Maybe I missed the outrage about this around here, as I only drop in occasionally, but can Bush get any more brazen?:

Bush picks Abramoff prosecutor for federal judgeship -
Democrats wonder about the timing of president's move

Washington/NYT -- The investigation into Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a provocative new turn Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush.

The prosecutor, Noel Hillman, is chief of the department's Office of Public Integrity, and the move ends his involvement in an investigation that has reached into the administration as well as into the top ranks of the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.

Democrats swiftly questioned the move's timing and called for a special prosecutor as Bush faced a barrage of questions about why he would not make public "grip and grin" photographs of himself with Abramoff. The photographs apparently show Bush and Abramoff smiling at White House Hanukkah parties and Republican fundraising receptions.

Hello Boo-tribuners. I don't come over here and post too often these days, since I am mostly focused at Euro Trib. But over the last few months I have been working on a research topic that may be of interest to some of you. My research examines how sport and play activities are being used by international organizations to help children and youth overcome trauma from disaster events. I am now close to completion on that big report, but this fall I was asked if I would be willing to write a shorter overview paper on the topic, for a conference in early December. I did that in collaboration with another person who is researching in the same area. And if you are interested in the topic, or just curious about what a fellow EuroTribe member is doing, here it is (it's a pdf): Overcoming Trauma Through Sport, by Henley & Colliard

Cross-posted at: The European Tribune

This is an interesting development out of Canada:

Protests over Canada Sharia move

Protests have been held in cities across Canada aimed at stopping Ontario province from adopting sharia-based law to settle Muslim family disputes.

Ontario is considering a report which recommends that it allow sharia religious arbitration for issues such as divorce and child custody.

Opponents say the proposed arbitration process will violate women's rights.(...)

Homa Ar-Jomand, campaign protest co-ordinator, believes that the system should be completely secular.

"We strongly believe that Islam has never been moderated," she said, adding that faith-based arbitration of family disputes is not relevant in the modern world.

But many Muslims believe that because Canada is a secular country, its legal system makes it difficult for them to govern themselves by the laws of their religion.

It can be important, for instance, for a Muslim to be granted a divorce under Islamic law if he or she intends to move to a Islamic country and re-marry.

I'd be interested to hear our Canadian community member's views on this

cross-posted at The European Tribune

Last December, 2004, there was an excellent article published in The Nation titled New Power for ,,Old Europe" by Mark Schapiro that described in great depth the growing economic and environmental regulatory powers of the European Union, specifically in comparison to the United States. In recently re-reading that article, I was struck by how it remains fresh and relevant to many of the conversations at the European Tribune, so will quote extensively from this article, in order create some conversation on the ideas created therein:

Since the fall of the Berlin wall, the European Union has been steadily transforming itself from a facilitator of trade to a sophisticated geopolitical power with the teeth to back up its policies--an evolution that has occurred largely under the American public's radar. Over the past decade, EU member states have ceded governing and enforcement authority to Brussels in areas ranging from environmental regulation to food safety, accounting standards, telecommunications policy and oversight of corporate mergers. As a result, US companies that do business in Europe--which remains America's largest export market--are quickly learning that "old Europe" is now wielding new world power.

cross-posted at The European Tribune

Today, in a Havana hospital, one of the great Cuban musicians in the Son and bolero tradition, Ibrahim Ferrer, died due to gastroenteritis at age 78.

If you don't happen to know of his music, he was the lead singer in the Bueno Vista Social Club movie ensemble. His voice and the emotion of expression in his singing were incredible. A great loss and a sad day.

The BBC has a full obituary here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4128560.stm

In 1999, a film directed by Wim Wenders was released, showing Ry Cooder's work with the group of veteran Cuban musicians.

After launching a solo career, Ferrer himself was awarded a Grammy for his salsa album Buenos Hermanos.

However, the Cuban artist was unable to attend the awards ceremony because the US refused to grant him a visa. He also won two Latin Grammys.

His latest European tour, showcasing boleros Ferrer planned to release in 2006, took him to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, France and Spain.

