Mick Hartley

Intermission

Taking a break for a week. Back next weekend - 11th July.

The Brutality in Sri Lanka

Michael J. Totten has an interview with Robert D. Kaplan, mainly on the subject of Sri T. Lanka. Sorry, Sri Lanka. But spreading out to Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and elsewhere. It's an interesting read: 

Sri Lanka defeated, more or less completely, a 26 year-long insurgency. They killed the leader and the leader’s son. But there are no takeaway lessons for the West here. The Sri Lankan government did it by silencing the media, which meant capturing the most prominent media critic of the government and killing him painfully. And they made sure all the other journalists knew about it. [...]

There are a thousand disappearances a year in Sri Lanka separate from the war. Journalists are terrified there. The only journalism you read is pro-government. So that’s one thing they did.

The Tamil Tigers had human shields by the tens of thousands, not just by the dozens and hundreds like Al Qaeda. They put people between themselves and the government and say "you have to kill all the people to get to us." So the government obliged them.  [...]

They killed thousands of civilians in the course of winning this war. It acted in a way so brutal that there are no lessons for the West.

Incidentally, via Snoopy, here's a comparison at Just Journalism of allegations of war crimes made in the UK broadsheets in the first five months of 2009, with regard to the recent troubles in Gaza and in Sri Lanka. No prizes for guessing which featured most, by a long way - with the honourable exception of the Times.

Goods Inwards

Southwark Street:

An Imam at the End of a Phone

Zeinab Huq at CiF takes a look at how sharia courts in Britain actually work:

The headlines will tell you there are at least 85 sharia courts in Britain. There are definitely more and they have little to do with gavels and wigs and more to do with upholding the cultural and tribal status quo in communities.

Having been on the receiving end of sharia rulings – I must make it clear that sharia courts are often nothing of the sort and are more likely to be an imam at the end of a phone - I can speak about the arbitrary and random nature of these bodies. Contrary to popular belief, there is no central network, no supreme sharia judge, no sharia bar, no sharia AGM, no sharia ombudsman, no sharia HQ and no torts.

Sharia law isn't even written down and most Muslims will dip in and out of it when it suits them....

When my father died, my mother decided that, although under British law she was entitled to everything, she wanted to settle things according to Islamic law so she could "die with a clear conscience". She asked my brother to call an imam. The imam said my brothers would get twice the share of my sister and I and so on. On learning that my father had a son by a previous marriage, the imam said my half brother must also have a share in my dad's estate. So, a man who is a stranger to us tells us that another man who is a stranger to us is entitled to a stake in our family home, where we have lived for 25 years and he has never set foot in....

Ultimately, from my own experiences and from those of my friends, sharia is driven by the needs of a community rather than an individual. Whatever the protestations of its fans, this system of law does not favour women or local custom. While it is impossible to outlaw it, a better and more realistic solution would be to educate people about the advantages of British law, which, while it has its flaws, is more developed and grounded in reality and fairness.

Well yes.

Or Not to Kew

The Palm House, with lavender beds:

Hangings in Iran

Iran Focus has this report:

Tehran, Iran, Jul. 01 - Iranian authorities hanged six people in Tehran on Wednesday, state media reported.

All six were hanged in the morning, according to Esmatollah Jaberi, a judiciary official. The state-run news agency ISNA, which did not identify the six, said they were hanged in Tehran's Evin Prison. All six were accused of murder.

Iranian authorities routinely execute dissidents on bogus charges such as armed robbery and drug trafficking....

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned it would unleash its wrath on anyone breaking a government ban on demonstrations. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 19 June rallied behind Ahmadinejad and demanded protestors stop their action.

Since Khamenei’s announcement, demonstrators have markedly directed their protests at the entirety of the clerical establishment, with chants of “death to Khamenei”.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a ranking cleric, on Friday said, "Anyone who takes up arms to fight with the people is worthy of execution."

Those who disturbed the peace and destroyed public property were "at war with God" and should be "mercilessly dealt with", Khatami said in a nationally televised sermon.
Evin Prison was built by the Shah’s regime as a modern security prison to house political dissidents, but it became the Islamic Republic’s most dreaded gulag and the site of thousands of political executions. Ward 209 is exclusively set aside for political prisoners.

And from the Jerusalem Post:

As the Iranian authorities warned the opposition on Tuesday that they would tolerate no further protests over the disputed June 12 presidential elections, a report emerged of the hangings of six supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Speaking after Iran's top legislative body upheld the election victory of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sources in Iran told this reporter in a telephone interview that the hangings took place in the holy city of Mashhad on Monday. There was no independent confirmation of the report.

