was being firm,'' said Douglas Ramage, a Jakarta-based political analyst. ''It's unusual to see charges of treason being used in Indonesia's reform era'' that began with multiparty democracy and free elections in 1999.




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December 3, 2016 Saturday

 Indonesia blasphemy protest draws 200,000

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - At least 200,000 conservative Muslims rallied peacefully in the Indonesian capital on Friday in the second major protest against its minority Christian governor, who is being prosecuted for alleged blasphemy. 
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, a political ally of the governor who angered hard-liners by being out of the city during their first protest, unexpectedly went to the national monument to join Friday prayers with the sprawling crowd. He called for protesters to leave peacefully. They cheered and then broke into chants calling for Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's arrest, but later, people streamed peacefully out of the area and marched to a major traffic circle before dispersing.
The blasphemy controversy erupted in September when a video circulated online of Ahok criticizing detractors who argued the Quran prohibits Muslims from having a non-Muslim leader.
It has challenged the image of tolerance associated with Islam in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, and has shaken the government of Jokowi, who accused unnamed political actors of trying to undermine him. The son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is vying against Ahok for Jakarta governor in elections set for February.
Police said Friday they arrested eight people suspected of treason. National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told reporters the group planned to use the protest to incite chaos and overthrow the government.
They included Rachmawati, the daughter of Indonesia's founding President Sukarno and the younger sister of former President Megawati Sukarnoiputri; retired army Gen. Kivlan Zein; and a well-known musician turned politician Ahmad Dani. Two other people were arrested for alleged crimes under Indonesia's law on electronic information and transactions.
Organizers had agreed to concentrate Friday's protest around the vaulting monument to reduce disruptions, but the area quickly overflowed. National Police spokesman Rikwanto, who goes by one name, estimated 200,000 people were on the streets. Police put on standby 22,000 officers and 5,000 soldiers.




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December 3, 2016 Saturday

 PRESSURE GROWS ON INDONESIAN CHRISTIAN GOVERNOR

 

ABSTRACT
Photo of demonstration in Jakarta, Indonesia, by conservative Muslim groups against Gov Basuki Tjahaja Purnama -- Christian who is accused of insulting Quran following recent arrests of Islamic State militants




2



 


December 2, 2016 Friday  

 Indonesian Police Arrest 11 for Suspected Treason

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - The Indonesian police arrested 11 people in predawn raids on Friday for suspected treason against President Joko Widodo, officials said.
The group was plotting to "take advantage" of a huge rally held Friday morning by conservative Islamists demanding the arrest of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is popularly known as Ahok, the Christian governor of Jakarta, said Gen. Boy Rafli Amar, a spokesman for the Indonesian national police.
Mr. Basuki, who is ethnically Chinese and the first Christian since 1965 to run Jakarta, is a close political ally of Mr. Joko. 
Some conservative Islamic groups have accused Mr. Basuki of blaspheming Islam in comments he made about the Quran. They have staged three mass rallies since late October; Friday's march drew more than 200,000 people, according to estimates by the local news media.
General Rafli told reporters that the group, unrelated to those that organized the march, "intended to incite people to overthrow the legitimate government by mobilizing the masses there and take advantage of situation."
He added, "They wanted to revoke the mandate of president and vice president and form a transitional government."
But some political analysts said the arrests reflected political maneuvering ahead of the election for Jakarta governor in February.
Mr. Joko was the previous governor of Jakarta, using the post to catapult to the presidency. There are fears among Indonesian nationalists that Mr. Basuki could do the same, or be Mr. Joko's running mate for the presidential election in 2019, handing power to an ethnically Chinese politician, analysts said.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, but it has a secular government and influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist populations.
Officials said at first that 10 people had been detained in the raids, but the national police said Saturday that there had been 11 arrests.
Among those arrested were several prominent figures who openly oppose both Mr. Joko and Mr. Basuki.
They include Rachmawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of the founding Indonesian president, Sukarno, and the sister of Megawati Sukarnoputri, herself a former president and the current chairwoman of Mr. Joko's governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. Ahmad Dhani, a famous Indonesian pop singer and politician, and two former army generals were also arrested.
Some analysts were skeptical about whether the group was actually attempting to overthrow the government.
"Most of those arrested are well-known figures who have had long careers as antigovernment agitators, without ever having accomplished any significant momentum toward their goals," said Kevin O'Rourke, a longtime Indonesia analyst.
"They do not include prominent leaders of the recent protests against Jakarta Governor Basuki," Mr. O'Rourke said. "However, some media reports have drawn connections between some of those arrested."
Prabowo Subianto, a former army general who lost the 2014 presidential election to Mr. Joko, expressed doubt that there was a serious plan for a coup d'état.
"I'm sure the state apparatus have reasons, but I don't think those people wanted to do it," he said, referring to a government takeover. "They may have some kind of 'romantic' vision. But I think to charge them with treason is maybe a bit too much."
General Rafli said the group was plotting to provoke those attending Friday's rally into committing violence just as the rally was scheduled to end after midday prayers. He declined to give specifics.
"They were a different group from the protesters," he said. "They were just trying to seize the moment."
On Saturday, General Rafli said all 11 of those arrested had been declared suspects, which in Indonesia usually leads to a trial. Eight of them were released early Saturday, including Mr. Ahmad, who was charged with defamation, and Ms. Rachmawati, who was charged with treason, he said.
One of the people still in detention, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a longtime antigovernment activist, told reporters as he was being moved between holding facilities that the group had created a movement called Indonesia People Power. He said its goal was to persuade the country's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, to convene to impeach Mr. Joko and appoint a caretaker government.
The Islamic groups organizing the protests against Mr. Basuki have seized on a reference he made to the Quran in September before the election campaign: He lightheartedly cited a verse that warns against taking Christians and Jews as friends. The groups said that he should be prosecuted and jailed under Indonesia's blasphemy laws.
Analysts have said that the protests against Mr. Basuki were not about religion, but in fact orchestrated by national secular opposition parties and antigovernment figures to sabotage his campaign. Two major opposition parties are also fielding candidates for the election, in which Mr. Joko's governing party is backing Mr. Basuki.
The protests are also designed, analysts said, to politically weaken Mr. Joko, who two years ago became the first Indonesian president from outside the country's military or traditional political elite, before the 2019 elections.
The political jockeying - as well as widespread fears of violence during Friday's rally - compelled Mr. Joko's security forces to make arrests, analysts said.
"The government showed it was being firm," said Douglas Ramage, a Jakarta-based political analyst. "It's unusual to see charges of treason being used in Indonesia's reform era" that began with multiparty democracy and free elections in 1999.
Follow Joe Cochrane on Twitter @datelinejakarta.Dewi Kurniawati contributed reporting from Jakarta.

Related Articles

. Islamists March in Jakarta, Demanding Christian Governor Be Jailed
. Governor of Jakarta Bucks Indonesia's Party Politics
. 



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November 30, 2016 Wednesday

 Can Suu Kyi deliver on her promise of a path to peace for Myanmar?; 
Following a flare-up of clashes between security forces and the minority Muslim Rohingya community in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi is under pressure to address the violence.

 
According to Myanmar's de facto leader, Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, achieving peace is crucial to attracting foreign investment to the country finally emerging from military rule.
Just one problem: The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is under pressure to address the violence faced by the country's minority Rohingya Muslim community. Ms. Suu Kyi has been criticized for her failure to condemn alleged abuses of the stateless people by security forces.
"We do not want our country to be unstable. But we've had a long history of disunity within our nation," Suu Kyi said in a business dialogue in Singapore, reported the Associated Press. "So national reconciliation is unavoidably important for us." 
Some critics blame Suu Kyi for recent clashes between security forces and the Rohingya that prompted protests in neighboring countries and led her to cancel a trip to Muslim-majority Indonesia.
These incidents, some observers say, expose how little influence Suu Kyi has over the military - a strong institution that still maintains control over the nation it ruled for decades.
"Yes, there's a justified sense that someone revered as a human rights icon should be doing far more to stop this violence," Mark Canning, a former British ambassador to Myanmar told the South China Morning Post. "But equally there needs to be greater recognition, including among NGOs, of the scale of the challenges she faces and the headway that's been made."
In March 2016, the nation's first democratically elected government was sworn into office as the generals who ran the country since the 1960s gradually eased control in 2011. While barred by the constitution from becoming president, Suu Kyi became the de facto leader, although members of the military still retain a huge number of government positions.
She was handed the prickly problem of dealing with the Rohingya, a Muslim minority primarily residing in the northern Rakhine state. While some Rohingya have been in Myanmar for centuries, the Rohingya are ethnically related to the Bengali people in neighboring Bangladesh, and they are not considered citizens in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in 2012 led to a displacement of tens of thousands of Rohingya.
Suu Kyi's troubles with international rights groups began heating up in May when she asked the United States not to refer to the group as "Rohingya" because they are not recognized as an ethnic group. Some see it as her concession to Buddhist extremists in the country.
Her party did however try to restart a citizenship program in 2015, reported IRIN News, although it lacked transparency and was treated with suspicion. She created a commission led by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan to find solutions to the conflict earlier this year.
"What she has inherited is a dump of rubbish, a junk yard," Aye Win, a Muslim member of the commission, told Bangkok Post. "Her hands are tied - she can't do anything. What she is doing is trying to talk and negotiate and build trust with the army."
The stateless Royhingya have fled to neighboring countries over the years, sometimes getting turned back, becoming stranded at sea, or falling prey to human smugglers. While allowed entry to Malaysia and Indonesia for temporary refuge, they await repatriation in detention centers. More than 125,000 Rohingyas are still displaced.
In early October, an attack on security outposts in Rakhine that killed nine police was blamed on militant Rohingyas, causing a military crackdown on the area. A Human Rights Watch analysis of satellite imagery claims that up to 1,250 buildings were destroyed in Rakhine in retaliation. Fleeing Rohingyas claim that security forces committed gang rapes, torture, and murder, all charges that the government denies.
"If they are true, the lives of thousands of people are at risk. The reputation of Myanmar, its new government, and its military forces is also at stake in this matter," said Adama Dieng, the UN's special adviser on the prevention of genocide, reported Reuters.
"Myanmar needs to demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law and to the human rights of all its populations. It cannot expect that such serious allegations are ignored or go unscrutinized."
Suu Kyi, courting investors in Singapore, said, "Prosperity will help our people to understand that united, we progress together.... If we wish to be a strong and prosperous nation, we have to learn to give, to compromise, to engage in dialogue."
This report contains material from the Associated Press and Reuters. 




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November 29, 2016 Tuesday

 SUU KYI CANCELS INDONESIA TRIP AMID PROTESTS

 

ABSTRACT
Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi cancels trip to Indonesia amid protests over renewed crackdown on Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority;  Indonesian police disrupt suspected Islamic State plan to bomb sites in Jakarta, including Myanmar's Embassy; photo (M)




2


 


November 21, 2016 Monday  


 VENEZUELAN 'FIRST NEPHEWS' FOUND GUILTY

 
NEW YORK - A federal jury on Friday found two nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro planned to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from the presidential hangar at the Caracas airport to Honduras for shipment to the United States. 
The verdict is likely to bolster U.S. allegations that the Venezuelan government has turned a blind eye to drug smuggling and will worsen the contentious relations between the two nations.
The two nephews, Efrain Campo, 30, and Francisco Flores, 31, now face 10 years to life in prison on drug conspiracy charges. Sentencing is likely to happen in March.
Teen asks to be frozen
LONDON - The teenage girl's instructions were direct: She didn't want to be buried, but to be frozen - with the hope she can continue her life in the future when cancer is cured.
"I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they may find a cure for my cancer and wake me up," the 14-year-old wrote to a British judge before her recent death.
Her words convinced High Court Judge Peter Jackson to grant her wishes in what he called the first case of its kind in England - and possibly the world.
Netanyahu faces scrutiny
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is again under scrutiny, this time over a billion-dollar deal with Germany for the acquisition of three new submarines.
Political opponents are calling for an inquiry into what they view as the murky circumstances surrounding the framework agreement reached with Germany over the last year, apparently at Mr. Netanyahu's urging, to buy the boats. Mr. Netanyahu faces allegations of a possible conflict of interest.
The issue came to light when Israel's Channel 10 News reported last week that Mr. Netanyahu's personal lawyer also represents the Israeli agent of the German shipyard that builds the submarines, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.
U.S. seeks sanctions
UNITED NATIONS - The United States is seeking to impose sanctions on South Sudan's rebel leader, army chief of staff, and information minister for fueling conflict and obstructing peace in the nation.
An annex to the U.S. resolution calling for an arms embargo and new sanctions would slap travel bans and freeze the assets of rebel leader Riek Machar, Gen. Paul Malong and Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth if approved by the U.N. Security Council.
Protests in Kuala Lumpur
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on Saturday to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is accused of taking $1 billion from a government investment fund.
Authorities had tried to thwart the daylong, peaceful demonstration by arresting at least eight protest leaders Friday, including Bersih's chairwoman, Maria Chin Abdullah. She was being held under the country's strict Security Offenses Act.
Also in the world...
More than 10,000 Indonesians took to the streets of their capital to call for tolerance and unity in the world's most populous Muslim nation, after police opened a blasphemy investigation into the city's Christian governor. ... South Korea rejected a request by Google to use local mapping data in the company's global maps service in a long-awaited ruling Friday.




2



 


November 20, 2016 Sunday

 Serious about relocating after the election? Here are your options...

 
By Kristin Surak
Special to 
Donald Trump's move to the White House has left many Americans considering a move of another sort: out of their homeland. According to a Morning Consult/Vox poll, more than 25 percent of the populace thought of retreating to more attractive ground in the event of a Trump win. Fortunately for them, there are some options.
For a long-term exit plan, ancestry is the easiest and cheapest route. Direct descendants of an Italian male citizen (or female if born after 1948) can apply for Italian citizenship -- no language or cultural tests required. It's even possible to register and collect the documents at an embassy or consulate abroad before traveling there. Irish grandparents or Polish great-grandparents may supply another route available to many Americans, if you have the right paperwork. And if Nazis stripped your Jewish ancestors of German citizenship, Germany and the rest of the European Union may be open to you as well. Indeed, with a EU passport in hand, you are free to live in any of the member states, including the United Kingdom (at least for the moment). 
For the elderly, Trump's promise to end Obamacare is of particular concern. Where can one go that's far enough away, yet close enough to home? Canada, unfortunately, protects its publicly funded medical system with strict laws that limit an influx of the aging.
Mexico, however, is more generous. Retirees with an average bank balance of $25,000 and at least $1,500 in post-tax income every month can easily apply for a residence permit. In Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela and Chile, the hurdle is even lower -- $1,000 to $1,200 in monthly income. Island lovers might cast their gaze toward the Caribbean, where a number of countries boast citizenship-by-investment programs. Dominica is the cheapest option for a single applicant; anyone can become a citizen by donating $100,000 to the government, and the new passport brings with it the right to live in any of the 20 countries comprising the Caribbean Community.
Those thinking of leaving Trump's America might also wonder about housing. Indeed, this can be the ticket to securing residence rights. Buy a home in Greece worth at $275,000, and you qualify for a residence permit. The same holds true in Spain and Portugal for slightly more.
Purchase a sizable holiday villa in Antigua, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia or Grenada, and a passport is yours. Those willing to up the ante might consider Malta or Cyprus, which offer citizenship in exchange for a real estate investment and economic contributions. But the price tag for these EU countries is much higher: $1.3 million and $2.2 million, respectively. You might do better finding a male Italian ancestor.
A world of possibilities lies open to those looking further afield. There is residence in Tonga for a verified annual income of about $4,600, retirement in Thailand if you can prove a monthly revenue stream of $1,800, or in South Africa for $2,600. Those hoping for a return on their money can secure papers by investing $75,000 in the Philippines -- or just $30,000 in Peru and $12,000 in Gambia.
Identity politics can structure options as well. Some environmentalists might worry about Trump's promise to end U.S. support to United Nations programs to combat global warming. For them, there is Panama, which grants a residence permit in exchange for the purchase of five hectares (roughly 12 acres) of land in a government reforestation project. Muslim Americans, concerned about personal safety, might consider Indonesia, where residence is available to applicants with a minimal monthly income and an Indonesian housekeeper in their employ.
Leaving the United States, however, doesn't mean giving up U.S. citizenship, which is a lengthy and costly process. The basic fee runs more than $2,000, and the wealthiest of those who choose this route face an even heftier bill, one equivalent to the taxes they would pay if their global assets were sold on the spot. And even if Trump prefers to avoid the IRS, Americans abroad still must file and pay tax on earnings over $100,000.
But maybe it will be worth it -- at least for those who have the possibility of leaving. Not everyone has the ancestry or the funds to seal an escape. The unequal access to exit options is perhaps a fitting reflection of the United States today. The schisms that underwrote the vehemence of the election -- inequalities in birthright and bank accounts -- aren't really all that different.
Kristin Surak is an American professor who teaches politics at the University of London and is writing a book about investor citizenship.




2



 


November 20, 2016 Sunday

 Island-hopping

 
If You Go getting there,Several direct flights go from the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta and from Bali to Lombok each day.,Getting to Flores is more complicated and takes longer. From Jakarta, flights can connect through Bali or even Kupang. Be ready for small planes, small airports and adventure.,Slow ferries between the islands are also an option.
F 
LORES, Indonesia - With more than 13,000 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. Only about 6,000 of the islands are inhabited, but that still leaves a lot of options for island-hopping.
Most travelers know about Bali, the surf-and-sand island of "Eat, Pray, Love" fame, and Java, home to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and 60 percent of the country's population.
But, I recently traveled with friends to two lesser-known - though still tourist-friendly - islands, and from there, a few even smaller islands, that gave glimpses of local culture while offering heart-stirring views of serene aqua water, dazzling waterfalls and thrilling volcano peaks.
LOMBOK
Next door to world-famous Bali, Lombok offers many of the same attractions as its better-know neighbor: Waterfalls, white-sand beaches, snorkeling and scuba diving, but with a fraction of the tourists. Here are some of its top destinations:
Senggigi: Located on the northwest part of Lombok, Senggigi is the main tourist area lined with hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, massage parlors and more. The town of Senggigi is where visitors can set up tours or find guides to take them to different parts of the island.
Sendang Gile and Tiu Kelep waterfalls: Icy, cold and slippery, these waterfalls are probably some of the most awe-inspiring sights on the island. We hired a guide to lead us to them.
Authentic handicrafts: Banyumulek is a village known for its world-class pottery. We visited a family of three generations creating pieces of various sizes. Farther inland, Sukarara is a community where visitors can learn about the process of traditional hand-weaving and attempt to give it a try themselves. Pottery is available for purchase at Banyumulek, and sarongs, wall hangings, blankets and scarves are available for purchase at Sukarara.
Gili islands: A string of three tiny islands off the northern coast of Lombok, the Gili islands are popular for their laidback feel and lack of traffic. We headed to Gili Air because it was the closest, hiring a private speedboat and driver and spending a few hours walking around the island and jumping in and out of the water. Don't forget to get your picture taken at one of the well-known water swings.
FLORES
Known mainly for being the jumping-off point to Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the island of Flores is much larger than you may think. I made the mistake of thinking we could fly into the city of Maumere - the largest town on the island - and take local transport to the western side of the island and head on to the Komodo area. I was wrong. It turned out to be at least a 12-hour drive, and with just a few days on Flores, we decided to stick around Maumere instead of being rushed. But we were not disappointed.
One interesting aspect of visiting Flores was the Christian influence here. Indonesia is the world's largest majority-Muslim country, but here Christian churches and a large cross can be seen along the coast. Flores means flowers in Portuguese; it was a colonial outpost for Portugal in the 16th century.
Other attractions here:
Local market: An authentic slice of life here, with vendors selling fruit, livestock and chatting with each other and customers.
Pangabatang Island: We decided on the fly to try to visit Pangabatang Island, an uninhabited island about an hour off the coast of Flores. With the help of some friendly locals, we flagged down a bemo, a public transport van, found out one of the women on board was married to a boat captain, and headed to meet him at the fishing village of Nangahale. He spoke no English, but I was able to communicate with my rudimentary Indonesian language skills, and we hopped on his rickety boat. We sat in stunned silence snapping photos of some of the most scenic water views we'd ever seen. Once at Pangabatang, we suntanned, jumped in and out of the sea, and, of course, took selfies. One note of warning: Ferry sinkings and boat accidents are not uncommon - including a glass-bottomed boat that capsized off Bali in early November, killing three people including a Japanese tourist. So use your judgment on boat rides, especially if traveling with kids.
Mount Egon: Hiking Mount Egon takes several hours and lots of stamina. It's very steep with lots of loose gravel. We hired a guide to take us up to the summit, where a volcanic crater and outstanding views made the trek worth it.
TIPS
Learn a little bit of the language, Bahasa Indonesia, and it will help tremendously.
Being on time is relative. A 7 a.m. meeting time with your guide may actually mean 8 a.m. Sip some coffee and wait.
There are three time zones across Indonesia. Keep this in mind when booking flights.
Approximately 13,000 Indonesian rupiah equals U.S. $1.




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November 20, 2016 Sunday

 World briefs

 
Iraqi troops face stiffer resistance in Mosul
MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi troops faced stiff resistance Saturday from Islamic State militants as they pushed deeper into eastern Mosul, backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led international coalition, a senior military commander said. 
Troops moved into the Muharabeen and Ulama neighborhoods after fully liberating the adjacent Tahrir neighborhood on Friday, said Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces. Al-Aridi said IS militants were fighting back with snipers, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds.
Thick black columns of smoke were seen billowing from the two areas, while dozens of civilians were seen fleeing to government-controlled areas. Shortly before noon, a suicide bomber emerged from a house in the Tahrir neighborhood and attacked security forces, wounding four troops. Later in the afternoon, another suicide car bomber hit the troops in Aden neighborhood, killing a soldier and wounding three others.
10,000 Indonesians rally amid probe
JAKARTA, Indonesia - More than 10,000 Indonesians took to the streets of their capital to call for tolerance and unity in the world's most populous Muslim nation, after police opened a blasphemy investigation into the city's Christian governor.
Earlier this month, Jakarta was rocked by a massive protest by conservative Muslims against the popular Gov. Asuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, with one person killed and dozens injured in rioting. Hard-liners have threatened more protests if Ahok isn't arrested. Police last week named Ahok as a suspect in the blasphemy investigation.
McCain: U.S. will not reinstate waterboarding
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - A leading Republican voice on national security matters said Saturday he doesn't care what President-elect Donald Trump says, the United States will not reinstate waterboarding.
Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said at the Halifax International Security Forum that any attempt to bring back harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning, would quickly be challenged in court.
"I don't give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do or anybody else wants to do. We will not waterboard," McCain said to applause during a panel discussion.
Alleged leader of assassins arrested in Mexico
MEXICO CITY - Mexican federal forces arrested an alleged leader of a band of assassins in the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco, while in the state's mountainous interior 30 armed men kidnapped at least a dozen people, government officials announced.
The government identified the arrested man only as "Benito N" and alleged he was responsible for a significant amount of the bloodshed in the popular beach destination. A statement released late Friday said his arrest was one of the state's top security priorities. Local media said the suspect was the head of assassins for the Beltran Lleyva cartel in Acapulco.
Head of Egypt's journalists' union sentenced
CAIRO - An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced the head of the journalists' union and two of its board members to two years in prison and a 10,000 pounds (around $650) fine each for harboring two wanted journalists.
The ruling against Yahia Qalash, the head of Egypt's press union, and board members Khaled el-Balshy and Gamal Abdel-Rahem, comes after a seven-month trial.




3


 


November 17, 2016 Thursday  


 CLIMATE CITED IN 80,000 REINDEER DEATHS

 
In November 2013, 61,000 reindeer starved to death on Russia's Yamal Peninsula. It marked the largest regional "mortality episode" of reindeer ever recorded, as ecologists wrote in a new study in the journal Biology Letters. An additional 20,000 had succumbed to famine in November 2006. The cause, according to the team of researchers from Europe, the United States and Asia, was an unusual ice barrier that smothered the reindeer pastures. 
Historical observations and models indicate the effect of climate change is more pronounced at the poles. White sea ice reflects sunlight, whereas when ice cover diminishes, the darker Arctic water is able to absorb more energy. NASA climatologists also note that strong tropical thunderstorms at the equator draw heat into the upper atmosphere, where it is circulated toward poles.
Ban backfires on poor
MUMBAI, India -An exasperating cash crunch has gripped India in the week since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the unprecedented step of withdrawing the country's large currency notes from circulation.
Mr. Modi surprised the nation by announcing an instant ban on the 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes, worth about $7.50 and $15, respectively, and which account for 86 percent of the cash in the market.
The ban was billed as a sweeping move against corruption that would force Indians who hold large amounts of undeclared wealth to deposit the money at banks and make their assets official. But it has stunned hundreds of millions of poor and working-class Indians who live an almost entirely cash-based existence, paying in bills for everything from rent to groceries to cellphone credit.
Ex-vice mayor in custody
BEIJING - A former vice mayor and China's most-wanted fugitive accused of corruption was arrested after returning from the U.S. on Wednesday in the latest success for President Xi Jinping's battle against graft.
Yang Xiuzhu arrived in Beijing after spending 13 years on the run in countries across Asia, Europe and North America. A former deputy mayor in the eastern city of Wenzhou, Mr. Yang, 70, is wanted in China for allegedly embezzling more than $40 million. She had sat atop the list of China's 100 most-wanted graft suspects who Beijing has asked Interpol to help apprehend.
New hurricane looms?
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A smattering of clouds and showers in the southwestern Caribbean Sea is likely to become a tropical depression by the end of the weekend, and possibly a tropical storm or hurricane, forecasters say.
The disturbance, expected by forecasters to develop slowly, was given an 80 percent chance of formation over the next five days by the National Hurricane Center.
Also in the world ...
American officials said Wednesday that they were investigating the killing of three U.S. soldiers at a Jordanian air base this month as a possible terrorist attack and dismissed suggestions that the three had done anything to provoke the shooting. ... Police on Wednesday named the Christian governor of the Indonesian capital, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnamaas, a suspect in a blasphemy investigation in a major test of the Muslim-majority nation's reputation for religious tolerance. ... A suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State affiliates in Afghanistan targeted the vehicle of an elite Afghan bodyguard force in Kabul on Wednesday, leaving at least six people dead.




3


 


November 16, 2016 Wednesday  


 Indonesia Says Key Governor Is Suspected of Blasphemy

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday after the National Police named the Christian governor of the country's capital a suspect in a blasphemy investigation over comments he made about the Quran. Outrage over those remarks set off bloody street protests this month. 
The governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Jakarta's popular leader, has been barred from leaving the country as the authorities continue their investigation of him, Tito Karnavian, the national police chief, said at a televised news conference. 
  Mr. Basuki, who is known as Ahok and is running for re-election in February, has been a political target of radical Islamic organizations since taking office in 2014. Some of those groups seized on comments he made in September to a group of fishermen, in which he lightheartedly cited a Quran verse that warns against taking Christians and Jews as friends.
  Islamic groups opposed to Mr. Basuki, who is an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and a political ally of President Joko Widodo, staged a huge protest march through the capital on Nov. 4 that ended in violence, with one killed and hundreds injured, as protesters set cars ablaze and battled with riot police officers.
  Political analysts have said that the protests against Mr. Basuki were orchestrated by national opposition parties to sabotage his campaign, and also to embarrass Mr. Joko, who in 2014 became the first Indonesian president from outside the country's traditional political elite or military.
  Nonetheless, the Indonesian National Police, under heavy public scrutiny by conservative Islamic groups, elevated a continuing inquiry.
  Mr. Karnavian said at the news conference that despite strong disagreement among investigators that the governor had violated Indonesia's archaic blasphemy laws, the case would go to trial.
  ''We agreed to take the case to an open judiciary process,'' he said, citing a need for transparency and referring to the recent trial of an Indonesian woman convicted last month of murdering her friend by spiking her coffee with cyanide at an upscale cafe in central Jakarta this year.
  Some Indonesian analysts said the protests were motivated more by politics than by religion, adding that the groups that organized them had done so at the behest of opposition political parties. The political parties have denied that, but they have joined in the calls for Mr. Basuki to be prosecuted.
  Mr. Basuki, 50, is the first Christian in several decades to be governor of Jakarta.
  Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim majority nation, but its people practice a pluralistic brand of Islam. Parts of the country, however, are rigidly conservative, and there are periodic outbreaks of violent radicalism.




3



 


November 15, 2016 Tuesday  

 Indonesia Says Jakarta's Christian Governor Is Suspected of Blasphemy

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday after the National Police named the Christian governor of the country's capital a suspect in a blasphemy investigation over comments he made about the Quran. Outrage over those remarks set off bloody street protests this month.
The governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Jakarta's popular leader, has been barred from leaving the country as the authorities continue their investigation of him, Tito Karnavian, the national police chief, said at a televised news conference. 
Mr. Basuki, who is known as Ahok and is running for re-election in February, has been a political target of radical Islamic organizations since taking office in 2014. Some of those groups seized on comments he made in September to a group of fishermen, in which he lightheartedly cited a Quran verse that warns against taking Christians and Jews as friends.
Islamic groups opposed to Mr. Basuki, who is an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and a political ally of President Joko Widodo, staged a huge protest march through the capital on Nov. 4 that ended in violence, with one killed and hundreds injured, as protesters set cars ablaze and battled with riot police officers.
Political analysts have said that the protests against Mr. Basuki were orchestrated by national opposition parties to sabotage his campaign, and also to embarrass Mr. Joko, who in 2014 became the first Indonesian president from outside the country's traditional political elite or military.
Nonetheless, the Indonesian National Police, under heavy public scrutiny by conservative Islamic groups, elevated a continuing inquiry.
Mr. Karnavian said at the news conference that despite strong disagreement among investigators that the governor had violated Indonesia's archaic blasphemy laws, the case would go to trial.
"We agreed to take the case to an open judiciary process," he said, citing a need for transparency.
Mr. Basuki brushed off the accusations at a news conference on Wednesday and even thanked the police for investigating him, saying it showed that Indonesia had rule of law. "I accept the status of being a suspect," he said. "This is an example of democracy." He vowed to win the February election in the first round, meaning he would win more than 50 percent of the vote.
Earlier in the day, however, a campaign spokesman, Ruhut Sitompul, had said, "We are being persecuted," referring to Mr. Basuki's faith and his Chinese ancestry, both of which political opponents have used against him.
Some Indonesian analysts have said that the Nov. 4 protests against Mr. Basuki were motivated more by politics than by religion, adding that the groups that organized them had done so at the behest of opposition political parties. The political parties have denied that, but they have joined in the calls for Mr. Basuki to be prosecuted.
Mr. Basuki, 50, is the first Christian in several decades to be governor of Jakarta, Indonesia's most powerful provincial office.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, but its people practice a pluralistic brand of Islam. Parts of the country, however, are rigidly conservative, and there are periodic outbreaks of violent radicalism.
Theophilus Bela, secretary general of the Indonesian Committee of Religions for Peace, a nongovernmental organization focused on interfaith dialogue, said he believed the police had declared Mr. Basuki a suspect to head off another demonstration that Islamic groups had planned this month.
"I actually think it is a wise action by the police," he said. "The public will see that he is a suspect and will be questioned - to avoid another big demonstration that would cause the police a headache. But he's innocent, and in front of the court, he will be declared innocent. That will be the last step, and he will go on with his campaign."
Follow Joe Cochrane on Twitter @datelinejakarta.

Related Articles

. Jakarta Protest, Tied to Faith, May Have Deeper Links to Secular Politics
. Indonesia Is Pushed to Ban Alcohol for Health of Bodies, if Not Souls
. 



3


 


November 14, 2016 Monday  
 

 Jakarta Protest, Tied to Faith, May Have Deeper Links to Secular Politics

 
JAKARTA -- The sight of tens of thousands of Islamists marching through the Indonesian capital this month, demanding that its Christian governor be jailed for blasphemy -- some even calling for his death -- brought back recurrent fears of ''creeping Islamization'' in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, where a more tolerant brand of Islam has been the norm.
But analysts here saw something different: a protest that was really about cutthroat, secular-dominated domestic politics, and an attempt to strike a blow at President Joko Widodo. 
  ''If you look at their posters during the demonstration, there is no mention about banning alcohol, banning gay and lesbian groups, nothing like what they normally protest about,'' Azyumardi Azra, a prominent Muslim scholar and former rector of the State Islamic University in Jakarta, said of the Nov. 4 protest, which erupted in violence that left hundreds injured and one dead. 
  ''It's purely political, and they are using the blasphemy issue as an entry point to challenge Jokowi and pressure him,'' Mr. Azra said, referring to President Joko by his popular nickname.
  The direct target of the protest, the largest in Jakarta in recent years, was a political ally of the president: Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the first Christian to run Jakarta in several decades. The Islamist groups that led the protest have seized on a reference Mr. Basuki made to the Quran in September -- he lightheartedly cited a verse that warns against taking Christians and Jews as friends -- and said that he should be prosecuted and jailed under Indonesia's blasphemy laws.
  Analysts like Mr. Azra believe the Islamists organized the protest at the behest of opposition parties hoping to derail Mr. Basuki's re-election in February. They see this as an opening salvo against his backer, Mr. Joko, aimed at settling scores and ultimately denying the president re-election in 2020.
  ''It's a sad development in Indonesian politics when race and religion are being used by politicians,'' said Philips J. Vermonte, the head of the politics and international relations department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. Opponents of Mr. Basuki have also made an issue of his Chinese ancestry.
  Neither Mr. Joko nor Mr. Basuki has directly accused opposition parties of being behind the Jakarta protest. But the president later said that ''political actors'' had taken advantage of Islamist anger to incite violence. Both opposition parties, Gerindra and the Democratic Party, denied being involved in planning the demonstration, but they have supported its goal of jailing Mr. Basuki for blasphemy and sought to link Mr. Joko to that controversy.
  Both parties are fielding candidates in the Feb. 15 election, in which Mr. Joko's governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle is backing Mr. Basuki.
  One of the governor's opponents is Anies Baswedan, a former minister of higher education. He is backed by Gerindra, the opposition party of Prabowo Subianto, a former general who lost the bitterly fought 2014 presidential election to Mr. Joko.
  The other candidate is Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party, a former army officer and the son of Mr. Joko's predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Two days before the Jakarta protest, the elder Mr. Yudhoyono angrily claimed that he was being accused within government circles of masterminding it, which he called ''an intelligence failure and error.''
  But Mr. Yudhoyono also demanded that Mr. Basuki be prosecuted for blasphemy, suggesting that there would be violence in Jakarta if the governor was not taken to court.
  After demonstrators burned vehicles and clashed with the police at the end of the protest, a senior leader of the Gerindra party, Fadli Zon, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Joko had ''insulted the Muslim people and the people who were demonstrating'' by allowing Mr. Basuki's Quran reference to go unpunished.
  In the aftermath of the violence, Mr. Joko canceled a state visit to Australia, an important diplomatic partner, and instead spent days meeting with leaders of prominent mainstream Islamic organizations, none of which were involved in the demonstration. Analysts saw that as an attempt to delegitimize the hard-line groups.
  The United States and other Western nations have long held up Indonesia, which has more than 190 million Muslims but also influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities, as a model for religious pluralism and democracy in the region.
  But the spasm of violence has raised questions about whether radical Muslims here -- who have largely confined their activities to pushing for Islamic laws, persecuting religious minorities and ransacking bars that they consider affronts to Islam -- are becoming pawns in Indonesia's secular politics.
  ''The protest really was a picture of how radicalism is way more dangerous to Indonesia than other Muslim-majority nations,'' said Yahya Cholil Staquf, the secretary general to the supreme council of Indonesia's widely respected Nahdlatul Ulama, the world's largest Muslim organization.
  ''The masses have this negative feeling toward Ahok, and all this political maneuvering has been increasing their negative emotions toward him,'' he said, referring to Mr. Basuki by his nickname and describing the sentiments of protesters, most of whom were from outside Jakarta. ''This makes Muslim leaders, who are in fact moderate, afraid to speak out against it, because they are afraid of the masses.''
  Mr. Joko was governor of Jakarta before becoming president in 2014, and Mr. Basuki, then his deputy, inherited the position. He immediately became a political target for hard-line Muslim groups, who said a Christian should not govern the capital.
  Mr. Basuki, 50, the grandson of a tin miner from Guangzhou, China, has been a popular figure here. Brash and blunt-speaking, he has continued Mr. Joko's populist focus on quality-of-life issues and is known for publicly berating civil servants he considers incompetent or corrupt. Opinion polls indicate that he holds a large lead in the election for governor and that voters do not see ethnicity and religion as campaign issues.
  The governor has repeatedly apologized for his September remarks, saying that he meant no harm. The National Police have opened a preliminary investigation into the blasphemy allegations and have questioned Mr. Basuki. But they are also questioning protest leaders on accusations that they had incited violence.
  Last week, Mr. Joko promised that the investigation into Mr. Basuki would be carried out ''strictly and transparently,'' and said he would ''not protect him'' from any criminal charges. Analysts, however, said it was unlikely Mr. Basuki would face charges, given his political support as well as questions about whether he had really insulted Islam.
  But they also said Mr. Joko's attempts to mollify hard-line Islamic groups, which plan to hold another protest march on Nov. 25, underscored that religion was a potentially explosive political issue here.
  Marcus Mietzner, an associate professor at Australian National University in Canberra, said it was telling that organizations in Jakarta not affiliated with hard-line Islamic elements had argued that Mr. Basuki should be held accountable for blasphemy, as have Indonesians he has met who work or study in Australia.
  ''For me, this shows that the racial and religious sentiment have deeply penetrated the educated middle classes,'' he said.




3



 


November 13, 2016 Sunday  

 Jakarta Protest, Tied to Faith, May Have Deeper Links to Secular Politics

 
JAKARTA - The sight of tens of thousands of Islamists marching through the Indonesian capital this month, demanding that its Christian governor be jailed for blasphemy - some even calling for his death - brought back recurrent fears of "creeping Islamization" in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, where a more tolerant brand of Islam has been the norm.
But analysts here saw something different: a protest that was really about cutthroat, secular-dominated domestic politics, and an attempt to strike a blow at President Joko Widodo.
"If you look at their posters during the demonstration, there is no mention about banning alcohol, banning gay and lesbian groups, nothing like what they normally protest about," Azyumardi Azra, a prominent Muslim scholar and former rector of the State Islamic University in Jakarta, said of the Nov. 4 protest, which erupted in violence that left hundreds injured and one dead. 
"It's purely political, and they are using the blasphemy issue as an entry point to challenge Jokowi and pressure him," Mr. Azra said, referring to President Joko by his popular nickname.
The direct target of the protest, the largest in Jakarta in recent years, was a political ally of the president: Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the first Christian to run Jakarta in several decades. The Islamist groups that led the protest have seized on a reference Mr. Basuki made to the Quran in September - he lightheartedly cited a verse that warns against taking Christians and Jews as friends - and said that he should be prosecuted and jailed under Indonesia's blasphemy laws.
Analysts like Mr. Azra believe the Islamists organized the protest at the behest of opposition parties hoping to derail Mr. Basuki's re-election in February. They see this as an opening salvo against his backer, Mr. Joko, aimed at settling scores and ultimately denying the president re-election in 2020.
"It's a sad development in Indonesian politics when race and religion are being used by politicians," said Philips J. Vermonte, the head of the politics and international relations department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. Opponents of Mr. Basuki have also made an issue of his Chinese ancestry.
Neither Mr. Joko nor Mr. Basuki has directly accused opposition parties of being behind the Jakarta protest. But the president later said that "political actors" had taken advantage of Islamist anger to incite violence. Both opposition parties, Gerindra and the Democratic Party, denied being involved in planning the demonstration, but they have supported its goal of jailing Mr. Basuki for blasphemy and sought to link Mr. Joko to that controversy.
Both parties are fielding candidates in the Feb. 15 election, in which Mr. Joko's governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle is backing Mr. Basuki.
One of the governor's opponents is Anies Baswedan, a former minister of higher education. He is backed by Gerindra, the opposition party of Prabowo Subianto, a former general who lost the bitterly fought 2014 presidential election to Mr. Joko.
The other candidate is Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party, a former army officer and the son of Mr. Joko's predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Two days before the Jakarta protest, the elder Mr. Yudhoyono angrily claimed that he was being accused within government circles of masterminding it, which he called "an intelligence failure and error."
But Mr. Yudhoyono also demanded that Mr. Basuki be prosecuted for blasphemy, suggesting that there would be violence in Jakarta if the governor was not taken to court.
After demonstrators burned vehicles and clashed with the police at the end of the protest, a senior leader of the Gerindra party, Fadli Zon, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Joko had "insulted the Muslim people and the people who were demonstrating" by allowing Mr. Basuki's Quran reference to go unpunished.
In the aftermath of the violence, Mr. Joko canceled a state visit to Australia, an important diplomatic partner, and instead spent days meeting with leaders of prominent mainstream Islamic organizations, none of which were involved in the demonstration. Analysts saw that as an attempt to delegitimize the hard-line groups.
The United States and other Western nations have long held up Indonesia, which has more than 190 million Muslims but also influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities, as a model for religious pluralism and democracy in the region.
But the spasm of violence has raised questions about whether radical Muslims here - who have largely confined their activities to pushing for Islamic laws, persecuting religious minorities and ransacking bars that they consider affronts to Islam - are becoming pawns in Indonesia's secular politics.
"The protest really was a picture of how radicalism is way more dangerous to Indonesia than other Muslim-majority nations," said Yahya Cholil Staquf, the secretary general to the supreme council of Indonesia's widely respected Nahdlatul Ulama,the world's largest Muslim organization.
"The masses have this negative feeling toward Ahok, and all this political maneuvering has been increasing their negative emotions toward him," he said, referring to Mr. Basuki by his nickname and describing the sentiments of protesters, most of whom were from outside Jakarta. "This makes Muslim leaders, who are in fact moderate, afraid to speak out against it, because they are afraid of the masses."
Mr. Joko was governor of Jakarta before becoming president in 2014, and Mr. Basuki, then his deputy, inherited the position. He immediately became a political target for hard-line Muslim groups, who said a Christian should not govern the capital.
Mr. Basuki, 50, the grandson of a tin miner from Guangzhou, China, has been a popular figure here. Brash and blunt-speaking, he has continued Mr. Joko's populist focus on quality-of-life issues and is known for publicly berating civil servants he considers incompetent or corrupt. Opinion polls indicate that he holds a large lead in the election for governor and that voters do not see ethnicity and religion as campaign issues.
The governor has repeatedly apologized for his September remarks, saying that he meant no harm. The National Police have opened a preliminary investigation into the blasphemy allegations and have questioned Mr. Basuki. But they are also questioning protest leaders on accusations that they had incited violence.
Last week, Mr. Joko promised that the investigation into Mr. Basuki would be carried out "strictly and transparently," and said he would "not protect him" from any criminal charges. Analysts, however, said it was unlikely Mr. Basuki would face charges, given his political support as well as questions about whether he had really insulted Islam.
But they also said Mr. Joko's attempts to mollify hard-line Islamic groups, which plan to hold another protest march on Nov. 25, underscored that religion was a potentially explosive political issue here.
Marcus Mietzner, an associate professor at Australian National University in Canberra, said it was telling that organizations in Jakarta not affiliated with hard-line Islamic elements had argued that Mr. Basuki should be held accountable for blasphemy, as have Indonesians he has met who work or study in Australia.
"For me, this shows that the racial and religious sentiment have deeply penetrated the educated middle classes," he said.




3



 


November 13, 2016 Sunday  

 Donald Trump, New Zealand, Facebook: Your Monday Briefing; 
Asia Pacific Edition

 
Good morning. 
We're trying something new for our readers in Asia and the Pacific region: a morning briefing to jump-start your day. 
What do you like? What do you want to see here? Email us with your feedback at asiabriefing@nytimes.com.
Here's what you need to know:
 President-elect Donald J. Trump's first appointment put a Washington insider - Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee - in the crucial gatekeeping role of chief of staff.
He also named Stephen K. Bannon, the right-wing media mogul, chief strategist. 
As Mr. Trump fills out his administration, the appointees will lend shape to a so-far chaotic agenda, offering the strongest signals yet on whether and how he will carry out campaign promises like deporting millions of illegal immigrants, scrapping trade pacts and re-examining traditional alliances.
An immediate question is how Mr. Trump will handle potential overlaps between his vast business dealings and his political role, given that his adult children are leading his transition team and also running his businesses.
_____
 Protests against Mr. Trump's election continued. In one of the largest, on Saturday, masses of marchers descended on Trump Tower in Manhattan, Mr. Trump's now-fortified headquarters and home, some chanting, "Not my president!"
More protests are planned, including one aimed at Mr. Trump's inauguration in January.
Facebook's executives held meetings with staff members and the company's policy team to try to assuage concerns that misinformation and fake news articles shared on the platform had influenced the election's outcome.
_____
 President Obama is on his way to Europe, where he will face leaders he had long assured that Mr. Trump could not be elected. Their meetings will now be shadowed by uncertainty over the United States' commitment to NATO.
Mr. Obama will visit Athens and Berlin before heading to Lima, Peru, for a summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. For about half the member states, the gathering will be clouded by the death of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Mr. Obama is expected to meet on the sidelines with President Xi Jinping of China, a major beneficiary of the pact's demise, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia.
_____
 New Zealand is assessing the damage from a7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit near Christchurch, triggering multiple tsunami waves and forcing evacuations along a stretch of the coastline. At least two people were killed.
Military helicopters have been deployed to coastal towns, such as Kaikoura, that have been cut off.
_____
 "Did you vote for me to abolish corruption?" Prime Minister Narendra Modi bellowed in a speech, furious over criticism of his abrupt ban on India's two largest bank notes. "If you asked me, should I do it or not?"
His move crippled commerce at markets around the country and left millions standing in line for hours at banks and A.T.M.s., depositing about $45 billion in the devalued notes and taking out $7.5 billion in new currency.
_____
 Interviews with more than two dozen military medical personnel who served or consulted at the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, reveal how secrecy, mistrust and the shadow of interrogation limited doctors' ability to treat detainees who became mentally ill, some after being subjected to torture or other harsh coercive practices.
One was Ramzi bin al-Shibh, an admitted and unapologetic co-conspirator in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
_____
Business
 Alibaba reported $17.73 billion in sales on Singles Day on Friday. The total was a 32 percent increase from 2015, about half the previous year's increase, largely because consumers spent less per purchase.
 Toyota Motors agreed to pay up to $3.4 billion to settle a federal class action lawsuit accusing the company of inadequate rust protection on 1.5 million pickups and sport utility vehicles sold in the United States.
 Japan said its economy grew an annualized 2.2 percent in the third quarter, exceeding estimates.
 Here's a snapshot of global markets.
In the News
 Prosecutors are preparing to question President Park Geun-hye over an influence-peddling scandal, a first for a sitting South Korean president. [Yonhap]
 The first female pilot of China's J-10 fighter jet, who was reported killed in a training accident, was remembered as a "golden peacock." [South China Morning Post]
 Myanmar government troops burned Rohingya villages as tensions between Buddhists and Muslims escalated in restive Rakhine State. []
 Analysts in Indonesia see the enormous Muslim protest this month against the governor of Jakarta as the camouflaged opening salvo in a political campaign to unseat President Joko Widodo. []
 China recycles just 20 percent of its packaging material, leaving landfills overloaded in the aftermath of Singles Day. [Caixin]
 The United States has agreed to take in refugees currently being housed on the Pacific island nation of Nauru in a one-time agreement with the Australian government. []
 A year after the Islamic State attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded nearly 500, survivors and witnesses shared their stories. []
Noteworthy
 Chinese women traditionally retain their surnames at marriage, but doing so is an expression of powerful patriarchal values, not, as in the West, of female empowerment.
 Less than a week ago, it appeared that a woman would break the 227-year-old gender barrier to the United States presidency. Here is a collection of stories from American women about the barriers they've faced.
 Leon Russell, the scratchy-voiced rock 'n' roll songwriter and star, died in Nashville. He was 74.
Back Story
The baseball World Series and the United States presidential election were two possible once-in-a-lifetime events this month. Look to tonight's sky and you'll be in for one more.
The so-called supermoon makes a beaming return to the night sky. It's the closest full moon to Earth since 1948.
If you missed it early this morning, you can catch tonight's rise in spectacular fashion. The moon tonight will appear significantly larger and brighter than usual. (Though some people, our science writer included, argue that the event is overhyped.)
You may also hear references to the Beaver Moon, a moniker that the Old Farmer's Almanac traces to Native Americans' naming moons to track the seasons.
In August, there's the Sturgeon Moon, when the fish were readily available in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The Strawberry Moon rises in June when the fruit is at its ripest. This week's moon rise coincides with the time of year beaver traps were set out, before the first freeze.
"There are a lot of cool things to find in the night sky these days," a NASA researcher, Noah Petro said, but tonight is the night "to enjoy the moon."
Remy Tumin contributed reporting.
_____
Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.
Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings.
What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes.com.




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November 7, 2016 Monday

 HARD-LINERS' SHOW OF FORCE TESTS INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT

 

ABSTRACT
Indonesian Pres Joko Widodo postpones visit to Australia amid crisis as 200,000 Muslim protesters demand ouster of Jakarta's Christian Gov Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, accused of blasphemy;  case stokes fears that country's moderate Islam is hardening (M)




3



 


November 6, 2016 Sunday  


 Thousands of protesters urge S. Korean leader to step down

 
SEOUL, South Korea - Tens of thousands of South Koreans poured into the streets of downtown Seoul on Saturday to demand that President Park Geun-hye step down amid a  political scandal. 
The protest, the largest anti-government demonstration in the capital in nearly a year, came a day after Park apologized on live television amid rising suspicion that she allowed a confidante to manipulate power from the shadows. 
Holding banners, candles and colorful signs that read "Park Geun-hye out" and "Treason by a secret government," a sea of demonstrators filled a large square in front of an old palace gate and the nearby streets, singing and thunderously applauding speeches calling for the ouster of the increasingly unpopular president.  
They then shifted into a slow march in streets around City Hall, shouting "Arrest Park Geun-hye," "Step down, criminal" and "We can't take this any longer," before moving back to the square and cheering on more speeches that continued into the night. 
"Park should squarely face the prosecution's investigation and step down herself. If she doesn't, politicians should move to impeach her," said Kim Seo-yeon, one of the many college students who participated in the protest. 
Last week, prosecutors arrested Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a late cult leader and a longtime friend of Park, and detained two former presidential aides over allegations that they pressured businesses into giving $70 million to two foundations Choi controlled. 
There also are allegations that Choi, despite having no government job, received classified information and meddled in state affairs, including the appointment of ministers and policy decisions. 
Italian, Canadian captives freed after nearly 2 months in Libya
ROME - Two Italians and a Canadian citizen kidnapped in southern Libya in September were freed unharmed and brought to Italy early Saturday, authorities said. 
Italian authorities said the intelligence services of Libya, Italy and Canada cooperated in securing the release of the three men after nearly seven weeks of captivity. 
The men, technicians working on an airport construction project, were seized Sept. 19 by armed, masked men who blocked their vehicle in Ghat, a Sahara city in southwestern Libya near the border with Algeria. 
A number of criminal and extremist groups operate in the area, but it wasn't clear which group was involved. 
"Today is a moment of relief and joy that I would like to share with the families of our technicians," Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said. 
Indonesian clashes leave 1 dead, nearly 200 hurt in rally at capital
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Saturday canceled a visit to Australia after a rally in the capital by Muslim hard-liners descended into violence, leaving one dead and nearly 200 injured. 
The Foreign Affairs Ministry said that Jokowi's trip scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday will be rescheduled because "current development has required the president to stay in Indonesia." 
Jokowi addressed the nation late Friday after clashes broke out between police and hard-liners who demanded the arrest of a Christian governor for alleged blasphemy. 
The accusation against Jakarta Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese who is an ally of Jokowi, has galvanized Jokowi's opponents in the Muslim-majority nation of 250 million. 
S.C. authorities ID body as chained woman's boyfriend
WOODRUFF, S.C. - Authorities say the body found on the rural South Carolina property where a woman was found chained in a storage container is her boyfriend. 
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright identified the body late Saturday as 32-year-old Charles Carver. Carver died of multiple gunshot wounds. An anthropologist is helping determine how long Carver was buried, said Coroner Rusty Clevenger. He declined to say how many times Carver had been shot. 
Carver and his girlfriend went missing around Aug. 31. Todd Kohlhepp is charged with kidnapping her and keeping her chained in a locked storage container. 
Prosecutor Barry Barnette said Friday she told investigators she saw her captor shoot her boyfriend. 
Israelis mark anniversary of Rabin assassination
TEL AVIV, Israel - Thousands of Israelis gathered at the square where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated to mark the 21st anniversary of the former prime minister's death and remember his call for peace. 
Rabin was gunned down Nov. 4, 1995, by a Jewish extremist who opposed his policy of trading land for peace with the Palestinians. 
Rabin's government negotiated the first interim peace accord with the Palestinians in 1993. He won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. 
Saturday night's rally at the square that bears Rabin's name has become an annual pilgrimage for many Israelis to pay tribute to the slain leader. 
This year's rally was initially canceled for the first time for lack of funds. But a public uproar ultimately generated the backing for it to take place. 
Albanians honor 38 martyrs slain by ex-regime
SHKODER, Albania - Thousands gathered in prayer Saturday at a cathedral in Albania to celebrate the beatification of 38 Albanian Catholic martyrs executed or tortured to death during the former communist regime. 
In April, Pope Francis officially recognized as martyrs Archbishop Vincens Prenushi and 37 other priests who died in prison or were murdered from 1945 to 1974 by the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha's regime, which banned religion in 1967 and persecuted its believers. 
During Francis' visit in 2014, posters of the 38 clergy were placed along the Martyrs of the Nation Boulevard in Tirana, the capital. 
On Saturday, up to 20,000 people attended a Mass at the Shen Shtjefni cathedral in Shkoder, 75 miles north of Tirana, to honor the martyrs.
Romanian pileup: Three people died and 57 were injured in a pileup on a fog-bound highway that runs from Bucharest to the Black Sea coast in eastern Romania, authorities said Saturday. Some of the injured were transferred to local hospitals, while others were being transported to Bucharest, authorities said. 
Calif. shooting: Two suspects were arrested after a shooting early Saturday outside an Oakland club that left eight people hurt, including the suspects, police said. Both suspects, ages 17 and 21, are in stable condition. The other six, four women and two men, range in age from 17 to 28. Five are in stable condition and one is critical.




3



 


November 6, 2016 Sunday  


 Thousands of protesters urge S. Korean leader to step down

 
SEOUL, South Korea - Tens of thousands of South Koreans poured into the streets of downtown Seoul on Saturday to demand that President Park Geun-hye step down amid a  political scandal. 
The protest, the largest anti-government demonstration in the capital in nearly a year, came a day after Park apologized on live television amid rising suspicion that she allowed a confidante to manipulate power from the shadows. 
Holding banners, candles and colorful signs that read "Park Geun-hye out" and "Treason by a secret government," a sea of demonstrators filled a large square in front of an old palace gate and the nearby streets, singing and thunderously applauding speeches calling for the ouster of the increasingly unpopular president.  
They then shifted into a slow march in streets around City Hall, shouting "Arrest Park Geun-hye," "Step down, criminal" and "We can't take this any longer," before moving back to the square and cheering on more speeches that continued into the night. 
"Park should squarely face the prosecution's investigation and step down herself. If she doesn't, politicians should move to impeach her," said Kim Seo-yeon, one of the many college students who participated in the protest. 
Last week, prosecutors arrested Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a late cult leader and a longtime friend of Park, and detained two former presidential aides over allegations that they pressured businesses into giving $70 million to two foundations Choi controlled. 
There also are allegations that Choi, despite having no government job, received classified information and meddled in state affairs, including the appointment of ministers and policy decisions. 
Italian, Canadian captives freed after nearly 2 months in Libya
ROME - Two Italians and a Canadian citizen kidnapped in southern Libya in September were freed unharmed and brought to Italy early Saturday, authorities said. 
Italian authorities said the intelligence services of Libya, Italy and Canada cooperated in securing the release of the three men after nearly seven weeks of captivity. 
The men, technicians working on an airport construction project, were seized Sept. 19 by armed, masked men who blocked their vehicle in Ghat, a Sahara city in southwestern Libya near the border with Algeria. 
A number of criminal and extremist groups operate in the area, but it wasn't clear which group was involved. 
"Today is a moment of relief and joy that I would like to share with the families of our technicians," Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said. 
Indonesian clashes leave 1 dead, nearly 200 hurt in rally at capital
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Saturday canceled a visit to Australia after a rally in the capital by Muslim hard-liners descended into violence, leaving one dead and nearly 200 injured. 
The Foreign Affairs Ministry said that Jokowi's trip scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday will be rescheduled because "current development has required the president to stay in Indonesia." 
Jokowi addressed the nation late Friday after clashes broke out between police and hard-liners who demanded the arrest of a Christian governor for alleged blasphemy. 
The accusation against Jakarta Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese who is an ally of Jokowi, has galvanized Jokowi's opponents in the Muslim-majority nation of 250 million. 
Sheriff: Man who chained S.C. woman admits to killing 7
WOODRUFF, S.C. - The man arrested after authorities found a woman chained on his property in rural South Carolina killed at least seven people, and his confessions have solved a 13-year-old case, Sheriff Chuck Wright said Saturday. 
Todd Kohlhepp confessed he was the shooter who killed four people at a motorcycle shop in Spartanburg County in 2003, Wright said. 
Wright said Kohlhepp also showed law enforcement officers Saturday the gravesites of two of his other victims buried on his 95-acre property near Woodruff. 
That's in addition to the body found Friday at the site. Wright and Coroner Rusty Clevenger identified that victim as 32-year-old Charles Carver, the boyfriend of the woman found in a locked metal container.
Israelis mark anniversary of Rabin assassination
TEL AVIV, Israel - Thousands of Israelis gathered at the square where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated to mark the 21st anniversary of the former prime minister's death and remember his call for peace. 
Rabin was gunned down Nov. 4, 1995, by a Jewish extremist who opposed his policy of trading land for peace with the Palestinians. 
Rabin's government negotiated the first interim peace accord with the Palestinians in 1993. He won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. 
Saturday night's rally at the square that bears Rabin's name has become an annual pilgrimage for many Israelis to pay tribute to the slain leader. 
This year's rally was initially canceled for the first time for lack of funds. But a public uproar ultimately generated the backing for it to take place. 
Albanians honor 38 martyrs slain by ex-regime
SHKODER, Albania - Thousands gathered in prayer Saturday at a cathedral in Albania to celebrate the beatification of 38 Albanian Catholic martyrs executed or tortured to death during the former communist regime. 
In April, Pope Francis officially recognized as martyrs Archbishop Vincens Prenushi and 37 other priests who died in prison or were murdered from 1945 to 1974 by the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha's regime, which banned religion in 1967 and persecuted its believers. 
During Francis' visit in 2014, posters of the 38 clergy were placed along the Martyrs of the Nation Boulevard in Tirana, the capital. 
On Saturday, up to 20,000 people attended a Mass at the Shen Shtjefni cathedral in Shkoder, 75 miles north of Tirana, to honor the martyrs.
Romanian pileup: Three people died and 57 were injured in a pileup on a fog-bound highway that runs from Bucharest to the Black Sea coast in eastern Romania, authorities said Saturday. Some of the injured were transferred to local hospitals, while others were being transported to Bucharest, authorities said. 
Calif. shooting: Two suspects were arrested after a shooting early Saturday outside an Oakland club that left eight people hurt, including the suspects, police said. Both suspects, ages 17 and 21, are in stable condition. The other six, four women and two men, range in age from 17 to 28. Five are in stable condition and one is critical.




3



 



November 6, 2016 Sunday  


 Digest

 

EGYPT

Sudden spike in prices shocks, angers public 
Egypt's prime minister tried to reassure an anxious public  Friday as Egyptians expressed alarm and anger over prices that swiftly soared a day after the nation's currency was floated, sending its value tumbling as fuel subsidies were cut. 
In Cairo's working-class  Imbaba district, residents spoke of a spike in transportation and food prices, mainly because of higher  fuel costs.
The unprecedented shock-therapy measures are part of a raft of reforms aimed at salvaging Egypt's crumbling economy and securing a $12 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
But they have also raised fears of a backlash from a public already struggling with high inflation and mounting unemployment.
On Thursday, the Central Bank devalued the Egyptian pound from 8.8 to 13 to the dollar and then floated it. By Friday, the pound was at 15 to 16 to the dollar.
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail appeared on state TV at a news conference with six other ministers and said that the government doesn't have the "luxury" to wait.
- Associated Press

INDONESIA

Riot in capital blamed on political meddling
 Indonesia's president blamed political meddling for violence in Jakarta on Friday that killed one and injured seven following a protest by hard-line Muslims demanding the arrest of the capital city's minority-Christian governor for alleged blasphemy.
In a televised address, President Joko  Widodo said the riot showed that "political actors have taken advantage of the situation." He did not identify anyone as responsible, but earlier in the week, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono went on national television to say he supported plans for the massive protest.
The Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group that wants to impose sharia law, is demanding the arrest of Jakarta Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama after a video circulated online in which he joked to an audience about a passage in the Koran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. He has apologized for the comment.
- Associated Press

THE VATICAN

Radio station calls quakes 'punishment'
The Vatican condemned a right-wing Catholic radio station Friday for saying that  a series of earthquakes that hit Italy in the past three months was "God's punishment" for the country approving same-sex civil unions.
 "These remarks are offensive for believers and scandalous for non-believers," Archbishop Angelo Becciu, the Vatican's deputy secretary of state,  was quoted as saying by Italian media. He asked for forgiveness from the victims of the quakes for the comments, made by an announcer this week on the Catholic network Radio Maria.
Central Italy has been ravaged by quakes in recent months, including one in August that killed nearly 300 people. A quake in late October, the country's biggest in decades, caused extensive damage but no deaths.
- Reuters
 Thousands in Chile protest state pension system:  Tens of thousands of people in Chile staged a nationwide protest demanding reforms of the country's pension system. Demonstrators say the system,  managed under private pension funds, should be thrown out as grossly unfair. They say Chileans get poor retirement benefits that can be below the minimum salary of about $390. The protest was mostly peaceful, but hooded vandals who infiltrated a march clashed with riot police in  Santiago, the capital. 
- From news services




4


 


November 5, 2016 Saturday  


 Indonesians Demand Jail for Christian Official

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Tens of thousands of Indonesians marched in Jakarta on Friday, demanding that the city's first Christian governor in decades be jailed for blasphemy. The rally was a show of strength by conservative Islamic groups, who were offended by his earlier remarks about the Quran and want to weaken him as he runs for re-election.
The governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as Ahok, is an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and the first Christian in nearly 50 years to govern Jakarta, capital of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. 
  He has been a political target of some Islamic organizations since taking office in 2014. Some of those groups seized on comments he made in September to a group of fishermen, in which he lightheartedly cited a Quran verse that warns against taking Christians and Jews as friends. 
  His comments circulated on social media, and hard-liners accused him of blasphemy, which is a criminal offense in Indonesia, and pressured the police to investigate. Mr. Basuki has repeatedly apologized to Muslims who were offended by his remark, but he has rejected calls to withdraw from the election for governor in February, which he is heavily favored to win.
  ''There was no intention to insult religion,'' he told reporters this week. ''I am sending my message to all offended Muslims: I sincerely apologize.''
  Fears of violence at the rally had prompted the closing of some schools and office buildings in central Jakarta, and thousands of police officers and soldiers barricaded roads as the protesters marched. The American and Australian Embassies had warned their citizens to stay away from the protest zone.
  For most of the day there were no reports of arrests or significant violence, though some of the marchers chanted that Mr. Basuki should be killed. But after nightfall, some protesters clashed with the police and set fire to at least two vehicles. There were reports that at least one protester had died, but the authorities had not confirmed that as of Saturday morning.
  Early Saturday, President Joko Widodo decried the violence and accused ''political actors'' of ''exploiting the situation,'' according to Reuters. He later cancelled a visit to Australia that had been scheduled to begin Sunday.
  Mr. Basuki, 50, the grandson of a tin miner from Guangzhou, China, has been a popular figure in Jakarta. Like Mr. Joko, who preceded him as governor before becoming president, he is very different from the soft-spoken Javanese politicians the capital is used to.
  Brash and blunt-speaking, Mr. Basuki is known for publicly berating civil servants as incompetent and corrupt. Opinion polls indicate that he holds a large lead over his two opponents in the election for governor on Feb. 15.
  If he wins, he would be the first ethnic Chinese Christian directly elected to the office, the most powerful provincial post in the country and one that Mr. Joko used as a springboard to the presidency. Mr. Basuki, who had been Mr. Joko's vice governor, inherited the city's top job when Mr. Joko became president in 2014.
  Indonesians practice a pluralistic brand of Islam, though pockets of the country are rigidly conservative and there are periodic outbreaks of violent radicalism. Political opponents have used Mr. Basuki's religion and his ethnicity against him, but polling indicates that most Jakarta voters do not consider them campaign issues.
  Analysts said that Friday's march and other recent protests against Mr. Basuki were, nevertheless, attempts to weaken him ahead of the election. Analysts have also said that some of the Islamic groups that organized the march have ties to the campaigns of Mr. Basuki's two opponents, though the groups and the campaigns have denied that. His opponents are Anies Baswedan, a former minister of higher education, and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, a former Army officer and the son of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was president from 2004 to 2014.
  ''Precisely because religion and ethnicity are as such not electoral factors, Ahok's opponents have to up the game,'' said Marcus Mietzner, an associate professor at the Australian National University in Canberra, who closely follows Indonesian politics. ''Instead of claiming that Ahok shouldn't be governor because he's a Christian -- which hasn't worked -- they try to portray him as a blasphemist who violated the law.''
  The reason, said Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice chairman of the Setara Institute, a Jakarta organization that promotes religious tolerance, is simple but desperate: an effort to force the governor out of the race, which will go to a second round if none of the three candidates gets 50 percent of the vote.
  ''They know that Ahok is still strong and can easily get into the second round, while the others are far less certain,'' he said. ''So they think they will be safer if Ahok is defeated, or they hope he will be put in jail and not be able to run.''
  The police have questioned Mr. Basuki about his September comments, but analysts saw that primarily as an attempt to mollify his Islamist critics.
  Protesters on Friday, many of whom had arrived in groups from neighboring West Java, chanted, ''Hang Ahok, hang the traitor,'' and, ''Cut off a hand and foot and deport him.''
  Mr. Basuki had faced protests because of his Christianity, notably before his swearing-in, and he responded with a mixture of good humor and taunts. When Islamists threatened two years ago to storm his offices at City Hall, he assured them that they would be arrested if they did so.
  Though Chinese-Indonesians make up just over 1 percent of Indonesia's population, they have tended to wield economic clout beyond their numbers, which has often led to resentment. For decades, they were subjected to discriminatory laws and regulations, and more than a thousand people were killed in anti-Chinese rioting in 1998, mostly in Jakarta, amid protests against then-President Suharto's authoritarian rule.
  Mr. Basuki has been lauded for expanding populist programs in Jakarta initiated by Mr. Joko. He has fast-tracked infrastructure projects, including a mass-transit system; dispatched a small army of orange-clad street sweepers to spruce up the city of more than 10 million; and instituted a ''smart card'' program to subsidize health care and education for the poor. His main re-election slogan is the Indonesian word for work, ''Kerja!''
  Last year, Mr. Basuki threatened to buck Indonesia's political system by running as an independent, after a grass-roots volunteer organization collected more than a million signatures in a petition drive enabling him to do so. But in the end, he stayed with Mr. Joko's governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the largest political party in the country.
  Supporters of Mr. Basuki expressed confidence on Friday that the show of outrage over his remarks would not hurt his chances in February.
  ''We're not worried about the protests,'' said Richard Saerang, a leader the grass-roots organization Teman Ahok, or ''Friends of Ahok.''
  ''We believe our criminal justice system will handle the case fairly -- he did nothing wrong,'' Mr. Saerang said. ''It's just a matter of perspective.''




4



 


November 5, 2016 Saturday

 INDONESIA PROTEST HIGHLIGHTS RISE OF HARD-LINE MUSLIMS

 

ABSTRACT
Ben Otto and Anita Rachman Weekend WSJ article discusses street demonstration of 100,000 people in Jakarta, Indonesia, against capital's Christian Gov Basuki Tjahaja Pernama in stark displayof more conservative, militant strain of Islam taking hold in world's most populous Muslim country; photo (M)




4



 


November 4, 2016 Friday

 Why a massive Muslim protest erupted against a Christian governor in Jakarta; 
The Christian governor of Jakarta was accused of making a blasphemous remark about the Quran, igniting protests from a Muslim group that rallied in multiple cities.

 
Tens of thousands of protesters in Jakarta, Indonesia, took to the streets on Friday to demand the ouster of the capital's governor for making what they call blasphemous remarks against Muslims.
Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as Ahok, came under fire when it was revealed that during a stump speech he had insinuated that a Quran verse prohibiting Muslims from voting for non-Muslim leaders was a lie. Charging the tensions was Mr. Purnama's double-minority identity as a Christian and an ethnic Chinese holding an important position in a Muslim-majority country, a flash point that has ignited demonstrations in the past.
Conservative Islamist groups immediately condemned Mr. Purnama for "insulting Islam," culminating in the march during which protesters carried signs demanding the death penalty of the official, even as a trending hashtag (#tangkapaho) urged "Arrest Ahok." 
Race and religion can be sensitive topics in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation in the world. The country is known for practicing a moderate form of Islam despite having seen homegrown Islamist attacks, Islamic State recruitment, and implementation of Islamic laws, representing what some see as a tussle over the interpretation of religious freedom in a diverse but traditional society that has been transitioning to democracy since the late 1990s. For Indonesian officials, balancing these priorities may be their key challenge.
"It has to do with this ongoing debate in Indonesia about how these constitutional guarantees of religious freedom which are very strong on paper, how in practice they should be," Robert Hefner, a professor at Boston University who has researched Muslim culture tells  in a phone interview. "The hardliners are trying to shift public opinion in a less protective way ... in a way that I think undermines religious freedom."
The rally, also held in multiple other cities, was in fact organized by a hard-line group Islam Defenders Front (FPI).  As Jakarta Post points out, they're the same group that protested against Ahok when he became governor of Jakarta in 2014, saying that Ahok did not deserve the position because he was "not only Christian and Chinese, but also arrogant and ignorant."
But they're a minority that doesn't receive many electoral votes, Professor Hefner notes, compared with the nation's larger Islamic groups. While the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has said Ahok's statement is blasphemy and should be investigated by law enforcement officials, they said they were not involved in organizing the rally. The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, two of the largest Muslim organizations, have said they would not encourage their followers to take part in the rally.
"The hardliners take of what religious freedom ... it's one that rejects the rights of anybody who says something that may deviate from a conservative understanding from Islamic orthodoxy," Hefner says. The attacks are usually targeted at more secular or liberal Muslims, he says, constituting a clash between interpretations of religion in a modern and diverse context, although much of it can be political in nature.
"When we see situations like these protests against Ahok, it's being used for politics, it can take a much harder edge," Conor Cronin, research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies tells the Monitor in a phone interview. "But I don't think that is representative of Indonesian Islam."
President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, has taken a cautious tack in dealing with the issue even though he was accused of siding with Ahok, his ally when he was governor of Jakarta. He chose instead to schedule a meeting with his political rival from a previous election and 30 Muslim leaders to ease tensions before the rally.
Other Indonesian political leaders who are Muslim have also made an effort to ease tensions that could otherwise divide the nation.
"That's something we really watch for. We are a pluralistic country. Our country has many tribes, many religions, many races. If there are problems, let's resolve them in a cool-headed way, a peaceful way," Prabowo Subianto, who ran against current President Jokowi Widodo, said in a press conference, as reported by regional publication Benar News.
Figuring out how to live with the differences in religious interpretation may become a more pressing need as the Muslim fringe parties, who have been present for decades, may gain more exposure through staging such public demonstrations. But all of this might be part of the "unexpected outcomes of democratization in Indonesia," Jakarta Post columnist Hendri Yulius wrote.
"While freedom of expression is now guaranteed, hate speech has gotten out of control. Some would argue that Indonesia's democracy is still nascent and hence needs more time to become more mature and substantive," Mr. Yulius wrote. "Nevertheless, whatever the case, it is important to be continuously reminded that bigots are everywhere, and we should choose leaders based on their programs, track record and commitment, instead of religion and ethnicity."




4


 


November 3, 2016 Thursday  


 A Muslim Fashion Identity

 
Last week, quietly and without much fanfare, the 22nd global Vogue went live.
Framed in striking black and gold, the glossy digital pages look, in many ways, much like any other international issue of the world's most powerful fashion magazine. There is a video interview with the star model Gigi Hadid, a colorful carousel of spring 2017 runway trends, a lavish editorial featuring the latest Chanel, and bright, chatty pieces about hot local brands and social media stars. 
  But then there is this: ''How to Style Your Hair Under a Hijab.'' And this: Malikah, a fiery Beirut-raised hip-hop star, describing how she began her career spitting lyrics into a face mask to hide her identity from disapproving conservatives.
  And, just after a cinematic short film featuring the Lebanese designer Elie Saab and the model Elisa Sednaoui amid ornate dining rooms and lush walled gardens, there is this: the definitive edit of this season's most stylish abayas (robelike dresses). 
  Welcome to Vogue Arabia, a digital-first, bilingual foray into the hearts, minds and wallets of women in the 22 countries of the Arab League. As such, it is the latest, and potentially the strongest, new voice to join a growing chorus demanding global recognition and respect for Muslim culture and its commercial clout.
  From Arab Fashion Week, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which debuted last month on the heels of Paris Fashion Week, to Jakarta Fashion Week, held last week in the Indonesian capital, formal fashion showcases are being institutionalized across the Islamic world.
  At the same time, private individuals are also claiming their due. A 15-year-old Saudi teenager called for the development of a hijab-clad emoji this fall, while a fully clothed Muslim journalist was featured wearing a hijab in the October edition of Playboy. If fashion helps define a social and cultural narrative, then this movement is focused on reshaping the perception of 21st-century Muslim female identity in ways that go far beyond the veil.
  ''This Vogue is very overdue,'' said Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, 41, the Riyadh-based Saudi princess, former retailer and newly crowned editor in chief of Vogue Arabia, while she was in Paris during fashion week last month. ''The Arabs deserve their Vogue, and they've deserved it for a long, long time.''
  Though Vogue Arabia is not the first foreign women's lifestyle magazine to publish an offshoot in the Gulf (Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire and Elle all publish Arabian editions, for example), its audience ambitions extend far beyond its immediate geographical borders.
  ''The Vogue Arabia woman is one who celebrates her tradition but also considers herself a highly educated global citizen,'' Ms. Aljuhani Abdulaziz said. ''Don't forget that we understand luxury almost better than anyone else on earth. Middle Eastern women have been serious couture clients since the late 1960s. We've been around long before the Russians and the Chinese ever came into the picture.''
  A key part of her Vogue editorial mission, she said, is to eradicate misconceptions around the Arab and Muslim diaspora. The new magazine's headquarters will be in Dubai, and alongside the online platform starting next March, the 25-member editorial team will produce 11 print issues a year, two of which will be solely in Arabic.
  ''Vogue Arabia is not just about appealing to our own region, but about providing a cross-cultural bridge, a beautiful source of inspiration you would want to pick up even if you were from another area,'' she said.
  ''Many people don't really know exactly what Arabia is, and there are major misunderstandings around modest dressing, too,'' Ms. Aljuhani Abdulaziz added. ''I have a responsibility to tackle those issues, through a fashion lens, of course. I am not interested in being a political magazine. There are plenty of others who do that. But what I can lay out to readers, both near and far, is that what brings us together is far greater than what sets us apart.''
  Anniesa Hasibuan, 30, would agree. The Indonesian designer of modest fashion collections with 124,000 followers on Instagram made history in September during New York Fashion Week with a catwalk show in which every model wore hijabs in ivory, peach and gray silk.
  A hijab is not just a symbol or a statement, ''but a part of a Muslim woman's identity, an identity they are asserting more confidently,'' Ms. Hasibuan said. (Her show received a standing ovation.) ''I believe fashion is one of the outlets in which we can start that cultural shift in today's society to normalize the hijab in America and other parts of the West, so as to break down stereotypes and demystify misconceptions.''
  Indeed, modest fashion is fast becoming a commercial phenomenon; the global Muslim clothing market is forecast to be worth $327 billion by 2020, according to the latest Global Islamic Economy report -- larger than the current clothing markets of Britain ($107 billion), Germany ($99 billion) and India ($96 billion) combined. And a rising Muslim middle class, having greater affluence and sophisticated tastes as well as pride in its religion, is likely to triple from an estimated 300 million in 2015 to 900 million by 2030, according to Ogilvy Noor, the Islamic branding consultancy.
  So it is of no surprise that in the last 18 months, a host of Western brands have made their own efforts to get into this booming market, like DKNY, which created a Ramadan capsule collection in 2014; to Tommy Hilfiger; and Dolce & Gabbana, which included a range of luxury hijabs and abayas, made from the same fabrics as the rest of its collection. Not to mention Marks & Spencer's controversial burkini, and Uniqlo's LifeWear collection, created in collaboration with a Muslim fashion designer, Hana Tajima, which includes ''breezy dresses'' and ''iconic hijabs.''
  Shelina Janmohamed, vice president of Ogilvy Noor, said: ''The rise in modest fashion over the last decade has come hand in hand with the emergence of 'Generation M': Muslims who believe that faith and modernity go hand in hand. They want to wear their religion with pride but also feel part of the societies around them.''
  She said that more than one-third of today's Muslims are younger than 15, and nearly two-thirds are younger than 30. And when it comes to young women, more are digitally connected, marrying later and in possession of a disposable income than ever before.
  ''Consumption is part of their identity,'' Ms. Janmohamed said. ''When they buy products that help them better their practice and that reinforce their beliefs, then they believe it will also make them better Muslims.''
  Events like the Muslim Lifestyle Expo, held last weekend in Manchester, England, and now in its second year, offer smaller Muslim lifestyle brands the platform to showcase their products and services in the realms of halal food and travel, finance and fashion, to over 10,000 attendees.
  The modest fashion catwalk, which hosts three to four runway shows per day, largely from foreign brands, is the centerpiece of the weekend, said the Expo's chief executive, Tahir Mirza, though it also includes live cooking demonstrations and workshops on Islamic art put on by local galleries.
  ''The shows are packed,'' Mr. Mirza said. ''Many young British Muslim women love these modest fashion houses from abroad, because they have westernized branding but traditional values. And they don't want to compromise.''
  For Jacob Abrian, the chief executive of the Arab Fashion Council, the industry body responsible for organizing Arab Fashion Week, his primary focus beyond show seasons is on reinforcing local infrastructure and the framework necessary to create a viable, interconnected fashion industry across the region. By strengthening the existing manufacturing roots and luxury heritage -- from the small traditional factories and village damask weavers to glossy fashion houses being started from the glittering skyscrapers of the Gulf -- and encouraging Western designers to come and showcase their work to a valuable client base, the Middle East could become a center for fashion in its own right.
  Ms. Aljuhani Abdulaziz appeared acutely aware that her role as Vogue Arabia editor in chief would require relentless careful navigation of religious and regional codes.
  But as the first Vogue editor to have formerly been a retailer (she was a founder of a fashion concept store in Riyadh called D'NA), she pointed out that she was in the best possible position to understand the demands of her 21st-century readership, ''be it the sophisticated Qatari woman able to shop in Europe, or to help a young woman in a remote village in Algeria or Yemen have dreams and feel like she can belong to something.''
  ''This job is not without its challenges,'' she said. ''It only really dawned on me after the appointment that this won't just be me doing something I love, but is also a massive responsibility. But I know what offends in this world and what doesn't, because I am one of them. I have my own sensitivities as to what is appropriate and what is not. I certainly don't believe that you have to have blatant sexuality or absolute nudity to do a beautiful editorial.''
  As the furor set off by France's attempt to bar Muslim women wearing burkinis in public this summer proved, tensions around the right to bare skin (or not) and what freedom really looks like still simmer across the world. Reina Lewis, a professor of cultural studies at London College of Fashion, UAL, and the author of ''Muslim Fashion: Contemporary Style Cultures,'' suggested that Vogue Arabia may struggle to be all things to all people.
  ''Any regional title outside the so-called Western world has to make decisions on models and their ethnicity, skin color and body type rather than the usual default Caucasian, and consider considering cultural distinctions,'' Ms. Lewis said. ''But Vogue Arabia will have to constantly cross overtly into religious as well as national and regional identities, practices and a variety of income brackets in order to find her reader. And that won't always be easy.
  ''Then again,'' she continued, ''this is something Western brands are being forced to think about more and more when it comes to appealing to observant women from numerous religious backgrounds. Fashion designers in particular need to think more laterally about how they design and the nonnegotiable elements of some lifestyles they design for.
  ''Modest fashion and Muslim fashion are no longer on the periphery of the industry, and an industry that stopped being able to afford to be elitist and exclusive long ago. This movement is really driven by an empowered new demographic who are expressing their presence in the modern world, and attempting to assert their place in it.''
  Continue following our fashion and lifestyle coverage on Facebook (Styles and Modern Love), Twitter (Styles, Fashion and Weddings) and Instagram. 




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November 3, 2016 Thursday  


 Modesty's Proponents See No Limits, in Fashion or in Life

 
A Muslim, an Orthodox Jew and a religious Christian walked into a room, but it wasn't a bar and this was no joke. On the contrary, representatives from each of the Abrahamic religions had gathered during fashion month at New York University for the Meeting Through Modesty fashion symposium to discuss something they take very seriously: modest style.
A generous smattering of hijabs, skullcaps and discreet wigs were spread throughout the room, along with Proenza Schouler skirts and Rachel Comey shoes.  
  ''There's a general misconception that modest clothing is inherently oppressive,'' said Michelle Honig, the keynote speaker and an Orthodox Jewish fashion journalist. ''But if women in so-called 'liberated countries' still choose to cover their bodies, then they have made a choice. They have agency.''
  Ms. Honig had layered a Tanya Taylor top and Marc by Marc Jacobs skirt under a striped Prada dress to keep her elbows and knees concealed, in addition to wearing a wig to keep her head covered, per Orthodox custom.
  The symposium was just one of a growing number of modest-fashion events in recent months at universities like Fordham, Princeton and the London College of Fashion. The trend in academic settings reflects a broader movement on the internet as devout women use social media to discuss, celebrate and experiment with modest fashion.
  Interpretations of modesty differ across religious boundaries and even within them. ''Modesty'' in a Muslim context may be expressed by wearing loosefitting pants and covering one's head with a hijab, while an Orthodox Jewish woman may wear skirts or dresses only and cover her head with a wig.
  Christian women, like the swimwear designer Jessica Rey, may express their vision of modesty by eschewing bikinis in favor of bathing suits that expose their legs but cover their midriffs.
  Still, the shared interest in staying relatively covered up while still looking stylish is enough to connect women across religious, racial and cultural boundaries. Many of them cite devotion to God and a desire to present themselves as ''more than a collection of body parts,'' in Ms. Rey's words, as the motivation behind their affinity for modest dress.
  ''Making connections with other Christians, as well as Muslim and Jewish women, has probably been the most exciting benefit of blogging,'' says Liz Roy, a Christian who runs the personal style blog Downtown Demure. ''We all have different standards for modesty, but we share this common goal, which can be a bit contradictory to secular standards.''
  These connections have the potential to yield more than just warm, fuzzy feelings, according to the Jewish Orthodox sisters Simi and Chaya Gestetner of the modest indie label the Frock. While they enjoy the personal connections they build with customers of any faith (including their Orthodox neighbors in Brooklyn and their Mormon fans in Salt Lake City), they also see the mobilization of the modest-fashion community as a real boon for business.
  The sisters report seeing a significant increase in sales every time the Jewish Orthodox street style star Adi Heyman posts Instagram images of herself wearing their pieces, often mixed with separates from brands like Gucci or Chanel. Since Ms. Heyman's blog, Fabologie, flows from her desire to find more modest options in mainstream fashion, the continued success of brands like the Frock is something she is deeply invested in.
  And while linking commerce and religion may seem distasteful to some, modest-fashion entrepreneurs like Melanie Elturk see it as a natural way to live out their faith and serve their communities. Ms. Elturk, a former lawyer who founded the online retailer Haute Hijab in 2010, uses her online following to offer style inspiration and practical resources to young Muslim women who are seeking to honor the tradition of wearing hijabs in the face of cultural pushback.
  ''I have a whole network of psychiatrists, therapists, social workers and community leaders who I put in touch with girls who are struggling so they can hash out any issues,'' said Ms. Elturk, whose responsive social media presence engages many younger followers. ''I want to see a thriving community of girls who are proud to wear hijab.''
  Like many of her peers across religious lines, she would argue that modesty is required of both men and women, and that it's as much about how one carries oneself as how one dresses. And like Ms. Rey, whose line is made in America, Ms. Elturk would assert that her religious beliefs have made her as committed to ethical production as she is to modesty in fashion.
  But perhaps the greatest point of consensus about modest fashion across a range of faiths is that it need not be experienced as a limiting factor in style or in life.
  At the N.Y.U. panel, the Indonesian designer Dian Pelangi showed a video by Hijup, a Muslim fashion store, that showcased herself, a member of a hard-core band known for social critique and a martial artist who all pursue their passions while wearing the hijab. Ms. Honig chimed in with anecdotes about her experiences sky diving, rock-climbing and rappelling while wearing a skirt, asserting that while it may not be easy to participate in certain activities while honoring strict modesty dictates, ''it's possible.''
  ''You want to experience life,'' Ms. Honig said. ''Modesty shouldn't hold you back.''
  Continue following our fashion and lifestyle coverage on Facebook (Styles and Modern Love), Twitter (Styles, Fashion and Weddings) and Instagram.




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October 28, 2016 Friday  


 Indonesia weighs ban on sex outside marriage

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's highest court is deliberating whether sex outside marriage should be made illegal in the world's third-largest democracy, in the latest push by conservative Islamist organizations to restructure the country's relatively secular legal code.
If the court revises the law to forbid casual sex, gay sexual relations would become illegal for the first time in Indonesian history, and straight unmarried couples could face prosecution.
The Family Love Alliance, a conservative Islamist advocacy organization, petitioned the Constitutional Court to broaden existing Indonesian law, which makes adultery illegal but does not ban sexual relations between unmarried people. A decision is expected in December or early next year, after the court hearings  are completed.
Human rights organizations say the situation is very dangerous for Indonesia, which has a larger Muslim population than any other country. "This [petition] consists of discrimination towards all Indonesians: women as well as men, and those of diverse sexual orientations," Bahrain, who goes by one name and is the director of advocacy at the Legal Aid Center, told the court at a hearing in early October. The center is one of several progressive advocacy organizations arguing against revising the constitution to ban sex outside marriage. 
A ban would "criminalize consensual sex outside of marriage," said Naila Rizqi, head of legal affairs at the National Commission on Women. The current law punishes adultery with up to nine months in prison, and if the law is revised, that penalty could carry over to unmarried sexual partners who have been prosecuted and convicted.
The case is the latest battle in the struggle over Indonesia's social culture, which features a small band of progressives battling to maintain this Muslim-majority democracy's relatively secular legal system against Islamist forces.
Activists fear that Indonesia's highly conservative court will be unable to resist the opportunity to strike a blow for traditional morality. In an early court hearing, one conservative judge, Patrialis Akbar, appeared to affirm arguments made by conservative plaintiffs, saying, "Our freedom is limited by moral values as well as religious values. ... We're not a secular country - this country acknowledges religion."
Although Indonesia, a rare example of a vibrant Muslim-majority democracy, does not maintain Islamic law at the national level, Indonesian conservatives interpret their country's constitution to support loosely defined religious values.
Over the past 1                1/2              years, gays have become a particular target of these religious values, with state officials and Islamic scholars repeatedly declaring that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people represent an unprecedented danger to the health of Indonesian society. Over the past few weeks, expert witnesses have given emotion-laded testimony on the danger gays pose to Indonesia.
"Can LGBT refrain from ... free sex with constantly changing partners? They cannot. LGBT represents sex, sex, sex," Dewi Inong Irana, a doctor, told the court, citing her experience with gay and transgender patients. Dewi also warned the court about the dangers of the gay hookup app Grindr, which has since been banned by the government. "We have to protect this nation, ladies and gentlemen. Grindr is already here," she said.
One witness, a Muslim scholar and anti-LGBT activist named Adian Husaini, suggested that the spread of gay rights is the result of a Jewish conspiracy. "Those who conducted the movement to legalize [same-sex marriage] were a small group of Jews in America," he told the court. He cited a speech that Vice President Biden gave to Jewish leaders thanking them for their support for gay equality.
A lesbian activist, Lini Zurlia, sat outside the courtroom one recent day because of the overflowing crowd, wearily observing the hearing on a screen. "We can only laugh," she said. "They don't understand us and don't want to understand us."
But she worried that the Islamists would prevail. "Of the nine judges, only two judges have a solid perspective on the law. Seven of them ask questions that aren't about legality or constitutionality but instead about religion or moral perspectives," she said.
Nor is the LGBT community the only one at risk in this battle in Indonesia's culture wars. Women's advocates worry that a ban on sex outside marriage would be used disproportionately to prosecute women, in part because unmarried pregnant women would be an easy target. "It's obvious this law will be a disaster, and women will be most affected," said Tunggal Pawestri, a women's rights activist.
Another worry about the court case, according to Santi Kusumaningrum, co-director of the Center on Child Protection at the University of Indonesia, is that only about half of Indonesian couples have been legally married, meaning that millions of couples with informal and ceremonial marriages will no longer be legally able to have sex.
"This law, when enforced, will immediately exclude the poor, the marginalized, people who live in remote places in the margins of public service," she said.
While a ban on extramarital sex would be difficult, if not impossible, for the government to enforce, progressive activists fear it would empower local vigilantes to expose and extort cohabiting unmarried couples. This is already a fairly common practice in parts of Indonesia, although it lacks legal basis in much of the country.
In interviews, members of Indonesia's conservative Islamist leadership say their side is ascendant. Hidayat Nur Wahid, former vice speaker of Indonesia's parliament and a founder of the Prosperous Justice Party, an influential Islamist party, said he was confident that the law would be revised. He said that those who are not happy with such a decision should accept that the move would be democracy at work.
"What's important is that decisions are made peacefully, in a way that isn't forceful, in a way that's rational," he said. "This is democracy."
Progressive activists see the court case as the latest sign that the democracy they fought for 18 years ago, after the fall of the authoritarian Suharto regime, will be used to impose a conservative vision of Islam on society.
"The progressive groups at some point were successful at providing the space for democracy, but we really could not make benefit from the open space," said Tunggal, the women's rights activist, who said uneven economic growth is leading Indonesians to embrace religious conservatism.
"All the institutions that support democracy are there," she said, citing state commissions to protect the rights of women and to uphold human rights. "But on the ground, it's kind of the opposite. There's a gap - a kind of lack in skill and knowledge - on how to reach out to the grass roots."
Ulil Abshar Abdalla, founder of the Liberal Islam Network, is one of the very rare Indonesian Islamic scholars to support gay rights. He said he is worried about the current legal case - as well as the overall direction in which his country is headed.
"Conservatism is becoming stronger and stronger," he said. "The kind of Islam we are seeing today in Indonesia is changing a lot."
foreign@washpost.com




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October 4, 2016 Tuesday

 
CANADA 
Trudeau says nation to implement carbon tax 
TORONTO "" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that his nation will impose a tax on carbon emissions starting in 2018 as part of its efforts to meet targets set by the Paris climate change accord. 
Trudeau made the announcement in Parliament as debate started over whether Canada should ratify the Paris accord on climate change. The House of Commons is expected to approve the Paris accord in a vote Wednesday.  
Trudeau said provinces and territories can either put a direct tax on carbon emissions of at least $10 a ton or adopt a cap-and-trade system. If a province fails to do either by 2018, the federal government will implement a basic carbon tax of $10 a ton, rising by $10 a ton per year until it reaches $50 Canadian a ton by 2022. 
 RUSSIA 
Dutch ambassador summoned  over MH17 probe findings 
MOSCOW "" The government on Monday summoned the Dutch ambassador to complain over the findings of a criminal probe into the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 that said the missile used to shoot it down was brought in from Russia. 
The Boeing 777 passenger jet was blown out of the sky on July 17, 2014, over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 on board, the majority Dutch citizens. 
Criminal investigators from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine last week said they had "irrefutable evidence" that a BUK missile slammed into the plane and was fired from a field in a part of eastern Ukraine then controlled by pro-Russian rebels. 
 GERMANY 
Far-right critics denounce Merkel on unification day 
DRESDEN "" Hundreds of far-right protesters shouted abuse at Chancellor Angela Merkel as leaders gathered Monday in the eastern city of Dresden to celebrate the anniversary of the country's reunification 26 years ago. 
The protesters shouted "Merkel must go" and "traitor," as the chancellor left the city's Frauenkirche church after a morning ecumenical service. Merkel has been harshly criticized in some quarters for her welcoming refugee policy, and Dresden has been a center of the criticism. 
Despite the tense mood, Merkel called on Germans to enjoy unification day, which is a public holiday in the country, and to be grateful for the achievements of the last 26 years. 
 IRAQ 
Attacks in capital kill  16 
BAGHDAD "" Militants on Monday unleashed a series of attacks in Shiite-majority neighborhoods in the capital, Baghdad, killing at least 16 civilians, officials said. 
The deadliest attack took place in the southwestern neighborhood of al-Amil when a bomber set off his explosives-laden vest in a busy outdoor market, killing seven shoppers and wounding up to 25 others, a police officer said. 
Another suicide attacker on foot blew himself up among residents of the eastern neighborhood of Mashtal as they were preparing for next week's Ashoura rituals, which commemorate the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and an iconic Shiite martyr. 
 INDONESIA 
Police investigate porn shown on electronic billboard 
JAKARTA "" Police in the capital are investigating the operator of a public video screen that briefly displayed a pornographic movie instead of advertising to passing traffic. 
Ten people, including employees of the company operating the electronic billboard, have been questioned, Jakarta police spokesman Awi Setiyono said Monday. Police can't yet name a suspect, he added. 
Twitter in social media-mad Indonesia was abuzz with news of the incident, which occurred not long after Friday prayers last week in the Muslim-majority country. 
Many users posted clips of the billboard as it displayed a scene from Japanese pornography on an internet browser. 
"" Wire reports 




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October 4, 2016 Tuesday

 Indonesian police investigate porn on electronic billboard

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Police in Indonesia's capital are investigating the operator of a public video screen that briefly displayed a pornographic movie instead of advertising to passing traffic. 
Ten people, including employees of the company operating the electronic billboard, have been questioned, Jakarta police spokesman Awi Setiyono said Monday. Police can't yet name a suspect, he added.
Twitter in social media-mad Indonesia was abuzz with news of the incident, which occurred not long after Friday prayers last week in the Muslim-majority country.
Many users posted clips of the billboard as it displayed a scene from Japanese pornography on an internet browser.
Adrian Wiedarta, a manager at PT Transito Adimanjati, which operates the advertising screen, blamed the incident on a hacker who he said seized control of the system, allowing pornography to play for about five minutes.
Police assisted by nearby vendors shut off power to the giant video screen as drivers and pedestrians watched the movie.
Setiyono said the police's cybercrime unit has analyzed several computers seized from the company.
Jakarta police chief Muhammad Iriawan said the perpetrator could be charged under either the Electronic Transaction Law, which carries a maximum prison sentence of six years and a fine of 1 billion rupiah ($77,000), or the Pornography Law, which carries a prison sentence of up to 12 years. The Associated Press




4


 


October 2, 2016 Sunday

 America loves Muslim food - so much for culture clash; 
Sales of halal food surging, thanks to millennials.; 
FOOD AND DINING

 
Sometimes, culinary trends move in sync with political ones. Sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage" when the U.S. was at war with Germany, and a more recent falling-out with the French led to the invention of "freedom fries."
But sometimes they move in mysterious ways. In an election season dominated by Donald Trump, Muslims haven't always been made to feel welcome in America. Meanwhile, however, sales of halal food, prepared according to Islamic law, are surging - and not just among the fast-growing U.S. Muslim population: Adventurous millennial foodies are embracing it too. 
Shahed Amanullah could only find about 200 places that served halal food in 1998, when he launched a website to help Americans find it. Today, he's tracking 7,600, and he says halal is making inroads even among people who are wary of Muslims.
"Food is a great medium for cultural sharing," Amanullah said.
There's a well-trodden path in America's food culture, leading from ethnic-specialty status to the mainstream. It happened long ago with Italian cuisine, and to some extent with kosher food, which offers a closer parallel to halal. Like the Jewish equivalent, Islamic rules mandate humane treatment of animals as well as other special preparations.
At every level of the U.S. food chain, halal already occupies a small but rapidly expanding niche.
In grocery and convenience stores and similar outlets, research firm Nielsen estimates, sales reached $1.9 billion in the 12 months through August, a 15 percent increase from 2012.
Overall, from restaurants to supermarkets, halal sales are projected at $20 billion this year, up by one-third since 2010, according to the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, which certifies halal food and promotes education on the topic
Whole Foods Market Inc., which has been among the pioneers, ranks halal among its fastest-growing categories, with double-digit sales growth in each of the last five years. It's been running Ramadan promotions since 2011.
For early-adopting retailers, there's been some flak - especially in the corners of social media where Islam comes under regular criticism. Amanullah said his "where-to-find-it" website is often used in such circles as a "who-to-boycott" guide - though he said such efforts typically backfire and end up helping his business.
When Whole Foods ran its initial Ramadan campaign, it was criticized for failing to tout other religious holidays. Rick Findlay, global grocery coordinator for Whole Foods, said the company wasn't deterred.
"People look to Whole Foods to be that trend setter," he said, "We're happy to be on that cutting edge and take some risks."
A look at the demographics makes halal seem less of a risk. There were 3.3 million U.S. Muslims last year, but the number's projected to grow to 8.1 million by 2050 - and about halfway through that time, Muslims will surpass Jews as the largest non-Christian religious group in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center.
And that's not the whole story. Adnan Durrani, chief executive officer of American Halal Co., estimates that as many as 80 percent of consumers who buy his Saffron Road brand aren't trying to follow Islamic law - they're just food-lovers who want better frozen meals. Saffron Road is a star performer at Whole Foods, and is also sold at branches of Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and Giant Food Stores, among more than 12,000 locations.
The market still hasn't reached enough of a tipping point for some of the big names in packaged food to fully commit. Mondelez International Inc., the global snack giant, is a player in predominantly Muslim countries like Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, where halal is the standard. So far it only sells a handful of halal products in the U.S.
Nestle, the world's largest food company, has 151 halal factories, from Malaysia to Pakistan, and distributes hundreds of certified products across the world. But in America, Nestle mainly sells the food through its health care unit, which supplies hospitals.
Something similar applies with retailers: Wal-Mart features halal products at about 400 of its 4,600 stores, and Kroger carries them only where there's local demand.
It's possible that halal could be "held back by the stigma" that some Americans attach to Islam, said Krishnendu Ray, associate professor of food studies at NYU Steinhardt. "Or, it could eventually be like kosher, which is identified as fresher, more virtuous food."
Ray is the author of the 2016 book "The Ethnic Restaurateur," which examines a long history of immigrant influence on American cuisine. Italian food, he says, was frowned upon around the turn of the 20th century, partly because it was "too garlicky" and associated with criminal activity because people often drank alcohol alongside it.
Durrani and Amanullah both recall being served kosher food when they were growing up: halal was hard to find, and for their families it was the next-best thing. Now, it's easily available to diners-out, as well as eaters-in. Some of the credit goes to Halal Guys, which started as a street cart serving meat dishes in New York City. They proved so popular that the company plans 300 sit-down restaurants across the U.S. in the next several years.
New York is home to people from all over, of course. So is Chicago, where the second Halal Guys outlet opened. But the third was in small-town California.
"Costa Mesa is in a strip-mall plaza, which couldn't be farther from the corner of 53rd and 6th in midtown Manhattan," said Andrew Eck, head of marketing. Of halal, he said: "It's not just city people that like it. It's not suburban people that like it. It's not Muslim people. It's a mix of cultures and background."
The Halal Guys have tapped into something that transcends demographics: taste. On a recent Friday at lunch hour, about 20 people, a mix of office workers and tourists, waited to order at the original Halal Guys food truck in New York. They said they'd come for lamb and chicken over rice, not because of religious dietary restrictions. Halal Guys has actually stopped serving lamb, but customers still insist on ordering it, Eck said.
"It's a must spot to eat in New York," said Alejandro Nova, 30, who was there with a friend visiting from Colombia. "It has nothing to do with how they treat the animals."




5



 


September 28, 2016 Wednesday

 Mount Barujari: 1,000 tourists evacuated in Indonesia after volcano eruption; 
Mount Barujari erupted without warning on Tuesday. Fifty climbers are still missing but believed to be safe.

 
Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency has evacuated approximately 1,000 tourists after a volcano on the Indonesian island of Lombok erupted unexpectedly on Tuesday, shooting a 6,560-foot column of ash into the sky. 
No injuries have been reported from the eruption that took place on Mount Barujari, a small mountain within Mount Rinjani, one of the most active volcanoes in the region. Approximately 50 climbers are yet to be accounted for, but they are believed to be safe. Located on the famed Pacific Ring of Fire, with more than 130 active volcanoes, Indonesia experiences a great many eruptions, particularly in the past few years.
"Hundreds of tourists have exited Mount Rinjani and they are in good condition," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the Disaster Mitigation Agency, told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The Disaster Mitigation Agency stated that 1,023 tourists were in Mount Rinjani National Park on Lombok Island, a popular tourist spot located near Bali, when the volcano erupted on Tuesday and the park was evacuated. Of the 400 tourists registered to climb the mountain, approximately 50 climbers are still believed to be missing, according to Mount Rinjani National Park official Daniel Rosang. 
The column of ash clouded the sky and delayed flights out Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali and Lombok International Airport for several hours. Flights to and from the resort island of Bali were most affected. Service had returned by Wednesday morning as the skies cleared. 
"We're constantly monitoring updates ... and are constantly coordinating with related airport authorities," Baskoro Adiwiyono, a spokesman for Indonesia AirAsia, told The Wall Street Journal.
Surrounding towns and farms have been dusted with ash but otherwise unharmed. Given Indonesia's volcanic history, authorities pay close attention to any eruptions, as  reported last year:
Two of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in recorded history took place in Indonesia. The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora spewed so much ash into the atmosphere that it disrupted world climate, causing widespread crop failures in what Europeans would call "the year without summer."In 1883, the disastrous eruption of Krakatoa was followed by severe tsunamis that killed about 36,000 people, one of the deadliest volcanic events in history.
Local authorities recommend caution and have warned people to keep 2.8 miles from the summit. The status of Mount Rinjani has been changed to "alert" after being placed on "active" last year after a string of volcanic activity in Indonesia.
Mount Sinabung also erupted earlier this year, killing seven people. The mountain had been dormant for four centuries prior to 2010.
In July 2015, the simultaneous eruption of Mount Raung and Mount Gamalama closed five airports and left thousands of tourists stranded as they traveled to Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
This report includes material from the Associated Press.




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September 22, 2016 Thursday

 'The Fix' seeks out strategies to solve the vexing problems facing nations; 
Foreign Affairs managing editor Jonathan Tepperman travels widely to talk to the people and governments who are devising new and innovative strategies to hold chaos at bay and sometimes even improve things.

 
The latest fragile cease-fire agreement in war-torn Syria had scarcely been implemented before a US air strike mistook Syrian forces for ISIS forces and opened fire, killing dozens of people. A terrorist explosion in New York's Chelsea neighborhood injured 29 people. A knife-wielding Islamic fundamentalist injured nine people in a Minnesota mall before being shot to death. Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists killed 17 soldiers and injured many others in an attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir. These things all happened on the same day.
Consistent polling shows that the current Republican and Democratic nominees for President of the United States are the least-popular and least-trusted candidates ever to run for that office. The eastern lowland gorilla is now on the "critically endangered" list and will likely be extinct in the wild by the end of the decade. The polar ice caps have shrunk to their smallest dimensions in millennia, and 2016 is shaping up to be the hottest year the planet has experienced since record-keeping began, breaking the previous record which was held by 2015. One out of every five children in the United States lives in near-hopeless poverty, and one-half of all the wealth in the world is owned by 80 individuals. 
All these things and many, many more crowd around the perimeters of The Fix: How Nations Survive and Thrive in a World in Decline, the new book by Foreign Affairs managing editor Jonathan Tepperman, in which he admits immediately the obstacles to writing what he refers to as "a good news book." In many ways, 2016 seems like the worst year in recent memory in which to publish a book made out of optimism.
Fortunately, Tepperman's optimism isn't starry-eyed, and the hope he proffers is as grounded as he can make it in concrete examples of strategies that seem to work.
He focuses on a small handful of the large-scale problems afflicting the world - Islamic terrorism; corrupt political systems; unstable, panic-driven declines in financial markets; the decay of societal institutions; widening income inequality; and a few others - and travels widely to talk to the people who are devising new and innovative strategies to hold chaos at bay and sometimes even improve things. "Why is it," he wonders, "that in this time of turmoil ... a few countries are nonetheless flourishing?"
He looks at Mexico's fight against governmental gridlock and cites President Peña Nieto's employment of oversight committees for legislative reform. He studies the decades of work done by Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, to curb his country's rampant graft and corruption on all levels. He describes the success Indonesia has had in combating and in some cases subverting Islamic extremism inside its borders.
Throughout his book, these and other scenarios are held up as examples of the ways strong, enlightened government and passionate, involved people can tackle some of the worst problems in the world today and find solutions that actually work. "The fixes are out there; now our leaders must act on them," he writes. "Either that or the doomsayers will win the day, and things really will keep getting worse and worse."
It's an encouraging message, and "The Fix" is an ultimately inspiring performance, but it's also a problematic one. Tepperman has a weakness not only for TED talk-style empty catch-phrases like "The Power of Promiscuous Thinking" or "Embrace Extremity," or "Govern with Guardrails," but also for the facile data-manipulation that makes such catch-phrases deeply suspect.
President Peña Nieto, for instance, empaneled those reform committees in part with the aim of having them absolve him and his wife of suspected ethics violations. Indonesia's successes against radical Islam take on more complicated, less helpful overtones when Tepperman points out that Indonesia has always been "overwhelmingly Muslim," and thereby neatly avoids the anti-Christian motivation of so much Islamic terrorism. And Prime Minister Lee's measures against governmental corruption were so effective mainly because Lee gave himself dictatorial powers. (Tepperman calls this reliance on repression "unpleasant to contemplate").
Tepperman's chapter in praise of fracking is nothing short of bewildering, considering the vast, catastrophic environmental damage that always follows in fracking's wake. "Peak oil," he writes, "has become a distant, slightly embarrassing memory" - words the next generation will likely read with a good deal of understandable bitterness.
"The Fix" focuses mainly on top-down government-imposed solutions to the problems Tepperman identifies; in the world of this book, power is almost always the key to progress. And maybe this is simple realism, but it tends to remove the potential for restorative action from the hands of the very people most immediately afflicted by the bad news Tepperman describes. Leaders can make that bad news better, or they can make it worse - Tepperman is striving for better, because the alternatives have never been starker.
But a great many of the ills he cites have been caused by the same political power structures he hopes can be taught to fix them. Let's all hope they're listening to this book.




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September 22, 2016 Thursday

 
Associated Press 
Today is Thursday, Sept. 22, the 266th day of 2016. There are 100 days left in the year. Autumn arrives at 10:21 a.m. Eastern time.  
Highlights in history  
In 1776: During the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York.  
In 1792: The first French Republic was proclaimed.   
In 1862: President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of Jan. 1, 1863.  
In 1911: Pitcher Cy Young, 44, gained his 511th and final career victory as he hurled a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.  
In 1927: Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous "long-count" fight in Chicago.  
In 1938: The musical comedy revue "Hellzapoppin'," starring Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, began a three-year run on Broadway.  
In 1949: The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.  
In 1950: Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of five-star general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.  
In 1975: Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. (Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on Dec. 31, 2007.)  
In 1991: The London newspaper The Mail published an interview with former intelligence agent John Cairncross, who admitted being the "fifth man" in the Soviet Union's notorious British spy ring.  
In 1996: Actress-singer Dorothy Lamour died at her North Hollywood home at 81.  
10 years ago: A high-speed maglev train crashed in northwestern Germany, killing 23 people in the first fatal wreck involving the high-tech system. Three Christian militants were executed in Indonesia for leading attacks on Muslims in May 2000 that left at least 70 people dead. Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn resigned in the wake of the company's ill-fated investigation of boardroom media leaks. Actor Edward Albert died in Malibu, Calif., at 55.  
Five years ago: A group of European researchers at the world's biggest physics lab in Switzerland claimed to have measured a subatomic particle, a neutrino, traveling faster than the speed of light, a finding that challenged Einstein's theory of relativity (however, the results were refuted by other scientists). American diplomats led a walkout at the U.N. General Assembly as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fiercely attacked the United States and major West European nations as "arrogant powers" ruled by greed and eager for military adventurism. Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Germany on his first state visit to his homeland.  
One year ago: Pope Francis arrived from Cuba on the first visit of his life to the United States; President Barack Obama, his wife and daughters personally welcomed the pontiff at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Seattle for a three-day visit before heading to Washington. Volkswagen AG acknowledged putting emissions-cheating software in millions of vehicles worldwide. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra, 90, died in West Caldwell, N.J.,by JERALDINE SAUNDERS 
 ARIES (Mar 21-Apr. 19): You'll accomplish much more by being friendly and outgoing. Avoid the urge to be too heavy-handed with a loved one. 
TAURUS (Apr. 20-May 20): Nobody can argue with the truth. There may be an inclination to color the facts to your benefit. Being honest will be effective.  
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What comes around goes around. Karma will return your charity in kind. You shouldn't perform generous acts to expect a reward. 
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Aim to please. Offer a hand. Go out of your way to treat the object of your affection to a thoughtful gift. 
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Don't jump to conclusions. There may be a tendency to look at only the downside of situations. Talk matters over with a loved one. 
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): If it isn't broken, don't try to fix it. Your ambitious nature may have you making plans to make the world a better place. 
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22.): Don't take it as a personal affront if someone has a different view. There's no such thing as right or wrong, so just change the subject. 
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Be diplomatic when trying to get your way or risk seeming pushy. You could undermine plans that are already in motion. 
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don't take it personally. You may have a knack for perceiving slights when there really aren't any. Avoid a tendency to be defensive. 
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let sleeping dogs lie. Getting your dander up over someone's past transgressions only serves to open up wounds that are healed. 
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Bowl them over with a great first impression. Get out your best outfit and add a bit of spit and polish to your appearance.  
PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20): When troubles come, they come in pairs. Stay out of a potentially volatile situation or it could get worse before it gets better.  
IF SEPTEMBER 22 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Your clear vision of an improved future will be rewarded with favorable results during the upcoming six to eight weeks. This is an excellent time to ask for advice or launch plans. Embrace any opportunity that comes your way as it is sure to bring lasting contentment. Your ability to make money or to analyze investments is enhanced as well, making October a perfect time to reassess your retirement plan or to put business affairs back on track.  
Jeraldine Saunders is a Tribune Content Agency writer.,Former NBA Commissioner David Stern74 
Actor Paul Le Mat71 
Musician King Sunny Ade70 
Capt. Mark Phillips68 
Rock singer David Coverdale65 
Actress Shari Belafonte62 
Singer Debby Boone60 
Country singer June Forester60 
Singer Nick Cave59 
Rock singer Johnette Napolitano59 
Actress Lynn Herring59 
Classical crossover singer Andrea Bocelli58 
Singer-musician Joan Jett58 
Actor Scott Baio56 
Actress Catherine Oxenberg55 
Actress Bonnie Hunt55 
Actor Rob Stone54 




5



 


September 22, 2016 Thursday

 Today in History

 
Today is Thursday, Sept. 22, the 266th day of 2016. There are 100 days left in the year. Autumn arrives at 10:21 a.m. Eastern time.
Today's highlight
 On Sept. 22, 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York.
 On this date 
 In 1792, the first French Republic was proclaimed.
 In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of Jan. 1, 1863.
 In 1911, pitcher Cy Young, 44, gained his 511th and final career victory as he hurled a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.
 In 1927, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous "long-count" fight in Chicago.
 In 1938, the musical comedy revue "Hellzapoppin'," starring Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, began a three-year run on Broadway.
 In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.
 In 1950, Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of five-star general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.
 In 1964, the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," starring Zero Mostel, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3,242 performances. The secret agent series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, premiered on NBC-TV.
 In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. (Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on Dec. 31, 2007.)
 In 1985, rock and country music artists participated in "Farm Aid," a concert staged in Champaign, Illinois, to help the nation's farmers.
 In 1991, the London newspaper The Mail published an interview with former intelligence agent John Cairncross, who admitted being the "fifth man" in the Soviet Union's notorious British spy ring.
 In 1996, actress-singer Dorothy Lamour died at her North Hollywood home at age 81.
 Ten years ago: A high-speed maglev train crashed in northwestern Germany, killing 23 people in the first fatal wreck involving the high-tech system. Three Christian militants were executed in Indonesia for leading attacks on Muslims in May 2000 that left at least 70 people dead. Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn resigned in the wake of the company's ill-fated investigation of boardroom media leaks. Actor Edward Albert died in Malibu, California, at age 55.
 Five years ago: A group of European researchers at the world's biggest physics lab in Switzerland claimed to have measured a subatomic particle, a neutrino, traveling faster than the speed of light, a finding that challenged Einstein's theory of relativity (however, the results were refuted by other scientists). American diplomats led a walkout at the U.N. General Assembly as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fiercely attacked the United States and major West European nations as "arrogant powers" ruled by greed and eager for military adventurism. Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Germany on his first state visit to his homeland.
 One year ago: Pope Francis arrived from Cuba on the first visit of his life to the United States; President Barack Obama, his wife and daughters personally welcomed the pontiff at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Seattle for a three-day visit before heading to Washington. Volkswagen AG acknowledged putting emissions-cheating software in millions of vehicles worldwide. Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, 90, died in West Caldwell, New Jersey.
 Today's birthdays
 Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda is 89. Former NBA Commissioner David Stern is 74. Actor Paul Le Mat is 71. Musician King Sunny Ade is 70. Capt. Mark Phillips is 68. Rock singer David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) is 65. Actress Shari Belafonte is 62. Singer Debby Boone is 60. Country singer June Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 60. Singer Nick Cave is 59. Rock singer Johnette Napolitano is 59. Actress Lynn Herring is 59. Classical crossover singer Andrea Bocelli is 58. Singer-musician Joan Jett is 58. Actor Scott Baio is 56. Actress Catherine Oxenberg is 55. Actress Bonnie Hunt is 55. Actor Rob Stone is 54. Musician Matt Sharp is 47. Rock musician Dave Hernandez is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Big Rube (Society of Soul) is 45. Actress Mireille Enos is 41. Actress Daniella Alonso is 38. Actor Michael Graziadei is 37. Actress Ashley Drane (Eckstein) is 35. Actress Katie Lowes is 34. Rock musician Will Farquarson (Bastille) is 33. Actress Tatiana Maslany (TV: "Orphan Black") is 31. Actor Tom Felton is 29. Actress Juliette Goglia is 21.




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September 22, 2016 Thursday

 Today in History

 
Today is Thursday, Sept. 22, the 266th day of 2016. There are 100 days left in the year. Autumn arrives this morning.
On this date
" In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York. 
" In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
" In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. (Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on Dec. 31, 2007.)
" In 2006, three Christian militants were executed in Indonesia for leading attacks on Muslims in May 2000 that left at least 70 dead.
Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda is 89. Former NBA Commissioner David Stern is 74. Actor Paul Le Mat is 71. Musician King Sunny Ade is 70. Capt. Mark Phillips is 68. Rock singer David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) is 65. Actress Shari Belafonte is 62. Singer Debby Boone is 60. Country singer June Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 60. Singer Nick Cave is 59. Rock singer Johnette Napolitano is 59. Actress Lynn Herring is 59. Classical crossover singer Andrea Bocelli is 58. Singer-musician Joan Jett is 58. Actor Scott Baio is 56. Actress Catherine Oxenberg is 55. Actress Bonnie Hunt is 55. Actor Rob Stone is 54. Musician Matt Sharp is 47. Rock musician Dave Hernandez is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Big Rube (Society of Soul) is 45. Actress Mireille Enos is 41. Actress Daniella Alonso is 38. Actor Michael Graziadei is 37. Actress Ashley Drane (Eckstein) is 35. Actress Katie Lowes is 34. Rock musician Will Farquarson (Bastille) is 33. Actress Tatiana Maslany (TV: "Orphan Black") is 31. Actor Tom Felton is 29. Actress Juliette Goglia is 21.
Thought for Today: "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot, English author (1819-1880).




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September 22, 2016 Thursday

 Today in History

 
Today in History
Today is Thursday, Sept. 22, the 266th day of 2016. There are 100 days left in the year. Autumn arrives at 10:21 a.m. Eastern time.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Sept. 22, 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York.
On this date: 
In 1792, the first French Republic was proclaimed.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of Jan. 1, 1863.
In 1911, pitcher Cy Young, 44, gained his 511th and final career victory as he hurled a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.
In 1927, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous "long-count" fight in Chicago.
In 1938, the musical comedy revue "Hellzapoppin'," starring Ole (OH'-lee) Olsen and Chic Johnson, began a three-year run on Broadway.
In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.
In 1950, Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of five-star general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.
In 1964, the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," starring Zero Mostel, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3,242 performances. The secret agent series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, premiered on NBC-TV.
In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. (Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on Dec. 31, 2007.)
In 1985, rock and country music artists participated in "Farm Aid," a concert staged in Champaign, Illinois, to help the nation's farmers.
In 1991, the London newspaper The Mail published an interview with former intelligence agent John Cairncross, who admitted being the "fifth man" in the Soviet Union's notorious British spy ring.
In 1996, actress-singer Dorothy Lamour died at her North Hollywood home at age 81.
Ten years ago: A high-speed maglev train crashed in northwestern Germany, killing 23 people in the first fatal wreck involving the high-tech system. Three Christian militants were executed in Indonesia for leading attacks on Muslims in May 2000 that left at least 70 people dead. Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn resigned in the wake of the company's ill-fated investigation of boardroom media leaks. Actor Edward Albert died in Malibu, California, at age 55.
Five years ago: A group of European researchers at the world's biggest physics lab in Switzerland claimed to have measured a subatomic particle, a neutrino, traveling faster than the speed of light, a finding that challenged Einstein's theory of relativity (however, the results were refuted by other scientists). American diplomats led a walkout at the U.N. General Assembly as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhahd) fiercely attacked the United States and major West European nations as "arrogant powers" ruled by greed and eager for military adventurism. Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Germany on his first state visit to his homeland.
One year ago: Pope Francis arrived from Cuba on the first visit of his life to the United States; President Barack Obama, his wife and daughters personally welcomed the pontiff at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) arrived in Seattle for a three-day visit before heading to Washington. Volkswagen AG acknowledged putting emissions-cheating software in millions of vehicles worldwide. Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, 90, died in West Caldwell, New Jersey.
Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda is 89. Former NBA Commissioner David Stern is 74. Actor Paul Le Mat is 71. Musician King Sunny Ade (ah-DAY') is 70. Capt. Mark Phillips is 68. Rock singer David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) is 65. Actress Shari Belafonte is 62. Singer Debby Boone is 60. Country singer June Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 60. Singer Nick Cave is 59. Rock singer Johnette Napolitano is 59. Actress Lynn Herring is 59. Classical crossover singer Andrea Bocelli (an-DRAY'-ah boh-CHEL'-ee) is 58. Singer-musician Joan Jett is 58. Actor Scott Baio is 56. Actress Catherine Oxenberg is 55. Actress Bonnie Hunt is 55. Actor Rob Stone is 54. Musician Matt Sharp is 47. Rock musician Dave Hernandez is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Big Rube (Society of Soul) is 45. Actress Mireille Enos is 41. Actress Daniella Alonso is 38. Actor Michael Graziadei (GRAHT'-zee-uh-day-ee) is 37. Actress Ashley Drane (Eckstein) is 35. Actress Katie Lowes is 34. Rock musician Will Farquarson (Bastille) is 33. Actress Tatiana Maslany (TV: "Orphan Black") is 31. Actor Tom Felton is 29. Actress Juliette Goglia is 21.
Thought for Today: "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot, English author (1819-1880).




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September 21, 2016 Wednesday  

 A Pilgrim's Progress: Checking Mecca Off My Bucket List; 
Postcard From the Hajj

 
Times Insider delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how news, features and opinion come together at . In this article, Diaa Hadid, a correspondent in The Times's Jerusalem bureau, shares what delighted her (pilgrims eating ice cream, helicopter rides over holy sites) and disturbed her (ever-failing WiFi, official answers to tough questions) about her first trip to Mecca.
MECCA, Saudi Arabia - When I first arrived in Mecca to begin my pilgrimage, it was the small things that delighted me, like the birds that flocked around the Grand Mosque, the pilgrims eating ice cream, and the wheelchair pushers, particularly the young men who liked to race down hills in the evening.
I was surprised to find out that I enjoyed praying. Pilgrims surprised me with their warmth - like Mervat, the veiled Yemeni cardiologist who put her face veil on the floor for me to pray on. I met men and women who were eager to tell me their hopes and dreams. 
I had to figure out my relationships with the Saudi officials who were hosting my trip. They were kind and generous, and kept us moving, fed and sheltered - no easy feat in the annual hajj, a five-day series of rituals that brings a flood of 2 million Muslims to the kingdom, and in 2015 resulted in a crush that killed 2,300 people.
But they also kept dodging questions about the crush. They dodged questions about why pilgrims from Iran - their rival country - could not come this year, even though it was their religious right. And they insisted on my having a minder. Luckily, he was an excellent guide and a good sport. Plus, as a guest of the Ministry of Information and Culture, I had perks: nicer accommodations, decent food and three helicopter rides over the holy sites!
The whole endeavor was something of a journalistic experiment, as well as a personal journey. My editors and I decided to cover the pilgrimage not so much as a news event but as a first-person diary of observations and reflections. We produced a series of daily postcards, driven by videos and snapshots I made on my iPhone and Canon Mark III camera.
Our aim was to bring readers along with us to Islam's holiest sites, and at the same time to debunk stereotypes about Muslims. We wanted to show their diversity and humanity, and to capture both the solemn spiritual moments and the quirky oddities of this centuries-old event.
For me - an Australian of Lebanese-Egyptian heritage who grew up in a religiously observant family but lives as an adult a secular lifestyle guided by Islamic values - it was a journey I had dreamed of making for a long time. I wondered throughout how it might change me.
I had to learn patience: We were always delayed, which meant I missed stories I wanted to do and lost precious daylight hours for taking photographs. I rarely slept more than four hours a night over a week, or ate more than once a day. That, mixed with the heat, my long hours outside and the ever-failing WiFi, brought out my short temper.
But the rituals brought out other things as well. Stoning the pillars of Jamarat that symbolize the devil had a power I never imagined. Praying on Mount Arafat, where Muslims believe their supplications are answered, sent me to tears. The Grand Mosque surrounding the Kaaba, the iconic black cube, felt like a comfortable cloak.
I bunked with smart, fun women in our 500-member V.I.P. delegation, including 100 journalists. On my last day of stoning the three pillars, I was with Raghdah, a liberal Saudi woman charged with caring for our quarters. We clutched hands to duck and weave through the crowd and hurled our stones. When we finished, she turned to me brightly. "Let's take a selfie with the devil!" she said, referring to the pillar behind us. I burst out laughing - this was a moment I had never imagined.
As we walked through crowds, we saw a group of Indonesian pilgrims, chanting in praise, hoping God would accept their hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam required of every adherent at least once in her lifetime. After the Indonesians finished singing, they began crying and hugging. They hugged and kissed me and Raghdah as well.
And then came my last rite, to circle the Kaaba seven times in farewell.
I walked barefoot across the cool marble to the looming Kaaba, also called the House of God. The heavy black cloth draped over that enormous cube was so close that I could read part of the golden calligraphy etched around it: "God is Great."
I raised my head, seeing the birds above me - from there, it did look as if they circled the Kaaba in a kind of ritual of their own.
A withered, elderly Pakistani man with watery blue eyes and a snow-cone turban leaned on another pilgrim's shoulder for support, so he would not be pulled into the crowd. He chanted prayers in a high, sweet voice. I walked beside them until we were separated in the crowd. Somebody's mobile phone pealed. Some read prayer books as they walked. One elderly man fainted, and the crowd cleared as he was carried away.
My brother, who made the hajj in 2012, was right: It felt as if I was being carried on a sea of humanity. I leaned on others, and a young woman leaned on me, holding my back as she walked through a tight crowd. I took her hand and kissed it, a sign of affection and humility, before she melted into the crowd again. I began sidestepping women wearing long robes that trailed on the ground; if I stepped on a hem, someone could trip and set off a human pileup.
An elderly woman put her hand on my shoulder. Worried she was about to fall, I put my hand on hers to steady her. She kissed my hand in thanks and then disappeared.
So did my iPhone, which must have slipped from my hand. Whoever picked it up will see on the camera app a man who held his toddler as he walked. She had large black eyes, and the pilgrims who passed her reached out to touch her hand and pinch her cheek.
They will see an African lady who balanced a bottle of water on her head. They will see close-ups of hands clutching each other, and thousands of feet, walking. They will see me raising my phone high, showing the crowd behind me, and a man waving into the camera. They will see me saying into the phone that I hope to return on hajj with my mother and sisters. Maybe they will even catch the pedantic Egyptian who ordered me to roll down my sleeves.
The sea was mostly silent save for the murmur of prayer.
I wanted to see the Kaaba up close because I thought that if I could lean close to that structure maybe I would feel the passion of faith some more. But I felt numb, even as I repeated words of praise and thanks. How can I ask of God, when I feel that I have been given so much?
I thought a lot about what might happen when I return to Jerusalem, where I live and work as a correspondent for The Times.
I felt a spirit of goodness right in my bones when I prayed and when people were kind to each other, like the pilgrims who carried away the elderly man who fainted by the Kaaba. I want more of that in my life.
Still, as I watched people cry when they saw the Kaaba, I had no tears. Instead, I thought, boy, it's empty on the inside. This is just a symbol. This is God's house, but the creator doesn't live here. I realized that, for me, the real story was outside the Kaaba, among people.

Related Articles

. What Muslims Do on Hajj, and Why
. My Hajj Reading List: Preparing for Mecca
. Throwing Stones and Slaughtering Sheep at the Hajj
. At the Hajj, Facing Islam's Inconsistent Embrace of Women
. 



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September 18, 2016 Sunday

 A base for rebuilding the region

 

ABSTRACT
For SBS 

FULL TEXT
Last weekend's San Bernardino Air Fest brought back memories of San Bernardino's Norton Air Force Base. It instills a sense of pride, safety and security in a region that has been lacking all three for many years.
As a candidate for Congress, my No. 1 priority will be to keep you safe. In order to do that we must have a military that is strong once again and a region with better-paying jobs, less crime and strong schools. That's why I will fight to bring a modern base back to San Bernardino, as a cornerstone of rebuilding the community. 
After the end of the Cold War, Norton Base was closed under the Base Realignment and Closure program. That economically devastated the region - especially San Bernardino, which years later filed for bankruptcy. San Bernardino became the second-poorest city of its size in America, behind only Detroit, with out-of-control violent crime and poverty. Today, 54 percent of our residents are on public assistance.
The city has fallen into very rough times and bears little resemblance to an All-American City, a distinction it was given in 1977.
I truly appreciate all the hard work that has been done to transform Norton into an international airport. The facility is beautiful but empty of travelers. Although there are new warehouses in the area, we must understand that many of these jobs will be automated in the near future. Despite a few exceptions in construction, there is mostly vacant land surrounded by a city in despair.
I also understand that some do not see the rebuilding of a military base as a realistic vision. While I appreciate the concern, please allow me to provide some background on how and why this is possible.
I have served in the military for more than 15 years, with assignments in the Pentagon, Iraq and in the States. I served two U.S. presidents in the White House. I know the challenges and possibilities of this vision of rebuilding a Joint Military Base. It won't be easy, but I understand the need and mechanism to make this happen.
In Iraq, I served on a Joint Military Base, which brings together all branches of service to work together.  I was surprised to see how well the different military services worked together in a more cost-effective and mission-focused manner. Therefore, my plan is not to create another Air Force base in San Bernardino, but rather a joint base incorporating logistics utilizing the existing long-range runways, transportation routes, incorporates military intelligence, drone production and cybersecurity.
This base could serve as Joint Special Operations Command Headquarters for the Pacific and should provide training that utilizes our unique proximity to the sea, deserts, mountains and valleys. The base will also work with the private sector and local colleges to employ and train current and future generations creating tens of thousands of jobs.
Joint bases are not a new concept. In fact, there are six on the East Coast. But there is just one on the West Coast, in Washington State - not a single one in California. The timing for such a base is right.
The Pentagon has a plan titled "Pivot to the Pacific." For the last 15 years, we have focused heavily on threats from the Middle East and largely ignored the growing threats from Russia, China and North Korea, and the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorists in Muslim-majority nations in the Pacific, such as Indonesia.
The West Coast and our Pacific operations need re-balancing in order to preserve peace on our western flank and beyond.  
I will fight in Congress to restore military bases in areas of the country where the local populations were devastated by closures. We certainly do not need to build anywhere else and we should only build in areas where the local residents want to bring back a military base.   
I have walked every neighborhood in the region and our campaign survey shows that by an overwhelming majority, residents support my vision. With an infusion of military, contractors and other private-sector employers moving back into San Bernardino, we will see transformational change that will significantly decrease unemployment, increase wages, improve real-estate, lower crime and provide greater revenue to rebuild schools, pave streets, hire more police officers and bring hope back to the "909."
We can find work for our unemployed - including military veterans and college graduates. Poverty and the area's high welfare rolls will plunge. Active duty, contractors and other civilian employees will spend their money in our region. Businesses will flourish.
The joint military base will improve the economy of neighboring cities as well. For the future of our region and defense of our nation, I believe we must work together to make this a reality. I hope to earn your support for this vision.
Paul Chabot is a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in California's 31th District.




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September 12, 2016, Monday

 Youthfulness of Muslim population source of instability

 
Last week, I reported a story for  from Jakarta on the "Muslim youth bulge" - the surge in youth in the Muslim world - and explored why this could be a recipe for instability. As a journalist and a young person (I'm 26), I'm fascinated by how young people shape society - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
One thing that's very clear from academic literature on demography and social change is that young people matter. When they feel that the system is stacked against them, they tend to demonstrate - think Occupy Wall Street, and how "We-need-a-political-revolution" Bernie Sanders won 70 percent of the youth vote in the Democratic primaries. 
What's clear, though, is that in societies that aren't democracies, young people who are disappointed by their lack of opportunity have fewer outlets by which to peacefully effect political change. One reason, then, for apprehension about the huge size of the Muslim world's youth population is that much of this growth is happening in its least-developed parts, where there are the fewest opportunities for peaceful political expression.
In the Sahel - the band of countries from Mali to Sudan that borders the Sahara - governments are repressive and birth rates are extremely high.
Bad government institutions combined with growing desertification due to global warming mean youths here will grow up with few opportunities. Some might try to immigrate to wealthier countries; others may lower their expectations for life and try to make what they can of it. Others will join up with the army or terrorist or guerrilla groups. But these countries' young people will - by and large - have pretty bad options, and many won't accept them sitting down.
So, at a time when headlines are filled with stories of young Muslim men fighting each other, one reason why it's helpful to consider the population structure of the Muslim world is that doing so helps to emphasize the "young man" aspect of the instability rather than the "Muslim" aspect. After all, just because Islam is the primary form of political expression for youth frustration in the Middle East and North Africa doesn't make it the primary cause of the violence. Young people with few opportunities explains a lot of it.
Another interesting phenomenon revealed by the data in a 2015 Pew study is that in virtually every case where Muslims and non-Muslims live side by side, Muslim populations skew younger, owing to a higher birthrate.
This suggests that there are factors related to how Islam is being interpreted that contribute to large family size. One exception is Indonesia, where the Eastern, mainly Christian part of the country is less developed than the rest of the mostly Muslim archipelago and has a slightly higher birthrate.
Iran, which embraced birth-control policies decades ago, has one of the highest average ages of a Muslim-majority country. Afghanistan has one of the lowest.
This disjuncture in Iranian and Afghani average age helps explain why Iran has been hiring thousands of Afghan young men from the Shiite Hazara minority to fight for the Iranian-supported Assad regime in Syria.
The costs of recruiting an Afghan man to fight are much lower than the cost of recruiting an Iranian man, who is more likely to be educated and have better opportunities than fighting for $500 a month in a conflict far, far away.
"Most go for the money," an Iranian recruiter of Afghan men told the Guardian. The moral of the story is that it's easy to lure young men with few opportunities to fight, and harder to persuade young men with more opportunities to fight. This is one reason why countries with youth bulges can be more violent; the opportunity costs for a young man to pick up an AK-47 are often lower.
What all this suggests is that instability gripping parts of the Muslim world may have less to do with ideologies that promote violence, and more to do with the high proportion of youth. Of course, one reason why Muslim societies have stubbornly high birthrates could be owing to ideology.




5



 


September 12, 2016 Monday  


 Report: Texas benchmark led to denial of special ed services

 
HOUSTON - More than a dozen teachers and administrators from across Texas say they delayed or denied special education to disabled students in order to stay below the benchmark state officials set for the number of students who should get such services. 
A Houston Chronicle investigation found the Texas Education Agency's enrollment benchmark for special education services of 8.5 percent has led to the systematic denial of services by school districts. In the years since Texas' 2004 implementation of the benchmark, the rate of students getting special education dropped from near the national average of 13 percent to the lowest in the country. It fell to 8.5 percent in 2015.  
If Texas provided services at the same rate as the rest of the U.S., 250,000 more kids would be getting services such as therapy, counseling and one-on-one tutoring. The newspaper said records show Texas is the only state to set such a benchmark, which was never publicly announced or explained. 
The newspaper found that the effort saved TEA billions of dollars but denied support to children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, epilepsy, mental illnesses, speech impediments, traumatic brain injuries and even blindness and deafness. 
The teachers and administrators said that in order to stay below the benchmark they've done everything from putting kids into a cheaper alternative program to persuading parents to pull their children out of public school. 
In a statement, TEA officials denied keeping disabled students out of special education and said their guideline calling for enrollments of 8.5 percent was not a cap  but an "indicator" of performance by school districts. 
Powerful Libyan commander captures 2 oil ports, aims for 3rd
 Clashes erupted in Libya's oil crescent on Sunday as fighters loyal to a powerful eastern military commander fought a rival militia aligned with the United Nations-backed unity government for control of the nation's lucrative petroleum facilities.
By Sunday evening, a spokesman for Gen. Khalifa Hifter said his forces had seized control of Ras Lanuf and al-Sidra, among Libya's largest oil ports, and were fighting the Petroleum Facilities Guard, the militia that controlled the ports for months, for al-Zueitina  
The state-run National Oil Corp. said  Ras Lanuf and al-Sidra were under the full control of Hifter's fighters while al-Zueitina  was contested.
Hifter, a former Moammar Gadhafi ally turned foe who lived in exile in Northern Virginia for nearly two decades, is opposed to the Western-backed unity government. 
Bill would make S.C. site where
 Civil War began a national park
CHARLESTON, S.C. -  Sen. Tim Scott, the first black U.S. senator from the Deep South since Reconstruction, is proposing that the site where the Civil War began be raised in status to that of a national park. 
The Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill creating the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Park as the nation's 60th national park and second in South Carolina. 
Fort Sumter, on Charleston Harbor, was bombarded by Confederate guns on April 12, 1861, in a fight that started four years of civil war. 
Moultrie, located on nearby Sullivans Island, is where American patriots turned back a British fleet trying to capture Charleston days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Both forts are part of the Fort Sumter National Monument. 
Croatian conservatives declare victory in parliamentary vote
The conservative Croatian Democratic Union declared victory in a snap election.
The Democratic Union, or HDZ, won 61 of parliament's 151 seats, Nova TV said Monday, citing calculations made on Electoral Commission data with 90 percent of votes counted. Ex-Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic's Social Democrats won 54 seats. The Bridge party of independents and mayors, whose previous coalition with HDZ collapsed in June after almost six months in power, won 12.
HDZ's triumph may unblock a political stalemate in which neither it nor the Social Democrats were able to muster a stable parliamentary majority. To do so, the conservatives must regain the support of Bridge, a potentially difficult task after the implosion of their previous Cabinet.
Kenyan police kill 3 women who attacked station
NAIROBI, Kenya - Three women have been killed after they attacked a police station in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Sunday, a police official said. 
One of the women threw a firebomb at officers while another pulled out a knife, Mombasa police Chief Parterson Maelo said, adding that two police officers were hurt. 
The women, who were dressed in niqabs, were then shot by police. One of the women had a suicide vest that didn't detonate, another police official said. 
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Kenya faces a constant danger of being attacked by adherents of the Somali militant group al-Shabab, which has vowed retribution for Kenya's deployment of troops to Somalia in 2011. 
Maelo said the women arrived at the  station  to report a stolen telephone. 
Tesla says it's improving Autopilot by boosting radar
NEW YORK - Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the electric car company is making major improvements to the Autopilot system used by its vehicles, which will dramatically reduce the number and severity of crashes they are involved in. 
Sunday's news comes in the wake of a May crash involving a Tesla Model S that was using the semiautonomous mode at the time. The driver died after crashing into a tractor-trailer. 
On a conference call with reporters, Musk said he thinks that the improvements, which will roll out globally in the next week or two in the form of a software update, would have prevented that crash. While he acknowledged that there's no such thing as perfect security, he predicted that the improvements will cut the accident rate for Tesla vehicles by more than half. 
Quake in Macedonia: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck on the outskirts of Macedonia's capital, Skopje, on Sunday afternoon, injuring at least 30 people and causing minor damage to buildings, authorities said. The quake occurred just after 3 p.m. local time,  the national seismological observatory said. 
Weekend protests over gay marriage: Hundreds of gay and lesbian rights supporters marched to Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral to support same-sex marriage Sunday, one day after thousands marched against it.  Marches were held in several Mexican cities Saturday opposing same-sex marriage.




6



 


September 12, 2016 Monday  


 Report: Texas benchmark led to denial of special ed services

 
HOUSTON - More than a dozen teachers and administrators from across Texas say they delayed or denied special education to disabled students in order to stay below the benchmark state officials set for the number of students who should get such services. 
A Houston Chronicle investigation found the Texas Education Agency's enrollment benchmark for special education services of 8.5 percent has led to the systematic denial of services by school districts. In the years since Texas' 2004 implementation of the benchmark, the rate of students getting special education dropped from near the national average of 13 percent to the lowest in the country. It fell to 8.5 percent in 2015. 
If Texas provided services at the same rate as the rest of the U.S., 250,000 more kids would be getting services such as therapy, counseling and one-on-one tutoring. The newspaper said records show Texas is the only state to set such a benchmark, which was never publicly announced or explained. 
The newspaper found that the effort saved TEA billions of dollars but denied support to children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, epilepsy, mental illnesses, speech impediments, traumatic brain injuries and even blindness and deafness. 
The teachers and administrators said that in order to stay below the benchmark they've done everything from putting kids into a cheaper alternative program to persuading parents to pull their children out of public school. 
In a statement, TEA officials denied keeping disabled students out of special education and said their guideline calling for enrollments of 8.5 percent was not a cap  but an "indicator" of performance by school districts. 
Powerful Libyan commander captures 2 oil ports, aims for 3rd
 Clashes erupted in Libya's oil crescent on Sunday as fighters loyal to a powerful eastern military commander fought a rival militia aligned with the United Nations-backed unity government for control of the nation's lucrative petroleum facilities.
By Sunday evening, a spokesman for Gen. Khalifa Hifter said his forces had seized control of Ras Lanuf and al-Sidra, among Libya's largest oil ports, and were fighting the Petroleum Facilities Guard, the militia that controlled the ports for months, for al-Zueitina  
The state-run National Oil Corp. said  Ras Lanuf and al-Sidra were under the full control of Hifter's fighters while al-Zueitina  was contested.
Hifter, a former Moammar Gadhafi ally turned foe who lived in exile in Northern Virginia for nearly two decades, is opposed to the Western-backed unity government. 
Bill would make S.C. site where
 Civil War began a national park
CHARLESTON, S.C. -  Sen. Tim Scott, the first black U.S. senator from the Deep South since Reconstruction, is proposing that the site where the Civil War began be raised in status to that of a national park. 
The Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill creating the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Park as the nation's 60th national park and second in South Carolina. 
Fort Sumter, on Charleston Harbor, was bombarded by Confederate guns on April 12, 1861, in a fight that started four years of civil war. 
Moultrie, located on nearby Sullivans Island, is where American patriots turned back a British fleet trying to capture Charleston days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Both forts are part of the Fort Sumter National Monument. 
Exit poll: No clear winner in Croatia parliamentary election
ZAGREB, Croatia - An initial exit poll in Croatia's early parliamentary election Sunday indicated there will be no clear winner, paving the way for more political uncertainty in the European Union's newest member state. 
The left-wing Peoples' Coalition won 57 seats in Croatia's 151-seat Parliament, according to the poll conducted by Croatia's independent Ipsos Puls agency. The conservative Croatian Democratic Union  had 57 seats, while kingmaker party Most  won 12 seats. 
The second vote in less than a year was called when a previous, right-wing government collapsed in June after less than six months in power, paralyzed by bickering within the ruling coalition. 
Political deadlock has delayed reforms  necessary for Croatia to catch up with the rest of the EU.  
Kenyan police kill 3 women who attacked station
NAIROBI, Kenya - Three women have been killed after they attacked a police station in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Sunday, a police official said. 
One of the women threw a firebomb at officers while another pulled out a knife, Mombasa police Chief Parterson Maelo said, adding that two police officers were hurt. 
The women, who were dressed in niqabs, were then shot by police. One of the women had a suicide vest that didn't detonate, another police official said. 
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Kenya faces a constant danger of being attacked by adherents of the Somali militant group al-Shabab, which has vowed retribution for Kenya's deployment of troops to Somalia in 2011. 
Maelo said the women arrived at the  station  to report a stolen telephone. 
Tesla says it's improving Autopilot by boosting radar
NEW YORK - Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the electric car company is making major improvements to the Autopilot system used by its vehicles, which will dramatically reduce the number and severity of crashes they are involved in. 
Sunday's news comes in the wake of a May crash involving a Tesla Model S that was using the semiautonomous mode at the time. The driver died after crashing into a tractor-trailer. 
On a conference call with reporters, Musk said he thinks that the improvements, which will roll out globally in the next week or two in the form of a software update, would have prevented that crash. While he acknowledged that there's no such thing as perfect security, he predicted that the improvements will cut the accident rate for Tesla vehicles by more than half. 
Quake in Macedonia: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck on the outskirts of Macedonia's capital, Skopje, on Sunday afternoon, injuring at least 30 people and causing minor damage to buildings, authorities said. The quake occurred just after 3 p.m. local time,  the national seismological observatory said. 
Weekend protests over gay marriage: Hundreds of gay and lesbian rights supporters marched to Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral to support same-sex marriage Sunday, one day after thousands marched against it.  Marches were held in several Mexican cities Saturday opposing same-sex marriage.




6



 



September 12, 2016 Monday  


 How youth feeds world's instability

 
This week, I reported a story for  from Indonesia on the "Muslim youth bulge" and explored why this could be a recipe for instability. As a journalist and a young person (I'm 26), I'm fascinated by how young people shape society - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
One thing that's very clear from academic literature on demography and social change is that young people matter. When they say they feel that the system is stacked against them, they tend to demonstrate - think Occupy Wall Street, and how "We-need-a-political-revolution" Bernie Sanders won 70 percent of the youth vote in the Democratic primaries. 
What's clear, though, is that in societies that aren't democracies, young people who are disappointed by their lack of opportunity have fewer outlets by which to peacefully effect political change. One reason, then, for apprehension about the huge size of the Muslim world's youth population is that much of this growth is happening in its least-developed parts, where there are the fewest opportunities for peaceful political expression.
In the Sahel - the band of countries from Mali to Sudan that borders the Sahara - governments are repressive and birthrates are extremely high.
Bad government institutions, combined with growing desertification due to global warming, mean youths here will grow up with few opportunities. Some might try to immigrate to wealthier countries; others may lower their expectations for life and try to make what they can of it. Others will join the army or terrorist or guerrilla groups. But these countries' young people will - by and large - have pretty bad options, and many won't accept them sitting down.
So, at a time when headlines are filled with stories of young Muslim men fighting each other, one reason it's helpful to consider the population structure of the Muslim world is that doing so helps to emphasize the "young man" aspect of the instability rather than the "Muslim" aspect. After all, just because Islam is the primary form of political expression for youth frustration in the Middle East and North Africa doesn't make it the primary cause of the violence. Young people with few opportunities explains a lot of it.
Another interesting phenomenon revealed by the data in a 2015 Pew study is that in virtually every case where Muslims and non-Muslims live side by side, Muslim populations skew younger, owing to a higher birthrate.
This suggests that there are factors related to how Islam is being interpreted that contribute to large families.
Iran, which embraced birth-control policies decades ago, has one of the highest average ages of a Muslim-majority country. Afghanistan has one of the lowest. This disjuncture in Iranian and Afghani average ages helps explain why Iran has been hiring thousands of Afghan young men from the Shiite Hazara minority to fight for the Iranian-supported Assad regime in Syria. The costs of recruiting an Afghan to fight are much lower than the cost of recruiting an Iranian, who is more likely to be educated and have better opportunities than fighting for $500 a month in a far-off conflict.
The moral of the story is that it's easy to lure young men with few opportunities to fight, and harder to persuade young men with more opportunities to fight. This is one reason countries with youth bulges can be more violent; the opportunity costs for a young man to pick up an AK-47 are often lower.
What all this suggests is that the instability gripping parts of the Muslim world may have less to do with ideologies that promote violence and more to do with the high proportion of youth. Of course, one reason Muslim societies have stubbornly high birthrates could be owing to ideology.
foreign@washingpost.com




6



 



September 7, 2016 Wednesday  


 A new crisis in the Muslim world: Is it too young?

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - In early August, when leaders of several dozen Muslim countries gathered in Jakarta for an annual economic conference, some of the speakers acknowledged that things are not looking good for their global community. Chaos continues to grip their heartland in the Middle East, they noted, and anti-Muslim politicians are drawing unprecedented support in Europe, the United States and elsewhere.
When Indonesian President Joko Widodo spoke, however, the World Islamic Economic Forum's host offered a bracing dose of optimism. 
Citing data from a landmark 2015 Pew study showing that the number of Muslims worldwide is expected to grow by 73 percent from 2010 to 2050, the head of the world's most-populous Muslim-majority nation told his counterparts that their countries must seek to leverage their "fundamental strength": a huge and expanding youth population.
"Muslim societies have the best demographics of any demographic group in the world, with the highest proportion of young people," he said.
According to Pew, Muslims are expected to outnumber Christians by about 2070.
The data Widodo cited was sound; demographers largely consider the Pew study's forecasts reasonable. But his main contention - that the Muslim world's comparative youthfulness and high fertility rate represent a strength - is a matter of debate among economists, and his assertion last month sparked discussion in Indonesia and beyond about how much youth is too much.
The "youth bulge," seen when infant mortality drops while fertility rates remain high, can  indeed boost economies by increasing the number of people available to work, experts agree. But it also can lead to social instability if the masses of working-age youths are unable to find productive jobs.
"The youth bulge can be both a gift and a curse," said Ragui Assaad, a professor who specializes in labor economics at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. "You either generate good jobs or a lot of people fall into unemployment, creating the possibility for unrest and frustration."
The Muslim world as a whole, of course, is unlikely to swing in just one direction, as every Muslim-majority country faces particular economic and social circumstances that will affect whether it can productively integrate its youths. A handful of Muslim countries, such as Iran and Malaysia, have implemented strong birth-control policies to lower their birthrates to below-replacement levels, lessening the challenges facing young job seekers.
Still, the overall trend is of a global Muslim community that has lowered its birthrate at a much slower pace than the rest of the world, according to Pew senior demographer Conrad Hackett.
"That Muslims are growing twice as fast as the world's population is really striking and remarkable," he said.
When young people lack economic opportunities and the prospect of being able to support families of their own, experts say, they are especially susceptible to the lure of anti-establishment ideology. In Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s, when countries in the region were experiencing youth bulges, that draw often was Marxism, Assaad noted. But it could take the form of austere varieties of Islam for disgruntled Muslim youths today.
Egypt, Tunisia and Syria during the Arab Spring - when restive youth-led movements challenged (and, in the first two cases, toppled) the ruling order - are taken as recent textbook cases of the link.
Assaad suggested there is a connection between the recent drop-off in political violence in Latin America and demographic changes. "Now the last rebel-group movement is declaring peace," he said, alluding to Colombia's FARC. "Latin America basically crossed its youth-bulge period some time back, so it does have less of a risk factor" now.
Richard Cincotta, a political demographer at the bipartisan Stimson Center who advises the U.S. National Intelligence Council on how demographic trends influence the geopolitical landscape, also acknowledged the appeal of radical, often violent groups to disaffected youths.
"You can't just generalize to say all these young guys will become terrorists or something," he said. "But you can say they are available, and vulnerable, and they are in a part of their life where you want to impress your friends when you're ideologically naive, and you're searching for an identity that [the groups] are good at providing."
Another reason experts are wary of Widodo's optimism about soaring Muslim population numbers is that advances in technology and automation appear to be removing jobs from economies faster than they are adding them - which only exacerbates the problem of youth unemployment.
"There's always been a neoclassic assumption [that] economy needs labor, [that] labor and economic growth go together," Cincotta said. "Now they're becoming disassembled."
In Widodo's Indonesia, which currently is seeing a youth bulge, concern is growing that the generally poor quality of public education, combined with the effects of a sky-high youth smoking rate, will make it hard for the country to capitalize on the surfeit of young people in the way the president envisaged.
"There is a trade-off between quality and quantity," said Aris Ananta, a professor of demography at the University of Indonesia. "Indonesia still needs to raise productivity and improve education and health."
Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Muslim leaders' pride in their faith's population surge is not only about economics.
"There's a sense that Islam has a vitality that other religions don't," he said. "It could be that this significant increase in population could be a negative thing economically for the Muslim world, but some Muslims might be proud of that fact irrespective of the economic outcome."
The one thing demographers are clear about is that demography is not economic destiny, either way.
"As an academic, I will say the president is half-right and half-wrong," said Assaad. "It is called window of opportunity, not demographic gift. You can make use of it if you can grow fast and develop jobs. But that has not materialized in the Middle East, and for Africa it's still an open question."
foreign@washpost.com




6



 


September 5, 2016 Monday

 

ABSTRACT
MCH OPINION PLANNING 

FULL TEXT
Admissions tax isn't the answer - no on P
Councilman Rudy Fischer of Pacific Grove wrote in favor of Proposition P, a tax on admissions and memberships to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other-not-for-profit organizations in Pacific Grove.
Fischer makes the point that people who come to the aquarium use services in Pacific Grove, such as the Recreation Trail, and should pay for upkeep. I walk the trail nearly every day. I find it very hard to believe that even half of the approximately 2 million people who attend the aquarium each year walk the trail or venture very far into Pacific Grove. Taxing a lot of people who get little or no benefit is wrong in principle. Taxing people who support a not-for-profit educational institution is possibly the beginning of a slippery slope. 
Rather than implement a new, flawed tax, let's focus on becoming a destination for aquarium visitors in support of our businesses.
I agree with Fischer that the aquarium and Pacific Grove should be working together rather than fighting each other. I disagree that an admissions tax is right way to do so. I will vote "no" on Proposition P.
- Tama H. Olver, Pacific Grove
Racetrack will inflict gaping wound on nature
Assuming the horrible possibility that Monterey Downs could become a stark reality, what can possibly save the oak woodland? Absolutely nothing!
The decision by Monterey Downs to clear (rape) the woodlands will have ever-lasting effects. We can only apply Band-Aids to the gaping wound that Monterey Downs will inflict on nature.
There are token measures that can be taken. There are rules that apply: Monterey County zoning Ordinance-Title 21 offers some restrictions. The Forest Management Plan (Monterey County Planning Commission) says a report shall be prepared by a qualified, professional forester
All tree removal is subject to CEQA requirements. California Environmental Quality Act permits require relocation or replacement on a 1:1 ratio. The replacement trees must be oaks or local native trees.
Where can you plant 40,000 trees? Who will care for them and protect them? Where will the water come from?
Landmark oaks may not be removed in any area without the approval of the director of Planning and Building Inspection. Therefore, every significant or exemplary oak would need to be located and measured.
Staub Forest Resource reported to the city of Seaside that stands of oaks provide habitat for wildlife.
I am not an activist; Monterey Downs is the activist. Its activism has made me react to their proposed destruction of a natural preserve.
- John Hutcherson, Monterey
Stimulating the dark place where fear dwells
Anyone who has even a hint of sympathy for those who pitch the politics of fear and hate would do well to consider what history shows might lie on that path - Auschwitz, for example. Before you protest that Trump is not Hitler, this is not the Weimar Republic and building a wall on the border with Mexico is not the immoral equivalent of the Holocaust, I agree. But if you examine the source of the idea that somehow exporting 11 million people will lead to a better life for the rest of us, you will see that it was incubated and hatched in the same dark pit of the ego that perceived a "Jewish problem" that could be erased by exterminating every Jew in Europe.
In his effort to avoid "political correctness," Donald Trump has chosen as bedfellows the likes of Hitler, Putin, bin Laden and other psychopaths and sociopaths who try to stimulate that dark place in us where fear dwells. Before we vote, we all should heed George Santayana's words as quoted on a wall in Auschwitz: "Those who cannot remember history will be doomed to repeat it." It is not enough to just sit this one out. If fear wins, the bystanders will be the guilty ones.
- Larry Daniels, Salinas
Trump's untruths shouldn't make it into print
Do you not vet your sources before printing? Consider the source of the recent kerfuffle about Mrs. Clinton's charity. A man who thinks, or has thought, (it's difficult to keep up minute to minute) that President Obama is an Indonesian Muslim and founder of ISIS, and who also apparently believes that assassination is a viable tactic in a democracy. Why would you print a single word that he says on any subject?
- Patricia Merrifield, Carmel Valley




6


 


September 3, 2016 Saturday  


 Alcohol Ban Is Promoted in Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- I.B. Agung Partha foresees an apocalypse, as he put it, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
The threat is not a plague of locusts, nor one of Bali's dormant volcanos springing to life. It is in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital several hundred miles away, where Parliament is debating legislation that would ban beer, wine and spirits across the thousands of islands that make up this country. 
  For Bali, whose beaches, lush landscapes and cultural attractions drew four million visitors last year, the effect would be something like the end of the world, said Mr. Partha, the chairman of the Bali Tourism Board.
  ''Hotels have bars, restaurants have bars, and they serve alcohol -- this is just part of tourism,'' he said. ''This bill is just no good.'' 
  Alcohol bans have been proposed before in Indonesia, by the same Islamic political parties that are pushing the current bill. Their scripture-based arguments gained little traction in Indonesia's multifaith society, which is mostly Muslim but has a secular government.
  But this time, those parties have taken a new line: that alcohol should be banned for health reasons, not religious reasons. And a passive response to the legislation by Indonesia's dominant secular parties, which could have quashed it months ago, has some worried that it could become law.
  ''For me, it's all about pluralism and human rights,'' said Rudolf Dethu, a leader of two groups opposing the legislation, one of which organizes social events to promote the culinary aspects of beer.
  ''It's not just about alcohol -- there's something bigger behind this,'' Mr. Dethu said. ''First it's drinking, and then rules on who you can date and what time you can go out at night, and it's not in the Indonesian culture to say no to authority.''
  There have long been fears about creeping Islamization in Indonesia, which is the world's most-populous Muslim-majority nation but has influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities. (The vast majority of Bali's residents are Hindu.)
  Political Islam has made gains here since Indonesia began moving toward democracy in 1998, after the ouster of its long-ruling authoritarian president, Suharto. In the past decade, autonomous regional governments have passed hundreds of local bylaws inspired by Islamic law, many of which enforce morality codes. The country's Constitutional Court is currently hearing a petition by an Islamist group demanding that gay sex be outlawed, and that an existing adultery law be expanded to include sex between unmarried persons.
  The bill before Parliament would ban the production, distribution, sale, consumption and possession of alcoholic beverages among Indonesians and foreign tourists alike. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison.
  Critics of the Islamic parties backing the bill -- which have the support of hard-line Muslim groups that have sometimes engaged in violent intimidation -- say their concern for drinkers' health is a cover for pushing Indonesia toward becoming an Islamic state under Shariah law.
  Mohammad Arwani Thomafi, a lawmaker from the Islam-based United Development Party and chairman of a special legislative committee debating the bill, said that his party was merely acting out of concern for public health.
  ''Prohibition should be a legal requirement to protect the public,'' he said, citing ''dozens'' of deaths across Indonesia each year directly linked to drinking.
  But while that statistic is accurate, none of those deaths were connected with alcohol sold legally in stores, bars and restaurants -- mostly to relatively affluent Indonesians and to foreigners. Rather, they were caused by illegally brewed spirits, an underground industry involving hundreds or perhaps thousands of producers, to which the Indonesian police have largely turned a blind eye.
  The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies in Jakarta, citing local media reports, said there had been 453 deaths and 373 injuries from drinking alcohol since 2012. All were from illegally distilled alcohol, locally known as ''oplosan,'' which can contain a variety of substances including methanol, medicinal alcohol, fruit extract and toxic substances such as mosquito repellent.
  And 83 percent of those deaths occurred in autonomous districts with Shariah-inspired bans or restrictions on the sale of alcohol, said the center's executive director, Rainer Heufers.
  Such regulations ''do not increase public morality and health,'' Mr. Heufers said. ''Instead, they push the consumption from legally produced and traded alcohol to illegally produced and traded alcohol, which leads to more deaths and injuries.''
  President Joko Widodo's governing coalition, which plays a key role in drafting legislation and holds a majority in Parliament, is against the ban. His government has proposed increased regulation instead, including mandatory licensing for stores that sell alcohol and identification checks for buyers.
  But Indonesian parties have a history of breaking with their own coalitions on contentious legislation. (Two of the Islamic-based parties backing the bill are members of the governing coalition.) That has some opponents of the bill fearing that it could become law, given that previous attempts to ban alcohol have never gotten this far. The commission debating the legislation includes six large secular-nationalist parties, most of them also in the coalition, that could easily have stopped it but have not done so.
  ''It's difficult for parliamentarians to be against it, because they could easily be viewed as un-Islamic,'' Mr. Heufers said.
  Alcohol has been consumed in Indonesia for centuries, and it is an integral part of cultural and religious ceremonies among some of the country's more than 300 ethnic groups. A survey of 1,600 people in eight Indonesian cities, conducted by another Jakarta-based research institute, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, found that most respondents did not regard drinking as a health crisis.
  ''The Indonesian public does not consider this alcohol issue an urgent matter, but some of our politicians do,'' said David Christian, a researcher with the group.
  The bill's potential economic impact has been hotly debated. Last year, another study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that a total ban on alcohol would reduce Indonesia's gross domestic product by a mere 0.03 percent and eliminate 128,000 jobs, just 0.1 percent of the country's official labor force, figures that some found surprisingly low.
  Mr. Christian, the researcher, said that study only looked at the national economy, not at the presumably more severe effects a ban would have on places like Bali or Jakarta, which has hundreds of upscale hotels, restaurants, wine bars and pubs.
  Prohibition would also trigger the implosion of the $600 million local alcoholic beverages industry, shutting down Indonesian companies that produce spirits, beer and cider (and closing three wineries in Bali). The largest of these companies is Multi Bintang Indonesia, which brews Bintang, the national beer, and is also the local brewer of Heineken and Guinness.
  The company -- which opened in 1931, when Indonesia was under Dutch rule -- operates the first Heineken brewery opened outside of the Netherlands, had net sales of $220 million last year, and has a market capitalization of more than $1 billion. The company also invested $50 million during the past two years to upgrade and expand its operations, all of which could be lost, said Michael Chin, the company's president director.
  ''Obviously I am concerned, but it does not stop us from engaging the government and Parliament on a regular basis'' about the proposed ban, Mr. Chin said. ''There is no health crisis that is related to legitimate alcohol.''




6



 


September 2, 2016 Friday  


 Race issues dominate White House race

 
"Apparently, [Donald] Trump believes white-skinned Canadians are more acceptable than brown-skinned Mexicans."
Walter Brasch
On Trump's plans to build a wall on the border with Mexico
Donald Trump, who is commanding all of 1 percent of black voters, according to a Quinnipiac poll, says he could get as much as 95 percent of the Black vote under a new strategy that he says will appeal to blacks. However, his past actions don't mitigate whatever future plans he has.
In 1973, the Department of Justice sued Trump Management, of which he was president, of civil rights violations for refusing to rent apartments to blacks who wished to live in complexes that housed mostly whites. Trump has spoken against Black Lives Matter, calling it a "threat," and that if he is president, he would tell his attorney general to investigate the group. He didn't say, however, if he would investigate White Lives Matter or numerous militant white nationalist groups that support his campaign. He never repudiated the support of Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke, nor of campaign contributions by white supremacists and racists. 
With Hillary Clinton opening a gap, according to several polls, Trump replaced campaign chair Paul Manafort with Steve Bannon, who had been CEO of Breitbart News, an extreme right-wing online news site that promotes white nationalism and opposes immigration of individuals who would be part of minority cultures in the United States.
Trump previously had declined invitations to speak to conventions of the NAACP, Urban League, and the National Association of Black Journalists. However, with that gap, he has begun talking with Black and Hispanic groups.
He is outspoken in his hatred for President Obama, and is a leader of the "birther" movement that claims the president was born in Kenya and, thus, unqualified to be president. But, the birthers, who clinging to the flimsiest of all evidence to discredit the nation's first Black president, refuse to understand that Barack Obama's birth certificate was issued by a Hawaiian hospital and that his mother was an American citizen, making him an American citizen. The birthers also denounce him for attending an elementary school in Indonesia, and claim that experience also makes him a Muslim Kenyan. Trump claims, with no evidence, that Afghanistan is "safer than living in some of our inner cities," and vowed if he were president he would eliminate crime in the inner cities. He didn't say how he would do that, but he may be hiding a team of magicians in his advisory cabinet.
On June 16, 2015, the day he announced he was running for president, Trump declared, "When Mexico sends its people [to the U.S.], they're not sending their best. ... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with them. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." The first reality is that Mexico doesn't send anyone to the U.S.; they come without government assistance or sanction. The second reality is that most immigrants from Mexico and central America countries are not criminals or rapists or those who have problems; most are hard-working people who wish to improve their lives and live on the fringes of American society, often working in low-wage jobs, trying to blend into American culture, without drawing attention to themselves. They don't receive welfare, food stamps, or free medical and hospital care. That's because most don't apply for those benefits because they don't want to attract attention that could lead to their deportation. There's a third reality. Trump and many of his followers don't recognize that Mexico has significant restrictions on gun purchases, and most guns used by the cartels come from the United States. The criminals who do come into the U.S. come with American-made guns. Nevertheless, Trump's solution to the immigration problem is to round-up and deport 11 million undocumented persons from many countries. To make sure the U.S. is safe from immigrants, he has trumpeted a call to build a 25-55 foot tall wall stretching almost 2,000 miles on the U.S./Mexico border, and have Mexico pay for the $15-25 billion construction cost. The estimate doesn't include the yearly cost of adding border patrol agents and equipment nor the cost of sending the undocumented workers back to their native countries, nor how to deal with the estimate wait times. He also hasn't addressed concerns about Mexican and central American workers digging vast and elaborate tunnels beneath the walls, nor illegal immigration by those who slip past the Coast Guard and enter the country by private plane or boats. There's also no provision to fence off the northern border with Canada; apparently, Trump believes white-skinned Canadians are more acceptable than brown-skinned Mexicans. Of course, there's another reality - Canadians, for the most part, have little desire to emigrate to the U.S.
Brasch is an award-winning journalist who has covered government and politics at all levels for four decades.
"Apparently, [Donald] Trump believes white-skinned Canadians are more acceptable than brown-skinned Mexicans."
Walter Brasch
On Trump's plans to build a wall on the border with Mexico




6



 



August 29, 2016 Monday  


 Terrorist attack at Indonesian church fails

 
A man armed with a bomb and an ax intended to wreak havoc during a packed Sunday Mass celebration in Indonesia, but his bomb burst into flames rather than explode. Police told local media that the man was carrying items marked with an Islamic State insignia. 
The attacker did manage to swing his ax at the church's 60-year-old priest, slightly injuring his hand. Congregants were able to subdue the attacker until police arrived.
Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population. Almost all of its roughly 250 million people are moderate Sunni Muslims, though there is a significant Christian minority. Compared with other large Muslim countries, militancy is relatively rare in Indonesia, but extremist groups have carried out minor attacks. The biggest attack occurred in 2002, when terrorists bombed nightclubs on the island of Bali, killing 202. The government has since sustained a massive crackdown on militant cells.
But the incident at the church in Medan, Indonesia's third-largest city, marks the second Islamic State-inspired attack in the country this year. The Islamic State has called on supporters worldwide to carry out attacks at home, rather than join the militant group in Syria, Iraq and Libya, where it holds territory. On Jan. 14, four men attacked the business district of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, with guns and explosives, killing four. The Islamic State asserted responsibility.
Security officials say that about 500 Indonesians have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State, according to Reuters. One in five of them is thought to have returned home.
Responding to growing anxiety that the group could gain a foothold in Indonesia, the government recently tightened anti-terrorism laws that were passed after the Bali blasts.
The police in Medan are investigating the church attack suspect's ties to other known Islamic State operatives. A police spokesman told the Associated Press that the 18-year-old said he had not been working alone but provided no details.
A witness quoted in the Jakarta Post made the attacker sound like a relative novice. "He was fidgety the whole time," said the churchgoer, identified only as Vero.
As the sermon began, Vero said, the man took cables out of his backpack and connected them to something she suspected was the detonator. He only managed to injure himself, as the bomb more or less burst into flames. The crowd rushed out, panicked, but alive.




6


 


August 26, 2016 Friday  


 'Both Arsonists and Firefighters'

 
WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump do not agree on much, but Saudi Arabia may be an exception. She has deplored Saudi Arabia's support for ''radical schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path towards extremism.'' He has called the Saudis ''the world's biggest funders of terrorism.''
The first American diplomat to serve as envoy to Muslim communities around the world visited 80 countries and concluded that the Saudi influence was destroying tolerant Islamic traditions. ''If the Saudis do not cease what they are doing,'' the official, Farah Pandith, wrote last year, ''there must be diplomatic, cultural and economic consequences.'' 
  And hardly a week passes without a television pundit or a newspaper columnist blaming Saudi Arabia for jihadist violence. On HBO, Bill Maher calls Saudi teachings ''medieval,'' adding an epithet. In , Fareed Zakaria writes that the Saudis have ''created a monster in the world of Islam.'' 
  The idea has become a commonplace: that Saudi Arabia's export of the rigid, bigoted, patriarchal, fundamentalist strain of Islam known as Wahhabism has fueled global extremism and contributed to terrorism. As the Islamic State projects its menacing calls for violence into the West, directing or inspiring terrorist attacks in country after country, an old debate over Saudi influence on Islam has taken on new relevance.
  Is the world today a more divided, dangerous and violent place because of the cumulative effect of five decades of oil-financed proselytizing from the historical heart of the Muslim world? Or is Saudi Arabia, which has often supported Western-friendly autocrats over Islamists, merely a convenient scapegoat for extremism and terrorism with many complex causes -- the United States's own actions among them?
  Those questions are deeply contentious, partly because of the contradictory impulses of the Saudi state.
  In the realm of extremist Islam, the Saudis are ''both the arsonists and the firefighters,'' said William McCants, a Brookings Institution scholar. ''They promote a very toxic form of Islam that draws sharp lines between a small number of true believers and everyone else, Muslim and non-Muslim,'' he said, providing ideological fodder for violent jihadists.
  Yet at the same time, ''they're our partners in counterterrorism,'' said Mr. McCants, one of three dozen academics, government officials and experts on Islam from multiple countries interviewed for this article.
  Conflicting Goals
  Saudi leaders seek good relations with the West and see jihadist violence as a menace that could endanger their rule, especially now that the Islamic State is staging attacks in the kingdom -- 25 in the last eight months, by the government's count. But they are also driven by their rivalry with Iran, and they depend for legitimacy on a clerical establishment dedicated to a reactionary set of beliefs. Those conflicting goals can play out in a bafflingly inconsistent manner.
  Thomas Hegghammer, a Norwegian terrorism expert who has advised the United States government, said the most important effect of Saudi proselytizing might have been to slow the evolution of Islam, blocking its natural accommodation to a diverse and globalized world. ''If there was going to be an Islamic reformation in the 20th century, the Saudis probably prevented it by pumping out literalism,'' he said.
  The reach of the Saudis has been stunning, touching nearly every country with a Muslim population, from the Gothenburg Mosque in Sweden to the King Faisal Mosque in Chad, from the King Fahad Mosque in Los Angeles to the Seoul Central Mosque in South Korea. Support has come from the Saudi government; the royal family; Saudi charities; and Saudi-sponsored organizations including the World Muslim League, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the International Islamic Relief Organization, providing the hardware of impressive edifices and the software of preaching and teaching.
  There is a broad consensus that the Saudi ideological juggernaut has disrupted local Islamic traditions in dozens of countries -- the result of lavish spending on religious outreach for half a century, estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. The result has been amplified by guest workers, many from South Asia, who spend years in Saudi Arabia and bring Saudi ways home with them. In many countries, Wahhabist preaching has encouraged a harshly judgmental religion, contributing to majority support in some polls in Egypt, Pakistan and other countries for stoning for adultery and execution for anyone trying to leave Islam.
  Limits of Influence
  But exactly how Saudi influence plays out seems to depend greatly on local conditions. In parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, for instance, Saudi teachings have shifted the religious culture in a markedly conservative direction, most visibly in the decision of more women to cover their hair or of men to grow beards. Among Muslim immigrant communities in Europe, the Saudi influence seems to be just one factor driving radicalization, and not the most significant. In divided countries like Pakistan and Nigeria, the flood of Saudi money, and the ideology it promotes, have exacerbated divisions over religion that regularly prove lethal.
  And for a small minority in many countries, the exclusionary Saudi version of Sunni Islam, with its denigration of Jews and Christians, as well as of Muslims of Shiite, Sufi and other traditions, may have made some people vulnerable to the lure of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other violent jihadist groups. ''There's only so much dehumanizing of the other that you can be exposed to -- and exposed to as the word of God -- without becoming susceptible to recruitment,'' said David Andrew Weinberg, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington who tracks Saudi influence.
  Exhibit A may be Saudi Arabia itself, which produced not only Osama bin Laden, but also 15 of the 19 hijackers of Sept. 11, 2001; sent more suicide bombers than any other country to Iraq after the 2003 invasion; and has supplied more foreign fighters to the Islamic State, 2,500, than any country other than Tunisia.
  Mehmet Gormez, the senior Islamic cleric in Turkey, said that while he was meeting with Saudi clerics in Riyadh in January, the Saudi authorities had executed 47 people in a single day on terrorism charges, 45 of them Saudi citizens. ''I said: 'These people studied Islam for 10 or 15 years in your country. Is there a problem with the educational system?' '' Mr. Gormez said in an interview. He argued that Wahhabi teaching was undermining the pluralism, tolerance and openness to science and learning that had long characterized Islam. ''Sadly,'' he said, the changes have taken place ''in almost all of the Islamic world.''
  In a huge embarrassment to the Saudi authorities, the Islamic State adopted official Saudi textbooks for its schools until the extremist group could publish its own books in 2015. Out of 12 works by Muslim scholars republished by the Islamic State, seven are by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the 18th-century founder of the Saudi school of Islam, said Jacob Olidort, a scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. A former imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh Adil al-Kalbani declared with regret in a television interview in January that the Islamic State leaders ''draw their ideas from what is written in our own books, our own principles.''
  Small details of Saudi practice can cause outsize trouble. For at least two decades, the kingdom has distributed an English translation of the Quran that in the first surah, or chapter, adds parenthetical references to Jews and Christians in addressing Allah: ''those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).'' Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University and the editor in chief of the new Study Quran, an annotated English version, said the additions were ''a complete heresy, with no basis in Islamic tradition.''
  Accordingly, many American officials who have worked to counter extremism and terrorism have formed a dark view of the Saudi effect -- even if, given the sensitivity of the relationship, they are often loath to discuss it publicly. The United States' reliance on Saudi counterterrorism cooperation in recent years -- for instance, the Saudi tip that foiled a 2010 Qaeda plot to blow up two American cargo planes -- has often taken precedence over concerns about radical influence. And generous Saudi funding for professorships and research centers at American universities, including the most elite institutions, has deterred criticism and discouraged research on the effects of Wahhabi proselytizing, according to Mr. McCants -- who is working on a book about the Saudi impact on global Islam -- and other scholars.
  One American former official who has begun to speak out is Ms. Pandith, the State Department's first special representative to Muslim communities worldwide. From 2009 to 2014, she visited Muslims in 80 countries and concluded that Saudi influence was pernicious and universal. ''In each place I visited, the Wahhabi influence was an insidious presence,'' she wrote in  last year. She said the United States should ''disrupt the training of extremist imams,'' ''reject free Saudi textbooks and translations that are filled with hate,'' and ''prevent the Saudis from demolishing local Muslim religious and cultural sites that are evidence of the diversity of Islam.''
  Yet some scholars on Islam and extremism, including experts on radicalization in many countries, push back against the notion that Saudi Arabia bears predominant responsibility for the current wave of extremism and jihadist violence. They point to multiple sources for the rise and spread of Islamist terrorism, including repressive secular governments in the Middle East, local injustices and divisions, the hijacking of the internet for terrorist propaganda, and American interventions in the Muslim world from the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan to the invasion of Iraq. The 20th-century ideologues most influential with modern jihadists, like Sayyid Qutb of Egypt and Abul Ala Maududi of Pakistan, reached their extreme, anti-Western views without much Saudi input. Al Qaeda and the Islamic State despise Saudi rulers, whom they consider the worst of hypocrites.
  ''Americans like to have someone to blame -- a person, a political party or country,'' said Robert S. Ford, a former United States ambassador to Syria and Algeria. ''But it's a lot more complicated than that. I'd be careful about blaming the Saudis.''
  While Saudi religious influence may be disruptive, he and others say, its effect is not monolithic. A major tenet of official Saudi Islamic teaching is obedience to rulers -- hardly a precept that encourages terrorism intended to break nations. Many Saudi and Saudi-trained clerics are quietist, characterized by a devotion to scripture and prayer and a shunning of politics, let alone political violence.
  And especially since 2003, when Qaeda attacks in the kingdom awoke the monarchy to the danger it faced from militancy, Saudi Arabia has acted more aggressively to curtail preachers who call for violence, cut off terrorist financing and cooperate with Western intelligence to foil terrorist plots. From 2004 to 2012, 3,500 imams were fired for refusing to renounce extremist views, and another 20,000 went through retraining, according to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs -- though the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed skepticism that the training was really ''instilling tolerance.''
  An American scholar with long experience in Saudi Arabia -- who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve his ability to travel to the kingdom for research -- said he believed that Saudi influence had often been exaggerated in American political discourse. But he compared it to climate change. Just as a one-degree increase in temperature can ultimately result in drastic effects around the globe, with glaciers melting and species dying off, so Saudi teaching is playing out in many countries in ways that are hard to predict and difficult to trace but often profound, the scholar said.
  Saudi proselytizing can result in a ''recalibrating of the religious center of gravity'' for young people, the scholar said, which makes it ''easier for them to swallow or make sense of the ISIS religious narrative when it does arrive. It doesn't seem quite as foreign as it might have, had that Saudi religious influence not been there.''
  Centuries-Old Dilemma
  Why does Saudi Arabia find it so difficult to let go of an ideology that much of the world finds repugnant? The key to the Saudi dilemma dates back nearly three centuries to the origin of the alliance that still undergirds the Saudi state. In 1744, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a reformist cleric, sought the protection of Muhammad bin Saud, a powerful tribal leader in the harsh desert of the Arabian Peninsula. The alliance was mutually beneficial: Wahhab received military protection for his movement, which sought to return Muslims to what he believed were the values of the early years of Islam in the seventh century, when the Prophet Muhammad was alive. (His beliefs were a variant of Salafism, the conservative school of Islam that teaches that the salaf, or pious ancestors, had the correct ways and beliefs and should be emulated.) In return, the Saud family earned the endorsement of an Islamic cleric -- a puritanical enforcer known for insisting on the death by stoning of a woman for adultery.
  Wahhab's particular version of Islam was the first of two historical accidents that would define Saudi religious influence centuries later. What came to be known as Wahhabism was ''a tribal, desert Islam,'' said Akbar Ahmed, the chairman of Islamic studies at American University in Washington. It was shaped by the austere environment -- xenophobic, fiercely opposed to shrines and tombs, disapproving of art and music, and hugely different from the cosmopolitan Islam of diverse trading cities like Baghdad and Cairo.
  The second historical accident came in 1938, when American prospectors discovered the largest oil reserves on earth in Saudi Arabia. Oil revenue generated by the Arabian-American Oil Company, or Aramco, created fabulous wealth. But it also froze in place a rigid social and economic system and gave the conservative religious establishment an extravagant budget for the export of its severe strain of Islam.
  ''One day you find oil, and the world is coming to you,'' Professor Ahmed said. ''God has given you the ability to take your version of Islam to the world.''
  In 1964, when King Faisal ascended the throne, he embraced the obligation of spreading Islam. A modernizer in many respects, with close ties to the West, he nonetheless could not overhaul the Wahhabi doctrine that became the face of Saudi generosity in many countries. Over the next four decades, in non-Muslim-majority countries alone, Saudi Arabia would build 1,359 mosques, 210 Islamic centers, 202 colleges and 2,000 schools. Saudi money helped finance 16 American mosques; four in Canada; and others in London, Madrid, Brussels and Geneva, according to a report in an official Saudi weekly, Ain al-Yaqeen. The total spending, including supplying or training imams and teachers, was ''many billions'' of Saudi riyals (at a rate of about four to a dollar), the report said.
  Saudi religious teaching had particular force because it came from the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, the land of Islam's two holiest places, Mecca and Medina. When Saudi imams arrived in Muslim countries in Asia or Africa, or in Muslim communities in Europe or the Americas, wearing traditional Arabian robes, speaking the language of the Quran -- and carrying a generous checkbook -- they had automatic credibility.
  As the 20th century progressed and people of different nationalities and faiths mixed routinely, the puritanical, exclusionary nature of Wahhab's teachings would become more and more dysfunctional. But the Saudi government would find it extraordinarily difficult to shed or soften its ideology, especially after the landmark year of 1979.
  In Tehran that year, the Iranian revolution brought to power a radical Shiite government, symbolically challenging Saudi Arabia, the leader of Sunnism, for leadership of global Islam. The declaration of an Islamic Republic escalated the competition between the two major branches of Islam, spurring the Saudis to redouble their efforts to counter Iran and spread Wahhabism around the world.
  Then, in a stunning strike, a band of 500 Saudi extremists seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca for two weeks, publicly calling Saudi rulers puppets of the West and traitors to true Islam. The rebels were defeated, but leading clerics agreed to back the government only after assurances of support for a crackdown on immodest ways in the kingdom and a more aggressive export of Wahhabism abroad.
  Finally, at year's end, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and seized power to prop up a Communist government. It soon faced an insurgent movement of mujahedeen, or holy warriors battling for Islam, which drew fighters from around the world for a decade-long battle to expel the occupiers.
  Throughout the 1980s, Saudi Arabia and the United States worked together to finance the mujahedeen in this great Afghan war, which would revive the notion of noble armed jihad for Muslims worldwide. President Ronald Reagan famously welcomed to the Oval Office a delegation of bearded ''Afghan freedom fighters'' whose social and theological views were hardly distinguishable from those later embraced by the Taliban.
  In fact, the United States spent $50 million from 1986 to 1992 on what was called a ''jihad literacy'' project -- printing books for Afghan children and adults to encourage violence against non-Muslim ''infidels'' like Soviet troops. A first-grade language textbook for Pashto speakers, for example, according to a study by Dana Burde, an associate professor at New York University, used ''Mujahid,'' or fighter of jihad, as the illustration: ''My brother is a Mujahid. Afghan Muslims are Mujahedeen. I do jihad together with them. Doing jihad against infidels is our duty.''
  Pressure After 9/11
  One day in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks, Robert W. Jordan, the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was driving in the kingdom with the longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan. The prince pointed to a mosque and said, ''I just fired the imam there.'' The man's preaching had been too militant, he said.
  Mr. Jordan, a Texas lawyer, said that after the Qaeda attacks, he had stepped up pressure on the Saudi government over its spread of extremism. ''I told them: 'What you teach in your schools and preach in your mosques now is not an internal matter. It affects our national security,''' he said.
  After years of encouraging and financing a harsh Islam in support of the anti-Soviet jihad, the United States had reversed course -- gradually during the 1990s and then dramatically after the Sept. 11 attacks. But in pressuring Saudi Arabia, American officials would tread lightly, acutely aware of American dependence on Saudi oil and intelligence cooperation. Saudi reform would move at an excruciatingly slow pace.
  Twelve years after Sept. 11, after years of quiet American complaints about Saudi teachings, a State Department contractor, the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, completed a study of official Saudi textbooks. It reported some progress in cutting back on bigoted and violent content but found that plenty of objectionable material remained. Officials never released the 2013 study, for fear of angering the Saudis.  obtained it under the Freedom of Information Act.
  Seventh graders were being taught that ''fighting the infidels to elevate the words of Allah'' was among the deeds Allah loved the most, the report found, among dozens of passages it found troubling. Tenth graders learned that Muslims who abandoned Islam should be jailed for three days and, if they did not change their minds, ''killed for walking away from their true religion.'' Fourth graders read that non-Muslims had been ''shown the truth but abandoned it, like the Jews,'' or had replaced truth with ''ignorance and delusion, like the Christians.''
  Some of the books, prepared and distributed by the government, propagated views that were hostile to science, modernity and women's rights, not to say downright quirky -- advocating, for instance, execution for sorcerers and warning against the dangers of the Rotary Club and the Lions Club. (The groups' intent, said a 10th-grade textbook, ''is to achieve the goals of the Zionist movement.'')
  The textbooks, or other Saudi teaching materials with similar content, had been distributed in scores of countries, the study found. Textbook reform has continued since the 2013 study, and Saudi officials say they are trying to replace older books distributed overseas.
  But as the study noted, the schoolbooks were only a modest part of the Saudis' lavishly funded global export of Wahhabism. In many places, the study said, the largess includes ''a Saudi-funded school with a Wahhabist faculty (educated in a Saudi-funded Wahhabist University), attached to a mosque with a Wahhabist imam, and ultimately controlled by an international Wahhabist educational body.''
  This ideological steamroller has landed in diverse places where Muslims of different sects had spent centuries learning to accommodate one another. Sayyed Shah, a Pakistani journalist working on a doctorate in the United States, described the devastating effect on his town, not far from the Afghan border, of the arrival some years ago of a young Pakistani preacher trained in a Saudi-funded seminary.
  Village residents had long held a mélange of Muslim beliefs, he said. ''We were Sunni, but our culture, our traditions were a mixture of Shia and Barelvi and Deobandi,'' Mr. Shah said, referring to Muslim sects. His family would visit the large Barelvi shrine, and watch their Shiite neighbors as they lashed themselves in a public religious ritual. ''We wouldn't do that ourselves, but we'd hand out sweets and water,'' he said.
  The new preacher, he said, denounced the Barelvi and Shiite beliefs as false and heretical, dividing the community and setting off years of bitter argument. By 2010, Mr. Shah said, ''everything had changed.'' Women who had used shawls to cover their hair and face began wearing full burqas. Militants began attacking kiosks where merchants sold secular music CDs. Twice, terrorists used explosives to try to destroy the village's locally famous shrine.
  Now, Mr. Shah said, families are divided; his cousin, he said, ''just wants Saudi religion.'' He said an entire generation had been ''indoctrinated'' with a rigid, unforgiving creed.
  ''It's so difficult these days,'' he said. ''Initially we were on a single path. We just had economic problems, but we were culturally sound.''
  He added, ''But now it's very difficult, because some people want Saudi culture to be our culture, and others are opposing that.''
  C. Christine Fair, a specialist on Pakistan at Georgetown University, said Mr. Shah's account was credible. But like many scholars describing the Saudi impact on religion, she said that militancy in Pakistan also had local causes. While Saudi money and teaching have unquestionably been ''accelerants,'' Pakistan's sectarian troubles and jihadist violence have deep roots dating to the country's origins in the partition of India in 1947.
  ''The idea that without the Saudis Pakistan would be Switzerland is ridiculous,'' she said.
  Elusive Saudi Links
  That is the disputed question, of course: how the world would be different without decades of Saudi-funded shaping of Islam. Though there is a widespread belief that Saudi influence has contributed to the growth of terrorism, it is rare to find a direct case of cause and effect. For example, in Brussels, the Grand Mosque was built with Saudi money and staffed with Saudi imams. In 2012, according to Saudi diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, one Saudi preacher was removed after Belgian complaints that he was a ''true Salafi'' who did not accept other schools of Islam. And Brussels' immigrant neighborhoods, notably Molenbeek, have long been the home of storefront mosques teaching hard-line Salafi views.
  After the terrorist attacks in Paris in November and in Brussels in March were tied to an Islamic State cell in Belgium, the Saudi history was the subject of several news media reports. Yet it was difficult to find any direct link between the bombers and the Saudi legacy in the Belgian capital.
  Several suspects had petty criminal backgrounds; their knowledge of Islam was described by friends as superficial; they did not appear to be regulars at any mosque. Though the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blasts, resentment of the treatment of North African immigrant families in Belgium and exposure to Islamic State propaganda, in person or via the internet and social media, appeared to be the major factors motivating the attacks.
  If there was a Saudi connection, it was highly indirect, perhaps playing out over a generation or longer. Hind Fraihi, a Moroccan-Belgian journalist who went underground in the Brussels immigrant neighborhood of Molenbeek in 2005 and wrote a book about it, met Saudi-trained imams and found lots of extremist literature written in Saudi Arabia that encouraged ''polarization, the sentiment of us against them, the glorification of jihad.''
  The recent attackers, Ms. Fraihi said, were motivated by ''lots of factors -- economic frustration, racism, a generation that feels it has no future.'' But Saudi teaching, she said, ''is part of the cocktail.''
  Without the Saudi presence over the decades, might a more progressive and accommodating Islam, reflecting immigrants' Moroccan roots, have taken hold in Brussels? Would young Muslims raised in Belgium have been less susceptible to the stark, violent call of the Islamic State? Conceivably, but the case is impossible to prove.
  Or consider an utterly different cultural milieu -- the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia. The Saudis have sent money for mosque-building, books and teachers for decades, said Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta.
  ''Over time,'' said Ms. Jones, who has visited or lived in Indonesia since the 1970s, the Saudi influence ''has contributed to a more conservative, more intolerant atmosphere.'' (President Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a boy, has remarked on the same phenomenon.) She said she believed money from private Saudi donors and foundations was behind campaigns in Indonesia against Shiite and Ahmadi Islam, considered heretical by Wahhabi teaching. Some well-known Indonesian religious vigilantes are Saudi-educated, she said.
  But when Ms. Jones studied the approximately 1,000 people arrested in Indonesia on terrorism charges since 2002, she found only a few -- ''literally four or five'' -- with ties to Wahhabi or Salafi institutions. When it comes to violence, she concluded, the Saudi connection is ''mostly a red herring.''
  In fact, she said, there is a gulf between Indonesian jihadists and Indonesian Salafis who look to Saudi or Yemeni scholars for guidance. The jihadists accuse the Salafis of failing to act on their convictions; the Salafis scorn the jihadists as extremists.
  Whatever the global effects of decades of Saudi proselytizing, it is under greater scrutiny than ever, from outside and inside the kingdom. Saudi leaders' ideological reform efforts, encompassing textbooks and preaching, amount to a tacit recognition that its religious exports have sometimes backfired. And the kingdom has stepped up an aggressive public relations campaign in the West, hiring American publicists to counter critical news media reports and fashion a reformist image for Saudi leaders.
  But neither the publicists nor their clients can renounce the strain of Islam on which the Saudi state was built, and old habits sometimes prove difficult to suppress. A prominent cleric, Saad bin Nasser al-Shethri, had been stripped of a leadership position by the previous king, Abdullah, for condemning coeducation. King Salman restored Mr. Shethri to the job last year, not long after the cleric had joined the chorus of official voices criticizing the Islamic State. But Mr. Shethri's reasoning for denouncing the Islamic State suggested the difficulty of change. The group was, he said, ''more infidel than Jews and Christians.''




6



 


August 25, 2016 Thursday  

 Saudis and Extremism: 'Both the Arsonists and the Firefighters'

 
WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump do not agree on much, but Saudi Arabia may be an exception. She has deplored Saudi Arabia's support for "radical schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path towards extremism." He has called the Saudis "the world's biggest funders of terrorism."
The first American diplomat to serve as envoy to Muslim communities around the world visited 80 countries and concluded that the Saudi influence was destroying tolerant Islamic traditions. "If the Saudis do not cease what they are doing," the official, Farah Pandith, wrote last year, "there must be diplomatic, cultural and economic consequences."
And hardly a week passes without a television pundit or a newspaper columnist blaming Saudi Arabia for jihadist violence. On HBO, Bill Maher calls Saudi teachings "medieval," adding an epithet. In , Fareed Zakaria writes that the Saudis have "created a monster in the world of Islam." 
The idea has become a commonplace: that Saudi Arabia's export of the rigid, bigoted, patriarchal, fundamentalist strain of Islam known as Wahhabism has fueled global extremism and contributed to terrorism. As the Islamic State projects its menacing calls for violence into the West, directing or inspiring terrorist attacks in country after country, an old debate over Saudi influence on Islam has taken on new relevance.
Is the world today a more divided, dangerous and violent place because of the cumulative effect of five decades of oil-financed proselytizing from the historical heart of the Muslim world? Or is Saudi Arabia, which has often supported Western-friendly autocrats over Islamists, merely a convenient scapegoat for extremism and terrorism with many complex causes - the United States's own actions among them?
Those questions are deeply contentious, partly because of the contradictory impulses of the Saudi state.
In the realm of extremist Islam, the Saudis are "both the arsonists and the firefighters," said William McCants, a Brookings Institution scholar. "They promote a very toxic form of Islam that draws sharp lines between a small number of true believers and everyone else, Muslim and non-Muslim," he said, providing ideological fodder for violent jihadists.
Yet at the same time, "they're our partners in counterterrorism," said Mr. McCants, one of three dozen academics, government officials and experts on Islam from multiple countries interviewed for this article.
Conflicting Goals
Saudi leaders seek good relations with the West and see jihadist violence as a menace that could endanger their rule, especially now that the Islamic State is staging attacks in the kingdom - 25 in the last eight months, by the government's count. But they are also driven by their rivalry with Iran, and they depend for legitimacy on a clerical establishment dedicated to a reactionary set of beliefs. Those conflicting goals can play out in a bafflingly inconsistent manner.
Thomas Hegghammer, a Norwegian terrorism expert who has advised the United States government, said the most important effect of Saudi proselytizing might have been to slow the evolution of Islam, blocking its natural accommodation to a diverse and globalized world. "If there was going to be an Islamic reformation in the 20th century, the Saudis probably prevented it by pumping out literalism," he said.
The reach of the Saudis has been stunning, touching nearly every country with a Muslim population, from the Gothenburg Mosque in Sweden to the King Faisal Mosque in Chad, from the King Fahad Mosque in Los Angeles to the Seoul Central Mosque in South Korea. Support has come from the Saudi government; the royal family; Saudi charities; and Saudi-sponsored organizations including the World Muslim League, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the International Islamic Relief Organization, providing the hardware of impressive edifices and the software of preaching and teaching.
There is a broad consensus that the Saudi ideological juggernaut has disrupted local Islamic traditions in dozens of countries - the result of lavish spending on religious outreach for half a century, estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. The result has been amplified by guest workers, many from South Asia, who spend years in Saudi Arabia and bring Saudi ways home with them. In many countries, Wahhabist preaching has encouraged a harshly judgmental religion, contributing to majority support in some polls in Egypt, Pakistan and other countries for stoning for adultery and execution for anyone trying to leave Islam.
Limits of Influence
But exactly how Saudi influence plays out seems to depend greatly on local conditions. In parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, for instance, Saudi teachings have shifted the religious culture in a markedly conservative direction, most visibly in the decision of more women to cover their hair or of men to grow beards. Among Muslim immigrant communities in Europe, the Saudi influence seems to be just one factor driving radicalization, and not the most significant. In divided countries like Pakistan and Nigeria, the flood of Saudi money, and the ideology it promotes, have exacerbated divisions over religion that regularly prove lethal.
And for a small minority in many countries, the exclusionary Saudi version of Sunni Islam, with its denigration of Jews and Christians, as well as of Muslims of Shiite, Sufi and other traditions, may have made some people vulnerable to the lure of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other violent jihadist groups. "There's only so much dehumanizing of the other that you can be exposed to - and exposed to as the word of God - without becoming susceptible to recruitment," said David Andrew Weinberg, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington who tracks Saudi influence.
Exhibit A may be Saudi Arabia itself, which produced not only Osama bin Laden, but also 15 of the 19 hijackers of Sept. 11, 2001; sent more suicide bombers than any other country to Iraq after the 2003 invasion; and has supplied more foreign fighters to the Islamic State, 2,500, than any country other than Tunisia.
Mehmet Gormez, the senior Islamic cleric in Turkey, said that while he was meeting with Saudi clerics in Riyadh in January, the Saudi authorities had executed 47 people in a single day on terrorism charges, 45 of them Saudi citizens. "I said: 'These people studied Islam for 10 or 15 years in your country. Is there a problem with the educational system?' " Mr. Gormez said in an interview. He argued that Wahhabi teaching was undermining the pluralism, tolerance and openness to science and learning that had long characterized Islam. "Sadly," he said, the changes have taken place "in almost all of the Islamic world."
In a huge embarrassment to the Saudi authorities, the Islamic State adopted official Saudi textbooks for its schools until the extremist group could publish its own books in 2015. Out of 12 works by Muslim scholars republished by the Islamic State, seven are by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the 18th-century founder of the Saudi school of Islam, said Jacob Olidort, a scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. A former imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh Adil al-Kalbani declared with regret in a television interview in January that the Islamic State leaders "draw their ideas from what is written in our own books, our own principles."
Small details of Saudi practice can cause outsize trouble. For at least two decades, the kingdom has distributed an English translation of the Quran that in the first surah, or chapter, adds parenthetical references to Jews and Christians in addressing Allah: "those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians)." Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University and the editor in chief of the new Study Quran, an annotated English version, said the additions were "a complete heresy, with no basis in Islamic tradition."
Accordingly, many American officials who have worked to counter extremism and terrorism have formed a dark view of the Saudi effect - even if, given the sensitivity of the relationship, they are often loath to discuss it publicly. The United States' reliance on Saudi counterterrorism cooperation in recent years - for instance, the Saudi tip that foiled a 2010 Qaeda plot to blow up two American cargo planes - has often taken precedence over concerns about radical influence. And generous Saudi funding for professorships and research centers at American universities, including the most elite institutions, has deterred criticism and discouraged research on the effects of Wahhabi proselytizing, according to Mr. McCants - who is working on a book about the Saudi impact on global Islam - and other scholars.
One American former official who has begun to speak out is Ms. Pandith, the State Department's first special representative to Muslim communities worldwide. From 2009 to 2014, she visited Muslims in 80 countries and concluded that Saudi influence was pernicious and universal. "In each place I visited, the Wahhabi influence was an insidious presence," she wrote in  last year. She said the United States should "disrupt the training of extremist imams," "reject free Saudi textbooks and translations that are filled with hate," and "prevent the Saudis from demolishing local Muslim religious and cultural sites that are evidence of the diversity of Islam."
Yet some scholars on Islam and extremism, including experts on radicalization in many countries, push back against the notion that Saudi Arabia bears predominant responsibility for the current wave of extremism and jihadist violence. They point to multiple sources for the rise and spread of Islamist terrorism, including repressive secular governments in the Middle East, local injustices and divisions, the hijacking of the internet for terrorist propaganda, and American interventions in the Muslim world from the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan to the invasion of Iraq. The 20th-century ideologues most influential with modern jihadists, like Sayyid Qutb of Egypt and Abul Ala Maududi of Pakistan, reached their extreme, anti-Western views without much Saudi input. Al Qaeda and the Islamic State despise Saudi rulers, whom they consider the worst of hypocrites.
"Americans like to have someone to blame - a person, a political party or country," said Robert S. Ford, a former United States ambassador to Syria and Algeria. "But it's a lot more complicated than that. I'd be careful about blaming the Saudis."
While Saudi religious influence may be disruptive, he and others say, its effect is not monolithic. A major tenet of official Saudi Islamic teaching is obedience to rulers - hardly a precept that encourages terrorism intended to break nations. Many Saudi and Saudi-trained clerics are quietist, characterized by a devotion to scripture and prayer and a shunning of politics, let alone political violence.
And especially since 2003, when Qaeda attacks in the kingdom awoke the monarchy to the danger it faced from militancy, Saudi Arabia has acted more aggressively to curtail preachers who call for violence, cut off terrorist financing and cooperate with Western intelligence to foil terrorist plots. From 2004 to 2012, 3,500 imams were fired for refusing to renounce extremist views, and another 20,000 went through retraining, according to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs - though the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed skepticism that the training was really "instilling tolerance."
An American scholar with long experience in Saudi Arabia - who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve his ability to travel to the kingdom for research - said he believed that Saudi influence had often been exaggerated in American political discourse. But he compared it to climate change. Just as a one-degree increase in temperature can ultimately result in drastic effects around the globe, with glaciers melting and species dying off, so Saudi teaching is playing out in many countries in ways that are hard to predict and difficult to trace but often profound, the scholar said.
Saudi proselytizing can result in a "recalibrating of the religious center of gravity" for young people, the scholar said, which makes it "easier for them to swallow or make sense of the ISIS religious narrative when it does arrive. It doesn't seem quite as foreign as it might have, had that Saudi religious influence not been there."
Centuries-Old Dilemma
Why does Saudi Arabia find it so difficult to let go of an ideology that much of the world finds repugnant? The key to the Saudi dilemma dates back nearly three centuries to the origin of the alliance that still undergirds the Saudi state. In 1744, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a reformist cleric, sought the protection of Muhammad bin Saud, a powerful tribal leader in the harsh desert of the Arabian Peninsula. The alliance was mutually beneficial: Wahhab received military protection for his movement, which sought to return Muslims to what he believed were the values of the early years of Islam in the seventh century, when the Prophet Muhammad was alive. (His beliefs were a variant of Salafism, the conservative school of Islam that teaches that the salaf, or pious ancestors, had the correct ways and beliefs and should be emulated.) In return, the Saud family earned the endorsement of an Islamic cleric - a puritanical enforcer known for insisting on the death by stoning of a woman for adultery.
Wahhab's particular version of Islam was the first of two historical accidents that would define Saudi religious influence centuries later. What came to be known as Wahhabism was "a tribal, desert Islam," said Akbar Ahmed, the chairman of Islamic studies at American University in Washington. It was shaped by the austere environment - xenophobic, fiercely opposed to shrines and tombs, disapproving of art and music, and hugely different from the cosmopolitan Islam of diverse trading cities like Baghdad and Cairo.
The second historical accident came in 1938, when American prospectors discovered the largest oil reserves on earth in Saudi Arabia. Oil revenue generated by the Arabian-American Oil Company, or Aramco, created fabulous wealth. But it also froze in place a rigid social and economic system and gave the conservative religious establishment an extravagant budget for the export of its severe strain of Islam.
"One day you find oil, and the world is coming to you," Professor Ahmed said. "God has given you the ability to take your version of Islam to the world."
In 1964, when King Faisal ascended the throne, he embraced the obligation of spreading Islam. A modernizer in many respects, with close ties to the West, he nonetheless could not overhaul the Wahhabi doctrine that became the face of Saudi generosity in many countries. Over the next four decades, in non-Muslim-majority countries alone, Saudi Arabia would build 1,359 mosques, 210 Islamic centers, 202 colleges and 2,000 schools. Saudi money helped finance 16 American mosques; four in Canada; and others in London, Madrid, Brussels and Geneva, according to a report in an official Saudi weekly, Ain al-Yaqeen. The total spending, including supplying or training imams and teachers, was "many billions" of Saudi riyals (at a rate of about four to a dollar), the report said.
Saudi religious teaching had particular force because it came from the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, the land of Islam's two holiest places, Mecca and Medina. When Saudi imams arrived in Muslim countries in Asia or Africa, or in Muslim communities in Europe or the Americas, wearing traditional Arabian robes, speaking the language of the Quran - and carrying a generous checkbook - they had automatic credibility.
As the 20th century progressed and people of different nationalities and faiths mixed routinely, the puritanical, exclusionary nature of Wahhab's teachings would become more and more dysfunctional. But the Saudi government would find it extraordinarily difficult to shed or soften its ideology, especially after the landmark year of 1979.
In Tehran that year, the Iranian revolution brought to power a radical Shiite government, symbolically challenging Saudi Arabia, the leader of Sunnism, for leadership of global Islam. The declaration of an Islamic Republic escalated the competition between the two major branches of Islam, spurring the Saudis to redouble their efforts to counter Iran and spread Wahhabism around the world.
Then, in a stunning strike, a band of 500 Saudi extremists seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca for two weeks, publicly calling Saudi rulers puppets of the West and traitors to true Islam. The rebels were defeated, but leading clerics agreed to back the government only after assurances of support for a crackdown on immodest ways in the kingdom and a more aggressive export of Wahhabism abroad.
Finally, at year's end, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and seized power to prop up a Communist government. It soon faced an insurgent movement of mujahedeen, or holy warriors battling for Islam, which drew fighters from around the world for a decade-long battle to expel the occupiers.
Throughout the 1980s, Saudi Arabia and the United States worked together to finance the mujahedeen in this great Afghan war, which would revive the notion of noble armed jihad for Muslims worldwide. President Ronald Reagan famously welcomed to the Oval Office a delegation of bearded "Afghan freedom fighters" whose social and theological views were hardly distinguishable from those later embraced by the Taliban.
In fact, the United States spent $50 million from 1986 to 1992 on what was called a "jihad literacy" project - printing books for Afghan children and adults to encourage violence against non-Muslim "infidels" like Soviet troops. A first-grade language textbook for Pashto speakers, for example, according to a studyby Dana Burde, an associate professor at New York University, used "Mujahid," or fighter of jihad, as the illustration: "My brother is a Mujahid. Afghan Muslims are Mujahedeen. I do jihad together with them. Doing jihad against infidels is our duty."
Pressure After 9/11
One day in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks, Robert W. Jordan, the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was driving in the kingdom with the longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan. The prince pointed to a mosque and said, "I just fired the imam there." The man's preaching had been too militant, he said.
Mr. Jordan, a Texas lawyer, said that after the Qaeda attacks, he had stepped up pressure on the Saudi government over its spread of extremism. "I told them: 'What you teach in your schools and preach in your mosques now is not an internal matter. It affects our national security,'" he said.
After years of encouraging and financing a harsh Islam in support of the anti-Soviet jihad, the United States had reversed course - gradually during the 1990s and then dramatically after the Sept. 11 attacks. But in pressuring Saudi Arabia, American officials would tread lightly, acutely aware of American dependence on Saudi oil and intelligence cooperation. Saudi reform would move at an excruciatingly slow pace.
Twelve years after Sept. 11, after years of quiet American complaints about Saudi teachings, a State Department contractor, the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, completed a study of official Saudi textbooks. It reported some progress in cutting back on bigoted and violent content but found that plenty of objectionable material remained. Officials never released the 2013 study, for fear of angering the Saudis.  obtained it under the Freedom of Information Act.
Seventh graders were being taught that "fighting the infidels to elevate the words of Allah" was among the deeds Allah loved the most, the report found, among dozens of passages it found troubling. Tenth graders learned that Muslims who abandoned Islam should be jailed for three days and, if they did not change their minds, "killed for walking away from their true religion." Fourth graders read that non-Muslims had been "shown the truth but abandoned it, like the Jews," or had replaced truth with "ignorance and delusion, like the Christians."
Some of the books, prepared and distributed by the government, propagated views that were hostile to science, modernity and women's rights, not to say downright quirky - advocating, for instance, execution for sorcerers and warning against the dangers of the Rotary Club and the Lions Club. (The groups' intent, said a 10th-grade textbook, "is to achieve the goals of the Zionist movement.")
The textbooks, or other Saudi teaching materials with similar content, had been distributed in scores of countries, the study found. Textbook reform has continued since the 2013 study, and Saudi officials say they are trying to replace older books distributed overseas.
But as the study noted, the schoolbooks were only a modest part of the Saudis' lavishly funded global export of Wahhabism. In many places, the study said, the largess includes "a Saudi-funded school with a Wahhabist faculty (educated in a Saudi-funded Wahhabist University), attached to a mosque with a Wahhabist imam, and ultimately controlled by an international Wahhabist educational body."
This ideological steamroller has landed in diverse places where Muslims of different sects had spent centuries learning to accommodate one another. Sayyed Shah, a Pakistani journalist working on a doctorate in the United States, described the devastating effect on his town, not far from the Afghan border, of the arrival some years ago of a young Pakistani preacher trained in a Saudi-funded seminary.
Village residents had long held a mélange of Muslim beliefs, he said. "We were Sunni, but our culture, our traditions were a mixture of Shia and Barelvi and Deobandi," Mr. Shah said, referring to Muslim sects. His family would visit the large Barelvi shrine, and watch their Shiite neighbors as they lashed themselves in a public religious ritual. "We wouldn't do that ourselves, but we'd hand out sweets and water," he said.
The new preacher, he said, denounced the Barelvi and Shiite beliefs as false and heretical, dividing the community and setting off years of bitter argument. By 2010, Mr. Shah said, "everything had changed." Women who had used shawls to cover their hair and face began wearing full burqas. Militants began attacking kiosks where merchants sold secular music CDs. Twice, terrorists used explosives to try to destroy the village's locally famous shrine.
Now, Mr. Shah said, families are divided; his cousin, he said, "just wants Saudi religion." He said an entire generation had been "indoctrinated" with a rigid, unforgiving creed.
"It's so difficult these days," he said. "Initially we were on a single path. We just had economic problems, but we were culturally sound."
He added, "But now it's very difficult, because some people want Saudi culture to be our culture, and others are opposing that."
C. Christine Fair, a specialist on Pakistan at Georgetown University, said Mr. Shah's account was credible. But like many scholars describing the Saudi impact on religion, she said that militancy in Pakistan also had local causes. While Saudi money and teaching have unquestionably been "accelerants," Pakistan's sectarian troubles and jihadist violence have deep roots dating to the country's origins in the partition of India in 1947.
"The idea that without the Saudis Pakistan would be Switzerland is ridiculous," she said.
Elusive Saudi Links
That is the disputed question, of course: how the world would be different without decades of Saudi-funded shaping of Islam. Though there is a widespread belief that Saudi influence has contributed to the growth of terrorism, it is rare to find a direct case of cause and effect. For example, in Brussels, the Grand Mosque was built with Saudi money and staffed with Saudi imams. In 2012, according to Saudi diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, one Saudi preacher was removed after Belgian complaints that he was a "true Salafi" who did not accept other schools of Islam. And Brussels' immigrant neighborhoods, notably Molenbeek, have long been the home of storefront mosques teaching hard-line Salafi views.
After the terrorist attacks in Paris in November and in Brussels in March were tied to an Islamic State cell in Belgium, the Saudi history was the subject of severalnews mediareports. Yet it was difficult to find any direct link between the bombers and the Saudi legacy in the Belgian capital.
Several suspects had petty criminal backgrounds; their knowledge of Islam was described by friends as superficial; they did not appear to be regulars at any mosque. Though the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blasts, resentment of the treatment of North African immigrant families in Belgium and exposure to Islamic State propaganda, in person or via the internet and social media, appeared to be the major factors motivating the attacks.
If there was a Saudi connection, it was highly indirect, perhaps playing out over a generation or longer. Hind Fraihi, a Moroccan-Belgian journalist who went underground in the Brussels immigrant neighborhood of Molenbeek in 2005 and wrote a book about it, met Saudi-trained imams and found lots of extremist literature written in Saudi Arabia that encouraged "polarization, the sentiment of us against them, the glorification of jihad."
The recent attackers, Ms. Fraihi said, were motivated by "lots of factors - economic frustration, racism, a generation that feels it has no future." But Saudi teaching, she said, "is part of the cocktail."
Without the Saudi presence over the decades, might a more progressive and accommodating Islam, reflecting immigrants' Moroccan roots, have taken hold in Brussels? Would young Muslims raised in Belgium have been less susceptible to the stark, violent call of the Islamic State? Conceivably, but the case is impossible to prove.
Or consider an utterly different cultural milieu - the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia. The Saudis have sent money for mosque-building, books and teachers for decades, said Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta.
"Over time," said Ms. Jones, who has visited or lived in Indonesia since the 1970s, the Saudi influence "has contributed to a more conservative, more intolerant atmosphere." (President Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a boy, has remarked on the same phenomenon.) She said she believed money from private Saudi donors and foundations was behind campaigns in Indonesia against Shiite and Ahmadi Islam, considered heretical by Wahhabi teaching. Some well-known Indonesian religious vigilantes are Saudi-educated, she said.
But when Ms. Jones studied the approximately 1,000 people arrested in Indonesia on terrorism charges since 2002, she found only a few - "literally four or five" - with ties to Wahhabi or Salafi institutions. When it comes to violence, she concluded, the Saudi connection is "mostly a red herring."
In fact, she said, there is a gulf between Indonesian jihadists and Indonesian Salafis who look to Saudi or Yemeni scholars for guidance. The jihadists accuse the Salafis of failing to act on their convictions; the Salafis scorn the jihadists as extremists.
Whatever the global effects of decades of Saudi proselytizing, it is under greater scrutiny than ever, from outside and inside the kingdom. Saudi leaders' ideological reform efforts, encompassing textbooks and preaching, amount to a tacit recognition that its religious exports have sometimes backfired. And the kingdom has stepped up an aggressive public relations campaign in the West, hiring American publicists to counter critical news media reports and fashion a reformist image for Saudi leaders.
But neither the publicists nor their clients can renounce the strain of Islam on which the Saudi state was built, and old habits sometimes prove difficult to suppress. A prominent cleric, Saad bin Nasser al-Shethri, had been stripped of a leadership position by the previous king, Abdullah, for condemning coeducation. King Salman restored Mr. Shethri to the job last year, not long after the cleric had joined the chorus of official voices criticizing the Islamic State. But Mr. Shethri's reasoning for denouncing the Islamic State suggested the difficulty of change. The group was, he said, "more infidel than Jews and Christians."
Follow Scott Shane on Twitter @ScottShaneNYT.Hala Droubi contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
PHOTOS: Muslim pilgrims around the Kaaba, the black cube at the center of Islam's holiest mosque in Mecca, during a pilgrimage in 2003. (PHOTOGRAPH BY A. ABBAS/MAGNUM PHOTOS) (A1); From left: mosques in Gothenburg, Los Angeles, Seoul, and Bamako, representing the reach of Saudi influence. Support has come from the Saudi government, the royal family and Saudi-sponsored organizations. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/A.F.P.-GETTY IMAGES; PATRICK T. FALLON FOR THE NYT; CHOI WON-SUK/A.F.P. - GETTY IMAGES); AKBAR AHMED, the chairman of Islamic studies at American University. Saudi Arabia's wealth has frozen in place a rigid social and economic system. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIATED PRESS); FUEL FOR THE FIRE: King Faisal at prayer in 1968. He embraced the duty to spread Islam. The idea has become a commonplace: that the export of a fundamentalist strain of Islam has fueled global extremism. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RAYMOND DEPARDON/MAGNUM PHOTOS) (A8); REACTIONARY BELIEFS: Men arriving to pray at a mosque in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi leaders depend for legitimacy on a clerical establishment dedicated to a reactionary set of beliefs. (PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMAS MUNITA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES); PROTESTS AND WAR: Top, Iranian protesters in 1979 held a up a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during a demonstration in Tehran. Above, President Reagan in 1983 with Afghans fighting the Soviets. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE - GETTY IMAGES; THE WHITE HOUSE); STRIKING AT SHIITES: Saudi security personnel at the site of a carbomb attack that targeted Shiite Saudis in the town of Dammam. (PHOTOGRAPH BY EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY) (A9)

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August 21, 2016 Sunday

 Is it the end of the West?

 
Summer is usually a time for light reading, and for the most part, I indulged the usual array of historical novels, science fiction as well as my passion for ancient history. But two compelling  books out this year led me to more
somber thoughts about the prospects for the decline and devolution of western society.
One, "Submission" by the incendiary French writer Michel Houellebecq, traces the life of a rather dissolute French literature professor as he confronts a rapidly Islamifying France. The main character, Francois, drinks heavily, sleeps with his students and focuses on the writing of the now obscure French writer, J.K. Huysmans. Detached from politics, he watches as his native country divides between Muslims and the traditional French right led by the National Front's Marine Le Pen.
Ultimately, fear of Le Pen leads the French left into an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, handing power over to an attractive, clever Islamist politician. With all teaching posts requiring conversion to Islam, Francois in the end "submits" to Allah. Francois' motives for conversion merge opportunism and attraction, including to the notion that, in an Islamic society, high prestige people like himself get to choose not only one wife, but several, including 
those barely past puberty.
The other declinist novel, "The Family Mandible" by Lionel Shriver, is, if anything, more dystopic. The author covers a once illustrious family through the projected dismal decades from 2029 to 2047. Like the Muslim tide that overwhelms Francois' France, the Brooklyn-based Mandibles are overwhelmed in an increasingly Latino-dominated America; due to their higher birthrate and an essentially "open border" policy, "Lats" as they call them, now dominate the political system. The president, Dante Alvarado, is himself an immigrant from Mexico, due to a constitutional amendment - initially pushed to place Arnold Schwarzenegger in the White House - that allows non-natives to assume the White House.
Collapse is from within
Some critics have lambasted author Shriver as being something of a Fox style right-wing revisionist while others have labeled Houellebecq as an "Islamophobe." But these books are far more nuanced than orthodox Muslims or progressives might assume. For one thing, neither book blames the newcomers for the crisis of their respective societies. The collapse, they suggest, is largely self-inflicted.
In the Mandibles' America, the starting point lies in the loss of  basic values  such as thrift, chronic dependence on borrowing to a debased dollar and eventually the disastrous renunciation of our own international debts. Shriver describes her book in economic terms, chronicling "civil breakdown by degrees" as people's savings and ability to earn money dissipates.
In Mandibles, Wall Street and the Federal Reserve, not Latinos, are to blame for the country's descent into financial ruin. President Alvarado is forced to play a poor hand, notes one character, because "the really big mistake was made long ago. You can't unmake them."
The decline into insolvency also parallels a decline in national identity. By 2047, Shriver notes, the Fourth of July is decidedly out of fashion. "In hipper cities like New York the holiday," Shriver notes, "had become an embarrassment."
In the Mandibles, it's the members of the now impoverished upper classes who take "savage pleasure in the downfall of the United States." The only character genuinely depressed by the collapse is Esteban, the Latino immigrant, who experiences "the decline of what he genuinely believed was the greatest nation of earth" as "a source of sorrow."
Much the same trajectory can be seen in Houellebecq's France. Lack of belief in Christianity and French Republican values produced a void into which mainstream Islamist ideals - not the crazy ISIS ones - were able to gradually overwhelm the very identity of France, overturning not only its Catholicism but its secular republic. Francois does not rue this result, but is unnerved that it all happens too soon. The childless academic always thought the old system would last his lifetime, reflecting the old Louis XV maxim "apres moi, le deluge." But now "I had a troubling thought. What if the deluge came before I died?"
Demography and Destiny
Nothing better demonstrates lack of faith in the future than low fertility rates. Increasingly childless Americans and native French simply are overwhelmed by more family-centric Latinos, Africans and Arabs. The native white proportion of the population dropped, except among the ranks of the aged.
In "The Family Mandible" working for the care of seniors, or "boomerpoops," as they are called, is the major source of income for both younger people and even the d[#xfffd]class[#xfffd] middle aged. Generational politics, with the seniors voting in far larger numbers, results in their receiving ample benefits while more leeway is given to minorities, and immigrants, including the undocumented, who serve them. Everyone benefits, except for middle class families, and the future.
In Mandible, young people don't have families because there's no way to afford it. "We're all at a standstill," a young person laments in 2047. "There's no trajectory. None of us will be flush enough to have kids."
This trajectory may already be evident among today's millennials. Birth rates have been dropping to historic lows, as young people cannot afford to buy or rent housing appropriate for raising children. Ironically, notes demographer Sami Karam, this makes the country even more dependent on immigration, if for nothing else to empty bedpans for the elderly.
With zero migration, as some nativists and greens may prefer, the U.S. will be headed to the reality already experienced in Japan, and will soon afflict Germany, Italy and also much of East Asia, particularly China. By 2047, according to Shriver, Japan ceases to exist, swallowed into the rising Chinese empire while Indonesia invades Australia. The progressive  celebration of singleness and childlessness - promoted by those who wish to cram people into ever smaller spaces - has consequences that will turn ever manifest in the future.
Is there a way out from dystopia?
These, of course, are novels; in reality the future is far from hopeless. Both Houellebecq and Shriver seem somewhat ill-informed on demographic trends. In many key Muslim countries, including Iran, north Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia birthrates are dropping; and as low as our birthrates have dropped, they are much lower in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, countries portrayed as dominating the future in Mandible. Mexico's birthrate is also falling towards our level.
Avoiding dystopia requires three critical turns. First, unrestricted immigration, particularly undocumented, can no longer be embraced in economies that are not producing nearly enough jobs - particularly middle class ones - for their existing population. This, as much as anything, has sparked the growth of odious figures like Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump.
At the same time, national values need to be promoted rather than belittled and ignored. You can't expect to maintain a national identity when students are not asked to grasp even the basics of national history. No surprise then that the University of California identifies  American flags or claiming that this is "the land of opportunity" as "micro-aggressions." When Yale English majors recoil at studying Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton, they are showing contempt for the very architects of the language that unites us as a people.
I do believe a healthy, regulated level of immigration is critical for the future, both here and in Europe. But it can only work if we reject multi-cultural nonsense that undermines the very culture that made these countries attractive in the first place. Diversity can work alongside a common embrace of a common culture. We should welcome newcomers to revise the evolving national script but only based on the fundamentals: the predominance of a single language, respect for the past, reverence for both the Constitution and the rule of law.
Finally, there is the question of economy. Our current course of low growth, and dependence on asset inflation, can lead only to dystopic results - plunging birthrates, alienation, lack of belief and ambitions. The French can talk about replacing GDP growth with some more ephemeral measure of "well-being" but how is that turning out? Persistent downward generational mobility propels the descent into dystopias.
Even in this most miserable of election seasons, the U.S. is still far from the ugly realities of Mandibles and even France still could escape the fate predicted in Submission. What is required, however, is not nativist reaction or surrender to the values of other cultures, but an embrace of what made our nations great, the only thing that can provide the prospect of better times for both natives and newcomers.
Joel Kotkin is the R.C. Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange and executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism (www.opportunityurbanism.org).




7



 


August 21, 2016 Sunday

 Is it the end of the West?

 
Summer is usually a time for light reading, and for the most part, I indulged the usual array of historical novels, science fiction as well as my passion for ancient history. But two compelling  books out this year led me to more
somber thoughts about the prospects for the decline and devolution of western society.
One, "Submission" by the incendiary French writer Michel Houellebecq, traces the life of a rather dissolute French literature professor as he confronts a rapidly Islamifying France. The main character, Francois, drinks heavily, sleeps with his students and focuses on the writing of the now obscure French writer, J.K. Huysmans. Detached from politics, he watches as his native country divides between Muslims and the traditional French right led by the National Front's Marine Le Pen.
Ultimately, fear of Le Pen leads the French left into an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, handing power over to an attractive, clever Islamist politician. With all teaching posts requiring conversion to Islam, Francois in the end "submits" to Allah. Francois' motives for conversion merge opportunism and attraction, including to the notion that, in an Islamic society, high prestige people like himself get to choose not only one wife, but several, including those barely past puberty. 
The other declinist novel, "The Family Mandible" by Lionel Shriver, is, if anything, more dystopic. The author covers a once illustrious family through the projected dismal decades from 2029 to 2047. Like the Muslim tide that overwhelms Francois' France, the Brooklyn-based Mandibles are overwhelmed in an increasingly Latino-dominated America; due to their higher birthrate and an essentially "open border" policy, "Lats" as they call them, now dominate the political system. The president, Dante Alvarado, is himself an immigrant from Mexico, due to a constitutional amendment - initially pushed to place Arnold Schwarzenegger in the White House - that allows non-natives to assume the White House.
Collapse is from within
Some critics have lambasted author Shriver as being something of a Fox style right-wing revisionist while others have labeled Houellebecq as an "Islamophobe." But these books are far more nuanced than orthodox Muslims or progressives might assume. For one thing, neither book blames the newcomers for the crisis of their respective societies. The collapse, they suggest, is largely self-inflicted.
In the Mandibles' America, the starting point lies in the loss of  basic values  such as thrift, chronic dependence on borrowing to a debased dollar and eventually the disastrous renunciation of our own international debts. Shriver describes her book in economic terms, chronicling "civil breakdown by degrees" as people's savings and ability to earn money dissipates.
In Mandibles, Wall Street and the Federal Reserve, not Latinos, are to blame for the country's descent into financial ruin. President Alvarado is forced to play a poor hand, notes one character, because "the really big mistake was made long ago. You can't unmake them."
The decline into insolvency also parallels a decline in national identity. By 2047, Shriver notes, the Fourth of July is decidedly out of fashion. "In hipper cities like New York the holiday," Shriver notes, "had become an embarrassment."
In the Mandibles, it's the members of the now impoverished upper classes who take "savage pleasure in the downfall of the United States." The only character genuinely depressed by the collapse is Esteban, the Latino immigrant, who experiences "the decline of what he genuinely believed was the greatest nation of earth" as "a source of sorrow."
Much the same trajectory can be seen in Houellebecq's France. Lack of belief in Christianity and French Republican values produced a void into which mainstream Islamist ideals - not the crazy ISIS ones - were able to gradually overwhelm the very identity of France, overturning not only its Catholicism but its secular republic. Francois does not rue this result, but is unnerved that it all happens too soon. The childless academic always thought the old system would last his lifetime, reflecting the old Louis XV maxim "apres moi, le deluge." But now "I had a troubling thought. What if the deluge came before I died?"
Demography and Destiny
Nothing better demonstrates lack of faith in the future than low fertility rates. Increasingly childless Americans and native French simply are overwhelmed by more family-centric Latinos, Africans and Arabs. The native white proportion of the population dropped, except among the ranks of the aged.
In "The Family Mandible" working for the care of seniors, or "boomerpoops," as they are called, is the major source of income for both younger people and even the d[#xfffd]class[#xfffd] middle aged. Generational politics, with the seniors voting in far larger numbers, results in their receiving ample benefits while more leeway is given to minorities, and immigrants, including the undocumented, who serve them. Everyone benefits, except for middle class families, and the future.
In Mandible, young people don't have families because there's no way to afford it. "We're all at a standstill," a young person laments in 2047. "There's no trajectory. None of us will be flush enough to have kids."
This trajectory may already be evident among today's millennials. Birth rates have been dropping to historic lows, as young people cannot afford to buy or rent housing appropriate for raising children. Ironically, notes demographer Sami Karam, this makes the country even more dependent on immigration, if for nothing else to empty bedpans for the elderly.
With zero migration, as some nativists and greens may prefer, the U.S. will be headed to the reality already experienced in Japan, and will soon afflict Germany, Italy and also much of East Asia, particularly China. By 2047, according to Shriver, Japan ceases to exist, swallowed into the rising Chinese empire while Indonesia invades Australia. The progressive  celebration of singleness and childlessness - promoted by those who wish to cram people into ever smaller spaces - has consequences that will turn ever manifest in the future.
Is there a way out from dystopia?
These, of course, are novels; in reality the future is far from hopeless. Both Houellebecq and Shriver seem somewhat ill-informed on demographic trends. In many key Muslim countries, including Iran, north Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia birthrates are dropping; and as low as our birthrates have dropped, they are much lower in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, countries portrayed as dominating the future in Mandible. Mexico's birthrate is also falling towards our level.
Avoiding dystopia requires three critical turns. First, unrestricted immigration, particularly undocumented, can no longer be embraced in economies that are not producing nearly enough jobs - particularly middle class ones - for their existing population. This, as much as anything, has sparked the growth of odious figures like Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump.
At the same time, national values need to be promoted rather than belittled and ignored. You can't expect to maintain a national identity when students are not asked to grasp even the basics of national history. No surprise then that the University of California identifies  American flags or claiming that this is "the land of opportunity" as "micro-aggressions." When Yale English majors recoil at studying Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton, they are showing contempt for the very architects of the language that unites us as a people.
I do believe a healthy, regulated level of immigration is critical for the future, both here and in Europe. But it can only work if we reject multi-cultural nonsense that undermines the very culture that made these countries attractive in the first place. Diversity can work alongside a common embrace of a common culture. We should welcome newcomers to revise the evolving national script but only based on the fundamentals: the predominance of a single language, respect for the past, reverence for both the Constitution and the rule of law.
Finally, there is the question of economy. Our current course of low growth, and dependence on asset inflation, can lead only to dystopic results - plunging birthrates, alienation, lack of belief and ambitions. The French can talk about replacing GDP growth with some more ephemeral measure of "well-being" but how is that turning out? Persistent downward generational mobility propels the descent into dystopias.
Even in this most miserable of election seasons, the U.S. is still far from the ugly realities of Mandibles and even France still could escape the fate predicted in Submission. What is required, however, is not nativist reaction or surrender to the values of other cultures, but an embrace of what made our nations great, the only thing that can provide the prospect of better times for both natives and newcomers.
Joel Kotkin is the R.C. Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange and executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism (www.opportunityurbanism.org).
those barely past puberty.
The other declinist novel, "The Family Mandible" by Lionel Shriver, is, if anything, more dystopic. The author covers a once illustrious family through the projected dismal decades from 2029 to 2047. Like the Muslim tide that overwhelms Francois' France, the Brooklyn-based Mandibles are overwhelmed in an increasingly Latino-dominated America; due to their higher birthrate and an essentially "open border" policy, "Lats" as they call them, now dominate the political system. The president, Dante Alvarado, is himself an immigrant from Mexico, due to a constitutional amendment - initially pushed to place Arnold Schwarzenegger in the White House - that allows non-natives to assume the White House.
Collapse is from within
Some critics have lambasted author Shriver as being something of a Fox style right-wing revisionist while others have labeled Houellebecq as an "Islamophobe." But these books are far more nuanced than orthodox Muslims or progressives might assume. For one thing, neither book blames the newcomers for the crisis of their respective societies. The collapse, they suggest, is largely self-inflicted.
In the Mandibles' America, the starting point lies in the loss of  basic values  such as thrift, chronic dependence on borrowing to a debased dollar and eventually the disastrous renunciation of our own international debts. Shriver describes her book in economic terms, chronicling "civil breakdown by degrees" as people's savings and ability to earn money dissipates.
In Mandibles, Wall Street and the Federal Reserve, not Latinos, are to blame for the country's descent into financial ruin. President Alvarado is forced to play a poor hand, notes one character, because "the really big mistake was made long ago. You can't unmake them."
The decline into insolvency also parallels a decline in national identity. By 2047, Shriver notes, the Fourth of July is decidedly out of fashion. "In hipper cities like New York the holiday," Shriver notes, "had become an embarrassment."
In the Mandibles, it's the members of the now impoverished upper classes who take "savage pleasure in the downfall of the United States." The only character genuinely depressed by the collapse is Esteban, the Latino immigrant, who experiences "the decline of what he genuinely believed was the greatest nation of earth" as "a source of sorrow."
Much the same trajectory can be seen in Houellebecq's France. Lack of belief in Christianity and French Republican values produced a void into which mainstream Islamist ideals - not the crazy ISIS ones - were able to gradually overwhelm the very identity of France, overturning not only its Catholicism but its secular republic. Francois does not rue this result, but is unnerved that it all happens too soon. The childless academic always thought the old system would last his lifetime, reflecting the old Louis XV maxim "apres moi, le deluge." But now "I had a troubling thought. What if the deluge came before I died?"
Demography and Destiny
Nothing better demonstrates lack of faith in the future than low fertility rates. Increasingly childless Americans and native French simply are overwhelmed by more family-centric Latinos, Africans and Arabs. The native white proportion of the population dropped, except among the ranks of the aged.
In "The Family Mandible" working for the care of seniors, or "boomerpoops," as they are called, is the major source of income for both younger people and even the d[#xfffd]class[#xfffd] middle aged. Generational politics, with the seniors voting in far larger numbers, results in their receiving ample benefits while more leeway is given to minorities, and immigrants, including the undocumented, who serve them. Everyone benefits, except for middle class families, and the future.
In Mandible, young people don't have families because there's no way to afford it. "We're all at a standstill," a young person laments in 2047. "There's no trajectory. None of us will be flush enough to have kids."
This trajectory may already be evident among today's millennials. Birth rates have been dropping to historic lows, as young people cannot afford to buy or rent housing appropriate for raising children. Ironically, notes demographer Sami Karam, this makes the country even more dependent on immigration, if for nothing else to empty bedpans for the elderly.
With zero migration, as some nativists and greens may prefer, the U.S. will be headed to the reality already experienced in Japan, and will soon afflict Germany, Italy and also much of East Asia, particularly China. By 2047, according to Shriver, Japan ceases to exist, swallowed into the rising Chinese empire while Indonesia invades Australia. The progressive  celebration of singleness and childlessness - promoted by those who wish to cram people into ever smaller spaces - has consequences that will turn ever manifest in the future.
Is there a way out from dystopia?
These, of course, are novels; in reality the future is far from hopeless. Both Houellebecq and Shriver seem somewhat ill-informed on demographic trends. In many key Muslim countries, including Iran, north Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia birthrates are dropping; and as low as our birthrates have dropped, they are much lower in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, countries portrayed as dominating the future in Mandible. Mexico's birthrate is also falling towards our level.
Avoiding dystopia requires three critical turns. First, unrestricted immigration, particularly undocumented, can no longer be embraced in economies that are not producing nearly enough jobs - particularly middle class ones - for their existing population. This, as much as anything, has sparked the growth of odious figures like Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump.
At the same time, national values need to be promoted rather than belittled and ignored. You can't expect to maintain a national identity when students are not asked to grasp even the basics of national history. No surprise then that the University of California identifies  American flags or claiming that this is "the land of opportunity" as "micro-aggressions." When Yale English majors recoil at studying Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton, they are showing contempt for the very architects of the language that unites us as a people.
I do believe a healthy, regulated level of immigration is critical for the future, both here and in Europe. But it can only work if we reject multi-cultural nonsense that undermines the very culture that made these countries attractive in the first place. Diversity can work alongside a common embrace of a common culture. We should welcome newcomers to revise the evolving national script but only based on the fundamentals: the predominance of a single language, respect for the past, reverence for both the Constitution and the rule of law.
Finally, there is the question of economy. Our current course of low growth, and dependence on asset inflation, can lead only to dystopic results - plunging birthrates, alienation, lack of belief and ambitions. The French can talk about replacing GDP growth with some more ephemeral measure of "well-being" but how is that turning out? Persistent downward generational mobility propels the descent into dystopias.
Even in this most miserable of election seasons, the U.S. is still far from the ugly realities of Mandibles and even France still could escape the fate predicted in Submission. What is required, however, is not nativist reaction or surrender to the values of other cultures, but an embrace of what made our nations great, the only thing that can provide the prospect of better times for both natives and newcomers.
Joel Kotkin is the R.C. Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange and executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism (www.opportunityurbanism.org).




7


 


August 20, 2016 Saturday  


 A Happy Warrior in a Faltering Battle for Indonesian Gay Rights

 
SURABAYA, Indonesia -- After the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex  marriage last year, a leading Indonesian television station held a prime-time debate about whether this Muslim-majority democracy should do the same.
On one side of the stage stood a conservative Muslim theologian and a member of Parliament, both of whom strongly rejected the idea that gay marriage was compatible with Islam and Indonesian culture. 
  On the other side stood Dede Oetomo, the founder of Gaya Nusantara, the country's longest-standing gay rights organization, and widely considered the godfather of Indonesia's gay rights movement. Along with Yuli Rustinawati, a fellow activist, Mr. Oetomo, plump, unimposing and dressed in a bright orange batik shirt, cheerfully made the case that gay Indonesians deserved the same rights and protections as other Indonesian citizens.
  Mr. Oetomo said he agreed with his opponents that socially conservative Indonesia was not yet ready for same-sex marriage, but that was no reason to dismiss the prospect: ''The law can change,'' he said. ''The culture certainly can change.'' 
  One year on, the debate that day already feels like something out of a different era. Since January, when Indonesia's minister of higher education called for banning openly gay university students, Indonesia's already chilly climate surrounding gays has turned outright hostile.
  Television content deemed by the government to promote homosexuality -- which activists say would almost certainly include last year's debate on gay marriage -- has been banned. The defense minister called the gay rights movement a ''proxy war'' waged by the West to weaken Indonesia and more dangerous than a nuclear bomb. Conservative politicians are campaigning to amend the criminal code, which is up for its five-year review, to criminalize same-sex relations.
  ''Putin is clapping his hands right now, saying, 'The Muslims are imitating me,''' Mr. Oetomo, 62, said of Russia's president, Vladimir V. Putin, a proponent of a conservative agenda.
  Mr. Oetomo has been something of an outsider all his life. He was born into a Chinese-Indonesian family in Pasuruan, a cosmopolitan sugar-refining town in East Java, in 1953, just four years after Indonesia won its independence from the Dutch.
  ''My grandmother always said, 'You're Chinese and you should learn to speak Chinese,''' Mr. Oetomo said, laughing. ''But she told me that in Dutch.''
  It was an era of great tumult in Indonesian history. His parents, whose schooling had been interrupted by the Japanese occupation of Java during World War II, stressed the importance of education to their son, whom they called their ''little professor.'' His father, a left-leaning nationalist and strong supporter of Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, bought him his first English-language book when he was 10, as well as Chinese and Soviet comic books exalting the proletariat.
  But Mr. Oetomo's youth took a dark turn in 1965, when Suharto, the virulently anti-Communist general, began to seize power and started purging suspected Communists and Sukarno supporters. Though Mr. Oetomo's father avoided arrest, life remained difficult for the family. The Suharto government associated Chinese with Communism, and for three decades banned the teaching of Chinese languages as well as Chinese festivals and religious practice. Mr. Oetomo grew up being taunted for his Chinese heritage.
  As a young man, Mr. Oetomo slowly realized he was a member of another minority, and embarked on a reading binge to understand his homosexuality. ''The more I read, the more I realized nothing was wrong,'' he said.
  His multicultural background and facility with languages led him in 1978 to Cornell University for graduate studies in linguistics. It was a liberating transition from Java in a number of ways.
  For the first time, he could honor his grandmother's wishes and study Chinese. And it was liberating in another way, too: He could finally pursue his romantic life and take part in gay rights activism. ''When I got to Cornell, it was like, 'Oh my God!''' Mr. Oetomo said of the opportunities on offer.
  While there, he struck up a friendship with Benedict Anderson, an eminent scholar of Indonesia and nationalism, who encouraged Mr. Oetomo's academic interest in the diverse sexual customs of the Indonesian archipelago, and would later write the introduction to Mr. Oetomo's first book on Indonesian sexuality, ''Giving Voice to the Voiceless.''
  At Cornell, Mr. Oetomo began publishing anonymous personal essays in Indonesian magazines where he expressed pride in his sexuality. He went on to found Lambda, Indonesia's first gay rights organization, and after returning to Indonesia in 1984 began devoting much of his time to gay rights activism. ''I got the idea from the U.S. that we should organize,'' he said.
  In 1987, Mr. Oetomo transformed Lambda into a new organization, Gaya Nusantara, which published a magazine that documented Indonesian ethnicities' rich sexual diversity, such as the Bugis of Sulawesi, whose culture recognized five genders. Mr. Oetomo speaks excitedly of discovering annals showing that one of the most important kings of Majapahit, a major Javanese kingdom, sometimes wore women's clothing to court. ''I discovered that one myself,'' he said. ''We have a rich tradition!''
  Through the years, the Indonesian government, uncomfortable with the subject and unwilling to grant rights to gay couples, grudgingly tolerated Mr. Oetomo's activism. Every Sunday the house he shared with his partner in Surabaya, a large city in East Java, would turn into a community space, with workshops focused on H.I.V. prevention and other issues of concern.
  In 1999, after Indonesia's transition to democracy, Mr. Oetomo began the first of several runs for Parliament and other public office on the ticket of a small left-wing party. Not surprisingly, he lost each time. As Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch and a longtime friend, said, ''In Indonesia three things are considered political suicide: being Communist, being Chinese and being gay. Dede is at least two and a half of them.''
  Still, the campaigns, as well as a later unsuccessful one to join Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights, established him as the country's best-known advocate for gay rights. ''He has this stubborn mentality,'' Mr. Harsono said. ''He's always lost but never gives up.''
  But now, with Islamist political parties pushing forward with a plan to criminalize same-sex relations, it often seems as though Mr. Oetomo's life's work in gay rights is about to be undone. This month Human Rights Watch released a report saying the rights of Indonesia's sexual and gender minorities are under ''unprecedented attack.''
  Lini Zurlia, a 27-year-old gay rights activist in Jakarta, affectionately refers to Mr. Oetomo as ''Oma,'' the Dutch word for grandmother, as does the rest of the youngest generation of activists. She said her generation's challenge was simply to pick up where he left off. ''What Dede accomplished, what Dede struggled for, that's what we have to carry on,'' Ms. Zurlia said.
  And far from despairing, Mr. Oetomo sees this latest stage as part of the give and take of a young democracy struggling to balance progressive democratic values with conservative religious ones. ''I already have all the tools I need,'' he said, citing the amicus brief he is submitting to the Supreme Court on behalf of gay rights.
  For him this remains a time full of possibility, in which the controversy over gay rights may lead to broader exposure and acceptance. ''I still go about my life as an openly gay man. I still have a rainbow flag on my car,'' he said. ''I still believe most Indonesians are actually nice to other people.''




7


 



August 15, 2016 Monday  


 COPS NAB KILLER SUSP Rammed officers tailing him in Queens Hispanic grilled; ID'd by cyclist hit as shooter fled

 
A MAN suspected of gunning down a Queens imam and his friend outside a mosque was taken into custody Sunday night, sources said.
The motive may be an ongoing feud between Muslims and Hispanics, according to sources. They said an NYPD Regional Fugitive Task Force was doing "brief surveillance," on the suspect in Queens when he rammed an unmarked cop car and they nabbed him.
Police officials could not confirm whether a suspect was in custody. 
Video of the Saturday night ambush showed the shooting was a planned execution.
Sources said that when the killer fled the scene of the murder in his car, he hit a bicyclist who took down his license plate.
Cops had been tracking him down ever since. Investigators were questioning him, and were waiting for a warrant to check his home.
A group of Muslims allegedly attacked some Hispanics a few weeks before, and the shooting may have been payback, sources said.
At 1:50 p.m., the assassin quickly approached mosque leader Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 65, from behind at Liberty Ave. and 79th St. and shot them both in the head at close range. The double killing came just moments after prayers concluded at the Al-Furqan Jame Mosque in Ozone Park.
"This guy looks like he has shot a gun before. You don't walk up behind someone, even from 5 feet, and just get two head shots. How many times you see cops fire 16 times and they hit the guy only twice?" a police source said.
Sources said that when he fled the scene of the murder in his car he hit a bicyclist who took down his license plate.
Cops had been tracking him down ever since. Investigators were questioning him early Monday, and were waiting for a warrant to check his home.
One of the victims was carrying several hundred dollars, police sources said, but the gunman showed no interest in the cash.
"It doesn't look like a robbery because it doesn't look like he said anything before he shot the guys. The guy just comes up behind and shoots," the source said.
Cops released a sketch of the suspect and described him as tall and Hispanic with a thin beard, dark hair and glasses. It was unclear whether the person sources said was in custody matches that description. It was also unknown if both men were intended targets.
"Is this just about one of the victims and he decided to shoot both?" the source asked.
As cops pursued both angles, Mayor de Blasio vowed the NYPD would bring the killer of the two Bangladeshi men to justice.
"This weekend our city was stung by violence that devastated a congregation and unsettled a community. When religious leaders are targeted, we all bear the pain those in Ozone Park feel most personally today," de Blasio said. "While we do not yet know the motivation for the murders of Maulama Akonjee and Thara Uddin, we do know that our Muslim communities are in the perpetual cross hairs of bigotry."
But Khairul Islam Kukon, a community activist and a member of the mosque called out de Blasio for not visiting the site.
"It's been more than 48 hours," Kukon said. "The mayor has not been here. If this was a Jewish community, the mayor would be there the next hour."
De Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips said, "The mayor and our senior staff have been in constant contact with community leaders since the tragedy."
Jewish activists visited the mosque Sunday night in a show of solidarity. Robert Silverman, 57, director of Muslim/Jewish relations for the America Jewish Congress, went straight to the mosque after getting off a flight from Indonesia.
"We're here to show support to the Muslim community," he said. "It was a heinous crime. We have to rely on the police to decide if this was a hate crime. We really don't know what this was motivated by."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it will announce a $10,000 reward at a news Monday conference in Washington. Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo expressed his concern for the victims' families.
"While we don't yet know the motivation behind these senseless murders, we stand in solidarity with the Muslim community as they grieve this loss," Cuomo tweeted. "The perpetrators of this heinous crime will be found, and justice will be served."
Akonjee and Uddin were described as devout family men.
"We want justice. Why did they kill my father?" Akonjee's third-oldest son, Naim, 21, said, tearing up.
"Our worship houses never get protected. We need more police officers here," Mohamed Hassan, 31, said. "This guy followed them and shot them point-blank!"




7



 


August 5, 2016 Friday

 'No Doubt' President Obama is a Muslim, Donald Trump's New York Campaign Chair Says

 
Donald Trump's New York State campaign co-chairman insisted in an interview with the Observer that President Barack Obama is a Muslim-and pointed to his policies in the Middle East as evidence.
Speaking over the phone for an unrelated story, Carl Paladino-the 2010 GOP candidate for governor of New York-abruptly changed subjects and assailed the sitting president and his policies. The Buffalo-based real estate developer and Tea Party activist maintained that Obama, a practicing Christian, has sought to mislead the public about his religious affiliation, but that the citizenry has not fallen for his falsehoods.
"In the mind of the average American, there is no doubt he is a Muslim," Paladino said. "He is not a Christian." 
By way of proof, Paladino seemed to argue Obama has taken a pro-Muslim approach in conducting American affairs abroad.
"Look at what he's done with Iran, what he's done with the Sunni-Shia thing over in Iraq and Iran, and with ISIS," the Republican said.
Conspiracy theories about the president's supposed secret Islamic faith have circulated since he first ran for the White House in 2008. Such unsubstantiated assertions often highlight that his father was born into a Muslim family in Kenya, and that Obama received some instruction in the religion at the Indonesian public school he attended as a child.
But they do not account for why Obama for 20 years attended Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, where the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright served as pastor, or why he has since worshiped at several churches in Washington, D.C.
Contrary to Paladino's assertions, the average American does not seem to believe there is "no doubt" the president is a Muslim: polls indicate only 18 to 29 percent of the populace identify him as an adherent of the world's second-largest religion. However, surveys suggest a full two-thirds of Trump supporters believe the president has hidden his true allegiances to the Quran and the holy city of Mecca.
Italian-born underwear model Anthony Sabato Jr. also claimed the president was "absolutely" a Muslim shortly after his address to the GOP convention in Cleveland last month.
Prior to launching his presidential bid last year, Trump himself trafficked in related false claims that Obama was born outside the United States and is thus Constitutionally ineligible to serve as its commander-in-chief. Just yesterday, his former campaign manager and current CNN contributor Corey Lewandowski re-upped that conspiracy theory, saying that Obama's Harvard transcripts, which he has not released, might have revealed whether he was admitted to the school as a citizen.
Obama has released his so-called "long form" birth certificate. Trump, meanwhile, has also drawn controversy for refusing to release documents-his tax returns.
This is far from Paladino's first brush with controversy. During his 2010 run for governor, he came under fire for comments he made about the attire at gay pride parades, and for a series of emails he had allegedly sent over the years-emails that included pictures of nude women, videos of horses copulating with humans and material that seemed to compare African-Americans to chimpanzees.
This is also not the first time Paladino has speculated about the president's personal theology, as he suggested on the 2010 campaign trail that Obama "worships himself." Paladino ultimately drew only a third of the vote against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but he has since expressed interest in running for the highest office in the state again.
More recently, he attracted attention for comparing the president to a "raccoon in the basement" at a Trump rally.
Disclosure: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of Jared Kushner, the publisher of Observer Media.




7


 


August 2, 2016, Tuesday

 Write a letter to your president

 
In 1993, before Bill Clinton stepped into the oval office, President George H.W. Bush wrote him a letter.
Short, gracious and encouraging, the letter conveyed the departing president's honest good wishes for the success of the man who had defeated him in a tough election. His letter conveys the overwhelming sense that Clinton was now the president of the whole country - George H.W. Bush's president as much as anyone else's.
The letter-writing tradition has continued, but the letters don't always become public. Clinton and Bush 41 famously became good friends after their terms were complete, and raised vast sums for charity together, particularly in the aftermath of the 2004 earthquake in Indonesia. 
George W. Bush has been accounted an exemplary former president. Despite the increasing acrimony of our politics, he exited the stage in 2009 and has never sought to interfere in his successor's work.
But our presidents are treating each other a lot better than the rest of us are treating them. When Clinton won, he won only a plurality of popular votes (Ross Perot got 19 percent). Though he won decisively in the Electoral College, some never accepted the legitimacy of his presidency. After he was re-elected resoundingly, the seed of that plurality victory in 1992 grew into the disastrous and pointless effort to impeach him during his second term.
George W. Bush won the closest race ever - losing the popular vote and winning the Electoral College by the disputed margin in Florida. Nonetheless, even after the Supreme Court settled the issue and he became President Bush 43, even greater numbers of Americans refused to accept the legitimacy of his presidency. The increasing rancor in Congress as a result sowed the seeds for the total dysfunction we see in the legislative branch today.
Of course the most recent presidency has been denied more than any other. Absurd allegations that President Obama is not an American at all, that he was born in Kenya, or Indonesia, or that he is a secret Muslim impostor, flourished on the right wing throughout his presidency, and have only been given up grudgingly, now that his terms are coming to an end. "Not my president" is an expression that has gained real currency.
This must not continue.
In a healthy democratic process, the legitimacy of the winning candidates must come not only from the free casting and accurate counting of the votes, but from the acknowledgments of the losers. Concession speeches are deeply meaningful events, because they signal to those who supported the loser that their man or woman lost fair and square, and that the winner takes office. The gracious acceptance of the concession helps the winner transition from what might have been a hard-fought contest to the realization that he or she is now the delegate, the senator, the president of everyone, not just the people who voted his or her way.
This time around, we appear to be in worse shape than ever on this score in our presidential race.
Both parties, I think it is fair to say, are seeking not only to win the election but to totally delegitimize the opponent. In respect to Donald Trump, who I believe would be a terrible president, I've done it myself. A few weeks ago, I called him a "moral catastrophe.
Maybe that's too strong, but it's not the furthest out there, by any means. We see persistent allegations that one candidate or the other is "disqualified and outrageous calls for Hillary Clinton to be jailed or even executed.
We can be certain that Bush 41 wanted to win and thought himself the better candidate in 1992. But he realized that far more important than his presidential preference was the peaceful and orderly transfer of power that has allowed us to keep the world's oldest constitution alive and preserve our government without revolutions, coups or violent oppression.
He must have known that the country needs a president and that the support of all, or at least most, of the people began with his support.
If we keep going on like we've been, only willing to respect and follow the presidents we want, and totally determined to destroy and defeat the ones we don't want, we will become Lincoln's "house divided against itself, that cannot stand. We will end up having no president at all, in the same way that we have no Congress, because there is no longer any room to govern in the midst of the perpetual campaign filling the endless election season.
So - and this isn't easy - let me put it down in ink. If Donald Trump should win the presidential election, he must become the president. The will of the people must prevail. No mistake he could make would be bigger than the de-legitimization of the cornerstone of our governmental system - that the will of the voters must prevail.
More than that, if he should win, we must, for all our sakes, wish him well in his work and hope that it goes well. This doesn't mean we'd be going along with anything he might propose or do but, as president, he would be entitled to the respect the office deserves, which is more than it has been getting for quite a few years.
The reverse holds, as well, of course. The effort to criminalize, demonize and destroy Hillary Clinton before her presidency even begins has got to stop. We're all free to disagree and fight for our views on the issues, but we all have an interest in the next presidency being a successful one, because we all have an interest in the survival and success of our country.
The next president, whoever he or she may be, deserves a fair chance to lead and succeed from every American.
Imagine the election was yesterday. Imagine your candidate didn't win. What kind of letter would you put in an Oval Office desk drawer? What we would say to a new president of the opposing party, if we had to do it ourselves, could tell us a lot about who we are, and what kind of country we're going to have next year.
Christopher J. Regan is the former vice chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party and an attorney at Bordas & Bordas, in Wheeling. He blogs at HomeYesterday.com.




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July 22, 2016 Friday  
 

 Pilgrimage: A 21st-Century Journey to Mecca and Medina

 
The Times has produced a virtual reality film from Mecca and Medina, Islam's holy cities. To view it, download the NYT VR app on your mobile device if you don't already have it. (Go here for Android, and here for iPhone.)  
In February 2016, the photographer Luca Locatelli traveled to Mecca during umrah, a minor pilgrimage that can be made for much of the year. He received permission from the Saudi Arabian authorities to document the trip. 
  The author Basharat Peer wrote about Mr. Locatelli's photographs for  Magazine in June, in a piece called ''Mecca Goes Mega'' that focused on the building boom transforming the sacred city's center.
  Mr. Locatelli, an Italian who was raised Catholic, gained entry to Mecca through his marriage to an Indonesian Muslim, which included a ceremonial conversion, Mr. Peer wrote.
  ''In his striking images, you can see experiences shared by pilgrims everywhere as well as the mix of crass commercialism and genuine faith common among holy sites across religions,'' Mr. Peer wrote.
  He also noted that when Mr. Locatelli first arrived in Mecca, he was anxious about his outsider status.
  But, Mr. Locatelli told Mr. Peer, ''Mecca was truly peaceful. My fear melted away within days.''




7



 



July 14, 2016 Thursday  
Met 

 sports and a culture's expectations

 
MUSCAT, Oman -    After Shinoona Al Habsi entered London's Olympic Stadium four years ago with nerves so turbulent she found her body "dancing, more than shaking," and after she ran the 100 meters for her native Oman - in a brisk 12.45 seconds, fourth place in her qualifying heat - and after she gathered are-you-kidding experiences such as stretching near men's sprinter Usain Bolt, she returned home and heeded a norm.
She got married in December 2013.
Twenty-six months later, she heeded another norm. 
She gave birth to a son in February 2016.
This spring, the norms yielded. Al Habsi, 23, actually returned to training, eyeing future international competitions. The very sight of her struck some witnesses as shocking in a culture in which sport is an occasional frivolity girls (and often boys) quit when they start real life.
"Now when I'm back [training] they tell me, 'What are you doing!'" Al Habsi said.
As some coaches and governments in the Middle East aspire to raise top-flight female athletes and as they hope for more women in general to partake in recreational sports, it was telltale that even in the midst of a sport, a mother back at training doubles as a marvel. It illustrated the natural discord between the concept of female athletes and norms such as marriage and childbirth and how expectations from families and cultures can thwart athletic pursuits.
Against the varying cultural grains of the region, athletes such as Farida Osman, an Egyptian student and championship swimmer at the University of California who will compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next month, require a crucial boon: staunch family support. Osman's parents, both Cairo dentists, endorse her persistence even at an age (21) when most childhood teammates have stopped, and her London-based brother, Ahmed, flew clear to Atlanta in March to cheer Farida at the NCAA championships. 
Al Habsi has a further boon: staunch husband support.
When she returned from London to Oman, she did what she thought she was supposed to do after marriage. She stopped running - for a year. She got sick repeatedly. A doctor deduced she kept getting sick because she was a runner who wasn't running. As she recollects, her husband, Ali Al Mabsali, a petroleum engineer and a soccer nut, told her, " 'I married you. You are an athlete. I know you are an athlete. I married an athlete and a lady. Not a lady who sits at home.'"
Her many relatives long since knew what her husband meant. She ran with such dispatch as a child that when her family would ask her to run errands, she would  run  the errands. She ran competitively as a teenager even though the rarity of it worried her mother - "Why this? Why are you going there?" - until she vowed to sneak out if necessary. "When I am running," Al Habsi said, "I feel that I have everything that I need. This feeling. What can I tell you, this feeling?"
Said her 25-year-old aunt, Maryam Al Shukairi: "In our family, no one's stopping her. Some of them, like my aunt, the sister of my father, sometimes they're asking, 'Why she's doing that? Till when she's doing that? She's a lady! She'll be getting married. She will have the kids. Will she continue to do that?' And we are replying them, 'It is important to her. If she wants to compete, even if she will be having a hundred children, it is depending on her.'"
Aunt and niece, so bonded that some relatives think they have their own dialect, laugh serially as they tell paragraphs-long stories about the cultural rarity. They laugh as Maryam recollects when the family - Shinoona has 10 siblings and is the first of the 32 grandchildren of Maryam's parents - squeezed in around the TV to watch Shinoona in London, noticed her nervousness and instructed to the TV, "Concentrate!" They laugh about the soccer zeal of their husbands, whom they sometimes try to outrace to the TV remote. 
They know that having a runner in the family provides a rare window on people's reactions. Maryam explains that because her parents hail from Tanzania, the cultural rules might soften slightly as opposed to "the pure Omani," where "more of the things are, 'No, no, no,' " she said. She tells of  the greater strictness of rural areas. She also says that, even in her job as a nurse, she had to reassure colleagues who fretted, erroneously, that Shinoona's training might leave her moored in some far-flung place, chronically separate from her family.
Some husbands nowadays, Maryam said, "are accepting whatever is your hope. 'Your hope is this and this and this? Do it.' They are not stopping us." She added, "They don't know the other husbands!" She mentioned one friend who has foregone the wives' lunches out because her husband forbids it.
Even liberal readings of marital and motherly duties in the region can leave little room for sports or exercise. 
"For my mother-in-law, it was something crazy!" Samar Nassar said. "She used to tell my husband, 'Are you married to get children or for your wife to swim?'" Yet after she swam for Palestine in the 2000 Olympics, got married to a supportive husband, swam for Jordan in the 2004 Olympics, and as she heads the organizing committee for Jordan's upcoming Under-17 Women's World Cup in soccer, her mother-in-law has become "my biggest support," she said.
"I can say I come from a relatively liberal family," she said, "but still, we are governed by our culture and our norms, and despite being a liberal family and being married to a liberal husband, there are still cultural expectations for a girl who is in school or a married woman. For me to be able to swim when I was engaged and married, everything had to be perfect at home. I didn't give a chance for anybody to talk about, to interfere in my swimming. 
"So I was up at 5:30 in the morning [to train, before her husband woke]. I made sure that lunch was at the table at 1 o'clock. And our lunches in Jordan are not the typical, easy-to-whip-up meals. They're all vine leaves and stuffed courgettes, so I had to make sure that lunch was on the table, and I had to make sure at night I'm dressed up and tip-top for the social events and gatherings and sleeping at 12 a.m. and then up by 5:30 a.m. 
"To strike that balance and make sure that nothing gives, whether on the social front or the family or my obligations or my swimming, it was tough. But it's doable. . . . For a woman, a married woman, that was really pushing the boundaries, but everything is doable with a supportive husband." 

'Wow, she is amazing'
Often, sport never even gets to vie with marriage or motherhood. It long since has conceded to a third force also deemed mandatory for girls: education. 
As Hassan Afifi, a 41-year-old Egyptian, gave up his dreary finance job in London, rediscovered his abs and started a pro triathlon team called Alameda o.n., he took aim at what he considers a counterproductive view of women's capabilities. "I have a girl and a boy," he said, "and for me the thing that would kill me is if my daughter one day comes to me and says, 'I cannot do this because I'm a girl.'"
He couldn't find Arab women in triathlon, so he hired some elite female triathletes to mentor a developmental team of girls and one woman, 26-year-old Bahraini former Olympic swimmer Sameera Al Bitar, who has veered into triathlon. Afifi knows the girls might absorb all the time and tutelage yet still eventually peel off, their participation losing out to cultural obligation.
Telling a recent story, he said, "It was as if someone stabbed me. I was at the sports club in Cairo. I found an old university friend of mine. Very open place and everything and open-minded people around. And this is someone I studied economics with at university, and she was there because her daughter was doing swim practice. And I was chatting with her; we haven't spoken in about 15 years. 'How are you, blah-blah-blah.' 'This is my daughter in the water.' 
"And I'm looking, 'Wow, she's amazing. She's really talented.' 'Yeah, in competition she won her age group, and she came second in the nationals and stuff.' And I'm like, 'Wow, this is amazing. She's only 12,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, does she enjoy it? Does she want to become a champion?' And she says, 'No, no, no, no. I'm not going to put those ideas in her head.' I'm like, 'Why?' And she said, 'Oh, well, if it's her brother, it's fine, but for her, no, she's going to go to university and get married.' I'm like, 'No! No! Why did you say that!' "
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, has won 14 women's medals in its Olympic   history; Turkey has won nine. Algeria's first gold medal came from Hassiba Boulmerka  , who won the 1,500 meters at Barcelona in 1992 despite a local imam's publicized objection to her clothing in track and field. Syria's lone gold medal came from Shada Ghouaa at Atlanta in 1996 in the heptathlon, and Habiba Ghribi  became the first Tunisian female to win a medal, a silver in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at London in 2012.
Afifi summarized: "You get every year, you have maybe three or four Arab athletes, female athletes, who go to the Olympics, they do something great. . . . But they're individuals. And if you look, it's not the system that made them. They made themselves by themselves, and they defied all kinds of challenges and everything. And this is not what we want to do."

'I will show everyone'
Osman, the Egyptian swimmer at the University of California, has become the Pacific-12 Conference champion in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly and has anchored two NCAA champion relays. She states with her customary cheer, "I want to be the first female Egyptian to win an Olympic gold medal." She might have kept it at "medal." Egypt has appeared at Olympics since 1912, with 26 male medals, zero female .
"In swimming," Osman said, "girls usually stop by the age of 16 or 18, maximum. And this is where they start either focusing on academics or maybe like getting married. Yeah, this is the age where everyone just stops swimming. I'm one of the few people who continue until now. My team used to be, like, 20, and now we're only like two or three who keep on swimming until now. I'm definitely the only girl, in my age group at least.
"I feel like, when we're young and growing up, I feel like families encourage sports, but then when it starts having interference with school or other important things, they just stop straightway. They don't really know how to balance both. They always have to choose one over the other."
The complementary possibilities of sports and academics did occur to Hadia Mohammed Mustafa, an Omani mother of two sons and a daughter, all of whom excelled at tennis with her guidance. Her sons study for advanced degrees in Scotland and Paris, and her daughter, Fatma Al Nabhani, is ranked No. 391   in the world in the hard wilds of tennis.
"For example, when first my mom started, her friends and family, they would tell her, 'You are crazy! What are you doing?' " Al Nabhani said. " 'This is the future of the kids, being here and focusing on their study! What will tennis ever do for them?' But they didn't understand that also tennis could be a future, because through tennis, they went to the college, they got scholarships, you know, to play for the universities and stuff, so this is the future as well. And the biggest example, my brother, he was a professional player and now he's finishing his Ph.D."
She said, "My mom is very strong," and, "I hope I do at least a tiny, small change, that people think I changed their thinking." 
Their shared accomplishment as coach-mother and player-daughter magnifies when considering that, as a girl, Al Nabhani lacked the kind of ready rivals who can help a teenager build toward the brutal international terrain. In the Middle East, girls who persist often know a lonely persistence. 
"To be honest, when I was younger, if I ever knew that there was a female athlete that made it professionally and you are able to do it and reach toward those goals, I would have been more confident of myself and knowing of myself, 'Oh yeah, I can do it,' " Al Nabhani said. "But being the only one and the first to take this experience, it was really tough."
Said Osman, "Two years before I came to Cal, I was actually swimming alone. It was actually kind of boring."
California, then, "was so different," she said. "Because, you know how when you're swimming alone, the coach usually just has practices for you? . . . So it was definitely hard at the beginning. I was definitely struggling, just making the intervals or just being at their level in practice. I used to probably cry every other week because it was really hard. Just like, I never practiced at 5 a.m. back home."
In Cairo, where she swam for a club in the upscale Zamalek district, she would swim at a more genteel 4 p.m. 
"When Farida arrived at Cal, she was inexperienced and not a very good trainer," said Teri McKeever,  California's coach. "She didn't have a lot of knowledge of the sport, swimming techniques or racing strategies. She had never trained with other top athletes, so she wasn't aware of what she needed to know. Farida has developed into a great racer and is someone you know will bring her best in meet situations."
For the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, at age 25, Osman says, "Definitely."
For the 2024 Olympics, at 29, she says, "That would be, like, wow."
"The Egyptian culture, you need to be married at a certain age," she said, laughing again. "Twenty five is like, 'You're late. Why are you not married until now?' " Next come children: "Egypt, it's like, you have to!" she said, laughed, and said that while you don't have to hurry, people do start asking.
"I definitely want to be a mom," she said. "I don't know when, exactly."
Across the region, a woman who is already a mother could represent Oman in the Olympics. It just won't be the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Having just given birth in February, Al Habsi doesn't want to show up subpar. She wants to regain tip-top form, then resume international competition. She scoffs at the 12.45 seconds she ran in London four years ago. "I'm faster now, 11.60," she wrote in a text. She's hoping for ample doubters. She does love those.
"I will show everyone," she said. 
chuck.culpepper@washpost.com
 The rise of the female Muslim athlete: 
 Part 1: Once forbidden from sport, a new generation now chases Olympic glory.
 Sarah Attar: A groundbreaking athlete sees change in her father's Saudi homeland.




7



 


July 13, 2016 Wednesday  


 Was Orlando massacre a response to U.S. foreign policy?

 
We may never know the crucial determining factor or combination of factors responsible for Omar Mateen's ghastly slaughter of 49 people and the wounding of 53 others at Orlando's Pulse nightclub one month ago. Mainstream media pundits quickly cited lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender bigotry, lax gun laws, failed FBI background checks, an infatuation with violence, deeply closeted homosexuality and self-radicalization.
But as more evidence accumulates, it's plausible that Mateen's unspeakable act was yet another grotesque version of the chickens coming home to roost. While the time and location of future attacks remain uncertain, there's no doubt that more jihadist-type chickens are en route to the henhouse. This raises the question that has remained outside polite conversation since Sept. 11, 2001: What might lead someone like Mateen to carry out these hideous assaults on innocent U.S. citizens? Critical inquiry is not about making excuses for terrorism. Refusing to look at the causes of terrorism is inexcusable.
Years ago, Mateen spoke about becoming a martyr and watched Islamic State terrorism and propaganda videos. Classmates recall that when the second jumbo jet slammed into the World Trade Center's South Tower, the 14-year-old Mateen "started jumping-up-and-down, cheering on the terrorists."
During one of his 911 calls from Pulse, he referred to the Tsarnaev brothers, the Boston Marathon bombers, as his "homeboys." In another, he claimed to be "acting in the name of God" and pledged his allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. And just prior to being killed by police, Mateen posted a Facebook message stating, "You kill innocent women and children by doing [U.S.] airstrikes ... now taste the Islamic state vengeance."
Patience Carter, one of the hostages, heard Mateen say his attack was "to get America to stop bombing his country," a reference to his parents being from Afghanistan. In another conversation with a 911 operator, he demanded that the U.S. stop attacking Iraq and Syria and said, "That's why I'm out here right now."
Terrorism is only one consequence (the refugee crisis is another) that continues to reverberate in the wake of U.S. imperialist interventions, occupation and unabated drone strike killings in Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, and the Horn of Africa, and Washington's one-sided support for Israel's apartheid-like suppression of Palestinians.
As peace activist and author David Swanson notes, there is an immediate step the U.S. could take: "Stop bombing people around the world." Of course, this is the last thing that ISIS wants, because the more bombs that fall, the "easier to motivate more killers." U.S. violence inevitably begets more violence and more sanctuaries for terrorists in the Middle East.
To date, the U.S. has left citizens of these countries with four futile choices: (1) Remain in failed states destroyed by U.S. bombs; (2) live under U.S. sponsored brutal dictatorships with no prospects for change; (3) become refugees; (4) support or join ISIS-type organizations.
Because U.S. allies like Turkey, Pakistan, the Gulf monarchies, and, especially, Saudi Arabia are directly and indirectly in league with the terrorists, the decision has been made that this deplorable situation is preferable for U.S. national security. The dominant interests in this country need to keep fear alive to justify any and all means of safeguarding their empire.
The Islamic State would not exist but for prior U.S. policy, including fateful decisions by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. ISIS is a death cult, and negotiating with them is impossible. Muslims must see an alternative to the dismal options listed above, an alternative that addresses their justifiable grievances. Recall Islamist Mohamed Morsi was democratically elected as president of Egypt in 2011, only to be overthrown and imprisoned by the U.S.-backed military. Only by supporting efforts to join Islam and democracy, currently exemplified by Tunisia and Indonesia, will this be possible. At this late date, it may not succeed, but there's no other sane alternative.
Gary Olson is a member of the political science department at Moravian College. His email address is olsong@moravian.edu




7



 



July 3, 2016 Sunday  


 China goes all out to win favor with Indonesian Muslims

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - In late April, five senior figures from Indonesia's largest Muslim civil society organization stepped off the plane in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, in China's far west.
They had been invited on an all-expenses-paid trip by the Chinese government as part of a broad effort by Beijing to prove to Indonesian Muslim leaders that China's Uighur Muslims enjoy complete religious freedom despite news reports to the contrary.
Xinjiang is China's most restive province, the scene of clashes between the native Uighur Muslim population and settlers from the Han Chinese majority. Reports that China's Communist government restricts the right of Uighur Muslims to fast during the holy month of Ramadan and places other limits on their freedom to worship have damaged the country's reputation among Muslims              in Indonesia and elsewhere.
Last month, to coincide with the start of Ramadan, two Indonesian Islamic political parties, the Prosperous Justice Party and the United Development Party, issued statements condemning the Chinese government's restrictions on the religious freedom of Uighurs. The condemnations came amid rising tension between the two countries over a South China Sea dispute that recently resulted in the Indonesian navy firing on Chinese fishing vessels operating in contested waters. 
The oppression of Uighurs adds another dimension to the complex relationship between China and Indonesia, the country with the most Muslims in the world and one where spreading communist ideology is illegal. The Chinese government has responded to Indonesian suspicion over its treatment of Muslims by working to convince Indonesian religious figures and journalists that nothing is amiss in Xinjiang. Its strategy offers hints on how it hopes to convince the rest of the Muslim world that it respects Islam.
The five visitors were skeptical of the Chinese state narrative when they arrived. "We asked, for example, whether it's true that Muslims are forbidden from fasting," said Bina Suhendra, chief treasurer of Nahdlatul Ulama, an organization that claims 50 million members.
But after a tour that included meetings with senior Uighur mullahs and visits to historic mosques, Suhendra and the others said their hosts had convinced them. "The [Chinese] state guarantees freedom of religion to all religions," he said.
"I am not surprised at the result of the government-managed visit - this has a long proven track record of shaping the views of unwitting participants," wrote Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International's regional director for East Asia, in an email.
Bequelin wrote that although the Chinese government does subsidize a state-controlled version of Islam, Chinese law aggressively regulates the Uighur practice of Islam.
"All imams have to be politically vetted, all mosques have to be under the control of the religious affairs bureau, and all scriptures, religious publications and preachers have to abide by strict censorship rules and procedures. These are black-and-white laws and regulations, not hearsay," he wrote.
The senior leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama had a different impression. They were deeply impressed by the level of infrastructure development in Urumqi as well as what appeared to be a flourishing religious life.
"China is still communist, but it's very open," said Eman Suryaman, chairman of the central board of Nahdlatul Ulama and a member of the delegation. He noted the beautiful new mosques that the Chinese government had built for local worshipers. "We saw the attention the Chinese government paid to the religious community," he said.
In late May, Arie Mega Prastiwi, an editor at Liputan 6, an Indonesian news site, accepted an invitation for a free tour of Xinjiang offered to her by the Chinese Embassy here. She figured she was invited because "they wanted to promote Xinjiang after the riots in 2009," when hundreds of ethnic Uighurs clashed with Han Chinese in Urumqi.
She visited mosques and schools. She was free to wander the streets of Urumqi on her own, although she doesn't speak any of the local languages. With the assistance of interpreters provided by the Chinese government, she interviewed state officials and spoke with students and  worshipers. She concluded that ethnic tension had subsided and that onerous restrictions on Muslim worship were a thing of the past.
"Since the ethnic clashes of 2009, the central government and the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang have resolved the situation," she wrote in one report.
In an interview, Prastiwi resisted the idea that her government minders had shown her a particular version of Uighur life.
"It was a very natural setting," she said. "I saw what I saw and I'm writing what I write."
According to Alim Seytoff, executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project in Washington, the Chinese government is able to convince foreign visitors that Muslims are free to practice their religion because Chinese restrictions are "subtle." There is no blanket ban on fasting and prayer in Xinjiang, and the government subsidizes state-sanctioned forms of the religion.
However, he said, the local government restricts some segments of Uighur society from fasting, among them government workers and students. And Chinese officials are careful to present cooperative locals to visitors. "The showcasing of the happy Uighur is an old strategy," Seytoff said.
Arsul Sani, a member of Indonesia's parliament from the United Development Party, said he was not sure that the delegation of Indonesian Muslim leaders received the full story. "The Chinese government can set up some group to meet with the Indonesian guests and then say, 'Perfect, everything is okay here,' " he said.
Questions surrounding Chinese persecution of Muslims are especially sensitive in Indonesia, which has a significant ethnic Chinese minority that is viewed with skepticism by some hard-line Muslim groups. When Basuki "Ahok" Purnama, the ethnic Chinese governor of Jakarta, issued a regulation banning public schools from requiring female students to wear headscarves, the Islamic Defenders Front, a local hard-line group, linked the issue with Xinjiang, tweeting, "China's Communist government restricts Muslim worship in Xinjiang. In Jakarta Ahok forbids mandatory head scarf. . . . Draw your own conclusion!"
On June 16, the Chinese ambassador to Indonesia, Xie Feng, attended a Ramadan ceremony at the al-Tsaqafah Islamic boarding school in South Jakarta, making a donation to a scholarship fund for Indonesian orphans at the school and distributing books. Xie attended the event with Said Aqil Siradj, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, who was in the delegation that went to Xinjiang.
In a speech that was covered by numerous local media outlets, Said Aqil said, "China is our friend. Nothing is to be feared from China."
Xie gave a speech about shared Chinese and Indonesian values, mentioning the 15th-century exploits of Zheng He, China's legendary Muslim eunuch admiral, who stunned the Ming court by bringing back a giraffe from East Africa and who may have contributed to the development of Indonesian Islam during his multiple visits to what is today Indonesia.
Xie then pivoted to the Uighur issue, saying, "Their religious freedom has all along been valued, respected and protected by the Chinese government."
Then the Chinese Embassy handed out reports from Prastiwi, the journalist with Liputan 6, to prove the point.
foreign@washpost.com




7



 


June 30, 2016 Thursday

 Istanbul airport attack: Why Turkey's response matters; 
The Islamic world's struggle to answer "who rules Muslims?" takes a big turn as Islamic State escalates its attacks against democratic Turkey.

 
As it loses territory in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has turned to encouraging terrorist attacks in countries from Belgium to Bangladesh. Perhaps the most significant IS-inspired attack, however, was the June 28 suicide bombing of Turkey's main airport in Istanbul, which killed 44. 
The importance of the attack lies in this: Both IS and Turkey's ruling party are Sunni-based and variations on what is called "political Islam." Each is trying to answer the Islamic world's historic question of "who rules Muslims?" An escalation of violence between IS and Turkey is really a battle to determine which values of governance are best for Muslim-majority societies.
Across the Middle East since 9/11, the struggle to define "political Islam" has experienced wild shifts. Egypt's regime is now largely secular under a military ruler, a backlash against the former elected rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, which itself is divided over the use of violence in politics. Tunisia's former ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, decided this year to separate its religious and political activities. Saudi Arabia's monarchy struggles to rein in radical clerics even as it tries to appease liberal youth and women.
Turkey, which is a non-Arab country, sits on the good side of this spectrum. It is a democracy that elected an Islamist party, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the current president. He has instituted a "soft" form of Islam in Turkish society yet has also become more authoritarian, repressing many who disagree with him.
The tensions within the Erdogan regime reflect the tensions of "political Islam": Does the faith allow for forceful domination over others or does it embrace democratic values of equality and the need for secular rule?
Since the airport attack, Mr. Erdogan appears to be reacting with more repression now that IS has so dramatically escalated its attacks within Turkey. While any country hit by terrorists must beef up security, a more important response is the assertion and the practice of the values of liberty and nonviolence. This helps to highlight the violence that lies at the heart of jihadist groups like IS.
Political Islam is a concept still in flux. Many Muslims live in secular democracies, from India to Albania to Indonesia, where the Islamic faith is more personal than political, more tolerant than aggressive. As Turkey steps up its campaign against IS, it too can be a model for this practice of Islam.




8



 


June 29, 2016 Wednesday  


 Editorial cartoon crossed the line

 
An editorial page cartoon by Glenn McCoy which ran in the Lebanon Daily News on Saturday, June 25, came dangerously close to bordering on "yellow journalism."
I'm a big fan of political cartoons and have enjoyed and laughed at the works of masters like Herblock and Olyphant for many years. But this recent hack job by McCoy depicting U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch cozying up to an ISIS militant while President Barack Obama shows an "I Love You" valentine to the terrorist crosses the line of decency. 
Am I over reacting to the cartoon? Perhaps. And then again perhaps not. I recently learned that there's a belief floating around that Mr. Obama will lead a military revolt when he leaves office. It's surprising that The Donald (aka The Buffoon) hasn't come forth with a similar sentiment. After all, he's never accepted the fact that Obama is an American citizen.
- Robert Balthaser, Lebanon
Obama has demoralized our nation
November may be the most crucial election in the history of our Republic. Barack Obama has shown himself to be a false messiah. He stands committed on his goal of fundamentally transforming America. His legacy will be one of demoralizing and secularizing the very soul of our nation. Obama was schooled as a Muslim in Indonesia followed by years steeped in Far Left radicalism. Lest we forget, Obama sat at the feet of America-hating preacher, Jeremiah Wright for two decades. In short, Barack Obama is a Marxist/Muslim deceiving millions of good Americans.
His actions are rife with conspiracy. Thousands of criminal illegal aliens have been released onto America's streets rather than being deported or stockaded. He has snubbed Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, even setting up shop to oust the Jewish prime minister. Thankfully, he failed. Obama has led America down the slope of blatant immorality.
This and so much more is now passed on to Marxist and congenital liar, Hillary Clinton. And I ask: Does America want a serial, sexual predator (husband Bill) back into our nation's Capitol?
The possible ascendancy of Hillary Clinton as Commander in Chief is unconscionable. Her tenure would take America to the point of no return, if we're not there already.
- Homer Snavely, Cleona




8



 



June 29, 2016 Wednesday  


 Indonesia's hard line on new faiths

 
JAKARTA - In December, Dwiyanto Adi Nugroho quit his job as a financial analyst in the central Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, sold his belongings and moved to rural western Borneo to join a community set up there by a mysterious social-religious organic farming movement.
A few weeks later, police and soldiers stormed the compound, evacuated the residents and let local mobs burn their makeshift city to the ground. 
Dwiyanto, 31, was flown back to his home province, along with an estimated 8,000 other members of the group, known as Gafatar, from various sites in Borneo. Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, calls the forcible evictions the largest-scale violation of a religious group's rights in Indonesia in more than a decade.
That was in mid-January, but the persecution of former members of Gafatar is only picking up.
The group, which was founded in 2012 and claims about 50,000 followers, is a back-to-the-land movement based on the idea that materialism and cities corrupt spiritual life. It does not call itself a religion. Most of its members, however, subscribe to Millah Abraham, a new messianic faith that draws on elements of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Because it is illegal to establish a new religion in Indonesia, the government has also banned Gafatar, accusing it of peddling heresies to the weak-minded, and deploying imams, psychologists and soldiers to "rehabilitate" recruits.
Many, though, refuse to return to a state-approved version of Islam.
"Maybe we have been brainwashed," Farah Meifira, a movement leader and former chiropractor, said over coffee at a posh mall in South Jakarta. "But if your brain is dirty, better that it gets washed."
Adam Mirza, her lunch partner, agreed that they are on a godly path. "Many people think the stories in the Bible and the Koran are a fairy tale," he said. "They're not. We're living it."
But the government refuses to let them. In late May, it arrested three Gafatar founders, including Ahmad Mushaddeq, the movement's self-proclaimed heir to the prophet Muhammad, and charged them with blasphemy and treason - the latter reflecting its wariness of potentially separatist tendencies. It marked the first time such charges have been brought against religious figures at the national level under President Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014 pledging to uphold religious tolerance.
"Why are those who committed arson not being processed, while we victims of the violence are locked up?" asked Andry Cahya, Mushaddeq's son, who is in prison. Cahya, who oversaw organic and permaculture farming operations in western Borneo, said he was prepared to accept the state's punishment. "We don't want to be detained. But we don't worry, because God is behind us."
The president's office declined to comment on how Gafatar is being treated, referring queries to the national police. Boy Rafli Amar, chief spokesman for the force, said via WhatsApp: "The religious teachings being spread aren't compatible with an established religion. They can be categorized as 'leading people astray.' "
It is only the latest sign that Indonesia's nominally secular state is committed to policing religious boundaries. The majority-Muslim country's constitution guarantees religious freedom, but only six faiths are officially recognized - Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Hinduism - and there is no recognition of agnosticism or atheism. The state takes a particularly hard line against faiths holding that there have been other prophets since Muhammad. In 2008, the Ahmadiyya, a 100-year-old religion that has no ties to the Gafatar movement but that also believes its founder was a successor to Muhammad, was banned from proselytizing in Indonesia.
Koentjoro Soeparno, head of the social psychology department at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, examined ex-Gafatar members who had returned from Borneo and likened them to cultists. "Ex-Gafatar are usually skilled people," he said, "but they aren't critically minded, so their worldview can be easily influenced."
Meifira vigorously rejects the idea that adherents of Millah Abraham are gullible. "We're not a dumb people," she says. They worship in Bahasa Indonesia, the national language, rather than in Arabic, the traditional language of Muslim liturgy but one that many Indonesians do not understand. "We're actually reading the meaning of it and trying to connect and . . . trace it down," Meifira said.
According to Millah Abraham, a new messiah arrives roughly every 1,400 years to restore for long-standing religions the kind of relationship Abraham had with God. They even believe that one day, a new messiah will emerge who will be persecuted by followers of Millah Abraham, just as Millah Abraham is being persecuted in Indonesia today.
"What Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad delivered is the same as what Gafatar delivers," Dwiyanto, the financial consultant, wrote via WhatsApp. "Night turns into day."
The state has been aggressively attempting to reeducate ex-Gafatar members and return them to their communities in an attempt to stamp out the movement. In one detention center in Boyolali, in central Java, some were enrolled in a controversial training program for the Indonesian military's Bela Negara - or "National Defense" - civil militia, perhaps to revive their allegiance to the state.
Dwiyanto was held in a detention center for days after he returned to Yogyakarta in January but has since been released and has returned to work. Hundreds of ex-Gafatar are less lucky, having been rejected by their families and communities. Children have been especially traumatized.
At a June 8 news conference organized for former members of Gafatar by the country's Legal Aid Institute, one alumna, Rizka Amelia, burst into tears while describing the trauma her young child experienced when police suddenly uprooted him from their farming community in Borneo. "I don't want him to grow up afraid," she said.
Still, leaders of the faith insist that they will not be deterred by persecution.
"You cannot kill religion," Farah Meifira said. "You cannot."
foreign@washpost.com




8



 



June 26, 2016 Sunday  


 Sharia

 
Clearly, Americans fear sharia, Islam's legal framework. At least nine  states have passed "foreign law" statutes banning sharia in American courts - even though no U.S. court has ever ruled based on sharia. Although the Constitution expressly forbids a religious test for would-be leaders of the nation, then-presidential candidate Ben Carson said last year that he'd oppose any Muslim White House aspirant who was "not willing to reject sharia." In this election year, Donald Trump calls for a ban on all Muslim immigration, and pundits argue that sharia prompted the killing of innocent dancers at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Falsehoods about Islam abound, and many of them center on what sharia is and what it is not. Here are five myths.

Myth No. 1

Sharia is "Islamic law."
After the March terrorist attack in Brussels, Trump said that European Muslims "want to go by sharia law." In May, Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) claimed that Muslims in Michigan "have tried to implement their version of sharia law in the United States." Talk-show host Mark Levin says, "We already have creeping sharia law in this country." Listening to these voices, you might think the West is on the verge of switching to a whole new legal system. 
But sharia isn't even "law" in the sense that we in the West understand it. And most devout Muslims who embrace sharia conceptually don't think of it as a substitute for civil law. Sharia is not a book of statutes or judicial precedent imposed by a government, and it's not a set of regulations adjudicated in court. Rather, it is a body of Koran-based guidance that points Muslims toward living an Islamic life. It doesn't come from the state, and it doesn't even come in one book or a single collection of rules. Sharia is divine and philosophical. The human interpretation of sharia is called "fiqh," or Islamic rules of right action, created by individual scholars based on the Koran and hadith (stories of the prophet Muhammad's life). Fiqh literally means "understanding" - and its many different schools of thought illustrate that scholars knew they didn't speak for God.
Fiqh distinguishes between the spiritual value of an action (how God sees it) and the worldly value of that action (how it affects others). Fiqh rules might obligate a devout Muslim to pray, but it's not the job of a Muslim ruler to enforce that obligation. Fiqh is not designed to help governments police morality in the way, say, Saudi Arabia does today. According to classical fiqh scholarship, a Muslim ruler's task was to put forth another type of law, called siyasa, based on what best serves the public good. The most vivid example of this was the recognition of incestuous (mother-son, brother-sister) marriages practiced by some non-Muslim minorities living under Muslim rule, dating back at least to the 14th century, despite the abhorrence, generally, of such marriages to Islam. In other words, sharia doesn't hold that everything objectionable to Islam should be outlawed.

Myth No. 2

In Muslim countries, sharia is the law of the land.
Last year, Saudi Arabia's ambassador in London demanded that British officials respect his country's legal system "based on sharia law." An analysis of deepening religiosity in Indonesia by the Gatestone Institute, a foreign affairs think tank, said the country was "leaning more and more towards . . . Sharia laws."
While it's true that sharia influences the legal codes in most Muslim-majority countries, those codes have been shaped by a lot of things, including, most powerfully, European colonialism. France, England and others imposed nation-state models on nearly every Muslim-majority land, inadvertently joining the crown and the faith. In pre-modern Muslim lands, fiqh authority was separate from the governing authority, or siyasa. Colonialism centralized law with the state, a system that carried over when these countries regained independence.
When Muslim political movements, such as Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan or the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, have looked to codify sharia in their countries, they have done so without any attention to the classical separation of fiqh and siyasa, instead continuing the legal centralization of the European nation-state. That's why these movements look to legislate sharia - they want centralized laws for everything. But by using state power to force particular religious doctrines upon the public, they would essentially create Muslim theocracies, contrary to what existed for most of Muslim history.

Myth No. 3

Sharia is anti-woman.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali American, former member of the Dutch parliament and one of the most visible critics of Islam, says that Islamic law "is inherently hostile to women" because of its marriage laws, among other reasons. Many Westerners see Muslim women's headcover as a kind of oppression. This year, for instance, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls endorsed his country's effort to ban the hijab on university campuses, calling it a symbol of the "enslavement of women." There is a verse in the Koran that holds that men are the "protectors" of women, but many contemporary scholars dispute the notion that this suggests women must obey men or that women are inferior.
While it's true that many majority-Muslim societies have laws that treat women unfairly, many of these laws, like Saudi Arabia's ban on female drivers, have no basis in fiqh. In instances where there is a fiqh origin for modern legislation, that legislation often cherry-picks certain rules, including more woman-affirming interpretations. And on a range of issues, Islam can fairly be described as feminist. Fiqh scholars, for instance, have concluded that women have the right to orgasm during sex and to fight in combat. (Women fought alongside the prophet Muhammad himself.) Fiqh can also be interpreted as pro-choice, with certain scholars positing that although abortion is forbidden, first-trimester abortions are not punishable.
Fiqh doctrine says a woman's property, held exclusively in her name, cannot be appropriated by her husband, brother or father. (For centuries, this stood in stark contrast with the property rights of women in Europe.) Muslim women in America are sometimes shocked to find that, even though they were careful to list their assets as separate, those can be considered joint assets after marriage.
To be sure, there are patriarchal rules in fiqh, and many of these are legislated in modern Muslim-majority countries. For example, women in Iran can't run for president or attend men's soccer matches. But these rules are human interpretations, not sharia.

Myth No. 4

Islam demandsbrutal punishments.
The faith's reputation for savagely punishing lawbreakers - with stoning, flogging, etc. - is so prevalent that even Disney's 1992 film "Aladdin" made light of cutting off thieves' hands. It doesn't help that the Islamic State routinely kills innocents for all sorts of perceived transgressions, despite the Koran's prohibition of wanton violence: It forbids attacks on civilians, property, houses of worship and even animals.
In the same way that the Ku Klux Klan's tactics are a poor representation of Christian practice (despite its claims to be a Christian organization), the Islamic State is the worst place to look to understand what sharia says about punishment and the treatment of innocents and prisoners. It's true that sharia permits harsh corporal punishment, including amputation of limbs, but fiqh restricts its application. Theft, for example, doesn't include anything stolen out of hunger or items of low value. (That piece of fruit Jasmine "stole" in "Aladdin" certainly wouldn't qualify.) Adultery? Yes, corporal punishment for extramarital sex is Koranic in origin, but it comes with an extremely high evidentiary burden of proof: four eye-witnesses. It's a sin but not one that is the business of the state to punish.

Myth No. 5

Sharia is about conquest.
In 2010, as he was preparing for his presidential campaign, former House speaker Newt Gingrich gave a speech stating: "Stealth jihadis use political, cultural, societal, religious, intellectual tools; violent jihadis use violence. . . . They're both seeking to impose the same end state, which is to replace Western civilization with a radical imposition of sharia." His remarks reflect a widely held view that Muslims are bound to wage war against non-Muslims.
But no such duty exists. The Koran repeatedly commands Muslims to keep promises and uphold covenants. That includes treaties among nations and extends to individuals living under non-Muslim rule. Muslims have lived as minorities in non-Muslim societies since the beginning of Islam - from Christian Abyssinia to imperial China. And fiqh scholars have always insisted that Muslims in non-Muslim lands must obey the laws of those lands and do no harm within host countries. If local law conflicts with Muslims' sharia obligations? Some scholars say they should emigrate; others allow them to stay. But none advocate violence or a takeover of those governments.
 Twitter: @AQuraishiLandes 




8


 The Florida Times-Union 
Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)

June 23, 2016 Thursday

 point of view; 
Conservative concerns about extremism

 
The Muslim countries of Egypt, Mauritania, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, the Maldives, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates all include Shariah Law in aspects of family law and criminal law. 
The Muslim countries of Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, and Syria include Shariah Law in aspects of family law while secular courts cover everything else.
SHARIAH LAW
Under Shariah Law, men are allowed four women while a woman may only have one husband, wife beating is permitted, there is no joint property and the man owns everything.
In many of these countries, the penalty for being gay is death, women are subject to genital mutilation and women are punished for being raped.
What many of us find completely amazing and perplexing is conservatives receive almost daily lectures from the left, the LGBT community and President Barack Obama about our intolerance for such stances as being against gay marriage and open restrooms for the opposite sex yet remain silent with these countries' practices.
And these countries are not even considered the radical Muslims.
We also have the Muslim terrorist organizations like al-Qaida, ISIS and the Taliban that engage in all of the above plus maim, behead and suicide bomb those who will not convert to their way of life, yet Obama will not use the phrase "radical Islam."
WHERE ARE LIBERALS?
Those with the liberal mind-set are so intolerant of the conservative view of traditional marriage and such, yet we simply find the tolerance for these extreme Muslim ways to be astonishing and incredible.
We have just witnessed what a radical Muslim will do to the gay community if their way of life takes over this country.
So I would like a rational explanation how one can be silent with many Muslims yet be so vocal, demanding and forceful against the Christian beliefs.
Congress has debated a bill that will prevent those on a terrorist watch list from obtaining weapons legally.
The Democrats want to include language that includes "countering violent extremism."
CONSERVATIVE CONCERNS
This certainly is a problem with conservatives because it would be another step in liberal attempts to suppress conservatives.
Many may think this is an exaggeration, but contemplate the harassment of the IRS with conservative groups.
Moreover, this president and many liberals consider those who do not believe in man-made global warming as extremists.
The Second Amendment was established not only to protect from those who might do us harm but more so to fight an oppressive government.
OUR PRECIOUS RIGHTS
The first thing Fidel Castro did once he obtained power was to ban legal gun ownership.
And look what happened to the Cuban people. How can those who oppose the repressive Cuban government possibly revolt?
So it is easy to see how we can go from banning those who are on a radical Muslim terrorist list to those who merely dissent from big government from obtaining legal weapons by using language such as "countering violent extremism."
Louis "Lou" J. DePetris is a Jacksonville contractor.




8



 


June 19, 2016 Sunday

 Collective Bam-nesia

 
  It was a day like no other. A beautiful September morning transformed into horror and death, with nearly 3,000 innocents murdered for the crime of living and working in America. 
  We promised ourselves and each other we would never forget. Memorials to the heroic firefighters invariably echo that defiant pledge: Never Forget. 
  They lie. Not 15 years later, many Americans are forgetting. Even in New York, people who solemnly swore to remember forever turn their backs on the meaning of September 11th.   
  The pledge was the only way to make sense of the gruesome deaths of so many. The burning towers, people jumping and falling, the twin collapses and the clouds of smoke and steel and flesh and survivors covered in chalky, choking dust. Then came the fires and that awful smell that wouldn't go away. 
  In unity, we made the vow even as we feared other attacks. We were wounded but determined to triumph because that's what Americans always did.  
  We also pledged because, like earlier patriots, we were eyewitnesses to evil. We saw its soulless savagery and knew they would kill us all if they could.  
  Perhaps it was inevitable that such charged emotions would dull. The Long War has been a hard war, and it is difficult to sustain the commitment for 15 years.  
  But there is something else at work, too. The forgetting in some circles is intentional. As determined as many still are to Never Forget, others are determined to move on, to redefine, to downplay.  
  None is more consequential than Barack Obama, a dedicated reinterpreter of 9/11 and its aftermath. As his presidency enters the home stretch, we see the full flowering of his wrongheaded determination.  
  His angry scolding of those who insist on using the term "radical Islam" for our enemies and his effort to minimize the role of Islamist ideology in the slaughter in Orlando are shocking - and yet entirely consistent with his worldview.  
  Estranged in important ways from both mainstream America after 9/11 and modern Islam, the president nonetheless sees himself as a bridge between the two. He gave himself that assignment in his 2009 Cairo speech, citing his father's Islamic background in Kenya and his own boyhood in Indonesia. 
  "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," he declared. "But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire." 
  That aim, surely born of good intentions, was a profound mistake that continues to wreak havoc. The president of the United States cannot be a broker between his countrymen and a foreign enemy that has declared war on us.  
  As commander in chief, his job is to lead this nation to victory. He hasn't because he refuses to see it as a war.  
  As the late Fouad Ajami wrote, Obama sees himself as the American "redeemer," a man who would fix the country by acknowledging its past errors and charting a different course for the future.  
  Much of that had to do with changing what Obama saw as America's bigoted view of Islam, before and after 9/11. Indeed, the Cairo speech was titled "A New Beginning."  
  It has worked about as well as his "reset" with Russia. 
  In fact, it has made everything worse. Just as Obama's persistent attempts to ban certain guns have led to record gun sales, his effort to put a smiley face on Islam has backfired. Too many Muslims in too many countries have responded to his retreat with more bloodthirsty violence.  
  From the spreading butchery of Islamic State to more frequent and lethal attacks at home, including San Bernardino and Orlando, Obama's presumptions increasingly look ridiculous. While it is obvious that some American prejudice exists, the fundamental problem is that nearly all the world's terrorists are Muslims - a fact acknowledged by the president of Egypt, among many others. But the president of the United States can't bring himself to make the same admission because he doesn't want it to be true.  
  And because Obama is a partisan warrior, Americans are polarized and now fight each other almost as furiously as they fight the terrorists. The result, again, is the opposite of what he intended - a rising fear of Muslim terrorists, including among a new generation of Americans. 
  For all the complications that Obama is adding to the mix, it is fundamentally a simple situation: We are at war.  
  By his definition, Nazi and Japanese soldiers also could be called deranged fanatics filled with hate, but neither FDR nor Harry Truman tried to advance a nuanced explanation for their motivations. They saw the enemy as an evil force that had to be defeated. 
  That's war. And this is war, and even though Obama wants America to forget, the terrorists have not forgotten us. 




8


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

June 17, 2016

 Silent No More; 
Forward readers tell their abortion stories

 
Inspired by the moving teen abortion tale of 1960s Chicago, told by  Larry Cohler-Esses in these pages in May, many readers wrote in to  tell us how the story resonated with their own experiences.
So we decided to throw open our pages to share readers' stories of  the abortions in their lives.
We received dozens of deeply affecting accounts from women and  men, from four different continents and from decades scattered over  the past century.
Those who shared their stories with us were beyond brave. Many  had lived in silence for decades, keeping their involvements in abortion   a secret from loved ones. Many thanked us for giving them the  opportunity to finally speak out about their experiences. 
While the women and men who wrote to us come from different  countries and eras, we heard one thing over and over again: The decision   to have an abortion was a deeply personal one.
So, as the Supreme Court continues to balance the merits of access  to legal abortion we invite you to read these 11 personal stories, and  the feature that follows about the Clergy Consultation Service and  make up your own mind.
1.
From Generation to Generation
'I recall sitting on the bed next to my mother during her final days, watching the Senate confirmation hearing of Justice
Sonia Sotomayor. My mom commented how happy she was that she had lived to see women in such positions of power and respect, as well as how relieved she was that in her lifetime abortion became legal and safe. I was surprised by the latter comment. Nearly 40 years ago, when she discovered that I had an abortion as a law school student, she was furious and denounced me. It was just a few years after the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and abortions still had a deep  stigma of shame, as did the underlying  reason for my abortion  premarital sex.
We never spoke about it again, until  that day in the hospital. She explained to  me then that her fury had been rooted in  her terror for my well-being. In fact, I was  able to access abortion services at a local  Planned Parenthood clinic in New York  City and pay for it based on the clinic's  sliding scale fees. While I deeply wished  that my contraceptive device hadn't  failed all those years ago, I was fortunate  enough to have the ability to make my  own decision to terminate an unwanted
pregnancy, to afford safe medical care and continue   with my life plans.
The story was quite different for my grandmother,   as I learned that day. As a nine-year-old child, my  mother witnessed her own mother almost bleed  to death from a back alley abortion. My grandmother   already had five children, and, as poor  immigrants, the family didn't have the resources   to support another child. Because abortion was  illegal at the time, she had very few choices for  terminating her pregnancy. As my mother tells it,  after the abortion, my grandmother began howling   in pain and bleeding profusely. Unable to bear  it, my grandfather left the apartment, leaving my  mother to witness the agonizing scene. My mom  recalled her terror as she saw her mother bleeding  and screaming, certain that she would die.
This is what my mother feared for me when she  went through my suitcase during semester break,  a few days after my abortion, and found the clinic   discharge instructions. Her mother's experience  could have been mine. If it had been just a few  years earlier, I might well have been without access  to legal, aff ordable, safe abortion services. After she  told me her story, she glanced up at the TV monitor  and expressed a hope that this new Supreme Court  justice would uphold abortion access so no one else  would ever have to see her mother nearly bleed to  death or fear that fate for her daughter. I promised  her that I would continue to work to make abortion   safe and available.
Almost 41 years after Roe v. Wade, it remains  critical that pro-choice advocates from the faith  community actively urge our leaders to ensure  every woman has full access to her reproductive   rights. Our legislators must understand that  people of faith are calling to protect a woman's  religious liberty and reproductive rights, as well  as her health and economic security. As my mother's   memory pained her, it propelled me to action,  especially through the National Council of Jewish  Women. As an NCJW local and national board  member and state policy advocate, I will continue  to demand reproductive justice in the halls of the  legislature and in the public square.
Claire, 65, California
2.  I Was Almost Aborted  Before the Holocaust;  I Survived
'I
am a 74-year old man, and I can  look back at a life that someone sometime in  the future will call a life well lived. But were  it not for a mother who, against the urgings
of her doctor, had refused an abortion, I might not  have lived. By rights, I should be a poster child for  those who staunchly support a ban on abortion.  But I am not. I firmly support a woman's right to  choose.
My parents were born in Galicia and moved to  the Netherlands, where they were married in 1932.  Before the Nazi occupation, they had two children,  Eva born in 1936 and Leah born in 1938. And then  there was me, the product of an unplanned pregnancy,   born November 23, 1941, 18 months into the  Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. My mother's  obstetrician had urged her to have an abortion. It  would be immoral, he told her, to bring another   Jewish life into the world. My mother wasn't  particularly religious, but on this occasion, she  took advice from the biblical story of Hannah, a  woman who would go to the temple year after year  and pray that she might conceive. And it was in  reading about Hannah's agonizing desire to have a  child that my mother decided to ignore the obstetrician's   advice and not to have an abortion.
When I was nine months old, my parents made  arrangements for the family to go into hiding, my  parents in a psychiatric hospital, my sisters with  a devout Catholic woman and me with a Dutch-Indonesian family and their Muslim nanny. Three  months later, my parents were deported. And the  following year, my sisters were denounced and  killed in Auschwitz. My father lived long enough to  see liberation, but lies buried in the former Ebensee   concentration camp. Only my mother survived.  And all she was left with was me, the child she had  refused to abort. But that was enough to give her  the will to go on living.
I grew up with the Holocaust all around me. And  it took me a long time to comprehend what had  happened to my sisters. My mother's neighbors  would show me Eva's notebooks and I would be  jealous of her perfect handwriting. And my mother   would tell me how sweet Leah had been and I  would be envious of the praise she received. But  then my mother would tell me what made me  special, how close I had come to not being born  and she would remind of the pledge that she,  like Hannah, had made, if the Almighty will  give me a child, I will give that child to service of  the Almighty all the days of his life. That pledge  became a deterrent in a Jewish mother's arsenal of  gentle psychological warfare and probably contributed   to that life well lived.
Yes, the moral questions posed by abortion are all  too real for me. And yet I come down on the side of  those who support a woman's right to choose. The  question isn't whether abortion is morally right or  wrong, but whether the State is the best arbiter of a  deeply personal moral decision. It wasn't that long  ago, after all, that Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote  those now infamous words in the Supreme Court's  decision affirming the State's right to forcibly sterilize   women it considered unfit: is it better for  all the world, if instead of waiting to execute the  degenerate off spring for crime or to let them starve  for the imbecility, society can prevent those who  are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. 
'I was very
frightened, but I  had been assured  ... I would be given  anesthesia. Well, that  was the next big lie..'
had an illegal a ortion in  1 64, and I have hardly mentioned it in the  last 52 years. I might have mentioned it to  my former husband. I know for sure my four
adult children didn't know because I told them one  by one on the day I decided to write this piece, and  asked each if my writing about it would embarrass  them. They were a little shocked. Each said, I had
'I had no
appreciation for  the medical or  legal risks I was  taking.'
Three generations of imbeciles are enough. In  urging an abortion, my mother's obstetrician was  doing the bidding of the State. The question for me  is who do I trust: my mother or the State?
Alfred, 75, District of Columbia
3.
A Back Alley, Tijuana
'I t was 1964 in Southern California. I was 23, in a committed relationship, and even though I was using birth control, I found myself pregnant.
I had vowed I would never have an abortion. Not because of religious or moral issues but because a 15-year-old high school friend of mine had died from an illegal abortion.
Well, now I was in that position and I desperately did not want a child at that time in my life or with that partner. I knew it was the wrong time for me and for any child that I might bring into the world.
I did not have the money to go to an abortion doctor in Beverly Hills, nor did I have the money to fly to Europe. So I started asking around and a friend told me of a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. I called and made an appointment. I was told that I could bring a friend with me, and that the cost was $500 in cash. I was to meet someone in a parking lot behind a shop in Tijuana one night a few days later.
We drove to Tijuana and parked in the lot. A man  came over to our car, told us that only I could go  for the procedure, and I followed him to a waiting  car with four other pregnant women inside. We  were all desperate and scared.
The driver took a long, winding drive, trying  to make certain that we were not followed by  anyone. Finally, we arrived at a large house and  went inside. There was no furniture except for a  couch and a few chairs, and in one other room  there was an examining table with stirrups for the  procedure.
The man (doctor?) who was to perform the abortion   came in. He was fat and coarse. The money he  had collected from all of us was peeking out of his  pants pockets.
When I went in, I watched as they sterilized the  equipment from the previous procedure by dousing   it in alcohol and lighting it on fire. They did not  have an autoclave to sterilize the instruments.
I was very frightened, but I had been assured  on the phone that I would be given anesthesia.  Well, that was the next big lie. They put a mask  on my face, but when I breathed in deeply to get  the benefit of the drugs, they removed it. They did  not want to take the chance that someone would  not come out of the anesthesia alive. The abortion  proceeded without anesthesia and was very painful.   Afterward, they administered an antibiotic  shot. They warned us not to lay down in the backseat   when we crossed the border so as not to raise  any suspicion about what we had come to Tijuana  for, and to see a gynecologist as soon as possible  when we returned.
The driver took us back to the parking lot. We  drove back to the States, and thankfully I did not  experience bleeding, infection or any other harmful   physical side effects.
I do not have regrets about getting the abortion,   I'm only amazed at the danger, mutilation  and even death that I and so many other women  put ourselves through in those days, before Roe v.  Wade. I have worked since then to preserve legal  abortions.
I am celebrating my 40th wedding anniversary  with an Israeli man. We lived in New York for more  than 35 years and made aliyah five years ago. Our  25-year-old adopted daughter is living with us.
Nancy, 75, Israel
4.
In Brazil, Abortion  Is Still Illegal
'I
never again had that feeling  of total integration of conscience and body  as at the moment it dawned on me I was  pregnant. It was eerie: I found myself standing   in front of the window of a very upscale baby  shop, with my head turned, observing a man holding   his child up in the air.
I am pregnant! And I immediately knew that  I would not have this baby. It was a matter-of-fact  decision, and I did not struggle with it.
This happened in Brazil in the late 70s, in a country   where abortion is illegal to this day, a country  where politicians are considering making it even  more difficult for a woman to have an abortion.  Thousands of women die because they are too poor  to afford the clinics where the other women go.  What hypocrisy.
My best friend went with me. Another friend  had recommended a decent clinic, and the procedure   performed by a real doctor who was actually  very caring.
This is the one decision in my life I have never  regretted. My child would not have had a happy  upbringing, and I did not have the right to cause  unhappiness to another human being. I never felt  any guilt.
I didn't have the urge to become a mother ever,  and today I feel great relief that I'm leaving no  descendants behind.
Ana, 58, Brazil
5.
Mah Ramsey
'I
no idea. Why didn't you ever mention it before?  They (so far) have had no other questions, including   the most obvious one, and they all said they  were okay with my now exposing this experience.
I was a sophomore at the University of Southern  California. My boyfriend was a junior, and I had no  intention whatever of marrying him.
I remember during the drama of this pregnancy,   he had two personal tragedies going on. First  my cat and now my mother, he said, giving their  recent deaths equal weight. He came up with half  of the $600 abortion price without any fuss. I don't  remember how I came up with my half  my  allowance at the time (from my parents) was $5 per  week. It's an odd twist that he was Jewish  it was  20 years before I married a Jew and 30 years before  I converted [to Judaism].
I also don't remember how I found the name of  the abortionist. That is quite a detail to forget. I  do recall that a college friend whose father was a  major law enforcement official in Los Angeles (he  later became chief of police) drove me to a parking  lot, where we were met by a young man who drove  us to the site  a single-family home in Torrance.  I had no appreciation for the medical or legal risks  I was taking. I was only a little scared. When I had  cataract surgery at Manhattan Eye and Ear 10 years  ago, I was much more scared than I had been about
'I experienced  something more  than a set of  cells forming  within me and  something  different from  a baby.'
this abortion. Maybe it was the optimism of youth.
There are a few details I do remember. I remember   climbing up on a kitchen table. I remember  being draped. I remember it was quick. I had a little  cramping and I was fine.
And I remember the name of the woman who  gave me the abortion  and that is the phrase I  have always used, gave me the abortion, as if it  were a gift  was Mrs. Ramsey. I somehow got the  idea she was a disbarred doctor, but I am not sure  if that was my own hopeful imagination at work.  In a shocking coincidence, several years after my  abortion, I overheard my mother and her sisters  talking about an abortion my aunt Helen had had  many years earlier. They mentioned the name of  the abortionist: Ma Ramsey. I never let on that I  had overheard this conversation.
I Googled Mrs. Ramsey's name (having never done  so before) in preparation for writing this piece, and  I found this: The Court of Appeals in California in  1958 upheld the conviction of May Ramsey, alias  Mah Ramsey, for an abortion she performed in  Orange County in 1956. She had gone to prison 10  years earlier also for performing an abortion. The  1958 court opinion described exactly what I experienced:   The woman who was getting the abortion  was met in a parking lot by a younger man (turns  out it was Mrs. Ramsey's son), taken to a modest  private home, laid on a table and subjected to  a quick and safe abortion. However, in the court  case (and not in mine), the police had been peering  through the window.
In upholding Mah Ramsey's conviction, the  court describes details that I had long forgotten:  Mrs. Ramsey was a woman in her mid-50s, hair in  a switch on top of her head, spoke with a slight  Southern drawl. There is no mention of her having  been a doctor. The police saw through a window  a table with a woman lying on it, 'her legs...her  feet' were in stirrups, and May Ramsey was sitting  at the end of the table and between the legs of the  woman. There was a quantity of surgical equipment  in the room, a chair near the end of the table with  a white dishpan containing several instruments,  a card table with syringes and 'other medication'  on it, a spotlight or floodlight, an electric suction  pump and hypodermic tubes and needles. The  woman on the table had an aluminum instrument  with a black rubber face mask tied to her wrists.
That could have been me.
Her conviction was upheld despite challenges  that the raid had been illegal. I don't know if she  served more time, but whatever happened to her,  even this second conviction didn't stop her  my  abortion was a mere six years later. None of these  legal opinions mentions that any harm came to any  woman. Seems the others, like me, had a safe and  uneventful experience.
I didn't know then and maybe I never will know  whether she was a political activist or this was  just a way to make a living. At the time, I had no  appreciation for her bravery, nor for what a public  service she was performing. She conforms to the  trope of the noble abortion doctor, and I hope it  went well for her. Had it not been for her, things  would not have gone so well for me.   Kathleen Peratis, 71, New York
6.
A Baltimore Farmhouse  And a Happy Ending  With Boxer Shorts
'T
he dictionary defines  regret as a sense of loss, disappointment  or dissatisfaction.
I do not regret my abortion, the illegal   one I had shortly after my 20th birthday, seven  years before Roe v. Wade became law. I didn't regret  my decision then, and I don't regret it now.
I do regret that complete, comprehensive sex  education  the kind that was not available to me  in 1966  is often still unavailable to our young  people, leaving them vulnerable, unprotected   and sometimes pregnant. I knew so little that I  accepted my boyfriend's statement that he'd pull  out and I couldn't become pregnant.
I do regret that my abortion was performed without   anesthesia by a masked man in a farmhouse,  and that the $600 it cost to me at that time was  equivalent to $4,000 in today's dollars. I had to  borrow money from almost everyone I knew, and  the day before the scheduled abortion, I had to call  my boyfriend's parents, tell them I was pregnant  and ask them for money.
I do regret the humiliation of having to stand on a  street corner in downtown Baltimore, waiting to be  picked up by a man I'd never met, a man who knew  my first name and said he was going to take me to  the county farmhouse where the abortion would  take place. I could only hope that the underground  network through which I made my arrangements  was safe and reliable, and that my driver was not  a serial killer.
I do regret that when my husband and I decided   to start a family, I did not have nonjudgmental  gynecological care. Seeing on my medical form  that I'd had an abortion, and then performing the  most perfunctory examination, a doctor wrote  INFERTILITY in large block letters on my paperwork   and left the room. His diagnosis trailed me to  two other physicians, who performed unnecessary  and expensive tests and surgical procedures, when  the solution to conception was very simple: boxer  shorts for my husband. I have two adult daughters   who know my story and believe it is their legal  right to make their own reproductive choices.
Finally, I do regret that more women don't speak  out about their experiences with abortion. We  cannot and should not be shamed into silence,  and we must make certain that women who are  as desperate as I was do not have to make desperate   choices.
Rosalyn, 70, Maryland
7.
A Spiritual Being Forms
'M
y cisgender male partner  of seven years and I had sex, and the  condom we were using for safer sex  and birth control broke. Within the  hour, we called our friend who was a nurse practitioner   at the Feminist Women's Health Clinic and  got a prescription for Plan B (a prescription was  needed at that time, almost 15 years ago). I took  the medication, and we both hoped that would be  the end of it. Neither of us wanted children  not  then, not ever.
Over the next few weeks, I felt different. I could  feel subtle shifts in my body that were probably  imperceptible to an outsider. I felt certain I was  pregnant despite virtually everyone around me  stating that I wasn't. Most significant and disorienting,   I could feel another presence with me. I know  that isn't everyone's experience, but it was mine.
My partner and I went to the clinic on week three  to get an early pregnancy test. It was confirmed. I  made an appointment that afternoon to have an  abortion as soon as possible. I learned that I would  need to wait another few weeks for the fetus to  grow big enough for the doctor to accurately and  safely terminate the pregnancy.
I was entirely confident in my decision to have  an abortion. I was profoundly grateful that I had  a feminist doctor to do the procedure legally. But I  was also a bit captivated by the complexity of what  I was experiencing spiritually.
There was a mismatch between the frameworks  those of us who identify as pro-choice use to talk  about pregnancy and the experience I was having.  I very much understand and support the need to  use language such as the fetus when describing  pregnancies before birth, instead of using language  like the baby  we who support women's reproductive   freedom know how the conservative  and religious right has used words like baby to  manipulate, scare and guilt trip women into keeping   unwanted pregnancies.
That said, I experienced something more than  a set of cells forming within me and something  different from a baby  the closest I can describe  it is that I sensed a spiritual being coming into existence.   It wasn't scary, it wasn't sad, it just was. And  on some level, during those two weeks of waiting,  I did my best to let that spiritual being know that  it was deeply loved by the universe, but it was not  going to be born.
I don't hear many people talking about this aspect  of abortion very often. Perhaps it's because there  aren't that many people who have a similar experience   to me, or perhaps it's because we haven't  figured out a way to discuss something that feels  too taboo  to know that one is ending a potential  life for a range of legitimate reasons, to feel deeply   connected to that potential life and then to end  the life without regret.
I had my abortion safely, legally and without  secrecy. I am deeply grateful to all of the reproductive   justice leaders, women, health care providers,  legislators and others who made that decision  possible.
Each year during the Yizkor service on Yom  Kippur, I take time to remember this decision and  its consequences in the section for mourning children.   I know this doesn't conform to traditional  Jewish law, but I do it anyway. I look forward to a  time when the Jewish community creates a new,  public ritual to mark  and honor  abortions.  Until that time, if you see me in synagogue weeping   during that part of the service, you will know  my tears are for a connection I chose to end, as  well as tears of gratitude that I have autonomy over  my body and my life. These are not tears of guilt,  or shame, or second guessing. These are tears of  recognition that something holy transpired within  me and I am forever changed.
Stosh Cotler, 48, New York
8.
A Rabbi Concerned  With Florida
'I
n June 1969, I was ordained at  the Jewish Theological Seminary. My first  pulpit was rabbi of the Hillel Foundation at  the University of Florida. I was 26 years old and
married with a three-month-old child.
I grew up in Boston, intensely aware of the ideas  and thinking of the Catholic Church. In retrospect, I  led a very sheltered life as a teenager, both unaware  of and oblivious to the radical life changes to come.
In 1969, the University of Florida had not yet  caught up with the many radical campus changes   in the universities in the more liberal Northeast.  It was a very conservative campus, although the  issues for students were not much different than  those for their Northern peers.
Rabbi Max Ticktin had become a very important  influence in my thinking and in my career aspirations.   My decision to go into Hillel was very much  influenced by Max. He became very involved in an  organization called Clergy Concerned.
To make a very extensive story short, the Episcopal   priest at the University of Florida and I became  the local participants in Clergy Concerned. John  and I soon were intensely involved in counseling  young women both from campus and the larger   Gainesville community in reference to what  we euphemistically called problem pregnancy.  Through the Clergy Concerned network, we were  able to arrange for these women to travel to New  York, where abortion was already accessible.
We met with many young women during those  years. We discovered that both the college coeds  and local townies were painfully unaware of  how their bodies functioned and general issues of  sexuality.
I smile when I think of the fact that the Jewish  girls, for the most part, went to see John with their  concerns, while their non-Jewish counterparts  came to me.
Abortion counseling was a felony in the state  of Florida at the time. I got in touch with a liberal   Jewish attorney who was willing to work with  John and me and was prepared to support us if and  when we got into trouble.
I vividly remember the day that my secretary  at Hillel asked if there was anything wrong with  our phones; for the entire morning, repairmen  had been working on the wires and telephone  lines leading into the Hillel building. Realizing my  phone was being tapped, I sought advice from Max  and became careful with my telephone talk. Of  course, this step raised my level of paranoia, but  it did not stop me from work I believed was right.
This experience is a very important piece of  my career. I was very young and very naïve. I am  proud of my decision, and regard my activity as a  profound Jewish moment.
Max taught me to treat the matter not as a  mechanical convenience for these women, but  rather as a life lesson for their personal sense of  dignity, as contrasted with the shame and fear that  many of them experienced.
Not a day went by without my personal soul-searching.   I am deeply grateful to my Episcopal  colleague for the ability to share, to compare ideas,  to pray together and to reexamine our different but  similar seminary training.
In 1972, I became the Hillel rabbi at the University  of Pennsylvania, and returned to the pseudo-safety  of Northern liberalism, but I return to the University   of Florida in my mind every time the right-to-life  discussion hits the news. I would caution your readers   to remember that this is more than a political  point; it is about the lives, fears, sense of shame,  fear of future and the neshamas of human beings  whose right to choose must be protected by everyone,   especially those in authority.   Michael, 73, New Jersey
'I knew women  who had [kids] in  law school and  managed to balance  both career and  motherhood. I knew  I couldn't.'
'He was kind at first,  and I thought we had  a future. But then he  began mistreating  me, and I endured it.'
9.
A Law Student's Dilemma
'I
was married and in my third  year of law school when I had my first  abortion. I wasn't using the pill because  physicians were warning women that the
pill increased a woman's chance of having breast  cancer. I was using a diaphragm and spermicide.
I got pregnant in the first semester of my last year  in law school. I remember sitting in student health  waiting for the results, looking at a calendar on the  wall and calculating what my due date might be. If  I were pregnant and carried the pregnancy to term,  I'd be giving birth when I'd otherwise be taking my  final exams and beginning my bar review course.
My marriage wasn't going well. It would fail a  couple of years later, largely the result of what  my husband considered an excessive focus on my  studies and, subsequently, on the time I expended   to learn my trade during my early years of legal  practice.
I knew women who had infants and toddlers in  law school and managed to balance both career and  motherhood. I knew I couldn't. I was stretched as  far as my emotional and psychological well-being  could stretch just to get my legal studies done and  pay enough attention to my husband to keep him  relatively happy.
We weren't poor, but we needed a second income   mine  and of course I had law school indebtedness    nothing like today's students, but still, I felt  I needed to learn my trade and have a steady job  before I had children.
No one tried to shame or blame me for this choice.  My husband, a social worker, suggested that I was  blocking my grief. But I didn't feel grief. I was  27 and I didn't doubt we could have children when  our marriage and my career were both on more  certain footing.
I have no idea what would have happened had I  not been able to obtain an early abortion. I can't  imagine that I would have given up my investment  in a legal career. At the time, all of the women  lawyers who came before me warned me not to  have a child until I made partner because having  a child before that time told the men that you  weren't really serious about your career.
I didn't see the point of having children only to  have a nanny raise them, and I knew I'd need additional   help and, of course, the income to pay for  it. I was completely at sea about planning a life  that included both career and motherhood. There  weren't a lot of role models available. Something  would have suffered. Someone would have suffered.
I had a career and am still having it. I never had  children, but I don't regret that choice. I have  wonderful step-children, and I mentor dozens  of Gen-Y women who I'd be proud to have as my  daughters. Sometimes I see myself as a transitional  maternal figure who allows young women to make  a clean rather than a messy break from a troubled  late-adolescent mother-daughter dynamic. I'm sure  there have been plenty of childless women like me  in history who have served this and many other  roles in place of biological motherhood.
I love my life, my husband, my step-children, my  work, my colleagues and my friends. I believe I'm  a net benefit to the human race and I defy another   person to know what's good for me or for my  potential progeny, or for those of any other woman,  ever. Walk a mile in my shoes before you even think  of judging.
 Victoria, 64, New York
10.
Twice As a Teenager
'I
am 56 years old, a wife, moth-er and soon-to-be grandmother. I've just  retired from a joyful career as a teacher's  assistant in an elementary school in Georgia.
This wonderful life of mine was made possible by  two abortions in my teens.
My first abortion was as a ninth grader. None  of the adults in my life had taught me about sex,  healthy relationships or how to stand up for myself  in social situations. I got involved with an older boy  who pressured me relentlessly. I got pregnant the  first and only time he penetrated me in what was  a frightening, painful and degrading encounter.  My parents arranged the abortion and swore me to  secrecy for eternity. I felt so deeply ashamed.
'My heart was  breaking, but the  voice in my head  kept saying, This is  the best approach.'
Then, when I was 19, I was in a relationship  with a guy in his mid-20s. He was kind at first,  and I thought we had a future. But then he began  mistreating me, and I endured it because I had  such low self-esteem. I was depending on the  diaphragm, and when I got pregnant again, I sank  into deep suffering. I still lived at home and could  not tell my parents, so I would close myself in my  bedroom closet, fall to the floor and silence my sobs  in a pillow.
If he had wanted to get married, I might have  agreed, simply because I was paralyzed by panic  and passive in my despair. Thankfully, he arranged  and paid for an abortion. He dropped me off alone,  and did not come back for me until the clinic had  long closed. I wandered on the city street in a fog of  humiliation, and yet I was overwhelmingly relieved  that I was not bound to him by a child for the rest  of my life.
Those two abortions saved me. I was able to get  a college education and build a thriving family  with a loving man. The worst part has been facing   alone and in silence  the incessant malice of religious   and political condemnation. The billboards  and bumper stickers, the preachers and politicians   they all take delight in dehumanizing people  who've ended accidental pregnancies. Decade after  decade, I lived a kind of inner solitary confinement,  tortured by the belief that others, if they learned  the truth, would see me as a murderous monster  and abandon me.
At the age of 40, I was finally able to confide in  a friend, and a few years later I told my husband.  Then, in 2013, I shared the truth with my grown  sons. Instead of casting me out of their lives as I  had feared, my loved ones embraced me with  compassion.
I am so grateful for this chance to tell people  that abortion care saved me, but the merciless  public messages of shame hurt me, and that is why  I will spend the rest of my life trying to shatter  the silence and end the emotional brutality of  abortion stigma.
Karen, 56, Georgia
11.
Not Worth a Gamble
'What should I do What should I do? What should I do? Those four words went around in my head in the spring of 1973. I was 28 years old, wife, mother of two sons and I was pregnant. Being an only child, my dream was having a house full of kids with all the commotion that goes with raising a big family. At that time, my children were ages seven and four and I really, really wanted a daughter to begin to even out the sexes in my family dynamic.
However, my marriage was not made in heaven, as I had hoped it would be, and we constantly had financial setbacks due to my husband's gambling habits. Gambling brings not only the lack of funds, it also brings lying, mistrust and disappointment into the marriage. I was miserable. My four-year-old son was severely asthmatic and caused us much worry and concern. That same year he had spent one week, at two different times, in an oxygen tent, and we also made countless trips to the emergency [
room, usually during the night. I never knew  when he would have an attack, and our family life  was filled with worry and interruptions. If I wasn't  worrying about the bills, I was worrying about  his health.
I was two months pregnant and in no position  emotionally or financially to take on another  responsibility. Roe v. Wade had just been decided,  and having an abortion was safe and legal. Was that  an option for me and my family? After discussing  this decision with my husband and my obstetrician,  the doctor agreed to perform the procedure at the  same hospital where only four years earlier he had  delivered my son. Due to the high demand for the  procedure and the hospital scheduling only four a  day, I had to wait 10 days for my appointment.
Those were the hardest days of my life .I was  not feeling well, my heart was breaking, but the  voice in my head kept saying, This is the best  approach to the problem at hand. Along with my  voice, my mother was 100% in favor of my decision   and she too kept me strong by supporting my  decision. Thank you, MOM! My husband was indifferent   and left the decision to me.
The day finally came, and my husband took me  to the hospital, and when it was all over, I felt a  wonderful feeling of relief. I have never regretted  the decision. I do not have any emotional scars and  have not second-guessed myself on the decision I  made 43 years ago. I behaved responsibly to my  family and made it possible for me to care for the  children I already had without additional burdens.  It took me seven additional years to have a tubal  ligation, because at 28, I was not ready to ma ke the  decision to not have any more children. I wanted to  leave that door open if I felt there might be a better  time to add to my family; however that opportunity   never presented itself.
I was a lucky woman then due to the wisdom of  the Supreme Court justices at the time. and now  I am a lucky women because my granddaughters  still have the opportunity to make choices when it  comes to their health care. This country cannot let  this right to privacy become history and disappear.   Carol, 71, Arizona




8



 





 


June 12, 2016 Sunday  


 Mega Mecca

 
In the days before rapid sea or air travel, it could take months to travel to Mecca. The spiritual heart of Islam lay far from its great capitals in Istanbul, Delhi and Isfahan. The devout came from distant lands on foot, by camel and in horse-drawn carriages. Bedouin tribes routinely robbed these pilgrims, who were the primary source of revenue for this ancient desert town. Now, the ease of air travel and the rise of a global Muslim middle class have made the journey to Mecca far less arduous and far more common. Last year, three million came for the hajj, a pilgrimage in the last month of the Islamic lunar calendar that is considered obligatory for every Muslim who can afford it; five million more came for the umrah, a minor pilgrimage that can be made for much of the year. And millions of Saudi citizens routinely pass through Mecca's sacred sites as tourists. 
The Italian photographer Luca Locatelli, visiting Mecca this year during the umrah period, captured how radically the city has changed to accommodate this growing influx of pilgrims. Until the first half of the 20th century, this was a small city of spacious stone houses famed for their mashrabiyah, or latticed windows and balconies. Five hills known as the rim of Mecca encircled the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba, or House of God, located in the city center. Today, all a visitor would recognize from older images of Mecca are the Ottoman domes of the Grand Mosque, its minarets and the Kaaba. The ancient hills, the old stone homes and many of the sites linked to the life of the Prophet Muhammad have been obliterated by towering shopping malls, hotels and apartment blocks. 
  It is a transformation that has been underway since the late 1970s, when the wealth generated by the oil boom led Saudi monarchs to devise an ambitious plan to replace earlier Ottoman structures and to expand the Grand Mosque and its surroundings with Arab-style architecture. At a projected cost of $26.6 billion, the Saudi Binladen Group has led the efforts to increase the capacity of the Grand Mosque, adding new wings, prayer areas, escalators and hundreds of bathrooms. Before his death in 2015, King Abdullah ordered the installation of the world's largest folding umbrellas in the piazzas outside the Grand Mosque, to shelter worshipers from the blistering sun as they offered prayers, read the Quran or simply basked in their proximity to this holy site. His successor, King Salman, announced plans to build a ring road, subways and intercity trains to accommodate millions of worshipers.
  One of Locatelli's photographs looks as if it were taken from the air, but it was actually shot from one of the highest points of the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, which houses a hulking hotel and shopping complex a few hundred meters from the gates of the Grand Mosque -- 46 times taller than the Kaaba and crowned by a clock five times the size of Big Ben. Throughout the history of Islam, no other ruler built in such proximity to the Kaaba; certainly none built anything to dwarf it. In luxury hotels like the Fairmont Makkah Clock Royal Tower and the Raffles Makkah Palace, views of the holiest site of Islam are marketed as the ''Haram view'' and ''Kaaba view,'' and a standard room can run anywhere from $1,500 to $2,700 a night during the hajj.
  Locatelli, who is Italian and was raised Catholic, gained entry to Mecca through his marriage to an Indonesian Muslim, which included a ceremonial conversion and gave him a feeling of sympathy for his wife's religion. In his striking images, you can see experiences shared by pilgrims everywhere as well as the mix of crass commercialism and genuine faith common among holy sites across religions (Lourdes, Fátima, Varanasi). A group of men in ihram -- two pieces of white towel-like cloth that the pilgrims wear to convey a state of purity and human equality -- get a bite to eat in a food court; a young man takes a selfie with the Kaaba in the background; hundreds pray inside a shopping mall. ''I wanted to show my Western viewers that being a holy tourist in Mecca is not very different,'' Locatelli says, ''that we do similar things whether we go to a great temple, to St. Peter's or to Mecca.''
  When Locatelli first arrived in Mecca, he was anxious about his outsider status. But, he says, ''Mecca was truly peaceful. My fear melted away within days.'' BASHARAT PEER
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8



 


June 11, 2016 Saturday

 
Hong Kong television commentator Wu Jun observed recently that despite Donald Trump's anti-Beijing rhetoric, he "could in fact be the best president for China." The Chinese analyst is right: A Trump presidency could open the way for China's strategic dominance in Asia and elsewhere.
Wu's comment was focused on Trump's mercantilist style, evoking a world in which Trump and President Xi Jinping, two "big guys," might sit around a table at Mar-a-Lago and cut deals without worrying about human rights. "The Republican Party is more practical and Trump is a businessman who puts his commercial interests above everything else," Wu explained, according to the Associated Press. 
But there's a deeper, more dangerous way in which Trump might be an enabler for Chinese ascendancy. To put it bluntly, his policies would play into China's narrative about the world - and undermine the foundations of American power in Asia, even as it bolstered a rising China.
Let's start with the impact of a Trump presidency on the Muslim world. A South Asian chief executive of a global company put it bluntly. "There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, and they won't forget what Trump said" about banning Muslim immigrants to America. He predicted that Muslims would turn away from a Trump-led America - not just Iraqis and Syrians, but Malaysians and Indonesians, too. The beneficiary of this global rebalancing would be China, he warned.
President Obama recently noted the national-security damage caused by Trump's comments. "Isolating or disparaging Muslims, suggesting they should be treated differently when entering this country - that is not just a betrayal of our values, that's not just a betrayal of who we are, we alienate the very communities at home or abroad who are our most important partners in the fight against violent extremism," Obama said in a graduation speech at Rutgers University.
Trump's "America First" policies would reinforce the drift away from U.S. global leadership - in ways that would benefit China. The most obvious example is Trump's disparagement of the trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (though he's hardly the only miscreant here). As The Wall Street Journal noted, citing the views of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, "An American failure to ratify TPP would bring about the very thing critics of the trade deal complain about: a more empowered China and bad terms for U.S. goods and services."
New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key described the risk for America of TPP's collapse, in a comment cited by the U.S. trade representative's office: "If (the U.S.) abdicates leadership in the region, that role will get filled. It has to. In the end, these economies aren't going to stand still."
China has already started creating its own network for economic and political influence, anticipating the retreat of American power. As an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Beijing proposes the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. According to a Brookings Institution study, within five years, it could be lending $20 billion annually for regional development, roughly equivalent to what the U.S.-led World Bank lends.
China has its own version of the Marshall Plan, too, to supplant a waning American vision of internationalism. Beijing's blueprint for land and maritime dominance has the unlikely moniker, "One Belt, One Road." It envisions transportation and infrastructure networks stretching from China by land to Moscow and Rotterdam, and by sea across Southeast Asia and along the African coasts, notes the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
China now speaks the language that, in America's age of expansion, was known as "manifest destiny." This outward-looking vision of development and trade creates its own momentum. It becomes a focal point for private lenders and equity markets.
Trump's call to "Make America Great Again" is incoherent because it is accompanied by inward-looking, reactive policies. Like Trump's own businesses, it's more a franchising operation than a plan for real investment and growth. Trump may indeed have a formula for greatness - but the "winner" in this story would likely be Beijing.




8



 


June 10, 2016 Friday

 WORLD WATCH

 

ABSTRACT
Indonesian police have arrested three men in Surabaya and seized guns and bombs in alleged Islamic State plot that may have planned for suicide attacks to coincide with Muslim holy month of Ramadan (S)




9


 


June 7, 2016 Tuesday  


 Ushering in a Holy Month

 
Muslim students at a boarding school in North Sumatra bowed in prayer on Monday as Ramadan began in Indonesia and most other countries. 
 




9



 


June 7, 2016 Tuesday

 MUSLIM HOLY MONTH BEGINS

 

ABSTRACT
Photo of women gathered in prayer in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as Muslims around world mark beginning of month of Ramadan, when adults fast from dawn to dusk




9


 


June 6, 2016, Monday

 Ramadan begins today for Muslims

 
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Millions of Muslims around the world will mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan today, a time marked by intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. 
Saudi Arabia's state TV announced the new moon of Ramadan was spotted Sunday evening. Local media in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, also said Muslims there would begin fasting today, as will Muslims in Singapore, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories, among others.
Following these announcements, a mosque in Tampa, Florida announced to its followers that they too would celebrate the first day's fasting today.
Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart.
By Sunday evening, Pakistan and Iran had yet to officially announce today as the first day of Ramadan. Traditionally, countries announce if their moon-sighting council spots the Ramadan crescent the evening before fasting begins.
The faithful spend the month of Ramadan in mosques for evening prayers known as "taraweeh, while free time during the day is often spent reading the Quran and listening to religious lectures.
Each day for the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. Even a sip of water, coffee or a cigarette can invalidate one's fast. There are exceptions to fasting for children, the elderly, the sick, women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating, and people travelling.
- the associated press
Many break their fast as the Prophet Muhammad did around 1,400 years ago, with a sip of water and some dates at sunset followed by prayer. It is common for Muslims to break their fast with family and friends and charities organize free meals for the public at mosques and other public spaces.
The fast is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate.
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the Muslim declaration of faith, daily prayer, charity and performing the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Non-Muslims or adult Muslims not observing the fast who eat in public during the day in Ramadan can be fined or even jailed in some Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which is home to large Western expatriate populations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan with a three-day holiday called Eid al-Fitr.




9



 


June 6, 2016 Monday

 What Ramadan means to 1.6 billion Muslims around the world; 
Muslims fast during the day to bring themselves closer to God and their fellow man.

 
For nearly a quarter of the world population, Monday marks the start of Ramadan, a month-long holiday of fasting, prayer, spirituality, and charity.
Most of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims will start the holiday Monday evening, including in the countries of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, home to world's most Muslims. Because Islam follows a lunar calendar, a country's moon-sighting council often announces the start of the holiday. Iran and Pakistan had not yet proclaimed the start date of Ramadan, so it could begin there a day or two afterward.
As relations between Muslims and Westerners remain fraught with tension because of extremism and the migrant crisis, Ramadan serves as a reminder of the peaceful qualities of the world's fastest growing religion. 
Ramadan, the ninth month on the Muslim calendar, is celebrated as the month when the first verses of the Quran were said to be revealed to the prophet Muhammad in 610 AD. Muslims traditionally commemorate the month by focusing and prayer, spirituality, and charity "to purify the body and mind." From sunrise to sunset, they abstain from food, drink, or other pleasures such as cigarettes and coffee. Certain groups such as children, the elderly, and pregnant women are excluded. Although much of the Islamic world spends the month coming together and reflecting, it isn't the case for all Muslims, as the Christian Science Monitor's Howard LaFranchi reported in June of last year:
Radical Islamists and the Islamic State in particular have focused on Ramadan as a period of intensified jihad, or holy war, when Sunni Muslims should lash out at both nonbelievers and Shiite Muslims.'It's counterintuitive, you'd think [Ramadan] would be a time of turning inward, but for some [extremists] it's also a time when your holy obligation to fight against the nonbelievers and blasphemers becomes even more imperative,' says Marvin Weinbaum, a former south Asia intelligence analyst at the State Department who is now a resident scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington. 'Clearly these acts are planned,' he adds, 'and it wouldn't seem to be simply by coincidence that they occur during a period that increases the fervor that some feel about their religious obligations.' "
Indeed, extremist attacks are against the spirit of the holiday, which even instructs Muslims to abstain from gossip and other impurities to grow closer to God and their neighbors. Many spend the daytime reading the Quran and listening to religious lectures, and the evening in prayer in a mosque for a period known as "taraweeh." Following this prayer service, families and friends often come together to break the fast, and charities provide free meals at mosques and other public spaces. Some even break the fast as the prophet Muhammad did 1,400 years ago, with a sip of water and dates.
Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, a religion that is on pace to become the world's most practiced religion by the end of the century, according to the Pew Research Center. Yet, it's a religion that's not often understood by Westerners, especially in the United States, where view Muslims "rather cooly," according to Pew. Although favorability of Muslims in Europe is better, last year's attacks in Paris and Brussels, coupled with the inundating stream of Muslim refugees overwhelming many European nations, have further strained relations between many Europeans and Muslims. 
This report contains material from the Associated Press.




9



 


June 6, 2016 Monday  


 Many Muslims mark start of Ramadan

 
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  - Millions of Muslims around the world will mark the start of Ramadan on Monday, a time marked by intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.  
Saudi Arabia's state TV announced the new moon of Ramadan was spotted Sunday evening. Local media in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, also said Muslims there would begin fasting Monday, as will Muslims in Singapore, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories, among others. 
Following these announcements, a mosque in Tampa, Fla., announced to its followers that they too would celebrate the first day's fasting Monday. 
Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart. 
By Sunday evening, Pakistan and Iran had yet to officially announce Monday as the first day of Ramadan. Traditionally, countries announce if their moon-sighting council spots the Ramadan crescent the evening before fasting begins. 
Each day for the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. Even a sip of water, coffee or a cigarette can invalidate one's fast. There are exceptions to fasting for children, the elderly, the sick, women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating, and people traveling. Many break their fast as the Prophet Muhammad did around 1,400 years ago, with a sip of water and some dates at sunset followed by prayer. 
The fast is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan with a three-day holiday called Eid al-Fitr.




9



 


June 4, 2016 Saturday  

 Governor of Jakarta Bucks Indonesia's Party Politics

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Since becoming governor of Jakarta in 2014, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has shown little patience for incompetent bureaucrats or alleged "budget irregularities" - the local term for corruption.
His new target is a political system run by aloof oligarchs.
Mr. Basuki, 49, has vowed to run to stay in office in February as a political independent. His goal is to separate himself from the powerful national parties that have emerged during Indonesia's transition to democracy, which began with the collapse of the military-backed dictatorship of President Suharto in 1998.
Mr. Basuki has long been considered a political outsider, partly because he is a Christian and an ethnic Chinese steering the capital of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, and his decision to run without a party affiliation has shaken the country's political establishment.
Since Indonesia began holding free elections in the late 1990s, independent candidates have won lesser local government and legislative posts, but Mr. Basuki's breakaway is by far the most significant. Jakarta is the country's political, social and economic center, accounting for 16 percent of the national gross domestic product in 2015, according to the country's Central Statistics Bureau. 
Most of the 10 parties that have seats in the country's Parliament and cabinet are run by political dynasties, former Army generals or business tycoons who bankroll them. The rest are Islamic-based groups whose political ideology changes depending on which of the bigger parties they can latch onto in a coalition.
Regional-level politicians are mostly beholden to their political masters at national offices in Jakarta, who can accept or reject their planned candidacies even if they are doing well in opinion polls. And parties usually demand that candidates pay a fee to run and require them to finance their own campaigns, analysts say.
Mr. Basuki, in effect, has positioned himself as an alternative to a national political system "that many in Jakarta are fed up with," said Charlotte Setijadi, a visiting fellow with the Indonesia studies program at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
"I think that this is an image that will serve him well for this election," she said.
The governor, the grandson of a tin miner from Guangzhou, China, has a reputation for bluntness. He has his detractors, including squatters whose slum neighborhoods have been demolished to make way for public works projects and commercial developments, and political adversaries who have questioned a land reclamation project in North Jakarta that is under investigation by the country's anticorruption agency.
But his style has won over many Jakartans, in particular younger voters and lower-middle-class families.
They have also been swayed by his administration's policies, including fast-tracking infrastructure projects, among them a mass rapid transit system, the sprucing-up of a city of more than 10 million people with a small army of street sweepers and the institution of a "smart card" program to subsidize health care and education for the poor.
Recent polls have indicated that Mr. Basuki, popularly known as Ahok, has double-digit leads over several other possible candidates for the Feb. 17 election, and that more than 80 percent of probable voters want him to run as an independent.
"I don't want to disappoint the young people," he said to reporters recently after announcing his decision. "I told them I will be an independent, but they have to understand that this is a sacrifice."
The governor can thank one particular group of young people for helping him to buck politics as usual. A grass-roots volunteer movement that is autonomously backing his plan says it has already collected the signatures of the 525,000 Jakartans - roughly 7.5 percent of the city's eligible voters - needed to cement his place on the ballot.
The group, Teman Ahok ("Friends of Ahok" in the Indonesian language), says it will not stop until it gets a million signatures, which must be verified by the country's General Elections Commission.
Working out of a one-story house in South Jakarta, the group's members have been remarkably resourceful. They have created an app, for example, enabling motorcyclists to pick up signature forms and deliver them to the group's office at no cost.
To pay for its operations, the group also sells Ahok merchandise, including T-shirts, stickers and bracelets, although it did receive an initial donation of 500 million rupiah, or about $37,000, from a political consultancy in Jakarta to help it get up and running.
Mr. Basuki and Teman Ahok leaders have separately said that they are not collaborating and that they have met in person only three times.
Mr. Basuki, who was previously deputy governor of Jakarta, assumed the city's top position in November 2014 after his boss and predecessor, Joko Widodo, was sworn in as the country's seventh president.
But as he waited to become governor, he resigned from his political party, the Great Indonesia Movement Party, known as Gerindra, after it pushed through legislation in Parliament eliminating direct elections for provincial governors, mayors and district chiefs.
Critics called the legislation, which was later overturned, a meanspirited attempt to keep regional leaders under the control of Jakarta by having them appointed by local legislatures dominated by major parties.
Mr. Joko himself, despite being president, is only a rank-and-file member of his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or P.D.I.P., and has at times been hamstrung in carrying out policies and appointing senior officials because of opposition from party leaders.
Analysts said Mr. Basuki apparently did not want to suffer the same fate. He spurned an offer to run under the umbrella of the P.D.I.P., whose chairwoman is Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president, the daughter of Indonesia's founding father, Sukarno, and a leading member of the country's political elite.
Now the party has made it clear that it will try to stop what senior members have called deparpolisasi, an Indonesian term meaning the weakening of the political monopoly of large parties by independent candidates like Mr. Basuki.
The Jakarta campaign chief of the party said it was speaking with Gerindra and other establishment parties to jointly nominate a candidate to challenge Mr. Basuki, The Jakarta Post reported.
During Jakarta's 2012 governor's race, when Mr. Basuki was Mr. Joko's running mate as the candidate for vice governor, opponents made issues of his ethnicity and religion. But one recent survey indicated that nearly two-thirds of the city's residents felt ethnicity and religion would not be issues in the February election.
Sandiaga Uno, a prominent businessman who is likely to be one of Mr. Basuki's opponents, has acknowledged that the governor's independent run should wake up the political establishment.
"If they don't get the right candidate that is supported by the people, they would be facing an independent bid that is supported by the people," he said. "Political parties need to come up with a strategy to attract the best talent."
Follow Joe Cochrane on Twitter @datelinejakarta.
PHOTO: Basuki Tjahaja Purnama assuming office in 2014. The next election is in February. (PHOTOGRAPH BY TATAN SYUFLANA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

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. For Indonesians, President's Political Outsider Status Loses Its Luster
. An Ethnic Chinese Christian, Breaking Barriers in Indonesia
. 



