News for today's 2018

Jerusalem, My Happy Home: Part 5

11:24 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">This morning we rode a couple of hours to Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast. It was the ruin of a City built by Herod the Great as a harbor to complete with Alexandria and as a respectable Roman City in Palestine. It had a classic theater and a large hippodrome for chariot races and gladiator fights. Caesarea was Pilate’s capital from which he ruled most of the time making it down to Jerusalem only for major festivals when there was a risk of disorder. Paul was imprisoned and tried here, before disembarking for Rome. The main thing I left with from Caesarea is what an open-minded guy Herod the Great was –building the Temple to Yahweh in Jerusalem and the Temple to Caesar in Caesarea. A consummate politician, that Herod.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">From there we went to Mt. Carmel. I remain surprised at the beauty of this green agricultural country. Even seminary had not disabused me of the notion that this country was semi-arid at its wettest. Not remotely true. From the peak of Carmel, the Jezreel Valley and the surrounding country appears verdant and productive. We heard the story of Elijah’s duel with the prophets of Baal. I would have been interested to hear more about how a band of deserters from the Crusades, disillusioned with European holy militarism, came here to form the Carmelite order.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Then it was on to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation. Nazareth is now a small city, about half Muslim and half Christian. In Jesus’s day, it was an insignificant village of about 400. The Church of the Annunciation is famous for Madonnas from many different nations. Some are just soul stirring. The American one, however, looks like a refugee from a sci-fi movie. She is metallic, stern, and has no Baby Jesus. A little scary. I think we could do better. The Church of the Annunciation is an elegant Franciscan shrine, but does not have the feel of holiness or antiquity we experienced in the Church of the Nativity. The main value for me was just being in Nazareth. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Our leader gave a reflection on the childhood of Jesus that sounded pretty Beaver Cleaver. From reading Andrew Harvey’ Son of Man and Stephen Mitchell’s The Gospel According to Jesus (largely a book on the Gospel of Thomas), I think Ann Rice had it closer to right in her novel Christ the Lord. His irregular birth would have been a problem. His sympathy for the outcast and his eagerness to forgive and reconcile may have their roots in that experience. GThom Saying 105: “He who knows the Father and Mother will be called the son of a harlot.” It is likely not everyone in Nazareth believed in the Virgin Birth. And of course when Jesus returned as the hometown boy made good, the people of Nazareth didn’t buy it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">From there we went to Cana where, in John’s Gospel, Jesus turned water into wine. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">It is enormously helpful to see this country, but I had hoped for an academically richer program. This is more touristy than I had expected. Apparently some St. George’s classes are more substantive. So I’m reading extra hard to make up for what is lacking in the presentations. And I am learning a lot from the reading. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

Jerusalem, My Happy Home: Part 5

This morning we rode a couple of hours to Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast. It was the ruin of a City built by Hero...

BOSNIA’S DANGEROUS TANGO:

