This has been going on for years. No doubt the next meeting of the Arab League will focus on condemning China's treatment of its Muslims, and will probably forget to even mention Israel.
China's grip on Xinjiang Muslims
BBC News
29 November 2005
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Friday, November 25, 2005
Critical Thinking - type C and type M arguments
An article on Critical Thinking:
An Open Letter to Paul Krugman
By Arnold Kling
10/07/2003
You might remember me from graduate school at MIT. I would like to ask you a question about what constitutes a reasonable argument.
For example, suppose I were to say, "We should abolish the minimum wage. That would increase employment and enable more people to climb out of poverty."
There are two types of arguments you might make in response. I call these Type C and Type M.
A hypothetical example of a Type C argument would be, "Well, Arnold, studies actually show that the minimum wage does not cost jobs. If you read the work of Krueger and Card, you would see that the minimum wage probably reduces poverty."
A hypothetical example of a Type M argument would be, "People who want to get rid of the minimum wage are just trying to help the corporate plutocrats."
Paul, my question for you is this: Do you see any differences between those two types of arguments?
I believe Popper's "rationalist attitude" to be the same as the Type M argument referred to in the above link. This has been a Rosetta Stone for me in unlocking the unending trouble I have in communicate with so many people about politics and current events. Some examples:
Type C: I comment that the Kyoto Treaty is flawed in that even if one accepts the science, it will not lead to any noticeable reduction in global warming.
Type M: I am met with the response that the U.S government is controlled by Big Business that only cares about profits and not about the well.being of humanity.
Type C: I say that the Iraq War defeated Saddam's intent to acquire WMD and that sanctions were breaking down.
Type M: I am met with the response that the Iraq war was all about oil and enriching Dicky Cheny's corporate friends.
Type C: I argue that German "labor-protection" laws actually increase unemployment and work to protect those with jobs against those without jobs
Type M: The response is that I am a neo-liberal who only wants to defend the U.S model
In each case, I am making an argument about the consequences of policies where as the response is based on an attack on either the motivations of the policy-makers or on myself and my objectivity. The actual argument is therefore ignored and the discussion transformed into a debate about moral goodness.
I believe that the Type M arguments appeal to the human inclination to discern threat and identify "enemies" and to reduce complexity to manageable simplicity whereas Type C arguments are the product of disciplined tthinking which must be trained overtime to think thorough the logical consequences of actions.
The entire Popper chapter on this should be read. For me, I will never approach political discussion the same way again. The moment I get a Type M response, I will try to immediately stop and attempt to point out the issue to whomeever I am speaking with.
Follow-up article
Why People Hate Economics
By Arnold Kling
11/21/2005
An Open Letter to Paul Krugman
By Arnold Kling
10/07/2003
You might remember me from graduate school at MIT. I would like to ask you a question about what constitutes a reasonable argument.
For example, suppose I were to say, "We should abolish the minimum wage. That would increase employment and enable more people to climb out of poverty."
There are two types of arguments you might make in response. I call these Type C and Type M.
A hypothetical example of a Type C argument would be, "Well, Arnold, studies actually show that the minimum wage does not cost jobs. If you read the work of Krueger and Card, you would see that the minimum wage probably reduces poverty."
A hypothetical example of a Type M argument would be, "People who want to get rid of the minimum wage are just trying to help the corporate plutocrats."
Paul, my question for you is this: Do you see any differences between those two types of arguments?
-------------------------------------
Wise comments from the friend of mine who put me on to this:
I have done a lot of thinking about this article.
One my discoveries is that Karl Popper, not a household name unfortunately, anticipated this argument in Open Societies and Its Enemies Volume 2, Chapter 24- Oracular Philosophy and the Revolt Against Reason. In this passage, he comments on what he calls the "Rationalist Attitude": "The fact that the rationalist attitude considers the argument rather than the person arguing is of far reaching importance. It leads to the view that we must recognize everybody with whom we communicate as a potential source of argument and of reasonable information..."
I believe Popper's "rationalist attitude" to be the same as the Type M argument referred to in the above link. This has been a Rosetta Stone for me in unlocking the unending trouble I have in communicate with so many people about politics and current events. Some examples:
Type C: I comment that the Kyoto Treaty is flawed in that even if one accepts the science, it will not lead to any noticeable reduction in global warming.
Type M: I am met with the response that the U.S government is controlled by Big Business that only cares about profits and not about the well.being of humanity.
Type C: I say that the Iraq War defeated Saddam's intent to acquire WMD and that sanctions were breaking down.
Type M: I am met with the response that the Iraq war was all about oil and enriching Dicky Cheny's corporate friends.
Type C: I argue that German "labor-protection" laws actually increase unemployment and work to protect those with jobs against those without jobs
Type M: The response is that I am a neo-liberal who only wants to defend the U.S model
In each case, I am making an argument about the consequences of policies where as the response is based on an attack on either the motivations of the policy-makers or on myself and my objectivity. The actual argument is therefore ignored and the discussion transformed into a debate about moral goodness.
I believe that the Type M arguments appeal to the human inclination to discern threat and identify "enemies" and to reduce complexity to manageable simplicity whereas Type C arguments are the product of disciplined tthinking which must be trained overtime to think thorough the logical consequences of actions.
The entire Popper chapter on this should be read. For me, I will never approach political discussion the same way again. The moment I get a Type M response, I will try to immediately stop and attempt to point out the issue to whomeever I am speaking with.
-------------------------------------
Follow-up article
Why People Hate Economics
By Arnold Kling
11/21/2005
Pub opening hours and a lack of critical thinking
Hi All,
Have been musing on the change to Britain's pub opening hours and the pathetic level of media debate accompanying it.
It strikes me that the media coverage in general has been overwhelmingly critical of the change, often hysterically so. In the course of what passes for argument, stats are often produced to show that trends in Britain's alcohol consumption and associated poor behaviour have been rocketing uncontrollably upwards in recent years.
