Integrate? Tell that to the Christian church, Mr Blair
maff
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1968616,00.html
The Prime Minister rightly promotes tolerance and condemns 'the
hate-makers', but he lets our bishops off too lightly
Mary Riddell
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Tolerance is what you get when love runs out. Or that was the view of
EM Forster, who made it sound like oil on the wheels of grudgery, the
lubricant of a discontented world. The Prime Minister is more positive.
To Tony Blair, mutual understanding is the elixir of co-existence and
the formula for a better Britain.
Diversity, faith and integration have dominated Mr Blair's tenure. His
lecture on Friday was his last big chance to influence how, or whether,
the fissures in British society can be healed. He had mulled over what
he would say since 9/11 and the London bombings. Though his address was
one of a series of lectures on the nation's future, no theme would
reflect the Blair years or prefigure the next chapter as greatly his
take on tolerance.
Blunt truths about Britain's security from an old soldier
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1968609,00.html
General Jackson was warning not just Tony Blair but all politicians
that the defence of the realm cannot be done on the cheap
Andrew Rawnsley
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Before he retired as head of the army, Sir Mike Jackson was joined at
the Sandhurst passing-out parade by the Prime Minister. He may have
sent British troops into battle in more theatres of war than anyone
since Winston Churchill, but the only time Tony Blair has ever worn a
uniform was as a member of the Fettes school cadet force, an experience
that he so loathed that for a while he became a pacifist. As the
parading at Sandhurst was about to begin, Tony Blair turned to the
general and said: 'You'll have to tell me what to do, Mike.'
Richard Doll was a hero, not a villain
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1968617,00.html
Cristina Odone
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
How easy it is to apply today's standards to yesterday's heroes. We
have now learnt that Richard Doll, the world's greatest pioneer of
cancer research, and the man who down-played the cancer risks posed by
Agent Orange and vinyl chloride, was in the pay of big companies that
produced these chemicals.
Immediately, Doll's expert witness work was condemned as worthless and
Doll deemed a fraud.
Today, his retainer from the chemical industry would be seen as a
serious conflict of interest. Either he would have to declare it or
shun any work that might give rise to question.
Just who do we think we are?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1968575,00.html
Rather than belittling foreigners, the British should realise that our
supposed moral superiority is a sham
Peter Beaumont
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
There is something deeply instructive about the present tut-tutting
over how the authorities in Moscow are restricting the access British
detectives are allowed to key witnesses in the Litvinenko affair. The
lessons have nothing to do with whether the Russia of Vladimir Putin is
becoming a dark, increasingly autocratic place that is dangerous for
critics of the state. It is. Nor do they instruct us on whether any of
those suspected of having a hand in his murder should stand trial
wherever they are found. They should. Finally, there can be little
dispute over whether we should press for the extradition of anyone
involved. We most certainly should.
Darfur's dispossessed need money, not pity
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1968577,00.html
Antonio Guterres
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
>From genocide in Rwanda to the agonies of Darfur, the world seems
paralysed when called upon to make the really big gesture. It seems
equally reticent when asked to provide comparatively modest financial
support to those doing their best to make a difference for the growing
numbers of uprooted and dispossessed people.
Tomorrow, I will launch our annual appeal to the international
community to provide a billion dollars so that the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) can play its part next year in
providing refugees with some measure of protection and life-saving
assistance. If history is any guide, however, I will be disappointed
and will receive pledges for no more than a third of total needs.
Should mankind go back to the Moon?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1968604,00.html
Nasa unveiled plans last week to build a permanent moon base, a
stepping stone to Mars ... and a monitoring point for Earth
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Karol Sikora
What a waste of money! There is so much to be done on Earth that makes
shooting for the Moon and the stars ludicrous. The first Moon shot was
just part of the competitive sparring in the Cold War era. It led to no
overall benefit to global society. Health, education and social equity
are far more worthy causes. Don't be fooled by the concept that such
challenges bring useful step changes in technology. Computers, mobile
phones and digital TV would have happened without a space programme.
And think how much of a carbon footprint a launch rocket leaves in its
trail. Let's keep our feet firmly on the ground.
