Afrocentric News Update
And now, a long overdue news update.
In February, the Church of England held a conference in Tanzania. One of the major issues discussed by archbishops from throughout the Worldwide Anglican Communion was the issue of homosexual clergy in the American Episcopal Church. Although conservative church leaders suffered an early setback in the form of a report that claimed (erroneously, in my opinion) that the Episcopals have " largely met demands for it to conform with orthodox teaching", the central church turned around and issued an ultimatum to the Episcopal Church to stop ordaining gays (AP, BBC). As I've mentioned before, my take is that no matter what your view on homosexuality is, the Bible expressly forbids it, and if you pick and choose what parts of the Bible you want to ignore then you're not a Christian in the first place.
Several weeks ago, a resolution was put before Congress that would call on Tokyo to formally apologize for sex slavery during World War II. Now, I don't like sticking my neck out on political issues, in part because it could be a liability down the line and in part because I prefer to maintain objectivity in my reporting. I'll merely note that I'm curious as to why the Congress would decide to invest time and effort on such a bill. In my opinion, dredging up human rights issues from sixty years ago, against an ally so close that they broke with long-standing traditions and amended their laws to allow them to deploy troops to Iraq with us, is counter-productive, short-sighted, and generally lacking in diplomacy. This is an issue between Japan and China, and if they want to hash out sixty year old disputes, we should maintain a respectable distance. I'll leave it at that.
Iran executed a suspect in the mid-February car bomb attack against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The Iranian press claims that he implicated the United States as facilitators of the attacks.
A United Nations commission has compared Israel to apartheid South Africa. Personally, I believe this comparison to be entirely political in nature, and willfully ignorant of the difference between South Africa (a single nation) and Israel and the "Palestinian" terroritories (two nations engaged in continual conflict with one another). In this situation, as in most, context is important, and it appears that this commission is ignoring context in order to advance a biased political agenda against Israel.
An Israeli newspaper is reporting that Syria is receiving military supplies from Iran and Russia. Of particular note are Syria's receipt of the same variety of anti-tank missiles that were used by Hezbollah during the 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel.
Colonel Qaddhafi has announced at a debate in Sabha, Libya that he intends to open Libya to globalizations and relations with the West. (AP, Reuters) The statement occurred at a debate between Qaddhafi and two Western academics about democracy. Qaddhafi also spoke with the BBC on 03rd March and indicated his regrets that Libya's surrender of its nascent nuclear program has not yet been rewarded with a civil nuclear reactor by the West. On the LJBC website, also dated 03rd March, an article announces a nuclear deal between Libya and the United States. While I think that Qaddhafi's claim that the Jamahiriya system is a better democracy than the "fifty-one percent dictatorship" of Western democracies, his point about compensation for renunciation of WMD programs has some merit.
Qaddhafi's claim is that, because an agreement between Libya and the West included provision for a civil nuclear program, and because that provision has not yet come into being, nations like Iran and North Korea will be reluctant to follow Tripoli's lead. Now, this situation isn't as simple as Colonel Qaddhafi makes it out to be; he knows that a nuclear program doesn't just happen overnight, or even in three and a half years. It should also be noted, as I've noted before, that Libya's renunciation of illegal weapons has already led the West to reopen embassies and invest in Libya's petroleum infrastructure and tourism industry. That having been said, Libya has the potential to be a shining example of the benefits of embracing diplomacy and normalcy, in lieu of supporting terrorism and violating international law. As such, I think that it's crucial that Western nations make good on any agreements they make with Libya and other countries, as this gives us a greater deal of legitimacy in the realm of international diplomacy.
And it's been quite a while since I was able to post a story... About Somali pirates! Apparently another United Nations ship carrying humanitarian supplies has been hijacked by Somali pirates.
And to top off this news update, Mauritania has held its first free election for President. The election produced no clear winner, so a runoff election will follow.
Wow, it feels great to put some news on here instead of posting nonsense and chicanery about what food I'm going to cook this week.
