BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"
31 January 2013
JENNIFER BOYSKO AND HERB KEMP FOR 86TH DISTRICT DELEGATE TO RICHMOND
TWO progressive, committed Democrats are running for delegate from the 86th district. Jennifer Boysko http://www.jenniferboysko.com/ and Herb Kemp http://www.herbkempfordelegate.com/index.php are both well qualified to represent us in Richmond. Both are friends of mine. One will win the 11 JUN 13 Democratic primary. I will have no problem supporting whoever wins the primary in June. Click the links to check out their campaigns, I hope you will become involved and support the candidate who best represents your views and opinions, and that you too will support the winner of the primary. Bottom line is the 86th district deserves more than just a nice delegate in the House. We deserve a delegate who will actively promote an agenda that is beneficial not only for the 86th district but one that benefits the entire Commonwealth. While we have problems and issue that need to be addressed here in northern Virginia, we are part of a state, and so our delegate should represent our interest in conjunction with the best interest of the entire state. Education (school construction, teacher and staff pay, Head Start), transportation (mass transit as well as roads, high speed rail, impact fees), the environment (the Bay, fracking, uranium mining, coal, renewable energy, off shore drilling) taxes (corporate, tax subsidies, personal, sales, tobacco and gas), civil liberties (voting rights, academic freedom, sexual orientation), civil rights, the social safety net (compliance with ACA, administration of SNAP, unemployment, job retraining, housing assistance), immigration, public safety (police, firefighters, gun regulations) and ending the Commonwealth's war on women (choice, birth control) are all issues our delegate in Richmond should lead in addressing and not wait for the party to determine their position for them (the situation we have with our current representative). I look forward to the two candidates positions on these issues.
"BAD DOG"!!!!!!!
Priceless
So...
there you are,
having a
dinner party.....
Your parents
Your parents
are there,
Your in-laws
Your in-laws
are there,
Your boss and
Your boss and
his wife
are there,
Your Pastor and
Your Pastor and
his wife
are there,
You're all
You're all
settling down
for a
nice relaxing
evening dinner,
Then
Then
in
walks
the
dog....
......
.....
....
...
..
.
France declares Mali campaign 'successful' 31JAN13
THE military battle for the control of Mali is almost over, thank God for the French forces who, with the Malian Army and troops from Togo and Nigeria, have pushed back the terrorist from almost all the cities, towns and villages and freed the Malian people from the repression and fear of the perverted, twisted form of "islamic" sharia imposed on them. Now the major battle to be won is for the hearts and minds of the people of the northern part of the country and I hope the French remain in Mali to help with the negotiations. From al-Jazeera....
| Jean-Yves le Drian, French defence minister, has said his country's intervention in Mali has reached "a moment of change". Speaking in Paris on Thursday, Drian said "the French intervention has succeeded", citing the force's ability to stop offensives by armed groups in the south of the country within the initial days of the three-week-long intervention. He cautioned, however, that the task of accompanying "Malian and African forces once they are set up in taking back autonomy and territorial integrity of the Malian state" is still "ongoing". Le Drian's comments come as at least two Malian soldiers were killed by a landmine left by fleeing fighters. The device exploded as their vehicle passed it near the town of Douentza. Elsewhere in the country, there have been reports of acts of vengeance perpetrated by the Malian population. Thierry Burkhard, French military spokesman, said: "Regarding those actions that could be deemed acts of vengeance which have been enacted by the population in certain areas. Like you, we have observed them. We have also observed that the Malian security forces have very quickly intervened to stop these acts of vengeance." Burkhard went on to say that by the rules of engagement, if French forces were to witness such actions, "they would of course intervene immediately to stop them". Political process Philippe Lalliot, a spokesperson for the French foreign minister, said on Wednesday it was now time for the "political process" to advance.
He called for talks with the legitimate representatives of the northern peoples and "non-terrorist armed groups" that recognise the integrity of Mali. "Only a north-south dialogue will prepare the ground for the Malian state to return to the north of the country," he said. Mali's parliament adopted a political road map on Tuesday that included a commitment to holding elections by July 31 and commencing negotiations with representatives from the north. He told France's RFI radio he was ready for talks with the secular Tuaregs of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad [known by its French acronym, MNLA] who want an independent homeland for their people. Traore said, however, that he would not meet representatives from any of the three al-Qaeda-linked groups - Ansar al-Dine, MIA and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) - that seized northern Mali last year. Traore said that the groups had pulled out of cities in the north, and that Malian and French forces would have "established a presence everywhere" within a month. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/2013131143642462396.html |
Hezbollah, Russia condemn Israeli airstrike inside Syria & Israel Strikes Syria Military Target & Syria, Iran Threaten Israel With Retaliation For Strike 30&31JAN13
WELL done, whoever destroyed this hezbollah terrorist convoy. I really doubt that any government officials in most of the Arab world, especially in Lebanon, are upset or angry about hezbollah being stopped from bringing these missiles into Lebanon. And nobody but other terrorist and their sponsors, i.e. Russia, Iran, and the doomed government of Syria, put any credibility in their condemnations of this strike. The real risk is the response of Syria and Iran. Will assad try to make himself a martyr of the "zionist" by expanding the Syrian civil war to Israel with attacks on the Golan Heights and a massive release of weapons to their terrorist proxies in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank prompting an Israeli response? Will Iran send weapons and fighters through corrupt, chaotic Iraq to support assad and take action in the Straits of Hormuz? The situation is becoming extremely unstable thanks to the obstructionism of Russia and the prc in the UN Security Council. We will become involved militarily, when and where is the question. From the Washington Post & HuffPost.....
Ariel Schalit/AP - An Israeli air force F-15 Eagle jet fighter plane takes off from Tel Nof air force base for a mission over Gaza Strip in central Israel, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
JERUSALEM — Israeli aircraft struck inside Syria on Wednesday for the first time since 2007, according to Western and Syrian officials, in a development that underlined the risk that the civil war in Syria could spill over into a wider conflict.
