Sunday, January 15, 2012

‘Fraternity’ explores how Holy Cross educated some of the most influential U.S. figures

BY KEVIN CANFIELD
Special to The Star



More information
Fraternity, by Diane Brady (256 pages; Spiegel & Grau; $25)


Like scores of other private universities, the College of the Holy Cross was slow to embrace diversity.

Though the Worcester, Mass., school’s first valedictorian — the class of 1849’s James Augustine Healy, who would later become a seminal figure in the Catholic Church — was the mixed-race son of a slave, there were only a few black undergrads on campus more than a century later.

“When it came to black students,” Diane Brady writes in “Fraternity,” her stirring new book, “there seemed to be an unspoken pattern emerging each year: One was admitted from the North, one from the South; one of those two would typically be on athletic scholarship, one on academic scholarship.”

During at least one academic year in the 1960s, according to the book, the 2,200-member student body included a single African-American. “For some in the administration,” Brady adds, “that was sufficient.”

The Rev. John E. Brooks, a theology professor who was about to be installed as the school’s dean, wanted to change this. Holy Cross, he thought, was too white.

Several years before he and his colleagues began to welcome female students, Brooks argued that black men deserved the chance to attend Holy Cross and that the university would benefit from more inclusive admissions and outreach policies.

When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, Brooks decided it was time to accomplish these goals.

Brooks’ aggressive recruitment drive changed the face of Holy Cross and helped propel a group of talented African-Americans to greater heights later in life. Among them were Clarence Thomas, a future Supreme Court justice; Edward P. Jones, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction; Eddie Jenkins, a member of the undefeated 1973 Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins; Stanley Grayson, a deputy mayor of New York City; and Theodore Wells, a lawyer who has represented governors, Cabinet members and other politicians.

Brooks, of course, was wise and courageous to rethink his school’s racial mix, as were the black students who opted for Holy Cross when they could just as easily have attended any number of other colleges that were far more diverse. Together, they were on the right side of history. But that didn’t necessarily make the transition easier.

For Brady, the era’s biggest concerns — foremost among them being the struggle for racial equality and the Vietnam War — offer a means of exploring how Thomas, Jones and their fellow black classmates experienced life as part of a tiny minority at Holy Cross. And vice versa: the book’s characters also help the reader understand what it was like to be young, smart and oppressed in a land of supposedly limitless opportunity.

The book also serves as a minibiography of one of the most influential people in the United States. It’s intriguing, for example, to learn that Thomas, who almost never talks during Supreme Court proceedings, was “a … vocal presence in the (Black Student Union)” and that at least a few of his fellow black students “thought Thomas was incapable of shutting up at BSU meetings.”

Equally fascinating is the degree to which Thomas was driven by anger. He was resentful of his unyielding grandfather and wounded by his experience while studying in Missouri to be a priest. Thomas he would later recall that a white seminary student, upon learning that Martin Luther King Jr. had been wounded by gunfire, said, “That’s good; I hope the son of a bitch dies.”

Thomas was so prone to rage that, Brady writes, it could be “corrosive.” Armchair analysts will have to decide for themselves how this might have shaped Thomas’ career as a jurist.

The most interesting figure in the book, however, is Jones. The son of an illiterate single mother, he penned a social-issues column for the Holy Cross newspaper and resolved to chronicle the lives of his fellow Washington, D.C., residents in a set of fictional tales inspired by James Joyce’s “Dubliners.”

Jones published his Washington stories in 1992 in a book titled “Lost in the City,” but the intervening years often were trying. “Shortly after (his mother) Jeannette died in 1975,” Brady writes, “Jones sold his first story to Essence. He didn’t realize it until 15 months after the fact, as he was homeless at the time.”

Better times were ahead. Jones won the Pulitzer Prize and other awards for “The Known World,” his 2003 novel about life in pre-Civil War Virginia. It was a book, Brady writes, “that had been unfolding in his mind since he learned about black slave owners in a class at Holy Cross.”

Kevin Canfield is a freelance writer who lives in New York.

Posted on Thu, Jan. 05, 2012 04:00 PM


Saturday, January 14, 2012

Red Mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral

From thebahamasweekly.com -

Bahamas Information Services Updates

By Kathryn Campbell
Jan 10, 2011 - 8:47:05 AM

Red-Mass.jpg

Nassau, The Bahamas Members of the legal profession attended the annual Red Mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Sunday, January 9.

