Random Politics & Religion #00

Thousands of people marched in Berlin, Munich and other German cities on Saturday in protest against a planned free trade deal between Europe and the United States that they fear will erode food, labor and environmental standards.

Opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is particularly high in Germany, in part due to rising anti-American sentiment linked to revelations of U.S. spying and fears of digital domination by firms like Google.

A recent YouGov poll showed that 43 percent of Germans believe TTIP would be bad for the country, compared to 26 percent who see it as positive.

The level of resistance has taken Chancellor Angela Merkel's government and German industry by surprise, and they are now scrambling to reverse the tide and save a deal which proponents say could add $100 billion in annual economic output on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Berlin, a crowd estimated by police at 1,500 formed a human chain winding from the Potsdamer Platz square, past the U.S. embassy and through the Brandenburg Gate to offices of the European Commission.

In Munich, police put the crowd at 3,000, while organizers Attac estimated it at 15,000. Hundreds also marched in Leipzig, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and other European cities on what Attac hailed as a "global day of action" against free trade, though the protests appeared to be largest in Germany.

"I think this deal will open the door to genetically-modified foods here," said Jennifer Ruffatto, 28, who works with handicapped people and was pushing her baby in a stroller. "Companies will gain from this at the expense of people."

Helmut Edelhauesser, a 52-year-old from Brandenburg, said he would prefer a free trade deal with Russia.

"The U.S. push for world domination is unacceptable," he told Reuters. "Obama sends out drones to kill people and wins the Nobel peace prize. This has to stop."

Marchers held up posters reading "People have a right to food not profits" and "Beware the TTIP trap - companies win, people lose!"

After the excesses of the Gestapo secret police under the Nazis and the Stasi in communist East Germany, Germans are also particularly sensitive to official surveillance. Revelations in 2013 that the U.S. had bugged Merkel's mobile phone provoked outrage across the country.

Merkel has spoken out repeatedly in favor of TTIP, but her coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), are deeply divided. Their leader Sigmar Gabriel, the economy minister and a TTIP convert, has promised a formal party vote on any deal.

Free Republic of Liberland (hereinafter “Liberland”) is a sovereign state located between Croatia and Serbia on the west bank of the Danube river. The nearest towns are Zmajevac (Croatia) and Bački Monostor (Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia). On some maps, this area is referred to as “Gornja Siga”.

Liberland came into existence due to a border dispute between Croatia and Serbia. This area along the west bank of the Danube river is not claimed by Croatia, Serbia or any other country. It was therefore terra nullius, a no man’s land, until Vít Jedlička seized the opportunity and on 13 April 2015 formed a new state in this territory – Liberland. The boundary was defined so as not to interfere with the territory of Croatia or Serbia. Its total area of approximately 7 km² is now the third smallest sovereign state, after the Vatican and Monaco. For more information regarding the border dispute between Croatia and Serbia see an article on Wikipedia.

The motto of Liberland is “To live and let live” because Liberland prides itself on personal and economic freedom of its people, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, which significantly limits the power of politicians so they could not interfere too much in the freedoms of the Liberland nation.
How to become a citizen of Liberland

Do you want to become a citizen of Liberland? Liberland is currently accepting applications for citizenship, which will be processed in due time.
Who is needed in Liberland?

Liberland currently needs people who:

have respect for other people and respect the opinions of others, regardless of their race, ethnicity, orientation, or religion
have respect for private ownership which is untouchable
do not have communist, nazi or other extremist past
were not punished for past criminal offences
...

A police dash-cam video shows officers rescuing four scared puppies from a cage strapped to the roof of a van traveling on an Ohio highway Friday.

Akron police pulled over the driver and his family after receiving multiple 911 calls about the dogs, who were wind-battered but didn't have any injuries, Sgt. Kris Beitzel told NBC affiliate WKYC.

"I did ask him why the dogs were not riding in the car, and he said he had far more important things to put in the car, meaning his children, and there wasn't room," Beitzel said.

The family of six, who was not identified, was driving about 70 mph on Interstate 76 when police caught up with them. They were driving 300 miles from Ashland County, Ohio, to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, WKYC reported.

"Sure enough ... dogs in a cage on the roof," one of the 911 callers said. "Unbelievable."

The terrified puppies were huddled together in their cage, which was covered on three sides with a tarp, Beitzel said. The family told police that they didn't want to keep the 3-month-old dogs, but also didn't want to put them down.

"I didn't see any injuries. They would not leave each other," Beitzel said of the pups. "They had urinated all over the inside of the cage. When I tried to get them out, they were trying to crawl back in."

The family, Mennonites, handed the puppies over to police, and was told that it's against the law to transport animals on top of a vehicle. They were given a warning.

"He understood that. He said had he known, he would have agreed to never transport them," Beitzel told WKYC.

The Mennonite community, a Christian group, sees animals as property, and the family had put the puppies on top of the vehicle because of their beliefs, police told WKYC.

The puppies were taken to Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital in Akron for a check-up and then will be taken to an animal shelter.

Ohio Police Rescue Caged Puppies Strapped to Van Roof

Shades of Mitt....

