Simon Barnes: 'Well done, Canada, you own the Odium'

Simon Barnes has an article on Timesonline that has harsh criticism for Canada's Own The Podium program. Unlike other criticism of the games, the recent Pravda rant for example, Barnes' article at least avoids the kneejerk finger-in-the-face approach, but is nonetheless unsparing in its criticism of Canada's OTP hype. Some might add "rightly so" - except that in the writer's case it's hard not to suspect at least a few sour grapes.

Barnes, who claims he hasn't "a single anti-Canadian molecule in my body" confesses that he ended up rooting for the US in some events because he was so turned off by the Canadians who he describes as "a bunch of mean-spirited, chippy, unsporting losers."

He considers the Own the Podium strategy to be a disaster, not just in terms of results, but also in terms of sportsmanship:

... Own The Podium, a campaign put together with C$117 million (about £72 million) from federal, provincial, territorial and corporate money, has been a failure in terms of medals. In short, it got what it deserved. It deserved to fail because it was conceived in bad sportsmanship and simple envy.

The title has always been the biggest problem, for the athletes it funded and for the message it gave to the world. It told us: we are holding the world’s biggest party. Please come. But we intend to eat all the jelly.

The campaign has been strident, derisive and insulting. Normally, the world takes joy in the success of the home athletes. Freeman’s run in Sydney was as lovely a bit of sport as I’ve seen, and Guo Jingjing, the diver diva, was wonderful in Beijing. But the world has found it hard to enjoy Canada’s successes.

That phrase. Own it. It’s not a Canadianism. It’s an Americanism. It’s a reasonably modern bit of jargon and expresses a highly American mixture of positive thinking and borderline arrogance. By using this phrase, Canada was unambiguously taking on the big neighbour.

Barnes suggests sarcastically that a more apt slogan for the Canadian team effort might have been "Up Yours America". His criticism also extends to the way guest athletes were handled:

Own The Podium didn’t stop at helping Canadians. It also tried to hinder everyone else. Access to practice sites was strictly limited. These Games are for Canadians, not the world.

While I also have reservations about the Own the Podium program - in particular the nationalistic fervor it appeals to, it's hard nonetheless not to suspect an underlying thread of resentment in the Barnes' article. After all the former colonial outpost has topped GB convincingly when it comes to medal count... a total of 26 to Britain's one. Moreover fourteen of the Canadian medals are gold. The Brit ego is bound to be stinging. But wait, according to Barnes the English are above such low-minded partisan attitudes. He says: "The idea of being brought up in resentment is foreign to English nature. No doubt we have faults in the opposite direction, but we have a very low tolerance of chippiness."

Ahem... that's a little rich to say the least. The English can be as petty as the best of them, it's just that they're often better at hiding it... a bit like Simon actually.

Own the Podium, corporate patrons, the politics-of-the-games and other nationalistic adrenalin-boosting hype aside, the Canadian success comes down to the men and women who made enormous personal sacrifices to reach this level of athletic excellence. Irrespective of what you think about the Olympics and all it represents - you have to respect that.

Canada is a young country in the process of forging its identity and doubtless the verve and elan that comes with that must be very irksome to an older 'mother' nation that is pretty much in the doldrums these days. A recent survey claims that almost half the population of the UK would like to emigrate given half the chance.

Barnes risks coming off like a scolding aunt. Here for example:

But really, what a way to run a global event. A host shouldn’t treat his guests as gate-crashers. This grudging and inhospitable spirit has been an ugly aspect of Vancouver. The ultimate aim of these Games, any Games, is global excellence and global joy, not provincial victory and local bragging rights.

The Canadians have taken an aggressive line towards any criticism. This kneejerk reaction is both small-minded and small-nation. It is not hostile to point out an error, particularly when the error is rudely thrust in your face.

The writer's high minded call for sporting decency etc comes off as a tad anachronistic these competitive down-and-dirty days. Let's face it, sore losers often resort to rhetoric of a sort they may be less inclined to indulge if their team was walking away with a medal haul. He does make some criticisms worth considering but it's where its coming from that gives pause.

Barnes wraps up on a rather chippy note himself:

"Own The Podium? Own bloody goal, more like".

Okay then. Doubtless on Sunday Simon will be donning his stars and stripes t'shirt as he checks out the hockey final.

A little schadenfreude

Ion Barladeanu: 'homeless' Romanian artist has show in Paris

This week a Romanian artist named Ion Barladeanu had a show at the Anna de Villepoix gallery in Paris. A Guardian article describes him as looking "every inch the established artist" - a transformation almost as riveting as the extraordinary collages that have brought Barladeanu late breaking fame in his early 60's.

As recently as 2007 nobody in the art world had heard of him. Some articles about his life in Romania describe him as 'homeless' and a 'tramp'. He lived for some 20 years in the garbage room of a block of flats in Bucharest and made some coin from odd jobs. In his spare time he worked on the collages that he sometimes refers to as 'movies'... cinematic photograms that are darkly satirical, with shades of surrealism and dada.

Photos by PR Handout

Link here for the full gallery.

During the Ceausescu years Barladeanu created the collages from images he discovered in old magazines. There was personal risk involved because a number of the pieces take aim at the former dictator, the man who the artist refers to as "my greatest fear": "I knew that if he knew about my work Ceausescu would not sleep in peace in his grave... If people had found out about my work they could have chopped my head off … But this is my revenge."

A Guardian article 'Art world swoons over Romania's homeless genius' describes how the artist was discovered:

Eventually, in 2007, Barladeanu showed his collages to an artist who happened to also be combing through the garbage. Amazed, the artist called a gallery owner. From that moment on, Barladeanu's days in the dump were numbered. "I instantly thought it was something very important, at least for Romania," said Dan Popescu, whose H'Art gallery specialises in young, little-known contemporary artists. With badly decaying teeth and a face ravaged by over 60 Romanian winters, Barledeanu was not young, and his anonymity would not last long.

Within six months, he was given his first exhibition, a flat of his own and a brand new set of dentures. In 2009, he made his first trip overseas and showed some collages at the Basel art fair. This week, he jetted into Paris, saw the Eiffel Tower for real and had lunch with the actor and fan Angelina Jolie, in town for her next movie.

What gives Barladeanu's work its unique appeal is that he is very much an outsider, not a product of the art club. The authenticity of his vision is particularly impressive given the harsh conditions of his life and the personal risk involved during the Ceausescu years.

Notices in French state railway target Romanians

Official notices that appeared on French state railway trains serving the southwest area of France, singled out Romanians for negative attention.

A translation of the notice reads:

Over the past few weeks there have been worries with Romanians. Indeed, a number of bag thefts have been noted. We ask you to redouble your vigilance. Besides, all sightings of Romanians must be reported.

Talk about damning an entire people. It's almost like a flashback to an earlier century when racist establishments thought nothing of posting 'no blacks' and 'no Irish' signs. The SNCF message seems to be that on French rail evidence-of-nationality has now become synonymous with criminal activity!

A local writer, Maloud Akkouche, spotted the notice when he was en-route from Fois to Toulouse. Initially he thought it was a joke of some sort. On realizing that this wasn't in fact the case, he lodged a complaint.

The incident has ignited a bit of a firestorm. Roumanophilie, a website that caters to Romanians living in France characterized the signs as "anti-Romanian racism". The French trade union, Sud-Rail, has also come out and condemned the signs as racist.

There have been sporadic reports of Roma (sometimes referred to as 'gypsies') being arrested for petty theft in France. But the Roma, despite the name, are not exclusively Romanian. They are a people with a distinct lifestyle and character irrespective of country-of-origin. While it is true that a percentage of Roma engage in petty crime, they are frequently unfairly profiled in a generalized manner as thieves and con artists.

French railway - SNCF - has issued an apology for the signs. They claim, rather conveniently, that an individual guard was responsible for the notices. A spokesperson said: “This should not have happened. An internal inquiry is under way to determine how it occurred.”

If as alleged, the concerns outlined in the notice are a pressing problem for SNCF, it's interesting to note that not a single person contacted railway security to warn of "Romanians" after reading the sign.

Reports on the story include - BBC - Timesonline - Huffington Post.

Pravda rant disses Vancouver Olympics and Canadian 'cowards'

There has been a good deal of criticism surrounding the Winter Olympics in Vancouver both at home and abroad - some of it legitimate. Criticism has been aimed at the corporate nature of the games, safety and organizational issues, the use of unceded Indigenous land for venues and the cynical way the Harper conservatives have attempted to use the event for political spin-off benefits.

There have also been attacks in which criticism is undermined by knee-jerk anti-Canadian attitudes. A good example of this is a rant on the Russian news site Pravda. It contains disparaging references to Canadians as "retentive" and "cowardly". The attack seems motivated in part by displeasure at the way some Russian athletes have allegedly been handled, perhaps also by the less-than-stellar showing by Russia on the podium.

The article makes points worth considering but the jingoistic tone and cheap shots makes it hard to take it seriously as a piece of journalism apart from anything else.

We all know Canada has problems with the future lines drawn on Arctic maps and we all know Canada lives in the shadow of its larger neighbour to the south. The abject cruelty shown by Canadian soldiers in international conflicts is scantily referred to, as indeed is the utter incapacity of this county to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom, whose Queen smiles happily from Canadian postage stamps.

Maybe it is this which makes the Canadians so…retentive, or cowardly. So it is not exactly a huge surprise to have international skating experts from the four corners of the Earth criticising the decision to award the Men’s figure skating Gold medal to the US athlete Evan Lysacekv over the reigning Olympic Champion Evgeny Plushenko, whose superior performance was inexplicably ignored.

Everybody who knows anything about Olympic skating, Winter Olympic sports and international politics will infer from the pitiful and dangerous conditions provided by the Canadian authorities, which already caused one death, that Vancouver is mutton dressed as lamb. Take off the outer veneer and the stench is horrific.

It is a surprise that any Russian athlete would wish to remain in that sort of environment for a second longer.

Read the rant in full - here. Also be sure to check out the accompanying comment thread.

Olympic Opium

Bob Marshall: disabled kids 'God's punishment'

Bob Marshall, a duly elected wingnut from Manassas, VA - aka "Sideshow Bob," - decided to use a Planned Parenthood bashing occasion in Richmond to go off on a bizarre rant about abortion. Marshall and fellow Republicans, along with 20 or so clerics want to strip Planned Parenthood of its state funding in Virginia. In 2009 state funding for the organization amounted to a meager $35,000 in Medicaid reimbursements.

According to Marshall women who have a first abortion are more likely to have children with disabilities:

"The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children.He described it as "nature doing its vengeance on subsequent children."

He said: "In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There's a special punishment Christians would suggest."

There is no scientific evidence that a first abortion creates long-term risk to subsequent children. Like a lot of reactionary blowhards, Marshall doesn't hesitate to make things up in support of bogus theories.

Great message for kids who have disabilities though... I'm sure it made their day. According to Marshall they might well be less-than-perfect because their mothers are being punished for an 'evil act' that goes against nature.

In explaining his 'disability thesis' to TPM Marshall used the analogy of drunkeness. This came on the back of his self-serving "apology".

"This is nature. It's the same thing if you're talking about getting drunk. If God made nature, and made alcohol with certain characteristics, He's not to blame for me getting drunk and getting in a car and killing someone. This is the order of nature. You do these things, you pay consequences. That's not controversial."

Oh and the man from Manassas has no time for people who OK abortion in cases involving rape. Here's what he had to say on that topic on an earlier occasion:

"Your origins should not be held against you [referring to the victim's unborn child]. The woman becomes a sin-bearer of the crime, because the right of a child predominates over the embarrassment of the woman."

Needless to say Marshall is down on contraception. He opposed Norplant, a contraceptive implanted under the skin that is good for five years:

"It's a real tribute to women's intelligence. They feel so irresponsible they can't do something [take a pill orally] once a day?"

He informed the Virginia House of Delegates:

"... we have no business passing this garbage out and making these co-eds chemical Love Canals for these frat house playboys in Virginia. We have no business passing this stuff out."

"Chemical Love Canals"? Co'eds in Virginia must be thrilled to know that they are being compared to toxic waste dumps.