The Most Rev. Patrick Pinder, archbishop, presided over the service. Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister; Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett, The Hon. John Delaney, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and Court of Appeal President Anita Allen were among those in attendance.

Archbishop Pinder said the day is to set aside and invoke the guidance and grace of the Holy Spirit on members of the legal profession in recognition of the role they play in ensuring order in the community.

In his message Archbishop Pinder said the primary agents of law enforcers are not the police or the courts, but the ordinary citizens in their civil demeanor.

He said it is important to realize that the abandonment of civility initiates the lack of respect for law and order, breaches respect for neighbors and leads to blatant criminality.

Civility, he said, speaks to one's respect for individual differences, boundaries and protecting the rights of others.

Archbishop Pinder urged those in attendance not to be motivated by favoritism of any sort. Doing good must be the compass by which we navigate the challenges of our sojourn in this world. Missions must be aimed toward healing, restoration and rehabilitation, he added.

Redmass-Bishop.jpg
Roman Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder says a special prayer and gives a special blessing to members of the legal profession on Sunday, January 9 during the annual Red Mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. (BIS Photo/Peter L. Ramsay)


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The Titanic Disaster (1912-2012)



Uploaded by worcesterjonny on Mar 24, 2011

A video produced for the centenary of the Titanic Disaster (1912-2012). On 10th April, 1912, the Titanic, largest ship afloat, left Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York City. By the 15th April this great ship had sank (SUNK) with a loss of hundreds of lives.
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Happy Sabbath

Wilson Morales On Health

No Time to Lose


We have no time to lose. The end is near. The passage from place to place to spread the truth will soon be hedged with dangers on the right hand and on the left. Everything will be placed to obstruct the way of the Lord's messengers, so that they will not be able to do that which it is possible for them to do now. We must look our work fairly in the face, and advance as fast as possible in aggressive warfare.

From the light given me of God I know that the powers of darkness are working with intense energy from beneath, and with stealthy tread Satan is advancing to take those who are now asleep, as a wolf taking his prey. We have warnings now which we may give, a work now which we may do; but soon it will be more difficult than we can imagine. God help us to keep in the channel of light, to work with our eyes fastened on Jesus our Leader, and patiently, perseveringly press on to gain the victory.-- Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 22.

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Friday, January 13, 2012

Processed meat 'linked to pancreatic cancer'

A link between eating processed meat, such as bacon or sausages, and pancreatic cancer has been suggested by researchers in Sweden.

They said eating an extra 50g of processed meat, approximately one sausage, every day would increase a person's risk by 19%.

But the chance of developing the rare cancer remains low.

The World Cancer Research Fund suggested the link may be down to obesity.

Eating red and processed meat has already been linked to bowel cancer. As a result the UK government recommended in 2011 that people eat no more than 70g a day.

Prof Susanna Larsson, who conducted the study at the Karolinska Institute, told the BBC that links to other cancers were "quite controversial".

She added: "It is known that eating meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer, it's not so much known about other cancers."

The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, analysed data from 11 trials and 6,643 patients with pancreatic cancer.



If Video doesn't load visit link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16526695

Increased risk

It found that eating processed meat increased the risk of pancreatic cancer. The risk increased by 19% for every 50g someone added to their daily diet. Having an extra 100g would increase the risk by 38%.

Prof Larsson said: "Pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates. So as well as diagnosing it early, it's important to understand what can increase the risk of this disease."

She recommended that people eat less red meat.


Cancer Research UK said the risk of developing pancreatic cancer in a lifetime was "comparatively small" - one in 77 for men and one in 79 for women.

Sara Hiom, the charity's information director, said: "The jury is still out as to whether meat is a definite risk factor for pancreatic cancer and more large studies are needed to confirm this, but this new analysis suggests processed meat may be playing a role."

However, she pointed out that smoking was a much greater risk factor.

The World Cancer Research Fund has advised people to completely avoid processed meat.

Dr Rachel Thompson, the fund's deputy head of science, said: "We will be re-examining the factors behind pancreatic cancer later this year as part of our Continuous Update Project, which should tell us more about the relationship between cancer of the pancreas and processed meat.

"There is strong evidence that being overweight or obese increases the risk of pancreatic cancer and this study may be an early indication of another factor behind the disease.

