The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues Analyzes issues of liberal concern and gives readers a digest of what is reported in over forty newspapers throughout the world to engage them in critical thinking issues. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 61 8469

Articles from The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues

Israel Democracy In Action! 2008-01-16 09:37:45 The nation of Israel remains one of the few in the Middle East which retains a vital and boisterous democratic process of politics. Avigdor Lieberman ripped into Arab members of the Knesset by calling them names and claiming they were dangerous to his nation’s survival. MK Muhammad Barakei had told the Isreal leader he had a “racist HIV” and should not be part of the government. Lieberman described Arab members of Parliament as working with Hamas and Hizbullah leaders to “destroy Israel as a Jewish and Zionist state.” As Arab MK Taleb A-Sanaa responded to Lieberman’s decision to leave the coalition government, “good riddance,” because Lieberman is destroying efforts to achieve peace. Israel leader all too often refuse to emphasize in public stateements their nation has freely elected Arab Muslim members of Parliament. In reality, Israel offers Arabs more opportunity to elect people to government than in nations like Saudi Arabia. It is i ...

Kenya Impasse Continues With Threats Of Violence 2008-01-16 09:20:27 President Kibaki entered the chambers of Parliament to greet the new session while his opponent, Raila Odinga sat a few feet away, neither man glancing in the direction of the other. The new Speaker of the House, Kenneth Marenden promised reforms, but none that would be capable of altering the current stand-off between Odinga, who most probably won the presidential election, and Kibaki who forced himself into the presidency through vote manipulation. In the meantime, streets of Kenya towns witnessed peaceful demonstrations by the Orange Democratic Movement. Nairobi’s streets were peaceful in the morning, but when after arrived with ODM demonstrators, tear gas greeted their arrival. Famous people tried their best to persuade President Kibaki to rethink his victory, and, if nothing else, at least form a coalition govenment that would include members of the oppositiion ODM. Kibaki has dug in his feet and will not compromise. How does a man who apparently loves his country and peopl ...

Bush Politics Of Fantasy And Fear In Middle East 2008-01-16 08:52:37 The President of the United States opens his eyes and gazes at the silken sheets of his luxurious bed in the palace of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He reaches for a new ornament, the Order of Merit medal awarded him for bravery in ensuring the King’s nation received another $20 billion worth of new armaments. Bush and Abdullah spend a pleasant day walking on the beautiful lawns, watching people bow before the illustrious leaders of nations and then President Bush plays with his new Saudi curved sword and swipes at the air in the only combat this man will ever encounter in his life. The American president is just completing another venture in spreading the words of democracy to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Most probably, the King did not discuss with the president his latest example of democratic behavior when he graciously pardoned a woman who was raped because the religous fanatics of his kingdom wanted to lash her for daring to be in the wrong place and thus got raped. Presi ...

Legacy Of Bush’s War– Devastated Military Families 2008-01-16 08:28:20 Newspapers daily report casuality lists from Iraq, but none bother to list casuality figures among the wives of men fighting in a war far away from home. Bana Miller, wife of an Army officer, was thrown into the role of grief counselor when men of Bravo Troop headed overseas. In this role of heading a 24 hour hotline, Mrs. Miller dealt with women who were emotionally devastated by the absence of their husbands, some even threatened to enter a mental institution if their husbands could not be returned home. Mrs. Miller is one of 3,000 such volunteers heading hotlines to provide some source of emotional help to those who live in daily fear of becoming widows. As men come home and go back for one more tour, the stress of spouses and hot line leaders becomes even greater. Many simply burn out from the stress of trying to offer some help knowing full well they simply lack the means to offer assitance to anyone other than a shoulder upon which to cry or a face onto which one can vent anger. ...

Japan Seizes Two Australians Who Defy Whaling Ships 2008-01-16 08:05:58 The annual anger generated in Australia by Japan’s dispatch of whaling ships erupted with two Australians seized on a whaling ship and detained for alleged illegal actions. After strong protests from the Australian government, the two men were released. The Japanese claim the men attempted to throw bottles filled with acid and charged onto the deck of the ship. The men came from the Sea Sheherd which is part of anti-whaling efforts by people throughout the world. The men claim all they did was to make an attempt of delivering a letter asking the Japanese to cease and desist the killing of whales. Japan claims the killing of 1,000 whales is done for “scientific purposes.” One can assume the only people who believe 1,000 whales are killed in the name of “science” are those who are consuming whale flesh. The Japanese palate may desire whale flesh, but the remainder of the world is tired of this senseless slaughter of whales whose numbers have been dramaticall ...

