Barack Obama wants you
Ben Whitford
January 17, 2007 10:10 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ben_whitford/2007/01/barack_obama_wants=
_you.html
Barack Obama doesn't care about wooing the media: he just wants to
seduce you. The velvet-voiced senator from Illinois chose to announce
his plan to explore a presidential bid yesterday not in front of an
adoring press pack, but via a more intimate medium: internet video. "I
believe in you," he purred. "I look forward to continuing our
conversation in the weeks and months to come." And he means it: he's
reportedly signed up online video-sharing company Brightcove to help
push his campaign into the YouTube era.
For a politician who's already got the MSM swooning, that struck some
observers as a savvy move. "Obama knows that he's been the object of
scrutiny and fascination, obviously, and this is a great way to show
he's not courting it (even though the citizen journalism touch will
provide additional play)," writes Rachel Sklar at the Huffington Post.
Single or bust
Laura Barcella
January 17, 2007 08:32 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/laura_barcella/2007/01/single_or_bust.h=
tml
According to a New York Times analysis of Census data, more American
women are currently living without a spouse than with one - for
possibly the first time ever. In a 2005 poll, 51% of women said they
led their lives sans husband, up from 35% in 1950 and 49% in 2000.
A modest retirement proposal
Ben Hammersley
January 17, 2007 08:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ben_hammersley/2007/01/a_modest_retirem=
ent_proposal.html
But what to do next? As Barack Obama's twinkly smile kicks off the
election campaign, and the Democratic-controlled Senate continues with
its Great Undoing, President Bush must be casting half a mind towards
his next career move. What does he do once he's no longer the most
powerful man in the world? Write a book? Play golf? Open a library? Buy
a big motorbike? It's going to be a doozy of a midlife crisis either
way, and so, for the sake of the common good, I have a suggestion. Mr
President, you should donate yourself to medical science. We need to
study you.
"It's so rare to capture one alive". as the creepy psychologist Dr
Chilton in the Silence of the Lambs says, "From a research point of
view, Dr Lector is our most prized asset". And so it will be for the
president.
A class of their own
Robert Badinter
January 17, 2007 07:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/robert_badinter/2007/01/european_discri=
mination_on_tri.html
What good are Europe's treaties aimed at ensuring the legal equality of
all citizens when entire groups face systematic discrimination? That is
the question that the European court of human rights (ECHR) faces this
week as its Grand Chamber, consisting of 17 judges, begins considering
an appeal of an initial ruling that rejected claims of discrimination
against the Roma by the Czech Republic's education authorities.
All European states are members of the Council of Europe, all have
signed the European convention on human rights, 39 of the 46 member
states have adopted the framework convention for the protection of
national minorities, and 14 have ratified protocol 12 on the
prohibition against discrimination. Nevertheless, the living conditions
of many Roma remain appalling.
The world is watching them
Sarita Malik
January 17, 2007 06:32 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sarita_malik/2007/01/the_world_is_watch=
ing.html
The real story is not so much whether the Celebrity Big Brother
housemates are being racist or not, but about what national image
Britain is reflecting to the rest of the world. Last time I mentioned
racism and reality TV in the same sentence on Cif, many disagreed that
there was a connection. It won't come as much of a surprise that I
stick with my view that, although Big Brother still flaunts one of the
most racially-varied casts of any British television programme, it also
beautifully demonstrates how racism remains a strong part of our
culture. This dark undercurrent - evident in the way these groups form
and mobilise, typically along class and racial lines - is currently
making for uncomfortable and yet compulsive viewing.
The Shilpa affair is big news, not just in the UK but also in India. It
has become a fully-fledged diplomatic row, involving Tony Blair and
Gordon Brown. ITV News has reported how an effigy has been burnt in
India in protest and demonstrations have taken place in Patna. Shilpa
has become a symbol for India. Anand Sharma, India's junior minister
for external affairs has said: "The government will take appropriate
measures once it gets to know the full details. Racism has no place in
civilised society." Gordon Brown, who has just arrived in India, has
said today that he hopes the message that "we are a nation of fairness
and tolerance" comes across. Not likely, while Danielle, Jo, Jade and
Jack are in the house!
