A Jewish Free School in Brent, N.W. London, has denied a 12 year-old Jewish boy a place in the school because his mother isn't recognized as Jewish by those responsible for the school's admission policy.

The boy's father is Jewish but the mother converted to Judaism under the ministrations of a Progressive rather than Orthodox synagogue - a conversion not recognized by the UK's Office of the Chief Rabbi. On these grounds the child was refused admission.

Anyone familiar with British law is likely to have a problem with this. The child wasn't signing up for religious training, he and his parents were interested in a broad based educational program. Moreover the JFS, the Jewish school in question, is a comprehensive school funded by the British taxpayer.

Discriminating against a Jewish child from a Jewish family on the grounds that his mother isn't 'Jewish enough' is fairly outrageous given the anti-discrimination provisions in the UK. It amounts to a form of ethnic-based discrimination.

The British Appeals Court hearing the case also had a problem. It has handed down a ruling that the use of such criteria for selecting students is a breach of the Race Discrimination Act.

The judges on the case said that: "The requirement that if a pupil is to qualify for admission his mother must be Jewish, whether by descent or by conversion, is a test of ethnicity which contravenes the Race Relations Act."

The court ruling was attacked by Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, who is threatening to take it all the way to the House of Lords in an effort to get the ruling overturned. He claims this is necessary so that Jews can be "be true to the Jewish faith."

Who said Jews can't be true to their faith? That is their right. But an educational institution funded by the British taxpayer is hardly the environment to be applying what can only be described as a matrilineal litmus test to determine whether or not a student is acceptable.

There are a number of very cool Hebrew schools in N. America that welcome children of all faiths and teach the kids mutual respect in addition to offering top-notch academic programs. Sequestering students in narrow ethnic/religious based institutions in this day and age may produce academic results, but not necessarily well rounded adults.

Related Guardian article here.

On the heels of accusations that Italian PM Berlusconi used state aircraft to fly showgirls and musicians to his villa in Sardinia, a new scandal has broken out involving escorts.

Berlusconi in Bari

The PM's memory lapse is even odder if you go along with Ms D'Addario's version of events ... events that involve a Bari-based middleman named Giampaolo Tarantini. Ms D'Addario described Mr Tarantini's recruitment of girls for Berlusconi as an "induction into prostitution."

It is alleged that payments were made to at least four women by Tarantini. Recordings were obtained via wiretaps in the course of a separate investigation into business corruption. They include calls during which Tarantini allegedly negotiated payments and made travel arrangements with the women he had recruited for the Berlusconi events.

Patrizia D'Addario asked for €2,000 for her services. Prior to showing up at Berlusconi's Rome residence, Palazzo Grazioli, she was put up in a luxury hotel.

A Guardian article describes Ms D'Addario's recollection of events:

"He [Berlusconi] showed us videos of his meeting with [President George] Bush and photos of his [Sardinian] villa. He sang and told jokes," she said, adding she "realised she had made an impression" on him. However, she said she returned to her hotel for the night and was paid only €1,000 "because I didn't stay". She claimed she was invited back with two other women several weeks later on the night of the US presidential election, on which occasion she claimed Berlusconi asked her to stay.

D'Addario said on both evenings she made secret audio recordings in which the prime minister's voice could be heard...

Berlusconi's lawyer, Niccolò Ghedini, is dismissive of these claims. However his explanations risk fueling rather than diminishing speculations. He told Corriere della Sera: "It seems a bit over the top to think that Berlusconi needs to pay €2,000 for a girl to go with him. He could have them in large numbers for free."

Ghedini went further and said that even if the allegations were true, Berlusconi would be an "unwitting party" since he "couldn't have known" women had been paid to attend the parties. In other words Berlusconi would be a blameless "end user" in Ghedini's eyes.

Comments attributed to former French President, Jacques Chirac, would suggest there isn't anything new about the Italian PM's interest in models and escorts. While he was on an official state visit to Italy, Chirac paid a visit to Berlusconi's villa. He noticed some porn magazines and asked why they were lying around. Berlusconi reportedly leafed through a magazine... pointed to various models and said "I've had her... this one... and I've had that one too."

Ms D'Addario stopped showing up at Palazzo Grazioli when Berlusconi failed to follow through on a promise to help her with a building project. She also found herself locked out of a Bari council election rally - even though she was a candidate affiliated with Berlusconi's party.

Related Guardian article - here.

Romanian families living in the Lisburn Road area of Belfast have been targeted by local racists. Threats were directed at the Romanians... windows of homes smashed, in addition to other intimidation tactics.