Underlining the climate of fear among direct and even indirect supporters of Mousavi's campaign for the election to be annulled, the sources also reported that a prominent cleric gave a speech to opposition protesters in Teheran earlier this week in which he publicly acknowledged that the very act of speaking at the gathering would likely cost him his life.

"Ayatollah Hadi Gafouri said that the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] never wanted [current supreme Leader] Ali Khamenei to succeed him. He even went to say that the Islamic republic died the day the Imam did," one source said.

Sisterly Sophistries

Christina Hoff Sommers writes about persistent myths in feminist scholarship (via David Thompson). Take, for instance, Nancy K.D. Lemon's highly praised textbook Domestic Violence Law: a collection of judicial opinions, statutes, and articles selected, edited, and commented upon by the author.

The first selection, written by Cheryl Ward Smith (no institutional affiliation is given), offers students a historical perspective on domestic-violence law. According to Ward:

"The history of women's abuse began over 2,700 years ago in the year 753 BC. It was during the reign of Romulus of Rome that wife abuse was accepted and condoned under the Laws of Chastisement. ... The laws permitted a man to beat his wife with a rod or switch so long as its circumference was no greater than the girth of the base of the man's right thumb. The law became commonly know as 'The Rule of Thumb.' These laws established a tradition which was perpetuated in English Common Law in most of Europe."

Where to begin? How about with the fact that Romulus of Rome never existed. He is a figure in Roman mythology — the son of Mars, nursed by a wolf. Problem 2: The phrase "rule of thumb" did not originate with any law about wife beating, nor has anyone ever been able to locate any such law. It is now widely regarded as a myth, even among feminist professors.

Good to know also that woman weren't abused prior to 753 BC. And that English Common Law applied to most of Europe.

Feminist misinformation is pervasive. In their eye-opening book, Professing Feminism: Education and Indoctrination in Women's Studies (Lexington Books, 2003), the professors Daphne Patai and Noretta Koertge describe the "sea of propaganda" that overwhelms the contemporary feminist classroom. The formidable Christine Rosen (formerly Stolba), in her 2002 report on the five leading women's-studies textbooks, found them rife with falsehoods, half-truths, and "deliberately misleading sisterly sophistries."...

Consider The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World (2008), by the feminist scholar Joni Seager, chair of the Hunter College geography department. Now in its fourth edition, Seager's atlas was named "reference book of the year" by the American Library Association when it was published. "Nobody should be without this book," says the feminist icon Gloria Steinem. "A wealth of fascinating information," enthuses The Washington Post. Fascinating, maybe. But the information is misleading and, at least in one instance, flat-out false.

One color-coded map illustrates how women are kept "in their place" by restrictions on their mobility, dress, and behavior. Somehow the United States comes out looking as bad in this respect as Somalia, Uganda, Yemen, Niger, and Libya. All are coded with the same shade of green to indicate places where "patriarchal assumptions" operate in "potent combination with fundamentalist religious interpretations." Seager's logic? She notes that in parts of Uganda, a man can claim an unmarried woman as his wife by raping her. The United States gets the same low rating on Seager's charts because, she notes, "State legislators enacted 301 anti-abortion measures between 1995 and 2001." Never mind that the Ugandan practice is barbaric, that U.S. abortion law is exceptionally liberal among the nations of the world, and that the activism and controversy surrounding the issue of abortion in the United States is a sign of a vigorous free democracy working out its disagreements....

The critical work of 21st-century feminism will be to help women in the developing world, especially in Muslim societies, in their struggle for basic rights. False depictions of the United States as an oppressive "patriarchy" are a ludicrous distraction.

Today's E-mail

Well, it looks like my ship's come in at last:

My name is Dr. David Moore, We are solicitors to the great Atlanta Physician and Philanthropists Mr.George Brumley.

Some confusion there as regards singulars and plurals. No matter.

I wish to notify you that he made you one of the beneficiaries of his estate. He left the sum of Five Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars to you.

See Link:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html

He must have been in contact with you in the past or you were nominated to him in his vision to expand his Charity work, and he instructed that you are to use part of the funds to promote his legacy through activities that aim to help the old, poor, needy and disabled in the society.

To be quite honest, no, I was not contacted by Mr. George Brumley. Nor had I, in point of fact, ever heard of him before today. It must've been, then, that someone nominated me as a suitable recipient. That's understandable. I'm a man with a reputation for probity. 

