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 58 8751

Articles from The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues

Is Allah OK Or Should It Be Tuhan? 2007-12-21 11:08:46 A Catholic weekly newspaper in Malaysia has been told to cease using the word “Allah” in its Malay language section or it wants to get a renewal of its license to publish. A senior official in the secruity Minister says the word God as “Allah” is only allowed to be used by Muslims and Christians can not use that word without offending those of the Muslim faith. “Christians cannot use the word Allah. It is only applicable to Muslims. Allah is only for the Muslim god. This is a design to confuse the Muslim people.” Although the nation’s constitution promises freedom of religion, many religious minorities complain about denial of their right to practice their religious beliefs. They have been denied the right to construct churches and Hindus have complained about demolition of temples by government authorities. Rev. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald, said the use of the word Allah was not intended to offend Muslims. “We follow the Bibl ...

Battle Fatigue In Afghanistan- Is It Catching? 2007-12-21 10:55:00 President Bush and Secretary of State Condi Rice are increasingly becoming concerned over the apparent declining interest among European NATO countries to continue fighting in Afghanistan. Bush recently told the press, that people will say, “we’re kind of tired of Afghanistan and therefore, we think we’re going to leave…That would be my biggest concern.” Rice made a similar point to Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier whose government will be debating whether or not to extend Afghan military operations past the 2008 deadline.”It is an absolutely essential mission to stabilize Afghanistan,” said Rice. Bush and Rice continue lavishing praise on the “Brits” and “Aussies,” and the Danes and Dutch for their Afghani contributions, but the world is growing weary of an inept military campaign in that nation. Initially, when America had a chance to completely crush the Taliban, Bush pulled out troops in order to pursue his ...

Putin Charged With Having $40 billion Fortune! 2007-12-21 10:39:09 Stanislev Belkovsky, a billionaire, who opposes Putin, charges the president of Russia has secretly accumulated a fortune that might be as high as $40 billion. Putin allegedly owns shares of stock in Gazprom and companies like Surgutneftegaz whose holdings have dramatically increased in value over the past decade. According to Belkovsky, “Putin’s name does not appear on any shareholder register, of course.” He may have money hidden in offshore accounts. Belkovsky claims a war over power and money is raging within the Kremlin between those representing the old KGB clique whom Putin put in power government positions and the new ‘liberal” group headed by Dimitry Medvedev, whom Putin has designated as the next president of Russia. The KGB crowd is worried about how to maintain control of their money since Medvedev has little allegiance or connection to their group. The conflict is not over ideological issues so much as to how to keep money one has secreted awa ...

I Hate Americans– But Would Like To Migrate To America! 2007-12-21 01:09:30 Diya Muhammad Hussein, a sixteen year-old Iraqi boy, spoke with reporters for Der Spiegel, online, about his desire to kill American troops and his dream of being able to immigrate to America. One night, the boy planted an explosive in the road and hid so he could be ready to detonate it but when American military vehicles drove over the explosives nothing happened. he tried again the next day but abandoned the attempt when he saw Iraq soldiers walking with the Americans, he did not want to kill any of his countrymen, just the occupiers. A few hours later while in an Internet cafe that was being monitored by the police he got into an argument with the man who got him to try killing Americans that was overheard by the police. Diya calls himself a “muhahedeen,” a freedom fighter. After being captured in the town of Rawah, he confessed and revealed the names of accomplices. He also revealed the hiding place of many explosive devices. He began his career of “terrorism&rd ... America

Denmark Expands Gay Adoption Rights 2007-12-21 01:03:10 New legislation that shortly will pass the Danish legislature will allow gay couples equal rights in being able to adopt children from other nations. Homosexuals who are registered as being a legal partnership already are allowed to adopt Danish children. Recent legislation now enables lesbians equal rights when it comes to issues of artificial insemination. There had been strong opposition to changes in adoption of foreign children due to fear it might lead these countries to take Denmark off the approved adoption list. However, Sweden passed similar laws in 2003 that empowered gays to adopt foreign children and it has not led to any changes in children being adopted. The essence of adoption is providing children a decent family life. If gays or lesbians can provide such an environment then both the child and society benefit. ...

