An Italian teacher has been suspended by her school in Milan after cutting off the tongue of a lively 7-year-old child with a pair of scissors, daily Corriere della Sera reported Tuesday.
The boy has since had his tongue stitched back but is afraid to go back to school. His parents say he suffers nightmares and runs away whenever he sees a knife. They are now suing the school for damages.
The incident took place a week ago but was only reported on Tuesday.
According to Corriere, the 22-year-old substitute teacher threatened the child twice with a pair of scissors before actually chopping it off.
“Pull out your tongue. I’ll cut it, and you’ll no longer talk,” she was quoted as telling the child.
The teacher, who has only been identified by her initials R S, has since apologized, claiming it was an accident.
The school’s principal, Anna Maria Dominici, has suspended the teacher and ordered an investigation, saying her conduct could in no way be excused.
Collected by----
Shobuz Bhai
Milan Teacher cuts student's Tongue Translated into Italian by: -SB- Shobuz Bhai
Il bambino è figlio di nordafricani ma è nato in Italia
"Radiare la maestra che ha tagliato la lingua"
Lo chiede il legale della famiglia. E il ministro Fioroni annuncia: avviato il processo di licenziamento
STRUMENTI
VERSIONE STAMPABILE
I PIU' LETTI
INVIA QUESTO ARTICOLO
MILANO - Mai più in cattedra: la maestra che ha tagliato la lingua a un bambino deve essere radiata dalla scuola. Lo chiede a gran voce il legale della famiglia del piccolo ferito alla lingua da un'insegnante in una elementare di Milano. La ragazza, una maestra di sostegno poco più che ventenne, stava sostituendo una sua collega di ruolo assentatasi dall'aula per qualche minuto quando ha pensato bene di zittire un alunno con le forbici. E' stata denunciata per lesioni colpose. «Non riusciamo a capire cosa le sia preso - dice l'avvocato - ha tagliato il bambino sulla lingua per uno scatto d'ira o di nervosismo». Il piccolo ha passato una notte in ospedale. Alcune maestre, tra cui quella che ha procurato la lesione, sono andate a trovarlo.
IL MINISTRO: LICENZIAMENTO IN TRONCO - La docente è stata sospesa dall'istituto a titolo cautelativo, ma fa sapere il ministro Fioroni, è già stata avviata la procedura per il licenziamento in tronco della donna. Una decisione presa dal direttore scolastico regionale della Lombardia d'intesa con il ministro. «Di fronte a comportamenti di tale gravità - ha commentato Fioroni - è solo una la risposta possibile: tolleranza zero. Le centinaia di migliaia di insegnanti seri della scuola italiana non meritano di essere screditati da pochi irresponsabili».
LA DIFESA DELLA MAESTRA - Da parte sua la maestra si difende attribuendo l'incidente a una mossa imprevedibile dell'alunno. Dai carabinieri che hanno raccolto la denuncia, si è appreso infatti che l'insegnante ha ammesso di avere effettivamente minacciato in maniera scherzosa il bambino che girava per la classe di tagliargli la lingua, accompagnando le parole con un paio di forbici in mano. Ma ha aggiunto che è stato il ragazzino, con un movimento improvviso e imprevedibile, ad avvicinarsi con la lingua alle forbici.
PICCOLO SOTTO CHOC - Ora il bambino è a casa e non vuole più tornare a scuola e scappa quando vede delle lame. La madre ha lasciato il lavoro per accudirlo. «Per questo dopo aver sporto una denuncia per lesioni abbiamo intenzione di chiedere un risarcimento - prosegue l'avvocato - sia per le cure del bimbo, sia per i giorni di lavoro che la donna sta perdendo».
«Mio figlio sta ancora male - dice la madre - ha tanto dolore sulla lingua e non vuole tornare più a scuola. Non mi aspettavo che potesse avvenire da una maestra, da un bambino forse sì, e invece è successo. Mio figlio - ha raccontato - stava temperando la matita e lei gli ha detto Ahmed stai fermo se non stai fermo ti taglio la lingua. Lei lo ha chiamato e lo ha sgridato, lui è andato da lei e lei gli ha detto tira fuori la lingua. Lui ne ha tirato un pochettino ma lei gli ha chiesto di tirarne fuori di più e poi gli ha tagliato quasi a metà la lingua. Meno male che il bambino si è allontanato se no gliela tagliava tutta».
Italia: una maestra le cortó la lengua a un alumno porque gritaba mucho Translated into Spanish by: -SB- Shobuz Bhai
“Sacá la lengua para que te la pueda cortar”, le dijo la docente al chico de siete años que luego tuvo que recibir siete puntos en el hospital. La profesora, que fue suspendida, asegura que se trató "de un juego".
Una maestra de Milán le hizo un tajo en la lengua con una tijera a uno de sus alumnos de siete años porque era demasiado ruidoso.
"Sacá la lengua para que te la pueda cortar", le gritó la maestra de 22 años al niño.
Luego, la maestra le hizo una herida grave al niño que demandó que le dieran puntos en el hospital. Según el periódico, el incidente se registró la semana pasada en una escuela del noroeste de la ciudad italiana. La maestra, que fue suspendida por el episodio, aseguró después que se trató "de un juego".
Una vez producida la herida, la docente le dijo al niño, oriundo de Túnez, que no le contara nada a su madre y además le pidió que dijera que él mismo se había producido el corte.
By Thomas H. Maugh II and Karen Kaplan, Times Staff Writer
6:37 PM PST, February 2, 2007
A U.N. report released Friday that blames humans for the "runaway train" of global warming has shifted the international debate from "Are humans to blame?" to "What are we going to do about it?"
"The world's scientists have spoken," said Timothy Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation. "It is time now to hear from the world's policymakers. The so-called and long-overstated 'debate' about global warming is now over."
The report, released in Paris by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC, said it is "unequivocal" that global warming is occurring and at least 90 percent certain that humans are responsible. It predicted that temperatures will rise from 3.2 to 7.8 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100 and that sea level will rise by 7 to 23 inches, and perhaps even more.
If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt completely, it would lead to a 21-foot increase in sea level, forcing the relocation of more than 300 million people living in low-lying areas worldwide.
The report also said that warming would continue even in the extremely unlikely event that global carbon dioxide could be stabilized at its current level. Such a stabilization would require an immediate 70 percent to 80 percent reduction in emissions, said Richard Somerville of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.
While most of the scientific data behind the report has come out before, its aggregation into a single report, phrased in the most confident of terms, has sparked an intense reaction.
"The degree of certainty, which was already very high, is now as close to certain as scientists are willing to say," said former vice president Al Gore.
Echoing a phrase that was widely heard Friday, Rep. Edward Markey, D.-Mass., called the report "a scientific smoking gun."
The warming would have a powerful impact on the Southwest, with hotter weather, even less rainfall and a loss of water supply because of the diminishing snowpack in the Rocky Mountains.
Bush administration officials played down the United States' contribution to global warming.
"We are a small contributor when you look at the rest of the world," U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said in a Friday teleconference.
The U.S. is the single largest contributor to global warming, producing about one-quarter of the world's carbon dioxide emissions and using one-quarter of the world's crude oil.
The proportion of emissions contributed by the U.S. is decreasing, however, as developing nations, particularly China and India, build up their economies.
While global warming cannot be reversed, it can be mitigated, said climatologist Gerald Meehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. If emissions are reduced, "We'll have fewer climate changes and less warming. If they are higher, we'll have much greater changes. The longer you wait to begin reducing emissions, the worse the problem gets and the more you have to do to do something about it."
