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 59 8752

Articles from The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues

War Protestor Returns Medals To Rumsfeld 2007-09-27 07:52:59 A veteran of the Iraq War announced to a war protest rally that he had sent his combat medals to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld because he felt participation in the war was wrong. Josh Gaines told everyone he was proud to be an American and explained in a letter to Rumsfeld why serving in Iraq had been wrong and in opposition to what he believed were American values. There are no reports of Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney or George Bush returning any medals, given they never earned any such citations. ...

General Pace Willing To Allow Gays In Service 2007-09-27 07:43:22 Several months ago, General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Chicago newspaper, “I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that the (US military) should not condone immoral acts.” Yesterday, five days before stepping down from his role on the Joint Chiefs, General Pace turned around and stated his willingness to allow gays to serve in the military. “I would be very willing and able and supportive of any description, whatever change, to ‘don’t ask, don’t tell, would continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation without condoning what I believe to be activity, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual that in my upbringing is not right.” Each person is allowed to maintain his/her personal beliefs about life, but when one puts on the uniform of the United States military, those beliefs can not interfere with the rights of other members of the military. It is comforting know ...

Bush Environment Conference Goal- Pollute On As Usual 2007-09-27 07:27:38 The opening paragraph by Leonard Dolye of an article appearing in The Independent expresses European cynicism of George Bush’s attitude toward greenhouse emissions. “For the first time in 16 years a major environment conference opens in Washington hosted by the Bush administration. But no concrete results are expected, and that-say European participants- is the point of this high-level meeting.” Britain is not sending any high level diplomat to waste his/her time at a meeting called by the world’s worst polluter to undermine UN efforts at protecting the environment. It is politics as usual for Bush who is against the Kyoto agreement, against controls over emissions, and standing fast in protection of a status quo which urges polluters to continue their efforts to increase pollution. This meeting is undoubtedly a Bush attempt to prove to the world he is “for the environment.” The president is a master at using words of the opposition to prove he is fo ...

Indonesia Urges Myanmar Military To Be Peaceful 2007-09-27 07:11:33 Hassan Wirayuda, Foreign Minister of Indonesia urged the military junta controlling Myanmar to avoid resorting to violence means in handling peaceful demonstrations which have filled the streets of their nation with thousands of marching monks. He said: “Indonesia urges Myanmar not to resort to coercive measures in handling peaceful rallies.” The foreign minister expressed doubt criticism from abroad would have any effect on Burmese military leaders who have lived for years under sanctions. The latest reports indicate soldiers are firing in the air, and, in some cases, at demonstrators. There are also video shots of soldiers charging into monk demonstrators and beating up monks. Myanmar is one of those situations in which the outside world can only stand on the outside observing corrupt violent leaders impose their will upon a resisting nation. Outside of armed intervention, nothing will change their attitudes. ...

Iranian University Heads Denouce Columbia University 2007-09-26 21:33:11 Six presidents of universities in iran issued a harsh condemnation of President Lee Bollinger’s words and behavior toward President Ahmadinejad of Iran. “Your insult to president of a country,” they said, “with a population of 70 million and 7000 years of civilization and culture is an academic milieu is shameful.” Professor Kazem Jelai, who is also a member of Iran’s parliament, bluntly stated: “The rhetoric he used was not becoming an academic and a host.” The six presidents posed several questions to America including the following: 1. Why did the United States overthrow the government of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq in 1953? 2. Why did the United States support Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran even though he had used chemical warfare against his own people? 3. Why doesn’t the United States recognize Hamas which won a democratic election? 4. What about the long term friendship between the Bush family and the Bin Laden family ...

Most Swedes Oppose Muslim Headscarves 2007-09-26 18:43:10 Recent polls indicate nearly half of Swedes oppose Muslim women wearing headscarves. In 2005, 43% of Swedes rejected the idea of Muslim women being allowed to wear headscarves in public places like schools or government buildings, today, that figure is 49.8% of respondents. The questionnaire used the word “sloja” which literally means “veil” but apparently most Swedes use the word in referring to any form of head covering. Ironically, only 5% indicated they had negative views toward foreigners although about one-third believed they came to take advantage of Sweden’s social welfare opportunities.There apparently is something about Muslim women wearing head coverings which upsets many people in western nations. Why the passion about this relatively unimportant aspect of attire? ...

Pollution Cure Worse Than What Is Happening! 2007-09-26 17:46:57 A team of researchers led by Nobel prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen discovered that biofuels emit up to 70% more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. They calculated emissions released by the growth or burning of such crops as maize and sugar cane to produce biofuels releases twice as much nitrous oxide(N20) as previously thought. They estimate 3%-5% of nitrogen in fertilizer is converted and emitted rather than previously thought 2%. Professor Keith Smith of the University of Edinburgh commented: “One wants rational decisions rather than simply jumping on the bandwagon because superficially something appears to reduce emissions.”There is also the factor as corn is turned into fuel prices rise causing poor people to suffer. We have to continue investigating ways to reduce greenhouse emissions without using biofuels. ...

Is The Taliban The Taliban? 2007-09-26 14:22:34 Fighting continues in Afghanistan as coalition and Afghan forces clash with elements of the Taliban. Yesterday, in two separate fights, Coalition and Afghan forces called in air strikes which resulted in the death of 165 “supposed members of the Taliban.” We use quotation marks because most of the people killed who coalition forces claimed were members of the Taliban were killed by bombs dropped by planes. Karim Khan, who lived in one of the villages in which the Taliban were killed, claimed coalition and Afghan forces entered the village and “arrested innocent villagers from three homes and called them Taliban.” The Vietnam War taught many Americans how difficult it was to identify people killed by high flying bombers. A plane traveling hundreds of miles an hour drops bombs on individuals who someone on the ground identifies as the enemy. Of course, the Taliban frequently place themselves within a village to confuse coalition and Afghan forces. There is littl ...