In February, the Church of England held a conference in Tanzania. One of the major issues discussed by archbishops from throughout the Worldwide Anglican Communion was the issue of homosexual clergy in the American Episcopal Church. Although conservative church leaders suffered an early setback in the form of a report that claimed (erroneously, in my opinion) that the Episcopals have " largely met demands for it to conform with orthodox teaching", the central church turned around and issued an ultimatum to the Episcopal Church to stop ordaining gays (AP, BBC). As I've mentioned before, my take is that no matter what your view on homosexuality is, the Bible expressly forbids it, and if you pick and choose what parts of the Bible you want to ignore then you're not a Christian in the first place.
Several weeks ago, a resolution was put before Congress that would call on Tokyo to formally apologize for sex slavery during World War II. Now, I don't like sticking my neck out on political issues, in part because it could be a liability down the line and in part because I prefer to maintain objectivity in my reporting. I'll merely note that I'm curious as to why the Congress would decide to invest time and effort on such a bill. In my opinion, dredging up human rights issues from sixty years ago, against an ally so close that they broke with long-standing traditions and amended their laws to allow them to deploy troops to Iraq with us, is counter-productive, short-sighted, and generally lacking in diplomacy. This is an issue between Japan and China, and if they want to hash out sixty year old disputes, we should maintain a respectable distance. I'll leave it at that.
Iran executed a suspect in the mid-February car bomb attack against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The Iranian press claims that he implicated the United States as facilitators of the attacks.
A United Nations commission has compared Israel to apartheid South Africa. Personally, I believe this comparison to be entirely political in nature, and willfully ignorant of the difference between South Africa (a single nation) and Israel and the "Palestinian" terroritories (two nations engaged in continual conflict with one another). In this situation, as in most, context is important, and it appears that this commission is ignoring context in order to advance a biased political agenda against Israel.
An Israeli newspaper is reporting that Syria is receiving military supplies from Iran and Russia. Of particular note are Syria's receipt of the same variety of anti-tank missiles that were used by Hezbollah during the 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel.
Colonel Qaddhafi has announced at a debate in Sabha, Libya that he intends to open Libya to globalizations and relations with the West. (AP, Reuters) The statement occurred at a debate between Qaddhafi and two Western academics about democracy. Qaddhafi also spoke with the BBC on 03rd March and indicated his regrets that Libya's surrender of its nascent nuclear program has not yet been rewarded with a civil nuclear reactor by the West. On the LJBC website, also dated 03rd March, an article announces a nuclear deal between Libya and the United States. While I think that Qaddhafi's claim that the Jamahiriya system is a better democracy than the "fifty-one percent dictatorship" of Western democracies, his point about compensation for renunciation of WMD programs has some merit.
"This should be a model to be followed, but Libya is disappointed because the promises given by America and Britain were not fulfilled," he said[...] "And therefore those countries said 'we are not going to follow Libya's example because Libya abolished its programme without any compensation'[...] They said if you abolish your war programme we will help you to develop your nuclear abilities into peaceful ones. This has not happened."
Qaddhafi's claim is that, because an agreement between Libya and the West included provision for a civil nuclear program, and because that provision has not yet come into being, nations like Iran and North Korea will be reluctant to follow Tripoli's lead. Now, this situation isn't as simple as Colonel Qaddhafi makes it out to be; he knows that a nuclear program doesn't just happen overnight, or even in three and a half years. It should also be noted, as I've noted before, that Libya's renunciation of illegal weapons has already led the West to reopen embassies and invest in Libya's petroleum infrastructure and tourism industry. That having been said, Libya has the potential to be a shining example of the benefits of embracing diplomacy and normalcy, in lieu of supporting terrorism and violating international law. As such, I think that it's crucial that Western nations make good on any agreements they make with Libya and other countries, as this gives us a greater deal of legitimacy in the realm of international diplomacy.
And it's been quite a while since I was able to post a story... About Somali pirates! Apparently another United Nations ship carrying humanitarian supplies has been hijacked by Somali pirates.
And to top off this news update, Mauritania has held its first free election for President. The election produced no clear winner, so a runoff election will follow.
Wow, it feels great to put some news on here instead of posting nonsense and chicanery about what food I'm going to cook this week.
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