Steve Wozniak Considers Return to Apple
By Kendra Srivastava | Tue Apr 12, 2011
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak reportedly said he might return to the company if asked, giving shareholders plenty to ponder regarding the uncertain future of its leadership.
Wozniak, or “Woz,” still holds Apple stock and even remains a paid, if nominal, employee; he also maintains relations with Apple president Steve Jobs. But Woz differs significantly from Jobs in that he favors more customizable computers than Apple currently offers.
“My thinking is that Apple could be more open and not lose sales,” he said to Reuters. Given Apple’s current circumstances, Woz’s opinion isn’t just academic.
Steve Jobs is now in his third leave of absence, having suffered through pancreatic cancer, a liver transplant, and recently an undisclosed medical condition.
Jobs’ potentially indefinite recuperation recently prompted nervous shareholders to outline a CEO succession plan. But it was shot down in a February 23 vote, leaving people to wonder what will happen should Jobs be unable to return.
Enter “The Woz,” an enigmatic genius who partnered with Jobs and others to create Apple in 1976. Woz assembled the prototype for the Apple 1 and wrote his own version of BASIC for it. A supporter of self-service machines and open-source code, Woz also distributed the first Apple’s design so other engineers could build such computers too.
Apple products today are the antithesis of that tinkering, hands-on ethos. Devices are designed to “just work,” and privilege simplicity in user interfaces. Apple discourages its users from unlocking iPhones and tweaking their MacBooks, instead ushering them to company stores for repairs and upgrades.
With his history of championing openness, Woz might challenge this facet of Apple should he find himself playing a more central role at the company.
But whether or not he returns to Apple, one thing is certain: “The Wonderful Wizard of Woz” will continue to lead a colorful life. Since leaving the company in 1987, Woz has founded several start-ups, been married four times, appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Big Bang,” written an autobiography, joined the Freemasons, and currently plays Segway polo.
Indeed, his whirlwind life might caution shareholders to take his recent, as yet noncommittal statements with a grain of salt.
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Posted In: Apple (1073) | Steve Jobs (106) | Steve Wozniak (6)
This documentary shows how the glories of war become enshrined in history. How failures are quickly forgotten and how inconvenient truths are ignored forever. With stunning reenactments, evocative animation and the incisive commentary of key experts, The War of 1812 presents the strange and awkward conflict that shaped the destiny of a continent.
On the same day that the Second Continental Congress convened, Ethan Allen, along with Arnold, who was then his lieutenant, launched a surprise attack on Ticonderoga, the fort so bitterly contested a generation before. Stores of weapons and munitions
were captured, including artillery. Five weeks later, the colonists, working secretly during the night, pre-empted British plans
to fortify Boston by erecting their own emplacements on two ridges overlooking the city, Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill. Their
nominal commander was Brigadier Artemus Ward, another veteran of the French-Indian War, but their guiding spirit was
Joseph Warren of St. Andrew’s Lodge.
General Thomas Gage was subsequently to be blamed for what happened next, but the real responsibility lay with Sir William
Howe who had the authority, once the true nature of the situation became clear, to revoke the plan of battle or adhere to it
and suffer the inevitable cost. For a veteran subordinate of Amherst and Wolfe, Howe behaved strangely indeed.
Chapter 18 – The War for Independence
The Temple and the Lodge – Baigent & Leigh
Phone-hacking scandal likely marks end of media baron’s control of British politics
Doug Saunders – London
For decades, the tabloid newspapers of Britain have determined the political fates of governments left and right and held politicians hostage by threatening to expose their personal lives. It is an awkward and needy relationship, probably the last of its kind in the Western world, that seemed to come crashing to a halt as the House of Commons turned for the first time against the country’s most powerful media mogul.
It was as if a generation of political shame and anxiety exploded in a great catharsis of outrage and vengeance, with MP after MP rising on Wednesday to denounce magnate Rupert Murdoch and his control over their destinies. Tory MP Zac Goldsmith said that the Australian media baron “has systematically corrupted the police and in my view has gelded this Parliament, to our shame.”
It began as an emergency debate, called by the opposition Labour Party after it was revealed this week that the News of the World, a Sunday tabloid, had repeatedly broken into the mobile phone voicemail accounts of a teenage murder victim to glean material for front-page headlines about her private life, in the process destroying evidence.