"Regardless of this latest research, we have already established a strong link between eating red and processed meat and your chances of developing bowel cancer, which is why WCRF recommends limiting intake of red meat to 500g cooked weight a week and avoid processed meat altogether."

Labour declares Saturday, Sunday rest days

on JANUARY 13, 2012 · in NEWS


By Nnamdi Ojiego

Organisers of mass protest/occupy Nigeria, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and Civil Society groups have asked the protesters all over the country to stay at home on Saturday and Sunday to enable them to get enough rest and refreshment for the next week’s task.

Addressing the mammoth crowd at the Gani Fawehimin Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos, Friday, the leader of Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare said the two days break was to allow the protesters to relax their nerves and reconvene on Monday in pursuance of their agenda.

He urged the federal government to take advantage of the break to revert to N65, as according to him, from next week, protesters will not only occupy Lagos but will also occupy Abuja and other major cities in the country.

Bakare also disclosed that PENGASSAN has been directed to shut down all operations in the upstream oil sector by Sunday if the government did not revert to N65 without any condition.

Meanwhile, in view of the ongoing dialogue between Labour and FG, protesters have vowed to continue with their occupation if the labour leaders compromised on its stand. According to them, it is N65 or nothing.

“We will not retreat and we will not surrender. Even if labour leaders call off the strike, people’s protest will continue until government does what is just”, Bakare reiterated.


Source


Thursday, January 12, 2012

Pope says economic crisis cause for reflection

Updated 06:33 a.m., Monday, January 9, 2012



Pope Benedict XVI arrives for an audience with the diplomatic corps at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI has remembered the "numerous victims" of religiously motivated terrorism during an annual reception for diplomats. Benedict said acts of terrorism were especially prevalent last year in Asia and Africa, citing violence in Pakistan and Nigeria. Photo: Pier Paolo Cito / AP Pool



VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that solutions to the global financial crisis must allow all to lead dignified lives.

The pontiff noted that the crisis has spread from the developed world, where it started, to developing countries, where it is having a "profound impact" on life.

"We must not lose heart, but instead resolutely rediscover our way through new forms
of commitment," Benedict said. "The crisis can and must be an incentive to reflect on human existence and on the importance of its ethical dimension."

Solutions should do more than stem financial losses, and also aim to ensure "all can lead a dignified life," Benedict said, speaking to an annual gathering of the diplomats representing their countries at the Holy See. The Vatican has diplomatic relations with 179 nations.

Benedict said economic disparity had provoked last year's protests seeking reform that have swept North Africa and Middle East, noting that it was difficult at the moment "to understand fully the consequences for the stability of the region."

"Initial optimism has yielded to an acknowledgment of the difficulties of this moment of transition and change," the pontiff said, calling for an end to violence and for putting respect for individuals at the center of institutions and laws.

The pope also expressed concern for people in countries where violence continues. He
said he was praying for a rapid end to bloodshed in Syria and a speedy start of political dialogue "encouraged by the presence of independent observers."

The pope also recalled the "numerous victims" of religiously motivated terrorism, especially in Asia and Africa. He cited the assassination last spring of Pakistan's sole Christian government minister and a Christmas Day explosion in a Catholic church during Mass near Nigeria's capital, killing at least 15.

Taking up a theme he espoused last fall at a communal peace meeting in Assisi, Benedict emphasized that such violence was the antithesis of religion. "Religion cannot be employed as a pretext for setting aside the rules of justice and of law for the sake of the intended 'good,' "
Benedict said.


Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Pope-says-economic-crisis-cause-for-reflection-2450133.php#ixzz1jJcGKU6x
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America's Trojan Horse


By Donald Collins

Volume 7, Number 1 (Fall 1996)
Issue theme: "'Anchor babies' - the citizen-child loophole"





Those of us who - since the 1970's - have been looking with apprehension at the phenomenon of too many immigrants coming into our country for its own good, are faced with many enemies.

The professional race mongers such as the head of the ACLU find that because we don't want everyone to come here, we are racists. LULAC and others, including several U.S. foundations and the Vatican, take the same stance. When we say that the arrival of mostly unskilled immigrants only hurts our poorest, often black, citizens, or our youngsters willing to take low pay to get started in the work place, such adversaries only think we are lying.

After all, in our hearts these folks tell the world, we really only want, if any must come, white Western Europeans like our majority before 1965's disastrous new migration law was passed. Ergo, we are xeno-phobes.