10:31 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfhzJVxShkZqxTOhK6dOeecMtAr1gQiDBDgLkpJ6o7ZZgoUIlMxXmkphyphenhypheno5upyW-1sBscbBMk9poXh5d6fcPgETnI292RP1KpJvL8cz25gvneVW1kZhAwyElgaTeDwC5ll6CHXlWT2idt/s1600/10776784-old-grunge-flag-of-bosnia-and-herzegovina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfhzJVxShkZqxTOhK6dOeecMtAr1gQiDBDgLkpJ6o7ZZgoUIlMxXmkphyphenhypheno5upyW-1sBscbBMk9poXh5d6fcPgETnI292RP1KpJvL8cz25gvneVW1kZhAwyElgaTeDwC5ll6CHXlWT2idt/s320/10776784-old-grunge-flag-of-bosnia-and-herzegovina.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ISLAM AND NATIONALISM</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RENEWED CROAT AND SERB CHALLENGES TO THE STATE’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The BOSNIAK community (Muslim BOSNIANS) is deeply frustrated with the dysfunctional government, flawed constitution and economic stagnation of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (BiH), as well as renewed CROAT and SERB challenges to the state’s territorial integrity. The Islamic community has taken a leading role in channelling popular anger, filling a vacuum left by BOSNIAK political parties, whose leadership seems adrift. Political Islam is a novelty in BOSNIA, and its rise is seen as threatening to secular parties and non-Muslims. On the margins of society, a plethora of non-traditional Salafi and other Islamist groups have appeared, raising fears of terrorism. They are small, divided and largely non-violent, however, and the state and the Islamic community should work to integrate them further into society. Real instability and violence are more likely to come from clashing nationalisms. The Islamic community’s best contribution would be to help craft a vision for BOSNIA that CROATS and SERBS can share.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISLAM: A STRONG ELEMENT IN THE POST-WAR BOSNIAK NATIONALISM</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Islamic community (Islamska zajednica, IZ) in BIH has is a religious organisation as well as an important political actor that has shaped BOSNIAKS’ national identity, though it has recently become more divided and disorganised. The still influential and charismatic former leader, Mustafa ef. Cerić, ensured that Islam became a strong element in the post-war BOSNIAK nationalism of which he was a main author and promoter. He likewise linked the BOSNIAK cause to BIH, which, though also multi-ethnic, he argued, should be a nation-state for the BOSNIAKS, since CROATS and SERBS already had countries of their own.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MUSTAFA EF. CERIĆ See: </span></b></span></div><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">INFLUENTIAL ISLAMIC COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The threat of fundamentalist Islam has been evoked repeatedly in BOSNIA since several thousand mujahidin arrived in the early 1990s, though it is foreign to the great majority of the Muslim population. Especially after 11 September 2001, when it embarked on its global war on terrorism, the U.S. in particular has pressed BOSNIAN authorities to arrest or deport individuals with possible links to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Most recently, in December 2012, a self-declared Islamic insurgent was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment for shooting at the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo the previous year. A month earlier, a BOSNIAN-born naturalised U.S. citizen was sentenced to life in prison for planning attacks in New York in 2009.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvg4K-w-YyR3qIF7JLgRspfAdvWJgOJc_HoibY-yAf9n2xlVF5AB9fA_69OXBM-7wHvw8TBTJuANPkD1KuEJ_XZULLt1l68o7hRfjB_3o-9mqCbDrar41phpEJqnMKKU6ZQIUTzMap6Vc7/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvg4K-w-YyR3qIF7JLgRspfAdvWJgOJc_HoibY-yAf9n2xlVF5AB9fA_69OXBM-7wHvw8TBTJuANPkD1KuEJ_XZULLt1l68o7hRfjB_3o-9mqCbDrar41phpEJqnMKKU6ZQIUTzMap6Vc7/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mustafa ef. Cerić</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">NO THREAT BY RADICAL ISLAMIC GROUPS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These cases nurture the perception that radical Islamic groups form a serious and unified threat to stability. In fact the few existing groups are small and divided. Some are integrated in the IZ; others reject its authority and withdraw to secluded communities. Virtually no home-grown radicals have been involved in violence; the vast majority of attacks have been the work of émigrés or persons with documented criminal or psychological records. There is a risk of similar, small-scale attacks in the future, but no sign of an organisation capable of or interested in mass violence or terror. To guard against future incidents, however:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the      Islamic community and Bosnian state officials should cooperate to engage      non-violent Salafis, especially those returning from the Diaspora, in      dialogue so as to encourage integration.