The paper’s voicemail eavesdropping on the private messages of hundreds of actors, athletes, politicians, members of the Royal Family and crime victims had been the subject of numerous parliamentary probes since 2006. It resulted in the imprisonment of two journalists, but police and editors had repeatedly said that the scope was limited and the practice had ended.
This time it was different. Perhaps because a dead teen was involved. Perhaps because even grislier claims were made, that News of the World had stolen the final voicemail messages of numerous terror-attack victims and dead soldiers, and had paid huge sums to police for their silence, giving some officers jobs on the paper. Or because Prime Minister David Cameron’s ties to the paper’s executives had become an embarrassment that threatened to tie his government directly to the actions of the tabloids, this turned into a far larger denunciation of the political power of the press. It ended with Mr. Cameron agreeing to hold an official inquiry (but only after a police inquiry has run its course).
It seemed to expose a raw nerve of political dependency. Mr. Cameron’s first spokesman, Andy Coulson, had been the paper’s editor through much of the phone-hacking period, and he resigned in January as the revelations mounted (it was revealed this week that he had overseen payments to police officers, which are illegal). The head of Mr. Murdoch’s British operation, Rebekah Brooks, is a friend of Mr. Cameron’s; she was the paper’s editor-in-chief when it tapped the voicemail of teen murder victim Milly Dowler.
And Mr. Cameron owed a good part of his political victory last year to his successful courting of Mr. Murdoch, whose right-wing newspapers the Sun, the News of the World and the Times – with a combined circulation of almost 7 million – had used their front pages for the previous 15 years to support the leaders and policies of the centre-left Labour Party. Many analysts believe the Tories gained their electoral edge when Labour prime minister Gordon Brown lost the backing of the “red top” tabloids in 2009.
That was the culmination of a long tradition. After Mr. Murdoch bought the News of the World in 1969, British elections increasingly became races to court his support – usually in exchange for political favours. Margaret Thatcher’s staff credited much of her victory to her winning the Australian’s support – in exchange for which he was allowed to buy the Times of London and establish a satellite-TV empire.
The tables turned in 1995, when upstart opposition leader Tony Blair flew to Australia to court Mr. Murdoch, successfully winning the permanent support of the Sun and the Times, in exchange for more favours. Insiders felt, by this point, that politics had become a full-time matter of avoiding the wrath of the Murdoch press.
“No big decision could ever be made inside Number 10 [Downing St.] without taking account of the likely reaction of three men – Gordon Brown, [deputy PM] John Prescott and Rupert Murdoch,” Lance Price, who was Tony Blair’s media guru in those years, recently wrote. “On all the really big decisions, anybody else could safely be ignored”
Mr. Prescott conceded on Wednesday night that the media baron had become a bigger figure than many cabinet ministers. “I think there’s been a lot of cozying up by all the political parties to Murdoch,” he told BBC’s Newsnight. “I used to complain about it all the time.”
The News of the World’s excesses – which seemingly included listening to the private mobile phone messages of the police officers responsible for investigating the paper, and paying very large cash sums to other police in exchange for access to phones of the famous – are largely non-political, although they did involve phone-hacking acts that exposed the fine details of the sex lives of a dozen cabinet ministers, including Mr. Prescott.
And the effect will surely be political. In the past, the party in power always took great care to avoid angering the Murdoch papers, and the opposition tended to walk gently, too. Now Labour is outraged, and many Tories – including, reluctantly, Mr. Cameron himself – have joined the chorus. Mr. Murdoch’s ongoing application to buy up the remaining 60-per-cent share of his SkyTV empire could be jeopardized. His newspapers are likely to face far tighter monitoring and possibly regulation, and the ties between parties and the tabloids cannot but weaken.
Guardian parliamentary sketch writer Simon Hoggart wrote that Mr. Murdoch “has crossed a line and MPs feel, like political prisoners after a tyrant has been condemned to death by a people’s tribunal, that they are at last free.” That tribunal hasn’t happened yet, and nobody knows how many more victims will be found. But there is a real sense that the era of printing-press politics is rolling to an end.
