Podcasts about un charter

1945 foundational treaty of the United Nations

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Best podcasts about un charter

Latest podcast episodes about un charter

Global Governance Podcast
Guy Sinclair on why the UN needs to adapt to 21st century realities

Global Governance Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2025 39:31


Professor Guy Sinclair explains how the UN has, over time, diverged from its original Charter, adapting in response to global shifts—sometimes enhancing its relevance, but at other times straining its legitimacy. Sinclair outlines four key factors driving institutional change: external shocks, internal dynamics, legal mechanisms, and shared narratives. As new technologies like AI and autonomous weapons reshape global threats, he anticipates further evolution in how international organizations operate. We also discuss the strain on the UN's development agenda—especially the Sustainable Development Goals—as geopolitical shocks and donor fatigue undercut progress. Sinclair addresses concerns about the UN's diminished authority in peace and security, citing the growing irrelevance of Security Council authorization. He warns that the increasing role of private and state donors may skew UN priorities, challenging its legitimacy. Finally, we explore whether collective security remains a viable goal and whether reform should be gradual or transformative. Through it all, Sinclair urges a critical but hopeful approach, recognizing the UN's enduring potential amid deep systemic challenges.Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

SBS German - SBS Deutsch
A new dream job for Annalena Baerbock in New York? - Ein neuer Traumjob für Annalena Baerbock in New York?

SBS German - SBS Deutsch

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2025 9:56


The United Nations is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. On June 26, 1945, 50 countries signed the UN Charter. Former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is nominated to be President of the 80th General Assembly of the UN. Her nomination, however, also drew criticism. - Die Vereinten Nationen feiern dieses Jahr ihr 80-jähriges Jubiläum. Am 26. Juni 1945 unterzeichneten 50 Länder die UN-Charter. Heute soll die frühere deutsche Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock zur Präsidentin der 80. Generalversammlung der UN gewählt werden. Ihre Nominierung sorgte allerdings auch für Kritik. Warum? Wir haben die Kontroverse rund um die Grünen-Politikerin etwas genauer beleuchtet.

International report
US is a key partner but principles aren't for trade, South African FM tells RFI

International report

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 9:19


Increasingly tense relations between South Africa and the United States have been marked by trade threats, diplomatic expulsions and deepening divisions over global conflicts. But despite the pressure, South Africa is not backing down on key principles. Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola tells RFI their “dynamic and evolving” relationship must be nurtured – yet he insists not everything can be negotiated.  Relations have been turbulent since Donald Trump took office in January. Cooperation on trade, health, defence and diplomacy has suffered after several of Trump's executive orders.The US is South Africa's second largest trading partner, but exports to America now face 30 percent tariffs.On 7 February, Trump issued an executive order to resettle white South African refugees, saying the country's leaders were doing “some terrible things, horrible things”.US media say the first group of Afrikaner (white South Africans) "refugees" is due to arrive as from 12 May. South Africa expressed its "concerns" to the United States on 9 May and reiterated that "allegations of discrimination are unfounded".On 14 April, South Africa named former deputy Finance Minister Mcebesi Jonas as its special envoy to Washington after ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was expelled.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Rasool was “no longer welcome” in America, calling him “a race-baiting politician who hates America” and Trump.President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump spoke on the phone on 24 April in what was described as a cordial exchange. Trump invited Ramaphosa to Washington and suggested he “bring the golfers over”.South Africa unites against Trump as US freezes aid over land reformRFI: Where are we at today with the relationship between South Africa and the United States?Ronald Lamola: The relationship has always been dynamic and evolving, obviously with more challenges since the election of President Trump, particularly with the number of executive orders that are not based on any facts or truths.In South Africa, the expropriation bills are aimed at redressing the imbalances of the past to ensure there is equitable distribution of all the resources of our country. This is done in line with the constitution, which has got sufficient safeguards against any arbitrary use of power by the executive or by the state.It is in that context that we continue to engage with Washington because the relationship remains important. Washington is our strategic trading partner, the second biggest after China.RFI: Is there more going on behind the scenes than we can see? Are relations improving despite the tensions?Ronald Lamola: Indeed, there are still challenges, but we continue to engage at a diplomatic level.International Court of Justice hears South Africa's genocide case against IsraelRFI: Is South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice being used as a bargaining chip?Ronald Lamola: No, it cannot be used as a bargaining chip. This is a matter of principle.Our history is linked to that of Palestine and, as Nelson Mandela said, the struggle of South Africa is not complete until the Palestinian people are also free. There has been propaganda that Iran or Hamas is paying for these legal fees.You can check the departmental websites where all reports are recorded. It is the South African government tax money that is paying for this case. There is no other hidden hand paying for the case.RFI: Can you imagine a scenario where the United States might ask South Africa to drop the case against Israel in order to continue enjoying good relations with Washington?Ronald Lamola: Unfortunately, I cannot imagine things that I don't know.RFI: What would South Africa's position be if that were to happen?Ronald Lamola: I don't want to speculate about anything or any scenarios. We deal with what is in front of us.As you are aware, in one of the executive orders, this issue of the case has been raised and, also in some of the bills that are before Congress. But this is a matter of principle. It's based on the Genocide Convention. Principles cannot be negotiated.RFI: Where does the case at the ICJ stand now?Ronald Lamola: We are waiting for Israel to respond. As you are aware, we filed a memorial last year in June. The case has to take its normal course. The court must decide because the future of the world is dependent on certainty, on a rules-based international order, which is based on international law.We have to ensure that international law is respected by all. The might cannot always be right.RFI: South Africa says it will not cut ties with historic allies. President Ramaphosa said that South Africa will not be bullied. Is there a price to pay for standing by your principles?​​​​​​Ronald Lamola: Nations must respect and abide by the rule of law. We are signatories to the Genocide Convention. We will respect and live by the UN Charter. Obviously, there will be pain that may come with it, but this is the pain we need to pay for the people of the world.South Africa is a product of solidarity. We would not be free if it was not for the people of the world who suffered and stood in solidarity with us. So, we owe it to the people of the world to ensure that the UN Conventions and the UN Charter are protected and defended.EU flags stronger partnership with South Africa with €4.7bn investmentRFI: The US is South Africa's second largest trading partner. How can your country absorb the blow of 30 percent tariffs, if they go through by mid-July?Obviously, it is going to be very difficult and damaging to our economy. We see it also as an opportunity for us to engage in bilateral agreements with the US that are mutually beneficial.There are South African businesses invested in the US, and also US businesses invested in our country. About 601 companies from the US have invested in South Africa, responsible for more than 150,000 jobs in our country.It is an important dynamic relationship, which has also brought a lot of technology in our country and improved our economy.But, we also have to diversify markets. We are glad that the EU is opening its market to work with us and trade with us. We are also looking at other countries to trade with us.We will, however, continue to engage with the US because we believe the relationship is mutually beneficial and we have to continue to nurture it for the benefit of our two nations.This interview has been lightly edited for clarity

House of David Ministries
Israel: An Accident of History, or God's Miracle in the Middle East? - Part 3 |S6:E3|

House of David Ministries

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2025 31:20


In the final part of this House of David podcast series, Pastor Eric and his sister Gabi explore the legitimacy of Israel as a modern state, not only from a Biblical standpoint but also through the lens of international law. Building on the historical context of the land's governance by various empires, they dive into key legal milestones, such as the Balfour Declaration, the San Remo Resolution, and Article 80 of the UN Charter, which solidify Israel's right to exist. The episode further delves into the miraculous events that led to Israel's independence in 1948, from the War of Independence to divine interventions that turned the tide against overwhelming odds. Finally, the discussion addresses common misconceptions about Israel, particularly the claim that it is an apartheid state, emphasizing Israel's democratic nature and the equal rights of its Arab citizens. Ultimately, the episode reinforces the view that Israel's existence is not only a political reality but also a fulfillment of God's promises, with Christians called to support Israel in prayer and truth.

ExplicitNovels
Cáel Defeats The Illuminati: Part 8

ExplicitNovels

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2025


Hell Rains Down.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Would you choose ephemeral beauty, or rugged determination? Brief Segway :Senator Susan Collins of Maine, JIKIT's Congressional mentor, at our urging had proposed an amendment to the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 which would allow 'Turkey' to purchase six 'Oliver Perry class frigates for $10 million each. The same act already proposed four such vessels to be sold to Taiwan for the same amount as well as giving two to Thailand (and two to Mexico) free of charge.Things had immediately bogged down in the 113th US Congress. It was too easy for Democrats in both Houses to take the President's position that any additional weapons into the South China Sea area would further destabilize the region. The pro-PRC lobby was equally opposed to the bill. Under normal conditions, that would have been good enough to send the measure off to the procedural graveyard.Except in the current contrary nature of the US's chief legislative body, this meant Republicans found themselves drawn to the anything the White House opposed. They could claim they found the anti-Communist, anti-Islamic Extremists stance of the Khanate to be attractive to them though none of them felt the need to actually talk to anyone in the Khanate to find out what they were really all about.We were happy with that policy because true congressional oversight was the last thing we needed. They might start asking uncomfortable questions like...'Who gave you the authority to do any of the crap you pulled?'(No one. We lied like big dogs, purloined resources and cloaked ourselves in 'National Security'. Plus we let our elite personnel have a crack at doing what they had so dedicatedly trained to do, wreck things.)'Wasn't that, that, and that an act of war against the People's Republic of China?'('No comment'. If that didn't work, we would try 'they will never find out'.)'Why are 90% of all the names on these documents redacted? We are the freaking Congress! You work for us.'(Work for them? Not to our way of thinking. We earned our paychecks without any slavish devotion to corporate campaign contributions. We were working so that the lives of Americans and Brits abroad would be that much safer, the world more orderly and for the US and UK to have an ally they could really rely on. We couldn't tell them that. They'd throw us in jail. We'd redacted the records because the names were for people that did not officially exist, or existed in a capacity that didn't imply they were elite warriors, spies and assassins.)Besides,('Those are private citizens not in the employ of this group, or any other government agency we are aware of'.)'We don't care if they are private citizens. We want to know.'('You don't want to know' followed by some major gobbledygook with the term 'deniable assets' interspersed relatively often.)'What do you mean ~ you don't want to know? We asked you a question.'(We meant you people leak information like a sieve and the people we are protecting aren't going to be afraid of getting revealed. They are going to murder people to ensure they are not ~ basically you don't know what is going on and we don't want to tell you, for both our safety's sake.)So,('Trust us. There are factors we are taking into account that you are unaware of because you don't know what's going on'.)'Of course we don't know what's going on. That's why we are asking you.'('You really don't want to know.' We are your highly trained and underpaid experts on this, we aren't raging assholes and we are telling you that bad shit will happen if you force this, thus 'you really don't want to know'.)'What do you mean ~ you really don't want to know?? Yes, we do. We are warning you,'(Okay. Execute Plan B. 'Excuse us for a moment, {create a plausible lie.}'.){Pregnant pause,}Congressman-type: 'It is rather odd that they all had to go into another room to take that phone call.'{Minutes pass}'Go see what is taking them so long.''What do you mean they are all gone? Find them!''What do you mean they seem have left the building? Find them!''Who do I call about this? The FBI, Homeland Security, or the CIA?And finally,'What do you mean they appear to have fled the country? Find them, damn it!'(Hey, I worked with some real shady characters.)Then would come the international manhunts, the flight to avoid prosecution and then resurrecting my life under a different ID in another country which hopefully had a dim view of handing me over to the FBI, or the Navy SEALs.Now back to our regularly scheduled diversion :'It has to do with giving something to the Khanate if you expect them to do anything for you.'Tony: 'You can't appreciate how that is going to look. Besides, that is a political decision, way above your pay-grade.'(Not a good time to remind him that he didn't pay me.)'What precisely do you want us to do? Please be specific.'Tony: 'How is the Khanate going to react to an intervention on the part of the United States?''They will ignore you.'Tony: 'What if the President makes public statement.''What is he going to say?'Tony: 'That the US is dedicated to a peaceful resolution of the unrest in Thailand.''They won't care. They truly believe that actions speak louder than words. If Thailand requested our intervention, or was a client state,'Tony: 'A what?''Client state, a country beholding to the US, or UK for their external security.'Tony: 'I know what client state is. That is 20th Century Imperialist thinking. No one does stuff like that anymore. Besides, the UN is responsible for the external security of its member states, which Thailand is.''The Khanate doesn't see it that way. We won't let them into the UN, so they see no reason to play by the UN's rules. The President can evoke the UN Charter all he wants. Unless he makes UN acceptance dependent on their cooperation, they will see no reason to cooperate.'Tony: 'That's not going to happen.''What part of that won't happen?'Tony: 'The President is not going on international television and endorsing the Khanate as a prospective UN member. What happens if we imply through back channels that the President will support such an action at a later date?''You want us to lie to them? Do you have any idea how badly that will compromise our working relationship with the Khanate?'Tony: 'We will deal with that later. Would they accept such a bargain?''So you are going to lie to them, Mr. Blinken, they will never forgive this act of treachery.'Tony: 'No, you are going to lie to them.'Addison: 'I will resign. I suspect that the rest of the team will quit as well.'Tony: 'What is wrong with your team, Ms. Stuart (Addison)? Can't anyone over there do their damn jobs?''We are doing our damn jobs, Mr. Blinken. We are telling you this is a diplomatically fatal move that will not only reduce this taskforce to uselessness, it will have long term consequences for all future Khanate-American relations.'Tony: 'That is a ridiculous assessment.''That is our experienced assessment. They believe treachery is only forgiven by death. They do believe in loyalty and keeping one's word. In our country, perjury is an unfortunate side effect of the judicial progress. To the Great Khan, it is reason enough to cut your head off.'Tony: 'Fine. I am ordering you to open back-channel talks with the Khanate concerning their admittance to the UN contingent on them taking a reasonable course of action.''Even if we were to do such a moronic thing, the Great Khan will ask Cáel directly to verify this. It is that important to him and his state.'Tony: 'Okay.''Perhaps you could suggest to me what form of coercion I should employ to make Cáel to commit such a blasphemous act?'Tony: 'Tell him to do it. That is what we pay him for.''Mr. Blinken, Mr. Nyilas is an unpaid consultant. At the job he is on sabbatical from, he makes more money than I do. He has an Irish diplomatic passport, been nominated to be the Prince of Albania, Georgia and Armenia, been proclaimed a warrior-prince of Transylvania and is a hero in both Hungary and Romania. He has no brothers, or sisters. His parents are both dead. His only surviving kin are people he is not particularly close to. Since economic and social blackmail are off the table, I am asking you if you are ordering me to use enhanced interrogation techniques to exacting his cooperation in this foolhardy endeavor.'Tony: 'You mean torture him?''I would never go on the record using that word. I don't advise you to use it either.'Tony: 'What kind of people are you?''The kind you engage to take on a mission of this delicate nature. You honestly don't want to know what we've done in the name of our constituent national bodies. You employ us so that you don't have to know. As you said, we 'get it done'. Until now, you have never asked us 'how' we got things done. You wanted the intelligence so we got it for you.'Tony: 'No member of this administration ever asked you to violate US, or International Law.''Which is precisely why the government employs me, so that you can keep your hands clean while mine are steeped in blood. Nothing our team has done will ever blow back on you, so don't worry about that. Why don't we get back to our current dilemma?'(I think until that moment Tony had convinced himself that Addison was another civil servant drone and people like her only existed in the 'black bag' fantasies of conspiracy theorists, hackneyed movie scripts and questionable 'true' spy novels. People like Addison and Lady Fathom weren't standard issue intelligence officers by any stretch of the imagination. They were almost unique in that they did what they did for the very beliefs they had sworn an oath to uphold, to serve their countries.There were no personal vendettas going on. No slush funds were vanishing into Cayman Island accounts. Neither had a God Complex. There was no desire for personal power, career advancement, or fame. I was beginning to think that was why Temujin used them, and me, because we could be counted on to do the right thing when required and only when required. Addison and Fathom had damned themselves forever because someone had to pay the price and get the job done. I imagined they really felt blessed for the opportunity. I worked with maniacs.)Tony: 'Thailand, yes. What if we put troops on the ground in Thailand?''How many?'Tony hummed and hawed so we had to guess.'A Marine Expeditionary Unit? If that is all, they better have an exit plan. Sir, if you want to impress the Khanate with the White House's resolve, you need to start landing troops from the Rapid Deployment Force starting tomorrow. Base aircraft out of Thai air bases. Threaten to ram any Indian Naval vessels that get in your way.'Tony: 'Is that what it would take?'('Yes. It would take the US to growing some balls, damn it!' was not the diplomatic reply though it desperately needed to be said. Hey, I could be a bit of a jingoist when I feel the lives of my loved ones are in danger.)'That is our current assessment of the situation. The Khanate has no reason to take any American threat of force seriously. They won't see anything short of a full-court press as nothing more than posturing for the home audience and what allies we have left.'Tony: 'What does that mean?''It means you are taking the cooperation of Taiwan and Philippines for granted. Our people tell us they see American influence in the region waning and we have been letting the Chinese push them around. Now the Khanate appears and knocks the Chinese back three decades on the World Stage. The Khanate is trying to create a ring of allies around the PRC and a few of them are curious why the US is dragging its heel about such a critical regional issue.'Tony: 'You don't dictate US foreign policy.'(No, we simply enacted foreign policy without your knowledge.)There were probably a large number of Special Forces operators who would be shaking their heads in bewilderment when they found out the US was trying to face down the Khanate over, of all places, Thailand. Hadn't they just busted their humps trying to make the Great Khan see their nations (the US and UK) as potential worthy allies?Working with the Khanate had been 'interesting'. If you asked them for anything, they got it for you, danger and consequences be damned. They'd try anything for the men they considered 'brothers in the struggle'. If you were pinned down by fire from a hillside and asked for fire support, they would napalm the whole damn mountain if that was what it took. The man/woman on the other end of that radio cared for your life, not the human rights of the scumbag shooting at you, or any of the people they might be hiding behind.You also know if they couldn't get it done, it was only because the resources didn't exist. The Khanate Special Forces hadn't acted like co-belligerents, or allies. They treated you like their own kin. They would and had died to make sure some of them got home to their families. If ordered to, they would definitely take the fight to the Khanate. I believed many of them would be asking what had it all been for.'We wouldn't dream of it,' Addison lied.'Good. You have your marching orders. Now get to it,' and Tony hung up on us. Everyone in the room was looking around. What exactly were our marching orders? Had I'd missed that part of our conversation?"Well," Fathom sighed, "there is only one thing we can do." I seriously prayed she would ask me to lie to Temujin."Understood," Mehmet nodded. "Somehow we get the Khanate to launch their offensive into Thailand in three days.""Can they do that?" I blurted out."They do it, or everyone in this room is in a shitload of trouble when they get around to it next week," Addison grinned. "The Khanate high command isn't going to back down just because we ask them to. I wouldn't if I were them.""What happens if they can't make the three day window?" I asked."Then you call up your blood-brother and ask him to fuck over his nation to save us from lengthy prison sentences, or outright assassination," Fathom smirked."If he says 'no'," I looked into her eyes."That's the real tragedy in all this, he won't," she gave me a comforting look. "He isn't going to leave you hanging in the wind. He'll call off his attack dogs because he isn't the kind of man to fuck you over because it is politically expedient. I'm staking all our lives on that. I always have."The Black Lotus? We'd explain to them the ugly reality that neither of us could afford to be painted into a corner over this Thailand issue. We were doing our best, but our political masters were dead set on making a colossal error and we had to follow through with those directives. The Khanate would do everything in their extensive power to support the Black Lotus and if they could invade in three days with some nebulous chance at success, they would go.The Black Lotus, the entire 9 Clans knew JIKIT had no power except what we finagled from the US and the UK. We had borrowed their resources to accomplish what we'd done. The Black Lotus had profited from some of those operations and both the Khanate and JIKIT would owe them big, but we were good for it. That truism was why they worked with us.My personal problem was that I knew the Great Khan would not forgive, or forget this interference by the US. It wasn't in his nature. Worse, the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington would see this as a victory and an expression that the US remained the globe's premier super power. Too few would remember the price of this sense of superiority would be born on the back of Thailand's masses. The revolution would fail after a short, brutal civil war. The tyrant would remain in power and the voice of the Thai people would be stilled.The end result of that late night phone call? We weren't told.What follows is pure conjecture on my part, fueled by intelligence information provided by other JIKIT resources and knowledge about how much the political landscape of Southeast Asia had been transformed by the PCR being driven back to their own coastline, leaving a power vacuum India, Vietnam and the Khanate were eager to fill.The Republic of China/Taiwan --'Aren't you the same people who said only a week ago that sending more weapons into the region would only escalate tensions? And now you want to use our airbases against our latest ally in the region? Do you understand how much internal political turmoil this will cause? Half of us are jumping for joy that someone big and fierce embraces our independence. The other half think it is time to retake China.Yes, we mean the territory currently under the oppressive yoke of the People's Republic of China. Yes, the China the Khanate just kicked the crap out of. The nation that might not be able to protect say, Zhusanjiao. That would be the Pearl River Delta to you Westerners, that huge area on the mainland adjacent to Hong Kong. Hainan is looking pretty ripe for conquest as well. That would be that big island off the coast of, yes, we have indeed suspected you could read a map.At the moment we are expecting the permission of the Khanate to use Woody Island as a forward staging area and logistic base to help us do just that. Take Hainan, yes, that large island currently, and temporarily, under the illegal occupation by those illegitimate bastards in Beijing.What do you mean 'don't declare war on them'? We've been at war with the People's Republic since 1945. No, we are pretty sure we would recall signing a Peace Treaty with them. No, we can't 'get over it' either. Why are you even asking us that? Don't you know our history?Anyway, if we help you, can we expect the same level of cooperation from you as we are getting from the Khanate? In case things go sour, Yes, a shooting war would qualify. See, your people at JIKIT have been helping the Khanate and us, your people, at JIKIT, we are pretty sure it is made up of Americans and British personnel. Why would we think that? Are you serious? Because that's what your governments told us, that's why. Besides, why are you asking us what your people have been doing? Don't they work for you?Speaking of the US government helping us out, what progress is there on the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 ? We sure could use those vessels. While we are at it, how about sharing some of the technology used in the F-35. We'll build our own, or a model vaguely similar to it. We value your friendship and know you will help us out in a pinch.Right?'The Philippines --'Sigh. If you really think this will help. By the way, aren't your fighters going to need some in-air refueling? What are you going to do if the Khanate engages them over Philippine airspace? What are you going to do if you get into a shooting war with the Khanate? Will you defend us from their ballistic missile threat? We have a long history as your allies, but the Khanate is totally ruthless, and they scare us. Can you hold our hand, say for the next twenty years?'(The Philippines rolls out their Wish List)Maybe you could give us some advanced fighters?We are a poor country and can't afford to buy any before 2018.We are not greedy, 72 F-16s will do and you are upgrading to the F-35 anyway so we know you have some lying around. Could you also help us with the maintenance cost? We are a poor country, but very large.Some of your decommissioned naval vessels would go a long way in showing us some love. One of those Tarawa-class amphibious assault ships would be really nice and you've got the USS Peleliu decommissioned and about to be scrapped. We have hundreds of islands in our Republic so moving stuff around is pretty tough. Can you help us out?If you could toss in the ship's complement of 20 AV-8B Harrier 2 and 12 V-22 Ospreys with a fifteen year maintenance package that would be even better!We are a poor country. We could never afford to buy any of that stuff.Maybe a frigate, or three? You have a dozen Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates sitting around. We can finally retire some of our World War 2 relics and make one our new flagship.We know you aren't going to give us one of those powerful nuclear submarines, but maybe you could secure a few loans so we could buy some of those nifty German-made, diesel-powered Type 214's. We hear they are pretty cool, very silent and practically a steal at $330 million per boat! We love you guys! And, we are poor.Oh, and some helicopters!We were going to refurbish some Vietnam-era Iroquois, but since your Marine Corp is retiring the far superior Bell AH-1 SuperCobra, can we have a dozen of those instead?We were going to fix up some of our aging Sikorsky S-76s as air ambulances. Getting new ones would be far superior, don't you think?You also have those cool Blackhawks. You have so many. Could you spare us, say twenty? You're the best!And some guns. And artillery. And some APC's.Did we mention we are a poor country going through an expensive force modernization program?Got any amphibious vehicles lying around? We could use a few of more of those small unit riverine craft (SURC)'s we bought from you recently. They are excellent counter-insurgency tools. You want us doing well fighting the War on Terror, don't you?Did we mention that we are a poor country? And we love you guys!The Federation of Malaysia --We like this idea. Give us say a week to ten days and we can jump right in.You want to go in four days? With what precisely? Compared to the force projections you have been providing us, Who? JIKIT, of course. Who else would you send us to when we requested intelligence on Khanate activities from you? Did we believe them? Why wouldn't we? They are your people,When do you think Thailand will let us intervene? We've asked the Prime Minister if he needs our assistance and he politely declined. Apparently he thinks he's got things well in hand. He does retain command of over 200,000 troops and the opposition is much smaller. I hope you have better luck than we did in convincing him he's in serious trouble.Also, what do you plan to do about the Indian Navy's South China Sea taskforce? It is pretty big, not something we can tackle on our own.Yes, we kind of need to know what you are doing before we decide what we are doing. You do realize that the Gulf of Thailand is currently under the complete domination of the Indian/Khanate/Vietnamese Axis, right?48 combat aircraft? What gave you that idea? The Vietnamese have been refurbishing their Mig-21's like crazy, using Khanate stockpiles, plus there are nearly a 150 Su-22's. Sure, they are both older than manned flights to the Moon, but they can drop bombs, fire rockets and launch ground attack missiles with the best of them. They are still jet aircraft.Worried? You are aware that those antiquated pieces of crap can bomb the northern part of my country, aren't you? So 'yes', we are worried about those 300 flying deathtraps being more than a 'manageable' nuisance.What about our air force? I imagine it will be doing what we trained it to do, defend Federation air space because I doubt those relics will be coming at us unescorted. We can already tell you that the Mig-29's and Su-30's the Khanate and Vietnamese will be flying are excellent aircraft. We fly them too, just not as many.Of course you can base your F-22's out of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport as long as you supply the logistical support. How many? A lot? Could you please be more specific? Two squadrons? My, that's going to get pretty dicey. I believe you when you say the F-22 is a highly advanced stealthy fighter. I also believe that they are a lot less stealthy when they are sitting on the ground re-arming and refueling.Do we think they will really threaten us? They are threatening us, over our Spratly Island claims, are you sure you know what you are getting into? By the way, when this blows over, do you think you can pressure the Khanate into giving us their Spratly island airbase? It is rapidly approaching completion and is over 3000 meters long.How did they do that? They are dredging the ocean floor, it is a man-made island. Didn't your government protest the environmental damage they were causing?No, not the Khanate, the Chinese.Yes, the Khanate currently controls it. They stole it from the PRC hours before the ceasefire. So, can we have it?Yes, we know it belonged to the People's Republic, but it doesn't anymore. Besides, we both opposed it when the Chinese were dredging it up the island from the sea floor, so giving it to us isn't all that egregious, or unexpected, action. It would also go a long way in supporting our just and worthy claims to the Spratly Islands. We really don't want those greedy Chinese, yes, both the People's Republic and the 'Republic of', or, those incompetent Filipinos to steal them from us.Both of us knocking the Vietnamese back on their heels will be going a long way to getting those Communist knuckle draggers to back off as well. Hey, if they do get antsy, can we also take the Vietnamese base in the Spratly's? It isn't as big as the one the Khanate stole, but it is finished, and closer to us. We are sure that if we help you out, you will do the right thing when the time comes. Right?The President of the United States --'They want what? Have they lost their fucking minds?The Philippines is talking about a billion dollar aid package and guaranteed loans we doubt they can ever repay. We only want to use their air bases for a month, maybe two, not deflower their teenage daughters. It isn't as if we are really going to go to war with the Khanate over Thailand. Besides, the last time we 'got involved' like that, George Bush ran up a trillion dollar deficit, and his party was thrown out of office. Doesn't anyone care we are facing a difficult mid-term election in November?So, the Taiwanese think this is the appropriate moment to invade mainland China? And they want our help? Do they know how expensive that can get? Do they understand how much that will unbalance the already shake state of Asian affairs? It is another land war in Asia for the love of God!'And, the Malaysians are going to help us, but not actually help us and they want tens of billions square miles of ocean for the measly concessions they are making? What do they expect us to do with all the Filipinos, Chinese and Vietnamese who already live there?What do you mean none of those islands are actually inhabited? They are just military bases, some of them nothing more than rusting iron hulks on submerged reefs? OH, God damn it! Why don't we take the God damn Spratly Islands for ourselves if they are that fucking important? We have a Marine Corp. Aren't they good at taking islands? I read about it somewhere.No, I'm not changing the damn mission. I'm venting because the world seems to be inhabited with greedy assholes who can't appreciate peaceful discourse without trying to lift my wallet.Okay, okay, I've got this. We are going to form a new international commission to resolve this Spratly Island's nightmare. Have the French chair it. They love that kind of stuff. Makes sure the Germans are on the commission too. They need to look less like money-grubbing douchebags after that fiasco over the Greek economic collapse. Then invite Russia, India and Pakistan. That will pretty much guarantee nothing gets accomplished.That will allow us to keep our promises to those three leeches without having to deliver anything and, when it fails, it won't be seen as my fault. (Groan) What we really need is new videos of Khanate soldiers bayoneting babies, another ISIS atrocity, or more indisputable evidence the Russian Army's involvement in the Ukraine. The Great Khan really screwed us over Tibet (you know, by allowing them to become a free and democratic society), Putin is an evil cuck (who most likely laughs at me behind my back) and another round of Islamophobia-bashing to remind everyone how this is all Bush's fault.No wonder George spent so much time at Crawford Ranch. Navigating international relations is totally thankless and no matter how rosy we paint the latest economic numbers, someone still finds a way to make me look bad. Oh well, if this blows up in my face, I only have two more years in this shooting gallery. Maybe then I might change my mind and decided I really was born in Kenya, or Indonesia. I really wish Hawaii was an independent country. I'd like to retire there if there weren't so many of those damn contentious Americans.The US President wanted to run this operation on a shoestring, not engage in 'nation-building', much less backing an invasion of anybody. In fact, he was trying to stop an invasion.The Philippines was a poor country. So what? It wasn't his fault. He had poor people in the US too and they cast votes.Taiwan suddenly thought it could take on China? They were insane. Of course he would be ignoring a major stated political goal of the ROC for the past 65 years ~ reunification on their terms. Any high-level technological transfer wasn't going to happen because if the Republic ran off the reservation, the President would bloody well be sure no one could trace that decision back to anything he'd done.At least Malaysia was on board, sorta/kinda. They wouldn't actually be able to help until day ten, or fourteen and, unlike the Republic of China, they had a small air force that might not be able to protect forwardly deployed troops. If he ended getting of those National Guard yahoos killed his party would be murdered in November.For a split second, he wondered if he should attempt to make a personal call to the Great Khan, potentate to potentate, except he had this sinking feeling that a winning smile and a handshake would be worse than useless. The man would look him straight in his eyes and start making demands. He would demand action and when the Leader of the Free World prevaricated, he knew the Khanate would call his bluff.And they would fight. The alternative was a grand spectacle of public humiliation and that he could not accept. The US military machine would fight and they would win. They would win because he needed them to win, fast and clean and home for Christmas. Maybe he would authorize the mobilization of those California airmen. Just in case.In the end, Secretary Kerry gave POTUS what he asked for.The Philippines would let them use their country's bases for logistics and strategic assets (aka bombers).The ROC would extend their air umbrella out 200 km to the east, south and west, acting like a shield between the Khanate and US Pacific assets moving through the tight Formosan Straits.Malaysia gave them an airbase from which they could strike into Thailand, or Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The US Air Force would have the opportunity to be lethally effective.Had they known the sum total of the US commitment, they would have been appalled. The Khanate did not fuck around.One Carrier Strike Group,Forty (maybe sixty) Air Force fighters,Lumbering B-52's flying half way around the globe,Hadn't they been watching the dogfights over China for the past month? Maybe they would like to dive down and examine the wreckage of the PLAN carrier Liaoning and see just how it met its grisly fate?Apparently not.(I live, love and have loved)"What are you doing here?" she got the preliminary nonsense out of the way. With the way she was dressed, I was an expected visitor. She was expecting some make-up sex. I was thinking 'paying for my past mistakes' sex because I was already seeing way too many women who required me to do things outside the bedroom, non-sexual things. I had my dress jacket swung over my shoulder. It would only get in the way later."I brought you motorcycle over. You left it parked by my place," I kept any appearance of lust, or glee off my face."It is one o'clock in the morning," she glowered."I was called into work. I'm on call 24/7.""Let me guess, you can't talk about it.""You wouldn't believe me if I did, so suffice it to say I was doing things I didn't want to do instead of coming over here, waking you up from a sound sleep.""I wasn't asleep. I was angry," I pointed out."I apologize. Maybe I should have waited until morning." She didn't think I should have waited as long as I had. Keeping her waiting until morning would have left her volcanic."I wasn't asleep.""Your bike is in the parking lot across the street," I handed her the lot ticket."How did you find it?""There are only two places in my neighborhood that allows parking and the second one is poorly lit," I replied."And the attendant let you steal it?" she frowned."He knows me. I do a ton of business with him and it wasn't as if I was dressed like your average carjacker.""How did you start it?""Chaz showed me how to spoof the lock. He's got this spiffy lock-pick set on him.""That he carries with him for such contingencies?""Hey, he's the spycraft professional. I'm the amateur who tags along because karma is a bitch," I grinned."Did you ruin the ignition?""No. He's got this skeleton key thingy. I need to get me one of those," I added. See, I was drifting down the path to becoming a hardened criminal and she had to save me. Girls love saving bad boys from themselves. There is an entire literary genre devoted to the topic."Get in here," Anais barked. She emphasized that command by grabbing my tie and dragging me into her room. Now I could ogle her in her bra, panties and dress shirt left open. As I said moments ago, she was expecting me. Anais had thick, light-brown, just-past-the-shoulders hair with blonde highlights. Her dusky skin tone suggested some ancestral link to the South of France while her deep green eyes suggested Celtic ties.She was definitely someone I would describe as possessing an hourglass figure. She worked out just enough to stay fit, practiced judo (in and outside of the bedroom) and ate right. Her ass was the correct mix of firm and fleshy, her breasts were pleasant without too much bounce and she sported broad, but short, nipples that liked to get bitten.With her bare foot, she kicked the door shut, spun me around by my tie until I slammed, back first, into the wall in the short hallway that led to her bedroom."I repeat, what are you doing here?""I never actually apologized for how things ended up," I sodomized the truth. "Anais, I am truly sorry for how badly I fucked up our affair. I acted without a thought for the possible consequences, or thinking about how betrayed you would feel. Can you accept my apology?""You came here to have sex," she declared. She stepped up tightly against my body, her eyes boring into mine. I had around six inches on her so she had to tilt up her chin to do so."That too," I shrugged."I ought to throw you out the window," she growled. We were on the seventh floor. The window didn't open and the safety glass looked alright."I'll go then," I nodded. Now to make her beg for/demand sex."You are not going anywhere," she snarled. Then she kissed me, a tongue-grapple ensued and she finished things by biting my lower lip so much I tasted blood afterwards. I dropped my jacket. I was about to need both my hands."I think us having sex would be a mistake," I pushed her buttons. I wasn't some wimp acquiescing to her demands. I was a free-willed being; a strong man who needed to be wrestled down and forced to perform.She pulled me down into a second kiss. This was an 'I will leave you incapable of thinking about anything but me' kiss. Yes, I had names for kisses too. They were similar to naming the ingredients of a choice meal. I propelled her back until we slammed into the opposite wall. Anais was a tough chick and a bit of banging around was par for the course.I cupped each ass cheek and pulled her up. She responded by wrapping her legs around my hips. We were still kissing. Anais slipped her hands along my sides before linking them up at the small of my back. She pulled me hard against her while she ground her crotch against mine."Clothes," she rumbled from deep within. As in 'why was I still dressed?'"Been a while," I taunted her. Since she was glommed on to me, I used my freed up hands to rip off my tie."Yes. I bet it hasn't 'been a while' for you," she sizzled."Long as in 5:30 this morning," I teased back. At this point in the foreplay that revelation was akin to throwing gasoline on a fire. I was being an unrepentant dog and she was taking me to confessional, between her thighs."Bastard," she condemned me as well as the entire male side of the species."It doesn't mean I haven't missed you, this, us," I riposted. She retaliated by turning her humping motion into to more of a grind. Bad kitty. Bad kitty wanted to be spanked. Woot!"You are never going to change," she dug her fingernails into my flesh. I yanked my shirt off."If I hadn't changed, you wouldn't be here," I reminded her while nipping at her nose and lips."You are still an egocentric bastard," she growled."Hey, I always took care of your needs," I countered. I had. She knew I had and since she currently wanted me to take her to that higher erotic plane, she wasn't going to contest that fact. Instead, she began working her shirt off and in doing so, squishing her boobs against my chest.Holding her tight, my left hand under her right buttock and my right hand on her mid-back, pressing her torso into mine. We dance through two slow circles before crashing, side by side, on the bed. Anais rolled us over so that she was on top. I didn't let her get in a totally dominant pose, oh no. I had a kitty to take care off. I grabbed her firm ass and propelled her up until I was face first with her gusset.I might not remember to check my bank balance, or the atomic number of Technetium (I once had a girlfriend who would rate my performance on the periodic table in the midst of our fucking, I never made it higher than Copernicium before she passed out), but I can recall the precise taste, texture and topography of every cunt I've had face to face contact with. I knew right where to tongue-fuck Anais to twist her up inside.Control-orgasm, control-orgasm, Anais was pig-headed and wanted to keep dictating our reunion. She also wanted to return to the level of sexual bliss we had shared so often before. Her compromise was to hump my face; really grind it in. Black silk underwear is an excellent medium for transferring force and wetness between partners.She rubbed her love-nub against my upper lip/teeth while I did tongue-ups into her cunt. She was wetter than Bangladesh in the rainy season. That was an indicator of some serious masturbatory sessions stopping just short of orgasm before I arrived. I had some aching sensations to play with and I wasn't cruel. I maneuvered a hand between her thighs, underneath the band of her underwear and exposed her vaginal opening to my fingers and tongue while keeping that silky feel for her clitoris."Rurr," she began growling from the depths of her diaphragm. That was how she always was, thundering like a female grizzly bear in heat. It was an expression with deep subharmonic components that caused the heart to flutter and her flesh to shimmer with the vibrations mixed with her bodily sweat."Come on, Baby," I urged her on.That pissed her off. She was trying to hold off her orgasm for a few more seconds. My 'baby' crack shifted her resolve into anger allowing her climax to overwhelm her."Rah," she howled. It didn't sound like a female coming to fruition. It was more akin to the sound European soccer hooligans made when their team scored a goal. The muscles in Anais' thighs were strumming along like the cords of a piano, her belly was undulating in and out, and her head had rolled back so that she was screaming to the ceiling.The countdown was on. The people next door/across the hall/above or below us would be waking up, think that someone had unleashed a wild animal in the hotel, figure out they were not immediately on the menu, then call the front desk, stating their fears as justifiable fact. Anais and I had been down that road before.I gave Anais' flank a light smack to get her attention. Sure she looked back at me with simmering anger, yet she also knew the score. That had been round #1 in a nightlong bout of sexual conquest, rebellion and re-conquest. She drew her knees to her chest so she could pull off her damp panties in one swift motion. I worked off my shoes, pants, socks and underwear. While she soaked up my naked flesh (muscles, scars and all), she retrieved the phone from the side table and placed it beside her. She wouldn't want to break up our rhythm when the phone rang.No romantic small talk interrupted our shared lust. She wanted that cock and I wanted to give it to her. I moved between her inviting thighs while she examined me, her upper body uplifted by her arms resting on her elbows. Bite-kissing-biting resumed. I slowly pushed her head to the bed with the force of my kisses and strength of my upper body pushing down on her. Somewhere along the way, I slipped into her.Condom? Crap. I was slipping. I would have to pull out, because stopping to put a condom on would earn me some serious ferocity on her part. I plunged in. Anais placed her hands on my hips, claws beneath my kidneys, guiding my pace and power. I may have been on top, but she wasn't giving up on one ounce of control."Damn you," she hissed."Yes?" I leered."Fuck you.""I'm working on it. Is there anything," I teased."Bastard," she looked away, "You remember how I like it.""Whatever made you think I would forget?" I kept at it."Don't look so smug.""I'm working on it," I looked smug. Anais dug her fingernails in. I had to be punished, just ask her."When do you have to go back to work?" she huffed."Six a.m. When do you have to go back?""I have two days off.""Good to know," I stole a kiss from her lips painlessly. Good to know.(Painful dreams)I edged back into consciousness realizing that I was not alone. The muffled sense of my surroundings informed me that I wasn't really awake. She sat on my side of the bed, feet on the floor, side to me."Good evening, Dot," I yawned."Good morning, Cáel," the Goddess Ishara let her melodic voice float over me."Hold on," I interrupted her. I weaved as I leaned over, pawed at my pants (still trapped in the real world) and finally drew forth my offering."A fortune cookie," she chuckled. "I admire your dedication.""It is a simple enough request and I aim to please." I hesitated. "We don't have much time, do we?""You are dreaming, not concussed, so we will be alright if we tread carefully," she told me. "This time, I have no cryptic warnings, or specious pieces of information. I am giving you a gift. Take my hand."I did, not that I had much choice. We 'went', where to, I wasn't sure yet I suspected we were skirting the Weave itself where concepts like Time and Distance had little meaning.The Goddess released my hand and I stepped out of the fog brought about by the abrupt nature of our progress to see a woman sitting beside a pool, no, a sunken bath. She looked up at our approach. Oh shit, it was,"Cáel? You are Cáel, aren't you," she smiled. She stared at me with her blind eyes while waiting for my response with deaf ears."Yes, Tad fi, I'm Cáel. How did you know?""I bear our shared life inside me," she graced me with her serene presence."Ah, I was warned," I stopped myself. I was going to add 'this might happen'. That would be unfair as she appeared pleased with this alteration of her life path. "I was warned by the Goddess that she had something to show me. How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?"She put her hand over her lower abdomen and rubbed the spot with her palm."Seeing you and giving you the news in person is enough," she glowed with happiness."Have you picked out a name yet?" seemed weak."I will leave that up to you.""Oh, come on," I relaxed slightly. "This is something we are doing together.""No, it is not, kind Cáel.""Just because she will most likely end up an Isharan doesn't,""No, Cáel. This birth will cost me my life. I am not destined to ever see my daughter draw her first breath," she confided in me."No!" I recoiled. "That's unfair." What else could I say? 'I take it back. I shouldn't have listened to my Goddess and screwed you out of what little life you had left.'"I am content with my fate, Cáel Nyilas Wakko Ishara. Our daughter will be the first female of the Isharan line in nearly 1600 years. Rejoice that we have been confronted by Destiny and triumphed. The light of the Peacemakers will shine once more among our sisters.""It is not worth the cost of your life," I responded bitterly. This was colossally unfair to all three of us."That you grieve for the short time I have left gives me strength, knowing our daughter will grow up with a strong, caring father. I,"I could sense Ishara close by my side."You must go, my Cáel. We will next see each other in the Halls of our Ancestors. Take our daughter and raise her well. I have faith in you," she sighed pleasantly, as if I had sheltered her from the rainstorm with my umbrella."We must go," Ishara whispered in my ear and then we left. I was back in the hotel room, looking down at the tears on my sleeping face and it hurt so much."You gave me that command knowing what it would cost her," I sounded so hollow, chin on my chest, eyes closed instead of looking at my feet."We are not an easy people to love, Cáel. We are harsh. Endless centuries of suffering, pain and mistrust have made us this way. Please understand that what you see as one life passing is really one life coming into being. It is a life Fate would have denied the line of Ishara. I took you to meet Tad fi because I wanted you to greet your daughter with understanding, not sorrow. I owed you.""Steal my anger why don't you?" I chuckled bitterly. "Can I even blame myself for this tragedy? It isn't like you made me do anything. I did it because I wanted to and never gave much thought to the frail health Tad fi was hanging on to. This is so wrong and I don't know what to do.""Wake up. Keep living. If this news turns your heart, or fills your mind with doubt, then both of us have failed you. Tad fi didn't have to tell you. I didn't have to bring you to her. I believed you were owed the chance to say good-bye.""I didn't say that," I exhaled sadly."You openly grieved and let her comfort you. That is more of a 'goodbye' than most people are able to convey. She knows your heart. You were honest in your sorrow. She saw that and that eased her suffering knowing that you are a person who is free with their heart. For a woman who expected nothing but wickedness from men for so long, that was the ultimate gift. You did help her. You truly did.""I," I woke up. Anais was looking down at me, concerned."You've been crying," she noted by touching my cheek with a finger then showing me the dampness."Do you believe a person's soul can fracture?" I murmured. That sort of talk was unlike the 'me' she once knew."Do you believe that another can help you put your soul back together if that happens?" I continued."You are not talking about us, are you?" she studied me."No. I'm thinking about being a parent, not just a father. Can I fuck that up as much as I've screwed up so many of the other women I've cared for, am I going to be worthy of being a Dad?""Oh, I don't know. You are not the man I knew two years ago. I think you have changed for the better. You are still far from perfect yet, you seem to be trying so much harder than previously.""You think I'm going to screw things up, don't you?""Yes. Yes, I do, but I also think you will only make the same mistake once. That is better than most men can hope for," she let her gaze soften."This is us breaking up,""Yes. I think if I stayed, you would break my heart; and I am starting to believe neither one of us wants that," she nodded. "One more time?""I'd love to," I smiled at her. I still hurt. I was using sex to bandage my pain. Anais knew that and was giving me this unlooked for piece of kindness. It was the best break up I'd ever had, or could ever hope for.{5:45 am, Saturday, August 30th ~ 9 Days to go}"You look like someone strangled your kitten," Pamela told me as I exited Anais' hotel room. She was leaning against the wall across the hall. I had the feeling she had been there a while. Of course I hadn't been allowed to wander off alone; most likely, Chaz had kept an eye on me until Pamela relieved him."I, I got Tadifi killed," I unloaded on her.Pamela immediately dropped her casual fa

