Agora dialogue

Turkey gets boost for EU bid as it turns east

July 31, 2010 | Author: Agora

New poll signals trouble for prime minister’s party

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle appeared on Wednesday to offer support for Turkey‘s stalling bid to join the European Union, saying in Istanbul that the country’s “direction is toward] Europe.”

Mr. Westerwelle‘s remark came a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron said in the Turkish capital of Ankara that he was ready to “fight for” Turkey‘s place in the EU. Together, the European leaders’ comments breathed new life into the long-simmering debate over whether to admit the Muslim nation of nearly 78 million into the EU.

U.S. Funneling Millions of Dollars to Anti-Gay Uganda

July 30, 2010 | Author: Agora

by Wayne Besen

Even as human rights activists across the globe urge a reconsideration of aid to Uganda following the introduction of the malevolent “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”, the United States of America is delivering key support to the current homophobic regime of Yoweri Museveni.

The great Australian smear

July 30, 2010 | Author: Agora

by Andrew Bolt

JILL Singer yesterday used on this page a form of argument that now perverts almost every big debate.

“It takes a certain person to rejoice in the suffering of others. In the real world they’re called sociopaths – in politics, they’re called conservatives.”

Jill, of course, is of the Left, and was denouncing conservatives for “rejoicing” in the suffering of boat people to attack poor Kevin Rudd.

Behind Australian Doors: Examining the Conditions of Detention of Asylum Seekers in Indonesia.

July 30, 2010 | Author: Agora

Report by Jessie Taylor BA(Hons) LLB(Hons) MSc(HA)

New Empirical Report Finds Asylum Seekers Detained for Years in Inhumane and Dangerous Conditions Across Indonesia

Cameron’s Despicable Toadying to Turkey

July 30, 2010 | Author: Agora

It is sadly unsurprising that Prime Minister Cameron’s highly publicized trip to Turkey went with no mention of that country’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide, and its suppression of Kurdish and Armenian minorities. Indeed when Turkish leader Erdogan discussed his threats of ethnically cleansing Armenians in the UK, Gordon Brown made no more comment on the matter than if Erdogan had been discussing his favorite television programs.

Balibo five revisited

July 29, 2010 | Author: Agora

by Abdullah Alamudi, Jakarta

The discovery of a grave in a South Jakarta cemetery of the five Australian-based journalists killed in Balibo, East Timor, nearly 35 years ago, may soon shed some light on their ashes or remains.

The journalists, known as the Balibo Five, died on Oct. 16, 1975 while covering the Indonesian invasion on the then Portuguese colony.

Australian PM says her atheism no threat to church

July 29, 2010 | Author: Agora

New Prime Minister Julia Gillard assured Australia’s Christian majority on Thursday that her atheism would not affect government funding to church-run schools if she is re-elected.

Gillard, who was sworn in last month and promptly called elections, was the first prime minister in the federation’s 109-year history to take an affirmation of office instead of swearing on a Bible.

Holocaust Denial Today

July 29, 2010 | Author: Agora

by Manuel Prutschi

The  story is told of the Jew who, on being captured by  the
Nazis, was dealt eighty brutal blows by his captors and  yet
managed to live to tell the tale. This survivor carried with
him  not only the memory and the pain of those eighty blows,
and  what  he and his people underwent during the Holocaust,
but  also the fear that the suffering of the Jews would  not
be  believed because the inhumanity that they underwent  was
unfathomable. To him that would constitute the  eighty-first
blow.

The  Nazis,  while committing mass murder, were covering  up
their  tracks so that the Jewish story in fact would not  be
believed,  and  they would get away with their  crime.  They
carried out their program in secrecy. They developed a whole
vocabulary to mask genocide in euphemism. Transportation  to
death  was  referred  to  as  emigration,  repatriation,  or
resettlement in the east. Murder of Jews was referred to  as
special treatment or special action. The annihilation of the
Jewish  people  came to be known as the final solution.  The
disappearance of the Jews off the face of the European earth
was  to  be  made,  for future generations,  as  puzzling  a
mystery as the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

 Read more »

Getting less than the best cancer treatment

July 29, 2010 | Author: Agora

By Sophie Scott

When it comes to cancer treatment, most patients would hope to get the latest medications, delivered in line with the world’s best practice. But new research from Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre suggests that’s not happening. In fact, it’s the opposite in many cases.

The researchers took part in a massive study of 853 patients from 16 countries, including Australia. All patients had head and neck cancers. Researchers wanted to compare patients who received chemotherapy and radiation treatment with those given both treatments and a new drug.

Boat arrivals: unnecessary national panic

July 29, 2010 | Author: Agora

by Harry Minas

Much has been made of the propositions that the Government has lost control of Australia’s borders and lost control of the debate over asylum seekers.
The reality is that few other debates have been characterised by the same degree of misplaced anxiety and wilful distortion.