9



 



June 1, 2016 Wednesday  


 President Trump would hand the world to China

 
Hong Kong television commentator Wu Jun observed recently that despite Donald Trump's anti-Beijing rhetoric, he "could in fact be the best president for China." The Chinese analyst is right: A Trump presidency could open the way for China's strategic dominance in Asia and elsewhere. 
Wu's comment was focused on Trump's mercantilist style, evoking a world in which Trump and President Xi Jinping, two "big guys," might sit around a table at Mar-a-Lago and cut deals without worrying about human rights. "The Republican Party is more practical and Trump is a businessman who puts his commercial interests above everything else," Wu said . 
But there's a deeper, more dangerous way in which Trump might be an enabler for Chinese ascendancy. His policies would play into China's narrative about the world - and undermine the foundations of U.S. power in Asia, even as they are  bolstering a rising China.
Let's start with the impact of a Trump presidency on the Muslim world. A South Asian chief executive of a global company put it bluntly: "There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, and they won't forget what Trump said" about banning Muslim immigrants to the United States. He predicted that Muslims would turn away from a Trump-led United States - not just Iraqis and Syrians, but Malaysians and Indonesians, too. The beneficiary of this global rebalancing would be China, he warned.
President Obama recently noted the national-security damage caused by Trump's comments. "Isolating or disparaging Muslims, suggesting that they should be treated differently when it comes to entering this country - that is not just a betrayal of our values, that's not just a betrayal of who we are, it would alienate the very communities at home and abroad who are our most important partners in the fight against violent extremism," Obama said in a graduation speech at Rutgers University.
Trump's "America First" policies would reinforce the drift away from U.S. global leadership - in ways that would benefit China. The most obvious example is Trump's disparagement of the trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (though he's hardly the only miscreant here). As the Wall Street Journal noted, citing the views of Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, "An American failure to ratify TPP would bring about the very thing critics of the trade deal complain about: a more empowered China and bad terms for U.S. goods and services."
New Zealand's prime minister, John Key, described the risk for the United States of the TPP's collapse, in a comment cited by the U.S. trade representative's office: "If [the United States] abdicates leadership in the region, that role will get filled. It has to. In the end, these economies aren't going to stand still."
China has already started creating its own network for economic and political influence, anticipating the retreat of U.S. power. In some eerie ways, these Chinese plans are reminiscent of the institutions through which the United States established its dominance in the post-1945 world. As an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Beijing proposes the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. According to a Brookings Institution study, within five years, it could be lending $20 billion annually for regional development, roughly equivalent to what the U.S.-led World Bank lends.
China has its own version of the Marshall Plan, too, to supplant a waning American vision of internationalism. Beijing's blueprint for land and maritime dominance has the unlikely moniker "One Belt, One Road." It envisions transportation and infrastructure networks stretching from China by land to Moscow and Rotterdam, and by sea across Southeast Asia and along the African coasts, notes the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
China's global ambition has its hubristic side; The Post's Simon Denyer recently chronicled the empty cities in western China that have been built in overeager anticipation of a new Silk Road. But China is big and rich enough to make mistakes. Says Stanford professor Francis Fukuyama, "If 'One Belt, One Road' meets Chinese planners' expectations, the whole of Eurasia, from Indonesia to Poland, will be transformed in the coming generation."
China speaks the language that, in the U.S. age of expansion, was known as "manifest destiny." This outward-looking vision of development and trade creates its own momentum. It becomes a focal point for private lenders and equity markets.
Trump's call to "Make America Great Again" is incoherent because it is accompanied by inward-looking, reactive policies. Like Trump's own businesses, it's more a franchising operation than a plan for real investment and growth. Trump may indeed have a formula for greatness - but the "winner" in this story would likely be Beijing.
davidignatius@washpost.com




9



 



May 24, 2016 Tuesday  


 Primed f or politics

 
When Raaheela Ahmed knocks on doors to meet potential voters, she covers her black headscarf with a floppy hat so people won't be distracted from what she has to say. She greets high school students as "y'all" and confides, with a disarming laugh, that she sometimes sneaks to her office gym to pray.
Poised and self-confident at 22, Ahmed is one of a group of young Muslim women, all children of immigrants, who are entering electoral politics in the Maryland suburbs. Eager to help counter the anti-Muslim rhetoric that has been part of the 2016 presidential contest, they say they feel emboldened by their American upbringing and the encouragement of male Muslim mentors.
"My dad was always involved in politics. I remember carrying signs for him in parades," said Ahmed, who grew up in Bowie and is seeking a seat on the Prince George's County Board of Education. 
Her father, Shukoor Ahmed, 53, an engineer from India, ran unsuccessfully five times for the Maryland House of Delegates and is managing her campaign. "He tried so many times, but he was forever an outsider," Raaheela Ahmed said. "I speak with less accent, so people take me more seriously."
Prince George's and Montgomery counties have diverse and growing Muslim immigrant populations, from Pakistani doctors in Potomac to Somali cabdrivers in Riverdale. In Montgomery, community leaders estimate there are 98,000 Muslim residents, though no official statistics are available.
While some affluent Muslims have become important political donors, most maintain a low profile. Few have run for office in the state, and almost all who have are men. There is one Muslim member of the City Council in College Park and one in Takoma Park, one Muslim member of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee and one Muslim state delegate, Democrat Hasan Jalisi of Baltimore County.
But a younger generation of Muslim American women is testing the political waters, urged on by ambitious men like Shukoor Ahmed and Hamza Khan, 28, a Democratic activist who chairs the Muslim Democratic Club of Montgomery County.
This spring, Khan managed the campaigns of Rida Bukhari-Rizvi, 32, a policy analyst from Burtonsville who ran for the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, and Nadia Syahmalina, 34, an Indonesian American financial manager from Rockville who ran in the Maryland primary to become a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.
Both women narrowly lost, and Syahmalina said she will focus her efforts for the rest of this year on turning out the vote for Clinton in the general election. In interviews, both she and Bukhari-Rizvi said they were energized by their first forays into partisan politics and eager to do more.
"I was reluctant at first, but Hamza urged me to run, and it became more than a seat on a committee," said Bukhari-Rizvi, a Pakistani American who wears a white headscarf and is part of the Shiite sect of Islam. "We have never been given a voice before, but I'm part of a new crop of Muslim American women who are well-educated and well-spoken. We can help combat Islamophobia, and we can carve out a future for others. If no one gives us the mantle, we will take it."
Shiites are a minority in the U.S. Muslim population of about 3 million. There are many more Sunni Muslims in Maryland, too, with subdivisions along ethnic, political or linguistic lines. There is a also a smaller population of U.S.-born Muslim converts.
Khan, a Pakistani American, grew up in Montgomery County and said the Muslim elite there has long been dominated by South Asian entrepreneurs. He is actively working to open the political arena to other Muslim groups, and especially to women.
"We have nearly 100,000 Muslims in the county, from many countries and walks of life, but their political influence is zero," he said. "Few of them have faith in the democratic process, and many come from patriarchal societies. This is a battle to empower Muslim women."
Syahmalina, the Clinton supporter, comes from a moderate Muslim community and does not wear a headscarf. Although active in Indonesian culture and causes, she said she had thought of politics as "dirty" and was nervous when Khan persuaded her to run.
When the results of the April 26 primary were announced, she was astounded to have finished fourth among eight candidates. 
"I was way down on the bottom of the ballot, and I have a long name," she said. "I thought I might get a few hundred votes, but I got 37,000!"
Syahmalina said she has a "passion for change" and wants to "bring a different face" to the national conversation about Muslim Americans, reflecting her Indonesian heritage. "We are not all South Asian and Middle Eastern," she said.
Raaheela Ahmed, Bukhari-Rizvi and Syahmalina all said they want to offer voters a reasonable, appealing image at a time when they say U.S. politics has become poisoned by anti-Muslim fears. As professional middle-class women, Hamza and others said, they may seem less threatening to voters than their male peers.
"With women, there is a trust factor. People tend to open up more to them," said Zainab Chaudry, who is Maryland state director for the Council on American Islamic Relations, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Although she is younger than Bukhari-Rizvi and Syahmalina, Ahmed has more political experience. She ran for the Prince George's school board in 2012, when she was a college student, and was appointed to the University of Maryland Board of Regents for 2014-2015.
A financial consultant, she presents herself as a mainstream liberal despite her conservative attire. Her campaign fliers call for better school safety, parental engagement and financial accountability.
At her recent meeting with immigrant high school students in Hyattsville, Ahmed delivered a pep talk on how to overcome self-doubt and succeed in life. Asked whether she had felt threatened or insulted in public, she shrugged.
"This is the [Donald] Trump era. There is a lot of ignorance, and people make judgments," she said. "I am a U.S. citizen with a good education. I am also a Muslim, and I wear the hijab. . . . I don't want people to see just my faith when they look at me. I want them to see the real me."
In an interview at her home in Bowie, with her parents beaming nearby, Ahmed said she had grown up surrounded by South Asian relatives, with everyone speaking Urdu. But she also described herself as an American girl, born and raised in Prince George's, who connects easily with black and white voters alike.
In 2012, she ran a close second behind the school board chairwoman, Jeana Jacobs. This year she won the April 26 primary, coming in ahead of Jacobs and another candidate; she will face off in the November general election against Cheryl Landis, 61, a career school system employee.
"Nobody thought I would win in the primary, not even my parents, but I got twice as many votes as I did the last time," Ahmed said. "A lot of people remembered me when I knocked on their doors. I think they feel like I am home-grown."
pamela.constable@washpost.com




9


 The Durham Herald Co.
 
The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.)

May 20, 2016

 Hill Hall renovation, Glass residency mark CPA season

 
CHAPEL HILL -- The dedication of renovated Hill Hall is among the highlights of Carolina Performing Arts' 2016-2017 season announced this week. 
Hill Hall is slated to reopen in early October after an 18-month, $15 million renovation. Work is centered on improvements to Hill Hall's rotunda and 450-seat auditorium in the century-old building, which served as the university's first library. The performance space will be renamed the James and Susan Moeser Auditorium in honor of the former chancellor and his wife, who are organists and teachers at UNC.
As part of the opening celebration, Carolina Performing Arts will feature string quartet Brooklyn Rider, joined by mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. 
During the season, Composer Philip Glass will be the artist in residence during "Glass at 80," a festival honoring his 80th birthday. 
"Glass at 80" is a 10-day festival taking place Feb. 1-10, 2017, which celebrates the 80th birthday of composer and performer Philip Glass on Jan. 31, 2017. Glass will be in residence on the UNC campus for the duration of the festival performing, lecturing and discussing the impact of his work. He has written for orchestra, chamber ensembles, dance, opera, theater and film, and was one of the most important 
See CPA/Page A9
voices in the advent of minimalist music.
Four of Glass' main collaborators will be performing at UNC -- Laurie Anderson, Lucinda Childs, Dennis Russell Davies and the Kronos Quartet.
"Sacred/Secular: A Sufi Journey" includes performances throughout the year alongside campus and community dialogues exploring Sufism as a spiritual and cultural lens into Islam. This festival will have performers from four Muslim-majority nations outside the Arab world -- Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Senegal -- alongside artists responding to the values of Sufism.
The series will present several orchestras. In addition to the Vienna Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony makes its North Carolina debut with music director Michael Tilson Thomas performing Mahler's first symphony. Bach Collegium Stuttgart and Gächinger Kantorei will perform J.S. Bach's masterpiece, "St. John Passion" on Good Friday. The China Philharmonic led by music director Long Yu will premiere a new concerto by composer Chen Yi commissioned by Carolina Performing Arts for UNC-Chapel Hill piano professor Clara Yang.
The season also will celebrate women in American dance with performances by three leading female dancer-choreographers. Seattle based company zoe-juniper will perform a new multi-disciplinary work, co-commissioned by Carolina Performing Arts, titled "Clear & Sweet." Nora Chipaumire, former dancer of Urban Bush Women, will present "portrait of myself as my father," which draws upon the physical vocabulary of sports as well as traditional movement from Zimbabwe. Chapel Hill native and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance will present a new work titled "ETM: Double Down." Dancers use wooden platforms that amplify their feet; they also trigger the recording and playback of the rhythms they're creating as they dance.
The series will present two new commissioned works for the 2016-2017 season. The first is a work for Martha Graham Dance Company by Belgian/Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. The piece is inspired by Sufi poetry and accompanied by Turkish traditional music, in connection with "Sacred/Secular: A Sufi Journey." The second commissioned work features dance and visual art team zoe-juniper's "Clear & Sweet"--an inquiry into Sacred Harp singing.
Below is a complete list of concerts for the season. Single tickets and subscriptions go on sale to the public June 8. For more details, visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org. All concerts are in Memorial Hall.
Sept. 9 --"Mystical Music" - Hossein Alizadeh
Sept. 12 -- Chris Thile
Sept. 14 and 15 -- "ETM: Double Down" - Dorrance Dance
Sept. 18 -- "Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity" - Ping Chong + Company
Oct. 5 and 6 -- "Clear & Sweet" - zoe-juniper
Oct. 7 -- Brooklyn Rider with Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Oct. 14 -- Richard Thompson
Oct. 25 -- "Sufi Songs" - Youssou N'Dour
Oct. 28 -- "The House is Black" - Sussan Deyhim
Nov. 7 -- Isabelle Faust, violin and Alexander Melnikov, piano
Nov. 10 -- "portrait of myself as my father" - nora chipaumire
Nov. 11 -- Steep Canyon Rangers
Nov. 16 and 17 -- "Labels" - Joe Sellman-Leava
Dec. 3 and 4 -- "The Nutcracker" - Carolina Ballet
Dec. 8 -- China Philharmonic Orchestra Long Yu, music director and conductor Clara Yang, piano
Dec. 10 -- "Big Band Holidays" Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Catherine Russell, vocalist
Jan. 13, 2017 -- Shemekia Copeland
Jan. 20 -- "Wayang Bocor" - Eko Nugroho
Jan. 27 -- Nani Topeng Losari
Feb. 1 -- Bruckner Orchester Linz Performs Philip Glass Dennis Russell Davies, chief conductor Robert McDuffie, violin
Feb. 3 -- "Heroes Tribute": A Celebration of the Music of Philip Glass, David Bowie and Brian Eno featuring A Merge Records Group and UNC Symphony Orchestra with Tonu Kalam, conductor
Feb. 6 -- "The Complete Piano Etudes" by Philip Glass
Feb. 7 -- "Dance" - Lucinda Childs Dance Company
Feb. 9 -- "Dracula" - Philip Glass and Kronos Quartet Michael Riesman, conductor
Feb. 10 -- "Words and Music in Two Parts" - Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson, featuring The Philip Glass Ensemble Michael Riesman, music director and conductor
Feb. 17 -- Marcus Roberts and the Modern Jazz Generation
Feb. 23 and 24 -- "Bayou Blues" - Shaina Lynn
Feb. 27 -- Vienna Philharmonic Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
March 2 -- "Dara" - Ajoka Theatre
March 3 -- Steve Earle
March 7 -- Vijay Iyer Sextet
March 8 -- Mark Padmore, tenor and Jonathan Biss, piano
March 23 and 24 -- Martha Graham Dance Company
March 31 -- Sounds of Kolachi
Apr. 5 & 6 San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas, music director and conductor Gautier Capuçon, cello
April 12 -- Sanam Marvi
April 14 -- J.S. Bach's "St. John Passion" Bach Collegium Stuggart and Gächinger Kantorei Hans-Christoph Rademann, music director and conductor
April 18 -- Behzod Abduraimov, piano




9


  



May 14, 2016 Saturday  


 FROM THE RIGHT; 
Comfy countries can't keep unassimilated from IS grasp

 
Which country has the highest percentage of its Muslim population fighting for the Islamic State as foreign recruits? Algeria? Afghanistan? Indonesia?
Try Finland. No. 2 is Ireland, followed by Belgium, Sweden and Austria. 
What do these countries have in common, besides being European? They're democratic and have high levels of education, health and income. They also have very low levels of economic inequality.
These findings appear in an eyebrow-raising report by the National Bureau of Economic Research, whose recent work also identified another important factor driving radicalization: a lack of assimilation. In other words, the Islamic State draws heavily from groups who do not adopt the culture of the country in which they live.
Kyle Wingfield George Will
These conclusions fly in the face of conventional wisdom: that radicalization flows from economic inequality.
In fact, the report finds strong positive correlations between Islamic State recruitment and high gross domestic product per capita as well as high rankings in the Human Development Index and the Political Rights Index. In short, most Islamic State recruits come from societies replete with comforts and rights.
So what convinces young men in such
advanced societies to join the Islamic State? A failure to assimilate, according to the National Bureau report. To measure that, the organization looked at indices for ethnic, linguistic and religious fractionalization developed by Harvard researchers and calculated the probability that two random individuals in any society would not share the same ethnicity, religion or language.
European countries have low fractionalization levels and lack an assimilationist ethos. "The difference with America is the melting pot," one of the report's authors, Efraim Benmelech, said.
The report supports the proposition that a disgruntled population that does not feel it is part of something greater than itself is likely to have members who will fall prey to snake-oil salesmen such as Islamic State recruiters.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said repeatedly that terrorism is not really caused by Western foreign policy, poverty in the Middle East or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Many who believe those three causes are to blame, however, persist. The French socialist economist Thomas Piketty -- whose 2013 bestselling book, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," warned about gaping wealth inequality in the West -- laid blame for the Islamic State on all three in an article in Le Monde written after the November terrorist attack in Paris. "Only an equitable model for social development will overcome hatred," he wrote.
The authors of the National Bureau paper, however, write their findings "directly contradict the recent assertions by Thomas Piketty."
Benmelech wrote in an email: "While the U.S. is infamous for its high degree of income inequality, its 'melting pot' culture that promotes assimilation may be one of the best deterrents against radicalizing people to join ISIS -- and may explain why the United States ranks a distant 36 in the number of ISIS foreign fighters compared to its Muslim population."
Considering the anti-assimilation bent of current U.S. immigration policy, however, this is cold comfort. Is a European-like atmosphere in our future? It's a question worth asking.
Charles Krauthammer will return.




10



 


May 14, 2016 Saturday  


 Indonesia for tolerant Islam

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia   Indonesia s vice president on Monday called on Islamic leaders to spread messages about a tolerant Islam to curb extremism that often springs from misinterpretation of Islamic teachings. 
Speaking at the opening of the International Summit of the Moderate Islamic Leaders, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he believes that youths who don t have deep faith are susceptible to be militants, not for wealth or political cause, but rather as a  shortcut  to heaven.
 That s why the role of Islamic clerics is needed to do more to correct the misinterpretation,  Kalla said.  We gather here today for that purpose, to produce the solution to curb radicalism in the form of terrorism, wars and conflicts. 
He added that the existence of 1.6 billion Muslims spread across 57 countries should become a force to promote the goodness of Islam.
The meeting organized by Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia s largest Muslim organization, is expected to produce a message about the importance of promoting a peaceful Islam to combat radicalism worldwide.
More than 300 religious leaders from 33 countries, including clerics from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Syria and Iran are attending the two-day meeting.
Kalla said that extremism in the Middle East and radical acts in other parts of the world are the results of wars at home against authoritarian governments in the name of democracy, which caused the future of their people to fall in the darkness.
Therefore, he said, overcoming radicalism and terrorism requires the unity and integrity of the whole nations.
Kalla noted the need of moderate Islamic states, which are able to provide grace, goodness, and unite to the whole community.
Indonesia, the world s most populous Muslim nation, has seen a spate of deadly attacks by Islamic militants including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The smaller, less deadly strikes in recent years targeted government authorities, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces.
Eight people died in a Jan. 14 Jakarta attack including four militants, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.



Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on Islamic leaders to spread messages about a tolerant Islam to curb extremism that often springs from misinterpretation of Islamic teachings. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO




10



 



May 14, 2016 Saturday  


 Warrant doesn't deter travel by Sudan's leader

 
Bashir's appearance in Uganda prompts walkout by U.S., other diplomats
For a man with an international arrest warrant hanging over his head on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir gets around.
In March, he flew to Indonesia to attend a summit of Muslim countries and to Egypt for an investment forum. He visited Ethiopia in January and plans another trip there this weekend. 
But his Thursday stop in Uganda prompted a minor diplomatic flap when he attended the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for 30 years. Museveni introduced Bashir onstage, giving a backhand to the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president in 2009 for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Uganda had invited Bashir, said Museveni. The Ugandan leader then called the court in The Hague a "useless body" run by "a bunch of useless people."
Bashir's presence and Museveni's dismissive remarks prompted a highly unusual walkout by diplomats from Canada, Europe and the United States, among them the U.S. ambassador and a deputy assistant secretary of state. Uganda is a longtime U.S. ally.
"We believe that walking out in protest is an appropriate reaction to a head of state mocking efforts to ensure accountability for victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Elizabeth Trudeau, a spokeswoman for the State Department.
This was not the first controversy over Bashir's peregrinations, which are tracked by human rights organizations on the website BashirWatch. Several demanded that China and India arrest him when he visited those countries last year, although neither has signed the agreement that established the court in 2002 and requires members to act on its arrest warrants. Uganda is a member.
But Bashir had to flee South Africa, which is also a member of the ICC, when a court there ruled he should not be allowed to leave and could be arrested during a visit last year. South Africa's Supreme Court later criticized the government for shielding him.
Many African leaders have denounced the ICC as a neocolonial tool because almost all of its investigations have involved war crimes in Africa; a court list of preliminary investigations is more geographically diverse.
The events in Uganda underscored both the lofty ideals of the court and its limitations.
"A core claim held by champions of international justice is that by the mere fact it exists, perpetrators and potential perpetrators will be marginalized," said Mark Kersten, a research fellow with the Munk School of Global Affairs in Toronto, who studies the court. "The fact diplomats from Europe, Canada and the United States walked out shows they don't want to rub shoulders with him. But it also shows it's not working, because he was there in the first place."
Elizabeth M. Ramey, a scholar with the Africa Program at the Wilson Center, said the ICC cases in Africa are all justified and that the South African Supreme Court decision shows some Africans support the court's work.
But resentment is growing, and the walkout's impact may be fleeting.
"Its purpose was to say, 'For all the talk about the flaws of the criminal court, you can't forget the many victims of genocide and crimes against humanity for whom the court was created,' " said Jennifer G. Cooke, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But it feeds the narrative of Western imperial arrogance that some leaders like to play on."
Although Bashir returned home unimpeded, the Ugandan government did make some arrests on Thursday - of opposition members. That also prompted a rebuke from the State Department.
"We remain deeply concerned that government security forces continue to detain members of the political opposition and restrict their freedom of movement," said Trudeau, the State Department spokeswoman. "We urge the government to take prompt action to reverse this troubling trend."
carol.morello@washpost.com




10



 



May 14, 2016 Saturday  


 Warrant doesn't deter travel by Sudan's leader

 
Bashir's appearance in Uganda prompts walkout by U.S., other diplomats
For a man with an international arrest warrant hanging over his head on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir gets around.
In March, he flew to Indonesia to attend a summit of Muslim countries and to Egypt for an investment forum. He visited Ethiopia in January and plans another trip there this weekend. 
But his Thursday stop in Uganda prompted a minor diplomatic flap when he attended the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for 30 years. Museveni introduced Bashir onstage, giving a backhand to the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president in 2009 for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Uganda had invited Bashir, said Museveni. The Ugandan leader then called the court in The Hague a "useless body" run by "a bunch of useless people."
Bashir's presence and Museveni's dismissive remarks prompted a highly unusual walkout by diplomats from Canada, Europe and the United States, among them the U.S. ambassador and a deputy assistant secretary of state. Uganda is a longtime U.S. ally.
"We believe that walking out in protest is an appropriate reaction to a head of state mocking efforts to ensure accountability for victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Elizabeth Trudeau, a spokeswoman for the State Department.
This was not the first controversy over Bashir's peregrinations, which are tracked by human rights organizations on the website BashirWatch. Several demanded that China and India arrest him when he visited those countries last year, although neither has signed the agreement that established the court in 2002 and requires members to act on its arrest warrants. Uganda is a member.
But Bashir had to flee South Africa, which is also a member of the ICC, when a court there ruled he should not be allowed to leave and could be arrested during a visit last year. South Africa's Supreme Court later criticized the government for shielding him.
Many African leaders have denounced the ICC as a neocolonial tool because almost all of its investigations have involved war crimes in Africa; a court list of preliminary investigations is more geographically diverse.
The events in Uganda underscored both the lofty ideals of the court and its limitations.
"A core claim held by champions of international justice is that by the mere fact it exists, perpetrators and potential perpetrators will be marginalized," said Mark Kersten, a research fellow with the Munk School of Global Affairs in Toronto, who studies the court. "The fact diplomats from Europe, Canada and the United States walked out shows they don't want to rub shoulders with him. But it also shows it's not working, because he was there in the first place."
Elizabeth M. Ramey, a scholar with the Africa Program at the Wilson Center, said the ICC cases in Africa are all justified and that the South African Supreme Court decision shows some Africans support the court's work.
But resentment is growing, and the walkout's impact may be fleeting.
"Its purpose was to say, 'For all the talk about the flaws of the criminal court, you can't forget the many victims of genocide and crimes against humanity for whom the court was created,' " said Jennifer G. Cooke, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But it feeds the narrative of Western imperial arrogance that some leaders like to play on."
Although Bashir returned home unimpeded, the Ugandan government did make some arrests on Thursday - of opposition members. That also prompted a rebuke from the State Department.
"We remain deeply concerned that government security forces continue to detain members of the political opposition and restrict their freedom of movement," said Trudeau, the State Department spokeswoman. "We urge the government to take prompt action to reverse this troubling trend."
carol.morello@washpost.com




10



 


May 7, 2016 Saturday  


 
As the Middle East seethes in turmoil and violence, a new study shows that the Muslim world is sharply divided over the fundamental relationship between the laws of government and the religious teachings of the Quran.
In places such as Pakistan, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, more than half the people believe that their government laws should strictly follow the tenets of Islam, according to a Pew Research Center study published Wednesday.
By contrast, people in Burkina Faso, Lebanon and Indonesia feel that the law of the land should not be influenced at all by the Quran or should be shaped only by the value of its teachings, the study found. 
 Most people see the world and say that there s this particular number of Muslims in this country and that country and that they all must think alike,  said Jacob Poushter, a senior researcher on the study.
 But what we found is that when we ask this one clear question about how the Islamic holy book should influence national laws, we see this huge divide. 
The survey focuses generally on whether the Quran should influence national laws and is not restricted to any aspect of Quranic principles, such as the religious legal system of Shariah, Poushter said.
The survey also revealed that education plays in role in the divide over the relationship between the tenets of Islam and national laws in the Muslim world.
In 6 of the 10 places surveyed, people with a higher education were far more likely to oppose having national laws influenced by the Quran, according to the study. In Burkina Faso, for instance, 72 percent of the people with a secondary education or more believed that the country s laws should not be influenced by the Quran.
Asli Bali, a law professor and director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles  International Institute, said the desire of people to have their government s laws strictly adhere to the teachings of the Quran probably speaks to a level of discontent.
 It s a measure of the dissatisfaction people have with the moral rectitude of their government and the moral tenor of their laws,  Bali said. In countries with populations that are highly religious and where the government does not rule in a just fashion, the likelihood is greater that people would want to see the government influenced by the teachings of the Quran, she added.
 The text is the ideal of moral authority, social justice, uncorrupt values and adherence to social norms,  Bali said. And people may feel that following its teachings  would produce a society that is more equal. 
Kevan Harris, an assistant professor of sociology at UCLA, said the variations highlighted in the Pew study are interesting but do not necessarily reflect a more  Islamicized  society in the nations that favor strict adherence to the Quran.
It could correlate with the long-term presence of political movements, which has prompted calls for the state to be more publicly religious, or it could simply mean that  people want laws to be created in an ethical fashion,  and the Quran stands as  an ethical set of doctrines and moral teachings,  Harris said in an email.
The Pew survey polled 10,194 respondents in face-to-face interviews across 10 countries and territories that have significant Muslim populations: Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Jordan, Malaysia, Senegal, Lebanon, Burkina Faso and the Palestinian territories. The margin of error, depending on the country or territory, ranged from 3.7 percentage points to 4.3 percentage points, Pew officials said.
In Pakistan, 78 percent of respondents said the laws in their country should  strictly follow  the teachings of the Quran, putting it in first place among nations where residents hold this view. The Palestinian territories came in second with 65 percent of the population supporting strict adherence to the Quran for the government s laws, a 29 percent increase over responses in a similar survey in 2011, according to the Pew study.
Poushter noted that a lot more people answered the survey questions in the Palestinian territories in 2015, compared with 2011, which could account for the increase in the tally.
Others elsewhere also registered trends. Most Jordanians, for instance, favored strictly following the Quran in writing national laws. But Jordan, which is a constitutional monarchy, registered an 18 percent decline in this view from 2012, indicating a change in attitude to the question, the survey found.
The religious divide played a role in influencing the respondents  feedback, Poushter said.
In Malaysia, the strongest sentiment in favor of strict adherence to the Quran when it comes to national laws is predominantly held by Muslim Malays. And around half of Nigerian Muslims say they prefer the strict interpretation of the Quran for their country s laws, while 64 percent of Nigerian Christians don t want the Quran to have any influence at all, the study found.
In Indonesia, Lebanon, Turkey and Burkina Faso, where, according to the Pew,  people are more secular in their orientation,  two-thirds or more of the populations in each of these countries said they preferred that laws either be only  influenced  by the Quran, and not strictly follow its teachings, or that the Islamic holy book should be left out of lawmaking altogether, according to the study.
Burkina Faso, in West Africa, polled as the country where people were least in favor of national laws strictly following the Quran, with just 9 percent showing support for this view.




10


 


May 5, 2016 Thursday

 Petroleum power is shifting our way

 
The days when global oil production was symbolized by Arab states are gone, and important contemporary events confirm a new reality. In mid-April, governments of major oil producing nations failed to achieve agreement on cutting back their production.
Representatives of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met in Doha, Qatar to negotiate collective production goals. OPEC ministers were joined by Russia. Concord among them would have calmed markets short-term. Their failure encouraged price fluctuations, in turn emphasized by news media. 
The Doha result confirms the weakness of OPEC, a coalition of less developed economies. In consequence, the United States has an even more promising opportunity to be prime leader in global petroleum policies, especially over the longer term.
A major frustration for the conference organizers was a boycott by Iran. That government's top priority is recapturing global market share after the recent lifting of UN-backed economic sanctions. This is particularly vexing for Saudi Arabia, along with Russia, a top global oil producer.
Beyond Doha, world oil production and distribution is in great flux. The U.S. is rapidly expanding total production and moving from importer to exporter. A principal factor is fracking, shorthand for hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracturing. This is a process by which fluid is used to drive gas and petroleum to a well bore, where continuous accessibility for extraction is relatively easy.
The fracking process was first employed commercially in 1947 at a well in the Hugoton gas field in Kansas, but profitable applications proved extremely limited. In World War II, both the Allies and the Axis devoted great effort to increasing petroleum production and creating artificial fuels. Nazi Germany had noteworthy success regarding the latter.
Despite this background of intense innovation, fracking for years was simply not a moneymaker in the commercial marketplace, underscoring the technical challenges involved. Today more efficient, effective liquid processes are facilitating feasible fracking in substantial sections of the United States, including shale deposits in the eastern sections of the nation.
During the first nine months of 2011, the United States became a net exporter of petroleum-based products, a reversal of the trend of more than one-half century of marked growing dependence on foreign oil. Since 2008, the U.S. has annually increased the amount of domestic crude oil production, dramatically reversing another long-term trend.
This promises over time an extraordinary shift in the wider global strategic as well as energy positions of the U.S., with great and largely positive implications for foreign as well as domestic policies. Until the 1960s, the nation was a substantial net exporter of petroleum. A decade later, the U.S. and other industrial nations had become heavily dependent on imported oil, and painful disruptive OPEC embargoes followed in 1973 and 1979.
Two other major oil producers are Canada and Indonesia. Both are close U.S. allies. Indonesia, the world's largest nation with a Muslim majority, is fiercely opposed to terrorism.
In chemistry, a catalyst is a distinctive element which alters a reaction, and the same term applies to human affairs. Fracking increases potential U.S. international political leverage - as long as we have effective leadership.
During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1943, declared Saudi Arabia to be of vital strategic importance. In early 1945, he visited the country and met with King Ibn Saud.
Insightful strategic vision characterized FDR's leadership.
Such long-term vision is far more important than short-term market shifts.
Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War. " Contact acyr@carthage.edu
 
 
http://www.nydailyrecord.com/be-the-first-to-know/ Click here for more from this resource.
© 2016 Dolan Media Newswires. .




10


 


May 5, 2016 Thursday  


 NEW EU PLAN FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

 
PARIS -The European Union announced a plan Wednesday to deal with a flood of asylum seekers, requiring member states to accept certain numbers of them under a quota system and imposing steep fines if the countries do not. 
The much-anticipated plan is aimed at revamping Europe's controversial regulations on handling the continent's migrant crisis as nations struggle to cope with the largest number of displaced people since World War II.
The EU also pressed ahead Wednesday with efforts to persuade Turkey to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe and take back thousands more by offering Turkish citizens the prospect of visa-free travel within the bloc.
Mindful of Turkey's pivotal role in managing Europe's refugee crisis, the European Commission said Ankara has met all but five of the 72 criteria needed to end visa requirements.
EU court tackles e-cigs
BRUSSELS - The European Union's top court dealt a blow to the tobacco industry Wednesday by approving sweeping new rules that will require plain cigarette packs, ban menthol cigarettes and regulate the growing electronic cigarette market.
Despite protests from tobacco companies, the European Court of Justice on Wednesday upheld the directive, arguing it's in line with efforts to fight smoking and protect public health. The court said it is OK to ban menthol and other flavorings that make tobacco more appealing.
Turkish crisis deepens
ANKARA, Turkey - The power struggle at the top of Turkish politics was expected to come to a head Wednesday, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu planning to tell President Recep Tayyip Erdogan he needs to respect the premier's office and let him get on with the job, a person familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Davutoglu is considering calling an emergency convention of the ruling AK party, in which delegates would vote on the leadership, should he not receive a favorable response. Mr. Davutoglu has been facing intensifying opposition within the party from a group of hardline Erdogan supporters.
Taliban death sentences
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif signed off on the death sentences of 11 members of the Taliban convicted of terrorism, kidnappings, attacks on civilians as well as assaults on police and army officers, an army statement said.
The 11 were tried by military courts in closed-door trials. Pakistan started military trials for those suspected of terrorism after lifting a 2008 moratorium on the death penalty following the Peshawar school massacre that killed over 150, mostly kids, in late 2014.
Also in the world.
Saudi Arabian women were granted a rare legal concession Tuesday after the country's justice minister issued a directorate allowing them to sign and receive a copy of their prenuptial contract, a privilege previously only afforded to men in the Sunni Muslim kingdom.. Thirty-one passengers and a crew member aboard an Etihad Airways flight were injured Wednesday when their plane ran into sudden turbulence as it prepared to land in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. .Israeli aircraft struck five Hamas targets in Gaza on Wednesday in response to mortar rounds fired at Israel from the coastal territory run by the Islamic militant group.




10


 


May 1, 2016 Sunday  


 Antismoking Forces Give Big Tobacco a Fight in Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The densely packed houses along Yogyakarta's Kali Code River went from drab to a riot of reds, blues, yellows and whites.
Residents did not know who had paid for the elaborate painting job last year. The  Yogyakarta press speculated that an unknown company had painted the houses so they would resemble the colorful favelas of Rio de Janeiro. 
  It turns out the village's benefactor was Philip Morris International and its ''Show Your Colors'' advertising campaign. On the side of the Gondolayu bridge that overlooks the settlements sits a giant picture frame, with tag lines hung above it reading, ''Create your own story'' and ''Go ahead.''
  The village had been transformed into a giant advertisement for a brand owned by the tobacco company. 
  The ads were another aggressive marketing attempt by an international tobacco company to gain market share in Indonesia. The country is the second-largest cigarette market in Asia after China, and had the highest male smoking rate  in the world -- 67 percent, according to a 2011 survey -- thanks in part to the popularity of pungent clove cigarettes.
  Over the last decade, it has become a last Eden for tobacco companies facing declining smoking rates at home. As late as 2004, international tobacco companies had a marginal presence in the Indonesian market. Today, led by Philip Morris International, they control around 45 percent.
  Yet that push has been met by an increasingly potent coalition of mayors, health officials and antismoking groups that has scored some important victories.
  In one prominent example, huge cigarette billboards that dominated the highways of Jakarta, the capital, were taken down in 2015, as part of a move to ban outdoor tobacco advertisements by mayors around the country.
  Many of the lobbying efforts that led to local regulations, including in Jakarta, were substantially financed by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, the $600 million fund founded by Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor.
  The Bloomberg Initiative has designated Indonesia one of its five priority countries, and has donated more than $10 million since 2007. The initiative is largely focused on establishing local and regional tobacco control laws in a nation with a highly decentralized government structure.
  ''It's a battle -- like a war,'' Yayi Prabandari, a professor of public health at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said of the clash between tobacco companies and tobacco control organizations.
  Before the Bloomberg Initiative became active in the country nearly 10 years ago, fewer than 10 cities had laws that restricted smoking in public areas, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which jointly administers the Bloomberg Initiative's grant programs in Indonesia. Since then, the group says, more than 170 cities have passed laws heavily restricting smoking in public spaces.
  Yet tobacco growing has deep roots here. Indonesia is one of the few countries in Asia that has not signed the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which mandates strict limits on tobacco advertising and sponsorship.
  The Bloomberg Initiative has also created a backlash from smokers' rights groups, who portray Mr. Bloomberg as a foreign oligarch determined to stamp out Indonesia's proud tobacco tradition.
  ''People who smoke today are stigmatized -- we're discriminated against,'' said Alfa Gumilang, the chain-smoking secretary general of Komunitas Kretek, a smokers' rights group that accepts funds from the tobacco industry.
  The Indonesian government relies on the tobacco industry for around 10 percent of state tax revenue. Although tobacco is not nationalized, the government issues growth targets; in 2015, the Industry Ministry released a ''road map'' for the industry calling for expanded cigarette production.
  In October, President Joko Widodo visited the United States to promote American investment in Indonesia. While he was there, Philip Morris announced a $1.9 billion expansion of its tobacco factories in the country -- the second-largest investment that Mr. Joko secured from an American corporation during his visit.
  Philip Morris's success -- it controls 35 percent of Indonesia's tobacco market through its local subsidiary, Sampoerna -- ushered in a new age of foreign expansion. In 2009, British American Tobacco purchased Bentoel, a local tobacco company that is now Indonesia's fourth largest, with around 7.5 percent market share.
  According to Health Ministry officials, Indonesia's fragmented government ministries often work at cross purposes when tackling the issue.
  Because of the difficulty of making sweeping changes to tobacco control laws nationally, Indonesia tobacco control advocates are increasingly pushing for changes at the local and regional levels, where money from the Bloomberg Initiative comes in handy.
  Dr. Theresia Sandra, a specialist in chronic lung disease at the Health Ministry, credits the Bloomberg Initiative with helping local governments counter the influence of big tobacco. The group ''builds organizations to balance against the strength of industry and opens local governments to the necessity of protecting their communities,'' Dr. Sandra said.
  In one national success, the Indonesian government, with help from the Bloomberg Initiative, passed a law in 2014 requiring manufacturers to put warning labels on cigarette packaging.
  The tobacco fight in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, even extends to the country's most powerful Muslim organizations, and shows just how central the issue is for society and the economy.
  Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, became the first major Muslim group in the country to issue an edict declaring that smoking is forbidden in all circumstances, citing smoking's devastating consequences to public health.
  The 2010 decision was significant: Muhammadiyah operates thousands of schools, universities and hospitals around the country. Almost overnight, those places became smoke-free zones.
  But the Indonesian media quickly pounced on a funding detail. Posted on the Bloomberg Initiative's website was a $393,000 grant to Muhammadiyah in 2009. According to Bloomberg's website at the time, the grant sought ''the issuance and dissemination of religious advice on the dangers of tobacco use among Muhammadiyah/Islamic institutions.''
  Critics accused Muhammadiyah of seeking to unite Muslim opinion against tobacco in return for the grant money.
  Dr. Sudibyo Markus, who led Muhammadiyah's health department at the time, said there had never been any quid pro quo.
  Meanwhile, religious leaders affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah's main rival, criticized Muhammadiyah for supposedly bowing to Bloomberg's money. But Nahdlatul Ulama, which does not view smoking as forbidden in most circumstances, receives funding from the foundation wing of Djarum, Indonesia's third-largest tobacco company.
  The group's vice chairman, Maksum Mahfudh, said there was ''no relationship whatsoever'' between the funding and its decision that it would not forbid smoking. He added that moving ''drastically'' against tobacco would impoverish the farmers and sellers who are ''grass-roots people of N.U.''
  For now, the two sides appear to have fought to a draw. After steadily rising for a decade, the smoking rate has plateaued, according to the Indonesian Family Life Survey, funded by the United States National Institutes of Health, that was released in April.
  Still, Philip Morris International remains optimistic about Indonesia. In a February conference call with investors, André Calantzopoulos, the chief executive officer, said Indonesia remained a good bet.
  ''We remain optimistic about the profit growth opportunities in this key market thanks to its growing adult population and rising income levels,'' he told them.




10


 


May 1, 2016 Sunday  


 LETTERS

 
TRUMP LACKS  CONSENSUS
 Donald Trump claims to understand the "Art of the Deal" like no one else. He knows the landscape, knows the rules. He explains his multiple bankruptcies by claiming he so cleverly used "the rules" to his advantage.
 So how is it that he complains endlessly that Sen. Ted Cruz understands the rules better  than he does and perhaps, more importantly, complains Cruz is running circles around him and outhustling him in the hunt for delegates? 
 His excuse is the system is rigged. If so, it surely is rigged in his favor. Trump garnered 61 percent of the vote in New York but gathered 95 percent of the delegates. As far as Colorado is concerned, as in our state, people voted in precinct caucuses, and ultimately at a state convention. Anyone truly interested could have voted.
 Trump scarcely has 37 percent of primary votes and yet claims the nomination is being stolen from him. The primaries are not a sporting contest, but a process to gain a consensus among Republican voters as to who has the broadest appeal.
 Clearly, with 63 percent of Republicans opposed to Trump and many vehemently opposed, Trump is not a strong consensus candidate. The national convention is designed to choose the consensus candidate.
 DAVID BARNES
 SPOKANE VALLEY
SKULL SECRECY UNNECESSARY
 The recent case involving a human skull found near Downriver Golf Course is further evidence of unnecessary secrecy and of the lack of public accountability by the Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office and related police agencies.
 The medical examiner (who answers to the Spokane County commissioners) disclosed last week that investigators had determined the decedent's identity. But the medical examiner wouldn't release the identity or how it was determined. (What? Worried about the legal impossibility of invading the privacy of someone who died 97 years ago?)
 Nor would the examiner's office disclose the "final resting spot" from where the skull was stolen. (Grave robbery is an unspeakable felony. Doesn't the public have a right to know where such crimes are occurring and related details, including possible motives?)
 For agencies promoting "community policing," all the details about this despicable act should be made public so the public's eyes and ears can help solve the crime.
 Before the bureaucracy associated with the medical examiner system, back when Spokane County had an elected coroner, these details would have been immediately provided to the public. And local police agencies wouldn't have all the public-trust issues they now face.
 BILL MORLIN
 FORMER SPOKESMAN-REVIEW REPORTER
 SPOKANE
SPEECH HAS CONSEQUENCES
 I AM REALLY TIRED OF ALL OF THE COMplaining about "political correctness," as occurred after the recent firing of Curt Schilling by ESPN.
 Yes, Schilling has his rights to free speech. He wasn't arrested or fined by the government for his remarks. However, that doesn't mean there aren't consequences for his decision to exercise his rights. He insulted a very large group of people (as he has done multiple times in the past) in a very public manner.
 The very public company he works for, ESPN, has every right to protect its interests. The people he insulted are their customers. Obnoxiously insulting a whole group of people may be your right under the First Amendment, but Schilling's decision to do that still has consequences, despite all of his whining about "free speech."
 GALEN GOERTZEN
 SPOKANE
ISLAM MISCONCEPTIONS
 As I watched this year's presidential race, I realized that non-Muslim America has become increasingly ignorant about Islam. The media, bloggers and certain presidential candidates have fueled the uneducated flames of hate against this religion, calling it anti-Christian and anti-American.
 Yet, among the prophets cited in the Quran are many people from the Bible, including Jesus, Moses and Noah. In addition, the Quran talks extensively of Mary, and Muslim women cover their heads just as Mary did. Furthermore, although many people use Arab and Muslim interchangeably, only 18 percent to 20 percent of those who are Muslim are Arab. In fact, the country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia, followed by India.
 And most disturbing of all these misconceptions is the notion that those who look Arab or are Muslim are inherently terrorists or anti-American. According to statistics from the National Counterterrorism Center, the number of U.S. citizens who were killed by a terrorist attack is roughly equal to those crushed to death by their TV or furniture.
 So the next time you watch a terrorist group rolling through the streets on your TV, realize that your TV is just as likely to kill you as they are.
 DYLAN SCHULER
 SPOKANE
CMR BACKS TELEHEALTH
 I am a respiratory therapist, and I have just returned from Washington, D.C. I represented 2,600 respiratory therapists from Washington state. Two colleagues and I visited every congressional office to seek sponsorship for H.R. 2948, the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act.
 This bill will positively impact respiratory therapists and the respiratory care profession and profoundly help Medicare pulmonary patients. The bill adds respiratory therapists to the Medicare statute as qualified telehealth providers. It also covers respiratory services via a telehealth delivery system and remote patient monitoring services for certain chronic conditions, including COPD.
 I personally want to thank congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. She met with us, listened to our information, and I am pleased to say she is now a co-sponsor of this very important legislation. We are very fortunate to have such a champion for health care representing us in Washington, D.C.
 EARL MOORE
 SPOKANE




10


 


April 27, 2016 Wednesday  


 SOLVING SAUDI PROBLEM NOT EASY

 
 How do you solve a problem like Saudi Arabia?
 President Barack Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia last  week will have little impact on the mounting American hostility toward the Saudis. Now that the United States is no longer dependent on Riyadh for oil, U.S. officials feel free to vent the pent-up anger that has been building for years.
 The most recent example is the bill in Congress that would allow Americans to sue the Saudi government if it was found to have played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks - 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudis. Meantime, Obama may finally release 28 redacted pages of a 2002 congressional report on the attacks that may or may not implicate some Saudi officials. 
 Mind you, the 9/11 Commission found no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials funded the attack. And if U.S. law were changed to permit bringing suit against a country, other nations would do the same to us.
 Yet the congressional bill reflects a growing frustration at the hard-line Saudi version of Islam that has contributed in one way or another to the growth of jihadi terrorism. The legislation is a symptom of our failure to address the real Saudi problem, which no U.S. leader has figured out how to resolve.
 The problem is bigger than the fact that Saudi charities and sheikhs have helped finance Islamists. The desert monarchy has curbed such support in recent years, and other Gulf countries are also conduits of funds. The existential threat revolves around the Saudis' determination, over the past three decades, to spread their harsh Wahhabi variant of Islam around the world.
 Wahhabism is a product of a long-ago deal between the tribal founders of Saudi Arabia and the 18th-century Sunni preacher, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. This religious strain scorns other faiths, detests Shiite Muslims and praises jihad.
 Saudi schools teach intolerance, and the monarchy permits hard-line imams to export their poison on the Internet. Since the 1980s, Saudi Arabia has spent a fortune building mosques and religious schools in other Muslim countries, while sending Saudi imams to promote fundamentalist thinking. I have seen the negative impact: on the West Bank in the 1980s; in Central Asia, Bosnia, and Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1990s; and in Pakistan, where for three decades Saudi-funded madrassas have trained generations of Taliban.
 The Saudis defend themselves by claiming they are the targets of al-Qaida and the Islamic State. But their religious ideology has laid the theological groundwork for such violent jihadis. The main difference between them is that those groups consider current Arab regimes to be insufficiently faithful to these puritan precepts and deserving of destruction.
 Obama recognizes the Saudi problem. Last year, according to a much-discussed article in the Atlantic Monthly, the president complained that Saudi funding of religious schools and seminaries in Indonesia had moved that country from a more tolerant Islam to the more extreme Saudi version.
 "Aren't the Saudis your friends?" the president was asked.
 "It's complicated," Obama supposedly replied. True. But that doesn't explain why presidents from both parties have gone along with Saudi proselytizing for decades.
 The answer, of course, is that, in the past, the Saudis provided things that U.S. presidents wanted. Of course there was oil, and - with some spectacular exceptions - the Saudis kept prices stable and supplies flowing.
 And there was money: The Saudis helped Ronald Reagan finance the Afghan war against the Soviets (even though they funneled the funds to the worst Afghan fundamentalist groups). The Saudis also paid for most of the first Gulf War. They make huge purchases of U.S. weapons.
 Even today - at a time when Americans want Mideast rulers to take greater responsibility for stabilizing their region - presidential candidates from both U.S. political parties are urging the Saudis to do more to fight the Islamic State. Never mind that what the Saudis have done already has only made the civil war in Syria - and Yemen - worse.
 So how do you solve a problem like Saudi Arabia? I wish I had an answer.
 But for starters, it's time to get the problem out into the public sphere.
 Obama should release the 28 redacted pages, so the public can finally see if there is any smoke. Even the Saudis have been asking for years to have the pages declassified.
 Beyond that, this White House and the next must get realistic about what to expect from Saudi Arabia. It would be lovely to imagine that Saudi rulers could "find an effective way to share the neighborhood and institute some sort of cold peace (with Iran)," as Obama urged in the Atlantic Monthly. But this ain't going to happen anytime soon, not just because the Sunni Saudis fear and loathe Iran's Shiite ayatollahs, but because the feeling is mutual.
 Rather than hope for miracles, the next president should assume that a larger regional role for the Saudis will only increase the level of sectarian conflict - until Riyadh and Tehran finally tire of this folly. U.S. policy will have to accept this hard truth. If that happy day comes when both sides are ready for a truce, the Saudis should be pressured to help finance the reconstruction of Syria and Yemen.
 But long before that, the next president should promote an intensified debate within both Western and Muslim countries on how to prevent Saudi proselytizing from poisoning the minds of innumerable young Muslims.
 "There is a violent, radical, fanatical, nihilistic interpretation of Islam by a faction - a tiny faction - within the Muslim community that is our enemy, and that has to be defeated," Obama told the Atlantic.
 The Saudis must be discouraged from helping that faction to grow.




10


 
 


April 21, 2016 Thursday  
CITY-D Edition

 Worldview: Get real about Saudi Arabia

 
How do you solve a problem like Saudi Arabia?
 President Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia this week will have little impact on the mounting American hostility toward the Saudis. Now that the United States is no longer dependent on Riyadh for oil, U.S. officials feel free to vent the pent-up anger that has been building for years.
 The most recent example is the bill in Congress that would allow Americans to sue the Saudi government if it is found to have played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks - 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudis. Meantime, Obama may finally release 28 redacted pages of a 2002 congressional report on the attacks that may or may not implicate some Saudi officials. 
 Mind you, the 9/11 Commission found no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials funded the attack. And if U.S. law were changed to permit bringing suit against a country, other nations would do the same to us.
 Yet the congressional bill reflects a growing frustration at the hard-line Saudi version of Islam that has contributed in one way or another to the growth of jihadi terrorism. The legislation is a symptom of our failure to address the real Saudi problem, which no U.S. leader has figured out how to resolve.
 The problem is bigger than the fact that Saudi charities and sheikhs have helped finance Islamists. The desert monarchy has curbed such support in recent years, and other Gulf countries are also conduits of funds. The existential threat revolves around the Saudis' determination over the past three decades to spread their harsh Wahhabi variant of Islam around the world.
 Wahhabism is a product of a long-ago deal between the tribal founders of Saudi Arabia and the 18th-century Sunni preacher Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. This religious strain scorns other faiths, detests Shiite Muslims, and praises jihad.
 Saudi schools teach intolerance, and the monarchy permits hard-line imams to export their poison on the Internet. Since the 1980s, Saudi Arabia has spent a fortune building mosques and religious schools in other Muslim countries while sending Saudi imams to promote fundamentalist thinking. I have seen the negative impact on the West Bank in the 1980s; in Central Asia, Bosnia, and Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1990s; and in Pakistan, where for three decades Saudi-funded madrassas have trained generations of Taliban.
 The Saudis defend themselves by claiming they are the targets of al-Qaeda and ISIS. But their religious ideology has laid the theological groundwork for such violent jihadis. The main difference between them is that those groups consider current Arab regimes to be insufficiently faithful to these puritan precepts and deserving of destruction.
 Obama recognizes the Saudi problem. Last year, according to a much-discussed article in the Atlantic, the president complained that Saudi funding of religious schools and seminaries in Indonesia had moved that country from a more tolerant Islam to the more extreme Saudi version.
 "Aren't the Saudis your friends?" the president was asked.
 "It's complicated," Obama supposedly replied. True. But that doesn't explain why presidents from both parties have gone along with Saudi proselytizing for decades.
 The answer, of course, is that in the past, the Saudis provided things that U.S. presidents wanted. Of course there was oil, and - with some spectacular exceptions - the Saudis kept prices stable and supplies flowing.
 And there was money: The Saudis helped Ronald Reagan finance the Afghan war against the Soviets (even though they funneled the funds to the worst Afghan fundamentalist groups). The Saudis also paid for most of the first Gulf War. They make huge purchases of U.S. weapons.
 And even today - at a time when Americans want Mideast rulers to take greater responsibility for stabilizing their region - presidential candidates from both U.S. political parties are urging the Saudis to do more to fight ISIS. Never mind that what the Saudis have done already has only made the civil war in Syria - and Yemen - worse.
 So how do you solve a problem like Saudi Arabia? I wish I had an answer.
 But for starters, it's time to get the problem out into the public sphere.
 Obama should release the 28 redacted pages so the public can finally see if there is any smoke. Even the Saudis have been asking for years to have the pages declassified.
 Beyond that, this White House and the next must get realistic about what to expect from Saudi Arabia. It would be lovely to imagine that Saudi rulers could "find an effective way to share the neighborhood and institute some sort of cold peace [with Iran]," as Obama urged in the Atlantic. But this ain't going to happen anytime soon, not just because the Sunni Saudis fear and loathe Iran's Shiite ayatollahs, but also because the feeling is mutual.
 Rather than hope for miracles, the next president should assume that a larger regional role for the Saudis will only increase the level of sectarian conflict - until Riyadh and Tehran finally tire of this folly. U.S. policy will have to accept this hard truth. If that happy day comes when both sides are ready for a truce, the Saudis should be pressured to help finance the reconstruction of Syria and Yemen.
 But long before that, the next president should promote an intensified debate within both Western and Muslim countries about how to prevent Saudi proselytizing from poisoning the minds of innumerable young Muslims.
 "There is a violent, radical, fanatical, nihilistic interpretation of Islam by a faction - a tiny faction - within the Muslim community that is our enemy, and that has to be defeated," Obama told the Atlantic.
 The Saudis must be discouraged from helping that faction to grow. 
trubin@phillynews.com




1


 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

April 7, 2016 Thursday  


 Islam, terror and the translation minefield

 
As a long time non-partisan congressional reporter and former professional translator, I cringed when I heard that "Islamist" had gone missing from French President Francois Holland's description of terrorism at a recent White House roundtable. Did the administration delete the audio translation from a video of the session by accident? On purpose? Was it blatant censorship? Maybe a severe case of political correctness, given that President Obama  refuses to use or allow use of the term? 
The administration blames a "technical issue,"  and the audio was  restored. Whatever the reason, a lapse like this is of particular concern when the guest is the president of an important ally.
I just hope the translator won't lose his or her job.
The translator's role is to relate as exactly as possible what has been said -- not to rewrite the text to a more politically correct version. Deciding which word to choose or even omit or add from an ongoing speech or an original text is a common dilemma for translators. I faced it many times when I worked as a translator at the United Nations in Geneva, at the 1984 Olympics, and as a non-advocate immigration journalist in Washington and South America for decades. It even once cost me a job.
It was during President George W. Bush's campaign to foment a "war on terror." I was interviewing for a translating, news-writing job with a German news service when I was asked to translate a story from German into English.  But the Germans did not use the word "war" (krieg); they use "fight" (kampf); they referred to the war on terror as the kampf gegan terrorismos.
I translated the phrase as "fight against terrorism" because the customers -- mainly business people in Singapore, Japan and China -- were paying the German news agency to translate German news stories with a German point of view. But my American editor was quite taken aback at my decision. I did not get the job.
For simultaneous interpreters, there is another choice to make about the issue of tonality. Protocol demands a speech be translated in a monotone. But often, the  meaning of the words is in the tone. Should a simultaneous translator try to reflect that?
One can speculate on all the personal reasons Obama might want to avoid the term "Islamic terrorist." Perhaps it is because both his biological father and his stepfather were Muslim. In Indonesia, Obama attended a Muslim school for a while, and many of his best friends in high school and college in the U.S. were Muslims. He knows Islam as a diverse, friendly, mostly peaceful religion. Hollande obviously does not have that background.
It's  good for a translator to know some of the  background of high-profile speakers to  choose the most appropriate words. But no translation protocol allows deliberate changes to a speaker's words because they are deemed politically incorrect by the host. That's true especially when the host is the White House.
Margaret (Peggy) Sands Orchowski is congressional correspondent for Hispanic Outlook magazine. 




11



 



March 29, 2016 Tuesday  


 

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. soldier reportedly kills boy near Kabul
A U.S. soldier fatally shot an Afghan boy on Monday near an American airfield close to Kabul, a senior Afghan police officer said.
The boy, whose age is not known, had been carrying what looked like an automatic rifle near Bagram air base, in neighboring Parwan province, said the provincial police chief, Gen. Zaman Mamozai. The base is 35 miles from the Afghan capital.
A U.S. soldier in a watchtower had warned the boy to stop, Mamozai said. 
Residents gathered near the base to protest the killing but dispersed once they were told about the circumstances, Mamozai said. He said the incident is being investigated.
Army Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the U.S. military was looking into the incident.
Earlier, an Afghan official said overnight attacks on two police checkpoints in the volatile southern province of Helmand killed at least eight officers.
Col. Almas Kahn, deputy police chief in Helmand,  blamed the Taliban, but the group did not assert responsibility for the attack.
In the south of Uruzgan province, an official said two days of fighting between police and insurgents had left 12 officers and 20 Taliban fighters dead.
District police chief Wali Dad said Taliban gunmen attacked about a dozen police checkpoints, also wounding 27 officers.
- Associated Press

ISRAEL

Government yieldsin Brazil dispute
Israel confirmed Monday that it has withdrawn the nomination of a former West Bank settler leader as ambassador to Brazil, caving in to what appeared to be Brazilian objections to his political past.
The decision to drop Dani Dayan's candidacy is a setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had vowed to stick by his nominee, and reflects growing international impatience over continued Israeli settlement construction on occupied lands claimed by the Palestinians.
Netanyahu's office said Dayan would instead serve as the new consul general in New York.
Dayan, a former chairman of the West Bank settler council, was nominated in August to be ambassador to Brazil. His backers had pointed to the Argentina-born Dayan's familiarity with the region and his success as a businessman as strong credentials for the post.
But Brazil never responded to the nomination, in what was seen as a show of displeasure over Dayan's connections to the settlement movement.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip - territories that Palestinians claim for a future state - in the 1967 Mideast war. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
Nearly 600,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The international community considers the settlements illegal or illegitimate. Israel says their fate should be resolved via negotiations.
- Associated Press
 Court says Islam will remain Bangladesh's state religion:  The top court in Bangladesh rejected a 28-year-old petition to remove Islam as the official religion of the Muslim-majority South Asian nation. The court said the group that filed the petition in 1988 - when Islam was declared the state religion - has no legitimacy because it was never registered with authorities. Government lawyers said that the ruling means that Islam will remain the official religion and that equal rights for minority religions guaranteed by the constitution will not be affected.
 Saudi-led alliance confirms Yemen prisoner swap:  A Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Shiite rebels said it completed a prisoner swap, exchanging nine Saudi prisoners for 109 Yemeni nationals ahead of a planned truce and peace talks. The exchange coincided with airstrikes by the coalition and by U.S. warplanes on Islamist militants in southern Yemen. The Iran-allied rebels have been battling forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed president for a year.
 Indonesia says ship hijacked, 10 held hostage by suspected militants:  Ten Indonesian nationals are being held hostage after their ship was hijacked in Philippine waters, Indonesia's foreign ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that the owner of the tugboat and coal barge received telephone calls purportedly from militant group Abu Sayyaf demanding a ransom. It does not know exactly when the incident occurred but said the ship owner was first contacted Saturday.
- From news services




11


 Carlsbad Current-Argus
 
Carlsbad Current-Argus (New Mexico)

March 19, 2016 Saturday  


 Editorial opinions from other papers

 
Hillary Clinton vs. the NRA
In 2008, Barack Obama bent over backward to defuse suspicions from gun owners and their chief lobbying group, the National Rifle Association. "I believe in the Second Amendment," he assured one audience. "I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away." 
A lot of good it did him. The NRA ran ads saying he "would be the most anti-gun president in American history." Four years later, with that fear unrealized, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre warned that Obama was plotting "to ensure re-election by lulling gun owners to sleep" so he could then "erase" the Second Amendment. That, of course, also didn't happen.
Back in 2008, running against Obama, Hillary Clinton also tried to make nice with the gun-rights crowd, fondly recalling that she had learned to shoot as a child. But Obama's experience proved there is nothing a Democratic presidential nominee can say or do to appease NRA sympathizers.
So Clinton is taking a different approach this time. She's endorsed the gun control measures sought in vain by Obama after the Sandy Hook massacre, including universal background checks. Clinton's message to the gun lobby is: Bring it on.
What's changed? Some states with lots of gun owners who once were up for grabs, like Arkansas and Tennessee, now appear out of reach for Democrats. Nationally, public opinion is on Clinton's side: Not only do 89 percent of Americans support universal background checks, so do 87 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of voters in households with guns.
On top of that, it's become clear that the NRA will do everything it can to defeat any Democratic nominee. Clinton clearly figures that these days, trying to get along with the NRA won't win her any votes, and challenging it may.
Chicago Tribune, March 18
Indonesia is a potential US partner
The United States purposely included Indonesia in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering it organized in California last month to serve as a counterpoint to China in Asia.
Indonesia is a vigorous democracy, with the fourth-largest population in the world. It is also the most populous Muslim country and remains a moderate society.
Its economy is relatively healthy. Gross domestic product growth slipped in 2015, but to a very respectable 4.8 percent. The country does relatively well with exports of palm oil, rubber, tin and oil.
President Joko Widodo was elected in 2014 on a platform of change and honesty. He is a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, which controls only 105 of 560 seats in the parliament, thus requiring him to govern through an unwieldy coalition.
Indonesia's major challenges come from its size, potential vulnerability to Islamic extremism, widespread corruption and China's sagging fortunes as a customer.
All of that said, Indonesia remains a promising partner for the United States in Asia, particularly as a moderate Muslim state with economic promise. President Barack Obama, who spent part of his youth there, is right to court the country.
, March 11




11


 Bangor Daily News 
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

March 14, 2016 Monday

 Indonesia holds promise for Asia progress

 
The United States purposely included Indonesia in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering it organized in California last month to serve as a counterpoint to China in Asia. 

Indonesia is a vigorous democracy, with the fourth-largest population in the world. It is also the most populous Muslim country and remains a moderate society.

Its economy is relatively healthy. Gross domestic product growth slipped in 2015, but to a very respectable 4.8 percent. The country does relatively well with exports of palm oil, rubber, tin and oil.

Compared with Asian rivals China, India, Japan and South Korea, though, it punches beneath its weight. One problem is geography. Indonesia is an archipelago of 13,466 islands, which makes infrastructure -- as well as national governance -- expensive and complicated.

President Joko Widodo was elected in 2014 on a platform of change and honesty. He is a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, which controls only 105 of 560 seats in the parliament, thus requiring him to govern through an unwieldy coalition. His party is led, not by him, but by Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president and, worse, the daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, a dictator who ruled from 1945, when it gained independence from Holland, to 1967.

Indonesia's major challenges come from its size, potential vulnerability to Islamic extremism, widespread corruption and China's sagging fortunes as a customer.

All of that said, Indonesia remains a promising partner for the U.S. in Asia, particularly as a moderate Muslim state with economic promise. President Barack Obama, who spent part of his youth there, is right to court the country.

 (March 11)




11


 


March 14, 2016 Monday

 A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS

 
NOT SO FAST: Maryoly Gamez of Venezuela tries to slow down Victoria Rios of Uruguay during the International Women's Rugby Sevens - Aquece Rio Test Event for the 2016 Olympics at Deodoro Olympic Park on March 6 in Rio de Janeiro. BUDA MENDES / GETTY IMAGES TREE OF LIGHTS: The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, shine over the Sycamore Gap at Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland in northeast England early on March 7. OWEN HUMPHREYS / PA INNOCENCE FOUND: Andre Hatchett (right) sits with his lawyer Barry Scheck as the court erupts with applause after his exoneration Thursday in Brooklyn, N.Y. Hatchett, serving 25 years to life in the killing of Neda Mae Carter in 1991, is the 19th wrongfully-convicted prisoner freed by Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson's Conviction Review Unit.
BEBETO MATTHEWS / ASSOCIATED PRESS 
GOING OUT ON TOP: Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning pauses at a news conference, where he announced his retirement from professional football, in Englewood, Colo., on March 7. Manning finished a record-breaking 18 year career by leading the Broncos to a Super Bowl 50 victory over the Carolina Panthers. DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / ASSOCIATED PRESSDADDY - YOU'RE HOME!: Taylor Laughlin, 2, and Jonathon Laughlin, 5, hug their father, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew Laughlin after he surprised them during a school assembly at Brownsboro Elementary School on March 4. Laughlin returned home to his family Friday after a year serving in South Korea. SARAH A. MILLER / TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPHFLAG FOR THE FALLEN: U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Xavier Brunson (right) presents a flag to 6-month-old Declan McClintock during a funeral for his father, Sgt. First Class Matthew McClintock, on March 7 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. McClintock was killed Jan. 5 near Marjah, Afghanistan. EVAN VUCCI / ASSOCIATED PRESS AUTHOR'S WIDOW: Pat Conroy's widow Cassandra King (right) is escorted out of St. Peter's Catholic Parish after her husband's funeral mass in Beaufort, S.C., on Tuesday. Conroy died Friday at age 70 at his home in Beaufort surrounded by his family, according to his publisher. STEPHEN B. MORTON /
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAYING GOODBYE: People come to pay their respects in front of the casket of former first lady Nancy Reagan as she lies in repose at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Wednesday. Reagan began her final journey to her husband's side Wednesday as a police motorcade carried her casket down an empty freeway lined with saluting firefighters and mourners holding hands over their hearts in tribute to the former first lady. WALLY SKALIJ / LOS ANGELES
TIMESUNTHINKABLE TRAGEDY: A woman reacts at the scene of a deadly shooting in Wilkinsburg, Pa., on Thursday. Police say multiple people were killed in the shooting late Wednesday and several were injured in suburban Pittsburgh. MICHAEL HENNINGER / PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTESTRANDED REFUGEES: A woman holds a baby next to a fire at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, on Thursday. After nearly three days of rain, conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border, where about 14,000 people are stranded, have deteriorated significantly, with many residents struggling to re-pitch their small camping tents in slightly drier patches. VADIM GHIRDA / ASSOCIATED PRESS TRAIN DERAILED: Workers investigate the scene of a derailed Altamont Corridor Express train Tuesday in Sunol, Calif. Spokesman Francisco J. Castillo said investigators believe a mudslide swept a tree onto the tracks, derailing a car on the Altamont Corridor Express train Monday evening. The San Francisco Bay Area has been inundated with thunderstorms in recent days that have swamped roadways and creeks. BEN MARGOT / ASSOCIATED PRESS BRUNCH YOU'LL NEVER FORGET: Clowns rest while a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey elephant eats during a brunch at Prudential Center on Thursday in Newark, N.J. The brunch was held as part of a sendoff event for the elephants, which will be retiring from circus performances and moved to the circus' Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. JULIO CORTEZ / ASSOCIATED PRESSAN UNUSUAL PERSPECTIVE: A partial solar eclipse is seen behind passenger capsules of the Singapore Flyer on Wednesday in Singapore. The last eclipse happened in Singapore in January 2009, and the next solar eclipse, an annular one, will occur on December 26, 2019. WONG MAYE-E /
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAKING IN THE ECLIPSE: People gather to watch the total solar eclipse in Palembang city on Wednesday in Palembang, South Sumatra province, Indonesia. A total solar eclipse swept across Indonesia on Wednesday, seen by sky gazers and marked by parties, colourful tribal rituals and Muslim prayers. ULET IFANSASTI / GETTY IMAGES SHE CAN'T VOTE YET: Dayia Ramsey places a sticker on her forehead after her mother cast her ballot at a polling station inside Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday. Four states held primaries and caucuses Tuesday, with Michigan the biggest prize for Democrats and Republicans in the race for the presidency. JOSHUA LOTT / THE NEW YORK TIMES PAPER PANDAS: A worker displays paper pandas created by French artist Paulo Grangeon in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok ,Thailand, on March. 4. The exhibit is part of the World Wide Fund's project where the 1,600 paper pandas symbolize the last pandas still present in nature. SAKCHAI LALIT /
ASSOCIATED PRESS




11


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

March 11, 2016

 Is Trump Really a Hitler-Style Fascist?

 
Alfred Münzer, a Holocaust survivor,   is nervous: Donald Trump's  increasingly vile campaign for  president is becoming increasingly   viable.
I am very worried about what he says. I  am much more worried by how it's received,  Münzer told me in a phone interview from his  Washington, D.C., home, as voters in nearby  Virginia went to the polls and handed Trump  another Super Tuesday victory. The fact that  he's been able to attract these huge numbers of  people, so full of hate  I don't think I've ever  encountered anything quite like this.
Münzer, 74, is a volunteer at the United  States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and takes  part in two different monthly groups with  other survivors, who are politically engaged  and vocal about it. The topic [Trump] comes  up all the time, he said. These are people of  a variety of political stripes, but on this issue, I  really think there is unanimity. 
I reached out to Münzer and other Holocaust   survivors and scholars to better resolve  my own inner tensions. The journalist in me   my skeptical, contrarian streak  is reluctant   to succumb to the anxieties that fill my  Facebook feed and dominate social discourse  among like-minded people who are certain  that we are witnessing a homegrown American   version of the demagoguery that destroyed  Europe in the last century.
The scholars, more analytical by nature,  offer explanations to prove those fears exaggerated.   The survivors have no such hesitation.
Münzer, a retired physician, traces his  abhorrence and fear of Trump back to his experience   as a very young child when the Nazis  targeted Jews for extinction. I owe my life  to a Muslim Indonesian woman in Holland  who risked her life to save me, he recalled.  Anyone who singles out any kind of community   for hate, I find appalling.
Another survivor who volunteers at the  museum, Halina Yasharoff Peabody, told me  that she, too, finds herself in a unique state of  apprehension over Trump's candidacy. She was  seven when the war broke out in Poland and  survived only by the sheer guts and cunning of  her mother, who secured false papers so that  she and her two daughters could live as Catholics.
He wants to be a dictator. We've had dictators   and that can't be good, Peabody told me  in a phone interview. It seems unreal, what  is happening. I don't understand how people  can follow a person who doesn't know what  the law is.
Intellectually, I can dismiss their concerns.  My innate skepticism and, frankly, my respect  for American culture and history, make me  want to reject the simplistic analogies of Trump  to, say, Adolf Hitler. Hitler was motivated by a  clear, if twisted, ideology; Trump's policies  are often just spontaneous pronouncements,  without any coherence other than to demonize   the other and make himself the answer to  all that needs fixing in America today.
Hitler exploited a nation brought to its  knees by a crippling world war and a severe  depression; America was brought back from  economic ruin by the very president Trump  seeks to succeed in office, and despite rhetoric   to the contrary, this country still has the  world's most powerful economy and mili-
Holocaust  scholars say  fears are
exaggerated.  Survivors see  it differently.
tary. Hitler skillfully leveraged state-sponsored  violence against its own citizens; Trump's self-centered   campaign, ugly though it is, has no such  mechanism at its disposal.
The historian Robert Paxton, interviewed  recently in Slate, offered another fascinating  distinction: Fascists like Hitler and Benito Mussolini   blamed their national declines on rampant  individualism and offered as a solution the  subjugation of the individual to the community.   Trump's platform, if you could call it that,  appears to favor more Republican-style freedom  from government and communal responsibility.
But even Paxton noted the undeniable echoes:  The use of ethnic stereotypes and exploitation  of fear of foreigners is directly out of a fascist's  recipe book.
And while it's not fair to say that all Trump's  supporters hate Mexicans and Muslims and  pesky question-asking journalists as much as the  candidate does, it's also possible that supporters  will overlook those stands in favor of his legitimatization   of their deepest resentments. As  historian Deborah Lipstadt reminded me: Some  people didn't approve of Hitler's anti-Semitism,  but they went along with it because he was  going to make Germany great again.
So how seriously do we listen to the warnings  of survivors? The few I spoke to hardly constitute   a representative sampling, though I'm not  the only one to note their grim assessments.  Their fears could be compounded by their firsthand   experience of Hitler's horrors. They have  seen the very worst that one human being can  do to another, and that one leader can do to an  entire continent. They have seen a cultured society   crumble beneath its own prejudices. We, who  have greater distance from the Holocaust, may  actually have the ability to be a bit more clear-eyed   about our current situation.
What struck me in speaking with these survivors   is the way the Trump phenomenon has  shaken their otherwise persistent faith in an  America that they fled to for its tolerance and its  ideals. I came here for freedom, Peabody said.  I don't want not to be able to express myself.
Even at this raw moment, I don't envision  those freedoms disappearing  and in fact, I'm  proud of the many Jews, Republicans included,  who are unequivocally repudiating Trump's statements   and tactics.
Still, I asked Peabody if she feels particularly   vulnerable as a Jew. I'm worried about every  minority. I do know that my minority is always  attacked. They always find me a good scapegoat,  she replied. There is a lot of anger in the world,  but this is no way to correct it.




11


 


March 10, 2016 Thursday  
 

 Total Solar Eclipse Sweeps Across Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Millions of Indonesians witnessed a rare total solar eclipse early on Wednesday that turned morning into night in some areas and inspired special prayer vigils, cultural dances, live music and observation parties. 
It was the first total solar eclipse, in which the moon obscures the sun by passing directly between it and Earth, since March 20, 2015. That event was visible only in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. 
  The eclipse on Wednesday, which began at 6:19 a.m. in Jakarta, the capital, was visible in nearly half of Indonesia's 34 provinces. Partial eclipses could be seen in the region, including in Australia and Singapore; in some Pacific island nations and in Hawaii.
  Because of the eclipse's trajectory, the regions of South Sumatra, Indonesian Borneo, Central Sulawesi and Eastern Indonesia got the best shows, with the small town of Ternate in the Maluku Islands deemed the prime viewing location. International scientists were in the Malukus to observe the eclipse, while tens of thousands of Indonesians and foreign tourists flocked to various regions for the event.
  Indonesian television stations broadcast live shots of the eclipse in different stages from four regions across the 3,100-mile archipelago, showing a pitch-black moon with a bright halo.
  In Palembang, the capital of the province of South Sumatra, the morning sky turned to dusk at the peak of the eclipse, and streetlights were turned on to assist motorists and pedestrians.
  ''It was darker than I expected,'' said Jules Brookfield, a Jakarta-based American hotel executive who flew to Palembang for work and to watch the eclipse, which he did from a hotel rooftop. ''There was lots of cheering, and it suddenly got cooler out.''
  He said hotels across the city were booked.
  ''I had no idea it was such an event,'' he said.
  Thousands of mosques across the country held special eclipse prayers. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world.
  Although Jakarta was not a prime viewing location, clear morning skies there allowed residents to see the eclipse if they donned tinted glasses or improvised using medical X-rays or exposed camera film to block out the sunlight. In residential neighborhoods near the city center, mosque loudspeakers blared prayers and songs as the eclipse reached its peak around 7:20 a.m.
  The sun was totally obscured in some areas of Indonesia for nearly three minutes, but the morning skies were back to normal within two hours of the eclipse's start.




11


 


March 6, 2016 Sunday

 El café es una bebida estimulante ampliamente consumida, preparada de las semill

 
El café es una bebida estimulante ampliamente consumida, preparada de las semillas tostadas de la planta de café. El café se consumió por primera vez en el siglo IX, cuando fue descubierto en las montañas de Etiopía. Desde allí se extendió hacia Egipto y Yemén, y para el siglo XV había alcanzado a Azerbaiján, Persia, Turquía y el norte de África. Desde el mundo musulmán el café se expandió hasta Italia, y luego al resto de Europa, Indonesia y América. Hoy día, el café es una de las bebidas más populares en todo el mundo. Las dos especies que más se cultivan son Coffea canephora (también conocida como Coffea robusta) y Coffea arábica. Éstas son cultivadas en Latinoamérica, el sureste de Asia y África. 
El café ha jugado un papel importante en muchas sociedades a través de la historia moderna. En África y Yemen era usado en las ceremonias religiosas. Como resultado, la iglesia etíope prohibió su consumo hasta el reinado del Emperador Menelik II de Etiopía. Fue prohibido en el imperio otomano turco en el siglo XVII por razones políticas.
Fuente: ico.org
Coffee is a widely-consumed stimulant beverage prepared from roasted seeds of the coffee plant. Coffee was first consumed in the 9th century, when it was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia. From there, it spread to Egypt and Yemen, and by the 15th century had reached Azerbaijan, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe, Indonesia, and the Americas. Today, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide.
The two most commonly grown species are Coffea canephora (also known as Coffea robusta) and Coffea arabica. These are cultivated in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
Coffee has played an important role in many societies throughout modern history. In Africa and Yemen, it was used in religious ceremonies. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its consumption until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. It was banned in Ottoman Turkey in the 17th century for political reasons.
Source: ico.org




11


 


March 1, 2016 Tuesday  


 Multihued Muslim Enclave, Forged in Apartheid, Now Faces Gentrification

 
CAPE TOWN -- In the days when everyone in the neighborhood celebrated Muslim holidays, Mogamat Khan Salie would take almost two hours to walk the three blocks from the mosque to his home.
He lingered at every house along the way, exchanging greetings, inquiring about relatives and accepting well-wishes and good food, as he sauntered through the narrow, cobblestone streets of the Bo-Kaap, a neighborhood that, in a quirk of South Africa's apartheid history, was preserved as an ethnic enclave in this otherwise white city. 
  ''Now, it takes me 15 minutes to get to my house,'' Mr. Salie, 59, said. ''At the end of the day, there are no more Muslim people staying in our area. Our culture, our heritage, is going down the drain.''
  Most of the residents of the Bo-Kaap are still Muslim South Africans, descendants of slaves brought here from other African nations, India, Indonesia and Malaysia who became known over the centuries as Cape Malays, or Cape Muslims. 
  Mr. Salie's words reflect profound fears here that their culture and identity, often overlooked in a country defined by the cleavages between black and white South Africans, will eventually disappear because of the neighborhood's transformation.
  The Bo-Kaap -- home to the first mosque in South Africa and considered the birthplace of Islam in this part of Africa -- was designated a Cape Malay neighborhood during the apartheid era. Strict laws against the mixing of races resulted in the preservation of the Bo-Kaap and its culture.
  Like the rest of the country, the Bo-Kaap, which means Top Cape, has been changing since the end of apartheid in 1994. White South Africans and foreigners, attracted to its location in central Cape Town -- an urban lifestyle tinged with exoticism, brightly colored Cape Dutch houses, dramatic views of Table Mountain and comparatively cheaper real estate -- have recently been buying up property.
  Some longtime residents have sold willingly and moved to the suburbs for larger homes with pools and garages. Others, unable to pay the rising property taxes, have left under unhappy circumstances.
  The Bo-Kaap's post-apartheid transformation follows a familiar pattern of gentrification in this city. After an initial period of decay, Cape Town's urban core has been revived as a center for business and tourism.
  Cape Town is the only major city in South Africa to have successfully managed the transition from the apartheid era, said Nico Kotze, an urban geographer at the University of Johannesburg who has studied the city, including the Bo-Kaap, for the past two decades. By contrast, Johannesburg and other cities have never recovered from the flight of white South Africans and the emergence of new suburban centers.
  Still, Cape Town's success has led to the displacement of its lower-income residents.
  ''A lot of places are changing in Cape Town and losing their character, with extremely wealthy people coming into Cape Town from abroad and buying properties,'' Mr. Kotze said.
  Perhaps nowhere are the changes as striking as in the Bo-Kaap.
  Ziyaad Davids, 26, grew up in the Bo-Kaap and lives in a bright orange house with his parents. The family moved away for a while, renting out the house while living in a suburb. But the Davidses returned to the Bo-Kaap because they found themselves alienated in the suburb, even though it was a predominantly Cape Malay area.
  ''We'd come outside and see the neighbor, and he looks at you,'' Mr. Davids said. ''He looks past you.''
  In the Bo-Kaap, he added, the neighborhood was an extension of one's home, a place where people conversed and felt no shame in asking a neighbor for some coffee if caught short.
  Most newcomers were respectful of the Bo-Kaap's Cape Malay identity, he said. But some were not: They drank in public or complained about the calls to prayer. Others, he said, would pose in front of the mosques in revealing clothes.
  Anne Gonschorek, a German journalist, has lived in the Bo-Kaap for 18 months. She and three other tenants share a purple house owned by a European woman. Ms. Gonschorek, who pays $330 a month in rent, was drawn to the neighborhood's ''exotic feel.''
  ''Otherwise, Cape Town is very European, very westernized, definitely not Africa as you would imagine it,'' she said.
  Even so, she found that at least one custom made her uneasy. She said that people tend to gather on sidewalks, often milling around random doorsteps. Returning home late at night, Ms. Gonschorek encountered young men sitting on her doorstep.
  ''Can you please not sit right at my entrance?'' Ms. Gonschorek recalled asking. ''And then they will say, 'This is our Bo-Kaap.' ''
  The Auwal Mosque, South Africa's first, was established in the Bo-Kaap in the late 18th century. Islam was introduced to South Africa from Indonesia at a time when the Dutch controlled both countries.
  As a result, slaves brought here by the Dutch from different continents began practicing Islam according to Indonesian traditions. They also adopted Indonesian expressions in their daily lives and developed a cuisine with Southeast Asian influences, said Suleman Essop Dangor, a scholar on Islam in South Africa.
  In the 1960s, as the apartheid government segregated the country's population by race, it transformed cities into exclusive zones for white South Africans. Nonwhites were evicted from all of Cape Town's neighborhoods -- except the Bo-Kaap.
  The neighborhood had been saved, Mr. Kotze said, because of an unusual champion: I. D. du Plessis, a government official who wrote about Cape Malay culture. Mr. du Plessis, who was white and died in 1981, had pressed for years for the preservation of the Bo-Kaap as a Cape Malay quarter, a move that was in keeping with the apartheid government's policy of creating separate spaces for each racial or ethnic group.
  So segregated was the Bo-Kaap that Fuad Moos, 25, remembers seeing only Cape Malay residents while growing up.
  ''White people could never walk around this site, just like that,'' he said, pointing to a group of white tourists walking up the neighborhood's main street.
  Today, outsiders own about 15 percent of the 1,100 residences in the Bo-Kaap, said Osman Shaboodien, the chairman of the Bo-Kaap Civic Association. His group is working to retain the neighborhood's original identity by helping longtime residents take in lodgers so that they can pay the rising property taxes and by encouraging the sale of houses to other locals.
  But change was coming from many directions, not only gentrification, Mr. Shaboodien said.
  In the past two decades, Muslim leaders in the Bo-Kaap and elsewhere in the country have developed growing ties with Saudi Arabia, which has offered scholarships and other assistance to spread its version of Islam throughout the world. In the Bo-Kaap's mosques, practices rooted in Southeast Asia have given way to a version of Islam from the Middle East.
  Longstanding traditions among the Muslims here -- like visits to famous burial sites and a ceremony involving the striking of swords and daggers -- are frowned upon by those who have studied in Saudi Arabia.
  Yusuf Larney, 61, the owner of a Cape Malay restaurant called Bo-Kaap Kombuis, said that apartheid had kept the community tighter, but had also stunted its growth. The freedom of post-apartheid South Africa, he said, had opened up the world to residents even as it ushered a new world into the neighborhood.
  ''You cannot prevent people from outside this community -- if they want to buy here -- you can't prevent that, because then you want to start another apartheid,'' Mr. Larney said. ''It's tit for tat.''




11


 


February 28, 2016, Sunday

 Religious leaders deemed essential to boosting contraception worldwide

 
YOGYAKARTA,Indonesia - Religious tradition runs deep in this ancient city in the heart of Indonesia.
The country's oldest Islamic university and one of its most influential Muslim charities are here. In the city center, an ornate 18th century palace complex is home to one of the world's last surviving Muslim dynasties. Even health care here is often linked to religion; several of Yogyakarta's leading medical centers are operated by Islamic charities.
Yet religious hospitals and clinics in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, do something that many religiously affiliated medical providers in the United States do not. They dispense contraceptives, including IUDs, birth control pills and condoms. Some perform sterilizations. 
In the U.S., many religious institutions are locked in a fight with the federal government over birth control that is set to go before the Supreme Court next month. Elsewhere, in contrast, religious groups are increasingly joining governments and health officials in a global effort to expand access to birth control.
Last week, even Pope Francis connected family planning and health, saying contraceptives could be used to prevent pregnancies in places where the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects across Latin America, is spreading.
"Anything related to sex is controversial or uncomfortable, but with maternal and child mortality still so high in many parts of the world, people have become much more willing to work on this issue, said Mona Bormet, program director for Christian Connections for International Health, a U.S.-based consortium of Christian aid organizations. "The unmet need is just huge.
The health needs are driving a revolution worldwide in family planning.
World Vision, a multibillion-dollar evangelical Christian aid group based in Southern California, is helping governments ensure dependable supplies of contraceptives.
In West Africa, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant leaders recently formed a partnership to exchange information on promoting family planning in their religious communities.
In Indonesia, a group of Muslim scholars has endorsed vasectomies as a form of birth control.
The family planning campaign comes as global health officials work to save the lives of more than 300,000 women who die annually from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
Although maternal mortality rates have dropped by nearly half since 1990, deaths remain high in many poor nations, driven in part by unintended and high-risk pregnancies. And progress has stagnated in some places.
In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, a woman is nearly 40 times more likely to die in childbirth than in the U.S., according to World Health Organization figures.
"If we were able to provide family planning services to all the women in the world who want them, we would prevent more than 50 million unintended pregnancies every year, said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, head of the U.N. Population Fund.
Widespread health coverage would also prevent 15 million unsafe abortions, Osotimehin said, noting that unsafe procedures are a leading cause of death among pregnant women in many poor countries.
Enlisting religious groups in family planning campaigns has been a delicate task, as religious leaders have historically been wary of efforts to limit family size. Modern contraceptives, some of which are seen as inducing abortion, have been even more controversial.
As a result, some family planning advocates steered clear of local religious leaders. "People are afraid of stirring up opposition, said Katherine Marshall, senior fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
Resistance from the Catholic Church in the Philippines and in Latin America has slowed family planning efforts in those places. And opposition from Muslim clerics in Iran, Pakistan and other Islamic countries remains a major barrier.
With progress lagging in many countries, advocates are now engaging churches, mosques and other religious institutions with messages that harmonize family planning with traditional religious teachings, including those that encourage procreation.
Both Islam and Christianity, for example, stress the importance of providing for children and ensuring their health and well-being, precepts that religious scholars cite in support of policies that allow families to plan how many children to have and how closely to space the births.
"There is this mis-perception that modern forms of contraceptives are inconsistent with faith, said Susan Otchere, who directs family planning programs for World Vision.
"We find that when we give people facts about how family planning relates to healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies and how that impacts the health of mothers and children in terms of nutrition, education, even family income ... then there is an aha' moment.
The effort is paying dividends.
In Senegal, for example, contraceptive use among women in several communities increased significantly after an education campaign that relied heavily on Muslim religious leaders, according to the Gates Foundation, which helped support the project.
In East Africa, similar gains were recorded after an initiative by the Christian Health Association of Kenya, which represents hospitals run by Protestant churches.
And in Indonesia, leading Islamic organizations are frequently credited with helping deliver huge family planning gains in the 1970s and '80s, during which time the country's birthrate dropped by half, making Indonesia an international model. At the time, leaders of those organizations issued fatwas, or religious rulings, stating that birth control was permissible.
Today, the country's universal health insurance system, created in 2014, provides Indonesians with coverage for all modern forms of contraception, including IUDs, birth control pills and hormone implants.
Indonesia's health care reforms haven't eliminated all barriers to family planning, particularly for adolescents.
The insurance program provides contraceptive coverage only to married Indonesians, for example, reflecting persistent objections to premarital sex.
And across Indonesia, abortion is illegal, except in emergencies.
Amin Abdullah, a Muslim scholar and family planning advocate who once headed the Islamic University of Indonesia in Yogyakarta, said reaching young, unmarried people with family planning measures must be a higher priority.
But, he said, that will be achieved only if the effort involves religious leaders and links contraception with broader messages about health.
"It is impossible to ignore religion, Abdullah said. "This is the culture.




12



 
Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)

February 27, 2016 Saturday  


 Support by religious leaders deemed essential to boosting contraception

 
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia -- Religious tradition runs deep in this ancient city in the heart of Indonesia.
The country's oldest Islamic university and one of its most influential Muslim charities are here. In the city center, an ornate 18th-century palace complex is home to one of the world's last surviving Muslim dynasties. Even health care here is often linked to religion; several of Yogyakarta's leading medical centers are operated by Islamic charities.
Yet religious hospitals and clinics in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, do something that many religiously affiliated medical providers in the United States do not. They dispense contraceptives, including IUDs, birth control pills and condoms. Some perform sterilizations. 
In the U.S., many religious institutions are locked in a fight with the federal government over birth control that is set to go before the Supreme Court next month. Elsewhere, in contrast, religious groups are increasingly joining governments and health officials in a global effort to expand access to birth control.
Last week, even Pope Francis connected family planning and health, saying contraceptives could be used to prevent pregnancies in places where the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects across Latin America, is spreading.
"Anything related to sex is controversial or uncomfortable, but with maternal and child mortality still so high in many parts of the world, people have become much more willing to work on this issue," said Mona Bormet, program director for Christian Connections for International Health, a U.S.-based consortium of Christian aid organizations. "The unmet need is just huge."
The health needs are driving a revolution worldwide in family planning.
World Vision, a multibillion-dollar evangelical Christian aid group based in Southern California, is helping governments ensure dependable supplies of contraceptives.
In West Africa, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant leaders recently formed a partnership to exchange information on promoting family planning in their religious communities.
In Indonesia, a group of Muslim scholars has endorsed vasectomies as a form of birth control.
The family planning campaign comes as global health officials work to save the lives of more than 300,000 women who die annually from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
Although maternal mortality rates have dropped by nearly half since 1990, deaths remain high in many poor nations, driven in part by unintended and high-risk pregnancies. And progress has stagnated in some places.
In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, a woman is nearly 40 times more likely to die in childbirth than in the U.S., according to World Health Organization figures.
"If we were able to provide family planning services to all the women in the world who want them, we would prevent more than 50 million unintended pregnancies every year," said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, head of the U.N. Population Fund.
Widespread health coverage would also prevent 15 million unsafe abortions, Osotimehin said, noting that unsafe procedures are a leading cause of death among pregnant women in many poor countries.
Enlisting religious groups in family planning campaigns has been a delicate task, as religious leaders have historically been wary of efforts to limit family size. Modern contraceptives, some of which are seen as inducing abortion, have been even more controversial.
As a result, some family planning advocates steered clear of local religious leaders. "People are afraid of stirring up opposition," said Katherine Marshall, senior fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
Resistance from the Catholic Church in the Philippines and in Latin America has slowed family planning efforts in those places. And opposition from Muslim clerics in Iran, Pakistan and other Islamic countries remains a major barrier.
With progress lagging in many countries, advocates are now engaging churches, mosques and other religious institutions with messages that harmonize family planning with traditional religious teachings, including those that encourage procreation.
Both Islam and Christianity, for example, stress the importance of providing for children and ensuring their health and well-being, precepts that religious scholars cite in support of policies that allow families to plan how many children to have and how closely to space the births.
"There is this misperception that modern forms of contraceptives are inconsistent with faith," said Susan Otchere, who directs family planning programs for World Vision. "We find that when we give people facts about how family planning relates to healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies and how that impacts the health of mothers and children in terms of nutrition, education, even family income ... then there is an 'aha' moment."
The effort is paying dividends.
In Senegal, for example, contraceptive use among women in several communities increased significantly after an education campaign that relied heavily on Muslim religious leaders, according to the Gates Foundation, which helped support the project.
And in Indonesia, leading Islamic organizations are frequently credited with helping deliver huge family planning gains in the 1970s and '80s, during which time the country's birthate dropped by half, making Indonesia an international model. At the time, leaders of those organizations issued fatwas, or religious rulings, stating that birth control was permissible.
Today, the country's universal health insurance system, created in 2014, provides Indonesians with coverage for all modern forms of contraception, including IUDs, birth control pills and hormone implants.
A team of doctors perform a vasectomy at the Nur Hidayah medical clinic outside Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Like many religiously affiliated medical providers in Indonesia, the clinic offers extensive family planning services, including providing contraceptives and performing sterilizations. Photo/Noam N. Levey//TNS




12


 


February 20, 2016 Saturday  


 LETTERS

 
WOLF SHOOTINGS MAKE SENSE
 As a person who ate elk from the Lolo Zone in Idaho many, many years of my life, I am glad to see the report of wolves shot by helicopter in that area.
 Although we could all become vegetarian and allow the wolves to continue to decimate the herds (down from 16,000 to 1,000 in 25 years), evolutionists should take note. How many more years until the elk are all gone and you are on the wolves' menu? Is evolution really a fact?
 This is terrible management of natural resources. How much better it would be if those in charge obeyed the Bible and subjected and controlled all wildlife.
NORENE ZEHM 
SPOKANE VALLEY
COLONIALISM LIVES
 I'm watching CIA Director John Brennan on "60 Minutes" explaining why ISIS wants to kill Americans. I'm sorry I can't verbalize his answer, but it's pretty much the same regurgitation I continuously hear. I believe Brennan is a good, conscientious director, but there's nothing new to his approach.
 What would happen if at a designated date all traditionally non-Muslim nations removed all combat units from traditionally Muslim nations, say from Pakistan to the Mediterranean, including North Africa if need be? I don't think this need apply to Indonesia, but if that's a problem, do the same.
 I've frequently heard Middle East residents state that countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, etc., are occupying their countries and murdering their people. I'm always amazed how Americans can't turn it around.
 How would they react if foreign troops permanently occupied our native soil?
 Even troops from Muslim nations? We all know the answer to this. But this reasonable solution seems to evade all the brightest people we have here and overseas. I wonder why. I know why.
 Twenty-first century colonialism.
DONALD DAW
OLDTOWN, IDAHO
WAIT ON APPOINTMENT
 If any one man can be credited with turning the U.S. Supreme Court away from the excesses of the Earl Warren and Warren Burger eras, it is Antonin Scalia.
 He was, to me, a man who did nothing less than save the relevance of the American Constitution during his 30 years on the high court. May his grieving loved ones find consolation.
 The Senate should not confirm any successor unless appointed by the next president (whoever that might be).
 President Obama should not follow Lyndon Johnson's example of appointing a latter-day Abe Fortas. That crass political appointment was seen as illegitimate by most Americans of all political persuasions.
 At this time of deep division, the best course would be for the people to express their will through the ballot box before altering the delicate balance within the highest court in our nation.
RALPH GINORIO
COEUR D'ALENE
MOVE ON, OBSTRUCTIONISTS
 Republicans are threatening to sabotage any attempt by President Obama to fill Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the U.S.
 Supreme Court. I offer these thoughts: First, when Barack Obama took the oath of office of president of the United States, he vowed to "faithfully execute" the laws of the land. One of those laws, embodied in the Constitution, does not say that he "may" or "can" appoint a nominee to a Supreme Court vacancy but that he "shall" appoint someone. To do otherwise would be to break his vow to the American people, and the law.
 Second, Obama doesn't become a lame duck until after November's election.
 Until the new president takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, he still must faithfully execute the laws of the land.
 Third, right-wingers are clamoring that the voters should decide who should make the appointment. They already did, in 2008 and 2012, and in the latter year Obama clobbered Mitt Romney in the Electoral College, 332 to 206.
 To those would-be obstructionists on the right, I would like to quote Justice Scalia's immortal words: "Get over it."
JOHN STROBEL
ATHOL
THANKS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT
 The definition of a patriot is one who loves and defends his country. A group of individuals with extreme views on the use and management of federal lands armed themselves and forcefully occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. They proclaimed themselves patriots and demanded that federal lands be turned over for local control, and that two convicted arsonists be released from jail.
 Two leaders of this group are the sons of a Nevada livestock producer who refuses to pay fees for grazing his cattle on our public lands, and who also staged an armed standoff with the federal government in 2014. The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff ended with one rancher killed, the arrest of several individuals and the surrender of the last four holdouts.
 The true patriots in this case are our federal, state and county law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to defend law-abiding American citizens. We owe a thank-you to all who sought a peaceful outcome and for ending the standoff as peacefully as was possible under the circumstances.
DAN TROCHTA
COLBERT
DEFENDING IOWANS
 Regarding "Cruz's win not indicative," the Feb. 12 letter from Richard Penca: He states "He (Cruz) won in Iowa because rural fundamentalists, many of whom are semi-literate, stormed the Iowa caucuses."
Overall, I do not dispute that any primary or caucus, including Iowa's, is ever indicative of an election's final outcome. However, as an Iowan, I take umbrage to the terms "semi-literate" and "rural fundamentalists." Penca may have to look up the definition of "umbrage."
Here are some facts he may find interesting: Iowa ranks third in the country in percentage of high school graduates. Washington ranks 16th. Over 68 percent of Iowans live in urban areas.
 Only 1.5 percent farm.
 Now, if Penca has a problem with people who live their lives by sound, fundamental principles, here are some more facts: In Iowa, 75 percent of the population has a Christian religious affiliation, while Washington comes in at only 61 percent.
 It sounds like Penca needs to have all the facts before firing off a letter that disparages (another word for him to look up) a wonderful segment of our U.S.
 population; one he should choose to emulate. It sounds like he probably belongs in the Donald Trump camp.
MIKE PAYSON
SPOKANE VALLEY
SINGLE-PAYER MALIGNED
 The hatchet job, "Medicare For All," by Robert Samuelson (Feb. 10) may be due to an ideological abhorrence of socialized medicine. The Spokesman-Review should run an essay countering those arguments and explain the positive side of single-payer systems.
 Of course, to accomplish single-payer it takes a Democratic administration and Congress. In the pros and cons shown on Google there is little mention of the following: 
 All dental, vision, long-term care and other medical services should be covered. 
 Congress should address the high costs of drugs and why we fund most drug research as taxpayers but we get zero in return. 
 The government is in a better position to negotiate drug pricing. 
 Although Canada is slow to provide care in non-life-threatening situations, emergency care is immediate. 
 The need for doctors and nurses is increasing. Eliminating the high cost of college tuition will benefit the medical professions.
JOSEPH WYTHE
SANDPOINT
FULLY FUND CHILD CARE
 I am concerned about the cap placed on Working Connections Child Care. It is expected that we will meet the cap by this summer, and low-income families will be placed on waiting lists for child care assistance.
 I want to bring more public awareness to this so that we can urge our representatives to fully fund WCCC in the new budget. If this does not happen, families will have to leave their jobs or turn down new jobs if they don't have access to assistance. They may also have to settle for cheap and unreliable child care, meaning children won't get access to the quality early learning they deserve. 
Hannah Haupt 
Spokane 
Rule ends privacy 
 I am writing to express my concern about the "open bathroom" rule, 162-32 WAC, enacted on Dec. 26. This rule threatens the safety of women and children, and also our freedom of speech. Anyone who identifies as the opposite gender can enter that locker room, restroom or shower facility. Our children do not have privacy or safety in their own school locker rooms or restrooms. Our daughters may have to change in the same vicinity as a boy, no matter what his motives are for being there.
 This rule also does not allow us to question someone from a different gender entering our restroom. A man can enter a women's locker room without any of the women having the right to make a reasonable inquiry on why he is there.
 This rule gives incredible opportunity to sexual predators while at the same time taking away our rights to try and protect ourselves from them. Anyone we love or ourselves could suffer consequences from this law if it is not repealed. I encourage your readers to visit the Family Policy Institute of Washington to find out ways to easily fight the "open bathroom" rule.
KATE KUNTZ
CHATTAROY
DROP RESTROOM RULE
 Imagine a young girl walking into the women's restroom in the Spokane Valley Mall, only to find a man standing there.
 This should never happen, and it certainly should never be legal.
 I am extremely grateful for the elected officials in Olympia who are trying to reverse the harmful actions of the Washington State Human Rights Commission with regards to restroom access.
 I am extremely disappointed in those senators who voted against SB 6443, which would have made the Human Rights Commission's restroom position void.
 I call on all our elected officials to do the right thing and get rid of the "open bathroom" rule.
SHAUN BROWN
LIBERTY LAKE
VETERAN NOT IMPRESSED
 I read with interest Carol Snyder's Feb. 13 letter concerning the Faster Care for Veterans Act. Her description sounded great, but if you actually read the proposed legislation, it falls far short of Snyder's glowing report.
 It does not "push VA to use modern scheduling software without delay."
Rather it requires the Veterans Administration to conduct a limited test of commercially available software for 18 months, then report back to Congress.
 The VA would have to competitively bid the software, select a contractor, set up the system and pay for it.
 That's right, the act specifically says that no additional funding will be provided. So, an already cash-strapped VA gets to waste time and money on this test so Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers can claim she is looking out for the interests of veterans in this election year. This is one veteran who is not impressed.
ROBERT MIELBRECHT
SPOKANE
APPOINT KERNS TO COMMISSION
 I would like to endorse and support Josh Kerns for appointment to the Spokane County Commission. I have already contacted Al French and Shelly O'Quinn. Josh is the best person to be appointed to this position.
 I have known Josh for several years. I know his dad. I know his mom.
 Josh is a great family man and he is a solid Republican. He has been my friend for years. He and I, and Sen. Brian Dansel, are all personal friends. Josh is such a solid young man with great character.
 I'm glad I met him when I ran for state senator. Of course, I lost, but I became great friends with Dansel (who won) and Josh, who supported Brian.
 Kerns knows the thoughts and needs of all Spokane County residents. And he can work with others and get things done.
 With all the difficult times facing Spokane, I hope the commissioners appoint Kerns. If they don't, they will be making another poor decision for Spokane County.
MIKE BRUNSON
SPRINGDALE




12


 
 


February 16, 2016 Tuesday

 Obama welcomes Southeast Asian leaders for talks

 

ABSTRACT
President Barack Obama and leaders of Southeast Asian nations are gathering in Southern California for an unprecedented two days of talks about economic and security issues and on forging deeper ties amid China's assertive presence in the region 

FULL TEXT
RANCHO MIRAGE >> President Barack Obama opened a meeting of leaders from a 10-nation bloc of Southeast Asian nations on Monday, calling the landmark gathering on U.S. soil a reflection of his personal commitment to an enduring partnership with the diverse group of countries.
Obama and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will spend two days discussing economic and regional security issues. 
In brief remarks as the leaders sat around a horseshoe-shaped table, Obama said he became familiar with Southeast Asia as a boy living in Indonesia with his mother. Since becoming president, Obama has made numerous trips to Asia-Pacific countries as part of his policy "pivot" toward the region, with the goal of reassuring allies unnerved by China's assertive presence there while also reaping economic gains for the U.S.
"You and the people of ASEAN have always shown me extraordinary hospitality and I hope we can reciprocate with the warmth today and tomorrow, which is why I did not hold this summit in Washington," Obama said.
"It is cold there. It's snowing, so welcome to beautiful, warm Sunnylands," he said. Sunnylands is the storied California desert estate where the leaders will conduct their talks at a conference center with picturesque views of the snow-capped San Jacinto Mountains.
Underscoring the relaxed atmosphere, all leaders wore open-collar shirts with their suits.
It's the first time the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have held a stand-alone meeting in the U.S. China is not an ASEAN member, but its territorial claims over disputed waters have raised international concerns and heightened tensions with some member countries.
Obama said trade between the U.S. and ASEAN had increased 55 percent since he took office. The region is now the U.S.'s fourth-largest goods trade partner. U.S. companies are also the largest source of foreign investment in its member nations, he said.
Obama said he wants to build on that progress "so that growth and development is sustainable and inclusive and benefits all people."
Monday's talks will focus on the economy. After a working dinner, the conversation on Tuesday, the summit's final day, shifts to regional security issues, including the South China Sea and counterterrorism.
China says it has a historical right to virtually all of the South China Sea and has built seven artificial islands, including with airstrips, to assert its sovereignty. Taiwan and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim land features in these potentially resource-rich waters, which are an important conduit for world trade.
Though not a claimant, the U.S. has spoken out against China's conduct and has angered Beijing by sailing Navy ships near some of the artificial islands. The U.S. has argued for the maritime rights issue to be resolved peacefully and is looking for ASEAN to take a unified stance by calling for the disputes to be resolved based on international law. ASEAN has avoided criticizing China by name in joint statements issued at past summits.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement among the U.S., ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, and seven other nations, will likely be discussed. The pact is Obama's signature trade achievement, one he has sought to sell to skeptical lawmakers as a chance for the U.S. to shape the region's trade rules, not China. Congress, however, must ratify the deal and that outcome remains in doubt.
Terrorism inspired by the Islamic State group is of increasing concern in the region. Eight people were killed during assaults last month in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, the first major attack there in six years. Police said the attackers were linked to IS.
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, have all reported citizens traveling to fight in Iraq and Syria, and several small militant groups in the Philippines have pledged allegiance to IS.
Obama also plans to raise issues of good governance and adherence to the rule of law.
Human rights advocates have faulted the U.S. for inviting unelected leaders, like Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power in a May 2014 coup. Cambodia's Hun Sen, who has used violence and intimidation against political opponents, made his first official U.S. visit during his 31-year tenure as prime minister.
Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington and Jim Gomez in Manilla, Philippines, contributed to this report.
___
Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap




12


 The Times-Herald
 
Vallejo Times-Herald (California)

February 16, 2016 Tuesday

 Obama welcomes Southeast Asian leaders to US for talks

 

ABSTRACT
President Barack Obama and leaders of Southeast Asian nations are gathering in Southern California for an unprecedented two days of talks about economic and security issues and on forging deeper ties amid China's assertive presence in the region 

FULL TEXT
RANCHO MIRAGE >> President Barack Obama and the leaders of Southeast Asian nations are gathering in Southern California for an unprecedented two days of talks on economic and security issues and on forging deeper ties amid China's assertive presence in the region.
Obama on Monday will welcome each leader from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, for a summit at Sunnylands, a storied California desert estate where Obama held his first meeting with China's current president. 
This is the first time the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have assembled in the U.S. at Obama's invitation and not on the margins of another gathering. China is not a member of ASEAN.
The summit was conceived as part of Obama's mission to raise the U.S. profile and help set the agenda in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific, where China's territorial claims over disputed waters have raised international concerns and led to friction with ASEAN countries.
Member countries make up the world's seventh-largest economy and represent the fourth-largest trading partner with the U.S.
"U.S.-ASEAN relations have never been stronger," Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, declared Monday.
Rice said the nations are important partners on issues ranging from the economy to maritime security and counterterrorism to climate change.
By hosting the summit, "we want to make very clear that the United States is going to be at the table and a part of setting the agenda in the Asia Pacific in the decades to come," Ben Rhodes, Rice's deputy, told reporters before the summit.
Monday's talks will focus on the economy and using innovation and entrepreneurship to promote in the region. After a working dinner at the estate, the conversation shifts Tuesday to regional security issues, including the South China Sea and counterterrorism, before the summit ends.
China says it has a historical right to virtually all of the South China Sea and has built seven artificial islands, including with airstrips, to assert its sovereignty. Taiwan and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim land features in these potentially resource-rich waters, which are an important conduit for world trade.
Though not a claimant, the U.S. has spoken out against China's conduct and has angered Beijing by sailing Navy ships near some of the artificial islands. The U.S. has argued for the maritime rights issue to be resolved peacefully and is looking for ASEAN to take a unified stance by calling for the disputes to be resolved based on international law.
Achieving that unity, however, will be a challenge. The diverse bloc of nations has avoided criticizing China by name in joint statements that were issued at past summits as these disputes have flared.
Negotiations on a potential joint statement were continuing, Rice said.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement among the U.S., ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, and seven other nations, will likely be discussed. The pact is Obama's signature trade achievement, one he has sought to sell to skeptical lawmakers and others as an opportunity for the U.S. to shape the region's trade rules, not China. Congress, however, must ratify the deal and that outcome remains in doubt.
Terrorism inspired by the Islamic State group is of increasing concern in the region. Eight people were killed during assaults last month in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, the first major attack there in six years. Police said the attackers were linked to IS.
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, have all reported citizens traveling to fight in Iraq and Syria, and several small militant groups in the Philippines have pledged allegiance to IS.
Obama also plans to raise issues of good governance and adherence to the rule of law. ASEAN members run the gamut of political systems, from open democracies in Indonesia and the Philippines to communist governments like Vietnam and Laos that ban political dissent.
Human rights advocates have faulted the U.S. for inviting unelected leaders, like Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power in a May 2014 coup. Cambodia's Hun Sen, who has used violence and intimidation against political opponents, is making his first official U.S. visit during his 31-year tenure as prime minister.
Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington and Jim Gomez in Manilla, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap\x{feff}




12



 


February 10, 2016 Wednesday

 Businessman seeks leniency in halal beef fraud

 
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- Supporters of a prominent businessman and Muslim community leader are asking a judge to spare him prison time for committing fraud in exporting halal beef to Malaysia and Indonesia. 
The 74-year-old founder of the Midamar Corp. has been jailed since July, when jurors convicted him of conspiracy, making false statements on export certificates and wire fraud.
Prosecutors said Aossey directed employees to falsify packaging labels so Midamar could ship beef to Malaysia and Indonesia. Employees removed the supplier's establishment number and replaced it with a slaughterhouse approved by those countries, which have strict halal standards.
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade said she'll impose her sentence Feb. 25.




12


 


February 7, 2016 Sunday  


 All-American Terrorists

 
UNITED STATES OF JIHADInvestigating America's Homegrown Terrorists By Peter Bergen387 pp. Crown Publishers. $28.  Who constitutes a homegrown jihadist, and what distinguishes the terrorist attack in San Bernardino from the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School? In post-9/11 America, questions like these shape our national discourse on terrorism, law enforcement and public safety. Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst and the author of four other books on terrorism, addresses these and other salient questions in his excellent new ''United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists.'' Bergen seeks to understand why some Americans choose to become jihadists, how our institutions have responded to terrorism and how American society has been changed by terrorist threats.  
Terrorism has long existed in this country -- Bergen describes the 1970s as the ''golden age'' of terrorism in the United States -- but the horrific attacks of Sept. 11 and the loss of nearly 3,000 lives on American soil were to earlier terrorist attacks as a tsunami is to a high tide. Just as a tsunami leaves a landscape forever altered once it retreats, so too has Sept. 11 fundamentally changed America. The difficulty Bergen faces in mapping and analyzing post-9/11 homegrown terrorism is the ever shifting, contemporaneous terrain of his subject -- it's a bit like writing a history of the 1960s while the Beatles are still singing. Nonetheless, Bergen's book is the best one-volume treatment available on the current state of jihad in America.
  A jihadist is one who adopts militant, violent beliefs to further bin Ladenism, itself an ideology that dictates ''the restoration of a Taliban-style caliphate that will stretch across the Muslim world from Indonesia to Morocco.'' Almost all of the jihadists Bergen depicts are converts to Salafism, an ultrafundamentalist branch of Sunni Islam; as Bergen relates, their Salafism became ''increasingly politicized.'' For them, ''politics and theology merge with the caliphate.'' At the same time, however, many of the 330 militants whom Bergen studied are well educated, a large percentage are married or have children, and a number of those he portrays come from middle- or upper-class households. Their very ordinariness is one of the many obstacles to the early detection of terrorist threats. The dozen or so cases Bergen selects to illustrate jihad in America are wide-ranging and include Faisal Shahzad, who parked a bomb-loaded S.U.V. in Times Square in 2010; Zachary Chesser, who incited an online plot against the creators of ''South Park''; and Najibullah Zazi, who joined a Qaeda plot to blow up the New York subway system in 2009.
  Jihad in America has evolved over time, and as Bergen demonstrates, a recent key mutation in its evolution is ''leaderless'' jihad, which has grown as a threat even as ''leader-led'' jihad efforts remain serious. For example, Zazi and Shahzad, as well as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Underwear Bomber who tried to detonate a bomb aboard a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas 2009, were leader-led jihadists directed from overseas. Plots like these that involve travel and communications are difficult, but not always impossible, to interrupt. And although Bergen neither overlooks nor excuses the many mistakes made by American security agencies, he also explains how leader-led plots that might have been successful in the past are now compromised, whether because of the force multiplier effect of greater intelligence sharing (the British tipped off Americans to Zazi); or the publicity given to the efforts of law enforcement and government agencies to connect with commercial vendors whose products might be purchased by would-be terrorists (Shahzad bought a less incendiary fertilizer so that his purchase would not trigger suspicion); or the American security apparatus, which continually adjusts when a new tactic emerges.
  Leaderless lone wolves present different challenges for law enforcement than do leader-led jihadists, and Bergen correlates their recent rise with the long reach of the Internet. As Bergen writes, a new generation of ''English-speaking, Internet-savvy jihadists'' is now just ''a mouse click away''; he quotes a study that terrorist websites increased to more than 4,000 in 2006 from a dozen in the 1990s. Print publications like the 1980s magazine Jihad gave way to online forums, encrypted emails and webzines, which are now complemented by the social media channels that ISIS deftly manipulates. In 2010, Samir Khan, a young man in Yemen, who had been a ''typical teenager'' while growing up in the United States, started Inspire, an online magazine written in colloquial American English that transformed the delivery of jihadist propaganda over the Internet (early on, British intelligence officials hacked it and swapped out its recipes for bombs with ones for cupcakes). Americans no longer needed to wade through Osama bin Laden's ponderous sermons or travel abroad; in fact, Inspire advocated jihadist attacks at home to avoid increased travel security.
  Social media, online magazines like Inspire and the virtual jihadist community also amplified the vitriolic messages of terrorists like the American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, whose incendiary sermons and writings have had a profound effect. Immediately after Sept. 11, Awlaki had appeared as the face of moderate Islam in the United States -- he condemned the attacks on television and even garnered an invitation to speak at the Pentagon. He later fled America and ended up in Yemen, where he became the foremost English-speaking advocate of jihad and, ultimately, the operational leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Many of the jihadists Bergen profiles possessed Awlaki's sermons or writings, and some even corresponded with him or traveled to Yemen to meet him; Nidal Hasan, the lone-wolf Fort Hood shooter, wrote so often to Awlaki without response that Bergen says his correspondence took on ''the tone of an unrequited lover.'' It is in part through his profile of Awlaki and the terrorism he plotted that Bergen effectively counters the narrative that Barack Obama is a ''weak'' president. Bergen notes that President Obama has authorized more military actions in Muslim countries than any previous president and that the most conservative estimate identifies more than 3,000 drone strike fatalities during his tenure, including much of Al Qaeda's leadership. He is the first president since the Civil War to authorize the assassination of another American -- Anwar Âal-Awlaki himself.
  Bergen is perhaps most limited in his analysis of the institutional changes Sept.â€¯11 wrought in America. His sources are predominantly from the F.B.I. and the National Counterterrorism Center; there is virtually no mention of the Department of Homeland Security, the National Security Agency, the director of national intelligence or the increasing role of local law enforcement beyond the New York Police Department. Bergen correctly comments on the F.B.I.'s use (and misuse) of informants and stings to counter terrorism, but the difference between infiltration and entrapment can be elusive, and so too can the balance between monitoring and privacy. Perhaps with an eye toward a future book, Bergen does not explore the difficult decisions that must be made in the post-9/11 world. Should the public-safety exception to the Miranda rule, for example, be expanded in cases of suspected terrorism?
  After reading ''United States of Jihad,'' one can only conclude that where American jihad is concerned, the sole constant is change. Al Qaeda has already spawned numerous spinoffs. The most recent and violent iteration is ISIS. Our security agencies and law enforcement must continue to adjust and improve, and the public itself must play an ever more important role, even as the risk of another attack such as the one in San Bernardino cannot be eliminated. It is important that we remain resolute and neither lower our expectations nor jettison our values out of some misguided belief that jihad presents easy answers or that conventional efforts must be totally scrapped. And we must keep our perspective. After all, an American residing in the United States in the years after Sept. 11 was 5,000 times more likely to be killed by a fellow citizen armed with a gun than by a jihadist. Franklin Roosevelt famously proclaimed, ''The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.'' After listening to too many campaign statements that insult our intelligence, I would add fearmongers to this cautionary end note.




12



 


February 7, 2016 Sunday  


 Islamic State groups still on the rise

 
Republican and Democratic presidential candidates should be able to agree on one stark foreign policy reality: The tide hasn t turned in the war against the Islamic State. In the 18 months that the United States has been working to  degrade and ultimately destroy  the group, it has grown to become a global force that can strike targets in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.
The self-declared  caliphate  that in June 2014 was localized in Iraq and Syria now has nearly 50 affiliates or supporting groups in 21 countries. It has declared 33  official provinces  in 11 of those countries. 
Though it has lost about 25 percent of the territory it held at its peak in Iraq and Syria, it has meanwhile established an international presence, on the ground and in cyberspace.
 Follow ISIS and you will see the huge momentum that the group has harnessed across the globe,  says Rita Katz, co-founder of the SITE Intelligence Group, using a common shorthand for the Islamic State.  The government s first step in fighting ISIS must be to stop dismissively characterizing the jihadists as a mere gang of guys in pickup trucks. It should be called what it is: a threat to global security. 
President Obama and his advisers have talked in recent weeks of stepping up U.S. actions, but intelligence and military officials say the additional steps are limited. The Pentagon has announced a capture/kill Special Operations force of about 200 soldiers, based in Iraq. But that s a small fraction of the Joint Special Operations Command force that was deployed there a decade ago to deal with a far smaller insurgent threat from al-Qaeda in Iraq.
What seems to engage Obama most is countering the jihadists  narrative that this is a war between Islam and the West. He made an eloquent presentation of his case for tolerance in a speech this week at a mosque in suburban Baltimore. But there s little evidence that this message of outreach to Muslims is checking the Islamic State s growth.
Libya and Indonesia illustrate the group s new, far-flung reach and the difficulty for the U.S.-led coalition in containing the growing threat to Europe and Asia.
In Libya, the Islamic State has doubled its presence over the past year to between 5,000 and 6,500 fighters, according to a report Thursday in the New York Times. Opposition forces that might challenge the jihadists are  unreliable, unaccountable, poorly organized and divided by region and tribe,  according to the Times. Similar problems have plagued U.S. efforts to build a strong Sunni opposition in Syria and Iraq.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry warned this week of the danger to oil-rich areas of Libya:  The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue.  But despite several years of growing U.S. concern about Libya, the American response so far has been feeble.
In Indonesia, the Islamic State mounted a Paris-style terrorist operation Jan. 14. Fighters in Jakarta assaulted a traffic post on a busy downtown street, with bomb blasts occurring in multiple locations near a popular Starbucks. Eight people were killed, and more than 20 were wounded.
Asian security officials say the Jakarta attack demonstrates the Islamic State s appeal in normally quiescent Muslim populations, in such nations as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Indeed, the Indonesian affiliate was the first to swear allegiance after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate in late June 2014 and changed its official name to the Islamic State.
The pace of Islamic State operations, and its propaganda skill, are illustrated by the daily dispatches of its Al-Bayan online news service. Each day this week, Al-Bayan announced attacks in at least six  wilayats,  or regions, of the self-declared state. This week s announced operations stretched across four countries. Often the targets were Muslim rivals or local security services.
How should the United States and its allies combat the Islamic State wisely, without getting bogged down in an endless global land war? That s the biggest foreign policy issue facing the country. The political discussion so far has been mostly sound bites and speeches, rather than analysis that would lead to sustainable actions. This problem isn t going away; it s getting worse.
  David Ignatius is a columnist for .



Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.




12



 


February 7, 2016 Sunday  


 ISIS remains on the rise

 
WASHINGTON -- Republican and Democratic presidential candidates should be able to agree on one stark foreign policy reality: The tide hasn't turned in the war against the Islamic State. In the 18 months that the U.S. has been working to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the group, it has grown to become a global force that can strike targets in Europe, Asia, Africa and the U.S.
The self-declared "caliphate" that in June 2014 was localized in Iraq and Syria now has nearly 50 affiliates or supporting groups in 21 countries.  
While it has lost about 25 percent of the territory it held at its peak in Iraq and Syria, it has meanwhile established an international presence.
"Follow ISIS and you will see the huge momentum that the group has harnessed across the globe," says Rita Katz, co-founder of the SITE Intelligence Group. "The government's first step in fighting ISIS must be to stop dismissively characterizing the jihadists as a mere gang of guys in pickup trucks. It should be called what it is: a threat to global security."
President Obama and his advisers have talked in recent weeks of stepping up U.S. actions, but intelligence and military officials say the additional steps are limited. The Pentagon has announced a capture/kill special operations force of about 200 soldiers, based in Iraq - a fraction of the Joint Special Operations Command force deployed a decade ago to deal with a far smaller insurgent threat from al-Qaida in Iraq.
What seems to engage Obama most is countering the jihadists' narrative that this is a war between Islam and the West. He made an eloquent presentation for tolerance in a Baltimore mosque last week. But there's little evidence that this outreach to Muslims is checking ISIS growth.
Libya and Indonesia illustrate the group's new, far-flung reach, and difficulties in containing a growing threat to Europe and Asia.
In Libya, the Islamic State doubled its presence over the past year to between 5,000 and 6,500 fighters, according to . Opposition forces that might challenge the jihadists are "unreliable, unaccountable, poorly organized and divided," the Times said. Similar problems have plagued U.S. efforts to build a strong Sunni opposition in Syria and Iraq.
Secretary of State John Kerry warned of danger to oil-rich areas of Libya: "The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenues." But despite several years of growing U.S. concern about Libya, the  response so far has been feeble.
In Indonesia, the Islamic State mounted a Paris-style terrorist operation Jan. 14. The Jakarta attack demonstrates the Islamic State's appeal in normally quiescent Muslim populations, in such nations as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. 
The pace of Islamic State operations, and its propaganda skill, are illustrated by the daily dispatches of its "Al-Bayan" online news service. Often the targets were Muslim rivals or local security services.
The Islamic State brags about its ability to strike America, too, in the opening pages of the latest issue of its slick online magazine, "Dabiq." Lauding the San Bernardino bombers who "caught America off-guard," the magazine warned: "As the American-led Crusaders continue waging war against the (caliphate), more and more Muslims continue demonstrating their willingness to sacrifice everything precious to them."
How should the United States and its allies combat the Islamic State wisely, without getting bogged down in an endless global land war? That's the biggest foreign policy issue facing the country. The political discussion so far has been mostly sound bites and speeches, rather than analysis that would lead to sustainable actions. This problem isn't going away; it's getting worse.
-- David Ignatius is a foreign affairs columnist for .




12


 


February 5, 2016 Friday  


 Female Genital Cutting: Not Just 'an African Problem'

 
Female genital cutting has always been seen as an ancient ritual practiced in Africa and to a lesser extent in the Middle East, but a new global assessment documents for the first time that it is widespread in one of the most populous countries in Asia: Indonesia, where almost half the women are estimated to have undergone it.
There has long been anecdotal evidence of the practice there, but the United Nations Children's Fund estimated Thursday that 60 million women and girls there have been cut based on national survey data collected by the Indonesian government. The addition of Indonesia is largely responsible for raising the global tally of women and girls who have undergone the practice to 200 million from 130 million, and the number of countries where it is concentrated to 30 from 29. 
  ''We knew the practice existed but we didn't have a sense of the scope,'' said Claudia Cappa, a statistics specialist for Unicef, which released the report. She said the new data from Indonesia showed that cutting was not just ''an African problem.'' 
  Experts in Indonesia said the practice there had largely involved a less drastic version of cutting, usually a surface scratch or nick, as compared with more severe disfiguring. The Indonesian government's survey asked parents if their young daughters had undergone circumcision. Ms. Cappa said it was possible that there were some more severe cases in Indonesia, but she said the official Indonesian government definition of female circumcision was ''an act of scratching the skin that covers the front of clitoris without injuring the clitoris.''
  The Indonesian data is part of Unicef's latest global update on female genital cutting, which shows that over all the practice is declining worldwide. For example, the percentage of girls ages 15 to 19 who have been cut has declined from 51 percent in 1985 to 37 percent today in the countries where the practice is concentrated.
  Some countries have shown rapid and significant declines. In Egypt, where 97 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds were circumcised 30 years ago, the rate is now 70 percent. Burkina Faso has dropped from 89 percent to 58 percent, and Liberia from 72 percent to 31 percent.
  Still, even as the United Nations advocates an end to cutting -- and Unicef surveys report that men, women, boys and girls in many of the countries agree it should be eliminated -- the practice persists. The Unicef report says that ''current progress is insufficient to keep up with increasing population growth'' and if trends continue the number of girls and women being cut ''will rise significantly over the next 15 years.''
  The data from Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, provides a snapshot of the prevalence of genital cutting in a country where secular and religious attitudes toward the practice are increasingly in conflict. Indonesian authorities tried to ban cutting 10 years ago, but religious authorities who consider it important for girls to undergo the ritual before marriage objected. In response, the government softened its stance, issuing regulations that directed cutting should be done only by medical professionals in a noninvasive way that does not injure girls and women.
  The Indonesian survey reported that 49 percent of girls age 11 and younger had undergone female circumcision, mostly as infants, and more than half of the procedures were performed by midwives or other health professionals.
  The practice is ''regarded as part of our culture, or a confirmation that they will be officially 'Islamized,' '' Jurnalis Uddin, the chairman of the Center for Population and Gender Studies at Yarsi University in Jakarta, said in an email, adding that the practice ''in Indonesia is mostly symbolic (no cutting at all).''
  For Unicef and others who seek to eliminate the practice in all its forms, the fact that medical providers are performing the procedures is unwelcome because it can confer legitimacy on the practice. ''We are very concerned with medicalization,'' said Francesca Moneti, a child protection specialist with Unicef. ''Medical personnel are looked up to and are seen as knowing what's good for your girl.''
  The Indonesian survey, conducted in 2013 as part of large general health questionnaire administered to 300,000 households, was the first time the government collected national data on the practice. Although the data applied only to girls age 11 and younger, Unicef officials extrapolated it to the entire female population given the practice's deep roots there, Ms. Cappa said. Because Indonesia has such a large population, Unicef estimated that about 60 million women and girls in Indonesia have been cut. The survey found that the practice was reported in most provinces, but was more prevalent among urban and wealthier families.
  Views of the practice among Indonesian women vary. Rena Herdiyani, vice chairwoman of Kalyanamitra, an Indonesian nongovernmental organization that lobbies the national government to ban all forms of cutting, wants the government to impose sanctions on people who perform circumcisions.
  ''They think it's a family or cultural tradition, and an Islamic obligation, yet they can't name any verses in the Quran about female circumcision,'' she said.
  But there are strong supporters like Lia Sarifah, 47, whose experience involved more than just a scratch and occurred when she was 7 because her parents wanted her to be old enough to remember it. She recalls shaking with fear as she lay down on a bed at her parents' house on the island of Sulawesi, and said a traditional healer pushed up the hem of her new dress, holding a small traditional knife in his gloved hands. A few minutes later he stood up with a small sliver of her clitoris.
  But Ms. Lia said she recalled that day not with anger or shame, but with pride.
  ''Even today, I believe in circumcision and support it,'' she said, sitting on the floor of her Jakarta salon, where she also makes and sells ceremonial dresses for young girls' circumcisions. ''If we don't, then we can't be whole as women and we can't marry.''
  Conflicting views have influenced public policy toward cutting. In 2006, the Ministry of Health issued a document banning female circumcision by medical professionals. In response, in 2008, Indonesia's top Muslim clerical body issued a nonbinding fatwa or edict saying female circumcision should be performed if requested, as long as the method was not physically or psychologically dangerous.
  In 2010, the Ministry of Health, at the urging of the clerical body, issued a regulation saying female circumcision should be performed only by licensed doctors, midwives or nurses using safety and cleanliness procedures detailed by the ministry. But anti-cutting activists objected to the regulation, and in 2014 it was repealed. Unicef officials assert in their report that the repeal does not go far enough because it does not explicitly prohibit cutting or set penalties for those who perform the procedure.
  In Jakarta, Fitri Yanti, a pregnant 30-year-old mother of two, said she did not understand what all the fuss was about. She said she was not mutilated during her circumcision, didn't bleed at all and felt nearly no pain during or after the procedure. ''Mutilation is horrible, but it's not true that it happens here'' in Indonesia, Ms. Fitri said. ''They cannot stop us. It's our tradition.''
  Get news and analysis from Asia and around the world delivered to your inbox every day with the Today's Headlines: Asian Morning newsletter. Sign up here.




12


 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Co.
 
Sarasota Herald Tribune (Florida)

February 5, 2016 Friday

 Islamic art, through the ages | From Spain to Indonesia, Muslim cultures have long generated exquisite objects

 
RINGLING MUSEUM OF ART
A rarely-seen collection of about 100 art objects from the Islamic world is on display at the Ringling Museum of Art.
On loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, "Ink, Silk and Gold" spans more than 1,000 years of history and countries and cultures from Moorish Spain to Indonesia with artworks in textiles, paintings, ceramics, metalwork and manuscripts.
"It's a really rare opportunity to have this type of material here for our community," said Chris Jones, assistant curator of exhibitions at the Ringling. "This is one of the best collections to give a coherent, meaningful survey of Islamic art and to explore the concept of what it means." 
The exhibition is organized both chronologically and regionally, with artworks from societies where Islam was the dominant religious faith and cultural force. Some of the objects are religious, while others are secular and reflective of people's lives. "The exquisiteness of some of these objects is just absolutely stunning," said Jones, noting in par-ticular a Mamluk pulpit door from 14th- or 15th-century Egypt, made from wood with ivory and bone. "It's fascinating because it's an amalgam of different time periods, different decorative elements that have been brought together in this door, designs that go back over a couple of hundred years. It shows that abstract design detail work that we've come to associate with Islamic art." The hardcover catalog that accompanies the show was written by MFA Boston curator Laura Weinstein, who will be in town this weekend for a ViewPoint lecture Saturday morning at the museum. In the catalog's introduction, she notes that the concept of "Islamic art" originated in the late 19th century among European schol-ars who were studying the literature, archaeology and coins from the coun-tries of the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa and India. "Studying manuscripts, pottery and ancient coins, they became curious about other objects Islamic societies had produced," wrote Weinstein. "Their inter-est was further propelled by a desire among Euro-peans for new sources of inspiration to rejuvenate Western industrial arts and manufacturing." The MFA Boston began collecting objects in 1903. The museum, said Jones, is one of the outstanding museums in the world, "so when they go out to collect, they collect the finest instances they can. Some of the best ceramics, the best textiles." The textiles range from a woman's heavy silk velvet ceremonial robe from Uzbekistan, on dis-play in the first gallery, to a mid-16th century velvet roundel from an Ottoman tent, decorated with human and animal figures. The exhibition's title comes from the significance of the materials used to create them, said Jones. "Ink is particularly important because writing was one of the most impor-tant aspects of Islamic culture," he said. "Because representational art was seen as being disrespect-ful, writing, calligraphy, became an important form of artistic creation. "Silk was at the heart of trade, but also as decora-tion and was a significant way of demonstrating status or wealth. "And finally gold, as a universal material, used as an adornment." Like most touring exhibitions at the museum, "Ink, Silk and Gold" was scheduled several years ago. "I think it's really great timing to have a show like this," said Jones. "It helps people engage with Islamic culture in a venue that can support a lot of discussion and dialogue. It's showing Islamic culture in a way that's accessible to viewers."




13



 



February 5, 2016 Friday  


 The Islamic State is still on the rise

 
Republican and Democratic presidential candidates should be able to agree on one stark foreign policy reality: The tide hasn't turned in the war against the Islamic State. In the 18 months that the United States has been working to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the group, it has grown to become a global force that can strike targets in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.
The self-declared "caliphate" that in June 2014 was localized in Iraq and Syria now has nearly 50 affiliates or supporting groups in 21 countries. It has declared 33 "official provinces" in 11 of those countries.  
Though it has lost about 25 percent of the territory it held at its peak in Iraq and Syria, it has meanwhile established an international presence, on the ground and in cyberspace.
"Follow ISIS and you will see the huge momentum that the group has harnessed across the globe," says Rita Katz, co- founder of the SITE Intelligence Group, using a common shorthand for the Islamic State. "The government's first step in fighting ISIS must be to stop dismissively characterizing the jihadists as a mere gang of guys in pickup trucks. It should be called what it is: a threat to global security." 
President Obama and his advisers have talked in recent weeks of stepping up U.S. actions, but intelligence and military officials say the additional steps are limited. The Pentagon has announced a capture/kill Special Operations force of about 200 soldiers, based in Iraq. But that's a small fraction of the Joint Special Operations Command force that was deployed there a decade ago to deal with a far smaller insurgent threat from al-Qaeda in Iraq. 
What seems to engage Obama most is countering the jihadists' narrative that this is a war between Islam and the West. He made an eloquent presentation of his case for tolerance in a speech this week at a mosque in suburban Baltimore. But there's little evidence that this message of outreach to Muslims is checking the Islamic State's growth. 
Libya and Indonesia illustrate the group's new, far-flung reach  and the difficulty for the U.S.-led coalition in containing the growing threat to Europe and Asia.
In Libya, the Islamic State has doubled its presence over the past year to between 5,000 and 6,500 fighters, according to a report Thursday in the New York Times. Opposition forces that might challenge the jihadists are "unreliable, unaccountable, poorly organized and divided by region and tribe," according to the Times. Similar problems have plagued U.S. efforts to build a strong Sunni opposition in Syria and Iraq. 
Secretary of State John F. Kerry warned this week of the danger to oil-rich areas of Libya: "The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue." But despite several years of growing U.S. concern about Libya, the American response so far has been feeble. 
In Indonesia, the Islamic State mounted a Paris-style terrorist operation Jan. 14. Fighters in Jakarta assaulted a traffic post on a busy downtown street, with bomb blasts occurring in multiple locations near a popular Starbucks. Eight people were killed, and more than 20 were wounded. 
Asian security officials say the Jakarta attack demonstrates the Islamic State's appeal in normally quiescent Muslim populations, in such nations as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Indeed, the Indonesian affiliate was the first to swear allegiance after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate in late June 2014 and changed its official name to the Islamic State.
The pace of Islamic State operations, and its propaganda skill, are illustrated by the daily dispatches of its Al-Bayan online news service. Each day this week, Al-Bayan announced attacks in at least six "wilayats," or regions, of the self-declared state. This week's announced operations stretched across four countries. Often the targets were Muslim rivals or local security services. 
The Islamic State brags about its ability to strike the United States, too, in the opening pages of the latest issue of its slick online magazine,  Dabiq. Lauding the San Bernardino, Calif., bombers who "caught America off-guard," the magazine warned: "As the American-led crusaders continue waging war against the [caliphate], more and more Muslims continue demonstrating their willingness to sacrifice everything precious to them."
How should the United States and its allies combat the Islamic State wisely, without getting bogged down in an endless global land war? That's the biggest foreign policy issue facing the country. The political discussion so far has been mostly sound bites and speeches, rather than analysis that would lead to sustainable actions. This problem isn't going away; it's getting worse.
davidignatius@washpost.com




13


 


February 2, 2016 Tuesday  


 In One Part of China, Officials' Light Touch Lets Islam Flourish

 
WUZHONG, China --  As the call to prayer echoed off the high walls of the madrasa and into the surrounding village, dozens of boys, dressed in matching violet caps, poured out of their dorm rooms and headed to the mosque.
That afternoon prayer ritual, little changed since Middle Eastern traders traversing the Silk Road first arrived in western China more than 1,000 years ago, was at once quotidian and remarkable. 
  That is because in many parts of the officially atheist country, religious restrictions make it a crime to operate Islamic schools and bar people under 18 from entering mosques.
  Asked about the Chinese government's light touch here, Liu Jun, 37, the chief imam at the Banqiao Daotang Islamic School, offered a knowing smile. 
  ''Muslims from other parts of China who come here, especially from Xinjiang, can't believe how free we are, and they don't want to leave,'' he said, referring to the far-west borderlands that are home to China's beleaguered Uighur ethnic minority. ''Life for the Hui is very good.''
  With an estimated Muslim population of 23 million, China has more followers of Islam than many Arab countries. Roughly half of them live in Xinjiang, an oil-rich expanse of Central Asia where a cycle of violence and government repression has alarmed human rights advocates and unnerved Beijing over worries about the spread of Islamic extremism.
  But here in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a relatively recent administrative construct that is the official heartland of China's Hui Muslim community, that kind of strife is almost nonexistent, as are the limitations on religion that critics say are fueling Uighur discontent.
  Throughout Ningxia and the adjacent Gansu Province, new filigreed mosques soar over even the smallest villages, adolescent boys and girls spend their days studying the Quran at religious schools, and muezzin summon the faithful via loudspeakers -- a marked contrast to mosques in Xinjiang, where the local authorities often forbid amplified calls to prayer.
  In Hui strongholds like Linxia, a city in Gansu known as China's ''Little Mecca,'' there are mosques on every other block and women can sometimes be seen with veils, a sartorial choice that can lead to detention in Xinjiang.
  ''It's easy to live an intensely Muslim life here,'' said Ma Habibu, 67, a retired truck driver, whose surname, Ma, with its phonetic resemblance to the name Mohammed, is common among the Hui. ''Even government officials here are very devout and study the Quran every day.''
  Descendants of Persian and Arab traders who settled along the Silk Road and took Chinese wives, the nation's 10 million Hui are a minority primarily defined by their faith and, in some cases, solely their culinary habits. Compared with the Uighurs, they have also demonstrated a remarkable ability to coexist with the Communist Party, an organization hard-wired to distrust those whose first loyalty belongs to a higher power.
  Unlike the Uighurs, who speak a Turkic dialect and whose Eurasian features set them apart from the country's Han Chinese majority, the Hui speak Chinese and are often indistinguishable from their non-Muslim neighbors. In much of China, the white caps worn by men and the head scarves worn by women are all that give them away. In many places, the Hui have so thoroughly assimilated that their only connection to Islam is a vestigial aversion to pork.
  Most subscribe to a moderate brand of Islam, though tradition frowns upon intermarriage -- Hui men who break convention by marrying outside the faith often demand that their wives convert to Islam.
  Their loyalty to the Communist Party has been well rewarded. In places like Linxia, people can easily obtain passports and about half of the senior officials are ethnic Hui, according to local residents. In Xinjiang, by contrast, most important government posts go to the Han, and young Uighurs find it hard to get passports to travel abroad. Government workers in Xinjiang who go to mosques or fast during the holy month of Ramadan often find themselves unemployed.
  But even in Ningxia and Gansu, official tolerance has its limits. During a recent five-day journey through Hui communities that fleck the arid foothills of the Tibetan plateau, several imams said proselytizing to non-Muslims was forbidden, as was contact with Islamic organizations outside China. Accepting overseas donations for the construction of a mosque was also sure to invite trouble from the authorities.
  Religious leaders said that the government had become especially vigilant about tamping down competition and potential strife among different Islamic factions. Several imams said party officials were most concerned about Salafis, an ultraconservative Sunni sect whose strict interpretation of religious texts has been associated with extremism.
  ''The Salafi influence has been spreading fast in China, and this is worrying both us and the government because they think their religion is the correct one,'' said Wang Jingcheng, a teacher at the Great Gongbei, a 300-year-old Sufi shrine in Linxia.
  The Hui have not always coexisted so well with authority or other ethnic groups. In the 19th century, Muslim-led rebellions were brutally suppressed, killing hundreds of thousands. More recently, during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, the Red Guards tortured and jailed imams, defaced mosques and shuttered religious academies.
  In recent years, there have been sporadic clashes between Hui and Han: In 2004, scores were reportedly killed during ethnic bloodletting in Henan Province, and in 2012, dozens of people were injured by the police during protests over the demolition of a mosque in Ningxia that the government had declared illegal.
  Those tribulations, reinforced by the occasional expression of disdain from non-Islamic neighbors, have infused many Hui with a sense of determination that borders on exceptionalism.
  In interviews, many Hui said their religion-inspired devotion to hygiene and personal integrity -- and an avoidance of cigarettes, alcohol and gambling -- set them apart from their Han brethren.
  ''The Hui used to live in separate neighborhoods, but these days, non-Muslims are moving to Muslim quarters because they are drawn to our clean food and our system of ethics,'' said Ma Youming, 35, the production manager of a hat factory in Wuzhong that exports religious headwear to Indonesia, Malaysia and other Muslim countries.
  The party is increasingly seeking to leverage this good will by positioning the Hui as mercantile emissaries to the Muslim world, a role that has been bolstered by President Xi Jinping's national initiative for a new Silk Road, known as One Belt, One Road, which seeks to revive China's ancient trade routes with Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
  In places like Wuzhong and Linxia, officials have created special ''Muslim products'' industrial parks that offer inexpensive land and low taxes. Mr. Ma's company, Yijia Ethnic Clothing, is among those that have benefited from favorable government policies.
  Standing amid the rat-a-tat of computer-driven embroidery machines, Mr. Ma said Yijia Ethnic Clothing's three factories now make 50 million hats a year and provide more than two-thirds of the world's low-priced Islamic headwear.
  That success is fueling a new venture for the company: a Muslim-themed real estate venture in Linxia that will include 6,000 apartments, two mosques, museums and a Halal food exhibition center spread across 190 acres.
  During a recent visit to the company's offices, Ma Chunbo, a senior executive, said that the project sought to capitalize on the growing wealth of Hui entrepreneurs but that he also hoped to attract non-Muslims.
  ''We want to show the world that Islam is a tolerant, peace-loving religion, not the religion of burqas and bomb-throwing that people see on the news,'' he said.
  He stood in front of a mock-up of the project, which includes scaled-down replicas of the world's most iconic mosques. ''We also want to show that in Linxia, we fully enjoy the lenient ethnic policies of the government,'' he said.
  Get news and analysis from Asia and around the world delivered to your inbox every day with the Today's Headlines: Asian Morning newsletter. Sign up here.




13


 
 
 (California)

February 2, 2016 Tuesday

 Super Quiz

 
Subject: GEOGRAPHY: MUSLIM COUNTRIES
Identify the Muslim country. (e.g., The Khyber Pass connects it to Pakistan. Answer: Afghanistan.) 
Freshman Level
1. Country also known as Persia.
2. The only nation in the Muslim world to possess nuclear weapons.
3. This country contains much of ancient Mesopotamia.
Graduate Level
4. The most populous Muslim majority country.
5. The only country with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast.
6. Under Anwar Sadat, Islam became this country's official state religion.
Ph.D. Level
7. This large African country is 97 percent Muslim.
8. It has the fourth- largest Muslim population after Indonesia, Pakistan and India.
9. Under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's leadership, the caliphate in this country was abolished.
Answers:
1. Iran.
2. Pakistan.
3. Iraq.
4. Indonesia.
5. Saudi Arabia.
6. Egypt.
7. Sudan.
8. Bangladesh.
9. Turkey.
North America Syndicate Inc.
facts of the day




13


 
 


January 31, 2016 Sunday  


 The island of Bali is part of what country?

 
Answer: Indonesia. Though more than 80 percent of Indonesia's population is Muslim, more than 80 percent of Bali's population is Hindu. 




13



 



January 29, 2016 Friday  


 A modern system for screening travelers

 
 Arne M. Sorenson is president and chief executive of Marriott International. 
Ever since I was a kid, people have been talking about how the world is getting smaller and more interconnected. Not so long ago, traveling to see world-famous sights and experience different cultures was an opportunity reserved largely for the elite. Today, middle-class families around the world journey to places their ancestors could only have dreamed of visiting.
There have been stops and starts along the way, but it has long felt as though, together, we have been pushing in the direction of more openness, understanding and hospitality toward each other. 
So it's alarming, to say the least, to watch as some people try to capitalize on fears of terrorism by proposing remarkably bad ideas that would turn back the clock on this progress, including banning millions from traveling to the United States because they belong to a certain faith.
While fear is understandable given the backdrop of terrorism - especially the recent attacks in Paris, Indonesia, and San Bernardino, Calif.  - it is nonsense to direct that fear into a generalized hostility toward Muslims. It goes against what we stand for in the United States, a nation of immigrants and tolerance. By fanning the flames of hatred, it makes us not more safe but much more at risk.
Instead of falling for the superficial appeal of the politics of exclusion and hate, governments should use this moment to work together to enhance security while easing the burdens and costs for most who want to travel. For far too long, we have relied on a legacy system of state-issued passports and visas to determine an individual's eligibility to travel.
This system hasn't changed much since I received my first passport in 1958, when I was born in Japan to American parents. Or course, we now have more information about applicants for passports and visas, but that information is seldom shared easily among governments. A labyrinth of rules and regulations and differing data-collection systems hinders our ability to exchange information in real time. Today's challenges simply cannot be met by yesterday's bureaucratic systems.
This year, more than a billion international trips will be taken worldwide. With the rising middle classes of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America eager to travel, these numbers are expected to grow by nearly 5 percent annually, according to the U.N. World Tourism Organization. It shouldn't surprise anyone to hear that many new travelers put the United States and Europe highest on their lists of places to see. Their visits are good for local economies - and for my company, of course - and they are also good for creating stronger bonds among peoples around the world.
The good news is that we have better technology and access to more sophisticated tools than before. Governments have the means to share security information and data across borders, and it is that cooperation that will create the next generation of travel: an integrated network of governments and trusted travelers.
We have seen success in recent years with visa agreements between countries and other programs intended to streamline the various bureaucracies, such as TSA Precheck and Global Entry, that offer pre-approval for low-risk travelers.
By scaling up these concepts and applying them to broader populations, we can create a truly modern system. All travelers might apply for a form of global access and submit information as determined by the participating governments, including through a background check and personal interview. If a person is permitted into the program, he or she then would enjoy visa-free travel and an expedited travel experience among partner countries. Security would be enhanced because we would know more about those people and have verified their trusted status, and because governments could redeploy resources to focus on the few who might pose real threats. The traveler would get a smoother process.
Our best defense against the true threats, and our own fears, is to confront them with a united front of coordination and cooperation. Reacting to fear with misguided policies that indiscriminately close borders or target groups of people harms our economies and societies and breeds more mistrust. Let's not fall for the twisted arguments of those who sow hatred.
The writer is president and chief executive of Marriott International.




13



 


January 25, 2016 Monday

 Failure of Indonesia terror attack

 
By Arthur I. Cyr
A bloody murderous attack in Jakarta, Indonesia, has provided the Islamic State with another opportunity to claim victory. They have promptly done so, with a gleeful statement. The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist actions and statements, reported the credit-taking by ISIS on social media. 
In this case, there really is no meaningful victory for Islamic terrorists, whatever the current state of their collective self-delusion. Four innocent people have died from the attack, including an Algerian-Canadian along with Indonesians. They are victims to be added to others murdered, including the nearly 3,000 killed and thousands injured in the 9/11 attacks.
Indonesia has suffered other terrorist acts. In 2002, the worst attack killed 202 people on Bali, including many foreign tourists who were targets. The latest attack highlights a major anti-terrorist nation generally ignored by the international media. The United States' handling of this aftermath will be crucial.
By contrast, the mass murder in San Bernardino appears to be a crime by free-lancers who identify with ISIS. There is no evidence of important direct links or support of their crime by the terrorist group.
After the San Bernardino killings, President Barack Obama turned a shocking but local crime into a major international incident through direct involvement. He highlighted the event in a formal address to the nation from the Oval Office and then traveled to Southern California. By so doing he diminished the office of chief executive of our nation, and simultaneously opened the door for ISIS plausibly to take credit. This the terror group immediately did, greatly adding to global media attention, and to their prestige in extremist circles.
The Indonesia attack is both a local crime and an international incident of note, carried out in the world's largest nation with a Muslim majority. Geography including trade routes provides Indonesia with strategic significance. The international and foreign policy implications are self-evident, for the U.S. and other nations.
Washington has an opportunity to highlight Indonesia as a success story of stability, modernization and the rule of law. Since former general and longtime autocratic President Suharto was forced from power in 1998, Indonesia has moved to representative government. Freedom House identifies Indonesia as Southeast Asia's freest society since 2006.
During the height of the Cold War, Indonesia was regarded as a major pivotal leader among Third World nations. Flamboyant nationalist President Sukarno played the Soviet Union and U.S. off against one another. CIA efforts to bring Sukarno down were frustrated, a sobering experience helpful later in Vietnam. British forces, with Australian and New Zealand allies, did defeat Indonesia attacks on Malaysia.
By the mid-1960s, cooperation between Indonesia and the Soviet Union was moving forward. This development was extremely important in the decision for large-scale U.S. military intervention in Vietnam in 1965. These circumstances are largely forgotten today.
The tragic but relatively small violent attack in Indonesia is likely to boomerang in strong public sentiment against terror groups. This has been the case in Europe, including Turkey, and a range of other nations. Consequently, Washington can strengthen our ties with Jakarta.
All we need is the will -- and the skill.
Cyr is director of the Clausen Center for World Business at Carthage College.




13



 


January 23, 2016 Saturday

 Indonesia attacks spotlight a great anti-terrorist nation

 
A bloody murderous attack in Jakarta, Indonesia has provided the Islamic State with another opportunity to claim victory. They have promptly done so, with a gleeful statement. The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist actions and statements, reported the credit-taking by ISIS on social media.
In this case, there really is no meaningful victory for Islamic terrorists, whatever the current state of their collective self-delusion. Four innocent people have died from the attack, including a Canadian along with Indonesians. They are victims to be added to others murdered, including the nearly 3,000 killed and thousands injured in the 9/11 attacks. 
Indonesia has suffered other terrorist acts. In 2002, the worst attack killed 202 people on Bali, including many foreign tourists who were targets.
The latest attack highlights a major anti-terrorist nation generally ignored by the international media. The United States' handling of this aftermath will be crucial.
By contrast, the mass murder in San Bernardino appears to be a crime by free-lancers who identify with ISIS. There is no evidence of important direct links or support of their crime by the terrorist group. Efficient modern firearms facilitate killing, even by inexperienced amateurs. Anyone can be a hitman or hitwoman.
After the San Bernardino killings, President Barack Obama turned a shocking but local crime into a major international incident through direct involvement. He highlighted the event in a formal address to the nation from the Oval Office, and then travelled to Southern California. By so doing he diminished the office of chief executive of our nation and simultaneously opened the door for ISIS plausibly to take credit. This the terror group immediately did, greatly adding to global media attention, and to their prestige in extremist circles.
The Indonesia attack is both a local crime and an international incident of note, carried out in the world's largest nation with a Muslim majority. Geography, including trade routes, provides Indonesia with strategic significance. The international and foreign policy implications are self-evident, for the U.S. and other nations.
Washington has an opportunity to highlight Indonesia as a success story of stability, modernization and the rule of law. Since former general and long-time autocratic President Suharto was forced from power in 1998, Indonesia has moved to representative government. Freedom House identifies Indonesia as Southeast Asia's freest society since 2006.
Indonesia's international conflicts today are largely technical and legal, notably the maritime disputes that generally involve the nations of East and Southeast Asia. Corruption and repression have faded.
The situation used to be quite different. During the height of the Cold War, Indonesia was regarded as a major pivotal leader among Third World nations. Flamboyant nationalist President Sukarno played the Soviet Union and U.S. off against one another. CIA efforts to bring Sukarno down were frustrated, a sobering experience helpful later in Vietnam. British forces, with Australian and New Zealand allies, did defeat Indonesia's attacks on Malaysia.
By the mid-1960s, cooperation between Indonesia and the Soviet Union was moving forward. This development was extremely important in the decision for large-scale U.S. military intervention in Vietnam in 1965. These circumstances are largely forgotten today.
The tragic but relatively small violent attack in Indonesia is likely to boomerang in strong public sentiment against terror groups. This has been the case in Europe, including Turkey, and a range of other nations. Consequently, Washington can strengthen our ties with Jakarta.
All we need is the will, and the skill.
Cyr is director of the Clausen Center for World Business at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."




13


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

January 22, 2016 Friday  
FIRST EDITION

 Egypt intensifies crackdown ahead of Arab Spring anniversary

 
Egypt cracks down ahead of Arab Spring anniversary
Egyptian authorities have intensified a crackdown on dissent ahead of next week's anniversary of the country's 2011 Arab Spring uprising, with police raiding apartments seeking signs of plans for organized protests and checking people's social media accounts.
Security forces questioned residents and searched more than 5,000 homes in central Cairo as a "precautionary measure" over the past 10 days, aiming to ensure that Egyptians do not take to the streets, as they have so many times in recent years, officials said Thursday. 
Security forces nationwide are bracing themselves for the anniversary of the 2011 revolt that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Islamic nations back Saudis, denounce Iran o The world's largest body of Islamic nations strongly denounced Iran on Thursday, fully siding with Saudi Arabia over its diplomatic fallout with its regional Shiite rival.
The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation released a final communique condemning Iran following an emergency meeting attended by 24 foreign ministers from across the Muslim world, including Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and Indonesia, to discuss the worsening relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran after a mob ransacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Jan. 2 and its consulate in another Iranian city. The crowd in Iran was protesting the execution of a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric.
Pope opens foot-washing ritual to women, girls o Pope Francis has changed church regulations to explicitly allow women and girls to participate in the Easter Week foot-washing ritual, after having shocked many Catholics by performing the rite on women and Muslims just weeks after he was elected.
Proponents of women's ordination hailed Francis' decree, while traditionalist Catholics warned that it would weaken the church and lead to questions about the inviolability of the all-male priesthood.
Vatican rules for the Holy Thursday rite had long called for only men to participate. Popes and many priests traditionally performed the ritual on 12 Catholic men, recalling Jesus' 12 apostles and further cementing the doctrine of an all-male priesthood.
Israeli leader plays down plan to seize land o Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is playing down an Israeli plan to seize 370 acres of West Bank land, calling it a "routine" survey of land whose fate hasn't yet been fully determined.
The Israeli leader spoke to reporters Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he had meetings with business and world leaders including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.
The U.S. State Department has condemned the planned expropriation of land in the West Bank near the city of Jericho as incompatible with Israel's avowed commitment to a two-state solution. Palestinians and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the plan announced Wednesday by Israeli's Defense Ministry.
Netanyahu said "there has been no decision on what to do with this land" and reiterated his long-standing "open call" for peace talks with the Palestinians.
Shiite militias suspected in Americans' kidnapping o Two powerful Shiite militias are top suspects in the abduction of three Americans last weekend in a southern neighborhood of the Iraqi capital, an Iraqi police commander and a Western security official in Baghdad said Thursday.
The Americans were abducted in Dora, a mixed neighborhood that is home to both Shiites and Sunnis, on Saturday. It was the latest in a series of brazen high-profile kidnappings undermining confidence in the Iraqi government's ability to control state-sanctioned Shiite militias, which have grown in strength as Iraqi security forces battle the Islamic State group.
Two Shiite militias - Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Saraya al-Salam - were likely behind the attack, the Iraqi and Western official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
400,000 isolated in Syria, U.N. official says o On the day the World Food Program joined more than 100 other humanitarian agencies in an appeal to bring about an end to the conflict in Syria, the U.N. agency's top official said 400,000 people in the country remain isolated in 15 besieged areas.
In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, the program's executive director, Ertharin Cousin, says recent cease fires that have allowed the organization to reach places such as the town of Madaya "must be expanded further."
Cousin said the food program is reaching, along with partners, around 3.9 million people in Syria and supporting approximately 1.9 million people outside Syria with food assistance. The challenge, she said, is that more than 7 million people need assistance.
War against Islamic State focuses on airwaves o U.S. and coalition forces are battling Islamic State militants in the skies and on the ground across Iraq and Syria, but the allies are increasingly also targeting the airwaves, where they now are losing the propaganda war.
In Paris this week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter made clear the coalition must get better at projecting its own messages and touting its successes. He has spent much of his time giving speeches lately doing just that - painting an increasingly rosy picture of victories in Iraq and Syria and describing a constrained Islamic State that is losing momentum.
The multipronged effort includes countering jihadi messaging that can recruit or inspire followers around the world to join the group or launch their own solo attacks in western nations.
So far, officials acknowledge that they are losing the communications war.
From news services




13


 


January 19, 2016 Tuesday  


 Battling ISIS in Indonesia

 
SINGAPORE -- The attack that killed four civilians and four terrorists in central Jakarta last Thursday may be a harbinger of more violence to come. It certainly suggests that ISIS, which claimed responsibility, has already transformed the terrorism threat in Indonesia, after years of mostly foiled plots.
Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, has a tiny jihadist movement relative to its size. Many factors have kept radicalism in check: a stable, democratic government, little internal conflict, peaceful neighbors and tolerance for advocates of Islamic law. It also has an effective counterterrorism police unit, set up after the 2002 Bali bombings.  
  The Bali bombings, which killed more than 200 people, marked the high point of terrorist capacity in Indonesia. The bombers were from Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), trained on the Afghan-Pakistani border and funded by Al Qaeda. Although those attacks were carried out in the name of the global jihad, most JI members -- like many other local extremist groups -- were focused on avenging the deaths of Muslims in Christian-Muslim fighting in two areas of eastern Indonesia, Maluku and Poso. The groups involved in that struggle in the late 1990s and early 2000s laid the basis for the extensive network of jihadist cells that exists in Indonesia today.
  With the arrests that followed the Bali attacks and the end of local wars, the jihadist movement weakened and fragmented. But it did not disappear. By the mid-2000s, JI decided violence was largely counterproductive and redirected its efforts toward rebuilding its membership through religious outreach and education. Other extremist groups, some of them splinters from JI, remained committed to jihad, but they lacked JI's training regimen, indoctrination process and discipline. From 2010 until last week, out of dozens of attempted bomb attacks in Indonesia, not one bomb worked as intended, and three suicide attacks killed only the attackers themselves.
  But then ISIS emerged, and suddenly there was the potential for Indonesian extremists to go to Syria and get military training, combat experience, ideological indoctrination and international contacts. What had become a low-level threat became more serious again.
  Thursday's attacks were reportedly organized and funded by Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian computer expert said to be in Syria. Last August, three men were arrested in Solo, in central Java, for planning to bomb a police post, a church and a Chinese temple on Mr. Naim's instructions. (The temple was targeted as retaliation for Buddhist violence against Muslims in Myanmar.) In December, four more of Mr. Naim's men were picked up for plotting attacks against senior police officials and Shiite institutions.
  Even as terrorist activity has picked up in the last year, Indonesia has been shielded from its effects by the incompetence of would-be attackers, as well as police vigilance. In 2015, the total death toll from terrorism was just eight people; in 2014, it was four. The terrorists of the Solo plot, for example, apparently couldn't figure out the right chemicals to make explosives. Last Thursday's attacks could have been much deadlier had the perpetrators been better trained.
  This weakness could lead Mr. Naim or other terrorists in the Middle East to send operatives back to Indonesia to instruct local extremists. And if the Jakarta attack did not cause the mass casualties its organizers were hoping for, the saturation news coverage it generated may turn that near-failure into a success of sorts, and encourage more attacks. Other ISIS sympathizers in Indonesia may want to strike in the hope of attracting similar attention. The rivalry between the two men who are said to be vying for the leadership of Indonesian fighters in Syria, Bahrumsyah and Abu Jandal, could blow back to Indonesia in the form of lethal competition among their supporters.
  The need for more preventive measures has therefore become pressing. One necessity is plugging the holes in Indonesia's anti-terrorism law, which at present does not ban membership in ISIS or similar organizations, or participation in terrorist-training camps abroad. Even when the Indonesian police know that individuals are actively recruiting for ISIS, they have few legal tools to stop them.
  Another necessary step is to improve supervision and post-release monitoring of convicted terrorists. Pro-ISIS networks are able to disseminate information and contacts in Indonesian prisons, in part because almost every inmate has ready access to a smartphone. At any one time, some 300 individuals are either in prison or police custody awaiting trial on terrorism charges -- many of them still in regular communication with peers on the outside. Dozens are released every year after serving their sentences, and the state authorities do not monitor them afterward.
  The government must also develop a program for deportees who have been returned to Indonesia. So far some 200 Indonesians who tried to join ISIS have been sent back by Turkish authorities, some 60 percent of them women and minors, and if there ever was a target population for a deradicalization program, this is it. These people, often especially the women, have proved their determination to go to Syria or Iraq, and they may try to do so again. Their whereabouts are known, at least for the moment, and many need assistance because they sold everything before leaving. The Ministry of Social Affairs provides them temporary shelter, but no structured program assists them beyond that. The Indonesian government must work with local civil society organizations to draw these people into new social networks.
  Finally, Indonesia needs to engage young, computer-savvy Indonesians to develop anti-ISIS messaging on social media and online, where Mr. Naim and other radical groups are actively spreading ISIS propaganda.
  So far, the combination of Indonesia's moderate majority, good police work and the incompetence of Indonesian extremists has kept the death toll from terrorist attacks low. But with ISIS now clearly present as a new threat, the government must urgently develop more programs to prevent its appeal from spreading.
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13


 


January 16, 2016 Saturday  
 

 Many in Jakarta Seem to Shrug Off Terrorist Attack

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- If the militants who attacked the center of this city with explosives and guns on Thursday hoped to inspire fear and attract followers, they seem to have failed. Instead, life in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, returned to normal on Friday, with traffic jams, long lines for public transportation and hasty breakfasts at streetside food stalls.
The terrorist attack, for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility, appeared to have been met with a shrug of the shoulders by the 10 million residents of Jakarta, as many expressed astonishment that the team of assailants had killed only two people despite striking a popular commercial and shopping area.  
  At least 23 others were wounded, including police officers, but the general sense on Friday was that the outcome could have been much worse. Some argued that the attack highlighted the success of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, in resisting Islamic militancy in recent years, as much as it raised concerns about inroads by groups such as the Islamic State.
  Instead of expressing fear, residents of Jakarta praised the police for quickly neutralizing the attackers. The topic of the ''handsome'' Indonesian police officers who responded to the attack trended on social media on Friday.
  There was also scorn for the assailants. Five attackers died, and four others were captured, according to the Indonesian national police.
  ''They looked like they were amateurs,'' said Greg Barton, one of Australia's leading experts on terrorism and a professor at Deakin University in Melbourne. ''As an attack, it was almost a complete failure.''
  Local news reports cited senior Indonesian police officials as saying they had arrested three people on Friday, but they would not say whether they were linked to the terrorist attack.
  Gen. Tito Karnavian, chief of the Jakarta Provincial Police and the former head of the country's elite national police counterterrorism unit, said on Thursday that the attackers were members of Katibah Nusantara, a Southeast Asia-based military unit under the Islamic State.
  General Karnavian identified the organizer of the attack as Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian citizen who spent time in prison in 2012 and 2013 on weapons charges, and said that he had orchestrated the assault from Syria to prove he was capable of leading Katibah Nusantara. The general warned that the group was expanding its operations across the region, including in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
  The attack on Thursday was a ''wake-up call'' for Southeast Asian nations because it showed the radicalization of Islam in the region, said Tang Siew Mun, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
  ''Muslim-majority states like Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei have been slow to grasp the threat posed by I.S.,'' he said in an email, referring to the Islamic State.
  Indonesia, through its 70 years of independence, has fought radical Islamic movements and terrorist networks. Attacks have included a bombing of the famed ninth-century Borobudur Buddhist temple in 1985, and, in the last 15 years, the bombings of Christian churches and Western hotels in Jakarta and nightclubs and restaurants on the tourist island of Bali.
  The Indonesian authorities, with financial and training assistance from the United States, Australia and other nations, significantly improved their counterterrorism abilities after a bombing in Bali in 2002 that killed more than 200 people, most of them foreign tourists. Since then, it has prosecuted hundreds of militants and killed or captured senior leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian terrorist network that was linked to Al Qaeda.
  Indonesia, with more than 250 million people, is about 90 percent Muslim and has a secular national government. It has small but influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist populations, and a tradition of tolerance toward other religions.
  ''Islam in Indonesia is about loving peace, as it has been stated in the Quran,'' said Ansyaad Mbai, former head of Indonesia's National Counterterrorism Agency.
  There are parts of the country that are more conservatively religious and less secular than the capital, most notably Aceh Province at the northwestern tip of Sumatra. To end a long-running separatist insurgency there, the national government gave the province considerable autonomy and, uniquely in Indonesia, the power to impose Shariah religious law.
  But national legislative bodies have historically blocked attempts to amend the Constitution and make Indonesia an overtly Islamic country. The last attempt to do so failed in 2002.
  ''Support for an Islamic state in Indonesia is weak if not nonexistent in political terms. Every time the idea of an Islamic state has come up, it has failed tremendously,'' said Tim Lindsey, director of the Center for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne law school in Australia.
  ''But, of course, the problem is you only need a very small number of people to make a bomb or take up a plot,'' he said. ''There has always been a tiny element of people willing to take arms to create an Islamic state. It's not new in Indonesia.''
  Analysts say Indonesia cannot afford to underestimate the threat from the Islamic State. The Indonesian police reported that they had received intelligence in November that the Islamic State was threatening to carry out an attack in the country. In the weeks leading up to Thursday's attack, the police arrested 16 terrorism suspects in Jakarta and across the main island of Java, but they failed to uncover the plot.
  Analysts said the country's security services were most likely doing some soul-searching.
  ''They thought they had a good handle on it and were not going to be surprised. But they were surprised here,'' said Alan Dupont, a professor of international security at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
  ''So that is going to require them to rethink their own capabilities and to assess whether this represents a new terrorist capability by an Islamic State cell,'' he said. ''That is what they have to work out now, and I don't think they have done so at the moment.''
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14



 


January 15, 2016 Friday

 Police arrest 3 men on suspicion of links to Jakarta attack

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesian police on Friday arrested three men on suspicion of links to the brazen attacks in the heart of the country's capital, and said they recovered a flag of the Islamic State group from the home of one of the attackers.
The discovery of the flag bolsters authorities' claim that the attack Thursday was carried out by the Islamic State group, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq and whose ambition to create an Islamic caliphate has attracted 30,000 foreign fighters from around the world, including a few hundred Indonesians and Malaysians. 
The arrests of the three took place at dawn at their homes in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta, police said in a text message, citing Col. Khrisna Murti, director of criminal investigations who led the raid. It said they were arrested for suspected links to the attackers. MetroTV broadcast footage of the handcuffed men being escorted by police.
Five men attacked a Starbucks cafe and a traffic police booth with hand-made bombs, guns and suicide belts Thursday, killing two people -- a Canadian and an Indonesian -- and injuring 20. The attackers were killed subsequently, either by their suicide vests or by police.
National police spokesman Maj. Gen. Anton Charliyan told reporters a black IS flag was found in the home of one of the attackers and police believe they have established their identities.
He says two of the five men were previously convicted and imprisoned for terrorism offenses.
The IS link, if proved, poses a grave challenge to Indonesian security forces because until now the group was known only to have sympathizers with no active cells capable of planning and carrying out such an attack.
In recent years Indonesian anti-terror forces had successfully stamped out another extremist group known as Jemaah Islamiyah. It was responsible for several attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 bombings of bars in Bali, which left 202 people dead, as well as two hotel bombings in Jakarta in 2009 that killed seven people.
Terrorism experts say IS supporters in Indonesia are drawn from the remnants of Jemaah Islamiyah.
A few hundred Indonesians are known to have traveled to Syria to join the IS. Few have come back. Still, police believe that an Indonesian IS fighter, Bahrum Naim, who is in Syria may have inspired and instigated the Jakarta attack.
Jakarta residents were shaken by Thursday's events but refused to be cowed.
The area near the Starbucks cafe remained cordoned off with a highly visible police presence. Onlookers and journalists lingered, with some people leaving flowers and messages of support.
A large screen atop the building that houses the Starbucks displayed messages that said "(hash)prayforjakarta" and "Indonesia Unite."
Newspapers carried bold front-page headlines declaring the country was united in condemnation of the attack, which was the first in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, since the hotel bombings in 2009.
Risti Amelia, an accountant at a company near the Starbucks said she was "still shaking and weak" when she returned to her office Friday. But because staff remained emotional, the company decided to send workers home, she said.
Supporters of the Islamic State group circulated a claim of responsibility for the attack on Twitter late Thursday.
The message said attackers carried out the Jakarta assault and had planted several bombs with timers. It differed from Indonesian police on the number of attackers, saying there were four.
The statement could not be independently verified by The Associated Press, though it resembled previous claims made by the group.
Taufik Andri, a terrorist analyst, said although the attack ended swiftly and badly for the attackers, their aim was to show their presence and ability.
"Their main aim was just to give impression that ISIS' supporters here are able to do what was done in Paris. It was just a Paris-inspired attack without being well prepared," he told The Associated Press. Those attacks in November killed 130 people.




14


 


January 15, 2016 Friday  


 Jakarta Attack Raises Fears That ISIS Is Spreading in Southeast Asia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia --  The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack in the Indonesian capital on Thursday, raising the specter of an expanded presence by the group in Southeast Asia.
The Syrian civil war has been a source of inspiration for violent Islamists in Indonesia, and hundreds have traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State over the past several years. But recently they appear to have sought targets closer to home. Extremists claiming to represent the Islamic State carried out small-scale attacks in Indonesia and the Philippines last year. 
  ''In the last six months, we've seen a spike of planning for violence in Indonesia,'' said Sidney Jones, a terrorism expert and the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta. ''It's a desire to prove that jihadi groups are still alive and well in Indonesia and are committed to carrying out the ISIS agenda.''
  In Thursday's attack in the center of Jakarta, militants targeted a police traffic post near an affluent shopping area, then set off explosions, apparently in a suicide attack, outside a nearby Starbucks coffee shop. At least seven people were killed, including five of the assailants, and 23 people were wounded, the police said. 
  The Islamic State took responsibility for the attack in a statement released on its official Telegram channel, an encrypted phone app.
  Gen. Tito Karnavian, chief of the Jakarta Provincial Police and the former head of the country's elite national police counterterrorism unit, said at a news conference on Thursday that the perpetrators were linked to leaders of the Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria, and warned that the group was expanding its operations across the region, including in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
  He identified the organizer as an Indonesian citizen believed to be in Syria. The suspect, Bahrun Naim, is a leader of Katibah Nusantara, a Southeast Asia-based military unit under the Islamic State, General Karnavian said. The police appear to have been aware of Mr. Bahrun for some time.
  At least 16 terrorism suspects have been arrested in Indonesia in the past month alone, and the police said they received information in late November that the Islamic State was planning ''a concert'' in Indonesia, possibly meaning an attack.
  Despite the fear caused by gunfire and blasts in the middle of a major Asian city, the limited casualties on Thursday raised questions about the terrorists' destructive capabilities. The police said the explosives used were small bombs or grenades, much less powerful than those used in previous attacks in the country, including one in which a large car bomb on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed more than 200 people, the vast majority of them foreigners.
  Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, with a tradition of tolerance toward other religions. A tiny fraction of the population is radicalized, analysts say, but in recent years, the country has grappled with rising tensions between moderates and hard-line groups, some of them peaceful and others militant, promoting what they say is a purer interpretation of Islam.
  Militants inside Indonesia have often targeted churches, Buddhist temples, Western embassies, businesses and tourists -- the very symbols of the country's openness and plurality. Thursday's attack was the first major one in Jakarta since the bombings of two hotels in 2009.
  Mr. Bahrun served a prison sentence in West Java Province in Indonesia in 2011 and 2012 for illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and he is identified as the author of a recent blog post praising the November terrorist attacks in Paris and their high death toll. The post, titled ''Lessons From the Paris Attacks,'' urged his fellow Indonesians ''to study the planning, targeting, timing, coordination, security and courage of the Paris teams,'' according to an article by Ms. Jones, the terrorism expert.
  In April 2015, Katibah Nusantara fighters captured territory held by Kurdish forces in Syria, a boon for its online drive to recruit new fighters and supporters among Malay speakers in Southeast Asia, according to a research paper published last year by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
  ''The growing reach of Katibah Nusantara could lead to its expanding influence in Islamic State's decision-making process, in turn leading I.S. giving greater priority to Southeast Asia as its war zone,'' the researches said.
  The militants initially targeted the police traffic post on Jalan Thamrin, one of Jakarta's main thoroughfares. Video showed a series of blasts in a parking lot across the street from the post, just yards from the front doors of a Starbucks coffee shop and a Burger King restaurant. Video on local television appeared to show two of the attackers blowing themselves up near the Starbucks.
  At least one assailant fired at the police post. Security forces stormed the area, and the police later said they had arrested four suspects. An Indonesian television station reported early Friday that the police had arrested three more people suspected of being connected with the attack.
  The two civilians killed in the attack were a Canadian and an Indonesian, President Joko Widodo's cabinet secretary, Pramono Anung, said at a news conference. Canada's foreign affairs ministry did not immediately confirm whether a Canadian citizen had died.
  A Dutch man, an expert in forestry and ecosystems management for the United Nations, was seriously wounded and was in an intensive care unit after surgery, a United Nations official in Jakarta said. The United Nations declined to identify the man, but said he was ''fighting for his life.''
  The police department's public relations division said in a post on its official Facebook page that 23 people had been treated for injuries, including five police officers, four foreigners and 14 other civilians.
  Thursday's attack took place just yards from Plaza Sarinah, a shopping mall that was one of the few landmarks President Obama recognized on a 2010 state visit, as his motorcade rolled through Jakarta, where he lived as a child.
  Numerous high-rise buildings, including offices occupied by the United Nations, lie within yards of the police post, as well as several four- and five-star hotels and Tanah Abang, Southeast Asia's largest traditional textiles market. The United States Embassy is a little over half a mile from the attack site, which is also near Indonesia's National Monument and the presidential palace complex.
  Indonesia's violent Islamists are made up of at least three overlapping pro-Islamic State groups, including Ansharut Daulah Islamiyah, a sort of umbrella group that claims to be the main Islamic State structure in Indonesia; Mujahedeen of Eastern Indonesia, based in Poso, on the island of Sulawesi, whose commander, Santoso, leads a band of about 30 armed men, including several ethnic Uighurs; and a group based in central Java that is believed to take instructions directly from an Indonesian fighter for the Islamic State in Syria.
  The country is also home to Jemaah Islamiyah, a group that has been blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Indonesia, according to Ms. Jones. It supports the Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front, and not the Islamic State. Though the group is rebuilding, it does not appear for the moment to be interested in violence in Indonesia, she said.
  The most severe attacks by Islamic militants occurred on Bali in 2002 and again in 2005, when 25 people were killed.
  In 2003, an attack on a hotel in Jakarta left 12 people dead. The hotel was struck again in 2009, nearly simultaneously with the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, and eight people were killed.
  Yohanes Sulaiman, a political analyst, said Indonesia's government had not done enough to contain Islamist radicals in recent years. He said the police had ''done a good job in preventing such attacks, considering that Indonesia is kind of a messy place. What the government hasn't been doing is to stop the radicalism.''
  Indonesian extremists are known to have trained and fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and '90s, in the Philippines, possibly in Bosnia and now in Syria.




14


 


January 15, 2016 Friday  
 

 Jakarta Attack May Signal Revival of Violence in Indonesia

 
BANGKOK -- Hundreds of Indonesians have traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State over the past two years, and more than 50 have been killed there, according to the Indonesian government.
But in recent months, Indonesian jihadists appear to have increasingly sought targets at home. Now, security analysts say that the violence in the capital, Jakarta, on Thursday may portend a revival of an intermittent but bloody campaign, often against symbols of the West, that has plagued Indonesia for the past decade and a half. 
  ''In the last six months, we've seen a spike of planning for violence in Indonesia,'' said Sidney Jones, an expert on terrorism in the country and the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta. 
  ''None of it is a reaction to domestic politics,'' Ms. Jones said.
  ''It's a desire to prove that jihadi groups are still alive and well in Indonesia and are committed to carrying out the ISIS agenda,'' she said, referring to the Islamic State.
  Over the past two months, the Indonesian police have arrested more than a dozen people suspected of being militants, three of whom were accused of involvement in a small explosion on New Year's Eve in Bandung, a city on the island of Java.
  With more than 250 million people, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, but it also has a tradition of tolerance toward other religions. Only a tiny fraction of the population is radicalized, analysts say, but in recent years, the country has grappled with rising tensions between moderates and hard-line groups, some of them peaceful and others militant, promoting a purer interpretation of Islam.
  Indonesia's violent Islamists are made up of at least three overlapping pro-Islamic State groups, including Ansharut Daulah Islamiyah, a sort of umbrella group that claims to be the main Islamic State structure in Indonesia; Mujahidin of Eastern Indonesia, based in Poso, on the island of Sulawesi, whose commander, Santoso, leads a band of about 30 armed men including several ethnic Uighurs; and a group based in central Java that is believed to take instructions directly from an Indonesian fighter for the Islamic State in Syria.
  The country is also home to the newly rebuilt Jemaah Islamiyah, a group that has been blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Indonesia but that is against the Islamic State and supports the Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front. It does not appear for the moment to be interested in violence in Indonesia.
  Assaults against Western targets, churches and nonmainstream Islamic groups have preoccupied Indonesian security agencies for the past 15 years.
  The most severe were bombings in 2002 on the resort island of Bali that killed more than 200 people, a majority of them foreigners. Tourist areas in Bali were targeted again in 2005, and 25 people were killed.
  In 2003, an attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta left 12 people dead.
  The JW Marriott was struck again in 2009, nearly simultaneously with the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, and eight people were killed.
  Navhat Nuraniyah, another analyst at the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, has estimated that about 2,000 people have joined rallies in Indonesia in support of the Islamic State or have pledged allegiance to the group.
  Some were ''keyboard warriors rather than experienced combatants,'' she wrote in an article published in the fall in Inside Indonesia, an online magazine.
  The target of the assault on Thursday in one of the busiest parts of Jakarta, which includes the regional offices of the United Nations, shopping malls and five-star hotels, remained unclear. One of the sites attacked was a Starbucks.
  ''If it turns out Starbucks was deliberately targeted, rather than just the nearby police post, that would be the first attack on a Western icon since the hotel bombings in 2009,'' Ms. Jones said.
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14



 



January 15, 2016 Friday  


 Indonesia attack a sign of Islamic State's global strategy

 
Suspected Islamic State-allied militants carried out a brazen attack in central Jakarta on Thursday, setting off explosions and engaging in a running gun battle in the heart of the Indonesian capital. According to local authorities, five of the attackers and two others  - a Canadian and an Indonesian - were confirmed dead.
The mayhem follows swiftly on the heels of Islamic State-linked attacks in Istanbul, Paris and San Bernardino, Calif. - a sign of the global reach of the extremist organization, even as a U.S.-led coalition keeps pounding away at the group's positions in Syria and Iraq. 
The Jakarta police chief, Tito Karnavian, told reporters that the Islamic State was "definitely" behind the attack, which also injured nearly two dozen people. The strike, which targeted a major business and shopping district, involved multiple suicide bombings, including at a Starbucks, and a 15-minute exchange of fire between gunmen and security forces. Officials say the tactics closely mirrored that of the coordinated bombings and shooting spree carried out in Paris in November.
"Islamic State fighters carried out an armed attack this morning targeting foreign nationals and the security forces charged with protecting them in the Indonesian capital," declared a news agency affiliated with the Islamic State, using the Telegram app. Another Islamic State-linked statement hailed the attack on "the crusader alliance."
Indonesia is home to the world's largest population of Muslims, and there have been increasing fears of Islamic State-style extremism taking root in the archipelago nation.
About 500 to 700 Indonesian nationals are thought to be among the ranks of the Islamic State's fighters in Syria and Iraq. Katibah Nusantara, a unit composed of jihadists from Southeast Asia, has even helped capture territory in Syria and broadcasts its victories to attract new recruits from back home.
Karnavian suggested that the mastermind of the attack was an Indonesian national, Bahrun Naim, who is believed to be in Raqqa, Syria.
This is the first attack launched by the Islamic State in Indonesia and the worst such terror incident in the country since 2009, when Islamist suicide bombers targeted two ritzy hotels in Jakarta, killing seven. Indonesia's eclectic, diverse melding of religions and cultures makes it largely infertile ground for the Islamic State's brand of puritanical zeal.
Nevertheless, fundamentalist groups do have a long history in Indonesia. Most infamously, bombings in Bali in 2002 killed more than 200 people, including many Australian tourists. They were carried out by Jemaah Islamiah, a once-powerful militant faction allied with al-Qaeda.
Since then, Indonesian authorities have beefed up counterterrorism operations, broken up quite a few insurgent networks and sought to crack down on organizations and publications sympathetic to the jihadist cause. In recent months, security forces have aggressively pursued suspected Islamic State supporters, arresting 20 people allegedly connected to the group.
The country's relative success in combating extremism should not be grounds for complacency, however, Sidney Jones, a veteran security analyst based in Jakarta, argued in a prescient article after the Paris attacks last year.
"It's true that a coordinated attack on the scale of Paris is not going to happen in Jakarta or Bali or anywhere else in Indonesia," Jones wrote. . . . "The jihadi groups still active in Indonesia are focused more on getting to Syria than on undertaking any action and anyway, they are poorly trained, poorly led and largely incompetent."
"We could, however, see a change in tactics on the part of pro-ISIS groups here, including a decision to target foreigners," she wrote, using an alternative name for the Islamic State.
That seems to be the clear strategy now linking Jakarta in a global web of terror operations.
"This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in a televised address. "The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and be defeated by, such terror acts."
ishaan.tharoor@washpost.com




14


 



January 14, 2016 Thursday  


 TERROR STRIKES Bombers, gunmen killed in Jakarta

 
AT LEAST three people were killed Thursday as suicide bombers blew themselves up in a Starbucks in downtown Jakarta, while gunmen attacked a police post nearby, according authorities.
At least one cop and four of the attackers were killed, Jakarta police said. 
Explosions rocked the Indonesian capital around 10:30 a.m. local time near the Sarinah shopping mall, in an area that also has luxury hotels, embassies and offices.
TVOne, a local television network, reported three more blasts in other parts of the city.
The first explosion appeared to have triggered a gunbattle between the attackers and anti-terror police squads, and gunfire could be heard more than 11/2 hours later.
Jeremy Douglas, a regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, described a bomb and "serious" exchanges of gunfire on the street outside his Jakarta office. "Apparent #suicidebomber literally 100m from the office and my hotel. Now gunfire," he wrote.
No terrorist groups immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Islamic militant groups have carried out several attacks in the past across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
The coordinated bombings immediately drew comparisons with the November terror attacks in Paris that left 130 dead.
"And folks in office saying think it is a #Paris type #foreignfigthers #ISIS supporters attack," Douglas tweeted.
Tri Seranto, a bank security guard, said he saw at least five attackers, including the three bomb-strapped terrorists. He said he was on the street when he saw the three men entering Starbucks and watched as they blew themselves up, one by one. The other two attackers, carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he heard gunfire and he later saw one officer dead and three seriously wounded.
"This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people," President Joko (Jokowi) Widodo, said in statement on television. Jokowi, who is on a working visit in the West Java town of Cirebon, said he was returning to Jakarta immediately.
"The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and lose to, such terror acts," he said.
The other explosions occurred in neighborhoods housing the Turkish and Pakistani embassies.
Last month, anti-terror police arrested nine men and said the group had wanted to "perform a 'concert' to attract international news coverage of their existence here." Police cited a document seized from the group that described the planned attacks as a "concert."
The country has been on high alert after authorities said they had foiled a plot by Islamic militants to attack government officials, foreigners and others.
About 150,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed during New Year's Eve to guard churches, airports and other public places.




14



 



January 14, 2016 Thursday  


 
INDONESIA
Explosions, gunfire reported in Jakarta
Several explosions went off and gunfire broke out in the center of the Indonesian capital Thursday, and police said they suspected that a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one the blasts.
Media reports said six bombs exploded in Jakarta, and a Reuters witness saw three dead people and a gun battle underway.
One blast was in a Starbucks cafe, and security forces were later seen entering the building. 
Indonesia has been on edge in recent weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants, and counterterrorism police have launched a crackdown on people with suspected links to the Islamic State.
According to the official Jakarta police Twitter account, one explosion occurred in front of a shopping center called the Sarinah mall, on a main city avenue. Media reports said a police post outside the mall was blown up.
A U.N. building near the scene was in lockdown, a witness said. Some other buildings in the area were evacuated. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, the vast majority of whom practice a moderate form of the religion. The country saw a spate of militant attacks in the 2000s, the deadliest of which was a nightclub bombing on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, most of them tourists.
- Reuters
BRAZIL
Mosquito-borne virus culprit in birth defect?
Researchers have found the strongest evidence yet of a possible link between a mosquito-borne virus and a surge of birth defects in Brazil, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
The health agency said evidence of the dengue-like Zika virus was found in the placentas of two women who miscarried and the brains of two newborns who died. Those who were born had small heads, a rare condition known as microcephaly.
"The evidence is becoming very, very strong of the link between the two," said Lyle Petersen, director of mosquito-borne diseases at the CDC.
Petersen warned that the link is not yet definite and said a team of CDC investigators is traveling to Brazil in a few weeks to conduct more studies and learn what risks pregnant women face.
Zika is spread by the same Aedes mosquito that can carry the dengue and chikungunya viruses.
The virus is related to dengue but until recently was thought to cause only mild symptoms.
Health authorities in Brazil have said that there is no question that Zika is behind the birth defects. The Health Ministry said Tuesday that 3,530 babies have been born with microcephaly in the country since October. The number was less than 150 in 2014.
- Associated Press
MEXICO
Cubans stranded on way to U.S. get relief
Nearly 200 Cuban migrants traveled by air and across land through Central America and into southern Mexico on Wednesday, resuming their long-delayed journey toward the United States after several months stranded in Costa Rica amid a diplomatic tiff with Nicaragua.
One by one the 180 Cubans descended from chartered buses and were processed by Mexican authorities, who issued transit visas granting them 20 days to leave the country.
The air-and-bus bridge is the first stage of a pilot program to relieve a logjam of about 8,000 Cubans who have been trapped at the Costa Rican border with Nicaragua, which closed its frontier to them two months ago.
The first flight took off from the northern Costa Rican city of Liberia late Tuesday as part of a regional agreement to overcome Nicaragua's refusal to let them through by land.
U.S. immigration policy lets Cuban migrants stay if they make it to the United States. That special status initially caused some resentment in Central American nations, whose citizens are often deported from the United States if they enter without visas.
Emigration from Cuba has spiked dramatically in the year since Havana and Washington announced that they would restore diplomatic relations. Many Cuban migrants say they are making the journey now for fear that the detente could bring an end to those U.S. policies that give them privileged treatment.
Backers of the U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act say it offers refuge to islanders fleeing Cuba's communist system. Havana argues that the policy encourages Cubans to risk dangerous migratory voyages and causes a brain drain of many of the country's youngest and brightest.
Nicaragua, a close ally of Havana, closed its southern frontier to the Cuban migrants on Nov. 13.
- Associated Press
 Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills Palestinian:  The Israeli military carried out an airstrike in Gaza, targeting Palestinian militants placing explosives along the border and killing one of them, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. The military said its aircraft located the group along Gaza's northern border with Israel. The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 31-year-old man was killed and three others wounded. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group, later identified the deceased as a member.
 Avalanche in French Alps kills 3 skiers:  A avalanche hit a high school group skiing in the French Alps, killing two students and a Ukrainian skier unattached to the school group, officials said. Three others were seriously injured. The Deux Alpes region had been closed off before the accident amid high avalanche warnings, and it is unclear why the group had ventured onto the ski trail.
 China reportedly arrests rights lawyers: Several Chinese rights lawyers, including a woman who represented high-profile women's rights activists, have been formally arrested on state subversion charges after being detained about six months ago, fellow lawyers said. The serious charge carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment. The lawyers have sought to use China's own laws to hold officials accountable or to protect citizens who have been critical of the government, though they also have been linked to protests outside courthouses that authorities have labeled illegal.
- From news services




14


 St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

January 11, 2016 Monday

 Henri Barkey: The global struggle against Islamic militant violence could last generations

 
The Sinai Peninsula. Paris. Mali. San Bernardino.
We keep trying to find our way out of this recurring nightmare of terrorist attacks. The United Nations unanimously adopted a resolution to use "all necessary measures" to combat the Islamic State. Security services remain on the highest alert worldwide. For New Year's, Brussels canceled its festivities, Moscow shut down Red Square, and thousands of soldiers and police officers patrolled New York, Paris and London. But protecting every "soft target" in the world around the clock is impossible. We know more attacks will come.
Still, the scale of the problem is far larger than most of us are willing to acknowledge. Even if the Islamic State is dealt a devastating defeat, it is just the current chapter in a line of modern concepts of jihadism since Iran's 1979 revolution. 
Three broad trends indicate that the fight to overcome this strain of violence will be a long one.
First is the large number of young men (and in some cases, women) vulnerable to recruitment by such millenarian-type organizations. The Muslim world is replete with uneducated young people for whom religion is their life's organizing principle and a substitute for education or opportunity. They fight for goals that defy rational explanation and in the service of a perverted interpretation of religious ideology, which, by its very nature, is closed to any reasoning.
With each passing year of war, shuttered schools and collapsed governance manufacture a new class of susceptible youngsters. Uneducated 13- to 15-year-olds are the perfect recruiting pool for the likes of the Islamic State. They are easily brainwashed, obedient and unlikely to be swayed by reason.
A second worrying development are signs of escalating competition between terrorist groups attempting to demonstrate their own prowess. The prospect of a competition for which group effectively kills more "infidels" would sow more fear and prove calamitous to domestic politics of the U.S. and countries in Europe.
Third, decisively vanquishing jihadist groups has proved to be impossible. This is because the fight is not against a nation or even an organization, but a religion-based and deeply rooted ideology.
The Islamic State has managed to put together a state-like apparatus in Syria, which makes it vulnerable to a determined military ground assault. That wouldn't, however, halt the ideological contagion.
This will be the longest war in modern times. Since 2001, the U.S. has been in a state of permanent war with the likes of the Taliban, al-Qaida, the Islamic State and their offspring, such as the Shabab and Boko Haram. As these groups split, merge and mutate, Washington will be drawn into fights wherever they spread: Yemen, Libya, Nigeria, Somalia, the Sinai Peninsula and more. American special forces contingents already have been sent to Syria and Cameroon.
Expanded security measures will not be sufficient; we need to target the source of the ideology. Specifically, Saudi Arabia's policy of supporting schools, mosques and groups that spread the religious dogma at the core of this extremist belief system has to end -- as does direct funding to terrorist groups by wealthy Saudi individuals. The West, and the United States in particular, has been too accepting of these practices for decades.
Uprooting radical ideologies is difficult, but possible.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, has experienced horrific terrorist attacks, most memorably in 2002 in Bali. Today the country is focused on spreading respect for minority rights. Nongovernmental organizations following in the footsteps of the late former President Abdurrahman Wahid are countering extremist groups, some funded by Saudis. The country's largest religious organization, the 50-million-member Nahdlatul Ulama, is campaigning for a "mental revolution" and promoting the archipelago's tolerant brand of Islam as a counter-identity to fundamentalism worldwide.
The Islamic State's heinous attacks might finally be the thing that pushes other Muslim-majority countries to realize they can't remain bystanders in the fight against extremist ideology. And we will need their help if this longest war isn't to become an eternal one.
Henri J. Barkey, the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, wrote this for the .




14


 Public Opinion
 
Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)

January 10, 2016 Sunday  


 My faith and practice of medicine go hand in hand

 
That's the reason I became a doctor, to get education to the best of my capacity, and to serve humanity. My grandfather was my role model - he was a physician who served day and night in the jungles of Indonesia. His life history is full of stories of walking for miles to see patients and coming back without any reimbursements because, as he noted, the families he went to see were very poor. My goal is to follow in his footsteps and serve humanity as long as I have physical and mental capacity.
I have been a physician for more than 30 years. Many times I have come across patients who ask me questions about how, as a Muslim woman, I could become a doctor, or about how I feel as a Muslim doctor taking care of Jewish and Christian patients? 
The answer is simple.
There is no religion or gender in medicine, 9 out of 10 commandments involve compassion. The doctor-patient relationship is extremely scared. It is defined by empathy, sympathy, trust and confidentiality, service and compassion to one who is in need. This gives me the opportunity to serve fellow human beings in a dignified manner. It does not matter who you are serving, where and when!
I am one of five sisters and three brothers; my father was a very humble but very intellectual and educated man. He made sure that all of his children got a good education. He put special emphasis on the education of his daughters. He mentored us and helped us. He woke us up early in the morning and made a special breakfast for us so that we could study early in the morning (he emphasized that if you study early in the morning you can understand better as your brain is very fresh). Because of his encouragement and efforts, among five sisters three of us are doctors and one is a nurse.
Education is ordained for all Muslim men and women. Any word of wisdom is the lost property of a Muslim. (Sunan At tirmidhi 2687)
Malala and Boko Haram are two confusing examples. All those young girls in East Africa and Malala have been targets of extremism.
But if women's education were not allowed in Islam, how could there be so many women doctors who are Muslims. Quran has commanded in multiple places to acquire knowledge and wisdom without any discrimination of gender. There are many other fathers like my father who have emphasized education for their daughters, following Islamic teachings.
Consider the following verses:
Quran 62:2 - He is the one who sent a glorious messenger (may peace and blessings of God be upon him) among the illiterate people from amongst themselves who recites to them His revelations and cleanses and purifies them and teaches them the book and wisdom.
Quran 2:151 - He teaches you the book and inculcates in you logic and wisdom and enlightens you.
Quran 39:9 - Can those who have knowledge and those who do not be alike?
It is clear from these verses and many other verses that acquisition of knowledge is as important for a woman as for a man. The Holy Prophet of Islam (may peace and blessings of God be upon him) advised us multiple times to acquire knowledge:
Acquisition of knowledge is binding on all Muslims (both men and women) (Ibn MAJA 1:81)
Acquire knowledge even if you have to go to China. ( Al Masnad 1:175)
Whoever seeks a way to acquire knowledge God will make easy his way to paradise (Sahi Muslim 2699)
Islam gives equal rights to women. Good deeds by either women or men will be rewarded equally depending on the deeds. It's not that men will get more rewards than women unlike in the world, where women are still struggling to get equal wages.
It is sad that most Islamic governments are not following these golden rules of equality. They don't let women drive or acquire education or work outside of the house. In some countries a woman cannot even go out alone. They are not following the footsteps of the Prophet, who made special efforts and special arrangements for the education and training of women.
Hadhrat Ayesha, the beloved wife of the Prophet, was a narrator of his sayings (Ahadith), a scholar, and an intellectual person. She narrated more than 2,000 (Ahadith) sayings of the Prophet, and she took an active role in the education of women and even men after the demise of the Prophet. Even during the life of the Prophet she was actively involved in the education of women.
That's the reason I became a doctor, to get education to the best of my capacity, and to serve humanity. My grandfather was my role model - he was a physician who served day and night in the jungles of Indonesia. His life history is full of stories of walking for miles to see patients and coming back without any reimbursements because, as he noted, the families he went to see were very poor. My goal is to follow in his footsteps and serve humanity as long as I have physical and mental capacity. When I hug a patient in distress, wipe her tears or listen to her difficulties, that is the least I can do to minimize her distress. This gives me a feeling of accomplishment, but cannot compare to the high level of service provided by my grandfather in the 1950s.
My faith and practice of medicine go hand in hand. May God accept my humble efforts to serve humanity, and may my two daughters and my son, who are also doctors, continue this noble task when I am gone.
Dr. Amatul Khalid is a Chambersburg physician.
That's the reason I became a doctor, to get education to the best of my capacity, and to serve humanity. My grandfather was my role model - he was a physician who served day and night in the jungles of Indonesia. His life history is full of stories of walking for miles to see patients and coming back without any reimbursements because, as he noted, the families he went to see were very poor. My goal is to follow in his footsteps and serve humanity as long as I have physical and mental capacity.




14


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


January 8, 2016 Friday

 Expert: Fight I.S. by using social media

 
By Chandra Johnson
Deseret News
The threat of the Islamic State group came into sharp focus when ISIS soldiers and sympathizers acted out their twisted world view in a series of attacks - first in Paris in November and then in a San Bernardino shooting a few weeks later.
President Barack Obama has called ISIS "killers with good social media," referring to the terror cell's sophisticated ability to recruit and spread its message of hate online, sometimes using encryption messaging apps or mainstream outlets like Instagram.
While the White House has eschewed the idea of sending troops to ISIS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria, intelligence agencies like the FBI are trying to combat ISIS' message online. That's no easy task, as FBI Director James Comey told CNN in June, given privacy concerns for regular Americans that use apps and social media sites ISIS sometimes employs. 
If the government can't control ISIS' message online, social media companies will have to step up and help, argues Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and director of the Digital Terrorism and Hate Project. For more than three decades, he has worked to fight anti-Semitism and in recent years has turned much of his focus to building understanding between Muslims and Jews. He has met with heads of state and religious leaders in Sudan, Jordan, Indonesia and Egypt. He has been published in , Washington Post and .
Deseret News: What is ISIS' mission and how is social media key in achieving it?
Abraham Cooper: Part of ISIS' seductive attraction is an idea they tell you in marketing 101: Push one idea. They have one idea, the caliphate. They use this marketing tool to promote a key ideal, the ideal that there's going to be a worldwide Islamic caliphate running the world.
They're trying to encourage Muslims all over the world to subscribe to that "one good idea," to be part of their mission. That means you have to convince them you're serious about it. That might involve a tweet, a status update or a video. They use the Internet to say, "Take a look, the international coalition is against us, but we have control in Iraq and Syria. We taught a lesson to the horrible, secular French." We consider these to be horrific events, but they present them as great victories. The Internet, as the president has said, erases borders and you can become radicalized from afar. It's a very seductive worldview to young people looking for something to believe in, and you can communicate with an ISIS soldier online using four or five different technologies. But what's also important is that it doesn't sound like these are people who heard any voices to counter ISIS' message.
DN: When we say ISIS uses social media, what exactly are we talking about? How does it specifically use social media to make people sympathetic to its cause?
AC: For example, in the aftermath of the attacks in France you had tens of thousands of tweets. It was the same after the murders in France in a Jewish school yard, the recent stabbings in the Holy Land, or the shootings in San Bernardino. Our first reaction is revulsion, but their reaction is to hold it up as a prop, a victory blow against infidels and use it as a recruiting tool. The Internet also enables them to bypass Muslim leaders and mosques and directly recruit and communicate with young individuals. It's everything from recruitment to training, and it allows them to do it without having their fingerprints directly on it.
Then they say, "You can't come to Syria? Fine, you can train with these videos and here's who you want to go after - the nonbelievers." There's an empowerment there. You have the sense of community created totally virtually - online. They tell you you're signing up to do something bigger than yourself, it's all in God's name, and if you have guts to pick up a gun, you're going straight to heaven. You're dying for the greatest cause. For a lot of people, it gives meaning to their lives.
DN: What's the difference between the way ISIS uses social media and the way other groups have used wartime propaganda in the past? What makes social media unique here?
AC: The difference is that they're able to reach out globally to recruit young men and women to join them. If you don't want to fight, they have another strategy for people who have creativity to make materials like gorgeous pro-ISIS posters. In World War II, the world had Look, Life and Time magazines. These people have come up with their own highly polished online magazines that cover everything from the lifestyle of the ISIS family to the recipe you should be using to make an improvised bomb. It's not strictly a product of the Internet age, but the delivery systems available to them for free would have been a dream to (Nazi minister of propaganda Joseph) Goebbels during the Nazi era or in the U.K. when they were trying to buck up their citizens during the Blitz. If the people coming up with these marketing campaigns were normal, they'd be pulling down top salaries at marketing firms all over the U.S.
DN: What should be done to stop social media's role in spreading terrorism ideals? Is it the onus of individual companies such as YouTube or Facebook, or does the government need to step in?
AC: Well, first, we're talking about degrading their capabilities. We're never going to eliminate their capabilities. Our goal is to try to marginalize them on the most powerful of these platforms.
Obviously, San Bernardino is a massive wake-up call. The signal is that they're now focusing on soft targets. Anyone can now be a target, and everyone feels that unease. Every single democracy has the same list of fears and concerns.
Our view is the government needs to be speaking to social media giants to make our country safer. But voluntary actions by these companies is our focus because they can do so much more (than the government) because they understand this process and they're for-profit companies, so they can set their own rules and they have a responsibility to be good corporate citizens.
DN: When you say they can do more than the government, what do you mean?
AC: Social networking companies themselves are all experts in predictive behavior. They have the collective genius on collective behavior, so they need to play a creative, voluntary role in bringing together and promoting a counter narrative. Maybe they have windows that pop up when someone is interacting or navigating to a page with ISIS material on it asking them, "Are you sure you want this?" and include some facts about ISIS and terrorism.
The Internet isn't a debate forum, it's a marketing tool. You have to figure out a way to present another message to the audience ISIS is targeting. That's a bold move I'm not sure independent companies will take up because they don't want to be thought of as an interventional "Big Brother." But because we've voluntarily given so much access about who we are to the social networking world, very often they're in a better position to know where someone is at rather than a parent or the government.
DN: You've said that Twitter remains the "online marketing weapon of choice" for terrorists and extremists, while Facebook has led the way in removing terrorist material from its site. How do different social media platforms differ in dealing with this problem?
AC: Facebook's business model is not interested in driving up its page views with ISIS material, and they've made that clear in how transparent they are when we report suspicious pages or activity - they respond and they make reporting something easy. Twitter has been inconsistent and, for the life of me, I don't understand why Twitter would allow itself to effectively be the terrorists' tool of choice, but so far they have. YouTube is sort of still in the middle. There's way too much information on YouTube about how to use household items to deploy in terroristic fashion, and it's hard because of how big YouTube is. We know it's not an easy fight. On the Russian version of Facebook and on Twitter, they tell people to prepare six or so parallel email addresses in case you get kicked off the sites. We're dealing with very sophisticated people here.
DN: Many Islamic mosque leaders have commented publicly that incidents like San Bernardino don't reflect Islamic teachings, but should more of them be tweeting instead?
AC: Yes. Americans get that the majority of Muslims don't hold these extremist beliefs. But the only people who can change the mindset are other Muslims.
The voices countering ISIS must come from within Islam. Not from the government, but from a community of legitimate, young American Muslims. Their youth have to hear it in the mosques, online, they need to be writing op-eds and we need to hear from them all the time, not just the day after a crisis.
ISIS' message of hatred also has to be dealt with from within majority Muslim countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia - leaders there have to step up and deliver unambiguous messages to their constituents. This is the challenge across the board. Most Muslims overseas know this has to be brought under control and they need to get involved with these narratives and come up with legitimate narratives to counter it. It's time for parents and teachers and educators within Muslim communities to take on this extremism, or they're going to wake up one day and find they've lost basic communication with their own young people.
DN: Is there anything ordinary citizens and social media users can do to help curb this problem?
AC: If you see something related to terrorism, say something. Report it to the social networking company, talk to parents, teachers or send it to us at ireport@wiesenthal.com We're going to take it seriously and pass it on to people who need to know about it. But moving forward, the key constituent will be the social networking companies themselves. Without them, it's hopeless. With them, we have a shot.
Email: chjohnson@deseretnews.com




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January 3, 2016 Sunday

 A Muslim cleric's lasting legacy of peace; 
Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent advocate of nonviolent dissent brought a largely nonviolent reaction among Shiites in the Middle East. The region needs a renewal of peaceful means of protest.

 
Since the failure of the Arab Spring in 2011, proponents of peaceful protest in the Middle East have fallen on hard times. The violent acts of Islamic State, and the military response of many governments against it and other terrorist groups, have dominated the region's attention. Yet on Jan. 2, a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest, the Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, was executed in Saudi Arabia. While his trial was deeply flawed and his killing tragic, what is notable was the relatively peaceful reaction, or what the cleric might have wanted  - an effort to affirm Islam as a religion of peace. 
His family called on Muslims to "adopt peaceful means when expressing their anger," as a way to follow his example. In Iraq, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi tweeted his sadness over the execution but wrote that "peaceful opposition is a fundamental right. Repression does not last."
Even in Iran, whose Shiite regime is in a power struggle with the Sunni monarchy of Saudi Arabia, President Hassan Rouhani condemned a group of Iranians that attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran. ''It is unjustifiable,'' he said.
In 2011, Mr. al-Nimr became known as the voice for peaceful protests by Saudi Arabia's minority Shiites against the kingdom's harsh rule. He was later convicted on charges that Amnesty International called "unfair." His civic resistance helped put a mirror up to the Saudi royal family's nondemocratic rule and injustices.
Almost all of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims favor peaceful means to resolve disputes, simply by the way they live. But when repressed by tyranny or the false lure to join a violent jihadi group, they are often forced to make a conscious choice and stand up for nonviolent tactics. Since the arrest of al-Nimr, the Shiite scholars in eastern Saudi Arabia have reaffirmed their commitment to peaceful change as citizens of the country. In a 2014 statement, they said, "Communities in this era have been suffering from radical groups and trends that practice violence and terrorism under the pretext of religion and politics. Religion condemns terrorism and political violence destroys nations."
Such active pacifism needs more notice as the Middle East deals with the challenge of Islamic State or with a shift within the region-wide Muslim Brotherhood to resort to violence after the military crackdown in Egypt.
In 2011, the Nobel Peace Prize was given to a prominent nonviolent proponent in Yemen, Tawakkul Karman. Last year the Prize went to a quartet of groups in Tunisia for their "peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war." In addition, many Muslim communities have stepped up to push for peace and respond to evil with good. The Dawah movement, for example, proselytizes to Muslims to follow nonpolitical spiritual paths. In Indonesia, a large Muslim organization called Nahdlatul Ulama is reaching into the Middle East with an interpretation of Islam that advocates nonviolence, compassion, and acceptance of other religions.
Peaceful means to achieve a social good against a ruler's violent misrule cannot be done for the sake of expediency but as an expression of patience, love, and strength.  Those who knew of al-Nimr's sermons on nonviolence also knew how to react to his execution. That should help make the Middle East more peaceful.




15


 


January 1, 2016, Friday

 Jittery world bids adieu to a year marred by terror

 
In Bangkok, police-flanked partygoers will ring in the new year at the site of a deadly bombing that took place just months ago. In Paris, residents recovering from their city's own deadly attacks will enjoy scaled-back celebrations. And in Belgium's capital, authorities, anxious after thwarting what they say was a holiday terror plot, have canceled festivities altogether.
As the final hours of 2015 draw to a close, many are bidding a weary and wary adieu to a year marred by attacks that left nations reeling and nerves rattled. Still, most places are forging ahead with their celebrations as many refuse to let jitters ruin the joy of the holiday.
"We still have this fear but we need to continue to live, said Parisian Myriam Oukik. "We will celebrate. 
A look at how people around the world are planning to do exactly that:
Australia
Australian officials, struggling to contain the threat from home-grown extremists, encouraged revelers to enjoy the evening and assured that thousands of extra police would be out patrolling the major cities.
"Don't change your way of life, Melbourne's Lord Mayor Robert Doyle recently urged residents of the nation's second-largest city, expected to gather by the hundreds of thousands despite blistering temperatures to watch nearly 11 tons of fireworks light up the sky. "Don't let events from around the world challenge the way that we live.
Melbourne's rival, Sydney, takes seriously its position as one of the first major cities in the world to ring in each new year and plans to celebrate in its typical showy fashion. More than 1 million are expected to gather along the famed harbor to watch a glittery display featuring a multicolored firework "waterfall cascading off the Harbour Bridge and pyrotechnic effects in the shapes of butterflies, octopuses and flowers.
Japan
New Year's Eve is Japan's biggest holiday, and millions crammed into trains to flee the cities for their hometowns to slurp down bowls of noodles, symbolizing longevity, while watching the annual Red and White NHK song competition. As midnight approaches, families bundle up for visits to neighborhood temples, where the ritual ringing of huge bronze bells reverberates through the chill.
Tokyo is on special alert for security issues this year, with posters in subways and other public spaces warning people to keep their eyes open for suspicious packages or activities.
South Korea
South Koreans will mark New Year's Eve with traditional bell ringing ceremonies, fireworks and outdoor music and dance performances. Thousands of people, including North Korean refugees, are expected to gather at a town near the border with rival North Korea to watch one of the ceremonies and wish for peaceful Korean unification.
In her New Year's message, South Korean President Park Geun-hye stressed again that her government is open to dialogue with North Korea but it will "resolutely cope with any provocation by Pyongyang.
North Korea is expected to mark the new year with a speech by leader Kim Jong Un, which outside observers use to pore over for insight on the reclusive country's policy direction.
Malaysia
Security has been beefed up in Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, where fireworks will ring in the new year at a historical square as well as at the Petronas Twin Towers, one of the world's tallest towers.
Malaysian authorities have detained more than 150 suspects linked to the Islamic State group over the past two years, some of whom were allegedly plotting to launch attacks in strategic areas of Kuala Lumpur. In September, the U.S. Embassy warned of a potential terrorist threat at a popular hawker street and its surrounding areas in the city.
China
An official New Year's Eve celebration is planned near Beijing's Forbidden City with performances and fireworks, and one of China's most popular TV stations will broadcast a gala from the National Stadium, otherwise known as the iconic Bird's Nest.
For security reasons, Shanghai is closing subways near the scenic waterfront Bund because of a stampede last New Year's Eve that killed 36 people and blemished the image of China's most prosperous and modern metropolis.
Beijing's shopping and bar areas are under a holiday security alert that started before Christmas and has resulted in armed police standing guard at popular commercial areas. Police commonly issue such alerts during holiday periods to ensure safety.
Philippines
No specific threats timed for New Year's revelries have been detected in the capital, Manila, or other major cities, although government forces are always on alert due to the presence of small but violent Muslim militant groups in the country's south.
Concern on New Year's Eve is instead focused on the use of illegal fireworks, which last year injured more than 850 people. Shopping malls and cities have organized fireworks displays to discourage people from lighting their own firecrackers. A huge religious sect, the Iglesia ni Cristo, will attempt to break the world record for the largest fireworks display and the highest number of sparklers to be lit in one place.
Thailand
Less than six months after a pipe bomb killed 20 people at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, tens of thousands are expected to ring in the new year at the same intersection with live music and a countdown.
Up to 5,000 police will be in the area, with explosive ordnance disposal experts making a sweep ahead of time.
Noisier still will be the celebration along the Chao Phraya River, where tourism officials have promised spectacular fireworks over two of the kingdom's most iconic landmarks, the Grand Palace and Wat Arun - the Temple of Dawn.
New York
Around 1 million people are expected to converge on New York City's Times Square for the annual celebration. The party begins with musical acts, including Luke Bryan, Pentatonix, Demi Lovato and Carrie Underwood, and ends with fireworks and the descent of a glittering crystal ball from a rooftop flagpole.
This year's festivities will also be attended by nearly 6,000 New York City police officers, including members of a new specialized counterterrorism unit.
People usually begin filling the square and adjoining blocks before sundown for the televised spectacle. Everyone arriving gets screened for weapons with a metal-detecting wand.
Las Vegas
Officials are urging revelers to leave bags, backpacks and strollers at home as police ready for hundreds of thousands of partiers to flood the Las Vegas Strip. It's not a first-of-its-kind request, but it's getting extra emphasis following deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino and, more recently, a driver in Las Vegas who witnesses say intentionally plowed into pedestrians, killing one person.
Nearly 1,000 uniformed officers and an undisclosed number of undercover officers will be posted along the popular 4-mile-long, casino-filled corridor.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman lamented the prospect that fear might keep people from celebrating New Year's Eve, or any event.
Indonesia
Indonesia is on high alert after authorities said last week that they had foiled a plot by Islamic militants to attack government officials, foreigners and others in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
About 150,000 police officers and soldiers have been deployed to safeguard churches, airports and other public places.
National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Anton Charliyan said security is focused on anticipating attacks in vulnerable regions including the capital, Jakarta, the tourist resort of Bali and restive West Papua, where President Joko Widodo is celebrating the New Year.
More than 9,000 police are deployed in Bali, the site of Indonesia's deadliest terror attack, which killed 202 people in 2002.
- The Associated Press
India
Hotels and restaurants in and around New Delhi have been advertising grand party plans with live bands, dancing and plenty of drinks.
With security being a concern, police and anti-terror squads on Tuesday conducted mock terror-attack drills at a crowded shopping mall and food court. Witnesses, however, were unimpressed. Mona Arthur, a Delhi journalist who was in the mall at the time, dubbed the exercise a "mockery of a mock drill.
She and a friend were shopping when two police officers ran past them. Then a security official said two terrorists had entered the mall.
"The whole thing was comical, said Arthur, who was irritated that no information was given to shoppers on where to go or what to do.
United Arab Emirates
In the megacity of Dubai, three separate firework displays are set to wow spectators. The show starts from the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at 828 meters (905 yards). Already, organizers say the tower has been fitted with 400,000 LED lights and 1.6 tons of fireworks will be used in the display.
From there, fireworks also will light up the sky around the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab and later down near the Dubai Marina. Fireworks also will be on display in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the country of seven emirates.
The fireworks will end a year of challenges for the United Arab Emirates, which saw global oil prices drop below $40 a barrel and dozens of its soldiers killed in the ongoing Saudi-led war against Shiite rebels in Yemen. Meanwhile, the Mideast as a whole still reels from the onslaught of the Islamic State group.
Kenya
Police in Kenya, which has been repeatedly attacked by al-Shabaab militants based in neighboring Somalia, are urging vigilance as many people prepare to celebrate in hotels and watch midnight fireworks displays. Unauthorized fireworks have been banned as a safety hazard "in view of the elevated threat of terrorism, police said.
"Kenyans should remain vigilant at all times and know that we are facing a real terror threat since the split of al-Shabaab into two groups, one supporting al-Qaida and another Islamic State, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet told The Associated Press. "We are facing a real terror threat because these two groups are struggling to outsmart each other. This therefore is not a time to drop our guard, particularly during this festive season.
France
The French are still recovering from the Nov. 13 attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris, and authorities are preparing for a possible worst-case scenario on New Year's Eve. About 60,000 police and troops will be deployed across the country on Thursday.
"The same troops who used to be in Mali, Chad, French Guyana or the Central African Republic are now ensuring the protection of French people, said Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Paris has canceled its usual fireworks display and will instead display a 5-minute video performance at the Arc de Triomphe just before midnight, relayed on screens along the Champs Elys




15


 
 
 (California)

January 1, 2016 Friday

 Peninsula readers' letters: January 1

 
Affordable housing
Dear Editor: When looking for space for affordable housing, sometimes a solution is closer than you think. Why not prezone all of Stanford Shopping Center to add a single floor of affordable housing on top, with residency restricted the way on-campus faculty housing is? It would be limited to families with at least one member who works on campus; for example, support staff at Stanford University, Stanford University Medical Center or the Stanford Shopping Center. This would help to meet the housing need created by the increase in campus workers for the new Stanford Medical Center but that was not required as part of those approvals. I believe this could be accomplished within the 50-foot height limit. It would probably require creation of a new zoning category -- retail with affordable housing overlay. Stanford would not be required to build the housing, but it would help to satisfy ABAG requirements.
Margaret Fruth, 
Palo Alto
'Affluenza' teen
Dear Editor: Now that "Affluenza" teen Ethan Couch has been nabbed in Puerto Vallarta, waiting for some Mexican politician to say Mexico needs to tighten its borders because Americans are clearly not sending their best.
Janice Hough,
Palo Alto
Gas tax looters
Dear Editor: There is a quick, simple and foolproof means to raise the billions needed to rebuild California's roads, bridges and related infrastructure: Reverse 100 percent of the items in the state budgets retroactively that, from 1990, got "loans" from the gas tax fund. Immediately shift any such current loot back to the gas tax fund and borrow from California banks that owed to it.
If our Sacramento looters want to continue whatever stupidities their borrowings for the last 25 years have paid for, then a "Jerry Brown Memorial Fund" bond issue can be drafted by such political and non-political supporters and placed on a special ballot in 2016. Until then, these programs can exist on what directly taxed funds the pols can con voters into approving -- but the bond issue would be required to reimburse the gas tax fund with 50 percent of the money raised upon passage, the balance being used to replace monies newly denied from what was their piggy bank.
Californians can decide how much and to which non-gas-tax-funded programs they really want to continue paying, and will be forced to determine and vote for those programs. Said programs must also be revenue generators to pay off the bond issue that becomes their sole source of funding, other than new voter-approved taxes (if bikers want bike lanes they can pay for them).
This stops the gas tax looting today, in effect becoming a gas tax increase, and we Californians will begin to see results in infrastructure spending that brings jobs and also benefits our state's economic and tourism growth.
Norman Higby,
Menlo Park
'Undemocratic DNC'
Dear Editor: The Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders campaigns both have rightly accused the "undemocratic DNC" of boosting Hillary Clinton's prospects by limiting the number of debates and scheduling them during low-viewership times such as Saturday nights. According to Nielsen, only 6.7 million people tuned in to ABC during the last Democratic debate -- a fraction of the 18 million who watched the fifth Republican debate.
It was the second Democratic debate in a row held on a Saturday night. The next Democratic debate is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 17, during the Martin Luther King Jr. three-day-long weekend.
During the last debate, O'Malley rightly accused both of his rivals of being weak on gun control; this will likely encourage lone-wolf assassins to purchase firearms at gun shows before launching attacks on unsuspecting Americans.
The debate also exposed Sanders and Clinton's foreign policy blunders. Clinton was a vigorous supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and both she and Sanders supported the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. Both decisions have created monumental chaos in the Middle East and the death and displacement of millions. Clinton played out her well-known hawkishness to demonstrate her "steel toughness" to compete with the boys by advocating a no-fly zone over Syria, heading for a possible dangerous collision course with Russia. Both Syria and Iraq have invited the Soviets into their air space in contrast to the U.S., which did not receive such a request. A no-fly zone would be a clear violation of international law and fraught with incredible risk.
Tejinder Uberoi,
Los Altos
Imagine if
Dear Editor: What would Donald Trump do or say if one of his rivals described his marriage track record as a lady, a tramp and a bimbo? Not nice, right?
How would world leaders react if, God forbid, Trump were elected president and he started making stupid faces and racist remarks at a summit meeting?
What if the GOP leadership got it together and nominated a decent candidate who will put the needs of the people in place of their own selfish ambitions and egos?
What if the 2016 election was based on actual issues facing the United States and the world instead of the usual finger pointing mudfest? Just saying.
Toni M. Villa,
Mountain View
More than dumb
Dear Editor: When it comes to just plain dumb, Mr. Zaumen knows what he is talking about (Letters, Dec. 18). He correctly points out that most Muslims live in Asia and not the Middle East, but so what? Our San Bernardino terrorists were Pakistani, the Taliban is from Afghanistan and Islamic terrorists are active in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
While the prohibition against women drivers is not universal in Islamic countries, "honor killings" abound in the Islamic world. The intolerance of Islam is reflected in the response to cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, the assault at Charlie Hebdo and elsewhere. In many Islamic countries, a woman who has sex with someone other than her husband can be executed. Homosexuality is also a crime and often the penalty is death. This is why a well-known Iranian poet recently fled to Israel -- because thousands of Iranian homosexuals have been executed. Ask Aayan Hirsi Ali and Salman Rushdie about Islam today. They live under death threats for criticizing Islam. No one should think that all Muslims are terrorists, but nobody should think that it is mere coincidence that terrorist movements in Nigeria (Boko Haram), Somalia (Al Shabbab), al-Qaida, Taliban, Hamas, Hezbolla and ISIS are all Islamic. To ignore this, Mr. Zaumen is more than dumb. It is a sign of willful ignorance.
Gil Stein,
Aptos




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December 31, 2015 Thursday

 
EDUCATION WAGES
Pay employees fairly
I work at a high school in Topeka. The school has 1,800 students, more or less, as students enroll and withdraw daily. About 1,200 students receive free lunch, meaning they are just above or below the poverty level. 1,200 of 1,800 - two out of three.
One out of 36 students is homeless. With increased class sizes, that is nearly one in every class. Even Sports Illustrated ran an article on homeless athletes (October 2014). Statewide the numbers aren't much better. 
How is this not a crisis? How is this not a failure of our federal, state and local government?
Don't dare to blame these families. Statistically only 10 of the families attending this school are on welfare. These families are mostly hard-working. At least 200 of these families' parents are working two or more jobs to get by. Some kids are sleeping in class because they put in 40 hours a week at school and 30 hours a week at a job. It's not that they are not working, it's that they are not making a living wage.
If you think there are no bread lines, consider that this high school provides lunches for 1,500-1,900 children a day during the summer at churches and other locations. There is not the space to address the divorce, drug and alcohol abuse, health and other issues exacerbated by chronic financial difficulties.
Martin Luther King Jr. said all work has dignity. Everyone who works deserves a living wage, which would be about $15 an hour for the average American family. Don't worry about rising costs of goods and services. States that have recently raised the minimum wage have not had more inflation. The increasing number of poor cannot save money in investment portfolios; it will all go back into the local economy and produce more jobs than those lost by cuts due to higher wages.
It is long past time for the leaders of our state government and business community to stop attacking schools and give our students and their families the means to support themselves and succeed. If you want responsible, educated workers, pay them what they are worth.
GREG FALLON, Auburn
MUSLIM IMMIGRATION
Driving the agenda
A recent article in the Topeka Capital-Journal written by a far-left state political reporter criticized political posturing on the Syrian refugee crises by Republican presidential candidates. Common sense was not evident in the article, only left wing emotions.
There are a number of entities driving the agenda to bring Syrian Muslim refugees into the U.S. First is the president, who is driven by ideology and an educational and political background that is virulently anti-American. His actions over the past seven years has proven this out. He truly believes open borders and cultural diversity will help stamp out white privilege, as he sees it. He comes out of an educational system that taught these ideas and belonged to a church that damned America and spewed hatred and racism as part of its services. He has Muslim sympathies based on his childhood education and his father. 
The ACLU also has much to gain by promoting the Syrian influx. Follow the money, as they are already lining up to file lawsuits contesting states refusing to accept refugees. 
This unholy alliance is joined by many of the good church people who espouse biblical platitudes about accepting the poor and downtrodden. They appeal to the good Christians by using guilt to further their aims. Looking beyond their holiness, follow the money. Lots of federal dollars flow to those church organizations who help settle refugees.
I would hope the American people are smarter than this. Go to Paris or Belgium to see how well Muslims assimilate into Western society. Look at Minnesota, where jihadists are leaving to join ISIS. Look to other Muslim majority countries and see what kind of religious freedom Christians enjoy. Indonesia is considered a shining example of Christians living in harmony with the Muslim majority. Yet their churches are burned and Christians live in daily danger. If America would become a Muslim majority country, there would be no freedom of religion. Christianity thrived in the Middle East for centuries before Muhammad and Islam came along. Notice how well that went for the Christians. 
Bring in the Iraqi and Syrian Christians that share our Judeo-Christian values. They are the ones being hung on crosses and beheaded, and (having) their properties confiscated by the Caliphate. Islam is only tolerant when it is in the minority, and only then do they demand tolerance.
BILL BARNES, Topeka




15



 
Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)

December 24, 2015 Thursday  


 Doubts about Saudi Arabia

 
One of the greatest weaknesses in the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State is the lack of competent regional forces to join in defeating the militants, especially on the ground. Saudi Arabia's plans to organize a military coalition of 34 Islamic nations against terrorism could be a breakthrough, though there are many reasons to doubt how effective the plan will be.
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council for the first time passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire and political talks to help end the civil war in Syria, but whether that can pave the way for an end to the conflict is also highly questionable. 
As for the coalition, there is no clarity about what the group will actually do. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's inexperienced defense minister, said the coalition's efforts would not be limited to fighting the Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim group, but would include a joint operations center established in Riyadh to "coordinate and support military operations to fight terrorism" across the Muslim world. Just what that means is unclear, but it could be a license to find enemies everywhere.
In fact, it is hard to see Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-led state, as a serious partner against the Islamic State unless it stops financing the Wahhabi religious schools and clerics that are spreading the kind of extremist doctrine that is at the heart of the Islamic State's ideology. Although the Islamic State has pledged to destroy Saudi Arabia, Saudi leaders have so far been more concerned with opposing Shia-led Iran, which they consider their greatest adversary.
It's also not clear which nations will be involved in the coalition. When the deputy crown prince announced the initiative on Tuesday, he identified some states, like Pakistan and Malaysia, as members, though they said they were unaware of the plans. Yet several key Muslim countries have been excluded, namely Iran and Iraq, another Shia-majority country, which Saudi Arabia views as an Iranian puppet. Also absent are Oman, a neighbor of Saudi Arabia that brokered the shaky cease-fire in Yemen that started this week, and Algeria, the largest Muslim country in Africa. Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation, is not on the list; neither is Afghanistan, which has been a focus of Western anti-terrorism efforts for more than a decade.
Some coalition members have substantial militaries, but many others do not. And while many of the countries are, in various ways, individually involved in the fight against terrorism, there are serious divisions among them, including which groups they consider terrorists.
Whether the members will be able to harmonize their goals, much less their tactics, is unknown. 
Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, told reporters in Paris on Tuesday that "nothing is off the table" in the Saudi-led anti-terrorist effort, including media and information campaigns to counter extremist ideology and the possibility that Gulf states will send special forces into Syria. The Sunni Arabs can be constructive if they help weak countries in North Africa that are battling extremists.
Saudi Arabia, with one of the most modern arsenals in the region, has not been seriously committed to fighting the Islamic State. The proposal is at least partly a response to pressure from President Barack Obama, who has argued that it and other Sunni states have done far too little to defeat a force that threatens them more than anyone else.
It shouldn't take long to see whether the proposal has substance or is just an attempt to divert attention from Saudi Arabia's disastrous military intervention in Yemen and defer an overdue reckoning for its own role in spawning the kinds of extremists the coalition is supposed to counter.
-- 




15


 


December 23, 2015 Wednesday  


 Transgender Muslims Find a Home for Prayer

 
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia --  As the call to prayer boomed over this midsize university town on a recent Sunday evening, rows of conservatively dressed Muslim women laid out their prayer mats, bowed toward Mecca and murmured prayers in Arabic. As dusk fell, it was a ritual being carried out in mosques and prayer academies across the city.
What set this academy apart is that most of the worshipers here had been born as men. 
  Tucked away behind a large mosque on a side street in Yogyakarta, Al Fatah Pesantren is, according to its leader, the only Muslim academy or madrasa for transgender people in the world. 
  Shinta Ratri, the school's 53-year-old director, founded it with other transgender women in 2008, two years after a major earthquake convulsed the city. ''It was a time of suffering, and transgender people needed a way to pray,'' she said. ''We needed a place to worship together and learn about Islam.''
  Transgender women have few opportunities to worship, as their defiance of strict gender categorization challenges conservative Muslim views about gender.
  Yuni Shara, 48, a former office worker who serves as Al Fatah's secretary, said she found an acceptance here that she did not at local mosques. ''People would stare at me at mosque,'' she said. ''They would point and say, 'She's transgender.' ''
  She said it was hard to focus on prayers when people gawked or stared, or when other worshipers would refuse to sit with her.
  Sitting on the school's front porch before a prayer ceremony, she used a hand mirror and tweezers to pluck hair from her chin. ''Here,'' she said, ''it's very comfortable.''
  In Indonesia, transgender women are known as waria, a portmanteau of the Indonesian words for man and woman. Though waria have long been part of Javanese culture, they are shut out of most formal work opportunities and live at the margins of society.
  They can become hairdressers at salons, dancers in risqué shows, occasionally even pop stars. Many, though, work the streets, begging during the day and engaging in prostitution or other sex work at night.
  ''I've always been devout,'' said Edo, a 39-year-old sex worker who uses only one name, as she sat on the school's front steps, adjusting her green hijab, which she wore with a conservative black gown. After going out on Saturday evenings to meet clients, she will often head to the school for Sunday worship.
  ''There's no contradiction,'' she said, crediting this realization to her study at the pesantren, the Indonesian word for madrasa. Like other women here, she goes by a name she chose for herself after transitioning genders.
  Such a student body has its challenges. Transgender women often live in poverty with unstable family lives.
  The school's 40 or so students tend to be older than those at a traditional madrasa, who are usually in their teens or early 20s. Some are as young as their late teens, but mostly they are middle-aged and have missed traditional Islamic education because they were expelled from home as teenagers.
  ''Many students come and go,'' Ms. Shinta said.
  She wants to bring waria from the edges into the center of Indonesian life. And in this increasingly religious country, that means bringing them into the center of Islam.
  While the primary goal of the academy is to provide a place of worship for transgender women, she said, another goal is using Islam to advocate transgender rights. ''We have to educate the public about who transgender women are, and we have to push the government so that it acknowledges that we have equal rights,'' she said.
  Though some transgender Indonesians have succeeded in getting the state to recognize them, Indonesian law offers no protection against workplace discrimination or harassment. Many waria report having been dismissed from their jobs when they expressed their true gender identity, compelling them to select work outside the formal sector, like prostitution, instead.
  The school's students meet during the week to plan trips to local universities, where they speak about Al Fatah's mission, and to plan religious ceremonies. To raise money for Arabic lessons, Ms. Shinta and many of the students study traditional Javanese dance, which they perform at weddings and other ceremonies.
  Their efforts have been championed by progressive Muslim leaders, who embrace the school as a symbol of tolerance at a time when there is widespread worry that Indonesia's historically tolerant Islamic tradition is being eroded by more doctrinaire forms of Islam imported from the Middle East.
  ''The pesantren is important for persuading Indonesians that transgender women, as well as L.G.B.T. more generally, are not necessarily sinners or deviants,'' said Musdah Mulia, a prominent feminist theologian and chairwoman of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace, an organization that promotes religious tolerance.
  Such open support, however, comes exclusively from Indonesian Islam's most progressive voices. Conservative Muslims, including Indonesia's Ulama Council, which advises the national government on religious issues, do not acknowledge transgender rights.
  Ms. Shinta had hoped that the faculty of Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University in Yogyakarta would work with her school to develop guidelines for leading a proper Islamic life for transgender people, but the partnership foundered on theological differences.
  ''In the Quran there are only men and women,'' said Fuad Zein, a professor in contemporary Islamic law at the university.
  Still, the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, or N.U., has been ''extremely supportive'' of the school, Ms. Shinta said.
  N.U., which has an estimated 50 million members across Java, follows traditional Javanese Islam, with its generally relaxed interpretations of Islamic law and emphasis on tolerance.
  Institutions affiliated with the organization have provided the school with Muslim teachers and connected Ms. Shinta with sympathetic religious leaders and faculty members throughout Java, the island where more than half of Indonesia's people live.
  The irony that a transgender prayer academy is supported by Indonesia's most prominent traditionalist Muslim group is not lost on Ms. Shinta. ''It's because Javanese culture is far more open to gender issues, because Javanese people were already introduced to transgender women well before Islam arrived,'' she said.
  Jeremy Menchik, an assistant professor in the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and the author of ''Islam and Democracy in Indonesia: Tolerance Without Liberalism,'' says that Indonesia challenges common assumptions about where tolerance comes from. ''The general idea is the more tolerant individuals will be the more urban, educated, liberal and secular,'' he said. ''What's interesting about Indonesia is among the organizations I study, N.U., the traditionalist one, the rural one, the conservative one, is the most tolerant.''
  Ms. Shinta, who wears a traditional gamis -- a gown worn by observant Muslim women -- and a head scarf, in many ways embodies that strain of tolerant conservatism.
  Asked about the place of transgender people in Islam, she gives a broad smile and pulls out a Quran, pointing out passages that, she says, prove that Muhammad cared about transgender people. ''It's proof! He cares about us!'' she exclaimed, tapping her finger on a passage about a man who does not desire women. ''That's transgender, that's gay!''
  Get news and analysis from Asia and around the world delivered to your inbox every day with the Today's Headlines: Asian Morning newsletter. Sign up here.




15


 
 
 (California)

December 23, 2015 Wednesday

 Dec. 27 Readers' letters

 
Islamaphobia is a human rights issue
In light of the resurgences of Islamaphobia in recent weeks, we must remember how important it is for us to all learn how to live together. We don't have to always agree with other people or fully understand why they believe as they do, but we must respect all people. A recent poll reported that 22 percent of people don't want a Muslim as their neighbor, and 39 percent would not object to an identification badge or card for Muslims. If this isn't a human rights issue, then what is?
Kyra Soares 
1731 Shasta Avenue
Trump should be careful of what he wishes for
Reciprocation is standard practice in the diplomatic world. Donald Trump's idea of banning Muslims from entering the United States will immediately trigger all Islamic countries to stop allowing Americans to enter into their countries. In the case of Indonesia, this will cause most of the Silicon Valley chip manufacturers to shut down, since many of them have or use manufacturing facilities in Indonesia. Not to mention all the flights between Islamic countries and the U.S. will have to stop as well, since their crews are Muslim. Is Trump prepared to handle the consequences of his proposal?
Mehdi Safipour
Saratoga
We must manage our forests sustainably
Most Californians probably assume that clear-cutting of forests is no longer permitted in our state's forests, but the sad truth is that the state continues to approve logging plans that include clear-cutting. In fact, California's cap-and-trade system awards carbon offset credits for clear-cutting projects. I applaud Gov. Jerry Brown's leadership at the U.N. climate summit, but he can do a better job of practicing what he preaches at home by putting a stop to clear-cutting in our forests and promoting logging methods that preserve more of the carbon-storing capacity of our trees. We need to manage our forests sustainably and use their ability to sequester carbon as an important tool in our plan to slow climate change.
Frank Eldredge
San Jose
Columnist advocating perverse logic
Victor Davis Hanson's concern with the families of terrorists (Opinion, Dec. 18) is as predictable as it is absurd. Predictable in typical right-wing hysteria fashion regarding our nation's present and legitimate concern over terrorism. That is, close the doors to anyone coming from the Middle East, save of course for Jeb Bush's willingness to let Christians in. Hanson's concern over parental knowledge of their siblings' evil intent clearly implies keeping the former at bay. Of course, the same perverse logic should then apply to the thousands of American citizens who commit crimes of extreme violence. I wonder what Hanson had to say about Timothy McVeigh's parents. Or any of the parents of those attacking and killing at Planned Parenthood Clinics. Actually, one doesn't need to wonder. Hanson's focus is not on the crime, but rather on the religion. Sad, if predictable.
David Kaun
Professor of Economics, Emeritus UC-Santa Cruz
Accept this fact: Guns are for self-defense
It was decent of this newspaper to publish the news that an average of about 75 Americans per year were wounded or killed in active shooter incidents from 2000 to 2013, while an average of 39,000 died and more than 2 million were injured in car crashes during that same period. Too bad it was on page 16, rather than on the front page. Despite the emotional rambling of gun control advocates, the vast majority of civilian-owned guns in America are never used to commit a crime, let alone kill someone. And -- yes -- guns are routinely used for self-defense. In fact, if handguns, shotguns, and AR-15 style rifles weren't excellent self-defense tools, then police departments wouldn't issue them to patrol officers.
Eric W. Kistler
San Jose
Saudi Arabia needs to accept some blame, too
Sharmin Khan's "A Muslim call to fight radical Islam" (Opinion, Dec. 20) is well written but falls woefully short in finding a solution. Even though she mentions that "Fundamentalist Islam is a cancer ... and must be excised," she does not stress the root cause of this cancer. Saudi Arabia is using its immense wealth in spreading this Wahhabi ideology throughout the world. Until we find a solution, the world will be plagued with bloodthirsty religious zealots chopping off the heads of anyone who does not subscribe to their views.
Amjad Hussain
San Mateo




15


 


December 19, 2015 Saturday  


 Holes in Saudis' Antiterrorism Plan

 
One of the greatest weaknesses in the American-led fight against the Islamic State is the lack of competent regional forces to join in defeating the militants, especially on the ground. Saudi Arabia's plans to organize a military coalition of 34 Islamic nations against terrorism could be a breakthrough, though there are many reasons to doubt how effective the plan will be.
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council for the first time passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire and political talks to help end the civil war in Syria, but whether that can pave the way for an end to the conflict is also highly questionable.  
  As for the coalition, there is no clarity about what the group will actually do. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's inexperienced defense minister, said the coalition's efforts would not be limited to fighting the Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim group, but would include a joint operations center established in Riyadh to ''coordinate and support military operations to fight terrorism'' across the Muslim world. Just what that means is unclear, but it could be a license to find enemies everywhere.
  In fact, it is hard to see Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-led state, as a serious partner against the Islamic State unless it stops financing the Wahhabi religious schools and clerics that are spreading the kind of extremist doctrine that is at the heart of the Islamic State's ideology. Although the Islamic State has pledged to destroy Saudi Arabia, Saudi leaders have so far been more concerned with opposing Shia-led Iran, which they consider their greatest adversary.
  It's also not clear which nations will be involved in the coalition. When the deputy crown prince announced the initiative on Tuesday, he identified some states, like Pakistan and Malaysia, as members, though they said they were unaware of the plans. Yet several key Muslim countries have been excluded, namely Iran and Iraq, another Shia-majority country, which Saudi Arabia views as an Iranian puppet. Also absent are Oman, a neighbor of Saudi Arabia that brokered the shaky cease-fire in Yemen that started this week, and Algeria, the largest Muslim country in Africa. Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation, is not on the list; neither is Afghanistan, which has been a focus of Western antiterrorism efforts for more than a decade.
  Some coalition members, like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, have substantial militaries, but many others do not. And while many of the countries are, in various ways, individually involved in the fight against terrorism, there are serious divisions among them, including which groups they consider terrorists.
  Whether the members will be able to harmonize their goals, much less their tactics, is unknown. There is also the matter of how this group will coordinate with the military coalition led by the United States.
  Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, told reporters in Paris on Tuesday that ''nothing is off the table'' in the Saudi-led antiterrorist effort, including media and information campaigns to counter extremist ideology and the possibility that Gulf states will send special forces into Syria. The Sunni Arabs can be constructive if they help weak countries in North Africa that are battling extremists, like Tunisia and Mali, pay soldiers and security experts.
  Saudi Arabia, with one of the most modern arsenals in the region, has not been seriously committed to fighting the Islamic State. The proposal is at least partly a response to pressure from President Obama, who has argued that it and other Sunni states have done far too little to defeat a force that threatens them more than anyone else. It shouldn't take long to see whether the proposal has substance or is just an attempt to divert attention from Saudi Arabia's disastrous military intervention in Yemen and defer an overdue reckoning for its own role in spawning the kinds of extremists the coalition is supposed to counter.
  Follow  Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter. 




15


 
 


December 18, 2015 Friday

 Trump and Muslims, by the numbers, is complicated

 
Among the many criticisms of Donald Trump's ban-Muslim-immigration proposal is that it is based on bogus data.
Announcing the proposal, Trump cited a survey from the conservative Center for Security Policy showing that "25 percent of (Muslims) polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad" and also that 51 percent "agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to sharia."
Critics attacked the Center for Security Policy poll as unreliable. So throw out that particular poll. Is there some other data, from sources with agreed-upon credibility, to shed light on Trump's point, or whether he has a point at all? Recently the Pew Research Center, which has conducted surveys on Muslims in the United States and around the world over the last several years, repackaged some of its findings to help people understand the issue. 
A few basic points. According to Pew, Muslims make up 0.9 percent of the U.S. population - about 2.75 million people. That share is expected to increase to 2.1 percent by 2050. At the moment, 63 percent of U.S. Muslims are immigrants.
The pace of Muslim immigration to the U.S. has picked up significantly in recent years. "A recent Pew Research Center report estimated that the Muslim share of immigrants granted permanent residency status (green cards) increased from about 5 percent in 1992 to roughly 10 percent in 2012, representing about 100,000 immigrants in that year," Pew reports.
As far as beliefs and attitudes are concerned, Pew asked Muslims in 39 countries whether they want sharia to be law of the land where they live. The percentage who answer yes is very, very high in some countries: 99 percent say yes in Afghanistan, 91 percent in Iraq, 84 percent in Pakistan. On the low end, just 10 percent of Muslims in Kazakhstan and 12 percent in Turkey say they want sharia to be the law of the land.
The United States admits a lot of immigrants from the countries whose Muslim populations favor sharia. According to a separate report from the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, the U.S. awarded 11,000 green cards to immigrants from Afghanistan from 2009 to 2013, 83,000 to Iraqis in the same time period, and 83,000 to Pakistanis.
On the question of violence, Pew asked Muslims around the world the following question: "Some people think that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies. Other people believe that, no matter what the reason, this kind of violence is never justified. Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is often justified to defend Islam, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?"
"Muslims mostly say that suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians in the name of Islam are rarely or never justified, including 92 percent in Indonesia and 91 percent in Iraq," Pew reported. On the other hand, in some countries, the "justified" answers are quite high. In Afghanistan, for instance, 18 percent say such violence is often justified; 21 percent say sometimes justified; 18 percent say rarely justified; and 40 percent say never justified.
In the United States, Pew found that 81 percent of U.S. Muslims say such violence is never justified; 5 percent say it is rarely justified; 7 percent say it is sometimes justified, and 1 percent say it is often justified. Six percent say they don't know.
Read the numbers however you like. Some observers stress that large majorities of Muslims in the United States and in some other countries oppose such violence under all circumstances. Others point to those Muslims in the United States who believe it is justified in at least some cases - 13 percent - and say that is an unacceptably high number. And of course, Trump's proposal targets Muslims from other places in the world coming to the United States, which involves some Muslim-majority countries in which approval of violence in the name of Islam is alarmingly high. It's a complicated story, but at least there are some reliable numbers on which to base the debate.
Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. His syndicated column appears each Friday.




15


 
 

December 18, 2015 Friday

 Peninsula readers' letters: December 18

 
Behind the scenes
Dear Editor: Redwood City's elected officials have done it to us again. They refuse to listen to the electorate and change their habits.
In November 2015 the people of Redwood City voted for change; they voted for a change in course; they voted for a government that would be more responsive to the needs of the neighborhoods; they voted for consensus building; they voted for increased communication; they voted for people who would not vote or walk lock-step with developers and other special interest that have given us the city we have to live in today; they voted to slow down big buildings; they voted for community.
Our Redwood City council and the Redwood City political machine have appointed Jeff Seybert to be the mayor. In doing so, they have ignored the changes the people of Redwood City hoped for. 
Seybert fancies himself a "point guard," to ensure the ball gets into the right hands. If Mr. Seybert's past is any indication of the future, the neighborhoods of Redwood City will never see the ball. The powers that be have chosen Mr. Seybert because he is up for re-election in two years and they want to make him look more re-electable. Mr. Seybert is key in making sure that Redwood City continues to build, build, build.
Mark Soulard,
Redwood City
Rename Jordan
Dear Editor: My interest in changing the name of Jordan Middle School, my alma mater, goes beyond eugenics. More important, there is strong circumstantial evidence that Jordan may have murdered Jane Lathrop Stanford by poisoning her. See "The Mysterious Death of Jane Stanford" by Robert W.P. Cutler, Stanford University Press. It is ironic that the honoree of one middle school may have murdered the honoree of another.
I support renaming Jordan in memory of my friend and schoolmate, former mayor Gary Fazzino.
Margaret Fruth,
Palo Alto
Willing bodies
Dear Editor: In the Dec. 11 paper, the Dear Abby column was about the woman's husband's poor health and what to do if he dies. When my husband died, I called the UCSF Willed Body Program at 415-476-1981. The school sent a man to pick up the body. UCSF uses bodies in teaching medical students. They do not return any parts to the sender.
Julia Bath,
San Carlos
Problem isn't religion
Dear Editor: Multiple letters in The Daily News on Dec. 11 could not have appeared at a worse time given the hate crimes reported later that day: mosques being set on fire or vandalized and an organization receiving letters containing a white powder.
One writer asked with respect to Islamic countries, "Why aren't women allowed to travel freely without male escorts" and another claimed that under Sharia law, women can't drive a vehicle. A photo at http://tinyurl.com/nnudazg shows women traveling alone in a Muslim country (Indonesia) and the "women can't drive" part is true only in Saudi Arabia, where the restriction is cultural, not religious. If you want to criticize them, at least make sure it is not for something that someone made up.
Then we have Desmond Tuck's suggestion that former president Jimmy Carter's reaction to the Iranian hostage crisis, where our embassy was seized, somehow protects Donald Trump from being called a racist or whatever for his proposed Muslim ban. Iran had an obligation to protect our embassy's staff and refused to do that. Carter's response was justifiable as he was responding to a hostile act. He was not turning away refugees.
Of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims, 60 percent are from Asia and 20 percent from the Middle East and North Africa. Yet the mess we have is primarily associated with the Middle East and North Africa. There's a problem, but to blame it on a specific religion is just plain dumb.
Bill Zaumen,
Palo Alto
Global capitalism
Dear Editor: I had an aha moment recently that has brought me considerable peace.
Instead of thinking of the White House and Capitol as our symbols of government, I realized that if I instead thought of the S&P 500 as our real government then all of the facts that made little sense -- like a disappearing middle class, increasing inequality, declining infrastructure and public services -- suddenly made perfect sense.
So stop resisting it, folks. Our imperfect democracy is now a perfect government of, by and for Global Capitalism Inc.
Edward Taub,
Mountain View
Donald Trump
Dear Editor: Donald Trump is famous for his reckless insults and defamations. How about my doozie for him: He is a hemorroid on the American body politic. Even his money is in piles. His candidacy will come to no good end.
Vic Befera,
Palo Alto




15



 



December 18, 2015 Friday  


 The puzzling Saudi-led Islamic anti-terror alliance

 
This week, Saudi Arabia announced that it was forming an "Islamic military alliance" devoted to fighting global terrorism. The plan stemmed from the "keenness of the Muslim world to fight this disease, which affected the Islamic world first, before the international community as a whole," Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman told reporters during a rare news conference.
In many ways, this alliance seems designed to calm Western critics who have frequently complained that the Islamic world is not doing enough to combat terrorism and extremism. However, the details of the planned alliance are more than a little unclear and have left some observers scratching their heads, unsure who exactly is in the alliance and what it is designed actually to do. 
Much of the reaction on social media has not been positive.
"Saudi spox says coalition is to fight the source of terrorism in the Muslim world. Are you gonna tell 'em or am I?" Hend Amry wrote on Twitter.
"Saudi-led coalition to counter terrorism is like Sinaloa cartel leading a counternarcotics campaign. Fighting competitors, not behaviors," Micah Zenko tweeted.
Saudi Arabia has tried hard recently to convince the West that it is taking the lead on tackling the problems of extremism and terrorism. But it is no exaggeration to say there are some perplexing aspects to this new alliance.
 First, some of the countries apparently in the alliance claim to have never heard of it. Thirty-four nations have been announced as members of the group, but some have come out to say they never agreed to anything.
"We came to know about [the alliance] through news reports," a senior official of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry told the Express Tribune newspaper after the announcement. "We have asked our ambassador in Saudi Arabia to get details on it." Another unnamed individual told the newspaper that Pakistan was unsure whether it was part of any military alliance and said that the country would not get involved in an alliance that did not have the backing of the United Nations.
Pakistan is not alone in  expressing surprise at being included on the list of alliance members. The governments of Malaysia and Lebanon also suggested that they knew little about the alliance among whose members they were listed.
Although the Saudi government suggested that the alliance's members came from "all over the Islamic world," a number of the countries identified as members do not have Muslim majorities. For example, more than 80 percent of Uganda is Christian, while as much as 75 percent of Gabon is Christian. In Benin, the largest religion is  Christianity, and in Togo, the majority of the population holds indigenous beliefs.
These countries do have large Muslim minorities and ties to the Islamic world, including membership of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (an alliance also created at the behest of the Saudis). However, their involvement in the alliance is still surprising, especially when you consider the countries not in the alliance.
 Some of the most important Muslim countries, including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Indonesia, are not part of the alliance. 
In the first two cases, the reasoning seems depressingly obvious - both are Shiite-majority nations. The exclusion of Shiite nations in an alliance designed to represent the Islamic world seems to reinforce the impression that Saudi Arabia's alliance is motivated by a sectarian rivalry with Iran and not by a desire to fight terrorism. 
Saudi officials deny this. "This is not a Sunni coalition or a Shia coalition," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a news conference in Paris. Many people do not buy this. In Lebanon, for instance, government officials have had to assure the Shiite militant group and political party Hezbollah that it would not be targeted by the alliance.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan has been asked to join the alliance but had yet to make a decision, and it is unclear whether Indonesia has yet been asked to join.
Perhaps the most damning criticism of the alliance is its vagueness. Jubeir has said that "nothing is off the table" when it comes to the alliance, which not only will have a military component, but also will tackle the funding and the ideology of terrorism. What that means in practice is anyone's guess.
Saudi Arabia has also gone to lengths to suggest that the alliance will not be limited to a campaign against the Islamic State but would focus on terrorism in general. Some observers, such as Brian Whitaker of the website Al-Bab.com, have argued that Saudi Arabia's definition of terrorism is worryingly broad. 
"Under a law introduced last year, virtually any criticism of the kingdom's political system or its interpretation of Islam counts as terrorism," Whitaker writes. Does this broad definition of terrorism now apply to other countries in the alliance?
Many critics of Saudi Arabia say that for all its big talk in the fight against the Islamic State, the kingdom has proved unwilling to go after one of the key factors in the group's rise: the Saudi clerics who spread a Salafism that influences extremism around the world. There's a kernel of truth here - Saudi Arabia has certainly taken steps to stop the more extreme preachers, but it often seems just as interested in pushing a regional sectarian rivalry with Iran.
The problem is that this sectarianism often feeds further extremism. And while this new alliance may appear to target terrorism, it is not hard to see it as an extension of the campaign by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen - a war that sums up the sectarian quagmire engulfing the Middle East. 
adam.taylor@washpost.com




16


 Times - Standard
 
Eureka Times-Standard (California)

December 17, 2015 Thursday

 Donald Trump and Muslims, by the numbers

 

ABSTRACT
Another view 

FULL TEXT
Among the many criticisms of Donald Trump's ban-Muslim-immigration proposal is that it is based on bogus data. In his statement announcing the proposal, Trump cited a survey from the conservative Center for Security Policy showing that "25 percent of (Muslims) polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad" and also that 51 percent "agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to sharia."
Critics attacked the Center for Security Policy poll as unreliable. So throw out that particular poll. Recently the Pew Research Center, which has conducted surveys on Muslims in the United States and around the world over the last several years, repackaged some of its findings to help people understand the issue. 
According to Pew, Muslims make up 0.9 percent of the U.S. population - about 2.75 million people. That share is expected to increase to 2.1 percent by 2050. At the moment, 63 percent of Muslims in the United States are immigrants.
The pace of Muslim immigration to the U.S. has picked up significantly in recent years. "A recent Pew Research Center report estimated that the Muslim share of immigrants granted permanent residency status (green cards) increased from about 5 percent in 1992 to roughly 10 percent in 2012, representing about 100,000 immigrants in that year," Pew reports.
As far as beliefs and attitudes are concerned, Pew asked Muslims in 39 countries whether they want sharia to be law of the land where they live. The percentage who answer yes is very, very high in some countries: 99 percent say yes in Afghanistan, 91 percent in Iraq, 84 percent in Pakistan. On the low end, just 12 percent of Muslims in Turkey say they want sharia to be the law of the land; the number is 10 percent in Kazakhstan.
The United States admits a lot of immigrants from the countries whose Muslim populations favor sharia. According to a separate report from the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, the U.S. awarded 11,000 green cards to immigrants from Afghanistan from 2009 to 2013, 83,000 to Iraqis in the same time period, and 83,000 to Pakistanis. The U.S. awarded 22,000 green cards to Turks in that time, and 7,000 to Khazaks.
On the question of violence, Pew asked Muslims around the world the following question: "Some people think that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies. Other people believe that, no matter what the reason, this kind of violence is never justified. Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is often justified to defend Islam, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?"
"Muslims mostly say that suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians in the name of Islam are rarely or never justified, including 92 percent in Indonesia and 91 percent in Iraq," Pew reported. On the other hand, in some countries, the "justified" answers are quite high. In Afghanistan, for instance, 18 percent say such violence is often justified; 21 percent say sometimes justified; 18 percent say rarely justified; and 40 percent say never justified. Four percent say they don't know.
In the United States, Pew found that 81 percent of U.S. Muslims say such violence is never justified; five percent say it is rarely justified; seven percent say it is sometimes justified, and one percent say it is often justified. Six percent say they don't know.
It's a complicated story, but at least there are some reliable numbers on which to base the debate.
Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.




16



 
 Blogs
(The Learning Network)

December 17, 2015 Thursday

 Growing Up in a Time of Fear: Confronting Stereotypes About Muslims and Countering Xenophobia

 
Muslims in America are an incredibly diverse group, reflecting the variety inherent in a worldwide religion of over 1.6 billion followers. 
Many Muslims are born in the United States; others are immigrants or the children of immigrants from dozens of countries, such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Somalia and Guyana. Some are religious and attend mosque every week; others are nonpracticing. Some are dark-skinned, others are light-skinned. Some Muslim women wear a head scarf, or hijab, and others don't. The diversity recognized in the Christian or Jewish American communities is also reflected in the Muslim American community. 
Recent headlines about Islamic extremist attacks in Syria, Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., along with rhetoric from the presidential campaign targeting Muslim immigrants, have raised anti-Muslim hostility to levels not seen since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 
In this lesson, students read about what it's like to be a Muslim teenager growing up in America at this moment, then consider ideas for countering stereotypes and Islamophobia. In the Going Further section, we provide resources for looking at related issues. 
  Note to teachers:  As a recent Times Op-Ed essay points out, it will not always be clear who in your school community is Muslim. We suggest planning ahead, perhaps with some of the tips in our 10 Ways to Talk to Students About Sensitive Issues in the News. 
Though these ideas are focused on the situation in the United States right now, they could easily be adapted for classrooms elsewhere in the world.
 Warm Up | Invite students to take a few minutes to answer the two questions below in writing, then move on to small-group or full-class discussion. 

. Have you ever felt judged because of your identity - maybe because of the way you look, speak, dress or wear your hair? Because of your religion, ethnicity or family background? Or because of where you live, who your friends are or any other characteristic that may have caused others to make snap judgments about you? What happened? How did it make you feel? Why?
. What is a stereotype? Where do stereotypes come from? How can they be dangerous?
Next, students can answer and discuss two more questions, using a short reading as a jumping-off point.
The New York City-based Youth Communication published short responses from four New York City Muslim teenagers about their experiences facing stereotypes. Assign pairs one of these four responses to read. You can print them and cut them into cards.
Students should read their card and answer these two questions based on their own experiences and what they read:

. What kinds of stereotypes are there about Muslims in this country?
. How do you think these stereotypes affect this teenager or Muslim American teenagers in general? Or, if you are Muslim, how have these stereotypes affected you?
 Whole Class Reading | This week The Times reported on how the climate of fear in America is affecting Muslim teenagers. 
In "Young Muslim Americans Are Feeling the Strain of Suspicion," Kirk Semple writes:
Hebh Jamal does not remember the Sept. 11 attacks. She was 1. Growing up in the Bronx, she was unaware of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and was mostly insulated from the surge in suspicion that engulfed Muslims in the United States, the programs of police surveillance and the rise in bias attacks.
But in the past year, especially in the past several months, as her emergence from childhood into young womanhood has coincided with the violent spread of the Islamic State and a surge in Islamophobia, she has had to confront some harsh challenges of being a young Muslim in America.
Instead of occupying herself with a teenager's normal concerns, like homework, clothes and hanging out with friends, she said, she has had to contend with growing anti-Muslim sentiment, adjusting her routines to avoid attacks and worrying about how she appears to the rest of society. And she has repeatedly felt compelled to justify her faith and to distance herself from terrorists who murder in the name of her religion.
"I have to sit down and study more and think more, and the idea of thinking more is really tough, because as a 15-year-old, you don't want to think more," Ms. Jamal said in an interview last week. "I feel like the past two months have probably been the hardest of my life."
While reading the article, students can answer the following questions and then discuss their answers with their classmates.
 Reading Comprehension Questions 

. What is Islamophobia?
. Who is Hebh Jamal? What are some of the challenges she faces?
. Ms. Jamal said, "If a Muslim hasn't been called a terrorist in middle school, lower school or high school, then they're probably in a really great school - and I'm happy for them!" Why do you think students would call Muslim students "terrorists"? How might you feel if you were a Muslim student called a "terrorist" by fellow students?
. The article discusses two responses that Muslim youth might have to this environment of fear and suspicion: blending into mainstream society, and reaffirming and declaring their ethnic and religious identity. Describe what each of these responses might look like and how they differ.
. Who is Zayneb Almiggabber? How did she deal with her ethnic and religious identity in high school? How did her approach change in college?
. Ms. Almiggabber said, "The reality is that I'm just as Muslim and just as Arab as I'm American, and it's possible to be all three." Can someone have more than one identity? Can someone be American and Christian? Can they be ethnically Chinese and American? How do people balance these multiple identities? Is there a right and a wrong way to do that, or does each person have to find her or his own balance?
. The article ends:
For many young Muslim Americans, the struggle of this era - to understand what is happening to them and their community, to figure out how to respond, to manage fear, to remain buoyant and vital and alive - has been a lot to handle. "I find myself coming home," Ms. Jamal said, "and my parents say: 'Why are you so tired? What did you do?' And I say, 'Absolutely nothing.' ""You feel like the whole world is against you," she added. "It's exhausting."What is your response to Ms. Jamal's words? How might non-Muslim teenagers help their Muslim peers?
 Going Further 
Below, we provide several additional possible paths of investigation for classes that want to explore related topics. These are, of course, only a starting point.
 Education as a Solution 
In a recent editorial, Time magazine suggested that education is an important part of the solution. Ignorance about Muslims allows people to easily generalize about what they see in the news about radical individuals and apply it to all Muslims. Ignorance also makes people vulnerable to hate speech by demagogues and fearmongers - whether about Catholics in the 1920s, Jews in the 1930s or Muslims today. 
Stereotypes are weakened when we refuse to generalize based on one characteristic - whether it is skin color, ethnicity or religion. What can you do to educate yourself about Muslims and Islam? You might begin with this slide show from the Lens blog, "Islam, Beyond the Stereotypes."
How much have you learned about Islam and Muslims in school? Where can you find reliable information on your own? Here are some resources outside The Times and beyond the scope of this lesson plan that might help:

. PBS/WNET | Access Islam Curriculum
. Teaching Tolerance | Debunking Stereotypes About Muslims and Islam
. Teaching Tolerance | Islamophobia
. Anti-Defamation League | Terrorist Attack in Paris and Scapegoating
As you read and research, you might create an infographic, write a paper, make a presentation or develop a quiz about Islam, the diversity of Muslims around the globe, or any other aspect of this larger topic.
 Promoting Tolerance and Understanding 
[Video: Youth - United! Enough Is Enough (A Teaching Tolerance film) Watch on YouTube.]
What are other resources that classes can use to learn about how communities work together to overcome intolerance and prejudice? 
Watch the video above by Teaching Tolerance about how students in a Kansas City, Mo., high school, after losing a classmate to a violent crime, refused to let fear and hatred dominate the memory of their friend. 
Or, read this Times article about Lewiston, Me., its mayoral race and how an influx of Somali Muslim refugees is helping a hardscrabble city in the whitest state in the nation make a comeback.
Then, watch this short film about Lewiston's state-champion high school soccer team, where 18 of the 25 players are refugees, many of them Muslims from Africa. How does the coach make sure that all the students, no matter where they are from originally, work together? 
Ultimately, perhaps the best resource for promoting tolerance and cultural understanding is the people in your own community, since actually meeting and talking with real people can be a powerful way to combat prejudice. How can you reach out to the Muslims in your community to educate yourself beyond stereotypes? One way might be to invite someone knowledgeable to speak to your class about any of the questions raised in this lesson. 
Another idea? Invite students to interview Muslim teenagers and adults to create something like this Times multimedia piece, "Do You Know Me? Do You Know My Heart?," for your school or local paper.
 Muslims in American History 
Peter Manseau writes in the Op-Ed essay "The Muslims of Early America" that Muslims in America go back long before the founding of this nation: 
No matter how anxious people may be about Islam, the notion of a Muslim invasion of this majority Christian country has no basis in fact. Moreover, there is an inconvenient footnote to the assertion that Islam is anti-American: Muslims arrived here before the founding of the United States - not just a few, but thousands.
Read the Op-Ed essay and then do further research about the history of Muslims in America. You might choose to look into one of the topics discussed in the Op-Ed essay, such as Muslim slaves or Arab traders, or African-Americans reclaiming and remaking Islam as their own. Or you can study more recent immigration trends. 
You also might look into the role that Muslims play in American society today, from sports to Congress, and Wall Street to the military.
 Xenophobia in America's Past 
The use of stereotypes in politics is nothing new in American history, of course, and neither is a blanket fear of specific ethnic or religious groups. 
German-Americans were targeted when the United States declared war on Germany in World War I; Russian and Eastern European immigrants were looked on with suspicion after the Bolshevik Revolution during the first Red Scare; and Japanese-Americans were rounded up into internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. 
Research a time when a specific ethnic group was the target of mass suspicion or prejudice. Some examples include:

. Native Americans
. African slaves and African-Americans
. Irish immigrants 
. German immigrants 
. Chinese immigrants 
. Italian immigrants
. Catholic immigrants 
. Russian and Eastern European immigrants 
. Jewish immigrants
. Japanese immigrants 
. Mexican immigrants 
You can use these questions to guide your research:

. When did the wave of discrimination, prejudice or violence begin? How long did it last? What was the historical context? 
. What primary sources can you find that show how this group was perceived? 
. What role did the news media, politicians or community groups play in stoking the xenophobia? In opposing it?
. What kinds of stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination or violence resulted? 
. How did the country move on from these incidents? How is the prejudice and discrimination in the past still reflected in that group's experience today?
. Are there any parallels that can be drawn from your research about the past that apply to attitudes toward Muslim Americans today?
 Muslim Women and the Veil 
The hijab, the head scarf that Muslim women sometimes wear, can be a visible sign of a something typically invisible - a person's religion. You may know students in your school who wear a hijab, or if you are Muslim girl, you may wear one yourself. 
Muslims have different feelings about the importance of wearing a hijab. Shameera Sheeraz, the 15-year-old girl featured in the Youth Communication article above, made the choice to wear a hijab starting in ninth grade. One reason she decided to wear it was "as a personal statement against all the media images of women wearing hardly any clothes." Jensine Raihan, 17, stopped wearing her hijab after "enduring 'weird' looks and treatment that she attributed in part to the garment." 
In June, a young Muslim woman won a Supreme Court case against Abercrombie & Fitch, which had refused to hire her because she wore a head scarf. The company said the scarf clashed with its dress code, which called for a "classic East Coast collegiate style."
Mona Eltahawy writes in an Op-Ed essay about why women wear a hijab in her home country, Egypt, and how the tradition has changed over time:
There are many explanations for why women veil themselves. Some do it out of piety, believing that the Quran mandates it for modesty's sake. Others do so because veiling visibly proclaims their Muslim identity. For yet others, the veil is a way to avoid unwanted attention and gain some freedom from harassment in public space that has become increasingly male-dominated.
The rise of Islamism, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, has increased the prevalence of veiling. Often, the Islamists' social control has been boosted by regimes that were nominally secular but promoted the same conservative values to burnish their religious credentials.
Ultimately, for personal reasons, she decided to stop wearing a hijab:
My head scarf came off 22 years ago, but I have never stopped wrestling with what veiling means for Muslim women. Authenticity is about more than a layer of cloth on one's head. To be acknowledged as more than our head scarves is the right of every Muslim girl and woman.
What do you think of what Ms. Eltahawy writes?
Consider what religious practices or customs in your religion, or in another religion with which you are familiar, some students might choose to follow while others don't, such as keeping kosher, wearing a cross or receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday. Research the reason behind the practice, and then explore why teenagers make different decisions about when and how to follow, or not follow, this practice. 
 Searching for Hate 
While the FBI tracks the number of hate crimes committed each year, Google search data provides a different kind of resource for researchers and law enforcement officials studying the ebb and flow of Islamophobia. In the Op-Ed "The Rise of Hate Search," Evan Soltas and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz explain how Islamophobic searches are at their highest level since the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, and why that matters:
People often have vicious thoughts. Sometimes they share them on Google. Do these thoughts matter?
Yes. Using weekly data from 2004 to 2013, we found a direct correlation between anti-Muslim searches and anti-Muslim hate crimes.
Read this article to find many ideas, drawn from data, for what individuals and organizations can do to counter Islamophobia. 
As the writers point out at the end of the piece, "The human capacity for rage and anger will never disappear. But there is a huge difference between this flare-up of hatred and those from decades past. We now have rich, digital data that can help us figure out what causes hate and what may work to contain it."
 Campaign Talk 
Donald J. Trump has dominated the news in recent weeks with his proposal to bar Muslims from emigrating or even traveling to the U.S., but all the other Republican candidates want to deny asylum to all Syrian Muslim refugees. Ben Carson recently said that Muslims should not be president. 
One real-world application for this lesson is to write to elected officials and those running for office and use what you have learned to support or refute their proposals. 
Or, post your thoughts to our related Student Opinion forums on Syrian refugees and on Mr. Trump's proposal.
 Standards 
This resource may be used to address the academic standards listed below.
Common Core E.L.A. Anchor Standards
 Reading 

.  1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
.  2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
.  3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
.  4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
.  5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
.  6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
.  7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
.  8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
.  9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
.  10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
 Language 

.  3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
.  4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice
 Civics 

.  1 Understands ideas about civic life, politics, and government.
.  3 Understands the sources, purposes, and functions of law, and the importance of the rule of law for the protection of individual rights and the common good.
.  8 Understands the central ideas of American constitutional government and how this form of government has shaped the character of American society.
.  9 Understands the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional democracy.
.  10 Understands the roles of voluntarism and organized groups in American social and political life.
.  11 Understands the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared values, political beliefs, and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse American society.
.  13 Understands the character of American political and social conflict and factors that tend to prevent or lower its intensity.
.  14 Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life.
.  20 Understands the roles of political parties, campaigns, elections, and associations and groups in American politics.
.  23 Understands the impact of significant political and nonpolitical developments on the United States and other nations.
.  24 Understands the meaning of citizenship in the United States, and knows the requirements for citizenship and naturalization.
.  25 Understands issues regarding personal, political, and economic rights.
.  27 Understands how certain character traits enhance citizens' ability to fulfill personal and civic responsibilities.
.  28 Understands how participation in civic and political life can help citizens attain individual and public goals.
.  29 Understands the importance of political leadership, public service, and a knowledgeable citizenry in American constitutional democracy.
 Historical Understanding 

.  1 Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns.
. 



16


 
 


December 17, 2015 Thursday  


 Letters

 
Superintendent faces challenges
Regarding the wasteful spending on Boston-based Education Resource Strategies, don't expect anything new ("Board gets preview of district analysis"). The findings will replicate those of other big cities. All struggle with the learning gap between rich and poor students.
Lexington, Mass., a wealthy town near Boston, took eight years to figure out how to improve the learning for impoverished students there. It can be done.
As for principals expressing difficulty getting ineffective teachers out of the classroom, that can be accomplished, too, but it is time-consuming. I remember spending countless hours and 554 pages of documentation before one teacher was removed from the classroom. 
And I totally disagree with the comment that identifying an ineffective teacher is challenging. Walk into any school; ask other teachers, staff, parents and students, and they will tell you who is ineffective. Principals are trained to spot them.
And it has been my experience that effective teachers are happy when ineffective teachers are removed. Teachers want great teachers as their co-workers so that all students can perform at a high level.
When Superintendent Robert Avossa stated, "This is just the tip of the iceberg," I can only imagine the poor morale that he is creating within the schools. Savvy superintendents build on the strengths of the district and try to ameliorate the deficits. They do not hire their friends for expensive consultant work, or use money for consultants instead of for students.
It is much more important to have more principals and teachers to help the students than to pay for outrageous consultants. When will the Palm Beach County School Board wake up to this reality?
JOAN SAMUELS KAISER, BOYNTON BEACH
Editor's note: Joan Samuels Kaiser is a retired Connecticut middle school principal.
Smaller airport is
just the right size
The headline "Runway extension back on the table" is the first step to take our great little general aviation facility and make it a noisy, busy jet port/transportation hub within 15 years.
Decades ago, I accidentally walked into a meeting at what was Rockwell Aviation, at the southeast corner of Palm Beach International Airport. They had the future map of the "2030 Palm Beach Jet Port" and railway station put up. Yes, it was our beloved North County Airport, with a 6,000-plus-foot runway; tower; and a train station on the east, along the railroad tracks. Now you know why we drive 3 miles north to enter the airport.
Some say "You can't stop progress," but we can sure control it. The airport is there to service the citizens who are using it, and to be a good neighbor for all of us living around it. There are many greedy organizations that would love to see it become the "Palm Beach Jet Port."
But I think if a survey were done of all of the current tenants, and all of the people who use the airport, you would get a resounding no to lengthening the runway and adding a control tower. And never mind what all of the citizens living around the airport think.
HANK HARMS, PALM BEACH GARDENS
Jupiter Beach bike
lane design flawed
This is a photo of the bicycle lane, newly established along State Road A1A in Jupiter, just above Jupiter Beach Road. I feel this is the result of poor engineering and planning, and truly a hazardous condition.
When you consider the number of bike clubs that regularly traverse this roadway -- sometimes 30 strong -- to have a 5-foot-wide bike lane instantly reduced to 3 feet can cause havoc and injuries. This is not the only spot where this has happened, but the most egregious.
TONY BRUNO, JUPITER
Muslim proposal
shouldn't be ignored
I have seen the moment Donald Trump announced his idea to ban Muslim immigration into our country played over and over on television stations. He said this would be temporary, until we can get our act together and vet people the way they need to be vetted.
Hysteria from the right and the left has ensued. The hysteria of this ban, however, will quickly shift should a family member or yourself be caught in a terrorist event. Oh, you think not? Well, let me tell you: Self-preservation, or preservation of those you love, will eliminate your hysteria and replace it very quickly with loss, regret and anger.
Border problems flourish, and vetting is at best porous, for lack of a better word. If we can improve what has proven to be a very flawed vetting system, immigration of good and decent oppressed people -- who want to be as safe as you and me -- would be reinstated.
That is the way Trump proposed this ban. Until such time, we all need to take a deep breath and be as generous a people as we have always been in times of crisis, but not at our own peril.
HELENE JARVIS, LAKE WORTH
Social Security
needs clearer voice
Well, once again I received a letter from our U.S. Social Security system. However, I cannot read it because it's all in "another" language. I called them, wrote to them, emailed them -- in English. I do not speak any other language.
I have two daughters, both English teachers. I sent them to private schools. The notice came with my correct name and address in English. Once again, our government is screwing up. I had to get someone who knew some of the language to make out what Social Security wanted.
Has anyone else had this problem?
LAVERNE BERES, GREENACRES
Trump no match
for the Constitution
With all the controversy surrounding Donald Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S., we all seem to be forgetting one fact. The supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, guarantees freedom of religion in the First Amendment. It's right there next to freedom of speech and the freedom to bear arms.
Nobody, not even Trump, has the authority or ability to change that. I'm fairly confident the First Amendment is in no danger of repeal.
Not only is Trump's proposal a blatant violation of the Constitution; it is disgustingly racist and xenophobic. I wonder if he would even be able to correctly name the country with the largest Muslim population (Indonesia).
I love my country, and I welcome anyone who strives to seek a better life here, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual preference or anything else Trump seeks to deny entry for. Sorry, Donald, but I doubt you'll be putting an asterisk in the First Amendment.
JOSHUA BENSON, BOYNTON BEACH
Youth face daunting
future job market
The headline "Disappearing middle class feared" has, as the lead sentence, "If robots take over the U.S. economy, will they leave anything for American workers beyond $9.50-an-hour home health aide jobs?"
Here is an answer to that question. According to a recent report put out by the Congressional Budget Office, in the next 10 years, precious few high-paying jobs -- most of them in information technology -- will be created. A whopping 96 percent of new positions will be in service industries, and just 4 percent in IT. Further, the report states, a majority of these service industry jobs will be in health care.
This is, indeed, a dire prediction. Can one imagine an America in which the bulk of new jobs are for $9-an-hour home health aides and hamburger-flippers? I fear for the future of our young people.
LAURA HENNING, PALM BEACH GARDENS




16


 


December 16, 2015 Wednesday  
 

 Transcript: Republican Presidential Debate

 
Following is a transcript of the ''undercard'' Republican debate, as transcribed by the Federal News Service.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, the Republican candidates in back-to-back debates, in a campaign jolted by the attacks in San Bernadino and Paris. 
  TRUMP: ISIS has raised its ugly head again.
  ANNOUNCER: Donald Trump. Still on top, going to new lengths to show he'd be tough on terror.
  TRUMP: A total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States. We have no choice. 
  ANNOUNCER: Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, on the rise, trying to be the GOP's choice if the frontrunner falls.
  CRUZ: We are seeing the evil of radical Islamic terrorism here at home.
  RUBIO: They're not being contained the way the President said. They are growing.
  ANNOUNCER: Ben Carson, trying to bounce back, warning that America can't fight a politically correct war against ISIS.
  CARSON: You'd strangle (ph) then (ph). Anything that looks like a military vehicle, it's gone.
  ANNOUNCER: Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, zeroing in on national security. Arguing that experience matters in dangerous times.
  CHRISTIE: We are in the midst of the next world war.
  BUSH: It's not about the big personalities on the stage, it's about leadership.
  ANNOUNCER: The rest of the field looking for a breakout moment, slamming President Obama's policies, and using them against hillary Clinton.
  FIORINA: Mrs. Clinton is accountable for what is going on with ISIS, as is President Obama.
  KASICH: We watch the Democrats, they have so many crazy ideas.
  HUCKABEE: We've got a Cub Scout for a commander in chief.
  ANNOUNCER: Now, the stage is set for the final Republican debate this year.
  CRUZ: This is not a game of risk.
  GRAHAM: Radical Islam is on the rise.
  PAUL: People are saying if we just had more surveillance. Hogwash.
  ANNOUNCER: The first real votes are just weeks away.
  RUBIO: People are starting to pay attention, and getting closer to making a decision.
  TRUMP: We can't afford to be so nice folks.
  ANNOUNCER: And America's security is at stake.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: (INAUDIBLE) Las Vegas for the CNN Facebook Republican Presidential Debate. There's a lot of anticipation here in this theater for the final Republican Presidential debate of 2015, focusing in on the most important job of any president, keeping America safe.
  We want to welcome our viewers watching on CNN networks here in the United States, and around the world, and listening in on the Salem Radio Network. I'm Wolf Blitzer, I'm the moderator.
  Tonight, joining me in the questioning, Salem Radio Network talk show host, Hugh Hewitt, and CNN's Chief Political Correspondent, Dana Bash.
  (APPLAUSE)
  We also ask Republicans and Independents nationwide to share their questions for the candidates. We teamed up with Facebook to send a campaign camper around the country over the past several weeks. Thousands of people stepped inside and recorded their questions on video, and millions more have weighed in on Facebook.
  Tonight, we'll hear from 13 Republican candidates. Once again, we've divided the large field into two groups based on their rankings in recent polls. The top nine contenders will take the stage later this evening. The other four are ready to join us right now.
  Ladies, and gentlemen, let's welcome Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
  (APPLAUSE) (CHEERING)
  The former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum.
  (APPLAUSE) (CHEERING)
  Former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee.
  (APPLAUSE)
  (CROSS-TALK)
  And former New York Governor, George Pataki.
  (APPLAUSE)
  Ladies and gentlemen, welcome these Republican candidates for President of the United States.
  (APPLAUSE) (CHEERING)
  There are news photographers here to take a group picture of these candidates together on the stage. That's what they're doing right now.
  Now, ladies and gentlemen for, ''God Bless America'', performed by Ayla Brown.
  BROWN: (SINGING GOD BLESS AMERICA)
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Thank you very much, Ayla.
  I'd now like to ask the candidates to please take your places while I tell you a little bit more about how tonight's debate will work. As the moderator, I'll guide the discussion asking questions and follow-ups, as will Dana Bash and Hugh Hewitt.
  Candidates, I'll try to make sure each of you gets your fair share of questions. You'll have a minutes and 15 seconds to answer and 30 seconds for follow-ups and rebuttals. I'll give you time to respond if you're singled out for criticism.
  We have timing lights that are visible to the candidates, those lights will warn you when your time is up. And as the candidates requested, a bell will sound like this.
  (BELL RINGS)
  BLITZER: We know you're all eager to jump in and debate these important issues, but please wait until you're called on. Now that everyone is this place, it's time for the candidates to introduce themselves to our audience. You'll each have one minute.
  Senator Graham, you're first.
  SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much.
  I just returned from Iraq two weeks ago. It was my 36th trip to Iraq and Afghanistan in the last decade. Toward the end, I met a very impressive Special Forces sergeant. It was his job to train Iraqi Kurdish commandos.
  He was so proud of what he was doing and so proud of the people he was training. He was the replacement for Master Sergeant Wheeler, a Delta Force member who was killed two months ago in a raid against an ISIL prison to free prisoners.
  As I departed, I told this young man, stay safe. He replied, sir, I will do my best to stay safe, but I came here to win. As commander-in-chief, I will do everything in my power to make sure that he can win. As president, we will win.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki.
  GEORGE PATAKI (R), FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Wolf.
  I want to speak to you this evening not as a Republican or a presidential candidate, but as an American. As we saw today in L.A., we are at a crisis in our country. Radical Islam poses a threat to our safety not just overseas, but literally in every community in America.
  And yet at a time when we should be united, we have a president who has divided us, who refuses to call radical Islam what it is, let alone have a coherent strategy to defeat it.
  The leading Democrat, Hillary Clinton, won't call ISIS by its name, failed as secretary of state, and has continually lied to the American people.
  On the other hand, the leading Republican candidate, Donald Trump, continually demonizes and demeans millions of Americans, and when confronted about it, laughs it off. Neither is fit to be president of the United States.
  Our party, as Republicans, needs to nominate a strong leader who will unite us as Republicans, but more importantly, unite us as Americans, committed to destroying and defeating radical Islam, restoring our confidence in our safety right here, and our belief in freedom, and that the best of America is ahead of us.
  Thank you very much.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Senator Santorum.
  RICK SANTORUM (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE:Thank you, Wolf.
  It's great to be here in Las Vegas. And I just want to thank everybody for the opportunity to be here.
  This is an important time in our country's history. We have entered World War III. World War III has begun and we have a leader who refuses to identify it and be truthful to the American people to the stakes that are involved, in part, because his policies have led us here.
  SANTORUM: His policy toward Iran lit the fuse of a nuclear Iran. Just a few weeks ago the International Atomic Agency reported that Iran has had a nuclear program, but they don't know if it's continuing because they refuse to share any information about the current status. And this President marches on, forgiving them hundreds of billions of dollars to allow them to not just reconstitute their robust nuclear program, pursue their missile program, but also to foment terror around the world. And then his policies in the Middle East with Iraq create ISIS. Ladies and gentlemen, we need a President who will be honest with you and identify these problems and defeat them. I hope you will give me the chance to do that. Thank you.
  WOLF BLITZER: Governor Huckabee.
  GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) ARKANSAS: Wolf, I want to say thanks to you and CNN for giving us the opportunity especially to focus on national security issues at a time when Americans are not only angry -- angry at their government that they feel like has failed them, been indifferent to them, cost them their livelihoods -- but they're in addition to angry, they're just plain scared. They're scared when they thing that they go to a Christmas party and get shot at by somebody who sat and had lunch with them an hour earlier. They're scared when they realize that our government, who promises that it can vet people and is begging us to approve bringing 10,000 Syrian refugees into this country, can't even catch somebody after a third background check, who had posted things on social media clearly indicating she wanted to kill Americans. And we couldn't catch that. We've lost confidence in our government. And when Americans lose confidence in their government, we're in a dangerous place. We're in danger because we have an enemy that is out to kill us, and we have a government that we don't trust any more. This election is about going back to having a government we can trust with leaders who have the courage and conviction to actually lead and not follow.
  BLITZER: Let's begin. The United States just suffered the worst terrorist attack since 9-11, the murder of 14 people by two terrorists, one of whom was an American citizen. In response, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump proposed a temporary ban on all Muslims coming into the United States until the government can figure out what is going on. Senator Graham, the polls show most Republicans do support Mr. Trump. What do you say to them?
  GOV. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: You may think this makes us safe, but it doesn't. The good news for everybody in this room is, after 36 trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, most people over there, Wolf, are not buying what ISIL's selling. This is a religious war between radical Islam and the rest of the world. And there's only one way you're going to win this war. Help people in Islam who reject radical Islam to fight over there and destroy this ideology. Donald Trump has done the one single thing you cannot do. Declare war on Islam itself. ISIL would be dancing in the streets, they just believe in dancing. This is a coup for them, and to all of our Muslim friends throughout the world, like the King of Jordan and the President of Egypt, I am sorry. He does not represent us. If I am President, we will work together. People in the faith to all over the world destroy this radical ideology. Declaring war on the religion only helps ISIL.
  BLITZER: Senator Graham, you say you'd rather lose the election without Trump than try to win with him. Does that mean you'll be voting for the Democratic nominee if Donald Trump wins the presidential nomination?
  GRAHAM: I will support the Republican nominee, whoever he or she may be. Like Bob Dole, I may sleep late that day if it's Trump. But the bottom line, if it's Trump, so be it. That's who I'll support. Please understand we're in a war that we can't afford to lose, and what he said about banning Muslims coming here to America has made us all less safe, and it's the worst possible thing he could do in this war. He clearly doesn't understand this war and how to win it. For God's sakes, pick somebody who is worthy of the sacrifice of those who are fighting this war and who actually knows how to win, and I don't believe that's Mr. Trump, and I know it's not Hillary Clinton.
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki, you mentioned Donald Trump in your opening statement. You've also suggested Mr. Trump's plan is un-American and absurd. Why?
  GEORGE PATAKI, FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: Absolutely. It's one of many absurd things this President has said.
  PATAKI: To target a religion and say that regardless of whether you're an American soldier who has fought on our side or allies we have overseas, simply because of your religion we're going to ban you is un-American, it is unconstitutional and it is wrong. And by the way, Wolf, now there was a group that tried to do that 150 to 160 years ago, they were called the Know-Nothing Party. They wanted to ban Catholics. They thought they were going to destroy America.
  Well, Donald Trump is the Know-Nothing candidate of the 21st century and cannot be our nominee.
  By the way, though. I fault Hillary and Obama as well because by not distinguishing between Muslims and radicalized Jihadists, by refusing to acknowledge that it's radical Muslim, radical Islamists who are carrying out these attacks against America -- they let Americans who are confused and angry lump everyone together. We have to embrace the Muslims who embrace our freedom and living and safety. We have to destroy those who embrace Jihad and want to engage in violence against us here or abroad.
  BLITZER: Senator Santorum, you object to Mr. Trump's proposals on the grounds that it's unworkable. You've made religious liberty a hallmark of your career. Do you believe in religious liberty for Muslims as well as Christians?
  SANTORUM: Of course I do. But what Donald Trump was saying was nothing against Muslims. His comment was against this administration who doesn't have a policy to properly vet people coming into this country. Let's just be honest about what's -- what's being talked about here. And I know people will pile on because it makes sense to pile on, maybe from the polls. But he brings up a legitimate issue. The fact of the matter is not all Muslims are Jihadists and no one, including I suspect, Donald Trump would say that. But the reality is, all Jihadists are Muslims.
  That's a reality. And we have -- we have to stop worrying about offending some people and start defending all Americans. Because we're not right now.
  BLITZER: Senator Graham.
  Rick, please understand the only way we're gonna win the war against radical Islam is for the world to unite. Very few fathers and mothers want to turn hair daughters and sons over to ISIL. If you spend any time in the region, you'd know that. Muslims have died by the thousands fighting this hateful ideology. You can say what you like, but when you utter the word I will ban all Americans, all Muslims from coming to America, how do you think the king of Jordan must feel to hear that? He is our friend, he is our ally. This is not the way to make America safe. This is the way to help our enemies. Stop this before it's too late.
  BLITZER: Senator Santorum.
  SANTORUM: I would agree -- I would agree that Donald Trump's proposal was not the right proposal. But he brings up a very important issue that I think we've been ignoring for far too long in this country. The reality is that, yes, we need to get reformist Muslims to join us. We need to get those who are being persecuted and killed within the Middle East to join us. But we also have to protect this country from those who want to harm us and we have to defeat those who are radicalized in the Middle East and wherever we find them around the world.
  BLITZER: Governor Huckabee, you called Mr. Trump's plan to ban Muslims impossible and unconstitutional. But what is your specific plan to prevent would-be Jihadists from carrying out attacks against Americans?
  HUCKABEE: Well, let me begin by saying I'm not that afraid of Donald Trump. And, in the sense that I'd rather him be President than I had Hillary be president any day. And so if he becomes president, I think he will do a whole lot more to protect us than Hillary will. And a whole lot more than Barack Obama has done in his eight years.
  So I want to make it very clear that when I was making that comment, I was simply speaking that I'm not sure that you can have a religious test per se. And it's very impractical because if somebody comes to our borders and says I'd like to come in. They say are you a Muslim? Well, they're -- if they're going to come in here to kill us, they're not gonna say yeah, and I'm coming to kill you. They're going to lie about it. Anybody that will kill you, for God's sake, will lie to you.
  So that's why I say it's impractical. But what he has done, and I don't think a lot of people understand, he has touched a nerve because people are angry and afraid that we are facing an enemy that this administration refuses to acknowledge, refuses to want to go fight. And our only answer is to go after ISIS and to go after every form of radical Islam where they are, take them down, so they never get here and do what they did in San Bernardino again ever.
  BLITZER: The terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have sparked a debate here in the United States about the balance between privacy and security. I want to bring in CNN's Dana Bash and Hugh Hewitt for more on this.
  BASH: Senator Santorum, you want to give the intelligence community more power to collect American's phone data. But the government had this ability until just days before the San Bernardino attack.
  BASH: If it couldn't prevent San Bernardino, why will it protect America?
  SANTORUM: Just because it couldn't have prevented San Bernardino doesn't mean that we shouldn't have all tools available to us that doesn't impinge upon people's privacy. This sort of data collection is not collecting people's phones calls, their voices; they're not collecting information that's personal. There's no names attached to these numbers. They're simply numbers and times and relationships that throughout algorithms that computer technology can be able to sort through relationship about what numbers are calling what numbers and be able to track those down to see if there's any leakage's between someone who's potentially a terrorist.
  That is to me just fundamental that we have to have this type of data to be able to not impinge upon people's privacy. In fact, I would make the argument that the more data we can collect that's anonymous that we can through, through using algorithms, the less we need to involve people in and imposing themselves in people's privacy.
  BASH: Senator Graham, when this program was exposed, you said, '' you have nothing to worry about if you're not talking to terrorist.'' Do you understand why though some Americans are concerned that the government is keeping tabs on them in any way?
  GRAHAM: Well, here's what I'm here to tell you, when I first started this process of running for president., I said, '' if you didn't realize we need more America boots on the ground in Iraq and eventually in Syria as a part of the regional army - not ready to be commander in chief.'' Like nobody said a word, now everybody's on board except Senator Paul.
  Senator Paul and Senator Cruz, are isolationists. They both want to restrict the ability of the NSA to do the following; find out if somebody overseas is calling into America and if somebody is on the other end of the phone, don't you want to know who their talking to? IF a terrorist is calling into America and we can match up phone numbers we get a get a court order to find out what the content is.
  We're at war folks, they're not trying to steal your car, they're trying to kills us all. So yes, I would re-institute this program. There's four things you need to understand about this war, it's a religious war, them against the world, if you don't fight them over there, they're coming here. If you don't hit them first, they're going to hit us. If you're not determined to fight it as a ware, you're going to lose it.
  So if you're worried about somebody having your phone in the government, don't be. The only thing you need to worry about is if you're talking to terrorist and a judge gives an order to listen to what you're saying. That's all you need to worry about.
  BASH: Thank you.
  Governor Huckabee, you said, ''not one terrorist plot has been foiled by the NSA's collection of American's phone records. The director of the CIA says,. ''not having these programs makes it ability to find terrorists, quote, ''much more challenging.'''' Are you taking a potential tool to fight terrorists?
  HUCKABEE: No. I'm not taking it away, I just want to make sure that everything we use is going to be effective. We're spending billions of dollars, let's make sure it's effective. Let's use every tool, but let's also check out the Facebook posts, let's look at Twitter accounts.
  My gosh, we were told we couldn't do it because it might invade somebody's privacy. This lady who came over here and shot up San Bernardino was posting things on Facebook, yet, we were restricted from looking. Every college kid who goes to a frat party gets drunk and puts his picture on Facebook is going to have a potential employer looking at that photo before he gets hired.
  Why should we have more attention? I mean, for heaven's sake, towards some college kid who wants to one day ten years from to get a job, then we're going after who wants to come in with a semi automatic weapon or a pipe bomb and blow up a bunch of Americans. This is what I think a lot of Americans are frustrated with, it's the duplicity of our policy that is illogical and irrational.
  Our goal ought to be, ''protect Americans and put Americans first not last,'' which is what I think this administration has done.
  BASH: Senator Santorum?
  SANTORUM: Look, I agree with Governor Huckabee, that we should in fact be looking at people's social media posts. That's just common sense.
  But we've defunded and tied the hands behind the backs of our intelligence agencies because of political correctness. We're not allowed to ask any questions or really pursue, whether there's any mosque that they're attending that could be spreading Jihadism, and we know that in this country there are Imams that are doing that. But we're not allowed to ask those questions, we're not allowed to pursue to those things because we have a president who denies the reality of the enemy we confront.
  HEWITT: Wait, let's pursue that in fact Governor Pataki?
  PATAKI: Yes.
  HEWITT: You called for following and finding those Imams who are preaching violence in mosques. How exactly would you do that and what Mosques would you shut down? How extensive of a surveillance program are you proposing?
  PATAKI: You know, I think it's very important that we do everything in our power to prevent radicalization of Americans right here. And it is happening, not just overseas, but it's happening here from Mosques on social media.
  PATAKI: And truth -- interaction and community meetings.
  New York police department had a very active group, aggressively monitoring and using intelligence to -- in certain Muslim communities, consistent with our constitution, consistent of our civil rights, so they could have the intelligence as to where these sermons are being given, and who is being radicalized. And, they stopped and prevented dozens, and dozens of attacks in New York.
  You know, I'm a great believer in the First Amendment, of Freedom of Speech. I wish we had more of it on our college campuses, but you can't shout fire in a crowded theater. Calling on Americans to engage in violence against their fellow Americans in the name of jihad is crying fire in a crowded theater. It is not constitutionally protected speech, it should be shut down.
  And, by the way, the two murders who went to Garland, Texas to massacre many Americans before the Texas police officer courageously killed them, had been radicalized here.
  Getting to that metadata question, one of those terrorists, the day before the attacks, had sent...
  [BELL RINGING]
  ...109 message to a known terrorist overseas. We could not read those messages, we can not read those today...
  HEWITT: ...Thank you, Governor...
  PATAKI: ...We have got to do far better.
  HEWITT: Governor Huckabee...
  (APPLAUSE)
  HEWITT: ...As Governor Pataki noted earlier, we have a history of religious intoleration in this country. About the American Muslims who would be subject to this kind of surveillance, does it violate their First Amendment rights?
  HUCKABEE: No, it does not violate their First Amendment rights to have someone go and listen to the sermons. You can go to any church in America, it's a public place, you can listen, and -- you know, if you go to my church, you'll probably get a real blessing. Heck, it'll be a wonderful experience.
  You go to some people's church, you may go to sleep, I don't know what happens in every church, but, the point is that these are public places, and folks are invited to come.
  So, if it's a public place, and people are invited to come, how does it violate anybody's First Amendment rights that somebody shows up because they might want to just listen in and see is there something that is a little nefarious? And, if there is, then you take the second step of getting a search warrant, you do whatever you have to do. That's all protected under the constitution.
  So, Huge, I hear people act like there's something that is terrible about going and sitting in and listening to the sermons of a mosque. If Islam is as wonderful, and peaceful as its adherents say, shouldn't they be begging us to all come in and listen to these peaceful sermons? Shouldn't they be begging us all to come, and listen, and bring the FBI so we'd all want to convert to Islam?
  HEWITT: Senator Santorum...
  (APPLAUSE)
  HEWITT: ...I want to start then, not on the First Amendment, but on the Second Amendment. There is a terror watchlist. You can legally purchase a gun in the United States if you're on that watchlist. Your old colleague, Peter King in the House, wants to change that law. Do you agree with him?
  SANTORUM: I don't. I don't think we should be able to deny someone's constitutional rights based on a list kept by the government that nobody knows how they get on it, or how they get off of it.
  If you're going to make that list public, if you're going to put criteria out there as to how you're going to get on it, if you're going to deny someone's constitutional right, than I think there has to be more transparency. Let's just be honest, when someone applies for a gun, you do a background check. And, if you're on the terrorist watch list, guess what very well may happen? You may get denied that.
  That's a discretion of the people -- of the ATF in making that kind of decision. I want to leave that discretion -- as long as this list is not well known, as long as it's not transparent, we have to leave that discretion.
  I want to make a comment about what Mike said, and George said, about mus -- Islam.
  The fact of the matter is, Islam is different. I know this is going to come as a shock to a lot of people, and I mean the sincerely. Islam is not just a religion. It is also a political governing structure. The fact of the matter is, Islam is a religion, but it is also Sharia law, it is also a civil government, it is also a form of government. And, so, the idea that that is protected under the First Amendment is wrong.
  And, in fact, that political structure is what is the big problem. The imposition of Sharia law adherence to fundamental Islam as it was practiced in the Seventh Century...
  HEWITT: Governor...
  SANTORUM: ...There has to be a line drawn.
  HEWITT: Governor, back to you. Your response?
  (APPLAUSE)
  HUCKABEE: I don't disagree. I don't disagree with anything that the Senator just said because that's exactly right. But, I just want to go back to the point that when people say we can't go into the mosque, we can't listen. That's utter nonsense. Of course we can. And, if we can't, if there's something so secretive going on in there that somebody isn't allowed to go and hear it, maybe we do need for sure to send somebody in there and gather the intelligence. And, that's all to the world I'm saying, I think it stands to be true.
  GRAHAM: Can I say something?
  HEWITT: Senator Graham, are you trying to get in?
  GRAHAM: Yeah. There are at least 3,500 American muslims serving in the armed forces. Thank you for your service.
  (APPLAUSE)
  You are not the enemy.
  GRAHAM: Your religion is not the enemy. Let me make this real to you.
  I was at the second presidential election in Afghanistan. The guy guarding me was an American Muslim sergeant in the Army who grew up in Kabul, left when he was -- graduated high school, joined the U.S. Army, went back to his high school where they were doing polling, people voting, he took me there and cried like a baby. I cried like a baby.
  He is the solution to this problem, folks. He is not the problem. Leave the faith alone. Go after the radicals that kill us all.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki.
  PATAKI: Yes, Wolf.
  BLITZER: There are a lot of people who have been frustrated, especially Senator Graham, that law enforcement can't tap into information on terrorist cell phones. Senator Graham has called on companies in Silicon Valley to change their business models.
  As president of the United States, would you force these companies to change their models so the government can better monitor the traffic on these cell phones?
  PATAKI: I would pass a law requiring them to do that. Let me just give you one example. I mentioned in Garland, Texas, where that murderer, that terrorist, the day before sent 109 messages overseas to a known terrorist.
  But they were encrypted. So to this date we don't know what that said. Companies are entitled to encrypt and protect their knowledge and their intelligence. But what we need is a back door for law enforcement to be able, when they can establish that that communication poses a risk to our safety and engages in terrorism, to get a court order and go in and access those communications.
  Allow the companies to continue encryption, provide an entry way for law enforcement when they can prove to a court that there is a sufficient risk of an attack upon us that they have the right to look at those messages.
  BLITZER: Senator Graham?
  PATAKI: And just one more thing, Wolf. When that murderer came from Pakistan to San Bernardino and committed those atrocious crimes just a few weeks ago, she applied for a visa.
  She had posted on social media jihadist messages. Because this administration is so politically correct, they have a rule that they cannot look at social media postings of people applying to come to the United States.
  That is utterly absurd. One of the things we must do, the next president must do is get rid of that law and make sure we do everything in our power to find out if someone poses a threat to our existence here.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Senator Graham.
  GRAHAM: Thank you. This is why I own a flip phone. You don't have to worry about all of this stuff.
  (LAUGHTER)
  GRAHAM: The bottom line is, we're at war. They're trying to come here to kill us all and it's up to the government to protect you within constitutional means. Any system that would allow a terrorist to communicate with somebody in our country and we can't find out what they're saying is stupid.
  If I'm president of the United States, and you join ISIL, you are going to get killed or captured. And the last thing you are going to hear if I'm president is, you've got a right to remain silent.
  (LAUGHTER)
  BLITZER: Here is a question we have on the fight against ISIS from Facebook. Listen to this.
  (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
  HANNAH DEBELLA, COLLEGE STUDENT: I'm Hannah DeBella. And I go to the University of Florida. People say that we're fighting an ideological war with ISIS. If you're president, how would you defeat them both militarily and ideologically, as well?
  (END VIDEO CLIP)
  BLITZER: Governor Huckabee, how would you defeat ISIS ideologically?
  HUCKABEE: The way we defeat them ideologically is that we remind people that what their intent is is to kill us, and that it is our intent to use every means possible to get to them before they get to us.
  We are pretending that this is a war that is not that significant. We have a president who called it the JV team, said we had contained it. Nine hours after he said we contained it, there was a massacre in Paris.
  We've got to make it so untenable for somebody to join ISIS. Rather than making it so that teenagers from around the world want to go and be to be a part of this, we need to go after it with significant ground troops, air campaign.
  The president boasted we had 9,000 flown sorties, air missions over 18 months. What he failed to tell the American people, we were flying 3,000 air missions per day during Desert Storm.
  And the rules of engagement have got to be loosened, because we have to make sure that we are not just going over and setting off some fireworks. We have to kill some terrorists and kill every one of them we can to make it very clear that to take action or threaten action against the United States, and you've just signed your death warrant.
  We're coming to get you. And you won't be coming to our shores. You're going to be going to your funeral. That's what we need to do to begin to defeat it ideologically.
  BLITZER: Senator Graham, you have an aggressive military plan to try to defeat ISIS. The U.S. citizen who killed 14 people in San Bernardino was radicalized right here in the United States. As President, how would you defeat ISIS online?
  GRAHAM: Well, what you want to do is you want to knock them off line. How about this idea? If you pledge allegiance to al-Baghdadi, you can't get married in America? The bottom line is you have to go after them everywhere. The key to winning this war is to provide the capacity to those in the faith who reject the ideology. The key to fighting this war is to fight it in their backyard, not ours. Two years ago I came up with a plan that requires more American boots on the ground in Iraq. The first thing out of my mouth running for President was, if you don't understand we need 10,000 troops in Iraq, rather than 3,500, you're not ready. What would I do in Syria? I'd form a regional army of Arabs and Turkey. Ninety percent them, 10 percent us. Up to 10,000 U.S. forces to go in on the ground and destroy the caliphate and its roots. Take Raqqah away from ISIL, kill every one of these bastards we could find. Then I would stay. I would hold the hands of those who are willing to live in peace with us. I would build small school houses in remote regions of the world to give a young woman a voice about her children, something that will end radical Islam more than the bomb. I'm all in. Whatever it takes, as long as it takes. To the isolationists in our party, you're no better than Obama. If you want to win this war, follow me. I am seeking victory, folks, not containment.
  BLITZER: Senator Santorum, following up on what we just heard from Senator Graham, at least one U.S. intelligence report from the White House has concluded that, in order to defeat ISIS and to stop its spread worldwide, you have to defeat it on the battlefield. You've called for more U.S. troops in Iraq, but you say that sending U.S. troops into Syria would be a mistake. How do you defeat ISIS with no U.S. ground troops in the country where ISIS is headquartered.
  SANTORUM: Well, there's all sorts of theological reasons why we may not want to go into Syria right now to take ISIS. But let me set that aside for a moment and say this. ISIS is a caliphate. They've established a caliphate, the first Sunni caliphate since 1924, when Ataturk disbanded the Ottoman Empire. They've established a caliphate and, under Islamic law, good Muslims who see them as a legitimate caliphate are required to follow them. That's why we have people in this country who see them as a legitimate caliphate, which is the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, they are required under their law to follow them. How do we defeat their caliphate? Well, it's very clear in Islamic law how you do so. You take their land. You have to take land back from the caliphate and in the Islamic world that delegitimizes, that delegitimizes the caliphate. It makes the caliphate unsuccessful. Therefore not blessed by Allah. Therefore, you should not follow it. We need to take back the land in Iraq and we need to use Sunni, not Shiites, not Iranian troops, not Shiite Iraqis, but Sunni Muslims in Iraq and the Kurds, the Peshmerga, and take back Iraqi land. I believe if we did that, you would see ISIS begin to collapse. And then we can look at other ways in which we're going to deal with it. I have great hesitancy, based on ISIS' desire to draw us into Syria, and a particular town in Syria, for their own, again, apocalyptic version, to go in with ground troops in Syria at this point.
  BLITZER: Senator Graham, you're shaking your head.
  GRAHAM: Yeh, it's just you're not going to win that way, Rick. There's nobody left in Syria to train. Between the Russians and Assad, they have killed all the people we trained, and our President sat on the sidelines and watched people get killed that we enticed into the fight. There is nobody left to train. I would get the Arabs who are threatened by ISIL just as much as we are, along with Turkey. We would use their armies. They have modern armies. Ninety percent them. But some of us have to go, folks. You're not going to keep the war from here if some of us don't go over there. Ninety percent them, 10 percent us, and we go in and destroy the caliphate. There must be American boots on the ground in Syria to win. If you don't understand that, you're not ready to be Commander in Chief.
  SANTORUM: I would have no problem with Sy -- with boots on the ground in Syria in a training capacity. I do not want American troops on the front line in Syria because I don't believe that that would serve to the interest. Again, understanding what ISIS is preaching. You have to learn what they're telling their people. They want to draw the United States, they want to draw the great Satan into Syria, into a particular town in Syria, because it, it's consistent with their theology. And you say, well, this sounds like gobbledy gook. It's what they believe. And if we don't take seriously what they believe and how they're able to attract people, then we're going to make mistakes like invading Syria with a ground force and bringing them into the battle that they so deeply deserve and desire.
  BLITZER: I'm going to bring Governor Pataki in a minute, but go ahead and respond, Senator Graham.
  GRAHAM: Well, number one, dead men don't preach anything.
  GRAHAM: If you don't understand we need a ground force to go into Syria, then you're not ready to destroy ISIL. Rick, there's nobody left to train inside of Syria. Let the Arabs fight this fight, pay for this war, but they need our help.
  The difference between me and you and others is that I see you've got two choices. Fight them over there or they're coming here. They're planning another 9/11 as I speak. Paris was well planned. They wake up every day in Syria trying to find a way to hit us here. If I'm president, we're going in with the Arabs in Turkey and we're gonna destroy them before they hit us here. We're running out of time, folks.
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki, should the U.S. send ground troops into Syria?
  PATAKI: Wolf, I think the answer is we have to send troops with allies and supporters. Wherever it is necessary to destroy the training centers, recruitment centers, planning hubs of ISIS.
  Two points though. First of all today, Saudi Arabia announced a coalition of 34 states, mostly Arab, but other Muslim states to engage actively in a war against radical Islam. We have to work with them. Not just step back. Let them take the lead but work with them to destroy ISIS.
  And the second point, Wolf, I want to make, is this is on the armed forces network. And thank you for doing that. Because I'm sure watching this debate this evening are some of our soldiers deployed all over the world. As the proud father of a son who was a Marine officer in Iraq and another son that was a 10th Mountain Division officer in Afghanistan, I know we produce no finer people than the men and women who put on their uniform to defend our freedom. They are watching overseas now.
  God bless you. This isn't about us. This is about you. Thank you for your service.
  BLITZER: Governor Huckabee, you have not put a number of how many U.S. ground troops would be needed to combat ISIS. Is Senator Graham's proposal sufficient?
  HUCKABEE: Wolf, it may be sufficient, but rather than put a number -- and I'm comfortable that we say 10,000, 20,000 -- look, I think we make a mistake when we start telling the enemy what our limitations are. I think we make a huge mistake when we say we're gonna do up to this. I think what we say is, we're gonna do whatever it takes. If it's 10,000, if it's 100,000, if it's 3,000 sorties a day, if it's 5,000 sorties a day.
  We never tell our enemy what our limitations are, what we are willing and what we're unwilling to do. And that's one of the mistakes I believe that we're making militarily. But the biggest mistake we've made militarily is letting Barack Obama cut our defense forces by 25 percent and leaving us at the least prepared position we've been in since before World War II.
  We have to get our Military rebuilt from the ground up. And all over America I hear young people say, would you tell me what you're going to do? Would you give me free college? Will you make sure that I can have medical marijuana?
  You know what we ought to tell young people? We aren't going to give you anything. We're give you the opportunity to get off your butt and go serve your country and secure your freedom. Because if you don't, nobody else is.
  BLITZER: Senator Graham, and I just want to remind our viewers, you want 10,000 U.S. ground troops in Iraq, and 10,000 in Syria?
  GRAHAM: Yeah. I just don't make this up, Wolf. I talk to people who are combat trained who have won in Iraq who I trust.
  Here's what I want to tell the Arab world and Turkey. We're not going to send 100,000 troops. You're going to do the fighting this time and we're gonna help you. We paid for the last two wars, you're gonna pay for this one.
  And (inaudible), by the way, they get it because ISIL wants to cut their heads off, too. The point I'm trying to make is, there needs to be a ground component. We need to be smart, and we need to fight the war over there. And to the people in my party who believe you can withdraw from the battlefield like Senator Cruz and Paul and we be safe, you really don't understand this war.
  BLITZER: Governor Huckabee, you have said as president you would tell ISIS, and I'm quoting you now, ''we will take you down and we'll try to get it done in ten days.'' Do you really think the U.S. can defeat ISIS in ten days?
  HUCKABEE: I'd sure want them to think we would. And I'd want to make sure that we did everything we could. But we can't do it with our current Military strength. We've got to build up and have the most robust, well trained, well equipped, well prepared and ample Military force in the history of the world because we're not fighting just a known enemy in one place. We're fighting people all over the world who can go anywhere.
  And the reason I say that is because if we tried to win this war on the cheap or we try to do it with the, ''light footprint,'' we're making a huge mistake.
  When all of us were in grade school, one thing we all knew, the bully never picked on the kid except for the weak one.
  HUCKABEE: When all of us were in grade school, one thing we all knew, the bully never picked on the kid, except for the weak one. He never picked on the kid he knew, he'd whip(ph) him. We need to make to sure that we have the kind of military that ISIS recognizes in every radical Islamist in the world recognizes, they may start but we by god will finish the fight. And it will be their rear ends on the ground, not ours when it's all over whether it takes ten days, ten months, or ten eternities' we're going to win this fight and have to make sure they understand that.
  BLITZER: Senator Samtorum?
  SANTORUM: No look, I'm committed to whatever is necessary understanding the nature of the enemy. The enemy is a theocracy and their allure is their theocracy. It's their doctrine and so we have to understand that doctrine. That's why, I love the fact that people are angry and outraged in Washington and want someone new and fresh. But we need someone who understands and has knowledge and experience in these areas.
  And I can see that you know, Senator Graham has that experience and we have a little difference of opinion. But frankly, it's not that big of difference in our opinion, we both want to defeat ISIS. We have elements in our party that don't and I will use whatever means necessary within the confines of not crossing a tripwire theologically that could turn on us.
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki, you support ground troops - deploying grounds troops.
  PATAKI: Yes.
  BLITZER: The U.S. Army's Former Cheif of Staff, General Raymond Odierno said that, and I'm quoting, ''now ISIS is a ten to twenty year problem. How long would you be willing to commit U.S. forces to fight ISIS?''
  PATAKI: You know, I don't think it's a function of years of going after ISIS. They are out in the open and in cities like, Mosul, where we know they have their centers. They have centers that we could bomb. And what we have to do though, is have a commitment from our government, not just for troops on the ground but to do whatever we can to help our allies on the grounds right now,.
  The Kurds, the Peshmurga are fighting. If we don't give them the equipment, the training, and the support they need because our government insists that it all go through Baghdad. Baghdad doesn't want a strong independent Kurdish army.
  There are right now Sunni, Sheikh, and Tribes in the Anbar province, taking on ISIS. In fact, they're in the process of reclaiming Ramadi, the provincial capital this week. They are on our side and they are Sunni, but we are not arming, supporting, training, and helping them as much as we can because all support goes through Baghdad and they don't want a strong autonomous Sunni area.
  We have to put our interests first. Not the interests of Baghdad or of Iran, we have to support those on the ground fighting on our side. Give them every bit of help that they want and to the extent that it's necessary, for us to send in Special Ops to destroy those training centers, recruitment hubs, planning hubs, social media centers.
  Do that. Destroy them. Protect our freedom and get out.
  BLITZER: But how long would you be willing to commit U.S. troops to fight ISIS.
  PATAKI: You know, I don't want to see us occupy a country. I've been to Iraq a couple of times and Afghanistan. The first time I went, I had an uneasy feeling that when we went there we were liberators. But as we stayed ,we became occupiers.
  I saw American troops move into some of Saddam's old hideous marble palaces. And I thought that was exactly the wrong message. We do not have to occupy. We do not have to nation build and try to create a democracy where one hasn't existed. WE have to destroy ISIS, protect our safety and our freedom here, and then get out.
  BLITZER: Senator Graham, you called for U.S. ground troops as we know in Iraq and Syria.
  GRAHAM: Two years ago.
  BLITZER: As you know, there's a growing ISIS presence right now in Libya.
  GRAHAM: Yes.
  BLITZER: Are you ready to deploy U.S. troops to Libya to try to defeat ISIS there?
  GRAHAM: I think we need to have a military strategy regarding Libya. They've just take over Gaddafi's hometown called Sur(Ph). There's about 2000 of them.
  Here's what I've learned in my 36 visits, you can't deter these guys, they're ready to die, bring on the virgins. Dying is first place in their world. What we have to do is work with others over time to destroy to ideology. We have to offer a hopeful life to compete with the glory of this.
  Most young people folks want the same thing you do. They don't want to live in the 11th century. So yes, you have to destroy the caliphate. I want to work with Arabs and Turkey to do it, but here's the key is to not leave. If we left Germany and Japan only god knows what would've happened. If we have 10000 troops left in Iraq, there would be no ISIL and I hate what Obama did. He gave away everything we fought for and I hate what he did.
  I begged him not to and I've been right more than I've been wrong.
  BLITZER: Senator? Senator, are you ready to commit U.S. ground troops to Libya?
  GRAHAM: I want to talk to General Keane first. I want to find out, what do we need militarily to keep them contained and eventually destroy them in Libya. They're in nine countries.
  GRAHAM: You want to deal with Libya, go to Iraq and Syria. You want to prevent another 9/11, take the caliphate headquarters away from ISIL. There is no other way to do it without a ground force going into Syria. We have to be part of that ground force, or another 9/11 is coming just as sure as I'm standing here. They're planning it tonight.
  The ISIL leadership wants to hurt you, and your family, and if I'm president, they will not get here 'cause we're going to kill 'em over them.
  BLITZER: Alright, gentleman, standby. The fight against ISIS clearly is sparking new tensions with another super power. How these candidates will handle Vladimir Putin, that's next.
  (APPLAUSE)
  (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
  BLITZER: We're live here at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Welcome back.
  (APPLAUSE)
  As the U.S. fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria continues, the question remains whether to take out the Syrian dictator, Bashar al Assad. That has become a major policy difference among the Republican candidates.
  Governor Huckabee, you said the Middle East was more stable when Bashar al Assad was fully in control of Syria. The Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to keep him in power. As President of the United States, would you join with Putin to do the same thing?
  HUCKABEE: Well, I want to be real clear, I don't trust Putin, I don't trust Assad. I'm not saying that I would endorse him for his reelection bid. The man is a tyrant, he's killed lots of people, but he wasn't killing Americans. And, the thing that I'm concerned about is that we have seen a complete destabilization, not only of Syria, but we've seen it in Yemen, that the President pronouncing great shape just before it collapsed.
  SANTORUM: And the fact that we have a nuclear treaty with the Shiites in Iran, that we have now partnered with the Russians and appearing to allow Assad to stay, which is a satellite Alawites, very interrelated to the Shiites, this looks to ISIS -- and what they're selling is that we are now lining up with the Shiite world against the Sunni world.
  Well the Shiite world is 15 percent of the Muslim world. The Sunni world is 85 percent. We're -- we're picking the wrong horse here. Not only is the Iranian deal the greatest betrayal of this -- of this country in the history of our country by signing that deal, but secondly, we have now lined up to empower ISIS by partnering with the Shiites. So the answer is this. The answer is we have to take them on in Iraq, defeat them in Iraq. Delegitimize their caliphate. Join with legitimate rebel forces which exist in Syria and begin to arm them and train them. But it's a one-two step. The first step has to be Iraq.
  BLITZER: We have a video question from Facebook. Let's watch.
  QUESTION: Hi, I'm Adithya Sivakumar. I'm from Vanderbilt University. And I was wondering with U.S. designated state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and other traditional U.S. enemies fighting ISIL, do you think the United States should ally with these groups or continue with their own separate coalition?
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki.
  PATAKI: I'm not sure -- ally with which groups? I didn't quite catch that.
  BLITZER: He says he was wondering with U.S. designated state sponsors of terrorism like Iran and other traditional U.S. enemies fighting ISIL, do you think the United States should ally with these specific groups?
  PATAKI: Not at all. Iran is our enemy. They are the number one sponsor of state terror. The Iranian Deal is a disaster. And by the way, I don't think the next president has to aggregate it. It was never ratified by the Iranians. They have tested long-range ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. resolutions. They have broken the agreement. It is void. They can never have a nuclear weapon and should not get relief.
  With respect to the other groups, like Hezbollah, of course we should not work with them. I'll tell you who we should work with in Syria. There are two groups. One are the PYD, the -- the Kurds in Syria who led the defense of Kobani, and are in northern and eastern Syria and anti-ISIS and anti-Assad.
  The second thing I'd do is three years ago, Turkey called for a no-fly zone along the Turkish border. Obama said no. We need to work with the Turks, create that no-fly zone so that Syrian refugees don't have to flock to Europe or try to get to the United States. They will have a safe haven. Anti-Assad Syrians can group there, train, organize there and let them fight the fight to protect our allies.
  BLITZER: Hugh Hewitt and Dana Bash have questions.
  Hugh go ahead.
  HEWITT: Thank you, Wolf.
  Governor Huckabee, ten minutes ago you blasted President Obama for destabilizing Iraq. You hit former Secretary of State Clinton for supporting the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. But you have said recently you would sanction countries that don't join the fight aggressively against ISIS. Having had an administration that has effectively undermined our friends and emboldened our foes, why would you start sanctioning those who are not yet on our side against ISIS?
  HUCKABEE: Well what we have done, and we created an impossible atmosphere. This administration has put more pressure on Israel to stop building bedrooms in Judea and Samaria than they've put on Iranians to stop building a nuclear bomb. And I'm just simply pointing out the obvious, that we need to recognize who our friends are, who our enemies are...
  HEWITT: Which country?
  HUCKABEE: ... but I'm convinced...
  HEWITT: Which countries are those, governor, that you would sanction?
  HUCKABEE: Well, first of all, it would be the Iranians. I would have never entered into this deal. I don't know why on God's earth that the senators gave it so that it was easier for Obama to have the agreement than it would be to make it a treaty.
  HEWITT: That's an easy, give. Are you going to sanction any of our allies who say, no this isn't our fight we're gonna let you do this. Are you going to leave our allies alone? For example, Indonesia and Malaysia -- other Muslim countries -- will you leave them alone?
  HUCKABEE: I would make sure that there was economic pressure put on them. Why not? Why should we fund every single battle against radical Islam? Why should we stand back and watch Israel get targeted, the United States get targeted and we watch with people with their hands in their pocket, and their hands in our pocket because we're getting them a lot of money. And let's say your hands can be in your pocket, you can stand still, but your hands aren't going to be in our pockets anymore. We're not going to give you another dime unless you engage the battle with us. We are not sending our sons and daughters, and grandsons and granddaughters to war to fight for your interest. You either get in with us or be on your own. But we're not gonna fight the battle for you.
  HEWITT: Senator Graham, I just named two Islamic countries...
  (APPLAUSE)
  HEWITT: Senator Graham, I just named two Islamic countries that are allies that he suggested we sanction. Is that the appropriate approach to this war?
  GRAHAM: No. What I would do is I would try to make friends throughout the world to destroy a common threat to the world. These people are religious Nazis. Most people in Islam don't buy what they're selling. I've told you a thousand times that I would partner with the Arabs in Turkey.
  GRAHAM: But, the reason they don't partner with Obama is they just don't trust him. Do you think they would trust me? I know them all. I've been working for a decade to figure out how to win this war.
  To my good friend Ted Cruz, please ask him the following question, you say you would keep Assad in power, I will tell you that is the worst possible thing that could come out of an American leaders mouth. It would be disastrous. His favorite movie is, apparently, Princess Bride. Ted, getting in bed with Iran and Russia to save Assad is inconceivable.
  (APPLAUSE)
  HEWITT: Senator Santorum, let me ask you...
  GRAHAM: Princess Buttercup would not like this.
  (LAUGHTER)
  HEWITT: Senator Santorum, let me ask you, the opposite of getting into bed is shooting down the prince's plane. Senator Santorum has -- Senator Graham has said he would shoot down Russian planes bombing Syrian fighters on our side. Would you shoot down a Russian plane bombing American allied fighters in Syria (ph)?
  SANTORUM: Well, I would establish a no-fly zone. And, I think we just...
  HEWITT: What -- if they fly into it, would you shoot it down?
  SANTORUM: Well -- the first thing you have to do is establish a no-fly zone, and you don't do that by just sort of declaring it. You work through the process of making sure you work with people who, hopefully, have the same objective that you do. And, if they don't, then you establish the no-fly zone, and you take the consequences of whatever -- who violates that law.
  HEWITT: The consequences would be war with Russia. Would you risk...
  SANTORUM: ...I don't think it's a war with Russia anymore than Turkey went to war with Russia when Turkey shot down a plane...
  HEWITT: Senator Graham, do you agree?
  SANTORUM: These are -- these are incidents not something that we're threatening the motherland. This is a tactical decision within an area that we have an obligation for the refugees, for providing stability to the rebels, and an opportunity for the rebels to reconstitute. And, making sure that we stop the flow of refugees into Europe, and into the United States to establish a no-fly zone.
  And, Russia either is going to comply with it or not, and if they don't, I think it can be contained to that region.
  HEWITT: OK, we know you agree, Senator Graham. How about you, Governor Pataki, would you shoot down Russian planes?
  PATAKI: I could create...
  GRAHAM: ...I didn't get to say yes. Yes.
  PATAKI: I would create the no-fly zone, and let me tell you, something very simply. Putin is a bully, and the most important and effective thing you can do to a bully is punch him in the face. Create a no-fly zone.
  If Russian planes violate that space, either us, or the Turks, should shoot them down to keep our word. And, I guarantee you that Putin would back off. Bullies, when you stand up to them, back down.
  We have had, under Obama, and under Hillary as Secretary of State, nothing but weakness in the face of Russia, whether it was in the Crimea, whether it was in Ukraine, or now in the Middle East. I would give the Ukrainians lethal weapons so they could defend themselves. I would create the no-fly zone, and if Russian planes flew into it in violation of what we have declared, yes.
  BASH: Senator -- Senator Graham...
  GRAHAM: Yeah, this is an important discussion. The American president is the strongest voice in the world -- until Obama came along. Now, we're just one of many. When you ask people to help you, when you entice Syrians to join your cause, to take down the dictator they hate to destroy ISIL which will attack our homeland, and you sit on the sidelines and watch the Russian president kill them, it makes it harder for us to get partners in the future.
  The point I'm trying to make is we got to mean what we say...
  (BELL RINGING)
  ...And, I am begging people to wake up to Syria. The next 9/11 is coming from Syria, it's coming soon...
  BASH: Senator Graham...
  GRAHAM: ...we'd better do something about it, and I have a plan.
  BASH: Senator Graham, we've heard here tonight a lot about the fact that you want to send U.S. troops, ground troops, into Iraq, and Syria to defeat ISIS. Would you consider reinstating the draft in order to complete that mission?
  GRAHAM: I don't think it's necessary. If you don't want to be there, I don't want you to be there. I just retired after 33 years in the Air Force, 140 days on the ground as an Air Force Reservist. To those who are watching, thank you for your service.
  I've had a small walk in your shoes. We have the best military in the world. Obama has put it in a box. Let's take it out of the box and use it before we get attacked here. We don't need a draft, we need a commander in chief who knows what the hell they're doing.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BASH: Governor Huckabee...
  (APPLAUSE)
  GRAHAM: And, I am that guy.
  BASH: Governor Huckabee, would you reinstate the draft?
  HUCKABEE: I wouldn't reinstate a draft, but, I think it's noteworthy that we are fighting all the battles we have with less than one percent of the American population.
  GRAHAM: But, the reason they don't partner with Obama is they just don't trust him. Do you think they would trust me? I know them all. I've been working for a decade to figure out how to win this war.
  To my good friend Ted Cruz, please ask him the following question, you say you would keep Assad in power, I will tell you that is the worst possible thing that could come out of an American leaders mouth. It would be disastrous. His favorite movie is, apparently, Princess Bride. Ted, getting in bed with Iran and Russia to save Assad is inconceivable.
  (APPLAUSE)
  HEWITT: Senator Santorum, let me ask you...
  GRAHAM: Princess Buttercup would not like this.
  (LAUGHTER)
  HEWITT: Senator Santorum, let me ask you, the opposite of getting into bed is shooting down the prince's plane. Senator Santorum has -- Senator Graham has said he would shoot down Russian planes bombing Syrian fighters on our side. Would you shoot down a Russian plane bombing American allied fighters in Syria (ph)?
  SANTORUM: Well, I would establish a no-fly zone. And, I think we just...
  HEWITT: What -- if they fly into it, would you shoot it down?
  SANTORUM: Well -- the first thing you have to do is establish a no-fly zone, and you don't do that by just sort of declaring it. You work through the process of making sure you work with people who, hopefully, have the same objective that you do. And, if they don't, then you establish the no-fly zone, and you take the consequences of whatever -- who violates that law.
  HEWITT: The consequences would be war with Russia. Would you risk...
  SANTORUM: ...I don't think it's a war with Russia anymore than Turkey went to war with Russia when Turkey shot down a plane...
  HEWITT: Senator Graham, do you agree?
  SANTORUM: These are -- these are incidents not something that we're threatening the motherland. This is a tactical decision within an area that we have an obligation for the refugees, for providing stability to the rebels, and an opportunity for the rebels to reconstitute. And, making sure that we stop the flow of refugees into Europe, and into the United States to establish a no-fly zone.
  And, Russia either is going to comply with it or not, and if they don't, I think it can be contained to that region.
  HEWITT: OK, we know you agree, Senator Graham. How about you, Governor Pataki, would you shoot down Russian planes?
  PATAKI: I could create...
  GRAHAM: ...I didn't get to say yes. Yes.
  PATAKI: I would create the no-fly zone, and let me tell you, something very simply. Putin is a bully, and the most important and effective thing you can do to a bully is punch him in the face. Create a no-fly zone.
  If Russian planes violate that space, either us, or the Turks, should shoot them down to keep our word. And, I guarantee you that Putin would back off. Bullies, when you stand up to them, back down.
  We have had, under Obama, and under Hillary as Secretary of State, nothing but weakness in the face of Russia, whether it was in the Crimea, whether it was in Ukraine, or now in the Middle East. I would give the Ukrainians lethal weapons so they could defend themselves. I would create the no-fly zone, and if Russian planes flew into it in violation of what we have declared, yes.
  BASH: Senator -- Senator Graham...
  GRAHAM: Yeah, this is an important discussion. The American president is the strongest voice in the world -- until Obama came along. Now, we're just one of many. When you ask people to help you, when you entice Syrians to join your cause, to take down the dictator they hate to destroy ISIL which will attack our homeland, and you sit on the sidelines and watch the Russian president kill them, it makes it harder for us to get partners in the future.
  The point I'm trying to make is we got to mean what we say...
  (BELL RINGING)
  ...And, I am begging people to wake up to Syria. The next 9/11 is coming from Syria, it's coming soon...
  BASH: Senator Graham...
  GRAHAM: ...we'd better do something about it, and I have a plan.
  BASH: Senator Graham, we've heard here tonight a lot about the fact that you want to send U.S. troops, ground troops, into Iraq, and Syria to defeat ISIS. Would you consider reinstating the draft in order to complete that mission?
  GRAHAM: I don't think it's necessary. If you don't want to be there, I don't want you to be there. I just retired after 33 years in the Air Force, 140 days on the ground as an Air Force Reservist. To those who are watching, thank you for your service.
  I've had a small walk in your shoes. We have the best military in the world. Obama has put it in a box. Let's take it out of the box and use it before we get attacked here. We don't need a draft, we need a commander in chief who knows what the hell they're doing.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BASH: Governor Huckabee...
  (APPLAUSE)
  GRAHAM: And, I am that guy.
  BASH: Governor Huckabee, would you reinstate the draft?
  HUCKABEE: I wouldn't reinstate a draft, but, I think it's noteworthy that we are fighting all the battles we have with less than one percent of the American population.
  HUCKABEE: We have the lowest level of percentage of population participating in the military than ever. And they're over-deployed, they're over used, especially among our reserves and Guard troops. Any governor will tell you.
  BASH: So what would you do about it?
  HUCKABEE: Well, I would say that, if you want a college education, let's go back and reinstate the full-blown G.I. bill. You give something to your country; your country gives something back to you. We need to ask young people to step up and buy their own freedom because there's not going to be enough people left at less than one percent. And as my good friend Ken Howard, former Dean of the War College, has often said, we're fighting all the wars with other people's kids. And that's one of the things that's making us much less safe, is because we don't have enough Americans truly invested in the process of defeating our enemies. Therefore, I do think without a draft we do need to ask people to recognize we are at war.
  GRAHAM: Can, can I...
  BASH: Senator...
  GRAHAM: This is important. We're not fighting all the wars with our kids. If you've been to Iraq and Afghanistan and you made any friends, you've lots of bunch. Thousands have died in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting.
  BASH: Thank you, Senator Graham.
  GRAHAM: Don't belittle their sacrifice.
  HUCKABEE: I'm not belittling their sacrifice, Lindsey, but I'm just making note that on the part of Americans we have sent National Guard troops over for an 18-month em -- 18-month deployment. They come back for five, they go back for another 18. We're wearing these guys out. They agreed to be citizen soldiers. We turned them into full time soldiers because we've not kept up the pace by recruiting enough people in the military to fully fill these forces, and that's what we need to be doing.
  BASH: Senator Graham.
  GRAHAM: No.
  BASH: Senator Graham, quick response.
  GRAHAM: To, to those the (well) times in the Army were a bigger problem than they are today. If you want to fix this, you get the Army to 500,000, not 420,000. You want to win this war, grow the Navy to 350 ships, not 275. Sequestration is Latin for doing really dumb things. We're going to have the smallest Navy since 1915, the smallest Army since 1940. I was yelling and screaming don't do sequestration. I was right. If I am President of the United States, Commander in Chief, we're going to rebuild our military without a draft...
  BASH: Thank you, Senator Graham.
  GRAHAM: ...and we're going to go on the offense and they're ready to go.
  BASH: Thank you, Senator Graham.
  GRAHAM: They are ready to go. They just need to be led.
  BASH: Senator Santorum, earlier this month the Pentagon opened all U.S. military combat positions to women. You previously opposed allowing women in combat roles. As President, would you change the Pentagon's new policy?
  SANTORUM: I would use the studies that were done that were ignored by this military that there were certain positions that frankly were not suitable. And they pushed a political agenda above what is in the best interest of the safety, security, and effective of our, of our fighting units. So I would go back to using what we should be doing. Which is putting forth people on those front line positions who are best prepared to do the job, survive the job, and come back home safely.
  BASH: So, just to be clear, you're saying, yes, you would change the policy back?
  SANTORUM: I would change the policy to reflect what is the best interest of the people that we're asking. I've got a son who's going, who's going into the Air Force right now, and I, as a father, I want to make sure that, if he's out there on the front line -- and he may be a pilot flying an airplane -- I want to make sure that the person who's responsible for, for his wing has the ability to do the job they're doing. And if they don't have that ability to do the job, if we're doing a social promotion as opposed to what's best for the efficacy of our fighting force and for the survivability of our men and women, I'll change that policy.
  BASH: Governor Pataki, as you mentioned earlier, you have two sons who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Would you maintain this new policy as President, or do you agree with Senator Santorum.
  PATAKI: No, I completely disagree with Rick. This is America. And we've made enormous progress. And I don't care if you're a man or a woman. I care if you're good and capable of doing the job. If you can do the job -- don't lower standards, don't lower the criteria -- but if a woman is capable of doing these jobs, there is no reason why we should deny a patriot who wants to serve and help defend our country that right.
  BASH: Senator Santorum.
  SANTORUM: So what you just said is you agree with me. Because that's exactly what I said.
  PATAKI: It's not.
  SANTORUM: I said if you can't do the job, you shouldn't be able to...you shouldn't have the position.
  PATAKI: No, you said you would reverse the policy which excluded women from those jobs whether or not they were able to do that. That is wrong.
  SANTORUM: No, I did not say that, George. I mean, you may, you may have heard that, but I didn't say that. What I said was, if they can in fact do the job that any, any other person can do, I will allow them to do so.
  PATAKI: Ah.
  SANTORUM: But if they cannot, I would reverse the policy. And what happened here is there were many studies done, particularly in the Marine Corps, which begged this President not to move forward with this because people are going to get killed as a result of it. The President went forward anyway.
  BASH: Now Governor Pataki, do you a final response?
  PATAKI: Yes, I think what Rick said is very different from what he said initially which was that, ''he would reverse the policy that gave woman not the right but the opportunity to serve in combat.'' They can only do it if they're fit and capable and meet the same standards as men. And so, to reverse that policy and deny a woman who is prepared to risk her life to defend our freedom and is capable of doing everything a man could do is not the right thing for America in the 21st century.
  By the way, you see in Iraq, the Peshmerga, the Kurds ,many of their top fighters are women. This is the 21st century. We're not radical Islam. We want to give women the opportunity to do whatever they are capable of achieving in this country.
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki, let me stick with you.
  Governor Pataki, a U.S. Army Sargent Bowe Bergdahl now facing a court marshall after leaving his base in Afghanistan, getting captured by the Taliban - Donald Trump, has called for his execution. The former house speak John Boehner says ''he's innocent until proven guilty.'' Where do you stand?
  PATAKI: Of course he's innocent until proven guilty. I happen to believe he's guilty. The military did a very clear and long study as to whether or not he deserted in the face of enemy and they are not court marshalling him. I don't think he should executed. I do think he will have a fair military trial, not a civilian trial, at which time, assuming he's found guilty as I think he would, he will be sentenced appropriately.
  But there's a bigger issue here, this administration has failed to protect us because they have treated radical Islamists as Americans who should be tried in civil court. That is ridiculous. They are enemy aliens engaged in terror against Americans. And by the way, the fact that this president is now threatening to close Guantanamo Bay when we know that time after time, terrorists he released are involved in a high level capacity helping ISIS and Al Queda, this is a disgrace.
  Ask Hilary Clinton, would she keep Guantanamo Bay open so that Americans can be safe and terrorists kept from going back to the battlefield?
  BLITZER: Senator Graham, where do you stand?
  GRAHAM: Well I stand unique, having been a military lawyer for 33 years. I've been a defense attorney, a prosecutor, and a military judge. Mr. Trump, you don't have to speak about everything, that's not required.
  LAUGHTER
  I would make sure that everybody had a fair trial. Does that make sense to you?
  APPLAUSE
  We're at war folks and this stuff has to stop. It's bad for morale to hear somebody wanting to be Commander in Chief that would deny due process to somebody who's been charged in the military. For God's sakes Mr. Trump, you're asking to be the Commander in Chief , the leader of the free world, up your game.
  As to women, if you want to kill terrorists, I'm your guy.
  BLIZTER: Governor Huckabee? Governor Huckbee, ISIS demanded ransom before killing American hostages, James Foley and Kayla Mueller. Their families wanted to pay even though at the time the U.S. government discouraged them. Since then, U.S. policy has changed.
  As president, would you support families of the approximately 30 Americans being held worldwide if they chose to pay ransom?
  HUCKABEE: The horrors that those families have to go through, if that were my son, my daughter, I'd give my last drop of blood to get them back. You bet I would. Is it a good policy? No.
  It's a terrible policy because once we do it, we're only going to invite more and more hostages, more and more ransoms, and the diasters gets even worse. But I don't blame any of these families. You know who I blame? I blame a policy in our government that has made it so that families are so desperate that they're willing to pay ransom to terrorists organizations because they don't believe our government will fight the fight for them and they think they're out there on their own.
  My goodness people, this is America. When did we have to start telling people that you've got to bake your own bread in order to fight the battles? That's what we have a government for, it's what we pay taxes for. And I believe, those families ought to have a better expectation of what this government will do.
  We should never has sat at the table with the Iranians as long Sayed Abadnini is sitting in an Iranian prison. As long as the Washington Post report is over there. Until the four hostages of America were on an airplane safely out of Tehran. We should've told them, '' we won't even walk into the room with you much less sit down and negotiate with you.''
  HUCKABEE: That's what we ought to be doing.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Thank you, Governor.
  Governor Pataki, speaking of those four Americans being held in Iran right now. Iran has suggested they might be willing to have a prisoner swap, release Iranian prisoners held in the United States, in exchange for those four Americans.
  Would you support that?
  PATAKI: You know, again, it comes down to something that, as Mike said, breaks your heart. We clearly want to get them back. But the idea that by taking a journalist, for example, and holding him hostage in Iran, they're going to be able to get some of their terrorist leaders back, is simply bad policy.
  Israel has shown the way on this in rejecting hostage exchanges such as this and then not paying ransom.
  But, by the way, Mike is absolutely right. We have to do more to protect our people overseas, but then we also have to do more to help our veterans when they come back here today.
  We haven't talked about that. But more talking about defeating terrorism, one of the things we have to do is give our veterans the support and help that they require. What has happened at the VA is a disgrace.
  Give our veterans a medical card that they can use to get the best quality care anywhere, including outside of the VA system.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: We have to take a quick break, but, Governor, Israel has exchanged a lot of the prisoners it was holding for Israeli soldiers who were being held by Hamas, for example.
  PATAKI: And that -- but that was involved in combat, where they were actually involved in a war against each other and exchanged prisoners. We have not been in a war with Iran. They have taken civilians as hostages. It's a totally different situation. And we cannot encourage them to do any more of that.
  BLITZER: Thank you. Let's take another quick break. The scramble, the scramble to protect Americans after ISIS attacks from the inside, does the country need to tighten its borders to prevent another San Bernardino slaughter?
  Where the candidates stand, that's next.
  (APPLAUSE)
  (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
  (APPLAUSE)
  (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
  BLITZER: Welcome back to the Republican Presidential Debate here at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
  Gentlemen, in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, the Obama Administration policy of allowing Syrian refugees to come into the United States has come under fire.
  Senator Santorum, you say accepting Syrian refugees is dangerous. You say it just takes one Jihadist to destroy the world.
  Do you think there is any way to properly vet refugees coming into the United States?
  SANTORUM: Of course there is a proper way to vet refugees coming into the United States. But not from the ISIS-controlled area or Syria. How can you do a background check? Where are you gonna go? Who are you going to call? Call Assad and say, hey, you know, tell me about this guy from Aleppo.
  There's no possibility in these -- in these types of war-torn countries to adequately vet someone to allow them to come into this country. It's impossible.
  So you have a physical impossibility here. Secondly, we shouldn't be taking people out of that region and move them here to the United States. And the reason we shouldn't is very clear. If you talk to the clerical leaders and particularly those who are religious minorities, they don't want their people to be relocated so they're never gonna come back. And let me assure you, if they come to America, they're not going to come back. They're not gonna go back to those areas. So who stays? Those who cooperated with ISIS and maybe a few of the refugees who's come back.
  We need to have refugee camps in the region. We need to provide no-fly zones to make sure that don't even need refugee camps so people can stay in the area. But the last thing we need to do is to relocate moderate Muslims, relocate minorities and Christians out of the region so they're not going to return and reestablish a -- a -- a state that can be won, that can be cooperative for us and safe going forward.
  BLITZER: Governor Pataki, you have said you wouldn't accept a single Syrian refugee. What should become of them?
  PATAKI: You know, I think what I said earlier is that I would create a no-fly zone in Syria. Turkey just agreed to take 3 million more Syrian refugees. The EU just came up with a funding program to provide camps for Syrian refugees, but I would also create that no-fly zone where refugees can be there.
  I have to say I agree with Rick, because this President is talking about taking 10,000 people from Syria, who we cannot vet. This administration, allegedly, vetted the woman who carried out the attacks in San Bernardino and never found out that she had a false address and was on social media talking about radical Jihad.
  Coming from Syria, it's impossible to do that check. And we know, by the way, that ISIS is using this refugee program to send terrorists to the West to engage in attacks. They have said that. That this is an opportunity for them to do that.
  So, the answer is no. No Syrian refugees. Whether it's the 10,000 Obama wants or the 60,000 that Hillary Clinton wants. Think about it, I was governor on September 11th. Those attacks were carried out by only 18 people. We take 60,000 Syrian refugees that we can't vet. If one in 1,000, 1 in 1,000 is a terrorist, we would have 60 terrorists living amongst us looking to carry out attacks. We cannot let that happen.
  BLITZER: Let's go back to Dana Bash and Hugh Hewitt for more questions. Dana?
  BASH: Governor Huckabee, the U.S. has a program that allows visitors from America's closest allies to travel to the U.S. without obtaining a visa. But new legislation in Congress says that privilege should not apply to those who have visited is hot spots like Iraq and Syria in the last five years. You say that legislation doesn't go far enough. Why?
  HUCKABEE: We just need to take a real pause and all the people that coming here and we don't know who they are or what their affiliations are. What George just said is right. We can't take the risk. And why should we take the risk?
  And if it's such a doggone good idea to bring people here that we really don't know who they are and Obama thinks that we're being un-Christian to not do it, I've got a suggestion. Let's send the first wave of them to Chappaqua, Martha's Vineyard and the upper east side of Manhattan and to the south lawn of the White House where we'll set up a camp.
  Let's see how that works out. And if they behave wonderfully, that's fine. I want to say, I don't want someone lecturing me about what it means to be a Christian that I should invite a potential terrorist into my backyard. On one hand, the left says separation of church and state. Let's not have any discussion of religion, and then the left wants to tell me what it means to be a Christian. They need to figure out if they know more about being a Christian than I do, then tell me...
  HUCKABEE: On one hand, the left says separation of church and state. Let's not have any discussion of religion, and then the left wants to tell me what it means to be a Christian. They need to figure out if they know more about being a Christian than I do -- then tell me. They are no longer going to say separation of church and state, but, we have the most fundamental right above everything else -- is not to protect the reputation of Islam. It is to protect Americans first and foremost. That is our job.
  (APPLAUSE)
  HEWITT: Senator Graham, in 2013 you were part of the leadership that pushed through immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate of the United States. It died in the House. Many accused you of amnesty, and may have undermined your ability to get your message out on the war.
  Would you sign that bill again today? Would you -- sponsor that bill again today?
  GRAHAM: Well, the first thing I would do is make adjustments to reality. I want to look and see if this was a terrorist arranged marriage between the couple in California. The fact that they met online accidentally is almost zero. So, no, I would have a time-out on Syrian refugees because you'd be crazy if you didn't after Paris.
  But, I've been to the refugee camps in Turkey, and Jordan. Trust me with your Christian -- and I'm a lousy Christian saved by grace, but -- this is important. We've got to stop this war. Do you realize that there are more Syrian refugees in Lebanon going to school than Lebanese children? Do you realize if this war goes for another year the King of Jordan could fall?
  Let's have a no-fly zone.
  HEWITT: But, Senator, I misunderstand, did you...
  GRAHAM: I would -- make changes to that bill in light of what I know today.
  HEWITT: Senator Santorum, is that sufficient for you?
  SANTORUM: Lindsay says this is a real war, until it comes to immigration. And, then, all of a sudden it's not such a real war. The reality is that we've seen since the events of 9/11, the president talks about how he's worried about discrimination and acts against Muslims. There's four times as many acts of violence against Jews than there are against Muslims. I never hear the president talk about that.
  (APPLAUSE)
  The reality is that under this president, since 9/11, this anti-Muslim United States of America has doubled the rate of Muslim immigration. Since 9/11.
  (BELL RINGING)
  That's what we've done. So, the idea that we have an immigration system that is working...
  HEWITT: Thank you, Senator.
  SANTORUM: Is not -- and, I'm out of time.
  HEWITT: Yep. Governor Huckabee, you have said that children of immigrants who came here illegally should not be punished by their parents actions. As president, would you continue President Obama's policy, vis-a-vis, the Dreamers?
  HUCKABEE: No, because he did it unconstitutionally. Twenty-three times he's said he couldn't do it, and then one day he woke up and he found he had a pen in one hand, and a phone in another, and wow. That Constitution didn't mean much anymore.
  Look, President's can't just do what they want to do. That's the purpose of getting elected and working with other people who got elected, is that our system was designed to function with the power of persuasion, it's really what you elect a president to do.
  HEWITT: Senator...
  HUCKABEE: ...Let me finish, Hugh. You elect him to lead which means that if you think it's a good idea to not punish the children for something their parents did, then you go to the members of Congress and you persuade them. And, you persuade the American people.
  You don't just jump up and shove it up the nostrils of Congress, and the American people because you think you have a superior intellect, and a superior will, and a superior theology than everybody else. Our system is not a system of tyranny. We don't elect kings, we elect servants.
  If I'm elected president, I don't consider myself to be elected to be the king of the country, but the servant of the country to work with other people who are elected to get things done that need to be done.
  HEWITT: Senator Santorum, you...
  (APPLAUSE)
  ...Your position on that policy, assuming that it was passed constitutionally, would you allow this, would you support such an act?
  SANTORUM: Here's the problem. I was with, in fact, one my guests here today is the Sheriff in Cochise County, down on the border in Arizona. And, he talked with me last night when I was with him about all of the children coming across. All of the children, why?
  Because we've created a magnet. These children are not coming over, and in great shape, not coming over -- and not in harms way, and -- going through difficult times. We're attracting people.
  He's also the Sheriff that caught Syrian's at the border. We have through the policies supported by almost everybody in this field...
  (BELL RINGING)
  ...A policy that says amnesty. The world hears this, and knows that if they can come across this border, by and large, they're going to be able to stay. That has to change.
  BLITZER: Thank you, Senator. Gentlemen, standby, we are going to take another very quick break. Coming up, with America on edge, who has what it takes to be the next Commander in Chief? These candidates, they will make their case.
  (APPLAUSE)
  (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
  (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
  BLITZER: Welcome back. We're live here at the Venetian Las Vegas.
  Gentlemen, it's time for your closing statements. Each candidate will have 30 seconds.
  Senator graham, you're first.
  GRAHAM: The next president is going to be a war-time president, whether they like it or not. I'm ready for that job. Two years ago isolationism led by Senator Paul and Cruz was white hot in our party. Now it is in retreat because events have proven me more right than wrong and has proven them to be wrong.
  In the first debate I called for American troops on the ground to protect our homeland. Nobody came forward. Now, most have. We've spent a lot of carnage to get them to where I have always been.
  Make me president, I will keep you and your family safe.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Thank you, Senator.
  Governor Pataki.
  PATAKI: Thank you. This debate has been about terrorism and appropriately so. I'm proud to have been governor of New York on September 11th and have led our state through and during the aftermath of that horrible attack.
  I vowed then that if I ever had the chance to lead this country, I would do everything in my power to make sure that Americans were safe. But I also saw a positive from that. New Yorkers and the American people came together and vowed that we weren't just going to defend ourselves.
  We were not going to live in fear. We were going to rise to new heights and celebrate our freedom.
  Come to Lower Manhattan today. You will see a magnificent tribute to those who died, the memorial and the museum. You will also see a new tower soaring 1,776 feet tall, the Freedom Tower, a symbol of our freedom, a symbol of our belief that as a free people we can soar to new heights.
  Give us the chance to unite Americans, not just Republicans. And this country's future is unlimited.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Thank you, Governor.
  Senator Santorum.
  SANTORUM: Barack Obama has not kept this country safe. Hillary Clinton will not keep this country safe. We need to nominate someone who America knows will keep this country safe.
  Ten years ago I put the sanctions on Iran's nuclear program. Before that, I gave speech after speech, including to President Bush, to identify the enemy and call these radical Islamists who they are.
  Ladies and gentlemen, this week ISIS put out a fatwa on disabled children and killed dozens of them because of their disability. Now, I am the father of a disabled child. I know and have known the face of evil. And I, if you give me the opportunity, will defeat it. Thank you.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Thank you, Senator.
  Governor Huckabee.
  HUCKABEE: The terrorists don't win just because they kill us. The terrorists win when they make us change everything we do in our daily lives and alter our routines. And they're doing that, from getting on a plane to going in a building.
  And it is high time that we recognize that we have to take them out, not a little bit, but totally, because I want my grandkids to grow up not in fear, but in faith and in freedom.
  And if you give me the opportunity to be president of the United States, I will fight for your grandkids as much as I will for mine.
  Thank you and God bless you.
  (APPLAUSE)
  BLITZER: Thank you. Thanks to all of the candidates for a very important discussion on critically important issues.
  This debate night is just getting started here at the Venetian Las Vegas. The top nine candidates, they are standing by for their turn on this stage in just a little while. I'll be back as the moderator.
  Right now, let's go to my colleague, Anderson Cooper.
  (APPLAUSE)
  END
  Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the First Draft newsletter.




