Politicians these days are not much given to quoting the Bible; but the Good Samaritan is the exception. Mrs Thatcher pointed out that he was only in a position to help because he was rich. Gordon Brown touched on the parable in support of bailing out the banks. Hilary Benn used it to justify bombing Syria. How can one story be used to support such diverse political policies? Why is it so popular? What resonance does the Good Samaritan have today? Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the political interpretations of the Good Samaritan are Nick Spencer Research Director of Theos, the religion and society Think Tank and author of 'The Political Samaritan'; the Rev Leslie Griffiths (Lord Griffiths of Burry Port) who sits as a Life Peer on the Labour benches; and Adrian Hilton, Director of Education at the Thatcher Centre.
14 December 2017
The Atlantic: What Happens If China Makes First Contact?
But in other ways Liu is a strange choice to visit the dish. He has written a great deal about the risks of first contact. He has warned that the “appearance of this Other” might be imminent, and that it might result in our extinction. “Perhaps in ten thousand years, the starry sky that humankind gazes upon will remain empty and silent,” he writes in the postscript to one of his books. “But perhaps tomorrow we’ll wake up and find an alien spaceship the size of the Moon parked in orbit.” [...]
Even without federal funding in the United States, seti is now in the midst of a global renaissance. Today’s telescopes have brought the distant stars nearer, and in their orbits we can see planets. The next generation of observatories is now clicking on, and with them we will zoom into these planets’ atmospheres. seti researchers have been preparing for this moment. In their exile, they have become philosophers of the future. They have tried to imagine what technologies an advanced civilization might use, and what imprints those technologies would make on the observable universe. They have figured out how to spot the chemical traces of artificial pollutants from afar. They know how to scan dense star fields for giant structures designed to shield planets from a supernova’s shock waves. [...]
China has largely focused on the applied sciences. It built the world’s fastest supercomputer, spent heavily on medical research, and planted a “great green wall” of forests in its northwest as a last-ditch effort to halt the Gobi Desert’s spread. Now China is bringing its immense resources to bear on the fundamental sciences. The country plans to build an atom smasher that will conjure thousands of “god particles” out of the ether, in the same time it took cern’s Large Hadron Collider to strain out a handful. It is also eyeing Mars. In the technopoetic idiom of the 21st century, nothing would symbolize China’s rise like a high-definition shot of a Chinese astronaut setting foot on the red planet. Nothing except, perhaps, first contact. [...]
But even if these patterns extend back across all of recorded history, and even if they extend back to the murky epochs of prehistory, to when the Neanderthals vanished sometime after first contact with modern humans, that still might not tell us much about galactic civilizations. For a civilization that has learned to survive across cosmic timescales, humanity’s entire existence would be but a single moment in a long, bright dawn. And no civilization could last tens of millions of years without learning to live in peace internally. Human beings have already created weapons that put our entire species at risk; an advanced civilization’s weapons would likely far outstrip ours. [...]
First contact would be trickier still if we encountered a postbiological artificial intelligence that had taken control of its planet. Its worldview might be doubly alien. It might not feel empathy, which is not an essential feature of intelligence but instead an emotion installed by a particular evolutionary history and culture. The logic behind its actions could be beyond the powers of the human imagination. It might have transformed its entire planet into a supercomputer, and, according to a trio of Oxford researchers, it might find the current cosmos too warm for truly long-term, energy-efficient computing. It might cloak itself from observation, and power down into a dreamless sleep lasting hundreds of millions of years, until such time when the universe has expanded and cooled to a temperature that allows for many more epochs of computing.
openDemocracy: How Mario Centeno could change Europe
Two years ago Mario Centeno was yet another finance minister of the Eurozone trying to convince his European counterparts that austerity was not working. Portugal was emerging from a severe economic crisis and an equally challenging bailout. Pensions were slashed, education suffered a 23 per cent cut and unemployment reached 17.5 per cent in 2013. The former centre-right government zealously followed the treatment recommended by the IMF and the European Union. But the results were far from satisfactory. Deep cuts were not after all the answer to improve our economy and the life of our citizens. However, things changed dramatically when Antonio Costa´s government assumed office in 2015. After finding an unorthodox formula to govern, the socialists showed Europe that there is an alternative: the solution lies, politically, in reaching broader consensus. Economically, in boosting demand, not suppressing it. [...]