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Policy and Rights
UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine

Policy and Rights

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2025 81:47


Ministers speak with reporters on Parliament Hill as the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security meets. They face questions on Canada's ongoing trade disputes with the U.S. and China and U.S. President Donald Trump's recent comments that he would rather deal with a liberal than a conservative government in Canada.   Speaking with reporters are ministers François-Philippe Champagne (finance),  Jonathan Wilkinson (energy and natural resources), Rachel Bendayan (immigration), Kody Blois (agriculture), and Steven MacKinnon (jobs and families).    Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly also discusses China's recent execution of several Canadian citizens for “drug-related crime.”  the members of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine spoke to journalists in Geneva about their latest report to the UN Human Rights Council. The Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, Erik Møse, and the two other expert members, Vrinda Grover and Pablo de Greiff, participated in a press conference held at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The Secretary-General is still in Brussels today, and a few hours ago, he took part in a working lunch with the Heads of State and Government of the European Union. As we mentioned, he was invited by the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa – and this lunch took place at the opening of the European Council.  The Secretary-General and Mr. Costa spoke to the press as they entered the European Union building. Mr. Guterres expressed his appreciation for our partnership with the EU, reiterating that it is a fundamental pillar of the multilateral response to the challenges we face in peace and security, climate, sustainable development, and human rights.   Turning to the situation in Ukraine, the Secretary-General said any ceasefire is welcome because it saves lives, but he added that it is essential that a ceasefire paves the way for a just peace in Ukraine – a peace that respects the UN Charter, international law, and Security Council resolutions, namely about the territorial integrity of Ukraine.   The Secretary-General renewed his appeal for respect of the ceasefire in Gaza, for unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas of Gaza, and for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages. His full remarks have been shared with you.                                                                 Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks in Leuven, where the universities KU Leuven and UC Louvain will jointly award an honorary doctorate to the United Nations. In his remarks, Mr. Guterres will pay tribute to the work and commitment of our UN colleagues around the world. The ceremony will be webcast live on UN WebTV.   Tomorrow, the Secretary-General is also scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Belgium, Bart De Wever. The Secretary-General will be back here on Monday morning.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/policy-and-rights--3339563/support.

BizNews Radio
Ramaphosa slammed for targeting Israel amid SA's murder crisis: ‘Victims could fill FNB stadium' – André Pienaar

BizNews Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2025 26:58


In a recent Foreign Policy article, President Cyril Ramaphosa and co-authors condemned Israel's military actions in Gaza, citing the estimated deaths of 61,000 Palestinians as violations of international law and calling for collective action to end impunity. However, André Pienaar, founder and CEO of C5 Capital and former founding member of South Africa's Scorpions unit, criticised Ramaphosa's stance as hypocritical in an interview with Biznews. Pienaar argued that Ramaphosa has failed to address South Africa's soaring murder rates, pointing out that the victims under his presidency could overflow the 94,736-seat FNB Stadium. He emphasised that the president has a constitutional duty to protect citizens from crime, highlighting daily murders, kidnappings, and low prosecution rates as constitutional failures. Defending Israel's actions in Gaza as self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Pienaar urged South Africans to strengthen ties with Israel. He also announced a private initiative to foster connections between South Africans and Israelis and to create a digital museum honouring victims of violent crime in South Africa.

Global Governance Podcast
Ambassador Gerardo Bugallo on our Post-Cold War World

Global Governance Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2025 44:15


Gerardo Bugallo was Spain's Ambassador in Ukraine during the critical years 2013-17, a crucial period that spanned from the Euromaidan to the first years after the annexation of Crimea. In this podcast interview he shares fascinating insights on the end of the Cold War, the origins of the current conflict, the possibilities of a fair settlement that would permit Ukraine to develop as a sovereign nation enjoying peace and security and stronger ties with the EU, consistent with the principles of non-violence embedded in the UN Charter. He also discusses China's emergence as a global geopolitical actor and the role it could play in the current environment of international big-power tensions. A thoughtful diplomat ably navigating our labyrinthine geopolitical realities. Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

Policy and Rights
any peaceful settlement must respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine

Policy and Rights

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2025 58:12


**Security Council This morning, the Security Council met under the agenda of threats to international peace and security.  Briefing Council members was Miroslav Jenča, the Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas.  He noted that in one week, we will mark three tragic years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in violation of the UN Charter and international law.  In this context, Mr. Jenča said, today's ten-year anniversary of Security Council resolution 2202 (2015) — that called for the full implementation of the now-defunct Minsk agreements — is an opportunity to recall past diplomatic efforts towards de-escalation and a peaceful settlement of the conflict. He noted that the Secretary-General has underlined, time and again, that any peaceful settlement must respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in line with the UN Charter, international law and resolutions of the General Assembly.  Mr. Jenča said that the UN encourages dialogue among all stakeholders and welcomes all genuine efforts and initiatives, with the full participation of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, that would alleviate the impact of the war on civilians and de-escalate the conflict.  His remarks were shared with you. **Ukraine And just since we are on the topic of Ukraine, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that attacks today and over the weekend in Ukraine killed and injured civilians across the country.  According to what local authorities are telling us, front-line communities in Dnipro, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions were the most affected.  Authorities and partners on the ground also say that yesterday, a thermal power plant in Mykolaiv, in the south of the country, was damaged.  An estimated 100,000 men, women and children were left without heating as temperatures dropped below 0°C.  About 760 residential buildings, nearly 70 schools and kindergartens, and 20 health facilities lost access to heating.  Municipal services are working to restore services. Humanitarians responded swiftly in Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv, providing aid including mental health support and psychosocial support, emergency shelter kits, food, warm drinks and blankets.  As of this morning, the Ukrainian grid operator, Ukrenergo, imposed emergency power cuts in various regions due to the latest round of attacks. As hostilities continue to damage homes and infrastructure in front-line regions, aid organizations remain committed to providing winter assistance to vulnerable people.  Under the 2024–2025 Winter Response Plan, humanitarian efforts have supported more than 900,000 people.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/policy-and-rights--3339563/support.

Ukraine: The Latest
Moscow suffers its second bloodiest month of the war & "great powers do not fear escalation" says Trump's envoy

Ukraine: The Latest

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2025 48:06


Day 1,077.Today, we discuss the slashing of USAID and how Trump wants to access Ukraine's rare minerals in exchange for military support, and we report on Russia having more losses over the last two months than at any other point since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Contributors:Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Narrative Podcast Producer). @adeliepjz on X.Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor, Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.With special thanks to Asami Terajima (Reporter at The Kyiv Independent). @AsamiTerajima on X.Content Referenced:Battle Lines, our sister podcast, exploring wider global affairs:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/trump-edition-americas-ai-war-with-china-what-his/id1712903296?i=1000687394662Trump wants Ukrainian rare earths deal in return for US military support (FT):https://www.ft.com/content/94efcd8a-93ce-4ca6-bd07-061bfed1fdbf?shareType=nongiftBiden administration slowed Ukraine arms shipments until his term was nearly done (Reuters):https://www.reuters.com/investigations/biden-administration-beset-by-doubts-slowed-ukraine-weapons-shipments-until-2025-02-03/Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's article for Russia in Global Affairs magazine, “The UN Charter as the legal foundation of a multipolar world”:https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1994357/?lang=enSubscribe to The Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Endtime Ministries | End of the Age | Irvin Baxter
Reflecting on Prophetic Fulfillments

Endtime Ministries | End of the Age | Irvin Baxter

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2025 58:28


2025 marks 80 years since the liberation of concentration camps, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II, and the signing of the UN Charter. It also commemorates 60 years since the signing of Nostra Aetate, which reshaped the Catholic Church's dialogue with non-Christian religions. Wow! Join us on today's edition of the Endtime Show as we explore the importance of these milestones along with many other ongoing prophetic fulfillments! --------------- 📱: It's never been easier to understand. Stream Only Source Network and access exclusive content: https://watch.osn.tv/browse 📚: Check out Jerusalem Prophecy College Online for less than $60 per course: https://jerusalemprophecycollege.com 🏧: America's Christian Credit Union: Make the switch from the BIG banks: https://www.endtime.com/switch ☕️: First Cup Coffee: Use code ENDTIME to get 10% off: https://www.firstcup.com 🥤: Ready Pantry: https://www.readypantry.com/endtime ⭐️ Birtch Gold: https://www.birchgold.com/endtime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daily News Brief by TRT World
January 23, 2025

Daily News Brief by TRT World

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2025 2:14


US and Israel discuss Gaza amid Jenin abductions US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held his first call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under Trump's administration. They discussed Iran, Israeli captives in Palestine's Gaza, and reaffirmed US support for Israel. Rubio emphasised Washington's unwavering backing for its ally, calling it a top priority for Trump. Trump sends troops to border, halts refugee arrivals President Trump has deployed 1,500 additional troops to the US-Mexico border and has frozen refugee arrivals. Refugees cleared to enter the US are now in limbo, with travel and processing suspended. Trump's administration says the moves aim to “secure America's borders,” but critics argue they could destabilise humanitarian efforts. The orders signal the administration's firm stance on immigration from day one. Panama challenges Trump over canal threat Panama has taken its dispute with Trump to the UN, denouncing his veiled threat to seize the Panama Canal. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres, Panama cited the UN Charter's ban on force against member states. The US president accused China of increasing influence over the waterway, sparking tensions. Wildfire forces mass evacuations near Los Angeles A new wildfire is raging north of Los Angeles, tearing over 9,000 acres near Castaic Lake. Fanned by fierce Santa Ana winds, the fire has forced the evacuation of 50,000 people as flames and smoke consume the hillsides. The region, still recovering from earlier wildfires, now faces another round of devastation. 2,200-year-old mosaic unearthed in Türkiye's Assos In Türkiye's ancient city of Assos, archaeologists have uncovered a stunning 2,200-year-old mosaic and an 1,800-year-old tomb. The mosaic, a rare Hellenistic treasure, features intricate geometric and floral designs and likely adorned a gymnasium later repurposed in Byzantine times. Head archaeologist Nurettin Arslan hailed the discovery as one of Anatolia's earliest examples of Hellenistic art.