Hillary Clinton And Terrell Owens-Trail Of Tears 2008-01-16 01:20:12 The recent attacks on Senator Hillary Clinton because she allegedly shed a tear during a talk merely accentuates the biased approach toward women in politics. In a recent column, Michael Goodwin made sarcastic remarks that, if president, Hillary Clinton might use the power of her tears to get power in the world. At the conclusion of Sunday’s game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, wide receiver Terrel Owens broke down in tears as he described the loss by his team to the Giants. Not a comment was made by any reporter about his use of tears to express emotion. At most, Hillary Clinton shed A tear, but that was sufficient for male bias to explode in a torrent of anger at the female politician and accuse her of being weak. By the way, after the game, New York Giant football players were crying, hugging, kissing and patting one another’s bodies. I wonder if reporters will now charge them with being effiminate and gay. ...

Bhutto Party Might Work With Musharraf 2008-01-16 01:09:52 The old adage politics makes strange bed fellows apparently has some validity in Pakistan where the Pakistan People’s Party of assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto indicated it might cooperate with President Musharraf once the elections are over. Pakistan Peopole party spokesperson, Farhattullah Babar said, “all options are open.. these bridge which we will corss when they come.” He forsaw the need for a coalition of moderate forces in Pakistant to handle terrorism and militants which thus might require the PPP to cooperate with Musharraf who does fall into the category of a secular leader. In the meantime, Taliban leaders announced that 300 men had been assigned the task of killing prominent political and religious leaders over the coming months. The politics of politics invariably brings out the pragmatic aspects of human life. Some leaders of the PPP are prepared to go to bed with the man they believe may have had a hand in the killing of their leader. But, she is d ...

China Tells US-Stay Clear Of Taiwan! 2008-01-15 12:20:08 Chinese military leaders made it clear to visiting US Admiral Timothy Keating they expect American naval forces to stay away from getting involved in any action in the Taiwan Straits. General Guo Boxiong told the American his nation must end any sales of arms to the the Taiwan government and opppose any attempt by the island to seek membership in the United Nations as an independent nation. There is some talk in Taiwan of making such an effort. Taiwan is the last remaining memory of a failed American dream that anti-Communist forces on Taiwan would somehow initiate a military effort to reconquer China and end communist rule. The dream is over and even conservative Bush accepts the reality of modern life– Communist China is here to stay and Taiwan will always be a piece of that reality. The best advice anyone can give Taiwan’s leaders is to calm down and cooperate with China because no nation is coming to your assistance if you attempt anything foolish like military action. ...

Tensions Rise In Middle East Due to Gaza Deaths 2008-01-15 12:07:30 The exiled leader of Hamas told reporters in Damascus that President Bush’s recent visit to Israel was designed to encourage the Israelis to accelerate their attacks on Gaza and Hamas forces. In recent attacks, the son of a senior Hamas leader was killed. “This crime,” said Khaled Mashaai, “is the ugly fruit of Bush’s visit to the region. He has incited the Zionists and has exerted pressure on the Palestinian side to become more hardline against Palestinian dialogue.” He predicted retaliation for the Gaza attacks and emphasized, “we will not offer more concessions because of these crimes.” It is estimated at least fifty Palestinians were wounded in the recent Israel excursion into Gaza. Presdient Abbas condemned what he termed “the barbaric Israel massacre in Gaza” and raised questions as to whether or not he could continue the peace process. Some Hamas leaders are now accusing Abbas of being an ally of Israel in the attacks ...

Surge Is Working Claims Secretary Rice 2008-01-15 11:53:10 Secetary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Iraq’s foreign minister to share what they regard as the good news of the military surge which she insists has reduced violence in Iraq. Rice believes reducing violence has set the stage for long term economic and social ties between the United States and Iraq. Despite a drop in US deaths, Rice admitted there has yet to be sufficient progress in establishing political and economic institutions which can bring stability to the Iraqi people. The entire issue of “lasting Iraqi ties” is complex. In reality, outside of oil, what exactly would the US seek in economic terms from an independent Iraq? The future of Iraq, for the immediate time period, rests in establishing relations with other nations of their region. In light of strong religious linkages between Iraq’s Shiites and Iran’s Shiites, the economic and social ties will probably be Iran and Iraq. Sorry, Secretary Rice, we Americans have done yeomen work to help ...

