BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union should modernise labour laws to meet the economy's need of greater flexibility, but also seek to maximise worker protection, the European Commission will say this week. In a report on what the EU should do to boost jobs and achieve sustainable growth, the EU executive advocates a combination of flexibility and security, or "flexicurity," to help the European labour market take on the double challenge of fierce Asian competition and an ageing society. "Rapid technological progress, increased competition stemming from globalisation, changing consumer demand and significant growth of the services sector have shown the need for increased flexibility," the report, to be adopted by the Commission on Wednesday, said.
In a report on what the EU should do to boost jobs and achieve sustainable growth, the EU executive advocates a combination of flexibility and security, or "flexicurity," to help the European labour market take on the double challenge of fierce Asian competition and an ageing society.
"Rapid technological progress, increased competition stemming from globalisation, changing consumer demand and significant growth of the services sector have shown the need for increased flexibility," the report, to be adopted by the Commission on Wednesday, said.
AROUND the chancelleries of Europe and the dining tables of Brussels' Eurocrats, officials sip exquisite wines and pore over battle plans to rescue and revitalise a dormant EU and offer it an opportunity to determine a viable future or fade into pathetic irrelevance. Strangely, prospects are bright for both scenarios. If Europe seems to be on extended vacation, it's because the `pause' envisaged by Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, has lost its way even as he struggles to sort out the institutional reforms that the EU has been crying out for ever since the EU constitutional treaty was blocked by French and Dutch `No' votes in the referendums. The deadlock between the member states has now extended to a `pause' to enlargement as well. There will be no more admission of new members after Rumania and Bulgaria. `Enlargement' has now become a jittery word. It brings forth equally jittery responses such as `absorption capacity', implying that new members will be sucked into the system and vanish, or at least need to be painfully digested. The member states know that there is a backlash against the inexorable enlargement process, an "enlargement fatigue", especially in founder member states such as France. .... But the current European constellation seems too much like a bunch of blinkered horses expected to perform with different riders in order to emerge with a reliable road map charting Europe's trot into the future. Let's begin with Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, widely expected to be prime minister by 2008. Brown is a known Eurosceptic and is likely to accept a new one only if it were to be so modest that it would not need to go to a referendum in the UK. The greatest unknown here is the outcome of the French presidential elections. The issues behind the French `No' against the constitution last year continue to fester: gears of globalisation, free movement of labour and capital. The only candidate who has dared to take on European issues head-on is Nicolas Sarkozy. He wants a mini-constitution that would not need to go to a new referendum. In addition, changes to the farm budget would be likely to come into effect only in 2013 (the end of the current seven-year budget) when French net receipts from the CAP would be dwindling.
If Europe seems to be on extended vacation, it's because the `pause' envisaged by Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, has lost its way even as he struggles to sort out the institutional reforms that the EU has been crying out for ever since the EU constitutional treaty was blocked by French and Dutch `No' votes in the referendums. The deadlock between the member states has now extended to a `pause' to enlargement as well. There will be no more admission of new members after Rumania and Bulgaria.
`Enlargement' has now become a jittery word. It brings forth equally jittery responses such as `absorption capacity', implying that new members will be sucked into the system and vanish, or at least need to be painfully digested. The member states know that there is a backlash against the inexorable enlargement process, an "enlargement fatigue", especially in founder member states such as France.
.... But the current European constellation seems too much like a bunch of blinkered horses expected to perform with different riders in order to emerge with a reliable road map charting Europe's trot into the future. Let's begin with Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, widely expected to be prime minister by 2008.
Brown is a known Eurosceptic and is likely to accept a new one only if it were to be so modest that it would not need to go to a referendum in the UK.
The greatest unknown here is the outcome of the French presidential elections. The issues behind the French `No' against the constitution last year continue to fester: gears of globalisation, free movement of labour and capital. The only candidate who has dared to take on European issues head-on is Nicolas Sarkozy. He wants a mini-constitution that would not need to go to a new referendum. In addition, changes to the farm budget would be likely to come into effect only in 2013 (the end of the current seven-year budget) when French net receipts from the CAP would be dwindling.
Europe continues to grow faster, and create more jobs, than America. <...> Just six years ago, 81 percent of America's population was actively engaged in the work force, compared with 76 percent of Europe's. Now that gap is down to 1 percent. In other words, around 80 percent of both American and European 25- to 54-year-olds are gainfully employed. Says John Schmitt, senior economist at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research: "The argument is that European countries should be basket cases [when it comes to creating jobs], but they're actually doing better than us."
<...>
Just six years ago, 81 percent of America's population was actively engaged in the work force, compared with 76 percent of Europe's. Now that gap is down to 1 percent. In other words, around 80 percent of both American and European 25- to 54-year-olds are gainfully employed. Says John Schmitt, senior economist at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research: "The argument is that European countries should be basket cases [when it comes to creating jobs], but they're actually doing better than us."
The article notes some downsides:
Of course, not everything is looking up in Western Europe either. Some countries are still unable to supply enough jobs to keep pace with the even faster growth of the population, as a result of unprecedented levels of immigration from Eastern and Central Europe. In Britain, unemployment hit a seven-year high last month even as the total number of people with jobs--31 million--hit an all-time high. The apparent contradiction is due largely to the fact that Britain is coping with its biggest influx of foreign workers to date--1.5 million last year, equivalent to 5.4 percent of the employed population.
But the article is mainly full of upsides.
In particular:
- Today, the three prime industries driving Europe's jobs engine are software, life sciences (like hospital systems) and alternative energy technology. [i.e. industries of the future] - The European Commission expects the upward trend to continue. Last week, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia predicted that the EU would create 7 million new jobs by 2008. Germany's manufacturing industry, packed with highly skilled engineers, is thriving in everything from cars to microchips. Unemployment there dipped below the psychologically significant 10 percent mark for the first time in four years last month. - In Spain--where unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1979 in the third quarter of this year--construction companies building up the coasts are doing so well that they now account for 12 percent of the economy.
- The European Commission expects the upward trend to continue. Last week, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia predicted that the EU would create 7 million new jobs by 2008.
Germany's manufacturing industry, packed with highly skilled engineers, is thriving in everything from cars to microchips. Unemployment there dipped below the psychologically significant 10 percent mark for the first time in four years last month.
- In Spain--where unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1979 in the third quarter of this year--construction companies building up the coasts are doing so well that they now account for 12 percent of the economy.