</span></b></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RECRUITMENT      OF BOSNIAK DIASPORA</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> see: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina-part-4.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina-part-4.html</a></span></b></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IT IS THE IZ’S USE OF BOSNIAK NATIONALISM, PARTLY IN RESPONSE TO PROVOCATIONS BY CROAT AND SERB NATIONALISTS, WHICH IS MORE LIKELY TO EXACERBATE TENSIONS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the case today in Mostar, where the IZ advocates a hard line, seeking to unify BOSNIAKS in their political struggle with the main CROAT parties on how to elect local authorities and form the municipality. Though its city administration’s mandate and budget have expired, Mostar failed to hold elections in 2012; with no lawfully constituted city authority, services risk being suspended in the coming months. Without a difficult compromise, all residents will suffer. To overcome this crisis:</span></div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mostar religious leaders should be attentive to their      constituency, which favours negotiation, and drop their hardline approach,      support a compromise position acceptable to all three communities, refrain      from divisive rhetoric and call upon the city’s political leaders to reach      agreement without delay.</span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">POLITICAL ISLAM PROMOTER, EX GRAND MUFTI CERIĆ, STILL INFLUENTIAL IN BIH</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSTcRE71mGWA1oU6M-0bDqY8Mmywig5rJItshyphenhyphenoPmdR2fiQSmlBYKhFtqtNx2TqlFC4Y-4zanWkcr5XAvF5cNx-Abg8KtYpkMpd24x_4jY-UDvDnhR32xPakHVDQhYRABDLypy6A4CFu7K/s1600/BEDRANAphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSTcRE71mGWA1oU6M-0bDqY8Mmywig5rJItshyphenhyphenoPmdR2fiQSmlBYKhFtqtNx2TqlFC4Y-4zanWkcr5XAvF5cNx-Abg8KtYpkMpd24x_4jY-UDvDnhR32xPakHVDQhYRABDLypy6A4CFu7K/s320/BEDRANAphoto.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grand Mufti, Husein Kavazović </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The election of a new grand mufti, Husein Kavazović, at the end of 2012, offers an opportunity to restructure and depoliticise the IZ and focus it on institutional reform. But the political Islam that Cerić promoted, based on the affirmation of a strong BOSNIAK identity, will be hard to let go as long as many BOSNIAKS feel that their state’s integrity is being challenged. Cerić remains active; he launched a World BOSNIAK Congress on 29 December 2012 that includes a strong presence from the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sandžak</b>, a mixed, Muslim-majority region on the SERBIA-MONTENEGRO frontier. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SANDŽAK Region: See</span></b></span></div><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">SANDŽAK, AN AREA IN SOUTHERN SERBIA; WHICH HAS BECOME A CORE FOR ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM, LINKED WITH AL-QAEDA CELLS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/the-balkans-organized-crime-and_26.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/the-balkans-organized-crime-and_26.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand%C5%BEak">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand%C5%BEak</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.bmlv.gv.at/pdf_pool/publikationen/crime_omero.pdf">http://www.bmlv.gv.at/pdf_pool/publikationen/crime_omero.pdf  </a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More than any of the small Salafi groups operating in BOSNIA, further politicisation of the BOSNIAK cause may contribute to instability if it develops in opposition to the country’s other communities. To avoid dangerous escalation in nationalist conflict, the IZ and BOSNIA’S other religious communities should:</span></div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">withdraw from the partisan political arena by      refraining from endorsement of parties or candidates; and</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">commit to interfaith dialogue to seek common ground and      shape a vision of the BOSNIAN state as the shared property of all three      major communities.