According to the authorities there was no paramilitary involvement in the attacks. Both the UVF and UDA have spoken out and condemned the incidents.

An anti-racist demonstration staged to protest the attacks and show solidarity with the Romanians, was targeted by youths from the Village area. They threw stones and bottles at the protesters. They also chanted Combat 18 slogans. Despite the display of neo-Nazi sympathies, N.I. security sources say there is no evidence that Combat 18 has cells in the Greater Belfast area.

The Romanian families moved to N. Ireland hoping for a better life, but a number of these people have been so traumatized by what they have been through some question whether the only option is to return to Romania.

Immigrant Couaccu Siluis said:



The people who carried out these attacks are in no way representative of anything except a minority attitude. There has been broad condemnation of the attacks across the political spectrum.

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Naomi Long, had this to say:

Belfast is growing rich in diversity with people from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds making this city their home, and each and every citizen has the right to live free from fear and intimidation.

We cannot let a small minority of people detract from that, or allow them to drive people from their homes.

N. Ireland has long been a predominantly homogeneous society. Now that a larger immigrant population is part of the mix, there are some people who have a problem with change. It's a minority view that doesn't reflect the broader community.

For more on the story - Guardian

Fears about a revival of fascism in Italy have increased as the influence of the far-right continues to make inroads. The signs are many, all the way from a proposal for segregated public transportation to citizen patrols organized by the anti-immigrant Northern League. Even a crackdown on ethnic food outlets.

Recently Berlusconi poured scorn on the idea of Italy being or becoming a multi-ethnic society.

South Carolina GOP activist, Rusty DePass, logged into Facebook and posted a comment about a gorilla that had escaped from Riverbank Zoo in Colombia. DePass described the gorilla as an "ancestor" of First Lady, Michelle Obama.

His words:

"I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

A screen shot captured by FITSnews put DePass on the spot. He admitted posting the comment and apologized, but not without digging a deeper hole.

According to DePass his gorilla comment drew its inspiration from remarks allegedly made by Michelle Obama. He claims she said something about humans being descended from apes. Searches by news organizations have failed to unearth evidence of these remarks.

This is a ridiculous defense. So what if she did... it's one thing to speculate about the origins of species and quite another to make a low-end crack about a gorilla on-the-loose being the First Lady's "ancestor."

Evidence of flakiness seems to go back-a-ways. In a 2007 Op-Ed piece endorsing Giuliani, DePass had this to say... "Most of us, of course, particularly in South Carolina, never gave a damn about New Yorkers, but somehow the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, made those people Americans again."

Guys like DePass don't get it. Sure he apologized, but the mindset isn't going to change any time soon. S.C. political blogger Will Folks has this insight:

Story and video at HuffPo - here.

Know many leftist types who are self-described "white Christian" supremacists who hate the government, have paranoid fantasies about a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world, hate blacks and have referred openly to the "browning of America"? And I don't mean colorful characters and eccentrics who identify with leftist causes when it suits their ends, I mean bona fide leftists.

Well according to some conservative pundits Holocaust memorial museum shooter, James Von Brunn - who subscribes to all of the above views and attitudes - is nothing less than 'a leftist.' So go figure.


Who are they trying to kid? America has plenty of right-wing loonies, armed and chalk full of hate. Fox News presenter, Shepard Smith, said recently that the email he has been receiving is "becoming frightening."

Aside from Fox News viewers who use email to fire off their bile, there are other more organized right-wing types who hold views similar to those of Von Brunn but who would strenuously object if you presumed to refer to them as leftists. Check out random websites. They regularly attack not only Obama, but leftists/liberals in general who they view as a threat to their version of America.

Playing down the threat from the right in America is typical of the denial conservative pundits practice - even to the point of spinning the theory that the lunatic racist Von Brunn is nothing less than... 'a leftist.'

White supremacist Jew haters of the James Von Brunn variety have their roots in the right side of the political spectrum. To try and argue he's a leftist because he hated neo-cons and had a beef about Israel, is to misinterpret where he was coming from on these issues. His hatred of Jews drove his world view, and given the number of Jews associated with neo-conservative thinking it stands to reason that Von Brunn would reject that ideology.

Moreover as the UK Guardian revealed this week, Von Brunn had connections with the right-wing, xenophobic British National Party (BNP). This is a party no self-respecting leftist would go near except to throw eggs or possibly shoes.

Guardian:

The AFBNP treasurer, Todd Blodgett, also told the Washington Post that he and Von Brunn had attended fundraising meetings in Arlington County. The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, spoke to at least two AFBNP meetings and said the money raised by the organisation made a "significant contribution to the BNP's [2001] general election campaign".