And then, from all wise, all powerful business types such as 40-year-old Bill Gates, we are anti-libertarian, perhaps the worst charge, since only by getting in the best and brightest from overseas can we maintain global supremacy - by-passing our own young talents - and training Indians and others in our latest technology - so they may return home to India with the technology to knock our socks off, even if they are paid in the interim on average half or less than the going wages required by comparable U.S. citizen employees.

The same thing that got the Trojans will get us. Greed and stupidity. Here we are, spending billions for weapons, standing military forces, swat teams, drug enforcement, etc., but have happily brought into our nation since 1965 an increasing stream of immigrants, who like the Greeks of the Iliad, quietly wait as our leaders claim that immigrants add endlessly to the economy without taking benefits (both untrue) - so we take the bait of cheap labor, which under cover of the darkness our leaders keep us in, labor which when taken home, will take our technology, while leaving us the world's poorest and most useless, and thus permit the quiet conquest of the greatest nation ever created.

By continuing to ignore the irrefutable demographics of the growing cancer of immigration, suddenly our kids and grand-children will awaken, perhaps 25 to 50 years from now, and see that the culture of our unique-ness and the brilliance of our economic system have been spirited away, pillaging our competitiveness, our technology, and our national spirit.

Finally, those of us who can read - apparently those with a true sense of our national interest and the ability to read are few - we who see this new Trojan Horse clearly, are identified as against the free market system, which everyone from Milton Friedman on down knows will solve all our problems, if only left unfettered.

Businessmen who use cheap foreign labor, including many of our elite who want to hire domestic help, use this argument what are borders, what is nationhood, what is the world but one big happy integrated McWorld?

Two recent books are worth reading. One, The Case Against Immigration by Roy Beck. (W.W. Norton, 1996) gives all the above arguments. The other, Jihad vs. McWorld by Benjamin R. Barber (Times Books, 1996) points out the startling conflict between fanatical extremism and world business greed, both leading relentlessly to a loss of demo-cracy as Americans know it today.

Our future is on the line The Trojan Horse is already inside the gate. We are looking at its apparent attractiveness, beguiled by its apparent beauty and friendliness. "Immigrants are much more scrappy and willing to work than Americans," according to one libertarian on a talk show I heard recently. We are about to fall asleep as the Dow hits new highs, our main political parties assure us all is well and that we are not already fiscally bankrupt. Our public infrastructure is seedy and our health care and social security are nearing bankruptcy, but we are told they will be fixed easily, and above all, that we need not suffer any pain to fix the follies of 60 years of wild government spending and resource-wasting. And we want so badly to believe.

Outside, in the real world of death and tyranny, not so analyzed on the screens of our flawlessly clear TV sets, the population of the world grows from 2 billion in 1930 to 3 billion in 1960 to 6 billion in 2000 to 12 billion by 2050. All the wars of the 20th Century killed 100 million, curiously the same number of net new people added yearly to our planet now; of those, 80 million are born in countries with per capita incomes at or lower than Mexico; we let in 1 million legal and illegals now, which means a U.S. population of 400 million vs the present 265 million by 2050!! Many outside the U.S. and the West have proved they are willing to die to get into the USA. Only 50 percent of us even vote in national elections and the power of money has bought off almost everyone, including our elected officials, who are no better or no worse than those who vote for them. After all, we are rich, we are safe, we are happy and we are looking bemusedly at the Trojan Horse of immigration, which insures our decline like all the civilizations before us ... or are we? It's your call, folks.

About the author

Donald A. Collins, a freelance writer from Washington, DC, is a news junky who finds little mention of the above point of view in his daily media diet. This op-ed appeared in the Greensburg (PA) Tribune-Review, September 8, 1996.


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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Top 5 ‘let them eat cake’ moments of the Obama White House

From a sojourn to Spain to island vacations

By The Washington Times Tuesday, January 10, 2012


President Obama holds hands with his daughters Malia (left) and Sasha as they leave Sea Life Park, a marine wildlife park, with family friends on Dec. 27 in Waimanalo, Hawaii. (Associated Press)


President Obama is learning what Nancy Reaganalready knows: When it comes to White Houseglamour - and the spending that comes with it - it’s not so much what you do as when you do it.