Dan, Andy & I were talking about the importance of critical thinking the other day, and the lack of CT here is driving me nuts. It is no argument *against* change that the status quo is (a) unacceptable and (b) getting rapidly worse - in fact, quite the opposite.
Of course the unacceptability of the status quo may be an argument for a *different* change, but I have yet to see any serious discussion of what alternatives to the govt's plans should be (let me know if you have see good debates on this). Furthermore, although I have seen the following argument made plenty of times:
PREMISE Antisocial behaviour is related to drinking hours and alcohol availability.
CONCLUSION We should not be extending opening hours
... I have so far not once seen anyone advocate the other obvious conclusion, that opening hours should in fact be further restricted eg by closing pubs at lunch hours as they did a decade ago, or by bringing closing time forward to 10 or 9 o'clock.
Be interested in people's thoughts on the matter.
J
PS The lack of CT clearly hasn't finished. Here an article declares the matter closed a matter of hours after the law changed. So that's all right then.
Britain awakes to minimal hangover
PPS My own two cents. Britain clearly has a cultural problem with drinking, and there is no such thing as an overnight fix. But while things may be different in the provinces (Wembley?), in Central London an 11pm closing time for normal pubs is just ridiculous. Not long ago I was at a big restaurant meal near Trafalgar Square which finished at 10.50. We wanted one quick drink for the road. Yet no pub would let us in that near closing time, and every other place wanted a fiver a head to get in. There were some foreigners in the group, and it was frankly cringingly embarrassing that in such a supposedly cosmopolitan city you couldn't go into a bar for a drink without paying just to cross the bloody door.
Have been musing on the change to Britain's pub opening hours and the pathetic level of media debate accompanying it.
It strikes me that the media coverage in general has been overwhelmingly critical of the change, often hysterically so. In the course of what passes for argument, stats are often produced to show that trends in Britain's alcohol consumption and associated poor behaviour have been rocketing uncontrollably upwards in recent years.
Dan, Andy & I were talking about the importance of critical thinking the other day, and the lack of CT here is driving me nuts. It is no argument *against* change that the status quo is (a) unacceptable and (b) getting rapidly worse - in fact, quite the opposite.
Of course the unacceptability of the status quo may be an argument for a *different* change, but I have yet to see any serious discussion of what alternatives to the govt's plans should be (let me know if you have see good debates on this). Furthermore, although I have seen the following argument made plenty of times:
PREMISE Antisocial behaviour is related to drinking hours and alcohol availability.
CONCLUSION We should not be extending opening hours
... I have so far not once seen anyone advocate the other obvious conclusion, that opening hours should in fact be further restricted eg by closing pubs at lunch hours as they did a decade ago, or by bringing closing time forward to 10 or 9 o'clock.
Be interested in people's thoughts on the matter.
J
PS The lack of CT clearly hasn't finished. Here an article declares the matter closed a matter of hours after the law changed. So that's all right then.
Britain awakes to minimal hangover
PPS My own two cents. Britain clearly has a cultural problem with drinking, and there is no such thing as an overnight fix. But while things may be different in the provinces (Wembley?), in Central London an 11pm closing time for normal pubs is just ridiculous. Not long ago I was at a big restaurant meal near Trafalgar Square which finished at 10.50. We wanted one quick drink for the road. Yet no pub would let us in that near closing time, and every other place wanted a fiver a head to get in. There were some foreigners in the group, and it was frankly cringingly embarrassing that in such a supposedly cosmopolitan city you couldn't go into a bar for a drink without paying just to cross the bloody door.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Guardian Readers FOR ID cards
Here's a pro-ID card argument from Home Office Minister Andy Burnham in which he says "I doubt I am the only Guardian reader who has always supported a British ID card in line with our European counterparts."
A few impdecers know this particular minister personally (I'm looking at you Wemb). Is now the time to use such personal links to argue for (or against) the preservation of our civil liberties?
Anyway, here's the article.
The other side of the ID cards story
We need to help people secure their identity in the modern world, argues Andy Burnham
A few impdecers know this particular minister personally (I'm looking at you Wemb). Is now the time to use such personal links to argue for (or against) the preservation of our civil liberties?
Anyway, here's the article.
The other side of the ID cards story
We need to help people secure their identity in the modern world, argues Andy Burnham
Hooray for the middle classes
Pip Pip!
After all the sneering, at last someone is sticking up for the middle classes
Alice Miles
IS IT POSSIBLE that the middle classes are achieving some sort of a renaissance? With Sir Ian Blair and Lord Rogers of Riverside both pleading, in effect, for more not less middle classness over the past week, I begin to wonder. Sir Ian pleaded with the middle and upper classes to join the police, while Lord Rogers said that cities need the middle classes to live in them if they are to flourish.
[...]
[T]he whole and honourable purpose of the White Paper [on Education] is to try to harness the enthusiasm and commitment of the middle classes to improving schools for everybody. Shame that Labour is ashamed of that. At some point, after the Ds and Es have been offered a choice of schools, or the chance to improve their local school, and special advisers to help them to make the choices, and free buses to the better schools, and they still don’t use the opportunities, a middle-class mum is entitled to stop worrying about “selfishly” bettering her own kids’ lot.
See also:
http://impdec.blogspot.com/2005/11/coursework-in-exams-favours-middle.html
http://impdec.blogspot.com/2005/10/faith-no-more.html
After all the sneering, at last someone is sticking up for the middle classes
Alice Miles
IS IT POSSIBLE that the middle classes are achieving some sort of a renaissance? With Sir Ian Blair and Lord Rogers of Riverside both pleading, in effect, for more not less middle classness over the past week, I begin to wonder. Sir Ian pleaded with the middle and upper classes to join the police, while Lord Rogers said that cities need the middle classes to live in them if they are to flourish.
[...]
[T]he whole and honourable purpose of the White Paper [on Education] is to try to harness the enthusiasm and commitment of the middle classes to improving schools for everybody. Shame that Labour is ashamed of that. At some point, after the Ds and Es have been offered a choice of schools, or the chance to improve their local school, and special advisers to help them to make the choices, and free buses to the better schools, and they still don’t use the opportunities, a middle-class mum is entitled to stop worrying about “selfishly” bettering her own kids’ lot.