The Point with Liu Xin
South China Sea dispute: dialogue or confrontation? – part 1

The Point with Liu Xin

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2024 27:00


In today's world, international disputes over maritime boundaries and territorial sovereignty remain widespread. The UN Charter encourages all member states to resolve disputes through peaceful means, such as negotiation and consultation. However, in practice, some countries often pursue unilateral maritime policies, disregarding the rights and claims of other nations, undermining regional maritime cooperation and stability. Why do these countries resort to unilateralism instead of dialogue? What impacts does a confrontational approach have on the resolution of maritime disputes?

dialogue confrontation un charter south china sea dispute
Ralph Nader Radio Hour
American Scofflaws

Ralph Nader Radio Hour

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2024 84:07


Ralph welcomes retired diplomat Ambassador Chas Freeman to discuss the United States' disregard for international law, the incoming Trump administration's approach to foreign policy, and the decline of the American Empire (among other topics).Ambassador Chas Freeman is a retired career diplomat who has negotiated on behalf of the United States with over 100 foreign governments in East and South Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and both Western and Eastern Europe. Ambassador Freeman was previously a Senior Fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, and served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires in the American embassies at both Bangkok and Beijing. He was Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 1979-1981. He was the principal American interpreter during the late President Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972. In addition to Chinese, Ambassador Freeman speaks French and Spanish at the professional level and can converse in Arabic and several other languages.He concluded his thirty years in public service as Assistant Secretary of Defense, responsible for managing defense relations with all regions of the world except the countries of the former Soviet Union. Ambassador Freeman is the author of several well-received books on statecraft and diplomacy, including The Diplomat's Dictionary, America's Misadventures in the Middle East, and America's Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East.I think it's fair to say that our country led the drive for international law, a world order that was based on rules established by consensus and legitimized at the United Nations. But we have also led the drive away from the rule of law, both internationally and domestically. And I think the connection is contempt for procedural justice or due process.Chas FreemanThat whole area of international law—which was a stabilizing force in the world—has gone [when Trump removed us from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Agreement in Europe.] And the UN Charter is disrespected—not just the US Constitution is—in its fundamentals. We invade the sovereignty of other countries with no serious regard for the legal prohibitions against that. And in fact, those legal prohibitions—which once were something that smaller countries could rely upon when they confronted the great powers—are no longer effective. Therefore, we see at the local level, the regional level, a proliferation of weapons designed to counter and defend against attack by greater powers. So the whole world is in effect arming itself. This is very good for arms manufacturers, but it's very bad for the prospects for our species.Chas FreemanThere are no realistic threats against the United States—except those that we are provoking. Our view seems to be that the best way to deal with the hornet's nest—I'm speaking of West Asia, the Middle East here—is to go and poke the hornets in their nest.Chas FreemanThe real risk now…is Israel has so much power in the US that it could create incidents which would flip the United States into a blazing barrage of empire expansion— and suppression in the United States domestically. And they have an incoming president who is ripe for that kind of manipulation to begin with.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 12/11/241. On December 4th, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan. Clues indicated that the killing was political; most notably, the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were each written on one of the three bullets fired at the scene. As AP notes, “The messages mirror the phrase ‘delay, deny, defend,' which is commonly used by lawyers and critics about insurers that delay payments, deny claims and defend their actions.” Following nearly two full days of nescience, authorities turned up a suspect – Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of an established Baltimore family who had shown signs of increasingly erratic behavior in recent months, perhaps related to ever-worsening back pain. When Mangione was apprehended in an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald's, he was found with “a three-page handwritten document that indicated ‘motivation and mindset,'” the BBC reports, however authorities have not released this manifesto. Perhaps unsurprisingly, ABC 7 New York reports that Mangione's actions have unleashed a torrent of “‘volcanic' anger,” toward health insurance agencies, which many regard as capricious and cruel. It remains to be seen how this public sentiment will factor into what is sure to be a highly-publicized criminal trial.2. The reverberations of Mangione's actions are already being felt. Back in November, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued a statement decrying Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield's unilateral declaration that it would refuse to “pay for anesthesia care if [a] surgery or procedure goes beyond an arbitrary time limit, regardless of how long the surgical procedure takes.” The ASA called on Anthem to reverse that proposal, but their pleas were ignored. That is until December 5th – just one day after the UnitedHealthcare shooting – when the company abruptly reversed themselves and even scrubbed the announcement of the policy from their website. Of course, Anthem insists that the outcry was based on “misinformation” and denies any correlation between the assassination and their decision, per NBC, but the timing frankly makes that difficult to believe.3. Another New York City killing also made the news last week: the trial of Daniel Penny, a former U.S. Marine on trial for strangling Jordan Neely to death in a New York subway car. Neely was an African-American street artist who had been experiencing homelessness. CNN reports Penny was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide, already a lesser charge than the original second-degree manslaughter allegation, which Judge Maxwell Wiley dismissed Friday after jurors “twice told the court they could not come to a verdict on the count.” Neely's father, Andre Zachary, is quoted saying “I miss my son. My son didn't have to go through this. I didn't have to go through this either…What's going to happen to us now? I've had enough of this. The system is rigged.”4. Turning to the Middle East, the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has fallen. Assad, with help from Russia, has clung to power since the country descended into civil war in 2011, beating back all manner of rival forces ranging from U.S.-backed rebels to left-wing Kurdish militias to ISIS. The faction that finally did wrest power from Assad is called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham or HTS, which splintered from Al-Qaeda but is now engaging in a so-called “charm offensive” per France24, and promoting itself as a tolerant faction that will not subjugate women or oppress ethnic and religious minorities such as Syrian Christians, Druze, and Kurds. In a statement, the group told the Kurds of Aleppo “You have the right to live freely … Diversity is a strength of which we are proud…We denounce the actions of the Islamic State group against the Kurds, including the enslavement of women … We are with the Kurds to build the Syria of tomorrow.” ABC reports the U.S. will “recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women.” So far HTS seems to fit the bill. And if this all wasn't enough, the Syrian situation is further complicated by Israel using this moment to expand its foothold in the country. CNN reports Israel has “launched airstrikes at military targets across Syria and deployed ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone for the first time in 50 years,” setting the stage for a possible new front in Netanyahu's ongoing regional war.5. In Palestine, the Intercept reports five Palestinians in the West Bank, along with the councils of the three villages they hail from have filed “a formal regulatory complaint in Germany accusing the media giant Axel Springer of contributing to human rights abuses in Palestine.” Specifically, the complaint concerns Yad2, a classified ads platform and subsidiary of Axel Springer that has been compared to Craigslist, which the plaintiffs allege enables illegal settlements. According to the complaint filed by Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre, Yad2's facilitation of settler activity violates Germany's Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, which “requires German companies to identify and mitigate human rights risks within their global supply chains, including in subsidiaries which they control.”6. In more Israel/Palestine news, the student body at Yale has “overwhelmingly,” passed three pro-Palestine referenda, including two demanding that the university “disclose and divest from its holdings in military weapons manufacturers, ‘including those arming Israel,'” per Yale Daily News. These measures passed with around 80% of the vote. Han Pimental-Hayes, an organizer with the pro-Palestine Sumud Coalition, is quoted saying “University leaders have long tried to paint pro-Palestine and pro-divestment students as a fringe minority. The results of this referendum demonstrate that in reality, the movement for a free Palestine and a more ethical endowment is overwhelmingly popular.” Yale Friends of Israel however expressed that they are “certain” Yale will not change its investment policy regarding Israel's weapons of war.7. Looking to Africa, Semafor reports that the incoming Trump White House appears set to recognize the breakaway state of Somaliland, spurred on by right-wing elements who wish to use the unrecognized country as a base for anti-China intelligence operations. This piece highlights that this move would rattle the governments of East Africa and draw the ire of the African Union, but Trump's China hawks see it as a critical element of countering Chinese influence in the region and particularly in Djibouti where the People's Liberation Army has set up one of its handful of foreign military bases. Even if Trump does not recognize Somaliland however, and instead hews to the traditional American “One Somalia” policy, Republicans are calling for Trump to take an approach akin to Taiwan – treating it as independent without formal recognition.8. Turning to domestic politics, POLITICO reports Democrats are staging a “mutiny” against the old guard who have monopolized power in the House. This report focuses on Rep. Jerry Nadler, 77, who will vacate his position as the top Democrat on Judiciary to clear the way for Jamie Raskin, Rep. Raul Grijalva, 76, who announced he would step down as the top Dem on the Natural Resources Committee, and David Scott of Georgia, 79, who is looking down the barrel at multiple challenges for his spot on the Agriculture Committee. Since this piece was published, another major challenge has emerged – NBC reports AOC is gunning for the top Democratic spot on the Oversight Committee. The POLITICO piece emphasizes Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' approach of letting the challenges “speak for themselves,” as an indication that he will not fight this wave of challenges.9. Washington Post labor reporter Lauren Kaori Gurley reports the Teamsters are demanding Amazon agree to bargaining dates by December 15. In a statement, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien writes “The Teamsters are done asking nicely for Amazon to stop breaking the law. Amazon must commit to come to the table and bargain a Teamsters contract with its workers — or face the consequences of its inaction.” This gambit by the Teamsters comes just as the winter holiday gift deliveries are getting into full swing, maximizing the union's leverage. Moreover, the Teamster's Faustian bargain with the Trump administration may yield results for them, as the normally business friendly Republicans may be inclined to put the screws to Amazon on behalf of this particular union. Whatever the circumstances, the Amazon Teamsters deserve a contract and it is heartening that O'Brien is fighting for his members.10. In decidedly worse Trump news, the president-elect has announced former Missouri Republican Congressman Billy Long as his pick to lead the IRS. A story by the Lever sounds the alarm on how he might use the “non-profit killer” bill to pursue political vendettas against tax-exempt organizations he dislikes. This piece exposes Long's role in trying to pressure the IRS to launch a probe into, of all things, the Humane Society following their support of a Missouri ballot measure strengthening dog breeder regulations. Put another way, if Long was ready to use the long-arm of the IRS to crack down on an organization whose sole political goal is the protection of animals, what might he do to organizations devoted to civil rights or social justice?This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Ralph Nader Radio Hour
Israel's Wall of Impunity

Ralph Nader Radio Hour

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2024 75:56


Ralph welcomes international human rights lawyer and activist, and former senior United Nations human rights official Craig Mokhiber to discuss Israel and Gaza—if Israel should be thrown out of the UN, how Trump's positions will compare to Biden's, and whether we're starting to see cracks in Israel's wall of impunity. Plus, Ralph shares a possible ray of light in Trump's cabinet, a warning about the cost of credit cards for small businesses, and some tough love for AARP.Craig Mokhiber is an international human rights lawyer and activist, and a former senior United Nations human rights official. A human rights activist in the 1980s, he would go on to serve for more than three decades at the United Nations, with postings in Switzerland, Palestine, Afghanistan, and UN Headquarters in New York. In October of 2023, he left the United Nations, penning a widely read letter criticizing the UN's human rights failures in the Middle East, warning of unfolding genocide in Gaza, and calling for a new approach to Palestine and Israel based on international law, human rights, and equality. Gaza is now the world capital of child amputation. And that doesn't even cover the true horror, because Israel blocks any anesthesia from entering Gaza as a means of imposing further agony on the population that they are subjecting to genocide. Which means those amputations are being carried out on children and adults without anesthesia and often without sterile equipment or adequate hospitals, such that even if they survive the excruciating agony of an amputation without anesthesia, they may well not survive the side effects. They may well not survive the infection.Craig MokhiberThe irony is that in November, the UN announced that Israel had paid its dues in full in order to preserve its membership and to continue to fund the UN— an organization that the Israelis say is a terrorist, anti-Semitic organization dedicated to its destruction, is an organization that they have decided to be a member of and to fund. So when you look at the kind of propaganda that they distribute…You can see how ironic and how outrageous it really is. I've said that it would be hard to imagine any country in the history of the organization more deserving—at a minimum—of suspension from the UN General Assembly. No country in history has violated the principles of the UN Charter more than Israel, and it has done so from the moment of its admission in 1948. Craig MokhiberWe can certainly expect a dangerous four years under Trump. There's no denying it…But we shouldn't forget that we've just had a four-year term under Biden and Harris in which they undid none of those policies, and in which they actually supported horrific international crimes being perpetrated by Israel. And Biden and his administration were at the helm of the brutal repression of human rights defenders here in the United States, on college campuses and workplaces and the streets and in media places. So we're going to go from genocide abroad and repression at home under Biden to more genocide abroad and repression at home under Trump. The only difference is that Trump won't waste his time on the kind of mendacious pretense of civility and humanitarian concern that was peddled by Biden and Harris as it murdered babies in their thousands. Craig MokhiberAARP has maybe 18 million members. That's a big, big organization, and we want it on our side. We want it on the side of single-payer, universal insurance, full Medicare for all.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 12/4/241. On Tuesday, right-wing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to stage a coup, declaring martial law and stationing troops outside of the South Korean National Assembly in an attempt to block lawmakers from assembling and voting to overturn his decree. Reuters reports that while Yoon used the pretext of cracking down on “North Korean anti-state forces," he “did not cite any specific threat” and instead focused on his domestic political opponents. Some contend that this move was meant to stave off prosecution of his wife, who is under investigation for corruption. When lawmakers were finally able to enter the National Assembly, all 190 members present voted to overturn the decree, including members of Yoon's own party. Former Democratic President Moon Jae-in urged the National Assembly to “act quickly to protect our democracy from crumbling." Even still, Yoon initially refused to call off the military, only folding after the Korean unions declared a general strike and the defense minister tendered his resignation. South Korea has previously been ruled by U.S.-backed dictators, including Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-Hee, and Chun Doo-hwan. Almost 30,000 American troops are stationed in the country and a provision in the American-drafted Korean constitution gives the U.S. emergency powers to take over the South Korean military.2. In Western Europe, the governments of Germany and France are collapsing. CNN reports that weak economic performance led German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SDP to dismiss his finance minister, Christian Lindner of the FDP, which in turn resulted in that party pulling out of Scholz's governing coalition – leaving Scholz in charge of a minority government. According to this report, Scholz committed to holding a confidence vote set for January 15th; if he loses that vote, a snap election could be held as early as March 2025, well ahead of the scheduled September elections. Meanwhile in France, Macron's center-right coalition is facing no confidence motions from the Left and far-Right. This crisis boils down to a budget showdown hinging on a social security austerity measure that Prime Minister Michel Barnier rammed through without a vote, per Le Monde. Mathilde Panot of the left-wing France Unbowed party is quoted in Reuters saying "Faced with this umpteenth denial of democracy, we will censure the government…We are living in political chaos because of Michel Barnier's government and Emmanuel Macron's presidency."3. In their December 2024 report, Prisoners for Peace lists four Israeli refuseniks: Itamar Greenberg, who has already spent 105 days in prison and has now been sentenced to another 45 days; Yuval Moav, who has been in prison for 125 days and may face yet more jail time – and now Itamar and Yuval are joined by Soul Behar Tzalik and Iddo Eilam, who were both sentenced to 30 days on November 27th. All four refuseniks are just 18 years old. They are affiliated with the Israeli refusenik peace group, Mesarvot.4. The Financial Times reports that the United States is exerting pressure on Ukraine to lower its age of conscription from 25 to just 18 years old. A senior U.S. military official is quoted saying “The simple truth is that Ukraine is not currently mobilising or training enough soldiers to replace their battlefield losses while keeping pace with Russia's growing military.” This piece frames this push as part of the Biden administration's feverish attempts to “deploy $7bn in security assistance to Kyiv before…Donald Trump takes office,” and cites estimates that Ukraine needs at least another 160,000 soldiers to replenish its ranks. Anti-war advocates have long decried the United States' role in perpetuating this war rather than seeking a negotiated settlement, resulting in a staggering loss of Ukrainian and Russian lives. For his part, President Zelenskyy told the Ukrainian parliament last week “Let there be no speculation — our state is not preparing to lower the mobilisation age.”5. In another case of foreign policy being made in the liminal space between the Biden and Trump administrations, AP reports China has announced they will ban exports of gallium, germanium, antimony and other high-tech materials with military applications to the United States. in retaliation for the U.S. limiting semiconductor-related exports – and for Donald Trump's threats to impose steep tariffs on the People's Republic. Lin Jian of the Chinese Foreign Ministry is quoted saying “China has lodged stern protests with the U.S. for its…malicious suppression of China's technological progress…illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction against Chinese companies.”6. In yet another instance of Trump conducting foreign policy before his term begins, the president-elect has already provoked a diplomatic incident with Canada and Mexico. Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on the two countries unless they “stem the flow of migrants and drugs,” per AP. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, rather than standing together with Mexico, met with Trump to convince him that the two countries should not be treated equally. In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said “Mexico must be respected, especially by its trading partners,” and added that Canada “could only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has.”7. A new bombshell report comes to us from Drop Site. This time, it concerns the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, which is one of the “largest and most powerful” news organizations in the world. As this report notes, the OCCRP works with major newspapers across the globe to collaboratively publish major stories, including the Panama Papers. Yet, an investigation led by French outlet Mediapart, Italian outlet Il Fatto Quotidiano, Reporters United and Drop Site itself – along with the German NDR, though they were pressured to pull their own story – revealed a stunning truth at the heart of the OCCRP: more than half of its funding comes directly from the U.S. government. This story is complex and the reporters involved are not trying to discredit the reporting done by the OCCRP. But the public deserves to know who is funding the journalism they consume.8. Matt Bruenig's NLRB Edge has documented a remarkable case before the labor board involving the U.S. Postal Service. As Bruenig lays out, back in 2021 “Nicolas Montross, a letter carrier…invoked his contractual right…to not work more than 60 hours in a week. After working nearly 60 hours, [he] returned undelivered mail to the facility and left work.” At that point, he was called to a “pre-disciplinary interview” with his supervisor, who “questioned whether Montross's loyalty lay with the union or USPS, threatened him with discipline and criminal prosecution, and attempted to determine who had informed him about his contractual rights.” Montross eventually resigned, believing if he did not, he would face criminal charges. When this case finally made it to the NLRB, they ruled that the USPS had violated federal labor law and ordered them to offer Montross reinstatement with back pay and benefits – called “make-whole” relief – among other remedies. Yet, the USPS is now challenging make-whole relief, which has been standard practice at the Biden NLRB since 2022. As Bruenig writes, “Shouldn't the Biden administration be telling the USPS to cut it out, lest they manage to undermine one of the Biden NLRB's major accomplishments?”9. Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders has sought to hold Trump to the promises he made during the campaign. On November 15th, Sanders wrote “I look forward to working with the Trump Administration on fulfilling his promise to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. We cannot continue to allow big banks to make record profits by ripping off Americans by charging them 25 to 30% interest rates. That is usury.” Now, Sanders is seeking to leverage Elon Musk's government efficiency initiative to curb runaway Pentagon spending. On December 1st, he wrote “Elon Musk is right. The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It's lost track of billions. Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change.” Put simply, Sanders is calling the Trump bluff. He ran, and won, on a populist economic message. If anyone can get him to deliver, it's Bernie – and if Trump backs down, he will be exposed as beholden to the corporate powers that be.10. Finally, on a lighter note, this week saw the resurrection of notorious corporate criminal firm Enron, via what CNN calls an “elaborate joke.” In short, this report finds that instead of a reincarnation of the scandal-plagued energy giant, this is merely a T-shirt company which bought the Enron trademark and is trying to capitalize on it. So, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. We have quite enough criminal corporations, no need to raise the dead.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

