Soul providers
maff
Andrew Brown
November 3, 2006 02:25 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/andrew_brown/2006/11/when_the_church_becomes_the_st.html
All over the world right now there is a retreat from state provision of
social services to religious provision of the same. That is really what
the debate about faith schools is about in this country - the
government believes that volunteers do better than conscripts, and the
people who work in the state education system are assumed to be
conscripts, trudging along without idealism or hope.
In some parts of Africa, the process has been carried to its logical
conclusion, and the state has disappeared entirely, leaving only the
churches to supply what health and education there is. "We are the
government," said a Catholic social worker I was listening to earlier
this week, talking at a conference about his church's role in the arid
badlands of northern Kenya. The trouble is that when this happens, the
nature of the church changes too, and the assumption that it is more
idealistic than the government no longer need apply.
Make way for the teens
Ciaran Jenkins
November 3, 2006 12:20 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ciaran_jenkins/2006/11/post_568.html
David Cameron was in Cardiff yesterday to speak at the Youth Justice
Convention. I caught up with him as he was "showing some love" to a
youth inclusion project on a local council estate.
"What's he saying about fireworks?" a Welsh hack asked the press
officer. "Stand well back," he replied.
Protecting the web
Calestous Juma
November 3, 2006 12:43 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/calestous_juma/2006/11/post_569.html
The world wide web is 15 years old and still in its technological
adolescence. Its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, worries that "bad things"
could happen and the web could be used to spread misinformation and
support undemocratic practices.
Berners-Lee is right is worrying about the future of the net. What is
critical is not simply worrying about spread of "bad things", but
finding a healthy balance between the benefits and risks of the web.
Armed and dangerous
Open Thread
November 3, 2006 12:52 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2006/11/keep_your_enemies_close.html
A poll published this morning in the Guardian reveals that America's
closest ally views the president as a greater threat to world peace
than either Kim Jong-il or Mahmoud Ahmedinejad - the leaders of
two-thirds of George Bush's infamous "axis of evil".
The spam onslaught
Bobbie Johnson
November 3, 2006 01:55 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/bobbie_johnson/2006/11/post_573.html
This morning I opened my inbox.
Dear FRIEND I am MARIAM SPAMMA, widow of the late Nigerian pro-consul
E. MALE SPAMMA. After he death of my husband who died mysteriously of
cardiac arrest, I was informed by our lawyer that my husband made
significant money in the sum of TEN MILLION DOLLARS for onward transfer
to overseas counterpart.
New whines in old bottles
Francis Sedgemore
November 3, 2006 03:01 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/francis_sedgemore/2006/11/whingeing_our_way_to_a_surveil.html
Yesterday saw the publication of a report by Britain's information
commissioner, Richard Thomas, who calls for a public debate on the
civil liberties implications of living in a surveillance society.
The call for a debate should be taken up, but there's a problem. Take,
for example, comments left following a BBC News website story on the
surveillance society. Some of the commenters - who I take to be more
representative of British opinion than those contributing to the
Guardian's Comment is free blog - take a civil libertarian position,
but many do not, appearing to accept the "If you've nothing to hide,
you've nothing to fear" line, and in a few cases even echoing this
ghastly Orwellian phrase. This same attitude applies to many of the
statist policies of the current government, which will likely be
continued by a future Conservative administration.
Nice one, Jack
Asim Siddiqui
November 3, 2006 03:20 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/asim_siddiqui/2006/11/nice_one_jack.html
Last night's event with Jack Straw organised by the Three Faiths Forum
and the City Circle was worth seeing. You can watch it here. This was
an opportunity for Mr Straw to clarify what he said about the face veil
(niqab) and why in front of a mainly young Muslim audience and for them
to robustly engage with him.
As I reached the hall at UCL there was a small (but vocal)
demonstration outside organised by the 'UCLU Stop the War society'. How
surreal this felt as I picked up one of their "Jack Straw Sucks"
leaflets. The City Circle set-up JustPeace back in 2001 which was the
first Muslim group to join the Stop the War coalition. However, the
City Circle is an open and independent platform which hosts all kinds
of people - and engagement does not equal endorsement. So rather than
chant the same old slogans I made my way into the hall to chair the
event.
Beyond all reasonable doubt
Tony Juniper
November 3, 2006 03:54 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tony_juniper/2006/11/post_572.html
I wonder why it is so rare these days to hear people on the TV and
radio saying that smoking is good for you or that the Holocaust is a
fiction? Perhaps it is because these ideas are dangerous and socially
unacceptable. Perhaps it is because the facts confirm a different
reality and allowing such misinformation to spread would cause harm.