So, economically, it doesn't seem to me that Europe is on an "extended vacation". Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
The problem, in the UK (like the US and perhaps everywhere else), is that you have papers like the Daily Mail that enjoy much higher circulation than real newspaper like the FT and the Guardian, and so they are naturally seen more as the "voice of the people," even though only a small fraction of Britons actually read them. It's the same story with FauxNews. At the maximum, two million people might watch Fox on a given half-hour time slot. But we already know those people are insane, and they didn't matter, since they were, at most, 1/35th of the mid-term electorate. They'd never vote our way, anyway. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
In Spain--where unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1979 in the third quarter of this year--construction companies building up the coasts are doing so well that they now account for 12 percent of the economy.
unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1979 in the third quarter of this year
strikes me as an upside. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
The European Commission launched a new development initiative this week in a bid to remind Europeans of Africa's strengths and recent achievements. Sixteen African leaders, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu met their European counterparts in Brussels this week to discuss African business and good governance. The European Commission was keen to deliver the message that Africa is on the move. EU officials said that enhanced governance, poverty reduction, policy coherence and establishing a business framework for EU member states to aspire to, all form part of their core strategy on Africa. World donors on Wednesday pledged not to impose their ideas on governance and reform on poor African countries but to help them make their own visions come true.
Sixteen African leaders, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu met their European counterparts in Brussels this week to discuss African business and good governance.
The European Commission was keen to deliver the message that Africa is on the move. EU officials said that enhanced governance,
poverty reduction, policy coherence and establishing a business framework for EU member states to aspire to, all form part of their core strategy on Africa.
World donors on Wednesday pledged not to impose their ideas on governance and reform on poor African countries but to help them make their own visions come true.
LONDON: Britain's attorney general said Monday that he is not convinced of the need to hold terrorist suspects for up to 90 days without charge -- a key goal of his close ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair. Lord Goldsmith, the government's chief legal adviser, was asked by reporters at a briefing whether there was evidence to support increasing the limit to 90 days. "Well, I haven't seen it yet," he said. "The recent investigations demonstrate that it was right to extend the period to 28 days, but on extending it any further we need evidence to demonstrate that that is needed," Goldsmith said. Last year, Blair suffered a humbling parliamentary defeat -- prompted by a rebellion in his own Labour Party -- when lawmakers rejected plans to allow suspects to be held for a maximum of 90 days, agreeing instead on a compromise of 28 days.
Lord Goldsmith, the government's chief legal adviser, was asked by reporters at a briefing whether there was evidence to support increasing the limit to 90 days. "Well, I haven't seen it yet," he said.
"The recent investigations demonstrate that it was right to extend the period to 28 days, but on extending it any further we need evidence to demonstrate that that is needed," Goldsmith said.
Last year, Blair suffered a humbling parliamentary defeat -- prompted by a rebellion in his own Labour Party -- when lawmakers rejected plans to allow suspects to be held for a maximum of 90 days, agreeing instead on a compromise of 28 days.
Europeans are overwhelmingly convinced that human activity is contributing to global warming, and a majority would be prepared to accept restrictions on their lifestyle to combat it, according to a poll for the Financial Times. Research carried out this month by Harris Interactive in Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain found that 86 per cent of people believed humans were contributing to climate change, and 45 per cent thought it would be a threat to them and their families within their lifetimes. More than two-thirds - 68 per cent - said they would either strongly or somewhat support restrictions on their behaviour and purchases in order to reduce the threat. Climate change has been rising up the political agenda in Europe. The recent British government report by Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank, argued that the economic costs of global warming could be far greater than the costs of acting to limit it. The poll also found Europeans were more willing to accept curbs on their lifestyles in principle than to endorse specific additional burdens. Less than half - 43 per cent - either strongly or somewhat supported a charge on airline passengers to pay for environmental damage, while 36 per cent opposed it, either strongly or somewhat. Support was weakest in Italy and Spain, possibly because of fears about the effect on their tourist industries.
Research carried out this month by Harris Interactive in Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain found that 86 per cent of people believed humans were contributing to climate change, and 45 per cent thought it would be a threat to them and their families within their lifetimes.
More than two-thirds - 68 per cent - said they would either strongly or somewhat support restrictions on their behaviour and purchases in order to reduce the threat.
Climate change has been rising up the political agenda in Europe. The recent British government report by Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank, argued that the economic costs of global warming could be far greater than the costs of acting to limit it.
The poll also found Europeans were more willing to accept curbs on their lifestyles in principle than to endorse specific additional burdens.
Less than half - 43 per cent - either strongly or somewhat supported a charge on airline passengers to pay for environmental damage, while 36 per cent opposed it, either strongly or somewhat. Support was weakest in Italy and Spain, possibly because of fears about the effect on their tourist industries.
When José Manuel Barroso became president of the European Commission in 2004, environmental groups feared the worst. When he named Stavros Dimas, a former Wall St lawyer, as the EU's environment commissioner, they shuddered: the Greek, who has since won over many of his early critics, came from the only country in Europe without an environment minister. Yet in the last few weeks, Mr Barroso has undergone a remarkable conversion and emerged as a champion of the environmental cause. His aides deny he has suddenly "gone green", but as recently as May 2006 climate change was barely mentioned by the former Portuguese prime minister as he set out his vision for the "future of Europe". But last week he put climate change at the top of his list of priorities: a "serious and urgent issue" requiring tough action. Colleagues say the new approach is already being felt in policy areas. His position matters because Mr Barroso exerts a tight grip on an organisation with the power to set environmental standards and targets. What is decided in Brussels often has a direct impact on companies far beyond Europe.
When he named Stavros Dimas, a former Wall St lawyer, as the EU's environment commissioner, they shuddered: the Greek, who has since won over many of his early critics, came from the only country in Europe without an environment minister.
Yet in the last few weeks, Mr Barroso has undergone a remarkable conversion and emerged as a champion of the environmental cause.
His aides deny he has suddenly "gone green", but as recently as May 2006 climate change was barely mentioned by the former Portuguese prime minister as he set out his vision for the "future of Europe".
But last week he put climate change at the top of his list of priorities: a "serious and urgent issue" requiring tough action. Colleagues say the new approach is already being felt in policy areas.
His position matters because Mr Barroso exerts a tight grip on an organisation with the power to set environmental standards and targets. What is decided in Brussels often has a direct impact on companies far beyond Europe.