See also:
http://impdec.blogspot.com/2005/11/coursework-in-exams-favours-middle.html
http://impdec.blogspot.com/2005/10/faith-no-more.html
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Londonistan alive and well
Absolutely unfuckingbelievable:
Official bungle may let al-Qaeda suspect go free
The Times
November 18, 2005
AN ALLEGED al-Qaeda ringleader may have to be freed after the Home Office accepted the blame for bungling his extradition to Italy.
MPs are demanding that Charles Clarke explain how the Government took so long to deal with Farj Hassan Faraj that time ran out for the Italians to put the 24-year-old Libyan on trial for plotting bomb attacks in Europe.
...
Massimo Meroni, a senior Italian prosecutor, said: “The whole thing has been a waste and I’m surprised at Britain. This man is a big player in international terrorism.”
...
France is losing patience with Britain over the fate of Rachid Ramda, who has been fighting extradition to Paris for ten years. Mr Ramda, 35, is accused of taking part in bombings on the Paris Métro. Two High Court judges threw out yesterday his claim that moves to deport him are legally flawed. His lawyers are considering taking the case to the House of Lords, which will cause months of further delay.
In a separate case a judge ordered that Moutaz Almallah Dabas, 39, a Spaniard wanted for the bombings of Madrid commuter trains in March last year, should be extradited to Spain within ten days under Britain’s new fast-track extradition laws. The deadline is unlikely to be met as Señor Dabas’s lawyers are expected to appeal.
...
Britain has failed to extradite a major terrorist suspect since the September 11 attacks. Legal battles have cost the taxpayer an estimated £10 million.
--------------------------------
Just as absolutely unfuckingbelievable:
Blair’s ban fails to silence Muslim preachers of hate
The Sunday Times
November 20, 2005
ISLAMIC extremists are targeting British Muslims with violent Al-Qaeda propaganda, in defiance of Tony Blair’s announcement four months ago that he would clamp down on preachers of hate.
London-based foreign extremists are using websites to post video footage of suicide operations and attacks by insurgents against coalition forces in Iraq. There are also postings of the execution of Russian soldiers by mujaheddin rebels in Chechnya.
...
There is growing exasperation among the Saudi authorities about the government’s apparent reluctance to tackle two Saudi citizens who are responsible for some of the most blatant incitement.
--------------------------------
Some background on the main characters.
Controversial imams
Telegraph
20/07/2005
--------------------------------
This article is the only one to shed any light on what might be going on behind the scenes. Also, I was amused by the impassioned comment from the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
Clarke outlines moves to expel troublemakers who back terror
Telegraph
25/08/2005
Official bungle may let al-Qaeda suspect go free
The Times
November 18, 2005
AN ALLEGED al-Qaeda ringleader may have to be freed after the Home Office accepted the blame for bungling his extradition to Italy.
MPs are demanding that Charles Clarke explain how the Government took so long to deal with Farj Hassan Faraj that time ran out for the Italians to put the 24-year-old Libyan on trial for plotting bomb attacks in Europe.
...
Massimo Meroni, a senior Italian prosecutor, said: “The whole thing has been a waste and I’m surprised at Britain. This man is a big player in international terrorism.”
...
France is losing patience with Britain over the fate of Rachid Ramda, who has been fighting extradition to Paris for ten years. Mr Ramda, 35, is accused of taking part in bombings on the Paris Métro. Two High Court judges threw out yesterday his claim that moves to deport him are legally flawed. His lawyers are considering taking the case to the House of Lords, which will cause months of further delay.
In a separate case a judge ordered that Moutaz Almallah Dabas, 39, a Spaniard wanted for the bombings of Madrid commuter trains in March last year, should be extradited to Spain within ten days under Britain’s new fast-track extradition laws. The deadline is unlikely to be met as Señor Dabas’s lawyers are expected to appeal.
...
Britain has failed to extradite a major terrorist suspect since the September 11 attacks. Legal battles have cost the taxpayer an estimated £10 million.
--------------------------------
Just as absolutely unfuckingbelievable:
Blair’s ban fails to silence Muslim preachers of hate
The Sunday Times
November 20, 2005
ISLAMIC extremists are targeting British Muslims with violent Al-Qaeda propaganda, in defiance of Tony Blair’s announcement four months ago that he would clamp down on preachers of hate.
London-based foreign extremists are using websites to post video footage of suicide operations and attacks by insurgents against coalition forces in Iraq. There are also postings of the execution of Russian soldiers by mujaheddin rebels in Chechnya.
...
There is growing exasperation among the Saudi authorities about the government’s apparent reluctance to tackle two Saudi citizens who are responsible for some of the most blatant incitement.
--------------------------------
Some background on the main characters.
Controversial imams
Telegraph
20/07/2005
--------------------------------
This article is the only one to shed any light on what might be going on behind the scenes. Also, I was amused by the impassioned comment from the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
Clarke outlines moves to expel troublemakers who back terror
Telegraph
25/08/2005
American Hate Crimes against Jews and Muslims
Some interesting stats here.
American Hate Crimes against Jews and Muslims
Daniel Pipes
Weblog
October 17, 2005
The Federal Bureau of Investigation today issued statistics for Crime in the United States 2004. One section deals with hate crimes concerning religion... 69 percent of the hate crimes are directed against Jews, 11 percent against Muslims, and 7 percent against Christians.
American Hate Crimes against Jews and Muslims
Daniel Pipes
Weblog
October 17, 2005
The Federal Bureau of Investigation today issued statistics for Crime in the United States 2004. One section deals with hate crimes concerning religion... 69 percent of the hate crimes are directed against Jews, 11 percent against Muslims, and 7 percent against Christians.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Livingstone is jewish?! And other (more important) revelations
... well, maybe.