If only their firms grew as fast as their pay packets
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1968303,00.html
Simon Caulkin, management editor
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Headlines about soaring directors' pay have become so regular that we
are suffering what might be called fat-cat fatigue. Even so, the news
in the 2006 Directors' Pay Report from Incomes Data Services that
average total pay for chief executives of FTSE 100 companies shot up by
more than 40 per cent this year should raise more than eyebrows.
For comparison, the IDS pay databank shows wage settlements for the
year running at 3 per cent. Chief executives in the biggest UK
companies now earn 98 times more than the average of all full-time UK
employees: £2.9m, up from £2m a year ago. Last year's CEO pay
increase alone was 31 times greater than the average full-time wage.
Road map to peace in the intellectual property war
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1968312,00.html
John Naughton
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
American neocons like to say that the only things found in the middle
of the road are 'white lines and dead armadillos'. Much the same
applies to intellectual property (IP). At first sight, this may seem
strange because - as a former editor of the Financial Times observes -
'it is an obscure and distant domain, its laws shrouded in jargon and
technical mystery, its applications relevant only to a specialist
audience'. Yet, he continues: 'IP is everywhere. Even a coffee jar
relies on a range of IP rights, from patents to copyrights, patents to
trademarks.'
Britain stops talk of 'war on terror'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1968668,00.html
Foreign Office has asked ministers to ditch the phrase invented by Bush
to avoid stirring up tensions within the Islamic world
Jason Burke
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Cabinet ministers have been told by the Foreign Office to drop the
phrase 'war on terror' and other terms seen as liable to anger British
Muslims and increase tensions more broadly in the Islamic world.
The shift marks a turning point in British political thinking about the
strategy against extremism and underlines the growing gulf between the
British and American approaches to the continuing problem of radical
Islamic militancy. It comes amid increasingly evident disagreements
between President George Bush and Tony Blair over policy in the Middle
East.
Clashes fuel fears of war in Horn of Africa
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1968563,00.html
Fierce fighting between the Islamist militias and government forces in
Somalia threatens to ignite the whole region
Xan Rice in Nairobi
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Heavy clashes between Islamist militiamen and forces loyal to Somalia's
government continued for a second day yesterday, as fears of an
imminent war in the Horn of Africa mounted.
The fighting centred around Maddoy, 25 miles south of Baidoa, the
temporary capital and the only town that the weak transitional federal
government controls. Witnesses who reported heavy shelling said
Ethiopian troops formed part of the government contingent.
While information remains sketchy - due to the dangers in Somalia even
local correspondents for the international news agencies are reporting
on the clashes from Mogadishu, 150 miles to the east - both sides
suffered casualties, perhaps more than two dozen.
Backlash over return of looted art
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1968561,00.html
Jewish families are winning back paintings seized by Nazis but German
museums are questioning their motives, stirring fears of anti-Semitism
Jason Burke and Claudia Keller
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
The painting hanging in his parents' living room in Berlin is one of
his dearest memories. Percy Henschel's home was destroyed a long time
ago and his mother killed by the Nazis, but the 74-year-old German is
convinced that the work, a magnificent religious painting in oil by the
16th-century artist Lucas Cranach, still exists, hanging on the wall or
in the vault of a German or Austrian museum, and he is determined to
find it.
After Baker, what next for the war in Iraq?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1968558,00.html
He is under intense pressure after last week's damning report on Iraq.
But George Bush is likely to disappoint his critics by pouring in more
troops
Paul Harris and Peter Beaumont
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Gordon Smith stood up on the Senate floor, his voice slow and serious.
The Republican Senator from Oregon had been an ultra-loyal supporter of
the Iraq war and President Bush. Until last week.
Now he had changed his mind. Smith labelled US policy in Iraq absurd
and 'maybe even criminal'. He had been spurred to speak, he said, by
White House reaction to last week's Iraq Study Group (ISG) report.
'Let's cut and run, or cut and walk ... because we have fought this war
in a very lamentable way,' Smith told colleagues.