The IPCC report is the fourth in a series compiled by 2,500 scientists from 130 nations. While the projections in the new reports have not changed substantially from those of the last study, the confidence of the scientists making them has increased sharply.
Compiling the report has been a large international effort with 16 climate modeling groups from 11 countries working independently. "What's really striking ... is that the models keep improving with time, but the answers don't keep changing," Meehl said. "That allows us to say with a lot more confidence what we are looking at."
And since the last report was issued, "We have six years of new data, and they are among the seven warmest years on record," said climatologist Kevin Trenberth of NCAR.
The data show that the warmth of the last half century "is unusual in at least the previous 1,300 years," the report said, and the last time the polar regions were significantly warmer for an extended period was about 125,000 years ago. That warming was caused by changes in Earth's orbit and led to melting of the Greenland ice cap.
As warming continues, it will produce wide changes in regional climates, including: more droughts in the tropics and subtropics; more heat waves; fewer frosts; heavier rains in some regions, particularly Canada, the U.S. Northeast and the eastern coast of South America; a retreat of the polar ice caps; less snow cover in the northern hemisphere; less saline ocean water because of the increased precipitation; and more intense hurricanes, although they won't become more frequent.
Rises in sea level will cause flooding in low-lying areas, such as the island of Kiribati in the western Pacific Ocean, the southern tip of Florida and the lower half of Louisiana.
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, called for a summit of global leaders to address the problem.
"The findings ... leave no doubt as to the dangers that mankind is facing and must be acted upon without delay," he said.
French President Jacques Chirac echoed the call, saying "Now is not the time for half measures. ...We are in truth on the historical doorstep of the irreversible."
The only previous effort to reduce global emissions was the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which proposed carbon dioxide emission caps for the 35 richest countries. The United States, where emissions are increasing about 1 percent per year, withdrew from the pact in 2001, claiming that it was unfair because it did not set limits for developing nations.
Bodman said Friday that the U.S. would not set a cap on emissions because that would lead to a transfer of jobs and industries abroad. "You would have the U.S. economy damaged on the one hand, and the same emissions -- in fact, potentially even worse emissions because in many of those countries they don't have the same kind of standards," he said.
Bodman also noted that the U.S. has spent $29 billion on global warming research, technology development and other initiatives -- "more than the rest of the world combined."
Countries that agreed to the Kyoto protocol are having trouble meeting its goals. Canada's emission, for example, are one-third higher than the Kyoto goals the country agreed to meet by 2012, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the goal is unachievable.
Scientists said it is not too late to begin taking steps toward emission controls, but ,"It is later than we think," said atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who co-chaired the panel that produced the summary.
At least 13 people have died in Gaza after some of the worst fighting for months broke out between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.
Two civilians, one a two-year-old boy, were among those killed, according to Palestinian medical sources.
The clashes erupted after weeks of relative calm and renewed efforts to form a national unity government.
Hamas and Fatah said they were suspending talks after the violence, which was continuing early on Saturday.
Reports from Gaza City say Hamas and Fatah gunmen have been exchanging mortar fire and grenade attacks outside a security compound.
More than 40 people have died as a result of a power struggle between supporters of the Hamas-led government and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction since mid-December.
Echo of gunfire
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says there has been intensive mediation by Egyptian diplomats in an effort to stop the bloodshed there.
He says late on Friday evening word came that Fatah and Hamas had agreed to order their supporters off the streets.
But our correspondent says both then accused the other of reneging on the deal and clashes continued.
Some of the heaviest fighting took place in the Jabaliya refugee camp, where Hamas gunmen laid siege to the home of a local Fatah leader.
The gunmen eventually stormed the building and two people were killed.
Militants linked to Fatah said they had captured at least 19 Hamas supporters in response to the siege. Some were later freed.
As night fell the streets of Gaza continued to echo to the sound of gunfire and explosions.
Elsewhere, fighting erupted outside the residences of Mr Abbas and Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar.
Mr Zahar's home was damaged after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, security sources said.
Blame exchanged
Fatah said it was calling off national unity talks in response to the violence.
"How can the dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?" Reuters news agency quoted Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa as saying.
But Hamas laid the blame at Fatah's door.
"The Fatah movement continues to give a factional, political and media cover to the killers. Hamas has therefore decided to suspend all talks with Fatah," spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
The violence began when two Hamas members died in what the group said was a roadside bomb attack on a convoy by Fatah militants.
The clashes came as Hamas supporters gathered to mark a year since the party defeated Fatah in Palestinian elections.
MILAN, Italy: Italy's top criminal court has stated that downloading computer files containing films, music or software is not a crime if not done for profit, but analysts said Monday they expected the ruling's impact to be muted.
The court's decision, issued earlier this month but reported over the weekend by the Italian media, overturns earlier convictions against two former students from the Turin Politechnic Institute who set up a peer-to-peer network in 1994 that was shut down within months. They were found guilty of illegal duplication and given a one-year sentence, which was reduced to three months on appeal, defense lawyer Carlo Blengino said.
The top criminal court in Rome threw out the convictions, ruling that it was not a crime to download computer files from so-called peer-to-peer networks — used for sharing digitalized files among computer users over high-speed broadband connections — if there was no financial gain.
Analysts noted that violating a copyright, for example by breaking a copyright protection, remained illegal even if downloading the material had been decriminalized.
"I consider this sentence as a very intermediate step in clarifying what is legal and what is not legal," said analyst Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffe, the president of Assodigitale, a think-tank on digital technology. "This sentence marks an important step in that peer-to-peer per se is not an illegal activity. What stays and remains illegal is copyright infringement by cracking copyright files, and distributing it for commercial purposes."
That could cover services that charge access or connectivity fees, he said.
While the ruling in essence favors Internet providers, by putting more value on those providing Internet service than those who create the material being traded — be it music or film or software — the impact was mitigated by the fact that broadband penetration lags in Italy, Maffe said.
Tech Analyst Yaap Favier at Forrester Research also said the thorny issue is uploading material for distribution — not downloading. "Offering it for use by others is the problem," he said.
The Italian agency that monitors copyright issues, known by the acronym SIAE, said in a statement that the ruling did not bring any "revolutions" in terms of author's rights because the case predates current legislation calling for a fine for anyone who shares protected material over the Internet without financial gain.
This video shows the outcry that all americans should be aware of ! Although this guy is from Ohio(American) and im sure alot of people think like he does, but i dont think the majority does.
The Prophet said, "Everyone will be with those whom he loves."
Hadith - Bukhari 8.189, Narrated Abdullah
"And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in peace and tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): Verily in that are signs for those who reflect" (Quran 30:21).
"O Humans revere your Guardian Lord, Who created you from a single person created of like nature its mate, and from this scattered (like seeds) countless men and women. Reverence Allah through Whom you claim your mutual rights" (Quran 4:1).
The above verses of the Quran lay out the framework as to what are the basis, the objectives and the goal of marriage in Islam. In the ultimate Wisdom of Allah we are first told that both partners man and woman are created from the same source. That this should be paid attention to as it is one of His signs.
The fact that we come from the same soul signifies our equality as humans, when the essence of our creation is the same, the argument of who is better or greater is redundant. To stress on this fact and then to talk about marriage in the same verse is of great significance for those of us who are in the field of marriage counseling.
The shift in this attitude of equality of genders as human beings cause a imbalance in marital relation ship that leads to dysfunctional marriage. When ever one party considers themselves superior or above the law there is a shift in the balance of power that may lead to misuse or abuse of power as the less valuable partner is seen as an easy prey. Many marital difficulties are based on or caused by control and rule stratagem.