Indeed Dimas was also finance minister before becoming Commissioner. I don't know how many is that "many" whom he supposedly won over, but in my impression, he didn't do much good. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
A sceptical interpretation coud be that Barroso exposed himself as the poodle of a poodle: this all sounds like echoing Bliar's (highly hypocritical and empty) rhetoric in the last few weeks. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
BERLIN: Finnish officials were working against the clock Sunday to deal with demands from the Polish government that are threatening to block an EU-Russia summit meeting scheduled for Friday in Helsinki, according to senior Finnish officials. "It is a difficult situation," Sanna Kangasharju, a spokeswoman for the Finnish government, said Sunday. "The summit is hanging in the balance. We are now waiting for a response from the Polish side. The ball is in their court." Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland held talks in Warsaw on Friday night with his Polish counterpart, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Finnish officials said. Kaczysnki is insisting that Russia lift its ban on imports of certain Polish agricultural products, and that the EU come up with a more coherent and united energy policy before agreeing to the EU-Russia summit meeting. This is the first time that a new member state of the EU has tried to block a summit meeting with Russia. And according to diplomats in the region, it shows how different and difficult their relations are with their Eastern neighbors in comparison to most of the West European countries.
"It is a difficult situation," Sanna Kangasharju, a spokeswoman for the Finnish government, said Sunday.
"The summit is hanging in the balance. We are now waiting for a response from the Polish side. The ball is in their court."
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland held talks in Warsaw on Friday night with his Polish counterpart, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Finnish officials said.
Kaczysnki is insisting that Russia lift its ban on imports of certain Polish agricultural products, and that the EU come up with a more coherent and united energy policy before agreeing to the EU-Russia summit meeting.
This is the first time that a new member state of the EU has tried to block a summit meeting with Russia. And according to diplomats in the region, it shows how different and difficult their relations are with their Eastern neighbors in comparison to most of the West European countries.
PARIS: French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on Sunday took a dig at the notion that Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy was the governing party's automatic presidential candidate, saying the debate is not yet over. Villepin said that the "game has not been played out," dashing party hopes for quick unity around Sarkozy, particularly since the opposition Socialists have just picked their candidate, Segolene Royal. The premier spoke three days after Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie openly questioned some of Sarkozy's stances at a party function with him in attendance. Villepin, special guest on a television show, suggested that there is no reason to rush to choose a candidate with the April first-round presidential vote five months away. The opposition Socialist Party erred in choosing its candidate so soon, he said. The Socialists picked Segolene Royal in a party primary on Thursday, giving her more than 60 percent of the vote in a widely-watched internal election. "A woman in politics, it's new, it's attractive, it's interesting," Villepin, a conservative, said. But he added, "to have chosen a candidate so soon is an error."
Villepin said that the "game has not been played out," dashing party hopes for quick unity around Sarkozy, particularly since the opposition Socialists have just picked their candidate, Segolene Royal.
The premier spoke three days after Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie openly questioned some of Sarkozy's stances at a party function with him in attendance.
Villepin, special guest on a television show, suggested that there is no reason to rush to choose a candidate with the April first-round presidential vote five months away.
The opposition Socialist Party erred in choosing its candidate so soon, he said.
The Socialists picked Segolene Royal in a party primary on Thursday, giving her more than 60 percent of the vote in a widely-watched internal election.
"A woman in politics, it's new, it's attractive, it's interesting," Villepin, a conservative, said. But he added, "to have chosen a candidate so soon is an error."
Being conservatives, Villepin or Sarkozy, whomever wins, will no doubt spend the next five months taking subtle -- hell, perhaps not so subtle -- stabs at the fact that the Commies have given the nod to a woman.
Plus, while I give Domi some credit on the hair, Royal is easily the better looking of the two, so you've got to know he's intimidated. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
dashing party hopes for quick unity
Note also how the press unquestioningly accepts language that is favorable to the right's candidates. Unity on the right is a good thing ("hope"), and getting there soon is a good thing ("dashing"). But on the left, somehow, it's not (because someone from the right says so).
Amazing bias. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Meanwhile, the right have all the risks of back-stabbing and disunity to come...
So -- you're on the right and faced with this unpleasant situation -- what do you say after spending an hour or two locked away with your communications boys?
"I know what: they did it too soon!!!"
(Give that man a medal). When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind
It is not that Billund, a placid town of 30,000 people in the heart of Denmark, is in any crisis. The design, promotion and marketing of Lego's colorful little plastic bricks will remain in Billund. But between now and 2009, virtually all the manufacturing will go to factories in the Czech Republic and Mexico. In the process, the number of jobs at Lego in Billund will drop to 1,600, from the current 2,500. Five years ago, Lego employed 4,000 people, who held roughly half of all the jobs in Billund. "The population has faced it, that it's very vital that Lego change, or I'm afraid there would have been no Lego in five years," said Preben Jensen, 59, an air traffic controller at the local airport who also serves as the town's mayor. "Production in Western Europe is so expensive." <...> For [Soren Torp Laursen, 30-year Lego employee], the shift to Mexico and the Czech Republic is a matter of costs, but it is also a matter of being close to growing markets, like the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe and the Americas, to respond rapidly to customer requests. What is also important for a toymaker like Lego, he said, is to be sure it has a better pirate ship, firehouse, medieval castle and airport on the market than the competition does. For this, Lego even gives jobs in Billund to outsiders, like Jamie Berard."
"The population has faced it, that it's very vital that Lego change, or I'm afraid there would have been no Lego in five years," said Preben Jensen, 59, an air traffic controller at the local airport who also serves as the town's mayor. "Production in Western Europe is so expensive."
For [Soren Torp Laursen, 30-year Lego employee], the shift to Mexico and the Czech Republic is a matter of costs, but it is also a matter of being close to growing markets, like the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe and the Americas, to respond rapidly to customer requests.
What is also important for a toymaker like Lego, he said, is to be sure it has a better pirate ship, firehouse, medieval castle and airport on the market than the competition does. For this, Lego even gives jobs in Billund to outsiders, like Jamie Berard."
The Prodi government also substituted the head of the Civilian Intelligence Service, the Sisde. General Mario Mori will be substituted by Franco Gabrielli, head of the special police, the Digos, who owes his success to having defeated the new Red Brigades following the murder of Professor Biagi.
Giuseppe Cucchi has been nominated to head the Cesis, the service that coordinates both intelligence agencies. The present director is Emilio del Mese.
The substitution of all the heads of the services at the same time is not well viewed as it tends to associate Mori and del Mese with the disastrous management of the Sismi by Pollari.
Pollari is presently under investigation for his alleged role in the kidnapping of Abu Omar. He is also linked to major smear campaigns against "Berlusconi's enemies" such as the Telekom Serbija smear or the accusations that Prodi as EU High Commisioner had authorized the so-called "extraordinary renditions."