Now we must face the facts and talk to the Taliban in Afghanistan
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1968559,00.html
Jason Burke
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
One immutable law of insurgency warfare is that, while conventional
armies need to win, insurgents need only to avoid losing. The
disagreeable truth is that, though we are not losing the war in
Afghanistan, we are not winning. Neither, looking at the current
situation, are we likely to.
This means a fairly stark choice. We can struggle on, as in Iraq,
losing men and money for years until an Afghan version of the James
Baker report tells us to change tack - or we change tack now.
A victim's view of tragic Darfur
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1968564,00.html
Tracy McVeigh, foreign editor
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
The horror of Darfur seems especially disturbing when seen through an
infant's eyes and this sketch, of a village being bombed from the air,
was drawn by an anonymous child - one of the thousands now living in
displaced people's camps in Sudan. The picture - other drawings by the
Darfur children were too distressing to publish - was obtained by the
human rights group Amnesty International, which has been monitoring
fresh attacks in the region.
Mad scientist? No, I'm just serious about food
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1968685,00.html
Heston Blumenthal, the king of 'molecular gastronomy', has a new,
radical manifesto. He wants us to care less about technical wizardry -
and more about good cooking
by Vanessa Thorpe
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
They say you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs - but then
Heston Blumenthal and his fellow exploratory chefs came along. In this
country Blumenthal's name now stands for the complex and often wacky
fusion of science and cookery; you wouldn't expect him to do something
as conventional as break an egg: he would be much more likely to fire a
Worcester Sauce blowdart into its shell. Just to see what happened.
Far across the sea lay true égalité
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1967885,00.html
The new world leaves Alexis de Tocqueville sick and giddy in Hugh
Brogan's delightful biography, writes Hilary Spurling
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Alexis de Tocqueville: Prophet of Democracy in the Age of Revolution
by Hugh Brogan
Profile £30, pp448
When the Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville travelled across America in
1831, he saw trees stretching to the horizon in every direction like
the sea. 'The whole country is nothing but one vast forest, in the
middle of which they have made clearings,' he wrote after three months,
already beginning to suspect that the occupants of this strange, blank,
silent, untouched continent held the future in their grasp. 'We are
travelling towards unlimited democracy,' he told a friend. 'I don't say
this is a good thing. What I see in this country convinces me, on the
contrary, that it won't suit France; but we are being driven by an
irresistible force. No effort made to stop this movement will do more
than bring about brief halts.'
The son of Scrooge
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1967893,00.html
David Cannadine's account of the lonely, dried-up life of American
banker and philanthropist Andrew Mellon is riveting reading, says
Rachel Aspden
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Mellon: An American Life
by David Cannadine
Allen Lane £30, pp560
All giants are the product of improbable growth spurts, and the US
economy's was the so-called 'Age of Gold', the decades between 1865 and
1933 in which America became the world's first 'billion-dollar
country'. The frenetic industrialising and expanding, lending and
speculating were carried out by a gang of 'robber barons', led by John
D Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt and JP Morgan -
known for their extravagance as much as their business sense - and by a
banker and secretary of the US Treasury famous only as 'the most
unknown plutocrat in the US': Andrew William Mellon.
Hurricane Arianna
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,1965689,00.html
She's the Blackberry-toting, Bush-baiting Queen of the Blogosphere who
has made her two-year-old website the most potent force in American
politics. Paul Harris links up with Arianna Huffington to discover what
makes the ultimate Net worker click
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Arianna Huffington sweeps into the room at the Time-Life building in
midtown Manhattan. She is tall and statuesque and waves a mane of
chestnut hair above cheekbones so sharp you could hang a jacket on
them. She does not look around. She does not need to. Everyone is
looking at her. Hurricane Arianna is hitting New York. She blows
through the room, meeting and greeting the powerful Manhattanites
gathered there to debate who should be Time's Person of the Year. It
has probably occurred to a few of them that it just might be her.
Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto': rape, torture, human sacrifice - and a
thumbs-up
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2062492.ece
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 10 December 2006
Jon E Drucker, a Jewish lawyer in Los Angeles, doesn't buy the idea
that Mel Gibson has atoned for his anti-Semitic rant to a traffic cop
who pulled him over for drunk-driving over the summer.