Rod Blagojevich’s corruption retrial are entering their eighth day of deliberations, and it remains unclear how far the panel is from reaching a verdict. (Washington Post Jun 22, 2011)
Bro. Blagojevich ‘Grand Entrance’ Freemasonry ‘Cutsigns’ @ 00:07, 00:08, 00:09, 00:10 of WGN video
Guardian.co.uk
Phone-hacking scandal: Jonathan Rees obtained information using dark arts
Freemason set up network of corrupt police, customs officials, taxmen and bank staff to gain valuable information
8 June 2011
Nick Davies
Years ago, Jonathan Rees became a freemason. According to journalists and investigators who worked with him, he then exploited his link with the lodges to meet masonic police officers who illegally sold him information which he peddled to Fleet Street.
As one of Britain’s most prolific merchants of secrets, Rees expanded his network of sources by recruiting as his business partner Sid Fillery, a detective sergeant from the Metropolitan Police. Fillery added more officers to their network. Rees also boasted of recruiting corrupt Customs officers, a corrupt VAT inspector and two corrupt bank employees.
Other police contacts are said to have been blackmailed into providing confidential information. One of Rees’s former associates claims that Rees had compromising photographs of serving officers, including one who was caught in a drunken state with a couple of prostitutes and with a toilet seat around his neck.
It is this network of corruption which lies at the heart of yesterday’s claim in the House of Commons by Labour MP Tom Watson that Rees was targeting politicians, members of the royal family and even terrorist informers on behalf of Rupert Murdoch’s News International. The Guardian’s own inquiries suggest that Watson knows what he is talking about.
Much of what the police sources were able to sell to Rees was directly related to crime. But Rees also bought and sold confidential data on anybody who was of interest to his Fleet Street clients, to which the police often had special access. The Guardian has confirmed that Rees reinforced his official contacts with two specialist ‘blaggers’ who would telephone the Inland Revenue, the DVLA, banks and phone companies and trick them into handing over private data.
One of the blaggers who regularly worked for him, John Gunning, was responsible for obtaining details of bank accounts belonging to Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex, which were then sold to the Sunday Mirror. Gunning was later convicted of illegally obtaining confidential data from British Telecom. Rees also obtained details of accounts at Coutts Bank belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Kent. The bank accounts of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, are also thought to have been compromised.
Confidential data
The Guardian has been told that Rees spoke openly about obtaining confidential data belonging to senior politicians and recorded their names in his paperwork. One source close to Rees claims that apart from Tony Blair, Jack Straw, Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell, he also targeted Gaynor Regan, who became the second wife of the former foreign secretary Robin Cook; the former shadow home secretary Sir Gerald Kaufman; and the former Tory cabinet minister David Mellor.
It is not yet known precisely what Rees was doing to obtain information on these political targets, although in the case of Mandelson it appears that Rees acquired confidential details of two bank accounts he held at Coutts, and his building society account at Britannia. Rees is also said to have targeted the bank accounts of members of Mandelson’s family.
An investigator who worked for Rees claims he was also occasionally commissioning burglaries of public figures to steal material for newspapers. Southern Investigations has previously been implicated in handling paperwork that was stolen by a professional burglar from the safe of Paddy Ashdown’s lawyer, when Ashdown was leader of the Liberal Democrats. The paperwork, which was eventually obtained by the News of the World, recorded Ashdown discussing his fears that newspapers might expose an affair with his secretary.
Telegraph
Archbishop allows freemason to be bishop
The Archbishop of Canterbury is at the centre of a row after it emerged he had appointed a Freemason to be a bishop.
14 May 2011
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Dr Rowan Williams named the Rev Jonathan Baker as the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet despite knowing he was an active and senior mason.
The appointment, announced earlier this month, marked a significant U-turn by Dr Williams who had previously said that Freemasonry was “incompatible” with Christianity and had refused to promote Masons to senior posts.
Last week, as news of Fr Baker’s membership of the Masons began to circulate through the Church, it provoked growing concern and criticism from clergy and members of the General Synod.
When contacted by The Sunday Telegraph on Friday, Fr Baker defended his continued membership of the Masons and insisted it was compatible with his new role as a bishop.