Mr. Centeno’s metamorphosis from outsider to European leader started when Portugal left the EU´s excessive deficit procedure in May. The decision gave Portugal margin to ease austerity and to push away the threat of future sanctions. The decisive moment for Mr. Centeno, however, came the day after. Mr. Schäuble, then Germany´s finance minister, called him the “Ronaldo of Ecofin” and praised him in public. Many understood Mr. Schäuble words as an endorsement. However, few believed Portugal´s finance minister could be on his away to replace Jeroen Dijsselbloem. [...]
Every leadership position in Europe is chaired by the European People´s Party. The exception is the Eurogroup. And there was a gentlemen agreement between conservatives and socialists ensuring that the Eurogroup should be presided by the latter. There was also consensus around the idea that the President of the Eurogroup should come from a smaller country. Another decisive factor was the electoral calendar in Italy – elections will take place during the Spring – and the political instability in Spain. Nonetheless, Portugal´s role as Europe´s success case was a key factor. Whether we like it or not, economic results determine the perception of politicians and governments. And financial stability in a country used to the contrary is a sign of competence. And a synonym of political success, even if the results in other areas are not favourable at all.
The Guardian: Alabama election: Democrats defeat Roy Moore, dealing huge blow to Donald Trump
Alabama has long faced a profound racial divide, which was reflected in the results. According to an exit poll, Jones won 95% of the African-American vote but only 27% of the white vote in the Yellowhammer State. However, widespread African-American turnout on Jones’s behalf overcame Moore’s margins in rural, predominantly white parts of Alabama.
Jones also made significant inroads among college-educated whites. He won well-educated Madison county by a margin of 57-40. A center of the aerospace industry, the county voted for Trump by a margin of 55-38 in 2016. [...]
The Democratic victory will reduce the Republican majority in the Senate to 51-49 once Jones takes his seat on Capitol Hill. This significantly reduces the margin for error as Republicans attempt to push through a major corporate tax cut. [...]
Moore’s defeat also marks a major personal blow to Trump, who endorsed the Alabama Republican and held a rally on his behalf just over the state line in Pensacola, Florida. Although most national Republicans rushed to distance themselves from Moore in the aftermath of the allegations, Trump reaffirmed his support through tweets and public statements. [...]
Bannon and his allies are planning a series of primary challenges against establishment Republicans in 2018. Moore’s defeat significantly reduces their leverage as the joint efforts of Bannon and his rightwing news website, Breitbart, could not elect their preferred candidate in a state that Trump won in a landslide in 2016.
Vintage Everyday: Mysterious Forest Swastika in Germany Remained Unnoticed Until 1992
Local foresters said that the trees (which change color in the fall) were planted in contrast to the evergreen forest (which stays green always) in late 1930s. But it was not discovered for such a long period of time because of the ban of private planes in East Germany, in addition to the low flight that would be required to see the symbols. [...]
The larch trees were only visible in the fall, and was reportedly planted for to celebrate Hitler's birthday (though Hitler's birthday is in April). The Swastikas were confirmed to be about 200 by 200 feet. One farmer said that the trees were planted for a few cents per seedling, while others say that the forest swastikas were placed to represent loyalty to the Nazis, in fear of some villages being taken to concentration camps after one of their own was captured.
One of the forests had the year "1933" built into it, as Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. Whatever the reason might be for the evil signs that is permanently scarring the land, german officials are seeking for a way to remove the trees again once and for all, so that their shame would not be reminded on its landscapes.
Haaretz: Russia Will Have to Decide How It Wants to Split Syria With Iran
In his announcement, Putin didn’t detail the conditions for the troop withdrawal, its scope or date, so one can assume that the plan isn’t to totally abandon Syria but to partly reduce the Russian presence. The critical areas, like supervising the security zones and the country’s eastern border, will continue as usual. A week from Thursday the forum on the security zones is scheduled to convene in Astana, the Kazakh capital, to discuss inspection arrangements and how to divide responsibility between Russia, Iran and Turkey. [...]