16


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


December 13, 2015 Sunday

 A reluctant but necessary discussion on Trump and terrorism

 
The presidential race has a new focus on national security - and, of course, Donald Trump. We hate to even mention the guy's name, because his key strategy is to dominate news coverage. But we can't ignore his bigotry.
Has Donald Trump crossed the line from entertaining to downright frightening and dangerous? 
Pignanelli: "So what if the media question Trump's bending the truth. There never has been more truth bending from Washington, D.C., than right now!" - Iowa Trump supporter on NBC "Meet the Press."
The recent denunciations of Trump by Republican, Democrat, religious, community and business leaders is heartwarming and a testimony to the great soul of this nation. I will pile on with an additional perspective.
With a dark demeanor and weird hair, Trump is providing a public service. His comments are generating a hostile reaction that is unifying disparate factions and reminding the country of the principles that bind us. Further, he is illustrating that our democracy is not impervious to - and can breed - charismatic jingoistic power seekers whose ultimate ambition is tyranny. We must be ever vigilant against this threat, whether from Trump or another demagogue with cheap promises of security (and a worse haircut).
Normally Trump would be easily dismissed. But the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., and its inability to articulate a response to terrorism is creating the vacuum that the blowhard billionaire can fill with horrible rhetoric against Muslims. The partisan bickering has now fostered another terrible menace.
If 300 million Americans must endure the buffoonery for another six months, then we put the nonsense to good use for a massive "teaching moment."
Webb: Donald Trump will never be elected president. Thank goodness. But he is fully capable of electing Hillary Clinton and a Democratic U.S. Senate. He could care less about what's best for America. He cares only about Donald Trump.
As a young man, I served my church in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population - many millions of sweet, caring, wonderful Muslim people. To think that Trump would prevent citizens of this entire nation from entering my country is reprehensible.
Remember, our most important allies in the fight against Islamic terrorism are Muslims and Muslim countries. Islamic terrorists mostly maim and kill other Muslims.
Just as scary as Trump himself is the fact that some 30 percent of Republicans actually support him. I don't like to offend people, but I worry about the intellectual capacity of these folks who seek simplistic answers to complex questions, who are so easily influenced by a charismatic charlatan, who seek a nonexistent political savior. Too many people get caught up in celebrity worship, the political equivalent of the Kardashians.
Thankfully, most Utahns are not so naïve. Polling by Dan Jones & Associates for UtahPolicy.com shows some 65 percent of Utahns reject Trump's views on banning Muslims. Trump's presidential bid has only 13 percent support in Utah. He's running even or behind Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio.
Remember, it's not a big leap from Muslims to Mormons to Jews or whatever other religion Trump decides to persecute.
In his speech to the nation, President Barack Obama outlined his approach to dealing with terrorism at home and abroad. Was the speech adequate for the occasion and inspiring enough to spur action?
Pignanelli: The Democrats I listened to in the media or encountered during the days following the speech gave a ho-hum critique of the president's presentation. (Of course, I endured the usual stream of complaints from Republicans.) Many hoped Obama would have given an emotional delivery to rally the nation and restore confidence. He didn't.
Perhaps Obama is channeling the fear and confusion plaguing the nation's capital on this matter. There is much shouting and finger wagging. But our leaders have no real plan. We have never faced an enemy with such tactics.
I am optimistic that the White House will recover its footing, develop a strategy, and reach out to the nation for support. The alternative to this dream is a real nightmare.
Webb: Obama's trumpet continues to give an uncertain sound. The speech was a dud. Obama didn't say anything new and he certainly didn't inspire Americans or make them feel safer or more patriotic.
The terrorist attack in San Bernardino has reignited national security issues related to NSA's desire to collect bulk phone records. Was it a mistake to restrict NSA's data-collecting program?
Pignanelli: No expert has argued that NSA retention of these records would have prevented this and other tragedies. Such information, if needed, can be accessed by the subpoena of communications service providers. A strong response to the terrorists must be coupled with an equal determination to prevent government overreach.
Webb: Banning bulk collection of phone records is completely ridiculous. Anyone who isn't a terrorist has absolutely nothing to worry about. Who has been hurt by this practice? Only bad guys. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and your local department store know far more about you than the NSA ever will. Ted Cruz and others of his ilk are fearmongers who place political expediency over national security.
Republican LaVarr Webb is a political consultant and lobbyist. Previously he was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. Email: lwebb@exoro.com Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as minority leader. His spouse, D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, is the president/CEO of the Special Olympics of Utah. Email: frankp@xmission.com




16


 
 


December 13, 2015 Sunday  


 Terror fears must not veer into attacks on American Muslims

 
It's a nervous time.
In the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, with Donald Trump rising in Republican presidential polls by calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, fear and revulsion against Islamic extremists has morphed into widespread distrust of all people of the Islamic faith -- and sparking hate crimes against innocent people.
The Islamic Center of Palm Beach was vandalized on Dec. 4, its windows broken, its prayer room torn apart. Police arrested Joshua Killets, 27, of Juno Beach, who had posted a Facebook photo of himself holding an assault rifle, with the caption: "That AR-15 will put down any radical Islamic!! I wish they would!!" 
Stormfront, the nation's leading white supremacist website, based in West Palm Beach, is upgrading its servers to cope with a traffic spike energized by Trump, Politico reports. At the same time, the Council on American Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, says reports of hate crimes and bias incidents nationally are at an all-time high.
This means that people like Khaled Alian are watching their backs.
"It makes my life difficult. I have to explain myself a lot harder. I'm trying to genuinely convince my neighbor, my co-worker, that we Muslims didn't do these things."
He's a Royal Palm Beach father of grown children, involved in real estate, married to a math professor at Palm Beach State College. A Palestinian, he came to Florida 36 years ago.
To Alian, the terrorists are not Muslim. "I don't even know what to call them -- animals? Thugs? Because a human being will not do such an act to a human being."
He spoke on the sidelines of an "interfaith dialog and dinner" last week in Lake Worth, one of several held in Palm Beach County including some by a synagogue. It's the sort of thing we need more of.
Building trust in this climate is a tall order, when the jihad-minded killers in San Bernardino were so deft at blending in with their non-Muslim neighbors and co-workers, while secretly plotting a mass attack.
Perspective helps. Since Sept. 11, 2001, 250 Muslim-Americans have been associated with terrorism through the end of 2014, according to a Duke University study. The shadow of suspicion, however, has fallen on every one of America's estimated 2.75 million Muslims.
This shadow has fallen before, on other groups. In World War I, German-Americans were under constant mistrust. In World War II, Japanese-Americans were sent to detention camps. In the Cold War, American Jews feared an anti-Semitic backlash when the Rosenbergs were convicted and executed as spies who gave atomic secrets to the Soviets.
Members of these minorities felt they had to show their loyalty during those times of stress, and now is no different. As San Bernardino shows, it's vitally important that American Muslims be vigilant within their communities for signs of trouble and to quickly inform authorities of anything that smacks of a threat.
In fact, they have done that. According to a 2013 study, 54 Muslim-American terror suspects and perpetrators were brought to the attention of law enforcement by American Muslims since 9 /11 . That's more than the 52 who were discovered by U.S. government investigations.
Islamic leaders throughout North America do regularly speak out against terrorism, though their statements almost never make it into the media. Back in 2005, for instance, 344 Muslim organizations, mosques and imams endorsed a fatwa, or religious command, stating, among other admonitions: "There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism."
Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organization in the world at 50 million members strong, is planning a conference in Washington, D.C., this spring to curb "radicalism, extremism and terrorism." None too soon, this Indonesia-based group is working to combat Wahhabism, the conservative Muslim strain that inspires ISIS' contemptible ideology including the killing of nonbelievers.
The American public's task is difficult: sorting out reasonable vigilance from unthinking suspicion. Certainly, the bullying we are seeing -- a schoolgirl's hijab being yanked off, a severed pig's head thrown at a Philadelphia mosque -- must be forcefully condemned.
But our fellow Muslim citizens have a daunting challenge, as well: assuring the rest of us that we are all on the same side. That they are not the bad guys. It's unfair. But it's unavoidable.
"We have a saying in Arabic," Alian said ruefully. "A crazy man can drop a stone in the well. And it will take 100 wise men to pick it up."




16



 


December 9, 2015 Wednesday

 Radical Islam poses obvious threat to Mideast

 
In the aftermath of Paris and before San Bernardino, Hillary Clinton articulated the forced catechism of the left: "Let's be clear: Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism."
What happens when a major political party becomes so wedded to political correctness that it feels constrained to deny reality? Clinton could hardly have chosen a less opportune moment to squeeze her eyes shut about the threat of Islamic extremism, a threat that is glaringly, blazingly obvious. 
The first part of what Clinton said was true. Islam is not our adversary. There are an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, and if all of them were violent extremists, we'd have a planet drowning in blood. Most Muslims are peaceful. Beyond that, they practice charity, care for the sick and encourage good works.
But there is a fever sweeping the Muslim world that has infected a significant minority of Muslims -- and because Muslims are so numerous, that minority amounts to hundreds of millions. It began in the 1920s with the Muslim Brotherhood. Its Shia incarnation has captured the government of Iran. Saudi oil money has facilitated its spread to places such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. President Obama, deluded from the get-go that our enemy was not Islamic extremism but merely "al-Qaida," stood by while the Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria morphed into a new entity called ISIS. Obama never saw it coming because he was determined to believe, with Clinton and other Democrats, that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.
Isn't it odd, then, that in Nigeria (70 percent Muslim) and Lebanon (54 percent Muslim) large majorities say they are "very worried" about Islamic extremism in their countries? The presence of Boko Haram in Nigeria and Hezbollah in Lebanon has a way of concentrating the mind. People around the world are worried about Islamic radicalism, too. Perhaps they are mindful of 9/11, the Fort Hood shooting (2009), the Boston Marathon bombing (2013), the bombings of trains in Madrid (2004), the three-day siege of hotels and a Jewish center in Mumbai (2008), the bombings of a bus and trains in London (2005), the attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse (2012), the slaughter of students at a Kenya university (2015), the attack on high schoolers in Peshawar, Pakistan (2014), the shootings at a Mali hotel (2015), the stabbings in Israel (2015), the Bali bombings (2002), the Jakarta bombing (2009) and so very many more, to say nothing of the treatment of religious minorities, homosexuals, and women in many Muslim societies.
As for whether Muslims are tolerant, there's no doubt that some are, but as a 2013 Pew survey of global attitudes found, 88 percent of Egyptian and 62 percent of Pakistani Muslims favor the death penalty for apostates. "This is also the majority view among Muslims in Malaysia, Jordan and the Palestinian territories," reported the Washington Post after reviewing the data.
We Americans congratulate ourselves for our comparatively superior ability to assimilate Muslim immigrants into our society, and perhaps we deserve the pat on the back. Then again, we have nothing like the numbers of Muslim immigrants Europe does, and the percentages matter. Even among American Muslims, 7 percent told Pew in 2011 that "suicide bombing or other violence against civilians is justified to defend Islam against its enemies sometimes." One percent said "often" and 5 percent said "rarely." Eighty-one percent said "never." Those responses were not very different from the views of Turkish and Indonesian Muslims.
Islam is in the throes of a religious war. The primary victims are other Muslims, but thousands of Christians, Jews, Hindus and others have been bloodied by it as well. Obama told Christians not to get on "our high horse," referring to the Crusades. Yes, when Christianity was about the age that Islam is now, it too was engulfed in righteous violence (Protestants versus Catholics). The West is long past it. They're not. If another civilization had been able to exert influence over Europe in the 1500s and 1600s to quell the violence and encourage the "better angels" of the society, it would have been no bad thing.
As for today, we owe it to ourselves to be alert to the obvious threat that radical Islam poses to the people of the Middle East (primarily) and to the rest of us. Radicalism has had the wind at its back in the Muslim world for nearly a century. It shows no sign of abating just because Clinton and company bury their heads in the sand.
(Mona Charen's syndicated column appears in the Tribune on Wednesdays.)




16



 



December 8, 2015 Tuesday  


 Trump wants 'total' ban on Muslims entering U.S.

 
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called Monday for a "total and complete" ban on Muslims entering the United States, barring followers of the world's fastest-growing religion because he considers the faith rooted in hatred and violence. 
The proposal - which was quickly denounced by other candidates from both parties - marks the latest escalation of the virulent anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric that has fueled his unlikely candidacy. It also came less than 24 hours after President Obama urged tolerance in an Oval Office address, saying the fight against terrorists should not "be defined as a war between America and Islam."
But at a rally Monday night in South Carolina, Trump received a boisterous standing ovation as he shared the idea, telling the crowd that a ban is "common sense" and that his Muslim friends agree with him.
"We have no choice," he said to cheers. "We have no choice. We have no choice." 
Party leaders have worried for months that Trump's divisive rhetoric could poison their party, even as it has allowed him to maintain a commanding lead over the divided GOP field since summer. Trump has broadly described illegal immigrants as violent criminals, called for the immediate deportation of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States and, at a recent rally, seemed to condone an assault on a Black Lives Matter protester. 
Many legal scholars said such a plan would violate both U.S. and international law and would never be allowed by the courts, while leaders of Islamic groups called the idea outrageous.
"One has to wonder what Donald Trump will say next as he ramps up his anti-Muslim bigotry," said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Where is there left for him to go? Are we talking internment camps? Are we talking the final solution to the Muslim question? I feel like I'm back in the 1930s."
Trump's proposal came in a statement issued Monday calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." 
He said in the statement that "it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension."
"Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," he continued. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."
Like most of the ideas Trump has floated, the proposal is both far-reaching and vague, raising numerous questions that his aides declined to answer Monday: Which Muslims would be included in the ban? How would they be identified? Would the U.S. bar American-born citizens who practice Islam and are returning from an overseas trip? What about holders of green cards visiting family overseas, or wealthy Middle Eastern businessmen journeying to the United States to finalize a deal? 
Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told the Associated Press that the ban would apply to "everybody" but did not elaborate. Later, Trump said in an interview on Fox News that the ban would not apply to Muslim members of the military or "people living in the country."
On Twitter, Christian Broadcasting Network correspondent David Brody wrote that Trump was the only candidate with the "bravery" to call for a ban on Muslim immigration, and he predicted it would "give him a boost with evangelicals."
But Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University expert on constitutional law, said such a ban "would not only violate international law but do so by embracing open discrimination against one religion. It would make the United States a virtual pariah among nations.''
Muslims make up nearly a quarter of the world's population, and that portion is projected to hit 30 percent by 2050, at which point Muslims would be nearly as numerous as Christians, according to a Pew Research Center report issued in April. Between 80,000 to 90,000 Muslims immigrate to the United States each year, according to a 2011 report by Pew.
Targeted bans on specific groups of immigrants are not unprecedented in U.S. history. In the early 20th century, the United States passed a series of strict quotas on foreign arrivals, culminating in the immigration acts of 1917 and 1924. There were no visas for anyone residing in a designated "Asiatic Barred Zone." That included most of the Muslim world, from the Arabian Peninsula to Indonesia. Those quotas were lifted by the Immigration Act of 1965.
Since last month's terrorist attacks in Paris, Trump has called for surveillance of mosques  and barring Syrian refugees, and he has suggested he would consider establishing a database to track Muslims. In the past, Trump has also suggested that Obama was not born in the United States and hinted that the president could be Muslim rather than Christian. 
Trump's standing in most polls has grown as he has made increasingly harsh rhetoric and policies the focus of his campaign, prompting other GOP candidates to follow or ratchet up their own statements. Every Republican presidential candidate has called for a pause in accepting Syrian refugees into the country, with Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and former Florida governor Jeb Bush saying Christian refugees should still be allowed in; Trump said at the time it would be impossible to implement because it is difficult to prove a person's religion.
Most of Trump's GOP rivals issued statements opposing Trump's idea. Bush wrote Monday on Twitter that Trump is "unhinged," while Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the proposed ban "is just more of the outrageous divisiveness that characterizes his every breath." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called it "a ridiculous position," and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) tweeted: "His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together." Cruz said in an NBC interview that "there are millions of peaceful Muslims around the world." 
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) said Trump's escalating rhetoric about Islam endangers U.S. soldiers and diplomats operating in the Muslim world: "The effects of this statement are far-reaching."
On the Democratic side, front-runner Hillary Clinton and her two main challengers, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, all condemned Trump, with O'Malley calling him "a fascist demagogue."
Clinton's campaign is fundraising off of Trump's latest statement, circulating an email from Clinton's longtime top aide Huma Abedin that reads, in part: "I'm a proud Muslim - but you don't have to share my faith to share my disgust."
At the heart of Trump's statement was a questionable poll commissioned by the Center for Security Policy, a conservative group founded by Frank Gaffney, a veteran of the Reagan administration who accused the George W. Bush administration of helping Islamists infiltrate the government and who has been identified as an anti-Muslim extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Gaffney did not respond to a request for comment.
Americans' fears of Muslim extremists grew last year following a series of high-profile beheadings by the Islamic State, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Half said Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers, the highest in surveys since 2002. Views that Islam encourages violence peaked among white evangelical Protestants, Republicans, and those 65 and older.
jenna.johnson@washpost.com
david.weigel@washpost.com
Sean Sullivan, Jerry Markon and Scott Clement contributed to this report.




16


 


December 7, 2015 Monday

 Radical Islam threatens Middle East, and rest of us; 
FROM THE RIGHT

 
In the aftermath of last month's Paris attacks and before last week's massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., Hillary Clinton articulated the forced catechism of the left: "Let's be clear: Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism." 
What happens when a major political party becomes so wedded to political correctness that it feels constrained to deny reality?
The first part of what Clinton said was true. Islam is not our adversary. There are an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, and if all of them were violent extremists, we'd have a planet drowning in blood. Most Muslims are peaceful. Beyond that, they practice charity, care for the sick and encourage good works.
Isn't it odd, then, that in Nigeria (70 percent Muslim) and Lebanon (54 percent Muslim) large majorities say they are "very worried" about Islamic extremism in their countries? The presence of Boko Haram in Nigeria and Hezbollah in Lebanon has a way of concentrating the mind. People around the world are worried about Islamic radicalism, too. Perhaps they are mindful of 9/11, the Fort Hood shooting (2009), the Boston Marathon bombing (2013), the bombings of trains in Madrid (2004), the three-day siege of hotels and a Jewish center in Mumbai (2008), the bombings of a bus and trains in London (2005), the attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse (2012), the slaughter of students at a Kenya university (2015), the attack on high-schoolers in Peshawar, Pakistan (2014), the shootings at a Mali hotel (2015), the mass stabbings in Israel (2015), the Bali bombings (2002), the Jakarta bombing (2009) and so very many more, to say nothing of the treatment of religious minorities, homosexuals, and women in many Muslim societies.
As for whether Muslims are tolerant, there's no doubt that some are. But as a 2013 Pew survey of global attitudes found, 88 percent of Egyptian and 62 percent of Pakistani Muslims favor the death penalty for apostates. "This is also the majority view among Muslims in Malaysia, Jordan and the Palestinian territories," reported the Washington Post after reviewing the data.
We Americans congratulate ourselves for our comparatively superior ability to assimilate Muslim immigrants into our society, and perhaps we deserve the pat on the back. Then again, we have nothing like the numbers of Muslim immigrants Europe does - and the percentages matter. Even among American Muslims, 7 percent told Pew in 2011 that "suicide bombing or other violence against civilians is justified to defend Islam against its enemies sometimes." One percent said "often" and 5 percent said "rarely." Eighty-one percent said "never." Those responses were not very different from the views of Turkish and Indonesian Muslims.
We owe it to ourselves to be alert to the obvious threat that radical Islam poses to the people of the Middle East - primarily - and to the rest of us. Radicalism has had the wind at its back in the Muslim world for nearly a century. It shows no sign of abating just because Clinton and company bury their heads in the sand.




16



 


December 4, 2015 Friday

 Thailand receives Russian warning of Islamic State threat

 
BANGKOK (AP) -- Thai police have received a warning from Russia's state security agency that 10 Syrians who may be linked to the Islamic State group could stage attacks in Thailand on targets associated with Russia and others opposed to the militants, officials said Friday. 
National police deputy spokesman Col. Songpol Wattanachai confirmed the authenticity of a leaked police memo mentioning the intelligence warning. He told reporters that the information has not been verified.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for bringing down a Russian jetliner over Egypt's Sinai region in October, describing it as retaliation for Russian airstrikes in Syria.
The Thai capital was the target of a bombing in August that killed 20 people, but it has been linked to militants from China's Muslim Uighur minority.
There have been few signs of IS activity in Thailand, though the group actively recruits volunteers from its Southeast Asian neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia -- which are predominantly Muslim -- to fight in Syria and Iraq.
The police memo, dated Nov. 17 and marked "urgent" and "confidential," cites Russia's Federal Security Service FSB warning that the 10 Syrians believed to be involved with IS entered Thailand in the second half of October. According to the memo, some of them went to Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.
Pattaya and Phuket are seaside resorts popular with foreign tourists, and Pattaya is especially popular with Russians.
"The objectives of these people are to cause harm to Russia's assets or those of its allies in Thailand," said the memo.
The police memo called on security officials to confirm the information and step up security at possible targets related to countries opposed to IS, specifically the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and Australia.
Police spokesman Songpol said that after October's deadly attacks in Paris, security had already been stepped up at venues in Bangkok such as embassies. He said the information was the first Thailand had received suggesting that IS-linked Syrians had entered the country.
Sidney Jones, an expert on Southeast Asian Islamist movements at the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said that IS cells in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia were getting more serious about establishing a more formal structure.
------
Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed to this report.




17


 


December 2, 2015 Wednesday  


 MINEFIELDS AWAIT U.S. MISSTEPS; 
WATCH OUT ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH ASIA AND AFRICA

 
There is a wonderful horrifying moment in the movie,"The Monuments Men," about American World War II soldiers rescuing stolen artwork from Nazi hiding places when one of the stars accidentally finds himself standing on an unexploded mine.
The United States is currently wandering around the world about to step on mines. These are accidents that I believe can be avoided but probably won't be. 
Driven by what an old friend at the CIA wrote a book about, "In Search of Enemies," the United States can't seem to resist considering itself to be the unique, exceptional nation that is required to solve every problem from Raqqa, Syria, to Rwanda to Colombia. We have troops now in 135 countries. I'm not kidding.
That's partly why we, as a nation, find ourselves financially like a child who has outgrown his blanket and is trying to stretch it to cover his nose and his toes. Our national debt stands at $18 trillion.
Four unexploded mines lie straight ahead in our path: Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and an African country (choose among Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe, even as others already are alight).
Bangladesh, the former East Pakistan, at 169 million is the eighth-largest nation in the world. It is 86.6 percent Muslim, nearly all Sunnis, like the Islamic State organization. It has the fourth-largest Muslim population in the world, after only Indonesia, Pakistan and India. It has three extremist Islamic groups, Jamaat-E-Islami, Ansarullah Bangla Team and Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh. In recent weeks they have carried out attacks in Bangladesh, including in Dhaka, the capital.
Bangladesh comes close to detonation every time it has an election, most recently in 2014. India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, watch it closely for wisps of smoke.
Saudi Arabia is probably the most dangerous of the lot, given the risks its leaders take in a very dangerous neighborhood. Two facts about the Saudis generally go unmentioned in our media. The first is the degree and nature of the support America provides them in their ongoing war against the Shiite Houthis in Yemen.
The United States has sold Saudi Arabia most of its arms, including the aircraft it has been using to bomb and strafe Yemen for months. The United States also is providing all manner of intelligence and technical support in the Saudis proxy war against Shiite Iran for dominance in the Persian Gulf. The question is whether any U.S. pilots or co-pilots are in the Saudi aircraft attacking Yemen. I tend to take the absence of a Pentagon statement on the matter as a "yes."
My second question, based on Saudi Arabia's general practice over the years, is whether the Saudis are paying off the Islamic State that we are fighting not to attack them. My guess is that they are.
The Saudi monarchy is a direct contradiction of what the Islamic State says it stands for. Riyadh insists on its piety while making money as the operator of the holy cities Mecca and Medina. The royals live in luxury, waited on by a horde of poorer Muslims, which is contrary to the Muslim principles professed by the Islamic State. So why does it not attack the Saudis? Or the Gulf emirates, for that matter?
When Syria and Iraq were still Baathist socialist, the Saudi royals used to pay them off to leave them alone. It worked, by the way. So why would the Saudi leopard change its spots in dealing with its 21st-century potential opponent, the Islamic State? It certainly isn't bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq or Syria, in spite of its professed membership in President Barack Obama's "coalition of the willing" against the Islamic State.
The third unexploded mine we are approaching is the United Arab Emirates. The UAE's latest stunt is to hire hundreds of Latin Americans as mercenaries to fight the Houthis in Yemen. Americans - we assume in a private capacity - train them. The program, established in 2010, is said to number 1,800. It is hard to imagine that there is no official U.S. role in the operation.
The population of the U.A.E. is 8.2 million. It is basically made up of a million Emiratis, hundreds of thousands of South Asians and Arabs from other countries who do the work, and, now, Latin American plus Eritrean and Sudanese mercenaries. That is not exactly a recipe for stability, or for a reliable, stable partner for the United States.
As for the African state or states likely to blow up in 2016, given the track record of 2015 one can take one's pick. In Rwanda, a greedy president, Paul Kagame, is manipulating legislation and the constitution to get yet another term. In neighboring Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza did that this year. Burkina Faso had a coup this year and is seeking to recover from it with elections that took place Sunday. In Zimbabwe, one awaits the death of dictator Robert G. Mugabe, now 91, for the conflagration to begin.
Why do we care? Why are we involved militarily in 135 countries? Without adopting the rhetoric of America's "scarerists," there is reason for concern.




17



 


November 30, 2015 Monday

 John Seven: Online tales of small victories counter flood of bad news

 
NORTH ADAMS   It feels like there's not a lot of good news today, but of course there is. It's just that the magnitude of it is smaller than that of the horrible stuff.
That's often the case with good news, though. Good news is usually about small victories. Good news usually captures stories on a personal level, things that change the world for the better one human at a time, transforming intimate circles, families, maybe towns, possibly cities, hardly ever the world, unfortunately.
Like the following Facebook page, which brings a smile to my face every time I look at it. 
My Stealthy Freedom https://www.facebook.com/StealthyFreedom/ ) gives women in Iran a participatory page to let the world see their quiet rebellion against the status quo in the form of women sharing photos and videos of themselves revealing the person behind the veil.
Yes, this is selfie as revolutionary tool. Connected to the website of the same name, http://mystealthyfreedom.net/en/ ), the movement itself was started by Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad a year and a half ago to advocate for women's choice in whether or not to don a hijab. The result is a series of thrilling, joyous, liberating images by women showing true bravery. They are risking something by doing this and they deserve our support, or at the very least, or attention.
There are larger efforts for good news, though. One of the big complaints I hear in the public debate about terrorism is that followers of Islam do not do as much to decry terrorism as they should. The problem is that they do, it just doesn't get noticed especially for the reasons I just stated: that good news is about the little things that chip away at the bad.
One recent story in Seattle documented a Muslim effort that featured Syrian refugees among others in the community to help the city's homeless veterans through volunteerism http://kuow.org/post/guess-whos-helping-seattle-homeless-veterans-syrian-refugees ), with the idea of giving back to the country and the people who have saved their lives and given them safe haven.
On a larger scale, but still intimate enough that if you aren't inside the circles that would seek out this information you might miss it, is an Islamic movement from Indonesia called Nahdlatul Ulama, that is utilizing its 50 million members to actively denounce the Islamic State, and educate other Muslims why the horrible groups is not reflective of their faith http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/world/asia/indonesia-islam-nahdlatul-ulama.html?_r=0 ). It's a major effort that needs to go far and wide to create a counter-narrative to the one of hate that is being embraced by some on either side of this conflict.
But if Muslims loom big as boogeymen in some people's brains, Christian terrorists have stood as a similar threat within our borders. While officials have yet to determine a motive in last week's shooting at a Planned Parenthood, witnesses have said they believe he was motivated by his opposition to abortion.
The good news is that while there may be no mass exodus, individuals can walk away from hate disguised as spiritual thought, destruction masquerading as the love of a god. It can be done, and this is no better illustrated than in the thrilling, charming and ultimately hopeful story of Megan Phelps-Roper http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper ) a member of the Westboro Baptist Church through faith and family connections, who through a long process of awakening, turned her back on hate.
The story will also give you a newfound faith in the connections that are built online as being as important and transformative as any others you might encounter.
These are but small pieces, but encouraging ones. Embrace them and let them strengthen your outlook.
John Seven, a writer, lives in North Adams. He can be reached at vknid.com.




17


 


November 28, 2015 Saturday  


 Muslims in Indonesia Challenge ISIS Ideology

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia --  The scene is horrifyingly familiar. Islamic State soldiers march a line of prisoners to a riverbank, shoot them one by one and dump their bodies over a blood-soaked dock into the water.
But instead of the celebratory music and words of praise expected in a jihadist video, the soundtrack features the former Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid, singing a Javanese mystical poem: ''Many who memorize the Quran and Hadith love to condemn others as infidels while ignoring their own infidelity to God, their hearts and minds still mired in filth.'' 
  That powerful scene is one of many in a 90-minute film that amounts to a relentless, religious repudiation of the Islamic State and the opening salvo in a global campaign by the world's largest Muslim group to challenge its ideology head-on.
  The challenge, perhaps surprisingly, comes from Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population but which lies thousands of miles away from the Islamic State's base in the Middle East. 
  ''The spread of a shallow understanding of Islam renders this situation critical, as highly vocal elements within the Muslim population at large -- extremist groups -- justify their harsh and often savage behavior by claiming to act in accord with God's commands, although they are grievously mistaken,'' said A. Mustofa Bisri, the spiritual leader of the group, Nahdlatul Ulama, an Indonesian Muslim organization that claims more than 50 million members.
  ''According to the Sunni view of Islam,'' he said, ''every aspect and expression of religion should be imbued with love and compassion, and foster the perfection of human nature.''
  This message of tolerance is at the heart of the group's campaign against jihadism, which will be carried out online, and in hotel conference rooms and convention centers from North America to Europe to Asia. The film was released Thursday at the start of a three-day congress by the organization's youth wing in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta.
  As world leaders call for Muslims to take the lead in the ideological battle against a growing and increasingly violent offshoot of their own religion, analysts say the group's campaign is a welcome antidote to jihadism.
  ''I see the counternarrative as the only way that Western governments can deal with the ISIS propaganda, but there's no strategy right now,'' said Nico Prucha, a research fellow at King's College London, who analyzes the Islamic State's Arab-language online propaganda.
  And Western leaders often lack credibility with those most susceptible to jihad's allure. ''They don't speak Arabic or have never lived in the Muslim world,'' Mr. Prucha said.
  The campaign by Nahdlatul Ulama, known as N.U., for a liberal, pluralistic Islam also comes at a time when Islam is at war with itself over central theological questions of how the faith is defined in the modern era.
  In a way, it should not be surprising that this message comes from Indonesia, the home of Islam Nusantara, widely seen as one of the most progressive Islamic movements in the world. The movement -- its name is Indonesian for ''East Indies Islam'' -- dates back more than 500 years and promotes a spiritual interpretation of Islam that stresses nonviolence, inclusiveness and acceptance of other religions.
  Analysts say the theology developed organically in a place where Hinduism and Buddhism were the primary religions before Islam arrived around the 13th century. Indonesian Islam blended with local religious beliefs and traditions, creating a pluralistic society despite having a Muslim majority.
  Indonesia today has more than 190 million Muslims, but also has a secular government and influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities.
  Such liberalism poses a counterargument to the Islamic State, analysts said.
  ''We are directly challenging the idea of ISIS, which wants Islam to be uniform, meaning that if there is any other idea of Islam that is not following their ideas, those people are infidels who must be killed,'' said Yahya Cholil Staquf, general secretary to the N.U. supreme council. ''We will show that is not the case with Islam.''
  N.U. has established a nonprofit organization, Bayt ar-Rahmah, in Winston-Salem, N.C., which will be the hub for international activities, including conferences and seminars to promote Indonesia's tradition of nonviolent, pluralistic Islam, Mr. Yahya said.
  N.U. is also working with the University of Vienna in Austria, which collects and analyzes Islamic State propaganda, to prepare responses to those messages, which N.U. will disseminate online and at conferences.
  A prevention center based in Indonesia, expected to be operational by the end of the year, will train male and female Arabic-speaking students to engage with jihadist ideology and messaging under the guidance of N.U. theologians who are consulting Western academia.
  The film, ''Rahmat Islam Nusantara'' (''The Divine Grace of East Indies Islam''), has been translated into English and Arabic for global distribution, including online. The film explores Islam's arrival and evolution in Indonesia, and includes interviews with Indonesian Islamic scholars.
  In scene after scene, they challenge and denounce the Islamic State's interpretations of the Quran and the Hadith, the book of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings, as factually wrong and perverse.
  The Islamic State's theology, rooted in the fundamentalist Wahhabi movement, takes its cues from medieval Islamic jurisprudence, where slavery and execution of prisoners was accepted. The filmmakers accept the legitimacy of those positions for the time but argue that Islamic law needs to be updated to 21st-century norms.
  Other sects and Muslim leaders have made this argument before. And non-Arab countries like Indonesia tend to have less influence on the practice of Islam, especially in the Middle East.
  ''The problem with Middle East Islam is they have what I call religious racism,'' said Azyumardi Azra, an Islamic scholar and former rector of the State Islamic University in Jakarta. ''They feel that only the Arabs are real Muslims and the others are not.''
  Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and the main source of financial support for Wahhabism worldwide, has had more success in imposing its interpretation and has even made inroads in Indonesia. Analysts say a steady flow of money from Persian Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, supports an active and growing Wahhabist movement here.
  There are also reservations here about the N.U. going global, rather than first tackling violent extremism at home. In recent years, Indonesia has suffered several deadly terrorist attacks by Islamic militants that have killed hundreds, including bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 and 2005, and at five-star international hotels in Jakarta in 2003 and 2009.
  The best known of the Indonesian jihadist groups, Jemaah Islamiyah, a onetime Southeast Asian branch of Al Qaeda, has been crushed, but splinter groups still exist, as well as other militant Muslim groups like the Islamic Defenders Front, which occasionally smash up bars and attack religious minorities and their houses of worship.
  Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice chairman for the executive board of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace in Jakarta, said N.U.'s campaign applied equally to local radicals.
  ''They want to show to Indonesian society, 'Look, we are Islamic and we have universal values, but we also respect local cultures,' '' he said. ''We are not like Islam in the Middle East.''
  Others say the international public discourse has to start somewhere, even if it is thousands of miles away from Syria and Iraq.
  Hedieh Mirahmadi, president of the World Organization for Resource Development and Education, an organization based in Washington that works to combat extremism, said that, according to open source data, supporters of the Islamic State were sending an average of 2.8 million messages a day to their followers on Twitter.
  ''Who's going to counter that?'' she asked.
  ''It's what they are doing in Indonesia, it's what we are doing in the U.S., and in other places,'' she said. ''You flood the space, and you hope people get the right messages.''




17


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

November 27, 2015

 Should We Call It 'Radical Islam'?

 
Timothy McVeigh was an American  terrorist who, 20 years ago, detonated   a truck bomb in front of the  federal building in Oklahoma City,  killing 168 and injuring more than  600  a toll in casualties that far exceeds the  carnage experienced in Paris in the past week.
McVeigh was raised Catholic and was  obsessed with a white supremacist screed. A  registered Republican and military veteran,  his only other known affiliation was with the  National Rifle Association. He committed the  deadliest act of terrorism in the United States  until 9/11, and the most significant act of domestic   terrorism in our history. But we don't ascribe  that deed to radical Catholicism. Or radical  Republicanism. Or radical gun ownership. 
We describe the person, not the religion or  political party or interest group. To do otherwise   would be to unfairly characterize those  institutions and their millions of adherents.
Why, then, should we be obliged to attribute  the Paris attacks to radical Islam?
The analogy isn't perfect. McVeigh's perverted   worldview was not fueled by his faith  he  had left the church years earlier  nor was it  propelled by a mission to create global havoc,  whereas the Islamic State group considers  itself Islamic, and clearly it now has designs far  beyond its originating region.
The comparison is instructive, nonetheless.   Ask yourself whether we needed to label  McVeigh's insurrection in order to prevent or  combat other acts of domestic terrorism. Then  bring it closer to home, and consider whether  Yigal Amir, who killed Israel's prime minister  Yitzhak Rabin several months after the Oklahoma   City bombing, represented radical Judaism.  Or was he instead a radical, fanatical Jew.
This is a raw moment, when leaders from  President Obama on down are excoriated for  skirting the semantics and being told that they  can't possibly stop what they won't name. The  insinuation is that extreme political correctness   and wobbly foreign policy are conspiring  to prevent American leaders from attributing  this wave of terrorism to its true source.
The newest fault line in the 2016 presidential   campaign is over two words: 'radical Islam,'  wrote Andrew Prokop in Vox. Republican candidates   repeat it as a mantra; Democrats avoid  it like a toxic substance. But, as Prokop noted,  this is a serious strategic debate about how the  U.S. should communicate and define its objectives   in the 'war on terror,' both internally and  externally, that dates back more than a decade.
It is a debate that Jews should have a special  affinity with, considering what we share with  Islam and how we feel when others define our  faith for us.
The crux of the matter is whether to attribute   the killings, bombings, rapes and  beheadings perpetrated by Islamic State to  Islam or to a minority of its adherents. As Abdullahi   Ahmed An-Na'im, a professor at Emory  University School of Law and a Muslim scholar  of Sharia, wrote recently: The vast majority of  Muslims almost certainly feel moral revulsion  and outrage about the violence perpetrated by  ISIS  However, the truth of the matter is that
We need to separate the zealots  from their religion, or we risk  alienating the people who have  the most to gain and to lose.
ISIS leaders and supporters can and do draw on  a wealth of scriptural and historical sources to  justify their actions.
Just as our biblical and rabbinic texts contain  language and admonitions that make us cringe,  and from which we distance ourselves, so, too, in  Islam. Scholars have noted the strong similarities  between Sharia, Islamic law, and Halacha, Jewish  law  siblings, An-Na'im told me. Both developed   through sprawling argument and varied  interpretation without a centralized authority  located in one place. Some Muslims view Sharia   as a hegemonic system governing all aspects of  life; some Jews view Halacha the same way. The  majority of adherents of both religions, though,  consider the law an overarching guide to ordering   one's life, as scholar Marshall Breger wrote  in Moment magazine.
And just as we debate which Judaism defines  us  the kind practiced in Boro Park, Boston or  Berkeley?  Muslims point to the same multiple   understandings among the globe's 1.5 million  adherents. This is why a simple label is meaningless    or offensive. Is radical Islam the same  Islam that is practiced in Indonesia, the largest   Muslim country in the world, which prides  itself on its diversity? Or India, the second largest,   where Muslims lately have been the target of  ethnic violence, not the instigators?
The brilliance of a decentralized religious  system, as we Jews know well, is its adaptability  and the freedom it gives the faithful to respond  to contemporary conditions. The downside is  what we see today in Islamic State: an extreme,  grotesque version promulgated by people whose  violent response to contemporary conditions  erases all other religious values.
Just as some of us worry about how the  Middle East conflict has enabled a tiny minority   to warp Judaism into a religion of hatred,  many Muslims worry about how their religion  has been hijacked by a minority that has slaughtered   far more Arab Muslims than anyone else.  The Islamic State does pose a monumental challenge   to Islam, and we can and should support  those Muslims who are countering this brutal  movement. But from a religious perspective, it  is their challenge, not ours. It is not for us to  instruct another faith tradition or culture on  how to expunge a cancer in its midst. We Jews  have our own work to do. So do Christians.
It may sound tough to say that the terror  caused by radical Islamists is caused by radical  Islam, but it's no more than a simplistic diversion   from the more difficult strategic question  about how a pluralistic society prosecutes a  war on terror without discarding its foundational   values. To do this we need to separate the  zealots from their religion and not conflate the  two, or we risk alienating the very people who  have the most to gain and the most to lose in  this struggle.




17


 


November 26, 2015 Thursday

 Prosthetic eye maker brings relief to wounded Gazans; 
The center is first in Gaza to design and fit artificial eyes.; 
HEALTH CARE

 
Yousef Hussein, an oculist, checks the color of an artificial eye and the eye of Mohammed el-Eshra, who lost his eye in an accident when he was child, at Al-Radwan clinic. 
GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP
- Imad Abu Wadi barely slept after losing his right eye during the summer 2014 war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The 26-year-old, then engaged, was waiting eagerly for his wedding. But with a red, hollow eyeless socket, he imprisoned himself at home.
"I was really suffering. I didn't go out to avoid running into someone who might say something to me," Abu Wadi said.
A year after the injury caused by an air-strike near his home, Abu Wadi is now married and feeling confident, thanks to an artificial eye he received two weeks before the wedding.
The ocular prosthesis was designed and made by Al-Radwan medical center, which is run by the Gaza-based charity Merciful Hands. The group, which is not connected to a British charity with the same name, receives funding from Muslim countries that include Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Gulf Arab states.
Established in 2013, the center assists those who lost an eye to illness, congenital defects or injury, including in conflicts.
Yousef Hussein, an ocularist at Al-Radwan, says the center is the first in Gaza to design and fit artificial eyes.
Prosthetic eyes used to be imported ready-made, which in many cases caused unwanted excretions in the eye socket.
"I felt people are very interested in this issue, including old people, and even more among married women or girls," said Hussein, who was an optometrist before completing a 10-month course in prosthetics in Jordan.
Designing and installing a prosthetic eye costs between $1,000 and $1,500. In Gaza's poor economy, these sums are not within everyone's reach.
But help is often available. As a war casualty, Abu Wadi got the costs covered by the Health Ministry. Various local and foreign donors, including Islamic charities from Gulf states and Europe, cover the costs for those unable to pay.
Since 2013, Hussein said he has fitted eyes for about 150 Palestinians, 45 percent of whom were injured by Israeli fire. Most of the rest were covered by donors and a few paid out of their own pockets.
Majed Abu Ramadan, president of the Palestinian Ophthalmological Society, says thousands of Gazans need prosthetic eyes. He said it is especially important to have the service available locally because the prosthesis often needs to be changed as the body grows.
Abu Wadi visited the clinic on a recent afternoon for a regular checkup.
The ocularist, took out the new eye and examined it, holding it carefully between his thumb and index finger as the newlywed lay on the bed in the small room.
Abu Wadi then stood to pose in front of one of the many before-and-after photos that hang on the wall. When he took off his sunglasses, the artificial eye glittered slightly.
"I now look good," he beamed.
Hussein said they create the artificial eyes from acrylic plastic, which gives a normal look to the eye and decreases discharges. Most of the materials are available in Gaza, but he said the central circle that makes the artificial iris is sometimes delayed as it is imported through Israel.




17


 


November 17, 2015 Tuesday

 TRADE, TENSIONS WITH CHINA MARK OBAMA VISIT TO ASIA; 
Paris attacks will be backdrop for a crowded agenda

 
Filipino activists shout slogans next to riot police during a protest rally against the Asia-pacific Economic cooperation on monday in Manila, Which hosts an APEC sumit this week. 
SUBIC BAY, PHILIPPINES Military tensions with China in the South China Sea and the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement are likely to be the key issues of President Obama's six-day trip to Asia, where he will attend regional summits in the Philippines and Malaysia.
Obama will arrive in Manila on Tuesday for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, a meeting of 21 Pacific Rim economies.
White House national security adviser Susan Rice told reporters Sunday that the president's trip will focus on the administration's "broader rebalance to Asia."
She said the president would highlight security partnerships across the Pacific, climate change, counterterrorism, human rights and the global refugee crisis.
A pivot from Europe to Asia has been a central goal of Obama's foreign policy, but it has often been overshadowed by urgent concerns in other parts of the world. This time, the Islamic State terror attacks in Paris loom over his trip.
"Certainly what just happened in France is going to color the discussions in Asia," said Rodger Baker, vice president of Asia-Pacific analysis at Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence and advisory firm based in Austin. "There'll be some caution from some of the countries in how they respond to it. Those that are Muslim countries don't want to be seen as anti-Muslim even if they're anti-terrorism."
Some countries participating in APEC, including Malaysia and Indonesia, are predominantly Muslim, while others such as the Philippines, have had long-running insurgencies by minority Muslim groups.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III held a special meeting of security ministers and placed the country's national police force and armed forces on full alert. He said that there had been "no credible threat" to the APEC meeting, according to local media.
Obama also has meetings scheduled with the member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade agreement that represents economies worth 40% of global GDP, but excludes China, the world's No. 2 economy after the USA. It may be this trade pact, rather than a strengthened military presence, that will prove to be the most enduring part of Obama's pivot to Asia.
"The U.S. military has really never had a reduced presence in that space," Baker said. "It's always been there, it's always been interacting. I think the challenge is economically, whether there is something the U.S. can do that will incentivize additional business activity in the area, which will then add to the sense of involvement and interaction."




17


 


November 17, 2015 Tuesday  


 Paid Notice: Deaths PADANG, ACHMAD DJAINAL

 
PADANG--Achmad Djainal, an Indonesian former Director Level-2 of the United Nations Center for Science and Technology for Development passed away on a Thursday of November 12, 2015. He was 86 years old. Born in Seram and raised in Ujung Pandang, he studied at Universitas Nasional where he obtained a Ford Scholarship and was invited to attend Columbia University in New York City, where he obtained his Masters of Arts in Political Science. He was a PhD candidate in International Relations when he was requested to join the United Nations where he spent his lifetime career. Upon his retirement, he was assigned by the United Nations Secretary General to Cambodia as an ambassador during the reconciliation period after the CambodianVietnamese War. A strong fixture within the Indonesian community of New York, he was the most prominent and one of the first members who initiated the Indonesian Muslim Community's Al Hikmah Mosque in Long Island City where he served as an honorary chairman. 1/3 




17


 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

November 17, 2015 Tuesday  
FIRST EDITION

 Trade, tensions with China mark Obama visit to Asia; 
Paris attacks will be backdrop for a crowded agenda

 
Military tensions with China in the South China Sea and the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement are likely to be the key issues of President Obama's six-day trip to Asia, where he will attend regional summits in the Philippines and Malaysia. 
Obama will arrive in Manila on Tuesday for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, a meeting of 21 Pacific Rim economies.
White House national security adviser Susan Rice told reporters Sunday that the president's trip will focus on the administration's "broader rebalance to Asia."
She said the president would highlight security partnerships across the Pacific, climate change, counterterrorism, human rights and the global refugee crisis.
A pivot from Europe to Asia has been a central goal of Obama's foreign policy, but it has often been overshadowed by urgent concerns in other parts of the world. This time, the Islamic State terror attacks in Paris loom over his trip.
"Certainly what just happened in France is going to color the discussions in Asia," said Rodger Baker, vice president of Asia-Pacific analysis at Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence and advisory firm based in Austin. "There'll be some caution from some of the countries in how they respond to it. Those that are Muslim countries don't want to be seen as anti-Muslim even if they're anti-terrorism."
Some countries participating in APEC, including Malaysia and Indonesia, are predominantly Muslim, while others such as the Philippines, have had long-running insurgencies by minority Muslim groups.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III held a special meeting of security ministers and placed the country's national police force and armed forces on full alert. He said that there had been "no credible threat" to the APEC meeting, according to local media.
Obama also has meetings scheduled with the member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade agreement that represents economies worth 40% of global GDP, but excludes China, the world's No. 2 economy after the USA. It may be this trade pact, rather than a strengthened military presence, that will prove to be the most enduring part of Obama's pivot to Asia.
"The U.S. military has really never had a reduced presence in that space," Baker said. "It's always been there, it's always been interacting. I think the challenge is economically, whether there is something the U.S. can do that will incentivize additional business activity in the area, which will then add to the sense of involvement and interaction." 




17


 


November 16, 2015 Monday

 A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS

 
ROUGH WATER: Winds pick up the surf along the Lake Michigan shoreline Thursday at South Haven Mich. Wind gusts approaching 50 mph were reported in Michigan as a strong Midwest storm hit the state.
AN INSIDE LOOK: A child plays with a model of a dinosaur skeleton at a zoo in Yokohama Japan on Nov. 7.
HEAD OVER HEELS: Members of the University of Michigan drum line perform during the game between the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers and the Wolverines on Nov. 7, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 
MODELS TAKING SELFIES: Lais Ribeiro (left) and Maria Borges are seen backstage before the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Avenue Armory on Tuesday in New York City.
CAN'T BEAR TO WATCH: Youths react as they watch a public caning for those who are convicted of violating local Sharia law, in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 6. Aceh is considered more devout than other areas of Muslim-majority Indonesia and is the only province allowed to observe a version of Islamic Shariah law.
HUNGER STRIKE: Jonathan Butler, a University of Missouri graduate student who waged a seven-day hunger strike, is greeted by the crowd of students on Nov. 9 on the campus in Columbia, Missouri. Students were celebrating the resignation of University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe amid allegations of racism.
CIRCLE OF PROTEST: Protesters, students and media fill Traditions Plaza during a press conference following the Concerned Students 1950 protest on Nov. 9 in Columbia, Mo.
FEMALE FIGHTERS: Female troops from the Syrian Democratic Forces take up positions near the frontline on Tuesday near the ISIL-held town of Hole in the autonomous region of Rojava, Syria. The forces, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab units, are attacking ISIL extremists in the area near the Iraqi border. The predominantly Kurdish region of Rojava in northern Syria has become a bulwark against the Islamic State. Their mostly Kurdish armed forces, with the aid of U.S. airstrikes and weapons, have been battling ISIL, who had earlier captured much of the region from the Syrian regime.
FLAG ON PARADE: Members of the U.S. Navy march with the American Flag in the nation's largest Veterans Day Parade on Wednesday in New York City. Known as"America's Parade,"it features more than 20,000 participants, including veterans of numerous eras, military units, businesses, high school bands and civic and youth groups.
GOODBYE TO THE QUEEN: An Air Force Honor Guard casket team moves Maureen O'Hara, also known as Maureen FitzSimons Blair, into place before she is buried next to her husband, Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles Blair Jr., at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 9. The actress and singer known as the Queen of Technicolor starred in movies including"How Green Was My Valley,""Miracle on 34th Street"and"The Quiet Man,"O'Hara died Oct. 24 at 95.
WE'LL NEVER FORGET: Hands reach out to touch the names inscribed at the South Pool of the 9/11 Memorial at the National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum on Nov. 9 after a ceremony honoring first responders who were also military veterans. The ceremony was held in advance of Veterans Day
PAYING RESPECT: Both serving and former commandos stand in cold and wet weather Nov. 8 at Commando Memorial in Spean Bridge, Scotland, as they attend a service to commemorate and pay respect to the sacrifice of service men and women who fought in the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. People across the UK will gather to pay tribute to service personnel who have died during conflicts, as part of the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremonies.
IN-FLIGHT REFLECTION: A river gull flies over reflection of a Gazela (Gazelle) bridge on the Sava river in Belgrade, Serbia, on Nov. 6
BLANKET OF FOG: Fog forms beneath the Gorny Convent of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ein Kerem, an ancient village near Jerusalem on Nov. 8.
SWIMMING IN THE STREETS: An Indian child swims through a waterlogged subway during heavy rains in Chennai, India, on Nov. 9. Heavy rains continue to lash several parts of the city after the India Meteorological Department alerted a cyclone warning on the Bay of Bengal coast.
DOGS SURVIVE AMID DAMAGE: A car and two dogs are seen Nov. 6 on the roof of destroyed houses at the small town of Bento Rodrigues after a dam burst the day before in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Rescuers searched feverishly Friday for possible survivors after two dams burst at an iron ore mine in a southeastern mountainous area.




17



 





 
 
 

November 15, 2015 Sunday

 The artistry of modern Islam

 
Even for non-Muslims, Islam has been a part of daily life in recent years. The United States has fought wars in the Muslim countries of Iraq and Afghanistan. The news contains stories of attacks by Islamic extremists. Muslims here and elsewhere have faced backlash and misunderstanding. 
Yet the contents of the book at the center of Islam, the Quran, are perhaps not so familiar. That's just one reason Long Beach artist Sandow Birk spent nine years painstakingly transcribing an English translation of the book and illustrating it with more than 200 scenes in gouache and ink. These aren't ancient landscapes. Rather, they're images from our modern lives: an operating room, a crime scene, Guantanamo Bay, American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, an airport, a subway station.  
The effect is like a graphic novel, with the Quran as its text. The finished illustrations and text are on display at the Orange County Museum of Art in "Sandow Birk: American Qur'an" through Feb. 28. 
Birk, who grew up in Seal Beach, isn't a Muslim, nor is he particularly religious. When he began forming the idea for the project, the U.S. was at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were in the recent past. Islam and its significance in the U.S. were suddenly part of national dialogue. The reaction was often fear, Birk said.
"(There was) this whole discussion about 'Is Islam fundamentally at odds with Western civilization? Is this a war of cultures?' " 
As a surfer, Birk had traveled to several Muslim countries, like Indonesia and Morocco. 
"I'm listening to this discourse about Islam, and I'm realizing that it's nothing like the experiences I had in these countries," he said. "I had fantastic experiences and met great people. ... And America had this sort of fear of Islam."
The Bible and Quran are linked, with some of the same figures appearing in both, such as Jesus, Abraham, Moses and Noah. Why then, Birk wondered, was there such a divide?
"It seemed like the discussion was saying ... that there's this one ancient book from the Middle East that's like at the heart and soul of what it means to be an American. And that's called the Bible," he said. "But there's this other ancient book from the Middle East and that's a crazy book, and the two can't get along.
"That just doesn't make any sense to me. How could two books from the same place be so radically different?"

MODERN APPLICATION
The messages in the Quran are meant to be universal. The purpose of the contemporary scenes is to show how the Quran might relate to contemporary life, Birk said. 
Verses from the Quran are often written in intricate calligraphy. Birk chose graffiti-style script to mimic that. 
"I thought, well, who in the United States is extremely concerned with calligraphy? And I just immediately thought of graffiti writers. They spent all day long practicing their name and inventing new letters. Their whole fascination is with calligraphy, so the two melded perfectly." 
The illustrations are drawn from places in Birk's life and from current events. Birk paired the 114 suras, or chapters, in the Quran with scenes that are metaphors for the text. 
Images from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 are paired with the story of Noah and the Great Flood. References to giving alms to the poor are surrounded by images of homeless people in Los Angeles. Rules about marriage and divorce are set against a modern-day wedding party. Mention of Jesus' mother, Mary, appears in an illustration of a pregnant woman having an ultrasound in a doctor's office. 
Besides the illustrations, a mihrab is part of the exhibit. A mihrab, found in mosques, homes and even hotels, marks the direction of Mecca so Muslims know which way to face when they pray. With his wife, artist Elyse Pignolet, he created a mihrab in the shape of an ATM. He plans to include a mihrab in each show of "American Qur'an," he said.
"We started to think, OK, what sort of niches are Americans familiar with, or deal with every day. And I immediately thought of the ATM machine is what Americans walk up to and face," he said, laughing. "(It's) also sort of that obvious joke of Americans are over-obsessed with money." 
"American Qur'an" has been shown elsewhere about a dozen times, but the Orrange County show is the most extensive yet. With a few exceptions, the entire book is on the walls at the museum. 
The reaction to "American Qur' an" has varied, including vocal opposition from "right-wing Christian groups," Birk said. 
The most enthusiastic response has come from Muslim Americans, especially those from younger generations. 
"They say, 'Oh, I felt like an outsider my whole life,' " he said. " 'And suddenly you're putting my religion and my life together into this project.' " 



aboessenkool@ocregister.com 




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 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


November 14, 2015 Saturday

 Currency Religious Religious currency

 
By Matthew Brown
Deseret News
As businesses assess opportunities in the growing economies of China, Indonesia, India and even Africa, a new report makes a case for executives to seriously consider a factor that is often ignored: religion.
In a unique analysis of economic and demographic data, researchers Brian Grim and Philip Connor demonstrate the impact religious diversity will have on economic growth around the world by 2050. They conclude that existing religious populations in Asia and Africa will not only grow but also become more diverse.
"The growth of religious populations has implications for how the world's wealth will be spread about," Grim said in a statement announcing the report that was presented at the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council from Oct. 25-27 on the Role of Faith in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. 
Titled "Changing religion, changing economies: Future Global Religious and Economic Growth," the study was done by Grim's Religious Freedom & Business Foundation for the Global Agenda Council. Grim described it as part of a "toolkit" to increase the religious literacy of government and business leaders around the world.
Often, that literacy is limited to risk assessments on where sectarian violence is occurring, said Paul Godfrey, a business strategy professor at Brigham Young University. But, he said, a thorough look at how a company's employment or marketing policies jibe with the religious culture of a foreign country can reveal things that would otherwise go overlooked.
"It's simply a factor that cannot be ignored," added Paul Lambert, a business professor at Georgetown University with a background in international policy and business affairs. "That will play a role in everything they do. ... It's going to penetrate every piece of a business."
Looking at an economy through the lens of religion can also show government leaders the value of religious freedom, the underlying purpose of Grim's foundation. "All these places we see economic strength, we see high degrees of religious diversity, including the United States," Grim said. "Growing diversity can be an economic strength if leaders promote interfaith understanding and protect minority religious groups' rights."
Growth, not decline
Though surveys show religion's decline in North America and Europe, faith is on the rise elsewhere in the world, said Grim, a former demographer with the Pew Research Center who founded the RFBF in 2014.
Between 2010 and 2050, growth of religious populations worldwide is projected to be 23 times larger than the growth of religiously unaffiliated populations, according to the report.
"During this period, the number of people affiliated with a religion is expected to grow by 2.3 billion, from 5.8 billion in 2010 to 8.1 billion in 2050. By contrast, the number of people unaffiliated with any religion is projected to increase ... from 1.13 billion in 2010 to 1.23 billion in 2050," the report stated.
That's below the 1970s peak when nearly 1 in 5 people worldwide were religiously unaffiliated largely due to communism, according to the World Religion Database.
Many people still associate China with the draconian religious restrictions of the country's cultural revolution during the 1960s-70s, Grim said, when, in fact, religious restrictions have loosened, resulting in a diverse population of adherents to Buddhism, Islam and Christianity as well as countless minority and folk faiths most westerners know little about.
Another assumption business and government leaders may make about the global religious landscape is the dominance of Christianity in today's top five economies - the United States, China, Japan, Germany and France. According to Grim and Connor, only the United States will be predominantly Christian in 2050, as Germany and France are displaced among the world's economic powers.
"The other mega-economies in 2050 are projected to include a country with a Hindu majority (India), a Muslim majority (Indonesia), and two with exceptionally high levels of religious diversity (China and Japan)," the report stated.
The report projects that by 2050, the primary population of Muslims will shift from Indonesia to India while the center of Christianity will shift to Africa.
Expanding regional economies will impact the lives of religious adherents who live there. According to the report, India's economic growth will be the largest contributor to the projected wealth of Hindus, who are expected to have the sharpest increase in wealth among religious groups in the current decade and beyond.
"Globally, economic growth among the world's Muslim population will also significantly outpace global economic growth," Grim wrote in Forbes. "And the Muslim market size, so to speak, is expected to nearly double between 2010 and 2050, according to Pew Research, with Muslims being expected to lead the world in population growth among all religious groups."
Risks and opportunities
Lambert said corporate executives typically don't think first of the religious inclinations of a prospective labor pool or clientele when they're thinking about entering a foreign market.
It's not that they don't care, he explained, it's just not brought to their attention.
"As that becomes more understood or known, then the question they ask is, 'What do I do?' " Lambert said.
For Godfrey, the takeaways from the latest report include identifying regions in the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa, where violence may result when religious diversity increases. For security reasons, business leaders would want to investigate which countries have laws and policies protecting religious freedom.
He and Lambert also said companies with secular-oriented internal policies about clothing or other aspects of religious observance in the workplace would want to adjust those policies to avoid personnel and legal conflicts in a prospective foreign location.
A third takeaway for Godfrey is the potential business opportunities that could come from understanding the role religion plays in a foreign market. "Companies that can match their goods and services toward values and priorities that religiously affiliated people care about will also find increasing opportunity in this changing world," he said.
Grim often uses the little- known religious diversity of China to illustrate how businesses can avoid costly missteps and find a competitive advantage. A large segment of western China's population is Muslim. "To understand their values and cultural and religious concerns as an employer is important because you don't want to come in and expect people in that part of China to behave just the same as those living in the southeast, where there is a large concentration of Christians."
Email: mbrown@deseretnews.com
Twitter: mbrownreport




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November 13, 2015 Friday  


 World Briefing | Asia; Indonesia: Australia Aims to Mend Ties

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The new Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, made a half-day visit to Indonesia on Thursday to hold talks with President Joko Widodo, a meeting intended to help mend diplomatic relations that plummeted this year over issues including human smuggling, refugee boats and the executions of Australian drug offenders. 
''The geographic proximity of our two countries is a fact,'' Mr. Joko said before the leaders began their closed-door meeting. ''The closer the distance means the higher the intensity of the interactions, which means that there will be higher potential for friction.'' 
  Mr. Turnbull, who took office in September, and Mr. Joko discussed increasing trade and tourism, possibly having Australia invest in infrastructure and cattle breeding in Indonesia, and countering violent extremism, the leaders said in brief prepared remarks after the hourlong meeting at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
  They had ''frank and exciting discussions about the great future for our two countries,'' said Mr. Turnbull, who is on the first leg of a five-nation tour through Europe and Southeast Asia.
  ''We had a productive and warm meeting,'' Mr. Joko said.
  But it is the fate of other issues facing the two leaders, who did not take questions from journalists, that will determine whether relations are back on track.
  The neighbors have had diplomatic tension for decades over issues including democracy and human rights, the breakaway of the former East Timor, and even the treatment of live imported Australian cattle at Indonesian slaughterhouses.
  The origins of their current strained relationship date back more than two years, when Tony Abbott, Mr. Turnbull's predecessor, introduced a policy after he took office in September 2013 of forcing boats carrying asylum seekers who sought to reach Australia back into Indonesian waters. Two months later, relations deteriorated further after news reports that Australia's embassy in Jakarta was part of an international spying effort, including against Indonesia, led by the United States.
  In April, the Indonesian government executed eight drug convicts, including two Australian men, as part of an antitrafficking policy by Mr. Joko, who ignored Australia's calls for clemency. Both nations briefly recalled their ambassadors after the executions.
  A month later, after rickety boats with thousands of refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar began arriving in Indonesia, Mr. Abbott bluntly refused to resettle any of them in Australia. In June, Mr. Abbott declined to confirm or deny claims that his maritime security forces paid smugglers to turn a boat full of migrants back to Indonesia after intercepting it at sea.
  The countries lie only about 125 miles apart at their closest point, but the differences are stark: Australia is a wealthy, progressive Christian country, while Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, is a developing nation with small but vocal radical Islamic groups promoting jihad against the West.
  Analysts, however, say that the countries share too many interests to let relations remain sour. The countries are major trading partners, and Australia is one of the largest bilateral donors to Indonesia.
  Mr. Joko expressed hope that Australia would invest in Indonesia's digital economy, which he said one report estimated would grow to $130 billion in 2020, from around $13 billion this year.
  This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.         




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November 12, 2015 Thursday  


 Indonesian Security Minister Tries to Soothe Rising Fears About Military Rule

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia --  Indonesia will not allow the country's armed forces to make a political comeback and undermine civilian rule, the country's security minister said on Wednesday, amid growing fears that Indonesia's nascent democracy was backsliding toward its authoritarian past.
The assertion by Luhut B. Pandjaitan, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, came as Human Rights Watch released a report on Wednesday saying that elements of the military, national police and government continued to undermine orders from Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, by restricting access to the restive eastern region of Papua to foreign journalists.  
  Despite his pledges of continued civilian supremacy as part of the country's democratic transition, which began in 1999, Mr. Joko's security forces, particularly the army and the national police, have been actively expanding their power bases, according to analysts, and unilaterally carrying out operations and crackdowns that Indonesian legal and human rights activists have derided as violating the law.
  Mr. Luhut, a retired four-star general, said at a luncheon with foreign journalists that the armed forces had been stripped of dual political and security powers more than a decade ago and that there would be no going back.
  ''We have no plan to do so,'' Mr. Luhut said. ''We said: 'You cannot play this role anymore. You have to only do military operations.' ''
  He added, ''I don't see any military involvement in civilian activities.''
  Others are not so sure. Mr. Joko, who took office in October 2014, is the first Indonesian president not to have come from his country's political elite or to have been an army general.
  Analysts say that is part of the problem.
  A recent report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, based in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, said that both the armed forces and the national police ''seem to be testing the political waters to see how far they can push their authority in the face of a weak president with little experience in security affairs,'' especially the military.
  Last month, military and police personnel on the resort island of Bali demanded that the organizers of a popular regional literary festival cancel scheduled programs, book unveilings and a documentary screening related to the killings of an estimated 500,000 or more people during state-sponsored purges of suspected Communists and their sympathizers in 1965-66.
  The purges were overseen by General Suharto, who went on to become Indonesia's president and to preside over an authoritarian, military-backed government for 32 years.
  In the years after Mr. Suharto's forced resignation in 1998, the country's democratically elected Parliament began stripping the military of its vast powers, including eliminating its reserved legislative seats, and compelling it to sell off its business interests and to focus solely on national defense and external threats.
  Yet before and since Mr. Joko took office last year, the military has managed to become increasingly involved in civilian affairs and internal security issues, including demanding a role in police counterterrorism operations against Muslim terrorist groups operating in Indonesia, taking part in government development projects in rural parts of the country and increasing its military command.
  During Mr. Suharto's rule, the armed forces, known as the T.N.I., adopted a territorial command structure in which soldiers were based in every region, all the way down to the village level, usurping the powers of local governments.
  Recent public statements by senior Indonesian security officials have also caused unease.
  In March, Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, the army chief of staff at the time, told a group of students that the country was facing a ''proxy war'' in which certain groups in the country could be used to attack the state -- which analysts interpreted as meaning that the military might need to regain its internal security role.
  General Gatot is now commander in chief of Indonesia's armed forces.
  In August, the defense minister, Ryamizard Ryacudu, a retired army general, announced plans to enlist and train 100 million civilian military reservists who could be deployed to defend the country -- another reference to internal security threats that needed to be addressed by the armed forces, according to analysts.
  ''The T.N.I. is trying to play a bigger role'' that was greatly diminished after Mr. Suharto's resignation in 1998, said Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.
  In recent months, senior military and police officials have publicly questioned and in some cases ignored Mr. Joko's instructions regarding security. In May, he announced the lifting of decades-old restrictions on foreign journalists wanting to report in Papua and West Papua Provinces, which make up the country's poorest region despite having among Indonesia's richest mineral resources.
  Indonesian security forces have continually cracked down on a small-scale separatist movement in the Papua region for decades, on civilian groups calling for a referendum on independence, and on general public dissent against Jakarta. In December 2014, security forces shot dead five people protesting the beating of a young boy by soldiers.
  In its report released on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch stated that elements of the Indonesian government and security apparatus continued to hinder access to the Papua region by foreign journalists despite Mr. Joko's instructions.
  The organization said that the national police had continued to require foreign journalists to obtain a permission letter from its security and intelligence agency, under the guise of following a law related to the monitoring of foreigners traveling in Indonesia.
  Foreign journalists are also required to send a notification letter to the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating the purpose of their visit to Papua, the dates of travel and the locations they would visit, according to Human Rights Watch.
  ''There are elements of the government and T.N.I. that are hostile to foreign access to Papua,'' said Phelim Kine, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, during a news briefing.
  Mr. Luhut, the security minister, said he would take action if he were given evidence that government or security officials were obstructing foreign journalists from going to the Papua region.
  ''Come back to me, and if it's necessary, we will fire them,'' he said.




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November 4, 2015 Wednesday

 Islamic Faith Healing in Indonesia

 
Antonio Zambardino considers himself to be neither religious nor superstitious, but when he stumbled across an exorcism while photographing in a remote area of Indonesia he was compelled to find out more about what he had witnessed. 
The exorcism, he learned, was part of an Islamic healing practice that in Indonesia also involves prayer, acupuncture, herbal remedies, cupping, chanting and hypnotherapy. Islamic healing - called al Tibb-el-Nabawi in Arabic - is based on passages from the Quran and precepts developed from the eighth century through the Middle Ages, a time when medicine in Islamic countries was more advanced than in Europe. It is often the only medical care available in remote poor areas, where it sometimes exists alongside, or is mixed with, animist beliefs. Many wealthy and educated families in cities also seek out practitioners for exorcisms. 
Mr. Zambardino, 34, examined the growing popularity of the practice, particularly in Jakarta, where the number of registered clinics using these techniques has skyrocketed. It has become a very big business, with herbal remedies sold widely and attracting patients from throughout the Muslim world. 
"People go because the clinics provide spiritual guidance along with the hope of mental and physiological recovery," he said. "They feel that in order to be fully recovered, you must realign yourself and go back to the grace of God."
Mr. Zambardino spent two months this year in different facilities in Indonesia, where he said many of the treatments he witnessed were reminiscent of Western alternative medicine. He said that, as with most medical practices, the healing process can depend on the patient's belief he will be cured. 
"Many of these practitioners are really good at what they do because it's very much in the hands of the relationship that is created with the patients," he said. "It's like when a grown-up person receives baptism for the first time, and he feels washed of all his sins." 
The clinics he visited resembled boardinghouses divided by gender and with communal activities, as the patients live, eat, pray and exercise together in a structured environment. Many of the clinics treated drug addicts in support groups that were similar to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Others were for the mentally ill. 
During the exorcisms, practitioners spent hours chanting verses from the Quran to rid the patients of spirits, called Jinn, that they believe can cause illness. Mr. Zambardino found that many of the treatments seemed effective and that some clinics provided low-cost - or even free - care for the poor.  
If a treatment failed, some practitioners recommended a consultation with doctors, but others did not, he said. In fact, many of the more seriously mentally ill patients he saw were not progressing at all and needed "proper psychiatric treatment from doctors."
He also encountered some related spiritual beliefs, such as when the father of an Islamic healer gave Mr. Zambardino a mantra to protect against bad influences or bad people while he was photographing the story. Mr. Zambardino found it impossible to repeat, so it was recorded on his iPhone. Although he finished his project, he still hasn't erased it.
Mr. Zambardino considers himself a skeptic. His mother is a psychotherapist and his father a journalist who neither baptized him nor took him to church while he was growing up in Rome. But he sees parallels between Islamic healing and Catholicism. The conversation between a healer and a patient, like the one between a priest and a penitent in confession, can be beneficial, he said 
 "Their beliefs are not that different from our beliefs," Mr. Zambardino said. "A meaningful conversation between two people can have a healing power." 
 Follow and antonio_zambardino and JamesEstrin on Instagram.
  Follow  @a_zambardino, @JamesEstrin and @nytimesphoto on Twitter. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.  




18



 
 Blogs
(IHT Retrospective)

October 29, 2015 Thursday

 1965: Violence in Indonesia Spreads

 
DJAKARTA - Terrorist activity has spread from central Java to the eastern part of the island and to Indonesian Borneo, it was reported today [Oct. 29]. The newspaper of the major Moslem political party, ''Nahdatul Ulama,'' said that Communist youth groups in East Borneo had tried unsuccessfully to set fire to the Shell Oil Company refinery at Balikpapan. The newspaper and the official news agency Antara also reported that arson in the city of Balikpapan killed 21 persons, including seven children, destroyed 1,500 homes and left 11,000 persons homeless. - New York Herald Tribune, European Edition, October 30, 1965  




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October 28, 2015 Wednesday

 An exemplary way to defeat Islamic State; 
The war on Islamic State may not be won with military might or theological arguments but by providing role models for young Muslims seeking purpose and belonging. This would dry up the group's recruitment stream.

 
If, in the years ahead, a Nobel Peace Prize is ever given to those most responsible for ending the war with Islamic State, who might they be?
Military strategists?
Diplomatic negotiators? 
Perhaps moderate Islamic scholars who make an irrefutably theological case on Internet forums that Islam is a religion of peace?
While these all may be helpful, the best candidates could be those who offer a real alternative to the darkest side of Islamic State - its ability to recruit young, disaffected young Muslims in search of purpose and belonging in their lives.
Thousands of young Muslims are still joining IS in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere - perhaps faster than American or Russian warplanes can kill them. The militant group offers them a new identity, one wrapped with promises of achieving heroic glory, of righting historic wrongs, of living in a supposedly idyllic caliphate of believers. Women are being lured as well as men, and from dozens of nations.
Countering this online IS propaganda - which differs sharply from the reality of life under IS rule - cannot be achieved simply through using social media or YouTube videos, as many Western governments try to do. What these potential recruits need are alternative role models, real examples of Muslims who can touch them by their individual success and their peaceful communities. Such role models are the best sunshine against IS's dark ways and the surest way to collapse its recruiting pipeline. They may be the best candidates for a peace prize.
The front line in this aspect of the "war" on IS are, of course, the parents and other relatives who must guide any alienated young Muslim away from being radicalized. But beyond family are other Muslims in neighborhood mosques or other community figures.
Also vital are individuals and groups devoted to providing mentors and other models. Such people include Sara Khan, founder of Inspire, a British charity that reaches young Muslim girls with real examples of Muslim women doing well in sports, business, politics, and other areas of public life. Or Shahed Amanullah, cofounder of Affinis Labs, a Virginia start-up incubator that helps young Muslim techies around the world devise new online ways to bring a positive social impact on Muslim communities, such as one website that provides personal mentoring. Or Christianne Boudreau of the Hayat Canada program that empowers Muslim families in counselling sons or daughters away from extremism.
Whole countries are helping, too. Tunisia remains a beacon for Arabs in how Muslims can live in a secular, pluralistic democracy. During his recent trip to the United States, Indonesian President Joko Widodo reminded the world of why his large Muslim country in Asia sets an example: "Islam in Indonesia is a moderate and highly tolerant one. Thus, Indonesia offers a model of Islam that isn't only compatible with democracy, but also with modernity."
The war against IS can't be fought merely as a military or theological one. It must be won with living models for young Muslims - either individuals or entire communities and countries that provide purpose and belonging.  The violent and illusory path offered by Islamic State would fade away.




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October 27, 2015 Tuesday

 Indonesia's leader says country to join Asia trade pact

 

ABSTRACT
In meeting with Obama, Indonesia's leader says his country intends to join Asia trade deal 

FULL TEXT
WASHINGTON >> Indonesia's leader looked to cement his nation's growing ties with the United States, declaring after a meeting Monday with President Barack Obama that Southeast Asia's largest economy intended to join a sweeping U.S.-backed Pacific Rim trade deal. 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo is making his first Washington visit since winning power a year ago, and is keen to drum up American investment in a flagging economy. U.S. companies complain that economic protectionism makes it difficult to do business there.
"Indonesia intends to join the TPP," Widodo said in the Oval Office, referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He provided no other details, but described the Indonesian economy as open.
Obama said Widodo was leading Indonesia in the "right direction."
"We want to be a partner with you," he said.
Indonesia had previously expressed interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But this is the strongest indication yet that it is serious about joining the pact, which the U.S. has negotiated with 11 other nations. Once the pact is ratified and takes effect - a process that could take a couple of years - it would cut tariffs and streamline trade rules among nations that account for 40 percent of global GDP.
The two leaders also discussed climate change and counterterrorism against groups like the Islamic State. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation and largely moderate.
Another agenda item was maritime security cooperation, Obama said, alluding to tensions in the South China Sea, where U.S. officials say a Navy ship is about to sail inside what China considers its territorial waters around the disputed Spratly Islands.
"We discussed the importance of working through forums like ASEAN and the East Asia Forum to encourage further strengthening of the rules and an international order governing the behavior of nations in the maritime area," Obama said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Indonesia is the de facto leader. He did not mention China.
Indonesia balances its relations between the U.S. and China - which is an even more important source of trade and investment than America. Indonesia is not a claimant in the South China Sea, but is concerned about China's expansive maritime claims that may infringe on the territorial waters of the Natuna islands that is part of the Indonesian archipelago.




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October 27, 2015 Tuesday  


 President of Indonesia Joins Obama on Trade Pact

 
WASHINGTON --  President Obama won a crucial ally in his push for a sweeping Pacific Rim trade agreement on Monday when President Joko Widodo of Indonesia said during a White House visit that his country planned to join the pact, an important element of Mr. Obama's foreign policy agenda.
Mr. Joko's decision to eventually join the Trans-Pacific Partnership bolsters the agreement, which was reached this month by the United States and 11 other nations and must be ratified by each member. The pact, part of Mr. Obama's strategy to balance China's economic ascent, would knit together a largest-of-its-kind trading system in the Pacific.  
  Indonesia has an economy worth $1 trillion, and it is a member of the Group of 20 major economies.
  ''Indonesia is an open economy, and with the 250 million population, we are the largest economy in Southeast Asia,'' Mr. Joko told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, sitting beside Mr. Obama after the two finished a private meeting. ''Indonesia intends to join the T.P.P.''
  Mr. Obama, whose stepfather was Indonesian and who spent time in the country as a child, became the first president to welcome an Indonesian leader to the White House in a decade. He greeted Mr. Joko warmly, speaking a few words in his language and reflecting on his connection to the country. Mr. Obama pledged American assistance to help Indonesia deal with raging forest and peat fires that are choking Southeast Asia with haze.
  ''I have a very personal interest in Indonesia given the fact that I spent time there as a child and have relatives who are Indonesian,'' Mr. Obama said. ''I complimented the president on a number of the reforms that he's initiated, and we discussed how we could continue to strengthen the trade, investment and commercial relationships between our two countries.''
  Mr. Joko had said he would decide during his White House visit whether to join the trade pact, which includes neighboring Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. But he has faced resistance from some officials in Indonesia, where the government has enacted regulations making it difficult for foreigners to work and adopted higher tariffs on imported items.
  The two presidents also discussed a shared commitment to tackling climate change, although their session was overshadowed by the peatland fires, which are providing a conspicuous reminder of the challenges Mr. Obama faces in enlisting worldwide cooperation for a pact to slash greenhouse-gas emissions.
  The leaders talked about ''why it's so important that large countries like ours work together to arrive at the strongest possible set of targets and international agreements when we arrive in Paris just a little over a month from now,'' Mr. Obama said, referring to a United Nations summit meeting where every country is expected to commit to emissions reduction targets.
  ''Whether it's helping Indonesia deal with the current difficulties surrounding peat fires, or it is encouraging ongoing student exchanges between our two countries, this meeting signifies our taking this partnership to the next level,'' he said.
  The Indonesian president also said he wanted to work with Mr. Obama on climate change ''for the sake of our future generations.'' But he acknowledged the difficulties posed by the fires ripping through his country, which prompted Mr. Joko to cut short his American visit and schedule his return to Indonesia on Wednesday. He had planned to travel to San Francisco and tour Silicon Valley, visiting the headquarters of Google and having dinner with Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple.
  The fires in Indonesia constitute a jarring example of the climate challenges faced by developing countries. The peatlands burning there store some of the highest concentrations of carbon on Earth. The World Resources Institute, a research group, has estimated the fires have generated more daily greenhouse-gas emissions since September than the entire American economy.
  But Mr. Joko did highlight his desire to reform Indonesia's economy and attract foreign investment, particularly infrastructure development. After meeting privately with Mr. Obama, Mr. Joko made his way across the street to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he met with executives and administration officials to complete about $20 billion in business deals, including several in the energy sector.
  The deals included $13 billion in shale gas sales and purchase agreements with the Indonesian firm Pertamina and Corpus Christi Liquefaction, a subsidiary of the American firm Cheniere Energy, as well as a five-year investment, worth up to $1 billion, by General Electric in power, oil and gas, and health care projects, Indonesian officials said.
  The White House announced new initiatives to help Indonesia promote clean energy technologies, widen access to energy and reduce energy-sector greenhouse-gas emissions.
  The two presidents also committed to working together in the fight against the Islamic State and other extremist elements, a challenge that Mr. Obama said Indonesia -- the world's largest Muslim country -- was well-suited to tackle.
  ''Indonesia, I think, is uniquely positioned to be able to help spread a message of peace and cooperation and modernity within the Muslim world,'' Mr. Obama said.
  Mr. Joko said Islam in Indonesia ''is moderate, modern and tolerant.''
  But both presidents avoided the subject of human rights, despite calls by activists for Mr. Obama to confront Mr. Joko about abuses in his country, including the use of virginity tests for women who apply to become police officers.
  ''Indonesia is damaging its reputation as a tolerant Muslim society by weakening protections for women and religious minorities,'' said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.




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October 19, 2015 Monday  


 POPE CALLS FOR HUMBLE LEADERSHIP

 
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, proclaiming four new Catholic saints who lived simple and generous lives, told priests and bishops on Sunday that service, and not careerism, was the way to exercise authority in the Church. 
At the Mass for about 65,000 people in St. Peter's Square, he proclaimed four new Roman Catholic saints, including the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, the 19th century French nun who is one of Church's most venerated figures. Their "outstanding humility and charity" was an example for all, he said.
The canonization of Louis Martin and Marie Azelie Guerin marked the first time a married couple were declared saints in the same ceremony and was held to coincide with a world gathering of bishops discussing ways to bolster family life. They were chosen to highlight the key role parents play in the spiritual and human upbringing of their children.
Low voter turnout in Egypt
CAIRO - Many Egyptian voters shunned the first phase of a parliamentary election on Sunday that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has hailed as a milestone on the road to democracy but his critics have branded as a sham.
Polling stations pointed to a turnout of around 10 percent, in sharp contrast to the long lines that formed in the 2012 election, suggesting that Mr. Sissi, who has enjoyed cult-like adulation, is losing popularity. Elderly supporters of Mr. Sissi comprised a large proportion of those turning out to vote, while younger Egyptians boycotted an election for a chamber they say will just rubber-stamp the president's decisions.
On paper, the new Parliament will have wide ranging powers. It can reject the president's choice for prime minister or even impeach the president, but critics doubt it can provide checks and balances. Egypt has had no Parliament since June 2012.
Aceh to close churches
ACEH SINGKIL, Indonesia - Authorities in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province said on Sunday several Christian churches would be shut down this week, just days after a mob burned down a church, killing one person and injuring several others.
Tensions have been high among the ethnically and religiously diverse population of Aceh, raising the risk of further religious violence in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim population.
Christian groups in Aceh Singkil district had been consulted on the matter, authorities said, and members of as many as six churches had agreed to dismantle their houses of worship after admitting they did not have the required building permits.The move comes after Muslim residents demanded the shutdown of 10 churches, citing a lack of permits.
Also in the world.
Slow-moving Typhoon Koppu weakened after blowing ashore with fierce winds in the northeastern Philippines on Sunday, leaving at least two people dead, displacing 16,000 villagers and knocking out power in entire provinces, officials said.. The Colombian government and leftist rebels have agreed to two measures they say will help find tens of thousands of people who have disappeared during 50 years of war, as the two sides take the final steps toward a peace deal.. An armada of carriers, cruiser, destroyers and submarines gathered off Japan's coast on Sunday in a display of naval power that showcased Tokyo's latest warships and signaled wider engagement by the U.S. Navy in the western Pacific.




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October 16, 2015 Friday  


 Israel's Chief Rabbi Says Falsehoods Are Fuel for the Latest Violence

 
All eyes were on the chief rabbi of Israel, David Lau, on Thursday when he was asked what should be done to stop the new wave of violence gripping his country.
The rabbi, the guest of honor at a lunch with Muslim and Jewish leaders at a kosher restaurant on the East Side of Manhattan, reached into the left breast pocket of his jacket and held up his cellphone. ''It's a very good machine,'' Rabbi Lau said, ''but please, I want you to help me to explain to people that not all the announcements they receive are true.''  
  Palestinians as young as 13 are attacking Jews with knives on the streets because, he said, they have been told -- falsely -- that Israel intends to destroy Al Aqsa Mosque, part of a 37-acre compound in Jerusalem sacred to both Muslims and Jews.  
  ''It's a lie. It's not true. No one wants to do it, not the government of Israel, of course, not religious rabbis in Israel,'' Rabbi Lau said at the lunch. ''We need to explain to people, it's a big mistake, a big lie.'' 
  Far from the violence in Israel, the chief rabbi was speaking to a largely friendly group -- some of whom said they had received emails from other Muslims warning them not to attend. 
  The dozen imams and Muslim leaders seated around a table in a small banquet room had been invited by Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which he founded 26 years ago with the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons to work on relations between blacks and Jews. 
  The organization took up the challenge of Muslim-Jewish relations about eight years ago.
  Muslim leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, have claimed that the Israeli government plans to divide the sacred compound, something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has consistently denied. Others claim that the Israelis want to destroy the mosque.
  Rabbi Schneir said that belief had spread like ''a virus on the Muslim world.'' 
  He said it was ''the No. 1 question'' that he got from audiences last year when he and his friend Imam Shamsi Ali, a Muslim leader in New York, toured Indonesia to promote the book they had written together. 
  Al Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam, revered as the place to which the Prophet Muhammad traveled from Mecca on his sacred ''night journey.'' The mosque is part of the site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. It is administered by an Islamic religious trust known as the Waqf, under Jordanian supervision. 
  At the lunch, Rabbi Lau was flanked by Rabbi Schneir on his left and Imam Ali on his right. Around the table were several Jewish supporters of the foundation, an evangelical Christian minister and Muslims from Africa, Asia and the Middle East who now live in the New York region. Many of them said they had visited Israel.
  Sheikh Musa Drammeh, a young Gambian who now leads a mosque in the Bronx where he also established a small synagogue for a group of older Jews, went to Israel last year, and he challenged the chief rabbi at the lunch. 
  He described Israel as a ''highly developed, beautiful place, holy land,'' but said the situation with the Palestinians was ''not sustainable.'' Rabbi Lau listened, arms folded over his chest. He is the chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jews -- those of European descent. His father, Yisrael Meir Lau, served as Ashkenazi chief rabbi from 1993 to 2003. David Lau was elected to a 10-year term in 2013 by 150 electors who were handpicked by Israeli politicians.
  The chief rabbinate, made up of Orthodox rabbis, has control over sensitive issues like conversions and supervision of kosher food.
  Pressed at the lunch by Rabbi Schneier to respond to Sheikh Drammeh, Rabbi Lau said that ''education'' was the answer to the conflict: ''If we can explain to each other that we want to be together on the land. We have a place for all of us.''
  He said: ''Today was in Israel quiet, quieter than yesterday, and yesterday was quieter than two days ago. So I hope that the storm is now, will be over.''




19


 


October 15, 2015 Thursday  


 World Briefing | Asia; Indonesia: An Appeal for Calm

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- President Joko Widodo of Indonesia appealed for calm on Wednesday in the fractious province of Aceh after a man was shot to death during a brawl set off by the razing of a Christian church. 
Aceh, on the northern tip of the western island of Sumatra, is among the most religiously conservative regions of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. It is the only province authorized to apply Islamic law. 
  On Tuesday, according to Indonesian news reports, dozens of people with sticks and sharp weapons burned a Protestant church in a house in the district of Aceh Singkil, claiming that it did not have proper permits.
  The mob then moved to a second church, where a group of people standing guard, including the police and military personnel, confronted them, the reports said. One member of the mob, later identified as Syamsul, was shot in the head by an unknown assailant, while four others were wounded by gunfire, including an army soldier, The Jakarta Globe reported.
  ''Stop the violence in Aceh Singkil,'' Mr. Joko said on his Twitter account on Wednesday morning. ''Any background of violence, especially religion and faith, undermines diversity.''
  Around 90 percent of Indonesia's 250 million people identify as Muslim, but the country also has influential religious minorities, including Christians, Balinese Hindus and Buddhists.
  Indonesia is regarded internationally as an example of mainstream Islam and religious pluralism. In recent years, though, it has been the scene of attacks on religious minorities by hard-line Islamic groups, as well as the forced closing or destruction of dozens of houses of worship, including in Aceh, under the pretext of their not having proper permits.
  National law requires that houses of worship receive approval from the local government and residents before they can open.
  Jusuf Kalla, the Indonesian vice president, called on Wednesday for a law or government regulation mandating tolerance in legal matters related to houses of worship.
  ''Otherwise, eventually people make their own rules,'' he told reporters, referring to mob violence, after attending a ceremony celebrating Islamic New Year in Jakarta, the capital, at the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.
  This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.         




19


 


October 15, 2015 Thursday  


 OLDEST KING JAMES BIBLE DRAFT FOUND

 
In an unassuming notebook in an archive at the University of Cambridge, an American scholar has found the earliest known draft of the King James Bible, and the only one definitively written in the hand of one of the four dozen translators who worked on it. 
The notebook, which dates from 1604 to 1608, was discovered by Jeffrey Alan Miller, an assistant professor of English at Montclair State University in New Jersey, who announced his research Wednesday in an article in The Times Literary Supplement.
While the notebook has yet to be examined by other scholars, experts who have reviewed Mr. Miller's research called it perhaps the most significant archival find relating to the King James Bible in decades.
Guatemala toll at 280
GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalan rescue crews suspended their search for victims of this month's massive landslide, with the toll at 280 dead and 70 missing, disaster agency Conred said, drastically reducing its estimate for the number feared lost when a hillside collapsed on part of the town of Santa Catarina Pinula.
As recently as Friday, with the death toll at 253, Conred said there were still 374 people missing.
Syria flights agreement
The U.S. and Russian militaries are completing a memorandum of understanding that sets out basic air safety procedures in the skies above Syria, a U.S. official said after the latest round of talks on Wednesday. Russia's entry into Syria's civil war has stoked concerns about an accident between U.S. and Russian jets. The Pentagon has cited cases in which Russian aircraft came within miles of drones and piloted U.S. fighter jets.
The U.S. does not intend to alter its flight missions but wants to avoid collisions or mistaken identifications of planes.
Montenegro optimistic
PODGORICA, Montenegro - Hosting NATO's top brass, Montenegro said Wednesday it was optimistic of being invited to join the Western military alliance in December, over the objections of Russia.
Ambassadors of NATO's North Atlantic Council were meeting in Podgorica on Wednesday and today in the latest signal of the alliance's resolve to usher Montenegro into its ranks.
Also in the world ....
Responding to growing anger over the government's failure to prevent the terrorist attack last week that killed nearly 100 people, Turkey fired several security officials on Wednesday, including the police chief in Ankara, the capital, where the attack occurred. ....Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the murder of a Muslim man over rumors he ate beef, in his first response to an incident that has sparked concern about growing religious intolerance. .... Indonesia's president appealed for calm on Wednesday in the fractious province of Aceh after a man was shot to death during a brawl set off by the razing of a Christian church.




19



 
 Blogs
(IHT Retrospective)

October 8, 2015 Thursday

 1965: Red HQ Burned in Djakarta

 
DJAKARTA - Thousands of Moslem youths shouting ''Long live America'' stormed the headquarters of Indonesia's powerful Communist party (PKI) today [Oct. 8] and burned it to the ground. The mob stormed the building shortly after 500,000 people held an anti-Communist rally in Djakarta's main sports stadium. A Radio Djakarta broadcast said ''the rally was held in a very tense atmosphere'' and got out of hand when some of the crowd began to shout ''Kill! Kill! Kill immediately!'' Informed sources said the armed forces have begun a quiet but systematic purge of Communists in their own ranks with arrests and summary executions. - New York Herald Tribune, European Edition, October 9, 1965  




19



 


October 4, 2015 Sunday

 Refugees ruse?

 
Can someone please explain the following regarding the Syrian refugees arriving in Europe? 
1. How come they all seem to have endless supplies of money to pay the people traffickers?  
2. Most appear to have working mobile phones. 
3. Most appear well-dressed and -fed and do not appear to be suffering the effects of malnutrition. 
4. Most of the refugees are men of military age. 
5. Why are other Muslim nations not helping their fellow Muslims (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, to name a few)? 
6. How come the two boys and their mother who drowned off the Turkish coast can be returned for burial so quickly to the place they fled, what I believed to be ISIS-held territory? 
Could it be they are being paid to go to Europe as a way to increase the Muslim population and get ISIS fighters embedded in Europe? 
We all know life is cheap from an ISIS perspective, so the loss of a few lives along the way has no meaning for them as long as it benefits their cause. 
Just a thought. 
John W. Newhouse 
Shaler 




19



 



September 30, 2015 Wednesday  


 

TURKEY

Dozens dead as rebels, security forces clash
Clashes between Turkish security forces and autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels have claimed about 60 lives in southeast Turkey and across the border in northern Iraq, officials said Tuesday.
More than 30 Kurdish rebels were killed overnight in a cross-border military operation in northern Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Kurdish militants killed two police officers Monday night in the southern city of Adana. Turkey's military, meanwhile, said six rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, were killed Monday in a clash with security forces in Hakkari province, near the border with Iraq. At least 19 others were killed in Turkish airstrikes Friday targeting suspected PKK targets in northern Iraq, a military statement said Tuesday.  
Turkey's security forces are battling the rebels in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast  while Turkish jets carry out strikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq. The fighting with the PKK, considered a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, resumed in July and comes as Turkey prepares to hold parliamentary elections on Nov. 1.
Critics accuse Erdogan of reigniting the fighting, after more than two years of peace efforts, for electoral gains. He denies the accusation and says the violence flared because the PKK broke a cease-fire agreement and stepped up attacks.
- Associated Press

INDONESIA

Rape allegations roil Rohingya camp
More than 200 ethnic Rohingya stormed out of an Indonesian encampment Tuesday as tensions erupted over allegations of rapes and beatings by locals at the site where members of Burma's long-persecuted minority have been held since arriving by boat four months ago.
Four females and six males, ages 14 to 28, said they were attempting to flee the camp Monday night because they wanted to go to neighboring Malaysia, where a large community of Muslim Rohingya exists, said Steve Hamilton, deputy chief of mission at the International Organization for Migration in Indonesia. 
They said they were stopped not far from the camp by masked Indonesian men and taken into the woods, where they were beaten and three of the females were raped, including a 14-year-old, according to Hamilton.
"When they returned to the camp, word of sexual abuse and torture committed by local residents blew up at the camp," said Lt. Col. Anang Triarsono, the Lhokseumawe district police chief. He said anger boiled over Tuesday, with the Rohingya surging out of the camp carrying clothes and other supplies. They were later persuaded to return.
Since Burma opened up in 2011 after decades of military rule, about  130,000 Rohingya have fled violence and persecution, with hundreds ending up in Indonesia.
- Associated Press
 Islamic State says it killed Italian in Bangladesh:  The Islamic State militant group asserted responsibility for the fatal shooting of an Italian aid worker in the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, according to an intelligence group that monitors jihadist threats. The government said it had no evidence to back up the claim. If confirmed, it would mark the group's first attack in Bangladesh.
 Gerry Adams, 6 others face no charges over 1972 killing:  Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams and six other suspected Irish Republican Army veterans will face no charges over the outlawed group's 1972 abduction, slaying and secret burial of a Belfast homemaker, Northern Ireland prosecutors said, citing insufficient evidence. Adams was arrested last year on suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of Jean McConville, who the IRA suspected was a British informer, but he was freed after questioning.
 Romanian premier survives no-confidence vote:  Romania's prime minister survived a no-confidence vote a week after the start of his corruption trial. Victor Ponta is on trial on charges of tax evasion, money laundering, conflict of interest and making false statements while working as a lawyer in 2007 and 2008. Lawmakers voted 207 to 8 for the no-confidence motion, well short of the 275 votes needed to dismiss him. Lawmakers from his Social Democratic Party didn't vote. Several Ponta allies face corruption charges or have been convicted. 
- From news services




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September 29, 2015 Tuesday

 Peter Lucas: If only Obama defended Christianity as much as Islam

 
So what if a lot of people think President Barack Obama is a Muslim?
What's the big deal? And who would be surprised, or care, even if it is untrue?
Not that there is anything wrong with it.
People believe what they want to believe, including conservative supporters of Donald Trump. 
Obama is a Christian, but since becoming president, Obama often has let his admiration and warm feelings toward Islam be well known, which may have confused some people.
If he spoke as glowingly about Christianity as he does about Islam, he could even edge out Ray Flynn or John Boehner as the pope's favorite American politician, if he hasn't already done so.
Perhaps adding to the Muslim controversy is the fact that Obama has also frequently brought up the Crusades in which, in his view, Christians slaughtered innocent Muslims in the Holy Land hundreds of years ago, as though the Muslims did not do the same to Christians.
At the same time, Obama has had little to say about extremist Islamist terrorists beheading Christians -- and fellow Muslims -- in the Middle East today.
But even before he became president Obama was not shy about commenting favorably about Islam.
In a 2007 interview with , Obama, who spent several years living in Indonesia as a child, described the Muslim call to prayer "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunrise."
Back in his college days, Obama, who was then known as Barry Soetoro, the name of his Indonesian stepfather, reverted to his given name, Barack Hussein Obama, which led some people to think he was a Muslim.
According to the Times, Obama became a Christian after hearing a sermon by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, at Chicago's Trinity Unity Church of Christ. Wright's sermon, called "The Audacity of Hope," later became the title of one of Obama's books.
Obama, however, severed his ties to his longtime pastor during his 2008 presidential campaign, after Wright's highly charged "God damn America" attacks on the United States via his sermons became public on previously unnoticed church videos.
Obama claimed he never heard any of Wright's anti-American sermons even though he attended the church for 20 years. While Obama condemned Wright's hate speech toward the United States back then, Obama appears to have no problem today with Iranian mullahs leading daily chants of "Death to America."
None of this would count for very much, except for the fact that Obama has been a persistent promoter and defender of Islam throughout his presidency. So it is no wonder why so many people are confused about his religion.
"Islam is part of America," Obama has observed. As a matter of fact, although the United States has "a very large Christian population," he says, "we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."
In his 2009 Cairo speech, Obama said, "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam where ever they appear."
And while Obama added in that speech that the same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America, he did not mention Muslim perceptions of Christianity.
Which is all right, but it would have been better if, every now and then, Obama said nice things about Christianity, especially as he said nice things about the pope upon his visit to Washington last week.
Obama could start with praising European and Western Christian nations for taking in thousands of Muslim refugees fleeing war-torn Muslim Syria and other Middle Eastern Muslim hellholes. But he has not.
Perhaps Obama could also note every now and then that when Muslims flee death and destruction from fellow Islamists in their own counties, they flee not to fellow Muslim counties but they seek safety in the Christian West.
Peter Lucas' political column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email him at luke1825@aol.com




19



 


September 29, 2015 Tuesday

 PETER LUCAS: If only Obama defended Christianity as much as Islam

 
By Peter Lucas
So what if a lot of people think President Barak Obama is a Muslim?
What's the big deal? And who would be surprised, or care, even if it is untrue?
Not that there is anything wrong with it.
People believe what they want to believe, including conservative supporters of Donald Trump. 
Obama is a Christian, but since becoming president, Obama often has let his admiration and warm feelings toward Islam be well known, which may have confused some people.
If he spoke as glowingly about Christianity as he does about Islam, he could even edge out Ray Flynn or John Boehner as the pope's favorite American politician, if he hasn't already done so.
Perhaps adding to the Muslim controversy is the fact that Obama has also frequently brought up the Crusades in which, in his view, Christians slaughtered innocent Muslims in the Holy Land hundreds of years ago, as though the Muslims did not do the same to Christians.
At the same time, Obama has had little to say about extremist Islamist terrorists beheading Christians -- and fellow Muslims -- in the Middle East today.
But even before he became president, Obama was not shy about commenting favorably about Islam.
In a 2007 interview with , Obama, who spent several years living in Indonesia as a child, described the Muslim call to prayer "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunrise."
Back in his college days, Obama, who was then known as Barry Soetoro, the name of his Indonesian stepfather, reverted to his given name, Barack Hussein Obama, which led some people to think he was a Muslim.
According to the Times, Obama became a Christian after hearing a sermon by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, at Chicago's Trinity Unity Church of Christ. Wright's sermon, called "The Audacity of Hope," later became the title of one of Obama's books.
Obama, however, severed his ties to his longtime pastor during his 2008 presidential campaign, after Wright's highly charged "God damn America" attacks on the United States via his sermons became public on previously unnoticed church videos.
Obama claimed he never heard any of Wright's anti-American sermons even though he attended the church for 20 years. While Obama condemned Wright's hate speech toward the United States back then, Obama appears to have no problem today with Iranian mullahs leading daily chants of "Death to America."
None of this would count for very much, except for the fact that Obama has been a persistent promoter and defender of Islam throughout his presidency. So it is no wonder why so many people are confused about his religion.
"Islam is part of America," Obama has observed. As a matter of fact, although the United States has "a very large Christian population," he says, "we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."
In his 2009 Cairo speech, Obama said, "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear."
And while Obama added in that speech that the same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America, he did not mention Muslim perceptions of Christianity.
Which is all right, but it would have been better if, every now and then, Obama said nice things about Christianity, especially as he said nice things about the pope upon his visit to Washington last week.
Obama could start with praising European and Western Christian nations for taking in thousands of Muslim refugees fleeing war-torn Muslim Syria and other Middle Eastern Muslim hellholes. But he has not.
Perhaps Obama could also note every now and then that when Muslims flee death and destruction from fellow Islamists in their own counties, they flee not to fellow Muslim counties but they seek safety in the Christian West.
Peter Lucas' political column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email him at luke1825@aol.com




20


 



September 19, 2015 Saturday  


 Don is on 'offensive' White House rips 'Muslim' response

 
WASHINGTON - The White House on Friday fired back at Donald Trump for not correcting a man who called President Obama a Muslim.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said it's too bad Trump couldn't summon the patriotism to correct the questioner who called Obama a Muslim and asked, "When can we get rid of them?" 
"Is anybody really surprised this happened at a Donald Trump rally?" Earnest asked reporters. "I don't think anybody who has been paying attention to Republican politics are really surprised."
"The people who hold these offensive views are part of Mr. Trump's base," Earnest said.
The spokesman then broadened his critique beyond Trump to fault all the Republican candidates for not denouncing what he called Trump's "cynical strategy."
"Mr Trump isn't the first Republican politician to countenance these views to gain votes," he continued.
Earnest is the latest Democrat to pile onto Trump, who is taking a ton of heat over an exchange he had with a supporter at a Thursday night rally in New Hampshire.
"We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims," an unidentified man in a Trump shirt said. "You know our current President is one. You know he's not even an American."
Trump, chuckling, interjected. "We need this question. This is the first question," he said.
"Anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us," the man continued. "That's my question: When can we get rid of them?"
Trump responded that "We're going to be looking at a lot of different things. A lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening. We're going to be looking at that and plenty of other things," Trump responded.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said on Friday that she was "appalled" at Trump's nonresponse and called on him to "start behaving like a President" and repudiate "the level of hatefulness in a questioner in an audience that he was speaking before."
Fellow presidential candidate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted that Trump "must apologize" to Obama and the American people for his "racism" and "xenophobia," while former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley tweeted at Trump, saying " 'Muslim' is not a slur."
This isn't the first time Trump has waded into "birtherism."
The reality TV star and business mogul led the charge demanding Obama's birth certificate earlier in his presidency.
Trump long maintained that he wasn't sure Obama wasn't born in the U.S. and fed into the right-wing conspiracy theory that Obama might be an Indonesian-born Muslim.
The Republican field has been largely silent about the remarks, with the exception of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who criticized Trump.








 


September 15, 2015 Tuesday

 Why do people still doubt President Obama's faith and birthplace?; 
Myths regarding Mr. Obama's background have yet to go away: A recent CNN/ORC Poll shows one in five adults say Obama was born outside the United States, and nearly one in three say he is Muslim.

 
Old habits die hard. Conspiracy theories about Obama's background continue to dog the president, even after more than six years in the White House.
According to CNN/ORC Poll results released Sunday, one in five adults say Mr. Obama was born outside the United States, and nearly one in three say he is Muslim.  
Not surprisingly, conservatives are far more likely to cast doubt on Obama's religion and upbringing, with 43 percent of Republicans saying that Obama is Muslim. Only 56 percent said he was born in Honolulu. 
Myths about Obama's religion are more common among whites, with a third of white adults saying Obama is Muslim, while only a fifth of nonwhite adults say so. The myth is also most common among those living in rural areas, where 37 percent of adults said Obama is Muslim.
Obama was born in Honolulu and is Christian. His father was born Muslim in Kenya, and Obama himself spent time as a child living in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country.
Even before winning the presidency, Obama faced doubts over his faith and birthplace. A 2007  Op-Ed reported that the rumor that Obama was Muslim first emerged in 2004, during his first run for Senate, and subsequently intensified with a viral e-mail that has been thoroughly debunked. 
In 2011, Donald Trump elevated birtherism from fringe dialogue to the mainstream media, stirring controversy and prompting the White House to release Obama's long form birth certificate.   
That did not appear to satisfy Mr. Trump, who, now seeking the Republican nomination for President, still questions Obama's birthplace. 
Public Policy Polling recently found that two-thirds of Trump's supporters believe Obama is Muslim, and 61 percent believe he was born outside the US.
According the the CNN/ORC poll, adults who identify with the Tea Party are split over Obama's birthplace and faith. Half believe the president was born in the US, while 47 percent believe he is Muslim.   
In 2012, a Pew Research poll showed 17 percent of adults believed Obama was Muslim, an increase from 2008.
Why does skepticism over his background persist?
In February, Vox's Max Fisher theorized the rise of Islamic State (also known as ISIS) and Obama's attempts to combat Islamophobia contribute to these conspiracies:
"The uptick in American, and particularly Republican, views of Obama as Muslim may also in part be explained by the rise of ISIS, which political opponents have seized on to argue that Obama is soft on Islamist terror. While these opponents do not say that Obama is soft on Islamist terror because he is Muslim, they could easily feed into preexisting suspicion of Obama based on his race and background.In more recent months, Obama has also attempted to defray the tide of American Islamophobia that has coincided with ISIS's rise, in part by correctly defending Islam and Muslims against bigotry. Increased belief that Obama "deep down" believes in Islam may be an unfortunate cost of this effort." 
In 2010, The Christian Science Monitor's Peter Grier also considered what's behind these misperceptions: 
"If Americans increasingly are uncertain about the religious nature of Obama's life, it may be because he does not mention it or make it as central a part of his political activities as did his immediate predecessors. And that could be a problem, because US voters generally like their politicians to be overtly religious."
That was before the White House released Obama's birth certificate. And since then he has been more open about his faith. In June, Obama sat down with Marc Maron for his podcast "WTF." The president talked about his parents' faith, saying his father became an atheist and his mother a secular humanist (transcription here):
Obama: ... [My mother] thought all religions had something to say, and she thought all cultures were fascinating.Maron: So you weren't brought up with that, with the religion thing, really, at all.Obama: No. I mean, we'd go to church for Easter sometimes. But we had a Shinto temple across the street from the apartment where we were living. And when I was in Indonesia, that's a Muslim country, so you'd have mosques. But she instilled in me these core values that, for a while, I thought were corny. And then, right around 20, you start realizing, you know, honesty, kindness, hard work, responsibility, looking after other people. They're actually pretty good values. They're home-spun. They come out of my Kansas roots. But they're the things that ultimately ended up being most important to me in how I try to build my life.
Publicly, Obama has mocked apprehensions over his place of birth, often joking about his "home," Kenya. Almost all of his speeches at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner have included a joke about being Muslim or born in a different country.
And oddly enough, misconceptions over Obama's faith are not exclusive to him being Muslim. According to the CNN/ORC poll, 4 percent of adults believe he is Catholic, 2 percent believe he is Mormon, and 1 percent believe he is Jewish.
But it's no laughing matter for Republicans who feel like the party has been hijacked.
During a 2008 campaign town hall, Senator John McCain defended Obama after a woman claimed "I can't trust Obama ... he's an Arab."
"No ma'am," said Senator McCain, "He's a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about."







 


August 23, 2015 Sunday  


 Many Islands, Many Faces

 
In the second grade, I spent many hours with a World Book Encyclopedia, an opaque projector and a vast stretch of butcher paper tacked to the classroom wall. My goal was to trace a map of Indonesia. It was for a report, which probably mentioned that Indonesia was the world's fourth most-populous country and the one with the most Muslims, and that it was covered in rice paddies and exports oil. But what I remember was the map itself: There were so many islands that even a professional tracer would have found the job taxing.
Even the 7-year-old me would have known that trying to see such a vast country in 18 days was folly. But that's all the time the current me had as I planned for a late June arrival. Trying to see everything certainly wouldn't work -- at 17,000 or so islands, 18 days would get you about a minute and a half on each (teleportation technology required). 
  So instead, I went for an agenda that was still ambitious (and tiring) but more achievable: four very different places on four disparate islands. I hoped to find experiences that might represent the mind-boggling diversity of the country. (For more articles about my trip, go to nytimes.com/frugaltraveler.) 
  Perhaps it's not surprising that each stop ended up involving religion and ritual, which are a rich part of life almost everywhere on the islands. And it's definitely not surprising that they were intimate experiences. If Indonesians have one thing in common, it's that foreigners are frequently welcomed into parts of their lives that most Americans I know would keep private.
  The trip took place during Ramadan, when things slow down and many businesses close on heavily populated Java, as well as on Sumatra and many other islands. So I plunged into Ramadan activities during one stop, then turned to areas where Indonesia's substantial non-Muslim populations -- that's about 33 million Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and others -- are dominant.
  All four legs came at very modest prices. The experiences described below were either free or close to it, and everything from guides to lodging to local flights (see the accompanying box) was cheap by almost any standards. The biggest cost of a trip to Indonesia is the trip itself -- from New York, one-stop flights to Jakarta or Denpasar, Bali, often start about $1,200. Not a bad deal for access to such a rich and varied world.
  Sumatra
  ''Sahur!'' A voice over the loudspeaker rang out from some nearby minaret. ''Sahur!'' The night before it had jolted me awake sometime after 3 a.m. But this time, after setting an alarm in my hotel room for 2:40, I was on the back of a motorbike zooming through Padang, the mostly Muslim capital of West Sumatra province.
  Sahur is the predawn meal Muslims eat during Ramadan. Calling it breakfast is inaccurate; it does not so much break a fast as provide sustenance for one, the daily dawn-to-dusk prohibition on eating, drinking and smoking that Muslims engage in, for the most part joyously, during the ninth month of the Muslim calendar.
  The man driving was Heri, a young friend of a friend of a friend; in a cafe the night before, he had called his friend Ami to see if her family would be willing to have a stranger over at 3 a.m.
  As Ami, who turned out to be a bright-eyed 23-year-old journalist and photographer, would tell me later: ''When he said to me, someone from New York want to come here to your home, I was shocked. It was great!'' She had even rushed to invite a friend who spoke better English.
  Ami and her friend Nisa, both dressed in veils and Western clothes, greeted us and were cheery despite the early hour. Her dad, Rusli, who turned out to be an imam, was just stumbling out of his room, bleary-eyed. Her younger brother Rayhan was still dozing, sprawled out in a heap of pillows on the living room floor.
  Except for a stop at the Pasar Pabukoan, a special Ramadan daytime market, the day before, it was my first direct experience with the fasting ritual, and I peppered them with questions. Fasting was one of the five pillars of Islam, I learned, a time of prayer and spiritual renewal. No, they do not get hungry while fasting, maybe a little thirsty. There is no school, though there are special religious programs for children. Soccer is played, but only at night. The timing of the fast depends on local sunrise and sunset, so its length varies greatly around the world.
  Finally, I asked them all if they pray five times a day. Nisa and Ami did. Heri demurred. I looked to Ami, daughter of an imam after all, to see what she thought. ''We pray to Allah that he will pray five times a day,'' she giggled.
  We were called to the table by Ami's mom, Desmaniar, who was wearing a flowing, flowery dress and long veil. I noticed Rayhan still lying in a heap on the rug, and in my best impression yelled, ''Sahur! Sahur!'' It was my first Ramadan-related joke, but everyone seemed to think it was funny.
  Padang is home to the Minangkabau people, whose food makes up much of what the world knows as Indonesian cuisine. Just as waiters do in Padang restaurants, Desmaniar had set out bowls of multiple dishes on the table.
  My favorite was dendeng, dried slices of beef with red chiles, but I also liked the kangkung, a tasty green sometimes called water spinach, and rendang, a Padang specialty, typically beef cooked for hours in coconut milk. This version was made not with beef but with cow's lung; it was spongy rather than tender, but with the same alluring flavors of spices and coconut milk reduction.
  After the meal, Rusli left for the mosque. Ami, along with friends and siblings, prepared to pray, and they asked me to join. I had no idea whether non-Muslims were permitted to do this, but took the cue of my hosts and decided to consider it a meditation. I was given a sarong, and Ami's older brother showed me how to wash properly for prayer. I followed as best as I could, and can at least report that sujud, the prostration step in Muslim prayer, is soothing.
  I had enjoyed my first sahur, but wasn't sure how I would do getting up before 3 every day for a month. Before the imam left, I had thanked him, and he had laboriously put together a phrase in English for me. ''Next time, we very happy -- you come here again,'' he said. Next time, I hoped, would be for dinner.
  Sulawesi
  The seventh water buffalo got away.
  To aid dead relatives' journey to the afterlife, the Toraja people of Sulawesi slaughter water buffalo at the start of their elaborate, multiday funerals. Torajan funerals are a reason visitors come to amoeba-shaped Sulawesi, one of Indonesia's biggest islands.
  At the funeral I attended in July with an ad hoc group of new friends and a guide, there were 17 buffalo to be sacrificed. The first six went as smoothly as can be expected when men try to kill 800-pound beasts with a single slash from a hand-forged knife. Each man held up the rope attached to the buffalo's nose ring, exposing its throat, and then, grasping the knife's bamboo root handle, wound up and took a whack. The crowd, a mix of locals and tourists, gasped, oohed and shot video with iPhones as the buffalo went down thrashing and blood soaked the grassy hillside.
  But the executioner of No. 7 either declined or forgot to tie up the animal, who, as blood spurted from its wound, bolted toward the pasture below, where it head-butted another buffalo. It then turned around and headed for the temporary buildings -- sort of fancy tents -- where some family members had retreated for tea and snacks and relief from the sun. There was a Pamplona-like mad scramble to get out of the way; I had backed away well before. No one was hurt -- except the buffalo, of course, which was recaptured and died shortly thereafter.
  From high above, on a platform topped with the astonishing soaring saddleback roofs that characterize Torajan architecture, the deceased looked out over the proceedings. An effigy of the deceased, that is, as well as a portrait of her -- a prim, kind-faced woman with short white hair. Her preserved body lay in an elegant coffin.
  Preserved, that is, for over two decades: She died, in Western terms, in the early 1990s, we were told. Until a funeral, the person is not considered gone, but merely ''sick.'' The body is preserved using techniques similar to mummification, and continues to ''live'' in the family home, and even pose in family pictures. In what is often the yearslong period before burial, the family must save money for the buffalo and prepare for the elaborate ceremonies.
  The Torajan people, whose centuries-old funeral rites predate their conversion to Christianity, are famous for these traditions; the events, especially those close to the city of Rantepao, where tourists typically stay, are often full-on tourist attractions, with paid admission (the one I attended was 20,000 rupiah, about $1.50 at 13,100 rupiah to the dollar). A gift is also expected, generally a carton of cigarettes (about 180,000 rupiah) per group. (I was there with three other travelers splitting the cost of our guide.)
  Despite all this, it is not a show for tourists. If anything, it is a display of social status for the community and for the hundreds of family members who come from across Indonesia -- there's quite a Torajan diaspora. I met one family that, we were told, was part of that diaspora but displayed its local pride with matching ''I  Papua'' T-shirts.
  If the sacrifices sound brutal, at least the animals' bodies were fully used. Skins were used for ritual items like drums, gloves and shields; meat cut up into hunks and passed out; and horns kept to display on the tongkonan, the Toraja's stunning boat-shaped traditional homes. Even the hooves served a purpose, though not one I would have expected: They become toys. A string is attached to each like a leash, and delighted children drag them around.
  It was the sacrifices themselves that stayed with me; I continue to compare the water buffaloes' death to what I imagine happening in factory farms every day and ponder whether this ritualized death is better or worse. In other parts of Indonesia, the buffalo are draft animals, but here they are venerated and carefully cared for. ''A Torajan farmer washes his buffalo at least twice a day,'' our guide said. ''He probably takes a shower himself once a week.''
  Papua
  The mountain village of Wesagalep is a two-and-a-half-hour, thigh-burning uphill hike from the rushing Baliem River. That included occasional stops that my fitter friend, Cristian, used to take in the breathtaking views; I was more focused on actual breath-taking.
  After a laborious trip, we were hoping for a warm welcome when we reached the terraced group of thatched homes, called honai by the indigenous Dani people. The villages of the Baliem Valley in Papua, the province that occupies most of the Indonesian half of New Guinea, are accustomed to Western travelers coming through for the night, bearing gifts of cigarettes, tea and sugar, and paying around 100,000 rupiah to sleep on the wooden floor of the village office.
  We are hardly the most controversial intrusion in the 75 years or so since their first contact with the wider world -- try Christianity, colonialism and the Indonesian military for starters. Somewhat disappointingly, visitors are more likely to see T-shirts than traditional skirts for women and very revealing penis gourds for men in many villages. Only a few older men dress traditionally -- which means they are not dressed at all except for a gourd partly covering their genitals.
  When we arrived, about two dozen women gathered in front of a honai motioned us to the men sitting outside another. They told Cristian, who speaks Indonesian, to wait. A man had died in the village the day before, and this was a solemn meeting to plan the appropriate ceremony for the next day.
  How would you act if two strangers approached you as you planned a relative's funeral and asked to stay the night? Not like the Dani, certainly. They had us sit down with them and listen in, not that we could understand the local language. Then we were invited to stoop down below the low-hanging roof and clamber into the men's honai.
  It was dark and smoky inside, daylight streaming through the door, revealing a cloudy haze. In the center, there was a hearth, whose fires had blackened the startlingly low ceiling -- surprisingly, it was actually a two-story dwelling, with sleeping quarters upstairs. Unsure what to do, we joined other men, sitting cross-legged on the soft grass floor. One, dark-skinned and wrinkled with a graying beard, incanted a few words, and on cue, the others joined in a monotone hum.
  It was soon clear he was crying -- ritualistically, it seemed to me -- as were several others. We sat, spellbound, curious. Why in the world had we been invited in? What did this all mean?
  Soon after, we were led to the village leader's honai, where Cristian questioned him and translated. The leader had three wives, all from other villages; intra-village marriage is prohibited. Pigs are the only animals they raise, but their meat is reserved for ceremonies. (The next day, we witnessed the pigs killed with handmade bows and arrows.) We were given a dinner of sweet potatoes, a Dani staple, as twisted and warped as ginger root, skin crispy from having been cooked under heated rocks, but inside soft, moist, succulent.
  Bali
  The morning that the Balinese Hindu festival of Galungan began, I rode my bike through the thickly settled but largely untouristed streets of Kemenuh village. From the Kudesa Guest House -- run by a charismatic retired woodcarver turned village priest, with rooms starting at $9 on booking.com -- it was a less than 10-minute ride to the home of my generous new friend, a rather strapping 38-year-old bus driver named Widi, who lived just over the border in the next village, Blahbatuh. I had met him two nights earlier when I stopped my bike to see why there were two dead pigs on the sidewalk outside his house. (Widi and his relatives had killed them to distribute to family members planning to make lawar -- minced meat, vegetables and spices -- and other dishes for the festival.)
  Bali is known for being spiritual, and I tend to hate when things are called ''spiritual.'' But break out the thesaurus, because even I could not deny that I felt something holy, sacred, ethereal all around me that morning. Chimes played and the air was tinged with incense. I was pelted by occasional raindrops as I rode by ornately decorated orange-brick temples, their entrances flanked by plucky sandstone dvarapala (gate guardians) wrapped in sarongs. Outside each house was a penjor -- a graceful, ornamented bamboo pole that arches up above roof level, its end weighted down with offerings. It looked like a giant's fishing rod reeling in a heavy catch.
  Widi and his family greeted me warmly at his family's compound, which included several buildings of living quarters and a temple; in the middle was a flowering frangipani tree. He gave me a pressed white linen shirt, a white cloth hat and a brown patterned sarong, necessary attire for the three open-air public temples we would be visiting that day as part of Galungan, the uniquely Balinese festival of uniquely Balinese Hinduism that takes place every 210 days, when ancestral spirits return to earth. Everything about me looked Balinese, except for me. We gathered three children, and with a basket of flowers for prayer, headed out.
  Each village in Bali has at least three temples, one for each of the Hindu trimurti, or trinity: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer and Shiva the destroyer.
  Shiva was first. ''Shiva is destroyer, but not bad,'' Widi explained. ''It's something positive -- like recycle!'' (I later found references to Shiva as the ''transformer.'') The temple was enchanting, with elegant orange brick and elaborate sandstone carvings. Inside the gate, women and girls knelt and men sat cross-legged on the ground, in prayer.
  Outside, we joined a large crowd waiting its turn. The women, dressed in colorful robes, held large metal baskets on their heads, full of offerings: flowers, rice, cakes, oranges, apples and bananas. The men, dressed, well, like me, held smaller baskets, with flowers and rice for prayer. We went in and sat down, cross-legged. Though I didn't spot any other outsiders, no one seemed surprised or displeased to see me; in fact, Widi encouraged me to take pictures.
  As Ami had in Padang, Widi assumed I would pray with his family. The prayer ritual is compellingly soothing. Soon after he lit incense and ''washed'' his hands and face with the smoke I tried to follow his movements as he brought his palms together before raising his hands to his forehead. He took a yellow flower, and did the same thing, then a red flower, and then both together. (He admitted to not having the full array of flowers.)
  A woman came by and sprinkled us with holy water, then poured it into our hands three times for us to drink, and once more to wash our face. We then took rice, pressing it into our foreheads, then our chests, and then into our mouths.
  Why so much water?, I asked. ''That is the symbol of life,'' Widi said. ''If you grow something, you must put water first. Then you get trees and good life.''
  We repeated the process at two more temples, and each time Widi added a final step: checking his phone. Of all the intriguing cultural elements of the day, I found his brand choice to be the most curious: the Balinese still used BlackBerrys?
  Bali is famed for keeping its traditions alive despite being the most touristed island in the country. (In fact, so touristed that many people don't even realize it's a part of Indonesia.) ''In Bali, we keep the old culture,'' he said. ''The other islands, before, they had special culture, religion, but it changed.''
  Of course, by then, I had seen plenty of evidence to the contrary.
  If You Go
  Getting to Indonesia is one thing; getting around it is another. You can travel within the bigger islands by bus (or train), but a trip like mine required flights, and lots of them.
  The good news is that there are regular flights to and from just about everywhere. The other good news is that they can be very, very cheap, often less than $50 a leg. The bad news is that most of the airlines do not meet world safety standards and have been banned from flying in the European Union. The other bad news is that it is impossible to book most flights online without an Indonesian credit card or bank account.
  The Safest Bet
  The easiest and safest solution is to stick to Garuda Indonesia (garuda-indonesia.com), the country's flagship airline, which is a SkyTeam partner and serves about 60 domestic destinations. Flights can be booked online, and service is excellent. (Garuda is also the only Indonesian carrier with flights to Europe.) Still, prices are often higher than other carriers like Batik, Citilink, Sriwijaya and the much-maligned Lion Air (which just about everyone told me to avoid, for dependability and safety issues).
  Try a Travel Agent
  But Garuda (and AirAsia Indonesia, which also can be booked online; airasia.com) will not get you everywhere, and the other airlines are often much cheaper. You can book them after arrival in Indonesia through (ubiquitous) local travel agents or the airline offices themselves. Be sure you compare the agency's quoted price with fares you find online; I tried to book a bargain Citilink flight through my Jakarta hotel's agent and was quoted a price much higher than I saw on the Citilink site. (I booked directly with Garuda instead.)
  If All Else Fails
  Sometimes even the agencies can't help. When I tried to reserve a round-trip flight on Trigana Air between Jayapura, the Papuan capital, and Wamena in the Baliem Valley, a different Jakarta-based agency simply could not make the reservation. My only choice was to have them book on Wings -- a discount subsidiary of, alas, Lion Air. Still, the flight left on time and, obviously, I survived to tell the tale.








 


August 16, 2015 Sunday  


 
MEDAN, Indonesia   When Rahmat and Afrian talk about Islamic State, their eyes widen, their speech slows, and their expressions soften into smiles.
The two friends, both 33, say they plan to join the Islamist militant group in Syria, 4,500 miles away from their middle-class homes in Medan, Indonesia s fourth-largest city, as soon as they can save enough money to fund the trip.
 The Islamic State is like a dream come true for me and all Muslim people,  said Rahmat, a perfume trader wearing a Quicksilver T-shirt and a G-Shock watch, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.  Now is the time to return to Islamic glory, like we experienced in the old days.  
Southeast Asia is emerging as a new recruiting frontier for the Sunni Muslim extremist group that seized control of large portions of northern Syria and Iraq last year. Hundreds of Indonesians, at least 150 Malaysians, and even a few young men from Singapore have joined Islamic State, according to the best assessments of analysts in the region.
 I think support for ISIS is increasing,  said Sidney Jones, director of the Institute for the Jakarta-based Policy Analysis of Conflict think-tank, using an acronym for the group. At least 200 Indonesian citizens have traveled to the Middle East to join Islamic State, she said.
Others have pledged devotion to the group, which proclaimed itself a caliphate in June 2014.
 I think there s some evidence that there s enough of a support base [in Indonesia] that if they got the green light from ISIS   which they haven t yet   they could quite quickly set up a structure of ISIS here,  Jones said.  It would be tiny and there would be lots of opposition, but it raises concerns [that they might] follow other kinds of orders from ISIS, which could include violence. 
Rahmat and Afrian have been busy preparing by viewing jihadist videos online, especially the slick, brutal execution videos that have become a cornerstone of Islamic State s global propaganda push. They have also been doing push-ups, sit-ups and martial arts.
Both say they plan to take their families with them. Afrian, a high school teacher, has a wife and a 2-month-old, and Rahmat has a wife and three children.
 My son will become a fighter too, insahllah,  God willing, Rahmat said.  Once he asked me,  Dad, why don t we go to Syria?  I think he understands everything. 
The route from Medan to Raqqah, Islamic State s de facto capital in northern Syria, is by air through Hong Kong and Turkey, a trip that costs about $4,500 per person, they said. To finance the journey, both plan to sell their homes.  Once we arrive, everything will be taken care of  by Islamic State leaders, Rahmat said.
Authorities worry that recruits eventually will return to the country with a hardened ideology and sophisticated military expertise. Indonesians who traveled to Afghanistan in the 1980s and  90s to fight with Islamist forces were later involved in perpetrating some of the country s deadliest terrorist attacks, experts say, including 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 202 people.
Analysts say that the constitution of Muslim-dominated Indonesia guarantees freedom of religion, and that a pledge of devotion to Islamic State   even leaving the country to join it   is not technically illegal. (Police have arrested several Islamic State devotees over the last year on tangential charges, such as traveling with falsified documents.)
 We have a policy of prevention,  said Saud Usman Nasution, director of Indonesia s national counter-terrorism agency. The agency identifies potential recruits and tries to persuade them not to join.  We cannot change their mind-set quickly,  he said.  So we must go step by step. 
According to an Australian intelligence report obtained by news website The Intercept, two Indonesian commercial pilots have pledged devotion to Islamic State. Ridwan Agustin, a former AirAsia pilot, may have already traveled to Syria. The pilots  pose obvious threats,  the report says.  Their access and knowledge of security and safety regimes provides the ability to attempt attacks as witnessed by past global events. 
Rahmat and Afrian said they decided to join Islamic State in June 2014 after it released a video declaring a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. (Indonesian authorities have blocked the video; Rahmat says he first saw the contents on BBC and Al-Jazeera.)
Rahmat said that law enforcement agents had not contacted him since he pledged devotion to the militant group in a small ceremony with fellow members of the Indonesian Muslim League. Afrian said that police had visited his house about 10 times to gather information, but did not threaten him with arrest.
 First they interrogated me about my views on sharia law,  he said.  Then, at the end, they also asked me about ISIS. 
Alchaidar, a doctoral candidate in the anthropology of terrorism at the University of Indonesia in Depok, near Jakarta, said that many Indonesians are drawn to Islamic State for reasons other than ideology, including the promise of good living conditions, the thrill of warfare, the lure of foreign women and the  desire to fight back against authority, against secularism, against the Christian, Western world. 
Alchaidar has known Afrian and Rahmat since 1999, and has interviewed them extensively.
 It s very hard for me to understand why their beliefs changed from secular to very religious,  he said.  For me, it s incomprehensible.  He said both seemed motivated mainly by ideology.
Rahmat said he hopes to become a martyr in the Middle East. Afrian said he dreams of eventually returning to Indonesia.
 Success, for me, would mean that all of Indonesia adopts sharia law,  Afrian said.  That s the only way to avoid repressive actions by non-Muslims against Muslims.
 For Muslim people, there s a quite famous proverb: Live in dignity, or die in jihad. If we die doing this, we will have won. 










 


August 12, 2015 Wednesday  


 In a Milestone, Africa Goes a Year Without Polio

 
It has been one full year since polio was detected anywhere in Africa, a significant milestone in global health that has left health experts around the world quietly celebrating.
The goal had seemed tantalizingly close in recent years, but polio always managed to roar back, particularly in Nigeria. Then officials embraced a vigorous new approach to vaccination and surveillance in that country, hiring thousands of community ''mobilizers'' to track down the unvaccinated, opening operations centers nationwide to monitor progress and seeking out support from clerics and tribal chiefs. 
  The result has been remarkable.
  The last African case of polio was detected in Somalia on Aug. 11, 2014, the final sign of an outbreak with its roots in Nigeria -- the one country where the virus had never been eradicated, even temporarily. But the last case in Nigeria was recorded on July 24, 2014. 
  Africa has never gone so long without a case of polio. But in an indication of how nervous experts still are that the disease may resurge, even the announcement from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was tentatively headlined ''Is Africa Polio-Free?''
  ''This is a big success, but it's still fragile,'' said Dr. Hamid Jafari, the initiative's World Health Organization director. ''There's always a worry that there could be an undetected case in a population you're not reaching.''
  When the global polio eradication drive began in 1988, more than 350,000 children around the world were paralyzed by the virus each year. Last year, only 359 were.
  The case count has been below 2,000 annually since 2001, and eradication efforts now cost about $1 billion a year. But to the frustration of epidemiologists, the virus is a master of the cross-border jailbreak. Thirty-four cases have been found this year, all in Pakistan or Afghanistan, the last places in which the virus is known to persist.
  Many scientists now say a worldwide victory over polio is in sight.
  ''This puts a lot of pressure on Pakistan to do better,'' said Dr. Elias Durry, who leads the W.H.O.'s effort in that country and has fought polio in six others, including Somalia and Nigeria.
  Usually, Africa is where diseases make their last stand. The last case of smallpox was found in Somalia in 1977, and the last case of rinderpest, a centuries-old cattle disease that may have killed millions of humans by causing famine, was recorded in Kenya in 2001.
  Even assuming there are no more cases, Africa will not be officially declared polio-free for two more years. The W.H.O. requires three case-free years because surveillance is difficult in a continent of isolated villages and nomadic herders.
  Since several other diseases can cause paralysis, stool samples from each suspect case must be analyzed to definitively exclude polio as the cause.
  The Nigerian government was galvanized into action after a new monitoring board began singling out failures in its vaccination program in 2011 and after the W.H.O. declared polio a world health emergency last year.
  Nigeria marked its year without polio on July 25 with a modest tree-planting ceremony at which the new president, Muhammadu Buhari, was photographed putting vaccine drops into the mouth of his infant granddaughter.
  It was subdued because the campaign ''did not want to send out the wrong message to political officeholders and donors that polio has been eradicated,'' said Dr. Faisal Shuaib, a Health Ministry official who helped lead both the country's polio eradication efforts and last year's Ebola response.
  Vaccination and surveillance efforts need to continue, he and other experts emphasized.
  Reaching the milestone is a testament to the persistence, deep pockets and adaptability of the eradication initiative, which is led by the W.H.O., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Fund for Children, Rotary International, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation.
  Northern Nigeria, homeland of the predominantly Muslim Hausa ethnic group, became a polio hot spot in 2003 when waves of rumors began spreading about the vaccine: that it sterilized Muslim girls, that it contained pork products and that it contained the virus that causes AIDS.
  The governor of Kano, a northwestern state, stopped vaccinations for a year, and a local polio strain spread, first to 10 other African countries and then, through pilgrims, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and to Yemen and Indonesia.
  Since then, donors have poured billions of dollars into the eradication campaign, which pioneered many new tactics. W.H.O. scientists provided their Nigerian counterparts with evidence that the vaccine was safe, for instance, and imported more of it from Indonesia, the only Muslim country with a W.H.O.-approved vaccine factory.
  Islamic scholars were flown in from as far away as Saudi Arabia to endorse vaccination as halal -- religiously acceptable. Bill Gates twice visited the Sultan of Sokoto, leader of Nigeria's Muslims, asking for his support. Experts from India, which saw its last case of polio in 2011, traveled to Nigeria to share what they had learned.
  Unicef recruited and trained 16,000 ''community mobilizers'' to fight rumors by talking to their neighbors. Some were themselves polio victims, who displayed their withered limbs as a warning.
  Because petty corruption was a major hindrance, seven operations centers were set up around Nigeria where each day's vaccination progress was publicly tracked through cellphone reports. (The main one, in Abuja, became the headquarters of Nigeria's successful fight against Ebola last year.)
  Surveying teams made detailed maps of villages, squatter camps and other hard-to-reach areas. Vaccination team leaders were handed cellphones that tracked their movements to prove that they had covered their assigned beats. More mothers were hired because they were better at persuading nervous young mothers to vaccinate and they showed up for work more regularly.
  There were further setbacks five years ago after Boko Haram extremists began their rampage.
  In early 2013, they were blamed for the killing of nine vaccinators in one day, although such violence never became as common as in Pakistan. Boko Haram is centered in the northeast of Nigeria, while vaccine resistance began in the northwest.
  Nonetheless, in response, ''hit-and-run teams'' were formed. On days considered safe, vaccinators would move quickly through marketplaces, taxi ranks and other gathering areas.
  Because of Boko Haram, more than one million people ended up in displaced persons camps, so vaccination drives moved there.
  To fight the common complaint that Westerners cared only about polio while rural Nigerians died of other ills, the campaign set up temporary ''health camps'' with many other medical enticements, including measles shots, deworming drugs, diarrhea treatment, blood pressure checks, ibuprofen, packets of Plumpy'Nut nutritional supplements for malnourished children, and packets of soap, tampons and other feminine hygiene items.
  Experts do not agree on which tactics worked best, but they are relieved that they have.
  Dr. Oyewale Tomori, president of the Nigerian Academy of Science, gave a speech in the mid-1990s expressing his fears that Nigeria would be the last country on earth with polio.
  ''There was no hope then,'' he said this week. ''We were really messing up.''
  The tide turned in the last few years, he said, ''when we got sensible'' and began slowly winning over traditional leaders -- the emirs, tribal kings and local chiefs.
  ''If the government calls a meeting, people ignore it,'' he said. ''But they listen to the Muslim leaders who address them every Friday.''







 


August 2, 2015, Sunday

 RUN AMOK; 
Mass killings less about race, more about mental illness

 
The murders of nine black Americans in a Charleston South Carolina Methodist Episcopal Church have stirred angry denunciations about their white killer, Dylann Roof. He belonged to several organizations which cling to symbols and sentiments of the long defeated Southern Confederacy. While there is a connection to the so-called Lost Cause on the surface of Roof's disturbed mind, it is not an explanation for the tragedy. The reason for the bloodshed is psychiatric, not racial or political. It is one more example of the Amok Syndrome.
For a long time Amok murders were considered a macabre trait of the Muslim nations of Southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Indonesia. There, westerners discovered individuals who became depressed and discontented for various reasons - rejection by a woman, loss of a job, the death of a beloved son or daughter. At some unpredictable point, they rushed into the street armed with a "kris - a large machete-like sword - and began killing people until they were cut down by neighbors or the police. 
The idea of westerners succumbing to such a disorder was first suggested by the Austrian novelist, Stefan Zweig, who had encountered the phenomenon in his travels and published a book of novellas in 1922, Amok, Dramas of a Passion, describing people who succumbed to this murderous emotion in various ways. Zweig was heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud, among the first to suggest that beneath the surface of many actions lies an undetected emotional illness.
People began noting that outbursts of similar violence took place in many countries. In 1972, Jin Inn Teoh, professor of psychiatry at Aberdeen University in England, reviewed a range of incidents from around the world and concluded amok behavior existed everywhere. There were differences in the way it manifested itself, but it was essentially the same outburst of mass violence. More recently, researchers for Wikipedia have amassed a list of 1,315 examples, which they called "rampage killings. They have occurred in Africa, in the Middle East, in South and North America and Europe.
A classic American example is Howard Unruh, an honorably discharged veteran of World War II, who walked down a street in Camden, New Jersey, on September 6, 1949, and killed 13 people with a German Luger pistol. I wrote an article about Unruh, "Is There a Crackpot in Your Neighborhood? not long after he erupted. I described his withdrawn, anti-social behavior, and the failure of psychiatrists and the police to get him treatment or take any other precautions against his murderous potential. Unruh was confined to a mental hospital for the criminally insane, where he died in 2009.
I have remained interested in these kinds of violent outbursts. I regret to report that in the United States, the possibilities of getting potential Amok killers treatment, or at least restraining them before they act, have grown worse with every passing decade. Recently, one expert on the subject of mental illness remarked that it is harder to get someone into a mental hospital than it is to get a student into Harvard. The civil libertarians among us are ready to contest each case with angry rhetoric and threats of massive lawsuits for damages.
A more recent example of this seemingly insoluble problem is James Holmes, the young man who entered a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in 2012 and sprayed bullets into the audience from five different guns, killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. Holmes was seeing a psychiatrist on a regular basis when he committed this horrendous crime. His eruption seems to have been triggered by his failure to pass a test for a Ph.D. He showed many of the symptoms of an Amok killer from an early age. He attempted suicide when he was 11. He was acutely aware that he needed help and had talked to no less than three mental health professionals at the University of Colorado in the weeks before he acted. In the course of his trial, in which he was found guilty of mass murder, two psychiatrists hired by his defense lawyer declared Holmes was mentally ill. Two others, testifying for the prosecution, said he was sane - he was aware that he was about to kill and maim dozens of people.
On the day before the carnage, Holmes sent his psychiatrist a notebook describing how he had been buying guns and ammunition and explosive devices, preparing for his rampage. It was discovered, undelivered, after he erupted. On the very day of his crime, Holmes called a mental health hotline, apparently hoping he could reach someone who would persuade him not to act. He twice tried to commit suicide after he was jailed.
Apparently none of the mental health experts to whom Holmes spoke ever tried to commit him to a mental hospital. One of them admitted later that she feared he was dangerous but did nothing to prevent the tragedy. In a statement he released, Holmes virtually identified himself as an Amok killer. "Terrorism isn't the message, he said. "The message is, there is no message.
No one has ever done a better job of proving that the Amok Syndrome is a separate mental illness, which can feed on such emotions as dislike of blacks or mourning the Confederacy's defeat. These are feelings that may well be shared by thousands of Americans. But only a Dylann Roof and a handful of others convert resentment and disappointment into mass murder.
It is time for our psychiatrists to confront Amok killers as a responsibility of their profession and persuade civil libertarians to let them take steps to prevent more deaths of innocent people. Admittedly, this will not be an easy task. But recognition of the Amok Syndrome by both sides would be a first vital step.
Thomas Fleming, a former social worker and a writer for 50 years, has written about mental illness and its connection to crime and unemployment. He wrote this for the History News Network.







 


July 20, 2015 Monday

 A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS

 
FLAG REMOVED: A crowd watches after a South Carolina honor guard lowers the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds on July 10 in Columbia, S.C. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley signed the historic legislation to remove the flag. JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES MUSKET SALUTE: Re-enactors fire a musket salute in front of the statue and tomb of Nathan Bedford Forrest, rebel general, slave trader and Ku Klux Klan member, during a celebration of Forrest's 194th birthday in Memphis, Tenn. MIKE BROWN /
THE COMMERCIALAPPEAL 
SHOOTING INVESTIGATION: Police officers enter the Armed Forces Career Center through a bullet-riddled door July 16 after a gunman opened fire on the building in Chattanooga, Tenn. Authorities say there were multiple casualties, including the gunman. JOHN BAZEMORE / ASSOCIATED PRESS CATCHING A RIDE HOME: Bangladeshi Muslims try to climb on to the roof of an overcrowded train as they head to their homes ahead of Eid al-Fitr at a railway station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on July 16. Hundreds of thousands of people working in Dhaka plan to leave for their home towns to celebrate with their family the upcoming Eid al-Fitr.
A.M.AHAD /ASSOCIATED PRESS
LIGHT SHOW: An Indonesian Muslim man plays with a fire stick during a parade ahead of Eid al-Fitr celebrations on July 16 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr on July 17 after a month of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. On this day, Muslims in countries around the world start the day with prayer and spend time with family, offer gifts and often give to charity.
ULETIFANSASTI / GETTYIMAGES
BONFIRE MUSIC: Iain McFarland, an Orange bandsman, plays his flute July 12 during the 11th night bonfire at the New Mossley housing estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Tradition holds that the bonfires commemorate the lighting of fires on the hills to help Williamite ships navigate through Belfast Lough at night when Protestant King William III and his forces landed at Carrickfergus to fight the Catholic Jacobites, supporters of the exiled Catholic King James II. CHARLES MCQUILLAN / GETTYIMAGES FLAG COMES DOWN: An honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol removes the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds July 10 in Columbia, S.C. JOHN BAZEMORE /ASSOCIATED PRESS COURT APPEARANCE: Dylann Roof, the suspect in the mass shooting that left nine dead in a Charleston church last month, appears in court July 18 in Charleston, S.C.
GRACE BEAHM-POOL/ GETTYIMAGES
THE AGONY OF DEFEAT: Venezuela's Genesis Rodriguez Gomez collapses July 12 during a lift attempt in the women's 53kg weightlifting at the Pan Am Games in Oshawa, Ontario. Gomez took silver in the event. REBECCABLACKWELL/ASSOCIATED PRESSTHE JOY OF VICTORY: Serena Williams of the United States holds up the trophy after winning the women's singles final against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, on July 11. Williams won 6-4, 6-4. KIRSTYWIGGLESWORTH /ASSOCIATED PRESS BASEBALL LEGENDS: Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays are introduced July 14 before the MLB All-Star game in Cincinnati. JOHN MINCHILLO /ASSOCIATED PRESS PAN AM GAMES: Carolina Colorado of Colombia swims the Women 200 meter backstroke heat at the Pan Am Games on July 15 in Toronto, Canada. ALBELLO / GETTYIMAGES'BOOKKEEPER OF AUSCHWITZ' SENTENCED: Oskar Groening awaits the verdict of his trial in Lueneburg, Germany, on July
15. Groening, 94, a former SS officer known as the"Bookkeeper of Auschwitz,"was sentenced to four years in prison. TOBIAS SCHWARZ/DPA/ZUMAPRESSNEW MISS USA CROWNED: Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan celebrates July 12 after winning the 2015 Miss USA pageant in Baton Rouge, La.
DERICKE.HINGLE /ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAVENDER HARVEST: A tractor makes its way along a row of lavender plants July 14 as they are harvested on the Lordington Lavender farm in southern England. ANDREWMATTHEWS / PA NEXT STOP, THE OCEAN: Crew members stand on top of USS Columbus (SSN-762) submarine as they sail through the Panama Canal's Miraflores Locks on July 10, en route to the Pacific Ocean. ARNULFO FRANCO /ASSOCIATED
PRESS
DISABILITY PRIDE: Jessica Lopez (center) participates in the inaugural Disability Pride Parade on July 12 in New York. The parade grand marshal was former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who 25 years ago sponsored the Americans With Disabilities Act. SETHWENIG /ASSOCIATED PRESS







 




 

 







 


July 14, 2015 Tuesday

 Deeper opportunities in Iran nuclear pact; 
The nuclear deal with Iran must withstand many tests to achieve its aim. Yet also worth testing is whether it will lessen conflicts within the Muslim world, especially over the use of violence in the name of Islam.

 
The nuclear agreement reached July 14 between Iran and six world powers will need to withstand many tests in the months and years ahead to ensure it contains Iran's nuclear ambitions. The American Congress must weigh in, for example, while inspectors need access to Iranian nuclear sites. Israel needs further assurance of its safety. Perhaps the most critical test may be this: Would a less-threatening Iran bring the Muslim world closer to resolving conflicts within Islam itself? 
Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution was driven in large part by rivalries within Islam as well as between Islam and the West. Its nuclear program was just one of many strategic aims to enable Iran to lead the Islamic world's 1.6 billion believers, or 23 percent of the world's population. Iran (the country) claimed geopolitical reasons for needing to acquire advanced nuclear know-how. But perhaps Iran (the religious revolutionary) decided its secretive, militarized nuclear program was hurting its reputation as the leader of all Muslims. After all, a violent and political version of Islam has lost much support since 9/11 in favor of an Islam that is peaceful. The rise of Islamic State has shown a need for Muslims to assert a tolerant, respectful version of Islam.
Within Iran itself, the mass of young people has turned against the regime of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the rigging of an election in 2009 and a harsh crackdown on dissent. The tough sanctions also softened public opinion in favor of reaching a nuclear deal. This strengthened the hand of the relatively moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, against regime hard-liners. Mr. Khamenei was forced to say he was exercising "heroic flexibility" during the negotiations.
Iran still has other means to further its strategic goals, such as militant proxies in Gaza and Lebanon. A steady lifting of sanctions will now revive the businesses of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, enabling it to challenge the West or rival Muslim countries. The threat of an American military attack or another cyberattack on its nuclear plants is gone for now, encouraging investment in Iran.
Besides agreeing to mothball much of its nuclear program, Iran has shown the Muslim world it is willing to talk to its most dreaded foe, the United States. The largest and most powerful Shiite country could even now seek US help in lessening tensions with its Sunni rivalries, especially Saudi Arabia. Islam's religious disputes, reflected in the Saudi-Iranian rift, have become overshadowed by popular demands among Muslims for democracy, seen in the 2011 Arab Spring, the 2009 protests in Iran, and earlier protests in Pakistan and Indonesia.
In Iran and Saudi Arabia, regime survival has become more important than sectarian contest. A recent commentary in the Iranian publication Resalat warned that the Iranian people may expect "paradise" with a lifting of sanctions and, when they are disappointed, it "will inflict an irreparable blow to the revolution."
President George W. Bush and later President Obama were smart to open a door for talks with Iran, even as they kept the "military option" on the table and rallied allies to impose sanctions. Over time, the real test of the new agreement may not be only in Iran's compliance. The real test will be in whether Iran's concessions lead to a rejection of violence within the Islamic world.








 





 


July 11, 2015 Saturday

 Islam has impressive history of nonviolent resistance

 
On these pages and elsewhere, commentators have periodically fed Western prejudices that Muslims are somehow inherently more violent than those of other faiths. They ignore the fact that, both historically and in recent decades, armed forces of the United States and European countries have killed far more Muslims than Muslims have killed Americans and Europeans. 
They also ignore the fact that virtually all the arms used in predominantly Muslim countries are manufactured in the United States and Europe and are transferred to the region by U.S. and European governments. 
More fundamentally, they ignore the fact that the Islamic world has a rich history of nonviolent resistance against dictatorship and foreign occupation.
One of the great strengths of Islamic cultures is the implied social contract between ruler and subject. Prophet Muhammad's successor, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, said, "Obey me as long as I obey God in my rule. If I disobey him, you will owe me no obedience." Such a pledge was reiterated by successive caliphs, including Imam Ali, who said, "No obedience is allowed to any creature in his disobedience of the Creator." Indeed, most Islamic scholars have firmly supported the right of the people to depose an unjust ruler. Massive noncooperation with illegitimate authority is critical for any successful pro-democracy struggle.
And history bears this out: In Iran, the tobacco strike in the 1890s and the constitutional revolution in 1906 were both examples of mass nonviolent resistance against neo-colonialism and authoritarian rule. In Egypt, the 1919 Revolution, consisting of many months of civil disobedience and strikes, eventually led to independence from Britain. Muslims also played a disproportionately large role in Gandhi's independence movement in British India.
The largely unarmed insurrection against the Shah of Iran toppled that repressive monarchy in 1979 and brought a brief hope for freedom prior to hardline Islamists consolidating their power. Strikes and other forms of mass resistance forced the resignation of Bangladesh's General Ershad and the restoration of democracy in 1990. A student-led movement in 1998 forced the resignation of Indonesian dictator Suharto, one of the world's most brutal tyrants, after 33 years in power in the world's largest Muslim nation.
Among Africa's predominantly Muslim countries, civil insurrections in Sudan in 1964 and 1985 overthrew dictatorial regimes and led to several years of democratic governance before returning to military rule. A popular nonviolent uprising toppled Mali's repressive Traore regime in 1991, resulting in over 20 years of democracy (until a U.S.-trained military officer staged a coup in 2012.) Last year, the authoritarian president Blaise Compaore of Burkino Faso was toppled in an unarmed insurrection enabling a start to a democratic transition. 
In Lebanon, a 2004 nonviolent civil insurrection forced Syria to withdraw its troops and end its long domination of that country. The largely nonviolent 2006 Tulip Revolution ousted Kyrgyzstan's corrupt and autocratic regime. Years of protests against the 30-year Gayoum dictatorship led to free elections in the Maldives in 2008, resulting in the autocrat's defeat. And in Pakistan, a movement led by lawyers and other civil society organizations resulted in the resignation of U.S.-backed military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2009.
In Tunisia, an unarmed insurrection ousted the pro-Western autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, leading to the establishment of the Arab world's strongest democracy. Soon thereafter, largely nonviolent insurrections toppled U.S.-backed dictators in Egypt and in Yemen, giving hope for greater freedom before being supplanted by new U.S.-backed strongmen.
There are also ongoing nonviolent popular struggles against foreign military occupation, including Palestinians in the West Bank, Sahrawis in Western Sahara, and Tartars in Crimea. Nonviolent movements in recent years have also challenged autocratic regimes in Iran, Bahrain, Sudan, Niger, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and elsewhere. The first eight months of the Syrian uprising against Assad was an overwhelmingly nonviolent pro-democracy movement before later becoming dominated by armed extremists.
Rather than blithely accepting simplistic stereotypes of Islamic societies as inherently violent and undemocratic, we should recognize and support their nonviolent struggles for freedom. This includes pressuring our own government to end transferring arms and other tools of repression to dictatorships and occupation armies which deny Muslim peoples their rights.
Stephen Zunes, a Santa Cruz resident, is professor of politics and coordinator of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco. Zunes, whose column has appeared twice monthly, will now be an occasional contributor.




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July 10, 2015 Friday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION

 
TUNISIA KILLS 5 SUSPECTED EXTREMISTS
TUNIS, Tunisia - Tunisia's Interior Ministry says security forces leading a counterterrorism sweep have killed five suspected extremists in central Tunisia.
The operation by the national guard and the army near the town of El Ktar in the Gafsa region comes less than a week after Tunisia's government declared a state of emergency following a gunman's attack in the beach resort of Sousse that left 38 tourists dead - mostly Britons. 
Ministry spokesman Walid Louguini said a gunfight erupted this morning as a special national guard unit tracked and chased eight suspected extremists in the mountainous Ouled Bouomrane area, near Gafsa's mining zone. CHINESE LAWYERS HELD
BEIJING - A Chinese lawyer was forcibly taken away today just hours after his client, a Chinese journalist working for a German weekly, was released from nine months in detention, his associate said.
Zhou Shifeng was taken by three unidentified men from a hotel where he stayed after picking up journalist Zhang Miao from a detention center in a Beijing suburb, his law partner Liu Xiaoyuan said.
The law firm also lost contact with three other employees today, Mr. Liu said. Another prominent rights lawyer at the same firm, Wang Yu, and her family have been out of touch since Thursday morning after she sent a message saying that someone was prying open the lock on her door.
A faxed request to Beijing police for information on their location was not immediately answered.
Friends and associates said at least five other lawyers and activists have either disappeared or been detained by police, raising concerns that Chinese authorities are targeting rights lawyers in a crackdown on civil society and rights activism. 25 DIE IN STAMPEDE AT BANGLADESH GIVEAWAY
DHAKA, Bangladesh- A stampede killed 21 elderly women and four young people early today when hundreds of people in central Bangladesh stormed the home of a businessman for a charity handout during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, police said.
Another 30 people were injured and rushed to a hospital in Mymensingh, a town 70 miles north of the capital, Dhaka, said local police station Chief Kamrul Islam.
The crowd gathered outside the tobacco businessman's home around 4 a.m. and stormed in when the gates were opened to collect free clothing, Chief Islam said. A 5-year-old child and three teenagers also died, he said. Survivors said about 1,000 people, mostly elderly women, were in front of the house, which is just beside the man's tobacco factory. VOLCANO STRANDS BALI VACATIONERS
BALI, Indonesia - Ash spewing from a volcano on Indonesia's main island of Java sparked chaos for vacationers as airports closed and international airlines canceled flights to tourist hotspot Bali, stranding thousands.
Mount Raung in East Java province, about 95 miles from Bali's international airport, has been rumbling for several weeks. The level of activity increased in the past week, and today, it blasted ash and debris 12,460 feet into the air.
Government volcanologist Gede Suantika said the eruption forced authorities to close five airports due to the risks posed by volcanic ash, though two airports on Lombok island reopened this afternoon. The Transport Ministry told airlines to avoid routes near the mountain.




1


 The Times-Herald
 
Vallejo Times-Herald (California)

July 5, 2015 Sunday

 
More facts, less exaggeration
The only "climate change" shell game is letter writer Mark Altgelt's 500-plus word version in the June 20 Times-Herald ("The only way").
Three decades of baseless, fear-mongering information as "climate change" proof pales against 650,000 as a basis. The shell game is validated through paragraphs of "henny-penny-the-sky-is-falling" scare information.
Said Dr. W.E. Williams, George Mason University economist: "Had mankind acted as though any science could possibly be settled, we'd be living in caves, as opposed to having the standard of living we enjoy today. That higher standard of living stems from challenges to what might have been seen as 'scientific fact.'"
The newly cited United Nations bodies hardly provide climate change authority, lest we forget the failed United Nations leadership in a Securities and Exchange Commission audit of the "2000-2004 Oil for Food Program" which caught European/U.S. companies like GE, Ingersol-Rand, York International, and 2,253 other firms with their hand in the cookie jar of collusion, bribery and illegal payments. 
Price Waterhouse Coopers, a multi-national firm with 157 international locations and $10 billion in advising revenue, certainly stands to gain from "carbon fee and dividend (the new name for cap and trade)" tax and conflict of interest issues. Economic purity is too often overcome by profit inclinations.
Mr. Altgelt's admission - "the only fault with climate science and past predications ... is they underestimated temperature increase and sea level" - says volumes. Science is proof by repeatability.  "Underestimated" based on three decades is hardly credible. Close counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades - not science.
Where are facts citing the geological record? Facts including the Roman Era when temperatures increased ... no Industrial Revolution? Data from tree rings or ice cores - in Mr. Altgelt's world they don't compute since that data doesn't fit the shell game.
U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides raw, unedited Climate Reference Network (USCRN) data (NOAA's premier collection system) showing the United States in a steady cooling trend, graphed by Meteorologist Anthony Watts (wattsupwiththat.com/2014/06/07/noaa-shows-the-pause-in).
Great economic investment is to continue tilting "climate change windmills" even though our own government's data says warming isn't happening. Who benefits?  Do citizens benefit by paying more for everything?  Whose economics are improved? Mr. Altgelt says we will all benefit. Then again, so did CBO Obamacare projections initial cost understatement of $900 million -CBO real data calculations say the current cost is $2 trillion. There's fabrication, then there's fact - I'd sure like some documented facts, and less exaggeration.
- Gary W. Smith/Vallejo
Islamic and Jewish states
Ignorance, bigotry and fear (vices never far from the Times-Herald base) have been on florid display in recent opinion pages.
Many religious bigots have been bashing Islam in vile and denigrating terms, driven by fear of the rising Islamic State.
The Islamic State fighters now number more than 30,000, gaining recruits daily from around the world.
They have momentum, morale and money in large supply. Our efforts have hurt them, but not stopped them.
The president's goal "to degrade and destroy ISIL/ISIS" has failed, as will further attempts to fight this war by proxy.
We will be sitting down with ISIS to talk peace (on their terms) within the next president's first term.
Our policy is failing because we see only a bunch of terrorists in need of killing. The more we kill, the more recruits join them from around the world.
It is neither because of ISIS' slick use of media, nor because they are cockroaches (as suggested by a writer recently).
The Islamic State is flourishing, but not because moderate Muslims fail to denounce it vigorously enough to suit such ignoramuses.
ISIS has captured a high-ground vision that has deep appeal across Islam: An Islamic State to match/counter the Jewish State.
Neither an Islamic monarchy propped up by western interests (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan), nor a Muslim-predominate country run by secular dictators (Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia) ...
They see an Islamic religious caliphate of Sunni fundamentalism, Sharia literalism, and the Koran as Constitution ... that lures them to the fight like moths to the flame.
They seek a political purity that any Christian who ever wanted to live in a "truly Christian country with Bible-based laws" can understand. They seek not to destroy Israel (they cannot), but to counter Israeli influence and actions.
These ISIS recruits grew up watching Islam's leaders sell out to western interests, watching Israel exile and debase Palestinians, watching every commitment to Palestinian statehood become forgotten.
They join ISIS to reverse the corruption of Islam and the degradation of Muslims.
We can kill their leaders with air strikes, but we cannot erase the movement - not even with Lindsay Graham's 10,000 troops on the ground (a horrible idea).
We can't win this one.
- Thom McCombs/American Canyon
The flag controversy
In the spirit of forgiveness and conciliation, and as a person whose mother was eligible for membership in both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Confederacy, I wish to try to set some things straight.
Mom's paternal forbears came to these shores in 1621 and later received a grant of land in Virginia (which was surveyed by George Washington).  The family never held slaves, and in fact went forth in the armies on both sides of the war of 1861-65. Some were Quakers and members of the "underground railway." 
The "Confederate flag" which too many find so offensive is the Battle Flag, modeled on the flag of Northern Virginia military regiments.  Mom's family always viewed that flag as a symbol of independence, courage and pride. It was never associated with hate, racism or intolerance. As a descendant of that once proud Virginia family, I view the adoption of that flag by white supremacists as more than merely offensive, but a sacrilege, much like Islamic extremists have "hijacked" the Muslim faith and redefined it to suit their own twisted purposes. 
Ignorance and innuendo, uncontested, creates a great many problems for people, and the current controversy is a case in point. I place much of the blame for ignorance of the honorable nature and intent of the Battle Flag at the doorstep of the Sons & Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization whose purpose, supposedly, was to foster a dignified southern demeanor and promote pride in their heritage. Allowing a historical symbol to be dragged down to the depths of despicable behavior cannot foster anything dignified. The truth has been withheld for too long. 
I have sent a possible solution (a compromise) to the governor and legislature of South Carolina, which if adopted, would remove the Battle Flag and permit a National Flag of the Confederacy to be flown in its place on the State Capitol grounds along with a state flag and the Stars and Stripes. None of these have any animus attached to them, should offend no one, and I pray this will be acceptable to persons of goodwill on each side of the debate. 
- Ed Rosenback/Vallejo
Bad time for a tour
When did it become acceptable for Vallejo firefighters to give tours of the fire trucks on emergency calls?
I live in a mobile home park here in Vallejo. One of my neighbors up the street from me was in need of help. The fire and ambulance arrived, they put her into the ambulance and while they were waiting to turn around, another neighbor came out with his son and wanted them to show him the fire truck inside and out. The firefighters put the young boy in the front cab and let him walk around. Then they showed him the outside as well. All this time the ambulance driver is waiting to leave (he couldn't turn around because the fire truck had the street blocked). The other EMT kept looking out the back door to see when they were going to move.
I have never seen anything like this before. With all the events Vallejo has put on for free, including tours of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances, I don't think that  people need to stop EMTs on emergency calls to show their kids these vehicles. All I can say is I'm glad it wasn't me they were helping and wasting time giving a tour.
Paula Culbertson/Vallejo
Writing us
Letters to the Times-Herald must contain the first and last name of the letter writer, as well as contact information to reach the letter writer. The contact information will not be published by the Times-Herald.
The Times-Herald advises letters to be 400 words or fewer and based on one topic. Longer letters will be considered for separate publication in an op-ed format.
The Times-Herald encourages letters to be sent via email. Those letters are more likely to be published in a timely fashion.
Letters can be emailed to opinion@timesheraldonline.com, or sent via mail to: Letters, Vallejo Times-Herald, 440 Curtola Parkway, Vallejo, CA, 94590.
For more information, contact Times-Herald Editor Jack F.K. Bungart at jbungart@timesheraldonline.com




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July 1, 2015 Wednesday

 Once sidelined, Taiwan's mixed-race children find new embrace; 
As more Taiwanese men marry Southeast Asian women, the island nation is beginning to think of itself as multi-ethnic, in a distinct departure from the mainland. The change is supported by younger generations.

 
Huang Hui-mei used to dread being asked about her racial heritage. The daughter of a Vietnamese mother and Taiwanese father, she knew that having Southeast Asian heritage was seen as a marker of low status in Taiwan. 
But now, Hui-mei, a high school sophomore whose mother was driven by poverty to come to Taiwan, is finding that people are more curious - in a good way - about her background. 
Taiwanese are increasingly thinking of themselves as a multi-ethnic society - a concept that is reshaping Taiwan's story of its basic identity. That has larger significance now as a generation of younger Taiwanese move to more clearly distinguish their island and its culture from that of political rival, China. 
"Now if your teachers know your mother is from Vietnam, they give you more help," says Hui-mei. "I think Taiwan will need those of us with a different heritage."
Conservative estimates indicate that Taiwan is home to about 117,000 children with foreign parents, most from poorer regions of Asia. They are expected to gradually blend their food, customs, and languages into Taiwan's ethnic Chinese majority.
Although that number will not dramatically tip the racial balance of Taiwan's 23 million people any time soon, mainstream Taiwanese are starting to treat mixed-race offspring and their parents as as valued and distinct, a change that many would not have anticipated a few years ago.
"This will be a social issue and it's something you have to pay attention to. Some people [of Southeast Asian descent] might get rich and some might become more influential," says Nathan Liu, international affairs professor at Ming Chuan University in Taiwan. "That will probably happen in the future. To see different cultures [grow] is a good thing for the young generation."
Taiwan's ethnic roots are predominantly Chinese. Migrants from the mainland began arriving from the southeast coast of China about 400 years ago, and they quickly outnumbered the half-dozen native aboriginal populations that are about 2 percent of the population.
70 percent reject unification
In the decades after the Chinese Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan from the mainland after World War II, there were fears of high birth rates and waves of mixed-nationality children. That never happened. If anything, birth rates are seen as too low in Taiwan, with one or two children as the norm for couples of all makeups.
The Chinese ethnic link has bolstered Beijing's claims that China and Taiwan must eventually unite politically despite nearly seven decades of self-rule in Taiwan that is much prized by locals. More than 70 percent of Taiwanese oppose unification with China, a government poll found last year after youth groups organized mass protests against closer relations with Beijing.
A multi-ethnic Taiwan represents a further departure from the way mainland China thinks about race and nationalism. During the anti-Beijing opposition party's eight-year rule, which ended in 2008, former president Chen Shui-bian more than doubled the budget for aboriginal education, and he began to showcase the hundreds of years of life and culture on the island that Chinese migrants had as their heritage.
Mr. Chen's successor, President Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist [KMT] Party, also contributed to change by opening Southeast Asian language courses in more than 300 elementary schools in 2012 - with plans to cover all 2,600 schools by 2018. The goal is to raise general respect for migrants and their children.
Migrants of low social status have often looked to assimilate quickly. The 520,000 migrants in Taiwan tend to learn Chinese and downplay their own culture at home rather than extolling it to their children.
'Undergoing a profound change'
While the number of migrants has tapered due both to crackdowns on fake marriages and improved economic conditions in Southeast Asia, they are visible. Some run Filipino supermarkets and offer English-speaking Catholic masses. Muslim Indonesian women in burkas gather in crowded public places with friends for chats in Bahasa. Indonesian women often work as live-in maids, another foreign influence for Taiwanese children.
"The structure of our country's population is undergoing a profound change," says Lee Ming-fang, a senior administrative officer with Taiwan's National Immigration Agency. "It's not a new ethnicity, but it's a new group." It may be a welcome one, Ms. Lee says. "We've already have an immigrant society and we have no natural advantages," she says.
Taiwan stands to absorb more of Southeast Asia as the children of migrants mature.
Hui-mei, the teenager, says her link to Vietnam may be useful for Taiwanese entrepreneurs who want to open factories in the fast-growing Southeast Asian manufacturing hub. She speaks Vietnamese and visits her mother's hometown of Ho Chi Minh City during school holidays.
Indonesian parents have a reputation for being tough on homework, meaning high grades for their children, says Chang Cheng, owner of the Brilliant Time Bookstore, a suburban Taipei seller with titles in Southeast Asian languages. "Even if their Mandarin isn't too strong, the mothers will just stare at their children as they do their homework," he says.
Abby Lu's parents, both from the Philippines, encouraged the 23-year-old Taipei university graduate to pursue music, different from the groundswell of Taiwanese families that push their children toward salaried jobs. The songwriter-guitarist in a local band is trying for a first album and is getting attention for performances at a Taipei shopping mall.
Taiwanese friends used to ask searching questions when Ms. Lu would take calls from home in Tagalog, she recalls. Now, she says, they "don't really care." New immigrants and a bolder mixed-race young adult population will polish Taiwan's unique identity, she forecasts.
"If more foreigners come to Taiwan, they will know more about the Taiwanese and understand them better, and the more they understand, the more those countries will see Taiwan as an independent country," she says.
Political movements seeking ways for Taiwan to stand up to China may also point to the mixed-race younger generation.
"The green political leaders might try that, though I'm not sure, so it's an interesting question," says Lin Chong-pin, a retired strategic studies professor in Taiwan, referring to Taiwan's political faction that opposes the KMT and supports increased self-rule.




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June 28, 2015 Sunday  


 Suspect in Attack in France Had Ties to Radical Islamist

 
VÉNISSIEUX, France -- The man who the authorities say decapitated his boss before setting off an explosion at an American-owned chemical plant near Lyon first came to the attention of the French intelligence services at least nine years ago, after he became part of the circle of a radical Islamist.
The man, Yassine Salhi, 35, who was caught during the attack on Friday, and the Islamist, Frédéric Jean Salvi, both spent time in the small town of Pontarlier, near the Swiss border.  
  Mr. Salvi converted to Islam in prison and became known as ''Grand Ali.'' By 2008, it seems, he left France, but surfaced in connection with plans to carry out a terrorist attack in Indonesia in 2010. He has since slipped through a police dragnet and disappeared, with an Interpol arrest warrant for him, according to news reports.
  While the depth of the two men's association remains unclear, it appears to have contributed to Mr. Salhi's radicalization and to have been enough for the French security services to place him in 2006 on a list of potential security threats.
  By 2008, however, the security services dropped Mr. Salhi from their active watch list, raising questions about the ability of the services to monitor a proliferating number of potential threats.
  Mr. Salhi grew up in Pontarlier, while Mr. Salvi seems to have arrived there sometime after 2001, when he got out of prison in the nearby town of Besançon. In prison, Mr. Salvi had converted to Islam. It is unclear when the two men first met, but some reports put it as early as 2004. The two men were almost the same age. But while Mr. Salhi is remembered by people in Pontarlier as a quiet adolescent, Mr. Salvi was brash, even rude, said Amar Remimi, 48, the treasurer of the Philippe Grenier mosque association in Pontarlier.
  ''One day he came to the mosque and he had a very weird attitude,'' Mr. Remimi recalled. ''The imam was preaching. Ali got into the mosque, sat, then after a few minutes stood up and started criticizing the imam while he was preaching. He ordered the imam to stop, said his sermons were wrong.''
  ''So I stood up and asked him to leave the mosque,'' he added. ''Who was he to tell an imam he was wrong? Plus, we don't want radical Muslims here, period.''
  In contrast, Mr. Remimi remembered teaching Arabic to Mr. Salhi when he was 15 or 16, saying he was ''quiet'' and ''studious'' and wanted to learn because of his family's origins. Mr. Salhi's father, who died when the youth was about 16, was Algerian and his mother is Moroccan.
  ''He already spoke some Arabic in dialect, but he could barely read it when he started the classes,'' Mr. Remimi said.
  ''At the end of the three years, he could read and write,'' he added. ''You know, he was young at that time. There wasn't the Internet. There weren't all those radical movements. I wasn't worried about the kids I was teaching, at all.''
  Another local Muslim leader, Nasser Benyahia, who leads the Muslim association affiliated with the Philippe Grenier mosque in Pontarlier, described Mr. Salhi as a normal child who played football and had no particular interest in Islam.
  At the time, children ''spoke more about football than Al Qaeda, and I didn't see any sign of radicalization in him,'' he said.
  That appeared to change when Mr. Salvi arrived. In addition to being obstreperous, Mr. Salvi cut an impressive figure, tall, blond and domineering, according to news articles written a few years later when he was implicated in the attempted attack in Indonesia.
  Mr. Salvi appears to have gone back and forth between Pontarlier and Besançon, and so did Mr. Salhi, though how much time they spent together is unknown.
  Mr. Salhi was dropped from the security watch list at a time when the French government under President Nicolas Sarkozy was merging two intelligence divisions that had some overlapping responsibility for domestic terrorist threats.
  The merger appears to have resulted in surveillance also slackening on Mohammed Merah, who in 2012 killed seven people in Toulouse, including two French soldiers, and five people at a Jewish school.
  While there was considerable criticism when it emerged that Mr. Merah had slipped through the cracks, so far the tone has been more muted about Mr. Salhi. That may be in part because he had no criminal record and was not known to have sought to go abroad to fight on behalf of Islamic extremists.
  ''There's a number of people you have to do surveillance on,'' said a French official familiar with Mr. Salhi's case who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
  ''That was the time the domestic intelligence agencies merged, and people have pointed to the same period for the absence of follow-up in the case in Toulouse, so maybe there were a number of cases in that period that were not treated carefully enough,'' the official said.
  More recently, Mr. Salhi appears to have again gained a reputation for being a soft-spoken, reserved person.
  Neighbors described him that way, and so did the family of Hervé Cornara, 54, who was Mr. Salhi's boss at Colicom/ATC until Friday, when Mr. Salhi beheaded him.
  Interviewed by the French television channel TF1, Kevin Cornara, the son of Mr. Cornara who also worked for Colicom/ATC, said of Mr. Salhi: ''He was so nice, always smiling, very friendly, very polite.''
  ''I did not see anything coming,'' he said.




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June 26, 2015 Friday  


 Spare Times: For Children

 
'Frolic!'
Enough of ''The Itsy Bitsy Spider'' and ''Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.'' Ever wish your children could bop along to Janis Joplin or the Who? 
  You may not hear those particular performers in ''Frolic!,'' the Children's Museum of Manhattan's new play space, but leave it to the museum to make their era of rock 'n' roll wholesome. This installation, for ages 5 and younger, offers sensory exploration and musical activities in a Woodstock-flavored atmosphere.
  A colorful, gauzy tent and playful wooden sculptures of a piano and a saxophone greet visitors, along with signs saying that entry requires hand stamps (not really) and shoe removal (really). That rule seems to stem not from loyalty to flower-child fashion but from a concern for toddlers crawling on the thick, brightly patterned carpet. 
  The rest of the décor may make parents, or especially grandparents, nostalgic. A bright blue and yellow Volkswagen minivan bearing a 1970 sticker and the name Ziggy in small letters -- dominates the space, along with soft, molded climb-on structures: a blissful-looking butterfly and three, ahem, mushrooms. Musical instruments like tambourines, wrist bells and shakers, as well as toy pianos and xylophones, are everywhere, and a pretend music mixer invites preschoolers to play with light switches, levers, dials and reels. They don't have to recognize the Rolling Stones to appreciate the two gleaming red tongues -- they're slides -- emerging from a mouth cut into the wall.
  Last Saturday a boy hurtled down one of them, inflated plastic guitar in hand, squealing, ''I'm a rock star!'' He then smacked the guitar against the floor. (Pete Townshend would be proud.) A girl took the room's stage -- it has a model of a ticket booth, too -- to break dance. Aspiring young rockers can also join daily jam-band workshops, and on Friday the museum plans to introduce an interactive music video wall, featuring animated characters who play notes in response to movement or touch. A case of books provides helpful advice, like this from Audrey Vernick's ''So You Want to Be a Rock Star'': ''Your voice doesn't need to be perfect. Just really loud.''
  ''Frolic!'' offers real classic rock, too: In addition to a frequent soundtrack of oldies, it features live bands and weekend dance parties. On July 11, Suzi Shelton plays in the Toddlers Rock! summer concert series; Sweetbeatz performs on July 25.
  To small visitors, though, the open VW is as irresistible as the music. On Saturday, Katie Snyder, 3, announced her intentions as she took the wheel. This was no rock 'n' roll road trip: She was driving straight to Grandma's.
  (Through Dec. 31 at the Tisch Building, 212 West 83rd Street, 212-721-1223, cmom.org.)
  For Children
  'Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures From Playgrounds to Palaces' (Friday, Sunday through Tuesday, and Thursday) Children will step into the shoes of an explorer like Indiana Jones in this permanent exhibition at the Jewish Museum, but the adventures will be purely scholarly. Still, there is plenty of excitement in analyzing artifacts like a jar handle, a clay jug and a bangle and figuring out the purpose behind ancient pieces like a Greek helmet and a bull-shaped vessel. This interactive show, for ages 3 to 10, also includes a recreated room from the Ottoman period (about 1900), where young archaeologists can dress in costume. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, 212-423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org.
  Brick Fest Live (through Sunday) The New York Hall of Science has become the New York Hall of Lego during this nine-day celebration. In addition to exhibiting all manner of objects made with Lego toy building bricks, the museum has invited the public to join the creative frenzy. The festival, which is sponsored not by Lego but by the company Learn With Bricks, includes opportunities to build mosaics and sculptures, to participate in a Brick Fest derby (featuring Lego cars designed and constructed by young visitors) and to play favorite Lego-related video games -- all in the name of math, engineering and technology education. At 47-01 111th Street, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, 718-699-0005, nysci.org.
  'Celebrate Ramadan' (Saturday and Sunday) Most holidays are just that -- days. But Ramadan, the Muslim observance, lasts a whole month. As part of its Muslim Arts Festivals series, the Children's Museum of Manhattan will explore Ramadan with activities that include a 3-D virtual tour of mosques; a performance and workshop with the Saung Budaya Indonesian Dance Group; a collage workshop with the artist Azita Houshiar; and readings of Maha Addasi's picture book ''The White Nights of Ramadan.'' From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Tisch Building, 212 West 83rd Street, 212-721-1223, cmom.org. (Schedule details are on the website.)
  Children's Theater Company (Saturday) Henry Brown was an American slave who devised an unusual route to freedom: the United States mail. In 1849 he hid in a dry-goods crate and had himself shipped to abolitionists in Philadelphia. The Children's Theater Company, this time working with adult casts, has adapted his story into ''Henry 'Box' Brown,'' a musical infused with gospel and R&B. It's being performed with another short show, ''King Kunka Bunka and the Rotten Royal Rascals,'' which is written in Seuss-style rhyme and centers on a widowed Russian monarch's search for an heir. (Through July 25.) At 12:30 p.m., John Birks Gillespie Theater, New York City Baha'i Center, 53 East 11th Street, East Village, 212-633-6629, childrenstheatercompany.org. Reservations required.
  'Connected Worlds' (Saturday through Thursday) Human choices and actions have an impact on the world's ecosystems, but people usually can't see the effects as they happen. That isn't true in this new permanent exhibition at in the renovated Great Hall of the New York Hall of Science. Consisting of huge screens (one is 38 feet tall), the show, opening on Saturday, depicts six interconnected environments with a shared water supply. With the help of technology that responds to gestures, ''Connected Worlds'' allows children to use simple motions to plant, harvest, cut trees, create clouds and make other changes in the projected landscapes -- and see how the native flora and fauna fare. 47-01 111th Street, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, 718-699-0005, nysci.org.
  Family Field Day (Saturday) Children are invited to have a field day -- in all its meanings -- at Brooklyn Bridge Park. At Pier 6, the park staff will provide equipment and guidance for all kinds of free outdoor sports and activities, from old-fashioned games, like potato-sack races and freeze tag, to volleyball, basketball and soccer. From 10 a.m. to noon, Atlantic Avenue and Furman Street, Brooklyn Heights, brooklynbridgepark.org/events. (The event will be canceled if there is heavy rain.)
  Field Station: Dinosaurs (Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday) Just as a Tyrannosaurus rex, velociraptors and other prehistoric creatures have thundered into movie theaters, they're heading out of New Jersey. Field Station: Dinosaurs, the 20-acre theme park filled with more than 30 animatronic species -- including a T. rex, a stegosaurus and a 90-foot-long Argentinosaurus -- is losing its Secaucus home and is looking for another site. But the dinosaurs, which move when approached, are in residence for one final summer, and there's still time to catch the attractions, which include a three-quarter-mile trail with other paleontology exhibits; a movie, ''Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D''; and Paleontologists' Laboratory, a recent addition that allows young visitors to dig for fossils and take home a small bag of genuine artifacts. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., 1 Dinosaur Way (off Exit 15X of the New Jersey Turnpike), Laurel Hill Park, Secaucus, N.J., 855-999-9010, fieldstationdinosaurs.com.
  Friskies Playhouse (Friday) Who do you think will draw more celebrity-obsessed fans at this event: Steve Weatherford, punter for the New York Giants, or Waffles, that feline darling of the Internet? Of course, they might both be upstaged by all the kittens at this free adoption fair, sponsored by Friskies and Petfinder. In addition to playing with an array of cats in need of homes, young visitors can play games with Mr. Weatherford and pose for photos with their new friends. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine, Gansevoort Plaza, Gansevoort Street, between Hudson Street and Ninth Avenue, meatpacking district, 212-714-5783, friskies.com/pullnplay/about.
  'The Gazillion Bubble Show: The Next Generation'  (Friday through Sunday, and Thursday) Children love bubbles, and this interactive show promises not just a gazillion but also some of the largest ever blown, along with light effects and lasers. The stars are the members of the Yang family: Fan and Ana Yang and their son Deni and others, who rotate as M.C.s for the production. Audience members may even find themselves in bubbles of their own. (The run is open-ended.) Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 and 4:30 p.m.; Sunday at noon and 3 p.m.; Thursday at 11 a.m. and 2 and 7 p.m.; 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, gazillionbubbleshow.com.
  'How Does Your Garden Grow?: Celebrating Pollinators' (Saturday and Sunday) The Bronx Zoo houses plenty of large animals, but this weekend it's putting a special spotlight on some small ones: bees. As part of ''How Does Your Garden Grow?,'' a new display on the lawn outside the Butterfly Garden, the zoo will host ''Pollinatorpalooza,'' in which children will dress up as bees (and butterflies and hummingbirds) and learn the importance of these creatures in nature and farming. Part of a continuing program sponsored with the FarmOn! Foundation, an organization devoted to educating young people on healthy food choices, the event will include a game to act out the life cycle of a bee. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Bronx River Parkway and Fordham Road, Fordham, 718-367-1010, bronxzoo.com/events.
  'Jack and the Beanstalk' (Friday through Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday) Many plants grow in Central Park, so why not a beanstalk? This one sprouts indoors at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, which has revived Michael Alogna's adaptation of the classic fairy tale about Jack, the Giant (here named Milford), Dolly the Cow and the famous Golden Goose. Bruce Cannon, the theater's artistic director, has revised the script, and a human actor now stars in the show along with the company's hand-built marionettes. This Friday at 10:30 a.m. and noon; Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Reservations required. 79th Street and the West Drive, Central Park; 212-988-9093, cityparksfoundation.org/arts.
  'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'  (Saturday) If the children of the Pevensie family could travel to the magical land of Narnia through something as simple as a wardrobe, why shouldn't two hard-working actors be able to play them and all the characters found there? That's what Chris Boerner and Erin Layton, who recently stepped into the roles, are attempting in the Off Broadway Family Theater's first production, le Clanché du Rand's adaptation of C. S. Lewis's classic novel. (The run is open-ended and continues on Saturdays.) At 11 a.m., St. Luke's Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, narniaoffbroadway.com.
  'Mad Hot Ballroom' 10th-Anniversary Celebration (Sunday) The Washington Heights neighborhood is probably better known for salsa than for the fox trot, but that didn't prevent the fourth and fifth graders at Public School 115 from mastering that dance in the 2005 documentary ''Mad Hot Ballroom.'' The film, by Marilyn Agrelo, chronicled the students' preparations for a citywide dance contest, and a number of them will attend this free anniversary celebration, along with their instructors, the filmmakers and children currently enrolled in Dancing Classrooms, the program that taught ballroom techniques to the movie's subjects. The event will include preshow dance lessons and demonstrations and a question-and-answer period afterward. At 5 p.m. (doors open at 4), United Palace Theater, 4140 Broadway, at 175th Street, Washington Heights, 212-568-1157, unitedpalace.org.
  Mad. Sq. Kids  (Thursday) The kids attending won't have to worry about being mad or square: The entertainment is fun and hip in this summer series of free weekly hourlong concerts in Madison Square Park. This week's program is a WeBop Family Jazz Party, presented by the WeBop Family Band of Jazz at Lincoln Center. An interactive concert, it will introduce the youngest listeners to the modes and instruments of jazz. At 10:30 a.m., Farragut Lawn, 23rd Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues, madisonsquarepark.org.
  MoMA ART LAB: PLACES AND SPACES (Friday through Thursday) What's an art lab? These interactive spaces for children at the Museum of Modern Art, free with museum admission, help introduce the institution's collection through activities related to a theme: this time it's Places and Spaces. Young visitors can design, draw and build as they explore spaces both real and imagined -- landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes -- as they appear in Modern art. (Through Aug. 31.) The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building, 4 West 54th Street, Manhattan; 212-708-9805, moma.org/momaartlab.
  Puppetry Arts Festival of Brooklyn (Saturday) Brooklyn has many colorful characters, but those on the streets of Park Slope on Saturday will be sure to turn a few heads: ''Star Wars'' figures, the Geico gecko and a cuddly singing beast called Tuffy Tiger. They're all appearing courtesy of Puppetry Arts, which presents free puppetry workshops and performances in communities and public schools. This whose festival will feature its work and that of other puppeteers in onstage shows every 15 minutes. Admission is free, but there are small fees for puppet crafts and T-shirt decorating. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine, J. J. Byrne Park, Fourth Street at Fifth Avenue, 718-768-3703, puppetryarts.org.
  Stories at the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen  (Saturday) Not everything that blooms perennially in Central Park is a flower or a tree. Storytelling also returns there each summer, as the city's Parks and Recreation Department, the Central Park Conservancy and the Hans Christian Andersen Storytelling Center bring narrative performers to Andersen's statue every Saturday. The free series, for ages 6 and older, continues this Saturday with Elizabeth Shepherd and Mark Horn telling tales from the Brothers Grimm and Nepal. At 11 a.m., inside the park at 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue, rain or shine, hcastorycenter.org.
  Summer in the Square (Thursday) That's Union Square Park in Manhattan, which has more than playgrounds and lush grass to lure children each summer. This free Thursday series from the Union Square Partnership offers family activities and entertainment through Aug. 13. It includes Yoga Story Time, from the yoga studio Karma Kids; a concert or show (this week the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater will present ''Tales of Br'er Rabbit''); story time with the Strand Bookstore; and exercise with the 14th Street Y and Pop Fit Kids. And a Children's Activity Pavilion, with crafts, books and games, is open all day. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (the activity pavilion is open until 6), South Plaza and South Lawn, off East 14th Street. Complete schedule: summerinthesquare.com.
  Summer Family Day at the Morris-Jumel Mansion (Saturday) Children would have to agree that the Morris-Jumel Mansion has a pretty cool history: At one point during the Revolutionary War it was Washington's headquarters. At this free annual event, they can play at being colonists themselves, with 18th-century games, a history-related craft project and a tour of the house, built in 1765. The day, which takes place both indoors and outdoors, also offers multicultural fun: In conjunction with the house's exhibition of the work of Yinka Shonibare, an artist with roots in England and Nigeria, it will also offer a workshop in batik. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 65 Jumel Terrace, between West 160th and 162nd Streets, Washington Heights, 212-923-8008, morrisjumel.org.
  SummerStage Kids International Contemporary Circus Festival (Friday through Sunday) Adventurous young New Yorkers won't have to run away to the circus this summer; the circus will be coming to them. As part of this annual festival, presented by the City Parks Foundation and supported by Disney, contemporary companies -- whose acts emphasize acrobatics and physical theater rather than animals -- will be offering free performances all over the city. The fun starts on Friday evening in the Bronx with three troupes -- Hybrid Movement Company, the Incredible Incredible and Impact Repertory Theater -- doing dance, acrobatics and illusions. Then the focus shifts to Brooklyn on Saturday and Sunday with performances by Magmanus, a Swedish company featuring a small acrobat, a large juggler and lots of flights through the air. Friday at 7 p.m., Crotona Park, entrance at Crotona Park East and Charlotte Street, South Bronx. Saturday and Sunday at 4 and 7 p.m., Harbor View Lawn, Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2 Old Fulton Street, at Furman Street, Dumbo. Information: cityparksfoundation.org/events/category/circus.
  Sunset EcoCruises to the Harbor Heron Islands (Sunday) Herons, egrets and ibises are New Yorkers, too, and about 3,000 reside on the islands around the city harbor. This series of Sunday cruises from New York City Audubon visits the birds' lairs and provides binoculars for close-up viewing. Gabriel Willow, a naturalist and storyteller, narrates the adventures, conducted via New York Water Taxi. This weekend's trip heads to the Hoffman and Swinburne Islands, where you can expect to see black-crowned night herons, glossy ibises, double-crested cormorants and other species. (Through Aug. 16.) From 7 to 9 p.m., Pier 16, South Street Seaport, Fulton and South Streets, Lower Manhattan, 212-742-1969, nywatertaxi.com/tours/audubon.
  'A Taste of Magic' (Saturday) Would you like a side of sleight of hand with that burger? This show, developed by Magnets, a collective of local magicians, brings wizardry to the dinner table. Taking place at various restaurants, the presentation includes acts like mind reading and card tricks, which professionals perform close-up for guests; there's also a cabaret-style show. And the admission price includes a full meal. (Through July 25.) At 5 and 8 p.m., Docks Oyster Bar & Seafood Grill, 633 Third Avenue, at 40th Street, Manhattan, atasteofmagicnyc.com.
  'Tiny Giants' (Friday through Thursday) The heroes of this film may be small, but they're mighty in their will to survive. Inspired by the BBC television series ''Hidden Kingdoms,'' this Imax movie at the American Museum of Natural History uses 3-D cameras to peer into the universes of two diminutive creatures: a forest chipmunk and a grasshopper mouse from the Arizona desert, noted for its ability to prey on scorpions. Narrated by Stephen Fry, the film allows viewers to see the world from their perspectives. (Through July 5.) Hourly from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with 2-D screenings at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.; all other screenings are 3-D. Central Park West and 79th Street, 212-769-5200, amnh.org.
  'A Voyage Through Jewish History'  (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) This journey involves not just miles, but years. In this permanent interactive exhibition at the Jewish Children's Museum, young visitors can travel from Abraham and Sarah's tent to the Western Wall in contemporary Jerusalem and beyond. Activities along the way include giving water to Rebecca's camels, playing the strings on David's harp (a high-tech version with beams of light that emit sounds when struck) and taking part in the exodus from Egypt. On Wednesday the museum also begins ''Summer Safety 3,'' an installation through Sept. 3 that uses a special course to teach children how to avoid pedestrian dangers. 792 Eastern Parkway, at Kingston Avenue, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 718-907-8833, jcm.museum.
  'Zarafa' (Friday) How often can young cinema fans see a movie free just before it's to open in theaters? The New York International Children's Film Festival will offer that opportunity on Friday when it presents ''Zarafa,'' an animated French film that chronicles the adventures of Maki, a 10-year-old African boy who has escaped from slave traders, and the title character, an orphaned giraffe. Part of the series Films on the Green, hosted by the French Embassy, the FACE Foundation and the Parks Department, ''Zarafa,'' which will be shown in English, is inspired by historical accounts of the first giraffe to visit France. At 8:30 p.m., Tompkins Square Park, East Seventh Street and Avenue A, East Village, frenchculture.org.




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June 24, 2015 Wednesday  


 Obama's Incredible Insult: Racism In Americans' DNA

 
Barack Obama made a revealing -- and disappointing -- observation in a podcast interview the other day.
The interview with a comedian named Marc Maron received extensive news coverage because Obama used a crude term for black people, usually bleeped in audio or described in print as n*****.
But that's not what caught our ear. 
What shocked was Obama's open declaration in a public forum that Americans are racists by their very genetic nature. For some reason, most media skipped right past the ugly utterance.
It's an incredible charge to be made by the first black American president, a man who received 69.5 million votes from his countrymen in 2008 and 65.9 million votes from apparent racists in 2012.
Does nothing ever satisfy this arrogant fellow? Would even a unanimous vote of every single American convince this aloof man that most of his fellow citizens abide with good hearts genuinely open to awarding their highest office regardless of skin color?
Here's what Obama said:
"The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination in almost every institution of our lives. You know, that casts a long shadow, and that's still part of our DNA that's passed on. We're not cured of it. Racism we are not cured of, clearly."
Lapel Flag Flap
Now, if this was some city councilman in Tupelo or Hamtramck, people might overlook an ignorant observation that racism is embedded in all Americans' genetic makeup. But this is a graduate of both Columbia and Harvard Universities.
True, Obama has never allowed the public to see his college transcripts. And he has at times during these past nine years shown flashes of surprising ignorance -- referring to all 57 states, the president of Canada, the incorrect U.S. motto and how Austrians speak Austrian, among others.
But are we to believe this 53-year-old lawyer and two-term president is unaware that DNA is inherited? That if racism is in our DNA, it can no more be cured or changed by education or good will than the shape of our nose or chin, a proclivity to cancer or the color of our eyes or skin?
Forget all of Donald Trump's birther tripe. One of the more disturbing feelings that so many Americans hold of Obama is that he often doesn't appear or sound like he appreciates being American as other national leaders have.
Little things add up, like disdaining a lapel flag pin in his first campaign and appearing irreverent at times during the National Anthem or Pledge of Allegiance. His opening world apology tour fed those suspicions. Americans argue naturally but accept self-criticism from fellows. The same criticism from an outsider can be fighting words.
A Distant American
The right words appear on his teleprompter. And he says them. But without that rhetorical crutch, Obama regularly gets himself in trouble. Witness his empty Syrian red line threat. And now this DNA insult.
Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that someone who spent his most formative childhood years in an Indonesian household -- as Obama has fondly recalled, hearing the regular calls to Muslim prayers waft through the Jakarta neighborhood -- is not as well-connected to some innate, invisible American ethos.
But shouldn't any real leader make a sincere effort to overcome that handicap, even apologizing when he accuses countrymen of implacable racial animosities?
Obama won't, of course. Blaming mistakes on others is in his DNA.
But the fact is that since Obama's 1961 birth, no country in the world has made greater progress toward racial harmony. And possibly no place has done more than the Palmetto State to progress, having twice elected an Indian-American governor and black senator.
That's where the Civil War started and where -- oh, look! -- Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott gathered in racial and religious unity with a large crowd Monday to call for removal of the divisive Confederate flag from the capitol.
Very few deny the existence of some lingering racism in our country. Or the need over time to erase its vestiges as much as sincere good hearts can. None of that is helped by a black president, who vowed to unite Americans, opining that racism is an inherent trait of the people who fell for him.




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June 22, 2015 Monday

 A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS

 
RAMADAN BEGINS: Muslim women offer an evening prayer called"tarawih,"marking the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. During Ramadan, the holiest month in Islamic calendar, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk. DITA ALANGKARA / ASSOCIATED PRESS 
ROYAL PROCESSION:
Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Devonshire and Lord Vetsey take part in the Royal Procession on Day 2 of Royal Ascot 2015 at Ascot racecourse on June 17. TRISTAN FENWIGS / GETTY IMAGES
CLASH WITH POLICE: Far right demonstrators clash with police June 14 at the Franco-Italian border near southeastern France as migrants are blocked at the border. Some 150 migrants, principally from Eritrea and Sudan, attempted to cross the border from Italy and have been blocked by French and Italian gendarmes. LIONEL CIRONNEAU / ASSOCIATED PRESS
MICHELLE OBAMA IN LONDON:
First lady Michelle Obama is greeted by pupils and teachers June 16 at Mulberry School for Girls in east London. Obama was expected to meet with female students in London to encourage them to pursue top educational goals. MATT DUNHAM / ASSOCIATED PRESS




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June 20, 2015 Saturday  


 The Politics of Yoga

 
BALTIMORE -- ATTENTION, downward-facing-dog enthusiasts. The International Day of Yoga is coming on Sunday. A brainchild of Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, it is being backed by more than 175 countries and heavily promoted worldwide. Last week, the Indian Embassy in Washington emailed me an invitation to celebrate on the National Mall, complete with a downloadable yoga ''protocol'' of exercises. Even Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, has been seen, shoeless, practicing his tree pose in Delhi.
The plans for India are even more ambitious. Multitudes of primary, secondary and college students have been summoned to perform the yoga protocol on Sunday at 7 a.m., as have government workers. Mr. Modi's home state of Gujarat alone is organizing celebrations at 29,000 locations. Pursuant to the national obsession with setting world records, the Guinness Book has been invited to observe a yoga rally with more than 35,000 practitioners, presided over by Mr. Modi himself, in the nation's capital.  
  Not everyone is enthusiastic. Some Muslim preachers and opposition politicians have accused Mr. Modi of using the day to foist Hinduism on religious minorities under the guise of yoga.
  The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has responded quickly to such concerns by dropping the requirement to chant or perform a sun worship pose, which might be construed as un-Islamic because it posits the sun as a deity. The party has also relaxed earlier directives that made participation by students and others compulsory, and it has distanced itself from members who have branded protesters as ''traitors'' who should ''drown in the sea.''
  Yoga has encountered such objections before -- conservative Christian parents in New York and California have branded its use in schools as religious indoctrination. Since 2004, Islamic clerics have issued fatwas prohibiting yoga for Muslims in Egypt, Malaysia and Indonesia. The question of whether there is any justification to such opposition is a delicate one.
  Certainly, yoga's evolution has been inextricably linked with that of Hinduism. The word itself, linguistically related to ''yoke,'' first appears in the Rig Veda, a sacred Hindu text from around the 15th century B.C., to describe a chariot yoked to horses, in which a felled war hero might ascend to the sun.
  As the tradition of meditation and exercise developed among Indian ascetics between A.D. 200 and 400, ''yoga'' acquired its new meaning of reining in body and mind to rise above worldly concerns. In this sense, yoga undeniably embodies the worldview of Hinduism (as well as Buddhism and Jainism), in which the goal is to end suffering through enlightenment.
  However, there is no historical record of other religions' disapproving of yoga. Muslim travelers in India, fascinated by yoga's teachings, started bringing translated works to the Islamic world almost a millennium ago.
  The Mughal emperor Jahangir commissioned a Persian text, Bahr al-Hayat, which depicted 21 asanas, or positions. Swami Vivekananda, the 19th-century Hindu reformer, became a sensation after presenting yoga to the West as a scientifically based philosophy at the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago.
  Since then, interpretations of yoga have multiplied. A number of practitioners, both in India and abroad, view it purely as a set of exercises. At the other end of the spectrum are Shiva devotees aiming for moksha, or liberation from the cycle of life and death, through intense meditation and asceticism. Somewhere in the middle lie New Age variations, the ones with incense and mantras and piped-in incantations of the sacred Hindu word ''om,'' swirling around yoga studios like stereophonic movie-theater-sound logos.
  What's striking about Mr. Modi's grand project, given his formative years in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu organization, is the presentation of yoga as a secular activity. His government takes great pains to point out that 47 Muslim nations supported his United Nations resolution. In his United Nations address, he characterized yoga as ''an invaluable gift of ancient Indian tradition,'' rather than Hindu tradition.
  Mr. Modi's careful scripting shows him to be a consummate businessman. By presenting yoga as one of the monumental achievements of Indian thought, he is increasing the country's visibility, promoting its brand on the world market. He will not allow the distraction of religion to interfere with the return on his investment.
  Yoga is big business, estimated at $10 billion a year in the United States alone, and India needs to be associated with it -- not just to attract tourists to yoga retreats, but also to assert its intellectual rights. The country has been fighting attempts by Western gurus to patent yoga poses, assembling a repository of over 1,500 asanas to keep them free.
  Within India, the goal is different. Those on the Hindu right have always harbored the vision of returning to India's greatness as an ancient civilization. A practice with Vedic origins that has nevertheless attained such secular popularity is the perfect vehicle to create a shared national consciousness. The physical engagement, mental discipline and sublimation of desire enshrined in yoga meld seamlessly, yet discreetly, with the more militaristic tenets of organizations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
  The churlish might question whether huge public rallies can be conducive to the quiet spiritual advancement that yoga promises, or whether the pollution generated in transporting all those participants to their Sunday events helps us deal with climate change, as Mr. Modi claims yoga will do. But that would be missing the point, which is to demonstrate that the prime minister can mobilize such large tracts of India's population, that he possesses the assertiveness and authority needed to bring together such a diverse and willful people.
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June 20, 2015 Saturday

 Arthur I. Cyr: Skirmishing on Asian seas

 
By Arthur I. Cyr:
Violent clashes involving Chinese ships and Vietnamese fishing boats are the latest in a series of maritime disputes that span the vast Pacific region.
According to Vietnam news sources, on June 7 and 10 Vietnam's fishing vessels were attacked in disputed waters. In the first incident, a water cannon flooded a boat and a fisherman's leg was broken. In the second, a fishing boat was surrounded and robbed. 
Such clashes are ongoing, including earlier Chinese use of water cannon. They have occurred near the Paracel Islands, claimed by both nations. More widely, China is building permanent artificial islands in the South China Sea, greatly aggravating already strained relations with Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan in addition to Vietnam.
The latest clashes have complicated formal talks between China and Vietnam this week. They involve Pham Binh Minh, deputy prime minister as well as foreign minister of Vietnam, and China state councilor Yang Jiechi. These meetings are well-established, but continuing maritime disputes make them tense.
Recent years have witnessed escalation of maritime conflicts across the Pacific. For example, in April 2014 China authorities impounded the Baosteel Emotion, a freighter of Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. The move is part of commercial claims resulting from World War II. The two nations also both claim the Senkaku Islands.
In May 2013, Vietnam charged that a China vessel invading "exclusive territorial waters" rammed a ship, endangering fifteen Vietnamese fishermen. Two months earlier, Vietnam accused China of shooting at a fishing boat and causing a fire. Construction of China oil rigs in disputed waters is one element in such violent clashes.
That same month, President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines formally apologized for the killing of an unarmed Taiwan fisherman by the Philippines' coast guard. Taipei and Beijing joined in condemning the killing.
China steadily expands in international reach, including rapid construction of enormous new strategic naval capacities. Traditionally, this nation has been cautious in using military force beyond the national borders, but that may be changing.
In 2011, the Obama administration announced a strategic "rebalancing" to Asia which has proven largely rhetorical, but has potential. Since World War II the bulk of the U.S. Navy's ships have been committed to this region. We have fought major wars in Korea and Vietnam. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and is today a close reliable U.S. ally.
Another close ally -- Britain -- has extensive experience with maritime conflicts and commerce. Britain's Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina, were the focus of a war in 1982. The military regime in Buenos Aires seized the islands in a surprise move.
A British expedition recaptured them, a remarkably impressive victory, with vital American logistical support.
Ocean commerce generated deeply rooted durable international law, which becomes more consequential with modern globalization. Britain and the U.S. could assertively work together, starting at the top, to engage nations in comprehensive cooperation to protect international commerce.
This is not entirely utopian. Massive shipping traverses the South China Sea. A top China military delegation just visited the U.S., resulting in formal agreement to foster dialogue between our armies.
Email acyr@carthage.edu




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 Woodward Communications, Inc.
 


June 20, 2015 Saturday

 China-Vietnam issues reflect Pacific-wide maritime disputes

 
In 2011, the Obama administration announced a strategic "rebalancing" to Asia, which has proven largely rhetorical, but has potential.
Violent clashes involving Chinese ships and Vietnamese fishing boats are the latest in a series of maritime disputes that span the vast Pacific region.
According to Vietnam news sources, on June 7 and 10 Vietnam's fishing vessels were attacked. In the first incident, water cannons were used to flood a boat, and one fisherman's leg was broken. In the second, fishermen allege they were robbed by Chinese. 
Such clashes are ongoing, including a water-cannon incident in May. They have occurred near the Paracel Islands, claimed by both nations. More widely, China is building permanent artificial islands in the South China Sea, greatly aggravating already strained relations with Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, in addition to Vietnam.
The latest clashes have complicated formal talks between China and Vietnam (June 17-19). They involve Pham Binh Minh, deputy prime minister as well as foreign minister of Vietnam, and China state councilor Yang Jiechi. These meetings are well-established, but continuing maritime disputes make them tense.
Recent years have witnessed escalation of maritime conflicts across the Pacific. In April 2014, Chinese authorities impounded the Baosteel Emotion, a freighter of Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. The move is part of commercial claims resulting from World War II. The two nations also both claim the Senkaku Islands.
In May 2013, Vietnam charged that a China vessel invading "exclusive territorial waters" rammed a ship, endangering 15 Vietnamese fishermen. Two months earlier, Vietnam accused China of shooting at a fishing boat and causing a fire. Construction of China oil rigs in disputed waters is one element in such violent clashes.
That same month, President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines formally apologized for the killing of an unarmed Taiwan fisherman by the Philippines' coast guard. Taipei and Beijing joined in condemning the killing.
China steadily expands in international reach, including rapid construction of enormous new strategic naval capacities. Traditionally, this nation has been cautious in using military force beyond the national borders, but that might be changing.
In 2011, the Obama administration announced a strategic "rebalancing" to Asia that has proven largely rhetorical, but has potential. Since World War II, the bulk of the U.S. Navy's ships have been committed to this region. We have fought major wars in Korea and Vietnam. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, and is today a close, reliable U.S. ally.
Another close ally, Britain, has extensive experience with maritime conflicts and commerce. Britain's Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina, were the focus of a war in 1982. The military regime in Buenos Aires seized the islands in a surprise move. A British expedition recaptured them, a remarkably impressive victory, with vital American logistical support. A March 2013 plebiscite overwhelmingly confirmed that the people of the islands prefer British sovereignty.
Great Britain before World War II was the paramount maritime power in the world, and remains important. London is a global insurance and financial hub, with major firms historically rooted in maritime salvage, shipping and commercial negotiation.
Ocean commerce generated deeply rooted durable international law, which becomes more consequential with modern globalization. Britain and the U.S. could assertively work together, starting at the top, to engage nations in comprehensive cooperation to protect international commerce.
This is not utopian. Massive global shipping traverses the South China Sea. A top China military delegation just visited the U.S., resulting in formal agreement to foster dialogue between our armies.
Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War." Contact him at acyr@carthage.edu




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June 18, 2015 Thursday

 Why do bow to Muslim sensibilities when it's never reciprocated?

 
In an unbelievable gesture of appeasement toward Muslims, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, celebrated our Independence Day on June 4 to avoid any conflict with the monthlong celebration of Ramadan. 
Why is it that Americans always accommodate or submit to the Muslims? When has any Muslim group ever been respectful of our holidays? Our gestures of respect are never reciprocated.
We are engaging in dhimmitude -- appeasement toward Islamic demands. Our own history is being rewritten and perverted to accommodate the Muslims. Our July 4 celebration is about our country's independence and what made our country great. In Islamic scripture the infidel must bow down in submission to Islam, yet Muslims have no obligations to the infidel. We will never see any Muslim country move its celebrations to accommodate a U.S. holiday. If we continue to give in to their demands, America will no longer be a free nation.
In our quest to prove our "tolerance," we are losing our great country. The Muslims have zero tolerance for anyone daring to disagree with their agenda.
On Memorial Day, while our country was remembering our soldiers and heroes, two prominent Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) officials questioned whether our U.S. military should be honored on Memorial Day. CAIR, a lobby that is somehow respected by the media, maintains that it is a "moderate organization." Instead of honoring the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country's freedom and safety, the executive director of the San Francisco Bay area chapter, Zahra Billoo, and the executive director of the Michigan Chapter of CAIR, Dawid Walid, have decided instead to honor Muslims, including terrorists, who have been killed by American soldiers.
We must continue to stand up for the brave men and women who sacrifice their lives so we all have the freedoms that we enjoy every day. Our holidays are very important for us; we cannot allow them to be torn down and mocked.
CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood continue to exert tremendous influence of the American government's foreign and domestic policies under President Obama. The violence in the Middle East and across North Africa is a direct consequence of the Muslim Brotherhood's effective control over American foreign policy in the region.
We cannot defeat radical Islam while we have someone in the White House who is cheering for the enemy. We cannot defeat the enemy if we refuse to identify them. We are bowing to Muslim demands. How far will we go? Where are we headed? Sharia Law?
We cannot allow this continued erosion of our laws, our ideas, our culture, our way of life as Americans and remain the greatest country on earth. We must not remain silent and surrender to those who want to destroy us.
BLOSSOM STIEFEL
Lowell




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June 17, 2015 Wednesday  


 Breaking the Fast

 
When the chef Sameh Wadi was growing up -- first in Kuwait, then in Jordan, and finally in Minneapolis and St. Paul -- one of the few constants in his life was his mother's cooking, especially the date-filled ring cookies called ka'ak that she made by hand and stockpiled during Ramadan.
Children do not fast during Ramadan, but adults like Mr. Wadi's mother, Shahira, do not eat during daylight for the month. Traditionally, women spend much of their time cooking for the iftar, or fast-breaking meal, that is eaten every night after sunset. 
  ''No question, those are my favorite things in the world to eat,'' Mr. Wadi said. ''I never realized as a kid how cruel it was to steal them, because even though she was fasting, she would still have to make more.'' 
  During Ramadan, the far-flung Muslim communities of the world are unified by one food: the date, one of the earliest cultivated crops and an ancient icon of the Middle East, where the thick-trunked date palm is a symbol of hospitality, rest and peace.
  In the hadith, a collection of sayings attributed to the prophet Mohammed, it is recorded that he always broke the fast with dates and water, so many Muslims are careful to follow, whether the fruit is called balah (Arabic), khajoor (Urdu), hurmah (Turkish) or buah kurma (Indonesian).
  In modern communities, restaurants offer iftar specials and buffets, and all-night food markets pop up to feed the hungry throngs. Dates are always available, out of respect for tradition and because they provide a quick boost of energy for the eating to come.
  ''An iftar without dates would feel very strange to all the Muslims I know,'' said Yvonne Maffei, who writes a popular cooking and nutrition blog, My Halal Kitchen, from her home north of Chicago. ''It would be like Thanksgiving without a turkey: The table doesn't look right without it.''
  This year, each day's fast will be a particularly long one in much of the United States, from about 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., as Ramadan begins on the evening of June 17. (Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, not solar, Ramadan takes place at different times during the Western year.)
  Cooking for Ramadan seems like an oxymoron, but the two large meals of the night hours, the predawn suhoor and the sundown iftar, are opportunities for home cooks to come up with ever more alluring, filling and nourishing dishes.
  ''It sounds strange that Ramadan is a time for even thinking more about food,'' said Razia Parvez, a homemaker in Boonton, N.J., who was born in Pakistan. ''But cooking helps me get through the fast, because I can smell everything and imagine the tastes that I will be serving my family later.''
  Muslims observing the fast try to eat extra dairy and protein at both meals to help stave off hunger the following day. Iftar invariably includes a bowl of dates, and sometimes more elaborate desserts, like pitted dates stuffed with nuts or labne (thick yogurt); ma'moul and ka'ak, round cookies filled with dates; and date paste rolled into cylinders or balls and coated with coconut.
  The most elaborate desserts are saved for Eid al-Fitr, a great feast on the first night of the month that follows Ramadan, which this year falls on July 17. Shirin Farhat, an Iranian-American student in Los Angeles, said that her mother's ranginak, a traditional Persian cake of dates cooked with cinnamon and cardamom and layered with walnuts, is the dish she looks forward to all year long. ''I just take a bite of a date to break the fast,'' she said. ''I save my appetite for ranginak.''
  There are three basic types of dates: soft (including barhi, halawi, khadrawi and medjool), semi-dry (like the deglet noor and zahidi), and dry (like thoori), but thousands of variations are available around the world. Their flavors range from rich molasses to light butterscotch to honey, sometimes accented with the headiness of cognac, the succulence of prunes and the burnt-sugar edge of caramel.
  They are mentioned often in the Quran, the Bible and ancient Sumerian and Assyrian texts. Like all palm trees, date palms belong in the same botanical family as grasses, not fruits; that's why, nutritionally speaking, they have more in common with grains than with most fruits. Dates contain potassium, protein, iron and other minerals; they can last for years and thus have been staples of the diet of nomadic people all over the Middle East for centuries.
  Date palms from the Middle East began arriving in the United States about 100 years ago, when the Department of Agriculture began its effort to transform the arid regions of the Southwest into fruitful fields.
  Along with almonds, oranges, lemons and figs, dates are a drought-resistant crop that can flourish in desert conditions, and California's Coachella Valley and the area around Yuma, Ariz., have proved ideal. (In that region, water for irrigation arrives via canals from the Colorado River, so the drought affecting Central and Northern California, which draw their water from the state's northern mountain regions, is not as threatening.)
  Robert Lower, the owner of Flying Disc Ranch in Thermal, Calif., has been growing dates and other fruits in the Coachella Valley since 1974. ''I was looking for something no one else was growing,'' Mr. Lower said. At the time, he said, the demand for dates had declined as other sources of sugar became plentiful. But over the years, with the growth of the Arab-American communities in Southern California and a rising awareness of the health benefits of dates, he now sells all the dates he can grow.
  More and more of Mr. Lower's customers at farmers' markets, he said, are asking for barhi dates, one of the few types that can be eaten in its yellow unripe stage (called khalal in Arabic; fully ripe, tree-dried dates are tamar, meaning sweet). Mourad Lahlou, the chef at Mourad in San Francisco, grew up in Morocco and deploys khalal dates in the kitchen whenever he can get them. ''When they are young, they are crunchy and only slightly sweet, with a hint of astringency,'' he said, like a tart grape or crisp apple, making them great for balancing rich and savory dishes.
  But the khalal date season is very short: They are available from California and Arizona only for a few weeks of the year.
  Mr. Lower uses traditional methods for hand-pollinating, pruning and ripening, and has gradually developed an ecosystem on his ranch that's almost identical to that of the desert oases of the ancient Middle East. His 450 date palms are planted in precisely measured rows: their huge spreading leaves form a canopy of shade that shelters the citrus, fig and pomegranate trees underneath.
  Despite the rise of interest that Mr. Lower has seen, dates have never caught on as a fruit to eat out of hand in the United States. This may be because the type of date most commonly grown in the United States, the deglet noor, is better known for its hardiness than for its flavor.
  Ms. Maffei of My Halal Kitchen, who was raised in Catholic household in Ohio and converted to Islam in her 20s, grew up with dates at Christmas. ''You would always have them on the plate with the candied fruit and the red pistachios, and no one ever ate them,'' Ms. Maffei said. But, she said, when she began to observe Ramadan, her mind was changed by the rich flavor and plump texture of medjool dates. Her simple recipe for medjools drizzled with tangy crème fraîche is excellent for transforming date doubters into date lovers.
  Deglet noors hold up well when cooked in chutneys, desserts or Moroccan tagines and pilafs, like the one Ms. Maffei makes with a whole roast chicken and fluffy couscous that absorbs the sweetness of dates and the butteriness of toasted almonds.
  Though Mr. Wadi serves some of his mother's recipes at his restaurant Saffron in Minneapolis (''I can't bring myself to change them,'' he said), he believes that many of the traditional ingredients of the Middle East are now ripe for reinvention. For example, dates would rarely be used in a savory dish like his wheat berries with roasted carrots and spicy yogurt, a combination of yogurt and North African harissa that is itself rather revolutionary.
  During Ramadan, many Muslim-Americans make a point of seeking out dates from their ancestors' home countries: the red-brown zaghloul from Egypt, golden barhis from Iraq, orange-brown sair dates from Iran. Throughout the Muslim world, purple-black ajwa dates from Medina in Saudi Arabia, where the prophet lived and died, are considered the finest of all.
  They hardly ever make it to the United States, but Mr. Wadi got his hands on some recently. ''I just sat down and ate them all,'' he said. ''Cooking an ajwa would be like deep-frying a black truffle.''
  Recipes: Dates With Cream and Chopped Pistachios | Wheat Berries With Roasted Carrots, Harissa Yogurt and Dates | Roast Chicken With Couscous, Dates and Buttered Almonds | Cucumber Yogurt Salad With Dill, Sour Cherries and Rose Petals | Lamb Shanks With Pomegranate and Saffron | More Foods to Break the Fast
  Recipe: Dates With Cream and Chopped Pistachios 
  Dates and dairy are ancient staples of the Middle East. This recipe, from Yvonne Maffei, who writes the popular cooking and nutrition blog My Halal Kitchen, combines the two into a luxurious dessert, for Ramadan or other feasts, with very little effort from the cook.
  12 large medjool dates
  24 whole almonds (preferably blanched), walnuts or pecans
  3 to 4 tablespoons crème fraîche
  Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon or 1/2 orange (about 2 teaspoons)
  1 tablespoon coarsely chopped pistachios
  1. Rinse and dry the dates. Make a clean cut along the side of each date to open, and remove the pit.
  2. Stuff each date with 2 whole almonds and lightly pinch closed. (The recipe can be made up to this point up to 2 days in advance. Store in an airtight container.)
  3. When ready to serve, arrange dates cut sides up on a plate or platter. Drizzle on the crème fraîche, making a dollop on each date. Sprinkle on the citrus zest, then the chopped pistachios. Serve immediately, as finger food or on plates with a small fork and knife.
  Yield: 6 to 12 servings
  Adapted from Yvonne Maffei, My Halal Kitchen
  Recipe: Wheat Berries With Roasted Carrots, Harissa Yogurt and Dates 
  The Arab-American chef Sameh Wadi built this very modern dish from some very traditional components of Middle Eastern cooking: yogurt, harissa, carrots and whole grains of wheat. It works equally well as a centerpiece for a vegetarian meal, or alongside a lamb tagine or stew such as Lamb Shanks with Pomegranate and Saffron. To produce the grain called freekeh, wheat berries are harvested green, cracked and roasted over open fires to produce a smoky, earthy-tasting result. ''You can smell it in the market when the freekeh is in season,'' Mr. Wadi said.
  2 cups wheat berries, freekeh (see note), or farro, washed and soaked in water for 10 minutes
  2 tablespoons olive oil
  3 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock or lightly salted water, plus extra as needed
  10 to 12 carrots, preferably mixed colors, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise (if possible, leave some of the green tops intact)
  Grapeseed or canola oil
  Salt
  3/4 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
  1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  2 teaspoons harissa, more to taste
  6 pitted medjool dates, cut into slivers
  A handful of small mint leaves, for garnish
  A handful of small dill sprigs, for garnish
  Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish
  1. In a colander, drain the soaked grains and shake dry. In a medium saucepan with a tight lid, heat the olive oil. Add the grains and cook over moderately high heat, stirring continuously until dry and sizzling, about 1 minute.
  2. Add stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until the liquid just reaches the top level of the grains, about 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to very low, cover and continue to cook until liquid is absorbed and grains are cooked through, 10 to 20 minutes. (Start tasting after 10 minutes; grains should be just tender at the heart. Add more liquid 2 tablespoons at a time if the pan becomes dry.) Turn off heat and set aside, covered, 15 to 30 minutes, to steam.
  3. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread out the carrots in one layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Roast until brown around the edges and tender all the way through, 15 to 20 minutes.
  4. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice and harissa and whisk until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings with harissa and salt. The consistency should be thick but pourable; add more lemon juice or water as needed.
  5. When ready to serve, fluff the grains with a fork. Spoon onto a serving platter or wide shallow bowl; arrange the carrots in a circle on top, then sprinkle with dates. Drizzle yogurt over top and garnish with mint, dill and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
  Yield: 4 to 6 servings
  Adapted from ''The New Mediterranean Table'' by Sameh Wadi
  Recipe: Roast Chicken With Couscous, Dates and Buttered Almonds 
  Deglet Noors dates shine when they are cooked in chutneys, desserts or North African dishes like this whole roast chicken. The chicken is cooked with fluffy couscous that absorbs the sweetness of dates and the butteriness of toasted almonds. Supermarket Deglet Noors are often dark brown and hard, because they have been kept well past their natural point of ripeness; seek out soft, light-colored ones for the best flavor.
  4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  Fine sea salt
  1 large whole chicken, about 4 pounds
  2 cups couscous (not instant)
  3 tablespoons butter
  1/2 cup sliced almonds
  1/2 cup slivered dates
  1 teaspoon sugar
  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  2 tablespoons orange blossom water (optional)
  2 tablespoons honey
  Chopped mint, parsley or cilantro, or a combination, for garnish
  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large ovenproof dish or pot with a tight lid, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon juice, the ginger, the pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the chicken and rub it around in the mixture until evenly coated. Turn chicken breast side down and roast, uncovered, for 50 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine couscous, 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside for 5 to 15 minutes to soak.
  3. In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add almonds and cook, stirring constantly, just until toasted and golden; adjust heat so almonds and butter do not scorch. Turn off heat and stir in dates.
  4. Add almond-date mixture to couscous, along with any butter left in pan, and mix, fluffing the grains with a fork. Mix in 2 tablespoons olive oil, the sugar, the cinnamon and the orange blossom water (if using).
  5. Drizzle or paint honey over top of chicken (leave chicken breast-side down in pot). Add couscous mixture to the pot, arranging it around the chicken. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and return to the oven for 30 minutes more.
  6. Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, remove chicken and carve into serving pieces. Stir and fluff couscous, scraping up any chicken skin stuck to bottom of pan, and place chicken pieces back on top of couscous. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and serve immediately.
  Yield: 4 to 6 servings
  Adapted from Yvonne Maffei, My Halal Kitchen
  Recipe: Lamb Shanks With Pomegranate and Saffron 
  This glossy, savory stew combines two staples of traditional Middle Eastern cooking: rich lamb and tangy, sweet-sour pomegranate. It makes a vivid main course, with each meaty shank garnished with bright pomegranate seeds -- perfect for a festive dinner such as Eid al-Fitr, the feast day on the Muslim calendar that marks the end of daily fasting for Ramadan.
  Pomegranate molasses is easy to find in Middle Eastern markets. Date syrup or sherry or balsamic vinegar could also work, since the pomegranate juice in the recipe already provides the tannic flavors you are looking for in the sauce -- but adjust the amount carefully to taste.
  Pomegranate molasses is easy to find in Middle Eastern markets. Date syrup or sherry or balsamic vinegar could also work, since the pomegranate juice in the recipe already provides the tannic flavors you are looking for in the sauce -- but adjust the amount carefully to taste.
  6 lamb shanks, about 1 pound each
  Sea salt
  Grapeseed or canola oil
  6 cups coarsely chopped yellow onions
  Scant 1/2 cup sliced garlic cloves
  1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
  1 1/2 tablespoons ras el hanout (see note)
  2 teaspoons saffron threads
  1 teaspoon ground ginger
  1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  6 cups chicken stock or water
  4 cups pomegranate juice
  1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses or grenadine
  Seeds of 1 medium pomegranate
  1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
  1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
  Flaky salt, like Maldon or fleur de sel, for sprinkling
  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Season lamb shanks with salt.
  2. In a large ovenproof pot with a lid, heat a thin film of oil. Working in batches to avoid crowding, and adjusting the heat to prevent scorching, brown the lamb shanks thoroughly over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside on a rimmed baking sheet.
  3. Add onion, garlic and ginger to the hot pan, sprinkle with salt and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to become translucent, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the ras el hanout, saffron, ginger and pepper; cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously, until the spices smell fragrant. Add 1 cup stock and bring to a boil. Cook until syrupy, about 3 minutes, using a wooden spatula to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
  5. Return the lamb and any drippings from the baking sheet to the pot. Add the remaining stock and the pomegranate juice. Bring to a boil, then cover and bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the lamb is very tender. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.
  6. Transfer the lamb shanks to a baking sheet and cover with foil. Let the cooking liquid cool for 15 minutes, then skim off and discard the fat that has risen to the surface. Simmer the liquid until reduced to a sauce, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes.
  7. Season to taste with salt, then add the vinegar and pomegranate molasses a few teaspoons at a time, until the sauce is balanced to your liking between sweet and sour. Return the shanks to the sauce and bring to a simmer, spooning the sauce over the shanks until the meat is hot and richly glazed.
  8. To serve, place the lamb shanks on a platter or individual plates, and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds, cilantro, pistachios and salt.
  Yield: 6 servings
  Adapted from ''The New Mediterranean Table'' by Sameh Wadi
  Recipe: Cucumber Yogurt Salad With Dill, Sour Cherries and Rose Petals 
  Crunchy cucumber, cool yogurt and the surprise of tart cherries make this salad alluring, especially when paired with a hot, savory stew, soup or tagine. During Ramadan, the month of the year when observant Muslims fast during daylight hours, it is delicious for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast at sunset. Try it with harira, the traditional Moroccan iftar dish: a fragrant lamb-tomato soup with chickpeas, lentils and vermicelli. Add a pretty bowl of dates -- the food Muslims traditionally eat first to break the fast -- and the meal is complete.
  Both spice and craft shops sell food-grade dried rose petals, or you can make your own by hanging a bouquet of (organically raised) roses upside down to dry.
  Both spice and craft shops sell food-grade dried rose petals, or you can make your own by hanging a bouquet of (organically raised) roses upside down to dry.
  2 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
  2 cups thick or Greek-style yogurt
  1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  1 tablespoon fresh dill, roughly chopped, more for garnish
  1 1/2 teaspoons dried mint
  5 small Persian cucumbers, scrubbed and diced
  Sea salt
  1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
  1 1/2 teaspoons dried rose petals, crushed (see note)
  3 tablespoons dried sour cherries, coarsely chopped
  Chopped fresh mint, for garnish
  Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic with the yogurt, lemon juice, dill and dried mint. Fold in the cucumbers and season with salt to taste.
  2. Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with the pistachios, rose petals, dried cherries, fresh mint and dill leaves. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and serve immediately.
  Yield: 6 to 8 servings
  Adapted from ''The New Mediterranean Table'' by Sameh Wadi




2


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

June 9, 2015 Tuesday

 June 10 letters to the editor

 
Islamic leaders have a role to play as well
I read Amer Araim's May 24 opinion piece, "Protect rights of Rohingya community," regarding the tragic plight of 1.5 million Myanmar Rohingya Muslims.
Persecution is overwhelming in Myanmar and many are desperately attempting to emigrate. However, neighboring countries, including predominantly Muslim Indonesia, are refusing them entry. Araim appeals to the Dalai Lama and Buddhist leaders to "speak out," the United Nations to "take effective steps," and interfaith groups "to take action."
I'm amazed he sees no role for Islamic political or religious leaders in this crisis. His appeals for outside solutions were similar in previous commentaries regarding sectarian warfare in Iraq and the Syrian civil war. He appealed to the United States and others, with no mention of Muslims. 
I suggest Araim write similar commentaries regarding guerilla-like movements to establish separate states in non-Muslim nations, such as China and the Philippines. What about the mass atrocities against non-Muslims in the Middle East and Africa, and terrorist attacks in Europe, America and elsewhere?
Araim should appeal to Islamic leaders to take action as a part of the solution.
Jim Kenna
Dublin
Corrupt FIFA must reform completely
Before last summer's World Cup, most Americans would have taken the recent massive indictments of FIFA and its president Sepp Blatter's resignation with a "who cares" attitude. Because of our interest in last summer's World Cup, we now feel connected to the game as never before.
It's long been known FIFA was rife with bribery, racketeering, corruption, money laundering and fraud, but now we have a stake in it.
The U.S. Justice Department found instances of widespread bribery in awarding sites for the World Cup. It's another instance of white-collar crime -- where rich, powerful men are making themselves richer and more powerful.
The poster child for this corruption is the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, an oil-rich country with a horrible history of human rights abuses. Qatar is living up to its reputation, making headlines with the deaths of migrant workers building the sites and infrastructure. It's estimated 1,200 have already died and 4,000 more will die by 2022.
The bribery's bad enough, but this death toll is unconscionable. Nothing but a complete reform of FIFA is acceptable.
Dennis Wasco
Clayton
Ruling against ACA may be a loss for GOP
Republican strategists finally woke up across the United States. Politicians, specifically GOP governors and 22 of 24 GOP senators from states that refused to build their own health insurance exchanges, are at risk to lose in the 2016 election.
Should the Supreme Court rule in favor of the Affordable Care Act opponents in Burwell vs. King, federal subsidies will stop for eligible residents in states without their own exchanges.
The real consequences are that 8-9.6 million people will lose coverage and premiums will rise. The risk pool will become unbalanced with diverse health statuses and age ranges. Many in and out of the GOP consider this as a political death spiral.
Voters will blame someone -- a political party and the Supreme Court -- for this backward move toward less health coverage and cost savings. When the ruling comes, the nation's insurers will be working on 2016 premium rates and plans as well as government contracts for coverage.
An anti-ACA ruling will shred market projections for more than half the states. The losers may be determined at the ballot box.
Jan Howe
San Ramon




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June 4, 2015 Thursday

 Rohingya Refugees: Stateless in Southeast Asia

 
The Bangladeshi photographer Saiful Huq Omi has spent six years photographing Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar only to find themselves stateless. When he visited refugees in Bangladesh, where more than 200,000 Rohingya now live, he heard stories of torture, rape and murder as well as those about a lack of basic freedoms. While few other people in the world were interested in the plight of these stateless refugees at the time, he felt compelled to focus on them. For Mr. Huq it was personal.
"I grew up listening to stories about how my extended family were refugees in India during the 1971 war for independence," he said. "My father was a young activist, so he had to hide from the Pakistani Army. His first wife, who was my mother's sister, was slaughtered during the war and five of my family members were killed." 
As a child, Mr. Huq lived in the house where his relatives were killed. That experience made him sensitive to the plight of the Rohingya ethnic minority, but he says there is an important difference between them and his countrymen who suffered during their war of independence with Pakistan.
"We had freedom fighters who fought for our independence and won," he said. "We have heroes. The Rohingya have been suffering for 50 years, and when you go into the refugee camps there is no hope. The children are lost."
Mr. Huq photographed Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Malaysia, where many now live. He also worked with human rights organizations and helped produce a documentary film, "Hidden Genocide," for Al Jazeera. His work on the subject has drawn the ire of Myanmar's government as well as powerful forces in Bangladesh who benefit from the human smuggling business. There have been risks involved in covering the story - including being arrested and detained, and narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt, he said.
Since a military coup in Myanmar in 1962, the Rohingya have faced increasing restrictions on travel, access to education and marriage. Because they are denied citizenship, they are effectively stateless. Sectarian violence against the Muslim Rohingya in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in the late 1970s caused more than 100,000 of them to flee to Bangladesh.
Since the military in Myanmar stepped down in 2011 and elections were held, there have been reforms that brought about more freedom and economic opportunity for some people. But conditions have worsened for the Rohingya, who remain targets of extreme discrimination. A new wave of violence against them in 2012 led to tens of thousands more being displaced in Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma.
Southeast Asia's migrant crisis over the last few weeks has highlighted the plight of the Rohingya, as 25,000 refugees have left Bangladesh and Myanmar on smugglers' boats this year headed for Malaysia and Indonesia. Some are Bangladeshis looking for jobs, but many are Rohingya fleeing persecution. Mass graves found in Thailand and in Malaysia are thought to be of Rohingya who died in smugglers' camps.
Mr. Huq was born in 1980 in the seaport city of Chittagong and studied engineering before becoming a professional photographer. In 2012, he started the Counter Foto photography school in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and also created Counter Foto magazine, the first photo periodical written in Bengali.
Mr. Huq intends to continue to photograph the plight of the Rohingya whether the world continues to pay attention or not.
"Burma is becoming the next big place for the world's capital," he said. "But if you are from a community that does not have much wealth or natural resources to offer, like the Rohingya, then no one cares."
Follow @JamesEstrin and @nytimesphoto on Twitter. Lens is also on Facebook and Instagram.                




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May 29, 2015 Friday

 
CENTENNIAL, Colo. - Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting trial heard for the first time in the gunman's own words that he regretted the attack and sometimes cried about it at night.
James Holmes' comments came about two years after the shooting, in a videotaped interview with a state-appointed psychiatrist.
On Thursday, jurors watched the video and heard testimony from the doctor, William Reid, who said he believes Holmes knew the consequences when he opened fire at a Batman movie premiere in July 2012. 
In the video, Reid asks Holmes if he got emotional when his parents visited him in jail for the first time. Holmes responds, "Nope," but concedes in short answers that he sometimes cries before he goes to bed because he feels bad about the attack.
NATION
EX-U.S. SPEAKER CHARGED REGARDING PAYMENTS OF HUSH MONEY: Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million in hush money to keep an unidentified person silent about "prior misconduct" by the Illinois Republican who was once second in line to the U.S. presidency, according to a federal grand jury indictment handed down on Thursday in Chicago.
The indictment, which does not describe the misconduct Hastert was allegedly trying to conceal, charges the 73-year-old with one count of evading bank regulations as he withdrew tens of thousands of dollars at a time to make the payments. He is also charged with one count of lying to the FBI about the reason for the unusual bank withdrawals.
Each count of the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
CDC INVESTIGATING ERROR THAT CAUSED LIVE ANTHRAX SHIPMENTS: The U.S. Army's top general said Thursday that human error probably was not a factor in the Army's mistaken shipment of live anthrax samples from a chemical weapons testing site that was opened more than 70 years ago in a desolate stretch of desert in Utah.
Samples from the anthrax lot ended up at 18 labs in nine states and an Army lab in South Korea, leading more than two dozen people to get treatment for possible exposure.
Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, told reporters the problem may have been a failure in the technical process of killing, or inactivating, anthrax samples.
MAN SUING HIS EX FOR HALF OF $1M PRIZE GETS WIN IN COURT: A Florida man is still trying to get half of his ex-girlfriend's $1 million lottery prize, eight years after he says she took the winning ticket and left him. He says she reneged on a long-ago promise that they'd split any winnings if either of them hit it big.
On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court agreed that if they were still romantically involved, any spoken agreement made years earlier was still valid.
Now a jury will have to decide if a pact was ever made and if the couple was still an item when Lynn Poirier's lucky number was drawn.
           WORLD         
INDIANS SCRAMBLE FOR HEAT RELIEF: Eating onions, lying in the shade and splashing into rivers, Indians were doing whatever they could Thursday to stay cool during a brutal heat wave that has killed more than 1,400 in the past month.
But some had no choice but to venture into the heat.
"Either we have to work, putting our lives under threat, or we go without food," farmer Narasimha said in the badly hit Nalgonda district of southern Andhra Pradesh state.
Meteorological officials have said the heat would likely last several more days - scorching crops, killing wildlife and endangering anyone laboring outdoors. 
ASIAN NATIONS MEET TO DISCUSS ROHINGYA MIGRANT CRISIS: Senior officials from across Asia will meet Friday in Bangkok to tackle the growing problem of desperate people landing on the shores of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, as Rohingya Muslims flee persecution in Myanmar and poor Bangladeshis crowd onto boats in the hope of finding jobs in other countries.
In the past month, more than 3,000 of them have landed in the three countries, sparking concerns about how to help them and how to stop the flow.
Friday's meeting will include representatives from 17 countries directly and indirectly affected by crisis, as well as others such as the United States and Japan, and officials from international organizations such as the U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration.
FROM WIRE REPORTS




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May 28, 2015 Thursday  


 Malaysia's Duty to the Rohingyas

 
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The figures are hard to keep up with: 575 on May 10; 800 on May 13; 300 on May 14; over 700 on May 15. These are the numbers of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh found or left drifting at sea, abandoned by human traffickers on overcrowded boats, where they face starvation, rape and murderous riots. An unknown number -- several thousand, according to some estimates -- still remain unaccounted for, facing a grim few weeks ahead unless they are found quickly by a newly established Malaysian-led search and rescue initiative. Meanwhile, mass graves are being discovered in makeshift holding camps for refugees in the jungle along the border between Malaysia and Thailand.
In the waters where the Andaman Sea narrows into the Strait of Malacca, a humanitarian tragedy that has been simmering for years has boiled over recently. In the first three weeks of May, some 3,500 people, mainly Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshi refugees, have landed on the shores of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. The sudden influx, particularly from Myanmar, highlights the huge gulf between the wealthier members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the others, some among the poorest countries in the world.  
  When Asean members gather on May 29 to discuss the plight of the refugees, they will have to consider not just the immediate fate of the hundreds still drifting at sea, but the long-term future of the region's most underprivileged people. Members like Malaysia, generally the principal destination for such refugees, face mounting pressure to break with Asean's long-established tradition of not interfering in members' internal affairs and instead to use their considerable economic influence over Myanmar to stem the exodus.
  According to the United Nations human rights agency, 25,000 refugees boarded boats operated by human traffickers in the first three months of this year, almost twice the number during the same period last year. The majority are Rohingya Muslims, who are fleeing religious persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Denied full citizenship and reeling from a series of violent clashes with Buddhists in 2012, many leave for what they see as safe havens: prosperous Muslim neighbors like Indonesia, one of the G-20 economies, and Malaysia, whose G.D.P. per capita is nearly 10 times that of Myanmar.
  Strong economic growth in the region over the past two decades has allowed the countries of Asean to concentrate their cooperation in commerce, finance, infrastructure and culture, with human rights and internal governance remaining comfortably off the agenda. Now this policy is under scrutiny. The governments of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have repeatedly turned away boats with refugees in recent weeks, citing concerns that welcoming any new arrivals would open the floodgates and overburden immigration systems. They know, of course, that without a resolution to the conflict in Myanmar, the tide of refugees will continue to swell.
  As this year's chair of Asean and a principal destination for refugees, Malaysia finds itself in the spotlight. Hundreds of thousands of people from Myanmar already live and work here, legally and illegally, and Malaysia is being forced to balance its image as a progressive, receptive country -- its thriving economy is heavily reliant on cheap foreign labor -- with the need to secure its borders and deter the illegal trafficking of humans. Domestically, opinion is divided between those who believe that Malaysia does not have the capacity to deal with a huge influx of refugees, and those who argue that Malaysia should demonstrate its credentials as a compassionate, increasingly advanced country that can take the lead on pressing social issues in the region.
  After three weeks of a mounting crisis, the Malaysian government was among the first in the region to announce that it would launch a search-and-rescue mission to find boats still out at sea and provide temporary shelter to the people who reached land. Then, on May 21, in a bold step that marked a departure from normal diplomatic practice, a delegation from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry traveled to Myanmar to ''exchange views on irregular movements of people'' in Southeast Asia. Given that Myanmar has thus far refused to acknowledge its role in the crisis, or even to discuss the problem of the Rohingya, the delicate wording of the Malaysian communiqué, though superficially faithful to the Asean principle of noninterference, could barely mask the urgency of the mission.
  Ultimately, it is Asean's collective economic influence over Myanmar that will play the biggest role in resolving the refugee crisis. Since the opening of Myanmar's economy to foreign investment in 2011, Asean countries have been among its biggest investors, with Malaysian companies doing $1.65 billion of trade as of March 2014. Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil-and-gas company, is the principal foreign partner in the Yetagun offshore gas field. It is time for Asean countries, and Malaysia in particular, to use their economic might in the service of the region's dispossessed.
  Follow  Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.




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May 26, 2015 Tuesday

 Deceived and ransomed: Rohingya refugees huddle in Indonesia; 
'I didn't know it was going to be like this,' says Mohammad Idiris, a Rohingya Muslim speaking from a refugee camp in Aceh. 'If I had known, I would have stayed in Myanmar.'

 
Last October, Mohammad Idiris put himself in the hands of human traffickers in Myanmar. His decision followed years of ethnic persecution of Rohingya Muslims, and it started a harrowing journey of more than six months that never brought him to his chosen destination, Malaysia.
Thousands of Rohingya, acting out of a sense of desperation in Myanmar and lured by unscrupulous traffickers, are taking dangerous boat journeys that have seen many like Mr. Idiris left adrift on the open ocean and have seen others, unable to pay ransom, killed in camps where mass graves have recently been discovered in Thailand and Malaysia. 
Idiris says that traffickers lied to him, held him for ransom, and shuffled him between boats. His ordeal on the open seas ended in early May when his crowded ship landed on the coast of Aceh province, Indonesia. On May 20, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to shelter some 7,000 mostly Rohingya boat people now believed to be stranded. 
Before setting sail from Myanmar, traffickers told Idiris that he could pay for his passage once he found a job in Malaysia. But once he was en route, they moved him to three different boats and demanded $2,000 from his family for him to be delivered safely.
Never considered leaving before
"I didn't know it was going to be like this," says Idiris, who says his family sold land to pay a broker. "If I had known, I would have stayed in Myanmar."
Idiris says he never considered leaving his hometown of Maungdaw, a district in Rakhine state, until three years ago. Back then, he worked as a fisherman to help provide for his family.
"We were poor but we could eat," he told The Monitor at a camp in Aceh with 329 other refugees.
But in 2012, a waves of sectarian violence between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim minority engulfed Rakhine. At least 140 people were killed, most of them Rohingya, and 140,000 were displaced. Many remain confined to low-quality camps.   
Idiris was not displaced. But repressive policies enacted by the Buddhist-majority government made it difficult to make a living and added to an overall climate of fear. 
"We have a curfew in our village and I couldn't get out to work," he says. "I was too afraid of the Rakhine people and the Army, and two people were killed when they went out of our village to fish."
Now that feeling of desperation has been compounded among Rohingya. Thousands are leaving with promises of reaching distant shores. They are often joined by economic migrants from Bangladesh. Many have lost their lives looking for a safe harbor.
Vast human trafficking networks
Other migrants have died after exposing themselves to a vast and ruthless transnational network of human trafficking. Reports this month indicate many Rohingya disembarked in southern Thailand or northern Malaysia where they were beaten, starved, and tortured until their families paid a ransom.
In the past month, Thai and Malaysian authorities have discovered several camps with mass graves containing hundreds of bodies. The discovery in Thailand was part of a crackdown on traffickers after unscrupulous boat crews left refugees stranded at sea for weeks.
Idiris appears comparatively fortunate. He spent his first six days at sea in a cramped boat with 300 people. Then traffickers transferred him to a boat with 900 people, he says. Traffickers told him his family needed to pay $2,000 in ransom. Idris says they sold land but the traffickers said no money arrived. He was kept on board six months working in the kitchen.
In early May, he suddenly got sent to a different boat with 580 people that the crew soon abandoned.
Two days later, the boat arrived in Aceh, where the local residents have welcomed the refugees. Their future remains uncertain, as nations in the region have yet to establish a comprehensive plan of how to handle the migrant crisis. 
Warm greeting in Aceh
While migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are mostly young men, many Rohingya women and children embark in the boats. Say Nuwara, a 14-year-old girl from a village near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, stayed four months at sea with her mother and 13 other relatives. They arrived in Aceh on the same boat as Idiris.
Three of Ms. Nuwara's relatives were killed during inter-religious riots in 2012. Her family's land was part of a large-scale confiscation by the government to relocate people displaced by the violence. In the process, the family was deprived of its livelihood. They ended up in a camp.
"Life was too difficult in Myanmar," she says. "We decided to go to Malaysia because we have relatives there that can help us."
So far, Aceh has received the refugees with open arms. Fishermen last week rescued two other migrant-filled boats even though the Indonesian government had previously declared that the Navy would push back any ship approaching its coast.
That policy, shared until last week by Thailand and Malaysia, resulted in what human rights groups called "human ping pong," with boats pushed from country to country.
Acehnese families are visiting the Rohingya in their camp and inviting them to their homes.
"We feel happy here, because these people are treating us as brothers, but we are still worried about our families in Myanmar," Idiris says.
When asked if he wants to go to Malaysia, he replies, "I like to be here, but I need to go to a place where I can make a living."




3


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

May 22, 2015 Friday

 Guest commentary: The tragic situation of the Rohingya muslim community in Myanmar

 
The rules of international humanitarian law and the new emphasis by the international community on the issues of human rights highlight the responsibility to protect individuals and communities whether they are large or small or from developed or developing countries.
There are about 1.5 million citizens of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim community who have been subjected to persecution for a long time. 
The government there is reluctant to recognize their rights and claims that they are aliens, though they have been living their for a long time, and all of them were born in Myanmar. Their plight has been exacerbated because the government plans to conduct elections and denying them their citizenship also denies their right to vote in that election.
Furthermore, the atrocities committed by certain leaders of the Buddhist majority against this small Muslim community have increased recently, and thousands have decided to flee the country because of the continuing attacks and the burning of their homes.
The boats that these poor people are using are very primitive, and pose real dangers to their lives. Added to this disturbing situation is the reluctance of the neighboring countries -- particularly Indonesia and Malaysia, which are members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) as well as Thailand -- to admit these refugees.
It is astonishing that Malaysia and Indonesia are refusing allow their fellow Southeast Asian Muslim as refugees, thus endangering their lives. Furthermore, it is saddening that the United Nations Secretary General has so far not issued a statement on this situation.
In addition the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has not intervened in an effective manner to find a solution to those people who are stranded in the Andaman Sea. There are calls in that region to convene an international conference to deal with the situation.
It is appalling that the government of Myanmar is reluctant to attend the proposed conference, and claims that it is not responsible for the plight of the Rohingya Muslim community despite more than a hundred members of that community dying while they were scrambling to leave the country.
The discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar is not new, but the situation has worsened recently.
A few years ago the Nobel Prize Laureate and the leader of the opposition in Myanmar Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited the Bay area, and efforts were made to convey a strong message to her that she should speak out against the atrocities committed in her own country against the Rohingya Muslim community.
The Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County issued a statement demanding the protection of the rights of the Rohingya Muslim community. This writer was contacted by an international nongovernmental human rights organization to communicate with her and to convey the concerns of the faith communities in our area to the plight of Muslims in that county.
I sent her a message, and she responded to my message but no effective action was taken by her in this regard.
A member of the Muslim community from Myanmar explained to me later on that she was concerned about the delicate situation in her country. She added that the most pressing issue for her was to ensure the success of the democratization process, and since speaking out against the atrocities inflicted on the Rohingya Muslim community might antagonize the Buddhist majority in that country, she did not make open statement on that situation.
I am confident that President Barack Obama did discuss the issues of democracy and human rights including the plight of the Rohingya community during his recent visit to that country. However, the atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim community have not been stopped, on the contrary they have been increasing as demonstrated by the efforts of the Rohingya Muslims to take very difficult and dangerous sea voyages to escape persecution committed by the Buddhist majority.
I would like to appeal to the Dalai Lama and the leaders of the Buddhist communities in the United States and all over the world, who have always defended the sanctity of life, to speak out against the violations of human rights to exert influence on the government of Myanmar and the leaders of the Buddhist communities there to immediately intervene to stop this ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim community.
In the meantime the secretary general of the United Nations must take effective steps including inviting the Security Council to take action to deal with gross violations of human rights in Myanmar against the Rohingya Muslim community.
I also appeal to interfaith groups here and all over the world to take action to protect the human rights of the Rohingya Muslim community.
Amer Araim is an adjunct professor at Diablo Valley College and is a resident of Walnut Creek.




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May 22, 2015 Friday  


 Who Says Deportation Isn't Doable?

 
Immigration: Most U.S. politicians think deporting illegals is out of the question. But this is at odds not only with what the public wants but with a can-do deportation stance globally.
The idea that all those who've entered U.S. illegally can't be sent back is always stated by politicians with the calm certainty of "you can't walk to the moon." Even Republican presidential candidates make such noises, three just recently.
"Let's start that conversation by acknowledging we aren't going to deport" the millions already here, Rand Paul said in 2013. "We've got to get past deportation to get to the rest of the issues," he added in 2014. 
"The simple fact" said Jeb Bush earlier this year, "is there is no plan to deport 11 million people." And then last month: "We have to deal with the 11 million people that are here, and you can't "self-deport.'
"That's just not an American value. You can't round up everybody. . . . It's just not practical, and the disruption would be chaotic for all of us."
Marco Rubio said pretty much the same in Spanish during an interview with Univision last month. "We have to deal with the 12 million human beings who are here and no one -- no one -- is advocating a plan to deport 12 million people," the translation read. "So that topic has to be dealt with as well."
This is not to say any of these candidates is advocating amnesty or has put unworthy proposals on the table regarding illegal immigration. The conventional wisdom, however, is that dealing with the estimated 11 million to 20 million illegals must necessarily exclude deportation because it's hard.
Democrats go one step further by coddling illegals and incentivizing illegal immigration for the purpose of drawing votes.
But just about everywhere else in the world, breaking immigration laws is a valid reason for deportation. And with the globalization of smuggling networks -- which are capable of bringing in thousands more illegals than in the past -- there's a sense of urgency.
On Thursday, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announced a tough new policy to disincentivize illegals that includes deportations. It's the result of popular pressure: Over half the country voted on May 7 for either his conservative party or with the upstart -- and underrepresented -- limited-immigration UKIP.
A few days before that, the European Union announced it would organize a naval force to go up against illegal smuggling networks of Libya that are dumping illegals by the tens of thousands across Southern Europe.
The plan is to tow boats back to African ports and sink empty ones. These are the largely toothless European navies, which, based on past wars, have little credibility in combat. But spines seem to have stiffened in response to a real threat.
It's the same story next door in Israel, where illegals are considered "intruders" and where thousands of African immigrants are being offered a choice: $3,000 to go home or go to jail.
Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are resisting waves of illegal Bangladeshi and Burmese Rohingya Muslim migrants pouring into their countries. Malaysia and Indonesia warned smugglers that they'd all be towed out to sea if they invaded their waters.
As of Wednesday, the two nations agreed to take 7,000 of them in special holding facilities. (Malaysia agreed to do it only if the West paid.) On Thursday, South Africa swept up more than 1,000 illegals for deportation.
Even Mexico, which has encouraged its own nationals to emigrate to the United States illegally, has tightened its border.
The bottom line is that as America's political class mutters no-can-do cliches, every one of these nations is resolved to enforced immigration laws even if it means mass deportation.




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 Blogs
(Nicholas Kristof)

May 22, 2015 Friday

 FGM: A Modern-Day Scourge in the United States

 
When Jaha Dukureh created a Change.org petition to tackle female genital mutilation, or "female circumcision," in the United States last year, her goal was modest: 1,000 supporters.
Dukureh, then 24, who herself underwent genital cutting as a girl in Gambia and now lives in Atlanta, wanted an updated federal estimate of the women who have had the procedure or are at risk of it. The number was last estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1997, when 168,000 women and girls were said to have had the operation, or been at risk, in the United States. Dukureh hoped her petition would get a modest number of supporters to back the call for gathering data, as a step toward addressing the issue.
"1000!!!!!!," she wrote in an update on March 7 about her petition signatures. Nine days later, she topped the 1,500 mark. With a push from The Guardian, and tweets of support from celebrities including Paula Abdul and Susan Sarandon, the numbers took off, reaching 220,000 signatures by July. Most significantly, the administration agreed to study the number of women affected and create a working group to come up with a plan to tackle it. 
Updated Estimate
The CDC hasn't released a final estimate, but a draft obtained by The Guardian estimates 513,000 women and girls are living with or a risk of female genital mutilation, or "female circumcision," as it is sometimes referred to euphemistically. Illegal to perform on minors in the United States since 1996, it has no health benefit and typically involves removing part or all of the genitals of babies or young girls, though in some cases it can be a prick. Under one extreme form, the vulva is sewn up afterward, leaving just a small opening for menstruation and urination. The result can lead to great pain and health complications, particularly in childbirth. Parents have their daughters undergo the procedure because they view it as a rite of passage that will improve marriage prospects; there is often an assumption that a girl without a clitoris is likely to be "wild."
The Population Reference Bureau used methods similar to those the CDC employed, and in its own study concluded that 507,000 women are at risk and affected in the United States. The numbers are calculated based on the number of women coming from countries with high prevalence rates of female genital mutilation, or daughters with parents from those countries. In fact, says Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, compared to the 1997 estimate, which included people with ancestry from an affected country, the latest figure is more conservative because it is limited to the first and second generation.
Yet the women who come to the United States aren't necessarily representative of other countries' population as a whole, and when it comes to a precise count of how many women have actually undergone the procedure, that's much harder to calculate. The practice isn't uniform within a country - it can vary by region, religion and wealth, for example, a level of nuance that is difficult to extrapolate when it comes to the U.S. population. In Benin, 72 percent of Peulh girls have undergone the procedure, while it is not practiced among the Adja and Fon ethnicities. In Gambia, 82 percent of girls and women who have been cut think the practice should continue, compared to only 5 percent of those who have not been cut. Low-income Liberian women are twice as likely to have been cut as wealthy ones.
Within the United States, the immigrant groups also tend to be clustered - with 40 percent living in five metropolitan areas: New York, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Immigrants to the United States are often better educated and wealthier (with refugees a notable exception). In fact, calculating the number of just women who have been cut, says Mather, is "flat out impossible to do with the data we have. There are no national surveys.... All the data we have are hospital, clinical data, anecdotal evidence."
Brendan Wynne of Equality Now, which has been lobbying for years to address female genital mutilation in England and the United States, says that it's a mistake to assume that just because immigrants to the United States may be more affluent and educated, that means they are less likely to have been cut. "There's no real connection in that sense, he says. "The last places for FGM to exist will be in the Western world. Diaspora communities tend to hold onto it."
The United States isn't the only country with outdated numbers. UNICEF counts 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is most prevalent, and estimates more than 130 million women and girls in those countries have been cut. The greatest numbers are in Egypt (27.2 million), Ethiopia (23.8 million) and Nigeria (19.9 million), while the highest rates are Somalia (98 percent), Guinea (96 percent), Djibouti (93 percent) and Egypt (91 percent). Yet Somalia's data is from 2006, Ethiopia's from 2000 and 2005, and Yemen's from 1997. (It is also believed to persist among Muslims in Indonesia, which is the world's largest Muslim country.)
So how can the United States get more precise numbers? The United Kingdom - where some 137,000 women are said to be affected - offers one model. There, health professionals in the national health care system must make note in a patient's health care record if she has been cut. The Department of Health also collects data every month from acute trusts, which manage hospitals, on how many patients have undergone the procedure.
But collecting such information in the United States is challenging. Charlotte Feldman-Jacobs of the Population Reference Bureau says that there are privacy and legal issues. "Are you going to ask someone who lives in a country where FGM has been outlawed: 'Have you cut your daughter?' "
And there's a reluctance by women who have undergone it to talk about it - even among themselves. "Women don't want to talk about it because every time, you revisit that awful day, says F.A. Cole, who grew up in Sierra Leone and lives in Germantown, Md., and is launching a magazine for fellow survivors.
Still, more research, even if it's qualitative, would be helpful. And there are issues in the United States that don't apply to countries where it is prevalent. For example, how prevalent is "vacation cutting" - when girls are brought back to home countries to be cut? And what about the rumors that there are cutters brought into the United States to do the procedure?
Dr. Nawal Nour, founder of the African Women's Health Center and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, cautions against putting the onus on just health care professionals for reporting vacation cutting. "As a health provider who has been working hard to maintain access to care for this population, I believe strongly that it would be difficult to make the health system primarily responsible," she writes.
Getting better data will require improved record keeping and coding by healthcare professionals, better surveys, and "sensitive evaluation of changes in attitudes that influence this population," says Nour.
And by providing a more accurate estimate of how many women have undergone cutting, instead of just being at risk, that could persuade the public and legislators about the need to better train those who come in direct contact with girls at risk, as well as provide appropriate emotional and psychological support for those already affected.
Momentum
Numbers aside, Dukureh's Change.org petition has helped to create momentum in important ways: More people in the United States are aware that cutting is not just a practice that affects women overseas, which could provide meaningful public support for legislative and policy change. In February, Rep. Joe Crowley and Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee introduced legislation to establish a multi-agency strategy to tackle the practice, which could include an emergency hotline for girls seeking help. That would add the United States to the group of countries that have a national strategy, like England and Italy.
Dukureh says that when she started her campaign, "I would have never imagined in a million years that it would be this successful." But the past year has given her hope - and the drive to continue. Citing the success of ending foot binding in China a century ago, Dukureh says, "I feel like we can really end FGM in our generation."




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May 21, 2015 Thursday  


 WORLD

 
SE Asia migrant deal reached
Malaysia and Indonesia said that they will give humanitarian aid and temporary shelter to seaborne migrants but stopped short of announcing search-and-rescue operations and said that the refugees must return home. Thailand will also help. Some 3,000 migrants, mostly Bangladeshis and Rohingya -- a Muslim minority in Myanmar -- have landed on the coasts of those 3 nations in recent days.. 
IRAN: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran won't yield to "unreasonable demands" from global powers on a deal over its nuclear program. He won't let inspectors interview its atomic scientists.
IRAQ: Iraqi forces said that they fought off an overnight attack by Islamic State forces near Ramadi. The Sunni terror group captured the western city over the weekend in a big setback for the Shiite gov't.




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May 20, 2015 Wednesday  


 Boats to nowhere

 
THE MONTH of May has brought a terrifying humanitarian crisis to the seas of Southeast Asia. Thousands of people, Rohingya Muslims from Burma and Bangladesh, fleeing persecution and poverty, are adrift on rickety boats in the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca, risking their lives in search of a better life. But Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have turned unwelcoming. There is a very real chance thousands will die at sea from hunger, dehydration or drowning. 
The 1 million Rohingya Muslims are being persecuted in Burma, also known as Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship and in many cases crowded into squalid camps. Rohingya also live in poverty across the border in Bangladesh. One of the consequences of the continuing maltreatment of the Rohingya has been their steady exodus by sea to seek improved conditions in Malaysia, where thousands have landed in recent years. The escape route has often involved treacherous dealings with human traffickers in Thailand, aided and abetted by the Thai navy, a story that was detailed by Reuters in a series that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2014. 
The Rohingya exodus from Burma's coastal Rakhine state, where they are concentrated, surged in the first three months of this year. The number leaving reached 25,000, about double that in the same period of the past two years and more than in all of 2012. Meanwhile, Thai authorities have cracked down on human traffickers who ran the underground routes taken by the Rohingya to Malaysia. Last year, the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report found that Thailand was not meeting minimum standards to combat trafficking, and the country was downgraded to the lowest level, which could lead to sanctions.
Thai authorities moved against the traffickers and their illegal transit camps, where fleeing Rohingya were extorted for money - those who could pay went on, and those who could not were beaten and left to die. Since May 1, the Thai authorities have exhumed  more than 30 bodies from shallow graves, apparent victims of the traffickers. The crackdown appears to have scattered the smugglers, who have abandoned refugees at sea.
The migrants on the water are in desperate shape, and thousands may be adrift. Navy ships from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have in recent days intercepted boats packed with hungry migrants, given them food and water and sent them away. No country wants them, and none wants to encourage an unstoppable exodus. Thailand on Monday announced the formation of a "transit area" for temporarily housing the refugees. All three nations ought to focus on saving lives of those now drifting, rather than turning their boats into floating coffins.
The larger responsibility lies with Burma and the state's reprehensible treatment of the Rohingya minority, a problem that festers in what was supposed to be Burma's transition from military rule to a more open society. The nightmare at sea began with despair at home. Until that is remedied, the boats will keep coming.




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May 19, 2015 Tuesday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION

 
Ukraine captures Russian soldiers
MOSCOW - Two Russian special forces soldiers captured in eastern Ukraine will be prosecuted for "terrorist crimes" committed during a mission of sabotage that killed a government soldier, Ukraine's State Security Service chief said Monday.
The capture of the two wounded men, one of whom is shown confessing in a video posted by a Ukrainian lawmaker, has delivered fresh proof to the embattled government in Kiev that Russian forces are providing arms and backing to the separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine. 
The interception of the Russians coincided with reinvigorated U.S.-Russian diplomacy following Secretary of State John F. Kerry's meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Both pledged to use their influence with the combatants in Ukraine to salvage a 3-month-old cease-fire and peace plan that has all but collapsed.
Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland subsequently was dispatched to build on the effort to shore up the peace plan brokered by European mediators in the Belarus capital of Minsk by meeting with diplomatic counterparts in Kiev and Moscow.
Ms. Nuland met in Moscow on Monday with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and human rights advocate Lyudmila Alekseyeva. Ms. Nuland told journalists before heading back to Washington that she had been assured by the Ukrainian government that the captured Russians were being "well taken care of" and would be allowed visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
But the capture of apparent members of the elite Russian special forces in the front-line town of Shchastia in the separatist-controlled Luhansk region could cast doubt on the sincerity of Mr. Putin's professed support for a Feb. 12 peace plan agreed to by Ukraine, Russia and the separatists.
"The leadership of the Russian Federation will have difficulty saying that these guys just got lost," said Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council. He was alluding to the capture last summer of 10 Russian paratroopers in eastern Ukraine who Mr. Putin said must have accidentally crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Nevertheless, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Moscow's denial of involvement in the war that has killed more than 6,100 in little more than a year.
Indonesia rejects helping more migrants
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia has "given more than it should" to help hundreds of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants stranded on boats by human traffickers, its foreign minister said today, a day before she was to meet with her counterparts from the other countries feeling the brunt of the humanitarian crisis.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that at Wednesday's meeting with Malaysian and Thai officials, she will discuss how to solve the migrant problem with help from their countries of origin, the U.N. refugee agency and the International Office for Migration.
"This irregular migration is not the problem of one or two nations. This is a regional problem which also happens in other places. This is also a global problem," Ms. Marsudi told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the presidential palace.
Ms. Marsudi said Indonesia has sheltered 1,346 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants who washed onto Aceh and North Sumatra provinces last week. The first batch came on May 10 with 558 people on a boat, and the second with 807 on three boats landed on Friday. Even before the crisis, nearly 12,000 migrants were being sheltered in Indonesia awaiting resettlement, she said, with most of those Rohingya Muslims who have fled persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. No more than 500 of those migrants are resettled in third countries each year, she said.
"Indonesia has given more than it should do as a non-member-state of the Refugee Convention of 1951," she said.
British jewel thieves finally nabbed
LONDON - More than 200 British police swooped down on suspected jewel thieves today, making arrests in the notorious Hatton Garden heist that took place in London over the Easter weekend.
Triumphant police, whose early work on the case had been criticized because of the failure to respond to an alarm, said they believe some of the stolen loot has been recovered.
Scotland Yard said seven British men, ranging in age from 48 to 76, are being questioned in a London police station after the morning raids. The men were arrested in north London and in Kent, southeast of the city.
Cmdr. Peter Spindler defended the police performance in the face of criticism of their previous efforts.
"At times we've been portrayed as if we have acted like Keystone Cops but I want to reassure you that in the finest traditions of Scotland Yard, these detectives have done their utmost to bring justice to the victims of this callous crime," he said.
The methodical heist fascinated Britain. The gang members, dressed in fluorescent vests and hard hats, entered the high-security vault area in London's world-famed diamond district carrying bags and wheeled garbage bins for carrying off the jewels.
They worked for two nights over the holiday weekend, drilling through concrete walls 6 feet thick to get into the vault, and left with the contents of dozens of safe-deposit boxes. Police did not assign a value to the heist.
Alleged diploma factory raided
KARACHI, Pakistan - Pakistani federal investigators today raided multiple offices of a software company after a report in  said it made millions of dollars marketing fake degrees worldwide, officials said.
The raids in the southern city of Karachi and elsewhere came after the report said the Axact company marketed online degrees from several nonexistent schools and universities, charging clients thousands of dollars for fake credentials.
Shahid Hayat, director of the Federal Investigation Agency, confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the company.
Pakistani special FIA teams raided the offices hours after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan asked authorities to investigate whether the Times report was accurate.
No employees connected to Axaxt have so far been arrested.




3


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

May 18, 2015 Monday  


 World briefs: Migrants stuck for weeks aboard US ship return to Cuba

 
Talks underway to address 'boat people' crisis in Asia
Malaysia launched high-level talks with its neighbors Sunday to try to solve the deepening problem of refugees stranded in boats off Southeast Asia's shores, but there appeared to be no quick solution to the crisis. 
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman met with his counterpart from Bangladesh, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, ahead of a meeting with Indonesian and Thai foreign ministers set for Wednesday, officials said.
But two weeks into a humanitarian crisis, the stance of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia remained unchanged - none wants to take the migrants in, fearing that accepting them would result in an unstoppable flow. Myanmar, from where many fled, appears unwilling to join talks.
Boatloads of more than 2,000 migrants - ethnic Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar and Bangladeshis trying to escape poverty - have landed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in recent weeks. Aid groups estimate that thousands more are stranded at sea after a crackdown on human traffickers prompted captains and smugglers to abandon their human cargo.
Navy ships from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have in recent days intercepted boats packed with desperate migrants, giving them food and water and sending them away - a move that sparked international outrage.
Burundi's president makes appearance after failed coup o Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has made his first appearance in the capital since the attempted coup against his government last week.
Nkurunziza made a brief statement to journalists Sunday in the foyer of his heavily guarded presidential offices in Bujumbura. He did not mention the failed coup plot or protests that have rocked Burundi for weeks over his bid for a third term in office.
Instead he described how he contacted presidents of nearby African countries to discuss the threat from Somalia's Islamic extremists, al-Shabab. He said his aim was to find strategies to stop threats to the security of Burundians.
Edouard Nduwimana, Burundi's interior minister, called on protesters to stay off the streets Monday because security forces would not be able to differentiate between protesters and extremists.
Mohammed Nibaruta, an opposition activist, said this is a way for the government to justify the illegal use force to discourage demonstrations over Nkurunziza's candidacy, which goes against the constitution's limit of two terms.
38 migrants are returned to Cuba o The U.S. Coast Guard says 38 migrants from Cuba who had been in limbo aboard a U.S. Coast Guard ship have been sent home to Cuba.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said the group was repatriated Sunday morning, ending weeks of waiting.
The migrants detained in April ordinarily have been quickly repatriated under an agreement between the U.S. and Cuba intended to discourage risky sea journeys by people seeking to reach the United States.
But a U.S. official said Cuban authorities had balked at accepting the 38 because they had left the country legally, with tourist visas from the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia.




3



 



May 18, 2015 Monday  


 World Digest: May 17, 2015

 

MALAYSIA

Talks aim to address region's migrant crisis
Malaysia launched high-level talks with its neighbors Sunday to try to solve the deepening problem of refugees stranded in boats off Southeast Asia's shores, but there appeared to be no quick solution to the crisis.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman met with his counterpart from Bangladesh, ahead of a meeting Wednesday with the Indonesian and Thai foreign ministers, officials said.
But more than two weeks into a regional humanitarian crisis, the stance of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia remained unchanged - none wants to take the migrants in, fearing that accepting a few would lead to an unstoppable flow. Burma, from where many of the migrants have fled, appears unwilling to engage in talks. 
Anifah said Malaysia was overburdened and urged Burma, also known as Myanmar, to participate in finding a solution.
Boatloads of ethnic Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma and Bangladeshis trying to escape poverty have landed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in recent days. Aid groups estimate that thousands more are stranded at sea after a crackdown on human traffickers prompted captains and smugglers to abandon their human cargo.
Navy ships from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have in recent days intercepted boats packed with desperate migrants, given them supplies and sent them away - sparking international outrage.
An increasingly alarmed United Nations has urged regional leaders to put lives first.
- Associated Press

MACEDONIA

Protesters demand premier's resignation
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered Sunday in the center of Macedonia's capital to demand the resignation of conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
The government of the Balkan nation is reeling from a long-running wiretap scandal and a gun battle a week ago between police and ethnic Albanians that left 18 dead in a border town. In a region with a long history of ethnic conflicts and political instability, the developments have caused anxiety both at home and abroad.
The great majority of the protesters on Sunday departed by nighttime, but hundreds put up tents, intending to stay for days.
"We have come for our future. I am sending a clear message: Gruevski, don't procrastinate. Leave!" said Zoran Zaev, leader of the opposition Social Democrats.
In January, Zaev began releasing a cache of wiretapped conversations and claimed that Gruevski was behind the wiretapping of more than 20,000 Macedonians. The conversations purport to reveal corruption at the highest levels of government.
Gruevski rejects the accusations. Three officials who were among his closest aides resigned last week in a bid to calm the situation. Theirs were the voices most heard on the recordings.
- Associated Press

AFGHANISTAN

3, including Briton, dead in suicide attack
A suicide car bomber attacked a convoy from the European Union police training mission Sunday near the Afghan capital's international airport, killing at least three people, including a Briton, authorities said.
The blast in Kabul comes amid a stepped-up Taliban campaign in which militants attacked a guesthouse just days ago in the capital, killing 14 people, including nine foreigners.
The car bomb exploded a few hundred yards from the airport's main terminal, said an Interior Ministry spokesman.
Sari Haukka-Konu, a spokeswoman for the E.U.'s police mission, said one non-mission member was killed. The British Embassy in Kabul identified the dead Briton as a security contractor.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the blast also killed two Afghans passing by and wounded 18 people, including three foreigners.
- Associated Press
 2 Russian officers said to be seized near rebel area:  Ukraine's government claimed to have captured two Russian officers operating in the rebel-controlled area in the east. Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the two were taken prisoner by the volunteer Aidar battalion not far from the front line. Aidar said on its Facebook page that they were taken captive in a skirmish.
 U.S. sailor dies in Bahrain:  The U.S. Navy said a sailor assigned to the destroyer USS Farragut died after falling from a hotel balcony in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain. Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet, said the sailor died while on liberty in the island nation's capital, Manama. The ship was docked there as part of a routine port visit. The sailor's name was not released. Bahrain is the longtime host of the 5th Fleet.
- From news services




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May 17, 2015 Sunday  


 

Southeast Asia

Rohingya migrants sent back to sea
Nearly 800 "boat people" were brought ashore Friday in Indonesia, but other vessels crammed with Rohingya Muslims from Burma were sent back to sea by Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations despite the United Nations' call to rescue thousands still adrift with dwindling supplies of food and water.
Underlining the hardening stance on the boatloads of Rohingya fleeing persecution in Burma, Thailand's prime minister warned Friday that if more migrants arrived, they might steal jobs from Thais. And Indonesia's military chief warned of "social issues." 
About 2,500 migrants have landed on Indonesia's western tip and the northwest coast of Malaysia over the past week.
- Reuters

PAKISTAN

Troops prepare for assault on Taliban
Pakistani troops began preparations Friday for an offensive to try to push the Taliban from its last major stronghold in mountainous North Waziristan.
The heavily forested ravines of the Shawal Valley are dotted with Taliban hideouts, and the area is a key smuggling route into neighboring Afghanistan.
"It is a massive military action against the Taliban militants and their allies in the Shawal mountains," said a government official who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss military operations.
The Pakistani Taliban controlled almost all of the northwestern region of North Waziristan until troops launched an offensive there last year.
- Reuters

CANADA

Greenhouse gas reduction target set
Canada announced Friday that it plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 amid international efforts to create a new framework for addressing climate change.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government said it formally submitted its target to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change ahead of the major climate change conference in Paris in December.
The United States, European Union and Japan have set similar targets. World leaders are trying to create a new international framework that would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which has been largely ineffective.
- Associated Press
 Burundi president calls for end to protests after failed coup:  President Pierre Nkurunziza thanked his security forces for crushing a military coup that tried to topple him, and he urged an immediate halt to the protests that have erupted in Burundi in recent weeks since he decided to seek a third term. Three army generals accused of trying to overthrow Nkurunziza have been arrested.
 Despite cease-fire, more combat deaths in Yemen:  At least 10 people were reported killed in heavy clashes in Yemen despite a five-day humanitarian truce. However, the cease-fire, which began Tuesday, appeared to be mostly holding despite heavy ground fighting between local militiamen and Houthi rebels in the city of Taiz, residents said.
 Rwanda court sentences politician to 30 years : Rwanda's High Court sentenced a former prominent politician and businessman to 30 years in prison for involvement in the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 minority Tutsi and politically moderate Hutus died. Charles Bandora, once a senior member of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development Party, denied complicity in the attempt to exterminate Tutsis.
 Attacked tanker had hit Iranian oil platform in March:  A Singapore-flagged oil products tanker that was fired upon Thursday by Iranian craft had previously collided with an Iranian oil drilling platform. South Maritime Pte and Transpetrol, the owner and manager, respectively, of the vessel Alpine Eternity, said the tanker collided March 21 with an uncharted object that was later identified as an Iranian jacket platform. No one was injured and no pollution was spilled. Efforts have since been made to resolve the issue.
 French court convicts 60-year-old for ties to al-Qaeda:  A Paris court has convicted a 60-year-old Frenchman and sentenced him to eight years in prison for belonging to al-Qaeda's North African affiliate and taking part in armed actions in northern Mali. Gilles Le Guen, who converted to Islam 30 years ago, appeared in an October 2012 online video - sitting next to an assault rifle and warning French and U.S. leaders not to intervene in Mali.
- From news services




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May 16, 2015 Saturday

 1,000 at sea land in SE Asia

 
LANGSA, Indonesia (AP) -- More than 1,000 people fleeing persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh came ashore Friday around Southeast Asia, describing murder, extortion and near-starvation after surviving a harrowing journey at sea. 
An increasingly alarmed United Nations warned against "floating coffins" and urged regional leaders to put human lives first. The United States urged governments not to push back new boat arrivals.
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar's 1.3 million Rohingya but is now being confronted with a dilemma that in many ways it helped create. In the last three years, more than 120,000 Rohingya have boarded ships to flee to other countries, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
Myanmar, in its first official comments as the crisis escalated in the past two weeks, indicated it won't take back migrants who claim to be Rohingya, who are denied citizenship in Myanmar and are effectively stateless.
Thailand has convened a meeting of senior officials for May 29, but the Myanmar officials' comments show the difficulty in resolving the crisis.
Most of the migrants are believed to be heading to Malaysia, a Muslim country that has hosted more than 45,000 Rohingya over the years but now says it can't accept any more. Indonesia and Thailand have voiced similar stances.
Earlier this week, about 1,600 migrants were rescued by the Malaysian and Indonesian navies, but both countries then sent other boats away. It wasn't clear whether those who came ashore Friday had been turned away earlier.
The U.N.'s top human rights official said it was "incomprehensible and inhumane" to turn the boats away.




4



 


May 14, 2015 Thursday

 What's behind Saudi Arabia's new muscularity; 
The desert Kingdom takes an assertive new stance. What it means for the Middle East and the world.

 
It happened every night at 7. Life came to a sudden halt in the bustling Saudi capital of Riyadh, and a silence fell across the country. Saudi businessmen, government workers, and families huddled around TVs for an event that had become more gripping than a prime-time soap opera - the nightly military briefing on the Saudi-led bombings in Yemen.
Decked out in military fatigues, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri calmly detailed the airstrikes delivered by the Saudis' American-sold warplanes, while a fascinated public peered at high-definition maps of Yemen, carefully tracing every hit against the Houthis - the latest perceived proxy of Iran to have come into Saudi Arabia's cross hairs.
Elsewhere around the country, billboards and banners offered "blessings" for the airstrikes, which marked Saudi Arabia's first foray into war in nearly a quarter century. Media outlets likened the bombing campaign to the battle of Khozaz - an uprising by Arab tribes against Persian invaders of Yemen more than 1,500 years ago. 
The public not only supports Saudi Arabia's new war, but also its new role as Middle East "policeman," filling the void left by American reluctance to intervene in the region. "The Arab states that do not stand with us today will regret it tomorrow," said Mohammed Hamdan, an electrical engineer, as he watched war updates from a cushioned smoking den outside Riyadh. "You are either with us or against us."
The nationalist pride recently on display is indicative of a bolder, more assertive Saudi Arabia as the desert kingdom tries to expand its geopolitical footprint in the Middle East and around the world. Less than five months after it went through a transition of power from King Abdullah to his brother King Salman, Saudi Arabia is looking beyond its borders to play a more active role as a political and economic power - one that could dramatically affect the strategic balance in a region undergoing the biggest changes in a century. 
Riyadh is increasingly flexing its military might, using funded and armed Sunni proxies and now its own fleet of warplanes to contain the growing influence of regional rival Iran. It has recalibrated its oil policies to give it more leverage in foreign capitals, is pushing ahead with a retooling of its workforce to boost its economic clout, and is exerting more control over what's said from the pulpit to reinforce its new assertiveness.
The shift in Riyadh was also evident this week in King Salman's conspicuous absence at the touted Washington-Arab Gulf summit, a move that was both symbolic and strategic. By deputizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, King Salman placed the spotlight on the first of the third generation of the Saud family to be in line for the throne, a diplomatic passing of the torch. The Saudi monarch also sent a message: the house of Saud will not always be at Washington's beck and call.
Yet all this change comes amid a host of problems for the new regime. Riyadh's mounting cold war with Iran - coupled with the endless conflict in Syria, Islamic State's presence in Iraq, and the escalating violence in Yemen - has enmeshed the country in several simultaneous theaters of war for the first time in history. It faces enduring problems of religious extremism internally and enduring criticism from the West for its repressive human rights practices.
Underneath it all, the question persists: How far will Saudi Arabia go with its new boldness and what does it mean for the region?
"For decades, Saudi Arabia relied too much on its allies, waiting for consensus and green lights rather than proactively protecting its own interests in the region and the world," says Hani Wafa, analyst and political editor at the Saudi daily Al Riyadh. "We have the political and military capital, and we are ready to use it."
·     ·     ·     · 
Riyadh Yassin hurries through the black marble hotel lobby and into a conference room. He is flanked by his trusted Yemeni advisers, who are in turn flanked by blue-uniformed Saudi security guards. For two weeks, Mr. Yassin has been using the five-star hotel in the heart of Riyadh as a makeshift Foreign Ministry, holding endless meetings and working the phones late into the night to rally international support as violence continued to spiral in Yemen.
On this day, the Yemeni foreign minister in exile is holding a cabinet meeting and a briefing with Saudi officials to discuss the latest airstrikes in his country.
"Saudi Arabia is committing its military and its resources to protect the Yemeni people and the legitimate government," Yassin says in between talks with Yemeni tribal leaders in a bid to win their support. "In Yemen, we were prisoners. From Saudi, we can govern."
In recent years, Saudi Arabia's capital city has grown into a haven for Saudi Arabia's Sunni allies, a Casablanca of deposed dictators and exiled ministers where Arab leaders fleeing revolutions go to wait in hopes of a return to power, however improbable that might be.
Ahmad Jarba, former head of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, calls Riyadh home, as do many of the Free Syrian Army generals who took funds, arms, and directives from Riyadh to turn against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Former Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali has been quietly living in the Saudi capital since being ousted by Arab Spring uprisings in January 2011. The rogues' gallery of exiled leaders is a symbol of Saudi Arabia's failed policy to check and contain Iran over the past decade through a concerted war by proxy.
Under the reign of King Abdullah, the Saudis counted on their Sunni surrogates across the Arab world to thwart Iran's Shiite patrons, contesting every town and village from northern Lebanon to southern Bahrain. Since 2005, Riyadh has channeled an estimated $30 billion to tribes and militias in Lebanon, Iraq, and Bahrain, creating a wide network of Sunni movements linked and directed by Saudi intelligence services.
Yet as of 2014, Riyadh was realizing the painful limits of proxy warfare. Offensives stalled. Uprisings were quashed. Wars were lost. A Sunni-led political movement in Lebanon failed to rein in Shiite militant movement Hezbollah in Lebanon, Sunni tribal resistance movements wilted in the face of Iran's dominance in Iraq, and after four years of revolution in Syria, Mr. Assad appears more entrenched than ever.
The worst came in January 2015, when Shiite Houthi militias, now in control of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, drove out the Saudi-backed government of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. In Riyadh's eyes, Iran and its agents for the first time were approaching Saudi soil.
"For over a decade, Saudi Arabia stayed silent as Iran interfered in Arab affairs," says a Saudi palace insider, characterizing the Saudi royal family as "enraged" over the Houthi takeover. "Iran's presence in Yemen was the red line."
On March 25, when Houthi militias drove the Hadi government from Aden and out of Yemen entirely, King Salman turned that frustration into action. Just two months into power, he dispatched Saudi warplanes to Yemen, launching a monthlong aerial campaign and plunging Saudi Arabia into its first state of war since the 1991 Gulf War.
On paper, the exact goals of Operation Decisive Storm were unclear, while the whole air campaign reportedly left US diplomats "baffled." The Saudi military said the bombings aimed to "restore the legitimate government of Yemen" and to "protect Yemeni citizens from Houthi militias and militias of Ali Abdullah Saleh," the country's former dictator. Yet after a month of airstrikes, and around 1,000 people killed, the Hadi government remains in Riyadh.
The humanitarian costs of the bombings have been astronomical. Despite a pledge by Saudi Arabia to cover in full a $273.7 million United Nations aid appeal, aid agencies continue to struggle to reach more than 300,000 internally displaced people within Yemen and an estimated 2 million civilians in need of urgent food and medicine. Human Rights Watch accused Saudi Arabia of using US-sold cluster munitions in its Yemen airstrikes, munitions banned by a 2008 convention signed by 116 nations but not Saudi Arabia or the United States. Despite the announcement of an end to Decisive Storm, daily bombing runs have continued.
No matter the results, analysts and officials say, the greater goal of the bombings was to send a message to both allies and enemies - namely the US and Iran. The message was simple: Saudi Arabia was ready to act and act alone. It would no longer be content to sit and watch from the sidelines.
"We as a country are ready to act against aggression when even our allies turn a blind eye," says a military commander close to the operation.
To Riyadh, the bombings marked a changing of the guard in the Middle East, a new regional order in the Arab world where Saudi Arabia now stands as the leading power.
"If you look around, all the great historic Arab powers - Iraq, Syria, and Egypt - are all in chaos," says Jasser al Jasser, managing editor of the pro-government Saudi daily Al Jazirah. "There is a need for a great Arab power in the region, and Saudi Arabia under King Salman is now stepping up to become that power."
Saudi military officials brag in private that the country acted so swiftly in Yemen, "the Americans didn't know until four hours before the first strikes." While Riyadh did not move as quickly as it would like others to believe - the late King Abdullah reportedly warned Western officials of military action as early as October 2014 - Western diplomats were taken aback by how fast the Saudis built a "coalition of the willing" in Yemen.
"We knew Saudi was willing to act if the conflict touched their borders," says a Western diplomat based in Riyadh. "What we didn't know was that they were going to turn this into a Sunni coalition."
The Saudis quickly convinced their stalwart Sunni Arab allies - Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt - to participate in the bombings. Saudi military insiders say it is a coalition Riyadh wants to use again and again throughout the region, waging war after war to stamp out Iranian influence.
In a motion passed through the Arab League in March, Saudi Arabia and Egypt moved to make the coalition a permanent "Arab joint military force" to be used in operations to combat extremism and lend aid to beleaguered Arab governments. Under the guise of a permanent force, the Saudis intend to use their superior US-sold weaponry and Egyptian and Jordanian manpower to protect their interests, combat extremist groups, and engage in a full-on war against Shiite movements. The Saudis have a fleet of 84 advanced F-15s at their disposal and soon will have more than 200 advanced Patriot missiles. For them, Yemen was only a training exercise.
"We are building a coalition to endure Iran's campaign of destabilization in the region," says the military commander. "Today we are in Yemen, tomorrow Iraq, and then maybe Syria. We will strike wherever Iran and its agents are."
While it is difficult to separate the saber rattling from Riyadh's true appetite for war, the zeal is telling about how Saudi Arabia sees its future role in the region. With an unmistakable swagger, Saudi officials are preaching a "proactive" military doctrine, echoing the brash style of President Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush. 
"This isn't war," the military commander says of the Yemen operation. "This is a preemptive strike."
Riyadh's new assertiveness can also be seen in the way it's using one of its other most potent weapons - oil. As crude oil prices have dropped dramatically in the past year, Saudi Arabia has had every opportunity to reduce production and boost energy prices once again. That's what it would have done in the past. Not this time. 
It has continued to pump, and pump at record levels, despite recently posting a record budget deficit of $38.6 billion. 
The reason: By maintaining production and keeping oil prices low, the Saudis succeed in hurting Iran, which, unlike Riyadh, does not have billions of dollars in currency reserves to soften the blow. The oil-price plunge also harms economically ailing Russia, whose ties with Iran and unflagging support of Assad have heightened tensions between Riyadh and Moscow.
While the Saudis have clearly kept the oil spigot open to undercut the upstart oil shale industry in the US as well, geopolitical interests remain a top focus.
"The maintenance of oil production is Saudi Arabia's new instrument in foreign policy," says Hisham Melhem, Washington bureau chief of Saudi Arabia's state-run Al Arabiya news network.
 ·     ·     ·     · 
In 2011, Lateefa Alwaalan was one of some 80,000 Saudis studying at universities in the US. At the time, many Saudis saw an American degree as merely a badge of honor: Their time at a university was simply a four-year wait for a cushy government job back in Saudi Arabia.
Yet Ms. Alwaalan wanted something more. While studying for her MBA at the University of Washington, she immersed herself in the culture of one of the coffee capitals of the US - Seattle.
She found herself wondering why global coffees, from frothy lattes to silky macchiatos, could be made by machines at the flick of a switch, but Arabic coffee, the bittersweet blend that is the centerpiece of Saudi social gatherings, remained a half-hour chore to brew. "Our coffee-making techniques were stuck in the Stone Age," says Alwaalan.
So she developed an automatic electric kettle designed specifically to bring Arabic coffee to the perfect temperature within minutes, modeled after espresso machines in the Pacific Northwest. She also produced a line of instant Arabic coffee blends.
Bearing the name Yatooq, or "longing," Alwaalan's coffee and kettle dominate the shelves of supermarkets across Saudi Arabia and have entered the Kuwaiti market. Her company now employs more than 70 people. In her university days, Alwaalan was seen as a dreamer. Now she's the future.
Saudi Arabia's strength and its ability to play a more prominent role in the region will hinge in part on its attempts to reform its one-dimensional economy, currently the Arab world's largest. For decades, Saudi oil revenues have acted as an employment fund for citizens, with Riyadh providing government jobs and benefits to at times as much as 90 percent of the population.
The security of a government job and a minimum salary of $2,000 a month - twice the average wages in the private sector - has led over the years to a ballooning public sector and a moribund private sector. As of January, 75 percent of Saudis worked in government agencies. Public-sector salaries accounted for 11 percent of the country's gross domestic product, some $80 billion, representing the largest drain on the Saudi budget.
Private companies looked to foreigners to staff their factories, hotels, and restaurants. From Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, hundreds of thousands have come to fill positions ranging from taxi drivers to heart surgeons.
Now, a startling 9 million foreigners participate in the Saudi labor force, holding more than 80 percent of its private-sector jobs. Meanwhile, around 60 percent of Saudis are under the age of 30, and Riyadh is struggling to absorb the 100,000 Saudis entering the workforce each year.
Starting in 2011, the country promoted a campaign to "Saudi-ize" the labor force, providing incentives to factories and companies to hire Saudi nationals. The results have been mixed. The Ministry of Labor reported a 30 percent increase in Saudi private-sector hiring between 2011 and 2014, with the percentage of Saudis in the labor force rising from 10.9 percent to 15.2 percent. Despite the measures, Saudi unemployment stands at 10.5 percent - nearly twice the government's target - with the jobless rate among Saudis under age 30 hovering around 30 percent. 
Even though the country has yet to forge a vibrant private sector, a new generation of young Saudi entrepreneurs is returning from the US and Europe ready to create at home. Osama Natto has seen this economic revolution up close. An angel investor, Mr. Natto and his Innovative Business Solutions firm have launched eight Saudi companies since 2010. He says a deep-rooted "culture change" over the past few years has led to increased confidence in the Saudi private sector.
"The capital investment was always there, the skilled human resources were always there, but investors always wanted to go with international companies - the sure thing," Natto says. "Now, after a few successes, people have the confidence to 'go Saudi.' "
Thanks to a series of tax breaks and entrepreneur-friendly government regulations, Riyadh is starting to see a nascent business and investment class emerge. The Saudi economy grew 5 percent in 2014, despite the sharp drop in oil prices, with Riyadh leaning more on its young private sector.
 ·     ·     ·     · 
More than 100,000 pilgrims from Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, and as far away as China enter the cavernous marble archways of the Prophet's Mosque in Mecca - the second holiest site in Islam and the final resting place of the prophet Muhammad. Enrobed in simple white ihram cloth, they file into the mosque to pay their respects at the tomb, embarking on the 1,200-year-old rites of umrah, or little pilgrimage.
As noon approaches, pilgrims gather in the mosque's canvas-covered courtyard. United by a bond that transcends language, nationality, ethnicity, and politics, they kneel in unison for Friday prayers.
They gather for a sermon that is decisively political.
"May God bless Operation Decisive Storm and the campaign of the custodian of the two holy mosques to protect this Islamic world," Imam Abdulmohsen al-Qasim thunders through the overhead PA system. "This is a war not only on the Yemeni people, but on its Islamic identity. This is war to defend the Islamic world."
Despite its billions in oil wealth and newfound military might, Saudi Arabia still relies on the pulpit as the main platform for its policies. The title "custodian of the two holy mosques" accompanies every mention of King Salman, and Saudi Arabia trumpets its position as both birthplace and guardian of Islam.
Riyadh continues to use its state-employed clerics and scholars to issue fatwas to justify and enforce royal policies, ranging from upholding a ban on women drivers to observing daylight saving time. Yet in 2015, the House of Saud has fine-tuned its message even further. It is exerting its influence over Islamic universities and highly visible clerics to protect its interests abroad, give a religious legitimacy to its allies in the region, and denounce its enemies as deviants of Islam.
In one of its more public crackdowns, the state arrested renowned cleric Mohamad al-Arefe, whose televised sermons and speeches reached more than 20 million homes across the region, for speaking out against the Egyptian military's ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Riyadh had opposed Mr. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement ever since it came to power and let it be known that its clerics must not speak out against the military coup. After a second jailing in October 2014, Mr. Arefe said nothing more on Egypt and later came out as an ardent advocate of Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.
The country's tight controls, of course, extend way beyond the pulpit. Women are still banned from driving, while the Saudis resentenced blogger and activist Raif Badawi to 1,000 lashes in 2014 for "insulting Islam" with his criticisms of the Saudi royal family.
The heavy-handedness at times draws the ire of Saudi Arabia's democracy-minded Western allies. In the most recent spat, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström ignited a diplomatic crisis in February when she described the House of Saud as presiding over a "dictatorship" and denounced Mr. Badawi's flogging as "medieval."
After Riyadh recalled its ambassador and refused to renew the business visas of Swedish nationals, threatening some $1.3 billion in annual Swedish exports to Saudi Arabia, Swedish King Carl Gustaf sent a personal letter to King Salman to defuse the crisis.
Despite the criticisms, Saudi Arabia has made strides in the area of women's rights. Some 30 women were included in the Majlis al-Shura, the royal handpicked parliament in early 2013, while women continue to make advances in the private sector.
·     ·     ·     ·
Mohammed Abu Baker represents a different threat to the Saudi regime - and one far more ominous. The 22-year-old former engineering student says he was moved by a "religious calling" to promote and defend Islam. He joined the ranks of Islamic State.
"We must defend our lands from the Alawite and Shiite aggressors," Mr. Abu Baker says in a Skype conversation from northern Syria.
When asked why he joined the jihadist militant movement, which has threatened the royal family itself, Abu Baker echoes Riyadh's narrative of a greater Sunni-Shiite struggle for the Middle East. "If the Sunni world does not stand up, the Persians and the distorters of Islam will destroy us," he says.
An estimated 2,000 Saudis have followed Abu Baker's footsteps and joined Islamic State. They are only the latest generation of young Saudis to be seduced by jihadist groups - a peril never far from the minds of Saudi authorities.
"Day and night, our top concern is terrorism," says Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry.
For more than three decades, the battlefields of the various conflicts that have struck the Arab world have attracted thousands of Saudis to embark on jihad, or holy war - from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s to the US occupation of Iraq in the 2000s. Osama bin Laden was the most famous of the militants.
Now with Syria on the brink of becoming a failed state, Islamic State entrenched in Iraq, and spiraling violence in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is facing multiple conflicts that are attracting and radicalizing hundreds of Saudi youths.
"Wherever there is conflict, there is an opportunity for extremism to take hold. And that is why we are concerned," Turki says.
Saudi Arabia's fears are real. Eleven deadly terrorist attacks have been carried out on Saudi soil over the past two years, leaving eight citizens and 11 security personnel dead. The country faced its most recent attack in April when alleged Islamic State supporters killed a police officer in East Riyadh.
Despite all the challenges, Saudis argue that the country has never been stronger. From the Yemeni battlefield to the Riyadh stock exchange to the entrepreneurial suites of Riyadh, officials see the country as poised for a larger and more forceful role in the region.
"For decades, we have been the West's partner and ally," says Mr. Jasser. "Now it is time for Saudi Arabia to stand on its own, and stand tall."




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May 12, 2015 Tuesday  


 Muslims Flee to Malaysia and Indonesia by the Hundreds

 
BANGKOK --  More than 1,000 refugees, including many women and children, came ashore in Malaysia early on Monday in what appears to be a sign of an accelerated exodus from western Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The landing of 1,051 people near a hotel beach on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi on Monday came after 582 arrived Sunday on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. 
  The Malaysian and Indonesian authorities say the refugees are a mix of Bangladeshis and ethnic Rohingya, a persecuted and stateless Muslim ethnic minority that inhabits western Myanmar and eastern Bangladesh. 
  The group that came ashore on Langkawi looked ''very bad,'' said Harrith Kam Abdullah, the most senior police officer on the island. He said the refugees would be sent to the Malaysian mainland.
  ''They landed on a tourist beach,'' Mr. Harrith said in a telephone interview. The group included 101 women and 52 children, he said.
  Peter Athan, the general manager of the Four Points by Sheraton in Langkawi, said hotels on the island had organized to send food and water for the refugees.
  The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a report released Friday that an estimated 25,000 people fled Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat in the first quarter of this year, twice the number of last year.
  The exodus has been spurred by the persecution of the Rohingya, who number around one million in Myanmar alone. The government of Myanmar rejects them as citizens, restricts their travel within the country and refuses to call them Rohingya, preferring the term Bengali, which implies that they belong across the border in Bangladesh. Bangladesh also rejects the Rohingya as citizens and has its own refugee camps, both official and unofficial, filled with more than 200,000 Rohingya.
  Attacks on Rohingya villages in 2012 and 2013 by Buddhist mobs in Myanmar forced more than 100,000 Rohingya into refugee camps, where most remain. The violence has abated, but anti-Muslim sentiment remains potent in Myanmar and is linked to a large political movement known as 969 that portrays Muslims as a threat to Buddhism.
  The Rohingya pay smugglers to take them to Malaysia, which in recent years has turned a blind eye to their clandestine immigration.
  ''This is a ruthless business where smugglers will let them die to set an example for others,'' said Jeffrey Labovitz, the head of the Thailand operations of the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization that is helping the refugees. ''They are subject to extortion, to rape, sometimes to murder.''
  The smuggling and trafficking were long aided by weak law enforcement in Thailand, a major transit point in Southeast Asia for the Rohingya and other migrants. But Thailand has responded to pressure from Europe and the United States by cracking down on officials suspected of complicity in the human-smuggling business and by raiding remote jungle camps where Rohingya were kept in bamboo cages while their families were extorted for money, Thai officials say.
  Over the past week, the Thai authorities have issued 50 arrest warrants for local officials, politicians, police officers and villagers complicit in the smuggling and trafficking of Rohingya and other migrants. Nearly 70 police officers have been transferred from their posts.
  The Thai authorities have also unearthed graves containing more than 32 bodies presumed to be migrants who died in captivity or during the journey.
  The crackdown has pushed the trafficking away from Thailand, according to Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project, a human rights group that tracks migration and human trafficking in the Andaman Sea.
  ''I think there is a huge amount of people still at sea,'' she said in a phone interview late Monday.
  Her organization has been in touch with families of would-be migrants and other sources in Malaysia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. An estimate she made a week ago that 8,000 migrants were currently at sea was most likely too low, she said.
  ''I think we will see many more thousands coming ashore in the coming days,'' she said. ''I'm also concerned that boats might be abandoned by brokers.''
  Mr. Labovitz said that if migrants were stuck at sea on overcrowded boats, their health could deteriorate.''The longer the trip takes, the worse their conditions become,'' he said.
  The International Organization for Migration found that nearly 2 percent of 2,800 refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar it screened over the past three years had beriberi, a disease almost totally eradicated in the developed world and brought on by severe malnutrition.
  Among recent arrivals, Mr. Labovitz said, ''right now we estimate about half of the people are coming from Myanmar and half from Bangladesh.''
  Although many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations and were allowed by the previous military junta in that country to vote in a 2008 referendum and 2010 elections, government officials insist that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
  U Zaw Htay, the deputy director general of the Myanmar President's Office, said in a telephone interview Monday that refugees who landed in Indonesia and Malaysia ''might not be from Myanmar.''
  He ruled out ''internationalizing'' the issue through regional meetings that Thailand has proposed. He rejected the suggestion that Myanmar was happy to see the Rohingya go.
  ''They are not free to go,'' he said. ''But the question is whether the boats left from Myanmar waters.''
  U Kyaw Hla Aung, a Rohingya lawyer and community leader in western Myanmar, said people were leaving the refugee camps daily to embark on sea journeys.
  ''It is clear that security forces here are working together with human traffickers,'' he said. ''If not, those people couldn't leave.''




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May 12, 2015 Tuesday

 
INDOnesiA 
Navy says it sent a boat of Rohingya Muslims to Malaysia 
JAKARTA "" Hundreds of migrants abandoned at sea by smugglers in Southeast Asia have reached land and relative safety in the past two days.  
But an estimated 6,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar remain trapped in crowded, wooden boats, migrant officials and activists said. With food and clean water running low, some could be in grave danger. 
One vessel that reached Indonesian waters early Monday was stopped by the navy and given food, water and directions to Malaysia.  
Worried that boats will start washing to shore with bodies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United States and several other foreign governments and international organizations have held emergency meetings, but participants say there are no immediate plans to search for vessels in the busy Malacca Strait. 
 SWEDEN 
Supreme Court upholds Assange's detention order 
STOCKHOLM "" The nation's highest court rejected WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's appeal of a pre-trial detention order Monday in a nearly 5-year investigation of sex crimes. 
The Supreme Court in Stockholm upheld rulings by lower courts ordering the detention for Assange, saying there is no reason to rescind it as the investigation continues. 
Since 2010, prosecutors have sought to interrogate Assange over allegations of rape, sexual molestation and illegal coercion made by two women after his visit to Sweden that year.  
Assange denies the allegations and has not been formally indicted. 
Swedish prosecutors in March agreed to question Assange in London where he has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy for nearly three years to avoid being extradited. 
PARAGUAY 
Rights experts slam nation over pregnant 10-year-old 
ASUNCION "" The government has failed to protect a 10-year-old rape victim who is being denied an abortion, United Nations human rights experts said Monday. 
In a statement released in Geneva, the four experts said Paraguay has refused to provide treatment to save the life of the girl, who is five months pregnant, "including safe and therapeutic abortion in a timely manner." 
The case has set off a national debate in Paraguay, where abortion is banned in all cases "" even rape "" except when the mother's life is in danger. 
"The Paraguayan authorities' decision results in grave violations of the rights to life, to health, and to physical and mental integrity of the girl as well as her right to education, jeopardizing her economic and social opportunities," the experts said. 
 MACEDONIA 
Officials charge 30 over weekend gunbattle 
KUMANOVO "" Authorities on Monday jailed 30 people captured in a weekend gunbattle in a northern town that left 22 police and suspected ethnic Albanian militants dead, at a time of heightened political tension in the small Balkan country.  
The suspects face terrorism-related charges. They are accused of participating in fighting that killed eight police and wounded 37 people in the northern town of Kumanovo, which has a mixed population of Macedonians and minority ethnic Albanians. 
Most of those arrested were from neighboring ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo. 
CHINA 
12 times this year people tried to open plane doors 
BEIJING "" Air travelers have opened airplane emergency doors without authorization 12 times this year during taxiing or while at a standstill, and one of the passengers was put on trial in the country's first such legal case, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said Monday. 
The man, identified only by his family name of Piao, stood trial on the charge of endangering public safety in the northeastern city of Yanji, the administration said in a statement. 
Piao opened an emergency door on an Asiana Airlines flight without authorization on Feb. 12 when the plane was taxiing, causing the emergency slide to eject and prompting the flight crew to take measures to halt the aircraft, the administration said. 
"" Associated Press 




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 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

May 12, 2015 Tuesday  
CA CHASE EDITION

 Likely left to die by traffickers, 1,600 Burmese migrants seek aid; 
Thousands said to be held in ships in waters off Malaysia, Indonesia

 
Around 1,600 Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslim migrants from Burma have landed in Malaysia and Indonesia in the past two days, authorities said Monday.
Human traffickers apparently abandoned them at sea after crackdowns on traffickers in Thailand, and Malaysia prevented the smugglers from bringing them to shore, activists said. 
One vessel that reached Indonesian waters early Monday, was stopped by the navy and given food, water and directions to Malaysia.
"Because their destination country was not Indonesia, we asked them to continue to the country where they actually want to go," said Indonesia's navy spokesman, 1st Adm. Manahan Simorangkir, the Associated Press reported.
He said the migrants were trying to go to Malaysia but got thrown off course.
"These are people in desperate straits," said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch in Bangkok, calling on governments to band together to help those still stranded at sea, some for two months or longer. "Time is not on their side."
The Rohingyas are considered illegal settlers from Bangladesh in Burma, also known as Myanmar, and many have fled over the past three years because of attacks by Buddhist groups. They have been joined in their quest for a better life elsewhere by Bangladeshis fleeing poverty.
Earlier this month, a mass grave believed to contain Bangladeshis and Rohingyas was found in a trafficking camp in Songkhla province in Thailand, near the Malaysian border.
Human Rights Watch said the grave contained the remains of people who starved or died from disease while being held by smugglers awaiting payment before taking them into Malaysia.
"Thailand has tried to prevent traffickers from continuing their business ... so that has forced them to go somewhere else," Chris Lewa, director of Rohingya rights group the Arakan Project, told the AFP news agency. She said the refugees were "just trying to disembark before they die."
She told the AP  that an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people were being held in ships in the Malacca Strait and nearby international waters.
Jamil Ahmed, deputy police chief of Langkawi Island in Malaysia, told the AP that 865 men, 52 children and 101 women were picked up on Sunday. Around 600 people arrived in Aceh, Indonesia, the same day and were taken to a sports stadium to be looked after and questioned, local police chief Lt. Col. Achmadi told the news agency.
"We believe there may be more boats coming," Jamil said, the AP reported.
A separate migrant crisis has unfolded in the Mediterranean, which last month saw European Union leaders commit additional ships and double emergency aid to frontline member states Italy, Greece and Malta in an effort to stem the tide of migrants, after more than 1,300 died over three weeks.
Most of those who make the perilous journey to Europe are fleeing war, persecution and poverty in North Africa and the Middle East. 




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May 11, 2015 Monday  


 BUSH SUPPORTS BROTHER'S IRAQ WAR DECISION

 
WASHINGTON - Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would have authorized the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as his brother - then-President George W. Bush - did, he told Fox News' Megyn Kelly in an interview to be aired today. 
"I would have [authorized the invasion], and so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody. And so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got," the likely presidential contender said.
As a senator from New York, Ms. Clinton voted in favor of the invasion - a decision that she has since said was wrong.
The mistakes, Mr. Bush argued, were in the decisions made in the aftermath: "Once we invaded and took out Saddam Hussein, we didn't focus on security first."
Saudi king cancels
WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that its new monarch, King Salman, would not be attending meetings at the White House with President Barack Obama or a summit gathering at Camp David this week, in an apparent signal of its continued displeasure with the administration over United States' relations with Iran, its rising regional adversary.
As recently as Friday, the White House said King Salman would be coming to "resume consultations on a wide range of regional and bilateral issues," according to Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman.
But Sunday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said that the king would instead send Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi interior minister.
No new vote for Scotland
LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday ruled out giving Scotland another independence referendum despite gains by Scottish nationalists in a U.K.-wide election, saying Scots had "emphatically" rejected a breakaway only last year.
Mr. Cameron, who was re-elected with a surprise outright majority last week, said he would ensure that further powers would be granted to Scotland according to an existing plan.
Bangladeshi immigrants
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Boats carrying nearly 600 Bangladeshis and long-persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar landed in western Indonesia on Sunday, with some migrants needing medical care, officials and a nonprofit organization said. Thousands more are believed to be stranded at sea.
Steve Hamilton, of the International Organization for Migration in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, said his teams were racing to the Aceh province sub-district of Seunuddon, where the boats offloaded.
Also in the world
Macedonia said Sunday its police had wiped out a group of ethnic Albanian "terrorists" in a day-long gun battle that left at least 22 people dead at a moment of deep political crisis in the former Yugoslav republic. . Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski came in a surprise second behind his conservative opponent in the first round of a presidential election Sunday and must now face him in a run-off, an exit poll showed.




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May 11, 2015 Monday  
1ST Edition

 
Egyptian policeman detained in killing
CAIRO | An Egyptian judge has ordered the detention of a policeman on trial for the January killing of an unarmed female protester taking part in a peaceful demonstration. 
Police lieutenant Yassin Hatem Salahedeen, 24, is facing a manslaughter charge over the death of Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, a 32-year-old mother of a small boy. Video clips widely shared on social media showed el-Sabbagh collapsing in a colleague's arms with her head and chest soaked in blood after a masked policeman fired birdshot in her direction. 
Rights lawyers and witnesses have also said the police hampered efforts to save el-Sabbagh's life.
Yemen rebels, army back cease-fire
SANAA, Yemen | Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies in the country's splintered armed forces said Sunday they would accept a five-day humanitarian cease-fire to allow aid to reach civilians after more than a month of airstrikes from a Saudi-led military coalition.
The cease-fire, scheduled to begin Tuesday, would help ease the suffering of civilians in the Arab world's poorest country who increasingly lack food, fuel and medicine since the bombing campaign began March 26.
Meanwhile, Saudi-led strikes have continued, with a residence of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh targeted Sunday in the capital. Saleh urged Yemenis to remain steadfast in the face of Saudi aggression and to beware of spies among them. 
The raging conflict in Yemen has killed over 1,400 people - many of them civilians - since March 19, according to the United Nations. 
600 migrants  land in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia | Boats carrying nearly 600 Bangladeshis and long-persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar landed in western Indonesia on Sunday, with some migrants needing medical care, officials and a nonprofit organization said. 
Thousands more are believed to be stranded at sea.
Steve Hamilton, of the International Organization for Migration in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, said of the four vessels that arrived, three had apparently been abandoned by the smugglers and the other ran out of fuel, he said.  
Most of the migrants were men, but there also were 98 women and 51 children, officials said, adding that many were sick and weak.  
Bombings kill 14 around Baghdad
BAGHDAD | Separate bombings in and around the Iraqi capital on Sunday killed at least 14 people, officials said, as authorities tightened security measures ahead of a major Shiite religious event. 
The deadliest attack took place in the town of Tarmiyah when a car bomber struck a police and army checkpoint, killing five security force members and wounding 10, a police officer said. 
- Associated Press




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May 11, 2015 Monday  


 World Digest: May 10, 2015

 

INDONESIA

600 migrants wash ashore on boats
Boats carrying nearly 600 Bangladeshis and long-persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Burma landed Sunday in western Indonesia, with some migrants needing medical care, officials and a nonprofit organization said. Thousands more are thought to be stranded at sea.
Steve Hamilton of the International Organization for Migration said his teams were racing to the Aceh province subdistrict of Seunuddon, where the boats offloaded. Of the four vessels that arrived, three had apparently been abandoned by the migrant smugglers and the other ran out of fuel, Hamilton said.
The Rohingya have for decades suffered under state-sanctioned discrimination in Burma and are denied citizenship. Attacks on the religious minority by Buddhist mobs in the past three years have sparked one of the biggest exoduses of boat people since the Vietnam War, sending 100,000 people fleeing, said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project. 
Rohingya packing into ships in the Bay of Bengal have been joined in growing numbers by Bangladeshis fleeing poverty and seeking a better life elsewhere.
- Associated Press

YEMEN

Shiite rebels, allies back 5-day cease-fire
Shiite rebels and their allies in Yemen's splintered armed forces, who have been facing more than a month of airstrikes from a Saudi-led military coalition, said Sunday that they would accept a five-day cease-fire to allow aid to reach civilians.
The truce, scheduled to begin Tuesday, would help ease the suffering of civilians, who increasingly lack food, fuel and medicine since the bombing campaign in Yemen began March 26.
However, all sides in the conflict have warned that they will retaliate if the cease-fire is violated.
On Sunday, the rebel-controlled state news agency quoted Col. Sharaf Ghalib Luqman as saying that rebel-allied troops had accepted a cease-fire. The rebels, known as Houthis, earlier issued a statement saying they will cooperate with the cease-fire and urging a return to dialogue.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led airstrikes in support of exiled Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi have continued, with a residence of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh targeted Sunday in the capital. Saleh and his loyalists are allied with the Houthis, who are backed by Shiite Iran.
- Associated Press

CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC

Rival militias signdisarmament deal
Rival armed groups in the Central African Republic signed a deal Sunday to lay down arms and end a conflict that has killed thousands, the United Nations said.
After lengthy negotiations, the 10 armed groups agreed to "formally disarm, renounce armed struggle as a means of political demands and enter into a process of Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Repatriation," the United Nations said.
The agreement was signed at the end of a forum in the capital, Bangui, attended by politicians, civil society groups and others.
The Central African Republic has been rocked by violence since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition toppled the president in 2013. Human rights abuses committed by the Seleka led to the formation of the anti-Balaka Christian militia and plunged the country into sectarian fighting.
President Catherine Samba-Panza now leads a transitional government that, along with a U.N. peacekeeping force, is trying to stabilize the country.
- Associated Press
 Turkish premier visits Ottoman tomb in Syria: Turkey's prime minister crossed into Syrian territory in an armored convoy to pay a surprise visit to the tomb of the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Syria criticized Ahmet Davutoglu's move, saying Turkey was acting aggressively toward a sovereign state.
 Exit poll in Poland points to likely runoff:  An exit poll predicted that nationalist opposition candidate Andrzej Duda will win the most votes in the first round of Poland's presidential election and face incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski in a May 24 runoff. Duda is expected to get 34.8 percent of the vote to Komorowski's 32.2 percent, according to the Ipsos poll.
 Thai king leaves hospital : Thailand's 87-year-old king, the world's longest-reigning monarch, left a Bangkok hospital he checked into last year and returned to his seaside palace. King Bhumibol Adulyadej had been hospitalized since October, when he had his gallbladder removed.
- From news services




4


 LNP Media Group, Inc.
 
LNP (Lancaster, PA)

May 2, 2015 Saturday

 Birthrate Fuels Islam's Growth Four Facts About Islam; 
Despite The Pew Center's Projections, Determining The Number Of Muslims Living In The United States Is A Difficult Task

 
ECORNELIUS@LNPNEWS.COM
Over the next 35 years, the number of Muslims worldwide is projected to climb by more than 1 billion - from 1.6 billion to 2.76 billion - according to a report by the Pew Research Center.
Those numbers will rival Christianity's spot as the religion with the most followers. Christianity is projected to increase from 2.17 billion to 2.92 billion by 2050. 
There are a number of factors behind the shrinking gap between the two religions - including the growing number of people in Western culture who are unaffiliated - but one stands out: The Muslim population is younger and has a higher birth rate than that of Christians.
According to Pew bloggers Michael Lipka and Conrad Hackett, Muslims have more children than members of the seven other major religious groups analyzed in the study. Each Muslim woman has an average of 3.1 children. Christian women are the next-highest group at 2.7. The average of all non-Muslims is 2.3.
Birthrate questions
Walead Mosaad, a Muslim scholar-in-residence who lives in Allentown and who participated in a Pew study on population rates several years ago, contends that experts are looking at the fertility issue backwards.
Mosaad said birthrates in Muslim countries have actually declined over the past generation. The difference, he said, is that birthrates in the U.S. and many western countries are declining more rapidly.
Jonathan Bornman, of Lancaster, a member of Eastern Mennonite Missions Christian/Muslim Relations team, agreed.
The Pew projections, Bornman said, are biology based. It is not unusual for birthrates in stable western economies to drop, he said.
Mosaad pointed to a Huffington Post study that showed millenials (those who reached adulthood around the year 2000) are less interested in marriage and in having children.
While fewer teenagers are having children - a welcome statistic - the birthrate among women ages 20 to 24 hit a record low in 2014, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that analyzed data back to 1940. At the same time, the birthrate for women 25-29 continues to fall.
Despite the Pew projections, determining the number of Muslims in this country and in Lancaster County is no easy task.
The Muslim population in the United States ranges broadly from 3 million to 7 million.
The U.S. Census Bureau does not collect data on religious affiliation. Federal law prohibits the bureau from asking questions about religious affiliation although, in some person or household surveys, the bureau may collect information about religious practices on a voluntary basis.
Lancaster County is home to 800 to 1,100 Muslims, according to estimates.
"Muslims are hard to count," said Douglas Jacobsen, the distinguished professor of church history and theology at Messiah College.
The reason?
"There are no membership lists like in churches," he said.
The Pew projections were a pleasant surprise to Fuad al-Zubeiry, imam at the West Vine Street mosque in Lancaster.
But he questioned whether there is more to the increase than mere biology.
'I see it both ways," he said. Birthrates contribute to the increase, he acknowledged, "but some people have converted to Islam. People are reading (about Islam) and they are comparing things as a religion. They have questions. They convert."
There are no statistics to determine if the Muslim population in Lancaster County is rising or falling, but al-Zubeiry noted that there are now three mosques in the county as opposed to just one in 2011.
Study's intent questioned
For some people, however, the Pew study's focus is completely wrong.
Dr. Shakeel Amanullah, a pulmonologist at Lancaster General Health, and chairman of the Islamic Community Center of Lancaster Board of Trustees, is concerned about the sense of divide created by the projections.
"It's not nice," he pointed out, "to separate (people) by religion."
People have choices, he said, noting that the center has raised funds to feed the poor and to provide backpacks to students in the School District of Lancaster.
"We encourage all religions in our center," he said, "because that is what we are supposed to do."
Bornman said there is no reason for people to be concerned about the growth in Islam.
"One of the things about our community," he said, "I see Christians and Muslims doing things together. A number of Muslims went to Easter services with their Christian friends."
Jacobsen noted that there are no immediate concerns about the growth in Islam. But a larger cultural issue looms ahead.
The United Nations is the only adjudicating body regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - an article that was drawn up in 1948 in the aftermath of World War II. The declaration, Jacobsen said, is about rights "as westerners see them."
That is, they set forth individual rights. Muslim leaders have rejected the Universal Declaration because their religion focuses on communal rights, not individual rights.
"That conversation has yet to happen," he said.
The Five Pillars of Islam are: faith, prayer, giving to the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca.
Indonesia and India have the largest Muslim populations with 204.8 million and 177.3 million followers, respectively.
Estimates of the number of Muslims in the United States range from 3 million to 7 million.
A Pew Research Center story published in 2007 found that 23 percent of American Muslims were converts to the religion. Of those, 91 percent were American natives.




4


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

May 2, 2015 Saturday  


 St. Louis leader of Muslim group says battle against extremism at 'somber and seminal' moment

 
WASHINGTON o For Basiyr Rodney, it's become less difficult to make the case that most Muslims like him oppose extremist groups such as Islamic State, even as the world has arrived at a "somber and seminal moment" in the struggle against terrorism.
"As we speak, the forces of ISIS have disrupted the lives of Muslims and non-Muslims in a large region of territory between Iraq and Syria," said Rodney, an education technology professor at Webster University, at a meeting Friday between members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association and two members of the House of Representatives who support them. 
The Ahmadiyya are a minority Muslim group consisting of a few million members scattered around the globe. Like Christians and members of other non-Muslim groups, Ahmadiyya have been persecuted, attacked and killed by Islamic extremists in Pakistan, Indonesia and elsewhere.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association is a 75-year-old organization dedicated to religious freedom and community service that has chapters in about 70 American communities, including St. Louis. It has sponsored anti-radicalization programs aimed at Muslim youths on about 30 college campuses and waged similar campaigns on social media.
About 125 of its members - all men under age 40 - spent Friday meeting with members of Congress or their staff. One goal: passage of a congressional resolution directing the State Department to expedite refugee status for people in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East who are being persecuted by Islamic State.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association annually conducts a blood drive on Capitol Hill on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks.
In an interview, Rodney said that as those attacks recede into history it becomes less challenging to make the point that a vast majority of Muslims condemn Islamic State, al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations.
Attacks on Ahmadiyya Muslims, which include the killing of 94 worshipers at a mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2010, have aligned the Ahmadiyya with persecuted religious minorities, including Christians, around the globe, he said.
"It is a caricature of Islam, a political aspiration that is parading itself as a religion," said Rodney, of Islamic State and other extremist groups. "It is not too difficult now, with social media, everybody has a squawk box (to make the distinction). I would say that it is easier than it has been in the past. People are aware. Good-minded people, fair-minded people, just-minded people are willing to listen, and they are hearing that message."
In a speech to a group that included Reps. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and Ted Poe, R-Texas, the co-chairs of the newly reformed Ahmadiyya Caucus, Rodney said that his religion's belief "that the rights and property of Christians and others should be protected are not based on revisionist or moderate interpretations."
Since its creation in the seventh century, the Quran "unequivocally says we should stand in support of all people, whether we know them or whether we do not know them," said Rodney, who joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth in 1996 at age 16.
Speier and Poe thanked the organization for its work with young Muslim Americans.
"Your efforts to denounce and stop the radicalization of young Muslim men and women is deeply appreciated by all of us in this country," Speier said. "The religious intolerance that we see today is frightening, and it then foments, I think, some of the militaristic actions that we have seen by some and that we must put down."
Poe said that "efforts like this are a great way to expose the brutality of ISIS and to eliminate that philosophy that a lot of people throughout the world have: that all Muslims are the same, with a broad-swipe blame all Muslims for the conduct of a radical group of Muslims."




4



 



April 27, 2015 Monday  


 Fulfilling the Arab Spring

 
If the Arab Spring had fulfilled its promise, Maikel Nabil Sanad would be part of a lively political culture in a rapidly modernizing Egypt. Instead, the 29-year-old activist - who was Egypt's first conscientious objector and is a pro-Israel atheist, to boot - is in Washington, appealing for political asylum.
Nabil has the scant comfort of being one of thousands: There were more U.S. asylum applications from Egyptians in 2013 than from any other nation except China. He is lucky that he is one of the Arab liberals who is merely in exile, rather than in prison or the grave. But he is also living testimony to what is missing from the ongoing struggle over the future of the Middle East, as well as the Obama administration's strategy for shaping it. 
It's easy now to forget that Arab proponents of democracy, market capitalism and rights for women were the instigators of the revolutions that swept Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and, ultimately, Syria after 2011. They did not come out of nowhere: For the previous decade, a movement had swelled in favor of ending what a famous 2002 report by Arab intellectuals called the region's   "freedom deficit." In Egypt, its focal point, liberal newspapers and blogs sprouted like mushrooms and Facebook groups backing liberal causes attracted hundreds of thousands of followers.
Moreover, the liberals had a sensible agenda: To drag their countries away from the authoritarian nationalism of the 20th century - and the Islamism of the 7th - and adopt the successful development models of countries such as India and Indonesia, where hundreds of millions of Muslims prosper in 21st-century freedom.
That one country, Tunisia, has succeeded in establishing a working democracy, despite power struggles between secularists and Islamists, and terrorism by jihadists, shows that the goal of democratic transformation was neither a pipe dream nor a Western imposition unsuited for Arab lands. It remains the only workable long-term solution for a region that must balance the interests of multiple religious sects and ethnic groups and find means to compete in global markets beyond oil and gas.
Four years after the revolution, however, democracy is the one option not being discussed as a way of ending the subsequent turmoil - in large part because liberals have been excluded from the debate. Tens of thousands have been driven into exile, including the leaders of Libya's first liberal government; many more are in prison, including most of those who organized the Jan. 25, 2011, march in Cairo that triggered the downfall of Egypt's rotting autocracy.
Some supporters of the liberal agenda, in Egypt and elsewhere, abandoned it when Islamists won Egypt's first democratic elections in 2012. But, as Nabil points out, most simply found themselves literally outgunned. "You had Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states backing the restoration of dictatorship in Egypt," he says. "You had Iran and Russia supporting the Assad regime in Syria, and money from the Gulf going to ISIS [an acronym for the Islamic State]. But no one backed the democratic forces - the United States and Europe decided not to take the risk of helping them."  
President Obama denied aid to secular moderate rebels in Syria, declined to defend Libya's pro-Western democrats against rogue militias and backed Egypt's new military dictatorship even as it imprisoned the country's most committed and effective liberal leaders. Now he envisions political solutions to the wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen flowing from an "equilibrium" between Shiite Iran and the Sunni states. The United States would play the role of equalizer by moderating, through "engagement," Iran's hegemonic ambitions and by heaping new supplies of weapons on Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies.
Obama's scheme might be worth supporting if it had a chance of ending Syria's horrific bloodshed or saving a united Iraq. But as Nabil notes, that is the real pipe dream. Would Iran's supreme leader, or Saudi Arabia's king, really accept a new political order for Syria or Iraq not led by a client of their sect? Who will argue for the defense of minorities, women's rights or democratic choice at a conference table where the U.S. role is limited to balancing competing totalitarians?
A realistic U.S. strategy would start with the right long-term goal, which is putting the rest of the Middle East on the path that Tunisia is following toward building liberal institutions. It would then invest in the Arabs and Iranians who share that goal, of whom there are millions, and defend them from the despots who are tossing them in prison, dropping barrel bombs on their homes and forcing them into exile. It's not a policy that would pay off in the short run. But it would recognize that the best Mideast future lies with young people like Maikel Nabil Sanad.  
jackson.diehl@washpost.com




5


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


April 25, 2015 Saturday

 Mapping religion projections predicts world of change ahead

 
By CATHY LYNN GROSSMAN
Religion News Service
Muslims will overtake Christians by the end of this century.
India, now mostly Hindu, will become the world's largest Muslim country.
The numbers of people with no religious identity will soar in the United States and Europe, but the unaffiliated will lose worldwide market share as Christians maintain a steady growth.
All these changes are drawn from the Pew Research Center's new projections, released April 2, that map global faith traditions and how they're likely to shift by 2050. 
The report says nothing about the transcendent message of any religion. It makes no claims about believers' level of devotion or practice.
Instead, it's a story of nitty-gritty statistics: Which group is having babies (lots of babies or just a few)? Which ones have many young people, and which are slowly graying out? Whose followers are on the move - from one nation to another, or switching religions?
"Demographics are an underappreciated force that is shifting the contours of faith," said Conrad Hackett, the Pew demographer who led the six-year study. Hackett analyzed projected changes for Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, folk religions, other minority religions and the unaffiliated.
Those contours matter. The Pew Research Center doesn't delve into political forecasting, but readers of the report's projections from 2010 to 2050 might feel a thumb press down on many sore spots and raise questions beyond the scope of Pew's data:
* Will prejudice against Muslims rise as the percentage of people in Europe who are Muslim climbs to 10.2 percent, up from today's 5.9 percent? "The projected growth rate is only about 1 percentage point a decade," said Hackett. "But it's a very visible change: More people wearing veils, more behaving in culturally distinct ways."
* Who will assume the minority voice in the U.S. public square as Muslims outpace Jews as the country's third-largest group, after Christians and the unaffiliated?
* Will religious tensions flare as India becomes the world's most populous Muslim nation, supplanting Indonesia? "The quality of interfaith relations in such a country (about to pass China as the world's most populous) will be of global importance," said Alan Cooperman, Pew's director of religion research.
* How will more secular regions such as Europe and the U.S. relate to deeply religious regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, divided among Christians and Muslims?
"The question is: 'How will we understand each other?' " said Cooperman. "Sub-Saharan Africa is 12 percent of the world population now, and it will be 20 percent by 2050. That's huge growth for people to get their heads around."
The report, sponsored by the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, offers many more head-spinning numbers and a religion-by-religion, region-by-region analysis of data from 198 countries and territories, representing nearly all the world's population.
"No one has done anything like this before, so we had no idea about the big picture," said Hackett.
Among the major findings:
* "As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world's largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third of the Earth's 6.9 billion people. Islam came in second, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23 percent of the global population." Four in 10 of all the world's Christians will live in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050.
* While Christian numbers will continue to grow, Muslims, who are younger and have a higher birth rate, will outpace them. By 2050, "there will be near parity between Muslims (2.8 billion, or 30 percent of the population) and Christians (2.9 billion, or 31 percent), possibly for the first time in history." Barring unforeseen events - war, famine, disease, political upheaval and more - Muslim numbers will surpass Christians after 2070.
* Worldwide, the unaffiliated will fall from 16 percent to 13 percent. Christians, Muslims and Hindus live in areas with "bulging youth populations," high birthrates and falling levels of infant mortality, the report said. Even the global tally for Jews is expected to rise, based on the high birthrate of Orthodox Jews in Israel. Meanwhile, the unaffiliated are "heavily concentrated in places with low fertility and aging populations, such as Europe, North America, China and Japan," the report said.
* Nearly two-thirds of all the unaffiliated worldwide live in China, the research found. "If Chinese authorities allow greater freedom of religion, the share of unaffiliated in the world population could shrink even more dramatically than the report predicts," said Ariela Keysar, associate director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, who consulted on the project.
* While religious switching has a significant impact in North America and Europe, in many countries, changing one's religion is difficult - if not illegal. There's no data on religious switching among China's 1.3 billion people, with nearly 50 percent of them in the unaffiliated ranks, for example. But in the 70 countries where survey data was available, the report found that Buddhists and Jews are the primary losers on the switch-in/switch-out balance sheet, Hackett said. "In the USA, there are famous converts like Richard Gere, but there's a lot of disaffiliation among those who grew up Buddhist."
* In the U.S., Christians will decline, from more than three-quarters of the population (78.3 percent) in 2010 to two-thirds (66.4 percent) in 2050. Religious "churn" - people leaving their childhood faith for a different faith or none at all - is the primary driver of change.
* The Muslim share of the U.S. population is projected to climb to 2.1 percent, up from less than 1 percent today. Jews will fall from 1.8 percent to 1.4 percent.
* In 2010, there were 159 countries with a Christian majority, but that will fall by eight countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. By 2050, Muslims will hold the majority in 51 countries, up by two from 2010, including Nigeria, which just elected a Muslim president, and the Republic of Macedonia.
"In many ways the value of projects like this is not to say what the world will look like in 2050. The world could change," said Cooperman. "But they tell us about the world today and the recent path. Peering into the future greatly illuminates what is happening today and its consequences."




5



 






 


April 5, 2015 Sunday

 Muslims to overtake Christians as world's largest faith group, experts predict

 
Muslims will overtake Christians by the end of this century.
India, now mostly Hindu, will become the world's largest Muslim country.
The numbers of people with no religious identity will soar in the United States and Europe, but the unaffiliated will lose worldwide market share as Christians maintain a steady growth.
All these changes are drawn from the Pew Research Center's new projections, released Thursday, that map global faith traditions and how they're likely to shift by 2050. 
The report says nothing about the transcendent message of any religion. It makes no claims about believers' level of devotion or practice.
Instead, it's a story of nitty-gritty statistics: Which group is having babies (lots of babies or just a few)? Which ones have many young people, and which are slowly graying out? Whose followers are on the move ccc from one nation to another, or switching religions?
"Demographics are an underappreciated force that is shifting the contours of faith," said Conrad Hackett, the Pew demographer who led the six-year study. Hackett analyzed projected changes for Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, folk religions, other minority religions and the unaffiliated.
Those contours matter. The Pew Research Center doesn't delve into political forecasting, but readers of the report's projections from 2010 to 2050 might feel a thumb press down on many sore spots and raise questions beyond the scope of Pew's data:
- Will prejudice against Muslims rise as the percentage of people in Europe who are Muslim climbs to 10.2 percent, up from today's 5.9 percent? "The projected growth rate is only about 1 percentage point a decade," Hackett said. "But it's a very visible change: More people wearing veils, more behaving in culturally distinct ways."
- Who will assume the minority voice in the U.S. public square as Muslims outpace Jews as the country's third-largest group, after Christians and the unaffiliated?
- Will religious tensions flare as India becomes the world's most populous Muslim nation, supplanting Indonesia? "The quality of interfaith relations in such a country [about to pass China as the world's most populous] will be of global importance," said Alan Cooperman, Pew's director of religion research.
- How will more secular regions such as Europe and the U.S. relate to deeply religious regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, divided among Christians and Muslims?
"The question is: 'How will we understand each other?' " Cooperman said. "Sub-Saharan Africa is 12 percent of the world population now, and it will be 20 percent by 2050. That's huge growth for people to get their heads around."
The report, sponsored by the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, offers many more head-spinning numbers and a religion-by-religion, region-by-region analysis of data from 198 countries and territories, representing nearly all the world's population.
"No one has done anything like this before," Hackett said, "so we had no idea about the big picture."
Among the major findings:
- "As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world's largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third of the Earth's 6.9 billion people. Islam came in second, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23 percent of the global population." Four in 10 of all the world's Christians will live in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050.
- While Christian numbers will continue to grow, Muslims, who are younger and have a higher birthrate, will outpace them. By 2050, "there will be near parity between Muslims [2.8 billion, or 30 percent of the population] and Christians [2.9 billion, or 31 percent], possibly for the first time in history." Barring unforeseen events ccc war, famine, disease, political upheaval and more ccc Muslim numbers will surpass Christians after 2070.
- Worldwide, the unaffiliated will fall from 16 percent to 13 percent. Christians, Muslims and Hindus live in areas with "bulging youth populations," high birthrates and falling levels of infant morality, the report said. Even the global tally for Jews is expected to rise, based on the high birthrate of Orthodox Jews in Israel. Meanwhile, the report said, the unaffiliated are "heavily concentrated in places with low fertility and aging populations, such as Europe, North America, China and Japan."
- Nearly two-thirds of all the unaffiliated worldwide live in China, the research found. "If Chinese authorities allow greater freedom of religion, the share of unaffiliated in the world population could shrink even more dramatically than the report predicts," said Ariela Keysar, associate director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, who consulted on the project.
- While religious switching has a significant impact in North America and Europe, in many countries, changing one's religion is difficult ccc if not illegal. There are no figures on religious switching among China's 1.3 billion people, with nearly 50 percent of them in the unaffiliated ranks, for example. But in the 70 countries where survey numbers were available, the report found that Buddhists and Jews are the primary losers on the switch-in/switch-out balance sheet, Hackett said. "In the USA, there are famous converts like Richard Gere, but there's a lot of disaffiliation among those who grew up Buddhist."
- In the U.S., Christians will decline, from more than three-quarters of the population (78.3 percent) in 2010 to two-thirds (66.4 percent) in 2050. Religious "churn" ccc people leaving their childhood faith for a different one or none at all ccc is the primary driver of change.
- The Muslim share of the U.S. population is projected to climb to 2.1 percent, up from less than 1 percent today. Jews will fall from 1.8 percent to 1.4 percent.
- In 2010, there were 159 countries with a Christian majority, but that will fall by eight countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. By 2050, Muslims will hold the majority in 51 countries, up by two from 2010, including Nigeria, which just elected a Muslim president, and the Republic of Macedonia.
"In many ways the value of projects like this is not to say what the world will look like in 2050. The world could change," Cooperman said. "But they tell us about the world today and the recent path. Peering into the future greatly illuminates what is happening today and its consequences."




5


 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

April 3, 2015 Friday  
FIRST EDITION

 Islam is fastest growing faith; 
Likely to be largest religion by 2070

 
Muslims will outnumber Christians by 2070, ending two millenniums of Christian dominance going back to the birth of Jesus,  projections released Thursday by the Pew Research Center show.
Islam is projected to grow more than twice as fast as any other major religion over the next half-century because of a higher fertility rate. While Christianity will remain a dominant global religion, it will lose majority status in countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
Such a dramatic change raises questions about whether global conflicts between radical Muslim groups and Western nations with Christian majorities will become more inflamed in the decades ahead. 
A slight shift by one major world religion to numerical dominance may not, by itself, create problems, but underlying factors of rapid population growth in poor countries can drive economic hardship, migration and political unrest, says David Voas, professor of population studies at England's Institute for Social and Economic Research. Such conditions can give rise to extremist violence, he says.
"The very rapid growth of population, combined with limited opportunities even for the educated young people, but particularly for less educated ones, has created social and therefore political tensions, and that has fueled things like immigration to Western countries, political upheaval," Voas say.
The world's two largest religions will be near parity by 2050. Christians are predicted to be 31.4% of the planet's population vs. 29.7% who follow Islam, researchers say. Christians made up the same 31.4% in 2010; Muslims accounted for 23.2%.
"We can be quite confident that Muslims are going to grow rapidly in the decades ahead," says Conrad Hackett, demographer and lead author of the report.
The engine of growth for Christianity and Islam alike will be sub-Saharan Africa, where high fertility and large Muslim and Christian populations will increase global numbers for both religions, Pew demographers say.
Christianity will remain the dominant religion for the United States but lose some of its share to the unaffiliated -- those who claim no particular religion or who are atheists or agnostic. By 2050, one in four Americans will fall into this non-religious category, up from 16.4% in 2010, the analysis shows.
Though the populations of nearly all the world's religions will grow, youth and high fertility among Muslims will fuel a dramatic 73% jump in numbers in just over a generation. The number of Christians during that same period will increase by 35%, the study shows.
By midcentury, global population will swell by a third from 6.9 billion in 2010 to 9.3 billion.
Fertility rates are key to the growth rate of religions, according to the report. Populations remains static with a birthrate of 2.1 children per mother, and a few world religions during the next four decades fall below that mark. Buddhists, for example, have a rate of 1.6, so their numbers will remain largely unchanged by 2050, the report says.
Jews and Hindus have higher fertility rates but still fall below the world average of 2.5. Christians surpass that average with a rate of 2.7, but Muslims soar beyond it with 3.1 children per mother. For followers of Islam to outnumber Christians by 2070 would be a milestone for humankind, many scholars say. Pew researchers say experts they consulted assert that since Christianity began six centuries before Islam, followers of Christ have always outnumbered Muslims.
To establish the projections, Pew researchers culled through and analyzed 2,500 sources of data including censuses, demographic surveys and other studies.
"You might say only God knows how many people are believers," says Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist and demographer with the American Enterprise Institute. "But to the extent we mortals who try to use statistical methods and data can try to quantify these very difficult questions, they've done a tremendous, tremendous job."
---
OTHER FINDINGS
The Pew study projects:
India will surpass Indonesia as the country with the most Muslims by 2050. Because of India's explosive growth -- it will house the world's largest population by then -- Muslims will remain outnumbered by Hindus.
Muslims will make up 10.2% of Europe's population by 2050, up from 5.9% in 2010. Their percentage within the USA will more than double to 2.1%, and they will for the first time outnumber Jews in America.
Though the number of atheists, agnostics and others who do not affiliate with any religion will, as a group, be a smaller share of the world's population by 2050, they will be the largest, outnumbering Christians, in nations such as France, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
Christianity is likely to suffer the largest net loss among those switching beliefs by 2050, winning more than 40 million new adherents while losing 106 million, mostly to those unaffiliated with religion.
A potential wild card in the projections is China. Those unaffiliated with religion make up more than half the population there. Some scholars say many of those could be Christians too fearful to make their faith known. Should they become more open in the decades ahead, it could change the calculations regarding worldwide Muslim numerical supremacy, Pew researchers say. 




5



 


April 1, 2015 Wednesday

 Muslim NGO lawsuits threaten Indonesia president's reformist agenda; 
Muhammadiyah is best known for running hospitals and schools. Now the group is pursuing what it calls 'constitutional jihad' in Indonesia's courts to stop privatization of state assets.