Yet yesterday he said he had changed his mind was leaving the masons so he could concentrate on being a bishop, adding: “I wish nothing to distract from the inauguration of that ministry.”
Freemasonry, a secretive male-only organisation dating back 300 years, requires its members to declare a belief in a “supreme being” and to undergo elaborate rituals.
Fr Baker joined the Apollo University masonic lodge in Oxford while he was a student, in an initiation ceremony that involves promising to keep the “secrets of Freemasonry”.
This ritual is said to involve members being blindfolded, wearing a hangman’s noose, and being warned that those who break the oaths of allegiance will have their throat slit and their tongue torn out before being buried in the sand.
He remained a member of the lodge for more than 20 years until his resignation yesterday, rising in the organisation to serve a term as an assistant Grand Chaplain.
Fr Baker, who is currently principal at Pusey House in Oxford, said he had told Archbishop Williams he was a mason when they discussed his appointment to be the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet – one of the “flying bishops” who oversee clergy opposed to women priests. The post had fallen vacant when its previous holder quit to join the Roman Catholic Church.
He said on Friday: “For many years I have been an active member and I continue to be a member. This came up in discussion with Rowan, but it has not caused a problem for me at any stage of my ministry and it won’t cause a problem now.”
He argued that it would not interfere with his role of overseeing traditionalist parishes and said he saw no conflict in being a bishop and a Freemason.
“I’ve never found it to be anything other than an organisation that is wholly supportive of the Church.”
However, yesterday he said: “I have concluded that, because of the particular charism of episcopal ministry and the burden that ministry bears, I am resigning my membership of Freemasonry.”
He said that in his conversation with Dr Williams about taking up the Ebbsfleet post, the Archbishop had asked him to reconsider his membership of Freemasonry, but was happy for the appointment to go forward while he was still a Mason.
Yet Dr Williams has previously expressed serious concerns about clergy being involved with the organisation.
In 2002, shortly before he became the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Williams wrote in a letter to Hugh Sinclair, of the Movement for the Register of Freemasons: “I have real misgivings about the compatibility of Masonry and Christian profession … I have resisted the appointment of known Masons to certain senior posts.”
A year later he repeated this unease when he tried to apologise for upsetting Freemasons with his comments, saying: “Where anxieties exist they are in relation not to Freemasonry but to Christian ministers subscribing to what could be and often is understood [or misunderstood] as a private system of profession and initiation, involving the taking of oaths of loyalty.”
His senior advisers went even further at the time. “He questions whether it’s appropriate for Christian ministers to belong to secret organisations,” said The Rev Gregory Cameron, a close friend and former chaplain to Dr Williams. “He also has some anxiety about the spiritual content of Masonry.”
A spokesman for Dr Williams said at the time that he was “worried about the ritual elements in Freemasonry, which some have seen as possibly Satanically inspired and how that sits uneasily with Christian belief”.
He continued: “The other idea is that because they are a society, there could be a network that involves mutual back-scratching, which is something he would be greatly opposed to.”
Toronto Sun
Anti-abortion protesters hope Harper will re-open debate
Thursday, May 12, 2011
By Kristy Kirkup, Parliamentary Bureau
Freemason PM Stephen Harper Making Masonic Recognition Signal in House of Commons, Ottawa
OTTAWA – Thousands of protesters gathered on Parliament Hill Thursday and marched through Ottawa streets to demand the federal government outlaw abortion.
“We won’t rest until, once again, a culture of life has been restored to Canada,” said Jim Hughes, the National President of the Campaign Life Coalition.
The anti-abortion organization has held an annual rally in Ottawa for 14 years. Church and school groups are among those who attend every year.
During the election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government would not support opening up the abortion issue.
“The government will not bring forward any such legislation and any such legislation that is brought forward will be defeated as long as I am prime minister,” Harper said.
Anti-abortion activists are not holding their breath for Harper to change the law. Instead, they are hoping newly elected MPs will lead the charge.
“Harper has never been pro-life and so we don’t expect much from him,” said Hughes. “We expect a lot from the backbench MPs though. We think the numbers have grown as a result of this election and we’re hoping they will bring private member’s bills that will begin limiting abortion and, eventually, if Mr. Harper is there as prime minister or not, the law will change.”
