GERMANY

Workers' rights in Germany: Not everyone can go on strike

Different bosses, different rights: whether Germans are allowed to strike for better working conditions depends on if they work for a private employer, the church or the state. And that's just one of the rules.

    

Nurses at the local hospital in Ottweiler, a small town in the western German state of Saarland, are on strike. Twenty of them stopped working on Wednesday to draw attention to the fact that they are constantly overworked. They are demanding that more nursing personnel be hired, so they can actually take breaks and not work an inhumane amount of overtime — a demand common to nurses across Germany.

The special thing about this strike: the hospital in Ottweiler is a Catholic institution, and the staff members at the Marienhaus Clinic do not have the same rights to strike as non-Church employees.

The move is a risky endeavor for all involved, but it's necessary, according to union activists.

"If we really want to push through improvements for nursing staff in all hospitals, then we have to go on strike here, too, now," said Michael Quetting, a representative of the regional chapter of German trade union Verdi.

Different employees, different rights

The Ottweiler case draws attention to the issue that in Germany, different kinds of employees enjoy very different workers' rights.

According to article nine of the German constitution, people have the right to form groups with the goal of "upholding or improving working and economical conditions." This is the legal foundation of German trade unions.

Read more: Lufthansa strikes major labor deal with pilots

In 1955, the Federal Labor Court passed down a verdict that declared strikes "undesirable," but not illegal. Employees would no longer have to quit before they could go on strike — a landmark decision.

During a strike, the employment contracts of participants are suspended. That means they aren't guilty of neglecting their work duties, but it also means they don't get paid by their employer for the days they are on strike. Union members receive daily "strike money," the amount of which depends on their monthly membership fees.

Read more: Daycare center staff strike grips Germany 

Church employees

These are the basic rules for regular workers, trainees and interns with employment contracts at private and state institutions like factories, department stores, public transport agencies or hospitals. But for employees of the Catholic or Protestant Church in Germany, there are different rules.

Quiet moments are few and far between for many nurses in Germany

The roughly 1.3 million people in Germany who work for a church-run institution sign special employment contracts. These are often rather strict, especially when they are with the Catholic Church. Many Catholic institutions don't accept employees who aren't baptized Catholics or lead a lifestyle not in line with the church's teachings, like homosexual or divorced people. This practice is not illegal, since churches in Germany have the right to self-determination and can hire whomever and however they want.

Whether church employees are allowed to strike isn't entirely clear. Those who argue against the right to strike say that employers and employees work together to spread charity and grace in the name of faith. That's why employees shouldn't feel the need to fight their employers, as they might in a capitalist context.

Those in favor of strike rights for church employees counter that while churches have the right to self-determination, this does not cancel out the rights of unions to advocate for good working conditions as specified in the constitution. 

Public servants

Another group that does not have the same strike rights as regular employees in Germany are "Beamte," or public servants. They have special rights in their places of employment, like public administrations or schools. Public servants can only be fired in exceptional circumstances, for example, and have extremely good pension plans.

In 2014, the Federal Administrative Court confirmed that no public servants, independent of their occupation, had the right to go on strike. According to the constitution, they fulfill special tasks in the name of the state and are in a "loyal work relationship" with their employer, which is why they cannot protest by walking off the job.

This has lead to some absurd situations, for example in schools, where teachers who are regular employees work side by side with public servants. Teachers with public servant status have to remain at school and teach when their regularly employed colleagues go on strike to protest for better wages.

For students, it can be hard to understand why their first period math teacher is waiting in class, while their second period English teacher is handing out strike pamphlets at a rally in front of city hall. And for the teachers themselves, the two-tier system looks unfair from both sides.

Read more: Teachers strike in several German states

Rules of the strike

Finally, there are very specific strike rules even for regular employees. This is Germany, after all, and you can't just strike when you feel like it. In order to be eligible to push through demands with a strike, an employee has to work under a collective labor agreement that defines wages. A strike has to be called by a union and is only permissible if the employees' work contracts clearly mention the collective labor agreement.

If all those qualifications are fulfilled, and the employees with demands are neither public servants nor work for a church, they are free to go and join the picket line.

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• Date 11.10.2017
• Author Carla Bleiker

Labour’s fabricated anti-Semitism crisis is being replicated in America

The issue of anti-Semitism became an ongoing narrative that under Corbyn the Labour Party has become a cesspit of anti-Jewish hatred

THIS LIE WAS PEDDLED BY US RIGHT WING ZIONIST MAGAZINE COMMENTARY AND ITS EDITORS ON MSNBC MORNING JOE AS WELL AS BY OTHER MSNBC AND CNN (LET ALONE FOX) MSM COMMENTATORS THAT SPREAD THIS SLANDER THAT "CORBYN WAS AS BAD AS HITLER" SAID JOHN PODHORETZ OF COMMENTARY

Asa Winstanley @AsaWinstanley
February 1, 2020

As far as Zionist lobby groups are concerned, the verdict has finally sunk in: they defeated Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. According to one of them at least; the hard-right, anti-Palestinian group misnamed the “Campaign Against Antisemitism” [sic].

Last month one of the group’s leaders posted an utterly bizarre video online in which he claimed responsibility for the electoral defeat of Corbyn at December’s General Election in Britain. “The beast is slain,” he ranted gleefully. He and his team had “slaughtered” Corbyn. “We defeated him… They tried to kill us [but]… we won.”

More than four years’ worth of smears, lies, sabotage and defamation worked. The “Labour anti-Semitism crisis” finally cut through to mainstream voters in a way that other defamatory media campaigns did not. The fabrication that Labour had “a problem with anti-Semitism” contributed hugely to the perception that Corbyn was an “extremist”. This, in turn, led to the de-legitimisation of the veteran anti-racism campaigner in the eyes of many of older, working-class Labour voters. Second, only to the Brexit issue, this is the reason why so many of them voted Tory in the election or stayed away from the polling booths altogether.