I can assure them that my promotion of his legacy will be tireless. I'll make absolutely certain that a sizeable portion ot the money goes to helping the old, poor, needy and disabled, as specified. They need have no fears on that score. Absolutely none.

Strange that it took six years after his tragic death for this to surface. These things take time, I suppose. Especially when a doctor has to act as a solicitor. And he (they) is based in Ilford - a long way from Atlanta. 

I think more than anything what convinces me that this is genuine is that figure of Five Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars. In Capital Letters. It would have been so easy - and such a give-away - just to have made it Five Million.

Anyway, if my blogging falls of a bit you'll understand why. I'll be busy promoting Mr. George Brumley's philanthropic vision.

Taking a Hard Line

At a news conference with South Korean president Lee Myung-bak two weeks ago, Obama talked tough, pledging to end the cycle of allowing North Korea to create a crisis in order to be rewarded with concessions from the international community. "This is a pattern they've come to expect," he said."We are going to break that pattern." 

Maybe he actually meant it.

The US is imposing sanctions on an Iranian firm believed to be helping North Korea with its nuclear programme.

The State Department is taking steps to freeze any U.S. assets held by North Korea's Namchongang Trading Corp. and to bar it from any dealings with U.S. companies or individuals, referring to it as a nuclear-related company, involved in the purchase of aluminum tubes and other equipment "specifically suitable for a uranium enrichment program since the late 1990s."

More generally:

The Obama administration is preparing to wield broad financial pressure to try to force North Korea to dial back its weapons program, building on strategies former President George W. Bush employed, but then unwound.

The Treasury Department is taking a leading role and will work through international banking channels to try to restrict funds to 17 North Korean banks and companies that U.S. officials say are central players in Pyongyang's nuclear and weapons trade. These firms serve as a financial lifeline to leader Kim Jong Il, his family and ruling circle.

United Nations sanctions call for the banning of the shipment of all luxury goods to Pyongyang's leadership. American diplomats are also negotiating through the U.N. Security Council to sanction by July 12 as many as a dozen North Korean individuals or companies active in Pyongyang's weapons trade. There is likely to be overlap with the U.S. Treasury's list of 17 sanction targets.

U.S. officials said they're targeting key nodes in the North Korean financial system. The language of the new Security Council resolution also provides Washington with leeway to go after a much wider range of targets, said these officials.

"There are some very powerful provisions" in the new resolution, said a senior U.S. official working on the effort. "It calls for the prevention of all financial services that could contribute to North Korea's...weapons of mass destruction-related programs."

The Bush administration pioneered the use of the global banking system as a weapon against nations involved in arms proliferation and terrorism, such as North Korea, Iran and Syria.

The Treasury Department's 2005 blacklisting of Macau's Banco Delta Asia, which held a large number of North Korea accounts, is viewed today as a model for how the private sector can punish rogue states. The Treasury didn't initially ban U.S. firms from engaging the bank, but simply warned that such transactions risked skirting U.S. law. The result was a run on the bank's accounts and a contagion effect that nearly froze North Korea out of the international banking system in 2006, said current and former U.S. officials.

Mr. Bush eventually eased the clampdown as an incentive for North Korea pushing ahead with disarmament talks.

Senior Obama administration officials say this decision was a mistake that eased pressure on Pyongyang before it took irreversible steps to dismantle its nuclear program. They also said it reaffirmed Pyongyang's belief that it could use international diplomacy to win economic concessions from the U.S.

As Joshua at One Free Korea puts it:

A year ago, who would have suspected that we’d be celebrating the replacement of a liberal accommodationist named George W. Bush with a hard line neocon named Barack Obama, who would finally show signs of grasping not just the reality of North Korea’s bad faith, but some of the very best tools for breaking it?

One of the centrepieces of the new tough approach has been the Security Council resolution authorising member states to stop North Korean vessels suspected of smuggling unauthorised nuclear material. Pyongyang responded that they'd regard such an act as a declaration of war. Well, it looks like the North Koreans blinked first:

U.S. officials said Tuesday that a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back toward the north where it came from, after being tracked for more than a week by American Navy vessels on suspicion of carrying illegal weapons....

The ship left a North Korean port of Nampo on June 17 and is the first vessel monitored under U.N. sanctions that ban the regime from selling arms and nuclear-related material.

The Navy has been watching it — at times following it from a distance. It traveled south and southwest for more than a week; then, on Sunday, it turned around and headed back north, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity....

Meanwhile, speculation as to the health of the Dear Leader continues...