The Mennonite community, a Christian group, sees animals as property,

I always wanted someone to tell a Grizzly to its face that you have "dominion" over it and that "its property".

And then I want to hear the agonizing screams.

I always wanted someone to tell a Grizzly to its face that you have "dominion" over it and that "its property".

And then I want to hear the agonizing screams.

You guys seriously saying animals are not property and we mere humans do not have dominion over them?

Guess you're vegetarians.

I guess it depends on how you define "dominion" and "property". We're certainly the most powerful creatures on the planet. Me not being able to take down a bear unarmed doesn't negate that. And, legally speaking, domestic animals are often defined as property.

Serbia has informed its former province of Kosovo that Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci will be arrested if he tries to attend a conference in Belgrade this week in what would have been a landmark visit by the former guerrilla commander.

Thaci is invited to a civil society event on regional reconciliation in the Serbian capital on Friday. He had said he hoped to attend.

The prospect put Serbia's government in an awkward spot.

While it has negotiated with Thaci for years in various European capitals, he is wanted by Serbian police for his role in an armed uprising against Serbian repression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority in the late 1990s.

Thaci, sentenced in absentia in 1997 to 10 years in a Serbian jail for terrorism, went on to become prime minister of Kosovo, presiding over the territory's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and taking part in European Union-mediated talks aimed at settling relations between the two.

In a letter to the Pristina authorities, seen by Reuters, Dejan Pavicevic, Serbia's liaison officer for Kosovo, said the court's verdict against Thaci was fully in force.

"It is my duty to inform you that Mr. Thaci will accordingly be detained at the first contact with any of the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Serbia and brought before the competent court of law," Pavicevic said.

Thaci last month shared coffee and a joke with his Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dacic, in Kosovo's capital, underscoring the progress made by the European Union in cooling tensions by offering the potential of integration with the bloc.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner will visit Russia's Vladimir Putin Wednesday and Thursday to follow up on nuclear and trade deals the countries signed last year and cultivate a budding relationship.

Putin extended the invitation during a stop last July in Buenos Aires, where Russian and Argentine officials signed a raft of deals on trade, military cooperation, communications and energy projects.

Kirchner's visit comes as the countries mark 130 years of diplomatic relations. But the relationship has gained new impetus in recent years as Kirchner and Putin have found common cause in their often antagonistic relations with the United States and Europe.

Putin is keen to bolster Russia's support in Latin America at a time when the Ukraine crisis has deeply damaged Moscow's relations with the West.

And Kirchner has found in Putin a welcome ally for Argentina's battle against US hedge funds thwarting its effort to restructure its defaulted debt.

When he visited her in July, he also voiced support for Argentina's long-standing bid for sovereignty over the Falklands, calling for "direct negotiations" with Britain over the bitterly disputed islands.

That visit wrapped up with both leaders calling for a more "multi-polar" world less dominated by the United States and the European Union.

This visit is "fundamentally about trade," Argentine cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez told journalists.

"Our job is to consolidate this relationship and incentivize new investment. Our country is a place that attracts investors," he said.

Russia has notably voiced interest in Argentina's energy sector, particularly the Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field, potentially one of the largest finds in history.

In July the countries also signed a deal on civilian nuclear energy projects, the details of which have not been released. Argentina is currently at work on its fourth nuclear power plant, the $2.4-billion Atucha III reactor.

Bilateral trade between the two totalled $2.1 billion last year, with Russia selling mainly oil and chemical fertilizers, and Argentina mostly exporting food -- profiting from Moscow's ban on US and European food imports, imposed last August amid the Ukraine crisis.

Kirchner will address business leaders from both countries during her trip, her first to Russia since the G-20 summit in Saint Petersburg in September 2013.

The Obama administration is piloting programs in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis focused on tackling global terrorism on a local scale. But some community members and activists worry the efforts will amount to wide-scale government surveillance of Muslim communities. Some questions and answers about the initiative:

___

WHAT IS THIS PROGRAM, IN A NUTSHELL?

At its core, officials say, the program called Countering Violent Extremism is about developing local programs aimed at preventing youths and other vulnerable people from joining extremist groups. The effort draws some parallels to gang and gun violence prevention efforts already in place in cities nationwide.

The program is part of President Barack Obama's overall plan to address rising extremism worldwide. It involves U.S. attorneys' offices, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, other major law enforcement agencies and, critically, local faith-based and community groups.

Other countries, notably in Europe, have instituted similar programs with varying degrees of success. Britain's program is called Prevent and describes itself as aiming "to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism."

___

HOW WERE THE PILOT CITIES CHOSEN?

The Department of Justice says the three cities were chosen primarily because local law enforcement officials there have spent years building relationships with Muslim and other minority communities. That, the department says, makes them a logical starting point to test new strategies, which, if successful, would be tried out in other cities.

The three cities have also had recent experiences with homegrown terrorism. Boston was the site of the 2013 marathon bombings, which were perpetrated by two Cambridge-raised brothers seeking to retaliate for U.S. attacks in Muslim countries.

Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population in the U.S., has seen nearly two dozen young Somali men recruited to fight for al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked group, since 2007, and a handful more have gone to fight in Syria.