Part of the twisted rationalizations that allows the Limbaughs and Becks to theorize about Von Brunn-as-leftist comes from the influence of a book with an oxymoron for a title... Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg.

Despite the fact that European fascism was stridently anti-liberal and anti-communist, Goldberg argues that National Socialism was somehow or other left-wing.

There have been numerous attempts by right wing pundits to argue 'twin' associations between Nazism and Communism. Anyone can compare two seemingly distinct and different systems and find lots of seeming similarities. For example, an astute researcher could compare certain US corporations of recent years with mafia organizations and come up with an intriguing book.

The fact is, the number one enemy of National Socialism was the left... Bolsheviks and allied groups that subscribed to Marxist thinking. This indisputable historical fact exposes Goldberg's argument for the fallacy it is, quite aside from his many speculative considerations.

But this hasn't stopped American conservatives from seizing on Goldberg's book in order to find some other way to smear the left - even to the point of trying to paint James Von Brunn as a leftist. It just goes to show how desperate and empty they have become. Lies and inventions will do when you're fast running out of credible ammunition.

Lynn Toney (left) and Summer Triolo both spent time in the derisively
named 'butch wing' at Fluvanna Correctional Center

For a year or more, the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Virginia segregated so-called 'butch' looking lesbian inmates in a separate wing. The targeted inmates reportedly had 'short hair' and favored 'loose-fitting clothes.'

Some straight women also got sent to the wing because they had a masculine appearance.

Current guards and a former co-worker say there was a deliberate policy of targeting 'butch' looking inmates and packing them off to the wing referred to derisively by guards as 'the little boys wing' and the 'studs wing.'

It's reported that Building 5 manager Timothy Back came up with the segregation plan. Dozens of inmates were moved to wing 5D as it is officially called in an effort to break up relationships.

Warden Barbara Wheeler denies that inmates have been targeted based upon their appearance. When AP began making a few inquiries, inmates and a current employee reported that the practice was stopped.

Fluvanna Correctional Center

Inmates claim that the rules are discriminatory. Women sent to wing 5D, said they were made the target of discriminatory remarks. When they were being escorted for meals for example, it wasn't uncommon to overhear comments such as "Here come the little boys."

Segregating female inmates on the basis of their appearance is a violation of the US Constitution which guarantees equal protection and freedom of expression. These women are being penalized for the 'crime' of having a certain look.

Let's hope the airing this story has had in the media will result in some needed action because there are problems with this institution... some also that pre-date this report... see beneath for more info.

Article citing other complaints about Fluvanna - here

During an interview with Howard Kurtz on CNN's "Reliable Sources," Bill Maher said Sean Hannity of Fox News is "terribly sexually repressed." Maher made the comment after viewing a video clip, in the course of which Hannity described him (Maher) as being "an angry, bitter guy."

Here's how Maher responded during the Kurtz interview:

MAHER: No, he's an angry, bitter guy. That's called projecting.

That's called taking what you feel and giving it to somebody else. I'm a happy, single guy. He's a repressed, typical Republican.

I'm sure just terribly sexually repressed and it comes out in all their sorts of hatred and vile and bile -- why would I be bitter? First of all, our side won. You know, their side is in a wilderness like there's been before.

So --

Sexual repression is just part of a more complex condition in Hannity's case, that might best be described as a form of arrested development.

He is typical of a certain type of right wing pundit... loud, driven, smug, dogmatic, intellectually challenged and programmed to repeat the same key talking points ad nauseum. It doesn't matter if he is out-to-lunch and factually incorrect on some issue, the ideological hype and will-to-coerce never wavers - you have at least to give him an 'A' for effort.

Watching Hannity doing his thing can be funny as hell, but also disturbing.

The other night he had guests on his show who also lean to the right, but when Hannity started banging on even they looked at him as though he had a screw loose. He hammered home objections to everything Obama is about with such thinly disguised contempt or possibly hatred, it seemed badly off-base.

Notwithstanding Hannity's often proclaimed regard for conservative African American justice Clarence Thomas, his attacks on Obama at times come off as nasty and personal in a manner that goes beyond the White House policies under discussion. There is an undertone to Hannity's commentary on Obama that says as much about prejudice as it does about politics.

He doggedly referred to the president in the third person... "he" and "him"... you half expected him to start throwing in the occasional "it."

On a recent show, with reference to the Cairo visit he said in all seriousness that Obama was now referring to America as "a Muslim nation."