There were conflicting reports about the target and its location. A Western official and a former Lebanese security official said earlier Wednesday that Israel had attacked inside Syria along the border with Lebanon, and the former Lebanese official said an unmanned aircraft had hit a truck carrying weapons. But in a later statement, the Syrian army denied a strike along the border and said instead that Israeli jets had bombed a defense research center near Damascus.
Israel declined to comment, as did U.S. officials, who deferred to Israel, a key security partner. The response was similar to the silence that followed Israel’s bombing five years ago of a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor, an attack that U.S. officials later confirmed but that the Israelis have not acknowledged to date.
The attack Wednesday highlighted deepening Israeli concerns that the disintegration of Syria could lead to the transfer of advanced weapons to Islamist militants there or to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in neighboring Lebanon, posing new threats to Israel’s military reach across its borders.
Hezbollah, which is closely aligned with both Syria and Iran, condemned the airstrike as “barbaric aggression” and expressed “full solidarity with Syria’s command, army and people,” the Associated Press reported. Russia, Syria’s chief patron, said the strike would constitute “unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”
The Syrian government said in a statement that Israeli aircraft had bombed “a scientific research center responsible for raising the levels of resistance and self-
defense” in Jamraya, northwest of Damascus, the capital.
The statement said the Israeli planes had flown below radar range and destroyed the building, killing two employees and wounding five. The statement denied that a convoy had been hit near the border with Lebanon, calling the reports “baseless.”
But according to earlier accounts by the Western official and a U.S. official, Israeli aircraft struck near the Syria-Lebanon border. The officials said there were no indications that chemical weapons were targeted.
Concerns about Hezbollah
The Associated Press, citing unnamed regional security officials, said that Israel had been planning to target a Syrian shipment of antiaircraft missiles bound for Hezbollah and that the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 missiles.
Although Israeli and U.S. security officials have said that Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles were secure for now, there is profound concern in Israel about a parallel transfer of advanced conventional weapons to Hezbollah.
Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel’s national security council, said in an interview that any transfer to Hezbollah of weapons considered to be game-changers, such as the Russian antiaircraft missiles or long-range Scud missiles, is viewed as gravely as the chemical threat.
The antiaircraft weapons could curtail Israel’s air dominance in Lebanon, and the long-range missiles could give Hezbollah — which fought a war with Israel in 2006 — enhanced strike range across Israel’s entire territory.
“These are no less troubling than chemical weapons,” Eiland said. “They are more widespread and not as tightly controlled by the regime, so they can fall into the hands of Hezbollah.”
Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon’s military said 12 Israeli warplanes had violated Lebanese airspace in less than 24 hours, flying low in several sorties over villages in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said it would not comment on the reports, which followed several days of statements and high-level consultations on Syria among senior Israeli officials.
On Sunday, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told Army Radio that the movement of chemical weapons to Islamist rebels in Syria or to Hezbollah would be “a crossing of all red lines that would require a different approach, including even preventive operations.” He confirmed media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convened a meeting of top security chiefs last week to discuss developments in Syria and its chemical arsenal.
In public comments Sunday at the start of the weekly cabinet session, Netanyahu said Israel had to keep an eye on “lethal weaponry in Syria, which is breaking apart.” He added that there is “an accumulation of threats” for which Israel has to prepare.
Two Iron Dome missile defense batteries were positioned Sunday in northern Israel, in what the army called part of a routine rotation nationwide.
Many regional analysts say Hezbollah has not only restocked its weapons arsenal since the 2006 war but has also greatly expanded the supply and sophistication of its rockets. In a speech in May 2012, Hasan Nasrallah, the group’s leader, said Hezbollah could now launch rockets anywhere in Israel, and he later remarked that Syria had supplied the group’s most potent weapons.
Amnon Sofrin, a former director of intelligence for Israel’s foreign spy agency, the Mossad, told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday that with Syria in turmoil, Nasrallah was eager “to move to Lebanon everything he can under his custody.” Sofrin said Israel was watching carefully for convoys of weapons moving to Lebanon from Syria, where Hezbollah is thought to have stored some of its arms.
Mystery about motives
The Syrian assertion that Israel had bombed a research center deepened the mystery surrounding the possible motives for the attack. The official statement suggested that the target might have been a facility near Damascus operated by the Scientific Studies and Research Center, an arm of Syria’s armed forces that Western experts have linked to the country’s missiles and chemical weapons programs.
In 2005, the George W. Bush administration sanctioned the SSRC in an executive order, and two years later, the White House froze the assets of several of the center’s subsidiaries, on the grounds that SSRC scientists were seeking to develop “non-conventional weapons and the missiles to deliver them.”
Yet, military experts cautioned that there was no independent evidence that the facility had been bombed by a foreign air force. Syria may simply be trying to blame Israel for the loss of a facility that had fallen to rebels or been destroyed by other means, said Anthony Cordesman, a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
“Would the Israelis have hit a facility that may have some chemical weapons in it? It’s doubtful,” said Cordesman, who co-authored a 2008 study of Syria’s weapons program. “If they did, Syria could respond by dispersing its arsenal further, which would increase the risk to Israel.”
On Wednesday morning, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights released a list of security incidents that included reports of shelling and a “huge fire” in the Jamraya area.
Rami Abdulrahman, who is the director of the monitoring group and who uses a pseudonym, said in an interview that reports about the incident were conflicting, with some local sources saying that it involved mortar shells and others alleging that Syrian airplanes struck the building.
Greenberg reported from Jerusalem. Joby Warrick, Julie Tate, Karen DeYoung and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/reports-israeli-aircraft-fired-missile-along-lebanon-syria-border/2013/01/30/60fab2be-6adf-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_print.html
Ariel Schalit/AP - An Israeli air force F-15 Eagle jet fighter plane takes off from Tel Nof air force base for a mission over Gaza Strip in central Israel, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
JERUSALEM — Israeli aircraft struck inside Syria on Wednesday for the first time since 2007, according to Western and Syrian officials, in a development that underlined the risk that the civil war in Syria could spill over into a wider conflict.