Decades ago, the former first lady was criticized for wearing expensive designer clothing and buying a pricey new White House china set - paid for by private donations, by the way - during a recession.

In the here and now, Mr. Obama and his wife,Michelle, have prompted similar complaints for hosting a lavish, unpublicized “Alice in Wonderland” White House Halloween party in 2009 featuring director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp, all while the country struggled with high unemployment and the lingering economic fallout of the Great Recession.

Of course, this isn’t the fist time the Obamas have drawn such scrutiny. Herein, the first couple’s top “Let Them Eat Cake” moments:


Read more

New JRS report launched at EU Parliament




Brussels, 20 December 2011 – At the EU Parliament, JRS Europe launched their new report From Deprivation to Liberty at an event which included MEPs and representatives from the Belgian Immigration Office and NGOs.


The report, which is based on interviews with migrants participating in alternatives-to-detention programmes in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany, concludes that detaining migrants is unnecessary because more humane non-custodial alternatives exist.


‘‘None of the alternatives to detention we looked into are inherently harmful. They exemplify steps – albeit small steps – towards the normalisation of engagement over enforcement’’, said Philip Amaral of JRS Europe.

‘‘The biggest problems we observed relate to the larger systems of migration and asylum. On a whole, these are systems based on assumptions about likely migrant behaviours rather than empirical evidence.


Geert Verbauwhede of the Belgian Immigration Office acknowledged that the current Belgian system is still in its infancy but was appreciative of the JRS recommendations. ‘‘Our system is still growing, we are only existing three years but we will take the JRS report on board’’, he said.


He condemned the type of lawyers mentioned in the report who charge asylum seekers large fees yet provide them with little help. ‘‘Legal assistance is not always of the same quality... some lawyers see it as a cash cow. If we see this, we will complain to the board of lawyers but we have no influence here’’.

He also admitted that there is not enough information provided to those arriving at the border. ‘’It is clear that we have to give them direct information at the time’’, he said.


Antonio Masip Hidalgo MEP, claimed that the biggest problems with adopting a new Reception Conditions Directive lie with member states in the Council. Even those that are the most engaged in the debate, and the most supportive, face difficulties with the compromise.


He said that there is a need to go straight to the member states, i.e. in Brussels, their embassies, permanent representations, in order to persuade them to accept compromises that include alternatives to detention.

The Danish Presidency of the EU (Jan-July 2012), however, will be a critical moment for the Reception Conditions Directive. This period will be a good chance to adopt a directive with higher protection standards, he stated.


Contact information:

Philip Amaral, advocacy officer

europe.advocacy@jrs.net

+32 2 250 32 23




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Towards a new economic model, based on solidarity and responsibility: The European Social Market Economy


In response to the economic and financial crisis currently hitting Europe, the COMECE Bishops propose that the Common Market evolves towards the concept of a Social Market Economy in order for the EU to become a viable ‘Community of Solidarity and Responsibility’.


unknownBy means of this Statement, which will be unveiled on 12 January 2012 in Brussels, the Bishops of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), offer a commentary on the concept of “a highly competitive social market economy”, which has become one of the treaty objectives of the European Union since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.


As a formulation, the concept is used most often in German-speaking countries, but it has also entered the constitutional traditions of other EU States, such as Poland. It usually means: wide-ranging freedom of the market associated with the instruments of the competitive economy together with the principle of solidarity and its mechanisms for the promotion of greater social equality, i.e. far-reaching social protection on the part of the State. However, this concept still needs to be fleshed out and made more specific. This is the purpose of the Statement.


Voluntary Welfare

After recalling the cultural background of the Social Market Economy, the Statement of the COMECE Bishops underlines first of all the importance of ‘gift’ and ‘reciprocity’ in the Social Market Economy. “The institutions corresponding to the free form of solidarity – mutual associations, cooperatives and self-governing municipal bodies – and other forms of the social economy and ethical investments, therefore demand to be given particular attention in building a European social market economy” p.13


Competitiveness and Responsibility

The market is not inherently anti-social. Ordered in the right way it can be a place for interactions that create relationships. The Statement recalls in particular the positive role of Competition in the Social Market Economy: “Monopolies, cartels, price-rigging and the distortion of competition through the abuse of economic power or public aid must be combated effectively or prevented by the legislative and executive branches of the European Union” p.14. However, the Bishops condemn an economy which aims solely at the accumulation of profit “This vision threatens to overshadow the social and ecological dimensions of quality of life, which often cannot be directly expressed in monetary terms, and ignores the impact of economic activity on others, especially the generations to come” p. 15. The Bishops remind us that “With regard to the supply of vital goods and public services in particular, public authorities have a formal obligation” and they call on the EU to adopt “an appropriate regulation of public services, and social services in particular, in the common European market” p.17. Finally, “It is the consumers who ultimately dictate the direction of economic activity to a great extent through their consumer habits, both in Europe and globally. Every economic decision has a moral consequence. Here, too, the Church seeks to play its part”p.18.