"Maybe I'm just stiff-necked, but I don't think he's really sorry," Mr
Drucker says. "I think he just wanted us to see Apocalypto."
Iran's denial of Holocaust harms Arab cause, Palestine activist tells
president
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2062488.ece
By Angus McDowall in Tehran
Published: 10 December 2006
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has come under attack for his
views on the Holocaust from an unexpected quarter - a Palestinian
activist recently freed after 18 years in an Israeli jail.
Mr Ahmadinejad was widely reviled in the West last year for saying the
Holocaust was "a myth" and that Israel should be "wiped off the map".
Later he said he did not know if the slaughter of six million Jews
really happened, condemned laws in some European countries against
Holocaust denial, and said that if Europe felt guilt about the Jews, it
should create a homeland for them on European soil.
South Africa: Cloud cuckoo land
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2055435.ece
Glittering malls stand beside grim poverty; the government is split and
so are the people. So where is the 'new South Africa' heading? Patrick
Neate tours a nation with a World Cup to host and an identity crisis to
solve.
Published: 10 December 2006
I first went on a "township tour" in 1990. I was 19 years old and on
holiday from Zimbabwe, where I was then working. Nelson Mandela had
been released from Robben Island a couple of months previously and, in
South Africa, it seemed like the beginning of the end for apartheid.
In the UK, meanwhile, the poll-tax riots marked the beginning of the
end for Margaret Thatcher, too, the prime minister who once branded
Mandela a "terrorist" and whose stance has only recently been disowned
by her party. Three years previously, Thatcher had claimed that anyone
who believed the ANC would ever rule South Africa was "living in cloud
cuckoo land". Four years later, cloud cuckoo land became reality.
Joan Smith: An unpredictable world, Mr Blair? It's you who was
surprised by Iraq
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/joan_smith/article2062416.ece
Could all this spending on nukes be an act of atonement?
Published: 10 December 2006
What is it about Tony Blair and weapons of mass destruction? In a week
when a cross-party committee of MPs warned that British troops in Iraq
and Afghanistan are "desperately short" of equipment, the Prime
Minister announced that he wants to spend up to £20bn on building a
new generation of submarines for Trident missiles. The warning from the
Select Committee on Defence followed an outspoken attack on the
Government by the former head of the armed forces, General Sir Mike
Jackson, reinforcing complaints from soldiers about shortages of
equipment on the front line.
It's inconceivable that we would use nuclear weapons in any of the
operations our over-stretched armed forces are involved in, and British
troops in Afghanistan are struggling against a deadly enemy with fewer
helicopters than they need. Yet Blair has chosen this moment to begin a
"debate" on a decision he's already taken, committing the country to
the huge expense - more like £65bn if you include running costs - of
updating our nuclear weapons, on the grounds, and I'm paraphrasing only
slightly here, that it's an unpredictable old world.
Sarah Sands: While we argue over Iraq, we are losing Afghanistan
The Army is a backdrop for politicians seeking glory
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2062427.ece
Published: 10 December 2006
The face of General Sir Mike Jackson is part biblical, part game
reserve, and one does not take criticism from him lightly. So when he
chided me just before his Dimbleby lecture last week for "ambushing"
his successor, General Sir Richard Dannatt, in an interview, I shifted
uncomfortably. Then I protested: "It needed to be said." "In private,"
Jackson replied.
In a BBC2 documentary about the implications of the Dannatt interview,
the constitutionalists were out in force. Nobody disputed the General's
account of facts on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan or his right to
advise the Government. His sin was to let the public know the truth.
Patrick Cockburn: The Americans don't see how unwelcome they are, or
that Iraq is now beyond repair
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2062413.ece
The main purpose of Bush invading Iraq was to retain power at home
Published: 10 December 2006
During the Opium Wars between Britain and China in the 19th century,
eunuchs at the court of the Chinese emperor had the problem of
informing him of the repeated and humiliating defeat of his armies.
They dealt with their delicate task by simply telling the emperor that
his forces had already won or were about to win victories on all
fronts.
For three and a half years White House officials have dealt with bad
news from Iraq in similar fashion. Journalists were repeatedly accused
by the US administration of not reporting political and military
progress on the ground. Information about the failure of the US venture
was ignored or suppressed.
Cole Moreton: Ask for the moon. You might just get it
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2062421.ece
If Moon fever makes science cool, everyone will benefit
Published: 10 December 2006
Should we go to the Moon? Nasa says we can. Stephen Hawking says we
must, in order to survive. Lucy says it would be a really brave thing
to do. "You could feel very proud of yourself."
Lucy is a Middlesex schoolgirl I met at Leicester's National Space
Centre recently. She was there with a group of nine- and 10-year-old
schoolmates who had endured a three-hour coach journey to find out what
it takes to be an astronaut. Fast reactions, grace under pressure and
the ability to sleep vertically with your head strapped down, to judge
from the exhibits. The most exciting of these was a breathtaking
simulation of a mission into deep space from a Moon base - idea and
images courtesy of Nasa.
Ali Ansari: Why should the Iranians help? Here's why
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2062409.ece
Ahmadinejad's faith stops him seeing how weak his economy is
Published: 10 December 2006
It is difficult to under-estimate the taboo which has been broken by
the Iraq Study Group's suggestion that the United States seeks a
diplomatic engagement with Syria and more particularly Iran, in order
to alleviate its deteriorating situation in Iraq. There has been much
hand-wringing and angst over the possibility of dialogue with Iran over
the past year among members of the Washington establishment, but by and
large these discussions have remained reassuringly abstract. Now the
grand old men of US foreign policy have pronounced, and there can be
little doubt that their conclusions make uncomfortable reading for
those re-treading the dogma of "staying the course". At the same time,
for all the apparent boldness of the recommendations, the authors have
(had) to qualify their suggestions to the point of banality.
Some form of coherent and consistent policy towards Iran is essential
for any successful conclusion to the Iraqi quagmire. Yet the report
says nothing about how any approach to Iran should be constructed,
relying more on a tactical change of course than the strategic rethink
that is necessary. The report notes for example that collaboration with
Iran has already occurred during the initial war against the Taliban,
but strangely omits the now infamous "Axis of Evil" speech, which
effectively derailed this opportunity for a deeper rapprochement. It
adds that Iran has been reluctant to offer help on Iraq because of the
"belief" that the US seeks regime change in Iran, but falls short of
recommending ways of addressing this fear. It reiterates a long-held US
view that "issues" can be dealt with separately and not holistically.
Rupert Cornwell: Out of America
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2062414.ece
Capitol Hill bids farewell to the three-day week
Published: 10 December 2006
What is the world coming to - or at least that rather detached corner
of the universe called the US House of Representatives? First the
Democrats win back control of the place for the first time in a dozen
years. Then Nancy Pelosi, the incoming Speaker, mutters darkly about
banning smoking in the members' lobby - a bit like banning gambling in
Las Vegas. And now, the poor things are actually going to have to work
for a living. To which the American people would reply with a single
voice - and about time, too.
In terms of value for taxpayers' money, the House must offer one of the
lousiest deals going. Its 435 members are paid $165,200 (£84,500) a
year, along with generous allowances for staff. In return, they have
lately been working an average two days a week - to be precise, 102
days in 2006, including a rare Saturday yesterday to wrap up
outstanding business before heading home for a richly deserved
Christmas break. This works out at eight days less than even the
infamous "do nothing" Republican-controlled Congress of 1948, with
which Harry Truman made great play as he scored his upset "Dewey beats
Truman" re-election win that year.
Trouble From The Top Down
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16127615/site/newsweek/
Bush did not set out to miss the mark, of course, but his inattention
to the execution of his grand ideas has had fatal consequences.
By Jonathan Alter
Newsweek
Dec. 18, 2006 issue - In government, the tone set at the top can be as
powerful as the mightiest army. It reverberates through everything. The
history of the American presidency is the story of the character and
temperament of the man in the Oval Office coursing through thousands of
smaller decisions, often thousands of miles away. If the president is
supple and open-minded, those decisions made many layers below him are
more likely to be agile and empirical. If he's stubborn and too sure
that he has all the answers, the modeling of his behavior is likely to
result in decisions you would ground your teenager for.