There were conflicting reports about the target and its location. A Western official and a former Lebanese security official said earlier Wednesday that Israel had attacked inside Syria along the border with Lebanon, and the former Lebanese official said an unmanned aircraft had hit a truck carrying weapons. But in a later statement, the Syrian army denied a strike along the border and said instead that Israeli jets had bombed a defense research center near Damascus.
Israel declined to comment, as did U.S. officials, who deferred to Israel, a key security partner. The response was similar to the silence that followed Israel’s bombing five years ago of a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor, an attack that U.S. officials later confirmed but that the Israelis have not acknowledged to date.
The attack Wednesday highlighted deepening Israeli concerns that the disintegration of Syria could lead to the transfer of advanced weapons to Islamist militants there or to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in neighboring Lebanon, posing new threats to Israel’s military reach across its borders.
Hezbollah, which is closely aligned with both Syria and Iran, condemned the airstrike as “barbaric aggression” and expressed “full solidarity with Syria’s command, army and people,” the Associated Press reported. Russia, Syria’s chief patron, said the strike would constitute “unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”
The Syrian government said in a statement that Israeli aircraft had bombed “a scientific research center responsible for raising the levels of resistance and self-
defense” in Jamraya, northwest of Damascus, the capital.
The statement said the Israeli planes had flown below radar range and destroyed the building, killing two employees and wounding five. The statement denied that a convoy had been hit near the border with Lebanon, calling the reports “baseless.”
But according to earlier accounts by the Western official and a U.S. official, Israeli aircraft struck near the Syria-Lebanon border. The officials said there were no indications that chemical weapons were targeted.
Concerns about Hezbollah
The Associated Press, citing unnamed regional security officials, said that Israel had been planning to target a Syrian shipment of antiaircraft missiles bound for Hezbollah and that the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 missiles.
Although Israeli and U.S. security officials have said that Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles were secure for now, there is profound concern in Israel about a parallel transfer of advanced conventional weapons to Hezbollah.
Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel’s national security council, said in an interview that any transfer to Hezbollah of weapons considered to be game-changers, such as the Russian antiaircraft missiles or long-range Scud missiles, is viewed as gravely as the chemical threat.
The antiaircraft weapons could curtail Israel’s air dominance in Lebanon, and the long-range missiles could give Hezbollah — which fought a war with Israel in 2006 — enhanced strike range across Israel’s entire territory.
“These are no less troubling than chemical weapons,” Eiland said. “They are more widespread and not as tightly controlled by the regime, so they can fall into the hands of Hezbollah.”
Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon’s military said 12 Israeli warplanes had violated Lebanese airspace in less than 24 hours, flying low in several sorties over villages in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said it would not comment on the reports, which followed several days of statements and high-level consultations on Syria among senior Israeli officials.
On Sunday, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told Army Radio that the movement of chemical weapons to Islamist rebels in Syria or to Hezbollah would be “a crossing of all red lines that would require a different approach, including even preventive operations.” He confirmed media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convened a meeting of top security chiefs last week to discuss developments in Syria and its chemical arsenal.
In public comments Sunday at the start of the weekly cabinet session, Netanyahu said Israel had to keep an eye on “lethal weaponry in Syria, which is breaking apart.” He added that there is “an accumulation of threats” for which Israel has to prepare.
Two Iron Dome missile defense batteries were positioned Sunday in northern Israel, in what the army called part of a routine rotation nationwide.
Many regional analysts say Hezbollah has not only restocked its weapons arsenal since the 2006 war but has also greatly expanded the supply and sophistication of its rockets. In a speech in May 2012, Hasan Nasrallah, the group’s leader, said Hezbollah could now launch rockets anywhere in Israel, and he later remarked that Syria had supplied the group’s most potent weapons.
Amnon Sofrin, a former director of intelligence for Israel’s foreign spy agency, the Mossad, told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday that with Syria in turmoil, Nasrallah was eager “to move to Lebanon everything he can under his custody.” Sofrin said Israel was watching carefully for convoys of weapons moving to Lebanon from Syria, where Hezbollah is thought to have stored some of its arms.
Mystery about motives
The Syrian assertion that Israel had bombed a research center deepened the mystery surrounding the possible motives for the attack. The official statement suggested that the target might have been a facility near Damascus operated by the Scientific Studies and Research Center, an arm of Syria’s armed forces that Western experts have linked to the country’s missiles and chemical weapons programs.
In 2005, the George W. Bush administration sanctioned the SSRC in an executive order, and two years later, the White House froze the assets of several of the center’s subsidiaries, on the grounds that SSRC scientists were seeking to develop “non-conventional weapons and the missiles to deliver them.”
Yet, military experts cautioned that there was no independent evidence that the facility had been bombed by a foreign air force. Syria may simply be trying to blame Israel for the loss of a facility that had fallen to rebels or been destroyed by other means, said Anthony Cordesman, a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
“Would the Israelis have hit a facility that may have some chemical weapons in it? It’s doubtful,” said Cordesman, who co-authored a 2008 study of Syria’s weapons program. “If they did, Syria could respond by dispersing its arsenal further, which would increase the risk to Israel.”
On Wednesday morning, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights released a list of security incidents that included reports of shelling and a “huge fire” in the Jamraya area.
Rami Abdulrahman, who is the director of the monitoring group and who uses a pseudonym, said in an interview that reports about the incident were conflicting, with some local sources saying that it involved mortar shells and others alleging that Syrian airplanes struck the building.
Greenberg reported from Jerusalem. Joby Warrick, Julie Tate, Karen DeYoung and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/reports-israeli-aircraft-fired-missile-along-lebanon-syria-border/2013/01/30/60fab2be-6adf-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_print.html
Israel Strikes Syria Military Target
BEIRUT — Israel launched a rare airstrike inside Syria, U.S. officials said Wednesday, targeting a convoy believed to contain anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The attack adds a potentially flammable new element to tensions already heightened by Syria's civil war.
It was the latest salvo in Israel's long-running effort to disrupt the Shiite militia's quest to build an arsenal capable of defending against Israel's air force and spreading destruction inside the Jewish state.
Regional security officials said the strike, which occurred overnight Tuesday, targeted a site near the Lebanese border, while a Syrian army statement said it destroyed a military research center northwest of the capital, Damascus. They appeared to be referring to the same incident.