READ: Controversial ‘anti-Semitism code’ being ‘weaponised’ by pro-Israel groups, warns drafter

More importantly, the interminable campaign against Corbyn divided and weakened the grassroots left-wing movement, demoralising some of Corbyn’s biggest supporters. Indeed, many were suspended, expelled or pushed out of the party altogether.

Having successfully sabotaged the largest radical grassroots movement this country has seen within living memory, the pro-Israel lobby groups are on a high. What’s more, they are now in the early stages of a major new offensive linked to the US presidential elections, against Democrat Bernie Sanders, another popular socialist candidate.

We’ve seen this before. Last year Republicans united with the Democratic Party establishment to jointly smear left-wing, pro-Palestinian lawmaker Ilhan Omar. Omar is a Muslim woman, and much of the abuse was openly racist and Islamophobic. The Democrats joined in with the lie that Omar was “anti-Semitic”.


US congresswoman Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, US on 4 October 2016 [Lorie Shaull/Flickr]

So far, Sanders has stood with Omar. It is to be hoped that he stands his ground on this, because it is vital to his own political survival, mainly because of the fact that Bernie Sanders is himself Jewish. There are too many on the American left who are, I believe, complaisant about the potential for such smears to do serious and quite possibly fatal damage to the movement.

The number one reason for the successes of both Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders has been the popular movements behind each one. Corbyn’s best slogan was “For the many, not the few”. Sanders’ current tag line is “Not me. Us”. It is about people power.

Solidarity is the simple secret ingredient that got Corbyn so close to No. 10 in 2017. It is that same principle that means Sanders now leads many polls in the Democratic primary and is way ahead of the pack in polls for the first selection caucus in Iowa on Monday. It is a movement.

If you want to undermine a popular movement, how do you go about it? Divide and rule. Spread false rumours, internal dissent, mutual recriminations and denunciations. Result? Demoralisation.

It is not a strategy that can work overnight, but it can work when sustained over a lengthy period. As Corbyn’s case shows, it does work.

Do not underestimate the dedication and extreme commitment of the Zionist movement, and the pro-Israel lobby in general. They are in it for the long haul and will carry on to the bitter end.

Listen to the words of Alan Dershowitz, “Israel’s lawyer”, torture fan and (latterly) a major fan of Trump’s racism. In a recent interview with Larry King, Dershowitz equivocated about whether or not he would vote for Trump. Who he would definitely not vote for, he said, and would actively campaign against, was one person: Bernie Sanders. His reason? “He tolerates anti-Semitism among the hard left in the Democratic Party,” he claimed falsely. “The man went to England and endorsed Jeremy Corbyn.”

The clever lie that he is not personally anti-Semitic, but “tolerates” anti-Semitism was exactly how the “crisis” against Corbyn began. Over the course of four years, this morphed and evolved into open lies that he is personally anti-Semitic.

Do not imagine for a moment that just because Sanders is Jewish the pro-Israel lobbyists will not try the same lies against him. They will, and they cannot be ignored. They must be fought.

READ: UK’s Lord Polak says new Tory government is opportunity for pro-Israel lobbyists

The real reason for Dershowitz’s opposition, of course, is that Sanders has made some very mild (and in my view overly timid) statements about US military aid to Israel possibly being up for revision in the future. This is why a relatively new pro-Israel lobby astroturfing group called “Democratic Majority for Israel” just spent almost $700,000 on a campaign ad against Sanders in Iowa, ahead of the crucial vote there on Monday. The ad despicably questions his health, and claims falsely that he is not “electable”.



Criticisms of Israel labelled as antisemitism – Cartoon [Carlos Latuff/Twitter]

Thankfully, for now, the Sanders campaign is fighting back. They condemned it, and it even seems to have backfired, resulting in a major boost to donations to him from his supporters.

The ad did not mention “anti-Semitism” or that Sanders supposedly “tolerates” anti-Semitism. But as sure as night follows day, you can be certain that that particular attack line is coming, especially if Sanders secures the Democratic nomination, or it begins to look inevitable, as I expect and hope him to do after Monday. When the attacks do come, it is vital that Sanders and his campaign refuse to make even the slightest concession to any of these false, malicious and disgusting attacks.

The left still does not understand: the pro-Israel lobby will stop at nothing. Do not underestimate the ability of the lobby groups to sustain a long campaign over the next few years. They did it in Britain and they can certainly do it in the US. They can be beaten, but only with the political will to fight back aggressively.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas suspends relations with the US, Israel

ABBAS GETS OFF HIS ASS AT LAST

February 1, 2020 By Agence France-Presse


Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas announced the suspension of relations, including security cooperation, with both Israel and the United States on Saturday, days after the unveiling of a US peace plan that Palestinians say heavily favors Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to cut security ties with both Israel and the U.S. on Saturday, in a lengthy speech delivered at an Arab League meeting in Egypt’s capital that denounced a White House plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The U.S. plan would grant the Palestinians limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank, while allowing Israel to annex all its settlements there and keep nearly all of east Jerusalem.

The summit of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo was requested by the Palestinians, who responded angrily to the American proposal.

Abbas said that he told Israel and the U.S. that “there will be no relations with them, including the security ties” following the deal that Palestinians say heavily favors Israel.
There was no immediate comment from U.S. or Israeli officials.

The Palestinian leader said that he’d refused to take U.S. President Donald Trump’s phone calls and messages “because I know that he would use that to say he consulted us.”

“I will never accept this solution,” Abbas said. “I will not have it recorded in my history that I have sold Jerusalem.”

He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem.

Abbas said that the Palestinians wouldn’t accept the U.S. as a sole mediator in any negotiations with Israel. He said they would go to the United Nations Security Council and other world and regional organizations to “explain our position.”