Domestic Airline

Extending your apartment, Russian style:

More at English Russia.

The Good Neighbour

We haven't heard from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice - the Saudi religious police - for a while. Well, they're still around, and here's their latest exploit:

MAKKAH – The former neighbor of two homeless girls and their brother who he took into his home while attempting to find them suitable care through official channels has described his dismay at facing a month in prison after the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a) charged him with khilwa, or illegal seclusion with non-related members of the opposite sex.

“It is ironic that I now face a month in prison after the Hai’a arrested me for being in illicit seclusion with the girls,” said the former neighbor of the 13 and 14-year-old girls and their nine-year-old brother. “The case is still being looked into by a court in Makkah.”

The children had been living on the street after being abandoned by the uncle in whose custody they had been placed following their father’s imprisonment and their mother’s remarriage, until their former neighbor saw their plight and took them into his home with his own family while the Ministry of Social Affairs resolved the issue.

Ironic? I think I'd be looking for a stronger word.

Downriver

Some photos taken on a ride from Greenwich to Woolwich on the Thames path today:

They're Out to Get Us

In which anti-vaccine paranoia ramps up to a whole new level. 

The greatest crime in the history of humanity is now underway, according to journalist Jane Burgermeister:

As the anticipated July release date for Baxter's A/H1N1 flu pandemic vaccine approaches, an Austrian investigative journalist is warning the world that the greatest crime in the history of humanity is underway. Jane Burgermeister has recently filed criminal charges with the FBI against the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN), and several of the highest ranking government and corporate officials concerning bioterrorism and attempts to commit mass murder. She has also prepared an injunction against forced vaccination which is being filed in America. These actions follow her charges filed in April against Baxter AG and Avir Green Hills Biotechnology of Austria for producing contaminated bird flu vaccine, alleging this was a deliberate act to cause and profit from a pandemic.

In her charges, Burgermeister presents evidence of acts of bioterrorism that is in violation of U.S. law by a group operating within the U.S. under the direction of international bankers who control the Federal Reserve, as well as WHO, UN and NATO. This bioterrorism is for the purpose of carrying out a mass genocide against the U.S. population by use of a genetically engineered flu pandemic virus with the intent of causing death. This group has annexed high government offices in the U.S.

Specifically, evidence is presented that the defendants, Barack Obama, President of the U.S, David Nabarro, UN System Coordinator for Influenza, Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, David de Rotschild, banker, David Rockefeller, banker, George Soros, banker, Werner Faymann, Chancellor of Austria, and Alois Stoger, Austrian Health Minister, among others, are part of this international corporate criminal syndicate which has developed, produced, stockpiled and employed biological weapons to eliminate the population of the U.S. and other countries for financial and political gain.

The charges contend that these defendants conspired with each other and others to devise, fund and participate in the final phase of the implementation of a covert international bioweapons program involving the pharmaceutical companies Baxter and Novartis. They did this by bioengineering and then releasing lethal biological agents, specifically the "bird flu" virus and the "swine flu virus" in order to have a pretext to implement a forced mass vaccination program which would be the means of administering a toxic biological agent to cause death and injury to the people of the U.S. This action is in direct violation of the Biological Weapons Anti-terrorism Act.

Do you know who else was a Jane Burgermeister supporter? That's right - Michael Jackson! And you know what's just happened to him (scroll down).

Read it and weep. And hey, good to see David de Rotschild, banker, David Rockefeller, banker, George Soros, banker in there. Anything connecting those three, I wonder? Apart from, you know, being bankers?

Burgermeister, it should be said, is (was) a supposedly respectable journalist who's written for the Guardian, Nature, and the BMJ. Check out this Metafilter post for more links and details.

It's like a hyper-religion, all this conspiracy stuff. If, as seems likely, we have an inbuilt tendency from an early age to ascribe events to agencies - someone's just done that, rather than that just happened - and if this (clearly useful) adaptation plays a pivotal role in religious belief, then the spread of conspiracy theories, in which everything is ascribed to agencies, represents an extreme manifestation, a perversion, of this tendency.

An Obsession with Linguistic Precision

So Oliver Kamm is starting a new Times column: The Pedant. 

There's nothing to add, really.

[The photo online, with the disgruntled Kamm pointing at a missing apostrophe, differs from the print edition, where Kamm is standing and the source of his disgruntlement is explained to us. He looks crosser when he's standing.]

The Heart of Darkness

It's time once again to visit the badlands of Hackney Wick. 

First, the easy part; the ride down the Lea, with canal boats and the deceptive semblance of rustic calm: