Newscuttings August 2013

NEWSCUTTINGS

A Few cuttings from the press and internet on what media says:

 

First on the Syrian situation:

Should the UK pursue military action against Syria?

Does the UK have a responsibility to stop Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons? Should we only proceed with UN backing? Do we have a clear enough objective to justify military action?

By James Manning 7:11AM BST 28 Aug 2013 Daily Telegraph

Why does chemical weapons usage merit a stronger response than other equally devastating forms of mass slaughter? Is there a risk of mission creep? Should we be looking to remove Assad? Would failure to intervene embolden our enemies?

Vote in our poll and discuss these points in the comments below. Read more 

CUT – There was an 80% majority against UK military action so the Telegraph altered the poll. There is still a majority against UK military action but not so much.

Barack Obama warns of Syria chemical weapons threat to US

President Obama raises the spectre of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists bent on attacking the US, and says "hardly anybody" disputes that the regime of Bashar Al-Assad deployed chemical weapons against civilian populations

7:54AM BST 29 Aug 2013 Telegraph

Barack Obama argued that Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons not only violated international norms but threatened America, as he hardened the US position on the alleged used of chemical weapons by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

"When you start talking about chemical weapons, in a country that has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, where over time their control of chemical weapons may erode, where they're allied to known terrorist organisations, that in the past have targeted the United States, then there is a prospect, a possibility in which chemical weapons, that can have devastating effects, could be directed at us and we want to make sure that that does not happen," he said.Read more

CUT – I thought Obama got elected on “a bring the troops home” ticket, and haven’t we heard all this before?

Britain launches last-ditch bid for UN approval for military strikes on Syria with resolution calling for 'all necessary measures'

Britain began a last-ditch attempt to gain United Nations approval for military strikes on Syria on Wednesday, challenging China and Russia to block action to protect civilians from the Assad regime

By Jon Swaine in New York and Robert Winnett

11:30PM BST 28 Aug 2013 Daily Telegraph

A UN Security Council resolution drafted by British diplomats proposed "authorising all necessary measures" to shield Syrians from chemical weapons and sharply condemning the government for their use. "We have always made clear that we want the UN Security Council to live up to its responsibilities on Syria," said David Cameron on Wednesday at the UN headquarters in New York by officials from the council's five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the US. Diplomats said no agreement was reached.read more 

CUT – why are Britain and the US always pushing to intervene in other countries? It’s not even clear that the Syrian Government launched the chemical weapons yet. Our interventions in the recent past have left those countries worse off than before; just look at Iraq. It's always of course Christians that suffer in the end.

Other items in the news:

Porn has never been more popular at the Edinburgh fringe

Pornography is everywhere in this year's comedy programme – but not for the reasons you might think. Plus: awards week begins; and Andrea Dworkin, comedy heroine

Brian Logan The Guardian 19 August 2013

It's porn. Some people say it's Nazis, but I say it's porn.

It's always interesting to see what's the buzz-topic among comedians in any given year on the Edinburgh Fringe. There's room for several, of course: one correspondent on the Chortle website claims that Hitler has overrun this year's standup shows, but I've not so far heard the Third Reich mentioned once. To me, the standout subject is clear, and it's porn – or more precisely, the anxiety that the ubiquity of online porn and sexualised imagery is corrupting how we (and especially young people) consider sex and gender. Read more

CUT – Porn the standout subject at the Edinburgh fringe, now that is surprise!

Radio 4 swaps politics for porn in explicit talk show: BBC attacked for replacing Today in Parliament with sex scenes during recess

·         Summer Nights featured explicit talk of swinging, orgasms, and sex toys

·         Then at 10.45am, followed drama featuring gay pornographic websites

·         Listeners complained the scheduling was ‘completely inappropriate’

By Emma Lowe PUBLISHED: 01:50, 15 August 2013 | UPDATED: 09:28, 15 August 2013

Radio 4 listeners could be forgiven for thinking they had tuned in to the wrong station this week. 

Instead of the usual round-up of the day’s politics, they were confronted by a graphic discussion of pornography and sex.

To replace Today in Parliament, which is off air during the summer recess, the BBC aired the first instalment of a ten-part series called Summer Nights, featuring explicit discussions of swinging, orgasms, and sex toys. Read more.. 

CUT – Swinging, gay pornographic websites and sex toys; some would say it’s not much different from what MPs get up to anyway. But it shows that the BBC are, as ever, short on ideas so they revert to porn.

After the worries of a possible war and the continued decay of our society, perhaps we should end on a light-hearted note which is also about the decay of our society - sorry:

Archbishop urges Christians to ‘repent’ over ‘wicked’ attitude to homosexuality

Photo - Daily Telegraph

The vast majority of people under 35 think that the Christian attitude to gay people is “wicked” and “incomprehensible”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor 

28 Aug 2013 Daily  Telegraph

The Most Rev Justin Welby told an audience of traditional born-again Christians that they must “repent” over the way gay and lesbian people have been treated in the past and said most young people viewed Christians as no better than racists on the issue.

Archbishop Welby, who as a young priest once opposed allowing gay couples to adopt children, said the church now had to face up to what amounted to one of the most rapid changes in public attitudes ever.

While insisting that he did not regret voting against same-sex marriage in the House of Lords, he admitted that his own mind was not yet “clear” on the wider issues which he was continuing to think about.

And he admitted that, despite its strong official opposition to allowing same-sex couples to marry, the Church is still “deeply and profoundly divided” over gay marriage.

The Archbishop, who comes from the evangelical wing of the Church, which takes a more traditional interpretation of the Bible, publicly opposed the Government’s Same-sex Marriage Act while it was being debated earlier this year.Read more 

CUT – It’s the people who follow the teachings of the Bible and the Church that says that homosexuality is wrong are being told to repent because of our wickedness. I’ve got to say it again – you can’t make this stuff up! Perhaps the ‘Archbishop’ should turn off the telly and open his Bible for a change – perhaps start at Genesis chapters 18 and 19. There are lots (excuse the pun) of other places he could then read-up on the subject both in the Old and the New Testament.