The Arab League’s head, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, said the proposal revealed a “sharp turn” in the long-standing U.S. foreign policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“This turn does not help achieve peace and a just solution,” he declared.

Aboul-Gheit said that the Palestinians reject the proposal. He called for the two sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians, to negotiate to reach a “satisfactory solution for both of them.”

President Trump unveiled the long-awaited proposal Tuesday in Washington. It would allow Israel to annex all its West Bank settlements – which the Palestinians and most of the international community view as illegal – as well as the Jordan Valley, which accounts for roughly a fourth of the West Bank.

In return, the Palestinians would be granted statehood in Gaza, scattered chunks of the West Bank and some neighborhoods on the outskirts of Jerusalem, all linked together by a new network of roads, bridges and tunnels. Israel would control the state’s borders and airspace and maintain overall security authority. Critics of the plan say this would rob Palestinian statehood of any meaning.

The plan would abolish the right of return for Palestinian refugees displaced by the 1948 war and their descendants, a key Palestinian demand. The entire agreement would be contingent on Gaza’s Hamas rulers and other armed groups disarming, something they have always adamantly rejected.

Ambassadors from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman attended the Tuesday unveiling in Washington, in a tacit sign of support for the U.S. initiative.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Arab states that are close U.S. allies, said they appreciated President Trump’s efforts and called for renewed negotiations without commenting on the plan’s content.

Egypt urged in a statement Israelis and Palestinians to “carefully study” the plan. It said it favors a solution that restores all the “legitimate rights” of the Palestinian people through establishing an “independent and sovereign state on the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The Egyptian statement did not mention the long-held Arab demand of east Jerusalem as a capital to the future Palestinian state, as Cairo usually has its statements related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Jordan, meanwhile, warned against any Israeli “annexation of Palestinian lands” and reaffirmed its commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, which would include all the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel.

(AP)



 SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=PALESTINE

Just plain wrong’: DNC blistered for letting billionaire Mike Bloomberg onto the debate stage

PROVING THERE ARE TWO DEMOCRATIC PARTIES

A PROGRESSIVE ONE AND A WALL ST. ONE, 

THE LATTER SHOULD JOIN WITH DISAFFECTED REPUBLICANS

TO FORM THEIR OWN PARTY OF THE 1%

Just plain wrong’: DNC blistered for letting billionaire Mike Bloomberg onto the debate stage

January 31, 2020 By Bob Brigham

THIS IS WHAT A LABOR FAKIR LOOKS LIKE

The Democratic National Committee was blasted online on Friday after changing the rules for 2020 debates in a manner that could allow billionaire Michael Bloomberg to essentially buy his way onto the stage.

“The Democratic National Committee is drastically revising its criteria to participate in primary debates after New Hampshire, doubling the polling threshold and eliminating the individual donor requirement, which could pave the way for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to make the stage beginning in mid-February,” Politico reported Friday.

“The new criteria eliminate the individual-donor threshold, which was used for the first eight debates, including next week’s debate in New Hampshire. Bloomberg, the self-funding billionaire, has refused to take donations from other individuals, which has thus far precluded his participation in any of the debates since he joined the race late last year,” Politico explained.

The decision was harshly criticized by current and former candidates.

Let’s make one thing clear: @TheDemocrats decision to change the rules now to accommodate Mike Bloomberg and not changing them in the past to ensure a more diverse debate stage is just plain wrong.https://t.co/BoCVpahWpx

— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) January 31, 2020


Billionaire Bloomberg just bought the @DNC. #PayToPlay #StandWithTulsi

— Tulsi Gabbard  

(@TulsiGabbard) January 31, 2020


Democrats should not be connecting the ability to be heard to money. Period.
DNC did that in setting debate requirements & in removing them. You link money & politics, process gets corrupted. Dems should be rejecting money’s influence, not letting it guide our primary.
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) January 31, 2020

Here’s what others were saying:

Mike Gravel qualified for the Democratic debate with a grassroots surge that gave him 67,000 donors. The DNC shut him out.

Mike Bloomberg spent $180 million on a massive ad campaign, donated $250,000 to the DNC, and has exactly 1 donor. The DNC let him debate.

Fuck the DNC.
— The Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) January 31, 2020

DNC really waited for the Black and Brown candidates to drop out and then changed up the rules so a billionaire could stop and frisk his way to the debate stage.

You expect to see it. https://t.co/82T30qhy8p

— blackness everdeen  

(@traceyecorder) January 31, 2020


Fewer things better encapsulate just how beholden to big money the @DNC is than rewriting the rules to let billionaire Michael Bloomberg buy his way onto the debate stage.
The Democratic establishment does not care about you and will sell you out in a heartbeat.
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 31, 2020

Fuck Tom Perez and fuck Mike Bloomberg. That's it. That's the tweet.https://t.co/1bBoZlTlQ0
 

Darren Wong (@darrenmwong) January 31, 2020


1. ⁦DNC members didn’t vote on this, or any of the debate rules.
2. Every candidate and every donor who gave to that candidate who played by the rules (to date) should voice outrage at Tom Perez.
3. Perez will never be Governor of MD by doing this https://t.co/p0HEXmoukR
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) January 31, 2020

If you look at the new DNC debate thresholds as anything other than "Get Andrew Yang off stage and put Mike Bloomberg on," Then you are high.
— Brad Bauman (@bradbaumn) January 31, 2020

EVEN A JANEY CANUCK CAN SEE THE CRIME THIS IS
DNC changes debate rules so Bloomberg can buy his way in, that's how scared they are of #Bernie2020. Also: Bloomberg's bump has has zero to do with popular support – the same thing would happen to a russet potato with $150-million of TV ads behinds it. https://t.co/9MMHtnFFbf
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 31, 2020


Make no mistake about it: the @DNC changing its debates rules to open the door for @MikeBloomberg is Dem elite waving white flag on @JoeBiden. They see the writing on the wall and are now moving beyond hedging their bets to propping up Bloomberg https://t.co/OdzXn6KTUj
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) January 31, 2020