Marshall and his associates are out to create the false impression that Planned Parenthood is mainly an abortion services provider. In fact it offers a wide range of much needed gynecological services in addition to cancer screening, HIV prevention and birth control for low-income women.

Interesting take on Marshall from Pharyngula - here.

Tax Time: video game commemorates suicide pilot

An 8-bit video game called "Tax Time" has been published on Newsgrounds.com commemorating the suicide mission of Joe Stack who flew his Piper Cherokee PA-28-236 into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. The game was created by a Newsgrounds member who goes by the user name Falcon.

Players can get busy with a can of gasoline, torch a house and then fly a single-engine plane into an IRS building. At the completion of the game the announcement "Justice is Served!" pops up.

While the game doesn't explicitly celebrate Joe Stack's actions as heroic, there are some people who have definite sympathies with that sentiment. How much of that is because Stack was a white guy with issues many can relate to? If Joe had been named Mahmoud or Ali, Fox News would be raising the 'domestic terrorism' flag. Megyn Kelly avoided the 'T' word in the case of Stack, stressing that this was 'a sole, isolated act'.

Stack's manifesto includes the statement "Nothing changes unless there is a body count... but I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change." That would seem to fit neatly with most definitions of terrorism. Dave Neiwert on Crooks and Liars makes some good points along similar lines.

Stack's actions certainly fit into the FBI's definition of domestic terrorism:

Domestic terrorism refers to activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any state; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. [18 U.S.C. § 2331(5)]

If Joe Stack's manifesto had flickered across American TV screens in Arabic script conservatives and wingnuts of every stripe would be crying terrorism and using the incident to try and crucify the Obama administration. They may yet get around to labeling Stack a terrorist. There is much about his manifesto that threatens everything they stand for.

Friends recall Joe Stack as a regular dude who played bass guitar in a honky tonk band. He has been described as "easygoing". Obviously he was internalizing some heavy anger... at the government, at the IRS. He made his statement with fiery symbolism, immolating himself in the process. In the eyes of some people that doesn't make him a terrorist or a criminal or even a nut... it makes him a hero... in the eyes of others a 'decent guy' who had reached the end of his rope. The fact that Stack's actions resulted in one person being killed and 13 injured doesn't seem to detract from the admiration of fans.

A Facebook account dedicated to "The Philosophy of Joe Stack" has attracted 750 friends. Another page titled "Joe Stack for President" has 34 fans. The Facebook homage is kind of ironical because Stack didn't really have a clearly defined political agenda. Some of his complaints re taxes and government have something in common with tea party gripes. Other statements, such as the references to 'America's poor' and 'a corrupt economic elite' resonate more with the left. Most of all he comes across as a man driven by inchoate rage against real and perceived injustices.

One reason Stack's suicide flight hasn't been labeled a "terrorist" act in the early going is due to inbuilt perceptions and prejudices. The term has acquired racial and religious associations that don't fit an alienated white dude on a suicide mission.

As Glenn Greenwald put it in a Salon post:

Terrorism is simultaneously the single most meaningless and most manipulated word in the American political lexicon. The term now has virtually nothing to do with the act itself and everything to do with the identity of the actor, especially his or her religious identity. It has really come to mean: "a Muslim who fights against or even expresses hostility towards the United States, Israel and their allies."

Greenwald also includes an update at the end of his post that speaks to the way in which the term "terrorist" is manipulated for political purposes:

I want to add one point: the immediate official and media reaction was to avoid, even deny, the term "terrorist" because the perpetrator of the violence wasn't Muslim. But if Stack's manifesto begins to attract serious attention, I think it's likely the term Terrorist will be decisively applied to him in order to discredit what he wrote. His message is a sharply anti-establishment and populist grievance of the type that transcends ideological and partisan divisions -- the complaints which Stack passionately voices are found as common threads in the tea party movement and among citizens on both the Left and on the Right -- and thus tend to be the type which the establishment (which benefits from high levels of partisan distractions and divisions) finds most threatening and in need of demonization. Nothing is more effective at demonizing something than slapping the Terrorist label onto it.

It's terrorism... depending

Harriton High: webcams used to spy on students

The Lower Merion School District caters to the well heeled. It is one of only two districts in Pennsylvania to earn Moody's highest bond rating. The teachers are among the highest paid in the state. Harriton High School located in Rosemount, a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia, was rated by Philadelphia magazine as the 6th best public school in Pennsylvania.

Harriton High has also been accused of spying on students with the aid of embedded webcams placed in school issued laptops. Officials with the Lower Merion School District had the ability to intercept images from students' cams, capturing anything that appeared in front of the embedded cameras. This activity wasn't restricted to school property. The potential for electronic snooping followed students into their homes and bedrooms.

The extent of this 'official' invasion of privacy came to light when the vice-principal advised a student that the school had a picture of him 'engaged in improper behavior' in his home. Reports don't say what this improper behavior may have been.

The kid at the center of this is a grade 10 student named Blake Robbins. His parents, Michael E. and Holly S. Robbins, filed a lawsuit on his behalf. They are seeking class action status for the suit.

Assistant principal at Harriton High, Lindy Matsko, “cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in” Robbins’ school-issued laptop.

According to the suit “Many of the images captured may consist of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including various stages of undress.”

There is no knowing how many students this 'peeping Tom' surveillance impacted. Last school year the district issued laptops to 2,290 students. The purpose was to promote more "engaged and active learning." No mention of promoting more engaged and active viewing.

The lawsuit alleges that the use of embedded webcams violates the US Constitution's guarantees of privacy, Pennsylvania common law, the US Civil Rights Act and other laws. It also contends that the school had 24/7 access to the students “by the unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation of a webcam.”

The school district has stated that that the webcams were for tracking down laptops that had been stolen. They claim that the cams allowed trackers to get a photo of the new user and this along with IP address and location, helped in retrieving lost or stolen property. Remote activations helped the district retrieve 18 missing laptops.

The Robbins' case isn't the first time a school has overstepped the bounds. Lillie Coney, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said she was aware of another case where school officials were alleged to have monitored student behavior at home.

As for the Robbins' case she said: "this is an outrageous invasion of individual privacy - it shocks the conscience."

The FBI is investigating to see whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer intrusion laws.

