All posts by Bill Maher

News

ITALY’S PM MONTI ‘TO RESIGN”. SILVIO BERLUSCONI TO RETURN TO POLITICS

Italian PM Mario Monti has said he intends to step down as Prime Minister, after he lost the support of the parliament, earlier this week.

Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right party People of Freedom withdrew their support for the Prime Minister, making him feel as though he no longer has the support of the Parliament.

Monti has said he will resign immediately if he can quickly pass next year’s budget through parliament. Some believe the withdrawal of support by the People of Freedom Party was an attempt to undermine Monti’s ambitious debt reducing budget.

Disgraced former PM Silvio Berlusconi has said he will run in elections early next year. The media tycoon is still facing charges of underage sex, and was convicted for tax fraud earlier this year. He is currently appealing his conviction.

Read More: Italy’s PM Monti “to resign” France 24
Silvio Berlusconi confirms return to politics France 24

News

UK GOVERNMENT BEGINS PUSH TO LEGALIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, along with other senior members of the Conservative Party have come out in support of same-sex marriage. They are uniting under the slogan “Freedom to Marry”.

The move has angered many within the Conservative party, who hold to a traditional view of marriage. Prime Minister David Cameron would like to legalize gay marriage, and allow marriage ceremonies to take place in churches, but also let churches who do not want to conduct same-sex marriages, the right to refuse.

The UK already allows civil partnerships for gay couples, but the group of 19 senior Tories has said, “We recognise that civil partnerships were an important step forward in giving legal recognition to same sex couples. But civil partnerships are not marriages, which express a particular and universally understood commitment.”

Sources within the coalition say that the government is keen to have a bill voted on before Easter next year. Conservative backbenchers are calling for any such vote to be a free vote.

Read More

FYI, News

SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN WINS SEAT ON BANKING COMMITTEE

Elizabeth Warren is widely regarded as one of the strongest progressive voices in the Senate. She received widespread praise from Democrates at the Democratic Convention and went on to win Massachusetts from Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

The fight became the most expensive to be fought over in the election. Wall Street donated heavily to Scott Brown’s campaign, keen to stop Warren from winning. Now Wall Street will have Sen Warren on the banking committee. The powerful committee has the job of overseeing the implementation of the Dodd-Frank bill and other banking regulations.

Read More from The Huffington Post

FYI, News

SYRIA: ASSAD COULD BE GETTING READY TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS

As the civil war continues in Syria, there are renewed fears that Bashar al-Assad may use Chemical Weapons against his own people.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said at a press conference after a meeting with NATO leaders, “Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria… And so as part of the absolute unity that we all have on this issue we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account.”

The United States has pledged support for the Syrian opposition. There will be a meeting in Morocco next week to discuss what further steps need to be undertaken to help resolve the conflict in Syria.

Read More ‘Desperate’ Assad could use chemical weapons in Syria, says Hillary Clinton- The Telegraph

News

EUROPE’S FIRST GAY FRIENDLY MOSQUE OPENS IN PARIS FRANCE


Europe’s first gay friendly mosque has opened in Paris, France. The new mosque opened in a small room inside the house of a Buddhist monk.

The “mosque” has been critised by Muslim leaders in Paris who have said that it is, “against the spirit of Islam”. However the founder of the mosque says he is breaking “prejudices in Islam”.

The mosque will also break with traditional Muslim teaching of women. The founder, French-Algerian gay rights activist and practicing Muslim Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, says he wants to also allow women to lead Friday prayers.

Read More at France 24

FYI, News

UN VOTES TO GRANT PALESTINE NON-MEMBER OBSERVER STATUS

The UN has voted overwhelmingly in favour of granting Palestine non-member observer status- 138 in favor, 9 against, 41 abstentions. Israel had threatened before the vote to retailed with financial penalties if the vote was passed.

The move in effect recognises Palestinian statehood, and will give them access to a number of different bodies, like the International Criminal Court.

Before the vote Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told the General Assembly that it “is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine.”

Read More

FYI, News

MASSIVE BLACK HOLE DISCOVERED BAFFLES ASTRONOMERS

1 Comment

Astronomers have discovered a massive black hole, the second biggest ever observed. What is unusual about the discovery is the black hole’s location. Black holes are found at the centre of galaxies, and this one has been discovered at the centre of NGC 1277. NGC 1277 is a tiny galaxy, a quarter of the size of our own Milky Way. This new black hole has a mass 17 billion times bigger than our Sun, and is thought to be the size of our Solar System, comprising of 14% of NGC 1277 total mass. And this is what makes the discovery unique.

Current understanding about black hole behaviour tells us that the size of the black hole is linked to the stellar velocities within the galaxy. A galaxy the size of NGC 1277 should not have stellar velocities high enough to create a black hole of this size. Astronomers have never seen anything like it, the discovery goes against what they previously believed about black hole evolution.

An average black hole will have a mass around 1000 time that of the sun, within a size no bigger than the earth.

Astronomers will be studying NGC 1277 closely to see what new knowledge they can learn about the behaviour of black holes.

Read More

Read the full report in Nature

Entertainment, FYI

FRENCH DOCUMENTARY ABOUT GAY SENIORS AIRS AS FRANCE DECIDES ON GAY MARRIAGE

Sébastien Lifshitz’s “Les Invisibles” (“The Invidables”) is a documentary about the lives of elderly homosexual and lesbian couples in France. The documentary is released this week at a time France is gripped by the debate about same-sex marriage and gay adoption.