By stressing on the equality of all humans men or women and making it the basis of marriage, Allah in His infinite wisdom has laid the ground rules for establishing peace, as well as the assigning of different roles to husband and wife as functional strategy rather than a question of competence as humans.
Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has stated that: "men and women are twin halves of each other" (Bukhari). This Hadith also brings home the fact that men and women are created from single source. Furthermore, by using the analogy of twin half the Prophet has underlined the reciprocal nature and the interdependent nature of men and women's relationship.
The objective and the goal of marriage in Islam according to the above Quranic verse is to enable us to dwell in peace and tranquility. It is important for us to reflect on these words and their significance in the Islamic frame of reference.
In order to have peace certain condition must be met. These prerequisites to peace are Justice, Fairness, Equity, Equality, and fulfillment of mutual rights. Therefore any injustice whether it is oppression, or persecution, cannot be tolerated if there is to be peace in Muslim homes.
In the domestic realm oppression is manifested when the process of Shura (consultation) is compromised, neglected or ignored. When one partner (in most cases the husband) makes unilateral decisions and applies dictatorial style of leadership, peace is compromised. Persecution is present when there is any form of domestic abuse being perpetrated.
Tranquility on the other hand is a state of being which is achieved when peace has been established. Tranquility is compromised when there is tension, stress and anger. It is a mistake to take tranquility to mean perpetual state of bliss. Since being Muslims does not make us immune to tragedies and catastrophes.
In fact Allah tells us in the Quran that we will be tried (2:155,57). What a state of tranquility does is to empower us to handle life's difficult moments with our spouses as obedient servants of Allah. Allah in His infinite Mercy also provides us with the tools by which we can achieve this state of peace and tranquility.
The second principle besides Shura on which the Islamic family life is based is Mercy (Rehma), and in this verse Allah is telling us that He has placed mercy between spouses. We are therefore inclined by our very nature to have mercy for our spouses. Mercy is manifested through compassion, forgiveness, caring and humility.
It is obvious that these are all ingredients that make for a successful partnership. Marriage in Islam is above all a partnership based on equality of partners and specification of roles. Lack of mercy in a marriage or a family renders it in Islamic terms dysfunctional.
Allah further states that He has also placed in addition to mercy, love between spouses. It should however be noted that Islamic concept of love is different from the more commonly understood romantic love so valued in the Western cultures.
The basic difference is that love between man and woman in the Islamic context can only be realized and expressed in a legal marriage. In order to develop a healthy avenue for the expression of love between man and woman and to provide security so that such a loving relationship can flourish, it is necessary to give it the protection of Shariah (Islamic law).
Marital love in Islam inculcates the following:
Faith: The love Muslim spouses have for each other is for the sake of Allah that is to gain His pleasure. It is from Allah that we claim our mutual rights (Quran 4:1) and it is to Allah that we are accountable for our behavior as husbands and wives.
It sustains: Love is not to consume but to sustain. Allah expresses His love for us by providing sustenance. To love in Islam is to sustain our loved one physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually, to the best of our ability (to sustain materially is the husbands duty, however if the wife wishes she can also contribute)
Accepts: To love someone is to accept them for who they are. It is selfishness to try and mould someone as we wish them to be. True love does not attempt to crush individuality or control personal differences, but is magnanimous and secure to accommodate differences.
Challenges: Love challenges us to be all we can, it encourages us to tap into our talents and takes pride in our achievements. To enable our loved one to realize their potential is the most rewarding experience.
Merciful: Mercy compels us to love and love compels us to have mercy. In the Islamic context the two are synonymous. The attribute Allah chose to be the supreme for Himself is that He is the most Merciful. This attribute of Rehman (the Merciful) is mentioned 170 times in the Quran, bringing home the significance for believers to be merciful. Mercy in practical application means to have and show compassion and to be charitable.
Forgiving: Love is never too proud to seek forgiveness or too stingy to forgive. It is willing to let go of hurt and letdowns. Forgiveness allows us the opportunity to improve and correct our selves.
Respect: To love is to respect and value the person their contributions and their opinions. Respect does not allow us to take for granted our loved ones or to ignore their input. How we interact with our spouses reflects whether we respect them or not.
Confidentiality: Trust is the most essential ingredient of love. When trust is betrayed and confidentiality compromised, love loses its soul.
Caring: Love fosters a deep fondness that dictates caring and sharing in all that we do. The needs of our loved ones take precedence over our own.
Kindness: The Seerah (biography) of our beloved Prophet is rich with examples of acts of kindness, he showed towards his family and particularly his wives. Even when his patience was tried, he was never unkind in word or deed. To love is to be kind.
Grows: Marital love is not static it grows and flourishes with each day of marital life. It requires work and commitment, and is nourished through faith when we are thankful and appreciative of Allah blessings.
Enhances: Love enhances our image and beautifies our world. It provides emotional security and physical well being.
Selflessness: Love gives unconditionally and protects dutifully.
Truthful: Love is honesty without cruelty and loyalty without compromise.
Immortal Technique
Revolutionary Volume 2
Yeah, broadcasting live from Harlem, New York
Let the truth be known..
You better watch what the fuck flies outta ya mouth
Or I'ma hijack a plane and fly it into your house
Burn your apartment with your family tied to the couch
And slit your throat, so when you scream, only blood comes out
I doubt that there could ever be...a more wicked MC
'Cuz AIDs infested child molesters aren't sicker than me
I see the world for what it is, beyond the white and the black
The way the government downplays historical facts
'Cuz the United States sponsored the rise of the 3rd Reich
Just like the CIA trained terrorists to the fight
Build bombs and sneak box cutters onto a flight
When I was a child, the Devil himself bought me a mic
But I refused the offer, 'cuz God sent me to strike
With skills unused like fallopian tubes on a dyke
My words'll expose George Bush and Bin Laden
As two separate parts of the same seven headed dragon
And you can't fathom the truth, so you don't hear me
You think illuminati's just a fuckin conspiracy theory?
That's why Conservative racists are all runnin' shit
And your phone is tapped by the Federal Government
So I'm jammin' frequencies in ya brain when you speak to me
Technique will rip a rapper to pieces indecently
Pack weapons illegally, because I'm never hesitant
Sniper scoping a commission controllin the president
Father, forgive them, for they don't know right from wrong
The truth will set you free, written down in this song
And the song has the Cause of Death written in code
The Word of God brought to life, that'll save ya soul..
Save ya soul motherfucker...save ya soul..