A sophomore at the school recently reported that the class was studying the 'Big Brother' novel "1984" by George Orwell. It has also been reported that some students have taken the step of taping over the webcam and microphone in their laptops.

Toronto Star report - here.

Italy's government seeks to regulate online video

Italy's government has a decree in the works that will require the vetting of copyrighted videos before they are uploaded. If the legislation goes through, internet sites that deal in porn or violent content capable of being accessed by minors could be shut down by telecom providers or hit with hefty fines. There are fears that the controls could be much more far reaching.

There is something a little rich about Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's premier lothario, getting exercised about porn on the internet. The idea of Papi pushing for legislation and seeking to police material on sites such as YouTube is kind of ironic when you consider the trashy shows his Mediaset empire routinely inflicts upon Italians.

This is by no means the first time Berlusconi has expressed concern about the internet. The move to crack down on video content is less about defending the family values of Italians and more about extending his media empire. Greater controls might also reduce potential liabilities. Who knows what incriminating scenes some guest might have recorded in the course of a weekend of fun and frolic at the Villa Certosa in Sardinia.

The decree flies in the face of the EU directive by attempting to apply the rules of television to online videos. Effectively Italy will be in the business of putting in place an administrative authority that will decide what can go online and what can't... bureaucratic controls that threaten to tie up web communications with red tape.

Technology News notes that the decree:

... inherently challenges the YouTube business model, shared by other hosting platforms, of allowing users to upload video without being controlled -- the principle at the center of the Milan trial of four Google executives charged with defamation and violating privacy for allowing a video to be posted online showing an autistic youth being abused.

Google says it removed the video as quickly as it could. A verdict is expected in the coming weeks, with the executives facing possible jail sentences.

Google's concern is that the decree takes aim at user-generated content, which drives YouTube, that is by its nature not managed in the same way as TV network content is. That was not the intention, Google argues, of the EU directive that Italy has taken to include Internet controls.

Democratic lawmaker, Paolo Gentiloni said: "The decree subjects the transmission of images on the Web to rules typical of television and requires prior ministerial authorization, with an incredible limitation on the way the Internet currently functions."

If implemented this effort at bureaucratic censorship risks putting Italy in a similar league to China, Iran and North Korea when it comes to web controls.

It is yet another example of the over-reach of Silvio Berlusconi who already controls a large part of the Italian television system. His Mediaset company plans to extend its reach to include internet TV. The move into IPTV explains why Mediaset is keen to limit the number of videos in circulation.

Mediaset is suing Google for $800 million in damages for uploaded clips of its Big Brother reality show. Last month a civil court in Rome ordered the removal of the material.

Articolo 21, an Italian organization that defends freedom of speech, likened the decree to the earlier attempt by the Berlusconi government to crack down on Italian bloggers... part of a wrong-headed effort to make them answerable to the same obligations and responsibilities that apply to newspapers.

There has been a backlash in Italy against the proposed clamp down. Perhaps in an effort to mollify critics, government spokespersons have said that the decree still needs work and may be subject to key changes. Berlusconi has blustered before and then retreated... so it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks.

Related story here.

Berlusconi: bunga bunga break

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh killing: whodunit?

At a press conference Monday, Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, said that the people suspected in the murder of a Hamas commander at the al-Bustan Rotana hotel used tennis clothes, fake beards and wigs in an effort to disguise their identity.

Sounds like a plot from a Pink Panther movie. The operation though was efficiently carried out... far from the work of amateurs. The group of eleven has been linked through videos, in which they are seen standing in pairs or in groups of 3 and 4 - at times standing in the lobby of the hotel. The video footage also captures them coming and going out of elevators.

Dubai press conference

Video footage of suspects in al-Mabhouh killing

Members of the group used different mobile phone cards to avoid traces and only paid in cash.

Four of the assassins gained access to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's room using an electronic device. They waited for him to return. The killing took place just 5 hours after al-Mabhouh arrived at the hotel and within 19 hours all of the members of the hit squad had departed the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai police have released the names, nationalities and photos of the suspects. Investigations by the British and the Irish appear to be leading to the conclusion that the passports and ID's are fake.

Hamas is pointing the finger of accusation for the killing squarely at Israel. It is certainly true that the Dubai assassination has a number of characteristics in common with Mossad operations in the past. In addition the al-Mabhouh assassination occurred at a time when Israel is being accused of engaging in a subversive, undeclared war in the region.

A Sheera Frenkel article in the London Times is very clear on this point:

Israel is waging a covert assassination campaign across the Middle East in an effort to stop its key enemies co-ordinating their activities.

Israeli agents have been targeting meetings between members of Hamas and the leadership of the militant Hezbollah group, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

They are also suspected of recent killings in Dubai, Damascus and Beirut. While Israel’s Mossad spy agency has been suspected of staging assassinations across the world since the 1970s, it does not officially acknowledge or admit its activities.

The Frenkel article gives examples of attacks in recent years in which Israeli involvement was suspected. A "tourist bus" carrying Iranian and Hamas officials exploded outside Damascus. A meeting between Hamas and Hezbollah in southern Beruit was also targeted resulting in a number of deaths.

Since ex-paratrooper Meir Dagan took over as Mossad chief, there has been an increase in assassination attempts. Senior Hezbollah members in Lebanon have been targeted in a series of operations. Mossad is also suspected in the Damascus car bombing that killed the Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyah.

Israel-Palestinian hostilities are increasingly moving out of the traditional sphere of conflict and becoming more regional. The exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told the London paper al-Hayet that future wars with Israel would not be fought soley on the Gaza strip.

Diplomats in the region say there has been an increase in covert Israeli operations. An Egyptian diplomat was quoted as saying: "They are trying to embroil us all in their conflict."

Israel clearly had a heightened level of interest in the activities of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. The Hamas commander has been accused by Israeli officials of being a 'key figure' in the effort to procure long-range rockets that could be fired at targets in central Israel. He was also on Israeli radar because of his involvement in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989.

When the Israel Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, was asked about the Dubai killing, he smiled and responded with: “All the security services make, thank God, great efforts to safeguard the security of the state of Israel.”