 
For the past century, Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Islamic organization, has risen to prominence by building thousands of schools and hospitals across the vast archipelago. And, while it's long wielded political influence, it has in recent years turned to legal activism that puts it on a collision course with the country's reform-minded president.
Muhammadiyah's new strategy, which it terms "constitutional jihad," is intended to wind back a decade of legal reforms that it argues gives to much control of Indonesian resources to private companies, especially foreign ones. Its campaign is forcing overseas investors to think twice about committing to multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects, a top priority of President Joko Widodo. 
Muhammadiyah argues that privatization is against Indonesia's 1945 constitution, drafted in the heat of its anti-colonial movement against the Netherlands, and threatens to further marginalize the country's poor. 
"We are defending the constitution. We are defending the nation," says Syaiful Bakhri, president of Muhammadiyah University in Jakarta. "Muhammadiyah is pushing the government to consider the people first before making new laws about our resources."
But critics say the group's litigious approach impedes development and, far from protecting the poor, could strengthen the grip of Indonesian tycoons who have a vested interest in fending off foreign competitors. In a recent report, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development concluded that Indonesia's protectionist policies "inhibit openness to trade and foreign investment with uncertain development payoff."
"The law of unexpected consequences reigns supreme here," says Arian Ardie, a risk analyst and former governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta. "It comes down to whether you invest in Indonesia or some other country, and these rulings make the case for Indonesia that much harder."
Muhammadiyah vs. Jokowi
Mr. Bakhri is leading Muhammadiyah's charge against privatization at the Constitutional Court. After a string of recent victories - including the overturn of a 2004 statute that allowed the government to sell water rights to private companies - the group is now turning its attention to its biggest target yet: the 2010 Foreign Investment Law.
President Widodo has used official trips abroad to coax billions of dollars from foreign investors in Japan, China, and South Korea, mostly directed at supporting a much-needed overhaul of infrastructure that could be worth as much as half a trillion dollars over the next five years. This includes contracts for building and operating ports, power plants, and water treatment facilities in the world's fourth most populous country. 
But Muhammadiyah argues that handing over control of strategic sectors of the economy to private or foreign investors is unconstitutional. Its legal argument focuses on a constitutional provision that says resources "shall be under the powers of the State and shall be used to the greatest benefit of the people." Similar arguments were made by Prabowo Subianto, the candidate whom Widodo defeated in last year's election and who remains a powerful opposition figure. 
In addition to fighting the Foreign Investment Law, Muhammadiyah may also challenge the government's decision in January to slash the $22 billion annual fuel subsidy that had long kept gas prices at about half the market rate. Widodo has said the resulting savings would help pay for his sweeping infrastructure program.
But in keeping with its populist agenda, Muhammadiyah contends that fuel should be as affordable as possible for all Indonesians. For now, the only thing preventing the organization from filing a court challenge is the low price of crude oil.
"If it appears the government can't control the price of fuel we will fight it," says Deputy Chairman Bambang Sudibyo.
Populist roots
Founded in 1912, Muhammadiyah has long focused on providing education and health care in rural areas where government services are lacking. It claims to operate three times as many orphanages as the central government and has an estimated membership of 30 million.
Nahdlatul Ulama, which has a more rural and less orthodox Muslim orientation than Muhammadiyah, claims to have more members; its former head, Abdurrahman Wahid served as Indonesia's president during 1999-2001. Muhammadiyah's former leader, Amien Rais, also forged a political career, with less success. The group insists that it's apolitical. 
Kevin Evans, a Jakarta-based analyst and consultant, says the legal campaign is a natural extension of Muhammadiyah's populist roots and helps keep it politically relevant. "They are sparking a public policy debate," he says, one that's appears to be widely supported by its members.
"It makes me angry if our resources are being sold to foreigners when we have so much poverty," says Asep, who is the organization's secretary for charitable works and like many Indonesians uses only one name. "But I'm also proud to be part of this organization."




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March 31, 2015 Tuesday  


 acldsInviting Radical Muslims Who Mutilate Little Girls

 
Presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal is taking heat for proposing barring foreigners for belief in "radical Islam." But even the Obama administration is having to "raise awareness" about "child abuse" tied to such immigration and belief.
"We shouldn't tolerate those who want to come and try to impose some variant of Shariah law," the Louisiana governor asserted. "I fear if we don't insist on assimilation, we then go the way of Europe." 
Jindal warned that American cities could one day mimic European cities, where women in Muslim immigrant neighborhoods are afraid to walk without veils. "That's wrong and we shouldn't allow for that to happen here."
But that's hardly the only thing women are afraid of. Recent mass Muslim immigration has imported not just mandatory head-covering but also the barbaric practice of "female genital mutilation," or FGM, in which girls under the age of 15 are forced to have all or part of their clitoris removed to ensure they remain chaste and don't cheat on their future husbands.
Loose immigration policies aren't just bringing this misogynistic culture to Europe. America is seeing a spike in FGM cases since President Obama opened the floodgates to Muslim "refugees" from Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and other nations where such criminal child abuse is common.
The number of girls at risk for genital cutting in the U.S. has more than doubled over the past decade, according to the Population Reference Bureau. A forthcoming report by the federal Centers for Disease Control reveals that more than half a million -- 513,000 -- women and girls are living with such mutilation in the country today.
Gynecologists in Minneapolis, New York, Detroit, the Washington area and other cities with large Muslim populations say they are seeing a lot more FGM cases. The problem has grown so bad that the federal Office of Refugee Settlement has promoted a webinar on how to stop FGM among the waves of refugees coming from African and Mideast counties.
The talk was held earlier this month with Justice and Education Department officials, along with experts from Johns Hopkins University, to "present information on the physical, psychological and emotional effects of FGM" and "explain the legal consequences of FGM as a federal crime and a reportable child abuse offense in most states."
The administration, of course, downplays the role of immigration in the crisis. And the mainstream media deny FGM is a religious ritual tied to Islam. They insist it's a cultural anomaly confined to African countries.
But FGM is widely practiced in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and other non-African countries -- all Muslim nations just like Africa's worst offenders, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Guinea, Djibouti and Mali. The brutal procedure -- known in Arabic as "khifad" -- is also prevalent in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, where Islamic scholars call it a "noble act."
If you think our Muslim scholars are more enlightened, think again. The Sacramento-based Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America promotes clitoris cutting as beneficial for women.
Senior AMJA official Dr. Hatem Elhagaly, also known as Hatem al-Haj, has ruled in a fatwa that the practice was endorsed by the Muslim prophet Muhammad. A Mayo Clinic pediatrician until 2012, Elhagaly acknowledges that the practice is controversial, but argues against banning it.
"Most of the problem and the bad publicity stem from the fact that, not infrequently, unqualified people perform the procedure and they may do more harm than good," he wrote.
"If it was left to the specialist, it wouldn't have been misused and wouldn't have gotten such bad publicity," he added.
"So, it is essential that the medical doctors be trained in the procedure and become the only ones permitted to do it. The surgeon will then judiciously remove what needs to be removed."
Elhagaly advised American Muslims to tune out criticism: "We should never doubt anything in our religion because of the bad publicity the media creates about it. Would it have been sensible for Muslims 50 years ago to doubt male circumcision because it was not yet shown by science to be of benefit?"
"The same could be true with female circumcision," he added. "They may figure out the benefits of the practice in 50 or 500 years."
Or never. FGM carries risks of hemorrhage, infection, infertility and added pain during childbirth. Complications have in some cases led to death.
Victims also bear emotional scars. Women recount the terror of being seized and forcibly held during the butchery.
Clitoridectomies also cause sexual dysfunction. Muslim reformer Ayaan Hirsi Ali abandoned her faith largely because of the ritual, which was performed on her at the age of 5. She says "something beautiful and essential" was taken away from her.
Despite the clear harm to girls, the American Academy of Pediatrics, where Elhagaly is a fellow, recently recommended permitting American doctors to perform a ceremonial "nick" on Muslim girls as a "compromise" to "satisfy" the religious demands of their families.
"For many Muslim religious scholars," it explained, "female "circumcision' is considered . . . virtuous." So pediatricians should remain "sensitive to the cultural and religious reasons that motivate parents to seek this procedure for their daughters."
Instead of accommodating such cruelty out of perverse multicultural "respect" for Islam, how about we just stop it -- by criminalizing the practice through aggressive prosecution and threat of child custody loss?
Despite doctors and hospitals reporting these tragic cases, the only known FGM prosecution in the U.S. involves a Muslim immigrant from Africa who severed his two-year-old daughter's clitoris with a pair of scissors. In 2006, an Atlanta judge imprisoned Khalid Adem for 10 years.
Resettling Muslim refugees has also led to more domestic battery cases -- which are too often handled by local imams instead of police -- and even "honor killings," in which Muslim fathers murder their daughters just for wearing Western clothing or dating non-Muslim boys.
America offers immigrants the freedom to come here and practice whatever religious beliefs they want -- but only as long as they don't harm anybody else. Performing barbaric -- and felonious -- religious customs on young girls should foreclose that freedom.
Sperry, formerly IBD Washington bureau chief, is author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington."




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March 25, 2015 Wednesday  


 A Paris Moment for Singapore

 
For the past two weeks, Farizwan Fajari, a 35-year-old Singaporean artist who uses the name Speak Cryptic, has been creating a 20-meter-long street-art-style mural at the Palais de Tokyo, the modern art museum in Paris.
Mr. Fajari, who has been invited as part of ''Secret Archipelago'' -- an exhibition on contemporary Southeast Asian art that opens on Thursday in Paris -- has used bold black-and-white graphics to mix iconography and patterns from Malay culture with those of the punk-rock subculture he loves.  
  ''The work, 'Present Condition,' depicts my struggle with my identity, both past and present, visually narrating my impression of being a Malay of Boyanese descent raised in Singapore,'' he said in an email interview, referring to one of the ethnic groups.
  As Singapore mourns the death of its founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, who led the country to international prominence, it is also highlighting a rising global profile in the arts with a major presence in France.
  ''Secret Archipelago'' opens the Singapore in France festival, a three-month-long cultural showcase funded with 6 million Singapore dollars, or about $4.4 million, and organized by Singapore government agencies along with the Institut Français, France's center for international arts and cultural projects. Spread over seven French cities, the festival will promote artists from Singapore and is part of the city-state's celebration of 50 years as an independent nation.
  ''The artistic focus of the festival is to portray Singapore as a city that is always looking toward the future, that is finding new ways, new possibilities, new cracks in between, to find itself,'' said Tan Boon Hui, the director of programs at the National Heritage Board in Singapore and artistic director of the festival.
  The festival, Mr. Tan said, is the largest presentation of art and culture that Singapore has introduced outside the country, with 25 core events conceived by organizers and 45 by participating partners. In addition to the Palais de Tokyo show, highlights include an exhibition of interactive works by Singapore artists at Lille Art Garden and a 50-year retrospective of Singapore cinema at the Cinémathèque française in Paris.
  One of the most prominent partner events is the Art Paris Art Fair 2015, at the Grand Palais from Thursday to Sunday, where Singapore and Southeast Asia are the ''guests of honor.''
  Singapore is ''a springboard and at the crossroads of what is a booming and increasingly influential art emerging in the region,'' said Guillaume Piens, the fair's director. Many government-led initiatives, including the establishment of the Gillman Barracks gallery district and the Singapore Biennale,  have ''contributed to building international awareness of the visual brilliance of Southeast Asian contemporary art,'' he added.
  Eight Singapore-based galleries will be taking part in the fair in a special platform, with an additional video presentation dedicated to the region and curated by Iola Lenzi, while a number of international galleries will also feature artists from Southeast Asia.
  Asian collectors have taken note of the region's emerging cultural weight. Art Stage Singapore, an annual international art fair held in January, hosted 51,000 visitors and 158 galleries this year, up from 32,000 visitors and 121 galleries in 2011. An Art Week built around the fair offered more than 100 art-related activities. Last year, Singapore hosted eight other art fairs, some organized by international players like Milan Image Art Fair.
  Southeast Asian artists have long been somewhat eclipsed by the focus on China's art scene, but Singapore-based galleries, buoyed by the attention they have received at these new art fairs, are now hoping that Western collectors will take note.
  ''We feel that it is time to present the work of our Singapore artists on the global stage,'' said Helina Chan, founder of iPreciation, a Singapore gallery taking part in the Art Paris Art Fair. ''Despite the economic issues in Europe, Paris is still a very important place of art and Europe has many important and prominent collectors.''
  The fair, which showcases more than 140 galleries from around 20 countries, will have a strong showing of art from the region, including a program of talks and video screenings.
  ''I think French audiences will be surprised to find that Southeast Asian art is so fluently combining a real sense of aesthetic and visual accomplishment and quite trenchant, critical messages,'' says Ms. Lenzi, the curator.
  Among the works she has selected are a film by FX Harsono on radical Islam in Indonesia, a work by Bui Cong Khanh on the Vietnam War viewed from a Vietnamese perspective, and a video by the Indonesia-based Dutch artist Mella Jaarsma. Mr. Harsono recently received the inaugural Joseph Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art presented by Art Stage and the United States Embassy in Singapore to recognize an artist committed to the ideal of freedom and expressing it through his or her work.
  Visitors to the Paris fair will be greeted by a monumental installation outside the Grand Palais. Looking like two elegant seashells, the work, by the Singaporean artist Hua Kuan Sai, is called ''Listening.''
  ''The visitor is drawn in and the piece engages all the senses, plunging us into a feeling of peace in which time, sound and the sense of space are all at play,'' said Mr. Piens, the fair director. ''This is emblematic of the practice of many artists of the region, whose work often solicits all the senses and includes the public space.''




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March 16, 2015 Monday

 Moved by Mountains and the Sea in Indonesia

 
How do you illustrate the connection between people and nature?
"This is hard," said Rony Zakaria, who has spent most of the past seven years trying to do just that. "I need to have time just to feel the place. I start to photograph when I feel it's right." 
And that is one of the reasons his project "Men, Mountains and the Sea" has taken this long. The work came out of a trip he made to visit a friend in Yogyakarta, a city in Java, Indonesia. He had just finished studying photography and was looking for ideas, unsure what kind of project to pursue. 
But once he went up into the nearby mountains, he felt something. His curiosity led to what he thought would be a simple feature story. Years later, he still isn't sure if he understands how the people he has been photographing connect with the environment. While Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, some beliefs tend more to animism or paganism.
"They have that kind of faith on the personal connection with the mountains and the sea," Mr. Zakaria said. "I'm very interested in that kind of faith. You have official religions, like Muslims or Hindus, and then you have that unexplainable belief that there's something in the mountains and there's something in the sea that you have to respect."
"Men, Mountains and the Sea" has become something of a personal journey for Mr. Zakaria. When he started out, he traveled around Java from his home in Jakarta, taking advantage of inexpensive train fares. But with flights less affordable, he is trying to raise money to complete the work in areas farther afield.
One place he hopes to photograph is a community of sea gypsies in northern Indonesia. Although some of the villagers live on their boats, most have settled in a coastal village. Many hunt for food. He wants to document them before modernity erases their traditions.
Among the places he has already photographed is Lamalera, a whaling village in the eastern part of Indonesia where he said residents believe the sea is a place of harvest and the whales and large fish they hunt are gifts from God. "If you don't take it," Mr. Zakaria said, "then you're not respecting God."
Near Yogyakarta, many people seeking blessings climb to the peak of Mount Merapi, an active volcano.  
"They believe that when it erupts, it's just spreading fertility to the land," Mr. Zakaria said.
His favorite image shows a cloaked figure in mist atop the volcano, framed by two other mountains (Slide 1). It was his first trip up the mountain, which is not far from Yogyakarta, and he was unprepared. He climbed with a friend, a sleeping bag and nothing else. 
The photo, taken early on a very cold morning, was the only one he got out of the trip. 
"I could not feel my hands because it was really freezing," he said. "So I did something I wasn't proud of" - he urinated on his hand to warm it enough that he could use his camera. "And after that I could shoot just two or three frames. That's the truth."
Follow @ronyzakaria , @kerrimac  and @ nytimesphoto on Twitter. Lens is also on Facebook.




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March 9, 2015 Monday  


 Defusing Terror in Indonesia

 
Jakarta, Indonesia -- This country, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, has been relatively untouched by Islamist terror attacks since the bombing of two Western hotels here in the capital in 2009. But its future is by no means assured.
While some extremist groups have been contained, Indonesia is not immune to threats from the Islamic State, now menacing the Middle East and North Africa. If and when the self-proclaimed caliphate decides to spread its wings to Southeast Asia, Indonesia, where Muslims make up 90 percent of the country's 250 million people, is particularly vulnerable.  
  Government officials here believe that as many as 200 Indonesians have gone to Syria to fight with ISIS. At least 10 of them are believed to have returned. Public rallies in support of ISIS were held last July in several major towns, as well as one in an Islamic university just outside Jakarta (they were not well attended). 
  The government's response to ISIS has been confined to declaring it a ''banned ideology.'' Support for the group is prohibited, and the police have prevented any more pro-ISIS rallies from being staged. Recruiting for ISIS is now illegal, although literature about the group and its activities remains freely available on the Internet. 
  Terrorism in Indonesia has been largely defused thanks to a combination of stronger democratic governance, a more stable political environment and steady economic development that has lifted millions out of poverty. While many Indonesian Muslims may share the ISIS goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate, they are most likely to wage their battles by democratic means, not by violence. 
  Democracy is the best defense against Islamic extremism. By democracy I mean the whole package, not just freedom of speech, civil rights and open elections, but also credible law enforcement. 
  There is no reason why Indonesia should change its overall approach in facing the ISIS menace, but the government should tread carefully. To breach democratic norms under the guise of fighting terrorism is counterproductive. 
  Governments must strictly enforce the law, a crucial element for any democracy to function. This means putting the police on the front line against terrorism, with the military as a backup when needed. It also means improving the overall capacity of the police force, including its intelligence-gathering ability. 
  Indonesia has done exactly this since suicide bombers killed more than 200 people in terror attacks on Bali nightclubs in 2002. The terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian affiliate of Al Qaeda that was implicated in those attacks, has been crippled. Indonesia's Special Forces anti-terrorist squad, Densus 88, has also claimed to have foiled several bombing plots in recent years. 
  Credible law enforcement includes upholding due process, even for suspected terrorists. Indonesia has resisted the temptation to re-enact the draconian anti-subversive law, the equivalent of the Internal Security Act that neighboring Malaysia and Singapore have used to arrest anyone the authorities wish to without a warrant and to imprison people indefinitely without trial in the name of national security. 
  The prosecution of those suspected of having connections to terrorist networks -- and there have been several hundred of them -- has followed proper legal procedures. This includes the cases of the three chief perpetrators of the Bali bombings, who were sentenced to death and executed in 2008.
  Many others convicted of terrorism have been released after serving time in prison, but not before undergoing a government-run ''deradicalization'' program. Here, the record is mixed: While some have renounced extremism, others have rejoined terrorist groups.
  The main battle against Islamic extremism has always hinged on winning hearts and minds. Many Muslims are radicalized during indoctrination sessions held in small Quranic reading groups. A handful of Muslim boarding schools, known as pesantren, are suspected hotbeds of radicalism, and police intelligence is vital to penetrating them. But the battlefield that counts the most is the public square. We must fight terror with the full force of the law, but fight ideology with ideology.
  Presidents Sukarno and Suharto, who between them ruled Indonesia from 1945 to 1998, made the mistake of outlawing radical Islamists at times, pushing them underground. Disparate Islamist groups then joined hands to fight their battles together. They became invincible and deadlier. 
  That changed in 1998, when Suharto was forced to step down, paving the way for Indonesia's first truly democratic elections in four decades, in 1999. Since then, various Islamist groups have formed political parties and have won enough votes in the last four general elections to become junior partners in successive coalition governments. Nevertheless, political Islam doesn't enjoy widespread support -- the majority of Muslims in Indonesia have consistently voted for secular political parties.
  The concept of an Islamic caliphate may resonate among some Indonesians, but many Muslim groups here have denounced the Islamic State for its barbaric violence. Even Abu Bakar Bashir, the Jemaah Islamiyah leader who is serving a 15-year prison term, lost many supporters after he reportedly led a handful of inmates last July in declaring support for the Islamic State. A month later, one of his sons clarified that they had pledged support for a caliphate, but did not recognize ISIS as its representative. 
  Different interpretations of Islam are as old as the religion itself, but Indonesia's free and democratic environment has allowed these differences to flourish. Muslims of different schools and Indonesians of other faiths now live peacefully, side by side. 
  In dealing with the ISIS threat, Indonesia should never trade its freedom and rights for a little security. After all we have been through, we should have faith in democracy.
   Endy Bayuni  is a senior editor of The Jakarta Post.      




6



 


March 3, 2015 Tuesday

 Peter Lucas: Obama's limited American experience

 
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani may have a point.
But he badly overstated the case when he questions President Barack Obama's love of America.
Still, the outspoken one-time GOP presidential hopeful struck a nerve among Obama supporting progressives in the media, whose job in modern America is to spring to Obama's defense no matter what.
Hardly were the words out of Giuliani's mouth than, in the sixth year of his presidency,  saw fit to run a "news" story defending the president's love of his country. What took the Times so long? 
The paper went over past Obama speeches in which the president mentioned how much he loved his country. On the way, the paper of record, of course, weeded out the numerous Obama quotes belittling the United States, including its lack of exceptionalism, and blaming it for many of the woes of the world.
Although he had a point, Giuliani got clobbered by the media.
Giuliani would have been on much firmer ground had he questioned Obama's lack of a sense of American traditional values, the values of the overwhelming majority of the American people who were born and grew up in America. And, yes, even the values of the Americans who still cling to their guns and their religion.
It is understandable that Obama has large gaps in his understanding of the American spirit, values and even some of its history. Obama spent his formative years not living in mainland America, but growing up in Indonesia and Hawaii.
From age six to 10 Obama attended Muslim schools in Indonesia where he lived with his mother and Lolo Soetoro, the man his mother married after divorcing Obama's absentee father.
His mother later sent him back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents, and it was there that Obama attended school from the fifth grade through graduation. Although not from a religious family, Obama later became a Christian.
He never served in the military. And, as a young man, he did not visit mainland United States until he enrolled as a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
So there is a lot of "Americana" Obama missed out on by spending those early years living outside the country and it sometimes shows in his persona and attitude. "That is not who we are," he often says when trying to explain one of his presumed American supported positions to the world. In response, many Americans look at him and say, "How do you know?"
One interesting point Giuliani did make during his takedown of Obama came when he unfavorably compared Obama to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu, who spoke to a joint session of Congress today, an event that sent the Obama White House over the deep end.
Netanyahu, Giuliani said, was "a man who fights for his people. Unlike our president."
He implied strongly that Netanyahu connected with the American people in ways that Obama could not.
And that was probably due to the fact that the Israeli prime minister as a youth spent more time living in the United States and absorbing American life and culture than Obama.
Although he was born in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu as a child lived in the United States with his family when he was 7 years old. He went to school in the U.S. before returning to Israel when he was 10.
He returned to the United States in 1963 and lived in Philadelphia, where his father worked as a professor. Netanyahu went to Cheltenham High School, outside of Philadelphia. He graduated in 1967 before returning to Israel where he served for four years in a combat unit of the Israeli Army.
Netanyahu came back to the United States in 1972 to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge where he studied architecture. However, he took time off to return to Israel to fight in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Then he returned to MIT where he a earned a degree in architecture in 1975 and another degree in 1977 from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
He then went to work in Boston as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group before returning to Israel to begin a political career. He later served as deputy chief of mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, from1982 to 1984, and then as the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988.
So, unlike Obama, Netanyahu was never a stranger in America.
But the basic difference between the two men, as once was said, is the difference between a commando and a community organizer.
Peter Lucas' political column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email him at luke1825@aol.com




6


 
 
 (California)

March 1, 2015 Sunday

 The Globalist Quiz

 
THE GLOBALIST QUIZ
Race to the Top: The World's 20 Largest Economies in 2050
The weekly quiz is provided by the Globalist, a daily online feature service that covers issues and trends in globalization. The nonpartisan organization provides commercial services and nonprofit educational features.
QUESTION 
The group of the world's 20 largest economies is not static. Over time, some countries are bound to move into this elite club, while others may drop out. We wonder: Which countries are projected to make the greatest upward move among the world's top 20 economies?
ANSWER
A. Indonesia
B. Brazil
C. Pakistan
D. Nigeria
A.
Indonesia is not correct.
Within the world's 20 largest economies, Indonesia -- currently ranked in ninth place globally (measured in terms of GDP, adjusted for purchasing power) -- is expected to climb five places between now and 2050, to become the world's fourth-largest economy. That is a significant upward move, but not the largest one within the top 20 economies, according to an analysis by PricewaterhouseCooper, the accounting firm. By midcentury, Indonesia's economy could quintuple in size, to reach $12.2 trillion. That could lift millions of its people out of poverty. However, the gap between fourth-ranking Indonesia and the top three economies will remain wide. The size of the U.S. economy -- projected to reach $41.4 trillion in 2050 -- will still be almost 3.5 times larger than Indonesia's economy. The slide of many European countries in the global GDP ranks will be more pronounced, largely as a combination of declining demographics and slow-growth economies. For example, Germany will fall by five places, from the fifth to the 10th-largest economy.
B.
Brazil is not correct.
Within the world's 20 largest economies, Brazil -- currently ranked in seventh place -- is expected to move up two places in the ranks by the year 2050. For Brazil, this increase will go hand in hand with a near tripling of its GDP from its 2014 value, to reach $9.2 trillion. Brazil's economy will rank in fifth place globally, right behind Indonesia. Brazil has achieved an impressive track record of lowering extreme poverty. However, economic growth has slowed markedly in recent years, and the country will need to address many structural issues to safeguard the projected rise of its economy into the top five. In Latin America, Mexico is expected to be the biggest economic riser, improving from the current 11th place to sixth among the world's largest economies. With a projected GDP of $8 trillion, its economy in 2050 will be slightly larger than Japan's.
C.
Pakistan is not correct.
Pakistan -- currently the 25th largest economy in the world -- is projected to climb 10 places in the global ranks by the year 2050. That represents the second-greatest increase for any major country, according to the PricewaterCooper analysis. If this projection proves correct, Pakistan will rank as the world's 15th largest economy in 2050, at $4.3 trillion, between Turkey and Egypt. All three of these Muslim-majority nations share a tenuous relationship between democracy and the armed forces. At the same time, Muslim-majority nations are expected to account for five of the 10 nations that will move upward in the ranking of the world's 20 largest economies by 2050. Those three, along with Indonesia, will be joined by Saudi Arabia -- the faith's birthplace. To realize the economic gains projected for the country, Pakistan faces significant challenges. In particular, it will need to resolve its security and political issues peacefully and on a more permanent basis.
D.
Nigeria is correct.
Within the world's 20 largest economies, Nigeria -- currently ranked in 20th place -- is expected to climb 11 places by the year 2050. That is the single greatest increase for any economy projected to be in the world's top 20 by 2050. If this comes to pass, Nigeria's economy will rank in ninth place globally. Nigeria's GDP could reach $7.3 trillion. The country, which is Africa's second largest by land area, currently has around 183.5 million people, making it the world's seventh most populous nation now. However, Nigeria is expected to become the world's third most populous nation by 2050 -- ranking behind only India and China. Severe security concerns about insurgencies, along with corruption problems, are very much on the minds of Nigerian voters in the 2015 national elections. These problems pose major challenges to Nigeria's projected growth, though its demographics are simply too favorable to stop Nigeria's economic rise altogether.




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February 27, 2015 Friday  


 Obama Misquotes Quran: Was He Perverting Islam?

 
President Obama insists Islamic State terrorists have "twisted" the teachings of Islam, drawing "selectively from the Islamic texts." But the president is doing some twisting of his own.
In fact, he regularly misquotes Islamic scripture to make his case the terrorists don't represent Islam.
For example, while hosting last week's "Summit on Countering Violent Extremism," Obama recited a verse from the Muslim holy book like so: "The Quran says whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind."
He held the sacred passage up as proof Islam condemns killing and "calls for peace." 
It wasn't the first time Obama has trotted out that phrase. He used it most notably during his 2009 speech to Muslims in Cairo, when he said: "The Holy Quran teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and the Holy Quran also says whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind."
A beautiful passage -- if only it were as he states it.
The Quranic verse the president quotes -- 5:32 -- actually condones killing those who "murder" Muslims, "wage war against Allah" or spread "mischief in the land."
Mischief is defined as "treason against Allah," and the very next verse -- 5:33 -- calls for guilty infidels to be beheaded. Obama glosses over all of this in his version.
Here's the full text of the relevant verse (5:32), according to even the watered-down translation of the Quran approved and distributed by American Muslim groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Note the key section that Obama omits from his speeches:
"(I)f anyone slew a person -- unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land -- it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them our Messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land."
The hammer comes down in the next verse, 5:33: "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: That is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the hereafter."
In the Quran's footnotes, widely respected translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali, who died in 1953, interpreted "mischief" as "treason against Allah." Ali defined "execution" as "cutting off of the head."
The clause starting with "unless" can be, and is, cited by IS jihadists to justify their atrocities, along with countless other violent injunctions in the Quran. And the penalties plainly prescribed by the Quran are precisely the ones they are carrying out against Christians and Jews they believe are "warring against Allah," and against Muslim "apostates" they've sentenced as traitors against Allah.
To be clear, Christians are not spared this brutal Islamic "justice." They are not among Obama's "innocent" any more than the Jews. Just 15 verses earlier, in 5:17, the Quran states: "In blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary."
Later in the same chapter, or surah, the Quran instructs believers to take "life for life, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and (inflict) wounds equal for equal" while fighting Jews and Christians. "O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for your friends."
So the context is clear. It's also clear that it's Obama who's drawing selectively from the Islamic texts. He is mistaken when he claims Muslims are commanded to respect all human life. And he is misleading the American people when he says such things with the full force and authority of his office.
It's odd that a student of Islam would misquote a core passage in the Muslim holy book. Obama has Muslim family roots and studied the Quran as a student in Indonesia. Is he dissembling? Or is he naively parroting the white lies he gathers from Islamic apologists and Muslim Brotherhood leaders posing as moderates?
One of his top Islamic advisers, ex-Islamic Society of North America President Imam Mohamed Magid, is known to gloss over the violent parts of that same sacred text in defending Islam.
"The Quran says whoever takes one life, it is as if he has taken the life of all of humanity," Magid recently told reporters. A member of Obama's Homeland Security Advisory Council, Magid had a prime seat at last week's summit.
Muslim reformers say misleading politicians and media about Islamic scripture is a common trick employed by Muslim leaders to create a facade of moderation and protect Islam from due scrutiny. They count on non-Muslim pundits never reading the Quranic text for themselves and independently verifying the interpretations they are fed.
Irshad Manji, for one, says Muslim scholars and clerics perform a "fancy dance of evasion" when they maintain that nothing in the Quran authorizes killing people.
"Post-September 11, I repeatedly heard this mantra from Muslims: The Quran makes it absolutely clear when jihad can and can't be pursued, and that terrorists unquestionably broke the rules," says Manji, author of "The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith."
"To quote one such voice, Allah "says in unequivocal terms that to kill an innocent being is like killing entire humanity.' "
But that is "wishful whitewashing," she says. "You know the chapter and verse that's cited as "unequivocal'? It actually bestows some wiggle room. Here's how it reads:
"Whoever killed a human being -- except as punishment for murder or other villainy in the land -- shall be regarded as having killed all mankind.' Sadly, the clause starting with "except' can be deployed by militant Muslims to fuel their jihads."
It's extremely telling that the apologists -- including the president -- can cite only one verse in the Quran to dispute the growing belief that Islam is inherently violent, and then they have to dishonestly abridge that verse to disguise its underlying violent meaning.
"It's a lie," Obama asserts, that the Islamist enemy is getting its ideas from Islam. He says that while lying by omission about the scriptural source of those ideas.
, formerly IBD Washington bureau chief, is author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington."




6


 


February 26, 2015 Thursday  


 OFF TO CONQUER ROME; 
TO DEFEAT THE ISLAMIC STATE GROUP, WE MUST UNDERSTAND IT

 
The Italians got this one right. Last week, The Washington Post's Adam Taylor helpfully collected tweets that Italians put out after a murderous video issued by the Islamic State group warned: "Today we are south of Rome," one militant said. "We will conquer Rome with Allah's permission."
Soon the Twitter hashtag #We-Are-Coming-O-Rome made the rounds in Italy as the residents of Rome rose to the challenge. Their tweets included: 
"ahahah Be careful on the highway - Ring Road: there's too much traffic, you would remain trapped!"
"hey just a tip: don't come in train, it's every time late!"
"You're too late, Italy is already been destroyed by their governments."
"We are ready to meet you! We have nice Colosseum plot for sale, Accept Credit Cards Securely, bargain price."
The Islamic State's murderous ways aren't a joke, but the Italians' mocking of the group is rather appropriate. While we agonizingly debate the organization's relationship to Islam, we've forgotten a simple truth about many of the people attracted to such groups. It is the truth uttered by Ruslan Tsarni on CNN after his two nephews, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were accused of the Boston Marathon bombing. They were just two "losers," he said, who resented those who did better than them and dressed it up in ideology. "Anything else, anything else to do with religion, with Islam, is a fraud, is a fake."
There's a lot of truth in that. The Islamic State is made up of three loose factions, and we need to understand all three before we get deeper into another war in Iraq and Syria.
One faction comprises the foreign volunteers. Some are hardened jihadis, but many are just losers, misfits, adventure seekers and young men who've never held power, a job or a girl's hand and joined the group to get all three. I doubt many are serious students of Islam or that offering them a more moderate version would keep them home. If the Islamic State starts losing and can't offer jobs, power or sex, this group will shrink.
The Islamic State's second faction, its backbone, is made up of former Sunni Baathist army officers, with local Iraqi Sunnis and tribes giving passive support. Although Iraqi Sunnis constitute a third of Iraq's population, they've ruled Iraq for generations and simply can't accept the fact that the Shiite majority is now in charge. Also, for many Sunni villagers under the Islamic State's control, the group is just less bad than the brutalization and discrimination they received from Iraq's previous Shiite-led government. Google "Iraqi Shiite militias and power drills" and you'll see that the Islamic State people didn't invent torture in Iraq.
The United States keeps repeating the same mistake in the Middle East: overestimating the power of religious ideology and underappreciating the impact of misgovernance. Sarah Chayes, who long worked in Afghanistan and has written an important book - "Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security" - about how government corruption helped turn Afghans away from us and from the pro-U.S. Afghan regime, argues that "nothing feeds extremism more than the in-your-face corruption and injustice" that some of America's closest Middle East allies administer daily to their people.
The third Islamic State faction is composed of the true ideologues, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They have their own apocalyptic version of Islam. But it would not be resonating were it not for the fact that "both religion and politics have been hijacked" in the Arab world and Pakistan, creating a "toxic mix," says Nader Mousavizadeh, who co-leads the consulting firm Macro Advisory Partners. The Arab peoples have been mostly ruled by radicals or reactionaries. And without the prospect of a legitimate politics "that genuinely responds to popular grievances," no amount of top-down attempts to engender moderate Islam will succeed, he added.
Islam has no Vatican to decree whose Islam is authentic, so it emerges differently in different contexts. Moderate Islam emerged in decent political, social and economic contexts - see Indian Islam, Indonesian Islam and Malaysian Islam - and hasn't stood in the way of their progress. Puritanical, anti-pluralistic, anti-modern education, anti-women versions of Islam emerged from the more tribalized corners of the Arab world, Nigeria and Pakistan, helping hold these places back.
That's why the Islamic State group is not just an Islam problem and not just a "root causes" problem. It is a product of decades of failed governance in the Arab world and Pakistan and centuries of a calcification of Arab Islam. They feed off each other. Those who claim it's just one or the other are dead wrong.
So, to defeat the Islamic State and not see another emerge, you need to: wipe out its leadership; enlist Muslims to discredit the very real, popular, extremist versions of Islam coming out of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan; stem the injustice, corruption, sectarianism and state failure now rampant in the Arab world and Pakistan; and carve out for Iraqi Sunnis their own autonomous region of Iraq and a share of its oil wealth, just like the Kurds have.
Sounds impossible. But this problem is deep. This is the only route to a more moderate Arab Islam - as well as to fewer young men and women looking for dignity in all the wrong places.
Thomas L. Friedman is a syndicated columnist for .




6


 


February 25, 2015 Wednesday  


 ISIS Heads to Rome

 
The Italians got this one right. Last week, The Washington Post's Adam Taylor helpfully collected tweets that Italians put out after a murderous video issued by the Islamic State, or ISIS, warned: ''Today we are south of Rome,'' one militant said. ''We will conquer Rome with Allah's permission.''
As the hashtag #We_Are_Coming_O_Rome made the rounds in Italy, Rome residents rose to the challenge.   
  Their tweets, Taylor noted, included:
  ''#We_Are_Coming_O_Rome ahahah Be careful on the highway-Ring Road: there's too much traffic, you would remain trapped!''
  ''#We_Are_Coming_O_Rome hey just a tip: don't come in train, it's every time late!''
  ''#We_Are_Coming_O_Rome You're too late, Italy is already been destroyed by their governments.'' 
  And ''#We_Are_Coming_O_Rome We are ready to meet you! We have nice Colosseum plot for sale, Accept Credit Cards Securely, bargain price.''
  ISIS's murderous ways aren't a joke, but the Italians' mocking of ISIS is rather appropriate. While we agonizingly debate ISIS's relationship to Islam, we've forgotten a simple truth about many of the people attracted to such groups. It is the truth uttered by Ruslan Tsarni on CNN after his two nephews, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were accused of the Boston Marathon bombing. They were just two ''losers,'' he said, who resented those who did better than them and dressed it up in ideology. ''Anything else, anything else to do with religion, with Islam, is a fraud, is a fake.'' 
  There's a lot of truth in that. ISIS is made up of three loose factions, and we need to understand all three before we get deeper into another war in Iraq and Syria. One faction comprises the foreign volunteers. Some are hardened jihadists, but many are just losers, misfits, adventure seekers and young men who've never held power, a job or a girl's hand and joined ISIS to get all three. I doubt many are serious students of Islam or that offering them a more moderate version would keep them home. If ISIS starts losing, and can't offer jobs, power or sex, this group will shrink.
  ISIS's second faction, its backbone, is made up of former Sunni Baathist army officers and local Iraqi Sunnis and tribes, who give ISIS passive support. Although Iraqi Sunnis constitute a third of Iraq's population, they've ruled Iraq for generations and simply can't accept the fact that the Shiite majority is now in charge. Also, for many Sunni villagers under ISIS's control, ISIS is just less bad than the brutalization and discrimination they received from Iraq's previous Shiite-led government. Google ''Iraqi Shiite militias and power drills'' and you'll see that ISIS didn't invent torture in Iraq.
  The U.S. keeps repeating the same mistake in the Middle East: overestimating the power of religious ideology and underappreciating the impact of misgovernance. Sarah Chayes, who long worked in Afghanistan and has written an important book -- ''Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security'' -- about how government corruption helped turn Afghans away from us and from the pro-U.S. Afghan regime, argues that ''nothing feeds extremism more than the in-your-face corruption and injustice'' that some of America's closet Middle East allies administer daily to their people.
  The third ISIS faction is composed of the true ideologues, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They have their own apocalyptic version of Islam. But it would not be resonating were it not for the fact that ''both religion and politics have been hijacked'' in the Arab world and Pakistan, creating a ''toxic mix,'' says Nader Mousavizadeh, who co-leads the global consulting firm Macro Advisory Partners. The Arab peoples have been mostly ruled by radicals or reactionaries. And without the prospect of a legitimate politics ''that genuinely responds to popular grievances,'' no amount of top-down attempts to engender moderate Islam will succeed, he added.
  Islam has no Vatican to decree whose Islam is authentic, so it emerges differently in different contexts. There is a moderate Islam that emerged in decent political, social and economic contexts -- see Indian Islam, Indonesian Islam and Malaysian Islam -- and never stood in the way of their progress. And there are puritanical, anti-pluralistic, anti-modern education, anti-women Islams that emerged from the more tribalized corners of the Arab world, Nigeria and Pakistan, helping hold these places back. 
  That's why ISIS is not just an Islam problem and not just a ''root causes'' problem. ISIS is a product of decades of failed governance in the Arab world and Pakistan and centuries of a calcification of Arab Islam. They feed off each other. Those who claim it's just one or the other are dead wrong.
  So, to defeat ISIS and not see another emerge, you need to: wipe out its leadership; enlist Muslims to discredit the very real, popular, extremist versions of Islam coming out of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan; stem the injustice, corruption, sectarianism and state failure now rampant in the Arab world and Pakistan; and carve out for Iraqi Sunnis their own autonomous region of Iraq and a share of its oil wealth, just like the Kurds have. I know: sounds impossible. But this problem is very deep. This is the only route to a more moderate Arab Islam -- as well as to fewer young men and women looking for dignity in all the wrong places. 




6


 


February 25, 2015 Wednesday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION

 AMERICANS STILL CONFUSED ABOUT FORMS OF ISLAM

 
A week after 9/11, President George W. Bush told a hurting nation: "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace."
Faced with a tsunami of hellish news about the Islamic State in Syria, Iraq and the Levant, President Barack Obama updated that soundbite this past fall: "ISIL is not 'Islamic.' No religion condones the killing of innocents. ... ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple." 
The problem, of course, is that Islamic State leaders keep serving up quotes such as the following, part of the judgments rendered by the leader of recent rites to behead 21 Coptic Christians, filmed on a beach in Libya.
"The sea you have hidden Sheik Osama bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood," said the executioner, as he pointed his knife at the camera. "Oh, people, recently you have seen us on the hills of as-Sham and Dabiq's plain, chopping off the heads that have been carrying the cross for a long time. ...
"Today, we are on the south of Rome, on the land of Islam, Libya, sending another message." No wonder many Americans remain uncertain when asked questions about Islam -- such as whether the Islamic State represents one approach, or even the dominant approach, to Islam today. Some are even concerned that Sharia, or Islamic law, may find its way to the United States, according to new surveys conducted by LifeWay Research.
"From all of the questions we asked, we would summarize that a little less than a quarter of Americans have a strongly held belief that Islam is dangerous by nature, a little less than a quarter have a strongly held belief that Islam is peaceful by nature, and over half of Americans don't share one of these strong opinions or are unsure what to believe," said Ed Stetzer, LifeWay's executive director.
While the "somewhat agree" and "disagree" numbers vary from question to question, there is no doubt that the "not sure" numbers are "definitely higher than we typically see," he added.
In particular, White House insiders can see that "the whole 'the Islamic State is not Islamic' idea is not winning the day," said Stetzer. "Now, some people will disagree with whatever this president says simply because the sky is blue. But people are watching news reports day after day. ... It's pretty hard to believe that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam when that is the primary way that ISIS keeps describing itself."
Thus, the LifeWay surveys, one of Protestant pastors and one of the general public, found that:
-- One in four Americans -- 27 percent -- believes that the Islamic State reflects Islam's true nature, while 43 percent believe that Islam can create a peaceful society. However, nearly 48 percent disagree with the statement "ISIS is not Islamic," with only 22 percent agreeing. Nearly a third of the participants said they were not sure.
-- In the general population, only a third of evangelicals said Islam can create a peaceful society, compared with 49 percent of Catholics and 47 percent of "nones," or religiously unaffiliated Americans.
-- Among Protestant senior pastors, 61 percent disagreed that "true Islam creates a peaceful society," while 30 percent agreed. Only 23 percent of evangelical pastors agreed, along with a surprisingly low 42 percent of mainline, often liberal, Protestant clergy.
-- Nearly half of the 1,000 Americans contacted disagreed with the statement that "ISIS is a true indication of what Islam looks like when Islam controls a society," compared with the 27 percent who supported that point of view. However, another 26 percent were uncertain.
One positive implication of the results on that question, noted Stetzer, is that it does appear that many Americans understand that there are "many forms of Islam." While it's hard for many Americans to believe that the Islamic State is "not Islamic," they may believe that this movement is only a radical form of this faith, and not the norm.
"If Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country," he added, "then isn't it logical to think that Indonesia is what Islam looks like? Now, Indonesia is not a walk in the park for Christians and other religious minorities, but that culture looks nothing like the Islamic State."




6


 


February 13, 2015 Friday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION

 LENS ON VALENTINE"S DAY




6


 


February 12, 2015 Thursday  


 In Killing of 3 Muslims, a Question of Motive

 
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --  It was a little after 5 p.m., a quiet time in a quiet neighborhood, before many people had returned home from work on Tuesday, when two women called 911 to report multiple gunshots and screams echoing through a condominium complex here near the University of North Carolina.
By the time the police arrived, three people were dead -- a newlywed couple and the woman's sister. They were young university students, Muslims of Arab descent, and high achievers who regularly volunteered in the area. A neighbor, a middle-aged white man, was missing -- then under arrest and charged with three counts of murder. 
  The victims' families described it as a hate crime. The police said that the shooting appeared to have been motivated by ''an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking,'' but that they were investigating whether religious hatred had contributed to the killings. 
  ''To have him come in here and shoot three different innocent people in their head -- I don't know what kind of person that is,'' said Namee Barakat, the father of the male victim, Deah Shaddy Barakat.
  The killings immediately set off a debate throughout the world over whether the students had been targeted because of their religion, with Muslims picking up some of the language of those who protested police shootings in the United States, using the phrase #muslimlivesmatter.
  Even as Chapel Hill awoke on Wednesday, frustration had already spread on Twitter throughout Europe and Asia, as Muslims as far away as Indonesia shared photographs and details of the victims' lives.
  The Chapel Hill police quickly tried to tamp down the fears, releasing a morning statement that identified parking as the cause of the dispute, without confirming whether the victims had been shot in the head. The police chief, Chris Blue, added, ''We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated, and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case.''
  In the afternoon, Ripley Rand, the United States attorney for the region, said the shooting appeared to have been ''an isolated incident'' and ''not part of a targeted campaign against Muslims.''
  Friends and neighbors struggled to make sense of what had happened. Those who knew the victims -- identified as Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; her husband, Mr. Barakat, 23; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19 -- said they were all model students from well-educated, successful local families.
  They had nonetheless run into previous problems over parking with the man who was arrested, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, a former car parts salesman who was studying to be a paralegal at Durham Technical Community College.
  He was one of their neighbors. They lived on opposite sides of the two-story Finley Forest complex on Summerwalk Circle, where the shooting occurred -- a condominium complex tucked into the woods about a mile and a half east of the main University of North Carolina campus. Residents said Mr. Hicks's apartment was adjacent to the main parking lot; the students lived on the other side, where little parking could be found.
  Mohammad Yousif Abu-Salha, the father of the two women who were killed, said Yusor had told him that she and her husband had been harassed for their appearance by a neighbor who was wearing a gun on his belt. On his Facebook page, Mr. Hicks recently posted a photograph of what he said was his .38-caliber, five-shot revolver.
  A friend of Yusor said she knew that Mr. Hicks had complained to the couple before about making noise and their visitors' using parking spaces, and that he once came to their door carrying a rifle.
  It is not clear whether they ever called the police about the altercations.
  Their Facebook pages and other material online show a cheerful threesome who were devoted to family and charitable work. Mr. Barakat was a second-year student at the university's graduate school of dentistry, and his wife was set to enroll in the same school later this year. Her sister was an undergraduate at North Carolina State University who had recently won an award for her artistic talents.
  ''They were gems of their communities and left a lasting impression on the people around them,'' Suzanne Barakat, a sister of Deah Barakat, said Wednesday, reading a brief statement while flanked by several tearful family members. ''We are still in a state of shock and will never be able to make sense of this horrendous tragedy.''
  Mr. Hicks appeared to have a deep dislike of all religion. On his Facebook page, nearly all of his posts expressed support for atheism, criticism of Christian conservatives or both.
  Last month, he posted a photograph that said, ''Praying is pointless, useless, narcissistic, arrogant, and lazy; just like the imaginary god you pray to.''
  Mr. Hicks's wife, Karen, insisted at a news conference that her husband was not a bigot. ''I can say with absolute belief that this incident had nothing to do with religion or the victims' faith, but it was related to a longstanding parking dispute that my husband had with the neighbors,'' she said.
  His wife also pointed out his support for gay rights and the right to abortion.
  But her comments and the Police Department's caution about what was behind the fatal confrontation did not convince relatives of the dead who were familiar with details of the episode. One 911 caller, at 5:11 p.m. Tuesday, said she had heard five to 10 shots and ''kids screaming.'' Another, calling a minute later, said she had heard about eight shots and multiple people screaming, then a pause, and then three more shots.
  The victims were shot inside an apartment, according to one of the calls, and family members said the police told them they had been shot in the head.
  Mr. Barakat questioned the premise that a parking dispute alone could lead to such killings. ''We all know it's about more than that, unfortunately,'' he said.
  Many Muslims in the area of North Carolina known as the Research Triangle, where universities and technology companies are major employers, said they had been on edge in recent weeks. Although the area is dotted with mosques and interfaith events are a staple at universities and houses of worship, tensions have been rising since the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, according to several Muslim leaders. Last month, Duke University abruptly canceled plans to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer on Fridays, citing security concerns, after Franklin Graham, the son of the evangelist Billy Graham, raised vehement objections on Facebook.
  Broadcasting the call to prayer from a church bell tower, intended as a symbol of religious inclusion, instead became a source of religious division.
  ''There is a tendency to say, 'This is a nice place, these eruptions of violence don't belong here,' '' said Omid Safi, the director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center and a professor of Islamic studies. ''And yet here we are. This is, in all of the heartbreak and violence and sadness, where we are.''
  Linda Sarsour, a longtime Arab-American activist in Brooklyn, who said she was working with the family, added that for those who fear mistreatment, the episode ''sends a message to other young people in the Muslim community that the fear is valid.''
  Much of their rage online addressed a perceived double standard in the news media, with posts saying that the killing of three Muslims was not receiving much attention.
  In fact, the police did not release the names of the victims or the accused until after 2 a.m. Wednesday; Mr. Hicks turned himself in to sheriff's deputies in Pittsboro, a few miles away, but it was not clear when. During a court appearance Wednesday, a judge ordered him held without bond. By that point, most major American news organizations had reported the story, but that did not slow the allegations of news media neglect.
  The #muslimlivesmatter hashtag echoed the #blacklivesmatter hashtag that gained popularity after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police officers. Both tap into a sense of grievance in minority communities that feel marginalized and disrespected.
  To share the achievements of the slain students, friends and family members created a Facebook page, Our Three Winners, early Wednesday. Several of the posts showed images of Mr. Barakat and Yusor Abu-Salha at their wedding.
  Friends also praised Mr. Barakat's work with a charity that provided dental supplies to the poor, and noted that he planned to travel to Turkey to provide dental care to refugees from the civil war in Syria, narrating a video to raise money.
  On the U.N.C. campus on Wednesday evening, thousands packed the central plaza known as the Pit in a silent, dramatic show of solidarity. Dozens of friends and relatives offered remembrances. One, who did not give her name, concluded her speech: ''Muslim lives matter. All lives matter.''




6


 


February 11, 2015 Wednesday  


 Madrassas of Moderation

 
GONTOR, Indonesia --  The silhouette of the large mosque, brick-like but for a bulbous dome, looked blurry in the downpour. The rain of East Java is heavy, lending a sparkle to the green paddies and the scent of moist earth to the air. As the evening prayer ended, hundreds of boys rushed out of the building in waves, mats slung over their shoulders, sarongs hitched up to their knees, flip-flops squelching in the wet.
These students attend Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor, one of Indonesia's many Islamic boarding schools, or pesantren. (Estimates range from about 13,000 to 30,000.) Almost three-quarters of the schools, including Gontor, teach secular subjects like science and history in addition to classical Islamic texts and vocational courses in agriculture and mechanics.  
  Pesantren have existed for centuries in Indonesia, which is home to the world's largest Muslim population. But their reputation has taken a battering in recent decades, thanks to a wave of terrorist attacks, including bombings in Bali in 2002 that killed over 200 people. By December 2014, militias in Syria and Iraq, including the radical Sunni Islamist group that calls itself the Islamic State, had attracted some 100 recruits from Indonesia, according to the country's counterterrorism force.
  Some pesantren are indeed linked to terrorist groups. The most notorious is the Al Mukmin school in Ngruki, a short drive from Gontor, some of whose graduates have been associated with the Jemaah Islamiyah, the organization responsible for the Bali bombings. Yet Sidney Jones, director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (I.P.A.C.) and a leading authority on terrorist movements in Southeast Asia, estimates that only around 40 pesantren have terrorist connections. Another 200 or so emphasize an orthodox Wahhabi philosophy but do not preach violence. 
  According to Ms. Jones, many more pesantren focus on grooming ''upstanding citizens in a way that reinforces their own local settings and values.'' Known for strict discipline and character-building, they may actually serve as a bulwark against extremism.
  Gontor arguably is the single most influential pesantren in the country, boasting an array of luminaries among its alumni, including the current, liberal, minister for religious affairs and the head of the Indonesian Ulema Council, which advises the government on religious issues.
  On my visit to the school in November, I was chaperoned by Ustad Aliy, a recent alumnus and young teacher. Wearing spectacles, a pinstriped shirt and tie, he played Bollywood hits in the car on our way in from the nearest airport. He was not paid for his work, he said, but was content  with room and board because of the sense of community he felt at Gontor. 
  Mr. Aliy was vague about what he taught -- ''some English, and science, and religion'' -- offering a first hint that academic rigor was not the school's strong suit. At a public-speaking exam I attended later, young men stood around a courtyard, each with an assessor, shouting out random sentences that were barely audible in the general din. Even some of the older students struggled to communicate with me in basic English, despite having studied the language for years. 
  But many of Gontor's pupils come from poor and remote parts of Indonesia, and they cannot afford a better education elsewhere. The regional mix within the student body has a valuable leveling effect in a country marked by deep inequalities.
  The children here also learn independence, frugality and egalitarianism. They sleep 30 to a room and have few possessions save a mattress, some clothes, toiletries and books. School days run from 4:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. Discipline is tight. Students take turns serving meals in the dining hall and staffing the supply shop. So-called courts convene every evening to hand out punishments for infractions like littering or violating the dress code. And though Gontor's response to Islamism isn't entirely coherent, the school is consistent in encouraging respect for religious diversity and tolerance. 
  Rather than condemn outright terrorist attacks carried out in the name of Islam, some teachers fingered a purportedly biased international media and Israel as the main villains. When I brought up the fact that Jemaah Islamiyah's mastermind, Abu Bakar Bashir, had attended Gontor in the mid-20th century, several teachers just pursed their lips. Condemnation of Islamic State was clearer, with Mr. Aliy, for example, saying that the group's members ''just misuse Islam as a backdrop for their own beliefs.''
  Dihayutun Masqoon Ahmad, one of Gontor's most senior teachers, told me with pride that the school was nonpartisan on theological matters, and served as a meeting point ''for all groups.'' Mostly he meant that Gontor, unlike most pesantren, is not exclusively associated with either of Indonesia's rival Islamic organizations, the traditionalist Nahdlatul Ulama and the modernist Muhammadiyah, which together have tens of millions of members and often provide education and health care in rural areas where government services are lacking.
  Mr. Aliy admitted, after I asked, that the beliefs of Shiites and Ahmadiyya, two Muslim minorities that represent less than 1 percent of Indonesia's population and are considered to be apostate by the mainstream, are not discussed at the school. But no hostility against them is preached either. And Gontor engages with competing beliefs outside Islam, hosting Christian leaders and encouraging research in interfaith studies.
  Robin Bush, a political scientist and expert on Islamic politics in Indonesia, argues that many Islamic boarding schools, including Gontor, foster a culture of debate by introducing students to the four major schools of Sunni jurisprudence. ''The concept of the contestation of ideas emerges naturally in pesantren,'' Ms. Bush told me.
  In fact, some researchers have concluded that secular universities, not religious schools, are the main breeding grounds of Islamist radicalism in Indonesia. Ms. Jones, of I.P.A.C., pointed out that most suspected terrorists arrested  in recent years have come from state schools, rather than Islamic ones.
  One explanation, according to Mark Woodward, Inayah Rohmaniyah and other scholars of religion in Indonesia, is that the informal and secretive extremist Quranic study groups known as pengagian tertutup flourish more readily in the relatively lax and unsupervised environments of secular universities and village mosques.
  Students unfamiliar with the intricacies of their own faith can be swayed by arguments that seem to call for jihad when taken out of context. Pesantren graduates, who have been schooled in the Quran and the Hadith, are better able to spot scriptural distortions. They also tend to be more connected to their communities, and their stable sense of identity, religious and otherwise, shields them against radicalism. Pesantren are allies, not suspects, in Indonesia's fight against Islamism.
   Pallavi Aiyar  is a journalist and author based in Jakarta. 




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February 3, 2015 Tuesday

 Across Asia, sex is a handy form of bribery

 
BANGKOK   As bribes go, sexual favors have their advantages.
Seeking influence with a powerful government official? Fearful of getting caught? Then sex bribes are ideal.
Potentially traceable gifts, such as BMWs or cash-stuffed suitcases, can land both the briber and the corrupt official in prison. But influencing officials with sex   a common practice across Asia   produces very little physical evidence.
And in the emerging economies of China and Vietnam, it s not even illegal. 
Yet.
 In places like China and Vietnam, the penal code says bribery must involve money or goods. It has to be physical,  says Liao Ran, who monitors Asia for Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog group based in Germany.
The typical sex bribe involves a businessman treating an official to a night at a bathhouse stocked with prostitutes, Ran says.  Businessmen invite officials to a sauna. The officials go home happy. And nothing is put inside their pockets,  he says.  There s no direct link between the payment and the favor. 
But in Vietnam, officials under the ruling communist party say they re seriously considering the criminalization of sex bribes. A senior Ministry of Justice official tells Vietnam s Thanh Nien news outlet that this is a  new crime that merits thorough discussion. 
Currying favor with officials through sex is hardly new. Nor is it unique to Vietnam. It s an entrenched practice across Asia, from snowy South Korea to tropical Indonesia, and few Asian nations pursue sexual bribery cases with much vigor.
Ran believes they should. Almost every country on Earth   minus a smattering of troubled spots such as Somalia and North Korea   has signed the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
It s essentially a promise to conform corruption laws across the globe coupled with a vow to prosecute the corrupt. (The fact that most infamously corrupt countries such as Myanmar, Yemen and Russia signed the convention indicates these promises are easily broken.)
But some countries don t even concede that offering sex for favors constitutes a bribe. The UN anti-corruption convention forbids authorities from offering  undue advantage  or  influence  to another person. But it never mentions sex per se.
That leaves each nation s powerful lawmakers   apt to be predominately male   to decide whether or not influential businessmen should be allowed court them with sexual favors.
Vietnam s decision to scrutinize sex bribes is uncommon in Asia. Even Indonesia, a massive nation under the sway of conservative Islam, appears unwilling to pursue it. As one senior Indonesian anti-corruption official lamented in 2013:  An act of bribery requires the bribe to come in material form. So where does this leave sexual favors? 
The exception in Southeast Asia is the tightly controlled city-state of Singapore, which just doled out five years in prison to a businessman who courted soccer referees with prostitutes .
Some Western conglomerates have allegedly indulged in sex-for-favor swaps. Executives from the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline are accused of accepting cash and the paid company of attractive women in return for business   while also doling out bribes themselves, according to Chinese authorities. In 2014, the firm was fined for the cash handouts. But the alleged sex acts were not deemed criminal.
Though most sex bribes involve prostitution, Ran says, banning sex for favors will also effectively ban another practice: sleeping your way to the top. But that s a good thing, he says, as women in the male-dominated world of Asian officialdom often have little power to resist bosses who want to exchange sex for a promotion.
 These women are quite marginalized. It s a patriarchal society,  Ran says.  If a government official demands that a subordinate offer sex, I don t think she can always afford to say no. 
  
Read more international news from GlobalPost on this website.




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February 3, 2015 Tuesday  


 What, Me Worry About Terrorists?

 
National Security: Revealing his thinking, President Obama downplayed the threat terrorism poses to the U.S. What would he have said as commander-in-chief after 9/11? "Don't sweat it"?
So now we know a little better why this president eschews terms like "Islamic radicalism" and "global war on terror." Obama thinks we've overestimating the danger of Islamist terrorism.
This is why instead of Churchillian or Reaganesque vows of total defeat, Obama announces the objective to "degrade" and then somewhere down the road "ultimately destroy" the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the monstrous new entity that reared its head after he removed U.S. troops from Iraq -- just a coincidence, some would absurdly contend. 
We can't use massive U.S. force, he says -- even though, he admits, it would "much more rapidly drive back" IS forces -- because eventually our forces would come home and then "any gains which are made eventually dissipate."
Apply that logic to World War II. Invading Normandy might "much more rapidly drive back" the Nazis, but then we would come home and our gains would dissipate.
George M. Cohan had something to say about that notion, Mr. President: "We won't come back till it's over, over there."
If "don't overreact" was heard from the man sitting in the Oval Office after the 9/11 attacks, both parties in Congress might very well have joined forces and impeached and removed him from office -- in bipartisan fear of the existential threat of Islamist terrorism.
The president who was there during 9/11 had a different view. Addressing the National Endowment for Democracy in 2005, George W. Bush called Islamist radicalism a "mortal danger to all humanity" and pledged, "We will not tire or rest until the war on terror is won."
Bush conceded many years before U.S. Navy SEALs killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, "Islamic radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches than an army under a single command."
Yet at the same time, "the militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia."
The danger to the U.S., Bush said, was that "with greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people and to blackmail our government into isolation."
That "one country" under militants' control sounds a lot like the Islamic State.
Referring to Iraq, Bush warned, "The terrorists' goal is to overthrow a rising democracy, claim a strategic country as a haven for terror, destabilize the Middle East and strike America and other free nations with ever-increasing violence."
Hasn't IS, which al-Qaida in Iraq metastasized into, and which declares itself a worldwide caliphate, claimed a good part of Iraq and Syria as a strategic locale from which to carry out all those objectives?
"Against such an enemy," Bush said nearly nine years ago, "there is only one effective response: We will never back down, never give in and never accept anything less than complete victory."
His successor's battle cry, as he fights IS with minimalism and allows the terror state of Iran to develop WMDs? Keep "a proper perspective."
No doubt some Parisians said as much in the summer of 1940 as they watched Hitler's troops march under the Arc de Triomphe.




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February 1, 2015, Sunday

 The power of positive foreign policy

 
President Obama's trip to India was strategically important, symbolically resonant and deftly executed. But it coincided with a snowstorm in some Northeastern states, so it struggled to get airtime and ink in the United States. In India, on the other hand, newspapers devoted pages to the visit every day, and television coverage was wall-to-wall. It even got the attention of the Chinese government, which denounced the new friendship.
Obama's trip highlights an opportunity and a problem. Foreign policy consists of two elements - negative and positive. Negative foreign policy is about preventing bad things from happening - confronting dangers and dealing with bad guys. It's the stuff that makes the front page and the evening broadcast. It is important but is really only one aspect of securing America's future - protecting it from the downside. 
Positive foreign policy is focused on the upside. It's about building new relationships, expanding markets and opportunities, strengthening alliances and values. Positive foreign policy secures the foundations of the liberal world order in which we live. The Truman administration contained the Soviet threat, but it also built up the community of free nations through the Bretton Woods system and other such institutions.
Obama's India trip was a perfect example of positive foreign policy. The United States has been forging new ties to India since the Clinton administration, with a policy that has been strategic and bipartisan. Obama's decision to attend India's Republic Day - celebrating its constitution - marked a tipping point.
India has gone from being a country, 30 years ago, that was reflexively anti-American to one that is increasingly pro-American. Indian society has long been attracted to America, but in recent years, the Indian government has been moving away from its encrusted ideology of "nonalignment to something far more practical. India's energetic new prime minister, Narendra Modi, has pushed his government in an unambiguously pro-American direction.
Bringing India closer to the United States could have broad benefits for Washington and the world. With over 1.2 billion people, India is likely to become the next global goliath. And while it will probably never grow as fast as China, because of its size even 7 percent growth over the next two decades would give it a loud voice in the world's councils of power.
India is the most significant example of the benefits of positive foreign policy, but there are other important ones as well. Indonesia is Asia's next-most populous democracy - with the world's largest Muslim population. Here too America is deepening a relationship with a country that was once suspicious of Washington but is now far more welcoming of it - particularly of this president.
The most remarkable opportunity presents itself in Mexico. Thirty years ago, Mexico was defined by its anti-Americanism. Politicians routinely blamed the U.S. government and CIA for everything from riots and disorder to bad weather. And it wasn't just the regime - the public shared in the suspicion of Yankee imperialists.
Today Mexico is a different country. Its economy is inextricably linked to its neighbor to the north, its politicians regard America as their natural partner, and the culture has become Americanized in many respects. Despite the demeaning way in which so many American politicians speak about Mexican immigration, Mexico's diplomats and politicians know that their country's interests are tightly aligned with Washington's, so they take the high road.
The upsides of success are significant. If the United States can partner with India and Indonesia (in addition to its alliance with Japan), it is far more likely that Asia - and the world - will be characterized by free trade, multilateralism and rules-based systems. Stronger relations with Indonesia could have an impact on the broader debate about reform in the Muslim world. And a deeper set of ties between the U.S., Mexico and Canada could create a North American economic and political union of sorts that would be more interconnected, vibrant and powerful than any regional bloc in the world.
But all of this takes time and effort. Pushing these countries to reform is hard work. Showing up remains vital, especially in Asia. (Obama has had to cancel two trips to Indonesia.) The constant drumbeat to deal with the crisis du jour - somehow Washington must now rescue and stabilize Yemen - fails to recognize "opportunity costs. Every day spent on one more band of thugs in the Middle East is a day that cannot be spent on India or Mexico.
The world presents the United States with remarkable opportunities. Asia, Latin America and Africa are all moving in the right direction. But these trends are not automatic or self-sustaining. They require Washington to be engaged and assertive - and also need a political and media climate in which the urgent does not always trump the important.
Fareed Zakaria is a syndicated columnist.




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January 30, 2015 Friday  


 What to Wear? First Ladies Are Steeped in Protocol

 
WASHINGTON --  The first lady, Michelle Obama, bared her head in Saudi Arabia, but covered it at the Vatican and at an Indonesian mosque. Laura Bush wore a head scarf only briefly in Saudi Arabia and to tour the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Hillary Rodham Clinton covered her head in Eritrea, the West Bank and Pakistan, but did not in Saudi Arabia.
Mrs. Obama inspired headlines and Internet chatter this week when she was photographed without headgear during a visit with President Obama to Riyadh, the capital of a conservative Muslim kingdom where women are compelled to cover their heads. But her attire was in keeping with diplomatic protocol and longstanding custom for Western women visiting Saudi Arabia.  
  And that is no accident.
  There are dozens of rules and customs that govern what an American first lady should wear and what she should not while visiting other countries, and first ladies have to follow them all. 
  ''Mrs. Obama always wanted to be briefed completely on all the cultural traditions, from food to greetings to attire, and we would prepare a detailed memo before each trip,'' said Capricia Penavic Marshall, who, as the chief of protocol for the United States from 2009 to 2013, oversaw protocol matters for the president and first lady abroad.
  ''These are not unilateral decisions she is making,'' Ms. Marshall said. ''No one just decides one day that this is what I'm going to wear. It is very carefully planned.'' Mrs. Obama in particular, she added, ''likes to be well-informed.''
  Adhering to the rules is an elaborate business for first ladies, whose every outfit and accessory is scrutinized for political significance and cultural import, particularly when traveling to countries where customs bear little resemblance to Western practice.
  When Mrs. Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia as first lady in 2007, she went bareheaded in public almost the entire time. But when a group of breast cancer survivors she met with surprised her with a handmade black hijab, or head scarf, with tinges of pink that signify breast cancer awareness, she immediately put it on in solidarity with the women.
  ''It was a very organic moment,'' said Anita McBride, Mrs. Bush's chief of staff at the time. ''Anyone would have done it. But there was a little bit of a flap about it.''
  The hijab was a rare spontaneous episode in what are otherwise meticulously planned sartorial strategies on trips by first ladies. White House aides always prepare a ''wardrobe memo'' that accounts for cultural norms (head scarf or no?), climate and terrain (short sleeves or long? high heels or flats?), and the nature of the events (gown or suit?).
  ''When you're in the White House, you always tend to err on the side of being prepared,'' Ms. McBride said. ''The wardrobe memo was a very key ingredient and component of that.''
  In Mrs. Obama's case, the stop in Saudi Arabia was a late addition to her itinerary for a trip that was initially planned only as a visit to India. When King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on Jan. 23, President Obama hastily changed his plans and diverted to Riyadh to pay respects. 
  It is not clear whether Mrs. Obama knew in advance to pack for a visit to the kingdom, and the White House refused on Thursday to comment on any aspect of how Mrs. Obama chose what to wear. 
  The first lady dressed modestly, in loose-fitting black pants and a blue tunic-length blouse, with her arms covered by a three-quarter-length coat in a matching print. 
  Some Saudi bloggers criticized her on Twitter, using an Arabic hashtag that roughly translates to #MichelleObamaUnveiled. Many Westerners, including Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, praised her for making a stand in defiance of Muslim law. 
  ''It turned out to be much ado about nothing,'' said Melanne Verveer, who as a top adviser to Mrs. Clinton traveled extensively with her when Mrs. Clinton was the first lady. ''Yes, your clothes do matter. Yes, they can be interpreted, but if you dress appropriately to the society you are visiting, you make sure that no one makes news with something not intended to make news.''
  Like Mrs. Obama in Indonesia in 2010 and Mrs. Bush in Jerusalem, Mrs. Clinton would cover her head when visiting a mosque, but not when meeting with officials in Muslim countries. The same is true for an audience with the pope at the Vatican, where women are expected to cover their knees and shoulders as well as their heads.
  ''There may not be a code per se, but there was guidance from the State Department, and it was to be respectful, to be accommodating in conservative societies,'' said Ms. Verveer, now the director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. ''Don't wear your sundress.'' 
  Even the best-laid wardrobe plans can go awry for a first lady, so Ms. McBride said she would often take head coverings for unforeseen events when traveling in the Middle East. 
  She slipped a few extra scarves into her luggage during a trip to Afghanistan with Mrs. Bush, and each woman grabbed one when they disembarked from Air Force One.
  ''We put them around our shoulders just in case we might need to pull them on for any reason when we arrived,'' Ms. McBride said. ''You never know.''




7


 


January 29, 2015 Thursday  


 After Air Crash, Old Port City Has Sad New Role

 
SURABAYA, Indonesia --  Ten-year-old Made Putri, known as Keisha, was so excited about her first trip abroad, a family vacation to Singapore and Malaysia, that she wore her favorite jacket when she boarded the plane at the airport here.
It was red, with SpongeBob SquarePants printed on the front, a birthday present from her grandparents last year. 
  Keisha was planning to celebrate her 11th birthday on Jan. 3, during the trip, with her parents and 16-year-old sister, Putriyan Permata.
  But their AirAsia flight on Dec. 28 hit stormy weather less than an hour after takeoff from Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province. For reasons that are still not clear, the Airbus A320-200, bound for Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people aboard. 
  ''There won't be a present this year,'' said Imam Samporno, Keisha's grandfather, who viewed security camera images provided by crash investigators that showed the girl, wearing the red jacket, boarding the airplane with her family.
  Since the crash, Mr. Imam and his wife, Maria Endang Wirasmi, both 65, have come each day to a crisis center at the provincial police headquarters here hoping for news of their daughter, Donna Indah Nurwatie; their son-in-law, Boby Winata; and their grandchildren, who lived in a nearby town.
  They are among the 92 crash victims whose bodies have not yet been recovered and identified by forensic teams working in Surabaya, and time is running out on the search.
  Mr. Imam, chain-smoking cigarettes in an open-air restaurant here last week, is not hoping for miracles. An observant Muslim, he just wants to give them a proper burial.
  ''I'm just asking God to find the bodies of my children and grandchildren, no matter what their condition,'' he said. ''If they can't find them, it's God's will. We just hope the government will continue the search operation until all the victims are found.''
  On Tuesday, the Indonesian armed forces announced the end of search operations for the missing victims, saying that navy divers had retrieved all the bodies that were in the badly damaged fuselage, which lies off the southern coast of Borneo, at a depth of about 100 feet. They also canceled further efforts to try to raise the wreckage.
  The country's National Search and Rescue Agency said Wednesday that it would continue searching, although on a much smaller scale, through Feb. 6. Officials said they might also try to enlist fishermen and residents of coastal communities to join in the search.
  Surabaya, a port city dating from at least the 13th century, has become the locus of the grief felt by families like Mr. Imam's. Nearly half of the 162 people aboard the plane lived here, and few people here feel no connection to them.
  The city, which feels more like a town given its wide, tree-lined streets and absence of high-rise buildings, sits on the northern shore of East Java at the mouth of the Mas River.
  Dutch colonists incorporated the port in the Dutch East Indies in the 18th century. It was occupied by Japanese troops during World War II, and bombed by Allied forces. In 1945, pro-independence Indonesian soldiers fought the British military, which had arrived at the end of the war to assume control from the surrendering Japanese, in the Battle of Surabaya.
  Today, with 3.2 million people, Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city and runs its second-largest port. As a testament to its diverse past, Surabaya has an Arab quarter, mosques, churches, Buddhist and Hindu temples, and one of the largest Chinatowns in the country, as well as Dutch colonial buildings.
  Tri Rismaharini, the city's popular mayor, has gone to the crisis center on many days since the crash to be with families as they receive the remains of identified relatives.
  ''I tell them that 'Today it is your turn to grieve, but maybe tomorrow it's my turn,' '' she said in an interview last week.
  While most of Surabaya's residents are Muslim, many of the victims were Chinese-Indonesian, members of a mostly Christian and affluent minority who made their mark in this city as merchants, traders and businesspeople, in particular in the past 50 years.
  ''We don't know what's behind the mystery of this tragedy, but we know that God has a plan,'' said Johannes Sonny Susanto, 38, an associate pastor at Mawar Sharon, a Protestant megachurch whose congregation of 8,000 lost 43 members in the crash.
  In the first days after the crash, the crisis center was packed with hundreds of distraught relatives, searching for answers and, according to psychologists counseling them, unrealistically hoping for miracles.
  In the past week, however, fewer than three dozen family members have been turning up each day, with the rest waiting in their homes in Surabaya and across East Java Province, hoping for a phone call or text message informing them that their loved ones have been recovered and identified.
  Burial plans for 80-year-old Jo Indri, at a traditional Chinese-Indonesian cemetery in Surabaya, remain in limbo; she was the matriarch of a Buddhist-Confucian family that also lost five other members in the crash.
  Ms. Indri's daughter The Meiji Thejakusuma, 44, and her granddaughters, Stevie Gunawan, 10, and Stephanie Gunawan, 21, have been identified and buried. The others remain missing.
  If the others are found, ''It'll be a load off Dad's mind,'' said Yans Thejakusuma, 30, Ms. Indri's grandson, speaking about his father, one of Ms. Indri's children. ''He'll be able to move on.''
  Margaretha, a psychologist and spokeswoman for the Indonesian Psychology Association, said she and other mental health workers from the national police force and navy were on standby at the crisis center to counsel families whose relatives' remains are not recovered.
  As the search for victims winds down, that is looking increasingly inevitable.
  ''Families can still say goodbye even if there is no burial process,'' said Ms. Margaretha, who uses only one name.
  Some Surabaya residents have become ''secondary victims'' of the plane crash, she said, developing anxiety and a fear of flying after watching the intense news coverage of Flight 8501.
  Among them is Diana Dharmayanti, 21, a business management major at Petra Christian University in Surabaya. She said that before the crash, she had booked a ticket to Singapore for March on the same AirAsia flight, 8501.
  ''The flight number has been changed, but I still don't know whether I will go or not,'' Ms. Dharmayanti said after praying at a Confucian temple in the Chinatown district.
  Several people who regularly prayed at the temple were on the flight.
  H. Choirur Rozi, 37, a spokesman for an Islamic school run by Masjid Baitussalam, a mosque in south Surabaya, flew just one day after the AirAsia crash, but admitted that he was apprehensive.
  Mr. Choirur, his wife and two children had driven from Surabaya to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, on Dec. 26 to sell their vehicle, and combined it with a short family vacation. On Dec. 29, they flew home on another budget carrier.
  ''Everyone onboard was praying,'' Mr. Choirur said, with a rueful laugh.
  Back at the crisis center, Mr. Imam continued to wait on Wednesday for information about his family.
  Last week, he recalled how Keisha, the more precocious of his two grandchildren, loved to dance, and to sing to him, calling him ''guru'' -- meaning teacher.
  ''She was very creative, and she did so many things,'' he said.
  Ms. Thejakusuma had planned to celebrate the success of her 14-year-old clothing business, Planet One, and her 45th birthday by treating her family to a cruise around Southeast Asia, sailing out of Singapore.
  She was traveling with her husband, Charly Gunawan; their three children; her mother, Ms. Indri; and the boyfriend of their eldest daughter.
  Mr. Thejakusuma said Mr. Gunawan, his uncle, had expressed reservations about the whole family's being on the same plane ''in case something happens.''
  They went anyway.




7


 


January 25, 2015 Sunday  
TWO STAR EDITION

 SHARIA SHAKES UP SOUTHEAST ASIA; 
NOWHERE IS THE TENSION BETWEEN MODERNITY AND FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAM MORE ON DISPLAY, REPORTS BLOOMBERG'S ADAM MINTER

 
It's easy to overlook Brunei, a country smaller than Delaware located on the north side of Borneo, population 412,000. But the kingdom's neighbors are watching it closely. By embracing a stringent variant of Islam, the government of Brunei increasingly represents the region's deepest anxieties about its own future.
On Dec. 23, officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, stopped by local restaurants with a stern request: Take down your Christmas decorations. Proprietors were informed that the decorations were "against Islamic beliefs." Four days later, the Religious Affairs Ministry affirmed in a press release that "public displays" of Christmas cheer - or any other non-Islamic religious festival - were prohibited under sharia. 
It's no surprise that Southeast Asian news outlets soon began to pick up on the issue. The region has experienced extraordinary growth over the past 15 years - if the 11 nations and 600 million people comprising Southeast Asia were a single country, it would have the seventh-largest economy in the world - that was prompted in part by spillover from China's boom and relative political stability across the region. But, above all, it benefited from a general diminishment (or downplay) of ethnic, racial and religious tensions.
That's no small accomplishment. Southeast Asia is home to a panoply of religions, including Buddhism and various forms of Christianity. In the 12th century, Islam arrived in the region and today is the dominant faith, with roughly 240 million followers amounting to about 42 percent of the region's population (and 25 percent of the world Muslim population). For much of the region's history, tensions between these communities were an unavoidable fact of life.
Although the region has now managed to reach some religious equilibrium, it's always been a tenuous arrangement - that is to say, the example of Brunei's sharia system has long hovered over the region. And in a region as closely-knit as Southeast Asia, what happens in one country more often than not finds an echo, if not an analogue, in its neighbors. For example, long-standing tensions between fundamentalist Buddhist sects and Muslims in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Myanmar turned into anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar back in July, causing shockwaves across the region.
Meanwhile, Brunei-type Muslim suspicions of Christmas have long-standing antecedents across the region, including the notorious 2000 Christmas Eve bombings of churches in Indonesia. Since then, tensions have dropped off. But here and there, the problem re-emerges.
In majority-Muslim Malaysia, for example, Christmas 2014 featured shopping malls filled with Christmas decorations, photo-ready Santas and a very public discussion, initiated by fringe religious groups, about whether or not Muslims are allowed to say "Merry Christmas" to Christians. That discussion was swiftly brought to a close when senior members of the Malaysian government went out of their way to publicly wish their compatriots a merry Christmas.
The imperative wasn't just political and moral - it was also economic. Malaysia is keen to develop into a knowledge-based economy, expanding beyond its traditional role as an agricultural, natural resource and manufacturing hub. Doing so, however, requires retaining and attracting talent - something that Malaysia has struggled to do in recent years.
Most of those who have left are non-Muslim, eager to seek better economic opportunities and leave behind what a World Bank report characterizes as "social justice" issues. It turns out the best and brightest aren't much interested in living in a country that doesn't respect religious pluralism - much less shopping mall Santas. The government knows that, and though Malaysia faces significant challenges in achieving its economic goals, there's recognition that turning its back on pluralism won't help its cause.
In contrast, Brunei's luxury-loving Sultan, who rules by edict, seems to have missed that point. The problem is, far more than Malaysia, his country is in need of economic diversification. Oil and gas revenues account for roughly two-thirds of the country's GDP and 93 percent of government revenues. But those oil and gas reserves are uncertain, and in an age when oil is selling at $40 per barrel, Bruneians can be excused for wondering why all that revenue didn't buy a more sustainable economic model.
It's not for lack of trying. In 2008, the government issued a long-term plan to turn the country into a kind of mini-Singapore. Of course, doing so means attracting and retaining well-educated professionals - something Brunei was finding difficult even before the Sultan imposed sharia in May 2014. Likewise, tourists: Between 2002 and 2013, Brunei was the only Southeast Asian nation to experience no growth in tourist arrivals.
Will sharia help either cause? The December Christmas crackdown certainly won't - and that's just a small part of phase one of the sharia roll-out. Phases two and three, expected this year and in 2016, will introduce corporal punishment and executions (including by stoning). Meanwhile, following some of his Middle Eastern counterparts, the Sultan has been quite upfront that sharia is - from his absolutist perspective - one way to deal with those "who wish to see internal strife or to instigate conflict and do not respect their leader or government," as he put it in a February 2014 speech.
Of course, it remains possible that Brunei may yet become a mini-Singapore by attracting the Islamic banking and investment firms that are active in the region. But such a scenario assumes that those institutions would pass over Malaysia and Indonesia, countries that also support Islamic finance and are home to much larger Muslim populations. That seems unlikely. Instead, Brunei is likely to become more economically isolated, all the while serving as a useful, cautionary tale for Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries in the region tempted to turn their backs on pluralism's material successes.




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 (California)

January 24, 2015 Saturday

 There is no 'Muslim world'

 
 Here we go again. When ever deranged terrorists invoking Islam strike in the West, alongside the mourning of the victims comes the heated debate over how the world's Muslims should react to the attack. 
Belligerent right-wingers demand that Muslims distance themselves from terrorists or be deemed their accomplices. Righteous leftists warn against bigotry and Islamophobia while affirming that Muslims, being overwhelmingly moderate people, have nothing to do with terrorism. And then you have the Bill Maher approach: urging Muslims to prove their overall moderation beyond simply condemning terrorism. 
It is a truly bizarre ritual, this rush to assess whether Muslims en masse are moderate or terror-friendly, and, in either case, to what extent.  
The absurdity of the exercise begins with the way mainstream Western discourse defines "Muslims": a monolithic compact of 1.6 billion people intensely adhering to a faith by mere virtue of geography. Labeling all North Africans and Middle Easterners pious Muslims is akin to assuming that everyone who lives in America, or Europe, is devoutly Christian. There is a difference between cultural heritage and religious obedience. Why would the notion of a "Christian world" be dubious and debatable, but that of a "Muslim world" never be questioned? 
As a liberal Moroccan journalist, I found it was bad enough to have my state refuse me my freedom of conscience; it's all the more galling when it is Western liberals who refuse me that right with their blanket paternalistic sentiments about what "those people" are like.
It's no wonder the West has been quick to give up on, or forget, the liberal, cosmopolitan youth that fueled the Arab Spring of recent years - a demographic that hardly fits into the Western view that ev eryone in these countries is primarily characterized by religiosity. 
Islam is not encoded in anyone's DNA. Being religious is a personal choice, one that every individual is free to make - or not - as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As it happens, human rights (including freedom of belief) are widely denied to the 1.6 billion persons we're talking about, by most of the governments they live under.
What well-meaning Westerners need to understand is the wide gap between Islam as it should be - a personal choice - and as it most often is: a set of pervasive constraints enforced by undemocratic states. 
In all the countries where Islam is the state religion, merely criticizing the faith (let alone leaving it) is a criminal offense. In 2007, as the publisher of the Moroccan weekly magazine Nishan, I ran a cover story about popular humor in my country. Because the issue included jokes about Islam (harmless ones at that - the most notable one featured God assigning a deceased Muslim man of virtue to hell, before teasing him: "Smile, it's the candid camera!"), copies of the magazine were publicly burned by grimacing extremists, and my colleagues and I received hundreds of death threats. Yet instead of cracking down against the fanatics, the government prosecuted us for "damaging religious morals" and banned the magazine for three months. 
It's not just about mandatory religiosity. In most "Muslim countries," school curricula include inescapable religious classes at every grade, with disturbing teachings about the role of women (mainly to procreate and stay at home), the duty to "defend Islam" and "fight its enemies," and so on. Grown-ups are not spared, either, with omnipresent state media never losing a chance to hammer into them that Islam is the highest moral norm, and transnational Arab channels like Al-Jazeera engaging in constant "us-versus-them" rhetoric ("us" being Muslims and "them" Westerners, of course).
Even opposition parties (mostly made up of Islamist groups) do nothing but double down on religious intransigence, hoping to outdo already-bigoted official institutions. In these conditions, the psychological pressure is such that opting out of Islam is unthinkable - or more accurately, unthought of - for the vast majority of the people. 
This is not to say that no one living in the swath of territory from Morocco to Indonesia adheres to Islam out of intimate conviction. Many obviously do. Yet as long as coercion isn't replaced by freedom of choice, the extent to which these people can be truly identified with the Islamic faith is dubious. Flatly calling 1.6 billion people Muslims, even with the purpose of praising their moderation, only makes you the accomplice of their oppressors. 
The same flawed assumptions are taking place in France. As a consequence of the horrendous Charlie Hebdo massacre perpetrated by local-born-and-bred religious fanatics, "French Muslims" are, again, in the eye of the storm. Depending on the political sympathies of the commentator, they're either guilty of moral association with terrorists or misunderstood moderates. But no one is letting them off the hook for their Muslimhood.
Westerners are rightly concerned about the danger posed by Islamic radicalism, but anxiously assessing the commitment of more than a billion people to religious moderation doesn't help in any way. All it does is deepen the - already profound - misunderstanding. 
When it comes to Islamic terrorism, the worthy social debate is about the way to drain its breeding ground. My two cents: promoting secular democracy in the so-called Muslim countries (and please, no need to bomb them for that - empowering local liberals is enough) would be a good place to start. 
Ahmed Benchemsi wrote
 this commentary for
 Zocolo Public Square at zocalopublicsquare.org.




7


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

January 23, 2015

 How Israeli Television Became the Farm Team for Hollywood, and the World

 
Keshet has eight  shows slated for  American TV.
Amid rising calls in some quarters  for a boycott of Israel, television is  one export that is selling around  the world like never before  even  making quiet inroads in Muslim  countries, where business ties with  the Jewish state are taboo.
After the success of shows like  Homeland, Israeli TV hit makers  are breaking into markets from  Argentina to Indonesia. And in  Hollywood, moguls have identified  the lucrative creative pipeline and  are for the first time hiring Israelis  to develop American versions of  their shows.
It's the hottest foreign country  to get involved with for seed  stuff in television, much more than  London, I think, right now, said  Adam Berkowitz, co-head of television  at Creative Artists Agency, a  top entertainment and sports agency  headquartered in Los Angeles.  In an interview at his office,  Berkowitz, who finds it worthwhile  to carry business cards printed in  Hebrew, described television concepts  from Israel as impactful.
The perception around town is  that [producers] have to look at  Israeli formats immediately, he  said. They don't want to miss the  next big thing. 
Hits such as Showtime's  Homeland and, before that,  HBO's In Treatment have stoked  this fever. But for Middle Eastern  countries, the process is more complicated.  The strong track record  of Israeli program concepts has  become well known, even there.  But the concepts are sold through  non-Israeli subsidiaries and partners,  to avoid the inherent, thorny  political considerations.
It's better for them to know they  are doing business with an international  company, said a senior executive  at a company involved with  such deals, who wished to remain  anonymous so as not to jeopardize  future opportunities. Today  it's less problematic, because people  go more to the content and quality  than to the politics.
A past example of this can be  found with Lalola, an Argentine  show co-produced by the Tel Aviv-based Dori Media Group, which
runs 12 channels for the Israeli satellite  provider HOT. Dori, founded  by Argentine Israeli businessman  Yair Dori, originally made its name  producing Argentine telenovelas  that it later exported to the Israeli  market. Lalola featured Argentine  heartthrob Juan Gil Navarro as  Lalo, a hot media company director  who is sought after by many  women. One of them, angry at his  lack of attention, recruits a witch  who puts a spell on Lalo that turns  him into a beautiful but vulnerable  woman. When he awakes in utter  confusion, he must learn to put on  women's clothing and must go to  work at his media firm as Lola,  where she/he explains that she is  Lalo's cousin and is now running  the firm in his place while he's off  on a family emergency.
Lalola, which Dori co-produced  with Underground Contenidos,  an Argentine TV company, ran  in Spanish with Hebrew subtitles  on Israeli cable and satellite  TV in 2009. In 2010 it was picked  up by the Dubai-based Middle  East Broadcasting Center, which  broadcast 119 episodes of the show   dubbed in Egyptian Arabic   across the Arab world.
To Keren Shahar, general manager  of distribution and acquisitions  at Keshet International, a leading  television production company  licensed in Israel, the ability of  Israeli-produced shows, even if they  are in Spanish, to cross impregnable  geopolitical barriers demonstrates  the magic of stories.
We believe that television has  an intrinsic way of bringing people  together by portraying intriguing  narratives that anyone, no matter  who you are or where you live,  relate to, she said. Keshet,  which operates Israel's commercial  Channel 2, is partly owned  by Israeli-American media mogul  Haim Saban, among others.
Dori's Baby TV channel also runs  in Indonesia, the world's largest  Muslim country by population.  And, in a sign of the deepening  integration of Israeli media enterBy
prises with international media  that also run in the Muslim world,  Dori and Sony Pictures Television  announced a deal last October that  will see Sony take a 50% stake in  Dori's telenovela-showing channels  in Israel as well as in Baby TV. Sony  previously bought a 50% stake of  Televiva, Dori's telenovela channel  in Indonesia, last year.
Acquiring a channel is not like  acquiring a format, said Michal  Nashiv, Dori's vice president of  marketing, using the industry's lingo  for a program concept. It's a  statement. It means you believe in  this market and you see a future in  this market, and the Sony deal was  signed after the [2014 Gaza] war.
Meanwhile, Israel's Keshet  International, via its connections  with U. S.-based studios and proture
duction companies, is pioneering a new trend of its own for Israeli production  companies, one that sees Israelis creating the American versions  of their own Israeli shows, along with creating new, original series for the American market.
An example is this past summer's Rising Star (ABC), which was produced  by Keshet DCP, a joint vencan between Keshet International and Dick Clark Productions. A singing talent show with a twist, Rising Star allows viewers to select which singers they want to advance in real time, using an innovative  app built by the Israeli technical  and media company Screenz. The show faced declining ratings for much of its first season, and no plans have been announced for a second season. Nevertheless, Rising Star was widely noted for the successful deployment of the Screenz app, which runs on Google's infrastructure.
Other co-productions include the upcoming thriller Dig (USA  Network), which follows an  American FBI agent in Jerusalem  who makes a shocking discovery  that threatens to change everything,  and Boom! (Fox), a highly  sought-after game show in which  contestants answer questions with  the aim of defusing a bomb. Each  correct answer brings the bomb one  step closer to being neutralized.
In total, Keshet has eight shows,  both exclusively licensed and co-productions, that are appearing or  slated to run in the United States  within a year. These include Your  Family or Mine (TBS), Allegiance  (NBC), Deal With It (TBS), Dig,  Tyrant, Boom and Homeland  (Showtime).
Gideon Raff, creator of Dig  and Tyrant and the Israeli show  Hatufim, on which Homeland  is based, exemplifies the fluid biculturalism  of Israel's new media  moguls and their creations. Born  in Jerusalem, Raff lived from the  ages of 2 to 6 in Washington, D. C.,  where his father served as the economics  counselor in Israel's U. S.  Embassy.
After three years as a paratrooper  in the Israeli army, he earned  a degree in film from Tel Aviv  University and moved to Los  Angeles in 2003. There he obtained  a graduate degree in directing at the  American Film Institute and directed  two Hollywood features, The  Killing Floor and Train.
But then, rather than continue  on his American trajectory, Raff  returned to Israel to create and  produce Hatufim, or Prisoners  of War. The Israeli drama series  became Homeland in America  after Fox bought the rights to the  show on the strength of the script  alone. Raff writes scripts for both  shows and serves as executive producer  of Homeland.
Like Homeland, Dig, which  will be filmed in Israel, and  Tyrant, whose pilot was filmed in  Morocco, gave Raff the opportunity  to channel his perspective on the  Middle East to an American market.
These are a completely different  type of collaboration compared to  the past, he told Haaretz in June.  It's a mixture of Hollywood and  the Israeli industry working together  to create big American TV shows.  'Dig' and 'Tyrant' are original U. S.  shows that I created for American  studios, from the beginning.
Tyrant, whose concept development  and pilot Raff shepherded,  follows the experiences of an  American family in the region  when the heir to an imaginaryMiddle  Eastern dynasty dies andhis  American son must take thekingdom's  reins.
It's kind of like a Shakespearean,  fairy-tale-like world in the Arabworld,  he told The Times of Israel.  This Western family is going totake  over the country, with everything  that means. You'll see whatpower  does to you, how it corruptsyour  soul. And we're setting theshow  in a world that we read aboutin   every day.




7


 


January 21, 2015 Wednesday  


 Say It Like It Is

 
I've never been a fan of global conferences to solve problems, but when I read that the Obama administration is organizing a Summit on Countering Violent Extremism for Feb. 18, in response to the Paris killings, I had a visceral reaction: Is there a box on my tax returns that I can check so my tax dollars won't go to pay for this?
When you don't call things by their real name, you always get in trouble. And this administration, so fearful of being accused of Islamophobia, is refusing to make any link to radical Islam from the recent explosions of violence against civilians (most of them Muslims) by Boko Haram in Nigeria, by the Taliban in Pakistan, by Al Qaeda in Paris and by jihadists in Yemen and Iraq. We've entered the theater of the absurd. 
Last week the conservative columnist Rich Lowry wrote an essay in Politico Magazine that contained quotes from White House spokesman Josh Earnest that I could not believe. I was sure they were made up. But I checked the transcript: 100 percent correct. I can't say it better than Lowry did:
''The administration has lapsed into unselfconscious ridiculousness. Asked why the administration won't say [after the Paris attacks] we are at war with radical Islam, Earnest on Tuesday explained the administration's first concern 'is accuracy. We want to describe exactly what happened. These are individuals who carried out an act of terrorism, and they later tried to justify that act of terrorism by invoking the religion of Islam and their own deviant view of it.'
This makes it sound as if the Charlie Hebdo terrorists set out to commit a random act of violent extremism and only subsequently, when they realized that they needed some justification, did they reach for Islam.
The day before, Earnest had conceded that there are lists of recent 'examples of individuals who have cited Islam as they've carried out acts of violence.' Cited Islam? According to the Earnest theory ... purposeless violent extremists rummage through the scriptures of great faiths, looking for some verses to cite to support their mayhem and often happen to settle on the holy texts of Islam.''
President Obama knows better. I am all for restraint on the issue, and would never hold every Muslim accountable for the acts of a few. But it is not good for us or the Muslim world to pretend that this spreading jihadist violence isn't coming out of their faith community. It is coming mostly, but not exclusively, from angry young men and preachers on the fringe of the Sunni Arab and Pakistani communities in the Middle East and Europe.
If Western interventions help foster violent Islamic reactions, we should reduce them. To the extent that Muslim immigrants in European countries feel marginalized, they and their hosts should worker harder on absorption. But both efforts will only take you so far.
Something else is also at work, and it needs to be discussed. It is the struggle within Arab and Pakistani Sunni Islam over whether and how to embrace modernity, pluralism and women's rights. That struggle drives, and is driven by, the dysfunctionality of so many Arab states and Pakistan. It has left these societies with too many young men who have never held a job or a girl's hand, who then seek to overcome their humiliation at being left behind, and to find identity, by ''purifying'' their worlds of other Muslims who are not sufficiently pious and of Westerners whom they perceive to be putting Muslims down. But you don't see this in the two giant Muslim communities in Indonesia or India.
Only Sunni Arabs and Pakistanis can get inside their narrative and remediate it. But reformers can only do that if they have a free, secure political space. If we're not going to help create space for that internal dialogue, let's just be quiet. Don't say stupid stuff. And don't hold airy fairy conferences that dodge the real issues, which many mainstream Muslims know and are actually starved to discuss, especially women.
The Arab journalist Diana Moukalled, writing in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat last week, asked: ''Don't all these events now going on around us and committed in our name require us to break the fear barrier and begin to question our region and our societies, especially the ideas being trafficked there that have led us to this awful stage where we are tearing at one another's throats -- to mention nothing of what as a result also happens beyond our region?''
And a remarkable piece in  Sunday by Asra Q. Nomani, an American Muslim born in India, called out the ''honor corps'' -- a loose, well-funded coalition of governments and private individuals ''that tries to silence debate on extremist ideology in order to protect the image of Islam.'' It ''throws the label of 'Islamophobe' on pundits, journalists and others who dare to talk about extremist ideology in the religion. ... The official and unofficial channels work in tandem, harassing, threatening and battling introspective Muslims and non-Muslims everywhere. ... The bullying often works to silence critics of Islamic extremism. ... They cause governments, writers and experts to walk on eggshells.''
I know one in particular.




7


 


January 13, 2015 Tuesday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION

 
2nd AirAsia black box recovered
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia - Divers retrieved the crashed AirAsia plane's second black box from the bottom of the Java Sea today, giving experts essential tools to piece together what brought Flight 8501 down.
The cockpit voice recorder was freed from beneath heavy wreckage at a depth of about 100 feet, a day after the flight data recorder was recovered, said Tonny Budiono, sea navigation director at the Transportation Ministry. 
"Thank God," he said. "This is good news for investigators to reveal the cause of the plane crash."
The device will be flown to the capital, Jakarta, to be analyzed with the other black box, a process that could take up to two weeks. Since it records in a two-hour loop, all discussions between the captain and co-pilot should be available.
The plane disappeared from radar less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on Dec. 28. It was carrying 162 people, but only 48 bodies have been recovered so far.
Pope calls for justice in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Pope Francis brought calls for reconciliation as well as justice in Sri Lanka today at the start of a weeklong Asian tour, saying the island nation can't fully heal from a quarter-century of ethnic civil war without pursuing the truth about abuses that were committed.
In a show of ethnic coexistence, the pope's welcoming ceremony featured traditional dancers and drummers from both majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil ethnic groups.
With 40 elephants dressed in colorful costumes lining the airport road behind him, Francis said that finding true peace after so much bloodshed "can only be done by overcoming evil with good, and by cultivating those virtues which foster reconciliation, solidarity and peace."
He didn't specifically mention Sri Lanka's refusal to cooperate with a U.N. investigation into alleged war crimes committed in the final months of the war. But he said, "The process of healing also needs to include the pursuit of truth, not for the sake of opening old wounds, but rather as a necessary means of promoting justice, healing and unity."
Tamil rebels fought a 25-year civil war to demand an independent Tamil nation after decades of perceived discrimination by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. U.N. estimates say 80,000 to 100,000 people were killed during the course of the war, which ended in 2009; other reports suggest the toll could be much higher.
German march to counter anti-Islam rally
Chancellor Angela Merkel will join a vigil in support of tolerance after a German group opposing Islam's influence in Europe drew a record crowd for one of its rallies, as both sides hardened their stance over Muslims in the country.
Ms. Merkel, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and other senior politicians will participate in the march this evening in Berlin to promote inclusion organized by the country's Muslim organizations. The Jewish community has also been invited.
"People who come to us out of deprivation or fear, who need protection, deserve to be treated here with dignity," Ms. Merkel said today in Berlin. "We need to turn against everything that places into question our fundamental values, the values in our constitution."
About 25,000 people turned out for the anti-Islam rally Monday night in the eastern city of Dresden. The group is one of a number of anti-immigrant organizations in countries from France to the UK and Netherlands that say the killings last week of 17 people in Paris by Islamists justify their stance. The shootings "ram home our point," the Dresden march organizers wrote on Facebook.
Kerry praises Pakistan's terrorist hunt
ISLAMABAD - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today praised the Pakistani military's operation against militants in the country's northwest, saying the results are "significant," but cautioned that more work needs to be done.
Pakistan launched a major operation in the North Waziristan region in June. The U.S. had long advocated for such an operation because the region had become a hub for militant groups who attack targets in both Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan and a source of tension between the U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The current operations "in the northwest have disrupted militant activities in the tribal areas and resulted in important seizures of weapons," Mr. Kerry said, speaking during a press conference in Islamabad with Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistani prime minister's adviser on foreign affairs.
"The operation is not yet complete but already the results are significant. Pakistani soldiers and their commanders deserve enormous credit," he said.
"But make no mistake: The task is a difficult one and it is not done. We all have a responsibility to ensure that these extremists are no longer able to secure a foothold in this country or elsewhere," he said.
Mr. Kerry also announced that $250 million in previously appropriated money will be given to emergency relief efforts in the tribal areas, mainly North Waziristan. Hundreds of thousands of people fled the area due to the fighting.
143 Boko Haram fighters killed
YAOUNDE, Cameroon - Cameroon's army killed 143 Boko Haram fighters, the state broadcaster reported today, with the government saying it was the biggest defeat it has inflicted on the Nigerian Islamist group to date.
The insurgents were killed Monday after they attacked a military camp in Kolofata, in the north of Cameroon, CRTV said, citing the government.
The military initially said that 33 Boko Haram fighters had died in the more than five hours of fighting.
Government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said the battle ended after the army bombed the attackers, forcing them to retreat to the Nigerian border.
Cameroon lost one soldier, he said.
The central African country has deployed more than 1,000 troops in its Far North region, where Boko Haram members frequently enter from Nigeria to stage attacks.




7


 


January 11, 2015, Sunday

 The political agenda of blasphemy

 
As they went on their rampage, the men who murdered 12 people in Paris this week yelled that they had "avenged the prophet. They followed in the path of other terrorists who have bombed newspaper offices, stabbed a filmmaker, and killed writers and translators, all to mete out what they believe is the proper Quranic punishment for blasphemy. But in fact, the Quran prescribes no punishment for blasphemy. Like so many of the most fanatical and violent aspects of Islamic terrorism today, the idea that Islam requires that insults to Muhammad be met with violence is a creation of politicians and clerics to serve a political agenda.
One holy book is deeply concerned with blasphemy: the Bible. In the Old Testament, blasphemy and blasphemers are condemned and prescribed harsh punishment. The best-known passage on this is from Leviticus, Chapter 24, Verse 16: "Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death. 
By contrast, the word blasphemy appears nowhere in the Quran. (Nor incidentally does the Quran anywhere forbid creating images of Muhammad, though there are commentaries and traditions - "hadith - that do, to guard against idol-worship.) The Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan has pointed out that "there are more than 200 verses in the Quran, which reveal that the contemporaries of the prophets repeatedly perpetrated the same act, which is now called blasphemy or abuse of the Prophet' but nowhere does the Quran prescribe the punishment of lashes, or death, or any other physical punishment. On several occasions, Muhammad treated people who ridiculed him and his teachings with understanding and kindness. "In Islam, Khan says, "blasphemy is a subject of intellectual discussion rather than a subject of physical punishment.
Somebody forgot to tell the terrorists. But the gruesome and bloody belief the jihadis have adopted is all too common in the Muslim world, even among so-called moderate Muslims - that blasphemy and apostasy are grievous crimes against Islam and should be punished fiercely. Many Muslim-majority countries have laws against blasphemy and apostasy - and in some places they are enforced.
Pakistan is now the poster child for the anti-blasphemy campaign gone wild. As of March 2014, at least 14 people were on death row in that country, and 19 were serving life sentences, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The owner of the country's largest media group has been sentenced to 26 years in prison because one of his channels broadcast a devotional song about the Prophet Muhammad's daughter while re-enacting a wedding. And Pakistan is not alone. Bangladesh, Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey and Sudan have all used blasphemy laws to jail and harass people. In moderate Indonesia, 120 people have been detained for this reason since 2003. Saudi Arabia forbids the practice of any religion other than its own Wahhabi version of Islam.
The Pakistani case is instructive, because its extreme version of anti-blasphemy law is relatively recent and a product of politics. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, dictator during the late 1970s and 1980s, wanted to marginalize the democratic and liberal opposition, and embraced Islamic fundamentalists, no matter how extreme. He passed a series of laws Islamizing Pakistan, including an anti-blasphemy law that recommended the death penalty or life imprisonment for insulting the Prophet Muhammad in any way.
When governments try to curry favor with fanatics, eventually the fanatics take the law into their own hands. In Pakistan, jihadis have killed dozens of people whom they accuse of blasphemy, including a brave politician, Salmaan Taseer, who dared to call the blasphemy law a "black law.
We should fight terrorism. But we should also fight the source of the problem. It's not enough for Muslim leaders to condemn people who kill those they consider as blasphemers if their own governments are endorsing the idea of blasphemy at the very same time. The U.S. religious freedom commission and the U.N. Human Rights Committee have both declared that blasphemy laws by definition violate universal human rights (because they violate freedom of speech and expression). They are correct.
In Muslim-majority countries, no one dares to dial back these laws. In Western countries, no one confronts allies on these issues. But blasphemy is not a purely domestic issue, of concern only to those who worry about the internal affairs of countries. It has become the cutting edge between radical Islamists and Western societies - with bloody consequences. It cannot be avoided anymore. Western politicians, Muslim leaders and intellectuals everywhere should point out that blasphemy is something that does not exist in the Quran and should not exist in the modern world.
Fareed Zakaria is a syndicated columnist.




8



 



January 9, 2015 Friday  


 The law of fanatics

 
As they went on their rampage, the men who  killed 12 people in Paris this week yelled that they had "avenged the prophet." They follow in the path of other terrorists who have bombed newspaper offices, stabbed a filmmaker and killed writers and translators, all to mete out what they believe is the proper Koranic punishment for blasphemy. But in fact, the Koran prescribes no punishment for blasphemy. Like so many of the most fanatical and violent aspects of Islamic terrorism today, the idea that Islam requires that insults against the prophet Muhammad be met with violence is a creation of politicians and clerics to serve a political agenda.
One holy book is deeply concerned with blasphemy: the Bible. In the Old Testament, blasphemy and blasphemers are condemned and prescribed harsh punishment. The best-known passage on this is  Leviticus 24:16 : "Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death." 
By contrast, the word blasphemy appears nowhere in the Koran. (Nor, incidentally, does the Koran anywhere forbid creating images of Muhammad, though there are commentaries and traditions - "hadith" - that do, to guard against idol worship.)  Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan has pointed out that "there are more than 200 verses in the Koran, which reveal that the contemporaries of the prophets repeatedly perpetrated the same act, which is now called 'blasphemy or abuse of the Prophet' . . . but nowhere does the Koran prescribe the punishment of lashes, or death, or any other physical punishment." On several occasions, Muhammad treated people who ridiculed him and his teachings with understanding and kindness. "In Islam," Khan says, "blasphemy is a subject of intellectual discussion rather than a subject of physical punishment."
Somebody forgot to tell the terrorists. But the gruesome and bloody belief the jihadis have adopted is all too common in the Muslim world, even among so-called moderate Muslims - that blasphemy and apostasy are grievous crimes against Islam and should be punished fiercely. Many Muslim-majority countries have laws against blasphemy and apostasy - and in some places, they are enforced.
Pakistan is now the poster child for the anti-blasphemy campaign gone wild. In March, at least 14 people were on death row in that country, and 19 were serving life sentences, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The owner of the country's largest media group has been sentenced to 26 years in prison because one of his channels broadcast a devotional song about Muhammad's daughter while reenacting a wedding. (Really.) And Pakistan is not alone. Bangladesh, Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey and Sudan have all used blasphemy laws to jail and harass people. In moderate Indonesia, 120 people have been detained for this reason since 2003. Saudi Arabia forbids the practice of any religion other than its own Wahhabi version of Islam.
The Pakistani case is instructive, because its extreme version of anti-blasphemy law is relatively recent and a product of politics. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, Pakistan's president during the late 1970s and 1980s, wanted to marginalize the democratic and liberal opposition, and he embraced Islamic fundamentalists, no matter how extreme. He passed a series of laws Islamizing Pakistan, including a law that recommended the death penalty or life imprisonment for insulting Muhammad in any way.
When governments try to curry favor with fanatics, eventually the fanatics take the law into their own hands. In Pakistan, jihadis have killed dozens of people whom they accuse of blasphemy, including a brave politician, Salmaan Taseer, who dared to call the blasphemy law a "black law."
We should fight the Paris terrorists. But we should also fight the source of the problem. It's not enough for Muslim leaders to condemn people who kill those they consider as blasphemers if their own governments endorse the idea of punishing blasphemy at the very same time. The U.S. religious freedom commission and the U.N. Human Rights Committee have both declared that blasphemy laws violate universal human rights because they violate freedom of speech and expression. They are correct.
In Muslim-majority countries, no one dares to dial back these laws. In Western countries, no one confronts allies on these issues. But blasphemy is not a purely domestic matter, of concern only to those who worry about countries' internal affairs. It now sits on the bloody crossroad between radical Islamists and Western societies. It cannot be avoided anymore. Western politicians, Muslim leaders and intellectuals everywhere should point out that blasphemy is something that does not exist in the Koran and should not exist in the modern world.
comments@fareedzakaria.com




8


 


January 8, 2015 Thursday  


 Satire, Terrorism and Islam

 
The French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo skewers people of all faiths and backgrounds. One cartoon showed rolls of toilet paper marked ''Bible,'' ''Torah'' and ''Quran,'' and the explanation: ''In the toilet, all religions.''
Yet when masked gunmen stormed Charlie Hebdo's offices in Paris on Wednesday with AK-47s, murdering 12 people in the worst terror attack on French soil in decades, many of us assumed immediately that the perpetrators weren't Christian or Jewish fanatics but more likely Islamic extremists. 
Outraged Christians, Jews or atheists might vent frustrations on Facebook or Twitter. Yet, while we don't know exactly who is responsible, the presumption is that Islamic extremists once again have expressed their displeasure with bullets.
Many ask, Is there something about Islam that leads inexorably to violence, terrorism and subjugation of women?
The question arises because fanatical Muslims so often seem to murder in the name of God, from the 2004 Madrid train bombing that killed 191 people to the murder of hostages at a cafe in Sydney, Australia, last month. I wrote last year of a growing strain of intolerance in the Islamic world after a brave Pakistani lawyer friend of mine, Rashid Rehman, was murdered for defending a university professor falsely accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Some of the most systematic terrorism in the Islamic world has been the daily persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, from the Bahai to the Yazidi to the Ahmadis.
Then there's the oppression of women. Of the bottom 10 countries in the World Economic Forum's gender gap report, I count nine as majority Muslim.
So, sure, there's a strain of Islamic intolerance and extremism that is the backdrop to the attack on Charlie Hebdo. The magazine was firebombed in 2011 after a cover depicted Muhammad saying, ''100 lashes if you're not dying of laughter.''
Earlier, Charlie Hebdo had published a cartoon showing Muhammad crying and saying, ''It's hard to be loved by idiots.''
Terror incidents lead many Westerners to perceive Islam as inherently extremist, but I think that is too glib and simple-minded. Small numbers of terrorists make headlines, but they aren't representative of a complex and diverse religion of 1.6 billion adherents. My Twitter feed Wednesday brimmed with Muslims denouncing the attack -- and noting that fanatical Muslims damage the image of Muhammad far more than the most vituperative cartoonist.
The vast majority of Muslims of course have nothing to do with the insanity of such attacks -- except that they are disproportionately the victims of terrorism. Indeed, the Charlie Hebdo murders weren't even the most lethal terror attack on Wednesday: A car bomb outside a police college in Yemen, possibly planted by Al Qaeda, killed at least 37 people.
One of things I've learned in journalism is to beware of perceiving the world through simple narratives, because then new information is mindlessly plugged into those story lines. In my travels from Mauritania to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan to Indonesia, extremist Muslims have shared with me their own deeply held false narratives of America as an oppressive state controlled by Zionists and determined to crush Islam. That's an absurd caricature, and we should be wary ourselves of caricaturing a religion as diverse as Islam.
So let's avoid religious profiling. The average Christian had nothing to apologize for when Christian fanatics in the former Yugoslavia engaged in genocide against Muslims. Critics of Islam are not to blame because an anti-Muslim fanatic murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011.
Let's also acknowledge that the most courageous, peace-loving people in the Middle East who are standing up to Muslim fanatics are themselves often devout Muslims. Some read the Quran and blow up girls' schools, but more read the Quran and build girls' schools. The Taliban represents one brand of Islam; the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai the polar opposite.
There's a humbling story, perhaps apocryphal, that Gandhi was once asked: What do you think of Western civilization? He supposedly responded: I think it would be a good idea.
The great divide is not between faiths. Rather it is between terrorists and moderates, between those who are tolerant and those who ''otherize.''
In Australia after the hostage crisis, some Muslims feared revenge attacks. Then a wave of non-Muslim Australians rose to the occasion, offering to escort Muslims and ensure their safety, using the hashtag #IllRideWithYou on Twitter. More than 250,000 such comments were posted on Twitter -- a model of big-hearted compassion after terror attacks.
Bravo! That's the spirit.
Let's stand with Charlie Hebdo, for the global outpouring of support has been inspiring. Let's denounce terrorism, oppression and misogyny in the Islamic world -- and everywhere else. But let's be careful not to respond to terrorists' intolerance with our own.
I invite you to visit my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook and Google+, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.
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8



 


January 5, 2015 Monday

 A glimpse of Indonesia

 
  It took three planes, via London and Doha, Qatar, for me to reach Jakarta. Exhausted after three days flying, customs, immigration, visas, lousy food, luggage and 90 degrees, my godchild Kartika Soekarno, daughter of the country's first president, met me. Two minutes later, her driver stopped the car and announced: "I go to the bathroom." 
  This is par for Welcome to Indonesia, the nation that schooled Obama. It's basically a country operated by the Marx Brothers.  
  Every 47 years I drop into this fourth most populous nation. Years back, I wrote Sukarno's as-told-to-me autobiography. Labeled the Lifetime President, he'd given me a lifetime visa. He then lost his job, I then lost my visa. Many governments later, it's been returned - as have I.  
  Once the Dutch East Indies, 17,000 disparate islands, 728 languages, stretching a Holland-to-Turkey distance, the country is largely water. National airline Garuda locally ferries 25 million yearly.  
  A) It's multibillion dollar buildings, but no sidewalks. B) Want to do business? Commissioners pocket whatever exceeds whatever their subcommissioners grabbed. Exporting long hair for wigs, one dealer paid ladies $1 per head. After the takes each commissioner takes, it totaled $100 per head.  
  We're talking Albany, Asia-style. 
  Brand fever 
  Growth rate is 60 times Europe. It's Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald's. It's creating parks with areas for jogging, bikes, skateboards. They're grabbing from us, but we're cherry-picking them. Their rickshaw-style betjaks - bicycle riders in front hauling a little open cab behind - are newly outlawed. Not to worry. Those are now in New York. Instead, this town has a fleet of cars bearing the sign "TAKSI."  
  Within the hearts of Jakarta's 12 million citizens exist 167 gigantic malls with everything from England's Marks & Spencer to Hermès bags, Lamborghini cars, Tod's shoes, Häagen-Dazs ice cream to the USA's Tory Burch, Gap, Kate Spade. Prices post-Santa are 50 percent off. Great, since the money exchange is 12,500 rupiah per dollar. Grabbing a dinner check, I nearly fainted. Three-and-a-half million rupiah! 
  Luxe lodging for a bargain . . . 
  In Muslim Indonesia, everything's flexible. Christian churches aren't big here. Malls allow space for Sunday pop-up churches. Weekdays, the space peddles batik. 
  Where once stood fetid canals, poverty, sellers of satay - meat on a skewer - now it's A-1 superluxe hotel rooms in categories: Superior, Deluxe, Junior Suite, Executive Suite, Flora Suite, Royal Suite. Care to hear how flexible? After a month, one executive said he'd stay longer if they reduced his weekly rate. They did. Later, he said he'd stay six months if they renegotiated. They did. Unfortunately, the manager hadn't known that his guest always planned to be there a whole year. 
  It's all great 
  Sightseeing's great. Alongside the weekend palace is Kebun Raya Bogor, the famous botanical garden 90 minutes away in the capital's Hamptons. Breathtaking 7.2 million square feet of giant trees planted in the 1800s and miles of bushes, plants, greenery, including the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia. 
  Food's great. Jakarta's Australian beef comes from the Sultan of Brunei's farms. Life's great. Ladies go to the hairdresser daily and fly to Singapore weekly for shopping. They have wall-to-wall help. Years back, the American ambassador had 13 servants. Leaving the foreign service, he moved to Hawaii and told me: "Now I can't even afford one part-time cleaner." 
  At any rate 
  Here, if you plant a stick, it flowers. In the midst of crushing poverty, wealth in this land is staggering. Five million Indonesians send children to US schools. Interest in America is such that their newspaper reported a Time magazine survey putting their President Joko Widodo's favorability well ahead of another guy who grew up here - B. Obama. 
  Let's talk 
  Megawati Sukarnoputri, the land's major power and grandlady, is another of Sukarno's daughters. A major feat for a woman in a Muslim country, she is also one of its previous presidents. Megawati spent Christmas Eve with me at her sister Kartika's home and we spent New Year's Eve at hers. 
  As I luxuriated in the luxury of Megawati's powerful presence, Judge Judy called. Touring Malaysia, she was in the neighborhood. Said Judy: "Not that I care to speak to you, but you're the only one I know in this time zone." 




8



 


January 4, 2015 Sunday

 Prayers held as divers thwarted from AirAsia site

 
SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) -- Around 100 family members of AirAsia Flight 8501 crash victims sought strength Sunday, one week after the disaster, while bad weather again prevented searchers from reaching a large object on the ocean floor that is believed to be the fuselage.
Emotionally exhausted relatives sang and cried at a tiny chapel in Surabaya, the city where the plane departed from last Sunday with 162 crew members and passengers. The Rev. Philip Mantofa, who heads the congregation at the city's Mawar Sharon Church -- where more than a quarter of the crash victims were members -- urged those gathered to find comfort in their faith while embracing the reality that no one survived the disaster. 
"If God has called your child, allow me to say this: Your child is not to be pitied," Mantofa told one Indonesian man seated in the front row. "Your child is already in God's arms. One day, your family will be reunited in heaven."
It is not clear what caused the Singapore-bound plane to crash into the Java Sea 42 minutes after taking off on what was supposed to be a two-hour flight. Minutes before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.
Despite an intensive international search-and-recovery operation, only 31 bodies have been found so far, in large part because of bad weather. But after detecting what appears to be a massive part of the fuselage on Saturday, officials said it was possible that many passengers and crew will be found inside the wreckage.
Divers waited for breaks in the weather Sunday to reach the site, but rolling seas stirred up silt and mud, leaving them with zero visibility, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency. They were forced to turn back because conditions were so bad.
"At this moment, it's impossible to send any divers," he said. "We'll wait until the weather gets better."
Twenty planes and helicopters were deployed Sunday together with 27 ships from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States. All were desperately searching for any sign of the all-important black boxes and pieces of the Airbus A320.
The investigation got a huge boost this weekend when sonar equipment identified five large objects on the seabed in the search area, but no images have been captured confirming they are part of the AirAsia plane.
The biggest piece of debris, measuring 18 meters (59 feet) long and 5.4 meters (18 feet) wide, appeared to be part of the fuselage, Soelistyo said. Four other chunks were found in the same area, including one detected on Sunday.
Suspected plane parts also were seen scattered on beaches during an aerial survey.
Indonesian authorities have announced the grounding of AirAsia flights from Surabaya to Singapore, with the Transport Ministry saying the airline did not have a permit to fly on Sundays. However, Singapore's Civil Aviation Authority said Saturday that from its end, the airline had been approved to fly the route daily.
AirAsia, which began operations in 2001 and quickly became one of the region's most popular low-cost carriers, said it was reviewing the suspension. The crash was the airline's first.
While Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, many of the passengers were Christians of Chinese descent. Mantofa's congregation was hit particularly hard, with more than a quarter of the victims -- coming from 13 families -- belonging to his large Penecostal church.
Following Sunday's chapel service, Edo Anggradinata, 52, said he was finally starting to let go of the hope that his sister and her two children had survived.
"My mind is still in a daze," he said. "If there is a miracle, I hope they are alive, but I know this is tough. I just pray that we find their bodies."
------
Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini, Ali Kotarumalos, Margie Mason and Robin McDowell in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.




8


 
 
 (California)

December 28, 2014 Sunday

 ISIS' sex slave program

 
The international community was shocked this past week when reports surfaced of the extent to which the Islamic State has enslaved several hundred captured girls. ISIS' concubine program is being justified on the grounds that it is based on valid Islamic practices. A market for trading concubines is even operating openly.
 Amnesty International has issued a report detailing and condemning these ongoing atrocities. 
Many girls have been kidnapped from the ethnic minority Yazidi community, based in areas of Iraq and Syria where ISIS has been able to enforce its will much of this year. Despite a lengthy historical and cultural presence in the region, the Yazidi are seen as secretive and apostate devil-worshippers, making them a target for the excesses of extremist militants.
Rather than occurring around the fringes of authority, where lawlessness and vigilantism may occur as a result of constant fighting and prolonged chaos, sex slavery is an official Islamic State policy. The girls are seen as spoils of war and divided up accordingly, with some being sold for as little as $25. According to Amnesty International, the enslavement of these girls sits at the core of the Islamic State's philosophical and religious outlook. Since the Yazidi religious tradition is demeaned and disfavored by the Islamic State, despite its recognition of the prophet Muhammad, they are fair game to be treated in whatever manner suits the local commanders and fighters.
ISIS leaders initially denied that the organized sexual slavery program existed, although a justification for the treatment of the girls eventually was provided based on Yazidis' supposed "pagan" status. This arguably meant that, under Shariah law, such nonbelievers could be taken as concubines. A document entitled "Questions and Answers on Taking Captives and Slaves" was circulated this month by Islamic State officials to provide specific guidance on how concubines may be treated, which, among other things, sanctioned intercourse with prepubescent girls. 
Interestingly, it appears that participants in the concubine slave trade include Westerners who have converted to Islam and joined the ranks of jihadi fighters in Iraq and Syria seeking to establish a caliphate to fully implement Shariah law.
As many as 5,000 Yazidi women and children are unaccounted for after the gruesome siege of Mount Sinjar. In terms of sheer numbers, the Yazidi enslavements appear to greatly outnumber the schoolgirls similarly kidnapped and sold off by the Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Underlying the plight of the Yazidi concubines is the legal status of polygamy in Islam, which persists to this day. Although illegal in a few Muslim countries, such as Turkey, and discouraged in others, such as Egypt and Indonesia, the practice is permitted in much of the Islamic world. 
Supporters of the practice argue that monogamy leads to increased levels of adultery and that polygamy, as a result, is a more moral approach. Notably, the Kurds, in whose province many of the Yazidi reside, passed a law several years ago severely restricting the practice. The Islamic State, however, is placing these practices, and the underlying views of gender relations and women's rights, at the forefront of their strategic aims.
As the tide in the fighting again turns in the favor of the extremist militants, with the retaking this week of the important and lucrative oil-refining city of Baiji in northern Iraq, observers should be concerned that the longer the Islamic State remains in control of their territories, the more widespread and engrained their abuses will become. With an increasing number of foreign fighters joining from Europe, the United States and Australia, it is of particular concern if the ready supply of concubines is being used, directly or indirectly, as a recruiting tool to encourage enrollment and reward obedience to the party line.
The time has come to directly and comprehensively assess whether the situation in areas where extremist militants are active has improved or worsened in the past six years. With the Sydney siege and the Pakistan school slaughter this month, a resurgent Islamic State and continued momentum building in sub-Saharan Africa behind groups such as Boko Haram, it is difficult to see how Christmas 2014 represents an improvement in the prospects for men and women in these embattled areas over 2008.
When President Obama gave his landmark speech in Cairo on June 4, 2009, where he attempted to reposition America's role in the Muslim world, he stated, "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." What remains to be seen, however, is whether Obama is equally willing to take responsibility for the extent to which the conditions in the Muslim world have degraded so significantly since he took office.
The plight of the Yazidi girls deserves a prompt and sincere response from the White House. Such atrocities have no place in the 21st century.
Orange County writer and attorney Timothy Spangler hosts "The Bigger Picture with
Timothy Spangler," Sundays, 10 p.m.-midnight on KRLA 870 AM. Twitter: @timothyspangler




8


 
 
 (California)

December 24, 2014 Wednesday

 10 years after tsunami, Indonesian family reborn

 
MELABOH, Indonesia -- It all started with a dream that led to a chance meeting: A girl who had been swept away by the Indian Ocean tsunami a decade ago.
For three nights, the child's uncle said she visited him in his sleep. When he told the girl's mother, Jamaliah, it was hard to believe at first. The daughter was only 4 when a towering wave ripped her away with her 7-year-old brother, clinging to a board.
But the mother had always been convinced both children were still out there and that the family would be reunited. Like most Muslims in this part of Indonesia, she also believed that sometimes God whispers answers to prayers at night.
Soon after the dream, the uncle ran into a 14-year-old orphan girl who had survived the disaster and washed up on a remote island with her older brother. She said they had stayed alive by riding a slab of wood. 
The odds were impossible, Jamaliah reminded herself. Too much time had passed. The island was so far away.
But after the uncle sent a photo of the girl, the mother became convinced God was giving their family the second chance longed for by so many parents who had lost children in the disaster.
"I said, 'I'm sure that's my daughter,'" she recalled. "I felt the connection in my womb."
A month later, Jamaliah had the same feeling. This time, after hearing that a 17-year-old homeless boy calling her "mom" had also been found.
But was it real, or all just a dream?
Earthquake strikes
It was just before 8 a.m. on Dec. 26, 2004. The sky was blue, and Jamaliah, who uses only one name, was hanging clothes on the line while her three kids were inside watching TV on a sleepy Sunday.
In a second, everything changed.
The earth shook so hard, Jamaliah thought it would never stop. Her husband, Septi Rangkuti, and the children ran outside to the street where their little concrete row house sat about 550 yards from the sea. After minutes of violent rumbling, they were stunned and confused by the sheer power of the 9.1-magnitude quake.
Jamaliah then heard people screaming: "The water is coming! The water is coming!"
The family of five leaped onto their motorbike and made it as far as the market, but they couldn't outrun the wall of black water. Jamaliah and her 8-year-old son were pulled away by the wave. As they somersaulted in the darkness, the mother was somehow able to hold onto his hand while grabbing onto a pole.
Rangkuti managed to keep hold of his 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter long enough to put them on top of a large floating board. He held on as long as he could, but when the water sucked back to the sea, his fingers slipped. The last thing he remembers is his two little ones being dragged away from him by the angry torrent.
Hours later, Jamaliah and their oldest son found Rangkuti wandering on a street. His clothes were ripped, and he was bleeding.
One look at his empty eyes, and she knew the kids were gone.
The calamity was so vast, it remains hard for those who survived to understand. One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded forced the Indian Ocean to heave gigantic waves at jetliner speeds into Indonesia's westernmost coast. Some 230,000 people in 14 countries were killed, with Aceh province logging nearly three-quarters of the deaths. Around 37,000 bodies were never recovered and presumed swept out to sea -- the majority women and children.
With no bodies to bury, many parents have struggled to let go. Most of the 1,500 children found after the disaster were returned to their families or taken in by neighbors or friends, though some ended up in orphanages, said Bukhari, who uses one name and heads the Aceh provincial Social Affairs Office, which ran a program to reunite families. It ended in 2006, but news of a few other miraculous meetings over the years left some parents wondering if their own kids might still be alive.
'I believed it in my heart'
Jamaliah and Rangkuti spent a month and a half searching for their son, Arif Pratama, and their daughter, Raudhatul Jannah. They scoured areas around their home and traveled for hours on washed-out roads up a chewed-up coast tangled by debris. Their home and the entire street were gone -- there was nothing for the kids to come back to even if they had survived.
Rangkuti was so withdrawn and traumatized he wouldn't go near the sea or even look at water in the river. They had lost everything, and with no money and a surviving son to look after, they decided to stay with relatives several hours away in North Sumatra.
Time passed, and the family settled in and tried to move on. Jamaliah had a baby boy two years after the tsunami, and Rangkuti finally started to let go of the grief and guilt that had locked him into a deep depression. But neither gave up hope they would one day find their lost children.
"I believed it in my heart," Jamaliah said. "I prayed every night because of the strong emotional connection to my kids. I believed we would be together again."
This summer, Jamaliah's older brother, Zainuddin, called with stunning news. He'd had a dream three nights in a row about a girl in Banda Aceh whose headscarf fell away from her hair.
At first he thought it must be his own daughter. But the morning after the third night, he visited a cafe not far from his house and was shocked to see a face that looked just like the one from his dreams.
"The way she shook her head, gazed and smiled, it was all identical with the girl in my dream," he said.
The shop owner, Rosmani, told him the girl was a tsunami orphan taken in by close friends of hers. Zainuddin said he later talked to the foster family and discovered that after the disaster, a fisherman found her and a boy on the sparsely populated Banyak islands, about 6½ hours by car and boat from Jamaliah's house in Meulaboh.
The girl had little memory of life before the tsunami.
"I remember when we were on the board. I was there with my brother," she said. "I was found by someone on the beach and taken to a house. That's where we were split. Someone took me and someone took my brother."
In July, Jamaliah and Rangkuti traveled around 60 miles by bus to meet the girl, who went by the name Weniati. At first sight, the mother said it was hard to tell if she was really her child -- so much time had passed.
One important place escaped the tsunami: A house that belonged to Jamaliah's mother. When the girl saw it, memories of eating sweet tropical fruit came back.
"She remembered the chicken coop and the rambutan tree," Jamaliah said. "She remembered waiting for durian that her grandmother used to give her."
This was all the sign she needed.
No DNA test
Jamaliah and Rangkuti returned the girl to her village as promised, but wanted to bring her home with them for good to Meulaboh. She said the foster family was hesitant and asked for a DNA test and documentation proving that she was really their child. The parents agreed, but said they had no money for to pay for it.
Sarwani, the foster grandmother who last cared for the girl, said she later agreed to let her go.
"It turned out that Weniati herself is confident that Jamaliah is her mother and Rangkuti is her father," she said. "What can I say? I don't want to impede the reunion of a daughter and her mother."
In the meantime, Indonesian media heard about the story and soon Jamaliah was on national television with the girl she was calling her daughter. Every time Jamaliah spoke about the miraculous reunion, tears dripped onto her headscarf as she recalled her years of agony.
The TV exposure caught the attention of Lana Bestir, a woman in West Sumatra who had been feeding a homeless boy for years after he turned up at her Internet cafe.
When a photo of the young brother and sister taken before the tsunami flashed on the screen, she was shocked. It looked similar to the boy she knew as Ucok. She said she then showed him a picture of Jamaliah from the Internet, without giving him any information about her.
"This is my mother. Yes, this is my mother, Liah!" Bestir recalled the boy saying after he stared at the photo. "I want to meet her. Where can I meet her?"
When she got the call, Jamaliah, whose nickname is Liah, wondered: Could a second miracle really be possible? She went to the boy immediately, but he was also hard to identify.
He was much darker than Arif had been. She reasoned perhaps it was from foraging for years in the sun and sleeping outside. His forehead also bore a melted scar that ran so deep, it was bone white.
Arif had been a top student, but this boy did not know his name and could hardly speak any distinguishable language. He also had the mentality of a young child.
Bestir said he recalled "flying" on "big, dark water" with his sister. He remembered washing up on a beach and being taken to live with a family, but he doesn't know where. He said that one day, when he stayed in bed too long, a woman in the house threw scalding coffee in his face. After that, the street became his home.
"I was sad at first," Jamaliah recalled, adding she knew it was him when she recognized a scar on his nose from childhood. "But then I said, 'Whatever happened to my son, I've been waiting so long, I can be patient and take care of him now.'"
--------
Inside the tiny row house on the same street where they were ripped apart, the family sits together again on the floor.
The girl, impossibly shy, is in the corner taking selfies with a pink phone. Her brother smirks at her while folding pieces of paper that pop like firecrackers when he flicks them.
Rangkuti tells his wife to leave Raudhatul and Arif alone when they yell and fight. He likes hearing the sound of children's voices in the house again.
It hasn't been easy since they moved in. At first, Arif kept going to the neighbors, begging for money and food. Jamaliah suspects he may still be traumatized. Many children who survived the tsunami were confused and suffered mental health issues, including some who were unable to talk or remember their own names.
A doctor told her nothing serious is wrong, but he needs a lot of attention. He's now speaking fluently, and she plans to send him to a religious boarding school to help instill discipline and give him a basic education.
She also wants to get the girl caught up to her grade. She said there's still some wrangling with members of the foster family who are less supportive, but they have agreed to let her stay for now. Repeated calls and texts by The Associated Press seeking comment from them were not returned.
After the children were interviewed by police, the village head signed a document saying they belong to Jamaliah and Rangkuti.
"I don't want to go back," Raudhatul said, softly. "I'm happier here because I'm with my real family."
As the boy and girl run down the street, old neighbors who remember the children from before the tsunami say they believe God has led them home. Almost everyone here lost someone, and the pain still runs deep.
"She's so lucky that she got to start over," said Yuswarni, a neighbor who sobbed while recounting the loss of her entire family. "I just have to be patient with the life I have to live."
Jamaliah said one woman moved off the street, arguing it wasn't fair that their family got a second chance. She said some people also question whether their story is true, but none of that matters to them.
The family recently moved back to North Sumatra near Rangkuti's family where it's easier for him to find work and for the children to settle into new schools.
To Minas, the mental health expert, bloodlines aren't what matter -- especially since a boy who lacked a home now has one.
"If they genuinely believe that these are their children, then that's a family," he said. "If the children also accept it, that is a family."
Jamaliah said even if a DNA test came back negative, it would never stop a mother's love.
"It feels like a reborn family," she said, smiling. "I sometimes feel like it's a dream. Is it real or not? But then I just trust in God and believe that this is my family."
------
Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini in Jakarta and Fakhrurradzie Gade in Banda Aceh contributed to this report.
------
Margie Mason covered the tsunami and its aftermath 10 years ago in Aceh. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/MargieMasonAP .
AP-WF-12-24-14 2104GMT




8



 



December 22, 2014 Monday  


 Obama's faulty logic on Cuba

 
The most revealing sentence in President Obama's explanation of his radical revision of U.S. Cuba policy last week was his admonition to Americans, and Cubans, that they should not seek the "collapse" of the Castro regime. "Even if that worked," the president asserted, "we know from hard-earned experience that countries are more likely to enjoy lasting transformation if their people are not subjected to chaos."
Embedded in that short remark is the essential logic behind Obama's decision to lift - or seek to lift - all U.S. sanctions on Cuba without requiring the "significant steps towards democracy" he once said would be needed for such a normalization. It is also the organizing principle of much of his foreign policy. If regime collapse is not a desirable outcome in Cuba - or, for that matter, in Syria, Iran and other dictatorships - it follows that the correct policy is U.S. "engagement" or "direct diplomacy" with such regimes, aimed not at overturning them but at gradually nudging them toward more civilized behavior. 
The no-chaos rule explains why Obama would have declined to support the 2009 Green  Movement in Iran while dispatching letters to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offering detente. It lies behind his refusal to provide decisive support to Syrian rebels, instead seeking a negotiated solution with the regime of Bashar al-Assad. And it answers those who wonder why he would provide what amounts to a bailout to the Castros just as they were facing the twin threats of losing Venezuelan oil subsidies and mounting popular pressure for basic freedoms.
Obama cited "hard-earned experience" for his nostrum, and he's certainly had some he can point to: Libya, Iraq or Egypt, where the overthrow of regimes led to counterrevolution or civil war. The president, however, articulated his ideology before he took office - and the failures on his watch stem in part from his own reluctance to vigorously support democratic transitions. 
They also don't negate two historical facts: A large number of successful democracies have grown out of regime collapse; and U.S. "engagement" with Stalinist-style totalitarian regimes, such as Cuba, has never produced such a transition.
Obama's chaos theory won't make much sense to former citizens of East Germany, who last month celebrated the 25th anniversary of the sudden collapse of their regime - and the Berlin Wall. Nor to Romanians, who a month later lived through bloody anarchy in the streets of Bucharest and Timisoara as the Stalinist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu imploded - and for the past two decades have built a peaceful and increasingly prosperous democracy.
As a visiting journalist I witnessed the havoc wreaked on Jakarta in 1998 when the Suharto dictatorship abruptly collapsed and mobs looted the capital. Indonesia shortly thereafter became the world's largest majority Muslim democracy, and it remains so nearly 17 years later.
It's easy to go on: the Philippines in 1987; Serbia in 2000; Georgia in 2003. People took to the streets; regimes quickly collapsed; "chaos" ensued for a time; and the result was an enduring transition to democracy. U.S. "engagement" with dictatorships, on the other hand, has a much thinner record of results - and none in the former Soviet Bloc.
 Authoritarian leaders themselves, from the Castros to Egypt's generals to China's first secretaries, routinely offer a version of Obama's argument - that the alternative to them is chaos - as reason for dodging the liberalizing steps Washington urges. Governments such those in China and Vietnam have proved far more adept than U.S. policymakers anticipated in pocketing the profits of U.S. investment and trade while preventing political liberalization.
Cooperating with such regimes yields other goods, of course. The opening to China has helped produce the largest reduction of poverty in history. Dictatorships in the Middle East offer bases for the U.S. military, not to mention oil supplies. While Cuba has little value in strategic terms, detente with Havana will remove an irritant from U.S. relations with more important countries, like Brazil. And though Obama didn't say so, a Castro collapse could have unpleasant short-term consequences for the United States, such as a massive flow of refugees.
It's possible, in short, to articulate a rationale for engaging with regimes like Cuba's. Contrary to Obama's rhetoric, however, it is a policy that reduces the possibility of near-term democratization in favor of economic benefits and geopolitical stability. China is a country where the gains from such a strategy outweigh the costs, particularly as U.S. leverage to bring about political change is limited. In Cuba the calculus is different: The economic benefits of engagement are minor, while the possibility that continued sanctions could be used to engineer regime change - or at least meaningful political concessions - is far greater.  
Obama, of course, can make the case for appeasing the Castros. But his claim that Cubans should not hope for their collapse as a route to freedom is not only patronizing; it's wrong. 
jackson.diehl@washpost.com




8



 


December 21, 2014 Sunday

 Tsunami 10 years after: How Indonesia built back; 
Two families show how Banda Aceh has defied a disaster, a decade later.

 
Mr. Alamsyah steers his black pickup onto a sodden grassy lot across from a building site where three men lay brick under a broiling sun. Walking up to the site, he deposits a flask of hot coffee on a plank of wood and pulls out a tape measure. With barely a word of greeting to his workers, he brushes dirt from the base of a half-built wall so he can check its height. 
The plot of land, on which a four-room house will eventually stand, lies just 400 yards from the ocean where gentle waves lap at a deserted estuary beach. Nearby, orange-roofed houses with shiny SUVs parked outside dot the landscape. Many other lots remain vacant, waterlogged with monsoon rains.  
Minutes later, a motorbike pulls up and Suwarni Idris, a stout woman in a caramel-gold dress, dismounts along with three of her daughters. She paid $2,800 for the land, and now she's counting on Alamsyah, a distant family friend, to build a house on it within four months - at a discounted price. She's come today to monitor the progress after 20 days. "Land is cheap here. This is our only option," Ms. Idris says, as she hands out sticky sweets wrapped in banana leaves to the workers.  
Alamsyah, a wiry, taciturn man, seems satisfied with the brickwork. He nods at the house's pillars, which he fashioned from makeshift iron scaffolding and poured concrete. "I'm building this as if it were my own house, like it belongs to me," he says. In fact, Alamsyah did build his own house, which took him almost a year and provided a crash course on brick-and-mortar construction. "This is a good pace. We're making progress here," he tells me. 
The construction under way on this sun-splashed beach is evidence of how far Banda Aceh has come 10 years after one of the worst natural disasters in human history - and a reminder that some work still needs to be done. 
A decade ago, an enormous earthquake and tsunami redrew the coastline of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra. The giant waves - triggered by a magnitude-9.1 quake off Aceh's west coast - leveled towns and villages, tossing boats, trees, and boulders onto houses and fields. The devastation rippled far and wide: 14 countries within a 4,000-mile radius of the quake suffered huge losses, most acutely in India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. By the time the waves had subsided, the combined toll was an unfathomable 228,000 presumed dead. 
The Dec. 26, 2004, event sparked the biggest charitable response to a natural disaster. Governments, individuals, and companies pledged $14 billion in aid, with nearly half of that earmarked for Aceh. Its needs were acute: More than half a million were homeless in a province of 4 million. Coastal highways, bridges, and ports lay in ruins. In Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, roughly 1 in 4 residents was missing or dead. 
Critics warned that Indonesia's work-shy bureaucracy and culture of corruption would tie up donors and divert money intended for tsunami survivors. And aid pledges don't always translate into money spent on the ground. Would the world gradually lose interest, abandoning the Acehnese and their blighted land? Was it even sensible to reconstruct a coastal city that was so vulnerable to disaster? 
Yet to visit Banda Aceh today is to visit a city that has not just been patched together but largely fulfilled the post-tsunami mantra of aid officials: "Build Back Better." In an age when massive outpourings of aid often get diverted or diluted before reaching the needy, fueling donor fatigue, much of the tsunami relief money has trickled down to survivors of the disaster - and made a difference. This is evident in the 130,000 new houses, 1,700 schools, and nearly 1,000 government buildings built in the aftermath. Aceh has new airports, seaports, sewers, and potable water systems; it has 2,300 miles of new roads and a rebuilt power grid.
"In terms of physical infrastructure, we are better off now," says Saiful Mahdi, director of the International Center for Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies in Banda Aceh.
Along the shore, warning sirens and evacuation towers stand ready for future tsunamis. Much of the spending was front-loaded to generate jobs and economic growth. A special reconstruction agency headed by a reform-minded politician - who answered directly to the president - made sure that $6.7 billion in foreign and national aid was properly allocated and that the agency itself was dissolved after four years. Its success, and that of other participants in the recovery effort, could make Banda Aceh a model for cooperation in the aftermath of other tragedies that no single nation can overcome. 
True, look closer and you can still find examples of wasteful spending: spare houses in near-deserted villages, fishing boats that had to be scuttled after two years at sea. A US-funded coastal highway foundered because of cost overruns. But the progress that Aceh has made in reconstruction is tangible, and it's remarkable to those who witnessed its nadir. 
The rebuilding has also been about more than simply restoring the physical past. Before 2004, decades of fighting between separatist rebels and security forces had killed at least 10,000, mostly civilians, and mired a resource-rich province in poverty. For that reason, it quickly became clear that absent a credible peace process, rebuilding Aceh would result in the squandering of vast sums of money. Eight months later, the rebels and Indonesia's government signed a historic power-sharing agreement in Helsinki, Finland. And that deal has held, bringing peace to Aceh, a new crop of leaders, and an end to its political isolation. This détente set the stage for a post-tsunami revitalization, a new chapter to be written.  
These events unfolded at the altitude of national and global politics. At ground level, struggling to survive in the aftermath were individuals like Alamsyah, a rickshaw taxi driver, and Muammar Ma'aruf, a set designer at a TV station. Both had lost their homes and livelihoods. Three of Alamsyah's five children perished in the surging waves. To see how foreign aid was delivered, and the choices made by recipients along the way,  followed the two families during the first two years of relief and reconstruction.
Now I'm back in Banda Aceh after a gap of eight years. I want to revisit the families and update their stories, to see what became of their aspirations. First, I have to find them. This may be a job for Philip Marlowe, not the Monitor. 
In Alamsyah's case, I know where to start looking. We head to Lampulo, a fishermen's slum where boats traditionally offloaded their catches. The dockside market offered casual jobs for men like Alamsyah, who migrated to Lampulo in 1989, initially to work as a bus driver, before buying a motorized rickshaw. By 2004, he owned his own home, a short ride from the dock. 
Sure enough, when we pull up at Alamsyah's property, he's outside hammering nails into a plank. As I approach, his nut-brown face crinkles. I recognize his jug ears, the lean torso, the handyman's detritus around the yard. "Alamsyah, what's going on?" I ask him. He grins and lowers his hammer. Ms. Juriah, his wife, who is gutting fish in a metal bowl, swishes over in a red-brown dress.
"Here you are again," she says, smiling. 
The last time we met, the family was crammed into a two-room shack that Alamsyah had knocked together from scraps. Now they have two brick-and-mortar houses, built back-to-back and bracketed by a covered walkway. CARE International constructed one of the houses, which is identical to others in Lampulo. The second house is Alamsyah's handiwork, his learn-by-doing project. He's also put up a wooden kiosk in the front yard where Juriah sells soap, eggs, tea, and other daily essentials to locals. "I take care of the shop. I take care of children. And I take care of my husband," she jokes.  
Not everyone has rebuilt in Lampulo. While one of Alamsyah's neighbors, a fishing boat owner, is building a large house, another lot is filled with weeds. Alta Zaini, the district chief, tells me that the current population is 5,400, down from 6,500 before the tsunami. Of the original inhabitants, only 1,500 survived, a reminder of the waves' power. "There were only 50 buildings still standing," he says. "We could count them." 
That means the majority of residents in Lampulo are newcomers, or relatives of those who died. And while aid groups like CARE built hundreds of homes for eligible families, there's still demand for more housing and other improvements. The crush of work has enabled Alamsyah to graduate from simple carpentry jobs - installing windows and doors - to home construction, with a much bigger payoff. He tells me he paid $7,000 in cash a few weeks ago for his pickup, a 2013 Japanese model. Not bad for a former rickshaw driver charging $10 fares into the city.  
As we sit in the yard, discussing his new career, it strikes me that Alamsyah is reaping the fruits of the tsunami. Its terrible destruction showed him a new path to make a living the only way he knows how: with his calloused hands. I put this idea to him. He nods. "If you compare my old job with my new job, they are both physically demanding," he says. "But now I'm making more money." His two surviving boys, Reja and Feri, whom we first met as youngsters playing in the rubble, are now teenagers. And the family has a new arrival, Cut Munira, a 4-year-old who spends her days darting around the yard. She's part of a post-tsunami baby boom in Aceh among couples who survived and widows and widowers who remarried. According to census data, the number of children in Aceh ages 0 to 4 jumped by 23 percent between 2005 and 2010. Children ages 5 to 9 rose by 8 percent over the same period. 
As I suspect is true for many so-called tsunami babies, the family dotes on her. "Whatever she asks for, she gets," Alamsyah says. 
It was time to find Muammar Ma'aruf's family, and I had a bad feeling. Would his story turn out to be a series of painful setbacks, the flip side to Alamsyah's reinvention? 
Muammar always struck me as a dreamer, even an idealist. He was an artist who painted, and repainted, a single tsunami-dominated canvas on sleepless nights. He never seemed to finish it.
We have no phone number and no address for him. But then, there he is, on Facebook. A call to TVRI, the TV station, reveals that he is still in Banda Aceh. As we drive over to where the family lives, I'm surprised by their new address: a chic downtown avenue of banks, restaurants, and municipal buildings. Is this the home that they landed after losing everything to the tsunami? I eventually find him in a dilapidated wood-partitioned house down a muddy path from a roadside food stall. Inside, Zuhrasafita, Muammar's wife, is still cleaning up from a night of monsoon flooding that left a shin-high watermark on the wall. She greets us with delight and invites us to sit on a mat, the stifling air cut by a plate-sized fan. 
Muammar is on his way back from work. I wait to greet him at the door, a little nervous. When he steps inside, I say "Hello, Muammar. Do you remember me?" In return, I get a sweaty bear hug and a huge grin, minus a few teeth from last time we met. "Yes, yes. Of course," he tells me. He's put on a few pounds, and his face seems squarer, but he's more buoyant than I remember.
He has two tsunami babies to introduce: Jilan Tahany, an impish girl born in 2012, and Meynar Humairah, another girl who arrived in September. Taysa, the elder daughter, born shortly before the tsunami, is also home. Athafayath, the eldest and the only boy, is still at school. 
These aren't the only big changes in their lives. Muammar has just gotten a permanent job at the TV station after many years of freelance work. The pay is still modest - $300 a month, including some benefits - but it represents security for the family. He also takes on side projects, mostly designing stages for public events. In the front yard I see plasterboard and green-and-white curlicues of wood and polystyrene stacked under a roof. A blank canvas is tucked away in a side room, waiting for inspiration to strike.
But the biggest transformation is what's happened to Zuhrasafita, known to her friends as Ira. When she met Muammar, she worked as a secretary in a local company. Then, when we met in 2006, she had just completed a one-month teacher training course, funded by a United Nations agency. That was the start of her kindergarten career. "It felt so natural to teach children. I loved it," she tells me. Ira is now finishing up a bachelor's degree - a first for her family - and hopes to get a master's in early education that could eventually enable her to open her own kindergarten, catering to the tsunami baby boom.   
Ira's academic career is more evidence of post-disaster recovery. Build Back Better always meant more than replacing roads and schools. It meant better jobs and livelihoods, and investing in Aceh's people, who aspired to be self-sufficient once the aid groups left.
Still, for Ira, it's a lot to juggle. We drop by one midweek morning to find her in the kitchen, typing on a laptop at a metal trestle table. Her thesis is due that day, and she's making revisions. Meynar, the baby, is swaddled inside a pink hammock suspended from a ceiling spring-hook, and Ira is rocking her with her left hand and typing with her right. I ask if this is the final draft. "I hope so," she laughs. Not long after, the power cuts out. I glance at Ira's screen: The battery icon is nearly empty. 
"Ah! I must save my work," she says, clicking frantically. Later she heads to the college to ask her professor for an extension. That night she will stay up till 2 a.m. while the rest of the family sleeps. 
When the Monitor first met Muammar in the spring of 2005, the family was living in a tent in a resettlement camp. The next time we found them in prefab temporary housing in the same camp. And that's where we left them, in limbo, eight years ago. The following year, they moved into the threadbare house where I find them this time. The property, it turns out, belongs to Muammar's parents; his father, a retired soldier, died in 2006. Muammar's mother and younger sister live in the front rooms of the house. 
But this isn't the end of the musical chairs. Muammar's family also has a new charity-built home waiting for them in Punge Blangcut, across town. Muammar promises to take us to see it, but says the house is rented until next fall. Ira can't wait to move in: Her brother and sister live in similar houses on the same family property. This is where Muammar and Ira lived before the tsunami, so it brings them full circle. 
After the tsunami, Ira felt afraid to go back to the neighborhood where she had narrowly escaped a watery grave, and she avoided the sandy beach that lies a few miles away. "I would stand there and feel like the waves will come in again," she says. Now she's over that fear, and ready to raise her family in Punge Blangcut. But when I ask Muammar about the move, his answer is more guarded. I wonder if he feels guilty about leaving his elderly mother - or just unsure about living with his in-laws. 
Either way, it seems that his post-tsunami journey is not yet over. 
I first saw Aceh from the smeared window of an overnight bus. It was 1998, and Indonesia's dictatorship was crumbling amid a flight of capital and confidence. Our bus had stopped so that the men could pray at a roadside mosque, where a ruby-red sun rose over jungle-clad hills. I had arrived in "Mecca's Verandah," a staunchly Muslim corner of a multifaith nation. 
Medieval Indian and Arab traders first spread Islam to Aceh, and so to Indonesia. Starting in the 16th century, European powers jostled with Aceh's powerful sultanate for control of pepper and other valuable commodities. In the late 19th century, the Dutch declared war on independent Aceh. Colonial Dutch troops occupied Banda Aceh in 1874, but had to fight a guerrilla war for decades, a war that helped forge Aceh's brand of self-reliance. After Japanese troops seized control of Indonesia in 1941, the Dutch never returned. 
Yet Aceh fit uneasily into newly independent Indonesia. The first rebellion erupted in 1953 over demands for autonomy in religious affairs and education. This was tamped down by 1959 when central authorities gave Aceh a degree of self-rule. More tensions surfaced in 1971 with the discovery of vast reserves of oil and natural gas in Aceh. Resentment rose against the Suharto regime when it became clear how little of the wealth would flow to locals. In 1976, rebels in the Free Aceh Movement, known as GAM, staged an uprising that would turn parts of Aceh into a militarized no-travel zone. 
After President Suharto's fall in 1998, calls for reform in Aceh grew louder. The following year, I moved to Jakarta to cover Indonesia's chaotic transition to democracy. In November 1999, 1 million people rallied in Banda Aceh to demand a referendum on independence in the wake of East Timor's breakaway vote. Peace negotiators managed to broker a cease-fire in 2002 between GAM and Indonesian officials. But when that truce fell apart, President Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law in the province in the spring of 2003. 
This was Aceh's political plight when the earth shook shortly before 8 a.m. on Dec. 26, 2004. The scale of the tragedy that resulted would prove to be the deus ex machina that ended nearly three decades of war. But at the time, it felt like a colossal affront to the Acehnese, who had already suffered so much upheaval. 
That morning Juriah was in the streets of Lampulo with four of her children, talking to neighbors about the quake, when the cry went up. Water! She ran to the nearest two-story house and raced up the stairs with Reja, the youngest, in her arms. She was jostling for space on the top floor when the first wave hit. Of the 100 or so people who had been standing there, only 15 were left. Her three other children, Rahmat, Risa, and Khalid, were gone. 
A decade has passed, and so, too, has the intense trauma, but Juriah still dreams of her missing children. So does Feri, the eldest son, who was out of town when the tsunami struck. The memory of the missing is strongest during Muslim holidays, says Feri. And he sometimes has tsunami nightmares. "I'm running away from the water, trying to escape. Then I'm stranded, alone," he tells me one afternoon, as he tends the family's kiosk. 
Muammar felt paralyzed in the tsunami aftermath. "For the first year, it was a struggle to motivate myself to do anything. Then I realized that I couldn't sit around all day long. I had to get moving," he says. Like virtually every Achenese I ask about their recovery, he credits his Islamic faith, both for helping him come to terms with the immense suffering and for shining a light on the path ahead. "The tsunami was a warning, a test set by God. We should live a better life. That's what I feel," he says. 
Aceh still has a ways to go, both physically and psychologically. "To build a society is about more than physical reconstruction," says Ms. Magdalena, a longtime Lampulo resident who runs a community theater with her husband. "We are a body without a soul. We need to find the soul of Lampulo, of society. It needs time to return." 
On my final morning in Aceh, we drive Ira and her two youngest children over to the new house. We pass the city's imposing main mosque, a new tsunami museum, and the football fields where I once witnessed dozens of GAM militiamen surrender their guns to international monitors. The clamor and chaos of the city falls away as we enter Punge Blangcut and pull up next to a simple yellow-walled house with a blue corrugated roof. To one side are two similar-sized houses, where Ira's brother and sister live with their children. The street feels residential and well maintained. 
Ira seems thrilled to be here. She traces for me where the original family house stood, the coconut and mango trees in the front yard, and the room where she stayed with Muammar after they married in 2000. Her parents died a few years ago. So this is both a return to her roots and a new start. "This place holds sweet memories of family," she says. "That's what I think of now. If we always think back to the bad memories, we can't move on."           




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December 19, 2014 Friday  


 For Australia's Muslims, Relief Is Shadowed by Fear

 
SYDNEY, Australia -- When television networks this week showed hostages being forced by a gunman to hold a flag with Arabic script against the window of a Sydney cafe, it was the first sign that their captor wanted to link his cause to Islam.
While watching coverage of the siege at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe from his office, Rashid Ben Zerouk, a computer specialist in Sydney who is Muslim, said he felt a piercing glare from a colleague. 
''He looked at me like I had to explain myself,'' Mr. Zerouk said. ''I walked back to my desk with my head down. I felt like I wanted to hide.''
In the aftermath of the siege, which left the gunman and two captives dead, Australian Muslims say they are relieved that there has been no major backlash against them. But they say they are also fearful that the country is one attack away from reversing its integration efforts, as well as a growing but tenuous acceptance of Muslims.
The gunman, Man Haron Monis, an eccentric and troubled man with a history of crime, appears to have acted alone. Prime Minister Tony Abbott described him as a ''sick and disturbed individual.''
Muslim leaders in recent days nonetheless followed what has become a familiar script after terrorist attacks: They issued a statement denouncing any connection between the violent acts and the teachings of Islam, took part in interfaith meetings and candlelight vigils, and gave countless interviews to speak about Islam as a religion of peace.
Muslim office workers, students and homemakers in Australia have said that many of their non-Muslim compatriots expected them to have answers about what happened.
Hisham Bouab, who manages a chain of restaurants and attends a mosque in the Sydney suburbs, began receiving calls from non-Muslim friends and colleagues while the siege was unfolding.
''I thought, 'Here we go again,' '' he said. ''Another thing I'll have to explain.''
Nancy Mourad, 24, a cancer researcher at a government medical institute, said she felt ''guilty by association.''
''I felt the need to apologize to everyone who looked at me -- 'sorry, sorry, sorry' -- for something I had no connection to,'' she said.
Ms. Mourad, who wears a head scarf, said that as the siege continued into the night, she was jeered while playing in an indoor soccer tournament. ''I heard people on the sidelines saying, 'Kick her! Tackle her, take her down!' '' she said.
The next day, she continued, while she was on the way to her office Christmas party, an older man shouted at her on the train, ''Bloody Muslims, go back to your country.''
But Ms. Mourad also said her non-Muslim colleagues had been supportive.
Mariam Veiszadeh, a lawyer and the founder of an organization that monitors anti-Islamic sentiment, said she was encouraged by the signs of solidarity, compassion and unified mourning after the hostage drama ended.
''The worst in that deranged madman has brought out the very best in us as a nation,'' she said.
Ms. Veiszadeh pointed to a social media campaign, under the hashtag #illridewithyou, which reportedly began after a Muslim woman on a train at the time of the siege removed her head scarf. ''I ran after her at the train station,'' Rachael Jacobs, a non-Muslim, explained on social media. ''I said: 'Put it back on. I'll walk with you.' ''
A Twitter post by Michael James, a radio producer and reporter in Brisbane, repeated the story, which was shared online thousands of times.
Muslims in Australia number about 500,000, slightly more than 2 percent of the population. They are ethnically diverse, with many having arrived from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey and elsewhere. Their numbers have also risen quickly, by 69 percent since 2001.
Muslims say the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, as well as the bombing in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, had contributed to higher levels of mistrust in Australia toward Muslims.
Efforts by Muslims to better integrate into Australian society were also marred by the 2002 gang rape of young girls by a group of men from Lebanese families, one of whom was sentenced to 55 years in jail. Three years later, riots between Muslims of Lebanese descent and non-Muslims broke out on a beach in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla.
More recently, several controversies involving government policies have had Muslim integration as a subtext.
Australia's official policy toward asylum seekers has been closely intertwined with debates about Muslim integration, as many of those seeking asylum are from Muslim countries. Mr. Monis, the gunman in the hostage siege, was a political refugee from Iran.
This year, officials banned the burqa and face-covering scarves from the open galleries of Parliament, citing security. The decision was quickly reversed.
And in a move that some Muslims said singled them out, the government in March sought to soften racial-vilification laws. The attorney general, George Brandis, said that Australians had the right to be bigots, but later backed down.
Some Muslims say they believe that there is a ''with us or against us'' ethos that is aimed at them.
''There has been a whole process to make us feel separate,'' said Keysar Trad, the head of the Islamic Friendship Association, a civic group. ''We were meant to feel like a fifth column bent on destruction.''
Others say they believe that most Australians accept the notion of diversity, and that intolerance is on the fringes of society.
''There is 2 percent of ratbags doing the wrong thing in the Muslim community,'' said Fatin Mourad, 65, a retired pathologist who is Muslim and the father of Nancy Mourad, the cancer researcher. ''And there are 1 percent of rednecks also out there to make noise.''
Mr. Mourad said he cried as he watched the events in Sydney on television. ''But why do I have to hang my head in shame?'' he asked. ''We get tarnished, we get blamed.''




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 (California)

December 14, 2014 Sunday

 The Globalist Quiz

 
THE GLOBALIST QUIZ
The World's Religious Minorities
The weekly quiz is provided by the Globalist, a daily online feature service that covers issues and trends in globalization. The nonpartisan organization provides commercial services and nonprofit educational features.
QUESTION
The freedom to practice religion without fear of persecution is widely regarded as a fundamental human right. In practice, this right is sometimes abused -- especially against religious minorities. We wonder: What percentage of the world's population lives in a country in which they are a religious minority? 
ANSWER
A. 3 percent
B. 13 percent
C. 27 percent
D. 72 percent
A.
3 percent is not correct.
Hinduism is the world's third-largest religion, with just over a billion adherents worldwide (as of 2010). According to a global survey of religion by the Pew Research Center, Hindus accounted for about 15 percent of the 6.9 billion world population. Remarkably, Hindus represent a majority of the population in just three countries -- India, Mauritius and Nepal. But those three countries account for about 97 percent of all Hindus worldwide. Only 3 percent of Hindus -- about 30 million people -- live in countries in which they are a religious minority. Most of those 30 million live in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region -- with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Malaysia accounting for about 25 million. In fact, 99 percent of the world's Hindus live in the Asia-Pacific region. The 1.7 million Hindus in the United States comprise the largest number outside of Asia. Representing just 0.6 percent of the U.S. population, Hindus are the smallest of the five major religions in the United States.
B.
13 percent is not correct.
Like Hindus, the world's Christians are overwhelmingly likely to live in a country in which they constitute the religious majority. In fact, only 13 percent of the world's Christians live in countries in which Christianity is a minority religion. Unlike Hinduism -- a majority religion in just three countries -- Christians constitute a majority of the population in 157 countries. That is two-thirds of the 232 countries and territories covered by the Pew survey. With 2.2 billion adherents (or 32 percent of the world population), Christianity is the world's largest religion. Christian majorities range from 51 percent in the Netherlands, to 78 percent in the United States and to more than 99 percent in Romania and the Vatican, the home seat of the Catholic Church. In the Netherlands and the United States -- as well as many other countries with Christian majorities -- the second-largest group is the religiously unaffiliated. This includes atheists, agnostics and people who don't identify with any particular religion.
C.
27 percent is correct.
About 27 percent of the world's population live as religious minorities. This includes Jews and Muslims living in the Christian-majority United States as well as Christians and Buddhists living in Muslim-majority Indonesia. Not all countries, however, have a majority religion. For example, the population of multicultural Singapore is 34 percent Buddhist, 18 percent Christian, 14 percent Muslim and 5 percent Hindu. About 12 percent belong to other religions and 16 percent are unaffiliated. Vietnam and South Korea also lack a single majority religion. Most Muslims (73 percent live in the 49 countries in which Islam is the majority religion, according to the Pew survey. Thus, 27 percent of the world's Muslims live as religious minorities -- which is, coincidentally, the same percentage of the world's religious minorities in general. Islam is the world's second-largest religion. Its 1.6 billion adherents account for 23 percent of the world population.
D.
72 percent is not correct.
Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion, with 488 million adherents -- or about 7 percent of the world population. Buddhists are the most likely adherents of the world's five major religions to live as religious minorities. As of 2010, 72 percent of Buddhists were religious minorities in their home countries. Only seven countries have majority Buddhist populations, all of which are in Asia -- Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Although it has fewer than 14 million adherents globally, Judaism is the world's fifth-largest religion. It accounts for just 0.2 percent of the world population. Jews are a majority in just one country -- Israel, which is home to just over 5.6 million (or 41 percent) of all Jews worldwide. While the United States contains the world's largest Jewish population (5.7 million), Jews are a small minority there, accounting for just 1.8 percent of the population. The protection of religious freedom has long been recognized as a basic human right.




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December 13, 2014 Saturday  


 Indonesia: Police Question Editor Over Cartoon in Blasphemy Inquiry

 
BANGKOK -- The chief editor of a prominent Indonesian newspaper, the English-language Jakarta Post, has been summoned for questioning by the police for publishing a cartoon that depicted radical Islamists in Syria.
The editor, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, is being treated as a suspect under a blasphemy law, according to a police spokesman quoted in the Indonesian news media on Friday.
The cartoon, which ran in the daily newspaper in July, shows militants raising a black flag emblazoned with a skull and crossbones and Arabic phrases, including, ''There is none worthy of worship except Allah.'' In the background was a white pickup truck and what appeared to be the imminent execution of a row of blindfolded people on their knees. 
It was drawn by Stephane Peray, a French cartoonist based in Bangkok who syndicates his work. ''Don't want to talk about it,'' Mr. Peray said by email.
Mr. Meidyatama was quoted in The Post on Friday as saying he was ''amazed'' at the suggestion of blasphemy because the cartoon was meant to criticize deviant Islam.
''What we produced was a journalistic piece that criticized the ISIS movement, which has carried out violence in the name of religion,'' he was quoted as saying, referring to the Islamic State militant group.
Conservative Islamic groups protested when the cartoon was published, contending that it ''strengthens the stigma that Islam represents senseless murderers,'' according to Haris Amir Falah, one protest leader.
The newspaper issued an apology and a retraction. It is unclear why the case, which staff members at the newspaper said they assumed had been dropped, is now being pursued.
Sidney Jones, an expert on political Islam in Indonesia, said the case appeared to reflect the anger of hard-line groups toward a leading moderate voice in the country.
''I see an effort to try to threaten a newspaper which has consistently promoted a policy of tolerance and a rejection of extremist tactics,'' said Ms. Jones, director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta.
The Indonesian government in August banned the teachings of the Islamic State after dozens of Indonesians were reported to have joined the movement in Syria. Over the past decade and a half, the government has also sought to contain homegrown radical movements responsible for the bombings of tourist spots and attacks on churches.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, has faced building tension in recent years between a historically moderate core of believers and hard-line conservative groups pushing for what they consider a purer interpretation of Islam. That stance includes stricter observance of Muslim dietary traditions, tighter controls over religious minorities like Shiite Muslims and bans on alcohol.
The country's blasphemy law calls for prison sentences of up to five years for religious ''abuse'' or defamation. In recent years, the law has been used against minority Islamic sects. More than 100 people have been convicted under the law over the past decade, according to a report by Amnesty International released last month.
The government of President Joko Widodo, who took office in October, did not t comment on the case involving The Jakarta Post.
''Over the last few years, Indonesia has been increasingly criticized for intolerance,'' Ms. Jones said. ''One of the hopes for the new government coming in was that religious tolerance would be given more prominence.''
This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.




9


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

December 12, 2014

 Bridging the Ignorance Gap

 
On Jerusalem, Jews  and Muslims have a  lot to learn.
Muslims and Jews around  the world are today facing  a fearsome specter,  as the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict is increasingly turning into  a war between our two religions.  To prevent a global conflagration  that would be a disaster for both  faiths and the entire world, we  must urgently create forums for  Muslims and Jews to connect with  each other, that would involve all  of us sharing basic facts about our  own faith while hearing and internalizing  what the Other has to say.
One major problem is that too  many of us are almost completely  ignorant of the beliefs of the other  religion  nowhere more so than  when it comes to the meaning of  Jerusalem/Al Quds in Judaism  and Islam. I came face to face with  this reality during a trip I made  to Indonesia earlier this month  together with my dear friend  Imam Shamsi Ali, an Indonesianborn  New York imam. There, in the  country with the largest Muslim  population anywhere in the world,  I addressed elite audiences composed  of religious scholars, political  leaders, and university students  where I was repeatedly peppered  with questions about how I as a  Jewish religious leader could tolerate  alleged Israeli repression of  Muslim worshippers at the Al-Aqsa  Mosque in Jerusalem. 
I responded by saying that Jews  should certainly acknowledge that  Al-Aqsa and the adjacent Dome of  the Rock  revered by Muslims  as Haram Al-Sharif, or the Noble  Sanctuary, from which prophet  Muhammad ascended directly  to heaven  is one of the holiest  shrines in Islam and must be  respected as such. By the same  token, I said, Muslims need to  come to grips with the fact that the  hilltop upon which the two sacred  mosques stand, known to Jews  as the Temple Mount, is the holiest  site in Judaism; it is the place  where both the First Temple and  Second Temple stood before being  destroyed by the Babylonians and  Romans, respectively.
My interlocutors responded  with befuddlement. They had  themselves never heard about  any Jewish connection to the  Temple Mount, they told me. All  they knew was that evil Zionists  had taken over Palestine and are  now plotting to destroy Al-Aqsa.  When I responded that demonizing  Zionism is the equivalent
of besmirching Judaism, since  our love for and connection to  Jerusalem and the land of Israel  stands at the very heart of our faith,  it was clear to me that many of my  listeners were hearing this perspective  for the first time in their lives.  I am not sanguine that I convinced  all of them, but at least I was able  to share a little-heard Jewish perspective  in a critically important  Muslim country.
If we are to interrupt the process  by which the Israeli-Palestinian  conflict is morphing from a political  struggle between two nationalist  movements into a religious  war, we must step out of our comfort  zones and speak forthrightly  to our own community and to the  Other about the dangers of exclusivism  and extremism, especially  with regard to the Temple Mount.
On that note, I was disappointed  by the recent comments of IDF  Chief Rabbi Rafi Peretz that the  Temple Mount has no religious  significance to Muslims except for  the Al Aqsa mosque, that 90% of  Arabs don't even know what is written  in Quran, and that the Quranic  parable of Muhammad's flight to  the Haram Al-Sharif and his ascension  from there to heaven is merely  a fable. Rabbi Peretz's comments  are replete with error, starting with  his claim that Muslims venerate  only Al-Aqsa Mosque, when in fact  the entire Temple Mount, together  with Al-Aqsa, is considered part of  the Haram Al-Sharif and sacred to  Muslims. In his comments, Rabbi  Peretz makes the common mistake  of believing that he knows the faith  of the Other better than they do.
Indeed, even many Jews who  acknowledge the sacredness of the  entire Temple Mount to Muslims  support the demand of some members  of Knesset to allow organized  Jewish prayer there (something  that until now has been proscribed  by rabbinical authorities for fear of  inadvertently stepping on the site  of the Temple, the Holy of Holies)  by arguing that Al-Aqsa is only the  third holiest site in Islam, whereas  the Temple Mount is the holiest  site for Jews. That may be true, but  third holiest is quite holy enough,  and, as I have witnessed in many  Muslim countries I have visited  including those, like Indonesia,  which are non-Arab and far from  Israel, Muslims universally venerate  Al-Aqsa, and believe that they  are duty-bound to defend it.
At the same time, Muslims in  countries around the world need  to publicly acknowledge the transcendent  meaning of the Temple  Mount to Jews, and come to grips  with the fact that Judaism cannot  exist without its connection to  Jerusalem and the Land of Israel.  As that perspective seems largely  unknown in many parts of the  Muslim world, Jewish leaders need  to travel to as many of those countries  as possible to deliver that message  in tandem with courageous  Muslim leaders like Imam Ali.
There are many Muslims and  Jews out there prepared to take  our collective destiny directly into  our own hands by reaching across  the barricades and encountering  each other face to face. When we  do that, we discover that the person  on the other side of the chasm  is a human being very much like  ourselves, and that the rituals, traditions  and mindsets of our two  faiths share numerous commonalities,  reaching back to our common  patriarch, Abraham.
So we have made a promising  start, yet the ominous trends  toward religious conflict show that  all of us must urgently double, triple  and quadruple our efforts to  break down the walls separating  Muslims and Jews worldwide.  Listening to each others' perspectives  can sometimes be frustrating,  but it is far preferable to mass  violence. For the sake of our children  and the future of the world,  Jews and Muslims of conscience  and clarity of vision must urgently  summon the strength and courage  to put aside self-righteousness,  fear and mistrust, and reach out to  each other.




9



 


December 9, 2014 Tuesday

 INDONESIAN LEADER TRIES TO STEM TERROR RISK

 

ABSTRACT
Ben Otto World News interview with Indonesian Pres Joko Widodo, who says he believes country can handle threat from 50 Indonesians who may return from fight in Syria and says government is reaching out to local Muslim groups to reduce extremist risks




9


 


December 7, 2014 Sunday  


 Battle of the Megamansions

 
LOS ANGELES --  At the end of a narrow, twisting side street not far from the Hotel Bel-Air rises a knoll that until recently was largely covered with scrub brush and Algerian ivy. Now the hilltop is sheared and graded, girded by caissons sprouting exposed rebar. ''They took 50- or 60,000 cubic yards of dirt out of the place,'' said Fred Rosen, a neighbor, glowering at the site from behind the wheel of his Cadillac Escalade on a sunny October afternoon.
Mr. Rosen, who used to run Ticketmaster, has lately devoted himself to battling this construction project. He hasn't had much luck. When it is finished, a modern compound of glass and steel will rise two stories, encompass several structures and span -- wait for it -- some 90,000 square feet.  
  In an article titled ''Here Comes L.A.'s Biggest Residence,'' The Los Angeles Business Journal announced in June that the house, conceived by Nile Niami, a film producer turned developer, with an estimated sale price ''in the $150 million range,'' will feature a cantilevered tennis court and five swimming pools. ''We're talking 200 construction trucks a day,'' fumed Mr. Rosen, whose formal appeal against the removal of all that dirt was denied. ''Then multiply that by all the other giant projects. More than a million cubic yards of this hillside have been taken out. What happens when the next earthquake comes? How nuts is all this?''
  By ''all this,'' he means not just the house with five swimming pools but the ever-expanding number of houses the size of Hyatt resorts rising in the most expensive precincts of Los Angeles. Built for the most part on spec, bestowed with names as assuming as their dimensions, these behemoths are transforming once leafy and placid neighborhoods into dusty enclaves carved by retaining walls and overrun by dirt haulers and cement mixers. ''Twenty-thousand-square-foot homes have become teardowns for people who want to build 70-, 80-, and 90,000-square-foot homes,'' Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz said. So long, megamansion. Say hello to the gigamansion.
  In Mr. Rosen's neighborhood, ground was recently broken on a 70,000- to 80,000-square-foot Mediterranean manse for a citizen of Qatar, while Chateau des Fleurs, a 60,000-square-foot pile with a 40-car underground garage, is nearing completion. Not long ago, Anthony Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, built a boxy contemporary residence for himself in Beverly Hills that covers just shy of 50,000 square feet. And Mohamed Hadid, a prolific and high-profile developer (he has appeared on ''The Shahs of Sunset'' and ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills''), is known for two palaces that measure 48,000 square feet each: Le Palais in Beverly Hills, which has a swan pond and a Jacuzzi that seats 20 people, and Le Belvédère in Bel Air, which features a Turkish hammam and a ballroom for 250.
  Why are people building houses the size of shopping malls? Because they can. ''Why do you see a yacht 500 feet long when you could easily have the same fun in one half the size?'' asked Jeffrey Hyland, a partner in the Beverly Hills real estate firm Hilton & Hyland, who is developing five 50,000-square-foot properties on the site of the old Merv Griffin estate in Beverly Hills.
  Le Belvédère was reportedly purchased by an Indonesian buyer, and Le Palais sold to a daughter of President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan. According to Mr. Hyland, the market for these Versailles knockoffs is ''flight capital.'' ''It's oligarchs, oilgarchs, people from Asia, people who came up with the next app for the iPhone,'' he said. While global wealth is pouring into other American cities as well, Los Angeles is still a relative bargain, Mr. Hyland said, adding: ''Here you can buy the best house for $3,000 a square foot. In Manhattan, you're looking at $11,000 a square foot and you get a skybox.''
  Speculators are tapping the demand, snapping up the best lots, bulldozing whatever is on them and building not only domiciles but also West Coast ''lifestyles.'' The particulars can seem a little puzzling to the uninitiated. The very busy Mr. Niami (he also built the Winklevoss twins' perch above the Sunset Strip) constructed a 30,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style house in Holmby Hills that locals have called the Fendi Casa because it was filled with furniture and accessories from the Italian fashion house.
  The residence also offered indoor and outdoor pools, commissioned artwork by the graffiti artist Retna, and an operating room in the basement. ''It's not like it's set up to take out your gallbladder,'' said Mark David, a real estate columnist for Variety, who has toured the house. ''It's for cosmetic procedures -- fillers, dermabrasion, that kind of thing.'' The house sold, with all its furnishings, to an unidentified Saudi buyer for $44 million.
  A relatively humble 23,000-square-foot modern spec house currently on the market in Beverly Hills's Trousdale Estates neighborhood has an infinity pool with iPad-controlled fountains and a subterranean lounge with floor-to-ceiling candy dispensers on one wall and mounted tequila bottles and machine guns on another. The lounge opens onto a 16-vehicle garage with a Bugatti Veyron revolving on a car turntable, just like at the dealer's. According to TMZ, Beyoncé and Jay Z looked at the property twice. The asking price is $85 million, not including the Bugatti.
  Mr. Rosen is hardly alone in his objection to the disruptions created by these pumped-up projects. Another house in Bel Air developed by Mr. Hadid -- a Palestinian émigré with a flowing gray mane and a burnt sienna tan -- is the scourge of nearby residents. The 30,000-square-foot house, a modern, circular colossus that has been nicknamed the Starship Enterprise by angry neighbors, who include Leonard Nimoy, looms 67 feet above grade (the height limit in Los Angeles is 36 feet). ''He's violated just about every regulation that applies,'' said Joseph Horacek, an entertainment lawyer who lives directly below the home and has filed numerous appeals against the project. Last month, the city revoked the developer's permits.
  Then there's the dream house of Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. A Saudi Arabian prince and deputy foreign minister of his country, Mr. Abdulaziz purchased a Spanish colonial residence in Benedict Canyon from the movie producer Jon Peters, tore it down, and submitted plans to build an 85,000-square-foot estate. Neighbors like Michael Ovitz, a founder of the Creative Artists Agency, promptly started a drive to stop him. (Mr. Ovitz -- whose trophy house, a contemporary villa cum art museum designed by Michael Maltzan, measures 28,000 square feet -- was able to persuade the prince to downsize slightly after pointing out that two of the structures he planned to build looked down on his backyard.) The project remains under review by the city.
  Mr. Ovitz calling out a neighbor for overbuilding is a little like Lady Gaga accusing someone of overdressing. And some say that the pushback against the prince stems less from construction concerns than from ethnic enmity. ''They don't want a Saudi prince,'' Mr. Abdulaziz's lawyer, Ben Reznik, told Vanity Fair, which devoted a column to the controversy.
  In a city traditionally as hostile to architectural preservation as it is hospitable to architectural innovation, the gigamansion trend is accelerating the decimation of residential gems. A midcentury modern home in Bel Air designed by Burton Schutt (best known as the architect of the Hotel Bel-Air) and furnished by the decorator Billy Haines for Earle Jorgensen, a member of President Ronald Reagan's ''kitchen cabinet,'' and his wife, Marion, was recently razed by the action-movie director Michael Bay and replaced with a three-story 30,000-square-foot dwelling with two master bedrooms and a movie-prop museum.
  In the Sunset Strip area, a geometric hacienda built by the Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta for the actor Ricardo Montalbán was ''remodeled'' into a hulking glass spec house. ''We're losing a vast amount of significant architecture and historical or contextual buildings in our neighborhoods,'' said Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy.
  As the number of Los Angeles's buildable lots dwindles and land values soar, houses that are out of scale with their surroundings are popping up everywhere. (According to a recent account in The , residents of McMansion-checkered North Beverly Grove have been registering their disapproval by spray-painting construction fences and festooning them with bags of dog feces.) City ordinances intended to keep building sizes proportional to lot dimensions are riddled with loopholes. 
  ''We weren't even aware of how much development had been approved over the counter,'' said Mr. Koretz, who recently introduced measures to limit exemptions, develop more proactive inspections and require environmental review for homes over a certain size.
  For now, perhaps neighbors fed up with months of caisson drilling and acres of green tarp should remember that things could be worse. In hilly Trousdale Estates, out-of-control construction trucks killed two Los Angeles police officers in eerily similar accidents this year. Another truck in the same area struck two parked cars and flipped over, dumping nine tons of hot asphalt onto the front lawn of Eric Kranzler, a talent manager whose midcentury modern home was recently featured in Architectural Digest.
  Such incidents haunt Mr. Rosen, who said he gets several emails a day from neighbors complaining about menacing trucks. Still, when it comes to his ill-fated effort to rein in the largest residential building project in the city, he tries to maintain a sense of humor. ''I tell people we got upset about it because I didn't get the gift shop concession,'' he said.




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November 30, 2014 Sunday  


 Corrections

 
An article last Sunday about Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who recently became only the second Chinese Christian governor of Jakarta, Indonesia, the capital of an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, misstated the role of Bambang Harymurti, who commented on prejudices against Chinese Indonesians. He is a former editor in chief of Tempo magazine, a leading Indonesian weekly, not a founder. 
 




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November 27, 2014 Thursday  


 Reading the Subtleties of Islamic Fashion

 
THERE ARE SO MANY fashion weeks these days, from the Big Four (London, New York, Paris and Milan) to Tokyo, Rio, Miami and Abu Dhabi, among others, that I often think I could pass the year going from one to another, the way John Cheever's Swimmer stroked his way across the pools of the suburbs.
But even to a jaded observer, a fashion event took place last week that seemed -- well, not like the other ones: the Islamic Fashion Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was not the only one who found it confusing.
''Islamic fashion festival? Just doesn't make sense,'' one young Muslim girl tweeted. 
But that, it turned out, was precisely the point.
Founded nine years ago by Dato' Raja Rezza Shah partly to combat received stereotypes about Islam, the festival is part of a wider movement within a slice of the Muslim world -- most often Muslims living in minority contexts, or non-Arab Muslim majority countries -- that has seized on fashion as a means to reshape the cultural narrative. Or at least how it is seen.
As Reina Lewis, a professor of cultural studies at the London College of Fashion and the author of ''Muslim Fashion: Contemporary Style Cultures,'' to be published in 2015, said in a phone call: ''Every time there is a moral panic in the West about Muslims as a civilizational Other, whether it is about the jihadization of young men or whatever, it is illustrated with a picture of women wearing the hijab or abaya, shrouded in black.''
To combat or replace a fashion image -- even one that seems effectively an anti-fashion image -- what better tool than fashion itself? Clothing is, after all, essentially a common language, and hence a potential shortcut to global recognition.
Simply consider the words of the designer and blogger Dian Pelagi, whom The Jakarta Post called ''the unofficial poster girl for the introduction of Indonesian Islamic fashion to the world'' and who specializes in rainbow-tinted tie-dyed chiffons and silks combined with African detailing that also just happen to cover the head and body. ''I think that if Islamic fashion can gain traction in America, it will change people's perceptions of Islam and Islamic fashion,'' she told that newspaper.
Similarly, the festival, which began in 2006 and has grown into a thrice-yearly event (most recently a four-day showcase for 26 designers from not only Malaysia but also Singapore, Indonesia and Pakistan), has as its official goal: ''To build an updated visual and cultural reference from which Islam can be related to the modern world through the creative arena of fashion divorced from political, economic and social strife.''
This is not entirely altruistic. The Muslim clothing and footwear market was estimated by Thomson Reuters at $224 billion globally in 2012 -- 10.6 percent of total global expenditure in the sector, and the second biggest market in the world after the United States ($494 billion in 2012) -- and the news agency projects it to grow to $322 billion by 2018.
Clearly, the ability to capture a chunk of that market is a meaningful lure, and Malaysia is competing with Dubai and Indonesia for the position of ''capital of Islamic fashion,'' Dr. Lewis said. (''Islamic fashion'' being a broad umbrella term also known as ''Muslim fashion'' or ''Muslim modest fashion'' or sometimes simply ''modest fashion,'' depending on whom you talk to and what country you are in.) Adding a positive spin to the commercial imperative clearly adds to its allure.
''It's part of national branding strategy and development,'' Dr. Lewis said.
The marketing opportunity, religious and national, and the chance to position Malaysia as a leader in the field has probably not been lost on the government. Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak, is the patron of the event. Still, the commercial and promotional drivers should not negate the effort to emphasize the shadings of gray (and pink and yellow and blue) involved.
''There is this crisis where Islam has probably been given a bad name by extremists, and I want to show modest dress does not have to mean somber, or boring or so complicated,'' said the designer Calvin Thoo, one of the names who showed last week during the festival and who has been participating in the event since the beginning. Mr. Thoo's collection featured not just long sleeves and skirts and high necks, but also peplums, chiffon halters, beading on shoulders and arms and lace cutaways, all in jewel tones.
Likewise, his fellow festival participant, Nor Aini Shariff, the designer of a line called Jarumas, focuses on what might be termed ''haute batik.'' And over all, most of the clothes on display during the festival were marked by their saturated colors, from jade to rose, sapphire, crimson and white, as well as elaborate draping and headpieces. They were modest in coverage, but not aesthetic ambition.
But where the festival may differ most from traditional fashion collections, as well as the competing fashion weeks of Dubai (founded in 2005) and Jakarta (founded in 2008), is that it was conceived not just as a commercial venture, but also as an unofficial outreach program, and has traveled to London, New York, Monaco and Singapore, among other cities. In addition, each catwalk show is treated as a charitable fund-raiser. (Each day benefits a different nonprofit organization, like the breast cancer charity Pink Unity.)
The festival is not alone, however, in seeing fashion as potentially more than simply a way to make a statement about a silhouette. There is a growing awareness in a diverse array of cultures and countries that it may be a useful communications tool. Consider Colombia's InexModa, which has been part of an effort to change the national story from one of drug-running to one of design, or Zambia's fashion week, conceived to move the conversation from poverty to creativity and pride.
Whether such sartorial strategy will work is another question. In the case of Islamic fashion, the festival organizers are, not surprisingly, positive. (''I believe I.F.F. has managed to bring the message that Islam does not equal to terrorism; an easy example is we are still invited around the world,'' Dato' Rezza wrote via email.) Dr. Lewis is more measured.
''I don't want to suggest this approach will end global friction or war,'' she said. ''But alongside the depiction of Islam as a religion of peace and universal values, the depiction of Islam as part of contemporary consumer culture is an effective way to convey the message they live in the same world as everyone else.''
I shop, therefore I am (like you). In its seeming innocuousness, it may be a more potent message than it sounds.




9


 Dolan Media Newswires
 
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

November 20, 2014 Thursday

 Immigration -- No Asylum on Religious Persecution Claim

 
Mulyani v. Holder (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-01-1086, 22 pp.) (Thacker, J.) No. 13-1653, Nov. 14, 2014; On Petition for Review; 4th Cir. 
Holding: An Indonesian woman's reports of four different instances when she or her family were attacked or harassed for being practicing Christians in a majority-Muslim country were not sufficient to qualify her for relief as a refugee seeking asylum or under the Convention Against Torture; the 4th Circuit affirms the agency decision upholding removal.
Petitioner Yani Mulyani asserts she qualifies for the "extraordinary circumstances" exception to the one-year time limit for filing an application for asylum. She contends her failure to file within the time limit should be excused because the agency that assisted her in obtaining a work permit, the Chinese Indonesian American Society (CIAS), neglected to tell her about asylum before the filing deadline expired. We conclude we lack jurisdiction to consider this claim, both because the Board of Immigration Appeals took no position on whether the statutory time limit bars her application and because Congress has expressly restricted our power to review agency decisions involving the time bar.
Here, the BIA expressly stated it was not finding that Mulyani successfully established an exception to the one-year filing deadline. Instead, its decision assumed that her application was timely and concluded the claim failed on the merits, regardless. In doing so, the BIA excluded the timeliness issue from the final order of removal, leaving this court without power to consider the matter.
Even if the BIA had ruled on the timeliness issue, we would not have had the power to review the issue. Congress restricted our authority in 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3). Our power to review an immigration judge's determination would survive only if the appeal presented a constitutional claim or question of law.
Turning to Mulyani's claims of persecution as a Christian, the record shows that Mulyani never notified the police or any other governmental authorities about the persecution she claims to have suffered. The BIA decision points to a 2008 U.S. State Department report observing that the Indonesian government maintains programs to replace damaged churches and ease religious tensions, and that the government has successfully prosecuted perpetrators of religiously motivated violence. Other information in the report indicating religious persecution has sometimes been tolerated by the government, and website postings of incidents of persecution do not, without more, justify a reversal of the BIA.
We hold that substantial evidence supports the BIA determination that Mulyani does not qualify as a "refugee. "
Nor has petitioner established she is entitled to relief under the Convention Against Torture. None of the evidence Mulyani presents is sufficient to overcome our narrow standard of review.
Petition for review denied.
http://www.nclawyersweekly.com/be-the-first-to-know/ Click here for more from this resource.
© 2014 Dolan Media Newswires. .




9


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

November 14, 2014

 Muslim and Jewish Feminists Mingle Uneasily in the City Of Sisterly Love

 
Brenda Naomi Rosenberg had had it with  denunciations of Israel, and she told her  Muslim dialogue partner so, right to her face.
Israel has the responsibility to defend itself  from Hamas rockets! she exclaimed.
But Samia Moustapha Bahsoun, a Muslim of  Lebanese descent who was raised in Senegal,  had had it with that talking point. By killing  children and bombing schools and hospitals?  she countered. Israel, Bahsoun pointed out,  killed 2,000 Palestinians in this war! Seventy  percent civilians!
Hamas is using children as human shields,  Rosenberg replied. Hamas is using schools  and hospitals to send out rockets from!
Their voices escalated as the debate continued.  And the audience attending the first  national conference of the Sisterhood of  Salaam Shalom was transfixed. It seems so  real, one audience member said in reaction. 
Bahsoun nodded when told this. Oh, it is  real, she said. The two women co-directors  and co-founders of Tectonic Leadership,  a conflict resolution group  may have been  staging a demonstration of what can happen  when interfaith dialogue participants really  confront the issues that lurk underneath  their discussions unaddressed. But Bahsoun  explained that she really was upset about the  civilian casualties.
You cannot build bridges without points of  tension, Bahsoun told the group. Tension  holds a lot of information.
Two months after the war between Israel and  Hamas, and Israel's accompanying invasion of  Gaza, that point was a crucial one for the more  than 100 women who attended the November 2  conference at Philadelphia's Temple University.  Many women alluded to the elephant in the  room.
What's the point of all this if we can't  talk about this stuff? asked panelist Rabia  Chaudry, a fellow of the Shalom Hartman  Institute, in Jerusalem.
The elephant was the conflict in  Gaza. Heated Facebook debates  and chafed feelings from that time  seemed to be fresh in the memories  of conference panelists. Sheryl  Olitzky, co-founder and executive  director of the SOSS, called the  disagreements among members  heartbreaking.
What Bahsoun and Rosenberg  offered was the proposition that  those willing to dialogue can still  be intransigent on what matters  most to them. A major tenet of  their approach is that one does  not change or sacrifice core principles  when entering into dialogue  with someone from the contending  group. What a participant is called  on to do is to make room to respect  the beliefs of others.
Rosenberg, a committed Zionist,  invokes the Holocaust as history's  indelible lesson on the necessity  for a State of Israel; Bahsoun, who  lost her grandmother and great-aunt to Israeli raids on Southern  Lebanon in 1982, resists comparing  her ideals, explaining, commonalities  aren't my thing.  Through Tectonic Leadership the  two women seek to model ways to  understand the other side's backgrounds  and experiences and the  fears they produce, and thereby  to help prevent future wars and  genocides.
SOSS, a relatively new group,
was established in 2011 but formally  incorporated less than a year  ago. It aims to establish local chapters  of Muslim and Jewish women  in interfaith dialogue across  the country. But during the Gaza  war, Olitzky said, four local chapters  she was about to launch got  put off. In the brand-new chapters  where they hadn't even built  relationships yet, it would've been  disastrous, she said. The four  chapters  in Boston, Kansas,  Baltimore and Minneapolis   have since gotten off the ground.
The Temple University conference  was the first to bring together  members from chapters across  the country. Atiya Aftab, who co-founded SOSS with Olitzky and  serves as chairman of the group's  board of directors, urged the audience  during her talk to consider  the diversity of the Muslims worldwide.  (India and Indonesia together  have more Muslims than all of  the Middle East and North Africa,  according to the Pew Research  Center.) Aftab also stressed the  long history of Jewish-Muslim  relations. She urged her audience  to keep that perspective in mind  when dealing with recent conflicts.
We really try to hammer that  we're coming at this from a faith  perspective, not the contemporary  context, said Aftab, an Islamic  law and jurisprudence professor  at Rutgers University.
SOSS considers political discussions  a part of its work  but  one that can be undertaken only  after participants have established  trust with each other. To promote  Jewish-Muslim relations, its members  hold frequent social meetings  and celebrate holidays together.  A Jewish member may invite her  Muslim chapter members to dine  in her sukkah for Sukkot; a Muslim  member may host her Jewish  chapter members at a break-fast  for Ramadan.
It's frequently called a sorority,  and it truly is, Olitzky said.
The organization was founded  in Central New Jersey. Five of  its 10 chapters are based in the  state, and a sixth is in New York.  Both states have high populations  of Jews and Muslims, who often  live near each other in middle-class communities. SOSS appears  to have grown out of this kind of  soil  Americans living in diverse  communities and trying to figure  out how to help and relate to one  another.
One Muslim attendee said that  she came out of my own curiosity  to see if I can be an active participant  in interfaith work. Though  not yet involved, she said, You  can't wait for someone else to do  [this work]. You have to [do it].  She asked that her name not be  shared because she felt uncomfortable  publicly voicing her views in  a newspaper.
Marisa James, a rabbinical student  and senior organizer at  T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for  Human Rights, said she was also  considering joining.
There are so many forces conspiring  against all religious minorities  in America right now, James  said. It's an atmosphere that  makes us all feel unsafe. We need  to see what we can do to restore  compassion and sanity for how we  talk to one another.
Olitzky, a former pharmaceutical  marketing consultant, described  three incidents that pushed her to  pursue interfaith work full-time.  The first occurred when her son  read aloud in his school a book  that spoke about his Jewish heritage.  Her son returned home  frightened, she said, because he  was threatened by a Muslim classmate,  who said he would blow up  his family.
The second incident occurred  when she was visiting her other  son in Israel years later. Motherand  son saw an Arab boy beingattacked  by five Israeli soldiers,  Olitzky related. Her son leapedto  the boy's defense. Olitzky was  shocked that she did not.
But she described a trip she tookto  Poland as linchpin in motivating  her to activism. When Isaw  the hate [toward religiousminorities],  the only way I could  describe it is that I had a calling,  she told the Forward. I saw  I couldn't rewrite the past, but I  could rewrite the future.
She founded SOSS with her friendAftab,  with a mission to eradicate  Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
Olitzky said she believes that a  genocide of Jews could take place  again.
Following a speech by Johanna  Gerechter Neumann, a Holocaust  survivor who recounted howAlbanian  Muslims had saved her  family, Olitzky told the audience,  I do believe there could be another  Holocaust. And if there were, I  know Atiya and her kids would beat  my door.




9


 LNP Media Group, Inc.
 
LNP (Lancaster, PA)

November 8, 2014 Saturday

 A Conversation With Bishop Danisa Ndlovu; 
President Of The Mennonite World Conference Stops In Lancaster In Advance Of 2015 Assembly In Harrisburg

 
ECORNELIUS@LNPNEWS.COM
Bishop Danisa Ndlovu, leader of the Mennonite World Conference, the global umbrella group for Anabaptists, is visiting Pennsylvania in preparation for a worldwide assembly in Harrisburg.
Scheduled for July 21-26, 2015, the assembly will mark the first time the conference has met in the Eastern United States. The last U.S. assembly was in Wichita, Kansas, in 1978.
Bishop Ndlovu, a Zimbabwe native and an ordained minister in the Brethren in Christ Church, stopped at LNP Friday afternoon to discuss the role of the church in the world. 
Q: What are the primary issues facing the conference?
The issues that led to our one unity as the body of Christ, in terms of different perspectives on how we view things as international members of the conference.
I think that as a global body, we have tried to not emphasize our differences but emphasize ... what unites us. What is it that keeps us together? What is it that builds us as a global body?
It's basically our belief in the Bible as the word of God; our belief that the unity of the body of Christ is important, as Christ prayed in John 17 that we may be one; our belief that we are the body of Christ, so that to the extent that if one part of the body suffers, then the other part also is suffering. If one part of the body rejoices, then we'll rejoice together. Our belief (is) that we need to walk together, both in joy and in suffering.
Q: Issues facing Western churches include same-sex marriage and the ordination of women. How does the World Mennonite Conference look at those issues?
We have left those issues to individual denominations to deal with. You have some who actually believe in the ordination of women. There are some who do not. But we are saying, "Let us walk together." Those differences are part and parcel of our cloth ... of who we are as a body of Christ.
We do have differences as well (regarding same-sex marriage.) There are some that want to accommodate those that find themselves in those situations; there are some that would say, "No, the Bible does not necessarily accept that." But that has not been an issue that divides us, but it has been an issue that we are saying, "Let's talk about it. Let us find ways of dealing with those issues without necessarily being confrontational."
Q: How does the church witness to those persecuted for their views?
At Mennonite World Conference, we have tried to walk with those who find themselves in those situations. We have sent delegations to those areas as a way of showing solidarity with those churches that are suffering. We have written letters to governments.
We have churches in Eritrea ... a church that's almost underground. We have churches in Zimbabwe that have gone through political and economic crises, and Mennonite World Conference has walked with those churches.
Q: Although Africa is a multicultural continent with various religious and tribal traditions, Islam and Christianity largely divide the continent in half, north and south. Do Muslims and Christians get along, and are there concerns about Islam's growth in Africa?
It depends where you are. If you go up north, you'll find those extremist kinds of Muslims who seem to be perpetrating violence. But if you talk about Muslims in southern Africa, for example, in Zimbabwe, we don't experience that, so it goes by region. And also, I think, it depends on the kind of Islam that is (practiced) in that region.
We are aware of (the Islamic State) and we can't necessarily stop Muslims from extending their religion. But from a Christian perspective, I would worry about that and say, "Why would people want to leave (Christianity)?" I would ask myself, "What is wrong?" We are very much concerned, especially now when you hear all these stories that are happening and violence that comes with the Islam religion.
You can't necessarily use the same brush to say all Muslims are like this.
In Indonesia, (Muslims and Christians) are working together. They are consulting almost all the time on issues of peace and building bridges. They engage in projects where they work together in order to enable the community to appreciate one another. Those kinds of situations are not only church building ... but also they are nation building in that people begin to focus together on issues that help the people.
Q: What are your goals for the the Mennonite World Conference Assembly?
First of all, to see 7,000 to 10,000 people gather in Harrisburg. We also want to see a diverse group of people in terms of age and also in terms of color. We are interested to see the diversity of the American Anabaptist groups here, coming together and enriching one another.




9


 


November 4, 2014 Tuesday  


 The Right to Say 'God' Divides a Diverse Nation

 
KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia -- As the students knelt in a circle at a Christian kindergarten near the shores of the South China Sea, a 6-year-old girl in pigtails read out a chapter from a children's Bible: ''Sepuluh hukum dari Allah'' -- God's Ten Commandments.
Technically, she broke the law.
According to a series of government orders and rulings by Malaysia's Islamic councils, the word for God in the Malay language -- ''Allah'' -- is reserved for Muslims. Malay-language Bibles are banned everywhere except inside churches. State regulations ban a list of words, including Allah, in any non-Muslim context. 
Malaysia, with its collage of ethnic groups and religions, has a long history of tensions over issues ranging from dietary differences to the economic preferences enshrined in Malaysian law for the Malay Muslim majority.
But there is probably no dispute more fundamental and more emotionally charged than who owns the word God.
For Malaysia's religious minorities, the government's ban on non-Muslims using the word Allah, and the repeated seizures by government officials of Malay-language Bibles, is enough to make a smiling and cheery kindergarten teacher snap in anger.
''Honestly I think it's nonsense,'' said Belinda Buntot, the teacher in the kindergarten here on the northern tip of the island of Borneo. ''Of course we use Allah. We can't teach the kids without it.''
The government's National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs deliberated on the issue of whether non-Muslims have the right to use the word Allah and issued a fatwa. ''The conference decided that the word Allah is a sacred word specific only to the religion and followers of Islam and it cannot be used or made to be similar with religions other than Islam,'' said the fatwa, which was posted on the government's ''e-fatwa'' website.
Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, and Muslims are governed by Shariah, though Christians, Hindus and Buddhists make up sizable minorities. Outside the country, the government has sought to cultivate an image of a modern, moderate Islamic state, where 60 percent of the population is Muslim, and minorities live harmoniously.
But Christians, who make up 10 percent of the population, say the Allah ban is one of many signs that a conservative Islamic movement is steering an increasingly intolerant government policy.
In recent weeks, the religious authorities have barred Muslims from taking part in Halloween and scolded them for petting dogs, which the state Islamic authorities view as unclean.
The government's Department of Islamic Development did not respond to a request to explain the official position on the Allah ban, but over the years the government has offered a number of reasons.
When the government first prohibited the ''printing, publication, sale, issue, circulation or possession'' of Malay-language Bibles in 1981, it said the books were ''prejudicial to the national interest and security'' of the country.
Islamic authorities have warned that Malay-language Bibles could be used for proselytizing Muslims, which is illegal in Malaysia.
The Department of Islamic Development argues that Allah is not a generic name for God but signifies ''the religion of the person who uses it.''
''That is the reason why the usage needs to be monitored and preserved by the government in order to ensure that no one will be confused with the most exalted name,'' the department says on its website.
Perhaps more than at any time in recent decades, Malaysia's moderate voices are sounding an alarm.
Zainah Anwar, the founder of Sisters in Islam, a women's rights group, describes a ''headlong descent into a puritanical, extremist, intolerant brand of Islam in this country.''
''Malaysia's moderate Islam is only touted for Western consumption,'' she wrote in The Star newspaper on Sunday.
Ms. Zainah also wrote, ''For too long this government has given almost a carte blanche to the religious authorities and the belligerent supremacists to take the lead and define what Islam is and is not.''
Enforcement is patchy for the Allah rule, which has been promulgated in different forms and by different government and religious authorities over the past three decades. But the rule has been upheld by the country's highest courts.
Islamic scholars say banning non-Muslims from using ''Allah'' is unique to Malaysia.
''You can't find this idea in any previous Islamic discourse,'' said Yahya Cholil Staquf, a senior cleric at Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, Malaysia's neighbor and the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. ''Every language has its own word for God. Allah is just a word to acknowledge God. It's not a word for only Muslims.''
The Christian minority in Indonesia, where the lingua franca is similar to Malaysia's, refers to God as Allah without any controversy; Indonesian Bibles are often imported into Malaysia, when they are not seized by the authorities.
On Tuesday, a court in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, is scheduled to begin deliberations in a long-running case over the seizure in 2007 of a box of Sunday school materials, including coloring books and Bible story books, that used the word Allah.
The books were eventually returned, but their owner, a large evangelical Christian denomination, Sidang Injil Borneo, is challenging the constitutionality of the seizure because such confiscations continue. Malaysian customs agents seized compact discs and books destined for a Borneo church in late October.
Minorities need clarity on freedom of religion in the country, said the Rev. Jerry Dusing, the church president.
''No law can prohibit anyone from the reasonable practice of their faith,'' he said in an interview. ''Why on earth are they banning words?''
The Roman Catholic Church has also been embroiled in a court case challenging Malaysia's Allah ban after the government ordered that its newsletter, The Herald, stop using Allah.
When a judge ruled in the church's favor in 2009, 10 churches were vandalized, one gutted by fire. An appeals court overturned the ruling last year.
''It is our common finding that the name Allah was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice,'' the lead judge, Mohamed Apandi Ali, said.
An appeal was rejected, but church leaders are trying to get the decision reviewed.
Like Christianity, Islam was introduced here by foreigners. Arab traders spread Islam and Arab culture here, infusing the Malay language with words like Allah. Christianity came centuries later, with the arrival of missionaries from the West and European colonialism.
Liberal Muslims, who like many Christians say they are concerned with what they see as the growing power of conservative forces, see reasons other than theology behind the ban.
In Malaysia's ethnic-based politics, it is in the interest of politicians from the governing coalition to play up perceived threats to Islam, says Wan Saiful Wan Jan, the executive director of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a research organization in Kuala Lumpur that promotes liberal democracy and free markets.
The United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, has been the dominant party of the coalition in power for 57 years, but the group was nearly toppled by a multiethnic coalition of parties last year.
''The more Muslims feel they are under threat, the more UMNO can maintain its political hegemony,'' Mr. Wan Saiful said.
Mr. Wan Saiful says Malaysia's conservative Muslims are disconnected from the wider Islamic world. Arabic-language Bibles used by Christians in countries such as Egypt and Lebanon use the word Allah for God.
He was attending a conference overseas this year when the court affirmed the ban on the Catholic Church using Allah in its newsletter.
''This Palestinian guy came up to me and said: 'The world is laughing at you. I'm from an Arab country and everyone uses the word, every day.' ''




10


 Times Publishing Company
 
The Tampa Tribune (Florida)

October 22, 2014 Wednesday

 Some good news in the Muslim world to take note of

 
Having worked as a journalist all my adult life, I recognize that not every news event can be deemed worthy of coverage; editors have only so much space or time at their disposal.
And bad news will almost always squeeze out good news. Thus, quite logically, the media does not report the number of aircraft that don't crash every day.
Still, there was a major event this week in Indonesia that, in my judgment, deserved more attention in the American press. Yet not even  thought it merited its readers' immediate attention. 
All the news that's fit to print? Not this time.
On Monday morning, right smack dab in the middle of a genuine scarcity of good news, the most famous newspaper in the United States deprived its readers of a news item that would appear to have the capacity to take our collective minds, however briefly, off the intractable problems in Ukraine, Hong Kong and seemingly every part of the Middle East.
And, even here at home, who isn't depressed by the obscenely huge sums being spent on America's nastier-than-ever mid-term elections or by the widening disparity between the rich and the rest of us?
Add to that the totally understandable fear the Ebola virus may be spreading in our own country, so far from its origins in north-central Africa.
We also worry that our political leaders and our medical establishment aren't quite sure how best to contain the threat.
But we should not overlook the rather surprising bit of good news that, for the first time, the people of Indonesia on Monday witnessed a peaceful transfer of political power from one popularly elected president to another. 
 finally saw fit to print something about this event on Tuesday.
True, Indonesia is seldom on our minds unless its people are the victims of a tsunami or similar natural misfortune. But here's why Indonesia should interest us: It is the largest Muslim country in the world, and its political stability should be an inspiration to the rest of the Muslim world.
True, there is a certain type of political stability in some Muslim lands - Saudi Arabia comes to mind - but do any of us really believe the all-powerful Saudi royal family would ever cheerfully embrace democracy, or, for that matter, even let women drive?
But in Indonesia on Monday, a formerly obscure furniture maker named Joko Widodo succeeded a former army general, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as the elected president of the fourth-most populous country in the world.
And we hardly noticed.
We tend to see Muslim states struggling, often in vain, to cope with the competing agendas of various rival brands of Islam.
The historic conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland pales in comparison to the take-no-prisoners theology of the Sunnis seeking to establish a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
But Indonesia, while hardly trouble-free, is nothing like that, and that is good news worthy of our attention.
The new president, Widodo, benefited from a major reform adopted 15 years ago after the fall of a longtime dictator brought full democracy to Indonesia, a country with 360 ethnic groups living on 13,500 islands.
Wisely, Indonesia's reformers understood that the best way to govern such a diverse and scattered population would be one that would be greatly decentralized.
Widodo, his nation's first president not to come out of the military or political elite, is not without major challenges.
His political rivals have declared they will seek to undermine his agenda and also investigate him for corruption. And Indonesia's economic indicators point to declining growth and a rise in unemployment.
So the good news doesn't extend to a prediction that Widodo's  administration will be successful, but by electing him democratically and peacefully, Indonesia shows the world that a Muslim nation can embrace and honorably pursue political stability.
That's news that's worth spreading.




10


 


October 21, 2014 Tuesday  


 New Leader Takes Oath of Office in Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Joko Widodo, a commoner who was born in a Javan slum, was sworn in on Monday as president of Indonesia, completing an improbable political rise from hometown mayor to leader of the world's fourth most-populous nation.
Mr. Joko, 53, is the first Indonesian president not to have emerged from the country's political elite or to have been an army general. He succeeded Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who stepped down on Monday after serving two five-year terms. 
With a Quran held above his head, Mr. Joko took the oath of office during a nationally televised special session of the People's Consultative Assembly, a legislative superbody dominated by the House of Representatives. Indonesia, an emerging democracy, is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation and has the largest economy in Southeast Asia.
Mr. Joko's vice president, Jusuf Kalla, also took the oath of office during the session.
Among the foreign dignitaries attending the ceremony were Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia and John Kerry, the American secretary of state.
The inauguration provided a respite for Indonesia from a tense political period that has endured since the country's July 9 presidential election. Mr. Joko defeated Prabowo Subianto, a former general and son-in-law of Suharto, the late authoritarian president who was forced from office amid pro-democracy demonstrations in 1998.
Mr. Prabowo, however, leads a coalition of opposition parties that control a majority of seats and all the leadership positions in the House of Representatives and that has vowed to challenge Mr. Joko's policy agenda at every turn. Some opposition leaders have vowed to be obstructionist and have even called for corruption investigations against the new president from his time as mayor of Surakarta, in Central Java, and as governor of Jakarta.
Following a meeting last Friday between the pair to ease tensions, Mr. Prabowo attended Monday's inauguration. Mr. Joko referred to him as ''my good friend'' during his speech.
The new president has promised more ''people-centric'' government programs in a country where, despite membership in the Group of 20 major economies, more than 100 million people live on $2 a day or less, and the disparity between the rich and poor is at a record high, according to economists.
Many characterized the unlikely presidential victory by Mr. Joko over Mr. Prabowo as a battle between a commoner and someone from Indonesia's political elite and authoritarian past.
Mr. Joko, a former carpenter and small-business man, made mention of the masses that rallied around him during the election campaign in his 10-minute inaugural address, during which he called on national government officials and the Civil Service to work to improve the lot of the country's poor.
''This is a truly historic moment for all of us to come together,'' the new president said. ''Through hard work and cooperation, we will be able to help all Indonesians,'' he added later.
Despite having a minority governing coalition, Mr. Joko has said he expected members of Mr. Prabowo's coalition to eventually switch sides and join his administration, in that way giving him a majority and increasing his ability to pass legislation. The new president has promised more government programs for farmers, fishermen and other traditional laborers, and more spending on health care and social services for the poor.
Mr. Joko also gave an indication in his address of his foreign policy plans to turn Indonesia into a ''maritime power,'' noting that the country is the world's largest archipelago.
After the swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Joko's presidential motorcade traveled through central Jakarta to greet the public before he was taken to the Presidential Palace in a traditional horse-drawn carriage. A number of inaugural events were planned for later in the day and evening.




10


 


October 21, 2014 Tuesday  


 INDONESIA'S PROSPECTS; 
A NEW LEADER BEGINS IN THE KEY ASIAN DEMOCRACY

 
Indonesia yesterday inaugurated a new president, Joko Widodo, who has a humble background and, significantly for a country still building democracy, succeeds another civilian elected president. 
Mr. Joko, 53, was elected July 9, defeating a retired special forces general, Prabowo Subianto. That was a significant development in Indonesia, the world's fourth most-populated nation at 250 million. Its political past since independence in 1945 includes 53 years of military dictators, Sukarno and Suharto, followed by democracy in 1999.
The new president brings useful experience to office, having been governor of Jakarta, the region that includes the capital. At the same time, his party and its allies control only 47 percent of the seats in the parliament, which will present a challenge.
Indonesia has prospered through its exports of coal, gas, oil and timber to China. At the same time, its problems include a high level of corruption, poverty and a formidable gap between its rich and poor, stressed infrastructure and a policy of popular but economically ruinous energy subsidies. Mr. Joko will bring a strong mandate and considerable skill to tackling these issues.
The rest of the world should applaud Indonesia, with an 87 percent Muslim population and a history of military rule, for installing in office for the next five years a civilian and for avoiding, for the most part, major violence by Islamist extremists.
Indonesia could be a very useful friend for the United States in Asia. Alternatively, trouble there could pose a serious regional problem. President Barack Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia and he is popular there. He should not be shy about building on that tie to this important nation.




10


 


October 20, 2014 Monday

 Creating global awareness

 
Seth Brady imagines his students putting on a cape.
It's years after they've graduated from Naperville Central High School, and even longer since they took his comparative religions class, and they're putting on a cape.
Brady isn't dreaming, but describing an analogy he presents when students enter the class he teaches on faith traditions across the globe.
"I want you to have this comparative religions cape that, when you see some sort of injustice as a person ... you fly in there and you use what you know," Brady said.
"You have an obligation to really do that and not just keep this knowledge to yourself, because people are people. You should not, in the United States, have a situation where you are treated poorly because of your religious background." 
Brady, 40, has been named a finalist for Teacher of the Year in Illinois. He wants to use the platform to promote an idea he supports, one that will help extend the idea of a global awareness "cape" to students across the state.
Brady and a group of teachers from Naperville Central and Naperville North high schools are developing an optional Global Scholar Certificate that schools could offer to students who complete several globally focused courses, internationally focused community service and a capstone project.
The certificate would help students form a knowledge base of how to conduct themselves in an international context by reflecting on lessons they learn in world language classes and in subjects such as social studies, environmental sciences and communication.
With global awareness as the core concept, the certificate would recognize students who demonstrate an ability to succeed across cultural and national boundaries.
"I think what the Global Scholar Certificate would do would be to coalesce classes around this common concept, allowing people to make those connections between science, social studies, politics and art, and giving them really a congealed skill set that they can take into another context," Brady said.
As Brady waits to see whether he'll gain recognition during a state board of education banquet Saturday, Oct. 25, he's continuing to push for new ways to increase students' global competence, something he began to gain when he was a sophomore at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect.
"This is something that curriculum-wise, schools already have in place, and this is a benefit to students," Brady said about the coursework that would help students earn the Global Scholar Certificate. "This will create a workforce that has skills that are truly versatile."
Amazed by culture
Growing up in the suburbs, Brady got his first global immersions through wrestling. He traveled as a sophomore in high school to Germany and the area then known as Czechoslovakia to compete in wrestling tournaments, and he found the views of other cultures fascinating.
"I was just completely blown away with this idea of another culture because I think it makes you realize what you take as the standard and normal is just one of many ways to live life," Brady said.
"In addition to finding out about this other group, you also learn a tremendous amount about your own self and your own society."
Energized by the experience, he went on to study philosophy and anthropology at the University of Illinois. Later, he received two master's degrees -- one in kinesiology from the University of Illinois and another in social sciences with a focus on religion and anthropology from the University of Chicago.
Soon, he was teaching social studies at Naperville Central High School, and he let administrators know he was interested in teaching some of the more specific electives, such as the ones he leads now: comparative religions, world cultures and an occasional section of cultural anthropology.
Teaching awards
As a teacher, Brady thinks he's more similar to his peers at Naperville Central than he is different. Caring about his students, showing personal interest in the subjects he covers, working hard and dedicating himself to the art of teaching make him fit in with peers in "a great district" like Naperville Unit District 203; but they don't make him stand out, he says.
His students, however, say his passion for explaining religious traditions, promoting cultural acceptance and connecting with each individual do make him a standout.
"He's so passionate. I haven't encountered a teacher in all of high school that has as much passion as he does when he teaches," said Baasma Khan of Naperville, a freshman at Benedictine University, who took Brady's world cultures and comparative religions classes while at Naperville Central.
"He really made us more accepting and more aware of new ideas and more able to understand those new ideas."
When Khan recently met a student whose religious background is Jainism, she said she didn't shrug it off, but put on her "comparative religions cape" to learn more.
"I feel like if I didn't take his course I wouldn't have been that interested. But I found myself interested in how it's related to Hinduism and I related it to my own tradition," Khan said. "He's created this mindset that we should be interested and we should actively be searching for new ideas."
When it came time to nominate staff members for Naperville Central's teacher of the year last year, Kathy Linder, instructional coordinator for the social studies department, threw in Brady's name for one simple reason.
"He's remarkable," Linder said. "Simply remarkable as a teacher and a person."
Brady, a father of three who enjoys reading, sculpting, gardening, home improvement and visiting houses of worship, won the recognition at the school level. He then was named teacher of the year at the district and regional levels to be nominated for the statewide award. He doesn't deny the recognition would be a meaningful honor, but he said he "felt a strong obligation to do something beyond just celebrating that award."
The "something" he's chosen is promoting the idea of a Global Scholar Certificate as a way to set Illinois students apart from those in other states, students with whom the locals will be competing for admissions at colleges and universities, and for jobs in a globalizing workplace.
Global IQ
Brady's Global Scholar Certificate idea began to take shape two years ago when he was awarded a Teachers for Global Classrooms fellowship from the U.S. Department of State.
He studied and prepared for a year before taking a summer trip in 2013 to Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country where the faithful practice a type of Islam that varies significantly from the traditions followed in the Saudi Arabia area, Brady said.
After returning from the three-week trip, Brady met with a group of 90 teachers who received the fellowship to discuss how they could bring their expanded global experiences home to students.
Educators in Wisconsin, he discovered, had created a global education achievement certificate, and he liked the idea of using it as a model for a similar program in Illinois. Back in District 203, teachers at Naperville Central and Naperville North jumped on board and have supported Brady in developing it.
The Global Scholar Certificate would require four years of world language, four other globally focused courses such as comparative religions or world cultures, 20 hours of internationally focused community service and a capstone project or reflection piece on cultural media.
Students who complete requirements for the certificate would have it shown as merit on their high school transcript, and they would gain "global people skills," or a sort of "global IQ," Brady said.
"This global intelligence quotient will allow students to collaborate and to compete on a global scale by knowing the world in which they're interacting," he said. "The difference is really being able to reflect on all those connections that you're making across the curriculum."




10


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

October 17, 2014

 Rabbi Calls for 'Holy Crusade' Against Radical Islam, and His Shul Cheers

 
This was probably the first time a Rosh Hashanah  sermon had been covered by Iran's national TV.
An American rabbi has called for the genocide of  all Muslims, said the announcer on PressTV, Iran's  English-language, government-run network.
And while this report grossly misrepresented the  words of Rabbi Shalom Lewis, the rabbi's sermon  on the second day of Rosh Hashanah was explosive  enough to explain the national and international  attention it brought to him and to his suburban  Conservative synagogue just outside Atlanta.
Speaking to nearly 2,000 members attending  High Holiday services at Congregation Etz Chaim,  in Marietta, Georgia, the veteran rabbi delivered a  10-alarm warning about the threat that he sees posed  by Muslim extremists. He urged, in the harshest of  tones, a U. S.-led war against violent Islamist groups,  including some that are at war with each other, and  others that have launched terrorist attacks against  Israel on the grounds that Israel has usurped their  land.
They are all the same, he said. Hezbollah.  Islamic Jihad. Al-Shabab. Muslim Brotherhood. Boko  Haram. Al Qaeda. Taliban. Iran. 
Lewis declared, The fury of ultimate evil is upon  us, and we must act. Not to contain it. Not to degrade  it. Not to manage it. Not to tolerate it, but to exterminate  it utterly and absolutely.
The rabbi called this a holy crusade and referred  to adherents and sympathizers of these groups in  terms that appeared to place them outside humanity.
We are dealing with a moral species that eats its  own, kills its young and celebrates innocent death  as homage to God, he said. These Islamist criminals  are unlike us in the most basic of ways, and we  have yet to accept and understand their total immersion  in moral debauchery.
Rabbi Jack Moline, a former  Conservative pulpit rabbi who has  known Lewis for years, termed  Lewis's call to arms not helpful.
It would be wise for him to walk  it back and to make clear he was  not calling for any murderous rampage  directed at any sect of Islam,  said Moline, who is now executive  director of the National Jewish  Democratic Council. He added,  Terms such as 'extermination'  shouldn't be used by a rabbi.
High Holiday sermons are prime-time spots for pulpit rabbis, who  have a captive audience made up  of almost all members of the synagogue.  Their talks, as a rule, are  prepared well in advance and are  carefully crafted to leave a lasting  impression on congregants, many  of whom will visit the synagogue  only once or twice a year.
It's a fine art of balancing  between speaking your mind and  making sure it doesn't fall on deaf  ears, said Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt  of Congregation B'nai Tzedek, in  Potomac, Maryland. He noted, however,  that many congregants appreciate  when their rabbi takes a strong  stand, even if they disagree with it.
For Lewis, the congregation's  response was no problem. He  received a standing ovation and  lengthy applause. But once posted  , the sermon sparked  an Internet firestorm that overwhelmed  him.
Nevertheless, Lewis made clear  he has no intention of retracting a  single word.
Not one word. I regret not  one single word, he told the  Forward in an October 6 interview.  Everything that is in there reflects  my passion, my feelings and what  I believe is the moral truth, and so  no, I have no regrets.
He argued that criticism of his  speech came from the evil-doers  in this world, the terrorists, the  savages in this world, and said  he viewed their attacks on him as  proof that his sermon hit a raw  nerve, and I'm proud of that.
Lewis did, however, add an  important caveat: He made clear  he was calling for a war against  radical Islamists, a group that he  estimates represents only 5% of  Muslims in the world, and not  a war against all Muslims. Five  percent of a billion is 50 million  Quran-waving, Allah Akbar-howling Muslim murderers out  there planning to slit our throats,  blow us up or forcibly convert us,  he said.
But the Atlanta rabbi still had  some harsh words for the remaining  95% of Muslims, comparing  them to Germans who did not  stand up to the Nazis during World  War II. Where are they? A silent  partnership is no partnership, he  said.
They also include Muslim-Americans. Lewis said Americans  cannot ignore the fact that there  are insidious evil forces within our  borders that need to be acknowledged,  recognized and dealt with.
In fact, many Muslims across the  world have spoken out and taken  action against radical Islamists  and, in the past few months,  against the group known as ISIS  in particular.
Indonesia, the world's largest  Muslim country, with some 205  million who claim the religion as  their own, has banned any pro-ISIS activity in the country. The  government clamped down years  earlier on domestic Al Qaeda affiliates,  as well. The country's president,  Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,  called ISIS's violence a new wake-up call to international leaders all  over the world, including Islamic  leaders.
Several Middle East Muslim  states have joined the American-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq  and Syria, including Saudi Arabia,  the United Arab Emirates, Qatar  and Jordan.
In America, the Council on  American-Islamic Relations and  the Islamic Society of North  America, two of the country's largest  Muslim organizations, have  issued repeated condemnations  of terrorism, and of ISIS and Al  Qaeda specifically.
On September 24, CAIR issued  a letter signed by Muslim leaders  and prominent scholars rejecting  the ideology of ISIS and calling on  its supporters to repent.
Lewis's sermon was first reported  by the Mondoweiss website and  was quickly picked up by Muslim  and Arab sites across the world.  Some presented it as evidence of  a Jewish wish to rid the world  of Muslims. Anti-Muslim activist  Pamela Geller took issue with  these claims, arguing that Muslims  have no reason to take offense at  being compared to Germans under  the Nazis.
Lewis painted in vivid colors a  picture of the radical Islamic threat  to America and the world, as he  views it, warning that Europe is  returning to the Dark Ages and  is facing a dystopian future in  which the Sistine Chapel will be  demolished. Botticelli's paintings  will be torched, and the  Guttenberg Bible will be tossed  into the bonfire.
This is not a time for delicacy;  for tiptoeing, Lewis said. It is  not a time to parse words nor worry  about offending someone with  unfiltered vocabulary.
In his speech he faulted Muslims  with, among other things, making  airport security a daunting experience.  Who has created a tedious  need for us to remove our shoes  and belts, empty our pockets, pack  only 3-1/2 ounces of Listerine,  go through metal detectors and  X-ray machines, submit to frisks  and wand searches? Lewis asked,  and answered rhetorically, Not  the Italian Mob, not skinheads, not  neo-Nazis, not Colombian drug  cartels, not the Russian Mafia,  not the Crips nor the Bloods nor  the Aryan Brotherhood, not the Ku  Klux Klan.
Radical Islam is not a new passion  for Lewis. Three years ago  he used his pulpit to warn congregants  that they are coming.  This year, he told listeners, They  are here.
Despite the uproar online,  Lewis's call for war on radical  Islam did not garner any adverse  reaction within the walls of  Congregation Etz Chaim or in the  broader Conservative Jewish community.  One local rabbi noted that  he was not surprised by the supportive  response, since Lewis is  known to hold hawkish views and  since his congregation is politically  conservative.
Michael Horowitz, president and  CEO of the Jewish Federation of  Greater Atlanta, said the sermon  did not seem to stir a debate in the  community, which he described as  having a wide range of views and  backgrounds. Horowitz declined  to comment on the content ofLewis's  sermon.
Lewis joined Congregation EtzChaim,  which has 600 memberfamilies,  in 1977, two years after  its founding, and later becamesenior  rabbi. In September heannounced  his plan to retire in2017  and assume the role of rabbi  emeritus.
His sermons never shy away frompolitics.  In his Rosh Hashanahaddress,  Lewis called PresidentObama's  response to this summer's  military clash in Gazabetween  Israel and Hamas amateur  hour and said that the bad  guys were licking their chops.
For Lewis, his sermons this year  and in 2010 are attempts to teardown  the wall of political correctness  that he believes prevents  discussion of the real problem of  radical Islam. There are limits to  multiculturalism, he said. Thereare  limits to what is acceptable,  and not everything in every cultureis  moral, is ethical and is right.
But is the High Holiday sermon  the appropriate setting for issuing  an outright call for war in multiplecountries  against a diverse array ofdifferent  groups and governments?
Lewis believes it is, while others  disagree.
He raises important questions, Weinblatt said, but there was a  harshness to it that made it very  discomforting.




10



 
 Blogs
(Op-Talk)

October 16, 2014 Thursday

 Why India's Muslims Haven't Radicalized

 
Though Muslims make up only 14.4 percent of India's total population, the country maintains "the world's second-largest Muslim population in raw numbers (roughly 176 million)," according to a 2013 report by the Pew Research Center. That's a little more than 11 percent of the world's total Muslim population, according to another report from Pew's Religion and Public Life Project.
Despite the enormity of India's Muslim community, one finds little mention of them in Western media reports on modern Islam. Perhaps because, in the wake of Sept. 11 and in the midst of the war on terror, the West's chief concern with the global Muslim community has been its capacity for fostering extremism - and India's Muslims remain largely un-radicalized. 
"A combination of factors explains it," reads an editorial in The Economist. Religious intermingling has roots that run deep in India: "Islam in South Asia has a long history, over 1,000 years, but was long dominated by Sufis who integrated closely with non-Muslim Hindus, sharing many cultural practices." The Taj Mahal, arguably the most globally recognizable structure in India, was built by the Muslim Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, in memory of Mumtaz Mahal, his beloved wife who died in childbirth. Shah Jahan was himself the son of a Muslim father and a Hindu mother, the Emperor Jahangir and his wife, the Rajput princess Taj Bibi Bilqis Makani.
Back in 2009, the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman reported on a growing trend among Indian Muslims wherein community members refused to bury the bodies of suicide bombers. "That's why India's Muslims, who are the second-largest Muslim community in the world after Indonesia's, and the one with the deepest democratic tradition, do a great service to Islam by delegitimizing suicide-murderers by refusing to bury their bodies. It won't stop this trend overnight, but it can help over time," he wrote.
"The fact that Indian Muslims have stood up in this way is surely due, in part, to the fact that they live in, are the product of and feel empowered by a democratic and pluralistic society," Mr. Friedman explained. "They are not intimidated by extremist religious leaders and are not afraid to speak out against religious extremism in their midst. It is why so few, if any, Indian Muslims are known to have joined Al Qaeda."
But there are others that say such pluralistic themes are wearing thin. In the same year The Times published Mr. Friedman's column, the editors of Room for Debate reported on widespread protests against screenings of the 2008 Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" across India. Amresh Sinha, a professor of global film and media studies at New York University and the School of Visual Arts in New York, labeled the demonstrations "a cause for Hindu extremists."
"I think these protests are pre-emptive measures to deflect and avert attempts to recall the communal violence in which Hindu fascists killed hundreds of Muslims in Mumbai in 1992 and 1993," he wrote, referring to an opening scene in the film in which the protagonist's Muslim neighborhood comes under attack by machete-wielding men, presumably Hindu nationalists.
Conditions for India's Muslims appear to have only worsened since. "No serious official effort has been made to assess the lot of India's Muslims since the publication in 2006 of a study ordered by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh," according to a report compiled by The Economist. "Called the Sachar report, it broadly showed Muslims to be stuck at the bottom of almost every economic or social heap. Though heavily urban, Muslims had a particularly low share of public (or any formal) jobs, school and university places, and seats in politics. They earned less than other groups, were more excluded from banks and other finance, spent fewer years in school and had lower literacy rates. Pitifully few entered the army or the police force."
This points to "a more prosaic and less ideological explanation" for India's un-radicalized Muslims. "Indian Muslims have many of their own problems to deal with, largely stemming from the swift decay of democracy and pluralism," writes Pankaj Mishra for Bloomberg View.
The recent election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, has put a significant portion of India's Muslim community on edge. There are concerns that Mr. Modi's personal devotions to Hindu identity may undermine New Delhi's commitment to the national ideology of pluralism. "But his promise to treat the secular constitution as his 'bible' helps to put a limit on anxiety," according to The Economist.
Still, the "swift decay" of Indian pluralism is palpable to some. Mr. Mishra claims this is attributable to a fantasy of "disloyal Muslims" some harbor in New Delhi - stemming from the country's fraught relationship with its neighbor to the west, the majority-Muslim Pakistan, and its long simmering conflict with Muslim separatists in the northern region of Kashmir.
"One can only hope that its squalid fantasy about traitorous Indian Muslims doesn't prove to be self-fulfilling," Mr. Mishra writes, "for the radicalization of even a tiny fraction of 180 million Muslims would not only fatally undermine India's increasingly unconvincing claims to democracy and secularism. The not-so-reluctant fundamentalists would make the country seem as ungovernable as its neighbor."
The country's Muslim community is not a resource to be squandered - for reasons that have impact beyond India's borders. Though, in terms of coverage, a fractional, violent minority garners most American and European headlines, India's large and growing community of moderate Muslims should stand as evidence of Islam's moderate, un-radicalized majority. And in a time where South Asians of all creeds are often stereotyped and discriminated against, and even killed, because of the actions of that radical few, India's Muslims are a 180 million-strong rebuttal.
An earlier version of this article misstated the identity of the wife in whose memory Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal. She was Mumtaz Mahal, not Taj Bibi Bilqis Makani.                  




10



 


October 14, 2014 Tuesday

 One Muslim state's peaceful power transfer; 
While many Middle East countries splinter into war, Indonesia marks a democratic triumph Oct. 20. Its second popularly elected president, Joko Widodo, takes power.

 
With four Muslim countries now splintered in armed conflict (Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen), the world can be grateful that the largest Muslim country will achieve a peaceful milestone Oct. 20. For the first time in its history, Indonesia will see a transfer of power from one popularly elected president to another: A humble former furniture maker, Joko Widodo, will take over from a former Army general, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 
Mr. Widodo, otherwise known as Jokowi, was elected in large part because of a major reform 15 years ago after the popular ouster of a long-time dictator and the dawn of full democracy in this Southeast Asian nation. As the fourth most populous country - one that sprawls across 13,500 islands and includes 360 ethnic groups - Indonesia decided that the best democracy was one that defined the bonds of affections at the local level. Political power was greatly decentralized. Two-thirds of the civil service ended up in the provinces.
The reform enabled common folk like Jokowi to rise up, creating local models of clean and efficient government. His record, first in Solo and later in Jakarta, catapulted him to fame. In the national election, he beat Prabowo Subianto, the son-in-law of former dictator Suharto, who said Indonesians are not ready for direct democracy.
Decentralization's real purpose was to keep Indonesia from flying apart. Separatist movements like those in Aceh and Irian Jaya threatened to splinter the former Dutch colony. Instead of relying on strong-arm rule or imposing a nationalist ideology, such as in current China and Russia, Indonesia took the wiser course. It pushed many powers to the regions.
More than two dozen countries, representing nearly half of the world's population, live in countries with such a federated system. In the United States, a 2013 Pew poll found people trust their state and local government far more than the one in Washington. The United Kingdom, after a close vote in Scotland against secession, is moving toward further devolution of powers. In diverse countries, democracy is the surest way to define the best level for political community.
Indonesia's decentralization, however, has created a backlash among the political elite tied to the old Suharto regime. After Jokowi's election, parliament passed a bill to end direct election of local leaders and grant that power to local assemblies, most of which are controlled by parties opposed to Jokowi.
The outgoing president has tried to stall the bill's implementation. And the issue could end up in court. But at least the dispute is being handled in a democratic or judicial way. That's way ahead of how most Muslim states in the Middle East handle their disputes.




10


 The Columbian Publishing Co.
 
The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington)

October 14, 2014 Tuesday

 Prayer breakfast keynoter called 'anti-Muslim bigot'

 


  
The retired Pentagon official scheduled to keynote Friday's 13th annual Clark County Mayors' & Civic Leaders' Prayer Breakfast is an "anti-Muslim bigot," according to Washington state Muslims. They are urging organizers to drop him from the event.
Retired Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin is set to speak at the breakfast, which begins at 7 a.m. Oct. 17 at the Hilton Vancouver Washington, 301 W. Sixth St. Hundreds of local religious leaders, elected officials and others always turn out for the event, which is organized and paid for privately. Numerous well-known corporate and civic names have sponsored the breakfast in the past, from Big Al's Bowling to McDonald's to Riverview Community Bank and the Clark County YMCA. This year's host, which rotates among county mayors, is Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt.
 


Boykin, formerly the deputy undersecretary of defense intelligence at the Pentagon, is now executive vice president of the conservative Family Research Council and the founder and president of Kingdom Warriors, a nonprofit ministry "that encourages Christians to be bold in their faith," according to a statement publicizing the event.
Boldness doesn't appear to be a problem for Boykin, who's been generating controversy for well over a decade. According to , Boykin was a senior Pentagon official when he repeatedly called America's response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks a Christian nation's battle against Satan. Those remarks were repudiated by President George W. Bush and his defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who said the global war on terror was not a war on any religion.
In January 2012, Boykin canceled a keynote speech he was scheduled to give at a prayer breakfast at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. That was after a veterans' advocacy group, Votevets.org, asked the Army chief of staff to rescind Boykin's invitation because his "remarks are incompatible with the Army values," VoteVets chairman Jon Soltz wrote at that time.
Since then, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other groups, including civil liberties activists from the ACLU and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, have protested Boykin's invitations and appearances at similar events.
"While Mr. Boykin has the right to hold extremist anti-Muslim views, his un-American bigotry should not receive the endorsement of elected officials who serve citizens of all faiths," said Arsalan Bukhari, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for Washington, based in Seattle.
Roger Button and James Autry, organizers of this 13th annual local prayer breakfast via the Full Gospel Men's Fellowship in America, did not respond to calls from The Columbian on Monday.
Leavitt did in midafternoon, and said he'd just been reading up on Boykin, with whom he had not been familiar.
"Some of the stuff I'm reading is a little disturbing," Leavitt said. "I'm a bit struck that he was selected." Leavitt said Boykin's "intolerance" doesn't square with what he believes the prayer breakfast is all about: "Bringing together people of all different faiths and religions," he said.
"I see I have several emails from citizens, inquiring about my participation in the event and asking me to reconsider," Leavitt said.
But he intends to go through with the breakfast, he said, which normally requires little from the host mayor except brief introductions. Leavitt said he's considering speaking out a bit more pointedly.
"I'm committed to this; it's an obligation," he said. "If I do offer any personal commentary, it'll be out of the ordinary for the event. I'll represent what's in the best interests of our community. That appears to be somewhat contrary" to Boykins' statements, he said.
Leavitt added that he had not been planning to stay through the whole event, and he will not. "I'm not going to stick around to hear what (Boykin) has to say," he said.
Population speculation
Earlier this month, People for the American Way, a liberal-leaning think tank, posted segments of a recent videotaped interview with Boykin, where he says the fast birth rate of Muslim immigrants in Europe means that continent is "hopelessly lost." He adds: "It is a very serious issue, which is why Americans need to have more babies and populate this country with red-blooded patriotic Americans."
Boykin goes on to state his belief that President Barack Obama has attended a Christian church for convenience, but his "identity is more with Islam than with anything else. And I think that all goes back to his roots, to the fact that he was raised in an Islamic environment." In another interview, he says Obama has surrounded himself with "hard-core Marxists."
Obama attended Catholic and secular public schools while living for four years in Indonesia, from ages 6 to 10. Then he returned to Hawaii, the state where he was born.
"Islam is not just a religion. It's a totalitarian way of life. It should not be protected under the First Amendment, particularly given that those following the dictates of the Quran are under an obligation to destroy our Constitution and replace it with Sharia law," Boykin says in a different video, recorded recently for a conservative Christian political movement called The Oak Initiative.
In yet another interview, Boykin declares: "No mosques in America."
Track record
On Oct. 11, the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement urging local mayors not to host Boykin.
"He has a track record," said Bukhari. "This is not a one-time thing or a two-time thing. He has a long track record of making really inflammatory, incendiary comments." Bukhari said he's been surprised to learn that Boykin continues to get invitations to speak at civic events like this one, even after the West Point controversy and similar problems. "Sounds like they're second-guessing West Point," he said.
It's not just that Boykin's statements are "offensive and inflammatory," Bukhari added - it's that they are factually incorrect and genuinely harmful to American Muslims. Polling has shown that the American public's opinion of Islam has "worsened significantly" since 2005, and that the FBI has found that anti-Muslim hate crimes "remain at high levels," he said.
Research has also shown that inflammatory rhetoric whips up hatred and prejudice in the general population, he said.
Bukhari pointed to research by such firms as Gallup and Pew that show that American Muslims are racially diverse and generally middle class, that they support democracy and don't support terrorism or violence, and that they support the U.S. Constitution and are not trying to replace it or the court system with Sharia law.
Interfaith alternative
Earlier this year, a second annual alternative prayer breakfast was held by a small group of Clark County's liberal-leaning religious congregations. That event was pointedly "interfaith," hosted by Jewish group Congregation Kol Ami, and included Clark County's only Muslim group, the Islamic Society of Southwest Washington.
"You would think the only religious voices in Clark County are right-wing voices," Kol Ami's Rabbi Elizabeth Dunkser said at the time. "That's why we got this started, to pull together some other voices."
It's estimated that there are between 2.35 million and 8 million Muslims in America, with as many as 20,000 serving in the U.S. armed forces.
Scott Hewitt: 360-735-4525; twitter.com/col_nonprofits; facebook.com/reporterhewitt; 
scott.hewitt@columbian.com
  The following fields overflowed: REFERENCE = 10-14 a1 breakfast speaker backlash_A01




10


 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

October 14, 2014 Tuesday  


 Islam isn't about good vs. bad; 
Discussions often devolve into Maher-style shouting matches

 
It looks like we are having another Muslim moment.
Sept. 11 drove up book sales of the Quran and course enrollments in Islam. It also prompted President George W. Bush to play theologian in chief. "Islam is peace," he said repeatedly, insisting that Americans were at war with terrorism, not with the Muslim world.
Now the so-called Islamic State (or ISIL) and its brutal beheadings have prompted another Muslim moment. Islam is being debated in social media, on television and even in the NFL, where Husain Abdullah, a Muslim and Kansas City Chiefs safety, was recently penalized for celebrating when he was praying after a touchdown. 
Like Bush, President Obama is determined to let the world know that the United States is not at war with Islam. "ISIL is not 'Islamic,'" he said in a prime-time speech last month. "No religion condones the killing of innocents. ... ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple."
#Notinmyname
Bill Maher, comedian and atheist provocateur, disagrees. On his Oct. 3 Real Time program with actor Ben Affleck and atheist Sam Harris, he said ISIL was typical of Islam: "It's the only religion that acts like the mafia that will (expletive) kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture, or write the wrong book." Harris called Islam "the mother lode of bad ideas." Accusing Maher and Harris of "painting the whole religion with that broad brush," Affleck said, "It's gross. It's racist. It's disgusting. It's like saying 'Oh, you shifty Jew.'"
Meanwhile, Twitter is hosting a battle of hashtags. Some Muslims are using #Notinmyname to denounce ISIL as "totally un-Islamic." Others insist ISIL has nothing to do with Islam so there is nothing to apologize for. Via #MuslimApologies, they are apologizing satirically for Islam's contributions to world civilization -- for algebra, coffee and the Taj Mahal.
As a religious studies professor, I am glad Americans are turning their attention to Islam. But couldn't we do it with  more care? All too often, our discussions devolve into Maher-style shouting matches where one side yells, "Islam is peace" and the other yells back, "Islam is war."
Long term, the solution is education about Muslims and Islam. In the Pew Forum's 2010 U.S. religious knowledge survey, only about half of the participants knew that the Quran was the holy book of Islam, and only about a quarter knew that most people in Indonesia are Muslim.
If we read the Quran, we might see for ourselves some of its beauty rather than simply being told of its ugliness. If we had more high school courses on the world's religions, we might learn about the Sunni/Shiite split inside Islam, a division that is driving much of the violence in the Muslim world.
A diverse group
Short term, it is important to remember that "Islam" is not a thing. It is a term pointing to a group of people -- 1.6 billion, in fact, 23% of the world's population -- who are just as diverse as those clumped together under "Christianity."
With that in mind, I propose three rules for discussions about Islam during this Muslim moment:
Every religion has "bad guys." Not every believer is a saint. Sorry, President Obama, but ISIL fighters are Muslims. Their understandings of Islamic law are twisted and rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, but they are part of the Muslim world nonetheless. Similarly, members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, who hold up signs at funerals saying "God hates (gays)," are Christians, however extreme.
Every religion has "good guys." Not every believer is a terrorist. Sorry, Maher, the boy kicking a soccer ball to school in Indonesia is a Muslim. So are the 72% of Muslims who say violence against civilians is "never justified."
If members of one religion (or irreligion) want to criticize others, they have a responsibility to criticize their own. Muslims need to attack readings of the Quran that justify injustice and lift up readings that foster mercy and peace. Atheists have a parallel responsibility -- to reckon with their own sordid histories of brutality. When is the last time that you saw Maher tweet #Notinmyname about the murderous ways of the atheist Stalin?
Religions are complicated, made up of people who interpret their beliefs and practices in very different ways. To borrow from Affleck, let's try not to paint them with too broad a brush.
Stephen Prothero, professor in Boston University's religion department, is author of  The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation. 




10


 


October 12, 2014, Sunday

 How to think about Islam

 
When television host Bill Maher declares on his weekly show that "the Muslim world ... has too much in common with ISIS, and author Sam Harris, a guest on the show, concurs, arguing that Islam is "the mother lode of bad ideas, I understand why people are upset. Maher and Harris made crude simplifications and exaggerations. And yet, they were also talking about something real.
I know all the arguments against speaking of Islam as violent and reactionary. It has a vast following of 1.6 billion people. Places such as Indonesia and India have hundreds of millions of Muslims who don't fit these caricatures. That's why Maher and Harris are guilty of gross generalizations. But let's be honest. Islam has a problem today. The places that have trouble accommodating themselves to the modern world are disproportionately Muslim. 
In 2013, of the top 10 groups that perpetrated terrorist attacks, seven were Muslim. Of the top 10 countries where terror attacks took place, seven were Muslim-majority. Meanwhile, the Pew Research Center rates countries on the level of restrictions governments impose on the free exercise of religion. Of the 24 most restrictive countries, 19 are Muslim-majority. Of the 21 countries that have laws against apostasy, all have Muslim majorities.
There is a cancer of extremism within Islam today. A small minority of Muslims celebrate violence and intolerance and harbor deeply reactionary attitudes toward women and minorities. While some confront these extremists, not enough do so, and the protests are not loud enough. How many mass rallies have been held against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) in the Arab world today?
The caveat, "Islam today, is important. The central problem with Maher's and Harris' analysis is that it takes a reality - extremism in Islam - and describes it in ways that suggest it is inherent in Islam. Maher says Islam is "the only religion that acts like the Mafia, that will [expletive] kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture or write the wrong book. He's right about the viciousness, but wrong to link it to "Islam - instead of "some Muslims. Trust me, Bill, if 1.6 billion Muslims felt this way, you would be dead already.
Harris prides himself on being highly analytic - with a Ph.D. no less. I learned in graduate school that you can never explain a variable phenomenon with a fixed cause. So, if you are asserting that Islam is inherently violent and intolerant - "the mother lode of bad ideas - then, since Islam has been around for 14 centuries, we should have seen 14 centuries of this behavior.
Harris should read Zachary Karabell's book "Peace Be Upon You: Fourteen Centuries of Muslim, Christian and Jewish Conflict and Cooperation. What he would discover is that there have been wars but also many centuries of peace. There were times when Islam was at the cutting edge of modernity and periods, like today, when it is the great laggard. As Karabell explained to me, "If you exclude the last 70 years or so, in general the Islamic world was more tolerant of minorities than the Christian world. That's why there were more than a million Jews living in the Arab world until the early 1950s - nearly 200,000 in Iraq alone.
If there were periods when the Islamic world was open, modern, tolerant and peaceful, this suggests that the problem is not in the religion's essence and that things can change once more. So why is Maher making these comments? I understand that as a public intellectual he feels the need to speak what he sees as the unvarnished truth (though his "truth is simplified and exaggerated). But surely there is another task for public intellectuals as well - to try to change the world for good.
Does he really think that comparing Islam to the Mafia will do this? Harris says that he wants to encourage "nominal Muslims who don't take the faith seriously to reform the religion. So, the strategy to reform Islam is to tell 1.6 billion Muslims, most of whom are pious and devout, that their religion is evil and they should stop taking it seriously?
That is not how Christianity moved from its centuries-long embrace of violence, crusades, inquisitions, witch-burning and intolerance to its modern state. On the contrary, intellectuals and theologians celebrated those elements of the religion that were tolerant, liberal and modern, and emphasized them, all the while giving devout Christians reasons to take pride in their faith. A similar approach - reform coupled with respect - will work with Islam over time.
The stakes are high in this debate. You can try to make news or you can make a difference. I hope Maher starts doing the latter.
Fareed Zakaria is a syndicated columnist.




1


 Star Tribune
 
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

October 12, 2014 Sunday  
METRO EDITION

 Bali state of mind

 
Special to the Star Tribune
At Pura Tanah Lot, a venerated Balinese temple perched on a rock formation overlooking the sea, I followed a crowd of pilgrims and tourists across flat, wet rocks to a cave beneath the thatch-roofed, open-air sanctuary to see what it might reveal. I'm not Hindu, but the mystique of the place drew me in. The passage would be impossible at high tide because crashing waves encircle the ancient temple - which seems appropriate since this holy place is dedicated to the god of the sea.
I picked up the hem of my long skirt, hopscotched around several puddles and finally arrived at the gaping mouth of the cave. My group was greeted by several sarong-clad priests. One blessed me with holy spring water and placed a few grains of rice on my forehead, a challenging task since a steady sea breeze kept whipping my hair in my face. 
I noticed others making donations, so I fished in my bag for a few rupiah and was embarrassed when I couldn't find any. I must have had currency from every country in Southeast Asia except the one I was in, Indonesia.
The priest put me at ease. He correctly guessed that I wanted a photo with him, and we posed together "Namaste" style, palms together at the heart. At the time, I was blissfully unaware that the cave harbors black snakes said to guard the temple against evil spirits. Fortunately, the reproaches of the serpents do not extend to tourists who fail to make temple donations.
Bali - an enclave of Hinduism in the predominantly Muslim Indonesian archipelago of 17,500 islands - is an island rich in art, culture and deeply rooted religious belief. Nowhere is that triumvirate more apparent than at its many Hindu temples. I visited several, as I tried to gain a better understanding of Hindu Dharma, the variant of Indian Hinduism practiced by a majority of Bali islanders. The faith is interspersed with ancestor worship, Tantric Buddhism and animism, the belief that plants and animals have souls. For the Balinese, the most important thing in life is to live in harmony with the gods and each other because doing so results in reincarnation as a wiser, nobler person.
A quiet place in Ubud
To delve deeper into Balinese religion, I traveled from Pura Tanah Lot, so busy with tourists that souvenir shops line the path to the sea, to Ubud, a town in the cool mountains of central Bali that is the island's cultural epicenter. Nearby is Gunung Kawi, a sprawling temple complex in the highland village of Sebatu in Tegallalang (not to be confused with a temple by the same name in Tampaksiring) where local worshipers bathe in the holy water that flows from a natural spring.
Here, I found true serenity. A stark contrast to the crowds at Tanah Lot, only a few visitors roamed the lush gardens dotted by shrines and majestic statues. I was immediately drawn to the crystal-clear pools adorned by delicate lotus blossoms and teeming with golden carp.
In Bali, temples are almost as ubiquitous as palm trees, but you don't have to visit one to observe the devoutness of the Balinese. Religion is not embraced only on certain days. Spiritual acts are so ingrained in daily life, there seems to be no line between the secular and the religious.
Virtually every Balinese home has a shrine where daily offerings are made, and tiny handmade baskets of flowers and food are always scattered around shops and other businesses, a feast for the hordes of stray cats that roam the streets.
Religion through dance
For centuries, the Balinese have expressed their spirituality through dance, and performances abound in Ubud. There are dances that welcome deities, ward off evil spirits, depict allegorical stories and mark the cycle of life.
Before taking the stage, dancers pray for "taksu," roughly translated as charisma. Judging from the throngs of visitors who sit transfixed by nightly shows, those prayers are being heard.
The kecak fire and trance dance is touted as one of the most intriguing expressions of Bali's rich dance heritage, so I went to Pura Penataran Kloncing, a local temple, to see if it was as captivating as advertised.
It was.
A waxing moon illuminated a semicircle of dozens of sarong-draped, bare-chested men chanting chakchakchakchak, a hypnotic mantra that emulates the chattering of monkeys and replaces the gamelan (Indonesian orchestra of percussive instruments) that usually accompanies Balinese dances. Their voices were powerful and haunting, and I was spellbound from the very beginning.
A narrator relayed a tale from the Hindu epic Ramayana, and as the story unfolded, the chorus alternately swayed, sat on the ground or stood to emphasize various aspects of the drama.
It's an age-old story of good conquering evil. Sita, a beautiful princess, is kidnapped by a villainous king and trapped in an enchanted forest until Prince Rama and an army of white monkeys come to her rescue.
The female dancers, encircled by the all-male chorus, artfully executed serpentine movements of the arms and swayed their hips, causing their waist-length hair to seductively brush the curve of the spine. In Balinese dance, the eyes are as important as the feet, and the women masterfully flashed their dramatically made up eyes to convey emotion.
Following the story was challenging at times, but the spectacle was mesmerizing.
For the grand finale, a firewalker nimbly danced over burning coconut shells.
For tourists, Bali can be a paradise of scenery and shopping. I'm glad I took the time to immerse myself in the culture instead. Because of its pristine beaches and lush mountain valleys, Bali has long had a reputation as a place to rejuvenate the spirit, but I believe that sense of well-being springs not only from the island's natural beauty, but from the beauty of its people and a culture that values harmony above all things.
Tracey Teo is a travel writer living in Evansville, Ind.
If you go
Where to stay: The Intercontinental Bali Resort is a luxurious beach resort on the southern part of the island, in Jimbaran (www.bali.intercontinental.com). In Ubud, the Viceroy Bali is a small, luxurious resort offering 25 secluded villas, each with a private pool that overlooks a lush tropical valley (www.viceroybali.com).
More information: www.indonesia.travel. Tracey Teo




11



 
 Blogs
(Op-Talk)

October 10, 2014 Friday

 Readers Respond: On Islam and Islamists

 
As HBO's Bill Maher set off a new round of public debate about Islam and its relationship with political violence recently, New York Times readers expressed their horror at Islamist acts of terror. Many decried human rights abuses by some Muslims and expressed disappointment with the proliferation of demeaning stereotypes, in response to two recent columns.
"The Islamic world contains multitudes: It is vast and varied," Nicholas Kristof wrote in "The Diversity of Islam," following his appearance on Mr. Maher's show. "Beware of generalizations about any faith because they sometimes amount to the religious equivalent of racial profiling." 
In "Bill Maher Isn't the Only One Who Misunderstands Religion," the writer Reza Aslan argued that "there is a real lack of sophistication on both sides of the argument when it comes to discussing religion and violence." Many Muslims too "glibly dismiss" extremists' claims of religious foundations, he wrote, but many critics also miss the point. "Making a blanket judgment about the world's second largest religion - is simply bigotry."
Readers were quick to separate religion from violent movements that claim to have religious foundations, such as the Islamic State.
"Ninety-nine percent of Muslims may be peace-loving people," the Wifely Person wrote from St. Paul. "But the 1 percent are scaring the pants off the rest of us, which is why they're called terrorists."
Mr. Maher argued in the HBO broadcast that Islam generally is like the "Mafia" for tolerating human rights abuses such as death sentences for apostates. Many Times readers shared his view that Islam at-large should be held accountable. One challenged Mr. Kristof's characterization of Indonesia as a place where "only 16 percent of Muslims favor" such a death sentence.
"There surely is something out of kilter about regarding as moderate, a culture where one in six Muslims favors killing one of their own for expressing an opinion," John Weiser of Atlanta wrote. "We liberals go too far in trying to respect religious and cultural belief systems."
Mr. Aslan faults many Muslims for dismissing repressive Islamic movements by asserting that they are not Islamic. "Members of the Islamic State are Muslims for the simple fact that they declare themselves to be so," Mr. Aslan wrote. "Dismissing their profession of belief prevents us from dealing honestly with the inherent problems. ..."
Some readers addressed the matter as a state issue. "Member countries of the organization of Islamic cooperation have some of the worst human rights records in the world," Chazak wrote from Rockville, Md. "Virtually all of them defend their policies in the name of Islam."
Others offered specifics about militants' acts and said Muslims generally should respond more forcefully. "They're killing people. They're beheading journalists, blowing up skyscrapers, all in the name of Islam," Tom J. in Berwyn wrote.
But then Tom J. entered territory that was more disputed. "I haven't seen yet a worldwide Islamic spokesperson denounce this, and if they have, they need to do it a little louder," Tom J. continued. "These extremists need to be officially cast from the religion, to be excommunicated."
Many readers challenged the view, commonly expressed in The Times comments across a range of news and opinion articles, that moderate Islam has failed to condemn the Islamic State militant group, or other Islamist violence. In fact, Muslim condemnation of Islamists has been widespread, as recently reported in The Times, and elsewhere.
Some readers were offended by those who overlook or fail to notice anti-Islamist responses, including military action, by Muslims.
"What are the Muslims doing against ISIS? Who is exactly fighting them on the ground daily - the Kurdish pesh merga and Iraqi Army, both Muslim dominated military units," Tarek al-Nahdi in Toronto wrote. "As a Muslim reading the comments section, I was extremely disheartened to read this level of bigotry from my fellow liberals."
Some readers shared Mr. Aslan's perspective that religious movements can be criticized without demeaning sincere adherents of one of the world's largest religions. "Making a blanket statement about the deplorable edicts of a religion is different from making one about all the adherents of said religion," Nathan wrote from Austin.
Others echoed actor Ben Affleck's condemnation of Maher's remarks as "gross" and "racist," a view that Mr. Kristof said he shares.
"It offends me to hear people talk about 'Muslims do this,' and 'Muslims do that,'" Rachel in NJ/NY wrote. "That isn't because I'm oversensitive, it's because I know so many exceptions to it that I can view it for what it is: bigotry."
Demarcating the difference between demeaning stereotypes and reasoned criticism is not difficult, some said, and is the start of a more meaningful conversation.
"Acknowledge the damage those fringe beliefs cause, but acknowledge, too, that they are an outgrowth of mainstream beliefs," Elizabeth wrote from Seoul. "Celebrating the good any religion can do is not enough."                      




11


 


October 9, 2014 Thursday  
 

 Bill Maher Isn't the Only One Who Misunderstands Religion

 
BILL MAHER's recent rant against Islam has set off a fierce debate about the problem of religious violence, particularly when it comes to Islam.
Mr. Maher, who has argued that Islam is unlike other religions (he thinks it's more ''like the Mafia''), recently took umbrage with President Obama's assertion that the terrorist group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, does not represent Islam. In Mr. Maher's view, Islam has ''too much in common with ISIS.''
[Video: Watch on YouTube.] 
His comments have led to a flurry of responses, perhaps none so passionate as that of the actor Ben Affleck, who lambasted Mr. Maher, on Mr. Maher's own HBO show, for ''gross'' and ''racist'' generalizations about Muslims.
Yet there is a real lack of sophistication on both sides of the argument when it comes to discussing religion and violence.
On one hand, people of faith are far too eager to distance themselves from extremists in their community, often denying that religious violence has any religious motivation whatsoever. This is especially true of Muslims, who often glibly dismiss those who commit acts of terror in the name of Islam as ''not really Muslim.''
On the other, critics of religion tend to exhibit an inability to understand religion outside of its absolutist connotations. They scour holy texts for bits of savagery and point to extreme examples of religious bigotry, of which there are too many, to generalize about the causes of oppression throughout the world.
What both the believers and the critics often miss is that religion is often far more a matter of identity than it is a matter of beliefs and practices. The phrase ''I am a Muslim,'' ''I am a Christian,'' ''I am a Jew'' and the like is, often, not so much a description of what a person believes or what rituals he or she follows, as a simple statement of identity, of how the speaker views her or his place in the world.
As a form of identity, religion is inextricable from all the other factors that make up a person's self-understanding, like culture, ethnicity, nationality, gender and sexual orientation. What a member of a suburban megachurch in Texas calls Christianity may be radically different from what an impoverished coffee picker in the hills of Guatemala calls Christianity. The cultural practices of a Saudi Muslim, when it comes to the role of women in society, are largely irrelevant to a Muslim in a more secular society like Turkey or Indonesia. The differences between Tibetan Buddhists living in exile in India and militant Buddhist monks persecuting the Muslim minority known as the Rohingya, in neighboring Myanmar, has everything to do with the political cultures of those countries and almost nothing to do with Buddhism itself.
No religion exists in a vacuum. On the contrary, every faith is rooted in the soil in which it is planted. It is a fallacy to believe that people of faith derive their values primarily from their Scriptures. The opposite is true. People of faith insert their values into their Scriptures, reading them through the lens of their own cultural, ethnic, nationalistic and even political perspectives.
After all, scripture is meaningless without interpretation. Scripture requires a person to confront and interpret it in order for it to have any meaning. And the very act of interpreting a scripture necessarily involves bringing to it one's own perspectives and prejudices.
The abiding nature of scripture rests not so much in its truth claims as it does in its malleability, its ability to be molded and shaped into whatever form a worshiper requires. The same Bible that commands Jews to ''love your neighbor as yourself'' (Leviticus 19:18) also exhorts them to ''kill every man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey,'' who worship any other God (1 Sam. 15:3). The same Jesus Christ who told his disciples to ''turn the other cheek'' (Matthew 5:39) also told them that he had ''not come to bring peace but the sword'' (Matthew 10:34), and that ''he who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one'' (Luke 22:36). The same Quran that warns believers ''if you kill one person it is as though you have killed all of humanity'' (5:32) also commands them to ''slay the idolaters wherever you find them'' (9:5).
How a worshiper treats these conflicting commandments depends on the believer. If you are a violent misogynist, you will find plenty in your scriptures to justify your beliefs. If you are a peaceful, democratic feminist, you will also find justification in the scriptures for your point of view.
What does this mean, in practical terms? First, simplistic knee-jerk response among people of faith to dismiss radicals in their midst as ''not us'' must end. Members of the Islamic State are Muslims for the simple fact that they declare themselves to be so. Dismissing their profession of belief prevents us from dealing honestly with the inherent problems of reconciling religious doctrine with the realities of the modern world. But considering that most of its victims are also Muslims -- as are most of the forces fighting and condemning the Islamic State -- the group's self-ascribed Islamic identity cannot be used to make any logical statement about Islam as a global religion.
At the same time, critics of religion must refrain from simplistic generalizations about people of faith. It is true that in many Muslim countries, women do not have the same rights as men. But that fact alone is not enough to declare Islam a religion that is intrinsically more patriarchal than Christianity or Judaism. (It's worth noting that Muslim-majority nations have elected women leaders on several occasions, while some Americans still debate whether the United States is ready for a female president.)
Bill Maher is right to condemn religious practices that violate fundamental human rights. Religious communities must do more to counter extremist interpretations of their faith. But failing to recognize that religion is embedded in culture -- and making a blanket judgment about the world's second largest religion -- is simply bigotry.




11


 


October 9, 2014 Thursday  


 The Diversity Of Islam

 
A few days ago, I was on a panel on Bill Maher's television show on HBO that became a religious war.
Whether or not Islam itself inspires conflict, debates about it certainly do. Our conversation degenerated into something close to a shouting match and went viral on the web. Maher and a guest, Sam Harris, argued that Islam is dangerous yet gets a pass from politically correct liberals, while the actor Ben Affleck denounced their comments as ''gross'' and ''racist.'' I sided with Affleck.
After the show ended, we panelists continued to wrangle on the topic for another hour with the cameras off. Maher ignited a debate that is rippling onward, so let me offer three points of nuance. 
First, historically, Islam was not particularly intolerant, and it initially elevated the status of women. Anybody looking at the history even of the 20th century would not single out Islam as the bloodthirsty religion; it was Christian/Nazi/Communist Europe and Buddhist/Taoist/Hindu/atheist Asia that set records for mass slaughter.
Likewise, it is true that the Quran has passages hailing violence, but so does the Bible, which recounts God ordering genocides, such as the one against the Amalekites.
Second, today the Islamic world includes a strain that truly is disproportionately intolerant and oppressive. Barbarians in the Islamic State cite their faith as the reason for their monstrous behavior -- most recently beheading a British aid worker devoted to saving Muslim lives -- and give all Islam a bad name. Moreover, of the 10 bottom-ranking countries in the World Economic Forum's report on women's rights, nine are majority Muslim. In Afghanistan, Jordan and Egypt, more than three-quarters of Muslims favor the death penalty for Muslims who renounce their faith, according to a Pew survey.
The persecution of Christians, Ahmadis, Yazidis, Bahai -- and Shiites -- is far too common in the Islamic world. We should speak up about it.
Third, the Islamic world contains multitudes: It is vast and varied. Yes, almost four out of five Afghans favor the death penalty for apostasy, but most Muslims say that that is nuts. In Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, only 16 percent of Muslims favor such a penalty. In Albania, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan, only 2 percent or fewer Muslims favor it, according to the Pew survey.
Beware of generalizations about any faith because they sometimes amount to the religious equivalent of racial profiling. Hinduism contained both Gandhi and the fanatic who assassinated him. The Dalai Lama today is an extraordinary humanitarian, but the fifth Dalai Lama in 1660 ordered children massacred ''like eggs smashed against rocks.''
Christianity encompassed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and also the 13th century papal legate who in France ordered the massacre of 20,000 Cathar men, women and children for heresy, reportedly saying: Kill them all; God will know his own.
One of my scariest encounters was with mobs of Javanese Muslims who were beheading people they accused of sorcery and carrying their heads on pikes. But equally repugnant was the Congo warlord who styled himself a Pentecostal pastor; while facing charges of war crimes, he invited me to dinner and said a most pious grace.
The caricature of Islam as a violent and intolerant religion is horrendously incomplete. Remember that those standing up to Muslim fanatics are mostly Muslims. In Pakistan, a gang of Muslim men raped a young Muslim woman named Mukhtar Mai as punishment for a case involving her brother; after testifying against her attackers and winning in the courts, she selflessly used the compensation money she received from the government to start a school for girls in her village. The Taliban gunmen who shot Malala Yousafzai for advocating for education were Muslims; so was Malala.
Iran has persecuted Christians and Bahais, but a Muslim lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, showed enormous courage by challenging the repression and winning release of a pastor. Dadkhah is now serving a nine-year prison sentence.
A lawyer friend of mine in Pakistan, Rashid Rehman, was a great champion of human rights and religious tolerance -- and was assassinated this year by fundamentalists who stormed his office.
Sure, denounce the brutality, sexism and intolerance that animate the Islamic State and constitute a significant strain within Islam. But don't confuse that with all Islam: Heroes like Mukhtar, Malala, Dadkhah and Rehman also represent an important element.
Let's not feed Islamophobic bigotry by highlighting only the horrors while neglecting the diversity of a religion with 1.6 billion adherents -- including many who are champions of tolerance, modernity and human rights. The great divide is not between faiths, but one between intolerant zealots of any tradition and the large numbers of decent, peaceful believers likewise found in each tradition.
Maybe that is too complicated to convey in a TV brawl. But it's the reality.




11


 
Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia)

October 1, 2014, Wednesday

 The fat lady has not sung in Iraq; 
Obama is finally taking the war on terrorism

 
All most of us know about opera is that it ain't over until the fat lady sings.
Wikipedia credits the line to Ralph Carpenter, who was the sports information director for Texas Tech in 1976.
The Texas A&M Aggies had fallen way behind Texas Tech in the Southwest Conference basketball finals, but came roaring back to tie the game at 72 each. Someone said, hey Ralph, this is going to be a tight game after all.
"Right, Carpenter said. "The opera ain't over until the fat lady sings. 
In Iraq, the fat lady wasn't even in the dressing room on May 1, 2003, when President Bush landed a Lockheed S-3 Viking on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln to give his "Mission Accomplished speech.
And the fat lady was nowhere to be found on Oct. 21, 2011, when President Obama declared the withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the year's end.
"After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over, Obama said.
But al-Qaida kept the war going. Osama bin Laden may have been dead, but his movement was not. Many Muslims have a dream of a theocracy - a caliphate - that stretches from Indonesia to Tunis.
In the nearly three years since Obama announced the end of the war, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Syria) rose under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
U.S. forces had detained al-Baghdadi in 2004. To say letting him go was a mistake is a huge understatement.
All went swimmingly for the Islamic State after we left. It gobbled up towns in Syria and then Iraq.
The United States did fire airstrikes against them.
But the general public in America could not have cared less. Iraq was so 2003. The War on Terrorism was over. People no longer even used the term.
Then the Islamic State made a mistake. It released a video of the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff on Sept. 2.
That drew our attention.
Suddenly, Iraq mattered again. Suddenly, we were no longer out of danger. Suddenly, withdrawing troops from Iraq did not seem so bright.
Two days after the Islamic State killed Sotloff, President Obama told reporters during a briefing, "We don't have a strategy yet.
Bad sentence.
But by the end of the month, Obama did have a strategy. He laid it out on "60 Minutes on Sunday night.
"That's why it's so important for us to recognize part of the solution here is going to be the military, Obama told Steve Croft of "60 Minutes.
"We just have to push them back, and shrink their space, and go after their command and control, and their capacity, and their weapons, and their fueling, and cut off their financing, and work to eliminate the flow of foreign fighters.
It is the Bush "strategery.
It's a stark contrast to Obama's pronouncement on September 13, 2007, when he spoke out against the surge.
"Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq and there never was, Senator Obama said.
Now he knows better.
The president finally is admitting we are in a long war.
The good news is America knows how to win a long war. Just ask the Soviet Union.
Oops. It no longer exists.
The Islamic State, too, shall pass. But it will take a long-term commitment. No more presidential landings on aircraft carriers.
As for that basketball game in 1976, when the fat lady sang, the Texas Tech Red Raiders prevailed. The team would go on to the NCAA tournament, finishing in the Sweet Sixteen.
I expect the United States to fare far better.
Especially now that everyone knows it ain't over until the fat jihadist surrenders.




11


 
 
 (California)

September 28, 2014 Sunday

 Fearing reach of ISIS

 
  As airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria put the extremist group on the defensive, its leaders are hoping that followers and admirers around the world will bring their brutal form of jihad to the streets of those countries attacking them. This past week, as an example of what may be in store, an young Afghan man was shot and killed outside a police station in Melbourne, where he may have planned to behead two officers and post the gruesome photos online.
Numan Haidar was an Islamic State sympathizer in communication with extremists planning to attack and behead innocent Australians. In recent days, he had been heard making threats against Prime Minister Tony Abbott. When called to a meeting with police to answer questions, he attacked with a knife the two officers who greeted him. One officer was stabbed several times and suffered serious wounds, while the other officer was able to get off a single shot, killing Haidar.  
When Haidar's body was searched, police found a black Islamic State flag. This led investigators initially to suspect that he came to the interview with the intention of beheading the officers and recording the carnage. 
Australian authorities were so concerned about the potential risks posed by Haidar that they canceled his passports days before the attack in order to stop him from traveling to Syria and Iraq to join in the fighting. 
Experts believe that as many as 60 Australian nationals are currently fighting in the region. The shooting of Haidar comes a week after police raided several homes in Sydney and Brisbane in an attempt to crack down on ISIS sympathizers after reports circulated of a plot to attack and behead people on the streets of Australian cities. 
Australia has become a target of extremist attacks because they have joined the United States, Britain and other nations in using military force to stop the Islamic State. With the Australian equivalent of the Super Bowl - the Grand Final of the Australian Football League - scheduled for this weekend in Melbourne, the city was on heightened alert. Abbott has warned Australians to be prepared for extreme acts of terror. 
Unsurprisingly, observers are already raising concerns about potential retaliation against members of the Muslim community in Australia, which is believed to number approximately 500,000. Despite their shared religion, they come from a number of countries, as far away as the Middle East and North Africa and as nearby as neighboring Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. 
Some government figures are stressing that this was a crime involving an individual, not an ethnic group or religious community. Local Muslim leaders, including the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, have gone on television denouncing the Islamic State and their alleged fatwa inciting supporters to kill innocent Australians. At a multifaith event showing the unity of various religious groups, the senior Islamic scholar in Australia clearly rejected ISIS and encouraged all Australians to work together. 
Regardless, tensions remain high. 
Through its gruesome videos, the Islamic State has been able to gain supporters around the world. Closer to home, things do not look promising for the extremist group. Muslim governments in the Mideast, not known for working together to achieve common goals, have been able to rally around the threat posed by the Islamic State. In addition to supporting the U.S.-led airstrikes, many Arab leaders appear increasingly willing to commit troops to the fighting. In the initial airstrikes, a number of countries leant assistance, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Their involvement has been central to President Obama's strategy for dealing with the Islamic State.
Despite their differences and rivalries, the countries surrounding Iraq and Syria face a mounting threat to their existence if the Islamic State is allowed to continue unchecked. In addition, given the United States' track record of military activity in Muslim countries, a confrontation against the Islamic State that could be caricatured as yet another "crusade" by the West in Muslim countries would inevitably create another generation of angry extremists. 
Being in Melbourne this past week, I have seen up close how seriously Australians are viewing the events in recent days and the threats they face. While Canberra remains committed to assisting the United States and Britain, it is becoming clear to many here that the risks posed by the Islamic State are not limited to the distant lands areas where the extremist group has its strongholds. 
The real threat to Australians - as well as Americans and Britons - will be when the jihad eventually comes home. 
Orange County writer and 
attorney Timothy Spangler hosts "The Bigger Picture with
Timothy Spangler," Sundays, 10 p.m.-midnight on KRLA 870 AM. Twitter: @timothyspangler




11


 


September 27, 2014 Saturday  


 Water-main break floods Sunset Strip

 
 In Brief
 West Hollywood, Calif. - A water-main break Friday sent churning, muddy water flowing down West Hollywood's Sunset Strip, forcing authorities to close a section of the busy street to traffic as hotels and other businesses sought to keep their properties dry. 
 At its peak, the break spewed 9,600 gallons of water per minute, and it spread like runoff from a torrential downpour into surrounding streets.
 No injuries were reported, and authorities still were trying to determine the extent of damage.
 It was the second time in recent months that Sunset Boulevard has been closed by a flood created by a broken water main.
 In July, the rupture of a nearly century-old water main ripped a 15-foot hole through the boulevard and turned a swath of the University of California, Los Angeles into a swamp. Hundreds of cars and campus buildings were damaged by that break.
Aceh's Shariah law extended to gay sex
 Banda Aceh, Indonesia - Lawmakers in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province passed a law today that makes gay sex punishable by caning and subjects non-Muslims to it too.
 Indonesia's secular central government granted Aceh the right to implement a version of Islamic Shariah law as part of a peace deal to end a separatist war.
 People convicted of adultery, gambling and consuming alcohol already face caning, as do women wearing tight clothes and people who skip Friday Muslim prayers.
Sheriff convictedin 'road rage' trial
 Albuquerque, N.M. - A northern New Mexico sheriff who has fought off accusations of misconduct throughout his career was convicted Friday of abusing a driver during a bizarre traffic stop that prosecutors called a fit of road rage.
 Rio Arriba County Sheriff Thomas Rodella, sitting in the defendant's chair rather than on the side of the law, and his family were visibly upset when jurors convicted him of pulling his gun on a driver and violating the 26-year-old's civil rights. His wife, state Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Espanola, sobbed after the verdict was read.
 Rodella, one of the most powerful political figures in the state, now faces up to 17 years in prison. His sentencing date hasn't been set.
 Driving his personal SUV and wearing street clothes, Rodella followed Michael Tafoya, pulled a gun on him and struck him in the face with his badge, authorities said.
 Tafoya said the March encounter began when he turned onto a street in front of Rodella, and the two men gave each other the middle finger. Rodella, whose son was in the passenger seat, began to follow closely, Tafoya said.
 When they reached a dead end, the sheriff jumped out holding his gun, dragged Tafoya into the street and struck him in the face with his badge, prosecutors said.
 "I said, 'Please, don't kill me,'" Tafoya testified.
 "It's too late. It's too late," Rodella replied, according to Tafoya.




11


 Times Publishing Company
 
The Tampa Tribune (Florida)

September 26, 2014 Friday

 How do you de-radicalize terrorists?

 
President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations on Wednesday morning may have attracted more attention, but his chairmanship of the U.N. Security Council later in the day may have the more lasting impact. The council unanimously agreed to adopt his proposal for a more coordinated global effort to track and arrest so-called foreign fighters - thousands of whom have joined Islamic State and other jihadi groups. Now it's time to start thinking about what to do with them once they're in custody.
The challenge is immense. At least 2,000 Westerners are thought to be among the 15,000 foreigners estimated to be fighting in Syria and Iraq, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Not all of them pose a direct danger to their home countries: No more than 1 in 9 such fighters have usually sought to conduct attacks after returning home. But they can easily radicalize others. 
Countries will need to work together to combat this threat, sharing intelligence and evidence of recruitment activity. The U.N.'s draft resolution also calls on nations to enact laws strong enough to detain and penalize fighters who return home. Many countries must now first prove a suspect contributed directly to a terrorist attack while abroad. New laws will need to be written carefully to avoid abridging civil liberties. Australia, which last week broke up an alleged Islamic State plot to kidnap and behead random victims, is probably going too far in proposing to bar citizens from even traveling to certain designated parts of the world. Laws allowing governments to revoke the citizenship of suspected terrorists will be counterproductive if they alienate those fighters who have grown genuinely disillusioned with jihad and want to quit the fight.
Whether such fighters can be rehabilitated is a broader question that countries will also need to consider. Over the past decade, programs that purport to deprogram or de-radicalize jihadis have been established in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Egypt and Morocco - all using similar techniques: Independent, moderate clerics challenge prisoners' warped views of Islam. Psychologists and social scientists assess their motivations and the sincerity of their conversions. And, further along in the process, prisoners engage in team-building activities designed to replace the camaraderie of jihad.
Several of these programs claim impressive success rates - at least 80 percent in Saudi Arabia, virtually 100 percent in Singapore. But attaining such numbers takes a big commitment. The Saudi program, which has processed by far the largest number of militants - about 4,000 by early 2010 - spends heavily on each one. Those who finish the program are set up with jobs or schooling, as well as money for weddings and even cars. After prisoners are released, security services track them intrusively, while extended clan and family networks serve as a powerful check on behavior. Even after all this, the ex-jihadis' understanding of Islam remains fairly radical by non-Saudi standards. The program has had several high-profile failures.
Western countries will need a better understanding of what attracts people to militant activity abroad in the first place. Most Western recruits aren't particularly religious; they're attracted more by the romance of defending fellow Muslims and by the brotherhood they find on the battlefield. Disputing their understanding of specific Koranic teachings may help counter some of the twisted ideology they pick up once there, but it won't necessarily replace the sense of purpose that jihad offers.
Rehabilitation can be well worth the effort, because any defectors who can be turned can become sources of intelligence or, at least as important, propaganda. More than any number of moderate clerics, they can present a powerful and graphic argument against jihad.




11


 Prairie Mountain Publishing
 
Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado)

September 21, 2014 Sunday

 Evans: America, goaded into the ISIS crisis

 
I wonder how many Americans remember 1960s philosopher Marshall McLuhan or his most famous words, "The medium is the message." That's the idea that every form of media -- monk's scribblings, movies, YouTube --  is as important as the content of its communication.   
But the Islamic State --  the brutal Sunni movement that has shocked the world with its ascension in Iraq and Syria, brutal tactics and intention and bloody efforts to cleanse its "caliphate" of infidels -- seems well acquainted with McLuhan's message. ISIS, as its also known, fully grasps the potency of the internet, particularly YouTube, in sending its terrifying message to the world. (If you watched the video beheadings of two American and one British noncombatant, just know that your single view gave them more credibility and power.)



 Atrocities like this have taken place since the earliest records of humanity. But just like Osama bin Laden before them, ISIS intended the shocking footage to inspire a military overreaction.



 "All that we have to do," bin Laden observed in 2004, "is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east and raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note."



 ISIS wins round one. Even Barack Obama, who clearly hoped to disentangle (forgetting, for now, his drone attacks) the United States from webs like those bin Laden and ISIS have woven, has now succumbed to public outrage spawned --  and promulgated --  by the medium of pundits, uninformed online commenters and message that ISIS is uniquely awful and we must act now. It's just the latest bogey to have been cast as the existentially evil and threatening entity or figure whose defeat will, at long last, make us safe. Einstein on insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.



 So on Sept. 10 a weary-looking president announced a prolonged bombing campaign, along with attempts to build a coalition to wage a long fight to "degrade" and "destroy" the group while insisting that there would be no major ground operation. Six days later, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was talking about --  surprise! --  a ground campaign.



 Is ISIS dangerous? At present, not to the United States, according to official counterterrorism and intelligence estimates. Might it become a threat if allowed to thrive? Possibly, but not imminently. And while disillusioned or delusional Westerners, including Americans, have joined ISIS, there is no evidence of "sleeper cells" or terrorists sneaking across U.S. borders. And no, there have not been any child beheadings; don't believe everything you read. Coordinated action is perhaps warranted, but not at the point of a terrorist's knife on YouTube; there is time.



 The usual bombers, reflexive hawks like Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain, have gotten their wish. Gen. Colin Powell says this isn't America's fight, but no one's listening or considering his sensible "Powell Doctrine," which demands an achievable goal.



 Some informed pundits, libertarian-type conservatives and liberals have called for Obama to submit this nebulous new war for Congressional approval. In our dreams. Parties at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue love the system just as it is: the president, no matter which party, gets to do as he pleases and nobody in Congress has to take a stand, which could damage their all-important re-election and fund-raising campaigns. A despicable symptom of a failing, craven system that serves everyone except taxpayers -- and too often, those who serve in the military.



 ISIS poses a more immediate threat to U.S. allies in the Middle East, Turkey, Saudi Arabia --  which of course finances Sunni extremism -- Iraq and other states. Non-allies like Syria and Lebanon also face danger. But not one of has agreed to a vigorous role in the coalition to date. And why should they? The U.S. has trained them and scores of other allies around the world, from Australia to Japan, Germany to Saudi Arabia, to act as if American taxpayers will foot the bill for their defense.



 I was in Australia at the end of 2013. A big issue was the problem of Muslim "boat people" arriving from Indonesia, which has caused heightened tensions between the two nations. I was startled at how often I heard or read Australians confidently asserting that if there is war with Indonesia, they needn't worry because the U.S. will protect them.



 Aussies -- who love us Americans --  spent about $893 per capita on defense in 2013, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute -- compared to $2,141 for Americans. A sampling of U.S. allies: $1,594 for Saudi Arabia, $244 for Turkey, $558 for Germany and $28 for Pakistan. Sweet deal if you can get it.



 That's why American taxpayers foot the bill for a military budget (which does not even include things like homeland security, intelligence or costs for ongoing conflicts) that represents about 40 percent of global defense spending. In second place, China is estimated to spend anywhere from a quarter to a ninth as much.



 It's insane, but American military and political leaders use "defense" to exert control over allies. Whether this buys much loyalty, or we can afford to continue letting allies off the hook, is doubtful. Asking allies to take on more of the costs of their own defense isn't isolationism; it's realism.



 Email: claybonnyman@gmail.com  
Clay Evans Wonderland




11


 


September 14, 2014 Sunday  


 'World Order'

 
WORLD ORDERBy Henry Kissinger
420 pp. Penguin Press. $36.
If you want to understand the point of Henry Kissinger, play this mind game: Imagine that the nonagenarian had run American foreign policy since Sept. 11, 2001, instead of two groups that had spent much of the previous quarter-century condemning him. First came the democracy-touting neoconservatives, who saw his realpolitik as appeasement, and now liberal Democrats, who insist nation-building must begin at home -- and therefore hate foreign entanglements, let alone grand strategies.
Might a little realism have been useful in Iraq, rather than the ''stuff happens'' amateurism of the Bush years? Would a statesman who read Winston Churchill on Afghanistan (''except at harvest time . . . the Pathan [Pashtun] tribes are always engaged in private or public war'') have committed America to establishing a ''gender sensitive . . . and fully representative'' government in Kabul? Would Kissinger have issued a red-line warning to Syria and then allowed Assad to go unpunished when he used chemical weapons? Or let a power vacuum gradually develop on Vladimir Putin's borders? Or looked on as the South China Sea became a cockpit of regional rivalries? 
If you think America is doing just fine, then skip ahead to the poetry reviews. If, however, you worry about a globe spinning out of control, then ''World Order'' is for you. It brings together history, geography, modern politics and no small amount of passion. Yes, passion, for this is a cri de coeur from a famous skeptic, a warning to future generations from an old man steeped in the past. It comes with faults: It is contorted by the author's concerns about his legacy and by a needless craving not to upset the Lilliputian leaders he still seeks to influence. It also goes over some of the same ground as previous works. But it is a book that every member of Congress should be locked in a room with -- and forced to read before taking the oath of office.
The premise is that we live in a world of disorder: ''While 'the international community' is invoked perhaps more insistently now than in any other era, it presents no clear or agreed set of goals, methods or limits. . . . Chaos threatens side by side with unprecedented interdependence.'' Hence the need to build an order -- one able to balance the competing desires of nations, both the established Western powers that wrote the existing international ''rules'' (principally the United States), and the emerging ones that do not accept them, principally China, but also Russia and the Islamic world.
This will be hard because there never has been a true world order. Instead, different civilizations have come up with their own versions. The Islamic and Chinese ones were almost entirely self-centered: If you were not within the umma of believers or blessed with the emperor's masterly rule, you were an infidel or a barbarian. Balance did not come into it. America's version, though more recent and more nuanced, is also somewhat self-centered -- a moral order where everything will be fine once the world comes to its senses and thinks like America (which annoyingly it never quite does). So the best starting point remains Europe's ''Westphalian'' balance of power.
For centuries pluralism was both Europe's strength and its weakness. After the fall of Rome in 476, no power ruled the whole continent. Europe's modus vivendi was competition: Your enemy's enemy was your friend. Thus Roman Catholic France allied itself with Protestant German and Dutch princes and even the Ottomans to prevent the Catholic Holy Roman Empire from achieving supremacy. Out of all this maneuvering came the brutal Thirty Years' War, with faction fighting faction across borders, rather like the modern Middle East. Eventually, in 1648, a gathering of 235 envoys in separate towns around Westphalia worked out three different treaties.
The basic bargain was cuius regio, eius religio. A ruler could set the religion in his country, but it enshrined the nation-state as the building block of the European order: Each king was called ''majesty'' and treated equally. It opened up an age of diplomacy (before then only the Venetians had what we would call ambassadors). Equilibrium did not always last: Inevitably, there were rising powers to contain, as well as irrational surges like the French Revolution's desire to bring equality to all. After Waterloo, the dominant British provided the balance by tilting to one side or another.
This is Kissinger's home territory -- and he tells the story well. His heroes inevitably are realpolitikers, like Cardinal Richelieu, France's chief minister from 1624 to 1642, who heretically sided with the Protestants, explaining that ''man is immortal, his salvation is hereafter. The state has no immortality, its salvation is now or never''; Austria's Klemens von Metternich, the architect of the Congress of Vienna; and Britain's pragmatic Lord Palmerston (''We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies''). Read Kissinger's description of Talleyrand, and by the end the aristocratic French diplomat has assumed a guttural German accent and thick glasses:
''He started his career as Bishop of Autun, left the Church to support the Revolution, abandoned the Revolution to serve as Napoleon's foreign minister, abandoned Napoleon to negotiate the restoration of the French monarch and appeared in Vienna as Louis XVIII's foreign minister. Many called Talleyrand an opportunist. Talleyrand would have argued that his goals were stability within France and peace in Europe and that he had taken whatever opportunities were available to achieve these goals. He had surely striven for positions to study the various elements of power and legitimacy at close hand without being unduly constrained by any of them. Only a formidable personality could have projected himself into the center of so many great and conflicting events.''
So Europe has given us the most plausible historical model, but it is no longer the sculptor. It shed its power during two world wars, half-embraced the idea of a post-Westphalian union and is now too obsessed in the European Union's internal construction. It will be of little use on the world stage until it has resolved that debate, and as Kissinger notes in one of his more withering asides, unifications in Europe have only been achieved with a forceful uniter, like Piedmont in Italy or Prussia in Germany.
Kissinger also canters eloquently through Russia. Vladimir Putin's nationalism makes more sense once you understand the historical chip on his shoulder and his country's centuries-long, remorseless expansion: Russia added an average of 100,000 square kilometers a year to its territory from 1552 to 1917.
Still, the book stalls a bit with Islam. Religion used to be one of Kissinger's blind spots: The word does not appear in the index of ''Diplomacy.'' Now Kissinger seems to have swung too far the other way. Islam's failure to differentiate between mosque and state suddenly explains virtually everything (though not, presumably, the success of the largest Muslim-dominated state, Indonesia). Iran is perfidy personified. By contrast, Israel is a victim, ''a Westphalian state'' in a sea of unreason. He does not mention its unhelpful settlement-building or examine the Jewish state's own extremists (the man who killed the peacemaking Yitzhak Rabin is a ''radical Israeli student''). It all feels like a rather belated olive branch to the Israeli right and its supporters in America's Congress.
The book recovers speed with Asia. Kissinger compares Britain's effect on India to Napoleon's on Germany: In both cases multiple states that had seen themselves only as a geographic entity discovered a national one. There is some repetition here with his last book on China, but he moves quickly through the Middle Kingdom's self-absorbed history, where foreign policy was largely a matter of collecting tribute through the emperor's Ministry of Rituals and where soldiery was little valued (''Good iron is not used for nails. Good men do not become soldiers''). In 1893, even as Western forces were overrunning the country, the Qing dynasty diverted military funds to restore a marble boat in the Imperial Palace.
Gradually, though, the full extent of the problem becomes clear -- and its American dimension. Within Asia, two potential balances of power are emerging, both involving China -- one in South Asia, the other in East Asia. But neither at present has a balancer, a country capable of shifting its weight to the weaker side as Britain did in Europe. As for China itself, although it makes some use of international rules, it ''has not forgotten that it was originally forced to engage with the existing international order in a manner utterly at odds with its historical image of itself.'' In 15 cases of history where a rising and established power interacted, 10 ended in war. Supposedly America is China's partner, but ''partnership cannot be achieved by proclamation.''
Is modern America capable of leading the world out of this? Kissinger never answers this question directly, but the chapters on his own country read like a carefully worded warning to a treasured but blinkered friend. America comes to the task with two deep character faults. The first, bound up with its geography, is a perception that foreign policy is ''an optional activity.'' As late as 1890, its army was only the 14th largest in the world, smaller than Bulgaria's. This is a superpower that has withdrawn ignominiously from three of the last five wars it chose to fight -- in Vietnam, Iraq (the younger Bush version), Afghanistan. The second is that the same ideals that have built a great country often made it lousy at diplomacy, especially ''the conviction that its domestic principles were self-evidently universal and their application at all times salutary'' -- the naïveté of Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations and the neoconservatives' forays in the Islamic world.
At its best, America is unstoppable. Theodore Roosevelt, for instance, both understood the need for his country to be involved and managed to fashion its idealism to a pragmatic end. In the Cold War, America's moral order worked: There was a clear adversary that could eventually just be outmuscled, there were compliant allies and there were set rules of engagement. But the current disorder is more complex: chaos in the Middle East, the spread of nuclear weapons, the emergence of cyberspace as an unregulated military arena and the reordering of Asia. The challenge is ''not simply a multipolarity of power but a world of increasingly contradictory realities,'' Kissinger writes. ''It must not be assumed that, left unattended, these trends will at some point reconcile automatically to a world of balance and cooperation -- or even any order at all.''
Meanwhile, statesmanship, the craft of ''attending'' to these problems, is getting harder. Kissinger rightly mocks the cyber-utopian idea that greater connectiveness and transparency will make the world safer, as nations learn about one another: ''Conflicts within and between societies have occurred since the dawn of civilization. The causes of these conflicts have not been limited to an absence of information or an insufficient ability to share it.'' To the contrary, the immediacy of everything is a test. Every incident is flashed round the world, everything becomes part of domestic politics, political careers are molded in public. Boldness, leadership and stealth are all more difficult.
How do America's current leaders shape up? Here the book is both irritatingly coy and implicitly devastating. There is no direct criticism of the Obama administration and even a slightly comic paragraph expressing Kissinger's deep personal admiration for George W. Bush -- in the midst of a section on the cluelessness of his foreign policy. But under the equivocation and the courtiership, the message is clear, even angry: The world is drifting, unattended, and America, an indispensable part of any new order, has yet to answer even basic questions, like ''What do we seek to prevent?'' and ''What do we seek to achieve?'' Its politicians and people are unprepared for the century ahead. Reading this book would be a useful first step forward.




12



 
 Blogs
(Op-Talk)

September 12, 2014 Friday

 Readers Respond: Wary Support for Obama's ISIS Strategy

 
President Obama's plan to conduct air strikes in Syria was met with measured praise and continued skepticism in reader responses to Op-Ed columnists and an editorial on the president's speech.
"Can we all agree" that the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS,  "must be stopped?" William Davis in Llewellyn Park, N.J., wrote in response to the editorial "The Attack on ISIS Extends to Syria."  "Sometimes it is appropriate to commit the might of the U.S. military, this is one of those times."
Some of ISIS's recent advances into Iraqi territory were repelled with U.S. airpower and local ground troops. And many readers cited the president's conclusion that "if left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region, including to the United States." 
"If we need the Middle East to be stable and democratic then we have to make a commitment as a nation," MK wrote from New York in response to Nicholas Kristof's column "Critique from an Obama Fan." "If not then we have to stay out of it and deal with that mess."
Mr. Kristof wrote, "Counterterrorism is the right prism through which to approach this, rather than all-out war." The theme for limited involvement has run through every comment thread about ISIS, Syria, and Iraq.
"An all-out war against ISIS is an overreaction, spurred by scare tactics successfully taken by ISIS to bait America" and enlarge the Sunni faction's fight against "infidels," wrote Gagah Putra Arifianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, who said he wrote from his perspective as a moderate Sunni Muslim. "They need more people to spread and win the sectarian war in Iraq."
The problem with a deeper U.S. commitment in Middle East conflict, "is that when it comes to Iraq and Syria, we're too good at imagining the downside," Gail Collins wrote in "A Man With a Plan." How true, evidently.
Air strikes "almost guarantee that we will be even more hated in the world while we continue to inadvertently arm our enemies," Christine McMorrow in Waltham, Mass., wrote in response to Ms. Collins.
Readers returned again and again to the idea that "the American military's actions in the Middle East has often fueled Arab anger," as the editorial said.
"Will our actions help anything or just make matters worse?" Sherry Wacker wrote from Oakland. "If we bomb and kill innocents will we not be making more terrorists?"
Many are weary of wars, and U.S. killing abroad. "This Gulf War vet is sick of these wars," Scott wrote from Harrisburg. "Enough already."
While Mr. Obama said the need to degrade the militant group's capacities was vital to protect against threats in the United States, many were skeptical of the need to extend the U.S. mission to Syria.
"It must be because I was born in the wake of WWII and lived through the Cold War that it seems so pathetic to hear the alarmists bloviate on the putative imminence of the threat," NJB wrote from Seattle.
The complications of sectarian civil wars and the ISIS capture of U.S. weaponry in Iraqi territory, as Charles Blow wrote in "The Cost of War," makes the objectives of U.S. involvement in Syria murkier.
"This is not like storming Berlin in 1945: a definable goal with a viable path to reaching it," VEH in Metro Detroit wrote. "What is the goal, what is the outcome we desire?"
While the United States can kill militants, Mr. Blow wrote, "we can't kill anti-American sentiment." Yet the mission of protecting vulnerable populations such as the Yazidis is compelling, most readers agreed.
"The people trapped in the path" of ISIS "need help now," Jack in Illinois wrote. "If the world waits until a 'unified' plan is made it may just be too late."
For now, polls show a "slight majority supports expanding United States airstrikes into Syria," Mr. Blow wrote. But that reflection of the public and American democracy remains troublesome to many readers.
"How utterly sad and maddening that the one thing that can get bipartisan support in Washington," MRod in Corvallis, Ore., wrote, "is going to war."




12



 



September 11, 2014 Thursday  


 U.S. Muslim leaders denounce militants' ideology

 
More than two dozen Muslim American clerics and community leaders condemned Islamic terrorism at a crowded news conference in the District on Wednesday, denouncing the atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and calling on young Muslim Americans to resist the appeal of jihadist ideology.
The leaders, who were joined by several officials from the Department of Homeland Security, stressed that the great majority of Muslim Americans are loyal and peaceful citizens. They vowed to cooperate with law enforcement officials and to work to dissuade Muslim youths from following violent jihadi paths. 
"Young people, please do not listen to this ideology," said Mohammed Magid Dar, director of the All Dulles American Muslim Society in Sterling, Va., the largest mosque in the Washington region. "If someone asks you to join this cult or this group, resist the slogans that promise justice but carry out injustice."
David Gersten, coordinator for countering terrorist extremism at the Department of Homeland Security, said Muslim American communities need to be the "front lines" against the blandishments of Islamist fighters trying to recruit youths to Islamic State's cause, especially via social media.
It was the first time a U.S. official had appeared publicly with Muslim American leaders here. Officials of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a national nonprofit advocacy group, organized the news conference and asked Homeland Security officials to attend.
The group's declarations came hours before President Obama was scheduled to address the nation and lay out his strategy for combating the Islamic State. One speaker asked that the group be referred to as the "Anti-Islamic State" and noted that most of its victims are Muslims.
Others expressed condolences for the victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011.
The news conference included a broad array of speakers, highlighting the growing concern among Muslim Americans that their communities will be tarred with the extremist brush amid reports of Western Muslims being recruited to fight with the Islamic State.
Using the acronym for a former name of the Islamic State, Faizal Khan, imam of the Islamic Society of America mosque in Silver Spring, said: "ISIS and al-Qaeda represent a warped religious ideology. Either we reject this violence in the clearest possible terms, or we allow them to become the face of Islam and the world's perception of us for years to come."
Participants included Muslim immigrant leaders from Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Trinidad, as well as American converts. There are an estimated half-million Muslims of foreign origin living in the United States.
"We reassure our fellow Americans that we are an integral part of the American fabric," said Mohsin Ali Khan, a Pakistani American and a leader of a mosque in McLean. "You can count on our cooperation and support" in combating Islamic terrorism, he said.
Speakers stressed that, in addition to cooperating with police and other officials, they were working with young people in their communities to make sure they do not fall prey to the lure of radical Islamic ideology. One cleric said it was crucial to identify potential young jihadists and convince them to abandon a "twisted" version of Islam.
The news conference was preceded by a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by three young Muslim American Boy and Girl Scouts. Organizers said many Muslim communities are organizing groups and meetings to talk with young people about the positive message of Islam and the danger of jihadist thought.
One speaker was Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a former Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington. He called on members of all religions to "stand together against the evil" and destructive violence of such groups as the Islamic State.
pamela.constable@washpost.com




12


 


September 7, 2014, Sunday

 Why they still hate the United States

 
Watching the gruesome execution videos, I felt some of the same emotions I did after 9/11. Barbarism is designed to provoke anger and it succeeded. But in September 2001, it also made me ask a question, "Why do they hate us? I tried to answer it in an almost 7,000-word essay for Newsweek that struck a chord with readers. I reread the essay (http://ow.ly/B6g2V), to see what I got right and wrong, and what I've learned in the last 13 years.
It's not just al-Qaeda. I began by noting that Islamic terror is not the isolated behavior of a handful of nihilists. There is a broader culture that has been complicit, or at least unwilling to combat it. Things have changed on this front but not nearly enough. 
It's not an Islam problem but an Arab problem. In the early 2000s, Indonesia was our biggest concern because of a series of terror attacks there after 9/11. But over the last decade, jihad and even Islamic fundamentalism have not done well in Indonesia - the largest Muslim country in the world, larger than Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, and the Gulf states put together. Or look at India, which is right next door to Ayman al-Zawahiri's headquarters, but very few of its 165 million Muslims are members of al-Qaeda. Zawahiri has announced a bold effort to recruit Indian Muslims, but I suspect it will fail.
Arab political decay. The central point of the essay was that the reason the Arab world produces fanaticism and jihad is political stagnation. By 2001, almost every part of the world had seen significant political progress - Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, even Africa had held many free and fair elections. But the Arab world remained a desert. In 2001, most Arabs had fewer freedoms than they did in 1951.
The one aspect of life that Arab dictators could not ban was religion, so Islam had become the language of political opposition. As the Westernized, secular dictatorships of the Arab world failed - politically, economically and socially - the fundamentalists told the people, "Islam is the solution. The Arab world was left with dictatorships on the one hand and deeply illiberal opposition groups on the other - Hosni Mubarak or al-Qaeda. The more extreme the regime, the more violent was the opposition. This cancer was deeper and more destructive than I realized. Despite the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and despite the Arab Spring, this dynamic between dictators and jihadis has not been broken.
Look at Syria, where until recently, Bashar al-Assad was actually helping the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, by buying oil and gas from it and by shelling its opponents, the Free Syrian Army, when the two were in battle against each other. Assad was playing the old dictator's game, giving his people a stark choice - it's either me or ISIS. And many Syrians (the Christian minority, for example) have chosen him.
The greatest setback has been in Egypt, where a nonviolent Islamist movement took power and squandered its chance by overreaching. But, not content to let the Muslim Brotherhood fail at the polls, the army displaced it by force and moved back into power. Egypt is now a more brutal police state than it was under Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhood has been banned, its members killed and jailed, the rest driven underground. Let's hope that 10 years from now, we do not find ourselves discussing the causes of the rise of an ISIS in Egypt.
What did I miss in that essay 13 years ago? The fragility of these countries. I didn't recognize that if the dictatorships faltered, the state could collapse, that beneath the state there was no civil society, and in fact, no real nation. Once chaos reigned across the Middle East, people reached not for their national identities - Iraqi, Syrian - but for much older ones - Shiite, Sunni, Kurd and Arab.
I should have paid greater attention to my mentor in graduate school, Samuel Huntington, who once famously explained that Americans never recognized that in the developing world, the key is not the kind of government - communist, capitalist, democratic, dictatorial - but the degree of government. That absence of government is what we are watching these days, from Libya to Iraq to Syria.
---
In a previous column, I reported incorrectly that 70 percent of Iraq's battalion commanders were replaced during the 2007 surge of U.S. forces in Iraq. According to the former administration official quoted in the column, 70 percent of the commanders of Iraq's police commando battalions were replaced, not of those in the army overall.
Fareed Zakaria is a syndicated columnist.




12


 


September 5, 2014 Friday  


 In Southeast Asia, Indonesia Is an Unlikely Role Model for Democracy

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- For a while, it looked as if Indonesia's bad old days had returned.
The Constitutional Court was hearing an appeal by the losing presidential candidate, a former army general and son-in-law of Indonesia's former dictator, who charged that the election last July had been rigged and should be overturned.
Outside, his supporters clashed with the riot police and tried to storm the court building. The police fired water cannons and tear gas.
But when the justices issued their ruling denying the appeal last month, something strange happened: The losing candidate grudgingly accepted defeat. 
The most competitive presidential election in Indonesian history had come to a dramatic and peaceful end. Next month, Joko Widodo, the governor of Jakarta, will be sworn in at the Parliament building, completing a stunning rise from a child of the slums and carpenter to leader of the world's fourth-most-populous nation.
Sixteen years after Suharto, the authoritarian president whose corrupt and brutal military-backed government ruled the country for 32 years, was forced to resign amid violent pro-democracy protests, Indonesia has become a role model for peaceful, democratic transfers of power in Southeast Asia, a region where they are becoming increasingly rare.
In Thailand, the military overthrew a democratically elected government in May for the second time in eight years. Malaysia and Cambodia have been mired in political turmoil since parliamentary elections last year, which the opposition in each country claims were rigged. Neither Malaysia, Cambodia nor Singapore has ever had a democratic handover to the political opposition.
The Philippines has had democratic elections, but they have tended to be tainted by fraud and violence, and the last two presidents jailed their predecessors.
And those are the democracies. Vietnam has enforced one-party Communist rule since unification, and Myanmar is taking its first, tentative steps toward openness after decades of military rule.
Indonesia, however, in addition to the presidential election, held successful general elections in April in which nearly 140 million people cast ballots, a turnout of 75 percent. All of the competing parties accepted the results.
''There is no doubt that Indonesia is now Southeast Asia's most democratic nation, and this is something no one would have predicted in 1998,'' said Marcus Mietzner, an Indonesia specialist at Australian National University.
Indonesia's record on other fronts still leaves room for improvement. Corruption remains endemic in the nation of 250 million, religious minorities face discrimination and violence and, according to Human Rights Watch, members of the state security forces still enjoy ''widespread impunity'' for serious human rights abuses. But most of those areas, too, reflect enormous progress since the dictatorship era.
A central reason for Indonesia's success is that, unlike in Thailand, post-Suharto civilian leaders in Indonesia sidelined the armed forces from politics. Lawmakers passed constitutional amendments that stripped the military of its reserved bloc of seats in the House of Representatives and ushered in direct elections, from president all the way down to mayor.
Serving military officers were barred from government posts and political party activities, and ultimately, Indonesia's armed forces were forced to sell off their commercial business interests.
Thailand's military, on the other hand, has repeatedly asserted its power during political crises throughout the country's modern history -- there have been a dozen successful coups since the 1930s -- and it draws its legitimacy from portraying itself as the sole guardian of the monarchy.
Another crucial democratic advance for Indonesia, experts say, was its bold move to regional autonomy across the far-flung archipelago a year after Suharto's resignation in May 1998. That decentralization of power broke Jakarta's political monopoly and prevented the emergence of a new, dominant national political force.
It also gave smaller political groups a way to survive even if they failed to win a national election. ''Forces that lose out in the center can still hold power in provinces and districts, making them accept the outcome of political contests,'' Mr. Mietzner said.
To be sure, the move toward regional autonomy was also chaotic, blighted by the convictions of dozens of regional leaders for corruption.
Mr. Joko, however, is a notable example of its success. Born in a riverside slum in the Central Java city of Surakarta, the 53-year-old craftsman was twice elected mayor and used his election as governor of Jakarta in 2012 to catapult himself onto the national political stage.
He will be the first president in Indonesian history not to have come from its Suharto-era political elite or to be a former army general, and the first to assume the presidency having experience running a government.
He will be sworn in on Oct. 20 in a ceremony to be attended by the departing president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. Such a tableau has never been seen in Malaysia, Cambodia or Singapore.
Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said the notion of handing over power to a political opposition had become an alien concept in those countries because their respective leaders and governing parties had been in power so long.
''It's the whole establishment, and they are not used to anything else,'' Mr. Tay said. ''The nature of political change would be very sweeping, and there is a fear that their countries as they know them would not survive.''
Indonesia has proved that this does not have to be the case.
The first years of democratization were tumultuous, characterized by bloody nationwide street protests, ethnic and sectarian unrest that killed thousands, terrorist attacks by homegrown Islamist militants and reluctance by the country's feared armed forces to bend to civilian rule. The country's first democratically elected leader in four decades, Abdurrahim Wahid, was impeached in 2001 after less than two years in office on allegations of corruption and incompetence, after tense political battles with his rivals in Parliament.
Yet Indonesia persevered, and in 2004, voters chose Mr. Yudhoyono in the first direct presidential election in the country's history. Previously, presidents had been chosen by a legislative body tightly controlled by Suharto.
Mr. Yudhoyono's opponent, Megawati Sukarnoputri, the incumbent president and eldest daughter of Indonesia's founder, Sukarno, accepted defeat and stepped down, although she refused to attend his inauguration.
Indonesia's latest election has not been wrinkle-free. The loser, Prabowo Subianto, conceded defeat, but he continues to claim that the election was marred by massive fraud. After the Constitutional Court ruled against him, Mr. Prabowo sued the government in the State Administrative Court, which rejected his suit last week. And the coalition of political parties that backed his campaign, which will have a majority when Parliament convenes in October, has threatened to form a special committee to investigate the election.
While such a panel would have no legal authority to overturn the result, it could seek to dent Mr. Joko's legitimacy before the House of Representatives.
Political analysts, however, say this is unlikely because some of the parties in the coalition are expected to abandon Mr. Prabowo in the coming weeks and join Mr. Joko, giving him a majority and improving his ability to pass legislation.
''It seems that Prabowo does not want to accept defeat, but his so-called 'permanent opposition coalition' will change dramatically in the coming days,'' said Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political science scholar at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences in Jakarta.
''Even though Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world and has more than 300 different ethnic groups, the democratization process is on track,'' he said. ''The military has accepted civilian supremacy, and that is the key thing.''




12


 
 
 (California)

August 31, 2014 Sunday

 The Globalist Quiz

 
THE GLOBALIST QUIZ
Erdogan's Turkey
The weekly quiz is provided by the Globalist, a daily online feature service that covers issues and trends in globalization. The nonpartisan organization provides commercial services and nonprofit educational features.
QUESTION
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was inaugurated as Turkey's first directly elected president on August 28. He had previously served as the country's prime minister since 2003 and overseen a lengthy economic boom. We wonder: Where does Turkey now rank in terms of global economic competitiveness?
ANSWER 
A. 17th
B. 44th
C. 53rd
D. 69th
A.
17th is not correct.
Turkey -- a country situated at the meeting points of Europe, Asia and the Middle East -- has the world's 17th largest economy, based on World Bank data. With 75 million people, Turkey has the world's 18th largest population. With a GDP of $820 billion in 2013, Turkey ranks just behind Indonesia -- the world's largest Muslim-majority country (250 million people) and economy ($866 billion) -- and just ahead of the Netherlands, the sixth-largest economy of Western Europe. Since 2003, when Recep Tayyip Erdogan was first named prime minister, Turkey's economy has more than doubled in size. Erdogan won praise for presiding over a moderate Islamic democracy that sought closer political and economic ties with Europe and the West. In recent years, Erdogan has faced criticism for undermining the constitutional limits on his authority and for corruption scandals involving members of his Cabinet. These worries about his leadership -- along with conflicts in neighboring Syria and Iraq -- have led to a slowing of Turkey's economic growth.
B.
44th is correct.
Turkey ranks 44th in overall competitiveness in the World Economic Forum's 2014 Global Competitiveness Index, an annual ranking of the economic potential of the world's economies. The World Economic Forum considers several factors -- including macroeconomic conditions; the quality of public institutions, infrastructure, education and health care systems; and levels of technology and innovation. While Turkey's current rank is down a notch from its place in the 2013 index, it is up about 20 places from a decade ago when Turkey ranked 63rd. To improve its competitive position in the global economy, a primary area of concern is the country's educational system. Less than 20 percent of Turkey's working-age population had obtained at least a high school diploma. The WEF also cites labor market flexibility and the efficiency and transparency of public institutions as other areas of concern.
C.
53rd is not correct.
Turkey has historically struggled with significant levels of corruption in its public and private sectors. In Transparency International's 2013 Corruption Perception Index, Turkey ranked 53rd out of 177 nations surveyed. Based on this measure of public corruption, Turkey compares favorably to its regional neighbors in Eastern Europe. Turkey's level of perceived public-sector compares even more favorably to the other Muslim-majority nations in the Near East and Middle East. In TI's 2013 index, neighboring Iran ranked 144th, Syria 168th and Iraq 171st. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Turkey was held up as a model for how to combine moderate Islam with democratic principles and the pursuit of economic prosperity. However, in the three years since, Turkey itself has been plagued by public corruption scandals linked to high-ranking members of Erdogran's ruling AK party.
D.
69th is not correct.
Turkey is one of the world's eight major emerging market economies, along with Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa. These countries have a combined GDP that is roughly equal in size to the U.S. economy, the world's largest. In the United Nations' 2014 Human Development Index -- a composite ranking of countries based on their performance in terms of income, education, life expectancy and other social indicators -- Turkey ranked 69th of 187 nations. That places Turkey in the middle of the second of four tiers of nations ranked from "very high," "high," "medium," and "low" levels of human development. As recently as 2002, an estimated 30 percent of Turkey's population lived below the country's poverty line of $4.30 a day. After a decade of strong economic growth and an increase in government spending on social insurance programs, that figure had been reduced to 3.7 percent of the population.




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August 30, 2014 Saturday  


 What a way to make a living

 
Is there a tougher job description than Shaarik Zafar's?
As the State Department's new special representative for Muslim communities, the boyish-looking Texas lawyer is America's ambassador to Muslims around the world during a summer of nonstop grim headlines from Gaza, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. All are places where his brand is not, let's say, wildly popular.
Having just spent a decade working for domestic federal agencies, primarily with fellow Muslims, on topics that include civil rights violations, police surveillance and Transportation Security Administration screening, Zafar knows the deal. 
His work will be done, often, through others. 
"It has to be a bank shot," says Zafar, whose appointment will be formally announced   Wednesday. "A Muslim guy with the U.S. government is going to have limited credibility." 
The sensitivity of the topic - how Muslims interact with the U.S. government - flared just this month. Prominent Swiss celeb-professor Tariq Ramadan announced that he would skip the biggest annual gathering of U.S. Muslims - the conference of the Islamic Society of North America in Detroit this weekend - to protest what  he sees as a Muslim-American leadership silent or deferential to U.S. power brokers on domestic and foreign issues. 
"In bending over backwards, in saying 'Yes sir!' they sacrifice not only their dignity, but forget and betray their duty,"â€‚Ramadan wrote this month, prompting prominent              responses. A similar discussion erupted in July when a large Arab American group called on Muslim leaders to boycott government-sponsored iftars - the fast-breaking dinners held during Ramadan - to protest U.S. policy toward the Israel-Gaza war (few did).
Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 attacks prompted a major rethinking of the U.S. government's outreach to Muslims, Zafar's appointment reflects a new phase that may be less apparent but deeper and more effective. 
Many feel dismayed that the Obama administration no longer gives high-profile priority to Muslim outreach compared with early in his presidency, when he made key speeches in Turkey and Cairo. Years of headlines on things such as U.S. law enforcement mosque surveillance and  failed Mideast peacemaking strained relationships with the government. 
But Zafar's entire career reflects a lower-level infrastructure that has been growing steadily across the government, creating partnerships on topics that are not all terrorism-related. And many more Muslims are part of these efforts, compared with the first engagement office in 2005 that was staffed entirely by non-Muslims. Government iftars, for example, have flourished.
With Zafar, the position of special representative to Muslim communities will move into a new office at the State Department aimed at faith outreach that is rapidly expanding. That office was created last year and will soon have 25 people with specialties such as religion in Europe and training overseas diplomats to engage more with religious figures.
For years, the State Department has offered courses on topics such as religious freedom and religious persecution. But former and current department staff and advocates say many in the Foreign Service are fearful of crossing church-state lines or aren't knowledgeable about religion. 
Some advocates say they are hopeful that the growing network of connections across government and the selection of someone with policy experience in counterterrorism  and  hate crimes may help.
"In the past, the State Department has been very hesitant in dealing with religious issues, and I think that's changing," said Haris Tarin, D.C. director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a well-known advocacy group that works with - and watches - the various government offices that specialize in engagement with Muslims.
Zafar's predecessor, Farah Pandith, had held the job since it was created by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2009 and focused on building initiatives with young Muslims around the world.
The most common knock against this position - both under Pandith and Zafar - is that it's window-dressing and that the office-holders have no influence on the people actually making policy. Whether that criticism will be lobbed at the State Department's new faith-based office remains to be seen.
On the surface, Zafar has his work cut out for him. When the special representative to the world's 1 billion Muslims showed up for work one day this week,  he forgot his work ID and wasn't allowed to park in the State Department lot. His assistant had to come escort him to his small office, where he says he does his own dishes after hosting clergy and religious leaders for tea.
While he's being officially nominated Wednesday, the 39-year-old father of two began work in July. He hasn't begun his overseas travel but has hosted clergy from Afghanistan and Senegal and addressed key domestic groups, including North American Pakistani physicians and the annual convention of the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
But his to-do list is daunting. His goals chart for the office includes developing a plan to combat Shia-Sunni sectarian violence and trying to discourage American foreign fighters from traveling to conflict areas. This week alone, two American Muslims were reportedly killed in Syria fighting for the extremist Islamic State group.
Zafar says he will focus primarily on "pushing open doors" - on matters where cooperation is likely. Two of the State faith office's top priorities are climate change and entrepreneurship. Another priority (which Pandith focused on as well) is promoting "the creative economy" in Muslim communities overseas, helping them powerfully tell stories through film or art that may help further U.S. foreign policy goals.
Zafar will be in Los Angeles in a few weeks to meet with filmmakers who can help storytellers abroad. 
The white board in his office where he brainstorms is topped with cultural themes:â€‚"sports, Hollywood."
Another priority is also a basic goal of U.S. policy - to promote religious freedom overseas. This year has been a parade of nightmare stories about the treatment of Muslim and non-Muslim minorities in countries across the Middle East in particular.
Zafar is likely to find willing allies, particularly among conservatives, on the topic of Christian persecution.
Zafar has reason to see open doors. Despite all the anxiety of the past decade, U.S. Muslims are by far the most supportive American faith group of Zafar's boss: Seventy-two percent of American Muslims told Gallup this summer they approved of the job President Obama is doing, nearly 20 percent higher than the next group. Globally, confidence in Obama's foreign policy is lowest in Muslim-dominated areas of the Middle East (including Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt) but outside of that region the story is different. In Indonesia, with the largest Muslim population, 60 percent of people have confidence in Obama. In Bangladesh, the figure is 74 percent, and in Nigeria (which is 50 percent Muslim) it is 53 percent.
Not on his list:â€‚Discussing hot topics such as the U.S.-launched war in Iraq or U.S. policy on Israel. But Zafar knows these are the most important issues for millions of Muslims overseas. While he worked since 2004 for domestic agencies (including the departments of Justice and Homeland Security), he was often asked about foreign policy by American Muslims as well as by people when he'd travel overseas. 
This week, he recalled being sent to the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan several years ago to talk up the U.S. view of civil rights and his work in a Justice Department office that focused on combating post-Sept. 11 backlash against minorities such as Muslims and Sikhs.
 "They didn't want to talk about that," he said. "They were very upset about the war in Iraq. It was very tense. I'd say, 'That's not my area of expertise.' You have to be prepared to get yelled at, but if you can hold firm and keep at it, by the end we were taking photos and having tea. If you keep at it - it can't be one-and-done."
Yet Zafar did not go back to Kyrgyzstan.
Despite his daunting portfolio, Zafar appears idealistic and upbeat. "People will have strongly held views" on controversial foreign policy issues where there is division and he doesn't have much influence, Zafar said. "But Iâ€‚can't focus only on discussing those issues because there are enormous opportunities in these other areas."
michelle.boorstein@washpost.com




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 The Florida Times-Union 
Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)

August 24, 2014 Sunday

 The power of talking, listening

 
Whenever the identities of American patriots killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are released, "PBS Newshour" scrolls their names, military ranks and hometowns on the screen, in silence. Like most viewers probably, I stop what I'm doing and reflect on their sacrifice in our defense.
Last week, barbarians of the Islamic State butchered James Foley, a journalist covering the war in Syria. He was 40 years old, the eldest of five children of John and Diane Foley of Rochester, N.H. He had a history degree from Marquette University and taught elementary school through Teach for America before earning his master's at the Medill School of Journalism and becoming a journalist. He was one of us.
"We have never been prouder of our son Jim," Diane Foley wrote. "He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people."
Please take a moment to reflect on the sacrifice of this American patriot who died in the pursuit of truth and light. 
- - -
In his last moments, I wish Jim Foley could have had a glimpse of the ray of hope in Jacksonville last week.
The Times-Union is hosting a three-week visit from two Pakistani journalists, Waqas Khan, Lahore bureau chief of The Nation newspaper, and Sidrah Roghay, Karachi reporter for The News International. They are here to learn about American journalism and America.
Like about 95 percent of Pakistanis, they are Muslim, so at their request, we introduced them to leaders of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida and took them there for midday prayers last Friday.
"I met many Muslims there from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China and Africa," Khan wrote in his blog. "It was revealed in the discussion that Islam in USA is equally safe as any other religion and Muslims in America are enjoying equal religious rights."
The local Muslims told about the attempted fire-bombing of the center in 2010 and the FBI's spending a year tracking down a suspect, who was then killed during the arrest. "This was a wonderful example of equality before the law that U.S. guarantees to its every citizen irrespective of the religion," Khan wrote for his Pakistani audience.
That Friday evening, I took Khan and Roghay to Back-to-School Shabbat and services at Congregation Ahavath Chesed, the reform synagogue, at the invitation of Rabbi Joshua Lief.
"For me," Khan wrote, "it was a great opportunity as I had never met a Jew or visited a synagogue before in my life... I met with a nice couple over there and had plenty of discussion with them on different topics including Arab-Israel conflict. Later Rabbi Lief invited us to attend the prayer which we did in a big hall."
And he met Rhoda London, who "told me that she is 70 years old, a Jew and has taught in public schools for 33 years and at Mercer University for 10 years. I also learned that her late father was a rabbi too.
"A discussion which started from democracy in America ended after a dinner at San Marco... She told me that in traditional synagogues, male and female Jews are not allowed to sit together, even to date, and in reform Jews it is allowed for male and female Jews to sit together in a synagogue. This was in line with mosques in Pakistan where the same rule is followed. I felt that there is something common between us. I then found some more commonalities between Muslims and Jews. Few are as below:
"Both believe that Christ is not the son of God.
"Both believe in Prophets.
"Both believe that fasting is a way to purify soul."
And they talked about differences between Islam and Judaism - from views of Heaven and Hell to the Gaza conflict. On that topic, Khan wrote, "Honestly, I found that she was upset and quoted a statement of former Israeli Premier Golda Meir: 'We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.'
"The discussion ended on a mutual consent that life of a Palestinian is equally sacred as one from Israel. I do not know if Jews in Israel are listening to Rhoda. I hope they would. Bombers are present in every religion. It is necessary to bring bombers down and raise humans up. Tolerance and accepting each other's differences is a key to peace. Let the love take its course, let the hope live and let the hate die."
London wrote her own reactions, in an e-mail to the rabbis and others at the Temple, and said Khan told her he "felt strangely moved. He was amazed to have met two rabbis and be having dinner with someone whose father was a rabbi - all three of them, of course, liberal in their outlooks. Apparently, the other people in his group assigned to other (news)papers were flabbergasted at his experience.
"Khan asked me lots of questions about Israel and showed me on his passport where it says he can visit any country but Israel. I explained to him that part of the responsibility of having a free press - especially for journalists - is to try to find out about all sides of any story/situation and certainly it gave him another side of Israel ...
"Khan has a lovely wife and three sons, whom I saw when we shared family pictures. I told him about my experience this summer playing Yente the Matchmaker in 'Fiddler (on the Roof),' and he was slightly baffled at a plot being based on the concept of arranged marriages being replaced by love and free choice. His own marriage was arranged when he was 18!
"It was an interesting experience for both of us... I probably was more pleased with it than he was, since he probably found out more about Israel than he bargained for. Khan is four years older than my son and I warned him in advance that my son thinks I'm boring, but we were never really at a loss for words, including quite a discussion on President Obama and U.S. foreign relations (we agreed on most of that!), and it was a pleasant experience that I will remember.
"Life is full of surprises!"
In a later e-mail to me, London said she told Khan some things about Jews and Israel he hadn't heard, "how Israel is often the first one at the scene after disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes. Their medical teams are swift and well equipped to arrive well before other countries can even think about providing aid. I also mentioned to him the Jewish concept ... Tikkun olam - repair the world. That Israelis might not be mindless killers was news to him, and I sent documentation of that. I've not received comments, but even if they provide something to think about, that's good, too!"
After reading Khan's blog, London wrote him: "This is a wonderful blog, which I will share with my friends.
"I would like to clarify a few things. I don't think that Jews are necessarily better friends with God than anyone else. We have a history of questioning God's decisions going back to Moses, whereas people in some religions are not allowed to do that. I have many questions about God myself, but think that he (or she) ought to love us all equally.
"Also as such an ancient religion, we were the first to equate ethics and morality with our religion. 'Ethical monotheism' is the term, which was a different approach than offering sacrifices and other ways of bribing God for favor. It was a concept adopted by other religions in some form or another, many of which consider it an improvement on Judaism. Whatever religion causes people to be moral people with good values is fine with us!"
London wrote, "I'm delighted that Jacksonville's Islamic community feels welcome here and that you have enjoyed your visit. Jacksonville is a microcosm where basically most people get along and wish the best for others. We still have major problems with poverty, crime and other issues which we are trying to improve. Sometimes it takes generations to make a difference, but I truly feel that as a city we must keep moving forward and we are trying hard to do that."
The hunger for human progress is such that these Jacksonville conversations went viral. "It really has been amazing how this has rippled," London told me. "My college roommate ... is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. She lives in a North Chicago suburb and rents rooms in her large home to foreign students, some of whom have been from Arab countries. She's shared this ongoing discussion with two engineering students from Saudi Arabia, who are current residents, and they've shared it with friends. There have been other responses as well!"
I decided I had to include you in this experience when I read an e-mail that Brenda B. Pollak, another Temple member, wrote to Khan after reading his blog:
"I am filled with gratitude for your visit to our community and our Temple, and for those who made this all possible. I am also filled with hope, because through your willingness and that of others, to learn and to teach, to discover commonalities and shed light on differences, barriers were lowered and the foundations for trust were built.
"I firmly believe that when we are willing to see others with new eyes, and listen with new ears, we universally find that we are all far more alike than different. I applaud you for being open to new ideas and for helping others to gain a new perspective on Islam.
"I am encouraged by the statement in your article, 'It is necessary to bring bombers down and raise humans up. Tolerance and accepting each other's differences is a key to peace. Let the love take its course, let the hope live and let the hate die.' I join you in this wish, and pray that you and all those you met on this visit may be the hands of God/Allah in making that happen."
So, Jim, from your colleagues in Jacksonville, Karachi and Lahore: one step back but one and a half steps forward.
frank.denton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4197




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August 23, 2014 Saturday  


 Saudis Must Stop Exporting Extremism

 
ALONG with a billion Muslims across the globe, I turn to Mecca in Saudi Arabia every day to say my prayers. But when I visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the resting place of the Prophet Muhammad, I am forced to leave overwhelmed with anguish at the power of extremism running amok in Islam's birthplace. Non-Muslims are forbidden to enter this part of the kingdom, so there is no international scrutiny of the ideas and practices that affect the 13 million Muslims who visit each year.
Last week, Saudi Arabia donated $100 million to the United Nations to fund a counterterrorism agency. This was a welcome contribution, but last year, Saudi Arabia rejected a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council. This half-in, half-out posture of the Saudi kingdom is a reflection of its inner paralysis in dealing with Sunni Islamist radicalism: It wants to stop violence, but will not address the Salafism that helps justify it. 
Let's be clear: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram, the Shabab and others are all violent Sunni Salafi groupings. For five decades, Saudi Arabia has been the official sponsor of Sunni Salafism across the globe.
Most Sunni Muslims around the world, approximately 90 percent of the Muslim population, are not Salafis. Salafism is seen as too rigid, too literalist, too detached from mainstream Islam. While Shiite and other denominations account for 10 percent of the total, Salafi adherents and other fundamentalists represent 3 percent of the world's Muslims.
Unlike a majority of Sunnis, Salafis are evangelicals who wish to convert Muslims and others to their ''purer'' form of Islam -- unpolluted, as they see it, by modernity. In this effort, they have been lavishly supported by the Saudi government, which has appointed emissaries to its embassies in Muslim countries who proselytize for Salafism. The kingdom also grants compliant imams V.I.P. access for the annual hajj, and bankrolls ultraconservative Islamic organizations like the Muslim World League and World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
After 9/11, under American pressure, much of this global financial support dried up, but the bastion of Salafism remains strong in the kingdom, enforcing the hard-line application of outdated Shariah punishments long abandoned by a majority of Muslims. Just since Aug. 4, 19 people have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia, nearly half for nonviolent crimes.
We are rightly outraged at the beheading of James Foley by Islamist militants, and by ISIS' other atrocities, but we overlook the public executions by beheading permitted by Saudi Arabia. By licensing such barbarity, the kingdom normalizes and indirectly encourages such punishments elsewhere. When the country that does so is the birthplace of Islam, that message resonates.
I lived in Saudi Arabia's most liberal city, Jidda, in 2005. That year, in an effort to open closed Saudi Salafi minds, King Abdullah supported dialogue with people of other religions. In my mosque, the cleric used his Friday Prayer sermon to prohibit such dialogue on grounds that it put Islam on a par with ''false religions.'' It was a slippery slope to freedom, democracy and gender equality, he argued -- corrupt practices of the infidel West.
This tension between the king and Salafi clerics is at the heart of Saudi Arabia's inability to reform. The king is a modernizer, but he and his advisers do not wish to disturb the 270-year-old tribal pact between the House of Saud and the founder of Wahhabism (an austere form of Islam close to Salafism). That 1744 desert treaty must now be nullified.
The influence that clerics wield is unrivaled. Even Saudis' Twitter heroes are religious figures: An extremist cleric like Muhammad al-Arifi, who was banned last year from the European Union for advocating wife-beating and hatred of Jews, commands a following of 9. 4 million. The kingdom is also patrolled by a religious police force that enforces the veil for women, prohibits young lovers from meeting and ensures that shops do not display ''indecent'' magazine covers. In the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the religious police beat women with sticks if they stray into male-only areas, or if their dress is considered immodest by Salafi standards. This is not an Islam that the Prophet Muhammad would recognize.
Salafi intolerance has led to the destruction of Islamic heritage in Mecca and Medina. If ISIS is detonating shrines, it learned to do so from the precedent set in 1925 by the House of Saud with the Wahhabi-inspired demolition of 1,400-year-old tombs in the Jannat Al Baqi cemetery in Medina. In the last two years, violent Salafis have carried out similar sectarian vandalism, blowing up shrines from Libya to Pakistan, from Mali to Iraq. Fighters from Hezbollah have even entered Syria to protect holy sites.
Textbooks in Saudi Arabia's schools and universities teach this brand of Islam. The University of Medina recruits students from around the world, trains them in the bigotry of Salafism and sends them to Muslim communities in places like the Balkans, Africa, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Egypt, where these Saudi-trained hard-liners work to eradicate the local, harmonious forms of Islam.
What is religious extremism but this aim to apply Shariah as state law? This is exactly what ISIS (Islamic State) is attempting do with its caliphate. Unless we challenge this un-Islamic, impractical and flawed concept of trying to govern by a rigid interpretation of Shariah, no amount of work by a United Nations agency can unravel Islamist terrorism.
Saudi Arabia created the monster that is Salafi terrorism. It cannot now outsource the slaying of this beast to the United Nations. It must address the theological and ideological roots of extremism at home, starting in Mecca and Medina. Reforming the home of Islam would be a giant step toward winning against extremism in this global battle of ideas.




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August 21, 2014 Thursday

 Miami Valley School alum wins Fulbright; 
Rebecca Kulik of Centerville will teach in Indonesia.

 
Miami Valley School alum Rebecca Kulik will teach in Indonesia as a result of winning a Fulbright award.
Rebecca Kulik of Centerville has won a prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to teach in Indonesia during the 2014-15 academic year. 
The 2010 Miami Valley School graduate completed her bachelor of arts degree in Russian and East European studies at Grinnell College in Iowa this past May 19. Her award is part of the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program.
"I am excited about investigating a different culture. Indonesia is a strange blend of southeast Asian and Arab culture, which fascinates me," said Kulik. "I am particularly interested in Indonesian storytelling traditions like Javanese shadow plays, and in In"
.
Kulik began her fascination with other countries traveling to western Europe on a People to People trip during middle school and visiting relatives in Greece, where her grandfather was born. During high school she visited Turkey through the Miami Valley School's Immersion program.
"This sparked my interest in Islam and its different forms around the world, leading to Indonesia," said Kulik. "The MVS teachers who particularly encouraged me were Ruth Jewett, Glenn Squiers, Sam Wagner, Rachel Moulton and Bryan Lakatos. Without the base of curiosity and global interest nurtured by all of my MVS teachers, I would not have won this award."
Last year she spent four months studying abroad in Prague, in the Czech Republic. As a result of that stay, she wrote a novel, "The Science of Forgetting," about four generations of witches living in New Town, Prague, from 1912 to 1968. She submitted the book as her mentored advanced project her last semester at Grinnell.
Kulik is one of over 1,800 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2014-15 academic year funded by a Fulbright Award. Recipients of these grants are chosen on the basis of academic and professional achievement, and demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.
The Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people in other countries. Since its establishment in 1946 by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program has given approximately 360,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. The goal is to find solutions to shared international concerns.
"I plan to use the Fulbright to launch an international teaching career," said Kulik.
Contact this contributing writer at PamDillon@woh.rr.com




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August 20, 2014 Wednesday

 In a first, Indonesia's capital gets an ethnic Chinese governor; 
Basuki Purnama, a businessman turned politician, is due to replace Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president-elect, as governor of Jakarta. He would be the highest profile ethnic Chinese official in Muslim-majority Indonesia, where ethnic Chinese have been targeted before.

 
Some 16 years after mobs razed Chinese homes across the city in a spasm of sectarian revenge, Indonesia's capital is about to have its first ethnic Chinese governor.  
Vice Governor Basuki Purnama, better known locally as Ahok, is due to replace his boss, Gov. Joko Widodo who won last month's presidential election. Elected on a joint ticket with Mr. Widodo in September 2012, Mr. Purnama's ascension is automatic once the legislature accepts the governor's resignation.
Purnama's promotion reflects the steady improvement in the standing of ethnic Chinese, who have called Indonesia home for centuries and have been victims of periodic pogroms, often fueled by resentment at their relative wealth in a poor country. Under former dictator Suharto, Chinese language schools and books and festivals were banned; ethnic Chinese adopted Indonesian names and kept a low profile. In 1998, as Suharto's regime collapsed amid a financial meltdown, urban poor, watched over by security forces, turned on the city's Chinese as scapegoats.  
Purnama, who is also a Christian, calls himself a double minority in multi-ethnic Indonesia where the vast majority are Muslim. Chinese make up roughly 1 percent of the 250-million population. He says his promotion should help to make voters more tolerant of non-Muslin candidates. 
"It's very important," he says in an interview at his office. He wore a white business shirt and tie rather than the drab brown uniform of local bureaucrats, and - far from being prickly on the topic - spoke enthusiastically about becoming the capital's first ethnic governor. 
"Jakarta is a show case for Indonesia. It's a good place to show that the most important characteristics for a politician is someone who is a good leader and will obey the constitution," he says. 
Purnama grew up on a small island in the Java Sea, a 40-minute flight from Jakarta. An MBA-trained business executive, he was elected to a regional parliament in 2003, then ran the local government, before a successful run for the national parliament in 2009. That's where he caught the attention of Prabowo Subianto, a former general and opposition politician. Mr. Subianto matched him with Widodo and agreed to back them as a joint ticket for the governorship in 2012. 
In a twist of fate, Subianto lost last month's election to Widodo. He has refused to concede, alleging electoral fraud, and filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court, which is due to rule tomorrow. 
Reforming city hall
Together Widodo and Purnama are credited with a flurry of reforms and new programs, including health care for the city's uninsured, budgeting $3 billion in rapid transit projects, and relocating 6,000 riverbank squatters whose shacks exacerbate the city's annual floods. These initiatives have polished Purnama's reputation as a no-nonsense politician who can rise above Jakarta's endemic graft and vice. 
Last month Purnama fired or forced into retirement 49 auto-safety inspectors whose station approved 749 vehicles a day, when a bona fide check takes half an hour. To curb kickbacks, he placed a $10,000 cap on private bank transactions for city workers in procurement, finance, and other departments. In May, while he was acting governor during Widodo's election campaign, he closed a notorious nightclub known to have police protection.
"I am the new Godfather," he says. 
While his berating of slacker bureaucrats is popular with city residents, Purnama will need to watch his back, warns Kevin Evans, an independent political analyst in Jakarta. A dose of Widodo's charm may be the ticket.
"Screaming at bureaucrats can be good, but he needs to build a more balanced personality," says Mr. Evans. "Ahok can't always be thrashing and bashing."




13


 
Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia)

August 13, 2014, Wednesday

 Wait a second, Obama believes Obama; 
Barack is too naive to be the president the world needs

 
In January, President Obama dismissed the insurgency in Iraq in an interview with David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker.
"The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a J.V. team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant, Obama told Remnick. "I think there is a distinction between the capacity and reach of a bin Laden and a network that is actively planning major terrorist plots against the homeland versus jihadists who are engaged in various local power struggles and disputes, often sectarian.
Just as propping one's feet on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office doesn't make one Ronald Reagan, either. 
Conservatives denounce Obama's J.V. remark as another lie. But it is something far worse. He actually believes it.
President Obama believes every word Barack Obama says. And that's dangerous because Barack Obama does not know nearly what he is supposed to know.
Because he grew up in a Muslim nation - Indonesia - Obama thinks he knows all there is to know about Islam. But he doesn't. His self-fabled Cairo Speech left a lot of people scratching their heads.
In the Arab Spring that he thinks that speech triggered, Obama seemed to side with the Muslim Brotherhood, an arm of the Islamic Mafia. The world quickly learned why Nasser's move as president of Egypt in 1956 was to ban the brotherhood.
While many Arab states oppose Hamas for firing rockets into Israel, Obama condemns Israel for defending itself.
Looking back 13 years from 9/11 one sees that the Global War on Terrorism is about who controls Mecca. What good is establishing a caliphate - the terrorists' goal - without the holiest city? The House of Saud now governs Mecca. Saudis are nervous.
But Obama isn't. He thought the Global War on Terror was all about Osama bin Laden. In Obama's mind, he killed bin Laden and ended the war. Thus any resurgence of the insurgency is minor.
He even bragged about it.
"FACT: President Obama kept his promise to end the war in Iraq. Romney called the decision to bring our troops home tragic,' Obama tweeted on Oct. 22, 2012.
Sadly, the other side has continued the war. Just as it did when we pulled out of Vietnam. We stayed in Korea and have had 60 years of peace without slaughter.
Obama also dismissed Mitt Romney's concerns about Russia. Why that is silly Cold War thinking. Obama hit the reset button.
Like many liberals, he believes that Soviet Union collapsed on its own. Reagan had nothing to do with it. Nor Pope John Paul II. Nor Margaret Thatcher. Nor any of those other conservatives whom liberals mocked in the 1980s as saber rattlers. Tear down this wall? Liberals laughed.
Obama represents contemporary liberal thought, a rather wormy apple. Unfortunately, a majority of the nation has twice voted for him. That's an indictment of our education system.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act reflects an ignorance by Obama and the rest of the Democratic Party of the law of supply and demand. Candidate Obama said requiring everyone to buy health insurance would reduce premiums by $120 billion annually - or $2,500 a year for the average family.
Really?
You are going to magically reduce prices by increasing demand? Well, if that's the case, mandate that everyone buy a Ferrari and watch the prices fall.
Supply and demand work the opposite way, as liberals are discovering.
You can't keep your doctor. You can't keep your hospital. You can't keep your plan.
But Obama did not lie.
He believed this.
Every word.
Just as he believes he can transform the world with his words. But the world judges leaders by their actions. While Putin takes over Crimea, Obama golfs. While Hamas fires rockets at Israel, Obama golfs. While insurgents take over Iraq, Obama golfs.
True, Eisenhower golfed. But he won World War II first.
The world is in a lot of trouble right now. We have the J.V. team in charge of the U.S. government. The J.V. is more concerned about tea party protesters than they are an insurgency in Iraq - or Russians downing an airliner - or Central Americans invading our border.