End Education Apartheid In Britain Says Educator 2008-01-15 11:43:05 Dr. Anthony Sheldon told a gathering of British educators it was time to end the system of apartheid schooling which enbles those with wealth to attend institutions which enable children to attend the best universities and therefore secure well paying positions in society. He was particularly concerned about the powerful independent sector of Britih education whose students always attain higher scores on tests and push their graduates into the most outstanding universities. Sheldon emphasized the current system whereby a handful of poor children are plucked from poverty and given an excellent education simply perpetuates the overall dismal showing of most schools servicing the poorer people of society. He asked the independent schools to reach out and form alliances with schools in their area which have many poor children in order to bridge the education gap. Dr. Sheldon’s words are sincere, but ignore the realities of life. Independent schools might reach out to “help&rdq ...

Racism Rises In Austria As Anti-Muslims Sling Mud 2008-01-15 01:34:54 The campaign against Muslims in Europe reached a new high in slime when Austrian politician Suzanne Winter blasted Muslims and said they should go back to where they came from in the Mediterranian area. She went on to accuse Muhammad of writing the Koran while controlled by “epileptic fits” and of being a “child molester” because he married a six year old girl. She claimed, in an interview, that child abuse is “widespread” among Muslim men and that Austria is facing a “tsunami of Muslim immigration” which threatens to transform her Christian nation within twenty years into a Muslim one. Her comments aroused a fury of protest in Austria and officials are investigating whether she could be charged with incitement to racial hatred for her remarks. A few weeks ago in Germany, Ronald Koch, a conservative politician, thundered on about “criminal young foreigners” as part of his campaign to stir up hatred in the quest for electoral v ...

British Police Experiment With Tactics To Catch Rapists 2008-01-15 01:33:46 British police and prosecutors are set to experiment with controversial techniques designed to entice suspects into incriminating themselves via phone calls or text messages. The tactic is used by American police which entails having women make phone calls or send text m essages to alleged attackeers to see if they can extract an admission of guilt. The approach has women ending a text message that might say, “how could you do this to me” hoping the man will respond with “I’m really sorry” or words to that effect. The so-called “pretext” phone call is legal in some, but not all states, in America. It is particularly used in cases where the man and woman knew one another which makes for difficulty in getting juries to vote a conviction. The issue facing British police is the requirement to inform a suspect that anything they say might be held against them in a court of law. There is some belief such tactics might be allowed during early stages o ...

Kenyan Impasse Continues-Theater Of Absurd 2008-01-15 01:24:42 The political impasse created in Kenya by the blatant election fraud of President Kibaki is still unresolved. Raila Odinga, who apparently won the election, only to have voting figures undergo dramatic changes in order to allow Kibaki to claim he was re-elected, is insisting he will not compromise on the basic principle that there is need for a new election. “It is hard to negotiate with somone you know very well stole a cow from you.” At a church gathering the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement expressed thanks to the audience for electing him president of Kenya even though someone else as this moment is holding that position. The European Union made it clear to President Kibaki the present situation must be resolved in a manner that “reflects the will of the Kenyan people” and there were hints of sanctions unless he is willing to negotiate in good faith. Raila Odinga expressed the situation most dramatically when he noted that Samuel Kivultu, chair of th ...

America– The Russians Are Coming! 2008-01-15 01:24:13 A Russian foundation devoted to democracy and human rights will shortly be setting up shop in America. The Moscow-base Institute of Democracy and Opperation officially registred its New York branch as of December 31. The goal of the Institute is to organize discussions about elections and human rights issues as well as improving Russia’s image in the United States. According to Anatoly Kucherena, “the improvement of Russia’s image abroad is, of course, an important goal.” Last October, President Putin told European leaders of his desire to set up a think tank for freedom and democracy in either Brussels or elsewhere. I gather the elsewhere is the United States. The Institute denies it is an arm of the Russian government, but is merely a Russian model of the American Freedom House. One can only wonder why a Russian version of the American Freedom House is located in New York rather than in Moscow. If the Institute is interested in studying denial of democratic p ... America