This and other revelations to be found in an interview with somethingjewish.co.uk
There’s no evidence of where my maternal grandmother came from, she was called Zona. And I remember a couple of times when I was a kid, she would say to me, “Don’t let anyone ever tell you you’re Jewish.”
Which made me think we must be, otherwise why would she raise this? And I remember chatting to Greville Janner about this, saying it sounds like a middle European name. So I might be Jewish. Not that I want anyone to feel mortified about this at the Board of Deputies. I mean, because it runs through the maternal line if it turned out to be true I could go and stand for the Knesset, couldn’t I? In Israel I could be elected, no problem.
The interview also covers KL's views on Israel, Zionism, and the Evening Standard. Definitely worth a read whether you're a Ken fan or not.
The bigger revelation is that Oct 31st saw the 350th anniversary of jews being allowed back into England after a 350 year expulsion.
Think that the Nazis came up with the idea of making jews wear a special symbol to identify them as jews? Nope, another English invention.
In March 1218 the Royal Council, under pressure from Papal legate ordered that all adult Jews wear the cloth "badge of shame". It was a yellow felt or taffeta shape representing the two tablets of the Law, 2 fingers wide by 4 long.
Can't vouch for the provenance of all the websites cited, but interesting stuff all the same. (At least to me, as I didn't know all this before.)
First spotted the Livingstone interview on harry's Place btw.
This and other revelations to be found in an interview with somethingjewish.co.uk
There’s no evidence of where my maternal grandmother came from, she was called Zona. And I remember a couple of times when I was a kid, she would say to me, “Don’t let anyone ever tell you you’re Jewish.”
Which made me think we must be, otherwise why would she raise this? And I remember chatting to Greville Janner about this, saying it sounds like a middle European name. So I might be Jewish. Not that I want anyone to feel mortified about this at the Board of Deputies. I mean, because it runs through the maternal line if it turned out to be true I could go and stand for the Knesset, couldn’t I? In Israel I could be elected, no problem.
The interview also covers KL's views on Israel, Zionism, and the Evening Standard. Definitely worth a read whether you're a Ken fan or not.
The bigger revelation is that Oct 31st saw the 350th anniversary of jews being allowed back into England after a 350 year expulsion.
Think that the Nazis came up with the idea of making jews wear a special symbol to identify them as jews? Nope, another English invention.
In March 1218 the Royal Council, under pressure from Papal legate ordered that all adult Jews wear the cloth "badge of shame". It was a yellow felt or taffeta shape representing the two tablets of the Law, 2 fingers wide by 4 long.
Can't vouch for the provenance of all the websites cited, but interesting stuff all the same. (At least to me, as I didn't know all this before.)
First spotted the Livingstone interview on harry's Place btw.
How to be offensive...
Results of a survey into offensive words on TV.
TV's most offensive words
Extract from Language and Sexual Imagery in Broadcasting: A Contextual Investigation. Offensive words followed by summary of respondents' reaction.
(Note: you may have to register to read the full article, but it's free and worth it. Otherwise how would you know that 'papist' still has the power to raise a few eyebrows.)
TV's most offensive words
Extract from Language and Sexual Imagery in Broadcasting: A Contextual Investigation. Offensive words followed by summary of respondents' reaction.
(Note: you may have to register to read the full article, but it's free and worth it. Otherwise how would you know that 'papist' still has the power to raise a few eyebrows.)
Friday, November 18, 2005
New group replaces al-Muhajiroun
I expect we'll be hearing more of these guys...
New group replaces al-Muhajiroun
BBC News
18 November 2005
Anew group has been formed to replace radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed's al-Muhajiroun group, which was disbanded last year. Ahl ul-Sunnah Wa al-Jamma was launched in a north London charity shop, with leading member, Simon Sulayman Keeler, calling the Queen "an enemy of Islam".
New group replaces al-Muhajiroun
BBC News
18 November 2005
Anew group has been formed to replace radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed's al-Muhajiroun group, which was disbanded last year. Ahl ul-Sunnah Wa al-Jamma was launched in a north London charity shop, with leading member, Simon Sulayman Keeler, calling the Queen "an enemy of Islam".
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan
The combative title of the article belies its reasonable contents:
Palestinians Taste a Dose of Their Own Medicine
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
November 15, 2005
Palestinians Taste a Dose of Their Own Medicine
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
November 15, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
EU accounts fail to clear watchdog for 11th year
This really is an appalling scandal that doesn't get the coverage it deserves. If the EU were a private company, its directors would be in jail.
BBC Radio 4 Today Programme
15 Nov 2005
0810 For eleven years running the EU auditors have looked at the European Union's account books and refused to approve the accounts. Why is so little being done about it?
Listen | Permalink
(Here in full as the Indie annoyingly pulls its articles from freeview)
EU accounts fail to clear watchdog for 11th year
Independent
15 November 2005
The European Union's financial watchdog has refused to give the annual euro-accounts the all-clear - for the 11th year running.
A report from the European Court of Auditors today repeats familiar concerns about the accuracy of the books on the 2004 budget totalling nearly £70 billion. And it points the finger at member states themselves more than Brussels - because about 80% of EU spending is conducted by national and regional authorities.
The auditors have acknowledged European Commission efforts to improve the situation by bringing in accounting reforms to answer complaints that lax procedures could be wide open to fraud and mismanagement. But yet again this year they say they cannot give a formal "Statement of Assurance" about the validity of the annual accounts.
Conservative MEP James Elles warned that the accountants' refusal to clear the books was in danger of becoming a permanent feature of the EU unless member states faced up to their responsibility to ensure euro-funds channelled through them were better accounted for. And he said Britain's EU presidency had been a missed opportunity to tackle the problem.
Last week Chancellor Gordon Brown, chairing talks between EU finance ministers, made clear it was for the auditors to set out ways to improve the procedures for clearing the accounts. Ministers said the system of verification needed updating and rejected Commission calls for national authorities to take more responsibility. They insist the auditors' failure year after year to endorse the budget is because of the technical rules governing the delivery of a "Statement of Assurance" rather than a result of widespread fraud.