ExplicitNovels
Cáel and the Manhattan Amazons: Part 25

ExplicitNovels

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2024


Promises To Keep. In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand. Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected.. Note to readers: There is a bit of mangling of the Iliad going on. My apologies to Homer and the countless singers before him who carried the Iliad down through the dark centuries until the Greeks figured out how writing works. “Never judge a friend by what they give, but of how much of themselves they give.” (From the floor of Katrina's office) First thoughts,  I was on the floor where I had fallen, surrounded and being manhandled in the tenderest way. That was a romantic means of relating to my mummification. Those little Band-Aids that had been applied when I woke up from my coma had failed the 'Cáel is a Smeckle-head' test. All the crud they had pumped into my system and amperage they had channeled through my muscles was not the same as eating and exercise. Having a sexual romp with two ladies? My Goddess made plans for my body that my caloric bank account couldn't afford, thus me passing out. Unlike my time with Miyako and Estere, I had a feeling my two sofa-buddies were ovulating. Fatherhood was on the way. How my infant would survive the continuous poisonous assault on the augur's lymphatic system was beyond me. Her guardian, let's just say I dealt with sneaky bitches/Dot on a regular basis and leave it at that. "He is awake," Tadêfi alerted the room. "You must leave so I can deliver my message to him in the privacy he requested." "I am almost done," a different Amazon voice stated. She was the medico dealing with my wounds. By the aroma, she had slathered on two coats of the healing goo that was becoming as comfortable to my nostrils as my soap-on-a-rope. A few more rounds of adhesive tape and the exodus from the room began. I hadn't opened my eyes because I was unprepared for the looks of anger, disappointment and concern surely leveled my way. The door shut and my eyes opened. "The Conqueror, the Champion, the Friendless and the Foe have all escaped the Land of the Endless Black Sands and returned to the Sunlit Realm," Tadêfi whispered upon my lips. Huh? That was it? Seriously, four freaking titles without, And here came the rest, faces. Faces with eyes and eyes with a purpose. Names, not names I wanted to hear at the moment. Bad fucking news all around. It couldn't be something helpful like the identity of the next High Priestess, No, that would be good fucking news. Okay, time to turn this frown upside down. I could make this work for me. How, I wasn't sure. "Thank you," I responded to Tadêfi's plea of understanding. Outside of having impregnating sex with me, the Sex-Master, Timothy was going to Nerf-shoot me for that, she'd endured spiritual, mental and physical grief and torment to be with me here today. She waited, kneeling beside my head. "Kiss me," I requested. It was a moist act, full of compassion and understanding. I racked my mind for the names and their importance. "Who was Shammuramat?" "I don't know, but this helps, right?" Tadêfi expressed her need to make the reward for the sacrifices to make sense. Five dead sister-augurs. They had to find that son-of-a-bitch! "Tadêfi, we are back in the fight," I grinned. "You and your sisters have given the Host a mighty weapon in the upcoming struggle." I knew that to be true because I knew who and where the Conqueror was, I knew he wasn't ready to be revealed, his enemies were closing in and he was ignorant of that fact. I was going to have to rain on his parade to save his life. The five augurs hadn't died futilely. The Weave of Fate had shielded the man and it took the augers' fanatical devotion to cut the threads and expose the truth the Host needed most. The Champion, hell, I knew who he was. I chuckled. Tadêfi was confused. The Champion was coming to kill me, me and a bunch of other Amazons, because blood feuds tend to run both ways. The Foe. He was easy enough. Granddad. The Bastard just wouldn't stay dead. I had a clue to what was going on now. I wasn't sure how useful that knowledge would be. Still, knowledge is knowledge. That thing crawling around inside my brain? No help there. That left Shammuramat. That name was familiar. Even when I finally placed it, I didn't understand her role in things. Why her? "Krasimira," I called out. I struggled to sit up and with Tadêfi's help, I did so. The Keeper and two guardians entered as well. One, Sikia, hovered over her companion/augur. "What is the link between Shammuramat and the Host?" I inquired. I saw no recognition in the Keeper's eyes. "She was the first ever "independent" queen of a nation-state, Assyria." Krasimira sat on the sofa and retrieved her tablet from inside her robes. She began working with the electronic history of the Amazon race. "9th Century BCE," I added. Slowly others migrated back into the room. Buffy, Katrina (not good and not happy), Elsa (really not good) and Desiree. Pamela leaned against the door sill, neither in nor out. Katrina sat behind her desk. The phone came out and whispered conversations began in earnest. I had shoved us straight into a war which looked like a free for all at the moment. No one trusted anyone. No one could afford to. I had to change that. The only saving grace was that it appeared no Secret Society had planned for the Protocols to abruptly end a week and a half ago. "Ah, I found it," Krasimira spoke up. Because I'm me, it was at that moment I finally realized that someone had put me in my biking shorts in an effort to provide me a modicum of modesty, with the benefit of blood being smeared on the inside. "She abandoned the Host, she was put under a death sentence for killing her twin sister who was chosen to lead House Anat over her." "Anat?" I queried. "The other dead First House," Krasimira sighed. "They were renowned for their berserkers. Some would drape themselves in the entrails of their enemies in the midst of battle to increase their ferocious appearance." "Oh, how sweet, what was Ishara known for?" I was surprised I'd never asked. "Ishara were the emissaries of the Host," Krasimira informed me. With the Amazon practice of killing embassies sent their way, the extinction of my house made much more sense. "What does this mean?" Desiree took charge of matters since Katrina was still busy on the phone. In a few short weeks, Desiree's prestige had definitely increased. Katrina was her sister in more than name now. "Where to begin,  Fine, why don't we refer to the Mycenaeans by their proper Amazon name?" Everyone but Buffy was glancing about nervously. "You used the name, didn't you?" Elsa rubbed the bridge of her nose, dreading the response. "Yes, " I answered. "Because no one warns him of shit," Pamela huffed. "You assume an Amazon education with no basis in reality. You act like he grew up with our fairy tales and phantasmal histories. Everyone in this room, but Buffy," she acknowledge my First, "knew he spoke our language and the accompanying risk. Still, no one warned him." "You didn't warn him," Desiree skewered Pamela with a glance. "Not my job, Buttons," Pamela chuckled. "I relish the rest of you being made to look like idiots too much to be useful to Cáel unless it really matters. So he invoked an ancient malediction. What is the worst that could happen?" "I'm going to make a huge deductive leap, am I the reason the Achaean hero Ajax and his boys are back from the dead and coming after us for some Ako-level vengeance?" I groaned. (That's the 47 Ronin for us Westerners) Silence. "That's not your fault, Sport," Pamela snorted. "Mano-man, was I a dumbass for doing nothing. I'll take the blame for that one ladies. Damn Cáel, you would have to pick the Unconquered One, wouldn't you?" "Who is this guy and why does he hate us?" Buffy interjected. Pause. "Our ancestors poisoned his wine so that, in his angry haze, he mistook his own men for his enemies and slaughtered them all, back during the Trojan War. Afterwards, he committed suicide in anguish over his crime, Death opened his eyes at the last, he saw our treachery and managed to curse us as he died," Krasimira informed the lot of us. "And my using that word brought him back? That sounds, weak," I grunted. "The word would not have been enough," Tadêfi comforted me. "There must have been some sort of rift in the curtain of Reality that allowed the others to slip through. I don't understand how, oh no," she gasped as the pieces came together. "I'm willing to believe that was the price of doing business," I petted Tadêfi's cheek. "Please enlighten us," Elsa grumbled. "I need to find the Earth  and  Sky ambassador and set up a new meeting. Using what Tadêfi has gifted me with and the sacrifice of her fellow augurs, I can secure an alliance for us if only I can make up for the whole stunt Troika played," I grinned. "Any ideas?" "We could call them," Pamela produced my phone. "Seems some lady named Hana Sulkanen has been trying for days to get in touch with you. She hunted down the owner of the necklace, they talked about your current physical state, courtesy of Odette, and the owner of the necklace has expressed a continued interest in meeting you, and only you. It would appear that they really don't trust the rest of our merry little band since your first disappearance." Hana, and here I had killed her step-brother, the one she despised. An unexpected benefit of civil discourse, my People's chance of survival had doubled. Pamela lobbed my phone and I caught it. "What of the other two?" Tadêfi pushed down on my euphoria. "Was the Foe dead as well?" A quick look at Pamela told me she knew the answer to that. "The Foe is complicated," I lied. "His return was an inevitability, so we count that as a draw. The Champion, bad news. Let's put Shammy in the 'maybe' column and the Conqueror is a win for our side." A Berserker Queen, fresh from the Underworld, who we were honor-bound to kill,  or the 'other lost heir to a dead House' that was going to make us cobble together some nonsense to bring her back into the fold. If I wasn't the male leader of a spiritually significant All-Girls social club/paramilitary outfit, I might have been daunted by my prospects of achieving the latter. "The thing going on inside your head?" Elsa asked. That explained her presence. My mental capacity was still suspect. Was I still me? Could I flip out with no warning? "It is still there. I still have no idea what happened to me, or what the results might be. This means I'm going into battle wounded and that's that," I stated. "Are you acting in the best interest of the Host," Elsa studied me. "I am not sure," I confessed after half a minute's introspection. "So many of you are fuck-nuts; I'm not sure what acting responsible is for this set," I added jokingly. "As it stand, you lack the authority to pass judgment on me, Elsa. I promise you that if I feel I'm losing control, I will turn myself in." "Saint Marie would feel better if you stayed here," Elsa insisted. "Is the SD declaring war on House Ishara?" Buffy rose to the challenge. "We (by that she meant my fellow Isharans) have discussed the matter and talked to our best neuroscientist. She cannot definitively tell us Cáel isn't Cáel, so there is no reason to constrain him." Whoa. In our best prospect's educated opinion I was not-not me. Legions of English teachers weren't going to like that. "I have the answer for that," Katrina spoke up. "I owe Cáel and I would pay that debt now. He expressed a desire to see my niece, Aya. Do you still wish that Cáel Ishara?" "More than ever, but the Council is meeting," I sighed. "Buffy is your (dead word spoken), your apprentice," Katrina suggested. "Appoint someone to stand with her." That was more than good advice. Buffy was a woman and, to those who knew of her, as fierce an Amazon as ever lived. That was what Katrina was telling me without telling me. "I choose Daphne Pile, if she will accept, to stand by Buffy's side," I announced. Buffy would need someone who was passionate for my cause and who spoke Old Kingdom Hittite. Buffy still didn't, and the chance of the Council speaking English on her behalf was non-existent. "That is Daphne of House Cotyttia," Pamela corrected me. Who Cotyttia was? I had no idea. I was stupid to think Daphne's actual Amazon surname was Pile. Daphne wasn't even around. Executive Services was functioning fine without me and that meant Daphne had a work queue. "The Thracian Goddess of Sex, Orgies, War and Slaughter," Krasimira gracefully filled in my ignorance. Another whoa, why wasn't she my matron goddess? Tadêfi hauled off and slapped me. The action seemed to take everyone, Tadêfi included, by surprise. "I don't know why I did that," Tadêfi wailed out in despair. I did. It didn't take telepathy to figure out what I had been thinking. To prove my point, Pamela laughed. I cupped Tadêfi's jaw. "Worry not," I cooed. "I had that coming, Dot Ishara," I dodged another one, "isn't happy with me right now." Recall, Tadêfi was hooked up to an old-fashioned party line with the Beyond. "Animaniacs," Pamela snorted. "I so love you. It is my deep and abiding pleasure to have you as my Grandson." "I'm not your grandson," I countered. "Well, I say you are. Now be quiet and accept the shame," Pamela's eyes danced with amusement. "That makes me, Daphne and Brielle incest," I pointed out. "Amazons don't have an incest taboo," Pamela retorted. Duh. They are all women, no chance of seven fingered, Cyclops babies. "Ah, women, misunderstanding and pain, Buffy, would you check out Quebec and see if I'm still wanted in that province for bestiality. It could be important later," I commanded. "Bestiality?" only one woman failed to mutter, sputter or exclaimed. "The complainant in question is not that pissed at you anymore," Katrina's rolodex mind kicked in. "I believe she expressed a desire to question you about some missing accoutrements though." My splitting headache meant I had to think about that, ah yes, her dress uniform. It was/had been Canada Day, thus her having an official function and thus me cheating with the girl from across the hall in the Mountie's bed. I'm an idiot alright and my ability to keep an eye on the clock needs improvement. My last image of her, frothing at the mouth (she was a tad more possessive than I had anticipated) as she screamed out insults in Quebecois French concerning my lineage, personality failings and the treasured parts of my anatomy. She punctuated various parts of that deranged episode by hurling articles of her clothing over the border at me as I turned (once I had good Ole US soil/pavement under my feet) and tried to get us back together. Yes, I had them, just not in my Box of Failed Romances. Acting on hopes of reconciliation, I had the uniform dry cleaned, placed in a dress bag, and the boots polished; both currently occupying space in my closet. At least the Alburgh-Noyan Crossing guards (it is a dual Canadian-American post) appreciated me evading/begging forgiveness long enough for them to see her in only her bra and panties. I imagine they didn't normally get much excitement there. "Katrina, " I began. "Yes, Maya forgives you too, though she scored an 'At Risk' for reliability. Anais sounded genuine," Katrina related. Anais was the Mountie. Maya was the Guyane Française university student from across the hall, the one I was caught cheating with. I had told her I was Anais's brother. Maya was also a super-exceptional cook. "Cáel Ishara, who are these women we are talking about?" Sikia demanded. 'We', that didn't take long. We were now a 'we', which in Amazon meant 'male, you're my property'. "I have a sideline job as an Amway distributor," I replied. "I give crappy customer service." "You give awesome customer service," Katrina riposted. "That's the problem." "Sikia, you are not the first Amazon Cáel has stuck his dick into. You are probably not the tenth," Elsa dripped with frustration. Quick count: Rhada, Buffy, Oneida and Gael, I was only going to count the penile-vaginal penetrations. "They are only numbers five and six, thank you very much," I defended myself. "So much for your 'intern, no sex' policy," Desiree muttered. "Cut me some slack, I work with stone-cold, Olympic level athlete foxes 24/7," I griped. "I am a sexual being too, I have needs." "What about the 'End of Internship' hunting shindig?" Desiree pulled a flawless 'Katrina'. "Oh, it is still on. With my 'do or die' learning curve, it is going to be so much more fun," I grinned. "And, okay, no more Amazon sex until then, sorry Rachel." "Except for house members," Buffy insisted. "No exceptions," Elsa demanded. "I'll keep an eye on him," Pamela resolved the issue. "No more Amazon boinking for him." She was such a liar. She was also a highly accomplished liar because everyone bought it. On with my life. Stage one: exit Katrina's office. Done deal, no problems. Stage two: set up meeting with the Earth  and  Sky. They wanted to meet on their ground. Since I was the uncertain factor in these negotiations, I agreed. I was bringing one, Pamela raised four fingers, four people with me. Who? Outside of Pamela, I had no idea. Stage three: going to medical and putting on my business suit, it was a new one and very, very nice. I was moving up into serious majestic magnate territory. I also picked up buddy number two, FBI Special Agent Virginia Maddox. Why had I chosen a federal agent to accompany me to a meeting between two secret societies? I hadn't a clue. Sometimes you have to roll with these things. In the lobby, I picked up number three, Delilah, Mom's MI-6 operative/baby-sitter. Compassionate, caring people were surrounding me all the time. It gave me this sensation of a 'down home' environment no matter where I went, if down home was Gaza, or Donetsk. I think my entourage/lifestyle observation teams had grown to encompass six cars. I was in no condition for riding my bike, so that recourse was denied me. Taxi? One, most were hard-working stiffs like my family who didn't deserve to be caught in a noontime, drive-by assassination attempt. Besides, with my luck I'd meet the guy from Qatar again, the one with the sister with cute eyes. That reminded me, I gave Nicole a call. "How are you doing?" she quickly inquired. "Good," I lied to a past master of shattering perjury. Pause. "I'm surrounded by girls with guns, tailed by your clients, some part of a Federal Task force and some people who I don't know yet. Hold on." I put my hand over my phone. "Delilah, are you packing heat?" I asked softly. She opened her jacket revealing paired revolvers in shoulder holsters. I didn't recognize them so the Brit gave me the 4-1-1. "Ruger Alaskans," she grinned. Bing! Now I recalled them. The girl who taught me to shoot once read some reviews of that beast on her laptop while I gave her a slow, passionate screw from behind. She became all hot and bothered, wiggling, squirming and generally having a grandiose time with my cock deep within. I repeat, this girl really loved guns, a huge cerebral G-spot for her. Oh yeah, the Ruger Alaskan is what you get if you are worried about Grizzly bears popping their heads through the tent flaps late at night. Delilah was probably packing 4 80's. Her guns would turn 250 kilograms of pissed off ursine into an excellent throw-rug in about two shots. In an urban environment,  well, maybe she thought the New York Giants were actually giants, or something like that. Two were overkill, unless you expected someone needing to borrow one. "Just checked. I remain the only one unarmed in my personal carnival of carnage, " my words trailed up to an unintelligible mumble. I was mumbling because suddenly four handguns were casually offered up for my use (Tiger Lily was holding one over her shoulder as she drove), in the same way you'd offer up some Nicorette to a man jonesing for a smoke. Rachel was kind enough to hand me my familiar Glock-22 and Ruger 38 caliber with their accompanying holsters. Two spare clips followed, then I stashed the lot. I scratched my calf. It took me a second to realize I was reaching for my pistol. No, not the one at my hip, or my ankle, but the one, in my boot? "Now that you've been handed firearms of dubious origin, can I get back to questioning you," the FBI agent intruded upon my ruminations. "We were discussing that list of people that are visiting a morgue instead of a court room. What can you tell me?" "Bye Nicole. Miss you. Being interrogated by a blonde FBI lady with a whips scar on her eyebrow and eyes that could scare a badger back into its hole. Later," I cut of my lawyer's fierce demand that I keep my mouth shut. "Nothing useful that wouldn't implicate myself and others in a criminal conspiracy," I answered her. "There is no way I'd name anyone else I suspect of involvement. I feel no guilt over what has happened, so no remorseful confession, and that is based on my belief that cosmic justice has been achieved." "You can't create lists of people for execution," Maddox persisted. "That negates the whole justice system and the principle of innocent until proven guilty." Wow! Except for the two of us, every other person in the car snorted their derision of Maddox's presumptive naiveté. "Do you even believe the tripe spilling from your pie-hole?" Delilah mocked Maddox. "I'm in law enforcement. That means I enforce the laws, not interpret them, or choose which ones I want to obey and which ones to ignore," Virginia fought back. "Love, that's crap and you know it. You are an agent of the US government. You bomb, drone-strike, overthrow lawfully elected governments and assassinate in your nation's best interests," Delilah countered. "You selectively enforce your Constitution when it suits you." "I'm law enforcement, not the military or foreign affairs. Know the difference," Maddox glared. "The pay master is the same,  you willingly collect your thirty pieces of silver; get off your high horse because you are in the shat now, Agent Maddox. I haven't known this crowd an hour and I know for a fact that you are the only US citizen onboard," Delilah chortled. "I don't know their bleeding nationality, but I doubt it is on the UN Charter." Maddox turned to me. "That was succinct and rather accurate," I murmured. "Special Agent Maddox, I have the sneaking suspicion that you are with us because FP (federal prosecutor) Castello feels you can handle this, Umm, unusual set of circumstance. I promise you this, it is going to get worse." "Why don't we test this quaint theory?" FBI Lass challenged us. "Jail, bail, and I'm waking up in Rio de Janeiro in two days," I sighed. "I have a few thousand in the bank, live in a hole and own my father's home, when it clears probate. Only you know I'm flight risk. A dozen people will vouch/lie about my character and that's that. All you've succeeding in doing is making enemies when you need friends." "There is still a matter of multiple people dead under suspicious circumstance," she said. "Imagine for a second that Cáel admits to creating a hit list," Pamela began. "He would never give up the names of the other people involved. He didn't kill anyone, or say 'kill them'. Now what? You still have an abysmal case to put before a judge. Add to that, the mitigating factor of a raped girl. You get to break her down until she's a cooperating witness because she's the only one who can provide you with Cáel's motive," my mentor continued. "Good for you and your team. She gets to betray the man who tried to save her. Cáel promised horrific retribution if any of those in the now-dead crowd hurt her. That is rather unlike him, he normally forgives when given the least excuse. I don't give a damn about women's rights, or the rights of rape victims. I really could give a shit about human rights for that matter. Wronging me is the surest way to early retirement. It is not a matter of strong versus weak, or right versus wrong. What matters to me is who I can trust. I don't know you, thus I don't trust you. I trust your government to be so much chicken shit. I base this on the lack of public torture and execution. I want the families of dying criminals paraded in front of those cock-suckers before the condemned finally perish in agony. I want to see thieves get their forearms hacked off, trial by combat, and respect for your elders. I want to see public officials being sacrificed upon the altar of Jehovah when they leave office. I want to see a system of justice with a soul, not law books thicker than an aircraft carrier's hull. A government 'of the People, by the People, for the People' should be the sole guiding force for your culture and we both know that's never going to happen. I admire your soldiers; not because they are brave and combat effective, they are. I admire them because they are fighting and dying for elected officials and a population that can't locate Afghanistan, or Iraq on a map, can't tell the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim, and thinks 'Pashtun' is an exotic piece of furniture. I admire them because they are better human beings despite you, not because of you," Pamela was coming to her crescendo. "Basically you people, by that I mean most of the human race, are dangerous in your idiocy, arrogance and pride in your ignorance. Not one of you should be allowed to use weapons, or play with fire. For you, unrestricted voting is a crime right up there with inventing, disease prevention, bilingualism and anything that perpetuates your educational system." "Lady, why are you so angry with the world?" Maddox studied Pamela intensely. I wished her luck with divining and then unwrapping that lady's mind. "I hold dear to my heart anyone's hunger to learn, honesty when it hurts and love no matter what the cost, so I find myself alone most of the time," Pamela grinned. "Above even those, I adore humor in the face of ridicule, condemnation and adversity. You can dodge bullets and parry knives. Humor always strikes home," she finished. "It is the perfect weapon." "Liar," I smiled. "You like high performance automobiles too." Did she? I didn't know. "Only with a 2X4 pressing the accelerator as it races toward the lip of a canyon," Pamela bantered back, "with Ursula K. Le Guin strapped in the back seat." "Who?" I inquired. "She's an author. I take exception to some of her work and unwillingness to appreciate the fusion of exceptional feminine characteristics with power positions," Pamela answered. "And your critique of her life's work is an exploding car at the bottom of a cliff?" I smiled. "Starting uncontrolled wildfires and littering, two of my favorite activities," she laughed. "I'll stick with blondes and brunettes, and red- and raven-haired, bald has its own appeal, green and purple have their own kink going on, " I joked. "Wait! We were talking about people being murdered and you two are cracking jokes?" Maddox rumbled. "I had a dream about tying them together with nylon cord and tossing them off the back ramp of a transport aircraft, and watching them fall, and fall," Rachel sighed dreamily. "Atta girl," I play-punched Rachel's shoulder. "What is your part in all of this?" Maddox turned to Rachel. "I'm the head of his bodyguard detail," Rachel gave her confession of the damned. "And you want to kill him, " Virginia struggled to keep up. "Given time, you will too," Rachel promised. "According to his pre-employment records, only one woman he's had a sexual relationship with hasn't wanted to at least hurt him," glaring at me, "badly." "The nun doesn't want me dead!" I vocally protested. "It is so wrong that you are proud that of over 200 women you've slept with, TWO have not, at some point in knowing you, wanted to maul you and one of those is in the 'forgiving' business," Rachel chastised me. Virginia had an answer for my madness. Her phone came out and she hit speed-dial, work. "Ms. Castello, this is Special Agent Maddox, do you have a moment?" Virginia calmly asked when she finally wrangled my current-favorite fed's attention. "You do now? Thank you. I'd like to know what the fuck have you done to me? This assignment is nuts. Either I'm part of some elaborate prank, or I'm in an S U V with escapees from the looney bin." Ten seconds later Maddox gave me the phone. "Stop it. I've upheld my end of the bargain, so behave," Javiera ordered. Man, she'd shot me straight to the core and we hadn't even slept together yet. Clever, clever girl. "Yes Ma'am," I swore. "I'll do my best to buffer Special Agent Maddox from the truth." "I'll have to accept that," Javiera conceded. "Give Maddox the phone back." A brief conversation later and Maddox was no better off than when she started. Thankfully we parked in front of the Kazakhstan Consulate in New York, giving us all an excuse to face facts. Maddox was feeling compelled to ask questions she didn't want the answers to, and that we didn't want to answer. Saved by work. "Kazakhstan Consulate? Why are we here?" both Virginia and Rachel asked. "Oh! This is going to be good," Pamela leaned forward excitedly. "Change the course of human history," I answered with a great deal of confidence I didn't feel. See, I had knowledge critical to the Earth  and  Sky. That knowledge was also something they wanted kept compartmentalized, so they might take exception to it being possessed by an outsider. Oh,  so that's why Pamela earlier insisted on four ladies being with me, so we could shoot our way out if things turned ugly. I hugged my mentor. "Thank you, Pamela." "You are coming along nicely, Mr. Potter," Pamela patted my cheek. "Your praise leaves me suspicious, Professor Snape. Besides, if I'm going to die, it helps me to know you'll go first ." "That was uncalled for," Pamela chided me. It was the 'Snape' role she rejected. "Snape gave up his life for Harry, Dumbledore died for Draco," I countered. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that," Pamela shone with joy and pride. "You act like I have a choice," I sighed. "Touché," Pamela nodded. "I see what you mean about these two," Maddox addressed Rachel. "Oh my God," Delilah laughed. "You wove Harry Potter into a life and death conversation and it made sense. I am probably going to die, but I'll die knowing I have lived." "Not you too?" Maddox glared at Delilah. Rachel just shook her head. We exited the car, settled ourselves out. Rachel took point, Delilah took one flank while Pamela took the other. By happenstance, I ended up in the middle, yeah right, with Virginia covering my back. "You stay here," Pamela put a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "You'll need to lead the team in if someone 'pumps up the volume'." Interesting euphemism for 'when people start killing people'. "What are we doing today?" Miyako 'appeared'. She'd been walking down the sidewalk toward us, the Kazak Consulate was a townhouse, but her presence hadn't registered. "I require your pledge of silence on what is to transpire. No death is intended," I stated calmly to Miyako. "I didn't know you were versed in ninja contracts, much less spoke Japanese?" Miyako responded. Blink. "I didn't know I spoke it either, " I mumbled. "No sweat," Pamela tried to hustle us along. "He's a quick study." Yeah. I didn't feel it apropos to point out I hadn't heard myself speaking Japanese, or understood that my words had some secret meaning. "How important is this to my people?" Miyako asked. Now that I was paying attention to it, I could make out that she was speaking in her native tongue. "If they don't think we can be trusted to not speak of what is to transpire for a week, they are going to kill us," I related my suspicions. "My mind and heart are joined in this decision." "I give you my pledge," Miyako nodded. She looped her arm in mine. "Does anyone care to enlighten me?" Maddox prodded. Whoa. It seemed that, beside me and Miyako, only Pamela spoke Japanese. "Special Agent Maddox, no matter what, don't give up your gun, when we say run, run, and shoot to kill because they will be trying to kill us," I informed her. "Does the term 'extraterritoriality' mean anything to anyone here?" Maddox snapped. Her nervousness was totally understandable. I stopped at the top of the steps, looking over my shoulder. I nodded. Pamela, Delilah and Miyako nodded as well. "Hold on, I can't believe I'm saying this. Does anyone have a back-up I can use?" Maddox groaned. Rachel quick-stepped forward and handed over a 22 automatic pistol then a spare clip with a smooth, practiced motion that suggested that SD swapped weapons all the time. Maddox didn't miss the casualness of the gesture. The firearm and magazine disappeared. "Fine, we will never discuss the laws we just butchered, ever, and if I die and any of you make it out alive, I will seek revenge at whatever cost FROM WHEREVER I AM," FBI girl growled. "One of us," Pamela smirked at me as I touched the doorbell. It opened promptly. We weren't on a crowded street, we were on their stoop and a security camera was pointed right at us. We were invited in and two rather Caucasian-looking gentlemen (Kazaks are a mixed bag of Turks and Cumans) were waiting with the doorman. They looked tough in that they took personality lessons from saddle leather. "You will place your weapons there," the more charismatic of the two spoke up. He was pointing to a side table that looked large enough for the task. "No," was the most courteous response I could muster. He didn't look surprised. He didn't look much like he was breathing, or blinking either. "Go," he pointed to the door. I looked to Pamela. "Well, that didn't take long," I grinned. I felt out the necklace under my shirt and pulled it over my head. "Please return this to its owner in the spirit it was given." He took it. The doorman opened the door and out we went. Rachel was back in our GL550, using the door as possible cover. She said we could take our seats and away we rolled. Maddox looked apoplectic. She had prepared herself for the Wild, Wild West, not a doe-see-doe at the door. In her mind, I had wound her up for nothing. My phone rang. "Cáel Ishara, there seems to have been a diplomatic miscommunication," a male native Turkish-speaker said in heavily accented English. "The person you are meeting must be approached in the spirit of peace." "No, I understood you perfectly," I assured him. "We aren't the Brownies, or the Girl Scouts, Buddy. I don't know, or trust you and you don't know, or trust me, yet. I will compromise though. I will respect your traditions. I will enter your home unarmed. In turn, everyone in the building will line up outside on the street except for the person I'm supposed to meet. Is that acceptable?" Pause. "Do you hate these people, or like them?" Maddox grumbled. "With you, I can't quite tell." "That would not be acceptable," the man finally responded. "Perhaps an alternative. You come in, alone yet armed." "Nope. Due to the efforts of people far smarter than me, I know pretty much who I am meeting, so I am either very rude, insane, or bear a message that is worth my life," I countered. "Your personal safety is guaranteed," was the counter-offer. "That is a false promise, not because you lack honor, or respect for me, but because you are from a wise and noble lineage with a historical propensity of cutting to the heart of any problem." By that, I meant they'd cut my heart out. "What I expect is for every one of you to hold the future of the Earth  and  Sky above any such concepts as personal promises, hospitality, and honor. I am even putting my faith in your willingness to put the survival of the Earth  and  Sky over your own well-being," I riposted. "If the message is so crucial, you should be willing to come alone," back at me. "It isn't important to me," I stated. "Listen, a war is about to break out. Unless we both want to be found all alone in the outhouse masturbating when the headsman comes, one of us has to blink. Today, it is you. Tomorrow you may be able to return the favor and mess with my head." Pause. "Your koumiss is getting warm." "We'll be right there. We apologize for the delay. Traffic is murder these days, or a close facsimile thereof," I gave a little back in the humility department. "Tiger Lily, " "On it, Ishara, Wakko Ishara. I've been circling the block," Tiger Lily had anticipated my antics. Sure, I acted like I had no game plan, but I never wasted people's time. Maybe if I developed an actual game plan I could do even better. "Wakko Ishara?" it was Delilah's and Maddox's turn to share a 'what the?' moment. "May I explain the sacred names?" Rachel requested of me. "I have a feeling these two might become a fixture." "By all means, Rachel. Our trust runs deep," I trusted Rachel with more than my life; I trusted her with my future. "Wakko, as in you're the nutty one?" Delilah made a stab at our arcane nomenclature. If you use small words does that make it gnomenclature? Pamela winked at me, psychic twin grandmother powers activate! "We need complementary rings," Pamela remarked. Sweet! "Cáel Ishara is differentiated as Wakko Ishara, Ishara, first of House Ishara, is Yakko Ishara, and, " Rachel began. "The Animaniacs? Your code names are the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot?" Maddox gasped. "You are beyond nuts." "And the Goddess Ishara is named, by House Ishara and House Ishara alone," Rachel made some warding appeal against divine punishment, "as Dot Ishara." Maddox's face shown with disbelief. "Following Cáel Ishara into battle has been one of my greatest pleasures," Rachel stared at Maddox. "I never knew insanity could be so liberating, or that laughing at death could be such an aphrodisiac." "When did you two go into battle?" Delilah wondered. "In a morgue, fighting to retrieve the body of his fallen father so that our enemies could not desecrate it," Rachel explained. Ah, the walls of Troy, fighting over the spoils of the dead. "You mean when I face-planted?" I grinned at Rachel. "Even without a weapon, your instincts were good, forcing our enemy to commit to multiple angles of coverage even though your efforts were foiled by a footing failure. Your rushing their leader was even more heroic in that you were unarmed and using your body as a decoy, knowing your enemy's superior skill would stop him from shooting you," Rachel smiled my way, sex. "Let me get this straight," Miyako finally spoke up. "You charged an enemy unarmed then stumbled and failed. They were armed?" "Yes, with a 3 57 Magnum revolver and a 10 gauge sawed-off automatic shotgun, in tight confines and close range, oh, and no cover." Maddox replied, then to me, "I read the report." "Then you repeated the action a few minutes," Miyako. "Less than a minute later," Maddox clarified. "A minute later, wow! You are as fearless as we've heard. Please don't die before we have a baby," Miyako gave me a quick hug. If you cover a zeppelin with uranium paint, can it still fly, or does it sink to the center of the Earth? Ninja babies, We had returned to the stairs at the Consulate. This time the door swung open upon our approach. "Is there some drug you are all taking to bask in this shared fantasy life?" Maddox mumbled. "One of us," Pamela retorted. "One of us." "One of us," I joined in. It helped cut the tension. The bodyguards were present right where we'd them last time. They ushered us up the stairs to a second floor sitting room that ate up half the floor. There were two men there; radiating that subtle assurance that a half-dozen killers were close by. The man standing was Iskender, the E and S emissary from Dad's funeral. I broke all decorum, strode to the man, locked arms, hugged him tight and patted him on the back. "Thank the spirits you are here," I whispered, "all this lack of dick is making me a bit stir-crazy." "Ah, yes, it is good to see you again too," Iskender imparted as we broke our embrace. His boss, the guy on the sofa, shot me and my Kyrgyz buddy a sharp look. The Main Man was clearly Mongolian and must have thought blank, white walls exhibited too much empathy. "Koumiss," the boss offered. I sipped it from a simple, yet regal drinking mug that probably hit the kiln 200 years ago. "Mare, or yak?" I inquired as I handed the cup around. Iskender came first, but it was clearly my intention that we all partake. It was more a matter of the host's pledge of sanctuary than me wanting to share the koumiss. It tasted like thin, lightly chilled, bitter beer with a vanilla-almond milk shake-chaser. "Mare, of course. Please sit," he offered. He defined the suggestion by slipping off the sofa onto the layered carpet rug. He was semi-reclined, so we followed suit. "We should pray for the protection of the spirits," was the suggestion that wasn't a suggestion. It was his itinerary. He clapped his hands and from beyond a curtained partition came this really sensual Mongolian chick carrying a large brass bowl. She flicked her eyes at me and an instant connection was formed. She liked to bark like a dog under the full moon, okay, I'm not sure where that came from. "Nice woman," I told the leader. "She looks like she has seen many winters." Whoa! Where the fuck did that come from? I got a shocked reaction from Iskender. The Leader looked pissed, if a flake of paint on the white wall indicated anger. The girl blushed like what I said was an incredible turn on. "She is my daughter," the Leader pointed out. Way past swallowing my foot. My ankle was tasty. "My name is Oyuun Tömörbaatar. My faithful Iskender, you know. This is my daughter T. Sarangerel. She is studying at N Y U and is not entertaining marriage proposals at this time," he slapped down his boundaries. Somehow 'I only want to sleep with her' didn't sound like the right response. Wait! Saying his 'daughter had many winters' was a marriage bargaining opening move. What the fuck! "What I meant was that surely many men have died trying to come before you," I back-pedaled. More happy looks from the daughter. More paint peeling from the dad. Pamela made sure more koumiss was going around. Getting drunk could hardly hurt at this juncture. Sarangeral placed the bowl between us. It was filled with clear, cold water undoubtedly collected from a mountain-fed glacier. "Let us cleanse our hands in the water so that we may speak with clarity," O. Tömörbaatar said. We dipped our fingers and, for a second, I saw him. Not 'O', but HIM. "It is good to finally meet you Ferko Ishara Cáel Nyilas," the man said. My Spidey senses told me he was feeling less 'good' about this meeting every second. "How can your people and mine better get along?" 'Let me impregnate your daughter', would probably get my skull split open. "No time for that," I replied. "I know where HE is. The Seven Pillars have found a way to search the Weave and are closing in. You must act with haste." Whether it was disbelief, or old schooled Ku Chun in the art of gambling, the older man gave no outward reaction. "Where is he?" O. Tömörbaatar asked in a gentle tone. "I can do you one better," I steeled myself for the unknown forces I was invoking. I put my hands on the bowl's lip and looked in. Several seconds later, he did as well. For a moment, nothing. It was like a ripple in reverse. The first earth tremor I barely noticed. The ripples grew and grew until I felt the whole row of townhouses would come crashing down. Wind snapped the locks on the windows, flinging them wide open and tearing at the curtains like streamers in a hurricane. Then we saw HIM clearly. HE stopped driving this old, beat-up Peugeot and was pulling to the side of a desolate stretch of highway. HE could sense something yet couldn't pinpoint the source of his unease. We definitely got the impression this wasn't his first taste of this experience, the Seven Pillars. He was young, maybe my age. He looked like an educated man turned vagabond/boundless traveler. HIS eyes, his eyes had a depth that were a microcosm of what I'd glimpsed in Ishara, Dot Ishara's unshielded glance when we first met. All lingering doubts vanished in my mind. "I know that place," O T muttered, his eyes fixated on the only feature in the vacant expanse, a road sign, in Chinese. Yikes. "I know that place." The image faded. Our meeting venue was intact. Whatever I felt transpire, I had shared with O. Tömörbaatar alone. "You have work to do," I stated as I cleared my throat. "I will leave you to it." I stood. "What do you wish for this gift?" O T reached out and touched my sleeve. "When the time comes, maybe you can help us," I replied. "A man who asks for nothing can expect anything," O T smiled for the first time. "Go." I did not take a fear-free breath until the cars started up and we pulled away. He'd let us live. Even with that priceless piece of magical insight, he'd let us live. "I'm still stunned we got out alive," I sighed. "I wasn't really sure he'd take the news as well as he did." No one said anything for a minute. "Why would he have killed us?" Delilah inquired. "You, I understand. I don't know what you communicated to that young lady, but the old guy wasn't happy about it. He was going to kill us over that?" Pause. "What did the rest of you see and hear?" I looked around the cabin. Pamela appeared worried. "I didn't know you spoke Chagatai," Miyako smiled at me. "You are full of surprise. I only caught a word, or two, and none of it made sense." "MRI," I groaned. "Magnetoencephalography," Pamela said in the same breath. "Mine is better, Boyo." "What is going on?" Rachel upped her alertness level. "We need to take Cáel to a hospital that has a Magnetoencephalography device," Pamela insisted. "He's spontaneously speaking languages he didn't know moments earlier, " Maddox put things together first. The rest nodded at her assessment. "We'll need to have his records from Havenstone sent over as a baseline." Poor Virginia, the absurdity of my life was sucking her in. "I'll call Katrina," Rachel informed us. I was a mental case once more. At least my input was still being solicited. "How many guns do you have on you?" Pamela zinged me. The answer was obvious, two. My Glock and my back-up. That didn't seem right. "Ah, two?" I responded. "Yeah, something is happening to your muscle memory as well," Pamela shook her head. "What exactly does that mean, and what's wrong with Cáel's brain?" Delilah studied the group. "It means he could spontaneously pull out his gun and start shooting us?" Pamela confessed her uncertainty. "I don't know. We'd better figure out which impulses are his guiding light right now before that happens." "I don't even know how to begin reporting this," Maddox muttered. "Cheer up. Our Cáel is still currently in charge. Did you appreciate how he lured in that young Mongolian girl? That's classic Cáel," Pamela comforted the crowd. I was saved from a straightjacket because I was a 'Playa'. (Meadowlands Medical Center in far off New Jersey) I'm not political. For me, that means I am completely and utterly dedicated to whatever doctrine that the cutest political campaigner in front of me endorses. Fifteen minutes on the internet and you can fake it like a pro. Be careful to be with the winning team when the results come in. Nothing makes a political chick go wild like sneaking into the candidate's office and screwing her on the newly elected/re-elected figure's desk. Let her scream out her idol's name. Odds are neither of you will be welcomed back afterwards anyway. Why politics now? Javiera called some people. I had a sneaking suspicion that someone I knew and trusted got in touch with my 'Aunts' as well. All I knew for sure was the Hospital's Administrator's phone began ringing off the hook and I'd become the hospital's number one priority. The hospital staff was visibly irritated with the clout raining down on their heads for about an hour. Once they digested my Havenstone records, all of that changed. Holy 'Published in The New England Journal of Medicine', someone had drilled a micro-surgical hole in my skull in the middle of a wrestling match with no resulting cerebral scarring. THEN this unknown device shot into my skull with pinpoint accuracy and pumped a ghastly amount of energy into my cerebrum. They were fascinated. They were so fascinated I heard two medical technicians mutter about where the Zombie Survival Guide could be found. They triple checked my vital signs, again. I was still as much alive as when I checked myself in. There was a rumor that a fire ax disappeared from a stairwell close by, but not one confessed to the deed. I was speaking in languages I had no reason to know? They were surprised I could contain my mouth drool. It was somewhat disheartening to hear three seasoned physicians discuss what probable scenarios could explain me still being in a non-vegetative state,  or alive for that matter. Some poor nurse had to ask. "Do you feel an unnatural, interest in human brains?" she whispered when she though no one was close by. "I'm not sure what you mean," I whispered back. "I always respect a woman's intelligence. Sex is a cerebral passion. What's the point if you can't communicate with your partner?" Pamela slapped me upside my head. That disturbed just about everybody else in the vicinity and my mentor was promptly exiled from the room. I was curious about what havoc she was perpetrating on this establishment. My condition had gotten her past all the heavy security and I knew without seeing that someone high ranking had misplaced their ID badge. Maybe Pamela was the love-child of Batman and Cat woman. Before you think that's comic fanboy talk, recall what my life was like at that moment. Tests ensued. The staff decided that Havenstone employed a bunch of quacks and snake charmers. Two hours later, they found out they were wrong. Larger battery of tests, same results. I was the second coming of Christ, back from the dead, or a zombie living in a convincing state of denial. Some folks wouldn't let that go. Pamela had proved to be prophetic. Her pet gizmo finally provided a new picture of what my neural pathways were up to. If there is any doubt, 'I've never seen that before' is not what you want to hear one of North America's experts in the field of neuroscience say. The first educated opinion was that I suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, that meant I was hit in the head a lot. Normally that diagnosis comes in the midst of an autopsy. I was having paralytic seizures. They had me juggle a squeeze-ball, then two and finally three. My perfect performance frustrated them. Women find relatively simple carnival tricks to be seductive. Pluck a card from a girl's bra gets you both to some dark corner, hungrily looking for the rest of the deck, I speak from experience. Next up at bat: 'I was possessed', I shit you not. Holistic medicine was right on board with the team. Was I influenced by a supernatural power? Yes I was. So claimed the majority of people on Earth. Did I receive specific instructions? Yes, and so did practitioners of Voodoo/Vodun on three continents. I added that I attempted to evade said instructions when I could. Did I have 'evil' impulses to hurt myself, or others? Huh? For starters, my matron goddess was more of a 'fucker' than a 'fighter' and her instructions were always suitably vague, the same way a Philosophy professor would give you a ten word pointless sentence on Friday and expect you to have a 250 page doctrine on Monday morning. That hit home. Too many normally smart people take a philosophy class in college hoping for an easy-A. Some teachers love dissolving those delusion, sitting back and watching your hopes and dreams of task-free weekends go down the drain. The more obscure the discipline, the more perverse the desire. That is why you always pick a teacher of the opposite gender (if in doubt, use a gay/lesbian test) and keep 'sex for grades' on the menu. Was I suffering from optical illusions, or phantom noises? Straight to the point, yes, I saw and talked with ghosts. So did the Long Island Medium, the casts of Ghost Hunters, Paranormal Witness plus George Anderson and Chip Coffey. To my credit, I didn't do it for profit, or in order to influence people. Was I seeing ghosts now? I was in hospital, so odds weren't bad. I had every non-ghost raise their left hand. No ghosts. Was my paranormal dementia pre- or post-brain trauma? Did seeing a college student being called before his class and successfully accused of plagiarism on his senior thesis, turning him into one of the Restless Dead count? No? My 'disputed' abilities were all post-college employment, thank you very much. Did the ghosts possess me/tell me to do things? I was not possessed and, discounting sexual bondage and my current work venue, had never been possessed. From my limited exposure, ghosts wanted to not be alone in the afterlife, to be guided to a final resting place with others of their kind/family/friends. None had taught me languages, asked me to steal something, or kill anyone. Had any done so, I would have denied them. Such actions were immoral and I could still freely differentiate between right and wrong. I preferred to commit wrong on my own initiative and making me do good was a chore most sane people abandoned after a few days. I took a Rorschach test. The results were predictable because I had taken old 'R' several times before. Just like every other time, I'd mixed up sexual innuendo with a psychological test to seduce the test-giver,  everything reminded me of intercourse. I changed it up with this girl. I gave her numbers. Sometime after I was long gone, they were going to figure out the ink blots were numbered after whichever erotic positions from the Kama Sutra I was reminded of at the time. I knew that wasn't being helpful and I was certain I wasn't a brain specialist. I also knew Rorschach wasn't the key to solving my woes. Final remaining hypothesis, I was utilizing 30 % of my brain capacity with three independent patterns emerging, not the usual 5 %. For that to work, my brain had to be oozing out my ears because brains generate a terrific amount of heat. My temperature was a steady 37.3 C (99 F) and my ear channels were free of obstruction. Hey man, cleaning your ears is quick and easy. Don't risk turning off a date with misfortunately located ear-hair and wax. How was my brain shedding the heat? Their solution, let's do a Spinal Tap. No way. I'd seen that band and they were all extremely fucked up, even for old guys. I wasn't going down that road. They insisted. I suggested that I consent to the procedure with the condition that I received no pain killers/sedatives of any kind and I got to grab and hold onto the testicles of my two, current, least favorite doctors. When they realized I was deadly serious and immovable on the issue, they came up with a new plan, no Spinal Tap. Gutless sissies. Into this vacuum of information, a brainstorm emerged (besides my inexplicable one). They would talk to me, no more interrogations, an actual verbal exchange. They couldn't come over and start flapping their gums like some punk rock band with no talent. They were suddenly worried about 'concerning' me and 'agitating my unstable state'. I pray to Goddess Ishara that one day soon they play back the tapes of their early hours working on me and pay close attention to my facial expressions of shock, horror, fear and depression as they clearly and openly talked about me as if I was the Fiji Mermaid. But hey, a few of them were kinda cute, so in the final analysis all that emotional trauma worked its way out. Hospital highlights: (Understand, I was lying on a table while various specialists prodded and talked about me as if I wasn't there. To strike back at reality, I throbbed my penis every time this cute Parasitologist looked at it. Finally ) Female Chief of Neurosurgery: "Did anyone think to study changes in is body's nervous system?" (Guilty looks all around) Neuro Surgeon: "What are all these needle marks?" Havenstone Medico, "Those are muscle stimuli insertion sites. They kept his musculature from atrophying while he was in a coma." Neuro Surgeon: "Let me get this straight. This man had a lightning bolt go off in his head and part of your healthcare regimen was to run a constant current of electricity throughout the rest of his body." (Scathing looks at the Medico from everyone else, jackals) HM: "He has retained excellent muscle tone." Neuro Surgeon: "Have you even taken the Hippocratic Oath?" HM: (offended) "Of course not, he's Greek." Neuro Surgeon: "What does my patient being Greek have to do with anything?" HM: "Not him (pointing at me). Hippocrates, he was a Greek. Cáel is Magyar/Irish Gaelic." Neuro Surgeon: "Helpful, that's not. He seems to have a great deal of bruises and scarring, some of it certainly received over an extensive period of time. Is this your work?" HM: (in a positive note) "No. It has not been my pleasure to spar with Cáel yet." Neuro Surgeon: "Isn't he a bit, big for you?" &