Maybe that's why editors don't broadcast them.
So why, I wonder, are various deniers of the reality and consequences
of climate change still given so much airtime?
Made holy by the dollar
Jonathan Jones
November 3, 2006 04:27 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jonathan_jones/2006/11/jpno5.html
Number 5, 1948, the painting by Jackson Pollock sold for a reputed
$140m, is a piece of poetry; great poetry. Pollock once raged that his
work contained no accidents, a statement that may seem perverse and
unbelievable - but look at this painting. It was made by pouring and
flicking paint onto a canvas laid on the ground and yet it is no
chaotic action daub. It radiates structure and meaning, like the masks
carved by Native Americans, or the jazz Pollock loved to listen to
while he painted. It is a classic Pollock, one of the very first works
in which he achieves the unfathomable grace that was to climax in
masterpieces like Lavender Mist in 1950.
Anyway, that's what I feel. I can go on, about how Number 5, 1948, is
unexpectedly autumnal for a painting done by a man in his mid-30s at
the very beginning of his great period, so you almost suspect, looking
at the reddish brown and yellow colours of fall leaves, Pollock knew
his season of genius would be shortlived. About how the metallic silver
that flashes against these darker hues has a manic desperation. But
critics have been writing like this about Jackson Pollock since the
1940s, and all their words have never done quite so much for Pollock's
reputation as this $140m. Be honest. Don't you think more highly of the
painting, or at least accept that it is immensely valued by the
guardians of culture, when you see that figure?
Voters are morons
Eric Alterman
November 3, 2006 04:56 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/eric_alterman/2006/11/eric_alterman_on_midterms_1.html
Well, this is something:
Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a
vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war ... But in
recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts
say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq's secret nuclear
research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts
say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb."
The unknown soldier
Greg Palast
November 3, 2006 06:26 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/greg_palast/2006/11/i_want_to_hurt_somebody.html
It was pure war-nography. The front page of the New York Times
yesterday splashed a four-column-wide close-up of a blood-covered
bullet in the blood-soaked hands of an army medic who'd retrieved it
from the brain of Lance Cpl Colin Smith.
Pricing the midterms
Cass Sunstein
November 3, 2006 07:15 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/cass_sunstein/2006/11/pricing_the_midterms.html
Here is a prediction for the American midterm elections: The Democrats
will take the House of Representatives and the Republicans will hold
the Senate. This isn't an especially interesting prediction, I know,
but it's based on something much more interesting: the prices on the
current prediction markets.
In general, such markets have been proving to be remarkably reliable.
The Iowa Electronic Markets have been forecasting presidential
elections for a while now, and they have usually outperformed polls,
often "calling" the outcome within one or two percentage points. The
Hollywood Stock Exchange does very well in predicting box office
success (and Oscar winners, thus taking a lot of the fun out of Oscar
night). Markets that attempt to predict economic trends have also been
highly accurate.
Whose fault is it anyway?
David Corn
November 3, 2006 07:57 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_corn/2006/11/david_corn_on_midterms_2.html
In the final days of the congressional elections campaign, as the
Democratic and Republican parties throw tens of millions of dollars
into advertising in key House and Senate races, it's not too early to
kick off the blame-game.
With the pre-tally predictions favoring the Democrats, it's natural
that the Republicans would start to worry about recriminations first.
Dick Armey, the former Republican House majority leader, has been
assailing Christian conservatives for forcing his party to neglect its
small-government agenda in favor of divisive social matters, such as
gay marriage and abortion. He has singled out James Dobson, the head of
Focus on the Family, and has called such "self-appointed Christian
leaders" as Dobson "thugs" and "bullies." (Dobson is also in the news
of late for supporting Ted Haggard, the head of the National
Association of Evangelicals, who was accused by a male prostitute of
being one of his clients.)
Who has failed the white working-class?
Sunny Hundal
November 4, 2006 08:04 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunny_hundal/2006/11/who_has_failed_the_white_worki.html
Given the general frenzied tone of most articles covering race or faith
related issues, one emerging trend seems to have escaped attention.
Last week the Economist carried an article on Britain's "forgotten
underclass", with a tagline stating: "Muslims and blacks get more
attention. But poor whites are in a worse state".
This is a bold statement to make but not without merit. The article
briefly examines three issues in turn: education, unemployment and
crime; citing statistics to show that while poorer ethnic minority kids
are doing their best to get ahead in society, white working-class kids
are languishing behind.