Nothing to see here… just Bloomberg buying the DNC… everyone move along.https://t.co/JKRqSE9s4H
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 31, 2020

No wonder ⁦@TomPerez⁩ was thinking abt his exit pay package: this is “$ buys access” Nice job—elbow out ppl of color/ppl w ideas but give a certain billionaire a ticket in. #dnc https://t.co/h7URt7U7Nk
— Jonathan Tasini (@jonathantasini) January 31, 2020

I thought the rules were set?!?! That is what they told us when we demanded a climate debate. https://t.co/l5FV6Z60te
— Brianna Westbrook (@BWestbrookAZ8) January 31, 2020

Bloomberg should NOT be on the debate stage. It's the DNC, not the DLC. The debate stage should only feature characters that people actually want. Elections should not be pay to win.
— Ace Watkins (@GamerPres2020) January 31, 2020

So now that Bernie Sanders is the frontrunner, the DNC is changing its debate rules mid-primary, eliminating the small donor threshold to let Bloomberg buy his way onto the stage.

Bloomberg’s surrogates are openly admitting he’s running as a Sanders spoiler.

Here we go again. https://t.co/WqGTuQijKo
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) January 31, 2020

DNC: climate debate? Nah
Bloomberg debate? Yah https://t.co/R7H7xmSq3t
— Jamal Raad (@jamalraad) January 31, 2020

this is an extremely bad call by the dnc imo, esp when this kind of bar kept cory booker and julian castro out of debates https://t.co/59lB7Kibxc
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 31, 2020

Congratulations to the DNC & its chair, Tom Perez, for altering the rules to let the world's 8th-richest person who spent $200 million of his own money on the election in 5 weeks & just happens to be big DNC donor onto the debate stage. https://t.co/7lk6Bk1l5W
— Alex Kotch (@alexkotch) January 31, 2020

‘Definition of a rigged system:’ Sanders campaign rips DNC changing debate rules for Mike Bloomberg

January 31, 2020 By Common Dreams

“DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire.”

After debate rules were changed in favor of allowing billionaire Mike Bloomberg to join the candidates onstage vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign hit back, calling the decision emblematic of the corrupt political system the Vermont senator has centered his run for the White House on defeating.

“To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong,” Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver told Politico. “That’s the definition of a rigged system.”

New statement from Bernie Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver on DNC debate rules: “To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong. That’s the definition of a rigged system.”
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) January 31, 2020

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Friday afternoon that the criteria for making the debate stage will no longer include a requirement about individual donors—allowing Bloomberg, whose campaign is largely self-funded, to join the candidates if his polling numbers reach the new threshold.

“DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire,” tweeted Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir. “I much prefer Democrats being a grassroots party. And under Bernie Sanders, that’s the way it will be.”

According to Politico:
Candidates will need to earn at least 10% in four polls released from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18, or 12% in two polls conducted in Nevada or South Carolina, in order to participate in the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Any candidate who earns at least one delegate to the national convention in either the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary will also qualify for the Nevada debate.

The rules change caught Democrats by surprise.

Some observers noted the timing of the change and wondered if it was part of a coordinated attack on Sanders from both the DNC and Bloomberg.

The DNC & Bloomberg ready to try & defeat Bernie! 

  pic.twitter.com/aHZ5OgAuVQ

— Anthony Clark for Congress (@anthonyvclark20) January 31, 2020

The Intercept‘s Ryan Grim, citing Federal Elections Commission data, noted Bloomberg donated $325,000 to the DNC in November 2019.

“Totally normal system,” said Grim.

Just before jumping into the race, @MikeBloomberg gave $325,000 to the DNC, on top of the gobs he spent on ads this month. Totally normal system. pic.twitter.com/u4JDelWb7H
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 31, 2020

The debate rules have been a source of contention throughout the primary process, with some former hopefuls like Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro questioning the restrictions on polling and donors as prohibitive to their campaigns.

Progressive strategist Tim Tagaris wondered what could have been different if not for the qualifications.

“How much money did candidates like Julián Castro and Cory Booker have to spend chasing donor thresholds that could have been spent building organizations in early states?” said Tagaris.

Comedian and writer Jack Allison took a wry look at the changes and what they mean about the party.

“Remember when they wouldn’t even think of changing them for like Cory Booker,” Allison tweeted. “This is what we mean when we talk about the DNC cheating, obviously and out in the open.”

“Thankfully seeing Bloomberg speak can only hurt his standing,” Allison added, “but still.”

The Christian Right is both anti-Semitic and stridently pro-Israel — here’s why

THEY ARE AMERICAN HOME GROWN PROTESTANTS NOTHING CHRISTIAN ABOUT THEM 
January 31, 2020 Alex Henderson, AlterNet- Commentary


One of the most bizarre characteristics of the Christian Right has been its ability be anti-Semitic and stridently pro-Israel at the same time. On the surface, it seems like a contradiction: how can far-right evangelical groups such as Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition of America and the Family Research Council (FRC) be passionate supporters of Israel and anti-Semites at the same time? But when one delves into the End Times ideology that is so prominent among white evangelicals, it makes perfect sense to them.

Certainly, not all Christians are anti-Semitic; in fact, the vast majority of Catholics and Protestants are not. The Christian Right embraces a severe form of fundamentalist Protestant Christianity that is separate from what non-fundamentalist Christians believe — and in Christian Right ideology, Jews will be condemned to eternal hell unless they convert to fundamentalist Protestant Christianity. In contrast, numerous Catholics and Mainline Protestants (non-fundamentalist Protestants such as Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians and the African-Methodist Episcopal Church) are happy to join forces with synagogues for charitable events and agree to disagree about some elements of scripture. Catholics and Mainline Protestants, as a rule, aren’t interested in trying to turn Jews into Christians; their bottom line is that Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the Ten Commandments.