Putin’s commitment to strike the terror groups if they raise their heads makes it clear that he doesn't plan to leave the military arena or change his strategy that shifted the balance of power in Syrian President Bashar Assad’s favor. But a withdrawal – even a partial one – may make it legitimate for him to insist that all foreign forces leave Syria.
This would mean mainly the American and Turkish forces, which don't enjoy the legitimacy of the Russian and Iranian forces that were “invited” by Assad, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov put it two weeks ago. This is reinforced by the wording chosen by Putin – that Russian forces defeated most of the Islamic State forces. Therefore the United States, which justified its military involvement in Syria as a war against the Islamic State, now has no reason to be in Syria. [...]
But this isn’t the only possible scenario. Russia and Iran aren’t conducting a zero-sum game in Syria and aren’t competing for Assad’s heart, which is totally dependent on both of them. In any diplomatic agreement on Syria’s future, the status of the Syrian dictator is assured, at least in the short term; the question is how the economic and diplomatic booty will be divided between Russia and Iran. Neither can force the other out of the arena, and both have an interest in stabilizing the country and preventing the establishment of cantons.
The Atlantic: Religious Bias Is Distorting American Foreign Policy
Among the many odd elements of President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. Embassy in Israel will move to Jerusalem is that it comes precipitously in advance of Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to region. The purpose of the trip was to show solidarity with the plight of Christians in the Middle East, yet Christian leaders—including the Coptic Pope—are refusing to meet with Pence. What those leaders understand, which the Trump administration seems not to, is that Christians in the Middle East have lived and will continue to live in societies where Muslim majorities determine political and social outcomes, and those outcomes become less tolerant when religious minorities are perceived to be the exclusive beneficiaries of U.S. policy. [...]
The problem is that the Trump administration—and Republicans in Congress like Ted Cruz—seem when it comes to Muslim countries to want to help only Christians and minority groups. Such a blatant religious bias is actually harmful to Christians, Jews, and other minorities living in the Middle East. They live amid Muslims who are also suffering persecution and violence. Muslims are, in fact, the main targets and victims of terrorism in the Middle East. Fostering commonality among sectarian communities on the basis of that sad legacy can help advance America’s goal for the region, which is to foster capable and tolerant multi-sectarian states. [...]
President Trump’s announcement about relocating the U.S. Embassy reinforces that story line. By speaking only of Israel’s claims and underscoring their religious basis, the Trump administration demonstrated its indifference to the religious and political claims of Palestinians. The president could easily have also spoken of an embassy for Palestine to be located in East Jerusalem, as Martin Indyk has recommended. But he did not.
Politico: Babiš in office in Prague, but not yet secure in power
As a result, ANO is 23 votes short of a majority in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. So Babiš — who denies the charges — will spend most of the holiday break trying to seduce party leaders and mavericks into supporting his administration when it faces its first vote of confidence in early January.
That will not be easy. This week, the center-right Civic Democrats, the second-strongest party in the chamber, and most of the other parties declared again that they would not support a minority government led by Babiš. And Tomio Okamura, the leader of the anti-immigration and anti-EU SPD, which finished third in the voting, said his party would only support a government that would carry out its hardline program. [...]
“I don’t think Babiš wants to get the votes this time,” Pehe said. “The way he’s been putting together this government, without many discussions with the other parties, he is fully prepared not to pass the vote of confidence.” [...]
In addition, the prime minister may also be working on ways to ensure his immunity from prosecution — as a member of parliament — is not lifted. The last parliament lifted his immunity just weeks before the election. But Babiš now has immunity once again, as a member of the new parliament.
Al Jazeera: Rwanda report: France 'complicit' in 1994 genocide
French government and military officials were involved in supplying weapons to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and obstructing attempts to bring them to justice, a new report alleges.
The Muse Report, written by US law firm Cunningham Levy Muse, was commissioned by the Rwandan government as part of an investigation into the role of French officials in the genocide that killed more than 800,000 people. [...]
The report also criticised a 1998 inquiry by a French parliamentary commission, which found no evidence of collaboration in the genocide, as not being fully transparent.
While welcoming its call for clarity, Human Rights Watch has criticised the Muse Report for failing to examine the role of the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front, the party of current President Paul Kagame, which took power after the genocide.
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