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China Daily Podcast
英语新闻丨China's inclusive approach recognized

China Daily Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2024 10:22


In a fragmented world that needs to fix deficits in peace, development and governance, China's visions, proposed by President Xi Jinping at the 19th G20 Summit, of building a just world of common development and promoting a fair and equitable global governance system are of great relevance to making the world a better place, according to analysts. The G20 Summit, hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and Tuesday, took place amid shifting geopolitical dynamics and economic uncertainty, providing an opportunity for world leaders to get together to discuss solutions to address urgent global challenges, including economic stagnation, trade disruptions, food security, reform of multilateral institutions and climate governance. As leader of the second-largest economy and the largest developing country in the world, Xi's attendance and his interactions with other leaders at the summit were in the spotlight. Addressing the summit, he outlined China's eight actions to support global development, including pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, implementing the Global Development Initiative, supporting international cooperation on poverty reduction and food security, and supporting the G20 in carrying out practical cooperation for the benefit of the Global South. He called for improving global economic, financial, trade, digital and ecological governance to build a world economy characterized by cooperation, stability, openness, innovation and eco-friendliness.Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, a professor of international law at Fluminense Federal University in Brazil, said that taking a systemic view of global governance, Xi highlighted key actions in each of the main areas of global governance in his speech. "China has already given concrete demonstrations of being a country committed to the development of a more inclusive international order. In addition, it has been very active in promoting green development with significant investment in technology and environmental protection," he said. The professor noted that global economic development depends on a balanced, stable financial and trade system that takes into account the needs of developing countries in order to promote a more inclusive international order, highlighting the importance of Xi's remarks on improving global digital and ecological governance with the Global South and developing countries involved. "Global digital governance and ecological governance, which are increasingly linked to each other, if well directed towards the common good, could contribute to opening new paths for the future for humanity as they increasingly exert influence in today's world." Under the Brazilian presidency, the Rio G20 Summit adopted the motto "Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet", focusing on three priority themes: energy transition, fair sustainable development (with an emphasis on combating hunger, poverty and inequality), and reform of multilateral institutions. China, standing at the forefront of the Global South, has been advocating for greater representation of developing countries in global governance to promote an international order that is truly democratic, inclusive and multilateral. From advocating the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to proposing the construction of a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, and building a community with a shared future for mankind, China's consistent goal has been to build a more equal and just world, ensuring that developing countries have a greater voice in global affairs, observers said.At the Rio G20 Summit, Xi urged the World Bank to carry out a shareholding review and the International Monetary Fund to carry out quota share realignment in line with the agreed time frame and road map in order to increase the voice and representation of developing countries. He said that China, alongside Brazil, South Africa and the African Union, is proposing an Initiative on International Cooperation in Open Science to help the Global South gain better access to global advances in science, technology and innovation. Anthony Moretti, an associate professor in the Communication and Organizational Leadership Department at Robert Morris University in the United States, said that Xi is spot on when he suggests that isolationism is not what the global community needs right now. This is especially true for the developing world, Moretti added.Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, executive director of the Center for South Asia and International Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan, said that Xi has made proposals for an open, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for international economic cooperation through a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. His proposals support developing countries in better integrating into digital, smart and green development to bridge the North-South gap, and they constitute a holistic and comprehensive policy badly needed for economic recovery, poverty reduction and job creation, Khan said, adding they reflect the global need for complete transformation from isolation to integration, from Cold War mentality to international cooperation. As the Ukraine crisis and Palestine-Israel conflict remain protracted, Xi highlighted at the Rio G20 Summit that "global security governance is part and parcel of global governance". The G20 should support the UN and its Security Council in playing a greater role, and support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises, he said. China and Brazil, together with some other Global South countries, have launched a group of "friends for peace" on the Ukraine crisis, with the goal of bringing together more voices for peace.Khan said that the proposal of the group of "friends for peace" is innovative and well-timed, which must be listened to and implemented for achieving peace in Ukraine and Palestine. Marcos Cordeiro Pires, a professor of international political economy at Sao Paulo State University, said that the China-proposed Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative and Belt and Road Initiative are becoming international public goods that offer a path to building actions that help overcome the immense challenges faced by humanity. These initiatives are a counterpoint to selfishness and unilateralism by pointing out that development is essential to overcoming hunger and poverty, that no country can guarantee its security at the expense of others, that peaceful coexistence between civilizations presupposes respect for the uniqueness of each culture, and, above all, that building infrastructure is one of the best ways to guarantee progress and address inequalities, Pires said. The Chinese president also urged G20 countries to "see each other's development as opportunities rather than challenges and view each other as partners rather than rivals", highlighting the need to observe the basic norms of international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and defend the international order based on international law. Xu Feibiao, a senior researcher and the director of the Center for BRICS and G20 Studies of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that China, unlike traditional Western powers, remains committed to safeguarding a multilateral system with the UN at its core, following the path of peaceful development, and advocating for the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. It calls for a new type of international relations and upholds the principles of "extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits" in global governance, Xu said, adding these efforts and principles are gaining broader recognition and respect from countries all over the world, offering hope for the G20 to regain its relevance in global governance.The Rio G20 Summit adopted a leaders' declaration, with the G20 leaders reaffirming their strong commitment to multilateralism and pledging to reform the global governance system. The leaders pledged to work for a reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system, rooted in the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, with renewed institutions and a reformed governance that is more representative and effective, according to the declaration. They also pledged to reform the UN Security Council to align it with the realities and demands of the 21st century and make it more representative, inclusive and effective, the declaration said.

LCIL International Law Seminar Series
Friday Lecture: 'Global Re/Ordering Through Norms - A Methodological Stocktake' - Prof Antje Wiener, University of Hamburg

LCIL International Law Seminar Series

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024 37:08


Lecture summary: The United Nations Charter order (UNCO) and the co-evolved liberal international order (LIO) are contested with a heretofore unknown force. The steep rise in contestations in the realm of public politics rather than the courtroom demonstrates a shift from normal contestation as a source of legitimacy and ordering towards deep contestation as a political challenge of foundational elements of liberal order. Today, not only in the Global South but also across Europe and North America, sceptics of globalization on the political left and nationalist-populists on the political right are challenging the fundamental pillars of the LIO (i.e., democracy, economic openness, and multilateralism). The process is paired by growing contestations of international law that is codified in the UN Charter including contestation of core norms of the UNCO (i.e., non-intervention, human rights, and sovereignty). While the effect of deep contestation is unknowable, we do know however that normal contestation is the essence of everyday politics. The clash of interests, norms, and ideas is entirely normal. Yet, contestation can also be degenerative, moving political outcomes away from desired ends through ad hoc and perhaps inconsistent compromises. As core norms of the LIO and UNCO have become deeply contested, we require a better understanding about the expected effects. Access to contestation as the right to speak and participate in political decisions is a necessary condition for normative legitimacy and mutual recognition of the norms that govern us. Achieving this condition involves struggles about norm(ative) meaning-in-use which take place on distinct sites of global order. This raises a question about time, substance, and norm(ative) change in global order more generally and, more specifically, which elements of international order ought to be retained. The lecture posits that the observed qualitative shift from constitutive everyday contestations towards potentially degenerative political contestation calls for a methodological stocktake of how contestations work with regard to global re/ordering, i.e. whose practices count and whose norms ought to count in that process?Professor Antje Wiener FAcSS, MAE, holds the Chair of Political Science, especially Global Governance at the University of Hamburg where she is a member of the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences as well as the Law Faculty. She is an elected By-Fellow of Hughes Hall University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the UK's Academy of Social Sciences, and a Member of the Academia Europea. Her research and teaching centres on International Relations theory, especially norms research and contestation theory. Previously she held Chairs in International Studies at Queen's University Belfast and the University of Bath and taught at the Universities of Stanford, Carleton, Sussex and Hannover. Current research projects include ‘Contested Climate Justice in Sensitive Regions' at the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change and Society (CLICCS) as well as ‘Doing Theory – From Where and What For? A Backpackers' Guide to Knowledge Production' at the Centre for Sustainable Society Research (CSS) among others. With James Tully, she is co-founding editor of Global Constitutionalism (CUP, since 2012 ). And she also edits the Norm Research in International Relations Series (Springer). She serves on several Committees of the Academy of Social Sciences . In 2021, she concluded her second three-year term as elected member of the Executive Committee of the German Political Science Association (DVPW). Her book ‘Contestation and Constitution of Norms in Global International Relations' (CUP 2018) was awarded the International Law Section's Book Prize in 2020. And her most recent book ‘Contesting the World: Norm Research in Theory and Practice' co-edited with Phil Orchard was published with CUP in 2024.

LCIL International Law Seminar Series
Friday Lecture: 'Global Re/Ordering Through Norms - A Methodological Stocktake' - Prof Antje Wiener, University of Hamburg

LCIL International Law Seminar Series

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024 37:08


Lecture summary: The United Nations Charter order (UNCO) and the co-evolved liberal international order (LIO) are contested with a heretofore unknown force. The steep rise in contestations in the realm of public politics rather than the courtroom demonstrates a shift from normal contestation as a source of legitimacy and ordering towards deep contestation as a political challenge of foundational elements of liberal order. Today, not only in the Global South but also across Europe and North America, sceptics of globalization on the political left and nationalist-populists on the political right are challenging the fundamental pillars of the LIO (i.e., democracy, economic openness, and multilateralism). The process is paired by growing contestations of international law that is codified in the UN Charter including contestation of core norms of the UNCO (i.e., non-intervention, human rights, and sovereignty). While the effect of deep contestation is unknowable, we do know however that normal contestation is the essence of everyday politics. The clash of interests, norms, and ideas is entirely normal. Yet, contestation can also be degenerative, moving political outcomes away from desired ends through ad hoc and perhaps inconsistent compromises. As core norms of the LIO and UNCO have become deeply contested, we require a better understanding about the expected effects. Access to contestation as the right to speak and participate in political decisions is a necessary condition for normative legitimacy and mutual recognition of the norms that govern us. Achieving this condition involves struggles about norm(ative) meaning-in-use which take place on distinct sites of global order. This raises a question about time, substance, and norm(ative) change in global order more generally and, more specifically, which elements of international order ought to be retained. The lecture posits that the observed qualitative shift from constitutive everyday contestations towards potentially degenerative political contestation calls for a methodological stocktake of how contestations work with regard to global re/ordering, i.e. whose practices count and whose norms ought to count in that process? Professor Antje Wiener FAcSS, MAE, holds the Chair of Political Science, especially Global Governance at the University of Hamburg where she is a member of the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences as well as the Law Faculty. She is an elected By-Fellow of Hughes Hall University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences, and a Member of the Academia Europea. Her research and teaching centres on International Relations theory, especially norms research and contestation theory. Previously she held Chairs in International Studies at Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Bath and taught at the Universities of Stanford, Carleton, Sussex and Hannover. Current research projects include ‘Contested Climate Justice in Sensitive Regions’ at the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change and Society (CLICCS) as well as ‘Doing Theory – From Where and What For? A Backpackers’ Guide to Knowledge Production’ at the Centre for Sustainable Society Research (CSS) among others. With James Tully, she is co-founding editor of Global Constitutionalism (CUP, since 2012 ). And she also edits the Norm Research in International Relations Series (Springer). She serves on several Committees of the Academy of Social Sciences . In 2021, she concluded her second three-year term as elected member of the Executive Committee of the German Political Science Association (DVPW). Her book ‘Contestation and Constitution of Norms in Global International Relations’ (CUP 2018) was awarded the International Law Section’s Book Prize in 2020. And her most recent book ‘Contesting the World: Norm Research in Theory and Practice’ co-edited with Phil Orchard was published with CUP in 2024.

Cambridge Law: Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law
Friday Lecture: 'Global Re/Ordering Through Norms - A Methodological Stocktake' - Prof Antje Wiener, University of Hamburg

Cambridge Law: Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024 37:08


Lecture summary: The United Nations Charter order (UNCO) and the co-evolved liberal international order (LIO) are contested with a heretofore unknown force. The steep rise in contestations in the realm of public politics rather than the courtroom demonstrates a shift from normal contestation as a source of legitimacy and ordering towards deep contestation as a political challenge of foundational elements of liberal order. Today, not only in the Global South but also across Europe and North America, sceptics of globalization on the political left and nationalist-populists on the political right are challenging the fundamental pillars of the LIO (i.e., democracy, economic openness, and multilateralism). The process is paired by growing contestations of international law that is codified in the UN Charter including contestation of core norms of the UNCO (i.e., non-intervention, human rights, and sovereignty). While the effect of deep contestation is unknowable, we do know however that normal contestation is the essence of everyday politics. The clash of interests, norms, and ideas is entirely normal. Yet, contestation can also be degenerative, moving political outcomes away from desired ends through ad hoc and perhaps inconsistent compromises. As core norms of the LIO and UNCO have become deeply contested, we require a better understanding about the expected effects. Access to contestation as the right to speak and participate in political decisions is a necessary condition for normative legitimacy and mutual recognition of the norms that govern us. Achieving this condition involves struggles about norm(ative) meaning-in-use which take place on distinct sites of global order. This raises a question about time, substance, and norm(ative) change in global order more generally and, more specifically, which elements of international order ought to be retained. The lecture posits that the observed qualitative shift from constitutive everyday contestations towards potentially degenerative political contestation calls for a methodological stocktake of how contestations work with regard to global re/ordering, i.e. whose practices count and whose norms ought to count in that process?Professor Antje Wiener FAcSS, MAE, holds the Chair of Political Science, especially Global Governance at the University of Hamburg where she is a member of the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences as well as the Law Faculty. She is an elected By-Fellow of Hughes Hall University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the UK's Academy of Social Sciences, and a Member of the Academia Europea. Her research and teaching centres on International Relations theory, especially norms research and contestation theory. Previously she held Chairs in International Studies at Queen's University Belfast and the University of Bath and taught at the Universities of Stanford, Carleton, Sussex and Hannover. Current research projects include ‘Contested Climate Justice in Sensitive Regions' at the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change and Society (CLICCS) as well as ‘Doing Theory – From Where and What For? A Backpackers' Guide to Knowledge Production' at the Centre for Sustainable Society Research (CSS) among others. With James Tully, she is co-founding editor of Global Constitutionalism (CUP, since 2012 ). And she also edits the Norm Research in International Relations Series (Springer). She serves on several Committees of the Academy of Social Sciences . In 2021, she concluded her second three-year term as elected member of the Executive Committee of the German Political Science Association (DVPW). Her book ‘Contestation and Constitution of Norms in Global International Relations' (CUP 2018) was awarded the International Law Section's Book Prize in 2020. And her most recent book ‘Contesting the World: Norm Research in Theory and Practice' co-edited with Phil Orchard was published with CUP in 2024.

ExplicitNovels
Cáel and the Manhattan Amazons: Part 8

ExplicitNovels

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2024


Cáel's tombstone: For the love of women, women put him here.In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand.Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected..

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strangely sob rising sun atf spinal tap oh god fdic nerf weave helium hostility mmm anthrax marshal god almighty federal court comforting lk apologizing mongolian ghost hunters renfield moor holy cross ncis old world princess leia restraint cicero cyclops roman catholic church grandson trojans oaths barnum rasputin grenades good guy reload sop assyria oh my god brewster collar new england journal east asian sz kurdish referring amazonian ade jason voorhees special agents creeping jonestown dg janus my dad ish braille horace third reich belles jokers fraternity ballroom carmichael diplomatic medical center stalkers tad federal bureau eurasia taser timer seti messina christmas holiday legalize feinstein soaking sub saharan africa genghis khan winslow arabian laguardia hecklers patriot act spirit world nimrod farsi district court pla carnegie mellon wiccans animaniacs goddamn testicles directive stasi iliad slavic bohemia peeling poo truce peugeot luxemburg chalmers columbian chicagoans endo equestrian catholic school orgies faults modernism home loans precinct village voice recount kurdistan kneel clans harmonious sipping my mother high priestess resonate glock team lead lombard lcd foe draco ancestor keyes invading magna carta emergency services donetsk coroner forc burnham krav maga celts bushido rhodes scholar hubby rorschach assyrian violating penetration grace kelly congolese fabiola asc bolivian snape frat mah ako atwood blush second language enrique iglesias friday morning darwinian ancient world medico umm germanic i won prc big boss buster keaton hippocrates pinhead snapping eurasian woot world domination ishtar kama sutra dumbass bum swiss alps coal mine improper life plans tigger holy crap sizzling armory my son appoint holy shit prick beg holy cow four days hunting season speedo coughing castello amusement park rangers neapolitan athleticism vassar college central africa orphan black omniscient hadrian felicit timothy leary his house eharmony alphas father daughter wha amazonia little sister pandering great pumpkin naughty list ursula k le guin infighting finnes propelled birthed umami evasion pluck timur magyar us navy seals hittites chuckles amway cowardly solar plexus barring eek geisha intensive care my house hilton head legions danube restraining orders motherfuckers mongoose western united states evil empire black forest zen masters yakima brainiac iron age trust funds disrespecting acp vietnamese american intercourse silky bacchus ow mein kampf internal affairs abed kindergarten cop bad girl taunting assistant manager cavemen anat canadian american 3f trojan war padawan old spice mesoamerican hellas crouching tiger ramses shotguns lumpy consulate medical examiners top shot hittite patching last place oliver cromwell east river boohoo chicago pd crewe intensive care units cunt your father scathing hippocratic oath constanza imhotep rolling thunder sick leave groan deyoung dominicans saturday afternoon scythians northern district fifth amendment ash ketchum octopussy developing world jacking fuckers evian flatbush voa laughable maoist nonviolent aerospace engineer tasmanian devils atta ssr girls gone wild surrogates hidden dragon firemen khmer ruger bbc america wonder twins troika huns vassar insulted soe arwen exceptionally security services big wheels every member ace hardware extermination incan saint james chicago police department writ gibbon granddad united states district court wies good hope bravado sterile alternating littering nubian little bighorn ohio valley ragged humping cunnilingus colonial america sparing first house sex addicts ngozi united states attorney seven pillars clearinghouse iridium ravine witness protection baring flailing bitchy cleverly other half central european sky blue your mother invariably sapphic braulio overt international finance inadvertently hic black hand mafioso oink holy mother other' tigerlily brawling moorish azerbaijani murmurs bouncers mmmmmm errands pharos moose jaw lashing bestiality smg quebecois retrieve stanhope sot uzbek mountie gruff southern india supremacists sex god black lotus modern american searing kibble wmds estere shoshone miranda rights augur sheath sperm whales durex olmec matron caress coils amory madame butterfly grans big sis minoan main man gutless jaywalking sinaloa cartel belafonte lead investigator foolishly slaughtering long island medium genghis unconquered squirts hey dad slavs romany mumbling javiera normals yalda cherrie caller id muay friendless bolingbrook blood feud egg mcmuffins latin kings yuppie garden gnomes wakefulness sunni islam ibew you god tri state area issue one picts cloaking holy fuck han chinese mossberg low countries western roman empire bereft marilynn we americans un charter misinterpreting rusty nail reichmann amateur night new agers peregrine falcon tabriz corporate security mississippi valley weeee dutch east indies magyars bwana inflicted death certificate ninja assassin professor snape kyrgyz momma bear christmas elf communist russia cambodian americans bomo englishwoman tamerlane lothario amerindian otolaryngologist epona casus belli counter intelligence angel falls subcontinent paranormal witness temujin dcup council chambers negative reinforcement arpad pillow guy george anderson wagnerian wakko fbi headquarters obedience training my aunt genoese welcome wagon miyako nazg hey bro british sas good golly wiggling yes ma literotica zombie survival guide chip coffey bumpkin mediterranean world divulging my sisters personal defense charlie horses me let savate hron new york county free tibet director c unluckily italian deli collapsible motherfu century bce dual survival house heads lucky bastards mycenaeans lilliputian natural born killer shammy eminently black sands hey lady daniel burnham english midlands dacian policia federal thorazine nicorette cheese puffs 2x4 in soviet russia 'thelma marda dimwit us tax code brian fung currying firing range dutifully cherry vanilla every amazon carnegie melon unbutton green meadows she had cocksucker fiji mermaid late saturday lydians amazon c neutron bomb bersa homicide division thuggee goddess ishtar united states federal wiccan priestess cyberdyne systems stanica girl you sarmatians deoxyribonucleic avars my japanese mirandized kazaks karvala bulgars her aunt gotchya maldives islands ruger lcr katrina love you broke
Minimum Competence
Legal New for Thurs 10/24 - Wisconsin MyVote Lawsuit, Trade Groups Challenge Click-to-Cancel Rule, FL Wants to Investigate Assassination Attempt and Trump's Tariff Plan is Historically Bad

Minimum Competence

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2024 6:45


This Day in Legal History: United Nations Charter Comes into ForceOn October 24, 1945, United Nations Day marked the formal establishment of the United Nations (UN) as the UN Charter officially came into force. The Charter had been signed a few months earlier on June 26, 1945, in San Francisco by 50 countries, laying the foundation for an international organization dedicated to peace, security, and cooperation among nations. The creation of the UN was a direct response to the devastation of World War II, with the goal of preventing future conflicts and fostering global collaboration. The UN Charter outlines the organization's purposes, principles, and structure. Its preamble emphasizes the need to save succeeding generations from war, reaffirm fundamental human rights, and promote social progress and better standards of life. The Charter established six principal organs, including the General Assembly, Security Council, International Court of Justice, and Secretariat, each with specific roles in maintaining international peace and security. Chapter VII of the Charter granted the Security Council significant powers to address threats to peace, including authorizing the use of force.United Nations Day has since been celebrated annually to honor the organization's ongoing work in diplomacy, humanitarian efforts, and human rights advocacy. The day also highlights the importance of international cooperation in addressing global challenges, from conflict resolution to climate change.A lawsuit filed in Wisconsin two weeks before the 2024 presidential election highlights cybersecurity issues with the state's MyVote portal, which allows users to register and request absentee ballots online. The suit argues that the website lacks adequate security, leaving it vulnerable to unauthorized access and data breaches. The plaintiffs want the site taken down until it undergoes a redesign and testing. They cited a 2022 case where someone fraudulently requested absentee ballots using minimal personal information. Experts, however, find the timing problematic, as implementing a comprehensive security audit and fixes could take months, making it impossible to resolve before Election Day. Despite these concerns, some believe the state's current systems are sufficient to catch and prevent fraudulent votes. The suit underscores broader identification and authentication challenges across industries, which are struggling with securing user identities. The case raises critical questions about how to balance election security with practical constraints.Wisconsin MyVote Website Suit Puts Focus on Authentication WoesSeveral trade associations have challenged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) final "click-to-cancel" rule, which aims to make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. The rule requires businesses to provide a simple and straightforward way to withdraw from subscription services and to disclose the terms of signing up clearly. The Electronic Security Association, Interactive Advertising Bureau, NCTA, and others filed petitions in the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, seeking to vacate the rule. They argue that the rule imposes excessive regulatory burdens across industries, potentially affecting over a billion paid subscriptions in the U.S.The "click-to-cancel" rule was introduced in response to consumer complaints about difficult-to-cancel recurring subscriptions. In 2024, the FTC averaged 70 consumer complaints per day regarding such practices. The rule, which the FTC finalized after receiving over 16,000 public comments, is intended to protect consumers from deceptive subscription practices by making the cancellation process as easy as signing up.Trade groups challenging the rule claim it is arbitrary and that it will create costly regulatory obligations for businesses. They argue the rule overreaches by attempting to regulate all consumer contracts involving subscriptions, regardless of the businesses' existing disclosure practices. The "click-to-cancel" initiative hopes to curb "subscription traps," where businesses make it difficult for consumers to end services, thus preventing recurring charges without their consent. By simplifying the process, the FTC aims to foster transparency and fairness in subscription services across industries.Trade Associations Challenge FTC's Final Click-to-Cancel RuleFlorida has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), claiming the federal government is unlawfully obstructing its investigation into an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's lawsuit seeks to stop the DOJ from blocking the state's probe into the incident, which occurred at Trump's Florida golf course. The DOJ argues that federal law (18 U.S.C. § 351(f)) gives it sole jurisdiction over assassination attempts against presidential candidates, which led the FBI to instruct Florida law enforcement to suspend its investigation.Florida, however, claims this interpretation of the law violates the Tenth Amendment, which protects state sovereignty. The state argues that § 351(f) does not bar its investigation and that preventing Florida from investigating would be unconstitutional. The lawsuit asks for a ruling allowing Florida to continue its investigation or declare the statute unconstitutional as applied in this case. The alleged gunman, Ryan Routh, has already been federally indicted for attempted assassination. The DOJ has not commented on the lawsuit.Florida Says DOJ Is Blocking Their Trump Assassination Probe (1)In a piece I wrote for Forbes, I explore the detrimental impact of Trump's proposed 20% tariff on all imported goods, drawing parallels to the economic struggles caused by tariffs in the late 19th century. Tariffs, I argue, are regressive taxes that disproportionately affect lower-income households by raising prices without adjusting for income. For example, a 20% tariff on electronics would hurt low-income families far more than wealthier ones. While tariffs aim to protect domestic industries, they often fail if no domestic alternative exists, merely increasing costs for consumers. A study shows Trump's tariffs could raise the price of laptops by 46% and smartphones by 26%. The burden of tariffs falls on the countries that impose them, not on exporting nations, which could lead to significant economic strain—an estimated $3.9 trillion cost to U.S. consumers. Historically, high tariffs contributed to economic downturns like the Panic of 1893, and similar policies today risk sparking trade wars and further damaging the economy. Tariffs do little to stimulate domestic industries or protect consumers and should not replace progressive tax policies.Trump's Tariffs Would Cost Trillions—And We Learned This A Century Ago This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

CODEPINK Radio
Episode 270: Israel's War on Lebanon & the Multipolar World

CODEPINK Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2024 55:00


During the first half of this episode, we feature a segment from CODEPINK Congress, in which Rania Khalek, host of Breakthrough News, talks about Lebanese resistance to Israel's genocide in Gaza and bombings of civilian neighborhoods in Lebanon. In the second half, CODEPINK organizer Marcy Winograd interviews economist and author Jeffrey Sachs about his recent article, “Beyond Hegemony-A New International Order Under the UN Charter.”