</span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Via International Crisis Group</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><u>BACKGROUND INFORMATION:  </u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">BIH ISLAMIC COMMUNITY WELCOMES NEW LEADER (2012) </span></span></span></h1><div class="source"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By Bedrana Kaletović for Southeast European Times </span></div><div class="source"><br /></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="float: right; mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">  <td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;"><br /></td> </tr></tbody></table>After 19 years as the head of the Islamic Community of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (BiH), Reis Mustafa Effendi Ceric handed over his position to Husein Effendi Kavazovic.<br />  Kavazovic, 48, is well-regarded by other religious leaders. Although he is not without critics, his statement following the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 -- when he urged Muslims not to retaliate against SERBIAN civilians -- helped him build a reputation as a moderate. <br />  "We will change and fix the obsolete and the bad," Kavazovic said in a statement to the media. <br />  "We are facing serious tasks of progress and development. For that, we have the knowledge, ability and decisiveness. Strength, assured by the unity of Muslims and conscience of the BOSNAIKS, will be pointed towards the security and good of the country we live in. We will respect the responsibilities taken on and co-operate with neighbours of other faiths. We will contribute to the strengthening of the BOSNIAN AND HERZEGOVINIAN society, founded on the respect for diversity and responsibility for those varieties."<br /><br />  <span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CERIC NEVER DISTANCED HIMSELF FROM WAHHABISM AND RADICAL ISLAMISTS</b></span><br /><br />  In succeeding Ceric, Kavazovic replaces a leader who frequently was accused of excess involvement in political decisions. Ceric never officially distanced himself from the Wahhabis and radical Islamists, and he proclaimed journalists who reported on these groups as Islamophobics.<br /><br />  <span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KAVAZOVIC ON THE OTHER HAND IS ALLEGED TO BE RIGHT WING MILITANT MEMBER IN THE ISLAMIC COMMUNITY </b></span><br /><br />  Enes Osmancevic, a professor at the University of Tuzla, said Kavazovic is a member of a rural, right-wing militant stream in the Islamic community -- one that doesn't differentiate between religion and politics.<br /><br />  <span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KAVAZOVIC: MORE POLITICAL THEN RELIGIOUS </b></span><br /><br />  "Kavazovic hides his right-wing orientation behind his concern for the faith and nation, and his militantism behind his patriotism". "His previous reasoning about the current issues of society and religion in BiH has shown that he indeed is, foremost, a politician of a one-dimensional provenience, who has for years been involved with SDA's decisions. His previous work is more political and less religious." <br />  The changing leadership of the BOSNIAN Islamic Community comes just after a similar move in CROATIA, where Aziz Hasanovic became the first new mufti in 22 years. He hopes for the Islamic community to prosper as CROATIA becomes a member of the EU in 2013. <br />  "Upon entering the EU, CROATIA, as a value, brings along the best-resolved Muslim situation in EUROPE," Hasanovic said. "We offer this as a model for resolving the issue of all Muslim minorities in the world, as well as that of Christian minorities in Muslim regions." <br />  <div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Related Background Information:</span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/crisis-in-western-balkans-integration.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/crisis-in-western-balkans-integration.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/bosnia-and-herzegovina-bih-stagnation.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/bosnia-and-herzegovina-bih-stagnation.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/08/bosnia-cursed-by-european-union-eu.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/08/bosnia-cursed-by-european-union-eu.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-suffers-from-unresolved-issues.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-suffers-from-unresolved-issues.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-2012.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-2012.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/bosnia-and-herzegovinas-internal-twist.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/bosnia-and-herzegovinas-internal-twist.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/the-balkans-organized-crime-and.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/the-balkans-organized-crime-and.html</a></span></div>