U.S. officials said the target was a truck convoy that Israel believed was carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the operation.
Regional officials said the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would be "game-changing," enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
In a statement, the Syrian military denied the existence of any such shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit by the Israeli warplanes.
The Israeli military declined to comment. However, many in Israel worry that as Syrian President Bashar Assad loses power, he could strike back by transferring chemical or advanced weapons to Hezbollah, which is neighboring Lebanon's most powerful military force and is committed to Israel's destruction.
The airstrike follows decades of enmity between Israel and allies Syria and Hezbollah, which consider the Jewish state their mortal enemy. The situation has been further complicated by the civil war raging in Syria between the Assad regime and rebel brigades seeking his ouster.
The war has sapped Assad's power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms.
A Syrian military statement read aloud on state TV Wednesday said low-flying Israeli jets crossed into Syria over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and bombed a military research center in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus.
The strike destroyed the center and damaged a nearby building, killing two workers and wounding five others, the statement said.
The military denied the existence of any convoy bound for Lebanon, saying the center was responsible for "raising the level of resistance and self-defense" of Syria's military.
"This proves that Israel is the instigator, beneficiary and sometimes executor of the terrorist acts targeting Syria and its people," the statement said.
Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive 34-day war in 2006 that left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead.
While the border has been largely quiet since, the struggle has taken other forms. Hezbollah has accused Israel of assassinating a top commander, and Israel blamed Hezbollah and Iran for a July 2012 attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. In October, Hezbollah launched an Iranian-made reconnaissance drone over Israel, using the incident to brag about its expanding capabilities.
Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah's arsenal has markedly improved since 2006, now boasting tens of thousands of rockets and missiles and the ability to strike almost anywhere inside Israel.
Israel suspects that Damascus obtained a battery of SA-17s from Russia after an alleged Israeli airstrike in 2007 that destroyed an unfinished Syrian nuclear reactor.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the dangers of Syria's "deadly weapons," saying the country is "increasingly coming apart."
The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new "Iron Dome" rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli army called that move "routine."
Syria, however, cast the airstrike in a different light, linked to the country's civil war, which it blames on terrorists carrying out an international conspiracy.
Despite its icy relations with Assad, Israel has remained on the sidelines of efforts to topple him, while keeping up defenses against possible attacks.
Israeli defense officials have carefully monitored Syria's chemical weapons, fearing Assad could deploy them or lose control of them to extremist fighters among the rebels.
President Barack Obama has called the use of chemical weapons a "red line" that if crossed could prompt direct U.S. intervention, though U.S. officials have said Syria's stockpiles still appear to be under government control.
The strike was Israel's first inside Syria since September 2007, when warplanes destroyed a site that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed likely to be a nuclear reactor. Syria denied the claim, saying the building was a non-nuclear military site.
Syria allowed international inspectors to visit the bombed site in 2008, but it has refused to allow nuclear inspectors new access. This has heightened suspicions that Syria has something to hide, along with its decision to level the destroyed structure and build on its site.
In 2006, Israeli warplanes flew over Assad's palace in a show of force after Syrian-backed militants captured an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip.
And in 2003, Israeli warplanes attacked a suspected militant training camp just north of the Syrian capital, in response to an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in the city of Haifa that killed 21 Israelis.
Syria vowed to retaliate for both attacks but never did.
In Lebanon, which borders both Israel and Syria, the military and the U.N. agency tasked with monitoring the border with Israel said Israeli warplanes have sharply increased their activity in the past week.
Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace are not uncommon, and it was unclear if the recent activity was related to the strike in Syria.
Syria's primary conflict with Israel is over the Golan Heights, which Israeli occupied in the 1967 war. Syria demands the area back as part of any peace deal. Despite the hostility, Syria has kept the border quiet since the 1973 Mideast war and has never retaliated for Israeli attacks.
In May 2011, only two months after the uprising against Assad started, hundreds of Palestinians overran the tightly controlled Syria-Israeli frontier in a move widely thought to have been facilitated by the Assad regime to divert the world's gaze from his growing troubles at home.
___
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Bradley Klapper in Washington, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
Syria, Iran Threaten Israel With Retaliation For Strike
BEIRUT — Syria threatened Thursday to retaliate for an Israeli airstrike and its ally Iran said there will be repercussions for the Jewish state over the attack.
Syria sent a letter to the U.N. Secretary-General stressing the country's "right to defend itself, its territory and sovereignty" and holding Israel and its supporters accountable.
"Israel and those who protect it at the Security Council are fully responsible for the repercussions of this aggression," the letter from Syria's Foreign Ministry said.
U.S. officials said Israel launched a rare airstrike inside Syria on Wednesday. The target was a convoy believed to be carrying anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant group allied with Syria and Iran.
In Israel, a lawmaker close to hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stopped short of confirming involvement in the strike. But he hinted that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future.
The attack has inflamed regional tensions already running high over Syria's 22-month-old civil war.
Israeli leaders in the days leading up to the airstrike had been publicly expressing concern that Syrian President Bashar Assad may be losing his grip on the country and its arsenal of conventional and nonconventional weapons.
Regional security officials said Wednesday that the targeted shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would enhance its military capabilities by enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
The Syrian military denied there was any weapons convoy and said low-flying Israeli jets had crossed into their country over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to bomb a scientific research center near Damascus.
It said the target was in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus and about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the Lebanese border.
Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, who in December became one of the most senior Syrian army officers to defect, told The Associated Press by telephone from Turkey that the site they said was targeted is a "major and well-known" center to develop weapons known as the Scientific Research Center.
Al-Shallal, who until his defection was commander of the military police, said no chemical or nonconventional weapons are at the site. He added that foreign experts, including Russians and Iranians, are usually present at such centers.
Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali threatened retribution for the Israeli airstrike, saying Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation."
He told Hezbollah's al-Ahd news website that it was up to the relevant authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose the time and place.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned Major-General Iqbal Singh Singha, the head of mission and force commander for United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights, to complain about the Israeli violation.