The young are kicking back against encroachments on all our liberties
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1939215,00.html
Demonised almost as soon as they leave the womb, it's not surprising
that children sense that society is out to get them
Marina Hyde
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
John Reid is a glass-half-full sort of chap - water, of course - but
even a pessimistic home secretary could not fail to be encouraged by
one element of this week's Youth Justice Board study, which suggests
that Asbos are widely perceived by teenagers as a badge of honour. "You
are inviting little Johnny Smith to... run over the imaginary line,
then run away from police," one police officer said of geographical
exclusion zones. "You've actually invented a game for the kids to
play."
While poverty persists, there is no freedom
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1939216,00.html
Millions remain enslaved and in chains at a time of breathtaking
advances in technology and wealth
Nelson Mandela
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
In Johannesburg, this week, in the warm company of friends, like Nadine
Gordimer, I became an Amnesty International ambassador of conscience.
It was a joy for me to receive this honour from the members of the
world's largest human rights movement. It was heartening too that the
award was inspired by the great Irish writer Seamus Heaney's poem From
the Republic of Conscience, which reminds us all of our duty.
Their embassies, he said, were everywhere
but operated independently
and no ambassador would ever be relieved.
The Democrats must not think they speak for America
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1939217,00.html
Victory in next week's elections on the back of the miseries of Iraq
won't guarantee a return to the White House in 2008
Martin Kettle
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
This is a good weekend to be a US Democrat - and next weekend will be
an even better one. The only serious question as America's midterm
election campaign reaches its climax is the size of the Democratic
victory over George Bush's Republicans on Tuesday. Will it be at the
bottom end of the scale - which means only narrowly recapturing the
House of Representatives and making insufficient gains to overturn the
Republican majority in the Senate? Or will 2006 be one of those wave
elections where everything comes together in a sweeping rejection of
the party in power, in which case by this time next week the Democrats
may find themselves sitting atop a 40-seat House majority and a
four-seat Senate advantage too?
Face to faith
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1939398,00.html
Diversity of belief is a very Anglican tradition, says Martyn Percy
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
Just why do churches separate? The old joke about the two
fundamentalist pastors shipwrecked on a desert island gets near to the
nub of it. When the rescue party arrives, they discover two churches
have been built at either end of the island, with both pastors claiming
to have founded a new international ministry.
The worldwide Anglican communion is at present riven by similar
tensions. On the surface, the difficulties appear to be centred on
issues such as sexuality, gender, the right use of the Bible, and the
appropriate interpretation of scripture. These schismatic tendencies in
Anglicanism would appear to relate to authority, theology and ecclesial
power. But this takes little account of the fact that such tensions
have existed within Anglicanism from the outset.
Scrambling to Beijing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1939221,00.html
Leader
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
No fewer than 48 African heads of state are being hosted at a grand
summit in Beijing this weekend - a dry run for the 2008 Olympics, some
say - in an event which underlines how "peacefully rising" China has
become a powerful player in a distant continent. As happened with the
European powers in the 19th century, the red flag is following trade
that has grown to a staggering $50bn this year. China's clout in many
countries is enormous: it buys 70% of all Sudanese exports; Angola has
just overtaken Saudi Arabia as China's biggest energy supplier.
Neocons turn on Bush for incompetence over Iraq war
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1939472,00.html
Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
Several prominent neoconservatives have turned on George Bush days
before critical midterm elections, lambasting his administration for
incompetence in the handling of the Iraq war and questioning the wisdom
of the 2003 invasion they were instrumental in promoting.
Richard Perle and Kenneth Adelman, who were both Pentagon advisers
before the war, Michael Rubin, a former senior official in the
Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, and David Frum, a former Bush
speechwriter, were among the neoconservatives who recanted to Vanity
Fair magazine in an article that could influence Tuesday's battle for
the control of Congress. The Iraq war has been the dominant issue in
the election.
Evangelical leader quits over gay sex allegation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1939439,00.html
· Prostitute says pastor paid him for sex for three years
· Preacher led campaign against same-sex marriage
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
America's evangelical movement was reeling yesterday amid allegations
that a pastor who was one of its rising stars had engaged in sex and
drug sessions with a male prostitute.
The Rev Ted Haggard, a married father of five, resigned from his post
as president of the National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday
after the Colorado church where he serves as pastor launched an
investigation into allegations that he had been paying a male
prostitute for sex for the past three years.