The documentary looks at the lives of gay men and women and how they explored their sexuality through a time that same-sex marriage was not in the public consciousness.

Lifshitz has made name for himself creating gay-themed documentaries. Although he argues “Les Invisables” is not about the national debate in France surrounding same-sex marriage, he agrees his documentary is his contribution to the conversation.

French lawmakers are set to vote on same-sex marriage in a few months time.

Read More of France 24s interview with Sébastien Lifshitz

FYI, News

FRANCE SUPPORTS PALESTINE’S BID FOR NON-MEMBER OBSERVER STATUS AT THE UN

2 Comments

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has told the French parliament that France will vote in favour of the Palestinian Authorities UN bid to be made a non-member observer. If the Palestinian bid is successful it would implicitly recognise Palestinian statehood, and would give the Palestinian’s access to bodies like the International Court of Human Rights in the Hague. The Palestinian’s could then file complaints against Israel.

The rest of Europe remains divided over the issue. Portugal and Spain say they will vote for the motion, but Germany are opposed to any change in the Palestinian’s United Nations status. Britain remains undecided. The United States and Israel are strongly opposed to the move.

Read More

FYI, News

UN CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT BEGINS IN DOHA, QATAR

2 Comments

The 18th annual Climate Change summit began in Doha Qatar today. Delegates from over 200 nations will be looking to sign nations up to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The first commitment period runs out December 31st. Kyoto binds 40 of the richest nations to strict greenhouse gas emission targets, China and the US never signed up to Kyoto.

Delegates are also hoping to reach a draft plan for a new global climate deal to be brought into effect in 2020.

At the end of the week negotiators will be joined by cabinet ministers from over 100 nations. Ministers will be under pressure to sign up to stricter pre-2020 greenhouse gas targets for richer nations, as well as providing greater funding to poorer nations.

Read More France 24

News

ARE THERE MOVES TO GIVE THE UNITED NATIONS CONTROL OVER THE INTERNET?

1 Comment

Next month, nations will gather in Dubai to discuss the future of the internet. The mission of the conference is to secure “the free flow of information around the world, promoting affordable and equitable access for all”.

In the build up to the conference, there has been growing debate amongst some nations that the United Nations should take over control of the internet. A leaked document from Russian officials says:

“Member states shall have equal rights to manage the internet, including in regard to the allotment, assignment and reclamation of internet numbering, naming, addressing and identification resources and to support for the operation and development of basic internet infrastructure,”

Today the European Union have voted on whether they believe the UN should control the internet. The EU parliament have rejected this saying that UN control would “negatively impact the internet, it’s architecture, operations, content and security, business relations, internet governance and the free flow of information online”.

Currently different bodies around the world control the internet and it’s structure. Most of these bodies, like ICANN, ( Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) are found just south of Santa Monica CA in Marina Del Rey (where the Dalai Lama’s second in command lives). They act independently of government control. Those opposed to handing control of the internet over to the UN argue that many of the member states of the UN do not seek to promote the free, “equitable access of all” that the internet allows.

Read More

News

EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT MOHAMED MORSI GRANTS HIMSELF SWEEPING POWERS

3 Comments

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has signed a decree that gives him new sweeping powers. The presidential decree states that any challenges to his decrees, laws and decisions were banned, including by the judiciary.

Morsi signed the decree the day after he won international praise for his diplomatic efforts to broker the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Today angry demonstrators torched the Cairo offices of the Muslim Brotherhood in protest at the decree. Among Egypt’s secular opposition groups, there was mounting alarm over Morsi’s declaration that no court could dissolve the country’s Constituent Assembly, which is drawing up a new Egyptian constitution.

A leading Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei accused Morsi of usurping authority and acting like a new Pharaoh.

Read More

News

ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE ANNOUNCED

2 Comments


The Egyptian foreign minister has announced, as of this evening, a 24-hour cease fire will be in place between Israel and Hamas. Mohammed Kamel Amr made the announcement with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by his side.

If the 24 hour period passes without any violence both sides will be open to more serious talks.

In the agreement, Israel agreed to end it’s assassination of top Hamas officials, and end the blockade of Gaza. Hamas has agreed to end all rocket fire from militant groups within the Gaza strip.

Israel has not explained how the blockade will be lifted. Hamas believe this will mean the border between Gaza and Egypt will be opened.

Read More

News

PEACE TALKS CONTINUE IN MIDDLE EAST

2 Comments

Egypt is at the centre of peace talks between Israel and Hamas, as the violence continues. Israel have stationed troops on the border with Gaza, but are keen to find a diplomatic solution to the fighting.

Hamas have been able to target Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with their rockets, something that has been impossible until now. Hamas’ new capabilities have come with the help of Iranian rockets.

Pictures have also emerged of a man being dragged through the streets of Gaza tied to a motorcycle. The man was said to be an Israeli sympathiser.

Pressure is mounting on Israel, as civilian casulties rise. Civilians accounted for 54 of the 113 Palestinians killed. Israel has stressed they try to minimise civilian deaths, but that Hamas position their rocket launchers and weapons beside civilian populations, sometimes beside hospitals and schools.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is making her way to Jerusalem to talk with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before going to the West Bank to talk to Palestinian leaders, and then on to Egypt for talks with Egyptian leaders.

Read more: Fox News