The force was established in 1974 following the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the area and has remained there since to maintain the cease-fire. Israel captured the Golan, a strategic plateau, from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.
At U.N. headquarters in New York, deputy U.N. spokesman Eduardo del Buey said: "UNDOF did not observe any planes flying over the area of separation, and therefore was not able to confirm the incident." UNDOF also reported bad weather conditions, he said.
Hezbollah condemned the attack as "barbaric aggression" and said it "expresses full solidarity with Syria's command, army and people."
The group did not mention any weapons convoy in the statement but said the strike aimed to prevent Arab and Muslim forces from developing their military capabilities.
In Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying the raid will have significant implications for Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi condemned the airstrike on state television, calling it a clear violation of Syrian sovereignty. Iran is Syria's strongest ally in the Middle East, and has provided Assad's government with military and political backing for years.
Russia, Syria's most important international ally, said this appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation. Moscow said it was taking urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details.
"If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Whatever the motives, this is not justified."
Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, who is close to Prime Minister Netanyahu, said pinpoint strikes are not enough to counter the threat of Hezbollah obtaining sophisticated weaponry from Syria.
"Israel's preference would be if a Western entity would control these weapons systems," Hanegbi said. "But because it appears the world is not prepared to do what was done in Libya or other places, then Israel finds itself like it has many times in the past facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to," he added.
He was referring to NATO's 2011 military intervention in Libya that helped oust dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
"Even if there are reports about pinpoint operations, these are not significant solutions to the threat itself because we are talking about very substantial capabilities that could reach Hezbollah," he said.
Syria's civil war has sapped Assad's power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu warned of the dangers of Syria's "deadly weapons," saying the country is "increasingly coming apart."
The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new "Iron Dome" rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli army called that move "routine."
The Israeli army won't say whether Iron Dome was sent north in connection to this operation. It does note that it has deployed the system in the north before.
A U.N. diplomat confirmed that the organization received a letter from the Syrian ambassador but said it did not contain a request for a Security Council meeting.
A U.N. statement said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed grave concern over reports of Israeli airstrikes on Syria but said the U.N. does not have details of the reported incident and cannot independently verify what happened.
"The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to prevent tensions or their escalation in the region, and to strictly abide by international law, in particular in respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries in the region," the statement said.
____
Associated Press writer Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Peter James Spielmann at the United Nations contributed to this report.
UN Panel: Israeli Settlements Are Illegal 31JAN13
ISRAEL'S West Bank settlement policy is no different than nazi Germany's policy of lebensraum, it is a violation of the human rights of the Palestinian residents of the West Bank and a violation of the Geneva Convention and International law. Many are appalled that such a comparison is made, but the egregious adoption of some fascist nazi policies that were used against European Jews by the Israeli government is disturbing and disappointing. Israel is entitled to exist in peace within secure borders and to defend itself. Israel is also obligated to uphold the Geneva Convention and International law and the human rights as established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of all under it's control. The illegal West Bank settlements will continue to deny peace, security and human rights to Israelis and Palestinians as long as they exist. We can only hope that the recent election in Israel will force the government to reconsider it's policies. This from HuffPost....
GENEVA -- The United Nations' first report on the broad policy of Israeli settlements concluded Thursday that the government's practice of "creeping annexation" clearly violates the human rights of Palestinians, and called for an immediate halt.
In its report to the 47-nation Human Rights Council, a panel of investigators said Israel is violating international humanitarian law under the Fourth Geneva Convention, one of the treaties that establish the ground rules for what is considered humane during wartime.
The Israeli government has persisted in settling Palestinian-occupied territories, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank, "despite all the pertinent United Nations resolutions declaring that the existence of the settlements is illegal and calling for their cessation," the report said.
The settlements are "a mesh of construction and infrastructure leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian State and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination," it concludes.
French judge Christine Chanet, who led the panel, said Israel never cooperated with the probe, which the council ordered last March. At a news conference, she called the report "a kind of weapon for the Palestinians" if they want to take up their grievances before The Hague-based International Criminal Court.
In December, after winning de facto U.N. recognition of statehood, the Palestinians accused Israel of planning more "war crimes" by expanding Jewish settlements.
Because it was not authorized to investigate within Israel, Chanet said, the panel had to travel to Jordan to interview more than 50 people who spoke of the impact of the settlements, such as violence by Jewish settlers, confiscated land and damage to their olive trees that help support them.
Another panel member, Pakistani lawyer Asma Janangir, said the settlements "seriously impinge on the self-determination of the Palestinian people," an offense under international humanitarian law.
The panel's report to the U.N.'s top human rights body immediately drew the condemnation of Israel, whose foreign ministry accused the council of taking a systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel, with the report being merely "another unfortunate reminder" of that bias.
"The only way to resolve all pending issues between Israel and the Palestinians, including the settlements issue, is through direct negotiations without pre-conditions," the ministry said. "Counterproductive measures – such as the report before us – will only hamper efforts to find a sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict."
The Geneva-based U.N. council was set up in 2006 to replace a 60-year-old commission that was widely discredited as a forum dominated by nations with poor human rights records.
Earlier this week, Israel became the first nation to skip a review of its human rights record by the council without giving a reason. Diplomats agreed to postpone their review until later this year based on Israel's request for a deferral.
The council, which could have proceeded with the review or canceled it, said its agreement to defer would set precedent for how to deal with any future cases of "non-cooperation." All 193 U.N.-member nations are required to submit to such a review every four years, and council diplomats said they worried that if nation were let off the hook that could undermine the process.
TELL YOUR DELEGATE IN RICHMOND TO VOTE NO ON THE REDISTRICTING PLAN NOW, VOTE SCHEDULED FOR TODAY 31JAN13
THE Virginia House of Delegates is voting on the illegal Virginia Congressional redistricting plan passed by the VA Senate on 21 JAN. The Bold Progressive community is asking all to call their delegates in Richmond to tell them to vote against this bill and to call gov mcdonnell and tell him to veto it if it is passed. If you can't call (click the link for the phone numbers) please e mail your delegate http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/VGAMain?openform and the governor http://www.governor.virginia.gov/aboutthegovernor/contactgovernor.cfm From the PCCC / Progressive Change Campaign Committee....