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August 12, 2014, Tuesday

 Some bright spots in a dreary world

 
NEW YORK - Wherever you look these days, the world seems on fire. New hot spots like Russia-Ukraine are competing with old ones like Gaza. Festering conflicts like those in Syria and Iraq are getting worse. Even Afghanistan, which seemed in better shape than the other places, had a setback this week. Is there any good news out there?
In fact, some of the most important countries in the world are making remarkable progress, affecting at least 1.5 billion people. Let me give you the good news. 
Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. It has more Muslims than Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and all the Gulf States put together. It is also crucially located, in East Asia where great power politics and rivalries are heating up. Only 10 years ago, the fear was that Islamic militants were taking over the country and that it was an economic mess and an unreliable crisis spot in the region. The country has defied all skeptics and last month it took a big step forward.
The election of Joko Widodo marks the consolidation of Indonesia's democracy. Jokowi, as he is always referred to at home, defeated an iconic member of Indonesia's old guard, Prabowo Subianto, a former general, former son-in-law of President Suharto, and thoroughly enmeshed in the ways of the past. (Prabowo is contesting the result.) In his campaign, Prabowo used demagogic appeals to nationalism populism and Islam. Jokowi, by contrast, is a businessman-turned-politician, with a reputation as a competent and honest governor and mayor. He ran on a platform of economic development with virtually no reference to religion. His first steps have been promising, tackling a taboo right at the start - the country's huge fuel subsidies, which are inefficient, distort the market, and are a crippling burden on the national budget.
The other encouraging election this year has been in the second most populous country on the planet, India. First, there was the fact of the election, which is often taken for granted but should be marveled at. In one of the poorest countries in the world, 834 million registered voters got a chance to exercise their democratic rights (and 66.4 percent of them did). The elections were held without violence or controversy, using electronic voting that produced a result within hours. Compare that to the United States, which will again go to the polls this year with dozens of different kinds of ballots, many using paper, and with inefficiencies and inevitable controversies.
India's elections could mark a turning point. The country has been mired in deadlock and paralysis for years because of a weak coalition government, ineffectual leadership, and an obstructionist opposition. So people voted for a single party to take power (the first time in 30 years) and gave the new prime minister, Narendra Modi, a mandate. Modi campaigned brilliantly and effectively, and his message was unrelenting - development, development, development. Despite his party's roots in Hindu fundamentalism, he chose to appeal to the country's hunger for economic growth. If Modi can maintain that focus, eschew the Hindu nationalist agenda, and make difficult decisions on cutting subsidies and encouraging economic competition, he will likely return India to a path of high growth, thus lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.
Halfway around the world, Mexico took a big, bold step this week. The Mexican Congress passed the ambitious energy reform proposals of President Enrique Pena Nieto, ending 75 years of state control of the energy sector. They have the potential to be a game changer, bringing investment, new technology and hundreds of thousands of jobs to Mexico. Since his inauguration in December 2012, Pena Nieto has pressed for educational and telecommunications reforms that have also mostly been enacted. These reforms have not been popular and have not produced quick growth. This is understandable because most structural reforms have a negative effect on the economy in the short term - they end subsidies, reduce inefficiencies and allow competition for protected companies. In the long run, however, they boost productivity and growth.
If Pena Nieto continues to have the courage to enact major reforms, Mexico will slowly but surely be transformed into a middle-class country. And the result of that will be a sea change in its relations with the United States, which will finally see Mexico not as a problem but as a partner. It is already happening on the ground. Between 2005 and 2010, there was no net migration from Mexico into the U.S. But perceptions take a while to change - especially in Washington. But once they do, North America - the United States, Mexico and Canada - will become the world's most important, vibrant and interdependent economic unit.
That's what's been happening in the world while the news about rockets, bombs, assassinations and terrorism takes up the front pages.
Fareed Zakaria's email address is comments@fareedzakaria.com




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August 12, 2014 Tuesday

 COD Offers New Course on Islam This Fall

 
College of DuPage will offer a new course this fall that will introduce students to both the Islamic religion and Islamic civilization.
"Introduction to Islam" will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning on Aug. 26. Les Wolf, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy, said the course will help students understand the basic points of Islam. 
"Few people think of Islam as both a civilization and a religion. In the West, for example, it's thought of almost exclusively as a religion," he said. "But you can't understand world civilization without studying Islamic civilization."
The course will explore such topics as the life of Muhammad, early Islamic history, the Qur'an, the hadith, Islamic law, Shi'ism, Sufism, art and architecture, the role of women in Islam, interfaith relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, and the experience of Muslims in the West.
Wolf began studying Islam in-depth while an undergraduate at New York University. As a teaching fellow at Augustana College, Wolf taught a course on Islam, focusing mainly on contemporary Islamic politics. He said most people are unaware of the continued influence of this 1,400-year-old global civilization and that Islam currently can be found all over the world, with the largest number of Muslims being located in Indonesia.
"As with Christianity or Hinduism, you have to distinguish Islam between its religion and civilization. Islam produced some of the greatest art in the world. The calligraphy alone is highly geometric and stunning," he said. "The architecture of mosques located in various parts of the world reflect the local culture and history. For example, many Islamic mosques in India incorporate Hindu architectural elements."
Through the study of Islam, Wolf hopes students also learn something about themselves.
"Despite Islam's profound effect on Western civilization, few Americans have a rudimentary understanding of the Qur'an and don't realize that a majority of Muslims in the world are not Arab," he said. "We all need to learn more about Islam, and by doing so we can grasp a better understanding of who we are, what we believe and even our own politics




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August 3, 2014 Sunday  
TWO STAR EDITION

 STOP WITH THE JEW; 
MUSLIM STEREOTYPES; 
IT'S TIME FOR SOME RADICAL EMPATHY BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS

 
My heart jumped when I saw the poster at the entrance to the Muslim community center in Indonesia. I didn't need to speak Indonesian to understand the photo of dead and injured Gazan children. Still, I asked for a translation. Uneasily, our group's translator explained that the poster reported the amount of money the community group had raised in relief funds after Operation Cast Lead, just a few months before, and prayed for the health and safety of all Muslims ... and for an end to "the Zionist entity."
I had come to Indonesia with a delegation of U.S. faith leaders to speak at universities and community centers about religious pluralism in America. I debated how and whether to address the poster with these members of Muhammadiyah, one of the largest Muslim organizations in Indonesia. In the end, I had little choice. "I have a question for the rabbi," began one attendee during a Q&A session: "Why do Jews kill Muslim children?" 
Heart pounding, I stood up. I spoke of my pain at the loss of life among Gazan civilians, tragically including so many children. And then I took a deep breath. "I noticed the poster in the entranceway," I began. I praised the group for raising money for humanitarian relief. But, I continued, "When you call for an end to the Zionist entity, I want you to know that you're talking about my family and my friends and my people." I spoke of my own commitments to Israel, of the significance of Israel to the Jewish people and of my firm belief that a two-state solution will allow both peoples to live securely and peacefully.
To my shock, the audience applauded. Afterwards, many of those present told me that they had never before thought about who might live in Israel. That they had never thought a two-state solution to be possible. That they had believed that Jews wanted only to kill Muslims. And they crossed out the final line of the poster.
This incident did not transform Israeli-Palestinian or Jewish-Muslim relations. I did learn, though, that a little empathy goes a long way. Hearing my own concern about the death of Muslims, the group could be open to imagining the suffering of Jews.
During the current war between Israel and Hamas, we desperately need radical empathy. By this, I mean opening ourselves to the pain of the other exactly at the moment when we are terrified of this other, and exactly at the moment when fear for our lives and for our loved ones pushes us inward.
This is not a new idea. As far back as the 1st century, in the shadow of the destruction of Jerusalem, Rabban Gamliel, one of the most important rabbis of his time, taught that "Anyone who has compassion for other human beings will merit compassion from above."
Today, we suffer through increasingly vitriolic language from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian partisans, and - even more frighteningly - violent protests in Europe, Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and even the United States. Strident voices ignore or deny the painful narrative of the other.
The pro-Palestinian side places all blame on Israel and the occupation, dismisses or justifies rocket attacks on major Israeli cities and allows criticism of Israel to slide into ugly anti-Semitism. "Rocket attacks from Gaza are a desperate response to these injustices [of occupation]," Waleed Ahmad writes in Mondoweiss. "No people would ever tolerate an oppressive occupation and an unjust siege, so why should the Palestinians?" Protesters in London, Paris and Berlin have held signs saying "Hitler was right."
On the pro-Israel side, many respond callously to the soaring numbers of Palestinian casualties, place sole blame on Hamas for the deaths of civilians and take Hamas' actions as permission to demonize all Muslims. In the Wall Street Journal, Thane Rosenbaum wrote, "You forfeit your right to be called civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist organization as statesmen." A prominent settler rabbi justified killing innocents and even destroying Gaza.
We have witnessed a synagogue firebombed in Paris, German protesters calling for gassing Jews and protest signs that showcase classic anti-Semitic images. In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, right-wing Jewish mobs have marched through the streets shouting "Death to Arabs" and beat up Palestinians and Jewish leftists. In Brooklyn, worshipers at a mosque have suffered harassment.
This is what we need to hear instead: pro-Palestinian voices that empathize with the Israelis racing for shelter, that denounce terrorism and rocket attacks and that refuse to tolerate any anti-Semitic tropes masquerading as criticism of Israeli policy. In one powerful and much-circulated op-ed, for instance, a Palestinian-American student calls for pro-Palestinian protesters to utterly reject anti-Semitism.
And we need to hear pro-Israel voices expressing authentic grief at the deaths of Palestinian children, calling for protection for civilian populations, acknowledging the damage inflicted by 47 years of occupation and denouncing any language that dehumanizes Palestinians or Muslims.
I'm proud that T'ruah, where I serve as executive director, was the only organization to issue a rabbinic opinion discrediting Rabbi Dov Lior's claim that Judaism permits murdering innocents. In Israel, organizations such as B'tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel humanize and protect Palestinians while remaining steadfastly committed to the security of Israel.
We have seen a few examples of radical empathy: the families of the kidnapped and murdered Israeli and Palestinian teens consoling one another in their houses of mourning; Jews and Muslims fasting for peace together; religious leaders who have reached across the divide.
Such empathy will not bring about a peace agreement tomorrow. Nor even a lasting cease-fire. But radical empathy does force us to see the humanity of the other, to reject hate speech and violence, and ultimately to demand a political solution that protects the human rights of both Palestinians and Israelis.




13


 St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

August 3, 2014 Sunday

 Rabbi Jill Jacobs: Too many people still believe hideous stereotypes about Israelis and Palestinians

 
NEW YORK -- My heart jumped when I saw the poster at the entrance to the Muslim community center in Central Java, Indonesia, in 2009. I didn't need to speak Indonesian to understand the photo of dead and injured Gazan children. Still, I asked for a translation. Uneasily, our group's translator explained that the poster reported the amount of money the community group had raised in relief funds after Operation Cast Lead, just a few months before, and prayed for the health and safety of all Muslims ... and for an end to "the Zionist entity."
I had come to Indonesia with a delegation of U.S. faith leaders, organized by Legacy International and sponsored by the State Department, to speak at universities and community centers about religious pluralism in America. It wasn't my turn to present that day, so I enjoyed a brief respite as I debated how and whether to address the poster with these members of Muhammadiyah, one of the largest Muslim organizations in Indonesia. In the end, I had little choice. "I have a question for the rabbi," began one attendee during a Q&A session: "Why do Jews kill Muslim children?" 
Heart pounding, I stood up. I spoke of my pain at the loss of life among Gazan civilians, tragically including so many children. And then I took a deep breath. "I noticed the poster in the entranceway," I began. I praised the group for raising money for humanitarian relief. But, I continued, "When you call for an end to the Zionist entity, I want you to know that you're talking about my family and my friends and my people." I spoke of my own commitments to Israel, of the significance of Israel to the Jewish people, and of my firm belief that a two-state solution will allow both peoples to live securely and peacefully.
To my shock, the audience applauded. Afterward, many of those present told me that they had never before thought about who might live in Israel. That they had never thought a two-state solution to be possible. That they had believed that Jews wanted only to kill Muslims. And they crossed out the final line of the poster.
This incident did not transform Israeli-Palestinian or Jewish-Muslim relations. It did not drastically shift the perception of Jews in Indonesia. I did learn, though, that a little empathy goes a long way. Hearing my own concern about the death of Muslims, the group could be open to imagining the suffering of Jews.
During the current war between Israel and Hamas, we desperately need radical empathy. By this, I mean opening ourselves to the pain of the other exactly at the moment when we are terrified of this other, and exactly at the moment when fear for our lives and for our loved ones pushes us inward.
This is not a new idea. As far back as the first century CE, in the shadow of the destruction of Jerusalem, Rabban Gamliel, one of the most important rabbis of his time, taught that "Anyone who has compassion for other human beings will merit compassion from above."
Today, we suffer through increasingly vitriolic language from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian partisans, and -- even more frighteningly -- violent protests in Europe, Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and even the United States. Strident voices ignore or deny the painful narrative of the other.
The pro-Palestinian side places all blame on Israel and the occupation, dismisses or justifies rocket attacks on major Israeli cities, and allows criticism of Israel to slide into ugly anti-Semitism. "Rocket attacks from Gaza are a desperate response to these injustices 1/8of occupation3/8," Waleed Ahmad writes in Mondoweiss. "No people would ever tolerate an oppressive occupation and an unjust siege, so why should the Palestinians?" Protesters in London, Paris and Berlin have held signs saying "Hitler was right" and encouraging the reading of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
On the pro-Israel side, too, many respond callously to the soaring numbers of Palestinian casualties or even deny the veracity of these reports, place sole blame on Hamas for the deaths of civilians, and take Hamas' actions as permission to demonize all Muslims. In the Wall Street Journal, Thane Rosenbaum wrote, "you forfeit your right to be called civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist organization as statesmen." A prominent settler rabbi justified killing innocents, and even destroying Gaza.
This lack of empathy does not confine itself to Israel and Gaza. Already, we have witnessed a synagogue firebombed in Paris, German protesters calling for gassing Jews, and protest signs that showcase classic anti-Semitic images. In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, right-wing Jewish mobs, some wearing fascist T-shirts, have marched through the streets shouting "Death to Arabs," and beating up Palestinians and Jewish leftists. In Brooklyn, worshipers at a mosque have suffered harassment.
This is what we need to hear instead: pro-Palestinian voices that empathize with the Israelis racing for shelter, that denounce terrorism and rocket attacks, and that refuse to tolerate any anti-Semitic tropes masquerading as criticism of Israeli policy. In one powerful and much-circulated op-ed, for instance, a Palestinian-American student calls for pro-Palestinian protesters to utterly reject anti-Semitism.
And we need to hear pro-Israel voices expressing authentic grief at the deaths of Palestinian children, calling for protection for civilian populations, acknowledging the damage inflicted by 47 years of occupation, and denouncing any language that dehumanizes Palestinians or Muslims.
I'm proud that T'ruah, where I serve as executive director, was the only organization to issue a rabbinic opinion discrediting Rabbi Lior's claim that Judaism permits murdering innocents. In Israel, organizations including B'tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel humanize and protect Palestinians while remaining steadfastly committed to the security of Israel.
We have seen a few examples of radical empathy: the families of the kidnapped and murdered Israeli and Palestinian teens consoling one another in their houses of mourning; Jews and Muslims fasting for peace together; religious leaders who have reached across the divide.
Such empathy will not bring about a peace agreement tomorrow. Nor even a cease-fire. But radical empathy does force us to see the humanity of the other, to reject hate speech and violence, and ultimately to demand a political solution that protects the human rights of Palestinians and Israelis.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the Executive Director of T'ruah, which mobilizes 1,800 rabbis, cantors and their communities to protect human rights in North America, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Her most recent book is "Where Justice Dwells." She wrote this column for the Washington Post.




13


 


July 25, 2014 Friday  


 INDONESIA DECIDES; 
WORLD'S THIRD-LARGEST DEMOCRACY PICKS A NEW CHIEF

 
Indonesia has more or less completed the election of a new president, Joko Widodo, former governor of the province of Jakarta, with inauguration scheduled for Oct. 20.
The elections, which began in April, took place without much world attention, even though Indonesia, a nation of 13,466 islands, is the world's largest Muslim majority state, its third-largest democracy (after India and the United States), and the fourth-largest nation, with a population of 247 million. 
The race in the end boiled down to two candidates, Mr. Joko, 53, and a former general, Prabowo Subianto, 62. Mr. Prabowo is the son-in-law of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, forced out of power after 31 years in 1998. The retired general has not yet accepted the results of the elections, even though Mr. Joko beat him by 8 million votes, with some 53 percent of the 134 million votes cast to his 47 percent.
Mr. Prabowo continues to say he intends to take the elections to the Indonesian Constitutional Court, claiming fraud, although observers have not reported any significant evidence of extraordinary fun and games in the process. The former general does, however, need to be taken seriously, given that the Indonesian military has in the past not hesitated to interfere in domestic politics.
Indonesia, in general, even though it tends not to play a large role on the world stage, has continued to raise the standard of living of its population through solid economic growth. It is a member of the G-20 group of nations, and in 2009 its then president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, attended the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.
President Barack Obama's stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was Indonesian, and Mr. Obama lived there for a while as a child, but as president has showed no special interest in the country.
Americans should salute Indonesia for the successful functioning of its electoral process, with parliamentary then presidential polls, particularly given the defective nature of recent elections in higher-attention countries such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and Ukraine.




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July 24, 2014 Thursday

 Ethnic foods at Folk Fest offer a culinary tour of the world

 
The community groups offering ethnic foods during the Lowell Folk Festival represent the diversity of the Lowell community and the willingness of the Lowell community to share its cultural traditions.
Each group provides foods that will tempt and delight festivalgoers' taste buds. Through these groups, hundreds of volunteers work behind the scenes to prepare food before the festival and to serve festival crowds during the festival weekend. All foods are prepared in inspected kitchens and food preparation and service follow strict Department of Public Health guidelines.
Food sales' net proceeds are returned in full to the community in the form of donations to charitable organizations and programs. Here's what's on the menu:
ARMENIAN RELIEF SOCIETY 
JFK Plaza
Losh Kebab Sandwich (Armenian-style hamburger), $6; Losh Kebab Dinner (rice pilaf, salad, losh, & bread), $8; Rice Pilaf, $3; Salad in a Pouch, $3.50; Lahmejoon (Armenian meat pie), $4; Spinach Pita, $3; Stuffed Grape Leaves, $1; Boorma, $1.50; Gadaif, $2.50; Paklava, $2
BUDDHACHAK INC.
Dutton Street
Vegetable Spring Roll, $2; Chicken on Stick, $4; Fresh Roll, $5; Pad Thai, $6; Chicken Yellow Curry, $6; Vegetable Curry, $6; Mango Fried Rice, $6; BBQ Rib, $7; Combination Plate, $8 (2 Items); Fried Plantain, $3; Water, $2
EMMANUEL TEMPLE (Liberian)
Dutton Street
Cassava Leaf w/ Rice, $10; Jolloff Rice, $10; BBQ Chicken, $5; BBQ Spare Ribs, $5; Siskabar, $5 Meat on Stick with or without paper; Roasted Goat or Fish, $5; Gizzards, $5; Liberian Potato Salad, $5; Fried Plantain, $5; Boiled Corn, $1; Rice Bread, $2; Donuts / Liberian Calla, $2; Liberian Milk Candy, $2; Coconut Candy, $2; Liberian Groundpee Candy $2
LOWELL PORTUGUESE FOURSQUARE CHURCH (Brazilian)
Dutton Street
Brazilian Combo (Stick steak, rice, fried yuga, salad, farofa), $8; Brazilian Stick Steak, $4; Stick Steak Sanduich, $5; Brazilian Sanduich (French bread, sausage, salada), $5; Fried Yuga, $3; Rice, $3; Salad, $3; Fried Pastry (meat, cheese or chicken), $3; Chicken Roll, $3; Pudim de leite flan, $2; Rice pudim coconut or cinnamon, $2; Mousse maracuja passion fruit, $2; Cocada sweet coconut, $2; Brigadeiro, $2; Churros, $3; Bottled Water, $2.
HELLENIC AMERICAN ACADEMY PTA
Boarding House Park
Gyro Sandwich (Gyro meat served with tomatoes, onion and Tzatziki Sauce), $6; Lamb Skewer, $7; Chicken Skewer, $6; Spinach Pie, $4; Grape Leaves (vegetarian), $3; Baklava, $3; Baklava Sundae (Baklava, Vanilla Ice Cream, Whipped Cream and Hot Fudge), $6; Spring Water, $2 .
HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
JFK Plaza
Souvlaki Dinner (Lamb or Chicken on a stick with rice, salad, roll), $10; Souvlaki Stick only (Lamb or Chicken on a stick with bread roll), $6; Gyro Sandwich (Tomatoes, onions, tzaziki-a cucumber/yogurt spread), $6; Spinach Pie/Pita, $4; Greek Salad, $4; Baklava, $2; Koulourakia (braided butter cookies), $4 per bag; Greek Pastries, $2; Spring Water, $2.
INDONESIAN MOSLEM COMMUNITY CENTER OF NEW ENGLAND
Dutton Street
Rendang Daging & Kentang Kecil (Beef & Baby potatoes stewed in a spicy coconut cream sauce served with mixed sautéed veggies, yellow pickle & rice), $10; Ayam Padang Sambal Kemangi (Grilled chicken with chili sauce & lime basil flavor with mixed sautéed veggies, yellow pickle & rice), $10; Gado-Gado (Mixed fresh steamed veggies, potatoes, hard boiled egg & tofu with authentic Indonesian peanut sauce),, $10 ; Pergedel Jagung (Corn Fritter),, $1.75; Pergedel Kentang (Potato cake), $1.75; Rujak Buah (Fresh young fruits with peanuts & palm sugar), $5 ; Bottled Water, $2.
LAO UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
JFK Plaza
Egg Roll, $1; Pad Thai Noodle, $3; Fried Rice, $3; Meatball, $1 each; Chicken Wings, $2; Beef Stick, $1; Papaya Salad, $5; Watermelon, $1; Combination Plate (Fried Rice, Pad Thai Noodle & Beef Stick), $7; Spring Water, $2.
LOWELL LATIN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY OF ST. PATRICK PARISH
Boarding House Park
FRIDAY NIGHT: Alcapurria (Fried mashed plantain and meat), $2; Papa Rellena de carne (Meat stuffed mashed potato ball) , $2; Pastelillos Rellenos de Carne, de Pollo o Res (Meat pie stuffed with ground chicken, beef or pork), $2; Bacalaito (Fried Codfish Dough), $2; Arroz con pollo, Habichuelas y Ensalada (Rice with Chicken, beans and Salad), $10. Agua / Spring Water, $2;
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: Arroz Con Pollo, Habichuela y Ensalada (Chicken & Rice with beans and Salad), $10; Arroz Con Gandules, Pernil o Pollo y Ensalada (Chicken or Roast Pork with rice, pigeon peas and salad), $10; Pernil
Con Tostones y Ensalada (Roast Pork, fried plantains & Salad), $10; Chicharrones de Pollo Con Tostones (Deep Fried Chicken with Fried Plantains), $8; Pinchos de Pollo o Cerdo (Chicken or pork kabobs), $4; Piononos (Sweet plantains stuffed with meat), $4; Alcapurria (Fried mashed plantain and meat), $2; Papa rellena de Carne (Meat stuffed mashed potato ball), $2; Pastelillos Rellenos de Pollo o Res (Meat pie stuffed with ground chicken, beef), $2; Bacalaito (Fried Codfish dough), $2; Tacos & Enchiladas de Pollo o Res, $3; Plato de Arroz (Plate of Rice), $4; Tostones Fried
Plantains 10 for, $2; Habichuelas solas (Bowl of Stewed beans), $2; Pudin de pan (Bread Pudding), $2; Agua/Spring Water, $2.
LOWELL POLISH CULTURAL COMMITTEE
JFK Plaza
Pierogi (Ravioli-like dumpling filled with cheese or cabbag), $1. Kapusta (Cabbage Soup made with pork), $3; Kielbasa Sandwich, $4.50; Ogorki (Fresh Polish Dill Pickle), $.50; Spring Water, $2; Rye Bread, $2.25; Babka (Sweet Bread), $3; Rosettes 3 for, $1. OVERSEAS BURMESE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Dutton Street
Fried Rice or Fried Noodle, $5; Sashimo/Fish, $5; Burmese Noodle Salad, $5 Fritters: Tofu or Kidney, $5; Chicken or Bean Palata, $5; Tofu Salad, $5; Chicken Potatoes Dish, $6; Grill Chicken or Beef with; Burmese Sauce, $6; Shwe Kyi, $3; Puddin Banana, $3; Sweet Sticky Rice, $2; Kayah Dish, $3.
PORTUGUESE AMERICAN VETERANS
JFK Plaza
Pasteis de Bacalhau (Codfish Cakes), $1; Bifanas, (Marinated Pork Lion on Portuguese Roll) $4; Linguica, $4; Cod Fish on Portuguese Roll, $4; Carne de Esperto Com Arroz (BBQ Sirloin Tips Madeira Style with Rice), $7; Favas Beans with Linguica and Smoked Ham, $5; Polvo Guisado (Octopus Stew with rice), $9; Malasadas-Filhoses (Portuguese Fried Dough), $1; Arroz Doce (Sweet Rice), $1; Cajadas (Portuguese Pastries), $1; Bottled Water, $2;
ST. GEORGE ANTIOCHIAN MIDDLE EASTERN
Boarding House Park
Falafel (vegetable burger in pita bread wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, Middle Eastern pickles, tangy thin sauce), $8; Fatoosh (tomatoes, lettuce, parsley, cucumber, fresh mint and toasted pita bread chips with fresh herbs, olive oil, and lemon juice), $7; Hummus (dip with chick peas, sesame paste, garlic, lemon served with pita bread & onion), $5; Loobie and Rooz (Green Bean & Sautéed onions in tomato sauce served over rice pilaf), $6; Chicken Kabob Wrap (Grilled chicken on pita bread wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, and lemon-olive oil herb dressing), $8; Beef Shawarma (Slices of beef marinated in spices, served on pita bread wrap, with tahini sauce, tomatoes, parsley, Middle Eastern pickles), $8; Kafta Wrap (Ground beef mixed with parsley, onions, seasonings, drizzled with tahini sauce, sumac, red onion), $8; Combination Plate (#1 Falafel, Hommus & Fatoosh; #2 either chicken or Kafta with rice pilaf and fatoosh), $13; Zalabee (fried dough), $3; Spring Water, $2.
THE SEED (Indian and Jamaican)
Boarding House Park and JFK Plaza
Indian Samosa (vegetarian), $3; Jamaican Beef Patty, $3; Watermelon Wedge, $2; Jamaican Rum Cake, $3; Bottled Water, $2.
WAT BUDDHABHAVANA OF MASSACHUSETTS
JFK Plaza
Vegetarian Egg Roll, $2; Chicken Wings, $2; Chicken BBQ, $2; Papaya Salad, $6; Fried Noodle, $6; Fried Rice, $6; Sticky Rice, $2; Vegetable Curry Puff, $2; Combo Plate (Choice of Three: Noodle or Fried Rice plus 2 sides), $9; Watermelon, $1; Water, $2
CHRIST JUBILEE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES (African)
Dutton Street
Fried Rice with Fish or Chicken, $10; Torborgee with Rice (Beans & Kitterly), $10; Spinach with Rice, $10; Potato Greens & Rice, $10; Achekeh with Fish (with cucumber, fresh tomatoes and , $10; Check Rice with Gravy (Fish & Chicken), $10; Rich Dry Fish (With Fishand &/or Chicken), $10; Collard Green with Rice, $10; Cabbage with Rice, $10; Kabar (With and without peanuts & onions), $5; Banana or Corn Bread, $5; Samusa, $5; Macaroni Salad, $5; Spring Water, $2
ISKWELAHANG PILIPINO
Boarding House Park
Inihaw na Karne (Beef Barbecue), $5; Inihaw na Baboy (Pork Barbecue), $4.50; Inihaw na Manok (Chicken Barbecue), $4; Lumpia (Egg Roll), $3; Sinangag (Fried Rice), $3.50; Pancit Bihon (Rice Noodles), $4.50; Turon (Banana Roll), $2; Beef or Pork Barbecue, egg roll, fried rice, and rice noodle, $11.50; Chicken Barbecue, egg roll, fried rice, and rice noodle, $10.50; Spring Water, $2
WAT LAO MIXARAYAM
Boarding House Park
BBQ Chicken Wings, $2; BBQ Beef Teriyaki, $2; Fried Noodle, $3; Wat Lao Mixayaram Special Egg Roll, $2; Sticky Rice, $2; Papaya Salad, $5; Fried Rice, $2; Spring Water, $2




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July 23, 2014 Wednesday

 Jakarta governor wins Indonesian presidency

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Jakarta Gov. Joko Widodo, who captured the hearts of millions of Indonesians with his common man image, was declared the winner Tuesday of the country's presidential election, calling it a victory for all of the nation's people.
A former furniture exporter known to most as "Jokowi," Widodo was the first candidate in a direct presidential election in Indonesia with no ties to the former dictator Suharto, who ruled for 30 years before being overthrown in 1998. 
"This is a victory for all Indonesian people," Widodo, who received 53 percent of the vote, according to the Election Commission, said in a televised speech. "We hope this victory will pave the way to build Indonesia to be an independent economy."
The other contender in the July 9 election, former Gen. Prabowo Subianto, declared he was withdrawing from the contest shortly before the final numbers were released by the commission, saying there was massive fraud during the election, and that it was unfair and undemocratic.
Indonesia is a sprawling archipelago of about 17,000 islands and 240 million people, and the commission needed two weeks to count all the votes.
Widodo had maintained a slim lead of about 4 percentage points in unofficial "quick counts" by polling agencies released after the election. But Subianto, who has declared assets of $140 million and was on his third bid for the presidency, repeatedly claimed that polling firms with links to his campaign showed he was ahead.
"We reject the 2014 presidential election, which is illegitimate, and therefore we withdraw from the ongoing process," he said Tuesday.
Observers of the election said they were generally fair and free, with minimal abnormalities. Maswadi Rauf, a political professor at the University of Indonesia, said he saw no sign of significant fraud, as alleged by Subianto.
Subianto's rejection of the results "reflects the real attitudes of the elite, who are not yet ready to accept losing," Rauf said. "We are still in a transition to democracy, which is indeed not our culture. And what is happening indicates we are still immature, we need to learn."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Widodo on his election victory, and said the U.S. and Indonesia share common values, including respect for human rights and rule of law.
"The United States looks forward to working with President-elect Widodo as we deepen our partnership," Kerry said in a statement.
In Jakarta, there were no immediate reports of violence Tuesday. About 100 Subianto supporters held a peaceful protest about 300 meters (yards) from the Election Commission building in the city's downtown, chanting "Prabowo is the real president" and holding banners saying that the commission should stop cheating.
The building was surrounded by thousands of policemen to maintain security after a particularly nasty presidential campaign marred by smear tactics from both camps. Widodo blamed his drop in opinion polls in the weeks before the election on character assaults that accused him, among other things, of not being a follower of Islam - which he denounced.
Indonesia has the world's fourth-largest population and is the most populous Muslim country.
Despite Widodo's lack of experience in national politics, he built a reputation as being a man of the people and an efficient leader who wants to advance democratic reforms, and was elected to run Jakarta, the capital, in 2012. He is widely viewed as untainted by the often corrupt military and business elite that have run Indonesia for decades.
Subianto, meanwhile, a general in the Suharto regime and the late dictator's former son-in-law, came from a wealthy, well-known family. He had a dubious human rights record during his military career, but was seen as a strong and decisive leader. His campaign was better financed and he got endorsements from most of the country's major political parties, including that of outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who served two terms lasting 10 years and was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election.
Final results showed that Widodo, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, received just under 71 million votes, or 53 percent of the more than 133 million valid ballots cast, while Subianto got 62.6 million votes, or 47 percent.
Voter turnout was 71 percent, down slightly from the 2009 presidential election, when it was 72 percent.




13



 
 Blogs
(Op-Talk)

July 23, 2014 Wednesday

 Morning Views

 
"Millions of low- and moderate-income people who signed up for health insurance with the help of federal tax-credit subsidies could find themselves without coverage or facing big premium bills if a destructive decision handed down by a federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday is not reversed," writes  Editorial Board. The ruling, which The Board calls "mindless and harmful," seized on "poorly drafted" language in the Affordable Care Act to end subsidies in the states that opted not to set up a state health exchange and instead relied on the federal exchange. "It defies common sense to think that Congress really intended that there be no subsidies at all in 36 states," The Board writes. For now, the outcome is unclear: A second federal appeals court panel ruled the opposite way just a few hours later and the Obama administration is expected to appeal the first decision. "Consumers are expected to retain their coverage and tax credits while this and similar suits in other jurisdictions wend their way through the court system." In future decisions, The Board calls for "common sense in interpreting the law, not ideological opposition to Obamacare."
Other significant viewpoints from around the world: 
"To the ghastly crime of shooting down 298 civilians aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on Thursday, Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine added the unspeakable insult of preventing immediate access to the crash site," writes The Boston Globe. "There is no justification for such disgraceful and disrespectful abuse of the passengers' remains." Delays and looting of passengers' belongings have compromised any investigation that will follow. Nevertheless, "there is no shortage of evidence" that the plane was shot down thanks to Russian support for separatists. "Bringing that crisis to an end is of the utmost priority."
"Indonesia is the fourth most populous country, the third largest democracy, and the biggest Muslim nation," writes The Guardian. "Because of its size and importance," the country's presidential elections represent "massive" proof that "democracy can work as well in Muslim societies as in others." The victory of Joko Widodo, though still disputed by his opponent, "represents a further advance in Indonesian political life. It means that for the first time a person with no direct connections with the older, authoritarian era will occupy the country's highest office." This result promotes the "sense that a new chapter has now begun in Indonesia."
Rick Perry has said he will deploy a thousand Texas National Guard troops to the border at a cost of $12 million a month. "That would be making a big political show of securing a border that is already highly and expertly patrolled," writes The San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board. With Central American children turning themselves over to Border Patrol agents and Texas "turning away millions in federal money to expand Medicaid and give insurance coverage to Texans," Perry's order is an ineffectual waste of money and "a case of presidential opportunism."
The identification of a body found in a plum field in Suncheon ends the two-month manhunt for Yoo Byung-eun, the de facto owner of the ferry that sunk off the coast of South Korea in April. But the search should not have taken this long and "police and prosecutors deserve harsh criticism for being incompetent and negligent," argues The Korea Times. "139 people had been arrested over the ferry catastrophe, but the failure to capture Yoo fuels concern that further fact-finding will hit a snag." The accident left 300 people, mostly high school students, dead or missing and the probe into possible wrongdoings must proceed quickly despite the power and influence of those under investigation. "It will certainly be a national shame if the truth behind the ferry tragedy remains hidden."




13



 
The Capital (Annapolis, MD)

July 22, 2014 Tuesday

 Jakarta governor wins Indonesian presidency; 
Jakarta governor with common touch declared winner of Indonesia's presidential election

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Jakarta Gov. Joko Widodo, who captured the hearts of millions of Indonesians with his common man image, won the country's presidential election with 53 percent of the vote, final results showed Tuesday.
Widodo, a former furniture exporter known to most as "Jokowi," is the first candidate in a direct presidential election in Indonesia with no ties to the former dictator Suharto, who ruled for 30 years before being overthrown in 1998. 
The other contender, former Gen. Prabowo Subianto, declared he was withdrawing from the contest shortly before the final numbers were released by the Election Commission, saying there was massive fraud during the election, and that it was unfair and undemocratic.
Widodo had maintained a slim lead of about 4 percentage points in unofficial "quick counts" by polling agencies released after the July 9 election. But Subianto, who has declared assets of $140 million and was on his third bid for the presidency, repeatedly claimed that polling firms with links to his campaign showed he was ahead.
"We reject the 2014 presidential election, which is illegitimate, and therefore we withdraw from the ongoing process," he said Tuesday.
Observers of the election said they were generally fair and free, with minimal abnormalities. Maswadi Rauf, a political professor at the University of Indonesia, said he saw no sign of significant fraud, as alleged by Subianto.
Subianto's rejection of the results "reflects the real attitudes of the elite, who are not yet ready to accept losing," Rauf said. "We are still in a transition to democracy, which is indeed not our culture. And what is happening indicates we are still immature, we need to learn."
There were no immediate reports of violence Tuesday. About 100 Subianto supporters held a peaceful protest about 300 meters (yards) from the Election Commission building in downtown Jakarta, chanting "Prabowo is the real president" and holding banners saying that the commission should stop cheating.
The building was surrounded by thousands of policemen to maintain security after a particularly nasty presidential campaign marred by smear tactics from both camps. Widodo blamed his drop in opinion polls in the weeks before the election on character assaults that accused him, among other things, of not being a follower of Islam - which he denounced.
Indonesia, an archipelago of about 17,000 islands and 240 million people, has the world's fourth-largest population and is the most populous Muslim country.
Despite Widodo's lack of experience in national politics, he built a reputation as being a man of the people and an efficient leader who wants to advance democratic reforms, and was elected to run Jakarta, the capital, in 2012. He is widely viewed as untainted by the often corrupt military and business elite that have run Indonesia for decades.
Subianto, meanwhile, a general in the Suharto regime and the late dictator's former son-in-law, came from a wealthy, well-known family. He had a dubious human rights record during his military career, but was seen as a strong and decisive leader. His campaign was better financed and he got endorsements from most of the country's major political parties, including that of outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who served two terms lasting 10 years and was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election.
Final results showed that Widodo received 70,997,859 votes, or 53.15 percent of the nearly 133 million valid ballots cast, while Subianto got 62,576,444 votes, or 46.85 percent.
Voter turnout was 70 percent, down slightly from the 2009 presidential election, when it was 72 percent.




14



 


July 21, 2014 Monday

 Anti-Russia sentiment running deep in Malaysia

 
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Many Malaysians are urging their government and world leaders to take a tough stance against Russia after pro-Russia rebels allegedly shot down a Malaysia Airlines jet, with some calling for economic sanctions and a boycott of Russian goods.
While the rebels and Ukraine blame each other for Thursday's downing of Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, Russia's government is being accused of not doing enough to ensure that authorities have proper access to the crash site. 
Much of the Malaysian anger toward Russia stems from the inability for family members of Muslims who were aboard the plane to perform burial rites as quickly as possible, according to Islamic custom. Of the 298 people aboard the plane, 43 were from Muslim-majority Malaysia and 12 were from Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.
The plane crashed in rebel-held territory, and the separatists - who are being blamed for shooting down the plane by much of the international community, including the United States - have been accused of preventing emergency workers from retrieving the victims' bodies.
The issue has caused deep resentment in Malaysia, where many have blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even politicians, who on Friday were careful not to point any fingers, seem to be losing patience.
"Pro-Russian terrorists have not handled (hash)MH17 victims with dignity. Putin promised PM (at)NajibRazak he would help. He hasn't," Malaysian Youth and Sport Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted Sunday, referring to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
As people headed to Kuala Lumpur shopping malls on Sunday, their minds were still reeling from the horrific images of the crash site that have inundated television screens here. Many were calling for tough economic sanctions and an international boycott of Russian goods and services.
"Our government and the whole world have to do something about this case," said 27-year-old Nur Zehan Abu Bakar, who works in the education sector. "If not, what will happen to our country? What will happen to (Malaysia Airlines)? To show that we are angry with Russia and if they still continue not to help us, I think the best way is for all Malaysians to boycott Russian products."
Charles Foo, a retiree who was spending time with his family outside a mall, echoed Nur Zehan's sentiments. "They (Russia) are a big country. We are a very small country, so how much can we do, unless all nations in the world stop buying their goods and whatever," he said.
Malaysia is one of Russia's main trading partners in Southeast Asia. Russia also is a key supplier for Malaysia's military, delivering 18 Sukhoi fighter jets to the Malaysian air force over the past decade.
James Chin, a professor at the political science unit of Monash University in Malaysia, said he believed it was unlikely that Russian-Malaysian relations would be seriously harmed as a result of the incident, though he added that a lot would depend on the outcome of the official investigation.
"The Malaysian government really can't do much," Chin said. "The Malaysian government takes the position that it cannot antagonize the Russians now because they hold the key to the investigation."
Some Malaysians said it was important to remain rational and wait for the investigation to be completed.
"For now, I will calm myself down and not listen to all the noise," a 36-year-old dancer, who wanted to be identified only by his family name, Wong, said at a popular Kuala Lumpur shopping district. "There is no point for me to get emotional at the moment. I encourage everyone to stay calm."
Tricia Yeoh, chief operating officer at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a Malaysian think tank, said while she could understand why Malaysians are so upset, people need to wait for a thorough investigation to be completed before reaching any conclusions on who is responsible for the disaster.
"People need to be cautious in a geo-political climate and environment in which not all information is being revealed," Yeoh said. "We certainly do not know all there is to know, and for that reason I would have to wait. Having said that, of course all governments should be cooperating to ensure investigations are thoroughly done. This includes Russia."




14


 


July 21, 2014 Monday  


 The Challenge for Indonesia

 
The very tight Indonesian presidential election is turning into a test of a nascent democracy in the country with the world's largest Muslim population. Indonesia's democracy is the third biggest in the world. It is also among the youngest. This is only the third direct presidential election following the fall of the authoritarian Suharto regime in 1998. 
The results of the July 9 election are still being tallied and will be announced Tuesday. Most surveys show that Joko Widodo, the reformist former governor of Jakarta, will emerge victorious over Prabowo Subianto, a former Army general during the Suharto era, by a margin of only a few percentage points. Earlier presidential elections were never this close.
Mr. Joko is a product of the post-Suharto democratic transition. He came to power as mayor of Surakarta and was later elected governor of Jakarta. Such posts were once filled by political appointment. Post-Suharto governance saw the decentralization of power, creating more than 500 districts, each with elected heads and parliaments.
Mr. Prabowo, by contrast, is a hard-liner with a poor human rights record. Once married to one of Suharto's daughters, he would recentralize power and increase presidential authority. Many analysts see the election as a contest between democracy and authoritarianism. The Prabowo coalition holds majority control of Parliament, and there are concerns that if Mr. Prabowo loses he might seek to wreck a Joko presidency. There have been accusations of irregularities from both sides. And each has said it will contest the result and bring the matter to the Constitutional Court if it loses. The court has given until July 25 to file any dispute.
The court itself is held in some suspicion. Its former chief justice, Akil Mochtar, received a life sentence last month for taking bribes in exchange for favorable rulings in local election disputes. The current chief justice, Hamdan Zoelva, once belonged to a political party that is now part of the Prabowo coalition. The court thus carries the extra burden of proving its impartiality. Indonesian democracy will be sorely challenged if the losing side refuses to concede defeat and reacts in ways that divide the country. This has happened in Thailand, to no one's benefit.




14


 


July 10, 2014 Thursday  


 Populist Hopeful Says He's Likely Winner in Indonesia, Defeating Ex-General

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Joko Widodo, the populist governor of Jakarta who burst onto Indonesia's national political scene less than two years ago, said Wednesday that he appeared to have won the country's presidential election, with results from several unofficial tallies putting him ahead of his opponent, a former army general. But the ex-general, Prabowo Subianto, said it was too early to declare a winner.
Independent polling firms conducting so-called quick counts, which are taken from a small sample of polling stations across the far-flung country, indicated that Mr. Joko had a lead of four to six percentage points. The quick counts conducted by those firms have been highly accurate in past elections. 
If the official results, which the general election commission must announce by July 22, confirm that Mr. Joko won, he will have completed an unlikely and meteoric rise to leader of the world's fourth-most-populous nation. Elected governor of Jakarta, the capital, in 2012, Mr. Joko is known for a ''people first'' credo and humble manner that are a striking departure from the aloof style of most Indonesian politicians.
Less than two hours after the polls closed early Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Joko -- popularly known as Jokowi -- and leaders of his opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle held a news conference at the home of the party's chairwoman, Megawati Sukarnoputri, that was broadcast live on national television.
''According to quick counts, Jokowi-J.K. look to have won,'' Mr. Joko said, referring to himself and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla.
Mrs. Megawati, a former president herself, stepped aside in March and appointed Mr. Joko as the party's presidential candidate. She went further than Mr. Joko in her statement, saying, ''Even though this is still in the vote-counting process, we already can say that Jokowi will be president.''
On Wednesday evening, Mr. Joko repeated the quick-count results during a brief speech at a monument in central Jakarta dedicated to Indonesia's declaration of independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945. ''To win means to serve the people,'' he said. ''So all our people must unite for a better Indonesia.''
Mr. Prabowo, however, did not concede defeat. His campaign cited quick counts conducted by five lesser-known polling firms, which indicated that he had an average lead of 2.5 points.
During an impassioned speech to cheering supporters on Wednesday night, Mr. Prabowo appealed for patience until the official final results were released. ''Don't be provoked,'' he said. ''It's O.K. if there are claims and declarations of victory by others, but they are not based on the election law.''
Analysts said the firms that conducted the quick counts he cited were widely viewed as untested. ''They are not credible institutions,'' said Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political scientist with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.
The winner will replace President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. The vote culminates an intense political season that saw legislative elections in April followed by a bruising presidential campaign.
Trailing by more than 20 percentage points in one poll three months ago, Mr. Prabowo surged after campaigning began in early June. Two polls released on Saturday indicated that the candidates were essentially tied, as Mr. Joko's advantage was within the polls' margins of sampling error.
Mr. Joko, a former furniture exporter, promised ''more people-centric'' governance and policies in Indonesia, which has more than 100 million people living on $2 a day or less. Mr. Prabowo, who was a son-in-law of Suharto, who ruled Indonesia for 32 years, pledged firm, decisive leadership, grass-roots welfare programs and protectionist economic policies.
Mr. Joko became known for walking through slums, markets and lower-class neighborhoods to talk to people about bread-and-butter issues like health care, education and flood control.
Mr. Joko's early, commanding lead in the polls evaporated in part because of a smear campaign in which he was falsely said to be both Christian and ethnic Chinese. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, and ethnicity, race and religion remain sensitive issues. Both candidates are Muslim and ethnic Javanese.
Mr. Prabowo was criticized during the campaign for his controversial military career, including allegations of gross human rights abuses as the commander of Indonesia's Special Forces and as head of the army strategic reserve command under Mr. Suharto, who was forced to resign in 1998 amid pro-democracy demonstrations.
Mr. Joko is the first presidential candidate who was not on the political scene during Mr. Suharto's tenure. The election has been characterized by some as both a race between Indonesia's rich and poor and a choice between a reformer and a figure from the authoritarian past.
More than 187 million Indonesians were registered to vote at more than 450,000 polling stations on more than 7,000 islands across the vast archipelago. Voter turnout during the April 9 general elections was an impressive 75 percent, and analysts said that turnout Wednesday could be higher, given the nationwide excitement about the campaign.
At a polling station in Tangerang, in Banten Province, just outside of Jakarta, Bondar, 33, a barber, said he had voted for Mr. Joko.
''I voted for Jokowi because he has no connection with the Suharto family,'' he said. ''He won't be influenced by the old regime.''
At a polling station in central Jakarta, Katherina Setiadi, 95, who grew up under Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia, said she voted for Mr. Joko because she believed he was a good man.
''There's so much energy today compared to'' Mr. Suharto's time, she said.
Nearby, Nuka Santoso, 57 a psychologist, said she voted for Mr. Prabowo because of his leadership qualities, and rejected assertions that he might roll back Indonesia's democratization.
''I'm not worried at all,'' she said.




14



 


July 8, 2014 Tuesday

 Indonesia's choice: the charismatic reformer or the military nationalist; 
Experts say Wednesday's presidential election is too close to call. Front-runner Joko Widodo, the reformist mayor of Jakarta, has given up an early lead over his rival.

 
Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy and most populous Muslim-majority nation, will head to the polls Wednesday for a high-stakes presidential election. More than 180 million people are eligible to vote.
This will be the third direct presidential election in Indonesia, which was ruled for nearly three decades by dictator Gen. Suharto, who fell in 1998. After cycling through three presidents in six years, Indonesia gained its footing under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a retired general who won the 2004 election. 
President Yudhoyono, who is ineligible to run again due to term limits, presided over a political system with ingrained patronage and corruption that nonetheless delivered steady economic growth, even during the 2009 global downturn. However, last year saw Indonesia's growth rate falling below 6 percent for the first time since 2010. 
This year's election will be pivotal for the direction that Indonesia takes over the next five years.
Who are the candidates?
Joko Widodo is the governor of Jakarta, Indonesia's chaotic capital. His rival, Prabowo Subianto, is a controversial former Army general and businessman who has never held public office. Whoever succeeds will be tasked with reviving a slowing economy and tackling social ills. 
The two candidates are a study in contrasts. Mr. Widodo made his fortune in the furniture business and began his political career as mayor of Surakarta. He is seen as a self-made businessman who prefers plaid shirts to business suits and looks at home talking to vendors in markets. He gained a reputation for dropping in on unsuspecting government offices and firing people who weren't doing their jobs.
As the Monitor reported in February, Widodo has enjoyed popular support in both Surakarta and Jakarta. 
Widodo's popularity is evident when he steps off the bus he uses to visit Jakarta's many slums. Hundreds of residents surge forward to shake his hand amid chants of "Jokowi," as he's affectionately known. His aides take notes of the list of their complaints, ranging from the price of beef to rent hikes in public housing. 
Mr. Subianto was previously married to Suharto's daughter. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2009. Subianto has been accused of human rights violations when he was a commander in the notorious special forces and of abductions of political dissidents during the turmoil leading up to Suharto's ousting. He's the scion of a famous family; his father was a prominent economist and senior advisor to Suharto. 
Subianto has played up his strongman image, hoping to tap into the view supported by some of the population that Indonesia needs a nationalist leader. Widodo and Subianto have similar platforms listing similar priorities in the areas of economics and infrastructure.
Who's the current frontrunner? 
Widodo led with a large margin of more than 30 points early on in the polls, but Subianto has since closed the gap. The Jakarta Globe reports the latest polling numbers give Widodo 47.8 percent of the vote to Subianto's 44.2 percent. Undecided voters could sway the ultimate outcome.
As the Monitor reported, a confluence of factors led to Subianto's swift rise in the polls.
"Widodo's once double-digit lead over Subianto has evaporated, according to some polls, in part because he's been vague about which local government reforms and benefits he would introduce nationally. He was slow to act on a smear campaign suggesting he was a closet Christian, a scandal in a country that is 88 percent Muslim. He can seem wooden and unassuming."
This election could be a photo finish, breaking with the pattern of previous votes. 
"[Direct presidential elections] have always been won by landslides of 60-40 proportions," wrote Northwestern University professor Jeffrey Winters in an e-mail to the Monitor from Indonesia, where he is observing the election. "This time the contest is extremely close. On the eve of the vote, it is simply too close to call."
What are they offering to voters? 
While the two candidates may be complete opposites on paper and in person, Mr. Winters argues that the media portrayal of a stark choice between a charismatic reformer and an old guard candidate isn't accurate.
"These two individuals are very different. But the constellations of social and political forces backing them are remarkably similar. Both have major business interests in their camp. Both have controversial military figures involved in their campaigns," Winters said. "Whoever wins, this is not a revolutionary moment for Indonesia."
Kevin O'Rourke, writer and editor of Reformasi Weekly, a newsletter about Indonesia's political climate, sees it differently.
"This is as stark as it can possibly be," he says. "Indonesia has had a patronage-style government for centuries and now there is a chance for change. Widodo is a democratic figure. He's the product of the new democratic system that just started taking place in the last decade."
The campaign has featured high-octane stunts, including Subianto riding a horse into a rally, as well as nasty smear campaigns. 
"Pictures started circulating on social media in mid-May of what purports to be Widodo's marriage certificate. The certificate claims to show that Widodo is of Chinese descent and originally a Christian. Anonymous messages sent via Blackberry message groups accuse Widodo of downplaying Islam."How about the Indonesian media? 
Indonesia's oldest English-language newspaper, The Jakarta Post, decided to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in its 31-year history. It describes the election as a "moral choice on the fate of the nation."
In its July 4 editorial, the Post gave the nod to Widodo and highlighted Subianto's affiliations with hardline Islamic groups. It also questioned the nation's memory of events surrounding the downfall of Suharto and the military's role in East Timor.
We are further perplexed at the nation's fleeting memory of past human rights crimes. A man who has admitted to abducting rights activists - be it carrying out orders or of his own volition - has no place at the helm of the world's third-largest democracy.
While many newspapers have endorsed Widodo, Mr. O'Rourke notes that the vast majority of Indonesians get their news from television and many stations and their owners have aligned with Subianto.
Despite the campaign rhetoric, Winters argues that voters should expect "more continuity than change" whatever the election result.
With only one day left before voting, O'Rourke says he can't make a prediction.
"It's very much a toss-up."




14



 


July 8, 2014 Tuesday

 'Indonesia, Etc.' draws a skillful portrait of a complex nation; 
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and the world's third-largest democracy, but writer Elizabeth Pisani says the country 'punches below its weight on the world stage.'

 
Tomorrow Indonesians across the vast archipelago nation of 13,465 islands will head to the polls to vote for the country's next president. They will choose between the charismatic, corruption-fighting governor of Jakarta Joko Widodo or Prabowo Subianto, a former army general accused of carrying out human rights abuses who is the former son-in-law of the country's longtime dictator Suharto.
The juxtaposition between the candidates and their proximity in polling numbers shows the complexity of a nation that Elizabeth Pisani skillfully describes in Indonesia, Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation. 
The "etc." in the title comes from a line in the country's declaration of independence from the Dutch in 1945: "Matters relating to the transfer of power etc. will be executed carefully and as soon as possible." 
Pisani, a former Reuters journalist turned HIV epidemiologist, has worked on and off in Indonesia for the past 25 years. Part travelogue, part history and politics, and part exploration of what holds such a diverse group of islands together as a nation, Pisani's work fills in a much-needed gap on literature about Indonesia. 
For a county with so many top ten rankings - the world's most populous Muslim nation, the world's third largest democracy, and fourth most populous nation (and I'm not even going to mention all the natural resource wealth rankings) - Pisani writes, "There's no doubt that Indonesia punches below its weight on the world stage."
For over a year, from 2011 to 2012, Pisani traveled mostly solo throughout Indonesia, in no particular order, from the northern tip of Aceh on the island in Sumatra to the Kei islands in the Banda Sea. Along the way she reconnects with old friends or interview subjects from two decades earlier. 
But the vast majority of the trip is spent with people Pisani meets while traveling on slow ferries or public buses who invite her to come stay with them. Pisani says "yes" without any hesitation almost every time and the strangers quickly become friends, opening their homes and lives. This allows for an intimate portrait of life across Indonesia in small villages off the beaten, oftentimes unpaved, path. 
Pisani is constantly being questioned, "Dari mana?" ("Where are you from?") and she has to explain to unbelieving onlookers that she does not have children or a husband, often while sitting surrounded by large, extended families. As a foreigner, Pisani is able to gain access to many worlds. She interacts with women in the kitchen, peeling and chopping vegetables, and hears their version of events as well as going on outings with men, including whale-hunting on a leaky boat with an old engine. 
Every village and island brings a new, oftentimes fun, situation, including buying a chicken for a sacrifice and getting solicited for sex on Gunung Kemukus (she promptly declines). In Aceh she watches the dirty political campaign of a local election where she is offered a ballot because she simply asks - a disturbing look at Indonesia's electoral process. 
In one particularly interesting and moving passage, Pisani finds a student, Hanafiah, whom she interviewed in 1990. Hanafiah had been beaten and imprisoned by the Indonesian military during its fight against separatists in Aceh and at the time Pisani noted that Hanafiah's detention would "put the boy out of the running for almost any job or respectable marriage, probably for ever." Pisani finds the exact opposite to be true, showing how over the past few decades, many dissidents have entered government while some former politicians have gone to prison.
Pisani doesn't spare readers the negative aspects. She critiques the lack of ambition in certain regions and analyzes the impact of religion on development. She comes to the conclusion that "collectivist culture without the feudalism. Perhaps it should become Indonesia's next etc." At the same time, she notes that in Indonesia's current system, "patronage is the price of unity."
While Pisani does travel on the island of Java, where nearly 60 percent of the entire population of Indonesia resides, she decides not to spend much time in the sprawling, overflowing capital of Jakarta. She misses an opportunity to delve deeper into political and religious issues at the root of some of the big news events she describes over the period of her travels. 
At one point, after months of travel in often uncomfortable conditions, Pisani asks an Indonesian friend, "How will I ever make sense of this country?" Yet Pisani does and in some cases doesn't, showing that Indonesia is an ever-changing, vast place that, like many countries, is hard to describe. But that's the beauty of her book.
Lydia Tomkiw is a Monitor contributor.




14



 


June 30, 2014 Monday

 
PHILIPPINES 
Nation on alert for terror attack 
MANILA "" The president and police on Sunday warned of a possible terrorist attack in the south and ordered security to be beefed up in the volatile region. 
President Benigno Aquino III's spokesman, Herminio Coloma Jr., said that Aquino called Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of the port city of Davao to relay details of the threat and call for heightened public vigilance. 
Coloma did not release details, but a military intelligence official told reporters that a Muslim rebel with links to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah militant network, Basit Usman, is believed to be planning to attack Davao or two other southern cities with a car bomb and homemade explosives.  
The plot could be in retaliation for a recent government assault that killed two of Usman's associates and led to the arrest of his wife. 
 PAKISTAN 
Couple that marriedfor love killed by family 
ISLAMABAD "" A 17-year-old girl and her husband were killed by her family for marrying without its consent, and another young woman was burned alive by a man for refusing his proposal in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, police said on Sunday. 
Muafia Bibi and her husband, Sajjad Ahmed, 30, were killed in Satrah village on Friday night, allegedly by her parents, two uncles and her grandfather, said Asghar Ali, the area police chief. 
He said the couple was hacked to death with a butcher's knife and that all five suspects have been apprehended. 
Ali said the couple married on June 19 and that the family had lured them back home by saying it accepted the marriage. He said it was Ahmed's third marriage, with the first ending in divorce and his second wife leaving him because he married Bibi. 
JAPAN 
Man sets self afire in apparent protest 
TOKYO "" A man set himself on fire at the busy Shinjuku railway station on Sunday in what appears to be a rare violent political protest. 
The man, who appeared in his 50s or 60s, was taken to a hospital after suffering serious injuries, said Daiji Kubota, an officer at the Shinjuku police station. He said the man's identity and the reason for the self-immolation were under investigation. 
Footage of the incident on Twitter and other social media showed a man clad in a suit and tie sitting on a small mat along the metal framework above a pedestrian walkway with two plastic bottles of what looked like gasoline beside him. 
Witnesses were quoted as saying the man spoke through a megaphone to protest the government's moves to change Japan's defense policy, doused himself with gasoline and set himself alight as hundreds of people watched from below and from nearby buildings. 
 EGYPT 
Nation moves to limit Ramadan sermons 
CAIRO "" The country will restrict sermons during the holy month of Ramadan to topics of faith and morality, the state's top official in charge of religious affairs said on Sunday, in the latest measure by the government to control mosques and limit access of opponents to them. 
The announcement is another move by authorities to crack down on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, and limiting in the process free speech in the deeply polarized country. 
Mohammed Mokhtar Gomaa said the decision should ensure that sermons during Islam's holy month of fasting "unite people, not divide them." He said the religious speech had been "hijacked" for political purposes, in reference to the previous government, led by Islamist President Mohamed Morsy. 




14



 


June 30, 2014 Monday

 RUMORS UPEND INDONESIAN PRESIDENT RACE

 

ABSTRACT
Jakarta Gov Joko Widodo's impressive lead over former general Prabowo Subianto ahead of Indonesian presidential elections has begun to narrow amid rumors that he is ethnic Chinese and Christian, not Muslim;  Widodo's repeated refutations may be spreading rumor; photo (M)




14



 



June 30, 2014 Monday  


 Ukrainian president attempts to keep the peace with Russia

 

UKRAINE

Poroshenko confers with Putin, others
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tried to keep his peace plan on track in a four-way phone call Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of France and Germany.
The two-hour conversation came ahead of a Monday deadline that European Union leaders set for Russia and separatists in eastern Ukraine to take steps to ease the violence or face further punitive measures.
The call was the latest in a series of discussions the leaders have held in recent weeks. A cease-fire in place since June 20 has been shaky, with both the Kiev government and the rebels accusing each other of violations. 
A statement issued by Poroshenko's office said he underlined Ukraine's willingness to maintain the cease-fire at least until Monday evening and called on Putin to strengthen border controls to stop the flow of weapons, fighters and mercenaries to Ukraine.
- Associated Press

EGYPT

Authorities to restrict Ramadan sermons 
Egypt will restrict sermons during the holy month of Ramadan to topics of faith and morality, the official in charge of religious affairs said Sunday.
It is yet another move by authorities to crack down on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said the decision should ensure that sermons during Islam's holy month of fasting "unite people, not divide them." He said religious speech had been "hijacked" for political purposes, in reference to the government led by Islamist Mohamed Morsi.
Morsi was ousted last year. Egyptian authorities have moved to purge mosques of preachers deemed supportive of the Brotherhood and have set guidelines for Friday sermons.
Officials also have established new rules to regulate a Ramadan tradition, one in which many people spend the last 10 days of the month inside mosques praying, fasting and reading the Koran.
- Associated Press

PHILIPPINES

Security intensified amid terrorism alert
The president of the Philippines warned Sunday of a possible terrorist attack in the south and ordered security to be beefed up in the volatile region.
President Benigno Aquino III's spokesman, Herminio Coloma Jr., said Aquino called the mayor of the port city of Davao to relay details of the threat and call for heightened public vigilance.
A military intelligence official told reporters that a Muslim rebel with links to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiah militant network, Basit Usman, is thought to be planning to attack Davao or two other southern cities with a car bomb and homemade explosives.
The plot could be in retaliation for a recent government assault that killed two of Usman's associates and led to his wife's arrest.
- Associated Press
 North Korea to indict two Americans:  North Korea said it's preparing to indict two American detainees in connection with carrying out what it says were hostile acts against the country. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that investigations of American tourists Miller Matthew Todd and Jeffrey Edward Fowle concluded that suspicions about their hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their testimony. KCNA said both Americans were arrested in April after entering the country as tourists.
 Islamist rebels in Somalia kill 3:  Islamist rebels fatally shot three members of Somalia's security forces in the capital, police and witnesses said on the first day of Ramadan. The government and African Union peacekeepers have stepped up security in the country during the Muslim holy month to prevent assaults by the Islamist al-Shabab group, which has waged a seven-year campaign to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
 Indian police detain 5 in building collapse:  Police in southern India detained five construction company officials as rescuers searched for dozens of workers thought to be buried in the rubble of a building that collapsed during heavy rain. Nearly 90 contract workers were thought to have been in the basement of the building on the outskirts of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state. Police said 20 people had been pulled out, eight died immediately and seven succumbed to injuries in a hospital. It was one of two building collapses that killed at least 22 people during the weekend. 
- From news services




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June 28, 2014 Saturday  





14


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

June 28, 2014 Saturday  
ONLINE EDITION

 KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR RAMADAN




15


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

June 27, 2014

 Redefining Genocide; 
On Language

 
Two weeks ago, I wrote a column  about neo-Nazi as  a term for anti-Arab hooligans  among Israel's settler  population, explaining why  I thought it inappropriate. Because the  Nazis, I said, have rightly come to represent  the ultimate in monstrously hateful  human conduct, it has become common  to invoke them in condemning all forms  of violent bigotry. Although this is understandable,  I argued, it is not a wise use  of language. The Nazis were not simply  xenophobic ruffians; if they had been no  more than that, millions of Jews who perished  in the Holocaust would have survived,  however maltreated, World War  II. To use the word Nazi as a general  term of denunciation is to empty it of  all content.
I had a similar thought about the word  genocide while reading a front-page  article in the June 13 issue of the Forward  that was headlined Never Again? New  Number Crunchers Try To Quantify the  Risks of Genocide. It wasn't the first  time I had had this thought. A few years  ago I wrote a column in which I observed  that genocide was a word used much  too loosely. Today I am beginning to  think that it should be retired from our  language completely. 
The article in the Forward, which  described the attempt of a team of  Dartmouth College researchers to quantify  statistically the risks of genocide in  today's world, thus predicting when and  where it will occur next unless prevented  by outside intervention, is a case in  point. I started to read it with both curiosity  and skepticism: Could the researchers  really have predicted a year in advance,  with 95% certainty, as they were cited  as asserting, that the 1994 Rwanda genocide  would take place? If so, there was  cause for consternation, because a graph  accompanying the article showed that in  their opinion there was, in the remaining  months of 2014, a 30% chance of  something similar happening in Iraq, a  50% chance of it happening in Burma  and a 90% chance of it happening in  South Sudan. Add up those figures, and  you have an almost 100% certainty that  the world will witness another genocide  before the year is out.
But wait. Accompanying this graph  is a caption that reads   Estimated  Probabilities of Mass-Killing Onset Before  January 1, 2015  and mass killing,  further on in the article, is defined as an  episode of sustained violence in which  at least 1,000 noncombatant civilians  from a discrete group are intentionally  killed within a period of one year or less.  Moreover, the Dartmouth team, it turns  out, equates genocide and mass killing  with each other  that is, it defines  genocide, too, as any event or series of  events in which 1,000 or more noncombatants  from a discrete group are deliberately  killed. That, and not a Rwanda-type  massacre (in which an estimated half-a-million to 1 million Tutsi tribesmen  were murdered by their Hutu rivals), is  to what the probability figures given for  Iraq, Burma and South Sudan refer. One  can let out a sigh of relief.
Not that the murder of 1,000 innocents  is anything to make light of. But  if that's all that it takes to make a genocide,  the world has witnessed dozens, if  not hundreds, of genocides in the past  century alone. To mention only a few  of the more spectacular cases, in which  many, many times 1,000 unarmed civilians  died, genocide, according to the  Dartmouth definition, was perpetrated  on different populations of Europe during  World War I; on pro-and anti-Bolsheviks  in the Russian Civil War of 1917 21; on  Jews in Ukraine and Galicia in the same  years; on Ukrainians in Stalin's anti-kulak  campaign of the early 1930s; on  the victims of Stalin's purges and labor  camps; on both sides in the Spanish  Civil War of 1936 39; on Chinese by  the Japanese army in the 1930s and  '40s; on German civilians by Allied air  raids in World War II; on Muslims and  Hindus in the partition of India in 1948;  on Indonesian Communists and their  sympathizers after the Suharto coup of  1965; on Chinese by Mao Zedong during  the Cultural Revolution; on Vietnamese  by the U. S. Army; on North Koreans by  their government; on Kurds by the Turks  and Iraqis; on Iraqis by Saddam Hussein;  on Bosnians, Serbs and Croatians by one  another; on Syrians by the Assad regime,  etc., etc.
And such a list, needless to say,  omits dozens and dozens of smaller-scale  genocidal atrocities. Nor are  the researchers at Dartmouth the only  ones guilty of emptying the term genocide   which was introduced after the  Holocaust to signify an attempt, like that  of the Nazis, to exterminate another people  in its entirety  of all meaning. On  the contrary, the word has been used  more and more indiscriminately in recent  years, so that the world hardly blinked  when Israel was accused of genocide for  its inadvertent killing of 20 Palestinian  civilians in its attack on a terrorist-infested  refugee camp in Jenin in 2002.
Real genocides have certainly occurred  in modern times: white America's extermination  of its native Indian population,  the extermination of the Armenians  in Turkey, the Nazi extermination of  European Jewry, the Hutu extermination  of Tutsis. But when everything is  genocide, nothing is. It's time to return  the word to the dictionaries and let it  stay there. Extermination will do nicely,  thank you.




15


 


June 26, 2014 Thursday

 Russia, China subverting Obama's 'pivot' to Asia; 
GUEST COLUMNIST

 
Rachel Marsden
The irony of recent U.S. foreign interventions is that despite Uncle Sam's best efforts, the ultimate benefactor ends up being America's primary economic rival in the area in question. It should come as no surprise that the two economic rivals who usually benefit are China and Russia, both absolute masters of subversion.
According to ancient Chinese military expert Sun Tzu: "Fighting on a battlefield is the most primitive way of making war. There is no art higher than to destroy your enemy without a fight by subverting anything of value in your enemy's country." 
Despite America having invested billions in Iraq, the ultimate beneficiary of Iraqi oil contracts is now China. U.S. President Barack Obama is even sending Special Forces "advisers" back into Iraq in an effort to quell a jihadi insurgency - all while China kicks back and American taxpayers foot the bill for Chinese asset protection.
To quote Vladimir Lenin on subversion: "They (the capitalists) will furnish credits which will serve us for the support of the Communist Party in their countries and, by supplying us materials and technical equipment which we lack, will restore our military industry necessary for our future attacks against our suppliers. To put it in other words, they will work on the preparation of their own suicide."
"Putinomics" have since replaced the communist ideology of the old Soviet Union, but we've recently witnessed Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence chief, subvert Western-orchestrated unrest in Ukraine to annex that country's resource-rich eastern section.
So, now what? What kind of efforts will America now exert, only to have them exploited by its Eurasian rivals? Look no further than Obama's so-called "pivot" to Asia.
Why do we rarely hear about the fact that China has secured Iraq's oil contracts? Because China didn't flaunt it. By contrast, in promoting a pivot to Asia, Obama not only showed his cards, but he effectively announced an incursion into China and Russia's backyard.
One of the primary focal points for East vs. West economic warfare in Asia is Indonesia, home to the resource-rich but endlessly conflict-plagued Grasberg gold and copper mine - it's the world's largest gold mine - in which America's Freeport-McMoRan and the British-Australian Rio Tinto hold joint interests.
No nation is keener on raw minerals than China, the world's manufacturing base. Knowing that Russia and China are best buds, should it have come as any surprise that Russian mining oligarch Oleg Deripaska successfully convinced the Indonesian government earlier this year that an export ban on mineral ore would be in Indonesia's best interests (right after China had stockpiled all it needed, of course), to drive up prices and force the building of new domestic facilities?
Indonesia has also imposed a new export tax against Western mining operations that applies to the minerals that were exempted from the ban. The export ban is seen as a quid pro quo between Indonesia and Russia after Russia's pledge to invest billions of dollars to build Indonesian smelters and processing plants. The tax is regarded as an attempt to force Western interests into similar pledges.
Western mining companies have already made alleged payoffs to Indonesian military figures and public officials to maintain the security and viability of their operations in the world's largest Muslim country (and a notorious terrorism hotbed), and now they're faced with more extortion: Build us smelters or pay the price.
History suggests that Indonesia's primary preoccupation is keeping military and political leaders ensconced in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, thanks largely to private corporations. If Russia and China can fill that need, then Western companies with assets in Indonesia - the cornerstone of Obama's economic pivot to Asia - are at risk of becoming obsolete in that part of the world. Those companies should be giving serious thought to Plan B in the event that Indonesia nationalizes its assets, and those companies' multi-billion-dollar investments are ultimately co-opted to serve 's - cal competitors.
If there's any doubt about the effectiveness of such subversion, recall what we've just witnessed with Russia in Ukraine and with China in Iraq.




15



 


June 24, 2014 Tuesday

 Shirts to go with that old suicide vest It's 'hate' couture

 
  Hate merchants are peddling hoodies, T-shirts and dolls branded with the logo of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. 
  The ghoulish gear is available  sites of several Indonesian retailers - which advertise their wares on Facebook.  
  One shirt, bearing the slogan "Mujahideen Around the World/United We Stand," shows muscle-bound fighters wearing keffiyehs and brandishing AK-47s like heroes from an action flick. 
  Retailer Zirah Moslem promotes what it calls the "Islamic Style Movement" on its Web site, which features clothing extolling the terrorist groups Hamas and the Taliban and shirts that say, "We declare war. Fight Against Zionists." 
  The ISIS T-shirts - which are listed in the retailer's outdoor-wear/sporting-goods section - show images of Kalashnikov rifles and a map of the world, an apparent reference to the terrorists' plans for global domination. 
  Other Indonesia-based merchants peddling jihadi rags include Kavkaz Struggle Wear, which sells T-shirts with the slogan "I Love Jihad" in English and Arabic, and Rezji Islamic Clothing and Shop, which advertises small action figures of ISIS fighters. 
  None of the retailers' Web sites or Facebook pages said whether profits fund ISIS's violent campaign.  
  The pages were taken down after The Post brought them to Facebook's attention, according to a rep for the social-media giant. 
  "At Facebook, we have rules that bar direct statements of hate, attacks on private individuals and groups, and the promotion of terrorism,"  Israel Hernandez said.  
  ISIS's brutal campaign in Iraq has won plenty of supporters among Sunni Muslims in Indonesia, local terror expert Solahudin told the Web site Vocativ, which first revealed the vile trend. 
  "They see that ISIS has succeeded in some areas in Syria and Iraq. They've already declared an Islamic state there. A caliphate is the ultimate goal for every jihadist in Indonesia," said Solahudin, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.  
  Some believers think that the movement could signal the start of an Armageddon-like war in which "infidels" will be crushed and Muslims will reign supreme. 
  "Various hadith [sayings of the Prophet Muhammad] predict an apocalyptic war, with one hadith signaling that it will start in Syria," Solahudin said. 
  Jihadi groups are legal in Indonesia, and it is believed that at least 50 Indonesians have joined thousands of other foreign fighters waging war against the Syrian and now Iraqi governments. And in a recent video, Indonesian jihadis urged their countrymen to join the fight in Iraq. 




15



 





 


June 19, 2014 Thursday

 9 missing after second boat sinks off Malaysia

 
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Nine people were missing after a boat carrying 27 Indonesian workers overturned Thursday off Malaysia's west coast, the country's maritime agency said, in the second such accident in two days. 
On Wednesday, an overcrowded wooden boat carrying Indonesian migrants home sank in choppy seas, with 23 people still missing. Eleven people were confirmed dead and at least 63 survived.
Maritime agency official Hamid Mohamad Amin said the second boat capsized early Thursday in rough seas about 12 miles (20 kilometers) off Sepang town on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. He said 18 people, including four women, were rescued by passing merchant ships but nine others were still missing.
One of the survivors was injured seriously and was hospitalized.
Hamid said the small boat was believed to have been headed to Tanjung Balai on Indonesia's Sumatra island to bring the workers back ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He said the boat was overcrowded and its capacity was only 10 people.
Tens of thousands of Indonesians work without legal permits in plantations and other industries in Malaysia, and they travel between the countries by crossing the narrow Strait of Malacca, often in poorly equipped boats.
On Wednesday, a boat with 97 Indonesians capsized about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from shore on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur while trying to leave Malaysia illegally for Aceh province in Indonesia.
District maritime official Mohamad Hambali Yaakup said several dozen vessels and a helicopter were scouring the area Thursday for the 23 missing people.
The survivors, including 12 women and a child, were rescued at sea or found on land after they swam to safety. Two women and nine men were among the dead.
Indonesian Ambassador Herman Prayitno told local media late Wednesday that the migrants on the boat to Aceh had paid up to $373 each for the trip back to Indonesia to celebrate Ramadan. He said the boat was overloaded.
"It is a sad tragedy," he said. "Many of them were in the country illegally as their tourist visas had expired and they had overstayed. They were finding work here but were on their way back to Indonesia for Ramadan."
Such incidents are common in Malaysia, which has up to 2 million Indonesian migrants who are working illegally.




15



 


June 18, 2014 Wednesday

 Malaysia says 66 missing after ship capsizes

 
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A wooden boat carrying 97 Indonesian migrants capsized and sank after leaving Malaysia's west coast as rescuers scrambled to try to save 66 people still missing, Malaysia's maritime agency said today. 
The boat was believed to have sunk shortly after midnight while trying to leave Malaysia illegally, said the agency's official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media
He said that the Indonesians, including women and children, were believed to be heading home ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
The Malaysian official said that 31 people have been rescued so far. A ship and several boats were searching for survivors and a helicopter will soon be dispatched, he said.
No reason was immediately given for the accident.




15



 


June 18, 2014 Wednesday

 Malaysia says 66 missing after ship capsizes

 
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's maritime agency says a wooden boat carrying 97 Indonesians has capsized off the country's west coast, with 66 people still missing.
An official with the agency says the boat was believed to have sank while trying to leave Malaysia illegally to take home the Indonesians ahead of the start of the Muslim fasting month.
The official, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said Wednesday that 31 people have been rescued so far.
No reason was immediately given for the accident. 




15


 


June 18, 2014 Wednesday  


 IN BRIEF

 
FORMER PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ARRESTED
 JERUSALEM - The Israeli army has re-arrested 51 former Palestinian prisoners as part of a furious search for three missing Israeli teens believed to have been abducted in the West Bank. 
 Army spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said today that the 51 were among more than 65 Palestinians detained overnight in the search for the teens.
 The 51 were part of a group of 1,027 Palestinians released in 2011 from Israeli prisons in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in 2006.
 Israel believes Hamas was behind the abduction of the teens, who disappeared last week on the way home from a religious seminary.
 Lerner says that since the disappearance, a total of 240 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank.
BOAT CARRYING MIGRANTS SINKS
 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - A wooden boat carrying 97 Indonesian migrants capsized and sank after leaving Malaysia's west coast as rescuers scrambled to try to save 66 people still missing, Malaysia's maritime agency said today.
 The boat was believed to have sunk shortly after midnight while trying to leave Malaysia illegally, said the agency's official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
 He said that the Indonesians, including women and children, were believed to be heading home ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
 The Malaysian official said that 31 people have been rescued so far. A ship and several boats were searching for survivors and a helicopter was to be dispatched, he said.
RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS KILLED BY MORTAR FIRE
 MOSCOW - Two Russian journalists for a Russian state-owned TV channel died Tuesday in eastern Ukraine after being hit by mortar fire, the Rossiya 24 network said.
 Correspondent Igor Kornelyuk, 37, died during surgery in a hospital after being wounded while on assignment in Luhansk. The whereabouts of the sound engineer who was with him were unknown throughout the day, but in late evening the network announced that Anton Voloshin had been confirmed dead as well.
 Viktor Denisov, a cameraman working with Kornelyuk, said in a television broadcast that they were filming Ukrainian refugees fleeing the area north of the regional capital when mortar fire began. Denisov was not next to Kornelyuk when he was wounded.
TYPE: Briefs




15



 



June 18, 2014 Wednesday  


 World Digest: June 17, 2014

 

BRITAIN

Top envoy: Embassy in Iran set to reopen
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday that "circumstances are right" to reopen Britain's embassy in Iran, which was closed in 2011 after a mob stormed the building and ransacked it.
The announcement, in the works for months as part of a slow rapprochement between the nations, comes during a pronounced thaw between Iran and the West in recent days. U.S. officials are also looking for common ground with Iran as they seek ways to quell mounting violence in Iraq.
Hague told Parliament he is satisfied that embassy personnel would be safe in the Iranian capital, Tehran. He said "a range of practical issues" have to be resolved before the embassy can begin operations again. "It is our intention to re-open the embassy in Tehran with a small initial presence as soon as these practical arrangements have been made," he said in the statement. 
The decision is part of a gradual improvement in ties since moderate Hassan Rouhani became Iran's president in August.
- Associated Press

NIGERIA

Suicide bomber hits World Cup gathering
A suicide bomber in a tricycle taxi set off an explosion at a World Cup viewing center in northeastern Nigeria on Tuesday, killing several people, witnesses said.
Hospital workers said the death toll likely will rise with 15 people critically wounded and casualties still arriving at Damaturu, state capital of Yobe state.
Islamist Boko Haram militants have targeted soccer viewing centers and sports bars in recent weeks, killing at least 40 people in two blasts in northern cities.
Witnesses said the tricycle taxi was driven into the outdoor area soon after the Brazil-Mexico match started Tuesday night. 
Nigeria's military has promised increased security but appears incapable of halting a stream of attacks by extremists holding more than 250 schoolgirls hostage.
- Associated Press

CHINA

Explosion at armory kills 17 soldiers 
An accidental explosion ripped through an armory in central China and killed 17 soldiers while they were stacking ammunition, state media said Wednesday.
The blast took place Tuesday afternoon in the Hunan province city of Hengyang, and its cause was under investigation, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
A Hengyang  policewoman confirmed the accident  and said no civilians were injured. The armory is in a rural township on the outskirts of Hengyang. China's military operates with a high degree of secrecy, and information is  tightly controlled.
- Associated Press

PHILIPPINES

Militant suspected in U.S. abduction caught
Philippine security forces have captured two Abu Sayyaf militants in a southern city, including one alleged to have been involved in the kidnappings of an American teenager and an Australian man, officials said Tuesday.
Police and army troops captured Jimmy Nurilla and Bakrin Haris in a raid on their hideout in a region where al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf has carried out kidnappings for ransom, bombings, extortion and other acts.
Nurilla was thought to have been involved in a number of kidnappings, including of American Kevin Lunsmann, who was 14 when he escaped from his Abu Sayyaf captors in 2011 after five months in captivity. Nurilla also has been suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of Australian Warren Richard Rodwell, who was freed in March last year after 15 months of captivity.
- Associated Press
 66 missing as boat sinks off Malaysia:  A wooden boat carrying 97 Indonesian migrants sank after leaving Malaysia's west coast as rescuers scrambled to try to save 66 people still missing, Malaysia's maritime agency said Wednesday. The boat was believed to have sunk shortly after midnight while trying to leave Malaysia illegally, an official said. He said that the Indonesians, including women and children, were believed to be heading home ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
 8 killed as police, protesters clash in Pakistan:  Eight people were killed as police clashed with followers of an anti-Taliban cleric critical of Pakistan's government in the eastern city of Lahore, officials said. The cleric, Tahirul Qadri, is based in Canada but has a network of mosques and religious centers in Pakistan. He plans to return Monday and rally against the government.
 Israel detains dozens more in search for teens:  Israel arrested more than 40 Palestinians and imposed new punishments on Hamas prisoners as the search continues for three teens suspected to have been abducted by Hamas operatives in the West Bank. The arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained since the teens disappeared last week to more than 200. Israel's prime minister has urged the international community to press the Western-backed Palestinian Authority president to sever ties with Hamas over the abductions.
 Egypt's Sissi swears in new government: Egypt's new cabinet was sworn in by President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, who was inaugurated June 8. The swearing-in  took place at the presidential palace in Cairo. The government of 34 ministers  is led by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, who had served as the interim premier for  five months.
- From news services




15


 


June 16, 2014 Monday  


 Public Schools in Indonesia Feel Islamic Pressure

 
When Lies Marcoes heard that her daughter's high school, in Bogor, Indonesia, required all female Muslim students to wear a head veil once a week, she was furious. Although she herself was a Muslim and a graduate of an Islamic university in Jakarta, she went to the school to object to the imposition of the religious uniform in a state school.
As a result of her protest, she said, the order was rescinded -- though her teenage daughter decided to wear the head scarf anyway to fit in with her friends.
About 400 kilometers, or 260 miles, away, in Yogyakarta, central Java, another parent, Tri Agus Susanto Siswowiharjo, says he would like to send his daughters to a public secondary school, but he, too, is worried that they would have to wear Islamic dress. 
Mr. Tri Agus, a political communications lecturer at a rural-development college whose wife is Catholic, now sends his daughters to a private Catholic primary school. Although he is a Muslim, he said he believed that religion belonged in the private sphere and should not be imposed.
''If they want to learn about their religion, they can learn about it at home,'' he said in an interview.
Many parents like Ms. Lies and Mr. Tri Agus say they expect public schools to be neutral and to reflect the multicultural heritage of a country that recognizes six religions.
But, in the past 10 to 15 years, schools have increasingly adopted policies that favor Islam, the majority religion, ordering Muslim students to wear Muslim-styled uniforms either every day or at least on Fridays, when Muslims go to mosque. Some schools also require Muslim students to recite verses from the Koran every morning before the lessons begin.
The rise of Islamic practices in public schools, mirroring a rise in fundamentalism across the country, makes parents like Ms. Lies and Mr. Tri Agus uneasy.
''I sent my children to public schools, so that they could learn universal values, have different kinds of friends and learn pluralist ideas,'' Ms. Lies said.
The rise in such practices has affected teachers too. Henny Supolo, head of Yayasan Cahaya Guru, a teachers' nonprofit foundation, said that from 2007 to 2010, the organization provided training to 4,500 teachers from 2,000 schools, an overwhelming majority of whom were female teachers from public schools. ''We noticed that almost all of them wore jilbab as uniform,'' Ms. Supolo said, referring to what Indonesians call the Islamic head scarf. ''Jilbab has become part of uniform for female public school teachers whom we met.''
This is alarming, she said: ''If jilbab has become part of the uniform at public schools, then the function of public schools as a place to sow plurality to our children will disappear.''
Retno Listyarti, secretary general of the Indonesian Teachers' Union Federation, put the issue bluntly: ''Public schools have become religious schools,'' she said.
Some schools now hold a daily mass recital of the Koran before formal classes begin. In one school in eastern Jakarta, Muslim students spend 15 to 20 minutes reading the Koran every morning, guided through a public address system, said a teacher at the school, speaking on condition that neither she nor the school be identified, for fear of professional repercussions.
Christian students sit together in one room, within hearing of the Koranic recital, to read the Bible, the teacher said. Hindu and Buddhist students, who don't have their own religious teachers in the school, read their religious texts while sitting in the same rooms as their Muslim classmates reciting the Koran.
''This shows that the majority is always right, while the minority has to adapt,'' the teacher said.
Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population -- more than 200 million, or nearly 90 percent of its citizens profess the Islamic faith -- is often praised as a model of moderate Islam.
But in recent years, the country has faced a rise of Sunni radicalism and religious intolerance. The Indonesian Children Protection Commission has warned that radical tenets are being increasingly being taught at every age level, from kindergarten to university.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has consistently been among the worst performers in the Program for International Student Assessment -- the triennial test given to 15- and 16-year-old students from 65 countries by the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development. In the PISA rankings, Indonesian students' scores in math, reading and science lag behind the average of their peers.
Despite this, Indonesia's most recent curriculum overhaul, rolled out last year, gave more emphasis and time to religious education, while merging science and social studies with other classes.
Educators like Ms. Supolo have urged the Education Ministry to take action against the spread of Islamic uniforms and other religious distinctions. But the ministry's spokesman, Ibnu Hamad, says the central government does not have powers to intervene. Such issues ''are largely under the jurisdiction of local governments, in the framework of regional autonomy,'' he said.
Emboldened by decentralization, which began after the fall of the authoritarian regime of former President Suharto in 1998, local politicians have often pushed a populist, religiously inspired agenda, saying that it could counter social problems including teenage pregnancy and drug abuse.
''We are so nervous in facing social and moral problems like teen delinquency that we are turning to irrational religious teachings,'' Ms. Lies said.
Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, who is doing a field study on women's rights in several provinces, says the imposition of Muslim dress code on public-school students and teachers is now widespread, ''from kindergarten to high school.''
Implementation can vary: ''Sometimes it's based on the school's own decision, sometimes it's the district head's decree, the mayor's or the governor's,'' Mr. Harsono said. But in each case, ''the central government, in this case the Ministry of Education, just lets it happen.''
Jilbab, which has become so ubiquitous in Indonesia, became popular only in the post-Suharto years. Before then, public school students and teachers were banned from wearing head veils on school grounds and those who did so could be expelled. For some female activists like Ms. Lies, wearing a jilbab was a symbol of resistance to Mr. Suharto's iron-fisted rule.
In those years, the head veil ''was the case of Islamic schools versus state- owned ones,'' said Dewi Candraningrum, editor of the feminist Jurnal Perempuan (Women's Journal) and author of the book ''Negotiating Women's Veiling.'' The Islamic uniform -- a long skirt, a long-sleeved shirt and a jilbab for girls -- was worn only by students of schools run by Islamic organizations like Muhammadiyah every Friday.
But as the government loosens up, allowing students and teachers to wear the head veil -- should they choose to do so -- has become a mark of religious difference even within schools. ''Muslim schoolgirls now have to wear a jilbab,'' Ms. Dewi said. ''Jilbab has become a symbol of Muslim girls, who are supposed to look different from non-Muslim girls.''
Ms. Retno, the teachers' union official, says nobody should be prohibited from wearing a head veil but no one should be forced or coerced to wear one either. ''Wearing a jilbab should be voluntary,'' said Ms. Retno, who wears one.




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June 3, 2014 Tuesday

 Peter Lucas: Fortunately, a D-Day conversation that never happened

 
Here is a transcript of the trans-Atlantic telephone conversation that would have taken place between General Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and President Barack Obama on the eve of the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944. Friday is the 70th anniversary of the landing.
President Obama: General, are you sure we are doing the right thing by going ahead with this invasion? 
Ike: It's too late to turn back now.
Obama: I should have flown to Berchtesgaden and talked with Mr. Hitler. Or at least called.
Ike: He won't take your calls.
Obama: OK, Ike. But listen, my speech writers have gone over your proposed pre-invasion remarks to our brave troops. We have a problem with parts of you speech.
Ike: What's the problem?
Obama: Well, you say the Allied forces are about to embark on "a great crusade."
Ike: So?
Obama: We think the term "crusade" might be offensive to our Muslim friends. You know, reminding them of the awful Crusades of the Middle Ages.
Ike: Really?
Obama: Not that I'm a Muslim, even though I grew up in Indonesia. I'm a Christian -- an Episcopalian, or Baptist, or something. I just know a lot of Muslims. Islam is a religion of peace. Everyone knows that. Didn't you read my Cairo speech?
Ike: No, I was busy fighting the Nazis in North Africa.
Obama: North Africa? I'm not sure we should be invading countries like that just because they don't like us. We should partner with them, use international law, build coalitions, use diplomacy, food stamps and EBT cards and, as a last resort, draw a red line in the sand, before we nail them with economic sanctions.
Ike: Mr. President, North Africa is a region, not a country .
Obama: I know that.
Ike: Besides, we also just invaded Sicily and Italy.
Obama: I read about that in the Washington Post this morning. Nobody told me. Just like nobody told me our brave Marine Corpse is fighting the Japanese in the Pacific.
Ike: It's Marine Corps, not Corpse.
Obama: I know that. I am, after all, the commander in chief, just like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. And I was elected to end wars, not to start them.
Ike: Mr. President, we didn't start this war. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
Obama: Don't tell me about Pearl Harbor. I grew up in Hawaii, remember? We used to dive for pearls in Pearl Harbor when we were not getting high in high school. High in high school, get it?
Ike: I was at West Point.
Obama: I know West Point. I make speeches there. Nobody claps. I don't think they like black folks. Anyway, your speech to the troops needs work. You should not be telling the soldiers that the "hopes and prayers" of liberty-loving people are with them. Hope is all right. We believe in hope and change. But as a president who taught constitutional law, I think mentioning prayer is going too far, given the separation of church and state and all that.
Ike: The troops take comfort in believing in God, Mr. President. Every combat unit going into Normandy Beach has a chaplain with it.
Obama: Yes, and we are going to have to do something about that. Also, you are really putting me in a difficult position when you say, "We will accept nothing less than full victory" over Germany. That boxes me in. I need you to rewrite that to say that we need a "responsible" end to the war, not total victory. That's not the way we end wars these days. A negotiated settlement would be even better. I need you to say something about women, too.
Ike: Women?
Obama: Yes. Your opening is terrible. You say, "Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force." What about the women? And gays, and transgenders? Your personal driver, Kate Summersby, is a woman, right?
Ike: You leave her out of this.
Obama: All right, don't get touchy. I know you're married. I was just making a point. I just think we should not have too easy of a victory. We don't want to embarrass the Germans. I may have to negotiate and partner with them later. We have to make them like us.
Ike: You can't negotiate with tyrants, terrorists and war criminals.
Obama: I do it all the time. As we used to say at the faculty lounge: War is a criminal enterprise, and we are all war criminals. Our soldiers are victims as well. That is why I don't want any signing ceremonies aboard battleships or aircraft carriers when this is over. There is nothing to celebrate.
Ike: How do you know so much about war?
Obama: I watch war movies. We used to dissect them during class breaks in the faculty lounge. War movies are hell, but I do love them so. There are no victors in war, only losers.
Ike: Are you calling me a loser?
Obama: Not yet. But I will if you lose at Normandy. I'm not taking the blame. You'll take the fall. You see, everything is political. And I know you're a closet Republican who wants to run for president.
Peter Lucas' political column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email him at luke1825@aol.com




16



 


May 29, 2014 Thursday

 Indonesia smear campaign nips at election frontrunner Joko Widodo; 
A social media campaign is circulating rumors that the popular Jakarta governor is an ethnic Chinese Christian. The majority Muslim country holds presidential elections in July.

 
Two months before a presidential election in Indonesia, the slam-dunk favorite candidate finds himself in a surprisingly tight race.
Jakarta's reformist governor, Joko Widodo, has topped approval ratings with double-digit leads over potential rivals for at least a year. Now that momentum is stalling for the man many saw as a shoo-in to lead Indonesia's promising, but still unconsolidated, democracy. While still popular, Mr. Widodo is battling a smear campaign that plays on religious sensitivities in a multi-faith country of 247 million people, of whom 88 percent are Muslim.
The mud slinging, known here as a "black campaign," accuses Widodo of covering up his true race and religion and of promoting religious minorities during his career. Religion and ethnicity have repeatedly been a flashpoint in Indonesia. The presidential election will be held July 9.  
Pictures started circulating on social media in mid-May of what purports to be Widodo's marriage certificate. The certificate claims to show that Widodo is of Chinese descent and originally a Christian. Anonymous messages sent via Blackberry message groups accuse Widodo of downplaying Islam.
"He enjoys promoting Christians," read one message. "Please Muslims. Pray for our country."
Widodo, who says he is a secular Muslim, initially ignored the attacks. On Sunday he addressed them for the first time, saying that he and his wife had been on the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest site. His campaign will launch an investigation into the source of the documents, which they call counterfeits, and taking unspecified legal action, according to the Jakarta Post.
Parliamentary poll setback
The rumors may be gaining traction after Widodo's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) polled lower than expected at parliamentary elections in April, says Fauzi Ichsan, senior economist and head of government relations at Standard Chartered Bank in Jakarta. "The first knock against Jokowi was PDI-Ps election result," he says, referring to Widodo by his popular nickname. "The black campaigns are sort of feeding on that at least for some people." 
Even before the smear campaign, Widodo's support had been ebbing. In April, Widodo was the preferred candidate of 52 percent of respondents to a survey conducted by Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting in Jakarta, down two percentage points from the previous month. His closest rival, retired Gen. Prawbowo Subianto, saw support surge eight percentage points during the same period to 36 percent, as he kept to a tightly scripted campaign and limited press interviews.
The smear campaign isn't solely targeting Widodo, either: His rival Mr. Subianto has been accused of taking citizenship in Jordan after he went into exile in the late 1990s. "Smear campaigns are a sign of panic. Don't spread lies and don't make baseless accusations," Subianto told reporters recently. 
Widodo's popularity and track record of tackling pocketbook issues like poverty, corruption, and transportation in Jakarta may be enough to sway voters, no matter his religion.
"I don't care about the religion of Jokowi or his parents," said Nani, a Jakarta school teacher who gave only her first name. "What we want is a good president, who cares about Indonesian society and the country."
Others still support the frontrunner, but mention their preference for Muslim candidates. "For Jokowi? I don't care" about his religion, said Z. Muhammed Ali, a business owner in Palembang, the regional capital of South Sumatra province. "But I know that if I had a choice between a good Muslim and good non-Muslim I would choose the first one."
Ineffectual campaigning 
An ineffective campaign may also be contributing to Widodo's doldrums, says veteran Indonesian analyst Kevin O'Rourke. A politician who was famous for his impromptu visits to government offices and slums is nowadays more often seen on television courting political heavyweights for support.
"He's spending too much time fraternizing with elites and spouting anachronistic rhetoric instead of visiting constituents and speaking in no-nonsense terms about real problems like corruption and services," says Mr. O'Rourke.
Nor did Widodo's party capitalize on his popularity for April's parliamentary elections: few campaign posters featured his picture. PDI-P polled first, but got fewer seats than projected. Under Indonesia's election rules, parties need to clear a threshold in parliament in order to nominate a presidential candidate. 
To be sure, July's election is still Widodo's to lose. For his running mate, he tapped former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, a businessman and former chairman of Indonesia's second-largest political party, who has the national economic experience that Widodo lacks. Widodo has also underlined his everyman image by wearing the trademark checkered shirts he wore during his successful Jakarta gubernatorial campaign.
The worry is that Widodo may have frittered away the big win he needs in order to push through painful economic reforms, says Mr. Ichsan of Standard Chartered. "People want the next government to be more solid than the current coalition."




16


 The Florida Times-Union 
Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)

May 24, 2014 Saturday

 Moderate Muslims often get ignored

 
Many Americans have a naïve view of Islam.
They tend to believe that supporters of the Muslim faith are monolithic in their views; that the Quran is a harsh, punitive holy book; that Sharia Law in practice would destroy everyone's freedom; and that "they"- a vague other - are out to destroy Western capitalism and democracy, particularly in the United States.
OneJax in partnership with the Istanbul Cultural Center of Jacksonville offered a different perspective recently at WJCT, sponsoring Mustafa Akyol, a young Turkish journalist and author of the new book "Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case of Liberty ." 
Akyol has written extensively for Turkish and Western publications, has read widely in history and his faith, and is a practicing Muslim.
He questions literal interpretations of the Quran held by conservative Muslims much as modern, moderate Christians question interpretations of the Bible held by fundamentalist Christians.
Akyol notes that the Quran was written in the eighth century in a world very different from today.
It acknowledges Jewish and Christian antecedents, stresses individual rights, property rights, personal dignity and equality before the law. Above all, his God is a loving God.
There is no mention in the Quran of an Islamic state, religious police or the veiling of women, all practices developed subsequently by segments of the faith. Other practices, such as female mutilation, were tribal custom pre-dating Islam and also are not part of true Muslim beliefs.
Following the Prophet Mohammed's death, trusted successors or caliphs attempted to carry forward the faith. As with other religions, questions arose.
Wise men attempted answers developed in the context of their times. Some were wise and long lasting as in the rituals of Ramadan. Others represented the interests of tribal rulers seeking their own advantages.
The multiple Muslim conquests across North Africa, into the Balkans and deep into Southeast Asia reflected political expansionism and the spreading of the faith. Christian nations acted similarly in their turn.
The rise of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century established pluralist states in which Serbs, Greeks and others could remain Christian. When the Spanish Inquisition drove Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, they found a home among the Muslims. This tolerance of other faiths lasted until the 20th century.
The contemporary world has seen harsh lines drawn but also increased dialogue between religious faiths. An example of the latter is the Table of Abraham among Christians, Jews and Muslims in Jacksonville.
Underlying the harsh lines are the political realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Sunni-Shiite hostilities; and Persian, Arab and Taliban antagonism to Western policies, both military and economic, since World War II.
Much of Western blame is placed on the Islamic faith. But at the heart of the conflict is often money and power. Religion becomes the justification for the perpetuation of autocratic government, oppression and violence.
While much of the news reflects the hard lines of the Taliban or Muslim Brotherhood and is expressed in religious terms, there also are Turks, Indonesians, Indians, Malaysians - not to mention Europeans and Americans-Muslims seeking more tolerant, rational relationships with the West while maintaining their faith.
Mustafa Akyol's sharing of a more tolerant Islam challenges the more rigid adherents to the faith and offers an olive branch to non-Muslims. His diverse audience responded warmly.
James B. Crooks is former co-chair of the Istanbul Cultural Council advisory committee, professor emeritus of history from the University of North Florida and former chair of the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission.




16


 Bangor Daily News 
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

May 15, 2014 Thursday

 Religion calendar for May 17-24

 
- Gospel music concert by The Hyssongs, 6 p.m. Sunday, June 1, Messiah Baptist Church, 985 Union St. Free, but a free-will offering will be taken. 947-7950.

BANGOR -- Family Film Night showing "Captain America: The First Avenger" plus potluck, 5 p.m. Saturday, May 31, Hope Lutheran Church, 1520 Union St. Free. 990-5900 or contact@hopebangor.org

BANGOR -- Kids Bible Club, 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesdays, Glad Tidings Church, 1033 Broadway. For children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Choose from sports or crafts, followed by Bible time and a light meal. For information, call 947-0324, ext. 15, or visit facebook.com/gtcbangor.

BANGOR -- Free community meal, noon Sundays, Columbia Street Baptist Church, 63 Columbia St. 945-6616. 

BANGOR -- Fun Fenway Trip to Boston to see the Red Sox battle the Minnesota Twins, June 18. Round-trip bus and seat for the game, $135. Only 50 seats available. Lunch stop on way there; dinner stop in Kennebunk on way back. Prizes available on trip to Boston. Cyr Bus Coach will pick up at 7 a.m. at Dysart's Truck Stop in Hermon. Pick-up stops in Augusta and Portland. Proceeds benefit the church's campaign to wipe out malaria in Africa. For information or tickets, call Grace United Methodist Church at 942-8320.

BELFAST -- Belfast Area Friends Meeting, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), moved to a new worship space. Silent, unprogrammed Meeting for Worship, 11 a.m. Sundays, The Lounge at First Baptist Church, 95 High St. Take the path through the Peace Garden to enter the Friends' worship space. Handicapped-accessible. Child care available. For information, call 338-3080 or 930-3518.

BLUE HILL -- Peaceable Kingdom Day Camp, mornings Monday-Friday, June 23-27, First Congregational Church. For children ages 5-10 (older than age 10 can be helpers). Indoor and outdoor art, music and nature activities. No fee; donations welcome. Call Wendy Ritger by June 10 at 374-2891 or email bhcongo@yahoo.com

BLUE HILL -- Free Celtic Spirituality session, "A New Harmony: The Spirit, the Earth and the Human Soul," with the Rev. Dr. John Philip Newell, 10:30-11:45 a.m. Wednesdays, May 21-June 25, St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church, 330 Hinckley Ridge Road. Co-facilitators, the Revs. Claudia Smith and Gary Vencill. Partner organizations, The Spiritual Life and Learning Center at St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church and Reversing Falls Sanctuary. For information or to reserve copy of book, call 374-5200.

BLUE HILL -- Downeast Spiritual Life Conference, "Rebirthing the Divine with John Philip Newell: The Spirit, the Earth and the Human Soul," July 11-12, Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. Sponsored by St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church's Spiritual Life and Learning Center. For information or to register, visit www.downeastspiritual.org or call 374-5200.

BLUE HILL -- "Open Mind: Sacred Scriptures from Around the World," 4:30-6 p.m. Sundays, First Congregational Church. Reading is "Analects of Confucius." For information, call Soni Turanski at 266-9530 or email turanski123@gmail.com, call the church at 374-2891, email bhcongo@yahoo.com or visit " Open Mind Study Group" Facebook page.

BLUE HILL -- Simmering Pot, free community meals, 2:30-6 p.m. Mondays, First Congregational Church of Blue Hill, 22 Tenney Hill. Eat in or take out. Worship services, 10 a.m. Sundays. Donations accepted. For information, call 374-2891.

BREWER -- Free community breakfast, 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 24, First Congregational Church of Brewer vestry, 35 Church St. 989-7350.

BREWER -- The New Renaissance Singers, 7 p.m. Saturday, May 31, First Congregational Church of Brewer, 35 Church St. 989-7350.

BREWER -- Plant milkweed as part of Bring Back the Monarchs to mark the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson's death, 1 p.m. June 1, First Congregational Church of Brewer, 35 Church St. 989-7350.

CAMDEN -- Special spring music night, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 18, Chestnut Street Baptist Church, 29 Chestnut St. 236-2195.

CAMDEN -- Testimony meetings, 7:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays; Sunday service, 10-11 a.m.; Sunday school for up to age 20, 10-11 a.m.; Christian Science Reading Room open to listen to chats, lectures and read inspirational magazines, noon-3 p.m Tuesday, Thursday, Friday; 5:30-7:30 p.m Wednesday; 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday; 1 Central St. Librarian available at 236-4040. For information, visit www.cscamden.org.

CASTINE -- Celebration of Holy Eucharist for fifth Sunday of Easter with the Rev. Richard Armstrong, 9 a.m. Sunday, May 18, Trinity Episcopal Church, 150 Perkins St. Church school, 9 a.m.

CASTINE -- Services, 10:30 a.m. Sunday, May 18, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine Meeting House, town common. For information, call 326-9083 or email minister@uucastine.org or office@uucastine.org

CASTINE -- Sermon, "Does Hell Exist?" by the Rev. Tim Hall, 9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 18, Trinitarian Congregational Parish of Castine, 68 Main St. For information, call 326-9486 or visit www.tcpoc.org.

CHERRYFIELD -- "Zimmerman Plays Dylan -- Legend for the Lamb," 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at The Pines, Route 1A, Milbridge. The Congregational Church of Cherryfield's fund-raising event to renovate The Lamb House, a home next door to the church. The Lamb House, after renovation, will serve as an emergency home for victims who have lost their homes to fire or any other natural disaster. Lunch and dinner provided with cost of ticket, $25.

EAST EDDINGTON -- Gospel concert by The Hyssongs and Tony Gore, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 18, East Eddington Community Church, Route 9. Free will offering. 299-5949.

FRANKFORT -- Annual plant sale and spring fair, 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 17, Frankfort Congregational Church, 431 Forest Ave. Plants, garden accessories, baked goods, preserves, "Rada" knives, jewelry, attic treasures, puzzles and cookbooks.

HANCOCK, Maine -- Separate discussions about climate change and Muslim-Christian relations at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 18, The Union Congregational Church of Hancock, UCC, 1368 Route 1. Fred Quivik will offer a PowerPoint presentation during worship about climate change and his work to protect the environment from corporate polluters from a Christian perspective. After the service, the Rev. Dr. Melinda Quivik will host a PowerPoint discussion of her personal observations of Muslim-Christian relations in Indonesia.

HANCOCK -- Free film and desserts, 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, Union Congregational Church of Hancock, UCC, 1368 Route 1. Film on Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich's view of the massive consolidation of wealth and the widening income gap in the United States, directed by Jacob Kornbluth.

HOWLAND -- Food and clothing pantry, 7-11 a.m. Thursdays, Howland United Methodist Church, 23 Coffin St. 862-4281.

LIMERICK -- Regular services by Pastor John Short Jr., 10 a.m. Sundays, Maine Life Gate Christian Church, 3 Foss Road. Saturday service, 6 p.m. Sermons posted at facebook.com/MaineLifeGateChristianChurch.

MILFORD -- Yard and Bake Sale, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 17, Milford Congregational Church, 100 Main St. Yard sale items, plus home-baked foods. Lunch of hot dogs and chips.

NORTHPORT -- Northport Community Church, Saturday Cove Road, is reopened for services, 9:30 a.m. Sundays, with the Rev. Russell Bailey. The congregation had closed the church during January and February and joined services at 11 a.m. Sundays at Bayshore Baptist Church in Lincolnville, where Bailey also is pastor.

OLD TOWN -- Free community supper, 6 p.m. Friday, May 23, St. James Episcopal Church, corner of Main and Center streets.

ORONO -- The 58th annual Green Thumb Sale, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, May 31, lawn of Church of Universal Fellowship, 82 Main St. Also a food sale. Rain or shine. No early birds. Proceeds benefit church's benevolence fund. 866-3655.

PORTLAND -- Free evening on modern mysticism, 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, May 22, the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine, second floor, 555 Forest Ave., the Center for Grieving Children building, with the Rev. Guan DoJo, ChIME core faculty, as presenter. www.chimeofmaine.org; 409-9391.

ROCKLAND -- Plant sale featuring organic seedlings from Hatchet Cove Farm, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 17, First Universalist Church, 345 Broadway, Route 1A, in the large parking lot behind the building. To donate plants or garden furniture such as benches, sculpture or bird baths, call 594-8750 or email mail@uurockland.org

SEARSPORT -- Free concert and testimony by Caroll and Brenda Farley of Woodland, 10 a.m. June 15, Overcomers Christian Fellowship, 11 Frankfort Road. Love offering. 493-6653.

WATERVILLE -- A short introduction to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 6:30-8 p.m. Saturday, May 17; 4-6 p.m. Sunday, May 18, 26 Washington St. Church tour and video starting every 15 minutes, followed by light refreshments.




16


 


May 14, 2014 Wednesday  
 

 BlackBerry Unveils Low-Cost Smartphone With Indonesia in Mind

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The smartphone maker BlackBerry unveiled a new model on Tuesday that it has hopes of bringing to emerging markets in Asia and South America.
The phone, the BlackBerry Z3, will at first be available exclusively for Indonesia, one of its largest markets. John S. Chen, the chief executive of the struggling company, said it was a step toward one of the biggest parts of his job: to make the BlackBerry brand cool again. 
''BlackBerry has new technology and is financially stable,'' he said on Tuesday after an event here to announce the new phone. ''I think that's got to be the first step -- to explain that.''
''When people have no concerns about BlackBerry the company,'' he added, ''then the product will be cool again.''
BlackBerry has struggled in recent years, as its business in the crucial American market collapsed. The company posted a loss of $5.9 billion for its last fiscal year.
In 2012, Thorsten Heins was appointed chief executive with a mandate to turn the company around. He left late last year as a takeover bid for BlackBerry fell apart. Mr. Chen took the reins and said this year that he planned to focus on the company's smaller software and services business, though he added that BlackBerry would still sell phones.
Mr. Chen denied that the low-cost Z3 touch-screen model was a last-ditch effort to remain relevant in the industry.
''If this device allows them to grow again, even if it's just small, steady growth, that's a success in itself,'' said Ryan Lai, a market analyst at the consulting firm IDC, Reuters reported. ''That says there is still room for BlackBerry in Indonesia.''
BlackBerry produced the Z3 in partnership with the Foxconn Technology Group of Taiwan. Mr. Chen said that the partnership with Foxconn, which manufactures the Z3, had given BlackBerry the ability to compete in emerging markets, and that, if sales went well, ''it could be a sign of things to come.''
For its part, Foxconn is considering investing at least $1 billion in Indonesia to build manufacturing plants that would produce smartphones and other electronic devices.
BlackBerry plans to sell the Z3 in six other Asian markets, including India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and is hoping for unit sales ''in the millions'' across the region.
In Indonesia, the phone will retail for 2.2 million rupiah, or about $190. The words ''Jakarta Edition'' will be engraved on the backs of a limited run of 25,000 units.
BlackBerry held a flashy event for the Z3 on Tuesday at the Ritz-Carlton hotel here, featuring hip-hop dancers on a laser-lit stage and female ushers wearing aqua-blue cocktail dresses and black high heels.
The Z3 Jakarta Edition will go on sale in the capital on Thursday through authorized sellers, and as on many debut days for new phone models, lines are expected to be long.
The phone has several special applications for Indonesian users, including local banking and travel services, and, in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, a directory of halal food. The Z3 operates in the Indonesian national language as well as many regional dialects, including Javanese.




16


 
 
The Philadelphia Daily News

May 14, 2014 Wednesday  
FINAL Edition

 Car in Paul Walker death basis for a Porsche excuse for a lawsuit

 
THE WIDOW of the man who was driving the Porsche that crashed and killed actor Paul Walker sued Porsche on Monday, claiming design flaws caused both men to die in the fiery crash in November. 
 The wrongful death lawsuit by Kristine Rodas says her husband, Roger Rodas, was driving at 55 mph - not the nearly 95 mph claimed by investigators - before the crash. And even though Roger was driving a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT capable of more than 200 mph, Kristine's lawsuit says the vehicle lacked a proper crash cage and safety features in the gas tank that would have saved both men's lives. 
 A crash cage? Roger may have been a trained race car driver according to his wife, but he wasn't driving at Daytona. 
 The suit also contends that a failure in the car's suspension system forced it to careen out of control and strike three trees in Santa Clarita, Calif. 
 "The Carrera GT was unsafe for its intended use by reason of defects in its manufacture, design, testing, component and constituents, so that it would not safely serve its purpose," the suit states. 
 Rodas seeks unspecified damages from Porsche Cars North America, which did not immediately have a comment. 
 Kristine's attorney, Mark Geragos, said he hired the top experts in the country to evaluate the wreckage and crash. The results, he said, were an unbiased look at the accident - well, unbiased in his favor, at least - that refutes an official investigation that determined the sports car was speeding at up to 94 mph when it crashed. 
 The official California Highway Patrol investigation was released in March and concluded that it was unsafe speed and not mechanical problems that caused the crash. That investigation was aided by engineers from Porsche, who evaluated the wreckage of the rare car. 
 So, unsurprisingly, Porsche's investigators found the car was not at fault. Kristine's investigators found it was. These differing opinions will likely be a part of any trial over the lawsuit, which could take years to resolve. 
 Roger left behind two young children upon his death. He and Walker co-owned an auto racing team named Always Evolving.
Bearer of good news Remember Christ Bearer, the L.A. rapper who cut off his penis and jumped out of a second-floor window? Here's a hard news update: The penis remains the same.
 Almost.
 Bearer told TMZ.com that plastic surgeons were able to reattach his manhood and he has risen indeed, though his sexual partners may not be able to Bear children.
 Bearer says he was feeling super alone when he made the cut because, TMZ reports, he was unable to see his two daughters (those pesky restraining orders) and a third child was on the way. 
 A little weed, a little reading about monks and vasectomies and . . . let's just say it wasn't the time to be around sharp objects.
Baldwin in trouble again Alec Baldwin was arrested and issued two summonses after allegedly acting belligerently toward two police officers who had stopped him for riding his bicycle the wrong way at 16th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
 Baldwin was stopped about 10:15 a.m. and asked to show identification, they said, per police. 
 He then refused to show his ID and acted belligerently, prompting officers to handcuff him and take him, and his bicycle, to a nearby precinct, they said. 
 Baldwin is scheduled to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on the disorderly conduct summons July 24. 
 A Baldwin rep didn't immediately return a request for comment. But from his verified Twitter account, Baldwin said he'd been handcuffed for riding the wrong way on Fifth Avenue and posted the last name and badge number of the arresting officer. 
 He also tweeted that photographers outside his home had terrified his daughter.
 He also disparaged New York City, calling it "a mismanaged carnival of stupidity." 
TATTBITS * Indonesia banned the popular video sharing site Vimeo, saying it contains nudity.
 Egads.
 Officials in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, consider nudity to be pornographic. 
 Information and Communication Minister Tiffatul Sembiring said in a statement Monday that he made the decision after receiving complaints from the public. 
 Yeah, it's always the "public."
 Sembiring said that his ministry has found nearly 15,000 videos tagged with words related to nudity and ordered all Indonesia-based Internet service providers to block Vimeo. 
 For its part, Vimeo said its video guidelines prohibit sexually explicit material or pornography, but allow artistic and nonsexual nudity. 
 Indonesia's controversial anti-porn law, passed in 2008, says pornography includes either nudity or nuditylike features.
 What do you think qualifies as a nuditylike feature?
 * ABC News' headquarters in New York has been named in honor of Barbara Walters, who's retiring after a five-decade television reporting career. 
 Walters is especially fond of the building because she likes the view.
 * Time Home Entertainment said yesterday that it is relaunching its Time-Life Books brand, long a staple of late-night TV advertisements, and will sell them in stores instead of by mail. 
 The company is now selling the imprint's first two books: World War II in 500 Photographs and Everything You Need to Know About the Bible. 
 Isn't everything you need to know about the Bible . . . in the Bible?
 - Daily News wire services
 contributed to this report.
 Email: gensleh@phillynews.com
 Phone: 215-854-5678
On Twitter: @DNTattle




16


 VNU Business Media, Inc.
 

hollywoodreporter.com

May 8, 2014 Thursday

 'Noah' Won't Get China Release Date Due to Religious Theme

 
Mainland Chinese censors have denied Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic Noah a slot in the world's second-biggest film market, citing religious reasons, a distribution source who requested anonymity said. 
"This was for religious reasons, though it seems the whole issue was quite complicated," the source told The Hollywood Reporter. 
The movie was due to screen mid-May and was being imported on a flat-fee basis, which means that it did not come under the quota of 34 overseas movies allowed into China on a revenue-share basis.
However, even flat-fee movies have to get censorship approval and this was not to be. Religion is a sensitive issue in defiantly secular China, and the biblical tale was always going to be closely scrutinized. A number of Muslim countries such as Indonesia have already banned the movie.
STORY: Russell Crowe's 'Noah' Banned in Malaysia
Starring Russell Crowe and costing $125 million to produce, Noah is director Aronofsky's highest-grossing film. Noah rolled out worldwide in late March.
Paramount and New Regency's biblical epic has already crossed the $300 million mark at the worldwide box office, based on its appeal to mainstream and faith-based audiences alike.
In North America, Noah has earned nearly $100 million to date, but overseas sales have been extremely strong. The film has done more than double that overseas, driven by outstanding performances in Russia ($32.8 million) and Brazil ($23.4 million), where Noah is the top-grossing Paramount release of all time. Other notable territory grosses to date include Mexico ($15.5 million), South Korea ($14.3 million), the U.K. ($13.1 million) and Australia ($10.7 million).
There are also possibly commercial reasons why Noah was not allowed. Hollywood has been having a strong run in the past few weeks in China, with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 taking a record $10 million on its opening day despite an unofficial blackout to help boost local movies; and Captain America: The Winter Soldier has taken nearly $116 million in China to date.
There are also some major titles coming -- Godzilla is due in mid-June and Transformers: Age of Extinction is set to open this quarter, likley on a day-and-date release with the U.S. on June 27.




16



 


May 7, 2014 Wednesday

 Gang-raped Indonesian woman may be caned publicly

 
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -- An Indonesian woman who was gang-raped by men who accused her of having extramarital sex may be caned publicly for violating Islamic law, an official said Wednesday. 
The 25-year-old widow said she was raped by eight men who allegedly found her having sex with a married man in her house. The men reportedly beat the man, doused the two with sewage, and then turned them over to Islamic police in conservative Aceh province.
The alleged attack occurred early Thursday in Lhokbani, a village in East Aceh district.
The head of Islamic Shariah law in the district, Ibrahim Latief, said the two could be punished with nine strokes of a cane for violating religious law, pending an investigation.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation of 240 million people, has a policy of secularism but allows Aceh, a predominantly Muslim province on the northern tip of Sumatra, to implement a version of Sharia Islamic law.
Police have arrested three of the eight men, including a 13-year-old boy, and are hunting for the others, Latief said.
He added that the men would be tried under the criminal code, which can carry a maximum penalty of 15 years.




16


 


May 7, 2014 Wednesday  


 The East China Sea Dispute

 
Re ''America should back off'' (Opinion, April 24) by Wu Xinbo: America is jeopardizing its relationship with China to support Japan's rule over a chain of islands in the East China Sea. We have a strong bond with China and rely on the Chinese for many products. China is nervous and feels threatened by Japan. The United States appears to wholeheartedly support Japan's claim to these islands. This could damage our relationship with China, which would be a big mistake.
I think the United States should be involved in this dispute, but we should remain neutral. To prevent history from repeating itself, we should not support one of these powerful Asian countries over the other. The results could be disastrous. America's priority should be to maintain the peace without getting too involved. 
Jane Louise Neal, Franklin, Tenn.
Re ''Negotiating Asia's troubled waters'' (Opinion, April 24) by Michael J. Green: There is a way to resolve the underlying dispute over the islands in the East China Sea. It is clear that Washington and Beijing must find ways to cooperate on issues of mutual interest, and avoid confrontation wherever possible. Because of its proximity to and knowledge of China, Taiwan is uniquely equipped to assist American efforts in this regard.
Rather than fearing possible damage to bilateral ties with China, the United States should take advantage of the benefits this important partnership can offer. Washington should take a close look at Taiwan's role within the region and how it can cooperate on security matters. Taiwan is quietly carving out a role as a component of the region's security architecture. That will be reassuring to the United States in the years to come.
Kent Wang, Potomac Falls, Va.
Atheism in Indonesia
Re ''Open about atheism, and feeling the heat'' (News, April 25): As an Ahmadi Muslim, I applaud the ''coming out'' of Alexander Aan as an atheist in Indonesia, because he said he felt that the Islam he saw on television made him ''uncomfortable.''
I'm dismayed by the fact that Indonesia boasts one of the world's greatest Muslim populations, yet the country is about as Islamic in its policies as Russia is cooperative with the United Nations. Indonesian Muslims know full well that when Muhammad became the ruler of Arabia, atheists, Christians and Jews alike lived freely, practicing their respective beliefs. The Quran -- accepted as the final authority on Islam -- is lucid about this: ''There is no compulsion in matters of religion.'' (Verse 2:256). As though this weren't clear enough, it states: ''For you your religion, and for me my religion.'' (Chapter 109)
I congratulate Mr. Aan for recognizing the blatant lack of ''Islam'' in today's so-called Islam.
Sabahat Ali, Calgary, Alberta
Putin has much to fear in Ukraine
Re ''Ukraine presses eastern assault as Russia cites Odessa toll,'' (News, May 5): Dmitri V. Trenin, the head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, has said he believes that President Vladimir V. Putin was well aware of the high costs in terms of Russian lives and treasure if he were to fight a full-scale war to take control of Ukraine. Mr. Putin has more to fear, however, if the Russian Federation succeeds in assimilating Ukraine. He rationalizes his revanchist agenda under the cloak of nationalism and traditional religious values, but the world is not deceived. Everyone understands that Mr. Putin's true goal is to prevent the Ukrainian pro-democracy movement from spreading to Russia.
Mr. Putin fears true democracy because it threatens the vast wealth and power that he has accumulated. So, if Russia successfully intimidates Ukraine into reunification, Ukrainian democracy advocates should mobilize with like-minded Russians to bring the Maidan movement to Red Square. Together they could hoist the savior of Holy Russia on his own petard.
Richard Di Rocco, Allentown, N.J.
Obama's foreign policy musings
Re: ''Is Barry Whiffing?'' (April 29) by Maureen Dowd: When President Obama talks foreign policy, he is not communicating or dictating one specifically; rather he is sharing his observations and describing how foreign policy works in the abstract. What he doesn't understand is that talking about it this way is tantamount to not having an actual policy in many people's minds. Third person references and baseball analogies are no substitute for a clearly articulated policy, especially when describing real world scenarios.
Andrea Economos, Scarsdale, N.Y.




16


 


May 4, 2014 Sunday  


 Embrace of Atheism Put an Indonesian in Prison

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Growing up in a conservative Muslim household in rural West Sumatra, Alexander Aan hid a dark secret beginning at age 9: He did not believe in God. His feelings only hardened as he got older and he faked his way through daily prayers, Islamic holidays and the fasting month of Ramadan.
He stopped praying in 2008, when he was 26, and he finally told his parents and three younger siblings that he was an atheist -- a rare revelation in a country like Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. They responded with disappointment and expressions of hope that he would return to Islam. 
But Mr. Aan neither returned to Islam nor confined his secret to his family, and he ended up in prison after running afoul of a 2008 law restricting electronic communications. He had joined an atheist Facebook group started by Indonesians living in the Netherlands, and in 2011 he began posting commentaries outlining why he did not think God existed.
''When I saw, with my own eyes, poor people, people on television caught up in war, people who were hungry or ill, it made me uncomfortable,'' Mr. Aan, now 32, said in an interview. ''What is the meaning of this? As a Muslim, I had questioned God -- what is the meaning of God?'' He was released on parole on Jan. 27 after serving more than 19 months on a charge of inciting religious hatred.
Indonesia's state ideology, Pancasila, enshrines monotheism, and blasphemy is illegal. However, the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and speech, and the country is 16 years into a transition from authoritarianism to democracy.
But Mr. Aan's case is one of an increasing number of instances of persecution connected to freedom of religion in Indonesia in recent years. Although Indonesia has influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities, every year there have been hundreds of episodes, including violent attacks, targeting religious minorities like Christians and Shiite and Ahmadiyah Muslims, as well as dozens of arrests over blasphemy against Islam. Numerous churches have been closed for lacking proper permits.
According to human rights organizations and various surveys, religious intolerance is on the rise in Indonesia, at least partly because of the growing influence of radical Islamic groups that use street protests and acts of violence to support their aims. Some of these radical groups demonstrated in Jakarta, the capital, before Mr. Aan's trial in West Sumatra in 2012.
''His case very much ties in with that whole trend,'' said Benedict Rogers, the East Asia team leader for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization founded in Britain. The group released a report in February warning that religious intolerance in Indonesia was spreading beyond traditionally conservative Muslim bases like West Java Province.
''Of course there would be religious people who would take offense about someone publicly expressing this view'' about atheism, Mr. Rogers said. ''But I think if it weren't for this growing Islamism and extremism, Alexander's case probably wouldn't have happened.''
Mr. Aan's troubles began in January 2012 when a mob in the Dharmasraya district of West Sumatra showed up looking for him at a government planning office where he worked as a data analyst.
''They wanted me to stop saying there is no God,'' he said. ''I told them that it was my right to express my beliefs.''
Police officers were called to prevent any violence, and they instead escorted Mr. Aan to the local police station, where he found himself being interrogated and, within hours, charged with disseminating information aimed at inciting religious hatred. The next day, he was charged with blasphemy and inciting others to embrace atheism.
A court in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra Province, threw out the blasphemy and atheism charges, but it convicted Mr. Aan in June 2012 of trying to incite religious hatred under the electronic information law and sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.
''What I posted was for discussion, not to incite hatred,'' he said in the interview.
Mr. Aan's case was among several controversial prosecutions over comments made on the Internet in Indonesia, where Twitter and Facebook are extremely popular.
A homemaker was jailed and charged with defamation in 2009 after complaining about what she said was an incorrect hospital diagnosis in a private email that found its way online. In February, a Twitter user was sentenced to a year's probation for ''libelous tweets'' against a former national lawmaker who had been convicted and sent to prison for corruption.
''It's funny -- we say we have freedom of expression, but it's only up to a certain point,'' said Enda Nasution, an Indonesian blogger. ''I think we are absorbing all of these new norms, and with the Internet, we are experimenting with what we can and can't do. Atheism is a no-no, it seems.''
Christian groups and religious and human rights advocates say that rising religious intolerance is also linked to the efforts to promote regional autonomy in Indonesia in 1999 as part of the country's transition to democracy after three decades of highly centralized, authoritarian rule under President Suharto.
More than half of Indonesia's 491 provincial districts have enacted various bylaws inspired by Islamic law, or Shariah, in recent years.
''So much power was given to local authorities, and in many cases -- in particular in regions where Muslim organizations dominated -- there were violations against religious freedom, and freedom, for example, for someone to say they are an atheist,'' said Theophilus Bela, secretary general of the Indonesian Conference on Religions for Peace, a nongovernmental organization focused on interfaith dialogue.
While serving his prison sentence, Mr. Aan lay low, reading books and playing chess, and he said that by the end of his time behind bars, he had gone from being an outcast to having friends among his fellow inmates. Now, he is preparing to apply to universities to pursue a master's degree in physics.
''My case was a religious issue and a human rights issue, both because Indonesia is a Muslim country and because it's a developing country and new democracy,'' he said. ''I was just searching for the truth, and everything I felt, I expressed.''
These days, Mr. Aan said, he is still active on Facebook and Twitter, but he never mentions religion or his criminal case.




17


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


May 3, 2014 Saturday

 Worshipping together Worshipping together

 
When it comes to the influence of religion in everyday lives, Americans have among the world's most positive feelings. A recently released WIN/Gallup International global survey found that 62 percent of those who responded to the survey in the United States said religion plays a positive role in the nation, with 29 percent saying it did not. That equates to a net positive of 43 percent.
In much of Europe, by comparison, the feelings equate to a net negative. Denmark led the way with a net negative of 36 percent, with Belgium, France and Spain close behind.
The difference probably has as much to do with the value each nation has placed on religious freedom and tolerance historically. Much of Europe still carries the baggage of old religious wars and official state-sanctioned religions, just as it also struggles to assimilate religiously passionate immigrants, primarily from Muslim traditions, into a culture that has become largely secular. 
Those are tough challenges to overcome, but their resolution becomes increasingly important in a world in which migration plays a significant role.
Few things incite passions as deeply as do spiritual beliefs, and these must be allowed free expression in the public square, while also allowing the same rights for people of all faiths, or of no faith. In this sense, the United States stands as a shining example to the world.
Twenty-six years ago, President Ronald Reagan articulated the value of religious freedom as part of a speech he gave to the people of the Soviet Union. He called religion a necessary counterweight to freedom's tendency to make people "selfish and materialistic."
That counterweight works best in a society in which all beliefs are treated equally and held in respect.
"Go to any American town ... and you'll see dozens of churches, representing many different beliefs - in many places, synagogues and mosques - and you'll see families of every conceivable nationality worshipping together," Reagan said. Selfishness and materialism can be as corrosive to a society as sectarian violence, which religious freedom also mollifies. Unfortunately, there is a cynicism afoot today that has the potential to threaten the generally positive feelings about religion's influence in the nation.
The survey's results do not neatly dovetail with religious freedom in all aspects. Indonesia, for instance, was cited as the world's most positive nation concerning religion, and yet its government recognizes only six official religions - Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Others are allowed to exist under some restrictions.
And the survey found that highly educated people were less likely to feel positive about religion's role than those of little education. That differs slightly from a more nuanced Gallup survey of a year ago in which highly educated people were found to have more trust in clergy, and less in organized religion, than those with little education.
Other studies have found that, within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which owns this newspaper), educational attainment actually equates to greater levels of devotion.
These are all interesting aspects to religious worship. The bottom line, however, is that the American tradition of religious freedom and tolerance, despite its flaws and the occasional failure to live up to ideals, is the system most likely to allow religion to play a positive roll in society. It allows belief to weave itself seamlessly into the fabric of everyday life with a minimum of violence and imposition.
By In Our Opinion
For the Deseret News
When it comes to the influence of religion in everyday lives, Americans have among the world's most positive feelings. A recently released WIN/Gallup International global survey found that 62 percent of those who responded to the survey in the United States said religion plays a positive role in the nation, with 29 percent saying it did not. That equates to a net positive of 43 percent.
In much of Europe, by comparison, the feelings equate to a net negative. Denmark led the way with a net negative of 36 percent, with Belgium, France and Spain close behind.
The difference probably has as much to do with the value each nation has placed on religious freedom and tolerance historically. Much of Europe still carries the baggage of old religious wars and official state-sanctioned religions, just as it also struggles to assimilate religiously passionate immigrants, primarily from Muslim traditions, into a culture that has become largely secular.
Those are tough challenges to overcome, but their resolution becomes increasingly important in a world in which migration plays a significant role.
Few things incite passions as deeply as do spiritual beliefs, and these must be allowed free expression in the public square, while also allowing the same rights for people of all faiths, or of no faith. In this sense, the United States stands as a shining example to the world.
Twenty-six years ago, President Ronald Reagan articulated the value of religious freedom as part of a speech he gave to the people of the Soviet Union. He called religion a necessary counterweight to freedom's tendency to make people "selfish and materialistic."
That counterweight works best in a society in which all beliefs are treated equally and held in respect.
"Go to any American town ... and you'll see dozens of churches, representing many different beliefs - in many places, synagogues and mosques - and you'll see families of every conceivable nationality worshipping together," Reagan said. Selfishness and materialism can be as corrosive to a society as sectarian violence, which religious freedom also mollifies. Unfortunately, there is a cynicism afoot today that has the potential to threaten the generally positive feelings about religion's influence in the nation.
The survey's results do not neatly dovetail with religious freedom in all aspects. Indonesia, for instance, was cited as the world's most positive nation concerning religion, and yet its government recognizes only six official religions - Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Others are allowed to exist under some restrictions.
And the survey found that highly educated people were less likely to feel positive about religion's role than those of little education. That differs slightly from a more nuanced Gallup survey of a year ago in which highly educated people were found to have more trust in clergy, and less in organized religion, than those with little education.
Other studies have found that, within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which owns this newspaper), educational attainment actually equates to greater levels of devotion.
These are all interesting aspects to religious worship. The bottom line, however, is that the American tradition of religious freedom and tolerance, despite its flaws and the occasional failure to live up to ideals, is the system most likely to allow religion to play a positive roll in society. It allows belief to weave itself seamlessly into the fabric of everyday life with a minimum of violence and imposition.




17


 


April 29, 2014 Tuesday  
 

 Muslim Leaders Denounce Police Over Raids in Czech Capital

 
PARIS -- Muslim leaders in the Czech Republic on Monday accused the police of abusing their power after armed officers raided Islamic institutions in Prague over the weekend, detaining 20 people during Friday Prayer at a mosque and a community center, and arresting the publisher of a book that law enforcement officials say incites xenophobia and violence.
A spokesman for the Czech police, Pavel Hantak, declined to identify the publisher or the book. He told the Czech news media that he did not want to help promote a book that disseminated racism, anti-Semitism and violence against what it called ''inferior races.'' 
The police said the publisher was a 55-year-old Czech citizen who had the book translated into Czech. He has been charged with promoting hate speech, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Muneeb Hassan Alrawi, the head of the Association of Czech Muslim Religious Communities, said in an interview on Monday that law enforcement officials had indicated that the book behind the raids was ''The Fundamentals of Tawheed'' by Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, a Jamaican-born imam, who has been banned from entering Australia and Britain and expelled from Germany because of what his critics call extremist views.
Mr. Alrawi said that several copies of the book had been confiscated by the police during a raid Friday at the headquarters of the Islamic Foundation, a community center in Prague, the Czech capital.
Lukas Lhotan, a former convert to Islam who has since become an outspoken critic of the religion, said Monday that he had filed a criminal complaint against the book this month on the grounds that it preached dangerous radicalism. Mr. Lhotan said the book advised Muslims to form Muslim governments wherever they are, and called Jews the enemies of Islam.
Mr. Philips had previously argued that there was no such thing as rape in marriage under Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Quran, and he has also come under criticism in Britain for seeming to condone suicide bombers.
On Monday, he vehemently defended the book, saying that millions of copies had been published in Muslim communities around the world. He said that the book was a commentary on Islamic theology and that there was ''no place for racism'' in the book. Any action against the book, he said, could ''constitute an attack on Islam itself.''
Mr. Alrawi, who represents Muslim organizations in the Czech Republic, said the Czech edition of ''The Fundamentals of Tawheed,'' which was first published in 2012, had been overseen by a small group of people and had not been sufficiently vetted. ''We made a mistake of not having thoroughly overseen the publication of the book,'' he said. ''We were not aware that some of its passages could be in breach of Czech law. Our association certainly does not hold any extremist views.''
Local Muslim groups complained that the raids, at the headquarters of the Islamic Foundation in central Prague and at a mosque on the city's outskirts, had taken place during Friday Prayer. Wahono Yulianto, an Indonesian diplomat who was present during the raid at the mosque, said Monday that the Indonesian Embassy in Prague had lodged an official complaint with the Czech Foreign Ministry after he was detained by the police for 90 minutes.
''We had no idea why the police came,'' he said. ''They made us put up our hands and told us to lie on the floor. They walked in the prayer room with their shoes on and were shouting.''
Zdenek Vojtisek, an expert on religious extremism at Charles University in Prague, said that the roughly 10,000 Muslims in the Czech Republic were fragmented and that there was no evidence that the community had become radicalized in recent years.
Other analysts said the raids could help fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in the country at a time when the far right is gaining ground.




17


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

April 24, 2014 Thursday

 San Ramon Valley letters: One's listening should extend beyond NPR

 
One's listening should extend beyond NPR
In her April 17 gushing unabashed panegyric to National Public Radio, columnist Penny Warner typifies the Bay Area's doctrinaire leftist mindset that zeros in on everything liberal to the exclusion of anything that is of even minutely conservative bent.
NPR is so intrinsically steeped in spewing liberal dogma in virtually every word that emanates from the mouths of all its jump-through-the-hoops broadcasters and commentators that the objective listener wonders if NPR is aware that incisively intelligent opposite viewpoints exist or is deathly afraid of presenting them.
Warner writes that rotating comedians like Paula Poundstone, Tom Bodett and Mo Rocca "answer questions about current events, politics and world issues." It seems Warner's idea of getting 'news" is to listen to comedians -- incredible. Warner would do well to listen to stations broadcasting legitimately serious news and commentary by such keen minds as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Bryan Sussman, Michael Savage and other perspicacious observers of current events and happenings. But then that might give Warner a different perspective. Hey, can't have that, can we?
Lanny Middings 
San Ramon
Piece welcome departure from the usual stuff
Regarding the recent guest commentary "Plant-based diet leads helps fuel top performance," thank you for a refreshing article by Raiders lineman David Carter. Can we have articles like this more often instead of the monotonous writings of Pitt, Sowell, Cepeda & company?
Rick Luciano
Danville
Setting record straight on Vietnam flights
Columnist Tom Barnidge's Vietnam column has errors.
The majority of troops on planes to Vietnam were NOT draftees. Thirty percent were.
The average age was around 22, not 18.
The statement "they did not want to be there" is false. Seventy percent were volunteers.
Danang was 100 miles from the DMZ, not next to it.
The claim that there were bullet holes in the bellies of the Flying Tigers passenger jets is preposterous. I never heard of a civilian passenger jet flying in or out of Vietnam during the war getting hit by enemy fire.
Whether there were cheers on the plane going home depended upon whether the captain made a "left Vietnam airspace" announcement. There was no announcement nor were there cheers on my flight.
Barnidge's source says she "saw some return in casts and bandages, others who had lost limbs." Not likely. Guys in casts and bandages and amputees went home in medical military aircraft with medical staff. Planes like Barnidge's stewardess flew on only took the healthy home.
Barnidge's source says flying U.S. military personnel to and from Vietnam in civilian airliners profoundly affected flight crews. I was struck by the banality of it and the contrast between the World War II troopships my father took to war -- through German U-boat waters -- and our civilian airliner.
Barnidge's stewardess depicts those flights as melodramatic, poignant events of a lifetime. But to us actual vets, those flights were jarringly mundane.
John T. Reed
Alamo West Point class of 1968 Vietnam 1969-'70 via Flying Tiger airliner
Clippers fans can flex muscle at ticket booths
There's an old saying about our democratic government: we get the government we deserve, and we deserve the government we get. Let's consider that for a moment in determining the just outcome of the L.A. Clippers owner's alleged comments about race.
With a little support from the NBA, the fans and advertisers of the Clippers have absolute control over the outcome of this matter. If the NBA can, for cause, exclude any team from league revenue sharing (if they are unable to do so they should correct that immediately) and Clipper fans choose to register their outrage by refusing to buy tickets or products from manufacturers providing advertising revenue to the Clippers, this matter can be corrected in a heartbeat. No bloodshed, no court battles, no sweat. If the fans act alone, the advertisers, the NBA and the owner will get the message.
The Clippers fans, advertisers and the NBA get the team owner they deserve, and they deserve the team owner they get.
James Moore
Danville
A suggestion for the 49ers' new facilities
Regarding the recent front-page article about the ongoing criminal element on the 49ers roster, "Have the 49ers gone rogue?" perhaps the organization should consider for their new stadium a holding cell adjacent to the locker room. And as to staffing, perhaps add a bail bondsman to the 49er payroll.
Bill Allman
Danville
Run a security clearance check on Mr. Obama
There apparently is a serious flaw in our country's security and it comes at the highest level.
Applicants for high-security positions such as nuclear weapon engineering or many other Department of Defense secret projects are given a thorough background investigation by the FBI before employment to bar security risks. Yet we have a president who has access to our innermost secrets (such as nuclear missile launch codes, etc.), but who could not pass a security check if he were to apply for a high-security position as a civilian.
Obama has a highly checkered past consisting of a Communist mother and grandparents, Communist mentors as a child, having attended Muslim schooling as a child in Indonesia, having befriended anti-American characters such as Jeremiah Wright and others. What else? In my view, these are enough grounds for a rejection as a high-security risk.
The solution, give the presidential candidates the same security check and approval that I received before being accepted for a high-security job.
Frank J. Murar
Danville
Elect Baker to Assembly's District 16 seat
Those of you who live in Assembly District 16 need to know this district is the single-best opportunity in the Bay Area for Republicans to break the Democratic supermajority in the Assembly and bring some sensibility to Sacramento.
This is possible with candidate Catharine Baker. Catharine is THE true Republican candidate. She is the working mother of two children and counsel to local small businesses. One of the Democrats is posing as a Republican and contacting many Republicans to attempt to fool voters. Do not be fooled.
The Contra Costa/Valley Times recently endorsed Catharine over all three of the Democrats running against Catharine.
This is no fooling -- Steve Glazer is a Democratic political consultant and has worked for Jerry Brown since Brown ran for governor the FIRST time. Glazer managed Brown's 2010 election and oversaw Brown's 2012 campaign to raise taxes by $6 billion, making California's sales tax the second highest in the nation and income tax rate the highest. Glazer shares the same political consultant as disgraced Leland Yee!
Vote for Catharine Baker. Help Catharine, spread the word of support for her to as many fellow voters as you can and DO NOT allow yourself to be fooled into voting for a Democrat who can only win with your vote.
Marilyn Bradley
San Ramon




17


 
 
 (California)

April 21, 2014 Monday

 TRADITIONAL BECOMES PROGRESSIVE

 
Each member of Southern California-based Muslims for Progressive Values has a story of faith almost lost and then found again.
For Ani Zonneveld, 51, a Los Angeles singer-songwriter who founded the left-leaning religious organization eight years ago, the story began when Muslim music store owners refused to stock a CD of Islamic pop music she had recorded - just because she is a woman.
For Erica Bashaw, 25, a Chapman University law student who grew up in Mission Viejo and converted to Islam after college, the moment of clarity came when she visited her boyfriend's hometown mosque and was told she could not pray with the men. 
For Omar El-Hajoui, 26, a production coordinator at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, the story has been lifelong. El-Hajoui is gay and described growing up at a Los Angeles mosque as an experience of "great anxiety and dread." 
These and more than 3,500 other members of Muslims for Progressive Values around the world have stories that all end with the discovery of an organization dedicated, in Zonneveld's words, to "gender equality, LGBT rights, freedom of expression" and the conviction that Islam is wholly compatible with modern Western values.
Though even the name Muslims for Progressive Values conjures ideas vastly different from the popular image of American Islam as a religion of strict traditional values and practices, the group's mere existence signals a coming of age in a faith growing beyond its immigrant roots.
From its beginning in Zonneveld's living room in 2006, the organization has expanded to chapters in six U.S. cities and "I have no idea," she said, how many additional members in Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Malaysia, South Africa and several Middle Eastern countries.
In December, Muslims for Progressive Values was recognized by the United Nations as an official nongovernment organization, enabling members to attend U.N. meetings and work with U.N. member nations.
In Los Angeles, the local chapter meets a few times each month for Islamic cultural events and informal prayer services at which members of both sexes mingle, take turns leading prayers and sing Muslim hymns in English, some written by Zonneveld.
By some measures Islam is America's fastest-growing faith, its numbers in the U.S. expected to double to 6 million by 2030, according to the Pew Research Center. Roughly 40 percent of Muslims in the U.S. are American-born, according to Pew, a number expected to rise as the children of immigrants grow up and move into positions of leadership at mosques and other Muslim organizations.
Already the growing number of American-born Muslims and the religion's increasing prominence in American public life are bringing the faith into contact with broader social debates that have long roiled larger, more established faiths such as Christianity.
Suhail Mulla, assistant imam at the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in Garden Grove, said imams at a regional religious leaders' meeting in January discussed a newly pressing issue: How to handle homosexuality at mosques. 
Mulla said traditional Islamic teachings about sexuality are clear: "The proper expression of sexuality is to be between a married man and a woman. So no same-sex marriage or premarital relations." And yet, Mulla said, in recent years he has been approached by members of his mosque who say they have "engaged in homosexual acts and 'I have these tendencies ... what do I do?' "
Parents have sought advice from imams after their children come out as gay or lesbian, Mulla said.
"The tide (of cultural change) is so strong out there," he said.
Mulla said imams at the January meeting agreed that, while they will not modify traditional Islamic teachings on sexuality, they do not want to drive gay Muslims away from mosques.
"Our conclusion is that we're going to accommodate those individuals as much as possible," Mulla said. "We're not going to shun people from our community. ... But there would be an effort to try to correct that person's understanding."
A 2011 report on homosexuality in Islam prepared by the faith-based New York City nonprofit Intersections International noted the existence of gay Muslim organizations in the U.S., Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Indonesia and Malaysia. The report called the notion that there is little to no incidence of homosexuality in Islam a "myth."
Zonneveld, now president of Muslims for Progressive Values, said her organization aims not just for accommodation of nontraditional views but for Muslim religious leaders to acknowledge that their stance on issues such as sexuality and women leading prayers are not supported by the Quran or by Islam as it was originally practiced.
"The first woman imam was appointed by the Prophet Muhammad," said Zonneveld, who was born and raised Muslim in Malaysia. "No LGBT person was persecuted during Prophet Muhammad's time, and people converted in and out of Islam freely then."
She said that while to an outsider mosques can appear rigidly traditional, in fact, Muslims are hugely diverse in their approach to faith.
Zonneveld said she started Muslims for Progressive Values as a group on the website meetup.com and quickly found like-minded Muslims throughout Southern California. Through social media, "We discovered there were pockets throughout the U.S.," she said. 
Bashaw, the Chapman University law student, said she found the group two years ago after searching for a religious community that her Muslim boyfriend could join. At the time, Bashaw was not a Muslim, though she was drawn to the faith of her boyfriend, Jim Ghaznavi, a psychiatry resident at UCLA.
Ghaznavi, disturbed by terrorist attacks and the second-tier status of women in some Muslim-majority countries, "was having a crisis of faith," Bashaw said.
"I wanted to support him and find people who think like him and are progressive-minded and reject extremists," she said. "And I wanted to find a place for myself where it was OK if I wasn't or was a Muslim."
The couple began attending Muslims for Progressive Values prayer services. Encouraged by the group's insistence that "the more progressive interpretation (of Islam) was the more traditional interpretation," Bashaw converted.
She said she was struck by the contrast in worship style when she attended Ghaznavi's hometown mosque in Oklahoma City during a family visit.
"I couldn't sit by my boyfriend," she said. "In the mosque it's gender-segregated and I didn't like being in a separate room just for women. I felt like I was at the back of the bus."
El-Hajoui, who is now outreach director for Muslims for Progressive Values, said he was "a little taken aback with how casual it was" the first time he attended one of the group's prayer services at the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
"All of us in a circle, no segregation of the sexes. I didn't know what to make of it," he said. "But I felt immediately comfortable ... I felt immediately acknowledged and respected."
Most of all, El-Hajoui said, he was at last able to practice his faith as a gay Muslim without fear of rejection by God or religious leaders.
"I was made by God the way I am," El-Hajoui said. "That's what I believe. That's what drives my work in the community and my desire to see a change." 



jhinch@ocreigster.com 




17


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


April 18, 2014 Friday

 America remains among most positive countries on religion

 
compiled By
Mark A. Kellner
Deseret News
America remains one of the world's most positive about the role of religion in everyday life, a new survey reveals.
According to a global survey of the impact of religion by WIN/Gallup International, 62 percent of U.S. respondents say religion plays a positive role in the country. Subtract the 29 percent who take the opposite viewpoint and you end up with a "net positivity" of 43 percent, one of the world's higher ratings, and tied with Iceland's 43 percent net positive figure. 
Reprinting the WIN/Gallup news release, the San Diego Jewish World noted the American survey results and the pollster's assessment, "... shows that the majority of U.S. respondents hold religion central to their values, something which is still reflected in the country's politics - and something this poll would suggest is unlikely to change in the near future."
According to WIN/Gallup, "In total there were nine countries whose net scores were negative when asked about religion, with six of those falling within Western Europe - Belgium, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Of these, Denmark was the most net negative at -36 percent, followed by Belgium at -30 percent, France at -22 percent, and Spain at -22 percent."
On a global scale, the most net negative country was Lebanon at -43 percent, the firm said. The onetime tranquil center of the Levant has dealt with decades of religion-tinged civil conflict and now a raging sectarian struggle in neighboring Syria.
Majority-Muslim Indonesia was "the most positive country globally" about the influence of religion on society, WIN/Gallup reported. There, 95 percent of respondents stated faith "plays a positive role" in society.
Britain's Telegraph reports residents of the United Kingdom "are among the most skeptical in the world about religion," quoting the survey results. "Just over a third of people in the UK believe religion has a positive role to play in our daily lives, compared to a global average of 59 percent," the newspaper said.
"The survey also found education and religious belief affect attitudes to spiritual belief," the Telegraph reported. "A lower net positivity of 20 percent was recorded among people who were educated to Masters or PhD level, compared to a net score of 57 percent among those with no education."
And Novinite.com, a news agency in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, leads with the local survey response: "Fifty-six percent of Bulgarians think religion has a positive role in the society, shows a global survey of Gallup International. Twelve percent say the contrary. ... The results in Bulgaria are in line with the average in Eastern Europe, where 54 percent of the respondents think religion has a positive role in the country. "
The WIN/Gallup survey has been an annual undertaking since 1977, media reports indicate.
Email: mkellner@deseretnews.com
Twitter: @Mark_Kellner




17



 


April 11, 2014 Friday

 INDONESIAN MUSLIM PARTIES LOOK LIKELY TO REGAIN CLOUT

 

ABSTRACT
Preliminary estimates suggest four Muslim parties took 30% of vote in Indonesian legislative elections, up from 24% in 2009 despite polls suggesting weaker support;  results could give them clout in formation of coalitions by mainstream parties; photo (M)




17


 


April 10, 2014 Thursday  


 Indonesia: Opposition Leading in Vote

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Out of power for 10 years, Indonesia's largest opposition party was leading unofficial vote tallies from Wednesday's national legislative elections, as the country's focus now quickly turns to a presidential election in July.
But if the final results from Wednesday are borne out, it will nonetheless be a disappointing showing for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, according to analysts, who noted that the party had been hoping to ride the coattails of the presumptive presidential candidate, Joko Widodo, the popular governor of Jakarta, to gain as much as 30 percent or more of the popular legislative vote.
The opposition party, known as the P.D.I.P., was garnering 19 to 20 percent of the vote in a 12-party contest, according to independent quick counts of official results conducted by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, a joint count by the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and Cyrus Network, and Indikator Politik Indonesia.
The twelve political parties competed for seats in the House of Representatives and in provincial and district legislatures, as well as in the Regional Representative Council, a second national parliamentary body that proposes and advises on bills related to Indonesia's many far-flung regions. 
The quick counts also indicated that the Golkar Party, the political vehicle of the autocratic President Suharto, was, as expected, battling for second place with 14 percent of the vote against the opposition Great Indonesia Movement Party, known as Gerindra, with around 12 percent.
The P.D.I.P. has not placed first in any election since 1999, when Indonesia held its first free and fair polls in more than 40 years. Its chairwoman is Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president and leader of the political dynasty built by her father, Sukarno, the country's revered founding father.
''Obviously it's quite a big disappointment,'' said Marcus Mietzner, a senior lecturer at Australian National University and author of ''Money, Power, and Ideology: Political Parties in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia.''
''It is really at the low end of what they hoped for, and what that means of course is they have to completely change the strategy of the coalition they will try to build,'' he said. ''They were aiming for a smaller coalition.''
Under Indonesia's complex presidential nominating system, a party must win 20 percent of the 560-seat national House of Representatives, or 25 percent of the popular vote, to nominate a presidential candidate, or it may form a coalition with other parties to reach either threshold. While final official results could ultimately push the P.D.I.P. past the 20 percent threshold on its own, analysts said the party would be forced to try to form a coalition in the coming weeks with a hodgepodge of parties that fared less well on Wednesday -- including other secular-nationalist and even Islamic-based parties -- to secure 51 percent of the House to have a commanding position before July's presidential election.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cannot seek a third term, meaning Indonesians will be choosing a new leader for the first time in 10 years.
Mr. Joko still holds a strong lead in respected national polls and has promised a ''more people-centric'' style of government in a country rife with official corruption and poverty. Indonesia, while belonging to the Group of 20 major economies, still has more than 100â€[0/00]million people living on $2 a day or less.
However, Mr. Joko, a former mayor in Central Java Province who improbably shot to national political stardom after winning the Jakarta governorship in September 2012, will nonetheless go into the forthcoming presidential election campaign with less luster.
''I think those people who had hoped that he would be given the instruments to implement fundamental reform -- and that instrument was a small, coherent coalition -- they will be disappointed because he will have to include parties in his coalition that he had no intention to include. That will impact his ability to institute fundamental reforms,'' Mr. Mietzner said.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Joko himself acknowledged while addressing reporters on national television that his P.D.I.P. would need other parties, but he warned that they should remember their place: ''We don't like the word 'coalition.' It sounds like power-sharing.''
Mrs. Megawati, who had harbored presidential ambitions herself, put off officially declaring Mr. Joko, popularly known as ''Jokowi,'' the party's presidential candidate until shortly before the official campaign period began in March, a delay that analysts said prevented the party from using his popularity for maximum benefit.
''Apparently, it's not so clear whether there was a 'Jokowi effect,'â€Šâ€Š'' said Ramlan Surbakti, a professor of political science at Airlangga University in Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province.
He said the initial results appeared to show that the votes were widespread among both secular-nationalist and Islamic-based parties. The Islamic parties were not expected to do well. He said there was a general public dissatisfaction with the performance of the country's democratic system, which remains rife with official corruption some 16 years after the fall of Mr. Suharto's 32-year government in 1998.
This includes a series of scandals during the past five years in the national legislature, Mr. Yudhoyono's own cabinet and even within his governing Democratic Party, which quick counts indicated had crashed from 21 percent in 2009 to only around 10 percent on Wednesday.
''I think the performance of political parties, as everyone knows, is not so good,'' Mr. Ramlan said. ''The news about corruption leads to perceptions that politicians don't care. Swing voters are a remarkable 35 percent, so that might explain why P.D.I.P. did not do better.''
Mr. Joko's main rival in July's presidential election, opinion polls have indicated, is Prabowo Subianto, a former army general and leader of Gerindra, who, despite criticism from some quarters about his human rights record while serving in the military, is promoting popular grass-roots welfare programs, protectionist economic policies and what he says would be decisive leadership.
Mr. Prabowo, who analysts said should be pleased with the election results given that his party is only six years old, also railed during the legislative election campaign against Mr. Yudhoyono's government, claiming it had sold out the country to foreign business interests.
The quick counts, however, indicated that Mr. Prabowo may be compelled to form a coalition with other secular-nationalist parties -- or even willing Islamic-based parties -- that finished lower in Wednesday's polls just to reach the nominating threshold.
Golkar's second place showing in the early results also suggests that it may be able to put a coalition together, but its declared presidential candidate, Aburizal Bakrie, is trailing well behind Mr. Joko and Mr. Prabowo, according to respected opinion polls.
After the polls closed Wednesday, Mr. Aburizal posted on Twitter that the elections ''went well, smoothly and peacefully,'' and said Golkar would accept the final results, which will not be officially released until May.
More than 187â€[0/00]million people were registered to vote at more than 450,000 polling stations on more than 7,000 islands across the vast Indonesian archipelago. Voter turnout was expected to be more than 70 percent, according to analysts.
Voting was orderly on the top floor of a traditional market in South Jakarta that was converted into a polling station for the day, with residents only complaining about the multiple separate ballots for the various races. Sitting at a table smoking a cigarette as he waited for his name to be called to get his ballots, Eko Sukarso, 42, said he would vote for Gerindra.
''I'm hoping for change, something new,'' he said. ''My heart says support Prabowo. He's more assertive, strong.''
At a separate polling station in the nearby Menteng Dalam subdistrict, where President Obama once lived as a child, Ruswati, 52, who like many Indonesians has one name, said she would vote for Mr. Yudhoyono's Democratic Party.
''My husband is a civil servant, so I think it's best for our family to support continuing the policies for public welfare,'' Mrs. Ruswati, wearing a batik dress and a jilbab, or head scarf, said while waiting for a friend to finish voting. Mrs. Ruswati's pinkie finger was marked with indelible ink to show that she had cast her ballot.
Mrs. Ruswati said she felt so overwhelmed by the numerous photographs of candidates on each ballot that she decided to vote only for women wearing jilbabs.
''I think they represent my religion,'' she said.
Gandi Taufik, a 35-year-old carpenter, said he was voting for Mr. Joko's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle because of its traditional pluralist values. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country, but it has influential minority Christian, Hindu and Buddhist citizens.
''P.D.I.P. will be good for the unity of Indonesia,'' Mr. Gandi said. Otherwise, he said, ''I'm afraid we'll have religious conflicts, like in the Middle East.''
This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.




17



 


April 9, 2014 Wednesday

 In a year of many elections, Muslim ones stand out; 
Elections in Indonesia, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Tunisia could further redefine Islam's role in Muslim countries still learning the ways of democracy.

 
By the end of 2014, about 40 percent of the world's population will have voted in democratic elections, making it a strong year in affirming democracy's staying power. But also strong are a few elections in Muslim countries. Most of these voting exercises could further reinforce Islam's ability to coexist within open and pluralistic societies, allowing public piety to remain distinct from a nation's politics. 
The best example of democracy and political Islam accommodating each other lies in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. On April 9, this Southeast Asian nation of 240 million people held parliamentary elections, the fourth since a dictator was toppled in 1998. The results will heavily influence a presidential vote in July.
Early indications from Wednesday's vote show the five Islamic parties won less than a third of the ballots, coming in behind the leading secular parties. Indonesian voters are more interested in pushing back poverty and corruption than favoring the conservative social agenda of the Muslim parties.
With a national motto of "unity in diversity," Indonesia remains a model for other Muslim nations of how Islam's followers can remain religious in private life while embracing civic ideals such as equality and respect for minorities.
Another good example is Afghanistan. It held an election Saturday that was remarkable on two points: The Taliban could not make good on threats to disrupt the campaign or the balloting, and voter turnout was about 60 percent, indicating a public defiance of the Islamic militants' antidemocratic stance. In addition, three vice-presidential candidates were women. With each new election since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghans reaffirm their desire for the process of democracy even as some elected officials seek laws that would discriminate against women.
A more mixed example is Turkey, which for more than a decade has been a positive model in showing how an elected Islamic party can rule - at least in boosting the economy.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party won most local elections on March 30, taking 45.5 percent of the vote. But with more challenges to his rule, Mr. Erdogan has adopted antidemocratic tactics, such as restricting the Internet. Much of his opposition comes from the grass-roots Islamic group, Gülen. It remains unclear if his desperate desire to stay in power will mar Turkey's record of secular rule with a tolerance toward Islam.
A Muslim country that may usurp the Turkish model is Tunisia, the most successful of the Arab Spring countries in creating a democracy that also allowed an Islamic party to win. The party, Ennahda, was forced from power in January after losing popularity. New elections are expected by the end of the year.
Pakistan has no national elections this year, but its elected civilian leaders continue to find ways to roll back the influence of the military. They also display more backbone to stand up to the Pakistani Taliban.
All these countries provide valuable lessons to other Muslim countries still living under authoritarian rule, such as Syria and Saudi Arabia, or that are struggling to form an open democracy, such as Egypt and Libya. Egypt's bad experience last year with the downfall of an elected leader from the Muslim Brotherhood shows the need to highlight successful examples of where Islam and democracy are making room for each other.




17


 


April 8, 2014 Tuesday  


 In a Nation of Muslims, Political Islam Is Struggling to Win Votes

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Last September, ultraconservative Islamic groups telegraphed their power, railing against an international beauty contest until the government ordered it to be staged entirely on the Hindu resort island of Bali. In 2012, radical Islamic groups known for their violent tactics and religious conservatives raised enough of a fuss that Lady Gaga canceled a concert here in the Indonesian capital. And hundreds of local governments in recent years have passed rules on morality and dress inspired by Shariah, or Islamic law, and instituted bans on alcohol.
But now, just ahead of Wednesday's national legislative elections, polls and analysts suggest that Islamic-based parties are poised for what could be their worst showing since Indonesia's democratic era began in 1999. At least two of the parties are polling so low that they might lose any presence in the House of Representatives.
''You're looking at a substantial drop for them,'' said Paul Rowland, a Jakarta-based political consultant. ''They are not a significant factor.'' 
The slide in popularity, first noticed in the 2009 elections, appears to be worsening despite studies showing that Indonesians are becoming more pious.
Why political Islam has not taken deep root on a national level in the world's largest Muslim-majority country -- where about 90 percent of people are among the faithful -- is a complicated question. The reasons lie in Indonesia's history as a secular nation and in the Islamic parties' own recent record.
When Indonesian leaders were drafting the nation's first constitution after declaring independence from Dutch colonial rule in August 1945, Islamists demanded that the country be declared a Muslim state. But nationalists, indigenous ethnic groups and the country's small but influential Christian and Hindu minorities fought back. Indonesia became a secular nation that recognized six official religions and had a state motto of ''unity in diversity.''
A renewed effort to create a Muslim state failed again in 1955, even as Islamic-based parties did well in national elections. Indonesia did not have national legislative elections again until 1971, about six years after military-orchestrated anti-Communist purges led to the rise of Suharto, who replaced the country's founding father, Sukarno, as president. After a strong showing by Islamic-based parties, Mr. Suharto ordered the merger of the four leading ones; the move ultimately weakened them because of their rivalries and different priorities.
But even after the collapse of Mr. Suharto's military-backed government in 1998, nationalist parties dominated at the polls. No Islamic-oriented politician has been a serious candidate since direct presidential elections began in 2004. A poll released last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta found that the top five contenders in Indonesia's next presidential election, to be held in July, each represented a secular nationalist party.
Still, until recent years, Islamic-based parties made impressive showings in legislative elections. During Indonesia's first truly democratic elections in four decades, in 1999, the parties collectively won 36 percent of the popular vote. Bahtiar Effendy, dean of the department of social and political sciences at the State Islamic University in Jakarta, attributed the showing to a backlash against decades of secular, authoritarian rule.
''It was a new ballgame,'' he said. ''The ideological sentiment of Islam was revived again. The country was free from Suharto, and people could say what they wanted.''
Mr. Bahtiar said that same sentiment helped shape the 2004 national elections, which saw the swift rise of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party.
''They were seen as clean and not corrupt,'' unlike the secular nationalist parties that had run the government during the previous five years, he said.
But as Indonesia approached its 2009 election season, voters were caught up in the re-election campaign of the popular President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. His secular nationalist Democratic Party had made tackling corruption a priority, denying the Islamic-based parties as strong a claim to the issue. At the same time, moves by Islamic-based parties to pass morality laws were overtaken by those of the secular nationalist parties, which backed an antipornography law in 2008 and whose provincial-level leaders passed a number of Shariah-inspired measures, particularly in conservative Muslim areas.
The collective showing of Islamic-based parties dropped to 28 percent in 2009, from 38 percent in 2004. And that slide in popularity appears to be continuing. Most of the country's well-respected polls show the collective support for Islamic-based parties to be about 20 percent.
Analysts said that voters were generally more concerned with reducing poverty and improving education than with the religious symbolism of the Islamic-based parties.
''The Islamic parties have very little economic credibility,'' said Gregory Fealy, an associate professor of Indonesian politics at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Hajjah Latifah, who was attending a local rally for the Democratic Party in Tangerang, just outside Jakarta, said she had already decided to vote for the party because of the programs it had established while in power, including programs regarding education, poverty and corruption.
Asked about the series of corruption scandals involving party members in the past three years, she said, ''It's not only the Democrats, but other parties including even Islamic parties, and this is well known to the public.''
Tobias Basuki, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that a major scandal involving sex and corruption last year, which engulfed the Prosperous Justice Party, had also soured voters toward political Islam.
Beyond that, a poll released March 31 by the Indonesia Network Elections Survey found that less than 1 percent of voters supported a political party because it represented their particular religious beliefs.
''Sixty years ago, people thought that politics and religious behavior were inseparable in Indonesia. It was a part of the Islamic identity to vote for an Islamic political party,'' Mr. Fealy said. ''Today you can express your piety but vote for anyone you want.''
Yenny Wahid, former secretary general of the Islamic-based National Awakening Party, said issues other than religion had taken precedence among voters. ''Only as a last resort will people vote on religious grounds,'' she said. ''They first will pick based on a party's stance on corruption, campaign promises and recognition factor of candidates.''
Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, the deputy chairman of the United Development Party, one of the Islamic-based parties that polls say could be voted out of Parliament for the first time since its creation in 1973, dismissed suggestions that his party was at risk of losing its seats. The party, which won 5 percent of the popular vote in 2009, is currently polling between 2 percent and 7 percent. (A party needs to win at least 3.5 percent of the vote to take any seats.)
Still, Mr. Lukman agreed that Islamic-based parties were struggling, though he said it was not because of their religious roots but because of the performance of their members.
Mr. Bahtiar said that Islamic-based parties remain relevant in Indonesia's political system, noting that any or all of them could join a coalition to help one of the secular nationalist parties reach the threshold to nominate a presidential candidate.
''To whom they attach themselves remains to be seen,'' Mr. Bahtiar said. ''But they have the ability to do so, and they will.''




17


 
 
The Philadelphia Daily News

April 8, 2014 Tuesday  
FINAL Edition

 Israeli dirty joke: A Muppet sidles up to a Bar...

 
ISRAEL'S MOST beautiful export, Bar Refaeli, has made a commercial so racy, FoxNews.com says, the country's Second Authority for Television and Radio banned the ad during daytime and prime time.
Haaretz newspaper said the move was made because the commercial has "too many sexual insinuations."
 Refaeli's co-star? Red Orbach, an Israeli Muppet. 
 The steamy spot shows Bar and Red in bed, with the Muppet fantasizing about the superduperJewpermodel. Multiple images of Bar are then shown washing Red's car, lounging with him in a Jacuzzi and playing strip poker.
 The ad is for Hoodies brand underwear. It would be funnier if it were for Cialis.
 * As for a show that will be too racy, an Internet reality program is in the works called "The Sex Factor," in which a quintet of porn stars (Tori Black, Lexi Belle, Remy LaCroix, Keiran Lee and former Duke student Belle Knox) will judge an amateur contest seeking the next big thing.
 Unless it's a woman, in which case it will be the two next big things.
 The grand prize of $1 million will be presented at the AVN Awards next January.
 Given what some people will do in a fleabag motel for $50, one can only imagine what folks will be willing to do for $1 million.
 (You may want to cover your eyes during the elimination rounds.)
 * In news of another reality show that features sword-swallowing contestants, the "Got Talent" franchise has been deemed the most successful reality-TV format worldwide by Guinness World Records.
 Syco Entertainment and FremantleMedia said yesterday that the format that was launched as "Britain's Got Talent" has been adapted for broadcast in 58 countries. The latest versions to air include those in Iceland and Brazil.
 So it won't be long before Simon Cowell is hoarding as much cash as Apple.
Alistair Richards, president of Guinness World Records, said in a statement that "Got Talent" displaced "Strictly Come Dancing," another British format that has been sold to more than three dozen countries.
 * Speaking of Apple, and Tattle's occasional foray into the world of income inequality, it's been reported that the maker of the iMac, iPad, iPhone and iTunes is sitting on a cash haul of $159 billion.
 To put that in perspective, Apple could give each of its 80,000 employees a $1 million bonus and still have $80 billion left over.
 Or it could buy the Comcast/NBC/Universal empire - for cash - and still have about $30 billion left for iWalking around money. 
 * As for Comcast subsidiary NBC, the network is preening like a peacock over the strong start of Jimmy Fallon.
 NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke expressed no fear yesterday about who will replace David Letterman upon the late-night comic's planned retirement from CBS next year. 
 Fallon "is the best and no matter who CBS puts in that place, I think he'll still be the best," Burke said. 
 "He has turned out to be, I think, exactly what America is looking for," Burke said. 
 Tattle expects hyperbole when it comes to a medium in which every episode is "special," "riveting" "or the most thrilling/funniest/most dramatic yet," and there's no question that Fallon's gotten off to a gangbusters start, but when you're claiming 5 million viewers as a referendum on the taste of America, you're kind of ignoring that a couple hundred million adults are not watching.
TATTBITS * Malaysia and Indonesia have joined much of the Muslim world and banned the biblical epic "Noah," because of its visual depiction of the prophet mentioned in the Quran.
 As for the No. 1 film at the Malaysian box office last weekend, it was "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." The star-spangled Avenger was followed by "Divergent," "Need for Speed" and "Mr. Peabody and Sherman."
 But no "Noah." Go figure.
 * Ten world-class soloists put costly Stradivarius violins and new, cheaper ones to a blind scientific test and the new instruments won handily. 
 Most of the musicians couldn't even tell whether they were using old or new violins based on the sound. The musicians wore dark glasses and the lights were dimmed when they played the dozen violins in a rehearsal room and a concert hall. 
 The study was released yesterday by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
 * Barbara Walters will make her final television appearance on "The View" next month, ABC said yesterday. 
 Walters' last day as a co-host on the all-women talk show she created in 1997 will be on May 16. ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Co. (which could also be purchased by Apple for cash), will also air a two-hour evening special on the same day focusing on her career and her life. 
 "In this business there are legends, there are icons, and then there is Barbara Walters," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. 
 "She broke barriers, defied convention, made history and set the standard for journalistic excellence for more than 50 years. It's hard to imagine television without her," he added. 
 No David Letterman. No Barbara Walters. Paul Guilfoyle is leaving "CSI." What's next, no "Law & Order" reruns?
 - Daily News wire services
 contributed to this report.
 Email: gensleh@phillynews.com
 Phone: 215-854-5678
On Twitter: @DNTattle




18



 


April 8, 2014 Tuesday

 SINCE YOU ASKED

 
"Every time you're nominated, every time you hear your name called for anything, it's butterflies." 
 Miranda Lambert to People about her wins at the Academy of Country Music Awards for female vocalist of the year, single record of the year and vocal event of the year with Keith Urban.,Museum needs money for tiara on "˜Pawn Stars',A tiara that once belonged to first lady Ida Saxton McKinley is sitting in a pawn shop in Las Vegas, and a Canton, Ohio, museum is racing to get it out of hock. 
It's at Gold & Silver Pawn, the setting of the History Channel series "Pawn Stars." And the tiara's former owners didn't exactly pawn the headpiece to pay the rent. They sold it to shop co-owner and series star Rick Harrison for $43,000. 
Ida McKinley was a Canton native and the wife of President William McKinley, the namesake of the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in Canton. She died in 1907, and her diamond-accented headpiece was passed down through her sister's family.  
The museum knew about the tiara and even borrowed it a couple of times to display at special events, Curator Kim Kenney said. But its sale took the institution by surprise. 
Kenney sprang into action after learning from a museum member that a possession of Ida McKinley's would be featured on the March 7 episode. She said she contacted the pawn shop but, initially, was told the tiara was not for sale. About two weeks ago, however, Harrison called back and offered to sell the adornment to the museum for what he paid. 
"It's been appraised at $75,000, so it's a good deal," she said. There's one catch: The offer is good only until June 24. 
Now, the museum is engaging in a fundraising blitz to try to scrape together the money to buy the tiara, which is more like a metal headband accented by a pair of detachable diamond wings that can double as brooches. 
Because the museum doesn't have an acquisitions budget, it's soliciting donations and trying the get the word out via social media. It hopes to hold a fundraising event, Kenney said, but this has all happened so fast that the museum hasn't had time to cook up a plan. 
The museum, Kenney pointed out, is not one of the federally funded presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. "We're just a nonprofit trying to stay open," she said.Â 
Donations may be made by phone at 330-455-7043 or mailed to Ida McKinley Tiara Fund, McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW, Canton, OH 44708. 
"" MCT,Shakira wasn't loca when she said her boyfriend was "territorial," she was just being funny. 
"Hey guys "" I recently said in some interviews that my man could be territorial," she wrote on her Facebook page April 3. "For the record, I was being humorous and now I see that some press took it very literally!" 
The "Loca" singer, 37, was referring to an interview she did with Billboard magazine for its March 15 cover story in which she detailed her relationship with Gerard Pique. 
"He's very territorial," she told the mag. "Since he no longer lets me do videos with men, I have to do them with women." 
Shakira and Rihanna recently teamed for the steamy "Can't Remember to Forget You" music video off the Colombian beauty's 10th album, "Why Wait." 
In an attempt to clarify her previous statements, the singer tried to better explain herself on Facebook: "The reality is that we have a beautiful relationship of mutual trust, and jealousy has never been an issue on either side," she wrote. 
"" New York Daily News,I just saw the interview "Between Two Ferns" with Zach Galifinakis and President Barack Obama, and it was really funny. Was it written beforehand? "" K.P. 
The comedy interview for FunnyorDie.com was largely ad-libbed. The president agreed to do it in order to reach a young audience and encourage them to sign up for health-care coverage, and his people wanted it to sound natural ... so, while some of the questions were expected and answers were prepared, much of the talk was off the cuff, funny and successful: Apparently, traffic on the Healthcare.gov website went up 40 percent after the interview aired. 
 What is actor Ryan Gosling doing next? I think he's so gorgeous. "" A.G. 
He co-stars with Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender in an as-yet-untitled drama set in the Austin, Texas, music scene, and is producing and considering starring in a bio of '30s movie dance number choreographer Busby Berkeley. He also wrote and directed the upcoming thriller "How to Catch a Monster." 
"" Robin Adams Sloan, King Features Syndicate,Singer Chris Brown's assault case is going forward after a judge in Washington on April 7 rejected a request to dismiss it.  
Lawyers for the Grammy-award-winning singer had argued the case should be dismissed because prosecutors abused the grand jury process to prepare for trial. Chris' lawyer, Mark Geragos, said prosecutors used the grand jury to "freeze" the testimony of the alleged victim in the case, a man who says Chris and his bodyguard punched him outside a Washington hotel in October.  
Mark called the incident "the most investigated misdemeanor of all time."  
But Judge Patricia Wynn agreed with prosecutors that they had a right to use the grand jury to assess the strength of their case.  
"I am persuaded that there was no abuse," Wynn said.  
Chris and his bodyguard are scheduled to go to trial April 17. A judge will hear the case, not a jury.  
At the time of the alleged assault in Washington, Chris was on probation in California for a 2009 attack on singer Rihanna, his then-girlfriend. 
 "" Associated Press,Malaysia and Indonesia have banned the biblical epic "Noah," joining other Muslim nations that forbid the film for its visual depiction of the prophet. 
Film censors in both countries said April 7 that the portrayal of the ark-building prophet by Russell Crowe was against Islamic laws. Depictions of any prophet are shunned in Islam to avoid worship of a person rather than God. 
"The film "˜Noah' is not allowed to be screened in this country to protect the sensitivity and harmony in Malaysia's multiracial and multireligious community," Film Censorship Board chairman Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid said in a statement. 
Malay Muslims make up about 60 percent of Malaysia's 30 million people, and Christians about 9 percent. 
In the world's most populous Muslim nation, the head of Indonesia's censor board Muchlis Paeni said the plot of the film directed by Darren Aronofsky contradicted the Quran and the Bible. 
"" New York Daily News 




18



 


April 7, 2014  Monday

 A Caricature, Not a Critique

 

ABSTRACT
The author of "Through a Screen Darkly" challenges Toby Miller's review. 

FULL TEXT
To the Editor:
In "Jingo Unchained" (The Chronicle Review, March 21), Toby Miller opens his review of Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America's Image Abroad with a jab at my having used an interpreter to interview Muhammad Rizieq, the leader of the Front Pembela Islam, a militant Islamist organization in Indonesia. If Professor Miller speaks Malay well enough to have dispensed with an interpreter, then more power to him.
But my linguistic inadequacies are not Professor Miller's real target. And neither is the argument of my book. His real target is me, whom he derides as an arrogant "pundit" whose ideas were already formed before I ventured forth to interview 300-plus journalists, educators, diplomats, artists, businesspeople, NGO workers, soldiers, and religious leaders in 11 countries and the United States. I've never met Miller or corresponded with him. How does he know what I knew and when I knew it? 
Miller doesn't mention Rizieq by name. Indeed, he pays no attention to any of the people I interviewed-especially when they have something good to say about America. From many of these people I learned that what others admire most about America is an attitude of hope for human liberty, tempered by a prudent mindfulness of human limitations. I call this the American ethos, and state clearly that it is "admired by others not because it is American but because it achieves better results than despair or cynicism" (emphasis added).
Rather than contest this ethos, Miller caricatures it as "a 1950s white-picket-fence account," a mere cover for the usual multitude of sins: classism, racism, and homophobia (I am spared sexism). Why does he take this approach, since none of the people I interviewed had any connection with 1950s America, much less white picket fences? Was it because my interlocutors also expressed what he calls "positive attitudes toward monogamous sexuality," as well as reservations about "the valorization of sexual autonomy and rejection of conventional institutions" found in American popular culture?
Continuing his personal attack, Miller holds me up as a creature of the "bourgeois media" and "interview circuit." (Please notify the publicity department of Yale University Press!) According to him, in my exalted status as a public intellectual my concern for the future of liberal democracy is mere code for "military domination and corporate control." This ignores my interlocutors' sharp distinction between the ethos they admired and the reckless optimism of those who would spread democracy at the point of a gun-a distinction I strongly endorse. As for "corporate control," Miller also ignores my whole critique of the U.S. entertainment industry, which I daresay is equally or more damning than that of many cultural theorists.
This brings us to Miller's real gripe. By examining the impact of American cultural exports on the moral sensibilities of religiously and socially conservative people around the world, I violate the accepted parameters of contemporary academic discourse. Of all the complaints Miller lodges against me, the most heartfelt seems to be that I don't pay enough attention to "scholars in media, communication, and cultural studies." That's actually not true. I cite several respected scholars in these fields, most of them not Americans. If Miller is sincere in deploring the "gulf" between his fellow academics and "public intellectuals like Bayles," then perhaps he should have written a more substantive review.
Martha Bayles Lecturer in the Arts & Sciences Honors Program Boston College Chestnut Hill, Mass.




18

 SmallTownPapers, Inc.
 
SmallTownPapers, Inc.
 Decorah Journal 

The Decorah Journal (Iowa)

This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from STPNS

March 27, 2014

 Anne Rasmussen to present lecture at Luther College

 
From the end of former President of Indonesia Haji Muhammad Suharto's "New Order" through the era of "Reformation ethnographic research has allowed the powerful role of music in Indonesian religious nationalism to come to light. 
Author and professor of eth-nomusicology Anne Rasmussen will present a Sihler Lecture on women, music and Qurani C recitation in Indonesia at 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 11, in Room 102 of the F.W. Olin Building on the I u-ther College campus.
The lecture is open to the public with no charge for admission Working off the topic ol her 2010 book. "Women, the Recited Our'aii, and Islamic Music in Contemporary Rasmussen will discuss the soun dscape of Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, and the contributions of women through their recitations of the Qur'an and performances in Arab-influenced Islamic musical styles and genres.
Rasmussen is a professor of music and ethnomusicology at the College of William and Mary. She serves as the chair of the music department and director of the William and Mary Middle Eastern Music Ensemble.
Rasmussen recently conducted held research in various areas of Oman. She was present for the celebration of country's 40th anniversary as a modern nation. She also attended the Muscat Festival in Oman's capital and the festival Majrajan al-Kharif in Dhofar,
She has written several books on ethnomusicology, including "Divine Inspirations: Music and Islam in Indonesia" and "Music of Multicultural America: A Study of Twelve Musical Communities."




18


 South Bend Tribune Corporation
 
South Bend Tribune (Indiana)

March 26, 2014 Wednesday  
Mich Edition

 'Noah' role buoys teen

 
A storm of attention is brewing, but two days before the release of director Darren Aronofsky's biblical tale of Noah's ark, one young cast member remains calm and unassuming.
 The 13-year-old kid who is about to be introduced to the movie-going public as Noah's son Japheth blends into the woodwork with every other eighth-grader at LaPorte's Renaissance Academy.
 Leo McHugh Carroll describes his typical school day - writing essays, learning Spanish and algebra. Then it's off to shoot hoops with buddies, or play tennis, or work on his chess skills as a member of Renaissance Academy's chess team. 
 But he missed the chess team's state tournament to be on the red carpet for the "Noah" premiere in New York last weekend.
 "It's not that difficult," Leo says of juggling normal teen life with the tsunami of media attention surrounding the next big Hollywood epic.
 "Of course, people are gonna ask, 'What's that like?'" he says. "But it's never that difficult to juggle both."
 "To me, it's important that they maintain their whole lives," Leo's mother, Vicki McHugh, says of both her 13-year-old fraternal twin sons, Leo and Lucas McHugh Carroll. Lucas also has a small part in "Noah."
 There were five kids born to Vicki McHugh and Pete Carroll in Chicago: Vincent, now 20, is recovering from a serious car crash. Xavier is 18. Tori, 16, also appears in a bit part in "Noah" as a young maiden walking in the woods. And then there are the twins, Lucas and Leo.
 Divorce left Vicki McHugh to raise her kids on her own in Grand Beach, a small town across the Michigan state line from Michigan City.
 When she founded the Renaissance Academy in LaPorte with her sister, Kieran McHugh, each of her kids had a school to attend instead of being home-schooled. And Vicki McHugh had the flexibility to take time off to drive her kids to an audition if needed.
 By the time Leo and Lucas turned 6, their older brothers and sister were already bitten by the acting bug, performing in local theater productions and a local kids group, Yogakids.
 Lucas landed the family's first on-screen acting gig, as Matt Damon's son in the 2009 thriller "The Informant."
 Two years earlier, Leo had a small part in the 2007 Vince Vaughn comedy "Fred Claus." But all he wound up with was a paycheck.
 "His part got cut from ('Fred Claus'), but we didn't know that until the movie came out," Vicki McHugh says.
 Both brothers got called to audition for "Noah" in the summer of 2012.
 Lucas was called back for the part of Noah's young son Shem, but the producers settled on another teen who more closely resembled actor Douglas Booth, who portrays an older Shem. Lucas stayed on in a bit part credited as "refugee."
 Leo was called back as Japheth, Noah's young son. Playing such a central character guaranteed Leo would not wind up on the cutting room floor this time.
 And he gained valuable acting experience, as well as an education about the story of Noah.
 "Mostly you talked to Darren (Aronofsky) about that," Leo says about going over Old Testament knowledge he needed to portray Japheth. "And he kept it very close to the biblical story, but he added in his own vision of how it should be shot."
 Leo chuckles at the suggestion he spent time on the set working with actual pairs of lions, tigers and giraffes.
 "Doves," Leo says. "I was just supposed to chase the doves and they fly away."
 Most other animals were computer-generated, he says.
 Friends and other kids are "unfazed" by the Carroll boys' fame, Vicki McHugh says. That doesn't keep inquiring minds from asking Leo about Russell Crowe.
 The Academy Award-winning actor with the reputation for being temperamental was nothing short of "amazing" to fellow actors on the set, Leo says. Especially with the kids, even if it meant putting his money where his foul mouth was.
 "All of the kids on the set said that, because he was swearing so much, he had to put money in a jar," Leo says.
 Crowe, the teen says, was happy to oblige "as long as it went to charity," dropping a $50 or $100 bill in the jar in the morning and saying, "'That should take care of me for the rest of the day.'"
 "Russell was great, great to Leo, friendly and nice during the entire filming," McHugh says. "He was always thinking of little entertaining things to do for the kids. ? He couldn't have been any nicer.
 "And Emma Watson," she adds, "oh my gosh!"
 The "Harry Potter" book series was Leo's favorite. When he met Emma Watson, who played Hermione in the "Harry Potter" movies and is cast as Ila in "Noah," Leo admits to being awestruck.
 "It was really amazing because I had never thought I would meet a person like that," he says.
 "Mostly," he adds, "we would talk about this movie, or I would be asking her, like, how they did things in 'Harry Potter.' And she's just a totally, friendly, nice person."
 The world is debating "Noah" with a polarizing pre-release buzz reminiscent of that for "The Passion of the Christ."
 Early screenings reportedly left some religious-minded viewers disappointed, including conservative radio host Glenn Beck who called the film the "Babylonian Chain Saw Massacre." This week, Indonesia banned any showing of the film in the predominantly Muslim nation, citing "Noah" as a "violation of Islamic law."
 But according to Time magazine, prominent Christian leaders say the retelling stays true to the Bible, with Focus on the Family President Jim Daly saying the film "gives Christians a great opportunity to engage our culture with the biblical Noah."
 And last week, during a private meeting in Rome, Crowe and "Noah" reportedly received Pope Francis' personal blessing.
 Around the McHugh Carroll home in Grand Beach, there is no controversy.
 "For them," Vicki McHugh says of her boys, "when they go and do something like this, they're aware of how incredibly special this is."
 JHarrell@SBTinfo.com 574-235-6368




18


 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

March 26, 2014 Wednesday  


 'Noah' hits rough religious waters; 
Film based on Bible tale swamps filmmakers in a downpour of criticism

 
Director Darren Aronofsky has seen his share of controversy in a body of work that has included uncompromising films such as Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan.
But there's nothing quite like the storm that  erupted over his treatment of the Old Testament tale featured in Noah, out Friday. The maelstrom has battle-tested studio heads reaching for appropriate biblical comparisons.
"It's been a unique journey," says Rob Moore, vice chairman of distributor Paramount Studios. "I actually feel like some combination of Noah preparing for the storm, or Joseph, where you feel like you're in some foreign land and you're trying to figure out how to make it all work." 
The story of Noah's construction of a massive ark to save Earth's animals from God's wrath  is sacred text in the Quran and the Bible and is one of the most popular stories with children.
Yet no filmmaker has fully taken on the tale for Hollywood until Aronofsky's quest, which actually started when, as a 13-year-old student, he won an award for his poem about the story. It continued to inspire him as an adult.
"It seems strange to me that one of the greatest stories ever told had never been made into a feature film," says Aronofsky, 45. "I have been working on this for 32 years. When I first pitched the film, I didn't think there would be much controversy."
He was wrong. Noah, which stars Russell Crowe in the title role, along with  Jennifer Connelly (as Naameh) and Anthony Hopkins (as Methuselah), has become a lightning rod. Aronofsky and screenwriting partner Ari Handel's leaked script was first called out by a  blogger in October 2012 for depicting Noah as an "environmental wacko."
Aronofsky insists that the comments refer to an old draft of the script. But criticism of Noah's depiction and the environmental themes has continued.
Representatives of Muslim-dominated Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia have made clear that their countries will not distribute the film. Conservative radio host Glenn Beck, who initially criticized the film based on a review that he read, saw Noah over the weekend.
"It was awful," Beck said on his  show Monday, calling it "pro-animal" and "strongly anti-human."
Paramount has worked with religious organizations such as the American Bible Society. After seeing the film, chief communications officer Geoffrey Morin urged debate about the topic "and digging into God's word for yourself" in a positive op-ed piece in USA TODAY.
After discussions with members of the National Religious Broadcasters, Paramount and the NRB made a joint announcement in February to change Noah's marketing materials to stress that it was an interpretation of the biblical story. "The film is inspired by the story of Noah," the marketing wording now reads. "The Biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis."
NRB President Jerry Johnson posed the all-important question in a series of articles on the organization's website: Should Christians organize churches to see Noah, or boycott it?
While taking issue with some of Aronofsky's vision, Johnson wrote that many would "enjoy" the "quality production."
"Most importantly, you can have healthy Gospel discussions about some of the positives, and even the negatives," Johnson wrote. He also made clear it was not a "buy up a block of tickets" moment for churches.
How will the controversy play out at the box office? Industry publication Variety reported robust tracking at more than $35 million for this weekend. Further, Noah opened strong last Friday in South Korea and heavily Catholic Mexico ($1.4 million, matching Gravity's opening in the market).
Former ambassador to the Vatican Raymond Flynn and Samuel Rodriguez, president of the  National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, also have seen the film and praised the educational possibilities it presents. 




18


 The Florida Times-Union 
Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)

March 16, 2014 Sunday

 Come hell and high water - and it did ...

 
BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA | Both hell and high water came to this remote province of Sumatra, on the far northwestern end of Indonesia, off the Indian Ocean.
If that weren't enough, there was more from the unworldly realm. The heavy hand of religion - in the form of sharia law - has been imposed to control and punish any deviation from accepted behavior or appearance among the beleaguered Acehnese.
The hell was the 29-year armed rebellion against the central government, as Aceh sought independence from the Indonesian union, arguing that it is a distinct society and should be able to build its own future. A tentative peace agreement was reached in 2005 in Helsinki.
It was enabled, in part, by the high water, which was all over your news media. Ten years ago, one of the 10 worst earthquakes in recorded history displaced some of the Indian Ocean seabed by several meters, causing the worst tsunami in history. 
It violently submerged Banda Aceh and much of the rest of the province, killing an estimated 170,000 people (out of 227,898 total) and virtually destroying the town.
Today, many of the buildings have been rebuilt, and the few visitors who make their way here can visit a mass grave with about 2,000 bodies, a sizable ship that was swept about three kilometers inland and a fishing boat that settled atop a house. They remain where they landed, as eloquent evidence of the violence and power of the tsunami.
I am here with 14 other Asian and American journalists as Jefferson Fellows of the East-West Center, examining Challenges of Democratic Transition among developing nations, specifically Myanmar and Indonesia.
You and I can imagine wars and natural disasters. What really fascinates, or unsettles, us is sharia, the idea that religious zealots can tell the rest of the population how to dress, believe and behave, or else face imprisonment, corporal punishment or, in some variations, death by stoning or maiming by amputation.
Most, maybe all, religions have laws, which the faithful may choose to observe depending on their beliefs and commitment. But some Islamic countries have imposed sharia as a replacement, or official addition, to civil laws.
Some Americans, fearful of terrorism, are worried about sharia law coming to the U.S. - though that would require an inconceivable takeover of the electorate and rewriting of the Constitution.
Sharia doesn't apply to the rest of Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world and generally very moderate, but Aceh's "special status" in the union allows the imposition of sharia law.
Between 2001 and 2009, the Aceh legislature enacted a series of sharia laws on "belief, ritual and promoting Islam," restricting women's clothing and banning alcohol and gambling, sex between unmarried people, rape, homosexual conduct and "seclusion," being alone with someone from the other sex. The first public caning occurred in 2005. Amnesty International counted at least 45 canings in 2012.
The offenses and the punishments are much worse in some other countries, such as the Taliban's brutal rule in Afghanistan. The Aceh legislature dropped the death-by-stoning punishment, and people caned are fully clothed, for some protection.
There is some disagreement over whether sharia applies to non-Muslims. The Economist reported in February that it does, but the head of the Islamic Sharia Agency told us it is only for Muslims.
(As our plane landed in Banda Aceh, the standard flight-attendant announcement added a warning that alcohol and drugs are strictly prohibited in Aceh, and violators are severely punished. But then our hotel was happy to serve us Indonesian beer.)
Nurjuli (who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name), one of the negotiators of the Helsinki agreement and a leader of PA, the dominant local political party, said foreigners are too focused on sharia.
"If you read the media in the U.S., you'd think we are fundamentalists, that we beat women in the streets. This is a tolerant society," he said, pointing out that Christian churches and Buddhist temples are nearby.
"Sharia is not about women's hair. Here, it's about politics. If a politician says he's against sharia law, they say he's against Islam. This sharia law is not meant by the mullahs; it's meant by the politicians.
"It's scary," Nurjuli said. "Women can't ride motorcycles [except sidesaddle], yet our women soldiers wear pants. But I can't say that, because they would say I'm anti-Islamic."
In fact, we had trouble finding advocates for sharia law.
Two of us struck up a conversation with two young people near the displaced ship. Asked if she likes sharia, the covered young woman stammered, "I ... I ... I," then smiled and finished, "have no judgment on that."
The 30ish man said sharia is "a very small thing. We already have good Muslim education. We know what's right and wrong."
In a roadside coffee shop well outside Banda Aceh, I asked Tarmiza Mureu, a local teacher, about the laws, and he shrugged, "We have had sharia for a long time."
I asked Syahrizal Abbas, head of the Islamic Sharia Agency, whether one could be a good Muslim and not believe in sharia law. "Sharia law in Aceh is best on Islamic values, and he has to believe in the principles of Islam."
When we noted that homosexual behavior is outlawed, he said that homosexuals "are not in the Acehnese culture ... maybe outsiders."
We happened upon a judge of the sharia court, who genially agreed to talk to us through an interpreter. He assured us that defendants have rights, including an attorney and the right to appeal. Judgment is not by a jury, but rather a three-judge panel.
He said the court handles only "domestic" and relatively small criminal offenses, with only "light" sentences.
"We are not here to punish," he said. "We are here to protect the dignity of the community."
The judge acknowledged that, "the indonesian understanding of human rights is different from the understanding of human rights in other countries."
He pointed out that the U.S. once prohibited alcohol.
Juandra Jamal of the Aceh Civil Society Task Force, said, "You can't separate Aceh and Islam. When you're talking about Aceh, you're talking about Islam; when you're talking about Islam, you're talking about Aceh. It should be based on the culture of the society."
Today, the people of Aceh seem more concerned about the struggling economy, finalizing details of Aceh's special status in Indonesia and upcoming parliamentary elections - with complete local political parties for the first time.
The PA, which grew out of the independence movement, has split into two parties, the new one called PNA, as the province becomes more politically sophisticated. The PNA says it's more democratic and progressive on social issues - and against sharia law.
But some of the violence of the long rebellion has carried over into politics. While we were in Indonesia, an Aceh legislative candidate was ambushed by several people with rifles, who riddled his car with 42 bullets. It was the third such murder of a PNA candidate during this campaign.
With all those tribulations - the long insurrection, tsunami, poverty, Indonesian corruption, the new political violence, sharia law - how do you have the energy and focus to build your democracy?
The people of Aceh do, in their own way, and are a good reminder for us.
They are working their way through hell and high water and brimstone, not to mention poverty and corruption, to create their own working democracy.
All we have to do is nurture and use ours.
frank.denton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4197




18


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

March 14, 2014

 How Do I Tell My Russian Host Family I'm a Jew?

 
When I was 18 years old I lived for six months  with a family in the provincial Russian city of  Novgorod. It was 1995, just four years after  the fall of the Soviet Union, and I was the first  Englishman that most people in Novgorod had  ever met.
My host family and their relatives had many  questions: What kind of houses do English  people live in? Which countries have you visited?  What do people in the West think of us?
I became adept at answering everything from  the mundane to the surreal. But the only information  I was unwilling to reveal was that I  was a Jew.
Like many British and American Jews, I grew  up on tales of shtetls, the Pale of Settlement and  the anti-Semitic evils of communism. At the  turn of the 20th century, my father's father fled  the pogroms of southern Ukraine for the factories  of Leeds in the north of England. During  the 1980s my mother volunteered on the campaign  for Soviet Jewry. Each winter, my family  and I marched in a torch-lit parade through  Leeds, calling on the Soviet government to  release its Jews. In 1985 my mother 
The Russia I see  around me is more  confident, more  vital.
went on an Intourist trip to  Leningrad, during which she and  a friend sneaked off regularly to visit  refusenik families.
I have a distinct memory of how,  before I left for Russia in 1995, my  mother  though she remembers  things differently  warned me not  to reveal my Jewish background to  my host family. It was not a diffi-cult request to fulfill.
Although I won the Hebrew prize  at my Jewish middle school and  had once been a devout Reform  Jew, I had long since abandoned  religion. I had never kept kosher  or been Sabbath observant. In my  final year of high school, out of  principle, I was the only one of my  Jewish friends who attended school  on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Concealing my Jewish identity  would have been unremarkable  if my hosts had not become like  a surrogate family for me. Nadya  and Sasha became Tyotya, Auntie,  Nadya and Dyadya, Uncle, Sasha.  Sasha even took to occasionally  referring to me as sinok, son. I  was supposed to live with them for  three months and then move on  to another family. But a couple of  months into my stay they decided  that unless I wanted to leave, I  could and should spend the rest of  my time in Novgorod with them.  Tyotya Nadya particularly worried  about what she would do if her own  son, Denis, had traveled 3,000 miles  to live with a strange family.
My experiences in Russia that  winter, spring and summer, in particular  the family's warmth and  kindness, played a large role in my  decision to study Russian at university.  Over the next five years, I  returned to Russia each year, and  whenever I did, I always returned  to Novgorod. But by not telling  Tyotya Nadya and Dyadya Sasha I  was Jewish in 1995, I locked myself  into not telling them in each subsequent  year right up until the final  time I saw them in the first week  of 2000.
Now, here I am, 14 years later,  on a high-speed train hurtling west  out of Moscow toward Novgorod, a  knot of exhaustion, excitement and  nervousness.
It is the end of January. The  Olympic torch is yet to arrive in  Sochi; civil unrest in Ukraine rumbles  on without a hint that it could  devolve into the most serious standoff  between East and West since the  Cold War. The Russia I see around  me is more confident, more vital,  more  dare I say it?  Western  than I am used to. Perhaps because  of that, its social problems  the  infringement of human rights and  freedom of speech, the chasm  between rich and poor  seem  more acute.
But I can think of none of this  now. I'm fixated on purely selfish  concerns. What if 37-year-old  me doesn't live up to 23-year-old  me? What if we don't get along as  well as we once did? It feels like  a sin of omission not to have told  Nadya and Sasha I was Jewish for  all those years. Back then, Judaism  played a peripheral role in my life.  I am no more observant today than  I was then.
So why do I have this urge to tell  them now, after all these years,  that I am a Jew?
My cell phone rings. It's Nadya,  speaking in Russian: Paul, we'll  be at the station to meet you, me  and Dyed. Okay? I can hear the  excitement and the concern in  Nadya's voice. I have to change  trains in a small town called  Chudovo at around 11 p. m., and  she is worried I might not be able  to find the correct platform.
Look for the signs to the lastochka  [high speed train], she says.  Or ask someone. Okay, my dear.
I rush to end the call, because my  voice is beginning to crack.
When I first arrived in Novgorod,  in 1995, the idealism that had  greeted the dissolution of the  Soviet Union four years earlier  was a distant memory. Families  were still recovering from the so-called  economic shock therapy  of the early 1990s that had wiped  out meager savings and had triggered  hyperinflation and long lines  for bread. Corruption, crime and  alcoholism were rampant. Just  two years earlier, President Boris  Yeltsin had turned Russian tanks  on his own parliament building.  Hundreds of poorly armed young  conscripts were dying in the First  Chechen War.
I traveled to Russia with Gap  Activity Projects (now called  Lattitude Global Volunteering), a  British not-for-profit organization  that places young people on work  placements overseas.
Initially I had wanted to go to  South America, but all the spots  were taken. Next I applied to  Indonesia, but I failed the interview.  (My request to live with a  non-Muslim family so that I could  smoke, drink and spend time  with girls did not go down well  at the interview.) In my resubmitted  application, I listed, in rough  order of preference, India, Pakistan,  Nepal, Israel, Turkey and Russia.
I was selected for Russia. I told  the project coordinator that I was  thrilled.
I arrived in Novgorod late one  January night, in a minibus with  four British boys and one girl. One  by one, we were delivered to different  apartment buildings. When my  turn came, at House 25 Block 3, I  was led up five flights of stairs in a  stairwell that smelled of cold earth  and stale cigarette smoke. The door  to apartment 38 was covered in  dark faux leather and metal studs.  Inside I met Nadya and Sasha; their  19-year-old son, Denis, and their  15-year-old daughter, Tanya.
The family lived in a two-room  apartment. I shared the sole bedroom  with Denis, while Nadya,  Sasha and Tanya slept on a fold-out sofa and a fold-out chair in the  living room.
It's hard to imagine now, but back  then, in the days before iPhones  and laptops, before the ubiquity  of the Internet and email, living  abroad was an act of emotional  as well as physical separation.  Letters and parcels took about one  month to travel between England  and Russia. If I wanted to phone  my parents or my girlfriend, I had  to book a call that was so expensive,  I could speak for only 10 or  15 minutes.
That profound sense of separation  is now replaced with trepidation  about what I will find. I know that  I have grown and changed during  these past 14 years. I don't stop to  consider that my hosts have, too.
My first couple of weeks with  Nadya and Sasha in 1995 were  pleasant but full of forced politeness,  as you might expect when a  family invites a foreign 18-year-old  who cannot speak their language  into their home. Tanya's English  was excellent. But whenever she  was not at home, I had to communicate  with Nadya, Sasha and Denis  using a mixture of sign language  and trial and error.
The family was expecting a textbook  Englishman  someone  reserved, well educated: a tea-drinking,  hat-doffing character from  a British drama series. So it must  have come as a surprise when they  discovered that their impish, long-haired  Englishman was polite but  mischievous, had never drunk tea  and was proud that his sole Russian  sentence was Zdravstvuite, menya  zavut Ira, or, Hello, my name is  Ira  short in Russian for Irena.
Gradually we relaxed around  one another. I believe the real ice  breaker arrived toward the end of  my second week, when I returned  home one evening and announced  that I had learned a new Russian  phrase: Zdravstvuite, menya zavut  pushistaya zadnitsa, or, Hello,  my name is fluffy buttocks. Nadya,  who had a wicked sense of humor,  thought this was the funniest thing  for an Englishman to say.
Paul, she said, it's time you  learned Russian.
From then on, Nadya would point  out different objects in the apartment   a table, a chair, a spoon,  the television  and tell me the  word or phrase in Russian. Soon  she began to teach me Russian  mat, or curse words, drawing from  a reservoir of thousands of words  and phrases that the writer Victor  Erofeyev once described as linguistic  theatre [and] verbal performance  art.
My experience of Russia was of  a people who had little but gave  everything, rather than what I saw  in England, which was of a people  who had everything but gave little.
As my Russian improved, I discovered  a different side of my personality.  I was more expressive,  more relaxed, more vulgar. After  five months of living in Novgorod,  although I could barely read or  write, I was confident enough in my  spoken Russian to take a 92-hour  train journey to Irkutsk, sharing an  open compartment with 53 people.  I was as relaxed talking politely  with fellow passengers about life  in England and Russia as I was in  bawdy conversation with soldiers  in the smoking area at the end of  the train car.
My Jewishness was rarely an  issue. Until 1997, Russian passports  still had a line for a person's  nationality that could be either  Russian or Jewish. I quickly  learned that if I told people I was  English they assumed I was from  a Christian background.
There were some awkward  moments. Although I don't remember  the conversations today, Nadya,  Sasha and others must have asked  me about religion in the West, and  I must have answered in any way  I could without saying that my  family was Jewish. I was nervous  about going to a banya  a Russian  bath house  with Denis, in case I  had to answer awkward questions  about why I was circumcised.
At a family event in a Russian  church, I watched with dread as  the priest moved toward me along  a line of worshippers, holding out a  cross for each of us to kiss. Nothing  at Jewish middle school prepared  me for this question: Is a Jew who  is hiding his identity permitted to  kiss a cross? Before I had a chance  to give it a second thought, my  turn came. My lips touched the  cold metal. Something inside me  recoiled. Then it was over.
I told myself that kissing the  cross was harmless, a gesture carried  out to avoid causing a scene.  But the discomfort ought to have  been a signal to me that the religious  background I thought I had  outgrown was still a part of me   that Judaism was more relevant to  me and to my identity than I was  willing to acknowledge.
Ever since I got married 10 years  ago, even more so since the first  of my two daughters was born  five years ago, I have dreamed of  returning to Novgorod to introduce  my new family to my Russian family.  I am traveling alone on this  trip, and in some way, I am glad.  Not telling Nadya and Sasha I am  Jewish has weighed on me. Telling  them is something I would rather  do alone.
Nadya and Sasha are waiting on  the platform when my train pulls  into Novgorod's station. They are  a decade older, but unchanged.  Sasha, tall and broad-shouldered,  with a kind face, is wrapped up  in an enormous North Face jacket.  Nadya, shorter and with piercing  eyes and a serious expression that  belies her mischievous personality,  is dressed in a fur hat and in a dark  fur coat that reaches her ankles. We  embrace and then hurry to take a  bus home.
Apartment 38 is smaller than I  remembered it. Everything has  changed. Sasha has laid new wooden  floors. In the apartment's bedroom,  the built-in cupboard that  contained the fold-out bed I slept  in has been ripped out.
In 1995 the room had a small icon  shelf, but now the collection of  icons has multiplied. Bottles of holy  water, a prayer book and a crown  of thorns from the Church of the  Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, have  joined the rows of beatific faces.
Twenty years ago, these icons  were part of the background noise
of my life in Russia. I didn't pay  attention to them, because religion  did not matter to me. But their existence  meant that they mattered to  someone.
In the living room, my favorite artwork   a wooden bas-relief that  Sasha carved of the Novgorodian  medieval folk character Sadko   has been replaced with Sasha's  paintings of Russian village scenes  and a fairytale.
In both rooms, I am surprised to  see so many photographs of me.  There are several photographs of  Tanya and me during her visits to  England in the late 1990s. There  is even a photograph of my graduation  from London University, in  1999, showing my father, mother,  sister and I wonder whether  the photographs have been put  out to make me feel welcome or  whether they have stood here  for the past 14 years. I have the  same sensation I have experienced  once or twice before when  I returned to Leeds after my parents  moved house, a feeling of  returning to a place that is at once  unfamiliar and yet still home.
It may come as a surprise to non-Russian speakers, but Russian  mothers and Jewish mothers  have much in common. Both are  obsessed with food and warm clothing.  Even though it is past midnight,  Nadya hustles me into the kitchen,
And then comes  the question I have  dreaded and the  opening I have  hoped for.
where she lays out a spread of cabbage  soup, meat cutlets, salad and  pickled vegetables. (It isn't until  the following day that she notices  that my coat is too light, and  then insists that I borrow a scarf.)
Sweeping generalizations extend  only so far. No Jewish mother  would insist, as Tyotya Nadya  does that first night, that several  shots of vodka are necessary to  toast my arrival. As usual, the first  three shots come in quick succession.  Warmth resonates outward  and upward from my stomach. My  muscles relax. The conversation  glides by easily as we catch up on  each other's lives.
My fears of Russian anti-Semitism  were not the only reason I had  kept my Jewish identity a secret;  growing up in a provincial British  Jewish community, my ethnic  or religious background was not  something that I volunteered easily.  Anti-Semitic taunts and vandalism  were a sporadic fact of life growing  up in England during the 1980s.  British Jews might be confident and  secure in their own enclaves, but  just outside north London or north  Leeds or north Manchester there  is an entire country that is largely  unfamiliar with Jews and Judaism.
Although most British people are  not anti-Semitic, ignorance is widespread.  How many British Jews  have had to deal, upon telling an  English colleague they are Jewish,  with the response: You? Jewish?  But you don't look like a Jew!  Or had to deal with inadvertently  offensive remarks, like the joking:  I like you, even though you  are Jewish. Or avoided altogether  the topic of Israel-Palestine for fear  of getting drawn into an argument.
If you were born and raised in a  large American Jewish community,  you probably take for granted  that non-Jews know what a Jew is  and that not all Jewish men wear  black hats and have peyes. There  are probably several other Jews (if  not more) in your office, in your
neighborhood, in your building or  on your street.
You may think nothing of taking  your religious celebrations into the  public square. Your public schools  might close for major Jewish holidays.  You rarely think twice when  telling other people who you are.  You are a part of American society,  not a tolerated interloper in another  culture.
Some British Jews will reject my  characterization of British Jewish  life. They will say their Jewishness  has never been a problem. My own  reticence to reveal my identity has  certainly receded as I have gotten  older. But I don't think a British  Jew or any other European Jew, for  that matter, however he or she perceives  the situation, would argue  that Jewishness is not an issue in  his or her country in a way that it  is rarely an issue for a Jew in New  York or New Jersey. That's one of  the things I have enjoyed so much  about living in this region for the  past 10 years. As a secular Jew, my  Jewishness means nothing to prospective  friends, colleagues and  bosses, in a way that it might mean  something in London or in Paris.
Twenty years ago, layered on top  of this sensitivity was my awareness  of the deep roots of Russian  anti-Semitism. In 1995, a long period  of state-sanctioned anti-Semitism,  stretching for generations  under Soviet leaders and Russian  czars, was only just coming to an  end. During my college years, from  1995 to 1999, I lived in two provincial  Russian towns: Kazan, in  the southern Russian republic of  Tatarstan, and Petrozavodsk, in  Russia's northwest near the border  with Finland.
I did not tell either of the host  families I lived with in these places  that I was Jewish, just as my gay  friends did not tell their host families  that they were gay.
In the kitchen of flat 38, Nadya  and Sasha tell me that Novgorod  is more peaceful now than it was  during the late 1990s. Corruption is  still widespread, infecting business,  politics and private lives, but today  this is largely irrelevant to them.  They are pensioners now, as well  as grandparents to four children,  ranging in age from 18 months to  18 years.
Their worlds seem smaller than  they did 14 years ago, but Nadya  and Sasha seem as happy and as  relaxed as I remember them, perhaps  a little more carefree. And  there is something else new in  their lives.
When they married during the  1970s, church weddings were forbidden.  So five years ago they organized  a small church wedding in  Novgorod to make up for what they  missed. Sasha tells me that he will  be going to church the following  morning, a Sunday, for the Feast  of Epiphany.
And then comes the question I  have dreaded, and the opening I  have hoped for. Tyotya Nadya asks  me, Do you believe in God?
Here is my chance to tell them I  am Jewish. I pause for a moment,  struggling to find the right words.  Then I say: Ya ateist, I am an  atheist.
Technically this is not untrue. I  have crossed the border between  agnosticism and atheism so many  times over the past 20 years that  either definition would suffice.
But it was not what I wanted to  say. What a wimp! There's no time  to rue my cowardice.
Nadya offers me a second chance  to redeem myself: Do your parents  go to church? she asks. I pause  again. There is no escaping it this  time.
My parents are Jewish, I say.  Then I continue: They don't go to  synagogue very often these days,  but they used to go quite regularly.  It's all pouring out.
I also used to go to synagogue  regularly when I was younger, too,  I say. But I haven't been for a long  time.
I expect a look of surprise. Maybe  a question about why I have never  mentioned this before. Instead, the  conversation continues as though  my Jewish background, something  I have kept hidden during the five  years our lives were so intertwined,  were the most natural thing.
Had I been building up all this  for nothing? Was it all in my head?
Russia felt different in 2014. It  seemed more open not only to  Jews, but also to religion in general.  During my three nights in  Novgorod, religion came up every  evening  at Nadya and Sasha's  apartment, at an uncle's apartment  and at Denis's home  in a way  that I could not imagine it coming  up in conversation in liberal-secular New York. People wanted  to know about religion in America  and whether I believed in God.  Each of these conversations took  place in the warm fog of a vodka-fueled meal, so my recollections  are hazy.
But my overwhelming impression  is that on each occasion, while I
had difficulty saying the words I  am Jewish, my Russian family had  no difficulty accepting it. There was  never a look of shock or surprise.
I may have imagined it, but the  only time I thought I saw a look  of discomfort flash across Nadya's  face was when I explained, for a  second time, that although my parents  are Jewish, I am an atheist.  After 70 years of state-enforced  atheism, who can blame Russians  for having an instinctive mistrust  of atheism?
These conversations took place
against the backdrop of the Feast  of Epiphany, a holiday that marks  the baptism of Jesus Christ. For two  days, Russian television broadcast  images of Russian men and women  across the country stripping down  to their bathing suits in subzero  temperatures and plunging into icy  lakes and rivers. Some walked into  the water stoically, others squealed  as they dunked their heads under  the water three times before climbing  out.
When I arrived in Russia in 1995,  the Russian Orthodox Church  seemed like a quaint sideshow as it  reawakened from its 70-year slumber.  Now it seems like an integral  part of Russian identity.
Indeed, Russia has become much  more religious. Between 1991 and  2008, the percentage of Russians  who identified as Orthodox more  than doubled, to 72% from 31%,  according to a recent analysis by  the Pew Research Center. Although  the majority of Russians surveyed  did not attend church regularly in  2008  just 7% said they went  at least once a month  54%  described themselves as somewhat  religious, and 56% said they  believe in God.
On my last full day in Novgorod  I took a walk through town.  Novgorod's apartment buildings  were as bland, decrepit and crumbling,  as they had always been.  The side streets were potholed  and uneven. I crossed Lomonosov  Street, where the steel skeleton of  a new shopping mall was already  taking shape; I wondered who in  Novgorod could possibly afford  to shop there when it opens. I  passed underneath the railway  tracks and then made my way up  the broad avenue that runs toward  Novgorod's kremlin. During the  1990s this was Karl Marx Street,  but it had now reverted to its pre-revolutionary name, Voskresenski  (Sunday) Boulevard.
I crossed the bridge into  Novgorod's kremlin, marveling at  the citadel's enormous brick walls  and majestic towers. As the bridge  gave way to cobblestones, the enormous  bronze, bell-shaped monument  to the Millennium of Russia,  built in 1862, came into view.  The figures on the monument   Russian rulers, generals, artists and  writers  were dusted in a light  covering of snow. Among the figures  was the Viking prince Rurik,  who ruled Novgorod in the ninth  century and gave birth to what  would later become the Russian  state. Looming over Rurik was the  cross, held upright by an angel.
I turned and crossed the street  toward the Cathedral of St.  Sophia, an elegant whitewashed  church decorated with gold and  silver domes. The cathedral, built  almost 1,000 years ago, was the  first Russian Orthodox Church I'd  ever visited, and easily my favorite.
Inside, the air was heavy with  incense. My eyes had to adjust to  the low light as they traced the iconostases  several dozen feet up into  the cathedral's gloomy cupolas.  Elderly women stood and prayed  next to the sarcophagi of long-departed princes and bishops; candles  flickered in front of the icons.
At the main iconostasis, in the  center of the cathedral, an elderly  woman stood, murmuring a prayer  and crossing herself continuously.  She was in her 80s or 90s; her  face was creased with a lifetime  of suffering and struggle. Before  the church there was the party, I  thought. But before the party there  was the church.
That evening, at his apartment,  Denis took me into his 18-month-old son Kolya's bedroom to showme  an icon that Dyadya Sasha hadcarved  by hand. It was a painstaking  copy of an icon of SaintNicholas  that Denis had seen andphotographed  in a monasteryin  Kostroma. It had taken Sashaone  year to re-create the icon,  right down to the delicate lines ofRussian  script at the bottom.
It seemed somehow fitting thathe  had progressed from carving themedieval  adventurer Sadko to thisSaint  Nicholas. Christianity was apart  of the family, as it was a part ofNovgorodian  history and of Russianidentity.  Just as Judaism was a partof  me.
Several weeks after my return toNew  York, a question continued toniggle  at me: Why had Nadya andSasha  not reacted more strongly tomy  declaration? Perhaps, I thought,  they accepted my Jewishnessbecause  at least it was a belief inGod.
In February I called Tanya inMoscow  to ask why her parentsdid  not seem surprised to learn thatI  was a Jew. Because I told themyou  were Jewish, she said.
I had disclosed my Jewishnessto  Tanya back in 1995, but I hadasked  her not to tell anyone else.  She said that she could not remember  when she finally told her parents   perhaps after I got my jobat  the Forward, in 2011.
That still did not explain whyNadya  and Sasha would not havebeen  curious as to why I had notsaid  anything about being Jewishearlier.
I think that it's not that big of adeal  for them, Tanya said. But sheoffered  to call her mother to findout  for sure.
A few minutes later, my phonerang.
My mum says, 'I really don'tcare,'  Tanya said. 'He's a goodperson.  Everything else is notimportant  to me.'




18


 


March 2, 2014 Sunday  


 'Act of Killing' Film Fails to Stir Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The American director of the chilling Indonesian documentary ''The Act of Killing'' has won dozens of awards so far for the film and could add one of the movie industry's most coveted honors Sunday at the Oscars.
But so far, the director, Joshua Oppenheimer, has not succeeded in accomplishing what he considered a greater goal -- jump-starting a debate in Indonesia that will compel the government to finally open a formal inquiry into one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century.
The film, nominated as best documentary, recounts in graphic detail the killings of an estimated 500,000 or more Indonesians during state-sponsored purges of suspected Communists and their sympathizers in 1965 and 1966.
Since ''The Act of Killing'' first appeared in 2012, it has received coverage worldwide, as much for its subject matter as for Mr. Oppenheimer's approach: having men who ran one of the state-sponsored death squads not only recount the killings in detail, but also re-enact them on a film set. 
Despite the international press, the reaction in Indonesia has been muted. National television stations largely ignored the Academy Award nomination, which was covered by only a handful of print media including two English-language daily newspapers.
The mass killings remain an extremely sensitive issue in Indonesia, where the powerful military and other groups in the country's elite were implicated in the violence and defend their actions as saving Indonesia from what they say was an impending Communist takeover.
Even the country's independent National Commission on Human Rights has been unable to make much headway in its attempts at accountability. The commission ruled in 2012 that the killings, overseen by the late President Suharto when he was a general, were a gross violation of human rights and demanded a criminal inquiry. The attorney general's office has refused.
Mr. Oppenheimer was worried enough about the film's being banned by government censors that he did not try to have it screened at movie theaters. He has, however, taken heart from the fact that the film was downloaded from YouTube more than 30,000 times within the first week that it became available last October, with many of the downloads in Indonesia.
''It's relatively easy to remove a dictator like Suharto and say we have an open society, but it requires the same popular movement to demand that legitimate democratic institutions become answerable to the popular will,'' Mr. Oppenheimer said in a telephone interview. ''The Indonesians must overcome those fears and create those movements, especially with two elections coming up this year.''
The mass killings were set off by the failed uprising of an officer-led group within the Indonesian armed forces, who kidnapped and executed six army generals beginning on the night of Sept. 30, 1965, and continuing into the early hours of Oct. 1. Within days, then-General Suharto and other top commanders quashed the uprising, which they called an attempted coup orchestrated by the powerful Indonesian Communist Party.
The purge's victims were branded as Communist Party members and sympathizers, but they included intellectuals and ethnic Chinese, a mistrusted minority, and were killed by soldiers as well as by civilian, paramilitary and religious groups backed by the Indonesian military. Many of the victims were spirited away in the night and never seen again. Hundreds of thousands more were arrested and held in detention centers for years, and the surviving families of Communist Party members and suspected supporters were shunned.
The party was officially banned, and in an indication of how accepted the official state narrative remains, the men starring in ''The Act of Killing'' essentially confess to mass murder but are viewed by many Indonesians as heroes for their service to the nation at a time when the Communists in Vietnam were gaining ground. In one of the most surreal scenes, the men -- invited to depict their sentiments over their actions as they saw fit -- danced to a rendition of ''Born Free'' in front of a waterfall.
Schoolchildren are still taught that the Communists brought the violence upon themselves by plotting to take over the country.
While Indonesian and foreign academics and journalists have written frequently about the killings that extended over two years, and in many cases question the official state narrative, the issue of communism in Indonesia still touches a raw nerve. Last month, the police in the eastern Java city of Surabaya shut down a book discussion on Tan Malaka, the Indonesian Communist independence leader who was killed by military forces in 1949, after protests from a hard-line Islamic group.
After ''The Act of Killing'' was first released, the offices of a newspaper that ran a story about it and printed the name of a well-known youth organization known to have participated in the purges, was surrounded by a mob and its editor beaten.
The same month, Indonesia's coordinating minister for security, Djoko Suyanto, who is also a retired commander in chief of the armed forces, vehemently rejected the conclusion of the human rights commission's report, saying that the military saved the Indonesian state.
The fear of reprisals over the movie was strong enough that the Indonesian co-director and a local film crew of about 60 Indonesians identified themselves as ''Anonymous'' in the film's credits. The Indonesian co-director, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said in a telephone interview that although the country's political system has significantly changed in the nearly 15 years since its democratic transition began with free elections in 1999, military, political and business figures from the final years of the Suharto government remained in positions of power.
''Behind the facade,'' the co-director said, ''the machinery is still the same.''
The commission's report concludes that crimes -- including rape, torture and executions -- were committed by the Indonesian military and the civilian groups that they supported during the purges. The report implicated senior military leaders who were part of the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order, which was led by Suharto.
While the last of the top commanders who ran the special operational command died in 2012, critics say the Indonesian attorney general's office continues to reject the commission's 850-page report because it would embarrass the powerful armed forces, and the political, paramilitary and Muslim religious groups that participated in the massacres but today remain prominent members of society. Among the Army commanders who led military operations against the Indonesian Communist Party, for example, was the late Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, whose daughter is the wife of Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
A spokesman at the attorney general's office declined a request for an interview to discuss the status of the human rights commission report, saying, ''The issue is very sensitive.''
One of the commission members, Roichatul Aswidah, said the attorney general's office has twice sent back its report for revisions on grounds including that there was not an electronic database detailing each alleged instance of violence. The commission submitted the report to the attorney general's office a third time in November 2013.
The Human Rights Commission is now trying to nudge Mr. Yudhoyono's government to at least form a body that would investigate the killings but not have the authority to recommend criminal prosecutions of surviving perpetrators.
In the end, Mr. Oppenheimer said, his film and other attempts to debate the bloodletting would eventually debunk the idea that they were justified by the perceived threat to the country.
''It's something the government cannot stop,'' he said, ''whether it's silent or not.''




18



 




 


February 21, 2014 Friday  


 


 


February 16, 2014 Sunday

 In Indonesia, Kerry blasts climate change deniers

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Climate change may be the world's "most fearsome" weapon of mass destruction and urgent global action is needed to combat it, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday, comparing those who deny its existence or question its causes to people who insist the Earth is flat.
In a speech to Indonesian students, civic leaders and government officials in Jakarta, Kerry laid into climate change skeptics, accusing them of using shoddy science and scientists to delay measures needed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases at the risk of imperiling the planet. He also went after those who dispute who is responsible for such emissions, arguing that everyone and every country must take responsibility and act immediately. 
"We simply don't have time to let a few loud interest groups hijack the climate conversation," he said, referring to what he called "big companies" that "don't want to change and spend a lot of money" to act to reduce the risks. He later singled out big oil and coal concerns as the primary offenders.
"We should not allow a tiny minority of shoddy scientists and science and extreme ideologues to compete with scientific facts," Kerry told the audience gathered at a U.S. Embassy-run American Center in a Jakarta shopping mall. "Nor should we allow any room for those who think that the costs associated with doing the right thing outweigh the benefits."
"The science is unequivocal, and those who refuse to believe it are simply burying their heads in the sand," Kerry said. "We don't have time for a meeting anywhere of the Flat Earth Society,"
Kerry, saying that 97 percent of scientists who have weighed in on the issue agree that the phenomenon is real, argued that the cost of inaction to environments and economies will far outweigh the significant expense of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that trap solar heat in the atmosphere and contribute to the Earth's rising temperatures.
He outlined a litany of recent weather disasters, particularly flooding and typhoons in Asia, and their impact on commerce, agriculture, fishing and daily living conditions for billions of people.
"This city, this country, this region, is really on the front lines of climate change," Kerry said. "It's not an exaggeration to say that your entire way of life here is at risk."
He added: "In a sense, climate change can now be considered the world's largest weapon of mass destruction, perhaps even, the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction."
The solution, Kerry said, is a new global energy policy that shifts reliance from fossil fuels to cleaner technologies. He noted the President Barack Obama is championing such a shift and encouraged others to appeal to their leaders to join.
The speech came a day after Kerry won an agreement with China to cooperate more closely with the U.S. on combatting climate change. American officials hope that will help encourage other nations, including developing countries like Indonesia and India, to follow suit.
Just after Kerry departed Beijing on Saturday, the U.S. and China issued a joint statement saying they had agreed on steps to carry out commitments to curb greenhouse gases, including reducing vehicle emissions, improving energy efficiency of buildings and other measures.
China and the United States are the biggest sources of emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that cause the atmosphere to trap solar heat and alter the climate. Scientists warn such changes are already leading to drought, wildfires, rising sea levels, melting polar ice, plant and animal extinctions and other extreme conditions.
Beijing and Washington launched the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group last year. They promised progress in five areas: reducing vehicle emissions; advanced electric power grids; capturing and storing carbon emissions; gathering greenhouse gas data; and building efficiency.
Kerry was in Indonesia on the last leg of a three-nation tour of Asia that started in South Korea and then China. After leaving Indonesia on Monday, he will travel on to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Before giving his climate change speech on Sunday, Kerry toured Jakarta's massive Istiqlal Mosque, one of the largest in the world, to pay his respects to Indonesia's Muslim majority population.




19


 


 



February 1, 2014 Saturday  


 Indonesian Militants Join Foreigners Fighting in Syria

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesians have joined the thousands of foreign fighters who have traveled to Syria to help extremist groups trying to create an Islamic state there, according to a new report, a finding that analysts said Friday could help revive a weakened jihadi movement in Indonesia and set off more attacks on minority Shiites in the Southeast Asian country.
The report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, based in Jakarta, said that the Syrian conflict, approaching its third anniversary in March, had ''captured the imagination of Indonesian extremists in a way no foreign war has before.'' 
''The enthusiasm for Syria is directly linked to predictions in Islamic eschatology that the final battle at the end of time will take place in Sham, the region sometimes called Greater Syria or the Levant, encompassing Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel,'' the report said, adding that atrocities committed by government forces against Sunni Muslims have been given strong play in the Indonesian news media and on radical websites.
Sidney Jones, the institute's director, said the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on information from the Syrian government, estimated that at least 50 Indonesians had traveled to Syria via Turkey to take up arms since 2012. While she emphasized that the figure was ''a guesstimate,'' the report warned that the numbers could increase.
As many as 11,000 foreign fighters have poured into Syria by way of the Middle East and North Africa. The fighters include radicalized young Muslims with Western passports from Europe, North America and Australia.
Ms. Jones said Indonesian fighters could easily fly on commercial airlines to Turkey, where Ahrar al-Sham, one of the Islamic groups fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, helped them cross the border into Syria. Some Indonesian extremists have also been linking up with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a hard-line group linked to Al Qaeda, she said.
''There are two main concerns for Indonesia,'' Ms. Jones said. ''One is the return of foreign fighters and what that could mean to providing leadership to the very weak and incompetent jihadi movement here.''
''Second, the process of raising funds for Syria could strengthen the resource base of groups in Indonesia, such as Jemaah Islamiyah,'' she said, referring to the Southeast Asian terrorist network linked to Al Qaeda that carried out the Bali bombings in 2002, and whose members and splinter cells carried out other terrorist attacks in Indonesia from 2000 to 2009. She said Jemaah Islamiyah had used its network to recruit and send Indonesian fighters to Syria.
Indonesian extremists are known to have trained and fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and '90s, in the southern Philippines and possibly in Bosnia. The involvement of Indonesian fighters in Syria became more prominent after an extremist from the Borneo Island of Indonesia named Riza Fardi was killed there last year, according to the report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.
His death was announced on Nov. 28 on the Twitter account of Suquor al-Izz Brigade, an armed group with which Mr. Riza was fighting, the report said. It added that Mr. Riza graduated from Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school, in the Central Java Province of Indonesia, an institution that has produced multiple terrorists and whose founder, the radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, is in prison on a terrorism conviction.
The report said that Indonesian Islamic organizations had made multiple humanitarian missions to Syria since the conflict began, ''bringing in cash and medical assistance to the Islamist resistance in a way apparently designed to open channels for more direct participation in the fighting.''
Noor Huda Ismail, the founder of the Institute for International Peace Building, which helps assimilate former Indonesian terrorists back into society, noted that six people suspected of being terrorists who were killed after an all-night standoff beginning on Dec. 31 in a town outside Jakarta were planning to travel to Turkey and had already bought airline tickets.
''At the microlevel, most of the Indonesians who travel to Syria -- whether they fight or were involved in humanitarian actions -- they will tell their story when they return and inspire others to follow in their footsteps,'' he said. ''Individuals who travel there manage to provide a new narrative about jihad, which will be widely translated. This new narrative is the most important thing -- a narrative about enlarging the conflict.''
Mr. Noor said the Syrian civil war was viewed by many Muslims as a conflict between Sunnis and the Shiite-backed government of Mr. Assad. He said the participation of Indonesian fighters would have ramifications back in Indonesia, which is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation and has a small minority of Shiites who in recent years have faced harassment and physical attacks.
''The Indonesian Shiite groups are worried about these movements,'' Mr. Noor said. ''It creates ramifications where you see tensions between the Sunni and Shiite communities in Indonesia.''
Ms. Jones, of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said another major concern was that Jemaah Islamiyah, which had fallen off the radar after ceasing terrorist attacks on Western targets in Indonesia in 2007 because of, among other things, an internal backlash over the fact that the majority of its victims were Indonesian Muslims, was increasing its prestige by helping to send fighters to Syria.
The revival of Jemaah Islamiyah as a jihadi organization could have significant consequences in the long term, she said.




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January 31, 2014 Friday  


 Arahmaiani: 'Fertility of the Mind'

 
Tyler Rollins
529 West 20th Street, Chelsea
Through Feb. 22
The Indonesian artist Arahmaiani Feisal, who uses only her first name, was in Asia Society's 1996 ''Traditions/Tensions: Contemporary Art in Asia,'' a show that first alerted many New Yorkers to the reality that there was contemporary art being made in Southeast Asia. Now, 18 years later, she is having a first gallery solo here, in the form of a condensed, bare-bones retrospective. 
In her own country, she is considered a radical figure, and she has forthrightly waded into political hot water. Even at Asia Society, you could tell bold ideas were afoot. A painting there, like an almost identical one at Tyler Rollins, took the traditional Hindu religious image of the lingam and yoni -- symbolically an upright phallus inserted into a prone vagina -- and flipped it around so that yoni was on top, balanced on the lingam. As if that bit of sexual legerdemain was not enough, she surrounded the image with Arabic script, which carries associations with the Quran.
Ms. Feisal was raised Muslim, though she has taken the hybrid nature of Indonesian Islam, with its roots in Buddhism, Hinduism and animism, to mix images from across the religious spectrum. And her wide travels have made her a world citizen. From the start, she has approached art as a form of political activism used to shake up orthodoxies of faith, gender and class in a country that has experienced increasingly political repression and bloody religious sectarianism.
Her public performances in particular over the past three decades -- dealing with subjects like prostitution, environmental degradation and what we call market terrorism -- have incurred the wrath of religious and secular authorities alike.
To understand the meaning and depth of her provocation requires learning something about the contexts she works in, but that knowledge is well worth seeking out. Among other things, it is a reminder that, in many parts of the world, contemporary art, far from being market fodder, is an incendiary device. This show, organized by Leeza Ahmady, an independent curator, gives a sense of that, and marks the welcome return of this dynamic and courageous artist to New York.




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January 27, 2014 Monday  


 Raising Asian Awareness of the Holocaust

 
HONG KONG -- Natalie Leung, a 16-year-old student in Hong Kong, first learned about the Holocaust about four years ago, when she read Anne Frank's ''The Diary of a Young Girl.'' The book opened her eyes to one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century in which six million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators.
The Holocaust, however, is not a topic that students at local Chinese schools are likely to encounter in class. ''We learned about Chinese history, but not much about world history,'' said Ms. Leung, who has since switched from a Chinese school to an international one.
A Hong Kong-based nonprofit organization is trying to offer what is lacking. In 2011, a group of largely Jewish residents founded the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Center to raise awareness and promote education about the Holocaust, both locally and, eventually, more widely. The center has organized activities in about two dozen schools, including screening of films and talks by Holocaust survivors. 
As part of the commemoration for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, it is having Olga Horak, an 88-year-old Slovak-born Jewish Australian who survived the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, visit selected schools in the city.
It is also working with the Hong Kong Education Bureau on two projects. One is to prepare teaching materials, in Chinese and English, for use in secondary schools and universities. The other is to create teacher training materials to help educators integrate the Holocaust and other genocides into their class work.
''Teaching about the Holocaust is an opportunity to teach about tolerance,'' said Jeremy Amias, a co-founder of the center, and its chairman.
Except for a relatively small number of students attending international schools with Western curriculums, most young Hong Kongers enrolled in local schools are unlikely to learn about World War II in Europe or the Holocaust. ''It is not part of the local curriculum,'' said Hayley Goldberg, a board member of the center who teaches at an international school, Li Po Chun United World College.
''The most important part of our activities is youth education,'' Ms. Goldberg said of the center's work.
In addition to its school and college projects, the center runs a public outreach program. In October and November, it organized a Holocaust exhibition titled ''An Oasis of Survival and Hope,'' displaying artworks by Hong Kong students along with works by children who had been imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic.
Asia had its own share of massacres in the past century, including: the Japanese mass killings of Chinese prisoners and civilians in Nanjing in 1937-1938; the Indonesian massacres of alleged communists in 1965-1966; and the Khmer Rouge killing fields in Cambodia in the 1970s.
And while Germany killed millions of Jews during World War II, the Shanghai ghetto in the 1940s, under Japanese control, was a noted haven for Jewish refugees from the European slaughter.
But a lack of Holocaust awareness in Asia has produced some controversies.
Last July, students at Thailand's prestigious Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok, painted a mural of superheroes to celebrate graduation day. On the large banner, flanked by Batman and Captain America, was Adolf Hitler giving the Nazi salute -- a gesture mimicked by students who happily posed in front of the giant painting.
Less than a week later, a newspaper report featured Soldatenkaffee, a Nazi-theme restaurant in Bandung, Indonesia, with walls adorned with swastikas, a large photograph of Hitler and waiters dressed in Nazi uniforms.
In 2003, the Hong Kong fashion chain Izzue produced a casual chic clothing line sporting Nazi symbols, and at various times shops and bars named after Hitler have cropped up in cities across the region, from Ahmedabad in India to Pusan in South Korea.
''I don't think they are racist,'' said Mr. Amias, whose mother, as a child, survived detection hidden by a Catholic family in Belgium. ''It is partly because of lack of knowledge. They may not mean it, but it is offensive. People need to understand that Hitler was a very bad guy.''
There are two older Holocaust education centers in East Asia, both in Japan: the Hong Kong center, however, has the widest, most regional perspective of the three.
It has plans to create materials on fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination in English, Chinese and other Asian languages. It also seeks to address the region's other genocidal episodes.
''We are trying to make it relevant,'' said Mr. Amias. ''We see many similarities between these different events. When you make it more locally relevant, it is more interesting to the local students.''
This may not be easy. Many Asian countries are reluctant to confront their own dark chapters of history: Violent pasts are often missing from school textbooks and curriculums.
Another challenge lies in Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, where anti-Jewish sentiment has risen, partly stoked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Last May, Beth Shalom in Surabaya, Indonesia, a heritage site and Java Island's last synagogue, was demolished in unexplained circumstances.
''Indonesia is not the most sensitive place'' about Holocaust education, said Ahmad Suaedy, of The Wahid Institute, a research center in Jakarta that promotes pluralism and tolerance. That is partly because ''the education sector is controlled by the religious conservatives,'' he said.
Before taking on the challenge of raising awareness in the wider region, the Hong Kong center is planning an exhibition by the Israeli artist and Holocaust survivor Sara Atzmon in Hong Kong early this year, with a view to taking the show to Indonesia or other parts of Asia possibly at a later date.
The center has also been working with Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem-based center for Holocaust research and education, and with Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation, to make educational material available to Hong Kong students.
The Shoah Foundation in particular has opened access to its IWitness online archive to the Hong Kong center and affiliated teachers. The archive of testimonials by Holocaust survivors, containing more than 52,000 recordings in 32 languages, from 56 countries, is now available at two Hong Kong secondary schools, including Elsa High, the city's Jewish high school where the center has its temporary base.
For the Hong Kong center, it is important not only to introduce the topic to students but also to instill a deeper understanding.
Ms. Leung, who is now a student at Li Po Chun, had her first lesson on the Holocaust when she took an English literature class taught by Ms. Goldberg. The teacher used Eva Hoffmann's memoir, ''Lost in Translation : Life in a New Language,'' to inspire discussions.
In December, Ms. Leung took part in a class taught by Jackie Metzger, an educator from Yad Vashem, who visited five schools in Hong Kong to teach ''Holocaust through literature'' to about 400 students.
For her, learning about the Holocaust is more than just a history lesson. ''I never knew,'' she said, ''how cruel humanity could be.''




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January 25, 2014 Saturday  


 Report on Unrest Is at Odds With Account of Myanmar

 
HONG KONG -- The United Nations report this week that rampaging mobs in western Myanmar killed at least four dozen people, mostly Muslims, did more than contradict the government's official stance. It also put a spotlight on the country's continuing religious and ethnic strife -- and what some say is a flawed government response -- even as Myanmar tries to burnish its international image.
Symbolically, this is supposed to be an important moment for Myanmar in its transition to democracy. In taking over the annual rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this month, it assumed a responsibility the government considers prestigious. And after five decades of military dictatorship, Myanmar has been moving on several fronts to shore up its international image, hosting the Southeast Asian Games, a regional sporting event, last month and releasing what it said was the last of its political prisoners. 
But the United Nations report on the violence in northern Rakhine State this month is almost certain to add to criticism of the government for its failure to aggressively investigate the killings of Muslims ever since sectarian violence in June 2012 set off a series of attacks across the country.
Human rights groups say that with the latest round of anti-Muslim violence, the government now appears to be trying to cover up the problem.
The area where the attacks occurred has been torn by tensions between its Buddhist population and Muslims known as Rohingya, with frequent bursts of violence driving more than 100,000 Rohingya Muslims from their homes and leaving at least 200 dead. The majority of Myanmar's population is Buddhist, but Muslims outnumber Buddhists along the border with Bangladesh.
Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said Thursday that the latest violence started on Jan. 9 when eight Rohingya men were killed in the village of Du Chee Yar Tan, near the border with Bangladesh. Four days later, after the reported kidnapping and killing of a police sergeant, the local police stood by as Buddhists seeking revenge used swords, knives and sticks to attack the Rohingya, killing 40 more, officials said.
The attacks were first reported by The Associated Press, but government officials have denied the accounts of a massacre.
''We have had no information about killings,'' a government spokesman, Ye Htut, said last week. He also has suggested that the claims of violence against the Rohingya were being used to cover up or play down the killing of the police sergeant. Last week, the government-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar published an article stating in the headline that The A.P. ''falsely reports violence occurred in Rakhine State'' and saying that the news agency's reports ''seemed to instigate'' the unrest.
The latest violence erupted after monks from an extremist group known as 969 descended on the area and began giving sermons calling for the expulsion of all the Rohingya, according to local news media accounts.
Ms. Pillay called for an aggressive investigation by Myanmar's government, urging it ''to carry out a full, prompt and impartial investigation and ensure that victims and their families receive justice.''
''By responding to these incidents quickly and decisively, the government has an opportunity to show transparency and accountability, which will strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar,'' she said.
The violence against Muslims has been widely publicized in Muslim countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, important members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The government has sought to play down the issue and announced earlier this month that it would not allow it to be put on the agenda during its chairmanship.
Anti-Muslim feelings run deep in Myanmar, partly because the Rohingya, who number around one million and are the largest Muslim group in the country, are considered illegal immigrants. That sentiment, among the Buddhist-Burmese majority, is a legacy of colonial times, when large numbers of Indians were brought into Burma by the British. The Myanmar government refuses to use the term Rohingya, preferring to call the group Bengalis.
Human Rights Watch said Friday that police officials in Rakhine had issued an order allowing for the arrest of all Rohingya men over the age of 10.
''In the event such an order has been issued, it should be rescinded immediately and authorities should act to ensure the safety of the entire population in the area,'' the group said.
While President Obama highlighted the plight of the Rohingya during his visit to Myanmar in November 2012, the country's leading politicians, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning rights leader, have largely been quiet on the issue. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is considered a potential candidate for president in 2015.




19



 


January 22, 2014 Wednesday

 WORLD WATCH

 

ABSTRACT
Indonesian court hands down seven-and-a-haf-year sentence for Sigit Indrajid for his confessed role in planning bomb attack on Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta, in which he sought to avenge Muslims attacked in largely Buddhist Myanmar (S)




19


 


January 7, 2014 Tuesday  


 THE BLAME-ISRAEL GAME; 
ISRAEL IS NOT THE ROOT OF ALL DISCONTENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

 
The resolute call for peace in the Middle East, specifically between Israelis and Palestinians, that former ambassador Dan Simpson expressed in his Jan. 1 column, "Foreign Affairs in 2014," is something we share. The rest of his statements we find deeply troubling. Mr. Simpson's supposition is that negotiations will break down due to a lack of will on both sides. Moreover, he cites as a "troubling fact" the "ability of the Israelis to keep Sunni and Shiite Muslims fighting each other rather than concentrating on acquiring a homeland for the Palestinians."
The idea that Israel has the ability or desire to stoke the flames of ongoing Sunni-Shiite tensions to its advantage, ostensibly to distract Arab states from assisting Palestinians, is incorrect. Israel's policy on the sectarian tensions in the region is quite clearly one of neutrality. Charges or speculation of Israel being behind ongoing Sunni-Shiite conflict, including the recent assassination of Lebanon's former finance minister, are misguided. 
The proposition that the resolution of the Israeli--Palestinian conflict would lead to a wider Middle East peace is an oft-repeated fallacy that ignores history. Linking it to other Middle East conundrums obscures the actual reasons for internecine conflict in the Middle East today.
The ubiquitous accusations of Israel's role in undermining efforts to resolve Middle East disputes constitute an unfounded indictment against the Jewish state. The Middle East today is a far cry from those halcyon days in the late 1990s when peace seemed inevitable. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have died due to sectarian violence spiraling out of control. To peg Israel as the state responsible for this political violence is wrong.
Animosity between Sunnis and Shiites started when rival factions among Muhammad's descendants, the Quraysh, fought over who would lead Islam after his death in 632 A.D. The modern fight between Sunni and Shiite arises from regional power rivalries. For instance, Salafist, Jihadist and Islamist rebel elements fighting Bashar Assad's Allawite minority government in Syria are backed by Sunni Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar while Assad's government is backed by Shiite Iran and Hezbollah.
But Sunnis and Shiites today are frequently in violent conflict wherever they coexist in the Muslim world, not only throughout the Middle East, but also stretching into Pakistan, Afghanistan and even Indonesia. One of the few things that unite many radical Sunnis and Shiites is their hatred of Israel and their attempts to destroy it, as exemplified by the cooperation between Shiite Iran and the Sunni Hamas that rules Gaza.
Are Israel's supposed cloak-and-dagger policies pitting Lebanese against one another? The examples cited in the Post--Gazette do not mention that the U.N. Special Tribunal investigation into the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and other acts of violence in Lebanon focuses on members of Hezbollah. The recent bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut points to the Abdullah Azzam brigades, an al-Qaida offshoot. Newspapers such as Lebanon's Daily Star and other Arab periodicals fail to identify Israel as a potential culprit in these bombings.
Israel has accepted both Syrian rebels and supporters of the regime at its hospitals in the north of the country, spending tens of millions of dollars treating these wounded victims of the Syrian civil war. Israel's interest is to maintain neutrality in the face of sectarian conflict while providing as much humanitarian assistance as possible, regardless of affiliation.
Prisoner releases and dedication to the peace process are two additional Israeli policies aimed at bringing about a Palestinian homeland and staying out of wider regional imbroglios.
It is skewed logic to assume that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all problems in the Middle East. Animosity between Sunni and Shiite began long before Israel's creation.
To paraphrase Clausewitz, intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, which often is not possible to achieve. Things are not so simple in the Middle East, and Mr. Simpson and the Post-Gazette editorial board need to stop blaming Israel for all of the region's ills.
.




19


 


December 29, 2013 Sunday  


 As the Obamas Celebrate Christmas, Rituals of Faith Become Less Visible

 
HONOLULU -- President Obama celebrated a low-key Christmas in Hawaii this year. He sang carols, opened presents with his family, and visited a nearby military base to wish the troops ''Mele Kalikimaka'' -- the Hawaiian phrase meaning ''Merry Christmas.''
But the one thing the president and his family did not do -- something they have rarely done since he entered the White House -- was attend Christmas church services. 
''He has not gone to church hardly at all, as president,'' said Gary Scott Smith, the author of ''Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush,'' adding that it is ''very unusual for a president not to attend'' Christmas services.
Historically, watching the nation's first family head to church dressed in their Sunday best, especially around the holiday season, was something of a ritual. Yet Mr. Obama's faith is a more complicated, more private, and perhaps -- religious and presidential historians say -- a more inclusive affair.
And his religious habits appear to be in step with a changing America, with fewer people these days reporting that they attend church on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. According to a Pew Research Center study released this month, 54 percent of adults said they planned to attend Christmas religious services, while 69 percent said they traditionally did so as children.
Mr. Obama has gone to church 18 times during his nearly five years in the White House, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, an unofficial White House historian, while his predecessor, Mr. Bush, attended 120 times during his eight years in office.
But those numbers do not reflect the depth of Mr. Obama's faith, said Joshua DuBois, the former head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. ''President Obama is a committed Christian,'' said Mr. DuBois, who sends the president a daily devotional by email, and is the author of ''The President's Devotional.''
''He has a serious practice of faith even though he doesn't necessarily wear it on his sleeve,'' he said.
Mr. Obama's religion first garnered national headlines during the 2008 campaign; after sermons by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. -- Mr. Obama's spiritual mentor -- included inflammatory remarks, Mr. Obama was ultimately forced to renounce the minister and sever ties with the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which he and his family had attended for 20 years.
But rumors that he was a ''pretend Christian'' or a Muslim Manchurian candidate -- fueled by his Kenyan background and the boyhood years he spent in Indonesia -- dogged him. A 2010 study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that nearly one in five Americans thought the president was a Muslim, and 43 percent did not know what his religion was.
''I would argue that Obama's faith has been one of the most misunderstood of any president out there,'' Mr. Smith said.
People close to the president say that Mr. Obama's spiritual beliefs are profoundly held. In addition to the daily devotional he receives -- which contains lines of Scripture and quotations from people as wide-ranging as Nina Simone and Johnny Cash -- Mr. Obama regularly speaks to spiritual leaders on a variety of topics. Every year on his birthday, Mr. DuBois said, the president convenes a phone call with ministers ''to thank God for the year that was and pray for the year ahead.''
He has turned to his faith during difficult times, and is comfortable invoking Scripture; his speeches and remarks are peppered with the phrase ''I am my brother's keeper,'' echoing the Old Testament phrase.
His vision of faith is also an inclusive one, perhaps an outgrowth of his own eclectic upbringing. He spent several childhood years in Indonesia, with its predominantly Muslim population, but attended a private Catholic grade school for much of that time; he later lived in Hawaii, a melting pot of cultures.
Mr. Obama set his own inclusive tone early, declaring during his first Inaugural Address, ''We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.'' He was the first president to hold an Easter prayer breakfast, and he also held the first Passover Seder at the White House, traditions he has repeated.
''He's very conscious of the fact that this is a pluralistic nation,'' said Randall Balmer, the chairman of Dartmouth College's religion department and the author of ''God in the White House: A History.''
Yet the public rituals of religion have proved tricky for Mr. Obama. When he arrived in Washington after his election in 2008, many of the city's churches began furiously vying to have him and his family join their congregation. As president, he has attended services at several of the city's African-American churches, as well as St. John's Episcopal Church, which is across the street from the White House. But he ultimately opted against choosing a spiritual home in the nation's capital.
''I think part of the reason he's been wary of affiliating with a church in Washington is that he got so burned by the Jeremiah Wright situation, and he's kind of backed away from that,'' Mr. Balmer said.
The public has long cared about the religion of its president. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, for example, was not a regular churchgoer before he entered office. After he was elected, at the urging of the Rev. Billy Graham, he joined the Presbyterian Church, and was baptized, becoming a diligent member of the faith.
Part of Mr. Obama's decision to largely opt out of religious services reflects a desire to avoid disruptions by his Secret Service detail and security requirements, echoing concerns of Ronald Reagan, who presidential historians say rarely went to church.
''The important thing to President Obama isn't where you worship God, but how you serve God by serving other people,'' Mr. DuBois said.
Mr. Balmer put it more bluntly: ''If the calculus is, 'Do I spend two hours going to church Sunday morning or do I get to watch college basketball Sunday afternoon?' If he had to choose between the two, and knowing Obama, he'd probably choose college basketball.''
He added, with a laugh, ''And that's a calculation many Americans make on a weekly basis.''




20


 


December 22, 2013 Sunday

 Art from Bali is wonderful to contemplate

 
Q. When I was 12 or 13 years old I walked into a store that sold "different" items. I saw a head figure made of wood and bought it. It is now 40 years later and I would like to find out something about this figure. Any information would be appreciated.
A. We suppose a discussion of this beautiful bust of a woman wearing a flower crested headpiece needs to start with the place of origin -- and that is Bali. 
Bali is an island that is the smallest province of Indonesia. This place, which many consider to be a romantic paradise, is located between the islands of Java and Lombok and is at the end of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Significantly, almost 85 percent of the population of around 4 and a quarter million are Balinese Hindus and this has greatly influenced the island's art.
Bali is known for its dance and music, its leather work, metal work and wood sculpture. In the United States, Balinese leather shadow puppets often turn up as do a variety of woodcarvings made from several types of wood.
In many cases, the sculptures represent various Hindu deities, and Balinese Hindus recognize several that are followed nowhere else in the Hindu world. Hinduism reportedly came to Indonesia from India during the 5th century of the Common Era (formerly referred to as "AD").
In most of the places in Indonesia Hinduism was gradually replaced by Buddhism and then by Islam - but in Bali, their form of Hinduism survives to this day and is celebrated in much of their art. It is hard for Westerners to untangle all the beliefs of Hinduism and to understand the mythology -- and we are not even going to try because the pieces in today's question is not a depiction of a religious figure but a portrait of a beautiful woman who may have actually lived.
However, as we look at sales records for Balinese carvings we see many depictions of traditional mythological figures such as lion/birds, quasi-human figures with tusks, and a figure riding a winged creature with elaborate tail feathers. This later piece is often associated with Visnu.
These are all very strange (to Western eyes) and wonderful to contemplate, but we have no idea what legend or deity they may represent and we could find no illuminating descriptions in the catalogs we discovered. In any event, the figure in today's question is not mythological, but very real.
We found a tradition of carving representations of beautiful women, some men, and some fierce heads of stylized warriors. Usually the figures are wearing some sort of headdress or hat that can vary greatly but the high arching piece seen in today's question is typical.
We were sent some very good pictures and in one of them we see that the piece has been cracked. This is not all that unusual because the carvers working for the tourist trade do not allow their wood to season and these cracks occur frequently. This one is not terribly unsightly but to a collector it would be worrisome.
The value on piece such as this one differs from day to day. At one auction this head could sell for $200, but at another it might bring only $50. In our opinion, this sculpture was essentially new when it was purchased in the '60s, and has an insurance replacement value in the $150 to $250 range.
* Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928.







 


December 22, 2013 Sunday

 Defender of faiths

 
Britain's Prince Charles did something out of the ordinary last week. He became one of the few Western leaders to speak out loudly against the systematic persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
Thus he provided one powerful answer to a question Patriarch Louis Sako, a leading Iraqi Catholic, asked recently during a trip to Rome: "We sometimes wonder, if they kill us all, what would be the reaction of Christians in the West?"
By "us all," he was referring to Christians in the Middle East, in lands surrounding the birthplace of Christ. This week, millions of people in Europe, the United States, Latin nations and elsewhere in the world will celebrate Christ's birth. Many will display a crèche, representing the scene on the night of his birth. Few, however, will be aware that Christians near the site of that birth are being persecuted and killed in large numbers. 
We wish Prince Charles would be joined by President Obama and other leaders in a firm and united resolve that such persecutions will be punished and made central to any foreign policy discussions moving forward.
A recent report by Ed West in the Spectator in Britain said 1,000 Iraqi Christians have been murdered over the last decade because of their beliefs. Since the U.S. invaded Iraq, the Christian population has dwindled from about 1 million to about 200,000, with many fleeing the country, and many churches have been bombed.
West is the author of an ebook titled, "The Silence of Our Friends," referring to how Christians in democratic nations seem to have turned their backs on their suffering brethren.
Iraq is just one small part of the region-wide persecution. Indeed, the Arab spring, heralded by many as a movement away from tyranny and toward democracy, has been bad for Christians. It has empowered majorities to invent charges against them and persecute them under the guise of official sanction.
Nowhere has this been more evident than in Egypt, where Coptic Christians, who claim to trace their origins to the Apostle Mark in the first century, have been murdered and driven from their houses of worship by extremists.
Persecution also has increased in Syria, a nation whose ruling regime so far has been resistant to the Arab spring. However, it is the rebel forces who are accusing Christians there of supporting President Bashar al-Assad as a pretext for violence.
Religious persecution is evident in other nations, as well. In Indonesia, new laws officially recognize only six religions -- Islam, Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism or Confucianism. Every citizen must declare one of these, or simply "other," on an ID card. Critics say it is a way to formally discriminate against people who chose a belief system that falls outside those six.
In Malaysia, a court has ruled that only Malay Muslims are allowed to use the word "Allah" to refer to God.
Given the rising level of this persecution, it is disappointing that the Obama administration has done little, other than a statement here or there, either to officially recognize or condemn it, especially given the administration's recent discussions over humanitarian abuses in Syria. The United States long has been a beacon for religious freedom worldwide, beckoning the "huddled masses" to its shore, in the words of Emma Lazarus that are engraved on the Statue of Liberty.
In the absence of any effort to make religious freedom a platform in U.S. foreign policy, it is refreshing to see Prince Charles taking a lead.
The prince has even gone so far as to indicate that, should he one day assume the throne as king, he would change the symbolic title of the monarch from "Defender of the Faith" to "Defender of Faiths."
Christmas time is a perfect season for all who enjoy religious freedom to contemplate how they can become defenders of faiths. It is a good time to assure Christians in faraway lands, in any way possible, that Westerners do not intend to stand idly by while they are persecuted and killed.







 


December 10, 2013 Tuesday  


 Japanese Cuisine Goes Global

 
Unesco just picked Japanese cuisine as a world cultural heritage, recognition that the Japanese government had lobbied hard for. Toyota, Sony and Nintendo may have once served as symbols of national identity, but they are now eclipsed. The Japanese government is making a concerted effort to market its national culture. 
Japan hopes the recognition from Unesco will lead to more tourism, just as cuisine in Italy and France attracts many visitors. Travel and tourism make up 10 percent of the global economy, and Japan wants a bigger share.
Japan, like Italy and France, is a country that takes enormous pride in its culinary culture. In recent years, Tokyo has earned more Michelin Guide restaurant stars than Paris. Japan's traditional cuisine is believed to contribute to one of world's highest longevity rates.
The Unesco recognition may help bolster the case for locally grown ingredients, which is important for the future of Japanese agriculture. As Japan moves to end its very generous agricultural protection policy in order to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, it is looking for new demand for its agricultural exports. And though illogical, the Japanese government is also hoping that the Unesco recognition will ease the import restriction imposed on Japanese produce by South Korea and others fearing contamination from radioactive fallout from Fukushima.
The healthy cuisine Japan presented to Unesco is not what many Japanese eat today. The Unesco judges might have imagined sushi, which has become as popular as pizza around the world. Still, sushi is not a full meal, and it began as street snack food in feudal Japan. Ask any Japanese person today about the national cuisine and you are likely to hear about tempura, an import from Portugal, and sukiyaki, the Japanese effort to eat beef following Western habits.
As for attracting more tourists, Japanese restaurants are learning to become more global. The latest trend is high-end Halal food for Muslim tourists from Malaysia and Indonesia.







 


November 20, 2013 Wednesday  


 N.S.A. Spying Scandal Hurts Close Ties Between Australia and Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The relationship between Indonesia and Australia, Pacific neighbors with a long history of cooperation and trade, has in recent years been marked by disagreements on a range of issues, including human rights, terrorism and asylum seekers. But relations reached a new low over the weekend over the latest bombshell from the surveillance scandal involving a third country, the United States.
The Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, announced at a news conference on Monday night that he had recalled Indonesia's ambassador to Canberra, the Australian capital, for ''consultations'' over reports that Australia, a close ally of the United States, used its embassies in Asia to collect intelligence as part of global surveillance conducted by the United States' National Security Agency. The Indonesian government also said it would review its security cooperation and information exchanges with Australia. 
Arguably Indonesia's most important bilateral relationship and security partner, Australia is a familiar target of Indonesia's anger.
Yet Mr. Natalegawa curiously ignored the role of the United States, making no mention of the status of Indonesia's ambassador to Washington. ''It has not been a very good day for the Indonesia-Australia relationship,'' Mr. Natalegawa said.
In Canberra on Tuesday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott defended his government's intelligence operations abroad, without addressing the accusations regarding Indonesia.
''Australia should not be expected to apologize for the steps we take to protect our country now or in the past, any more than other governments should be expected to apologize for the similar steps that they have taken,'' he said in a statement before Australia's Parliament.
After the German magazine Der Spiegel published documents last month leaked by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, Mr. Natalegawa summoned the ambassadors of Australia and the United States to respond to reports that Australia's embassy in Jakarta was part of the United States-led spying effort. The documents said Canberra had tried to bug the phone of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The two countries are separated by only about 125 miles at their closest point, but differences are stark: Australia is a wealthy, progressive country with a majority of Christians, while Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, is a developing country with small but vocal radical Islamic groups promoting jihad against the West. Terrorist attacks against Australian tourists on the resort island of Bali, boats laden with asylum seekers trying to reach Australia, and even the treatment of live imported Australian cattle in Indonesian slaughterhouses have all strained ties.
''There are no two countries that are less like each other,'' said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior adviser to the Indonesian vice president, Boediono, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name. ''We have different histories, different ethnicities and until recently, very different political systems.''
Dr. Anwar and other analysts cited a survey showing that most Australians believe that Indonesia still has an authoritarian government, despite its transition to democracy after the ouster of President Suharto in 1998. Analysts say some of the blame for the divide can be traced to sensational reporting in both countries, as well as grandstanding by politicians and activists.
Beneath the surface, however, the Indonesia-Australia relationship is far more productive. Leaders from both countries have repeatedly called their relationship the most important for their respective countries. Australia is the largest donor of aid to Indonesia -- $508 million in the past fiscal year -- and Indonesia is Australia's 13th-largest trading partner. Australia is also the No. 1 international study destination for Indonesian university students, and many current and former cabinet officials, including Mr. Boediono and Mr. Natalegawa, attended Australian universities. The countries' heads of government have been holding at least four scheduled meetings per year. Indonesia and Australia also engage in regular joint military exercises.
Yet some analysts say the fundamental problem with the bilateral relationship lies at the people-to-people level.
Calum Hyslop, an Australian researcher and commentator on Australian-Indonesian relations, said some Australians perceived Indonesia as a raucous, dangerous backwater inhabited by Muslim extremists that should be treated with suspicion, while ordinary Indonesians viewed Australia as a lecturing, arrogant Western nation that had little regard for Indonesian sovereignty.
''Until the Indonesian and Australian governments deal with perceptions of Indonesia within the Australian population, there will be very little interest among Australians to even study the Indonesian language,'' he said.
The recall of the Indonesian ambassador came amid already heightened tensions over asylum seekers, mostly from South Asia and the Middle East, who use Indonesia as a transit point to make the dangerous boat voyage to Australia. This month, Indonesia refused a request by Australia to take about 60 asylum seekers in a crippled boat.
Alan Dupont, a professor of international security at the University of New South Wales, said that Indonesia's intelligence service also used its embassies abroad to spy on its allies, including Australia, and that it was unlikely that either country would stop.
''Indonesia has to decide what the endgame is here,'' Professor Dupont said. ''Some Indonesian elites are upset and out for a bit of blood, and the government has to be seen as doing something.
''I think it will obviously blow over at some stage,'' he said. ''The question is: how much damage is done?''







 


November 17, 2013 Sunday  


 The Dream Boat

 
It's about a two-and-a-half-hour drive, normally, from Indonesia's capital city, Jakarta, to the southern coast of Java. In one of the many trucks that make the trip each month, loaded with asylum seekers from the Middle East and Central Asia, it takes a little longer. From the bed of the truck, the view is limited to a night sky punctuated by fleeting glimpses of high-rise buildings, overpasses, traffic signs and tollbooths. It is difficult to make out, among the human cargo, much more than the vague shapes of bodies, the floating tips of cigarettes. When you pass beneath a street lamp, though, or an illuminated billboard, the faces thrown into relief are all alive with expectation. Eventually, the urban pulse subsides; the commotion of the freeway fades. The drooping wires give way to darkly looming palms. You begin to notice birds, and you can smell the sea. 
In September, in one of these trucks, I sat across from a recently married couple in their 20s, from Tehran. The wife, who was seven months pregnant, wore a red blouse stretched over her stomach; the husband a tank top, thick-rimmed glasses and a faux hawk that revealed a jagged scar (courtesy, he said, of the Iranian police). Two months had passed since they flew to Jakarta; this was their fourth attempt to leave. Twice, en route to the boat that would bring them to Australia, they were intercepted, detained and paid bribes for their release. Another time, the boat foundered shortly after starting out. All the same, they were confident this trip would be different. Like everyone else's in the truck, theirs was a desperate kind of faith. ''Tonight we will succeed,'' the husband assured me. They were determined that the child be born ''there.''
Our drive coincided with a violent tropical downpour that seemed to surge, under pressure, more than fall. Each asylum seeker had brought a small bag with spare clothes and provisions. Those who packed slickers dug them out. The storm was amusing at first, then just cold and miserable. The children, who earlier delighted in our clandestine exit from the city, now clung to their parents. An old man, sitting cross-legged beside me with a plastic garbage bag on his head, shivered uncontrollably, muttering prayers.
Around 3 in the morning, the truck braked and reversed down a rutted dirt road. The rain had stopped as abruptly as it started. No one spoke. We knew we had arrived. The rear hatch swung open, and we piled out. A second truck was parked behind us; people were emerging from it as well. We were in a dense jungle whose tangled canopy obstructed the moon. Several Indonesians corralled the crowd and whispered fiercely to keep moving. ''Go! Go!'' they urged in English. The road led down a steep hill and ended at a narrow footpath. As people stumbled in the dark, the Indonesians prodded them along. At the bottom of the footpath was a beach. It appeared as a pale hue through the trees, its white sand giving off a glow. The asylum seekers, 57 of them, huddled at the jungle's edge.
We were in the shelter of a wide bay, its arcing headlands, dotted with lights, repulsing the windward waves. Two open-hull skiffs with outboard motors idled offshore, bobbing gently in the swells. Behind us, the clamor of the truck grew distant and was gone. Suddenly, the Indonesians began pushing people toward the sea.
''You, you. Go!''
Two at a time, the asylum seekers raised their bags above their heads and waded out. The cool water rose to waists and armpits. It was a struggle to climb aboard. Whenever someone had to be hauled up, the skiff pitched steeply, threatening to tip.
We were ferried to a wooden fishing boat: a more substantial vessel than the skiffs, though not much. About 30 feet long, with open decks, a covered bow, a one-man cockpit and a bamboo tiller, it was clearly not designed for passengers. Noting the absence of cabin, bridge, bulkheads and benches, I wondered whether anyone else shared my deluded hope: that there was another, larger ship anchored somewhere farther out, and that this sad boat was merely to convey us there.
With frantic miming, the two-man Indonesian crew directed us to crowd together on the deck and crouch beneath the bulwarks. They stretched a tarp above our heads and nailed its edges to the gunwales. Packed close in the ripe air beneath the tarp, hugging knees to chests, we heard the engine start and felt the boat begin to dip and rise.Our destination was an Australian territory, more than 200 miles across the Indian Ocean, called Christmas Island. If the weather is amenable, if the boat holds up, the trip typically lasts three days. Often, however, the weather is tempestuous, and the boat sinks. Over the past decade, it is believed that more than a thousand asylum seekers have drowned. The unseaworthy vessels are swamped through leaky hulls, capsize in heavy swells, splinter on the rocks. Survivors sometimes drift for days. Children have watched their parents drown, and parents their children. Entire families have been lost. Since June, several boats went down, claiming the lives of more than a hundred people.
I first heard about the passage from Indonesia to Australia in Afghanistan, where I live and where one litmus test for the success of the U.S.-led war now drawing to a close is the current exodus of civilians from the country. (The first ''boat people'' to seek asylum in Australia were Vietnamese, in the mid-1970s, driven to the ocean by the fallout from that American withdrawal.) Last year, nearly 37,000 Afghans applied for asylum abroad, the most since 2001. Afghans who can afford to will pay as much as $24,000 for European travel documents and up to $40,000 for Canadian. (Visas to the United States, generally, cannot be bought.) Others employ smugglers for arduous overland treks from Iran to Turkey to Greece, or from Russia to Belarus to Poland.
The Indonesia-Australia route first became popular in Afghanistan before Sept. 11, mostly among Hazaras, a predominantly Shiite ethnic minority that was systematically brutalized by the Taliban. After the Taliban were overthrown, many refugees, anticipating an enduring peace, returned to Afghanistan, and for a while the number of Afghans willing to risk their lives at sea declined. But by late 2009 -- with Afghans, disabused of their optimism, fleeing once more -- migration to Australia escalated. At the same time, Hazaras living across the border in Pakistan, many of whom moved there from Afghanistan, have also found relocation necessary. In a sectarian crusade of murder and terror being waged against them by Sunni extremists, Hazara civilians in the Pakistani city of Quetta are shot in the streets, executed en masse and indiscriminately massacred by rockets and bombs.
In 2010, a suicide attacker killed more than 70 people at a Shiite rally in Quetta. Looming directly above the carnage was a large billboard paid for by the Australian government. In Dari, next to an image of a distressed Indonesian fishing boat carrying Hazara asylum seekers, read the words: ''All illegal routes to Australia are closed to Afghans.'' The billboard was part of a wide-ranging effort by Australia to discourage refugees from trying to get to Christmas Island. In Afghanistan, a recent Australian-funded TV ad featured a Hazara actor rubbing his eyes before a black background. ''Please don't go,'' the man gloomily implores over melancholic music. ''Many years of my life were wasted there [in detention] until my application for asylum was rejected.'' In addition to the messaging campaign (and the hard-line policies it alludes to), Australia has worked to disrupt smuggling networks by collaborating with Pakistan's notorious intelligence services, embedding undercover agents in Indonesia and offering up to $180,000 for information resulting in a smuggler's arrest. The most drastic deterrence measure was introduced this July, when the Australian prime minister at the time, Kevin Rudd, announced that henceforth no refugee who reaches Australia by boat would be settled there. Instead, refugees would be detained, and eventually resettled, in impoverished Papua New Guinea. Several weeks later, the resettlement policy was extended to a tiny island state in Micronesia called the Republic of Nauru.
Since then, there have been more boats, more drownings. In late September, a vessel came apart shortly after leaving Indonesia, and dozens of asylum seekers -- from Lebanon, Iran and Iraq -- drowned. That people are willing to hazard death at sea despite Australia's vow to send them to places like Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Nauru would seem illogical -- or just plain crazy. The Australian government ascribes their persistence partly to misinformation propagated by the smugglers. But every asylum seeker who believes those lies believes them because he chooses to. Their doing so, and continuing to brave the Indian Ocean, and continuing to die, only illustrates their desperation in a new, disturbing kind of light. This is the subtext to the plight of every refugee: Whatever hardship he endures, he endures because it beats the hardship he escaped. Every story of exile implies the sadder story of a homeland.It's surprisingly simple, from Kabul, to enlist the services of the smugglers Australian authorities are so keen to apprehend. The problem was that every Afghan I spoke to who had been to Indonesia insisted that no Western journalist would ever be allowed onto a boat: Paranoia over agents was too high. Consequently, the photographer Joel van Houdt and I decided to pose as refugees. Because we are both white, we thought it prudent to devise a cover. We would say we were Georgian (other options in the region were rejected for fear of running into Russian speakers), had sensitive information about our government's activities during the 2008 war (hence, in the event of a search, our cameras and recorders), traveled to Kabul in search of a smuggler and learned some Dari during our stay. An Afghan colleague of mine, Hakim (whose name has been changed to protect his identity), would pretend to be a local schemer angling for a foothold in the trade. It was all overly elaborate and highly implausible.
When we were ready, Hakim phoned an elderly Afghan man, living in Jakarta, who goes by the honorific Hajji Sahib. Hajji Sahib is a well-known smuggler in Indonesia; his cellphone number, among Afghans, is relatively easy to obtain. Hakim explained that he had two Georgians -- ''Levan'' and ''Mikheil'' -- whom he wished to send Hajji Sahib's way. Hajji Sahib, never questioning our story, agreed to get Joel and me from Jakarta to Christmas Island for $4,000 each. This represents a slightly discounted rate, for which Hakim, aspiring middleman, promised more business down the road.
A few days later, we visited Sarai Shahzada, Kabul's bustling currency market. Tucked behind an outdoor bazaar on the banks of a polluted river that bends through the Old City, the entrance to Sarai Shahzada is a narrow corridor mobbed with traders presiding over stacks of Pakistani rupees, Iranian rials, American dollars and Afghan afghanis. The enclosed courtyard to which the corridor leads, the exterior stairwells ascending the surrounding buildings, the balconies that run the length of every floor -- no piece of real estate is spared a hard-nosed dealer hawking bundled bricks of cash. The more illustrious operators occupy cramped offices and offer a variety of services in addition to exchange. Most of them are brokers of the money-transfer system, known as hawala, used throughout the Muslim world. Under the hawala system, if someone in Kabul wishes to send money to a relative in Pakistan, say, he will pay the amount, plus a small commission, to a broker in Sarai Shahzada, and in return receive a code. The recipient uses this code to collect the funds from a broker in Peshawar, who is then owed the transferred sum by the broker in Sarai Shahzada (a debt that can be settled with future transactions flowing in reverse).
In Afghanistan, where many people have family living abroad and lack bank accounts, the hawala system mostly facilitates legitimate remittances. It also, however, offers an appealing space for illicit dealings. In 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted one of Sarai Shahzada's main businesses for laundering millions on behalf of Afghan narcotics traffickers. The Taliban, as well, are thought to get the bulk of their donations, from Persian Gulf and Pakistani patrons, via hawala transfers.
The refugee-smuggling business is conducted almost entirely through hawala. Hajji Sahib's man, Mohammad, keeps a third-story office overlooking the courtyard in Sarai Shahzada. When we got there, we found Mohammad sitting behind a desk papered with receipts pinned down against a squeaky fan by half-drunk glasses of tea. With long unkempt hair, bad posture and acne, Mohammad looked as if he could still be in his teens. Other young men lined the walls, hunched in plastic chairs, working cellphones and calculators. When Hakim introduced himself as an intermediary for Hajji Sahib, they all glanced up from their computations, stiffening a little.
Mohammad immediately gave a spirited endorsement of Hajji Sahib's integrity, as well as of his own. He was eager to assure us that we were in capable hands. ''We represent lots of smugglers,'' Mohammad boasted. ''For Australia and also for Europe. Every month, dozens of people give us their money.'' He picked up a black ledger and waved it in the air. ''Look at this notebook! I write every customer's details in here.''
We gave him our fake names and origins. (''Gorjestan?'' we were asked for the first but by no means the last time.) Then, a bit reluctantly, I counted out $8,000 in cash. In return, Mohammad handed me a scrap of paper with our hawala codes scribbled in pen. Levan: 105. Mikheil: 106. Mohammad would withhold the money from his counterpart in Jakarta until we reached Christmas Island. This, theoretically, would preclude Hajji Sahib from retrieving it prematurely. It would also ensure he would not get paid if our boat sank or if we drowned.Most asylum seekers bound for Australia arrive in Jakarta by air. The day after we landed in the sprawling capital, I called Hajji Sahib and arranged to be picked up the next morning at a 7-Eleven on a busy intersection. Joel and I were sitting outside the 7-Eleven when an Indonesian man in a Hawaiian shirt appeared at the appointed time. He eyed us doubtfully, then handed me a cellphone.
''You will go in a taxi with this guy,'' Hajji Sahib told me. ''He will bring you to a safe place.''
We drove in silence, for about an hour, to the northern edge of the city, where gated communities vied for waterfront with ramshackle slums on the garbage-heaped banks of Jakarta Bay. We pulled into the parking lot of a massive tower-block apartment complex and took an elevator to the 23rd floor. Midway down a poorly lit hallway, our escort knocked on a metal security door. A young girl in a dress decorated with images of Barbie let us in. An Iranian man sat at a glass table, tapping ash from a cigarette into a water-bottle cap. A small boy lay on a bare mattress, watching cartoons. ''O.K.?'' asked the Indonesian, and before anyone could answer, he was gone.
The man, Youssef, had been living in the apartment for a couple of weeks with his 8-year-old son, Anoush, and 6-year-old daughter, Shahla. (All the names of the asylum seekers in this story have been changed for their protection.) Youssef had been a laborer in Tehran, refurbishing building exteriors. In order to pay Hajji Sahib, he had sold all his possessions and gave up the house he was renting. He left his wife with her parents, planning to bring her to Australia legally once he and the children were settled there. ''In Iran, there is no work, no life, no future for these children,'' Youssef told me, nodding at Anoush and Shahla. ''I want them to go to school so that they can get a position.''
We were sitting at the table, in one of the apartment's three rooms. A TV and refrigerator stood against the far wall, opposite a sink and counter, with a two-burner camping stove. Whereas Youssef, plainly, was less than thrilled to have new roommates (there were only two beds, one of them a narrow twin), Anoush and Shahla were competing to one-up each other with hospitality. After Shahla complimented Joel and me on our ''beautiful beards,'' Anoush set about preparing us a lunch of chicken-flavored instant noodles.
Shahla said, ''People become thieves there, in Iran.''
''In Australia, I want to be a policeman,'' Anoush announced. ''I want to arrest thieves, and say, 'Hands up!' ''
Youssef seemed to disapprove. ''They will study,'' he said.
On different floors throughout the tower block, other apartments housed about 30 more asylum seekers. Some were Hajji Sahib's; some belonged to rival smugglers. A majority, I was surprised to discover, were not Afghan but Iranian. Most were from cities and the lower middle class. They were builders, drivers, shopkeepers, barbers. One man claimed to be a mullah; another, an accomplished engineer. Their reasons for leaving varied. They all complained about the government and its chokehold on their freedoms. A few said they had been targeted for political persecution. They bemoaned the economy. International sanctions -- imposed on Iran for refusing to abandon its nuclear program in 2006 and later tightened -- had crippled their ability to support their families. They were fathers who despaired of their children's futures, or they wanted children but refused to have them in Iran. The most common word they used to describe their lives back home was na-aomid -- hopeless.
Shortly after we settled into the apartment, an Iranian named Rashid stopped by for a visit. Rashid had the sickly, anemic look that I would soon come to associate with asylum seekers who languished in that place for two months or more -- a combination of malnourishment and psychological fatigue. As he collapsed into a chair, elbows propped on knees, chin propped on palm, he seemed to lack even the most basic gravity-resisting vigor. After a month in Jakarta, Rashid told me, he got aboard a boat bound for Christmas Island. The engine promptly failed, leaving them adrift for days. In lieu of a bilge pump, Rashid and the other men had to use buckets to bail out the water splashing into the hull and seeping through its wooden planks. They ran out of food and water. People might have begun succumbing to dehydration if the tide hadn't carried them to a remote island. There they were arrested and obliged to pay the Indonesian police before they could be freed.
''We came back to this place,'' Rashid said. ''The smuggler said, 'Don't worry, we will take you again soon.' ''
I glanced at Joel. Over the phone, while we were in Kabul, Hajji Sahib urged us to get to Jakarta as soon as possible, saying the next boat was ready to depart.
''Our smuggler told us we were leaving tomorrow,'' I said.
Rashid laughed. ''Yes, they say that.''The waiting was brutal: doing nothing became the most onerous of chores. The fact that your smuggler could call at any time, day or night, meant that you were forever suspended in a state of high alert. It also meant you couldn't venture far. Most of the asylum seekers, additionally fearful of police, never left the building. Generally, they spent their days sleeping as much as possible, smoking cigarettes and rotating through one another's rooms -- for a change of scenery, presumably, though they were all identical. Everyone was broke, and meals, in our apartment anyway, consisted of instant noodles, once or twice a day, on occasion served with bread. To sleep, Youssef, Anoush and Shahla shared one of the two beds, while Joel and I alternated between the other and a thin mattress on the floor. Mattress nights were coveted, because it lay at the foot of the refrigerator, which you could open for a brief but glorious breath of cool air when you woke drenched in sweat, and because, compared with the bed, it was relatively free of fleas.
Although many of the asylum seekers in the building had children, only Youssef had brought his with him. (The others expected to be reunited with their families in Australia.) It's difficult to imagine how Anoush and Shahla processed the whole experience. My sense was that the thrill of the adventure eclipsed its hardships and hassles. With nothing and no one, except each other, to play with, they kept themselves remarkably well entertained. A feather duster found beneath the sink made for a superb tickling instrument; plastic grocery bags were turned into balloons; the hot-sauce packets, included in every ration of instant noodles, could be squirted on the tabletop to create interesting designs. There was also much to explore. The tower block was a kind of self-sufficient microcity, its four lofty wings flanking a private courtyard with shops and fish fries servicing outdoor tables clustered around a concrete bandstand. Every night, wizened Indonesian men belted out karaoke covers of John Denver and Johnny Cash. There was a Muslim mosque, a Christian church, a Buddhist temple. There were giant roaches and tailless cats to chase. And most delightfully, there was a pool.
As neither of the kids had swimming trunks or a spare pair of clothes, underwear had to suffice. Applying their talents for improvisation, Shahla found a used dish rag they could both share for a towel, while Anoush, with a kitchen knife, removed a length of flexible tubing from the back of our air-conditioner (which was broken anyway), repurposing it as a snorkel. Their resourcefulness continued at the pool itself: each day, they seemed to come into possession of some new equipment -- a pair of goggles, a bar of soap, an inflatable flotation ring.
While Youssef made the rounds of the rooms, Joel and I would end up watching them at the pool. We were both distressed to see that neither Anoush nor Shahla could really swim.
When I asked Anoush, who had never been on a boat before, whether he was nervous about the journey, he clucked his tongue. ''I have no fear,'' he said. ''I'll be smiling.''
Their father was less carefree. Not long after we joined them, it became clear that Youssef had no money, and if Joel and I didn't buy food and water, they would simply go without. Whenever the fleas or heat would wake me in the night, I would find Youssef sitting by the window, staring out at the fires -- bright islands of flame and eerily colored smoke -- where the slum dwellers were burning trash. Everyone was stressed; the strain of two kids and no cash, however, rendered Youssef especially edgy. He was given to fits of anger and with the slightest provocation could fly into rages at Anoush, as well as at the other asylum seekers, many of whom avoided him.
Then one day Youssef's family wired money. I was sitting with him in the apartment, smoking, when he got the call. The news transformed him. Beaming with joy, Youssef leapt into the air and began to sing and dance.
That night Joel and I found him in the courtyard drinking with Rashid. Anoush and Shahla ran from shop to shop, swinging bags of candy. When he saw us, Youssef insisted we sit down, then shouted loudly, at no one in particular, for more beer. A group of elderly Indonesian men, playing dominoes nearby, regarded him impatiently. Youssef didn't notice. He was slumped over the table, doodling on its surface with a permanent marker.
Rashid seemed embarrassed for his friend. ''His head is messed up,'' he explained. ''Waiting here, with his kids, not knowing when we'll go. It's hard.''
Youssef nodded glumly.
''My head is messed up, too,'' Rashid said. ''I'm going crazy. I have two sons in Iran. I haven't seen them or my wife in a year.''
Rashid said that before Australia, he tried to get to Europe via Greece. He made it from Turkey to Athens, where he was fleeced by a smuggler. Rather than return to Iran, he came to Indonesia. ''Every day, they tell us, 'Tomorrow, tomorrow,' '' Rashid said. ''But tomorrow never arrives.''
Anoush and Shahla appeared and asked Youssef for money. They wanted chips. Youssef pulled out a wad of bills and threw some in their direction. Several fluttered to the ground.
''Beer!'' Youssef yelled at a woman passing by. Then he looked guiltily at Rashid, and added: ''Please! Thank you!''Australia's decision to send all boat people to Papua New Guinea or the Republic of Nauru only compounded everyone's anxiety. Although no one allowed himself to take it seriously (if he did, he would have no option but to do the unthinkable -- give up, go home), the news was never decisively explained away. ''It's a lie to scare people so that they don't come,'' Youssef told me when I brought it up. Another man became agitated when I asked him what he thought. ''How can they turn you away?'' he demanded. ''You put yourself in danger, you take your life in your hand? They can't.'' A third asylum seeker dismissed the policy with a shrug. ''It's a political game,'' he told me.
In many ways, he was right. It's hard to overstate how contentious an issue boat people are in Australian politics. From an American perspective, zealousness on the subject of immigration is nothing unfamiliar. But what makes Australia unique is the disconnect between how prominently boat people feature in the national dialogue, on the one hand, and the actual scale of the problem, on the other. Over the past four years, most European countries have absorbed more asylum seekers, per capita, than Australia -- some of them, like Sweden and Liechtenstein, seven times as many. All the same, for more than a decade now, successive Australian governments have fixated on boat people, making them a centerpiece of their agendas.
In the summer of 2001, a Norwegian freighter, the MV Tampa, rescued 433 asylum seekers, almost all of them Afghan, from a stranded fishing boat. Rather than return them to Indonesia, the captain of the Tampa, Arne Rinnan, consented to their demands to be taken to Christmas Island. Australia forbade the ship to enter its territory, and the standoff that ensued led to Australia's threatening to prosecute Rinnan and Norway's complaining to the United Nations. John Howard, a conservative prime minister, who, in the midst of a re-election campaign, was trailing his opponent in most of the polls, declared, ''It remains our very strong determination not to allow this vessel or its occupants to land in Australia.'' When Rinnan, concerned over the welfare of the asylum seekers on his ship, proceeded toward the island anyway, Howard dispatched Australian commandos to board the Tampa and stop it from continuing. The impasse was resolved only when New Zealand and Nauru agreed to accept the asylum seekers instead. Howard's action was widely popular with voters, and two months later he was re-elected.
Diverting boat people to third countries for processing -- albeit with the possibility of someday being resettled in Australia -- was subsequently adopted as an official strategy. Under an arrangement popularly known as the Pacific Solution, asylum seekers trying to get to Christmas Island were interdicted by the navy and taken to detention centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea (both of which rely heavily on Australian aid). The Pacific Solution was denounced by refugee and human rights advocates, who criticized the harsh conditions of the centers and the prolonged periods of time -- many years, in some cases -- that asylum seekers had to spend in them while their applications were considered. Depression and other mental disorders proliferated; incidents of self-harm were common. In 2003, detainees on Nauru protested with a weekslong hunger strike, during which some of them sewed their lips together. Last September, Arne Rinnan, the captain of the Tampa, told an interviewer that he had recently received a letter from Nauru, written by one of the Afghans he had rescued. According to Rinnan, the man said that ''I should have let him die in the Indian Ocean, instead of picking him up.''
After the Labor Party regained control of Parliament in 2007, and the new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, abolished the Pacific Solution -- his immigration minister condemning it as ''neither humane nor fair'' -- the U.N. and just about every other organization involved with refugees lauded the move. Rudd lost his leadership of the Labor Party in 2010, and his successor, Julia Gillard, resurrected the offshore-processing strategy. When Rudd returned to power in 2013, apparently having learned his lesson, he kept Gillard's policies in place. It was in the context of another re-election bid in July that Rudd eliminated the possibility of any boat person ever settling in Australia. ''I understand that this is a very hard-line decision,'' he acknowledged in a national address. He seemed anxious to make sure that voters understood it too.
Rudd's conservative opponent, Tony Abbott, would not be outdone. One of the two rallying cries that had come to define Abbott's campaign was ''Stop the boats!'' (The other, referring to carbon-emissions penalties, was ''Axe the tax!'') Proclaiming the influx of boat people a ''national emergency,'' Abbott proposed an even tougher scheme than Rudd's, dubbed ''Operation Sovereign Borders.'' Among other proactive measures, this militaristic plan called for deploying warships to turn asylum seekers back at sea, before they reached Australian shores.
The elections were scheduled to be held less than a week after the night I found Youssef and Rashid drinking in the courtyard. Whichever candidate prevailed, one thing was certain: neither Youssef nor Rashid, nor Anoush nor Shahla, were going to get to the place they believed they were going. Rashid would never be reunited with his wife and sons in some quaint Australian suburb; Youssef would never see his children ''get a position'' there; Anoush would never become an Australian policeman; Shahla would never benefit from a secular, Western education. What they had to look forward to instead -- after the perilous voyage, and after months, maybe years, locked up in an isolated detention center -- was resettlement on the barren carcass of a defunct strip mine, more than 70 percent of which is uninhabitable (Nauru), or resettlement on a destitute and crime-ridden island nation known for its high rates of murder and sexual violence (Papua New Guinea).
How do you tell that to someone who has severed himself utterly from his country, in order to reach another? It was impossible. They wouldn't believe it.Joel and I were walking along the bay, where dozens of residents from the slums had gathered to watch backhoes on floating barges scoop refuse out of the shallows and deposit it onto the banks, when Youssef called my cellphone and shouted at us to get back to the tower -- we were leaving. In the apartment, we found two young Iranian women, Farah and Rima, sitting at the table with large backpacks, while Youssef hurriedly shoved dates and lemons -- thought to alleviate seasickness -- into a canvas messenger bag. I noticed, too, that he was bringing the inflatable flotation ring Anoush and Shahla had found at the pool.
An Iranian man named Ayoub appeared and told us our car was waiting. By the deferential way Youssef and the women treated him -- and by his assertive self-possession, in contrast to our rather panicky excitement -- I gathered that Ayoub was a smuggler. He wore a military haircut and a handlebar mustache, and his sleeveless shirt displayed the words ''Life is hard'' tattooed in English across an impressively sculptured left deltoid.
We all crammed into a new car with tinted windows, driven by a squat Indonesian man with long rapier-like pinkie nails that tapered into points, who belched every couple of minutes and chain-smoked flavored cigarettes. Anoush and Shahla were elated. As we pulled onto the highway, they could not stop talking about the boat and the sea. The women adored them instantly. Farah hauled Anoush onto her lap, while Rima set to braiding Shahla's wild hair. The kids received this affection like sustenance, with a kind of delirious gratitude and appetite. It made me remember that since arriving in Jakarta, they had not only been without their mother but without any mother.
We stopped at three gas stations along the way and linked up with other drivers. By the time we made it out of the city, several hours later, we led a convoy of six identical cars, all packed with asylum seekers. It seemed a bit conspicuous, and sure enough, as we climbed a narrow, winding road up a densely forested mountain, people came out to watch whenever we passed a shop or village. It was maybe 8 or 9 at night when our driver got a call that caused him to accelerate abruptly and career down a side road that led into the woods. The other cars followed. Pulling to a stop, shutting off the lights and engine, our driver spun around and hissed: ''Shh! Police.''
He got out to confer with his colleagues, and when he returned, it was in a hurry. Recklessly whipping around blind turns, we retreated down the mountain in the direction from which we came. Emerging from one sharp bend, we encountered a dark S.U.V. blocking the way. A siren whined; blue lights flashed. We slammed to a halt. A police officer in civilian clothes and a black baseball cap approached the driver's side. He peered in through the open window, registering the women and children. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he reeled back and smacked our driver hard and square in the face.
With the S.U.V. behind us, we returned to the turnoff for the side road. The other five cars were there, surrounded by several police vehicles and a four-wheel-drive truck. A crowd had gathered. It was hard to tell what was happening. Some of the officers were taking pictures of the license plates and asylum seekers, others appeared to be joking affably with the drivers. Everyone was making calls on cellphones. At one point, our driver stuck his head in the window and rubbed his thumb and fingers together. ''Money, money,'' he said. But the next instant he disappeared again.
Eventually, with a police car ahead of us and the truck bringing up the rear, we continued along the road. It was useless to try to get an explanation from our driver, who, in a torpor of self-pity, only muttered to himself and stroked a red mark on his cheek. When Rima got hold of Ayoub, he said not to worry, Hajji Sahib was taking care of it.
We were taken to a police station, in the city of Sukabumi. There, an older, bespectacled man in army fatigues and a beret seemed to be in charge. Once more, all the drivers were pulled out of their cars, pictures were taken, phone calls were made. After about an hour, with the same escort in front and behind, our convoy was on the move again. It's hard to say for how long we drove or where we finally stopped: all I could make out were a couple of shuttered storefronts on an otherwise empty road. Curiously, when I looked out the rear window, every police vehicle save one was turning around and heading back toward Sukabumi.
The sole remaining officer, a young man in a tan uniform, leaned against a chain-link fence, smoking a cigarette, apparently uninterested in us. Soon the asylum seekers began getting out of their cars. After the officer watched with indifference as a group of Afghan teenagers briskly walked away, everyone started flagging down trucks and hopping into communal passenger vans. When a large commuter bus happened by, the officer signaled for it to stop. Those of us who hadn't yet absconded piled on.
I found myself sitting toward the front of the bus with an Iraqi family from Baghdad -- a young woman in a hijab, her husband, father-in-law and three children.
''Where are we going?'' the Iraqi woman said in English.
''I don't know,'' I said.
Someone asked the driver.
''Bogor,'' he said.
''Where's Bogor?'' the Iraqi woman said.
''I don't know,'' I said.
It turned out to be the end of the line. When the bus stopped, about 30 asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan got out. No one quite knew what to do. It was nearly dawn, and everything in Bogor was closed. We all walked to the highway -- a motley, exhausted crew, carrying backpacks and plastic bags with food and clothes -- and started hailing taxis. Youssef, the children, Rima, Farah, Joel and I managed to persuade a commuter with a minivan to take us back to the tower block for $20. The sun was coming up by the time we got there. The apartment was still filthy. It still stunk. It was still hot. Youssef lit a pot of water for the noodles.A few days later, Joel and I were on our way to one of the shops downstairs when a young Middle Eastern man we had never seen before approached us. ''Come with me,'' he said.
We followed him to the courtyard, where we found Ayoub sitting at one of the tables, absorbed in a hearty lunch.
''Get your bags and the apartment key,'' Ayoub told me, dropping a chicken bone onto his plate and loudly sucking the grease off his fingers, one at a time, from thumb to pinkie.
When we got up to the apartment and I told Youssef the news, he only nodded. The reaction was not what I expected. ''Ayoub is here,'' I repeated. ''We're leaving.''
''Did he say us too?'' Youssef asked. ''Or just you?''
I didn't understand. ''We're all going together, of course.''
Youssef seemed unconvinced and made no move to pack. A few minutes later, Hajji Sahib called me. I stepped into the hall.
''Are you with the Iranian family?'' he said.
''Yes. We're almost ready.''
''Ayoub is already gone,'' Hajji Sahib said. ''You have to take a taxi to another place. And you have to leave the Iranians there. They can't come. There is a problem with their money.''
Back in the apartment, I found Youssef at the stove. He had put Shahla in the shower. Anoush was watching cartoons.
''What's going on?'' I said.
Youssef shook his head. When I told him Joel and I had to go alone, without them, there was no objection or rebuke; however miserable, Youssef was reconciled to what was happening, and I realized he must have seen it coming. He lit a cigarette and lay down on the mattress. Shahla was still in the shower. Anoush, I could tell, hadn't missed a thing. His eyes, though, stayed fastened on the TV.We took a taxi to a much nicer building on the opposite side of Jakarta. A tall, skinny Iranian in his early 20s met us in the lobby and took us to the top floor. In the apartment, we found Farah and Rima sitting with three Iranian men around a coffee table with a row of cellphones on it. The women greeted us warmly and introduced one of the men, Siya, as the ''boss.'' Muscular and shirtless, with intricate tattoos of feathered wings spread across his chest, Siya was busy fashioning a sheath for a long wood-handled knife out of folded magazine pages and rubber bands.
Noticing me notice the knife, Farah said, ''For security.''
Siya told us to put our cellphones on the table and informed us that we would no longer be allowed to use them.
''Who told you to come here?'' he asked.
''Hajji Sahib,'' I said.
''Who introduced you to Hajji Sahib?''
''Hakim. From Kabul.''
''Hakim from Kabul?'' Siya nodded knowingly. ''O.K., good.''
After a while, a middle-aged man and his son joined us. Siya embraced each of them for a minute or more. The father, Amir, was a shop owner from the Iranian side of the border with Iraq. He and Sami, a pudgy 9-year-old with glasses, were two of the friendliest people I met in Jakarta. Although he was older than Siya, Amir's meek nature relegated him definitely subordinate: a somewhat awkward dynamic that Amir, loath to make anyone uncomfortable, deflated by clicking his heels and saluting the boss (who, in turn, ordered him to execute a series of squats and lunges, counting out the sets in a mock drill-sergeant voice). Later, when Siya asked to inspect his weapon, Amir reached into his pocket and produced a flimsy steak knife.
It was around midnight when Siya got the call. He gave us back our phones, and we took the elevator to an underground parking garage, where another caravan of new cars with tinted windows was waiting. Every vehicle was already packed beyond capacity. We were all greatly relieved when, a few miles down the highway, our driver pulled into an alley, stopped behind the truck and told us to get out.After the hard rain on the way to the beach, and wading out chest-deep to the skiffs, everyone was drenched. It was still dark out when the two Indonesian crew members pulled back the tarp they had nailed over our heads. The coast was a vague shadow growing vaguer. The Indonesians distributed life vests: ridiculous things, made from thin fabric and a bit of foam. The youngest children, including a girl in a pink poncho who appeared no older than 4 or 5, were directed with their parents to a small square of open deck in the stern. The reason for this was that the farther aft you went, the less violent was the bucking as we plowed into the swells.
As the sun broke, we got our first good look at one another. Rashid had made it, as well as several other men from the tower block. There were nine children and more than a dozen women. Aside from one Afghan man, from Kunduz Province, everyone was Iranian. Most of the elderly crowded into the covered bow or leaned against the bulwarks. The rest fit where they could on the open deck. The sea was choppy enough so that each time the boat crashed from a peak into a trough or hit a wave head-on, large amounts of water splashed against us.
The first person to become sick was Siya. It was still early morning when he started throwing up. He was a natural leader, that man, and almost everyone soon followed suit. By late afternoon, we'd lost sight of land completely, and the swells grew to a size that blocked out the horizon when they loomed above us. Some people bent over the gunwales, some vomited into plastic bags. It quickly became apparent that there were not enough bags to go around: rather than toss them overboard, full ones had to be emptied, rinsed and reused.
Siya would not be cowed. Peeling off his soaking tank top, revealing his tattooed wings -- seeming to unfold them, actually, as he threw back his shoulders -- he began to sing. Others joined in, breaking now and then to retch.
It was slow going. The Indonesians took turns manning the tiller and hand-pumping water from the bilge. One was older and taciturn and wore a permanent scowl; the other looked to be in his teens, smiled enough for the both of them and called everybody ''brother.'' The tremendous racket of the engine belied its less-than-tremendous horsepower. Like the rest of the vessel, it was built for neither such a heavy load nor such high seas. Our typical speed was four to five knots, less than six miles per hour, and at times we seemed to make no headway whatsoever against the strong southeasterly trade winds, which whipped up white caps on the waves and kept us all alert with stinging gusts of spray. Depending on the direction of the swells, the Indonesians would signal the men to consolidate themselves on the starboard or port side of the deck and thereby mitigate our listing -- which, now and then, felt alarming.
The sea was still big when the sun went down, taking with it the warmth. Those of us who had spent the day on our feet now began staking claims on places to try to sleep. The deck became a claustrophobic scrum of tangled limbs. Few could recline or stretch their legs. Each time someone tried to reposition a foot or knee, say, to restore some circulation, the movement would ripple out in a cascade of shifting and grumbling as the surrounding bodies adjusted to the new configuration.
The tarp was unfurled. There was not enough of it to cover everyone. If you found yourself on an edge or corner, someone from the opposite side would invariably pull it away the moment you relaxed your grip. In any case, it was too worn and porous to do much. The water ran down its folds and creases, streaming through the many tears along the way.In the morning, everyone looked different. Sallow. Haggard. Reduced. Amir and Sami slouched limply against each other, passing between them a bulging plastic bag. The man with the faux-hawk was curled up in a fetal ball: he stayed that way the rest of the trip. His pregnant wife sat cross-legged near the bow, pale and wet and trembling. Rima was clutching Siya's arm, as if it were a lifeline. Their eyes were squeezed tightly shut, but they were too ill to sleep.
Another problem arose. There was no toilet, and absent any railing to hold on to, going over the side was too risky. The men urinated on the hull, the women in their pants.
The Indonesians had brought a box of sealed plastic cups of water, but hardly anyone could hold them down. Siya continued to sing and puke. Although a couple of the children had begun to cry, none complained. In the afternoon, two dolphins appeared and spent the better part of an hour playfully showing off. As they darted under the boat, and launched into the air, the spectacle cheered up everyone, adults and kids alike. Even Amir and Sami rallied from their stupor to watch. A few grown men became positively gleeful, vying to be the first to spot the gray shadows flitting from the deep.
That night, several of us tried to sleep atop the engine room, trading the shelter of the hull for a little extra space. It was a poor call. Every 10 minutes or so, a bucket's worth of cold water took your breath away or you were pitched against a hot pair of vertical pipes spewing noxious smoke and sparks. There was nothing to do but lie there, bracing for one or the other, admiring the magnificent array of stars and the phosphorescence glowing in the wake.
With first light, despite the sleep deprivation, dehydration, seasickness and filth, the asylum seekers were energized by the fact that, according to the Indonesians, we would likely reach Australian territory before nightfall. Although there was still no land in sight, the arrival of birds circling overhead was unanimously interpreted as a sign that we were getting close. The sea had also calmed: no more waves crashed upon the deck. Initially, this was an enormous relief. For the first time, the sun dried us out. As it crept higher, however, it proved to be far more powerful than during the past two days, and soon, without a single cloud in the sky to blunt the blistering rays, everyone was longing for the same frigid breakers we previously cursed.
The tarp was brought back out. While blocking the sun's glare, it also trapped its heat. A couple of people, desperate for fresh air, cut up the box of water cups, which was almost empty, and made visors from the cardboard. One of the fathers in the stern, wearing a Qatar Airways sleeping mask to protect his face, found a length of string and rigged up some sheets and scarves for shade. The bow -- the only covered part of the boat -- reeked dizzyingly of vomit and urine. None of the dozen Iranians who rushed to fill the space when we embarked had since dared to leave it. Now they were suffering. An argument arose between them and their comrades on the open deck. The tarp was obstructing the entrance to the bow, it seemed, and smothering its already rank and humid air.
''Please,'' one woman begged. ''We can't breathe in here.''
There was little desire among the deck dwellers, however, to endure direct exposure to the sun for the comfort of those who had thus far enjoyed comparatively plush accommodations.
Presently, the heat finished off anyone who might have been bearing up. The pregnant woman's condition bordered on critical. She was flushed and drenched in sweat and heaved dryly, with nothing left to give. Sami was weeping. Amir lay supine. His eyes drooped catatonically, and when I tried to make him drink some water, he weakly gripped my ankle.
''I need help,'' he said. ''Call for help.''
That decision seemed to be up to Siya. There was a satellite phone onboard: Siya said the plan was to contact the Australian authorities once we were well within their waters. The navy would then bring us ashore. In the past, asylum boats often made it all the way -- but the landing can be treacherous (when one boat smashed on the cliffs in 2010, 50 people drowned), and now it's standard practice to request a ''rescue'' before reaching Christmas Island. Although Australian rescuers, when responding to distress calls, venture much farther north than where we currently were, Siya wanted to be sure. I think it was Amir's pitiful entreaties that finally persuaded him to make the call.
An Iranian man who knew some English -- the one who in Jakarta told me he was an engineer -- spoke to the dispatch. The Indonesians had brought a hand-held G.P.S. device; neither they nor the asylum seekers, however, knew how to work it. Eventually, someone offered his iPhone, and the engineer read out our coordinates.
While we waited to be rescued, the Iranians set about destroying their passports. ''So they can't deport you,'' Farah told me. Clearly, though, the task also carried some symbolic weight. Rather than simply jettisoning them, the asylum seekers painstakingly ripped out each individual page, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it to the wind. A pair of scissors was passed around. The burgundy covers, emblazoned with the Iranian coat of arms, were cut into tiny pieces. The work was accomplished with flair and relish. Only one man seemed hesitant. Moving closer, I saw that the passport he was disposing of was his son's. When the scissors came his way, he carefully cut out the photo on the first page and slipped it in his wallet.
Soon, on the horizon, a ship appeared. A government airplane buzzed above us, swooped low and made a second pass. The asylum seekers waved shirts in the air, crying out in jubilation. The younger Indonesian performed a dance atop the engine room; he seemed amazed we had made it. Some of the men emptied their pockets, thrusting on him all the cash they had. The Indonesian beamed. ''Thank you, brothers!''
Two skiffs broke off from the battleship and motored our way. Each carried six Australians in gray fatigues, riot helmets and sidearms holstered on their thighs. The Indonesians cut the engine (and after three days of its unrelenting clamor, the silence that replaced it was startling). The skiffs maneuvered abreast of us, one on each side.
The Australian sailors all looked like fresh recruits. One of them held a manual of some kind. He read from it in a loud voice. ''Are there any English speakers?''
The engineer stepped forward.
''Does anyone onboard require medical assistance?''
When the engineer translated this, nearly everyone raised his hand. The pregnant woman was helped to her feet and presented. Her head hung heavily. She was almost too weak to stand.
While the Australian with the manual recited more questions -- including some in Indonesian addressed to the crew, who shook their heads dumbly, refusing to answer -- his fellow sailors passed to the asylum seekers new life vests, a couple jerrycans of fresh water, some bags of frozen tortillas, bottles of honey and a tub of strawberry jam. ''We're going back to the ship now,'' one of them told the engineer. ''You have to turn the engine back on and keep going. We'll be behind you.''
This information was met with disbelief. Once again the pregnant woman was raised up and displayed. ''Can you take her with you at least?'' asked the engineer. The sailors exchanged embarrassed looks. Plainly, they wished they could.
We still couldn't see land -- and not long after the skiffs left us for the battleship, it, too, was lost from view. The return of the empty and limitless ocean, not to mention the incessantly pounding sun, was incredibly demoralizing. To make matters worse, we no longer had any means of communication. When they first glimpsed the plane and ship, all the asylum seekers, following Siya's example, threw their cellphones overboard. For some reason, amid the exultation, the satellite phone and G.P.S. system had also gone into the water.
There was nothing to do but heed the Australian's command and ''keep going.'' It was four or five hours after we made contact with the first ship when a second, smaller patrol boat materialized. Two more skiffs of sailors came out to meet us. This time they immediately boarded the boat, moving people aside, herding everyone forward. The officer in charge announced that he was taking control of the vessel.
After the officer spotted Joel's camera, we were both summoned to the stern, at which point we identified ourselves as journalists. While a big Australian with a bushy beard worked the tiller, the officer went through a list of prewritten questions with the crew, each of whom either couldn't read or declined to. (Unless it's their second offense, or someone dies, the Indonesian fishermen who bring asylum boats across are often not prosecuted.) The officer was polite to Joel and me. He said we had been lucky with the weather. If we had left a few days earlier, the boat would have capsized.It inspires a unique kind of joy, that first glimpse of land. The sun was low, and you could almost mistake it for some play of light and shadow. As rousing as it was to see, the presence of a fixed object against which to mark our progress also made you realize just how slowly we had been going. It was late at night by the time we reached Christmas Island. The Australians guided our boat into the shelter of a shallow cove, beneath sheer cliffs draped in vegetation. After tying up on a mooring, the officer revealed that we would stay the night here and disembark tomorrow. When the engineer relayed the complaints of the asylum seekers -- who, consolidated in the bow, had even less space now than before -- the officer responded: ''Are you safe? Are your lives in danger anymore?'' He seemed to be losing patience, and, noticing a wrapper floating by the stern, angrily reproached the Iranians: ''You're in a nice country now.''
It rained fitfully throughout the night. The next day, we were all ferried by a push-barge from the mooring to a jetty around the point. The jetty was swarmed with customs and immigration officials, federal police and employees of a private company that runs the island's detention centers. Joel and I were welcomed to Australia, given water, coffee and a ride to a surprisingly luxurious hotel. Everyone else was interned. Later that afternoon, while walking into town, I saw our little boat being towed out to sea. There, the officer had told me, it would be lit on fire.
The families and minors were taken to a relatively comfortable facility, with access to an outdoor soccer field and recreational area. The single men went to a place resembling a maximum-security prison. None of the asylum seekers would stay at either location for long. While I was on the island, flights full of detainees were leaving almost every night for Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Nauru. By now, most if not all of the people from our boat have been transferred to one of the two island nations. If they were sent to the detention center on Papua New Guinea, they are probably living in the tent city that was erected there as part of its expansion. If they were sent to the detention center on Nauru, they are probably living in the tent city that was erected there after rioting asylum seekers in July burned the buildings down.
Because the governments of Nauru and Papua New Guinea lack the capability to process refugee claims -- Australian officials are still training them to do so -- the asylum seekers have a long wait ahead of them. Some might not be able to hold out: already, dozens of Iranians, after seeing the conditions at the Papua New Guinea facility, have asked to be sent back to their country. Among those who decide to tough it out, it's most likely that few will be found to have valid cases. Moreover, unlike with Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, no agreement exists between Iran and Australia allowing for the forcible repatriation of asylum seekers whose applications are unsuccessful. This means that the Iranians who are denied asylum by Nauru or Papua New Guinea, and who decline to voluntarily return to Iran, will enter a kind of limbo, in which they can neither be resettled on those islands nor sent to the Australian mainland nor sent home. Absent another solution, these people could be flown back to Christmas Island and detained indefinitely.We reached Australia one day after Tony Abbott was elected prime minister. In keeping with his Operation Sovereign Borders policy, Abbott has since directed the navy to send back to Indonesia, whenever possible, asylum boats intercepted at sea. So far this has happened twice, in late September, when two boatloads of asylum seekers were turned over, offshore, to Indonesian authorities. The second transfer took place the same day that a boat full of Lebanese asylum seekers broke apart less than a hundred yards off the Java coast near Sukabumi, the Indonesian city whose police station Joel and I briefly visited. More than 20 bodies, many of them children, washed ashore, and more remained missing.
According to a Lebanese community leader interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, most of the dead came from a small village near the border with Syria. One asylum seeker, who managed to swim to safety, lost his sister-in-law, his brother-in-law, three of their children, his wife and all eight of his children. The community leader said there were many more Lebanese fleeing the Syrian border who had already paid smugglers and were on their way to Indonesia.
When I got back to Afghanistan, I met with several men preparing to go to Australia. One of them, Qais Khan, opened a small auto-parts shop in Kabul in 2005. Qais told me that for years, while Afghans from the provinces came regularly into the city, he did very well. Since 2010, however, the deteriorating security situation in the rural areas adjacent to the capital had stultified commerce and ruined many retailers. Last year, Qais's shop went out of business; now he was struggling to feed his wife and two children.
A couple of months ago, 15 of Qais's friends paid a smuggler at Sarai Shahzada and left for Indonesia. Among them was Qais's next door neighbor, a driver for a member of Parliament, who decided to flee after receiving three letters from the Taliban threatening to kill him. Qais told me he was waiting to hear whether his friends were successful -- in which case, he would go as well.
''And if they're not?'' I asked. ''If they're sent to Papua New Guinea or the Republic of Nauru?''
Qais thought for a moment and then admitted he would probably go anyway. In fact, he had already taken out the necessary loans to pay the smuggler. ''At least there you have a chance,'' he said. ''At least there is a possibility.''
I felt obligated to tell him he was wrong. ''You won't get to Australia,'' I said.
Qais didn't seem to hear. The words simply didn't register. ''Australia, Europe, America,'' he said. ''They're not like here. You have a chance.''







 


November 1, 2013 Friday  


 Australia Said to Play Part in Effort Of N.S.A.

 
BEIJING -- Australia, a close ally of the United States, has used its embassies in Asia to collect intelligence as part of the National Security Agency's global surveillance efforts, according to a document leaked by the former agency contractor Edward J. Snowden and published this week in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted angrily on Thursday to the assertions in the document, which also said that the American Embassy in Beijing and consulates in Shanghai and Chengdu operated special intelligence gathering facilities, and it demanded an explanation from the United States. 
''We demand that foreign entities and personnel in China strictly abide by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and other international treaties, and they must not, in any form, engage in activities that are incompatible with their position and status and that are harmful to China's national security and interest,'' Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the ministry, said at a daily briefing for reporters.
Australia is one of the so-called Five Eyes countries that share highly classified intelligence and agree not to spy on one another; the other four are the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
The report by Der Spiegel and a report in The Sydney Morning Herald said that the intelligence collection program was conducted from Australian Embassies in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and East Timor, and the country's high commissions -- the equivalent of embassies among Commonwealth countries -- in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
The N.S.A. program was called Stateroom, and was operated by the Australian Defense Signals Directorate, Der Spiegel quoted the N.S.A. document as saying.
A former Australian official with knowledge of Australia's relationship with the United States said that Australia took part in the intelligence gathering to further its own national interests as well as to contribute to its alliance with Washington. The Australian intelligence operations had been going on in various forms for 20 to 30 years, the former official said.
Australia has long felt a need to gather information in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, which lies just to the north of Australia, the former official said. The country's volatile politics and security problems were of the highest priority to Australia for many years, and more recently the rise in the smuggling of people to Australia from there had increased the need, the former official said.
''This was done not as a favor to the United States,'' said the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the matter. ''It was more cooperative than at the U.S.'s request.''
Describing the surveillance operations at the Australian facilities, the N.S.A. document quoted by Der Spiegel said they were ''small in size and in number of personnel staffing them.'' The document added, ''They are covert, and their true mission is not known by the majority of the diplomatic staff at the facility where they are assigned.''
An email to the Australian agency assigned to answer questions about the program, the Attorney General's Department in Canberra, was not immediately answered.
The reports were an embarrassment to the new conservative government in Australia, especially regarding the Australian Embassy in Beijing. The buoyant Australian economy depends on China's appetite for Australian iron ore, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this month that he wanted to complete a free-trade agreement with China within a year.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Ms. Hua, alluded to the relationship in her comments on Thursday. China and Australia had a consensus to increase cooperation, she said, and ''we hope and expect that Australia can work hard with China in this regard.''







 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

October 31, 2013 Thursday

 Religion is about more than beliefs

 
Few teenagers could tell you what direction to turn to face Mecca. My friend Ken can.
When I got to know him last year, Ken seemed like your average student. He's Indonesian, but that doesn't make him stand out in a diverse California high school. Gradually, however, I noticed a few things that happened at his house that definitely don't happen at mine. For example, his family has an alarm that sings prayers to remind them it's time to pray. When Ken wears shorts, he wraps what looks like a plaid sheet around him while he's in the presence of Indonesian elders, or when he's praying.
These practices stem from Ken's religion, but they're also a part of his culture. He's Muslim and was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. I, on the other hand, was born in San Jose and have never been to church. 
My lack of religion has never bothered me -- until now. I have become jealous of my friends who have a strong sense of culture and tradition. The feeling of unity is addictive.
As I've grown up, I've gotten to know a variety of people and have been exposed to many customs. Ahalya, a Hindu friend, politely demonstrated how to behave as her mother recited their form of grace before a meal. I had never done anything like that, and nothing like Hinduism had ever dictated what I would eat for dinner.
The more religion I experienced, the more I realized how much it was about culture and tradition, as well as belief. And the more I felt like I was lacking something.
Sure, my family does certain things to celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving, but I can do all those in my pajamas. That's a stark contrast to my friend Sofia, a devout Catholic who owns dresses that are only worn to church on Sunday. They are picture-perfect white and light blue, with thick straps and gently defined waistlines; they ooze class. She wears the dress at service and during brunch with her family. Every Sunday. The only thing you can guarantee about my Sundays is that I won't get dressed up.
Our family has never been opposed to religion. But when I first started attending my friends' events, my parents seemed nervous. They didn't want me to convert and lose my individualism, just because I happened to have fun at a party. As I eventually showed an interest in a variety of religions, they became more accepting of the idea that I might one day choose my own.
The more I immerse myself in different nationalities, beliefs and cultures, the more I wish I had one of my own. I can't say the religious leanings need to be preserved, but I do believe the cultural aspects should be fought for. I see myself taking my kids to church on Sunday, though I am not sure what kind. I've started to read literature about different practices, as well as the basics such as the Quran and the Bible.
These friendships and experiences have given me a better understanding of myself. I agree with some aspects of Islam, and I didn't expect that. I have become accepting of practices I once would have found strange. I now know why I enjoy things like sports team uniforms so much. I love things that bring me together with others for a common purpose.
Before learning about all these religions, I had a more narrow view of the world. Now, I find myself wondering what other religions are like, and I've discovered that asking questions is rarely considered offensive.
And that's good because I have a lot of questions.
The Life in Perspective board is made up of teens who write for the features sections. KateMarie Boccone attends Prospect High School in Saratoga. Reach her atlip@bayareanewsgroup.com .







 


October 27, 2013 Sunday  


 In Indonesia, a Push for Prohibition Strikes Fear

 
LEGIAN, Indonesia -- They have defaced Britney Spears posters, denounced Pamela Anderson's charitable work and threatened Lady Gaga and Miss World beauty pageant contestants. And now, hard-line Muslims in Indonesia, in concert with Islamic-based politicians, are eyeing new targets: Johnnie Walker, an award-winning local pilsner called Bintang, even the exotic drinks with cherries and little umbrellas favored by the country's many international visitors.
A draft bill submitted to Indonesia's Parliament earlier this year that called for a ban on alcohol in the world's largest Muslim-majority country has stirred unease among the country's predominantly moderate Muslims and fear among those who make their living in tourism, from upscale hotels in the capital, Jakarta, to beach bars and theme restaurants on the resort island of Bali.
After an initial backlash, the Islamic-based United Development Party, or P.P.P., which drafted the measure, said it would scale back its goals and instead seek comprehensive regulations on the sale of alcohol. 
But the party has not yet released a new version of the bill, and conservative Muslim groups said they would lobby hard for the tougher legislation during an expected debate in Parliament in the coming weeks.
That has kept alive fears that, even in a country that has a long tradition of moderate Islam and is led by a secular government, a ban on alcohol could pass. Critics of a ban note a possible wild card: with elections scheduled for next year, legislators might be willing to back prohibition to appeal to conservative Islamic voters.
Before the 2009 election, a similar dynamic led to the passage of a controversial (and now lightly enforced) morality law that outlaws art, movies and music that ''can arouse sexual desires and/or violate public moral values.'' And last month, the government ordered that the finals of the Miss World pageant, which some Islamic groups denounced as immoral, be moved from the outskirts of Jakarta to predominantly Hindu Bali.
Nyoman Suwidjana, the secretary general of the Bali Tourism Board, said that criminalizing alcohol would have ''a significant impact'' on the economy of Bali, which is heavily dependent on the tourism industry and drew a record 2.9 million visitors in 2012.
''It's not conceivable for one party to impose their values on others,'' he said, noting that, in addition to foreign tourists, minority populations of Christians, Balinese Hindus and Buddhists in India do not consider alcohol taboo. ''Could you imagine tourists sneaking in their own alcohol, just to have a good time?''
The draft bill was quietly submitted to Parliament in January by the P.P.P., whose platform includes banning alcohol.
''It's the aspiration of many regions, due to criminality, and health and social problems because of alcohol,'' said Ahmad Yani, a P.P.P. lawmaker, who denied in an interview that the bill was related to the 2014 election season.
No matter what happens with the legislation, Indonesia's Islamic-led prohibition movement, which dates back decades, got a boost in July when the country's Supreme Court announced it had overturned a 1997 presidential decree making it illegal for local governments to outlaw the production, sale or consumption of alcohol. The ruling upheld a challenge by the Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group known for occasionally smashing up bars that it views as affronts to Islam and forcibly closing Christian churches and the mosques of Muslim minorities.
In 2006, the Islamic Defenders Front brought a legal complaint against the Indonesian edition of Playboy magazine, whose editor was later sentenced to prison for ''public indecency,'' even though the magazine did not show nudity. (The Supreme Court overturned that decision eight months later.) The Islamic Defenders Front and other hard-line groups also forced the cancellation of a Lady Gaga concert scheduled for Jakarta in 2012.
''They use sensitive issues such as Lady Gaga or alcohol to consolidate themselves,'' said Fajar Riza Ul Haq, executive director of the Maarif Institute, a nongovernmental organization that promotes religious tolerance.
''These things are a very good opportunity for them to get publicity, and hopefully gain public support for what they do,'' he said. Novel Haidar, secretary of the Jakarta chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front, said the prohibition drive was no publicity stunt, but a part of the group's goal to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state.
''Alcohol brings more disadvantages than advantages,'' Mr. Novel said in an interview. ''Bali has other income than from just selling alcohol -- beautiful attractions and wonderful hotels and resorts. Not having alcohol would make it better.''
Nick Ryan, a 38-year-old electrician from Gold Coast, Australia, flatly disagreed. Sitting at the Sunset Bar at Legian Beach, in southern Bali, with a Bintang beer within reach, he grimaced when told of efforts to ban alcohol across Indonesia. ''I'd never come here again,'' he said.
His wife, Kym, 38, a travel agent, said she would find it difficult to explain to her clients that they could spend money for a flight and hotel room, but not have a glass of wine with dinner. ''You would find they would go elsewhere, like Thailand, if they couldn't sit by a pool and have a drink,'' she said.
Lying on the beach, Anna Duron, 35, a tourist from France, compared banning alcohol in Indonesia to ''shooting yourself in the foot.''
''Why would they want to do that?'' she said. ''Is there a real social issue behind it?''
''What I love about Indonesia is that it makes space for Islam, but it's also open to other religions,'' she said.
Alessandro Migliore, chairman of the Bali Hotels Association, said he could not imagine the effect on Bali if an alcohol ban were passed.
''Most Indonesians do not agree with these groups behind it, but the silent majority just keeps silent,'' he said.
Mr. Novel, of the Islamic Defenders Front, said that while his organization would monitor what bill emerged within Parliament, it was not focusing on a national ban because the Supreme Court's recent ruling allows thousands of local governments to ban alcohol on their own.
''Around 351 Indonesian districts, subdistricts, towns and villages had already passed regulations against alcohol in the past 15 years, and the Supreme Court ruling'' removing the ban on such regulations ''makes them all legal now,'' he said. ''So now we're going to enforce it within those 351 areas by conducting sweeps, as well as try to lobby local administrations in every province and district in Indonesia to ban alcohol.''
The Islamic Defenders Front, however, might have a fight on its hands in the Bali district of Badung, the site of Legian Beach and where 80 percent of the island's foreign tourists stay.
One Indonesian bartender, who did not want to give his name, said the Balinese people remained angry about terrorist bombings on the island in 2002 and 2005 by Islamic militants from Java and would resist any attempt by Java-based Muslim groups to ban alcohol on Bali, given its dependence on tourism.
''We're not a Muslim country, and we have 240 million people, not just these people,'' he said angrily. ''It's a crazy idea. They should crawl back into the ocean, man.''








 


October 22, 2013 Tuesday

 TODAY IN HISTORY

 
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2013. There are 70 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight
 On Oct. 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a nationally broadcast address in which he publicly revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a quarantine of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation.
 On this date 
 In 1746, Princeton University was first chartered as the College of New Jersey.
 In 1797, French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet over Paris.
 In 1811, composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt was born in the Hungarian town of Raiding in present-day Austria.
 In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.
 In 1883, the original Metropolitan Opera House in New York held its grand opening with a performance of Gounod's "Faust."
 In 1928, Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the "American system of rugged individualism" in a speech at New York's Madison Square Garden.
 In 1934, bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was shot to death by federal agents at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.
 In 1962, the hit comedy album "The First Family," starring comedian-impressionist Vaughn Meader as President John F. Kennedy, was recorded before a studio audience in New York City.
 In 1968, Apollo 7 returned safely from Earth orbit, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
 In 1979, the U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment - a decision that precipitated the Iran hostage crisis. French conductor and music teacher Nadia Boulanger died in Paris.
 In 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August.
 In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law sweeping tax-overhaul legislation.
 In 2002, Bus driver Conrad Johnson was shot to death in Aspen Hill, Md., in the final attack carried out by the "Beltway Snipers."
 Ten years ago: President George W. Bush defended U.S. policy from the Mideast to Iraq during a frank exchange with moderate Muslim leaders during a stopover in Bali, Indonesia. The Florida Marlins edged the New York Yankees 4-3 in 12 innings to even the World Series at two games each. IRL racer Tony Renna, 26, died after crashing at close to 220 miles-an-hour during a test drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 Five years ago: Wall Street tumbled again as investors worried that the global economy was poised to weaken. The major indexes fell more than 4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which finished with a loss of 514 points. The fishing vessel Katmai sank in the Bering Sea off Alaska's Aleutian Islands, killing seven crewmen; four survived. India launched its first mission to the moon to redraw maps of the lunar surface. (India lost contact with its lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1 last August.) The Philadelphia Phillies won Game 1 of the World Series, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2.
 One year ago: President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney met in the last of their three debates; although foreign policy was the topic, both kept circling back to their plans for strengthening the economy. Tropical Storm Sandy formed south of Jamaica, and forecasters said it was expected to strengthen.
 Today's Birthdays
 Actress Joan Fontaine is 96. Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing is 94. Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale is 77. Actor Christopher Lloyd is 75. Actor Derek Jacobi is 75. Actor Tony Roberts is 74. Movie director Jan de Bont is 70. Actress Catherine Deneuve is 70. Rock musician Leslie West (Mountain) is 68. Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is 66. Actor Jeff Goldblum is 61. Movie director Bill Condon is 58. Actor Luis Guzman is 56. Actor-writer-producer Todd Graff is 54. Rock musician Cris Kirkwood is 53. Actor-comedian Bob Odenkirk is 51. Olympic gold medal figure skater Brian Boitano is 50. Christian singer TobyMac is 49. Singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding is 48. Actress Valeria Golino is 47. Comedian Carlos Mencia is 46. Country singer Shelby Lynne is 45. Reggae rapper Shaggy is 45. Movie director Spike Jonze is 44. Rapper Tracey Lee is 43. Actress Saffron Burrows is 41. MLB player Ichiro Suzuki is 40. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson is 38. Actor Michael Fishman is 32. Talk show host Michael Essany is 31. Rock musician Rickard Goransson (Carolina Liar) is 30. Rock musician Zac Hanson (Hanson) is 28. Actor Jonathan Lipnicki is 23. Actress Sofia Vassilieva is 21.







 Times Publishing Company
 
The Tampa Tribune (Florida)

October 22, 2013 Tuesday

 
Oct. 22, 1962: President John F. Kennedy delivered a nationally broadcast address in which he publicly revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a quarantine of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation. 
1883: The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York held its grand opening with a performance of Gounod's Faust.
 1968: Apollo 7 returned safely from Earth orbit, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
1979: The U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment, a decision that precipitated the Iran hostage crisis. 
1986: President Ronald Reagan signed into law sweeping tax-overhaul legislation.
2002: Bus driver Conrad Johnson was shot to death in Aspen Hill, Md., in the final attack carried out by the Beltway Snipers.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush defended U.S. policy from the Mideast to Iraq during an exchange with moderate Muslim leaders during a stopover in Bali, Indonesia. 
Five years ago: Wall Street tumbled again as investors worried that the global economy was poised to weaken. The major indexes fell more than 4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which finished with a loss of 514 points. 
The Associated Press








 
Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)

October 22, 2013 Tuesday

 Today in History

 
 On Oct. 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a nationally broadcast address in which he revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a quarantine of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation. 
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2013. There are 70 days left in the year.
On this date:
 In 1797, French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet over Paris.
 In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.
 In 1883, the original Metropolitan Opera House in New York held its grand opening with a performance of Gounod's "Faust."
 In 1962, the hit comedy album "The First Family," starring comedian-impressionist Vaughn Meader as President John F. Kennedy, was recorded before a studio audience in New York City.
 In 1968, Apollo 7 returned safely from Earth orbit, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
 In 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush defended U.S. policy from the Mideast to Iraq during a frank exchange with moderate Muslim leaders during a stopover in Bali, Indonesia. The Florida Marlins edged the New York Yankees, 4-3, in 12 innings to even the World Series at two games each.
Five years ago: Wall Street tumbled again as investors worried that the global economy was poised to weaken. The Philadelphia Phillies won Game 1 of the World Series, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2.
One year ago: President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney met in the last of their three debates.
Today's Birthdays: Actress Joan Fontaine is 96. Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing is 94. Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale is 77. Actress Catherine Deneuve is 70. Actor Jeff Goldblum is 61. Christian singer TobyMac is 49. Singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding is 48. Actress Valeria Golino is 47. Comedian Carlos Mencia is 46. MLB player Ichiro Suzuki is 40. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson is 38. Actor Michael Fishman is 32. Talk show host Michael Essany is 31. Rock musician Rickard Goransson (Carolina Liar) is 30. Rock musician Zac Hanson (Hanson) is 28. Actor Jonathan Lipnicki is 23.




1



 


October 20, 2013 Sunday

 Why Malala Yousafzai matters

 
By Fouad Ajami
Bloomberg News
The picture on the front page of the New York Times was worth a thousand words. Young Pakistani girls, one of them clutching a notebook, were awaiting the news from Oslo.
Their heroine, Malala Yousafzai, was in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize. They were to be disappointed. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was given the honor.
True to form, the committee awarding the prize was back at it, supremely political in the picks it makes. There had been the anti-Bush awards -- Jimmy Carter, Al Gore and Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency he presided over. And in 2009 came the baffling choice of President Barack Obama. He hadn't even had time to unpack his luggage at the White House; he hadn't brokered peace deals or ended wars. But the folks in Oslo were keen to make a splash. 
On the face of it, the choice of the chemical-weapons watchdog seems perfectly benign. After all, the 2012 award had been given to the European Union. But the Nobel Committee has its sly ways. This year, the award went to an organization whose inspectors have been dispatched to Syria to find and destroy chemical weapons. As with Obama, the prize was given before the mission had borne fruit.
There is no guarantee of success in Syria. If the history of rogue regimes with deadly weapons is a guide, then the Bashar Assad regime can be counted on to play cat-and-mouse with the inspectors, to play for time as Syria's rulers pose as partners in the disarmament effort. The hunt for chemical weapons was a way of forestalling a U.S. attack on a dictatorship that had broken all the codes of war.
What girls in the Muslim world thought and hoped for was of no concern to the selection committee, which knew what it was doing. But let us -- in the fashion of The Tablet magazine, which, unimpressed with the selection of Alice Munro for the Nobel in literature, "gave" the award instead to Philip Roth -- announce that Malala won.
The news release would have been stirring. It would have celebrated the recipient's age -- Malala is 16; the average age of the winners had been 62. It would have hailed the schoolgirl's courage and resilience. It was only a year ago that a would-be assassin boarded Malala's school bus in the Swat Valley in Pakistan and shot her point-blank in the head. The shooter had asked for her by name. She had given an amazing answer: "I am Malala." (This would become the title of her memoir.)
Tranquil, wealthy Oslo would have done a world of good for modern Islam, because Malala had come to embody the cause of freedom for young Muslim girls. Upon reaching puberty, girls throughout the Muslim world enter into a kind of bondage. What freedom they know is taken away. They become temptresses, the enforcers of misogyny maintain, and social virtue demands their seclusion.
The Taliban on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border are a breed apart in their fierce oppression of women. Their world view, it seems, rests on keeping women separate and under lock and key.
As her biography has it, Malala, the daughter of an enlightened educator, ran afoul of the Taliban by speaking out in favor of the education of girls. At 11, she kept a diary for the BBC about her hopes and daily routine. She was articulate, and foreign reporters and dignitaries were drawn to her. The assailant who boarded her school bus had been dispatched to serve a warrant on the very idea of modernism.
Malala would not be silenced. She was taken to a British military hospital in Birmingham and she recovered. Last July she turned up at the United Nations, delivering a speech with startling composure.
"So here I stand, one girl among many," she said. By then, she knew she had become the standard-bearer in the fight against the afflictions that torment Islam. She didn't want to be herded into an early marriage; she didn't want to be silenced. She sought the company of books and the joys of learning.
There is something odd about the place of women in the Islamic world today. Things were a good deal better for them in the early and middle years of the last century. This repression, this phobia, has come with the rise to power of the Islamists -- half-educated men who take the faith literally and employ the techniques of modernity in their war against it.
The tale repeats from one Muslim country to the other: the journey toward modernity broken in the 1980s. Religious bigots rose, mainly in the crowded cities, newly urbanized men who weaponized the faith and bent it to their needs.
Malala's birthplace, Pakistan, was once freer than it is today. The first three decades of its national life (1947 to the late 1970s) were dominated by a secular culture. The nation's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had meant Pakistan to be a state for the Muslims but not an Islamic state -- a crucial distinction. A stern soldier, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, seized power and imposed a stultifying mix of despotism and religious conformity.
Malala matters. Onto her, untold millions can project their hopes for a dignified life within the faith. If Islamic modernity is to have a chance, Malala should be embraced by Muslims from Morocco to Indonesia. In her modesty and dignity, she should be Islam's beloved daughter, her journey a return to the early promise of Muslim modernism.
Fouad Ajami is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and the author of "The Syrian Rebellion."




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October 16, 2013 Wednesday

 Teenage Girls vs. the Taliban: What Will Happen When U.S. Leaves?

 
Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head for blogging about girls' education, is hardly the only target of Taliban violence. (Photo: Getty Images)
Last week, Malala Yousafzai toured the NYC-D.C. axis. The 16-year-old Pakistani Nobel candidate is a powerhouse, mesmerizing in her poise and courage in everything from staring down Taliban misogynists to charming Jon Stewart to telling the president of the United States to end drone strikes.
I had the honor of meeting her at a reception at the 92nd Street Y. She's even smaller than you think. Local luminaries and media stars mobbed her, trying to touch her hand and snap a picture (yes I did, too). The event was a Christiane Amanpour interview taping, in which Ms. Yousafzai recounted the day some Taliban "boys," as she called them, shot her in the head for blogging about girls' education.After recovering from a coma, her commitment to the cause of school for girls increased. She also talked about other depredations visited on girls her age, including the marrying off of her teen friends to older men. She even suggested there should be a legal age restriction for girls in marriage, as there is for alcohol, drugs and voting. 
When the Nobel Committee chose chemical weapons inspectors over this tiny hero for their big prize, I was disappointed. It is too easy to picture a room full of white Scandinavian men missing the point that this girl, with her half-paralyzed visage and indomitable spirit, represents millions of girls not just denied education but beaten, treated like chattel and forced to submit to endless violation by Uncle Festers, impregnated repeatedly until their spirits die.
But Ms. Yousafzai is young, and maybe the Nobel would have peaked her too soon. No one who watches her for five minutes can doubt that she is destined for great work, unless they kill her first.
While fans mobbed Ms. Yousafzai, I retreated to the sidelines and met a middle-aged Afghan woman in an embroidered scarf, wiping tears from her eyes. Razia Jan is the founder of a girls' school outside Kabul. She said she was moved by the outpouring for Ms. Yousafzai but was thinking about the girls who will never be famous. "Like her, there are thousands of girls, and things are being done to them, horrible abuse," she said.
Ms. Jan founded the Zabuli Education Center in 2008. The day before she opened her doors, three men in white robes visited. One stuck his finger in her face and said, "You have three hours to turn this into a boys' school. Men are the backbone of Afghanistan."
Ms. Jan said she replied, "Women are the eyesight of Afghanistan, and you are blind."
The men retreated, and she opened for business. Four years later, she has 400 pupils, but the school's water must be tested daily for poison, and the building must be vigilantly guarded against bombs and poison gas.
Ms. Jan runs the school on a year-round schedule, because the greatest threat to girls' education (after the depredations of the Taliban) comes from the girls' own male relatives at home. As soon as the men see signs of incipient womanhood, they trade, sell or barter them off.
Education empowers the girls to resist, Ms. Jan said, but at great cost. One 23-year-old student's father wanted to take a younger wife for himself and decided to trade his daughter off to that girl's father. His daughter objected. Over six months, according to Ms. Jan, male relatives broke her nose, broke her ribs and poured boiling water on her, but she refused to acquiesce, and finally her father backed down.
Another student, a 13-year-old girl, was left in charge of eight younger siblings when her father died. The girl's uncle offered to take them all in but only if she married his son. She refused and tried to kill herself with rat poison. Ms. Jan interceded, and the uncle agreed to wait until the girl finished 12th grade."She said, 'If I can just finish 12th grade, I can take care of my siblings,'" Ms. Jan said.
***
EVEN WITH THE Americans still in Afghanistan, the things happening every day to girls and young women under the Taliban defy belief. A few weeks ago, Ms. Jan narrowly missed a bomb detonated at a major shopping center in Kabul. She said she never watches television to avoid bad news, but, when she got home, she turned it on to confirm that a friend and her children had died in the blast. Immediately after that report, the broadcast turned to a stoning in a town under Taliban control.
A girl, of age, had refused to marry an older man and married her younger lover instead. As Ms. Jan and the rest of Afghanistan watched, men in white robes stood outside a mosque, a figure draped in white was dragged to the middle of the square, and the men threw stones.
"These were not pebbles," Ms. Jan said, wiping tears. "They were bricks. And the men were laughing."
At the end of next year, American troops will finally leave Afghanistan. The prospect of a resurgent Taliban is real. American diplomats have engaged in nearly three years of secret meetings and diplomatic back channels to lay the groundwork for talks to begin. In June, the U.S. came close to openly negotiating after the Taliban opened a public office in Qatar. Those talks never got off the ground after the Taliban decorated its new office with the flag, anthem and symbols of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai pulled the plug.
The challenge of negotiating with this particular devil is immense. Marc Grossman, the former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, writing in Yale Global recently described "highly classified" talks in which he participated and which ultimately failed. "Secretary Clinton made clear that ... Washington would support reconciliation with only those insurgents who met three important end conditions: Break with al Qaeda, end violence and live inside an Afghan Constitution that guarantees the rights of all individuals, especially women."
Obviously, such enlightened conditions will never be met by warriors fantasizing about a medieval transnational caliphate, for whom national borders mean nothing and for whom girls of child-bearing age must be kept illiterate, the better to force them to submit to their sole biological purpose as male-producing cows.
Before the Qatar gambit collapsed, Afghanistan's education minister, Farooq Wardak, said the Taliban was backing off its ban on female education. But Ms. Jan sees no evidence of that on the ground. "I know these people will never do what they say," she said. "If there is any chance for the women, for girls to get educated, you have to think 10 times before you negotiate with these murderers. They put acid on girls, cut their throats, cut their noses for just going to school."With all due respect to the admirable efforts of Mr. Grossman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama, it is not our duty to negotiate with the Taliban. Not our drones nor our diplomats nor our money will change their minds.
The parties who should be dealing with the Taliban are their friends in the oil-soaked Gulf states who have done the most to promote a despicable ideology for a generation. The Taliban's Wahhabism was born in Saudi Arabia in the 19th century.
Their strain of Islam contradicts major tenets of the traditional faith and offends many believers. But the Saudis have been successfully exporting it, financed by whopping oil profits, since the early 1970s. According to its own figures, the kingdom spent more than $80 billion between 1973 and 2002 creating a worldwide network of Wahhabi mosques, Islamic centers, madrassas and charities. This network became a framework of jihadi extremism that, among other things, is the primary force against women's rights on this planet. The Afghan Taliban is among the recipients of that money.
One way to help Ms. Yousafzai and the girls she represents is for other Muslims to break their silence and begin loudly objecting to the barbarism from the mosques and minarets of the Middle East and Turkey to Indonesia, Europe and America. When moderate Muslims and their religious leaders, in numbers large enough to be heard, step out and call for an end to the atrocities carried out against females in the name of their religion, girls may eventually stand a chance against the Taliban.Meanwhile, as our soldiers prepare to come home and our negotiators get no foothold, these girls are on their own, their fates left to God and the men who claim to speak for Him.




1


 


October 9, 2013 Wednesday

 Indonesian woman honored in Salt Lake City for efforts against pornography

 
 SALT LAKE CITY ? Elly Risman's bright smile shined as the tiny Indonesian woman took her place on the stage Wednesday at The Lighted Candle Society's annual awards dinner. She wore a set of pearls and a formal burgundy headscarf, carefully adorned with gems, and thanked the crowd for their hugs, prayers, small gifts and bouquets of flowers, as the society honored her sacrifice and personal risk combating the growing impact of pornography. In return, she offered a handmade Indonesian bookmark to each guest, a token of gratitude prepared by Risman and the women she works with.  
"Distinguished audience, good evening," she said, reading carefully the speech she had prepared in English. "Standing here as one of the recipients of the Guardian of Light Award from The Lighted Candle Society proves to me that God really does exist." The Lighted Candle Society is a nonprofit group working worldwide to combat the spread of pornography and sexually explicit materials. For 15 years, Risman and a growing group of Muslim women have travelled back and forth between the Indonesia's thousands of islands working to educate parents and educators about protecting young children from pornography. She called it "a tsunami that hit the world and Indonesia as well." Through the years, Risman said technological advancements have made sexually explicit materials more available to younger audiences through a growing number of mediums, and sexual violence has increased in the country's 33 provinces. "The most dangerous (challenge) right now is that apparently everyone in the country ? which includes the government, the legislature and the people ? are not aware that they are in danger due to low awareness about the dangers of pornography on adults, children, families and marriages," she said. Risman thanked The Lighted Candle Society for the materials it has provided through the years to support volunteer efforts by the growing group in Indonesia, and she recalled a trip to Utah in 2009 for a seminar with the society. "Let us hold our hands together to face this monstrous challenge," Risman told the crowd. "Let's save our children. For in saving one life, you have saved humanity." The evening's keynote speaker, Rabbi Averick Moshi, thanked the society for inviting him, an Orthodox Jew, to speak to a primarily Christian crowd as they honored a Muslim woman. "There must be something very important we have in common that would make such a gathering possible," he said. Moshi recounted a recent trip to do research at a public library in a suburb bordering Chicago. Upon entering a large room full of computers, he was shocked to see a man unabashedly viewing pornography. "I was stunned and instinctively looked to the service desk where the people in charge of the room were sitting, and I quickly realized how naive my reaction was because no one really cared," he said. "This has happened several times since. What was most shocking was the man's nonchalant attitude, not a care in the world, not the slightest apprehension anyone would say a word to him." Moshi spoke about the inherent goodness in each individual that must combat animalistic drives, as well as the sociological and spiritual importance of the family. Wednesday's event was co-sponsored by Kim and Jennifer Bertin, the George and Delores Dore Eccles Foundation and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). Email: mromero@deseretnews.com Twitter: McKenzieRomero 




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October 9, 2013 Wednesday  
 

 Pacific Rim Leaders Urge New Focus on Global Trade Talks

 
NUSA DUA, Indonesia -- Leaders at the Pacific Rim economic summit meeting declared at the end of their two-day meeting here Tuesday that the global trade talks known as the Doha round were at an ''impasse'' and urged trade ministers, due to meet here in December, to get negotiations back on track.
In a strongly worded statement, the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, suggested the talks, run by the World Trade Organization and designed to reduce tariffs, particularly for the least developed countries, risked collapse. 
''We are now at the 11th hour to put the negotiating function of the World Trade Organization back on track,'' said the statement, which was read by the host of the summit meeting, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia.
The meeting was clouded by the absence of President Obama, who stayed in Washington to try to resolve the fiscal crisis. Without Mr. Obama, who was represented by Secretary of State John Kerry, a brighter spotlight fell on China's new president, Xi Jinping.
There was relatively little to show for the two days of meetings, dinners and lunches attended by the leaders of 21 economies in the Pacific Rim region, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Several officials acknowledged that the gathering, held in the luxurious confines of the beach resort of Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali, produced even fewer substantive accomplishments than last year's meeting, where the group approved an environmental goods and services accord that called for the tariffs on 54 products, like solar panels, to be reduced to 5 percent or less.
Still, the urgency of rescuing the Doha round from collapse caught the summit meeting's attention, said Allan Bollard, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, which is based in Singapore.
''There's a strong message they really want Doha to work, but there's also at the same time quite a high expectation with real big problems around it and something of a sense of frustration about that,'' he said.
''In realistic terms, they are feeling that there has to be some deliverables out of Doha -- an expectation that there could be a 'Doha Light.' They could go in a number of different ways in the next couple of months.''
But in fact, Mr. Bollard added, an agreement has to be reached by early November, a month before a gathering of 159 trade ministers in Bali in early December. These ministers rarely engage in the nitty-gritty negotiations, he said.
The logjam over the Doha round has allowed efforts at regional trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a group of 12 countries led by the United States in negotiations designed to lower tariffs across a broad range of items, to gain steam instead.
At the end of the summit meeting, the United States trade representative, Michael Froman, met with trade ministers from the involved countries to urge completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership by the White House's target of the end of the year.
After that session, the White House released a statement saying the leaders of the 12 nations announced they were ''on track to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.''
Ministers and negotiators have made ''significant progress in recent months on all the legal texts and annexes on access to our respective goods, services, investment, financial services, government procurement and temporary entry markets,'' the statement said.
Economists have estimated that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be the largest trade deal in the world, with output of an estimated $28 trillion. The North American Free Trade Agreement, currently the largest trade area, produces an estimated $17 trillion in goods and services.
China has not been invited to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and has proposed its own trade grouping, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
In its account of the APEC summit, the China Daily, an English language newspaper in China, slammed the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It said the negotiations over it were ''confidential talks'' and the pact was ''widely considered a new step for the United States to dominate the economies in the Asia-Pacific region.''
At the APEC gala dinner Monday night, the leaders wore Indonesian shirts specially tailored for the occasion. Mr. Kerry was given a purple shirt made of a silk-like Balinese fabric called ''endek'' with a design that represented nine deities of Hinduism. Bali is a Hindu island in the Muslim-majority country of Indonesia.
Mr. Xi wore a red batik shirt, and the Russian leader, Vladimir V. Putin, was dressed in a green one. Before the leaders sat down to the banquet, Mr. Yudhoyono played ''Happy Birthday'' on a guitar for Mr. Putin, who celebrated his 61st birthday Monday.
The custom of wearing local garb at the gathering started in 1993 when President Bill Clinton distributed bomber jackets to be worn for the group photo at the summit that year in Seattle. In 2011, President Obama, the host of the summit meeting in Honolulu, tried to end the tradition, calling the local garb -- which each year seemed to become more awkward -- ''silly shirts.'' That year, the leaders posed for their photo in business wear.
Next year's APEC summit will be held in Beijing. At a news conference called by the Chinese to discuss their facilities for the summit in the Chinese capital, journalists asked about the severe air pollution that prompts many residents to wear face masks.
Zhao Huimin, the director general of the foreign affairs office of Beijing's municipal government, did not say what specific measures would be taken to reduce the pollution levels.
But, he said, there was little to worry about because the leaders would meet at a conference center at Yangi Lake in the Hairou district of Beijing, about an hour outside the city. The center, which was the site of the World Conference on Women in 1995, was in the suburbs, he said.