But to the Christian Right, Judaism is a one-way ticket to eternal hell — and that includes Jews they claim to consider allies, such as White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Far-right white evangelicals will insist that they aren’t anti-Semitic yet claim that President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump (a convert to Judaism) is going to hell unless she returns to Christianity (the president was raised Presbyterian). So why does the Christian Right consider itself supportive of those it believes deserve eternal punishment? They view it as a marriage of convenience, and this marriage underscores their obsession with Armageddon and the End Times.

On January 23, Mother Jones published an excellent, highly informative article by journalist Stephanie Mencimer that described one of the Christian Right’s most disturbing reasons for being so fond of President Trump: they believe he will escalate a catastrophic war in the Middle East (which Israel will be a key part of), and that war will speed up Jesus Christ’s return to the Earth.

Among End Times evangelicals, one book that is considered essential reading is “Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days,” which was published in 1995 and written by Jerry B. Jenkins and the late Rev. Tim LaHaye (a highly influential Christian Right evangelist). According to Mencimer, that 25-year-old book addresses “the war of Gog and Magog, a biblical conflict prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel. In the Bible, Gog is the leader of Magog, a ‘place in the far north’ that many evangelicals believe is Russia. According to Ezekiel’s prophecy, Gog will join with Persia — now Iran — and other Arab nations to attack a peaceful Israel ‘like a cloud that covers the land.’ LaHaye, like many evangelicals, believed this battle would bring on the Rapture, the End Times event when God spirits away the good Christians to heaven before unleashing plagues, sickness and other horrors on the unbelievers remaining on Earth. Meanwhile, the Antichrist reigns supreme.”

The Christian Right views Netanyahu as a hell-bound sinner who deserves eternal punishment because he has refused to bathe himself in the blood of Jesus Christ, who Jews and Muslims don’t consider the Messiah. But if the Israeli prime minister can play a role in the End Times and the Rapture, they’re happy to ally themselves with him.

It’s important to understand that the anti-Semitism of the Christian Right is quite different from the anti-Semitism of white supremacists and neo-Nazis, who are bitterly anti-Israel. While groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the Aryan Nations view Israel as an enemy of Aryans, the Christian Right view Israel as an ally that will play a crucial role in the End Times and the Rapture — even though Israeli Jews will go to hell when they are killed in the catastrophic Middle East war that End Times evangelicals long for.

To fully understand just how twisted the Christian Right is, one needs at least a basic understanding of how diverse Christianity is. There are plenty of non-fundamentalist Protestants who flatly reject the Christian Right’s extremist interpretation of Christianity, including the Rev. Al Sharpton (the liberal civil rights activist who hosts “Politics Nation” on MSNBC) and Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg (an openly gay Episcopalian). And the decidedly left-of-center Chris Hedges, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, has spent a lot of time explaining why he considers the Christian Right so dangerous. Hedges’ 2007 book “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America,” pulls no punches and describes far-right white evangelicals as the extremist lunatic fringe of Christianity — a fringe that the Republican Party has been embracing for decades.

The Christian Right is not only anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim —

it is also contemptuous of non-fundamentalist Catholics and Mainline Protestants it considers insufficiently radical. But if a Presbyterian like President Trump can support their theocrat agenda, the Christian Right will embrace him. President Trump is wildly popular among far-right white evangelicals even though his daughter, Ivanka Trump, is a convert to a religion they don’t believe offers salvation.

For neo-Nazis, meanwhile, the Christian Right’s support for Israel is a deal breaker. The Christian Identity movement, which is separate from right-wing white evangelicals, believe that only WASPs — an Aryan Anglo Saxon race — are true Christians. The Christian Right will feature token blacks in its megachurches; neo-Nazis and white supremacists won’t even associate with either Jews or African-Americans

Although End Times evangelicals are likely to hold racist views and applaud President Trump’s white nationalist rhetoric, they won’t be marching with the KKK or the Aryan Nations — as they see it, white supremacists’ contempt for Israel gets in the way of the Rapture. But rejecting the KKK, neo-Nazis and flat-out white supremacists doesn’t make the Christian Right any less anti-Semitic.

HERE ARE THE FRIGHTENING HEADLINES FROM THE FINAL FASCIST TAKEOVER OF THE DIS-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Trump is on the brink of entering a horrifying new phase of his presidency

Voting to acquit this noxious criminal is the point of no return for the Republican Party

‘Give up the fantasy that the GOP can be rescued’: Conservative lashes party for selling out to Trump

AND IF HE DOES GET VOTED OUT IN 2020 HE WILL NOT LEAVE THE POSITION BUT RATHER CALL FOR A COUP AND CIVIL WAR

BUSTED: President’s campaign reveals ‘steering over $1.8 million’ to his family and Trump Organization businesses

MORE IMPEACHABLE BEHAVIOR 

IT WILL NEVER END TILL THE WHOLE CRIME FAMILY IS LOCKED UP 

AND THE GOP RENAMED THE LOONEY TUNES T-PARTY

BUSTED: President’s campaign reveals ‘steering over $1.8 million’ to his family and Trump Organization businessesJanuary 31, 2020 By Bob Brigham


In a new filing with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign reported spending a staggering amount of money at Trump family businesses.

Anna Massoglia, a researcher at Open Secrets, analyzed Trump’s latest public filings on how he is spending donors’ money.

“New FEC filing: Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign paid $194,247.57 to Trump family members, properties & businesses in the final quarter of last year alone—steering over $1.8 MILLION in donations from presidential campaign donors to Trump’s private interests,” Massoglia reported.

The filings show tens of thousands of dollars going to Trump Tower Commercial LLC and Trump Hotel Collection.

The Trump Corporation, Trump Restaurants, LLC and daughter-in-law Lara Trump also received payments from the campaign.