But Mr Elles, Tory spokesman on budgetary control in the European Parliament, said the blame rested with EU governments. "The commission always gets the blame but the situation is more complicated than that. Eighty per cent of EU money is spent at national level. Member states should not be passing the buck. "The British presidency of the EU has had a good opportunity to grasp this problem. But Gordon Brown is yet again saying one thing and doing another. He says he wants everyone to do their bit to improve the situation but he's not prepared to take the lead himself."
Mr Elles added: "Faced with an opportunity to take the lead in ensuring member states are held responsible for funds disbursed at national level, the UK government has dodged the issue."
Chris Davies, leader of the British Liberal Democrat MEPs and a member of the European Parliament's Budget Control Committee, said: "The finger of blame should be pointed towards Gordon Brown and his fellow finance ministers who have refused to accept responsibility for the money spent by their own administrations.
"The public will assume that fraud is widespread and the Brussels bureaucracy incompetent but in fact the EU administration is now subjected to greater scrutiny than that of any government in Europe." He added: "Despite many improvements made in accounting procedures the auditors have refused to specify what steps must be taken if the EU accounts are to be given a clean bill of health. It's like telling an athlete to run a race without announcing the distance."
BBC Radio 4 Today Programme
15 Nov 2005
0810 For eleven years running the EU auditors have looked at the European Union's account books and refused to approve the accounts. Why is so little being done about it?
Listen | Permalink
(Here in full as the Indie annoyingly pulls its articles from freeview)
EU accounts fail to clear watchdog for 11th year
Independent
15 November 2005
The European Union's financial watchdog has refused to give the annual euro-accounts the all-clear - for the 11th year running.
A report from the European Court of Auditors today repeats familiar concerns about the accuracy of the books on the 2004 budget totalling nearly £70 billion. And it points the finger at member states themselves more than Brussels - because about 80% of EU spending is conducted by national and regional authorities.
The auditors have acknowledged European Commission efforts to improve the situation by bringing in accounting reforms to answer complaints that lax procedures could be wide open to fraud and mismanagement. But yet again this year they say they cannot give a formal "Statement of Assurance" about the validity of the annual accounts.
Conservative MEP James Elles warned that the accountants' refusal to clear the books was in danger of becoming a permanent feature of the EU unless member states faced up to their responsibility to ensure euro-funds channelled through them were better accounted for. And he said Britain's EU presidency had been a missed opportunity to tackle the problem.
Last week Chancellor Gordon Brown, chairing talks between EU finance ministers, made clear it was for the auditors to set out ways to improve the procedures for clearing the accounts. Ministers said the system of verification needed updating and rejected Commission calls for national authorities to take more responsibility. They insist the auditors' failure year after year to endorse the budget is because of the technical rules governing the delivery of a "Statement of Assurance" rather than a result of widespread fraud.
But Mr Elles, Tory spokesman on budgetary control in the European Parliament, said the blame rested with EU governments. "The commission always gets the blame but the situation is more complicated than that. Eighty per cent of EU money is spent at national level. Member states should not be passing the buck. "The British presidency of the EU has had a good opportunity to grasp this problem. But Gordon Brown is yet again saying one thing and doing another. He says he wants everyone to do their bit to improve the situation but he's not prepared to take the lead himself."
Mr Elles added: "Faced with an opportunity to take the lead in ensuring member states are held responsible for funds disbursed at national level, the UK government has dodged the issue."
Chris Davies, leader of the British Liberal Democrat MEPs and a member of the European Parliament's Budget Control Committee, said: "The finger of blame should be pointed towards Gordon Brown and his fellow finance ministers who have refused to accept responsibility for the money spent by their own administrations.
"The public will assume that fraud is widespread and the Brussels bureaucracy incompetent but in fact the EU administration is now subjected to greater scrutiny than that of any government in Europe." He added: "Despite many improvements made in accounting procedures the auditors have refused to specify what steps must be taken if the EU accounts are to be given a clean bill of health. It's like telling an athlete to run a race without announcing the distance."
Monday, November 14, 2005
Media biased against Muslims
Was going to add this as a comment on some of our ongoing threads, but it's probably relevant to about half of them...
(Note: the report seems to be about the US.)
Media has anti-Muslim bias, claims report
Monday November 14, 2005
The portrayal of Arab and Muslim people in the western media is "typically stereotypical and negative", according to a new study of perceptions of Islam.
The report, commissioned by the Kuwaiti government and based on a surveys and interviews with media experts, claims that terrorism, anti-Americanism and the Iraq occupation dominate TV news coverage of the Middle East.
"In the past 30 years of thousands of TV show series, there have been less than 10 characters who have been Arab-Americans," the report claims.
"In print stereotypes are not so obvious, except in cartoon caricatures, but they still occur and anti-Muslim bias is more insidious. The terms Islamic or Muslim are linked to extremism, militant, jihads, as if they belonged together inextricably and naturally (Muslim extremist, Islamic terror, Islamic war, Muslim time bomb).
"In many cases, the press talks and writes about Muslims in ways that would not be acceptable if the reference were to Jewish, black or fundamentalist Christians."
(Note: the report seems to be about the US.)
Media has anti-Muslim bias, claims report
Monday November 14, 2005
The portrayal of Arab and Muslim people in the western media is "typically stereotypical and negative", according to a new study of perceptions of Islam.
The report, commissioned by the Kuwaiti government and based on a surveys and interviews with media experts, claims that terrorism, anti-Americanism and the Iraq occupation dominate TV news coverage of the Middle East.
"In the past 30 years of thousands of TV show series, there have been less than 10 characters who have been Arab-Americans," the report claims.
"In print stereotypes are not so obvious, except in cartoon caricatures, but they still occur and anti-Muslim bias is more insidious. The terms Islamic or Muslim are linked to extremism, militant, jihads, as if they belonged together inextricably and naturally (Muslim extremist, Islamic terror, Islamic war, Muslim time bomb).