Pollari's Sismi is also responsible for fabricating several false terrorist alerts since 2001 and may be linked to the fabrication false evidence against Arab citizens accused of terrorism.
His substitution was long overdue. Last week Pollari profited form government inertia by appointing ten of his men to key positions within the Sismi.
The substitutions will take effect on December 16th.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 18: The UN General Assembly on Friday voted overwhelmingly to condemn Israel for "indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force" in its military offensive in Gaza which, according to the Palestinian ambassador, threatens to "destroy the entire people." The resolution was passed by a vote of 156 to 7, with six abstentions. The US, Israel and Australia voted against the document while all the European Union members supported it. The resolution "deeply deplores" the Israeli offensive, launched after the June capture of an Israel soldier, and calls on Israel to immediately halt its operation and pull its troops out of the Gaza Strip. The vote came less than a week after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution criticizing Israel for launching a Nov 8 missile strike that killed 18 civilians in the town of Beit Hanoun. Opening the debate on Friday, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour called for "an end to this rampant Israeli campaign, which intends to destroy an entire people." The Arab League had asked for the session after the US vetoed a similar, but watered-down UN Security Council draft resolution against Israel's actions last weekend, its second veto on the issue this year.
The resolution was passed by a vote of 156 to 7, with six abstentions. The US, Israel and Australia voted against the document while all the European Union members supported it.
The resolution "deeply deplores" the Israeli offensive, launched after the June capture of an Israel soldier, and calls on Israel to immediately halt its operation and pull its troops out of the Gaza Strip.
The vote came less than a week after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution criticizing Israel for launching a Nov 8 missile strike that killed 18 civilians in the town of Beit Hanoun.
Opening the debate on Friday, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour called for "an end to this rampant Israeli campaign, which intends to destroy an entire people."
The Arab League had asked for the session after the US vetoed a similar, but watered-down UN Security Council draft resolution against Israel's actions last weekend, its second veto on the issue this year.
The trial of Saddam Hussein was so flawed that its verdict is unsound, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch says. The former Iraqi leader was sentenced to death on 5 November after being convicted of crimes against humanity. But HRW said it had documented "serious administrative, procedural and substantive legal defects" that meant he did not get a fair trial. The Iraqi government has dismissed the report, telling the BBC that the trial was both "just and fair". Appeal controversy Saddam Hussein has two more weeks to lodge an appeal against the verdict - but his lawyer claims he has been blocked from doing so. Chief defence lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi told the BBC his team had been prevented from filing appeal papers. Under Iraqi law it must be done within a month of sentencing.
The former Iraqi leader was sentenced to death on 5 November after being convicted of crimes against humanity.
But HRW said it had documented "serious administrative, procedural and substantive legal defects" that meant he did not get a fair trial.
The Iraqi government has dismissed the report, telling the BBC that the trial was both "just and fair".
Appeal controversy
Saddam Hussein has two more weeks to lodge an appeal against the verdict - but his lawyer claims he has been blocked from doing so.
Chief defence lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi told the BBC his team had been prevented from filing appeal papers. Under Iraqi law it must be done within a month of sentencing.
A month before the November elections, Vice-President Dick Cheney was sitting in on a national-security discussion at the Executive Office Building. The talk took a political turn: what if the Democrats won both the Senate and the House? How would that affect policy toward Iran, which is believed to be on the verge of becoming a nuclear power? At that point, according to someone familiar with the discussion, Cheney began reminiscing about his job as a lineman, in the early nineteen-sixties, for a power company in Wyoming. Copper wire was expensive, and the linemen were instructed to return all unused pieces three feet or longer. No one wanted to deal with the paperwork that resulted, Cheney said, so he and his colleagues found a solution: putting "shorteners" on the wire--that is, cutting it into short pieces and tossing the leftovers at the end of the workday. If the Democrats won on November 7th, the Vice-President said, that victory would not stop the Administration from pursuing a military option with Iran. The White House would put "shorteners" on any legislative restrictions, Cheney said, and thus stop Congress from getting in its way. The White House's concern was not that the Democrats would cut off funds for the war in Iraq but that future legislation would prohibit it from financing operations targeted at overthrowing or destabilizing the Iranian government, to keep it from getting the bomb. "They're afraid that Congress is going to vote a binding resolution to stop a hit on Iran, à la Nicaragua in the Contra war," a former senior intelligence official told me.
The White House's concern was not that the Democrats would cut off funds for the war in Iraq but that future legislation would prohibit it from financing operations targeted at overthrowing or destabilizing the Iranian government, to keep it from getting the bomb. "They're afraid that Congress is going to vote a binding resolution to stop a hit on Iran, à la Nicaragua in the Contra war," a former senior intelligence official told me.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A classifed draft CIA assessment has found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House, a top US investigative reporter has said. Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue of the magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on whether the administration of Republican President George W. Bush was more, or less, inclined to attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last week. A month before the November 7 legislative elections, Hersh wrote, Vice President Dick Cheney attended a national-security discussion that touched on the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran policy. "If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military option with Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the discussion. Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative restrictions "and thus stop Congress from getting in its way," he said.
Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue of the magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on whether the administration of Republican President George W. Bush was more, or less, inclined to attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last week.
A month before the November 7 legislative elections, Hersh wrote, Vice President Dick Cheney attended a national-security discussion that touched on the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran policy.
"If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military option with Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the discussion.
Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative restrictions "and thus stop Congress from getting in its way," he said.
Hard to tell. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
· Hundreds of neighbours join first successful action · Air force calls off missile attack to protect civilians Palestinians yesterday stopped Israel from destroying the home of two militants by surrounding it with a human shield. In the first incident of its kind, hundreds of neighbours surrounded the home of Mohammed Baroud and climbed on its roof after he received a call from the Israeli army informing him he had 30 minutes to vacate his home before it was destroyed by missiles. The Israeli airforce called off its strike because of the risk of killing a large number of civilians. It is the first time Palestinians have thwarted an Israeli air strike in this way. Israel has developed a strategy of telephoning its targets to ensure that nobody is inside when the homes are struck. Residents are given about half an hour to gather some clothes and escape. Neighbours are also contacted if the explosion is likely to be big enough to endanger them. Dozens of homes have been blown up on suspicion that they are the site for a smuggling tunnel or arms cache. It is likely that Israel will have to find a new way of destroying homes as yesterday's protest began to be copied elsewhere.