New @FEC filing: Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign paid $194,247.57 to Trump family members, properties & businesses in the final quarter of last year alone—steering over $1.8 MILLION in donations from presidential campaign donors to @realDonaldTrump's private interests. pic.twitter.com/ell9EtWkDH

— Anna Massoglia (@annalecta) February 1, 2020

MURKOWSKI TO CHILL IN WARMING ALASKA

Lisa Murkowski lashes out at ‘all sides’ after her vote against impeachment trial witnesses: ‘I’m just going to chill’

UNFORTUNATELY FOR SENATOR MURKOWSKI OF ALASKA THERE IS NOWHERE TO CHILL IN HER HOME STATE THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING THAT NEITHER HER PARTY NOR TRUMP BELIEVE IN

Climate change is causing the Arctic to become GREENER 

Rare 1,300-year-old coin featuring the face of an obscure Saxon king could sell for £15,000 at auction after its owner spent three years trying to prove its historical importance

Metal detectorist Andy Hall, 55, found the coin during a trip to Wiltshire farmland

However, experts and scholars questioned the authenticity of the silver penny

Tests have now shown it consistent with coins of the time and 95 per cent silver

The penny depicts Ludica, who ruled Mercia for just one year from 826–827 AD
Its existence proves that old London did not fall to the West Saxons until 827 AD

By IAN RANDALL FOR MAILONLINE  31 January 2020

A rare 1,300-year-old coin featuring the face of an obscure Saxon king could sell for £15,000 at auction after its owner spent three years trying to prove its authenticity.

Experts and scholars dismissed the silver penny Andy Hall unearthed in a muddy field in Wiltshire, as it featured the head of a virtually-unknown Saxon king.

Moreover, the date it was hammered — 826 AD — would also have meant that the history books on Britain would have to be re-written.

Undeterred, the 55-year-old metal detectorist was determined to prove them wrong.

He spent the next three years having his coin examined by other experts and even paid £300 for it to be metallurgically analysed.

The scientific tests confirmed that the coin was 95 per cent silver and ‘completely consistent with coinage in the period 810–840 AD’.

A rare 1,300-year-old coin featuring the face of an obscure Saxon king could sell for £15,000 at auction after its owner spent three years trying to prove its authenticity

The face depicted on the coin is that of the Saxon king Ludica, who ruled for a single year from 826–827 AD in Mercia — a kingdom which included London, or 'Lundenwic' as it then was.

According to the historical record, London fell to the Wessex King Ecgberht as a result of the outcome of the Battle of Ellendun in 825 AD.

However, Mr Hall's coin proves that Mercia still retained London in 826 AD.

It did not fall under Ecgberht’s control, therefore, until after Ludica was killed fighting the East Angles in 827 AD.

The coin features the bust of Ludica facing right, with the legend LUDICA REX MER, while the reverse features the inscription LUN/DONIA/CIVIT across three lines.

Mr Hall has now offered his coin for sale with London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, who have given it an estimate of £15,000.

'I have a love for history and numismatics and so wanted the historical importance of this coin recorded and as the finder I felt I had a responsibility to do so,' said Mr Hall.

'The process took just over three years and cost £300 in total.'

'I was over the moon when I first read the analysis results, I re-read them about five times. Even though I was expecting a positive result I felt enormous relief.'

'I knew I had dug it up, but there is always the thought that it may have been a contemporary forgery or a 19th century fantasy piece.'

'I felt that at last my patience and determination over the last three years had paid off, even though it seemed impossible at times.'

'It’s very satisfying to have made a very tiny contribution to our knowledge of the period.'


Experts and scholars dismissed the silver penny Andy Hall, (pictured) unearthed in a muddy field, as it featured the head of a virtually-unknown Saxon king

Andy found the penny buried around four inches deep in the mud during a one-off visit to farmland at Coombe Bisset, Wiltshire, in the January of 2016.

'I saw that it was a Saxon silver penny and when I got it home I gently washed off the mud with distilled water,' Hall explained.

'I then had to Google Ludica to find out who the monarch was,' he added.

'I then sent photos and details to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, as that is where new discoveries of early medieval coins are registered.'

When he tried to auction the coin the following June, however, he was told by a leading historian and expert in Anglo-Saxon coins that there were concerns about the penny's authenticity.

'I agreed to take the coin back and approach specialists myself,' Mr Hall said.

'I organised a meeting at the Fitzwilliam Museum and received a positive reception —although the issue was still concern over its authenticity.'

Eventually, after another 18 months, the coin was sent off for analysis, at which point it was verified.


Mr Hall has now offered his coin for sale with London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, who have given it an estimate of £15,000

'Ludica is only mentioned briefly in the Anglo Saxon chronicles, so this coin shows he retained London during his reign,' said Dix Noonan Webb expert Nigel Mills.

'Ludica is first recorded as a military commander in 824 AD, under the Mercian king Beornwulf.'

'Beornwulf was defeated by the Wessex king Ecgberht in 825 AD and it was believed that he then took control of south eastern England.'

'This coin shows that Mercia still retained London in 826 AD and that it did not fall under Ecgberht's control until after Ludica was killed in 827 AD.'

The coin is scheduled to be sold on March 10, 2020, with Mr Hall sharing the proceeds with the owner of the land on which the coin was found.

According to the historical record, London fell to the Wessex King Ecgberht (pictured) as a result of the outcome of the Battle of Ellendun in 825 AD. However, Mr Hall's coin proves that Mercia still retained London in 826 AD

Andy found the penny buried around four inches deep in the mud during a one-off visit to farmland at Coombe Bisset, Wiltshire, in the January of 2016

Climate change is causing the Arctic to become GREENER as warmer temperatures cause trees and plants to flourish in the frozen world

Scientists are using drones and satellites to track levels of Arctic greenery 

The Arctic is normally a vast and barren expanse of frozen land with little foliage 

But recent analysis has found trees and plants are thriving in the Arctic

By JOE PINKSTONE FOR MAILONLINE 31 January 2020 

Ecologists are on 'red alert' as warmer temperatures caused by climate change causes the Arctic to become greener.