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I hacked the Pentagon for self-incriminating evidence
Of Republican manufactured white powder pestilence
Marines Corps. flat (?) vest, with the guns and ammo
Spittin' bars like a demon stuck inside a piano
Turn a Sambo into a soldier with just one line
Now here's the truth about the system that'll fuck up your mind
They gave Al Queda 6 billion dollars in 1989 to 1992
And now the last chapters of Revelations are coming true
And I know a lot of people find it hard to swallow this
Because subliminal bigotry makes you hate my politics
But you act like America wouldn't destroy two buildings
In a country that was sponsoring bombs dropped on our children
I was watching the Towers, and though I wasn't the closest
I saw them crumble to the Earth like they was full of explosives
And they thought nobody noticed the news report that they did
About the bombs planted on the George Washington bridge
Four Non-Arabs arrested during the emergency
And then it disappeared from the news permanently
They dubbed a tape of Osama, and they said it was proof
"Jealous of our freedom," I can't believe you bought that excuse
Rockin a motherfucking flag don't make you a hero
Word to Ground Zero
The Devil crept into Heaven, God overslept on the 7th
The New World Order was born on September 11
And just so Conservatives don't take it to heart
I don't think Bush did it, 'cuz he isn't that smart
He's just a stupid puppet taking orders on his cell phone
From the same people that sabotaged Senator Wellstone
The military industry got it poppin' and lockin'
Looking for a way to justify the Wolfowitz Doctrine
And as a matter of fact, Rumsfeld, now that I think back
Without 9/11, you couldn't have a war in Iraq
Or a Defense budget of world conquest proportions
Kill freedom of speech and revoke the right to abortions
Tax cut extortion, a blessing to the wealthy and wicked
But you still have to answer to the Armageddon you scripted
And Dick Cheney, you fuckin leech, tell them your plans
About building your pipelines through Afghanistan
And how Israeli troops trained the Taliban in Pakistan
You might have some house niggaz fooled, but I understand
Colonialism is sponsored by corporations
That's why Halliburton gets paid to rebuild nations
Tell me the truth, I don't scare into paralysis
I know the CIA saw Bin Laden on dialysis
In '98 when he was Top Ten for the FBI
Government ties is really why the Government lies
Read it yourself instead of asking the Government why
'Cuz then the Cause of Death will cause the propaganda to die..
He is scheduled for 60 Minutes next. He is going on
French, Italian, Japanese television. People
everywhere are starting to listen to him. It's embarassing
As the proverb goes, Muhammud Yunus taught Bangladesh how to fish. Beginning only with $27, the 66-year-old former economics professor from Chittagong built an institution which uplifted impoverished millions in his country and, if you listen to him, portends the end of global poverty. His Grameen Bank—which is named after the Bengali word for "village"—extended credit to rural poor, empowering entire communities, and especially women, to work, earn income and improve the conditions of their lives. He spoke to TIME moments before hearing the news that he and the bank he founded had been awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace.
When did it first dawn on you to start loaning small amounts of money to poor people with no collateral?
In 1974, there was a famine in the country. We felt terrible because instead of things improving after liberation, things were getting worse. I felt empty because my knowledge in economics meant little to the people suffering. So I would go out to the village near the University and tried to do something to help. I saw how people suffered for not having access to tiny amounts of money. Villagers had to borrow from loan sharks on terrible conditions — some even becoming slave labor for the money lenders. I made a list of 42 people most seriously in debt who, all together, owed no more than $27, and I went around the village according to the list, giving each person the money they owed with no conditions other than that they concentrate on their work and repay me when they could. It was a big shock for me that just a little bit of money could make people so happy. With the money, they could become free.
Investors and philanthropists have been astonished that your impoverished clients repay 99% of these loans on time. How does the Grameen Bank work?
Each branch is self-contained, its own Grameen Bank, made up of a community of borrowers and local staff who all know each other. We have a total staff of 20,000, lend $800 million a year to 6.6 million members nationwide. The Bank is very close to its community; there is a relationship of trust and the system as a whole encourages repayment. There is no attempt on anyone's part to outsmart anyone. After all, everyone wants to keep the door open to opportunity and we present that opportunity.
You maintain that credit is a human right. Why?
For any human right — the right to work, shelter, education — a person needs to be enabled to do it. Society can create the environment where this takes place, but the fundamental thing with human beings is self-employment, for someone to unleash their own potential, to unwrap that gift of one's self and find out who you are. With credit, people can begin to create income and improve their lives. If the right to credit is established first, then it makes other human rights easier to achieve.
96% of Grameen Bank members are women. Why is that?
When we started, we looked at all the other banks in Bangladesh and found that only 1% of their membership were women. We aimed for 50/50 in the beginning. The main challenge for a poor woman was overcoming the fear in her which was holding her up. We found that compared to men who spent money more freely, women benefited their families much more. Women wanted to save and invest and create assets, unlike men who wanted to enjoy right away. Women are more self-sacrificing, they want to see their children better fed, better dressed and, as a result, the conditions of the entire community improved.
In a heavily Muslim society, did this trigger any opposition?
We've had opposition on many fronts. Of course, the first opposition came from the husbands, who thought we were insulting them. The second were the mullahs, who started preaching that taking money from the Grameen Bank was against religion and that they should leave it to their husbands. Some even scolded the women for being so gullible to listen to us and claimed that we were Christian missionaries! We told them that in Islamic history women had been warriors and businessmen — look at the Prophet's first wife! There was also political opposition: the radical Left campaigned against us because they thought we were part of an American conspiracy, bringing capitalism to the poor so they wouldn't join the revolution. The Right in the country suspected that we were trying to organize the people into a political force — that we were a communist threat. We had people accusing us of being guilty of two opposite things! But in time people have gradually accepted the good that Grameen has done, and the social empowerment it has created with millions of the poorest Bangladeshis is undeniable.
What singular achievement do you take most pride in when looking back at three decades of the Grameen Bank?
I would have to say that I did something that challenged the banking world. Banking now must be all inclusive. Conventional banks look for the rich; we look for the absolutely poor. All people are entrepreneurs, but many don't have the opportunity to find that out. All I said was that poor people can handle money to improve their situation, and the effectiveness of this is being demonstrated tenfold around the world.
You said a decade ago that our grandchildren will have to go to museums to see poverty. Do you still hold fast to that conviction?
Yes, absolutely: 58% of the poor who borrowed from Grameen are now out of poverty. 2005 was declared the Year of Microcredit and there are over 100 million people now involved with microcredit (programs). At the rate we're heading, we'll halve total poverty by 2015. We'll create a poverty museum in 2030.
A small plane crashed into an Upper East Side high-rise Wednesday, shooting flames out the windows, raining debris on the sidewalks below and rattling New Yorkers' nerves exactly one month after the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. Police confirmed 2 people are dead.
Christine Monaco, a New York spokeswoman for FBI, said there was no indication of terrorism in the crash, but that officials "have been sent to the scene as a routine." FAA spokesman Jim Peters said all three New York City-area airports are operating normally.
"The initial indication is that there is a terrible accident," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.
The aircraft struck the 20th floor of a building on East 72nd Street, said Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi. Witnesses said the crash caused a loud noise, and flames were seen shooting out of the windows.
"It's a mob scene with police and helicopters circling," said Sandy Teller, watching from his apartment a block away. "There's a dozen ambulances and lots of firemen waiting on 72nd, on the corner. There are lots of stretchers ready, gurneys. And lots of emergency people waiting."
The crash struck fear in a city devastated by the attacks of September 11 five years ago. Witnesses said sirens echoed across the east side of Manhattan as emergency workers rushed to the scene. The crash triggered a loud bang. Broken glass and debris was strewn around the neighborhood.
"There's a sense of helplessness," Teller said. "Cots and gurneys, waiting. It's a mess."
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was too early to determine what type of aircraft was involved, or what might have caused the crash in the middle of a hazy October afternoon.
Witness Sarah Steiner, who lives one block away, told CNN that "The fire was raging out of two windows on approximately the 30th floor. ... They are evacuating the building."
The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street - a 50-story condominium tower built in the late 1980s and located near Sotheby's Auction House. The Belaire Condo, developed by William Zeckendorf Jr., has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million.
Several lower floors of the building are occupied by doctors and administrative offices, as well as guest facilities for family members of patients at the Hospital for Special Surgery, hospital spokeswoman Phyllis Fisher said. No patients were in the high-rise building and operations at the hospital a block away were not affected, Fisher said. The Hospital for Special Surgery specializes in orthopedic operations.
CONTRO LA POVERTA’.