Donald Trump speculates that President Obama’s birth certificate may say he is a Muslim. Trump says there is something on his certificate that he does not want the public to see.
Imagine answering the door to find IRS criminal investigators, badges on belts next to holstered guns, serving search warrants after they read a U.S. Attorney’s description of your group as having guys in nearly every club nationwide who gets prostitutes for your weekend parties.
This is a partial list of names of those in charge of such groups from the nonprofit tax returns of the Royal Order of Jesters, the Shriners’ secret sub-group, currently under investigation for sex trafficking, prostitution and child sex tourism.
The Shriners are best known for operating 22 hospitals that now take insurance for previously free medical care for burned and crippled children.
Memberships go like this. One must first be a Master Mason prior to joining groups like the Scottish Rite, the Knights Templar or the Shriners. One must then be a Shriner before joining the Jesters, secretly. There are about 23,500 Jesters organized into “courts” that correspond to the 191 Shriner temples located across North America.
The Jesters were described in a federal complaint against a former Erie County deputy Sheriff in their own self-titled section:
“The Royal Order of Jesters (“ROJ”) is a worldwide fraternal organization whose membership is limited to individuals invited to join by other members. The motto of the ROJ is ‘mirth is king.’ The ROJ has local chapters or ‘courts.’ On occasion, a local court or group of local courts in the same geographical area sponsor social gatherings known as ‘books of the play’ or ‘books.’ The sponsoring courts organize the ‘books’ and arrange for food, lodging, and entertainment at the ‘books.’ The ROJ also sponsors a yearly national ‘book,’ the equivalent of a national convention. In April, 2005, the Jester’s national book was held in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
As set forth below, a typical feature of a ‘book of the play’ is the presence of prostitutes (‘Jester Girls’) who engage in commercial sex acts with members of the ROJ. Arrangements for the prostitutes are generally made by the organizer of the ‘books,’ or the region hosting the national ‘book.’ On occasion, individual Jesters make arrangements to transport prostitutes to ‘books.’”
The short version?
Prostitution at tax payer expense.
BTW, the former Jester sheriff is going to be sentenced April 5 after pleading guilty to knowing about the felony of “the transportation of individuals in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent that such individuals engage in prostitution” but not reporting it to the proper authorities. He got caught driving a limo full of prostitutes from the Buffalo International Airport to a national Jester convention held in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Court documents describe how transportation logistics were coordinated between “representatives of the national organization” and Buffalo Jesters, including the former New York State Supreme Court Judge who just finished his 18 month prison sentence for coordinating prostitutes for Jester meetings in Kentucky, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Canada.
As we get ready to fill out our returns, these guys continue cheating the system and hoodwinking us taxpayers. They expect us to make up for the taxes they don’t pay, like property tax. And since the Jesters’ exempt purpose is to spread the gospel of mirth and merriment, they write off their party expenses.
This Jester fraternal return shows the revenue from membership and assessments = $546,156. Revenue from the Book of the Play = $578,074. Expenses for the Book of the Play = $594,938.
These guys think nothing of spending nearly $600,000 on a weekend party.
That’s over $12,000 an hour.
Then they overspent by -$16,564.
As Jesters deduct their membership dues and contributions on their individual tax returns, the national group and groups nationwide raise the money needed to pay for their “Book of the Play,” described by the feds above.
The first ever article about this phony fraternity, “Jesters Exposed,” describes how the Marion County Assessor rejected a property tax exemption after not being able to determine if the new Jester headquarters building met museum guidelines. The Jesters appealed the denial and convinced the tax appeal board to grant the exemption because the Royal Order of Jesters is an appendant body of Masonry.
Did the Jesters mislead the tax appeals board by confusing the apples of being a charity (501c3) with the oranges of being a fraternity (501c10)? Are the Jesters misleading the IRS about their charitable purpose of housing a museum after it was rejected by the Marion County Assessor?
Tax return information from both national Jester groups can be found under “Indiana.” This list is organized by state, Jester court and data from each year’s return including contact information, income, Jester officers and unusual expenses.
And losses.
Out of 59 Jester returns cited, 26 don’t lose money. Thirty returns show losses and three courts show losses for all years. These are Phoenix #17, Oakland #6 and Evansville #102.