The Israeli national security specialist, Yossi Melman in speaking about the Dubai operation, told Haaretz: "The intelligence was reliable and accurate. Even though Mabhouh knew Israeli ­intelligence had him in its sights and took stringent precautions they still managed to get him."

al-Mabhouh's body

Mossad has been behind numerous assassinations in Europe and across the Middle East. In many instances the assassins were posing as foreigners.

None of this is a surprise. Mossad has long made use of the passports of other countries to carry out its operations. In 2004 New Zealand authorities accused Mossad of securing their country's passports with the help of the Israeli Embassy in Australia. Canadian passports were also popular with Mossad a while back.

A former Mossad agent, cited in the London Times, was very frank on the subject of passport use: “Sometimes these were legitimate passports of people who held dual citizenship, other times they were acquired. An Israeli passport raises red flags and is best avoided.”

Dresden citizens block neo-Nazi march

For years the German far-right has exploited the annual memorial ceremonies marking the 1945 allied bombing of Dresden to put on a show of force and promote their propaganda. They claim that hundreds of thousands were killed in the Dresden bombing, a figure far in excess of the 25,000 generally accepted by historians.

Last year saw a record number of neo-Nazis turning up for the Dresden march of mourning. Photos and story here.

This year - the 65th anniversary of the allied bombing - it was a different story. Dresden has had enough of the far-right invasion and citizens mobilized to shut down the march.

Anti-fascist demonstrators blocked streets around the train station in Dresden's Neustadt district where the march was to begin. In the city center some 10,000 residents took to the streets and formed a human chain.

Dresden citizens out in force

The anti-fascist group, Dresden Without Nazis, helped to mobilize the citizen resistance. It includes politicians and trades unionists who had earlier made calls for city residents to block the neo-Nazi rally. Spokeswoman Lena Roth said: "We have for the first time succeeded in preventing the biggest neo-Nazi march in Europe."

Dresden mayor Helma Orosz, a conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) said of the annual invasion: "Dresden doesn't want them and these groups do not belong here."

The turn-out in opposition to the neo-Nazi presence was so well coordinated there was no way the march could proceed without the prospect of violence. Police contained far-right demonstrators in a restricted area outside the train station and after a rally those who had come to Dresden to stage the annual 'march of mourning' broke up and left the city by train.

There has been high praise in the German media - Sächsiche Zeitung lauded the stand taken by citizens: 'For 11 years, the neo-Nazis defined defined the image of Dresden on this day. Today the city was defined by 10,000 who formed a human chain through the historical center.'

Related story here.

YouTube video - here.

Ko Siu Lan: 'censorship' of work in Paris

Chinese artist Ko Siu Lan has accused the prestigious French art school, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, of censorship after the school took down her banner installation on the grounds that it was "overtly political."

The banners satirize a campaign slogan of Nicolas Sarkozy. The notorious phrase "Work more to earn more" has been altered, with individual banners bearing the words "earn", "less", "work" and "more".

At a time when France is experiencing an economic downturn the banners speak to a hard reality. They also fit very well with the theme of the exhibition: "The sevenday weekend."

Beaux-Arts issued a statement to say that Ko's work had been removed because of its "explicitly political" message which could violate "public service neutrality". The school reportedly received complaints from the ministry of education about the installation.

Ko Siu Lan said she was shocked and saddened by the decision. She said: "I come from China and we know what to expect there but I would not have expected this kind of brutal censorship in France."

She also added: “Who are they to decide what is and what is not neutral... France is not as ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’ as people think. The directors are lacking in moral courage and I don’t even think even they know what they are doing. This is an almost fascist control of art.”

It certainly appears to be an act of blatant censorship that runs counter to the values Beaux Arts should be defending. Predictably politics comes into it. France 24 reports that the exhibition's curator, Clare Carolin, received an email that summoned her to meet with the school's director, Henri-Claude Cousseau.

France 24 coverage includes an excerpt from the email: “I was told by Henri-Claude that your work was too explosive to stay in situ, that it had already caused offence to [college] staff members and people from the Ministry of Education, that this was an especially sensitive moment given that [college] is about to renew its funding agreement with the ministry, that the consequences of leaving it there after 5 pm this afternoon could be disastrous.”

The school has accused Ko of 'manipulation.' It claims that she set up the work earlier than planned and said it should have been clearly labeled as a work of art and part of an official exhibition. The statement by the school also said that the banners as presented were an attempt to manipulate the establishment.

The school said it was willing to display Ko's work indoors as part of the larger exhibition - an offer the artist refused on the grounds that “It would ruin the integrity of my art and render it meaningless.”

Ko Siu Lan says the school had known since December exactly how her work would be presented. She showed France 24 a catalogue for the exhibition in which her work was clearly displayed.

It would seem the outcry over the 'take-down' may have had some impact. France’s Culture Minister Fédéric Mitterrand has called for Beaux Arts to put Ko Siu Lan's work back on display.

France 24 report - here.

Guardian story - here.

Ko Siu Lan YouTube video - here.

Glenn Beck Show in UK short on ads

There's something weirdly entertaining about guys with cultish personas who spin tall tales, pull funny faces and fill up a chalkboard with apocalyptic hot button terms such as "AntiChrist," "Global Gov in Babylon" and "World washed in blood."

Just a few of the reasons why Glenn Beck is compulsive viewing for millions of Americans who can't get enough of his brand of tabloid analysis. That he's a conspiracy nut and self-described "rodeo clown" only adds to the fascination for some.

So it's no surprise to learn that the Glenn Beck Show has crossed the Atlantic and is now playing in the UK. The British have always had a soft spot for the circus. Seems though that while Brit viewers check out the show, advertisers appear to be much more cautious.

Stopbeck.com reports that even though the Beck show has run ads in the past in the UK, for three days (and counting) this week the show hasn't run any commercials at all... zero. Instead of ads the station cuts to SkyNews updates or the weather.

More companies are thinking twice about having their ads associated with the font-of-misinformation that is Glenn Beck... known for off-the-wall remarks of the 'Barack Obama is a racist' variety. There will always be takers of course, but they are less numerous.

When explaining why her company had chosen to pass on Beck, Sargento spokesperson Barbara Gannon told the conservative Business and Media Institute that “we do not want to be associated with hateful speech used by either liberal or conservative television hosts.”