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 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

October 4, 2013 Friday  


 China leader works hard to soften image in Asia; 
As Obama cancels trip to region, Xi tries to fill the influence gap

 
President Obama's decision to cancel his trip to Asia this weekend may be good news for his Chinese counterpart, who is striving to charm a region unnerved by China's aggressive stance over territory and looking forward to an  "Asia pivot" in U.S. foreign policy.
Earlier this week, Obama shortened his Asia trip set to begin this weekend because of the government shutdown. Late Thursday, the White House said his entire trip is canceled -- including attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) on Saturday and then the East Asia Summit in Brunei. 
"The president made this decision based on the difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
Obama's rebalancing strategy to strengthen U.S. influence in  Asia is seen by China as an attempt to restrict its rise in economic and military might.
"Obama has done a lot to make new friends and keep old friends in the Asia-Pacific," said Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at People's University of China in Beijing.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping, who  vaulted to power in 2012, has been making moves  to ensure Chinese dominance in Asia, Shi said.
Rather than threats of attack, as Chinese leaders have  used for years, Xi is trying  "mild posture and language" to compete with U.S. influence and set aside Southeast Asian concerns about China, he said.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea for China. The more than 1million square miles of ocean is home to potential wealthy stores of oil and massive marine fisheries.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia also claim a right to the sea and in some cases shoals that China says belong to it are actually much closer to other countries. The sea also is home to some of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
China has dispatched flotillas of fishing boats and military craft to stake claims on fishing grounds and has refused to entertain negotiations with other countries over sharing rights to the sea.
But on Thursday, in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Xi Jinping arrived  with a humble face.
Addressing the nation's parliament, he led with "How are you?" and did so in the official Bahasa Indonesia language -- a touch that Xi's stiff predecessor, Hu Jintao, would probably never have done.
Xi, who also is China's Communist Party chief, has  made a point of traveling with his wife, Peng Liyuan, a stylish and widely photographed first lady.
The couple traveled to Malaysia on Thursday and will return to Indonesia on Saturday for a regional summit, the same summit that Obama was to attend.
Obama also canceled visits to Malaysia and the Philippines, blaming it on the standoff with Congress.
Fewer appearances by Obama will benefit Beijing, Asia analysts say.
"If Obama decides not to attend APEC in Bali, then China could steal the show," Indonesian Defense University expert Bantarto Bandoro told the Jakarta Globe newspaper.
There is doubt that the Asia pivot truly exists.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, visiting South Korea and Japan this week, still flies the flag for the Asia pivot program, which has deployed 2,500 Marines to Australia but delivered few other headlines. And Secretary of State John Kerry, who will stand in for Obama in Malaysia, has focused more on the Middle East.
"So far, Obama's 'pivot' to Asia can be summed up in three letters: MIA," said Sadanand Dhume, a resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.
"Southeast Asia in particular, where the president spent part of his childhood (in Indonesia), has reason to feel neglected. Instead of countering aggressive Chinese diplomacy in the region, Obama is presiding over arguably the fastest dilution of American influence since the end of the Vietnam war," Dhume said.
The Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank that backs a strong U.S. military presence abroad, said the Obama administration's "Asia pivot" appears to be in name only. It argues that Obama's sizable cuts in the military as threats to global peace and stability grow are constraining America's global power projection and force sustainability capabilities in the Pacific.
This marks the third time Obama has had to pull out of planned trips to Asia during his presidency because of domestic issues. He postponed two trips in 2010 during the push to get his health care law passed in Congress and then during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
On the other hand, China's leaders, who head a one-party political system, rarely change overseas travel plans even after natural disasters or major accidents back home.
And China's method for blunting U.S. influence was on display Thursday. Xi stressed economic and historical ties with Indonesia, the largest country in southeast Asia, and the world's largest Muslim majority nation. China is investing in a huge industrial park in Indonesia, will build a cultural center in Jakarta, and supply monorail trains for the traffic-clogged capital.
China also will resolve maritime disputes peacefully, Xi told the Indonesia parliament Thursday. Yet he made no public concession to the demand for a multiparty negotiation over the future of the South China Sea.
The U.S. leader seeks to increase America's traditional influence in the region "to help his strategic purpose -- to check and reduce Chinese influence, but he will do it in a very formal and polite manner," Shi said. "These countries want benefits from relations with both the U.S. and China. It could be a win-win game for them."
"China has increasingly realized that Asean (the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is not monolithic, and China is making some changes and becoming softer on the Code of Conduct, because the situation in the South China Sea is complicated," he said.
At an Asean meeting in China last month, China was more open to exchanging view on the Code, said Li, although no concrete progress was reported. Beijing has not signed the Code which aims to regulate ship behavior to prevent misunderstandings sparking conflict. "For a long time, Malaysia is not as hard-line as Vietnam and the Philippines, so China is trying to win Malaysia over softly," said Li Jinming, a South China Sea expert at Xiamen University.
Li says most regional countries realize "they must keep good relations with China as a priority."
Contributing: Sunny Yang; Aamer Madhani in Washington 




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 Times Publishing Company
 
The Tampa Tribune (Florida)

September 30, 2013 Monday

 Miss Philippines named Miss World

 
Miss Philippines, Megan Young, was crowned Miss World on Saturday amid tight security on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, where the contest's final round was moved following protests by Muslim hardliner groups.  
I promise to be the best Miss World ever, Young, 23, said after winning the 63rd annual event.
Despite threats from the Islamic Defenders Front to disrupt the contest, police said no rallies were staged Saturday. The group has demonstrated for weeks, calling for the government to cancel the pageant because members say it shows too much skin and goes against Islamic teachings. 
The 127 contestants were introduced wearing evening gowns shimmering in sequins, many of them with plunging necklines and slits up the leg. Young was born in the United States.  When she was 10 she moved to the Philippines, where she has appeared in films and as a television host.
The Associated Press




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September 29, 2013, Sunday

 Time for the West to cease intervention

 
WE have today entered a new political - or politico-religious - period in which the Muslim peoples of the Middle East are seizing control of their own fortunes, a control lost as a result of the First World War and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, which, with its Arab Caliphate predecessors in Crusader times, traces back to the very origin of Islam in what now is Syria, Iraq and Arabia proper.
Few in the West seem to have grasped the significance of the fact that Muslims themselves have taken over the struggle against Islamic radicalism. The West did not start the war in Syria. Until chemical weapons were used in the war, it has had no direct implication in it, and feeble indirect ones, other than to assist the victims. It is the Syrians' war, and that of the other Arabs who have chosen to take part. 
The rebellion in Syria has divided into sectarian factions: the Alawites led by President Bashar Assad; Sunni Islamists supported by Saudia Arabia and Gulf Arabs; Shiite radicals supported by Iranians and Hezbollah; Kurds; plus several Christian communities attempting to escape the fighting.
Many Western officials and individuals have since 2001 implicitly or explicitly identified the 9/11 attacks as the first blows in a global clash of Muslim and Western civilizations, a notion then in fashion among Western policymakers, picked up from the academic world and accepted by credulous Muslim intellectuals and activists as a plausible (if wrong-headed) explanation of the West's enmity towards their society.
Clash of civilizations still is the explanation for the crisis that is believed in retrograde circles of Western governments, expediently promoted by Israel whose interests it serves, as well as by the multiplying number of would-be Muslim combat organizations (plus websites, serving audiences of rootless or uprooted Muslim emigres and converts in radicalized Western ghettos).
The war of civilizations explanation is wrong, and dangerously so. There has been a great change since 2001. The Western assault on Muslim radicals, launched by President George W. Bush with his invasion of Iraq in search of phantom Arab nuclear weapons, and American B-52 bombardments followed by unending war in Afghanistan, and those programs of illegal and immoral assassinations which have followed under the direction of Barack Obama, and a Pentagon now reorganized and geared to global action against Islamic radicalism - all of these have thus far met an unbroken series of military defeats or political frustrations or 'blowback.' And yet they are being extended, and the American army now is spinning a web of intervention and violence in Africa.
These policies have instead set in action a powerful series of new movements inside a fissiparous and demoralized Middle East. These are hostile to or independent of the West, or only marginally linked or supported, and are committed to a devastating series of wars inside Islamic civilization - or at least inside the Mediterranean Arab part of global Islam, one part of that vastly larger religious civilization which also dominates Indonesia and Malaysia, Pakistan and Central Asia, and a part of China. The crisis is essentially an Arab phenomenon, and indirectly a Western one. It exists because the Mediterranean is where European (and latter-day American) imperialism interacted most intimately with Islam.
This war within Muslim civilization is sectarian - Sunni against Shiite - national because the modern Arab world was defined by imperialism in terms of modern monarchies, subsequently become republics and/or military or secret policy dictatorships.
The Arabs, Egyptians, and Maghrebis are struggling to identify themselves and their own destinies, which certainly are not, as Washington thinks, eventually to become acolytes and puppets of Western secular, irreligious or anti-religious, exploitative globalized and militarized capitalism. The process has begun in revolt and bloodshed in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen - bloodshed first foreshadowed by radical upheaval against the U.S.-led West, its modern military presence and actions in the region, provoking the reactionary radicalism of al-Qaida - and preceded by Washington's subsequent clandestine military intervention in Afghanistan, inviting Russian invasion and the terrible struggle that followed. From that eventually came the devastating 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, and all that has followed.
It is essential that the West now cease its interference. It cannot reconcile the Syrians, or the Sunnis and Shiites, nor the conflicts in the Maghreb and the Sahel, mainly produced by climate and history. The West has suffered the delusion that a war on these people would produce modernity and democracy. War is a destroyer, which includes among its victims those who initiate it.
Pfaff is a columnist for the International Herald Tribune.




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September 29, 2013 Sunday

 Beauty's grace under fire

 
  She's as brave as she is beautiful. 
  Miss Philippines - American-born Megan Young, 23 - was crowned Miss World in predominantly Muslim Indonesia Saturday after she and her fellow contestants stood up to radical Islamic threats that forced organizers to cancel the swimsuit competition and relocate the ceremony. 
  Organizers substituted one-piece swimwear and sarongs for bikinis and moved the contest from near the capital, Jakarta, to the resort island of Bali, which is considered more moderate. 
  Young had moved to the Philippines at the age of 10.  




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September 29, 2013 Sunday  


 PEOPLE

 
BONO, WONDER STAR AT ANTI-POVERTY FEST
 Bono served as an opening act for Stevie Wonder. The U2 frontman gave a funky, rousing introduction to Wonder, who headlined the Global Citizen Festival on New York's Central Park on Saturday. It was the second annual concert to help end poverty around the world. 
 Wonder performed a number of his hits, wowing the audience of thousands who danced and sang along to "Superstition" and "Isn't She Lovely." "This is a global celebration," Wonder yelled to the crowd. "We will end extreme world poverty in our lifetime."
 The Global Citizen Festival coincides with the U.N. General Assembly. Fans earned free tickets for helping spread the word or volunteering to help end world poverty. Some world leaders attended, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
 "There is so much energy here tonight. We can power the world," Ban told the crowd.
 Other performers included John Mayer, Kings of Leon and Alicia Keys.
MISS PHILIPPINES TAKES WORLD CROWN
 Miss Philippines, Megan Young, was crowned Miss World on Saturday amid tight security on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, where the contest's final round was moved following protests by Muslim hard-liner groups.
 "I promise to be the best Miss World ever," Young, 23, said after winning the 63rd annual event, as a large number of Filipino fans who traveled with her celebrated by jumping and waving the country's flag.
 Despite threats from the Islamic Defenders Front to disrupt the contest, police said no rallies were staged Saturday. The group has demonstrated for weeks, calling for the government to cancel the pageant because members say it shows too much skin and goes against Islamic teachings.
BRITISH MINT WILL HONOR PRINCE GEORGE
 Britain's Royal Mint says it will create a set of coins to mark the christening of Prince George next month. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby son will be christened at the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace on Oct. 23, just more than three months after his birth.
 The production of the commemorative coins, approved by the royal family, will be the first time that new coins are produced to mark a royal christening in Britain. The 5-pound coins will be made of solid gold, silver or a more affordable option, and will sell for as much as thousands of dollars.
THE BIRTHDAY BUNCH
 Actress Lizabeth Scott is 92. Conductor Richard Bonynge is 83. Actress Anita Ekberg is 82. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 78. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 71. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 65. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 57. Comedian-actor Andrew "Dice" Clay is 56. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 50. Actor Zachary Levi is 33.Singer Phillip Phillips is 23.
TYPE: Column




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September 27, 2013 Friday

 Taconic grad dives into marine biology as Fulbright scholar in Indonesia

 
PITTSFIELD -- When Sarah Tucker was little, she opted to go over to the Berkshire Athenaeum rather than watch her brother's hockey practice. There, she would sit in the children's library among the aquarium tanks, look at pictures and read books about coral reefs and ocean life. 
Now 21, Tucker, a 2009 Taconic High School and 2013 Smith College graduate, is diving into her own adventure. On Friday, she headed to Indonesia, where she will spend 13 months working as a prestigious Fulbright scholar.
Earlier this week, she visited Kris Pearson's science classes at Taconic to talk about her journey, from getting through high school, into college and choosing what to study.
"I told them I didn't have a direct route," Tucker said.
Indeed, she wasn't accepted into the first program she applied for in Indonesia. Then, she worked toward and received the Fulbright scholarship.
Tucker also is a first-generation college student raised in a single-father household, but she says she's always been encouraged to further her education.
"I've learned that if the door is closed at the time there's no reason you can't go back and open it up again," she said.
Tucker credited her teachers and programs at Reid Middle School and Taconic for helping her explore the science field, from being enrolled in Taconic's Science & Engineering Academy to developing and presenting projects at area science fairs.
"I think what really helped was the fact they were showing me opportunities out there," Tucker said. "An interest may cease for a student if they can't see a route, if there's no path lit for them."
The young marine biologist said her first month will be spent learning the language, and about Bahasa, Indonesia and its primarily Muslim culture. Then she will work with locals to research and develop management strategies for workers of small-scale fishing communities.
The journey, which will include stays with host families and studying at an Indonesian university, will help her connect her interests in marine science and international relationships. Her work will align with the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security.
According to the World Resources Institute, current projections indicate the onset of a decline in fish stock in the human food supply due to issues with harvesting and fishery conditions.
"In small villages there are people who are fishing to put food on the table as well as earn a living," Tucker said. She said compared to commercial fisheries, there is little support or management for small fishing operations and best practices.
"Who am I to go?" is a question Tucker has pondered about her place in trying to help people and a trade a world away. She said the answer closest to her heart is the opportunity to exchange culture and ideas.
Tucker said she will bring the Indonesian fishermen gifts, and tackle from her grandfather, who also is a fishermen -- part of the reason she's interested in the industry.
"I might get more out of this experience than I can give, but hopefully it will be just as much," she said.




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September 19, 2013 Thursday

 New videos led by Brad Pitt battling zombies in ?World War Z?

 
 The surprisingly good ?World War Z? leads a variety of new movies on DVD and Blu-ray this week. ?World War Z? (Paramount/Blu-ray, 2013, PG-13, two discs, $39.99, Blu-ray unrated version, DVD theatrical version, digital version, featurettes). The PG-13 version of this film, which played in theaters and was a big hit, is a thrilling, chilling zombie-fest with Brad Pitt globetrotting to try and find a way to prevent the undead from destroying all human life.  
Several aspects make this film stand out in the oversaturated horror sub-genre of zombie flicks, the very things that earned a PG-13 instead of an R rating: slow-to-build tension instead of overdoing the action, subtle twists and turns that bring about a sense of dread, toning down the foul language, and especially keeping extreme gore at bay so as to not push the audience out of the experience. But now, the producers (which include Pitt) seem to be more interested in amping up the graphic violence for the ?new, unrated cut? that is the focus of the home-video ad campaign. This cut is seven minutes longer and quite a bit gorier, and that?s fine if you give the audience a choice ? but if you want to see the PG-13 version you can forget about Blu-ray. The theatrical cut is available only on DVD and only the unrated cut is on Blu-ray. Why both versions couldn?t be on both discs is a mystery, especially for fans of Blu-ray who aren?t necessarily gorehounds. (Also on DVD, $29.99, and 3D combo, $54.99 ? and the 3D/Blu-ray is the PG-13 version; go figure.) ?Bless Me, Ultima? (Sony, 2013, PG-13, $30.99). Generally well thought-out adaptation of Rudolfo Anaya?s coming-of-age novel about a boy in rural New Mexico during World War II taken under the wing of a local ?healer,? and her affect on his maturing as he faces prejudice, spiritual crises and unanswerable questions. A few missteps (cartoony supporting characters, a heavy-handed narration) but most of the way this is a gentle, beautifully photographed and nicely modulated bit of old-school storytelling. ?The Last Tycoon? (Well Go/Blu-ray, 2013, not rated, $29.98, in Mandarin with English subtitles, featurette, trailer). Gangster-flick clichés mix with Shakespearean themes in this Hong Kong action picture about a young man whose ill-fated choices put him on a path to become a mob boss (played as an adult by the great Chow Yun-Fat). The action scenes are great. Martial arts star Sammo Hung co-stars. (Also on DVD, $24.98) ?The Bling Ring? (Lionsgate, 2013; R for teen drugs and alcohol, language; $19.98, featurettes). Filmmaker Sofia Coppola (?Lost in Translation?) wrote and directed this true story of celebrity worship at its most extreme, as a group of Los Angeles teens burglarize homes of their favorite celebrities, most notably Paris Hilton. Emma Watson (?Harry Potter?) plays one of the teens. (Also on Blu-ray, $24.99) ?Behind the Candelabra? (HBO/Blu-ray, 2013, not rated, $24.99, Blu-ray and digital versions, featurettes). This HBO movie about Liberace (Michael Douglas) focuses on his closeted gay lifestyle during the 1970s and his toxic romance with a younger man (Matt Damon). As a TV film it?s not rated but could be R for sex, nudity, language, drugs and surgical gore. (Also on DVD, $19.97) ?Drift? (Lionsgate, 2013, R for language and drugs, $19.99, DVD and digital versions, featurette). This soap opera set against the backdrop of Australia?s fledgling surfing industry during the 1970s focuses on two brothers trying to establish a business selling wetsuits and surfboards as local drug-dealing bikers try to move in on them. Sam Worthington has a supporting role. (Also on Blu-ray, $24.99) ?Disconnect? (Lionsgate, 2013; R for sex, nudity, language, violence, drugs; $19.98, DVD and digital versions). This drama attempts to say something about how the Internet age has become rife with pornography, online sex trafficking, etc., by interconnecting four separate families? stories. (Also on Blu-ray, $24.98) ?The We and the I? (Virgil, 2013, not rated, $19.99). Interesting but ultimately superficial experimental film about high school kids on a real-time bus ride. As they act out, oblivious to adults on the bus, their revelations never really scratch the surface. The result of workshopping with non-actor Bronx teens over three years. ?Breakout? (Sony, 2013, R for violence and language, $26.99). Brendan Fraser breaks out of prison to rescue his two young children who, after witnessing a murder, are hunted in the wilderness by the two killers (Dominic Purcell, Ethan Suplee). ?And Now a Word From Our Sponsor? (Virgil, not rated, $19.99). Satire similar to ?Being There? is essentially a comedy skit stretched out to feature length as an ad exec (Bruce Greenwood) suffers a brain trauma and finds he can only speak in ad slogans. Parker Posey co-stars. ?Java Heat? (IFC/Blu-ray, 2013; R for violence, language, sex; $29.98, trailer). Action picture set in Indonesia has Kellan Lutz (?Twilight?) as an American that teams up with a Muslim detective (Indonesian star Ario Bayu) to solve a mystery that eventually leads to a psycho criminal (Mickey Rourke). (Also on DVD, $24.98) ?Simon Killer? (IFC, 2013, not rated, $24.98, featurettes, poster gallery, trailer). This thriller has an American slacker adrift in Paris when he meets a prostitute and concocts a scheme with her to rob one of her wealthy clients. Bad idea. ?Gimme the Loot? (Sundance, 2013, not rated, $24.98, deleted scene, audio commentary, featurettes, short film, trailer). Loosey-goosey cinema verite-style character study follows two teen graffiti artists as they pull a series of small-scale scams so they can grease the palm of someone at Shea Stadium and tag the arena?s huge iconic apple. ?Augustine? (Music Box, 2013, not rated, $24.95, in French with English subtitles, featurettes, music videos, short films). Based on the true story of the title character, a 19-year-old maid (French singer Soko) in late 19th-century Paris who is prone to seizures and treated with hypnosis by Dr. Jean-Martin Carcot (Vincent Lindon). (Also on Blu-ray, $34.95) ?The Haunting of Helena? (Vivendi, 2013, not rated, $14.93, featurettes). Horror yarn set in Italy has a single mother and her daughter being terrorized by a haunted house and its primary occupant, an evil tooth fairy. Chris Hicks is the author of "Has Hollywood Lost Its Mind? A Parent?s Guide to Movie Ratings." His website is www.hicksflicks.com Email: hicks@deseretnews.com 




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September 18, 2013 Wednesday

 Move over Miss World: A beauty contest for Muslim women; 
The World Muslimah Foundation, a Muslim women's group, is holding a beauty contest in response to the Miss World competition currently taking place in Bali.

 
There was no shortage of sparkles, high heels, and sashes, and when Miss Nigeria was crowned the pageant winner she dropped to her knees and cried tears of happiness. But this was no ordinary pageant. This contest was for Muslims only, and the contestants wore headscarves and floor-sweeping gowns that covered their chests and shoulders.
On Wednesday the top 10 finalists for World Muslimah shared their thoughts on the importance of motherhood, the dangers of the Internet, and the value of Islamic finance. They were vying for the "crown of modesty," a golden statue of a woman giving thanks to God and an all expenses paid trip to Mecca.
It's the third year the event has taken place, but this time it's happening at the same time and in the same country as the Miss World competition - a pageant that has raised angry protests from Islamic hardliners, who have called it pornographic and demanded it be stopped.
Organizers say World Muslimah is aimed at showcasing women who are smart, stylish, and display good Islamic morals. It's billed as an antidote to the Miss World pageant, which is taking place this week just 730 miles away on the resort island of Bali.
"This is an international event to appreciate women who have talent, dedication, and a reputation in their communities for being young, but also giving back to others," says Eka Shanti, the pageant's founder.
She says the pageant is based around sholehah, an Islamic term meaning someone who is pious, has good morals, and observes Islamic rules and codes. She calls it a "formula," for understanding the ideal woman, "regardless of your religion."
It is not intended as a challenge or in opposition to Miss World, says Ms. Shanti, but as a way of expelling negative stereotypes about Muslim women.
"People think we are against Miss World," she explained. "What we're against is nudity. For the sake of education, I want to give another example."
Protests against the Miss World competition began here back in June. In response, the London-based organization agreed to swap bikinis for one-piece swimsuits and more modest Balinese sarongs out of respect, they said, to local customs and values.
In recent weeks, the protests have heated up again, this time in opposition to a pageant that's been labeled smut and an affront to Islamic morals.
Under pressure, the government requested that the Miss World event, parts of which were to be held outside Jakarta, be confined to Bali, which is majority Hindu. The event's organizers have fumed, saying the change of plans was typical of a government that has too often capitulated to the demands of religious extremists.
Around 90 percent of Indonesia's 250 million people are Muslim, making it home to the world's largest Muslim population some of whom have become increasingly conservative in recent years. The most vocal, and sometimes violent, fringe has a reputation for taking a hard line against religious minorities and behavior it considers un-Islamic. What worries many here is that it's this fringe to which the government is listening.
Shanti says the controversy is based on the "half-nudity," but women's rights groups say turning the issue into a moral one overlooks the real problem.
"These pageants put a standard on what beauty is," says Andy Yentriyani, a chairwoman from Indonesia's National Commission on Violence Against Women. Both Miss World and World Muslimah are commodifying beauty by promoting a kind of "ideal" woman.
Miss World, which began in 1951, has faced its share of controversy. In the 1970s and '80s feminist groups protested the bikini section, and it has been scrapped in previous competitions.
Islamic hardliners in Indonesia have also succeeded in sinking past events they deemed un-Islamic, including a Lady Gaga concert, which organizers cancelled due to security concerns.




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September 15, 2013 Sunday

 Letters: Awareness much needed for elderly care

 
Awareness much needed for elderly care
Being a member of the health care team, I encounter first-hand the frustrations and concerns of families who are troubled by the needs of their elderly loved ones. Despite numerous programs and facilities available in our community, many families are unaware, or don't fully understand, their services.
Many times it is extremely difficult for families to care for their loved one's needs after acute onsets of a disease. 
Hence our elderly population has grown, and due to the fast pace life we experience nowadays, it is crucial to have knowledge of the help that is out there.
Falls, infections and progressive diseases such as Alzheimer are some of the many ailments our elderly face.
Many of these ailments can be prevented or kept under control if we are able to detect early signs and symptoms.
There are several programs in our community such as "Bienvivir" and "Project Amistad" that can assist in coordination of our elderly's care.
There are many outpatient therapy clinics, adult day-cares, nursing facilities, home health and hospice agencies which are always willing to educate us regarding their services.
Educating ourselves about the many resources our community has to offer is crucial for our loved one's care and well-being.
Keep in mind that prevention and social support are the key for proper care.
Jose Guzman, Central El Paso
New law casts doubt on murder convictions
I would like to applaud the Texas Legislature and Gov. Perry for approving a new law that gives defendants a chance to present new scientific evidence that might cast doubt on the reliability of their convictions ("El Paso man on death row seeks to postpone execution date based on new evidence," (Tuesday El Paso Times).
Let's allow all the scientific evidence to be heard before imposing an irreversible punishment like the death penalty.
Bryand Spencer, Horizon City
Many forms of discrimination
We say that we have freedom yet we are discriminated against in many different ways.
Truth is we don't have the same opportunities as others. We live in a generation where money, gender and skin color are more important than personal values.
Discrimination has reached the limit that age does not matter anymore.
It's amazing how a child can be judged as an adult. In Houston a 10-year-old girl faces a sexual assault charge after playing doctor with her friend, who is 4 years old.
Kids under this age group are not capable of understanding that touching their private parts is inappropriate.
There are more than 750,000 sex offenders registered.
We should provide mental assistance not only to sex offenders but to the parents of child sex offenders.
For me this is not a crime but a mental problem that can be corrected with professional help.
The younger they are the easier it is to correct their mental issues since their brain is more capable of adapting new ways.
We should start educating children that they should not let anybody touch their private parts. We should consider educating kids in school about sexual assault.
That way we can prevent kids from being raped. And not only educate the kids but the parents, too, because the problem starts from home and not only from the people around us but from what we see on TV, video games, music and movies.
Marisela Martinez, West El Paso
Different solution regarding Syria
This respite by opposing parties backing the two sides of the Syrian civil war permits a different solution. We should assure the governments of the Muslim world we believe they are capable of solving the Syrian conflict themselves without any further help from us.
During this breathing space, we should inform the enormously wealthy sheikhs of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, the Kuwaitis and Egyptians, upon whom we've lavished billions, that this is their problem -- in their backyards.
They are already beneficiaries of an enormous amount of America's fortune and blood, and logistically it makes far more sense than us fighting another war halfway around the world.
On one side of the Syrian border is Turkey, immediately threatened by a Syrian government equipped with an ever-growing supply of Russian arms and willingness to use gas as a weapon of mass destruction.
We cannot expect much from Lebanon or Jordan, but a token force from each would help convey a sense of unity within the Arab League.
Beyond that, there are the Muslim nations of Iraq, followed by Afghanistan, able to field a token contingent of troops who are already equipped and trained by America.
In fact, all other nations made up of predominately populations of Muslims, including Pakistan and Indonesia, with a combined population of over 410 million, could join a peace-keeping mission to Syria.
As a non-Muslim I wonder what the Koran would say about this.
Phil Richardson, East El Paso




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September 12, 2013 Thursday

 Is the rebel attack in the Philippines a publicity ploy?; 
Elements of the Moro National Liberation Front may be signaling discontent over government negotiations with a rival group.

 
Deadly clashes between government forces and autonomy-seeking rebels this week in a historically violent part of the Philippines have raised suspicions of a publicity ploy by a Muslim group that fears losing control over the poor, but resource-rich island of Mindanao.
As businesses in the 800,000-population coastal city of Zamboanga struggled to reopen on Thursday and a firefight broke out in one part of town, observers feared that elements of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) had launched the attack to signal discontent over government negotiations with a group that has similar autonomy goals but competing real interests.
"The Moro National Liberation Front sees its economic interests being challenged," says Carl Baker, director of programs with US-based think tank Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).  "It's a typical reconstruction environment where you have a lot of spoilers."
The early Monday attacks killed six and injured 24, Philippines News Agency reported. Rebels are holding at least 180 hostages while another 5,000 families have fled for safety, local media reported.  Business closures have threatened access to food.
Between 300 and 400 rebels occupied parts of Zamboanga on Thursday but were meeting with local officials, a city official told the Monitor. He said the rebels were occupying three of Zamboanga's 98 districts but that the city as a whole was considered unsafe for visitors.
Decades of conflict
Muslims from nearby territories now that now belong to Malaysia and Indonesia have long claimed authority over Mindanao, putting them in conflict for centuries with the government and mostly Catholic Filipinos who control resources. The conflict has cost about 120,000 lives. Between the death toll and the militant's occasional habit of grabbing foreign travelers as hostages, Mindanao's tourism and investment efforts has been hemmed in.
Since signing a landmark peace deal in October 2012, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's government has negotiated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a different organization, over greater local autonomy for Mindanao. Those talks, expected to end soon in a power-sharing deal, have left out the other rebel group despite its control of assets in Mindanao.
Analysts, local media, and the pro-negotiation rebel group point to what they see as an attention-getting ploy attempting to influence talks in Zamboanga.
"These guys aren't getting any younger, so if they want to get the attention of the government, they have to do something big," says Eduardo Araral, a Mindanao native and assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy under the National University of Singapore.
Timing
The attacks on Zamboanga, the country's sixth largest city, by people loyal to MNLF founder Nur Misuari appear "timed for the resumption of talks" between the government and the other rebel group on Tuesday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper said.
Negotiations on new distribution of power in Mindanao could cut back on what Mr. Misuari's group controls, Mr. Baker says, explaining why they may prefer not to negotiate. Other analysts attribute the refusal to personal whims of the group's older leaders.
"The plan to march in formation through the city's streets and hoist the MNLF flag in front of city hall is the desperate scream of someone who refuses to be sidelined as a spectator to an unfolding process in which he once staked his whole life," Inquirer columnist Randy David wrote on Thursday, referring to Misuari.
The MILF vowed to press on with 10-days of "marathon" negotiations with the government this week and said Wednesday it hoped the Zamboanga attackers would be held accountable. A similar group attacked Zamboanga three years ago, the city staff person said. 
Government and rebel negotiators, who are meeting in Kuala Lumpur, "described the current violence in Mindanao as [the] act of people who do not want the peace process between the [government] and MILF to succeed," the MILF's website says.
Misuari criticized last year's peace accord, claiming that it marginalized his organization's interests, the website adds. The autonomy deal now in the works will probably favor the MILF over Misuari's group, the professor says. 
"It's a done deal," Mr. Araral says. "They're just ironing out the details of power sharing and resource sharing."
Philippine officials are still weighing what to do about the attacks on Zamboanga, Mr. Baker says. They may take a pass. "This thing will blow over," he says. "Nur Misuari isn't going to be successful in getting attention for his position."




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September 10, 2013 Tuesday  


 Indonesia: Miss World Pageant in Peril After Opposition From Islamic Groups

 
JAKARTA -- The finals of the annual Miss World pageant are in jeopardy following a decision by the Indonesian government to relocate the competition because of opposition from radical Islamic groups, with local organizers saying Monday that it might not be possible to move the globally televised event on short notice.
The 2013 pageant kicked off Sunday night with a gala opening show on the Hindu-majority resort island of Bali, and later rounds were scheduled to take place in the capital, Jakarta, before the grand finale on Sept. 28 at an international convention center in West Java Province, just outside the city. 
But after a meeting Saturday between Vice President Boediono and officials from the national police and the welfare and tourism ministries, the government announced that the entire pageant could only be staged in Bali, where radical Islamist groups have less of a presence, for public order reasons.
Nana Putra, project director for programming and production at MNC, the Indonesian media conglomerate that is organizing the 63rd annual competition, said that logistically it was probably not possible to relocate the upcoming segments and grand finale to Bali given the shortage of time. She noted that many banquet facilities and hotel rooms had already been booked for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, which will be held in Bali early next month and attended by President Barack Obama of the United States, President Xi Jinping of China and numerous other world leaders.
''The pageant has different programs, and that requires booking venues, rooms, equipment far in advance,'' Ms. Nana said, adding that organizers had been working on hosting the competition since 2010. ''It's just difficult for us to change all these things that we were preparing for a long time. We cannot just change it overnight.''
She said the Indonesian government had neither consulted with pageant organizers nor invited them to the meeting on Saturday, and that they only heard about the decision when officials held a news conference after briefing Mr. Boediono.
The pageant has drawn heavy criticism in recent months from radical organizations, including the Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group known to smash bars, restaurants and nightclubs that they see as affronts to Islam. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country, with more than 200 million faithful, but it has a secular government and prominent minority Christian and Hindu populations.
In June, pageant organizers were forced to publicly calm fears that the pageant would have a swimsuit competition, following claims by radical groups that Miss World was an immoral event that exploited women. The competitors from a record 129 countries will pose only in beachwear, including traditional Balinese sarongs.
Thousands of radicals have protested the Miss World pageant in Jakarta in recent days, including last week after Friday Prayer, when they demonstrated outside the high-rise offices of MNC and demanded that the entire competition be canceled.
Ms. Nana rejected claims that the pageant was immoral or ''pornographic,'' as some radical groups claimed, and said she was concerned that the government appeared to be giving in to threats.
''We want to show the world that Indonesia is a safe country with friendly people, and we want to show that Indonesia is not just Bali,'' she said, adding that the organizers would appeal to the government to stick to the original plan once they received official notification.
Yopie Hidayat, a spokesman for Mr. Boediono, said the current situation ''is not conducive'' to holding the pageant in Java, where the majority of Indonesian Muslims live.
''The police have the right to make a consideration,'' he said. ''The rejection of the competition is quite strong from various segments of the community.''
But analysts said the decision was the latest instance of the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono caving in to threats of violence by a small but vocal minority of ultraconservative Muslims. Last year, the global pop star Lady Gaga canceled a scheduled concert in Jakarta after the police refused to approve a permit, citing safety concerns over threats by radical groups to forcibly prevent her from taking the stage.
''They surrender to pressure from radical groups,'' said Azyumardi Azra, a prominent Muslim scholar and director of the graduate school at the State Islamic University in Jakarta. ''It sends a very bad signal.''
This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.




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September 9, 2013 Monday

 Miss World opens after protests

 
BALI, Indonesia (AP) - The 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant opened Sunday after protests by Muslim hard-liners confined the event to Indonesia's predominantly Hindu resort island of Bali. 
The opening ceremony, which was televised to 186 countries, featured Bali's Kecak dance and a parade of all 131 contestants.
Following days of protests by Indonesian hard-line Muslim groups and the rejection of the contest by a leading clerics' organization, the government announced Saturday that it was moving the Sept. 28 final round to Bali. It was initially set to be held in Sentul, on the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta.
Bali is the only Hindu-dominated province in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.
Controversy over the pageant has been mounting in Indonesia, which has a reputation as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression.
The Indonesia Ulema Council, the country's most influential clerics' organization, and the hard-line groups Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and Front for Islamic Defenders have urged the government to cancel the event. They have argued that the exposure of skin by women in a competition violates Muslim teachings, even after organizers agreed to cut the bikini competition and instead outfit contestants in more conservative sarongs.
The chairwoman of the Miss World Organization, Julia Morley, has promised that none of the contestants will wear a bikini. The pageant began in the 1950s, and the first winner was crowned in a two-piece bathing suit.
"We only want to try to find the best way of working together," Morley told a news conference Saturday in Bali.
Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular country of 240 million people, are moderate, but a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
Lady Gaga was forced to cancel her sold-out concert in Indonesia in May following threats by Islamic hard-liners who called her a "devil worshipper." Jennifer Lopez toned down her sexy outfits and dance moves during a show in Jakarta last December.




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September 9, 2013 Monday

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian Muslim hard-liners resumed protests Thursday against the Miss World pageant, as organizers insisted that the event would go on as scheduled this weekend on the resort island of Bali. 
In Jakarta, the capital, about 1,000 members of the Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia rallied outside the building housing the local organizer of the contest.
Chanting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," the protesters, mostly women, waved banners reading "Reject Miss World."
Protests also were held in the Sumatran cities of Medan and Pekanbaru, and in Makassar in Sulawesi. Protesters gathered at local council buildings and called on the government to revoke the permit for the contest.
The local organizer, MNC media group, said it was not possible to cancel the contest or move the location, and that the government had pledged to provide security for the event.
"I think there is a misunderstanding," Hary Tanoesoedibjo, head of MNC, told reporters Wednesday in Bali. "I assure that there will be nothing that runs against our culture. I would not accept if there was a bikini show."
The chairwoman of the Miss World Organization, Julia Morley, earlier confirmed that none of the contestants would wear a bikini.
The competition will be held partly on Bali, with the final round set for Sept. 28 on the outskirts of Jakarta.
"The contest will not be different from other beauty pageants in Indonesia," said Budi Rusmanto, an organizer in Jakarta. "The only difference is the participants."
Rejection of the event has come not only from hard-line groups, but also from the country's most influential clerics' group, the Indonesia Ulema Council, whose fatwas, or edicts, are followed by many devoted Muslims.
Last week, the council urged the government to cancel the contest, saying the exposure of skin by women in such a competition violates Islamic teachings, even after organizers agreed to cut the bikini competition and instead outfit contestants in more conservative sarongs.
Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular country of 240 million people and the world's most populous Islamic country, are moderate, but a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and Bandung, the West Java capital, while on Tuesday hundreds rallied in Jakarta.
The Islamic Defenders Front, a hard-line group with a long record of vandalizing nightspots, hurling stones at Western embassies and attacking rival religious groups, has pledged to disrupt the event if it is held in Indonesia.
Bali police spokesman Col. Hariadi said there have been no signs of security threats and that police are guarding all airports and seaports on the tourist island.
"Security around locations set for activities of the event and the participants as well will be optimized," said Hariadi, who uses one name.




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September 9, 2013 Monday

 
GUATEMALA 
Gunmen in carkill 11; corrupt police blamed 
SAN JOSE NACAHUIL - A group of men in a stolen car shot 29 people on the main street of a poor indigenous town in the mountains outside Guatemala City, killing 11 in an incident that some residents blamed on corrupt police officers.  
Officials blamed the attack on gang violence, but that was greeted with skepticism by some residents of San Jose Nacahuil. Residents expelled the national police six years ago and set up a community police force that patrols with sticks and machetes, and officials said the community had low crime rates in recent years. 
Eight of the dead were shot in a just-opened cantina, a one-story concrete block building where men were drinking beer and liquor around plastic tables.  
 ITALY 
Berlusconi appeals case to rights court 
ROME - Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi is turning to Europe's human rights court in a bid to avoid a ban on public office and other punishments for his tax fraud conviction, the media mogul's aides said on Sunday. 
The politician and media magnate was found guilty of artificially inflating the amounts paid for film rights by his Mediaset empire to reduce the company's tax liabilities. Berlusconi claims he is an innocent victim of magistrates who sympathize with the left, but the verdict was upheld by Italy's top criminal court last month. 
His top aide, Angelino Alfano, said the petition to the Strasbourg, France-based tribunal "shows that the Berlusconi case isn't closed." 
 INDONESIA 
Miss World pageant opens amid protests 
BALI - The 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant opened on Sunday as protests by Muslim hard-liners confined the event to Indonesia's predominantly Hindu resort island of Bali. 
The opening ceremony, which was televised to 186 countries, featured Bali's Kecak Dance and a parade of all 131 contestants. 
Following days of protests by Indonesian hard-line Muslim groups and the rejection of the contest by a leading clerics' organization, the government announced Saturday that it was moving the Sept. 28 final round to Bali. It was initially set to be held in Sentul, on the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta. 
 ENGLAND 
Royal police order prince to ID himself 
LONDON - You might forgive Britain's royal protection unit for being a little jittery. 
Two days after an intruder was discovered prowling around Buckingham Palace, police confronted Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, in the royal residence's garden and demanded that he identify himself. 
London's Metropolitan Police wrote in an email on Sunday that they had apologized to Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, and the royal responded with a touch of humor. 
Wednesday's embarrassing mix-up with the duke followed an even more embarrassing security breach Monday, when an intruder was arrested after scaling the fence around the palace. He and an alleged accomplice were arrested on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary, respectively. 
 BANGLADESH 
4 bloggers indictedfor postings on Islam 
DHAKA - A court in the capital has indicted four bloggers for their allegedly inflammatory writings about Islam and its Prophet Muhammad. 
Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge Zahurul Haque said Sunday that he accepted the police charges in two cases, the first to be tried under the recently amended Information and Communication Technology Act. 
The opening of the trial was set for Nov. 6. 




3


 Times Publishing Company
 
The Tampa Tribune (Florida)

September 9, 2013 Monday

 
 A football fan fell from an elevated pedestrian walkway and died at San Francisco's Candlestick Park during the 49ers-Green Bay Packers game.
According to police, witnesses say the man appeared intoxicated when he fell just after kickoff at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Off-duty medics and police officers gave him first aid until an ambulance arrived, but the man was declared dead from his injuries. 
Yellowstone officials probe tot's death
 Yellowstone National Park officials are investigating after an Idaho woman reported her 3-year-old daughter shot herself with a handgun in a campground.
Park rangers responded Saturday morning to Grant Village Campground, but resuscitation efforts failed, resulting in what officials said was the first shooting death in the park since 1978.
Ark. SWAT officers kill 107-year-old man
 A 107-year-old man was killed after SWAT officers shot back at him during a standoff at a home, police in the southeastern Arkansas city of Pine Bluff said Sunday.
Police were called to the home Saturday afternoon about a disturbance and say officers arrived to find Monroe Isadore had threatened two people by pointing a weapon at them.
Officers had the pair leave and approached a bedroom looking for Isadore. When the officers announced who they were, Isadore shot through the door at them but missed, said Pine Bluff Lt. David Price.
Royal mix-up: Police ask Prince Andrew for ID
 You might forgive Britain's royal protection unit for being a little jittery. Two days after an intruder was discovered prowling around Buckingham Palace, police confronted Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, in the royal residence's garden and demanded he identify himself.
Pope denounces arms proliferation
 Pope Francis has denounced arms proliferation and illegal weapons trade, saying the desire to make profits from arms possibly fuels wars in the world. 
Francis told people in St. Peter's Square on Sunday that he wonders if this war here or there is really a war, or is it a commercial war to sell these arms or to increase the illegal trade in it? He urged people to reject arms proliferation and their illegal sale. He thanked those who joined him Saturday night in the square for meditation and prayers for peace in Syria.
Miss World opens in Indonesia after protests
 The 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant opened Sunday after protests by Muslim hard-liners confined the event to Indonesia's predominantly Hindu resort island of Bali.
The opening ceremony, which was televised to 186 countries, featured Bali's Kecak dance and a parade of all 131 contestants.
Report: NSA can read smartphone data
 The U.S. National Security Agency is able to crack protective measures on iPhones, BlackBerry and Android devices, giving it access to users' data on all major smartphones, according to a report Sunday in German weekly Der Spiegel.
The magazine cited internal documents from the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ in which the agencies describe setting up dedicated teams for each type of phone as part of their effort to gather intelligence on potential threats such as terrorists.
The data includes contacts, call lists, SMS traffic, notes and location information, it reported.
 From wire reports




3


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

September 8, 2013 Sunday  
FOURTH EDITION

 WORLD DIGEST

 
Government shelling near Syrian capital kills 16
Heavy government shelling of rebel positions near the Syrian capital of Damascus killed 16 people on Saturday, activists said, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lobbied European allies to back Washington's proposed military action against the ruling regime.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the mortar and artillery fire on the Moldokhiya agricultural area south of Damascus killed 14 rebels. A child and another civilian also died in the shelling, it added. 
The group also reported heavy fighting between rebels and troops loyal to President Bashar Assad around the Christian village of Maaloula northeast of Damascus. The rebel advance into the area last week was reportedly spearheaded by al-Qaida-linked fighters, exacerbating fears among Syrians and religious minorities in particular that Islamic extremists are playing an increasing role in the rebellion.
Protesters in Tunisia want leaders to resign o Tens of thousands of Tunisians have marched on the seat of the elected assembly demanding the government resign, in one of the largest opposition protests to date.
Saturday marked 40 days since the assassination of opposition politician Mohammed Brahmi, whose killing has plunged the country into a political crisis.
Dozens of opposition members of the assembly withdrew from the body, paralyzing its work of writing the country's new constitution. Weeks of mediation between the government and the opposition by the main labor union have not borne fruit.
The opposition is demanding the Islamist-led government resign for what they say is its failure to ensure security or manage the economy in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
Pakistan frees 7 Afghan Taliban prisoners o In a goodwill gesture toward Afghanistan, Pakistani authorities announced Saturday that they had released seven Afghan Taliban prisoners, including the brother of a former senior insurgent commander who was killed in 2007.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry in Islamabad said the release of Mansoor Dadullah and six other insurgents was carried out "to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process" and that it had now freed a total of 26 Taliban detainees in the past year.
The gesture came more than two weeks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai traveled to Islamabad to ask the Pakistani government for help in restarting peace negotiations with the Islamist insurgents. There were expectations that Pakistan might turn over some prisoners to him then, but Karzai returned empty-handed.
Afghan officials played down the significance of Pakistan's gesture Saturday, declining to comment publicly but privately calling it a small step toward reviving the peace talks.
Police break up protests in Brazil o Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to scatter anti-government protesters who interrupted an independence day military parade in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, and demonstrations in dozens of other cities led to some scuffles between marchers and police.
Police said they arrested at least 10 people in Rio, and at least six marchers were injured. It was one of more than 100 planned demonstrations across Brazil, with unions, student groups, anarchists and other groups calling for an end to political corruption and drastically improved public services in health, transportation, education and security.
Muslim protests force Indonesia to move Miss World pageant o Indonesia's government has moved the final round of the Miss World pageant from main Java island to the resort island of Bali amid protests by hard-line Muslims against the contest, an official said Saturday.
The decision, announced by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono, makes Bali the sole location for the event, which opens Sunday.
The final round was initially set for Sept. 28 in Sentul, on the outskirts of Jakarta, the capital. "The changes are made in accordance with people's aspirations and for the sake of Indonesia's tourism development," Laksono told a news conference. "So the event will be held completely in Bali." Bali is the only Hindu-dominated province in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.
Strikes hit Libyan oil exports o Libya's prime minister faced increasing calls for his ouster on Saturday as strikes by government employees at oil export terminals cost the North African country more than $5 billion in losses. Bilqasim Shindeer el-Shibany, a board member of Libya's National Oil Corp., told The Associated Press that oil exports almost entirely have stopped. Late last month, officials said exports were around 300,000 barrels per day, down dramatically from levels in early 2011.




3



 
The Capital (Annapolis, MD)

September 5, 2013 Thursday

 Miss World pageant sparks protests; 
Protests against Miss World continue in Indonesia as organizers insist the show will go on

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian Muslim hard-liners resumed their protests Thursday against the Miss World pageant, as organizers insisted that the event would go on as scheduled this weekend on the resort island of Bali. 
In Jakarta, the capital, about 1,000 members of the hard-line Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia rallied outside the building housing the local organizer of the contest.
While chanting "Allah Akbar," or God is great, the protesters, mostly women, waved banners reading "Miss World = Culture Liberalization Campaign" and "Reject Miss World."
Protests also were held in the Sumatran cities of Medan and Pekanbaru, as well as Makassar in Sulawesi. Protesters gathered at local council buildings, calling on the government to revoke the permit for the contest.
The local organizer, MNC media group, said it was not possible to cancel the contest or move the venue, and that the government had assured it that it would provide security and protection for the event.




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September 5, 2013, Thursday

 MISS WORLD PAGEANT; 
Could competition's bikini ban encourage more modesty?

 
The Miss World organization has banned the bikini competition from this year's pageant in Indonesia on Sept. 28. Many people may see this as a major feat in the feminist movement, but the ban is focused more on Indonesian culture and religious values. 
Indonesia is mainly a Muslim country, and its culture believes that a woman's body is sacred and should not be revealed. Many Indonesian people and religious groups were concerned about the bikini portion of the pageant and how it would represent Indonesia, as it is the hosting country. The pageant organizers discussed the conflict and decided, in respect for the culture, to replace the bikinis with modest sarongs, traditional Indonesian women's clothing.
The bikini ban is shocking since many people are used to watching traditional beauty pageants with this particular segment. Despite breaking age-old tradition, with the pageant organizers' decision, the Miss World 2013 pageant has sent a message of respect for other cultures and religions to the world.
Although the focus of the ban is not feminist, it is arguably impossible not to consider the impact of the issue on the feminist movement. The 2013 Miss World pageant will be the first pageant in many years to restrict putting women's bodies on display.
This upcoming pageant alone may relieve some of the sexism that our society places directly on women today. By downplaying the pageant contestants' typical model bodies that our society deems beautiful, it may allow an offset in the commercial and fashion industries that dictate the size and shape a woman needs to obtain to be "beautiful."
The modesty of the competition may even inspire the commercial and fashion industries to begin dressing their models and actresses in less revealing/provocative clothing or putting them in similarly themed scenes. This would influence women to dress and act in a manner that brings respect to their bodies and dissolve their desire to wear lewd clothing to make them feel "beautiful" like the models and actresses in the commercial and fashion industries.
Overall, the Miss World 2013 pageant has caused a lot of controversy within Indonesia and among religious organizations and women's rights activists. Whether the ban will cause a major change in the world is questionable, but it has the possibility to be the start of a tidal wave of changes in the near future.




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The Philadelphia Daily News

September 4, 2013 Wednesday  
WEB Edition

 Kim, Kanye's kid not in the pink

 
EVERY DAY there's another reason to question the sanity of the Kardashian empire. 
In another story that's so ridiculous it's difficult to believe, Life & Style reports that Kim and Kanye won't allow baby North to wear pink. 
"They do not dress North in any other colors except three: black, white or cream," a family insider told the magazine. "No pinks allowed!"  
Uh, what about the nursery? 
"The colors are dark navies, blacks and whites," said an unnamed person who's allegedly seen it. "It's not girly at all." 
But the nursery does have a flat-screen TV, because every 2-month-old needs one. 
And North's closet? 
An identified closet-peeker said: "Fendi, Bonpoint, Lanvin, custom Giuseppe Zanotti baby shoes, Dolce & Gabbana, Herm&egrave;s - she has it all!" 
And all she really wants is someone to burp her and change her. 
  TATTBITS
* HBO is pulling the plug on "True Blood." 
The pay-cable network said yesterday that the series will end next year after its seventh season, following a 10-episode season that will begin in the summer. 
* Indonesian Muslim hard-liners staged a protest yesterday in the country's capital to try to stop Bali from holding the Miss World pageant this weekend. 
More than 200 people showed up, holding banners with "Reject Miss World that exploits women" and "Go to hell Miss World" on them. 
The demonstration was peaceful and broke up after protest leaders met with pageant organizers. 
Tattle thinks a lot more than 200 people will protest when they find out that the hard-liners got the bikini portion axed. 
* In other news displeasing to Indonesian hard-liners, Kate Upton has been named Model of the Year and will receive her award (isn't looking like Kate Upton enough?) tonight at the 10th annual Style Awards, in NYC. 
* There's a little more news in the 2 Chainz tour-bus arrest in Oklahoma. 
In addition to the painkillers and marijuana residue found on the bus, police also discovered two .40-caliber semiautomatic pistols and a 12-gauge pump shotgun with 20 shells. 
Maybe they were about to invade Arkansas. 
* Here's a new idea for "American Idol": Instead of spending weeks in the off-season leaking rumors as to who the coming year's judges will be, why not surprise viewers in January? 
Is anyone more eager for the new "American Idol" season to start - in three months - knowing that this year's judges are going to be Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban? 
We think not. 
In addition to its judges, Fox also announced that ex-judge Randy Jackson will be back as in-house mentor to the contestants. Ryan Seacrest is also back, because he otherwise might have a free hour in his week. 
"Surprise, surprise! I am so happy to be back as part of this amazing show that started it all," said Jackson. "The original talent show is back with a vengeance and ready to discover the best talent in America." 
The "original" talent show? 
Ever hear of "Star Search," Randy? "Al Alberts Showcase"? "Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour"? 
* How's this for a shocking moment of celebrity candor? 
In an interview at MTV.com, Miley Cyrus compared her raunchy VMAs performance to that of Madonna and Britney Spears, who once kissed on air. 
It's a bad comparison, but here comes the amazing part. Cyrus said she was surprised that people were still talking about it three days later. Actual quote: "You're thinking about it more than I thought about it when I did it. I didn't even think about it, because that's just me." 
 - Daily News wire services contributed to this report. 
Phone: 215-854-5678 
On Twitter: @DNTattle 




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September 4, 2013 Wednesday

 Indonesian Muslim clerics: Cancel Miss World pageant

 
Indonesian Muslim clerics are asking the government to cancel this month's Miss World pageant because Islam bars women from publicly "exposing their bodies in a contest." 
The influential Indonesian Ulema Council held a top-level meeting in August to study the issue and decided the contest should not be held, even though pageant organizers agreed to allow contestants to wear wraparound sarongs instead of bikinis, said council Chairman Amidan Shaberah.
"Our position is clear, we reject Indonesia being the host of Miss World ccc because exposing their bodies in a contest is against Islamic teachings," Shaberah said on Aug. 26, according to The Associated Press.
The council is the country's highest Islamic authority and includes major, politically active, Muslim and Islamist religious organizations with millions of followers.
A senior council official told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the concession on bikinis was not enough and that the sarongs still expose too many body parts.
The council described its decision as a recommendation to the government and not an official demand or fatwa.
The council's decisions are not legally binding but do influence many people in Indonesia, which is the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Previously, the council tried to ban cigarette smoking and yoga, but met a mixed response among Indonesia's 240 million population, more than 80 percent of whom are Muslim.
Miss World has already started its monthlong September show, which includes events on Indonesia's only Hindu-majority island, Bali, and a final round on Sept. 28 near Jakarta, the country's capital on the island of Java.
Earlier in August, Indonesia's much-feared, hard-line Islamic Defenders Front vowed to stop the contest no matter where it is staged. "The Miss World pageant is only an excuse to exhibit women's body parts," front leader, Riziek Shihab, said according to the AP.
"We are obliged to disband it if the government allows it to be held in any region of Indonesia."
Previously, the front has also thrown rocks at Western embassies during rallies and fought with rival religious organizations in an effort to force Indonesia's moderate Muslim society to adopt Shariah law.
Last year, Lady Gaga canceled her sold-out show after she was denounced as a "devil worshipper" by the front.
Miss World may face less opposition in Bali, because the island's population is mostly Hindu and welcomes foreign tourists and other international influences.




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September 2, 2013 Monday

 Wife not comfortable with using 'Mom' moniker

 
Associated Press 
Today is Monday, Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2013. There are 120 days left in the year. This is Labor Day. 
Highlights in history 
In 1666: The Great Fire of London broke out. 
In 1789: The U.S. Treasury Department was established. 
In 1864: During the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman's forces occupied Atlanta. 
In 1901: Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair. 
In 1935: A Labor Day hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming more than 400 lives.  
In 1945: Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II. 
In 1963: Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers.  
In 1972: Dave Wottle of the United States won the men's 800-meter race at the Munich Summer Olympics. 
In 1986: A judge in Los Angeles sentenced Cathy Evelyn Smith to three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter for her role in the 1982 drug overdose death of comedian John Belushi. (Smith served 18 months.) 
In 1998: A Swissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard. 
10 years ago: A court in Jakarta, Indonesia, sentenced Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to four years in prison for sedition (his conviction was overturned after he had spent more than two years behind bars.)  
One year ago: Mark Abrahamian, 46, lead guitarist for the rock group Starship, died in Norfolk, Neb., of a heart attack after a performance.,by JERALDINE SAUNDERS 
 ARIES (March 21-April 19): If you have the day off, you might be more interested in washing the car than going to the movies.  
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Act like a tire on a car and keep on going no matter how many bumps in the road you encounter.  
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Handle a change in the home or family with the same equanimity you would use to change a tire.  
CANCER (June 21-July 22): This could be a great time to organize a team or to go up against someone with less experience. 
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You may expect a constant level of commitment and faithfulness from others only to be disappointed at a crucial moment. 
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Someone might do or say something that makes you feel you've been let down. If you act on instinct, you may break away. 
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Making up your mind is similar to making the bed. Once you have made a decision, someone is likely to come along and pull down the covers so you need to repeat the process. 
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take stock of situations rather than giving in to the temptation to act on impulse. Quick starts won't help you get ahead. 
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Even the bluest skies eventually have a cloud, but cloudy skies eventually clear up.  
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The path to true love is not smooth. That is why you should concentrate on the bills on your desk or meeting deadlines. 
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Getting sidetracked by a fascinating bauble or the latest bling can wallop your wallet.  
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You might think someone has come around to your way of thinking, when all you've done is highlight the differences between you. 
IF SEPT. 2 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Your business acumen is at an all-time high during the next three to four months, but a relationship might not bear up under the strain of your ambitions. October or early November is a great time to make a decision about a questionable relationship since you'll receive sound advice from friends and can make a wise assessment. That is also a fabulous time to change jobs, ask for a promotion, and launch any new enterprise or plan with the best chance of success. 
Jeraldine Saunders writes for Tribune Media Services.,Dancer-actress Marge Champion  94 
Jazz musician Horace Silver  85 
Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo.  82 
Former U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth  76 
R&B singer Sam Gooden (The Impressions)   74 
Singer Jimmy Clanton 73 
R&B singer Rosalind Ashford (Martha & the Vandellas)    70 
Singer Joe Simon 70 
Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw  65 
Actor Mark Harmon    62 
Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors  61 
Actress Linda Purl  58 
Actor Keanu Reeves  49 
Actress Salma Hayek  47 
Actress Cynthia Watros  45 
Actor-comedian Katt Williams  40,by KATHY MITCHELL and MARCY SUGAR 
 Dear Annie: My husband has a wonderful mother, and I am happy that such a terrific woman raised him. The problem is, she wants me to call her "Mom." I love her dearly, but I am not comfortable with this. She introduces me as her daughter and signs all of her emails and texts, "Love, Mom." Any advice on how to handle this situation?  
- Uncomfortable Daughter-in-Law 
Dear Uncomfortable: It is never easy to start calling someone by a more familiar name. Mom obviously wants to be closer to you. You have three choices: You force yourself to call her "Mom," knowing that eventually it will become easier and natural; you simply tell her that you think she is terrific, but you would prefer to call her by her first name because you consider her a good friend; you wait until you have children and then call her "Grandma." 
Dear Annie: I found your response to "Nebraska" surprising. She said her friends are not attracted to African-Americans, and you agreed that this is bigoted. 
I remember being with friends and checking out members of the opposite sex when I was much younger. My friend might say she thought the blue-eyed blond was a real cutie, and I might say I preferred men with brown hair and brown eyes. 
Did that make us bigoted? Did that mean one of us had a prejudice against Swedes and the other against Italians? Attraction is one thing. Willingness to get to know someone based on race or other physical appearance is something else altogether, and there I might agree with your response. All these years later, I'm still married to the brown-eyed man. 
- Hat Creek, Calif. 
Dear Hat Creek: Many readers compared this to not being attracted to redheads. But it's not the same. Selecting an entire group of human beings based on their ancestral heritage is like saying you aren't attracted to anyone whose great-grandmother was a redhead. You actually provided an excellent example of our point: You didn't say Swedes or Italians as a group. You said blue-eyed blondes and brown-eyed brunettes. Those preferences occur within many groups, including dark-eyed, brunette Swedes and blond, blue-eyed Italians, which are plentiful. 
It's not always easy to recognize bigotry in ourselves, and in most cases, it is not intentional. But aside from the obvious fact that people should be judged on an individual basis, "Nebraska's" friends didn't say they have a problem with a specific feature - and African-Americans have a range of features. They also did not say they aren't attracted to a specific skin tone. They said "African-Americans," making them all the same in looks and personality. You don't have to be attracted to everybody. But when one pronounces an entire group of people to be unappealing based solely on their racial heritage, what, exactly, would you call that? 
Write Annie at anniesmailbox@comcast.net 




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Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)

September 2, 2013 Monday

 Today in History

 
  In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice "Speak softly and carry a big stick" in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair.
Today is Monday, Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2013. There are 120 days left in the year. This is Labor Day. 
Today's Highlight in History:
  On September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II.
On this date:
 In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out.
 In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman's forces occupied Atlanta.
  In 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers. "The CBS Evening News" with Walter Cronkite was lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes, becoming network television's first half-hour nightly newscast.
 Ten years ago: A court in Jakarta, Indonesia, sentenced Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to four years in prison for sedition (his conviction was later overturned after he'd spent more than two years behind bars.)
 Five years ago: Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced White House nominee in history at their convention in St. Paul, Minn., and enthusiastically extolled their own man, John McCain, as ready to lead the nation.
 One year ago: Campaigning his way toward the Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama slapped a "Romney doesn't care" label on his rival's health care views.
Today's Birthdays: Dancer-actress Marge Champion is 94. Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., is 82. Former United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth is 76. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is 62. International Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors is 61.




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August 31, 2013 Saturday

 Dana Milbank: Blaming Obama for everything

 
By Dana Milbank
WASHINGTON -- A poll of Louisiana Republicans released last week contained some strange news for President Obama: Twenty-nine percent of them said that he was responsible for the poor response to Hurricane Katrina -- in 2005.
This was slightly more than the 28 percent who said President George W. Bush was to blame. An additional 44 percent thought it over but just weren't sure. 
This is a preposterous notion. Everybody knows Barack Obama couldn't have been responsible for the Katrina response because he was in Indonesia in 2005, learning about his Muslim faith in a madrassa. He had moved to Indonesia directly from his home country of Kenya, stopping in the United States just long enough to fake the moon landing.
When I read a report about the poll on the Talking Points Memo website, the first thing that came to mind was the famous campaign-trail quotation from the man who actually was president in 2005: "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
Evidently, they is not, at least not in Louisiana. Yet ignorance alone does not account for this bizarre finding.
The Katrina result, from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, is somewhat suspect because it is from an automated, push-button polling method. Yet the finding, if unscientific, is revealing: It shows that a substantial number of Republican voters will agree to something they know to be false if it puts Obama in a bad light.
The Katrina question is consistent with the many surveys finding an appalling amount of misinformation embraced by the electorate. At the time of the Iraq War, seven in 10 Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. A year ago, one in six thought Obama was a Muslim. In a famous poll several years ago, Americans were three times more likely to be able to name two of the Seven Dwarfs than two Supreme Court justices.
Earlier this year, Public Policy Polling found disturbingly high levels of belief in UFOs and aliens, and the believers were bipartisan: Twenty-two percent of Mitt Romney voters said Obama was the Antichrist, and 13 percent of Obama voters said the government allowed the 9/11 attacks to occur.
But Obama's presidency has provoked a particularly steep rise in the proportion of Republican conspiracy theorists. A Pew poll last year found that 30 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of conservative Republicans thought Obama was Muslim -- roughly double than thought so four years earlier. Gallup Polling in April 2011 found that 43 percent of Republicans thought Obama was born in another country.
Obama conspiracy theories have flourished in the Deep South, where wealth and educational levels are both low. This makes sense: Where voters are least informed, they are most susceptible to misinformation peddled by talk-radio hosts and the like.
For this reason, voters in reliably Republican states, which tend to be poorer, with lower test scores, are more vulnerable to misinformation. To use one measure, the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress test of eighth-grade reading, all but one of the top 10 states were in Obama's column in 2012. Of the 19 doing worse than average, 14 were red states.
This is what makes the Katrina question so interesting. Certainly, Louisianans are on the low end of the education rankings, fifth from the bottom in math and third-to-last in reading. But this question got around the ignorance question by asking Louisiana Republicans about a topic they know intimately.
All but the most clueless had to know that Obama, a first-term senator in 2005, was not responsible for the botched storm response that Louisianans experienced up close and personally. It's a notion so demonstrably false that they wouldn't have heard anybody arguing for it on Fox News or talk radio. Yet 29 percent of Republican primary voters (the sample size was 274) reflexively endorsed the falsehood. Why?
"Obama derangement syndrome is running pretty high right now among a certain segment of the Republican base," Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, told me. "There's a certain segment of people who say, 'If you're going to give me the opportunity to stick it to Obama, I'm going to take it.'"
In other words, a large number of that 29 percent who said Obama was responsible for the Katrina response knew that he wasn't but saw it as a chance to register their displeasure with the president. Obama has driven a large number of Republican voters -- Jensen puts it at 15 percent to 20 percent of the overall electorate -- right off their rockers. And to that, there is only one thing to say.
Heckuva job, Barry.
Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.




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August 27, 2013 Tuesday  


 Seeking Asylum in Australia, Refugees Find a Policy in Flux

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- In January, Naqsh Murtaza had had enough of war-torn Afghanistan. Mr. Naqsh, a 27-year-old Afghan, fled with his mother and two younger brothers across the border into Pakistan, the first stop on a risky journey whose ultimate destination was Australia.
He lacked the money to get the whole family there, so he hoped to reach Australia himself, obtain asylum and then send for them once he was settled. 
Getting as far as Indonesia or Malaysia is relatively easy for Muslims like Mr. Naqsh. Lax visa restrictions make it relatively easy to enter the countries, and well-established smuggling networks pack asylum-seekers into boats to brave the sea crossing to Australian soil.
Like many of the rickety vessels, the boat carrying Mr. Naqsh foundered midway, and he had to be rescued by the Indonesian authorities; he never reached Australia. But it might not have mattered if he had.
Under a new policy announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on July 19 in the prelude to what is expected to be a close national election next month, anyone arriving by boat without a visa, the way Mr. Naqsh tried, is to be sent to a refugee-processing center in neighboring Papua New Guinea and be barred from ever settling in Australia. It is the most exclusionary measure the country has tried in hopes of stemming the tide of asylum-seekers, which has become a hot-button political issue.
The government advertised the new policy heavily in Australian newspapers and on television, aiming to reach immigrant populations that could spread the word in their countries of origin to friends and relatives who were contemplating fleeing to Australia.
But Australia's history of policy flip-flops has left many migrants confused about what the rules are and has raised hopes in others that the latest policy, too, will be reversed. Misinformation, not least from the smugglers, has also undermined the effort to spread the word.
In Pakistan, Mr. Naqsh said, he looked into applying for asylum in Britain, Canada or the United States and was told it could take 5 or 10 years. Fellow Afghans in Pakistan told him Australia was a faster option. So he flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Islamabad in June, and paid smugglers $2,000 to take him to Jakarta, and $3,200 to put him on a boat headed for Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.
He heard about the new Australian policy when he was holed up in a backpacker hostel in Jakarta waiting for a place on a boat. But the smuggler making his arrangements assured him that the new policy would not take effect until Aug. 14, and that he would not risk being transferred to Papua New Guinea as long as he landed on Christmas Island before then.
''Obviously, he lied,'' Mr. Naqsh said.
The fishing boat carrying Mr. Naqsh and more than 70 Iranians, Pakistanis and other Afghans set sail July 28. Some of the refugees carried prepaid cellphones and the emergency numbers of Australian officials taken from government Web sites. A few days out from shore, a powerful storm damaged the boat, which began to sink slowly in international waters. The migrants and five crew members were picked up by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency after 17 hours of desperate calls to the Australian authorities, who passed the word to their Indonesian counterparts.
The migrants were taken back to Indonesia, where they will be allowed to stay until the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determines whether they qualify as bona fide refugees and not economic migrants.
Mr. Naqsh said he would not attempt another sea voyage and would instead hope to be resettled somewhere legally through the United Nations refugee agency.
He now faces a long wait in limbo. He cannot legally work in Indonesia, where there were already more than 10,000 asylum-seekers and official refugees waiting to be processed when he arrived, the agency said. Resettling a single person can take two to three years, according to the International Organization for Migration in Jakarta; since 2000, about 2,500 United Nations-registered refugees in Indonesia have been resettled.
To help press the message that would-be refugees should not make the attempt, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship posted its radio and television advertisements on its Web site in at least eight languages, and it has released photographs of distraught recent arrivals to Christmas Island who were being told they were being deported to Papua New Guinea.
Sandi Logan, a spokesman for the department, said it was an uphill battle. ''The constant recalibration of policies has left, frankly, many in the diaspora and particularly many for whom English is a second or third or fourth language, very perplexed,'' he said.
It is unclear how much the new policy will deter migrants in the long-term. What is clear is that it has had little effect so far.
According to Australian officials, in the four weeks after Mr. Rudd's announcement, 2,784 migrants arrived in, or tried to reach, Australia from Indonesia and elsewhere, nearly double the monthly average of 1,434 in 2012. They said 356 who reached Christmas Island had been sent to a camp on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
Some who set out after the announcement said they had not heard about it, including some survivors from a boat that left Indonesia on July 23 with more than 200 people from Iran and Sri Lanka and sank off the coast of West Java Province in Indonesia, killing at least 20.
Others who were fully aware of the new policy set out anyway. Abdulkadir Abdi, 28, a Somali refugee biding his time in Indonesia, saw a report about the policy on television. He said that some compatriots who also knew about it had sailed from the Indonesian port of Makassar on the night of July 31, headed for Christmas Island, and that he had not heard from any of them since they prepared to cast off.
Mr. Abdi, who had arrived in Indonesia in January 2011 expecting to attend a university only to learn that he had been defrauded by an ''education agent'' in Somalia, said he would have joined the group, but could not pay the smugglers' fee.
''In the minds of refugees, there are two options: You die on the boat, or you will go to Australia,'' Mr. Abdi said. As for the risk of being transferred to Papua New Guinea, he said, the thinking is, ''maybe they won't send me -- policies can change.''




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Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)

August 27, 2013 Tuesday

 Indonesian clerics call to ban Miss World

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- One of Indonesia's most influential Islamic groups is urging the government to cancel the Miss World pageant scheduled for next month, saying the exposure of skin by women in a competition violates Muslim teachings, an official said Monday.
A top-level meeting of clerics was held earlier this month by the Indonesian Ulema Council to respond to protests from some groups over Indonesia's hosting of the event, even after organizers agreed to cut the bikini competition and instead outfit contestants in more conservative sarongs, council chairman Amidan Shaberah said. 




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August 27, 2013 Tuesday  


 World Digest: Aug. 26, 2013

 

EGYPT

Two Islamist groups urge truce with army
Two former Egyptian militant groups have proposed a truce between the military and the ousted president's Muslim Brotherhood, in a move that highlights the extent to which Islamists have been weakened by a massive security crackdown.
The leaders of the Gamaa Islamiya and Islamic Jihad movements said Monday that their initiative calls for supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi to cease street protests if the military-backed government halts its moves against them.
The two groups, which waged an insurgency against the government in the 1990s but later renounced violence, want the army and Brotherhood to enter into a dialogue. The military deposed Morsi on July 3 after millions took to the street demanding his resignation. 
Morsi's allies have previously insisted on his reinstatement as a precondition to talks, but Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed Abu Samra said the proposed truce has no "red lines."
While the two groups do not speak for the Brotherhood, the initiative is a new sign of flexibility from the pro-Morsi Islamist camp, whose protest campaign is waning. Hundreds of Brotherhood leaders and organizers have been arrested, and numbers at their formerly massive rallies have dwindled.
The interim president's office could not be immediately reached for comment. Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi had said earlier thatsecurity measures would not be enough on their own and that Egypt "must go down the political path" to work out a democratic transition through reconciliation. He ruled out talks with anyone who had committed acts of violence, however.
- Associated Press

PAKISTAN

Karzai seeks helpon Taliban talks
Afghanistan's president urged neighboring Pakistan to facilitate peace talks with the Taliban during a visit to Islamabad on Monday, but expectations were low in both countries that much progress would be made in jump-starting negotiations.
Pakistan is seen as key to the process because of its strong historical ties with the Taliban. But Pakistan and Afghanistan have long had troubled relations and view each other with suspicion, especially with Kabul repeatedly accusing Islamabad of providing sanctuary for the insurgents.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was visiting Pakistan for the first time since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office in June. Karzai told Sharif at a joint news conference in Islamabad that he expects the Pakistani government to "facilitate and help" talks between the Afghan High Peace Council and the Taliban.
On Saturday, however, Karzai described his expectations for progress during the visit, saying, "I am not confident, but I am hopeful."
Sharif said Monday that he reaffirmed to Karzai "Pakistan's strong and sincere support for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan."
- Associated Press
Vietnamese dissident pledges continued activism: A Vietnamese dissident released early from prison said Monday she will continue fighting for multiparty democracy in the Communist-ruled Southeast Asian country after the leniency shown by authorities in freeing her. Nugyen Phoung Uyen, 21, was sentenced to six years for distributing leaflets hostile to the ruling party. An appeals court this month changed that to a three-year suspended sentence and freed her after 10 months in jail.
Charges to be sought against former Auschwitz guards: The head of the special German prosecutors' office that investigates Nazi crimes says a probe of 50 suspected former Auschwitz guards is nearly complete and may result in charges against many of them. Berlin's taz newspaper reported that more than 40 suspects were found to be still alive in Germany. Prosecutor Kurt Schrimm said Monday that his office planned on recommending charges against most.
Indonesian Islamic group calls for Miss World cancellation: One of Indonesia's most influential Islamic groups, the Indonesian Ulema Council, is urging the government to cancel the Miss World pageant set for next month, saying exposure of skin by women in a competition violates Muslim teachings, an official said Monday. The pageant is to be held partly on the resort island of Bali, with the final round Sept. 28 near the capital, Jakarta.
Swiss experiment with prostitution 'sex boxes': No car, no sex. That's the rule for an experiment Zurich launched Monday to make prostitution, which is legal in Switzerland, less of a public nuisance and safer for women. Fashionably teak-colored garages, popularly called "sex boxes" by the Swiss media, will be open for business for drive-in customers. The several dozen sex workers expected to make the site their new hub will stand along a short road in a small park.
- From news services




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 St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

August 25, 2013 Sunday

 Fort Hood survivors, victims' relatives testify

 
FORT HOOD, Texas -- A soldier left for dead after being shot in the head. A widow whose two sons won't have their father to take them fishing or teach them how to be gentlemen. A grieving father whose daughter and unborn grandson are included in the death toll of the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood.
Survivors of the attack and relatives of those killed testified Monday during the final phase of Maj. Nidal Hasan's trial. Prosecutors hope the emotional testimony -- from sobbing widows, distraught parents and paralyzed soldiers -- will help to persuade jurors to impose a rare military death sentence on Hasan, who was convicted last week of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others at the Texas military base.
The sentencing phase also will be Hasan's last chance to tell jurors what he's spent the past four years telling the military, judges and journalists: that the killing of unarmed American soldiers preparing to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan was necessary to protect Muslim insurgents. But whether he plans to address jurors remains unclear. 
Teen to be tried as adult in vet's death
SPOKANE, Wash. -- A 16-year-old Spokane boy was ordered held on $2 million bail and will be tried as an adult in connection with last week's beating death of an 88-year-old veteran of World War II.
Demetrius Glenn is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in Spokane County District Court.
He made an initial court appearance Monday afternoon.
The teen turned himself in Thursday night, the same day Army veteran Delbert Belton died of his injuries.
A second 16-year-old boy arrested in the case has a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday. He also will be tried as an adult.
N.M. county told to let gays marry
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- An Albuquerque judge on Monday ordered the clerk of Bernalillo County, New Mexico's most populous county, to join two other counties in the state in issuing marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples.
The order from State District Judge Alan Malott came in a case involving a lesbian couple who sought an emergency ruling because one of them is dying.
In an unexpected turn, the couple was able to get married Friday after a judge in a separate case ordered the Santa Fe clerk to issue same-sex licenses. Also last week, the clerk of Dona Ana County in southern New Mexico decided on his own to recognize same-sex marriage.
Malott said New Mexico's constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Karzai in Pakistan to jumpstart talks
ISLAMABAD -- Afghanistan's president urged neighboring Pakistan to facilitate peace talks with the Taliban during a visit to Islamabad on Monday, but expectations were low in both countries that much progress would be made in jumpstarting negotiations.
Pakistan is seen as key to the process because of its strong historical ties with the Taliban. But Pakistan and Afghanistan have long had troubled relations and view each other with suspicion, especially with Kabul repeatedly accusing Islamabad of providing sanctuary for the insurgents.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was visiting Pakistan for the first time since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office in June. Karzai told Sharif during a joint news conference in Islamabad that he expects the Pakistani government to "facilitate and help" talks between the Afghan High Peace Council and the Taliban.
65 years married, dead 11 hours apart
DAYTON, Ohio -- Relatives of an Ohio couple who died at a nursing home 11 hours apart on the same day said their love story's ending reflects their devotion over 65 years of marriage.
Harold and Ruth Knapke died in their shared room on Aug. 11, days before their 66th anniversary, the Dayton Daily News reported.
Their daughters said they believe their father willed himself to stay by his wife's side despite failing health until they could take the next step in their journey together. He went first -- his children saw it as his "final act of love" -- and she followed.
Gandhi stable after sudden illness
NEW DELHI -- Sonia Gandhi, India's most powerful politician and the leader of the ruling Congress party alliance, was in stable condition Monday night after falling ill during a debate in Parliament.
Press Trust of India, quoting unidentified sources at the hospital where Gandhi was taken, said she was initially taken to the intensive care unit because she had complained of chest pain, but had been moved from there after she was deemed stable.
Gandhi, 66, was born in Italy but rose to power after the killing of her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Egyptian Islamists feeling the pressure
CAIRO -- Two former militant groups, the Gamaa Islamiya and Islamic Jihad, offered to call off street protests if the government agrees to ease its pressure on Islamists, a move that underscores how a onetime strong Islamist movement is now bowing to an unprecedented crackdown by security authorities.
The proposal comes after the military rounded up hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and other Islamists in the wake of the country's worst bout of violence, which followed the Aug. 14 clearing of two sprawling sit-in camps housing protesters calling for the reinstatement of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader.
Critics say the truce proposal reflects cracks within the Islamist alliance led by the Brotherhood, with much of its leadership either imprisoned or on the run.
"They want to lift pressure on their groups and jump off the Muslim Brotherhood boat that is sinking right now," said veteran journalist and analyst Makram Mohammed Ahmed. "Everyone is searching for a way out but this is too late."
Indonesian clerics: Drop Miss World
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- One of Indonesia's most influential Islamic groups is urging the government to cancel the Miss World pageant scheduled for next month, saying the exposure of skin by women in a competition violates Muslim teachings, an official said Monday.
A top-level meeting of clerics was held earlier this month by the Indonesian Ulema Council to respond to protests from some groups over Indonesia's hosting of the event, even after organizers agreed to cut the bikini competition and instead outfit contestants in more conservative sarongs, council chairman Amidan Shaberah said.
Shaberah said the council will not officially demand that the government cancel the event, but will instead recommend that it be stopped. The pageant is scheduled to be held partly on the resort island of Bali, with the final round on Sept. 28 near the capital, Jakarta.
U.N. to 'reach out'
to U.S. about NSA
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations said Monday that it will contact the United States about reports that the National Security Agency hacked its internal communications, and the world body emphasized that international treaties protect its offices and all diplomatic missions from interference, spying and eavesdropping.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday that the United Nations will "reach out" to U.S. officials about the reports of eavesdropping, as it has in the past when such allegations have been raised.
The German magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that documents it obtained from American leaker Edward Snowden show the NSA secretly monitored the U.N.'s internal video conferencing system by decrypting it last year.
-- Associated Press




4


 
 
 (California)

August 13, 2013 Tuesday

 Peninsula readers' letters: March 17

 
Maybell vote
Dear Editor: Reports of last Thursday evening's Palo Alto City Council decision to have the Maybell referendum vote this year included the reasoning that to delay would create disharmony and damage the fabric of the community. How touching, these concerns at this time.
What is really damaging the fabric of our community are the city council's votes to approve every big office or living complex proposed by numerous developers cashing in on Palo Alto's popularity. What really damages the fabric of our community is the parking havoc created by these continued additions of office and retail and dwelling spaces. Also damaging the fabric of our community is a city manager and planning and transportation staff who continually cook the books on big project reports emphasizing their positive push for approval and glossing over and passing by the glaring negatives of traffic, parking and visual blight. 
If the council really cares about the fabric of our community, let it place a moratorium on further office and apartment complexes until there is much greater agreement on where we want our town to go in growth and quality of life. If it is worried about the fabric of our community, let it put up a bigger fight against ABAG housing quotas and high-speed rail. If the council wants to heal the fabric of our community, let it begin to put these big projects to direct vote by the community rather than by the usual gang of nine.
Stephan Dabrowski,
Palo Alto
Stanford survey
Dear Editor: A small number of Palo Altans are beginning to report that they have been called by an out-of-town survey/research firm to answer a fairly lengthy number of questions about their knowledge of Stanford.
Since Stanford always makes itself out to be a "good neighbor," perhaps its management should post the survey questions on the Stanford website. And when the results are tabulated -- post those too.
What's to lose if everyone has the same information?
Wayne Martin,
Palo Alto
Easier said than done
Dear Editor: Plaudits to Donald Letcher for his views on electing new Mountain View City Council members (Letters, Aug. 10). He states that there are no qualified candidates on the horizon and that without competent leadership Mountain View can get even worse.
I have lived in Mountain View for more than 30 years and have read Mr. Letcher's rants about what's being done wrong or not being done at all, but have never seen his name on the ballot. With all of his purportedly good ideas on how the Mountain View council should be run, he should run and try to get elected to make his ideas a reality. Just saying.
Richard C. Morningstar,
Mountain View
What global warming?
Dear Editor: Paul Rogers' Aug. 8 story, "Californians feel the heat," reports rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels with worldwide temperatures failing to rise commensurately. Global temperatures are fundamentally equivalent now to those in 1995, when carbon dioxide levels were 360 parts per million. As carbon dioxide levels rose 10 percent between 1995 and 2012, global temperatures failed to follow suit. Global temperatures repeatedly contravene the atmospheric models offered by the global warming activists. From the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s, global temperatures declined for 30 years as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose.
New fashionable forestry practices that allow dead timber and brush to simply accumulate are intensifying the forest fires presently occurring. A recent Southern Methodist University report states: "North America didn't have a forest fire suppression program for the last 1,400 years, so there wasn't a fuel buildup issue like we have today; forest floors were cleansed naturally by non-catastrophic fires."
Global warming, with many small warming and cooling cycles, has been around for about 18,000 years since the last ice age as sea levels increased 400 feet. A 400-foot sea level rise translates to 4,800 inches total in 180 centuries for an average 26.7 inches of sea level rise per century -- an average rise far above Paul Rogers' report of sea level rise of 8 inches during the last century. Such observations suggests that sea level rise rates may be diminishing rather than increasing and that anthropomorphic warming is dubious science promoted by activists with a political agenda.
Tony Favero,
Half Moon Bay
Loose facts
Dear Editor: As usual, Bill Zaumen's letter of Aug. 12 jumps around so much that responding to it reminds me of the task of herding cats. In his role as fact checker, Mr. Zaumen has uncovered the fact that not all of the embassies closed were in Muslim countries. I applaud his research abilities. He went on to say that there existed "an irrational attempt to blame a religious or ethnic group for the behavior of a handful of individuals." For those readers who would like to check the credibility of this comment I suggest they visitmemritv.org on the Internet, where they will find a multitude of video clips from Muslim countries. See for yourself if we are witnessing "a handful."
Of particular relevance is clip No. 3921 by Mahmoud Habbash, the Palestinian Authority's minister of religious endowments, recorded July 19. He states unequivocally that the agreement of the Palestinians to resume "peace" talks with Israel is like the Treaty of Hudaibiya in 628 A.D. made by the prophet Mohammed himself. The treaty was made with no intention of being kept except as a military subterfuge to be torn up when convenient.
This is the real world the Israelis must face.
Phil Smaller,
Palo Alto
No worries
Dear Editor: Bill Zaumen (Letters, Aug. 13) is out of my league when it comes to character assassination.
This time Mr. Zaumen heartily defends the term 'Islamophobia' with the logic of Alice in Wonderland. He supports his claim that the world has an unreasonable fear of Islamic terrorism by saying it isn't so and tarring anyone who disagrees. Say it isn't so that the hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded in the Muslim world (and ours) during the past decade as a result of bombings, shootings, beheadings, poison gas and torture didn't happen because of anything to do with a religious or ethnic group.
Never mind that the countries where these killings happened and continue to happen range across North Africa, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Indonesia and belong to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the equivalent of the Muslim U.N.
We can all sleep peacefully now because Bill Zaumen says we can. If you hear someone scream "Allahu akbar" nearby, don't worry, be happy. You'll hardly hear the bang.
Desmond Tuck,
San Mateo




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August 5, 2013 Monday  


 Hours to Go, Just to Get to Work

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- For someone with dropping blood-sugar levels and in the early stages of dehydration, Eva Roma was rather stoic as she began her one-and-a-half-hour commute home from her office in central Jakarta.
Her journey started with an hourlong ride on a standing-room-only public bus, followed by 25 minutes in a minivan, and finally a five-minute walk to her house in the far southern confines of this Indonesian capital. 
Once there, Ms. Roma, 33, a Muslim who works as a secretary at a financial services company, planned to buka puasa -- break her fast in observance of the holy month of Ramadan. Getting to work the next morning would be even worse, since that trip usually takes two hours.
The daily commute, especially while refraining from eating or drinking all day, takes a toll, Ms. Roma said. But she has long since become inured to the physical realities of commuting in Jakarta, where horrific traffic and an inefficient public transportation system condemn many people to sitting in cars, buses and minivans or on motorcycles for four hours a day or longer, year-round.
''I'm stressed by it,'' she said, ''but since the government hasn't done anything about it, we just have to deal with it.''
Jakarta, with a metropolitan area populated by 28 million people, remains one of the world's few major cities without a rapid-transit system, despite plans dating to the 1980s. The closest substitute, the TransJakarta Busway, carries fewer than 400,000 people a day. And a dedicated bus lane during peak hours, when the roads are clogged, does not help, as cars, motorcycles and even government, police and military vehicles illegally drive over the tiny concrete barriers that are supposed to block it off, further delaying the buses.
It is no wonder, then, that 9.9 million cars, motorcycles, trucks and other vehicles take to the capital's streets each workday, according to the Jakarta Transportation Agency, nearly two million of them from neighboring municipalities in the provinces of West Java and Banten.
But help may finally be on the way. Jakarta, the Indonesian government and consortiums of private investors are pouring $4 billion into public transportation infrastructure projects scheduled to start between this October and 2015. They include the first stage of a subway and aboveground rail system linking south and central Jakarta; two monorail projects; an express train to the airport from central Jakarta; and an elevated train circling the outskirts of central Jakarta that would connect to existing provincial commuter rail lines west, south and east of the city.
''There is always light at the end of the tunnel, and the tunnel is getting bigger,'' Bambang Susantono, Indonesia's deputy minister of transportation, said in an interview. ''With the improvement in the economy in Indonesia, we have the space to undertake these projects.''
The political will is also there. For decades, the Indonesian government ignored transportation as a policy priority, but this changed after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office in 2004, said Milatia Kusuma Mu'min, head of communications for the Indonesian Transportation Society, an advocacy group. In addition, decentralization has enabled local leaders like Joko Widodo, Jakarta's governor, to exercise more authority in pursuing public works projects, Ms. Mu'min said.
But with the first rapid-transit rail lines not scheduled to start operating for at least four years, and greater prosperity only adding to the numbers of cars and motorcycles on the roads, transportation experts warn that in the near term congestion is likely to worsen.
That prospect brings both hope and despair to Jakarta commuters and motorists.
''I think the Jakarta government can do something about it,'' Ms. Roma said as she squeezed her way onto a packed TransJakarta bus for her trip home. ''I have hope.''
Simon Hendiwan, 32, an office manager in central Jakarta, does not agree. Unwilling to deal with long lines and the stifling heat of commuter trains, he instead drives his Toyota Kijang Innova van to work each morning from this city's eastern suburbs. It takes him 90 minutes to cover the nine miles.
''For Jakarta, there is no way out for the next five years, unless the government hurries up,'' he said while filling up at a gas station before his commute home amid the late-afternoon Ramadan rush.
Ramadan only magnifies Jakarta's traffic woes. About 90 percent of Indonesia's 240 million people are Muslim, and during the holy month workers are allowed to leave their jobs early to meet friends and family to break their daytime fast.
This means that millions hit the streets around 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Central Jakarta has resembled a parking lot each afternoon since Ramadan began on July 10. The daily scenes on Jalan Sudirman, the main north-south thoroughfare, include obscene gestures; near collisions as privately run buses cram into seemingly impossible gaps; and earsplitting honking that enrages traffic police officers as they try to keep things moving.
And then there is the monsoon season, in which heavy downpours have washed out the toll road to the international airport and left motorists sitting for hours.
Commuting times could be significantly shortened by keeping the TransJakarta bus lane clear of unauthorized vehicles. The same afternoon that Ms. Roma was trying to get home, the lane was so packed with cars that public buses were crawling along no faster than the bumper-to-bumper traffic in adjoining lanes.
As if to prove the point, Dian Anggraini, a 29-year-old door attendant on a TransJakarta bus, jumped off and scurried across the street to an ATM. Five minutes later, she got back on the bus, which had moved about 100 yards.
''Mostly, the problem is the traffic that comes into the bus lane -- that's what needs fixing,'' Ms. Anggraini said after resuming her post. ''Many of our customers actually say it's easier for them to just take TransJakarta rather than deal with the madness outside.''




4


 


August 4, 2013 Sunday  


 Thais Cast a Wide Net For Diverse Tourists

 
BANGKOK -- Tolerance, the Thais have learned, is good for business.
In recent advertising and marketing campaigns, the government here in ''the land of smiles'' has actively gone after categories of tourists that for reasons of political sensitivity or outright discrimination are shunned in some neighboring countries.
It is the only Asian country, travel industry analysts say, that has a government-sponsored campaign -- ''Go Thai. Be Free.'' -- aimed at gay and lesbian travelers.
Thailand, which is overwhelmingly Buddhist, is also marketing itself to Muslims as a place where food prepared according to Islamic precepts is readily available and where ''halal spas'' offer separate facilities for women and men. All the leading shopping malls and the beach resort city of Pattaya have Muslim prayer rooms -- a far cry from the widespread anti-Muslim feelings in neighboring Myanmar. 
The country's efforts to welcome a broad array of travelers dovetail with longstanding laissez-faire attitudes and traditions of hospitality. But inclusiveness also pays: tourist arrivals have surged in recent years, notably from many predominantly Muslim countries, and the 22 million visitors last year were double the level of a decade ago. Tourism earned the country more than $31 billion last year, according to government statistics.
''We live in a country that is open and pretty liberal -- I can't think of a market that we wouldn't welcome,'' said Wisoot Buachoom, the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's office in the northern city of Chiang Mai, which has seen a rise in Muslim travelers in recent years.
Thailand's campaigns might not raise eyebrows in the West. But among its immediate neighbors, laws against homosexuality and religious or ethnic hostilities keep some tourists away.
Malaysia and Indonesia, both Muslim-majority countries, bar Israelis from visiting for political reasons. Thailand, by contrast, has long been one of the most popular destinations for Israeli travelers, with 120,000 Israelis visiting Thailand in 2012.
Among Thailand's Southeast Asian neighbors -- Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore -- some or all forms of sexual contact between men are illegal, although the laws are loosely or selectively enforced. In Malaysia, the leader of the political opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, has been put on trial twice for sodomy -- and twice acquitted.
In response to questions sent by e-mail, Malaysia's tourism authority said it welcomed tourists ''without any hesitation, regardless their sexuality.'' But in the same e-mail, the tourism official, who gave her name only as Nadia, said, ''Malaysia, as an Islamic country, is against the homosexuality.''
Thailand's gay and lesbian campaign, which began two years ago from the Thai tourism promotion office in New York, features a Web site that offers advice to gay travelers, links to a gay travel blog and a promotional video that features gay couples traveling around Thailand and intones, ''Go for the freedom.''
''Thailand welcomes the gay community,'' says a message displayed at the end of the video.
''We go after the affluent gay traveler,'' said Steve Johnson, a marketing manager who oversees the Thai government's gay and lesbian campaign from its New York tourism office. Gay men and lesbians often have high levels of disposable income, he said.
There are no statistics on the number of gay travelers in Thailand, but a survey carried out by Boutique, a London-based agency specializing in gay marketing, rated Thailand as the ''hottest destination'' for 2013, ahead of the United States and Argentina, which were ranked second and third.
Uwern Jong, managing director of Boutique, said a conservative estimate for the value of gay tourism in Thailand last year was $1.6 billion. He pointed out that in February, in honor of Valentine's Day, the immigration authorities established a faster lane for couples at Bangkok's main international airport, Suvarnabhumi. The policy specifically included same-sex couples, he said.
At a bar on a small side street in Silom, a district of Bangkok that is popular with gay men, Alex Cross, an Australian gay traveler who came to Thailand with his partner, said he enjoyed visiting Thailand because ''I feel there is no judgment here.''
''We've been to countries where it's illegal to be gay,'' Mr. Cross said. But in Thailand it is common to see gay couples, local and foreign, holding hands in shopping malls and other public places. ''Here we can express ourselves,'' he said.
A short drive away, at a mosque near the banks of the Chao Phraya River, Huzam Kalam, a Muslim flight attendant from Sri Lanka who was on his third visit to Bangkok, expressed a similar sentiment. ''I don't feel like I'm out of place here,'' Mr. Kalam said.
As part of the rituals of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he was ending his daytime fast at Haroon Mosque, which at 115 years old is one of the oldest in Bangkok. The mosque is nestled between a Christian high school and a Buddhist temple.
A video, ''Muslim Friendly Thailand,'' posted on Facebook by the Thai tourism authority's Dubai office, which was set up in 2007, shows Muslim families touring the country, shopping, visiting amusement parks and enjoying Middle Eastern-style food.
Thailand's efforts to lure Muslim travelers stand in contrast with anti-Muslim sentiments in Myanmar, which after years of military rule is trying to revive its tourism industry. Rampaging Buddhist mobs in Myanmar have killed scores of Muslims in a number of towns and villages over the past year, and immigration officials at the airport in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, are ''monitoring'' visitors from Muslim countries, according to a report in the Myanmar news media in mid-July.
Like Myanmar, Thailand has struggled with violence between Muslims and Buddhists. A Muslim insurgency in its far-south provinces has left 5,000 people dead over the past decade.
But Fazal Bahardeen, chief executive of Crescentrating, a company based in Singapore that rates destinations on convenience and friendliness to Muslims, says Thailand has been successful in convincing the outside world that the insurgency is being carried out by a small and relatively isolated group.
The company ranks Thailand as the third-best ''halal-friendly holiday destination'' of countries outside the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The survey is based on the availability of halal food, prayer facilities and other manifestations of sensitivity to Muslim needs. (Singapore, which has a sizable Muslim minority, was the top-rated destination, followed by Bosnia.)
Thais are ''inherently hospitable people,'' Mr. Bahardeen said.
''I keep telling tourist organizations: it's Marketing 101,'' he said. ''You're spending your own money,'' he said of foreign travelers. ''Why would you want to go to a place that doesn't welcome you?''
Maor Engel, an Israeli graphic designer with the Bangkok Tourist Center, where about 90 percent of clients are Israeli, said: ''In other countries, they will ask you where are you from and why are you here or your sexual orientation. Here they don't care. They just don't care.
''You just come here with money, that's it,'' he said. ''That's what they care about.''




4


 


August 2, 2013 Friday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION




4



 


July 15, 2013 Monday

 Dracut teen will spend senior year 10,000 miles from home (VIDEO)

 
DRACUT -- For the next eleven months, Dracut High senior Breanna Bradley will share a classroom with 135 million people.
On Aug. 20, Bradley, 17, will depart from her lifelong home on Varnum Avenue in Dracut for New York, where she will embark on 30 hours of connecting flights through Hong Kong to the island of Java, Indonesia.
There, on an island the size of New York state, home to the original Java beans, 17 active volcanoes, Komodo dragons, Sumatran tigers, all varieties of monkeys, the world's largest flower, and 135 million inhabitants who are 90 percent Muslim, Bradley will settle in with a host family in the city of Bandung to begin a yearlong immersion in Indonesian culture.
It means she will completely forgo her senior year at Dracut High. 
Bradley, who will be 18 on Sept. 26, was one of 65 high-school juniors nationwide who received 2013 scholarships to participate in the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad program, or YES, funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
She will live with a host family that speaks only broken English and will enroll in the local high school in Bandung (pronounced "Bahn-dune," Bradley learned), where she will take such courses as physics and math, taught in the native Indonesian language.
"My classes won't be given in English, so I'm really going to have to learn the language, and I am a little worried about the culture shock," Bradley said in a recent interview at her home. "At our orientation in Washington, D.C., they gave us some advice on dealing with the culture shock. Mainly, you just have to trust yourself to understand it is going to be hard, but you will get through."
Total immersion means just that, Bradley said. Until next July, there will be no return visits home for any occasion -- not her birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas or senior prom, she said.
"They want you to become completely immersed into the society and culture and learn about it -- as opposed to treating it like a vacation," she said. "That's why it's so long."
As for missing out on the fun and memory-making aspects of a traditional high-school senior year, Bradley has made peace with that.
"Obviously, I wish I could do both, but I'm glad with the decision I made," she said. "There was a lot of (friends asking): 'Why aren't you staying here? You're going to miss prom!' And I had to explain, 'This is the chance of a lifetime. It's not that I don't like you guys.' "
As her departure date draws nearer, Bradley is becoming increasingly excited about her year abroad and living with her Bandung host family that consists of a mom, dad, six host siblings and a nanny. She has exchanged emails with her host mom and dad and host sister closest in age, "who has a very long name I can't pronounce, but prefers I call her 'Ata,' and she already calls me 'Mba' meaning 'older sister' in her dialect," Bradley said.
The emails led to an interactive Skype session between Bradley in Dracut and her host family in Indonesia.
"My youngest host sibling is 8, and as we Skyped, when she finally came on camera, she kept ducking away, and finally she shouted, 'You are beautiful!' and ducked away from the camera. She's very cute and shy," Bradley said.
In awarding the competitive scholarships for the program, put together by Congress in the aftermath of 9/11 to foster better American-Muslims relations worldwide, administrators offered applicants a choice of spending their senior year of high school in either Bosnia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, South Africa, Thailand or Turkey.
Bradley's first two choices were Bosnia and Turkey, with Indonesia third. However, the more she learned about her third choice -- including by speaking at the Washington, D.C., orientation session in early July with Indonesian students and Indonesia's ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Dino Djalal -- the more Bradley viewed Indonesia as best suited to her, she said.
Bradley said Indonesians generally are known for their smiling and sunny dispositions and their penchant for singing aloud, another reason she believes her host nation is a good match. Bradley is a singer, dancer and theatrical performer by nature, having danced since age 3, and attends Nikki Taylor Dance Centre in Dracut. She is also a member of the DHS choir, and performed in the school's fall play, "The Musical."
What she hasn't done much is travel.
"Domestically, I've been to Florida a lot, but I've never seen the West Coast," Bradley said. "I've left the country once, on a family cruise for two days to the Bahamas."
With her trip to Indonesia, the tropical crossroads between mainland Asia to the north and Australia to the south, and located below the Equator nearly 10,000 miles from Dracut, Breanna's personal travelogue is about to transform dramatically. So noted her proud, and recently less apprehensive, mother, SueEllen Bradley.
"At first, I was very unsure and didn't want to let her go," SueEllen Bradley said. "But we've been through several orientations now, and the more I've learned about the people in the country and the program, I'm definitely more comfortable with it.
"Of course, I'm going to miss her, going off a year earlier than she normally would. But it's definitely a good program," she added. "I'm very proud of her."
Bradley's closest friends in Dracut expressed similar concerns, especially upon learning that she's headed to an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, she said.
"Once people heard 'Muslim,' it can take on a negative connotation, and a lot of my friends were concerned about my safety," Bradley said. "Once they learned the program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department, and safety is their top priority, and that I'd protected, they were OK with that."
By the time she returns home next summer, Bradley hopes to gain admission to a Washington-based college or university and take courses related to a career in international relations or diplomacy.
In a blog she has begun posting to chronicle her YES Abroad experience,breesindonesia.blogspot.com , she recalled coming up with the idea of studying abroad as a sophomore.
"I have always loved different cultures and people, and I guess something just clicked," Bradley writes in her blog. "I felt as though living in a different country and becoming fully immersed into another culture very unlike my own was something that I had to do."
Bradley gained further inspiration to embrace the YES Abroad experience from a video clip of then-President John F. Kennedy speaking to foreign-exchange students in 1963.
"Although his speech was given 50 years ago, JFK's message is relevant today," Bradley said. "He explained that by going and living in a foreign country, you decrease hate through understanding and promote a more peaceful world, especially among the younger population."
According to Lakeview Junior High history teacher Rebecca Duda, who was Bradley's National Junior Honor Society adviser, the town of Dracut and YES Abroad organizers could not have picked a better student-ambassador to Indonesia.
"Breanna has always displayed the best qualities of a Dracut student -- outgoing, studious, dedicated," Duda said. "It doesn't surprise me she is participating in the program. She's an exceptional young lady."
Follow John Collins on Twitter on johncolowellsun.




4


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

July 10, 2013 Wednesday

 Montclair: Brownie troop makes donation to Indonesian library

 
OAKLAND -- Elizabeth Collins visited Girl Scout Troop 32103 on the morning of June 22 to thank the Brownies for their recent fundraising efforts to restock a library in the Indonesian village of Purwakarta with books. 
Collins is a professor of world religions at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, and an expert on Southeast Asia. She also chairs the Berkeley-based nonprofit "People to Aid People in Support of Nurani Dunia," which she founded in 1999 with an Indonesian colleague, Imam Prasodjo.
Collins gave the girls a brief pictorial-based history of the island nation, touching on the tsunami that devastated the country in 2004. Collins also introduced the girls to the children that their donation would help. The girls will send letters and photos to the Indonesian children, establishing a pen pal relationship.
"They are starved for books. Books are like magic," said Collins, who explained that Indonesian children do not have books in their homes. All the books are at the community centers and libraries.
Collins went on to explain that in the past there were few books in Indonesia, especially outside of the capital city, Jakarta, showing the girls photos of the empty shelves. Collins became part of a nationwide campaign, "Read Indonesia."
The Brownies presented their check for $175 to Collins, who thanked them, saying "We will be able to buy a lot of books with this money."
The Brownies fundraising effort took place in May, when they sold homemade treats for people and dogs in the Montclair Farmers Market to raise money for the Indonesian village. The village's library burned to the ground a few years ago.
The village of Purwakarta is located at the bottom of a mountain and the school is at the top of the mountain. The library was located halfway in between and served as a resting spot where the children would stop to read books after school.
"I liked knowing about it (Indonesia)," said Isadora Collins, 9. "I learned about the tsunami. It was horrible. I think that it is really nice that we are helping them."
"I learned that books are their favorite thing in the world," said Ellie Atkinson, 9. "They are new to them, and they love them a lot."
"I feel really bad. I didn't know that there was a tsunami," said 9-year-old Clara Boero. They should have more books and better schools so they can learn as much as us."
Collins began building schools with Nurani Dunia in 2000, after Gen. Suharto, who had ruled the country for three decades, resigned following religious conflict between Christians and Muslims in eastern Indonesia.
The school-building project has expanded from conflict areas to include rural areas and involves community participation for planning education and establishing libraries, Collins said.




4



 


July 9, 2013 Tuesday

 Don't view Egypt's coup with a Western lens; 
Some American analysts welcomed the ouster of Egypt's democratically elected president because it removed a political Islamist and opened the way for secularists. This Western thinking endangers democracy in Egypt. Integrating Islamists into politics is essential in the Arab world.

 
A chorus of liberal US foreign policy voices welcomed the July 3 ouster of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. This was a "good military coup" that American liberals should support, they argued, because it was done in the name of the people, it advances progressive values, and most importantly, it removes political Islamists from power and opens the door for Egyptian secularists.
These arguments bring to mind a famous line attributed to a US major in Vietnam: "It became necessary to destroy the town [in order] to save it." Their assumptions and reasoning do not stand up to critical scrutiny.
This coup marks a colossal setback for the prospects for a democratic Egypt. An intractable and unaccountable military has returned to the center of politics, a fact that makes the American voices cheering Morsi's ouster all the more astounding. Such approbation, however, reflects a deeper Western philosophical problem: namely, how to think about the development of democracy in Muslim societies.
This philosophical problem is both historical and cultural, and it has contaminated intellectual debate in the West on Muslim societies for centuries. It is fundamentally a problem of enduring Euro-centrism; a reluctance to understand the Islamic world through the prism of its own historical experience instead of the Western one. The essential questions are: Can we think differently about the relationship between religion and political development? Are there alternative paths to modernity whereby Islamist groups can effectively contribute to democratization?
The challenge of democracy in Muslim societies cannot be comprehended by using the same interpretative framework routinely used to assess US politics. Americans should be wary of comparing - and then judging - developed societies with those in the developing world.
Analytical distortions result from measuring the politics of modern post-industrial societies - where a consolidation of democracy has long taken place and where the basic norms of society have been democratically negotiated - against those societies that have long been under authoritarian rule and where the basic rules of society have not yet been negotiated. This applies especially to the normative role of religion in public life, which is only beginning to be debated in the Arab world.
This intellectual problem is connected to the natural yet erroneous tendency to assume that the Western historical experience is universal, especially on questions of religion and secularism. The misguided assumption is that because the West - after centuries of bloodshed and experimentation - has arrived at a broad liberal, secular consensus, the same should be true of the rest of the world. This blind spot has inhibited a grasp of political development in Muslim societies where the path to democracy will take a long time and cannot avoid the gates of religious politics.
The modernization experience of the Arab-Islamic world has been qualitatively different from the Western one. For complex reasons rooted in the failures of the post-colonial state, modernization has produced strong religious-based opposition movements and weak secular groups in deeply polarized societies.
With the Arab Spring, it was hoped that this polarity would gradually diminish with the demise of long-standing dictators and the transition to democracy. The logic of multi-party politics, democratic accountability, and a robust civil society would inevitably lead to ideological transformation, political compromise, and democratic learning. This was conditional, however, on the democratic process remaining on track.
In Egypt after the 2011 fall of Hosni Mubarak, the transition was underway with all its predictable challenges, controversies, and chaos - largely the legacy of the old regime. The military was in retreat and Egyptians went to the polls six times (for various road-map, presidential, parliamentary, and constitutional balloting). Each time, the Muslim Brotherhood prevailed.
As many had predicted, the Brotherhood's first attempt at exercising power highlighted its incompetence. Morsi made one bad decision after another and his party's popularity plummeted. The Brotherhood was headed for certain defeat in the coming parliamentary elections. This would likely have led to a period of soul-searching and internal debate. A more inclusive and moderate offshoot might have emerged. Now, we will never know.
What Western liberals fail to appreciate is that integrating Islamists into formal politics is an essential part of the struggle for democracy in the Arab-Islamic world. The prospects of this happening have now been dealt a serious blow. The lesson that Islamists will learn is that respecting the rules of democracy do not matter, because when they win elections, their opponents do not respect the same rules. It is now likely that a process of radicalization will poison the politics of Egypt and the broader Islamic world for years to come.
Twenty years ago, US Ambassador Edward Djerejian, in a famous speech, wondered if Islamists could be trusted to respect the rules of democracy. Reflecting a widespread concern, he suggested the problem was a conception of democracy that amounted to "one man, one vote, one time." Recent events in Egypt have turned this equation on its head. It is not mainstream Islamists, but certain liberal and secularist groups, in alliance with the military, who have subverted the democratic process.
All of this suggests a need for rethinking the Western approach and assumptions about the struggle for democracy in the Arab-Islamic World. The standard formulas and paradigms, drawn from Western history, as to which political constituencies are better agents of democratization, break down upon examination. This also applies to political struggles in "established" Muslim democracies such as Turkey and Indonesia, as well as in "developing" democracies such as Tunisia and Morocco.
For those who seek a genuine understanding of challenges facing democracy in the Middle East, what is required at this moment is a degree of humility and reflection about a coup that topples a civilian government, regardless of how incompetent that government may be.
Nader Hashemi is the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. His most recent book is "The Syria Dilemma" (MIT Press, 2013).




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July 9, 2013 Tuesday  
The International Herald Tribune

 Lessons for Cairo From Jakarta, Manila and Elsewhere

 
The Egyptian Army's intervention to remove President Mohamed Morsi may have pleased liberal opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood that backed his election last year, but it has dashed hopes that the middle-class-led overthrow of the Mubarak regime in 2011 would yield a stable democratic order.
The recent events in Egypt illuminate the challenges any country faces when making the transition to democracy: Authoritarian leaders may come and go, but the security forces that back them seldom submit so easily to the will of people. For even as military leaders make it possible for unpopular leaders to be removed, they tend to linger in the wings, ready to reassert their power when fragile popularly elected transitional governments fail, as they often do. 
There are lessons Egypt could learn from the Asian experience, in particular from Indonesia, where the army was slung out of power with the downfall of the Suharto regime in 1998. Since then, the military has been effectively contained by a legal framework grounded in civilian supremacy.
One of the weaknesses of political development in both Asia and the Middle East has been the failure to build a strong institutional foundation for democratic reform. Part of the problem is the archaic security and legal frameworks inherited from the colonial era that were designed to protect those in power.
In addition, personality tends to trump ideology, and the resulting vacuum stymies growth of political parties that promote sensible social and economic platforms. The first priority after any popular uprising is to hold elections, but people end up voting along emotional, often sectarian lines at a time when politicians give little thought to what they should responsibly and collectively do with their newly won freedom, other than seek power and promote their own interests.
With the ensuing chaos and disappointment, the military becomes a life raft. It is usually the strongest institution, with the clearest vision of what the nation needs. Military chiefs first staunchly back the forces of democratic change and insist they have no designs on power. But when sectarian violence is the byproduct of the first blush of freedom, as it so often is, the army's sense of guardianship over the integrity the state, including the need to guard its own economic interests, eclipses any respect for civilian primacy.
So why has Indonesia bucked the trend? Like Egypt, Indonesia's transition was messy. Following Suharto's downfall, the country was convulsed by violence: More than 5,000 people died in a vicious war between Christians and Muslims in eastern Indonesia. Many felt that disgruntled military elements were stirring the religious pot to justify a return to power in the ensuing chaos.
Perhaps the main reason the military stayed on the sidelines is because the army has become a principal source of civilian political leadership. Leading military figures demonstrated their commitment to the democratic process from the start, not by challenging it when things went wrong, but by standing for election. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has been elected for two terms and will step down in 2014, was not only a four-star general but once directed the army's office of social and political affairs tasked with overseeing the military's role in politics.
Instead of squandering the army's proud association with the founding of the nation, the Indonesian Army embraced freedom and popular sovereignty. It has helped greatly that Indonesia continues to be governed under the same 1945 Constitution. More importantly, the military is still able to pursue private business interests to support its budget -- and therefore fund and influence political campaigns.
Each transition is unique. Egypt today could be more easily compared with the Philippines in the 1980s and '90s, when the army helped topple the Marcos dictatorship by supporting a popular uprising, but then continued to meddle in politics when the generals felt their interests were affected. It was only in the last decade that the army was finally tamed.
In Myanmar the military has instituted strong safeguards to assure its hold on power, dominating the ruling political party and stacking the cabinet of general-turned-president Thein Sein. Even so, active military officers are among the more energetic reformers: They have liberalized the media and pursued peace with armed ethnic groups. But there are constant fears that the violence between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims has been mobilized by conservative forces bent on undermining the transition to democracy.
Thailand offers a salutary lesson: Even after more than two decades of democratic government the military can intervene when it feels its interests have been threatened. The 2006 military coup took everyone by surprise. Yet just as in Egypt today, there were many liberals who embraced the military-led junta because they felt that the army was turfing out a corrupt government. But the legacy of that intervention is a deep societal divide that has bred violence and proven impossible to reconcile.
In the end, the middle classes who are at the forefront of these transitions are mainly to blame. On the one hand, they aspire to the freedom promised by democracy; they have the resources and education to mobilize mass protests and articulate demands. On the other hand, there is ambivalence.
In Pakistan the landed elites stood by while the military stepped in to protect their wealth by restoring stability. But today if you ask middle-class Pakistanis whether that was worth it, they are filled with regret, which is why one of their former rulers, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is under house arrest and will stand trial for treason. As one Pakistani tweeted to Egyptian friends: If you think the military is the answer, big mistake.
Michael Vatikiotis is Asia regional director of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue.




5


 Southeastern Newspapers Corporation
 
The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)

June 29, 2013 Saturday  


 SECRET NO-FLY LIST BLAMED FOR AMERICAN'S LAYOVER IN BANGKOK

 
For two weeks, Rehan Motiwala, 29,a medical student from Pomona, Calif., sat stranded at the Bangkok airport, sleeping for 10 nights on a roach-infested mattress in a dank, windowless detention room reserved for deportees.
Motiwala, a U.S. citizen, wanted to return to his family in Southern California. But earlier this month, en route from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Los Angeles International Airport, airline staff in Bangkok refused to issue him a boarding pass for his connecting flight. U.S. and Thai officials told him that he could not travel but offered no explanation, leading him to believe he had been placed on the U.S. government's secret no-fly list.
After dozing on benches and wandering the airport terminal for four nights, Motiwala was told that a Justice Department official had arrived from the U.S. to question him. When he declined to answer questions without a lawyer present, U.S. officials left him in the custody of Thai authorities, who tossed him into a detention center in the bowels of Suvarnabhumi Airport. 
"They treat you like an animal," Motiwala said in a phone interview.
Motiwala's travel nightmare ended Friday morning, when he was finally granted permission to fly out of Bangkok. But his ordeal underscores the mystery that continues to surround the no-fly list 12 years after its creation.
U.S. officials refuse to say who is on the list or why, arguing that any explanation could alert potential terrorists about who is being watched.
In 2010, after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the no-fly list, the government said that it had created a procedure to bring American citizens and permanent residents stuck overseas back to the U.S. regardless of their no-fly status. The goal was to "quickly resolve the travel issues of U.S. persons located abroad," a senior FBI official told a federal court at the time.
Cases such as Motiwala's show how the government has failed to carry out that policy, civil rights groups say.
"The onus is really on the government to facilitate the return of this person," said Fatima Dadabhoy, an attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles, which is representing Motiwala. "Whether or not they're on the no-fly list, they can still come home."
While travelers can petition to be removed from the no-fly list, civil liberties advocates say the De-partment of Homeland Security's redress process is so opaque that the only way to know whether you've been cleared is to attempt to fly again.
State and Justice Department officials in Washington offered no information about Motiwala's status, saying they couldn't discuss specific cases. A Justice official said that about 20,000 people were on the no-fly list as of October, including between 500 and 1,000 U.S. citizens. Experts say that cases of travelers being stuck in an airport are rare.
Motiwala, whose parents are of Pakistani origin, was not told why he might be on the list. A likely possibility is his contact with Tablighi Jamaat, a conservative Muslim missionary movement based in South Asia. He took leave from medical school last year, traveled to Pakistan to visit relatives and went to Indonesia to work with the group, whose members travel the world proselytizing for Islam.
Tablighi Jamaat is widely regarded as peaceful and apolitical, but U.S. and European law enforcement officials in the past have raised questions about its connections to radical Islam.




5


 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.
 
Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

June 29, 2013 Saturday

 Sect Seeks Tolerance, Peace In Roots Of Islam; 
Thousands Of Ahmadiyya Muslims Gather At National Convention In Harrisburg

 
Staff Writer
jrutter@lnpnews.com
It's a long road from India's peace-preaching 1800s villager, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, to 9/11.
Reformist Ahmadiyya Muslim followers, gathering in Harrisburg this weekend for the fourth year in a row, say they want to get back to the tolerant roots of their religion. 
"The word Islam means peace," said Dr. Mubashir Mumtaz, a Harrisburg heart surgeon publicizing the annual Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA meeting. "Islam does not teach the destruction of community or society."
The conference has been held for 65 years.
This year's edition, which started Friday and ends Sunday at the Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, 2300 N. Cameron St., will feature ethnic food, prayer and talks about "Finding God in Youth," "Avoiding the Drug Culture" and "Muhammad, Messenger of Peace," among other topics.
The event is expected to draw about 10,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims from North America and abroad, and about 1,000 non-Muslims.
A visitor period is scheduled from 3:30-6:30 p.m. today, but Mumtaz said the public may come in any time.
Guests are asked to register by calling 800-949-4752 or emailing convention@muslimsforpeace.org
All are welcome and accepted as equals, said Mumtaz, echoing the thinking of the "promised messiah," Ahmad, who lived from 1835 to 1908.
Mumtaz said Ahmad, in turn, reflected the 1,400-year-old-plus teachings of Islam's seminal prophet, Muhammad.
Among them: tolerance and respect for all lives and religions and "spiritual equality" for women.
"We take it for granted today in Western countries," said Mumtaz, a native Pakistani and 1994 emigré to the United States.
"It was so refreshing and so relieving to come to the United States," added Mumtaz, who said members of his group in Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh are persecuted for their beliefs, and sometimes murdered, by extremist Muslims.
"Our community is at the forefront of combating extremism in the name of Islam," Mumtaz said, but all jihad, or struggle, must be "the jihad of the pen."
And good works.
Mumtaz said his group's blood drive collects thousands of bags of blood a year in memory of the September 11 terror victims.
The aid organization it created, Humanity First, responds to natural disasters, most recently the Oklahoma tornadoes.
Orthodox Muslims consider Ahmad heretical because he declared himself a prophet.
But the Islamic sect he founded in 1889 has grown to "tens of millions" of members in more than 200 countries, according the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA.
The group was established in the United States in 1920.
Mumtaz said the southcentral Pennsylvania chapter has nearly 300 members, including two Lancaster County families.
Naveed Rahman, 17, of Manheim, said his grandparents converted just before World War II.
"I've gone [to the conference] almost every year for 10 years," said Rahman, a recent Manheim Central High School graduate and president's award recipient.
The peace component of his faith especially inspires him, added Rahman, who is inviting a non-Muslim family to Harrisburg this year.
"The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Muslim organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form."




5



 
The Capital (Annapolis, MD)

June 23, 2013 Sunday

 Facebook broke Indonesia terror case

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Sefa Riano didn't try to hide his plans or his beliefs. A Facebook page that police traced to him is plastered with photos of bearded men in camouflage uniforms holding rifles and banners hailing "The Spirit of Jihad."
One status update in late April apologizes to his parents before telling them goodbye. Another declares ominously, "God willing, I will take action at the Myanmar Embassy, hope you will share responsibility for my struggle." It ends with a yellow smiley face.
Days later, police arrested Riano, whose Facebook name is Mambo Wahab, just before midnight in central Jakarta. Police say he and another man were on a motorbike carrying a backpack filled with five low-explosive pipe bombs tied together. Riano, 29, is awaiting charges related to allegations that he plotted to bomb the embassy to protest the persecution of Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
A police investigator revealed Riano's connection to the page, which was still online Thursday, to The Associated Press. The investigator spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to reporters. 
The investigator said Riano caused his own downfall by publicizing his mission on Facebook, but added that police believe it was another Facebook page that drew him to radical Islam to begin with.
Police said a growing number of young people in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, are being targeted for recruitment by terrorists on the social media site. More than one in four of the country's 240 million people are on Facebook, thanks in large part to cheap and fast Internet-capable phones.
While it is not clear how many terrorists are actually recruited through Facebook, the use of social networking to groom potential attackers poses new challenges for authorities struggling to eradicate militant groups that have been weakened over the last 10 years.
Though Facebook shuts down pages that promote terrorism when it learns of them, police say new pages are easily created and some have attracted thousands of followers.
Muhammad Taufiqurrohman, an analyst from the Center for Radicalism and De-radicalization Studies who works closely with Indonesian anti-terrorism officials, said 50 to 100 militants in the country have been recruited directly through Facebook over the past two years.
He said there are at least 18 radical Facebook groups in Indonesia, and one of them has 7,000 members. Police said some sites where radical discussion takes place focus on Islam, while others engage in talk about committing violence, such as how to make bombs.
Access is blocked unless group administrators allow users to participate.
Fred Wolens, a Facebook spokesman, said the company bars "promotion of terrorism" and "direct statements of hate." Where abusive content is posted and reported, Facebook removes it and disables the account, he said.
Gatot S. Dewabroto, spokesman for Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Information, said Facebook responds quickly when officials ask them to remove such content. But he added that after one page is blocked, others quickly spring up.
William McCants, a former U.S. State Department analyst who studies online Islamic extremism for the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses, said governments in many countries "are just waking up to the fact that the conversation (about extremism) is moving to newer social media platforms."
"On Facebook and Twitter, you can really go after people who broadly share your ideology but haven't really committed themselves to violence," he said.
Indonesian police say Facebook is one of many places where they've found terrorist activity online. They have detected militants using online games for attack drills.
A group was caught uploading propaganda videos on YouTube and terrorists are known to have purchased weapons using video calls, said Brig. Gen. Petrus Reinhard Golose, the director of operations at Indonesia's anti-terrorism agency.
Golose said the Internet was used to organize recent terrorist acts in the country, including a 2010 attack on police in Solo and a police mosque bombing in Cirebon a year later. He did not elaborate on how the Web was used.
Terrorists have used the Internet for many years, but usually anonymously. Groups such as al-Qaida have employed online discussion forums where people left comments but did not directly interact.
Today's smartphone generation appears to be operating more openly: As of Thursday, Riano still had about 900 Facebook friends.
The police investigator said authorities were alerted about "Mambo Wahab's" Myanmar bombing status update by other Internet users. Police used information collected from arrested militants in Riano's online networks to track his Web footprint.
After getting his Internet Protocol address and eventually linking that to a mobile phone, authorities say they were able to tap into conversations involving Riano and the plot's alleged mastermind, the investigator said.
The Mambo Wahab page has not been updated since Riano's arrest May 3. Some people in Indonesian jails - even on death row - manage to post status updates, though others may be acting on their behalf.
Some Indonesian police want the law to address online communications that advocate or abet terrorism. Indonesia's information technology laws ban only pornography and illegal online financial transactions.
Police Maj. Surya Putra, who is researching terrorists' use of the Internet at the Institute of Police Science, said intelligence collected online cannot currently be used as evidence in court.
"There are no laws that can effectively charge people who spread hatred," he said.
The government is drafting legislation that would criminalize hate speech and online terrorism activities.
Putra said that although police are starting to surf the Internet as part of their work, many of those arrested for terrorism-linked activities on Facebook were caught not because of cyber patrolling, but because police received tips about their accounts.
Those cases include nine militants, including one woman, who were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail for funding terrorism activities by hacking into a Malaysian website and defrauding the company out $800,000 in cash and assets.
Indonesia has fought terrorism aggressively since the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. There have been no large-scale attacks for several years, though there have been several smaller strikes targeting mainly the government, police and anti-terrorism forces.
Well-funded terror networks have been disrupted, but radical clerics continue to spread their ideology to militants who set up military-style training camps.
Sidney Jones, a Jakarta-based terrorism analyst from the International Crisis Group, said that although terrorists groups' Internet use is growing, they still do most of their recruiting face-to-face at traditional places such as prayer meetings.
She said Riano's case is the first time she's seen a group brought together by Facebook.
She said the site is a "really stupid" way to recruit new members because it lacks privacy and no systematic way to vet credentials. But she added that even amateurish efforts to commit terrorism can cause mayhem and must be taken seriously.
Ansyaad Mbai, who heads Indonesia's anti-terrorism agency, said Facebook has become "an effective tool for mass radicalization," and that police need more authority to respond to online behavior.
"We can't do it alone," he said. "... Radical sermons and jihadist sites are just a mouse click away."




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June 21, 2013 Friday  


 Extremism Rises Among Myanmar Buddhists

 
TAUNGGYI, Myanmar -- After a ritual prayer atoning for past sins, Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist monk with a rock-star following in Myanmar, sat before an overflowing crowd of thousands of devotees and launched into a rant against what he called ''the enemy'' -- the country's Muslim minority.
''You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,'' Ashin Wirathu said, referring to Muslims.
''I call them troublemakers, because they are troublemakers,'' Ashin Wirathu told a reporter after his two-hour sermon. ''I am proud to be called a radical Buddhist.'' 
The world has grown accustomed to a gentle image of Buddhism defined by the self-effacing words of the Dalai Lama, the global popularity of Buddhist-inspired meditation and postcard-perfect scenes from Southeast Asia and beyond of crimson-robed, barefoot monks receiving alms from villagers at dawn.
But over the past year, images of rampaging Burmese Buddhists carrying swords and the vituperative sermons of monks like Ashin Wirathu have underlined the rise of extreme Buddhism in Myanmar -- and revealed a darker side of the country's greater freedoms after decades of military rule. Buddhist lynch mobs have killed more than 200 Muslims and forced more than 150,000 people, mostly Muslims, from their homes.
Ashin Wirathu denies any role in the riots. But his critics say that at the very least his anti-Muslim preaching is helping to inspire the violence.
What began last year on the fringes of Burmese society has grown into a nationwide movement whose agenda now includes boycotts of Muslim-made goods. Its message is spreading through regular sermons across the country that draw thousands of people and through widely distributed DVDs of those talks. Buddhist monasteries associated with the movement are also opening community centers and a Sunday school program for 60,000 Buddhist children nationwide.
The hate-filled speeches and violence have endangered Myanmar's path to democracy, raising questions about the government's ability to keep the country's towns and cities safe and its willingness to crack down or prosecute Buddhists in a Buddhist-majority country. The killings have also reverberated in Muslim countries across the region, tarnishing what was almost universally seen abroad as a remarkable and rare peaceful transition from military rule to democracy. In May, the Indonesian authorities foiled what they said was a plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta in retaliation for the assaults on Muslims.
Ashin Wirathu, the spiritual leader of the radical movement, skates a thin line between free speech and incitement, taking advantage of loosened restrictions on expression during a fragile time of transition. He was himself jailed for eight years by the now-defunct military junta for inciting hatred. Last year, as part of a release of hundreds of political prisoners, he was freed.
In his recent sermon, he described the reported massacre of schoolchildren and other Muslim inhabitants in the central city of Meiktila in March, documented by a human rights group, as a show of strength.
''If we are weak,'' he said, ''our land will become Muslim.''
Buddhism would seem to have a secure place in Myanmar. Nine in 10 people are Buddhist, as are nearly all the top leaders in the business world, the government, the military and the police. Estimates of the Muslim minority range from 4 percent to 8 percent of Myanmar's roughly 55 million people while the rest are mostly Christian or Hindu.
But Ashin Wirathu, who describes himself as a nationalist, says Buddhism is under siege by Muslims who are having more children than Buddhists and buying up Buddhist-owned land. In part, he is tapping into historical grievances that date from British colonial days when Indians, many of them Muslims, were brought into the country as civil servants and soldiers.
The muscular and nationalist messages he has spread have alarmed Buddhists in other countries.
The Dalai Lama, after the riots in March, said killing in the name of religion was ''unthinkable'' and urged Myanmar's Buddhists to contemplate the face of the Buddha for guidance.
Phra Paisal Visalo, a Buddhist scholar and prominent monk in neighboring Thailand, says the notion of ''us and them'' promoted by Myanmar's radical monks is anathema to Buddhism. But he lamented that his criticism and that of other leading Buddhists outside the country have had ''very little impact.''
''Myanmar monks are quite isolated and have a thin relationship with Buddhists in other parts of the world,'' Phra Paisal said. One exception is Sri Lanka, another country historically bedeviled by ethnic strife. Burmese monks have been inspired by the assertive political role played by monks from Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority.
As Myanmar has grown more polarized, there have been nascent signs of a backlash against the anti-Muslim preaching.
Among the most disappointed with the outbreaks of violence and hateful rhetoric are some of the leaders of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, a peaceful uprising led by Buddhist monks against military rule.
''We were not expecting this violence when we chanted for peace and reconciliation in 2007,'' said the abbot of Pauk Jadi monastery, Ashin Nyana Nika, 55, who attended a meeting earlier this month sponsored by Muslim groups to discuss the issue. (Ashin is the honorific for Burmese monks.) Ashin Sanda Wara, the head of a monastic school in Yangon, says the monks in the country are divided nearly equally between moderates and extremists.
He considers himself in the moderate camp. But as a measure of the deeply ingrained suspicions toward Muslims in the society, he said he was ''afraid of Muslims because their population is increasing so rapidly.''
Ashin Wirathu has tapped into that anxiety, which some describe as the ''demographic pressures'' coming from neighboring Bangladesh. There is wide disdain in Myanmar for a group of about one million stateless Muslims, who call themselves Rohingya, some of whom migrated from Bangladesh. Clashes between the Rohingya and Buddhists last year in western Myanmar roiled the Buddhist community and appear to have played a role in later outbreaks of violence throughout the country. Ashin Wirathu said they served as his inspiration to spread his teachings.
The theme song to Ashin Wirathu's movement speaks of people who ''live in our land, drink our water, and are ungrateful to us.''
''We will build a fence with our bones if necessary,'' runs the song's refrain. Muslims are not explicitly mentioned in the song but Ashin Wirathu said the lyrics refer to them. Pamphlets handed out at his sermon demonizing Muslims said that ''Myanmar is currently facing a most dangerous and fearful poison that is severe enough to eradicate all civilization.''
Many in Myanmar speculate, without offering proof, that Ashin Wirathu is allied with hard-line Buddhist elements in the country who want to harness the nationalism of his movement to rally support ahead of elections in 2015. Ashin Wirathu denies any such links.
But the government has done little to rein him in. During Ashin Wirathu's visit here in Taunggyi, traffic policemen cleared intersections for his motorcade.
Once inside the monastery, as part of a highly choreographed visit, his followers led a procession through crowds of followers who prostrated themselves as he passed.
Ashin Wirathu's movement calls itself 969, three digits that monks say symbolize the virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist community.
Stickers with the movement's logo are now ubiquitous nationwide on cars, motorcycles and shops. The movement has also begun a signature campaign calling for a ban on interfaith marriages, and pamphlets are distributed at sermons listing Muslim brands and shops to be avoided.
In Mawlamyine, a multicultural city southeast of Yangon, a monastery linked to the 969 movement has established the courses of Buddhist instruction for children, which it calls ''Sunday dhamma schools.'' Leaders of the monasteries there seek to portray their campaign as a sort of Buddhist revivalist movement.
''The main thing is that our religion and our nationality don't disappear,'' said Ashin Zadila, a senior monk at the Myazedi Nanoo monastery outside the city.
Yet despite efforts at describing the movement as nonthreatening, many Muslims are worried.
Two hours before Ashin Wirathu rolled into Taunggyi in a motorcade that included 60 honking motorcycles, Tun Tun Naing, a Muslim vendor in the city's central market, spoke of the visit in a whisper.
''I'm really frightened,'' he said, stopping in midsentence when customers entered his shop. ''We tell the children not to go outside unless absolutely necessary.''




5


 VNU Business Media, Inc.
 

hollywoodreporter.com

June 19, 2013 Wednesday

 Jeremy Irons in Taormina: 'Nothing More Dangerous Than a Man, a Stage, and a Microphone'

 
TAORMINA, Sicily - Jeremy Irons stole the show at the Taormina Film Festival Wednesday, after a meandering and well-received Tao Class discourse for local students, journalists, and other onlookers and then a Teatro Antico prize ceremony in which he playfully wagged his finger at previous presenters whose slow-moving remarks pushed the start of the evening's main screening, crime drama Java Heat, more than an hour behind schedule. 
Irons, 64, was at the festival in connection with Trashed, a documentary he produced and starred in, about the worldwide problem of waste. The film, Irons' debut as a producer, screened earlier in the day to a small but enthusiastic crowd.
STORY: 'The Lone Ranger' to Close Italy's Taormina Festival 
The actor's Tao Class discourse drew a bigger crowd and was even better received, as Irons opined on a wide variety of topics, ranging from acting ("The profession is now 10 percent acting and 90 percent trying to sell the work," he said), to over confidence ("If you believe you are good looking, have a good voice, are a good actor, it only screws you up"), to the European debt crisis ("This is Germany's third attempt to take over Europe in the last 100 years. We should say to them, 'We're sorry, we don't have your money, you were stupid to loan it to us, but now it's gone' and leave it at that"). He addressed the crowd in a very personal manner, at one point sitting atop the back of his chair -- and nearly tumbling backwards -- so that the burgeoning crowd could see him better.
Irons was the guest of honor ahead of the evening screening of Conor Allyn's Java Heat, which tells the story of a Muslim detective and an American student who team up to person behind a terrorist bombing in Indonesia. But the prize ceremony preceding the film was delayed by more than an hour by a slow moving prize ceremony for a local journalism honor marked by long remarks from the honorees and presenters.
When it was finally time to honor Irons with the festival's Taormina Arte prize, the man festival artistic director Mario Sesti called "one of the greatest living actors" took some small jabs at those who preceded him on stage. "I'll keep this short," he said. "Because I have learned tonight that there is nothing more dangerous than a man, a stage, and a microphone," sparking laughter in the crowd of more than 1,000.
STORY: Taormina Fest Taps Mario Sesti as Artistic Director 
Irons also said his visit to Taormina was his first since shooting period drama Nijinsky in 1980, and he was nostalgic about seeing the picturesque cliff-side town again after so many years.
With the day's activities, the 59-year-old festival enters the home stretch. Starting with the screening of Zach Snyder's Man of Steel, his interpretation of the Superman saga, last Saturday (with Snyder and most of the film's stars on hand) and closing with Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger this Saturday, Irons was one of the mid-festival highlights, along with Meg Ryan who has yet to arrive.
Twitter: @EricJLyman




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June 18, 2013 Tuesday  
The International Herald Tribune

 Touting Islam to Draw Votes in Indonesia

 
BOGOR, Indonesia -- With its tree-lined streets, Dutch colonial buildings and soothing botanical gardens, the quaint West Java mountain town of Bogor hardly appears a hotbed of religious intolerance. Yet Bogor is on the front line of a national debate in Indonesia about religious freedom, amid an increase in discrimination and violent attacks against minority Christians and Islamic sects.
The battle of Bogor centers on its mayor, Diani Budiarto, who for two years has ignored a Supreme Court order to reinstate a building permit he revoked in 2008 for a local Christian congregation, known as GKI Yasmin, and sealed off its church construction site.
The Yasmin case has drawn international attention, including from the Vatican, the United Nations and the U.S. State Department. However, Mr. Diani, who is Muslim, insists he is not discriminating against Christians, but only following national regulations on houses of worship. He said 8 of the 60 required signatures from local residents supporting the new church were forged. 
''This is an issue of regulations,'' Mr. Diani said in an interview. ''It's not a religious issue.''
But many analysts, Christian groups, and religious and human rights advocates say the issue is very much about religion, not just in Bogor but across Indonesia. They link it to the implementation of regional autonomy in 1999 as part of the country's transition toward democracy after the late President Suharto's three decades of highly centralized, authoritarian rule.
They cite the advent of direct elections of provincial district chiefs and mayors beginning in 2005, which has resulted in local governments increasingly touting Islam to curry favor among voters in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
''Religion is a popular election issue locally,'' said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a prominent political analyst and adviser to Vice President Boediono. ''Voters are attracted to conservative religious issues.''
Although Indonesia has a secular Constitution and influential Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities, 282 of its 491 provincial districts have bylaws inspired by Shariah, or Islamic law, a 55 percent increase since 2009, according to the independent National Commission on Violence Against Women. Although most of these bylaws focus on Muslim women, such as requiring them to wear Islamic headdress and separating them from men in public places, 31 apply to religious minorities, including restrictions on religious practices by the Ahmadiyah and Shiite Islamic sects.
In drawing up these bylaws, analysts say, local district chiefs have often tried to appeal to hard-line Islamic groups, including some known for using violence, or shared their ideology.
''This is all about local elections,'' said Andy Yentriyani, deputy chairwoman of the National Commission. ''They know they can get votes from Shariah bylaws as well as bylaws that are religious discrimination.'' The shift in power to the local authorities has been accompanied by a surge in religious violence. The Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, a nongovernmental organization, counted 264 violent attacks on religious minorities last year, up from 244 in 2011 and 216 in 2010.
The violence has continued this year, with the firebombing of four churches on Sulawesi Island, the demolition of another in West Java by a local district government, attacks and protests against Ahmadiyah and Shiite followers, and the jailing of a Christian pastor for holding a religious service without a permit.
Throughout this, the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who took office in 2004, has steadfastly avoided involvement in local religious disputes.
''The central government, from the minister of home affairs to President Yudhoyono, does not have the political will to force those district chiefs and mayors to respect the 1945 Constitution and other laws and regulations'' regarding religious freedom and secularism, said Azyumardi Azra, a prominent Muslim scholar and director of the graduate school at the State Islamic University in Jakarta.
He said that under the Constitution, the national government is obligated to oversee religious affairs, but that it has ignored appeals from the Yasmin congregation in Bogor to enforce the Supreme Court order allowing its construction permit, as well as a separate court ruling backing a building permit for a Protestant church in Bekasi, West Java, and the right to hold Sunday services on its land after it was sealed off by the local government.
As for why the president has not intervened, Mr. Yudhoyono's advisers have said that the president wants local governments to take on greater responsibility and to resolve disputes through negotiation. However, analysts say this has only emboldened local leaders to pass discriminatory regulations and hard-line Islamic groups to resort to violence, because ''the state does not come down on them,'' said Ms. Dewi.
In February, Human Rights Watch, based in New York, said in a report on religious freedom in Indonesia that more than 400 churches had been forcibly closed between 2005 and 2010. In May, a U.S. State Department report expressed concern about Indonesia, saying ''the government sometimes failed to protect the rights of religious minority groups.''
Indonesian analysts said Mr. Yudhoyono himself had played the religion card to shore up political support from conservative Muslim groups and Islamic-based political parties, and as a result, they say, both religious attacks and discrimination have mushroomed under his administration.
''I think the president has a commitment to plurality, but that's politics. He needs political support,'' said Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice chairman of the Setara Institute's executive board. ''Since he entered politics, he has calculated that Islam is one of the sources of political power, even in a democracy. You need support from the Islamic side.''
Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said important members of Mr. Yudhoyono's inner circle -- including Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who has publicly denounced the Ahmadiyah as deviant and blamed the sect itself for the violent and sometimes deadly attacks against it -- are Islamic conservatives who heavily influence religious policy.
Mr. Yudhoyono's stance attracted new attention last month when the interfaith Appeal of Conscience Foundation in New York presented him with its World Statesman Award for religious tolerance, despite protests by an alliance of Indonesian Christian and moderate Muslim religious leaders.
Teuku Faizasyah, a presidential spokesman, said Mr. Yudhoyono deserved the award for his diplomatic efforts on behalf of international interfaith dialogue. He denied that the president had ignored religious conflict at home.
He said radical groups were ''a fact of life'' within the country's democratic framework but said ''we must empower all moderate elements in Indonesia and encourage the moderates to speak louder. We can see religious harmony in many parts of Indonesia.''
Ms. Dewi said that while there had been ''government weakness'' in dealing with religious issues, Mr. Yudhoyono did not deserve all the blame. She noted that he had repeatedly asked senior ministers from his governing coalition, including those from Islamic-based parties like Mr. Suryadharma, to resolve religious disputes and legal battles over churches but had been rebuffed.
''It seems to me there is a conflict of interest in these government institutions,'' Ms. Dewi said. ''How do we balance the Constitution and law with personal views?''
Said Mr. Bonar of the Setara Institute: ''The problem is that the president doesn't go back to his cabinet and say, 'Do it.' His character is to find a compromise and a safe way. He doesn't want to make his coalition angry.''
Theophilus Bela, secretary general of the Indonesian Committee of Religions for Peace, spends his days documenting discriminatory acts by local governments against Christian churches, which he said had reached 27 through May this year.
''There could be 100 cases this year because there will be an election in Indonesia next year,'' Mr. Bela said. ''If local authorities are involved, it's mostly due to politics. Local leaders, in our era of autonomy, feel they can do what they want.''




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June 9, 2013 Sunday

 Muslim hardliners get Miss World contest to cover up

 
The swimsuit may be a symbol of the beauty pageant, but don't expect to see one at the next Miss World contest.  
The organizers announced last week that instead of bikinis, contestants this year will wear more modest attire to avoid offending the pageant's Muslim host, Indonesia. 
The contest, which has 137 participants, is scheduled to take place in September on Bali. 
The top Islamic council of Indonesia, which is 86 percent Muslim, had called for the Miss World pageant to be cancelled. 
To mollify the hardliners, organizers decided that the contestants will not wear bikinis during the "beach fashion" round. 
"I don't want to upset or get anyone in a situation where we are being disrespectful," said Julia Morley, Miss World chair. 
Most Muslims in Indonesia are moderate, but an extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years. 




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June 7, 2013 Friday

 Indonesia axes bikinis for 2013 Miss World pageant

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Miss World has axed the famed bikinis from this year's pageant in Indonesia, replacing the skimpy swimsuits with conservative beach sarongs amid mounting protests from hard-line Muslim groups, organizers said Thursday. 
All of the more than 130 contestants will be required to wear Bali's traditional long sarongs instead of the sexy bikinis that are historically part of the competition, said Adjie S. Soeratmadjie of the RCTI, the official broadcaster and local organizer.
Parts of the pageant will take place on the resort island of Bali and the final round will be held Sept. 28 near the capital, Jakarta. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country.
"There will no bikini in this year's Miss World pageant to respect our traditional customs and values," Soeratmadjie said, adding that the London-based Miss World Organization is on board with the decision.
"This is a sensitive issue in Indonesia. We have discussed it since last year and they have agreed," he said.
The pageant began in the 1950s, and the first winner was crowned in a two-piece bathing suit.




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June 7, 2013 Friday

 JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Miss World has axed the famed bikinis from this year's page

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Miss World has axed the famed bikinis from this year's pageant in Indonesia, replacing the skimpy swimsuits with conservative beach sarongs amid mounting protests from hard-line Muslim groups, organizers said Thursday. All of the more than 130 contestants will be required to wear Bali's traditional long sarongs instead of the sexy bikinis that are historically part of the competition, said Adjie S. Soeratmadjie of the RCTI, the official broadcaster and local organizer. Parts of the pageant will take place on the resort island of Bali and the final round will be held Sept. 28 near the capital, Jakarta. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country. "There will no bikini in this year's Miss World pageant to respect our traditional customs and values," Soeratmadjie said, adding that the London-based Miss World Organization is on board with the decision. "This is a sensitive issue in Indonesia. We have discussed it since last year and they have agreed," he said. -- Associated Press 




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 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

June 7, 2013

 'We Feel the Pain': Muslim Clerics Learn Lessons of Auschwitz

 
When Muslims tour Auschwitz and other sites of the  Holocaust, and encounter survivors of that genocide  face to face, the points of connection they make can  be quite unpredictable.
For Barakat Fawzi Hasan, a Palestinian assistant  professor in Islamic education at Al-Quds University,  in Jerusalem, a moment of clarity came as he and  his co-religionists listened, spellbound, to Lidia  Maksymowicz's account of her harrowing story of  survival. Although she was only 5 years old when  she was liberated from Auschwitz, Maksymowicz  could still remember the taste of buttered bread and  coffee with milk, given to her by the Soviet soldiers  who entered the camp.
As Palestinians who have felt for 65 years the pain  of being displaced, we feel the pain of the others,
Hasan said after hearing  Maksymowicz talk. Seeing the children's  belongings at Auschwitz,  reminded him of some of the stories  of the children of Palestine,  he added. 
Hasan said that he would like  to bring Holocaust survivors to  Palestine to relate their stories. I  cannot hold back my tears when  I see the tragedy that took place  here in Europe, he said, especially  what happened to the Jews. I  hope that Palestinians and Israelis  take a lesson from all of this and  that we both have a future of hope  and peace.
For Muhamed Jusic, a religious
education teacher from Bosnia, the  touchstone was his own firsthand  experience of genocidal war in his  native land during the break-up of  Yugoslavia, in the 1990s.
For many people, to visit such  places is just history, said Jusic,  who is also a public affairs commentator  and interfaith activist  back home. For me it isn't. The  fact that I come from Bosnia affects  everything that I saw here. My personal  experience of the war and the  things that I went through emphasize  that we need to learn and study  about what happened during the  Second World War because what  happened in Bosnia proves that it  can happen again  maybe not  on the same scale, but it can be  repeated.
Marshall Breger, an Orthodox  Jew, has seen such reactions from  Muslims before. In 2010, he and  Rabbi Jack Bemporad, the other primary  organizer of the Muslim mission  to Auschwitz of which Hasan  and Jusic were members, organized  a similar trip for American Muslim  leaders. But this more recent mission,  which took place from May  17 to May 24, was international in  scope.
It's the nature of religion in  America to have a little more tolerance,  and for clerics in America  to know a little more about other  religions, said Breger, a former  senior official in the presidential  administrations of Ronald Reagan  and George H. W. Bush. Many of  the people on this trip, frankly, at  best knew nothing. I say 'at best'  because they probably have read  'Protocols [of the Elders of Zion']  or other things.
The undertaking proved far more  daunting than their earlier effort.  Just obtaining visas for some of the  participants turned out to be incredibly  difficult. Several of the confi rmed participants never showed  up. Others arrived late because of  travel restrictions. Hasan, who as  a Palestinian is stateless, with no  passport of his own, was granted  a visa to go abroad by Israel but  denied passage through Ben Gurion  International Airport. Instead, he  had to travel to neighboring Jordan  and fly to Germany from there.
We moved heaven and earth  to get them here. They're heroic,  Bemporad said.
In the end, a dozen Muslims  attended the week-long program   imams, educators, activists and  scholars drawn from all over the  Muslim world, including Saudi  Arabia, Jordan, Palestinian territories,  Bosnia, Turkey, Nigeria,  Indonesia, India and the United  States.
The tour, which included visits to  concentration and extermination  camps in Germany and Poland, was  funded by the U. S. Department of  State and by S. A. Ibrahim, a Saudi  businessman and interfaith activist.  Additional support came from  Poland's Foreign Ministry.
People use the Holocaust for all  sorts of political and ideological  purposes, Bemporad said, explaining  his rationale for the expedition.  If you want to change people's  ideas, you need to present them  with the actual experiences of a  person who went through it; you  need to see the actual conditions  and know something about the  history.
Bemporad, director of the  New Jersey-based Center for  Interreligious Understanding,  which sponsored the trip, said he  hoped the experience would inspire  participants to speak out against  Holocaust denial in their countries,  as well as help them understand  that when it was happening,  the Holocaust had nothing to do  with Israel.
At several points, the participants  made a clear connection linking  the fates of Muslims and Jews. One  such moment occurred inside of the  crematorium at Dachau, where the  participants recited the Janazah   the Muslim prayer for the dead   for Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian
Muslim and anti-Nazi spy who was  murdered at Dachau in 1944.
The program also visited several  sites of Muslim interest, including  an excursion to the architecturally  striking mosque in the Munich  suburb of Penzberg, a rare success  story in Germany, since it was built  without any of the controversy that  often accompanies such projects  there today.
The group was also supposed  to tour Munich's grand Orthodox  synagogue and meet Jewish community  leaders, but the community  president, Charlotte Knobloch,  flatly refused to welcome the del egation. In the city that was once  Hitler's ideological stronghold,  Knobloch's refusal to engage  seemed a missed opportunity.
I thought it was very important  for the imams to see that Jewish  life  and in particular Jewish  religious life  in Munich has not  been destroyed, a disappointed  Breger said.
After Munich and Dachau, the  group went on to Warsaw, where  the participants toured the recently  opened Museum of the History of  Polish Jews and met with Holocaust  survivors and with Righteous  Gentiles, as non-Jews who saved  Jewish lives are known. That night,  they dined with Poland's chief rabbi,  Michael Shudrich, and several  Polish imams. The participants  were impressed by the solidarity  between Jewish and Muslim leaders,  which has been strengthened  by recent debates in Poland about  halal and kosher slaughtering.
From Warsaw they were driven  to Auschwitz. There they toured  both the museum at Auschwitz I  and Birkenau, many with tears in  their eyes. As the group viewed the  exhibitions housed in the former  barracks, Imam Mohamed Magid,  an American veteran from the first  trip, routinely added commentary  to the official guide's explanations.
I want everyone to know that  behind every object here there was  a real human being, he said, stopping  before a vitrine full of children's  shoes. You can hear their  footsteps, he added chillingly.  Before entering the gas chamber  in Auschwitz I, he turned to the  group and said: As you go in, I'd  like you to imagine that screaming,  to imagine the crying. We go  here in a nice bus, we had a nice  lunch and later we're going back  to the hotel.
The most remarkable moment  came when the group decided to  take afternoon prayers in front  of the infamous Wall of Death.  Imam Muzammil Siddiqi of the  Islamic Society of Orange County,  Calif., another participant in the  2010 trip, led the service. The participants  kneeled down on the naked  earth and genuflected repeatedly,  the coarse dirt sticking to several  foreheads. By the time they reached  Birkenau, they were running several  hours behind schedule. But the  participants collectively defied an  irate bus driver in order to spend  the extra time walking along the  Judenrampe, as it is called, to  the site of the crematoria.
None of us is here out of curiosity,  said Safi Kaskas, a businessman  and interfaith activist who was  born in Lebanon, holds American  citizenship and who lives in Saudi  Arabia. We're all here because we  care deeply about human suffering  and what happened to the Jews.
Kaskas explained, It's important  to understand what happened to  the Jews, to understand and appreciate  the suffering they've been  through  in order to better communicate,  in order to convince my  Jewish neighbors that it is better to  have peace than to have war [so]  the suffering they experienced in  Europe should not repeat itself in  the Middle East.
Echoing the sentiments of many  of the other participants, Jusic  said that the proper meaning  of Auschwitz belongs not to the  past, but to the future. We cannot  go back and help those children  and women we saw and those  innocent people being gassed and  burned, but we can make sure that  it doesn't happen to anyone else,  he said.
Breger was pleasantly surprised  at the trip's end, when all the participants  signed a public condemnation  of Holocaust denial nearly  identical to the one that was drafted  by the 2010 group.
Breger added that he was now  looking to organize a third trip  that would bring together rabbis  and imams to visit both Auschwitz  and Srebrenica, the site of the July  1995 Serbian massacre of 8,000  Bosnian Muslims, which many  Muslims perceive as an example  of the West looking the other way  while Muslims were slaughtered.  By speaking to that belief, you  would go a great way towards making  it easier to engage with the tragedy  of the Shoah and Jewish pain  and trauma, Breger said.




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June 7, 2013 Friday  


 Emphasizing Inner Beauty, Pageant Says No to Bikinis

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- In a move sure to delight anyone who watches beauty pageants not for the swimsuit competition, but for the parts where contestants play instruments and talk about world hunger, the billionaire organizer of the Miss World pageant declared Thursday that there would be no bikinis this year.
''It has been misunderstood by some people that Miss World is a beauty competition focusing on the physical attractiveness of a woman's body,'' the organizer, Hary Tanoesoedibjo, an Indonesian media tycoon, said. 
''This is absolutely misleading,'' Mr. Tanoesoedibjo said, adding that the pageant is also about ''inner beauty, which includes intelligence, manners and achievement.''
Bathing suits will not be eradicated completely from the contest, a multiweek extravaganza that is to begin Sept. 4 and culminate Sept. 28, when the finals are broadcast around the world.
But instead of showing off their figures in racy, skin-flaunting two-piece suits, the contestants will be swathed in more modest one-pieces, accessorized with beachwear like wraps and hats.
Several years ago, the Miss World pageant rebranded the traditional bathing suit contest, calling it a ''beach fashion show'' in which contestants would wear suits created by local fashion designers. In keeping with this year's demure sensibility, Indonesia's beach fashion show will not be televised live, but taped in front of a small audience limited to judges, organizers and guests.
Nana Putra, project director for programming and production at MNC, the media conglomerate that is organizing the competition, declined to say whether specific rules dictate what portions of, or how much, skin can be exposed. The bottom line, she said, is that ''we will not have any bikinis, either taped or live.''
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country, with about 90 percent of its population of 242 million people identifying themselves as Muslim. But it has a secular government constitution, and prominent minority populations that include Christians, Balinese Hindus and Buddhists.
The announcement on Thursday seemed intended in part to mollify a small but vocal group of religious conservatives who regularly stage street protests in Jakarta on issues they feel strongly about, like American foreign policy, Israel and Lady Gaga, whom some have called a devil worshiper. Lady Gaga was to have performed here last year, but ended up canceling because of security concerns.
In recent weeks, this group has turned its attention to the impending Miss World pageant.
''That contest is just an excuse to show women's body parts that should remain covered,'' Mukri Aji, a prominent Muslim cleric, told The Associated Press.
In an interview, Ms. Putra said it was wrong to focus on the bathing suit question, since so much else was going on in the pageant. ''The beach fashion show is just a very small part of the competition, actually,'' she said.
Julia Morley, chairwoman and chief executive of Miss World in London, said there had been other years when contestants wore one-piece suits. And, she said, no one in Indonesia has specifically banned anything, per se.
''I did make sure to conform to the rules in Indonesia, which I thought were perfectly reasonable rules,'' Ms. Morley said. ''I'm working with 137 countries, and all of them have different rules.''
Mr. Tanoesoedibjo said he was working hard to persuade skeptics that the pageant truly is more about minds and spirits than about bodies.
''We are now trying to explain what a Miss World pageant is all about,'' he said.




6


 
 
The Philadelphia Daily News

June 7, 2013 Friday  
WEB Edition

 Judge may reopen Jackson files

 
AS IF Paris Jackson didn't have enough on her mind, LA judge Mitchell Beckloff said yesterday that he was inclined to unseal portions of choreographer Wade Robson's court filings alleging he was abused by Michael Jackson. 
Personal details and psychiatrist reports would likely not be released.  
Beckloff said he needed to address which records should remain sealed before he can deal with whether Robson, whose work can be see on "So You Think You Can Dance?" can pursue his claim. 
Robson requested on May 1 that Beckloff allow him to file a late creditor's claim against Jackson's estate nearly eight years to the day after he testified in Jackson's defense at the singer's molestation trial. 
Jackson was acquitted after Robson told jurors the entertainer never touched him inappropriately. Henry Gradstein, an attorney for Robson, said a breakdown last year prompted Robson to address the abuse. 
Howard Weitzman, an attorney for Jackson's estate and Thomas Mesereau, the lawyer who defended Jackson, have attacked Robson's credibility and noted his repeated defense of the singer. 
Weitzman has called the accusations "outrageous and pathetic." 
  What in the 'World' . . .
You call this a beauty pageant? 
Miss World has axed bikinis from this year's pageant in Indonesia, replacing the swimsuits with conservative beach sarongs amid mounting protests from Muslim groups, organizers said yesterday. 
All of the more than 130 contestants will be required to wear Bali's traditional long sarongs instead of the sexy bikinis that are historically part of the competition, said Adjie S. Soeratmadjie of the RCTI, the official broadcaster and local organizer. 
Sarong? That's so wrong. 
Yes, Miss World likes to be respectful of its hosts, but why pick a country whose culture opposes exposed skin? 
What's next, burkas? 
But even with the sarongs, there's still controversy. 
Clerics of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, said they would write President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to demand that the pageant be canceled. 
"That contest is just an excuse to show women's body parts that should remain covered," said Mukri Aji, a cleric from West Java province's MUI branch. "It's against Islamic teachings." 
Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a hardline Islamic group, said it planned to stage a protest and called for the competition to be moved elsewhere. 
This could be the one time Tattle agrees with the hardliners. 
  'Kings' of the road
The three teen stars of the Sundance hit "The Kings of Summer" said the shoot was toughest of their lives, but even tougher for Moises Arias. 
The script called for his character, the weirdo, to eat dirt. 
"The props department had made this fake mud with chocolate, but it didn't look real at all, so I got real mud and just put it in my mouth," Arias told Daily News movie critic Gary Thompson during a recent promotional tour. 
"But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was they needed four takes." 
Arias stars in "Kings" as one of three teen boys (the others are Nick Robinson and Gabriel Basso) who spend a wild summer living off the grid in a shack they build themselves. 
"Kings" was a hit at Sundance, and now would be a good time to capitalize on the buzz, but Robinson and Basso have other plans. 
Robinson's going to NYU. 
"Ideally, I'd lke to take four years off, but I'm open to cheating a little bit and sneaking off for a film project here and there. Mostly, though, I'd like to focus on school," said Robinson, who's waiting to see if his TV show "Melissa and Joey" gets picked up for another season. He'll get to school as soon as the series wraps. 
Basso wants to play pro soccer. 
"Right now the plan is to probably join a player development league in Los Angeles," said Basso, who is of Italian extraction and one day would like to play in Italy. 
Gary's review is on Page 36. 
  TATTBITS
* Russell Brand announced yesterday that he's launching a world comedy tour focusing on Che Guevara, Gandhi, Malcolm X and Jesus Christ. Brand says the show examines "the importance of heroes in this age of atheistic disposability." 
Brand says he plans to perform in theaters as well as "prisons, drug rehabs . . . nationalist organizations, mosques, foreclosed houses, protest sites, synagogues and in people's private homes." 
His "Messiah Complex" tour is set to begin Aug. 15 in Abu Dhabi and wrap up Dec. 9 in Iceland. 
Protests expected. 
* Archie Comics announced yesterday that Warner Bros. will produce a live-action film based on the comic's characters, including Archie, Betty, Veronica and Reggie. It will be the first feature film for the 72-year-old comic. 
Jason Moore ("Pitch Perfect") will direct, "Glee" writer Robert Aguirre-Sacasa is penning the script. He is also writing a zombie series for the comic, titled "Afterlife With Archie." 
Not "Night of the Living Jughead?" 
* According to the , Justin Bieber and his manager Scooter Braun have signed up for a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight, Virgin founder Richard Branson announced Wednesday on Twitter. 
"Great to hear @justinbieber & @scooterbraun are latest @virgingalactic future astronauts," Branson said. "Congrats, see you up there!" 
More than 530 would-be space cadets are signed up - including Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio - and the price to get on the list is $250,000. 
And $40 for a second suitcase? 
- Daily News wire services 
contributed to this report. 
Email: gensleh@phillynews.com
Phone: 215-854-5678 
On Twitter: @DNTattle 




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June 6, 2013 Thursday  


 No burkas at pageant - or bikinis

 
THEY WON'T show Bali their bikini-clad beach bods.
The 137 women set to compete in this year's Miss World beauty pageant in Indonesia won't wear bikinis because organizers don't want to offend locals in the Muslim-majority country.
The Miss World hotties will swap their two-pieces for more conservative outfits, such as sarongs, for the beach-fashion part of the contest, Australia's Herald Sun website reported Wednesday.
"I don't want to upset or get anyone in a situation where we are being disrespectful," Miss World Organization Chairwoman Julia Morley told the site. 




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June 6, 2013 Thursday

 Bikinis banned from Miss World Pageant in Bali

 
 Many beauty pageants have become known for the physical fitness or swimsuit portions of the competition. But this September, the Miss World Pageant will be without any bikinis. According to the Associated Press, pageant organizers made the final decision after many protests from local Muslim groups.  
The 2013 competition is scheduled to be held in Indonesia, a country with the world's largest Muslim population. "There will be no bikinis in this year's Miss World Pageant to respect our traditional customs and values," said Adjie S. Soeratmadjie, from the RCTI, the official broadcaster and local organizer. "This is a sensitive issue in Indonesia. We have discussed it since last year and they have agreed." This year, rather than sporting bikinis, the 137 pageant contestants will be required to wear custom-made beachwear, similar to Bali's traditional sarong. The costume change has been made out of respect for the country's culture. "Indonesia is designing for us a very beautiful one-piece beachwear, and I'm very happy with them," Julia Morley, the chairwoman of the Miss World Organization, told the Associate Press. "I don't think Indonesia is the only country that has that culture. But we like to work in the manner respectful to every country, and I cannot see why when you go to somebody's country you should not behave respectfully." The decision seems to have been a compromise, as the Daily Mail reports that protesters were not only concerned about the swimsuit competition, but they had wanted the competition to be canceled all together. "That contest is just an excuse to show women's body parts that should remain covered," Mukri Aji said. "It's against Islamic teachings." Although Bali is known as a popular destination for tourists who flock to the beaches in skimpy swimwear, many entertainers who have performed in the country have also made changes to their apparel. Previously, Lady Gaga was forced to cancel her sold-out June 2012 concert after threats were made by Islamic groups protesting her wardrobe. 




6


 


June 6, 2013 Thursday

 Indonesia axes bikinis for '13 Miss World pageant

 
 JAKARTA, Indonesia ? Miss World organizers have axed the famed bikinis from this year's pageant, replacing them with conservative beach sarongs amid mounting protests from hardline Muslim groups. Indonesia will host the 2013 Miss World competition in the country's resort island of Bali and the capital, Jakarta, in September. Adjie S. Soeratmadjie, one of the local organizers, said Thursday that all contestants will be required to wear Bali's traditional long sarongs instead of the sexy bikinis that are traditionally part of the competition.  




6


 
 
 (California)

June 6, 2013 Thursday

 The Wire: U.S. spies on us; IRS apology; Golan incursion; happy hookers testify; pageant bikini ban

 
National editor's pick of the top news stories in the nation and world at this hour:
The Wire, a summary of top national and world news stories from the Associated Press and other wire services, moves weekdays. Contact Karl Kahler at 408-920-5023; follow him attwitter.com/karl_kahler. 




6


 St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

June 5, 2013 Wednesday

 Obama: Schools need high-speed Internet

 
Nation & World briefing
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Touting the need to give every child the tools for success, President Barack Obama on Thursday toured a North Carolina school where every student has a laptop and called for 99 percent of American students to be connected to super-fast Internet within five years.
At a middle school in Mooresville, Obama announced he was directing federal regulators to turn the nation's classrooms into digital learning centers by equipping schools with broadband and high-speed Internet connections -- at a cost of several billion dollars.
"In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, why shouldn't we have it in our schools?" Obama said. 
He portrayed the move to prepare Americans for the jobs of the future as part of a broader strategy to foster economic growth.
"We can't be stuck in the 19th century when we're living in a 21st-century economy," the president said.
Doctor pulls baby moose from current
MISSOULA, Mont. -- A Pennsylvania doctor on a guided fishing trip in southwestern Montana went home with an amazing tale of hauling in a 25-pound lunker -- a baby moose she helped rescue from a rushing river.
Karen Sciascia of Red Hill, Pa., and a guide were fishing the Big Hole River on Saturday when they spotted a cow moose with a calf trying to cross the waterway.
"We were watching this adult female struggling back and forth, and we didn't see a baby until we got close," Sciascia told the Missoulian for a story published Thursday. "Mom kept pushing -- the current was pretty swift. The mother bolted and took off across the river. She was trying to get across the main portion of the channel, and even she struggled."
When the calf stepped off the gravel bar into the water to follow its mother, it was swept downstream.
"We got up alongside it, and I just grabbed the little bugger. I scooped it up from the river under its front legs," Sciascia said.
Philly wonders why building went down
PHILADELPHIA -- The search for victims of a building collapse that killed six people wound down Thursday amid mounting questions about whether the demolition company that was tearing down the structure at the time caused the tragedy by cutting corners.
City and federal investigators worked to pinpoint the cause of Wednesday's disaster, in which the four-story building along Philadelphia's busy Market Street collapsed onto a Salvation Army thrift shop next door with a loud boom and a huge cloud of dust, trapping store employees and others under bricks.
"Buildings get demolished all the time in the city of Philadelphia with active buildings right next to them. ... They're done safely in this city all the time," Mayor Michael Nutter said. "Something obviously went wrong here yesterday and possibly in the days leading up to it. That's what the investigation is for."
Storm Andrea rips into Florida coast
MIAMI -- The first named storm of the Atlantic season hammered Florida with rain, heavy winds and tornadoes Thursday as it moved toward the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas, promising sloppy commutes and waterlogged vacations through the beginning of the weekend.
Tropical Storm Andrea was not expected to strengthen into a hurricane but forecasters warned it could cause isolated flooding and storm surge before it loses steam over the next two days.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for a big section of Florida's west coast from Boca Grande to the Ochlockonee River and for the East Coast from Flagler Beach, Fla., all the way to Cape Charles Light in Virginia, and the lower Chesapeake Bay south of New Point Comfort.
Britain 'regrets' acts of torture in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya -- The wrinkled faces of the elderly Kenyans who gathered in a downtown Nairobi hotel registered gratitude, relief and joy Thursday as Britain's high commissioner said what many waited decades to hear.
Britain said it "sincerely regrets" the acts of torture a British colonial government carried out against Kenyans fighting for liberation from colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London insisted that an "expression of deep regret" was not the same thing as an apology, which would have legal implications. But the victims of British abuses a half-century ago appeared satisfied or even jubilant.
Several thousand now- elderly Kenyans say they were beaten and sexually assaulted by officers acting for the British administration trying to suppress the "Mau Mau" rebellion, during which groups of Kenyans attacked British officials and white farmers who had settled some of Kenya's most fertile lands.
Miss World contest says no to bikinis
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Miss World has axed the famed bikinis from this year's pageant in Indonesia, replacing the skimpy swimsuits with conservative beach sarongs amid mounting protests from hard-line Muslim groups, organizers said Thursday.
All of the more than 130 contestants will be required to wear Bali's traditional long sarongs instead of the sexy bikinis that are historically part of the competition, said Adjie Soeratmadjie of the RCTI, the official broadcaster and local organizer.
"There will no bikini in this year's Miss World pageant to respect our traditional customs and values," Soeratmadjie said, adding that the London-based Miss World Organization is on board with the decision.
Tsarnaev nabbed, Patrick got drunk
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Gov. Deval Patrick went to his rural home in Berkshire County the day after the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect was captured and got "quite drunk" alone in a restaurant, he said during a candid conversation at a Boston marketing firm.
Patrick also told employees at HubSpot in Cambridge on Wednesday that he was relieved that bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured on April 19 because, otherwise, people would have been complaining about the "shelter in place" order he gave that day, locking down Boston and several suburbs.
A spokeswoman for the governor, Heather Johnson, said that Patrick was driven home that night by his state police driver. She said the governor is always accompanied by a trooper when he goes out.
Christie's choice for Senate won't run
TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday named a longtime loyal colleague, state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, to temporarily fill the U.S. Senate seat that opened up this week after Frank Lautenberg's death.
Chiesa, 47, has never held or run for political office and will not seek the office in an October special election to fill the seat for a longer period, Christie said.
Appointing a caretaker to the Senate means that Christie has not anointed anyone the Republican favorite for the special election.
Putins call it quits after long marriage
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, said Thursday that they are divorcing after nearly 30 years of marriage, making the announcement on state television after attending a ballet performance at the Kremlin.
"It was our joint decision," Putin said.
Lyudmila Putin, a former Aeroflot flight attendant, was rarely seen in public during her husband's long tenure at the top of Russian politics and implied that she didn't like to travel with him on his frequent trips.
The Putins married July 28, 1983, and have two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina.
-- Associated Press




6


 The Forward Association, Incorporated
 
The Forward

May 31, 2013

 Indonesians Protest Jewish Award for Their Leader

 
Indonesian human rights activists  are protesting an American  Jewish organization's plans to  honor Indonesia's president with  an award for religious freedom   a freedom that human rights monitors  say has sharply deteriorated  under his rule.
The annual award, given by  Rabbi Arthur Schneier's Appeal  of Conscience Foundation, has no  significant profile in the United  States. But in Indonesia, Schneier's  decision to honor President Susilo  Bambang Yudhoyono has been the  subject of street protests, newspaper  articles and angry statements  by major national figures.
He has laid down the legal  infrastructure of the discrimination  against religious minorities,  said Andreas Harsono, a Jakartabased  researcher for Human  Rights Watch, of Yudhoyono. 
According to recent HRW  reports, persecution against religious  minorities, including non-Sunni Muslims and Christians,  has burgeoned under the current  president's leadership. A recent  U. S. State Department report  faulted the Indonesian government  for failing to protect religious  minorities.
The Appeal of Conscience  Foundation, an interfaith group  that bills itself as promoting religious  freedom, said in a statement  that the award to Yudhoyono is  an encouragement to advance  human rights, religious freedom  and interreligious cooperation.
A representative for the
Indonesian Embassy in  Washington did not respond to a  request for comment.
Schneier's decision to bestow  the religious freedom award on  the Indonesian president has  been the subject of headlines in  seven Indonesian newspapers in  recent days. Representatives of the  Ahmadiyya and Shia communities,  minority Muslim groups that have  suffered persecution in Indonesia,  issued statements condemning the  award. Protesters gathered outside  the American Embassy in Jakarta  on May 6 to oppose the award,  and rights groups have scheduled  a press conference on May 23 in  Jakarta to condemn the award.
How come they did not ask  the Indonesian people's opinion  before they decided to give  Yudhoyono the award? asked  the Rev. Franz Magnis-Suseno, a  major Indonesian Catholic figure,  according to an Indonesian press  report.
Schneier, spiritual leader of  the Park East Synagogue in  Manhattan, a Modern Orthodox  congregation, has developed a reputation  for high-profile interfaith  dialogue. Pope Benedict XVI visited  his congregation in 2008, marking  the first time a pope visited a  synagogue in the United States.  Schneier founded the Appeal of  Conscience Foundation in 1965  and serves as its president.
Schneier did not respond to a  request for comment beyond the  one issued by his group.
The foundation is set to give  Yudhoyono its World Statesman  Award May 30 at a dinner to be  held at the Pierre Hotel in New  York. Previous recipients include  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen  Harper and former British Prime  Minister Gordon Brown.
Though Indonesia is the largest  Muslim-majority country in the  world, its citizens are religiously  diverse. Most of the country's  Muslims are Sunni, but there are  substantial communities of Shia  and Ahmadiyya Muslims. The  country also has large Christian,  Hindu and Buddhist populations,  among others.
Government and private watchdog  agencies say that religious persecution  has worsened under the  current president. Since Susilo  Bambang Yudhoyono took office  in December 2004, there has been  an increase in violence targeting  Ahmadiyya, Christians, Shia and  other religious minorities, HRW  reported in 2013.
The Ahmadiyya Muslims, in  particular, have suffered greater  religious persecution under  Yudhoyono's rule, human rights  monitors say. A heterodox sect  that broke off from mainstream  Islam in the 19th century, the  Ahmadiyya have been a long-standing target in Indonesia. But  in 2008, Yudhoyono's government  passed a decree making it illegal  for the group to spread its beliefs.  Suryadharma Ali, Yudhoyono's  minister of religious affairs, has  been one of the most prominent  leaders of the anti-Ahmadiyya  movement.
The U. S. State Department has  criticized the Indonesian government  for its sometimes anemic  response to interreligious violence.  When 500 Sunni extremists  attacked a Shia neighborhood on  an island near Java in August 2012,  displacing hundreds of Shia, police  sent only five officers, according to  the State Department's annual religious  freedom report. A large force  of 700 officers was dispatched only  after the violence was long over.
Kontras, an Indonesian human  rights organization, issued a  lengthy letter in early May, asking  the Appeal of Conscience  Foundation to drop the award. The  Indonesian group wrote that it was  confused and disappointed that  the foundation had chosen to honor  Yudhoyono, who, it said, has  failed to demonstrate the political  will to put a stop to these repeated  instances of violence towards  religious minorities.
It's not clear what unstated  motives, if any, Schneier's foundation  might have for giving the  award to Yudhoyono in the face  of his record on religious rights.  Indonesia has no official diplomatic  relations with Israel, though ties  between the two countries have  warmed recently. In June 2012,  Indonesia agreed to open a consulate  in Ramallah that would handle  diplomatic relationships with  Israel. In February 2012, a delegation  of Jewish, Christian and  Muslim leaders traveled together  to Indonesia and Israel in a peace-building effort.
If Schneier hopes to change  Yudhoyono's behavior toward ethnic  minorities in his own country,  however, the award may come too  late. Yudhoyono is barred by term  limits from running in Indonesia's  2014 elections. If they wanted  him to do more, it's not the time  to do it, said Jeremy Menchik, a  professor of international relations  at Boston University. It's going to  help whitewash his legacy.
The dispute over the award to  the Indonesian president bears  some similarities to a controversy  involving Arthur Schneier's  son, Rabbi Marc Schneier, who  is also an interfaith activist. Marc  Schneier drew criticism in January2012  for traveling to Bahrain tomeet  its monarch, King Hamadbin  Isa Al Khalifa, and laudinghis  rule while there and back in  the United States as a role model  in the Arab world for coexistence  and tolerance of differentfaith  communities.
Marc Schneier's praise came justmonths  after the Bahrain government  brutally repressed peaceful  protests by the Shia majority  against the island nation's Sunni  rulers. The Bahrain government's  own Independent Commission of  Inquiry found that governmentforces  had abused and torturedhundreds  of protesters, leading to  the death of at least 35 of them.




6



 


May 25, 2013 Saturday

 islam; 
Poll: American Muslims more moderate than those worldwide

 
Religion News Service
Muslims in America are much less inclined to support suicide bombing than other Muslims abroad, and are more likely to believe that people of other faiths can attain eternal life in heaven, according to a new report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 
 "The World's Muslims" report looks at Muslim views across seven categories: Islamic law; religion and politics; morality; women; relations among Muslims; interfaith relations; and religion, science, and pop culture. There is also a special section on U.S. Muslims.
 Of the countries surveyed, only a majority of Muslims in America -- 56 percent -- believe people of other faiths can go to heaven; by contrast, that figure among U.S. Christians is about 64 percent. U.S. Muslims are also less likely than Muslims abroad to believe in evolution, sharing views that are closer to those of U.S. Christians.
 On suicide bombing, 81 percent of U.S. Muslims said it was never justified, 7 percent said it was justified to "defend Islam," and 1 percent said it was "sometimes justified."
 Globally, most Muslims also reject suicide bombing, although significant minorities in several countries say such acts are at least sometimes justified, including 26 percent of Muslims in Bangladesh, 29 percent in Egypt, and 39 percent in Afghanistan.
 At least half of Muslims in most countries surveyed say they worry about religious extremists in their own country, including two-thirds or more of Muslims in Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq and Indonesia.
 The percentage of Muslims who say they want Shariah, or Islamic law, to be "the official law of the land" varies widely around the world, from fewer than 8 percent in Azerbaijan to 99 percent in Afghanistan. "Solid majorities" in most predominantly Muslim countries surveyed, however, favor the establishment of Islamic law. (The report did not ask the same question of American Muslims.)
 That view did not preclude religious tolerance, the survey found, as most Muslims also favor religious freedom for people of other faiths.
 The reason for the variation? "Muslims have different understandings of what Shariah means in practice," said James Bell, the Pew Research Center's director of international survey research, adding that support for Shariah cut across age, gender, and economic groups.




7


 


May 17, 2013 Friday  
The International Herald Tribune

 'Beefgate' Transfixes Scandal-Prone Indonesia

 
JAKARTA -- Indonesia has had no shortage of scandals in its decade-long fight against endemic corruption, mostly involving middle-aged politicians, suspicious bank accounts, handoffs of briefcases in hotel elevators, or boxes of cash in the trunk of a car in a dark parking garage.
Yet throw in political Islam, hotel room sex, luxury automobiles, swimsuit models and even imported beef, and you have the makings of an über-scandal that has transfixed the Indonesian public for weeks and provided endless fodder for television talk shows. 
This week has been no different for the continuing scandal, dubbed Beef-gate. On Thursday, investigators from the independent Corruption Eradication Commission summoned the elderly chief patron of Indonesia's leading Islamic-based political party, as well as a provincial governor, for questioning in connection with the case.
''I'm not sure what will be happening in the next week,'' said Johan Budi, chief spokesman for the anti-corruption commission. ''But I'm sure there will be something.''
And it could very well be salacious. The scandal began in January, when anti-corruption investigators raided a Jakarta hotel room and found a man named Ahmad Fathanah, a naked 19-year-old female student and a suitcase containing 1 billion rupiah, or $103,000.
Mr. Ahmad is a personal aide to Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party, or P.K.S., which in the last national elections, in 2009, won the fourth-highest number of seats in the House of Representatives on a platform of personal morality and zero tolerance for corruption. Investigators allege that Mr. Ahmad received the money on behalf of his boss as a bribe from a local company to ensure that it received a larger share of a government-issued quota to import beef, which mostly comes from nearby Australia.
Mr. Luthfi immediately resigned, and was arrested and declared a graft suspect by the anti-corruption commission. Investigators have also questioned other senior P.K.S. leaders, including Agriculture Minister Suswono, whose ministry is in charge of allotting quotas to beef import companies, though he has not been charged.
Anis Matta, who replaced Mr. Luthfi as P.K.S. party chairman, was questioned at the anti-corruption commission's offices Monday. On Thursday, investigators questioned Gatot Pujo Nugroho, governor of North Sumatra Province and a senior P.K.S. member, who witnesses said attended a meeting in January at a hotel in Medan, the provincial capital, with other party leaders including Mr. Luthfi and the head of Indoguna Utama, a local beef import company.
Investigators say the group discussed an additional quota for Indoguna Utama, which was awarded a contract to import several thousand tons of beef, in exchange for a kickback that was allegedly collected by Mr. Ahmad a few weeks later. Three executives from the company were also named suspects in the case, and two of them are on trial.
Investigators also summoned Hilmi Aminuddin, the chief patron of the P.K.S., for questioning on Tuesday and Thursday.
The Indonesian public is largely unfazed by corruption investigations and arrests, which occur on a nearly weekly basis. Although the country has made strides in combating endemic corruption dating from the authoritarian rule of the late President Suharto, who stepped down amid popular unrest in 1998, Transparency International ranked it 118 of 176 countries in its most recent corruption perception index.
Yet the beef import scandal has gained traction because of lurid details about the private life of Mr. Ahmad, who is married, and his connection to the P.K.S., which once campaigned for Indonesia to become an Islamic state and wanted to ban women from wearing short skirts and kissing in public. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country but has a secular Constitution and government.
Investigators said the young woman found in Mr. Ahmad's hotel room in January told them that he had given her 10 million rupiah -- about $1,000 -- to meet with him. Two weeks ago, investigators said Mr. Ahmad had also given gifts of cash, cars and jewelry to two popular swimsuit and lingerie models, Khadijah Azhari and Vitalia Shesya. Both women returned the gifts and met with investigators, but are not considered suspects.
On Tuesday, M. Yusuf, chairman of the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Center, a state agency, told reporters that Mr. Ahmad had sent money to as many as 20 women in the past several years. The same day, The Jakarta Post quoted Mr. Ahmad's driver as saying that his boss regularly had appointments with women around Jakarta.
Zuhairi Misrawi, a prominent Muslim intellectual and author, said the beef import scandal could cause a decline in political Islam in Indonesia, since Islamic-based parties that have criticized secular politics as immoral were already struggling to compete against them at the polls. The next national election is expected next year.
''This is a learning experience for the people,'' he said. ''We cannot again trust that Islamic political parties are the way to develop the country. They are using Islam as a way to be corrupt, rather than to develop the country.''
The P.K.S. has attempted to distance itself from Mr. Ahmad, with officials saying he never held a formal party position or was even a member.
A P.K.S. spokesman, Mandani Ali Sera, reportedly calling him a ''criminal'' and ''a broker,'' saying his activities had nothing to do with the party.
Anti-corruption officials continue to focus on the P.K.S. and its leaders, including Mr. Hilmi, Mr. Suswono and Mr. Luthfi, all of whom were implicated in the scandal Wednesday by a witness in the trial of the two Indoguna Utama executives.
That same day, investigators confiscated six cars from the P.K.S. headquarters in Jakarta that were believed to be owned by Mr. Luthfi and possibly purchased using proceeds from money laundering. Last week, P.K.S. officials refused to allow investigators to confiscate the vehicles, and on Tuesday they filed a defamation complaint against Mr. Budi, the anti-corruption commission spokesman, after he said they had obstructed investigators.
''P.K.S. has an opinion that the investigators from K.P.K. don't have the warrants to take cars,'' Mr. Budi said, referring to the commission by its initials. ''That's just their opinion.''




7



 


May 16, 2013 Thursday

 Christianophobia; 
British journalist Rupert Shortt documents and examines the persecution of Christians around the world - a problem of which many Westerners are unaware.

 
In the introduction to his focused yet far-ranging Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack, Rupert Shortt points out that "[o]ne reason why Western audiences hear so little about religious oppression in the Muslim world is straightforward: young Christians in Europe and America do not become 'radicalized,' and persecuted Christians tend not to respond with terrorist violence."
Another reason for the silence, he adds, stems from the fear that criticizing Muslims will prompt charges of racism. A third explanation lies in the fact that many liberals in the West look askance at Christianity in the developing world due to a simplistic and often historically inaccurate belief that its spread was bound up with Western imperialism.
Shortt, religion editor at the (London) Times Literary Supplement and biographer of Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury), begins with the premise "that freedom of belief and association are unqualified goods" and proceeds to examine countries - including several non-Muslim ones - that deny them to Christians.
Shortt relies on interviews he conducted in seven countries he visited, reports released by international Christian aid organizations as well as Amnesty International, and scholarly and other books. In some ways, he follows in the footsteps of Paul Marshall and co-authors, who have long written about persecution of Christians and whose findings are among the references he cites. Throughout, he eschews polemics and unhesitatingly criticizes both historical and recent Christian violence against Muslims and others.
Shortt makes a very good point regarding the title of his book, which, technically, would refer to fear of Christianity. "I am aware that 'Christianophobia,' like 'Islamophobia,' is an elastic term, perhaps implying a passive attitude, unlike the more active 'anti-Semitism'; and that prejudice should be distinguished from more overt forms of ill will manifested in state ideology or various sorts of behavior," he observes. "However, neither 'anti-Muslimism' nor 'anti-Christianism' has caught on, so Christianophobia seems to me a valid term."
So, why are Christians discriminated against and even persecuted? Reasons are varied, and Shortt strives, with a good deal of success, to provide context. In Vietnam, China, and North Korea, all of which are totalitarian and have been Communist to varying degrees, the regimes fear alternative sources of authority, as well as some Christians' association with the West.
This has also historically applied to Myanmar - which Shortt refers to by the older name of Burma - though the situation is changing there. It remains the case in Turkey, where the mere presence of missionaries sends security services into a tizzy. Myanmar, Indonesia, Turkey, and Vietnam are countries where Christians are often also ethnically distinct from the majority population, thereby highlighting differences.
Relying on the work of Eliza Griswold, Shortt explains that in central Nigeria, an economic conflict was exacerbated by the differing ethno-religious identities of two groups competing for resources, though in the heavily Muslim north, where several states have applied Sharia, the friction is more inherently religious.
Shortt's exploration of religio-cultural attitudes fueling anti-Christian movements enriches his narrative. The chapter on India (concentrating on the states of Orissa and Karnataka), proves most informative, what with the author's discussion of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism. The treatment of Myanmar and Sri Lanka will disabuse many a reader of comfortable assumptions, "[s]ince the standard view of Buddhism in the West tends to be even more rose-tinted than that of Hinduism."
Shortt's chronicling of Buddhist campaigns against Christians in Myanmar and Sri Lanka is also notable given the more recent outbreak of anti-Muslim violence orchestrated by Buddhist monks in both countries. When it comes to Egypt, however, Shortt does not tackle anti-Coptic stereotypes among ordinary Muslims (as opposed to Islamists), of the sort that depict Copts as treacherous manipulators of the economy, and the Coptic Orthodox Church as a sinister and disloyal institution.
"Christianophobia" conspicuously omits the travails of faith groups whose birth is of relatively recent vintage (with the partial exception of Pentecostals, who comprise a movement rather than a denomination). This is an unfortunate lacuna, because these groups sometimes suffer greatly in countries not otherwise known for religious repression. Jehovah's Witnesses (along with Pentecostals) endure vicious persecution in Eritrea, and discrimination in Russia, where Mormons also fare badly. Admittedly, Shortt, who tackles neither Russia nor Eritrea, could not have included all oppression of all Christians in his book, but it is imperative that advocates of religious liberty take to task countries that tolerate traditional denominations while hounding newer ones.
Regarding the Muslim world, Shortt demonstrates that the problem is not merely one of rampant religious fanaticism, which sometimes means that there are groups worse off than Christians (Bahais in Iran, Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan), but involves deliberately blurred definitions of the sources of legal authority. For instance, in several countries, constitutional and other guarantees of religious freedom and women's rights are often vitiated by the proviso that legislation must not violate Sharia. The author observes of the Pakistani government, one such example, that "taking away with one hand what it has given with the other" falls within its means.
In addition to Pakistan, Shortt provides a solid overview of discrimination against indigenous or long established Christian communities in the predominantly Muslim states of Egypt, Turkey, and Indonesia, as well as the horrendous violence targeting Christians in Iraq, though he does not probe the mindset of Islamists keen to exterminate this defenseless and dwindling minority. The author also illustrates the extreme vulnerability of Muslim converts to Christianity; according to most interpretations of Islam, apostates deserve the death penalty. Possibly because of their large numbers and international media attention, the Iranian converts whose stories Shortt relates have, by his admission, generally been spared torture while in custody. But he shows that from Egypt to Pakistan, extreme physical violence, including murder, is the usual treatment for ex-Muslims. The perpetrators are vigilantes - sometimes including family members of the victims - or the security services, even in those Muslim countries (the majority) that do not explicitly outlaw apostasy.
In the book's incisive concluding section, Shortt plunges into the prickly question of whether longstanding Muslim attitudes to non-Muslims are intrinsic to Islam, and therefore possibly unregenerate. He emerges with a powerful and heartening reminder of Islam's historical malleability over the issue of "People of the Book." The Quran confers this status upon Muslims, Christians, Jews, Sabians, and those "who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness." During the days of Islamic rule in India, several Muslim political leaders as well as religious scholars decreed that Hindus fall into this category, thereby demonstrating - perhaps unintentionally - that Islamic tenets can be refined.
Yet Islamic doctrine prescribes discrimination against "People of the Book," which is what Christians and others in much of the Muslim world remain in practice, even if they have become full citizens in theory. They are to be tolerated in exchange for their submission to Muslim political authority and acceptance of social disadvantages. Shortt refrains from recommending specific actions, but for "people of the book" to become equal citizens, and for Muslims who abandon Islam to gain acceptance, it is evident that a two-pronged approach is critical. Christians in the West will have to lobby their governments, while moderate Muslims in the Islamic world will have to close ranks with their Christian compatriots against the forces of religious tradition, repression, and violence.
Rayyan Al-Shawaf is a writer and freelance reviewer based in Beirut, Lebanon.




7



 


May 10, 2013 Friday

 Java Heat  

 
  THE terrorism thriller "Java Heat" sure is violent. I don't even want to tell you how viciously Mickey Rourke mangles the French accent he's trying to do.  
  Rourke - cancel that comeback! - is in Indonesia as a thug who masterminds a crime involving the Princess Diana of the world's largest Muslim country. A glowering American grad student/Marine/superspy (Kellan Lutz) is on the case together with a local cop (Ario Bayu). The two have some culture clashes ("You Americans! Always you are telling! Never listening!") but gradually learn to work together. 
  The slab like Lutz, who belongs not in front of a camera but on display in a meat locker, doesn't have half the charisma required to hold together this jumble of cheesy shootouts and chases, but at least Rourke provides some unintended laughs with his comical attempts to be evil.  
  Running time: 103 minutes. Rated R (profanity, violence, sexual references). At the IFC Center, Sixth Avenue and Third Street.  




7



 


May 8, 2013 Wednesday

 'Provoking peace' in Indonesia; 
Christians and Muslims in Ambon, Indonesia, have relearned how to live together after a 1999 - 2002 war killed 5,000 people and displaced half a million.

 
When trouble finally came to Ambon, it came hard. Centuries of tradition that had kept the peace in this tropical corner of the world, where Muslims and Christians had lived mostly harmoniously since the late 16th century, were washed away in a spasm of violence that reverberated across Indonesia.
The war in Ambon and the wider Maluku islands started for a variety of reasons. But it quickly boiled down to a question of identity, of Christians versus Muslims, as more than 5,000 people were killed and 500,000 were displaced from their homes between 1999 and 2002.
The religious passions and communal hatred stirred up in the war put a question mark over Indonesia's moves to build a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship. Could Indonesia's Muslim majority coexist with Christians and other religious minorities without an authoritarian hand on the tiller?
Sitting in Ambon's Joas Coffee House 13 years after the fighting ended, the answer is clear: Yes. And sitting across from me is Jacky Manuputty, one member of a brave group of local community leaders, Muslim and Christian alike, who have helped heal the wounds of war and today act as the first responders of harmony when the fragile peace looks threatened.
Mr. Manuputty and his friends half-jokingly call themselves the Peace Provocateurs, and the tale of what they've accomplished is a rare message of hope not just for Indonesia, but in some ways for the world.
A Protestant pastor, Manuputty says it would be a mistake to see Ambon as a society that's fully healed. But he says he and his colleagues have at least found a way of containing small sparks - those rumors of "provocateurs" in their midst seeking to start another war.
"That term, provocateur, made people angry, so I tried to find a counternotion. It should really be a neutral term. It means how to steer people to do something, to grab the youths' attention," he says. "I don't believe we 'make' peace - everyone has the seeds of peacefulness inside themselves, but for some reason they struggle to see it, make it public. All we're trying to do is to bring out what's already inside of them."
What the Peace Provocateurs brought out in individuals here has in some ways brought together a nation. At the height of the fighting between Christians and Muslims, political commentators wondered if this diverse nation of 270 million people could survive the political demise of President Suharto. The word on many lips then was "Balkanization."
That may seem absurd now, with Indonesia since emerging as Asia's second largest democracy and the world's largest Muslim-majority one. It has ended two of its three longstanding separatist wars, and put out sectarian brush fires all along the way. The fire that burned in Ambon was among the country's hottest after long-ruling dictator Mr. Suharto was ousted in 1998.
That it was put out helped damage the interests of the small militant Islamist movement, bolstered respect for the central government, and helped set the stage for Indonesia's economy to start growing again.
So it's worth examining how it was done - and how still-existing tensions and disputes are kept from erupting again into open warfare. It wasn't easy, and success on the island had as much to do with local knowledge as with easily generalizable principles that might apply in countries like Egypt or Libya.
But if you're looking for examples of how people can put the horrors of sectarian war behind them, you could do worse than Ambon.
Manhattan traded for Moluccas
Ambon was once a center of attention for European imaginations, home to almost unimaginable riches for the bold.
What kind of riches? In 1667, the Dutch formally ceded control of Manhattan Island to the British in exchange for Britain granting to the Dutch control of Run, a postage stamp of an island in the Banda Sea south of Ambon that the two empires had fought over because of its nutmeg.
It was a comically bad trade from the perspective of today. But in those days, local farmers looking down the barrel of a European rifle sold nutmeg for next to nothing, which would be worth 1,000 times or more what was paid for it by the time it reached the salons of Europe.
For centuries, the European with the gun was the Dutch East India Co., which transformed Ambon and the surrounding islands, traditionally called the Moluccas in English and Maluku in Indonesian, into corporate possessions. Anyone who got in its way was likely to be killed, with methods particularly ruthless against native populations.
But the Dutch presence for centuries also led to the spread of Protestant Christianity in an area where Islam had arrived in the early 16th century. Christians were more likely to belong to local elites than Muslims.
While the region has never been entirely without conflict, faith rarely featured in disputes, with Ambon's Christian and Muslim inhabitants both looking to their shared past for answers to problems when they flared.
In particular, the people of Ambon had two customs that maintained bridges across faiths: pela and gandong. Pela refers to semiformal pacts between villages, and gandong derives from the word for "womb," emphasizing that all Ambonese are "brothers of the same womb."
A pela involved elements of mutual help. For instance, if a village were building a mosque, a neighboring Christian village would send men and supplies to help finish the roof. A Muslim village would act in kind. Gandong called on all Ambonese to look toward their common ancestry, embodied in a folk tradition that all people here descended from a tribe that lived on the large, mountainous island of Seram to the north.
But down the years, particularly since independence, the old ways have faded under pressure from newcomers from other parts of Indonesia, most of them Muslim, and from a central government that until recently was hostile to local, traditional forms of government.
Under Suharto, the power and respect of traditional leaders was steadily chipped away, shifted to officials answerable to the central government. That worked, in Ambon and elsewhere, for as long as Suharto's military-backed dictatorship remained standing. But when he fell, a network of control - taut strands composed of informants and soldiers and flunkies reaching out from Jakarta to every remote corner of Indonesia, including idyllic-seeming Ambon - sprang apart. Violence was coming.
In January 1999, about eight months after Suharto was pushed from power, a fight between a Christian bus driver and a Muslim passenger sparked ethnic and religious fighting across Ambon and neighboring islands. Among Christians at the time, there were rumors of national Muslim militias with designs on wiping out the Christian population of the region. Among Muslims, many whispered there was a Dutch-led conspiracy to create a breakaway Christian state in the region. Shops were smashed, houses burned, and men were bludgeoned to death in the street, by both sides.
In the early months of the conflict, local Christians, who were dramatically overrepresented in the regional police, had the upper hand. But as time went on, the balance shifted, as would-be jihadis from other parts of Indonesia were drawn in by national media that emphasized the Muslim community's plight.
While the fighting was originally driven by local issues involving economic and political competition, the Muslim fighters from the rest of Indonesia had a far darker agenda.
In September 2000, Jaffar Umar Thalib, a cleric who led a militia from Java called the Laskar Jihad, made no bones about the militia's intent. He described a lull in the conflict as only "halftime" and called for all Christians to be driven out of Ambon. A week later, he went to Waai, a Christian village that had been abandoned after a July 2000 attack. He decreed a new town, to be called Waai Islam, would be built there and praised its imminent "return" to Islam.
'Provoking peace'
In the end, Mr. Thalib and those like him lost the war. Christians like Manuputty had something to do with that. But so did Muslim leaders like Abidin Wakano.
Mr. Wakano, a Muslim scholar who teaches at the Islamic institute on the island and preaches at Al Fatah Mosque, its largest, chuckles as he recalls how he and Manuputty began working together, against considerable hostility in their own communities.
A few years ago he was putting the finishing touches on his sermon for Idul Fitri, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, and decided it wasn't quite right. So Wakano, one of the senior Peace Provocateurs, went over to Manuputty's office next to the Maranatha Church on the Christian side of town and asked him to edit the piece - a fact he shared with the thousands of Muslims he preached to at the service.
Manuputty has done likewise, recalling his efforts to get the Christian community of Ambon to see fellow Muslims as "subjects" rather than "objects" and to build empathy for their shared suffering. He invited a woman whose home had been burned and husband killed in the fighting to come speak before a Sunday service at Maranatha, the sort of emotional talk that was used to whip up anger against the other side during the war. There wasn't a dry eye in the audience as she wrapped up her speech - then revealed that she's a Muslim.
"Brotherhood isn't just about sweet words; it's constant work and criticism," Wakano says. "Often we have meetings with both sides and the talk is ridiculously nice and then everyone goes home, and all Muslims become terrorists and all Christians become liars again. We have to break the stereotypes."
Talk to average Ambonese, and they insist the ugly past is well behind them. On a recent sun-dripped day in Waai, it's easy to believe them. The Christian town of about 5,000 was mostly destroyed in 2000 by an attack organized from the neighboring Muslim town of Tulehu just up the coast. About a dozen people were killed in the attack, and the rest fled for their lives. The townspeople didn't return home until 2006.
The rebuilding of the town's large church is now the only outward sign of the trauma. A freshwater spring feeds a clear pool holding eels that the people of Waai consider sacred. It's also filled with children frolicking, and downstream, women chatting over laundry.
Baldus Bakerpessy, a retired fisherman, says he was frightened and angry when they were driven out of town. But asked if he wants revenge today, he insists the village has moved on. "We're rebuilding. We've established good relations with Tulehu again - they've helped out with the church - it's all in the past."
For their efforts at peace, both Manuputty and Wakano received some hostility from former friends and death threats from within their own communities.
A new segregation
And while Ambon is much better off today, both say it would be a mistake to assume another war isn't possible.
The conflict itself led to a religious cleansing of all the mixed neighborhoods and villages around the island. Today, there are none left. While Christians and Muslims mix in markets and cross communal lines by day, at night everyone retreats to their own communities.
The town is still pocked with scars of burned homes and warehouses, and the countryside is littered with remnants of villages whose residents were driven out - never to return.
And the traditional ways aren't exactly returning. Muslim migrants from other parts of Indonesia, mostly from South Sulawesi and surrounding islands, continue to pour in, and they have no interest in Pela and Gandong or what it once meant. There are still preachers from other parts of Indonesia that trouble Wakano.
"There are people that praise Islamic solidarity above all other things, who say traditional beliefs are haram [forbidden], polytheism," Wakano says. "Any movement, Christian or Muslim, that rejects this kind of local wisdom is absurd. If Muhammad and Jesus were still alive, maybe they'd make Pela Gandong. Fear is not what either religion is about."
Stamping out sparks
In 2011 that premise was sorely tested. That September, a Muslim motorcycle taxi driver died in an accident in a Christian area, and soon rumors were flying that he had been murdered by a Christian gang, including an insistence from some of the dead man's relatives that his wounds weren't consistent with an accident.
The fire was lit. Within hours, Muslim attacks on two Ambon City Christian neighborhoods, Talake and Mardhika, were swiftly followed by an attack on the Muslim neighborhood of Waringin. In all, 750 homes were damaged or destroyed and more than 3,000 people temporarily displaced.
The whole island held its breath. Muslim extremists in other parts of Indonesia tried to capitalize, with one website calling Ambon the "Gaza of Indonesia" and complaining of massacres carried out by Christian "crusaders."
But a competent police and military response was matched by community efforts. Wakano, Manuputty, and others quickly began working with women in all the affected communities, helping them organize to reach out for government rebuilding assistance and setting up a sort of community exchange program: Christian women spent the night at the houses of Muslim families, and vice versa. The fire, that time, was banked.
But Novi Pinontoan, the editor of Suara Maluku, the small island's leading newspaper, says the danger remains: "It's still too easy to provoke people. We are getting good at putting a lid on things; that's the difference between now and 1999 to 2002. We keep it small."
Manuputty worries, too, that full healing remains elusive: "We need to work out the future, but we've lived as a wounded community for centuries," he says. "There's a serious post-colonial syndrome here. People are still segregated, and there's no clear permanent solution."
But he takes hope in the bridges that have been built and says the best that can be done is to keep getting people to sit down and talk.
"We're building friendship webs, like weaving palm fronds for a roof," he says.




7


 


May 7, 2013 Tuesday  


 Aerosmith Cancels Show in Indonesia

 
Aerosmith has canceled a show in Indonesia because of security concerns after the police stopped an alleged plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy, news agencies have reported. 
The concert promoter, Ismaya Live, said the show on Saturday for 15,000 people in Jakarta had to be called off for safety reasons, though it did not spell out a connection with the bomb plot.
The Indonesian police said on Friday they had arrested two men suspected to be militants and had seized bombs; the men are accused of plotting to blow up the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta to protest that country's treatment of Muslims.
This is not the first time a Western rock act has pulled out of a show in Indonesia because of the political atmosphere. Lady Gaga canceled a concert on her Born This Way Ball tour last year after Islamic groups threatened violent protests.
This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.




7



 


May 6, 2013 Monday

 Aerosmith cancels Indonesia show over security fears

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)   Aerosmith canceled a show in Indonesia after authorities there said they had foiled a bomb plot targeting the Myanmar Embassy. 
Concert promoter Ismaya Live cited safety concerns as the reason for the cancellation, but it wasn't clear if there was a direct connection to the alleged embassy plot.
The American rockers were scheduled to perform this coming Saturday for a nearly sold-out crowd of 15,000 in the capital, Jakarta, said Helmi Sugara, event organizer spokesman.
The statement about the cancellation carried an apology from Aerosmith also saying they hoped to make it up to the fans one day. There was no immediate indication they would reschedule.
Indonesian police said Friday they had arrested two suspected militants and seized bombs the suspects were plotting to use against the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta to protest Myanmar's treatment of Muslims.
Aerosmith started an Asia-Pacific tour in April with its first-ever concert in New Zealand and several shows in Australia. It is scheduled to play Wednesday in the Philippines.
Western music acts are popular in Indonesia, but Islamic hard-liners have forced changes or cancellations in the past.
Lady Gaga canceled what was to be the biggest performance on her "Born This Way Ball" tour in Asia last year. Hard-liners had threatened violence if the concert was held because they saw the pop diva as a corrupting influence.
Jennifer Lopez, who judged "American Idol" alongside Aerosmith's Steven Tyler for two seasons, toned down her costumes and dance moves during an Indonesian concert in late November.




7


 


May 5, 2013 Sunday

 Hostility toward religion

 
 Last year, Hamza Kashgari was a young Saudi Arabian columnist and blogger struggling with a crisis of faith.  He imagined having a conversation with the Prophet Mohammad and spoke to the founder of Islam on the occasion of his birthday. "I find you wherever I turn," he said." "I will say that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many more."  
He posted this, along with another two similar messages, on Twitter, and, almost immediately, he was inundated with death threats. Fearing for his life, he caught a flight to New Zealand to find asylum, only to be extradited back to Saudi Arabia when he tried to change planes. Today, he remains behind bars for violating Saudi Arabia's strict blasphemy laws, which, legally, could result in his execution.  Unfortunately, he's not alone.  Saudi Arabia is just one of many Middle Eastern and North African countries that execute blasphemers. Many countries in that region also have strict "conversion laws," which prohibit leaving Islam under penalty of death. Yet this is not a problem limited to one religion or one region of the world. Burma imprisons a number of monks solely because of their efforts to serve as clergy to their fellow Buddhists. In Indonesia, it's against the law to have no religion. When one man declared on a website that he was an atheist, an angry mob gathered to take retribution. When the police showed up, they didn't disperse the mob, but instead took the atheist into custody. All individuals of faith, and even those with no faith at all, ought to stand against the growing worldwide challenge to religious freedom.  The Pew Research Center has conducted a study to measure levels of religious freedom across the world. Their findings are not encouraging. They have determined that three-quarters of the world's population live in nations that exercise high or very high restriction on religious liberty, either through direct government sanction, or through intense societal pressures that are accompanied by violence. Sometimes, as was the case with the atheist in Indonesia, the problem is a rancid mixture of both.  This past week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) confirmed those findings in its annual report, citing instances where "[e]xtremists target religious minorities and dissenters from majority religious communities for violence" and  "governments? repress religious freedom through intricate webs of discriminatory rules, arbitrary requirements and draconian edicts."  USCIRF called on the Obama administration to take action to tailor its foreign policy to encourage spreading religious freedom across the globe.  It's essential that the administration support those efforts. At the same time, Americans should also recognize that this is a problem here at home, too.  Even in supposedly "enlightened" nations that ostensibly protect freedom of worship, overt religiosity can still cause problems. Consider the case of the woman in Great Britain who regularly wore a pendant with a cross to work and was subsequently fired as a result. While this pales in comparison to the threat of state execution or mob justice, it demonstrates a creeping intolerance for the exercise of faith, even in places where such freedom is supposed to be inviolate.  Recent Pew research suggests that hostility to religion in the United States has risen in the wake of the Boston bombings. So far, America is a long way from locking up clergy or passing anti-conversion blasphemy laws, but Americans still should be vigilant in decrying religious intolerance in any form. The freedom to worship according to the demands of conscience is one of the pillars of our civilization. Any attempt, large or small, to erode that fundamental right diminishes us all.  




7



 


May 4, 2013 Saturday

 MYANMAR'S RIFTS MAKE WAVES IN INDONESIA

 

ABSTRACT
Indonesian police arrest two unnamed men on suspicion of plotting to bomb Myanmar's Embassy in Jakarta in retaliation for Buddhist violence against Muslims in Myanmar (M)  




7



 


May 1, 2013 Wednesday

 How US Muslims are different: Pew poll sheds light on global contrasts; 
A smaller share of Muslims in the US as compared with those worldwide say all their friends are Muslims, according to a new Pew poll. Survey questions about violence produce some variations.

 
Muslims in the United States have views on religion that are different, in many ways, from the views of Muslims in other nations.
Consider some intriguing contrasts, contained in a poll released this week by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:
· Some 48 percent of Muslims in America say most or all of their close friends are Muslim, compared with a 95 percent global median level, among 39 nations encompassed by the Pew Forum's survey.
· Nearly two-thirds of US Muslims, 63 percent, say there is no inherent tension between being devout and living in a modern society. A nearly identical proportion of American Christians, 64 percent, feel that way. But fewer Muslims around the world share that view (the median in the Pew survey was 54 percent) - even though the US is more "modern" in many ways than other nations in the survey, which span from Nigeria to Indonesia.
· 56 percent of US Muslims agree with the view that many religions can lead to heaven. That's closer to the US average of 70 percent than it is to Islam globally, which had an 18 percent median in the Pew survey.
· On the question of whether attacks on civilians such as suicide bombings are ever justified in defense of Islam, Muslims in America are strongly on the less-violent end of the global spectrum. In the US, 81 percent of Muslims say such violence is never justified, a slightly higher share than the survey's global median of 72 percent.
About 1 percent of US Muslims say violence is "often" justified, versus 3 percent globally. Although there is general disapproval of violence, a few nations such as Afghanistan and Egypt have much larger-than-average numbers - 39 percent and 29 percent, respectively - who view attacks against civilians as often or sometimes justified.
"There's something about US Muslims that is distinctive," says James Bell, who helped direct the global polling effort that took five years and 38,000 interviews to complete.
That's the case even though most Muslims in the US were born in other nations, the Pew researchers say.
"In their attitudes toward modern society and their relations with people of other faiths, U.S. Muslims sometimes more closely resemble other Americans than they do Muslims around the world," the new report says.
The report on Muslim attitudes around the world comes as America is grappling with a tragic bombing attack at the Boston Marathon, which appears to have been motivated in part by the perpetrators' affiliation with an ideology of violent jihad.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers suspected of setting the blasts, was quoted in 2010 as saying, "I don't have a single American friend, I don't understand them." In captions to a photo essay about him as an aspiring boxer, he also worried out loud that "there are no values anymore" and that "people can't control themselves."
Since the April 15 bomb attack, many Muslim Americans have spoken out to condemn the bombings, and many have also felt frustrated that such events can erase hard-won public trust.




7



 


April 30, 2013 Tuesday

 Poll shows how US Muslims are like Protestants - and how they're not; 
A worldwide Pew poll of Muslims charts opinions on issues from women's rights to which religion is the one true faith, and details how US Muslims fit into the American matrix.

 
Compared to Muslims worldwide, adherents of Islam in the United States are more likely to have close friends who are non-Muslim. They are far more likely to say that believers in many religions can attain heaven. They are considerably less likely to view suicide bombing as acceptable.
Those are some of the results from a major global poll of Muslims in 39 countries, released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The survey's release comes, coincidentally, in the same month America was shaken by Boston Marathon bomb attacks, which focused the nation on the risk of domestic Islamic terrorism. The two suspects named in the case by investigators so far, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are Muslims of Chechen heritage who had lived in the US for a decade.
While the Tsarnaev brothers appear to have been drawn toward the ideology of violent jihad in defense of Islam, according to emerging evidence, the Pew survey paints a broader portrait of Muslims worldwide - finding, for instance, that a large majority of the world's 1.6 billion adherents of Islam disapprove of such attacks against civilians.
The poll also puts in sharp relief how varied the views are from country to country, within a religion that encompasses about one-fourth of the global population. (The survey itself was a gargantuan effort spanning five years - through 2012 - with 38,000 face-to-face interviews in 80-plus languages.)
Some highlights:
One true faith? In all but a handful of the 39 countries surveyed, most Muslims agree with the view that their religion is the one true faith leading to eternal life in heaven. And they say belief in God is necessary to be a moral person.
America is one of the exceptions to this pattern, although about two-thirds of US Muslims are foreign-born, according to Pew Forum researchers. Some 56 percent of US Muslims agree with the view that many religions can lead to heaven, compared with 18 percent in the median nation in the global survey.
Terrorism. Around the world, most Muslims reject suicide bombing and other attacks against civilians in the name of Islam. Some 81 percent of US Muslims, on one end of the spectrum, say such violence against civilians is never justified, while some say it is either often justified (1 percent) or sometimes justified (7 percent) to defend Islam.
By contrast, substantial minorities among Muslims in several countries say such acts of violence are at least sometimes justified, including 26 percent in Bangladesh, 29 percent in Egypt, 39 percent in Afghanistan, and 40 percent in the Palestinian territories.
Role of women. In most countries surveyed, majorities of Muslim women and men alike agree that a wife is always obliged to obey her husband. However, majorities in many countries surveyed say a woman should be able to decide for herself whether to wear a veil
In most countries where a question about so-called "honor" killings was asked, majorities of Muslims say such killings are never justified. In two countries - Afghanistan and Iraq - majorities condone extra-judicial executions of women who have allegedly shamed their families by engaging in premarital sex or adultery.
Morality. Muslims around the world overwhelmingly view certain behaviors as immoral, including prostitution, homosexuality, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, and consumption of alcohol. But the polling found that attitudes toward polygamy, divorce, and birth control are more varied.
Religion in politics. Most Muslims want to see the teachings of Islam shape their societies, but the percentage of Muslims who say they want sharia to be "the official law of the land" varies. That percentage is fewer than 1 in 10 in Azerbaijan, but is a solid majority in many nations from Africa to Asia. That includes 71 percent of Muslims in Nigeria, 72 percent in Indonesia, 74 percent in Egypt, and 99 percent in Afghanistan.
At the same time, the survey finds that even in many countries where there is strong backing for sharia, most Muslims favor religious freedom for people of other faiths. In Pakistan, for example, three-quarters of Muslims say that non-Muslims are very free to practice their religion, and fully 96 percent of those who share this assessment say it is "a good thing."
That finding, repeated in other nations, is important as indicator of the potential for tolerance to coincide with the desire for religion to influence public life, the Pew Forum's James Bell said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.
And in many countries, a majority of Muslims say sharia law should not apply to people of other faiths. (But majorities in Egypt and Afghanistan say sharia should apply more widely, and Indonesia is divided down the middle on this issue.)
At least half of Muslims in most countries surveyed say they are concerned about religious extremist groups in their country. The worry is more about Islamic extremists than about Christian extremists.
Islam versus other faiths in US. Within the US, it's possible to draw comparisons between some views of Muslims and the views of people of other faiths.
For example, US Muslims are generally less likely than the general US population to believe that many religions can lead to eternal life (56 vs. 70 percent).
But they are in the middle of the pack when it comes to viewing their religion as the one true faith. About 33 percent of US Muslims believe that, similar to historically black Protestant churches (34 percent) and evangelical Protestant churches (36 percent). A higher share of Mormons (56 percent) felt that way, while the level was lower for a number of other faiths. Sixteen percent of Roman Catholics, 12 percent of mainline Protestants, and 5 percent of Jews in the US saw their religion as the one true faith.




8


 


April 26, 2013 Friday  
The International Herald Tribune

 For Indonesian Atheists, a Community of Support Amid Constant Fear

 
JAKARTA -- Karina is an atheist, but her friends jokingly call her ''the prophet.'' That is because she is helping nurture a community for unbelievers in predominantly Muslim Indonesia, where trumpeting one's disbelief in God can lead to abuse, ostracism and even prison.
''It's very normal for atheists to be paranoid because the environment does not support them,'' said Ms. Karina, 26, who uses only one name. But, she said, ''in this group people don't need to be afraid.''
Indonesian Atheists was founded with a Facebook page in 2008 and now holds regular gatherings. The Internet has offered its members a safe space to air their opinions, and the feeling of community has made them braver about gathering in public. But recent prosecutions of people who made online comments deemed blasphemous by the country's courts have stoked fears that they too could come under attack. 
''Members' growing outspokenness and courage does not indicate that other people increasingly accept us,'' said Karl Karnadi, 29, the group's founder. He lives in Germany and is candid about being a nonbeliever on Facebook and Twitter. Inside Indonesia, atheists are circumspect about their views, he said, and refrain from public criticism of Islam or any statements that could run afoul of the country's blasphemy law. Still, he said, that is an advance from a time when people were fiercely secretive.
''At first people think they're alone,'' Mr. Karl said in a Skype interview. ''But after we meet each other, we feel like we're accepted. We're together if anything happens to us, and that feeling of community is very valuable.''
While the Indonesian Constitution enshrines freedom of religion, legal protection is afforded only to six official faiths -- Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism. Citizens are required to list their religion on national identity cards. Violating the country's blasphemy law by insulting or interfering with the practice of one of the official faiths can bring a five-year prison term.
Concerns about the application of that law against religious minorities have risen amid an increase in religiously motivated violence that rights campaigners say is threatening a tradition of tolerance in Indonesia.
A recent report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch said reported cases of religious violence in Indonesia had increased by 20 percent since 2010. The Setara Institute, a research organization based in Jakarta, documented 264 attacks on religious minorities last year.
Those perpetuating the violence are largely militant Islamists who have an ''uncompromising view of religious purity,'' said Phelim Kine, a deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. ''Compounding that is a complete failure by the Indonesian government to confront this violence and put a stop to it.''
Officials say that while, under the Constitution, each citizen is entitled to whatever private belief he chooses, religious activities outside the home must be controlled by the state to maintain public order.
''Someone who belongs to one particular religion has also to respect other religious communities,'' said Nur Kholis Setiawan, head of the center for research and development of religious life at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. ''The state has an authority and an obligation to manage religious life in the public forum.''
It has done so, however, through several regulations that Mr. Kine says have been used against religious minorities, including a ministerial decree that has prevented Christian groups from opening churches and the 1965 blasphemy law, which courts have used more than a dozen times since 2005 to prosecute Shiites, Christians and atheists.
Last year Alexander Aan, a civil servant in West Sumatra, was charged with blasphemy for posting ''God does not exist'' along with cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on a Facebook page he administered dedicated to atheism. Months later another man, Sebastian Joe, was charged under the same law for insulting Islam, also on Facebook.
Both men were eventually sentenced to prison under a separate electronic communications law that prohibits the transmission of defamatory information through the Internet. Mr. Alexander was sentenced to two and half years for ''disseminating information aimed at inciting religious hatred.'' Mr. Sebastian was sentenced to five years.
A report by the International Humanist and Ethical Union, a global organization representing atheists and freethinkers, listed Indonesia among a number of Muslim-majority countries, including Bangladesh and Egypt, that have stepped up prosecution of religious expression in social media. According to the group, which submitted its report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Feb. 25, more than a dozen people, in 10 countries, were charged with ''blasphemous'' statements on the Internet in 2012.
Despite concerns about attack or arrest, Ms. Karina is among the more than a thousand members of Indonesian Atheists, many of who are increasingly speaking out. In 2011 some members started another group, You Ask Atheists Answer, a forum that aims to facilitate discussions about atheism in the hope of breaking down hostile stereotypes.
Because the forum is open, many Indonesian Atheists members use aliases to post comments that might offend militant Islamists who have attacked those they consider apostates.
Members' paths to atheism have varied. Some say they are from families whose unbending embrace of religion caused them to rebel, others say their more moderate upbringing allowed them to question religion's role in their lives. Most say the Internet has been a gateway to readings and discussions that have affirmed their disbelief.
Offline, they say the group is more than a collection of like minds. It is a source of friendship, a support network and a safety net. When Muhammad Ikhwan, who goes by Matthew Edison because his birth name is ''so Islamic,'' needed money to repay a debt to his estranged father, he said members collected 30 million rupiah, or about $3,000, to help him.
As the community has grown, however, so has the attention. An administrator of You Ask Atheists Answer said that he receives death threats and frequently gets messages demanding that he dissolve the group. He now uses a pseudonym on Facebook.
Some atheists say that if militant Islamists can violently attack other Muslims they deem heretical -- referring to raids on Shiite villages and members of the Ahmadiyah sect -- worse things could happen to them. ''We cannot expect that the government will protect us,'' Mr. Edison said.
In February 2011, for example, hundreds of militant Islamists attacked an Ahmadiyah community in West Java and beat three people to death. A district court sentenced 12 of the perpetrators to jail terms of three to six months. The following month the same court sentenced an Ahmadiyah man wounded in the attack to six months in jail for inciting the violence. More recently, officials in Bekasi, West Java, sealed an Ahmadiyah mosque in a crackdown on what they called a ''deviant'' branch of Islam.
''The government is doing something wrong by not protecting constitutional rights,'' said Philips J. Vermonte, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. The state has an obligation to defend the rights of minorities, he said. ''But that's what we don't have right now in Indonesia.''
Mr. Karl, who said he had gradually renounced Christianity after years of reading books about science and religion and disillusion with religious groups who use faith to justify intolerant behavior, says that, as long as the law is used to attack those outside the religious mainstream, Indonesian atheists should be careful.
In the meantime, said Ms. Karina, group members will continue to gather, in the manner she applies to her own life. ''I'm open,'' she said, ''but I'm not broadcasting.''




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April 12, 2013 Friday  


 Agus Suwage: 'Cycle No. 2'

 
Tyler Rollins Fine Art
529 West 20th Street, Chelsea
Through April 13
Born in 1959, Agus Suwage (pronounced soo-AH-gay) is one of Indonesia's most visible contemporary artists. His New York solo debut at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in 2011 was death-saturated, filled with images of skeletons, though its tone was far from downbeat. Mr. Suwage, who began his career as graphic designer in the city of Jogjakarta, where he lives and works, made a brash, antic thing of mortality: a skull in one oil-on-zinc painting had Mickey Mouse ears; another got a kiss on the mouth from the artist himself. 
The tone of this new show is more restrained and the imagery more varied, with self-portraiture the common thread. Mr. Suwage's face, grinning and spectacled, greets us in an 11-foot-high mosaiclike mural pieced together from recycled tin cans and car audio systems. At the far end of the gallery, he reappears in cutout silhouette as the Virgin Mary, with a flaming heart burning at the center of his chest.
And he turns up yet again, in miniature, dressed in Indonesian Muslim robes, with his hands pressed to his ears as he stands facing a real brass trumpet from which emerges a soft voice chanting the azan, or Muslim call to prayer. Mr. Suwage is a convert to Islam from Christianity, but the sound of the azan electronically broadcast from competing mosques in the neighborhood surrounding his studio has become aggressively loud, and all but deafening, as is, he suggests, the presence of Islam in Indonesian politics.
Topical commentary has always been the foundation of this remarkable artist's work. He's a born satirist, which means a born moralist. The range of his subjects, cultural and existential, is broad; his take, vivid and sharp.




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April 8, 2013 Monday  


 Israel Says It Repelled Most Attacks on Its Web Sites by Pro-Palestinian Hackers

 
JERUSALEM -- A loose international coalition of pro-Palestinian computer hackers threatened to carry out what it called ''a massive cyberassault'' against Israel on Sunday, but the campaign created mostly minor disruptions, and the Israeli government said that as of midday its Web sites were still accessible to the public.
Numerous sites, including some hosted by the government, were briefly closed down or defaced starting on Saturday evening, and some data was stolen, according to Israeli cyberexperts. On Sunday afternoon, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement that government sites were ''under DDoS attack,'' referring to Distributed Denial of Service, a method used by hackers to make sites unavailable, and that Israeli computer experts were working to repel the attacks in cooperation with Internet service providers. 
The statement added that the Foreign Affairs Ministry's Web site was inaccessible ''for a few seconds before returning to normal operations'' and that generally ''a slowdown or unavailability of service could be expected from time to time.''
The Web site of Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, was also hit by a cyberattack as Israel was preparing to mark its annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Guy Mizrahi of Cyberia, an Israeli cybersecurity firm, said in an interview that the damage was not significant and that most of the attacks were ''childish.''
The shadowy network of hackers who identified themselves as belonging to the Anonymous collective, along with various allied groups, announced last week that ''elite cybersquadrons from around the world'' had decided to unite to ''disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace.'' Among other things, they blamed Israel for violating the November cease-fire in Gaza by carrying out airstrikes, a reference to the assaults on Tuesday on two open areas in northern Gaza that caused no damage or casualties. Israel said the strikes were in response to a renewal of rocket fire into southern Israel.
Israel has been working to protect itself from cyberattacks, establishing a National Cyber Bureau in early 2012 to coordinate computer security efforts.
Isaac Ben Israel of the National Cyber Bureau told Israel Radio on Sunday that Israel ''has always been more prepared than other places in the world.''
''When we talk about cyberwar we are talking about attacks on water, electricity, infrastructure, but Anonymous does not have that kind of ability,'' he said. ''The fact that we don't have any big damage is not because there are no attacks. We see the attacks, and they are blocked.''
Pro-Israeli hackers, some working under the name Israeli Elite Force, said they had retaliated by posting pro-Israeli messages on Web sites in the Muslim world.
The pro-Palestinian hackers called their campaign Operation Israel. Activists logged and tracked their progress through a Twitter account, #OpIsrael.
But some of the sites in Israel that the hackers had claimed to have brought down -- like the ones hosted by Coca-Cola, the prime minister's office and Invest in Israel, an initiative of the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, appeared to be working on Sunday.
The pro-Palestinian hackers seemed to have had more success in attacking small businesses and individual Facebook pages. At midday they announced on Twitter that they had defaced the Web site of an Israeli hair salon, Peter Hair, in Ramat Hasharon, near Tel Aviv.
The salon site's home page showed a person with a masked face, an image associated with Anonymous, holding a sign saying ''Indonesian Security Down #OP ISRAHELL.'' The rest of the screen was filled with a message to the government, accusing Israel of having ''wronged humanity.'' The hackers signed off with the message, ''We are Muslims, Soldier of Allah.''
Reached by telephone on Sunday evening, the owner of the salon, Peter Imseis, said he had not been aware that the site had been hacked and added that it had not affected his business. Asked why he thought the salon had become a target, he said, ''I don't have a clue. It's very strange.''




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April 6, 2013 Saturday  


 Buddhist-Muslim Tensions Spread as 8 Detainees Die in Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Simmering religious and ethnic violence in Myanmar spread beyond its borders on Friday when a brawl broke out at an immigration center in Indonesia between Muslim and Buddhist detainees, leaving 8 dead and 15 wounded, officials said.
A group of 117 Rohingya refugees and 11 Buddhists accused of illegal fishing, all from Myanmar, were being held together in the same area of a government detention center in Belawan, a port city in North Sumatra Province, when fighting erupted just after midnight, said Herianto, a spokesman for Indonesia's Department of Immigration in Jakarta. 
''There were eight fishermen killed,'' said Mr. Herianto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. ''The injured detainees were Rohingya,'' a Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar.
The disturbance erupted around 12:45 a.m., with the detainees using metal and wood from broken chairs to attack one another, according to Sabarita Ginting, an immigration office spokeswoman in Medan, the provincial capital.
The police subdued it by midmorning, Indonesia's Metro TV and Detikcom news portal reported.
The Associated Press, quoting the local police, reported that the clash began when a Muslim Rohingya confronted a Buddhist fisherman about sectarian violence in Myanmar.
The government of Myanmar said it would seek more information about the deaths. ''I am not clear why the Indonesian authorities put those groups in the same place during this tense period,'' said U Zaw Htay, a director with President Thein Sein's office.
Vivian Tan, a regional spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok, said the detention center's detainees were usually a mix of foreign asylum seekers, refugees like the Rohingya and people detained for illegal entry, like the Buddhist fishermen.
The United Nations refugees office released a statement Friday afternoon calling for calm between the groups, and urged the Indonesian authorities to act to prevent further violence, including moving detainees into community housing as soon as possible.
The brawl in the detention center underscores the tensions and deep animosity between Muslims and Buddhists that have surfaced in Myanmar as the country tries to embrace democracy after five decades of military rule.
Regional officials expressed concern that violence within Myanmar could spill over to its Southeast Asian neighbors. At a joint two-day workshop in Jakarta on Friday on conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy, Vijay Nambiar of India, a United Nations under secretary general and special adviser on Myanmar to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters that the Buddhist-Muslim tensions needed to be controlled for regional security.
''All the governments are conscious that they can't afford to let this kind of genie get out of the bottle,'' he said. Indonesia, with the largest population of Muslims in the world, ''is particularly sensitive about these implications.''
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia told the workshop attendees that it was difficult to discern whether a security challenge in one nation was also a regional one.
''Very rapidly, any conditions that are unstable even within countries can become at least a nontraditional type of security threat to the rest of the region,'' he said. ''This applies to all of us, basically.''
Tensions remain high in Yangon and other Myanmar cities, with Muslims on alert for attacks after recent rioting in the central city of Meiktila killed more than 40 people, most of them Muslims.
Since the attacks in Meiktila, which began March 20 and in some cases were led by Buddhist monks, rioting has spread to other parts of Myanmar, leaving mosques and hundreds of Muslims' homes destroyed.
A fire in the dormitory of a Muslim school in Yangon that left 13 dead this week was attributed to a faulty electrical device but nonetheless heightened fears among the Muslim community.
Muslim organizations and human rights groups have criticized Myanmar's handling of religious and ethnic violence during the past year, including violence in western Myanmar that has killed more than 150 people and displaced more than 100,000 people, mainly Muslims.
The government has said the violence in Rakhine State, near the border with Bangladesh, was organized by unidentified groups seeking to stir up religious hatred, but the authorities had yet to arrest any of the leaders of the attacks.
The majority of those displaced are Rohingya who have been unable to return to their villages and remain in squalid refugee camps. Not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, thousands of Rohingya have fled by boat to neighboring countries, mainly Malaysia and Indonesia, both with Muslim majorities. Thousands more have been taken in by Saudi Arabia in recent years.




8


 Star Tribune
 
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

April 6, 2013 Saturday  
METRO EDITION

 Dempsey arrives with eye on post-2014

 
Dempsey arrives with eye on post-2014
Th United States' top military officer says his weekend visit to Afghanistan will give him a chance to assess the type and level of additional training that U.S. troops could provide to Afghan defense forces after 2014. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, says that assessment will inform U.S. decisions about how many U.S. troops should remain after the U.S. and NATO combat role ends in December 2014. He arrived at Bagram Air Field early Saturday for meetings with U.S. and allied commanders as well as Afghan officials. 
Timetable deal reached over bases
The United States and Japan agreed on a new timetable for the return to Japan of a Marine airfield and other military bases on Okinawa, moving to solve a long-festering issue that has bedeviled U.S. ties with its largest Asian ally. It sets a target date of returning the Futenma base, in the center of the city of Ginowan, by as early as 2022. It also lays out a timetable for handing over five other U.S. bases, also in the crowded southern half of the island, by the late 2020s. By agreeing to a clear timetable, both nations are hoping to entice Okinawans to drop their opposition to the air base, which Washington and Tokyo want to move to another part of the island but which many Okinawans want to move off the island.
Iranian nuclear talks off to slow start
Nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers began on a discordant note in Kazakhstan as Western officials criticized the Islamic Republic for failing to respond substantively to demands that it scale back its nuclear ambitions. Iranian diplomats unveiling what they described as a "comprehensive proposal," but Western diplomats said they put forward only a vague proposal that reflected little change from previous positions.
U.S. colonel pardoned in rendition program
Italy's president pardoned a U.S. Air Force colonel convicted in absentia in the CIA-conducted abduction of Egyptian terror suspect, Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street in 2003. Joseph Romano was security chief of Italy's Aviano air base where the cleric was taken before being flown out of the country. The trial was the first in the world involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program.
Muslim-Buddhist tensions spread
Simmering religious and ethnic violence in Myanmar spread beyond its borders when a brawl broke out at an immigration center in Indonesia between Muslim and Buddhist detainees, killing eight people and wounding 15, officials said. The fighting broke out in Belawan, where 117 Rohingya refugees and 11 Buddhists accused of illegal fishing, all from Myanmar, were being held in the same area of a detention center.
NEWS SERVICES




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April 6, 2013 Saturday  


 

JAPAN

Deal struck with U.S. on plans for Okinawa
Japan and the United States said Friday that they have agreed on plans for returning land to Japan near Kadena Air Base, on the southern island of Okinawa, that is used by U.S. troops, in an effort to balance local concerns with support for the countries' military alliance.
A joint statement characterized the plan as a realignment and consolidation of U.S. forces. 
The United States has had a presence on Okinawa since World War II . Tensions over land use, crimes committed by military personnel and disruptions caused by military flights have been building over the years.
The plans, announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Ambassador John Roos, call for returning more than 1,400 acres of land near Kadena and include separate timetables and arrangements for relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the Okinawan city of Ginowan beginning in fiscal 2022.
- Associated Press

VATICAN

Pope seeks actionon child sexual abuse
Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to "act decisively" to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure that the perpetrators are punished, the Vatican said Friday.
Francis, in a meeting with the Holy See's doctrinal chief, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, had declared that combating sexual abuse was important "for the Church and its credibility," a statement said. It said the pope wants Catholic bishops around the world to promote and implement "directives in this matter."
Francis inherited a church mired in problems and a major scandal over the abuse of children by priests. It was believed to be the first time he had taken up the issue of sex abuse with a senior member of his staff since his election March 13.
A victims group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said the statement did not go far enough.
"We can't confuse words with actions," the group said.
- Reuters
China culls market birds as flu toll reaches 6: Chinese authorities slaughtered more than 20,000 birds at a poultry market in Shanghai as the death toll from a new strain of bird flu mounted to six. City officials said that the Huhuai market for live birds had been shut down after authorities detected the H7N9 virus from pigeon samples taken there and that other markets would close starting Saturday. Meanwhile, eastern Jiangsu province confirmed two new H7N9 cases, bringing the national total to 16.
Burmese Muslims, Buddhists clash in Indonesia: Religious and ethnic tensions running high in Burma boiled over outside the country's borders when Buddhist fishermen and Muslim asylum seekers from Burma brawled with knives and rocks at an Indonesian immigration detention center, leaving eight Buddhists dead and 15 Muslim Rohingya migrants injured. The melee broke out in North Sumatra province, where more than 100 Rohingya migrants and 11 Burmese Buddhists accused of illegal fishing were being housed together, police said.
U.S. detains former head of Guinea-Bissau navy: A former navy chief of the small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau who is suspected of being a kingpin in the international cocaine trade has been brought to the United States and is being held in New York along with four other men after their arrest at sea by federal drug agents, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The Treasury Department designated Rear Adm. Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto as a drug kingpin in 2010.
- From news services




8


 


March 8, 2013 Friday

 Musical Tribute on Sunday at the Tabernacle is a microcosm of Utah interfaith effort

 
 SALT LAKE CITY ? The Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable?s annual Interfaith Month will come to a festive, entertaining and spiritually uplifting conclusion Sunday when it presents its traditional Musical Tribute at 6 p.m. in the LDS Church?s Tabernacle on Temple Square.  
?The musical is a microcosm of what we?ve been trying to do all month with our interfaith activities,? said Josie Stone, Interfaith Month chair for the 11-year-old organization. ?We?re not just trying to inform and entertain ? although we?re certainly trying to do those things. But more than anything, we?re trying to increase respect and understanding between people through real, meaningful experience.? Those experiences will be diverse and varied, Stone said. Intentionally so. ?Regardless of what faith tradition you come from, it is likely that you will come to the Musical Tribute and see something you?ve never seen before,? she said. ?That?s why we would love to have people come and bring their families ? especially their young people because they are so open to seeing things that are different and accepting them.? This year that is especially true, with at least two Tabernacle firsts: a gamelan orchestra, a traditional Indonesian musical group featuring unique metallophones, flutes, drums and gongs, and a whirling dance by Turkish Moslem clerics called dervishes. That?s right: whirling dervishes. The historic Tabernacle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) may never be the same. ?We?ve had a number of Tabernacle firsts through the years,? said Elaine Emmi, SLIR secretary. ?The first Moslem call to prayer, the first Native American chanting, the first sounding of a Jewish shofar. But the LDS Church has encouraged and supported everything we have done in the Tabernacle through the years. They are an important part of what we are trying to do.? Other performances during this year?s Musical Tribute will include a dance group from the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, taiko drummers and three children?s choral groups: the Salt Lake Children?s Choir, the Juan Diego Choir and a Hindu children?s choir. ?It?s always fascinating to watch the children interact with each other and watch each other perform,? said Stone. ?They seem so open to each other. By the time we are through there are a lot of tears and hugging.? According to Emmi, that?s what happens when you participate in an annual miracle. ?Every year I sit there with my mouth open,? she said. ?There?s just something miraculous about getting all these different people together and putting on a program like this without any rehearsal. We?re always scared. We always wonder if something is going to go terribly wrong. But every time it goes off beautifully, and you just sit there in awe.? That is especially true of Utah visitors who happen to be in town for the weekend and wander into the Tabernacle expecting to see something very ?Mormon? and see something quite different. ?We always have a bunch of visitors who are in town and see the posters and come to the tribute,? Emmi said. ?They are absolutely amazed that in a state that is known for being so Mormon, we have this spectacular event during which we are celebrating this wonderful diverse population that we have. Here in one wonderful night they get a peek at the depth and breadth of Utah?s religious landscape.? Which is just as it should be with a microcosm. Tickets are not required for the Musical Tribute. The Tabernacle doors will open at 5 p.m., and all seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. 




8



 


March 1, 2013 Friday

 Religious violence up in Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)   Indonesia's government, security forces and courts must do more to protect religious minorities from growing episodes of intolerance and violence, an international rights group said in a report Thursday.
Human Rights Watch cited a steady increase in brutal attacks over the past few years due to the government's failure to confront thuggish harassment against Christians, Shia Muslims and the Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect. It also noted that discriminatory regulations have not only affected those minorities, but also Sunni Muslim communities in some Christian-dominated areas of eastern Indonesia.
Indonesia, a secular country, is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. The majority of its 210 million Muslims are Sunni and most practice a moderate form of faith. 
The New York-based organization called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to adopt a "zero tolerance" policy for discrimination and violence against religious minorities.
The government responded to the report by saying religious harmony remains strong in Indonesia, and it was unfair to generalize all attacks on minorities as being linked to intolerance.
The report alleged building permits for houses of worship have been denied, police have failed to stop violent attacks, prosecutors have sought weak punishment and in two cases, local authorities refused to honor Supreme Court decisions allowing religious minorities to build places of worship.
The 107-page report was based on research between August 2011 and December 2012, interviewing 115 people, including 71 victims in 10 of Indonesia's 34 provinces.
"The Indonesian government's failure to take decisive action to protect religious minorities from threats and violence is undermining its claims to being a rights-respecting democracy," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.
The watchdog organization also cited reports from the Jakarta-based nonprofit Setara Institute, which recorded 264 attacks last year, up from 244 cases the previous year and 216 in 2010.
However, Bahrul Hayat, Secretary General of Indonesia's Religious Affairs Ministry, said a government survey completed at the end of last year indicated that religious harmony in Indonesia is still very strong.
"We noted that a few violations happened, but please don't generalize that intolerance has increased in Indonesia," he said, adding that in some cases religion is blamed as the cause of conflicts when instead some disputes are actually motivated by social, political, economic or even cultural or family issues.
He said most religious issues involve the closing or building of places of worship, but it that is not an issue unique to minority religions.
"Not only churches are having problems in gaining construction approval, but also mosques in some areas," he said. "If they don't meet the requirements of a permit to build the house of worship, the government's permit will not granted. ... This should be understood by people of all faiths."
In the Human Rights Watch report, the hardline Islamic People's Forum and the Islamic Defenders Front were singled out as seeking to justify violence by labeling Ahmadiyahs and Shiites as "blasphemers" and most non-Muslims as "infidels."
The report insisted on the need to enforce national laws and to map out a comprehensive strategy to combat rising religious intolerance.
It also criticized the government for not disciplining cabinet members, including Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who encouraged abuses with discriminatory statements such as calling for the Ahmadiyah to be banned in 2011 and proposing one year later that Shia Muslims convert to Sunni Islam.




8


 


February 19, 2013 Tuesday  
 

 Sri Lanka: Navy Rescues 32 Survivors From Sinking Ship

 
The Sri Lankan Navy rescued 32 people traveling from Myanmar who were aboard a sinking ship, but the survivors said that they had to throw the bodies of 98 others overboard after they died of starvation and dehydration, Sri Lanka's police said Monday. The rescue took place on Saturday about 290 miles off Sri Lanka's eastern coast. The survivors said they were headed to Indonesia and Australia to seek asylum and identified themselves as Muslims from a border village between Myanmar and Bangladesh, said a police spokesman, Prishantha Jayakody. ''They said they had carried food and water for only one month and they had been in the sea for two months after the ship engine stalled,'' Mr. Jayakody said. ''Their captain and 97 others have died due to dehydration and starvation. They also said they had thrown the dead bodies into the sea.'' 




8



 


February 14, 2013 Thursday

 One Billion Rising: Indonesia joins world discussion on rape; 
Today is One Billion Rising, a day of activism around women's rights and against rape across the world. Indonesia is just one of 200 countries involved.

 
When Indonesian high court judge Muhammad Daming Sunusi joked during vetting for a Supreme Court position this month that women might enjoy rape, he sparked an outcry that, activists say, helped drive nearly a thousand Indonesians onto the streets today.
"Almost everyone is angry with the recent situation," says Dhyta Caturani, an Indonesian women's rights activist.
Ms. Caturani is taking that anger and trying to accomplish as something with it, as are fellow activists in more than 200 countries today involved with One Billion Rising, an event trying to raise awareness about violence against women on Valentine's Day. "There is a lot of rape and sexual violence, and the media is putting these cases in the spotlight," Caturani, One Billion Risings Indonesia coordinate. "Enough is enough."
In a country where rape jokes are not uncommon, even by public officials, Mr. Sunusi's comments have helped fuel a movement that, though still small in number, has increasingly been harnessing the power of social media.
"The wave of protests, coming through petitions and mass media, is causing public officials to think they must be careful what they say when it comes to sensitive issues," says Nur Iman Subono, a political science professor at the University of Indonesia.
The outcry began when Sunusi responded to a question about whether the death penalty should apply to rape rather than the maximum sentence of 15 years. He said it might not because, "both the victims of rape and the rapist might have enjoyed their intercourse together."
The judge initially said the comment was meant to lighten the mood during the vetting, though he later issued a tearful public apology.
The parliamentary committee in charge of the selecting Supreme Court justices has since rejected Sunusi, mainly because of social media pressure in the form of an online petition asking lawmakers to vote against him - it gained more than 11,000 signatures, a lot for an online petition in Indonesia. An ethics panel is reviewing whether to remove him from the high court in South Kalimantan, 580 miles from Jakarta.
The buzz his comment generated, meanwhile, continues to reverberate, sparking discussions about widespread sexism among politicians and the quality of the country's judicial system.
The way the courts handle these cases, "it's as though the victims are being raped a second time," said Gabriel Mahal, a lawyer who has spoken publicly about the need for police and prosecutors to be more gender sensitive.
What's happening in Indonesia comes amid global uproar over the brutal rape of a university student in India in December that has Indians examining how the country treats its women. Indonesians have been watching closely to see what happens.
On the heels of the India rape case, activists in Indonesia say Sunusi's comments struck a chord because they highlighted how little protection women have in cases of abuse.
"People feel there's not much we can expect from the law," says Wulan Danoekoesoemo, a co-founder of Lentera Indonesia, a support group for victims of rape and sexual assault.
Brewing dissatisfaction
Sunusi is not the first public official to blame women for inciting rape. In September 2011 then-Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo drew some media attention when he responded to concerns about sexual assault on public transportation by saying women were inviting rape by wearing provocative clothing.
A year later, the minister of education brought protestors to the street with remarks that appeared to accuse a young victim of wrongly alleging rape. The girl, 14, was expelled from school after reporting her case.
Still, neither drew the uproar that the judge's comments have incited. Women's rights groups say that the awareness to women's rights that the India rape case brought to countries that still have harsh views of women and the fact that public officials continue to blame women and girls for sexual assault rather than their abusers gives momentum to their movement.
"There are more and more people who have an awareness of women's rights now," said Caturani. "On the other hand, fundamentalism is rising and there are a lot of local laws that discriminate against women."
Role of Islam?
Most Indonesians practice a liberal, syncretic form of Islam. But many here say conservatism is on the upswing. The government's National Commission on Violence Against Women has recorded more than 280 local bylaws that discriminate against women, largely by dictating the way they dress.
"Women still face many problems here, even if it's just fear of being harassed," says Christin Hutubessy, who joined the event today wearing a t-shirt that read, "Rape is never funny." She also points out that other officials in the room laughed when Sunusi made his comment.
Ingrained patriarchy is just one hurdle to improving rights for women in Indonesia, says Subono. The women's movement is fragmented, which makes it difficult to mobilize.
Women's rights activists hope that by holding discussions, film screenings, and even dances they can inject vibrancy into their activities, which will help unite them, and appeal to the general public. Already they've had a number of people join them based off their events. Mahardhika Sadjad, joined a recent discussion about violence against women in the run-up to Thursday's event.
She says it can be difficult to mobilize people against the act of rape, but when a figure like Sunsusi makes such insensitive comments, it gives them figure target. "It's easier to be angry toward an issue, when there's a face for what you hate."




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February 9, 2013 Saturday  


 A Muslim fashion statement

 
Ever since she was a little girl, Savannah Uqdah had longed to pose for pictures and strut down a runway with flashbulbs bursting. But as an observant Muslim who didn't want to violate Islam's tenets on modesty, the aspiring model assumed that designers wouldn't hire someone who was unwilling to show some skin.
Uqdah shelved her modeling dreams and instead expressed herself through the fashions she wore. 
Nailah Lymus started her fashion label, Amirah Creations, in 2004. She has met and heard about lots of Muslim women who were interested in modeling but didn't pursue it because they assumed they would be asked to model clothing that violated their beliefs.
So during February 2012's New York Fashion Week, Lymus launched Underwraps Agency, which connects modesty-minded models - both Muslim and non-Muslim - with designers.
"I wanted to promote modest attire - that's really what the agency is about - and not feeling like you have to show everything to be a model and to make it far," said Lymus, who lives and works in Brooklyn.
Since then, her agency has contracted with four Muslim female models, getting them work in photo and video shoots, as well as runway shows during Fashion Week.
One of them is Uqdah, whom Lymus knew from the Brooklyn mosque they both attended, who will be modeling for the plus-size label Ann Nahari during this year's Fashion Week, which started Thursday and runs through Valentine's Day.
"I was like, where do I sign?" Uqdah said. "It was a dream come true."
For now, Lymus is mostly (but not entirely) focusing on Muslim models because she thinks Muslims are underrepresented in the industry. But she also thinks that the demand for modest clothing cuts across religions and cultures, and ultimately, she wants Underwraps to be known more for its modesty than its Muslim orientation.
As an example, she points to Kylie Bisutti, a Victoria's Secret model who abruptly retired from lingerie modeling a year ago, citing her Christian beliefs and desire to be a good wife. She still models less racy clothing.
"I don't want to be known as a sex symbol or lingerie model. I desire to be known as a woman who fears the Lord," Bisutti wrote on her Web site last year.
Islamic views on modeling vary. Scholars from the venerable Darul Uloom Deoband seminary in India issued a fatwa in 2010 condemning female modeling as un-Islamic because it puts the female body on exhibit. A few fashion magazines in some Muslim countries will not show women's faces.
But Imam Talal Eid, an Islamic law expert in Boston and former member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said modeling is acceptable as long as the models maintain their modesty.
"You have to show the clothes. You can't have fashion without models," said Eid, whose daughter is a designer with Calvin Klein in New York.
Rania Iswarani, editor at the Muslim style blog Fashfaith.com, disagreed that modeling draws improper attention to women. "People perhaps do pay attention to them, but NOT to their skin. The body is covered. So these people are attracted to the clothes Muslim women are wearing," Iswarani wrote in an e-mail.
Either way, industry veterans say there's a need for modesty-minded models.
"I'm in constant need of models for my company and a Muslim modeling agency would help me profusely," said Melanie Elturk, chief executive and chief designer of HauteHijab.com, an online Muslim fashion retailer in Chicago. "We do display the vast majority of our products on dress forms instead of models to try and avoid any controversy that Muslim models may stir up, but some products just need to be displayed on a human body in order to show what the piece will look like."
Lymus argues that there's greater demand for modesty than perhaps the fashion industry realizes and that it will need models to respond. Since launching Underwraps, Lymus has received more than 400 queries from aspiring Muslim models in the United States, Indonesia, Great Britain and Australia.
"There are a lot of individuals, Muslim or not, who wear modest clothing," Lymus said. "You're going to be at your best when you're comfortable in your own skin, not when you're uncomfortable with what you're wearing."
Lymus's agency and Muslim designers are banking on what they think is a huge market for fashion in the Muslim world. Barjis Chohan, a British Muslim designer who studied under the legendary Vivienne Westwood, estimated the market at $96 million, noting that New York-style fashion weeks have started in cities such as Istanbul, Cairo, Karachi and Jakarta.
"As a model, you want to be as marketable as possible," Lymus said. "And if you're a Muslim model who might wear a head scarf, you're limited because not many designers want models with head scarves."
But, she added, "I haven't launched the agency to conform to what the existing industry is doing."
There are many famous Muslim models who didn't worry about religious restrictions, including: Iman Abdulmajid, born in Somalia, considered the first black supermodel; Yasmeen Ghauri, born in Montreal to a Pakistani Muslim father and a German mother, modeled for Victoria's Secret, Versace, Chanel and other major brands; Fawzia Mohamed of Egypt, who represented her country in the Miss Universe 2006 pageant; and Wafah Dufour, better known as Osama bin Laden's niece, who posed provocatively for GQ in 2006.
- Religion News Service




9


 


January 28, 2013 Monday  
The International Herald Tribune

 Indonesia's Sexual Education Revolution

 
YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA -- Dozens of teenagers who had just finished a Planned Parenthood training session met with a local official in this provincial capital and questioned him about the lack of sex education in their schools.
One student held up a poster that read, ''We only live once, why marry early?'' referring to a common situation in which young couples are forced to wed because of unwanted pregnancies.
Sumarsono, head of reproductive health at the women's and social empowerment agency in Yogyakarta, responded that there were already too many subjects in school.
''Due to the limitations in the curriculum, our effort now is to make sex education an extracurricular activity,'' he said. 
The meeting was part of a larger effort to push for legislation that would make sex education a mandatory part of Indonesia's national curriculum. Yogyakarta, a university town known for its vibrant student and cultural life, has been at the forefront of Indonesia's sexual education revolution.
''We're trying to ensure information reaches a broader audience,'' said Andreas Nugahita, 13, who attended the meeting. ''The more people understand, the more they can take responsibility for their own sexual behavior. That could change teenagers' attitudes toward sex all across Indonesia.''
Andreas is one of hundreds of students who have been trained as peer educators by Planned Parenthood in Yogyakarta, a province with one of the country's most progressive reproductive rights communities. The hope is that they will pass along information about H.I.V./AIDS, contraception and sexual orientation to their classmates, most of whom learn about sex through the Internet.
''Here, sex is considered taboo, and as a result talk about sex is filled with myths,'' said Mariana Amiruddin, executive director of Jurnal Perempuan, or Women's Journal.
Jurnal Perempuan is one of three private organizations forming the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Task Force, which has drafted a sex education curriculum that is to be tested in the coming months. Selected schools in 10 districts across Indonesia's vast archipelago will be part of the project.
''People need to know that the lack of knowledge is really bringing youth down,'' said Dyana Savina Hutadjulu, a program officer for sexual and reproductive rights at Hivos, a global development agency helping to coordinate the effort. ''We have this conservative point of view because, for generations, sex has been seen as a bad thing.''
Ms. Hutadjulu said the effort to make sex education mandatory was an uphill battle.
Sex education advocates were initially encouraged when Dr. Nafsiah Mboi, a physician who has promoted youth outreach and condom use, was appointed as Indonesia's health minister in June.
According to a 2011 survey by the Ministry of Health, only 20 percent of Indonesians aged 15 to 24 had comprehensive knowledge of H.I.V., a figure that Dr. Nafsiah said required a dramatic improvement.
''I believe in reaching out to youth -- I do believe they have the right to information,'' she said in an interview after a media briefing by the U.N. AIDS agency in October. Dr. Nafsiah, however, stepped back from her support for sex education after her campaign to promote condom use among groups at risk of contracting H.I.V. provoked a public backlash last year.
This back-and-forth is indicative of the wider effort to promote sex education. In Indonesia, many conservative officials feel that sexual topics are too sensitive to be discussed publicly and oppose mandatory sex education. Groups like the Indonesian Council of Ulema are also influential in the majority-Muslim country.
''Students don't need to be taught about sexuality -- they can do that on their own,'' Ma'ruf Amin, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, said in an interview last year. ''What they need to know is about limitations, so they will know not to have sex before marriage.''
Maesur Zaky, director of Planned Parenthood in Yogyakarta, said the mayor of Kulon Progo was pushing for sex education to be compulsory, which would make it the first district in Indonesia to do so. The mayor had backed a decree to allow schools to integrate sex education in the curriculum, but had run into resistance from the local department of education.
''There must be a better understanding about reproductive health,'' said the mayor, Hastro Wardoyo. ''It would be better if it became a part of the curriculum, but what's important is that the substance is taught to the students.''
Sri Mulatsih, head of the local department of education, said the curriculum had to be tested first. ''We dare not launch the program without making sure it's suitable. That would be dangerous,'' she said.
''It's a tricky issue,'' said Mr. Zaky, who explained that officials did not want to be seen as promoting promiscuity by advocating protected sex among youths. ''They don't want to be judged as immoral.''
Still, advocates are making some headway in getting sex education into schools.
Planned Parenthood in Yogyakarta has been providing sex education since 2008. More than 50 schools in Yogyakarta Province have agreed to start using the organization's curriculum, which includes lessons about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. The Yogyakarta curriculum has been used a loose model for the proposed national one.
Last year, Planned Parenthood in Yogyakarta started holding workshops to help parents discuss protected sex with their children.
''We don't talk about this with our parents,'' said Farah Suhailah, 15, a Planned Parenthood peer educator. ''And if teachers talk about it, they feel uncomfortable.''
Reproductive rights advocates warn that low awareness about sex and sexuality is fueling a rise in cases of H.I.V., unwanted pregnancy, early marriage and unsafe abortions.
''The way we convince teachers to be brave and sensitive is by showing them the facts,'' Mr. Zaky said.
A study last year by the Ministry of Health found that 42 percent of patients with H.I.V./AIDS in Indonesia were aged 20 to 29. A survey commissioned by international health organizations in 2011 for World Contraception Day showed that nearly half of Indonesians surveyed had a close friend or family member who had an unplanned pregnancy in recent years, more than Thailand, India or China.
Michelle Bachelet, executive director of U.N. Women, who visited Jakarta in December to attend meetings about women's rights, said at the time, ''If we see the facts, we see that young people are starting their sexual life very young, with no information, and making bad choices.''
Inna Hudaya, director of Samsara, a Yogyakarta-based organization that provides counseling and advice, mostly to girls and women, about safer sex and abortion, said talking about unwanted pregnancy opened the door to discussions of other issues.
''Many youths know how to have sex, but they don't know the consequences,'' she said.
Samsara has a sexuality and reproductive health school that hosts village-level workshops where they talk about body image and teach women how to perform self-exams for breast cancer.
''Sex education is not just about biology,'' said Zoya Amirin, an Indonesian sexologist who is writing a book to dispel common myths about sex. ''It might teach you about reproduction, but it doesn't teach you how to say no to premarital sex, how to tell your boyfriend or girlfriend, 'I think I need to wait for sex until I'm ready.'''




9


 
 
 (California)

January 21, 2013 Monday

 As Roe v. Wade turns 40, where is the worst place for abortions around the globe?

 
Editor's note: Ever since the US Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, abortion has been legal in every state of the union.But that's to say nothing of the rest of the world. We asked GlobalPost correspondents from Cairo to Caracas to assess abortion rights where they are.
United States
At the time of Roe v. Wade, women all over the US rejoiced that it would no longer be necessary to risk death with an illegal procedure or make a mad dash to New York - which in 1970 legalized abortion up to the 24th week of pregnancy. 
Today, abortion is, for the majority of Americans, a settled question. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 63 percent of Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade.
But the controversy lives on. With the rise of the Tea Party in 2009, nearly every major political candidate is vetted on his or her stance toward abortion.
Conservative groups have ensured that no federal funds may be used for abortion, and have mounted an active campaign to defund reproductive care providers such as Planned Parenthood.
The furor may be testimony to the power of a small conservative minority to influence the political debate, but is unlikely to change the status quo. Candidates with a hard-line anti-abortion stance, such as Senate hopefuls Richard Mourdock of Indiana or Todd Akin of Missouri, lost soundly in recent elections.
The public has spoken.
- Jean MacKenzie in Buzzards Bay, Mass.
Latin America
Latin America could be the worst place in the world for a woman wishing to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
Five of the six nations with blanket bans on abortion are in the region, according to New York's Center for Reproductive Rights: Chile, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Meanwhile, abortion on demand in the first weeks of pregnancy is only available in Cuba, Guyana, the US territory of Puerto Rico, Mexico City and, since last October, Uruguay.
Peru also recently accepted recommendations from the United Nations' Human Rights Council that it guarantee the right, established in law but in practice frequently flouted, to allow abortions for women pregnant from rape.
If the issue of abortion seems divisive in the United States, then it may be even more so in Latin America, with both the Catholic Church and, increasingly, evangelical Christians heavily influencing public policies regarding reproductive rights.
The result is that an estimated 1 million women a year in Latin America and the Caribbean need hospital treatment as a result of complications from backstreet abortions.
- Simeon Tegel in Lima
Despite 14 years of left-wing government under President Hugo Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution, Venezuela's abortion laws remain governed by the ideology of the Catholic Church, with the practice being banned here unless the mother's life is in danger. Voluntary abortion is punishable by up to two years in prison, though there is little chance of conviction.
Women in need of abortions either pay inflated prices to doctors on a black market or take under-the-counter pills bought for a few dollars at home. This, according to the Central University of Venezuela, leads to about 16 percent of all maternal deaths.
"Abortion isn't a hypothetical situation, it's a reality, it's being done by women every day our sisters, our neighbours; it's a reality that we have to deal with," said campaigner Tatiana Rojas, of the group Skirts in Revolution, in a television interview in November, adding that rich and poor were impacted very differently.
"[Wealthy women] can access foreign treatment or pay a private clinic," she said, "whereas poor women are exposed to a clandestine market, irregular clinics, [or] they perform it upon themselves."
Campaigns, however, have failed to gain any traction here. Skirts in Revolution's abortionhelpline was off the hook last week, its website is down and the group has not updated itsTwitter feed for two months. In Venezuela, campaigns such as this are often overshadowed by a loud-mouthed political polarization rarely seen in the Western world.
- Girish Gupta in Caracas
Africa
South Africa liberalized abortion in 1997, after the first post-apartheid government passed a law allowing any woman of any age to get an abortion with no reason required during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Up to 20 weeks, it is legal if there are extenuating circumstances, such as socio-economic or health reasons, or if the pregnancy was the result of rape.
The annual number of abortion-related deaths dropped by 91 percent in the years that followed. But access is a serious and some say worsening problem.
South Africa has a shortage of state facilities able to provide abortion services, and for many women government clinics aren't readily accessible, making it easier to get an illegal procedure.
Advertisements for dodgy clinics are rife in the townships and downtowns of big cities. A significant number of women aren't even aware that abortion is legal.
South Africa is the only country in southern Africa, and one of only three on the entire continent (along with Cape Verde and Tunisia), where abortion is legal without restriction as to the reason. Zambia permits abortion on socio-economic grounds, though there, too, unsafe abortions remain common, and a major cause of maternal death.
- Erin Conway-Smith in Johannesburg
The earliest known description of an abortion is said to come from an ancient Egyptian medical text, which outlined a procedure where the female inserted into her vagina a type of plant coated with honey and dates. But today, a procedure like that is punishable by law.
Egypt's penal code bans abortions in all circumstances, while allowing flexibility in certain - and sometimes difficult to prove - circumstances of "necessity."
A doctor can abort if the woman's life is in danger, but must write a detailed report explaining the circumstances. If a woman's health is at risk, the treating doctor is required to obtain written approval from other specialists in order to carry out the procedure.
The legal obstacles have led some doctors to stop performing abortions for fear of criminal prosecution, leaving Egyptian women to seek out alternative methods - some dangerous and some self-induced. A woman herself can be imprisoned for up to three years for performing an abortion on her on fetus.
Rights groups are fighting back to have abortion decriminalized and for the government to carry out a nationwide survey on the number of unsafe abortions. There is currently no national database. But a government survey in 2005 said at least 1 in 5 births in Egypt are unplanned.
Still pro-choice advocates in Egypt face an uphill battle against religious officials who are growing in prominence under Egypt's new Islamist government. The country's premier religious institution, Al Azhar, has declared abortion "an intervention against God's will."
- Erin Cunningham in CairoAsia
China is, in many respects, the world leader in abortions. It was the first country to legalize mifepristone - the abortion pill - in 1988.Abortions are cheap (around $88) and widely available. And Chinese clinics perform more abortions per year - at least 13 million in 2011 - than anywhere else on Earth.
Compared to the US, there is relatively little cultural opposition to the practice. But what is controversial is the policy that lies behind it. The one-child policy, which restricts most couples to having only one child, has led to numerous instances of forced abortions, particularly in the Chinese countryside.
Last June, the case of a seven-month-pregnant woman who was held down and forcibly given an abortion because she could not pay the $6,300 fine sparked outrage across China, leading to calls from academics and officials to abandon the one-child policy.
Yet change still does not seem imminent. Wang Xia, the head of China's family-planning commission, said that restrictions on having children will not be abolished anytime soon. "The policy should be a long-term one," she said.
- Benjamin Carlson in Hong Kong
India legalized abortion in 1971. Prior to that, abortion doctors could be sentenced to up to three years in prison, while women undergoing abortions could do as much as seven years of hard time.
Currently, under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy act, no girl under the age of 18 may seek an abortion without the permission of a parent or guardian. An adult woman may seek an abortion up to 12 weeks after conception if her doctor deems that taking the pregnancy to term presents a risk to the life of the mother or the threat of grave injury. Pregnancies that are the result of rape or the failure of contraception both qualify as presenting a strong risk to the mother's mental health. Abortion is also legal up to 12 weeks after conception if the doctor deems that there is a strong chance that the child would suffer from "such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped," according to the law.
Those same conditions apply up to 20 weeks, if two doctors agree that they apply to the case.
Partly due to India's concerns over its massive population, in practice, those rules are flouted so frequently that one might say abortion is effectively allowed in India up to 12 weeks after conception without any restrictions. The leading reason for termination is all-too likely female feticide, which UNICEF estimates is a $250 million industry for (law-flouting) ultrasound labs and abortion doctors.
- Jason Overdorf in New Delhi
In the poorer regions of North Korea, a growing number of women are turning to illegal and risky back-alley abortions, or under-the-radar operations performed after bribing the country's rickety hospitals. Contraceptives are difficult to find in the hermit state. Meanwhile, sex outside of marriage is not uncommon. Ever since the economy was crippled in the 1990s, prostitution has been on the rise, too, creating a greater need for abortion services.
For the most part, North Korea has banned abortion, unless the government approves the procedure by special request. What does that mean, exactly? Well, the government keeps it vague, but the reality is dark. Defectors have reported witnessing forced abortions in the country's prison camps. They're often carried out in cases where the mother is Korean and the father is Chinese - a stigma for a regime that takes pride in pure blood.
In South Korea, the situation is different. Pragmatic concerns over low birth rates, combined with a powerful Protestant lobby, mean that abortion is illegal except in cases of rape, incest, and severe genetic disorders. Last April, the South Korean Constitutional Court even upheld a 60-year-old abortion ban. Government data estimated that more than 340,000 abortions were conducted in 2005, the most recent year data are available - 95 percent of them illegally.
Abortions here are incredibly common, with countless doctors willing to perform them in clean and safe clinics for jacked-up fees given the risks. Police, too, seem to tolerate the underground market, in the same way prostitution is outlawed but rampant in Seoul. One middle-aged South Korean mother of two tells me she and three of her friends aborted their fetuses and don't feel any taboo talking openly about it.
- Geoffrey Cain in Seoul
Southeast Asia remains a hostile place for women seeking abortions. Only communist Vietnam and secular Singapore allow women to terminate pregnancies at will. Throughout the rest of region - in which varied societies take moral cues from Buddhism, Catholicism or Islam - abortion is largely prohibited. In the Muslim-majority nations Malaysia and Indonesia, the government even forces women to carry out pregnancies caused by rape.
But no Southeast Asian nation can match the Philippines when it comes to fervid debates over women's reproductive rights. Obeying the Vatican, bishops and priests in the heavily Catholic nation have sought to equate condoms and birth control pills with abortion. In recent weeks, their movement was derailed by a hard-won new law, more than 10 years in the making, that allows government-sponsored contraception. Abortion is still highly forbidden in the Philippines; suggesting a change to this standard still amounts to political suicide.
But just because abortions are illegal doesn't mean Southeast Asian women aren't having them. In September, a GlobalPost investigation uncovered herbal abortion cocktails sold for $3.60 outside one of Manila's most revered churches. As many as 2 million abortions per year may occur in populous Indonesia, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which monitors reproductive health. Many of these underground operations end in death, according to the institute, which calls Indonesia's abortions a "common occurrence" that are "often unsafe."
- Patrick Winn in Bangkok
Europe
The European Union has no common abortion policy but all of its 27 member nations, except Malta, allow abortions in some circumstances. Restrictions placed on the procedure vary from country to country.
Britain's abortion laws are relatively liberal with women able to end pregnancies of up to 24 weeks on medical, psychological or social grounds.
Most other countries, including France and Germany, permit abortion on request, or when the woman is "in distress," up to 12 weeks into the pregnancy. For abortions beyond 12 weeks, special approval must be sought. In some EU countries, government health-care systems cover some or all of the costs.
Ireland has some of the strictest abortion legislation. The procedure is legal only in cases where the woman's life is clearly endangered. Calls for changes in the law have intensified since the death in October of Savita Halappanavar, 31, after medical staff refused to carry out an abortion despite the risk to her life.
Poland limits abortions to rape victims and cases where there is a serious health risk.
Spain's conservative government has pushed to tighten Spanish abortion laws after the previous Socialist administration legalized it in 2010.The World Health Organization says abortion statistics are generally low in Western Europe, but remain high in the East, even though numbers have fallen since Soviet times when abortion was used as a form of birth control. In 2003, there were more abortions than live births.
A WHO review in 2007 showed that in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, each woman will on average have close to three abortions in her lifetime.Recently concerns have been raised that abortion is being used selectively on female fetuses in some parts of Europe - notably Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.
- Barry Neild in London; Paul Ames in Brussels




9


 


January 15, 2013 Tuesday  


 Indonesian Women Told How to Ride Motorbikes

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A plan by officials in an Indonesian city to ban women from straddling motorbikes has prompted an outcry from critics, who say local leaders are infringing on women's safety and freedom in the name of religion. 
Leaflets have been circulating for a week in Lhokseumawe, in Aceh Province on the island of Sumatra, informing residents about a proposed bylaw that would prohibit women from sitting in a straddle position or holding on to the driver while riding on the back of a motorbike.
Most Indonesians are Muslims, but Aceh is the only province that seeks to strictly enforce Islamic law, or Shariah. The province already has bylaws prohibiting gambling and adultery and restricting how women may dress in public, with penalties that include public canings.
The mayor of Lhokseumawe, Suaidi Yahya, proposed the straddling ban in a New Year's speech, saying that it was ''improper'' for women to sit with spread legs and that women should only sit sidesaddle, a practice that opponents say is both less comfortable and less safe.
''We want to save women from things that will cause them to violate Shariah law,'' Mr. Suaidi told The Jakarta Globe after his speech. ''We wish to honor women with this ban, because they are delicate creatures.''
Officials in the Indonesian Home Affairs Ministry, however, have called the proposal discriminatory.
''Laws need to be equal between men and women,'' said Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, head of the ministry's bureau of legal affairs. ''Not everything is equal in the culture in Aceh, but there should be equal rights for sitting in this way.''
Government agencies responsible for monitoring rights abuses also have criticized the proposal.
''It's discrimination, and it objectifies women,'' said Destika Gilang Lestari, a coordinator at the Aceh branch of the government's Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence.
Local administrations have had the power to issue bylaws since 2001, but the national government can overturn them, as it has done thousands of times. Rights advocates say, though, that none of those cases involved Shariah law or sex discrimination.
Advocates have called on women to ignore the proposed ban.
''We're encouraging citizens in Lhokseumawe not to heed this call, to teach the local government a lesson in drafting fairer laws,'' Affan Ramli, a spokesman for the Care for Shariah Civil Society Network, told the state news agency on Friday.
Opponents say they are concerned in part because such a law, if enacted, could spread to other areas of the country. Since Aceh started imposing Islamic law in 2002, some other localities have also adopted bans on alcohol and on women appearing in public at night unaccompanied by a relative.
In most of Indonesia there is little support for imposing Shariah law. Even in Aceh, many people say the laws are mainly symbolic and are unevenly enforced. Still, the authorities in Jakarta seldom speak out against the province's laws, partly out of fear of being seen as un-Islamic.
Rights advocates say it is time they started. ''This bylaw is basically more about controlling morality than more rational considerations,'' said Andy Yentriyani, a member of the government's National Commission on Violence Against Women. ''If this continues, we will not be able to guarantee basic freedoms.''




9


 


January 7, 2013 Monday  
The International Herald Tribune

 In Indonesia, Envisioning a Larger Role for Religion at School

 
JAKARTA -- Annisa Nurul Jannah, 11, was learning about how devices transmit heat, sound and electricity. ''I like science because it teaches me a lot,'' the sixth grader at Petamburan 04, a school in a working-class part of Jakarta, said about her favorite subject. ''I'd be sad if it was removed from school.''
Millions of children in Indonesian elementary schools may no longer have separate science classes starting in June, the beginning of their next school year, if the government approves a curriculum overhaul that would merge science and social studies with other classes so more time can be devoted to religious education.
A draft of the proposal was posted online in November and December for public comment. The government is analyzing the feedback and will meet with a team of experts shortly to develop new lesson plans. 
Ibnu Hamid, an Education Ministry spokesman, said feedback showed that people generally agreed with the curriculum changes but were worried that there would not be enough time to train teachers and prepare new books. The comments have not been released to the public, however, and some critics question whether they truly reflect broader opinion.
Officials who back the changes say that more religious instruction is needed because a lack of moral development has led to an increase in violence and vandalism among youths, and that could fuel social unrest and corruption in the future.
''Right now many students don't have character, tolerance for others, empathy for others,'' Musliar Kasim, the deputy minister of education, said in an interview in November. He proposed the changes in September.
He is part of a team of officials, academics and advisers from the office of Vice President Boediono working to streamline the curriculum in 2013.
Mr. Hamid said that the aim was to create a ''balance between attitude, skills and knowledge.''
The draft curriculum released to the public in November was light on details. It did not outline how science and social studies would be taught once their dedicated classes were eliminated, or describe how religion and civics would contribute to character building.
Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country with a secular government that recognizes the rights of six different faiths, including Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
Religion is taught to students according to their own faiths, meaning that Muslim students are instructed in Islam, while Christian students study Christianity in separate classes. Reflecting the country's demographics, most religious instruction is Islamic.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs, which advises the Education Ministry, is proposing that religious education be increased to four hours a week from two. It will remain a compulsory subject, along with mathematics, arts and crafts, physical education, Indonesian language and civics.
Just days after the ministry went public with the draft, parents, civil society organizations and members of the teachers' federation began an online petition calling the changes unfounded.
''Instead of improving the curriculum, these changes dismantle the existing curriculum and do not guarantee better education in Indonesia,'' states the petition, which has received more than 780 signatures.
The proposal to eliminate dedicated science and social studies classes has led to an outcry among parents and educators who worry that it could lead to a dumbing down of the country and make it less competitive.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago with more than 240 million people, has one of Asia's fastest growing economies. Its attempt to improve its manufacturing and service industries is tied to its efforts to produce more skilled workers. Officials in the trade and manpower ministries have urged more training in areas like computer science.
Critics say the proposed changes will take the country in the opposite direction.
''We're going to have a lost generation,'' said Srisetiowati Seiful, executive director of the Surya Institute, a private foundation that develops alternative math and science teaching materials. ''It's going to mean fewer researchers, less technology development. It's Indonesia entering the Dark Ages.''
Teachers at Annisa's school in Petamburan say science and social studies are practical classes that teach children to ask questions, identify problems and find solutions. They would be difficult to integrate into other instruction.
''Children learn to understand new things through science,'' said Edi Kusyanto, principal of Petamburan 04. ''It stimulates their spirit to learn, their curiosity.''
One criticism of the proposed changes is that they overlook more crucial reforms needed in the education system.
''Our government is being reactive,'' said Itje Chodidjah, an education expert who has advised the government on previous curriculum changes. ''They think the solution to violence is more religious education, when there are a lot of causes and one of them is problems in the schools themselves.''
In much of rural Indonesia, teachers often fail to turn up to school, local administrations do little to monitor the quality of instruction, and books are dated or inadequate. Education experts say that many teachers lack basic knowledge about the current curriculum and are ignorant of the fact that they are allowed to develop their own course plans. Even in cities like Jakarta, schools in poor neighborhoods like Annisa's lack resources and well-trained teachers.
Teachers need to be better trained on how to implement the current curriculum and teach religion in a way that is not dogmatic, said Ms. Chodidjah. She added that officials had little understanding of the conditions in most schools and failed to recognize that low teaching quality had made Indonesia a global laggard. A report released in November by Pearson and the Economist Intelligence Unit, which ranked national education systems, placed Indonesia at the bottom of its list of 40 countries.
But officials who back the proposal say that the government has a responsibility to prepare children to be better citizens, which means providing them with them moral and religious instruction.
Over the past year, analysts have noted a rise in religiously motivated violence, with recent clashes between hardline Islamists and minority religious groups including Christians, Shiites and the Muslim sect Ahmadiyah. A recent survey by the Setara Institute, a human rights group, recorded 371 acts of religious violence in 2012, marking a 25 percent increase from the previous year.
Some officials blame such incidents on a lack of character development in schools.
''You can see that we are getting more intolerant,'' said Bambang Widianto, a member of the advisory team from the vice president's office. ''Students cannot accept that there are people that have different religions and come from different backgrounds. It's scary, actually.''
Kamaruddin Amin, secretary of the directorate general of Islamic education at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said religious values could prevent misbehavior.
''Right now religion doesn't contribute significantly to building character because the time allotted to religious education is very limited,'' he said.
He brushed off concerns that more religious instruction would have a negative impact on the education system.
''Indonesians are religious people, they are very much attached to their religious teachings, their religious values,'' he said. ''That is why religion must be taught in school.''
Some lawmakers on the House of Representatives commission overseeing education and youth affairs agree that prayer and worship should be promoted in school.
But critics of the proposal do not think that a curriculum overhaul is the answer. Some teachers worry that government and religious leaders are oversimplifying the problem and are using terms like ''character building'' and ''morality'' to justify more religious education.
Indonesia has set aside 171 billion Indonesian rupiah, or almost $18 million, to draft a new curriculum, but many worry that the money will be wasted if attention is not put toward improving the education system as a whole.
''To change the curriculum, you have to train the teachers, you have to provide the books,'' said Lestia Primayanti, who teaches first grade at Kembang Elementary School in Jakarta. ''Indonesia is a very big country. Change is not as easy as flipping your hand.''




9



 


January 7, 2013 Monday

 INDONESIAN POLICE FIGHT 'NEW FRONT' OF TERRORISM

 

ABSTRACT
Indonesian police have killed seven suspected Islamic militants in Dompu on Sumbawa Island and in Makassar in south Sulawesi and are seeking another suspect;  warn of new group around Poso on Sulawesi trying to stir conflict between Muslims and Christians (M)




9


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

December 27, 2012 Thursday

 Thomas Peele: President Obama has failed to deliver promise of government transparency

 
For all his 2008 campaign promises of hope and change, President Barack Obama has done little to change the culture of secrecy in the federal government.
A recent study shows that the Obama administration may, in fact, have a worse record on transparency than that of his predecessor, George W. Bush. That's something akin to visiting a psychiatrist and finding out you're a bigger sociopath than Tony Soprano.
An examination of lawsuits filed to pry records from recalcitrant federal bureaucrats shows that requesters had to go to court after being denied access more times during Obama's first term than they did during Bush's last. 
When the last two years of Obama's first term are compared to the first two years of Bush's second, the jump in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits is 28 percent, according to a study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
That's hardly the type of change for which any of us had hoped.
One of the cornerstones of Obama's 2008 campaign was his promise to reverse the secrecy that Bush, and especially his vice president, Dick Cheney, seemed to enforce with iron fists. (Does anyone besides me remember Cheney's all-out effort to keep the records of his pre-9/11 energy task force secret? I have always wondered how many times the words Iraqi oil appear in the documents.)
We had every reason to think that Obama would reverse course on secrecy. But he and Attorney General Eric Holder have done little.
What is especially troubling is that the bulk of the increase in lawsuits falls in the realm of national security -- the very place where Obama promised the most tangible difference from Bush and Cheney.
Some of the suits are obvious leftovers from the previous administration, as TRAC noted in its study, meaning the underlying requests were filed before Obama took office. Still FOIA lawsuits -- a requester's only recourse when an agency denies access -- have soared by 111 percent at the State Department (which raises the question of how transparent Hillary Clinton would be as president), 50 percent at Justice, 43 percent at the CIA, 22 percent at Defense and 15 percent at Homeland Security, the study shows.
In 2011, the Obama administration was sued over FOIA rejections 385 times. That's only two fewer suits than the highest number of Bush's presidency, 387 in 2005, according to TRAC.
In 2008, Obama was quoted accusing Bush of "turning our tradition of free information upside down" by telling agencies to "presume citizens are not entitled to information unless they are willing to sue for it."
Bush left many messes. FOIA compliance is one Obama hasn't cleaned up.
In fairness to Obama, he has endured more baseless attacks and demagoguery -- he's a Muslim, he was born in Kenya or Indonesia, he's arrogant and callow -- than any president in history, much of it fueled, in my opinion, by blatant racism. Despite that, he has proved he can get things done. But he's largely failed on FOIA reform to the detriment of the better democracy he promised.
I'm certainly not suggesting that his 2012 opponent, Mitt Romney, would have somehow achieved a better record. He was poor at transparency as a governor, and his private-sector career was one immersed in the immensely secretive culture of hedge funds. It seems certain that Romney wouldn't have administered an open government.
But neither has the man who won in November. Obama has failed to fulfill his 2008 campaign promises to reduce the secrecy of the federal government. Here's hoping that changes during his second term.
Thomas Peele is an investigative reporter for this newspaper and teaches a class on Public Records at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Reach him atTpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com and follow him atTwitter.com/thomas_peele .




9


 


December 25, 2012 Tuesday  


 Getting Polio Campaigns Back on Track

 
How in the world did something as innocuous as the sugary pink polio vaccine turn into a flash point between Islamic militants and Western ''crusaders,'' flaring into a confrontation so ugly that teenage girls -- whose only ''offense'' is that they are protecting children -- are gunned down in the streets?
Nine vaccine workers were killed in Pakistan last week in a terrorist campaign that brought the work of 225,000 vaccinators to a standstill. Suspicion fell immediately on factions of the Pakistani Taliban that have threatened vaccinators in the past, accusing them of being American spies.
Polio eradication officials have promised to regroup and try again. But first they must persuade the killers to stop shooting workers and even guarantee safe passage. 
That has been done before, notably in Afghanistan in 2007, when Mullah Muhammad Omar, spiritual head of the Afghan Taliban, signed a letter of protection for vaccination teams. But in Pakistan, the killers may be breakaway groups following no one's rules.
Vaccination efforts are also under threat in other Muslim regions, although not this violently yet.
In Nigeria, another polio-endemic country, the new Islamic militant group Boko Haram has publicly opposed it, although the only killings that the news media have linked to polio were those of two police officers escorting vaccine workers. Boko Haram has killed police officers on other missions, unrelated to polio vaccinations.
In Mali, extremists took over half of the country in May, declaring an Islamic state. Vaccination is not an issue yet, but Mali had polio cases as recently as mid-2011, and the virus sometimes circulates undetected.
Resistance to polio vaccine springs from a combination of fear, often in marginalized ethnic groups, and brutal historical facts that make that fear seem justified. Unless it is countered, and quickly, the backlash threatens the effort to eradicate polio in the three countries where it remains endemic: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
In 1988, long before donors began delivering mosquito nets, measles shots, AIDS pills, condoms, deworming drugs and other Western medical goods to the world's most remote villages, Rotary International dedicated itself to wiping out polio, and trained teams to deliver the vaccine.
But remote villages are often ruled by chiefs or warlords who are suspicious not only of Western modernity, but of their own governments.
The Nigerian government is currently dominated by Christian Yorubas. More than a decade ago, when word came from the capital that all children must swallow pink drops to protect them against paralysis, Muslim Hausas in the far-off north could be forgiven for reacting the way the fundamentalist Americans of the John Birch Society did in the 1960s when the government in far-off Washington decreed that, for the sake of children's teeth, all drinking water should have fluoride.
The northerners already had grievances. In 1996, the drug company Pfizer tested its new antibiotic, Trovan, during a meningitis outbreak there. Eleven children died. Although Pfizer still says it was not to blame, the trial had irregularities, and last year the company began making payments to victims.
Other rumors also spring from real events.
In Pakistan, resistance to vaccination, low over all, is concentrated in Pashtun territory along the Afghan border and in Pashtun slums in large cities. Pashtuns are the dominant tribe in Afghanistan but a minority in Pakistan among Punjabis, Sindhis, Baluchis and other ethnic groups. Many are Afghan refugees and are often poor and dismissed as medieval and lawless.
Pakistan's government is friendly with the United States while the Pashtuns' territory in border areas has been heavily hit by American Taliban-hunting drones, which sometimes kill whole families.
So, when the Central Intelligence Agency admitted sponsoring a hepatitis vaccination campaign as a ruse to get into a compound in Pakistan to confirm that Osama bin Laden was there, and the White House said it had contemplated wiping out the residence with a drone missile, it was not far-fetched for Taliban leaders to assume that other vaccinators worked for the drone pilots.
Even in friendly areas, the vaccine teams have protocols that look plenty suspicious. If a stranger knocked on a door in Brooklyn, asked how many children under age 5 were at home, offered to medicate them, and then scribbled in chalk on the door how many had accepted and how many refused -- well, a parent might worry.
In modern medical surveys -- though not necessarily on polio campaigns -- teams carry GPS devices so they can find houses again. Drones use GPS coordinates.
The warlords of Waziristan made the connection specific, barring all vaccination there until Predator drones disappeared from the skies.
Dr. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian who is chief of polio eradication for the World Health Organization, expressed his frustration at the time, saying, ''They know we don't have any control over drone strikes.''
The campaign went on elsewhere in Pakistan -- until last week.
The fight against polio has been hampered by rumors that the vaccine contains pork or the virus that causes AIDS, or is a plot to sterilize Muslim girls. Even the craziest-sounding rumors have roots in reality.
The AIDS rumor is a direct descendant of Edward Hooper's 1999 book, ''The River,'' which posited the theory -- since discredited -- that H.I.V. emerged when an early polio vaccine supposedly grown in chimpanzee kidney cells contaminated with the simian immunodeficiency virus was tested in the Belgian Congo.
The sterilization claim was allegedly first made on a Nigerian radio station by a Muslim doctor upset that he had been passed over for a government job. The ''proof'' was supposed to be lab tests showing it contained estrogen, a birth control hormone.
The vaccine virus is grown in a broth of live cells; fetal calf cells are typical. They may be treated with a minute amount of a digestive enzyme, trypsin -- one source of which is pig pancreas, which could account for the pork rumor.
In theory, a polio eradicator explained, if a good enough lab tested the vaccine used at the time the rumor started, it might have detected estrogen from the calf's mother, but it would have been far less estrogen than is in mother's milk, which is not accused of sterilizing anyone. The trypsin is supposed to be washed out.
In any case, polio vaccine is now bought only from Muslim countries like Indonesia, and Muslim scholars have ruled it halal -- the Islamic equivalent of kosher.
Reviving the campaign will mean quelling many rumors. It may also require adding other medical ''inducements,'' like deworming medicine, mosquito nets or vitamin A, whose immediate benefits are usually more obvious.
But changing mind-sets will be a crucial step, said Dr. Aylward, who likened the shootings of the girls to those of the schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn.
More police involvement -- what he called a ''bunkerized approach'' -- would not solve either America's problem or Pakistan's, he argued. Instead, average citizens in both countries needed to rise up, reject the twisted thinking of the killers and ''generate an understanding in the community that this kind of behavior is not acceptable.''




9


 


December 18, 2012 Tuesday  


 Study Finds One in 6 Follows No Religion

 
A global study of religious adherence released on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center found that about one of every six people worldwide has no religious affiliation. This makes the ''unaffiliated,'' as the study calls them, the third-largest group worldwide, with 16 percent of the global population -- about equal to Catholics.
The study also found a wide disparity in the median age of religious populations, with Muslims and Hindus the youngest, and Buddhists and Jews the oldest. The median age of the youngest group, Muslims, was 23, while the median for Jews was 36. 
Over all, Christians (including Catholics) are the largest religious group, with 2.2 billion people, about 32 percent of the world's population. They are followed by Muslims, with 1.6 billion, about 23 percent. There are about one billion Hindus, about 15 percent of the global population, and nearly half a billion Buddhists, about 7 percent.
The study, ''The Global Religious Landscape,'' is a snapshot of the size and distribution of religious groups as of 2010, and does not show trends over time.
''Something that may surprise a lot of people,'' said Conrad Hackett, a primary researcher on the report, ''is that the third-largest religious group, after Christians and Muslims, is the religiously unaffiliated. There may have been some guesses floating out there before, but this is the first time there are numbers based on survey data analyzed in a rigorous and scientific way.''
More than three-quarters of the religiously unaffiliated live in Asia, the majority in China. Many of the people in this group do hold some religious or spiritual beliefs and may even believe in a deity, but they do not identify with a particular faith.
People who practice folk or tribal religions, like African, Chinese, American Indian and Australian aboriginal traditional religions, make up another 6 percent of the world's population. Smaller faith groups -- like Bahais, Jains, Sikhs, Shintoists, Taoists, Wiccans and Zoroastrians -- combined make up less than one percent of the global population. Jews, with about 14 million, make up only 0.2 percent of the global population.
The study is based on analysis of 2,500 different data sources, including censuses and demographic surveys of children and adults in 232 countries. It relies on self-identification, so it includes people who are not regular practitioners or orthodox believers of the religion they claim.
The religious groups with the youngest median ages have the highest levels of fertility and poverty and the lowest levels of female education, Jack A. Goldstone, director of the Center for Global Policy at George Mason University, in Virginia, said in an interview by e-mail. He noted that in predominantly Muslim countries where the government supports the education of women and girls, like Tunisia, Iran and Indonesia, the median age is higher than for Muslims in Africa and the Middle East.
The study also shows that about one-fourth of the world's population lives in countries where they are a religious minority. But 97 percent of Hindus and 87 percent of Christians live in countries where they are the majority faith, said Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum.
''Christians are the most evenly dispersed -- except in one place, and that's the Middle East and North Africa, which happens to be the place where Christianity originated,'' Mr. Cooperman said.




9



 


December 10, 2012 Monday

 Return on American humanitarian aid: They like us; 
From Indonesia - the world's largest Muslim nation - to Pakistan, recipients of American humanitarian aid improve their opinions of the United States, especially when that aid is targeted at individuals, and not governments.

 
As the United States approaches the fiscal deadline looming early next year, it is also time to assess the future - and "return on investment" - of American humanitarian assistance around the world.
There is a growing body of research to suggest that US humanitarian aid to developing nations results in substantial benefits to the US itself.
Beyond the self-evident worth of compassion toward those in need, global humanitarian assistance serves the self-interest of the US and other donor countries by substantially improving public attitudes about the giving nation, justifying such help in an era of growing budgetary constraints and slow economic growth.
First, there is clear evidence that large-scale disaster assistance can dramatically move public attitudes, as found in surveys by Terror Free Tomorrow, a nonprofit research organization in Washington.
For instance, two-thirds of Indonesians favorably changed their opinion of the US because of the generous American response to the tsunami in 2004. The highest percentage of that group was among those under age 30. Even 71 percent of self-identified Osama bin Laden supporters adopted a favorable view of the United States.
Moreover, as a direct result of the American effort, support for Al Qaeda and terrorist attacks dropped by half in Indonesia - the world's largest Muslim country. Even two years later, 6 in 10 Indonesians continued to state that American humanitarian aid made them favorable to the United States.
Second, more significant changes in public opinion can occur when American aid is targeted and focused on directly helping people in need and not foreign governments.
The US Navy ship Mercy is a fully equipped, 1,000-bed floating hospital, which while docking for several months in local ports in 2006, provided medical care to the people of Indonesia and Bangladesh. Nationwide polling in Bangladesh following the Mercy's visit found that 87 percent of those surveyed said that the activities of the Mercy made their overall opinion of the US more positive.
In fact, Indonesians and Bangladeshis ranked additional visits by the Mercy as a higher priority for future American policy than resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In light of the US war in Afghanistan and the American armed drone strikes inside Pakistan, anti-American attitudes in that country are among the strongest in the world. Yet while the favorable impact of intense disaster assistance following the 2005 earthquake declined in subsequent years among Pakistanis throughout the country, US assistance had a long-lasting effect on attitudes at the local level among those directly impacted by the aid.
A survey conducted four years after the earthquake found that Pakistanis living near the fault-line were significantly more likely to express trust in Americans and Europeans than those who were living farther away.
When it's wisely conceived and delivered, humanitarian aid saves lives and often improves quality of life. It can also favorably change public opinion toward the US and other donor countries. Data further indicate the tantalizing possibility that humanitarian aid can lead to far more significant changes in values, from increasing understanding across borders; lessening inter-tribal, religious, and regional conflict; and enhancing support for free markets, trade, and democracy.
In this time of limited government resources, the effectiveness of American foreign humanitarian help must be rigorously examined. Not only should measurable outcomes of the aid itself be looked at, but also whether the aid can lead to changes in values and trust. A full understanding of humanitarian aid can show that it helps all, donors and recipients alike.
Ken Ballen is president of Terror Free Tomorrow, a nonprofit research institute in Washington. David Caprara is a nonresident fellow in global economy and development at the Brookings Institution. Their just released study of humanitarian aid can be found here at Brookings.org.




10



 


December 3, 2012 Monday

 Jennifer Lopez: Pop star tones down in Indonesia

 
Tuesday December 4, 2012
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Jennifer Lopez wowed thousands of fans in Indonesia, but they didn't see as much of her as concertgoers in other countries -- the American pop star toned down both her sexy outfits and her dance moves during her show in the world's most populous Muslim country, promoters said Saturday. 
Lopez's "Dance Again World Tour" was performed in the country's capital, Jakarta, on Friday in line with promises Lopez made to make her show more appropriate for the audience, said Chairi Ibrahim from Dyandra Entertainment, the concert promoter.
"JLo was very cooperative ... she respected our culture," Ibrahim said, adding that Lopez's managers also asked whether she could perform her usual sexy dance moves, but were told that "making love" moves were not appropriate for Indonesia.
Lopez changed several times during her 90-minute concert along with several dancers, who also dressed modestly without revealing their chests or cleavage.




10


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


December 3, 2012 Monday

 U.S. dominates list of worldâ??sâ??500 Most Influential Muslimsâ??

 
 Our take: Compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centren, this year's "The Muslim 500: The Worldâ??s 500 Most Influential Muslims" features more muslims from the United States than any other country, including two in the top 50. There are more Muslims from America than any other country on this yearâ??s â??The Muslim 500: The Worldâ??s 500 Most Influential Muslims,â? compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, a respected think tank in Jordan, including two in the top 50. Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson, a California-born convert who founded Zaytuna College, an Islamic college in Berkeley, Calif., and is a leading Islamic authority in America, ranked No. 42, two places ahead of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an Islamic studies professor at George Washington University known for his work in Islamic philosophy. Americaâ??s roughly 2.6 million Muslims are a tiny fraction of the worldâ??s 1.6 billion Muslims, but they took 41 spots on the 500 list. Countries with the next highest number of names were Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, with 25 Muslims each, followed by Indonesia, the worldâ??s most populous Muslim nation, with 24.  




10


 


November 30, 2012 Friday  


 Ethnic Hatred Tears Apart a Region of Myanmar

 
SITTWE, Myanmar -- The Buddhist monastery on the edge of this seaside town is a picture of tranquillity, with novice monks in saffron robes finding shade under a towering tree and their teacher, U Nyarna, greeting a visitor in a sunlit prayer room.
But in these placid surroundings Mr. Nyarna's message is discordant, and a far cry from the Buddhist precept of avoiding harm to living creatures. Unprompted, Mr. Nyarna launches into a rant against Muslims, calling them invaders, unwanted guests and ''vipers in our laps.''
''According to Buddhist teachings we should not kill,'' Mr. Nyarna said. ''But when we feel threatened we cannot be saints.''
Violence here in Rakhine State -- where clashes have left at least 167 people dead and 100,000 people homeless, most of them Muslims -- has set off an exodus that some human rights groups condemn as ethnic cleansing. It is a measure of the deep intolerance that pervades the state, a strip of land along the Bay of Bengal in western Myanmar, that Buddhist religious leaders like Mr. Nyarna, who is the head of an association of young monks, are participating in the campaign to oust Muslims from the country, which only recently began a transition to democracy from authoritarian rule. 
After a series of deadly rampages and arson attacks over the past five months, Buddhists are calling for Muslims who cannot prove three generations of legal residence -- a large part of the nearly one million Muslims from the state -- to be put into camps and sent to any country willing to take them. Hatred between Muslims and Buddhists that was kept in check during five decades of military rule has been virtually unrestrained in recent months.
Even the country's leading liberal voice and defender of the downtrodden, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been circumspect in her comments about the violence. President Obama made the issue a priority during his visit to the country this month -- the first by a sitting American president -- and Muslim nations as diverse as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have expressed alarm.
Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar have had an uneasy coexistence for decades, and in some areas for centuries, but the thin threads that held together the social fabric of Rakhine State have torn apart this year.
Muslims who fled their homes now live in slumlike encampments that are short on food and medical care, surrounded by a Buddhist population that does not want them as neighbors.
''This issue must be solved urgently,'' said U Shwe Maung, a Muslim member of Parliament. ''When there is no food or shelter, people will die.''
Conditions have become so treacherous for Muslims across the state that Mr. Shwe Maung travels with a security force provided by the government. ''They give me a full truck of police,'' he said. ''Two, three or four policemen is not enough.''
Leaders of the Buddhist majority in the state say they feel threatened by what they say is the swelling Muslim population from high birthrates and by Islamic rituals they find offensive, like the slaughter of animals.
''We are very fearful of Islamicization,'' said U Oo Hla Saw, general secretary of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, the largest party in the state. ''This is our native land; it's the land of our ancestors.''
During outbreaks of sectarian violence in June and again in October, villagers armed themselves with swords, clubs and sharpened bicycle spokes that they launched from homemade catapults. In Muslim-majority areas, monasteries were burned. In Buddhist-majority areas, mosques were destroyed. The mayhem was set off by the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl for which Muslims were blamed.
The center of Sittwe, a former British colonial outpost, is now empty of the Muslims who once worked in large numbers as stevedores and at other manual jobs.
''I'm scared to go back,'' said Aye Tun Sein, who was a teacher at a government school before the upheaval. In his village, Teh Chaung East, a 20 minute drive from Sittwe, he said that no one has a job because no one can leave the village, a collection of shacks and tents.
Political leaders describe the near total segregation of Muslims as temporary, but it appears to be more and more permanent.
''I don't miss them,'' said U Win Maung, a bicycle rickshaw driver whose house was burned down in June by his Muslim neighbors. ''The hatred we have for each other is growing day by day.''
During his visit, Mr. Obama spent a considerable portion of a speech at Yangon University focusing on the importance of diversity, singling out the ''danger'' of the Rakhine situation and telling his audience ''there is no excuse for violence against innocent people.''
''What we've learned in the United States is that there are certain principles that are universal, apply to everybody no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what religion you practice,'' he said.
Divisions are so deep in Rakhine State that the communities cannot agree on what the Muslims should be called. Many Muslims call themselves Rohingya, an ethnic group that is not officially recognized in Myanmar, formerly Burma.
Small Muslim communities coexist with the Buddhist majority across Myanmar, but hatred is greatest for the Rohingya, partly because of their large numbers -- at least 800,000, according to the United Nations -- and their concentration in Rakhine State. (The country has a population of 55 million.)
The Buddhist residents of Rakhine see themselves as the inheritors of the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Mrauk U. They do not consider themselves ethnically Burmese, and the government recognizes them as a separate group. Rakhine Buddhists say they feel squeezed, persecuted by the Burmese majority and threatened by the swelling Muslim minority.
Before the violence, Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims had a sort of master-servant relationship, a castelike system in which Muslims did menial work and Buddhists were usually the bosses.
''We lived side by side but we never talked to each other,'' said Daw Htwe May, a 51-year-old Buddhist resident of Sittwe who lost her home in the violence.
A group of Buddhist women burst out laughing when asked whether their children played with Muslims.
''Even a small boy knows that he should not play with a kalar,'' a pejorative term for people of Indian descent, said Daw Thein Hla Yi, 55.
Buddhists say Muslims should be considered illegal immigrants, and they are angry that foreign countries and the foreign news media have sympathy for Muslims.
Leaders from both groups reach back into history for justifications for their cause.
''These people did not migrate from anywhere,'' said Mr. Shwe Maung, the Muslim member of Parliament whose father was a police officer and whose grandfather was a landlord in Rakhine State. ''They have been living there for several centuries.''
President Thein Sein told a visiting delegation from the United Nations in July that only Muslims who have been in the country for at least three generations would be allowed citizenship. The rest were a ''threat to the peace of the nation,'' he said, and would be put in camps and sent abroad. The United Nations rejected the idea, saying that it was not in the business of creating refugees.
Diplomats say that Mr. Thein Sein has retreated from that position and is now talking about resettling displaced Muslim populations inside the country. He sent a letter to the United Nations just before Mr. Obama's visit saying that once passions cooled he would ''address contentious political dimensions, ranging from resettlement of displaced populations to granting of citizenship.'' But he offered no details or time frame. He has ordered a commission of inquiry, which is expected to issue a report in the coming months.
In Sittwe, Buddhists say they are not ready to make concessions. Mr. Nyarna, the monk, said many Muslims do not ''practice human morals'' and should be sent to Muslim countries to be among ''their own kind.''




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November 26, 2012 Monday  


 From Man Who Insulted Muhammad, No Regret

 
LOS ANGELES -- Fuming for two months in a jail cell here, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula has had plenty of time to reconsider the wisdom of making ''Innocence of Muslims,'' his crude YouTube movie trailer depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a bloodthirsty, philandering thug.
Does Mr. Nakoula now regret the footage? After all, it fueled deadly protests across the Islamic world and led the unlikely filmmaker to his own arrest for violating his supervised release on a fraud conviction.
Not at all. In his first public comments since his incarceration soon after the video gained international attention in September, Mr. Nakoula told  that he would go to great lengths to convey what he called ''the actual truth'' about Muhammad. ''I thought, before I wrote this script,'' he said, ''that I should burn myself in a public square to let the American people and the people of the world know this message that I believe in.'' 
In explaining his reasons for the film, Mr. Nakoula, 55, a Coptic Christian born in Egypt, cited the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, Tex., as a prime example of the violence committed ''under the sign of Allah.'' His anger seemed so intense over the years that even from a federal prison in 2010, he followed the protests against the building of an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero in New York as he continued to work on his movie script.
Until now, only the barest details were known about the making of the film that inspired international outrage. Initial reports made it seem as if the film had been thrown together in about a year.
But a longer, more intricate and somewhat surreal story emerges from interviews with Mr. Nakoula, church and law enforcement officials and more than a dozen people who worked on the movie -- those who knew its real subject and those who were tricked into believing it was to be a sword-and-sandal epic called ''Desert Warriors.'' Together, they paint a picture of a financially desperate man with a penchant for fiction who was looking to give meaning and means to a life in shambles.
There is a dispute about how important the video was in provoking the terrorist assault on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the United States ambassador and three other Americans. Militants interviewed at the scene said they were unaware of the video until a protest in Cairo called it to their attention. But the video without question led to protests across the globe, beginning in Cairo and spreading rapidly in September to Yemen, Morocco, Iran, Tunisia, Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The making of the film is a bizarre tale of fake personas and wholesale deception. And as with almost everything touched over the years by Mr. Nakoula -- a former gas station manager, bong salesman, methamphetamine ingredient supplier and convicted con man -- it is almost impossible to separate fact from fabrication.
A few years ago, Mr. Nakoula told some of the crew members he had gathered, supposedly to make ''Desert Warriors,'' that the project would have to be put off. He had cancer. Treatment was needed, far away, and they would not be able to reach him. His family shared a similar story with church officials.
Mr. Nakoula, it turns out, was not going away for cancer treatment, although the time did overlap with the prison sentence for bank fraud, which the crew knew nothing about. (Mr. Nakoula pleaded guilty this month to violating his supervised release in that case and received a one-year sentence.)
He claims that he only wrote the film -- five versions of the script -- and served as a ''cultural consultant.'' One of Mr. Nakoula's sons, Abanob Basseley Nakoula, 21, said in an interview that his father had written the script in Arabic and then translated it into English. The son said he helped him with grammar.
But Mr. Nakoula, who described himself to some cast members as the writer and producer, explained to a confidant that his plan was to fool actors into thinking they were making a movie built around an ancient tribal villain named George, dubbing in the name ''Muhammad'' later whenever anybody said ''George.''
As early as 2008, he had cobbled together a 20-page treatment for a film he wanted to call ''The First Terrorist.''
In Mr. Nakoula's responses to questions from The Times, conveyed through his lawyer, Steve Seiden, he had no second thoughts about the way he had handled the cast. ''They had signed contracts before they went in front of any camera, and these contracts in no way prevented changes to the script or movie,'' he said.
Abanob Nakoula said: ''The actors were misled. My dad thought the film would create a stir, and as a precaution for their safety, there are no acting or production credits at the end of the trailer or the full-length movie.''
A Slippery Identity
The amateurish project might have disappeared quietly, the way many forgettable messes do in Hollywood's underbelly. Yet three years after completing his script treatment, Mr. Nakoula was on a makeshift movie set inside the suburban Los Angeles headquarters of a nonprofit organization called Media for Christ, whose founder has been critical of Islam. There Mr. Nakoula was surrounded by actors wearing false beards, and there was a goat slipping on a tile floor. Alongside him was his director for hire: Alan Roberts, known for soft-core pornography movies like ''The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood.''
Mr. Nakoula noted that the head of Media for Christ, Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih, was ''a friend for five years.'' Mr. Abdelmasih attended the 2010 protests against the Islamic center near ground zero. Other contacts in the world of anti-Islam activism would also play pivotal roles. Helping to publicize the film were Morris Sadek and Elaia Basily -- activist Copts living in Northern Virginia -- and Terry Jones, the Florida preacher whose own Koran burnings had stirred violence abroad.
That Mr. Nakoula is a hard man to pin down is no accident. He told the cast and crew that his name was Sam Bassil, which he sometimes spelled differently. Federal prosecutors convicted him in 2010 under the name Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, but he recently admitted to the court that he had changed his name in 2002 to Mark Basseley Youssef.
What he did not mention at the time, however, was that in 2009, according to court records, he changed his name yet again, this time to Ebrahem Fawzy Youssef. (His lawyer said Mr. Nakoula was unaware until recently that the latest change had been finalized.)
Facts presented by Mr. Nakoula as rock solid tend to weaken upon inspection. For instance, he told federal probation officials that he first came to Los Angeles in 1984 for the Olympics as part of the Egyptian soccer team. But a Web site listing official players on that team does not include Mr. Nakoula. Nor was there evidence that he was on the squad's staff.
He claimed during production that the budget for the film was $5 million, raised mainly from Jewish donors. Actually, it cost no more than $80,000, apparently raised through his second ex-wife's Egyptian family and donations from other Copts, according to a person who discussed the financing with him.
Even though the shoot lasted only 15 days, there was enough footage for a feature-length movie, which exists, running roughly one hour and 40 minutes. Mr. Basily, the Virginia activist who has donated to Media for Christ, said he watched the entire film on DVD early this year and found it historically accurate.
All that has been seen  is the 14-minute YouTube trailer, which by the time it hit the Internet in July was titled ''Innocence of Muslims.''
Mr. Nakoula was able to finish the project even though people who ran into him over the years found him puzzling. When he rented offices in suburban Los Angeles, other tenants noticed that he came around only at night for the most part and stored stacks of Marlboro cartons there, among other things. When he took a stall at a flea market to sell drug paraphernalia and tobacco merchandise, other stall holders noted that his wares never seemed to move and that he spent most of his time on the phone, shouting in Arabic.
And Coptic Church officials said they considered Mr. Nakoula an unlikely candidate for the kind of religious zeal behind ''Innocence of Muslims'' because he had attended services so infrequently. But Mr. Nakoula said fervor and witnessing persecution are what drove him to create the film.
Mr. Nakoula agreed last month to be interviewed by The Times at the Metropolitan Detention Center here, where he has been held since his September arrest. But the warden refused to allow the interview.
In his written responses to questions, Mr. Nakoula reeled off ''atrocities'' by Muslims that went back many years and formed his views, focusing on shootings, a bombing and the torture of his fellow Copts. After the Fort Hood massacre, in which an Army psychiatrist with ties to Muslim extremism has been charged, ''I became even more upset and enraged,'' he said.
Abanob Nakoula said: ''My dad is not an evil man. He has had a hard life. He did something -- the movie, something he felt strongly about -- that was not frowned upon by the Constitution. He would always say, 'Don't fight Muslims; fight their ideology.' ''
From Prison to Studio
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula grew up in Egypt but came to the United States and wed Ingrid N. Rodriguez in 1986 in Nevada, according to state marriage records. They divorced in 1990, the records show. Soon afterward, while living in California, he married an Egyptian woman, Olivia Ibrahim, with whom he has three children. Although the couple divorced, the family members all lived together on a cul-de-sac in Cerritos until going into hiding after the video spread.
Mr. Nakoula declared bankruptcy in 2000. By then he was a felon: a police sting caught him trading crates of a methamphetamine ingredient for $45,000 in cash. He was sentenced to one year in prison but did community service instead. A little over a decade later, Mr. Nakoula, while at work on his movie, was arrested for bank fraud. He was behind bars for almost 21 months before getting out in the summer of last year.
''He said it might have been a blessing to go to prison because he had time to work on the script,'' his son said.
Mr. Nakoula's supervised release barred him from using aliases. But he resumed work on his movie under the name Sam Baccil, said Jimmy Israel, who assisted with preproduction. Mr. Israel, who still thought Mr. Nakoula had been away battling cancer, placed casting notices on Backstage.com. One advertised 11 roles that included ''George: male, 20-40, a strong leader, romantic, tyrant, a killer with no remorse, accent.'' Mr. Israel said Mr. Nakoula told him that ''Muhammad would be named George to mislead the actors.''
Mr. Nakoula found his director through a circuitous route. During the time of his bank fraud scheme, he rented five offices in a building owned by a man named Shlomo Bina, who, as it happened, had once aspired to a movie career, too, crossing paths with Mr. Roberts, the director. Chatting one day, Mr. Bina pointed him toward Mr. Roberts, whose real name is Robert Alan Brownell, records show. Attempts to reach Mr. Roberts through lawyers were unsuccessful.
A few Coptic immigrants in the United States have built media outlets with the help of programming that is anything but favorable toward Islam. One of them is Mr. Abdelmasih of Media for Christ. Not only did he provide Mr. Nakoula with 10 days of free studio space, but he also helped get the promotion going for the YouTube trailer by contacting Mr. Sadek in Virginia.
Mr. Sadek wrote in an e-mail that ''my friend,'' Mr. Abdelmasih, ''told me that Mr. Nakoula had created a movie about the Copts' persecution in Egypt.'' Mr. Sadek then publicized the YouTube trailer on his Web site and to his contacts. Mr. Basily, the activist, also spread word about the trailer using social media. Mr. Sadek also put Mr. Nakoula in touch with another important promotional partner: Mr. Jones, the Florida pastor.
Mr. Abdelmasih said Mr. Nakoula called one day to ask to use his facility. ''He said to me the movie was about persecution of Christians by the government, combined with radical Muslims,'' Mr. Abdelmasih recalled in an interview.
'Not Tech-Savvy'
Media for Christ provided no cameras or any other production help, Mr. Abdelmasih said. He also insisted that Media for Christ's ''work is not against Muslims,'' and he said he was ''shocked'' by the final product. But his studio has been used to produce ''Wake Up America,'' a program hosted by Steve Klein, an insurance salesman in Hemet, Calif., and a staunch anti-Islam activist. Mr. Klein served as a consultant for Mr. Nakoula after they first met at Media for Christ.
When Dan Sutter, cast as George's grandfather, arrived at Media for Christ's offices in early August last year, Mr. Nakoula was there, greeting people as Sam. Mel Gibson's ''Passion of the Christ'' played on a television in a break room.
Eight months or so after shooting ended, Mr. Nakoula contacted a few of the actors to return to Media for Christ for looping, a standard part of moviemaking in which inaudible dialogue is rerecorded. Lily Dionne, an extra with no lines who was called to dub for another actress, said that a fellow actor had also been asked back and that Mr. Nakoula told him to say ''Muhammad'' into a microphone. He did.
On July 2, the trailer was posted on YouTube by someone using the name Sam Bacile. Mr. Nakoula's son said he was the one who did it.
''My dad is not tech-savvy at all, and does not know how to work social media,'' Abanob Nakoula said. ''So he asked me to take the initiative to spread the word, and I did my best.''
He explained that using the name Sam Bacile, he created a Facebook account before production started and then the YouTube account.
Abanob Nakoula added, ''My dad wanted to show the trailer on TV as a commercial, and I told him that was not going to happen because it costs a lot of money and the networks would not show a 14-minute trailer, especially if they knew the content.''




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November 11, 2012 Sunday  


 Political Racism In the Age of Obama

 
Philadelphia
THE white students at Ole Miss who greeted President Obama's decisive re-election with racial slurs and nasty disruptions on Tuesday night show that the long shadows of race still hang eerily over us. Four years ago, when Mr. Obama became our first African-American president by putting together an impressive coalition of white, black and Latino voters, it might have appeared otherwise. Some observers even insisted that we had entered a ''post-racial'' era.
But while that cross-racial and ethnic coalition figured significantly in Mr. Obama's re-election last week, it has frayed over time -- and may in fact have been weaker than we imagined to begin with. For close to the surface lies a political racism that harks back 150 years to the time of Reconstruction, when African-Americans won citizenship rights. Black men also won the right to vote and contested for power where they had previously been enslaved. 
How is this so? The ''birther'' challenge, which galvanized so many Republican voters, expresses a deep unease with black claims to political inclusion and leadership that can be traced as far back as the 1860s. Then, white Southerners (and a fair share of white Northerners) questioned the legitimacy of black suffrage, viciously lampooned the behavior of new black officeholders and mobilized to murder and drive off local black leaders.
Much of the paramilitary work was done by the White League, the Ku Klux Klan and other vigilantes, who destroyed interracial Reconstruction governments and helped pave the road to the ferocious repression, disenfranchisement and segregation of the Jim Crow era.
D. W. Griffith's 1915 film, ''The Birth of a Nation,'' which played to enthusiastic audiences, including President Woodrow Wilson, gave these sensibilities wide cultural sanction, with its depiction of Reconstruction's democratic impulses as a violation of white decency and its celebration of the Klan for saving the South and reuniting the nation.
By the early 20th century the message was clear: black people did not belong in American political society and had no business wielding power over white people. This attitude has died hard. It is not, in fact, dead. Despite the achievements of the civil rights movement, African-Americans have seldom been elected to office from white-majority districts; only three, including Mr. Obama, have been elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction, and they have been from either Illinois or Massachusetts.
The truth is that in the post-Civil War South few whites ever voted for black officeseekers, and the legacy of their refusal remains with us in a variety of forms. The depiction of Mr. Obama as a Kenyan, an Indonesian, an African tribal chief, a foreign Muslim -- in other words, as a man fundamentally ineligible to be our president -- is perhaps the most searing. Tellingly, it is a charge never brought against any of his predecessors.
But the coordinated efforts across the country to intimidate and suppress the votes of racial and ethnic minorities are far more consequential. Hostile officials regularly deploy the language of ''fraud'' and ''corruption'' to justify their efforts much as their counterparts at the end of the 19th century did to fully disenfranchise black voters.
Although our present-day tactics are state-issued IDs, state-mandated harassment of immigrants and voter-roll purges, these are not a far cry from the poll taxes, literacy tests, residency requirements and discretionary power of local registrars that composed the political racism of a century ago. That's not even counting the hours-long lines many minority voters confronted.
THE repercussions of political racism are ever present, sometimes in subtle rather than explicit guises. The campaigns of both parties showed an obsessive concern with the fate of the ''middle class,'' an artificially homogenized category mostly coded white, while resolutely refusing to address the deepening morass of poverty, marginality and limited opportunity that disproportionately engulfs African-American and Latino communities.
At the same time, the embrace of ''small business'' and the retreat from public-sector institutions as a formula for solving our economic and social crises -- evident in the policies of both parties -- threaten to further erode the prospects and living standards of racial and ethnic minorities, who are overwhelmingly wage earners and most likely to find decent pay and stability as teachers, police officers, firefighters and government employees.
Over the past three decades, the Democrats have surrendered so much intellectual ground to Republican anti-statism that they have little with which to fight back effectively. The result is that Mr. Obama, like many other Democrats, has avoided the initiatives that could really cement his coalition -- public works projects, industrial and urban policy, support for homeowners, comprehensive immigration reform, tougher financial regulation, stronger protection for labor unions and national service -- and yet is still branded a ''socialist'' and coddler of minorities. Small wonder that the election returns indicate a decline in overall popular turnout since 2008 and a drop in Mr. Obama's share of the white vote, especially the vote of white men.
But the returns also suggest intriguing possibilities for which the past may offer us meaningful lessons. There seems little doubt that Mr. Obama's bailout of the auto industry helped attract support from white working-class voters and other so-called Reagan Democrats across the Midwest and Middle Atlantic, turning the electoral tide in his favor precisely where the corrosions of race could have been very damaging.
The Republicans, on the other hand, failed to make inroads among minority voters, including Asian-Americans, and are facing a formidable generational wall. Young whites helped drive the forces of conservatism and white supremacy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but now most seem ill at ease with the policies that the Republican Party brandishes: social conservatism, anti-feminism, opposition to same-sex marriage and hostility to racial minorities. The anti-Obama riot at Ole Miss, integrated 50 years ago by James H. Meredith, was followed by a larger, interracial ''We Are One Mississippi'' candlelight march of protest. Mr. Obama and the Democrats have an opportunity to bridge the racial and cultural divides that have been widening and to begin to reconfigure the country's political landscape. Although this has always been a difficult task and one fraught with peril, history -- from Reconstruction to Populism to the New Deal to the struggle for civil rights -- teaches us that it can happen: when different groups meet one another on more level planes, slowly get to know and trust one another, and define objectives that are mutually beneficial and achievable, they learn to think of themselves as part of something larger -- and they actually become something larger.
Hard work on the ground -- in neighborhoods, schools, religious institutions and workplaces -- is foundational. But Mr. Obama, the biracial community organizer, might consider starting his second term by articulating a vision of a multicultural, multiracial and more equitable America with the same insight and power that he once brought to an address on the singular problem of race. If he does that, with words and then with deeds, he can strike a telling blow against the political racism that haunts our country.




10



 


November 5, 2012 Monday

 Syrian rebels root for Romney in hopes of US military intervention; 
Desperate for foreign intervention, some rebels say they hope the party that brought on the Iraq war might also bring America to Syria.

 
Seldom do you find Arabs anywhere in the Middle East who have warm feelings about America's most recent war with Iraq, especially in Syria where many people were actively involved in supporting the Iraqi insurgency.
Yet as Syria's upheaval nears the two-year mark, many of those who are increasingly desperate for a foreign intervention to end the conflict now reference Iraq as a seemingly positive example of why America might decide to help. With an eye on the US elections, they say they hope the party that brought them the Iraq war might also bring America to Syria.
"The Republicans prefer using the military. Like Bush, he entered Iraq and Afghanistan. They use the military in all cases so maybe they will try to intervene here," says Mustafa Abu Abdu, who used to be a psychology student before the war. "Obama will keep saying that [President Bashar] Assad must stop and that America is sorry about civilian deaths, but he will not do anything to help here."
A number of Syrians like Mr. Abdu say they hope Tuesday's election in America will bring Mitt Romney into the Oval Office because they say he is more likely to change the US policy in favor an intervention in Syria.
Though Romney is an unlikely candidate for long time enemies of Israel to favor - he maintains close ties to Israel and promised to move the US embassy to Jerusalem - the potential for him to take military action in Syria trumps any other controversial stances he has for many Syrians.
"Obama has had almost two years to help here. What more can he do?" says Abdul Kareem Islami, a tile shop owner in Aleppo. "Obama didn't help us so maybe Romney will be better."
Romney has said the US should help to organize the resistance and work with allies to supply arms to those fighting President Bashar al-Assad who share "our interests and values," according to his website. However, he seemed to rule out any US military intervention in the final debate on foreign policy.
"[S]eeing Syria remove Assad is a very high priority for us," Romney said, but added that "we don't want to have military involvement there. We don't want to get drawn into a military conflict."
Disillusionment with Obama
Many Syrians had hoped that under Obama's leadership the US would do more to help turn the tide in their struggle against President Assad. Shortly after taking office, Obama was seen throughout the region as a long-desired shift in American policy in the region. Obama's middle name and youth spent in Muslim-majority Indonesia - which many Obama critics in the US seize upon - are seen as a positive in Syria.
During the past two years in Syria, however, Obama has done little to please those struggling to overthrow Assad's government. While Obama has condemned Assad's brutal crackdown and called on him to leave office, he's stopped short of offering any direct military assistance, particularly something to help rebels counter Assad's air force.
"We know how Obama deals with us so we hope Romney will be different," says Zakarai Hassan Eshowi, an FSA fighter who was a painter before the war. "If Obama wins it will just stay the same. Nothing will change with Obama."
Still, there are many others who say that American policy is unlikely to change whoever wins on Tuesday.
"I don't think it will make a difference who is president. We don't care who is the president. If it is Obama or Romney, he will be like Assad just following orders," says Mahmoud Nadoum, a Free Syrian Army commander in Aleppo. "The US president is just implementing a policy."




10


 


October 29, 2012 Monday  


 Plot on U.S. Targets Cited In 11 Arrests by Indonesia

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Indonesian counterterrorism police conducted a series of raids over the weekend leading to the arrests of 11 people accused of planning terrorist attacks on several high-profile targets, including the American Embassy here.
A police spokesman said that those arrested were part of a relatively new group, the Sunni Movement for Indonesian Society, also known as Hasmi, and that it had been plotting to attack the embassy in Jakarta; the United States Consulate in Surabaya in eastern Java; a plaza in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta; and a Jakarta building that houses the Indonesian headquarters of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, the American mining giant.
The captives include Abu Hanifa, who is suspected of leading the group, and more suspects might be at large, said the police spokesman, Boy Rafli Amar. The police were continuing their investigation, but Mr. Rafli said the plot appeared to have been in its early stages. 
''They were still preparing,'' he said. ''They were still in the planning process.''
The raids, which took place in four cities across the main island of Java, uncovered a completed bomb, explosive materials and bomb-making manuals, Mr. Rafli said. He said he believed the group had also been learning to build bombs through the Internet.
The police had been monitoring the group since the beginning of the year, but had moved to make arrests only once they were certain the suspects were working to build bombs, Mr. Rafli said.
The threat posed by the group is unclear, he added, calling it part of a ''new generation'' of terrorist organizations that has splintered off from Al Qaeda's Southeast Asian affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant group that backs the establishment of an Islamic state in the region.
''We're still trying to find the motive,'' Mr. Rafli said. ''They are not part of J.I., but it could be they have some spirit of J.I.''
Indonesia experienced a series of high-profile terrorist attacks starting with the October 2002 bombing that killed 202 on the resort island of Bali. Most were linked to Jemaah Islamiyah and aimed at Western targets, including hotels and embassies. But since blasts rocked two luxury hotels in Jakarta in 2009, killing seven people, terrorist attacks have been small and unsophisticated.
The country is struggling to clamp down on the rise of new homegrown groups that have splintered off from global terrorist movements. Recent terrorist plots have predominantly targeted the National Police and state institutions, including Parliament, rather than foreigners.
During raids in late September, the counterterrorism police arrested 10 men and seized 12 homemade bombs after uncovering an alleged plan to attack the police and lawmakers.
While most analysts say the groups lack the skills and know-how to inflict much damage, they also say the threat should not be overlooked.
''The fact that they were aiming at Western targets, when all we've been hearing about is the police, shows that the West is still on their radar,'' said Todd Elliott, a security analyst with Concord Consulting in Jakarta.
Mr. Elliot has been following Hasmi since 2009, when its members were involved with protests calling for church closings in the suburbs of Jakarta. In 2010, the International Crisis Group, which monitors security threats, identified it as an extremist group seeking to restore an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country but one that is politically secular.
Most Indonesians practice a moderate form of Sunni Islam, but clashes between hard-line Muslim groups and Christians, as well as minority Muslim sects, have been on the rise in recent years. Many analysts have expressed concerns that the authorities are not doing enough to crack down on extremist groups that preach intolerance and hate.
Some extremist religious groups have started mixing with militants or finding inspiration from them, Mr. Elliott said. ''Security forces are aware of it but reluctant to do anything about it,'' he said.
The alleged plot uncovered over the weekend also included a police compound in central Java among its targets, and therefore was not aimed entirely at foreigners. Mr. Rafli said possible plans to attack American facilities, however, might have stemmed from the recognition of the cooperation between Indonesia and the United States, which helped train and support the country's counterterrorism unit, Special Detachment 88.
A spokesman at the United States Embassy could not provide any additional information but said embassy officials were in close touch with investigators.
Since Special Detachment 88 was formed in 2003, the Indonesian security forces have arrested more than 700 suspected militants and killed about 60. The latest arrests were part of a continuing sweep that has netted dozens of suspected terrorists in recent months. Earlier this year, the police killed five men in Bali who security officials said they believed were planning a series of robberies to raise money for a future attack on the island.




10


 



October 28, 2012 Sunday  
SPORTS 

 11 nabbed in embassy plot

 
AN INDONESIAN anti-terror squad arrested 11 militants who were plotting a series of strikes - including an attack against a U.S. embassy, authorities said Saturday. 
The suspects, who are believed to belong to a local group of Islamic extremists, were busted in raids Friday and Saturday in the capital city of Jakarta.
Indonesian police said they recovered a number of bombs, explosive materials and ammunition. They also discovered a list of targets which included the American Embassy in Jakarta and a large public square adjacent to the Australian embassy.
The terrorists also were scheming to hit the U.S. consulate in Surabaya, the country's second-largest city, as well as the Indonesian office of the American mining corporation Freeport-McMoRan, officials aid.
The plots against the embassies come a month from an attack against a U.S. consulate in Libya, which killed an ambassador and three other Americans. It was not clear whether the suspects in Indonesia were inspired by the violence in Benghazi.
Officials with Indonesia's national police force said the suspects were part of a new terror group that calls itself the Sunni Movement for Indonesian Society. It was not known how close the militants were to carrying out the attacks.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, has been locked in a hard-fought fight with terrorists since the 2002 bombing in Bali that killed 202 people.
jlemire@nydailynews.com




10



 



October 25, 2012 Thursday 
Correction Appended  


 Brennan reshaped anti - terr or strategy

 
In his windowless White House office, presidential counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan is compiling the rules for a war the Obama administration believes will far outlast its own time in office, whether that is just a few more months or four more years.
The "playbook," as Brennan calls it, will lay out the administration's evolving procedures for the targeted killings that have come to define its fight against al-Qaeda and its affiliates. It will cover the selection and approval of targets from the "disposition matrix," the designation of who should pull the trigger when a killing is warranted, and the legal authorities the administration thinks sanction its actions in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond.
"What we're trying to do right now is to have a set of standards, a set of criteria, and have a decision-making process that will govern our counterterrorism actions - we're talking about direct action, lethal action - so that irrespective of the venue where they're taking place, we have a high confidence that they're being done for the right reasons in the right way," Brennan said in a lengthy interview at the end of August. 
A burly 25-year CIA veteran with a stern public demeanor, Brennan is the principal architect of a policy that has transformed counterterrorism from a conventional fight centered in Afghanistan to a high-tech global effort to track down and eliminate perceived enemies one by one.
What was once a disparate collection of tactics - drone strikes by the CIA and the military, overhead surveillance, deployment of small Special Forces ground units at far-flung bases, and distribution of military and economic aid to threatened governments - has become a White House-centered strategy with Brennan at its core. 
Four years ago, Brennan felt compelled to withdraw from consideration as President Obama's first CIA director because of what he regarded as unfair criticism of his role in counterterrorism practices as an intelligence official during the George W. Bush administration. Instead, he stepped into a job in the Obama administration with greater responsibility and influence. 
Brennan is leading efforts to curtail the CIA's primary responsibility for targeted killings. Over opposition from the agency, he has argued that it should focus on intelligence activities and leave lethal action to its more traditional home in the military, where the law requires greater transparency. Still, during Brennan's tenure, the CIA has carried out hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan and opened a new base for armed drones in the Arabian Peninsula.
Although he insists that all agencies have the opportunity to weigh in on decisions, making differing perspectives available to the Oval Office, Brennan wields enormous power in shaping decisions on "kill" lists and the allocation of armed drones, the war's signature weapon.
When operations are proposed in Yemen, Somalia or elsewhere, it is Brennan alone who takes the recommendations to Obama for a final sign-off.
As the war against al-Qaeda and related groups moves to new locations and new threats, Brennan and other senior officials describe the playbook as an effort to constrain the deployment of drones by future administrations as much as it provides a framework for their expanded use in what has become the United States' permanent war.
"This needs to be sustainable," one senior administration official said, "and we need to think of it in ways that contemplate other people sitting in all the chairs around the table."

A critical player
There is widespread agreement that Obama and Brennan, one of the president's most trusted aides, are like-minded on counterterrorism policy. 
"Ever since the first couple of months, I felt there was a real similarity of views that gave me a sense of comfort," Brennan said. "I don't think we've had a disagreement."
But the concentration of power in one person, who is unelected and unconfirmed by Congress, does not sit well with critics.
To many in the international legal community and among human rights and civil liberties activists, Brennan runs a policy so secret that it is impossible for outsiders to judge whether it complies with the laws of war or U.S. values - or even determine the total number of people killed.
"Brennan says the administration is committed to 'greater transparency,' " Human Rights Watch said in response to a speech he gave in May about drones. But despite "administration assertions that 'innocent civilians' have not been injured or killed, except in the 'rarest of circumstances,' there has been no clear accounting of civilian loss or opportunity to meaningfully examine the administration's assertions."
Although outsiders have criticized the policy itself, some inside the administration take issue with how Brennan has run it. One former senior counterterrorism official described Brennan as the "single point of failure" in the strategy, saying he controls too much and delegates too little.
A former top Defense Department official sounded a similar note. "He holds his cards incredibly close," he said. "If I ask for the right one to be seen, he'll show it to me. But he's not going to show me everything he's got in his hand."
Michael E. Leiter, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center until mid-2011, described Brennan as a forceful leader and "a critical player in getting this president comfortable with the tools of the trade." 
Leiter said that he and Brennan "disagreed not infrequently" on fleeting issues, including interpretations of a piece of intelligence or how to respond to a specific threat. But there was a more significant issue:  Leiter said Brennan was less focused on root causes of radicalization, in part because of how Brennan and the White House defined his job.
Leiter was one of the few people who allowed his name to be used among the nearly dozen current and former senior national security officials interviewed for this article. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity under restrictions imposed by the administration or because they were not authorized to discuss certain issues. 
For each of Brennan's critics, there are many associates who use the words "moral compass" to describe his role in the White House. It is Brennan, they say, who questions the justification for each drone attack, who often dials back what he considers excessive zeal by the CIA and the military, and who stands up for diplomatic and economic assistance components in the overall strategy.
Brennan's bedrock belief in a "just war," they said, is tempered by his deep knowledge of the Middle East, Islam and the CIA, and the critical thinking forged during a classic Jesuit education.
Some White House aides describe him as a nearly priest-like presence in their midst, with a moral depth leavened by a dry Irish wit.
One CIA colleague, former general counsel John Rizzo, recalled his rectitude surfacing in unexpected ways. Brennan once questioned Rizzo's use of the "BCC" function in the agency's e-mail system to send a blind copy of a message to a third party without the primary recipient's knowledge.
"He wasn't joking," Rizzo said. "He regarded that as underhanded."
Brennan, 57, was born in the gritty New Jersey town of North Bergen, across the Hudson River from Midtown Manhattan. His Irish-immigrant parents, now in their early 90s, were strict and devout Catholics, traits his brother Tom said Brennan embodied from an early age. "It was almost like I had two fathers," Tom Brennan said.
John Brennan's formative experiences at Fordham University, where he earned a degree in political science, included a summer in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, and a junior year at the American University in Cairo, where he studied Arabic and the region that would dominate his intelligence career and greatly influence his White House tenure. 
In 1980, soon after receiving a master's degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin, Brennan answered a CIA recruitment ad in a newspaper. By the middle of the decade, he had spent two years in Saudi Arabia and was among the agency's leading Middle Eastern analysts.
"He was probably the hardest-working human being I ever encountered," said a former senior CIA official who worked for Brennan on the Middle East desk. Brennan, he said, was regarded as insightful, even imaginative, but had a seriousness that set him apart.
In 1999, after a second tour in Saudi Arabia as CIA station chief, he returned to headquarters as chief of staff for then-Director George J. Tenet. In 2001, he became deputy executive director, just months before a team of al-Qaeda operatives - most of them from Saudi Arabia - used four hijacked U.S. airliners to kill nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11.

'I . . . do what I think is right'
Brennan's belief in his competence and probity has sometimes led to political blind spots. Tenet tapped him in 2003 to build the new CIA-based Terrorist Threat Integration Center to bridge pre-Sept. 11 intelligence gaps. But Brennan was bypassed by the Bush administration a year later for two key jobs - head of the National Counterterrorism Center and deputy to the new director of national intelligence - largely because of his criticism of the Iraq war.
As a private citizen after leaving government, Brennan spoke publicly about counterterrorism controversies of the day. He defended the CIA's rendition of suspected terrorists as "an absolutely vital tool" but described waterboarding as within "the classic definition of torture." Brennan also criticized the military as moving too far into traditional intelligence spheres. 
His career in government appeared to be over until he was invited in late 2007 to join the nascent presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Although Obama and Brennan did not meet until after the election, their first conversation during the transition revealed profound harmony on issues of intelligence and what the president-elect called the "war against al-Qaeda." 
But when Brennan's name circulated as Obama's choice to head the CIA, he again came under political fire - this time from liberals who accused him of complicity in the agency's use of brutal interrogation measures under Bush. Spooked by the criticism, Obama quickly backtracked and Brennan withdrew.
"It has been immaterial to the critics that I have been a strong opponent of many of the policies of the Bush administration such as preemptive war in Iraq and coercive interrogation tactics, to include waterboarding," he wrote in an angry withdrawal letter released to the media.
Several former intelligence colleagues said that, although Brennan had criticized the CIA interrogation methods after he left the government, they could not recall him doing so as a senior executive at the agency.
Brennan was given responsibility in the White House for counterterrorism and homeland security, a position that required no Senate confirmation and had no well-defined duties. At the outset, colleagues said they wondered what his job would be.
But to a young administration new to the secret details of national security threats and responsibilities, Brennan was a godsend.
And for the man passed over for other posts, it was vindication. "I've been crucified by the left and the right, equally so," and rejected by the Bush administration "because I was not seen as someone who was a team player," Brennan said in the interview.
"I'm probably not a team player here, either," he said of the Obama administration. "I tend to do what I think is right. But I find much more comfort, I guess, in the views and values of this president."
Brennan and others on the inside found that Obama, hailed as a peacemaker by the left and criticized by the right as a naive pacifist, was willing to move far more aggressively than Bush against perceived extremists. 

Yemen is a 'model'
From the outset, Brennan expressed concern about the spread of al-Qaeda beyond South Asia, particularly to Yemen, according to administration officials involved in the early talks.
U.S. counterterrorism policy had long been concentrated on Pakistan, where the Bush administration had launched sporadic CIA drone attacks against senior al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Within two years, Obama had more than tripled the number of strikes in Pakistan, from 36 in 2008 to 122 in 2010, according to the New America Foundation. 
Eventually, Obama and Brennan decided the program was getting out of hand. High-value targets were becoming elusive, accusations of civilian deaths were rising, and strikes were increasingly directed toward what the angry Pakistanis called mere "foot soldiers." 
But with Pakistan's adamant refusal to allow U.S. military operations on its soil, taking what was considered a highly successful program out of CIA hands was viewed as counterproductive and too complicated. Although CIA strikes in other countries and military strikes outside Afghanistan require Obama's approval, the agency has standing permission to attack targets on an approved list in Pakistan without asking the White House.
Although the administration has "wrestled with" the Pakistan program, it was always considered an initiative of the previous administration, a senior official said. In Yemen, the Obama team began to build its own counterterrorism architecture.
The turning point came on Christmas Day in 2009, when a Nigerian trained by Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot of Osama bin Laden's terrorist group, penetrated post-Sept. 11 defenses and nearly detonated a bomb aboard a Detroit-bound airliner.
In the wake of the failed attack, Brennan "got more into tactical issues," said Leiter, the former NCTC head. "He dug into more operational stuff than he had before."
Brennan made frequent visits to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, its closest neighbor and the dominant regional power. He used his longtime contacts in the region to cement a joint U.S.-Saudi policy that would ultimately - with the help of Yemen's Arab Spring revolt - bring a more cooperative government to power. He often spoke of the need to address "upstream" problems of poverty and poor governance that led to "downstream" radicalization, and pushed for economic aid to buttress a growing military and intelligence presence.
Yemen quickly became the place where the United States would "get ahead of the curve" on terrorism that had become so difficult to round in Pakistan, one official said. As intelligence and military training programs were expanded, the military attacked AQAP targets in Yemen and neighboring Somalia using both fixed-wing aircraft and drones launched from a base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.
Despite Brennan's professed dismay at the transformation of the CIA into a paramilitary entity with killing authority, the agency was authorized to operate its own armed aircraft out of a new base in the Arabian Peninsula.
Beginning in 2011, discussions on targeting, strikes and intelligence that had been coordinated by a committee set up by Adm. Mike Mullen, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were gradually drawn into the White House under Brennan, who, according to several accounts, struggled to pare back increasingly expansive target lists in Yemen. At one meeting last year, one senior official said, Obama weighed in to warn that Yemen was not Afghanistan, and that "we are not going to war in Yemen."
Today, Brennan said, "there are aspects of the Yemen program that I think are a true model of what I think the U.S. counterterrorism community should be doing" as it tracks the spread of al-Qaeda allies across Northern Africa.
As targets move to different locations, and new threats "to U.S. interests and to U.S. persons and property" are identified in Africa and elsewhere, Brennan described a step-by-step program of escalation. "First and foremost, I would want to work through local authorities and see whether or not we can provide them the intelligence, and maybe even give them some enhanced capability, to take action to bring that person to justice," he said.
For those governments that are "unwilling or unable" to act, he said, "then we have an obligation as a government to protect our people, and if we need then to take action ourselves . . . we look at what those options are as well."
In late August, Brennan said he saw no need "to go forward with some kind of kinetic action in places like Mali," where al-Qaeda allies have seized control of a broad swath of territory. Since then, Brennan and other officials have begun to compare the situation in Mali to Somalia, where drone and other air attacks have supplemented a U.S.-backed African military force. 

An opaque process
Where Obama and Brennan envision a standardized counterterrorism program bound by domestic and international law, some others see a secretive killing machine of questionable legality and limitless expansion.
Many civil libertarians and human rights experts disdain claims by Brennan and others that the drone program has become increasingly transparent, noting that the administration has yet to provide even minimal details about targeting decisions or to take responsibility for the vast majority of attacks.
"For more than two years, senior officials have been making claims about the program both on the record and off. They've claimed that the program is effective, lawful and closely supervised," Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said last month in appealing repeated court refusals to force the administration to release more information.
Some critics have described it as immoral, rejecting the administration's claims that few civilians have been among the nearly 3,000 people estimated to have been killed in drone attacks. There is ample evidence in Pakistan that the more than 300 strikes launched under Obama have helped turn the vast majority of the population vehemently against the United States.
None of the United States' chief allies has publicly supported the targeted killings; many of them privately question the administration's claim that it comports with international law and worry about the precedent it sets for others who inevitably will acquire the same technology. 
To the extent that it aspires to make the program's standards and processes more visible, the playbook has been a source of friction inside the administration. "Other than the State Department, there are not a lot of advocates for transparency," one official said. Some officials expressed concern that the playbook has become a "default" option for counterterrorism.
The CIA, which declined to comment for this article, is said to oppose codifying procedures that might lock it into roles it cannot expand or maneuver around in the future. Directors at most national security agencies agree on targeting rules that are already in place, an official close to Brennan said. But "when it's written down on paper, institutions may look at it in a different way."
The CIA, which is preparing a proposal to increase its drone fleet, considers Brennan "a rein, a constrainer. He is using his intimate knowledge of intelligence and the process to pick apart their arguments that might be expansionary," a senior official outside the White House said.
Two administration officials said that CIA drones were responsible for two of the most controversial attacks in Yemen in 2011 - one that killed American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a prominent figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and a second a few days later that killed his 16-year-old son, also an American citizen. One of the officials called the second attack "an outrageous mistake. . . . They were going after the guy sitting next to him."
Both operations remain secret and unacknowledged, because of what officials said were covert-action rules that tied their hands when it came to providing information.
Some intelligence officials said Brennan has made little substantive effort to shift more responsibility to the military. But Brennan and others described a future in which the CIA is eased out of the clandestine-killing business, and said the process will become more transparent under Defense Department oversight and disclosure rules.
"Deniable missions" are not the military norm, one official said.
Said Brennan: "I think the president always needs the ability to do things under his chief executive powers and authorities, to include covert action." But, he added, "I think the rule should be that if we're going to take actions overseas that result in the deaths of people, the United States should take responsibility for that."
One official said that "for a guy whose reputation is focused on how tough he is on counterterrorism," Brennan is "more focused than anybody in the government on the legal, ethical and transparency questions associated with all this." By drawing so much decision-making directly into his own office, said another, he has "forced a much better process at the CIA and the Defense Department."
Even if Obama is reelected, Brennan may not stay for another term. That means someone else is likely to be interpreting his playbook.
"Do I want this system to last forever?" a senior official said. "No. Do I think it's the best system for now? Yes."
"What is scary," he concluded, "is the apparatus set up without John to run it."
deyoungk@washpost.com
Greg Miller and Julie Tate contributed to this report.

CORRECTION-DATE: October 26, 2012

 CORRECTION:
A photograph with the continuation of an Oct. 25 Page One article, an installment in the Permanent War series about White House counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan, was incorrectly credited to an Associated Press photographer. The photo, showing Brennan with President Obama and national security adviser Thomas E. Donilon, was by White House photographer Pete Souza.




10



 


October 24, 2012 Wednesday  


 VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

 
Vote to re-elect Hebl to Assembly
Dear Editor: I endorse state Rep. Gary Hebl in the 46th Assembly District. Gary is a proud native Wisconsinite, a lifelong Sun Prairie resident, and a successful local business leader. He understands that the key for Wisconsin communities having viable and sustainable business growth is having quality schools, transportation options, quality health care resources, and a well-educated workforce. If Wisconsin and small cities like Sun Prairie expect to create jobs and compete in the 21st century, we need representatives like Gary at our state Capitol.
Nick Zweifel 
Dane County Board supervisor
Sun Prairie
Tommy Thompson is no longer man of people
Dear Editor: Republican Wisconsin Sen. Mike Ellis was quoted as saying, "(We need to) get back to the Tommy of Elroy that we had for 16 years."
Unfortunately, the Tommy Thompson of today is not the one who was our governor for so many years.
Back then Tommy was "one of us." He understood the hopes, needs and fears of common folk. He recognized that older people need health care and Social Security and social programs. He created an employment and education program for at-risk youth. He worked well with politicians on both sides of the aisle.
But then Tommy went to D.C. He was a high-paid partner, "adviser" and board member with health-related firms.
Tommy Thompson is now a person of the corporations, by special interests, and for the wealthy.
And that's why today independents and moderate Republicans who want to see the Thompson of yesteryear are going to be continually disappointed.
Ron Biendseil, Middleton
Baldwin supports tax breaks for middle class
Dear Editor: Tammy Baldwin is the person in the race for the U.S. Senate who is looking to cut taxes and restore economic security and growth possibilities to Wisconsin's middle class.
Baldwin voted to extend Bush tax cuts for 98 percent of American families and 97 percent of small businesses.
Baldwin is co-sponsor of the "Bring Jobs Home Act." She is lead sponsor in the House of legislation based on the "Buffett rule," which would require people with incomes over $1 million a year to pay at least the same tax rates as the middle class.
Tommy Thompson, Republican nominee, opposes the Buffett rule. Thompson supports the Romney/Ryan plan that would give an extra $265,000 tax cut to people making over $1 million a year, on top of the $129,000 tax cut that they could receive from an extension of Bush tax cuts.
Barbara Brewer, Monroe
Men who built America would support GOP now
Dear Editor: After watching previews of the show "The Men Who Built America," men like Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Vanderbilt and Rockefeller, their ingenuity and willingness to risk their money fueled our nation's growth. Created millions of jobs.
Then I asked myself: Which political party would these men vote for, with today's choices? The Democratic Party, which seems bent on using tax dollars to fund more and more government programs to support the non-contributors? And add to our nation's debt?
Or the Republican agenda, which encourages entrepreneurs, risk-takers, to help America really move forward?
Jim Cox, Lodi Romney, Ryan no friends of veterans Dear Editor: Paul Ryan voted to send troops to war at every turn. Many times, he has voted against veterans benefits and health care bills that passed without his support.
Mitt Romney never served in the military. He got multiple deferments during the Vietnam War. He mouths the right things, but his words are hollow when compared to his actions.
How about getting a 30-month deferment as a Mormon minister to go to France on a church mission? While I was in Vietnam he was begging for a pass.
We all served with men who volunteered for the draft, were drafted, or just signed up because their country was at war.
Romney did the opposite.
President Obama has supported us all along.
Ron Disher, Poynette
Romney would preserve founding values
Dear Editor: The election of 2012 will decide what kind of America we will be. Will we elect as our president Barack Obama, who will continue to champion abortion, nationwide gay marriage, and restrictions on religious freedom? Or will we elect as our next president Mitt Romney, who will promote a culture of life, traditional marriage and the affirmation of our constitutional freedoms under the First Amendment?
If America decides to renew this president's lease on the White House, the America we've always known will be lost. With Mitt Romney, this nation will preserve the values upon which it was founded.
Timothy Rookey
Middleton
Obama has no problem finding women staffers
Dear Editor: Apparently Gov. Romney's minions beat the bushes trying to find qualified women. Romney said he had "binders of women" as a result.
Why did Romney think he needed to go to such extreme measures to dig up competent women? By contrast, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have said that so many qualified women apply for Democratic posts that the difficulty is in deciding between excellence and excellence.
It's hard to think of any test that would reveal the difference between the candidates more clearly. Women make up more than half of their constituencies, by the way.
Margaret Benbow, Madison
Both GOP and Dems wrong on Libya
Dear Editor: The media is doing its ersatz objectivity act by taking both sides of the Libya debate seriously while failing to inform the public that both sides are wrong.
When we send American personnel into a politically unstable country, there is no such thing as security. The U.S. military budget is more than the combined military budgets of the next 17 countries, yet we could not protect our embassy in Libya, raising the specter of Nixon's warning, lest we let the U.S. become a pitiful, helpless giant.
Except for Turkey and Indonesia, we should remove all American personnel from Muslim countries. When we become a peaceful country, the roots of terrorism will dry up.
John Morgan
Madison




1


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

October 24, 2012 Wednesday  
THIRD EDITION

 WORLD DIGEST

 
Drugmaker faces scrutiny, criticism
Europe's top drug regulator announced Tuesday that it was taking action against pharmaceutical giant Roche for allegedly failing to properly report the side effects of 19 drugs being used by U.S. patients. Eight of the drugs involved are used for the treatment of cancer, including breast cancer. They include Avastin, Herceptin, Tarceva and Xeloda. The flu drug Tamiflu was also included in the list.
More violence in pro-Gadhafi Libyan town - New fighting flared in a hilltop town in Libya on Tuesday between fighters defending Bani Walid, a stronghold of slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime, and pro-government militias trying to win control. A military spokesman, Gen. Ali al-Shekhili, said pro-government forces had made significant advances. 
Man appears at own funeral in Brazil - Police say a man shocked his family when he interrupted a funeral being held for him at his mother's home in the town of Alagoinhas in northeastern Brazil.
Police inspector Roberto Lima said that on Sunday Jose Marcos Araujo identified a body at the city morgue as being that of his brother, Gilberto, 41. Lima said Tuesday that Jose Marcos took the body to his mother's home, where a wake was held.
But "a friend of Gilberto's saw him walking down the street and told him that his family was mourning him. So he went to his mother's home to let everyone know he was very much alive," Lima said.
Shelling in Syria kills at least 20 - At least 20 people were killed in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday when a bakery was hit by a shell, activists said. More than 50 people were injured in the attack by government forces on the Masakin Hanano neighborhood.
Egypt's top court to rule on constitutional panel - An Egyptian court asked the country's highest tribunal on Tuesday to rule on whether to disband the body tasked with writing a new constitution. The delay in a ruling is a potential blow to liberals, because it could give Islamists time to finish drafting the contested document.
More BBC staff accused - A sexual abuse scandal shaking the BBC broadened Tuesday as the broadcaster investigates claims of sexual abuse and harassment against nine staff members and contributors, in addition to the late disgraced children's TV host Jimmy Savile. The BBC has been rocked by allegations that Savile, who died last year, abused underage teens over several decades, sometimes on BBC premises. Some of the alleged victims have accused other entertainers and BBC staff of participating in abuse in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.
Guantanamo court stalls over right to boycott - A dispute over whether a defendant must be present during a military tribunal brought proceedings to a halt Tuesday in the case of a Guantanamo prisoner accused in the attack on the Navy destroyer Cole. Defendant Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri boycotted the pretrial motions hearing to protest the use of chains to move him from his cell at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Explosion at arms factory in Sudan - Sudan's state news agency said a huge fire broke out after an explosion at a weapons plant. The state news agency said authorities were putting out the fire in the Yarmuk industrial complex. The reason for the explosion was not immediately known.
The governor of Khartoum, Abdul-Rahman Khedr, said that no one died in the explosion but that some people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.