Davos 07: what everyone's talking about
Julian Glover
January 17, 2007 06:06 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/julian_glover/2007/01/davos_07_what_eve=
ryones_talkin.html
Snow is forecast for Davos over the next couple of days, which should
set up the slopes of the Swiss ski resort nicely for the strange set of
visitors who are about to fly in, packing the business class lounges of
Zurich airport and then shivering in their suits in the freezing
temperatures predicted for next week. The World Economic Forum, which
takes place every January in this smartest of Alpine hideouts, has
acquired a deserved reputation as a gathering point for the elite of
globalisation.
What goes on there? Since it is a closed event, guarded by the Swiss
army, and the people who attend it are mostly rich (very rich) and
powerful (very powerful) it is no surprise that some of those who do
not get asked are highly suspicious. After all, the corporate
membership of the WEF is a roll call of global capitalism, PepsiCo to
JP Morgan. A programme that ranges from the head of Google to the
president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Tony Blair and the
man who would like to be the next president of the US, John McCain, is
extraordinary. The remote location, two hours into the hills by train
from Zurich, only adds to the mystery. Why would such people gather, if
not to plot behind closed doors?
A reality more absurd than fiction
Salam Al-Mahadin
January 17, 2007 04:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/salam_almahadin/2007/01/waiting_for_god=
ot.html
The Palestinian going by the name of Fareed Mahmoud Suleiman should not
have made news. He still has not made headlines and probably never
will, with the exception of a short news report in the Jordanian daily,
Al-Ghad. People like Fareed Mahmoud Suleiman usually live on the
margins of life, another statistic, or what our elite brethren might
refer to as an "individual". He is not a citizen yet, mind you. No
Palestinian is.
But whatever Fareed Mahmoud Suleiman signifies to the few people he
knows, he never in his wildest dreams thought he would one day be the
central theme of an article in the Guardian. What qualifies him for
this honour is a surreal chain of events that have catapulted him from
a virtually unknown "individual" to play the protagonist in a story
that reminded me of the days we rolled our eyes with all the misguided
scepticism of youth when we did some of Brecht's or Beckett's plays in
college.
About turn, forward march
Alex Stein
January 17, 2007 03:01 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/alex_stein/2007/01/post_941.html
A country struggling for direction clutches at personalities like
straw. Hence, the comings and goings in the corridors of power are
viewed like a soap opera, even when the plot is predictable. It has
been inevitable since the summer that someone would have to pay for
what has been widely understood as Israel's failure in the summer spat
with Hizbullah. As the Israeli army's chief of staff, Dan Halutz was
always a likely candidate to be the first major figure to fall.
The reason given for his resignation was a desire to take
responsibility for the summer catastrophe. Only the second chief of
staff in the country's history to have come from the IAF, Halutz was
widely criticised for his over-reliance on air power during the first
days of the conflict, and his reluctance to send in ground troops
quickly enough.
Fine talk, coming from us
Jackie Ashley
January 17, 2007 02:29 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jackie_ashley/2007/01/stop_sneering_at_=
america.html
How likely is it, do you think, that we will see Britain facing a
choice for prime minister between a Kenyan goat-herder's son and a
liberal woman who has survived a ravaged marriage?
It is so easy to sneer at America and, God knows, the US often deserves
it. But with the Democrats' 2008 race for the presidential nomination
now pitting Barak Obama, the Illinois senator, against Hillary Clinton,
perhaps a little British modesty about the openness of our political
system is called for.
The US and Iran: are they by any chance related?
Dilip Hiro
January 17, 2007 01:58 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dilip_hiro/2007/01/post_936.html
The open letter to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by a majority
of the country's MPs, criticizing his economic policies, illustrates
the checks and balances that Iran's constitution provides. As it is,
Iran's parliament, called Majlis, is entitled to impeach the popularly
elected president if it finds him to be incompetent. It did so in 1981
and removed from office Abol Hassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In that sense the power of the Iranian legislature is on par with that
of the United States Congress.
A history of vileness
Omar Waraich
January 17, 2007 12:52 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/omar_waraich/2007/01/racism_forces_an_i=
ntrusion_on.html
Shilpa Shetty, a coruscating star in the Bollywood firmament, has
endured the past few days in the Big Brother house as the object of
prejudice. In response, thousands of viewers have mustered themselves
to her defence and issued a blizzard of complaints. That Channel 4 is
now refusing to put a quietus to the abuse, or discipline the
offenders, should arouse little surprise. It's not the first time that
racism has forced an intrusion on the show.