BOSNIA’S DANGEROUS TANGO:

ISLAM AND NATIONALISM RENEWED CROAT AND SERB CHALLENGES TO THE STATE’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY The BOSNIAK community (Muslim BOSNIANS) is d...

Fla. sinkhole grows deeper after swallowing man

10:19 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><h2 class="lead-in" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 60px; margin-top: -2px;">A Florida sinkhole swallowed Jeff Bush, 37, while he was in his room on Thursday. Engineers say his whole house may be swallowed soon.</h2><div class="article-metadata-wrap" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 60px; position: relative;"><aside class="single-photo expandable-collapsed" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 20px; position: relative; width: 180px; z-index: 100;"><div class="image-wrap" style="box-shadow: rgb(200, 200, 200) 1px 1px 5px; cursor: pointer; padding: 3px; position: relative;"><img alt="sinkhole2" class="expand-img-horiz" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/03/02/ap-sinkhole-swallows-man-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 131px; vertical-align: middle;" /><span class="toggle" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/sprites/asset-sprite.png?1359747063); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 21px; position: absolute; right: 0px; width: 21px; z-index: 200;"></span></div><div class="image-credit-wrap" style="color: #646464; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;"><span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: Chris O'Meara, AP)</span></div></aside><div class="article-metadata" style="position: relative;"><aside class="comp story-highlights " style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px; min-height: 60px; width: 180px;"><h3 class="hlts" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-family: 'Futura Today Bold', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px auto; text-transform: uppercase;">STORY HIGHLIGHTS</h3><ul class="hlt" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png?1359747063); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Sinkhole is estimated at 20 feet across by 20 feet deep</li><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png?1359747063); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">House may have to be demolished</li><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png?1359747063); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Two houses have been evacuated with more evacuations possible</li></ul></aside></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — Engineers worked gingerly to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Engineers were expected at the home to do more tests after sunrise Saturday. They spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running various tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot was dangerous. No one was allowed in the home.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I cannot tell you why it has not collapsed yet," Bill Bracken, the owner of an engineering company called to assess the sinkhole, said of the home. He described the earth below as a "very large, very fluid mass."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"This is not your typical sinkhole," said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill. "This is a chasm. For that reason, we're being very deliberate."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>STORY: </b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/01/florida-sinkhole-man/1955895/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/01/florida-sinkhole-man/1955895/">Fla. man swallowed by a sinkhole 'chasm' feared dead</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>STORY: </b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/01/sinkhole-deaths-florida/1956843/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/01/sinkhole-deaths-florida/1956843/">Sinkholes are common in Fla. but rarely cause death</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Officials delicately addressed another sad reality: Bush was likely dead and the family wanted his body. Merrill, though, said they didn't want to jeopardize any more lives.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"They would like us to go in quickly and locate Mr. Bush," Merrill said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Two adjacent houses were evacuated and officials were considering further evacuations. Even the media was moved from a lawn across the street to a safer area a few hundred feet away.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"This is a very complex situation," said Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Rogers. "It's continuing to evolve and the ground is continuing to collapse."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it's extremely rare for them to swallow a person.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"You can almost envision a piece of Swiss cheese," said Taylor Yarkosky, a sinkhole expert from Brooksville, Fla., said while gesturing to the ground and the sky blue home where the earth opened in Seffner. "Any house in Florida could be in that same situation."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">A sinkhole near Orlando grew to 400 feet across in 1981 and devoured five sports cars, most of two businesses, a three-bedroom house and the deep end of an Olympic-size swimming pool.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">More than 500 sinkholes have been reported in Hillsborough County alone since the government started keeping track in 1954, according to the state's environmental agency.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Bush's brother running.</div><aside class="wide single-photo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 60px; margin-top: 25px; width: auto;"><img alt="None" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/03/02/ap-sinkhole-swallows-man_001-4_3_r541_c540.jpg?729ef1a5e3c69f5da0197e57e2bd3dd3fdfcd35f" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="540" /><div style="color: #646464; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;">Jeremy Bush, center with hand on head, is embraced by family and friends outside his home at 420 Faithway Drive in Seffner, Fla., on Friday.<span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: Chris Urso, AP)</span></div></aside><div class="clearfix" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Jeremy Bush said he jumped into the hole but couldn't see his brother and had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy who reached out and pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy Bush said through tears Friday in a neighbor's yard. "But I just couldn't do nothing."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He added: "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">A dresser and the TV set had vanished down the hole, along with most of Bush's bed.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">A sheriff's deputy who was the first to respond to a frantic 911 call said when he arrived, he saw Jeremy Bush.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Deputy Douglas Duvall said he reached down as if he was "sticking his hand into the floor" to help Jeremy Bush. Duvall said he didn't see anyone else in the hole.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">As he pulled Bush out, "everything was sinking," Duvall said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said.</div></div>

sinkhole Fla. sinkhole grows deeper after swallowing man

A Florida sinkhole swallowed Jeff Bush, 37, while he was in his room on Thursday. Engineers say his whole house may be swallowed soon. (Phot...