The Arctic is normally a vast and barren expanse of frozen land but higher temperatures are now allowing foliage to thrive.

Trees and plants are being found in areas that were once perennially frozen, according to a new study.
                                                         
The worrying phenomenon - branded 'Arctic greening' - is being studied by researchers using drones and satellites to study the change of Arctic permafrost (pictured)

The worrying phenomenon - branded 'Arctic greening' - is being studied by researchers using drones and satellites.

A group of 40 scientists from 36 institutions, led by two National Geographic Explorers, are behind the huge project.

As Arctic summer temperatures warm, snow is melting earlier and plants are coming into leaf sooner in spring.

Tundra vegetation is spreading into new areas and in the areas where plants have always survived, they are now flourishing.

Study lead author Dr Isla Myers-Smith, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: 'New technologies including sensors on drones, planes and satellites, are enabling scientists to track emerging patterns of greening found within satellite pixels that cover the size of football fields.'

Changes in vegetation alter how carbon is captured and released into the atmosphere.

The Arctic is normally a vast and barren expanse of frozen land (pictured) but higher temperatures are allowing foliage to thrive

Small changes to this balance could significantly impact efforts to keep warming below 1.5°C – a key target of the Paris Agreement.

But researchers in Europe and North America also found Arctic greening, which can be seen from space, is caused by various factors.

Ground warming is important, researchers found, but so are changes to the timing of snow melt and the wetness of landscapes.

The new study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The team behind it say it is vital for understanding global climate change because tundra plants act as a barrier between the warming atmosphere and huge stocks of carbon stored in frozen ground.

Co-lead author Dr Jeffrey Kerby, who was a Neukom Fellow at Dartmouth College while conducting the research, said: 'Besides collecting new imagery, advances in how we process and analyse these data - even imagery that is decades old - are revolutionising how we understand the past, present, and future of the Arctic.'

Alex Moen, Vice President of Explorer Programmes at the National Geographic Society, added: 'We look forward to the impact that this work will have on our collective understanding of the Arctic for generations to come.'

WHAT DO EXPERTS PREDICT FOR THE FATE OF THE PLANET'S PLANTS AND ANIMALS?

Nature is in more trouble now than at any time in human history with extinction looming over one million species of plants and animals, experts say.

That's the key finding of the United Nations' (UN) first comprehensive report on biodiversity - the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat.

The report - published on May 6, 2019 - says species are being lost at a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past.

Many of the worst effects can be prevented by changing the way we grow food, produce energy, deal with climate change and dispose of waste, the report said.

The report's 39-page summary highlighted five ways people are reducing biodiversity:

- Turning forests, grasslands and other areas into farms, cities and other developments. The habitat loss leaves plants and animals homeless. About three-quarters of Earth's land, two-thirds of its oceans and 85% of crucial wetlands have been severely altered or lost, making it harder for species to survive, the report said.

- Overfishing the world's oceans. A third of the world's fish stocks are overfished.

- Permitting climate change from the burning of fossil fuels to make it too hot, wet or dry for some species to survive. Almost half of the world's land mammals - not including bats - and nearly a quarter of the birds have already had their habitats hit hard by global warming.

- Polluting land and water. Every year, 300 to 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents and toxic sludge are dumped into the world's waters.

- Allowing invasive species to crowd out native plants and animals. The number of invasive alien species per country has risen 70 per cent since 1970, with one species of bacteria threatening nearly 400 amphibian species.

RIP Spitzer: NASA bids an emotional farewell to its infrared space telescope that has been capturing stunning images of the Milky Way and cradles of newborn stars for over 16 years

After more than 16 years studying the universe in infrared light since its launch in 2003, NASA has switched off the Spitzer Space Telescope (main image), bringing its mission to an end. Since its launch, Spitzer studied comets and asteroids in our own solar system, detailed the seven rocky exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 star system and found a previously unidentified ring around Saturn (bottom right). The infrared telescope also captured stunning images of the Cat's Paw nebula (bottom left) and Helix nebula (top left) and composed an extensive map of our Milky Way galaxy (top right)

how global climate crisis inaction will lead to an explosion of civil unrest

Related video: Sir David Attenborough warns short governments could hinder climate action

As Asia’s youngest cabinet minister, this is how global climate crisis inaction will lead to an explosion of civil unrest

I am terrified for the future of young people. Instead of pointing fingers at each other, industrialised and developing countries need to go further

Syed Saddiq

To borrow from Greta Thunberg's powerful reminder at the World Economic Forum last week, it is our youth – those who will inherit the planet – who will be most affected by the decisions we make today.

As Malaysia’s youth minister – and Asia’s youngest cabinet minister – her stark words resonate with me deeply. I have seen first hand how young people across the region and the wider Muslim world are disillusioned with the business-as-usual approach to the planet.


Thunberg represents a new generation of young people across rich and poor countries who are demanding urgent reform. They won’t be silenced. Their anger is not just about the climate emergency, but about everything: corruption, economic inequalities, hunger.

In the Muslim world, this wave of unrest extends the same outbreak of rage we saw in 2011. The food, climate and economic drivers of that unrest are now worse than ever.

A decade ago, unemployment in Muslim nations was the highest in the world. Since then, it has grown more than anywhere else. Now nearly a third of young people across the Middle East and North Africa are unemployed – over double the international average.

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures
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Across the region, economic growth is sluggish; economies are dependent on diminished revenues from oil exports; public services are languishing and science spending is less than 0.5 per cent of GDP. Meanwhile, Muslim-majority nations are among the most corrupt in the entire world.