Victory! Thanks to huge outrage from Virginia voters, the bill to rig elections was defeated in committee. By stopping this law, we sent a clear message to other states that voters will not stand for rigged elections.
Unfortunately, that bill isn't the only challenge to voter freedom in Virginia. Today, the House of Delegates will vote on a redistricting plan heavily favoring Republicans that went through without warning, without public comment, and almost without debate.
You defeated rigged elections and you can defeat this too. Click here to call Governor McDonnell and your delegate.
While Democratic state Senator Henry L. Marsh III attended the inauguration, Senate Republicans rammed through a new redistricting plan that strengthens their districts and weakens many held by Democrats. It was a clear power grab that took advantage of Sen. Marsh's absence to pass the bill along party lines.
Can you call Governor McDonnell and your delegate? Click here and tell them to stand against this unconstitutional bill.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
--Michael Snook, Amanda Johnson, Anton Medvedev, and the PCCC team
Victory! Thanks to huge outrage from Virginia voters, the bill to rig elections was defeated in committee. By stopping this law, we sent a clear message to other states that voters will not stand for rigged elections.
Unfortunately, that bill isn't the only challenge to voter freedom in Virginia. Today, the House of Delegates will vote on a redistricting plan heavily favoring Republicans that went through without warning, without public comment, and almost without debate.
You defeated rigged elections and you can defeat this too. Click here to call Governor McDonnell and your delegate.
While Democratic state Senator Henry L. Marsh III attended the inauguration, Senate Republicans rammed through a new redistricting plan that strengthens their districts and weakens many held by Democrats. It was a clear power grab that took advantage of Sen. Marsh's absence to pass the bill along party lines.
Can you call Governor McDonnell and your delegate? Click here and tell them to stand against this unconstitutional bill.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
--Michael Snook, Amanda Johnson, Anton Medvedev, and the PCCC team
VA A.G. Ken Cuccinelli: Don't let bosses deny women birth control 29JAN13
VIRGINIA A.G. ken cuccinelli continues his war on women, telling employers to break the law and deny women access to birth control in health care plans. He actually equates this to civil disobedience a la the civil right movement. And while he claims to be pro life he supports cuts to social safety net programs in Virginia that improve the quality of life for children and entire families. His hypocrisy knows no bounds, he is blinded by his extreme right wing social engineering, and wants to bring his "christian" sharia form of government to the Commonwealth as our next governor! Please sign the petition to cuccinelli and gov mcdonnell demanding enforcement of the ACA in Virginia including a woman's access to birth control.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is far out of the mainstream when it comes to women's health. His entire career has been an exercise in trying to reduce and deny women access to care. He has co-sponsored "personhood" measures that would give full legal rights to fertilized eggs, supported defunding Planned Parenthood, and was the first attorney general to file a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—on the same day the bill was signed into law.
Now, he's trying to find ways to deny women access to birth control by letting your boss decide whether you get coverage through the ACA. What's outrageous is that he is invoking the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to support his position, saying that employers who want to deny women access to birth control should engage in civil disobedience.
In fact, Dr. King was among the first recipients of Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger Award, and he said of health care inequality: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." Of course, Dr. King's words are the opposite of what A.G. Cuccinelli supports.
Nearly 1.4 million women in Virginia are potentially at risk of losing coverage if Cuccinelli has his way.
That's why I created a petition on SignOn.org to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Governor Bob McDonnell, which says:
Allowing employers to deny women access to birth control isn't a civil right, it's discrimination. Stop comparing the civil rights movement to denying women health care. Stop standing in the way of health care for Virginia women.
Thanks!
–Heather Holdridge
This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Planned Parenthood Action Fund didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.
30 January 2013
2013 Sequestration Likely To Happen Despite Ominous GDP Report 30JAN13
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers and economists urged Congress to reconsider the massive spending cuts set to begin in March in light of Wednesday's alarming news that the nation's gross domestic product shrank for the first time in more than three years. But in a testament to beltway inertia, Congress seemed more likely than not to hit the fiscal snooze button.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Wednesday's report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis was further proof that implementing "big austerity measures now will hurt the recovery." But the ranking member of the House Budget Committee added that the findings may not be enough to persuade lawmakers to replace the looming sequester, or a decade's worth of automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending.
"The question is how far over the ledge do we go before people take action," Van Hollen said in an interview. He said he hoped sequestration wouldn't be triggered. "But that may be required to bring some sense to the process. If you look at this report, there is no doubt that the spending slowdown contributed to the contraction and that was before the sequester. That was just in anticipation to the sequester."
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said he was unsure how Wednesday's report would "be used in the debate about the sequester and what we ought to do going forward." But his outlook for a legislative compromise was pessimistic nonetheless.
"There doesn't seem to be much of an appetite by the president or Senate Democrats to do that," said Thune. "So I'm not sure how that ends up. What the Democrats want to do is they want to raise taxes to replace the sequester. That would make matters in the economy much worse in my view."
With both sides convinced that the other's solution to sequestration would result in further economic woes, a resolution appeared far off, even after Wednesday's unexpected news. In issuing its report, the Bureau of Economic Analysis blamed a combination of factors for the 0.1 percent contraction of the economy, most notably a 15 percent reduction in federal spending and a 22 percent decline in national defense spending.
While the report suggested that economic growth had paused, the underlying indicators weren't all depressing. With personal consumption up, an increase in the purchasing of durable goods and general improvement in the housing market, the shrinkage may be more a fluke than a trend.
Still, the news underscored the fragility of an already tepid recovery.
"Both before and after the report, the right approach was and is the barbell (upfront stimulus, delayed austerity, as a package)," emailed Peter Orszag, the former head of President Barack Obama's Office of Management and Budget. "Implementing sequestration is completely inconsistent with that framework ... The report ups the odds slightly of avoiding sequestration, but the base case still (unfortunately) is that it takes effect."