Sorting through this list of tedious info can be fun in a “Where’s Waldo?” kind of way. If you find anyone you know on the list, especially if they’re in the judiciary or law enforcement, comment below.
(Handsign by Bro. Cavett @ 00:59, 01:05, 01:16, etc.)
Bro. Brando also ‘cuts’ masonic recognition signals during entrance (hand pat on pant thigh) and during introductory comments by Bro. Cavett when seated (pretends to remove thread from shirt)
Bro. Sheen also makes Masonic ‘Cutsign’ Recognition Handsignals (touches briefly his jacket lapel and shirt) as Bro. Morgan thanks him for letting him interview him some years back.
The U.S. Should Keep Out of Libya
By RICHARD N. HAASS
'Bro. Gates (R-TX) was and is correct in reminding people...'
A good many people across the political spectrum—including some members of the Obama administration—are pressuring the president to intervene militarily in Libya. Much of the commentary has focused on establishing a no-fly zone, but there have been calls as well for enforcing a no-drive zone, or for arming or otherwise assisting regime opponents.
Those making this case appeal to a mixture of morality and realpolitik. They argue that by intervening we will prevent the slaughter of innocents and at the same time demonstrate our willingness to make good on expressions of support for freedom and security.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has taken the opposite position. Testifying before Congress last week, Mr. Gates pointed out that the first step in establishing a no-fly zone that would ground Libyan aircraft and helicopters would be to suppress Libyan air defenses that could threaten U.S. or allied aircraft. This would entail attacking selected targets. In other words, to establish a no-fly zone would be to go to war.
Mr. Gates was and is correct in reminding people of what implementing a no-fly zone would actually mean. But the reasons for questioning the wisdom of establishing such a zone, or taking other military action, go well beyond his warnings.
The Arab world’s revolutions have exposed the moral bankruptcy of France’s foreign policy.
BY ERIC PAPE | FEBRUARY 25, 2011
COMMENTS (14)
The year in French foreign policy began rather well, with a feeling of a fresh start as the new minister of foreign affairs, Michèle Alliot-Marie, returned home rejuvenated from her Christmas holiday to provide renewed strength and focus at the Quai d’Orsay, the home of the ministry. As it turned out, neither her return, nor the vacation itself were such a great idea.
Two months into 2011, the transformation of North Africa has exposed a slew of moral failings in French policy in the Arab world, and raised a flurry of questions about Alliot-Marie’s ethics, judgment, and veracity. By Feb. 27, Alliot-Marie was gone, replaced in a cabinet reshuffle after less than four months in office. The rest of the French diplomatic corps is increasingly turning on the president as his Middle East policy continues to disintegrate.
…
Sarkozy, in a mea culpa of sorts, recently explained that France did not take “full measure of the hopelessness” of the Tunisian people because the two countries have been so intimate. “When you are so close, when the individual and collective destinies [of Tunisia and France] are so thoroughly intertwined,” the French president told journalists at the Élysée presidential palace 10 days after Ben Ali and his family fled, “you can’t always have the necessary perspective.”
FP – Foreign Policy
Obama shuns the Security Council
By David Bosco
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Before Egypt’s revolution consumed the world’s diplomatic oxygen, a nasty fight was brewing in the UN Security Council over Israel’s settlements policy. Council members were debating a draft resolution that would have condemned the settlements as illegal and harmful to the peace process. That fight appears ready to break out again, and it’s putting the Obama administration in the uncomfortable position of trying to marginalize the Security Council, an institution it has often privileged.
From the beginning of the debate on a settlements resolution, the United States has made clear its lack of enthusiasm. Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted “the only way that there will be a resolution of the conflict… is through a negotiated settlement. Therefore we don’t see action at the UN or any other forum as being helpful in bringing about this desired outcome.” Meanwhile, a group of former American diplomats and influential commentators pressured the administration to let the Security Council act.
With the Egypt crisis having ebbed, the issue appears ready to resurface. According to some reports, Lebanon and other backers of the resolution may even seek Council action this week:
Palestinian representatives at the UN will push forward with a draft resolution calling on the Security Council to condemn settlement construction, PLO Executive Committee member Saleh Raafat said Tuesday.