But the biggest threat of all is the climate crisis. The region has faced almost continuous regional drought since 1998; floods in Saudi Arabia; heat waves in Kuwait; and rising sea levels in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria. Within 30 years, large areas of the Middle East and north Africa could become “uninhabitable”.

As a government minister representing the issues that young people face, I am terrified of what's in store for our youth in this region.

South Asia could face extreme drought and food insecurity as early as the 2030s. Bangladesh could experience a sea-level rise on a scale that could force tens of millions from the homes. Progress on poverty alleviation by Malaysia and Indonesia could be reversed due to climate-induced economic losses being bigger than anywhere else. The impact of the climate on agriculture, tourism and fishing, for example, could shave off a tenth of the region’s GDP, and as much as 50 per cent of rice yields.

Neither the east nor west can tackle these challenges alone. Western nations are right to point out how developing nations resort to environmentally-destructive practices. But they are responsible for creating a highly unequal global system dependent on fossil fuels, the legacy of empire.

One area where we desperately need co-responsibility is global deforestation – the world’s second-largest source of carbon emissions from human activities.

Undoubtedly, oil palm plantations have been among the main drivers of deforestation in southeast Asia. But shortly after winning landslide elections overthrowing decades of corruption, my government was the first to declare a moratorium on oil palm expansion to conserve forest cover at no less than 50 per cent, while introducing mandatory standards to make oil palm production 100 per cent sustainable.

Yet within months, the European Union snubbed these efforts and declared a ban on palm oil for biodiesel. My country did not have a chance.

I’m not convinced that this was about deforestation. The EU sought a trade deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay last year, although this would see European beef imports escalate. Yet beef consumption is the single biggest driver of climate-linked deforestation.

I don’t believe we can simply ban our way to a more sustainable and inclusive world – there’s a real risk of displacing rising demand onto to other commodities.

Numerous scientific studies by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Oxford University, and York University among others show that replacing palm oil with soy, rapeseed or corn would drive great levels of deforestation. They are less efficient and use more land, fertiliser and pesticides.

Similarly, killing off livestock industries would degrade soils irreparably under continuous crop production. In contrast, sustainable approaches like "mob-grazing" cattle can help reverse climate change by increasing soil’s capacity to store carbon.

Malaysia’s efforts to transition to sustainable palm oil are not perfect and there remains much work to be done. Yet instead of working with us, the EU has simply ignored our efforts while fuelling greater causes of deforestation elsewhere.
Read more

Will planting a trillion trees actually solve the climate crisis?

Instead of pointing fingers at each other, industrialised and developing countries must work together to support more sustainable production practices. In the Amazon, that means rearing cattle in ways which protect and nurture the rainforest. In Malaysia, that means cultivating sustainable palm oil in a way which allows precious species like the Orangutan to not just survive, but thrive – as we are trying to do.

Across the east and west, we must find ways to support each other. If we don’t, civil unrest will not only become a perfect storm, it will be the new normal. That means co-responsibility and collaborative approaches not just on problems like deforestation, but on the urgent task of building new kinds of societies where governments and businesses provide for citizens within planetary boundaries.

This is the only future where the next generation has a chance, not just of surviving but thriving. If we political leaders do not work towards that, we can expect to be removed from power: the next generation will make sure of it.​

Syed Saddiq is Malaysia’s minister for youth and sports, and Asia’s youngest ever cabinet minister. He is also youth chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party in the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition

Japan planning to release over a million tonnes of radioactive water into sea from Fukushima power plant

Coolant contains toxic element which cannot be removed

Harry Cockburn
Friday 31 January 2020 20:03

Tanks containing contaminated water at the Fukushima nuclear plant ( AP )

Massive amounts of radioactive water being stored at Japan’s Fukushima power plant could be released into the sea under plans provisionally accepted by the country’s government.

Tokyo Electric has collected nearly 1.2 million tonnes of contaminated water from cooling pipes used to keep fuel cores from melting since the plant was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami which hit eastern Japan in 2011.

The water, containing 62 radioactive elements, is stored in huge tanks on the site of the now disabled power plant, but Tokyo Electric has said it will run out of room to store the water by 2022.

The water has been treated and Tokyo Electric said it is able to remove all radioactive particles from the water to levels not harmful to humans, except tritium, an isotope of hydrogen which is more difficult to separate from water.

A panel of experts working for Japan’s economy and industry ministry concluded that letting the water run into the sea was the best option after looking at other proposals. The only other viable option considered was to let the water evaporate.
Inside the twisted remains of Fukushima nuclear plant

Tokyo Electric Power Company officials and journalists 

and journalists visited the site yesterday

In Friday’s proposal, the ministry said the controlled release to the sea is superior because its route is predictable and easier to sample and monitor.

“Compared to evaporation, ocean release can be done more securely,” the committee said, pointing to common practice around the world where nuclear power stations operating under normal conditions routinely release water containing tritium into the sea.

But the decision will alarm neighbouring countries and comes ahead of Japan’s hosting of the 2020 Olympic Games, with some events due to be held less than 60km away from the Fukushima site.

Fishermen and residents also fear health effects from releasing the radioactive water as well as harm to the region’s image and farm industries.

Neighbouring South Korea has retained a ban on imports of seafood from Japan’s Fukushima region imposed after the nuclear disaster and summoned a senior Japanese embassy official last year to explain how the Fukushima water would be dealt with, Reuters reported.

South Korean athletes are planning to bring their own radiation detectors and food to the Games.

Experts say there is no established method to fully separate tritium from water, but it is not a problem in small amounts. Government officials also say tritium is routinely released from existing nuclear power plants around the world.

The report acknowledges the water releases would harm industries that still face reluctant consumers despite safety checks. It promised to reinforce monitoring of tritium levels and food safety checks to address safety concerns.

Additional reporting by agencies

Read more

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Why Fukushima is Japan’s most underrated hidden gem
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