"In many cases, the press talks and writes about Muslims in ways that would not be acceptable if the reference were to Jewish, black or fundamentalist Christians."
Friday, November 11, 2005
Breaking the cycle?
In case you missed it, here's the story of a Palestinian boy who was shot by the Israeli army, but whose organs were donated to save others, regardless or whether they were Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian.
Ahmed's gift of life
Ahmed Khatib's death was tragically unexceptional: the 12-year-old Palestinian was shot by Israeli soldiers while holding a toy gun. But what happened next was not. The boy's parents donated his organs to six Israelis. They tell Chris McGreal why their decision was a gesture of both peace and resistance
Ahmed's gift of life
Ahmed Khatib's death was tragically unexceptional: the 12-year-old Palestinian was shot by Israeli soldiers while holding a toy gun. But what happened next was not. The boy's parents donated his organs to six Israelis. They tell Chris McGreal why their decision was a gesture of both peace and resistance
What happens when a Himmler marries a Jew?
Thanks to JSL for alerting me to this one.
Katrin's choice: how do I tell my son about great-uncle Heinrich. . .?
The Times
November 11, 2005
KATRIN HIMMLER’S son is a bright, curious six-year-old. “I’m dreading the moment,” she says, “when I have to tell him that one half of his family tried to kill the other half.”
Frau Himmler, a political scientist, is the great-niece of Heinrich Himmler, head of Hitler’s SS and mastermind of the concentration camp system that murdered millions of Jews.
She is married to an Israeli whose family was confined to the Warsaw ghetto, which was burned to the ground by troopers acting on her great-uncle’s orders.
Sometime soon her son will have to be told of the 20th-century tragedy that is part of his heritage. Katrin Himmler, 38, has tackled the problem by writing an account of the family which she will give to her son as soon as he is old enough to read.
Katrin's choice: how do I tell my son about great-uncle Heinrich. . .?
The Times
November 11, 2005
KATRIN HIMMLER’S son is a bright, curious six-year-old. “I’m dreading the moment,” she says, “when I have to tell him that one half of his family tried to kill the other half.”
Frau Himmler, a political scientist, is the great-niece of Heinrich Himmler, head of Hitler’s SS and mastermind of the concentration camp system that murdered millions of Jews.
She is married to an Israeli whose family was confined to the Warsaw ghetto, which was burned to the ground by troopers acting on her great-uncle’s orders.
Sometime soon her son will have to be told of the 20th-century tragedy that is part of his heritage. Katrin Himmler, 38, has tackled the problem by writing an account of the family which she will give to her son as soon as he is old enough to read.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Remove Hitler poem from book, says MP
Remove Hitler poem from book, says MP
Telegraph
Telegraph
09/11/2005
Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, has been asked to force the withdrawal of a poem for schoolchildren written from the viewpoint of Adolf Hitler.
...
The poem's author, Gideon Taylor, writes: "Jews are here, Jews are there, Jews are almost everywhere, filling up the darkest places, evil looks upon their faces. "Make them take many paces for being one of the worst races, on their way to a gas chamber, where they will sleep in their manger."
One line of the poem states "Adolf Hitler is my name," and ends with the words: "And for what price? World domination." It was published in an anthology called Great Minds by the Forward Press group, which said 452 copies had been printed.
Palestinian Friday Service - Jews Are a Virus Resembling AIDS
This has to be seen to be believed. Goebbels would be so proud.
Palestinian Friday Service by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris - film clip
Palestinian Authority TV
May 13, 2005
------------------
The transcript just doesn't have the same impact. But for anyone without sound on their machine:
Palestinian Friday Service by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris - transcript
Allah has tormented us with "the people most hostile to the believers" – the Jews. "Thou shalt find that the people most hostile to the believers to be the Jews and the polytheists." Allah warned His beloved Prophet Muhammad about the Jews, who had killed their prophets, forged their Torah, and sowed corruption throughout their history.
With the establishment of the state of Israel, the entire Islamic nation was lost, because Israel is a cancer spreading through the body of the Islamic nation, and because the Jews are a virus resembling AIDS, from which the entire world suffers.
You will find that the Jews were behind all the civil strife in this world. The Jews are behind the suffering of the nations.
Palestinian Friday Service by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris - film clip
Palestinian Authority TV
May 13, 2005
------------------
The transcript just doesn't have the same impact. But for anyone without sound on their machine:
Palestinian Friday Service by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris - transcript
Allah has tormented us with "the people most hostile to the believers" – the Jews. "Thou shalt find that the people most hostile to the believers to be the Jews and the polytheists." Allah warned His beloved Prophet Muhammad about the Jews, who had killed their prophets, forged their Torah, and sowed corruption throughout their history.
With the establishment of the state of Israel, the entire Islamic nation was lost, because Israel is a cancer spreading through the body of the Islamic nation, and because the Jews are a virus resembling AIDS, from which the entire world suffers.
You will find that the Jews were behind all the civil strife in this world. The Jews are behind the suffering of the nations.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Nazi war criminal dies in Britain
My italics. No tears.
Nazi war criminal dies in Britain
BBC
7 November 2005
The only man to have been convicted in Britain of Nazi war crimes has died in Norwich prison. Anthony Sawoniuk, 84, was serving two life sentences after being found guilty of murdering 18 Jews in the UK's first war crimes trial.
...
Sawoniuk was born on 7 March 1921, in the harsh climate of Domachevo. As a boy he would have starved if it were not for the generosity of local wealthy Jewish families. But when the Germans arrived in 1941, he took up with the Nazi police force to help with the suppression and genocide of local Jews.
During his trial, the jury heard from an eyewitness how he watched Sawoniuk tell two men and a woman to strip beside an open grave and then shot them. The court also heard how he mowed down 15 people with a submachine gun and pushed their bodies into an open grave.
Coursework in exams favours the middle classes. Discuss.
Uncle Johann confirms what I always suspected to be the case. I knew standards were slipping!