What president Obama in fact said is that millions of Muslims live in America. We're not talking some big secret here. Any reference to America being a 'Muslim nation' has to be kept in the context of the overall remarks. But leave it to Hannity to wrench Obama's comments out of context and present them in a manner that completely distorts what the president was saying.

Obama's precise words were:

We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens, who are bound by ideals.

If you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.

This is the spin Hannity put on it:

He honors the national day of prayer behind closed doors. Now, on his Middle East apology tour, the President calls the U.S. a "Muslim nation."

The same president who insists the U.S. is not a Christian nation is now calling us a Muslim nation.

When Bill Maher, who has a good eye for these things, says Hannity is sexually repressed there is no doubt he has hit on one of Hannity's chief features... yet another right-wing Irish-American Catholic with the hang-ups that go with it. It's pretty evident who the "angry, bitter guy" is.

Sean Hannity really shouldn't go after Bill Maher. They're badly mismatched. Maher is just way too sharp for the Fox News shill.

The Spanish daily El Pais has published a set of photos that include shots of nude and semi-nude guests at Berlusconi's Villa Certosa in Sardinia. The pics were taken by Antonio Zappauda from outside the Berlusconi villa during a party for a Czech delegation.

The photos provide a glimpse of the 72 year-old premier at play. There is also a pic of a naked man pool-side, sporting what looks like a semi-erection. The face has been pixelated, but it's reportedly former Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek.

Berlusconi's need at age 72 to surround himself with beautiful young women comes off as an effort to convince himself that he is just as virile and attractive as he was a few decades ago, and no doubt the women cater to his many vanities.

But what is most amazing is that even as he goes out of his way to hang with young women and in the case of one, Noemi Letizia, even further out of his way... we are meant to believe that nothing is going on. Hanging around with younger women isn't the main issue, it's the fact that Berlusconi has been preaching the values of religion and the family while pouring scorn on the left - it's about his hypocrisy.

Over and above Berlusconi's personal tastes and private preferences, there are also allegations of abuse of public funds. According to El Pais, the PM has been using Italian aircraft since the summer of 2007 to fly guests to and from the Villa Certosa. This is alleged to have occurred "almost every weekend."

Berlusconi says that when he visits other countries the entertainment is laid on for him, so he is just returning the favor. Flying young women on Italian planes to a villa for the pleasure of 'Papi' and his visiting political pals seems kind of like high-end pimping. A complaint has been filed by the consumer organization, Codacons, forcing Italian prosecutors to open an investigation into use of public assets. But Berlusconi, true to form, is contemptuous of the effort and says "It means nothing. It will be shelved very soon."

Meanwhile he is furious about the appearance of the Sardinia photos in El Pais and is suing the daily. The premier's lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, described the photos as having "originated in a crime." He added: "Who buys them anywhere in the world is committing a crime, something which should have been clear to El Pais' journalists,"

El Pais says that Berlusconi is the one who is getting things wrong:



Link to El Pais ... here.

Independent film maker Sharlene Azam's documentary with accompanying book - Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss - investigates the sex lives of middle-class teen girls.

The downturn in the Irish economy has resulted in job losses in many different sectors. Ireland has been harder hit than other euro countries. The forecast suggests that the Irish economy will shrink by 6.5% this year. Unemployment has leaped to 11.4%.

During the heyday of the "Celtic Tiger" tens of thousands of migrants made the move to Ireland in search of jobs and opportunities. The influx of newcomers was significant - they make up roughly 18% of the Irish population.

Now that times have changed on the economic front, attitudes have also been changing. There has been an increase in discrimination directed at non-Irish nationals.

Xenophobia in Ireland hasn't yet taken on a political form. For example there is no equivalent of the British National party (BNP) playing up the immigration threat. Nonetheless there is evidence that serious problems exist.

The fight against discrimination has been taken up by Patrick Macphoso, a former ANC organizer from South Africa's Northern Cape. Macphoso moved to Ireland in 2001 and worked in the security industry. More recently he has been working as a training consultant.

He has put himself forward as a candidate for Rotunda ward in Dublin - an area that has more than 50% non-Irish nationals. Mr Macphoso hopes to take up the fight against racial discrimination as a Dublin city councilor.

When the economy began to slow down in 2008 and there was a slump in the construction industry, a percentage of migrants headed home. Some said they had concerns about a backlash. The Polish community in Ireland, estimated at around 230,000, has experienced the largest exodus of workers. Many of these workers complained about discrimination in the workplace.