11


 


October 21, 2012 Sunday  


 A Kitchen For Indonesians Far From Home

 
ON a recent Thursday afternoon, two men in suits, wearing badges from the Indonesian Consulate, pushed open the door of Upi Jaya, a restaurant in Elmhurst, Queens. The diplomats walked straight into the kitchen and ordered food for the president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his delegation, who were in town for the United Nations General Assembly. The order filled an entire notebook page and included more than 50 portions of rendang daging, Indonesian-style brisket.
Since 2004, Upi Jaya has been serving such delicacies, even if the takeout is packed in Styrofoam rather than the traditional banana leaves. The restaurant helps anchor a loose collection of restaurants, churches, mosques, beauty salons and markets in Elmhurst that serve the city's 7,000 or so Indonesians, a population the consulate says is centered here. 
Inside, the scent of boiling coconut milk and lemon grass wafts from the kitchen. Small touches of Indonesia mark the otherwise nondescript dining room: dioramas of Indonesian landmarks, Indonesian newsletters, pamphlets describing legal services for new immigrants and a donation box for the Islamic charity Darul Uloom New York. A map of the archipelago stitched from batik fabric hangs on the wall.
Locals welcome newcomers with extravagant hospitality, often pulling up chairs and joining in conversations without invitation. Men circuit between the tables and the sidewalk, where they chat and smoke.
The crowd is a mix of Chinese-Indonesian Christians, some wearing crosses on necklaces, and Indonesian Muslims, many of the women dressed in headscarves. Not a word of English can be heard. The stereo plays Indonesian pop songs.
About a week after the diplomats' visit, Diani Ariesta, 46, an Indonesian immigrant living in Austin, Tex., made sure to eat at Upi Jaya during a trip to New York. Normally, she said, she had to drive two and a half hours to Houston if she wanted her favorite food. To cook it at home, she added, ''I have to order my spices online, from California.''
Bernard Budihardja, a construction project manager from Maryland who was also dining at the restaurant, said, ''If I come to New York, I always come here.'' Because of the relatively small number of Indonesians in America, Indonesian restaurants are few and far between.
The restaurant's single server appeared carrying platters of ikan balado -- red snapper fried with chilies -- and rice smothered in brightly colored curries for Ms. Ariesta and her friends. Each dish was flavored with a dollop of sambal, a paste of crushed chilies that is ubiquitous in Indonesian cuisine.
While many diners used American utensils, others took food from their plates with their right hands. ''This is the Indonesian style,'' said Andang Purnama, 46, an Indonesian-language teacher from Maryland who was one of Ms. Ariesta's dining partners.
Ms. Ariesta kept exclaiming over the food. Her friends teased her when she said her tongue was no longer used to petai, Indonesian stink bean. It had been 20 years since she ate the malodorous vegetable. She laughed along with her friends. ''I forgot the taste, but only a little,'' she said.
What draws everyone is the cooking of Upi Yuliastuti, 57, the owner of the restaurant, as well as its only cook. Her sure control of the restaurant is not unusual for a woman from the Minangkabau culture of Sumatra, the world's largest matrilineal group.
Occasionally, while cooking, Mrs. Yuliastuti peeked into the dining room. ''I am happy to see Indonesian children who were born in America getting to taste real Indonesian food,'' she said.
During their recent visit, Ms. Ariesta, Mr. Purnama and their companions were planning the creation of an organization, the Indonesian Diaspora Network. ''Many Indonesians have immigrated to other countries,'' Ms. Ariesta said. ''Our network has been broken.'' She added, ''Our goal is to bring Indonesians back together.''




11


 The Florida Times-Union 
Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)

October 14, 2012 Sunday

 Free speech vs. a fatwa

 
The irony was blatant and disheartening and sad, but perhaps with a lesson for us.
On a London holiday last weekend, I took advantage of a walk somewhere else to cut between Westminster Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament, just for the experience.
What I actually found was a fiery, though mostly peaceful, demonstration of several hundred Muslims against the dumb, 13-minute anti-Islam "Innocence of Muslims" video that has provoked riots in Muslim countries around the world, with more than 50 deaths, as well as a fatwa against the filmmaker. 
But this was in the very heart of one of the world's great democracies, literally in the shadow of the House of Commons, where there is the renowned Question Time and the traditional exchange of shouted challenges and insults over public policies.
Yet one of the signs carried by some demonstrators said: "Freedom of speech is not freedom to abuse."
Yes it is.
In the United Kingdom, the U.S. and democracies around the world, freedom of speech is the freedom to say almost anything (excepting the "fire-in-the-theatre" clear and present danger) with the democratic belief that such unfettered debate ultimately will produce the best understanding, ideas, solutions and outcomes.
Those protestors in Parliament Square raging against freedom of speech were enjoying the protection of British democracy. Hopefully, the religious zeal-fueled irony was not lost on the most thoughtful among them.
But the headlines and TV reports, of course, have been mostly about the least thoughtful, the angry, violent and hate-filled minority of Muslims in Egypt, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya and some other Muslim and Arab countries.
Minority, you ask? These mobs?
Yes. As someone who has traveled extensively for years in Muslim countries - from Indonesia and Malaysia to Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Syria and Jordan - these extremists are just that, minorities among people who generally want the same things we want - peace, safety and prosperity.
So it struck me when I returned from that London experience and read a Wall Street Journal report about a powerful movement of new and moderate Islamic clerics in Indonesia who may present a model for the larger Islamic world.
In Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, imam Habib Munzir Almusawa preached this about the video to his tens of thousands of followers: Just ignore it.
"If we react so emotionally, then how can we show the good side of Islam?" he asked his followers in the mosque in Jakarta, according to the Journal.
The Journal's James Hookway wrote: "Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia next door, says the emergence of democracies in Muslim-majority nations like Malaysia and Indonesia, after years of authoritarian rule, could help incubate democratic ideas in the countries finding their feet after last year's Arab Spring revolts."
They are learning democracy - just as we still are, after more than two centuries, as we struggle to carry on thoughtful elections amid rampant negative campaigning, fear-mongering, cheating and lying.
I suppose there's a difference between the ignorance of the placard in London and the malodorous mailers and TV commercials in many of our American campaigns now. I suppose.
Actually, if there is, it may be this: People who have been blessed with the freedoms and democracy we have enjoyed for so long should know better than to corrupt elections and should take some responsibility for preserving and even enhancing them.
frank.denton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4197




11



 


October 12, 2012 Friday

 Desperately seeking the real Obama

 
Last week, something notable happened. The Daily Caller, a conservative website, came up with a tape of President Barack Obama speaking in the spring of 2007 to an audience of black ministers about matters of concern to black ministers and their black congregants. After the tape was aired, conservative commentators announced with considerable urgency that they had discovered "the real Barack Obama." He is - and there are reliable sources for this - a black man!
The perspicacious Fox News host Sean Hannity was among the first to note the importance of the speech. He said it offered "a glimpse into the mind of the real Barack Obama." The real Barack Obama is not, as you might foolishly think, the man who has been in the White House for almost four years - covered by the media, giving speeches, pardoning Thanksgiving turkeys and not returning the phone calls of key members of Congress. He is, instead, the man who gave a single speech back in 2007 and who lapsed, as many politicians do before black audiences, into a black speech cadence that, if you ask me, he should use more often. 
As for the speech itself, while it might have sounded innocuous to the average (white person's) ear, it supposedly contained "dog whistle" messages that could only be heard by black people in the audience. This explained the headline on a column by Washington Examiner columnist Gregory Kane: "Obama's dog-whistle speech from 2007." Kane, too, wondered if the speech revealed "a glimpse of the real Barack Hussein Obama."
The search for the True Obama is the holy grail of the conservative movement. It is a quixotic quest, a fool's errand, which induces a kind of delirium in the president's critics. The 2007 speech itself is evidence of this recurring madness. It was not, as both stated and implied, overlooked at the time. It was matter-of-factly reported by various news organizations, and so the tape contained nothing startlingly new. One bit of stale news was that Obama had praised the rabid Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whom he would eventually dump as his spiritual adviser. He also pandered to the audience. I guess this is the sort of thing only radicals do.
Some of us, in fact, think we know the real Barack Obama. He is a man of the center - or maybe a wee to the left of it - who is prudent in all things, dotes on his children and is loving to his wife. His most radical program is called Obamacare and if it has sent us all down the road to socialism, we have somehow become stuck in a suburban cul de sac. Instead of a single-payer plan - the one adopted by much of the industrialized world - we stick with private insurance companies, those soft-hearted institutions that would, if they could, seize the La-Z-Boy from under a retiree. This is not Trotsky. It's not even Hubert Humphrey.
I'm glad Kane slipped in Obama's middle name with all its jihadist overtones, because it plays a role in making the president a mysterious man of the left. It makes him a trifle weird and since he seems to have come from somewhere at sea - Hawaii? Indonesia? - he really could be a Muslim or something even worse, although my imagination fails me here. It does not fail others, though. Dinesh D'Souza has cited Obama's exotic provenance to assert that the president "draws his identity and his values from a Third World, anti-American ideology that goes by the name of anti-colonialism." In his latest book, D'Souza even does a Cotton Mather number on Obama's mother. "Ann's sexual adventuring may seem a little surprising in view of the fact that she was a large woman who kept getting larger." For rebuttal, how about a mouthful of soap?
This need to turn a political foe into the frightening "other" is a reaction against modernity - the permanent platform of the Republican Party. The country is changing demographically, socially, culturally. A lot of the change is unwelcome, trashy - Kardashian to the Nth degree. Remarkably, the man who gets the blame for all this is a dad out of a '50s sitcom, a national security hawk who, in his personal qualities, is an insurance underwriter's dream. Still, the right awaits the Freudian slip that will reveal Obama's trueness, a lapse into possibly Russian or, worse, French. Liberals long ago realized they had idealized Obama. Only conservatives still hope he is a different man.
(Richard Cohen writes for the Washington Post. His syndicated column appears Fridays.)




11


 


October 12, 2012 Friday  


 Indonesia Seeing Increase Of Small Terrorist Groups

 
JAKARTA -- Ansyaad Mbai, the director of Indonesia's National Counterterrorism Agency, has a genealogy of terrorism spread across his office wall. It starts in 1949, the year Dutch colonizers acknowledged Indonesia's independence, and extends to 2011. Like a family tree, it begins with one line and gradually branches out into an increasingly complex web with names and photos of the country's most notorious terrorists.
''It's like a database, the framework to coordinate intelligence,'' he said.
But lately the database has expanded beyond the boundaries of the chart, as smaller, more local groups with different objectives than those of their Qaeda-affiliated predecessors drive the terrorist threat. 
In the 10 years since Islamic militants blew up two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali, killing 202 people, Indonesian security forces have arrested more than 700 people on suspicion of being militants and killed around 60. All the major suspects believed to have participated in the Bali attacks on Oct. 12, 2002, have been killed or imprisoned.
Analysts say operations by Detachment 88, the elite U.S.- and Australian-trained counterterrorism squad formed shortly after the Bali blasts, have helped cripple Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian offshoot of Al Qaeda responsible for the bombings.
The discovery in 2010 of a paramilitary training camp in the Indonesian province of Aceh that brought together a number of major militant groups did further damage, inspiring a nationwide dragnet that led to the arrest and conviction of around 200 terrorism suspects, according to the International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental organization that has studied radical activity in the country.
But while the security forces' efforts and internal rifts have left Jemaah Islamiyah weakened, some disaffected individuals and members of vigilante groups have moved to form new cells and seek new recruits.
Their goal, analysts say, remains to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia, which is a predominantly Muslim country but has a secular government. But for many the focus is also on exacting revenge against the security forces for the continuing crackdown.
The Crisis Group says many of these new groups are small and ad hoc, and while they still seek inspiration and material support from large jihadist organizations, they act independently. Rather than the major bombing campaigns of years past, they conduct ''individual jihad'' against local targets.
''The threat we've seen recently is manageable and is being managed, but it's hard to extinguish,'' said Jim Della-Giacoma, the Crisis Group's Southeast Asia project director. ''There are still individuals with such radical ideas that they want to use violence, and still groups out there thinking of Western targets.''
There have been more than a dozen terrorist plots since 2010, according to a recent Crisis Group report. In March the counterterrorism police killed five men on Bali who analysts say had been radicalized in prison. Security officials say the men were planning a series of robberies to finance a future attack on the island. The police have stepped up security in recent days after receiving intelligence of a possible attack during commemorations of the 2002 Bali bombings on Friday.
Last month, the police arrested 10 more suspects and confiscated a dozen homemade pipe bombs. Those men were alleged to have been planning an attack against the police and lawmakers, whom some radical preachers call legitimate targets because they have blocked the creation of an Islamic state.
Actual attacks since the last major blast -- in 2009, when Islamists bombed the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing seven -- have been less damaging, as in the cases of two suicide bombers last year: one struck a mosque in a police compound and the other a church, but they killed only themselves. But they have raised concerns about the apparent ease with which small groups of extremists can form.
''It's not every mosque, every school, every preacher. In fact, it's a small number,'' said Mr. Della-Giacoma. ''But there are known communities you need to watch out for.''
Analysts say radical clerics spread their message and seek recruits through book launches and study groups. Internet forums, military training camps and prisons also serve as recruitment pools.
''They're targeting those who have no critical thinking, people searching for an identity,'' said Noor Huda Ismail, head of the Institute for International Peace Building, which tries to rehabilitate people who have served prison terms on terrorism charges by finding them jobs.
Mr. Huda, who attended an Islamic boarding school founded by a radical cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, said many hard-line groups have charismatic leaders who cite perceived injustices against Muslims to justify violence against the government or target religions they deem antagonistic to Islam or blasphemous, like the Islamic sect Ahmadiyah.
While the police have largely been successful in recent years in stopping plots before they happen, analysts say, combating the ideologies behind them has proved more difficult.
''I think the Aceh camp bore home that they share a common view and a sense of solidarity, and it's part of the reason they can support an underground resistance,'' said Greg Barton, a political science professor at Monash University in Australia.
Most of Indonesia's 240 million people practice a moderate form of Islam. But the blossoming of democracy after the longtime strongman Suharto stepped down from power in 1998 permitted more militant expressions of Islam. Dozens of deadly attacks occurred between 1999 and 2005, when a second bombing in Bali killed 20 people.
Security analysts say the focus now needs to be on prevention. ''We need a comprehensive strategy that looks at how extremist clerics get access to vulnerable groups,'' said Sidney Jones, a senior adviser at the Crisis Group.
Mr. Bashir, the radical cleric, is now serving a 15-year term for helping set up the terrorist training camp in Aceh. Still, he frequently makes statements from prison that spread through local media.
Over the past decade the government has run small programs that involve discussions between prisoners and moderate Islamic preachers and provide economic help to the families of terrorism convicts. Another, run by a group of nongovernmental organizations led by the U.S.-based Search for Common Ground, has tutored convicted terrorists in conflict management. Universities have also provided talks, films and social gatherings to draw students away from the Indonesian Islamic State, a banned movement that has recruited on campuses.
But some who have worked on these programs say they are too small in scale and lack wider government support.
''I worry that there's a whole lot of little activities but not a real end goal in mind,'' said Brian Hanley, who was the country head of Search for Common Ground in 2010, when the prison program was in operation.
Mr. Ansyaad, the anti-terrorism chief, said some Indonesian lawmakers had resisted more vigorous efforts to tackle terrorism because they did not want to be seen as meddling in religious affairs. Competition for resources among government institutions also prevents them from working together.
That could be changing. Recently the government announced plans for a national counterterrorism program that would bring together the police, Muslim organizations, civil society groups and several government bodies, including the Ministries of Education and Religion.
''This is a program to prevent our young people from being inducted into radical ideologies that could lead them to carry out acts of terrorism,'' said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, part of the political affairs team at the office of Vice President Boediono, who is coordinating the effort.
Mr. Ansyaad also advocates government standards for what clerics can preach and harsher sentences for terrorism. By not coming down harder on hate speech, incitement to violence and paramilitary training, ''we've become a hotbed for terrorism,'' he said.
Talk of restricting religious activities, however, stirs concerns among some officials and clerics of a return to Suharto's ironfisted tactics.
''We have to be sure we don't go down the slippery slope of allowing the government to control areas it has no business controlling, i.e., religious freedom,'' said Ms. Dewi. ''There's a fine line between preventing radicalism and too much state control.''




11



 


October 11, 2012 Thursday

 What Pakistan can do after Taliban shooting of schoolgirl Malala; 
The Taliban shooting of Malala Yousafzai, a famous 14-year-old girl activist, should spark Pakistanis to not only end the Taliban but to emulate Muslim societies that elevate the status of women in Islam.

 
Pakistan is an easy flight from Malaysia, and yet the two Muslim countries seem so far apart right now in how women are treated within their Islamic societies.
In Pakistan on Tuesday, the Taliban shot a 14-year-old girl, Malala Yousafzai, who is well known for her courage in seeking equality for women, especially girls' education. But the Pakistani military, which has long supported Islamic extremism in its rivalry with India, has been less than enthusiastic in eradicating the terrorist group.
In Malaysia, by contrast, a TV station recently ran a 13-episode prime-time contest for women under 30 to find the best one to become an Islamic preacher. The show was called "Solehah," an Arabic word meaning "pious female." The Muslim women were judged on their knowledge of Islam and speaking abilities. The winner received a trip to Mecca, $10,000, and a car.
Islam has many faces but none more telling than in how women are treated in different places. It's time that Pakistan and other places where Muslim women live in fear or in social chains learn how Islam can be practiced differently.
The Wahhabism brand that comes out of Saudi desert life and imposes a fundamentalist view of women has helped breed violent groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban. In Iran, with its hard-line Shiite Islam, women were recently banned from taking many courses at dozens of universities, a move seen as pushing women to stay in the home. Even in newly democratic Egypt, a draft constitution calls for equality of women and men only "insofar as this does not conflict with the rulings of Islamic sharia."
But a more tolerant and perhaps more authentic Islam is found in many other countries, especially in Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. In China, the 10 million Hui Muslims have hundreds of female imams and mosques for women. Female preachers often travel to spread their faith. In North America and Britain, Muslim women often lead prayers in mosques.
"Islam neither limits women to the private sphere, nor does it give men supremacy over the public and private life," writes Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor of Islamic law at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Pakistan has long had secular leaders and women in prominent public positions. It elected a woman, the late Benazir Bhutto, as president. But the country has also seen the rise of radical Islamic groups that seek to suppress women and use violence to gain power.
Public outrage at the shooting of young activist Malala suggests a stronger willingness among Pakistanis to confront the Taliban and other extremists. But Pakistan also needs to look to those Muslim countries that not only suppress Islamic violence but also elevate women in their status.
Malala, who rose to fame at age 11 while writing a blog for the BBC, survived the attack. Now if enough Pakistanis push the military to end the Taliban threat, she might someday become an Islamic preacher.




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October 11, 2012 Thursday  


 Visitors from Indonesia are a force for learning

 
 By Pia Hallenberg
 piah@spokesman.com, (509) 459-5427
 Friendship
 The Friendship Force was founded in 1977 by Wayne Smith the group has brought together millions of people. There are clubs in more than 50 countries and more than 5,000 people travel with the program every year. The organization is funded by membership fees, donations and grants. For more information visit www.thefriendshipforce.org
 A group of Indonesian teachers and principals visited Five Mile Prairie School last week to learn about nontraditional education. 
 Traveling with the Friendship Force, an international exchange program, the 11 teachers and four principals were spending a week in Spokane before heading to Whidbey Island, Wash., for professional training.
 "People are very friendly here," said Wawang Hoetawarman, principal of Sman-Mojoagung Senior High School in Jombang.
 Five Mile Prairie School works with students of all ages who are being homeschooled in the Mead School District. Homeschoolers can attend classes their parents don't feel qualified to teach to make sure they meet graduation requirements.
 Explaining the concept of homeschooling was a little tricky.
 "There is not a lot of homeschooling in Indonesia," said Wiyono Atmopawiro, principal of Sma Sewon School in Yogyakarta. Indonesian children start in a playgroup when they are around 3 years old, he said, followed by kindergarten. They enter first grade when they are 6.
 "Public school is free through junior high school," Atmopawiro said. "You have to pay for senior high school. How much you pay depends on the school."
 More than 242 million people live in Indonesia and the majorityare Muslim, but the country doesn't have an official state religion. Hundreds of ethnic groups - many speaking their own dialect - live in the island kingdomnorthwest of Australia.
 The visitors were impressed by the beautifully restored building, and seemed puzzled by the wide age range of the children there.
 "In Indonesia, kindergarten is not in the same building," said Hoetawarman, while peeking into the lunch room. "Little kids go to school only for two hours." He added that older students attend school from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
 "Long time," he said, smiling, "we must learn all the topics."
 Toward the end of the school visit, the Indonesian teachers joined a group of Five Mile Prairie students for an informal conversation.
 Hoetawarman, who is also a chemistry teacher, pulled a student aside for an impromptu lesson on the periodic table, which is the same in all languages.
 "You must learn this to learn chemistry," said a smiling Hoetawarman to the student who nodded in equal parts agreement and bewilderment.
 The group's Spokane host, Anita Tschirgi, said there were some language issues.
 "The women in the group are all English teachers, so their language skills are good," she said. "It's a little tougher with the principals." She added this was the first time she was involved in a themed exchange.
 "The theme for their entire trip is education," said Tschirgi. "My job was to find nontraditional education options for the group to visit." The group is also visiting the Contract Based Education School in the Central Valley School District and the Hutton Settlement. Tschirgi got involved with Friendship Force about 10 years ago when a friend brought her to a meeting. She has hosted people from Germany, Tasmania, New Zealand and Australia, and also traveled with the organization.
 "You get a whole different and much better travel experience when you stay with a family," Tschirgi said. "That's why I do it."




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October 10, 2012 Wednesday

 Islam's inroads in land of Voodoo and Christianity

 
BC-REL--Religion Today,1000
Islam's inroads in land of Voodoo and Christianity
AP Photo PAP301, PAP302, PAP303, PAP304, PAP305, PAP306, PAP307
(Eds: With AP Photos. Also sent as BC-CB-REL--Haiti-Turning to Islam)
By TRENTON DANIEL
Associated Press 
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti » School teacher Darlene Derosier lost her home in the 2010 earthquake that devastated her country. Her husband died a month later after suffering what she said was emotional trauma from the quake. She and her two daughters now live in tents outside the capital of Port-au-Prince, surrounded by thousands of others made homeless and desperate by the disaster.
What's helped pull her through all the grief, she said, has been her faith, but not of the Catholic, Protestant or even Voodoo variety that have predominated in this island country. Instead, she's converted to a new religion here, Islam, and built a small neighborhood mosque out of cinderblocks and plywood, where some 60 Muslims pray daily.
Islam has won a growing number of followers in this impoverished country, especially after the catastrophe two years ago that killed some 300,000 people and left millions more homeless. A capital where church attendance is so prevalent that the streets echo with Christian hymns on Sundays now has at least five mosques, a Muslim parliament member and a nightly local television program devoted to Islam.
The disaster drew in aid groups from around the world, including Islamic Relief USA, which built 200 shelters and a secondary school with 20 classrooms.
"After the earthquake we had a lot of people join," said Robert Dupuy, an imam or Islamic spiritual leader in the capital. "We were organized. We had space in the mosques to receive people and food to feed them."
Derosier said she was drawn to the religion's preaching of self-discipline, emphasis on education and attention to cleanliness. The constant washing, she said, helps her and other Muslims avoid cholera, the waterborne illness that health officials say has sickened nearly 600,000 people and killed more than 7,500 others since surfacing after the quake.
"This is a victory for me," the 43-year-old woman said about her post-quake conversion. The former Protestant spoke in the tent-filled courtyard of her home, her face framed by a clean, black head scarf. "It's a victory that I received peace and found guidance."
In part, the Muslim community's growth can be attributed to the return of expatriates who adopted the faith in the U.S., said Kishner Billy, owner of the island's Telemax TV station and host of the nightly program "Haiti Islam."
Billy and some others believe that Islam's Haitian past goes back before the country's independence in 1804, and that a Jamaican slave and Voodoo priest named Boukman who led the slave revolt that ousted French colonizers was actually a Muslim.
"Islam is coming back to Haiti to stay," said Billy, who says he converted from Christianity 20 years ago. "Future generations, my sons and daughters, will speak about Islam."
There are no firm statistics on the number of Muslims in Haiti, just as there are no reliable figures for many things in the country, including Port-au-Prince's exact population.
A 2009 study by the Pew Research Center on the world's Muslim population estimated that Haiti had about 2,000 devotees. Islamic leaders in the country insist the figure is much higher and growing.
Islam is hardly unknown in the Caribbean; countries such as Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname and Guyana have significant Muslim populations. Many of those nations have strong roots in countries such as India and Indonesia where Islam is widespread.
The ancestors of Haitians, by contrast, were brought largely from non-Muslim areas of Africa. Haiti's French colonial rulers also imported their Christian beliefs.
The recent growth of Islam, as well as other new religions, shows Haiti is modernizing and becoming more pluralistic, said Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, a professor of Africology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"Inroads made by Islam (and by extension, by Mormonism and Rastafarianism) tell me that Haiti is very much a product of this century, subject to all winds, ill-winds and otherwise, that blow over the Caribbean nation-states," Bellegarde-Smith wrote in an email.
Rosedany Bazille, a 39-year-old teacher who converted several months after the earthquake, said she had felt rudderless before embracing the religion and was looking for a way forward.
"Islam can put people on the right path and show them who's God," she said.
Some Haitian Muslims belong to the Nation of Islam, a U.S.-based branch of the religion that preaches black self-determination. Some local members converted while serving time in U.S. prisons before being deported back to Haiti. The group's leader, Louis Farrakhan, visited the country for the first time last year.
The decision to convert has made some targets of discrimination.
The Haitian government doesn't recognize Islam as an official religion, nor does it honor Muslim marriages. Wearing the skullcaps or flowing head scarves typical of the religion can draw stares and finger-pointing. Derosier said her neighbors gossip that she's evil.
Voodoo, a blend of West African religions created by slaves during the colonial period, has long been a popular faith in the country, with elements followed even by some of the 85 percent of the population who claim Christian beliefs. Voodoo was once so commonly embraced that the notorious dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier used it to terrify and control the masses.
Most Christian Haitians identify themselves as Roman Catholics. A priest, the Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was elected president in 1990 by opposing the hereditary dictatorship that continued with Francois' son, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
With so much still wrong in Haiti, the need for Islam couldn't be greater, said Billy. Two months ago, he launched his live talk show to educate his compatriots about his adopted faith.
"Haiti has gone astray. It can't produce anything," said Billy. "Right now Haitians just want a visa to go the United States, to Canada. They don't want to stay in Haiti."
With a tapestry of Mecca and praying crowds as a backdrop to his TV show one recent evening, Billy and his co-host Ruben Caries invited watchers to send questions about Islam via text messages.
Billy's BlackBerry buzzed with missives, including this one in Creole: "M vle vini Muslim" -- "I want to be a Muslim." Alt Heads:
Islam's inroads in land of Voodoo and Christianity




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October 10, 2012 Wednesday

 MODERATE ISLAMIC PREACHERS GAIN FOLLOWERS IN INDONESIA

 

ABSTRACT
Moderate Islam is gaining wider following in Indonesia and could offer model for countries emerging from Arab Spring into democracies;  country still has many hard-line preachers, but rise of moderate preachers in country with enormous Muslim population offers hope of countering militants; graph; photo; map (M)




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October 9, 2012 Tuesday  


 In wake of law, more seeking citizenship

 
Against the backdrop of Georgia's tough new illegal immigration law, unprecedented numbers of foreign-born residents are taking the trouble to become U.S. citizens.
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates analyzed by , the state saw an estimated increase of more than 43,000 naturalized citizens between 2010 and 2011 --- a surge of 13 percent.
That put it in the top five among all states --- along with Alabama, South Carolina and Utah, which are also among the handful of states that have passed laws designed to curb illegal immigration. 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's findings suggest that illegal immigration laws are having a two-fold effect: possibly reducing the number of non-citizens --- including illegal immigrants --- as well as impelling immigrants with legal status to become U.S. citizens.
Fear of being questioned about their legal status is prompting more immigrants who are eligible for citizenship to complete the process, said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
"People can feel more protected if they become citizens," Gonzalez said. "It's a natural inclination for self-preservation."
Miriam Cordoba, 34, said the Georgia law heightened her desire to become a citizen. Cordoba, who entered the country illegally from Mexico when she was a child, also wanted the right to vote.
"I crossed the river, walked for days and nights, ate armadillo, drank water from a ditch, everything," said the Dacula resident, who applied for citizenship in January and passed the test in June.
"When I held that certificate, it felt like I had reached a goal in my life. With all these immigration laws, I hope that my voice, my vote might benefit immigrants."
The census estimates are based on questionnaires mailed to a fraction of U.S. residents; it's a carefully calibrated process, but it still leaves some room for error. In fact, the official tally of naturalizations kept by the Department of Homeland Security suggests that the census figures may exaggerate the trend toward more naturalizations.
It's possible, some experts say, that fear of being deported or other problems prompts some immigrants to lie about being citizens on the census questionnaire. (In actuality, there is no risk, because federal law prohibits the Census Bureau from disclosing any information about individuals to the public or other agencies.)
Risk or no risk, "they feel safer saying they are a citizen than answering that they are not a citizen," said Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer for the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington-based nonpartisan research organization that monitors the Hispanic population.
Even though Homeland Security records don't show a year-to-year spike, they do reflect a long-term increase in the number of naturalizations occurring across the country, including in Georgia. The numbers tend to surge particularly in election years; it's possible that naturalizations spurred by the 2010 federal election showed up in the 2011 census figures.
 based its analysis on the government's recent American Community Survey, which is done every year, unlike the decennial census done once every 10 years. The survey asks a small percentage of residents in each state a variety of questions, including whether they were born in the U.S., are naturalized U.S. citizens or are not citizens.
Among the shifts reflected in the survey data:
*From 2010 to 2011, Georgia's number of naturalized citizens rose from about 330,00 to 373,000, or 13 percent. The state's population of non-citizens fell from about 613,000 to 570,000 or 7 percent.
*In South Carolina, the number of naturalized citizens jumped by 13 percent and the number of non-citizens declined by 3 percent.
*Alabama, which passed a law considered even more stringent than Georgia's, saw even larger changes. Its number of naturalized citizens rose by nearly 20 percent, while its number of non-citizens fell by nearly13 percent.
*Nationwide, the population of naturalized citizens rose by nearly 4 percent, while the total number of non-citizens fell by 1 percent.
Passel said those findings reflect a clear years-long pattern. Fewer people have been entering the country illegally in recent years, Passel said, partly because of the nation's weakening economy and increased immigration enforcement on the border. Meanwhile, many of the immigrants who did come here have become U.S. citizens, further reducing the nations' population of non-citizens.
A number of factors may have fed Georgia's apparent surge, the experts noted. For example, people naturalized in other states may have moved to Georgia. Or U.S. service members based in Georgia may have returned with spouses they married overseas, who then became naturalized.
Hark Tjandra, 27, of Stone Mountain, became a citizen last year. He was about 6 when his family --- originally from Indonesia --- came from Germany.
He said he lived without legal status in the United States for many years. Laws seemed to change every few years. After the 9 /11 terrorist attacks, he said, the government made it harder for people from some countries to get naturalized, including Indonesia, which has a large Muslim population. Working with a lawyer, he kept trying.
Now he feels like he can let go of a great secret.
"Now I can talk to my friends about it," he said. "You carry this over several decades. As a little kid I felt ashamed, different."
WHERE DOES THE LAW STAND?
Parts of Georgia's sweeping immigration law went into effect last year after Gov. Nathan Deal signed the legislation. One of those parts is aimed at severely punishing people who use phony identification to get jobs in Georgia. Meanwhile, a part of the law that requires many private employers to use a federal work authorization program called E-Verify is being phased in. The most controversial provisions remain tied up in federal court. Among them is part of the law that would give police the option to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects.
CONTINUING COVERAGE
We've been covering Georgia's illegal immigration law since its inception. Today, we examine one unintended effect of the new law: It may be convincing immigrants with legal status to become U.S. citizens.
Database specialist Kelly Guckian contributed to this report.




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October 4, 2012 Thursday  


 What young democracies fear: YouTube

 
Here's a quiz: Google received more than 1,900 requests from governments worldwide to remove content from its various services last year. Which country led the planet in this dubious category, with 418 such demands?
China? Iran? Syria?
No. It was democratic, pluralistic, economically vibrant Brazil. 
Many Brazilians were mortified last week when a judge detained Google's top official in the nation over a YouTube video that had stirred ire in a mayoral campaign.
But it was no aberration. The struggle over free speech is playing out most vividly today in countries that are America's friends rather than its enemies, in nations where the right of expression is embraced in concept but often rankles in practice, analysts say.
That is particularly true among a group of countries - think India, Thailand and Turkey, as well as Brazil - where fragile democratic institutions are struggling to manage the disruptions caused by increasingly pervasive technology.
"Among our friends in the international sphere . . . there's a huge diversity of opinion about free speech," said Andrew McLaughlin, a former top Google policy executive and White House technology adviser.
Authoritarian regimes have more straightforward ways to block speech. China has its "Great Firewall," overseen by armies of censors. Iran is building its own Internet. North Korea has little online access for its citizens.
Democracies, however, wrestle continuously over where to draw lines when faced with expression they find unacceptable.
When the "Innocence of Muslims" video sparked deadly riots across much of the Islamic world, India and Indonesia asked YouTube to block the video, which it did. Afghanistan barred access to YouTube entirely. A Russian court on Monday ordered the video blocked as well.
Even in the United States, the White House asked the company, which is owned by Google, to review the video to see if it warranted removal. YouTube declined but temporarily blocked access to it in Egypt and Libya, where rioting was especially severe.
Such moves underscore a central conundrum of technology and free expression: It's much easier to spread images and ideas than ever before; it also can be easier for governments to block them, especially when they are centralized on the servers of a handful of private companies.
"The larger trend is worrisome," said Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain. "As content is moving onto particular platforms that are owned, it becomes easier [for government officials] to make those phone calls."
The number of removal requests to Google, updated regularly on its online Transparency Report, is only a rough proxy of how aggressive governments are in seeking to block speech.
The second-largest number of requests last year, 279, was from the United States, which has an especially large population of users of Google services. Thailand, meanwhile, had just six requests, but they concerned 374 YouTube videos; Google removed them all.

Countries' varying fears
Tracking the number and nature of complaints to Google offers insights into a nation's fixations.
Thailand outlaws insults to its monarchy and aggressively polices violations. Turkey worries about the reputation of its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkish courts blocked YouTube between 2007 and 2010 because of what they said were videos insulting Ataturk.
India fears words or images that could spark religious violence. In 2007, mobs of Hindu nationalists ransacked cybercafes outside Mumbai after a forum on Orkut, a social-networking site owned by Google, posted derogatory comments about a political group's founder and a 17th-century warrior whom members revere. Last month,  India blocked 250 sites  to stop the spread of videos showing violent attacks against Muslims, out of concern they could spark reprisals.
Brazil carefully monitors racial issues and has strict electoral laws that limit criticism of candidates in the run-up to elections. There are lawsuits in at least 20 of its 26 states seeking deletion of Google content, according to news reports there. The video that drew controversy last week aired paternity claims against a mayoral candidate in Campo Grande, a state capital in Brazil's interior.
Google says it resists restrictions it regards as illegitimate but complies with lawful requests from government officials. The company appealed the ruling in the Campo Grande case but blocked the video after the court rejected the appeal and police arrested Fabio Jose Silva Coelho, the top Google official in Brazil.
"Our goal with YouTube is to offer a community that everyone can enjoy and, at the same time, is a platform for freedom of expression worldwide," Coelho said in a blog post after his brief detention. "This is a great challenge, mainly because a content acceptable in one country may be offensive - or even illegal - in others."
The company declined to comment further.

'It's a step back'
Many Brazilians criticized the government's handling of the case and what they see as elevatingpolitical candidates' rights over their constituents' speech rights.
"It's a step back in terms of freedom of expression, something like we see happening in countries like China," said Monica Rosina, a professor at Fundacao Getulio Vargas Law School. "It's bad for the Brazilian image abroad."
Yet the debate itself shows that the idea of free speech has grown deep roots in Brazil, a country that had a military dictatorship as recently as the 1980s.
It also highlights the entrenchment of another democratic ideal - separation of powers. Judges are empowered to do things in Brazil that frustrate officials in other branches of government. Nearly two-thirds of Brazil's requests to Google for content removals last year came from courts, as opposed to police or members of the executive branch.
Such tensions are familiar in democracies, young or old.
In June 2010, years into Turkey's ban on YouTube, President Abdullah Gul publicly complained, "I cannot approve of Turkey being in the category of countries that bans YouTube [and] prevents access to Google."
He didn't say it at a news conference. With YouTube blocked, he turned to another high-tech platform, typing out his call for free expression in staccato bursts - on Twitter.
timbergc@washpost.com
Moura reported from Rio de Janeiro.




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October 3, 2012 Wednesday

 Letter: Obama won't bring us peace

 
On Nov. 21, 2007, candidate Obama said: "I truly believe that the day I'm inauguratedÉ the world looks at America differentlyÉ If I'm reaching out to the Muslim world they understand that I've lived in a Muslim country and É understand their point of view É My sister is half-Indonesian. I traveled there all the way through my college years. And so I'm intimately concerned with É the cultures and perspective these folks have. And those are powerful tools for us É that will ultimately make us saferÉ" 
Translation: Two things will heal the problems in the Middle East: Obama's Obama-ness and his "powerful tools" of understanding, being concerned, reaching out.
Evidently, those who have desired our destruction for the last several centuries didn't get the memo that His Obama-ness makes it all good now.
In Benghazi our U.S. ambassador is killed on U.S. sovereign territory by Al-Qaida affiliates. In Tunis violent mobs chant, "Obama, Obama, we are all Osamas" as they attack our embassy, burn our flag and replace it with the symbol of Islam. Al-Qaida is resurgent in North Africa. Reports of anti-American mobs are coming out of every corner of the Middle East: Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan.
Obama and his administration will continue to reject peace through strength reality and cling to their discredited peace through Obama-ness wishful thinking in the face of overwhelming evidence that they are dead wrong.
  Kathleen Makel, Chico




12

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September 27, 2012

 Obama must wise up on foreign policy

 
In September 1938 the British prime minister had a problem. The Third Reich's psychopath-in-chief was scorching the airwaves imone of his trademark rants, this time about the supposed.oppression of Germans living in Czechoslovakia. He threatened war unless Western nations caved to his demands, which was the last thing the British and the French wanted, with torrid memories of the last European conflagration still burning in their thoughts. Thus, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French leader EdOuard Daladier agreed to meet with Hitler and his ally, Benito Mus' solini, in Munich on September 29, 1938. The rest, as they say, is history. 
But what a notorious hunk of history this was. On art earlier excursion to Germany, Chamberlain was greeted with flowers and gifts and a band playing "God Save the King," which seemed to justify his departing.comment that his "objective is peace in Europe. I trust this trip is the way to that peace." The result was a short-term peace in exchange for & German slice of Czechoslovakia, now virtually defenseless after being forced to relinquish the Sude-tenland to the Reich at a meeting to which they were not even invited. No matter; Chamberlain still returned to his homeland waving a piece of paper that fluttered in the wind while he declared that he had achieved "peace for our time" to relieved audiences in Britain. This.was Chamberlain's Munich Moment.
What transpired afterwards has entered history books and international relations seminars on the object lessons of appeasing an. aggressor. After promising not to demand any more territorial concessions, Hitler ordered his armies to absorb the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, after which the German Fuhrer made fresh demands for new territorial concessions in Europe, this time against Poland. And this time German armies invaded their isolated victim, instigating declarations of war by Great Britain and France, which had learned their lessons from a year earlier.
Fast forward to the present era, with a/different location and a freshly minted Western leader, President B.arack Obama, who declared in Cairo in 2009: "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition." Fair enough, and we may suppose, approximately equivalent to achieving "peace for our time" between Islam and America. However conceived, Obama's Cairo address may now be remembered as his Munich Moment.
Then in September 2012 things began to get sour, though it took a little longer than the Munich betrayal' but then, Hitler was a gangster in a hurry, whereas radical Islamists believe they have plenty of time on their hands and that history is on their side. But even history has to be pushed now and then, which in this case resulted in the death of four American embassy personnel in Ljbya, including the incomparable Ambassador Christopher Stevens in a premeditated assault, and flag-burning frenzies of anti-Americanism raging throughout the Muslim world, from Tunisia to Indonesia.
Based on past experience, one could believe that events in the summer and fall of 2012 constituted teachable moments, just as German perfidy and aggression in-1939 convinced western leaders that Hitler was a fraud. Instead, the American embassy in Cairo responded with another Munich Moment, by issuing a statement of such breathtaking pusil. lanimity that one could wonder which side in the issue they actually represented. "The embassy of the United States... condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims," it declared, referring to a video trailer produced in America that mocked the prophet Muhammad. So, that was it, declared an official organ of the American government just like Hitler's aggression against the Czechs and Poles was in response to German citizens being treated poorly. Even Chamberlain eventually saw through that. His Munich Moment had passed; recognition of reality set in.
Which is not to say that America should declare war against some Middle Eastern country. But it is to say that the Obama administration must recognize, as the French and British did in 1939, that hurt Muslim feelings have no more to do with radical Islamic hatred of the United States than mythical complaints about Germans under foreign rule had for Hitler; both were merely pretexts, excuses for aggression that would have taken place anyway. It also means that anti-Americanism in the Islamic world is going to get worse, not better, and that the United States had better be prepared for it with firm respect for our country and American interests abroad. In this case, responding with a cut-off of foreign aid to countries that murder or abuse Americans is a good start; perhaps stronger, measures should follow. But issuing gag-inducing statements of apology and adhering to an untenable policy is out of the question.
In short, American foreign policy cannot be based on endless repetitions of a Munich Moment.
Dr. Marvin Folkertsma is a professor of political science and fellow for American studies with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. The author of several books, his latest release is a high-energy novel titled "The Thirteenth Commandment."




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September 27, 2012 Thursday  
CITY-D Edition

 Worldview: Muslim countries' blasphemy laws empower extremists

 
It's about time. After a week of anti-American violence in the Muslim world over a video that offends Islam, President Obama finally made a rousing defense of free speech, even if it insults religion.
 Following the outburst of outrage in Libya and Egypt, American officials repeatedly deplored the video. There should have been more U.S. outrage over a campaign of violence orchestrated by Islamists and abetted by some Muslim leaders. 
 In his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Obama went a good ways toward setting the record straight. 
 "We do not ban blasphemy against our most sacred beliefs," Obama said. "Americans have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their views - even views we disagree with.
 "We do so," he went on, "because in a diverse society, efforts to restrict speech can become a tool to silence critics or oppress minorities." He added, "On this we must agree: There is no speech that justifies mindless violence."
 Sadly, this is a message key Muslim leaders haven't grasped.
 Indeed, both Egypt and Pakistan, the two countries where the most widespread violence was incited in the name of the anti-Islam video, have blasphemy laws that are frequently used to pursue vendettas, target minorities, and curb free speech. 
 Yet in Pakistan, where the notorious law is most draconian, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has called on the United Nations to adopt blasphemy laws outlawing criticism of religion worldwide. He'd do better to confront the disastrous impact of Pakistan's blasphemy law at home.
 Just recently, a 14-year-old mentally impaired Christian Pakistani girl, Rimsha Masih, was imprisoned after being accused by a neighbor of burning pages of a children's religious book. It turned out that a village cleric who wanted to drive Christians out of the village had fabricated evidence. The case became so notorious, the charges may ultimately be dropped. But about 600 of her Christian neighbors had to flee out of fear of reprisals, and she probably can't ever go home lest vigilantes kill her. 
 Indeed, the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, were killed last year after criticizing the apostasy law in another case involving a poor Christian woman who is still rotting in prison. "Anyone can file a complaint, so there are often ulterior motives for bringing charges," says the Hudson Institute's Nina Shea, coauthor of Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide.
 Shea says thousands of such cases have been brought since the 1980s. Since Islam covers most issues of ordinary life, apostasy charges can be brought for innumerable reasons, including personal quarrels; the accused can't get bail and may receive the death sentence. 
 In one notorious case in 2000, a medical professor in Islamabad offended a Pakistani military officer with something he said in a lecture and was suddenly accused of blasphemy. After being held for more than three years, he was finally released, perhaps because he became an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience. Many others aren't so lucky.
 "The law empowers extremists within the society," says Shea. Adds the courageous Pakistani parliamentarian Farahnaz Ispahani: "Government after Pakistani government has appeased the extremists, who use the blasphemy laws to stir up the public and enhance their own political power."
 Blasphemy laws also threaten to muzzle speech in post-Arab Spring governments, especially those where Islamic parties hold power. In Egypt, the actor Adel Imam was cleared of defaming Islam on Sept. 12, the day after the anti-video protests started. His alleged crimes: his film roles, including one in which he played a corrupt businessman that contained a scene parodying bearded Muslim men, and a second, called Terrorism and Kebab, in which good-hearted Egyptians challenge corrupt bureaucrats. If he hadn't been so famous, he might be doing time.
 Earlier this year, two courts rejected blasphemy cases against a Christian media mogul who had formed the leading opposition party. His alleged crime: He tweeted a cartoon of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie with a veil.
 This might seem funny if it weren't so serious. Egypt's new president, Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, clearly has a limited understanding of free speech. He just instructed his Washington embassy to bring legal charges against the California videomaker and may be indifferent to the dangers of blasphemy laws.
 In the words of the late, great Indonesian Muslim scholar and political leader Abdurrahman Wahid, blasphemy laws "narrow the bounds of acceptable discourse in the Islamic world and prevent most Muslims from thinking 'outside the box,' not only about religion but also about vast spheres of life, literature, science, and culture in general."
 Even more to the point, attempts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, or any U.N. bodies, to promote a legally binding global ban on criticism of Islam (or all religions) are out of order. They should be roundly opposed by Obama and other Western leaders. Advocates of one religion can't put a muzzle on free speech worldwide.
 As Obama said Tuesday, "The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech - the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect." 
 E-mail Trudy Rubin at trubin@phillynews.com.    




12


 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.
 
Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

September 26, 2012 Wednesday

 Gop Establishing A False Narrative

 
TO THE EDITORS:
The bigger story about Gov. Romney's assertion that President Obama sympathizes with those who attacked the embassies in Egypt and Libya is that Romney's comments were in the context of a continuing narrative about Obama that began in 2008 in which he is portrayed as "foreign" (much of this is racial). 
The "foreign" name, going to a "terrorist" school in Muslim Indonesia, not being born in the U.S., an apology tour, being Muslim not Christian, etc.
The narrative is still being built politically. He is accused of throwing Israel under the bus, of being soft on defense, a socialist and somebody who wants government to run your life, etc. He is accused of being the food-stamp, welfare and "give away" president. It's all been very ugly and generated much ill will and animosity.
So many people's willingness to believe so much silliness and falsehood should startle us all. This narrative is driving much of the vote this election. It's scary to hear that the "base" of the party "rallies" when they hear this. What does that say? What are we revealing about ourselves?
Furthermore, it's very disappointing to realize that those who know better are still willing to vote for the people who are saying it and repeating it. "We the people" can surely do better.
Bill Glenn
Mount Joy




12


 


September 25, 2012, Tuesday

 NATIONAL Briefs

 
Zoo officials work to solve panda cub death
WASHINGTON - As condolences poured in from around the world, National Zoo officials waited Monday for word on why a 6-day-old panda cub died and lamented a heartbreaking setback to their closely watched breeding program.
The cub had liver abnormalities and fluid in its abdomen, but a cause of death will not be known until full necropsy results are available within two weeks.
The cub, believed to be female, died Sunday morning, less than a week after its birth surprised and delighted zoo officials and visitors. Zookeepers had all but given up on the panda mother's chances of conceiving after six years of failed attempts.
"Every loss is hard," said National Zoo director Dennis Kelly. "This one is especially devastating." 
This much is known: The cub appeared to be in good condition. It had been drinking its mother's milk. And it wasn't accidentally crushed to death by its mother, which has happened to other panda cubs in captivity. At birth, the cubs are hairless, their eyes are closed and they're about the size of a stick of butter. Their mothers weigh about 1,000 times more.
Facebook stock falls after 'too pricey' quote
NEW YORK - Facebook Inc.'s stock took a hit Monday after an article in the financial magazine Barron's said it is "still too pricey" despite a sharp decline since its initial public offering.
Though Facebook's stock has plunged since its May IPO, Andrew Bary at Barron's said the stock trades at "high multiples of both sales and earnings, even as uncertainty about the outlook for its business grows."
At issue is the shift of Facebook's massive user base to mobile devices. The company is still figuring out how to advertise to people who use their mobile phones and tablet computers to access the social network. Bary said success in the mobile space is "no sure thing" for the company. Mobile ads must fit into much smaller screens, which doesn't give Facebook "much room to configure ads without alienating users," Bary said.
Facebook also has what Bary called "significant" stock-based compensation expenses. Last year, the company issued $1.4 billion worth of restricted stock and $1 billion so far this year, he noted. Yet technology companies such as Facebook "routinely encourage analysts to ignore stock-based compensation expense - and most comply. This dubious approach to calculating profits is based on the idea that only cash expenses matter," Bary wrote. "That's a fiction, pure and simple."
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook's stock fell $2.03, or 8.9 percent, to close at $20.83 Monday. The company went public May 18 at a share price of $38, which it has not matched since.
- The Associated Press
WORLD Briefs
UN envoy Brahimi: May be opening soon in Syria
UNITED NATIONS - Syria's civil war is worsening and there is no prospect of a quick end to the violence, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Monday in a gloomy assessment to the U.N. Security Council.
The new envoy leavened his message, however, saying he was crafting a new plan that he hoped could break the impasse, but refused to give details or say when it would be ready.
Despite President Bashar Assad's refusal to end his family's 40-year grip on power, some tentative hope of a solution remained, Brahimi said in his first briefing to the council since he took over from Kofi Annan on Sept. 1 as the U.N.-Arab League special representative for Syria.
"I think there is no disagreement anywhere that the situation in Syria is extremely bad and getting worse, that it is a threat to the region and a threat to peace and security in the world," Brahimi told reporters after the closed-door talks.
Activists claim nearly 30,000 people have died in the uprising, which began in March 2011, including in attacks Monday by Syrian warplanes in the northern city of Aleppo.
Marines to court-martial 2 in urination on bodies
WASHINGTON - Two Marine non-commissioned officers will be court-martialed with allegedly urinating on the bodies of Taliban fighters last year in Afghanistan and posing for unofficial photos with casualties, the Marine Corps said Monday.
The charges against Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin and Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola are in addition to administrative punishments announced last month for three other, more junior Marines for their role in the urination episode.
The disclosure in January of a video showing four Marines in full combat gear urinating on the bodies of three dead men led to a criminal investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service as well as a Marine investigation of the unit involved, the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, which fought in the southern Afghan province of Helmand for seven months before returning to its home base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., last September.
In the video, one of the Marines looked down at the bodies and quipped, "Have a good day, buddy."
In a statement Monday, the Marine Corps said disciplinary actions against additional Marines will be announced later. It also said there are "other pending cases related to this incident," but said no specifics would be made public now.
Film rage fed by hunt for free speech 'red lines'
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - In U.S.-funded ads running on Pakistani TV, subtitled clips show President Obama extolling America's traditions of religious freedom. For many watching, though, the message misses the mark in efforts to calm the Islamic outrage over a film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad.
America's free speech laws and values of openness are not in question, but rather there is confusion and anger over how they are applied.
A powerful theme binding the protests from Indonesia to Africa is the perception that the U.S. codes of free speech are somehow weighted against Islam - permitting the Internet video that insults the faith but placing clear limits on hot button issues such as hate speech, workplace discrimination and even what is acceptable on prime-time network TV.
Beyond the rage, bloodshed and death threats - churning now for two weeks - is a quandary for American policymakers that will linger long after the latest mayhem fades: How to explain the U.S. embrace of free expression to an Islamic world that increasingly sees only double standards?
Although there are many nuances - including strict U.S. laws when hate speech crossed the line into threats or intimidation - they are mostly lost in the current outrage that included a peaceful march in Nigeria on Monday and Iran threatening to boycott the 2013 Academy Awards after the country's first Oscar-winning film this year.
Apple supplier suspends production at factory
BEIJING - The company that makes Apple's iPhones suspended production at a factory in China on Monday after a brawl by as many as 2,000 employees at a dormitory injured 40 people.
The fight, the cause of which is under investigation, erupted Sunday night at a privately managed dormitory near a Foxconn Technology Group factory in the northern city of Taiyuan, the company and Chinese police said. A police statement reported by the official Xinhua News Agency said 5,000 officers were dispatched to the scene.
The Taiwanese-owned company declined to say whether the factory is involved in iPhone production. It said the facility, which employs 79,000 people, would suspend work Monday and reopen today.
Foxconn makes iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc. and also assembles products for Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. It is one of China's biggest employers, with some 1.2 million workers in factories in Taiyuan, the southern city of Shenzhen, in Chengdu in the west and in Zhengzhou in central China.
- The Associated Press
The unrest happens at a critical time for Apple. The fight started days after the launch of the latest iPhone model in the U.S. and eight other countries. The phone quickly sold out in most stores in the U.S. and Apple has a three to four-week backlog of online orders as it ramps up production to meet demand.
Crisis set to deepen with cold weather in Syria
TEL RIFAAT, Syria - The days are still warm across the fertile plains of northern Syria around Aleppo, but night brings a chill - an ominous harbinger of winter's approach and the deepening of the already severe humanitarian crisis gripping a country wracked by civil war.
Warm temperatures and plentiful food have cushioned the blow somewhat for hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced from their homes or living in refugee camps across the border. But the arrival of near-freezing temperatures could mean greater suffering and even deaths from exposure, as international aid agencies scramble to cope.
Among the first things to go will be the practice of sleeping outside to avoid the artillery and airstrikes that rain down late night death on homes.
"Most people sleep in the fields at night, out of fear of the bombardments of the towns," said Abu Mohammed, who has taken to sleeping in the olive orchards outside Tel Rifaat, a rebel-controlled town north of Aleppo. "In the winter the suffering will only increase."
Like many people in Syria, he asked that his real name not be used for fear of retribution should the government retake his town.




12


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


September 23, 2012 Sunday

 The collapse of President Obama's Cairo Doctrine

 
 WASHINGTON ?  In the week following 9/11/12 something big happened: the collapse of the Cairo Doctrine, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's foreign policy. It was to reset the very course of post-9/11 America, creating, after the (allegedly) brutal depredations of the Bush years, a profound rapprochement with the Islamic world.  On June 4, 2009, in Cairo, Obama promised "a new beginning" offering Muslims "mutual respect," unsubtly implying previous disrespect.  
Curious, as over the previous 20 years, America had six times committed its military forces on behalf of oppressed Muslims, three times for reasons of pure humanitarianism (Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo), where no U.S. interests were at stake.  But no matter. Obama had come to remonstrate and restrain the hyperpower that, by his telling, had lost its way after 9/11, creating Guantanamo, practicing torture, imposing its will with arrogance and presumption.  First, he would cleanse by confession. Then he would heal. Why, given the unique sensitivities of his background ? "my sister is half-Indonesian," he proudly told an interviewer in 2007, amplifying on his exquisite appreciation of Islam ? his very election would revolutionize relations.  And his policies of accommodation and concession would consolidate the gains: an outstretched hand to Iran's mullahs, a first-time presidential admission of the U.S. role in a 1953 coup, a studied and stunning turning away from the Green Revolution; withdrawal from Iraq with no residual presence or influence; a fixed timetable for leaving Afghanistan; returning our ambassador to Damascus (with kind words for Bashar al-Assad ? "a reformer," suggested the secretary of state); deliberately creating distance between the U.S. and Israel.  These measures would raise our standing in the region, restore affection and respect for the United States and elicit new cooperation from Muslim lands.  It's now three years since the Cairo speech. Look around. The Islamic world is convulsed with an explosion of anti-Americanism. From Tunisia to Lebanon, American schools, businesses and diplomatic facilities set ablaze. A U.S. ambassador and three others murdered in Benghazi. The black flag of Salafism, of which al-Qaida is a prominent element, raised over our embassies in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Sudan.  The administration, staggered and confused, blames it all on a 14-minute trailer for a film no one has seen and may not even exist. What else can it say? Admit that its doctrinal premises were supremely naive and its policies deeply corrosive to American influence?  Religious provocations are endless. (Ask Salman Rushdie.) Resentment about the five-century decline of the Islamic world is a constant. What's new ? the crucial variable ? is the unmistakable sound of a superpower in retreat. Ever since Henry Kissinger flipped Egypt from the Soviet to the American camp in the early 1970s, the U.S. had dominated the region. No longer.  "It's time," declared Obama to wild applause of his convention, "to do some nation-building right here at home." He'd already announced a strategic pivot from the Middle East to the Pacific. Made possible because "the tide of war is receding."  Nonsense. From the massacres in Nigeria to the charnel house that is Syria, violence has, if anything, increased. What is receding is Obama's America.  It's as axiomatic in statecraft as in physics: Nature abhors a vacuum. Islamists rush in to fill the space and declare their ascendancy. America's friends are bereft, confused, paralyzed.  Islamists rise across North Africa from Mali to Egypt. Iran repeatedly defies U.S. demands on nuclear enrichment, then, as a measure of its contempt for what America thinks, openly admits that its Revolutionary Guards are deployed in Syria. Russia, after arming Assad, warns America to stay out, while the secretary of state delivers vapid lectures about Assad "meeting" his international "obligations." The Gulf States beg America to act on Iran; Obama strains mightily to restrain ... Israel.  Sovereign U.S. territory is breached and U.S. interests are burned. And what is the official response? One administration denunciation after another ? of a movie trailer! A request to Google to "review" the trailer's presence on YouTube. And a sheriff's deputies' midnight "voluntary interview" with the suspected filmmaker. This in the land of the First Amendment.  What else can Obama do? At their convention, Democrats endlessly congratulated themselves on their one foreign policy success: killing Osama bin Laden. A week later, the Salafist flag flies over four American embassies, even as the mob chants, "Obama, Obama, there are still a billion Osamas."  A foreign policy in epic collapse. And, by the way, Vladimir Putin just expelled USAID from Russia. Another thank you from another recipient of another grand Obama "reset."  Charles Krauthammer's email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com 




12


 Southeastern Newspapers Corporation
 
The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)

September 22, 2012 Saturday  


 COLLAPSE OF CAIRO DOCTRINE AN EPIC FAILURE OF FOREIGN POLICY

 
In the week following 9-11-12, something big happened: the collapse of the Cairo Doctrine, the centerpiece of President Obama's foreign policy. It was to reset the very course of post-9-11 America, creating, after the (allegedly) brutal depredations of the Bush years, a profound rapprochement with the Islamic world. 
On June 4, 2009, in Cairo, Obama promised "a new beginning" offering Muslims "mutual respect," unsubtly implying previous disrespect. Curious, as over the previous 20 years, America had six times committed its military forces on behalf of oppressed Muslims, three times for reasons of pure humanitarianism (Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo), where no U.S. interests were at stake.
But no matter. Obama had come to remonstrate and restrain the hyperpower that, by his telling, had lost its way after 9-11, creating Guantanamo, practicing torture, imposing its will with arrogance and presumption.
First, he would cleanse by confession. Then he would heal. Why, given the unique sensitivities of his background - "my sister is half-Indonesian," he proudly told an interviewer in 2007, amplifying on his exquisite appreciation of Islam - his very election would revolutionize relations.
IT'S NOW THREE years since the Cairo speech. Look around. The Islamic world is convulsed with an explosion of anti-Americanism. From Tunisia to Lebanon, American schools, businesses and diplomatic facilities set ablaze. A U.S. ambassador and three others murdered in Benghazi. The black flag of Salafism, of which al-Qaida is a prominent element, raised over our embassies in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Sudan.
The administration, staggered and confused, blames it all on a 14-minute trailer for a film no one has seen and may not even exist. What else can it say? Admit that its doctrinal premises were supremely naive and its policies deeply corrosive to American influence?
Religious provocations are endless. (Ask Salman Rushdie.) Resentment about the five-century decline of the Islamic world is a constant. What's new - the crucial variable - is the unmistakable sound of a superpower in retreat. Ever since Henry Kissinger flipped Egypt from the Soviet to the American camp in the early 1970s, the United States had dominated the region. No longer.
"IT'S TIME," DECLARED Obama to wild applause of his convention, "to do some nation-building right here at home." He'd already announced a strategic pivot from the Middle East to the Pacific. Made possible because "the tide of war is receding."
Nonsense. From the massacres in Nigeria to the charnel house that is Syria, violence has, if anything, increased. What is receding is Obama's America.
It's as axiomatic in statecraft as in physics: Nature abhors a vacuum. Islamists rush in to fill the space and declare their ascendancy. America's friends are bereft, confused, paralyzed.
What else can Obama do? At their convention, Democrats endlessly congratulated themselves on their one foreign policy success: killing Osama bin Laden. A week later, the Salafist flag flies over four U.S. embassies, even as the mob chants, "Obama, Obama, there are still a billion Osamas."
A foreign policy in epic collapse. And, by the way, Vladimir Putin just expelled USAID from Russia. Another thank you from another recipient of another grand Obama "reset."
Washington Post Writers Group




12



 


September 22, 2012 Saturday

 Pakistan: US screens anti-film ads

 
BC-Prophet Film, 5th Ld-Writethru,830
Pakistan: US screens anti-film ads
AP Photo DV101, XVT101, CAI113, REB101, BKB102, BKB101, BKB103
Eds: Adds State Department comment throughout. With AP Photos.
By MUNIR AHMED and REBECCA SANTANA 
Associated Press
ISLAMABAD » U.S. Embassy advertisements condemning an anti-Islam video appeared on Pakistani television on Thursday in an attempt to undercut anger against the United States, where the film was produced. Hundreds of youths, however, clashed with security officials as they tried in vain to reach the embassy in Islamabad amid outrage in many countries over the film's vulgar depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.
The ads reflected efforts by the U.S. government to distance itself from the video in a country where anti-American sentiment already runs high. Violence linked to the movie has left at least 30 people in seven countries dead, including the American ambassador to Libya. Two people have died in protests in Pakistan.
In recent days, the decision by a French satirical magazine to release cartoons crudely depicting the prophet has added to the tension, as may the upcoming issue of the German satirical magazine Titanic. The magazine's co-editor Martin Sonneborn said it was up to readers to decide whether the cover of an Arab wielding a sword actually depicts the Prophet Muhammad.
Most outrage appears linked to the amateurish movie, which portrays the prophet as a fraud, womanizer and child molester.
The television ads in Pakistan feature clips of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during press appearances in Washington in which they condemned the video. Their words were subtitled in Urdu.
"We absolutely reject its content and message," said Clinton in the advertisement.
The advertisements end with the seal of the American Embassy in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the ad was produced by the embassy, which spent $70,000 to air the 30-second spot on seven Pakistani television stations. Pakistan is the only country where the ads are running. The embassy wanted to run the ads because it determined that the messages of Obama and Clinton were not reaching enough of the Pakistani public through regular news reporting, Nuland said.
"As you know, after the (anti-Islam) video came out, there was concern in lots of bodies politic, including Pakistan, as to whether this represented the views of the U.S. government. So, in order to be sure that we reached the largest number of Pakistanis, some 90 million as I understand it in this case with these spots, it was the judgment that this was the best way to do it," Nuland said.
In an email, the embassy in Islamabad sent out a link to video of ordinary Americans condemning the anti-Islam film, which appeared on YouTube. The State Department compiled the clips to give foreign audiences an idea of what regular Americans and their religious leaders thought of the video, Nuland said.
Protests have tapered off in many countries, but in Pakistan on Thursday, more than 2,000 people tried to reach the U.S. Embassy inside a guarded enclave that houses embassies and government offices.
Riot police used tear gas and batons to keep the stone-throwing demonstrators away from the enclave, and hundreds of shipping containers were lined up to cordon off the area. The government later called in army troops to protect the restricted areas when it appeared that police could not handle the situation.
"It is our responsibility to protect all our diplomats, all the foreigners," said Pakistani Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. He criticized protesters for resorting to violence and suggested that various religious and militant groups among the crowd were to blame.
Most of the protesters appeared to be students affiliated with the Islamist hardline Jamaat-e-Islami party. Flags from other Islamist groups, Jamaat-u-Dawa and the al-Qaida linked militant group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, could be seen flying among the crowd. Demonstrators also rallied peacefully in the Pakistani cities of Lahore, Chaman, Karachi and Peshawar.
The demonstrations are expected to grow on Friday, the traditional Muslim day of prayer. The Pakistani government deemed Friday a national holiday so people can demonstrate peacefully against the film.
That decision drew rare praise from the Pakistani Taliban, which is usually at war with the government. A spokesman for the militant group said it welcomed the decision but also thought the government should expel all American diplomats.
The U.S. State Department on Thursday warned all U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Pakistan until further notice. Their previous travel warning only reminded Americans of ongoing security concerns in the country. American consulates across the country have been closed to the public all week.
In Indonesia, the U.S. consulate in the country's third-largest city of Medan was closed for a second day because of demonstrations. Fifty students from an Islamic university gathered in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province in Indonesia to protest the film.
In Iran, hundreds of students and clerics gathered outside the French embassy in Tehran to protest the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the French weekly. In Kabul, a few hundred people demonstrated against the film before dispersing peacefully.
----
Associated Press writer Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Alt Heads:
Pakistan: US screens anti-film ads




12


 
 
 (California)

September 22, 2012 Saturday

 Charles Krauthammer: The collapse of Obama's Cairo Doctrine

 
WASHINGTON -- In the week following 9/11/12 something big happened: the collapse of the Cairo Doctrine, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's foreign policy. It was to reset the very course of post-9/11 America, creating, after the (allegedly) brutal depredations of the Bush years, a profound rapprochement with the Islamic world.
On June 4, 2009, in Cairo, Obama promised "a new beginning" offering Muslims "mutual respect," unsubtly implying previous disrespect. Curious, as over the previous 20 years, America had six times committed its military forces on behalf of oppressed Muslims, three times for reasons of pure humanitarianism (Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo), where no U.S. interests were at stake. 
But no matter. Obama had come to remonstrate and restrain the hyperpower that, by his telling, had lost its way after 9/11, creating Guantanamo, practicing torture, imposing its will with arrogance and presumption.
First, he would cleanse by confession. Then he would heal. Why, given the unique sensitivities of his background -- "my sister is half-Indonesian," he proudly told an interviewer in 2007, amplifying on his exquisite appreciation of Islam -- his very election would revolutionize relations.
And his policies of accommodation and concession would consolidate the gains: an outstretched hand to Iran's mullahs, a first-time presidential admission of the U.S. role in a 1953 coup, a studied and stunning turning away from the Green Revolution; withdrawal from Iraq with no residual presence or influence; a fixed timetable for leaving Afghanistan; returning our ambassador to Damascus (with kind words for Bashar al-Assad -- "a reformer," suggested the secretary of state); deliberately creating distance between the U.S. and Israel.
These measures would raise our standing in the region, restore affection and respect for the United States and elicit new cooperation from Muslim lands.
It's now three years since the Cairo speech. Look around. The Islamic world is convulsed with an explosion of anti-Americanism. From Tunisia to Lebanon, American schools, businesses and diplomatic facilities set ablaze. A U.S. ambassador and three others murdered in Benghazi. The black flag of Salafism, of which al-Qaida is a prominent element, raised over our embassies in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Sudan.
The administration, staggered and confused, blames it all on a 14-minute trailer for a film that may not even exist. What else can it say? Admit that its doctrinal premises were supremely naive and its policies deeply corrosive to American influence?
Religious provocations are endless. (Ask Salman Rushdie.) Resentment about the decline of the Islamic world is a constant. What's new -- the crucial variable -- is the unmistakable sound of a superpower in retreat. Ever since Henry Kissinger flipped Egypt from the Soviet to the American camp in the early 1970s, the U.S. had dominated the region. No longer.
"It's time," declared Obama to wild applause of his convention, "to do some nation-building right here at home." He'd already announced a strategic pivot from the Middle East to the Pacific. Made possible because "the tide of war is receding."
Nonsense. From the massacres in Nigeria to the charnel house that is Syria, violence has, if anything, increased. What is receding is Obama's America.
It's as axiomatic in statecraft as in physics: Nature abhors a vacuum. Islamists rush in to fill the space and declare their ascendancy. America's friends are bereft, confused, paralyzed.
Islamists rise across North Africa from Mali to Egypt. Iran repeatedly defies U.S. demands on nuclear enrichment, then, as a measure of its contempt for what America thinks, openly admits that its Revolutionary Guards are deployed in Syria. Russia, after arming Assad, warns America to stay out, while the secretary of state delivers vapid lectures about Assad "meeting" his international "obligations." The Gulf States beg America to act on Iran; Obama strains mightily to restrain ... Israel.
What else can Obama do? At their convention, Democrats congratulated themselves on their one foreign policy success: killing Osama bin Laden. A week later, the Salafist flag flies over four American embassies, even as the mob chants, "Obama, Obama, there are still a billion Osamas."
A foreign policy in epic collapse. And, by the way, Vladimir Putin just expelled USAID from Russia. Another thank you from another recipient of another grand Obama "reset."
Charles Krauthammer is a Washington Post columnist.




13



 


September 22, 2012 Saturday

 Collapse of the Cairo doctrine

 
WASHINGTON - In the week following 9/11/12 something big happened: the collapse of the Cairo Doctrine, the centerpiece of President Obama's foreign policy. It was to reset the very course of post-9/11 America, creating, after the (allegedly) brutal depredations of the Bush years, a profound rapprochement with the Islamic world. 
On June 4, 2009, in Cairo, Obama promised "a new beginning" offering Muslims "mutual respect," unsubtly implying previous disrespect. Curious, as over the previous 20 years, America had six times committed its military forces on behalf of oppressed Muslims, three times for reasons of pure humanitarianism (Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo).
 But no matter. Obama had come to remonstrate and restrain the hyperpower that, by his telling, had lost its way after 9/11, creating Guantanamo, practicing torture, imposing its will with arrogance and presumption.
 First, he would cleanse by confession. Then he would heal. Why, given the unique sensitivities of his background - "my sister is half-Indonesian," he proudly told an interviewer in 2007, amplifying on his exquisite appreciation of Islam - his very election would revolutionize relations.
 And his policies of accommodation and concession would consolidate the gains: an outstretched hand to Iran's mullahs, a first-time presidential admission of the U.S. role in a 1953 coup, a studied and stunning turning away from the Green Revolution, withdrawal from Iraq with no residual presence, a fixed timetable for leaving Afghanistan, returning our ambassador to Damascus (with kind words for Bashar al-Assad - "a reformer," suggested the secretary of state), deliberately creating distance between the U.S. and Israel.
 It's now three years since the Cairo speech. The Islamic world is convulsed with an explosion of anti-Americanism. From Tunisia to Lebanon, American schools, businesses and diplomatic facilities set ablaze. A U.S. ambassador and three others murdered in Benghazi. The black flag of Salafism, of which al-Qaeda is a prominent element, raised over our embassies in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Sudan.
 The administration, staggered and confused, blames it all on a 14-minute trailer.
 What else can it say? Admit that its doctrinal premises were supremely naive and its policies deeply corrosive to American influence?
 Religious provocations are endless. Resentment about the five-century decline of the Islamic world is a constant. What's new - the crucial variable - is the unmistakable sound of a superpower in retreat. Ever since Henry Kissinger flipped Egypt from the Soviet to the American camp in the early 1970s, the U.S. had dominated the region.
 No longer.
 It's as axiomatic in statecraft as in physics: Nature abhors a vacuum. Islamists rush in to fill the space and declare their ascendancy.
 America's friends are bereft, confused, paralyzed.
 Islamists rise across North Africa from Mali to Egypt. Iran repeatedly defies U.S. demands on nuclear enrichment, then, as a measure of its contempt for what America thinks, openly admits that its Revolutionary Guards are deployed in Syria. Russia, after arming Assad, warns America to stay out, while the secretary of state delivers vapid lectures about Assad "meeting" his international "obligations." The Gulf States beg America to act on Iran; Obama strains mightily to restrain Israel.




13


 Prairie Mountain Publishing
 
Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado)

September 21, 2012 Friday

 More to the protests

 
Demonstrations to protest a film made in America that portrays the prophet Muhammad as a womanizing child abuser had spread to at least 20 countries this week.  
But in the United States, both major-party presidential candidates retreated from the subject rather than risk saying anything that might cost them votes. It's good they did. The issue is too important to be distorted by sound bites in a political campaign. 


 The number of protests has grown daily in the week since John Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and 3 other embassy workers, were killed in an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. The attack was apparently sparked by an anti-Muslim video posted on YouTube.

 Experts debated whether jihadists used the video to whip up the anti-American frenzy in Libya that left Stevens dead. Ensuing protests in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Sudan, Tunisia, Lebanon, and other countries were more clearly about the video.

 The protests are a reminder to Americans that people in other countries have a hard time grasping that freedom of speech here allows individuals to make statements that do not reflect the government's position. To the protesters, a video from the United States must have been approved by the U.S. government.

 The video protests in Muslim nations suggest that much of the goodwill President Obama tried to show with his 2009 Cairo speech has been uprooted. "Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire," Obama said 3 years ago.

 That's the same speech that is derisively referred to by Obama's conservative foes now as having been made on his "apology tour." Their politically calculated rhetoric makes it even harder to convince Muslims that a video that vilifies their religion's most important deity doesn't represent this country's official view.

 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney made a political calculation, too, when he prematurely criticized Obama's Mideast policies as having led to the murder of Stevens. Romney's statement came at a time when the country craved unity, not division -- at least for a moment.

 As Republican challenger Ronald Reagan said when President Carter was trying to handle the Iran hostage crisis during their 1980 election campaign, "This is a difficult day for all Americans ... when words should be few and confined essentially to our prayers."

 A political campaign is unlikely to provide a solution to the anti-American sentiment in Muslim countries. There's no magic formula to make people who distrust this nation suddenly change their minds. Winning mutual respect takes work.

 --   




13



 



September 21, 2012 Friday  


 U.S. will conduct new inquiry intoconsulate assault

 
The State Department is opening a new inquiry into the attack on a diplomatic post in Libya that killed four Americans, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday.
Clinton announced the inquiry the same day she and senior defense, intelligence and law enforcement officials briefed Congress about what the Obama administration has learned about the attack in Benghazi during the past week. 
The classified presentations to both houses of Congress included a look at U.S. intelligence assessments ahead of the Sept.â€‚11 attack in Libya and the FBI's efforts to identify suspects. 
The administration presentation was a careful examination of what is known about the perpetrators of the attack, intelligence about possible threats related to the attack and the State Department's security inquiry, a person familiar with the briefing said. The session didn't offer a firm conclusion about what group or groups were responsible, the person said.
"They are really doing a very thorough forensic analysis. They are being very judicious and cautious," the person said.
The person requested anonymity to describe the broad outlines of the classified session.
The investigation has not filled in all the gaps in the confusing timeline of the hours-long attack, the person said. It still is not clear exactly when Stevens died, and other details are hazy. No cause of death was given for the four Americans.
Speaking earlier with reporters, Clinton said the briefing would cover "our security posture before and during the event and the steps we have taken since to do everything we can with host governments to protect our people and our embassies and consulates." 
A senior U.S. official said earlier in the day that Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper was expected to tell members of Congress that he does not consider the attack in Benghazi an indication of a long-planned operation, a senior U.S. official said. 
Clapper was also expected to tell Congress that there could be multiple extremist elements involved or linked to the attack but that reports claiming involvement by particular people probably are inaccurate, the official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the agenda for the closed-door sessions.
The White House has labeled the Benghazi incident a terrorist attack. Asked if the attack was carried out by al-Qaeda, President Obama said, "We don't know yet."
Speaking at a candidate forum on Spanish-language network Univision, Obama said groups affiliated with al-Qaeda "have not gone away" and remain dangerous.
More than a week after the lethal attack, conflicting accounts continue to emerge both in Washington and Benghazi about whether the assault was spontaneous or premeditated. The Obama administration insists that so far evidence indicates local extremists hijacked a peaceful demonstration, as has been suggested in Benghazi. 
A spokesman for Ansar al-Sharia, one of the militant groups blamed for the assault, acknowledged that members of the group were among many militia members who attended the protest over an anti-Muslim video, but said the attack was carried out by others who arrived at the consulate and began to disperse the crowd.
"It's like a culture here," said the spokesman, Hany Mansouri. "You carry your weapons. Everyone has Kalashnikovs, RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] and small guns, at least."
But a former member of Libya's Transitional National Council with close knowledge of the investigation there said that there are signs the assault was planned, the same position taken by the Libyan government. 
The former TNC member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, pointed to a successful mortar strike on a safe house outside the consulate as evidence of advance planning. He said the attackers needed experience using mortars and knowledge of the location of the building.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that, after briefings, she has concluded that the attack was planned. "I just don't think that people come to protests equipped with RPGs and other heavy weapons," she said.
The inquiry announced by Clinton will be carried out by an independent four-member panel chaired by retired diplomat Thomas Pickering. The panel, required by law, will look at whether security procedures were adequate at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and make recommendations to the secretary of state. Pickering was once the boss of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who was killed in the Benghazi attack last week, along with another diplomat and two security personnel.
Speaking at a news conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Clinton also said she would argue to Congress that the United States must remain engaged in Muslim-majority nations that have seen more than a week of anti-American protests.
anne.gearan@washpost.comabigail.hauslohner@washpost.com
Hauslohner reported from Benghazi.




13


 


September 20, 2012 Thursday  
The International Herald Tri bune

 Outsider Breathing New Ideas  Into Jakarta Election

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The c ampaign for governor of Indonesia's chaotic capital has, at times, resembled a r ock concert, punctuated by guitar riffs, fist pumps and checkered shirts. At its heart is Joko Widodo, a candidate whose message of change has propelled him int o the upstart contender for leader of one of Asia's most important metropolises.
In July, Mr. Joko, the mayor of Surakarta in Central Java, surprised pollste rs by emerging from the first round of elections with 43 percent of the vote, ah ead of the man who had been expected to win, Gov. Fauzi Bowo, who took 34 percen t. With none of the six candidates winning a majority, Mr. Joko and Mr. Fauzi wi ll compete in a runoff on Thursday.
This is only the second time Jakarta residents have voted for their city's leader directly, and Mr. Joko, wi th his signature checkered shirts and populist manner, has injected new enthusia sm into the process. In a country where politicians often come from a tight-knit elite or have ties to the late president and military strongman Suharto, Mr. Jo ko, best known by his nickname Jokowi, appears to represent a new breed of polit ician, analysts say. 
A furniture exporter who entered politics for the firs t time when he ran for mayor in 2005, he is widely perceived as clean and capabl e in a country beset by corruption -- Transparency International ranked Indonesi a 100th out of 182 countries in 2011. As mayor of Surakarta, Mr. Joko helped rel ocate street vendors to ease traffic congestion and introduced a modern tram sys tem. He streamlined business application procedures, widened access to health se rvices and cleaned up slums, the last an issue with special appeal to Jakarta vo ters. In 2010, he was re-elected with 90.9 percent of the vote. He is on the sho rt list for World Mayor 2012, an award given out every two years by the City May ors Foundation, an international research organization.
The question now is whether he can replicate his success in Surakarta, a city of 520,000, in the co untry's sprawling capital, with its population of more than 10 million. His supp orters hope so.
''He tackled the challenges in Solo and made it the best ci ty in Indonesia,'' said Kiki Arpio, an insurance agent at a campaign event for M r. Joko, using another name for Surakarta. ''What's important is that he has a g ood vision for the city.''
Analysts say Mr. Joko's first-round victory sign aled that voters were eager for new leadership. It could also be a sign that tra ditional party affiliations and endorsements are waning in significance and coul d serve as a precursor to national elections scheduled for 2014.
''This ele ction is a test to see if the political party apparatus is still an asset,'' sai d Wimar Witoelar, a veteran political observer who was a spokesman for Abdurrah man Wahid, a former president.
Mr. Fauzi, 63, has deep roots in the Jakarta establishment, having served more than three decades as a civil servant and pol itician, and enjoys the backing of many Muslim leaders, academics and city offic ials. Most of Indonesia's major parties are supporting him, including the Golkar Party, part of the governing coalition of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono an d led by Aburizal Bakrie, a presidential contender for 2014.
Mr. Joko, 51, has the support of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle, headed b y former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who lost to Mr. Yudhoyono in 2004 and plans to run again in 2014.
Mr. Joko is also backed by the four-year-old Gr eat Indonesia Movement Party, whose head, Prabowo Subianto, a former special for ces commander with his own presidential ambitions, is helping finance his campai gn. This has led some analysts to ask whether Mr. Prabowo intends to use an asso ciation with Mr. Joko to rehabilitate his own standing, which was tarnished by a llegations of human rights abuses in the late 1990s under Mr. Suharto, his forme r father-in-law.
For now, at least, Mr. Joko's candidacy has shaken up poli tics as usual, they say.
''He's a cute figure, a funky figure, him and his checkered shirts and naïveté,'' said Mr. Wimar. ''It's nice to have somebody bus ting the party oligarchy.''
Douglas Ramage, an analyst with the Bower Group Asia and an expert on Indonesian politics, said: ''Voters are looking for integ rity and clean governance. Party identification has collapsed in Indonesia.''<PA > Mr. Joko has played up his outsider status. His supporters call themselves an ts up against an elephant. ''Now my alliance is with the people -- a coalition w ith the people only,'' he said at recent gathering for campaign volunteers.
Whoever wins the governorship will control a $4.3 billion budget and oversee th e financial and political heart of one of the world's fastest-growing economies. That makes it a bit of a ''honey pot,'' said Mr. Ramage, noting that Jakarta's wealth has helped fuel official corruption, often cited as a deterrent to foreig n investment.
A new administration in Jakarta could expose much of the cron yism that operates under the surface, Mr. Ramage said, but he cautioned that it would be difficult for Mr. Joko to overhaul an entrenched bureaucracy and clamp down on corruption, something that President Yudhoyono, who campaigned on such a platform, has found daunting.
Mr. Fauzi has defended his record against cr iticism that he has done little to improve the city's paralyzing traffic, decrep it infrastructure and poor access to clean water.
''Jakarta is one of the m egacities of the world, and managing this is not as simple as ABC,'' he said in an interview. ''You need experience, you need to prove you're capable, you need the heart for the city.''
That point was underlined by a popular Jakarta co median known as Mandra, who is quoted as saying on Mr. Fauzi's campaign Web site : ''The mustache guy must continue with development,'' a reference to the govern or's trademark facial hair.
After Mr. Fauzi's second-place showing in the f irst vote, he began speaking more assertively about his accomplishments: a 12-ye ar compulsory education program, lower unemployment, higher per capita income.<P A> ''I'm trying to reach out to more people, consolidating my networks that are already established, and restructuring my campaign strategy to be more down to earth,'' he said. But even he admitted that Mr. Joko, whom he called a ''media d arling,'' has presented a formidable challenge.
Mr. Joko, meanwhile, is ste adfast in his fight. Asked during a recent press gathering what it would mean if the ''elephant'' defeated him on Thursday, he chuckled and said: ''Nah, the ant s will win.''




13



 


September 20, 2012 Thursday

 Obama has a mixed record on outreach to Muslims

 
BC-US--Obama-Muslims,127
Obama has a mixed record on outreach to Muslims
AP Photo ISL204, CAI304, MDCK103, ISL105 
Eds: APNewsNow. Will be updated. With BC-Prophet Film, BC-Subway Ads-Jihad, BC-Presidential Campaign. With AP Photos.
By ROBERT BURNS and BEN FELLER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON » Images of angry mobs in Arab cities burning American flags and attacking U.S. diplomatic posts suggest the Muslim world is no less enraged at the United States than when President George W. Bush had to duck shoes hurled at him in Baghdad.
But more than three years after President Barack Obama declared he would seek "a new beginning" in U.S.-Muslim relations, a closer look reveals strides as well as setbacks.
The Arab Spring revolution has given people new power and hope as well as democratic elections.
But peace between Israel and the Palestinians is nowhere in sight, and Iran still is considered a menace.
Such is the progress report that Obama carries to the United Nations General Assembly next week -- and into the Nov. 6 election. Alt Heads:
Obama has a mixed record on outreach to Muslims




13



 



September 19, 2012 Wednesday  


 Suicide car bomber rams minivan, kills 12 on road to Kabul airport

 
KABUL - Twelve people were killed near Kabul's airport Tuesday when a suicide car bomber rammed into a minivan carrying foreign air-charter workers, Afghan officials said. A Pakistan-based militant group said it carried out the attack to   avenge a YouTube video   that defames the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Many of the victims were contract personnel with Air Charter Service, a British-based company that provides services to the U.S. Agency for International Development and other organizations in Afghanistan, U.S. Embassy officials said. It was not known whether those behind the attack knew of connections to the embassy. 
The attack came as al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa called on Muslims to attack U.S. diplomats and step up protests against the video. Demonstrations have abated in Egypt, Tunisia and a number of other Islamic nations, but Muslims protesting the video battled police Tuesday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, and anti-American demonstrators held small rallies in Indonesia, the Associated Press reported.
The Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed the death toll in Kabul, which included the van's Afghan driver and two Afghan bystanders, according to news service reports. President Hamid Karzai said in a statement that eight of the dead were South African and one was from Kyrgyzstan. 
Gen. Mohammad Zahir, head of the Kabul police force's criminal investigations department, said the blast also injured 10 people on the busy road to heavily fortified Kabul International Airport.
The bomber was a young Kabul woman, according to Haroon Zarghhon, a spokesman for Hezb-i-Islami (Party of Islam), which asserted responsibility for the attack. Hezb-i-Islami is a maverick Islamist group that has factions allied with the Taliban but also has members serving in the Afghan government.
Air Charter Service has a contract with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to ferry USAID officials around Afghanistan. Police initially reported that the van belonged to the DHL delivery company, but a DHL spokeswoman in the United States said all of the firm's employees were alive and accounted for.
A day before the blast, violent protests erupted in Kabul over the incendiary, Islam-insulting "Innocence of Muslims" video that has provoked Muslim outrage worldwide. The suicide attack, the second in Kabul this month, coincides with an escalation of "insider" shootings in which Afghan security forces have gunned down four American service members and two British troops.
"I am so happy that the suicide bomber killed foreigners because they insulted our holy prophet," said eyewitness Ameer Mohammad, 58, who was running to the blast site.
The road is also heavily used by schoolchildren, but it appeared that none were killed, because they were on a sidewalk on the other side of the road from the blast. A 12-year-old student named Rameen, who was on his way to school, said: "I heard a horrible explosion. I fell down to the ground. When I stood up, I saw dead bodies."
A faction of Hezb-i-Islami headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was a Washington-supported group battling the Soviets during their occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Today it shares many elements of the Taliban ideology. In some parts of the country, it cooperates with the Taliban insurgents in the campaign against foreign and Afghan forces despite some differences.
But the group has rarely claimed responsibility for past suicide attacks. Only two attacks by women bombers have occurred in recent memory. The Taliban said they were sympathizers with the cause of driving out foreign forces that support the Afghan government.
In a statement Tuesday, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the terrorist network's branch in North Africa, threatened attacks against Americans in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania, the AP reported. The group praised the killing of J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, in a Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. It urged Muslims to kill or expel other American diplomats to "purge our land of their filth in revenge for the honor of the prophet."
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen and ranks as the strongest al-Qaeda branch in the Middle East, has also called for more attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities.
leibyr@washpost.com
Javed Hamdard and Sayed Salahuddin contributed to this report.




13



 


September 18, 2012 Tuesday

 Muslim protests spread

 
  Violent protests over an anti-Islam film that critically depicts the prophet Mohammed showed no sign of ebbing as riots spread to Indonesia, the Philippines and Afghanistan yesterday.   
   Diplomats at the US Embassy in Beirut started destroying classified material as a precaution while terrorist group Hezbollah drew half a million people in Lebanon to denounce the film. 
  Hundreds of Indonesians clashed with police outside the US Embassy in Jakarta, hurling rocks and firebombs and setting tires alight. It was the first violence seen in the world's most populous Muslim country since international outrage over the film exploded last week.  
  In Afghanistan, at least 15 police officers were wounded when rioters fought them outside a US military base in Kabul.  
  Meanwhile, new details emerged about the final moments in the life of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. 
  Witnesses at the US Consulate in Benghazi after its savage attack said Libyans cheered "Alive, alive!" and, "God is great," when they found him still breathing. 
  He was rushed to a Benghazi hospital but succumbed to severe asphyxia from the smoke.  
  n Editorial / Page 22 




13



 


September 18, 2012 Tuesday

 ANTI-US PROTESTS FLARE AGAIN

 

ABSTRACT
Violent protests against US break out in Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan amid anger over video insulting Islam;  Gen John Allen praises response of Afghan police in Kabul; photo (M)




13



 


September 17, 2012 Monday

 How Arab Spring turned into protests and 'Death to America!'; 
An outbreak of violence in Afghanistan this weekend was testament to a clear trend: In Muslim countries now enjoying more political freedom, anti-American anger is coming to the surface.

 
The shouts of "Death to America!" at Kabul University this weekend were not a good sign for US policy in the Middle East and across the wider Muslim world.
The wave of anti-American violence roiling the Middle East struck Afghanistan, with protesters pelting a NATO compound in Kabul with stones and at least six more NATO troops, including four Americans, killed Saturday by Afghan soldiers.
It is further evidence that pent-up frustrations are suddenly finding an outlet through the rise of political freedom across the region - and are likely to target the US for some time to come. With the US helping to establish democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and last year's Arab Spring transforming Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, several iron-fisted regimes have been replaced by weaker and still-developing governments that are sympathetic to a popular distrust of America.
"One of the lessons here is that helping to bring down authoritarian and very repressive regimes" - like the Taliban in Afghanistan or Muammar Qaddafi in Libya - "doesn't mean we'll necessarily have better relations with those countries," says James Phillips, a Middle East expert at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. "The evidence suggests the new leaders are intent on leading their countries away from the US and away from Western values."
The protests - sparked by an online video made in America that denigrates the Prophet Mohammed and Islam - also spread to Pakistan, the Philippines, Australia, and Indonesia.
The largely peaceful protests that began in Afghanistan after Friday prayers intensified Sunday and Monday, when crowds in Kabul targeted a NATO camp and students at Kabul and Herat universities demanded punishment of the makers of the video.
There were also signs that Islamist extremists were tapping into the popular ire against the US to boost their own standing - and that some populations were responding.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah called for peaceful protests against the US, and in south Beirut thousands responded - some shouting, "America, hear us, don't insult out prophet," according to Reuters. On Saturday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - the Yemen affiliate that US officials consider to be the most powerful branch of Al Qaeda - called for more attacks on US diplomatic missions like the one last week in Benghazi, Libya.
That attack, which US officials say began as a protest and was "hijacked" by extremists using shoulder-fired rockets, resulted in the deaths of four US diplomatic personnel including the ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.
"These protests are being sparked not by the movie itself, but by Islamist groups that have an interest in fanning the flames and feeding the backlash," says Mr. Phillips.
Those who are inciting the violence are not appealing to a sudden blooming of grievances, but are in fact drawing from a deep well of anti-American sentiment.
Public opinion surveys indicate that the US remains highly unpopular across much of the Muslim world - for reasons ranging from past US support for authoritarian rulers to America's strong support for Israel and the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As a result, it seems reasonable to expect that this resentment would be manifested in countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Afghanistan - where the avenues for political expression have recently expanded.
According to Phillips, it doesn't help when a country's leaders fail to act swiftly against anti-US violence, but instead appear to hesitate to gauge public opinion and how to respond.
That was not the case with Libya, where the country's leaders quickly condemned the consulate attack - and where some Benghazi citizens paid public homage to the slain American ambassador they considered Libya's friend.
But Phillips says the US must consider the response of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who was silent on the protests targeting American interests in Egypt until President Obama called to give him a stern talk on Mr. Morsi's international duties - like protecting diplomatic missions - as the country's elected leader.
"Obama had intervened with the Egyptian military on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate so they would recognize his [Morsi's] election," Phillips says. "And yet shortly after that, Morsi turns his back on the US and has no comment and doesn't act on the protests. It shows," he adds, "that Morsi does not see it in his interest or the Muslim Brotherhood's interest to act. And it doesn't indicate that things will get better for the US in Egypt any time soon."




13



 


September 17, 2012 Monday

 Muslim protests as a gauge of free speech; 
Most of the world's Muslims aren't violently protesting the anti-Islam video. And many Islamic leaders seek peaceful protest but not censorship. This may be a sign that free speech has gained as a universal right.

 
Odd, isn't it? An Internet service such as YouTube can quickly span the globe, carrying a video that belittles Islam, while in many countries, freedom of expression still has difficulty being accepted as a universal right.
This contradiction - more "speech" but not enough freedom for it - has been on full display during the wave of violent Muslim protests against that offensive video, a 14-minute movie trailer made in California.
While the killing of American diplomats and other ongoing violence dominates news of the protests, what is less noted is that most Muslims aren't protesting. And many Islamic religious leaders are calling for people to protest peacefully, if at all.
Their largely unreported actions serve as a measure of how much free speech may finally be making inroads in parts of the world where such freedoms have been more alien than inalienable.
The protests are the most widespread since the Arab Spring began last year. Many are in countries just newly democratic. They are also in Muslim countries outside the Middle East that saw an end to autocratic rule in recent decades, such as Pakistan, Indonesia, and Afghanistan.
The concept of universal rights is not new, but those rights have been absorbed by much of humanity over the past half century. Many countries that joined the United Nations and gave lip service to rights have slowly been forced to honor them. And for good reason. Individual liberties, such as the right of free speech, religion, or association, reflect a view of individuals as inherently capable of self-government. The natural state of humanity tends toward more freedom, not less.
Last year, the watchdog group Freedom House found the percentage of people living in either a free or partly free country is 65 percent. In the past three decades, the number of countries in those categories has risen to 76 from 61.
Also last year, the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an alliance of 56 Muslim nations, was persuaded by the United States to give up its long campaign to have the UN outlaw blasphemous speech and instead accept a resolution that calls open debate of ideas as "among the best protections against religious intolerance."
Free speech, or protection against government censorship, isn't an easy right to uphold. In the US, the Supreme Court has limited it in some circumstances, such as cases where children might be harmed (pornography) or when purposely provocative speech can cause imminent harm (crying fire in a crowded theater). Europe has more restrictions, such as Germany's ban against speech that denies the Holocaust. Western countries also have trouble trying to define "hate speech," which is often a crime.
Even these limits on freedom of expression, however, are becoming more difficult to maintain when social media companies, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google's YouTube, spread words and images so widely and so quickly. Their power to influence global events instantly even had President Obama asking Google last Thursday if its own rules would call for taking down the offending video.
Google declined the request but did remove the video in a few countries, for legal reasons in those countries or in hopes of preventing further violence. Facebook has the toughest rules among social media sites, banning hate speech or information that might aid terrorists.
The best antidote to offensive speech isn't government censorship but better speech. To counter the anti-Islam video, for example, Muslims would do better to either simply ignore it or put forth views of Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance.
"There is little evidence to support the argument that prohibiting defamation of religions is an effective means of combating racial and religious hatred," states Freedom House. "In fact, the application of blasphemy laws [against nonbelievers] appears to instigate and exacerbate communal conflict rather than prevent it."
Using government to prevent insults to a religion runs the danger of government itself restricting free speech entirely. That's hardly what most of humanity in the 21st century has come to want.
Melting ore to recover gold requires letting the dross float to the top where it can be seen for what it is. So, too, separating good ideas from bad ones requires the certainty that people can have a choice and will tend toward the good.




14


 The Austin American-Statesman
 
Austin American-Statesman (Texas)

September 16, 2012 Sunday  
FINAL Edition

 POLITIFACT TEXAS.COM

 
These items are explained at greater length, with detailed source lists, on our website, www.politifacttexas.com.
JULIÁN CASTRO
Statement: Says Mitt Romney told university students in Ohio that to start a business, they should 'borrow money if you have to from your parents.' 
True
To deliver a rhetorical blow to the Republican presidential nominee, the San Antonio mayor's Democratic convention speech included some of Romney's own words. And we found that he quoted them correctly, although partisans are free to interpret them however they like. Romney's comment came during an April 27 speech at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. Romney argued that President Barack Obama's policies had amounted to an attack on success and on those who aspire to be successful. "This kind of divisiveness, this attack on success," Romney said, "is very different than what we've seen in our country's history. We've always encouraged young people, take - take a shot, go for it. Take a risk. Get the education. Borrow money, if you have to, from your parents. Start a business."
JOHN CORNYN
Statement: Says that when Democrats controlled Congress and the White House, federal spending as a share of the gross domestic product leapt from 18.2 percent in 2001 to 25.2 percent in 2009 - the largest such increase in any eight-year period since World War II.
Mostly False
The GDP statistics cited by the U.S. senator from Texas were on the money. But Cornyn erred when he said that Democrats controlled Congress and White House from 2001 to 2009. A Republican was president for all but one of the cited years and Republicans held the House majority for six of the nine years and a Senate majority for about four years and seven months.
HANK WILLIAMS JR.
Statement: Says Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Pants on Fire
The country singer told an audience in Fort Worth, "We've got a Muslim for a president who hates cowboys, hates cowgirls, hates fishing, hates farming, loves gays, and we hate him!" Obama's Kenyan heritage and his early childhood spent in Indonesia have bolstered those who want to label him as Muslim. But they're flat incorrect. He's been open and vocal in professing his Christian beliefs.
Lone Star Project
Statement: Says that like Todd Akin, all Texas Republicans in U.S. House co-sponsored a bill 'that attempts to distinguish between "forcible rape" and other sexual assaults.'
Half True
This Democratic-supporting PAC was correct about Texas Republicans' support for the bill in question. But it failed to mention that two Texas Democrats also co-sponsored a version of the bill. And though the PAC said the "bill ... attempts to distinguish between 'forcible rape' and other sexual assaults," redefining rape was not the proposal's purpose.
Find coverage of Texas issues at politifacttexas.com.
Contact Politifact Texas at
Twitter: @politifacttexas
Facebook: Politifact Texas
Email: politifact@statesman.com




14



 



September 16, 2012 Sunday  


 The offensive

 
 Modernity requires the willingness to be offended. And asanti-American violence across the Middle East and beyond shows, that willingness is something the Arab world, the heartland of Islam, still lacks.
Time and again in recent years, as the outside world has battered the walls of Muslim lands and as Muslims have left their places of birth in search of greater opportunities in the Western world, modernity - with its sometimes distasteful but ultimately benign criticism of Islam - has sparked fatal protests. To understand why violence keeps erupting and to seek to prevent it, we must discern what fuels this sense of grievance.
There is an Arab pain and a volatility in the face of judgment by outsiders that stem from a deep and enduring sense of humiliation. A vast chasm separates the poor standing of Arabs in the world today from their history of greatness. In this context, their injured pride is easy to understand. 
In the narrative of history transmitted to schoolchildren throughout the Arab world and reinforced by the media, religious scholars and laymen alike, Arabs were favored by divine providence. They had come out of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, carrying Islam from Morocco to faraway Indonesia. In the process, they overran the Byzantine and Persian empires, then crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Iberia, and there they fashioned a brilliant civilization that stood as a rebuke to the intolerance of the European states to the north. Cordoba and Granada were adorned and exalted in the Arab imagination. Andalusia brought together all that the Arabs favored - poetry, glamorous courts, philosophers who debated the great issues of the day.
If Islam's rise was spectacular, its fall was swift and unsparing. This is the world that the great historian Bernard Lewis explored in his 2002 book "What Went Wrong?" The blessing of God, seen at work in the ascent of the Muslims, now appeared to desert them. The ruling caliphate, with its base in Baghdad, was torn asunder by a Mongol invasion in the 13th century. Soldiers of fortune from the Turkic Steppes sacked cities and left a legacy of military seizures of power that is still the bane of the Arabs. Little remained of their philosophy and literature, and after the Ottoman Turks overran Arab countries to their south in the 16th century, the Arabs seemed to exit history; they were now subjects of others.
The coming of the West to their world brought superior military, administrative and intellectual achievement into their midst - and the outsiders were unsparing in their judgments. They belittled the military prowess of the Arabs, and they were scandalized by the traditional treatment of women and the separation of the sexes that crippled Arab society.
Even as Arabs insist that their defects were inflicted on them by outsiders, they know their weaknesses. Younger Arabs today can be brittle and proud about their culture, yet deeply ashamed of what they see around them. They know that more than 300 million Arabs have fallen to economic stagnation and cultural decline. They know that the standing of Arab states along the measures that matter - political freedom, status of women, economic growth - is low. In the privacy of their own language, in daily chatter on the street, on blogs and in the media, and in works of art and fiction, they probe endlessly what befell them.
But woe to the outsider who ventures onto that explosive terrain. The assumption is that Westerners bear Arabs malice, that Western judgments are always slanted and cruel.
In the past half-century, Arabs, as well as Muslims in non-Arab lands, have felt the threat of an encircling civilization they can neither master nor reject. Migrants have left the burning grounds of Karachi, Cairo and Casablanca but have taken the fire of their faith with them. "Dish cities" have sprouted in the Muslim diasporas of Western Europe and North America. You can live in Stockholm and be sustained by a diet of al-Jazeera television.
We know the celebrated cases when modernity has agitated the pious. A little more than two decades ago, it was a writer of Muslim and Indian birth, Salman Rushdie, whose irreverent work of fiction, "The Satanic Verses," offended believers with its portrayal of Islam. That crisis began with book-burnings in Britain, later saw protests in Pakistan and culminated in Iran's ruling cleric, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issuing a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death in 1989. The protesters were not necessarily critics of fiction; all it took to offend was that Islam, the prophet Muhammad and his wives had become a writer's material. The confrontation laid bare the unease of Islam in the modern world.
The floodgates had opened. The clashes that followed defined the new terms of encounters between a politicized version of Islam - awakened to both power and vulnerability - and the West's culture of protecting and nurturing free speech. In 2004, a Moroccan Dutchman in his mid-20s, Mohammed Bouyeri, murdered filmmaker Theo van Gogh on a busy Amsterdam street after van Gogh and a Somali-born politician made a short film about the abuse of women in Islamic culture.
Shortly afterward, trouble came to Denmark when a newspaper there published a dozen cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad; in one he wears a bomb-shaped turban, and another shows him as an assassin. The newspaper's culture editor had thought the exercise would merely draw attention to the restrictions on cultural freedom in Europe - but perhaps that was naive. After all, Muslim activists are on the lookout for such material. And Arab governments are eager to defend Islam. The Egyptian ambassador to Denmark encouraged a radical preacher of Palestinian birth living in Denmark and a young Lebanese agitator to fan the flames of the controversy.
But it was Syria that made the most of this opportunity. The regime asked the highest clerics to preach against the Danish government. The Danish embassies in Damascus and Beirut were sacked; there was a call to boycott Danish products. Denmark had been on the outer margins of Europe's Muslim diaspora. Now its peace and relative seclusion were punctured.
The storm that erupted this past week at the gates of American diplomatic outposts across the Muslim world is a piece of this history. As usual, it was easily ignited. The offending work, a 14-minute film trailerposted on YouTube in July, is offensive indeed. Billed as a trailer for "The Innocence of Muslims," a longer movie to come, it is at once vulgar and laughable. Its primitiveness should have consigned it to oblivion.
It was hard to track down the identities of those who made it. A Sam Bacile claimed authorship, said that he was an Israeli American and added that 100 Jewish businessmen had backed the venture. This alone made it rankle even more - offending Muslims and implicating  Jews at the same time. (In the meantime, no records could be found of Bacile, and the precise origins of the video remain murky.)
It is never hard to assemble a crowd of young protesters in the teeming cities of the Muslim world. American embassies and consulates are magnets for the disgruntled. It is inside those fortresses, the gullible believe, that rulers are made and unmade. Yet these same diplomatic outposts dispense coveted visas and a way out to the possibilities of the Western world. The young men who turned up at the U.S. Embassies this week came out of this deadly mix of attraction to American power and resentment of it. The attack in Benghazi, Libya, that took the lives of four American diplomats, including AmbassadorJ. Christopher Stevens, appeared to be premeditated and unconnected to the film protests.
The ambivalence toward modernity that torments Muslims is unlikely to abate. The temptations of the West have alienated a younger generation from its elders. Men and women insist that they revere the faith as they seek to break out of its restrictions. Freedom of speech, granting license and protection to the irreverent, is cherished, protected and canonical in the Western tradition. Now Muslims who quarrel with offensive art are using their newfound freedoms to lash out against it.
These cultural contradictions do not lend themselves to the touch of outsiders. President George W. Bush believed that America's proximity to Arab dictatorships had begotten us the jihadists' enmity. His military campaign in Iraq became an attempt to reform that country and beyond. But Arabs rejected his interventionism and dismissed his "freedom agenda" as a cover for an unpopular war and for domination.
President Obama has taken a different approach. He was sure that his biography - the years he spent in Indonesia and his sympathy for the aspirations of Muslim lands - would help repair relations between America and the Islamic world. But he's been caught in the middle, conciliating the rulers while making grand promises to ordinary people. The revolt of the Iranian opposition in the summer of 2009 exposed the flaws of his approach. Then the Arab Spring played havoc with American policy. Since then, the Obama administration has not been able to decide whether it defends the status quo or the young people hell-bent on toppling the old order.
Cultural freedom is never absolute, of course, and the Western tradition itself, from the Athenians to the present, struggles mightily with the line between freedom and order. In the Muslim world, that struggle is more fierce and lasting, and it will show itself in far more than burnt flags and overrun embassies.
outlook@washpost.com
Fouad Ajami, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, is the author of "The Syrian Rebellion" and "Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey."
Read more from Outlook:
Mitt Romney isn't out to make the world swoon
Five myths about the Arab Spring
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14


 Southeastern Newspapers Corporation
 
The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)

September 15, 2012 Saturday  


 FURY SPREADS IN MUSLIM WORLD; 
MORE EMBASSIES BURN AS PROTESTS OF FILM WIDEN

 
A wave of anti-American violence swept across Africa, Asia and the Middle East on Friday as protesters, angered by an amateurish video that mocks the founder of Islam, stormed and scorched U.S. embassies in Tunisia and Sudan, ransacked a German embassy in Sudan and set a fast-food restaurant ablaze in Lebanon.
Protesters tore down the flag at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, the Tunisian capital, and set a nearby American school afire. In Khartoum, Sudan's capital, demonstrators breached an embassy wall and raised a black flag of militant Islam as police struggled to push them back. 
At least four protesters were reported killed - two in Tunisia, one in Yemen and one in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Armed Islamic militants attacked a multinational peacekeeping base in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, setting vehicles on fire and wounding at least three Colombian peacekeepers.
The State Department said U.S. Embassy personnel were reported to be safe in Tunisia, Sudan and Yemen.
In all, there were protests in at least 23 nations, stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. Some were peaceful.
President Obama said Wash-ington would "stand fast" against attacks on U.S. embassies.
Triggered in large part by an amateurish video portraying the Prophet Muham-mad as a womanizer and child molester, the protests have strained U.S. relations with Egypt and raised tension in Libya, where an armed attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
The U.S. has responded with diplomatic pressure and by sending Marine guards to shore up security at U.S. missions in Libya and Yemen, where the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa was stormed by demonstrators Thursday.
An elite Marine rapid response team arrived in Ye-men's capital Friday, where local security forces shot live rounds in the air and fired tear gas at an estimated 2,000 who were kept about a block from the U.S. Embassy.
On Friday night, a U.S. official said an elite Marine rapid response team was headed to Sudan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deployment was not made public.
State Department officials said Friday that security services in some countries responded sluggishly and had to be pushed to step up protection of U.S. diplomats and property. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland softened the criticism, saying that in several cases post-authoritarian security forces weren't used to taking the initiative.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that after U.S. prodding, the response in Tunisia was "very strong."
From Indonesia and Ma-lay-sia to Afghanistan and Paki-stan, other demonstrators mounted less violent protests after Friday prayers. In East Jerusalem, about 400 protesters trying to reach the U.S. Consulate threw stones and bottles at Israeli police, who held off the assault and arrested four people.
Cairo police stood by Tues-day as mobs stormed the U.S. Embassy, and Egyptian President Mo-ha-med Morsi went two days without publicly condemning the attack. After a sharply worded phone call from Obama on Thursday, Morsi said in a televised address Friday that it was a religious requirement "to protect our guests and their
homes and places of work."
He also condemned the killing of Stevens, saying it was unacceptable within Islam. A key member of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Morsi was a member before he became president, apologized for the violence in a letter in .
On Friday, police in Cairo prevented stone-throwing protesters from getting near the U.S. Embassy, firing tear gas and deploying armored vehicles.
The worst violence Friday came in Tunisia, where last year's Arab Spring began with the toppling of its president, and in Sudan, where Arab Spring protests against the government of President Omar Bashir fizzled rapidly.
Nuland said security forces in Tunis were prepared for a protest, but not the intensity of violence. A secure inner perimeter protected by American security was not breached, she said.
In Sudan, an estimated 5,000 descended on the German Embassy in Khartoum, breaking in and setting part of the building on fire, then heading to the Bri-tish Embassy after police used tear gas.
The protests continued at the fortress-like U.S. Embassy. Sudanese police who had been pre-positioned confronted the demonstrators with tear gas.
Still, Nuland said, at least three protesters reached the top of an embassy complex wall before Sudanese security moved them back to the streets. One embassy spokesman, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said some embassy property was damaged but that reports of a "major breach" were inaccurate.
In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta without violence.
Meanwhile, Obama administration officials worked hard to dispel a series of rumors that flew around the Internet, from allegations that Marines at embassies around the world had been ordered not to carry live ammunition, to allegations that the embassy in Cairo had been warned about the likelihood of violence but had not taken precautions.
A U.S. intelligence official acknowledged that a cable had been sent to the embassy in Cairo advising diplomats that the video, which had been on the Internet since July, had been receiving increasing attention. But the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the cable was not a warning of upcoming violence.
"It was a very routine type of cable drawing attention to the video," the official said. "We look at these things and we can see when something is getting attention. You begin to see it start to get attention, there is chatter, people looking at it. We basically said that it's getting more attention and we want you to be aware."
Nuland, briefing reporters in Washington, said that since Tuesday, 65 American embassies have issued 88 security warnings to Americans living in their areas reminding them of the tense climate.




14


 


September 15, 2012 Saturday  


 MIDDLE EAST UNREST SPREADS; 
VIOLENCE SWEEPS 23 NATIONS AS GOVERNMENTS WORK TO CONTAIN ANIT-U.S.PROTESTS\; 
"REASONABLE PEOPLE AND RESPONSIBLE LEADERS IN THESE COUNTRIES NEED TO DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO RESTORE SECURITY." -- SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON

 
CAIRO -- An unprecedented wave of anti-American violence swept across Africa, Asia and the Middle East on Friday as protesters, angered by an amateurish video that mocks the founder of Islam, stormed and scorched U.S. embassies in Tunisia and Sudan, ransacked a German embassy in Sudan and set a fast-food restaurant ablaze in Lebanon.
In all, there were protests in at least 23 nations, stretching from Morocco to Indonesia and from London to Mogadishu, Somalia. At least seven people died from the violence. 
The explosion of demonstrations left the Obama administration scrambling to halt the attacks and to defend its actions in the midst of a hard-fought election campaign where questions of foreign policy had largely taken a backseat. But there seemed to be no way to calm anger over a video clip whose production and dissemination the United States had nothing to do with, and whose origins are still largely uncertain.
U.S. officials took pains to separate American policies from the explosion of violence, the worst manifestation of which was the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in an attack in Benghazi, Libya, that coincided with Tuesday's 11th anniversary of 9/11.
"The unrest we've seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims -- many Muslims -- find offensive," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington. "And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that we know of, or to U.S. policy."
"The U.S. government has nothing to do with this video," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland emphasized during a briefing for reporters.
The worst violence Friday came in Tunisia, where last year's Arab Spring began with the toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and in Sudan, where, in contrast, Arab Spring protests against President Omar Bashir's government fizzled rapidly.
In Tunis, Tunisia's capital, protesters made it inside the U.S. Embassy compound, despite local police use of tear gas and live ammunition to hold them at bay. They set parts of the compound on fire, raised an Islamist flag, smashed windows and looted computers, phones and other equipment from embassy structures. They then set fire to the American School next door, sending huge plumes of dark smoke over the city, before local police succeeded in pushing them from the compound's outer perimeter and back into the street.
According to the Tunisian News Agency, two demonstrators were killed and 29 people were injured, including an unknown number of police officers.
Ms. Nuland said security forces in Tunis were prepared for a protest, but not the intensity of violence. She said that when demonstrators made it through an exterior perimeter, Tunisia's presidential guard was sent in and controlled the situation. A secure inner perimeter protected by American security was not breached, she said, and no Americans were injured.
In Sudan, an estimated 5,000 protesters descended on the German Embassy in central Khartoum after Friday prayers, breaking in and setting part of the building on fire. Police used tear gas to break up the demonstration, but the protesters moved on to the nearby British Embassy, where they threw rocks but were unable to enter the building.
The protests continued at the fortresslike U.S. Embassy. But there, pre-positioned Sudanese police confronted demonstrators with tear gas.
Still, Ms. Nuland said, at least three protesters reached the top of an embassy complex wall before Sudanese security moved them back to the streets below.
In Egypt's restive Sinai, a protest in front of a U.N. peacekeeping base started peacefully but quickly turned violent, as protesters breached the fence surrounding the camp, began shooting, set a truck afire and raised a jihadi flag on a tower. Two camp soldiers fired back and injured two protesters. Egyptian forces arrived, sending protesters scurrying. Two Colombian soldiers were injured by thrown rocks.
The complexity of the situation was evident in Egypt, where on Tuesday demonstrators scaled the 12-foot wall that surrounds the U.S. Embassy compound in Cairo and tore down the American flag in anger over the video, a crude 14-minute clip posted online that depicts Muhammad as a womanizer.
Security near the embassy was noticeably tighter Friday, after President Barack Obama had what Mr. Carney, the White House spokesman, called "an important conversation" with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi "about the need to protect our embassy and our personnel in Cairo and the need to denounce the violence."
Egypt was not alone in stepping up security outside U.S. diplomatic facilities. In Yemen's capital, Sanaa, police armed with water cannons made heavy use of tear gas and warning shots to keep protesters from reaching the U.S. Embassy, where angry demonstrators had stormed the heavily guarded compound Thursday.
In Tripoli, Lebanon, protesters set fire to a building containing Hardees and KFC restaurants. One person died in the blaze.
There were also peaceful demonstrations. In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, thousands protested in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta without violence.
Ms. Nuland, briefing reporters in Washington, said that since Tuesday, 65 U.S. embassies have issued 88 security warnings to local Americans, reminding them of the tense climate.




14


 


September 15, 2012 Saturday  


 More violence sweeps across Islamic world

 
 Also todayCrocker's take: Ex-diplomat Ryan Crocker offers his analysis of the unrest/Page A5
 By Nancy A. Youssef
 McClatchy-Tribune
 Protesters destroy an American flag pulled down during clashes with police near the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday.
 CAIRO - An unprecedented wave of anti-American violence swept across Africa, Asia and the Middle East on Friday as protesters, angered by an amateurish video that mocks the founder of Islam, stormed and scorched U.S. embassies in Tunisia and Sudan, ransacked a German embassy in Sudan, and set a fast-food restaurant ablaze in Lebanon.
 In all, there were protests in at least 23 nations, stretching from Morocco to Indonesia and from London to Mogadishu, Somalia. At least seven people died from the violence.
 The explosion of demonstrations left the Obama administration scrambling both to halt the attacks and to defend its actions in the midst of a hard-fought election campaign where questions of foreign policy had largely taken a back seat. But there seemed to be no way to calm anger over a video clip whose production and dissemination the United States had nothing to do with and whose origins are still largely uncertain. 
 U.S. officials took pains to separate American policies from the explosion of violence, the worst manifestation of which was the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in an attack in Benghazi, Libya, that coincided with Tuesday's 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
 "The unrest we've seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims - many Muslims - find offensive," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington. "And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that we know of or to U.S. policy."
 "The U.S. government has nothing to do with this video," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland emphasized during a briefing for reporters.
 The worst violence Friday came in Tunisia, where last year's Arab Spring began with the toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and in Sudan, where, in contrast, Arab Spring protests against the government of President Omar Bashir fizzled rapidly.
 In Tunis, Tunisia's capital, protesters made it inside the U.S. Embassy compound, despite local police use of tear gas and live ammunition to hold them at bay. They set parts of the compound on fire, raised an Islamist flag, smashed windows, and looted computers, phones and other equipment from embassy structures. They then set fire to the American School next door, sending huge plumes of dark smoke over the city, before local police succeeded in pushing them from the compound's outer perimeter and back into the street.
 According to the Tunisian News Agency, two demonstrators were killed and 29 people were injured, including an unknown number of police officers.
 Nuland said security forces in Tunis were prepared for a protest, but not the intensity of violence. She said that when demonstrators made it through an exterior perimeter, Tunisia's presidential guard was sent in and controlled the situation. A secure inner perimeter protected by American security was not breached, she said, and no Americans were injured.
 In Sudan, an estimated 5,000 protesters descended on the German Embassy in central Khartoum after Friday prayers, breaking in and setting part of the building on fire. Police used tear gas in an effort to break up the demonstration, but the protesters moved on to the nearby British Embassy, where they threw rocks but were unable to enter the building.
 The protests continued at the fortress-like U.S. Embassy, which, unlike the German and British missions, is outside the city center for security reasons. But there, Sudanese police who had been pre-positioned confronted the demonstrators with tear gas.
 Still, Nuland said, at least three protesters reached the top of an embassy complex wall before Sudanese security moved them back to the streets below. One embassy spokesman, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said some embassy property was damaged but added that reports of a "major breach" were inaccurate.
 Most U.S. employees were not in the embassy because Friday is not a work day in Sudan, and there were no reports of injuries to Americans.
 In Egypt's restive Sinai, protesters gathered in front of a U.N. peacekeeping base for what started as a peaceful protest. But the gathering quickly turned violent, as the protesters breached the fence surrounding the camp, began shooting, set a truck on fire, and raised a jihadi flag on a tower. Two camp soldiers fired back and injured two protesters. Egyptian forces arrived, sending protesters scurrying.
 Two Colombian soldiers inside were injured by rocks thrown at them.
 The complexity of the situation was evident in Egypt, where on Tuesday demonstrators scaled the 12-foot wall that surrounds the U.S. Embassy compound in Cairo and tore down the American flag in anger over the video, a crude 14-minute clip posted online that depicts Muhammad as a womanizer.
 Security near the embassy was noticeably tighter on Friday, after President Barack Obama had what White House spokesman Carney called "an important conversation" with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi "about the need to protect our embassy and our personnel in Cairo and the need to denounce the violence."
 Carney said Obama was "very clear with President Morsi about Egypt's responsibilities as a host nation to provide security to diplomatic facilities and diplomatic personnel." After the conversation, Morsi for the first time denounced the embassy attack, and a key member of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Morsi was a member before he ascended to the presidency, apologized for the violence in a letter published in the New York Times.
 Protesters converging on the embassy Friday also found a physical manifestation of the new Egyptian attitude - a hurriedly constructed wall on the road leading to the embassy intended to allow security forces to better defend the compound against attacks. On Friday, security forces launched volley after volley of tear gas at demonstrators who approached it.
 Egypt was not alone in stepping up security outside U.S. diplomatic facilities. In Yemen's capital, Sanaa, police armed with water cannons made heavy use of tear gas and warning shots to keep protesters from reaching the U.S. Embassy, where on Thursday angry demonstrators had stormed the heavily guarded compound.
 Diplomatic outposts were not the only American symbols targeted on Friday. In Tripoli, Lebanon, protesters set fire to a building containing Hardees and KFC restaurants. One person died in the blaze.
 There were also peaceful demonstrations. In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta without violence.
 Meanwhile, Obama administration officials worked hard to dispel a series of rumors that flew around the Internet, from allegations that Marines at embassies around the world had been ordered not to carry live ammunition, to allegations that the embassy in Cairo had been warned about the likelihood of violence but had failed to take precautions.
 A U.S. intelligence official acknowledged that a cable had been sent to the embassy in Cairo advising diplomats that the video, which had been on the Internet since July, had been receiving increasing attention. But the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the cable was not a warning of upcoming violence.
 "It was a very routine type of cable drawing attention to the video," the official said. "We look at these things and we can see when something is getting attention. You begin to see it start to get attention, there is chatter, people looking at it. We basically said that it's getting more attention and we want you to be aware."




14



 



September 15, 2012 Saturday  


 Muslim fury at U.S. spreads

 
CAIRO - From Tunis to Cairo to Jakarta, Indonesia, the Muslim world erupted in protests aimed at the United States on Friday as anger over a video that mocks the prophet Muhammad boiled over into assaults on embassies or demonstrations in nearly two dozen countries.
As governments struggled to contain a wave of fury in which U.S. embassy compounds in Sudan and Tunisia were broken into and others were targeted, the violence appeared to overwhelm whatever goodwill was built up during the Arab Spring, when the United States tried to support many countries' efforts toward democracy and freedom.
On Friday, it was the freedom to target American-linked buildings that most defined the day, as many governments appeared to be taken by surprise at the strength of the protests. Not even KFC and Hardee's were safe, with franchises in Tripoli, Lebanon, torched by protesters as security forces opened fire on them,killing at least one person. 
It was impossible to know how many of the thousands of demonstrators who filled streets outside U.S. outposts were motivated by reports about the video - which was made under mysterious circumstances, apparently by individuals in California - and how many were venting anger at the United States for other reasons. A short clip has been available on the Internet for weeks but apparently did not generate much attention until it was subtitled in Arabic and sent to Egyptian journalists.
The vehemence and volatile nature of the protests in capital after capital - images of which were broadcast around the globealmost instantly via blogs, social media networks and cable news stations - were unmistakable.
Anti-U.S. protests spread to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Britain, East Jerusalem, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Turkey, the West Bank and Yemen, according to U.S. officials and news reports, with many protesters chanting religious slogans and railing against the denigration of Islam in the obscure low-budget video.

Embassies are targeted
In Tunisia, whose toppling of an autocrat in 2011 set the Arab Spring in motion, an American school was largely destroyed in Tunis, the capital, and protesters set fire to cars inside the U.S. Embassy parking lot. U.S. officials said Tunisian security provided a "very strong presence," confronting stone-throwing crowds with tear gas and gunfire and pushing demonstrators out of the embassy compound. 
In Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, buses full of protesters stormed the German Embassy and set it ablaze, then headed for the U.S. Embassy on the outskirts of the city. Thousands gathered there, and many were trying to climb the embassy walls when police opened fire. At least three protesters were seen motionless on the ground, according to the Associated Press.
In Washington, the White House acknowledged that it had sought to discourage distribution of the video that sparked the protests but insisted that it had made no formal request to the video-sharing Web site YouTube, which is owned by Google. Tommy Vietor, the National Security Council spokesman, said the White House had asked YouTube "to review whether it violates their terms of use.'' Google said this week that it had blocked access to the video in Egypt and Libya.
President Obama made formal a previously announced decision to dispatch U.S. Marine quick-response teams to Libya and Yemen. In a letter to the House and Senate, Obama said that the security forces from the U.S. Africa Command "are equipped for combat," although their purpose is solely to protect American citizens and property. Officials said plans are in motion to send a third team to Sudan, but said that they are awaiting agreement from that government, with which U.S. relations are strained.
Obama later joined Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as the bodies of four Americans killed in Tuesday's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland from Germany aboard a military plane. The flag-draped transfer cases, caskets, including that of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, were carried solemnly to waiting hearses by Marines.
U.S. intelligence officials said they have tentatively concluded that the Libya assault was carried out by a group aligned with al-Qaeda but was not directed by the terrorist network's core leadership. Still unable to reach the charred Benghazi compound, the officials have relied on intelligence from an array of sources, including news footage, intercepted phone calls and e-mails, and information from human sources recruited by the CIA, officials said.
A senior administration official, commenting on initial reports that the assault was planned, said that "currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo," which began several hours earlier Tuesday, "and evolved into a direct assault."
"The crowd almost certainly was a mix of individuals," the official said. "We do know that Islamic extremists participated in the violent demonstrations."
Although the State Department initially provided sketchy details of the assault, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday that the consulate was now a "crime scene" under investigation by the FBI and no further information was available.
The White House has been in crisis mode since the Libya attack, with Deputy National Security Adviser Denis R. McDonough chairing twice-daily meetings of deputies from across the government. Obama's top national security officials also have been holding regular sessions, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity about internal deliberations.
Administration officials expressed relief late Friday that the day's damage had not been worse and credited their own outreach to Muslim leaders - sometimes sternly expressed - for limiting it. Obama, Clinton and other senior officials have contacted governments in affected countries to urge them to take stands against the violence and remind them they were responsible for protecting American personnel and installations.
Overnight Thursday, Obama sent a personal message to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asking him to speak out. In a speech Friday that a senior administration official described as "really strong," Erdogan said that "both the mentality and the organization behind this movie and those perpetrating terrorist actions exploiting Islamic symbols and discourse" were equally to be condemned.
Vice President Biden telephoned Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha, and Clinton spoke Thursday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Morsi in a tight spot
Obama's most crucial call, administration officials said, was late Wednesday to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, chiding him for failing to condemn theinitial assault on the Cairo embassy even as his Muslim Brotherhood organization called for further protests against the video.
Morsi appeared to have been jolted into attempting to tamp down public anger toward the United States and to fortify defenses around the embassy ahead of the protests on Friday, which has traditionally been the biggest day for demonstrations in the Muslim world.
But Morsi finds himself in a difficult position as the first democratically elected leader of a country where many people are anti-American, even as he wishes to preserve good relations with the U.S. government, which sends Egypt $1.6 billion a year in aid. That dilemma was underscored on Friday, when the Muslim Brotherhood again appeared to try to deliver two different messages: one in English to foreign audiences, saying in a posting on Twitter that it had canceled nationwide protests, and another statement in Arabic to its political base, calling for protests in front of mosques around the country.
Separately, Morsi appeared on state television to call for restraint and for Egyptians to respect the U.S. Embassy. State TV also repeatedly played a brief Thursday clipof Clinton dubbed into Arabic calling the low-budget anti-Islamic video "disgusting and reprehensible."
 The challenges that Morsi faces could be heard in the frustrations of many of the protesters.
"Morsi's stance was halfway there," said Roshy Kamel, 34, who had a thick beard typical of conservative Muslims. "We need him to suspend Egyptian-American relations and expel the American ambassador. We need him to show we are strong."
birnbaumm@washpost.com
deyoungk@washpost.com
DeYoung reported from Washington. Greg Miller in Washington and Haitham Tabei in Cairo contributed to this report.




14



 



September 15, 2012 Saturday  


 Anti-Muslim video shows Web firms' role as speech arbiters

 
Google lists eight reasons on its "YouTube Community Guidelines" page for why it might take down a video. Inciting riots is not among them. But after the White House warned Tuesday that a crude anti-Muslim movie trailer had sparked lethal violence in the Middle East, Google acted.
Days later, controversy over the 14-minute clip from "The Innocence of Muslims" was still roiling the Islamic world, with access blocked in Egypt, Libya, India, Indonesia and Afghanistan - keeping it from easy viewing in countries where more than a quarter of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims live. 
Legal experts and civil libertarians, meanwhile, said the controversy highlighted how Internet companies, most based in the United States, have become global arbiters of free speech, weighing complex issues that traditionally are the province of courts, judges and, occasionally, international treaties.
"Notice that Google has more power over this than either the Egyptian or the U.S. government," said Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor. "Most free speech today has nothing to do with governments and everything to do with companies."
In temporarily blocking the video in some countries, legal experts say, Google implicitly invoked the concept of "clear and present danger." That's a key exception to the broad First Amendment protections in the United States, where free speech is more jealously guarded than almost anywhere in the world.
The Internet has been a boon to free speech, bringing access to information that governments have long tried to suppress. Recall last spring's freewheeling Internet chatter over Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident, as he evaded arrest in a country known for its tight control of news sources.
Google has positioned itself as an ally of such freedoms, as newspapers, book publishers and television stations long have. But because of the immediacy and global reach of Internet companies, they face particular challenges in addressing a variety of legal restrictions, cultural sensitivities and, occasionally, national security concerns.
"Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter now play this adjudicatory role on free speech," said Andrew McLaughlin, a former top policy official at Google who later worked for the Obama White House as deputy chief technology officer.
Nazi propaganda, for example, can be found on Google.com but not Google.de, the site tailored for use in Germany, where such speech is illegal. In the United States, images of animal cruelty can be found through Google's search algorithm - which is a key tool for legitimate researchers - but are blocked on YouTube, which the company owns but strives to give a more PG sensibility, blocking pornography, gratuitous violence and hate speech.
Despite Google's history as a steward of appropriate content, the White House outreach on the movie clip was remarkable, longtime observers of the company say.
Upset foreign governments occasionally block YouTube entirely within their borders to stop a video from being watched, as Afghanistan has done. Sometimes governments formally ask Google to block a YouTube video, which India and Indonesia have both done with the controversial movie clip. (Google said it complies with legal, written requests by governments to block videos from being viewed in their countries.)
But for the White House to ask Google to review a video that was causing trouble in a foreign land was an unusual step - and perhaps unprecedented. McLaughlin, the former Google and White House official, could think of no similar request in the past.
Both government and Google officials said the company made its own decision after the White House raised the issue of the video on Tuesday, the day that U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
"We reached out to YouTube to call the video to their attention and asked them to review whether it violates their terms of use," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said on Friday.
Google said it decided to block the video in Egypt and Libya because of the "very sensitive situations there" and not because the White House requested it.
A company official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal thinking at Google, said, "Dealing with controversial content is one of the biggest challenges we face as a company."
The decision has drawn an uneasy reaction, with some civil libertarians blasting Google for essentially censoring access for some potential viewers. For critics, the decision recalled Google's former compliance with Chinese government restrictions on a wide variety of content - before the company moved its offices and servers to Hong Kong in 2010, beyond the reach of Chinese censorship laws.
The motives of both Google and the White House drew suspicion this week, with some saying that U.S. officials might have sought to send a political message - distancing the United States from the anti-Muslim video - by revealing their efforts to have it blocked. The officials had no legal authority to demand action, legal experts say.
"It's a little bit of censorship and a little bit of diplomacy in a difficult situation," said Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties for the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society.
Yet the controversy has highlighted how much of the world's information is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of powerful companies. Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain said these "corporate gatekeepers" are essential to keeping free speech robust.
He praised efforts to establish guidelines for when content is removed or blocked from some viewers. Yet he said many hard decisions will come when actual cases arise.
"Anyone who says this is a no-brainer, I'm dubious about," Zittrain said. "Because it's not a no-brainer, and it's not going to go away."
timbergc@washpost.com
David Nakamura and Julie Tate contributed to this report.




14



 


September 14, 2012 Friday

 Protests sweep Islamic world, fueled by domestic politics, anti-US anger; 
Protesters who attacked embassies and clashed with police in at least 17 Muslim countries outraged by more than an anti-Islam video.

 
Anti-American protests continued their sweep across swathes of the Islamic world today, sparked by a low-budget video deliberately denigrating the prophet Muhammad that was made in the US. From Mauritania to Indonesia, protesters took to the streets in anger over the video, which portrays Islam's most sacred figure as a sexually loose and ruthless buffoon.
Yet the protests were about much more than the video. They were a reflection of a deeper, wide-ranging discontent, rooted not only in anger at the US for such things as its pro-Israel policies, drone strikes, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but also in frustration at domestic leaders who have not been able to effect rapid change in the wake of the Arab Spring. Analysts also point to a wider power struggle under way between mainstream Islamic groups and ultra-conservative Salafist elements, believed to be behind the Sept. 11 attack in Libya that killed the US ambassador.
"There is a battle going on for the soul of these states," says Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center, contacted in Qatar. "People are offended [by the movie], but with regard to the Arab world, a lot of it has to do with internal domestic politics between the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism," says Mr. Shaikh.
"It's domestic politics mixed with an attempt to make new nation states and political systems and institutions that are so vital, he says, arguing that it's not a coincidence that new governments are being challenged most. "And that is a pretty heady mix."
US officials were quick to denounce the video as "reprehensible" this week, but that was not enough to tamp down the fury felt across the globe.
On Thursday, the high walls of US embassies in Sudan and Tunisia were scaled and breached by crowds; Salafists in Tunis replaced the embassy's US flag with their own black one, and the American school there was set alight.
American flags were torched from Tehran to Amman to Kuala Lumpur. Egyptian protesters fought street battles with security forces. In Afghanistan, which was otherwise surprisingly quiet, an effigy of Barack Obama was burnt in an eastern province. In India-administered Kashmir, the top Islamic cleric told all Americans to "immediately leave" because Muslim sentiments "have been hurt by these pictures."
Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned a historic string of Western insults, saying that an "evil chain - namely Salman Rushdie, the Danish cartoonist and Quran-burning American priests," showed that the US and "evil Zionist groups are furious at the increasing brilliance of Islam... in the world today."
In Khartoum, where antigovernment protests earlier this year were easily crushed, security forces did not prevent crowds from attacking the downtown British and German embassies before driving farther out to the US embassy.
Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.
In Yemen, a president's apology
In Yemen, security forces were significantly reinforced today to prevent a repeat of yesterday's breach of the US Embassy compound. President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi issued an apology to President Obama and the American people, and vowed to investigate.
Hundreds of Yemenis nevertheless converged today toward the embassy compound after Friday prayers. Security forces held them back with tear gas and warning bullets at a barrier a mile from the embassy.
While the protests were sparked by the anti-Islam film, Yemenis have long resented what they consider American "meddling" in Yemeni affairs. Many Yemenis bristle at continuing American drone strikes in the country, one of which left 10 civilians dead last week.
US Ambassador Gerald Feierstein was singled out yesterday as protesters chanted, "Today is your day, oh ambassador!" as they stormed the embassy walls. Today they carried placards with the same words, and another which read: "America is the devil."
Gaza leaders rally the crowds
In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Islamic Jihad and Hamas leaders encouraged a strong display of anti-Americanism.
In Gaza City, thousands chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Jews," and heard speeches from party leaders blaming the US for allowing the release of the film. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya told protesters that "The criminals behind the release of the film must be brought to justice. This film is meant to ignite a sectarian war in the Middle East."
The US is widely demonized in Palestinian territories for its staunch pro-Israel policies. Many marched today to express anger at those policies, burning US and Israeli flags along the way.
"We are here to show America and Israel that we will not stay our hand," said Mohammed Dahman, who carried a green Hamas flag. "Mocking our prophet is a red line. We may be silent at some issues ... but we will get so violent when it comes to our prophet and our creed."
He said he admired the Libyans who sacked the consulate in Benghazi and killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens. "It's a great loss that there is no American embassy here so we could pour out our fierce anger on them," said Mr. Dahman. "I would have killed them all if I had the chance."
But Majed Aadas, an English teacher, said killing is against the teachings of Islam.
"Our religion does not urge us to kill innocent people," says Mr. Aadas. "Today's demonstration is a message to the Western regimes in general and it is not directed against the people. We know that many Americans sympathize with the Palestinians and I have met many of them personally in Gaza."
Fundamentalism emerges on the political scene
Anti-US grievances vary from country to country, and are compounded in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria by a strong fundamentalist element that has emerged on the political scene. The assault on the US Consulate in Benghazi occurred just hours after Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on pro-Al Qaeda groups to "kill the crusaders" to avenge the death in a drone strike of a Libyan leader of the Al Qaeda.
Many Libyans have responded with shock, sadness, and embarrassment to Tuesday's attack. In Benghazi, people took to the streets, with one sign reading in English: "Sorry People of America this is not the behavior of our ISLAM and Profit [sic]."
"It may have been last minute, but people felt they should do something that very day," says Lamia Abusedra, a culture ministry official from Benghazi. In the days since the attack, Libyans have come forth to voice their regret and insist that Islam is a peaceful religion.
Partially as a result of the US-led NATO effort that ensured the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi last year, Libya remains one Arab nation with widespread pro-American sentiment. But Salafist groups and armed militias, the Islamists often harboring anti-US feelings, continue to roam Libya, though authorities today announced the arrest of four suspects in the Benghazi attack.
"In today's sermon, the sheikh spoke against what happened on [Sept. 11], and about the rights of both citizens and foreigners," says Talal Giuma, co-founder of a children's health charity and teacher on Muslim-Christian relations at Tripoli's Algeria Square mosque.
"There's a religious principle that not to thank those who bring you into being is like ingratitude toward God," says Mr. Giuma. "America supported the rebels in the war against Qaddafi, and we should be grateful."
Other Libyans have taken to the Internet to send messages of condolence - and to address those who supported the attack.
"The victory of the prophet is not through breaking, burning, looting, and theft," says one Arabic message that circulated on Facebook. "Those who truly want his victory will make known his mores, life and message."
Ahmed Aldabba in Gaza City, Gaza; John Thorne in Rabat, Morocco; and Adam Baron in Sanaa, Yemen contributed reporting.
*** Follow Scott Peterson on Twitter at @peterson__scott ***




14



 


September 14, 2012 Friday

 Google Refuses White House Plea to Remove Controversial Anti-Muslim Video

 
Google will not delete an inflammatory video currently playing a role in Muslim protests around the world, in spite of a take-down request from the White House.
The search giant is only censoring Innocence of Muslims in India, Indonesia, Egypt and Libya, where violent and deadly protests have broken out following the video's translation into Arabic. Reuters reports on the company's legalistic explanation for not just wiping the video completely from the web: Read More 




14



 


September 13, 2012 Thursday

 US embassies step up security after Libya attack

 
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Security was increased at American embassies and consulates around the world Thursday following an attack that killed the U.S. ambassador in Libya, while the U.S. urged its citizens abroad to be vigilant.
Police in Dhaka, Bangladesh, stopped a march by people who chanted slogans and burned a U.S. flag in protest of a provocative American film that depicts the Islamic prophet Muhammad in disrespectful ways. Guards and police special forces were seen carrying assault rifles outside the U.S. Embassy in the Philippine capital, while embassy guards gestured to a photographer to stop taking pictures. 
President Barack Obama ordered increased security at American missions after Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed Tuesday in Benghazi, Libya. The attack on the consulate there was presumed to have been triggered by outrage over the film, but U.S. officials are investigating whether it was a terrorist strike on the 11th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Indonesia's government has condemned the anti-Islam film, "Innocence of Muslims," but there has been no public reaction so far in the world's most populous Muslim nation, even though it is prone to large protests. Officials called on Indonesians to stay calm ahead of Friday prayers, when demonstrations often take place.
The U.S. Embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, issued a security message to American citizens advising them to pay close attention to their surroundings and to avoid large crowds that might turn violent.
"These events are a reminder to all of us that the security situation in any location can change rapidly and in unexpected ways," it said.
Indonesia's government has asked Google, which owns YouTube, to help block online access to "Innocence of Muslims," said Gatot Dewabroto, a Communication Ministry spokesman. It was available Thursday morning, but could not be viewed by afternoon.
"The movie has hurt Muslims all over the world deeply. They deliberately wanted to make Muslims angry," said Amidan Shaberah, a prominent cleric at the influential Indonesian Ulema Council. "We urge Indonesian Muslims to calm down because the majesty and greatness of God and the Prophet Muhammad will not be diminished by these insults."
In the Philippines, diplomats had asked for additional police personnel and patrols for the seaside compound that houses the U.S. Embassy, as well as a nearby residential complex and the consulate in the central city of Cebu, ahead of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. Officials said the heightened security would be maintained indefinitely.
Traffic was busy as usual Thursday on a Manila boulevard in front of the embassy's main entrance. A police pickup truck with a machine gun mounted on the back was parked under a tree, and Philippine coast guard vessels patrolled Manila Bay around the embassy. Police patrols were also intensified in other U.S. facilities, including the American cemetery in the Philippine capital.
"President Obama yesterday directed an increase in security at diplomatic posts around the world, and this includes our embassy here in Manila," said embassy spokeswoman Tina Malone.
Americans flags were lowered at half-staff as U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. mourned the loss of the American diplomats in Libya.
"We will do our best to honor and carry forward their memory and their service," he said in a statement.
In Nigeria, which is largely split between a Muslim north and a Christian south, the U.S. Embassy warned that "extremists may attempt to target U.S citizens and other Westerners." Previous violence by a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram saw the embassy ban its staff from traveling to the north for much of this year. The sect is blamed for killing more than 670 people this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.
Nigeria's federal police force was ordered to provide additional security to foreign embassies, but the country was largely quiet, with local media reporting only one small protest over the film happening in the central city of Jos.
The U.S. Embassy in Malaysia advised on its website that demonstrations were possible there and that American should use caution. An embassy official there said it was policy not to discuss security measures.
Higher security was evident around the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, including searches of vehicles nearby. Police blocked about 400 marchers belonging to two Islamic groups who were proceeding through streets near the Baitul Mokarram mosque, several kilometers from the U.S. Embassy in the capital.
------
Associated Press writers Julhas Alam and Al-Emrun Garjon in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Sean Yoong in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia; and Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria; contributed to this report.




15


 The Austin American-Statesman
 
Austin American-Statesman (Texas)

September 12, 2012 Wednesday  
Final Edition

 Williams wrong; Obama not Muslim, chose Christianity

 
Country singer Hank Williams Jr., who prides himself on being politically incorrect, took a moment during a Sept. 2 concert in Fort Worth to voice his misgivings about President Barack Obama. 
As reported by a critic for the Dallas Morning News, Williams said to a less-than-unanimous cheer at the Stockyards Music Festival: "We've got a Muslim for a president who hates cowboys, hates cowgirls, hates fishing, hates farming, loves gays, and we hate him!"
We won't try to test Williams' opinions that Obama "hates cowboys" and the like. But we will put his statement that Obama is a Muslim to the Texas Truth-O-Meter.
Such claims also have been gauged before - and found lacking in evidence.
As PolitiFact noted in an Aug. 26, 2010, story, the president's memoirs and independent biographies indicate that Obama was not raised in a particular faith, but he became a Christian when he was in his 20s while working as a community organizer in Chicago.
Still, Obama had a Muslim grandfather, Hussein Onyango of Kenya, and his Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetero, was Muslim, as biographer Davis Maraniss has written. Also, as a boy Obama was instructed in Islam at a school in Jakarta. Later, Maraniss writes, many of Obama's college friends were Muslim.
"None of this adds up to Obama being Muslim, except in the minds of conspiratorialists," Maraniss wrote in an opinion piece for  this summer that briefly traced Obama's heritage.
Maraniss noted that Seventh-Day Adventists who traveled to Kenya were instrumental in educating Obama's grandfather and that Obama's father was mentored by an evangelical Christian missionary.
Maraniss said that while "living in Jakarta from ages 6 through 9, young Obama temporarily took the last name of his stepfather, Soetoro, for school purposes. He was listed as a Muslim on school documents because students were listed in the religion of their fathers." But Obama's stepfather was "not particularly religious," Maraniss wrote, and his mother "was spiritual but not part of any formal religion."
Obama has said that as a young adult, the churches in Chicago impressed him with their commitment to social justice and the hope they gave to the poor. "It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street in the Southside of Chicago one day and affirm my Christian faith," Obama said in a 2006 speech. "It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn't fall out in church. The questions I had didn't magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to his will, and dedicated myself to discovering his truth."
In April 2010, Obama hosted an Easter prayer breakfast at the White House and spoke of being inspired by Jesus' resurrection. "As Christians, we believe that redemption can be delivered - by faith in Jesus Christ," Obama said.
Our ruling: Obama is not a Muslim. This has been clear for years. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
politifact@statesman.com


HANK WILLIAMS JR.
 Statement: President Barack Obama is a Muslim.






15


 


September 12, 2012 Wednesday  


 DANIEL TAN SIEN-KIE HADINATA; 
MARCH 10, 1916 - SEPT. 9, 2012; 
SECOND FATHER TO INDONESIAN STUDENTS

 
Daniel Tan Sien-Kie Hadinata, an Indonesian orphan who founded an important church in his homeland and became a second father to Indonesian students in Pittsburgh, died Sunday in Mt. Lebanon. He was 96.
"He was a quiet leader, very steady, very strong spiritually, a true man of God," said his pastor, the Rev. Jack Stepp, of South Hills Assembly in Bethel Park.
Mr. Hadinata was orphaned at 11 and soon began selling coffee on the streets of Semarang, capital of the island of Java, to support his younger siblings. 
"He had a very hard life," said his daughter Dewi Wong of Squirrel Hill.
Indonesia is overwhelmingly Muslim, but as a young man he was exposed to Christianity through a missionary who ultimately became his mentor.
"He heard this missionary say that God was his father, who loved him. And Daniel, who didn't have a father, wanted one. He accepted Jesus as his savior," said the Rev. Kay Stepp, also on the staff of South Hills Assembly.
He fell in love with a Buddhist girl whose father wouldn't allow him to try to convert her. They were to have been married in 1942. But when Pearl Harbor was bombed her mother knew a Japanese invasion was imminent and urged them to marry immediately and flee the city. They married the next day.
After 70 years of marriage, he and Elisabeth were still visibly in love, Ms. Wong said.
"They are so faithful and so cute. They hold hands. They went everywhere together," she said.
His wife would convert -- along with her entire family -- after they attributed the healing of both of her parents to his Christian prayers, Ms. Wong said.
During the Japanese occupation many children were orphaned.
"My father would teach them to write and to read. My mother would gather the girls to learn dressmaking. Those things were important for survival," Ms. Wong said. "My father always helped other people because he himself had been in a difficult situation."
He had a talent for jewelry design and found work with goldsmiths, becoming a diamond cutter. His work allowed him to contribute to building and sustaining important Christian institutions in Indonesia.
In 1946 he was among the founders of Gereja Isa Almasih -- the Church of Jesus Christ -- which started in an abandoned hall to which people brought their own chairs. Today it is a major evangelical church, with branches throughout Indonesia and one in California.
Although in his culture and generation it wasn't common for women to pursue professions, he wanted his daughters to receive an education and follow their dreams, Ms. Wong said.
"We were given a chance, an education, because he himself never had one," she said.
At various times his daughters lived in Pittsburgh, so the Hadinatas moved to Mt. Lebanon in 1980. Although their English was limited when they arrived, the Hadinatas quickly became active in South Hills Assembly, ministering to elderly members and promoting support for missionaries.
Around 1984, the Hadinatas started their own outreach, Indonesian Christian Fellowship, for students at the University of Pittsburgh. Mrs. Hadinata would cater it with a home-cooked feast of traditional dishes, which they took to an Oakland church where the group met.
They would bring carloads of homesick students to their house.
"He was an encourager. He really helped to keep these students in the states so they could get their education," Rev. Jack Stepp said. "They were so far away from home, and the Hadinatas were a home away from home. Their home was always open, and they mother-and-daddied them."
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Hadinata is survived by daughters Christina Chi of Gaithersburg, Md., and Janny Morelle of Laigneville, France; a son, Samuel of Mission Viejo, Calif.; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Visitation is today starting at 9 a.m. with the funeral at 10:30 a.m. in the Baptist Homes Chapel, 489 Castle Shannon Blvd., Mt. Lebanon. Committal will be at 1 p.m. in Homewood Cemetery.




15



 
The Capital (Annapolis, MD)

September 6, 2012 Thursday

 Arrested Indonesian describes plot on police video; 
Police show video of Indonesian suspect describing plot to set off bombs, shoot police

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Six men associated with an Islamic school founded by a radical cleric plotted to set off bombs and shoot police to wage "holy war" in an Indonesian town, one of the suspects said in an interrogation video released by police Thursday. 
Two suspected militants and a member of an elite anti-terrorism squad were killed last Friday when police raided the group in Central Java. Bayu Setiono, 22, was arrested during the raid, another man was arrested Wednesday and two suspects are at large.
The group is accused of killing a police officer last week and attacking two police posts in mid-August as part of the plot in the town of Solo.
In the 10-minute video released at police headquarters, Setiono described their group as an "underground group without amir (leader), without baiat (pledging of allegiance).
"We planned to kill policemen and create a situation like Ambon and Poso, for the sake of upholding Islamic Shariah and the establishment of a caliphate in Indonesia," Setiono said, referring to the Muslim-Christian conflict that killed thousands from 1999 into the 2000s.
"Our targets, since 2007 until now, are infidels and policemen," he said.
One plan for him, Farhan Mujahidin and Mukhsin Sanny Permadi to finance their plot by robbing a gold shop failed due to the presence of a police officer. "We cancelled the plan, and Farhan was angry and said such police has to be killed," Setiono said. The two other men were killed in last week's raid.
Another suspect, Firman Firmansyah, who allegedly drove a motorbike used in the storming of the police post in Solo on Aug. 30, was arrested Wednesday in the West Java town of Depok.
Setiono had worked at Al-Mukmin Islamic school in the Central Java town of Ngruki, while the five others were alumni of the school, co-founded by convicted radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.
Farhan returned to Indonesia early this year after studying the military and fighting in the Philippines for two years, Setiono said in the video.
"My role was to survey the targets set by Farhan," said Setiono who once joined with Sigit Qurdowi, a leader of a little-known militant group called Hisbah, who was killed along with his bodyguard, Hendro Yulianto by an anti-terror squad in May last year.
He added that Qurdowi, who led attacks in Central Java and West Java in 2010 and 2011, had smuggled firearms from the Philippines and sold them in Jakarta, Solo and West Java towns of Cirebon and Bekasi.
In the video, Setiono who was moved Wednesday from Central Java to Jakarta, also apologized to Solo residents for causing restlessness among them.
Police are still investigating whether the suspects are connected to Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid, an organization founded by Bashir and designated a terrorist group by the U.S. in February.
Recent terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation have been by individuals or small groups and have targeted local "infidels" instead of Westerners, with less deadly results.




15


 


September 4, 2012 Tuesday  


 AN ELECTION CHOICE MADE ONLY IN AMERICA

 
Public-opinion polls show that adult Americans like Barack Obama a little better than they like Mitt Romney.
That affection for the president will be on display Thursday night at the Democratic convention in Charlotte when he is joined on stage at an open-air stadium by his wife and two daughters, a smiling, affectionate, all-American family.
Except, of course, the Obamas aren't the Brady bunch. The Obamas are African-Americans. They are black, and millions of white Americans are still not convinced they deserve to be in the White House. This, of course, has something to do with race, which has been at the center of American politics for more than 150 years. Though racial animosity is greatly diminished, it still exists. 
A USA Today/ Gallup survey shows that 25 percent of adult Americans continue to believe Mr. Obama was born somewhere outside the United States. Among Republicans, the figure is much higher. They may believe that, against a storm of evidence showing that Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, because they want to believe that the man who occupies the White House is there illegitimately.
What seems to play into their hands is that the president's background is unquestionably exotic.
The president's father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kenya, a member of the Luo tribe, composed mostly of fishermen, farmers and herders of domestic animals. The president's father, though, was exceptional. He was smart and scholarships came to him; one of them led him to the University of Hawaii in 1959, where he met Stanley Ann Dunham, a white woman.
They were married the following year, and the president was born at a hospital in Honolulu on August 4, 1961. Birth announcements appeared the following day in the local newspapers.
Barack Obama Sr. was a bit of a vagabond. He didn't mention, for example, that when he married the president's mother, he already had a wife back in Kenya. He left his American wife and son behind in June of 1962 to attend Harvard University. He worked his way back to Kenya, married again, and began to drink heavily.
The last time he saw his son, the future president, was during a visit to Hawaii in 1971, when the boy was 10 years old.
"I only remember my father for one month my whole life," Mr. Obama once noted.
Barack Obama Sr. died in a car crash in Kenya in 1982. Ann Dunham, following her divorce, married again and she and the family moved to Indonesia, a largely Muslim country. That brief episode raised questions among those who were receptive to anything that marked Mr. Obama as someone not quite American.
A Pew Research Group poll shows that 18 percent of adult Americans believe Mr. Obama is a Muslim. Among Republicans, the number is 30 percent.
The president may have unknowingly inspired some of these feelings by writing a book in 1995 with the title, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," which is pretty much an autobiography covering his life up to the time he entered the Harvard Law School (and including his visit to Kenya and his relatives there before entering law school).
The book, or at least the book's title, may have inspired Dinesh D'Souza, president of a small Christian college in New York City, to write his latest book, "Obama's America: Unmaking the American Dream."
Mr. D'Souza, who was born in India, argues that Mr. Obama is driven by a psychological desire to fulfill his father's dream of dimishing the power of Western imperial states. "Incredibly," Mr. D'Souza writes, "the United States is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s. ... America today is governed by a ghost." The book is on  best-seller list and a movie based on Mr. D'Souza's theory is packing theaters.
Many conservatives disagree with Mr. D'Souza. The problem, they say, isn't that America is being ruled by the ghost of the president's dead father but that it's being run by an old-fashioned Democratic liberal.
One of the curiosities of this election is that Mitt Romney has an exotic background too. He is, of course, a Mormon, but, more than that, he's a member of one of the church's founding families.
The early Romneys were polygamists, like everyone else. (Brigham Young had 51 wives.) With non-Mormons outraged at this state of affairs, Congress passed a bill in 1862 outlawing "plural marriages" but didn't get around to enforcing it until 30 years later. That led many Mormons to escape what they perceived as persecution by taking up residence in Mexico. Mitt Romney's grandparents, Gaskell and Anna Amelia, who were monogamous, settled in a Mormon colony called Colonia Dublan, Galeana, in the Mexican state, Chihuahua.
The Mexican revolution began in 1910 and in a year or so started closing in on the Romneys' Mormon colony. Mitt Romney's father, George W. Romney, remembered seeing rebels armed to the teeth walking down his village street. Not long after that he began hearing gunfire.
George Romney and his family fled to the United States in 1912, leaving almost everything they owned behind. George Romney never went to college but he rose to head American Motors (they made the little Ramblers) and was elected governor of Michigan. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1968. Both he and now his son faced questions about whether the Mormon religion was truly Christian.
A recent Pew Research poll found that 60 percent of adult Americans know that Romney is a Mormon; 19 percent said they were uncomfortable with that. A survey by LifeWay Research, affiliated with the conservative Southern Baptist Convention, reported that three out of four Protestant pastors did not consider Mormons to be Christians.
Millions of Americans don't believe the president is a Christian. Millions of other Americans aren't sure Mormons are Christians. There's never been anything like it. What is certain is that the Democrats will re-nominate the son of a Luo tribesman from Kenya and the Republicans have nominated the son of a man whose family fled from a revolution in Mexico.
Only in America.




15


 


August 30, 2012 Thursday  
The International Herald Tribune

 Blasphemy and the Law

 
NEW YORK -- A central charge against the three members of the Pussy Riot punk-rock band who were recently sentenced to two years in prison was ''inciting religious hatred.'' This they are said to have done by briefly dancing at the front of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior and splicing footage of their dance into a video critical of President Vladimir Putin.
A few days after their conviction, police in Pakistan arrested Rimsha Masih, an 11-year-old Christian girl reported to have Down Syndrome, on charges of blasphemy for purportedly burning pages of the Koran. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
In different ways, both these cases raise the question of whether blasphemy should be punishable by law, as it may be in more than 30 historically Christian and Muslim countries, from Poland, Greece and Australia to Indonesia and Pakistan. 
As a Christian clergywoman and director of an organization that works with religious leaders from different traditions, I would argue that while the pain caused to believers by the defilement of cherished religious symbols and teachings is real and traumatic, laws that criminalize ''defamation'' of religion or inciting religious hatred are doctrinally unsound and legally dangerous.
Of the multiple reasons why, from a Christian perspective, blasphemy laws make bad theology, one in particular comes to mind in the context of the Pussy Riot sentences. The basic Christian tenet that all human beings are made in the image of God is undermined by laws against blasphemy and heresy, and especially by their gender-biased application.
More often than not, what has been deemed insulting or offensive to God in history has originated in the body or voice of a woman. The Inquisition and the witch hunts of the 15th and 16th centuries were low points for all Christians, but particularly for the female faithful.
Church fathers like St. Augustine inherited a dualistic understanding of spirit and body from the Greeks and assigned the female half of humanity the role of body, and the male half the spirit or intellect. St. Augustine's take on Ephesians 5:23 (''For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body'') was that a woman had no head of her own. Her husband was to be her head, and she was to be his body.
Well before the Pussy Riot sentences, my own experience serving at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City showed me -- in far paler shades -- the gendered character of God-offense as it is understood by many religious people.
Even in this bastion of liberal Christianity, nothing elicited more cries of ''blasphemy'' than the decision in 1984 of the then dean, James Parks Morton, to install ''Christa'' -- a three-foot bronze sculpture of a woman's figure hanging on a cross by the British artist Edwina Sandys. Echoes of the controversy could still be heard when I joined the cathedral clergy almost two decades later.
Increasingly, Muslim leaders are arguing that blasphemy laws as currently applied are un-Islamic as well. In a foreword to a recently released book, ''Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide,'' Abdurrahman Wahid, the late president of Indonesia and a strong advocate for interfaith dialogue, wrote, ''Nothing could possibly threaten God who is Omnipotent and existing as absolute and eternal truth. ... Those who claim to defend God, Islam, or the Prophet are thus either deluding themselves or manipulating religion for their own mundane and political purposes.''
That is as true in Indonesia as it is in Poland, where in 2010 Dorota Rabczewska, better known as the popular singer Doda, was charged with ''offending religious sensibilities'' and fined the equivalent of $1,450 for saying in a television interview that the Bible was written by ''people who drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes.''
Beyond bad doctrine, blasphemy codes can be legally dangerous. A 2012 report by Human Rights First -- ''Blasphemy Laws Exposed: The Consequences of Criminalizing 'Defamation of Religions''' [pdf] -- outlines several types of problems with the application of blasphemy laws worldwide. In addition to stifling dissent and discussion in the public sphere, such laws can actually spark assaults, murders and mob outbreaks.
In Pakistan, for example, many relatives of Rimsha Masih have fled in fear of Muslim mobs, and Interior Minister officials have urged the Islamabad police to keep the girl in custody for her own safety.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's 1989 fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie's death for his portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad in ''The Satanic Verses'' led to the murder of the book's Japanese translator and near fatal attacks on its Norwegian publisher and Italian translator, as well as the deaths of 12 people in rioting in Bombay.
Far from protecting religious sensibilities, blasphemy laws are a major source of prejudice and violence against religious minorities, as well as of violations of their religious freedoms.
Since the establishment of current blasphemy laws in Pakistan, at least 38 cases of extrajudicial killings (some of which involved the active involvement or willful neglect of the police) of people alleged to have committed blasphemy have been documented. These killings include the assassination in 1997 of Justice Arif Iqbal Bhatti, who had struck down allegations of blasphemy against two Christians two years earlier. The man who confessed to murdering Bhatti is no longer in custody.
In Indonesia in 2007, 42 Protestants were each sentenced to five years in prison for distributing a ''prayer video'' that instructed individuals to put the Koran on the ground and pray for the conversion of Muslim political leaders. And in February 2011, a mob of Indonesian Muslims attacked a meeting of members of the Ahmadiyya sect -- a reformist Islamic group that had been declared ''deviant'' by Islamic authorities -- and killed three people as police looked on.
The vague language of many blasphemy laws has also led to their misuse as weapons to settle private disputes. In December 2011, for example, a Pakistani man admitted to sending blasphemous text messages to clerics and prayer leaders in the name of his fiancée in order to punish her for breaking their engagement.
The antidote to blasphemy is not blunt and counterproductive law but efforts by civil society -- specifically political and religious leaders cooperating across religious and ideological lines -- to condemn any curtailing of religious rights or speech that incites violence.
We saw this working in New York City when Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other religious leaders stood with the mayor in August 2010 in support of Muslim leaders who wanted to build an Islamic center near the World Trade Center site.
We are seeing it now as the All Pakistan Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics and scholars, joins with the Pakistan Interfaith League, which includes Christians, Sikhs and members of other religions, to support Rimsha Masih and to call for an end to the ''climate of fear'' created by ''spurious allegations.''
These are small but important steps for which the faithful can give thanks.
The Rev. Chloe Breyer is executive director of the Interfaith Center of New York and an associate priest at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in West Harlem, New York.




15



 



August 29, 2012 Wednesday  


 Indonesia turns to clerics to stiï¬‚e Islamist radicalism In battling Islamist radicalism, Indonesia seeks help of clerics

 
DEPOK, Indonesia - Every few months, the head of counterterrorism in the world's most populous Muslim nation pays a visit to a Koranic academy south of the capital to address an assembly of clerics. His message, he says, is blunt: Stopping would-be bombers "is your job, not mine."
Ansyaad Mbai's plea for help is also surprising, given the string of successes against Islamist militants that Indonesian security services have notched in recent years. After a blaze of attacks inspired in part by al-Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, strikes in the United States, the militants in Indonesia are now a battered and diminished force. In just over two years, 33 terrorism suspects have been killed, mostly in shootouts with police, and nearly 200 have been arrested.
The last significant attack in Jakarta, the capital, was in 2009. The rest of the country, too, has been spared anything like the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people or the second Bali attack that killed 20 in 2005. No civilians have died in terrorist actions in the past 2Â½ years. The 13 fatalities in 2010 and 2011 - 10 in 2010 and three last year - were police officers. 
In a huge, ethnically diverse country that champions of global jihad once regarded as fertile ground for expansion, the recent calm testifies to the success of a relentless drive by security forces to track, infiltrate and confront violent Islamist groups intent on driving Indonesia from its traditionally moderate moorings.
The falling death toll, however, does not mean that terrorists are no longer active. An alleged plot to stage another attack in Bali fell apart in March when police killed five suspects as they gathered on the island to prepare for bombings at the Hard Rock Cafe and other Western-linked targets.
Mbai, the head of the National Counterterrorism Agency, said the continued plotting shows that authorities need to deploy more than just guns and handcuffs if they want to uproot, rather than just foil, terrorism.
And so, on four occasions over the past year, Mbai, a man reviled by radical Muslims in Indonesia as an enemy of the faith, has traveled here to Depok. He has spoken to a total of 500 clerics drawn from across the country for "anti-radicalization" sessions organized by Kulliyatul Quran al-Hikam, an Islamic boarding school.
"Only you have the capacity to compete, using Islam, with radicals," Mbai said he told them.

'Focus on fighting ideas'
Deploying Islam to fight violent, deviant offshoots is not a new idea. Saudi Arabia, sensitive to criticism that its own zealously puritanical strain of Islam, Wahhabism, promotes militancy, has had religion-based programs against radicalization for years. And, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Turkey and Malaysia have long kept a tight grip on what clerics can and cannot preach.
But Indonesia, torn between its attachment to relatively new democratic freedoms and its revulsion toward terrorism, has struggled for years to agree on ways to keep mosques, boarding schools and other institutions free of militant views.
"Counterterrorism is working, but there has been almost no progress on immunization against extremist teaching," said _blankSidney Jones, a Jakarta-based expert on Southeast Asian terrorist networks with the International Crisis Group.
The government is trying to change that, drafting plans for a nationwide program to counter radical thinking, to be carried out by the counterterrorism agency, the Education Ministry and other government bodies.
"We have had a big success in fighting terrorism physically," Mbai said, "but now we need to focus on fighting ideas."
The view that Islam, or at least distorted versions of the faith, can contain the seeds of militancy does not sit well with many political and religious leaders.
"There is a huge resistance to anything that is seen as stigmatizing Islam," Jones  said.
A few miles from the Koranic school, Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail returned to his city hall office after prayers on a recent evening and explained why police work and religion should not mix. Terrorism, he said, "is not due to religious teaching" and will stop only if "the government solves people's problems."
The problems that the mayor, a former chairman of the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, has sometimes focused on solving have raised eyebrows among secular-minded residents. He ordered that a billboard advertisement for deodorant on a busy street be taken down because it showed a woman's armpit. As part of an effort to promote piety, he has been checking the registration certificates of karaoke parlors and says he will shut down those that do not comply with regulations.
Ismail denies wanting to force his own morality on residents and notes that he has come under fire from a hard-line group for not moving fast enough to shut down illegal drinking dens. The mayor recently received a package containing women's lingerie and a hairpiece - a gesture of contempt for his alleged lack of manly toughness in enforcing Islamic norms.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs, a sprawling bureaucracy that doles out money to  schools and other religious institutions, sees no link between faith and terrorism and is dead set against any trespassing on its turf by security officials. Police officers, said the religion minister, Suryadharma Ali, are welcome "to come to mosques to pray but not to control sermons" or anything else concerning faith.
His ministry, which is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving the procurement of overpriced Korans, publishes pamphlets promoting the "correct" nonviolent interpretation of jihad as a spiritual struggle for self-improvement and other Islamic concepts that have been hijacked by extremists.
But, unlike its equivalent in Malaysia, it does not review sermons or license preachers, something security chiefs would like to see. The religion minister said that, despite voluminous evidence of the role played by radical preachers in spreading violent ideas, "it is not clear why a small group of people do violence against others."
Any effort to rein in wayward clerics, he said, would only backfire. Under President Suharto, Indonesia's authoritarian ruler for more than three decades, "Islam was politically controlled," Suryadharma said, and "the result was that radical views grew secretly and uncontrollably."
The collapse of Suharto's regime in 1998 led to an explosion of Islamist activism as organizations rushed to take advantage of new freedoms, whether they were political parties such as the PKS - now part of Indonesia's coalition government - or thuggish vigilante groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI.
The FPI regularly attacks bars and nightclubs, as well as churches and the mosques of Ahmadiyah, a small sect it views as heretical. Denouncing Lady Gagaas a servant of Satan, the group this summer helped force the cancellation of a concert in Jakarta by the American performer. (It also sent the lingerie to the Depok mayor).
Islamist vigilante squads have almost no public support, and nonviolent Islamist political parties show no sign of building on early successes to challenge still-dominant secular parties. But the explosion of religion-tinged activism, said Mbai, has made it more difficult to confront head-on the ideas of radicals who claim to be acting for their faith.

Radicalism at its source
To break through opposition to the idea that militant interpretations of Islam can spawn violence, the counterterrorism agency has turned for help to _blankNahdlatul Ulama, the world's largest Islamic organization. The guardian of Indonesia's traditionally moderate form of Islam, which has been influenced by centuries of contact with Hinduism, Buddhism and indigenous creeds, Nahdlatul Ulama controls a large network of boarding schools and mosques.
Haysim Muzadi, who headed the group for a decade, runs the Depok Koranic college that is collaborating with the National Counterterrorism Agency. Security forces, Muzadi said, "can only use repressive actions" against militancy and thus "need help from Islamic leaders" if they are to succeed.
 He cites as a "good example" a decision this year by a Jakarta publishing house to withdraw and then burn copies of a book that had caused offense with remarks about the prophet Muhammad. The burning, Muzadi said, deprived radical hotheads of a cause and prevented any attacks on the publisher. 
His school, which gets government cash for its efforts, has sought to tackle radical zeal at its source, working on a curriculum that draws a clean line between legitimate Islamic principles and what it sees as militant distortions. The library has banished works by Sayyid Qutb of Egypt and other radical theorists and is stacked instead with conservative Koranic commentaries and pamphlets by Indonesian writers denouncing imported strains of Islam. 
Muzadi said he realized the danger posed by radical Islam during a 2002 visit to New York's Ground Zero. "Everything became clear to me. I saw the threat. Radicals threaten not just America but the whole world. They also endanger Islam."
higginsandrew@washpost.com
DEPOK, Indonesia - Every few months, the head of counterterrorism in the world's most populous Muslim nation pays a visit to a Koranic academy south of the capital to address an assembly of clerics. His message, he says, is blunt: Stopping would-be bombers "is your job, not mine."
Ansyaad Mbai's plea for help is also surprising, given the string of successes against Islamist militants that Indonesian security services have notched in recent years. After a blaze of attacks inspired in part by al-Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, strikes in the United States, the militants in Indonesia are now a battered and diminished force. In just over two years, 33 terrorism suspects have been killed, mostly in shootouts with police, and nearly 200 have been arrested.
The last significant attack in Jakarta, the capital, was in 2009. The rest of the country, too, has been spared anything like the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people or the second Bali attack that killed 20 in 2005. No civilians have died in terrorist actions in the past 2Â½ years. The 13 fatalities in 2010 and 2011 - 10 in 2010 and three last year - were police officers.
In a huge, ethnically diverse country that champions of global jihad once regarded as fertile ground for expansion, the recent calm testifies to the success of a relentless drive by security forces to track, infiltrate and confront violent Islamist groups intent on driving Indonesia from its traditionally moderate moorings.
The falling death toll, however, does not mean that terrorists are no longer active. An alleged plot to stage another attack in Bali fell apart in March when police killed five suspects as they gathered on the island to prepare for bombings at the Hard Rock Cafe and other Western-linked targets.
Mbai, the head of the National Counterterrorism Agency, said the continued plotting shows that authorities need to deploy more than just guns and handcuffs if they want to uproot, rather than just foil, terrorism.
And so, on four occasions over the past year, Mbai, a man reviled by radical Muslims in Indonesia as an enemy of the faith, has traveled here to Depok. He has spoken to a total of 500 clerics drawn from across the country for "anti-radicalization" sessions organized by Kulliyatul Quran al-Hikam, an Islamic boarding school.
"Only you have the capacity to compete, using Islam, with radicals," Mbai said he told them.

'Focus on fighting ideas'
Deploying Islam to fight violent, deviant offshoots is not a new idea. Saudi Arabia, sensitive to criticism that its own zealously puritanical strain of Islam, Wahhabism, promotes militancy, has had religion-based programs against radicalization for years. And, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Turkey and Malaysia have long kept a tight grip on what clerics can and cannot preach.
But Indonesia, torn between its attachment to relatively new democratic freedoms and its revulsion toward terrorism, has struggled for years to agree on ways to keep mosques, boarding schools and other institutions free of militant views.
"Counterterrorism is working, but there has been almost no progress on immunization against extremist teaching," said _blankSidney Jones, a Jakarta-based expert on Southeast Asian terrorist networks with the International Crisis Group.
The government is trying to change that, drafting plans for a nationwide program to counter radical thinking, to be carried out by the counterterrorism agency, the Education Ministry and other government bodies.
"We have had a big success in fighting terrorism physically," Mbai said, "but now we need to focus on fighting ideas."
The view that Islam, or at least distorted versions of the faith, can contain the seeds of militancy does not sit well with many political and religious leaders.
"There is a huge resistance to anything that is seen as stigmatizing Islam," Jones  said.
A few miles from the Koranic school, Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail returned to his city hall office after prayers on a recent evening and explained why police work and religion should not mix. Terrorism, he said, "is not due to religious teaching" and will stop only if "the government solves people's problems."
The problems that the mayor, a former chairman of the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, has sometimes focused on solving have raised eyebrows among secular-minded residents. He ordered that a billboard advertisement for deodorant on a busy street be taken down because it showed a woman's armpit. As part of an effort to promote piety, he has been checking the registration certificates of karaoke parlors and says he will shut down those that do not comply with regulations.
Ismail denies wanting to force his own morality on residents and notes that he has come under fire from a hard-line group for not moving fast enough to shut down illegal drinking dens. The mayor recently received a package containing women's lingerie and a hairpiece - a gesture of contempt for his alleged lack of manly toughness in enforcing Islamic norms.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs, a sprawling bureaucracy that doles out money to  schools and other religious institutions, sees no link between faith and terrorism and is dead set against any trespassing on its turf by security officials. Police officers, said the religion minister, Suryadharma Ali, are welcome "to come to mosques to pray but not to control sermons" or anything else concerning faith.
His ministry, which is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving the procurement of overpriced Korans, publishes pamphlets promoting the "correct" nonviolent interpretation of jihad as a spiritual struggle for self-improvement and other Islamic concepts that have been hijacked by extremists.
But, unlike its equivalent in Malaysia, it does not review sermons or license preachers, something security chiefs would like to see. The religion minister said that, despite voluminous evidence of the role played by radical preachers in spreading violent ideas, "it is not clear why a small group of people do violence against others."
Any effort to rein in wayward clerics, he said, would only backfire. Under President Suharto, Indonesia's authoritarian ruler for more than three decades, "Islam was politically controlled," Suryadharma said, and "the result was that radical views grew secretly and uncontrollably."
The collapse of Suharto's regime in 1998 led to an explosion of Islamist activism as organizations rushed to take advantage of new freedoms, whether they were political parties such as the PKS - now part of Indonesia's coalition government - or thuggish vigilante groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI.
The FPI regularly attacks bars and nightclubs, as well as churches and the mosques of Ahmadiyah, a small sect it views as heretical. Denouncing Lady Gagaas a servant of Satan, the group this summer helped force the cancellation of a concert in Jakarta by the American performer. (It also sent the lingerie to the Depok mayor).
Islamist vigilante squads have almost no public support, and nonviolent Islamist political parties show no sign of building on early successes to challenge still-dominant secular parties. But the explosion of religion-tinged activism, said Mbai, has made it more difficult to confront head-on the ideas of radicals who claim to be acting for their faith.

Radicalism at its source
To break through opposition to the idea that militant interpretations of Islam can spawn violence, the counterterrorism agency has turned for help to _blankNahdlatul Ulama, the world's largest Islamic organization. The guardian of Indonesia's traditionally moderate form of Islam, which has been influenced by centuries of contact with Hinduism, Buddhism and indigenous creeds, Nahdlatul Ulama controls a large network of boarding schools and mosques.
Haysim Muzadi, who headed the group for a decade, runs the Depok Koranic college that is collaborating with the National Counterterrorism Agency. Security forces, Muzadi said, "can only use repressive actions" against militancy and thus "need help from Islamic leaders" if they are to succeed.
 He cites as a "good example" a decision this year by a Jakarta publishing house to withdraw and then burn copies of a book that had caused offense with remarks about the prophet Muhammad. The burning, Muzadi said, deprived radical hotheads of a cause and prevented any attacks on the publisher. 
His school, which gets government cash for its efforts, has sought to tackle radical zeal at its source, working on a curriculum that draws a clean line between legitimate Islamic principles and what it sees as militant distortions. The library has banished works by Sayyid Qutb of Egypt and other radical theorists and is stacked instead with conservative Koranic commentaries and pamphlets by Indonesian writers denouncing imported strains of Islam. 
Muzadi said he realized the danger posed by radical Islam during a 2002 visit to New York's Ground Zero. "Everything became clear to me. I saw the threat. Radicals threaten not just America but the whole world. They also endanger Islam."
higginsandrew@washpost.com




15



 


August 22, 2012 Wednesday

 Why Western retailers are scrambling to get a foothold in Indonesia; 
Consumer spending makes up more than half the Indonesian economy, making it an attractive new market for Western companies like L'Oreal whose traditional customers are in recession-mired countries.

 
Consumer companies in the United States are suffering from a prolonged economic slowdown, and recent figures show the European economy is shrinking. So deep is the malaise in the West, some are calling this the lost decade.
But many emerging markets in Asia are powering ahead, and Indonesia, to the surprise of many, is leading the pack.
In recent weeks shopping malls, superstores, and outdoor markets here have been packed with shoppers stocking up for the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that mark the end of Ramadan, a month when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. In Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, spending spikes during Ramadan as Muslims buy food for elaborate fast-breaking ceremonies. Toward the end of the festive season, which concluded this weekend, they also buy new clothes, and increasingly, big ticket items like cars and electronics.
In years past consumers would spend a year's worth of savings on the holiday. But spending like this now occurs throughout the year.
A strong economy, rising wages, and easier access to credit are the main factors driving domestic spending. And as wealth levels rise, Indonesian consumers have begun to splurge on higher quality brands.
'It's down to lifestyle'
"It gives me a shock how women here shop," says Patricia Mulyadi, a public relations executive pondering the $45 price tag on a black ruffled skirt at Zara, a Spanish clothing retailer, in one of the city's ritzier shopping malls. She says she spends more on her clothes and personal appearance because she feels the pressure to keep up with friends.
"I make a decent income, but it's down to lifestyle," she says.
Ms. Mulyadi is just the type of shopper international companies are targeting as they seek to profit from rising wealth in a country where more than half of the economy depends on consumer spending.
Last month Indonesia beat economists' expectations by posting second quarter growth 6.4 percent above the same period last year. That makes it the second fastest growing economy among the world's top 20, just behind China, and the only one where growth is expected to continue.
Despite a rising trade deficit and yawning gap between export revenue and the cost of imports, Indonesia has overcome the global slowdown, mainly through rising investments and soaring domestic spending, driven by Indonesians' growing wealth.
"Many international brands are wanting to open a store in Indonesia," says Astri Permatasuri, a marketing manager for Plaza Indonesia mall in Jakarta. "From high-end brands to middle brands, they're pretty excited because they know this is a very [big] potential market for them."
Rapidly growing middle class
The reason Indonesia is now drawing attention from investors in the US and Europe is obvious, say analysts: a young, rapidly growing middle class that accounts for more than half the population in a country of 240 million people.
For now, the majority sit at the bottom of the middle class band, defined by the World Bank as those who spend between $2 and $20 a day. Multinationals that already have a foothold in Indonesia have long targeted this market.
They include Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever, which sells individual sachets of shampoo for less than $1, and Swiss-based Nestle, which is expanding production of individually wrapped chocolate wafers and snacks that are cheap and easy to transport.
But companies just starting to look toward Indonesia see potential among the middle class that is driving sales of cars, mobile phones, cosmetics, and housewares.
Ace Hardware and Procter & Gamble
Chicago-based home appliance retailer Ace Hardware recently announced plans to spend around $20 million this year to open more outlets in Indonesia, while Procter & Gamble, a consumer goods company headquartered in Ohio, is building a factory in West Java to produce baby diapers for Indonesia's nearly 20 million infants.
"That is certainly a message: that a company like P&G understands what opportunities there are in the consumer sector here," says Dennis Heffernan, an independent consultant and governor with the American Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta. "They not only want to market their goods, but they also want to make their goods here."
Multinationals, particularly textile and footwear companies, have long taken advantage of cheap manufacturing costs to produce goods here for export. But now more companies are producing goods to sell within the country.
Heffernan says the amount of attention US companies are devoting to the retail and consumer sector has "ramped up radically" in the past two years. The US Commercial Service has been leading trade missions here to seek opportunities for small- and medium-sized businesses.
"A lot of multinationals have been running to China and India in the past, but now it's becoming clear that Indonesia is a good place to invest and do business," he says.
Major European retailers are also scrambling to get a foothold. Swedish retailer Ikea, for instance, plans to open its first Indonesian outlet in 2014, while cosmetics company L'Oreal is set to open its new factory, its largest in the world, in the coming months.
Market research firm Roy Morgan, which monitors the consumer market, says consumer confidence is at a record high. But some investors remain reluctant about putting money into a country still plagued by a lack of infrastructure, high costs of doing business, and unclear regulations governing investment.
Chatib Basri, the head of Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board summed up the interest last week. "Indonesia is no paradise for investors," he says, noting a gross lack of infrastructure and high costs of doing business. But, "where else do they go? You can't miss Indonesia simply because of its size."




15


 


August 20, 2012 Monday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION

 EID AL-FITR

 
Muslims around the world celebrate the Islamic holiday that brings the holy month of Ramadan to a close 




15



 



August 20, 2012 Monday  


 For Indonesia's ethnic Chinese, a glimmer of hope

 
When mob violence swept across the Indonesian capital in May 1998, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese geologist and businessman, joined terrified neighbors in the heavily Chinese district of Pluit to defend their lives and property. They used sticks, gasoline bombs and even a few old shotguns to fend off attackers drunk with anti-Chinese fury. 
The frenzy of looting, rape and murder - triggered by a deep economic crisis and a vicious struggle for political power - stirred comparisons to Nazi assaults against the Jews. It so traumatized Indonesians of Chinese descent that many fled abroad, despairing at the seemingly ineradicable racism of their home country. 
Basuki, urged by friends and relatives to flee, decided to take a gamble and stay, judging that "the people who should leave are the rioters, not us. This is my country. Why should I leave?" 
Since then government bureaucrats have destroyed Basuki's mining business, and, as a Christian, he has endured taunts that Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, doesn't need "infidel" interlopers. 
Yet Basuki has done something that not long ago seemed impossible: He has become a successful politician, confounding predictions that Indonesian voters, who are mostly Muslims of indigenous blood, would never support an ethnic Chinese Christian, a member of a small and vulnerable minority that plays a major role in Indonesian business and in many professions.
Basuki, who first entered politics in his home region of Belitung, an island in the Java Sea, and is trying to repeat his success in Jakarta, thinks Indonesia is moving toward an "Obama moment" - a rupture with a long and often violent history of prejudice and resentment. 
Indonesia, a vast and sprawling archipelago, boasts extraordinary and potentially explosive ethnic and linguistic diversity. Its population of about 240 million includes more than 1,000 ethnic groups and subgroups, the biggest of which is Javanese. Nearly all are classified as "pribumi," or "sons of the soil," a term coined during Dutch colonial rule to designate "native Indonesians."
Chinese Indonesians, despite roots in Indonesia that go back centuries, have often been regarded as alien intruders by this overwhelming pribumi majority. A 2000 census, the last such comprehensive survey, put the number of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia at just 1.7 million - about 0.9 percent of the population - but the census asked people to identify their ethnic group, something that many Chinese would have been reluctant to do. Their real number is thought to be several times as high. About a third of Indonesia's ethnic Chinese are reported to be Christian.

Challenging the norms
On a trip to the United States in 2008, Basuki visited Denver during the Democratic National Convention and marveled at the nomination of Barack Obama, the son of a Kenyan who spent part of his boyhood in Jakarta, for president. Indonesia, Basuki said, has been breaking down old barriers, too, and will one day elect a leader from a minority.
Basuki remains a long way from becoming Indonesia's president, although that is now theoretically possible thanks to a new nationality law that ends the classification of ethnic Chinese as different from "native Indonesians" and thus ineligible for the nation's highest office.
For the moment, Basuki, better known here by the nickname "Ahok," is focused on trying to win a runoff next month to become vice governor of Jakarta. Denouncing the corruption-addled ways of Indonesia's established political elite, the ticket of Basuki and gubernatorial candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo easily won a first-round vote last month with pledges to bring change and competence to a capital city blighted by paralyzed traffic, decrepit infrastructure and greedy, sluggish officials.
The election campaign has been marred by scattered outbursts of bigotry, most notably by a popular singer who, during a sermon in a Jakarta mosque, said Islam bars voters from backing an "infidel." Indonesian law bans the use of race, religion and other toxic identity issues - known here by the acronym SARA - to rally voters, and the closely watched gubernatorial contest has become a test of how far Indonesia, or at least Jakarta, has defeated demons that took hold of the capital in 1998.
"A few years ago, this would have been very difficult," said Basuki, commenting on his candidacy during a campaign stop last weekend at a Ramadan-fast-breaking dinner. The event was held at the big South Jakarta house of a Muslim preacher, who is also an old family friend. Those attending included congregants from a local mosque; an association of street vendors, who waved a banner denouncing SARA divisions; and even an activist in the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, a fundamentalist Islamist group notorious for stoking religious and ethnic tensions and for helping force the cancelation of a Jakarta concert by Lady Gaga early this summer.
As an organization, FPI, along with a big mainstream Islamic party, is backing the rival ticket of the incumbent governor, who is a Muslim. But Eka Zaya, the FPI activist who attended the fast-breaking event, said he wants "to see change, so we need to support a new figure," even a Chinese Indonesian who is not a Muslim and doesn't fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended this weekend. 
To avoid causing offense, Basuki doesn't eat or drink in public between dawn and sunset during Ramadan, but he sees no reason to observe Islamic norms in private: "I'm a Christian. I don't like pretending."
Didi Kwartanada, a Chinese Indonesia researcher at a foundation that promotes interethnic concord, said he doubts that Indonesians outside wealthier districts of Jakarta are ready to vote yet for a non-Muslim Chinese for the presidency or other high office. That, he predicted, will "take two or three generations," but "things have definitely improved a lot. I don't say there is no anti-Chinese feeling, but Chinese can now live in peace here."

A history of discrimination
For much of Indonesia's modern history, first under the dominance of the Dutch East India Co., then as a formal Dutch colony and, after 1949, as an independent nation, ethnic Chinese have rarely been able to live in peace.
"No country harboring a Chinese minority possesses a blacker record of persecution and racial violence than Indonesia," according to "Sons of the Yellow Emperor," a study of overseas Chinese communities written by Lynn Pan, a leading authority on the subject. 
A massacre triggered by economic unrest in 1740 left thousands of Chinese dead. Dutch authorities later barred Chinese Indonesians from traveling without special permits and introduced a system of racial classification that separated residents of Chinese descent from other groups. At the same time, they also gave Chinese economic privileges over other ethnic groups. 
Independence in 1949 brought a severe backlash, with the new government, led by a fiery nationalist, banning trade in rural areas by non-indigenous Indonesians and imposing other restrictions. 
A failed communist coup in 1965 led to a spasm of horrific bloodletting targeted at ethnic Chinese and supposed supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party, or PKI, a revolutionary outfit that had been encouraged, funded and armed by Mao Zedong's Communist regime in Beijing. Amid the chaos, a new regime took over in Jakarta, led by Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron hand from 1965 until the mayhem of 1998. 
Discrimination against local Chinese became a pillar of Suharto's authoritarian New Order regime. After rejecting forced emigration as a solution to the "Chinese problem," authorities opted for coerced assimilation, banning Chinese newspapers, schools, festivals and other expressions of identity different from that of the indigenous majority. 
"Under Suharto, everything Chinese was suppressed," said Myra Sidharta, an 85-year-old, third-generation Chinese Indonesian who has chronicled the Chinese minority. Sidharta said that she sometimes played golf with Suharto before he seized power and that she found him "very boring" but not a frothing bigot. His anti-Chinese policies, she said, derived from a political calculation that the relatively well-off Chinese minority served as an easy and popular scapegoat.
The crumbling of Suharto's dictatorial authority in 1998 initially proved a nightmare for Indonesian Chinese as pro-democracy student demonstrations morphed into an orgy of rioting that hit Chinese-owned shops and homes with particular fury. But, as the country stabilized into a functioning democracy, the first elected president, the liberal-minded Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid, and his successors introduced legal and social reforms aimed at undoing past discrimination. 
They lifted bans on expressions of Chinese culture, revised nationality rules and even declared Confucianism an official religion, alongside Islam, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Buddhism. The Ministry of Religious Affairs now has a special unit dedicated to promoting and protecting an ancient Chinese system of Confucian ethics that China itself does not consider a religion.
The shifting landscape has led to some curious allegiances. Basuki, the rising ethnic Chinese politician, this year joined a political party led by Prabowo Subianto, a former son-in-law of Suharto and an ambitious military man who has been widely blamed for instigating the 1998 violence, allegedly in a bid to grab power. Basuki said it is "unfair" to "blame only him" and does not think Prabowo has Chinese blood on his hands. 
Basuki said race and religion may be losing their force in Indonesian politics, particularly as a surging economy - it grew by 6.4 percent in the second quarter - helps to erode a widespread view that, other than corrupt officials, only ethnic Chinese become millionaires. 
"In the last 10 years, many locals have got very rich. They are richer than the Chinese," Basuki said. "The issue is not race or religion but the welfare of the people. If you want clean, competent government, you vote for me." 
higginsandrew@washpost.com




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 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


August 18, 2012 Saturday

 Muslims both united, diverse in beliefs, practices

 
 Most of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims identify as either Sunni or Shia ? the two main branches of Islam and a source of political and social strife in the Middle East. But a growing number of faithful want to be known as "just Muslims," according to a global survey of the world's second largest religion, behind Christianity, by the Pew Research Center's Forum for Religion & Public Life. While the report, "The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity," shows differing views on Muslim identity, commitment and practices, the data gleaned from 38,000 interviews in 39 countries also reveals a universal solidarity in their belief in God and their adherence to Islam's key rituals such as Ramadan, a month-long fast that concludes Sunday, Aug. 19. "Whatever their personal reasons are for participating or whether they believe in certain things or not, they're all part of a (global Muslim) community and I think that comes across in these findings," said Jim Bell, director of international survey research for the Pew Research Center.  
The report released earlier this month did not delve into the political implications of the responses gathered over a four-year period from 2008-2012. But the findings do offer some insight into how generational and geographical circumstances influence how Muslims view themselves and practice their faith. The Middle East and Northern Africa is where Muslims most strongly identify as either Sunni or Shia, the survey found, and where views are mixed on whether the minority Shia are accepted as Muslims. The two sects were created by a leadership succession dispute following the death of Islam's founding prophet Muhammad, but the political rift has widened over the centuries as it has taken on theological distinctions and differences in religious practices. But the Pew report showed one-quarter of those surveyed were either unfamiliar with the Sunni-Shia distinction or found it unimportant. "This is especially true across Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as in Central Asia, where medians of at least 50 percent describe themselves as 'just a Muslim,'" the Pew report stated. In Indonesia, where nearly 13 percent of the world's Muslims live, 56 percent of those surveyed did not identify with either sect. Researchers were surprised, Bell said, to find that where one would assume strong animosity between the two sects ? in Lebanon and Iraq, where large populations of both sects reside ? is actually where Sunnis are at least 23 to 28 percentage points more likely than elsewhere in the Middle East to recognize Shias as Muslims. "Our findings suggest that maybe living side by side with one another actually increases rather than decreases tolerance," Bell said. Researchers also found that in Lebanon younger Sunnis are more accepting of Shias than Sunnis older than 35. "It may be that the generation that came of age during some of the most tense years of conflict in that country are less inclined to accept Shias as Muslims and that the generation that didn't have the same experience is more accepting," Bell observed. Researchers were unable to survey in either Saudi Arabia or Iran ? where the animosity between Sunni and Shia is particularly acute ? or in Syria, China and India, because political sensitivities and security concerns prevented polling of those sizeable Muslim populations. While there are differences in how Muslims identify themselves, they are united by their core beliefs and rituals, the survey found. Belief in one God and his Prophet Muhammad, angels, fate or predestination and Judgment Day are nearly universal, as is the observance of the Ramadan fast. A large majority also said they participate in annual almsgiving to help the poor and needy. Men and women also tend to be similar in expressing the role Islam plays in their lives and in their daily practice of praying and reading the Quran, Islam's sacred book. "The one exception to this pattern is mosque attendance: women are much more likely than men to say they never visit their local mosque. This gender gap is largest in South Asia and Central Asia," the report said. Differences emerged geographically and generationally when Muslims were asked how important religion is to them and how often they attend mosque, pray and read or listen to readings of the Quran. In sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and South Asia, about 9-in-10 said religion plays an important role in their lives. Similar attitudes were expressed by large majorities in the Middle East, with the exception of Lebanon, where 59 percent said religion is important. But stark differences appeared in Central Asia, Russia and the Balkans, where generally fewer than half of the Muslims living in the former communist countries said religion was important in their lives. Albanian Muslims had the lowest level of religious commitment at 15 percent, while Turkey, where Muslims did not live under communist rule, was the highest at 67 percent. Hakan Yafuz, a political science professor at the University of Utah who has studied Islamic culture in Central Asia, said Muslims were small in number and isolated during the colonial and Communist reigns over the region, making sectarian distinctions largely irrelevant and minimizing the role of religion. "The scientific atheism that was taught under the Communist system was somewhat successful" in purging belief and importance of religion in everyday life, Yafuz said. As a result, he explained, the practice of Islam is more internalized and spiritual than outwardly through the practice of prayer, fasting and other measures of commitment Pew researchers used. But Yafuz explained that since the breakup of the Soviet Union, a newer generation that is more knowledgeable about religion and more connected to the larger Muslim world is spurring a revival of Islam in the region. In fact, the Pew researchers found that Russia was an anomaly among Muslims worldwide. In that country 48 percent of Muslims ages 18-34 describe religion as very important to their lives, compared with 41 percent of those 35 and older. Elsewhere in the world, younger Muslims were less religious than their elders, although in the Middle East the generation gap is narrow, with large majorities of young and old saying their faith is central to their lives. The Pew Forum surveyed American Muslims in 2011 and found, as with their counterparts throughout the world, overwhelming acceptance of Islam's core beliefs. But the importance placed on religion in their daily life was less among U.S. Muslims, who were also less observant to the basic practices, such as prayer and mosque attendance. Where American Muslims stood out from the rest of the world, however, was their openness to different interpretations of Islam. A majority of U.S. Muslims (57 percent) said Islam can be understood in more than one way, while the median in countries outside the United States was just 27 percent. But Yavuz, author of the forthcoming book "Toward Islamic Enlightenment," to be published by Oxford University Press, predicts that gap will narrow in the future. He explained that between the rigid interpretation of Islam that will thrive in less stable nations and the more flexible interpretations found in Turkey, Indonesia and the United States, numerous other trends will take hold as Muslims find ways to embrace modernity and hold on to their faith. "The Muslim world is so diverse socially and economically that we will not have one trajectory, but multiple trajectories" of Islam in the future, he said.  email: mbrown@desnews.com 




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August 18, 2012 Saturday

 Strong quake hits northern Indonesian island

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- An earthquake registering magnitude 6.3 rocked a northern Indonesian island on Saturday as residents were ending their fast on the final day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, officials said. There were reports of at least two injuries but no tsunami warning was issued. 
The U.S. Geological Survey said the late-afternoon quake struck 56 kilometers (35 miles) southeast of Palu city on Sulawesi Island at a depth of 19.9 kilometers (12.4 miles).
Sudirman, an officer at the Disaster Management Agency who uses one name, said there were reports from the province that at least two people were injured by falling debris and of damage to houses in Parigi Mountong, the district closest to the epicenter.
He said the full extent of the injuries and damage was not yet known.
The earthquake struck as people in the province were ending their fast on the last day of Ramadan, causing many to rush out into the streets in panic, local news reports said.
The USGS initially measured the quake at magnitude 6.6 but later adjusted it to 6.3.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
A giant quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.




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August 18, 2012 Saturday

 The World: Bomb at Afghan bazaar kills 4 people

 
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Bomb at market kills four people
A bomb in a market in western Afghanistan killed four people.
A spokesman for the Herat provincial government said the explosion early Saturday wounded 12 people, including three policemen on patrol. 
Muhiudin Noori said the bomb was planted next to a shop in the busy bazaar in Shindand district.
Earlier this week, 35 people died in suicide bombings and a market bomb in two cities in what was the deadliest day for civilians this year.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA
6.3 earthquake
shakes up island
An earthquake registering magnitude 6.3 rocked a northern Indonesian island on Saturday as residents were ending their fast on the final day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, officials said. There were reports of at least two injuries, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the late-afternoon quake struck Sulawesi Island at a depth of 12.4 miles.
Sudirman, an officer at the Disaster Management Agency who uses one name, said there were reports from the province that at least two people were injured by falling debris and of damage to houses in Parigi Mountong, the district closest to the epicenter.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Interior secretary missing in cxrash
A light plane carrying Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo crashed into the sea on Saturday while attempting an emergency landing.
One person was rescued, but Robredo and two pilots were missing, officials said.
Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II said the four-seat, twin-engine Piper Seneca took off from central Cebu city and was heading to Robredo's hometown of Naga city when the pilot informed Masbate airport that it would make an emergency landing. The plane was unable to reach the airport and crashed into the sea.
Robredo's aide jumped out and was rescued.
  Herald wire services




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August 14, 2012 Tuesday

 Pakistan Independence Day - not really; 
The founder of Pakistan, which today celebrates Independence Day, believed in the separation of mosque and state. He would not recognize his country now. Blasphemy laws silence religious expression. On a visit, I was often reminded to lower my voice 'lest the servants hear you.'

 
Growing up in England, my Pakistani émigré parents taught me to revere the founder of Pakistan, which marks its 65th anniversary of independence today. Mohammed Ali Jinnah was a secular, westernized moderate - a sort of Muslim Thomas Jefferson, who cherished the separation of mosque and state. Our family trips to Pakistan always included a trip to Jinnah's mausoleum in the center of Karachi.
Almost 40 years after those childhood visits, it pains me to watch the relentless rise of religious extremism in Pakistan - a rise that has been permitted and even abetted by Pakistan's government. While readers in the West may be conscious of Islamism's tightening grip on the country, many are not aware of how this happened and how dangerous life in Pakistan has become for those deemed insufficiently devout - the very minorities Jinnah believed Pakistan would safeguard.
Starting with the 1978 Islamicization program instituted by then-President Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan has steadily dismembered the secular society Jinnah once envisioned. Yet it was Pakistan's blasphemy laws, a series of five ordinances targeting religious minorities enacted from 1980 onward, that would deal a decisive blow to Jinnah's democracy.
These include a law criminalizing blasphemy; a law punishing the defilement of the Quran; one denouncing any insult to the family, companions, or personage of the Prophet Mohammed; and two laws expressly targeting Pakistan's tiny pacifist Muslim community - the Ahmadi Muslims.
These are nothing less than "lawfare," the abuse of laws and judicial systems to achieve strategic military or political ends. The blasphemy laws are a volte face from Jinnah's ideals. Speaking to Pakistan's Constituent Assembly just days before Pakistan's 1947 independence from Britain, Jinnah emphasized religious tolerance as the bedrock of the new state.
"Every one of you," he said, "is first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations." He went on: "You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State."
Not only do these ideals now ring hollow, but few Pakistani newspaper editors dare publish anything that reflects such values. The notorious Islamist blasphemy laws have ensured a silencing not only of Pakistani minorities but also of free speech in Pakistan.
But Pakistan's Islamist lawfare has a far wider reach. While over 40 percent of all arrests under the blasphemy laws have been of Ahmadi Muslims, Christians also fall victim.
This past spring I traveled to Pakistan as a physician on business, and also to see relatives. I spoke with Father Edward Joseph at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Karachi, Pakistan's largest Catholic diocese. As he showed me the damage to his cathedral, still unrepaired from a 1998 bombing by a Pakistani Muslim jihadist just after mass, I asked him how he guided his congregation in such a hostile climate. His reply was philosophic:
"Just as Christ had his cross to bear, so, too, do we." Not a trace of anger inflected his voice.
"So you mean the blasphemy laws are the 'cross' Pakistani Christians must bear?" I clarified.
"Yes," he answered simply.
Next to him stood Davina, the young Christian doctor who had invited me to meet him. She added, "I never tender my opinion on any matter pertaining to religion, whether mine or anyone else's. Even if I hear completely false things said about Christianity I don't challenge them; it's too dangerous."
Earlier in my stay touring Karachi's Ziauddin hospital, a community general government hospital, I spoke to Christian nurses and asked them about their working conditions. One matron explained her situation:
"I am in charge of all nursing assignments. My nurses are Christians and Muslim. I cannot afford to show any favoritism to Christian nurses, nor would I. I always ensure my work is of the highest standards. We Christians have to be better, to be beyond reproach, because we don't want to invite any accusations of blasphemy. We must always do our job well, and better than others."
Later, as I exited the hospital toward my waiting driver, ensuring she was well out of earshot of any colleagues, she rushed up to me, whispering she had applied for political asylum in the United States.
In Pakistan, religion, caste, and creed have become the prime business of the state, and this submerges all in an impenetrable silence.
Wherever I went, friends and relatives reminded me to lower my voice "lest the servants hear you," to close the window "lest anyone hear your voice carried into the garden." I was silenced in cars ("not in front of the driver"), silenced in airports ("not here in public"), and yet many Pakistanis, Christians, minority Muslims, and Pakistan's fading Zoroastrian community (the Parsis) were desperate to talk with me.
Predictably the blasphemy laws lead to scores of arrests each year, and to subsequent violence.
Once convicted - often on hearsay - blasphemers are subject to the death penalty, though that sentence has yet to be carried out by the state. At least 16 people are on death row for blasphemy, and at least 20 are serving life sentences for the offense, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
If released on clemency, the accused are often lynched. Emboldened by a national climate of Islamist lawfare, Pakistani police rarely intervene, legitimizing generations of rising Islamists.
Today's Islamist Pakistan is a failing state. Even so it exerts serious international influence. Within 20 years, it is expected to overtake Indonesia as the world's most populous majority-Muslim state.
The retreat of tolerance in Pakistan has global ramifications. The country plays a prominent role in the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, the 57 member-state organization speaking for the Muslim majority world. Pakistan leads the group's efforts to broaden the application of abusive blasphemy laws across the world, efforts that remain, to date, largely uncontested.
Instead of holding Pakistan accountable, the world has lauded her: Pakistan sits on UN human rights panels - including the United Nations Human Rights Council (from 2006 to 2011). The US boycotted the council in the previous administration, but American drones and billions in aid simply fuel Islamist ideologies.
In Pakistan, what the law has destroyed, the law must rebuild. Just as lawmakers have authored Pakistan's demise, so too, only lawmakers can write prescriptions for its resurrection.
Last year, a leading Christian lawmaker, Pakistan's minister for minority affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, was assassinated for his attempts to rewrite the archaic blasphemy laws. His fate followed that of Gov. Salman Taseer, who was assassinated months earlier for calling for a repeal of the same laws.
Following through on their work requires moral courage. The next 65 years depend on it.
Qanta A. Ahmed is the author of "In the Land of Invisible Women," detailing her life in Saudi Arabia. She is associate professor of medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and honorary professor at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. Follow Dr. Ahmed on Facebook, Twitter (@MissDiagnosis), and her Huffington Post blog.




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August 13, 2012, Monday

 Right commentary decline is good news

 
FOR those of us who don't feel informed or reassured by the gruff rants of Rush Limbaugh and the silky prejudices of Sean Hannity, there is good news. Since 2010, they have suffered a drastic decline in listeners.
In Rush's case, he offended even loyal listeners and worse, he took a hit in his fat wallet when several advertisers dropped his show. The cause: slandering a college girl, calling her a "slut" and "prostitute" for testifying in favor of allowing contraceptives as part of student health services. 
Even before using his powerful megaphone to slander a girl young enough to be his granddaughter, Rush had lost 33 percent of his listeners; Hannity was down by 28 percent.
This is good news because it means the Big Lie can't take root in the porous mind of the vast, sensible public; a lie such as "Obama is Muslim and studied State Socialism in Indonesia," a lie so big that to refute it gives it air and leaves lingering doubts about the president.
And, tah-dah! - decline in over-the-rainbow right commentary makes room for radio pundits like me who try to be fair and accurate - at least according to standards set by Fox News. There's lots to talk about and so, borrowing Walter Winchell's intro line, let's go to press. First -
-The Election. Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are patriotic men with unusual gifts of mind and stamina required to do the job. Obama is a little more loose and down to earth and Romney is more stiff and certainly richer, but neither man would wreck the Republic.
Although they don't seem to know it, they have a common enemy: Tea Party freshmen in Congress whose brains are frozen by an 18th-century ideology. It was the Tea Party that blocked a bipartisan "grand compromise" of cuts and taxes that could have jump-started the economy.
If the Tea Party is elected in tandem with Romney, the new congressmen will make Romney's first term a living hell. He'll be constantly struggling against them as Eisenhower did the right wing of his party.
Ike even told his press secretary he had become so enraged by the right's obstruction that he briefly contemplated changing parties. Romney is stuck with the Tea Party and would be in the White House, poor man.
-Voter Fraud. When I was an undergraduate in Alabama, a political science professor asked me: "Don't you believe that the poor and minorities have the same right as you do to speak with their votes about how government is affecting their lives?" I couldn't think of any reason to disfranchise minorities and the poor, and so I am now disturbed by Republican legislators around the country erecting barriers to voting and purging voter rolls.
Florida is attempting to purge its voter lists of up to 180,000. The state has been ordered to stop by the Justice Department because many of the 2,600 names already erased were found to be legal.
Is there a plague of voter fraud sweeping the nation? How bad is it, an expert in voting was asked by U.S. News. I know the expert, Tova Wang, a fellow at the Century Foundation on whose board I sit. I trust her when she says you're more likely to be hit by lightning than find serious cases of fraud.
Do you think those Republican legislators really just want to stop Democrats from voting? Blatant partisanship couldn't happen, could it?
-Our White Count. It finally happened: whites are no longer an absolute majority in the United States. We're just another minority on our way to becoming more like Hawaii.
For those who blame the increasing de-Americanization of America on Hispanic immigration, don't. There were more Hispanic babies being born in the United States than there were Hispanic immigrants.
For younger generations, the process of remaking our culture will increase since minorities accounted for 92 percent of the increase in population for the first decade of the 21st century.
This may be disturbing news to some, but they shouldn't worry. It's not so bad being a minority. As a liberal-minded Southerner, I can testify that the majority has treated me pretty decently - except for a few stinky letters to the editor.
In Hawaii, where everyone is a minority, there's little reason for discrimination and no tolerance for racism. As any visitor can validate, Hawaiians are justly proud of their neighborly relations and hospitality.
The native population is now just under 10 percent, but how strange we whites first seemed to them. We did not greet each other by rubbing noses, thus sharing each other's breath.
They called us "haoles," or breathless, because we shook hands instead of noses and because we were so white we looked near death ...
That's today's broadcast: Aloha to my fellow minority Haoles out there!
Ayers, publisher emeritus of The Anniston Star in Alabama, is a frequent contributor to the Gazette.




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August 13, 2012  Monday

 Scholars, Spies, and Global Studies

 

ABSTRACT
It took a world war to propel Americans to make a serious commitment to global study. Now we have the time and the need to do it more deliberately. 

FULL TEXT
No one doubts that globalization is one of the most important trends of our day. Nor does anyone question that it affects what we study, how we teach, and whom we seek to reach. Beyond that, however, there is little consensus.
As American universities expand their global footprint with branch campuses in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and elsewhere, many faculty are concerned about oppressive governance, human-rights violations, and lack of academic freedom abroad. Meanwhile administrators grapple with how these new ventures-and globalization in general-will change teaching and research in the United States. As higher education seeks new audiences, will it be able to maintain the significance and character of the liberal arts, which have played such a crucial role in the educational mission of the American university?
Similarly educators increasingly agree that all undergraduates ought to pursue some study abroad. But should it involve language study and full cultural immersion? Or short-term travel and networking through internships and other kinds of programs?
The lack of clarity is especially troubling in my own field of area studies, where a growing number of scholars have abandoned older practices in favor of new forms of global study. 
But what does "global" really mean?
At a time when the relationship between the United States and the world is changing rapidly, we can no longer afford not to answer that question. We can no longer accept having fewer regional specialists than we once did in the social and policy sciences-not to mention in the humanities and global languages. It is time for us to engage directly the challenges we face introducing students to the complexities and overweening importance of global affairs.
It took a world war to propel Americans to make a serious commitment to global study. At the dawn of the World War II, the United States was the only allied great power without a formal and central institution to collect global "intelligence," and universities were notoriously deficient in studying parts of the world outside Europe and North America. When Franklin D. Roosevelt recruited William J. (Wild Bill) Donovan in 1941 to be his first coordinator of information, Donovan established the Research and Analysis Branch in Washington, D.C., and started hiring top academics. The fledgling office was reborn as a key unit of the Office of Strategic Services, itself established a few months after Pearl Harbor. As the United States joined the Allied war effort, Donovan hired several senior, and a great many younger, academics, principally from the Ivy League, to coordinate the collection, sorting, and analysis of material relevant to the war.
Although academics were initially recruited by discipline (like history, anthropology, geography, economics, politics), Donovan's "dean" of the OSS, the Harvard historian William L. Langer, soon recognized the need for area-specific interdisciplinary teams. That represented a major departure, as interdisciplinary research was still largely undeveloped in universities in the years before the war. Langer established divisions for Europe, Africa, the Soviet Union, Asia, and Latin America, while recruiting academics to advise him about the role of European empires; meanwhile, the OSS began posting agents around the world in offices from Algiers to Aden and Kandy to Kunming.
Scholars have debated the effects of the knowledge the OSS acquired on the actual conduct of the war, not to mention the political character and academic value of the work. Only a few, however, have recognized the agency's most enduring influence-on the nature and conduct of research and teaching in the postwar university, most of all on the new field of area studies.
"The first great center of area studies in the United States was not located in any university, but in Washington," McGeorge Bundy, onetime dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and then president of the Ford Foundation, observed in 1964. The OSS, he said, was "a remarkable institution, half cops-and-robbers and half faculty meeting."
OSS alums played the major role in establishing regional centers in major universities after the war. Their wartime reports were frequently the basis for monographs that would establish reputations, secure jobs, and become the springboard for further professional success. John K. Fairbank returned to Harvard from his time in China to set up the largest postwar program in East Asian studies. W. Norman Brown, head of the India desk, went on to found the first department of South Asian studies in the United States at the University of Pennsylvania, hiring many of the academics who had worked with him in Washington. Geroid T. Robinson went from his role as head of the Russia desk to become the first head of the Russian Institute at Columbia University.
The new field carried on Langer's vision of useful knowledge. It was interdisciplinary, uniting the humanities and the social sciences, and strategic, committed to a new relationship between the United States and the developing world. Coming out of World War II, area studies assumed that American global interests had little in common with those of previous European empires; that modernization was an inexorable process that would lead to political and economic development along with mutual understanding, shared interests, and commercial exchange with the United States.
Area-studies specialists would turn those assumptions into "development studies" and "modernization theory," which supplemented government efforts to promote Westernization (and Western influence) abroad. And American universities would build the infrastructure to provide training in regional languages, cultures, politics, and histories to create a new cadre of intellectuals and academics prepared to guide American attitudes toward a new world order.
The cold war provided further justification-and funds-for the field. To meet the growing Soviet threat, the government and foundations poured money into new programs, institutes, and schools of international affairs-even as many area-studies academics, including former OSS operatives, found themselves turned on by Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communism crusade and an aggressively partisan CIA and FBI.
With the end of the cold war, however, numerous scholars declared area studies either dead or an impediment to disciplinary development. Methodology took pride of place over immersion in regions, languages, and cultures, marginalizing the humanities. Budget cuts in universities further diluted them. The social sciences became increasingly focused on either issues at home or broadly comparative analysis. And the idea of the "global"-stemming from the identification of the importance of a new world economic system and marketplace-replaced the notion of a world made up of discrete areas.
The attacks of September 11, 2001, rekindled concerns about how ill prepared the United States was to meet worldwide threats, propelling financial support for Arabic language-and-regional study (while also precipitating new political conflict over the nature of Middle Eastern studies). The tide of globalization, however, was too strong to turn back. Ironically, much of the support for area studies over the past two decades has come from immigrant and international groups, which have endowed programs and chairs with the goal of celebrating the achievements of those groups and normalizing their position in American society.
None of this is to argue for a return to area studies as it was. It is instead to learn from its history. Throughout the rise and fall of area studies, the anthropologist Clifford Geertz argued eloquently for the importance of local knowledge. He reminded us that village fieldwork was not so much the study of villages as it was study in villages. In so doing, he made clear to a broad audience-social scientists and humanists alike-that the view from the village was different, not just from the view from the metropolis, but from the view from other villages or towns or cities as well. In one of his works, the 1968 Islam Observed, he famously noted that Muslims in Morocco and Indonesia all bowed toward the same place when they prayed, but did so from opposite directions. Geertz had global interests, to be sure, but he was the first to say that his theoretical understanding of thinkers as various as Weber and Durkheim or Dewey and Saussure was fundamentally changed by having read them through his experiences of ethnographic particularity.
Today's increasingly interconnected world-with its global flows of processes, goods and markets, desires and pleasures, ideas and movements, information and media-seems to transcend the particular. But as Geertz argued, we should be cautious about assuming that abstract social theories are never affected by where they are read. We must study not just the connectedness of things, but the things that connect, what happens when they connect, and what connection looks like from specific places and to specific people. For all their limitations, both our OSS predecessors and the practitioners of cold-war area studies understood that.
They also understood that knowledge of the history, culture, and language of other regions was important. Many of the global controversies swirling around us today-involving academic and political freedom, women's rights, environmental regulation, freedom of speech, religion, the press-must be read through the lenses of fundamental human values and enduring cultural realities. For that, the questions, critical thought, and scholarly attention to context provided by the humanities are still crucial.
Paul Ricoeur broadened philosophical humanism with an anthropological twist when he wrote that the route to understanding the self is through the detour of the other. The point now is to recognize the essential distinctiveness-of ourselves and others. That distinctiveness can only be appreciated in global frames and with insistent humanist attention. Far from wishing to rekindle the culture wars or return to identity politics, I mean here to insist on a radically new way of identifying the core values and aims of humanist education that puts traditional questions on a global stage, along with the studies of social and policy scientists.
Nor do I wish to return to the strategic focus of early area studies, which not only politicized research, but also determined its place in the university. In the rush to area studies, research and teaching may have become too sequestered in graduate institutes and separate departments to genuinely infuse the core disciplines-and general education. We know from the basic sciences that the goals of applied science are often best met by research in areas that initially have little in the way of utility to recommend them. Now, without a world war or a cold war, we have the luxury to move to the global in a more deliberative, engaged, disciplined, and intellectually serious (and less directly politicized) way than when area studies began.
Our future depends on understanding the new demands of globalization. As we realize that we still need local knowledge, that moral values and perspectives are important, and that we-and our students-need not limit ourselves to orthodoxies, we should learn from the period when many of our scholars were spies. This time, the knowledge we seek is neither covert nor short term. It is fundamental to the core commitments and activities of the university in our global future.




16



 


August 12, 2012 Sunday

 In Ramadan, rule-breakers pushed underground

 
BC-ML--Ramadan Dodgers,1151
In Ramadan, rule-breakers pushed underground
By DIAA HADID
Associated Press
RAMALLAH, West Bank » Alongside hundreds of millions of Muslims observing the sunrise-to-sundown fast of Ramadan, a minority in the community goes underground each year during the holy month, sneaking sandwiches and cigarettes when no one is looking.
They include Muslims ambivalent about their faith or outright atheists, nicotine addicts too hooked to quit for 15 hours straight or those who simply don't want to deal with a day of being hungry.
The Ramadan dodgers indulge in secret -- mostly to avoid offending those who are fasting or to avoid embarrassment. Community pressure is powerful. Many say they don't break the rules openly because they fear the disapproval of wives, neighbors and colleagues, or want to set a good example for their children. 
"I tried to fast, but it's pointless. I need to smoke," said Ahmed, a 28-year-old electrician, puffing on a cigarette at midday in the privacy of a windowless office in an industrial park in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
He said he didn't want his fiancee or his mother to know he wasn't fasting. "I'm saving myself a headache," he said, laughing.
In some places, authorities enforce adherence.
Saudi Arabia threatens to expel even non-Muslim expatriates seen violating Ramadan. In Muslim-majority Malaysia, officials randomly inspect restaurants and parks and nab hundreds of Muslims every year among those eating or drinking. Usually it means a fine amounting to around $300, but repeat offenders in some states can get a year in prison.
Still, the potential chiding from friends and family generally is reason enough to lay low.
In Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, marketing executive Amri said he eats in his car while heading to or from work and hides a water bottle in a work bag for secret sips at the office. He's an atheist but in the eyes of the law and society, he's Muslim.
"I'm sure some of my colleagues also don't always fast, but it's something that nobody wants to admit. Half of it is the fear of being caught by (the authorities), half of it is the fear that people will look at you negatively," he said.
Ahmed, Amri and others who acknowledged violating Ramadan spoke with The Associated Press on condition that their full names not be used, another sign of the taboo's power.
During Ramadan, healthy Muslims must abstain from food, drink and cigarettes during daylight hours. The elderly, the very young, the sick as well as menstruating and nursing women are not required to fast.
Ramadan is typically a joyous time. Families gather for meals at night and sit together to watch the season's best soap operas. People pray more. There's a spirit of warmth, a break from routine. For the observant, fasting is a reminder of the deprivations of the poor. It also brings a sense of community, so even many who don't consider themselves religious or slide on daily prayers throughout the year join in.
But it's not for everyone.
"I don't believe in fasting," said a 59-year-old Palestinian-American supermarket owner from Los Angeles. Raised near Jerusalem in a devout Muslim family, he let go of his faith after moving to the U.S. decades ago.
On a recent trip back, he was reprimanded by his more devout son, 32-year-old Basil, when he unthinkingly ate cake in their car while in a traffic jam of Muslim fasters near Ramallah.
"Basil smacks my hand. He says, Dad, Dad, what are you doing? You can't do that! Look at the people looking at us!" he recalled.
"I had something in my mouth. I stopped chewing it out of fear. People were looking at me," he said.
Chain-smoking Palestinian truck driver, Raed, 32, keeps his non-fasting secret from his four children, having his morning coffee and cigarette while they are sleeping.
At the same time, he pays his sons, ages 6 and 11, a dollar for every day they fast.
"I want them to be better than me," he said, sipping thick black Turkish coffee in an industrial district near Ramallah.
Raed said he doesn't fast because his job is too difficult.
"That's empty talk," countered his wife Nahla, 29. "It's the cigarettes that are killing him."
Ramadan violators are expected to pray for forgiveness, fast to make up for lost days and give charity in recompense.
Religious observance in general has increased dramatically since the 1970s in the Arab world and other parts of the Muslim world, as political Islam rose to prominence and secular nationalist and leftist ideologies faded from the scene.
The rise of Islamic political parties in the region in the wake of last year's Arab Spring protests is likely to reinforce this trend, said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center, a think tank.
The intensity of Ramadan coercion varies.
Most widespread is the closing of restaurants during daylight hours. Alcohol, which is forbidden in Islam no matter what month it is, often disappears during the holy month.
In Ramallah, where devout and secular live side-by-side, some cafes leave their doors coyly half open, a sign that it's business as usual. One restaurant offers free soup for Muslims wishing to break their fast after sundown. Other customers can order booze. Police allow restaurants to operate normally in areas with a strong Christian minority and foreigners, such as biblical Bethlehem.
Almost all bars in Egypt shut down or stop serving booze. City bylaws in Jakarta, capital of world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia, prohibit nightclubs, bars and massage parlors from operating.
In contrast, restaurants serving alcohol operate normally in Lebanon, with its large Christian minority.
And then there are the places where authorities take action.
In West Bank areas under the Palestinian self-rule government, police have detained 10 people for violating the fast in public, said police spokesman Mansour Khazamiyeh. Violators are generally jailed until Ramadan's end. It's also an offense in the Gaza Strip, ruled by Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, but police spokesman Ayman Batniji said nobody has been arrested yet.
Egyptian Islamic clerics issued a religious ruling demanding that the government ban public eating in Ramadan, even for the 10 percent Christian minority. Similar requests were made in the past before the Muslim Brotherhood's rise to power in Egypt this year, but so far the Arab world's most populous country doesn't enforce the fast.
Anyway, the biggest punishment for some is the guilt.
Abdul-Latif, a 45-year-old Afghan shopkeeper in Kabul, said he and his buddies sneaked some cigarettes -- but he didn't feel good about it.
"It would be such a shame if my family knew," he said. "It's also shameful for me. When it becomes time to eat at night, everyone else enjoys it more than me. I know about my shame."
------
With additional reporting by Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza, Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, Salah Sinan in Baghdad, Aya Batrawi in Cairo, Heidi Vogt and Amir Shah in Kabul, Sean Yoong in Kuala Lumpur and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta. Alt Heads:
In Ramadan, rule-breakers pushed underground




16


 


August 7, 2012, Tuesday

 Capitalism, not culture, drives economies

 
NEW YORK - Mitt Romney has explained that his comments abroad were simply truth-telling. "I tend to tell people what I actually believe," he said. With regard to one much-debated comment - on the cultural differences between Israelis and Palestinians - many agree with him. The Wall Street Journal editorial page and columnists including Marc A. Thiessen and John Podhoretz all applauded. Podhoretz wrote: "Anyone who publicizes his remark is helping Romney win the election."
"Culture makes all the difference," Romney said at a fundraiser in Israel, comparing the country's economic vitality to Palestinian poverty. Certainly there is a pedigree for this idea. Romney cited David Landes, an economics historian. He could have cited Max Weber, the great German scholar who first made this claim 100 years ago in his book "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," which argued that Protestant values were the most important fuel for economic progress. 
The problem is that Weber singled out two cultures as being particularly prone to poverty and stagnation, those of China and Japan. But these have been the world's fastest-growing large economies over the past five decades. Over the past two decades, the other powerhouse has been India, which was also described for years as having a culture incompatible with economic success - hence the phrase "the Hindu rate of growth," to describe the country's once-moribund state.
China was stagnant for centuries and then suddenly and seemingly miraculously, in the 1980s, began to industrialize three times faster than the West. What changed was not China's culture, which presumably was the same in the 1970s as it was in the 1980s. What changed, starting in 1979, were China's economic policies.
The same is true for Japan and India. Had Romney spent more time reading Milton Friedman, he would have realized that historically the key driver for economic growth has been the adoption of capitalism and its related institutions and policies across diverse cultures.
The link between economic policies and performance can be seen even in the country on which Romney was lavishing praise. Israel had many admirable traits in its early decades, but no one would have called it an economic miracle. Its economy was highly statist. Things changed in the 1990s with market-oriented reforms - initiated by Benjamin Netanyahu - and sound monetary policies. As a result, Israel's economy grew much faster than it had in the 1980s. The miracle Romney was praising had to do with new policies rather than deep culture.
Ironically, the argument that culture is central to a country's success has been used most frequently by Asian strongmen to argue that their countries need not adopt Western-style democracy. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew has made this case passionately for decades. It is an odd claim, because Singapore's own success would seem to contradict it. It is not so different from neighboring Malaysia. The crucial difference is that Singapore had extremely good leadership that pursued good economic policies with relentless discipline.
Despite all this evidence, most people still believe that two cultures in particular, African and Islamic, inhibit economic development. But the two countries that will next achieve a gross domestic product of $1 trillion are both Muslim democracies - Turkey and Indonesia. Of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world today, seven are African. The world is changing, and holding on to fixed views of culture means you will miss its changing dynamics.
When societies or people succeed, we search in their cultures for seeds of success. Culture being a large grab bag, you can usually find what you want. We observe the success of Jewish, Lebanese, Chinese and Indian people in various societies and attribute it to culture. But it may really stem from the traits of diaspora populations - small groups of entrepreneurial immigrants forced to live by their wits in alien cultures. Interestingly, Palestinians have a reputation around the Middle East for being savvy merchants and traders and have been successful in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Culture is important. It is the shared historical experience of people that is reflected in institutions and practices. But culture changes. German culture in 1935 was different from 1955. Europe was once a hotbed of violent nationalism; today it is postmodern and almost pacifist. The United States was once an isolationist, agrarian republic with a deep suspicion of a standing army. Today it has half of the world's military power.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan once observed: "The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change culture and save it from itself." That remains the wisest statement made about this complicated problem, probably too wise to ever be uttered in an American political campaign.
Zakaria is a syndicated columnist.




16


 


August 6, 2012, Monday

 The 'other' is not who you think it is

 
RECALL John McCain's question, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" McCain's manufactured mystery deepened with Sarah Palin's breathless, "...(Obama) is not a man who sees America as you and I see America." Their words, spoken during the 2008 campaign, were nothing more than bait designed to lure the gullible to the conclusion that the "other" candidate was not one of us.
McCain and Palin had plenty of help in their efforts at "othering" their opponent. Piling on were honesty-challenged media talkers along with congressional dregs such as Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn), Steve King (R-Iowa) and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. 
Continuing to the present, conservatives work themselves into sheening sweats with their convoluted efforts to convince us that Obama is not like you and me. They have said that Obama is a Muslim, Marxist, communist, socialist, Hitler loving, America hating, flag disrespecting, terrorist fist-bumping, gun grabbing, anti-colonial hater of white people who was born and raised in both Kenya and Indonesia where, while attending a madrassa (in case he later would become president) he was taught to make speeches in which he constantly apologizes for America.
Is anything left? Yep. Obama also is a black radical, an Afro-Leninist, a wealth re-distributor who has faked his college transcripts and has never had a real job because university professor, U.S. Senator and community organizer don't count. Also, the president wants the U.S. to be like France which is too gay and, well, too French.
Disinterested listeners ask whether the Olympics have added an event called hyperbolic crazy talk. Former 10-year member of the House and Colorado candidate for governor, Tom Tancredo termed Obama a greater threat to America than al-Qaeda. Newt Gingrich described the president as "so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior" can we understand his secret desire to bring down America. He is a Facist and a Nazi who, like Hitler, rules by dictate, according to Rush Limbaugh.
We have choices. We may stick our heads into this stagnant, stinking pool of "othering," uncritically lap it up and then ask for more. Or we may step back and ask which of our candidates for president really is most unlike us.
Do you have a net worth of $250 million? Mitt Romney does. Have you ever cavalierly offered to make a $10,000 bet? Mitt did. Does your wife drive a "couple of Cadillacs"? Was your income in the past year $20 million? Have you stood before unemployed people and said that you also are unemployed? Do you pay about 14 percent federal income tax? In each case, it's Mitt.
Have you, in a single year, earned nearly $400,000 in speaking fees, which you then referred to as an amount that "wasn't much money"? Do you have a Swiss bank account worth $3 million? Do you have unknown amounts of cash and investments stashed off-shore in the Cayman Islands and in the Bahamas? Mitt does.
Don't we all have a $12 million home, a $10 million vacation getaway shack and a dressage horse, or some other hobby, on which we take a $77,000 business tax deduction? Don't we all have IRA's worth more than $20 million? Mr. Romney does.
Heard enough?
There is a candidate who is not like you and me. He is Mitt Romney, the fellow who says he wants to end Medicare and who wishes to change the law so that your insurance company once again will be able to cancel your policy if you get sick. He is the candidate who, with a chuckle, said that he enjoys firing people.




16


 


August 5, 2012 Sunday  


 99 Ways to be Naughty in Kazakhstan

 
A few months ago, at the Tablao Villa Rosa, a tourist-friendly restaurant in Madrid, dozens of beautifully dressed women from all over the world were gathered around a stage taking cellphone pictures of a male flamenco dancer in tight pants. The women, whooping and clapping against the sides of their wine glasses, were editors, publishers and executives from the far-flung corners of the Cosmopolitan magazine universe -- missionaries from the more established international Cosmos (Australia, France, Britain) and the newer, upstart Cosmos (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Vietnam and dozens of other countries). They gathered there at the biennial Cosmic Conference to soak up the Cosmo ethos (''Fun, fearless, female!'') and then went home to radiate it outward. One Cosmo staff member would tell me -- in complete seriousness, having chosen her words carefully -- that Cosmic was going to change my life.''Did you see those pants?'' asked Kate White as she sat down with a glass of red wine at the wine-barrel table where I was writing down my impressions of, among other things, the flamenco pants.  
White, 61, is the laser-blue-eyed editor of Cosmo U.S., the mother ship, or Big Cosmo, as it's called by other editors. During White's 14-year tenure, the magazine has increased its U.S. circulation to 3 million readers, from 2.3 million, and introduced 22 international editions for a total of 64, including spinoffs. (By comparison, Marie Claire has 35 international editions, and Glamour has 16). She's dazzling but relaxed, with a full, frequent laugh. She is the Bill Clinton of Cosmic, the charming and influential American, the unofficial boss of bosses, toward whom her international counterparts gravitate. Her book, ''I Shouldn't Be Telling You This: Success Secrets Every Gutsy Girl Should Know,'' is due out in September.
White also wastes no time. Within minutes she was asking me whether and when I want to marry, whether and when I want to have kids, whether I'd want to marry but not have kids and whether I'd consider freezing my eggs. I was surprised by my answers, not knowing I had them until I heard myself telling her, with no hesitation, that I did want to marry and have kids but that I thought I'd be O.K. if neither happened and that work was more important to me at the moment (perhaps to the detriment of those things) and a number of other personal details. Another Cosmo editor swooped in before I could ask her for specific advice, but I would have.
White's likable directness is one of her magazine's defining characteristics. Cosmo has a cheerful, girlfriendy tone (''When Your Period Makes You Cra-a-zy'') and a much racier reputation than its newsstand competitors (''Eeek! You'll Die When You Read What These 'Normal' Guys Wanted Once Their Pants Hit the Floor''). Its covers rarely fail to feature at least one bold, all-caps rendering of the word ''sex.'' The August issue, for instance, offered ''52 Sex Tips'' and ''When Your Vagina Acts Weird After Sex.'' A sampling of 2012 headlines includes ''50 Sex Tips,'' ''50 Kinky Sex Moves,'' ''99 Sex Questions'' and ''His Best Sex Ever.''
The repetition can be a little numbing, but it may help explain how Cosmo, which is the best-selling monthly magazine in the United States, has morphed into such a global juggernaut. (''If all the Cosmo readers from around the world came together,'' read a recent piece in Cosmo South Africa, ''this group would form the 16th-largest country in the world.'') Through those 64 editions, the magazine now spreads wild sex stories to 100 million teens and young women (making it closer to the 12th-largest country, actually) in more than 100 nations -- including quite a few where any discussion of sex is taboo. And plenty of others where reading a glossy magazine still carries cachet. (''Many girls consider a hard copy of Cosmo to be an important accessory,'' says Maya Akisheva, the editor of Cosmo Kazakhstan.) As the brand proudly points out, in 2011 alone, these readers spent $1.4 billion on shoes, $400 million on cars, $2.5 billion on beauty products and $1.5 billion on fragrance and bought 24 million pairs of jeans.
The magazine recently tried to cement its mythology through a two-minute Web video called ''The Cosmo Effect.'' Onscreen text asks viewers if they take for granted that they can have it all (''dream job, independence, dreamy guy, fun fearless attitude, baby'') or, if they prefer, a modified version of ''it all'' (''sexy single life'' and ''a great pair of heels''). Because not so long ago, the video explains, women's choices were limited. Until ''one woman's vision changed the world.''
Helen Gurley Brown, or H.G.B. as she's known in the Cosmo universe, is the patron saint of Cosmopolitan's sex-centric brand of female empowerment. The author of the then-scandalous self-help book ''Sex and the Single Girl'' -- which advised women on how to better enjoy their jobs, relationships and bodies -- Brown re-branded the magazine with her frank, sexy tone in 1965, when most women's magazines were focused on family and home economics. She remained editor until 1997 and is still listed as editor in chief for Cosmopolitan International on all mastheads.
At 90, Brown maintains a delightfully incongruous pink corner office in the gleaming Hearst Tower on 57th Street in Manhattan. And although somewhat retired, she remains something of a spiritual godmother for the dozens of international editors trying to implement her ideas in their own countries. '' 'Sex and the Single Girl' is still the G.P.S. to being W.O.W. -- a well-turned-out woman!'' explained the editor of Cosmo South Africa, Sbu Mpungose. As has been the case with other newer Cosmos, the first issue of Cosmo Azerbaijan, in 2011, included a feature on Brown: ''It was absolutely necessary for girls in our country to know who she is,'' the magazine's editor, Leyla Orujova, explained.
Akisheva, the editor in Kazakhstan, told me that until recently, she received a handwritten note from Brown after the publication of each issue. ''Our readers might not be very familiar with Helen Gurley Brown's books and biography,'' she said, ''but they surely are influenced by her original ideas. Because this is what Cosmo keeps telling them: You are strong, you can control your life, you can earn as much as men do and you can have sex before marriage and not be condemned by society.''
But what about the other stuff that Cosmo is telling them? One morning at Cosmic, a panel discussion included talk of some favorite Cosmo topics: sex toys (said to produce ''the most incredible combinations of orgasms''), how to help men get erections more quickly and anal sex (''backdoor booty'' as the magazine has called it). One panelist, a young Spanish woman, said that she teases her boyfriend with anal sex and then, jokingly, that she has to save something for marriage. The crowd roared. ''Only at Cosmo,'' said the editor of Cosmo Australia, Bronwyn McCahon, between bites of miniature muffins and sliced melon, ''will you be talking about anal sex at 10 a.m.''
Cosmo is an easy magazine to hate. When I asked my female friends -- including many single women in their late 20s, like me -- what they thought of it, most of them were unkind. ''Cosmo is complete trash,'' one explained. ''Mindless,'' another said. ''I would not be caught reading it outside of an airplane,'' said a third. ''It assumes and expects the worst of women,'' said another. I never had a particularly positive opinion of it, either, and my ambivalence was reinforced by headlines like this one, from a recent edition of Cosmo South Korea: ''Oops! My V Zone Is Strange!''
But to hear the Cosmo missionaries tell it, they're promoting feminism with every issue. ''Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world,'' Fira Basuki Baskoro, the editor of Cosmo Indonesia, said over a lunch of salad and paella. ''When Cosmo came to Indonesia, it changed the way the Indonesian woman thinks. Before Cosmo, it was taboo for women to talk about sex openly.''
White told me that during a 2010 trip to New Delhi, the editor of Cosmo India correlated a rise in love marriages over arranged marriages to Cosmo's influence. ''I don't know if this is true statistically,'' White said, but ''Cosmo has been very, very popular there. And I'd like to think that one of the messages we're delivering to women is: You don't have to marry the guy your parents told you to marry. You should marry who you want to marry. You can have a job if you'd like. You can have a career if you want. These choices are open to you today.''
When asked via e-mail if there were statistics to back up this correlation, the editor of Cosmo India, Nandini Bhalla, politely evaded the question but provided more interesting anecdotes. ''When we launched in 1996, we were flooded with letters -- women wanted to know if kissing could cause pregnancy. They were clueless about the basics of having sex, and they had a million questions about what was right and wrong. The Cosmo team actually tackled these questions personally -- writing back to readers with answers or carrying stories that tackled their concerns. Indian parents are usually conservative about sexual matters, and friends were often equally ignorant, so Cosmo was the only one with reliable information.''
''50 Kinky Sex Moves'' notwithstanding, Cosmo does adhere to a set of surprisingly wholesome values. The magazine discourages plastic surgery, for instance, and has run articles opposing breast implants. In its coverage of food and fitness, White notes, ''we don't do any diets, no crash dieting.'' The U.S. edition also has a section called Body Love, in which it tries ''to encourage women to feel good about their bodies,'' no matter their size. A recent issue featured a spread of a curvy woman in a variety of gorgeous bathing suits on some fabulous remote beach. It didn't feel like a token shoot of a larger model; she was beautiful, and the bathing suits were reasonably priced. (While trying to find the picture again on Google, I fell down the Cosmo rabbit hole, scrolling through a gallery of swimwear, then through ''How to Be Sexier -- Instantly'' and then through all 23 slides of ''Sexy Ideas for Long Hair.'' Texturizer now plays a role in my morning routine.)
The magazine also covers aspects of the female body beyond its sex appeal and orgasmic capacity. ''We ran an article that pained me to run,'' White told me, ''but I felt it was important. It basically said the key time to try to get pregnant is between 25 and 35. There has been so much said about still waiting until you're older, and I didn't have my first kid until I was 37, but we're taking a chance -- you need to know it.''
I asked why it pained her. ''I want every girl to feel that she can have her first kid at 50, if she wants,'' White said emphatically. She has encouraged readers to look into freezing their eggs.
Cosmo happens to be fairly traditional about sex itself. Brown believed that it was O.K. to sleep with married men (it was their wives' responsibility to keep them faithful, she argued), but White eliminated that from the formula. (''A total no-no,'' she said.) The magazine also assumes that you're having sex with a boyfriend or a husband (there's not much in the way of same-sex relationships), and not with a one-night stand. ''We certainly talk about sex mostly in terms of relationships,'' White said, ''and most of our readers have told us they're in relationships, and they want the sexual information for their relationship.'' White also sees the hookup culture boomeranging back to more traditional standards. ''One thing I do think that women will evaluate in the coming years,'' she said, ''is casual sex. Is it really what you want to be doing, casual sex, a lot of casual sex? Is it what you feel good about?'' But if it's your thing, that's fine too. ''We don't pass judgment,'' she said.
White acknowledges that some people find Cosmo's obsession with sex trashy, but she's unabashedly proud of how it sets the magazine apart. ''Every Cosmo reader expects to have herself and her pleasures taken care of, equally,'' she said matter-of-factly. ''We reinforce the idea all the time that, yes, we want you to be a fabulous lover, we want to give you those skills, but you better get it back, baby, because that's what you deserve.'' And if that makes for some repetitive stories, so be it. ''There's a frustration that it takes time to learn how to have an orgasm,'' White said, ''and have it consistently. So that's terrain we cover a lot.''
These mores are upheld, to varying degrees of cultural sensitivity, throughout the Cosmo universe. Judging by searches  site, Cosmo U.K. readers are most interested in hair and oral sex (''in that order,'' says its publishing director, Ella Dolphin), but in India, where women traditionally live with their parents until marriage, the Cosmo reader ''might not be comfortable openly discussing her sex life due to fear of being judged,'' Bhalla says. She also notes that because sex toys are banned in India, ''we're careful not to talk about them in the magazine.'' Leyla Orujova, the editor of Cosmo Azerbaijan, told me that her staff ensures that sex is generally discussed within the context of marriage. Cosmo Singapore comes with a yellow ''Unsuitable for the Young'' warning box on the cover and sometimes runs its sexiest content in a sealed section promising ''phenomenal pleasure . . . waiting for you inside.''
Most international Cosmos are run by their countries' natives, but Kerrie Simon-Lawrence, the beautiful, redheaded editor of Middle East Cosmo, is from Sydney. ''Obviously because of the cultural sensitivities within the Middle East'' -- where dating and premarital sex are, in some countries, punishable by law -- ''we can't lift so much from international editions.'' Throughout the Cosmic Conference, she and the magazine's publisher joked repeatedly about needing good lawyers and the possibility of going to jail.
Other editions feature more subtle deviations. Cosmo France has reliably more artsy and experimental covers. The South Korean edition is huge -- physically huge; issues sometimes come as two separate magazines, because they would otherwise break -- and focuses less on sex than marriage (''My Dreamy Wedding'' and ''Dreams Come True!'' are two cover lines from the 400-page April edition). The editor of Cosmo Croatia, Marjana Filipovic-Grcic, told me that stories about women acting bravely on their own have been particularly popular in her country. The same is true for Cosmo Kazakhstan, which ''focuses on career and travel more than the U.S. edition does,'' writes Akisheva, because ''Kazakhstan is a relatively newly independent, developing country, and women are excited about the career opportunities the market economy has to offer.''
Cosmo Germany is more business-oriented. Cosmo Russia (which has the highest circulation of any women's glossy magazine in that country) publishes longer articles. Cosmo Finland has been running multipage, centerfold-type spreads of topless Finnish guys in order to dispel the notion that Finnish guys aren't hot. (Not overly convincing!)
But for all of the magazines' differences, Cosmo is still pushing ''the same standards of beauty'' around the world, Allison Kimmich, executive director of the National Women's Studies Association, said one afternoon after I returned from the conference. ''I don't know that that's a global export that we want to be proud of.'' Kimmich agreed that editorial content ''can sometimes be what you might even call feminist,'' because ''at the most basic level, the articles do promote women's advancement and equality through good advice about career issues and women's health and sexuality.'' But, she said, there is plenty of content that sends ''contrary'' messages. ''The export of Cosmo is like the export of any other global American brand,'' she said. ''Coca-Cola, Hollywood films. It's a part of what's happening to our economy, and like all globalization, there's good with the bad.''
At the office of Peter Yates, the creative director of Hearst Magazines International, a wall is covered in postcard-size versions of international Cosmo covers tacked up in layers of 12 -- a year's worth of cover art, viewable as flipbooks. There's a lot of Megan Fox, Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde and Jessica Alba, who was once on 20 international covers at the same time. Unlike other women's magazines, which often go for make-up-centric close-ups (Allure), stylish playfulness (Glamour), professional elegance (Marie Claire) or high-fashion photography (Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Vogue), Cosmo keeps it consistently, overtly sexual. The women look young and fertile, and the cover star is generally Beautiful Young Woman With Lots of Cleavage, Standing, Hand on Hip, Almost but Not Quite Smiling -- or the look a woman might give herself in the mirror before going out hoping to get hit on.
The brand saves money by repurposing its covers across various editions, and it shaves costs in other ways, too. For the most part, articles are created by a small team of staff members at Big Cosmo and then ripple outward through the Cosmo network. The magazine has a database for international editors to see what features Cosmo U.S. has planned approximately three months before they run; once the images and layout are uploaded, they can then tweak the content they like to their own country's needs. Writers do not receive royalties when their work is repurposed. Huffy freelancers are virtually nonexistent.
So what appeared as ''Fascinating Breast Facts'' in the July 2011 edition of Cosmo U.S., featuring a close-up of a woman tugging her shirt open, became ''15 Facts You Need to Know About Your Breasts'' in the October 2011 edition of Cosmo Middle East, where it ran with a photo of a model demurely dangling a bra over her shoulder. ''What His Sleep Habits Can Tell You'' ran in Cosmo U.S. in March 2012 and, months later, appeared in China (same photography but with text translated into Chinese) and in Armenia (different photography). And what ran as the fashion spread ''Motorcycle Diaries'' in August 2009 in Cosmo U.S. -- featuring an abandoned gas station, denim, plaids, a hot guy and the open road -- ran two years later in Cosmo Mongolia with the same blend of denim, plaid, gas station and open road, except the whole thing had been reshot with guys who looked Mongolian.
One byline that regularly appears in editions around the world is that of Jessica Knoll, a pretty, friendly and immaculately put-together 28-year-old senior editor. Over drinks at a quiet wine bar near the Big Cosmo office, Knoll explained that it's not only cheaper to produce features from within but also easier for maintaining the Cosmo voice. And anyway, there's less of it to write these days: ''We did a redesign in January and slashed word count,'' she said. ''Part of that is because we live in a Twitter generation. We're not going to be indulgent writers who ramble on for a couple thousand words -- we need to find a way a to say things quickly but also have some personality.''
''I learned a lot from your recent, um, article,'' I said to her, about eight minutes into our meeting. ''About the wishbone-shaped . . . uh . . .''
''Oh, about the internal clitoris?'' she said. ''See, I don't get bashful. It becomes completely normal to talk to your boss and have the word 'penis' appear 15 times in your conversation.''
The article in question -- ''Have Easier, Stronger Orgasms'' -- was on ''surprising new findings'' about the clitoris based on research done in the 1990s (not exactly new) but features an interview with a woman whose sex book came out this year (new). It ran in the May edition of Cosmo U.S. and will likely appear in Cosmos around the world for months to come. ''It's always our goal to make something feel timely and fresh,'' Knoll said. ''Nothing can be evergreen. Even if it's an age-old idea, we have to somehow find a way to put a fresh spin on it.''
For example, in a passage from ''Sex and the Single Girl,'' from 1962, Helen Gurley Brown advises readers on how to catch someone's attention from across a bar: ''Look straight into his eyes, deep and searchingly, then lower your gaze,'' she wrote. ''Go back to your companions or magazine. Now look at him again the same way . . . steadfastly, questioningly. Then drop your eyes. Do it three times and you're a flirt! (P.S., You will have made him very happy.)'' And then from an article in the May 2012 issue of Cosmo titled, ''The Smile That Makes Men Hit on You'': ''A classic study found that you need to make eye contact with a dude and subtly smile at him twice in a row for him to get that you're interested. . . . Look at him, smile and hold your gaze for a couple of seconds. Then look away for a few seconds, look back and do the same thing again.'' A classic study.
Not that Cosmo and its patron saint haven't tried to evolve with the times. In the introduction to the 2003 reissue of ''Sex and the Single Girl,'' about what had changed in the four decades since the book was originally published, Brown wrote: ''Brains have become almost as treasured as beauty . . . almost! . . . If you had to or could choose one or the other, I would almost choose smart!''
This reminded me of a surprising moment from the Cosmic Convention. During a PowerPoint presentation about reader polls, one slide asked the audience to guess which of the following things young women wanted most: a) beauty; b) an amazing career; c) fame; or d) lots of money. There was a slight pause as audience members made their own guesses. Then the answer: Fame. A faint murmur of confusion. Fame? Really? I conducted a copycat poll among my own friends: 15 picked an amazing career, 6 picked money, 3 picked beauty and only 1 picked fame.
The presenter cited the rise of reality TV and made an effort to spin the findings into something positive. It's not that young women necessarily want to be the next Kim Kardashian, the presenter riffed, but that everyone wants to be famous within her social group or on her own Facebook feed.
So add famemongering to the list of less-than-empowering -- or ''contrary,'' as Kimmich would say -- messages that Cosmo sends to its audience worldwide. But what this hand-wringing neglects is that young women are smart and can sift for what they want. Worrying that Cosmo readers will unblinkingly follow orders about kinky sex moves or imbibe some latent sense of Kardashianism seems unfounded and unnecessary and even a little insulting. Maybe the magazine is benefiting from a rise in love marriages in India more than it is facilitating them, but it's definitely not pushing any woman who isn't interested into backdoor booty.
''I know a lot of people have issues about these very sexual cover lines being on display,'' Knoll said. She told me she could remember reading Cosmo from a very young age and never feeling like she had to go out and have sex with someone. Then she paused for a moment. ''When I would read Cosmo, all it made me want to do was grow up, wear a pretty dress, nice heels, move to the city and have an awesome life. And I just don't think that's a bad thing to want, you know?''




16


 


August 5, 2012 Sunday  


 99 Ways to be Naughty in Kazakhstan

 
A few months ago, at the Tablao Villa Rosa, a tourist-friendly restaurant in Madrid, dozens of beautifully dressed women from all over the world were gathered around a stage taking cellphone pictures of a male flamenco dancer in tight pants. The women, whooping and clapping against the sides of their wine glasses, were editors, publishers and executives from the far-flung corners of the Cosmopolitan magazine universe -- missionaries from the more established international Cosmos (Australia, France, Britain) and the newer, upstart Cosmos (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Vietnam and dozens of other countries). They gathered there at the biennial Cosmic Conference to soak up the Cosmo ethos (''Fun, fearless, female!'') and then went home to radiate it outward. One Cosmo staff member would tell me -- in complete seriousness, having chosen her words carefully -- that Cosmic was going to change my life.''Did you see those pants?'' asked Kate White as she sat down with a glass of red wine at the wine-barrel table where I was writing down my impressions of, among other things, the flamenco pants.  
White, 61, is the laser-blue-eyed editor of Cosmo U.S., the mother ship, or Big Cosmo, as it's called by other editors. During White's 14-year tenure, the magazine has increased its U.S. circulation to 3 million readers, from 2.3 million, and introduced 22 international editions for a total of 64, including spinoffs. (By comparison, Marie Claire has 35 international editions, and Glamour has 16). She's dazzling but relaxed, with a full, frequent laugh. She is the Bill Clinton of Cosmic, the charming and influential American, the unofficial boss of bosses, toward whom her international counterparts gravitate. Her book, ''I Shouldn't Be Telling You This: Success Secrets Every Gutsy Girl Should Know,'' is due out in September.
White also wastes no time. Within minutes she was asking me whether and when I want to marry, whether and when I want to have kids, whether I'd want to marry but not have kids and whether I'd consider freezing my eggs. I was surprised by my answers, not knowing I had them until I heard myself telling her, with no hesitation, that I did want to marry and have kids but that I thought I'd be O.K. if neither happened and that work was more important to me at the moment (perhaps to the detriment of those things) and a number of other personal details. Another Cosmo editor swooped in before I could ask her for specific advice, but I would have.
White's likable directness is one of her magazine's defining characteristics. Cosmo has a cheerful, girlfriendy tone (''When Your Period Makes You Cra-a-zy'') and a much racier reputation than its newsstand competitors (''Eeek! You'll Die When You Read What These 'Normal' Guys Wanted Once Their Pants Hit the Floor''). Its covers rarely fail to feature at least one bold, all-caps rendering of the word ''sex.'' The August issue, for instance, offered ''52 Sex Tips'' and ''When Your Vagina Acts Weird After Sex.'' A sampling of 2012 headlines includes ''50 Sex Tips,'' ''50 Kinky Sex Moves,'' ''99 Sex Questions'' and ''His Best Sex Ever.''
The repetition can be a little numbing, but it may help explain how Cosmo, which is the best-selling monthly magazine in the United States, has morphed into such a global juggernaut. (''If all the Cosmo readers from around the world came together,'' read a recent piece in Cosmo South Africa, ''this group would form the 16th-largest country in the world.'') Through those 64 editions, the magazine now spreads wild sex stories to 100 million teens and young women (making it closer to the 12th-largest country, actually) in more than 100 nations -- including quite a few where any discussion of sex is taboo. And plenty of others where reading a glossy magazine still carries cachet. (''Many girls consider a hard copy of Cosmo to be an important accessory,'' says Maya Akisheva, the editor of Cosmo Kazakhstan.) As the brand proudly points out, in 2011 alone, these readers spent $1.4 billion on shoes, $400 million on cars, $2.5 billion on beauty products and $1.5 billion on fragrance and bought 24 million pairs of jeans.
The magazine recently tried to cement its mythology through a two-minute Web video called ''The Cosmo Effect.'' Onscreen text asks viewers if they take for granted that they can have it all (''dream job, independence, dreamy guy, fun fearless attitude, baby'') or, if they prefer, a modified version of ''it all'' (''sexy single life'' and ''a great pair of heels''). Because not so long ago, the video explains, women's choices were limited. Until ''one woman's vision changed the world.''
Helen Gurley Brown, or H.G.B. as she's known in the Cosmo universe, is the patron saint of Cosmopolitan's sex-centric brand of female empowerment. The author of the then-scandalous self-help book ''Sex and the Single Girl'' -- which advised women on how to better enjoy their jobs, relationships and bodies -- Brown re-branded the magazine with her frank, sexy tone in 1965, when most women's magazines were focused on family and home economics. She remained editor until 1997 and is still listed as editor in chief for Cosmopolitan International on all mastheads.
At 90, Brown maintains a delightfully incongruous pink corner office in the gleaming Hearst Tower on 57th Street in Manhattan. And although somewhat retired, she remains something of a spiritual godmother for the dozens of international editors trying to implement her ideas in their own countries. '' 'Sex and the Single Girl' is still the G.P.S. to being W.O.W. -- a well-turned-out woman!'' explained the editor of Cosmo South Africa, Sbu Mpungose. As has been the case with other newer Cosmos, the first issue of Cosmo Azerbaijan, in 2011, included a feature on Brown: ''It was absolutely necessary for girls in our country to know who she is,'' the magazine's editor, Leyla Orujova, explained.
Akisheva, the editor in Kazakhstan, told me that until recently, she received a handwritten note from Brown after the publication of each issue. ''Our readers might not be very familiar with Helen Gurley Brown's books and biography,'' she said, ''but they surely are influenced by her original ideas. Because this is what Cosmo keeps telling them: You are strong, you can control your life, you can earn as much as men do and you can have sex before marriage and not be condemned by society.''
But what about the other stuff that Cosmo is telling them? One morning at Cosmic, a panel discussion included talk of some favorite Cosmo topics: sex toys (said to produce ''the most incredible combinations of orgasms''), how to help men get erections more quickly and anal sex (''backdoor booty'' as the magazine has called it). One panelist, a young Spanish woman, said that she teases her boyfriend with anal sex and then, jokingly, that she has to save something for marriage. The crowd roared. ''Only at Cosmo,'' said the editor of Cosmo Australia, Bronwyn McCahon, between bites of miniature muffins and sliced melon, ''will you be talking about anal sex at 10 a.m.''
Cosmo is an easy magazine to hate. When I asked my female friends -- including many single women in their late 20s, like me -- what they thought of it, most of them were unkind. ''Cosmo is complete trash,'' one explained. ''Mindless,'' another said. ''I would not be caught reading it outside of an airplane,'' said a third. ''It assumes and expects the worst of women,'' said another. I never had a particularly positive opinion of it, either, and my ambivalence was reinforced by headlines like this one, from a recent edition of Cosmo South Korea: ''Oops! My V Zone Is Strange!''
But to hear the Cosmo missionaries tell it, they're promoting feminism with every issue. ''Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world,'' Fira Basuki Baskoro, the editor of Cosmo Indonesia, said over a lunch of salad and paella. ''When Cosmo came to Indonesia, it changed the way the Indonesian woman thinks. Before Cosmo, it was taboo for women to talk about sex openly.''
White told me that during a 2010 trip to New Delhi, the editor of Cosmo India correlated a rise in love marriages over arranged marriages to Cosmo's influence. ''I don't know if this is true statistically,'' White said, but ''Cosmo has been very, very popular there. And I'd like to think that one of the messages we're delivering to women is: You don't have to marry the guy your parents told you to marry. You should marry who you want to marry. You can have a job if you'd like. You can have a career if you want. These choices are open to you today.''
When asked via e-mail if there were statistics to back up this correlation, the editor of Cosmo India, Nandini Bhalla, politely evaded the question but provided more interesting anecdotes. ''When we launched in 1996, we were flooded with letters -- women wanted to know if kissing could cause pregnancy. They were clueless about the basics of having sex, and they had a million questions about what was right and wrong. The Cosmo team actually tackled these questions personally -- writing back to readers with answers or carrying stories that tackled their concerns. Indian parents are usually conservative about sexual matters, and friends were often equally ignorant, so Cosmo was the only one with reliable information.''
''50 Kinky Sex Moves'' notwithstanding, Cosmo does adhere to a set of surprisingly wholesome values. The magazine discourages plastic surgery, for instance, and has run articles opposing breast implants. In its coverage of food and fitness, White notes, ''we don't do any diets, no crash dieting.'' The U.S. edition also has a section called Body Love, in which it tries ''to encourage women to feel good about their bodies,'' no matter their size. A recent issue featured a spread of a curvy woman in a variety of gorgeous bathing suits on some fabulous remote beach. It didn't feel like a token shoot of a larger model; she was beautiful, and the bathing suits were reasonably priced. (While trying to find the picture again on Google, I fell down the Cosmo rabbit hole, scrolling through a gallery of swimwear, then through ''How to Be Sexier -- Instantly'' and then through all 23 slides of ''Sexy Ideas for Long Hair.'' Texturizer now plays a role in my morning routine.)
The magazine also covers aspects of the female body beyond its sex appeal and orgasmic capacity. ''We ran an article that pained me to run,'' White told me, ''but I felt it was important. It basically said the key time to try to get pregnant is between 25 and 35. There has been so much said about still waiting until you're older, and I didn't have my first kid until I was 37, but we're taking a chance -- you need to know it.''
I asked why it pained her. ''I want every girl to feel that she can have her first kid at 50, if she wants,'' White said emphatically. She has encouraged readers to look into freezing their eggs.
Cosmo happens to be fairly traditional about sex itself. Brown believed that it was O.K. to sleep with married men (it was their wives' responsibility to keep them faithful, she argued), but White eliminated that from the formula. (''A total no-no,'' she said.) The magazine also assumes that you're having sex with a boyfriend or a husband (there's not much in the way of same-sex relationships), and not with a one-night stand. ''We certainly talk about sex mostly in terms of relationships,'' White said, ''and most of our readers have told us they're in relationships, and they want the sexual information for their relationship.'' White also sees the hookup culture boomeranging back to more traditional standards. ''One thing I do think that women will evaluate in the coming years,'' she said, ''is casual sex. Is it really what you want to be doing, casual sex, a lot of casual sex? Is it what you feel good about?'' But if it's your thing, that's fine too. ''We don't pass judgment,'' she said.
White acknowledges that some people find Cosmo's obsession with sex trashy, but she's unabashedly proud of how it sets the magazine apart. ''Every Cosmo reader expects to have herself and her pleasures taken care of, equally,'' she said matter-of-factly. ''We reinforce the idea all the time that, yes, we want you to be a fabulous lover, we want to give you those skills, but you better get it back, baby, because that's what you deserve.'' And if that makes for some repetitive stories, so be it. ''There's a frustration that it takes time to learn how to have an orgasm,'' White said, ''and have it consistently. So that's terrain we cover a lot.''
These mores are upheld, to varying degrees of cultural sensitivity, throughout the Cosmo universe. Judging by searches  site, Cosmo U.K. readers are most interested in hair and oral sex (''in that order,'' says its publishing director, Ella Dolphin), but in India, where women traditionally live with their parents until marriage, the Cosmo reader ''might not be comfortable openly discussing her sex life due to fear of being judged,'' Bhalla says. She also notes that because sex toys are banned in India, ''we're careful not to talk about them in the magazine.'' Leyla Orujova, the editor of Cosmo Azerbaijan, told me that her staff ensures that sex is generally discussed within the context of marriage. Cosmo Singapore comes with a yellow ''Unsuitable for the Young'' warning box on the cover and sometimes runs its sexiest content in a sealed section promising ''phenomenal pleasure . . . waiting for you inside.''
Most international Cosmos are run by their countries' natives, but Kerrie Simon-Lawrence, the beautiful, redheaded editor of Middle East Cosmo, is from Sydney. ''Obviously because of the cultural sensitivities within the Middle East'' -- where dating and premarital sex are, in some countries, punishable by law -- ''we can't lift so much from international editions.'' Throughout the Cosmic Conference, she and the magazine's publisher joked repeatedly about needing good lawyers and the possibility of going to jail.
Other editions feature more subtle deviations. Cosmo France has reliably more artsy and experimental covers. The South Korean edition is huge -- physically huge; issues sometimes come as two separate magazines, because they would otherwise break -- and focuses less on sex than marriage (''My Dreamy Wedding'' and ''Dreams Come True!'' are two cover lines from the 400-page April edition). The editor of Cosmo Croatia, Marjana Filipovic-Grcic, told me that stories about women acting bravely on their own have been particularly popular in her country. The same is true for Cosmo Kazakhstan, which ''focuses on career and travel more than the U.S. edition does,'' writes Akisheva, because ''Kazakhstan is a relatively newly independent, developing country, and women are excited about the career opportunities the market economy has to offer.''
Cosmo Germany is more business-oriented. Cosmo Russia (which has the highest circulation of any women's glossy magazine in that country) publishes longer articles. Cosmo Finland has been running multipage, centerfold-type spreads of topless Finnish guys in order to dispel the notion that Finnish guys aren't hot. (Not overly convincing!)
But for all of the magazines' differences, Cosmo is still pushing ''the same standards of beauty'' around the world, Allison Kimmich, executive director of the National Women's Studies Association, said one afternoon after I returned from the conference. ''I don't know that that's a global export that we want to be proud of.'' Kimmich agreed that editorial content ''can sometimes be what you might even call feminist,'' because ''at the most basic level, the articles do promote women's advancement and equality through good advice about career issues and women's health and sexuality.'' But, she said, there is plenty of content that sends ''contrary'' messages. ''The export of Cosmo is like the export of any other global American brand,'' she said. ''Coca-Cola, Hollywood films. It's a part of what's happening to our economy, and like all globalization, there's good with the bad.''
At the office of Peter Yates, the creative director of Hearst Magazines International, a wall is covered in postcard-size versions of international Cosmo covers tacked up in layers of 12 -- a year's worth of cover art, viewable as flipbooks. There's a lot of Megan Fox, Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde and Jessica Alba, who was once on 20 international covers at the same time. Unlike other women's magazines, which often go for make-up-centric close-ups (Allure), stylish playfulness (Glamour), professional elegance (Marie Claire) or high-fashion photography (Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Vogue), Cosmo keeps it consistently, overtly sexual. The women look young and fertile, and the cover star is generally Beautiful Young Woman With Lots of Cleavage, Standing, Hand on Hip, Almost but Not Quite Smiling -- or the look a woman might give herself in the mirror before going out hoping to get hit on.
The brand saves money by repurposing its covers across various editions, and it shaves costs in other ways, too. For the most part, articles are created by a small team of staff members at Big Cosmo and then ripple outward through the Cosmo network. The magazine has a database for international editors to see what features Cosmo U.S. has planned approximately three months before they run; once the images and layout are uploaded, they can then tweak the content they like to their own country's needs. Writers do not receive royalties when their work is repurposed. Huffy freelancers are virtually nonexistent.
So what appeared as ''Fascinating Breast Facts'' in the July 2011 edition of Cosmo U.S., featuring a close-up of a woman tugging her shirt open, became ''15 Facts You Need to Know About Your Breasts'' in the October 2011 edition of Cosmo Middle East, where it ran with a photo of a model demurely dangling a bra over her shoulder. ''What His Sleep Habits Can Tell You'' ran in Cosmo U.S. in March 2012 and, months later, appeared in China (same photography but with text translated into Chinese) and in Armenia (different photography). And what ran as the fashion spread ''Motorcycle Diaries'' in August 2009 in Cosmo U.S. -- featuring an abandoned gas station, denim, plaids, a hot guy and the open road -- ran two years later in Cosmo Mongolia with the same blend of denim, plaid, gas station and open road, except the whole thing had been reshot with guys who looked Mongolian.
One byline that regularly appears in editions around the world is that of Jessica Knoll, a pretty, friendly and immaculately put-together 28-year-old senior editor. Over drinks at a quiet wine bar near the Big Cosmo office, Knoll explained that it's not only cheaper to produce features from within but also easier for maintaining the Cosmo voice. And anyway, there's less of it to write these days: ''We did a redesign in January and slashed word count,'' she said. ''Part of that is because we live in a Twitter generation. We're not going to be indulgent writers who ramble on for a couple thousand words -- we need to find a way a to say things quickly but also have some personality.''
''I learned a lot from your recent, um, article,'' I said to her, about eight minutes into our meeting. ''About the wishbone-shaped . . . uh . . .''
''Oh, about the internal clitoris?'' she said. ''See, I don't get bashful. It becomes completely normal to talk to your boss and have the word 'penis' appear 15 times in your conversation.''
The article in question -- ''Have Easier, Stronger Orgasms'' -- was on ''surprising new findings'' about the clitoris based on research done in the 1990s (not exactly new) but features an interview with a woman whose sex book came out this year (new). It ran in the May edition of Cosmo U.S. and will likely appear in Cosmos around the world for months to come. ''It's always our goal to make something feel timely and fresh,'' Knoll said. ''Nothing can be evergreen. Even if it's an age-old idea, we have to somehow find a way to put a fresh spin on it.''
For example, in a passage from ''Sex and the Single Girl,'' from 1962, Helen Gurley Brown advises readers on how to catch someone's attention from across a bar: ''Look straight into his eyes, deep and searchingly, then lower your gaze,'' she wrote. ''Go back to your companions or magazine. Now look at him again the same way . . . steadfastly, questioningly. Then drop your eyes. Do it three times and you're a flirt! (P.S., You will have made him very happy.)'' And then from an article in the May 2012 issue of Cosmo titled, ''The Smile That Makes Men Hit on You'': ''A classic study found that you need to make eye contact with a dude and subtly smile at him twice in a row for him to get that you're interested. . . . Look at him, smile and hold your gaze for a couple of seconds. Then look away for a few seconds, look back and do the same thing again.'' A classic study.
Not that Cosmo and its patron saint haven't tried to evolve with the times. In the introduction to the 2003 reissue of ''Sex and the Single Girl,'' about what had changed in the four decades since the book was originally published, Brown wrote: ''Brains have become almost as treasured as beauty . . . almost! . . . If you had to or could choose one or the other, I would almost choose smart!''
This reminded me of a surprising moment from the Cosmic Convention. During a PowerPoint presentation about reader polls, one slide asked the audience to guess which of the following things young women wanted most: a) beauty; b) an amazing career; c) fame; or d) lots of money. There was a slight pause as audience members made their own guesses. Then the answer: Fame. A faint murmur of confusion. Fame? Really? I conducted a copycat poll among my own friends: 15 picked an amazing career, 6 picked money, 3 picked beauty and only 1 picked fame.
The presenter cited the rise of reality TV and made an effort to spin the findings into something positive. It's not that young women necessarily want to be the next Kim Kardashian, the presenter riffed, but that everyone wants to be famous within her social group or on her own Facebook feed.
So add famemongering to the list of less-than-empowering -- or ''contrary,'' as Kimmich would say -- messages that Cosmo sends to its audience worldwide. But what this hand-wringing neglects is that young women are smart and can sift for what they want. Worrying that Cosmo readers will unblinkingly follow orders about kinky sex moves or imbibe some latent sense of Kardashianism seems unfounded and unnecessary and even a little insulting. Maybe the magazine is benefiting from a rise in love marriages in India more than it is facilitating them, but it's definitely not pushing any woman who isn't interested into backdoor booty.
''I know a lot of people have issues about these very sexual cover lines being on display,'' Knoll said. She told me she could remember reading Cosmo from a very young age and never feeling like she had to go out and have sex with someone. Then she paused for a moment. ''When I would read Cosmo, all it made me want to do was grow up, wear a pretty dress, nice heels, move to the city and have an awesome life. And I just don't think that's a bad thing to want, you know?''




17


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


August 3, 2012 Friday

 U.S. slams Europe for anti-Muslim laws and Egypt over Christians' treatment

 
 WASHINGTON ? From pork rinds sprinkled on Muslim graves in France to a Christian pastor's death sentence for apostasy in Iran, religious minorities were targeted across the globe in 2011, according to a U.S. government report on the state of religious freedom. The State Department's annual compilation, released Monday, highlighted a few narrow openings in unlikely places ? transitional Libya and closed-off Myanmar, for example ? 
 but it also criticized some traditional U.S. allies for backsliding when it came to protecting the freedom to worship. Europe in particular was chided for failing to keep pace with its growing ethnic and religious diversity, with the report saying that the demographic change is sometimes accompanied by "growing xenophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim sentiment, and intolerance toward people considered 'the other.'" Belgium and France passed laws restricting dress that "adversely affected Muslims," while Hungary introduced changes making it so difficult to register religious organizations that the number of recognized religious groups plummeted from more than 300 to fewer than 32. "Members of faith communities that have long been under pressure report that the pressure is rising," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Washington. "Even some countries that are making progress on expanding political freedom are frozen in place when it comes to religious freedom. So when it comes to this human right, this key feature of stable, secure, peaceful societies, the world is sliding backwards." Religious freedom also was a fraught subject in the so-called Arab Spring rebellions, the waves of popular protests that unseated four Middle Eastern rulers and plunged the region into a complicated transition ostensibly toward more democratic rule. But many of the uprisings and transitions have taken on sectarian undertones, a trend now evident in the 16-month-old Syrian revolt. In Syria, the report found, the embattled regime of President Bashar Assad "targeted and destroyed churches and mosques across the country" in the early waves of protests. The investigators blamed the regime for propaganda that painted the protesters as "extreme Islamist factions" and also chided the protesters for conflating regime violence with perceived offenses by the Alawite minority, the sect of Assad and his top cronies. "This led to an increase of tension, violence and killing between largely Alawite and Sunni communities," the report said. "Some Christians, Druze, and opposition members also suffered at the hands of the regime. As the violence grew, members of minority religious communities were increasingly vulnerable." In Bahrain, where neighboring Sunni Muslim bulwark Saudi Arabia sent troops to crush a mainly Shiite rebellion, the government arrested and detained protesters, "the vast majority" of them Shiites. The report also noted the destruction of 53 religious structures, mostly Shiite places of worship, in the unrest. Meanwhile, revolutionary Egypt has "failed to curb rising violence against Coptic Christians," the report found, noting that no government officials were held responsible for an attack on protesters by authorities that left at least 25 people dead and more than 300 injured, most of them Copts. The surprise bright spot was Libya. The report praised the interim government for doing away with the Moammar Gadhafi-era laws restricting religious freedom and for including the free practice of religion in a draft constitution. In early 2012, the report continued, the Libyan Supreme Court also overturned a law that criminalized "insults against Islam, the state, and religious symbols." "They're in transitions that are important, but we're looking to them to honor what they said they would do," Suzan Johnson Cook, the U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, said of the Middle East's revolutionaries-turned-rulers. In Myanmar, which the U.S. administration still refers to as Burma, the government "took steps toward overcoming a longstanding legacy of intense religious oppression," such as easing church construction and permitting adherents of registered religious groups to worship as they chose. However, the report added, the government still closely monitored religious gatherings and refused to recognize the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority as citizens. The expansion of blasphemy laws also was a tool of religious repression, particularly in Muslim countries, according to the report. In Pakistan, people who were accused of blasphemy or who publicly criticized blasphemy laws were killed, including the only Christian in the country's Cabinet. Saudi Arabia used blasphemy laws to convict an Australian Shiite of Iraqi descent; his sentence of 500 lashes and a year in prison was reduced to 75 lashes and no jail time. Indonesia used similar laws to imprison minorities, including a Christian who was sentenced to five years for distributing books deemed "offensive to Islam." The congressionally mandated report reviews the status of religious freedom in 199 countries and territories. It's available in full at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm. 




17


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

August 2, 2012 Thursday

 Letters to the Editor

 
Plenty of big money backs Obama, too
A July 19 letter writer slammed Mitt Romney for his "huge financial resources" while conveniently ignoring Barack Obama's huge financial resources accumulated by seemingly endless "fundraisers" with his millionaire and billionaire show business buds and other hollow-headed deep-pocket liberal fat cats.
A few indisputable facts to consider: as a candidate, Obama promised to create five million "energy jobs" alone, claimed by the end of his first term his health care plan would "bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family," guaranteed that his financial rescue plan would help "stop foreclosures," predicted unemployment would not rise above eight percent if the stimulus plan was passed, pledged to "cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term," promised to "lift two million Americans from poverty" and vowed to "jolt our economy back to life," among other chimerical pipe dreams too numerous to list. These predictions were abysmally wrong, as everyone should be aware. 
To re-elect this incompetent socialist would be madness of the highest order.
Lanny R. Middings
San Ramon
Candidates should run on more than race
Rather than dwelling on the raising of Obama by a communist mother (whose parents were also communists) and education as a Muslim in a Muslim school in Indonesia, I prefer to focus on the result of such a background.
The result is a dictatorial and narcissistic man who disrespects the U.S. Constitution and is striving to destroy our capitalist system in favor of a socialist society and government which would destroy the most prosperous and moral country in history.
In review, Obama's sole qualification for president of the U.S. is that he is black, which seems to have mesmerized most of the black population and the white guilt-ridden. Whereas, there are several other black Americans that are qualified through their intellect, values and leadership capabilities.
Are we willing to sacrifice our most precious freedom and prosperity by re-electing a most inept and dangerous administration?
Frank J. Murar
Danville
Health care law good, more should be done
I totally agree with the Supreme Court's ruling and Obama Care -- as far as it goes! Our health care in America is so uneven and so expensive that it doesn't work now.
I have Medicare and a supplement and am very satisfied with the care I received. My only complaint is "the doughnut hole" on meds. The pharmaceuticals were left off the hook when President Bush helped us seniors. President Bush didn't negotiate a lower price because he didn't want to upset them. Wrong -- drugs are too expensive. The whole country should have a Medicare plan that everyone pays into and that is regulated from fraud and any mismanagement. Then Grandma or anyone else couldn't be thrown "under the bus!" The way it is now, one-third or more people can't even get on or near the bus.
Specialists should be paid less and more general practitioners should be let into medical school at government cost and pay back the education by working in the new all-inclusive system! Those crazy Tea Party folks don't want their Medicare touched -- pretty soon the whole country would be saying that in spades.
Barbara Alarab
Danville
Kudos for the stand on Delta water issue
Thanks to the editor for speaking out against "holding the Delta hostage."
Apparently, you've been educated by your reporters' coverage of water and Delta issues over the last three years. We hope you'll remain blunt in your criticism of present Delta priorities around water quality if or when the $11 billion bond for a conveyance comes to the voters. You should have added that secure levees will keep an expected sea level rise brought on by global warming from polluting the Delta further with salt. Earthquakes, floods, and other climate changes will happen. Please have your reporters interview Dr. Robert Pyke, of Lafayette, for comprehensive data on California levees and what can be done to preserve or upgrade them.
Jan Howe
San Ramon
Mileage tax worst political proposal ever
I think it is absolutely absurd that now on top of everything else, government and civic officials are considering a mileage tax to further burden the working people of the Bay Area.
I absolutely cannot believe it. No wonder so many people and businesses have left California to move somewhere else so that they can afford a financially comfortable living. The Bay Area is one of the most expensive places in the United States to live in, and now these so-called leaders of ours want to burden us even more and make life harder financially for not only the working class, but also for those of us who are retired and do not have the income that we once had when we were working.
I have a better idea. Why don't all these people who are coming up with these ideas, including all of our government officials, including members of the state Legislature, U.S. Congress, city and county officials try this new plan out and see how it works for them? That would include a mileage tax on air travel to Washington D.C., Sacramento, business travel, vacations, weekend outings with the family, a night out to dinner, etc. After a two-year trial, they could report back to all of us who are working and retired and let us know how good, or not good, this pilot program is working for them personally. Better yet! How about charging these officials a tax for every foot or inch they travel? That would generate even more money!
Dan Carleton
Pleasanton
Outrages aplenty in Golden State
Two newspaper articles this week make me wonder "What are these people thinking?"
One article is about an illegal alien, Sergio Garcia, who has passed the state bar exam and wants to practice law in California. Amazingly, the State Board of Bar Examiners thinks that would be just fine.
Unbelievable! Garcia has been in the country illegally, breaking the law every second, every day for years, and he wants to practice law! Even more unbelievable is that the state bar is OK with that. What are these people thinking? Why was Garcia even allowed to take the bar exam?
The second article is about a proposal to tax drivers in the Bay Area by miles driven, which would likely entail a GPS-like tracker on their cars. Unbelievable! What an invasion of privacy with a tracking device installed in your car. Even without a tracker, what a ridiculous idea.
We already have a fuel tax paid at the pump that accomplishes what this new tax would do. Drive more miles, buy more gas, pay more tax.
Thomas Jefferson
Livermore




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August 2, 2012 Thursday  


 Cultural development

 
Mitt Romney has explained that his comments abroad were simply truth-telling. "I tend to tell people what I actually believe," he said. With regard to one much-debated comment - on the cultural differences between Israelis and Palestinians - many agree with him. The Wall Street Journal editorial page and columnists including Marc A. Thiessen and John Podhoretz all applauded. Podhoretz wrote: "Anyone who publicizes his remark is helping Romney win the election."
"Culture makes all the difference," Romney said at a fundraiser in Israel, comparing the country's economic vitality to Palestinian poverty. Certainly there is a pedigree for this idea. Romney cited David Landes, an economics historian. He could have cited Max Weber, the great German scholar who first made this claim 100 years ago in his book "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," which argued that Protestant values were the most important fuel for economic progress. 
The problem is that Weber singled out two cultures as being particularly prone to poverty and stagnation, those of China and Japan. But these have been the world's fastest-growing large economies over the past five decades. Over the past two decades, the other powerhouse has been India, which was also described for years as having a culture incompatible with economic success - hence the phrase "the Hindu rate of growth," to describe the country's once-moribund state.
China was stagnant for centuries and then suddenly and seemingly miraculously, in the 1980s, began to industrialize three times faster than the West. What changed was not China's culture, which presumably was the same in the 1970s as it was in the 1980s. What changed, starting in 1979, were China's economic policies.
The same is true for Japan and India. Had Romney spent more time reading Milton Friedman, he would have realized that historically the key driver for economic growth has been the adoption of capitalism and its related institutions and policies across diverse cultures.
The link between economic policies and performance can be seen even in the country on which Romney was lavishing praise. Israel had many admirable traits in its early decades, but no one would have called it an economic miracle. Its economy was highly statist. Things changed in the 1990s with market-oriented reforms - initiated by Benjamin Netanyahu - and sound monetary policies. As a result, Israel's economy grew much faster than it had in the 1980s. The miracle Romney was praising had to do with new policies rather than deep culture.
Ironically, the argument that culture is central to a country's success has been used most frequently by Asian strongmen to argue that their countries need not adopt Western-style democracy. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew has made this case passionately for decades. It is an odd claim, because Singapore's own success would seem to contradict it. It is not so different from neighboring Malaysia. The crucial difference is that Singapore had extremely good leadership that pursued good economic policies with relentless discipline.
Despite all this evidence, most people still believe that two cultures in particular, African and Islamic, inhibit economic development. But the two countries that will next achieve a gross domestic product of $1 trillion are both Muslim democracies - Turkey and Indonesia. Of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world today, seven are African. The world is changing, and holding on to fixed views of culture means you will miss its changing dynamics.
When societies or people succeed, we search in their cultures for seeds of success. Culture being a large grab bag, you can usually find what you want. We observe the success of  Jewish, Lebanese, Chinese and Indian people in various societies and attribute it to culture. But it may really stem from the traits of diaspora populations - small groups of entrepreneurial immigrants forced to live by their wits in alien cultures. Interestingly, Palestinians have a reputation around the Middle East for being savvy merchants and traders and have been successful in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. 
Culture is important. It is the shared historical experience of people that is reflected in institutions and practices. But culture changes. German culture in 1935 was different from 1955. Europe was once a hotbed of violent nationalism; today it is postmodern and almost pacifist. The United States was once an isolationist, agrarian republic with a deep suspicion of a standing army. Today it has half of the world's military power. 
Daniel Patrick Moynihan once observed: "The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change culture and save it from itself." That remains the wisest statement made about this complicated problem, probably too wise to ever be uttered in an American political campaign.
comments@fareedzakaria.com




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July 29, 2012 Sunday  


 The audacity of doubt

 
There are Obama doubters and haters out there who claim with righteous anger that they are "vetting" the president, something they say the mainstream media never did. Some of them have said that my new biography - unwittingly, they argue, for I am too dumb to understand what my research has unearthed - proves that Barack Obama's defining memoir is phony and that his entire life is a fraud. My intent is not to defend Obama or his book; he can take care of himself, and I have my own questions about "Dreams From My Father," which I make clear in my book. But when comparing the liberties Obama took with composite characters and compressed chronology - which he acknowledged in the introduction to his memoir - to the stretches his most virulent detractors have taken in building their various conspiracies, I believe that they are the frauds and fabricators. 
Not all of them are "birthers," but the notion that the president was not born in the United States remains at the epicenter of the anti-Obama mythology. Here is the conspiracy that would have had to exist if Barack Hussein Obama II were not born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961:  
First, the local newspapers would have had to have been in on the scheme, because they ran notices of his birth among all the other local births that week. Second, the Immigration and Naturalization Service would have had to have been covering something up, because INS officials were closely tracking Barack Obama Sr. when he was at the University of Hawaii on a student visa from Kenya. They thought that he was a bigamist - which he was, having married a woman in Kenya before coming to the States - and a womanizer, which he also was. INS documents in the weeks and months before and after the son's birth clearly establish the father's whereabouts and the birth of his son. Finally, the name of Obama's mother, Stanley Ann, was unusual enough that doctors and nurses in Honolulu remembered it and her giving birth. One prominent doctor was asked by a young journalist if anything interesting had happened in the medical world that week, and he responded, "Well, Stanley had a baby!" 
In tandem with the birther notion comes the idea that Obama is a secret Muslim. His Kenyan grandfather, Hussein Onyango, was Muslim; his Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was Muslim; as a boy he was instructed in Islam at a school in Jakarta; and many of his college friends were Muslim. None of this adds up to Obama being Muslim, except in the minds of conspiratorialists. Obama never met his Kenyan grandfather. After infancy, he spent time with his Kenyan father only once, and in any case Barack Obama Sr. was an atheist. The truth is that Muslims had nothing to do with the rise of the Obamas of Kenya and that conservative evangelical Christians were essential every step of the way. 
It was proselytizing Seventh-day Adventists who first came to the Obamas' villages out near Lake Victoria at the start of the 20th century. They taught English and Western ways to the first wave of young boys from the Luo tribe, including Hussein Onyango. His son, the president's father, was also educated at a missionary school. Later, as a young adult, Barack Obama Sr. was mentored by a remarkable evangelical Christian, Betty Mooney, whose grandfather was one of the founders of Texas Christian University. Mooney, who went to Kenya in the late 1950s to spread the gospel and literacy, met Obama Sr. in Nairobi and hired him to translate some of her literacy books into the Luo tribal language. She encouraged and helped sponsor his coming to the United States and specifically to the University of Hawaii, where he met Stanley Ann Dunham. One can say that President Obama would not exist except for evangelical Christians.
While living in Jakarta from ages 6 through 9, young Obama temporarily took the last name of his stepfather, Soetoro, for school purposes. He was listed as a Muslim on school documents because students were listed in the religion of their fathers. Lolo was not particularly religious; Stanley Ann was spiritual but not part of any formal religion. For most of his three-plus years in Indonesia, Obama attended a Catholic grade school. When his family moved to a better neighborhood in his final year, he went to the local grade school, one of the best in the city. The central doctrine taught at S.D. Besuki was not Islam but Pancasila, or five principles, of modern Indonesia, which evoked the unity of the islands on the vast archipelago, social justice and a belief in one God. Conservative Muslims detested  Pancasila (a Sanskrit word revealing Indonesia's Hindu heritage), insisting that it was too liberal and open to too many religions and interpretations.
In both the issues of Obama's birth and of his religion, documents and common sense lead in one direction. Obama's doubters run the other way: His birth certificates must be fake; his espoused Christianity must be a cover. Another group of right-wing doubters hold on to the notion that Obama is a closet socialist, some sort of Manchurian candidate, an idea that his every move as a pragmatic liberal politician over the past 16 years has utterly disproved. Some others maintain that he was not smart enough to get into Occidental, Columbia and Harvard Law, and too inept to write his own memoir, which one particularly obsessed conspiratorialist claims was penned by the former radical Bill Ayers. What about the well-written letters from Obama that are published in my book? Those, too, must be frauds slipped to me by the Obama administration.
In the introduction to my book, I took note of a sick political culture where "facts are so easily twisted for political purposes and where strange armies of ideological pseudo-historians roam the biographical fields in search of stray ammunition." That sentence is now cited on right-wing Web sites as evidence that I hold them in contempt. True enough, one of the few accurate things that I've read from them. I do hold some of them in contempt, not because of their politics, nor because of their dislike of Obama. Political debate and disagreement are the lifeblood of American democracy. No, I hold them in contempt for the way they disregard facts and common sense and undermine the role of serious history as they concoct conspiracy theories that portray the president as dangerous, alien and less than American. 
What drives them? Some of it can be attributed to the give-and-take of today's harsh ideological divide. Some of it can be explained by the way misinformation spreads virally to millions of like-minded people, reinforcing preconceptions. And some of it, I believe, arises out of fears of demographic changes in this country, and out of racism.
David Maraniss, an associate editor of The Post, is the author of "Barack Obama: The Story" and "First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton." This is part of an occasional series on the 2012 presidential candidates' political lives.




17


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


July 27, 2012 Friday

 Lingering doubt, discomfort with Obama's religion

 
 A new survey confirms most Americans want a president who is religious. But the same survey shows more than a third of them don't know the faith of the sitting president or his Republican challenger. Some 31 percent of voters surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they didn't know the religion of President Barack Obama, while 17 percent said he is Muslim. Slightly less than half (49 percent) correctly identified him as a Christian, but that is down from 55 percent back in late 2008. Despite all the press about whether Mitt Romney's faith will help or hurt his GOP candidacy, just 60 percent of those surveyed knew he was a Mormon.  
The myth that Obama is a Muslim persists and has apparently gained steam since he took office. In October 2008, 12 percent of voters Pew surveyed said the Democratic candidate was Muslim, and that group has grown to 17 percent today. The numbers show the perception is largely partisan as 30 percent of Republicans identify the president as Muslim, up 14 percent from 2008. That news prompted a piece by Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author, posted on CNN, where he vented: "There is something deeply troubling about the state of religion and politics in America today. And among those troubles is the cynical manipulation of religion for political gain ? the use of God as a pawn in our political projects." And those who practice Islam have similar feelings. The AFP report on the Pew survey said that Muslim-American community leaders expressed concern that the lingering inability to recognize Obama's true faith showed a disturbing undercurrent in American politics, indicating a possible rise of Islamophobic discourse. "For 17 percent of people to believe Obama is a Muslim shows there's a lot of fear-mongering and politicking in America," said Haris Tarin from the Muslim Public Affairs Council. But Tarin also told the AFP that he opposes Obama's efforts to "constantly go out of his way to say he's a Christian." Obama's Kenyan father was born a Muslim, his middle name is Hussein and he spent years in Muslim-majority Indonesia as a child, the AFP reported. Joel Belz, founder of the evangelical bi-weekly World magazine, said that while he doesn't believe Obama is Muslim, many of those who do genuinely question the president's faith because "he equivocates on so many issues" "His willingness to be on every side of even important issues leaves some thoughtful people to say, 'I'm not sure he's leveled with us on what his faith commitments are,'" he said. David Weigel of Slate listed several issues that may have fueled theorizing about Obama's faith, but Weigel comes to a different conclusion. "There's no follow-up, but you can count off the things that conservative Republicans haven't liked about Obama. The Cairo speech. 'Apologizing for America.' Wanting to close Gitmo. Afghanistan timetable. Siding with rebels in the 'Arab Spring,' and watching the Muslim Brotherhood take the lead from the rebels in classic Bolshevik/Menshevik tradition. Then, most recently, you've got theories about the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrating the government. The people who don't like Obama start with policy, then make assumptions about religion." Prothero doesn't blame the disinformation about Obama's faith entirely on what he sees as politically motivated manipulators. He also says an electorate that is largely ignorant about religion must also take responsibility to become better informed. "I have no problem with voters who care about the religious faith of their presidential candidates. But if religion is so darn important to our public life, can't we at least make a modest effort to learn something about it?" he asked. "If so, let's start with these two indisputable facts: Mitt Romney is a Mormon. And Barack Obama is not a Muslim." 




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July 22, 2012 Sunday  


 Inside the Times

 
International
AS RELIGIOUS TENSIONS RISE,
INDONESIA TURNS BLIND EYE
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, has long been considered a place where different religious and ethnic groups can live in harmony and where Islam can work with democracy. But that perception has been repeatedly brought into question lately, with an apparent rise in religious extremism and signs of growing sectarian tensions. PAGE 7
NEW ROLE FOR YEMEN REBEL
The state in Yemen was always weak, and even before a civil conflict last year, local chieftains had much autonomy and power. But now opposition voices like that of Sheik Hamoud Saeed al-Mikhlafi, marginalized under the long authoritarian rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have gained increasing influence as the government in Yemen has grown even weaker. PAGE 9 
DEATHS IN PAKISTAN BOMBING
A suicide bomber killed at least nine people, including four children, in Pakistan's tribal belt as part of what local officials said was a violent rivalry between two militant groups. PAGE 8
FIGHTING THE MOB IN ITALY
In a mob stronghold in Italy, a literary festival where authors talk about their books on criminal organizations, and visitors browse through anti-Mafia paraphernalia is helping to breach an ingrained wall of silence, bred of a mixture of fear and resignation, and fueling a national fad for books about the country's powerful gangs. PAGE 10
CLASHES GROW IN SYRIA
Syrian troops clashed with rebels in the city of Aleppo for a second day, forcing inhabitants to flee to safer areas in some of the fiercest fighting to date in a crucial bastion of support for President Bashar al-Assad, according to activists. The rebels are trying to seize the momentum after battles in the capital. PAGE 10
National
DISNEY LENDS STAR POWER
TO REAGAN, AND VICE VERSA
In an unusual collaboration of presidential scholarship and mass-market entertainment, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and the Walt Disney Company have joined to open a sprawling exhibition drawn from the Disney archives. PAGE 11
GETTING PAID FOR H.I.V. TESTS
The District of Columbia is trying to find people who are infected with H.I.V. but do not know it by offering tests in grocery stores, on corners where addicts gather and even in motor vehicle offices -- and paying people to take them. PAGE 12
New York
WAITING FOR CHECK-IN
AT THE WRONG AIRPORT
With three major airports less than 20 miles from Midtown Manhattan, New York is one of a small number of cities around the world where travelers can find themselves trying to check in at the wrong airport. Visitors are sometimes tripped up by the fact that La Guardia, Kennedy and Newark Liberty International Airport form their own kind of Bermuda Triangle. PAGE 21
FOLLOW THAT TOURIST
The New York that tourists visit seems to rarely intersect with the city that residents see every day, Liz Robbin writes. She decided to hop into that parallel universe known as Tourists' New York with a loose itinerary of recommendations culled from French guidebooks, German Web sites and Japanese magazines. PAGE 20
LOW-WAGE WORKERS STRUGGLE
Despite job growth in certain knowledge-class and service sectors, unemployment has been rising in New York City. While it is a very good time to be moving to the city with a Stanford M.B.A., it is far harder for those seeking low-wage work. Big City, Ginia Bellafante. PAGE 20
Sports Sunday
WHITE SOX TRY TO BALANCE
RESULTS AND POTENTIAL
The White Sox are trying to hang on to first place in the A.L. Central with the veteran pitchers John Danks and Gavin Floyd on the disabled list. They need 23-year-old Chris Sale to help stabilize their rotation, but they also want to maximize his long-term potential. His is an interesting case about how to manage the workload of a phenom, writes Tyler Kepner. PAGE 2
SOCCER AT YANKEE STADIUM
The new Yankee Stadium will host an exhibition match between European champion Chelsea and the French power Paris Saint-Germain. It will be the first soccer game in the new stadium, carrying on a tradition that began at the first House That Ruth Built in 1931. PAGE 8
AN ARTIFACT OR A PAYDAY
Don Larsen's decision to auction his 1956 perfect game uniform, which had been on display at the San Diego Hall of Champions, could have broad implications for museums in possession of items of significant value but no conclusive proof of ownership. PAGE 2
Obituaries
STUART R. SCHRAM, 88
He was a physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, a scholar who published in French and German, and an author who wrote a seminal biography on Mao Zedong, whom he spent five decades studying and translating. PAGE 18
ILHAN MIMAROGLU, 86
A composer who wrote electronic music, worked with Charles Mingus on some of Mingus's last albums and was the president of his own record label, Finnadar. PAGE 18
STEPHEN DWOSKIN, 73
He was an experimental filmmaker whose work unflinchingly scrutinized the body and its myriad discontents. PAGE 18
Sunday Business
JOURNEY INTO THE TEETH
OF THE BAILOUT BUZZ SAW
''Bailout,'' a damning book by Neil Barofsky -- the man whose job it was to police the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout fund -- portrays regulators as captured by the very industry they were supposed to be regulating. Fair Game, Gretchen Morgenson. Page 1
WANING CRAFTSMANSHIP
The decline of manufacturing may be resulting in a dilution of craftsmanship -- long a vital ingredient in the American self-image as a can-do, inventive, we-can-make-anything people. Essay, Louis Uchitelle. Page 1
DISTANCE BY DESIGN
The easy-to-open design of Google's new smartphones may be symbolic of its effort to distance itself from Apple, which despite being the leader of the market, seems to design with the object of keeping users locked out. Digital Domain. Page 3
DATA, BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE
Data brokers like the Acxiom Corporation have developed advanced techniques to collect and collate information about consumers' offline, online and mobile behavior. But they have been slow to develop ways for consumers to gain access to the information that companies obtain, share and sell about them for marketing purposes. Page 3
Automobiles
THE HISTORY BEHIND
DODGE'S COMPACT DART
Dodge felt it had sound reasons to apply the Dart name, which it had not used in three decades, to its all new 2013 compact sedans. The new Dart drapes a sharply chiseled body over a chassis shared with the Alfa Romeo division of Fiat, Chrysler's Italian parent. But many young shoppers may have no idea of the half-century of history behind the car's nameplate. Sports, Page 10
Arts & Leisure
OBSCURE IN AMERICA,
BUT A LEGEND OVERSEAS
The film ''Searching for Sugar Man'' charts the strange career of the singer and songwriter Rodriguez, who made a pair of albums in the 1960s that sold almost nothing and then vanished. He never knew about or profited from his fan base in South Africa, where he had become as popular as the Rolling Stones or Elvis Presley. Page 1
Magazine
A MURDERER MAKES A PLEA
FOR HIS FREEDOM
Greg Ousley killed his parents when he was 14. Nineteen years later, he is making a plea to be freed from prison. Page 26
Book Review
DAVID EGGERS' SAD PARABLE
OF AMERICA IN THE WORLD
David Eggers' latest novel, ''A Hologram for the King,'' is a clear and supremely readable parable of America in the global economy, haunting, beautifully shaped and sad, writes Pico Iyer. The book is like a DeLillo novel written for the iPhone Generation. Page 1
Sunday Styles
WITH LEGALIZATION COMES
AN ONSLAUGHT OF NUPTIALS
The legalization of same-sex marriage in some places has resulted in a gay wedding boom, but not everyone wants to attend one wedding after another. Page 1
Sunday Review
TENSION HUMS IN SYRIA
UNDER VENEER OF NORMALCY
Even with the violence, daily life in Syria has gone on: parties, weddings and card games. But not far beneath the surface of the festivities, there is a tangible dread that the 17-month conflict will soon spill onto the streets. Opinion, Janine di Giovanni. Page 1
Editorial
A FORMULA FOR CUTTING HEALTH COSTS
A health care system owned and managed by Alaska's native people has achieved astonishing results in improving the health of its enrollees while cutting the costs of treating them. Sunday Review, Page 10
Op-Ed
BILL KELLER
President Obama has an option that may be a catastrophe. And it may be our best hope. Sunday Review, Page 11
MAUREEN DOWD
''Faust'' comes to Beaver Stadium: A saint in cleats sells his soul to the devil. Sunday Review, Page 11
ROSS DOUTHAT
Our older enemies represented a different form of evil. Now we are confronting nihilists -- terrorists without a cause. Sunday Review, Page 12
FRANK BRUNI
With the return of the Olympic Games, girl power again gets its sweaty, sinewy due. Sunday Review, Page 3
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The presidential campaign should be about making America the place everyone wants to go to launch their own moon shot. Sunday Review, Page 11




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July 21, 2012 Saturday

 World & nation in 60 seconds The nation The world

 
Military accused of cover-up:
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Thousands of newly released documents about water contamination at Camp Lejeune add to the evidence that the military long knew about tainted tap water blamed for deaths and illnesses among Marines and their families, and that officials covered up the information for years, a North Carolina congressman said Friday.
"For the last 30 years, instead of saying there could be health effects and or even we don't know what the health effects are, they've minimized it," said Democratic Rep. Brad Miller. 
Disguised man runs with goats:
SALT LAKE CITY -- A man spotted dressed in a goat suit among a herd of wild goats in the mountains of northern Utah has wildlife officials worried he could be in danger as hunting season approaches. Phil Douglass of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said Friday the person is doing nothing illegal, but he worries the so-called "goat man" is unaware of the dangers. Douglass said a man hiking Sunday along Ben Lomond peak in the mountains above Ogden, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, spotted the person dressed like a goat among a herd of real goats.
Hepatitis may be widespread:
CONCORD, N.H. -- A traveling hospital technician accused of causing a hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire previously worked in Maryland and Michigan health care facilities, officials said Friday.
A spokesman for The Johns Hopkins Hospital said David Kwiatkowski worked in the cardiac catheterization lab at the Baltimore hospital from July 2009 to January 2010.
Bush to skip convention:
WASHINGTON -- Former President George W. Bush is skipping the Republican National Convention next month in Tampa, Fla., where presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney will officially become the party's standard-bearer. Spokesman Freddy Ford said Bush is enjoying his time off the political stage.
Officer convicted of rape:
SAN ANTONIO -- Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, an Air Force instructor implicated in a sweeping sex scandal at one of the nation's busiest military training bases was convicted in military court Friday of raping one female recruit and sexually assaulting several others.
Tug, barge recovery today:
LAKEPORT, Mich. -- A plan for salvaging a sunken barge and an overturned tugboat in southern Lake Huron has been approved and work will begin "at first light" this morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday. The 110-foot dredging barge and the 38-foot tug were overcome in rough seas early Thursday morning about a mile from the Michigan coast and nearly six miles from the opening to the St. Clair River. No one was hurt.
Willard can avoid sex charge:
LOS ANGELES -- Fred Willard will be allowed to enroll in counseling courses to resolve a lewd conduct arrest that cost the actor a television job. The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office determined Friday that Willard's case was eligible for a diversion program that will keep him from being formally charged with lewd conduct if he completes the required courses. Willard, best-known as the announcer in the film "Best in Show," was arrested Wednesday night at an adult theater on suspicion of committing a lewd act.
Gene therapy recommended:
LONDON -- The European Medicines Agency is recommending the first-ever approval of a gene therapy treatment in the West. The EMA said Friday that Glybera, made by Dutch company UniQure, should be approved as a treatment for a rare inherited disease that makes people unable to digest fat. The treatment consists of a gene that makes a protein to break down fat.
Agents find half-ton of cocaine:
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Drug-sniffing dogs found a half-ton of cocaine hidden in machinery marked for shipment to Africa, customs police announced Friday. The cocaine was tightly packed into 490 brightly colored bricks and stuffed into heavy dredging equipment being flown from the international airport in Buenos Aires to an oil company in Lagos, Nigeria, authorities said.
61 schools in sex investigation:
SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chile will investigate 61 schools in the country's capital for possible child sex abuse, the attorney general said Friday in the latest government step to address a sharp rise in reports of such crimes. Several teachers have recently been accused of sexually molesting children at schools in affluent neighborhoods in the eastern portion of Santiago.
Ramadan starts in part of Asia:
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Muslims have begun fasting for the start of the Ramadan holy month in Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere around Asia.
The Muslim holy month devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and good deeds culminates with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Muslims believe God revealed the first verses of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad during Ramadan, which starts with the sighting of the new moon.




17


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

July 21, 2012 Saturday  
THIRD EDITION

 WORLD DIGEST

 
Muslims begin Ramadan fast
Muslims have begun fasting for the start of the Ramadan holy month in Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere around Asia, but the somber occasion was marred in Buddhist-dominated Thailand by two bomb blasts that killed one person and injured seven. 
The Muhammadiyah group, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, told its 30 million followers that Ramadan started Friday. The government, however, declared the official start as today, when most of the remaining 190 million Indonesians began the dawn-to-dusk fast.
Muslims in Thailand also began Ramadan on Friday, while Malaysians began today. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were to start today or Sunday.
The Muslim holy month devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and good deeds culminates with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
Myanmar's Rohingyas being targeted - Amnesty International accused both Myanmar's security forces and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists of carrying out new attacks against Rohingyas, who are seen as foreigners by the ethnic majority and denied citizenship by the government because it considers them illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh.
A government spokesman for coastal Rakhine state, which was engulfed by a wave of bloody unrest in June, called the allegations made Friday groundless and biased. Amnesty's claims are "totally opposite of what is happening on the ground," spokesman Win Myaing said, adding that the region was calm.
Also Friday, the new U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, announced a donation of $3 million in food aid to northern areas of the country affected by fighting between troops and ethnic militias.
24 die in bus crash in western Mexico - A bus went off a cliff early Friday in western Mexico, killing at least 24 people, authorities said. Nayarit state prosecutor's spokesman Leonel Escobedo said three children, two boys and a girl, were among the dead, though he didn't have their ages. An additional 31 people were injured in the accident in the town of Tequepexpan. The passengers were vacationers from the northern state of Chihuahua who were heading to Guayabitos beach in western Nayarit state, authorities said.
Chile investigating 61 schools for child sex abuse - Chile will investigate 61 schools in the country's capital for potential child sex abuse, the attorney general said Friday in the latest government step to address a sharp rise in reports of such crimes.
Attorney general Sabas Chahuan said his office will look at 49 schools in eastern Santiago and 12 on city's west side. Several teachers have recently been accused of sexually molesting children at schools in affluent neighborhoods in the eastern portion of Santiago.
Reports of sexual abuse of children under age of 14 jumped 22 percent in the first half of the year from the same period in 2011, according to official estimates.
Argentina nabs half-ton of Africa-bound cocaine - Drug-sniffing dogs found a half-ton of cocaine hidden in machinery marked for shipment to Africa, customs police announced Friday. The cocaine was tightly packed into 490 brightly colored bricks and stuffed into heavy dredging equipment being flown from the international airport in Buenos Aires to an oil company in Lagos, Nigeria, said Maria Siomara Ayeran, the director-general of Argentina's customs agency.
- Read more international news at stltoday.com/nation.




17


 


July 19, 2012 Thursday  
 

 Officials Turn Blind Eye as Religious Tensions Rise in Indonesia

 
SAMPANG, Indonesia -- The problems began shortly after Tajul Muluk, a Shiite cleric, opened a boarding school in 2004. The school, in a predominantly Sunni Muslim part of East Java, raised local tensions, and in 2006 it was attacked by thousands of villagers. When a mob set fire to the school and several homes last December, many Shiites saw it as just the latest episode in a simmering sectarian conflict -- one that they say has been ignored by the police and exploited by Islamists purporting to preserve the purity of the Muslim faith.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, has long been considered a place where different religious and ethnic groups can live in harmony and where Islam can work with democracy. 
But that perception has been repeatedly brought into question lately. In East Java, Sunni leaders are pushing the provincial government to adopt a regulation limiting the spread of Shiite Islam. It would prevent the country's two major Shiite organizations from organizing prayer gatherings and sermons.
Mr. Muluk is part of an increasingly threatened minority. Last Thursday, he was sentenced to two years in prison for violating a 1965 presidential decree against blasphemy by promoting a heretical interpretation of Islam. He denies the charges. Analysts say that Mr. Muluk challenged the Sunni-led power structure in his village, making him a target of local leaders.
''Most conflicts are hitched to local politics,'' said Ken Conboy, a security consultant who has tracked rising religious intolerance in Indonesia. ''They're based in communal, ethnic, tribal differences, but it's something that can be wielded by community and religious leaders.''
Only one person has been tried in connection with the arson attack, and he received a sentence for time served, leading to his immediate release.
Days after the fire, the local branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council, or M.U.I., an influential group of Muslim clerics, issued a fatwa, or decree, against Mr. Muluk, saying his teachings ''tarnished'' Islam.
''In Islam you have to be clean, focused and unified,'' said Bukhori Maksum, the chairman of the council in Sampang.
Throughout his blasphemy trial, Mr. Muluk appeared both stoic and incredulous. His wife, Ummu Kulsum, sat in the back of the courtroom.
''People in the village are trying to force us to join their religion,'' she said. ''We will hold out, because it is our right.''
Mr. Maksum said that Shiites in Sampang practiced Islam in a way that disturbed society. ''M.U.I. Sampang has the obligation to respond to this situation because if we did not, there would be bigger problems,'' he said.
Intolerance has also led to attacks on Christians, whose churches have been closed under pressure, and on members of the Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect many mainstream Muslims consider heretical.
The Wahid Institute, a liberal Islamic research organization working with some national lawmakers to draft a law on the protection of religious minorities, reported a 16 percent rise in cases of religious intolerance between 2010 and 2011, Including threats of violence, arson and discrimination.
Rights advocates accuse the police of turning a blind eye to such actions and accuse the national government of yielding to Islamic hard-liners for political gain. They point to a 2008 presidential decree that prohibits ''proselytizing'' by the Ahmadiyah.
Officials, however, deny that the 2008 decree or any of the recent anti-Shiite fatwas contravene the Constitution, saying they are necessary to prevent social conflict.
''If individuals practice a different form of religion, which is against the principles of other religions, this creates disunity and animosity,'' said Teuku Faizasyah, a special adviser to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Indonesia has opened up over the last 15 years, but the advent of democracy and the decentralization of power have also allowed a greater assertiveness by local religious leaders.
Analysts say many senior officials, including Mr. Yudhoyono, are reluctant to crack down forcefully on intolerance for fear of appearing un-Islamic.
''Five years ago this trend was only in the big cities,'' said Ahmad Suaedy, the executive director of the Wahid Institute. ''But it's spreading very fast because the government has ignored this situation.''




17



 



July 13, 2012 Friday  


 

Et cetera. . .
Prices listed where available.

The District
SPY AT NIGHT Friday 6 to 11. An interactive after-hours event at the museum. International Spy Museum, 800 F St. NW. 202-393-7798. www.spymuseum.org. $14.95-$27.95. 
THINGS FALL APART(Y) Friday 6 to midnight. Live graffiti, political art, fashion and popsicles bookend D-Project's hip-hop theater show "Fat Boy" at Dance Place (free tickets are available the day of). Brookland Artspace, 3305 Eighth St. NE. www.danceplace.org. Free. 
FRENCH FESTIVAL Saturday 10 to 5. The annual celebration of Bastille Day includes games, theater, dance, music and more. Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. 202-686-5807. www.hillwoodmuseum.org. $18, $15 seniors, $12 members, $10 students, $5 age 6-18, free age 6 and younger. 
LINCOLN DISCUSSION Saturday at 10. A discussion about Lincoln's 1862 decision to abolish slavery. New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave. NW. 202-393-3700. Free.  
BASTILLE DAY BAGUETTE RELAY RACE Saturday at 10:30. Kids and adults race with baguettes to celebrate Bastille Day at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively. Paul, 801 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. 202-524-4500. www.paul-usa.com. Free. 
UKULELE FESTIVAL Saturday at 11. Live ukulele music, vendors, food and more. Lake Anne Plaza, 1609 Washington Plaza, Reston. www.lakeanneplaza.com. Free. 
ART OF DARKNESS SCAVENGER HUNT Saturday at 2. A scavenger hunt centered around art with ominous undertones. National Gallery of Art, West Building, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. 877-946-4868. www.watsonadventures.com. $23.50. 
VIDEO GAME DAY Saturday 2 to 5. The D.C. Anime Club hosts a video game day, with tournaments and more. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW. 202-262-2083. dcanimeclub.org. 
BASTILLE DAY PARTY AT L'ENFANT Saturday 3 to 11. A "French maid race" is the centerpiece of the cafe's celebrations, which also include DJs spinning French tunes on the patio, can-can dancers and a masquerade street festival with beer trucks on a closed block of Vernon St. L'Enfant, 2000 18th St. NW. 202-319-1800. $5. 
D.C. CRUISE FOR A CAUSE Saturday 5:30 to 7. A Potomac cruise to benefit cancer patients and their families. Southwest Waterfront, Water Street SW. 703-938-5550. $65. 
MAN MEATS GRILL Sunday at 4:30. Butcher Pam Ginsberg leads a seminar on different cuts of meat and how to cook them. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St. NW. 202-408-3100. www.sixthandi.org. $18. 
YOGA IN THE PARK Sunday 5 to 6:30, through Aug. 26. Bikram Yoga Dupont hosts another summer of free weekly yoga classes in Meridian Hill Park; held on Sundays, the event gets its soundtrack from the drum circle nearby. Classes may be canceled due to inclement weather; check the studio's Facebook page for cancellations. Meridian Hill Park, 16th and Euclid streets NW. www.facebook.com/bikramyogadupont. Free. 
"INDONESIA AND ISLAM: ROOTS OF CULTURAL CREATIVITY" Tuesday 6:30 to 8:30. Jared Koller discusses the history of Islam from the 11th century to today. S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. 202-633-3030. www.smithsonianassociates.org. $30, $20 members. 
"DOWN INTO THE HIDDEN WORLD OF CAVES" Tuesday 6:45 to 8:45. Gregg Clemmer discusses the geology behind stalactites, stalagmites and other subterranean rock formations. S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. 202-633-3030. www.smithsonianassociates.org. $35, $25 members. 
YOGA IN THE PARK Wednesday at 6:30, through Aug. 29. Lululemon Logan Circle transforms the south end of Dupont Circle into an al fresco yoga studio every Wednesday through the summer. Classes won't take place in inclement weather, so be sure to call ahead or visit the store's Facebook site. Dupont Circle, Connecticut Avenue and Q Street NW. 202-518-4075. www.facebook.com/lululemonlogancircle. Free. 
"ANCIENT ROMAN GARDENS AS URBAN PHARMACOPEIA" Wednesday 6:45 to 8:30. Alain Touwaide discusses how a population boom in Rome during the time of Augustus resulted in a shortage of medicinal plants, which in turn led to the planting of urban gardens. S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. 202-633-3030. www.smithsonianassociates.org. $40, $30 members. 
COCKTAILS FOR A CAUSE Thursday 6:30 to 9:30. An evening of live jazz that benefits the Fisher House Foundation. Current Sushi, Rosebar Rooftop Lounge, 1215 Connecticut Ave. NW. www.cocktail4cause.eventbrite.com. $25-$30. 

Maryland
ANNAPOLIS IRISH FESTIVAL Saturday 11 to 10. Irish food, crafts, vendors and traditional and Celtic bands. Also includes a concert Friday (gates open at 5 p.m.). Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds, 1450 Generals Highway, Crownsville. 410-279-1596. www.annapolisirishfestival.com. $10 Friday, $20 Saturday, free age 12 and younger.
ART BLOOMS GALA RECEPTION Friday 6 to 10. An evening of live entertainment, food and art. Annmarie Garden, 13480 Dowell Rd., Solomons. 410-326-4640. www.annmariegarden.org. $65, $55 members. 
BETHESDA ART WALK Friday 6 to 9. Guided tours through several local galleries. Downtown Bethesda. 301-215-6660. www.bethesda.org. Free. 
RETREAT THROUGH WILLIAMSPORT Friday at 7, Saturday at 9 and Sunday at 10. A weekend of performances, lectures and other events to commemorate the end of the Gettysburg Campaign. Town of Williamsport Springfield Barn and the C&O Canal National Historical Park Cushwa Basin, Williamsport. 301-582-0813. www.williamsportretreat.com. Free, reservations required for some events. 
BETHESDA ARTIST MARKET Saturday 10 to 4. An outdoor art sale featuring a variety of work by local artists. Norfolk Avenue, between Fairmont and St. Elmo avenues, Bethesda. 301-215-6660. www.bethesda.org. Free. 
HOTTER THAN JULY FISH FRY 'N' BLUES Saturday 4 to 11. Blues bands including Blues Obsession, Tan Man Blues Band, and Joyce Ettingoff. Includes dancing, fried fish and other food. American Legion Post 41, 905 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring. 301-322-4808. www.dcblues.org. $12, includes a fish sandwich. 
OKTOBERFEST IN JULY Sunday 11 to 7:00. Bavarian food and beer, live music from the Musikkapelle Prutz Band, home-brewing lessons, vendors and more. Village Green Park and Pavilion, 100 Walter Thomas Rd., Indian Head. www.somdconcertband.org. Free. 
LIGHTHOUSE CRUISE Sunday 11:30 to 3:30. See three lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay and learn about their history. Annapolis Marriot Waterfront Hotel, 80 Compromise St., Annapolis. 410-263-7837. www.schoonerwoodwind.com. $89, $56 children. 
HOMETOWN HEROES Sunday at 1. Dancers from Alight Dance Theater depict young mothers and homemakers from the 1930s and '40s. Greenbelt Museum, 10 Crescent Rd., Greenbelt. 301-507-6582. www.greenbeltmuseum.org. $3, $1 for seniors, free for museum members.
PANEL DISCUSSION: INTERNATIONAL GREENBELT Tuesday at 7:30. A discussion about intercultural experiences in Greenbelt. Greenbelt Museum, 10 Crescent Rd., Greenbelt. 301-507-6582. www.greenbeltmuseum.org. Free. 
ARTIST TALK: MEI MEI CHANG Thursday 7 to 9. The artist discusses her exhibition, "Mnemonic Fragmentation." VisArts at Rockville, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville. 301-315-8200. www.visartscenter.org. Free. 
MOONLIGHT MADNESS Thursday at 7:30. Explore the ropes course, zip line and giant swing, followed by appetizers and drinks. Terrapin Adventures, 8600 Foundry Street, Savage Mill. 301-725-1313. www.terrapinadventures.com. $59.95. 

Virginia
BALLSTON ARTS AND CRAFTS MARKET Saturday 10 to 4. Handmade goods for sale and music by Rene Moffatt. Welburn Square, at the Ballston Metro, Arlington. 202-536-9714. www.ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com. Free. 
SHENANDOAH RIVER RODEO Saturday 5 to 9. A celebration of the Shenandoah River, with food, music and more. Low Water Bridge Campground, 192 Panhandle Rd., Bentonville. 540-837-1479. www.potomacriverkeeper.org/rodeo. $40, $70 per couple. 
SECOND SATURDAY ART WALK Saturday 6 to 9. Meet the artists whose works are on display in each building. Workhouse Arts Center, 9601 Ox Rd., Lorton. 703-495-0001. www.workhousearts.org. Free. 
MODEL TRAIN DISPLAY Sunday 1 to 4. Northern Virginia NTRACK members will have a display and N gauge trains running. Fairfax Station Railroad Museum, 11200 Fairfax Station Rd., Fairfax Station. 703-425-9225. www.fairfax-station.org. $3, $1 children. 
CROCHET GUILD OF PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY Monday 7 to 9. A crochet group meeting. Manassas Church of the Brethren, 10047 Nokesville Rd., Manassas. 571-247-1868. Free. 
MOUNT VERNON GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING Tuesday at 1. Genealogist, teacher, author and lecturer Sharon Hodges gives a talk entitled "Two Hundred Years Ago - The War of 1812." Hollin Hall Senior Center, 1500 Shenandoah Rd., Alexandria. 703-660-6969. www.mvgenealogy.org. Free. 
ARTHUR DOWNEY, JR. Wednesday 6:30 to 8:30. The author discusses the role of lawyers in the Civil War era. Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington. 703-228-5990. Free. 
LEGACY X 3: BARRON, REINKE AND VAN LANDINGHAM ART SALE Thursday 10 to 9, through July 21. A fundraiser and sale of works by League artists Pat Barron, Nancy Reinke and Marian Van Landingham. The Art League Gallery, Room 21, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. 703-683-1780. www.theartleague.org. 
FIRESIDE STORIES Thursday 6 to 7. Local historians discuss the life of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith. Ben Lomond Historic Site, 10321 Sudley Manor Dr., Manassas. 703-367-7872. www.pwcgov.org/historicsites. Free. 




18


 Star Tribune
 
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

July 11, 2012 Wednesday  
METRO EDITION

 Readers Write

 
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
The religious divide -- and what drives it
Amey Schnabel's July 10 commentary ("22 votes for a pastor -- for progress") was a beautiful description of the journey that the Evangelical Lutheran Church has taken over the last 20 years in its struggle to accept gay and lesbian clergy. However, in addition to the 22 kind and fair hearts in Schnabel's home congregation, we cannot forget those who were brave from the beginning and faced an uphill task to be ordained in the church they love. I am referring to Pastor Ruth Frost and Pastor Phyllis Zillhart, ordained in San Francisco in 1989, and Pastor Anita Hill, ordained in St. Paul in 2001, and many other gay and lesbian pastors who chose to remain in the ELCA and fight the good fight. There are other countless parish pastors, lay leaders and ELCA church leaders, including Bishop Mark S. Hanson, who provided the leadership that enabled the process to move forward. Lasting change in any organization can only occur from within, and I am proud to be a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
CHRISTI BYSTEDT, WAYZATA 
- - -
Schnabel's syrupy story about 22 brave souls in her hometown church who "are willing to read deeper into the meaning of what was written in the Bible" is a clear indication of why many mainline churches are steadily losing membership. When humans decide they know more than God, there is no longer any "there" there, and they might just as well call themselves Sunday social clubs rather than Christian churches.
HALE MESEROW, EAGAN
- - -
A July 9 letter writer suggests that antigay people are concerned about faith, social institutions, ideals and religious freedom while progay folks are concerned with fairness to people, benefits to people and civil rights, the former being abstractions and the latter human beings. I fail to see how concerns about these concepts are mutually exclusive or fall in either camp. And why are progay and antigay positions the only options? How about gay-neutral? That's my perspective on the amendment and why I will vote against it.
JOHN F. HETTERICK, PLYMOUTH
- - -
People who believe the Holy Scriptures' definition of marriage are not antigay, as the July 9 letter writer suggests. Many Christians have formed close friendships with gay people. Skin color, income level, ideology and sexual orientation do not inhibit most Christians from forming great friendships with people whose lifestyles may be different from ours. The definition of marriage is scriptural, and any deviation from this does present a problem for many Christian people.
BEV TISCHLER, JACKSON, MINN.
Islamic dress
Freedom to choose is a two-way street
As a western woman, I wondered if the male writers of recent letters -- and the commentator they were responding to, for that matter ("A first among firsts: Embracing the hijab," July 6) -- have even considered the possibility that Egypt's new first lady's isn't making a statement by wearing the hijab but making a choice. It is true that there are many Muslim countries where women don't have choices about dress, driving and many other things. However, there are many other predominantly Muslim countries in which there is no law forcing Muslim women to veil themselves or wear the hijab, yet some women still do -- for example, in Morocco or Indonesia.
Throughout my years as an ESL teacher, I have worked with many highly intelligent and highly educated Muslim women. Some of them chose to cover their heads as a sign of their faith; some didn't. For that matter, many Muslim-American women wear a veil, while an equal number choose jeans and a T-shirt. Some take the middle road and wear a head scarf with shirts and slacks.
Veils don't equal religious tyranny. The lack of tolerance for personal and religious choice does -- and we see that kind of tyranny everyday in the United States. So, back off, gentlemen, and let the new first lady of Egypt speak for herself.
KELLY MARCHWICK, MINNEAPOLIS
Teaching
It's a calling, not just a topic area
It takes a special person to be an effective teacher. It's not surprising that interest is lacking in the alternative teacher certification law of 2011 ("Alternate path for aspiring teachers still is untraveled," July 9). Why would a midcareer professional in any field want to teach? Successful teaching is not a matter of in-depth knowledge of a specific field. An expert teacher is creative and patient, knows how to manage classroom time, and, especially, loves the learners. Not every person who aspires to teach possesses these qualities. Anyone who doesn't want to invest the time it takes to earn a teaching degree is not going to be happy as a teacher. Teachers are overloaded with overcrowded curriculum mandates, not to mention the intangible amount of time required to deal with huge differences in student abilities, backgrounds and parental support. Albert Einstein would probably have had a hard time teaching science in an average public-school class.
DOROTHY LEATHERS, MINNEAPOLIS
Taxes
Can't cut deficit without revenue
President Obama is proposing to end the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year. Candidate Mitt Romney supports extending the tax cuts for all income earners. Romney's campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Monday that Obama's proposal amounted to a massive tax increase.
Saul is correct. Maintaining the tax rates for wealthy taxpayers will, as she confirms, provide "massive" revenues. That's the whole idea -- all of that revenue can go toward reducing the deficit. That reduction won't happen without substantial additional revenue.
ROLF WESTGARD, ST. PAUL




18



 



July 10, 2012 Tuesday  


 Picking a winner in Afghanistan

 
American debates over the war in Afghanistan tend to focus on how fast we can get our troops home and whether we can work with President Hamid Karzai's government to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban. But at least as important to whether the country will hold together, and whether a return of the Taliban and al-Qaeda will be prevented, is who will replace Karzai when his term ends in 2014. The United States must do everything possible to ensure a reformer wins that election.
The stakes are huge. If a warlord or corrupt politician wins the presidency, aid will be wasted and Afghanistan's economy - still dependent on billions in annual foreign aid, such as that pledged during Sunday's donor conference in Tokyo - will regress. Improvements in citizens' quality of life, such as dramatic increases in life expectancy, school enrollment and cell phone availability, are likely to be squandered. Worse, insurgents will have a rallying cry likely to resonate with millions of disaffected Afghans. Civil war could resume and, with it, control over large parts of the country could be lost to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. 
But if the next Afghan president can be an even moderately serious reformer, the most likely outcome will not be pretty but will be better than defeat. Plenty of good leaders are up to the challenge. Possible candidates include Hanif Atmar, a former minister of both education and the interior who recently helped start a multi-ethnic political reform movement; economic wizard Ashraf Ghani; and the former foreign minister and presidential runner-up Abdullah Abdullah. Should such a reformer prevail, the Kabul government will continue its struggle to contain the insurgency in rural locales while absorbing the occasional body blow in populated areas. But it will probably be able to hold onto major cities and transportation routes and keep the nation's security forces intact. With the right mix of vice presidents and cabinet leaders, and a sound approach to any peace talks with insurgents, it would also be likely to defuse threats of civil war along ethnic lines.
Some may wish to avoid interfering in the elections of a sovereign nation, but Afghan reformers are calling out for help. When I visited Afghanistan in May, several suggested to me that the United States pick a winner so they could rally around him. Also, the international presence in Afghanistan will have enormous influence whether we acknowledge it or not. Supporting the Karzai government is actually a form of political intervention, as it gives the incumbent great resources, such as control of state-run media, to try to choose his successor. Moreover, with U.S. officials making decisions about how much money and how many troops to devote to Afghanistan's long-term assistance, we have a right to say that the level of our support will be strongly influenced by the choices Afghans make - even if we will not (and should not) try to pick a winner.
It is inconceivable that Congress would sustain as many as 20,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, at an annual cost of perhaps $25 billion after 2014, and add an additional $3 billion to $5 billion a year in direct security and economic support to the next Afghan government if it is corrupt beyond hope. In such an event, while U.S. strategic interests would not lead us to end the effort completely, our commitment would surely be radically scaled back. We should emphasize this as the 2014 campaign takes shape. U.S. diplomats, ideally backed by other foreign missions in Kabul, including such key Muslim states as Turkey, Indonesia and Tanzania (which have impressive track records in fighting corruption and improving governance in recent years), should also be willing to say, publicly if necessary, which candidates would be unacceptable as president.
No formal or binding promise is possible, given the early stage of the Afghan political process and the looming U.S. elections. Still, a coordinated message from congressional leaders in both parties, President Obama and Mitt Romney could go a long way. 
Making clear that we will provide much less help to Afghanistan if it chooses poor leaders may seem obvious, but it was clear recently in Kabul that the message has not gotten through. Too many Afghans think that we will desert them unconditionally, as happened before, or, based on an exaggerated sense of their nation's geostrategic importance, that we will want to stay forever. We need to reestablish our leverage with clear, credible and consistent messaging from U.S. and international voices.
The next Afghan leader has a chance to restore U.S. faith and to help forge the kind of enduring security partnerships that the United States gradually developed with Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, South Korea and Taiwan. Afghans must be persuaded to defeat the crooks and warlords who may seek to replace Karzai. Thirteen years of American effort and treasure - and the Afghan people's ability to escape what has become a generation of war - depend greatly on achieving a sound election process and outcome in 2014.
Michael O'Hanlon is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. His most recent book is "Bending History: Barack Obama's Foreign Policy," which he co-authored with Martin Indyk and Kenneth Lieberthal.




18


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


July 6, 2012 Friday

 FOR EMILY: Christians in Indonesia hold worship service outside president's house to appeal for religious freedoms

 
 Our take: Christians living in Indonesia from various local churches gathered together in front of the home of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to hold a prayer service and request the freedom to worship. After pressures from Islamic extremists, the Taman Yasmin Church building was sealed off to prevent them from holding services.  
Hoping to find a peaceful resolve to the issue, Christians and other non-Muslim religions are working to show their opposition to the restrictions on their faith and are hoping the Indonesian government will help and support faith equality.  A Christian service of worship held beside a busy road in Jakarta is an unusual sight. However, the Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI) Taman Yasmin Church was left with no choice.     Taman Yasmin congregation, along with other local churches, prayed outside Merdeka Palace, residence of Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on 24 June. The congregation prayed under the gaze of police officials, hoping that their appeals for the freedom to worship will be heard.    The Taman Yasmin Church, located in Bogor, West Java, is a congregation of one of the member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The half-finished building of Taman Yasmin Church was sealed off by the local administration in 2008, reportedly under pressure from Islamic hardline political groups like the Islamic People's Forum.    Despite a Supreme Court ruling in favour of the church building in 2011, Taman Yasmin still has not been able to resume its worship services. 




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July 6, 2012 Friday  


 Wary Neighbors Turn Into Partners in a Quickly Developing Southeast Asia

 
PHU NAM RON, Thailand -- This hillside village along the border with Myanmar was once a dead end. The road from Bangkok curved up scenic mountains through a sparse collection of wood and cement houses and stopped at the frontier.
Now, as Myanmar opens up to the world after decades of isolation, Thai construction crews are clearing paths through the malarial jungles in preparation for creating a gateway that underlines the movement toward broader regional integration.
Southeast Asia has long been divided by language, religion, historical rivalries and, farther south, the geography of sprawling archipelagos. But the opening of Myanmar; the construction of bridges, railways and roads on the Indochinese peninsula; and the rise of inexpensive air travel are bringing the region's nations closer to the goal of standing up to the two giants of the neighborhood, India and China. Those changes, in turn, give more credence to plans to establish a common market by 2015.
''The rest of the world seems to be stalling,'' said Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is steering plans for the common market. ''We are doing quite well.'' 
As Asean prepares for high-level meetings next week that will be attended by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the ambitions for knitting Southeast Asia together economically have never been greater.
In 2014, Communist-ruled Laos and its capitalist neighbor Thailand, which were enemies during the cold war, are set to inaugurate the fourth bridge built across the Mekong River in less than two decades. Western Cambodia gets its electricity from Thailand, and the glittering lights of Bangkok are possible, in part, because of the natural gas that is piped in from Myanmar. And Myanmar says it will start rebuilding its rail line to Thailand -- conceived by Japan, built by prisoners during World War II and made famous by the movie ''The Bridge on the River Kwai.''
These types of connections ''are starting to restore Southeast Asia's position as the crossroads of Asia,'' said John Pang, chief executive of a research organization that studies Asean and was set up by the CIMB Group, a Malaysian banking network that operates throughout the region.
The impetus for the Asean nations' integration in many ways comes from the outside. Both Japan and China have been active in financing infrastructure projects in the region, partly because a better-connected Southeast Asia will make it easier to sell their products -- and, in Japan's case, to link a vast network of suppliers to Japanese-owned factories.
''This is their backyard,'' Mr. Pang said. ''They want easy access, and they want it organized.''
China's view of Southeast Asia is more complicated. Economically, it would like to see a strong Asean, Mr. Pang said. But on some delicate territorial issues, Beijing insists on dealing with countries individually, in particular on the rising tensions over the competing claims in the South China Sea.
From some vantage points, Southeast Asia barely coheres as a region.
There is an absolute monarchy, Brunei. There are also two nominally Marxist countries, Laos and Vietnam; and a freewheeling democracy prone to military coups, Thailand. At the geographical extremes are Indonesia, which is mostly Muslim and is the world's largest archipelago, and Myanmar, largely Buddhist, with mountains that form the foothills of the Himalayas.
But the integration of Southeast Asia has taken on a life of its own. It more closely resembles the European Economic Community, an early predecessor to the European Union, than it does the current European bloc, which is struggling to reconcile its plans for a common monetary policy with its lack of fiscal and political unity.
The treaty among the 10 member countries of Asean is only loosely enforced, a sharp contrast with the treaties governing the 27-nation European Union. The Asean secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, employs 295 people, a fraction of the 33,000 people who work for the European Commission in Brussels and elsewhere.
''Each member state is still very jealous of its own sovereignty and decision-making power,'' Mr. Surin said. ''My role is to implement, not to lead.''
Those who follow the progress of Southeast Asia's integration say the process has been more organic, less scripted and less legalistic than Europe's. The movement of people across borders is the product of both the weak rule of law in the region and the mismatch between the supply and demand for workers. People from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos who want to work in Thailand slip across the porous borders or pay a bribe of about $1.50, often in full view of the immigration authorities.
An estimated two and a half million people from those three countries have taken that route. Thailand, having realized the value of such labor, has offered temporary working papers to 900,000 people, but it jealously guards the path to citizenship.
Travel for the more affluent has been transformed by AirAsia, a low-fare carrier that was rescued from insolvency by a Malaysian entrepreneur a decade ago. It now has 4,800 flights a week, close to 90 percent of them within Asean's member nations.
''We have barely scratched the surface in terms of meeting demand,'' Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of AirAsia, said by e-mail.
Multinational companies have been among the biggest beneficiaries of Asean's growing cohesion.
Stuart Dean, the chief executive of General Electric Asean, a division of the global company, says it has benefited from the economics of scale by consolidating its three light bulb facilities into one large factory in Indonesia.
Mr. Dean describes the opening up of Myanmar as the ''most remarkable thing I've seen in Asean in 20 years.'' But he laments the absence of consistent standards in the region, the barriers to trade, and the lack of integration among capital markets. ''Generally speaking, it's two steps forward, one step backward,'' he said.
Wayne Spittle, a senior vice president at Philips, the Dutch multinational corporation, says customs clearance is a persistent problem. Philips keeps spare parts for medical equipment in Singapore and sends them across the region when needed. But in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, the parts are typically held up for at least a week.
''You'll often get comments like, 'Pay some money and you'll get it through customs -- you'll get the order much quicker,' '' Mr. Spittle said. ''That's not something we do.''
The sheer notion of a region called Southeast Asia is relatively recent.
Benedict Anderson, an expert on nationalism who has based much of his work on Indonesia and Thailand, said the term first started appearing in American and British scholarly journals in the 1930s and '40s.
''It came from academia,'' Mr. Anderson said. ''When they were dividing up the world for research purposes, Southeast Asia was a kind of residual area. It wasn't Oceania; it wasn't Australia, India or China.''
Wars have divided the region for centuries. Thailand and Burma, as Myanmar was previously known, have fought at least 44 times. Two of those wars were for control over the area where Thai engineers are now tracing the road through the Burmese jungles.
What Thailand could not achieve through war it is getting in peace: relatively easy access between Bangkok and the port of Dawei, Myanmar, on the Andaman Sea. Ultimately, the new road will provide a shorter trade route to Europe, the Middle East and Africa for products made on the Indochinese peninsula.
Like Southeast Asia's integration itself, the project is touch and go. Long-term financing is uncertain, and Myanmar's transition to democracy is still fragile. But construction continues, and residents here in Phu Nam Ron, Thailand, are already using parts of the road to reach Dawei.
And there is one indicator, above all others, suggesting that plenty of people are betting on its ultimate success: land in the village of Phu Nam Ron now goes for 25 times what it did just a few years ago.
''Each time another government minister visits,'' said Apirat Sa Ngobjit, the village headman, ''the price of land goes up.''




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June 30, 2012 Saturday

 Mo. minister gets 4 years for child porn

 
BERLIN (AP) - A German court has ruled that circumcising Jewish boys amounts to bodily harm even if parents consent to the procedure.
The state court in Cologne said the child's right to physical integrity trumps freedom of religion and parents' rights, German news agency dapd reported Tuesday.
The case involved a doctor accused of carrying out a circumcision on a 4-year-old that led to medical complications. The doctor was acquitted, however, and prosecutors said they won't appeal. 
The president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, Dieter Graumann, called the ruling "unprecedented and insensitive."
He urged parliament to clarify the legal situation "to protect religious freedom against attacks."
Graumann said the circumcision of newborn Jews has been practiced for thousands of years and "every country in the world respects this religious right."
NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) - A group of Indonesian Christians facing deportation from the United States are hopeful that federal legislation introduced Monday will allow them the chance to reopen their bids for U.S. asylum.
The bill from U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey aims to help a group of Indonesian immigrants who say they fled religious persecution by anti-Christian extremists in the majority Muslim nation.
The U.S. government allowed hundreds of Indonesian Christians to come to America on tourist visas - most of them between 1996 and 2003 - at a time when more than 1,000 Christian churches were destroyed in the aftermath of the fall of the regime of longtime dictator Suharto.
However, after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, immigrant men between the ages of 16 and 65 who had entered the U.S. on temporary visas from predominantly Muslim countries were required to register with the U.S. government or be classified as terrorist fugitives.
Many who registered did not expect to face deportation back to Indonesia, but found themselves in legal limbo as they had surpassed the time limit for applying for U.S. asylum on religious persecution grounds.
Lautenberg's bill, and companion House legislation co-sponsored by Democratic U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney of New York and Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, would not grant them amnesty, but allow them to re-apply for asylum. The New Jersey Assembly unanimously passed a resolution last week endorsing federal legislation to help Indonesians.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A southwest Missouri minister who told federal investigators he was addicted to pornography has been sentenced for nearly four years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.
Michael Alan Crippen, 53, was sentenced Thursday to three years and 10 months in prison without parole for one count of possessing child pornography. He also will be on supervised release for 20 years.
The former minister of First Baptist Church in Duenweg told investigators he had viewed images of adult and child pornography for several years - usually early in the morning before going to work.
Federal authorities began investigating Crippen after being notified by the Dutch National Police that child pornography had been downloaded on his computer from a website in The Netherlands, which had been hacked.
Investigators said Crippen admitted downloading 10 images from the site on Aug. 23, 2009. A forensic examination of his laptop computer discovered more than 360 images of child pornography, including girls under 10 years old either posing nude or engaged in sexual conduct.
"Michael Crippen said he normally looks at porn, then feels ashamed and deletes the images," a Homeland Security agent said in an affidavit supporting the felony charge.
Crippen was arrested in late October 2010 and pleaded guilty to one child porn possession count last July.
Robert McKinzie, a former minister and member of the church who stepped in briefly to perform services after Crippen's arrest, said the congregation was stunned by the allegations.
"It's cut our congregation down drastically, but we're hoping when we get a new pastor, we can overcome that pretty quick," he said.




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June 27, 2012 Wednesday  


 An Obama book the Obamas should read

 
After nearly four years as president, Barack Obama remains a mystery. Supporters and detractors alike ask: Who is this guy? Where did he come from? A new book by our colleague David Maraniss explains the latter question and, in so doing, helps very much to explain the former.
"Barack Obama: The Story"is your typical Maraniss book: beautifully written, meticulously researched, a serious effort to understand a complex character. 
The goofy political canards of the "Muslim Kenyan" - so much fun for the fringe for a while - melt away as Maraniss talks to a teacher at the Catholic elementary school that Obama attended in Indonesia. The "birther" silliness evaporates as he talks to folks who were in Honolulu when Obama was born.
But the book also corrects many tales in the president's best-selling memoir, "Dreams From My Father," including the story Obama heard from his mother about the circumstances of their being abandoned by Obama Sr. (Understandable that she would want to give a certain spin to it.)
Then there's the family lore about his stepfather's dad being killed fighting the Dutch in Indonesia. He wasn't, Maraniss writes. "He fell off a chair while trying to hang drapes, presumably suffering a heart attack."
And Obama's grandfather was never tortured and imprisoned by the British in Kenya. 
We heard (not from Maraniss) that Obama said during an interview that Maraniss was saying "Dreams" was fiction. 
No, Maraniss responded: Literature.
Obama's dope-smoking days, the constant search for where he fit in, the aloofness, the wariness - all are explored. His years in school in Hawaii, it would appear, may be the most useful for understanding Obama's approach to dealing with people and situations.
One curiosity: It turns out that many of Obama's closest pals during and after his student years in New York were Pakistanis. (Makes you wonder, when Obama was contemplating ordering the SEALs into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden, whether he recalled those friends.)
The White House has not reacted to the book, and it is unclear whether either the president or Michelle Obama has read it. They should. They should take it with them on a summer vacation.
It's an excellent read. 

Destination unknown
Speaking of vacation . . . 
Suggestions have been pouring in for the Loop's contest to help the first family decide where to spend their summer break this year. 
The White House is mum on the matter, but there are indications the Obamas won't be headed back to tony Martha's Vineyard in the midst of a nasty recession. The optics would be just wrong.
If they go anywhere, it's most likely to happen during the Republican National Convention, in the last week of August. (It's traditional for the incumbent not to intrude on the challenger's convention, and Presidents Bill Clintonand George W. Bushvacated Washington accordingly.)
Many entries, mindful of swing-state voters, have suggested real American vacation spots in the Midwest, such as fun-filled Cedar Pointon Lake Erie. Not so many entries so far for spots in Colorado and Nevada.
The five best entries will get one of those coveted Loop T-shirts. But don't dally. The contest deadline is Friday, June 29.
You can leave your entry as a comment on the blog, or e-mail us at intheloop@washpost.com (Make sure to include a phone number so we can contact you.) 

That lively lineup
Spectators at last week's Congressional Women's Softball Gamemight have been too distracted by the action on the field to catch one of the game's highlights.
Players were asked to provide "fun facts" about themselves that the game's announcers, NBC's Andrea Mitchelland Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), read as each woman came to bat. We didn't catch all the trivia, but the lawmakers' team kindly offered up the list, post-game, for our perusal. 
We posted the full list at wapo.st/loopfacts, and here are some of our favorites:
Rep. Donna Edwards(D-Md.)
l Survived a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the Philippines in a papaya tree.
l "Some people leave their heart in San Francisco. I left my appendix in Salamanca, Spain."
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.)
l Checks baseball scores between meetings. (Okay, sometimes during the meeting.)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
l Ran the New York City Marathon twice.
l Tap-danced as a young girl and performed a solo routine to "Ain't She Sweet."
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.)
l Can slalom water-ski.
l Was a Capitol elevator operator.
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.)
l Played fastpitch softball in the 1950s.
Rep. Laura Richardson(D-Calif.)
l Tried out for the 1980 Olympic women's basketball team.
l Sings karaoke at the Democratic Club. (No. 1 song: "I Will Survive.")
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen(R-Fla.)
l A cafecito Cubano with a lot of sugar gives her energy for the day.
Rep. Jean Schmidt(R-Ohio)
l Worked on an Indy race-car team in the 1970s.
l Completed 95 marathons.
l Bakes cakes and pies from scratch for every staff member's birthday.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz(D-Fla.)
l Got stuck in Iceland on a congressional delegation and had to be flown back to Washington in a C-5 cargo plane.
l Grew up living next door to basketball legend Julius "Dr. J" Erving.
With Emily Heil
kamena@washpost.com
The blog: washingtonpost.com/intheloop. Twitter: @InTheLoopWP.




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June 19, 2012 Tuesday

 Ex-boxer Mike Tyson to take a bite out of Broadway

 
CHICAGO (AP) - R&B star R. Kelly, who last year saw his sub-urban Chicago mansion fall into foreclosure, now has the Internal Revenue Service at his door.
Documents held by the Cook County Recorder of Deeds show the recording artist owes the IRS nearly $5 million in unpaid taxes.
Kelly owes the money for taxes dating back as far as 2005. He paid $2.6 million in back taxes in 2008 and another $1 million last year, but the records show he still owes the federal government more than $4.8 million. 
Kelly spokesman Allan Mayer said last year that Kelly didn't have any serious financial troubles.
The Grammy-winning singer was acquitted on child porno-graphy charges in 2008.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles man who launched an expletive-laden tirade against Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol has filed a lawsuit against the Lifetime Network alleging he was taped for her reality show without his knowledge or consent.
In a federal lawsuit filed last week, Stephen Hanks seeks general and punitive damages, saying he's a victim of defamation and invasion of privacy after video aired of the heated confrontation.
Hanks alleges he wasn't told the film crew at a West Hollywood bar in September was shooting footage for the reality show "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp."
The show will follow the single mother for 14 half-hour episodes and begins airing today.
In recently released video from the upcoming show, Hanks heckles Bristol Palin while watching her ride a mechanical bull at the bar, yelling out, "Your mother's a whore."
After Palin confronted the man over the insult, their conversation grew heated and he called the 21-year-old "white trash from Wasilla."
LONDON (AP) - Paul McCartney can still rock at 70 - what more could a former Beatle want?
He celebrated his birthday in private Monday, perhaps resting up between gigantic gigs this summer, but is showing no sign of slowing down as his music is passed down to generations too young to have seen him in Wings, much less the Beatles.
Once a pot-smoking counterculture rebel, "Sir Paul" is very much part of the British establishment now, closing Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee concert earlier this month with a mix of favorites that included a raucous "All My Loving," one of the Beatles' first smash hits.
He's also preparing for a featured role closing the London Olympics opening ceremony on July 27 - just another global audience measuring a billion or more for one of the most popular performers in pop history.
Even McCartney may be a bit nervous for that one, but he won't be short of material: Consider a back catalogue that includes "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby," "Penny Lane" and a few dozen other classics, including perennial crowd pleasers "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude."
McCartney has appeared relaxed and almost jovial in recent months as he eases into his role as one of rock's eminent elder statesmen, a position he shares with Bob Dylan, 71, and Mick Jagger, 68.
criticized in Thailand
BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's Culture Ministry is criticizing Lady Gaga over what it said was her inappropriate use of a Thai flag during a Bangkok concert last month.
Lady Gaga wore a traditional Thai headdress and a bikini and sat on a motor-cycle with aThai flag tied to it.
The ministry said the act was "not appropriate and hurt the feelings of the Thai people."
The ministry's Permanent Secretary Somchai Seanglai said his agency gave police a summary of public complaints it received.
Somchai said that is protocol but the ministry does not intend to seek legal action against the American pop diva.
Her Asian tour has been wildly popular but also raised objections. An Indonesian show was canceled after Muslim hard-liners denounced it.
NEW YORK (AP) - Mike Tyson wants his next knockout to be on Broadway.
The former boxer announced Monday that he will team up with director Spike Lee to bring his one-man show, "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth," to the Longacre Theatre for six nights only, July 31 to Aug. 5.
The show, a raw confessional on the highs and lows of the life of the retired heavyweight and tabloid target, made its debut in April at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It will mark Lee's debut as a Broadway director.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever in 1986 when he won his title as a 20-year-old.




