 Mr Taylor is accused of funding Sierra Leone's former rebels |
Friday, March 14, 2008
That's some fucked up shit
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
English Auschwitz survivor dies
Any English jew will be both proud and disgusted at reading this. My italics.
English Auschwitz survivor dies
BBC News
Saturday, 8 March 2008
An Englishman who survived the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, and dedicated his life to telling the story of the Holocaust, has died aged 97. Leon Greenman was living in Holland with his Dutch wife Esther, and their son, when they were rounded up in 1943 and sent to the death camp in Poland.
His wife and three-year-old son Barney died there but London-born Mr Greenman survived six different death camps. Mr Greenman was freed when Buchenwald was liberated by the Americans in 1945.
Mr Greenman later said he had promised God if he lived, he would let the world know what happened during the war.
His first public speech took place in 1946 and in 1995 a permanent gallery telling his story was established at the Jewish Museum in north London. Three years later, he received an OBE for services against racism. Mr Greenman never remarried and spent his final years in Ilford, east London.
BBC Jerusalem correspondent Tim Franks, who interviewed Mr Greenman in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, said he literally lived behind bars there - with bars on the windows and his letterbox sealed - as he had been targeted by neo-Nazis.
But this did not stop him from doing his work or dim his determination, our correspondent said.
English Auschwitz survivor dies
BBC News
Saturday, 8 March 2008
An Englishman who survived the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, and dedicated his life to telling the story of the Holocaust, has died aged 97. Leon Greenman was living in Holland with his Dutch wife Esther, and their son, when they were rounded up in 1943 and sent to the death camp in Poland.
His wife and three-year-old son Barney died there but London-born Mr Greenman survived six different death camps. Mr Greenman was freed when Buchenwald was liberated by the Americans in 1945.
Mr Greenman later said he had promised God if he lived, he would let the world know what happened during the war.
His first public speech took place in 1946 and in 1995 a permanent gallery telling his story was established at the Jewish Museum in north London. Three years later, he received an OBE for services against racism. Mr Greenman never remarried and spent his final years in Ilford, east London.
BBC Jerusalem correspondent Tim Franks, who interviewed Mr Greenman in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, said he literally lived behind bars there - with bars on the windows and his letterbox sealed - as he had been targeted by neo-Nazis.
But this did not stop him from doing his work or dim his determination, our correspondent said.
Poland to welcome expelled Jews
I didn't know about this expulsion but I can't say I'm that surprised.
Poland to welcome expelled Jews
Saturday, 8 March 2008,
BBC News
Poland's president has promised to restore citizenship to thousands of Jews who were expelled from the country by the communists in 1968. Lech Kaczynski described the decision to kick out about 15,000 Jews - many Holocaust survivors - as "shameful".
The purge followed nationwide student protests that began after a decision to close down a patriotic play. People of Jewish origin were blamed, stripped of Polish citizenship and ordered out of the country.
Police violently broke up a student demonstration at Warsaw University 40 years ago. It had been caused by the communist authorities' decision to close down a patriotic play by Poland's national poet, Adam Mickiewicz. The protests quickly spread across the country before being crushed with considerable violence.
Many of the students and professors were of Jewish origin and the communist party used that fact to purge Jews from public life. An estimated 15,000 people - half the country's Jewish population - were given a one-way ticket out of the country and stripped of their citizenship.
more...
Poland to welcome expelled Jews
Saturday, 8 March 2008,
BBC News
Poland's president has promised to restore citizenship to thousands of Jews who were expelled from the country by the communists in 1968. Lech Kaczynski described the decision to kick out about 15,000 Jews - many Holocaust survivors - as "shameful".
The purge followed nationwide student protests that began after a decision to close down a patriotic play. People of Jewish origin were blamed, stripped of Polish citizenship and ordered out of the country.
Police violently broke up a student demonstration at Warsaw University 40 years ago. It had been caused by the communist authorities' decision to close down a patriotic play by Poland's national poet, Adam Mickiewicz. The protests quickly spread across the country before being crushed with considerable violence.
Many of the students and professors were of Jewish origin and the communist party used that fact to purge Jews from public life. An estimated 15,000 people - half the country's Jewish population - were given a one-way ticket out of the country and stripped of their citizenship.
more...
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Quote of The Day
"there's something horrible and undefeatable about people who have no life except the worship of power . . . people who don't want the meeting to end, the people who just are unstoppable, who only have one focus, no humanity, no character, nothing but the worship of money and power. They win in the end."
Christopher Hitchens on Hillary Clinton
Christopher Hitchens on Hillary Clinton
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Rape conviction rates in the UK
Quite frequently the issue of low rape conviction rates crops up in the papers, the article below being typical (though not particularly recent) in its condemnation of this obvious 'problem'. I blog this now because of the big "hear, hear" due Mr Curnow, whose letter to the Guardian I also print below, and whose statement seems to me to be the most obvious common sense.
Rape conviction rates remain near record low
guardian.co.uk,
Friday July 20 2007
Rape conviction rates remain close to an all-time low despite efforts by the government, police and prosecutors to improve performance, according to Home Office research published today. The study into attrition rates for rape cases sampled 676 complaints from 2003-4 and found that 6% resulted in an offender being convicted. The report said the conviction rate in England and Wales rose to 13% when taking into account lesser offences such as indecent assault. But in rape cases there was virtually no change from the record low conviction rate of 5.5% reported two years ago by the Home Office. That compares to conviction rates of up to 32% in the 1970s.
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Guardian Letters 05/03/08
It's not surprising conviction rates for rape are low. The nature of the offence means trials are often a case of one person's word against another's. Physical evidence is rarely conclusive in establishing the absence of consent, which is the key issue. Under such circumstances, the requirement that the prosecution prove its case beyond reasonable doubt tends to produce a high acquittal rate.
Trevor Curnow
University of Cumbria
Rape conviction rates remain near record low
guardian.co.uk,
Friday July 20 2007
Rape conviction rates remain close to an all-time low despite efforts by the government, police and prosecutors to improve performance, according to Home Office research published today. The study into attrition rates for rape cases sampled 676 complaints from 2003-4 and found that 6% resulted in an offender being convicted. The report said the conviction rate in England and Wales rose to 13% when taking into account lesser offences such as indecent assault. But in rape cases there was virtually no change from the record low conviction rate of 5.5% reported two years ago by the Home Office. That compares to conviction rates of up to 32% in the 1970s.
-------------
Guardian Letters 05/03/08
It's not surprising conviction rates for rape are low. The nature of the offence means trials are often a case of one person's word against another's. Physical evidence is rarely conclusive in establishing the absence of consent, which is the key issue. Under such circumstances, the requirement that the prosecution prove its case beyond reasonable doubt tends to produce a high acquittal rate.
Trevor Curnow
University of Cumbria
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