ALZATI PER GLI OBIETTIVI DEL MILLENNIO
Lo STAND UP sarà una delle più importanti e coinvolgenti giornate di mobilitazione contro la povertà degli ultimi anni. Milioni di persone in tutto il mondo si alzeranno per sostenere gli Obiettivi del Millennio, alla vigilia del 17 ottobre, giornata dedicata dalle Nazioni Unite alla lotta alla povertà.
Il 15-16 di ottobre, milioni di persone nel Sud come nel Nord del mondo, aderendo all’appello dello STAND UP!, si alzeranno per chiedere ai leader politici che gli impegni assunti per combattere la povertà siano rispettati.
• STAND UP! Quando?
L’appello STAND UP! verrà lanciato in tutto il mondo dalle 12.00 di domenica 15 alle 12.00 am di lunedì 16 ottobre (orario italiano). Tutti coloro che aderiranno all’iniziativa in queste 24 ore saranno contati e parteciperanno alla mobilitazione globale contro la povertà.
Il 17 di ottobre il Segretario Generale Kofi Annan comunicherà ai governi del Sud e del Nord del mondo il numero delle persone che, tramite la loro adesione allo STAND UP!, avranno chiesto il rispetto degli impegni internazionali per abbattere la povertà estrema.
• STAND UP! Perché?
STAND UP!contro la povertà!
STAND UP!per il raggiungimento degli otto Obiettivi di Sviluppo del Millennio entro il 2015!
STAND UP!come segno di attenzione nei confronti delle ingiustizie del pianeta!
STAND UP! perché, a loro volta, i leader politici si alzino e si mettano in moto per rispettare le promesse!
STAND UP! per non rimanere inermi di fronte alla povertà e ai diritti umani violati!
STAND UP! perché è un gesto semplice che se verrà compiuto da milioni di persone in tutto il mondo non potrà essere ignorato dai potenti del pianeta
• STAND UP! Dove?
Ci saranno numerose manifestazioni in ogni continente. Tutti i luoghi, siano essi pubblici o privati, potranno essere coinvolti: le piazze, le scuole, gli stadi e gli altri luoghi sportivi, i luoghi di lavoro, i negozi, i mezzi di trasporto, i luoghi di preghiera, i cinema, i teatri, le librerie ecc… Si può aderire anche dalla propria casa.
• STAND UP in Italia!
Grazie al supporto di un’importante rete di partner pubblici e privati sono previste una serie di attività:
• nei campi di calcio di serie A. Stiamo coinvolgendo tutti gli stadi di serie A per uno STAND UP domenica 15 ottobre. Allo stesso modo, abbiamo contattato anche il CONI per coinvolgere altri sport.
A Roma, stiamo programmando, con il Comune, un concerto in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, insieme al Roma Film Festival e ad MTV. La voice box che raccoglie le voci contro la povertà sarà posizionata nelle prossimità (Via del Corso).
Sempre a Roma interverremo nelle scuole, ed in particolare al Giulio Cesare, dove il Ministro Melandri incontrerà insieme al cantante Antonello Venditti gli studenti.
A Milano si terrà una biciclettata in diversi comuni della Provincia di Milano che terminerà alla Casa della Pace e che vedrà otto tappe in cui verrà letta la pledge dello STAND UP.
Moni Ovadia dedicherà il suo spettacolo al Teatro Strelher allo STAND UP.
Milano sarà protagonista anche di molti eventi di lancio dello STAND UP. Il Milano Film Festival ha promosso lo STAND UP proiettandone il video prima delle 200 proiezioni cinematografiche ed ha ospitato la Voice Box della Campagna del Millennio per raccogliere le voci contro la povertà. L’8 di ottobre, la Maratona di Milano sarà dedicata alla Campagna del Millennio e promuoverà lo STAND UP. Testimonial della Campagna correranno contro la povertà insieme a migliaia di partecipanti. Coloro che correranno alla family walking riceveranno, insieme allo zaino con tutto il materiale informativo sullo STAND UP, anche una T-shirt Campagna del Millennio “corri contro la povertà”-STAND UP e la fascia “stop alla povertà”.
A Parma, Kuminda, il primo festival del cibo equo e solidale ospiterà, domenica 15, uno STAND UP. Parma ha già aderito allo STAND UP con un mega poster (9x9) che si trova nel centro della città e che invita allo STAND UP.
Ad Udine, l’Assessorato per la Pace della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia organizza uno STAND UP con le scuole la mattina di lunedì 16.
A Padova, l’Assessorato alla Cooperazione Internazionale del Comune, organizza uno STAND UP interno al Comune. Inoltre, per tutta la settimana che precede il 15 un mega poster sarà affisso in una delle piazze più belle del centro.
A Napoli, si sta organizzando un evento con le scuole per la mattina del 16 ottobre.
A Massa Carrara, la Provincia organizza uno STAND UP con i ragazzi delle scuole nell’ambito del quale si terrà un concerto.
A Pordenone, alcune scuole organizzeranno uno STAND UP la mattina di lunedì 16.
A Palermo (Piana degli Albanesi), il gruppo scout Agesci Palermo 11 sta organizzando uno STAND UP domenica 15 ottobre nell’ambito della giornata a tema "Le 8 strade per cambiare il mondo". Durante la giornata i bambini, i ragazzi e gli adulti presenti saranno invitati a costruire o inventare o scrivere "un segno contro la povertà".
Sempre a Palermo, lunedì 16 ottobre l'associazione studentesca "AL JANUB - tutti i sud del mondo" organizza un momento di incontro alle 11.00 presso "La casetta della cooperazione" di fronte la facoltà di economia dell'Università di Palermo (viale delle Scienze). Sarà possibile lasciare un "segno contro la povertà" su un lenzuolo bianco.
A Perugia, dal 4 all’8 ottobre, in occasione della riunione della Commissione sugli Obiettivi di Sviluppo del Millennio dell’Associazione mondiale delle Città e dei Governi Locali (UCLG) verrà lanciato lo STAND UP.
A Firenze, il 15 di settembre nell’ambito del tour delle reliquie del Buddha e di un evento interreligioso, che ha visto la presenza di più di 3.000 persone a Palazzo Medici Riccardi, è stato proiettato il video STAND UP.
A Bologna, il 15 settembre, nell’ambito dell’MTV Day è stato lanciato lo STAND UP.
Sono in programma altri eventi in altre località d’Italia.
Il 17 ottobre, giornata mondiale contro la povertà, alle 16.30 Roma ospiterà la Conferenza stampa di chiusura dello STAND UP Internazionale, con il Sindaco Veltroni, Eveline Herfkens (coordinatrice esecutiva del Segretario Generale delle Nazioni Unite per la Campagna sugli Obiettivi del Millennio), Kemal Dervis (Amministratore di UNDP), l’Onorevole Ministro delle Politiche Giovanili e dello Sport, Signora Giovanna Melandri, il Direttore Generale de LA7 e MTV ed un rappresentante della società civile. La conferenza si svolgerà in video collegamento con il Palazzo di Vetro delle Nazioni Unite da dove verrà annunciato il numero complessivo delle persone che avranno aderito allo STAND UP.
La Conferenza stampa sarà preceduta da un’audizione parlamentare presso la Commissione esteri della Camera con la presenza di Eveline Herfkens e Kemal Dervis.
Oltre agli enti locali, sono molte le organizzazioni non governative, le associazioni religiose di diverse tradizioni, i gruppi scout, i circoli culturali, le associazioni di disabili e i sindacati che stanno aderendo allo STAND UP, al quale si associano, sempre più numerose, personalità del mondo dello sport, spettacolo e cultura.
L’adesione allo STAND UP è pervenuta anche da parte di Benedetto XVI che interverrà all’Angelus di domenica 15 ottobre.