Clare FM - Podcasts
National Advocacy Conference With A Global Dimension In Spanish Point

Clare FM - Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2024 14:48


Brothers of Charity Services Ireland (BOCSI), the state's largest provider of learning disability supports are staging the 25th National Advocacy Conference in Clare later this week (October 16/17th). “Let's Get Real”, which will take place at the Armada Hotel, will showcase advocates from around the country in a feast of drama, dance, puppetry and film... this year with a global dimension! Together with their international friends, Brothers of Charity Services Ireland have created a Global Manifesto for Self-Advocacy based on the UN Charter of Disability Rights, which they'll launch at the Armada Hotel. For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by BOC Advocacy Officer and Conference Coordinator, Rob Hopkins, PRO with the conference and Vice Chair at National Platform of Self Advocates, Joe McGrath and National Advocacy Council Chairperson, Claire Nagle. Photo (c): Clare FM

brothers global dimension vice chair get real self advocacy disability rights un charter rob hopkins joe mcgrath national advocacy conference coordinator advocacy conference spanish point clare fm
Secure Freedom Minute
Would You Vote for World Government

Secure Freedom Minute

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2024 1:00


This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.   In twelve days, global elitists will put world government on steroids. The perpetrators don't want us to know it, but that's the purpose of the upcoming “Summit of the Future” and the accord it is supposed to adopt, dubbed the “Pact for the Future.”   Rather than openly doing so by voting to revise the UN Charter, the idea is to launch a “process” to be conducted largely behind closed doors. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, however, has let slip that process' goal – namely, granting him authority unilaterally to declare and dictate the responses to emergencies caused by any of a number of so-called “complex global shocks.” That “fundamental transformation” would amount to world government.   Tonight's presidential debate affords an opportunity to expose what's afoot and ask American voters whether they want “global governance” or the limited, representative and accountable kind guaranteed by our Constitution.     This is Frank Gaffney.                     

Increments
#72 (C&R, Chap. 19, Part II) - On the (alleged) Right of a Nation to Self-Determination

Increments

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2024 51:18


Part two on Chapter 19 of Conjectures and Refutations! Last time we got a little hung up arguing about human behavior and motivations. Putting that disagreement aside, like mature adults, we move on to the rest of the chapter and Popper's remaining theses. In particular, we focus on Popper's criticism of the idea of a nation's right to self-determination. Things were going smoothly ... until roughly five minutes in, when we start disagreeing about what the "nation" in "nation state" actually means. (Note: Early listeners of this episode have commented that this one is a bit hard to follow - highly suggest reading the text to compensate for our many confusing digressions. Our bad, our bad). We discuss Are there any benefits of being bilingual? Popper's attack on the idea of national self-determination Popper's second thesis: that out own free world is by far the best society thus far Reductions in poverty, unemployment, sickness, pain, cruelty, slavery, discrimination, class differences Popper's third thesis: The relation of progress to war Whether Popper was factually correct about his claim that democracies do not wage wars of aggression Self-accusation: A unique feature to Western societies Popper's fourth thesis about the power of ideas And his fifth thesis that truth is hard to come by References Conjectures and Refutations (https://www.routledge.com/Conjectures-and-Refutations-The-Growth-of-Scientific-Knowledge/Popper/p/book/9780415285940?srsltid=AfmBOorkyc4_sllmg2YLqfQ3jYz1HpLtAEUJODspqZ-3adzKrPaQlj9D) Definition of self-determination from Cornell Law School (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/self_determination_(international_law)) The UN Charter (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text) Wilson's 14 Points (https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-woodrow-wilsons-14-points) Quotes The absurdity of the communist faith is manifest. Appealing to the belief in human freedom, it has produced a system of oppression without parallel in history. But the nationalist faith is equally absurd. I am not alluding here to Hitler's racial myth. What I have in mind is, rather, an alleged natural right of man— the alleged right of a nation to self-determination. That even a great humanitarian and liberal like Masaryk could uphold this absurd- ity as one of the natural rights of man is a sobering thought. It suffices to shake one's faith in the wisdom of philosopher kings, and it should be contemplated by all who think that we are clever but wicked rather than good but stupid. For the utter absurdity of the principle of national self-determination must be plain to anybody who devotes a moment's effort to criticizing it. The principle amounts to the demand that each state should be a nation-state: that it should be confined within a natural border, and that this border should coincide with the location of an ethnic group; so that it should be the ethnic group, the ‘nation', which should determine and protect the natural limits of the state. But nation-states of this kind do not exist. Even Iceland—the only exception I can think of—is only an apparent exception to this rule. For its limits are determined, not by its ethnic group, but by the North Atlantic—just as they are protected, not by the Icelandic nation, but by the North Atlantic Treaty. Nation-states do not exist, simply because the so-called ‘nations' or ‘peoples' of which the nationalists dream do not exist. There are no, or hardly any, homogenous ethnic groups long settled in countries with natural borders. Ethnic and linguistic groups (dialects often amount to linguistic barriers) are closely intermingled everywhere. Masaryk's Czechoslovakia was founded upon the principle of national self-determination. But as soon as it was founded, the Slovaks demanded, in the name of this principle, to be free from Czech domination; and ultimately it was destroyed by its German minority, in the name of the same principle. Similar situations have arisen in practically every case in which the principle of national self- determination has been applied to fixing the borders of a new state: in Ireland, in India, in Israel, in Yugoslavia. There are ethnic minorities everywhere. The proper aim cannot be to ‘liberate' all of them; rather, it must be to protect all of them. The oppression of national groups is a great evil; but national self-determination is not a feasible remedy. Moreover, Britain, the United States, Canada, and Switzerland, are four obvious examples of states which in many ways violate the nationality principle. Instead of having its borders determined by one settled group, each of them has man- aged to unite a variety of ethnic groups. So the problem does not seem insoluble. C&R, Chapter 19 How anybody who had the slightest knowledge of European history, of the shifting and mixing of all kinds of tribes, of the countless waves of peoples who had come forth from their original Asian habitat and split up and mingled when reaching the maze of peninsulas called the European continent, how anybody who knew this could ever have put forward such an inapplicable principle, is hard to understand. Open Society, Page 355 The nationalist religion is strong. Many are ready to die for it, fer- vently believing that it is morally good, and factually true. But they are mistaken; just as mistaken as their communist bedfellows. Few creeds have created more hatred, cruelty, and senseless suffering than the belief in the righteousness of the nationality principle; and yet it is still widely believed that this principle will help to alleviate the misery of national oppression. My optimism is a little shaken, I admit, when I look at the near-unanimity with which this principle is still accepted, even today, without any hesitation, without any doubt—even by those whose political interests are clearly opposed to it. C&R, Chapter 19 In spite of our great and serious troubles, and in spite of the fact that ours is surely not the best possible society, I assert that our own free world is by far the best society which has come into existence during the course of human history. C&R, Chapter 19 But before examining these facts more closely, I wish to stress that I am very much alive to other facts also. Power still corrupts, even in our world. Civil servants still behave at times like uncivil masters. Pocket dictators still abound; and a normally intelligent man seeking medical advice must be prepared to be treated as a rather tiresome type of imbecile, if he betrays an intelligent interest—that is, a critical interest—in his physical condition. C&R, Chapter 19 I have in mind the standards and values which have come down to us through Christianity from Greece and from the Holy Land; from Socrates, and from the Old and New Testaments. C&R, Chapter 19 My third thesis is that since the time of the Boer War, none of the democratic governments of the free world has been in a position to wage a war of aggression. No democratic government would be united upon the issue, because they would not have the nation united behind them. Aggressive war has become almost a moral impossibility. C&R, Chapter 19 I believe that it is most important to say what the free world has achieved. For we have become unduly sceptical about ourselves. We are suspicious of anything like self-righteousness, and we find self-praise unpalatable. One of the great things we have learned is not only to be tolerant of others, but to ask ourselves seriously whether the other fellow is not perhaps in the right, and altogether the better man. We have learned the fundamental moral truth that nobody should be judge in his own cause. This, no doubt, is a symptom of a certain moral maturity; yet one may learn a lesson too well. Having discovered the sin of self-righteousness, we have fallen into its stereotyped inversion: into a stereotyped pose of self-depreciation, of inverted smugness. Having learned that one should not be judge in one's own cause, we are tempted to become advocates for our opponents. Thus we become blind to our own achievements. But this tendency must be resisted. C&R, Chapter 19 Thus we learnt not only to tolerate beliefs that differ from ours, but to respect them and the men who sincerely held them. But this means that we slowly began to differentiate between sincerity and dogmatic stub- bornness or laziness, and to recognize the great truth that truth is not manifest, not plainly visible to all who ardently want to see it, but hard to come by. And we learnt that we must not draw authoritarian conclu- sions from this great truth but, on the contrary, suspect all those who claim that they are authorized to teach the truth. C&R, Chapter 19 # Socials Follow us on Twitter at @IncrementsPod, @BennyChugg, @VadenMasrani Come join our discord server! DM us on twitter or send us an email to get a supersecret link Help us revoke the UN charter and get exclusive bonus content by becoming a patreon subscriber here (https://www.patreon.com/Increments). Or give us one-time cash donations to help cover our lack of cash donations here (https://ko-fi.com/increments). Click dem like buttons on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_4wZzQyoW4s4ZuE4FY9DQQ) Form a nation and liberate yo' selves over at incrementspodcast@gmail.com.

Hearts of Oak Podcast
Alex Newman - From Ballots to Bullets: The Political Scandals Rocking America

Hearts of Oak Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2024 47:17 Transcription Available


Shownotes and Transcript We welcome the return of Alex Newman as he discusses the U.S. political landscape, focusing on Kamala Harris's rise and the media's manufactured perception of her. He highlights public disillusionment with mainstream media and critiques polling reliability as a tool for shaping opinion. Alex warns about electoral vulnerabilities and the influence of the Chinese Communist Party on Western politics. He stresses the importance of reclaiming education to counter ideological indoctrination and discusses the evolving media landscape's role in fostering free speech. The conversation concludes with a call for citizen engagement to preserve democracy and American values. Alex Newman is an award-winning international journalist, educator, author, speaker, investor, and consultant who seeks to glorify God in everything he does. In addition to serving as president of Liberty Sentinel Media, Inc, he has written for a wide array of publications in the United States and abroad. He currently serves as a contributor to the Epoch Times, a correspondent for the Law Enforcement Intelligence Brief, foreign correspondent and senior editor for The New American magazine, a writer for WND (World Net Daily), an education writer for FreedomProject Media, a columnist for the Illinois Family Institute, and much more. Over his career as a journalist, Alex has interviewed current and former heads of state, members of Congress, royalty, and countless other fascinating people. His work, which has received numerous awards, has been repeatedly highlighted by Drudge, Breitbart, Fox News, and many other outlets. His writing has been published in major newspapers across America, and his PR work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters, the Associated Press, and more. In addition, Alex has authored and co-authored several books. One of his major works was an exposé of government schools with internationally renowned Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld called Crimes of the Educators published by WND Books. It was endorsed by conservative leaders ranging from Phyllis Schlafly to Ron Paul. Across multiple platforms and with tens of millions of views on his videos so far, Alex also hosts and co-hosts a number of shows. Alex hosts The Sentinel Report on the Frank Speech network which reaches many millions worldwide. Separately, he hosts Behind The Deep State and Conversations That Matter. Finally, he co-hosts Unravelling the Narrative. Alex is on the Leadership Council of Freedom Force International, one of the premier liberty organizations in the world. He also serves as a director for the organization Bear Witness Central, which works to protect and preserve the U.S. Constitution by educating the public in partnership with other conservative organizations. Alex is a Leadership Fellow at the James Madison Institute, Florida's premier free-market think tank. And he serves on the advisory board of Citizens for Free Speech. Alex has a B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Florida with an emphasis on economics and international relations, as well as an A.A. degree in foreign languages from Miami-Dade College. He also studied international relations at the Institute Français des Alpes in France. Connect with Alex... WEBSITE            libertysentinel.org GETTR                gettr.com/user/AlexNewman

covid-19 united states america god tv jesus christ american new york university california death president social media new york city donald trump culture church lord europe google ai uk china internet bible washington france pr media work future mexico state americans speaking san francisco new york times west deep podcasts war africa christians russia chinese european joe biden arizona ukraine elections government elon musk japanese european union western united kingdom oregon berlin barack obama congress bank abc uber world war ii league praise cnn ephesians nbc supreme court economy hearts mcdonald states sweden wall street schools republicans shop walmart ceos cbs washington post democrats council narrative switzerland id senate columbia citizens nations abortion educators fill kamala harris united nations pacific fox news swedish secretary capitol fda john f kennedy constitution latin america yahoo crimes hamas taliban soviet union msnbc amendment free speech kamala labour financial times world economic forum ronald reagan alex jones gavin newsom reuters first amendment bing world bank associated press public affairs state department libertarians new world order gallup marxist bullets rocking neuralink george soros world war iii steve bannon pentecostal azerbaijan stephen colbert rockefeller ids rasmussen ccp foreign relations interpol oak ballots pandas chinese communist party kirk franklin communist party roger stone christendom war room rupert murdoch alpes michael flynn national security council newsmax world war one ron paul unravelling international monetary fund american families kirk cameron petri breitbart marxists adl paul manafort pissing new american russiagate epoch times peter navarro cfr bohemian grove stop it pravda leadership council hqs general flynn world war three chairman mao phyllis schlafly alex newman podesta house foreign affairs committee international settlements willie brown miami dade college conversations that matter drudge andrew breitbart un climate summit chiang kai david rockefeller un charter un summit political scandals james roguski frankspeech family freedom subversives samuel blumenfeld leadership fellow transition integrity project james madison institute american freedom alliance bilderbergers liberty sentinel media illinois family institute rich higgins wnd books monmouth university polling institute freedomproject media meng hongwei bear witness central
The Bipolar Feminist Podcast
Interview with Palestinian activist Haya Tamimi

The Bipolar Feminist Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2024 50:49


Welcome to Season 7! I can't believe we are here already. We kick off the season chatting with Palestinian Haya Tamimi, who is heading up a petition to invoke Article 6 of the UN Charter that removes any party that does not work in the organisation in the spirit of freedom and self-determination - in this case, the US.

Silicon Curtain
2024-08-10 | Battle of Kursk Hastens Putin's Downfall - The Name 'Kursk' is Putin's Avenging Nemesis

Silicon Curtain

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2024 19:20


2024-08-10 | The Battle of Kursk hastens the downfall of Putin's murderous regime. In a historical irony the name 'Kursk' bookends failure at the start of his time in office, and may signal it's end in catastrophic failure. Is Kursk Putin's avenging nemesis? ---------- Is it accurate to say Ukraine has ‘invaded' Russia? Imposing that language on the situation may be premature and depend very much on what happens next. In the unlikely event that Ukrainian troops charge up to Moscow, Prigozhin style, then the phrase may be apt. But if the present action turns into a smart manoeuvre to ‘go around' Russian fortifications on the Eastern and southern fronts, then it could be seen as simply an extension of the active front that winds its way across many hundreds of kilometres of Ukrainian territory, of which around a thousand kilometres is experiencing active combat at any given time. We seem immune to the shock of seeing a vast conventional war unfold on Ukraine's territory, as if that were somehow normal and natural. But shocked that the same should be meted out to the aggressor army on Russian territory. In traditional warfare, that makes no sense, as whether formally declared or not, Russia has mounted an act of aggression against Ukraine, on a scale not seen since WWII. In other words, a war for territorial acquisition and regime change, which also has the characteristics of a genocidal campaign. The UN charter is clear and explicit that Ukraine has the right of self-defence as the victim of this aggression, and whose sovereign territories have been violated. The UN Charter states: Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyśl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ---------- PLATFORMS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSilicon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube's algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Carnegie Council Audio Podcast
Global Leadership in a Turbulent Time: A Conversation with Professor Abiodun Williams

Carnegie Council Audio Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2024 55:40


From the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to UN Security Council gridlock and escalating climate and migration crises, multilateral institutions face unprecedented tests. Amid these challenges lies a unique opportunity for a new generation of transformational leaders to emerge—driven by civic duty and the values of the UN Charter. In this special roundtable discussion hosted by Council President Joel Rosenthal, Tufts University's Professor Abiodun Williams, former director of strategic planning for UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, draws upon his extensive experience to speak about the essential leadership traits and strategies needed to drive institutional change and benefit those they serve. Williams' latest book, Kofi Annan and Global Leadership at the United Nations, sets out the challenges that the secretary-general managed at a time of great change, and charts his ambitious efforts to reform and adapt the UN to the needs of the 21st century.  For more from Williams, read his recent Online Exclusive "Global Justice in a Turbulent World" for the Ethics & International Affairs journal website. For more, please go to: https://carnegiecouncil.co/global-leadership-williams Please see below the names and affiliations for those who offered questions during the event: 21:45 – George Shadrack Kamanda, Carnegie Ethics Fellow; Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the UN 29:43 – James Ketterer, Center for Civic Engagement, Bard College 34:39 – Eddie Mandhry, Trustee, Carnegie Council  38:51 – David Passarelli, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) 46:25 – Giovanni Bassu, New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 48:31 – Tinatin Japaridze, Eurasia Group

ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog
War and what we make of the law

ICRC Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2024 12:27


Preventing the catastrophic human cost of war is a central purpose of modern international law. Some norms, like those found in the UN Charter, set out to eliminate war altogether, requiring the peaceful resolution of disputes instead. Other rules, like those found in the Geneva Conventions, step in to protect us when all else has failed. The Conventions, which every country has joined, are at the heart of the law of armed conflict: a set of rules that constrain the behavior of warring parties during a conflict, no matter how it might have started, and no matter who is at fault. In this post, ICRC's chief legal officer and head of the legal division Cordula Droege asserts that it is time to remember that the purpose of international humanitarian law is to protect lives, not legitimize large-scale devastation.

I - On Defense Podcast
270: Report: Hamas Leader Not Hiding in Rafah + Latest US Security Assistance Package to Ukraine Worth $400 million + Ukraine Defense Contact Group Capability Coalitions Part 2 + More

I - On Defense Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2024 26:29


For review:1. Report: Hamas leader (Yahya Sinwar) is not hiding in Rafah, but possibly in the Khan Younis area- some five miles away.2. Latest US Security Assistance Package to Ukraine is Worth $400 million. It includes air defense munitions, artillery ammunition, and anti-tank weapons among other materiel.3. Apparently referencing the AP report about US M1 Tanks pulled from frontline duty (due to targeting by Russian drones), the Netherlands Ministry of Defense states that it does not impose any conditions on donated equipment to Ukraine- other than obligations arising from UN Charter and international humanitarian law. 4. German Defense Minister (Boris Pistorius) calls for future defense spending to 3% GDP and hints at possible conscription. Germany ended compulsory military service in 2011. 5. Ukraine Defense Contact Group #2- Eight Capability Coalitions.We discuss the last four (alphabetical order):- Drones: Latvia, UK- Integrated Air Defense: France, Germany - Information Technology: Estonia, Luxembourg- Maritime Security: Norway, UK6. UK Armed Forces Minister (Leo Docherty): UK DragonFire Laser Weapon under development. Will be ready in 2027. Not ready operational use in Ukraine. 

Borderlines
International Law and the Israel/Hamas Conflict

Borderlines

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2024 47:14


Episode 23 of Borderlines features our guest host, Chancellor's Clinical Professor of Law Laurel E. Fletcher (Berkeley), in conversation with Professor of Practice Gabor Rona (Cardozo) on the Israel/Hamas conflict from an international law perspective. Fresh off of speaking at Berkeley Law on 22 February 2024 as part of a Bay Area campus lecture series on the crisis, Professor Rona sat down with Professor Fletcher to discuss the relevant frameworks of international law and its institutions, including the UN Charter and the Geneva Convention on Genocide, as well as current cases before the International Court of Justice regarding Israel/Palestine. Listeners will learn how the laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law are invoked, how historically pressure is brought to bear on governments from international organizations and actors, and why the Red Cross/Red Crescent has been prevented from aiding both Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians in Gaza despite human suffering. Students in particular will take away powerful lessons about the need to combat misinformation and to seek “justice for an eye” in their pursuit of peaceful solutions to war and violence. Professor Rona has worked in armed conflict settings for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and as International Legal Director at Human Rights First. He now teaches various international law subjects at both Cardozo and Columbia Law Schools. Professor Fletcher is the International Human Rights Law Clinic Co-Director and the Faculty Co-Director of the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law at Berkeley Law. For a transcript of this episode, please visit the episode page on Berkeley Law website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daily News Brief by TRT World

*) Iran fires air defence batteries as Israel reportedly strikes Isfahan Iran has activated its air defence system over several cities after its semi-official Fars news agency reported explosions at the central Isfahan airport. Spokesman for Iran's civilian space programme Hossein Dalirian said that several small "quadcopter" drones had been shot down following what a senior US official told ABC News were Israeli missile strikes. *) NY police arrest Columbia University students protesting Israel's Gaza war NYC police said they arrested several students from Columbia University for protesting Israel's war on Gaza as they rallied in support of Palestine. Students had been protesting on campus since last Wednesday, demanding the school divest from companies they claim "profit from Israeli apartheid" and Israeli military actions in besieged Gaza. Following the arrests, students from Columbia and Barnard College have been suspended from school, including US Representative Ilhan Omar's daughter. *) Türkiye urges decisive international action against Israel's war on Gaza Türkiye's Deputy Foreign Minister and UN representative Ahmet Yildiz has called for decisive international action to address the ongoing crisis in Gaza. After condemning Israel's actions in Palestine's Gaza, Yildiz said, “the UN Charter, the bedrock of international law, is still routinely breached.” He said that no country is immune from its obligations to international law and questioned the lack of action by the UNSC in response to Israel's "brazen violations.” *) Pakistan police thwart suicide bombing targeting Japanese nationals Pakistan police shot down a suicide bomber and a militant during an attempted attack on a vehicle carrying five Japanese nationals. The police spokesperson, Abrar Hussain Baloch, said the Japanese survivors have been moved to a safe place in police custody. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attempted attack from any militant group. *) India begins voting in the world's largest election as Modi seeks third term Over 970 million voters head to the polls in India to elect 543 members for the lower house of Parliament for a five-year term. The six-week election period began today and will run until June 1, with votes being counted on June 4. India's Hindu-nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi will test the limits of his political dominance as he seeks a third term as the country's leader.

China Daily Podcast
英语新闻丨Strikes on Israel raise concerns

China Daily Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2024 5:31


The Foreign Ministry said in an online statement on Sunday that Beijing has expressed deep concern over the situation in the Middle East following Iran's drone and missile strikes on Israel, and has called for relevant parties to exercise calm and restraint to prevent further escalation of tension.2024年4月14日,外交部在线上发布一则声明表示,中方对伊朗无人机和导弹袭击以色列后中东局势深表关切,呼吁有关各方保持冷静和克制,防止紧张局势进一步升级。The strikes, which started late Saturday, were in retaliation for an airstrike on April 1 that hit an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing at least one senior figure in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and several other officers.这场空袭从13日晚间开始,是对4月1日伊朗在叙利亚首都大马士革的一座外交大楼发动的空袭的报复。那次空袭造成伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队至少一名高级官员和其他几名军官死亡。Noting that the situation is the latest increase in hostilities related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, the ministry said that there should be no more delays in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 2728, which calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.外交部指出,这种情况是与加沙地带的巴以冲突有关的敌对行动的最新增加,外交部说,在执行联合国安理会第2728号决议方面不应再拖延,该决议要求在加沙地带立即停火。Beijing called on the international community, especially countries with influence, to play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, the ministry added.外交部补充说,中方呼吁国际社会,特别是有影响力的国家,在维护该地区的和平与稳定方面发挥建设性作用。The Israel Defense Forces said on its X social media account that its multilayered Aerial Defense Array system, "together with Israel's strategic allies", successfully intercepted the majority of the missiles and drones before they crossed into Israeli territory, where small hits were identified, including at an IDF base in southern Israel.以色列国防军在其社交媒体账户X上表示,其多层防空阵列系统“与以色列的战略盟友一起”成功拦截了大部分导弹和无人机,然后才进入以色列领土,在那里发现了小型袭击,包括以色列南部的一个以色列国防军基地。Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that Israeli military targets were hit.伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队称以色列军事目标被击中。After the launches, Iran's mission to the UN said on its X social media account that Iran's military action was "conducted on the strength of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter" pertaining to legitimate defense, in response to "the Zionist regime's aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus".在导弹发射后,伊朗驻联合国代表团在其社交媒体账户X上表示,伊朗的军事行动是“根据《联合国宪章》第51条”进行的,该条款涉及合法防御,是对“犹太复国主义政权对我们在大马士革的外交场所的侵略”的回应。"The matter can be deemed concluded," it said.“此事可以视为已经结束。”Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, in an interview with Israeli Army Radio, said: "We said that if Iran attacks Israel, we will attack it back and this is still effective. We need to deepen our cooperation with our allies. I will lead a political attack against Iran."以色列外交部长以色列·卡茨在接受以色列陆军电台采访时说:“我们说过,如果伊朗攻击以色列,我们将予以还击,这仍然有效。我们需要深化与盟国的合作。我将领导对伊朗的政治攻击。”Israeli media quoted Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer as telling Army Radio that "Iran's audacity in such an attack must be erased".以色列媒体援引移民部长奥菲尔·索弗对陆军电台的讲话称,“伊朗在这种袭击中的胆大妄为必须被抹去”。Iran's mission to the UN warned that "should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran's response will be considerably more severe. It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the US must stay away".伊朗驻联合国代表团警告称:“如果以色列政权再犯错误,伊朗的反应将会严重得多。这是伊朗和流氓以色列政权之间的冲突,美国必须置身事外。”In a statement, United States President Joe Biden praised US forces, which he said "helped Israel take down nearly all" the drones and missiles. Biden also condemned the attacks, and was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.在一份声明中,美国总统乔·拜登赞扬了美国军队,他说美国军队“帮助以色列击落了几乎所有的”无人机和导弹。拜登也谴责了袭击事件,法国总统马克龙和西班牙首相桑切斯也加入了谴责行列。Iran's UN mission said, "Iran's invocation of Article 51 of the UN Charter occurred following a 13-day period marked by the Security Council's inaction and silence, coupled with its failure to condemn the Israeli regime's aggressions."伊朗驻联合国代表团表示,“在安理会13天的无所作为和沉默,加上未能谴责以色列政权的侵略行为之后,伊朗援引了《联合国宪章》第51条。”"Certain countries' precipitous condemnation of Iran's exercise of its legitimate right suggests a reversal of roles, equating the victim with the criminal," it added. “某些国家对伊朗行使合法权利的突然谴责表明了角色的逆转,将受害者等同于罪犯。”The UN Security Council said it had scheduled an open emergency meeting under the agenda item "the situation in the Middle East" to consider the drone and missile attacks by Iran on Israel, according to Vanessa Frazier, permanent representative of Malta to the UN.马耳他常驻联合国代表瓦妮莎•弗雷泽说,联合国安理会表示,已安排在议程项目“中东局势”下召开一次公开紧急会议,审议伊朗对以色列的无人机和导弹袭击。The increase in tensions also prompted Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and even Iran to temporarily close their airspace after reports of interference with the GPS navigation system, Al Jazeera reported.据半岛电视台报道,紧张局势的加剧还促使约旦、伊拉克、黎巴嫩、以色列,甚至伊朗在受到GPS导航系统干扰的报道后,暂时关闭了领空。Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said in a statement that all relevant parties should commit to upholding regional and global security and peace in the Middle East, the Saudi Press Agency reported.据沙特通讯社报道,海湾合作委员会秘书长贾西姆·穆罕默德·阿尔布达维在一份声明中表示,所有有关各方都应致力于维护中东地区和全球的安全与和平。He urged all parties involved to exercise maximum self-restraint to prevent further escalation that could threaten regional stability and the safety of civilians.他敦促有关各方保持最大限度的自我克制,防止可能威胁地区稳定和平民安全的进一步升级。The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia expressed deep concern over the developments in the region and called for all parties to exercise maximum restraint "and to protect the region and its people from the dangers of war".沙特阿拉伯外交部对该地区的事态发展深表关切,并呼吁各方保持最大限度的克制,以“保护该地区及其人民免受战争危险”Ali Khansari, an international affairs analyst and graduate of regional studies at Allameh Tabataba'i University in Teheran, told China Daily that Iran's strikes on Israeli military facilities were "unprecedented".毕业于德黑兰阿拉梅大学区域研究专业的国际事务分析师阿里·汉萨里告诉《中国日报》,伊朗对以色列军事设施的袭击是“前所未有的”。"It can be said that Iran's military action was not an attack but a response to Israel's actions to prevent future Israeli attacks. Iranian authorities consider it a punishment, not a military attack," said Khansari.Khansari also noted that the military action "occurred at a time when Israel and its allies were on high military, security and intelligence alert, indicating that Iran's attack was not a surprise action and that Israel was fully prepared when attacked".汉萨里还指出:“可以说,伊朗的军事行动不是袭击,而是对以色列行动的回应,以防止以色列未来的袭击。伊朗当局认为这是一种惩罚,而不是军事攻击。军事行动发生在以色列及其盟友的军事、安全和情报高度戒备的时候,这表明伊朗的袭击不是一次意外行动,以色列在受到袭击时已经做好了充分准备”。Israeli-Palestinian conflict巴以冲突social media account社会媒体帐户