People smuggling is indeed exceedingly dangerous and is rightly criminalised. Nevertheless, people smugglers and asylum seeker boat arrivals occupy a prominence in political rhetoric far out of proportion to their negligible impact on the lives of Australians.

Afghanistan war logs: Task Force 373 – special forces hunting top Taliban

July 28, 2010 | Author: Agora

by Nick Davies

guardian.co.uk,

Article history

Previously hidden details of US-led unit sent to kill top insurgent targets are revealed for the first time

The Palestinian Authority is imprisoning Gazans

July 28, 2010 | Author: Agora

The same government that includes a call to end the blockade on Gaza, in practice aids in imprisoning the Gazans by preventing them from holding valid Palestinian passports.

By Amira Hass

Lies and power go hand in hand. But what is considered outrageous in a sovereign state is catastrophic for a society fighting for its freedom. The Palestinians have two sets of leadership under occupation competing for the dubious title of “government” – and both are generating lies to perpetuate their status. The Hamas government, which won the majority of the vote in democratic Palestinian legislative elections, is not recognized by most countries. Yet these countries warmly accept the Palestinian Authority government, which was appointed by the president and leader of the party that lost the election, Fatah.

A massive online campaign by the Avaaz community in Brazil has just won a stunning victory against corruption.

July 28, 2010 | Author: Agora

The “clean record” law was a bold proposal that banned any politician convicted of crimes like corruption and money laundering from running for office. With nearly 25% of the Congress under investigation for corruption, most said it would never pass. But after Avaaz launched the largest online campaign in Brazilian history, helping to build a petition of over 2 million signatures, 500,000 online actions, and tens of thousands of phone calls, we won!

Avaaz members fought corrupt congressmen daily as they tried every trick in the book to kill, delay, amend, and weaken the bill, and won the day every time. The bill passed Congress, and already over 330 candidates for office face disqualification!

Poll highlights concerns over Australia’s ageing population

July 28, 2010 | Author: Agora

A new poll shows the majority of people want governments to do more to address problems posed by Australia’s ageing population.

The Galaxy poll of more than 1,000 Australians was commissioned by the Benevolent Society charity.

It shows most repondents are worried about a lack of infrastructure and affordable housing to deal with the growing and ageing population.

Afghanistan’s Secret Wealth: Will Investors Be Able to Tap this Goldmine?

July 28, 2010 | Author: Agora

By Jason Simpkins, Managing Editor, Money Morning

Overnight, Afghanistan has gone from being a political pariah to one of the most significant, and potentially richest, countries on the globe. But can the rocky, war-torn desert – known mostly for harboring terrorists and exporting opium – be reborn as a major commodities exporter?
U.S. geologists have found some $1 trillion ofuntapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, The NewYork Times reported Sunday. Afghanistan’s mineral wealth includes large caches of iron, copper, gold and lithium that could turn the country into one of the most important mining centers in the world.

Think of Australia, Canada, and Latin America. That is the league into which these geographical revelations have thrust Afghanistan.
“There is stunning potential here,” General David Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, told The Times. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”
Those “ifs” include ongoing warfare, a lack of infrastructure, and more than a little political corruption. But the upside for the country is enormous.
While U.S. officials estimate the potential value of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth at $1 trillion, President Hamid Karzai said last month during a visit to Washington that his country’s deposits could be worth three times as much.

The Abandoned Baby Center Nairobi Kenya

July 28, 2010 | Author: Agora

The Abandoned Baby Center Nairobi Kenya was opened by Frances Jones in 2001. On a visit to Kenya, Frances Jones – who together with her husband Larry has been active in the child advocacy field since 1979 – noted many babies who had been abandoned and decided to do something about it.

The Abandoned Baby Center (ABC)’s mission is to provide a temporary home for babies and toddlers who have been left by their parents. Often, the mothers have died because of AIDS. Every day 700 people die of AIDS in Kenya and there are an estimated 1 million child orphans due to AIDS in the country alone. In other cases, mothers have abandoned the baby somewhere because of extreme poverty or being single.

Media professionals and health communicators strengthen capacity in emergency communication

July 28, 2010 | Author: Agora

Ashgabat,Turkmenistan

The Health Information Centre under the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and UNICEF organized an orientation seminar for media professionals and health communicators on risk and crisis communication. The seminar aimed at strengthening the capacity of national media professionals and public health information experts on reporting public health issues and the role of media in addressing public health outbreaks and other emergencies.

Participants representing national and regional newspapers and magazines, television and radio broadcasters, specialists of the Health Information Centre and the National Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan were exposed to the best international practices in emergency communication, including planning, response and evaluation phases. The facilitator of the seminar, Guy Scandlen, a renowned international expert in behavior and social change communication, also introduced participants to a variety of techniques reporters should use in covering health issues with principles of accuracy, transparency, and timeliness of information presented to the public.