Orszag's skepticism seemed justified as Republicans called for further austerity. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Wednesday argued that sequestration should be replaced with a "balanced" mix of spending cuts and revenue raisers, pointing to the alternative plan the administration offered in September 2011.
"We are interested in avoiding sequester," he said. "We disagree with those in Congress who increasingly seem to suggest that it would be a good thing or a welcome thing to have in your 'back pocket' to make happen, or to use as a means of 'member management.'"
House Republicans, in response, noted that their chamber had already voted on legislation to replace sequestration and called on Senate Democrats to act. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) pushed back on the idea that he was content to let sequestration play out rather than work to reach a compromise.
"As demonstrated by the action we took to replace the sequester, we recognize there are better ways to find deficit reduction," said the spokesman, Brendan Buck. "Doing so, however, will require Washington Democrats to finally get serious about cutting spending."
Neither the White House nor congressional leadership said they supported delaying sequestration until the economy was on more stable footing. Van Hollen did say there was a "chance" that the sequester cuts scheduled to go into effect during the current fiscal year would be replaced. But, he added, the prospect of replacing all 10 years' worth of cuts "is slim."
The sequestration cuts were supposed to take effect at the start of the year, but Congress put them off by two months with its last-minute "fiscal cliff" deal. That deal slightly reduced the first-year impact of the cuts from $109 billion to $85 billion.
As it stands now, the modified sequestration will cut discretionary defense spending by 7.3 percent and discretionary non-defense spending by 5.1 percent this year, along with a 2 percent cut to Medicare. The non-defense cuts will land on housing assistance and community development programs, education grants to states and many federal agencies. Some initiatives are exempt, including Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps and children's health insurance.
Republicans, initially, were far more alarmed with the prospects of sequestration than Democrats, arguing that it would dramatically gut the country's military. GOP leadership moved over the summer to swap the more than $500 billion in defense cuts with savings from the federal workforce and reduced spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, among other things.
"House Republicans twice last year passed legislation to replace the sequester with changes to entitlement programs -- the major driver of our deficit; rather than opposing our efforts, President Obama should join us," Rory Cooper, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said in an email.
Recently, House Republicans' mindset has changed. Upset over deals that raised both tax rates and the debt ceiling, they began looking at sequestration as bankable spending cuts. The approach is driven, in part, out of the belief that the White House will eventually cut a deal favorable to the GOP (administration aides have been privately warning about the economic ripple effects of the sequester being triggered). But it has also caused concern among the party's defense hawks.
"I'm concerned about sequestration kicking in," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on Wednesday. "My greatest concern of all is the president of the United States being missing in action. The president of the United States during the campaign said the sequester won't happen. Well, what's he doing about it? His own secretary of defense has said that it would be devastating to national security, and I agree with that."
CREDO ACTION, 2012 IN REVIEW
A review of Credo's Action campaigns in 2012, click the link to view....And if you want to change carriers and sign up for Credo phone, long distance and / or mobile phone service e mail me for details....
As a CREDO customer, you’re using your phone bill to speak out on issues that matter and helping us build one of the strongest network of activists in America today. It is with tremendous gratitude and pride that we present the 2012 CREDO Activism Report, which features the amazing work we've accomplished together in the past year.
And what a year it was!
Working together, we defeated five of the worst Tea Party Republicans in Congress and won dozens of key state battles for marriage equality, the environment, human rights and sanity in election spending.
We reversed the Susan B. Komen Foundation’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood and scored important victories against the disastrous Keystone XL oil pipeline.
We pushed the Dept. of Justice to prosecute Wall Street crimes and defended Social Security and Medicare from deep Republican cuts.
Take a look at our special report, which describes all the amazing change we achieved last year. The report includes just some of the over 500 campaigns we launched in 2012 (yes, more than 10 per week) and it illustrates the impressive impact you and millions of other CREDO activists had in the course of 12 short months.
Click here to download the 2012 CREDO Activism Report.
This year, as last year, we’ll fight hard for our values — not the weak compromises favored by politicians in Washington. We’ll press for a cleaner environment, protect women from right-wing attacks, create a more peaceful world, defend the social safety net and do much more in 2013.
Whatever your plans for the busy year ahead, I hope you’ll continue to engage with us and keep on taking action with your fellow CREDO members as we work — and win — for progressive change.
Thanks for all you do. Your activism matters. The fight goes on.
Michael Kieschnick
President, CREDO
P.S. We think millions more should be part of this activism. Please share this update with all of your like-minded friends and family.
 |
I’d like to take this opportunity to look back at 2012, and thank you for playing a pivotal role in making progressive change happen.
As a CREDO customer, you’re using your phone bill to speak out on issues that matter and helping us build one of the strongest network of activists in America today. It is with tremendous gratitude and pride that we present the 2012 CREDO Activism Report, which features the amazing work we've accomplished together in the past year.
And what a year it was!
Working together, we defeated five of the worst Tea Party Republicans in Congress and won dozens of key state battles for marriage equality, the environment, human rights and sanity in election spending.
We reversed the Susan B. Komen Foundation’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood and scored important victories against the disastrous Keystone XL oil pipeline.
We pushed the Dept. of Justice to prosecute Wall Street crimes and defended Social Security and Medicare from deep Republican cuts.
Take a look at our special report, which describes all the amazing change we achieved last year. The report includes just some of the over 500 campaigns we launched in 2012 (yes, more than 10 per week) and it illustrates the impressive impact you and millions of other CREDO activists had in the course of 12 short months.
Click here to download the 2012 CREDO Activism Report.
This year, as last year, we’ll fight hard for our values — not the weak compromises favored by politicians in Washington. We’ll press for a cleaner environment, protect women from right-wing attacks, create a more peaceful world, defend the social safety net and do much more in 2013.
Whatever your plans for the busy year ahead, I hope you’ll continue to engage with us and keep on taking action with your fellow CREDO members as we work — and win — for progressive change.
Thanks for all you do. Your activism matters. The fight goes on.
Michael Kieschnick
President, CREDO
P.S. We think millions more should be part of this activism. Please share this update with all of your like-minded friends and family.