Before even entering the house in the sixth series that ran over the
summer of 2005, Saskia announced her disapproval of foreigners. "They
all want to kill us, bomb us," she said. "I don't want to generalise,
but I do." At the time, Lucy Mangan wryly - and, perhaps, justly -
located her views as being "slightly to the right of Genghis Khan."
Getting to know you
Ann Rossiter
January 18, 2007 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ann_rossiter/2007/01/ann_rossiter_respo=
nse_to_ac_gr.html
Whatever New Labour is doing it is not, as AC Grayling wrongly
suggested here, leading us towards some "bureaucratic despotism",
warned of by Weber. Look at current reforms - as many have been about
limiting bureaucracy, through choice and market instruments, as have
been about targets or management power. The best of New Labour's
reforms have been about empowering people, moving influence away from
the monolith towards the individual.
Successful data sharing will do the same. It will make information
reflect citizens' priorities not bureaucratic priorities. To do this
the government must identify which services people expect to work
together and what must remain separate. Data sharing should not provide
an information free-for-all; it should be limited by people's patterns
of interaction with the state, doing no more than meeting the
legitimate demands of service users for a good service.
A sign of the times
Sunny Hundal
January 18, 2007 12:32 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunny_hundal/2007/01/burning_big_brothe=
r_effigies.html
I always find it amusing when people resort to burning effigies,
especially when they are as badly constructed as this. It's something
people in India do every year during the festival of Dussehra so they
are old hands at it. But guys, some creativity wouldn't go amiss.
I know readers are probably bored with articles on Celebrity Big
Brother, a programme of epic mind-numbing proportions, but given that
everyone from Gordon Brown and David Cameron to every British Asian and
his/her dog have jumped on this bandwagon, I feel slightly left out. So
shoot me, as Jade Goody would say. At least that's a short enough
sentence for her not to get grammatically wrong. Ahem.
History is not preordained: a new cold war can be averted
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1992957,00.html
US military arrogance has led to a global crisis. But there is still
time to change course and build a democratic world order
Mikhail Gorbachev
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
A watershed in international relations has occurred in recent months.
Indeed, the past year may well have seen the end of an entire era in
world affairs - the post-cold war period of unilateralism and missed
opportunities.
When the cold war ended, avenues opened up for progress toward a better
world. Major powers, particularly the United States, the Soviet Union
and China, were working constructively together in the United Nations
security council. International conflicts, including those in Angola,
El Salvador, Nicaragua and Cambodia, were brought to an end. Nuclear
and conventional arms control agreements were concluded, and democratic
changes were under way in dozens of countries in Asia, Latin America
and central and eastern Europe.
A blanket ban on Holocaust denial would be a serious mistake
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1992760,00.html
Germany's intentions are good, but it should take care not to impose
the wrong conclusions from its unhappy past
Timothy Garton Ash
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
The German justice minister has proposed that all EU states should
criminalise Holocaust denial and ban the public display of Nazi
insignia, as Germany itself does. The EU's justice commissioner has
apparently supported her. No reasonable person will doubt their good
intentions, but this would be a big mistake. I hope and trust that
other EU members will put a stop to this deeply unwise proposal, as
they have to similar ones in the past.
Let me be clear about my starting-point. The Nazi Holocaust of the
European Jews was unique. The main historical facts about it should be
known by every contemporary European. Trying to ensure that nothing
like that ever again happens here in Europe (or anywhere else in the
world, insofar as that is in our power) should be one of the
fundamental aims of the EU. As someone who came to European affairs
through the study of Nazi Germany, I can say that this was a major
reason for my personal commitment to what we call the European project.
Stereotypes that will sell
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1992775,00.html
The Last King of Scotland is not the African Idi Amin's story: it is a
white story for white audiences
Vanessa Walters
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
In a closing scene of The Last King of Scotland, the leading character,
Nicholas Garrigan, asks his rescuer why he is risking his life to save
him. "They will believe you," says his black saviour. "You are a white
man." This is also the reason why a film about Idi Amin, Africa's most
infamous despot, is told through the eyes of a young white doctor.
Forest Whitaker, who won a Golden Globe for his riveting portrayal of
the maniacal dictator this week, should also win an Oscar. But,
following in the footsteps of Halle Berry and Denzel Washington, if he
does, it will be because once again Hollywood's racist beast has been
duly sated.