A vote will be held on the resolution “[d]espite all of the pressure exerted on the Palestinians and the Arab-state supporters by the US,” Raafat said.
Meanwhile, there’s no sign that the U.S. position has changed. In testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, deputy secretary of state James Steinberg was adamant:
We have made very clear that we do not think the Security Council is the right place to engage on these issues. We have had some success, at least for the moment, in not having that arise there. And we will continue to employ the tools that we have to make sure that continues to not happen… The only way that this is going to be resolved is through engagement through the parties, and that is our clear and consistent position.
And in New York, U.S. ambassador Susan Rice also reacted cooly to a Russian suggestion that the Security Council ambassadors conduct a visit to the Middle East.
A number of delegations, including our own, asked a series of important questions, such as what is this meant to achieve? Why now? Why this itinerary? And, would it in fact have the stated intention of contributing to promoting greater peace and stability in the region at this quite fragile time. I can assure you that many council members, including us, were very clear that this is something we would have to consider very, very carefully, and consult with our capitals.
In the context of the last several decades, American opposition to Council action is utterly unsurprising. The United States has repeatedly blocked Council resolutions critical of Israel and has consistently sought to avoid significant Council involvement in Middle East negotiations. The reasons are clear: the United States doesn’t like the balance of power in the Council, where it is surrounded by states less accomodating of Israel, and wants to preserve its privileged position as arbiter. Historically-minded Obama administration officials may also be mindful that the Carter administration paid a political price for allowing Council criticism of Israel, an incident that led to an embarrassing retreat.
Berlusconi’s `Slavish’ Courtship of Qaddafi Haunts Italy
By Flavia Krause-Jackson
Berlusconi shut down the city’s biggest park in June 2009 to allow the visiting Libyan leader and his entourage of all- female bodyguards to set up camp by the 16th-century Villa Doria Pamphili. A year earlier, Italy agreed to pay $5 billion over 25 years to its former colony in reparations.
“With hindsight, the more slavish manifestations of deference could have been avoided,” Franco Pavoncello, a politics professor at John Cabot University in Rome, said in a telephone interview. “He went out of his way, more than others, to be best friends with Qaddafi. He can’t exactly take it all back now.”
Libya has invested in Italian companies including Fiat SpA, UniCredit SpA and the Juventus soccer team, while Eni SpA has been present in the North African country for half a century, leaving Italy reliant on Libya for a quarter of its crude oil. As his ties with Qaddafi developed, Berlusconi built on that economic legacy, which is now unraveling and underscores the cost of doing business with autocratic regimes.
Without Egypt, Israel will be left with no friends in Mideast
Without Egypt’s Mubarak and with relations with Turkey in shambles, Israel will be forced to court new potential allies.
By Aluf Benn
Wikipedia: Suzanne Mubarak, Honorary President of Rotary Clubs of Egypt, has received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award several times. Her son Gamal Mubarak, said to be his father's successor as the next president of Egypt, is also an Honorary Rotarian.
The fading power of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s government leaves Israel in a state of strategic distress. Without Mubarak, Israel is left with almost no friends in the Middle East; last year, Israel saw its alliance with Turkey collapse.
From now on, it will be hard for Israel to trust an Egyptian government torn apart by internal strife. Israel’s increasing isolation in the region, coupled with a weakening United States, will force the government to court new potential allies.
Israel’s foreign policy has depended on regional alliances which have provided the country with strategic depth since the 1950s. The country’s first partner was France, which at the time ruled over northern Africa and provided Israel with advanced weaponry and nuclear capabilities.
After Israel’s war against Egypt in 1956, David Ben-Gurion attempted to establish alliances with non-Arab countries in the region, including Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia. The Shah of Iran became a significant ally of Israel, supplying the country with oil and money from weapons purchases. The countries’ militaries and intelligence agencies worked on joint operations against Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s rule, which was seen as the main threat against Israel and pro-Western Arab governments.
Israel’s next alliances were forged with Jordan’s King Hussein and Morocco’s King Hassan. These ties were operated in secret, as well as ties with leaders in Lebanon’s Christian community. The late 1970s saw the fall of the Shah of Iran, with an anti-Israel Islamic republic created in his stead.
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