26 January 2013
Religious Liberty Double Standards Indicated In New Poll 24JAN13
I bet God would be happy if so many of those claiming to be religious and concerned about the state of religious freedom in the United States actually practiced their faith in their everyday lives. There would be no reason to be concerned about "repression" of Judeo-Christian values if the believers actually followed the 10 Commandments and the teachings of Jesus Christ rather than following leaders (or being one) who preach the gospel of greed, intolerance, uncompassion and who start and /or forward e mails warning of another "attack" on Christianity based on lies, deceptions and misrepresentations. Those guilty of waging war on Christianity in America are most often those who can't seem to live up to the Christian standards they want legislated on the rest of us. From HuffPost.....
WASHINGTON (RNS) Half of Americans worry that religious freedom in the U.S. is at risk, and many say activist groups -- particularly gays and lesbians -- are trying to remove "traditional Christian values" from the public square.
The findings of a poll published Wednesday (Jan. 23), reveal a "double standard" among a significant portion of evangelicals on the question of religious liberty, said David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group, a California think tank that studies American religion and culture.
While these Christians are particularly concerned that religious freedoms are being eroded in this country, "they also want Judeo-Christians to dominate the culture," said Kinnamon.
"They cannot have it both ways," he said. "This does not mean putting Judeo-Christian values aside, but it will require a renegotiation of those values in the public square as America increasingly becomes a multi-faith nation."
Religious freedom has become an increasingly important political issue within the last year, as Republican candidates hammered President Obama for a contraception mandate that many conservatives feel tramples on the religious freedom of employers who must cover birth control in their health plans.
The poll of 1,008 adults showed that 29 percent of respondents were "very" concerned that religious liberties are under threat, and 22 percent "somewhat" concerned. Evangelicals were the religious group most likely to be concerned, at 71 percent.
Asked for their opinion as to why religious freedom is threatened, 97 percent of evangelicals agreed that "some groups have actively tried to move society away from traditional Christian values."
And 72 percent of evangelicals also agreed that gays and lesbians were the group "most active in trying to remove Christian values from the country." That compares to 31 percent of all adults who held this belief.
The results are somewhat at odds with a March 2012 poll sponsored by Religion News Service and the Public Religion Research Institute, which found that a majority of Americans -- 56 percent -- did not feel that religious freedom was under attack in this nation.
But results between the two polls align in that the PRRI survey concluded that white evangelical Protestants were the most worried about religious liberty. It found them to be the only religious group in which a majority (61 percent) considered it under threat.
But results between the two polls align in that the PRRI survey concluded that white evangelical Protestants were the most worried about religious liberty. It found them to be the only religious group in which a majority (61 percent) considered it under threat.
The Barna poll, conducted in November 2012, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
New Mexico Bill Would Criminalize Abortions After Rape As 'Tampering With Evidence' &Worst States For Pregnant Rape Victims (INFOGRAPHIC) & 24,25&26JAN13
NEW MEXICO repiglicans must not have gotten the memo from the rnc to stop saying and doing stupid things, especially concerning women. This is absolutely one of the most disgusting proposals concerning rape, ever, and the gop in NM should condemn it and the ignorant woman who submitted the legislation. The second article documents the worst states for pregnant rape victims, showing just how little regard right wing fanatics have for the physical and mental health of the women who have been raped. Both compassion and justice are sorely lacking in these states.
A Republican lawmaker in New Mexico introduced a bill on Wednesday that would legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial.
House Bill 206, introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for "tampering with evidence."
“Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime," the bill says.
Third-degree felonies in New Mexico carry a sentence of up to three years in prison.
Pat Davis of ProgressNow New Mexico, a progressive nonprofit opposing the bill, called it "blatantly unconstitutional" on Thursday.
“The bill turns victims of rape and incest into felons and forces them to become incubators of evidence for the state,” he said. “According to Republican philosophy, victims who are ‘legitimately raped’ will now have to carry the fetus to term in order to prove their case.“
The bill is unlikely to pass, as Democrats have a majority in both chambers of New Mexico's state legislature.
UPDATE: 12:25 p.m. -- Brown said in a statement Thursday that she introduced the bill with the goal of punishing the person who commits incest or rape and then procures or facilitates an abortion to destroy the evidence of the crime.
“New Mexico needs to strengthen its laws to deter sex offenders,” said Brown. “By adding this law in New Mexico, we can help to protect women across our state.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/new-mexico-abortion-bill_n_2541894.html?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily%20Brief&utm_campaign=daily_brief
Worst States For Pregnant Rape Victims (INFOGRAPHIC)
A Republican state representative in New Mexico introduced a bill Wednesday that classified abortions for rape victims as "tampering with evidence," effectively requiring women to carry their pregnancies to term in order to prove their case in a sexual assault trial.
This bill will not pass, as Democrats control both chambers of New Mexico's state legislature, but there are plenty of other state laws that extend the nightmare for women who are impregnated through rape.
Of the 26 states that require a waiting period (usually 24 hours) for women seeking abortions, only Utah makes an exception for cases of rape or incest. Pregnant rape victims in some states must also undergo counseling about the negative effects of abortion before having the procedure.
If a woman who conceives through rape does go on to have the child, she can open herself up to being victimized by her rapist again and again. In 31 states, paternal rapists are allowed to sue for custody and visitation rights like any other father, as a Chicago woman who was served with custody papers from her rapist brought to the public's attention last summer after former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) made his"legitimate rape" comments.
Even in the states that don't protect the parental rights of rapists, many rapes never lead to a conviction and certain provisions can make it difficult for a woman impregnated through sexual assault to keep her attacker out of her and her child's life.Mother Jones reports:
But of the 19 states that have laws addressing the custody of rape-conceived children, 13 require proof of conviction in order to waive the rapist's parental rights. Two more states have provisions on the issue that only apply if the victim is a minor or, in one of those cases, a stepchild or adopted child of the rapist. Another three states don't have laws that deal with custody of a rapist's child specifically, but do restrict the parental rights of a father or mother who sexually abused the other parent.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/pregnant-rape-abortion_n_2552183.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
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