In the Los Angeles area, four men were sentenced to prison this year for their role in a conspiracy to travel to Afghanistan to kill U.S. troops and support terrorists.

On Sunday, six people were arrested in Minneapolis and San Diego as part of an investigation into youths who have traveled or tried to travel to Syria to fight with militants.

___

WHO'S PAYING FOR IT?

There is no official funding for the pilot programs, but local agencies and community groups have already committed time and manpower to try and get it off the ground.

Obama, in the federal budget he proposed in February, has called for a $15 million allocation, to be split among the cities to bolster their efforts. Local organizers say that money is critical to making many of their plans a reality. The request, along with the president's overall spending plan, is currently before Congress.

___

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The pilot cities have each come up with a rough plan for how they intend to approach the issue. These plans were unveiled at a White House summit in February after months of local development.

BOSTON: A few initiatives are geared specifically to violent extremism, such as inviting experts to talk about the various types of extremist organizations or encouraging groups to develop social media messages that can combat extremist propaganda. Other programs would look to address violent extremism in the context of other challenges immigrant and minority communities face, including cultural assimilation, domestic violence, gangs, drugs and poverty.

LOS ANGELES: Programs emphasize building strong communities and involving people in the civic process. Several community-based examples government officials highlighted and hope to replicate include the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, which aims to identify emerging leaders and coach them; Bayan Claremont, an Islamic graduate school established in 2011, which offers a master's degree that aims to improve the ability of religious leaders to deal with racism and violence; and New Ground, an interfaith partnership created to lessen tension between Muslims and Jews.

MINNEAPOLIS: Efforts focus on the area's large Somali population. Members of that community worked with the U.S. attorney's office to develop a program that addresses the root causes of radicalization through programs such as employment help, college scholarships and social media campaigns.

___

HOW IS SUCCESS MEASURED?

That remains to be seen. Organizers concede it's generally hard to measure prevention. Plus, many of the efforts are works in progress. Still, organizers promise to come up with performance metrics that will help measure success and justify any future the program has.

___

WHAT TO CALL IT?

The program's official name is Countering Violent Extremism — a blunt, aggressive moniker that even its leaders tacitly acknowledge could work against it.

In all three cities, officials have tried to avoid using the term CVE — tossed around frequently in bureaucratic documents, town halls and interviews with reporters — with specific program participants.

A Cairo court has sentenced former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and 12 other defendants to 20 years in prison.

Morsi was convicted on Tuesday of ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in clashes outside the presidential palace in December 2012. The court acquitted the former president of murder charges that could have seen him face the death penalty.

Morsi also faces serious charges in three other cases, including an accusation that he passed intelligence to Qatar.

Mohammed Soudan, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and an official within its affiliated Freedom and Justice Party, told Al Jazeera that the trial was a "political farce".
"The verdict is 100 percent a political verdict. Morsi, his advisers and supporters who are accused in this case were victims ... police and army officers watched as the opposition attacked the presidential palace," Soudan said.
"They killed 11 people and nine of them were supporters of Morsi. .. the verdict is a test for the protesters in the street, and also a test for the international community."

Toby Cadman, an international human rights lawyer involved in a number of legal cases in Egypt told Al Jazeera that the trial underscored the politicisation of Egypt's judiciary.
"This judgement is a political move by the Sisi regime and a show trial against the country's first democratically elected leader," Cadman said.

Amnesty International also condemned the trial as a "sham", and called for the release of Morsi and protesters.
"This verdict shatters any remaining illusion of independence and impartiality in Egypt’s criminal justice system," Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement released after the verdict.

Abdullah al-Arian, an assistant professor of history at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that the timing of the verdict was significant as Morsi had spent the maximum amount of time permitted by the constitution in prison and had the courts not passed judgement they would have had to release him.

Egyptian journalist, Yehia Ghanem, told Al Jazeera the Egyptian government was sending a message that it would not tolerate any opposition.
"The whole thing was calculated politically from the start. It sends a message to Egyptians and the rest of the world that there's no future for any civil rule," Ghanem said.

Morsi was deposed by his then military chief and Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after mass protests against his rule in the summer of 2013.

Following the coup, the former president's supporters launched a series of protests and sit-ins across the country culminating in a crackdown by security forces that left hundreds dead.

In the deadliest incident, at least 817 protesters were killed in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square when security forces opened fire on a sit-in. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the killings likely amounted to "crimes against humanity".

Thousands have also been imprisoned, with many supporters of Morsi facing mass trials facing charges of involvement in violence.
At least 1,212 people have been sentenced to death since the start of 2014, including the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie.

he is wanted by Serbian police for his role in an armed uprising against Serbian repression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority in the late 1990s.

Doesn't matter where you go, what you do, someone's trying to hold someone else down.

I find it absolutely crazy that we live in a culture where crime is at one of (if not ever) the lowest levels since civilization started, and I'm surrounded by people who think there's a rapist/murderer around every corner.

I find it absolutely crazy that we live in a culture where crime is at one of (if not ever) the lowest levels since civilization started, and I'm surrounded by people who think there's a rapist/murderer around every corner.