Driver Tasered After 101 mph Car Chase, Police Say

10:18 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img src="http://o4.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/273x203/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/b92b8d321b5836eb335c3a67c8f7782c" /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Police say they had to taser a Bushkill Towship man who passed them a 101 mph in a wild car chase. He may have been high on bath salts.</span><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sirens, tire spikes and a crashed car apparently weren't enough to stop an <a href="http://www.easton.patch.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #0044aa; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Easton </a>man accused of leading state police on a chase through Bushkill Township.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead, it took a taser to bring down Mark Nichols, who was allegedly on bath salts when he passed them doing 101 mph Wednesday night.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A police affadavit gives the following account:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">State troopers from the Belfast barracks saw Nichols, 29, of 46 N. Sixth St., speeding south on Route 33 in Bushkill Township around 8:30 p.m.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The troopers flashed their lights and sounded their siren to get Nichols to stop, but he kept driving, getting off the highway and making his way to Route 512.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At one point, police put down tire spikes in the road to stop Nichols. The spikes chewed through three of his tires, but he kept going.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Police say Nichols lost control of his car, crashing into the deck at a home on Redstone Drive.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nichols got out of the car and began to run, and police took him down with a Taser, the affadavit says.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Police found a bag containing a substance that turned out to be methamphetamine near the scene of the crash, and said Nichols also smelled of marijuana.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Investigators eventually determined Nichols had been high on bath salts at the time of the case. He was charged with fleeing/eluding police, criminal mischief, multiple counts of driving while under the influence and numerous traffic violations.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.714em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nichols was arraigned before on-duty <a href="http://easton.patch.com/listings/district-judge-richard-yetter-8536b4f0" style="border: 0px; color: #0044aa; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">District Judge Richard Yetter</a>, and sent to <a href="http://easton.patch.com/listings/northampton-county-department-of-corrections" style="border: 0px; color: #0044aa; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Northampton County Prison</a> in lieu of $65,000 bail.</div></div>

Chase Driver Tasered After 101 mph Car Chase, Police Say

Police say they had to taser a Bushkill Towship man who passed them a 101 mph in a wild car chase. He may have been high on bath salts. Sire...

SPAIN'S ECONOMIC CRISIS...