Give a listen to "Bueno Vista Social Club presents: Ibrahim Ferrer"...it is so sweet. Rest in peace, Ibrahim.

cross-posted from the European Tribune - despite all the breaking events, we shouldn't forget to acknowledge the good people in our lives

We should not let this week pass without acknowledging the birthday of one rare and special person:

In our lifetimes, there are only a few people at a given time amongst who have the bigness of spirit and heart like Nelson Mandela, who turned 87 this week! Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela, and thank you for gracing us with your spirit!!

By the way, if you want to know more about the The Nelson Mandela Foundation's 46664 Anti-AIDs Campaign (46664 was his number in prison), check here:

http://www.nelsonmandela.org/Default.aspx?TabID=22

If you have not ever read Nelson Mandela's inaugural address from 1994, here is a piece of it that is truly amazing (below): Why don't we have more leaders like him <sigh>

I can't say I'm a big astrology buff, or anything like that, though I do keep an open mind about things. Well a friend who kind of tracks when significant astrological changes occur, and what happens afterwords, had this to report to me:

"Astological note: On 7/16 Saturn moves into Leo for two + years, and historically this position has seen the fall of political power stuctures, ie: the fall of Rome, the end of WW2, the creation of north and south Korea, the US pullout of Vietnam (plus the fall of Nixon?), and the fall of the Berlin Wall. So it will
be an interesting next couple of years."

Maybe someone out there in Boo-land can say more about this Saturn change, but I for one, have some particular political power structures in mind that I'm really hoping will fall...soon. Can't happen soon enough...

(UPDATE) Thank you Booman community, as we've already noticed an increase in diaries and comments at the European Tribune. Please keep them coming. Just remember, the European Tribune is a European and international issues-focused blog, since the US scene is well represented by Booman, Dkos, Last Hurrah, My Left Wing, etc. Also, we posted a who are we?" diary this week, and we already growing a good community there. Come visit and say hello!

Over at European Tribune, we are experiencing a fine start, thanks in good part to the support from the Booman Tribune community (thank you!!). We are blessed with some excellent writers on a wide variety of European political, cultural and social issues.

That said, we can definitely expand our pool of diarists and commentators. In fact, I have noticed a number of European-focused diaries here on Booman (and Dkos too) that haven't been cross-posted over at Euro Trib...so please do cross post!

Additionally, while I have noticed that we get a LOT of visitors each day (European Tribune is averaging 650-700 visits a day, up til now), I think a lot of people are mostly reading, and not posting or commenting. I have wondered what the factors might be that effect a person's decision to post? Perhaps it is because people feel like they don't know enough about Europe? Or that because they aren't European (or international), they shouldn't post or comment? Not sure. Obviously, it is a desire to get more people of European and international background involved on ET, because it would be great to see it develop into a kind of Pan-European Booman (and Dkos) kind of blog...where we can eventually become more activist and influential as a progressive political influence. But hey, I am good example: I am an American residing in Switzerland, and have taken to writing as a way to educate myself, and get involved as a part of my integration process. And I have been very warmly welcomed!! So...take this as an invitation...come on over (and tell your friends)!!

www.eurotrib.com/

I wrote a diary over at Dkos this morning, after reading the current headlines that the Democrats voted with the Republicans (again) this time with the Senate passing CAFTA, sending it to the House...I am so mad and disgusted with these "representatives" of our party, who keep voting for bills that are against the regular working People (eg., the Bankruptcy bill, Estate Tax repeal, CAFTA, etc.).

Can you PLEASE get consistent and take a stand on issues, so people can trust you??

David Sirota says it much more elegantly and thoroughly than I:

"Why the Public Believes Dems Stand for Nothing"

http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/06/why-public-believes-dems-stand-for.html

cross-posted at Daily Kos

Steven in an open thread at Dkos caught this breaking report from Yahoo News:

Yahoo News

that the US just responded to the UN Human Committee Against Torture request for information...ADMITTING that there has been torture..."They said it was a question of isolated cases, that there was nothing systematic and that the guilty were in the process of being punished." The US report said that those involved were low-ranking members of the military and that their acts were not approved by their superiors, the member added."