>From Blackhawk to ballot box - war veterans take fight to Republicans
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1939467,00.html
Suzanne Goldenberg in Elk Grove, Illinois
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
Tammy Duckworth steers her wheelchair across the checkerboard floor of
the diner, past the men hunched over their eggs at the counter, to a
table where a woman in a lime green sweater is blinking nervously at
the four television cameras heading her way. "It's a little crazy,
isn't it," Ms Duckworth laughs, and toys with the bracelets on her
wrist. Then, at machine-gun speed, she rattles off her plan for getting
US troops home from Iraq if she is elected to Congress.
The savannah comes to Beijing as China hosts its new empire
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1939380,00.html
City covered in giant posters as billions of dollars are spent on
projects to win friends at summit - with no questions asked
Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
The most lavish party that China has thrown in more than 50 years got
under way last night with high-pitched Peking opera, rhythmic African
drumming and a gravity-defying display of acrobatics in the Great Hall
of the People.
This was a display of power as much as entertainment - the unique
spectacle of a nation hosting a continent. The guest list for the
opening banquet included almost every head of state in Africa,
representing a quarter of the votes in the UN, a sizeable chunk of the
world's natural resources and, combined with the hosts, a third of the
planet's people.
Crackdown in Maldives ahead of planned protest rally
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1939240,00.html
Duncan Campbell
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
The government in the Maldives has launched a clampdown against members
of the opposition and journalists in advance of next week's planned
anti-government protest, it was claimed last night. The country's
best-known cartoonist has been jailed and opposition activists said
that their supporters had been arrested and beaten.
Opponents of President Maumoon Gayoom, who has been in power for 28
years, are planning a rally in the capital, Male, on November 10. The
aim is to press for constitutional reforms in a country which, while a
leading tourist destination, has been strongly criticised by Amnesty
International for its suppression of human rights. Thousands of
protesters are planning to travel from the atolls to Male.
Custom outlets - US publishing's new holy grail
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1939456,00.html
· Bookshops out of favour in the bid for bigger sales
· Racetracks and hardware stores outstrip websites
Ed Pilkington in New York
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
Once upon a time, not all that many years ago, it was all quite
straightforward. A writer would write a draft, an editor would edit it,
the publisher would publish it and a bookshop would sell it.
It is not so easy any more. Today, a speciality sales manager may well
be involved at an early stage working out with the editor and the
publisher how the concept of a book and its cover may appear side by
side with a chunk of meat, or coffee bags, or an electric chain saw.
Colour coding has become a buzzword, where content used to reign
supreme.
The Indian living god, the paedophilia claims and the Duke of Edinburgh
awards
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1939403,00.html
· Sexual abuse accusations against group's leader
· 80th birthday invitation to hundreds of youngsters
Paul Lewis
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
A spiritual group whose "living god" founder has been accused of
sexually abusing young boys has become an accredited partner of the
Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, the Guardian can reveal.
Last night pressure was mounting on the charity to break its links with
the group whose followers are devoted to the preachings of 79-year-old
holy man, Sai Baba.
About 200 young people will fly to India in two weeks' time on a
humanitarian pilgrimage run by Sai Youth UK, a division of the Sri
Sathya Sai Organisation. The teenagers and young men earn their Duke of
Edinburgh awards for humanitarian work, chiefly distributing medical
aid.
'We rationalists are the oppressed minority'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1937479,00.html
Jon Ronson
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
I've been getting a lot of emails from people who believe 9/11 was an
inside job. They say shadowy forces behind the Bush administration
brought down the Twin Towers with controlled explosions. I log on to
the British 9/11 Truth Campaign forum to see why they believe what they
do. I introduce myself. Within minutes, posters are warning other
posters not to trust me.
"Ronson's strings are being pulled," somebody writes. "You can bet
there is a Zionist agenda somewhere in what he does." Another poster
adds that my Zionist overlords and I don't only control the media, we
also control "the money supply" and "everything else as well". And it
was us "Zionists" who orchestrated 9/11.
My secret love affair
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1937510,00.html
In Iran, unmarried couples caught in a relationship face being flogged
and jailed. But this has not deterred one woman from seeing her lover.
She tells of clandestine nights in hotels, snatched kisses and phone
sex, Iranian style
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
Everyone here goes naked. I don't mean without their clothes as this is
the Islamic Republic of Iran, but underneath all those layers and
veils, underneath knickers and tights, vests and chadors, Iranian women
- and men - have no pubic hair. And so, although Iranian women sport
the most splendid eyebrows in the world, the luxuriousness that is
trained into perfect black arches above is not welcome down below. Down
below is meant to be hairless.