Blow to Clinton campaign as effort to win over Iraq critics falls short
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1993010,00.html
=B7 Fight for Democratic party presidential ticket hots up
=B7 Failure to denounce war could cost her party vote
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
Hillary Clinton risked being outflanked in the race for the Democratic
presidential nomination yesterday when she revised her stance on the
Iraq war but failed to go far enough to satisfy anti-war critics.
Mrs Clinton, who voted for the war in 2002 and has so far refused to
repudiate that, took to television and radio studios for a media blitz
yesterday morning to set out a new position after a visit to Iraq and
Afghanistan last week.
Weary of war but ready for action: American soldiers set their sights
on delights of Rio
Beaches, bars and women draw rising numbers to Brazil
http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,1992939,00.html
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
It was just after 11pm on a Friday and First Lieutenant Brian
Feldmayer, a baby-faced 25-year-old from the US army, was preparing to
lead his troops into action.
He spirited his men out of the vehicle and swept towards the crowd,
flanked by officers Mark Browne, a field artillery operator, and Kirk
Bailey, a 25-year-old sharpshooter. The three glanced up and down the
bustling street, then at each other, and began moving towards their
target. Normally the setting would have been Iraq, where the men from
Fort Collins, Colorado, have served since 2005.
Shilpa complains of racism
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1993135,00.html
Stephen Brook
Thursday January 18, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Celebrity Big Brother contestant Shilpa Shetty has for the first time
accused fellow housemates of racism as complaints about the programme
topped 30,000.
During a conversation with another contestant, Cleo Rocos, screened
last night but recorded on Tuesday, Shetty said: "I'm representing my
country. Is that what today's UK is? It's scary. It's quite a shame
really."
Racism, ratings and reality TV: now Big Brother creates a diplomatic
incident
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1992919,00.html
=B7 Complaints over Channel 4 show hit record 22,000
=B7 Police to investigate abuse of Bollywood film star
Owen Gibson, Vikram Dodd and Randeep Ramesh in Delhi
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
Three days ago it was merely the below par fifth season of a faltering
reality TV franchise. But as the storm over the alleged racism of its
participants intensified, Celebrity Big Brother yesterday sparked
demonstrations on Indian streets, consternation in Downing Street,
condemnation from the chancellor on a state visit to Bangalore and a
police investigation.
The Channel 4 show has always courted controversy but has never before
been on the verge of sparking an international incident. Yet as the
number of complaints from outraged viewers topped 22,000, the Indian
government spoke out against the programme and Hertfordshire police
confirmed it would investigate allegations that Bollywood star Shilpa
Shetty had been subjected to racist abuse by three white fellow
housemates.
Scientists reveal how world's worst flu killed victims
http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1993007,00.html
=B7 Immune reaction led to victims drowning in blood
=B7 1918 virus recreation may help avert H5N1 pandemic
Alok Jha, science correspondent
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
The victims of the deadliest flu pandemic in history were killed when
their bodies unleashed an uncontrolled immune reaction as a protective
mechanism, say scientists. Patients' lungs rapidly became inflamed and
filled with blood and other fluids which eventually drowned them.
The discovery could help emergency authorities prepare for flu
pandemics caused by the H5N1 avian flu virus, which appears to kill in
a similar way. It may also give scientists ideas for making flu
vaccines.
Labour must admit Iraq errors, say ministers
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1992886,00.html
Patrick Wintour, political editor
Thursday January 18, 2007
The Guardian
Labour will have to admit that serious errors have been made over the
war in Iraq if it is to restore public trust in the government, a
growing number of ministers believe. The acknowledgment may come when
the chancellor, Gordon Brown, takes over in Downing Street, possibly by
launching an inquiry into the conduct of the war - a move that has been
resisted by Tony Blair.
The impetus for Labour to show contrition has come from admissions by
four ministers, who have gone on the record to concede that a string of
errors was made in Iraq. Hilary Benn, the international development
secretary, told the Fabian Society: "The current situation in Iraq is
absolutely grim, so let us be clear about that truth. Look, the
intelligence was wrong, the de-Ba'athification went too far, the
disbanding of the army was wrong and, of course, we should have the
humility to acknowledge those things, and to learn. I am not
insensitive to the huge well of bitterness and anger from lots of
people in the party."