Hearts of Oak Podcast
Morton Klein - The Role of the Zionist Organisation of America and Why a Pro Israel Voice is Needed More Than Ever

Hearts of Oak Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2024 44:32 Transcription Available


Show Notes and Transcript Morton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America joins Hearts of Oak to emphasize the significance of Zionism and what the term really means.  He delivers the case for the Jewish people's right to their ancestral homeland, discussing historical, legal, and biblical support for Israel, dispelling misconceptions about the region, and addresses ongoing struggles faced by them. The discussion covers ZOA's role in promoting U.S-Israel relations, combating anti-Semitism, and supporting security through education and advocacy efforts. Morton delves into the religious and political aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, critiquing media bias and highlighting support for Israel. He criticizes the current U.S. administration's stance on Israel and emphasizes Israel's efforts to minimize civilian casualties during conflicts. The conversation concludes with reflections on Israel's challenges in international relations and combating terrorism, acknowledging the importance of advocating for truth amid anti-Israel narratives. Morton A. Klein is National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), the oldest pro-Israel group in the U.S., founded in 1897. He is a member of the National Council of AIPAC. Mr. Klein is widely regarded as one of the leading Jewish activists in the United States.  The US Department of State has awarded Klein a “Certificate of Appreciation” “in recognition of outstanding contributions to national and international affairs,” after he delivered a major address there. He is a member of the International Board of Governors of the College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel, Israel. He is an economist who served in the Nixon, Ford, and Carter Administrations. He has served as a biostatistician at UCLA School of Public Health and the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine in Palo Alto, California. He has been a lecturer in mathematics and statistics at Temple University. His successful campaigns against anti-Israel bias in leading textbooks, travel guides, universities, churches, and the media, as well as his work on Capitol Hill, were the subject of 30 feature stories both here and in Israel. His scientific research on nutrition and heart disease was cited by Discover Magazine as one of the Top 50 Scientific Studies of 1992. He has been invited to testify before the US Congress, Including the US House International Relations Committee, and the Israeli Knesset. He travelled to Germany and persuaded the publishers of Baedeker's, the world's leading travel guide, to correct the many anti-Israel errors in its guides to Israel and Jerusalem. He launched a campaign to correct dozens of anti-Israel errors in D.C. Heath's “The Enduring Vision,” the most widely used American high school and college history textbook.  More than 300 of his articles and letters have been published in newspapers, magazines, and scientific journals around the world. Klein has appeared on TV and radio. Lines from his speeches appear in the respected volume entitled “Great Jewish Quotations,” He is on the speaker's bureau of UJC, and Israel Bonds. Connect with Morton and ZOA... X                         x.com/MortonAKlein7                            x.com/ZOA_National WEBSITE             zoa.org  Interview recorded 11.4.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... WEBSITE              heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS          heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA    heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                   heartsofoak.org/shop/ *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on X twitter.com/TheBoschFawstin  TRANSCRIPT (Hearts of Oak) And it is wonderful to have Morton Klein with us from the Zionist Organization of America. Morton, thank you so much for your time today. (Morton Klein) It's great to be here during these very extraordinary and important times. They are, and that's probably what makes this conversation even more interesting with what is happening currently over in Israel. People can obviously follow you @MortonAKlein7. That is your Twitter handle. And ZOA, not Z-O-A, like the Americans like to say, ZOA.org, ZionistOrganisationOfAmerica.org. I'd encourage our viewers and listeners to use both of those resources and understand what is happening in the Middle East at the moment. Now, there's lots to talk about. You're obviously president of the Zionist Organization of America. You've got a number of other accolades into your name, but it is this specifically which I'm intrigued and want to have a conversation about. And actually, I saw your name on the back of Robert Spencer's book. We had him on a few weeks ago on the Palestinian delusion. And you were there as an individual promoting the book and endorsing it. So I thought, I need to reach out to Morton. So it's great to have you on. Lots to discuss. And I think probably if we can step back and ask about the term Zionism before we jump into what is happening in the current day Israel. And I certainly call myself a Christian Zionist. And that's from a biblical understanding 3,000 years since Jerusalem was founded as a capital of Israel under King David. And then much further back, the promise given to Abraham. But maybe that's a spiritual understanding of the term, and the term Zionism is not necessarily a spiritual concept. Maybe you can unpack a little bit the term Zionism before we delve into some of the other issues. It's really a very simple term. All it means is that the Jews have a right to their ancient homeland that was given to them, for those who believe in the Bible, and a couple of billion people do, by God. In fact, he gave the Jews the land that Israel controls now, and much more. So this is a fraction of what the Jewish homeland consists of, according to the Bible and what God has promised in the Bible. It is called the promised land because God promised it to the Jewish people. We are the people who God promised the land to. That's why it's called the promised land. But it's not only a biblical right to have a Jewish state, but numerous international legal resolutions also give that right. The League of Nations Covenant, Article 22, the British Mandate for Palestine, the UN Charter, Article 80, the San Remo Resolution, the Lodge-Fist Resolution, the Anglo-American Resolution, and more. Legally, under international law, gave this land to the Jews when it was essentially a wasteland, just a desert. When the Balfour Declaration said this land is going to be given as a mandate in trust for the Jewish people in 1917. And historically, the Jews have lived in this land for thousands of years. This has been the place where Jewish people lived and occupied and lived in for all this time. And so all Zionism means is the Jews have a right to a country, just like the French have a country, the Italians have a country, even the Irish have a country, and the British have a country, and the Jews. There are 56 Muslim countries in the world, 56 or 57, why can't there be one small, little, tiny Jewish country, which is one-eighth of 1% of the landmass of the Middle East? There are 22 Arab countries in the Middle East. Israel is one-eighth of 1% of that land. So Zionism is not a complicated term. It simply means the Jews have a right to a homeland, just like so many other people have it. And this is a homeland, unlike most other countries in the world, where the Jews have lived in for thousands and thousands of years. That's what Zionism means. Nothing more, nothing less. Over the weekend, I actually went to the Churchill war rooms in London. And part of the story on Churchill, obviously, is involvement in the Belfort Declaration. And you see those maps and the discussion of British politicians and their relationship with Israel and whether they were pro-Israel or not. And you realize Israel is tiny. And you expand it out. Now, the Middle East is large and Israel is tiny. And it makes you realize that most people, I think, have forgotten the size of Israel in comparison to the Middle East. And it is really quite small. The Arab countries are 800 times the size of Israel. As I said, it's one-eighth of 1% of the land mass of the Middle East. It is smaller than New Jersey. It is smaller than Rhode Island. It is a tiny, tiny land. With 7 million Jews and 2 million Arabs. It's remarkable. The Arabs have a right to live in Israel, the Muslim Arabs and the Arab Christians as well. They have a right to vote. They're in the parliament, Israel's parliament. They're in the Supreme Court. They're in judges and courts throughout Israel. Their doctors, almost half of the doctors in Hadassah, Israel's major hospital, are Arabs. And yet the world, the Arab world, says the Jews have no right to be there. And it's really a racist, anti-Semitic, hateful disgrace to say that the Jews can't have this little tiny homeland. We talked about the term Zionism, but I want to ask you about the Zionist Organization of America, their role, why it's needed. You've headed up the ZOA away for, what, 28 years now, I think? 31. 31, sorry. I've got my three years. I blame COVID for that. So that three years have disappeared. Do you want to just let us know why it exists and why it's needed? The Zionist Organization of America is the oldest and one of the largest pro-Israel groups in the United States, founded in 1897 for a sole purpose, to reestablish the Jewish state of Israel. That's why it was re-established. Past presidents include Louis Brandeis, a famous Supreme Court justice, Abahel Silver, Stephen Wise. These are famous Jewish leaders. And that's its original purpose. Once Israel was re-established in 1948, ZOA's role has been to fight for strong U.S.-Israel relations and for the safety and security and prosperity of the Jewish state of Israel. And also, by the way, in recent years, fight against the scourge, the ugly scourge of irrational, mindless, anti-Semitism, Jew hatred and Israel bashing. So that's really been our purpose. We have a legal division. We have people on Capitol Hill who are educating members of Congress about these issues. We take young kids to Israel twice a year. We take adults to Israel. We have a trip coming up in June for adults where we go all over Israel, including Judea and Samaria, Hebron, Afrat, Ariel, Maladumim, Eli, those smaller areas in Israel. And we also have a campus department. We're on 80 different campuses bringing in speakers, disseminating literature, telling the truth of the Arab-Islamic war against Israel and the West because that's what it is. It is an Arab-Islamic war against Israel and the West. We now see it in all the rallies on campuses and around the world. They say from the river to the sea, meaning Israel should not exist. They don't say there should be a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank and Gaza and half of Jerusalem. They say no Israel. So these are despicable, vicious, ugly human beings that want to destroy this tiny little Jewish state of Israel within any borders. They're not looking for a Palestinian state solution. They're looking for an end of Israel solution. And we're fighting against this with all of our heart and soul. Tell us about, because you mentioned it's the political fight, it's the media fight, you mentioned about on campuses with students. I mean, kind of break those down, because it is about winning hearts and souls and minds over to the position that Israel do have a right to exist like any other nation. And yet there seems to be a lot of pushback, certainly in our media and massively in our universities and educational establishments. It's incredible. After 80 years of re-establishing the state of Israel, remember 2,000 years ago, there was a Jewish state that was destroyed really by the Romans 2,000 years ago. This was the first Holocaust. The Romans murdered 600,000 Jews. And then they renamed this area Judea and Samaria, the Jewish state, Philistinia, translated to Palestine. So this is a Roman word. If this really was an Arab country, which it never was, why would they use a Roman name to name it? Palestine is a Roman name. Moreover, Arabs can't pronounce the letter P. They say Palestine with a B. They can't pronounce it. Would they name their own country with a letter that they can't even pronounce? There was never a Palestine. There were never any Palestinian kings and queens. The only state that ever existed in this area has been a Jewish state. In fact, 99% of the Palestinian Arabs live under their own control. Israel has given away Gaza and 40% of Judea and Samaria, the West Bank. 99% of the Arabs live in those areas under Abbas's rule, the dictator, terrorist, Abbas's rule. They have their own parliament, their own schools, their own textbooks, their own newspapers, their own radio and TV businesses, police force. They run their own lives totally in Gaza under Hamas, the Nazi-like dictatorship, and in Judea and Samaria under Abbas, another terrorist dictator. By the way, I don't know how many of your listeners know this, an ugly fact. Mahmoud Abbas pays Arabs a lifetime pension to murder Jews. If an Arab kills a Jew, They get a lifetime pension at five times the average rate of a salary of a Palestinian. It is very lucrative to murder Jews. They spend $400 million a year to murder Jews. How many people know this? Why would our college kids are defending a regime that pays people to murder Jews? By the way, and Americans, they've murdered Americans in Israel. And the Arab who murders Americans also gets a lifetime pension. And if the Arab was killed murdering a Jew or an American, his or her family gets the lifetime pension. So this is the most heinous regime on the face of the earth. And it is just mind-boggling that people around the world are supporting this regime and supporting Hamas in Israel's existential war. Hamas, Article 7 of their charter calls for the murder of every Jew on earth, every Jew on earth. Article 13 calls for the destruction of Israel. They massacred 1,200 innocent Jews, raped them, mutilated them, tortured them, and then kidnapped 250 mostly Jews. Six Americans, I might add, are left. And now they're saying that out of the 140 left, that they released 100, out of the 140 left, they're saying they don't think they have 40 Jews there. In other words, it's likely that these Hamas monsters have murdered all of the Jewish hostages, murdered them all. The world should wake up and understand this is an Islamic, radical Islamic war against the West and against the Jews. Mahmoud al-Zahar, the co-founder of Hamas, two months ago on the Internet, said, I want the world to understand this. This is the co-founder of Hamas. First, we're going to kill all the Jews, but we're not done after that. Next, we're going to kill all the despicable Christians. And then all the non-Muslims establish a caliphate where Islam rules the world. He said it two months ago. And so you have these non-Muslims supporting Hamas, who wants to kill every one of them. Not to mention, they immediately say every gay person will hang and kill immediately. The gay people, the transgender, they're dead immediately. So how are these left-wing students and left-wing people around the world supporting the most despicable ideology on the face of the earth, the ideology of the Hamas and Abbas regimes. I want to pick up on a few of those, and I would love for the Western liberals to have a pride rally through Gaza or West Bank and see how long that lasts. But that's a whole other issue. Modern-day Israel has been for 75 years, give or take a year, since 1948. And re-establishing that entity, that territory that had been Israel before the Romans removed, basically removed it from the face of the map. But tell us about that, because you obviously look closely at, since 1948, at the establishment, Israel has had to fight for its survival on a nearly daily basis. Israel's military spending is huge compared to other countries, and it must do that because it has to defend itself. I mean, tell us about that, because that 75 years, I see it as a Christian that Israel have the right to exist, have the right to take the land that is theirs, and seem to be a natural, progression from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to actually Israel re-establishing that in that vacuum. And yet many critique and mock and attack Israel simply for the right of existing in their land, which should be a given, really. Those who oppose the Jewish state's right to exist are mocking God Almighty from the Christian and Jewish Bibles, are mocking the United Nations resolutions and England's resolutions who controlled this legally, this land legally, since 1917. And it's nothing less than overt Jew hatred that's all it is. It's pure Jew hatred and Israel has offered a Palestinian state to the Arabs four times in the last 20 years, four times. Ehud Olmert was the most recent one, where Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, offered 97% of Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, 3% of Israel proper to make up for the 3% he couldn't give away because there's a half a million Jews living there. So Olmert offered virtually all of the West Bank, half of Jerusalem, billions of dollars in aid, and Mahmoud Abbas said, said, no. I called up the prime minister. How could he not turn down? This is not a compromise. You've given them every single part of the disputed territories and half of Jerusalem. And Olmert said to me, Abbas said to me, you must eliminate three clauses in the agreement. One, you must eliminate the clause that says we accept Israel as a Jewish state. Abbas said, I'll never accept Israel as a Jewish state. Two, you must eliminate the clause that says you must limit the number of Arabs we bring into Israel proper to 150,000. I want to bring in millions if I went into Israel. I will not accept a limitation on the number of Arabs I bring into Israel proper. And three, you must eliminate the clause that says no further claims. And the Olmert says, but that's the deal. We're giving you everything, virtually everything. It ends all the claims. It's done. Peace. And Abbas said, I won't sign it until you get rid of those three clauses. So they've been offered a state four times, turned it down every time in the last 20 years. In the last 80 years, they've been offered a state eight times, starting with the Peel Commission in 1937, where they offered 95% of the rest of Palestine, 80% of original Palestine mandate went to Jordan. There's only 20% left of the original Palestine mandate. The Peel Commission offered 95% of the rest of Palestine to the Arabs, not 5% of the Jews, the Arabs said no. In other words, they say no. They don't want a state. They want Israel destroyed. They won't accept a Jewish state. That's the deal. Because from 1948 to 1967, the Arabs controlled all of the West Bank, all of Gaza, half of Jerusalem. They had it. Did they establish a state when they personally controlled it? No. Because the goal is not a Palestinian state. It's Israel's destruction. It's Israel's destruction. Let me show you a picture if you can see this. This is the Palestinian Authority's official emblem that they commissioned. This is their official emblem. You notice it's the shape of all of Israel with a keffiyeh over all of it, not just the West Bank and Gaza and Eastern Jerusalem, all of it. Arafat, the arch terrorist in the centre, and a Kalashnikov rifle. So their official emblem is all of Israel is ours. What more proof do you need that they have no interest in a Palestinian state solution? They have in an end of Israel solution. That's what they're interested in. And by the way, I can show you another thing. It's quite interesting. Every Arab that murders a Jew gets a poster. This is one of the Arabs who murdered a Jew. This is on all the high school walls, all the university walls, calling him a martyr and a hero. This is just one of hundreds of posters honouring Jews. And when a terrorist who killed Jews dies, they have a parade and they honour him. What a great man or woman he was. And they hand out candy and sweets to each other, praising murder. They glorify murder. They glorified massacres. They glorify rape. They glorify terrorism. This is a vicious, Nazi-like, despicable regime. And the world has to wake up because the radical Muslims are coming after everyone that's not Muslim, not just the Jews. People better start to understand this and start supporting Israel, who's fighting a war against Hamas, to protect the entire world from radical Islam, not just Israel. Is part of the problem that, I know on the Jewish side, you've got a weird mix of those who support Israel and Israel's right to exist from a biblical point of view, from a spiritual point of view, and those who support it from probably a social, historical, cultural point of view. So you've got that weird mix in Judaism, which always confuses me. But then on the other side, you've also got the world refusing to recognize that this is a clash between Islam and Judaism. And the West thinks that you can come up with a solution which is a land-based solution. And if you've got one side wanting to destroy the other, actually, you've got a problem. And the world doesn't seem to want to wake up to the reality that this is not simply a land issue, that the Islamic nations will not be happy until Israel doesn't exist. Am I correct in my assumption or am I completely off? The proof of what you just said is the fact they've been offered a state, the Palestinian Arabs, eight times in the last 80 years, four times in the last 20 years. They've said no. When they controlled all this land themselves for 19 years, 48 to 67, they didn't establish a state. They still were committing terrorist acts. This is a religious war. war. The radical Muslims believe that the Jews or the Christians have no right to any land in the Middle East that is all theirs. Lebanon was a Christian country. The radical Muslims destroyed Lebanon. It is now a Muslim country. They massacred hundreds of thousands of Christians until Hezbollah. Now Hezbollah has taken control of Lebanon. So this is a religious war, and that's why it has nothing to do with land. Land for peace is nonsense. It's been offered repeatedly. They say no. It's a religious war. The issue is they don't want Israel in their midst. They don't want a Christian country in their midst. They don't want non-Muslims in their midst. I've met with many Christians who live in various parts of the Arab world. They're scared to death for their lives. Their lives are made miserable and dangerous by their fellow Muslims. This is a reality, so yes land for peace has been offered repeatedly, turned down every single time, it's a religious war. The radical Arabs will not be satisfied until Israel doesn't exist, just like they weren't satisfied until Lebanon was no longer a Christian country. Tell us I'm curious the ZOA obviously exists in the US in America and America, I think was Truman was one of the first leaders to actually recognize the state of Israel uh back in, just after the creation of Israel in 48 and there is that close link between America and Israel. Do you want to just expand on that a little bit? Because geopolitically, that's a fascinating relationship. And maybe then we can get up later into where it now sits at the moment between that maybe being more fractured than it has been. But yeah, America and Israel have always been strong allies, starting with that Truman Declaration of Israel's right to exist in 1948. Harry Truman, as president of the United States in 1948, was the first country in the vote at the United Nations to recognize the state of Israel. Or maybe they cast the deciding vote, I'm not sure. But they certainly cast the vote to support Israel. But the polls at that time in America showed Americans supported Israel by 80% of Americans supported the right of the Jewish people to have a state. So this was overwhelming support in the United States. The chief of staff to White House counsel to Truman was begging Truman to recognize it. Quoting from the Bible, he repeatedly quoted the lines from the Bible saying, this land was given to the Jews, Mr. President, you must recognize it. And by the way, many presidents since then have publicly stated there should be an Israel before there was an Israel. John Adams, Franklin Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, and many others have in their speeches, I've said, we hope and pray that a Jewish state is re-established. So there's been a love affair with the leaders of America and the American people and the Jewish state since America was created. George Washington was a supporter. In fact, this is an interesting story. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and I believe John Adams, I think. Proposed that the seal of the United States, which is now an eagle holding out its wings, they proposed the seal should be Moses splitting the sea as the pharaoh and the military Egyptians were coming across the sea to come and kill all the Jews who had just escaped. All the Israelis, the Hebrews who had just escaped, and the sea splits and swallows up all the military while the Jews are watching in the scene beforehand and cheering. That's the seal that Franklin Jefferson and Adams wanted as a seal of America. That's the kind of connection America's had to the Jewish people. It was barely voted down, barely voted. It almost became the seal. So to this day, in a recent poll, who do you support in this war in America, Hamas or Israel? I'm shocked. It's only 82 percent should be 100 percent. But it's 82% say Israel should be fighting against this vicious regime of Hamas. So there's overwhelming support in America. There's even overwhelming support in Congress. It has weakened. There are now a number of congressmen who are speaking out inappropriately in a hostile way toward Israel. But nonetheless, the overwhelming majority of the Congress is supportive of Israel. And that's been true really since Israel was – America was established in 1776. There's been support for the re-establishment of a state and now for the state itself. Well let me throw in some other kind of facts on that, I think the US is Israel's largest trading partner, I think I read is about 50 billion trade back and forward and of course you got the military aid that goes to Israel every year of billions and you mentioned the beginning about the U.S. backing Israel in the U.N. And the U.S. has used a veto dozens and dozens of times in the U.N. Supporting Israel, backing Israel. And, of course, President Trump moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem despite all the pushback, despite the debate over that. But all of that is actually Israel is shoulder to shoulder. And there have been a time where maybe Britain was shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel. That is still there in relation to Europe, but actually it is the U.S. that seems to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel. Well, let me first tell you about, you mentioned the aid, billions of dollars in aid. Let me tell something that I'm sure most of your viewers do not know. Israel was getting half a billion dollars in aid, 500 million, until the late 70s. Then Carter was pushing the deal with Israel to give away the entire Sinai which was five times the size of Israel. Israel when they controlled the Sinai developed four major oil wells themselves in the Sinai these oil wells gave Israel two and a half billion dollars in income in 1978. And Menachem Begin, the prime minister, then said, we cannot give away the Sinai because we will lose two and a half billion dollars of oil wells we found, we developed ourselves. And we can't do it. Carter said, I will make up the difference. I'll give you the extra two and a half billion. So it went from 500 million to three billion. But this is not really America's money per se. Israel gave up two and a half billion. So $2.5 billion of the aid Israel gets is the fact that they gave up the oil wells. And do you know, Peter, how much income today those four oil wells would be delivering to Israel? $10 billion because oil prices have gone up dramatically. So they've given up a tremendous amount. And people forget. Do you know how much aid Egypt gets from America? It's never mentioned. $2.5 billion. $2.5 billion for Egypt. Jordan, $1 billion. The Palestinian Authority, a terrorist dictatorship, gets almost $1 billion in aid right now. So people forget about the aid others get. And with Israel, 97% of the aid they get is spent in America, buying equipment here in America. So it comes right back to America in any event. And you mentioned that Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem. I was intimately involved in that issue with Senator John Kyle, who's a hero that no one even remembers. He's the one who really pushed this issue more than anyone else. And the vote to move the embassy in 1995 was 93 to 5 in the Senate, 93 to 5, 347 to 37 in the House. In other words, over 95% of Congress voted to move the embassy. Bill Clinton was against it. Now, he couldn't veto it because it would be overridden because it was such an overwhelming support. So he ignored it. If you ignore a law, if a president ignores a law, it automatically becomes law in 30 days. and it became law. And then Senator Dianne Feinstein had put in what's known as a poison pill. She said, any president can say, I'm not moving it if there's a security issue. And each president for 18 years said there's a security issue and never moved it. But people, of course, predicted if you move it, there'll be violence all over the place. Of course, it turned out to be completely false. There was no violence. But let me tell you something else that I'm sure most of your viewers do not know. Of course, they want to move the embassy to Jerusalem because Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Jerusalem has been the holiest state to the Jewish people since time immemorial. But the Arabs say this is their holy city. Well, is it? Is Jerusalem holy to Muslims? Jerusalem was the capital only of Israel throughout history, never of any other country. When the Palestinians conquered Palestine in 716, they made Ramleh their capital, not Jerusalem. It's called the Temple Mount, not the Mosque Mount because the Jewish temple was on this area. The majority of people living in Jerusalem since 1850, the first census, have been Jews. The overwhelming majority of people living there since 1850 have been Jews. The Jewish holy books mention the word Jerusalem 700 times. How many times is the word Jerusalem in the Koran? How many times is the word Jerusalem, if it's so holy to Muslims, this is their holy book, how many times is it mentioned? Zero. Not a single time. How can it be so holy to them if it's not in their holy book? So they say, Muhammad went from Jerusalem to heaven. But that's not what the Koran says. Read the Koran. It says that Muhammad went from the furthest mosque to heaven. It didn't say Jerusalem. And they say, well, the furthest mosque was in Jerusalem. Well, when the Koran was written, there was not a single mosque in all of Jerusalem. So if Muhammad went from the furthest mosque, it couldn't be in Jerusalem. There were no mosques there. So the truth is that Jerusalem is not holy to Muslims. In fact, from 48 to 67, when they controlled Jerusalem, When they captured that war, they captured it. They allowed it. The Jordan and the Arabs allowed it to become a slum. There was virtually no water, electricity or plumbing. There were 58 synagogues in Jerusalem that they captured. They destroyed all 58 of them to eliminate proof that Jews, this was a holy place to them. So that's another thing that most people don't understand. Jerusalem is minimally holy to Muslims at most. It is a holy to Jews and possibly Christians. I'm not a Christian, so I don't know the Bible so well, the Christian Bible, that may be holy to Christians, but it is not holy to Muslims. Yeah, well, I think the holiness to Christians is simply because of the biblical story. And without Judaism, there'd be no Christianity. Without Judaism, there'd be no Jesus. But I love the way Muslims can claim hold of a city because Muhammad flew there on a winged donkey in his dreams. So if we could all actually take our dreams and claim to hold, we could be in paradise more. We could be anywhere. But again there was no, it wasn't from Jerusalem it's from the furthest mosque, no mosque in Jerusalem, it can't be Jerusalem and by the way this is interesting, not a single Arab leader except from Jordan ever visited Jerusalem when the when the Arabs controlled it. It meant nothing to them, Mecca and Medina are the holy cities for Muslims, not Jerusalem, it's high time we make that publicly clear. No 100 % and Muhammad probably never went to Jerusalem if Muhammad did exist, but that's a whole other conversation I'll take up with Robert Spencer. Can I ask you, because the support for Israel comes from different sections of society, and certainly there is a strong support from churches, from Christianity, not across the board, certainly, but there is. Can you tell us, where does the support, the backing, individuals, organizations standing up for Israel's right to exist, where does that come from? I mean, have you been surprised maybe with some of the areas it's come from that you weren't expecting? The strongest support in America for the Jewish state and the Jewish people comes from the 80 million evangelical Christians. Why are they so supportive of Israel as a Jewish state? Because it's in the Bible. Because God gave the land to the Jews. When I speak at churches, they say it's in the Bible. This land was given to Jews by God. End of discussion. So and the Jewish people are not nearly as strong Bible believers as the Christians. So you have stronger support for Israel among the Christian evangelicals than you do, frankly, among the Jews. So for most Christians, it's simply a matter of religion and God. For others who are not religious, they recognize that this land was given to Israel under international law. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration and many UN resolutions after it, and they accept the fact that that's right. Plus, they see it's reasonable. Why should there be 56 Muslim states and not a single Jewish state where the Jews can practice their religion in the way they're supposed to? So I think it's just a rational support for what's right, for what's moral, for what's decent, for what's just, that most non-religious people support the right of the Jews to have the state. It's a tiny little state. There's over 200 million Muslims in the Middle East. There's only 7 million Jews. Imagine if there were – there's 22 Arab states. Imagine if there were 22 Jewish states and one tiny little Arab state the size of Israel. And the Jews would be saying, we want a 23rd Jewish state carved out of this tiny Arab state. The world would say, this is ridiculous. The Arabs have nothing, this little tiny state. Leave them alone. But that's the situation we have. 22 Arab states, 99.5% of the land mass, and they still want to make Israel even smaller in order to make it easier to destroy. That's the basis. It's a religious war to destroy the Jewish state. It has nothing to do with land per se. It has nothing to do with the Palestinian state. Nothing. Because they could have had it eight times in the last 80 years. They said no every single time. Can I finish just with the current situation, which we'll not give justice to in our time, but just to touch on it. And I am perplexed at how Israel seemed to be so bad at the PR war, at the publicity war, the media war. But I've been intrigued watching kind of different countries holding with Israel and then pulling back in the media conversation. And what is it like, maybe for our viewers, I mean, our viewers are 50-50, US, UK and Europe. Maybe just give us your thoughts on where the media and the government is in terms of support for Israel over the last six months. You mean the US government? Yeah, yeah. This government in America under Joe Biden and Barack Hussein Obama, Obama never left Washington. Every president, when they're finished their term or terms, they go back home. Obama stayed in Washington. Obama is running the show behind the scenes. How do I know this? Because almost every person that Biden has appointed that affects Israel is a friend of Obama's, virtually every one, and is hostile to Israel. This government of Biden, Obama, Blinken is the most hostile to Israel we've ever had in America, I'm sorry to say. So, and when the war started, Biden did come to Israel two days after the Hamas massacre. And he said he has total support for Israel. But in that speech, the original speech on the tarmac, Biden said we need to establish a Palestinian state. Now, that is his first speech two days after the massacre of 1,200 innocent Jews. What's he bringing up a state for? It shows the hostility he has toward Israel. And now he's pushing for a state relentlessly. He condemns Israel for killing too many civilians. Let me tell you something. The record is this is the smallest number of civilians per capita ever killed in any war in history. And the reason for that is Israel drops leaflets before they hit a building to tell the Arabs to get out of the building. They put knock bombs where they knock on the top of the roof as a signal, get out of here. They call on cell phones, get out of here. They protect civilians to the detriment of their own soldiers. And when Hamas says 32,000 civilians were killed, first of all, Hamas is a terrorist Nazi-like monster group. Who believes them anyway? But the fact is 15,000 of the alleged 30,000 or so have been terrorists. These are combatants. And the other 15,000, a number of distinguished statisticians have studied the data from Hamas and say these are grotesquely exaggerated. It is only a few thousand that have been killed. And moreover, they say, look at what they say every day, Hamas' division telling you how many civilians died. The same number of civilians die every single day according to the data of Hamas. That's not possible. This showed you how fraudulent the data is. So we have to really thank Israel for being extraordinarily humane in protecting civilians And let me tell you, in any war, innocent civilians die. You can't have war without civilians dying. If you say to yourself, I won't go to war unless I can assure no civilians will die, the tyrants will win. Hitler will win. Hamas will win. Because civilians naturally will die in a war. It's tragic. And now when Biden went crazy, when Israel mistakenly killed seven aid workers, in wars, these types of tragic mistakes happen all the time. In America's wars, we have killed many civilians' envoys, mistaking them for terrorists. In Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, I can list them. I won't. We've hit wedding parties by mistake, killing 50 people attending a wedding, including the bride. So this happens in war. So the fact that Biden is making a major deal out of this tragic mistake just shows he is trying to find anything to put enormous pressure on Israel to set up a Palestinian terrorist state. And remember, Israel gave away all of Gaza. And what did they get in return? They got a Hamas regime and 30,000 rockets aimed at civilians, 30,000 since 2005 when the regime was established. Why is it wise to give them even more land, the West Bank and Gaza, headed by who, Hamas, by Abbas, by another terrorist? It'll give them more power to endanger Israel. And this state would be on Israel's longest border, directly adjacent to 70% of Israel's population. It would be a tragic mistake to establish a state. That's why the Israeli people, 80% and more say we cannot have it, it's too dangerous. Biden has become enormously hostile to Israel, despite the fact that overwhelming numbers of Americans support Israel, and we are devastated by this. We're terribly disappointed by this. But outside of this regime and Obama's first regime, the American governments have been extraordinarily supportive of Israel throughout the establishment of Israel and throughout America's own establishment in 1776. You know, well we'll finish it up, there my criticism of Israel is they were for 13 years, they were far too patient with Hamas whenever they pulled out in 2010 to actually going in 2023 and it wasn't of their own accord, they went in actually, it was because of that attack on 7th October, so Israel had been remarkably reserved I think in how how they've dealt with them, and maybe they should have been a heck of a lot stronger. But that's another conversation. Morton, I really appreciate you coming along. I do thoroughly love and admire the work that ZOA do there. I know people go on the website, they can find not only your work on campuses, they can find news articles, they can donate, and there's many ways they can support you on ZOA.org. So thank you so much for your time today. Peter, thank you for your holy and important work to give a podium to people who are telling the truth of the Arab-Islamic war against Israel and the West. Very holy work you do. Thank you.