In total Beck has lost over 100 sponsors in both the US and the UK. The list of companies who have dropped his show (and/or Fox News ) can be found here.

Beck's high numbers explained: freak appeal

Italian TV critics muzzled by Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi and his cronies are up to their tricks again. This time it involves a clampdown on political talk shows in the run-up to next month's regional elections in Italy.

The centre-right alliance (PDL) holds a majority on the parliamentary body that oversees the public broadcaster RAI. Berlusconi partisans have succeeded in pushing through rules that will as good as jettison the most popular talk shows in their current format.

New rules, in force from February 28 to March 28, require that any RAI shows that intend to air political debate must include all 30 or so parties running in the elections... an absurd proposition which effectively makes televised debate untenable. Shows that don't comply with the rules will still be allowed to air political discussion, but during the graveyard shift when most of the Italian population has retired for the night.

This cynical move is typical of Berlusconi who views the media through the lens of his infinite narcissism. It has to be all about him or those things that appeal to him most - girls, football and soap operas. Criticism that he can't abide at the best of times, becomes particularly onerous with an election around the corner.

He has been angered in the past by talk shows on RAI that delved into the murkier aspects of his private life. An interview with the escort Patrizio D'Addario, who knows Papi up-close and personal, was aired by the RAI debate show Annozero. D'Addario dismissed the notion that Berlusconi didn't know she was a call girl when he went to bed with her. This infuriated Berlusconi who complained about the "criminal use of television". Annozero has also explored Berlusconi's alleged links with the Mafia.

This cynical strike against RAI is part of the turf war Berlusconi has been waging for years against his media critics. The attack on the rights of TV journalists is being justified by the premier's associates on grounds of 'neutrality' in the run-up to the elections.

The leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Fabrizio Morri, said the centre-right coalition had "voted for the suppression of journalistic analysis."

He added:

"This sort of censorship wouldn't happen in a proper democratic country....I doubt very much whether the communications watchdog will cancel Matrix or any other of Mediaset's political shows."

Considering that Berlusconi owns the Mediaset empire that operates three of the six main Italian TV channels, I would say Mr Morri has that one right.

Related Guardian article - here.

Freshwater case: Mount Vernon divided

In 2008 I posted about the story of a Mount Vernon, Ohio, science teacher named John Freshwater who used a Tesla coil device to mark the arms of several students with what looked like the outline of a cross.

Freshwater has been presenting the Tesla 'tattoo' as harmless and painless. Not everyone bought that explanation. The mother of a student named Zach Dennis complained to the school about the cross that had been burned on her son's arm (a doctor later testified that Zach had sustained second degree burns).

The company that produces the device wasn't buying it either. The product includes the warning that it should not be used on individuals. Written instructions from the company that were sent to investigators include: “Never touch or come in contact with the high voltage output of this device, nor with any device it is energizing.”

Although Freshwater was essentially fired, in Ohio the law allows for a hearing in such cases and he decided to go that route. Following the hearing it will likely be a couple of months before Freshwater's fate is finally decided. The whole exercise has cost the school board around $500,000.

A Guardian article describes Jennifer Dennis' reaction when she first saw the effects of the Tesla coil on her son's arm:

"When I looked at it, the shape was definitely a cross, like a Christian cross. Zach said his teacher did it with an instrument that gave off something like a lightning bolt. It was red, like a sunburn or if you burn your arm on the oven."

After Jennifer Dennis lodged a complaint, the family became a target for criticism. The way Freshwater backers saw it... the teacher had been targeted because of his Christian beliefs.

Some in Mount Vernon see Freshwater as a martyr to the Christian cause. His supporters have made a point of advocating on the teacher's behalf. T'shirts announce "I support Mr Freshwater - God." Pro-Freshwater students organized a "bring your Bible to school day."

Jennifer Dennis described the difficulties her family faced: "We've gotten phone calls, things in the mail, anonymous letters. They send scriptures and how you should raise your children, implying we're not raising our children correctly. Everywhere we go I feel like people know it's us so they don't talk to us or they will say things. Even in church."

The uninvited attention drove the Dennis family out of town. They now live in a community some 35 miles away.

Tesla coil 'cross branding' of students (Freshwater claims they were X's not crosses) wasn't the only activity in the science class that suggested the teacher was running an eccentric Christian crusade. He kept a Bible on his desk and had at least four posters of the Ten Commandments on display, along with posters that featured verses of scripture. During the hearing it came out that he pinned up a poster of George Bush and Colin Powell at prayer. Another poster advertised an evangelical meeting. A fellow teacher says Freshwater would tell students to consult the Bible for 'additional science research'... a bizarre concept in and of itself.

What has become clear at the hearing is that Freshwater was essentially undercutting his science lessons on evolution by adding a creationist perspective that wasn't a part of the curriculum. A high school teacher said she constantly had to reteach Freshwater's students because they had been unable to master the basics. Another teacher said that Freshwater cast doubt on science using the example of the possibility of a gene for homosexuality to make his point. In Freshwater's view homosexuality is a sin and gay people sinners.

American students have a constitutional right to be educated without being subjected to religious indoctrination and/or having Christian symbols burned on their arm. Freshwater has admitted to using the Tesla coil hundreds of times on students during his 21 year teaching career. Despite the compelling evidence, in God-fearing Ohio it would be a mistake to underestimate the capacity of some believers to turn the story of a teacher-who-screwed-up into a mini religious crusade on behalf of a 'persecuted' Christian. The mistakes Freshwater made tend to get blurred by those on the right who are seeking to use his case to score political points.

Other Christian voices in the community offer a more realistic assessment. Ann Schnormeier who attends the First Congregational United Church of Christ said: “The whole issue has been an embarrassment... People have faith here in this town, but Mr. Freshwater was crossing the line, and the school board has rules. There are laws, and he needs to leave his teaching position.”

John Freshwater doesn't share that perspective. He filed a lawsuit against the school board seeking $1 million in damages for violation of his first amendment right to free speech, discrimination based on religion, and defamation.. He has received support from Christian groups such as the right-wing Minutemen. His pastor, Don Matolyak, has also been supportive. He takes the view that the Freshwater affair is evidence of 'bigotry against Christians'.