Jacob Zuma Zooms Around Corruption Charges 2007-12-20 17:19:26 The possibility of “imminent” corruption charges being filed against Jacob Zuma, who was elected head of the African National Congress, raised new issues concerning his bid for the presidency of South Africa. His financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, is already serving a 15 year sentence after being found guilty of taking bribes. Initial corruption charges against Zuma were halted in September, but due to a continuing vigorous investigation, it appears the basis for an indictment now exists. Acting national director of public prosecutions, Mokotedi Mpshe, said, “the investigation is complete. All that we are doing now is to tie the loose ends. The investigation, with the evidence we have now, points to a case that can be taken to court.” Zuma indicated he wanted his day in court to present his version regarding the allegations of corruption. At a press conference, he stated his willingness to work with outgoing President Thabo Mbeki, despite the acrimonious relatio ...

Bhutto To Pakistan Intelligence-Terrorism, Not Politics! 2007-12-20 12:39:39 Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) denounced interference by the Pakistan military intelligence in the political campaign charging they are attempting to intimidate her candidates to drop out of the election for a new parliament in January.”This is not your job to indulge in politics,” and noted the recent escape of an important terrorist from police custody as the reason the intelligence agency should be focusing on its main job of combating terrorism. Bhutto also made clear she has ended disagreements with a former political opponent, Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and both will work to defeat President Musharraf and restore democracy to Pakistan. Musharraf countered by claiming Bhutto was making up reasons why her party will lose and intends to blame military interference as a justification for her loss in the election. The conflict goes on with charges and counter charges from all areas of the Pakistan political sp ...

Gaza Hamas Leaders Ordered-Behave From Syria Headquarters 2007-12-20 12:12:10 Khaled Mashal, the Hamas leader who is currently in Syria, was behind the recent offer of a “hudna”-cease fire– to the Israel government. He specifically ordered Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh who is in Gaza to enter into mediation talks with Israel and to keep the border area quiet by avoiding military actions. In the past, despite what Israel claims, they have engaged in secret behind the scenes negotiations with Hamas such as recently allowing pilgrims to leave Gaza on their way to Mecca. The Mahsal demand, indicates there is a desire on the part of Hamas leadership to become more active on the diplomatic front in order to maintain their position among the Palestinian people. It is quite clear that Hamas leadership is centered in Syria and depends upon the good offices of President Bashar Assad for being able to function. Assad has repeatedly indicated he seeks an accommodation with Israel over th Golan Heights issue. President Assad also finds himself coming under ...

GI Suicide– Could It Have Been Prevented? 2007-12-20 10:02:57 Private Jason Sheuerman nailed a suicide note to his barracks closet in iraq, stepped inside, and shot himself. The note said simply, “Maybe finaly, I can get some peace.” His parents did not discover that the had written such a note until a year after the suicide when they received the paper in an envelope sent to them. Jason’s father, Chris Sheuerman, a retired Special Forces commando who currently teaches at Fort Bragg, has taken on the US Army, an institution he loves and admires, because he wants answers about his son’s death– did Jason really have to die? What did the father find out? A psychologist told his commanders to send Jason back to his unit because he was capable of feigning mental illness to get out of the Army. Jason killed himself on July 20, 2005 around 5:30 p.m.about 45 minutes after his first sergeant told the exhausted young man that if he was intentionally misbehaving so he could leave the Army, he would go to jail where he would be ...

Beslan Hospital In Russia, A Horror Story! 2007-12-20 09:37:53 On September 3, 2004, a school in the state of Belsan in Russia experienced a group of militants seizing a school and holding children as hostages. In the ensuing blood bath, hundreds of casualties were suffered by the hostages and those seeking to help them. Recent studies indicate a complete failure on the part of the hospital to have made preparations for receiving the patients. A reporter visited today’s Belsan hospital and found at the entrance meat and macaroni pieces scattered on the ground, the walls are covered with mold and the plaster is peeling off. According to a reporter, “the toilets are easy to find, just follow the smell.” Three years after the hostage crisis, some survivors are still in the hospital undergoing treatment. When President Putin arrived at the scene and went to the hospital he tripped over cracks on the wooden floor and, in fury, sent money for repairs. Years have passed, and Belsan, like many other hospitals in Russia lacks sufficient f ...