Palestinians yesterday stopped Israel from destroying the home of two militants by surrounding it with a human shield.
In the first incident of its kind, hundreds of neighbours surrounded the home of Mohammed Baroud and climbed on its roof after he received a call from the Israeli army informing him he had 30 minutes to vacate his home before it was destroyed by missiles.
The Israeli airforce called off its strike because of the risk of killing a large number of civilians.
It is the first time Palestinians have thwarted an Israeli air strike in this way. Israel has developed a strategy of telephoning its targets to ensure that nobody is inside when the homes are struck. Residents are given about half an hour to gather some clothes and escape. Neighbours are also contacted if the explosion is likely to be big enough to endanger them.
Dozens of homes have been blown up on suspicion that they are the site for a smuggling tunnel or arms cache. It is likely that Israel will have to find a new way of destroying homes as yesterday's protest began to be copied elsewhere.
It is likely that Israel will have to find a new way of destroying homes
"Will have to".
And this isn't the Weekly Standard, the Wall Street Journal, or even the Telegraph, this is friggin' pro-Palestinian Guardian.
Utterly disgusting. And not a word about the illegality of these IDF 'tactics'. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
onPhilanthropy: Partnerships and Collaboration In, Lists Out, at Slate 60 Philanthropy Confab (11/15/06)
This week, the daily, web-based newsmagazine, Slate, held its annual Slate 60 Conference and Philanthropy Series to convene and honor America's biggest donors. Held at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum in Little Rock Arkansas, invitees included those named to the Slate 60 as well as a smattering of those who, like me, are working to increase the scale and impact of philanthropy. In two days packed with a rich variety of content and conversation, I was most struck by the fact that the gathering's superstars don't see themselves as philanthropists, donors, or the newest term: "philanthropreneurs." These are folks used to getting things done -- problem solvers who are bringing to the globe's most deeply-entrenched social problems, many of the same tools they use to address business challenges. In a nutshell, their approaches tend to: A.) "Un-silo" information, resources and financing across the private, government and nonprofit sectors. B.) Evolve from serving clients one-on-one to solutions that can be leveraged more broadly, C.) Emphasize better use of technology, and D.) Demand strong accountability.
In two days packed with a rich variety of content and conversation, I was most struck by the fact that the gathering's superstars don't see themselves as philanthropists, donors, or the newest term: "philanthropreneurs." These are folks used to getting things done -- problem solvers who are bringing to the globe's most deeply-entrenched social problems, many of the same tools they use to address business challenges.
In a nutshell, their approaches tend to: A.) "Un-silo" information, resources and financing across the private, government and nonprofit sectors. B.) Evolve from serving clients one-on-one to solutions that can be leveraged more broadly, C.) Emphasize better use of technology, and D.) Demand strong accountability.
Americans would have to sign up for a new military draft after turning 18 if the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has his way. New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel said Sunday he sees his idea as a way to deter politicians from launching wars. He believes a draft would bolster U.S. troop levels that are currently insufficient to cover potential future action in Iran, North Korea and Iraq. "There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft, and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," Rangel said. Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War who has unsuccessfully sponsored legislation on conscription in the past, said he will propose a measure early next year. In 2003, he proposed a draft covering people age 18 to 26. This year, he offered a plan to mandate military service for men and women between age 18 and 42. It went nowhere in the Republican-led Congress. Democrats will control the House and Senate come January because of their victories in the November 7 mid-term election. At a time when some lawmakers are urging the military to send more troops to Iraq, "I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft," said Rangel.
New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel said Sunday he sees his idea as a way to deter politicians from launching wars. He believes a draft would bolster U.S. troop levels that are currently insufficient to cover potential future action in Iran, North Korea and Iraq.
"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft, and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," Rangel said.
Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War who has unsuccessfully sponsored legislation on conscription in the past, said he will propose a measure early next year.
In 2003, he proposed a draft covering people age 18 to 26. This year, he offered a plan to mandate military service for men and women between age 18 and 42. It went nowhere in the Republican-led Congress.
Democrats will control the House and Senate come January because of their victories in the November 7 mid-term election.
At a time when some lawmakers are urging the military to send more troops to Iraq, "I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft," said Rangel.
Rangel is right. It is a deep injustice that some portions of the population -- overwhelmingly for economic reasons -- are forced to shoulder the burden of providing defense to the U.S., while other portions of the population -- overwhelmingly for economic reasons -- get a free ride in terms of defending the country.
Being under 42, I would still be eligible for the draft, and that is fine with me. If I disagree with a war I were to be drafted into, then I would simply refuse to enlist and accept the consequences. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
The real problem is a psychotic executive branch, which - as I understand it - has ignored the usual rules about declaring war and gone right ahead and started a war (sic) without oversight or accountability.
The lack of oversight and accountability, together with the delusional beliefs of a unitary executive, are the real problems. If those are solved there's no need for a draft, because there isn't going to be a war to draft anyone into.
If the situation changed in the future and a real threat appeared, a draft could always be organised to order. But instituting a draft without a real threat just to score a political point - and Iraq certainly isn't a real threat - makes no sense at all.
But I am afraid it would be irresponsibly* wishful thinking to rely only on a "commitment"/"directed effort" to solve these and to trust that their resolution will prevent further militaristic madness down the road.
That is why changing the stakes of the game would help. In two ways:
(1) As Rangel says, concentrate the minds of would-be war-mongerers.
and
(2) Arrange matters so that if the American people is ever gullible/stupid/vindictive enough again to follow its leaders into a disastrous military adventure, then the price of that mistake should be much more fairly distributed among the entire population.
* I say "irresponsibly" because "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
Militarisation affects the entire tone of a culture, and its a dangerous thing to do in a culture that's already so heavily militarised.
If such a draft were in place before Bush II appeared, I can't see any way that it would have made Iraq less of a fiasco. And I can see a lot of ways it could have made things much worse. Because with a pre-existing draft it's likely the US army would now be in Iran, Lebanon, Syria - and probably also Milton Keynes. And Paris.
And as for making everyone fight - deferments happened before, and you can be sure the rich and powerful would find ways to make them happen again.
It may just be me, but during my 4+ years in California I came away with the impression that the US has a very militaristic society and culture. And it begins with the large amount of veterans one interacts with in civilian life. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
While I think that is a good point, I would go one step further: If and when the government goes psychotic again in the future (God save us all), it will be immoral for Americans to let things stand in a situation where only "career" military personnel are forced to put their life and limb on the line to carry out such military policies.