Guardian article - here.

New York Times article - here.

Sarah Palin: palm reading at the Tea Party Convention

At the recent National Tea Party Convention, Sarah Palin delivered a speech for which she was reportedly paid $100,000. During the Q&A session that followed the speech, Palin was recorded checking out a list of words she had scribbled on the palm of her left hand.

When she addressed the 'real' Americans in the audience... mostly white-folk-of-a-certain-age-who-all-dress-alike, she couldn't resist making a crack about Barrack Obama:

"This is about the people and it's bigger than any king or queen of a tea party and it's a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter."

It's a bit much for Palin to take a shot at teleprompter-use since she uses them herself and obviously required the assistance of palm-notes-to-self in order to jog her memory. By contrast the President has fielded many tough and challenging Q&A sessions without consulting his palms or the insides of his fingers for scribbled back-up.

Cheat notes written on the palms is something kids have been known to do before exams. I'm sure most teachers are familiar with the 'palm squint' as the poorly prepared check out flesh notes for inspiration. The palm crib has now graduated into American politics with Sarah Palin doing the squinting.

Scribbled on her palm were the words "energy, tax, lift American spirits." There were also words that looked like "budget cuts" with "budget' scored out. How is it possible that the person a sizable percentage of Republicans believe is more qualified to be President than Barack Obama, can't even get through a Q&A love-in session with adoring fans without palm-points to remind herself of her core beliefs.

Some might argue that she simply jotted down likely question topics on her palm. Well that suggests she lacks the capacity to keep them in mind, or more likely... that the question order had been pre-arranged. Considering that the Q&A session had the look of being carefully orchestrated, with strategic pauses for partisan applause, it makes you wonder just how choreographed Palin needs to be in order to stay on-track.

Palin palmprompter

James O'Keefe: Louisiana arrest

The arrest of video propagandist, James O'Keefe, for planning to tamper with Lousiana Senator Mary Landrieu's phone lines has taken the gloss off the right-wing poster boy. Bill O'Reilly was so impressed with O'Keefe's attempt to embarrass ACORN, he said the 'corruption buster' deserved a congressional medal. O'Keefe's boss, Andrew Breitbart, joined in the chorus lauding O'Keefe as one of the all-time "great journalists"... deserving of a Pulitzer no less.

The version of events that O'Keefe and Breitbart have been peddling on the media about what really went down in Ms Landrieu's office is a joke that they seem to expect Americans to take seriously.

During media appearances O'Keefe has claimed that he and his associates went to the federal building where Ms Landrieu's office is located to determine whether she was 'trying to avoid constituents' following the Senator's declared support for the Senate health care reform bill. There were complaints by constituents and others that they were unable to lodge complaints because calls to Ms Landrieu's office were being forwarded to voice mail, or not forwarded on account of voice mail being full.

The FBI press release paints a much different picture from O'Keefe's version of events. It states that O'Keefe and associates were arrested "for entering government property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony."

From left, James O’Keefe, Stan Dai, Robert Flanagan

and Joseph Basel.

When the crew showed up at the Hale Boggs Federal building in New Orleans, they were dressed in work attire... blue jeans, blue work shirts, green flourescent vests, tool belts and even a construction hats to complete the look. They said they were there to "fix problems with the telephone system"... a task that was to be undertaken while one of their number hung out in the reception area, cell phone in hand, "so as to record."

If they were simply interested in knowing the status of the Senator's phones as O'Keefe claims, they could have asked staffers. The FBI complaint makes no mention of any such query directed to staff. Instead 'the repairmen' asked where the wiring closet was located. The FBI believes they were planning to tamper "maliciously" with the federal government phone system.

It turns out that phone ops and shooting video with a hidden camera isn't O'Keefe's only claim to notoriety. A Max Blumenthal article titled "James O'Keefe's race problem" raises questions about the underlying motivations behind the crusader's "corruption buster" activities:

His right-wing admirers don't seem to mind that O’Keefe's short but storied career has been defined by a series of political stunts shot through with racial resentment. Now an activist organization that monitors hate groups has produced a photo of O'Keefe at a 2006 conference on "Race and Conservatism" that featured leading white nationalists. The photo, first published Jan. 30 on the Web site of the anti-racism group One People's Project, shows O’Keefe at the gathering, which was so controversial even the ultra-right Leadership Institute, which employed O'Keefe at the time, withdrew its backing.

According to One People's Project founder Daryle Jenkins, O'Keefe was manning the literature table at the gathering that brought together anti-Semites, professional racists and proponents of Aryanism. OPP covered the event at the time, sending a freelance photographer to document the gathering. Jenkins told me the table was filled with tracts from the white supremacist right, including two pseudo-academic publications that have called blacks and Latinos genetically inferior to whites: American Renaissance and the Occidental Quarterly.

O'Keefe's racist associations aren't surprising. A Daily Kos poll of 2,003 self-identified Republicans underlines how deeply entrenched racist and xenophobic attitudes are on the right. A startling number of Republicans think that President Obama is a racist, a socialist or a non-US citizen. Thirty nine percent think that Obama should be impeached. Fifty three percent believe that Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama.

O'Keefe's arrest comes with news that ACORN office director in Philadelphia, Katherine Conway-Russel, has filed suit against O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, claiming that they "purportedly sought information regarding housing and mortgage opportunities in Philadelphia, but were in reality imposters who deliberately and surreptitiously created video and audio recordings in an attempt to discredit plaintiff Conway-Russell and ACORN Housing Corporation," and that they subsequently "disseminated the illegally obtained recordings in a manner calculated to harm and injure" her.

On Fox News O'Keefe has been complaining that he's the real victim... a target of "flat-out slandering" and "journalistic malpractice".

Earlier this month a few of his deep thoughts were posted on CampusReform.org, a site that promotes conservative activism. He told his admirers that “The more you put yourself out there and you take those calculated risks" the more “you’re actually going to get opportunities.” He didn't include a trip to the big house in any list of possibilities.

James O'Keefe protests

Vatican accused of smearing Catholic editor

Dino Boffo

Vittorio Feltri, editor of the Belusconi newspaper Il Giornale, has made the claim that bogus documents used to smear Catholic editor Dino Boffo came from an 'authoritative institutional source' in the Holy See.