Social Policy

In this area, the Bishops call for a reallocation of responsibilities between the European Union and the Member States “in the European social market economy social protection is put in place to fill this gap so that a dignified standard of living can be guaranteed to all citizens. This can no longer be the concern of the Member States alone, but must also be a concern of the European Union”p.19. Concerning social partners, the Bishops invite “the European institutions, in a time of crisis and sometimes difficult adjustments, to create the conditions that will enable social dialogue between European partners to play the role assigned to it in the European treaties” and they recall that the recent conclusion of the “Pact for the Euro”, may lead “to align taxation policy and social policy in the direction of greater justice” p.20.


For a sustainable development

The Statement firmly calls for respect for the economic and ethical principle of sustainability. “Without a systematic integration of ecological factors, neither economic competitiveness nor social justice can be achieved in the long run” p.22. The Bishops call for a specific commitment and an institutional guarantee for sustainability, not just at European level but also at the global level.


Conclusion

The COMECE Bishops call on the EU to commit to the development in the long term ofa true world political authoritywhich, together with economic ingenuity, should show due regard for the principles of justice and ecological responsibility. They conclude that “Today, the social market economy needs be spread across Europe, so that it may survive the challenge of global competition, and in order to be able to continue offering the most vulnerable in our midst effective social protection, and in order to be sustainable, given the requirements of environmental and climatic protection. To make the social market economy a reality in the European Union, we need a community of solidarity and responsibility. With solidarity and responsibility, we Europeans will also succeed in mastering the present difficult crisis and walking together on our common path and, in the end, demonstrating peace and justice to all people throughout the world” p.24.


The Statement will be presented on

Thursday 12 January 2012 at 12:30

by Cardinal Reinhard MARX, COMECE Vice President, Archbishop of Munich-Freising.

At the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the EU (Brussels)

More information and registration here



Contact Johanna Touzel, COMECE Press Officer Johanna.touzel@comece.eu

Tel : 0032 2 235 05 15



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VIDEO: From West Point To Pot Smuggler, A Third-Party Congressional Candidate's Adventure

January 9th, 2012 By COREY PEIN

VIDEO: From West Point To Pot Smuggler, A Third-Party Congressional Candidate's Adventure


codyreynolds
The major party candidates to replace Oregon's former First Congressional District Rep. David Wu—Democrat Suzanne Bonamici and Republican Rob Cornilles—have captured most of the media attention and donor support.

But WW also took the time last week to interview the third-party candidates in the race who will also appear on the ballot for the Jan. 31 special election: Progressive Party candidateSteven Cody Reynolds of Portland and Libertarian Party candidate James Foster of Beaverton.


Foster, pictured right, is a software engineer and Seventh-day Adventist who says his political beliefs are in line with his party's Presidential nominee, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. He is a "pure" Libertarian—arguing, for instance, that the federal government ought to encourage competing currencies.

Reynolds, pictured above, is an unemployed former office administrator and expat English teacher who was recruited to carry the Progressive platform in the Congressional race.

As we learned in our interview, Reynolds' résumé carries a distinction many candidates would omit:

He is probably the only West Point graduate to run for Congress after getting busted in Tennessee while attempting to smuggle 11 lbs. of weed across the country.

Reynolds says his chief qualification for the job is his willingness to tell the truth. Here's how he related the story of his felony drug bust in our interview last week:

Both Foster and Reynolds favor marijuana legalization.

In case you were wondering, a felony conviction—even imprisonment—is not a disqualification from holding office in Congress. Today's civics lesson from the Congressional Research Service (pdf):
Since the United States Constitution sets out the only three qualifications for congressional office (age, citizenship and inhabitancy), the conviction of a crime which constitutes a felony, can not constitutionally “disqualify” one from being a Member of Congress (unless that conviction is for certain treasonous conduct after having taken an oath of office). …

Once a person meets the three constitutional qualifications of age, citizenship and inhabitancy in the State when elected, that person, if duly elected, is constitutionally “qualified” to serve in Congress, even if a convicted felon.