Yes, these professionals "volunteered" for the job. But I believe that a significant number of these volunteers signed up because they had few other if any attractive job opportunities. That may be a false myth, and I welcome being corrected on it. However, the U.S. Defense Department's own 1998 Population Representation in the Military Services report suggests that many recruits enroll for lack of more attractive economic opportunities:
Because the U.S. economy has enjoyed a spate of economic success the past few years, with low unemployment rates and increased job opportunities for more and varied groups, the supply of quality military applicants has been tight. The economic detractors from recruiting are compounded by growing college enrollment rates among youth of enlistment age. Without the draft to press youth into service, the military must compete for qualified recruits. While a military career, or even one term of service, offers many tangible and intangible benefits to include pay, job training, educational opportunities, adventure, discipline, and pride, it carries significant burdens not the least of which include separation from family, danger, and other routine hardships. <...> Without the draft to call varied segments of society into service, the over- or underrepresentation of various ethnic/racial and economic subgroups in the military is to be expected. <...> The military may find that as Blacks have more economic options available to them, fewer numbers may enlist. <...> Because the military relies exclusively on volunteers for its personnel, it must recognize and work with these societal trends. Understanding the economic opportunities available to different groups, the population projections of ethnic and racial minorities, and various other population trends will provide the military with some of the information necessary to understand its future recruiting and personnel needs.
Without the draft to call varied segments of society into service, the over- or underrepresentation of various ethnic/racial and economic subgroups in the military is to be expected.
The military may find that as Blacks have more economic options available to them, fewer numbers may enlist.
Because the military relies exclusively on volunteers for its personnel, it must recognize and work with these societal trends. Understanding the economic opportunities available to different groups, the population projections of ethnic and racial minorities, and various other population trends will provide the military with some of the information necessary to understand its future recruiting and personnel needs.
Before this asinine war, I would never have believed that the U.S. could be so demented as to get involved in another military adventure like this. But now that it has demonstrated otherwise, it is only right to prepare for the grim likelihood that brutes and boneheads in the upper echelons of power will yet again try to move the U.S. into war, and if they succeed, then the costs of that mistake should not be borne disproportionately by those unfortunate enough to have little choice but to join the military in order to obtain a decent* livelihood.
Once such arrangements have been put in place -- i.e. the institution of a draft that would make all able-bodied young men and women eligible regardless of education, wealth, connections to power, etc. -- hopefully that will concentrate the minds of any would-be warmongerers in the future. However, even if they succeed in going forward with war anyway, well then it won't just be the poor and otherwise socioeconomically disadvantaged who will have to pay for the mistakes of our militaristic leaders (and those of us who supported them.)
*(Although even that is subject to debate.) Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
It is a deep injustice that some portions of the population -- overwhelmingly for economic reasons -- are forced to shoulder the burden of providing defense to the U.S., while other portions of the population -- overwhelmingly for economic reasons -- get a free ride in terms of defending the country.
But we all know that the rich white kids would go into the National Guard so's they can shoot troublemaking students, whilst all the poor kids would do the dying in foreign lands. I don't see how you can end the ability of the rich to apply influence and finesse their kids into safety. Can you stop the next Cheney being too busy to fight ?
No, you need more skepticism about believing that pre-emptive miltaristic adventures constitutes defense. Having such an over-whelming military machine along with so many corporates that have a vested interest in that machine requiring re-orders, predisposes the US towards solving its problems forcibly.
Instead of questioning the wisdom of destroying other countries to win hearts and minds, the US pours concern into avoiding injuries. This makes the military even more dependent upon hi-tech remote control munitions with overwhelming explosive capability. All of which just makes the damage, suffering and injustice inflicted on the target population all the worse, particularly in light of the incredibly crappy targetting.
Just how proportionate is it to destroy a town to compensate for killing 4 contractors ? Or flatten a block of flats, killing everybody inside, cos one insurgent was seen to run into it ?
You still need to have peace at the end of the war, so you might as well plan for it beforehand. In fact it#s better to get there without the war. But it's not as much fun, it doesn't look as good on CNN. Journalists don't get to play "embedded soldier". Peace just ain't so glamorous is it ? There's no profit in it. keep to the Fen Causeway
No university deferments. Period. Even for so-called "elite" students.
And yes, the most powerful and most connected will still manage to save some of their own, but if you can drastically increase the number in the bulk of the population who could potentially see active combat, I think you'll get the
more skepticism about believing that pre-emptive miltaristic adventures constitutes defense
you asked for.
And beyond that, you spread the burden of preserving "national security" more evenly across all members of society.
We ask that the costs of healthcare -- which are overwhelmingly financial in nature -- be spread across the population. By the same logic, the costs of national security -- which are both financial AND "bodily" -- should be spread across the population. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
Vietnam went on for a decade.
What about conscietous objectors, BTW? *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
Conscientious objectors in the 1980's and early 1990's played a big role in the end of the draft in Spain and the transition to professional, volunteer armed forces. And there wasn't even a war on. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
As someone who nearly became one, I am happy that Europe is increasingly abandoning the draft. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
Now, how could you be "unsubmissively" anti-militaristic and also an interventionist? Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
Apatriotism another factor: intervention as international enterprise, vs. drafted army is national. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
I went to university in the US. For my undergraduate degree I had to not only take subjects in my major, and related areas, but also in history, anthropology, sociology, literature, art, or rather, I had to pick several subjects from a list of humanities, arts, and social sciences. Subject that I would have never bothered with at the university level, not because I don't find them interesting, but because under a system where it would be allowed but not required I would have felt compelled to concentrate on what directly mattered to my future occupation.
(For all the terrible things I have to say about the US, I really, really like their broader undergraduate curriculum. Going to university there was quite simply great. Maybe not true for all schools??)
Follow up to report in The Telegraph that "Iran 'is training the next al-Qa'eda leaders'".
Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said on Saturday that a report by the Fox TV Network is 'an unfounded fabrication' alleged harbouring of a member of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. In a letter to the US defense department TV network, the mission said the report was a 'mere lie' and against the basic and professional rules of journalism. The network has recently aired a report claiming that Iran has harbored al-Qaeda No. 3 man, Saif al-Adel, in its territory in order to replace him by the terrorist group's ailing leader Osama Bin Laden as he was in a critical health condition. Calling the report a 'blatant media fabrication and a mere lie', the mission said in its letter that as one of the primary victims of al-Qaeda terrorist acts in Afghanistan, Iran has repeatedly condemned the terrorist group. Al-Qaeda gunmen martyred eight Iranian diplomats and IRNA reporter Mahmoud Saremi at Iranian consulate in Mazari-i-Sharif on August 8, 1998. "Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran have frequently said that neither the acts of terrorism nor the terrorist group of al-Qaeda are considered as Islamic," stressed the letter. Referring to al-Qaeda as 'a threat to Iran's security', it added that attributing such allegations to Iran was 'ridiculous' as al-Qaeda clearly opposes Shia school of thought and the Shia principles.