Common Health Market Created In European Union 2007-12-20 09:17:52 The European Union will begin the process within a year of offering its citizens the right to secure health treatment in any member nation of the EU. The United Kingdom announced that a UK citizen will be able to secure medical treatment by providers in all of the European Union member states. The offer is based on the concept that if there is undue delay in obtaining medical treatment for a particular issue, the UK citizen could obtain that treatment in any of the EU nations with the British National Health Service picking up the bill. In turn, any citizen from a European Union nation could obtain similar care in the UK provided they had a referral from a doctor. During the past five years, the Blair government has poured about $90 billion into the NHS to raise its standard of care. This is a fabulous concept which will broaden the scope of medical care in Europe. It might also lead to certain nations specializing in care for particular diseases. The American tragedy is even within ou ... Health

Dear Al-Qaeda, Here Is My Problem! 2007-12-20 08:50:21 In an interesting shift, al-Qaeda’s number two man, Ayman al-Zawahri, has offered to respond to any and all questions submitted to him by January 16th. In an apparent bid to raise his prestige and come across as a leader who is willing to engage in dialogue, the al-Qaeda leader promised to let people post questions and he would respond. The offer was issued by the group’s media arm, Al Sahab, an islamic web site which invited, “individuals, agencies, and all media” to submit written questions by sending them to web forums ordinarily used by Al Sahab. Respondents were promised that questions would be forwarded from the forums to al-Zawahri “with no changes or substitutions, no matter whether they agree or disagree” with the question. The open invitation most probably would allow any person to submit a question. This is definitely a media ploy to attract attention and provide al-Zawahri an international forum in which to present his ideas to those wh ...

Bush Plans To Politicize JAG Promotions Blocked! 2007-12-19 16:29:01 An attempt within the Pentagon to gain control over promotion of military judge advocates general lawyers has run into a furious roadblock in Congress with Republicans joining with Democratic members to halt this latest effort by the Bush administration to ensure military personnel do as ordered. Under the proposed plan, military promotions of members of JAG would have to be “coordinated” with civilian counsels working in the Pentagon. For promotion to flag and general officer rank, there would have to be consultation with the Defense Department general counsel. Republican Rep. Steve Byer commented “this is one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard come out of the DoD general counsel. It is dead on arrival. If they enact the policy, and it appears they can, I promise we will stop it.” Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice said the proposal was an attempt to stifle military lawyers who have criticized Bush administration policies ...

Australia Moves Against Japanese Whaling Fleet 2007-12-19 12:44:31 The Australian government is sending a ship outfitted with powerful telescopic lenses and video recorders to shadow the Japanese whaling fleet. Australia will also lead a coalition of anti-whaling nations in lodging formal diplomatic protests to the Japanese government. A plane has already been sent to film operations of the Japanese ships in order to have evidence they are killing humpback whales. The world shares Australia’s laughter at comments by the Japanese government that whales are being killed for scientific purposes and eating them is merely an aftermath of the program to further scientific knowledge. Environment Minister Peter Garret, commented: “You don’t have to harpoon them to find out important scientific information about them. It’s cruel, it’s barbaric and it’s unnecessary.” The Japanese government response is that entire whaling expedition is simply part of the “necessity of research whaling.” Japan has high class ...

Hamas Offer Of Cease-Fire Creates Conflict In Israel 2007-12-19 12:29:58 A Hamas offer to enter negotiations with Israel over issues related to the Gaza Strip and rocket attacks on Israeli civilians received a mixed reaction from members of the Israel government. transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz indicated a willingness to have “mediation” talks in an effort to halt rocket attacks on Israel citizens. However, President Peres and members of the right wind Likud were furious at his suggestion of mediation. Peres termed the offer by Hamas prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a “pathetic and misleading attempt to divert attention away from the crimes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.” Likud leaders argued that Hamas would use the time spent in discussions as a means of resupplying themselves with additional weapons and rockets. President Peres attended a meeting called by Turkey’s President Gul to meet with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas. This indicates Peres has trust in the good offices of Turkey. Why not ask Turkey to b ...