The long shadow
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1938711,00.html
Four books on Britain's invasion of Suez 50 years ago emphasise how
little we have learned, writes Adam Thorpe
Saturday November 4, 2006
The Guardian
Road to Suez: The Battle of the Canal Zone by Michael T Thornhill,
270pp, Sutton, £19.99
Suez 1956: The Inside Story of the First Oil War by Barry Turner,
531pp, Hodder and Stoughton, £20
Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez and
Decolonization by Wm Roger Louis, 1,065pp, IB Tauris, £24.50
After Suez: Adrift in the American Century by Martin Woollacott, 166pp,
IB Tauris, £16.99
Historical parallels are always dangerous, but as the anniversary books
and TV documentaries remind us, the political commentators who kept
muttering "Suez" in 2003 had a point. In July 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser,
who had led the coup that overthrew King Farouk, became Egypt's
president and nationalised the Suez Canal - the west's "jugular"
connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, which had been a
contentious symbol of imperial power and control since its opening in
1869. Nasser had also made an arms deal with the Soviet Union. This,
along with fears of his grandiose project of "pan-Arab" unity, was the
pretext for invasion. There followed ministerial lies to parliament and
the UN; a prime minister undoing all his previous good work before a
spineless cabinet; thousands of deaths (mainly Egyptian); huge anti-war
demos in Trafalgar Square; and the shattering both of Britain's world
prestige and the long-term reputation of a popular premier.
Unpopular and unwelcome, Bush hits the campaign trail
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1953684.ece
By Andrew Buncombe in Springfield, Missouri
Published: 04 November 2006
In the final days of America's election battle, George Bush is hitting
the campaign trail in an effort to rally the faithful both to help his
party and safeguard the last two years of his presidency.
But unfortunately for Mr Bush, in an awful lot of places, he is simply
not welcome. Unlike four years ago, when Mr Bush campaigned furiously
for Republicans across the country, his own unpopularity as a result of
the war in Iraq has led many candidates to make clear they would rather
campaign without him. As a result, his late appearance on the campaign
trail is confined to traditionally solid Republican areas where
strategists believe his presence can motivate turnout rather than win
over new supporters.
The 'YouTube elections': how campaigns are being scrutinised as never
before
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1953685.ece
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 04 November 2006
Next week's midterm elections may or may not see a radical shift in
America's political leadership. But, in campaigning terms, the big
change has already happened: the "YouTube election" has arrived.
Every time a candidate has made a gaffe, or made an outrageous
television advertisement, or provoked interesting discussion on the
cable news shows, or inspired the growing band of television satirists,
the results have made their way on to the internet.
France blocks Nato bid to create a global terror force
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1953750.ece
By Stephen Castle in Brussels
Published: 04 November 2006
Plans to boost Nato's co- operation with countries such as Australia
and Japan in an effort to forge a partnership against terrorism have
been blocked by France.
The moves were to have been at the centre of a summit of the alliance's
leaders to be held in Riga this month. Nato officials now accept that
only a loosely worded pledge to increase contacts with partners in Asia
and Australasia will be included in the communiqué, which will be
agreed by President George Bush and other leaders in the Latvian
capital.
Eden 'was on purple hearts during Suez crisis'
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1953727.ece
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Published: 04 November 2006
The reasons behind Sir Anthony Eden's mistake in dispatching British
troops to Suez are among the most enduring mysteries of modern
politics.
Rumours have circulated for decades that Eden, who was Prime Minister
from 1955 to 1957 and was suffering from a debilitating illness at the
height of the crisis in 1956, was taking addictive, painkilling drugs
that could have clouded his judgement.
America's anti-enviromentalists
Kenneth Rogoff
November 4, 2006 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/kenneth_rogoff/2006/11/americas_antienvironmentalists.html
As an American, I am appalled, ashamed, and embarrassed by my country's
lack of leadership in dealing with global warming. Scientific evidence
on the risks mounts by the day, as most recently documented in
England's magisterial Stern Report. Yet, despite the fact that the
United States accounts for roughly 25% of all man-made global carbon
emissions, Americans show little will or inclination to temper their
manic consumption.
The first George W Bush administration was probably right to refuse to
sign the so-called "Kyoto Protocol," albeit for the wrong reasons.
Among other problems, the Kyoto Protocol does not go far enough towards
redistributing carbon emission rights towards developing countries. But
why can't the US bring itself to raise taxes on gasoline and other
sources of carbon emission like coal burning power plants? It is not
like the US government, running a huge deficit despite an economic
boom, does not need the money.