Dozens killed in Iraq bombings as Bush admits 'a slow failure'
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2162849.ece
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 18 January 2007
As new bombings killed dozens in Kirkuk and Baghdad yesterday, senior
Democrats in America crafted a bipartisan Senate resolution opposing
President George Bush's latest troop "surge", and lambasted the
administration for its failure to take in more Iraqi refugees - many of
them in mortal danger from the sectarian violence.
Less than 24 hours after co-ordinated explosions at a university in
Baghdad killed more than 60 people, 17 more died in a suicide bombing
at a market in the Shia district of Sadr City in the capital yesterday.
In the northern city of Kirkuk, 10 people died in a car bombing at a
checkpoint outside a police station.
China bans officials and students from Tibet festival
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2162853.ece
By Clifford Coonan in Beijing
Published: 18 January 2007
The Chinese government banned government workers, Communist Party
cadres and students in Tibet from observing an important Buddhist
festival, citing the need to keep a tighter grip on education and
guidance.
The ban applied to the Gaden Ngachoe religious festival, a key event in
the Tibetan religious calendar that marks the death of the 14th-century
Buddhist teacher Tsongkhapa, who was a founder of the Gelugpa school of
Tibetan Buddhism.
Iraq has blighted foreign policy successes, says Hain
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2162861.ece
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Published: 18 January 2007
Labour's foreign policy achievements since 1997 have been blighted by
the Iraq war and its aftermath, the cabinet minister Peter Hain has
said.
In an interview in today'sNew Statesman, the Northern Ireland Secretary
launched a strong attack on George Bush by declaring: "The neocon
mission has failed. It's not only failed to provide a coherent
international policy, it's failed wherever it's been tried, and it's
failed with the American electorate, who kicked it into touch last
November."
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/comment/article2162917.ece
Hamish McRae: The rise of Bollywood and the lessons the Chancellor can
apply to our public sector
The Indian economy will pass France and the UK in size in about five
years' time
Published: 18 January 2007
Gordon Brown may have gone to India to study the economy but all they
want to ask him about is the mistreatment of a Bollywood star on
Celebrity Big Brother. That is unsurprising, for Shilpa Shetty is huge
in India, relatively much bigger on the celeb stakes than any of the
other inmates and perhaps rather better known in India than Mr Brown is
in the UK.
It seems our Chancellor is not a close follower of the programme, and
not many of us will hold that against him. The row may have taken the
shine off his tour but at least they are not burning effigies of him.
He should use the whole episode - as a professed supporter of the
British film industry - to study one extremely successful part of the
Indian software industry, Bollywood.
Leading article: An unflattering mirror to our society
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2162832.ece
Published: 18 January 2007
Put a group of self-centred, egotistical, ignorant people in a confined
space such as Channel 4's Big Brother household and it is not
altogether surprising that something unpleasant emerges. Indeed
unpleasantness and bullying are what the programme's makers Endemol -
whose very name sounds like an unpleasant medication - set out to
provoke. Conflict, however petty, is the essence of "good television",
or so contemporary wisdom has it.
But the racist taunting of the Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty by a bunch
of neanderthal C-list celebrities in the latest series has descended to
new depths, which even Endemol must be beginning to regret. And so it
should. Yesterday even the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown,
currently on a visit to India, was drawn into the row by local people
outraged at Britain's treatment of their mega-star. The issue was
raised with him so repeatedly that he issued a statement saying that
the world should see Britain as "a country of fairness and tolerance".
Adrian Hamilton: The best size for a nation may be a small one
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/adrian_hamilton/article2162=
825.ece
The possibilities of Scottish independence are more clear cut now than
30 years ago
Published: 18 January 2007
If Scotland really wanted to split from the rest of the United Kingdom,
then its best chance was probably 30 years ago when North Sea oil
production was just getting under way and Britain's new membership of
the Common Market would have allowed it to develop a political, as well
as an economic presence, within a wider community.
That they didn't was partly out of fear. The Seventies was the time
when the cold winds of global manufacturing competition were beginning
to blow at their hardest and Scotland had more reason than most to fear
their effect. The North Sea promised riches but not necessarily jobs
and even its promise was sullied by English fanning of the flames of
separatism for the Orkneys and Shetlands.
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