Coursework: a charter for cheats
It's yet another way the British middle class rig the education system in favour of their coddled children
If Britain’s coursework system were submitted for examination, it would be lucky to scrape an E grade and a place doing Golf Course Studies at De Montford University. This week, the AQA exam board warned (again) that teachers are routinely waving through material that had been “blatantly copied from the internet”, and another GCSE exam authority, Edexcel, warned that schools were now offering so much “help” to students that it amounted to “a kind of mass plagiarism”.
Coursework: a charter for cheats
It's yet another way the British middle class rig the education system in favour of their coddled children
If Britain’s coursework system were submitted for examination, it would be lucky to scrape an E grade and a place doing Golf Course Studies at De Montford University. This week, the AQA exam board warned (again) that teachers are routinely waving through material that had been “blatantly copied from the internet”, and another GCSE exam authority, Edexcel, warned that schools were now offering so much “help” to students that it amounted to “a kind of mass plagiarism”.
Paris when it sizzles...
Riots in Paris and beyond have been in the news as of late.
Here's an interesting leader from the Telegraph:
Broken contract
France has had a week and a half of rioting. It is spreading, there is no end in sight and the government appears powerless to stop it. We are witnessing the breakdown of the contract between the state and Europe's largest immigrant population. That, as the Bill banning the hijab in schools reminded us, is on one side the acceptance by newcomers of a strictly lay entity in which no exception is made for different religious communities. In return, they are supposed to enjoy the benefits of a republic based on the revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Despite much controversy at the time, the Bill has been implemented with remarkably little fuss. It is not the hijab that lies at the heart of the present trouble. It is, rather, the failure of the state to fulfil its side of the bargain. The first generation of immigrants came to France to meet a demand for foreign labour. The second and third generations find themselves trapped without work in the estates or cités built for their parents and grandparents. To compound matters, the unemployed have become dependent on welfare. These two factors produce a feeling of helplessness, which in turn engenders a hatred of the state.
The Telegraph goes on to argue that the solution is "the creation of conditions for enterprise that will allow those stuck in the cités to break out of drear desperation through work."
I thought it was an interesting (right of centre) argument. Leaving aside certain cultural variables (violent protest is more common in France than here) I was wondering if there were any useful parallels. There are claims that we too in Britain have a 'dependency culture' (at least in certain sections of society) - is there anything we can learn from what's happening in France? France is generally perceived as having much greater social protection, but if the Telegraph argument holds sway that is precisely the problem. However, it is worth remembering that we have had race riots here too, under both the Conservatives and New Labour, both of whom seem quite keen on 'enterprise'. (Though this does not automatically mean that the Telegraph's analysis does not apply - the deprived areas that rioted in the UK would still have had a high proportion of people on benefits.)
So my question - is the Telegraph right to see social funding as (a major) part of the problem, or is the solution more funding for deprived areas?
Looking forward to Wemb on this one. For my own part I think the dependency culture argument has some validity.
Here's an interesting leader from the Telegraph:
Broken contract
France has had a week and a half of rioting. It is spreading, there is no end in sight and the government appears powerless to stop it. We are witnessing the breakdown of the contract between the state and Europe's largest immigrant population. That, as the Bill banning the hijab in schools reminded us, is on one side the acceptance by newcomers of a strictly lay entity in which no exception is made for different religious communities. In return, they are supposed to enjoy the benefits of a republic based on the revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Despite much controversy at the time, the Bill has been implemented with remarkably little fuss. It is not the hijab that lies at the heart of the present trouble. It is, rather, the failure of the state to fulfil its side of the bargain. The first generation of immigrants came to France to meet a demand for foreign labour. The second and third generations find themselves trapped without work in the estates or cités built for their parents and grandparents. To compound matters, the unemployed have become dependent on welfare. These two factors produce a feeling of helplessness, which in turn engenders a hatred of the state.
The Telegraph goes on to argue that the solution is "the creation of conditions for enterprise that will allow those stuck in the cités to break out of drear desperation through work."
I thought it was an interesting (right of centre) argument. Leaving aside certain cultural variables (violent protest is more common in France than here) I was wondering if there were any useful parallels. There are claims that we too in Britain have a 'dependency culture' (at least in certain sections of society) - is there anything we can learn from what's happening in France? France is generally perceived as having much greater social protection, but if the Telegraph argument holds sway that is precisely the problem. However, it is worth remembering that we have had race riots here too, under both the Conservatives and New Labour, both of whom seem quite keen on 'enterprise'. (Though this does not automatically mean that the Telegraph's analysis does not apply - the deprived areas that rioted in the UK would still have had a high proportion of people on benefits.)
So my question - is the Telegraph right to see social funding as (a major) part of the problem, or is the solution more funding for deprived areas?
Looking forward to Wemb on this one. For my own part I think the dependency culture argument has some validity.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Iraq battle stress worse than WWII / Iraq Paras trial
Disgusting the way the British govt is treating its soldiers in Iraq.
Iraq battle stress worse than WWII
The Sunday Times
November 06, 2005
Senior army doctors have warned that troops in Iraq are suffering levels of battle stress not experienced since the second world war because of fears that if they shoot an insurgent, they will end up in court. The two senior Royal Army Medical Corps officers, one of whom is a psychologist, have recently returned from Basra, where they said they counselled young soldiers who feared a military police investigation as much as they did the insurgents. The revelations follow the collapse last week of the court martial of seven paratroopers accused of murdering an Iraqi who died near al- Amarah just after the war and amid signs of a dramatic drop in morale among frontline infantry soldiers.
The doctors’ warnings came in post-operational reports submitted by senior officers to their formation commanders after serving in a battle zone. They are exceptional because of their content. One source said: “There doesn’t appear to be any overt consideration or understanding of the pressures that our soldiers are under. “The unpopularity of the war at home and a belief that firing their rifles in virtually any circumstances is likely to see them end up in court are sapping morale.”
