Follow up to David Lynch's lecture

As part of the Understanding the World: Exploring the Global Economy series, the World Affairs Council  presented a lecture Nov. 18 by David Lynch, author of When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out.

UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD:
Exploring the Global Economy

DAVID LYNCH


author of

When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out


held

 NOV. 18 - 5:30-7 p.m.

Harrisburg University

co-sponsored with
 International House
The following articles provide insight on Ireland's economic woes:

Do Irish Eyes Have Anything to
Smile About These Days?

An Irish girl arrives in England in 1955 looking for work. As
Ireland's unemployment rate climbs an emigration culture is
returning. Photograph: © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORB

The Guardian

More than 100,000 Irish workers expected
to leave country before 2012

Jobless rate of 13.6% means return to Ireland's culture of emigration as fears of a
double-dip recession set in. For many Irish workers, the only option once
again is to look abroad.

Read more:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/30/ireland-recession-emigration-jobless-jobs

The Irish Independent

Despite huge discontent with the government, and with the political class -- not
 to mention the bankers -- it is very unlikely that scenes of disorder and rebellion
 could break out in Dublin or Cork or Galway like we've seen recently in the
streets of France.

:

A protesting French student faces down riot police officers during a confrontation on the
streets of Lyon last week

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/mary-kenny-irish-too-fearful-of-future-to-try-frenchstyle-rioting-2393038.html

Foreign Policy

The recent child abuse scandals are just the latest development in the Catholic
Church's long retreat from its one-time stronghold.

There was a time when Irish Catholics might have

been delighted to see the pope lavishing attention on

their bishops. On Feb. 15 and 16, however, when

 Ireland's bishops were at the Vatican to discuss an

 ongoing child sex abuse scandal, Catholics back

home were furious. Catholics were already upset

about Pope Benedict's refusal to apologize to the

 thousands of abuse victims in Ireland or even hint

that he would meet with them, as some had requested.

 But what really set them off seems to have been the

images of their bishops kissing the pope's ring.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/02/26/how_ireland_lost_its_faith

There is a way to help Muslim moderates fight for freedom in Iran

Published: Wednesday, November 24, 2010, 5:24 AM

Patriot-News Op-Ed

by Joyce Davis

When I speak to American audiences about my work as a journalist covering the Muslim world, I can usually count on getting one question: Where are the Muslim moderates? And what can we do to support them?

At the end of this column, I’ll answer the second question. But here’s an answer to the first: Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi.

 

Ebrahim Yazdi, the top opponent of Iran's ruling clerics, waves to supporters after returning to Iran from the U.S. at Mehrabad airport in Tehran on Saturday, April 20, 2002. Yazdi, 70, left Iran in November 2000, to receive cancer treatment in Houston, and his return could give fresh momentum to reformists after facing a relentless crackdown. ( AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Dr. Yazdi, leader of the dissident Freedom Movement in Iran, is now in prison in Tehran, having risked the ire of the country’s rulers for opposing them and promoting freedom and democracy as truly Islamic values. 

He has a direct connection to our region. His daughter, Dr. Sarah Noorbaksh, is a physician at Messiah Village. His son-in-law, Dr. Mehdi Noorbaksh, is associate professor of international affairs and coordinator of general education at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

A giant in modern Iranian history, Dr. Yazdi once worked at Baylor Medical Center in Houston. But in 1978, he left a comfortable life in this country to return to Iran to help overthrow the undemocratic rule of the Shah and usher in the Islamic revolution of 1979. He even served as foreign minister and adviser to the late Grand Ayatollah Khomeini, considered the founding father of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It didn’t take long for Yazdi to realize he had to break with the government, and the turning point proved to be the American hostage crisis.

Outraged over Khomeini’s decision to support the hostage takers, Yazdi, and Mehdi Bazargan, head of the interim government, resigned their posts and began a decades-long opposition to what they saw as a revolution gone wrong.

It had become increasingly clear that Yazdi’s view of Iran’s future and Khomeini’s view were diverging drastically. Yazdi couldn’t remain loyal to a government that many saw increasingly controlled by religious despots.

But his decision to break away from Khomeini and become a dissident has meant living as an outcast in his own country, facing death threats and even the firebombing of his home in 1985. In December 1997, Yazdi was arrested and sent to the notorious Evin prison in Tehran.

Even after his release, he was prevented from leaving the country, and he was never allowed to challenge the rulers by running for office. With the outbreak of protests after the presidential elections in 2009, Yazdi again found himself at the center of political turmoil in Iran, challenging the election results that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. Yazdi has remained in and out of prison, and in and out of the hospital, since then.

Now, as his health continues to fail, our neighbors Sarah and Mehdi Noorbaksh are asking for our help.