Hmm, but no acknowledgement that torture is currently occurring now, and no taking responsibility for giving the okay in the first place. Just blame the other guy...in this case, the soldiers they trained. Different day, same tactic...blame others. Such...Patriots.
(sleezeballs)

Yesterday Susan Hu posted here on the front page

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/6/9/8413/95718

about the very shaky political situation in Bolivia. Today, according to the BBC World News, it sounds like things have taken a turn for the better:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4079440.stm

President Carlos Mesa has resigned, and the next in line of succession, Senate Speaker Hormando Vaca Diez, has also declined the post, which is significant, since he was claiming the post yesterday.

So the head of Bolivia's Supreme Court, Eduardo Rodriguez, has now accepted the Presidency: "His inauguration and the prospect of an election was hailed by protesters, who have been holding daily demonstrations and blockades since last month. "Bolivia deserves better days," Mr Rodriguez told deputies. "I am convinced that one of my tasks will be to begin an electoral process to renew and continue building a democratic system that is more just." Under the constitution, an election must be held be held by the end of the year."

This sounds like good news to me...anyone else know the details of this development?

While I realize not a lot of people follow Swiss politics closely, I'm gonna keep y'all informed, as I learn about my new country.

So...two days after a 54% yes vote (kinda close) on joining the Schengen agreements, today: (from Swissinfo.com)

Swiss Info

"Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the Austrian-born EU foreign-affairs commissioner, warned on Monday of the consequences if the Swiss refuse to extend an existing treaty on the free movement of people to include the ten new European Union member states."

A Swiss nationwide vote on the issue is due to be held on September 25.

Ferrero-Waldner said a "no" in September could spell the end of Switzerland's bid to join the EU's passport-free Schengen area and potentially scupper an existing set of bilateral treaties.

While it appears Ferrero-Waldner's statement has caught at least two of the seven Swiss "Presidents" off guard, there appears to be a big potential difficulty looming: (again from Swissinfo)

"Swissinfo: Can we expect Brussels to wade into the campaign in the run-up to September?"

Karin Gilland Lutz, a Bern Polical Scientist: "It's difficult to know, but I don't think it would be a very clever move. The Swiss don't like it when they feel there is outside interference. This has sometimes been a feature of other referendums, for example in Ireland. Whenever an EU commissioner tried to stick his or her nose into European debates there, it never went down well."

swissinfo: Finally, if you had to place a bet on the outcome of the September vote, where would you be putting your money?

K.G.L.: Definitely on the "no" side. It will be incredibly difficult for supporters of the treaty on the free movement of people (from the 10 new EU contries into Switzerland) to win this one, because the People's Party is good at playing on people's fears - and with this vote they have the perfect opportunity to play with fears about unemployment, and this is something many people are worried about right now.

Those in favour of extending the accord on the free movement of people are really going to have to work much harder than they did in the run-up to Schengen if they are to stand any chance of winning in September."

Long story short, Switzerland could end up completely outside of the EU, as far as security accords, if they vote "no" in September. Also know this: the Swiss have been reaching out to the Americans, and talking about this in the press. Developing story...

(Update) Tonight the Swiss people voted by 58% yes votes to give Gay and Lesbian couples ,,partnership rights", recognizing that they should have the same rights as straight married couples. Make no mistake, there is more to do here, as this law still prohibits gay adoption and fertility treatments, but is an important first step in recognizing gay/lesbian rights as full citizens. Here's an article from Swisspolitics.org

http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news/index.php?page=aktuelle_abstimmungen_inhalt&dossier_id=80

The Swiss also voted by 54% to accept a mutual security agreement with the EU

http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news/index.php?page=aktuelle_abstimmungen_inhalt&dossier_id=195

Congratulations to the Swiss for showing political and moral will...

This is cross posted over at DKos, but wanted to share it here too:

My dear cousin sent me the article from today's NYT, entitled: "Two No Votes in Europe: the anger spreads" (sorry subscription required)
I have been thinking a lot about the meaning of this, and where it will all lead to...I explained my current views on the subject (which continue to evolve)...and I'd like to share these with you:

Hi Cuz,
I think this is an interesting article...thanks for sending it along...although I also think there is (on the one hand) far too much doom-saying and gnashing of teeth, and (on the other hand), too much gloating that Europe has failed. I suspect it's something else altogether. Right now, as a new European immigrant, I'm trying to wrap my brain around what it all might mean...and what is coming up right now is: what's more important? Being an economic power, or being more of a democracy? (more below)