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The Health Ranger Report
Brighteon Broadcast News, Apr 14, 2023 - EMERGENCY ALERT: Iran strikes Israel as region plunges into escalation cycle that could end in NUCLEAR WAR

The Health Ranger Report

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2024 75:07


- Iran launched an estimated 300+ drones and missiles at mostly rural military targets in Israel, deliberately avoiding civilian targets. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) releases a statement: “In response to the crime of the Zionist regime in the attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, the IRGC air force hit certain targets in the territories of the Zionist regime with dozens of drones and missiles.” - Panic buying of food and supplies across Israel, including Tel Aviv. - Iran says this is the conclusion of its response to Israel's April 1 attack on Iran's consulate building in Damascus. - Iran has a right to respond to Israel's violent April 1 attack, under UN Charter, Article 51: (source) (https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml) “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of collective or individual self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations...” - Israel provoked Iran with its illegal missile strike against Iran's consulate building in Damascus, Syria, on April 1, killing several high-ranking Iranian military leaders. This was an act of war by Israel. - The U.S. and UN utterly failed to condemn Israel's illegal and highly destabilizing April 1 attack on Damascus, confirming that western nations will never hold Israel accountable to any rule of law, any conventions, treaties or UN demands. Had western nations condemned Israel, Iran says it would not have deemed its response necessary. - When the west claims Iran is “escalating” war in the region, this is a dishonest assessment. Israel escalated the war by provoking Iran in the first place. Iran responded with a very measured, limited response, not an escalatory wave. - Israel's claim of intercepting “99%” of Iran's incoming drones and missiles is, of course, complete propaganda. The first wave accomplished exactly what Iran had planned: Forcing Israel to use up its anti-air defense munitions, knowing the U.S. can't replace them in a timely manner. - Iran now claims to have disabled some portion of Israel's Iron Dome defense systems through cyber hacking (unverified). - Israel now says it plans to retaliate against Iran for Iran's retaliation against Israel's April 1 attack. This means Israel is now escalating the conflict even further, which is exactly what Israel hoped to achieve. - Israel has already begun to launch missile attacks on Tehran, with several explosions reported. For more updates, visit: http://www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport NaturalNews videos would not be possible without you, as always we remain passionately dedicated to our mission of educating people all over the world on the subject of natural healing remedies and personal liberty (food freedom, medical freedom, the freedom of speech, etc.). Together, we're helping create a better world, with more honest food labeling, reduced chemical contamination, the avoidance of toxic heavy metals and vastly increased scientific transparency. ▶️ Every dollar you spend at the Health Ranger Store goes toward helping us achieve important science and content goals for humanity: https://www.healthrangerstore.com/ ▶️ Sign Up For Our Newsletter: https://www.naturalnews.com/Readerregistration.html ▶️ Brighteon: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport ▶️ Join Our Social Network: https://brighteon.social/@HealthRanger ▶️ Check In Stock Products at: https://PrepWithMike.com

Multipolarista
Iran had legal right to counter-attack Israel in self-defense

Multipolarista

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2024 12:35


Israel attacked Iran's embassy in Syria on April 1, in a blatant act of war. Iran had a legal right to respond in self-defense, according to article 51 of the UN Charter, which is exactly what it did by launching missiles and drone strikes on April 13. But Western governments are absurdly portraying Tehran as the aggressor. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1p1-Psc0Un8 Topics 0:00 Intro 1:11 Israel attacked Iran first 2:50 Biden & Sunak erase history 3:57 US, UK, France blocked UN Security Council condemnation 5:14 Iran invoked article 51 of UN charter 7:02 UN chief Antonio Guterres' hypocrisy 8:32 West is destroying international law 10:46 World War III? 12:25 Outro

Global Connections Television Podcast
Dr. Augusto Lopez-Claros, Executive Director, Global Governance Forum

Global Connections Television Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2024 26:02


Dr. Augusto Lopez-Claros, Executive Director of the Global Governance Forum, highlights his recent book,, “Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century.” Global institutions, such as the United Nations, confront the world's major problems, such as climate change, Israeli-Hamas War, Russian invasion of Ukraine, attacks on democracies, and nuclear proliferation. The United Nations has been the epicenter of confronting on these problems.  Unfortunately, many national goals are not in conformance with international goals. Also, there is an unraveling of the nuclear arms treaties over the last 30-years. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for the “Summit of the Future Conference” in September to deal with many of these problems. To be more successful, the UN must begin to reform the institution, especially the Security Council, as well as to discuss overhauling the UN Charter. The main challenges are to protect democracy in the UN and worldwide and have a more carbon-free lifestyle. 

Global Governance Podcast
Daniel Perell on Why We Need to Rethink our Global Governance Architecture

Global Governance Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2024 51:11


Daniel Perell currently serves as a co-chair of the Steering Group of the Coalition for the UN We Need, an umbrella group of civil society organizations that are collaborating to modernize the UN system, to better adapt it to the needs of the 21st century. He is thus extremely well-qualified to share insights into the forthcoming UN Summit of the Future and the extent to which it might become a catalyst for future transformational innovations, desperately needed in a world increasingly destabilized by climate change, entrenched nationalisms, persistent poverty and inequality and other such global challenges. In this wide-ranging podcast, he shares keen insights on the way forward and how to make the transition from reaffirming important principles embedded in the UN Charter to implementing a broader and more ambitious vision of reforms that will deliver actual solutions to the problems we face. Learn more on GlobalGovernanceForum.org

Geopolitics & Empire
Alfred de Zayas: The West Has Become a Totalitarian Dystopia, The World Has Become Multipolar

Geopolitics & Empire

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2024 121:33


Alfred de Zayas discusses how democracy and media and institutions in the West have become fake and are morphing into Orwellian totalitarianism. However, the world is changing, we are no longer the unipolar world of Washington and Brussels, we are a multipolar world...the global majority is not anymore with the West. NATO is a criminal organization with a history of violence and violation of the UN Charter. The EU is a scam. We are living the totalitarian dystopia that George Orwell predicted. He explains the true history behind the Russia-Ukraine War. With the support of the U.S., Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Julian Assange's fate does not look good. He doesn't think the West has it in them to start WW3. He never gives up hope and is optimistic in the long-term. Watch On BitChute / Brighteon / Rokfin / Rumble / Substack Geopolitics & Empire · Alfred de Zayas: The West Has Become a Totalitarian Dystopia, The World Has Become Multipolar #404 *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.comDonate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donationsConsult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopoliticseasyDNS (use code GEOPOLITICS for 15% off!) https://easydns.comEscape The Technocracy course (15% discount using link) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopoliticsPassVult https://passvult.comSociatates Civis (CitizenHR, CitizenIT, CitizenPL) https://societates-civis.comWise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites Alfred de Zayas' Human Rights Corner https://dezayasalfred.wordpress.com Website http://alfreddezayas.com X https://twitter.com/alfreddezayas Books https://www.claritypress.com/book-author/alfred-de-zayas CounterPunch https://www.counterpunch.org/author/alfred-de-zayas Geneva School of Diplomacy https://genevadiplomacy.ch OHCHR Bio http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IntOrder/Pages/AlfredDeZayas.aspx About Alfred de Zayas Alfred-Maurice de Zayas studied history and law at Harvard, where he obtained his J.D. He practiced corporate law with the New York law firm Simpson Thacher and Bartlett and is a retired member of the New York and Florida Bar. He obtained a doctorate in history for the University of Göttingen in Germany. Mr. de Zayas has been visiting professor of law at numerous universities including the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Graduate Institute of the University of Geneva, the DePaul University Law School (Chicago), the Human Rights Institute at the Irish National University (Galway)and the University of Trier (Germany). At present he teaches international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy. In 2009 de Zayas was a member of the UN workshop that drafted a report on the human right to peace, which was subsequently discussed and further elaborated by the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council. He is also a signatory of the Declaración de Bilbao and Declaración de Santiago de Compostela on the Human Right to Peace. He served as a consultant to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the issue of mercenaries. De Zayas is an expert for civil and political rights and has published nine books on a variety of legal and historical issues, including “United Nations Human Rights Committee Case Law” (together with Jakob th. Möller, N.P. Engel 2009), and has been co-author and co-editor of numerous other books, including "International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms" (together with Gudmundur Alfredsson and Bertrand Ramcharan). His scholarly articles in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford Encyclopedia of Human Rights and Macmillan Encyclopedia of Genocide, encompass the prohibition of aggression, universal jurisdiction, the right to the homeland, mass population transfers, minority rights,

The Next Page
A Breakthrough: six transformative shifts (Part II) with Adam Day

The Next Page

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2024 32:17


Will we have a breakthrough or a breakdown? In this second episode with Adam Day, Head of the Geneva Office of the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, we continue the exploration of the Six Transformative Shifts proposed by the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism for a more secure and sustainable future. Adam Day talks with Francesco Pisano, Director of the Library & Archives about the second three shifts: digital and data governance, peace and prevention and anticipatory action. They also discuss how the UN architecture that was set up post-World War II has aged and what a review of the UN Charter would look like. Resources HLAB Report: https://highleveladvisoryboard.org/breakthrough/ Our Common Agenda policy briefs: https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda/policy-briefs United Nations University Centre for Policy Research: https://unu.edu/cpr/abouthttps://unu.edu/explore Slaughter, A.-M. (2017). The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in a Networked World. Yale University Press. Previous episodes with Adam Day: A Breakthrough. Part I: https://unitednationslibrarygeneva.podbean.com/e/a-breakthrough-six-transformative-shifts-part-i/ A time for change and effective multilateralism – a conversation with Adam Day | The Next Page (podbean.com) Where to listen to this episode  Apple podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-next-page/id1469021154 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10fp8ROoVdve0el88KyFLy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R06Hz-T2C0M&t=3s Content    Guest: Adam Day Host: Francesco Pisano Producer: Amy Smith Editing and social media designs: Menga Chen   Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva 

Daily News Brief by TRT World
January 26, 2024

Daily News Brief by TRT World

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2024 3:12


*) World awaits ICJ verdict on Gaza genocide case against Israel The top UN court will hand down an initial decision in a case against Israel over what South Africa and many others say is a genocide in besieged Gaza, a landmark ruling closely watched in the Middle East and around the world. The International Court of Justice could order Israel to stop its war on Gaza or to facilitate humanitarian aid. The court will not, however, pass judgement on whether or not Israel is actually committing genocide in Gaza. *) US, Israel seal huge arms deal as Tel Aviv rains bombs on Gaza The US and Israel have concluded a massive arms deal that includes the supply of F-35 and F-15 fighter jets to Tel Aviv, Israeli Channel 12 reported. The channel cited officials from the Israeli Defence Ministry who participated in the deal as saying an agreement has been reached between the US and Israel in which the Israeli army will be supplied with drones and thousands of rounds of ammunition in the coming days. The officials said the deal is of an exceptional size as Israeli war continues in Gaza and fighting in the north with the Lebanese Hezbollah group escalates. *) Pakistan alleges Indian involvement in killing of two citizens on its soil Pakistan has accused neighbouring India's intelligence agency of involvement in the extrajudicial killings of its citizens. Islamabad said it had “credible evidence” linking two Indian agents to the assassinations of two Pakistanis in Pakistan last year. Pakistan's foreign office said the assassination of Pakistani nationals on Pakistani soil was a violation of the country's sovereignty and a breach of the UN Charter. *) India razes Muslim shops in Mumbai after controversial temple opening Authorities in India's financial capital Mumbai have torn down several Muslim-owned makeshift shopfronts after religious clashes sparked by a divisive temple that was opened this week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Minor clashes broke out Sunday in parts of Mumbai, including one incident where Hindus chanting religious slogans passed through a Muslim neighbourhood on the megacity's outskirts. No serious injuries were reported in the melee but by Tuesday, authorities had called in excavators to knock down more than a dozen shopfronts belonging to Muslims in that locality, according to local media reports. And finally… *) ‘Salt-tea' suggestion kicks off a storm in a teacup and rocks US-UK ties The US Embassy in London has stepped in after an American professor made an “unthinkable” suggestion that “threatens the very foundation” of the US-UK “special relationship.” Michelle Francl, a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, authored a just-released book, “Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea,” in which she suggested that adding a pinch of salt to tea could help reduce its bitterness. Her suggestions, however, are anathema to Britain's tea culture. It prompted the US embassy to issue a statement, ensuring the “good people of the UK that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain's national drink is not official United States policy. And never will be.”

War Studies
Israel-Hamas war: International Law and the Use of Force with Professor Marko Milanovic

War Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2023 37:46


Israel's military response to the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas has been subject to much discussion. In a two-part series, we consider specific questions related to the use of force, jus ad bellum, and the laws governing the conduct of hostilities, means, and methods of warfare, referred to as jus in bello. In this episode, Dr Maria Varaki, Lecturer in International Law at King's College London, speaks to Marko Milanovic, Professor of Public international Law at the University of Reading and prolific author in Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian and Criminal Law. They discuss Professor Milanovic's blog post ‘Does Israel Have the Right to Defend Itself?' in EJIL Talk, exploring his legal analysis of complex questions related to the right of self-defence under article 51 of the UN Charter and the concept of proportionality. -- In response to the ongoing situation and humanitarian crisis, all those at King's College London affected by the events in Israel and Gaza can access support here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/students/support-for-students-and-staff-affected-by-the-israel-and-gaza-conflict

Ralph Nader Radio Hour
Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?

Ralph Nader Radio Hour

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2023 75:14


Ralph welcomes Allan Brownfeld from the American Council for Judaism to discuss, along with our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, the history of Jewish anti-Zionism and how Judaic principles can conflict with the Zionist project. We also review how university presidents recently responded to questioning from a congressional committee about free speech on campus.Allan Brownfeld is the Editor of Issues, the publication of the American Council for Judaism (an 80 year-old organization that has opposed Zionism since its inception) and a syndicated columnist who has worked as associate editor of The Lincoln Review and a contributing editor to such publications as Human Events, The St. Croix Review, and The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Mr Brownfeld has served as a staff aide to a U.S. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the U.S. Senate Internal Subcommittee.Everybody is afraid of this label “antisemite” if they criticize Israel. Israel has succeeded—in fact, it's a tactic used by the Israeli government. The former Education Minister [Shulamit Aloni] said it very clearly—when someone in Europe attacks us in any way, we bring up the Holocaust. In America, if anyone attacks us, we call them antisemitic. That's silencing criticism.Allan BrownfeldWhat has happened in recent years can be compared to idolatry. Just as in the Bible when we have people worshiping the golden calf, we have Jews now worshiping not the universal God, but the state of Israel has become the focus of attention—has become almost the object of worship. And I think that this will change as Israel's behavior continues as it is now, and as Jewish Americans slowly come to realize that the values they hold dear—religious freedom, separation of church and state—are exactly the opposite values that the state of Israel promotes.Allan BrownfeldIt's good in any criticism to criticize the Netanyahu regime rather than Israel. There's a lot of opposition to Netanyahu in Israel [and he doesn't represent all Israelis] any more than Trump represents Americans. And we're seeing here—as Allan has pointed out—the most extreme right-wing, militaristic, jingoistic government in the history of Israel, headed by Netanyahu. And he's let the military run riot in Gaza. It's out of control.Ralph NaderBruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law.  Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.What speaks volumes about [the Harvard Board of Overseers] statement is that it pretends that the only thing that has happened is October 7. Suddenly the world stopped. Nothing happened afterwards. It ignores completely what's ongoing in Gaza, which I think speaks volumes about the bias and the prejudice there.Bruce FeinIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantis1. On Tuesday December 12th, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first congressional hearing on Corporate Crime since 1980. This hearing consisted of two panels, one made up of government witnesses and another featuring civilians, including Professor Brandon Garrett – architect of the Corporate Prosecution Registry. The main focus of the hearing was the decades-long decline in corporate criminal prosecutions at the Department of Justice, and what the Department needs to pursue a more expansive vision of corporate criminal justice. The full hearing is available at the Senate Judiciary Committee website. 2. On December 7th, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, in light of the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza. Article 99 is a rarely used provision of the UN charter which allows the secretary-general to bring to the attention of the Security Council “any matter which…may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security,” per AP. The last time Article 99 was invoked was nearly half a century ago, and was triggered by clashes between India and Pakistan that eventually led to the creation of Bangladesh. 3. However, the United States again vetoed the UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. The United States was the sole member of the council to vote against the resolution, with even close allies like France and Japan voting in favor. The United Kingdom abstained from the vote. According to AP, “Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the council that Israel's objective is ‘the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip' and ‘the dispossession and forcible displacement of the Palestinian people.'” 4. The Mayor of Burbank, California, Konstantine Anthony has endorsed Representative Barbara Lee for Senate. Anthony had previously endorsed Congressman Adam Schiff – whose Congressional district includes the city of Burbank – but withdrew his endorsement and switched over to Lee because of her principled position in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza. In a statement, Mayor Anthony said “We are in a moment of great reflection in this county…Congresswoman Barbara Lee is the progressive choice for our time.” Barbara Lee has been an extremely progressive and consistent voice on foreign policy issues, famously being the only member of Congress that did not vote for the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which she called a “blank check for endless war,” per KTLA. 5. Semafor's Joseph Zeballos-Roig reports Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown is claiming that Democrats and Republicans are “making progress to expand the child tax credit” in a deal which would “revive R[esearch] &D[evelopment] [tax] deductions + accelerated depreciation for businesses.” This bipartisan gang hopes to push this through by mid-January, so Americans would see the benefit by the next tax season. Brown himself is facing a steep reelection challenge in his state of Ohio next year. 6. Two major unions in Hawaii – UNITE HERE and the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union – are calling on the state of Hawaii to take unprecedented action to ensure locals are able to stay on Maui. In short, they are demanding, via the Honolulu Star Advertiser, that local governments take over vacation homes and convert them into permanent housing for Hawaii residents. The housing shortage in Maui has become particularly acute following the disastrous fires on the island earlier this year. 7. In Guatemala, Bloomberg reports the Public Prosecutor's Office has announced its intention to nullify the 2023 general election results, citing vague “irregularities,” in an escalation of the legal coup the corrupt ruling clique has been attempting to pull off against President-elect Bernardo Arevalo and his Semilla Party. The Electoral Supreme Tribunal has stated that the elections “won't be repeated.” For its part, the United States State Department is opposing attempts to subvert the elections, characterizing these attempts as “anti-democratic actions…constitut[ing] evidence of…clear intent to delegitimize Guatemala's free and fair elections and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.” The U.S. has also announced that it will impose visa restrictions on the individuals involved in “undermining democracy and the rule of law.” 8. Finally, back in 2021 the National Retail Federation released a report claiming that “‘organized retail crime' was responsible for half the $94.5B in store merchandise” stolen. This finding was widely reported and served as a bedrock claim for cities increasing their policing budgets and backlash against reform prosecutors after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Now, the Federation is retracting this claim, admitting “organized retail crime” was only responsible for about 5% of stolen merchandise. The Federation further admits that “in most major cities, shoplifting incidents have fallen 7% since 2019,” per the New York Times. In a just world, this would lead to quite a few mea culpas, but I won't hold my breath.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

The President's Daily Brief
December 8th, 2023: Article 99 Activated, Venezuela's Crackdown, & Cyber-Security Breaches

The President's Daily Brief

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2023 18:27


In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invokes a rare power in the UN Charter in a strong move to push for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.   As the situation in Venezuela escalates, we delve into the government's latest actions against political dissidents and the rising border tensions with Guyana.   The UK levels serious allegations against Russia's Security Service, charging them with an extensive cyber-hacking campaign. We explore the implications for national security.   In the Back of the Brief, we uncover the potential breach of classified South Korean defense data by North Korean hackers.   Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.   Email: PDB@TheFirstTV.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One Sentence News
One Sentence News / December 8, 2023

One Sentence News

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2023 4:18


Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.Governments are spying on Apple and Google users through push notifications, says US SenatorSummary: In a letter to the US Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden claimed that foreign officials were demanding that Google parent-company Alphabet and Apple give them data collected via smartphone push notifications.Context: These are the sorts of notifications that apps use to tell smartphone users, for instance, that a new email has arrived or to notify them about some kind of breaking news headline, at times displaying notifications on their lock screens; these sorts of notifications almost always traverse Google- and Apple-owned servers before arriving on individual devices, which means these companies have data that can be used to surveil users on the receiving end; Senator Wyden asked the Justice Department to get rid of policies that prevented public discussion on this matter, and his request apparently allowed Apple to release its own statement in which it indicated both US and foreign agencies have requested this sort of data, and have done so in such a way that the company has been unable to tell users about it until Wyden made the topic public, and Google then released its own statement indicating it supported Wyden's efforts to inform smartphone users about government requests related to this type of data.—ReutersOne Sentence News is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.UN Security Council to discuss Gaza ceasefire after Guterres invokes rare ruleSummary: The US Secretary-General António Guterres has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since he was appointed in 2017, allowing him to bring any matter that he personally believes threatens international peace and security to the UN Security Council—and he did so in order to urge the Council to support a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.Context: This has not been well received by Israeli UN representatives, as the letter pretty clearly suggests that Israel is nudging the region into catastrophe with its invasion of the Gaza Strip; the UAE and Russia subsequently called for an emergency meeting of the Security Council for today, though while the US—a staunch ally of Israel—has been increasingly vocal about finding a path to a ceasefire and eventually, peace in the area, US representatives have thus far supported Israel's right to defend themselves in the wake of a sneak-attack by Hamas on October 7, and it has a veto on the Council, so most analysts suspect that this will be a mostly symbolic meeting.—AxiosGoogle launches Gemini, the AI model it hopes will take down GPT-4Summary: Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced the company's newest large language model-based AI system, Gemini, which is apparently a huge step up for the company, allowing it to compete more directly with OpenAI's (by many metrics) AI system-to-beat, GPT-4.Context: This is notable because it's one of the rare AI offerings that purports to bypass the high-end-AI-of-the-moment GPT-4 across the majority of tests the industry is using for such things right now (30 out of 32 of those tests), and because Google has a huge footprint across online and digital spaces, this model will be (and in some limited cases, has already been) deployed across a vast number of tools that are used by a huge number of people every single day, including Google search, Gmail, Google Calendar, and similar platforms, which could prove to be a big advantage for the company as it refines this and future models.—The VergeMcDonald's is planning to open nearly 10,000 new restaurants by 2027, more than one-third of which will be located in China (a country many Western companies have fled in recent years), marking the fastest intended expansion in the chain's history.—Quartz$900,000Cost to produce and print a ~200-page public prospectus document for Arm Holdings' IPO in September.This document describes all the minute details of the semiconductor company's business activities, and though such tomes are seldom read cover-to-cover by anyone, they tend to be an expensive tradition of going public (Instacart's prospectus was entirely digital but still cost $161,189 to produce, and Birkenstock's tallied about the same as Arm's).—The Wall Street JournalTrust Click Get full access to One Sentence News at onesentencenews.substack.com/subscribe

Teleforum
2023 Annual Mike Lewis Memorial Teleforum: Big Data and the Law of War

Teleforum

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2023 59:28


Big Data is one of the most important resources in the world, yet the rules for its protection are just beginning to develop. The danger comes into focus by the possibility of a nation-state cyber operation attacking Big Data and having a major detrimental impact on the functioning of another nation-state. Consider, for example, a cyber attack corrupting, stealing, or destroying the records of important financial institutions, causing widespread confusion and panic. Would such an attack warrant a kinetic, lethal response, with bullets and bombs? This issue implicates the UN Charter, the Law of War, International Humanitarian Law, jus in bello and jus ad bellum, attempts to formulate rules in the Tallinn Manual, conflicting priorities among nations, and pure geopolitics. Professor Paul Stephan of the University of Virginia Law School and John Eisenberg, Former Deputy Counsel to the President and NSC Legal Advisor, joined us to explore the issue. Mike Lewis was a naval aviator, and then a renowned law professor, widely admired by other scholars and practitioners. He was a great friend of the Federalist Society, appearing at dozens of lawyer and student chapter events, as well as the 2014 National Convention. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Society's International & National Security Law Practice Group. Each year, the Practice Group holds a Teleforum in his honor. Featuring: John Eisenberg, Former Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President, Former NSC Legal Advisor Prof. Paul Stephan, John C. Jeffries, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law [Moderator] Vince Vitkowsky, Partner, Gfeller Laurie LLP

AlternativeRadio
[Timothy Snyder] The Ukraine War & the Future of Democracy

AlternativeRadio

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2023 57:00


The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an unambiguous violation of the UN Charter and international law. NATO's expansion eastward up to Russia's borders was seen by Moscow as an existential threat thus prompting its attack. The war continues with no end in sight. The Ukrainian foreign minister says, "Every war ends in a diplomatic way. Every war ends at the negotiating table." That's no doubt true but Kjiv is imposing preconditions for talks that are highly unlikely to be accepted by Russia. Medea Benjamin co-founder of the peace group Code Pink says, "The White House and Congress are fueling this war with a steady stream of weapons instead of pushing for talks to end the conflict." We need, she says, “negotiations, not escalation."

Global News Podcast
UN chief tells Putin Ukraine invasion contradicts UN charter

Global News Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2022 31:28


Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. Also: Gazprom to suspend supplies to Poland, and the tiny book that sold for more than one million dollars.