Similar to the fact of a felony conviction, the fact that an individual is in prison, in and of itself, is also not necessarily a constitutional bar to or an automatic disqualification from running for and being elected to Congress. In fact, as early as 1798 a Member of the House was re-elected to Congress while imprisoned within his home State. Representative Matthew Lyon, an outspoken Republican critic of the Federalists, and particularly of President John Adams, was convicted and imprisoned on October 9, 1798, under the so-called “Sedition Act” for “libeling” President Adams.


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Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,..


2 Peter 3

1This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

2That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

3Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

13Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

15And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

17Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

18But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.


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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Doomsday Clock suggests world is worse, not better


The Doomsday Clock lost one minute due to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and continuing inaction on climate change.

By Associated Press / January 10, 2012


A group of scientists that tracks the likelihood of a global cataclysm says the world is moving closer to doomsday.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday that it has moved its "Doomsday Clock" to five minutes to midnight.

The group says inadequate progress on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and continuing inaction on climate change are the reasons for the move.

The clock had been set at six minutes to midnight for the past two years. It previously was set at five minutes to midnight from 2007-2010.

The group says in a statement that two years ago, there was reason for optimism "that world leaders might address the truly global threats we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed."


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Swiss Central Bank Chairman Hildebrand Resigns

01/09/2012

Insider Trading Suspicions


SNB Chairman Hildebrand on Jan. 5, when he broke his silence about his wife's private currency trading.
REUTERS

SNB Chairman Hildebrand on Jan. 5, when he broke his silence about his wife's private currency trading.

The president of the Swiss National Bank resigned on Monday amid ongoing suspicions about a lucrative currency trade made by his wife. Philipp Hildebrand said he could not prove he didn't know about the transaction and wanted to protect the central bank's reputation.

For weeks, Philipp Hildebrand had been under fire. And on Monday, he gave in to the pressure, resigning from his post as president of the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

The move, announced in a statement by the central bank, came in the wake of news of a controversial trade made by his wife, former hedge fund trader and Zurich galerist Kashya Hildebrand. She allegedly bought some 400,000 Swiss francs ($418,000) worth of dollars on Aug. 15, three weeks before her husband directed measures to cap the rise of the franc at 1.20 per euro.

In the months prior, nervous investors had fled from the franc, driving the currency exchange rate up and threatening the economy of the export-reliant country. But after the maximum rate was set, it swiftly lost value. When Hildebrand's wife sold the currency on Oct. 4, she reportedly made a profit of some 75,000 francs.

Hildebrand's resignation came as he was about to face questioning by a Swiss parliamentary committee. Not long after the bank's statement was released, he called a press conference in Bern, telling journalists that the previous weeks had been a "difficult time," but that he was proud of his previous work, which included stints at financial institutions in Switzerland and the World Bank.

"I would like to think I have been a damn good central banker," Hildebrand told reporters. "The policy of the central bank was a success in recent years."

Informant Hospitalized

Less than one week ago, Hildebrand broke his silence over the scandal with a press conference, where he denied breaking the National Bank's rules. He also announced he would donate the tens of thousand in profits made from the trade to charity. Though he had previously said he had not been aware of his wife's trade until the day after it was made, on Monday he said he could not prove this.

The confidential Monday session with members of the Committees for Economic Affairs and Taxation was meant to determine whether Hildebrand and his wife may have also made trades from accounts other than the one held at Bank Sarasin, based in Basel, used in the currency trade. Also facing the committees was head of the SNB's supervisory council, Hansueli Raggenbass, who has also come under fire in the scandal, which has authorities questioning transparency at the bank. The SNB cleared Hildebrand of wrongdoing in the matter in December.

The IT employee at Bank Sarasin who leaked details of the trade was fired last week. On Sunday news broke that the 39-year-old informant had been hospitalized after allegedly attempting suicide. In a letter to several Swiss dailies on Monday he said he had not intended for the information to go public.

Swiss National Bank Vice Chairman Thomas Jordan will temporarily take over Hildebrand's position, the supervisory council said in a statement.

kla -- with wires


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