8:50 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> <span style="font-size: x-large;">..... HAS AN UNEXPECTED VICTIM: JOURNALISM </span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Spanish media has been ravaged by the country's recession, and not just economically. The crisis has also sparked serious challenges to its credibility.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Andrés Cala</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In SPAIN’S transformational economic crisis, no industry has escaped unscathed. But one of the biggest casualties is an unusual one: journalism.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6896989063397229776" name="nextParagraph"></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thousands of jobs have been lost and dozens of outlets have been shut down, denying newsrooms of some of its most veteran and talented professionals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And the SPANISH media isn't just hurting in terms of raw numbers – it's also taken hits to its most valued asset: credibility.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Beyond a doubt, this is the worst crisis SPANISH journalism has endured so far,” says Elsa González, president of the Federation of SPANISH Journalist Association. “We have to regain the trust of society that we have lost to a great extent.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">JOURNALISTS EASY PREY TO MAINLY CORPORATE PRESSURE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s not just the expected result of citizens’ loss of institutional trust amid the grueling global economic crisis. Increased politicization and institutional weakness are making journalists easy prey to government and corporate pressure, experts say, leading to blatant cases of political and corporate manipulation and serious editorial mistakes in even the most reputable publications and broadcasters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In fact, SPANIARDS trust journalists just a sliver more than lawyers, according to a poll released Feb. 20. Only 53 percent of SPANIARDS say journalists are honest, compared to 51 percent for lawyers, 80 percent for police, 88 percent for teachers, and more than 90 percent for health professionals. Bankers and members of parliament came in at 12 percent and 11 percent respectively.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MEDIA COMPANIES IN SPAIN ARE CONTROLLED BY CORPORATELY OWNED BY BANKS, LARGE CORPORATE TYCOONS, AND EVEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Reporters should be addressing society’s concerns, and they shouldn’t be as conditioned by their sources and the owners of their companies, but we are witnessing the opposite,” says Ramón Salaverría, director of journalistic projects in the School of Communication of Navarra University, and expert on industry trends. “Outlets are more interested in their corporate results than in their public.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To make things worse, media companies in SPAIN are either controlled by the government, or corporately owned by banks, large corporate tycoons, and even the Catholic Church. “From that point of view, [society] feels media companies lack independence of vested interests, and respond to ideological and economic clientlism.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The economic crisis and resulting transformation of SPANISH society are further alienating journalists, Mrs. González says. “Journalists are taking part in the country’s radicalization. The politicization is illustrated especially in the absence of transparency as a result of the weakness of journalism. [Journalists] ascribe to different sides because they have no other choice.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6896989063397229776" name="eztoc15136641_1"></a><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LAYOFFS AND ERRORS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The errors and lost credibility are not a coincidence,” says Dr. Salaverría. “You can’t do good journalism without good journalists.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Between 2008 and 2012, nearly 10,000 journalists lost their jobs, almost half of them in 2012, and 73 outlets shut down. The top editorial teams of every major news organization were “beheaded,” González of the journalist federation says. “The biggest enemy of independence is unemployment and precariousness, always waiting to be fired.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The average age in SPANISH newsrooms has plummeted since the beginning of the crisis to the early 30s, Salaverría says, from late 40s. As corporate revenue shrinks and stock prices plummet, companies “are leaving newsrooms without teachers, with few flight hours.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The most embarrassing – and telling – case involved the world’s most read newspaper in Spanish and Spain’s most respected daily: EL Pais. On Jan. 4, the newspaper made “one of the most serious mistakes of its history,” as it admitted in a story tracing in detail the makings of its error.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">El País published a front page picture which allegedly showed VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez with a tube connected through his mouth. Mr. Chávez has been receiving treatment for cancer, and his condition has been kept under tight wraps by his government. Uncovering and publishing evidence of his current status, like the picture, would be a media coup.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the picture turned out to be a fake provided by an agency. Most printed copies were collected throughout the country before they hit stands, and the newspaper immediately apologized and reprinted a new edition at a cost of 225,000 EUR, it said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The VENEZUELAN government has yet to take legal action, as it threatened. Nonetheless, being called out for shoddy screening on such a high-profile topic is a major black eye to El País.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6896989063397229776" name="eztoc15136641_2"></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">INCREASED STATE INFLUENCE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the biggest concern is editorial manipulation from government-financed public television and radio, one of the most popular sources of information in SPAIN that is legally mandated to reflect balanced content representing all SPANIARDS.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Regional and national governments have historically and readily imposed political agendas on the media they control, with swinging editorial lines depending on what party is in power. But amid the crisis, manipulation has been blatant. Journalists have denounced pressure, and reader complaints and legal suits against media outlets have increased.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Independent media companies are more subtle, but like in the rest of EUROPE, they are heavily ideologically biased, and allegiances to political parties are obvious, a lot more so than in the US.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It has come to the point that protestors increasingly decry journalists’ ties to the elite in almost daily anti-austerity rallies, at times violently.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another rising concern is corporate ability to influence reporters, either directly through coercion by threatening vital advertising, or indirectly by bullying journalists into self-censorship, experts say.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Editors are favoring profit-making and boosting their audience. And amid the loss of credibility, companies have not invested in journalistic rigor,” González says.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Are we meeting the demands of society?” she asked. “Not so much in some cases.”</span></div>

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