Si è mobilitato anche il mondo del settore privato. La nota Agenzia internazionale di comunicazione Young & Rubicam in collaborazione con Media Edge si è occupata pro bono della campagna pubblicitaria, che consiste di una campagna stampa, video, comunicati radio. UPM e Fondazione UNIDEA hanno permesso la realizzazione di un booklet informativo sugli Obiettivi del Millennio in collaborazione con i maestri Staino e Altan che hanno donato alla Campagna una serie di vignette. Il booklet verrà distribuito il 700.000 copie dal Corriere della Sera in allegato al Magazine del 19 ottobre. Lo stesso Corriere della Sera riserverà ampi spazi allo STAND UP, così come altre testate di livello nazionale e locale della carta stampata, nonché settimanali, quali – per esempio, Famiglia Cristiana.
Anche il mondo della Radio e della Televisione dedicherà dei momenti di approfondimento allo STAND UP: RAI, MEDIASET, LA7, MTV, RTL, Radio DJ, Radio 105, PLAY RADIO, Radio Montecarlo, Radio Vaticana…in alcuni casi con trasmissioni dedicate.
STAND UP! Come?
Aderisci alla giornata e promuovi iniziative nel tuo territorio
La riuscita dello STAND UP dipende dallo sforzo che tutti noi, singoli o gruppi, compiremo perché il maggior numero di persone in Italia e nel resto del mondo siano informate dell’iniziativa e vengano coinvolte nella mobilitazione.
Dalle ore 12.00 di domenica 15 ottobre alle ore 12.00 di lunedì 16 ottobre collegati al sito www.millenniumcampaign.it, lascia tutte le informazioni sul tuo STAND UP, inviaci, se vuoi, foto e video che saranno pubblicati nel sito e faranno parte di un collage mondiale di voci contro la povertà…
Invitiamo inoltre le istituzioni, le associazioni, le organizzazioni, gli enti locali italiani e i gruppi più vari ad organizzare e promuovere iniziative nei territori italiani sia in preparazione dell’evento, nelle settimane e nei giorni precedenti, sia nelle giornate del 15/16 ottobre perché ci siano tanti luoghi lungo tutta la penisola in cui si alzi forte la voce contro la povertà e a sostegno degli Obiettivi di Sviluppo del Millennio. (Vi preghiamo di comunicarci le iniziative inviando una mail a standup@millenniumcampaign.it ).
STAND UP! Un semplice gesto che non passerà inosservato se saremo in tanti, in Italia e nel mondo, a compierlo con uno stesso obiettivo: STOP ALLA POVERTA’! GLI OBIETTIVI DEL MILLENNIO DEVONO ESSERE RAGGIUNTI!
Web search leader Google Inc is in talks to buy YouTube Inc, the world's leading website for video entertainment, for close to $1.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
According to the newspaper, the talks are at a sensitive stage and could break off. YouTube declined comment on the report. Google representatives could not immediately be reached.
YouTube was founded in February 2005 as one of dozens of Internet video start-ups. It has exploded in popularity since last November by letting users share short video clips — both home videos and programming copied off television.
Rumours of a Google-YouTube deal appeared on Thursday on the TechCrunch blog of Web start-up powerbroker Michael Arrington, who said such talk was circulating among Silicon Valley venture capitalists after months of speculation that YouTube was an acquisition target.
"YouTube is the hottest property on the Web, one that could be worth much more than $1.6 billion if monetized properly," said RBC analyst Jordan Rohan, adding he had no information on whether YouTube would be acquired.
For Google, the acquisition of YouTube would thrust the Web search leader quickly into the market for video advertising, where it has only a tiny foothold compared with Yahoo Inc.
____
GOOGLE, the search-engine giant, is expected early this week to announce a $1.6 billion (£850m) deal to acquire YouTube, the video-sharing website that has been one of the fastest success stories on the internet.
Although YouTube was launched less than 18 months ago, it has already become the web’s 10th most popular destination, according to the information firm Alexa. An estimated 100m video clips are viewed from the website every day.
While YouTube has attracted a large audience, it has yet to demonstrate that it can generate profits or even significant revenues. It also faces a wave of litigation from media companies whose content has appeared on the site.
Another problem is the cost of hosting the growing number of video clips. This is estimated to be as much as $1.5m (£800,000) a month — a significant sum for such a young firm.
Google is thought to believe it can cash in on YouTube’s audience thanks to its proven technology for generating profits from web advertising. Running advertisements alongside videos — while more complicated than Google’s traditional search listings — could generate income in a similar way. Google intends to retain the YouTube brand.
The deal, which follows months of negotiations, will underline its financial firepower. However, it also suggests last January’s launch of Google Video — much criticised for its poor organisation — has been a flop.
Google’s purchase would represent another big success for Sequoia Capital, which has invested $11.5m in YouTube. The Silicon Valley venture-capital firm has previously backed Apple, Cisco, Electronic Arts, Oracle, Yahoo and Google itself.
In 1900, Believers by Percentage:
Judeo-Christianity 34.5%
Chinese-Traditional* 23.5%
Hinduism 12.5%
Islam 12.3%
Buddhism 7.8%
Other 9.2%
Non-Religious/Atheist 0.2%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2000, Believers by Percentage:
Judeo-Christianity 29.0%
Islam 23.6%
Non-Religious/Atheist 15.1%
Hinduism 13.4%
Other 6.7%
Chinese-Traditional* 6.3%
Buddhism 5.9%
*Note: Chinese-Traditional is a combination of Taoist, Confucian and Buddhism.
Believers by Continent (sorted by dominant religion first):
Africa: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism.
Asia: Islam, Hinduism, ChristianityBuddhism, .
Australia: Christianity, Indigineous, Islam.
Europe: Christianity, Islam.
North America: Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam.
South America: Christianity,Islam.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Countries with the Most Hindus
India 755,135,000
Nepal 18,354,000
Bangladesh 15,995,000
Indonesia 7,259,000
Sri Lanka 2,124,000
Pakistan 1,868,000
Malaysia 1,630,000
United States 1032,000
South Africa 959,000
Myanmar 893,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Countries with the Most Christians:
United States 235,742,000
Brazil 155,545,000
Mexico 95,169,000
China 89,056,000
Russia 84,308,000
Philippines 68,151,000
India 62,341,000
Germany 62,326,000
Nigeria 51,123,000
Dem. Rep. of the Congo 49,256,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Countries with the Most Muslims
Indonesia 181,368,000
Pakistan 141,650,000
India 253,960,000
Bangladesh 120,805,000
Turkey 65,637,000
Egypt 65,612,000
Iran 65,439,000
Nigeria 63,300,000
China 38,208,000
Algeria 30,690,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Countries with the Most Buddhists:
China 105,829,000
Japan 69,931,000
Thailand 52,383,000
Vietnam 39,534,000
Myanmar 33,145,000
Sri Lanka 12,879,000
Cambodia 9,462,000
India 7,249,000
South Korea 7,174,000
Taiwan 4,686,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Countries with the Most Jews
United States 5,621,000
Israel 3,951,000
Russia 951,000
France 591,000
Argentina 490,000
Canada 403,000
Brazil 357,000
Britain 302,000
Palestine 273,000
Ukraine 220,000
Statistical Source: National Geographic's "Geography of Religion", 2004.
1906 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi uses satyagraha (non-violent protest) for the first time to protest against Indian segregation/unfair laws in South Africa.
1928 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi pushes for India to be given Dominion Status.
1941-1945 - Six million Jews are murdered by NAZI-Christians during WWII.