In a letter to the US defense department TV network, the mission said the report was a 'mere lie' and against the basic and professional rules of journalism.
The network has recently aired a report claiming that Iran has harbored al-Qaeda No. 3 man, Saif al-Adel, in its territory in order to replace him by the terrorist group's ailing leader Osama Bin Laden as he was in a critical health condition.
Calling the report a 'blatant media fabrication and a mere lie', the mission said in its letter that as one of the primary victims of al-Qaeda terrorist acts in Afghanistan, Iran has repeatedly condemned the terrorist group.
Al-Qaeda gunmen martyred eight Iranian diplomats and IRNA reporter Mahmoud Saremi at Iranian consulate in Mazari-i-Sharif on August 8, 1998.
"Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran have frequently said that neither the acts of terrorism nor the terrorist group of al-Qaeda are considered as Islamic," stressed the letter.
Referring to al-Qaeda as 'a threat to Iran's security', it added that attributing such allegations to Iran was 'ridiculous' as al-Qaeda clearly opposes Shia school of thought and the Shia principles.
UK police are investigating after a Russian former security agent in exile in Britain was poisoned by thallium. Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB colonel and critic of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on 1 November after a meeting at a London sushi bar. A clinical toxicologist said the 43-year-old had been poisoned with a potentially lethal dose of the metal. Mr Litvinenko is in a serious but stable condition in University College Hospital, London. He is reported to be under armed guard. '50/50 chance' Mr Litvinenko had been investigating the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a harsh critic of Mr Putin and Russian policy in Chechnya, who was killed in Moscow last month. Speaking to the BBC last week, he said a contact had approached him to say they should talk, and they arranged to meet at a restaurant in Piccadilly.
Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB colonel and critic of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on 1 November after a meeting at a London sushi bar.
A clinical toxicologist said the 43-year-old had been poisoned with a potentially lethal dose of the metal.
Mr Litvinenko is in a serious but stable condition in University College Hospital, London.
He is reported to be under armed guard.
'50/50 chance'
Mr Litvinenko had been investigating the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a harsh critic of Mr Putin and Russian policy in Chechnya, who was killed in Moscow last month.
Speaking to the BBC last week, he said a contact had approached him to say they should talk, and they arranged to meet at a restaurant in Piccadilly.
n 1968, Robert Kennedy seemed likely to follow his brother, John, into the White House. Then, on June 6, he was assassinated - apparently by a lone gunman. But Shane O'Sullivan says he has evidence implicating three CIA agents in the murder At first, it seems an open-and-shut case. On June 5 1968, Robert Kennedy wins the California Democratic primary and is set to challenge Richard Nixon for the White House. After midnight, he finishes his victory speech at the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles and is shaking hands with kitchen staff in a crowded pantry when 24-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan steps down from a tray-stacker with a "sick, villainous smile" on his face and starts firing at Kennedy with an eight-shot revolver. As Kennedy lies dying on the pantry floor, Sirhan is arrested as the lone assassin. He carries the motive in his shirt-pocket (a clipping about Kennedy's plans to sell bombers to Israel) and notebooks at his house seem to incriminate him. But the autopsy report suggests Sirhan could not have fired the shots that killed Kennedy. Witnesses place Sirhan's gun several feet in front of Kennedy, but the fatal bullet is fired from one inch behind. And more bullet-holes are found in the pantry than Sirhan's gun can hold, suggesting a second gunman is involved. Sirhan's notebooks show a bizarre series of "automatic writing" - "RFK must die RFK must be killed - Robert F Kennedy must be assassinated before 5 June 68" - and even under hypnosis, he has never been able to remember shooting Kennedy. He recalls "being led into a dark place by a girl who wanted coffee", then being choked by an angry mob. Defence psychiatrists conclude he was in a trance at the time of the shooting and leading psychiatrists suggest he may have be a hypnotically programmed assassin. Three years ago, I started writing a screenplay about the assassination of Robert Kennedy, caught up in a strange tale of second guns and "Manchurian candidates" (as the movie termed brainwashed assassins). As I researched the case, I uncovered new video and photographic evidence suggesting that three senior CIA operatives were behind the killing. I did not buy the official ending that Sirhan acted alone, and started dipping into the nether-world of "assassination research", crossing paths with David Sanchez Morales, a fearsome Yaqui Indian.
At first, it seems an open-and-shut case. On June 5 1968, Robert Kennedy wins the California Democratic primary and is set to challenge Richard Nixon for the White House. After midnight, he finishes his victory speech at the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles and is shaking hands with kitchen staff in a crowded pantry when 24-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan steps down from a tray-stacker with a "sick, villainous smile" on his face and starts firing at Kennedy with an eight-shot revolver.
As Kennedy lies dying on the pantry floor, Sirhan is arrested as the lone assassin. He carries the motive in his shirt-pocket (a clipping about Kennedy's plans to sell bombers to Israel) and notebooks at his house seem to incriminate him. But the autopsy report suggests Sirhan could not have fired the shots that killed Kennedy. Witnesses place Sirhan's gun several feet in front of Kennedy, but the fatal bullet is fired from one inch behind. And more bullet-holes are found in the pantry than Sirhan's gun can hold, suggesting a second gunman is involved. Sirhan's notebooks show a bizarre series of "automatic writing" - "RFK must die RFK must be killed - Robert F Kennedy must be assassinated before 5 June 68" - and even under hypnosis, he has never been able to remember shooting Kennedy. He recalls "being led into a dark place by a girl who wanted coffee", then being choked by an angry mob. Defence psychiatrists conclude he was in a trance at the time of the shooting and leading psychiatrists suggest he may have be a hypnotically programmed assassin.
Three years ago, I started writing a screenplay about the assassination of Robert Kennedy, caught up in a strange tale of second guns and "Manchurian candidates" (as the movie termed brainwashed assassins). As I researched the case, I uncovered new video and photographic evidence suggesting that three senior CIA operatives were behind the killing. I did not buy the official ending that Sirhan acted alone, and started dipping into the nether-world of "assassination research", crossing paths with David Sanchez Morales, a fearsome Yaqui Indian.