Last year Il Giornale broke the news that Dino Boffo, editor of the Bishop's Conference daily Avvenire, had been fined in 2004 for making harassing phone calls. It claimed that the target of the harassment was the wife of Boffo's alleged gay lover. The paper made a point of referring to Boffo as "a reknowned homosexual."

Boffo admitted that he had been involved in a harassment case but denied the suggestion that it related to a gay relationship.

The smear campaign took a toll on Mr Boffo's private life. He described the "defamatory attacks" by Il Giornale as "a violation of my life." He said he had decided to resign as editor of Avvenire because his name had been besmirched "for days and days in a war of words which has wrecked my family and stunned Italians".

In his capacity as editor of Avvenire Boffo had made no secret about his disapproval of Silvio Berlusconi's colorful lifestyle, even describing it as "immoral". Suspicions that the attacks had been orchestrated by the Berlusconi camp weren't a stretch since Il Giornale editor, Vittorio Feltri, had made noises about a "counteroffensive" to "unmask" critics of the Prime Minister.

In a surprising turn of events, Feltri is now making the accusation that the Holy See was the source of the bogus documents used to attack Boffo. He described the source as "a very authoritative, and institutional source at the Holy See." Feltri confided these claims to Dino Boffo during a lunch in Milan.

The Vatican issued a categorical denial. It's press spokesman, Frederico Lombardi, characterized Mr Feltri's claims as 'mischief-making' and went on to say "I can categorically deny these claims, which are designed to create confusion and false rumours."

Pope takes a shot at UK equality legislation

Pope Benedict will be visiting the UK in September. Earlier this week he fired a couple of advance warning shots. He's unhappy about aspects of British equality legislation... in particular legislation that would prevent Catholic adoption agencies in Britain from discriminating against gay couples. He is also unhappy with laws that would make it more difficult for churches to discriminate in the case of employment related applications. In criticizing the legislation he said: "...the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal [equality] has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs."

The upcoming UK visit will provide Benny with a platform to showcase his stylish wardrobe that in comparison with his predecessor John Paul II, is fairly regal and ostentatious... red cape and all. John Paul favored a more modest look. The visit will also provide an opportunity for Benedict to take pot shots at British laws he finds objectionable. For the privilege of hosting the Vatican road show the British taxpayer will be out of pocket to the tune of some 20 million pounds (around $31 million US).

Responding to the pope's criticisms of British equality legislation, Naomi Phillips of the British Humanist Association said:

"What the pope, together with other religious leaders such as the (Church of England) bishops sitting in our own Parliament are actually seeking, is for religious people to be allowed to discriminate against others in employment, services, education and many other areas, unfettered by the laws that everyone else in society must abide by and respect."

Objections to the pope's statements have also been coming from Catholics. European parliamentarian, Stephen Hughes, said: "As a Catholic, I am appalled by the attitude of the pope. Religious leaders should be trying to eradicate inequality, not perpetuate it."

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the Pope's comments were a "coded attack on the legal rights granted to women and gay people."

Tatchell also said:

"His ill-informed claim that our equality laws undermine religious freedom suggests that he supports the right of churches to discriminate in accordance with their religious ethos... He seems to be defending discrimination by religious institutions and demanding that they should be above the law."

It's not surprising that Benedict is offended by the idea of across-the-board equality. This is a pope who in trying to turn the clock back, has created profound division within the Catholic church. His reactionary approach rejects broad-based inclusiveness and diversity. He frequently refers to "religious freedom" and "natural law" when defending his position. But really... terminology aside, the pope is most interested in exerting control at the expense of genuine religious freedom. He is determined to resist creative approaches and innovations at the level of the local church... particularly as it pertains to the role of women and gay people.

The pope's reactionary agenda and the theological outlook that goes with it is badly out of sync with the needs of the times. The church has been deeply scarred by scandals that occurred when Vatican controls were more deeply entrenched. What Catholic in his or her right mind would trust Benedict to lead them back to a more structured and rigid church... or even close?

Despite Benedict's stage-managed admissions of shame and regret for the child sex abuse scandal, in his former role as head of the Congregation of Faith, he knew exactly what was going on. He reviewed the files and diocesan reports that detailed the activities of pedophile priests. And how did he respond? He referred bishops to the rules of Crimen Sollicitationis... an instruction that called for secrecy. Priests responsible for crimes against children were routinely shuffled from parish to parish to help keep the lid on the scandal.

As recently as 2001, Ratzinger and his secretary at the time, Archbishop Bertone, signed a letter titled De Delictis Graviorbus, which made clear that cases of sexual abuse by clerics should be subject to "the pontifical secret" or kept under wraps. Link to Guardian article - here - that discusses the letter.

With respect to the upcoming UK visit, the pope's traditionalist mindset may not be as popular with his flock as he likes to imagine. In 1983 a survey found that 62% of British Catholics thought that homosexual acts were usually or always wrong. A recent Social Attitudes Survey found that these days 36% think that way.

Not everyone will be waving as the man-in-white snakes his way through London in the popemobile. The National Secular Society says it intends to stage a film festival during the pontiff's visit. Two films that will be running include "The Magdalene Sisters", that deals with the abuse of teenage mothers by Catholic nuns in Ireland. The other film - "The Boys of St. Vincent" - is about sexual abuse at a Catholic orphanage in Canada.

Some positions pope Benedict has staked out in the past:

On homosexuality
"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder. Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living-out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not."

On Buddhism
"Auto-erotic spirituality."

The ordination of women
On the excommunication of seven women who called themselves priests: "... the penalty imposed is not only just, but also necessary, in order to protect true doctrine, to safeguard the communion and unity of the church, and to guide consciences of the faithful."

On same-sex marriage
"Call[s] into question the family, in its natural two-parent structure of mother and father, and make[s] homosexuality and heterosexuality virtually equivalent, in a new model of polymorphous sexuality."

On rock music
"[A] vehicle of anti-religion"; "the complete antithesis of the Christian faith in the redemption."

On cloning
"[A] more dangerous threat than weapons of mass destruction."

Related Guardian articles here and here.

Culture war