1947 - Creation of Muslim Pakistan.
1948 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu radical. His last words were "Oh God."
1948 - The State of Israel is Founded.
1948 - World Council of Churches formed.
1950 - World Fellowship of Buddhists formed.
1959 - The Dalai Lama escapes to India during the Chinese invasion of Tibet.
1962-65 - The Second Vatican Council marks shift to the modern Catholic Church.
1966 - Maulana Karenga creates Kwanzaa.
1966 - Swami Prabhupuda founds the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
1967 - The Six Day War.
1967 - Israel gains control of East Jerusalem.
1968 - Liberation theology begins at Second Latin American Bishops' Conference.
1971 - East Pakistan secedes from West Pakistan to become Bangladesh.
1975 - Incorporation of Sikhism into the Republic of India.
1978 - John Paul II becomes the Pope in the Vatican.
1978 - Louis Farrakhan forms his own sect of the Nation of Islam.
1979 - Islamic Republic established in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini.
1980-92 - Falasha migrations from Ethiopia to Israel.
1982 - The film "Gandhi" is released. It is considered to be the greatest religious movie of all time. It won 8 Oscars and the Academy Award for Best Picture.
1987 - Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas founded.
1988 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is charged with molesting a choirboy by the Italian & German police.
1989 - Dalai Lama receives Nobel Peace Prize.
1991 - The United States declares war on Iraq, but later backs down because of fears of "another Vietnam".
1992 - Militant Hindu nationalists destroy mosque at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Rama.
1993 - Pope John Paul II says that "Condoms are evil tools of the Devil."
1993 - "Schindlers List" is released, a film about a German Catholic businessman who was instrumental in saving the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust. The film won 7 Oscars and the 1993 Academy Award for Best Picture.
1994 - The Taliban gains control of Afghanistan with the aid of the United States.
1998 - Pope John Paul II visits Cuba.
2001 - Hindu celebration of Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, the largest religious gathering/ceremony in world history.
2001 - Sept. 11th, Bush & Co, destroy the World Trade Centre in NYC.
2002 - The United States terrorism war against the Taliban in Afghanistan & start Religious Politics.
2003 - March 18th, the United States declares war against Iraq .
2003 - The Iraq Civil War begins.
2004 - The Passion of the Christ upsets box offices and viewers. The film is banned in many countries for its anti-semitism. It was nominated for 3 Oscars but never won anything.
2004 - Jedi declared an official world religion.
2005 - Pope John Paul II dies.
2005 - Bishop Joseph Ratzinger becomes Pope Benedict XVI.
2005 - A blasphemous cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb on his head causes deadly riots in the middle east and a consumer boycott of all products from Denmark.
2006 - Mel Gibson makes anti-semitic remarks.
2006 - Israel attacks Lebanon.
2006 - The United States threatens Iran with nuclear war. Iran says it has the right to defend itself with nuclear weapons
2006 - 911 inside job by bush and other politicians are proved.
I forgive POPE for his ignorance and what he said. It’s not his fault exactly also many Muslims (by name) are involved with this situation. Whatever POPE’s intention was I think he did what he wanted to do. But we all Muslim shouldn’t care of his comment cuz he means nothing for us. But yes in this month after 5 years of 911 when the facts are coming more clear that we didn’t do anything against humanity and trying to learn more about politics, peace and Mankind, when again we all religious people becoming friends the pope did what the world politics did before. The politicians hit the twin tower of World Trade centre and the Pope hit the invisible twin tower of Christ-Muslims the two tower. I don’t think the POPE is so ignorant to know what will be the reaction
Pope Benedict XVI knows better why he has quoted from a book to use the reported words of 14th-century Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II, that do not convey nice messages about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who has a following of more than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. The Pope has an elaborate set-up to prepare his speeches. The latest one thus cannot be called an accident or a lapse.
Behind the games they are big heads of this world they are leaders however politically or spiritually because this is not the first time that religion is using as a world politics issue. But what we Muslims should do ? We are doing what the POPE wanted, does real Muslims creating violence’s? Am I did any violence? What I found some ignore Muslim peoples they even don’t know perfectly what POPE said but they are misguided by their religious leaders (leader like pope) and creating problems, they just know that POPE said something wrong about Islam and our Prophet. Yes it’s true that they got angry and very normal as I did also. But we should understand that for POPE or any other non Islamic people can say wrong. Even after the 911 truths they got more more joules about Islam or Muslims. Though Islam never said to do anything wrong nor even any other religion. But people just need a issue to make a wall in this world between Islam / Non-Islam.
I am sorry POPE you can make violence by you comment in this world but there is no violence in my heart or my mind. I feel laugh cuz world is playing with ignore peoples.
It will be more better if you comment on MANKIND and for the peace.
9/11: The Politics of Eternal Mystery
by Ira Chernus
What’s the most important thing to know about September 11, 2001? That Al-Qaeda attacked the United States? That the Bush administration knew about it in advance and didn’t stop it? That some U.S. – based conspiracy orchestrated the whole thing?
No. The most important thing to know is that any of these possibilities might be true. Or any of them might be false. We simply don’t know.
It’s not merely that we don’t know yet. We will never, ever know for sure. The United States entered the 21st century wrapped in an unsolvable, irreducible, eternal mystery.
What’s more mysterious is that so few people recognize this mystery. Most Americans assume that the official version is true: Al-Qaeda did it. End of story. A much smaller number are convinced that the Bush administration was totally complicit, either from foreknowledge or actual planning. End of story.
But 9/11 is a story that will never end, precisely because neither side in the debate will ever believe the other side. It doesn’t matter how many facts are unearthed. History isn’t made by facts. It’s made by interpreting facts. In this case, each side can go on forever, fitting all the facts into its preferred interpretation. That’s why the mystery will never end.
This is nothing new. Every great historical event is a mystery. Why did the American Revolution happen, or the French Revolution, or the two World Wars? Historians will debate those questions forever.
The difference is that, back in those days, people believed there was a single truth to be found. Just gather all the facts, they said, and analyze them with careful logic. Eventually, we’ll all have to agree on the truth.
When did Americans begin to suspect that the very idea of “truth” in history might be an illusion? If that great change can be traced to any one day, it would have to be November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was shot. As the investigations unfolded and the reports were published, some of us began to realize that it would go on forever. We’d never be sure of the truth.
41 years later, it still looks that way. New facts may very well come to light. But the single-shot believers and the conspiracy theorists will each fit those new facts into their own interpretations. No facts will compel either side to change its mind.
The Kennedy assassination was the first great event in U.S. history that was widely recognized as a permanent irreducible mystery. Soon, we were embroiled in a war in Vietnam that became just as much of a mystery. Only the eerie, nearly incomprehensible final scenes of “Apocalypse Now” could begin to capture it.
At the same time, young people were discovering drugs that turned the whole world -- or just a fingertip or a grain of sand -- into an infinite mystery. “Something’s happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear,” they sang. “Something’s happening, but you don’t know what it is.” For a few short years, the whole nation became Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Jones.”
The essence of the ‘60s revolution was being open to the mystery. For a generation that had just begun to come of age when Kennedy was shot and the Vietnam war began, the future was inherently unknowable. Anything might happen. A sense of infinite possibility, shining through all the great rock and roll of the ‘60s, fueled a utopian politics. Since life was so uncertain, the only sensible course was to follow Janis Joplin’s advice: “Get it while you can.”
In the counterculture, every “truth” was only an interpretation. The more sides you could see to anything, the better. To see from all sides at once was the highest wisdom. The ultimate truth was always ambiguity. Infinite diversity was the highest value. This opened the door to multiculturalism, environmentalism, and the liberation of just about everything.