One corporal said that troops arriving in Basra were confronted by warnings from the Royal Military Police. “They make it clear that any and every incident will be investigated. It is also made clear that if you shoot someone, you will face an inquiry that could take up to a year. “The faces of the young lads straight out of training drop as the fear of being investigated strikes home and many ask whose side the RMP are on.”
------------------
It's so bad that even the anti-war Rod Liddle had this to say:
Sod this game of soldiers
Rod Liddle
The Sunday Times
November 06, 2005
------------------
Some background in case anyone missed it:
The Iraqi lies that put the Paras in court
Telegraph
04/11/2005
A blatant attempt to extract money from the British Army had been made by the Marsh Arabs of Ferkah, the court martial heard. They had colluded, lied and frequently spoke of "fasil" - bloody money - and compensation when they appeared to give evidence.
The Judge Advocate General, Jeff Blackett, said they had made specious claims of improper behaviour including allegations that a baby and an old man had been killed by the British soldiers. Three women witnesses had admitted making up claims that they were assaulted by the soldiers and the family of the dead man, 18-year-old Nadhem Abdullah, had encouraged other villagers to tell lies about the incident.
Fourteen witnesses had been brought from their homes in Iraq to give evidence to the court but much of their evidence was "too inherently weak or vague for any sensible person to rely on it" and it had been based on "a corporate recollection discussed by the family or tribe", said Judge Blackett.
Paras cleared as Iraq trial collapses in £8m fiasco
Telegraph
04/11/2005
The court martial of seven paratroopers accused of murdering an Iraqi teenager collapsed yesterday after the Royal Military Police investigation was condemned as "inadequate" and riddled with "serious omissions".
The hearing, which cost up to £8 million, came to an abrupt halt after the most senior judge in the Army courts directed that the defendants be found not guilty. Jeff Blackett, the Judge Advocate General, described the evidence presented by the prosecution as "too inherently weak or vague for any sensible person to rely on".
He strongly condemned the Special Investigations Branch of the RMP for making significant errors during its inquiry.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Indefatigable opposition to terror bill
As you're undoubtedly aware the government won a vote on their terror bill by one vote.
It's not unreasonable to assume that civil liberties minded opposition parties like the LibDems and Respect would have made sure they voted against it. However, 2 LibDems missed the vote as well as the indefatigable MP for Bow & Bethnal Green, George Galloway. The LibDems had fairly valid excuses. George, however, was at 'an "uncancelleable" speaking event'; towit 'an Audience with George Galloway'. You will be shocked to learn that this is a commercial event.
Read more here.
It's not unreasonable to assume that civil liberties minded opposition parties like the LibDems and Respect would have made sure they voted against it. However, 2 LibDems missed the vote as well as the indefatigable MP for Bow & Bethnal Green, George Galloway. The LibDems had fairly valid excuses. George, however, was at 'an "uncancelleable" speaking event'; towit 'an Audience with George Galloway'. You will be shocked to learn that this is a commercial event.
Read more here.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Interview with a terrorist
Seems like 72 virgins is not the only motivation:
Egyptian mercenary
Mahmoud Hassan, an Egyptian terrorist captured in Iraq explains his training and inspiration: primarily money from foreign sources. Al-Iraqiya TV aired this interview on February 24, 2005.
Full transcript available at: memritv.org
Egyptian mercenary
Mahmoud Hassan, an Egyptian terrorist captured in Iraq explains his training and inspiration: primarily money from foreign sources. Al-Iraqiya TV aired this interview on February 24, 2005.
Full transcript available at: memritv.org
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Twin pop stars with angelic looks are new face of racism
Be honest - what's your first reaction when you look at the pic of these young Nazis?
Twin pop stars with angelic looks are new face of racism
Telegraph
25/10/2005
America's white supremacist movement has an angelic new face: twin teenage pop stars whose songs preach messages of racial hatred.
Prussian Blue, a "white power" band now recording its second album, is described as a sinister version of the Olsen Twins, the squeaky clean child actresses of the 1990s. It is attracting more and more fans among young white nationalists.Lamb and Lynx Gaede, blonde, blue-eyed 13-year-olds from Bakersfield, California, have been entertaining all-white crowds with their music since the age of nine. Lamb plays the guitar and Lynx the violin.
Their songs have titles such as Sacrifice, a tribute to Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, that praises him as a "man of peace who wouldn't give up".
Performing for such groups as the neo-Nazi National Alliance at Holocaust-denial events and festivals entitled Folk the System, the girls execute Sieg Heil salutes while belting out lyrics such as "Strike force! White survival. Strike force! Yeah.""We are proud of being white," Lynx told ABC News. "We want our people to stay white…we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race."
Australia: police advised to treat Muslim domestic violence differently
Police told to respect traditions
Herald Sun
25/10/05
POLICE are being advised to treat Muslim domestic violence cases differently out of respect for Islamic traditions and habits. Officers are also being urged to work with Muslim leaders, who will try to keep the families together. Women's groups are concerned the politically correct policing could give comfort to wife bashers and keep their victims in a cycle of violence. The instructions come in a religious diversity handbook given to Victorian police officers.
Herald Sun
25/10/05
POLICE are being advised to treat Muslim domestic violence cases differently out of respect for Islamic traditions and habits. Officers are also being urged to work with Muslim leaders, who will try to keep the families together. Women's groups are concerned the politically correct policing could give comfort to wife bashers and keep their victims in a cycle of violence. The instructions come in a religious diversity handbook given to Victorian police officers.
Anti-terror Ramadan TV drama stirs the Arab world
Not often I get to blog any good news in the world of Islam....
Anti-terror Ramadan TV drama stirs the Arab world
Telegraph
02/11/2005
A blockbuster Ramadan television drama broadcast across the Arab world has broken new ground by daring to question the motives of terrorism committed in the name of Allah.
The plotline of al-Hur al-Ayn (Beautiful Maidens), has proved enormously controversial with its makers denounced by an angry fundamentalist minority. But it has also been hugely popular with an Arabic-speaking public fed up with the cliched portrayal of all Muslims as gun-toting fanatics.
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