Discrimination isn't always workplace related. Not so long ago in the Dublin suburb of Balbriggan approximately 90 kids were unable to find a place in local schools. Almost all of these children were black. The fact that most of them were Irish-born appeared to make little difference to the problems their families had in placing them.

Violent incidents have occurred. A Pole named Kazik Anhalt was cut up in a knife attack in Clondalkin and two other Poles, Pawel Kalite and Marius Szwajkos, were killed in a screwdriver attack. The police claim there was no anti-foreigner bias in the attack, but this has been disputed in the media.

A Guardian article tells the story of a woman named Mutale who comes from Zambia. While in the Dublin city center on Henry Street Mutale noticed a woman carrying a bag with a purse hanging out of it. When she alerted the woman, instead of getting a "thank you" she was accosted with "Mind your business, you black bitch, and fuck off back to your own country."

Patrick Macphoso says that racial discrimination is widespread in Ireland. He offered the example of "Irish only" internet ads and points out that there are no laws to ban that type of advertising.

Macphoso:

"Abuse is on the increase because people across the board are losing jobs. It seems that it is much harder to racially abuse someone or discriminate against them in the UK than in Ireland. This has got to change."

Macphoso's concerns are backed up in a report by the Economic and Social Research Institute of Ireland. Its research shows that job applicants with Irish names are more likely to get jobs than those with non-Irish names.

Patrick Macphoso thought his activist days were behind him, but he's stepping up to the plate again - " I came over to Ireland to build a new life but I can't stand by and do nothing while some people from overseas are being treated like slaves."

Related Guardian article here.

Dr George Tiller was gunned down Sunday in the Reformation Lutheran Church, Wichita Kansas, where he was serving as an usher.

Dr Tiller performed abortions and was a champion of women's reproductive freedom despite the risk to his own life. He had long been vilified by anti-abortion activists who made him a target of ongoing threats.

No detractor's voice was louder than that of Fox News' inquisitor-in-chief, Bill O'Reilly.

O'Reilly first got Tiller in his sights back in 2005. According to Salon, the doctor's name surfaced on O'Reilly's show, The Factor, on 28 subsequent episodes - most recently on April 27 of this year.

The on-air attacks on Dr Tiller included O'Reilly's usual brand of hardline rhetoric - the type of inflammatory stuff guaranteed to rile up most anti-abortion activists.

Dr Tiller was crudely caricatured as "Tiller the Baby Killer." Other characterizations were a variation on that theme. The doctor was likened to the Nazis... his work was described as the moral equivalent of NAMBLA and Al Qaeda... comparisons were also made with Mao's China, Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union in the course of the broad brush smear job that is part of O'Reilly's on-air attack style.

O'Reilly deliberately associated Dr Tiller with child molestation and rape and without evidence accused his clinic of covering up for 'child rapists.' He claimed the doctor was being enabled by amoral cultural elites and scofflaw journalists. Tiller's clinic was described as a "death mill."

O'Reilly's attacks on George Tiller weren't just on-air targeting. He dispatched producers Jesse Watters and Porter Barry to ambush the doctor. The ambush 'interviews' also extended to Tiller's attorney, Pedro Irigonegaray and Kansas governor, Kathleen Sebelius.

O'Reilly presented the doctor as a murderer-on-the-loose running a "business of destruction". He described him as having "blood on his hands" and used terms such as "Judgment Day."

While O'Reilly never went so far as advocating violence, the act of targeting George Tiller in this highly sensationalist fashion offered the doctor up as a hate-target - intentional or not. This was playing with fire since elements in the anti-abortion movement have a history of violence - including shootings and bombings directed against abortion providers.

Authorities have detained a suspect, 51-year-old Scott Roeder in connection with the killing of Dr Tiller. Roeder was reportedly a one-time member of a Shawnee County-based Freemen group called One Supreme Court.

Suzanne James, a former director of victim's services for Shawnee County remembers Roeder and described him as "dangerous."

A person using the name Scott Roeder was responsible for posting anti-Tiller comments on various internet sites. A posting from September 3, 2007, on a site sponsored by Operation Rescue, said that Tiller needed to be "stopped."

Was O'Reilly's campaign against George Tiller a factor in the final tragic outcome? No doubt O'Reilly will condemn the murder and express sympathy for Tiller's family - but the fact remains, he contributed to the climate of hate that resulted in Tiller being made into enemy number-one in the minds of some people. In that type of climate a shooter might not only feel empowered, but justified.

For details on the suspect Scott Roeder here.

Salon article on O'Reilly's attacks on Tiller here.