But millions of Americans found mystery, with all its implications, intolerable. They wanted to know that “truth” was still out there, waiting to be found. Most of all, they wanted moral truth. They craved a clear, immovable, absolute line dividing good from evil. That’s why they voted for Richard Nixon – only to hear him plead, “I am not a crook” and then see him resign because he was indeed a crook. So much for absolute moral truth and certainty.
Now George W. Bush is trying to succeed where Nixon failed. Long before 9/11, Bush was attacking and ridiculing those (Democrats, he clearly implied) who believe in moral “options.” Ever since 9/11, he has held up that day as “proof” that there is objective moral truth, an eternal good pitted against eternal evil. Bush would have us view anyone who opposes the U.S. as a metaphysical force of evil. Naturally, that make the U.S. a metaphysical force of good, obliged to search out evil and destroy it. No ambiguity allowed, ever.
This air of certainty is nearly all Bush has going for him in the current campaign. That’s why he talks endlessly about 9/11 and brags about his swagger. Millions cheer, because he makes their dream of “truth” believable again.
Republicans ridicule Kerry as a “flip-flop” to hide their fear of mystery and uncertainty. If he once changed his mind about Vietnam, what else might he change his mind about? Any man willing to look at the same issue from more than one viewpoint, and find some truth in each viewpoint, scares them. He symbolizes their ultimate fear – that no one will ever be absolutely certain of anything, that there is no good old-fashioned “truth” to be had. Bush and the deaths of 9/11, on the other hand, symbolize their certainty that Kerry, his “‘60s generation,” and all those who see the ambiguous mysteries of life are simply dead wrong.
Out here on the left fringe there is also some fear of mystery. Some feel safer “knowing for sure” that Bush was behind 9/11, or at least that he knew about it in advance and let it happen. But that kind of false certainty betrays the true spirit of the ‘60s revolution. It would be far better for all of us to acknowledge that we will never know the ultimate truth about 9/11, or the Kennedy assassination, or anything else for that matter. We can still hold strong moral views and act for what we believe is right. But we will have to keep our minds open. That is the best way to oppose George W. and all he stands for.
Ira Chernus is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado and author of American Nonviolence: The History of an Idea (Orbis Books). chernus@colorado.edu
We are sure that Israel is using a new chemical or radioactive weapon in their operation . . . When we try to X-ray dead bodies, we find no trace of shrapnel that hit the person killed,� said Dr. al-Saqqa, Shifa Hospital, Gaza; following the examination of the �completely burnt� bodies of dead Palestinians killed in Israeli air raids.
Question: How many editorials or op-ed columns have appeared in American newspapers defending the rights of Palestinian civilians to live in peace without the constant threat of being invaded or shelled by the world�s forth largest military?
None.
How many editorials or op-ed columnists have defended the Geneva Conventions or international laws against collective punishment, the willful destruction of critical infrastructure, or military maneuvers that deliberately put civilians in imminent danger?
None.
Then how many editorials or op-ed columnists have presented the recent flurry of events (including the capture of Israeli soldier Galid Shalit) in the broader context of Israel�s ongoing boycott of food and medical supplies, as well as the 50 or so Palestinian civilians who have been killed in Israel�s regular incitements in the occupied territories?
None.
The account of Palestinian suffering and victimhood rarely finds its way into the mainstream press, but in the present case, it has been completely ignored. In fact, none of the media provide any context for the current invasion at all. Israel�s blockade of food and lethal provocations have been going on for months, and yet, the accounts from Gaza would have the reader believe that history began on the day that the Israeli soldier was captured.
Sure, if the reader wants a balanced perspective, he can go to the Internet and choose from the many articles which provide the Israeli or Palestinian perspective of events, but the mainstream media?
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
The bias has grown into such an impenetrable cloud of pro-Israeli rubbish that it�s laughable. In fact, it's more likely to stumble across the random article lambasting Bush or Cheney than anything remotely critical of Israel.
There�s no debate about the facts of Israel�s brutal siege of Gaza. The only thing in dispute is the way those facts are skewed in the American media. Pick up the New York Times and you would swear it was edited by Ariel Sharon. There�s not even an attempt at evenhandedness; just the foolish ruminations of scribes who think they can spin war crimes into hard-hitting journalism.
Israel has been pummeling Gaza for months; intentionally starving the beleaguered occupants while lobbing 6,000 artillery shells into populated areas. Isn�t that front-page news?
Meanwhile, another 50 civilians have been bumped-off in gangland-style hits ("Targeted assassinations") authorized by the Knesset�s newest Mafia don, Ehud Olmert. Olmert has put the carnage and destruction into high-gear, eliciting criticism from his very own daughter who protested in front of her father�s home with signs that said, �Stop the Killing� among other things.
The Israelis have developed �sound machines� that emit ear-piercing explosions that have been deployed in Gaza City to shatter windows, cause miscarriages, and send children into deep trauma. It is a �terror device� pure and simple; it has no other function except to produce massive fear and anxiety. It is the latest weapon in the prodigious arsenal of the �world�s most moral army� (Olmert quote)
So why can�t we get the real scoop about Israel�s depredations in the territories or, at the very least, an occasional article providing a differing point of view? Is that too much to ask?
Simply put, anyone who believes this nonsense about �the poor abducted soldier� who fell prey to Hamas terrorists is a fool. The soldier is part of an illegal occupation which has been condemned in countless UN resolutions and which makes him a legitimate target in the struggle for national liberation. Since his capture, he has received medical attention and, my guess is, he probably hasn�t been tortured or abused at all. (which certainly would not be the case if he were captured by Israeli or American forces)
So, who are the terrorists here anyway?
Newly elected Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has been calling for calm and restraint throughout the entire 14-day ordeal. In fact, Haniyeh has made repeated appeals to the militants to release the soldier unharmed even while �Olmert the barbarian� was rampaging through Gaza blowing up roads, electric power plants, water lines, and, yes, even schools.
Schools, for God�s sakes. That�s just flat nuts!
If Israel had any sense they�d dump Olmert the madman and appoint Haniyeh as prime minister. So far, he�s the only one who has emerged from this mess looking like a reasonable fellow. (Note: Israel continues to threaten his life.)
Anyway, don�t expect objectivity from the American �free press.� I had to search through the Arab media just to find out that the UN was sending a fact-finding mission to Gaza to report on �Israel�s grave rights violations.� Don�t you think that the American people would like to know that little tidbit?
Or, that UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard is headed off to Gaza to investigate the Israeli military�s �disproportionate use of force against civilians.� Dugard said, �It is clear that Israel is in violation of the most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights.�
His comments have not appeared in any American newspaper.
Wouldn�t the American people want to know how far removed their government is from the prevailing opinion of other countries?
Sure they would, but don�t expect the media to tell them.
The American public has no idea the effect this invasion has had on the Muslim world; the mass demonstrations in Amman, Cairo, Tehran, Doha, etc. They haven�t heard the anger expressed at the United Nations or by world leaders who are sick and tired of the US defending Israel�s heavy-handed tactics.
The average American has no idea that Israel is keeping more than 9,000 prisoners locked up without charges and that over 400 of them are woman and children.
What the hell are they doing with children anyway? It�s an outrage.
It�s pretty clear that Israel would never get away with its crimes against humanity if it didn�t have a trustworthy friend in the American media. The streetwalking US press gave Bush a free pass on his Iraqi bloodbath; now they�re abetting Israel in its terror-crusade in Gaza.
It�s shameful.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com.
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