Free Republic

Musharraf faces bitter clash over rape law reforms By Isambard Wilkinson in Peshawar (Filed: 25/08/2006) President Pervez Musharraf has opened a new and especially bitter confrontation with radical Islam by trying to rewrite Pakistan's controversial rape laws. These place an almost impossible burden of proof on women by compelling them to produce four "pious" male witnesses to prove rape or risk being convicted of adultery and face 100 lashes or death by stoning. This law, known as the Hudood Ordinance, has been regarded as untouchable since its passage 27 years ago. It also sets no minimum age for sex...

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2006 – Intelligence reforms under way, both within the Defense Department and at the national level, are critical to protecting the U.S. and other free nations in a security environment "that's full of surprises," DoD's top intelligence adviser told reporters yesterday. "Surprise" has become "a guiding watchword" in how DoD members think, plan, prepare and operate, Stephen A. Cambone, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, said during a media roundtable at the Pentagon. This environment demands the best, most responsive intelligence operation possible that looks toward future threats while putting actionable intelligence into warfighters' hands today, he said....

Outgoing JTS chancellor levels wholesale attack; ‘spiritual soil is gone’ from Conservative branch. In his farewell address, the outgoing chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary delivered a scathing attack on his students for craving “instant gratification” rather than “dense and demanding discourse,” and on his own Conservative movement for too easily permitting “ fundamental changes.” Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, who is retiring as chancellor June 30 after 20 years, also lashed out against “the primitiveness of rap” music and decried the abandonment of “great scholarship” that had been the hallmark of the movement and that had “set us apart as the...

Bush immigration reforms fail to reassure patriots By Catherine Elsworth in Yuma (Filed: 19/05/2006) President George W Bush yesterday took his proposals for immigration reform to the south-western tip of the Arizona desert where illegal smuggling, accompanied by crime, banditry and death, is soaring. The arid, unfenced area is rapidly emerging as the busiest point of entry along the 2,000-mile United States/Mexican border. The President joins United States Border Patrol agents The President's visit to Yuma came days after he called for 6,000 National Guard troops to strengthen the border, improved channels for illegal immigrants to obtain US citizenship and...

WASHINGTON - The federal government is on pace to have 11 top-priority reforms in emergency response completed by the June 1 start of hurricane season, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday. But much of the success or failure in responding to disasters will depend on how well state and local officials work with Washington and have their own emergency plans in place, Chertoff said. "This is a case where we ... all hang together or we hang separately," Chertoff told The Associated Press. "We've got to be operating jointly, we've got to be in partnership." The 11 must-do reforms...

[...] The constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the authorities restrict this right in practice. Although Article 16 of the 1996 amended constitution that resulted from the illegal referendum reaffirms the equality of religions and denominations before the law, it also contains restrictive language that stipulated that cooperation between the state and religious organizations "is regulated with regard for their influence on the formation of spiritual, cultural, and country traditions of the Belarusian people." [...] In March 2004 the government began forcing state employees (some 80% of Belarusian workers) to sign short-term work contracts. Although contracts may be concluded...

CHERNOVTSY, Ukraine -- Thousands of Ukrainians with Russian last names may not recognize their names on voters' rolls when they try to vote in parliamentary elections Sunday. Their names have been translated into Ukrainian. Central Elections Commission officials are urging regional officials to recheck the rolls, and lawmakers have taken steps to allow voters to challenge the spelling of their names in court. But opposition politicians are warning that many voters in the country's east and south could end up disenfranchised. Taras Chernovil, the deputy campaign chief of the pro-Moscow Party of the Regions and a leading candidate, accused local...

As debate over a contested immigration bill grinds slowly through a Senate committee, observers said it grows more likely that the only provisions remaining when the final vote arrives will be ones already enacted by previous legislation. The Senate Judiciary Committee has spent weeks considering a border-security bill approved in December by the House. That legislation included stringent enforcement provisions such as stiffer fines for migrant smugglers and making it a crime to assist an illegal immigrant in any way. The Senate is widely expected to adopt a softer version of the House's hard-edged bill. The committee has largely accepted...

Political reform in Ukraine could be scrapped - Lytvyn 15:17 | 11/ 02/ 2006 KIEV, February 11 (RIA Novosti, Pavel Dulman) - Ukraine's political reforms could be scrapped, the speaker of the Ukrainian lower house of parliament said Saturday. Volodymyr Lytvyn said political reforms could be terminated on a decision from the country's Constitutional Court.

The following is an an unofficial and abridged translation Of a statement dated November 2005 signed by 674 personalities including former Members of the Iranian Majles (parliament); well know academics, political and cultural personalities as well as student activists. In the Name of God The eight year struggle for the promotion of political reforms initiated internally at the behest of the regime has finally come to a halt having been directed towards fundamentalism by way of an organized election, leaving the aged Iranian nation in the grip of a serious socio-political crisis with its ensuing worries for Iranian society and...

Georgian authorities are building fountains and sprucing up facades, yet they have not started essential projects. Meanwhile, less and less time is left to fulfill the obligations. Georgia is marking the second anniversary of Rose Revolution on which the majority of the country's population pinned high hopes. Unfortunately, most of these hopes have not been fulfilled yet. As public disenchantment grows, the approval ratings of the government in general and President Mikhail Saakashvili in particular have been falling for a year now. Nor has the government scored any additional points from the recent high-profile dismissal of Georgian Foreign Minister Salome...

SACRAMENTO Climaxing a record-breaking $300 million special-election upheaval, California voters all but crushed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's “Year of Reform” package Tuesday, except for his adopted measure limiting union dues' political use that was narrowly failing. With 60 percent of precincts reporting, Schwarzenegger's reform centerpiece, the Proposition 76 spending limit, was rejected 60 percent “no” to 40 percent “yes,” plunging next year's political and budget battles into greater uncertainty. Schwarzenegger downplayed the unfavorable outcome, saying now “we are going to go and find common ground” with special election enemies. “We need more bipartisan cooperation. I promise I will deliver that,” Schwarzenegger...

Chidambaram's recipe to beat China October 21, 2005 13:58 IST Last Updated: October 21, 2005 14:27 IST Warning that India would be left behind China in the absence of fast track reforms, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said the government would accord top priority to financial sector reforms and asked companies to ensure that large portion of their stocks are traded in the market. "We will press on with financial sector reforms…unless financial sector is sufficient, we cannot convert savings, capital flows, tax revenues, which comes out of capital expenditure into production of goods and services leading to high...

Prop. 76 is a modest attempt to keep the state from spending more money than it takes in Public-opinion polls suggest that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was swept into office in an unusual recall election, is facing declining popularity as he tries to fix the fiscal problems that propelled him into office. The polls, if accurate, suggest that union-backed ads targeting the governor are taking their toll. They also suggest a certain fickleness among the voting public. Enormous budget deficits and out-of-control spending cannot go on forever. Yet the same public that wanted a change in Sacramento also wants to...

LOS ANGELES - Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in an unexpected broadside, accused Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday of misusing the state's ballot initiative process to force his political agenda on the Legislature. Schwarzenegger is pushing four ballot measures that deal with teacher tenure, union dues, a state spending cap and redistricting. "I'm opposed to all of his initiatives," said Villaraigosa, a former state Assembly speaker, who had appeared eager to work with Schwarzenegger. "In this instance it's very clear that the initiative process is being misused," Villaraigosa said. "These are matters that could and should be addressed by the...

The Iranians are conducting a clandestine nuclear program in parallel to the public one, the aim of which is clearly the acquisition of nuclear weapons. The Israeli intelligence assessment speaks of three or four years; the Americans add another year or two to this timetable. The Americans conducted a large-scale operation in Iraq in order to bring down a regime which was engaged, it was thought at the time, in supporting terrorism and having weapons of mass destruction programs. Iran is clearly in the same category, and therefore it is concerned about an American/Israeli operation against its nuclear facilities. From...

While the pro hardline government media in Iran called the meeting between the Iranian and Canadian foreign ministers successful, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, said, after meeting with his Iranian counterpart that his country had prepared a new resolution to condemn human rights violations in Iran and would propose it to the United Nations General Assembly. The new resolution condemning Iran's human rights record followed by IAEA resolution last week, which paves the way for referring Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council, has already created new challenges for Iran's foreign policy makers. An Iran analyst believes that although...

In his speech at the UN in New York last week, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's new president called for the establishment of democracy, justice and love of human beings. Traditionally the United Nations' World Summit is a good venue for leaders of countries to speak of peace, justice and ethics. The reality is that such speeches, especially when they do not offer specifics or a clear agenda, are not taken seriously outside the UN headquarters. In other words, the speaker will make a mockery of himself if his country has a practical record of not respecting the peaceful recommendations the...

The United Nations rolls out the red carpet for more than 170 leaders attending the world's largest summit one day after approving a watered-down blueprint to restructure the embattled world body on its 60th anniversary. UN chief Kofi Annan will meet with US President George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Hu Jintao of China, and nearly 50 prime ministers, including Britain's Tony Blair, France's Dominique de Villepin and Japan's Junichiro Koizumi during the three-day gathering. Annan will play host under the cloud of the oil-for-food scandal that tarnished his image and that of the United Nations. An independent panel...

The Performance Institute 3675 Ruffin Road, Suite 110, San Diego, CA 92123 858-503-6787 • fax 858-503-6753 • www.performanceweb.org www.sandiegobudget.org NEWS RELEASE Institute to Bring Most of Charter Reforms Proposed by City Attorney to June 2006 Vote of the People For Immediate Release CONTACT: Erica Mendelson August 17, 2005 Office: 858-503-6787 or cell: 619-306-1798 mendelson@performanceweb.org SAN DIEGO – Performance Institute President Carl DeMaio has released the following statement in response to a proposal put forward yesterday by City Attorney Mike Aguirre to remedy the city’s financial crisis and end this current state of paralysis: "The Performance Institute praises the City Attorney...