A 14-year-old Indian boy has been awarded the International Children's Peace Prize for leading a campaign against child labour and child slavery. Om Prakash was forced to work as a farm labourer for three years. After he was rescued, Om set up a network that aims to give all children a birth certificate as a way of helping to protect them from exploitation. Om was awarded the $100,000 (£53,000) prize organised by a Netherlands-based group at a ceremony in The Hague. Om suffered the fate of millions of children. At the age of five, he was taken away from his parents and for three years he worked in the fields. He was given two meals a day, was regularly beaten and never paid. After he was rescued, Om campaigned for free education in his native Rajastan. He then helped to set up a network of what are known as "child friendly villages".
Om Prakash was forced to work as a farm labourer for three years.
After he was rescued, Om set up a network that aims to give all children a birth certificate as a way of helping to protect them from exploitation.
Om was awarded the $100,000 (£53,000) prize organised by a Netherlands-based group at a ceremony in The Hague.
Om suffered the fate of millions of children. At the age of five, he was taken away from his parents and for three years he worked in the fields.
He was given two meals a day, was regularly beaten and never paid.
After he was rescued, Om campaigned for free education in his native Rajastan. He then helped to set up a network of what are known as "child friendly villages".
Kakutani is in fine form as she rips apart Pynchon's latest novel.
Thomas Pynchon's new novel, "Against the Day," reads like the sort of imitation of a Thomas Pynchon novel that a dogged but ungainly fan of this author's might have written on quaaludes. It is a humongous, bloated jigsaw puzzle of a story, pretentious without being provocative, elliptical without being illuminating, complicated without being rewardingly complex. The novel plays with themes that have animated the whole of Mr. Pynchon's oeuvre: order versus chaos, fate versus freedom, paranoia versus nihilism. It boasts a sprawling, Dickensian cast with distinctly Pynchonian names: Fleetwood Vibe, Lindsay Noseworth, Clive Crouchmas. And it's littered with puns, ditties, vaudevillesque turns and allusions to everything from old sci-fi movies to Kafka to Harry Potter. These authorial trademarks, however, are orchestrated in a weary and decidedly mechanical fashion, as the narrative bounces back and forth from America to Europe to Mexico, from Cripple Creek to Constantinople to Chihuahua. There are some dazzling set pieces evoking the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and a convocation of airship aficionados, but these passages are sandwiched between reams and reams of pointless, self-indulgent vamping that read like Exhibit A in what can only be called a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. Dozens of characters are sent on mysterious (often half-baked) quests that intersect mysteriously with the mysterious quests of people they knew in another context, and dozens of portentous plot lines are portentously twined around even more portentous events: the appearance of a strange figure in the Arctic, a startling "heavenwide blast of light", the hunt for something called a "Time-weapon" that might affect the fate of the globe. Whereas Mr. Pynchon's last novel, the stunning "Mason & Dixon," demonstrated a new psychological depth, depicting its two heroes as full-fledged human beings, not merely as pawns in the author's philosophical chess game, the people in "Against the Day" are little more than stick figure cartoons. <...> ... because these people are so flimsily delineated, their efforts to connect feel merely sentimental and contrived. And that, in the end, is one of the more telling problems of this labored production, which lacks both the ferocious energy and bravura literary gamesmanship of "The Crying of Lot 49" and "Gravity's Rainbow," and the heartfelt emotion of "Mason & Dixon."
The novel plays with themes that have animated the whole of Mr. Pynchon's oeuvre: order versus chaos, fate versus freedom, paranoia versus nihilism. It boasts a sprawling, Dickensian cast with distinctly Pynchonian names: Fleetwood Vibe, Lindsay Noseworth, Clive Crouchmas. And it's littered with puns, ditties, vaudevillesque turns and allusions to everything from old sci-fi movies to Kafka to Harry Potter. These authorial trademarks, however, are orchestrated in a weary and decidedly mechanical fashion, as the narrative bounces back and forth from America to Europe to Mexico, from Cripple Creek to Constantinople to Chihuahua.
There are some dazzling set pieces evoking the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and a convocation of airship aficionados, but these passages are sandwiched between reams and reams of pointless, self-indulgent vamping that read like Exhibit A in what can only be called a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. Dozens of characters are sent on mysterious (often half-baked) quests that intersect mysteriously with the mysterious quests of people they knew in another context, and dozens of portentous plot lines are portentously twined around even more portentous events: the appearance of a strange figure in the Arctic, a startling "heavenwide blast of light", the hunt for something called a "Time-weapon" that might affect the fate of the globe.
Whereas Mr. Pynchon's last novel, the stunning "Mason & Dixon," demonstrated a new psychological depth, depicting its two heroes as full-fledged human beings, not merely as pawns in the author's philosophical chess game, the people in "Against the Day" are little more than stick figure cartoons.
... because these people are so flimsily delineated, their efforts to connect feel merely sentimental and contrived. And that, in the end, is one of the more telling problems of this labored production, which lacks both the ferocious energy and bravura literary gamesmanship of "The Crying of Lot 49" and "Gravity's Rainbow," and the heartfelt emotion of "Mason & Dixon."
The political party formed by U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman after he lost the Democratic primary in August has a new chairman - and it's not Lieberman. However, according to the bylaws adopted by its new chairman, Lieberman critic and Fairfield University professor John Orman, the senator is an eligible party candidate. According to bylaws established by Orman, anyone whose last name is Lieberman may seek the party's nomination - or any critic of the senator. Orman seized control of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party this week after registering as its sole member and electing himself as chairman. Orman has triggered a process that will force Lieberman and state elections officials to decide the future of a party created solely to return the senator to Washington. "It's an interesting little wrinkle," said Michael Kozik, managing attorney for the secretary of the state's legislation and elections administration division. Orman has forwarded his intention to register with the party and keep it alive to the secretary of the state for review.
However, according to the bylaws adopted by its new chairman, Lieberman critic and Fairfield University professor John Orman, the senator is an eligible party candidate.
According to bylaws established by Orman, anyone whose last name is Lieberman may seek the party's nomination - or any critic of the senator.
Orman seized control of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party this week after registering as its sole member and electing himself as chairman.
Orman has triggered a process that will force Lieberman and state elections officials to decide the future of a party created solely to return the senator to Washington.
"It's an interesting little wrinkle," said Michael Kozik, managing attorney for the secretary of the state's legislation and elections administration division. Orman has forwarded his intention to register with the party and keep it alive to the secretary of the state for review.