18


 Southeastern Newspapers Corporation
 
The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)

June 16, 2012 Saturday  


 IN THE SPOTLIGHT; 
WALLENDA WALKS WIRE ACROSS NIAGARA FALLS

 
Daredevil Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk on a tightrope 1,800 feet across the mist-fogged brink of roaring Niagara Falls on Friday night.
Afterward, he said he accomplished the feat through "a lot of praying, that's for sure. But, you know, it's all about the concentration, the focus, and the training." 
The seventh-generation member of the famed Flying Wallendas had long dreamed of pulling off the stunt, never before attempted. Other daredevils have wire-walked over the Niagara River, but farther downstream and not since 1896.
An estimated crowd of 125,000 people on the Canadian side and 4,000 on the American side watched in person.
ABC televised the walk and insisted Wallenda use a tether to keep him from falling in the river. Wallenda said he agreed because he wasn't willing to lose the chance and needed ABC's sponsorship to help offset some of the $1.3 million cost of the spectacle.
Lohan treated for exhaustion after overnight film shoot
LOS ANGELES -- Lindsay Lohan continued to bring drama to the production of her latest film, receiving treatment for exhaustion and dehydration a week after she was involved in a car crash that sent her to the hospital.
Lohan's publicist Steve Honig said producers of the Lifetime film Liz and Dick summoned paramedics to Lohan's hotel room Friday morning after she did not respond for a shoot. The incident occurred after the actress completed an all-night shoot and had kept up a grueling schedule in recent days, Honig said.
The actress was not taken to the hospital. The film focuses on the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Lifetime declined comment.
The incident is the latest scare for Lohan, who was involved in a car crash June 8 that sent her and her assistant to a hospital.
Thai government takes issue with Lady Gaga's use of flag
BANGKOK -- Thailand's Culture Ministry is criticizing Lady Gaga over what it says was her inappropriate use of a Thai flag during a Bangkok concert in May.
Lady Gaga wore a traditional Thai headdress and a bikini and sat on a motorcycle with a Thai flag tied to it. The ministry said the act was "not appropriate and hurt the feelings of the Thai people."
The ministry's permanent secretary,. Somchai Seanglai, said his agency gave police a summary of public complaints it received. Somchai said that is protocol but that the ministry does not intend to seek legal action against the pop diva.
Lady Gaga's Asian tour has been wildly popular but also raised objections. An Indonesian show was canceled after Muslim hard-liners denounced it.
- From wire reports




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The Capital (Annapolis, MD)

June 16, 2012 Saturday

 Thai ministry complains about Lady Gaga's show; 
Thailand's Culture Ministry reports to police about Lady Gaga's 'inappropriate' show

 
BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's Culture Ministry is criticizing Lady Gaga over what it says was her inappropriate use of a Thai flag during a Bangkok concert last month. 
Lady Gaga wore a traditional Thai headdress and a bikini and sat on a motorcycle with a Thai flag tied to it.
The ministry says the act was "not appropriate and hurt the feelings of the Thai people."
The ministry's Permanent Secretary Somchai Seanglai says his agency gave police a summary of public complaints it received.
Somchai says that is protocol but the ministry does not intend to seek legal action against the American pop diva.
Her Asian tour has been wildly popular but also raised objections. An Indonesian show was canceled after Muslim hard-liners denounced it.




18


 Crain Communications
 

Advertising Age

June 11, 2012

 Marketing's next wave: The Korean pop star; 
Not just crazy hair and sizzling dance moves, the 'Italians of Asia' have powerful appeal

 
A pop routine inspired by water filters?
Why not!
It might seem like a stretch outside of Asia, but the gimmick doesn't raise eyebrows for those familiar with the Korean Wave. South Korea's stylish entertainment industry, driven by pop music and TV dramas, not only amuses but also serves as a potent and willing vehicle for marketing messages.
"For a fan it feels personal," said Mark Russell, author of "Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music and Internet Culture." "The advertising is not selling out, it's a way to see your celebrity more often.
"It's viewed as more of a symbiotic relationship, where the fans are giving as much as they're taking," he said. "The celebrities really work with the fans in a lot of ways, like making sure there's lots of shower scenes [in TV dramas]. They call that 'fan service.'" 
Korean entertainment has outsize influence considering it comes from a country of 49 million people that's about the size of Indiana. Despite language barriers, the celebrities have passionate followings not only across Asia but even in Western countries, thanks to the internet and social media. Korean cultural exports hit a record $4.2 billion last year, the Financial Times reported.
Some acts are trickling into the U.S. mainstream. The nine-member Girls' Generation became the first Korean musical group to perform on David Letterman's show (pictured at right), when they sang an English version of their song "The Boys" in January. And girl group 2NE1 (pronounced "twenny-one") collaborated with Will.i.am on a song being used in an Intel campaign. Seoul-based agency network Cheil Worldwide will host a session at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity next week on digital marketing opportunities through Korean pop music, with 2NE1 as guest stars.
"Korean stars are usually good at using social media to communicate with their fans. They speak about their personal lives (their family, their pets, etc.) and even post their 'no-makeup' photos," Kenneth Cho, Cheil's VP overseeing marketing strategies, told Ad Age by email. "Using these social/digital media, K-pop stars become ...very approachable, someone who's very close to me."
An example of K-pop digital marketing is boy band 2PM's "cover dance" campaign for Coway water filtration devices. A YouTube video features the group teaching the routine step by step-"One and two, then you get some water"-then spelling C-O-W-A-Y in human letters. They also encourage fans to upload their own versions. The product's current target is women ages 30 to 50, but "we wanted to rejuvenate our brand image to a more bright, younger, dynamic image to appeal to the younger generation who may become our customers," CMO Peter Kahng said. The brand's ad agency is Cheil.
Fan submissions came from Indonesian Muslims in headscarves to Mexican teens using their country's flag as a backdrop. Several videos are from Thailand, where Coway plans to launch a marketing campaign this summer and host a fan meeting with a 2PM member who's Thai-American.
"We've not spent any advertising money to promote this [cover-dance campaign.] We just used YouTube and we think it's fantastic that people from Indonesia know about this and even write Coway on the walls to promote our brand," Mr. Kahng said. (Most social-media campaigns, however, do require some promotional investment.)
Unlike in Japanese pop culture, which often features young girls in school uniforms, Korean stars project stronger, more independent personalities. They're not as sexualized as Western celebrities, though long shapely legs seem to be a prerequisite for Korean starlets. The music is club-friendly, and lyrics often include a few words of English for more international appeal.
Korea's entertainment industry began taking off around 2000, as Seoul looked to culture to help lift the country out of Asia's economic crisis, said Eric Cruz, who worked for Wieden & Kennedy in Tokyo and is involved in the region's music and creativity scene.
"Just as Japan started exporting its culture through manga, Hello Kitty and anime, Korea also started looking at its own culture and looking at things it could capitalize on," said Mr. Cruz, now executive creative director at Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide Malaysia.
One thing that made Korean entertainment, especially TV dramas, stand out in Asia were emotions conveyed openly. Unlike other Asian cultures where subtle forms of expression are the norm, Koreans are known to be passionate and hot-tempered, Mr. Cruz said.
"They're kind of known as the Italians of Asia," Mr. Cruz said. They're one of the more expressive cultures, more explosive in how they express themselves. It's also the way they carry themselves, and they're more into fashion."
Still, the themes of popular Korean TV dramas hew closely to Asia's generally conservative culture. Unmarried adult characters still live with their parents, and there's little violence or sex. Plotlines are aspirational, with the polite, long-suffering girl doing the right thing and triumphing in the end.
Marketers found TV programs to be a strong platform to promote products from cellphones to cosmetics. In "The King 2 Hearts," a South Korean prince eats pink heart-shaped Dunkin' Donuts on dates with his girlfriend, a North Korean Special Forces officer. He tells her that in South Korea, it's normal for couples to eat donuts when they go out.
"Dream High," about teenagers becoming pop stars, was designed from the beginning to be marketing-friendly. Its website has a page listing details of the clothes, shoes and electronics used by the characters.
Pop stars are also frequent brand ambassadors, such as Sandara Park from 2NE1, who promotes, among other things, Nikon cameras. A recent campaign shows Ms. Park and her bandmates horsing around, staging a photo shoot with a hair dryer for a wind machine and using a Nikon Coolpix compact camera. "Our intention was to increase attractiveness as well as purchase decisions," said Dongkook Kim, brand manager of Nikon Korea. The company said that since Ms. Park's campaign debuted, Nikon has grown to a firm No. 2 in the market with a 23% share, trailing only Samsung.
More broadly, Korean entertainment has apparently improved perceptions of "Brand Korea," which not so long ago was associated with shoddy knockoffs. A 2011 poll of foreign consumers conducted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency found that if products from the U.S., Japan or Germany are priced at $100, then Korean products are valued at $76.60. That's up from $66.30 in 2006.
Respondents who said they'd experienced Korean culture (such as music or TV) in the past year tended to have a favorable perception of Brand Korea.
Perhaps the most telling indication that the Korean Wave resonates deeply with consumers is the increasing number of foreign tourists, many of them Chinese, going to Korea for plastic surgery to look more like their favorite idols. "Nearly all of them said they want the face of Lee Young-Ae," an Agence France-Presse report cited Seoul plastic surgeon Joo Kwon as saying, referring to a popular Korean actress.




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June 6, 2012 Wednesday

 Crackdown on punks in Indonesia; 
Some who see punks as a welcome challenge to the conservative form of Islamic law in Aceh worry that the crackdown is working too well.

 
In his canary yellow t-shirt and skinny jeans Banu Prasdana looks like an ordinary Indonesian kid. But last year when he sported more than a dozen piercings and a Mohawk and wandered Banda Aceh's streets playing rock ballads on his guitar he had a canny ability to unnerve the local police, who considered him a menace to a social order governed by strict Islamic law.
Now he and a group of other 20-somethings have dialed their image back and spend Saturday nights in Aceh's provincial capital in a park trying to look inconspicuous. Some are jobless and without homes, some come to the park to chill with friends late into the night, a common practice here.
Officials say they drink, use drugs, and disturb others by not showering and appearing sloppy. They're just exploiting their freedom of expression, causing a scene, and don't respect Aceh province's conservative morals, says Police Chief Iskandar Hasan.
But Prasdana says the police misunderstand them and that they're not dangerous. Their goal is not about just taking advantage of dressing however they want, but is about highlighting the unjust way police and society treat them. "Being a punk is not about [just] freedom, but rebellion; a struggle against injustice."
But as the battle between the conservative authorities and Aceh's punks has heated up, many of them have gone into hiding, which worries some who see the punks as a welcome challenge to the form of Islamic law adopted in Aceh.
The danger of challenging conservativism
In a province where alcohol is outlawed, unmarried couples are not allowed alone together after dark and women's dress is strictly dictated by law, being a punk has a much broader definition than it does in other places of the world. For many, it is a form of revolt against the government's interpretation of sharia law, which they say is merely a means of restricting expression.
"People are not resisting sharia in a religious sense, but as a legal product," says Reza Idria, a lecturer of Islamic political philosophy at Aceh's Syiah Kuala University.
He was once a punk in the late 1990s, and still wears the smallest hint of a spike in his hair. The punk movement today is not unlike it was then, he says, estimating that there are around 200 punks broken into smaller groups that rival one another.
What they share is the belief that sharia has become a political tool, used by the authorities to appeal to conservative voters. But to many in this conservative Islamic province, not accepting the terms of sharia means you are against your religion, says Idria. "So it's difficult, it's dangerous."
That danger was made real last December, when sharia police arrested 65 punks during a charity concert for which they allegedly did not receive a permit. Prasdana, who had ditched his Mohawk shortly before the arrests, says several of his friends were among those caught in the dragnet and taken to a police "re-education camp."
Over a 10-day period police forced the youths to shave their heads, bathe together in a lake and say daily prayers as part of what they called moral rehabilitation. Human rights groups cried foul over their treatment, which also drew criticism from international punk communities.
"I felt sorry when it happened," says Prasdana, calling the arrests a misunderstanding. "Some people think we look naughty, or like bad boys. That's why they can't accept us."
Authorities insist the punks often steal, drink liquor, or disturb people by appearing unkempt and threatening.
"They don't just disturb society, they have no morals," says Hasan, the police chief. That's why they need discipline and "rebuilding."
Sharia in Aceh
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia governed by Islamic law, or sharia, a concession it was first granted by Jakarta in 2001, in a central government effort to end a seperatist war.
Indonesia's 200 million Muslims generally are happy to have the strictness of their adherence to their faith to be left up to personal choice, rather than government enforcement, but the people of Aceh are among the most strict in their approach to Islam in the country. Resident of the province proudly refer to their home as "the veranda of Mecca."
The province sits at the northern tip of Sumatra and guards the roads to the Strait of Malacca, through which trade between the Arab world and the Far East has passed for centuries. Islam set down some of its earliest Indonesia roots here, and with its greater proximity to Saudi Arabia, practice of the faith here has always had more of a Saudi flavor.
A special sharia police force sees that bylaws pertaining to an Islamic lifestyle are not violated, while an Islamic court doles out sentences that include public canings. Some say both institutions have become more powerful since Aceh achieved autonomy as part of a peace agreement signed in 2005.
Others say certain officials have adopted sharia law as a way of gaining popularity.
In the run up to local elections on April 9, Banda Aceh Deputy Mayor Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal oversaw a drive by the sharia police to crack down on vice, which includes drinking and fraternizing.
On April 20, the sharia police in a city southeast of Banda Aceh publicly caned a homeless punk couple caught having pre-marital sex in public. They were among 11 others, mostly gamblers, punished for immoral behavior.
More often, however, these vice squads crack down on more benign activities, such as women caught wearing pants (a bylaw in some areas prohibits this form of dress.)
"That makes the space for youth expression very secretive, very limited," says Idria.
The arrests in December were unusual for their scale and for the fact that many of the punks came from other cities in Indonesia. Typical crackdowns include raids on cafes and parks, where punks often gather to play music. Hasan says the reason for December's arrests was in part because of the permit, but also because the youths were up to no good.
"They brought hard liquor and marijuana," he says.
Idria believes that is not an adequate explanation for why punks have been targeted, particularly since none of them were formally charged with a crime or prosecuted.
"It all started from stories that punk is a lifestyle from the West, that it's anti-Islam and will damage Aceh," he says.
Punks are still Muslims
The lifestyle may run counter to the government's interpretation of sharia, says Idria, whose father is an Islamic leader, but punks in Aceh are still Muslims.
Prasdana says some punks do steal and vandalize, giving others a bad name. Among his group, however, the bond is like a brotherhood. "If we only have one cigarette, we share it between everyone," he says.
Since the pre-election sweep in April many of the punks have been lying low, "This is just the beginning," says Idira. "We have to get involved and discuss these things. The punks have started to disappear."
Still, Idria says the crackdown may have strengthened their resolve in the long run.
"Our style has changed, but it's difficult to change our convictions," says Prasdana.




19



 


June 5, 2012 Tuesday

 LADY GAGA VERSUS GLOBAL JIHAD

 

ABSTRACT
Bret Stephens Global View column notes rising anti-Western feeling among Indonesian and other Islamists; contends West needs moral confidence and countercultural weapons alongside counterterrorism tools to win support of local populations in fight against radical Islam




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May 29, 2012 Tuesday

 Lady Gaga sends love to Indonesian fans

 
CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) - Justin Bieber is wanted for questioning by Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators after a photographer complained of being roughed up by the pop star at a shopping center. 
Sheriff's Lt. Robert Wiard said the photographer called 911 on Sunday and complained of pain to his chest. Wiard said the scuffle happened when the photographer tried to snap pictures of Bieber and his girlfriend, teen actress Selena Gomez, after they walked out of a theater at The Commons at Calabasas.
Wiard said the photographer was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released.
He said Bieber and Gomez left before deputies arrived, so investigators want to talk to him to get his side of the story.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - For the right price, you or a loved one can rest in peace in the tomb of The King.
Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien is selling Elvis Presley's original crypt to the highest bidder as part of his upcoming "Music Icons" auction.
The tomb is located inside the granite and marble mausoleum at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn.
Presley was interred there alongside his mother, Gladys, after he died Aug. 16, 1977. Two months later, they were re-buried at his Graceland home. The original crypt has remained empty ever since.
Julien said the winning bid from the auction beginning June 23 will receive the crypt, opening and closing of the vault for burial, a memorialization inscription and use of a chapel for a committal service. Transportation and funeral home charges are not included.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Lady Gaga told fans she was "devastated" at having to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following threats by Islamic hard-liners, who called her a "devil worshipper."
Controversy over the concert is a blow to the predominantly Muslim country's reputation as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression.
Some fans accused police - who refused to issue a permit over concerns about security - of buckling to the will of a small group of thugs.
"We had to cancel the concert in Indonesia," the 26-year-old pop diva tweeted to her followers Sunday night after promoters acknowledged concerns about her own safety and that of her fans if the show went ahead.
"I'm so very sorry to the fans & just as devastated as you if not more," she wrote. "You are everything to me."
Ticket-holders were promised full refunds. But that provided little consolation to people like 25-year-old Johnny Purba.
"This only shows to the world how weak security forces are in this country, how police are afraid of a bunch of hard-liners," he said. "Gaga's two-hour show will not hurt Indonesian Muslims. For God's sake, she is not a terrorist."




19



 


May 29, 2012 Tuesday

 Lady Gaga's cancelled concert a blow to tolerance in Indonesia?; 
Lady Gaga cancelled her biggest show in Asia because of Islamist vigilante threats, which has some worrying about a return of Islamist militancy to the Muslim world's largest country.

 
For Lady Gaga's Indonesian fans, Sunday was a day of mourning. For the country's 240 million citizens, most of them Muslim, it was the culmination of weeks of debate over whether Islamist hardliners are gaining ground in Indonesia.
Lady Gaga cancelled her sold-out concert in Jakarta, the biggest on her Asia tour, Sunday due to threats from a group of Islamists who call the American pop star a "devil worshiper" and complained that her style and dance moves are pornographic.
The Lady Gaga saga is one of many incidents recently, where Islamist groups have threatened or used violence against what they say are attempts to destroy Indonesia's religious and moral fabric. Some worry recent events could mark a resurgence of violent Islamist activism that could ultimately threaten the democratic gains Indonesia has made since the end of the Soeharto dictatorship in 1998.
"This is part of the dilemma of the transition to democracy," says Ulil Abshar Abdalla, head of the department for policy studies within the ruling Democrat Party. "On one hand we have the phenomena of rising intolerance, and on the other hand we have a weak government unable to address this issue."
Indonesia is a secular state and has made strides by allowing much greater freedom of speech and expression since the end of Soeharto's rein.
In the years following Soeharto's ouster, Indonesia was wracked by sectarian violence, separatist movements, and Al Qaeda-style terror attacks like the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed more than 200 people. But by the middle of the past decade, Indonesia's transitional crisis had cooled. Militant groups were on the run, and emerging democratic institutions were finding ways to mitigate communal conflicts that earlier had been flaring into violence.
But this month, Islamist hardliners led by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) have been throwing their weight around. They injured several people attending an event by Irshad Manji, a Canadian proponent of liberal Islam and a lesbian. On May 6 protestors in a Jakarta suburb launched stones and death threats to disperse Protestant worshipers forced to pray on the sidewalk since local authorities stopped construction of their church in 2010.
The FPI has a long reputation of vandalizing bars and nightclubs for selling alcohol. It has also violently attacked Christian worshipers and smaller Muslim sects, namely the Ahmadiyah, a group persecuted in many majority-Muslim countries as heretical for not believing that Muhammad was the last prophet.
Rights activists accuse the police of turning a blind eye, allowing the FPI to act with impunity.
"The police over the past decade have basically tolerated the FPI and others, allowing them to grow," says Andreas Harsono, a researcher with Human Rights Watch Indonesia.
"The government is pretty sure that this rising conservatism, rising radicalism among certain segments of society is very dangerous and should be dealt with," says Mr. Abdalla. But fears of a backlash from social conservatives have led to official pacifism from the government.
Cause for concern?
Though most of Indonesia's population dismisses the FPI as a group of thugs not to be taken seriously, activists are worried.
"The majority of people here I believe are moderate, but they don't realize the situation is getting more and more serious," says Harsono, who says groups such as the FPI and Hizbut Tahrir, which advocates for a pan-Islamic caliphate, are growing increasingly influential.
Some estimate the FPI to be some 30,000- strong. The group's chairman, Habib Rizieq, has more than 140,000 Facebook followers.
"The FPI has real power and real friends in the government," says Harsono, who also says that the current chief of the National Police has befriended several FPI leaders.
Those friends have helped shield many hardliners from punishment, say activists, who point to an attack in February 2011, when a mob of some 1,000 Islamists killed three Ahmadiyah men. Despite video evidence, a court later sentenced 12 of the attackers to short prison terms of between four and six months.
"People are really frustrated with the FPI, but they are afraid," says Tunggal Pawestri, one of the founders of Indonesia Without FPI, a small group of rights activists who are trying to push back against hardliners. "It's only people who have a lot of guts who can protest in public."
It's the police and government's responsibility to enforce the law and ensure the safety of its citizens, she says echoing the sentiments of many Indonesians.
The police say they do what they can, saying they had more than 5,000 officers on hand to guard the Lady Gaga concert and were fully prepared to provide adequate security.
"We're not afraid of the FPI, if they threaten someone we will investigate and send the case to the court," says National Police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution, adding that Islamists are free to protest.
Increasingly violent
But those protests had become increasingly threatening in the lead up to the concert. After saying they would use violence to prevent Lady Gaga from getting off the plane in Jakarta, one FPI member broadcast on Facebook that he had snapped up more than 100 concert tickets, heightening concerns that the group would try to create chaos inside the venue. During a protest last Friday a coalition of militant organizations threatened to burn the stadium.
On Sunday the FPI reacted with jubilation to the cancellation, thanking those who fought to "defend the moral health" of the nation.
Meanwhile, fans and supporters poured out their sympathy. "She doesn't teach violence. She teaches us to be confident," says Adiyanti Firdausi, who participated in a flash mob dance on Sunday in honor of Lady Gaga dressed in costume from the Judas video, a bandana wrapped around her headscarf.
While many said they were disappointed -some were on the verge of tears - others worried how the decision would reflect on Indonesia internationally. "It means the situation in Indonesia is becoming more severe," says Ms. Firdausi.




19



 


May 29, 2012 Tuesday

 Daily Dish: 5/29/2012

 
Lady Gaga 'devastated' by canceled Indonesia show
Lady Gaga told fans she was "devastated" at having to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia after threats by Islamic hard-liners, who called her a "devil worshipper." 
Controversy over the concert is a blow to the predominantly Muslim country's reputation as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression.
Some fans accused police -- who refused to issue a permit over concerns about security -- of buckling to the will of a small group of thugs.
"We had to cancel the concert in Indonesia," the 26-year-old pop diva tweeted to her followers Sunday night after promoters acknowledged concerns about her own safety and that of her "Little Monster" fans if the show went ahead.
"I'm so very sorry to the fans & just as devastated as you if not more," she wrote. "You are everything to me."
Indonesia, a secular nation of 240 million, is often held up by the U.S. and others an example of how democracy and Islam and can coexist. In many ways they are right. Since emerging from dictatorship just over a decade ago, sweeping reforms have resulted in direct elections, while vastly improving human rights and freeing up the media.
But a small extremist fringe has become more vocal -- and violent -- in recent years, attacking Christians and members of other religious minorities, transvestites, atheists and anyone else deemed immoral.
"Thanks to God for protecting us from a kind of devil," said Salim Alatas.
Justin Bieber wanted for questioning in scuffle
Justin Bieber is wanted for questioning by Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators after a photographer complained of being roughed up by the pop star at a shopping center. Sheriff's Lt. Robert Wiard says the photographer called 911 on Sunday and complained of pain to his chest. Wiard said the scuffle happened when the photographer tried to snap pictures of Bieber and his girlfriend, teen actress Selena Gomez, after they walked out of a theater at The Commons at Calabasas.
Elvis Presley's crypt up for auction next month
For the right price, you or a loved one can rest in peace in the tomb of The King. Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien is selling Elvis Presley's original crypt to the highest bidder as part of his "Music Icons" auction next month. The tomb is located inside the granite and marble mausoleum at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn.




19


 


May 29, 2012 Tuesday  


 Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test Of Obama's Principles and Will

 
WASHINGTON -- This was the enemy, served up in the latest chart from the intelligence agencies: 15 Qaeda suspects in Yemen with Western ties. The mug shots and brief biographies resembled a high school yearbook layout. Several were Americans. Two were teenagers, including a girl who looked even younger than her 17 years.
President Obama, overseeing the regular Tuesday counterterrorism meeting of two dozen security officials in the White House Situation Room, took a moment to study the faces. It was Jan. 19, 2010, the end of a first year in office punctuated by terrorist plots and culminating in a brush with catastrophe over Detroit on Christmas Day, a reminder that a successful attack could derail his presidency. Yet he faced adversaries without uniforms, often indistinguishable from the civilians around them.
''How old are these people?'' he asked, according to two officials present. ''If they are starting to use children,'' he said of Al Qaeda, ''we are moving into a whole different phase.'' 
It was not a theoretical question: Mr. Obama has placed himself at the helm of a top secret ''nominations'' process to designate terrorists for kill or capture, of which the capture part has become largely theoretical. He had vowed to align the fight against Al Qaeda with American values; the chart, introducing people whose deaths he might soon be asked to order, underscored just what a moral and legal conundrum this could be.
Mr. Obama is the liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war and torture, and then insisted on approving every new name on an expanding ''kill list,'' poring over terrorist suspects' biographies on what one official calls the macabre ''baseball cards'' of an unconventional war. When a rare opportunity for a drone strike at a top terrorist arises -- but his family is with him -- it is the president who has reserved to himself the final moral calculation.
''He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far and wide these operations will go,'' said Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser. ''His view is that he's responsible for the position of the United States in the world.'' He added, ''He's determined to keep the tether pretty short.''
Nothing else in Mr. Obama's first term has baffled liberal supporters and confounded conservative critics alike as his aggressive counterterrorism record. His actions have often remained inscrutable, obscured by awkward secrecy rules, polarized political commentary and the president's own deep reserve.
In interviews with , three dozen of his current and former advisers described Mr. Obama's evolution since taking on the role, without precedent in presidential history, of personally overseeing the shadow war with Al Qaeda.
They describe a paradoxical leader who shunned the legislative deal-making required to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but approves lethal action without hand-wringing. While he was adamant about narrowing the fight and improving relations with the Muslim world, he has followed the metastasizing enemy into new and dangerous lands. When he applies his lawyering skills to counterterrorism, it is usually to enable, not constrain, his ferocious campaign against Al Qaeda -- even when it comes to killing an American cleric in Yemen, a decision that Mr. Obama told colleagues was ''an easy one.''
His first term has seen private warnings from top officials about a ''Whac-A-Mole'' approach to counterterrorism; the invention of a new category of aerial attack following complaints of careless targeting; and presidential acquiescence in a formula for counting civilian deaths that some officials think is skewed to produce low numbers.
The administration's failure to forge a clear detention policy has created the impression among some members of Congress of a take-no-prisoners policy. And Mr. Obama's ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron P. Munter, has complained to colleagues that the C.I.A.'s strikes drive American policy there, saying ''he didn't realize his main job was to kill people,'' a colleague said.
Beside the president at every step is his counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, who is variously compared by colleagues to a dogged police detective, tracking terrorists from his cavelike office in the White House basement, or a priest whose blessing has become indispensable to Mr. Obama, echoing the president's attempt to apply the ''just war'' theories of Christian philosophers to a brutal modern conflict.
But the strikes that have eviscerated Al Qaeda -- just since April, there have been 14 in Yemen, and 6 in Pakistan -- have also tested both men's commitment to the principles they have repeatedly said are necessary to defeat the enemy in the long term. Drones have replaced Guantanamo as the recruiting tool of choice for militants; in his 2010 guilty plea, Faisal Shahzad, who had tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square, justified targeting civilians by telling the judge, ''When the drones hit, they don't see children.''
Dennis C. Blair, director of national intelligence until he was fired in May 2010, said that discussions inside the White House of long-term strategy against Al Qaeda were sidelined by the intense focus on strikes. ''The steady refrain in the White House was, 'This is the only game in town' -- reminded me of body counts in Vietnam,'' said Mr. Blair, a retired admiral who began his Navy service during that war.
Mr. Blair's criticism, dismissed by White House officials as personal pique, nonetheless resonates inside the government.
William M. Daley, Mr. Obama's chief of staff in 2011, said the president and his advisers understood that they could not keep adding new names to a kill list, from ever lower on the Qaeda totem pole. What remains unanswered is how much killing will be enough.
''One guy gets knocked off, and the guy's driver, who's No. 21, becomes 20?'' Mr. Daley said, describing the internal discussion. ''At what point are you just filling the bucket with numbers?''
'Maintain My Options'
A phalanx of retired generals and admirals stood behind Mr. Obama on the second day of his presidency, providing martial cover as he signed several executive orders to make good on campaign pledges. Brutal interrogation techniques were banned, he declared. And the prison at Guantanamo Bay would be closed.
What the new president did not say was that the orders contained a few subtle loopholes. They reflected a still unfamiliar Barack Obama, a realist who, unlike some of his fervent supporters, was never carried away by his own rhetoric. Instead, he was already putting his lawyerly mind to carving out the maximum amount of maneuvering room to fight terrorism as he saw fit.
It was a pattern that would be seen repeatedly, from his response to Republican complaints that he wanted to read terrorists their rights, to his acceptance of the C.I.A.'s method for counting civilian casualties in drone strikes.
The day before the executive orders were issued, the C.I.A.'s top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, had called the White House in a panic. The order prohibited the agency from operating detention facilities, closing once and for all the secret overseas ''black sites'' where interrogators had brutalized terrorist suspects.
''The way this is written, you are going to take us out of the rendition business,'' Mr. Rizzo told Gregory B. Craig, Mr. Obama's White House counsel, referring to the much-criticized practice of grabbing a terrorist suspect abroad and delivering him to another country for interrogation or trial. The problem, Mr. Rizzo explained, was that the C.I.A. sometimes held such suspects for a day or two while awaiting a flight. The order appeared to outlaw that.
Mr. Craig assured him that the new president had no intention of ending rendition -- only its abuse, which could lead to American complicity in torture abroad. So a new definition of ''detention facility'' was inserted, excluding places used to hold people ''on a short-term, transitory basis.'' Problem solved -- and no messy public explanation damped Mr. Obama's celebration.
''Pragmatism over ideology,'' his campaign national security team had advised in a memo in March 2008. It was counsel that only reinforced the president's instincts.
Even before he was sworn in, Mr. Obama's advisers had warned him against taking a categorical position on what would be done with Guantanamo detainees. The deft insertion of some wiggle words in the president's order showed that the advice was followed.
Some detainees would be transferred to prisons in other countries, or released, it said. Some would be prosecuted -- if ''feasible'' -- in criminal courts. Military commissions, which Mr. Obama had criticized, were not mentioned -- and thus not ruled out.
As for those who could not be transferred or tried but were judged too dangerous for release? Their ''disposition'' would be handled by ''lawful means, consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.''
A few sharp-eyed observers inside and outside the government understood what the public did not. Without showing his hand, Mr. Obama had preserved three major policies -- rendition, military commissions and indefinite detention -- that have been targets of human rights groups since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
But a year later, with Congress trying to force him to try all terrorism suspects using revamped military commissions, he deployed his legal skills differently -- to preserve trials in civilian courts.
It was shortly after Dec. 25, 2009, following a close call in which a Qaeda-trained operative named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had boarded a Detroit-bound airliner with a bomb sewn into his underwear.
Mr. Obama was taking a drubbing from Republicans over the government's decision to read the suspect his rights, a prerequisite for bringing criminal charges against him in civilian court.
The president ''seems to think that if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights, we won't be at war,'' former Vice President Dick Cheney charged.
Sensing vulnerability on both a practical and political level, the president summoned his attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., to the White House.
F.B.I. agents had questioned Mr. Abdulmutallab for 50 minutes and gained valuable intelligence before giving him the warning. They had relied on a 1984 case called New York v. Quarles, in which the Supreme Court ruled that statements made by a suspect in response to urgent public safety questions -- the case involved the location of a gun -- could be introduced into evidence even if the suspect had not been advised of the right to remain silent.
Mr. Obama, who Mr. Holder said misses the legal profession, got into a colloquy with the attorney general. How far, he asked, could Quarles be stretched? Mr. Holder felt that in terrorism cases, the court would allow indefinite questioning on a fairly broad range of subjects.
Satisfied with the edgy new interpretation, Mr. Obama gave his blessing, Mr. Holder recalled.
''Barack Obama believes in options: 'Maintain my options,' '' said Jeh C. Johnson, a campaign adviser and now general counsel of the Defense Department.
'They Must All Be Militants'
That same mind-set would be brought to bear as the president intensified what would become a withering campaign to use unmanned aircraft to kill Qaeda terrorists.
Just days after taking office, the president got word that the first strike under his administration had killed a number of innocent Pakistanis. ''The president was very sharp on the thing, and said, 'I want to know how this happened,' '' a top White House adviser recounted.
In response to his concern, the C.I.A. downsized its munitions for more pinpoint strikes. In addition, the president tightened standards, aides say: If the agency did not have a ''near certainty'' that a strike would result in zero civilian deaths, Mr. Obama wanted to decide personally whether to go ahead.
The president's directive reinforced the need for caution, counterterrorism officials said, but did not significantly change the program. In part, that is because ''the protection of innocent life was always a critical consideration,'' said Michael V. Hayden, the last C.I.A. director under President George W. Bush.
It is also because Mr. Obama embraced a disputed method for counting civilian casualties that did little to box him in. It in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants, according to several administration officials, unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.
Counterterrorism officials insist this approach is one of simple logic: people in an area of known terrorist activity, or found with a top Qaeda operative, are probably up to no good. ''Al Qaeda is an insular, paranoid organization -- innocent neighbors don't hitchhike rides in the back of trucks headed for the border with guns and bombs,'' said one official, who requested anonymity to speak about what is still a classified program.
This counting method may partly explain the official claims of extraordinarily low collateral deaths. In a speech last year Mr. Brennan, Mr. Obama's trusted adviser, said that not a single noncombatant had been killed in a year of strikes. And in a recent interview, a senior administration official said that the number of civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan under Mr. Obama was in the ''single digits'' -- and that independent counts of scores or hundreds of civilian deaths unwittingly draw on false propaganda claims by militants.
But in interviews, three former senior intelligence officials expressed disbelief that the number could be so low. The C.I.A. accounting has so troubled some administration officials outside the agency that they have brought their concerns to the White House. One called it ''guilt by association'' that has led to ''deceptive'' estimates of civilian casualties.
''It bothers me when they say there were seven guys, so they must all be militants,'' the official said. ''They count the corpses and they're not really sure who they are.''
'A No-Brainer'
About four months into his presidency, as Republicans accused him of reckless naivete on terrorism, Mr. Obama quickly pulled together a speech defending his policies. Standing before the Constitution at the National Archives in Washington, he mentioned Guantanamo 28 times, repeating his campaign pledge to close the prison.
But it was too late, and his defensive tone suggested that Mr. Obama knew it. Though President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican candidate, had supported closing the Guantanamo prison, Republicans in Congress had reversed course and discovered they could use the issue to portray Mr. Obama as soft on terrorism.
Walking out of the Archives, the president turned to his national security adviser at the time, Gen. James L. Jones, and admitted that he had never devised a plan to persuade Congress to shut down the prison.
''We're never going to make that mistake again,'' Mr. Obama told the retired Marine general.
General Jones said the president and his aides had assumed that closing the prison was ''a no-brainer -- the United States will look good around the world.'' The trouble was, he added, ''nobody asked, 'O.K., let's assume it's a good idea, how are you going to do this?' ''
It was not only Mr. Obama's distaste for legislative backslapping and arm-twisting, but also part of a deeper pattern, said an administration official who has watched him closely: the president seemed to have ''a sense that if he sketches a vision, it will happen -- without his really having thought through the mechanism by which it will happen.''
In fact, both Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the attorney general, Mr. Holder, had warned that the plan to close the Guantanamo prison was in peril, and they volunteered to fight for it on Capitol Hill, according to officials. But with Mr. Obama's backing, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, blocked them, saying health care reform had to go first.
When the administration floated a plan to transfer from Guantanamo to Northern Virginia two Uighurs, members of a largely Muslim ethnic minority from China who are considered no threat to the United States, Virginia Republicans led by Representative Frank R. Wolf denounced the idea. The administration backed down.
That show of weakness doomed the effort to close Guantanamo, the same administration official said. ''Lyndon Johnson would have steamrolled the guy,'' he said. ''That's not what happened. It's like a boxing match where a cut opens over a guy's eye.''
The Use of Force
It is the strangest of bureaucratic rituals: Every week or so, more than 100 members of the government's sprawling national security apparatus gather, by secure video teleconference, to pore over terrorist suspects' biographies and recommend to the president who should be the next to die.
This secret ''nominations'' process is an invention of the Obama administration, a grim debating society that vets the PowerPoint slides bearing the names, aliases and life stories of suspected members of Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen or its allies in Somalia's Shabab militia.
The video conferences are run by the Pentagon, which oversees strikes in those countries, and participants do not hesitate to call out a challenge, pressing for the evidence behind accusations of ties to Al Qaeda.
''What's a Qaeda facilitator?'' asked one participant, illustrating the spirit of the exchanges. ''If I open a gate and you drive through it, am I a facilitator?'' Given the contentious discussions, it can take five or six sessions for a name to be approved, and names go off the list if a suspect no longer appears to pose an imminent threat, the official said. A parallel, more cloistered selection process at the C.I.A. focuses largely on Pakistan, where that agency conducts strikes.
The nominations go to the White House, where by his own insistence and guided by Mr. Brennan, Mr. Obama must approve any name. He signs off on every strike in Yemen and Somalia and also on the more complex and risky strikes in Pakistan -- about a third of the total.
Aides say Mr. Obama has several reasons for becoming so immersed in lethal counterterrorism operations. A student of writings on war by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, he believes that he should take moral responsibility for such actions. And he knows that bad strikes can tarnish America's image and derail diplomacy.
''He realizes this isn't science, this is judgments made off of, most of the time, human intelligence,'' said Mr. Daley, the former chief of staff. ''The president accepts as a fact that a certain amount of screw-ups are going to happen, and to him, that calls for a more judicious process.''
But the control he exercises also appears to reflect Mr. Obama's striking self-confidence: he believes, according to several people who have worked closely with him, that his own judgment should be brought to bear on strikes.
Asked what surprised him most about Mr. Obama, Mr. Donilon, the national security adviser, answered immediately: ''He's a president who is quite comfortable with the use of force on behalf of the United States.''
In fact, in a 2007 campaign speech in which he vowed to pull the United States out of Iraq and refocus on Al Qaeda, Mr. Obama had trumpeted his plan to go after terrorist bases in Pakistan -- even if Pakistani leaders objected. His rivals at the time, including Mitt Romney, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Mrs. Clinton, had all pounced on what they considered a greenhorn's campaign bluster. (Mr. Romney said Mr. Obama had become ''Dr. Strangelove.'')
In office, however, Mr. Obama has done exactly what he had promised, coming quickly to rely on the judgment of Mr. Brennan.
Mr. Brennan, a son of Irish immigrants, is a grizzled 25-year veteran of the C.I.A. whose work as a top agency official during the brutal interrogations of the Bush administration made him a target of fierce criticism from the left. He had been forced, under fire, to withdraw his name from consideration to lead the C.I.A. under Mr. Obama, becoming counterterrorism chief instead.
Some critics of the drone strategy still vilify Mr. Brennan, suggesting that he is the C.I.A.'s agent in the White House, steering Mr. Obama to a targeted killing strategy. But in office, Mr. Brennan has surprised many former detractors by speaking forcefully for closing Guantanamo and respecting civil liberties.
Harold H. Koh, for instance, as dean of Yale Law School was a leading liberal critic of the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies. But since becoming the State Department's top lawyer, Mr. Koh said, he has found in Mr. Brennan a principled ally.
''If John Brennan is the last guy in the room with the president, I'm comfortable, because Brennan is a person of genuine moral rectitude,'' Mr. Koh said. ''It's as though you had a priest with extremely strong moral values who was suddenly charged with leading a war.''
The president values Mr. Brennan's experience in assessing intelligence, from his own agency or others, and for the sobriety with which he approaches lethal operations, other aides say.
''The purpose of these actions is to mitigate threats to U.S. persons' lives,'' Mr. Brennan said in an interview. ''It is the option of last recourse. So the president, and I think all of us here, don't like the fact that people have to die. And so he wants to make sure that we go through a rigorous checklist: The infeasibility of capture, the certainty of the intelligence base, the imminence of the threat, all of these things.''
Yet the administration's very success at killing terrorism suspects has been shadowed by a suspicion: that Mr. Obama has avoided the complications of detention by deciding, in effect, to take no prisoners alive. While scores of suspects have been killed under Mr. Obama, only one has been taken into American custody, and the president has balked at adding new prisoners to Guantanamo.
''Their policy is to take out high-value targets, versus capturing high-value targets,'' said Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the top Republican on the intelligence committee. ''They are not going to advertise that, but that's what they are doing.''
Mr. Obama's aides deny such a policy, arguing that capture is often impossible in the rugged tribal areas of Pakistan and Yemen and that many terrorist suspects are in foreign prisons because of American tips. Still, senior officials at the Justice Department and the Pentagon acknowledge that they worry about the public perception.
''We have to be vigilant to avoid a no-quarter, or take-no-prisoners policy,'' said Mr. Johnson, the Pentagon's chief lawyer.
Trade-Offs
The care that Mr. Obama and his counterterrorism chief take in choosing targets, and their reliance on a precision weapon, the drone, reflect his pledge at the outset of his presidency to reject what he called the Bush administration's ''false choice between our safety and our ideals.''
But he has found that war is a messy business, and his actions show that pursuing an enemy unbound by rules has required moral, legal and practical trade-offs that his speeches did not envision.
One early test involved Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. The case was problematic on two fronts, according to interviews with both administration and Pakistani sources.
The C.I.A. worried that Mr. Mehsud, whose group then mainly targeted the Pakistan government, did not meet the Obama administration's criteria for targeted killing: he was not an imminent threat to the United States. But Pakistani officials wanted him dead, and the American drone program rested on their tacit approval. The issue was resolved after the president and his advisers found that he represented a threat, if not to the homeland, to American personnel in Pakistan.
Then, in August 2009, the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, told Mr. Brennan that the agency had Mr. Mehsud in its sights. But taking out the Pakistani Taliban leader, Mr. Panetta warned, did not meet Mr. Obama's standard of ''near certainty'' of no innocents being killed. In fact, a strike would certainly result in such deaths: he was with his wife at his in-laws' home.
''Many times,'' General Jones said, in similar circumstances, ''at the 11th hour we waved off a mission simply because the target had people around them and we were able to loiter on station until they didn't.''
But not this time. Mr. Obama, through Mr. Brennan, told the C.I.A. to take the shot, and Mr. Mehsud was killed, along with his wife and, by some reports, other family members as well, said a senior intelligence official.
The attempted bombing of an airliner a few months later, on Dec. 25, stiffened the president's resolve, aides say. It was the culmination of a series of plots, including the killing of 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex. by an Army psychiatrist who had embraced radical Islam.
Mr. Obama is a good poker player, but he has a tell when he is angry. His questions become rapid-fire, said his attorney general, Mr. Holder. ''He'll inject the phrase, 'I just want to make sure you understand that.' '' And it was clear to everyone, Mr. Holder said, that he was simmering about how a 23-year-old bomber had penetrated billions of dollars worth of American security measures.
When a few officials tentatively offered a defense, noting that the attack had failed because the terrorists were forced to rely on a novice bomber and an untested formula because of stepped-up airport security, Mr. Obama cut them short.
''Well, he could have gotten it right and we'd all be sitting here with an airplane that blew up and killed over a hundred people,'' he said, according to a participant. He asked them to use the close call to imagine in detail the consequences if the bomb had detonated. In characteristic fashion, he went around the room, asking each official to explain what had gone wrong and what needed to be done about it.
''After that, as president, it seemed like he felt in his gut the threat to the United States,'' said Michael E. Leiter, then director of the National Counterterrorism Center. ''Even John Brennan, someone who was already a hardened veteran of counterterrorism, tightened the straps on his rucksack after that.''
David Axelrod, the president's closest political adviser, began showing up at the ''Terror Tuesday'' meetings, his unspeaking presence a visible reminder of what everyone understood: a successful attack would overwhelm the president's other aspirations and achievements.
In the most dramatic possible way, the Fort Hood shootings in November and the attempted Christmas Day bombing had shown the new danger from Yemen. Mr. Obama, who had rejected the Bush-era concept of a global war on terrorism and had promised to narrow the American focus to Al Qaeda's core, suddenly found himself directing strikes in another complicated Muslim country.
The very first strike under his watch in Yemen, on Dec. 17, 2009, offered a stark example of the difficulties of operating in what General Jones described as an ''embryonic theater that we weren't really familiar with.''
It killed not only its intended target, but also two neighboring families, and left behind a trail of cluster bombs that subsequently killed more innocents. It was hardly the kind of precise operation that Mr. Obama favored. Videos of children's bodies and angry tribesmen holding up American missile parts flooded You Tube, fueling a ferocious backlash that Yemeni officials said bolstered Al Qaeda.
The sloppy strike shook Mr. Obama and Mr. Brennan, officials said, and once again they tried to impose some discipline.
In Pakistan, Mr. Obama had approved not only ''personality'' strikes aimed at named, high-value terrorists, but ''signature'' strikes that targeted training camps and suspicious compounds in areas controlled by militants.
But some State Department officials have complained to the White House that the criteria used by the C.I.A. for identifying a terrorist ''signature'' were too lax. The joke was that when the C.I.A. sees ''three guys doing jumping jacks,'' the agency thinks it is a terrorist training camp, said one senior official. Men loading a truck with fertilizer could be bombmakers -- but they might also be farmers, skeptics argued.
Now, in the wake of the bad first strike in Yemen, Mr. Obama overruled military and intelligence commanders who were pushing to use signature strikes there as well.
''We are not going to war with Yemen,'' he admonished in one meeting, according to participants.
His guidance was formalized in a memo by General Jones, who called it a ''governor, if you will, on the throttle,'' intended to remind everyone that ''one should not assume that it's just O.K. to do these things because we spot a bad guy somewhere in the world.''
Mr. Obama had drawn a line. But within two years, he stepped across it. Signature strikes in Pakistan were killing a large number of terrorist suspects, even when C.I.A. analysts were not certain beforehand of their presence. And in Yemen, roiled by the Arab Spring unrest, the Qaeda affiliate was seizing territory.
Today, the Defense Department can target suspects in Yemen whose names they do not know. Officials say the criteria are tighter than those for signature strikes, requiring evidence of a threat to the United States, and they have even given them a new name -- TADS, for Terrorist Attack Disruption Strikes. But the details are a closely guarded secret -- part of a pattern for a president who came into office promising transparency.
The Ultimate Test
On that front, perhaps no case would test Mr. Obama's principles as starkly as that of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric and Qaeda propagandist hiding in Yemen, who had recently risen to prominence and had taunted the president by name in some of his online screeds.
The president ''was very interested in obviously trying to understand how a guy like Awlaki developed,'' said General Jones. The cleric's fiery sermons had helped inspire a dozen plots, including the shootings at Fort Hood. Then he had gone ''operational,'' plotting with Mr. Abdulmutallab and coaching him to ignite his explosives only after the airliner was over the United States.
That record, and Mr. Awlaki's calls for more attacks, presented Mr. Obama with an urgent question: Could he order the targeted killing of an American citizen, in a country with which the United States was not at war, in secret and without the benefit of a trial?
The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel prepared a lengthy memo justifying that extraordinary step, asserting that while the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process applied, it could be satisfied by internal deliberations in the executive branch.
Mr. Obama gave his approval, and Mr. Awlaki was killed in September 2011, along with a fellow propagandist, Samir Khan, an American citizen who was not on the target list but was traveling with him.
If the president had qualms about this momentous step, aides said he did not share them. Mr. Obama focused instead on the weight of the evidence showing that the cleric had joined the enemy and was plotting more terrorist attacks.
''This is an easy one,'' Mr. Daley recalled him saying, though the president warned that in future cases, the evidence might well not be so clear.
In the wake of Mr. Awlaki's death, some administration officials, including the attorney general, argued that the Justice Department's legal memo should be made public. In 2009, after all, Mr. Obama had released Bush administration legal opinions on interrogation over the vociferous objections of six former C.I.A. directors.
This time, contemplating his own secrets, he chose to keep the Awlaki opinion secret.
''Once it's your pop stand, you look at things a little differently,'' said Mr. Rizzo, the C.I.A.'s former general counsel.
Mr. Hayden, the former C.I.A. director and now an adviser to Mr. Obama's Republican challenger, Mr. Romney, commended the president's aggressive counterterrorism record, which he said had a ''Nixon to China'' quality. But, he said, ''secrecy has its costs'' and Mr. Obama should open the strike strategy up to public scrutiny.
''This program rests on the personal legitimacy of the president, and that's not sustainable,'' Mr. Hayden said. ''I have lived the life of someone taking action on the basis of secret O.L.C. memos, and it ain't a good life. Democracies do not make war on the basis of legal memos locked in a D.O.J. safe.''
Tactics Over Strategy
In his June 2009 speech in Cairo, aimed at resetting relations with the Muslim world, Mr. Obama had spoken eloquently of his childhood years in Indonesia, hearing the call to prayer ''at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk.''
''The United States is not -- and never will be -- at war with Islam,'' he declared.
But in the months that followed, some officials felt the urgency of counterterrorism strikes was crowding out consideration of a broader strategy against radicalization. Though Mrs. Clinton strongly supported the strikes, she complained to colleagues about the drones-only approach at Situation Room meetings, in which discussion would focus exclusively on the pros, cons and timing of particular strikes.
At their weekly lunch, Mrs. Clinton told the president she thought there should be more attention paid to the root causes of radicalization, and Mr. Obama agreed. But it was September 2011 before he issued an executive order setting up a sophisticated, interagency war room at the State Department to counter the jihadi narrative on an hour-by-hour basis, posting messages and video online and providing talking points to embassies.
Mr. Obama was heartened, aides say, by a letter discovered in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. It complained that the American president had undermined Al Qaeda's support by repeatedly declaring that the United States was at war not with Islam, but with the terrorist network. ''We must be doing a good job,'' Mr. Obama told his secretary of state.
Moreover, Mr. Obama's record has not drawn anything like the sweeping criticism from allies that his predecessor faced. John B. Bellinger III, a top national security lawyer under the Bush administration, said that was because Mr. Obama's liberal reputation and ''softer packaging'' have protected him. ''After the global outrage over Guantanamo, it's remarkable that the rest of the world has looked the other way while the Obama administration has conducted hundreds of drone strikes in several different countries, including killing at least some civilians,'' said Mr. Bellinger, who supports the strikes.
By withdrawing from Iraq and preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan, Mr. Obama has refocused the fight on Al Qaeda and hugely reduced the death toll both of American soldiers and Muslim civilians. But in moments of reflection, Mr. Obama may have reason to wonder about unfinished business and unintended consequences.
His focus on strikes has made it impossible to forge, for now, the new relationship with the Muslim world that he had envisioned. Both Pakistan and Yemen are arguably less stable and more hostile to the United States than when Mr. Obama became president.
Justly or not, drones have become a provocative symbol of American power, running roughshod over national sovereignty and killing innocents. With China and Russia watching, the United States has set an international precedent for sending drones over borders to kill enemies.
Mr. Blair, the former director of national intelligence, said the strike campaign was dangerously seductive. ''It is the politically advantageous thing to do -- low cost, no U.S. casualties, gives the appearance of toughness,'' he said. ''It plays well domestically, and it is unpopular only in other countries. Any damage it does to the national interest only shows up over the long term.''
But Mr. Blair's dissent puts him in a small minority of security experts. Mr. Obama's record has eroded the political perception that Democrats are weak on national security. No one would have imagined four years ago that his counterterrorism policies would come under far more fierce attack from the American Civil Liberties Union than from Mr. Romney.
Aides say that Mr. Obama's choices, though, are not surprising. The president's reliance on strikes, said Mr. Leiter, the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center, ''is far from a lurid fascination with covert action and special forces. It's much more practical. He's the president. He faces a post-Abdulmutallab situation, where he's being told people might attack the United States tomorrow.''
''You can pass a lot of laws,'' Mr. Leiter said, ''Those laws are not going to get Bin Laden dead.''
A Measure of Change: This is the third article in a series assessing President Obama's record.




19


 


May 29, 2012 Tuesday  


 Lady Gaga Comments On Indonesia Show

 
Lady Gaga apologized over the weekend to her fans in Indonesia after a sold-out concert she planned to perform in Jakarta was canceled amid threats of protests and violence from Islamic hard-liners, The Associated Press reported. 
The concert, which was scheduled to be held this coming Sunday at Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, had elicited the ire of fundamentalist Muslim groups including the Islamic Defenders Front, which said that Indonesian youth would be corrupted by Lady Gaga's costumes and dance moves. Some who objected to the performance said they planned to protest the singer's arrival at the airport while others said they had bought tickets to the concert so they could stir up trouble inside the stadium. Indonesia, the fourth-most populous country in the world, has more Muslims than any other nation.
Lady Gaga had previously alerted her Twitter followers that the problems facing the concert were twofold: ''Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence.'' But on Sunday she wrote that the show had been canceled entirely.
''I will try to put together something special for you,'' Lady Gaga wrote on Twitter. ''My love for Indonesia has only grown.''
The Indonesian police said they would not issue permits for the concert because of security concerns, but some prospective concertgoers accused the authorities of caving into threats from a religious minority group.
''This only shows to the world how weak security forces are in this country, how police are afraid of a bunch of hard-liners,'' Johnny Purba, a 25-year-old fan, told The A.P. ''Gaga's two-hour show will not hurt Indonesian Muslims. For God's sake, she is not a terrorist!''
This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.




19


 
 
The Philadelphia Daily News

May 29, 2012 Tuesday  
WEB Edition

 The King is dead &mdash; and you, commoner, can be buried in his crypt

 
If you&rsquo;ve been dying to feel Elvis&rsquo; tomb essence, now&rsquo;s your chance.
Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien is selling the King&rsquo;s original crypt, at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, as part of his "Music Icons" auction next month. 
Elvis was interred there alongside his mother, Gladys, after he died Aug. 16, 1977. Two months later, they were reburied at Graceland. The original crypt has remained empty ever since. 
Julien says the winning bidder will receive the crypt, opening and closing of the vault for burial, an inscription and use of a chapel for a committal service. Transportation and funeral-home charges are not included.
Wizard World Week
Wizard World returns to the Pennsylvania Convention Center this Thursday with its biggest names yet &mdash; including Marvel Comics guru Stan Lee, Chris Hemsworth ("Thor") and all five Star Trek captains.
Cast members from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will also be in attendance, including Clare Kramer, James Marsters, Juliet Landau and Mark Metcalf from the TV series and Kristy Swanson from the movie.
The People&rsquo;s Paper&rsquo;s comic- book writer, Jerome Maida, will be filing reports all week leading up to his weekend preview on Friday. 
Kramer, best-known for her portrayal of Glory, the main villain in the fifth season of "Buffy," told Maida that her first role was at age 5 as Wendy, the pigtailed redhead of hamburger-chain fame.
"I grew up in Ohio, and that&rsquo;s where Wendy&rsquo;s corporate office is located," Kramer said. "They had an ad on TV constantly that said that they were &lsquo;Looking for Wendy,&rsquo; so I told my mom, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got to enter that.&rsquo;" 
"[Wendy&rsquo;s founder] Dave Thomas was into adoption and supporting foster care, so a lot of my appearances were to promote, bring awareness to and raise money for that."
As much as she loved "playing" Wendy, Kramer did not seek another role until 1997&rsquo;s "In & Out" &mdash; 18 years later &mdash; after she had graduated from New York University&rsquo;s Tisch School of the Arts.
Her first big project was "Bring It On," the cheer-competition film that was also a launching pad for Eliza Dushku (another "Buffy" alum), Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union. 
"You go back and you look at it and it seems every actor in it is recognizable today," Kramer said. "It was the first big ensemble comedy of the decade. It was such a great time. &hellip; Four months in San Diego! You can&rsquo;t beat that!" 
Kramer also had nice things to say about her roles in "The Rules of Attraction" and "The Thirst."
"That was such a cool project," she said. "I played a stripper who was dying of cancer and end up becoming a vampire. It was a great experience."
Although Kramer was flattered by a rumor that she was being considered for the role of "Wonder Woman" in the then-in-development film, she made it clear that a rumor claiming she would be playing Donna Sheridan in the national tour of "Mamma Mia" is absolutely false.
"I don&rsquo;t know how that got started," she said. "I&rsquo;m not signed on to anything. My biggest project right now is launching [online studio] GeekNation, which is supersick and awesome."
TATTBITS
Sheriff&rsquo;s Lt. Robert Wiard says the photographer called 9-1-1 on Sunday and complained of pain to his chest. Wiard said the scuffle happened when the photographer tried to snap pictures of Bieber and his girlfriend, Selena Gomez, after they walked out of a movie theater.
Wiard says the photographer was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.
Roughed up by the Beebs? Dude, you need to work out more.
"I&rsquo;m so very sorry to the fans & just as devastated as you if not more," she wrote. "You are everything to me."
"This is a victory for Indonesian Muslims," said Salim Alatas, one of the leaders of the Islamic Defenders Front. &ldquo;Thanks to God for protecting us from a kind of devil.
Score another one for the loons. As we just celebrated Memorial Day, remember: In this country, one man&rsquo;s devil is another man&rsquo;s sold-out concert at the Wells Fargo Center. 
&mdash; Jerome Maida and Daily News wire services contributed to this report.
Email gensleh@phillynews.com. 




19



 


May 28, 2012 Monday

 Gregg Allman engaged to 24-year-old girlfriend

 
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The suits have knocked off the superheroes at the box office.
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' sequel "Men in Black 3" debuted as the No. 1 movie over Memorial Day weekend with $55 million domestically from Friday to Sunday.
That bumps Disney's "The Avengers" into second-place after three blockbuster weekends on top for the superhero sensation. "The Avengers" took in $37 million over the three days to push its domestic total to $514 million and become only the fourth movie ever to top half a billion dollars. 
Distributor Sony estimates that by the end of the four-day holiday weekend Monday, "Men in Black 3" will have pulled in $70 million domestically and $202 million worldwide.
Universal's "Battleship" was No. 3 in its second weekend with $10.8 million, raising its domestic earnings to $44.3 million. Paramount's comedy "The Dictator" took in $9.6 million to finish fourth in its second weekend and lift its total to $41.5 million.
The Warner Bros. horror tale "Chernobyl Diaries" opened at No. 5 with $8 million.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Lady Gaga canceled her sold-out show in Indonesia after Islamist hard-liners threatened violence, claiming her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves would corrupt the youth.
The controversy was a blow to the predominantly Muslim country's reputation for combining free speech and democracy with a mostly moderate brand of the faith.
Fans were devastated, despite the promoter's offer of full refunds. Some accused police - who refused to issue a permit over concerns about security - of buckling to the will of a small group of thugs.
The planned "Born This Way Ball" concert has been on-again-off-again from the start.
But on Sunday, it was final, said Minola Sebayang, a lawyer for Big Daddy, the promoter of the June 3 show.
"It's unfortunate," he said. "But with threats if the concert goes ahead, Lady Gaga's side is calling it off. This is not only about Lady Gaga's security, but extends to those who will be watching her."
Indonesia, a secular nation of 240 million, is often held up by the U.S. and others as an example of how democracy and Islam can coexist. In many ways they are right. Since emerging from dictatorship just over a decade ago, sweeping reforms have resulted in direct elections, while vastly improving human rights and freeing up the media.
But a small extremist fringe has become more vocal - and violent - in recent years, attacking Christians and members of other religious minorities, transvestites, atheists and anyone else deemed immoral.
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) - As he received an honorary doctorate Sunday, Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro told Bates College graduates that despite his own lack of formal education, he made out OK.
During a 15-minute address that was by turns sincere and irreverent, De Niro drew a steady stream of laughter from the 463 graduating seniors and more than 5,000 onlookers at the private, liberal arts college's campus.
De Niro, who quit high school to pursue an acting career, was one of three high-profile guests who received honorary degrees at the Bates commencement. PBS "Newshour" senior correspondent Gwen Ifill and Princeton University molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler also were honored.
CAP D'ANTIBES, France (AP) - Janet Jackson may have joined the ranks of diet plan celebrity spokeswomen Jennifer Hudson and Mariah Carey, but she insisted there's absolutely no competition among the slimmed-down singers.
The 46-year-old became a spokesperson for NutriSystem in December and credits the diet company for helping her lose weight, though she's keeping quiet about the exact number she's lost.
"You know I think it's great that all the girls, or as many as possible, can stand up and try to help as many people as possible. That's really what it's about. It's not about competing with each other, not for me," said Jackson in a plunging neckline Pucci gown at amfAR's Cinema Against AIDS gala Thursday in Cap D'Antibes, France.
"I took off all that extra stuff I really didn't need and I feel really good," she said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Gregg Allman is getting married for the seventh time.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member has told several interviewers this week that he's engaged to his 24-year-old girlfriend, Shannon Williams, and Allman's publicist and manager confirmed the news Friday morning.
Allman talked about the unexpected love he felt for Williams in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this year for a story about his memoir, "My Cross to Bear," but admitted he was leery about taking the relationship further because of his past difficulties in his love life. But Allman told Howard Stern, Piers Morgan and a SiriusXM town hall audience this week that he's taken the relationship to the next stage.
Little is known about Williams, who entered the 64-year-old rock pioneer's life after a liver transplant and a run of health difficulties. Allman told the AP in a love-struck voice he met her while in Florida on Friday, Jan. 13, and "I am totally in love."
Allman's failed marriages make up a significant part of "My Cross to Bear," a best-seller after its release May 1.
No date has been set for the marriage.




19



 


May 28, 2012 Monday

 Gaga holy war! Cancels over Muslim rage

 
  Well, it's not as if anyone expected her to wear a burqa. 
  Lady Gaga yesterday canceled her sold-out concert in Indonesia rather than bow to the demands of Muslim zealots that she tone down her raunchy act.   
  Gaga, who had sold 52,000 tickets for the concert, scheduled for tonight in Jakarta, explained the situation to her fans via Twitter. 
  "There is nothing Holy about hatred," Gaga wrrote. "We had to cancel the concert in Indonesia. I'm so very sorry to the fans & just as devastated as you if not more. You are everything to me." 
  Religious leaders in the world's most populous Muslim nation had threatened violence if she went on stage without cleaning up her act. 
  "With threats if the concert goes ahead, Lady Gaga's side is calling off the concert," said Indonesian lawyer Minola Sebayang, representing the concert promoter. 
  "This is not only about Lady Gaga's security, but extends to those who will be watching her." 
  The two sides had reportedly been discussing a compromise, but the Fame Monster stood firm. 
   The local Islamic Defenders Front called her the "devil's messenger'' who "wears only a bra and panties.'' 
  The concert was part of her "Born This Way Ball'' tour.  
  The diva tweeted her Indonesian fans, "I will try to put together something special for you.  
  "My love for Indonesia has only grown." 
   With  Post Wire Services 




20


 
 


May 28, 2012 Monday  


 NEWSMAKERS

 
Today's highlights
Haneke's 'Amour' best at Cannes
The Cannes Film Festival rewarded one of its favorite directors Sunday as Michael Haneke won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, with his stark film about love and death, Amour. The Austrian director's film stars two French acting icons -- 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva and 81-year-old Jean-Louis Trintignant -- as an elderly couple coping with the wife's worsening health. The festival jury awarded the second-place Grand Prize to Matteo Garrone's Italian satire Reality, while Ken Loach's whiskey-tasting comedy The Angels' Share won the third-place Jury Prize. 
Lada Gaga cancelsshow in Indonesia
Lady Gaga canceled her sold-out show in Indonesia after Islamist hard-liners threatened violence, claiming her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves would corrupt youths. The controversy was a blow to the predominantly Muslim country's reputation for combining free speech and democracy with a mostly moderate brand of the faith. Indonesia, a secular nation of 240 million, is often held up by the U.S. and others an example of how democracy and Islam and can coexist.
Dropout De Niro a hit in speech to grads
As he received an honorary doctorate Sunday, Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro told Bates College graduates that despite his lack of formal education, he made out OK. During a 15-minute address that was by turns sincere and irreverent, De Niro drew a steady stream of laughter from the 463 graduates and more than 5,000 onlookers at the private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. "In many ways, leaving school when I did it was an advantage. I saved nearly $6,000 by not having to pay tuition and expenses for four years of education," he said. Looking back, he said, "it worked out just fine. I saved the money, and I got the degree."
'Men in Black 3'bumps 'Avengers'
The suits have knocked off the superheroes at the box office. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' sequel Men in Black 3 debuted as the No. 1 movie over Memorial Day weekend with $55 million domestically from Friday to Sunday. That bumped Disney's The Avengers into second place after three blockbuster weekends on top. The Avengers took in $37 million to push its domestic total to $514 million and become only the fourth movie to top half a billion dollars. Battleship was No. 3 in its second weekend with $10.8 million.
Post wire services








 


May 27, 2012 Sunday

 Lady Gaga cancels Indonesian show over security

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Lady Gaga is canceling her sold-out show in Indonesia over security concerns after Muslim hard-liners threatened violence if the pop diva went ahead with her "Born This Way Ball." 
Protesters said Lady Gaga's sexy clothes and provocative dance moves would corrupt youth in the world's most populous Muslim country. Police said they'd only issue the required permits if she agreed to tone things down.
"With threats if the concert goes ahead, Lady Gaga's side is calling off the concert," Minola Sebayang, a lawyer for concert promoter Big Daddy, told reporters Sunday.
"This is not only about Lady Gaga's security, but extends to those who will be watching her."
Indonesia, a secular nation of 240 million people, is often held up by the U.S. and others in the West as example of how Islam and democracy can coexist.
Ninety percent of the population is Muslim, but most practice a moderate, tolerant form of the faith.
A small, extremist fringe, has gotten more vocal -- and violent -- in recent years, however, sometimes attacking Christians and members of other religious minorities with clubs and machetes.
They also targeted transvestites, atheists and others considered "blasphemous."
Jakarta was supposed to be the biggest stop on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, with 52,000 tickets scooped up in just a few days.
Fans will be fully refunded, said Michael Rusli, head of Big Daddy.
The Islamic Defenders Front, which threatened to meet Lady Gaga with tens of thousands of angry supporters if she dared step off the plane in the capital of Jakarta, celebrated news of her cancellation.
"This is a victory for Indonesian Muslims," said Salim Alatas, one of the leaders of the hard-line group. "Thanks to God for protecting us from a kind of devil."







 


May 25, 2012 Friday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION








 


May 24, 2012 Thursday

 A ball of one? Lady Gaga unsure of Indonesia show

 
LOS ANGELES (AP) - He already has a Super Bowl ring, and now football star Donald Driver can add the "Dancing With the Stars" mirrorball trophy to his awards collection.
The Green Bay Packers receiver won the ABC dance show Tuesday after wowing audiences and judges with his kickin' country-themed freestyle routine. He and partner Peta Murgatroyd hoisted the glittery prize above their heads after being named the new "Dancing" champs.
Streamers and confetti rained down from the ceiling, filling the ballroom as they celebrated. Driver's wife and children joined him on the dance floor. 
With just one point separating the three finalists, it was up to the viewers to pick the winner.
He and his fellow finalists, Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins and Cuban actor William Levy, each earned perfect scores for their last performances Tuesday. Jenkins came into the final contest with a perfect 60 points; Driver and Levy each had 59.
Judges' scores combined with viewer votes determined the result.
NEW YORK (AP) - Broadway producers are scrambling to fill Michael McKean's part in a revival of Gore Vidal's "The Best Man" as the actor recovers from a broken leg after being hit by a car in New York City.
Producer Jeffrey Richards said Wednesday that McKean's role will be played by James Lecesne following Tuesday night's accident. McKean was struck at West 86th Street and Broadway in Manhattan just before 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Richards said the 64-year-old McKean, who portrayed the lead singer in the movie "This is Spinal Tap," is in stable condition.
The actor has apparently never skipped a show in his career.
NEW YORK (AP) - The Lifetime network has set a premiere date for its new reality series about Bristol Palin's home life in Alaska.
The network said "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp" will debut June 19 with two new half-hours airing weekly.
The 14-episode series stars the daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and will explore her pressures raising toddler son Tripp as she maintains her close relationship with the larger Palin clan.
The former first daughter of Alaska, Palin became one of the nation's most prominent single mothers after the 2008 birth of Tripp. In 2010, she competed on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." Last June, she published a best-selling memoir.
MADRID (AP) - Japan's Shigeru Miyamoto, considered the father of the modern video game, has been awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.
Miyamoto, 59, is the author of the Mario Bros. series that has become one of the most marketed video game sagas in history.
Asturias award organizers praised Miyamoto, saying he converted "the video game into a social revolution and has managed to popularize it among a sector of the population that had not previously accessed this kind of entertainment, while also making it a medium capable of bringing people together regardless of sex, age or social or cultural status."
Wednesday's award is one of eight handed out yearly by a foundation named for Spain's Crown Prince Felipe. Others categories include arts, sports and scientific research.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Lady Gaga is as confused as anyone about whether she'll be allowed to perform in Indonesia.
Islamic hard-liners have threatened violence, saying her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves could corrupt youth. Police initially denied a permit for the "Born This Way Ball" but are now hinting the concert could go ahead if the pop diva tones down the show.
She tweeted Tuesday:
"The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence. If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone."
What she meant wasn't clear, and her promoters have not commented.
Indonesia, a mostly Muslim nation of 240 million people, was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour.








 


May 24, 2012 Thursday

 Daily Dish: 5/24/2012

 
Bristol Palin reality series to premiere June 19
Lifetime network has set a premiere date for its new reality series about Bristol Palin's home life in Alaska.
The network says Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp will debut June 19 with two new half-hours airing weekly.
The 14-episode series stars the daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and will explore her pressures raising toddler son Tripp as she maintains her close relationship with the larger Palin clan. 
The former first daughter of Alaska, Palin became one of the nation's most prominent single mothers after the 2008 birth of Tripp. In 2010, she competed on ABC's Dancing With the Stars. Last June she published a best-selling memoir.
55 years later, 'On the Road' finally on the Silver Screen
Fifty-five years after its publication, Jack Kerouac's On the Road finally burned on the big screen, making its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Walter Salles' adaptation is the first film production of the classic 1957 novel, which everyone from Marlon Brando to Jean-Luc Godard has circled over the last six decades.
"You have to reread it to make it live again," said Viggo Mortensen, who plays the William S. Burroughs character in the film.
Salles said he covered more than 62,000 miles making the film, which he preceded by spending five years researching an as-yet-unreleased documentary.
Japanese video game author wins Spanish prize
Japan's Shigeru Miyamoto, considered the father of the modern video game, has been awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.
Miyamoto, 59, is the author of the Mario Bros. series that has become one of the most marketed video game sagas in history.
Asturias award organizers praised Miyamoto, saying he converted "the video game into a social revolution and has managed to popularize it among a sector of the population that had not previously accessed this kind of entertainment, while also making it a medium capable of bringing people together regardless of sex, age or social or cultural status."
Wednesday's award is one of eight handed out yearly by a foundation named for Spain's Crown Prince Felipe. Others categories include arts, sports and scientific research.
A ball of one? Lady Gaga unsure of Indonesia show
Lady Gaga is as confused as anyone about whether she'll be allowed to perform in Indonesia.
Islamic hard-liners have threatened violence, saying her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves could corrupt youth. Police initially denied a permit for the "Born This Way Ball" but are now hinting the concert could go ahead if the pop diva tones down the show.
She tweeted Tuesday, "The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence. If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone."
Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million people, was supposed to be the biggest show on her Asian tour.
Kylie Minogue at Cannes in bizarre 'Holy Motors'
Holy cow. The most rapturous audience reception at the Cannes Film Festival has gone to Holy Motors, a disorienting, whirling dream of a movie by French director Leos Carax.
The film stars Denis Lavant as a man who adopts multiple personas, and includes surrealist scenes, tender moments, a song by pop star Kylie Minogue and the unexpected appearance of bonobo monkeys. The movie drew whoops and cheers at the end of its first press screening.
"This is what we have all come to Cannes for," said The Guardian newspaper. Screen International was less impressed, judging it "a self-conscious upmarket weird-out."
Just don't ask Carax what he wants the public to take away from the film. The director said Wednesday that "I don't make public films, I make private films."







 
 
 (California)

May 24, 2012 Thursday

 Men continue winning streak on 'American Idol'

 
Phillip Phillips, a bluesy guitar man, was crowned the new "American Idol" on Wednesday after defeating teenager Jessica Sanchez in record viewer voting. He was the fifth male "Idol" winner in a row. 
Phillips, 21, a pawnshop worker from Leesburg, Ga., looked stunned after host Ryan Seacrest announced his name, then wordlessly accepted a hug from Sanchez and congratulations from his fellow finalists. 
He dissolved into tears as he sang "Home," the song that may be his first single.  
Phillips received the winning share of the record 132 million votes cast after Tuesday's final showdown with Sanchez, 16, of Chula Vista. The vote count was not announced. 
The last female to win was 17-year-old Jordin Sparks in 2007. Sparks was among the guest stars who helped fill out the two-hour finale, among them Rihanna, Neil Diamond, Reba McEntire, Chaka Khan and John Fogerty. Judges Steven Tyler, with his band Aerosmith, and Jennifer Lopez also performed. 
There was also a marriage proposal: Former contestants Ace Young and Diana DeGarmo got engaged onstage. 

Bond scandal
When he's feeling parched, James Bond always orders a martini, "shaken, not stirred." He is, after all, a man of discerning tastes.
But the secret agent won't go for a martini in his next film, "Skyfall," starring Daniel Craig. 
He'll order a Heineken instead, because the Dutch beer company signed a product-placement deal - reportedly for $45 million - with the producers of the movie. Stinks, doesn't it?
George Lazenby thinks so. He played 007 in the 1969 film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and is speaking out against the outrage.
TMZ reports that Lazenby thinks it's a crying shame the producers have decided to "go where the money is."
The other actors who have played Bond - Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan - have yet to make their voices heard on the scandal, E! News says. 
In a parting shot, Lazenby sticks it to the filmmakers and Heineken: "It's not the best beer out there, either," he says.
Yeah. We're sure Bond would order a Dos Equis, with an olive.

Scotty in space
When SpaceX's Falcon 9 took off into space Tuesday, reports said the rocket was unmanned. But there were people on board.
Dead people. Dead celebrities even.
James Doohan was among them. He played chief engineer Scotty on the original "Star Trek" series, the guy who was always yelling to Captain Kirk that the ship "canna take it anymore" even though it always did.
Doohan, who died in 2005, always wanted his ashes launched into space, E! News reports. On Tuesday, it finally happened.
Also on board: the ashes of astronaut Gordon Cooper.

McKean injured
Actor Michael McKean (Lenny on "Laverne and Shirley" and a member of the parody band Spinal Tap) was hit by a car Tuesday afternoon in New York. 
McKean was walking near Broadway and 86th when a driver lost control of his car and jumped the curb, People reports.
The impact reportedly knocked McKean into the street and he was seen spitting up blood. He was taken to the hospital, where he was being treated for a broken leg, facial lacerations and possible other injuries. 
McKean is appearing on Broadway in Gore Vidal's "The Best Man," with Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones. 
"He's upset about missing his curtain. He's never missed a performance in his career," his manager told the New York Post.

Gaga on?
Lady Gaga is confused. She's not sure if she'll perform in Indonesia.
Islamic hard-liners have threatened violence, saying her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves could corrupt youth. (Didn't Elvis do that already?)
Police initially denied a permit for the "Born This Way Ball" but are now hinting the concert could go ahead if her Gaganess toned down the show.
She tweeted Tuesday:
"The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence. If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone."
What she meant wasn't clear (not for the first time) and her promoters have not commented. 
Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million, was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.








 


May 23, 2012 Wednesday

 Egypt elections: Sharia can support democracy; 
In Egypt elections for president today, the role of Islam in government is a big question. But a freedom-based interpretation of sharia can support democracy in the Arab world. Such a form of sharia in the early stages of the Iran Revolution set a precedent - before it was snuffed out.

 
The role of Islam in government is a big question in today's presidential election in Egypt.The leading candidates are debating it, and so are people struggling for freedom across the Arab world. Can their largely democratic and human rights-oriented demands be met with Islamic sharia?
The word sharia has at least three meanings with a variety of interpretations. It can refer to the principles of religion - rather than a dictate; the laws expressed by God in the sacred texts of Islam; and the understandings that Muslim legal scholars arrive at through a particular methodology of reasoning (fatwas). Even within these definitions, there are competing interpretations.
Traditionalist readings, which largely reflect the cultural norms and values of patriarchal societies and despotic political systems, dominate in the Muslim Middle East. In countries such as Iran and Saudia Arabia, sharia oppresses women and metes out violent, retributive, medieval justice. This is clearly no option for democratic societies.
Alternative interpretations emphasize the role of law and faith in extending and defending human rights. Such interpretations might offer new possibilities. But what would they look like?
One example is the early process of Islamization of the Iranian government after the overthrow of the Shah in 1979 - when freedom-based sharia made a brief appearance, even as it competed with a repressive interpretation.
Still, during the first two years of the revolution, there was a strong showing of sharia based on passages in the Quran that freedom is the essence of all living beings, and that the ultimate purpose of law is to protect both human life and the environment from all forms of despotism and violence.
These views are grounded in three Quran-based principles that are particularly relevant for today's emerging Muslim democracies.
First, there is to be no compulsion of religious beliefs. While this principle is inspired by the Quran (chapter 2, verse 256), in modern law making it would form the basis for protecting religious freedoms and belief in general, by removing imposition on any type of belief. Or, as the German sociologist Jürgen Habermas has pointed out, there must be freedom of all discourse, including for religious fundamentalists to express themselves.
Second, the guiding principles of "punishment" in the Quran, if read comprehensively, are restoration, mitigation, and forgiveness (Quran, 2:178). In this reading of sharia, capital punishment must be abolished and all forms of cruel, degrading, or inhuman punishment must be replaced with restorative and dignity-based ones.
The third principle is hifzh al-aql, which means the "protection of thought and freedom of conscience." There is no "apostasy" here, no punishment for those who "leave" Islam or any other faith.
Historically, the concept of apostasy was introduced into Islam after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, during the 7th and 8th centuries by theologians seeking to impose a particularly repressive system of belief. There can be no crime of belief.
Sadly, the vision of freedom-based sharia failed to establish itself in Iran. It was quickly replaced by a violent, power-based version following a coup against President Abulhassan Banisadr in 1981, who advocated these principles. But it set a precedent and represents an unfinished project.
Rising Muslim politicians espousing a democratic interpretation of sharia have a solid foundation to stand on. But they and the supporters of this view will need to work hard for its broader acceptance in traditional Muslim societies.
One way to do that is to encourage a more sophisticated use of Ijtihad, or the independent interpretation of Islamic legal sources, primarily of the Quran. Another is to revive the three principles we've mentioned as viable models for discussion in emerging Muslim democracies. And deeper study needs to be done to understand the relationship between Islamic law and religious and political power, and how certain forms of it led to despotism.
The Arab awakening provides renewed hope that this work can flourish. Non-Arab Muslim states such as Indonesia and Malaysia are experimenting in balancing democracy and sharia, and can also provide hope for countries in the greater Middle East.
If citizens keep demanding human rights, sharia in harmony with such rights can blossom.
Mahmood Delkhasteh is a political sociologist, specializing in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a writer, and democracy activist. Hassan Rezaei works at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany, on comparative Islamic law. He is coauthor with A.H. Banisadr of the Persian-language book: "The Koran: Book of the Discourse of Freedom."








 


May 23, 2012 Wednesday

 A decade after independence, East Timor's surprising best friend? Indonesia.; 
Ten years ago, East Timor was reeling from Indonesia's scorched-earth withdrawal after two-plus decades of occupation. Today it sees its huge neighbor as a crucial partner.

 
Last weekend, a number of uniformed Indonesian military officers were lounging about the Dili Beach Hotel drinking coffee, laughing, and shooting pool.
That would have been a shocking sight a decade ago, when tiny East Timor (Timor-Leste) was still crawling out of the ashes of a scorched-earth withdrawal by Indonesian forces after a 24-year military occupation.
But now, Indonesians are practically everywhere you look in East Timor, never more so than this past weekend, when the soldiers were just the advance team for the star of the show: A beaming Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who attended the country's 10-year independence anniversary as a guest of new President Taur Matan Ruak.
As Asia's youngest and poorest state enters a new era, it's doing so with its old foe Indonesia as a crucial partner - a once unthinkable proposition after the war crimes committed in 1999. But what was once unthinkable is now a necessity, and no one knows that more than President Ruak, a former guerrilla commander whose forces were once hunted by a younger Yudhoyono, when he was a battalion commander here.
Indonesia is home to 240 million people and continues to hold the western half of Timor Island. For East Timor's 1 million people, it is both a potential source of capital, expertise, diplomatic assistance - and trouble, as the recent past makes all too clear.
Trouble is the last thing East Timor wants again. East Timor has occasionally tottered in the 13 years since its independence referendum and the 10 since the UN, which administered the country in its most ambitious nation-building effort, returned full sovereignty. In the years after the referendum, Indonesia permitted cross-border raids by militias. In 2006, a civil war was averted by the return of Australian troops and a new UN peacekeeping mission.
New money
Since 2008, East Timor has undergone a dramatic transformation, powered by new oil wealth and the rapidly evolving relationship with Indonesia. In 2005 Timor-Leste's annual national budget was $200 million. Today, it's a staggering $1.7 billion, thanks to oil production in the Timor Sea, which has swollen the coffers of the government's Petroleum Fund to nearly $11 billion.
The money has provided the self-confidence and the means whereby the Timorese can reengage with Indonesia and the country is awash with Indonesian contractors and businesses. Armed with skills and capital, they renovate the homes of the new Dili elite, build bridges and extend the power grid into the mountains.
They're also making their mark at the bottom rung of the economy. Groups of young Javanese laborers are now seen all over the country. Easy oil money has many Timorese unwilling to work for wages, and the underemployed of East Java frequently beat the skills and wage demands of those who will.
All this has created ferocious economic growth, although not changes in the skills or positions of the workforce. GDP has expanded by more than 7 percent a year since 2007, but has come at the price of dramatic inflation, growing corruption, and a widening gap between rich and poor.? ? Humvees and BMWs are the vehicles of choice for the nouveau riche in Dili. Timorese and Indonesians huddle everywhere making deals. Rich wives sport Louis Vuitton handbags, their husbands', flashy gold watches. This new class seeks medical care in Surabaya and Singapore, and they pay cash.
But there are concerns that Dili's oil bubble is dangerously unsustainable, with much of the money stolen or wasted. The economy is now 95 percent oil-reliant, yet the petrodollars may dry up as early as 2022. Time is short, and the list of needs is long.
The road network is crumbling, reliable electricity supply remains elusive, and the majority of the population remains subsistence farmers who earn less than a dollar a day and survive on what they grow.
Indonesia at the center
President Ruak will be guiding a National Development Plan that projects that East Timor will become a middle-income country in the next generation. That ambitious goal has Indonesia at its center.
The occupation, generations of intermarriage, and geographical proximity are the foundations for the expanding relationship. Some 6,000 Timorese are studying everything from human rights to chemical engineering at Indonesian universities.? ?Believing that integration into the region is critical, the Timorese have made a bid to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Singapore blocked the move last year, but the Timorese have Indonesia in their corner on the bid. As the largest member of the group, Indonesia carries a lot of weight.
And ties to the once-hated Indonesian security establishment have been expanding. Last year, Indonesia's Gen. Tri Sutrisno (ret.) attended a ceremony with senior military officials to commemorate the founding of FALINTIL, the independence army that fought Indonesia for almost 20 years. Sutrisno presided over the 1992 capture of Timorese independence hero Xanana Gusmao, who became East Timor's first president and is the current prime minister.
The youthful Julio Pinto, currently secretary of State for defense, arranged that visit ,and he represents one vision for the future. Mr. Pinto has warm relations with the Indonesian defense and security establishment and was educated in Indonesia, where he converted to Islam. He's also the nephew of Ruak.
The military ties have left many Timorese uncomfortable. Many complain that no Indonesian military officers have ever been tried for the crimes against humanity for which the UN indicted them in 2003. While the lack of justice remains a sore point, the official stance in Dili is that Timorese must allow Indonesia to reform at its own pace, and that they are in no position to press the issue. Washington, London, Canberra, and Tokyo are also mute on the matter.
Since Sutrisno's visit, a wide array of joint defense and security initiatives has been under discussion. At the independence commemoration, and with Yudhoyono looking on, Ruak appeared to call for a formal military alliance to "safeguard the security ... and well being of our peoples."
With general elections planned for July 7, Prime Minister Gusmao seeks to continue his program of rapid and dramatic reconstruction of East Timor. He is counting on Indonesia's help. In a recent fundraiser for his National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction Party, more than $2.5 million was raised to support his reelection campaign, of which 25 percent came from Indonesian companies heavily involved in rebuilding East Timor's infrastructure.







 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

May 23, 2012 Wednesday

 Hicks: Lady Gaga not sure if she'll perform in Indonesia

 
Lady Gaga is as confused as anyone about whether she'll be allowed to perform in Indonesia.
Islamic hard-liners have threatened violence, saying her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves could corrupt youth. Because, you know, violence doesn't. 
Police initially denied a permit for Gaga's Born This Way Ball tour but are now hinting the concert could go ahead if the pop diva tones down the show.
In other words, they want her to perform underneath the comforter from her hotel bed.
She tweeted Tuesday:
"The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence. If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone."
What she meant wasn't clear, and her promoters have not commented.
Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million people, was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour.
Follow Tony Hicks atwww.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks and on Twitter athttps://twitter.com/ #!/insertfoot







 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

May 23, 2012 Wednesday

 Hicks: Scotty from 'Star Trek' finally goes into outer space

 
James Doohan has gone where no fictional Scottish starship chief engineer has gone before.
The actor, better known as Scotty on "Star Trek," wanted his ashes scattered into outer space. Doohan died in 2005.
After an earlier attempt was made to launch the remains back in 2008 failed, the idea became reality Tuesday when Doohan's remains were successfully sent into orbit via SpaceX's unmanned Falcon 9 rocket.
Doohan wasn't the only noteworthy dead person to take off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station yesterday. Among the other 308 deceased individuals who had their ashes shot into the cosmos was Gordon Cooper, who was one of the famous Mercury seven astronauts and was played fantastically by Dennis Quaid in the film "The Right Stuff."
PHILLIP PHILLPS SCHEDULES KIDNEY SURGERY: "American Idol" finalist Phillip Phillips is on his way to surgery. 
E! News reported Wednesday that "American Idol" finalist Phillips will undergo kidney surgery in Georgia after completing publicity duties following Wednesday night's season finale, addressing a pressing health concern that has plagued him throughout the season.
Phillips, who is squaring off against Jessica Sanchez for the Idol crown, scored big on Tuesday's show with his rowdy, rollicking rendition of Billy Joel's "Movin' Out."
Wouldn't that be weird if Billy Joel woke up Wednesday morning with kidney pain?
Win or lose, Phillips will do a press tour in New York City following the season-ending show. He will then return home to Georgia for the surgery.
E! News reported that, depending on his recovery, he may miss one or two dates at the start of the "American Idol" tour this summer.
The singer, who suffers from kidney problems, was rushed to the hospital in early March after experiencing severe abdominal pains. His doctor has reportedly advised surgery, which he's so far put off to complete his run to the potential grand prize.
JIM PARSONS OUT OF THE CLOSET: "Big Bang Theory" star Jim Parsons quietly came out of the closet during an interview with .
What ... did he whisper?
Coinciding with Parsons' upcoming starring role as Elwood P. Dowd in Broadway's "Harvey," writer Patrick Healy's profile notes, "Mr. Parsons is gay and in a 10-year relationship, and working with an ensemble again onstage was like nourishment, he said."
According to Us Weekly, the CBS star (and accomplished theater performer) didn't go into greater detail about his private life, nor did he divulge the identity of his partner of 10 years.
Out.com wrote that Parsons, like many other GLBT celebs, "has lived as a gay man in his private life, but in his professional public life he skirted the issue."
Maybe he was working in North Carolina.
SNOOKI HAVING A BOY: The world has waited on pins and needles. Some of us haven't been able to sleep. It's all we think about.
But now, humanity's long wait has ended. Because Snooki is having a boy.
Whew.
The "Jersey Shore" star, 24, and fiance Jionni LaValle, 25, will not make the Snooki clone for which the world pined. We'll just have to settle for being eternally grateful her genetic line continues.
"I thought it was going to be a girl," Snooki -- aka Nicole Polizzi -- says in this week's issue "In Touch." "I was hoping it would be, because all girls want girls."
Uh ... sure.
Even so, she added, "It's still my baby, no matter what. I'm excited either way"
Snooki and LaValle announced in March they were engaged and expecting. They're waiting until after their son is born to get married.
She told the magazine earlier this month LaValle was hoping for a boy, but ultimately she was fine either way.
"As long as it's healthy," she said, "that's all that matters."
"I don't even feel pregnant really," she said. "I'm just tired but pretty much. It's like I'm just growing a stomach."
She also said they were choosing between "normal names, not like when celebrities name their kids. It's going to be a nice traditional Italian name." She told In Touch they're choosing between Lorenzo and Jionni Jr.
Maybe you feel bad because you have nothing better to do right now but read about this. At least be grateful that you don't have to write it.
Snooki also admitted she didn't think she'd be pregnant at age 24. "I would say it would have been another two years, but whatever," she said. "It's all good. I'm so excited."
Who isn't?
LADY GAGA'S INDONESIAN SHOW STILL ON ICE: Lady Gaga is as confused as anyone about whether she'll be allowed to perform in Indonesia.
Islamic hard-liners have threatened violence, saying her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves could corrupt youth. Because, you know, violence doesn't.
Police initially denied a permit for the "Born This Way Ball" but are now hinting the concert could go ahead if the pop diva tones down the show.
In other words, they want her to perform underneath the comforter from her hotel bed.
She tweeted Tuesday:
"The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence. If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone."
What she meant wasn't clear, and her promoters have not commented.
Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million people, was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour.
Follow Tony Hicks atwww.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks and on Twitter athttps://twitter.com/ #!/insertfoot
MAY 24 IN HISTORY
Thursday is May 24, the 145th day of 2012. There are 221 days left in the year.
1775: John Hancock was elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding Peyton Randolph.
1844: Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message "What hath God wrought" from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America's first telegraph line.
1883: The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was dedicated by President Chester Alan Arthur and New York Gov. Grover Cleveland.
1918: Bela Bartok's one-act opera "Bluebeard's Castle" had its premiere in Budapest.
1935: The first major league baseball game to be played at night took place at Cincinnati's Crosley Field as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1.
1937: In a set of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Social Security Act of 1935.
1941: The German battleship Bismarck sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic, killing all but three of the 1,418 men on board.
1959: Former U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles died in Washington, D.C. at age 71.
1961: A group of Freedom Riders was arrested after arriving at a bus terminal in Jackson, Miss., charged with breaching the peace for entering white-designated areas. (They ended up serving 60 days in jail.)
1962: Astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.
1976: Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde supersonic transport service to Washington.
1980: Iran rejected a call by the World Court in The Hague to release the American hostages.
2001: Twenty-three people were killed when the floor of a Jerusalem wedding hall collapsed beneath dancing guests, sending them plunging several stories into the basement.
2002: President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty in Moscow. U.S. Olympic Committee president Sandra Baldwin resigned, a day after she admitted lying about her academic credentials.
2007: Bowing to President George W. Bush, Congress passed an emergency war spending bill that did not include a provision ordering troops home from Iraq beginning in the fall of 2007. Ohio death row inmate Christopher Newton was executed by injection; it took him 16 minutes to die, more than twice the usual amount of time, once chemicals began flowing into his veins, which the execution team had trouble locating.
2011: Egyptian authorities ordered former President Hosni Mubarak tried on charges of corruption and conspiracy in the deadly shooting of protesters who'd driven him from power. Oprah Winfrey taped the final episode of her long-running talk show.
BIRTHDAYS
Comedian Tommy Chong (74), singer Bob Dylan (71), actor Gary Burghoff (69), singer Patti LaBelle (68), actress Priscilla Presley (67), actor Alfred Molina (59), singer Rosanne Cash (57), actress Kristin Scott Thomas (52), rock musician Jimmy Ashhurst (Buckcherry) (49), actor John C. Reilly (47), rock musician Rich Robinson (43), actor Bryan Greenburg (34), actor Billy L. Sullivan (32).
Associated Press




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May 22, 2012 Tuesday  


 No Model for Muslim Democracy

 
Jakarta, Indonesia
IT is fashionable these days for Western leaders to praise Indonesia as a model Muslim democracy. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has declared, ''If you want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights can coexist, go to Indonesia.'' And last month Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, lauded Indonesia for showing that ''religion and democracy need not be in conflict.''
Tell that to Asia Lumbantoruan, a Christian elder whose congregation outside Jakarta has recently had two of its partially built churches burned down by Islamist militants. He was stabbed by these extremists while defending a third site from attack in September 2010. 
This week in Geneva, the United Nations is reviewing Indonesia's human rights record. It should call on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to crack down on extremists and protect minorities. While Indonesia has made great strides in consolidating a stable, democratic government after five decades of authoritarian rule, the country is by no means a bastion of tolerance. The rights of religious and ethnic minorities are routinely trampled. While Indonesia's Constitution protects freedom of religion, regulations against blasphemy and proselytizing are routinely used to prosecute atheists, Bahais, Christians, Shiites, Sufis and members of the Ahmadiyya faith -- a Muslim sect declared to be deviant in many Islamic countries. By 2010, Indonesia had over 150 religiously motivated regulations restricting minorities' rights.
In 2006, Mr. Yudhoyono, in a new decree on ''religious harmony,'' tightened criteria for building a house of worship. The decree is enforced only on religious minorities -- often when Islamists pressure local officials not to authorize the construction of Christian churches or to harass and intimidate those worshiping in ''illegal'' churches, which lack official registration. More than 400 such churches have been closed since Mr. Yudhoyono took office in 2004.
Although the government has cracked down on Jemaah Islamiyah, an Al Qaeda affiliate that has bombed hotels, bars and embassies, it has not intervened to stop other Islamist militants who regularly commit less publicized crimes against religious minorities. Mr. Yudhoyono's government is reluctant to take them on because it rules Indonesia in a coalition with intolerant Islamist political parties.
Mr. Yudhoyono is not simply turning a blind eye; he has actively courted conservative Islamist elements and relies on them to maintain his majority in Parliament, even granting them key cabinet positions. These appointments send a message to Indonesia's population and embolden Islamist extremists to use violence against minorities.
In August 2011, for example, Muslim militants burned down three Christian churches on Sumatra. No one was charged and officials have prevented the congregations from rebuilding their churches. And on the outskirts of Jakarta, two municipalities have refused to obey Supreme Court orders to reopen two sealed churches; Mr. Yudhoyono claimed he had no authority to intervene.
Christians are not the only targets. In June 2008, the Yudhoyono administration issued a decree requiring the Ahmadiyya sect to ''stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam,'' including its fundamental belief that there was a prophet after Muhammad. The government said the decree was necessary to prevent violence against the sect. But provincial and local governments used the decree to write even stricter regulations. Muslim militants, who consider the Ahmadiyya heretics, then forcibly shut down more than 30 Ahmadiyya mosques.
In the deadliest attack, in western Java in February 2011, three Ahmadiyya men were killed. A cameraman recorded the violence, and versions of it were posted on YouTube. An Indonesian court eventually prosecuted 12 militants for the crime, but handed down paltry sentences of only four to six months. Mr. Yudhoyono has also failed to protect ethnic minorities who have peacefully called for independence in the country's eastern regions of Papua and the Molucca Islands. During demonstrations in Papua on May 1, one protester was killed and 13 were arrested. And last October, the government brutally suppressed the Papuan People's Congress, beating dozens and killing three people. While protesters were jailed and charged with treason, the police chief in charge of security that day was promoted.
Almost 100 people remain in prison for peacefully protesting. Dozens are ill, but the government has denied them proper treatment, claiming it lacks the money. Even the Suharto dictatorship allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit political prisoners, yet the Yudhoyono government has banned the I.C.R.C. from working in Papua.
Instead of praising Indonesia, nations that support tolerance and free speech should publicly demand that Indonesia respect religious freedom, release political prisoners and lift restrictions on media and human rights groups in Papua.
Mr. Yudhoyono needs to take charge of this situation by revoking discriminatory regulations, demanding that his coalition partners respect the religious freedom of all minorities in word and in deed, and enforcing the constitutional protection of freedom of worship. He must also make it crystal clear that Islamist hard-liners who commit or incite violence and the police who fail to protect the victims will be punished. Only then will Indonesia be deserving of Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Clinton's praise.




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May 21, 2012 Monday  


 NEWSMAKERS

 
Today's highlights
Wiig graduates from 'SNL': Kristen Wiig got a musical sendoff on the season finale of Saturday Night Live as the popular and versatile cast member made her exit after seven years. In the show's final sketch, guest host Mick Jagger played the principal at a high school graduation and brought up Wiig, in cap and gown, as "one particular student who is leaving this summer." She danced in turn with Jagger, cast members and executive producer Lorne Michaels to the tune of the Rolling Stones classic She's a Rainbow. Then the ensemble sang another Stones hit, Ruby Tuesday, with its line, "still I'm gonna miss you." Wiig appeared to hold back tears. Her departure comes as no surprise. She starred in and co-wrote the hit comedy Bridesmaids, and has had notable roles in Friends With Kids, Paul, Adventureland and Knocked Up, among others. She has six more in development. Andy Samberg and Jason Sudeikis have also been reported to be leaving, though Michaels said any decision on cast changes will wait until summer. 
Indonesia says 'no' to Gaga: Lady Gaga won't be allowed to perform a concert in Jakarta next month because she's too vulgar and doesn't fit with Indonesian culture, police said. Indonesia's National Police won't issue a permit for the singer's Born This Way Ball concert, scheduled June 3. Members of the Islamic Defenders Front on May 7 protested the concert, saying Lady Gaga's performances were pornography and that her purpose was to destroy the country's morals. Indonesia, with 240 million people, has the world's largest Muslim population.
'Avengers' still strong at box office: The Avengers continues to muscle out everything else Hollywood throws at it, easily sinking Battleship and other new releases. With $55.1 million domestically, Disney's superhero sensation remained No. 1 for a third-straight weekend. The film is approaching the $1.2 billion mark worldwide. Battleship opened a distant No. 2 with $25.4 million, well below industry expectations. The Dictator debuted in third place with $17.4 million.
-- Palm Beach Post wire services




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The Capital (Annapolis, MD)

May 18, 2012 Friday

 Filipino Christian group protests Lady Gaga shows; 
Filipino Christian group wants Lady Gaga concerts canceled, saying she promotes immorality

 
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - About 70 Christian youths in the Philippines have chanted "Stop the Lady Gaga concerts" at a rally calling for the singer's shows in Manila next week to be canceled. 
Members of a group called Biblemode Youth Philippines said Friday that they are offended by Lady Gaga's music and videos, in particular her song "Judas," which they say mocks Jesus Christ.
Protest leader and former Philippine Congressman Ben Abante says his group plans to file a case against Lady Gaga and concert organizers if she sings "Judas" at her Manila gigs Monday and Tuesday.
Former Manila Mayor Jose Atienza says the singer and organizers can be punished for offending race or religion.
Lady Gaga scrapped an Indonesia concert following protests there from conservative Muslims.




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May 18, 2012 Friday 
Correction Appended  


 

Et cetera. . .
Prices listed where available.

The District
THE ARTS AND THE MILITARY: TRANSFORMING WAR AND TRAUMA EXPERIENCES Through Friday. A week of public programs and workshops at area venues including the Library of Congress, the National Air and Space Museum and the Corcoran. Various locations. www.artsandmilitary.org. 
DC YOGA WEEK Friday-Sunday. Studios across town offer free and $5 classes during the seventh annual celebration of bending, stretching and deep breathing. Various locations. www.dccy.org/dc-yoga-week. Free. 
DESIGN OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE Friday-Sunday 8:30 to 5:30. A special exhibition about the design of the newest addition to the Smithsonian museums. Smithsonian Castle, 1000 Jefferson Dr. SW. 202-633-1000. www.si.edu/visit/infocenter/sicastle.htm. Free. 
VISUALIZING THE NATION'S CAPITAL: TWO CENTURIES OF MAPPING WASHINGTON D.C. Friday at 9, Saturday at 9:30. A conference about mapping the nation's capital, from Pierre-Charles L'Enfant to the present day. Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium, 10 First St. SE. 202-707-1616. www.loc.gov. Free, reservations required.  
SPRINGTHING CRAFT SHOW Friday 11 to 5. Handcrafted art, bags, ceramics, clothing, jewelry and more. St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1514 15th St. NW. 703-527-7696. www.craftmafiadc.com. Free. 
WASHINGTON ROCKS Friday noon to 1:30. Learn about the history of the Mid-Atlantic region with geologist Callan Bentley on a four-session virtual trip through the Shenandoah Mountains, Blue Mountains and more. S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. 202-633-3030. www.smithsonianassociates.org. $80, $60 for members.  
PORTRAITS AFTER 5 Friday 7:30 to 10. Music, dance, new media and visuals explore Asian American identity and cultural influence. Features a collaboration among Korean American artist CYJO, composers Benoit Granier and Anthony Paul De Ritis and Korean American dancer Dana Tai Soon Burgess. National Portrait Gallery, Kogod Courtyard, Eighth and F streets NW. 202-633-1000. www.npg.si.edu. Free. 
"I DREAM A WORLD" OPENING RECEPTION Friday at 8. An opening reception for the exhibit of paintings inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes. Parish Gallery, 1054 31st St. NW. 202-944-2310. www.parishgallery.com. Free.  
DC DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL Saturday and Sunday. A family-oriented festival commemorating Chinese political leader Chu Yuan. Thompson Boat Center, 2900 Virginia Ave. NW. www.dragonboatdc.com. Free. 
ASIAN HERITAGE FESTIVAL Saturday 10 to 7. See dance, listen to music and participate in cooking demonstrations as you immerse yourself in traditional Asian culture. Part of Passport DC. Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Between Third and Sixth streets. www.culturaltourismdc.org. Free. 
CHORAL WORKSHOP Saturday 10 to 4. Study under composer Bob Chilcott followed by a performance of his Salisbury Vespers. National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Ave. NW. 703-237-2499. www.choralis.org. $90, $75 in advance, $35 for students. 
ASIAN-PACIFIC HERITAGE CELEBRATION Saturday noon to 4. Special programming will highlight Asian music, dance, literature, and art. National Aquarium, Washington, Department of Commerce Building, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. 202-482-2825. www.aqua.org. Free. 
MID CITY ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS TOUR Saturday-Sunday, noon to 5. A group of 27 artists open their studios around 14th Street NW to the public. Various locations. www.midcityartists.com. Free. 
YOGA ON THE MALL Saturday 1:30 to 4:30. DC Yoga Week culminates with a free outdoor practice. Events begin with a kid-friendly class at 1:30 followed by an acro-yoga demonstration at 2 and a 90-minute all-level class at 3. Sylvan Theater, on the Washington Monument grounds near 15th Street and Independence Avenue SW. www.dccy.org/dc-yoga-week. Free. 
RUFINO TAMAYO AND MEXICAN MODERNISM Saturday at 3. Learn about Mexican Modernist painting from Rufino Tamayo. Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th St. NW. 202-728-1628. icm.sre.gob.mx/imw. Free. 
DINE AND DO GOOD Saturday 5 to 9. A portion of the proceeds from the prix-fixe meal goes to ThriveDC, which helps feed the homeless. Mio, 110 Vermont Ave. NW. 202-503-1523. www.thrivedc.org. $55. 
INTERNATIONAL VEGETARIAN FOOD FAIR Sunday 1 to 4. An international sampling of vegetarian and vegan dishes. Capital Memorial Church, 3150 Chesapeake St. NW. 202-362-3668. www.capitalmemorial.org. $15, free for age 10 and younger. 
SPIES OF CAPITOL HILL WALKING TOUR Sunday at 1. An espionage-themed tour. Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave. NE. 703-569-1875. www.spiesofwashingtontour.com. $12. 
SPIES OF GEORGETOWN WALKING TOUR Sunday at 1. An espionage-themed tour of Georgetown. Georgetown Library, 3260 R St. NW. 703-569-1875. www.spiesofwashingtontour.com. $12. 
SIMPSON'S TRIVIA NIGHTS Monday through May 31. In conjunction with "Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play," Woolly Mammoth teams up with Trivia Kings for pub quiz nights with questions about Homer's beer of choice and Ralph Wiggum's non sequiturs. Prizes include free pairs of tickets to the show. Various locations. www.woollymammoth.net. Free. 
THE BIRTH OF HIP-HOP IN FRANCE AND THE U.S. Monday at 6. Learn about the rise of hip hop in two different cultures with musicians and dancers. Busboys and Poets, 1025 Fifth St. NW. 202-234-7911. francedc.org. $5. 
LAMB JAM Monday 6 to 9. A cooking competition with dozens of local chefs concocting lamb dishes. Eastern Market, 225 Seventh St. SE. 866-327-5262. www.fansoflambdc.com. $50. 
INDONESIA AND ISLAM: ROOTS OF CULTURAL CREATIVITY Tuesday at 6:30. Jared Koller discusses the history of Islam here, from its introduction through trade in the 11th century to the blending of Islam with Buddhist, Christian and Hindu influences. S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. 202-633-3030. www.smithsonianassociates.org. $30. 
YOGA IN THE PARK Wednesday at 6:30. Lululemon Logan Circle transforms the south end of Dupont Circle into an al fresco yoga studio every Wednesday through the summer. Classes won't take place in inclement weather, so be sure to call ahead or visit the store's Facebook site. Dupont Circle, Connecticut Avenue and Q Street NW. www.facebook.com/lululemonlogancircle. 202-518-4075. Free. 
THE SEARCH TO UNDERSTAND OUR HUMAN ORIGINS Wednesday at 6:45. Paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall discusses why homo sapiens survived and thrived historically. National Museum of Natural History, Baird Auditorium, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. 202-633-3030. www.smithsonianassociates.org. $25. 
RELIGION IN THE GALLERY Thursday. Learn about Zen Modernist Art and Tibetan Art from art professors and museum curators. Freer Gallery of Art, Meyer Auditorium, Jefferson Drive and 12th Street SW. 202-633-1000. www.asia.si.edu. Free. 
ART AFTER DARK: APOCALYPSE Thursday 8 to midnight. An after-hours art event, with live music, a DJ, video and performance art. Art Museum of the Americas, 201 18th St. NW. 202-458-6016. museum.oas.org/apocalypse.html. $40 in advance, $50 the day of. 

Maryland
WINGS OF FANCY Friday through Sept. 16. "Wings of Fancy" returns, with hundreds of butterflies from around the world fluttering freely. Visitors can learn how to attract local species of butterflies in their own gardens. Brookside Gardens, 1500 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton. 301-962-1400. www.brooksidegardens.org. $6, $4 for ages 3 to 12. 
ANNMARIE AFTER HOURS Friday 6 to 9. A reception for "Fairies in the Garden: A Magical Fairy House Exhibit," with music, wine and hors d'ouevres. Annmarie Garden, 13480 Dowell Rd., Solomons. 410-326-4640. www.annmariegarden.org. $5. 
ARMED FORCES DAY DINNER Friday 6 to 9. Lt. Gen. John Mulholland Jr., commander U.S. Army Special Operations Command, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan will be the guest speaker. Kenwood Country Club, 5601 River Road, Bethesda. 301-527-1235. $50. 
ART AFTER DARK Friday 6 to 9. An after-hours art show focused on fashion. Kentlands Mansion, 320 Kent Square Rd., Gaithersburg. 301-258-6425. www.gaithersburgmd.gov/kentlandsmansion. $10.  
MUM SALE Saturday 8 to noon. Purchase mums from the Potomac Chrysanthemum Society. Bethesda United Church of Christ, 10100 Fernwood Rd., N. Bethesda. 301-253-5947. Free. 
ANNUAL AWARDS Saturday 10 to 4. See work from participating artists including sculpture, paintings, ceramics, and jewelry. Annmarie Garden, 13480 Dowell Rd., Solomons. 410-326-7199. 410-326-4640. www.annmariegarden.org. Free. 
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALE Saturday 10 to 3. A sale of used books. Takoma Park Maryland Library, 101 Philadelphia Ave., Takoma Park. 301-891-7259. Free. 
MARYLAND HOUSE & GARDEN PILGRIMAGE Saturday 10 to 5. Explore seven homes and mansions on a self-guided tour in historic Howard County. Waverly Mansion, 2300 Waverly Mansion Dr., Marriottsville. $35, $30 in advance. 
STRUT YOUR MUTT Saturday 10 to 3. Bring your dog and the whole family for a day of games, raffles, and exhibits to help raise money for the Montgomery County Humane Society. Veterans Park, Fairmont and Norfolk avenues, Bethesda. 301-523-7794. www.strutyourmuttbethesda.org. $25. 
USED BOOK SALE Saturday 10 to 3. Browse used books from history and politics to science fiction. Aspen Hill Library, 4407 Aspen Hill Rd., Rockville. 240-773-9410. Free. 
BOWIE'S 44TH ANNUAL HERITAGE DAY Sunday. Belair Stable, Belair Mansion and the Bowie Railroad Museum host special activities to celebrate Heritage Day. Various locations, Bowie. 301-809-3089. Free. 
BLUEBIRDS FOREVER FESTIVAL Sunday 1 to 4. Learn everything there is to know about bluebirds and participate in crafts, games, and hiking. Black Hill Regional Park, 20926 Lake Ridge Dr., Boyds. 301-528-3492. Free. 
I AM! AN EXHIBIT OF SELF-ESTEEM Sunday 2 to 3:30. Enjoy live performances by the youth of the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County's (DVC) Youth Leadership Project. Columbia Art Center, 6100 Foreland Garth, Columbia. 410-730-0075. Free. 
150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OPEN HOUSE Monday 2 to 8. Celebrate 150 years of the museum with tours, exhibits and more. National Museum of Health and Medicine, 2500 Linden Lane, Silver Spring. 301-319-3300. nmhm.washingtondc.museum. Free. 

Virginia
NORTHERN VIRGINIA FINE ARTS FESTIVAL Friday-Sunday. The juried fine art festival adds an extra night this year, stretching from Friday night's opening reception through Sunday. Reston Town Center, 11900 Market St., Reston. 703-471-9242. www.northernvirginiafineartsfestival.org. Free. 
OLD TOWN BOUTIQUE DISTRICT'S GIVE BACK CHARITY DAY Saturday. More than 30 retailers donate portions of their proceeds to charity. Old Town Alexandria, King and Royal Streets, Alexandria. www.oldtownboutiquedistrict.com. Free. 
FLEA MARKET/YARD SALE Saturday 8 to 2. Great Falls United Methodist Church, 10100 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls. 703-582-1640. Free. 
SPRING GARDEN DAY Saturday 9 to 3. More than 40 vendors of rare and unusual plants. Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria. 703-642-5173. Free. 
WATERFORD ANTIQUE & ART AUCTION Saturday 9 to 2. Preview and bid on items to benefit the Waterford National Historic Landmark. Waterford Old Mill, Main St., Waterford. 540-882-3018. www.waterfordfoundation.org. Free. 
TRACTORPALOOZA AND VINTAGE CAR SHOW Saturday 10 to 4. A benefit for the Loudoun/Douglass Alumni Association Scholarship fund. Heritage Farm Museum, 21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling. 571-258-3800. www.heritagefarmmuseum.org. $5, free for age 11 and younger. 
GABRIEL OFIESH AT APPALACHIAN SPRING Saturday 11 to 5. Highlights a new line of jewelry. Reston Town Center, Freedom Dr., Reston. 703-487-2218. appalachianspring.com. Free. 
MCLEAN DAY 2012 Saturday 11 to 5. McLean Community Center's community festival, including carnival rides and games, live entertainment and community expo. Free shuttle buses will be available from McLean Baptist Church, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer and McLean Community Center. Lewinsville Park, 1659 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean. 703-790-0123. www.mcleancenter.org. Admission, free. 
SPRING MARKET FAIR Saturday and Sunday 11 to 4:30. Dance and sing to period music, play games, watch children's puppet theater and interact with chickens, turkeys, pigs and other farm animals. Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run, 6310 Georgetown Pike, McLean. 703-903-9330. $6, $3 for seniors and children. 
YOUTH ARTS CELEBRATION Saturday 11 to 5. Free shuttle bus service available between Occoquan Regional Park and the Workhouse Arts Center  music and dance performances, and arts and crafts, food and special activities at Occoquan Regional Park celebrating "National Get Kids to the Parks Day." Workhouse Arts Center, and the Occoquan Regional Park, 9601 Ox Rd., Lorton. 703-495-0001. www.workhousearts.org. $5 suggested donation. 
GARDEN TEA Saturday 1 to 3. Tea, light refreshments and a talk on roses and spring flowers in the historic antique rose garden. Ben Lomond Historic Site, 10321 Sudley Manor Dr., Manassas. 703-367-7872. www.pwcgov.org/benlomond. $20. 
GIRL UP COMMUNITY BENEFIT Saturday 2 to 4. A benefit for the organization, featuring keynote speaker Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Home of Rhonda Lyle, 4317 Wensley Ct., Woodbridge. www.girlup.org/benefit. $100, $50 for age 17 and younger, RSVP required. 
BENEFITS OF CHOCOLATE Saturday at 6:30. A charity event to benefit the Stroke Comeback Center. 612 Rivercrest Dr., McLean. 703-255-5221. www.strokecomebackcenter.org. $100. 
"STORIES IN STONE: TWILIGHT MANASSAS CITY CEMETERY TOUR" Saturday at 6:30. Costumed interpreters lead a tour by lantern light through the Manassas Cemetery and the adjacent Confederate Cemetery. Manassas Cemetery, 9317 Center St., Manassas. 703-368-1873. www.manassasmuseum.org. $15, registration required. 
SPORTS CARD AND COMIC BOOK SHOW Sunday 10 to 3:30. Crowne Plaza Tysons Corner, 1960 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean. 301-990-4929. www.shoffpromotions.com. $3. 
FAMILY WALK FOR PEDIATRIC CANCER Sunday noon to 4. Features arts, crafts, cooking demonstrations, a walk around the track and more, to benefit the Mattie Miracle Foundation. St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School, 1000 St. Stephen's Rd., Alexandria. 703-347-1769. www.mattiemiracle.com. $25, $15 for children, register in advance or the day of. 
TURNING BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS INTO REAL LIFE EVENTS Monday at 1. Learn how to gather information and create a family tree. Hollin Hall Senior Center, 1500 Shenandoah Rd., Fort Hunt area. 703-765-4573. Free. 
WINE TASTING AT IL FORNAIO Monday at 7. Tasted five wines paired with appetizers. Reston Town Center, Freedom Dr., Reston. 703-487-2218. www.ilfornaio.com. $25. 
"THINGS I TRIED THAT DIED" Tuesday 7:30 to 8:30. A talk by azalea and rhododendron expert Don Hyatt on his trials and tribulations growing these shrubs. Proceeds support White Gardens, a new public garden park in Falls Church. Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria. 703-642-5173. fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/greenspring. $15, registration required. 
MOROCCO COOKING CLASS Wednesday 6 to 8. Learn to cook Moroccan dishes from stew with couscous to orange-cardamom ice cream. Reston Town Center, Freedom Dr., Reston. 571-203-8815. www.williams-sonoma.com. $50. 
BOOK/MOVIE DISCUSSION: "GRAPES OF WRATH" Wednesday at 7:30. Participate in a discussion of the 1937 novel and the 1940 John Ford Film. Greenbriar Community Center, 4615 Stringfellow Rd., Chantilly. 310-397-3308. greenbeltmd.gov/75. Free. 
FIRESIDE STORIES AT BEN LOMOND Thursday at 6. Local historians discuss the world of Robert "Councilor" Carter III, one of the wealthiest men in Virginia. Ben Lomond Historic Site, 10321 Sudley Manor Dr., Manassas. 703-367-7872. Free. 
FOOD AND WINE PAIRING Thursday 6:30 to 8. A wine pairing class, with four mini courses paired with two wine pours. Whole Foods Market, 143 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. 703-319-2000. $10. 
HUB THEATRE'S STAGED READING Thursday at 7:30. Kristen LePine's "Dire Wolves" will be presented in a staged reading. Reston Town Center, Freedom Dr., Reston. 703-471-9242. restonarts.org. Free. 

CORRECTION-DATE: May 19, 2012

 CORRECTION:
An Et cetera listing in the May 18 Weekend section implied that Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo, who died in 1991, would be speaking about his art Saturday at the Mexican Cultural Institute. Anna Indych-Lopez will speak.




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 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


May 17, 2012 Thursday

 FOR EMILY: Muslim Indonesia hosts Christian prayer event

 
 Our take: Indonesia, home to the world's largest population of Muslims, has invited thousands of the world's Christian leaders to a prayer gathering where Christians will seek God's direction on how to reach the world with their message. The "World Prayer Assembly 2012" will have over 9,000 Christians representing 60 countries in the nation's capital city Jakarta.  Thousands of the world's Christian leaders are in Indonesia seeking God's guidance on how to transform the nations with Christ's message of love.  It's an historic prayer gathering in many ways, not the least of which is Indonesia's decision to host the event. The huge Southeast Asian island nation is home to the world's largest Muslim population.  "That's what we are well known for, but there's something else taking place in our country," one Indonesian woman said.  Her words echo a deep desire among Indonesia's minority Christians to make the name of Jesus Christ famous.  "We are a small percentage of the population, but we are compelled to tell others about Christ," the woman said.  Read more at CBN.com.  




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May 17, 2012 Thursday  


 A Sanctuary Amid Fears Of Persecution at Home

 
HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. -- The Reformed Church in this prosperous suburb has for years packed a lot inside its walls, including addiction counseling, a housing program, dance groups, gatherings for developmentally disabled people, a restaurant, a thrift shop and space to worship for hundreds of people from half a dozen religious congregations.
Now, the church is taking on another role: sanctuary for five Indonesian Christians facing deportation and fearful of religious persecution in their homeland. 
''When I got here, I felt safety,'' said Arthur Jemmy, 36, an Indonesian who had been scheduled to be deported on April 30. ''I feel really terrified to go back to Indonesia.''
The situation has challenged the church's co-pastor, the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, to weigh the law against his moral and religious beliefs.
''You can read all sorts of stuff about the trouble you can get in if you prevent the government from doing its job on immigration,'' Mr. Kaper-Dale, 36, said. ''We have to stand with the oppressed even if the law of the land sometimes doesn't exactly coincide with the teachings of peace and justice and love found in Scripture.''
Indonesian Christians in central New Jersey began seeking Mr. Kaper-Dale's help a decade ago. Most had left Indonesia on tourist visas in the late 1990s and early 2000s and then stayed in the United States after their visas expired, finding jobs in the region's warehouses and factories. They feared returning to Indonesia because of religious persecution by that country's Muslim majority, they said. All filed asylum applications, but they were rejected by the American government because they had filed too long after their arrival.
In 2009, Mr. Kaper-Dale, who has been the church's co-pastor, with his wife, Stephanie, since 2001, brokered an unusual agreement with immigration authorities: The Indonesians, then numbering 72, would be allowed to stay temporarily and work, but the permission could be rescinded at any moment.
With the extra time, Mr. Kaper-Dale hoped, the Indonesians would be able to secure permanent legal status, either through the courts or changes in immigration laws in Washington.
In any case, he said, the Indonesians should be eligible for long-term relief under the Obama administration's policy of focusing its deportation efforts on serious criminals and immigrants who pose a threat to public safety.
But late last year, the Department of Homeland Security began ordering the Indonesians to appear at its Newark office, prepared to return to Indonesia.
Despite aggressive lobbying by Mr. Kaper-Dale and other advocates for immigrants, the deportations began. On Jan. 3, a member of the group, Freddy Pangau, was sent back to Indonesia. In the weeks that followed, another five were deported.
On March 1, the day Saul Timisela was scheduled to be deported, Mr. Kaper-Dale opened the doors of the church to him. Mr. Timisela was wearing an electronic monitor that immigration officials had attached to his ankle weeks earlier to ensure compliance with court dates and the deportation order.
''Today, we will cry out to God, and cry out to the president, asking that he stop deporting Indonesian Christian refugees who are neither criminals nor egregious immigration offenders,'' Mr. Kaper-Dale wrote in an e-mail to reporters.
Four other Indonesian Christians, all wearing ankle monitors, moved into the church in March and April. Mr. Kaper-Dale has put them up in small rooms that had been nurseries, a library and a Sunday school classroom. During the day, the Indonesians help Mr. Kaper-Dale with his lobbying efforts and attend classes at the church.
In interviews, the Indonesians said they were eager to find a path to legal status in the United States and continued to fear religious persecution in Indonesia. In a recent report, Human Rights Watch said that the Indonesian authorities had ''failed to adequately address increasing incidents of mob violence'' directed at religious minorities, including Christians, and that local governments had closed hundreds of Christian churches.
Mr. Timisela, 45, said that in 1998, several months before he left Indonesia, anti-Christian rioters decapitated his cousin's husband, a pastor, and burned down his church. When Mr. Timisela arrived in the United States to attend a youth conference, his family urged him to stay.
''I hope they understand what we're doing here,'' he said of the American government. ''We're looking for a better life, freedom of worship.''
Immigration officials said they were reviewing appeals for prosecutorial discretion on a ''case-by-case basis,'' suspending the deportation of some of the Indonesians who posed no threat to public safety and had strong familial and community ties in the United States.
Officials said they had always made clear to the Indonesians and their advocates that this arrangement was not an amnesty but rather a temporary opportunity for the Indonesians to seek relief through the courts or to get their affairs in order before their removal from the country.
Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of the Homeland Security Department, said the agency had extended stays of removal for 25 of the Indonesian Christians in central New Jersey since last fall ''due to the specific circumstances'' of their cases.
In the meantime, officials said, they had no intention of raiding the church to detain the five Indonesians there.
''As a matter of policy,'' Mr. Feinstein said, the agency ''does not conduct enforcement actions at sensitive locations, including places of worship, unless the action involves a national security matter, imminent risk of violence or physical harm, pursuit of a dangerous felon or the imminent destruction of evidence in an ongoing criminal case.''
Mr. Kaper-Dale is banking on the passage of a bill in the House of Representatives that would allow certain Indonesians who fled persecution in their homeland from 1997 to 2002 to resubmit asylum claims that had been denied because they missed the one-year filing deadline.
On the bulletin board in his office, the pastor has posted a large spread sheet. It lists all the Indonesian Christians who have sought his help and the status of their cases, from their immigration registration numbers to the citizenship of their children, the status of their spouses and the date of their scheduled deportations.
''I used to have to keep very careful track, but now I have it in my head,'' Mr. Kaper-Dale said. ''I know their lives -- inside and out.''




1



 







1


 Southeastern Newspapers Corporation
 
The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)

May 16, 2012 Wednesday  


 IN THE SPOTLIGHT; 
WHITE GUYS WITH GUITARS IS TREND FOR 'IDOL' WINNERS

 
American Idol viewers could be in for a serious case of d?j? vu if Phillip Phillips wins on the Fox talent contest's 11th season finale next week. 
Though the soulful strummer from Leesburg, Ga., has certainly proved he can be a risk-taking showman by transforming songs such as Usher's U Got It Bad into searing acoustic covers, a victory for the 21-year-old would prove something that everyone has suspected for a while: Idol voters prefer humble Caucasian heartthrobs over, well, anyone else.
Phillips has seamlessly moved up the ranks, never appearing as one of the show's low-vote getters. That can't be said of his two final challengers - sassy 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez and booming 20-year-old Joshua Ledet.
Folks just seem to like Phillips, who has comfortably filled this season's reluctant heartthrob role. He has been silly, constantly flashing funny faces at the camera. He has been rebellious: When Tommy Hilfiger advised him not to wear gray on stage, he wore two shades of it. He has been sexy, even melting Ryan Seacrest's girlfriend.
It's also impossible to ignore the fact that the bluesy Phillips bears a striking resemblance to the past four champions.
Although the musical styles of David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery and Phillips are varied, they're all young Caucasian male guitar players, or as they've become known by many Idol devotees: WGWGs - white guys with guitars. There hasn't been a female or nonwhite winner since Jordin Sparks beat Blake Lewis in 2007.
Lyndsey Parker, who writes Yahoo's Reality Rocks blog, blames the lack of diversity on block text voting among younger viewers and the introduction of contestants playing their own instruments four years ago in season seven.
"I think people are wondering if girls or, frankly, people of color should just go audition for The Voice and The X Factor instead because Idol has become a closed door if you're not a Caucasian guy who plays folky rock or country music," Parker said. "I know some people will be outraged if Phillip wins. That's unfair to him, but that's the reality."
Indonesia blocks Lady Gaga
JAKARTA, INDONESIA -- Indonesian police Tuesday said they had refused to issue a concert permit for U.S. pop singer Lady Gaga, citing objections from conservative Muslim groups.
The Islamic Defenders' Front, a group known for sometimes violent campaigns against vice, had threatened to block Lady Gaga's planned June 3 concert, accusing her of promoting Satan worship and homosexuality.
"We made the decision after considering objections from various Muslim groups who deem that Lady Gaga's stage act is not compatible with our culture," national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said.
The decision is likely to anger local "Little Monsters," as fans of Lady Gaga are known. More than 30,000 tickets have been sold for the concert at the Bung Karno national stadium, part of the singer's Born This Way Ball tour.
- From wire reports




1



 


May 16, 2012 Wednesday

 Indonesia yanks Gaga gig, says she'll corrupt kids

 
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama can hold his own when it comes to pop culture: He's up on "The Avengers" superheroes, has a handle on the Kardashians and says he catches up with TV hits during long flights on Air Force One. But the president punted to wife Michelle when he was asked about the erotic fiction book "Fifty Shades of Grey."
Obama, who took a quick pop culture quiz during an appearance Tuesday on ABC's "The View," drew a blank when asked to name "the controversial sex book that's on millions of women's bedside tables." 
"I'll ask Michelle when I get home," he promised, to hoots of laughter from the audience.
Obama did better with TV and celebrity trivia.
He knew which Kardashian was married for just 72 days.
"That would be Kim," he answered, saying he only knew because she was married to pro basketball player Kris Humphries.
He's seen "The Avengers," and was able to name three superheroes: Hulk, Captain America and Ironman.
Obama said he catches up with TV shows like "Mad Men" and "Homeland" on long flights such as trips to Afghanistan, when there's time to study his briefing books and still have hours left over.
And he said his daughters, at a private 50th birthday roast for their dad, gave him credit for being embarrassing, but "not too embarrassing."
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt young people.
National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar, responding to the pressure, said Tuesday that the permit for her June 3 "Born This Way Ball" concert had been denied.
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other. Although it is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
Hard-liners have loudly criticized Lady Gaga, saying the suggestive nature of her show threatened to undermine the country's moral fiber. Some threatened to use physical force to prevent her from stepping off the plane.
Lawmakers and religious leaders, too, have spoken out against her.
Worried they could not guarantee security, local police recommended the permit for the show be denied, said Amar, adding that national police decided Tuesday to comply.
It was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, with fans snapping up every seat in Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium - half of them in the first two hours of sales.
Permits usually are issued about three weeks before a concert in Jakarta, so it is common to sell tickets well ahead of receiving a permit. It was not immediately clear if the ticket sales would be refunded. The local promoter, Michael Rusli, could not be reached for comment.
"I'm very disappointed," said Mariska Renata, who had tickets to the Jakarta show.
She said by bowing to the wishes of "troublemakers," authorities only give them more power. "We are mature enough to be able to separate our own moral values from arts and culture," Renata said.
Lady Gaga's Asian tour started late last month and many of the stops have sold out. The South Korean concerts were limited to fans 18 or older because conservatives there raised objections.




1



 


May 16, 2012 Wednesday

 Bret Michaels settles case over 2009 Tonys mishap

 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt young people.
National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar, responding to the pressure, said Tuesday that the permit for her June 3 "Born This Way Ball" concert had been denied. 
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other. Although it is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
Hard-liners have loudly criticized Lady Gaga, saying the suggestive nature of her show threatened to undermine the country's moral fiber. Some threatened to use physical force to prevent her from stepping off the plane.
Lawmakers and religious leaders, too, have spoken out against her.
Worried they could not guarantee security, local police recommended the permit for the show be denied, said Amar, adding that national police decided Tuesday to comply.
It was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, with fans snapping up every seat in Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium - half of them in the first two hours of sales.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ellen DeGeneres, who broke ground in 1997 as the first lead character on prime-time TV to reveal she was gay, is winning the nation's top humor prize.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday that DeGeneres will receive the 15th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She will be honored Oct. 22 with a lineup of star performers in a tribute show that will be recorded for broadcast at a later date.
In a written statement, DeGeneres said receiving the same award as past honorees Bill Cosby, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell makes her wonder, "Why didn't I get this sooner?"
Cappy McGarr, an executive producer for the Mark Twain Prize show and a Kennedy Center board member, said DeGeneres has a special style of observational humor in the tradition of Twain.
"She's not just a comedian," he said. "She's really a miracle worker. She got the president to dance, the first lady to do pushups and (Republican) Tom DeLay to laugh."
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A new lawyer for O.J. Simpson filed a new attempt Tuesday to gain his release from Nevada state prison, alleging the former football star was so badly represented by lawyers in his trial and previous appeals that he deserves a new trial.
A 94-page document filed Tuesday in Las Vegas faults the performance of attorneys Yale Galanter of Miami and Gabriel Grasso of Las Vegas, but maintains Simpson's same basic defense. It says the NFL Hall of Famer wanted to recover from sports memorabilia dealers family photos and personal mementoes stolen from him after his 1995 acquittal in the Los Angeles slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Simpson, 64, was convicted in 2008 in Las Vegas of charges including kidnapping and armed robbery in a caper in a casino hotel room crammed with two memorabilia dealers and a middle man, Simpson and five other later convicted of felonies. He was sentenced in December 2008 to nine to 33 years behind bars.
Galanter declined comment Tuesday, saying he wanted to read the complete document. Grasso said he hadn't read the document, but "I'm behind O.J. and I hope this petition helps him get out of prison."
NEW YORK (AP) - Where has Neil Sedaka been all these years? Wiggling his way into the hearts of a new generation, for one, through picture books accompanied by mini-albums offering playful takes on some of his hits.
At 73, the singer-songwriter enlisted the aid of his twin granddaughters as kiddie backup singers on the three-song CD tucked into "Dinosaur Pet," released this month by Imagine Publishing and inspired by his 1960 song "Calendar Girl."
"My grandchildren love Papa Neil's old rock 'n' roll songs. I used to sing them at their piano," he said in a recent interview.
NEW YORK (AP) - An attorney for Bret Michaels says the rocker has settled a lawsuit against the Tony Awards over an accident he claimed put his life at risk. Attorney Alex Weingarten saids terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.
The Poison frontman was hit in the head by a set piece during the 2009 show and suffered a brain hemorrhage months later. He sued the Tony Awards and CBS Broadcasting in March 2011.
, claiming the never explained to him there would be a set change after the performance.
A federal judge in New York dismissed the case Monday after both sides announced a provisional settlement.
Emails seeking comment from CBS and publicists for the Tony Awards were not immediately returned.




2


 


May 16, 2012 Wednesday  


 Lady Gaga Is Denied a Permit to Perform in Indonesia

 
Lady Gaga is too risque for Indonesia. The national police denied her a permit on Tuesday for a concert that was to have been held in early June after Islamic hard-liners mounted protests, complaining that her sexy clothes and suggestive dance moves will corrupt the youth, The Associated Press and Reuters reported. 
Boy Rafli Amar, a spokesman for the national police, told The Associated Press that the permit for the June 3 ''Born This Way Ball'' had been denied because the police in Jakarta could not guarantee the safety of the crowd. Some of the militant groups had threatened to use physical force to stop the show.
''She's a vulgar singer who wears only panties and a bra when she sings and she stated she is the envoy of the devil's child and that she will spread Satanic teaching,'' said Salim Alatas, who leads the Islamic Defenders Front, a hard-line group in Jarkarta. ''This is dangerous.''
There was no immediate response from Lady Gaga.
The show had been expected to be the biggest extravaganza on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, and fans bought every available ticket in Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium, with half of them selling in the first two hours. It was not clear if their money would be refunded.
The tour started in late April and several stops have been sold out. Promoters said only people older than 18 could attend her concerts in South Korea after conservatives there raised objections to her show.
Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation with more than 245 million people, has a secular government but is home to the world's largest population of Muslims, along with significant minorities of Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.
This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.




2


 


May 16, 2012 Wednesday  


 PEOPLE

 
INDONESIA NOT READY FOR GAGA AFTER ALL
 Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt young people. 
 National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar, responding to the pressure, said Tuesday that the permit for her June 3 "Born This Way Ball" concert had been denied.
 Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other. Although it is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
 It was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, with fans snapping up every seat in Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium - half of them in the first two hours of sales.
DEGENERES TO RECEIVE MARK TWAIN PRIZE
 This fall, Ellen DeGeneres will join Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Fey, George Carlin and Will Ferrell in an exclusive comedy club: recipients of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
 The Emmy-winning host of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" is being honored for her stand-up work, her daytime show, her various hosting gigs, activism and books.
 According to the Kennedy Center, recipients of the Mark Twain Prize are "people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens."
 DeGeneres will receive her award during a ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22.
KISSINGER IS USED TO TSA STOPPING HIM
 When former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger flies, he gets patted down by security agents just about every time. Kissinger, 88, was stopped again a few days ago as he passed security at New York's LaGuardia Airport on his way to Toronto.
 But the elder statesman released a statement Tuesday, saying it's "not unusual" for him to be patted down during airport security screening. He said he wears a brace on his foot and can't remove his shoes.
 Kissinger praised agents of the federal Transportation Security Administration for their "professionalism" and "courtesy" while performing what he calls "an important job."
THE BIRTHDAY BUNCH
 Actor Pierce Brosnan is 59. Actress Debra Winger is 57. Olympic gold medal gymnast Olga Korbut is 57. Actress Mare Winningham is 53. Rock musician Krist Novoselic is 47. Singer Janet Jackson is 46. Actress Tracey Gold is 43. Actress Tori Spelling is 39. Actress Megan Fox is 26. Actor Miles Heizer ("Parenthood") is 18.
TYPE: Column




2


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

May 16, 2012 Wednesday  
THIRD EDITION

 PEOPLE ENTERTAINMENT

 
Iron turns to gold
"The Avengers" has made $1 billion so far at the box office, meaning that Robert Downey Jr.'s decision to take a piece of the profits has earned him $50 million and counting, The Hollywood Reporter posted. Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo will make $2 million to $3 million. 
Gaga accused of ties to Satan - Indonesian police Tuesday refused to issue a concert permit for Lady Gaga, citing objections from conservative Muslim groups accusing her of promoting Satan worship and homosexuality.
It's a big deal - Ryan Seacrest bought Ellen DeGeneres' Beverly Hills estate for $49 million, the website TMZ reported.
BLENDER BITS
Posted by Kevin C. Johnson at stltoday.com/blender:
- The schedule has been posted for the STL Bluesweek Festival, which will take place at a new location, at Soldiers Memorial, on a new weekend, May 25-27, filling the void left by the departed Rib America.
- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall on June 29.
- Rapper-poet Corey Black shows the poetic side of his persona with a show at 2847 Cherokee St. on Sunday.
- Soul revivalist band Vintage Trouble returns to Lola with a concert Saturday.
TV CHAT
Gail Pennington is not only posting about the networks' fall schedule announcements daily at stltoday.com/tubetalk, but she is already taking your comments and questions about them for her weekly (Thursday, 1 p.m.) get-together at stltoday.com/chat.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
St. Louis blues legend Big George Brock is 80. Actor Pierce Brosnan is 59. Actress Megan Fox is 26.




2



 


May 15, 2012 Tuesday

 Lady Gaga: Indonesia concert is canceled

 
Wednesday May 16, 2012
JAKARTA, Indo nesia -- Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt young people. 
National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar, responding to the pressure, said Tuesday that the permit for her June 3 "Born This Way Ball" concert had been denied.
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other.
Hard-liners have loudly criticized Lady Gaga, saying the suggestive nature of her show threatened to undermine the country's moral fiber. Some threatened to use physical force to prevent her from stepping off the plane.
Lawmakers and religious leaders, too, have spoken out against her.
Worried they could not guarantee security, local police recommended the permit for the show be denied, said Amar, adding that national police decided Tuesday to comply.
It was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, with fans snapping up every seat in Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium -- half of them in the first two hours of sales.
Lady Gaga's Asian tour started late last month and many of the stops have sold out. The South Korean concerts were limited to fans 18 or older because conservatives there raised objections.




2


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

May 15, 2012 Tuesday

 Hicks: Lady Gaga cancels Indonesia show over religious protests

 
Lady Gaga has canceled her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt the youth. 
That's right. This country was doing just fine until she came along and ruined everything.
National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said Tuesday that the permit for Gaga's June 3 "Born This Way Ball" concert had been denied.
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other. Although it is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
Hard-liners have loudly criticized Lady Gaga, saying the suggestive nature of her show threatened to undermine the country's moral fiber. Some threatened to use physical force to prevent her from stepping off the plane.
They must not know she's an American and can do whatever she wants.
Lawmakers and religious leaders have also spoken out against her.
Worried they could not guarantee security, local police recommended the permit for the show be denied, said Amar, adding that national police decided Tuesday to comply.
It was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, selling out Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium.
I guess it's too late to send a hologram to take her place.
Permits usually are issued about three weeks before a concert in Jakarta, so it is common to sell tickets well ahead of receiving the permit. It was not immediately clear if ticket buyers will be refunded. The local promoter, Michael Rusli, could not be reached for comment.
"I'm very disappointed," said Mariska Renata, who had tickets to the Jakarta show.
She said by bowing to the wishes of "troublemakers," authorities only give them more power. "We are mature enough to be able to separate our own moral values from arts and culture," Renata said.
Lady Gaga's Asian tour started late last month and many of the stops have sold out. The South Korean concerts were limited to fans 18 or older because conservatives there raised objections.
Follow Tony Hicks atwww.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks and on Twitter athttps://twitter.com/ #!/insertfoot




2


 Contra Costa Newspapers
 
Contra Costa Times (California)

May 15, 2012 Tuesday

 Hicks: Ellen DeGeneres wins Mark Twain award

 
Ellen DeGeneres, who broke ground in 1997 as the first lead character on prime-time TV to reveal she was gay, has won the nation's top humor prize.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday that DeGeneres will receive the 15th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She will be honored Oct. 22 with a tribute show that will be recorded for broadcast at a later date.
In a written statement, DeGeneres said receiving the same award as past honorees Bill Cosby, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell makes her wonder, "Why didn't I get this sooner?"
Fifteen years ago, just before the humor prize was created, DeGeneres came out on Time magazine's cover, just as her character did on an episode of the sitcom "Ellen" that drew a record 46 million viewers. The show began losing viewers, though, and was canceled a year later. DeGeneres said at the time that ABC caved in to fear and abandoned the show. She faced tough questions over whether the sitcom was "too gay" and if she had torpedoed her career by pushing a "gay agenda." 
"When I'm accused of becoming political, I'm showing love," DeGeneres told ABC's Diane Sawyer in a 1998 interview. "How is that political to teach love and acceptance?"
The rejection was enough to send DeGeneres into a deep depression, she says. But her sitcom helped pave the way for such shows as "Will and Grace" "Glee" and "Modern Family, " that have broken the taboo of showing gay characters.
DeGeneres' talkshow, meanwhile, is in its ninth season.
TRAVOLTA SUIT DISMISSED: An lawsuit alleging John Travolta acted inappropriately with a male masseur has been dismissed, according to a court document obtained by TheWrap.
No cause for the dismissal was given, though it's a good bet it had something to do with all the evidence Travolta produced proving he was in New York when he was allegedly sexually harassing this guy in Los Angeles.
Okorie Okorocha, an attorney for the anonymous plaintiff, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
John Doe number one alleged that Travolta acted improperly during a January massage session at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Okorocha told TheWrap last week he parted ways with the plaintiff, though his name is listed as attorney on the notice of dismissal. Previously, photo evidence and a restaurant receipt placed Travolta in New York on Jan. 16, the day of the alleged incident.
Another plaintiff, whose suit does not appear to have been dismissed, was identified as John Doe number two. He claimed that Travolta grabbed, rubbed and caressed his buttocks and upper thighs during a Jan. 28 massage at an Atlanta resort. The suit went on to allege that the actor began masturbating with about 15 minutes left in the session.
Okorocha has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment regarding the status of John Doe number two's complaint.
Martin Singer, an attorney for Travolta, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Monday, Okorocha told TheWrap that would push forward with the suit and was seeking a private trial, with sealed records. You know, just in case Travolta starts up again with all that embarrassing "evidence" stuff.
"We are proposing a full trial that will be a fight like no other," Okorocha told TheWrap on Monday.
LADY GAGA CORRUPTING CHILDREN: Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt the youth.
That's right. This country was doing just fine until she came along and ruined everything.
National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar, responding to the pressure, said Tuesday that the permit for her June 3 "Born This Way Ball" concert had been denied.
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other. Although it is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
Hard-liners have loudly criticized Gaga, saying the suggestive nature of her show threatened to undermine the country's moral fiber. Some threatened to use physical force to prevent her from stepping off the plane.
They must not know she's an American and can do whatever she wants.
Lawmakers and religious leaders, too, have spoken out against her.
Worried they could not guarantee security, local police recommended the permit for the show be denied, said Amar, adding that national police decided Tuesday to comply.
It was supposed to be the biggest show on Gaga's Asian tour, with fans snapping up every seat in Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium -- half of them in the first two hours of sales.
I guess its too late to send a hologram to take her place.
Permits usually are issued about three weeks before a concert in Jakarta, so it is common to sell tickets well ahead of receiving the permit. It was not immediately clear if the ticket sales would be refunded. The local promoter, Michael Rusli, could not be reached for comment.
"I'm very disappointed," said Mariska Renata, who had tickets to the Jakarta show.
She said by bowing to the wishes of "troublemakers," authorities only give them more power. "We are mature enough to be able to separate our own moral values from arts and culture," Renata said.
Easy for her to say. She wasn't the one who was going to be attacked when she stepped off the plane.
Gaga's Asian tour started late last month and many of the stops have sold out. The South Korean concerts were limited to fans 18 or older because conservatives there raised objections.
THE HULK HAS A CAREER COMEBACK: The success of "The Avengers" has producers considering reviving the Hulk, both on television and, possibly, a third film on the big screen.
When reached for comment about his newfound success, the Hulk commented "SMASH."
ABC is also pursuing its long-gestating plans for a "Hulk" TV series, ABC entertainment president Paul Lee said Tuesday.
Disney's ownership of Marvel opens up many opportunities for ABC to pursue series based on Marvel comics characters. Lee said a "Hulk" series didn't come together in time for the 2012-13 season, but could be a possibility the season after that.
Asked if ABC has other Marvel projects in the works, he said: "We've got some in development, but none that I can talk about at this point."
Ah-HA! Disney is obviously planning to build Hulk Smashland, complete with Hulk bumper cars, colliding Hulk roller coasters and various other rides that explode and/or leave complete chaos in their wake.
Hey, Hulk Smashland would be a great band name.
Lee said ABC has passed, meanwhile, on the Marvel-based series "A.K.A. Jessica Jones."
"Avengers" star Mark Ruffalo is the third actor to play The Hulk's alter-ego, Dr. Bruce Banner, on the big screen in the last decade. He has signed a multi-picture deal to play the role, previously filled by Eric Bana and Ed Norton.
"Pan's Labyrinth" director Guillermo Del Toro and Marvel executive Jeph Loeb have been collaborating on a new "Hulk" series.
The original "The Incredible Hulk" TV series spawned from two 1977 TV movies, aired on CBS from 1978 to 1982 and starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. The character returned in three NBC made-for-television movies that aired from 1988 to 1990. One paired him with the Marvel hero Thor, and another with Daredevil.
BRET MICHAELS SETTLES LAWSUIT: Bret Michaels has settled a lawsuit he filed against the Tony Awards over a 2009 incident in which he was hit in the head with a set piece and suffered injuries that he claimed contributed to a brain hemorrhage that nearly killed him.
And, even worse, it messed up his hairpiece.
The confidential settlement also covers Michaels' claims against CBS Broadcasting, which aired the show and the mishap. The Poison frontman blamed the network for airing the moment, which became which a viral video watched by tens of millions of people online, and claimed Tony Awards producers never warned him there would be a set change after he and his band performed "Nothin' But a Good Time."
So Brett Michaels was embarrassed. Really? After multiple seasons of starring in "Rock of Love?"
The accident initially left Michaels with a busted lip and broken nose but also caused brain bleeding, the lawsuit claimed. He was hospitalized in April 2010, and doctors found he had a brain hemorrhage and he later suffered a warning stroke, which the musician says nearly killed him.
Michaels' attorney Alex Weingarten said details of the settlement would not be released. "Mr. Michaels would like to thank his fans for their continued support," he wrote in a statement.
No word on reports Michaels accepted his payment in tattoos.
Michaels sued in March 2011 in Los Angeles, but a judge later moved the case to New York City. The agreement came after a mediation session was held on Friday.
Representatives for CBS and the Tonys released a joint statement saying that "an amicable resolution" had been reached but no further details would be released.
The musician and reality television star did not state how much compensation he was seeking when he sued but said the injury hurt his ability to perform at later shows. Either that, or he's just getting old.
Follow Tony Hicks atwww.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks and on Twitter athttps://twitter.com/ #!/insertfoot
MAY 16 IN HISTORY
Wednesday is May 16, the 137th day of 2012. There are 229 days left in the year.
1770: Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.
1866: Congress authorized minting of the first five-cent piece, also known as the "Shield nickel."
1868: The U.S. Senate failed by one vote to convict President Andrew Johnson as it took its first ballot on the eleven articles of impeachment against him.
1920: Joan of Arc was canonized by Pope Benedict XV.
1929: The first Academy Awards were presented. The movie "Wings" won "best production," while Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor were named best actor and best actress.
1939: The government began its first food stamp program in Rochester, N.Y.
1948: CBS News correspondent George Polk, who'd been covering the Greek civil war between Communist and nationalist forces, was found slain in Solonica Harbor.
1961: Park Chung-hee seized power in South Korea in a military coup.
1975: Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
1992: The space shuttle Endeavour completed its maiden voyage with a safe landing in the California desert.
2002: Congressional Democrats demanded to be told what President George W. Bush knew about terrorist threats before Sept. 11 as the White House and its GOP allies defended the president for not disclosing intelligence that Osama bin Laden wanted to hijack U.S. airplanes. The remains of kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl were unearthed in Pakistan.
2007: Anti-war Democrats in the Senate failed in an attempt to cut off funds for the Iraq war. Britain's army reversed course and announced that Prince Harry would not be sent to Iraq with his regiment due to "specific threats" from insurgents. (The prince did end up serving in Afghanistan for 10 weeks, until word of his deployment got out.) British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a farewell visit to President George W. Bush at the White House. Nicolas Sarkozy took over from Jacques Chirac as France's president.
2011: A judge in New York refused to release on bail the chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of trying to rape a hotel maid. (The charges against Strauss-Kahn were later dropped.) The Vatican told bishops around the world it was important to cooperate with police in reporting priests who'd raped and molested children and asked them to develop guidelines for preventing sex abuse; however, victims groups immediately denounced the recommendations as "dangerously flawed." Endeavour blasted off on NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight commanded by Mark Kelly, husband of wounded Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
BIRTHDAYS
Jazz musician Billy Cobham (68), actor Pierce Brosnan (59), actress Debra Winger (57), Olympic gold medal gymnast Olga Korbut (57), actress Mare Winningham (53). rock musician Boyd Tinsley (The Dave Matthews Band) (48), rock musician Krist Novoselic (47), singer Janet Jackson (46), rhythm-and-blues singer Ralph Tresvant (New Edition) (44), actor David Boreanaz (43), political correspondent Tucker Carlson (43), actress Tracey Gold (43), tennis player Gabriela Sabatini (42), actress Tori Spelling (39), actress Lynn Collins (35), actress Megan Fox (26).
Associated Press




2


 St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

May 14, 2012 Monday

 Indonesia yanks Gaga gig, says she will corrupt children

 
Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia following protests by Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers, who said her sexy clothes and dance moves will corrupt young people. 
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has more Muslims than any other. Although it is secular and has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years. Hard-liners have loudly criticized Lady Gaga, saying the suggestive nature of her show threatened to undermine the country's moral fiber. Some threatened to use physical force to prevent her from stepping off the plane.
It was supposed to be the biggest show on Lady Gaga's Asian tour, with fans snapping up every seat in Jakarta's 52,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno stadium -- half of them in the first two hours of sales. -- Associated Press
Lawmakers and religious leaders, too, have spoken out against her.
Worried they could not guarantee security, local police recommended the permit for the show be denied, said Amar, adding that national police decided Tuesday to comply.
Permits usually are issued about three weeks before a concert in Jakarta, so it is common to sell tickets well ahead of receiving a permit. It was not immediately clear if the ticket sales would be refunded. The local promoter, Michael Rusli, could not be reached for comment.
"I'm very disappointed," said Mariska Renata, who had tickets to the Jakarta show.
She said by bowing to the wishes of "troublemakers," authorities only give them more power. "We are mature enough to be able to separate our own moral values from arts and culture," Renata said.
Lady Gaga's Asian tour started late last month and many of the stops have sold out. The South Korean concerts were limited to fans 18 or older because conservatives there raised objections.
-- Associated Press




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May 13, 2012 Sunday

 When the cops are the criminals

 
In a civilized society, when someone commits a murder, you call the police - expecting them to uphold the law and arrest whoever committed the crime.
But who do you call when the criminals are the police themselves? In the town of Rabwah, Pakistan, several senior police officers are accused of detaining for 46 days without charges 43-year-old Abdul Qudoos Ahmad, a well-known and respected Ahmadi Muslim schoolteacher. The police are also accused of brutally torturing Mr. Qudoos for at least 10 straight days in an apparent attempt to force him to confess to a murder he did not commit, or else implicate high-ranking officials of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Rabwah.
All for the purpose of discrediting the avowedly peace-loving and non-violent Ahmadi Muslims, who founded and built Rabwah in the early 1950s as the headquarters for their Islamic organization in Pakistan. 
Mr. Qudoos was the president of the Nusratabad chapter of the Ahmadiyya Community in Rabwah. He is survived by his wife, four children and his parents.
During the illegal police detention, Mr. Qudoos was not allowed to meet his family, nor he was provided medical treatment or a lawyer, nor was he officially charged with any crime. According to information received from inside sources, cruel and merciless tortures led to multiple organ failure, internal bleeding and other traumatic injuries. When the condition of Mr. Qudoos deteriorated to a near death state, the police released him to his family on March 26 so he wouldn't die in police custody. His family rushed him to a hospital, but despite the best efforts of doctors who applied emergency treatment, Mr. Qudoos could not recover from his injuries and died March 30. But before he passed away, he was able to detail the excruciating tortures he was subjected to and why.
The "why" of course is the reason Abdul Qudoos was unlawfully detained and tortured by the police in the first place: he was an Ahmadi Muslim - a "Qadiani" in the parlance of the policemen accused of causing his death.
"Qadiani" is the derogatory term used throughout Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Middle East where Ahmadis are the most persecuted by other Muslims. The name comes from the town of Qadian in Northern India where the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was born in 1835.
Reports of persecution and atrocities against Ahmadis seldom receive any condemnation from the media, and you can forget about any serious investigation by the authorities into criminal acts if Ahmadis are the victims. When the government, via its Constitution and penal codes, mandates the marginalization and second-class citizenship of Ahmadis, allowing banners openly calling for their murder as apostates in Islam, the last thing you are going to see in Pakistan is justice for Ahmadis.
Ahmadis are singled out by name in Pakistan's Constitution and penal codes, declared "non-Muslims" and forbidden from publicly practicing or preaching Islam. They can be fined and jailed for "posing" as Muslims if they say "Salaam Alaikum," the standard Islamic greeting of peace, or if they refer to themselves as Muslims, or call their places of worship "mosques." In fact, if an Ahmadi says or writes anything regarding Islam and especially the Holy Prophet Muhammad that any other Muslim deems objectionable, the Ahmadi can have a case filed against them at any police station charging them with blasphemy. And the accuser never has to provide any evidence, as this would mean repeating the supposedly blasphemous statement and thus being liable for a blasphemy charge as well.
The most infamous blasphemy case in Pakistan to date is that of Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who was charged with blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad and sentenced to death in November 2010. She denies ever doing this and there is no evidence against her - only the accusations themselves - yet still she waits in jail for her death sentence to be carried out, despite international pleas for mercy and a governmental pardon from human rights groups, religious leaders and politicians.
So who do you turn to for help when the people charged with upholding justice are the ones responsible for injustice, torture and murder? In the case of Abdul Qudoos, where the police, courts, politicians and media in Pakistan either ally themselves with or tremble before the extremist mullahs, the push for justice will have to come from the conscience and press of the international community. But the deliverance of justice will, ultimately, come from one source: the Court of God. Ahmadi Muslims petition this court with patience and prayer, and await God's just verdict which we have firm faith will be in the favor of Abdul Qudoos.
Imam Shamshad A. Nasir is imam of Baitul Hamid Mosque in Chino.




2



 



April 25, 2012 Wednesday  


 At ballpark, stands full of fans won't be for Nats

 
Come sunset Saturday, Nationals Park will be full not with baseball fans but with 41,000 devotees of another American phenomenon: Joel Osteen.
Second base will become the main stage for the wavy-haired, ever-smiling Texan, whose cast for the 21 / 2-hour "America's Night of Hope" includes 100 singers and musicians, 1,000 ticket-ripping volunteers, and a six-person social media team to keep Twitter and Facebook buzzing.
Yet, one of the largest religious events in the region since Pope Benedict XVI's 2008 visit is coming together pretty much outside of the organized church world. 
With a few exceptions, there will be no church bus groups or pastor promotions, and many - if not most - of the people who paid $15 for a ticket didn't hear about the event through their church, because they don't go to one.
They are probably among the 10 million people who Osteen's group says watch his weekly TV broadcast, the crown jewel of a megaministry built on the concept of a totally positive, in-your-corner God whose list of "don'ts" is pretty short: Don't lose hope! 
The show flashes ads for the monthly "inspirational" events more frequently than it flashes verses from the Bible. And for people who live within 200 miles of the ballpark, they started getting e-mails 90 days ago, part of the regular communications for the 1 million people who his group says have asked to be zapped inspirational messages from the Osteens. Or maybe they bought one of his best-selling books or downloaded his podcast - one of the most-downloaded in the world - or follow him on Twitter, where he is considered one of the most-followed religious figures.
People love him for the same reason that many others, pastors in particular, shun him: his near-total silence on the subjects of sin, suffering and detailed doctrine.
"My message isn't real religious," Osteen said in an interview. "I've stayed good in my sweet spot, which is encouraging people, and hope."
Even local pastors who sometimes collaborate with Osteen's ministry were cautious about characterizing it. One declined to comment beyond saying that Osteen's focus on stories of financial prosperity and his lack of emphasis on sin made him too controversial. 
But Michael Collins, pastor of the Extraordinary Life Church in Glen Burnie, who has a video of himself with Osteen on his church's Web site, said: "There are very few pastors who say 'Let's go to this as a church.' People want him to preach all this deep doctrine, and that's like trying to get a 5-year-old to play" pro sports. "Most people don't have the basic aspects of faith, and Joel meets them right where they're at."
Others were withering about the thinking behind super-popular Osteenisms such as this one: "No matter what may be happening today, God has good things in store for your future!"
"Why do con artists work? Why do multilevel marketing schemes work?" said Kevin Lewis, a theologian at the evangelical Biola University. "The Bible says, if you want to be prosperous, work hard and gain wisdom. Not, 'Say the right words, and spiritual forces will make you healthy and wealthy.' "
James Bailey, a leadership professor at George Washington University's business school who will be at the ballpark Saturday, found himself drawn into the Osteen vortex about a year ago while flipping through TV channels one Sunday morning. 
"He isn't heavy-handed with the practical elements: Do this or that, or you're going to hell," said Bailey, a non-churchgoing Catholic. "There was a light touch. It's like, 'This is about your relationship with God. All I'm doing here is helping you find that relationship.' "
Experts have been analyzing Osteen's ministry since it exploded in 1999, the year it began. His pastor-father, John Osteen, died and was replaced at the pulpit by his cameraman son, who had no theology training, no college degree and not a day of pastoring experience. But his appeal was undeniable.
Lakewood Church in Houston grew from 16,000 to 38,000 worshippers in five years under Joel Osteen and to 43,000 today. It is America's largest church. Its budget last year was $70 million, including $20 million for the television ministry and $5 million for events such as the "Night of Hope." He's sold a million books in Muslim Indonesia. Regular Sunday viewers and attendees at the ballpark will be Jewish, Hindu or the kind of people who check "none" when asked to identify their religion.
Osteen's success says much about American religion in 2012, when "church" can be a bunch of strangers online who may not even be Christian and when one of the few pastors who can fill a baseball stadium preaches about love, not doctrine. 
Although Osteen's staff seems slightly smug about his ability to rise to the top of American spirituality outside of officialdom, the son of a charismatic preacher doesn't ignore the subject completely. A few years ago, concerned by the number of people he would meet in other cities who considered him "their pastor" even though they had seen him only on television, he launched a network to connect viewers with pastors and congregations in their home towns. About 300 pastors in the United States are in the network, including 11 in the Washington region.
But the requirements to join are minimal. "They don't have to adhere to a theological standard," said Osteen spokesman - and brother-in-law - Don Iloff, "except they must teach the goodness of God. That means, you're not there to beat these people up. God loves them."
boorsteinm@washpost.com




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April 19, 2012 Thursday

 Obama Romney dog wars: cultural lessons for the dinner table; 
"Obama eats dog!" "Romney cages dog on car roof!" Wiipe away the political rhetoric and the dog wars is a great dinner table topic about different cultures.

 
Oh, the teachable moments that are coming out of the 2012 presidential campaign. Forget the mommy wars. Forget health care, the economy and taxes - today we have the President Barack Obama dog controversy and the Mitt Romney versus Obama dog wars.
Can't wait to explain this one to the kiddos. Nothing like headlines that scream "Obama eats dog!" to start a conversation at the breakfast table. (And make the family pooch a bit nervous.)
But swipe away some of the hot political rhetoric and there actually are some lessons - non partisan ones - to talk about with kids.
To recap, the current twist in the War on Dogs comes after a long time criticism of a revelation, first reported in 2007, that on a 12-hour drive from Massachusetts to Canada in 1983, the Romney family put their dog, an Irish Setter named Seamus, in a crate on the top of their car. It was the only thing to do, they explained, because with all those kids there wasn't any room in coach.
The dog lovers went a bit nuts. Because, well, you just can't do that. (My husband, however, upon hearing this said he thought the top-of-car-crate was a great idea. But don't worry, PETA. Not gonna happen. The dog was here first.)
And the Dems haven't been able to resist - tweeting out photos of Obama and First Dog Bo, with some requisite snarky comments about how good dog-owners act. (Rick Santorum - who was fighting Romney to be Republican nominee and had his own problems with seating space - was happy to bring it up, as well.)
So it was inevitable, really, that the conservatives would eventually jump on this passage of Obama's memoir, "Dreams From My Father."
With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chill peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy). Like many Indonesians, Lolo followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths. He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate: One day soon, he promised, he would bring home a piece of tiger meat for us to share.
Look, everyone! They said. Obama eats dog!
Bound to attract attention in the under-13 set.
So parents, maybe this is a good time to talk about cultural difference. (And, perhaps, about how families with a bazillion kids just try to do what they can to make things work. I mean, I personally think the top of the car thing is a bit nuts, but at least the Romneys wanted Seamus with them, right?)
The Indonesians are not alone when it comes to eating dog meat. Although laws are changing in many places because of the growing status of dogs (and cats) in family life, dog meat has been pretty common in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, and even Switzerland. A century ago it was even more widespread, with dog a specialty in much of Europe.
Academics who study this sort of thing are interested in how dog meat has become such a taboo while most people think it's just fine and dandy to eat other animals that have, by various tests, the same intelligence and emotion. (Pigs, for instance.) Many of the people who are outraged about "Obama eats dog" are the same people who will pooh-pooh vegetarians as Leftist softies.
But dogs are different, most people will say. They're our best friends. Family members.
But why? the academics ask. It's really a pretty fascinating historical and sociological study.
Meanwhile, people from around the world eat lots of things that we don't. In many of the countries where I've worked cane rat is a delicacy. Grasshoppers, too.
I could never bring myself to try either - the personal yuck factor was just too much - but I saw that as my problem.
The lesson, I believe? It's a big, beautiful, fascinating world out there. People are different, and that's OK.
Maybe that's what we could talk to our kids about this morning.




3



 


April 16, 2012 Monday

 Out of context

 
RE: "Edict on churches goes against Islam," by Imam Shamshad A. Nasir of the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Chino, March 28.
Mr. Nasir did not identify whose translation of the Quran he quoted from, but I read the passage Sura 22:38-41, which is the immediate context of the verse (22:40) that he quoted, in five different translations, and they are virtually the same. 
However, the quoted verse is not a command, but a comment in a passage saying that Allah gives the believers permission to defend themselves when they are wronged and driven from their homes for proclaiming that Allah is their God.
It is unacceptable for anyone, Muslim or Christian (and I am a Christian, and too many Christians do this, too), to take short passages out of context from their religious book and use them to support some point in an argument. The context often qualifies the meaning of the shorter, excerpted passage in ways that make its meaning different than the way the one quoting it is using it. We should all refer to the sources of the quotations cited and read them in their original context before accepting them as support for or against an argument.
If you do not own a Bible or a Quran or whatever the original source of the quote is, your local public library may or you may be able to find it on the web.
As for the fatwa calling for the removal of churches from the Arabian Peninsula - the grand mufti based it on a hadith, which many Sunni and Shiite Muslims accept as true words of Allah, but perhaps Ahmadiyya Muslims do not. And even before this fatwa, churches were being destroyed by Muslims in Egypt, Indonesia, the Muslim-dominated areas of Nigeria and Ethiopia, and other places where Muslims rule; and even worse, Christians are being tortured, driven out of the region, or murdered, by Muslims in those same places.
ELIZABETH KERR
Ontario




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April 15, 2012 Sunday

 
In American religious history, Nov. 8, 1960, is generally regarded as the date when the presidency ceased to be the exclusive property of Protestants. But for decades afterward, the election of the Catholic John F. Kennedy looked more like a temporary aberration.
Post-J.F.K., many of America's established churches went into an unexpected decline, struggling to make their message resonate in a more diverse, affluent and sexually permissive America. The country as a whole became more religiously fluid, with more church-switching, more start-up sects, more do-it-yourself forms of faith. Yet a nation that was increasingly nondenominational and postdenominational kept electing Protestants from established denominations to the White House.
That is, until now. In 2012, we finally have a presidential field whose diversity mirrors the diversity of American Christianity as a whole.
Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all identify as Christians, but their theological traditions and personal experiences of faith diverge more starkly than any group of presidential contenders in recent memory. These divergences reflect America as it actually is: We're neither traditionally Christian nor straightforwardly secular. Instead, we're a nation of heretics in which most people still associate themselves with Christianity but revise its doctrines as they see fit, and nobody can agree on even the most basic definitions of what Christian faith should mean. 
This diversity is not necessarily a strength. The old Christian establishment - which by the 1950s encompassed Kennedy's Roman Catholic Church as well as the major Protestant denominations - could be exclusivist, snobbish and intolerant. But the existence of a Christian center also helped bind a vast and teeming nation together. It was the hierarchy, discipline and institutional continuity of mainline Protestantism and later Catholicism that built hospitals and schools, orphanages and universities and assimilated generations of immigrants. At the same time, the kind of "mere Christianity" (in C. S. Lewis' phrase) that the major denominations shared frequently provided a kind of invisible mortar for our culture and a framework for our great debates.
Today, that religious common ground has all but disappeared.
And the inescapability of religious polarization - whether it pits evangelicals against Mormons, the White House against the Catholic Church, or Rick Santorum against the secular press - during an election year that was expected to be all about the economy is a sign of what happens to a deeply religious country when its theological center cannot hold.
Our president embodies this uncentered spiritual landscape in three ways. First, like a growing share of Americans (44 percent), President Obama changed his religion as an adult, joining Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in his 20s after a conversion experience brought him out of agnosticism into faith. Second, he was converted by a pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose highly politicized theology was self-consciously at odds with much of historic Christian practice and belief. Finally, since breaking with that pastor, Obama has become a believer without a denomination or a church, which makes him part of one of the country's fastest-growing religious groups - what the Barna Group calls the "unchurched Christian" bloc, consisting of Americans who accept some tenets of Christian faith without participating in any specific religious community.
Obama's likely general election rival, Mitt Romney, has had a less eventful religious journey, remaining a loyal practitioner of his childhood faith. But that faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the ultimate outsider church, persecuted at its inception and regarded with suspicion even now. Christian theologians wrangle over whether Mormon beliefs should be described as Christianity; Mormons, for their part, implicitly return the favor, since they believe that true Christian faith was restored to earth by Joseph Smith after nearly two millenniums of apostasy.
Indeed, between its belief in a special 19th-century revelation and other doctrinal embellishments, Mormonism is arguably as far as Jeremiah Wright's black liberation from what used to be the American religious center.
But there are costs to being a nation in which we're all heretics to one another and no religious orthodoxy commands wide support. Our diversity has made us more tolerant in some respects, but far more polarized in others.
The myth that President Obama is a Muslim, for instance, has its origins in Obama's exotic-sounding name and Kenyan-Indonesian background. But it's become so rooted in the right-wing consciousness in part because Obama's prior institutional affiliation is with a church that seems far more alien to many white Christians than did the African-American Christianity of Martin Luther King Jr., or even Jesse Jackson.
Nor has Mitt Romney's slow progress to the Republican nomination altered the fact that his fast-growing church is viewed by many with deep distrust. The same polls showing that many religious conservatives don't want to vote for a Mormon also show that many independents and Democrats feel the same way, and explicit anti-Mormon sentiment percolates among evangelical preachers and liberal columnists alike.
These various fears and paranoias are nourished by the fact that America's churches are increasingly too institutionally weak, too fragmented and internally divided to bring people from different political persuasions together. About 75 percent of Romney's co-religionists identify as Republicans, and it's safe to assume that President Obama didn't meet many conservatives in the pews at Jeremiah Wright's church. American Catholicism still pitches a wide enough tent to include members of both parties, but the church has long been divided into liberal and conservative factions that can seem as distant from one another as Rush Limbaugh and Bill Maher.
In this atmosphere, religious differences are more likely to inspire baroque conspiracy theories, whether it's the far-right panic over an Islamified United States or the left-wing paranoia about a looming evangelical-led theocracy.
And faith itself is more likely to serve partisan purposes - whether it's putting the messianic sheen on Obama's "hope and change" campaign or supplying the storm clouds in Glenn Beck's apocalyptic monologues.
Americans have never separated religion from politics, but it makes a difference how the two are intertwined. When religious commitments are more comprehensive and religious institutions more resilient, faith is more likely to call people out of private loyalties to public purposes, more likely to inspire voters to put ideals above self-interest, more likely to inspire politicians to defy partisan categories altogether.
But as orthodoxies weaken, churches split and their former adherents mix and match elements of various traditions to fit their preferences, religion is more likely to become indistinguishable from personal and ideological self-interest.
Here it's worth contrasting the civil rights era to our own. Precisely because America's religious center was stronger and its leading churches more influential, the preachers and ministers who led the civil rights movement were able to assemble the broadest possible religious coalition - from the ministers who marched with protesters to the Catholic bishops who desegregated parochial schools and excommunicated white supremacists. Precisely because they shared so much theological common ground with white Christians, the leaders of the black churches were able to use moral and theological arguments to effectively shame many Southerners into accepting desegregation. (The latter story is told, masterfully, in David L. Chappell's "A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow.")
The result was an issue where pastors led and politicians of both parties followed, where the institutional churches proved their worth as both sources of moral authority and hubs of activism, and where religious witness helped forge a genuine national consensus on an issue where even presidents feared to tread.
Today's America does not lack for causes where a similar spirit could be brought to bear for religious activists with the desire to imitate the achievements of the past. But with the disappearance of a Christian center and the decline of institutional religion more generally, we lack the capacity to translate those desires into something other than what we've seen in this, the most theologically diverse of recent presidential elections - division, demonization and polarization without end.
(Ross Douthat writes a syndicated column for the New York Times and normally appears in the Tribune opinion pages on Monday.) Divided by God




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April 8, 2012 Sunday  


 Divided By God

 
IN American religious history, Nov. 8, 1960, is generally regarded as the date when the presidency ceased to be the exclusive property of Protestants. But for decades afterward, the election of the Catholic John F. Kennedy looked more like a temporary aberration.
Post-J.F.K., many of America's established churches went into an unexpected decline, struggling to make their message resonate in a more diverse, affluent and sexually permissive America. The country as a whole became more religiously fluid, with more church-switching, more start-up sects, more do-it-yourself forms of faith. Yet a nation that was increasingly nondenominational and postdenominational kept electing Protestants from established denominations to the White House.
The six presidents elected before Kennedy's famous breakthrough included two Baptists, an Episcopalian, a Congregationalist, a Presbyterian and a Quaker. The six presidents elected prior to Barack Obama's 2008 victory included two Baptists, two Episcopalians, a Methodist and a Presbyterian. Jimmy Carter's and George W. Bush's self-identification as ''born again'' added a touch of theological diversity to the mix, as did losing candidates like the Greek Orthodox Michael S. Dukakis. But over all, presidential religious affiliation has been a throwback to the Eisenhower era -- or even the McKinley era. 
That is, until now. In 2012, we finally have a presidential field whose diversity mirrors the diversity of American Christianity as a whole.
Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all identify as Christians, but their theological traditions and personal experiences of faith diverge more starkly than any group of presidential contenders in recent memory. These divergences reflect America as it actually is: We're neither traditionally Christian nor straightforwardly secular. Instead, we're a nation of heretics in which most people still associate themselves with Christianity but revise its doctrines as they see fit, and nobody can agree on even the most basic definitions of what Christian faith should mean.
This diversity is not necessarily a strength. The old Christian establishment -- which by the 1950s encompassed Kennedy's Roman Catholic Church as well as the major Protestant denominations -- could be exclusivist, snobbish and intolerant. But the existence of a Christian center also helped bind a vast and teeming nation together. It was the hierarchy, discipline and institutional continuity of mainline Protestantism and later Catholicism that built hospitals and schools, orphanages and universities, and assimilated generations of immigrants. At the same time, the kind of ''mere Christianity'' (in C. S. Lewis's phrase) that the major denominations shared frequently provided a kind of invisible mortar for our culture and a framework for our great debates.
Today, that religious common ground has all but disappeared.
And the inescapability of religious polarization -- whether it pits evangelicals against Mormons, the White House against the Catholic Church, or Rick Santorum against the secular press -- during an election year that was expected to be all about the economy is a sign of what happens to a deeply religious country when its theological center cannot hold.
Our president embodies this uncentered spiritual landscape in three ways. First, like a growing share of Americans (44 percent), President Obama changed his religion as an adult, joining Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in his 20s after a conversion experience brought him out of agnosticism into faith. Second, he was converted by a pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose highly politicized theology was self-consciously at odds with much of historic Christian practice and belief. Finally, since breaking with that pastor, Obama has become a believer without a denomination or a church, which makes him part of one of the country's fastest-growing religious groups -- what the Barna Group calls the ''unchurched Christian'' bloc, consisting of Americans who accept some tenets of Christian faith without participating in any specific religious community.
Obama's likely general election rival, Mitt Romney, has had a less eventful religious journey, remaining a loyal practitioner of his childhood faith. But that faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the ultimate outsider church, persecuted at its inception and regarded with suspicion even now. Christian theologians wrangle over whether Mormon beliefs should be described as Christianity; Mormons, for their part, implicitly return the favor, since they believe that true Christian faith was restored to earth by Joseph Smith after nearly two millenniums of apostasy. Indeed, between its belief in a special 19th-century revelation and other doctrinal embellishments, Mormonism is arguably as far as Jeremiah Wright's black liberation from what used to be the American religious center.
THIS leaves Romney's last significant Republican opponent, the Catholic Rick Santorum, to represent what the America of 50 years ago would have recognized as a (relatively) mainstream religious body. Except, of course, that there's nothing particularly mainstream about Santorum's theological convictions. His traditionalist zeal has made him a bigger target even than Romney or Obama for fascination, suspicion and hysteria. In a nation as religiously diverse as ours, a staunchly orthodox Christianity can seem like the weirdest heresy of all.
In a sense, the fact that the 2012 presidential race has come down to a Mormon, a traditionalist Catholic and an incumbent with ties to liberation theology is a testament to the country's impressive progress toward religious tolerance. It's a striking thing that one of the nation's two political parties is poised to nominate a politician whose ancestors in faith were murdered, persecuted and driven into exile.
It's almost as remarkable that Rick Santorum's strongest supporters are evangelical Christians in the American South, a population that once would have regarded a devout Catholic with the deepest possible suspicion. And if you took a time machine back to the tumult of the civil rights era and told people that Americans would not only someday elect a black president, but one whose pastor and spiritual mentor was steeped in the radical theologies of the late 1960s -- well, that would have seemed like science fiction.
But there are costs to being a nation in which we're all heretics to one another, and no religious orthodoxy commands wide support. Our diversity has made us more tolerant in some respects, but far more polarized in others. The myth that President Obama is a Muslim, for instance, has its origins in Obama's exotic-sounding name and Kenyan-Indonesian background. But it's become so rooted in the right-wing consciousness in part because Obama's prior institutional affiliation is with a church that seems far more alien to many white Christians than did the African-American Christianity of Martin Luther King Jr., or even Jesse Jackson.
Likewise, while Santorum no longer has to worry (as John F. Kennedy did) about assuaging evangelical fears about Vatican plots and Catholic domination, his candidacy has summoned up an equally perfervid paranoia from secular liberals, who hear intimations of theocracy in his every speech and utterance. (And not only from secularists: The liberal Catholic writer Garry Wills recently resurrected the old slur ''papist'' -- once beloved of anti-Catholic Protestants -- to dismiss Santorum as a slavish servant of the Vatican.)
Nor has Mitt Romney's slow progress to the Republican nomination altered the fact that his fast-growing church is viewed by many with deep distrust. The same polls showing that many religious conservatives don't want to vote for a Mormon also show that many independents and Democrats feel the same way, and explicit anti-Mormon sentiment percolates among evangelical preachers and liberal columnists alike.
These various fears and paranoias are nourished by the fact that America's churches are increasingly too institutionally weak, too fragmented and internally divided to bring people from different political persuasions together. About 75 percent of Mitt Romney's co-religionists identify as Republicans, and it's safe to assume that President Obama didn't meet many conservatives in the pews at Jeremiah Wright's church. American Catholicism still pitches a wide enough tent to include members of both parties, but the church has long been divided into liberal and conservative factions that can seem as distant from one another as Rush Limbaugh and Bill Maher.
In this atmosphere, religious differences are more likely to inspire baroque conspiracy theories, whether it's the far-right panic over an Islamified United States or the left-wing paranoia about a looming evangelical-led theocracy. And faith itself is more likely to serve partisan purposes -- whether it's putting the messianic sheen on Obama's ''hope and change'' campaign or supplying the storm clouds in Glenn Beck's apocalyptic monologues.
Americans have never separated religion from politics, but it makes a difference how the two are intertwined. When religious commitments are more comprehensive and religious institutions more resilient, faith is more likely to call people out of private loyalties to public purposes, more likely to inspire voters to put ideals above self-interest, more likely to inspire politicians to defy partisan categories altogether. But as orthodoxies weaken, churches split and their former adherents mix and match elements of various traditions to fit their preferences, religion is more likely to become indistinguishable from personal and ideological self-interest.
Here it's worth contrasting the civil rights era to our own. Precisely because America's religious center was stronger and its leading churches more influential, the preachers and ministers who led the civil rights movement were able to assemble the broadest possible religious coalition -- from the ministers who marched with protesters to the Catholic bishops who desegregated parochial schools and excommunicated white supremacists. Precisely because they shared so much theological common ground with white Christians, the leaders of the black churches were able to use moral and theological arguments to effectively shame many Southerners into accepting desegregation. (The latter story is told, masterfully, in David L. Chappell's ''A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow.'')
The result was an issue where pastors led and politicians of both parties followed, where the institutional churches proved their worth as both sources of moral authority and hubs of activism, and where religious witness helped forge a genuine national consensus on an issue where even presidents feared to tread.
Today's America does not lack for causes where a similar spirit could be brought to bear for religious activists with the desire to imitate the achievements of the past. But with the disappearance of a Christian center and the decline of institutional religion more generally, we lack the capacity to translate those desires into something other than what we've seen in this, the most theologically diverse of recent presidential elections -- division, demonization and polarization without end.




3


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


April 5, 2012 Thursday

 Fighting for rights

 
 It was a quiet Friday morning in the U.S. House chambers, with so many empty seats it looked like Congress had already adjourned for the year. But on Dec. 16, the day federal funding for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom was set to expire, a small group of representatives stood and told their few colleagues in attendance why the commission, which tracks religious persecution abroad, should be reauthorized.  "The Coptic Christians are going through a very difficult time," said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.  
"The Iraqi Christians are being killed. In Tibet, the Buddhists are setting themselves aflame because of persecution. ? The Christians in Sudan, in the Blue Nile area, are going through genocide and are being killed because of their faith." USCIRF, a bipartisan group that monitors religious oppression worldwide and makes suggestions to the White House and Congress on how to respond, is "a beacon of hope" for those areas, Wolf said. And without much ado, despite having delayed the decision to the eleventh hour, the commission was renewed and spared for three more years.  Notwithstanding the empty room, organizations across the country were watching closely to see what happened that day. The commission, organized in 1998 to ensure that religious freedom circumferences the globe, had already started packing their boxes the week before. Their uncertain future didn't have anything to do with their mission ? they were caught in a political power play ? but still, religious groups across America took the commission's vulnerability as a sign that Congress might no longer value religious freedom abroad.  The implication that freedom of religion might no longer be a priority for the U.S. government was alarming, especially for the American Islamic Congress, a group that subsequently launched an all-out effort to preserve the commission. Despite criticism in the media that USCIRF had a bias toward rectifying Christian persecution, AIC, a Muslim-American advocacy group, spearheaded a campaign to save it. They wrote letters to the White House, gathered media coverage and lobbied House representatives until they were assured that the commission would be renewed. It was a crusade of dire importance, in AIC's view, one the group wages every day.  "We are dedicated to people from all different faiths to help them guarantee their rights," said Zainab Al-Suwaij, AIC co-founder and executive director. "As a Muslim organization, we are very proud to be working on such a critical issue." The AIC is one example of the involvement Muslims have in fighting for international religious freedom, but the endeavor doesn't stop with them.  Islam-majority countries have a speckled past when it comes to insuring religious freedom by rule of law, but influential Muslim voices from countries like Egypt, Bosnia and Indonesia are yet rising to call for change, with more modern interpretations of Islamic law that support religious freedom for all. As impacts from the Arab Spring unfold, those voices are in some ways now louder and more poised for influence than ever.  USCIRF guides U.S. responses to religious persecution, and groups like AIC make headway advocating for freedom and creating a better understanding of Islam, but the voices in Muslim-majority countries are the key to creating environments where religious freedom is assured, experts say. For a real, lasting change to occur in Islam, academics say it must come from within. Unexpected advocates John Pinna spends his days at AIC in Washington, D.C., working on public policy and advocating for civil rights and religious freedom. But whenever he tells people the nature of his work, and that it is for a Muslim organization, everyone is always surprised. "The comment I hear most is, 'I didn't know Muslims thought that way,'" says Pinna, director of government and international relations at AIC. "We need to advocate for religious freedom. ? It is a fundamental American right, but it is also something that is fundamentally Muslim ? being an example for religious freedom and tolerance and advocating for religious rights." Religious tolerance is close to Zainab Al-Suwaij's heart. As a Shia Muslim living under a Sunni-dominated regime in Iraq, she was discriminated against and persecuted while Shias all around her were jailed or killed for practicing their faith. In the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein, she stood in the street, fighting soldiers for her religious rights.  "We wanted the freedom to be able to practice our religion freely and live without wars," Al-Suwaij said from her office at AIC in Washington, D.C. "We ended up in an uprising where over a quarter of a million people got killed." Al-Suwaij was injured in the fight, shot in the face and neck, but her experience taught her the value of religious freedom and branded her with a desire to spread it to all people. After the uprising failed, she fled to America and eventually started teaching at Yale University. Then, shortly after the attacks on 9/11, Al-Suwaij left her teaching post to organize and create the AIC. She co-founded the non-profit organization with the goal of building interfaith and interethnic understanding. Today, AIC has offices in Washington, D.C.; Boston; Egypt; Iraq and Tunisia with multi-pronged outreach programs, including a violence prevention campaign launched in Iraq in 2010 to train residents in conflict mediation. Since 2008, the Egypt office hosts the annual Cairo Human Rights Film Festival to increase awareness and build cross-cultural understanding.  Through a Middle East civil rights initiative, AIC translated a 1958 comic book about Martin Luther King Jr. into Farsi and Arabic. The comic book, which promotes non-violent protesting, was posted on the Internet, then printed and distributed in Egypt. Some credit the book for inspiring nonviolent activism during the Arab Spring.  In Tunisia, AIC is coordinating nine-month-long programs to train civil leaders how to communicate with and mobilize residents.  Because AIC is a Muslim organization, its initiatives are most likely more effective in Muslim communities than non-Muslim initiatives, says American University professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer. But AIC may also be hindered because of its Western ties, he says.  "Their impact is limited because they could be perceived to be an extension of the American government or American society ? but nevertheless they have some influence and they can encourage people to follow the path," says Abu-Nimer, who specializes in interreligious conflict resolution.  On the other hand, the U.S. is a good example when it comes to religious freedom, Pinna says, and the AIC holds to that example in its efforts. "We know if we advocate for religious freedom it's a doorway into women's empowerment, free elections and so forth," Pinna says. "There is a direct line and you don't have to look much further than the United States to see it." Religious rights in Islam In a 2007 WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of almost 4,400 people in Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Morocco, an overwhelming majority ? 82 percent ? agreed that "people of religion should be free to worship according to their own beliefs."  But the question of religious freedom in Muslim-majority countries is a complicated one.  "It really has to do with the specifics," Abu-Nimer says. "Are you asking about the right of Christians to build a church in Egypt? Are you asking about the punishment of those who leave Islam and convert? Or the punishment of a non-Muslim who tries to do missionary work in the country? The attitude is different based on the issue." If Muslim countries are to embrace the concept of religious freedom for all, including the freedom to convert to another religion without facing death as a punishment, that change will have to come from within, scholars say ? and the impacts will be far-reaching. "I am convinced that the question of religious freedom is a litmus test for majority Muslim countries," said Jocelyne Cesari, director of the Islam in the West Program at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. "This is the litmus test that will make Muslim-majority countries fully democratic. Interestingly, there is no legal procedure that today guarantees religious freedom in most of those countries, even the secular ones." With that in mind, Cesari says Egypt's debate on providing equal rights for every citizen, no matter their religion ? as suggested by leaders at Egypt's premier Islamic university, Al-Azhar University ? is especially interesting as the country builds a new constitution. Cesari oversees a database of information on the political viewpoints of influential religious figures on similar Islamic discussions at www.islamopediaonline.org.?There are other prominent Muslim voices calling for religious tolerance, but those voices aren't always heard in the Western world. That can be just as damaging as if no one was speaking at all, says John Voll, professor of Islamic history at Georgetown University.  "The constant asking of, 'Where are the moderate voices?' becomes a way of undermining those moderate voices that are constantly speaking because they become ignored," Voll said from his office in Washington, D.C. "What that question implies is that it isn't worth listening to the Grand Mufti of Egypt (Ali Gomaa) or the Grand Mufti of Bosnia (Mustafa Ceric) or the major Islamic intellectuals around the world." While organizations like USCIRF can help shine a light on areas where religious persecution is strong, to make a greater difference they must also acknowledge Islam's own religious advocates, Voll says.  "They are giving attention to the extremists without recognizing the other voices that are there," he says. "Quite frankly, the problem with politics in general is that rational, middle-of-the-road politics don't make very many headlines." Email: achoate@desnews.com 




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April 1, 2012 Sunday  


 Recent events confirm power of individuals to shape history

 
STOCKHOLM - In France, a motorcycle gunman throws a presidential campaign into turmoil. In Afghanistan, one U.S. soldier's slaughter of civilians shifts the narrative of the Afghan war.
The past month exposes the limits of leaders who try to shape the world - and how unexpected actions by individuals can influence the course of history.
"The drama of a singular event can supersede years of policymaking," said Philip Seib, director of the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy. 
In the information age, there is more space for individuals who are not in positions of power to make a footprint in history, by design or by accident. Consider how the Arab awakening started: a Tunisian fruit seller's self-immolation after a public humiliation by police triggered protests that spread across the Arab World, fueled in part by social media.
And how many people knew of African warlord Joseph Kony before an online video about him went viral last month? How many had heard of Pastor Terry Jones, head of a tiny church in Florida, before he stole the global spotlight in 2010 by threatening to burn Muslim holy books?
"If you talk about burning a Koran, and you have access to the Internet, all of a sudden you can inflate your importance in a way that would have been much harder in the age of broadcast and print media," said Harvard professor Joseph Nye, a former head of the National Intelligence Council.

The spark that ignited WWI
The biggest of all such wild card events, however, happened long before Facebook or YouTube.
Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Serb nationalist, was a nobody until June 28, 1914, when he shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, triggering the clash of alliances that became World War I.
Historians still argue over how much of a difference it would have made if the archduke's car had turned a different corner. Some say there's a tendency to exaggerate the importance of individuals. Who lit the match, the argument goes, may be less important than who placed the firewood.
The underlying pressures that can foment major changes in society are typically building up long before an unpredictable event provides the trigger, said Michael Oppenheimer of New York University's Center for Global Affairs.
"It's a surprise because people haven't really been paying attention. Then, suddenly, a spark sets off these forces that have been gathering below the surface of reality, and there's a sea change," he said.
Sometimes that sea change is catastrophic, like World War I, and other times it spins the world in a more positive direction.
Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Alabama and set in motion a chain of events that ended statutory racial segregation in the American South.
Individuals who stood up to oppression have a special place in history: the unknown  man who stood before a Chinese tank at Tiananmen Square in 1989 or Nobel Peace Prize winners like Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma and Lech Walesa in Cold War-era Poland.
Geir Lundestad, a Norwegian historian and the nonvoting secretary of the Peace Prize committee, said that when individuals tap into "deeper forces" in society, they can have a major effect on the world. Major changes are almost always driven by local events, he said, and people tend to "overestimate" the ability of policymakers - especially in Washington - to chart the world's direction.
"There is an assumption, particularly in America but also other countries, that because the U.S. is clearly the most powerful country in the world it can in a major way influence developments everywhere," Lundestad said.
No doubt, political leaders of major countries still play a huge role in world affairs; wars were started in Afghanistan and Iraq because of U.S. policy decisions made in reaction to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2011. But the 19th-century "great man" theory, that history is written by kings and generals, no longer holds true in today's interconnected world.

Muslim-Western tensions
Since 9/11, the relationship between the West and the Muslim world has been fraught with wild cards that forced policymakers on both sides to react to random acts by individuals.
Before Muslim holy books were burned in a trash pit at a U.S. base in Afghanistan this year, and before Pastor Jones threatened to light his own Koran bonfire, there was Europe's cartoon crisis.
Twelve Danish newspaper caricatures of the prophet Muhammad went largely unnoticed for nearly half a year. Then in early 2006, after the drawings filtered to Muslim countries, Danish and other Western embassies and consulates were torched and scores of people were killed in riots from Libya to Indonesia.
Denmark - the country that gave the world fairy tales about mermaids and ugly ducklings - was thrust into the cross hairs of al-Qaeda. It took months of diplomacy to soothe the crisis, but Denmark's relations with the Muslim world have not fully recovered.
Last month, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales allegedly slaughtered 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, in a nighttime shooting rampage outside Kandahar.
Military officials say he crept from his base to two villages, shooting his victims and setting some of them on fire. The killings sparked outrage in Afghanistan, and could ultimately do more to hasten the return of other U.S. troops than any negotiation.
In France, the fallout of the attacks on French soldiers and a Jewish school by a suspected Islamist extremist is still unclear. But the attacks have given an unexpected bounce to tough-talking President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had been trailing badly in polls and appeared to many to be heading into defeat.
A Norwegian's rampage in July, massacring 77 people - mostly teenagers - in the name of an anti-Muslim revolution, underscored that the threat of solo raids by individuals can come from any direction.
Some say Norway's response to that event deserves recognition.
Instead of a knee-jerk response - tightening laws or clamping down on civil liberties - Norwegian policymakers decided that the best way to respond to individuals bent on changing society by deadly force is to change as little as possible.
Lundestad, of the Peace Prize panel, said: "I do think there's something the world can learn."
- Associated Press




3


 Star Tribune
 
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

March 30, 2012 Friday  
METRO EDITION

 Head bangers' ball

 
There are by my count 63 individually described fatalities in "The Raid: Redemption," and enough maimings to overwhelm a regional trauma center. The film is a sort of high-speed demolition derby except with human actors. It is 100 percent highly concentrated whoop-ass, and it is sensational. 
Like "Die Hard," it follows the Aristotelian unities of action, place and time, following an Indonesian police SWAT team through an attack on a multi-story tenement housing the scurviest thugs on the archipelago. The battle rages up stairwells, down hallways, into individual apartments, out the windows and back inside again. Through group melees, one-on-one duels and every form of warfare in between, the action pauses only long enough to reload. Yet the film doesn't stint on character and story. Director Gareth Evans, a Welsh expat making a name in Asian action cinema, knows how to tell a frenetic story with fastidious care.
Action star Iko Uwais plays Rama, a handsome, upright young cop who is at the point of the spear. He starts his day by tenderly caressing his pregnant wife and kneeling for his morning devotions before strapping on his tactical assault gear. His time on the prayer rug isn't a political signal. He practices silat, an Indonesian martial-arts discipline that's closely associated with the teachings of Islam as a form of character building. As the film unfolds, we learn that he also has a noble personal motive for participating in the highly dangerous raid. He's not an invulnerable Bruce Lee type, more a cousin to Bruce Willis' John McClane, tough as nails but human enough to break out in flop sweat.
The objective is to capture Tama (creepy Ray Sahetapy), a coldblooded drug lord whose chief enforcers are the brutal Mad Dog (stunt choreographer Yayan Ruhian) and brainy Andi (Doni Alamsyah). Amid spattery death by machine gun, machete, stair railing and filing cabinet, there are revelations and complications aplenty, with hidden corruption, secret family ties and innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Every element fits (including the propulsive score by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park), adding richness to the story without slowing the relentless action.
There are stunt set pieces here that will be talked about for years, from a six-minute-long fight scene to battles that burst through walls and even floors. The movie is a kick that will leave your head ringing for days.
Colin Covert - 612-673-7186
THE RAID: REDEMPTION
three 1/2 out of four stars out of four stars
Rating: R for strong brutal bloody violence throughout, and language.




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March 24, 2012 Saturday  


 Gingrich makes Islam an issue

 
PORT FOURCHON, La. --- While claiming he believes President Barack Obama is a Christian, presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is increasingly connecting Obama to Islam, playing into a commonly held myth in the Republican primary electorate.
The Obama-Muslim myth has been around since the 2008 campaign, attributed in part to his time spent as a youth in Muslim-dominated Indonesia. Gingrich said Friday that it persists because of Obama administration policies such as forcing religious employers to provide contraception coverage in health insurance plans or apologizing when U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan burned Qurans.
"It should bother the president," the former U.S. House speaker, a convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, said when asked at a news conference whether he was concerned that so many voters continue to believe the falsehood. "Why does the president behave the way that people would think that? You have to ask why would they believe that? It's not because they're stupid. It's because they watch the kind of things I just described to you." 
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Catholic, has trod similar ground. Politico reported Friday that Santorum, during a radio interview with Sean Hannity, said: "You know, it's not surprising this president will go down in history here as the president who has embraced radical Islamic groups."
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has avoided the issue. As a Mormon, he faces a religion problem of his own, because some evangelicals disapprove of his church and do not believe it is Christian.
Gingrich, badly trailing in the Republican presidential race, spent the week campaigning across Louisiana ahead of Saturday's primary. The only states he has won to this point are South Carolina and Georgia, the state he represented in Congress for 20 years. Santorum is far ahead in Louisiana, while Romney is the national front-runner by a wide margin.
Barry Hollander, a University of Georgia journalism professor who has studied the Obama-as-Muslim myth, said the people most likely to believe it are very conservative Christians already disposed to dislike Obama.
Gingrich "sees an opening for the wackier of the far extreme side of the party, and he's looking for the conspiracy buff vote, which makes a certain political sense," Hollander said. "I can see why he would be playing this card. It is one of his last cards."
University of Notre Dame professor David Campbell, who studies religion and politics, said such talk could stick to other candidates and damage the Republican Party in the general election, as swing voters recoil from such talk. But that does not appear to bother Gingrich.
"He definitely has a long career of making it clear that he's not terribly concerned about saying overly incendiary things," Campbell said.
Gingrich often stresses the "war on religion" idea in speeches and interviews. At a stop Wednesday in Pineville, he declared: "They're anti-religious unless it's Islam. This is the heart of the Obama problem, the dilemma he has."
At a Lake Charles restaurant, Bob Nolan spoke directly to Gingrich about Obama.
"I . . . believe that No. 1, he's a Muslim. No. 2, he's a student of Saul Alinsky . . . and I believe that it's his policy to bring this country to its knees and ruin the United States of America," Nolan said.
Gingrich avoided the topic of Islam in his reply, saying: "I agree with you about Alinsky. I think he's driven by a radicalism to remake America, and he doesn't frankly care what level of pain it costs the rest of us."
Alinsky was a liberal community organizer and author of "Rules for Radicals." Gingrich often cites him as an intellectual forebear of Obama.
Gingrich and his advisers were piqued when the fact that Gingrich did not correct Nolan's view of Obama's religion was picked up in news reports.
Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said Gingrich often says Obama is Christian, and he didn't correct the questioner Wednesday because "you can't pick a fight with everybody."
Gingrich, asked about the incident that night by Fox News host Greta van Susteren, said the story was "baloney" and added: "I don't have an obligation to go around and correct every voter on every topic. I also disagree with him."
During the 2008 campaign, Obama and the news media aggressively rebutted the Obama-Muslim myth. Obama was part of a United Church of Christ congregation in Chicago for years, and he now occasionally attends Christian churches in the Washington area.
Hollander said that nationally between 20 percent and 25 percent of Americans have believed the myth since 2008. Public Policy Polling this month found that among GOP primary voters, 52 percent in Mississippi and 45 percent in Alabama identified Obama's religion as Islam.
Hollander said most politicians trying to court such voters will not directly call Obama a Muslim but hint at it in a way that affirms the view.
"They'll say it in such a way as people can read into it what they want to read into it," Hollander said. "What Gingrich is doing is connecting lots of different dots that honestly don't have a lot to do with one another, but he's trying to write a narrative about the war on religion."




3


 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


March 24, 2012 Saturday

 Religious freedom as a core human right: A three-sided, global debateFaith and Conflict

 
 This is the first of two articles on escalating threats to religious freedom abroad and U.S. efforts to control those threats.  Today: The current problems and competing values at home and abroad that make effective action difficult.  Part 2: U.S. policy responses since 1998 include a contentious governmental structure and strategic divisions among religious religious liberty advocates. The images are so ghastly that Al Jazeera froze the video, allowing only voices to tell the tale. An Indonesian mob shouting "Allah Akbar" surrounded three men at the doorway of their mosque, stripped them naked and beat them to death with stones, sticks and machetes.  
Police officers stood by, helpless or indifferent. The victims of the February 2011 killings were members of Ahmadiyya, a tiny Muslim sect considered blasphemers by many Muslims because they believe their 19th-century founder was a prophet. In strict Islamic tradition, blasphemy is punishable by death. Indonesia is a single wave in a rising tide of religious intolerance worldwide. Trouble spots span the globe, with hundreds of incidents in scores of countries each year. In some, the suppression of religious freedom is dehumanizing but not life-threatening; in others, the risk of genocide or "religious cleansing" is real, immediate and growing. In response, the United States has tried to appeal to universal values and international agreements as it seeks to shame, badger or entice problem nations to reform. But the universality of those values has frayed in recent years, and the elite consensus at home to shore them up is shaky. Muddled model Indonesia is justly viewed as a hopeful model of Islamic tolerance and democracy. But in 2005 the Indonesian Ulama Council issued a decree declaring the Ahmadiyya "outside Islam" and "deviant" and urged the government to bar Ahmadis from proselytizing or public worship. Two key government officials soon signed a decree ordering the Ahmadiyya to stop teachings that "deviate from the principal teachings of Islam" and to stop teaching "that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Mohammed." Against the tide, Indonesia's largest Islamic organization opposed these moves, arguing that it "violates freedom of religion which is guaranteed by the constitution." In July 2010, large mobs repeatedly tried to vandalize an Ahmadiyya mosque in West Java, while local police made minimal efforts to control the crowd. "When the Indonesian authorities sacrifice the rights of religious minorities to appease hard-line Islamist groups, this simply causes more violence," said Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch in a press release. "While the police rightly stopped mobs from entering the mosque, their failure to arrest a single person will only embolden these groups to use violence again." The subsequent killings proved Pearson right. Within weeks of that event, extremists sent four book bombs to Indonesian public figures. All were prominent voices for tolerance. There were no fatalities, but the message was clear. Cultures of impunity Indonesia's failure to make arrests in the mosque riot is known in human rights circles as "impunity" ? the gap where a state lets perpetrators walk and cannot protect their victims. Impunity is a vicious circle, experts say, as violence escalates. The springboard of impunity is often official discrimination. In Pakistan, four million Ahmadiyya are literally treated as noncitizens. To get a passport, Pakistanis must sign an oath that they consider the Ahmadi founder an "impostor prophet" and his followers "non-Muslims." Being a marked heretic can be tantamount to a death sentence. Pakistan's 2.8 million Christians are also at risk, and in March 2011 Shahbaz Bhatti, the Christian minister of minority affairs, was assassinated after he opposed blasphemy laws. The killer was never arrested. Both official discrimination and impunity are common in religious persecution hotspots. In Nigeria, violence is edging toward civil war, as northern Muslims engage in unchecked retribution cycles with southern Christians. In Iraq, half of an ancient Christian population has fled, while others seek refuge in the Kurdish north. In Iran and Afghanistan, converts to Christianity face execution. In Egypt, Christian Copts are under siege, and 24 were murdered and hundreds were injured by Egyptian security forces in October 2011. "We have found that an increase in government restrictions on religion coincides with a spike in religious persecution and violence," said Brian Grim at the Pew Research Center (see graphic). Impunity seeps into the social fabric, experts say. "In Pakistan, there have been numerous cases where neighbors get into a fight, and to settle scores one will invoke blasphemy laws," said Leonard Leo, the chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. "When you abuse a minority you create an unstable and insecure environment for everyone."  Leo points to Nigeria, where he says the Islamist group Boka Haram ? which means "Western education is sacrilege" ? targets Christians in the south, but in their northern home the group has killed far more Muslims than Christians. Contested values Despite their failings, all these countries claim to accept the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which holds that everyone "has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion" including the right "to change his religion or belief" and to "manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." The universality of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is central to its force. "The modern idea of religious tolerance grew not out of the West," said John Shattuck in a 2002 Harvard address, "but out of a universal revulsion after World War II towards genocide and crimes against humanity." An assistant secretary of state for human rights under President Bill Clinton, Shattuck glossed over the European Enlightenment ? itself a product of horrific religious wars ? and the American Founding that sprung from it. But Shattuck's effort to universalize tolerance hides a shaky foundation. In fact, the religion clause of human rights declaration is quite challenging for many authoritarian and Islamic governments. Apostasy from Islam and blasphemy against it are widely seen as capital crimes, and non-Muslims have historically faced discrimination (dhimmi status) in exchange for a modicum of tolerance. Authoritarian governments, meanwhile, view uncontrolled religious passions as threats to public order. It was thus no surprise that the eight abstentions from the 1948 declaration vote were seven Soviet bloc countries ? and Saudi Arabia. The tension within Islam escalated in 1990, when the 45 member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting in Cairo signed an alternative Declaration of Human Rights in Islam. The Cairo declaration offers neither religious freedom nor any of the other vital rights outlined in 1948. It has been roundly criticized, but it signals the height of the hurdles. Stepchild of human rights Challenged in many developing nations, religious freedom is also a human rights stepchild in the West. For example, one of the most prominent advocacy groups is Human Rights Watch, which has taken religious persecution very seriously in individual cases. And yet while Human Rights Watch has special program officers in several areas ? arms, health and human rights; children's rights; women's rights; and lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender rights ? it has no such program for minority religions or religious freedom. "While there are many in the human rights community, at the State Department, and at U.S. embassies who do excellent work to combat religious persecution, historically, there have been many others in these realms who, in practice, have treated religious freedom as inferior to certain other core human rights," said John Hanford who served as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from 2002 to 2009. "This was particularly true prior to the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998," he added. In 1998, many diplomatic and advocacy elites opposed congressional action to entrench religious freedom in U.S. policy as a core human right. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said doing so would create a "hierarchy of human rights," and some objected to the key role of evangelicals and Catholics in supporting the agenda, fearing these were out to advance Christianity abroad. In his Harvard address noted above, Shattuck called out what he described as "threats to religious tolerance" at home, accusing the Religious Right of seeking to "promote special religious interests overseas." The vehicle for this, he said, was the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. "The burden is probably on the U.S. government to show that in this Act they're not engaging in, crusading or proselytization on behalf of the Christian religion," said Jemera Rone of Human Rights Watch at a 1999 conference in Hartford, Conn. Shattuck further expanded his critique in a 2007 Pew forum, arguing that the International Religious Freedom Act is a stalking horse for missionary work. Pushing the freedom to openly live one's religion and to change religions could undermine social balance among people that "may or may not want to change their faith," Shattuck argued. The goal of tolerance should be to reduce religious conflict, not to expand religious freedom, he said. There is danger in taking universal human rights too literally, Shattuck suggested, and religious freedom practiced too robustly can be provocative. The view of these skeptics was that "religious persecution should be vigorously opposed," wrote Thomas Farr of the Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs in a recent book. "But religion itself was not seen as a human good to be nourished. Rather, it is more often a source of conflict to be managed via tolerance." Secular agenda Some human rights advocates also feared that emphasizing religion would undermine their agenda for less traditional and more secular human rights. The tension reaches back to the 1994 United Nations population control conference in Cairo, where the Clinton administration and its allies hoped for major breakthroughs on abortion, family planning, the redefinition of marriage and children's rights. To the administration's surprise, a powerful counter movement developed, led by a religious coalition of Catholics, other Christians and Muslims. In the end, all the controversial proposals were defeated in a fractious conference. When the congressional religious freedom agenda was launched three years later, the last thing secularist rights advocates wanted was to share the field with such contrarians. Jeffrey Goldberg highlighted the tension in a 1997 New York Times article. He noted an odd conversation between religious freedom agitator Michael Horowitz and Kenneth Roth, the director of Human Rights Watch. Horowitz was building a coalition of religious leaders for religious freedom and wanted Roth to meet with the Christian Coalition about religious freedom abroad. Roth immediately questioned the group's position on abortion, and Horowitz was stunned at the nonsequitur. Roth said he told Horowitz that certain evangelical views "are contrary to the views of the human rights movement, around the issue of the rights of women, and around the issue of religious tolerance, but we are here to defend the rights of all, including the intolerant." In short, the same voices that suspected Western religious imperialism in the religious freedom movement were firmly committed to spreading their own secular version of universal Western values. As Thomas Farr wrote, the new religious freedom activists "represented a traditionalist version of Christianity that would very likely contest the administration's vision of human rights. If this kind of religious advocacy got a foothold in the foreign policy establishment, it could mean trouble." A SHAKY FOOTHOLD: Against this backdrop of contested values at home and abroad, U.S. religious freedom advocacy has struggled to find its foothold. In Part 2 of this series, we will survey the policy solutions put in place in 1998, look at how they evolved over the next 10 years and see what happened when the Obama administration came to town. email: eschulzke@desnews.com 




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March 20, 2012 Tuesday  
METRO EDITION

 Immig rants nix sanctuary offer

 
IN AN ongoing asylum battle with the feds, a New Jersey church offered sanctuary to three more Indonesian Christians - but they opted for deportation instead. 
Dozens of Indonesians affiliated with the Reformed Church of Highland Park have fought deportation over the last few months after they missed deadlines to apply for asylum within a year after arriving in the U.S. The immigrants claim they would face persecution in their Muslim-majority homeland. One is now holed up in the church to avoid being booted.
But factory worker Ferdy Warou, who left Indonesia in 2000 on a tourist visa, was one of three men who showed up at Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Newark office Monday morning. Warou was put on a 1:05 p.m. flight, Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale said.
"Now his wife's being forced to be widowed, if you will, by the system," the pastor said of Warou's spouse.




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March 2, 2012 Friday  
CLFM Edition

 A light-filled sky

 
A light-filled sky
Highwood celebrates its 125th anniversary with the Highwood Sky Lantern Fest. Gather at city hall, 17 Highwood Ave., for live music, a 5K Battle Buddy Run and a BBQ Challenge. Guests can make their own paper lanterns for the fest's highlight -- an evening launch of airborne biodegradable lanterns. Guests will light and launch the candle-lit lanterns into the sky as several main streets close. Free. Visit celebratehighwood.com. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 3, with a 6 p.m. lantern launch
Celebrating Seuss 
Anderson's Bookshops in both Naperville and Downers Grove join in the nationwide Cat in the Hat Read Across America Saturday. Guests of all ages are invited to celebrate the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, best known as children's author Dr. Seuss. Dress up as your favorite Seuss characters and come hear Dr. Seuss' stories read aloud. At the Naperville shop, meet a costumed "Cat in the Hat" character. Free admission. Call (630) 355-2665 (Naperville) or (630) 963-2665 (Downers Grove). Visit andersonsbookshop.com. 10 a.m. Saturday, March 3, at Anderson's Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville, and at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 3, at Anderson's Bookshop, 5112 Main St., Downers Grove
The woman behind the Girl Scouts
Actress Peggy Rogers portrays Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912, at a program at the Wood Dale Public Library, 520 N. Wood Dale Road, Wood Dale. The presentation includes photos, historical costumes and Girl Scout artifacts. Refreshments and a bake sale follow. Free, but donations are welcome. The event is sponsored by Yesterday's Farm Museum. (630) 595-8777 or wooddalelibrary.org. 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4
Music and dance
The Chicago Cossacks Russian Music and Dance Troupe present an afternoon program of Russian and Ukrainian folk music and dancing at the Ela Area Public Library, 275 Mohawk Trail, Lake Zurich. Free. (847) 438-3433 or eapl.org. 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4
Writer's Center Coffee House
Creative writers are invited to share their work with others and get feedback at the Elgin Community College Writer's Center Coffee House in the Alumni Room at the ECC Student Resource Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Participants can read original works of poems, essays, short stories, creative nonfiction or song lyrics. Five-minute blocks of time are offered for informal feedback from other writers. Free. Call Rachael Tecza at (847) 214-7578. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7
Larry Penn
Songwriter and poet Larry Penn sings about love, life, work, truckers and more at the Two Way Street Coffee House, 1047 Curtiss St., Downers Grove. $7. (630) 969-9720 or twowaystreet.org. 8:15 p.m. Friday, March 2
High Wheeler Train Show
Model train fans are invited to view more than 20 operating model railroads at the High Wheeler Train Show at the Harper College Sports Center, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine. Layouts include elaborate structures and model trains of all sizes -- from tiny "Z" scale up to garden-size "G" scale. Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for seniors; $2 for kids ages 5-12. Kids under age 5 are free. A coupon at highwheelertrainshow.com offers free admission for kids when accompanied by an adult. Show is a cash-only event. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 3-4
'For Whom the Bell Tolls'
The Downers Grove Library and the Tivoli Theatre sponsor two screenings of the 1943 film "For Whom the Bell Tolls," starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. Admission is $5 per person. The screenings run in conjunction with the "BIG READ" community reading event, sponsored by local libraries. (630) 968-0219, downersgrovelibrary.org or thebigread.org. 1:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 7




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February 24, 2012 Friday  


 FATAL BURNING; 
THE U.S. IS HURT BY MISHANDLING OF THE QURAN

 
How is it possible after wars of 11 years in Afghanistan and eight years in Iraq, both Muslim countries, that a handful of U.S. troops could be so insensitive as to put Qurans in the burn pit at Bagram Air Force Base? 
The fact that they did has set off rioting across Afghanistan that led to the deaths of two American soldiers. The commander of U.S. and NATO forces there, Gen. John R. Allen, apologized for the acts at the base in Afghanistan and said that the religious texts had been sent by mistake to be incinerated. When someone realized what was being burned, they stopped and retrieved what was left, Gen. Allen said. He promised a full investigation and said it will never happen again.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama apologized, saying, "The error was inadvertent." But the rioting and demonstrations continue, with at least six Afghans killed and 55 wounded.
U.S. warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq has been marked by cultural and other atrocities by American forces, making the political side of the wars more difficult. These include the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq in 2006 and the more recent scene of U.S. soldiers urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
With modern communications, the audience for these provocative acts has been not only Americans, Afghans and Iraqis, but also Muslims across the world. Their suspicions that Americans are their sworn enemies were sharpened by a Florida pastor who burned a Quran last year. Trying to conduct reasonable relations with Muslim countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, becomes infinitely more difficult in the face of such actions.
Training U.S. soldiers not to do such things and punishing those who do deserve higher priority. This sort of rogue conduct puts all troops at greater risk and dirties the name of the United States with Muslims at home and abroad.




4


 
 
 (California)

February 23, 2012 Thursday

 New book tackles sex, love and Islam

 
Pakistani-American Ayesha Mattu met her future husband minutes after she vowed never again to date outside of her Islamic faith. She was heartsick after failed relationships with non-Muslim men. Then, along came Randy: white, agnostic and utterly irresistible.
Mattu, a San Francisco human rights consultant, chronicles their courtship in "Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women" (Soft Skull; $15.95), a collection of essays about love, flirting, dating and sex. 
The anthology, which debuted Valentine's Day and is among Amazon's Top 200 books, is making a splash in and beyond the Islamic community by shattering stereotypes of Muslim women as oppressed and submissive. On their book tour, Mattu and co-editor Nura Maznavi are greeting standing-room-only crowds eager to hear them and the 23 other contributors share real-life stories of lust, heartbreak and soul mates.
From chaperoned dating and matrimonial websites to college flirtations and a whirlwind international romance, "InshAllah," which means God willing, unites gay, straight, pious and secular stories of love and longing among ethnically diverse Islamic American women of all ages.
"It's a first and long overdue," says Zahra Ayubi, a visiting scholar and expert on Islam, gender, and ethics at Stanford University's Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies. "And it's an important milestone in terms of the level of frank conversation and discourse regarding Muslim women."
Reflecting the diversity of the nation's estimated 8 million Muslims was important for Mattu and Maznavi, who came up with the book idea five years ago over coffee at a Union Square cafe. Maznavi, a civil rights attorney now living in Los Angeles, had just seen the movie "50 First Dates" and wondered what the Muslim version would look like. Under Hollywood's control? Likely not accurate.
"We felt there was a prevailing image of Muslim women as silent and submissive, and that wasn't reflective of us," explains Mattu, 39, via phone from New York. "Most of us are highly independent, funny and opinionated. We thought it was time to tell our story in a more honest and individual way."
At first, rejection
After a dozen publishing houses denied their pitch because it didn't fit into one category, such as religion or chick lit, the women's agent dumped them.
"It was pretty demoralizing," Maznavi, 33, recalls in a phone interview. "So, we moped."
Then, in 2010, Mattu and Maznavi won the nonfiction round at San Francisco's Pitchapalooza, the "American Idol" for budding authors. They scored a new agent that night, then received a contract with Soft Skull Press, a small Berkeley publishing house.
Their national call for submissions via Facebook and Twitter yielded more than 200 entries from women around the country, such as Tanzila Ahmed, a pink-haired Bangladeshi teenager from Southern California who fell for the frontman of a Muslim punk band. Or Najva Sol, a writer who came out to her Iranian Muslim parents at a Maryland coffee shop. Or Lena Hassan, the pen name for a Pakistani computer science major who found her husband on an Arabic website and accepted his marriage proposal over email.
Universal issues
Many of the issues, such as interracial dating or challenging parental authority, are universal. That's one reason Jittaun Batiste Jones, of San Jose, loves the book. The 33-year-old African-American is a convert to Islam and has been married to her Indonesian husband for eight years. She says it is refreshing to see issues of sex and intimacy discussed so openly among Muslim Americans.
She sees the same openness and emerging dialogue in her own community, particularly when it comes to marital issues. In other words, not just finding love but sustaining it.
"The community has been evolving over the years," Jones says. "There weren't frank discussions about sexual needs or what you're supposed to do when resentment and problems can affect love and affection. But the second generation (of Muslims born in the United States) has pushed the need to address these issues."
For instance, the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara that Jones frequents recently recruited an Egyptian Muslim marriage and family therapist to work with couples. He helped her and her husband, Farid Alhadi, rekindle their spark and improve communication, she says.
Some criticism
Still, change can be slow, especially about hot-button topics, such as premarital sex and homosexuality, both of which are considered haraam, or forbidden. For that reason, there has been some criticism of "Love, InshAllah" from religious leaders who believe these topics are un-Islamic, Mattu says.
The editors didn't set out to create a religious book, but to share love stories.
"These topics are challenging for the community to talk about, but people are rising to the occasion," Mattu says. "Muslim women in particular have been waiting a long time to talk about these things. We're hoping the religious leaders will work with us as partners to help make Islam a living, breathing thing relevant in all of our lives."




4


 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

February 22, 2012 Wednesday  
THIRD EDITION

 Visitors to STLtoday.com weighed in about recent events.

 
Disability pensions allow some firefighters to collect while working elsewhere - People were jealous of firemen even when there was little protective equipment, longer hours, etc. Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams explains his famous quote: "So now it's 1940 and I'm having my troubles at the park and visiting my uncle at the fire station, seeing the firemen hang around with their shirts off, getting sunburned, playing checkers, some of them playing cards. My uncle's telling me about this $150-a-month pension he's going to get, and I'm thinking, boy, here I am, hitting .340 and having to take all this crap from the fans and writers. Then one day in Cleveland I'd had a bad day at bat and reporter Harry Grayson was at my locker and I was telling him about my uncle, and then I said, 'Nuts to this baseball. I'd sooner be a fireman.' (TomFitz)
Missouri House endorses English-only driver's tests - I'm not sure how I feel about this, but aren't all street and directional and other signs in English? (Johnboy) 
- There is a whole world out there that apparently many of you on here are not familiar with. There is a world out there of the American businessman who is living abroad temporarily, and yes in places where English is not the language; there are missionaries in those places, employees of multinational corporations. If only you could see all the American businessmen and women (in construction, heavy equipment), driving all over places like Dubai, etc. How do Repubs come up with this nonsense? (Goodwill)
- While they're at it, how about testing all applicants for drugs and alcohol? And, have them sign declarations stating that they are Christians? (whittex)
Kevin Wright, sex offender: What do we do with him? - When a former offender has nothing to lose, which is the case now when they have zero prospects for employment, family, friends or future, they are going to be much more likely to offend again. Although well intentioned, these lists do more harm than good. (City Resident)
- I could care less about someone like this getting a "fair shake" when there are so many law abiding citizens waiting for their "fair shake" ahead of them. People like this should be executed for the good of society as a whole. (nicksmynick)
McClellan: Color Missouri red with political rifts - Democrat, Republican, who cares? Neither side has a clue on how to fix this country or really even care. Santorum would be just as big a failure as Obama but with more of a fascist approach instead of socialist, so who cares? (MrFluffyPants)
Smoking ban citations are few and far between - Look at all the same old arguments being made by the anti-clean air people. Every one of your arguments has been shot down, yet you regurgitate the same inane drivel. Smoking is the only "vice" that infringes on the rights of others. Smoking is the only one that violates the space of others. You aren't allowed to do that. You can do whatever you want to your body but not at the expense of mine. That's where tobacco-heads cross the line, but they can't see the forest for the trees ... probably because of all the smoke. (Ranger)
A-B reports strong initial sales for Platinum - Who wants to be seen drinking beer out of a blue bottle? (Waldo)
Compulsive outrage can creep up on you - Obama is a Muslim socialist from Jakarta, Indonesia. George Bush went into Iraq for personal profit. Barack is really trying to destroy our way of living. Bushy really tried to ruin the lives of poor people. It has to be true. I heard it on MSNBC and Fox. (crestwood one)




4

 SmallTownPapers, Inc.
 
SmallTownPapers, Inc.
 Heritage Florida Jewish News 

Heritage Florida Jewish News (Fern Park, Florida)

This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from STPNS

February 17, 2012

 Deaf Indonesian 12-year-old is not your typical bat mitzvah

 
NEW YORK (JTA)--This wasn't your typical bat mitzvah.
It took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, a majority Muslim country with a Jewish community that is thought to number in the double digits.
The bat mitzvah, Mei Lin Kallman, spent part of her Hebrew school education commuting each Sunday to another country, Singapore, where she studied at the local Chabad center.
And to fulfill her bat mitzvah responsibilities on Saturday, Mei had to overcome a physical disability: She was born practically deaf and relies on the aid of a cochlear implant to hear. 
"My daughter is my hero," James Kallman, Mei's father, told JTA in a telephone interview. "She is the catalyst for big things to happen."
Still, in many ways, the bat mitzvah held last Shabbat resembled those held every Saturday around the world. Yarmulkes and prayer shawls embroidered with "Ruth's bat-mitzvah" (Ruth is Mei's
Hebrew name) were handed out to the 150 or so guests. During the prayer service, Mei read from the Torah and gave a speech. And Mei's friends in attendance--about 10 giggling, happy 12-year-old girls--joined their friend during the Havdalah service to sing and dance near the candlelight.
By all accounts, it wasn't easy to reach this point.
The driving force behind the bat mitzvah was Mei's mother, Dewi Suryati Liauw, a Chinese businesswoman who converted to Judaism 13 years ago. Dewi has insisted over the years that the family observe Friday night, and she decided when Mei was 10 that the girl should receive a strong religious foundation.
For eight months Mei was sent to Hebrew school in Singapore every Sunday until the family was able to arrange for a live-in tutor. Israeli tutor Michal Krauss helped Mei prepare for the Torah reading.
Rabbi Andrew Sacks, a Conservative rabbi and director of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, came to Indonesia to help lead the bat mitzvah service.
"I've personally traveled quite a bit to Asia, but seeing a gathering of people from every faith and tradition made me just really in awe to be there," Sacks told JTA. "There is no conceivable way that anyone who didn't know would have a clue she was deaf. Her reading, poise, d'var Torah--everything was just excellent."
Mei has worked hard to be part of the hearing community ever since her parents realized that she had a severe hearing impairment when she was an infant. Several years ago they established the Mei Lin Foundation to help deaf children lead full and productive lives. As part of their work, Mei and her parents visit schools and help teach hearing-impaired young people to navigate the hearing world.
"Mei is very fortunate she has overcome her disability," said Kallman, who was born in America. "But cochlear implants are an expensive proposition that most cannot afford."
The bat mitzvah brought Indonesia's few Jews out of the woodwork, Kallman said, and Sacks said many of the guests approached him to ask questions about Judaism.
So did many members of the Muslim wait staff, who served a mix of vegetarian food, Middle Eastern cuisine, and bagels, lox and cream cheese.
"This is just another great example of the religious tolerance in this country," Kallman said. "I know it since I've lived here for 20 years, but it was wonderful to see it reinforced in this very real way."




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February 13, 2012 Monday  
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION

 
FOOD FLOWN TO SNOWBOUND ROMANIAN TOWNS
BUCHAREST, Romania -- Military planes flew in tons of emergency food today to towns and villages in eastern Romania where thousands have been stranded by blizzards. Some people had to cut tunnels through 15 feet of snow to get out of their homes.
Since the end of January, Eastern Europe has been pummeled by a record-breaking cold snap and the heaviest snowfall in recent memory. Hundreds of people, many of them homeless, have died and tens of thousands of others have been trapped by blocked roads inside homes with little heat. 
Authorities declared an alert today in eastern Romania, where 6,000 people have been cut off for days. About a dozen major roads were closed, 300 trains canceled and more than 1,000 schools shut down.
SYRIAN REBELS REPEL MILITARY
BEIRUT -- Syrian rebels repelled a push today by government tanks into a key central town held by forces fighting President Bashar Assad's regime as the country's 11-month-old uprising looked increasingly like a nascent civil war.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attempt by regime forces to storm Rastan in the restive central province of Homs left at least three soldiers dead. Rastan has been held by the rebels since late January.
The town was taken by defectors twice in the past only to be retaken by Syrian troops.
PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER CHARGED
ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court charged Pakistan's prime minister with contempt today for defying its order to reopen an old corruption case against the president.
At a separate hearing, the top court also took on the country's powerful army, demanding that two military intelligence agencies explain why they held seven suspected militants for 18 months in allegedly harsh conditions without charging them.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani pleaded not guilty to the contempt charge. If convicted, he could be imprisoned and will likely lose his job. But analysts said the premier seems willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit of his party and his political ally, President Asif Ali Zardari.
BALI BOMBING SUSPECT GOES ON TRIAL
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Muslim militant suspected of building the bombs used in the 2002 Bali attack went on trial today on terrorism charges, a year after he was captured in the same Pakistani town where Osama bin Laden was hiding.
Umar Patek is the top remaining suspect in the Bali nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people about a year after the Sept. 11 attacks and brought international attention to an al-Qaida-linked group intent on creating a pan-Islamic state throughout Southeast Asia.
Three masterminds in the attack already have been tried and executed, and authorities have made big strides in dismantling their regional terror group, Jemaah Islamiyah.
TOPLESS PROTEST AT MINUS 11
MOSCOW -- Five Ukrainian women activists held a topless protest outside the Moscow headquarters of Gazprom today, to denounce the policies of the Russian gas supplier.
Police detained one of the women from the protest group Femen who had climbed onto the roof of a small building at the entrance.
Ukraine is dependent on Russia for supplies of natural gas and is demanding to pay lower prices. Moscow has refused to budge unless Ukraine agrees to give up control over the export pipelines that carry Russian gas on to Europe.
The temperature at the time was minus 11 Fahrenheit.
GREECE CLEANS UP RIOT DAMAGE
ATHENS, Greece -- Firefighters doused smoldering buildings, and cleanup crews swept rubble from the streets of central Athens today following a night of rioting during which lawmakers approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the nation from bankruptcy.
Rioters destroyed or seriously damaged 93 buildings, the Athens municipality said, while police said at least 45 were burned. They included nine listed as national heritage buildings, mostly in the neoclassical style, while dozens of stores and cafes were smashed and looted.
Smoke still rose from the gutted remains of an 1870 building which had housed one of the capital's most loved cinemas, the Attikon, since 1916.




4


 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Company, LLC d/b/a Washington Post Digital
 



February 13, 2012 Monday  


 Obama 'Truth Team' aims to network its way to a win

 
With his decision to embrace an independent super PAC last week, President Obama issued a plea for deep-pocketed allies to help his campaign fight back against Republican rivals in the increasingly expensive and sophisticated arena of television attack ads.
Now, the Obama campaign is putting out a call for its grass-roots network to join the battle for free. 
On Monday, the president's reelection team will unveil a trio of Web sites dedicated to providing supporters with information on the president's record - and more than a little dirt on his Republican rivals. The campaign has named it Obama's "Truth Team," and the goal is to arm millions of surrogates with the facts, figures and talking points they need to engage in ground-level political combat - on their Twitter and Facebook feeds and in old-fashioned conversations with friends and neighbors.
"We believe that our grass-roots supporters persuading their networks to support the president will provide us with the decisive edge in November," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said. "We're providing them with the tools they need to amplify the president's record, fact-check the Republicans' attacks and prevent the Republicans from rewriting the history of their records."
The strategy is a modern adaptation of the rapid-response teams that Bill Clinton pioneered in his 1992 war room, where aides monitored multiple televisions to respond as quickly as possible to GOP attacks. But it also reflects a dispiriting acknowledgment by the Obama campaign that his 2012 reelection bid promises to be as ugly and bruising as his 2008 insurgent effort was uplifting - and the war must be waged at even the day-to-day micro level.
"As technology has developed, this process has developed," said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. "I remember some years ago when it was avant-garde to fax talking points to a list of party people who had given you their fax numbers. Now, it's much faster, but it's the same basic principle."
LaBolt cast the approach as a way for ordinary Americans to level the playing field in the face of the glossy television ads funded by super PACs that are raising tens of millions for Republican candidates, including Restore Our Future, backing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and Winning Our Future, supporting former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
More likely, however, the Web sites are more likely to accelerate the already bitter, ideological migration of the fight for the White House .
Of the three Truth Team portals, just one, KeepingHisWord.com, could be described as positive in tone, listing Obama's accomplishments. A sample page provided by the campaign has the headline "Fighting for the U.S. Auto Industry" and explains that Obama extended "emergency loans" to Chrysler and GM in 2009. Now, the Detroit auto companies "are creating jobs."
The other two sites are far more negative. AttackWatch.com aims to rebut political attacks against Obama. A sample page deconstructs Romney's contention that January's upbeat jobs report was a byproduct of private-sector innovation, not Obama's policies.
"Governor Romney implies that his job creation record in Massachusetts is something to brag about," the text reads. "In fact, the state ranked a dismal 47th out of 50 in job creation during his tenure."
The third Web site, KeepingGOPHonest.com, allows Obama supporters to play offense, providing damaging material about his rivals. A sample page ridicules Romney's comment during a Republican primary debate in South Carolinathat he has lived on the "real streets of America" and lists his connections to Washington lobbyists.
Asked about the approach, Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, accused the president's campaign of practicing a politics of "personal destruction."
The Obama campaign has arranged for surrogates - including members of Congress and state politicians - to lead the Truth Teams in battleground states. In Arizona, which Obama lost in 2008 but the campaign eyes as a potential win because of the growing Hispanic population, state Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) said that he fights back when he hears people say that Obama caused the mortgage meltdown and that his administration lost more jobs than any in history.
"On the loonier side, when I talk to Republicans in the state legislature I have to remind them he's an American citizen," Gallego said. "We have to be prepared for the dirtiness coming from the other side. They're desperate."
In 2008, Obama's campaign produced a Web site called "Fight the Smears" to counter rumors that Obama was a Muslim and born in Indonesia.
But the approach can backfire, as the Obama team learned last fall when it debuted AttackWatch.com and the site was ridiculed by conservativesfor the over-the-top, alarmist design - red lettering on a black background. The Obama campaign said 1 million supporters signed up on the site, but it has since been redesigned.for the re-launch Monday.
Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg, who is analyzing the effect of social media on politics, said television ads remain the dominant form of broad-based communications for the campaigns. But she pointed to the power of the Web in fomenting political backlash.
"It makes a lot of sense that in 2012 you have to think of rapid response differently because of the proliferation of outlets," Greenberg said. "This is very much like efforts of the past, but recognizing there are lots of ways people get information and covering all of those bases."
nakamurad@washpost.com




4


 Gannett Company, Inc.
 
USA TODAY

February 6, 2012 Monday  


 Give Arab Spring time to bloom; 
Government and faith can flourish best when kept a safe distance apart. But as the U.S. can attest, it doesn't happen overnight.

 
A year ago, the Arab Spring was in full bloom. Popular uprisings had toppled or were toppling despots in Egypt and Tunisia. Civil war, which brought an end to the rule of Moammar Gadhafi, broke out in Libya. Ultimately, the uprisings spawned what seemed to be the first stirrings of constitutional democracy. Egypt held a constitutional referendum. Morocco followed suit with elections of its own. Some 4 million Tunisians voted in an election to form a constituent assembly.
Now, a year later, the euphoria and hope that characterized the Arab world have tempered, to put it mildly. The bloodbath in Syria continues. Despite increasing pressure from the Arab League and the rest of the world, President Bashar Assad clings intransigently to his power as the death toll among his people climbs. Libya remains tense as it seeks to purge the lingering influence of Gadhafi supporters. In Egypt, January's commemorative celebrations in Tahrir Square were disrupted as secularists and the Muslim Brotherhood ended up fighting instead of uniting to promote civilian rule and an end to military control over the interim government. 
A time for patience
For those eager to write off the historic change across the Middle East as spasms rather than enduring movements, I'd say not so fast. Political change seldom comes easily or quickly, and it is frequently accompanied by violence.
Case in point: American history.
Many of the more pressing issues of religious freedom and civil rights in the United States were not effectively addressed until the judiciary resolved them in the 1960s -- more than 180 years after the nation's constitutional founding. This process was slow, no doubt. But it demonstrated that a pillar of the American political experiment and a key to freedom was the independent judiciary, which ensured that a democratic government and a religiously diverse society could co-exist and even thrive.
Managing religion's role in society is perhaps the greatest challenge facing the nascent democracies across the Arab world. When religion and politics can be separated, or at least balanced, peace and freedom -- especially religious freedom -- are much more likely to flourish. When they can't be separated, controversy and violence are likely to follow.
In the United States, this balance has been managed by the judiciary.
To be sure, the record of U.S. courts in managing church-state conflicts has been imperfect. But, over time, the judiciary has maintained the wall of separation between church and state. Yet even 200 years of case law has not put these issues to bed.  (See the sharia law controversy in states such as Oklahoma.)  Fortunately and typically, Americans take such conflicts to the judiciary, not the streets or the battlefield.
In the countries swept up in the Arab Spring, there has been no such wall, or even a speed bump, in most cases.
Critics may argue that a judicially managed separation of church and state is a Western phenomenon. But one needs to look only as far as Muslim Indonesia to see how it can work elsewhere.  In that Southeast Asian nation, we see proof that an ethnically diverse country with strong religious traditions can -- through the rule of law, an independent judiciary and free elections -- slowly and successfully reconcile the strains between religion and the state within the context of a fragile, nascent constitutional government.
In the Arab region, Morocco and Tunisia are taking tentative first steps to reconcile their religious traditions with constitutionalism and democracy. Tunisia's moderate Islamist governing party, Ennahda, leads that country's multiparty government in a spirit of religious pluralism and toleration. In Morocco, King Mohammed VI looks to manage the transition to a more democratic system that is led by an Islamist governing party.
Trouble in Egypt
Sadly, the news from Egypt is more sobering. Scores of Coptic Christians have been killed, and Islamist lawmakers disrupted the assembly's opening session as they qualified their oaths of office with religious incantations. Then there are the recent religious tensions in Tahrir Square.
A year later, it is clear that it would have been naive to expect the Arab Spring to smoothly segue into a crop of budding constitutional democracies. As the American experiment in constitutional democracy has shown, the real work begins after the gunfire has ceased. A stable government and judiciary can take decades to take root and mature, so the world should keep that in mind when observing the nations of the Arab Spring.
But without a commitment to some shade of constitutionalism and a separation of church and state, the Arab experiment will remain fragile and imperiled.
Mark Rush is the dean of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. He is originally from Lexington, Va. 




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February 2, 2012 Thursday  


 
Anti-Flag takes peace and punk to Asia
* Anti-Flag is out making new friends -- in Southeast Asia.
On its first-ever swing through the region, the political Pittsburgh band has been rallying the punks at the Silver Lake Music Festival in Thailand (with the likes of Incubus, Owl City and Seether) and in Indonesia, and is now moving on to Malaysia and Hong Kong.
In a text sent Wednesday, singer Justin Sane related that the tour is "madness in all the best forms!!!" 
"First of all, half of the places we go we are instant celebrities. Not because we are in Anti-Flag but because we are four weird looking white dudes in black (one of which looks like Billy Idol) in a places where people who look like us are rare."
He added, "There are these Muslim kids in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia that have found punk. Guess what? They're just like the Christian kids in America who have found punk! They don't want to suicide-bomb anyone. They just want to rock and see everyone treated equally. It's very life-affirming. If these people were any more welcoming or friendly I think my heart would burst. This trip has affirmed everything I believe in my heart, the very essence of the message that is Anti-Flag. Humans aren't a color of skin, a religion, a sex, a sexual orientation, or a flag. We are human beings and that is how we need to see and treat one another."
Along with the music, fans and media have latched on to the band's left-leaning anti-war, pro-human rights message.
"People here are psyched on what we have to say and they want to know what we think. Pat [Thetic] and I did a press conference in Thailand at the Silver Lake Music Festival outside of Bangkok. The whole time I was thinking 'Two outcast dudes from Shaler and look at us now... Wow! Haha!' "
Over the weekend, Sane tweeted a pic with some of his Thai fans.
The new album, "The General Strike," comes out March 20.
Code Orange Kids sign with Deathwish
* Pittsburgh's Code Orange Kids can now claim to have a Deathwish.
The local hardcore punk outfit -- made up of recent high school grads -- has signed to Deathwish, the independent label that launched such bands as Boysetsfire and Knives Out, and currently features the likes of Converge, the Hope Conspiracy and Touche Amore.
Deathwish writes that Code Orange Kids "remind us of our own embryonic days in the aggressive music scene. ... Unconcerned with the direction of other artists, their brand of gritty hardcore/punk is simply refreshing to hear. Merging cryptic melody, dirty hardcore power, and intense dirge into their own uniquely inspired sound."
The band plans to hit the studio for a 2012 release.
COKs, which relocated to Philadelphia last summer and is now back in Pittsburgh, features drummer/singer Jami Morgan, guitarist Reba Meyers and Joe Goldman (all from CAPA) and guitarist Eric Balderose (son of Calliope founder George Balderose and PA Virtual Charter School grad).
The band worked its way up through the Pittsburgh scene in part by opening for such bands as Anti-Flag, The Misfits, The Bronx and Subhumans.
Code Orange Kids, who recently released a 7" called "Cycles," are currently on tour on the West Coast.
Country/Statics
* Good Night, States announced this week that its new album, "Country/Static," will be released on April 5. The melodic indie-pop band released its first album, "Short Films on Self-Control," in 2007 and the EP "Into the Impossible Tension" in 2009.
Kelly's dogs
* Kelly Clarkson, who played in Johnstown Saturday night, made a pit stop on the South Side Friday.
She popped into the dog grooming shop A Diamond in the Ruff with her two little pups, Joplin and Security. She spotted a doggie shirt bearing the title of her hit, "My Life Would Suck Without You." She bought that for Joplin, and then found a second shirt that said "Security." Of course, she had to get that one, too.
Mac on MTV
* The MTV News segments this week on Mac Miller not only went backstage at the Pittsburgh rapper's sold-out Stage AE show in December.
The network followed him to Blue Slide Park in Squirrel Hill, where it got a close-up look at the slide for which his debut album was named, and the little league field where he played as a kid -- which wasn't all that long ago.
You can check out the segments at www.macmillerofficial.com.




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January 31, 2012 Tuesday

 Interview: Former US spy chief sees shift toward Asia; 
In an interview, Admiral Dennis C. Blair - the former director of national intelligence - says the US needs to back moderate Islamic societies, and urges Israel to keep pace with a changing Middle East.

 
Over the last year, the US intelligence bureaucracy has scrambled to keep up with the fast-changing events of the Arab Spring, from the crowded rows of protestors in Tahrir Square to the chaotic battlefields of Libya. Twelve months before the revolutions began, Admiral Dennis C. Blair was the man responsible for managing those often disparate agencies. As Director of National Intelligence, his job was to direct American eyes and ears on the ground.
Now retired, Admiral Blair sat down with Elizabeth Dickinson at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to discuss how events are evolving. He argues that the moderate Islam of Southeast Asia merits American support, past efforts at democracy prevention have been poorly conceived, and it's time for Israel to think twice about its foreign policy in the context of the changing Middle East.
Elizabeth Dickinson: What are the security priorities for the United States right now in Malaysia, and the region of Southeast Asia more broadly?
Dennis Blair: Southeast Asia is an area in which there is a form of Islam which is both devout and progressive, and therefore to be supported. It's an area in which I see a congruence of American interests and local interests: to have tolerant societies and become more prosperous. You can go into the Strait of Malacca and the umpteen tankers going through [it every day] and all that stuff, and that's all true, but I think [our interests are] really more fundamental than that. I think American interests are served when there are sections of the world that have representative governments, politically open economic systems, and are willing to take a stand against some of the more extreme ideologies that there are around the world. I've always found that the countries that I've worked with around here, be it Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, or Indonesia have had their values and their objectives in the right place and we've got to work with them. It's not too much more complicated than that.
ED: How do you see that relationship shifting, if at all, under the Obama administration - particularly with the renewed focus militarily on the Pacific?
DB: I think it's probably a little less there than meets the eye. I don't think the so-called neglect of Southeast Asia was ever as bad as some said, and consequently, the reawakening is probably not as dramatic.
There is an intellectual understanding through the American government and the foreign policy community that East Asia is the future economic powerhouse. It's where most of the wealth is coming from. But then we always have our attention pulled away by the immediate events that always seen to go on in the [Arabian] Gulf, whether it was Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Iran, or the Palestine issue or something else. That was at its height when we had two wars going, so it was simply a case of management attention. The bandwidth was not there. Some of the incidents that were pointed to - Condi Rice missed a conference of ASEAN foreign ministers and this was seen as a major event - I think she was just probably wrung out with her schedule and said, I'm going to skip that one.
The honest Southeast Asians who you talk to [will admit that] this is their favorite position, when there is - I think the nice word is "creative tension" between the United States and China and India for the attentions of Southeast Asia. That way they have plenty of suitors. When one axis or pull of that tension seems to ease a bit, they worry that they will be more dominated by one of their neighbors or their big faraway neighbor.
The reality of it is that the Chinese military build-up concentrated in their South Sea fleet has put an element in this part of the world that is different and is unhealthy. Back in 2002, when the Chinese and the other countries here signed a code of conduct, most of us thought that there was a clear path to negotiating all of these territorial disputes. But then, Chinese actions seemed to go back to their old way of operating. They like to operate bilaterally with the individual countries, be it Vietnam, Malaysia, or the Philippines, because of course they have a lot more weight in a bilateral relationship. When it's a multilateral negotiation, then concepts like common standards - what are the principles by which we are going to adjudicate these - these all come into play and China frankly thinks it does better off operating in a bilateral sense by trying to put individual pressure on each government as it goes along. I think that the outbreak in 2010 of the Chinese foreign minister at the ASEAN conference when he said, "you have to understand, we are big countries, you are a little countries," was probably a true reflection of the way China thinks about it: We're becoming a bigger force here so you should bow a little lower.
On the Muslim world
ED : When you look at US engagement with the Muslim world, what's working and what isn't ?
DB : To me, the best things that we've done are working together with the Malaysias, Moroccos, Indonesias, Turkeys - the countries that are moderate, more secular, and Muslim. They have so much more credibility for these Muslim issues than do we white Anglo-Saxon Christian or Christian-background leaders. President Obama is somewhat different and that's certainly a good thing. I found that some of the attempts that the United States has made to support moderates within Islam and discredit the radicals have been pretty ham-handed and not very well thought out.
ED : But is there a risk that, if the US is behind these moderates, that could actually discredit them in their local context?
DB : Yeah, I think there is. Certainly if some moderate leader can be accused of accepting American money or worse that can undercut that person's effectiveness. We [should] stick to the things that we can do - economic development is clearly something that we can help with.
The leaders who we admire who have been able to bring great change in the past - Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela - they're all inspirational religious leaders and smart tacticians. It would be nice to find the Muslim Gandhi, wouldn't it? The really charismatic leader who believes that non-violent change, lots of toleration, is the way to make the lives of Muslims better. I'm sure he's around somewhere; he was probably in Tahrir Square. Maybe he's in Syria. He's probably still a 'he' right now, not a 'she.' To me, the ideas of moderation and non-violent conflict, the Arab Spring, come together as a way forward. The appeal of the extremists is the attraction of action - I'm doing something, I'm off fighting for the cause. Non-violent conflict, the sorts of things that have been perfected by so many movements over the years, from the Russians in 1905 through Gandhi to the US civil rights movement through all the color revolutions in Europe through South Africa - they offer a way to give the repressed and the angry and the poor an action agenda but it's something that is founded on good principles, not on violence, not on killing innocent people.
ED: How has the intelligence system been shifted or reorganized to deal with the events of the Arab Spring? Does the US have the capacity it needs to monitor events on the ground?
DB: We are not as well positioned as we should be. In the cases of both Tunisia and Egypt, it was pretty well known what kind of regimes we were dealing with - and that came out in WikiLeaks, as you saw. In neither case, Egypt or Tunisia, was there a decent succession process so those regimes were very vulnerable. That was known, but as far as having really good contacts with opposition leaders and really understanding the dynamics that were so close to the surface and then exploded so quickly - like many of the people in the region themselves, Western and American intelligence services were playing catch up for a while.
ED: And now that events are unfolding, do we have a good sense of what's happening on the ground, for example in Syria or Libya ?
DB : I'm not on the inside anymore, but my general experience is that once something happens and you turn all of the collection means that you have, signals intelligence, human intelligence, geo-spatial intelligence, you usually can get a pretty good, fine-grained idea of what's going on.
ED: It feels like things in the region are a bit up in the air in the Arab World now - who do you see as the emerging power brokers ?
DB: Conventional wisdom would tell you that the armed forces, the police, the intelligence services would be able to hold onto power because they have the wherewithal, but the power of the mass movements that sprung up in Tunisia and Egypt, and we're seeing in Egypt, and the persistence of them, is pretty encouraging. I don't want to confuse my hopes and my realistic expectations, but I would think that anybody who comes into power in those countries would realize that he has to satisfy some pretty basic aspirations in order to stay in power.
The hard parts are when tribal things come into play. Somehow tribalism seems to trump a lot, and the idea that another tribe has to be given some sort of privileges and has to share in the power seems to be a concept that is hard to grasp in many of these regions.
On Israel and Iran
ED: Does the changing dynamic call for any re-evaluation of American foreign policy toward Israel, or Israel's own foreign policy ?
DB: It should. I think that Israelis recognize that their security ultimately lies in having decent relationships with representative governments around them, not just deals cut with dictators which is what they've relied on [until now], plus their own military strength. Sort of like solving the Palestinian question, it's relatively easy to get the end state, but relatively hard to figure out how do you get from here to there in a way that provides assurance along the way. Based on their history, the Israelis are so wary of taking any kind of a chance to achieve something.
ED: Tensions between the United States and Iran have heightened in recent weeks. Where do you see that heading?
DB: I think the Iranians are feeling the squeeze, which is a good thing. There's no way that they can close the Strait of Hormuz or dictate what goes on the Persian Gulf. That's just way beyond their power. Militarily so, the more they push that, the more they are ultimately going to lose. There's a long series of provocations that they could use in addition to the verbal and oral ones that they could use. They could have speedboats to run out to the tankers, they could even board one and tell it to board back, all of which will keep the oil market jittery which they think is to their advantage. The price is higher, so what they do sell brings in more. We know they're hurting economically. They've reduced the amount of cash that an Iranian can leave the country with from $5,000 to $1,000 equivalent because their banks are in trouble because they are sanctioned by the international community.
Everyone I know who has studied Iran closely says that the open reaction will be the defiant, angry, some aggression. But meanwhile, behind the scenes, they're having serious discussions of what's the right thing for them to do. And if you look at the history of decisions they take, they're usually pretty rational. They could easily cut some new nuclear deal in which they let some nuclear inspectors in. Right now, they almost have the worst of both worlds: they have economic penalties and yet they don't have the full nuclear capability. As you flip it, you have an IAEA inspected program like any country with power plants - same stuff, same uranium - and they could escape the sanctions and have a much more prosperous country. It would be a brave man to predict which way it would go, but I think the rest of the world has played it pretty well. I don't know whether there can be a negotiated end to this, I think it has to be an Iranian decision.




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January 21, 2012 Saturday  


 Citing Security Fears, Rushdie Won't Attend Literary Festival

 
JAIPUR, India -- In the latest setback for free speech in India, Salman Rushdie, the author who has survived a 23-year-old Iranian fatwa calling for his death, backed out of attending a literature festival in his native country because of a new assassination threat against him.
In a statement, Mr. Rushdie, the Mumbai native whose 1988 novel, ''The Satanic Verses,'' inflamed many Muslims, said he decided not to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival, where he has spoken before, after Indian intelligence agencies warned him that ''paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to 'eliminate' me.'' He later said on Twitter that he would appear at the event via a video link. 
Mr. Rushdie's cancellation is the latest in a series of blows to free speech in India that have included a court challenge to Google and Facebook for what a petitioner claimed was content that is offensive to various religious groups, and a proposal by a senior Indian minister to prescreen content posted on social networking sites.
The Indian Constitution offers its citizens only a qualified right to free speech and allows the government to restrict speech if it deems it offensive or unacceptable to community sentiments. Moreover, the national government has often done little to protect artists, authors and others who have been singled out for violent protests by religious, ethnic and other groups. Maqbool Fida Husain, one of modern India's greatest painters, died last year in London after living in self-imposed exile for the last several years because the government could not guarantee his safety from right-wing Hindu groups that criticized his paintings of Hindu goddesses.
India has long had a difficult relationship with Mr. Rushdie, one of its greatest living writers celebrated in the West but often considered a nuisance at home. India, which has the largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan, was the first major country to ban ''The Satanic Verses.'' In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa, calling for Mr. Rushdie's assassination.
Tension had been building about Mr. Rushdie's planned visit for several weeks. Some Muslim leaders initially said that the New York-based British citizen should be denied a visa to come to India, but Mr. Rushdie does not need a visa to visit India. Later, his opponents said they would protest his visit unless he apologized to Muslims.
It did not help Mr. Rushdie that the government of Rajasthan State, whose capital is Jaipur, openly questioned its ability to protect him. Nor did the federal government provide any public assurances that it could guarantee his safety.
Mr. Rushdie said that he did not entirely believe the intelligence reports about the threat against him but that he decided not to take any chances. ''While I have some doubts about the accuracy of this intelligence, it would be irresponsible of me to come to the festival in such circumstances; irresponsible to my family, to the festival audience, and to my fellow writers,'' he said in the statement. ''I will therefore not travel to Jaipur as planned.''
Festival organizers say they expect more than 250 authors and 100,000 visitors to attend the five-day event, which is in its sixth year. It has become the most important literary event in South Asia and draws visitors from across the world. Oprah Winfrey is expected to speak Saturday.
Even before the controversy about Mr. Rushdie's visit exploded in recent weeks, India was struggling with the balance between free speech and the sensitivities of its many religious and ethnic minorities.
The Delhi High Court, the equivalent of a United States Appeals Court, is considering a case against Google and Facebook for content that an Indian activist has argued offends the sensibilities of Hindus, Muslims and Christians. The judge overseeing the case inflamed free-speech advocates by saying that India could resort to the kind of censorship practiced in China if Internet companies did not do a better job policing their sites. Moreover, India's government offered its official support to the petitioner's case against the sites.
Just a month earlier, India's minister overseeing technology and education, Kapil Sibal, suggested that sites should screen content before it is uploaded, a proposal that he and other officials later backed away from. Executives for social networking sites said that, in private meetings, Mr. Sibal was particularly incensed about unflattering and derogatory references to the leader of the ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi.
''We have to take care of the sensibilities of our people,'' Mr. Sibal told reporters during a news conference at his home in New Delhi in early December. ''Cultural ethos is very important to us.''
Earlier in 2011, one of the two ministries that Mr. Sibal oversees passed new rules governing Internet content that require Internet firms to take down within 36 hours any material posted on Web sites that officials or private citizens could deem to be disparaging, harassing, blasphemous and hateful, among other things.
Mr. Sibal, who attended the festival on Friday and spoke about and read poetry that he has written, did not address the controversy about his ministry's policies and the Rushdie controversy. The moderator of his session, one of the festival's organizers, cut off uncomfortable questions posed to him by the audience, according to people present during the session.
Organizers at the Jaipur Literature Festival said Mr. Rushdie's decision not to attend was the latest in a series of assaults against the artistic community in India by the government and special interest groups.
''Why do we continue as a nation to succumb to one pressure or another?'' asked Sanjoy Roy, who leads the company that organizes the festival. ''This is a huge problem for Indian democracy.''




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 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


January 19, 2012 Thursday

 10 Sundance films to entertain, spark family discussion

 
 PARK CITY, Utah ? The mission of the Sundance Film Festival is to showcase independent filmmaking from ?risk-taking storytellers.? That objective may not always align with traditional, broad-interest family fare that would receive the support from large studio organizations. But there have been come-out-of-nowhere films from Sundance that advance family values and offer topics that promise an ample source of rewarding family discussion.  
Here?s a list of 10 films to come out of Sundance that easily fit in that category: ?The Brave Little Toaster? (Special Jury Recognition at Sundance 1988; rated G) Before there was ?Toy Story,? there was ?The Brave Little Toaster.? Isn?t it fun to imagine what inanimate objects say and do when we aren?t watching? A story filled with love and courage, the first completed project from Hyperion Pictures follows the Brave Little Toaster, Blanky (an electric blanket), Lampy (a desk lamp), Kirby (a vacuum cleaner) and Radio as they find fun in doing chores each day. But that doesn?t eradicate the void they feel from having long been separated from ?The Master,? the bespectacled boy who calls these items his own. ?The Brave Little Toaster? made history as the first animated film ever exhibited at Sundance. It?s a charming gem. (Too bad about the mediocre sequels.) ?Visually the movie has a smooth-flowing momentum and a lush storybook opulence that is miles away from the flat, jerky look of Saturday-morning cartoons. ... It exudes a sweetness and wit that should tickle anyone, regardless of age.? ? Stephen Holden, New York Times  Cautions: Dark and threatening; violence directed at household appliances. ?Buck? (Audience Award Documentary, 2011; PG) Buckshot Brannaman is an aw-shucks hero who never claims to be more than an ordinary man. Yet he is a living legend in the horse world. After abuse at the hand of his father and the early death of his mother, Brannaman was rescued by a foster family. He found safety and solace in horses, and became something of a shaman ? and a real-life inspiration for the novel and movie ?The Horse Whisperer.? Horse owners pay hundreds of dollars when they?re lucky enough to attend one of his four-day horse-training clinics. ?Buck? has the understated eloquence of the man himself. ?You don?t have to be a horse nut to fall for ?Buck,? one of those rare documentaries whose subject is so inherently fascinating that a fictional character could hardly compete.? ? John DeFore, Washington Post Cautions: Discussion of child abuse, mild language and an injury. ?For All Mankind? (Audience Award Documentary, Grand Jury Prize Documentary, 1989; NR) There wasn?t enough room in the Lunar Module for all of us, so the filmmakers behind ?For All Mankind? sifted through six million feet of film recorded by NASA throughout the Apollo missions to piece together a cinematic ride through the cosmos. Instead of being a newsy, fact-filled documentary, ?For All Mankind? focuses on the human aspects of the space flights. The only voices heard in the film are the voices of the astronauts and mission control. It is easily the most visually stunning and unconventional approach to documenting the nine Apollo missions. ??For All Mankind? is awe-inspiring, proof-positive that with enough talent and determination, even the most seemingly insurmountable task can be overcome.? ? Adam Tyner, DVD Talk ?The Great Buck Howard? (2008; PG) ?The Great Buck Howard? is a quirky charmer. Buck Howard is a fictional, once-famous magician who was Johnny Carson?s favorite guest. But he?s a belligerent has-been who is struggling to resurrect his career. When a law school dropout pondering his next move learns that a ?celebrity performer? is looking for a personal assistant, he thinks he?s found the ideal entry-level position. Howard may actually have some authentic magic powers up his sleeve. But, as ?The Great Buck Howard? shows, the true magic is remembering the power of staying true to yourself even if the world around you has changed. ??The Great Buck Howard? is in love with kitsch, the backwaters of showbiz and true magic. It?s a wee charmer that left me enchanted.? ? Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly Cautions: Minor sexuality, mild language, drinking and a drug reference. ?Hoop Dreams? (Audience Award Documentary, 1994; PG-13) Everyone can nurture his own dream, but what does it take to transform wispy intentions into reality? You don?t need to be a basketball fan to enjoy ?Hoop Dreams.? Beginning with their participation in playground games and ending five years later, as they start college, two inner city teens mature into men, still retaining their ?Hoop Dreams.? The obstacles they face include drugs, poverty and violence, as well as the usual obstacles that arise in competition. One of the most popular and critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, ?Hoop Dreams? wasn?t nominated for an Oscar, but the public outrage that followed rewrote the Academy?s documentary selection process. ?A prodigious achievement that conveys the fabric of modern American life, aspirations and incidentally sports in close-up and at length, ?Hoop Dreams? is a documentary slam dunk.? ? Todd McCathy, Variety Cautions: Teen sexuality is discussed in terms of its consequences; some strong language; discussion of drug use, always in terms of its consequences. ?My Kid Could Paint That? (2007; PG-13) Her art was compared to Jackson Pollack?s, and Marla Olmstead sold more than $300,000 worth of paintings. All of a sudden, everybody had to have ?a Marla.? And Marla was all of 4 years old. ?My Kid Could Paint That? explores the debate over what makes something art, and questions the media?s creation and subsequent destruction of heroes. ?A documentary that brings to the fore questions of youth exploitation, celebrity culture, the ?con game? that is modern art and media?s role in the whole tangled mess.? ? Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel Cautions: Art nudes briefly shown; discussing modern art, a vulgarity is used and flashed in a neon-sign artwork. ?Napoleon Dynamite? (2004; PG) ?Are you guys having a killer time?? With some sweet moon boots and illegal government ninja moves, Napoleon Dynamite became a new kind of hero ? and the largest surprise hit of Sundance. The film also launched BYU alum Jon Heder into stardom. Heder also makes headlines for the films he doesn?t make. "It's simply about knowing who you are and sticking to what you believe in," he told Time magazine. ?Sometimes there's language issues. I'm not interested in sexual content.? In the small Idaho town of Preston, Napoleon is a high school geek who is always picked on and doesn?t have many friends, except for Pedro, who wants to run for class president. Napoleon?s eccentric family includes his llama-loving, dune-buggy enthusiast grandmother and Uncle Rico, a sleazy door-to-door salesman who is living too much in ?82. The characters are so brilliantly created that, as legions of fans will attest, it takes multiple viewings to truly savor the magnificence that is ?Napoleon Dynamite.? With a Sundance sale price of $3 million and ticket sales totalling $46 million, ?Napoleon Dynamite? easily makes the list of top Sundance purchases. ?There are more belly laughs than 10 studio-produced, star-vehicle comedies.? ? Bill Muller, Arizona Republic. Cautions: Occasional exaggerated animated violence for comedic effect; minor sexuality and language; drinking and smoking. ?Saints and Soldiers? (2003; PG-13) The only festival entry in the loosely defined ?Mormon cinema? genre, ?Saints and Soldiers? is perhaps also the only film shot near the Sundance resort, with Alpine, Utah, subbing for Belgium?s forests. ?Saints and Soldiers? has the subtle message of faith under trying circumstances. Inspired by actual events, the film follows four soldiers who survived a World War II massacre as they walk back to allied lines. Known to his pals as ?Deacon,? Cpl. Greer had served an LDS mission in Germany and finds it impossible to kill without remorse. Unlike the characters in modern war movies, they don?t use four-letter words. (The famous quote from the New York Times is ?War is heck in the clean-scrubbed world of ?Saints and Soldiers?....?) ?Well mounted, frequently gripping WWII tale of GIs surviving behind German lines.? ? Ken Eisner, Variety Cautions: War violence throughout film with little to no blood; profanity; smoking. ?Shape of the Moon? (World Cinema Jury Prize Documentary, 2004; NR) In ?Shape of the Moon,? a woman struggles to keep her family together ? a Christian family in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. The film resonates deeply of faith and gratitude, despite the tightly woven links between Muslim religion and Indonesian politics, and is a good primer on what life is like in a third-world nation. The filmmaker employs a ?single shot cinema? technique, which involves long takes with a constantly moving camera, to reveal quiet moments with three generations of a family amid the bustle of the outskirts of Jakarta. ?The ?Christian in a Muslim Land? angle doesn't get the attention it deserves, but the film excels at bringing us graphically into this foreign land.? ? Eric D. Snyder, ericsnider.com  Caution: Brief partial nudity. ?Waiting for Superman? (Audience Award Documentary, 2010; PG) The Superman in question is not cape-wearing. But it will take superhuman abilities to improve our children?s education system. ?Waiting for Superman? aims to win the hearts of its viewers and inspire them to social action as it reveals the dysfunction of our public school system with alarming facts and statistics. It?s a riveting watch for tweens and up, especially those who may not be aware of what?s happening in schools besides theirs. ?As (Davis) Guggenheim?s camera gives us a close-up of the Educational Lotto, the implication is clear: Why gamble on the future of America?s children? Instead of helping some kids beat the odds, how do we change the odds for all kids?? ? Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer  Cautions: Mild profanities; some background smoking. 




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 The Deseret News Publishing Co. 


January 14, 2012 Saturday

 Religion is fascinatingly, vibrantly alive

 
 When an adviser once warned him against conflict with the Catholic Church, Josef Stalin contemptuously demanded "How many divisions does the pope have?"  It was a rhetorical question, and presumed the obvious: With no army at all, what threat could the pope pose to Soviet tyranny? Stalin's presumption was wrong. Less than three decades after his death, the Catholic Church elected a Polish pope, and this was a vital factor in the collapse of communism, not only in Poland but throughout eastern Europe.  
The triumphant homecoming of John Paul II in 1979 demonstrated that the pope actually has many powerful "divisions." Blindness to the continuing power of religion isn't limited to Kremlin atheists. In the mid- to late-1970s, as discontent with the rule of the shah in Iran began to boil, both government and academic experts on the Middle East routinely downplayed it.  After all, who were the shah's opponents? A ragtag alliance of bazaar merchants, led by Islamic clergy who, it seemed to some, had scarcely emerged from the Middle Ages. The shah, by contrast, had a large and well-trained army. He had tanks. He had jet fighter aircraft. In a struggle between the 20th century and the seventh, who could doubt the outcome? For three decades now, the West has struggled to cope with the Islamic Republic of Iran. We've faced militant Islam in Algeria, in the Sudanese civil war, in Afghanistan, in Beirut and south Lebanon, in Iraq, in Indonesia and at the World Trade Center. It's clear that Islamic fundamentalism will challenge us for years to come, abroad and at home. The notion that the world is growing more secular ? that, as technology and prosperity increase, religion inevitably loses its influence ? is simply wrong. While Stalin and his successors are gone, the pope remains. Even in the State Department, an awareness of religion as a forgotten dimension of diplomacy and political analysis is now an important factor in strategic deliberations. The realization has hardly come too soon. Around the world, religions and religious people exercise not a diminishing but an increasing influence on public affairs. India and Pakistan exist as separate countries because of divisions between Hindus and Muslims. Now Sikh activism complicates the scene. Extremist Catholics and Protestants in northern Ireland were engaged in bloody conflict for decades. Ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel confront an ever more militant Palestinian Islamic movement. U.S. politicians court the Christian Right, while "New Atheists" propose a radical secularization of all societies.  Even the prosperous and largely secular Japanese have suffered from the deadly fantasies of a conspiratorial religious group armed with poison gas. Of course, not all manifestations of religion in contemporary society are negative. While violent, frightening or bizarre elements of religion grab headlines, its most powerful effects are surely found in the private lives of ordinary people, in their work and families, in what they choose to value or reject, and in how they respond to stress and sorrow. The surge of evangelical Christianity gives meaning and discipline to millions of Americans. Prison officials across the nation report that the spread of Islam and conservative Protestantism assists in rehabilitating inmates and lowering their rate of recidivism. Recent studies seem to confirm the power of religious belief to promote mental health, and even to aid recovery from illness and injury. Religion is hardly dead ? though some wish it were. Fundamentalist Christianity flourishes in Brazil. In rural Guatemala, it may already have supplanted Catholicism. Mormonism, some say, is poised to become the first new global faith since Islam emerged from Arabia in the seventh century, and the world's first Mormon presidents may possibly be elected this year both in the US and, amazingly, in Mali. U.S. Muslims now outnumber adherents of some of the so-called "mainline" churches. Overflowing mosques can be found in all major cities in Europe, and there will soon be more regular worshipers in the mosques of the United Kingdom than in Anglican churches. The Islamic prayer call echoes through Balkan cities where, not long ago, atheism was imposed by law and the practice of any faith at all was a criminal offense. Religion is vibrantly, fascinatingly, alive. This column will examine it around the world ? Christian and non-Christian, ancient, medieval and modern ? from many perspectives. Religion is of virtually infinite interest and human significance (not to mention its importance in eternity). We hope that you share our enthusiasm for this richly varied and instructive subject.  Email: religioneditor@desnews.com 




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January 12, 2012 Thursday  


 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

 
<b>S-R LAPDOG HAS NO BARK</b>
  Not surprisingly, Gary Crooks, a lapdog for the vile, corrupt and immoral Democratic Party, gushes all over our "Dear comrade leader," President Barack Obama, in his column ("Avoid political Twinkies" Jan. 1), while ridiculing those who look at Obama objectively.
  From his childhood, as a Muslim student in Indonesia, Barack Obama has been associated with extremist organizations and individuals. Obama has had close ties to scores of communists, socialists, Maoists, revolutionaries and Palestinian terrorist supporters, like Rashid Khalidi, black power/black liberation groups and other anti-American radicals. 
  The truth about Obama, much of it public record, has been ignored by our "watchdog" media.
  Crooks disregards Obama's longtime relationship with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Ayers, a former member of the violent, Marxist Weather Underground organization bombed the Pentagon back in the Vietnam War era.
 And, yes, Gary, there's evidence that Ayers was a "ghost writer" for Obama's book. Speaking of that book, author Christopher Andersen says, "the book's language, oddly specific references, literary devices, and themes would bear a jarring similarity to Ayer's own writing."
 <b>Curtis E. Stone</b>
 <i>Colville</i>
 <b>SAVE THE CHILDREN</b>
  Your Jan. 6 editorial praised Gov. Chris Gregoire's recent support for gay marriage. Gregoire states that "the state should not engage in discrimination." What about discriminating against our children?
  Centuries of history and tons of research have proven the ideal place for children to thrive is within a marriage of one man and one woman. And don't come after me with statistics of divorce and spousal abuse in traditional marriage or about two committed gays who love each other. I have heard it all and realize even some traditional marriages are not good for children.
  But comparing a loving gay marriage as an ideal place for children is absurd. Child development studies have proven that children role model after their same-sex parent. Don't tell me they can go and get all that from a family friend or the Y.
  It's a lot harder, and marriage is hard enough. I guess if God had wanted there to be gay marriage, He would have created only one sex. So don't blame me, blame God.
  Thanks Gov. Gregoire, and thanks to the editorial board for being so intellectual. I guess you know better than God. I'm glad I know that now.
 <b>Susan Bacon</b>
 <i>Spokane</i>
 <b>BAIL OUT THE MILLIONAIRES</b>
  Well, it's over in Iowa, and Republicans there decided by eight votes to go with their heads instead of their hearts. That's because President Barack Obama must go.
  Naturally, they hate what he's doing to "our" country. Let's examine the record!
  Basically, he insists on leading us down the path to socialism. Why? Because he lacks knowledge on how the economy works. Doesn't he know that health care always works best when some of us are lucky enough to afford it and the rest of us go to the emergency room? This is evidenced by his insisting on class welfare. He's always pitting Grandma's Social Security check against Donald Trump's tax bracket. In short he's killing the entrepreneurial spirit in this country. Didn't he realize that it's one thing to bail out banks, but it's entirely different when it comes to automakers?
  No matter who emerges after the primaries, you don't need any other plan to defeat Obama but to halt the march to socialism by allowing the "job creators" to keep their tax brackets in place, because everyone knows that you can only balance the federal budget by cutting entitlement programs while millionaires are free to create jobs.
 <b>Lloyd Brown</b>
 <i>Elk</i>
<b>




5


 
 



January 11, 2012 Wednesday  


 

Pakistan

3 militants reported killed by U.S. drone
Unmanned U.S. aircraft fired missiles into a home in a tribal region of western Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least three militants, local officials said. The attack ended a pause in drone strikes, which have become the mainstay of U.S. efforts to quash militant activity along the border with Afghanistan.
The officials said the missiles hit the outskirts of the town of Miranshah in North Waziristan. Militants often dispute official versions of such attacks. 
A source in Washington confirmed that a U.S.-operated drone had fired at a target in Pakistan. The source said that no well-known militants were thought to have been targeted, injured or wounded in the attack.
The strike was the first such attack since Nov. 17 and could deepen anti-U.S. sentiment, which is already running high in Pakistan after a Nov. 26 cross-border NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. 
- Reuters  

nigeria

Fears of unrest growon 2nd day of strike
As a paralyzing nationwide strike called by labor unions in Nigeria entered a second day Tuesday, protests against government corruption and inaction drew tens of thousands of people into the streets. Although the crowds remained largely peaceful, signs of spreading unrest began to emerge in the populous multiethnic nation.
In Benin City, in the southwest, a mob killed five people Tuesday afternoon in an attack on the city's central mosque and a Koranic school, the Nigerian Red Cross said. On Monday, a mob tried to set a mosque ablaze.
Authorities have tried to control violence in Nigeria, which is divided into a mostly Christian south and Muslim north. However, a radical Islamist sect called Boko Haram is killing Christians in the northeast, prompting Christian leaders to urge worshipers to defend themselves. The Benin City attack appeared to be a response to those killings. 
- Associated Press

afghanistan

Attack in east targetsprovincial leader
A complex attack in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday targeted the governor of Paktika province and two government buildings, prompting a day-long standoff between U.S. forces, Afghan troops and insurgents. 
The Taliban, through spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, asserted responsibility for the attack, which included three suicide bombers, booby-trapped buildings and a protracted hostage situation. The governor, Muhibullah Samim, survived, but four civilians were killed, including a top telecommunications executive from the region, Mohammad Sarwar, according to a U.S. official. The attackers were wearing new Afghan army uniforms. 
Paktika, which borders Pakistan, has become a key front in the fight against insurgents who foment unrest in eastern Afghanistan before seeking refuge across the frontier. It is a stronghold of the Haqqani network, which is thought to be responsible for a string of high-profile attacks in Kabul. 
- Kevin Sieff

iraq

At least 10 killedas attacks continue
Three schoolboys were among at least 10 people killed in Iraq on Tuesday, extending a wave of deadly attacks that have rocked the country since U.S. troops pulled out last month.
Several of the Tuesday attacks struck largely Sunni areas north of Baghdad, though an evening blast in the capital appeared to target Shiite pilgrims.
The violence followed deadly car bombings the evening before and pushed to more than 100 the number of Iraqis killed in less than a week. 
Many of the recent attacks have targeted Iraq's Shiite majority.
- Associated Press
Egyptian candidate reports travel ban: Egyptian presidential candidate Ayman Nour said he has been banned from travel over allegations that he incited violent protests against security forces. Nour, who said he was called in for questioning Tuesday, said Mamdouh Hamza, a wealthy architect who threw his support behind Egypt's uprising last year, also has been banned from travel for allegedly financing protests.
Court extends Libya's deadline on Gaddafi son: The International Criminal Court said it would give Libya until Jan. 23 - an extension of two weeks - to say whether Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of the country's former leader, will be surrendered to face trial on war-crimes charges and to give an account of his mental and physical health. When rebel fighters captured Saif al-Islam in November, Libya said it wanted to try him at home.
Earthquake off Indonesia: A powerful earthquake hit waters off western Indonesia on Wednesday, prompting  a tsunami warning. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was 7.3 in  magnitude.
- From news services




5


 
 



January 8, 2012 Sunday  


 Malaysia's test

 
ON MONDAY a struggle over human rights and democracy will come to a head in an important  Muslim country. The site is not Egypt or Turkey but Malaysia, a country of 28 million that, as it has prospered economically, has grown an opposition movement that is pressing an authoritarian regime to share power. The opposition's leader is Anwar Ibrahim, whose multiethnic alliance shocked the ruling party in several state elections in 2008 and who has a chance to oust Prime Minister Najib Razak in national elections expected in the next few months, if the vote is free and fair. 
All that explains why on Monday Mr. Anwar will find himself not on the campaign trail but in a courtroom, where he is likely to be given a lengthy prison sentence. The charge is homosexual sodomy, which Malaysia shamefully still treats as a crime. 
Mr. Anwar, who is 64 and married with children, denies the charge; he claims, plausibly, to have been framed by the government. His 26-year-old accuser met with Mr. Najib two days before the alleged sexual encounter took place. The case was brought shortly after the opposition's 2008 victories and is coming to a conclusion just as new elections approach.
Mr. Anwar has been persecuted before. After a falling out with a previous prime minister, he was charged with sodomy in 1998 and spent six years in prison before being exonerated. Since then he has become one of the best-known advocates for liberal democracy in the Muslim world. The coalition he has fashioned of secular, Muslim and ethnic Chinese groups could make Malaysia the second majority-Muslim country in Asia, after Indonesia, to become a working democracy.
Mr. Anwar is not perfect: Lashing out at Mr. Najib after his arrest, he employed ugly anti-Israel rhetoric, for which he later apologized. He nevertheless deserves support from the United States and other nations seeking to broaden human rights in the Muslim world. 
So far, the Obama administration's stance has been weak. The State Department says that it has  "closely followed the prosecution" and raised the case "regularly in Kuala Lumpur and in Washington." But there has been little overt pressure; when President Obama met with Mr. Najib in November, he said nothing publicly about human rights or democracy. Instead he heaped praise on the prime minister for "the extraordinary cooperation that we've received on a whole range of issues."
In fact Malaysia has been a modest help on terrorism cases, and it forms part of the administration's strategy for bolstering its position in Asia. That, however, is not a rationale to step aside as Mr. Anwar, and the country's hopes for democracy, are crushed. The State Department has said that the Anwar case is "a test of Malaysia's commitment to democracy and the rule of law." If the verdict fails that test, there should be consequences for Mr. Najib's relations with Washington.   



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Trump's Indonesia Projects, Still Moving Ahead, Create Potential Conflicts The New York Times December 31, 2016 Saturday 00:00 EST 

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A new order in the Middle East, Can Indonesia avoid descent into intolerance?, The Kremlin elected Donald Trump, Zimbabwe's new 'quasi-currency' is not the answer, Rex Tillerson for US secretary of State?; A roundup of global commentary for the Dec. 26, 2016 weekly magazine. The Christian Science Monitor December 24, 2016 Saturday 

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In Indonesia, an Edict Aims to Keep Santa Hats Off Muslims, and Adds to Tensions The New York Times December 24, 2016 Saturday 

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A Dire Need for Engineers Is Going Unmet The New York Times December 19, 2016 Monday 

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The personalized presidency The Washington Post December 18, 2016 Sunday 

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Jakarta's governor on trial for blasphemy The Bismarck Tribune December 17, 2016 Saturday 

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ITALY LAWMAKERS APPROVE NEW GOVERNMENT Pittsburgh Post-Gazette December 15, 2016 Thursday 

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DON'T LET FAKE NEWS FOOL YOU; PLAIN TALK The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) December 14, 2016 Wednesday 

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Governor of Jakarta Issues Tearful Denial as Blasphemy Trial Opens in Indonesia The New York Times December 14, 2016 Wednesday 

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WORLD WATCH Wall Street Journal Abstracts December 14, 2016 Wednesday 

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Jakarta Christian governor trial tests Indonesia's religious freedom; Jakarta's first Christian governor is on trial for blasphemy over his previous remarks regarding the Quran, an accusation some say is politically motivated. The Christian Science Monitor December 13, 2016 Tuesday 

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Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson, Aleppo: Your Morning Briefing; Asia and Australia Edition The New York Times December 13, 2016 Tuesday 00:00 EST 

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Indonesian Police Arrest 4 Near Jakarta as Terrorist Plot Is Foiled The New York Times December 11, 2016 Sunday 

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To Indonesia, a wistful, worrisome U.S. transition The Washington Post December 7, 2016 Wednesday 

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Donald Trump, Fidel Castro, Aleppo: Your Monday Briefing; Asia Pacific Edition The New York Times December 4, 2016 Sunday 00:00 EST 

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Modern World Tugs at a Tribe Clinging to Its Ancient Ways The New York Times December 4, 2016 Sunday 

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Island-hopping: Choosing a few from thousands Sunday Telegram (Massachusetts) December 4, 2016 Sunday 

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WORLD BRIEFING; INDONESIA; Blasphemy protest grows Los Angeles Times December 3, 2016 Saturday 

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San Bernardino honors those killed, injured in terror attack The Morning Call December 3, 2016 Saturday 

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Indonesian Police Arrest 10 for Suspected Treason The New York Times December 3, 2016 Saturday 

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Indonesia blasphemy protest draws 200,000 Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) December 3, 2016 Saturday 

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PRESSURE GROWS ON INDONESIAN CHRISTIAN GOVERNOR Wall Street Journal Abstracts December 3, 2016 Saturday 

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Indonesian Police Arrest 11 for Suspected Treason The New York Times December 2, 2016 Friday 00:00 EST 

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Can Suu Kyi deliver on her promise of a path to peace for Myanmar?; Following a flare-up of clashes between security forces and the minority Muslim Rohingya community in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi is under pressure to address the violence. The Christian Science Monitor November 30, 2016 Wednesday 

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SUU KYI CANCELS INDONESIA TRIP AMID PROTESTS Wall Street Journal Abstracts November 29, 2016 Tuesday 

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VENEZUELAN 'FIRST NEPHEWS' FOUND GUILTY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette November 21, 2016 Monday 

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Serious about relocating after the election? Here are your options... Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) November 20, 2016 Sunday 

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Island-hopping Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) November 20, 2016 Sunday 

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World briefs Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) November 20, 2016 Sunday 

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CLIMATE CITED IN 80,000 REINDEER DEATHS Pittsburgh Post-Gazette November 17, 2016 Thursday 

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Indonesia Says Key Governor Is Suspected of Blasphemy The New York Times November 16, 2016 Wednesday 

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Indonesia Says Jakarta's Christian Governor Is Suspected of Blasphemy The New York Times November 15, 2016 Tuesday 00:00 EST 

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Jakarta Protest, Tied to Faith, May Have Deeper Links to Secular Politics The New York Times November 14, 2016 Monday 

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Jakarta Protest, Tied to Faith, May Have Deeper Links to Secular Politics The New York Times November 13, 2016 Sunday 00:00 EST 

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Donald Trump, New Zealand, Facebook: Your Monday Briefing; Asia Pacific Edition The New York Times November 13, 2016 Sunday 00:00 EST 

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HARD-LINERS' SHOW OF FORCE TESTS INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT Wall Street Journal Abstracts November 7, 2016 Monday 

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Thousands of protesters urge S. Korean leader to step down The Hartford Courant November 6, 2016 Sunday 

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Thousands of protesters urge S. Korean leader to step down The Hartford Courant November 6, 2016 Sunday 

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Digest The Washington Post November 6, 2016 Sunday 

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Indonesians Demand Jail for Christian Official The New York Times November 5, 2016 Saturday 

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INDONESIA PROTEST HIGHLIGHTS RISE OF HARD-LINE MUSLIMS Wall Street Journal Abstracts November 5, 2016 Saturday 

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Why a massive Muslim protest erupted against a Christian governor in Jakarta; The Christian governor of Jakarta was accused of making a blasphemous remark about the Quran, igniting protests from a Muslim group that rallied in multiple cities. The Christian Science Monitor November 4, 2016 Friday 

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A Muslim Fashion Identity The New York Times November 3, 2016 Thursday 

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Modesty's Proponents See No Limits, in Fashion or in Life The New York Times November 3, 2016 Thursday 

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Indonesia weighs ban on sex outside marriage The Washington Post October 28, 2016 Friday 

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Pittsburgh Tribune Review October 4, 2016 Tuesday 

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Indonesian police investigate porn on electronic billboard Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) October 4, 2016 Tuesday 

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America loves Muslim food - so much for culture clash; Sales of halal food surging, thanks to millennials.; FOOD AND DINING Dayton Daily News (Ohio) October 2, 2016 Sunday 

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Mount Barujari: 1,000 tourists evacuated in Indonesia after volcano eruption; Mount Barujari erupted without warning on Tuesday. Fifty climbers are still missing but believed to be safe. The Christian Science Monitor September 28, 2016 Wednesday 

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'The Fix' seeks out strategies to solve the vexing problems facing nations; Foreign Affairs managing editor Jonathan Tepperman travels widely to talk to the people and governments who are devising new and innovative strategies to hold chaos at bay and sometimes even improve things. The Christian Science Monitor September 22, 2016 Thursday 

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Pittsburgh Tribune Review September 22, 2016 Thursday 

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Today in History The State Journal- Register (Springfield, IL) September 22, 2016 Thursday 

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Today in History Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) September 22, 2016 Thursday 

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Today in History Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas) September 22, 2016 Thursday 

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A Pilgrim's Progress: Checking Mecca Off My Bucket List; Postcard From the Hajj The New York Times September 21, 2016 Wednesday 00:00 EST 

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A base for rebuilding the region Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) September 18, 2016 Sunday 

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Youthfulness of Muslim population source of instability Charleston Gazette-Mail September 12, 2016, Monday 

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Report: Texas benchmark led to denial of special ed services The Hartford Courant September 12, 2016 Monday 

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Report: Texas benchmark led to denial of special ed services The Morning Call September 12, 2016 Monday 

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How youth feeds world's instability The Washington Post September 12, 2016 Monday 

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A new crisis in the Muslim world: Is it too young? The Washington Post September 7, 2016 Wednesday 

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Monterey County Herald (California) September 5, 2016 Monday 

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Alcohol Ban Is Promoted in Indonesia The New York Times September 3, 2016 Saturday 

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Race issues dominate White House race The Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania) September 2, 2016 Friday 

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Terrorist attack at Indonesian church fails The Washington Post August 29, 2016 Monday 

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'Both Arsonists and Firefighters' The New York Times August 26, 2016 Friday 

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Saudis and Extremism: 'Both the Arsonists and the Firefighters' The New York Times August 25, 2016 Thursday 00:00 EST 

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Is it the end of the West? The Daily News of Los Angeles August 21, 2016 Sunday 

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Is it the end of the West? Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) August 21, 2016 Sunday 

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A Happy Warrior in a Faltering Battle for Indonesian Gay Rights The New York Times August 20, 2016 Saturday 

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COPS NAB KILLER SUSP Rammed officers tailing him in Queens Hispanic grilled; ID'd by cyclist hit as shooter fled Daily News (New York) August 15, 2016 Monday 

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'No Doubt' President Obama is a Muslim, Donald Trump's New York Campaign Chair Says New York Observer August 5, 2016 Friday 

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Write a letter to your president Charleston Gazette-Mail August 2, 2016, Tuesday 

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Pilgrimage: A 21st-Century Journey to Mecca and Medina The New York Times July 22, 2016 Friday 

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sports and a culture's expectations The Washington Post July 14, 2016 Thursday 

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Was Orlando massacre a response to U.S. foreign policy? The Morning Call July 13, 2016 Wednesday 

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China goes all out to win favor with Indonesian Muslims The Washington Post July 3, 2016 Sunday 

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Istanbul airport attack: Why Turkey's response matters; The Islamic world's struggle to answer "who rules Muslims?" takes a big turn as Islamic State escalates its attacks against democratic Turkey. The Christian Science Monitor June 30, 2016 Thursday 

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Editorial cartoon crossed the line The Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania) June 29, 2016 Wednesday 

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Indonesia's hard line on new faiths The Washington Post June 29, 2016 Wednesday 

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Sharia The Washington Post June 26, 2016 Sunday 

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point of view; Conservative concerns about extremism Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) June 23, 2016 Thursday 

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Collective Bam-nesia  The New York Post June 19, 2016 Sunday 

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Silent No More; Forward readers tell their abortion stories The Forward June 17, 2016 

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Mega Mecca The New York Times June 12, 2016 Sunday 

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Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas) June 11, 2016 Saturday 

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WORLD WATCH Wall Street Journal Abstracts June 10, 2016 Friday 

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Ushering in a Holy Month The New York Times June 7, 2016 Tuesday 

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MUSLIM HOLY MONTH BEGINS Wall Street Journal Abstracts June 7, 2016 Tuesday 

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Ramadan begins today for Muslims Charleston Gazette-Mail June 6, 2016, Monday 

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What Ramadan means to 1.6 billion Muslims around the world; Muslims fast during the day to bring themselves closer to God and their fellow man. The Christian Science Monitor June 6, 2016 Monday 

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Many Muslims mark start of Ramadan The Hartford Courant June 6, 2016 Monday 

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Governor of Jakarta Bucks Indonesia's Party Politics The New York Times June 4, 2016 Saturday 00:00 EST 

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President Trump would hand the world to China The Washington Post June 1, 2016 Wednesday 

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Primed f or politics The Washington Post May 24, 2016 Tuesday 

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Hill Hall renovation, Glass residency mark CPA season The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.) May 20, 2016 

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FROM THE RIGHT; Comfy countries can't keep unassimilated from IS grasp The Atlanta Journal-Constitution May 14, 2016 Saturday 

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Indonesia for tolerant Islam Star-News (Wilmington, NC) May 14, 2016 Saturday 

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Warrant doesn't deter travel by Sudan's leader The Washington Post May 14, 2016 Saturday 

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Warrant doesn't deter travel by Sudan's leader The Washington Post May 14, 2016 Saturday 

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Star-News (Wilmington, NC) May 7, 2016 Saturday 

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Petroleum power is shifting our way The Daily Record of Rochester (Rochester, NY) May 5, 2016 Thursday 

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NEW EU PLAN FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 5, 2016 Thursday 

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Antismoking Forces Give Big Tobacco a Fight in Indonesia The New York Times May 1, 2016 Sunday 

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LETTERS Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) May 1, 2016 Sunday 

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SOLVING SAUDI PROBLEM NOT EASY Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) April 27, 2016 Wednesday 

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Worldview: Get real about Saudi Arabia The Philadelphia Inquirer April 21, 2016 Thursday 

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Islam, terror and the translation minefield USA TODAY April 7, 2016 Thursday 

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The Washington Post March 29, 2016 Tuesday 

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Editorial opinions from other papers Carlsbad Current-Argus (New Mexico) March 19, 2016 Saturday 

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Indonesia holds promise for Asia progress Bangor Daily News (Maine) March 14, 2016 Monday 

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A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS Dayton Daily News (Ohio) March 14, 2016 Monday 

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Is Trump Really a Hitler-Style Fascist? The Forward March 11, 2016 

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Total Solar Eclipse Sweeps Across Indonesia The New York Times March 10, 2016 Thursday 

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El café es una bebida estimulante ampliamente consumida, preparada de las semill Chicago Daily Herald March 6, 2016 Sunday 

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Multihued Muslim Enclave, Forged in Apartheid, Now Faces Gentrification The New York Times March 1, 2016 Tuesday 

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Religious leaders deemed essential to boosting contraception worldwide Charleston Gazette-Mail February 28, 2016, Sunday 

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Support by religious leaders deemed essential to boosting contraception Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts) February 27, 2016 Saturday 

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LETTERS Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) February 20, 2016 Saturday 

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Obama welcomes Southeast Asian leaders for talks Chico Enterprise-Record (California) February 16, 2016 Tuesday 

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Obama welcomes Southeast Asian leaders to US for talks Vallejo Times-Herald (California) February 16, 2016 Tuesday 

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Businessman seeks leniency in halal beef fraud The Bismarck Tribune February 10, 2016 Wednesday 

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All-American Terrorists The New York Times February 7, 2016 Sunday 

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Islamic State groups still on the rise Star-News (Wilmington, NC) February 7, 2016 Sunday 

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ISIS remains on the rise Sunday Telegram (Massachusetts) February 7, 2016 Sunday 

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Female Genital Cutting: Not Just 'an African Problem' The New York Times February 5, 2016 Friday 

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Islamic art, through the ages | From Spain to Indonesia, Muslim cultures have long generated exquisite objects Sarasota Herald Tribune (Florida) February 5, 2016 Friday 

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The Islamic State is still on the rise The Washington Post February 5, 2016 Friday 

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In One Part of China, Officials' Light Touch Lets Islam Flourish The New York Times February 2, 2016 Tuesday 

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Super Quiz  (California) February 2, 2016 Tuesday 

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The island of Bali is part of what country? The Philadelphia Inquirer January 31, 2016 Sunday 

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A modern system for screening travelers The Washington Post January 29, 2016 Friday 

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Failure of Indonesia terror attack Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) January 25, 2016 Monday 

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Indonesia attacks spotlight a great anti-terrorist nation Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) January 23, 2016 Saturday 

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Egypt intensifies crackdown ahead of Arab Spring anniversary St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) January 22, 2016 Friday 

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Battling ISIS in Indonesia The New York Times January 19, 2016 Tuesday 

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Many in Jakarta Seem to Shrug Off Terrorist Attack The New York Times January 16, 2016 Saturday 

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Police arrest 3 men on suspicion of links to Jakarta attack Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) January 15, 2016 Friday 

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Jakarta Attack Raises Fears That ISIS Is Spreading in Southeast Asia The New York Times January 15, 2016 Friday 

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Jakarta Attack May Signal Revival of Violence in Indonesia The New York Times January 15, 2016 Friday 

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Indonesia attack a sign of Islamic State's global strategy The Washington Post January 15, 2016 Friday 

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TERROR STRIKES Bombers, gunmen killed in Jakarta Daily News (New York) January 14, 2016 Thursday 

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The Washington Post January 14, 2016 Thursday 

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Henri Barkey: The global struggle against Islamic militant violence could last generations St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) January 11, 2016 Monday 

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My faith and practice of medicine go hand in hand Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania) January 10, 2016 Sunday 

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Expert: Fight I.S. by using social media Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) January 8, 2016 Friday 

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A Muslim cleric's lasting legacy of peace; Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent advocate of nonviolent dissent brought a largely nonviolent reaction among Shiites in the Middle East. The region needs a renewal of peaceful means of protest. The Christian Science Monitor January 3, 2016 Sunday 

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Jittery world bids adieu to a year marred by terror Charleston Gazette-Mail January 1, 2016, Friday 

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Peninsula readers' letters: January 1  (California) January 1, 2016 Friday 

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Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas) December 31, 2015 Thursday 

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Doubts about Saudi Arabia Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts) December 24, 2015 Thursday 

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Transgender Muslims Find a Home for Prayer The New York Times December 23, 2015 Wednesday 

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Dec. 27 Readers' letters  (California) December 23, 2015 Wednesday 

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Holes in Saudis' Antiterrorism Plan The New York Times December 19, 2015 Saturday 

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Trump and Muslims, by the numbers, is complicated Chico Enterprise-Record (California) December 18, 2015 Friday 

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Peninsula readers' letters: December 18  (California) December 18, 2015 Friday 

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The puzzling Saudi-led Islamic anti-terror alliance The Washington Post December 18, 2015 Friday 

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Donald Trump and Muslims, by the numbers Eureka Times-Standard (California) December 17, 2015 Thursday 

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Growing Up in a Time of Fear: Confronting Stereotypes About Muslims and Countering Xenophobia The New York Times Blogs(The Learning Network) December 17, 2015 Thursday 

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Letters Palm Beach Post (Florida) December 17, 2015 Thursday 

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Transcript: Republican Presidential Debate The New York Times December 16, 2015 Wednesday 

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A reluctant but necessary discussion on Trump and terrorism Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) December 13, 2015 Sunday 

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Terror fears must not veer into attacks on American Muslims Palm Beach Post (Florida) December 13, 2015 Sunday 

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Radical Islam poses obvious threat to Mideast The Bismarck Tribune December 9, 2015 Wednesday 

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Trump wants 'total' ban on Muslims entering U.S. The Washington Post December 8, 2015 Tuesday 

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Radical Islam threatens Middle East, and rest of us; FROM THE RIGHT Dayton Daily News (Ohio) December 7, 2015 Monday 

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Thailand receives Russian warning of Islamic State threat Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) December 4, 2015 Friday 

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MINEFIELDS AWAIT U.S. MISSTEPS; WATCH OUT ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH ASIA AND AFRICA Pittsburgh Post-Gazette December 2, 2015 Wednesday 

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John Seven: Online tales of small victories counter flood of bad news The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) November 30, 2015 Monday 

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Muslims in Indonesia Challenge ISIS Ideology The New York Times November 28, 2015 Saturday 

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Should We Call It 'Radical Islam'? The Forward November 27, 2015 

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Prosthetic eye maker brings relief to wounded Gazans; The center is first in Gaza to design and fit artificial eyes.; HEALTH CARE Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 26, 2015 Thursday 

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TRADE, TENSIONS WITH CHINA MARK OBAMA VISIT TO ASIA; Paris attacks will be backdrop for a crowded agenda Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 17, 2015 Tuesday 

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Paid Notice: Deaths PADANG, ACHMAD DJAINAL The New York Times November 17, 2015 Tuesday 

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Trade, tensions with China mark Obama visit to Asia; Paris attacks will be backdrop for a crowded agenda USA TODAY November 17, 2015 Tuesday 

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A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 16, 2015 Monday 

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The artistry of modern Islam Orange County Register (California) November 15, 2015 Sunday 

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Currency Religious Religious currency Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) November 14, 2015 Saturday 

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World Briefing | Asia; Indonesia: Australia Aims to Mend Ties The New York Times November 13, 2015 Friday 

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Indonesian Security Minister Tries to Soothe Rising Fears About Military Rule The New York Times November 12, 2015 Thursday 

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Weekly Book List, November 13, 2015 The Chronicle of Higher Educationwww.chronicle.com November 8, 2015  Sunday 

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Islamic Faith Healing in Indonesia The New York Times Blogs(Lens) November 4, 2015 Wednesday 

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1965: Violence in Indonesia Spreads The New York Times Blogs(IHT Retrospective) October 29, 2015 Thursday 

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An exemplary way to defeat Islamic State; The war on Islamic State may not be won with military might or theological arguments but by providing role models for young Muslims seeking purpose and belonging. This would dry up the group's recruitment stream. The Christian Science Monitor October 28, 2015 Wednesday 

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Indonesia's leader says country to join Asia trade pact Chico Enterprise-Record (California) October 27, 2015 Tuesday 

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President of Indonesia Joins Obama on Trade Pact The New York Times October 27, 2015 Tuesday 

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POPE CALLS FOR HUMBLE LEADERSHIP Pittsburgh Post-Gazette October 19, 2015 Monday 

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Israel's Chief Rabbi Says Falsehoods Are Fuel for the Latest Violence The New York Times October 16, 2015 Friday 

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World Briefing | Asia; Indonesia: An Appeal for Calm The New York Times October 15, 2015 Thursday 

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OLDEST KING JAMES BIBLE DRAFT FOUND Pittsburgh Post-Gazette October 15, 2015 Thursday 

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1965: Red HQ Burned in Djakarta The New York Times Blogs(IHT Retrospective) October 8, 2015 Thursday 

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Refugees ruse? Pittsburgh Tribune Review October 4, 2015 Sunday 

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The Washington Post September 30, 2015 Wednesday 

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Peter Lucas: If only Obama defended Christianity as much as Islam Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) September 29, 2015 Tuesday 

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PETER LUCAS: If only Obama defended Christianity as much as Islam Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) September 29, 2015 Tuesday 

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Don is on 'offensive' White House rips 'Muslim' response Daily News (New York) September 19, 2015 Saturday 

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Why do people still doubt President Obama's faith and birthplace?; Myths regarding Mr. Obama's background have yet to go away: A recent CNN/ORC Poll shows one in five adults say Obama was born outside the United States, and nearly one in three say he is Muslim. The Christian Science Monitor September 15, 2015 Tuesday 

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Many Islands, Many Faces The New York Times August 23, 2015 Sunday 

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Star-News (Wilmington, NC) August 16, 2015 Sunday 

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In a Milestone, Africa Goes a Year Without Polio The New York Times August 12, 2015 Wednesday 

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RUN AMOK; Mass killings less about race, more about mental illness Charleston Gazette-Mail August 2, 2015, Sunday 

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A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS Dayton Daily News (Ohio) July 20, 2015 Monday 

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 The New York Times July 18, 2015 Saturday 

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Deeper opportunities in Iran nuclear pact; The nuclear deal with Iran must withstand many tests to achieve its aim. Yet also worth testing is whether it will lessen conflicts within the Muslim world, especially over the use of violence in the name of Islam. The Christian Science Monitor July 14, 2015 Tuesday 

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Islam has impressive history of nonviolent resistance Monterey County Herald (California) July 11, 2015 Saturday 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 10, 2015 Friday 

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Vallejo Times-Herald (California) July 5, 2015 Sunday 

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Once sidelined, Taiwan's mixed-race children find new embrace; As more Taiwanese men marry Southeast Asian women, the island nation is beginning to think of itself as multi-ethnic, in a distinct departure from the mainland. The change is supported by younger generations. The Christian Science Monitor July 1, 2015 Wednesday 

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Suspect in Attack in France Had Ties to Radical Islamist The New York Times June 28, 2015 Sunday 

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Spare Times: For Children The New York Times June 26, 2015 Friday 

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Obama's Incredible Insult: Racism In Americans' DNA Investor's Business Daily June 24, 2015 Wednesday 

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A REVIEW OF IMAGES THAT MADE THE NEWS Dayton Daily News (Ohio) June 22, 2015 Monday 

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The Politics of Yoga The New York Times June 20, 2015 Saturday 

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Arthur I. Cyr: Skirmishing on Asian seas Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) June 20, 2015 Saturday 

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China-Vietnam issues reflect Pacific-wide maritime disputes Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) June 20, 2015 Saturday 

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Why do bow to Muslim sensibilities when it's never reciprocated? Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) June 18, 2015 Thursday 

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Breaking the Fast The New York Times June 17, 2015 Wednesday 

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June 10 letters to the editor Contra Costa Times (California) June 9, 2015 Tuesday 

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Rohingya Refugees: Stateless in Southeast Asia The New York Times Blogs(Lens) June 4, 2015 Thursday 

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Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas) May 29, 2015 Friday 

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Malaysia's Duty to the Rohingyas The New York Times May 28, 2015 Thursday 

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Deceived and ransomed: Rohingya refugees huddle in Indonesia; 'I didn't know it was going to be like this,' says Mohammad Idiris, a Rohingya Muslim speaking from a refugee camp in Aceh. 'If I had known, I would have stayed in Myanmar.' The Christian Science Monitor May 26, 2015 Tuesday 

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Guest commentary: The tragic situation of the Rohingya muslim community in Myanmar Contra Costa Times (California) May 22, 2015 Friday 

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Who Says Deportation Isn't Doable? Investor's Business Daily May 22, 2015 Friday 

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FGM: A Modern-Day Scourge in the United States The New York Times Blogs(Nicholas Kristof) May 22, 2015 Friday 

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WORLD Investor's Business Daily May 21, 2015 Thursday 

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Boats to nowhere The Washington Post May 20, 2015 Wednesday 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 19, 2015 Tuesday 

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World briefs: Migrants stuck for weeks aboard US ship return to Cuba St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) May 18, 2015 Monday 

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World Digest: May 17, 2015 The Washington Post May 18, 2015 Monday 

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The Washington Post May 17, 2015 Sunday 

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1,000 at sea land in SE Asia The Bismarck Tribune May 16, 2015 Saturday 

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What's behind Saudi Arabia's new muscularity; The desert Kingdom takes an assertive new stance. What it means for the Middle East and the world. The Christian Science Monitor May 14, 2015 Thursday 

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Muslims Flee to Malaysia and Indonesia by the Hundreds The New York Times May 12, 2015 Tuesday 

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Pittsburgh Tribune Review May 12, 2015 Tuesday 

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Likely left to die by traffickers, 1,600 Burmese migrants seek aid; Thousands said to be held in ships in waters off Malaysia, Indonesia USA TODAY May 12, 2015 Tuesday 

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BUSH SUPPORTS BROTHER'S IRAQ WAR DECISION Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 11, 2015 Monday 

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Star-News (Wilmington, NC) May 11, 2015 Monday 

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World Digest: May 10, 2015 The Washington Post May 11, 2015 Monday 

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Birthrate Fuels Islam's Growth Four Facts About Islam; Despite The Pew Center's Projections, Determining The Number Of Muslims Living In The United States Is A Difficult Task LNP (Lancaster, PA) May 2, 2015 Saturday 

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St. Louis leader of Muslim group says battle against extremism at 'somber and seminal' moment St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) May 2, 2015 Saturday 

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Fulfilling the Arab Spring The Washington Post April 27, 2015 Monday 

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Mapping religion projections predicts world of change ahead Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) April 25, 2015 Saturday 

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Muslims to overtake Christians as world's largest faith group, experts predict The Salt Lake Tribune April 5, 2015 Sunday 

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Islam is fastest growing faith; Likely to be largest religion by 2070 USA TODAY April 3, 2015 Friday 

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Muslim NGO lawsuits threaten Indonesia president's reformist agenda; Muhammadiyah is best known for running hospitals and schools. Now the group is pursuing what it calls 'constitutional jihad' in Indonesia's courts to stop privatization of state assets. The Christian Science Monitor April 1, 2015 Wednesday 

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acldsInviting Radical Muslims Who Mutilate Little Girls Investor's Business Daily March 31, 2015 Tuesday 

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A Paris Moment for Singapore The New York Times March 25, 2015 Wednesday 

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Moved by Mountains and the Sea in Indonesia The New York Times Blogs(Lens) March 16, 2015 Monday 

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Defusing Terror in Indonesia The New York Times March 9, 2015 Monday 

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Peter Lucas: Obama's limited American experience Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) March 3, 2015 Tuesday 

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The Globalist Quiz  (California) March 1, 2015 Sunday 

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Obama Misquotes Quran: Was He Perverting Islam? Investor's Business Daily February 27, 2015 Friday 

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OFF TO CONQUER ROME; TO DEFEAT THE ISLAMIC STATE GROUP, WE MUST UNDERSTAND IT Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 26, 2015 Thursday 

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ISIS Heads to Rome The New York Times February 25, 2015 Wednesday 

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AMERICANS STILL CONFUSED ABOUT FORMS OF ISLAM Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 25, 2015 Wednesday 

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LENS ON VALENTINE"S DAY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 13, 2015 Friday 

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In Killing of 3 Muslims, a Question of Motive The New York Times February 12, 2015 Thursday 

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Madrassas of Moderation The New York Times February 11, 2015 Wednesday 

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Across Asia, sex is a handy form of bribery Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) February 3, 2015 Tuesday 

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What, Me Worry About Terrorists? Investor's Business Daily February 3, 2015 Tuesday 

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The power of positive foreign policy  February 1, 2015, Sunday 

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What to Wear? First Ladies Are Steeped in Protocol The New York Times January 30, 2015 Friday 

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After Air Crash, Old Port City Has Sad New Role The New York Times January 29, 2015 Thursday 

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SHARIA SHAKES UP SOUTHEAST ASIA; NOWHERE IS THE TENSION BETWEEN MODERNITY AND FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAM MORE ON DISPLAY, REPORTS BLOOMBERG'S ADAM MINTER Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 25, 2015 Sunday 

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There is no 'Muslim world' Orange County Register (California) January 24, 2015 Saturday 

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How Israeli Television Became the Farm Team for Hollywood, and the World The Forward January 23, 2015 

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Say It Like It Is The New York Times January 21, 2015 Wednesday 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 13, 2015 Tuesday 

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The political agenda of blasphemy  January 11, 2015, Sunday 

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The law of fanatics The Washington Post January 9, 2015 Friday 

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Satire, Terrorism and Islam The New York Times January 8, 2015 Thursday 

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A glimpse of Indonesia  The New York Post January 5, 2015 Monday 

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Prayers held as divers thwarted from AirAsia site Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) January 4, 2015 Sunday 

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ISIS' sex slave program Orange County Register (California) December 28, 2014 Sunday 

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10 years after tsunami, Indonesian family reborn  (California) December 24, 2014 Wednesday 

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Obama's faulty logic on Cuba The Washington Post December 22, 2014 Monday 

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Tsunami 10 years after: How Indonesia built back; Two families show how Banda Aceh has defied a disaster, a decade later. The Christian Science Monitor December 21, 2014 Sunday 

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For Australia's Muslims, Relief Is Shadowed by Fear The New York Times December 19, 2014 Friday 

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The Globalist Quiz  (California) December 14, 2014 Sunday 

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Indonesia: Police Question Editor Over Cartoon in Blasphemy Inquiry The New York Times December 13, 2014 Saturday 

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Bridging the Ignorance Gap The Forward December 12, 2014 

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INDONESIAN LEADER TRIES TO STEM TERROR RISK Wall Street Journal Abstracts December 9, 2014 Tuesday 

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Battle of the Megamansions The New York Times December 7, 2014 Sunday 

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Corrections The New York Times November 30, 2014 Sunday 

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Reading the Subtleties of Islamic Fashion The New York Times November 27, 2014 Thursday 

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Immigration -- No Asylum on Religious Persecution Claim North Carolina Lawyers Weekly November 20, 2014 Thursday 

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Muslim and Jewish Feminists Mingle Uneasily in the City Of Sisterly Love The Forward November 14, 2014 

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A Conversation With Bishop Danisa Ndlovu; President Of The Mennonite World Conference Stops In Lancaster In Advance Of 2015 Assembly In Harrisburg LNP (Lancaster, PA) November 8, 2014 Saturday 

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The Right to Say 'God' Divides a Diverse Nation The New York Times November 4, 2014 Tuesday 

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Some good news in the Muslim world to take note of The Tampa Tribune (Florida) October 22, 2014 Wednesday 

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New Leader Takes Oath of Office in Indonesia The New York Times October 21, 2014 Tuesday 

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INDONESIA'S PROSPECTS; A NEW LEADER BEGINS IN THE KEY ASIAN DEMOCRACY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette October 21, 2014 Tuesday 

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Creating global awareness Chicago Daily Herald October 20, 2014 Monday 

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Rabbi Calls for 'Holy Crusade' Against Radical Islam, and His Shul Cheers The Forward October 17, 2014 

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Why India's Muslims Haven't Radicalized The New York Times Blogs(Op-Talk) October 16, 2014 Thursday 

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One Muslim state's peaceful power transfer; While many Middle East countries splinter into war, Indonesia marks a democratic triumph Oct. 20. Its second popularly elected president, Joko Widodo, takes power. The Christian Science Monitor October 14, 2014 Tuesday 

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Prayer breakfast keynoter called 'anti-Muslim bigot' The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington) October 14, 2014 Tuesday 

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Islam isn't about good vs. bad; Discussions often devolve into Maher-style shouting matches USA TODAY October 14, 2014 Tuesday 

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How to think about Islam  October 12, 2014, Sunday 

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Bali state of mind Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) October 12, 2014 Sunday 

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Readers Respond: On Islam and Islamists The New York Times Blogs(Op-Talk) October 10, 2014 Friday 

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Bill Maher Isn't the Only One Who Misunderstands Religion The New York Times October 9, 2014 Thursday 

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The Diversity Of Islam The New York Times October 9, 2014 Thursday 

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The fat lady has not sung in Iraq; Obama is finally taking the war on terrorism Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia) October 1, 2014, Wednesday 

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Fearing reach of ISIS Orange County Register (California) September 28, 2014 Sunday 

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Water-main break floods Sunset Strip Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) September 27, 2014 Saturday 

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How do you de-radicalize terrorists? The Tampa Tribune (Florida) September 26, 2014 Friday 

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Evans: America, goaded into the ISIS crisis Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado) September 21, 2014 Sunday 

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'World Order' The New York Times September 14, 2014 Sunday 

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Readers Respond: Wary Support for Obama's ISIS Strategy The New York Times Blogs(Op-Talk) September 12, 2014 Friday 

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U.S. Muslim leaders denounce militants' ideology The Washington Post September 11, 2014 Thursday 

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Why they still hate the United States  September 7, 2014, Sunday 

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In Southeast Asia, Indonesia Is an Unlikely Role Model for Democracy The New York Times September 5, 2014 Friday 

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The Globalist Quiz  (California) August 31, 2014 Sunday 

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What a way to make a living The Washington Post August 30, 2014 Saturday 

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The power of talking, listening Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) August 24, 2014 Sunday 

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Saudis Must Stop Exporting Extremism The New York Times August 23, 2014 Saturday 

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Miami Valley School alum wins Fulbright; Rebecca Kulik of Centerville will teach in Indonesia. Dayton Daily News (Ohio) August 21, 2014 Thursday 

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In a first, Indonesia's capital gets an ethnic Chinese governor; Basuki Purnama, a businessman turned politician, is due to replace Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president-elect, as governor of Jakarta. He would be the highest profile ethnic Chinese official in Muslim-majority Indonesia, where ethnic Chinese have been targeted before. The Christian Science Monitor August 20, 2014 Wednesday 

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Wait a second, Obama believes Obama; Barack is too naive to be the president the world needs Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia) August 13, 2014, Wednesday 

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Some bright spots in a dreary world  August 12, 2014, Tuesday 

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COD Offers New Course on Islam This Fall Chicago Daily Herald August 12, 2014 Tuesday 

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STOP WITH THE JEW; MUSLIM STEREOTYPES; IT'S TIME FOR SOME RADICAL EMPATHY BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS Pittsburgh Post-Gazette August 3, 2014 Sunday 

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Rabbi Jill Jacobs: Too many people still believe hideous stereotypes about Israelis and Palestinians St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) August 3, 2014 Sunday 

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INDONESIA DECIDES; WORLD'S THIRD-LARGEST DEMOCRACY PICKS A NEW CHIEF Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 25, 2014 Friday 

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Ethnic foods at Folk Fest offer a culinary tour of the world Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) July 24, 2014 Thursday 

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Jakarta governor wins Indonesian presidency The Bismarck Tribune July 23, 2014 Wednesday 

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Morning Views The New York Times Blogs(Op-Talk) July 23, 2014 Wednesday 

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Jakarta governor wins Indonesian presidency; Jakarta governor with common touch declared winner of Indonesia's presidential election The Capital (Annapolis, MD) July 22, 2014 Tuesday 

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Anti-Russia sentiment running deep in Malaysia The Bismarck Tribune July 21, 2014 Monday 

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The Challenge for Indonesia The New York Times July 21, 2014 Monday 

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Populist Hopeful Says He's Likely Winner in Indonesia, Defeating Ex-General The New York Times July 10, 2014 Thursday 

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Indonesia's choice: the charismatic reformer or the military nationalist; Experts say Wednesday's presidential election is too close to call. Front-runner Joko Widodo, the reformist mayor of Jakarta, has given up an early lead over his rival. The Christian Science Monitor July 8, 2014 Tuesday 

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'Indonesia, Etc.' draws a skillful portrait of a complex nation; Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and the world's third-largest democracy, but writer Elizabeth Pisani says the country 'punches below its weight on the world stage.' The Christian Science Monitor July 8, 2014 Tuesday 

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Pittsburgh Tribune Review June 30, 2014 Monday 

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RUMORS UPEND INDONESIAN PRESIDENT RACE Wall Street Journal Abstracts June 30, 2014 Monday 

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Ukrainian president attempts to keep the peace with Russia The Washington Post June 30, 2014 Monday 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 28, 2014 Saturday 

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KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR RAMADAN St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) June 28, 2014 Saturday 

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Redefining Genocide; On Language The Forward June 27, 2014 

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Russia, China subverting Obama's 'pivot' to Asia; GUEST COLUMNIST Dayton Daily News (Ohio) June 26, 2014 Thursday 

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Shirts to go with that old suicide vest It's 'hate' couture  The New York Post June 24, 2014 Tuesday 

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9 missing after second boat sinks off Malaysia The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) June 19, 2014 Thursday 

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Malaysia says 66 missing after ship capsizes The Bismarck Tribune June 18, 2014 Wednesday 

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Malaysia says 66 missing after ship capsizes The Bismarck Tribune June 18, 2014 Wednesday 

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IN BRIEF Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) June 18, 2014 Wednesday 

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World Digest: June 17, 2014 The Washington Post June 18, 2014 Wednesday 

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Public Schools in Indonesia Feel Islamic Pressure The New York Times June 16, 2014 Monday 

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Peter Lucas: Fortunately, a D-Day conversation that never happened Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) June 3, 2014 Tuesday 

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Indonesia smear campaign nips at election frontrunner Joko Widodo; A social media campaign is circulating rumors that the popular Jakarta governor is an ethnic Chinese Christian. The majority Muslim country holds presidential elections in July. The Christian Science Monitor May 29, 2014 Thursday 

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Moderate Muslims often get ignored Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) May 24, 2014 Saturday 

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Religion calendar for May 17-24 Bangor Daily News (Maine) May 15, 2014 Thursday 

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BlackBerry Unveils Low-Cost Smartphone With Indonesia in Mind The New York Times May 14, 2014 Wednesday 

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Car in Paul Walker death basis for a Porsche excuse for a lawsuit The Philadelphia Daily News May 14, 2014 Wednesday 

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'Noah' Won't Get China Release Date Due to Religious Theme hollywoodreporter.com May 8, 2014 Thursday 

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Gang-raped Indonesian woman may be caned publicly Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) May 7, 2014 Wednesday 

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The East China Sea Dispute The New York Times May 7, 2014 Wednesday 

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Embrace of Atheism Put an Indonesian in Prison The New York Times May 4, 2014 Sunday 

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Worshipping together Worshipping together Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) May 3, 2014 Saturday 

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Muslim Leaders Denounce Police Over Raids in Czech Capital The New York Times April 29, 2014 Tuesday 

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San Ramon Valley letters: One's listening should extend beyond NPR Contra Costa Times (California) April 24, 2014 Thursday 

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TRADITIONAL BECOMES PROGRESSIVE Orange County Register (California) April 21, 2014 Monday 

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America remains among most positive countries on religion Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) April 18, 2014 Friday 

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INDONESIAN MUSLIM PARTIES LOOK LIKELY TO REGAIN CLOUT Wall Street Journal Abstracts April 11, 2014 Friday 

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Indonesia: Opposition Leading in Vote The New York Times April 10, 2014 Thursday 

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In a year of many elections, Muslim ones stand out; Elections in Indonesia, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Tunisia could further redefine Islam's role in Muslim countries still learning the ways of democracy. The Christian Science Monitor April 9, 2014 Wednesday 

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In a Nation of Muslims, Political Islam Is Struggling to Win Votes The New York Times April 8, 2014 Tuesday 

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Israeli dirty joke: A Muppet sidles up to a Bar... The Philadelphia Daily News April 8, 2014 Tuesday 

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SINCE YOU ASKED Pittsburgh Tribune Review April 8, 2014 Tuesday 

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A Caricature, Not a Critique The Chronicle of Higher Education April 7, 2014  Monday 

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Anne Rasmussen to present lecture at Luther College The Decorah Journal (Iowa) March 27, 2014 

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'Noah' role buoys teen South Bend Tribune (Indiana) March 26, 2014 Wednesday 

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'Noah' hits rough religious waters; Film based on Bible tale swamps filmmakers in a downpour of criticism USA TODAY March 26, 2014 Wednesday 

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Come hell and high water - and it did ... Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) March 16, 2014 Sunday 

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How Do I Tell My Russian Host Family I'm a Jew? The Forward March 14, 2014 

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'Act of Killing' Film Fails to Stir Indonesia The New York Times March 2, 2014 Sunday 

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The Listings: Art The New York Times February 21, 2014 Friday 

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In Indonesia, Kerry blasts climate change deniers Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) February 16, 2014 Sunday 

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The Listings: Art The New York Times February 14, 2014 Friday 

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The Listings: Art The New York Times February 7, 2014 Friday 

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Indonesian Militants Join Foreigners Fighting in Syria The New York Times February 1, 2014 Saturday 

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Arahmaiani: 'Fertility of the Mind' The New York Times January 31, 2014 Friday 

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Raising Asian Awareness of the Holocaust The New York Times January 27, 2014 Monday 

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Report on Unrest Is at Odds With Account of Myanmar The New York Times January 25, 2014 Saturday 

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WORLD WATCH Wall Street Journal Abstracts January 22, 2014 Wednesday 

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THE BLAME-ISRAEL GAME; ISRAEL IS NOT THE ROOT OF ALL DISCONTENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 7, 2014 Tuesday 

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As the Obamas Celebrate Christmas, Rituals of Faith Become Less Visible The New York Times December 29, 2013 Sunday 

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Art from Bali is wonderful to contemplate Chicago Daily Herald December 22, 2013 Sunday 

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Defender of faiths Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) December 22, 2013 Sunday 

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Japanese Cuisine Goes Global The New York Times December 10, 2013 Tuesday 

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N.S.A. Spying Scandal Hurts Close Ties Between Australia and Indonesia The New York Times November 20, 2013 Wednesday 

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The Dream Boat The New York Times November 17, 2013 Sunday 

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Australia Said to Play Part in Effort Of N.S.A. The New York Times November 1, 2013 Friday 

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Religion is about more than beliefs Contra Costa Times (California) October 31, 2013 Thursday 

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In Indonesia, a Push for Prohibition Strikes Fear The New York Times October 27, 2013 Sunday 

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TODAY IN HISTORY The State Journal- Register (Springfield, IL) October 22, 2013 Tuesday 

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The Tampa Tribune (Florida) October 22, 2013 Tuesday 

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Today in History Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts) October 22, 2013 Tuesday 

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Why Malala Yousafzai matters Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) October 20, 2013 Sunday 

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Teenage Girls vs. the Taliban: What Will Happen When U.S. Leaves? New York Observer October 16, 2013 Wednesday 

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Indonesian woman honored in Salt Lake City for efforts against pornography Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) October 9, 2013 Wednesday 

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Pacific Rim Leaders Urge New Focus on Global Trade Talks The New York Times October 9, 2013 Wednesday 

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China leader works hard to soften image in Asia; As Obama cancels trip to region, Xi tries to fill the influence gap USA TODAY October 4, 2013 Friday 

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Miss Philippines named Miss World The Tampa Tribune (Florida) September 30, 2013 Monday 

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Time for the West to cease intervention  September 29, 2013, Sunday 

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Beauty's grace under fire  The New York Post September 29, 2013 Sunday 

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PEOPLE Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) September 29, 2013 Sunday 

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Taconic grad dives into marine biology as Fulbright scholar in Indonesia The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) September 27, 2013 Friday 

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New videos led by Brad Pitt battling zombies in ?World War Z? Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) September 19, 2013 Thursday 

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Move over Miss World: A beauty contest for Muslim women; The World Muslimah Foundation, a Muslim women's group, is holding a beauty contest in response to the Miss World competition currently taking place in Bali. The Christian Science Monitor September 18, 2013 Wednesday 

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Letters: Awareness much needed for elderly care El Paso Times (Texas) September 15, 2013 Sunday 

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Is the rebel attack in the Philippines a publicity ploy?; Elements of the Moro National Liberation Front may be signaling discontent over government negotiations with a rival group. The Christian Science Monitor September 12, 2013 Thursday 

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Indonesia: Miss World Pageant in Peril After Opposition From Islamic Groups The New York Times September 10, 2013 Tuesday 

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Miss World opens after protests The Bismarck Tribune September 9, 2013 Monday 

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The Bismarck Tribune September 9, 2013 Monday 

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Pittsburgh Tribune Review September 9, 2013 Monday 

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The Tampa Tribune (Florida) September 9, 2013 Monday 

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WORLD DIGEST St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) September 8, 2013 Sunday 

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Miss World pageant sparks protests; Protests against Miss World continue in Indonesia as organizers insist the show will go on The Capital (Annapolis, MD) September 5, 2013 Thursday 

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MISS WORLD PAGEANT; Could competition's bikini ban encourage more modesty?  September 5, 2013, Thursday 

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Kim, Kanye's kid not in the pink The Philadelphia Daily News September 4, 2013 Wednesday 

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Indonesian Muslim clerics: Cancel Miss World pageant The Salt Lake Tribune September 4, 2013 Wednesday 

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Wife not comfortable with using 'Mom' moniker Pittsburgh Tribune Review September 2, 2013 Monday 

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Today in History Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts) September 2, 2013 Monday 

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Dana Milbank: Blaming Obama for everything Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) August 31, 2013 Saturday 

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Seeking Asylum in Australia, Refugees Find a Policy in Flux The New York Times August 27, 2013 Tuesday 

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Indonesian clerics call to ban Miss World Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts) August 27, 2013 Tuesday 

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World Digest: Aug. 26, 2013 The Washington Post August 27, 2013 Tuesday 

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Fort Hood survivors, victims' relatives testify St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) August 25, 2013 Sunday 

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Peninsula readers' letters: March 17  (California) August 13, 2013 Tuesday 

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Hours to Go, Just to Get to Work The New York Times August 5, 2013 Monday 

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Thais Cast a Wide Net For Diverse Tourists The New York Times August 4, 2013 Sunday 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette August 2, 2013 Friday 

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Dracut teen will spend senior year 10,000 miles from home (VIDEO) Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) July 15, 2013 Monday 

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Montclair: Brownie troop makes donation to Indonesian library Contra Costa Times (California) July 10, 2013 Wednesday 

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Don't view Egypt's coup with a Western lens; Some American analysts welcomed the ouster of Egypt's democratically elected president because it removed a political Islamist and opened the way for secularists. This Western thinking endangers democracy in Egypt. Integrating Islamists into politics is essential in the Arab world. The Christian Science Monitor July 9, 2013 Tuesday 

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Lessons for Cairo From Jakarta, Manila and Elsewhere The New York Times July 9, 2013 Tuesday 

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SECRET NO-FLY LIST BLAMED FOR AMERICAN'S LAYOVER IN BANGKOK The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) June 29, 2013 Saturday 

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Sect Seeks Tolerance, Peace In Roots Of Islam; Thousands Of Ahmadiyya Muslims Gather At National Convention In Harrisburg Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) June 29, 2013 Saturday 

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Facebook broke Indonesia terror case The Capital (Annapolis, MD) June 23, 2013 Sunday 

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Extremism Rises Among Myanmar Buddhists The New York Times June 21, 2013 Friday 

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Jeremy Irons in Taormina: 'Nothing More Dangerous Than a Man, a Stage, and a Microphone' hollywoodreporter.com June 19, 2013 Wednesday 

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Touting Islam to Draw Votes in Indonesia The New York Times June 18, 2013 Tuesday 

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Muslim hardliners get Miss World contest to cover up Pittsburgh Tribune Review June 9, 2013 Sunday 

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Indonesia axes bikinis for 2013 Miss World pageant The Bismarck Tribune June 7, 2013 Friday 

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JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Miss World has axed the famed bikinis from this year's page Chicago Daily Herald June 7, 2013 Friday 

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'We Feel the Pain': Muslim Clerics Learn Lessons of Auschwitz The Forward June 7, 2013 

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Emphasizing Inner Beauty, Pageant Says No to Bikinis The New York Times June 7, 2013 Friday 

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Judge may reopen Jackson files The Philadelphia Daily News June 7, 2013 Friday 

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No burkas at pageant - or bikinis Daily News (New York) June 6, 2013 Thursday 

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Bikinis banned from Miss World Pageant in Bali Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) June 6, 2013 Thursday 

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Indonesia axes bikinis for '13 Miss World pageant Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) June 6, 2013 Thursday 

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The Wire: U.S. spies on us; IRS apology; Golan incursion; happy hookers testify; pageant bikini ban  (California) June 6, 2013 Thursday 

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Obama: Schools need high-speed Internet St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) June 5, 2013 Wednesday 

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Indonesians Protest Jewish Award for Their Leader The Forward May 31, 2013 

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islam; Poll: American Muslims more moderate than those worldwide The State Journal- Register (Springfield, IL) May 25, 2013 Saturday 

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'Beefgate' Transfixes Scandal-Prone Indonesia The New York Times May 17, 2013 Friday 

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Christianophobia; British journalist Rupert Shortt documents and examines the persecution of Christians around the world - a problem of which many Westerners are unaware. The Christian Science Monitor May 16, 2013 Thursday 

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Java Heat    The New York Post May 10, 2013 Friday 

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'Provoking peace' in Indonesia; Christians and Muslims in Ambon, Indonesia, have relearned how to live together after a 1999 - 2002 war killed 5,000 people and displaced half a million. The Christian Science Monitor May 8, 2013 Wednesday 

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Aerosmith Cancels Show in Indonesia The New York Times May 7, 2013 Tuesday 

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Aerosmith cancels Indonesia show over security fears Monterey County Herald (California) May 6, 2013 Monday 

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Hostility toward religion Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) May 5, 2013 Sunday 

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MYANMAR'S RIFTS MAKE WAVES IN INDONESIA Wall Street Journal Abstracts May 4, 2013 Saturday 

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How US Muslims are different: Pew poll sheds light on global contrasts; A smaller share of Muslims in the US as compared with those worldwide say all their friends are Muslims, according to a new Pew poll. Survey questions about violence produce some variations. The Christian Science Monitor May 1, 2013 Wednesday 

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Poll shows how US Muslims are like Protestants - and how they're not; A worldwide Pew poll of Muslims charts opinions on issues from women's rights to which religion is the one true faith, and details how US Muslims fit into the American matrix. The Christian Science Monitor April 30, 2013 Tuesday 

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For Indonesian Atheists, a Community of Support Amid Constant Fear The New York Times April 26, 2013 Friday 

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Agus Suwage: 'Cycle No. 2' The New York Times April 12, 2013 Friday 

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Israel Says It Repelled Most Attacks on Its Web Sites by Pro-Palestinian Hackers The New York Times April 8, 2013 Monday 

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Buddhist-Muslim Tensions Spread as 8 Detainees Die in Indonesia The New York Times April 6, 2013 Saturday 

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Dempsey arrives with eye on post-2014 Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) April 6, 2013 Saturday 

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The Washington Post April 6, 2013 Saturday 

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Musical Tribute on Sunday at the Tabernacle is a microcosm of Utah interfaith effort Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) March 8, 2013 Friday 

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Religious violence up in Indonesia Monterey County Herald (California) March 1, 2013 Friday 

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Sri Lanka: Navy Rescues 32 Survivors From Sinking Ship The New York Times February 19, 2013 Tuesday 

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One Billion Rising: Indonesia joins world discussion on rape; Today is One Billion Rising, a day of activism around women's rights and against rape across the world. Indonesia is just one of 200 countries involved. The Christian Science Monitor February 14, 2013 Thursday 

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A Muslim fashion statement The Washington Post February 9, 2013 Saturday 

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Indonesia's Sexual Education Revolution The New York Times January 28, 2013 Monday 

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As Roe v. Wade turns 40, where is the worst place for abortions around the globe?  (California) January 21, 2013 Monday 

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Indonesian Women Told How to Ride Motorbikes The New York Times January 15, 2013 Tuesday 

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In Indonesia, Envisioning a Larger Role for Religion at School The New York Times January 7, 2013 Monday 

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INDONESIAN POLICE FIGHT 'NEW FRONT' OF TERRORISM Wall Street Journal Abstracts January 7, 2013 Monday 

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Thomas Peele: President Obama has failed to deliver promise of government transparency Contra Costa Times (California) December 27, 2012 Thursday 

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Getting Polio Campaigns Back on Track The New York Times December 25, 2012 Tuesday 

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Study Finds One in 6 Follows No Religion The New York Times December 18, 2012 Tuesday 

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Return on American humanitarian aid: They like us; From Indonesia - the world's largest Muslim nation - to Pakistan, recipients of American humanitarian aid improve their opinions of the United States, especially when that aid is targeted at individuals, and not governments. The Christian Science Monitor December 10, 2012 Monday 

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Jennifer Lopez: Pop star tones down in Indonesia The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) December 3, 2012 Monday 

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U.S. dominates list of worldâ??sâ??500 Most Influential Muslimsâ?? Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) December 3, 2012 Monday 

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Ethnic Hatred Tears Apart a Region of Myanmar The New York Times November 30, 2012 Friday 

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From Man Who Insulted Muhammad, No Regret The New York Times November 26, 2012 Monday 

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Political Racism In the Age of Obama The New York Times November 11, 2012 Sunday 

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Syrian rebels root for Romney in hopes of US military intervention; Desperate for foreign intervention, some rebels say they hope the party that brought on the Iraq war might also bring America to Syria. The Christian Science Monitor November 5, 2012 Monday 

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Plot on U.S. Targets Cited In 11 Arrests by Indonesia The New York Times October 29, 2012 Monday 

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11 nabbed in embassy plot Daily News (New York) October 28, 2012 Sunday 

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Brennan reshaped anti - terr or strategy The Washington Post October 25, 2012 Thursday Correction Appended 

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VOICE OF THE PEOPLE The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) October 24, 2012 Wednesday 

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WORLD DIGEST St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) October 24, 2012 Wednesday 

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A Kitchen For Indonesians Far From Home The New York Times October 21, 2012 Sunday 

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Free speech vs. a fatwa Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) October 14, 2012 Sunday 

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Desperately seeking the real Obama The Bismarck Tribune October 12, 2012 Friday 

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Indonesia Seeing Increase Of Small Terrorist Groups The New York Times October 12, 2012 Friday 

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What Pakistan can do after Taliban shooting of schoolgirl Malala; The Taliban shooting of Malala Yousafzai, a famous 14-year-old girl activist, should spark Pakistanis to not only end the Taliban but to emulate Muslim societies that elevate the status of women in Islam. The Christian Science Monitor October 11, 2012 Thursday 

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Visitors from Indonesia are a force for learning Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) October 11, 2012 Thursday 

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Islam's inroads in land of Voodoo and Christianity The Salt Lake Tribune October 10, 2012 Wednesday 

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MODERATE ISLAMIC PREACHERS GAIN FOLLOWERS IN INDONESIA Wall Street Journal Abstracts October 10, 2012 Wednesday 

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In wake of law, more seeking citizenship The Atlanta Journal-Constitution October 9, 2012 Tuesday 

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What young democracies fear: YouTube The Washington Post October 4, 2012 Thursday 

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Letter: Obama won't bring us peace Chico Enterprise-Record (California) October 3, 2012 Wednesday 

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Obama must wise up on foreign policy The Clarendon Enterprise (Texas) September 27, 2012 

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Worldview: Muslim countries' blasphemy laws empower extremists The Philadelphia Inquirer September 27, 2012 Thursday 

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Gop Establishing A False Narrative Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) September 26, 2012 Wednesday 

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NATIONAL Briefs  September 25, 2012, Tuesday 

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The collapse of President Obama's Cairo Doctrine Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) September 23, 2012 Sunday 

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COLLAPSE OF CAIRO DOCTRINE AN EPIC FAILURE OF FOREIGN POLICY The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) September 22, 2012 Saturday 

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Pakistan: US screens anti-film ads The Salt Lake Tribune September 22, 2012 Saturday 

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Charles Krauthammer: The collapse of Obama's Cairo Doctrine  (California) September 22, 2012 Saturday 

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Collapse of the Cairo doctrine The State Journal- Register (Springfield, IL) September 22, 2012 Saturday 

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More to the protests Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado) September 21, 2012 Friday 

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U.S. will conduct new inquiry intoconsulate assault The Washington Post September 21, 2012 Friday 

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Outsider Breathing New Ideas  Into Jakarta Election The New York Times September 20, 2012 Thursday 

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Obama has a mixed record on outreach to Muslims The Salt Lake Tribune September 20, 2012 Thursday 

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Suicide car bomber rams minivan, kills 12 on road to Kabul airport The Washington Post September 19, 2012 Wednesday 

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Muslim protests spread  The New York Post September 18, 2012 Tuesday 

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ANTI-US PROTESTS FLARE AGAIN Wall Street Journal Abstracts September 18, 2012 Tuesday 

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How Arab Spring turned into protests and 'Death to America!'; An outbreak of violence in Afghanistan this weekend was testament to a clear trend: In Muslim countries now enjoying more political freedom, anti-American anger is coming to the surface. The Christian Science Monitor September 17, 2012 Monday 

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Muslim protests as a gauge of free speech; Most of the world's Muslims aren't violently protesting the anti-Islam video. And many Islamic leaders seek peaceful protest but not censorship. This may be a sign that free speech has gained as a universal right. The Christian Science Monitor September 17, 2012 Monday 

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POLITIFACT TEXAS.COM Austin American-Statesman (Texas) September 16, 2012 Sunday 

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The offensive The Washington Post September 16, 2012 Sunday 

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FURY SPREADS IN MUSLIM WORLD; MORE EMBASSIES BURN AS PROTESTS OF FILM WIDEN The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) September 15, 2012 Saturday 

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MIDDLE EAST UNREST SPREADS; VIOLENCE SWEEPS 23 NATIONS AS GOVERNMENTS WORK TO CONTAIN ANIT-U.S.PROTESTS\; "REASONABLE PEOPLE AND RESPONSIBLE LEADERS IN THESE COUNTRIES NEED TO DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO RESTORE SECURITY." -- SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 15, 2012 Saturday 

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More violence sweeps across Islamic world Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) September 15, 2012 Saturday 

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Muslim fury at U.S. spreads The Washington Post September 15, 2012 Saturday 

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Anti-Muslim video shows Web firms' role as speech arbiters The Washington Post September 15, 2012 Saturday 

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Protests sweep Islamic world, fueled by domestic politics, anti-US anger; Protesters who attacked embassies and clashed with police in at least 17 Muslim countries outraged by more than an anti-Islam video. The Christian Science Monitor September 14, 2012 Friday 

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Google Refuses White House Plea to Remove Controversial Anti-Muslim Video New York Observer September 14, 2012 Friday 

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US embassies step up security after Libya attack Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) September 13, 2012 Thursday 

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Williams wrong; Obama not Muslim, chose Christianity Austin American-Statesman (Texas) September 12, 2012 Wednesday 

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DANIEL TAN SIEN-KIE HADINATA; MARCH 10, 1916 - SEPT. 9, 2012; SECOND FATHER TO INDONESIAN STUDENTS Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 12, 2012 Wednesday 

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Arrested Indonesian describes plot on police video; Police show video of Indonesian suspect describing plot to set off bombs, shoot police The Capital (Annapolis, MD) September 6, 2012 Thursday 

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AN ELECTION CHOICE MADE ONLY IN AMERICA Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 4, 2012 Tuesday 

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Blasphemy and the Law The New York Times August 30, 2012 Thursday 

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Indonesia turns to clerics to stiï¬‚e Islamist radicalism In battling Islamist radicalism, Indonesia seeks help of clerics The Washington Post August 29, 2012 Wednesday 

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Why Western retailers are scrambling to get a foothold in Indonesia; Consumer spending makes up more than half the Indonesian economy, making it an attractive new market for Western companies like L'Oreal whose traditional customers are in recession-mired countries. The Christian Science Monitor August 22, 2012 Wednesday 

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EID AL-FITR Pittsburgh Post-Gazette August 20, 2012 Monday 

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For Indonesia's ethnic Chinese, a glimmer of hope The Washington Post August 20, 2012 Monday 

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Muslims both united, diverse in beliefs, practices Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) August 18, 2012 Saturday 

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Strong quake hits northern Indonesian island Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) August 18, 2012 Saturday 

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The World: Bomb at Afghan bazaar kills 4 people Monterey County Herald (California) August 18, 2012 Saturday 

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Pakistan Independence Day - not really; The founder of Pakistan, which today celebrates Independence Day, believed in the separation of mosque and state. He would not recognize his country now. Blasphemy laws silence religious expression. On a visit, I was often reminded to lower my voice 'lest the servants hear you.' The Christian Science Monitor August 14, 2012 Tuesday 

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Right commentary decline is good news  August 13, 2012, Monday 

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Scholars, Spies, and Global Studies The Chronicle of Higher Education August 13, 2012  Monday 

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In Ramadan, rule-breakers pushed underground The Salt Lake Tribune August 12, 2012 Sunday 

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Capitalism, not culture, drives economies  August 7, 2012, Tuesday 

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The 'other' is not who you think it is  August 6, 2012, Monday 

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99 Ways to be Naughty in Kazakhstan The New York Times August 5, 2012 Sunday 

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99 Ways to be Naughty in Kazakhstan The New York Times August 5, 2012 Sunday 

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U.S. slams Europe for anti-Muslim laws and Egypt over Christians' treatment Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) August 3, 2012 Friday 

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Letters to the Editor Contra Costa Times (California) August 2, 2012 Thursday 

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Cultural development The Washington Post August 2, 2012 Thursday 

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The audacity of doubt The Washington Post July 29, 2012 Sunday 

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Lingering doubt, discomfort with Obama's religion Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) July 27, 2012 Friday 

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Inside the Times The New York Times July 22, 2012 Sunday 

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World & nation in 60 seconds The nation The world Chicago Daily Herald July 21, 2012 Saturday 

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WORLD DIGEST St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) July 21, 2012 Saturday 

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Officials Turn Blind Eye as Religious Tensions Rise in Indonesia The New York Times July 19, 2012 Thursday 

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The Washington Post July 13, 2012 Friday 

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Readers Write Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) July 11, 2012 Wednesday 

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Picking a winner in Afghanistan The Washington Post July 10, 2012 Tuesday 

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FOR EMILY: Christians in Indonesia hold worship service outside president's house to appeal for religious freedoms Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) July 6, 2012 Friday 

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Wary Neighbors Turn Into Partners in a Quickly Developing Southeast Asia The New York Times July 6, 2012 Friday 

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Mo. minister gets 4 years for child porn The Bismarck Tribune June 30, 2012 Saturday 

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An Obama book the Obamas should read The Washington Post June 27, 2012 Wednesday 

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Ex-boxer Mike Tyson to take a bite out of Broadway The Bismarck Tribune June 19, 2012 Tuesday 

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT; WALLENDA WALKS WIRE ACROSS NIAGARA FALLS The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) June 16, 2012 Saturday 

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Thai ministry complains about Lady Gaga's show; Thailand's Culture Ministry reports to police about Lady Gaga's 'inappropriate' show The Capital (Annapolis, MD) June 16, 2012 Saturday 

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Marketing's next wave: The Korean pop star; Not just crazy hair and sizzling dance moves, the 'Italians of Asia' have powerful appeal Advertising Age June 11, 2012 

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Crackdown on punks in Indonesia; Some who see punks as a welcome challenge to the conservative form of Islamic law in Aceh worry that the crackdown is working too well. The Christian Science Monitor June 6, 2012 Wednesday 

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LADY GAGA VERSUS GLOBAL JIHAD Wall Street Journal Abstracts June 5, 2012 Tuesday 

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Lady Gaga sends love to Indonesian fans The Bismarck Tribune May 29, 2012 Tuesday 

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Lady Gaga's cancelled concert a blow to tolerance in Indonesia?; Lady Gaga cancelled her biggest show in Asia because of Islamist vigilante threats, which has some worrying about a return of Islamist militancy to the Muslim world's largest country. The Christian Science Monitor May 29, 2012 Tuesday 

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Daily Dish: 5/29/2012 Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) May 29, 2012 Tuesday 

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Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test Of Obama's Principles and Will The New York Times May 29, 2012 Tuesday 

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Lady Gaga Comments On Indonesia Show The New York Times May 29, 2012 Tuesday 

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The King is dead &mdash; and you, commoner, can be buried in his crypt The Philadelphia Daily News May 29, 2012 Tuesday 

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Gregg Allman engaged to 24-year-old girlfriend The Bismarck Tribune May 28, 2012 Monday 

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Gaga holy war! Cancels over Muslim rage  The New York Post May 28, 2012 Monday 

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NEWSMAKERS Palm Beach Post (Florida) May 28, 2012 Monday 

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Lady Gaga cancels Indonesian show over security Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) May 27, 2012 Sunday 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 25, 2012 Friday 

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A ball of one? Lady Gaga unsure of Indonesia show The Bismarck Tribune May 24, 2012 Thursday 

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Daily Dish: 5/24/2012 Lowell Sun (Massachusetts) May 24, 2012 Thursday 

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Men continue winning streak on 'American Idol' Orange County Register (California) May 24, 2012 Thursday 

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Egypt elections: Sharia can support democracy; In Egypt elections for president today, the role of Islam in government is a big question. But a freedom-based interpretation of sharia can support democracy in the Arab world. Such a form of sharia in the early stages of the Iran Revolution set a precedent - before it was snuffed out. The Christian Science Monitor May 23, 2012 Wednesday 

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A decade after independence, East Timor's surprising best friend? Indonesia.; Ten years ago, East Timor was reeling from Indonesia's scorched-earth withdrawal after two-plus decades of occupation. Today it sees its huge neighbor as a crucial partner. The Christian Science Monitor May 23, 2012 Wednesday 

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Hicks: Lady Gaga not sure if she'll perform in Indonesia Contra Costa Times (California) May 23, 2012 Wednesday 

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Hicks: Scotty from 'Star Trek' finally goes into outer space Contra Costa Times (California) May 23, 2012 Wednesday 

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No Model for Muslim Democracy The New York Times May 22, 2012 Tuesday 

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NEWSMAKERS Palm Beach Post (Florida) May 21, 2012 Monday 

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Filipino Christian group protests Lady Gaga shows; Filipino Christian group wants Lady Gaga concerts canceled, saying she promotes immorality The Capital (Annapolis, MD) May 18, 2012 Friday 

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The Washington Post May 18, 2012 Friday Correction Appended 

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FOR EMILY: Muslim Indonesia hosts Christian prayer event Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) May 17, 2012 Thursday 

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A Sanctuary Amid Fears Of Persecution at Home The New York Times May 17, 2012 Thursday 

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT; WHITE GUYS WITH GUITARS IS TREND FOR 'IDOL' WINNERS The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) May 16, 2012 Wednesday 

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Indonesia yanks Gaga gig, says she'll corrupt kids The Bismarck Tribune May 16, 2012 Wednesday 

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Bret Michaels settles case over 2009 Tonys mishap The Bismarck Tribune May 16, 2012 Wednesday 

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Lady Gaga Is Denied a Permit to Perform in Indonesia The New York Times May 16, 2012 Wednesday 

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PEOPLE Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) May 16, 2012 Wednesday 

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PEOPLE ENTERTAINMENT St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) May 16, 2012 Wednesday 

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Lady Gaga: Indonesia concert is canceled The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) May 15, 2012 Tuesday 

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Hicks: Lady Gaga cancels Indonesia show over religious protests Contra Costa Times (California) May 15, 2012 Tuesday 

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Hicks: Ellen DeGeneres wins Mark Twain award Contra Costa Times (California) May 15, 2012 Tuesday 

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Indonesia yanks Gaga gig, says she will corrupt children St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) May 14, 2012 Monday 

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When the cops are the criminals Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) May 13, 2012 Sunday 

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At ballpark, stands full of fans won't be for Nats The Washington Post April 25, 2012 Wednesday 

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Obama Romney dog wars: cultural lessons for the dinner table; "Obama eats dog!" "Romney cages dog on car roof!" Wiipe away the political rhetoric and the dog wars is a great dinner table topic about different cultures. The Christian Science Monitor April 19, 2012 Thursday 

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Out of context Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) April 16, 2012 Monday 

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The Bismarck Tribune April 15, 2012 Sunday 

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Divided By God The New York Times April 8, 2012 Sunday 

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Fighting for rights Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) April 5, 2012 Thursday 

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Recent events confirm power of individuals to shape history The Washington Post April 1, 2012 Sunday 

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Head bangers' ball Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) March 30, 2012 Friday 

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Gingrich makes Islam an issue The Atlanta Journal-Constitution March 24, 2012 Saturday 

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Religious freedom as a core human right: A three-sided, global debateFaith and Conflict Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) March 24, 2012 Saturday 

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Immig rants nix sanctuary offer Daily News (New York) March 20, 2012 Tuesday 

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A light-filled sky Chicago Daily Herald March 2, 2012 Friday 

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FATAL BURNING; THE U.S. IS HURT BY MISHANDLING OF THE QURAN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 24, 2012 Friday 

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New book tackles sex, love and Islam  (California) February 23, 2012 Thursday 

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Visitors to STLtoday.com weighed in about recent events. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) February 22, 2012 Wednesday 

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Deaf Indonesian 12-year-old is not your typical bat mitzvah Heritage Florida Jewish News (Fern Park, Florida) February 17, 2012 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 13, 2012 Monday 

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Obama 'Truth Team' aims to network its way to a win The Washington Post February 13, 2012 Monday 

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Give Arab Spring time to bloom; Government and faith can flourish best when kept a safe distance apart. But as the U.S. can attest, it doesn't happen overnight. USA TODAY February 6, 2012 Monday 

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 2, 2012 Thursday 

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Interview: Former US spy chief sees shift toward Asia; In an interview, Admiral Dennis C. Blair - the former director of national intelligence - says the US needs to back moderate Islamic societies, and urges Israel to keep pace with a changing Middle East. The Christian Science Monitor January 31, 2012 Tuesday 

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Citing Security Fears, Rushdie Won't Attend Literary Festival The New York Times January 21, 2012 Saturday 

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10 Sundance films to entertain, spark family discussion Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) January 19, 2012 Thursday 

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Religion is fascinatingly, vibrantly alive Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City) January 14, 2012 Saturday 

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) January 12, 2012 Thursday 

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The Washington Post January 11, 2012 Wednesday 

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Malaysia's test The Washington Post January 8, 2012 Sunday 