So, if you want to know what you can do to help Muslim moderates, here’s what Sarah suggested in a letter sent around the world:

“Write a simple, short letter to the three leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran listed. They are sensitive to how they are viewed around the world. Your opinion matters to them,” she wrote.

“Your letter will be most effective if you — respectfully and based on fundamental principles of human rights — insist that Ebrahim Yazdi and other nonviolent political prisoners be released immediately.”

Sarah added: “Please encourage your local community and religious organizations to do the same.

Write to your political and religious leaders and encourage them to represent their concerns through diplomatic and other channels. Let the leadership in Iran know that the world is watching, and that we care about injustice done to the people of Iran.”

Here’s where to send your letters:

Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei
Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Pastor Complex, Imam Khomeini Street
Tehran
Iran

Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of Iran
Pastor Complex, Imam Khomeini Street
Tehran
Iran

Dr. Ali Larijani
Speaker of the Majlis Shura Islami Iran
Pastor Complex, Imam Khomeini Street
Tehran
Iran

Sarah Noorbaksh reminds us that postage to Iran for first-class mail is 98 cents. To ensure delivery of your letter, she advises that a copy be sent to:

Mr. Mohammad Khazaee
Permanent Representative
of the Islamic Republic of Iran
in the United Nations
622 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10017

Perhaps you think your letter won’t make a difference or perhaps you think it will never reach anyone who counts. You just might be wrong.

For more information about other ways to help, contact: FreeEbrahimYazdi@gmail.com.


Joyce Davis is president of the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, an affiliate of the World Affairs Councils of America. She is a veteran journalist and author who was senior manager of Radio Farda, U.S. international broadcasting’s service into Iran.

Gays in the military: what happened to considering diversity a strength?

Published: Sunday, December 05, 2010, 6:32 AM

Patriot-News Op-Ed

BY BENJAMIN COHEN

On paper, “don’t ask, don’t tell” seems like a simple way to make differences of sexual orientation a nonissue to soldiers serving in our nation’s military. In reality, it is a horrible way to deal with the problems that might arise as gay and straight soldiers live and serve our country side by side.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” works, some believe, because instead of acknowledging the diversity of soldiers and then dealing with any intolerance internally, it simply masks over differences, encouraging service members to ignore them. This would make sense if the group of gay soldiers was the same size as the straight group of soldiers, but it isn’t.

 

 

According to a 2004 study by the Urban Institute, 1.8 percent of troops on active duty are gay or lesbian. Because gay soldiers are in the vast minority, they have been victims of harassment and assault.

The question the nation should be asking is whether gay soldiers are inferior to straight ones. The answer is of course no just as black soldiers and Asian-American soldiers are no better or worse than white soldiers. To suggest otherwise is no more than unfounded bigotry.
Sen. John McCain argued that the possible results of repealing DADT had to be studied. Now that a Pentagon study is complete and shows overwhelming support for allowing gays in the military, he is still dragging his feet on the issue. This is shortsighted and contrary to what military officials have said repeatedly.

“After a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly,” wrote Air Force Col. Om Prakash in Joint Chiefs Quarterly, the Pentagon’s top scholarly publication, last year. Prakash works in the office of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

In February, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he supports ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. “Allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,” Mullen said.

And in the Pentagon study, 70 percent of respondents to a survey sent to active duty and reserve troops said the effect of repealing DADT would be positive, mixed or nonexistent. The military supports this measure and so should those who support our troops.

The claim also has been made that because we have the best military in the world and because we are fighting two wars, we cannot alter a military policy without knowing its “effects.” People also say having gays serve openly works in countries that are not as powerful as the United States, but it can’t work here.

Benjamin Cohen

In fact, Israel, the smallest nation in the Middle East, which has on more than one occasion beaten back armies of multiple countries on multiple fronts at the same time, allows gay soldiers to serve openly.

Former President Clinton and President Obama campaigned on changing the rules of the armed forces to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. So far, both have failed. President Clinton passed DADT in 1993 with good intentions, thinking it would be a more tolerant policy than the previous absolute ban.
It was not a good compromise for many reasons including that it costs about $37,000 to discharge and replace every single soldier affected by DADT and during the 17-year span of the law, 13,000 troops have been discharged because of it.

Recently, President Obama frustrated supports of a repeal by appealing a court ruling that DADT was unconstitutional. In October 2009, he said resolutely to a crowd at the Human Rights Campaign “Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach,” continuing with the powerful declaration “I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’¤” A year later, President Obama betrayed this promise.

Gays and lesbians need to be able to serve their country openly just like the rest of our brave soldiers. Problems of bigotry and misconduct must be dealt with as they arise.

If the military follows what it says in its recruiting commercials, allowing diversity would strengthen our national pride. Our military is comprised of straight soldiers and gay soldiers, Muslims and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, but above all, Americans.

BENJAMIN COHEN is a Patriot-News Davenport Fellow and a junior at Harrisburg Academy.