Is The Taliban The Taliban? 2007-09-26 14:22:34 Fighting continues in Afghanistan as coalition and Afghan forces clash with elements of the Taliban. Yesterday, in two separate fights, Coalition and Afghan forces called in air strikes which resulted in the death of 165 “supposed members of the Taliban.” We use quotation marks because most of the people killed who coalition forces claimed were members of the Taliban were killed by bombs dropped by planes. Karim Khan, who lived in one of the villages in which the Taliban were killed, claimed coalition and Afghan forces entered the village and “arrested innocent villagers from three homes and called them Taliban.” The Vietnam War taught many Americans how difficult it was to identify people killed by high flying bombers. A plane traveling hundreds of miles an hour drops bombs on individuals who someone on the ground identifies as the enemy. Of course, the Taliban frequently place themselves within a village to confuse coalition and Afghan forces. There is littl ...

Is The Taliban The Taliban? 2007-09-26 14:22:34 Fighting continues in Afghanistan as coalition and Afghan forces clash with elements of the Taliban. Yesterday, in two separate fights, Coalition and Afghan forces called in air strikes which resulted in the death of 165 “supposed members of the Taliban.” We use quotation marks because most of the people killed who coalition forces claimed were members of the Taliban were killed by bombs dropped by planes. Karim Khan, who lived in one of the villages in which the Taliban were killed, claimed coalition and Afghan forces entered the village and “arrested innocent villagers from three homes and called them Taliban.”The Vietnam War taught many Americans how difficult it was to identify people killed by high flying bombers. A plane traveling hundreds of miles an hour drops bombs on individuals who someone on the ground identifies as the enemy. Of course, the Taliban frequently place themselves within a village to confuse coalition and Afghan forces. There is little ...

Turkish Higher Education Leaders Seek Compromise 2007-09-26 13:19:56 The Chair of Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YOK), Erdogan Tezic, met with President Gul in an effort to have proposed changes in the nation’s constitution include the ideas of many divergent voices. Tezic had quarreled with Prime Minister Erdogan about proposed changes which would end the ban on women wearing a headscarf and was told to mind his own business. Tezic urged President Gul to slow down the process and reach out to other voices in order to lessen the acrimonious atmosphere which is developing from bits and pieces of changes being disseminated to the public. Turkish higher education leaders are approaching a rather volatile situation in the correct calm manner. A constitution should not be changed by a single party, particularly one that only received 47% of the vote. There is need to make changes reflect consensus views if they are to avoid dividing the Turkish population. ...

Turkish Higher Education Leaders Seek Compromise 2007-09-26 13:19:56 The Chair of Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YOK), Erdogan Tezic, met with President Gul in an effort to have proposed changes in the nation’s constitution include the ideas of many divergent voices. Tezic had quarreled with Prime Minister Erdogan about proposed changes which would end the ban on women wearing a headscarf and was told to mind his own business. Tezic urged President Gul to slow down the process and reach out to other voices in order to lessen the acrimonious atmosphere which is developing from bits and pieces of changes being disseminated to the public.Turkish higher education leaders are approaching a rather volatile situation in the correct calm manner. A constitution should not be changed by a single party, particularly one that only received 47% of the vote. There is need to make changes reflect consensus views if they are to avoid dividing the Turkish population. ...

Israel Moves Closer To Gaza Invasion 2007-09-26 12:53:35 As dozens of Hamas inspired rockets fell on Israel soil, the Israel Defense Force, responded by firing missiles that killed at least four terrorists. They also fired shells which killed some innocent civilians. Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak, hinted there might soon be a large scale attack on Islamic forces who are firing rockets. “We are moving closer,” he said, “to a broad and complex operation in Gaza.” It appears the Army of Islam has been firing the rockets without any real effort by Hamas to curtail such action. At some point, Arab leaders have to cut off financial assistance to Hamas unless it agrees to halt rocket attacks. It is all well and good to hold a peace conference, but if rockets continue falling on Israel there will be a military response that most probably will result in the deaths of innocent Arabs. ...

Burma Military Junta Fires On Monks 2007-09-26 12:42:43 Thousands of monks and nuns walked the streets of Rangoon and other Burmese cities in defiance of demands by the military junta which runs the country for them to cease their march. Reports indicate soldiers began firing on monks and reportedly killed at least five and wounded over a dozen. Unconfirmed reports indicate more than 300 monks were arrested by soldiers. Over 30,000 people have been marching with the monks and nuns to express their desire for a free Myanmar, but the thugs who run the country do not appear inclined to allow democracy to blossom. The military controls all weapons, and monks control the hearts of ordinary citizens. Now is the time for nations to insist China use its leverage to force peace and cooperation between the military an citizens of Myanmar. The military junta depends on trade with China and would be impacted by a Chinese embargo. How about the world telling China to exert pressure or face a boycott of the 2008 Olympics! ...

China’s Three Gorges Dam An Enviroment Catastrophe 2007-09-26 12:22:03 China’s construction of the Three Gorges Dam was hailed as an amazing feat in construction of dams even though millions of people were displaced due to the construction. New evidence now indicates in addition to the human cost of building the dam, there are new environmental problems. The sheer weight of water behind the dam has led to over 90 examples of the shoreline collapsing leading to landslides. The dam is also generating waves which have flooded areas near the shoreline. China is embarked on a huge economic development which is pushing the nation into a modern economy. Coinciding with this economic push is increased pollution that has made China among the worst offenders in the world. Of course, America leads the world in emitting carbon into the atmosphere, but China is fast catching up in the pollution race. ...