Taiwan-Philippines dispute erupts after fisherman’s killing

Taiwan and the Philippines are embroiled in a  major diplomatic dispute after the Philippines coast guard fatally shot a  Taiwanese fisherman in disputed waters earlier this month.

By Ashish Kumar Sen and Ashish Kumar Sen
The Washington Times
Monday May 20, 2013

Taiwan has imposed sanctions on the  Philippines, withdrawn its representative from Manila and frozen visas for  Filipino workers. It also has conducted naval drills in response to the May 9  incident that killed 65-year-old Hong  Shi-cheng.

The attack has created a diplomatic headache for the United States, which has  mutual defense treaties with Taiwan and the  Philippines. The State Department has  urged both sides to settle the conflict peaceably.

Details of the fisherman’s killing are still in question.

The Philippines coast guard says its crew acted in self-defense, believing  the Taiwanese fishing boat was trying to ram its vessel. A Taiwanese  investigation found 59 bullet holes in the fishing boat.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino last week sent an envoy to Taiwan to “convey his  and the Filipino people’s deep regret and apology” to Hong’s  family.

Taiwan rejected an apology as insincere because  it characterized Hong’s death as an “unfortunate  and unintended loss of life.”

Taiwan’s President Ma  Ying-jeou described the killing as “cold-blooded murder.”

“At this moment, our focus is not on an apology,” said Frank  Yee Wang, a spokesman for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative  Office in Washington. “We hope that the Filipino side can agree to a transparent  investigation.”

Mr. Wang said Taiwan would welcome a joint investigation.

Philippines Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters in Manila on  Monday that her government cannot conduct an official joint investigation  because the Philippines has diplomatic relations with mainland China, not Taiwan. She offered to “cooperate” with Taiwanese  investigators.

Taiwan also wants the Philippines to offer a  formal apology, provide compensation and negotiate a new fishery agreement.

Mr. Wang said the Taiwanese military  drills in the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines were not intended as a provocation. He called it a response  to the public furor in Taiwan over Hong’s  death.

“It was just to show to our people that our government will protect their  rights in our waters,” he said.

Philippines officials are worried that Filipino workers in Taiwan risk an angry backlash because of the anger over Hong’s death.

The Philippines envoy to Taiwan, Amadeo Perez,  said his government identified at least one case in which a Filipino was beaten  with a baseball  bat. He advised  Filipino workers to eat at home and avoid going out onto the streets.

Taiwanese officials, including Premier Jiang Yi-huah, have urged the  Taiwanese public to show restraint.

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Taiwanese businessmen want sanctions on Philippines lifted

Taiwan Will Begin Fishing Closer To Philippines

Taiwan, The Philippines Agree To At Sea Shooting “Coordinated Efforts”

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South China Sea dispute: Taiwan flexes its muscles

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Photo: Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng, 65, was killed at sea aboard the vessel “Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28″ seen here —  by Philippine coast guard sailors  in disputed waters, Thursday, May 9, 2013.  (Liuqiu Fishermen’s Assn. / EPA / May 10, 2013)

President Benigno Aquino III

Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou

The real problem in the South China Sea is a lack of total agreement on who may fish and explore where….

China’s Li Keqiang vows to end border disputes as he visits New Delhi

Premier and his counterpart Manmohan Singh will seek to resolve long-running disputes and draw up strategy for ‘dynamic balance’ in trade

Tuesday, 21 May, 2013

Teddy Ng in New Delhi

Li Keqiang is greeted by Manmohan Singh. Photo: AFP

China and India agreed on Monday to launch a fresh round of talks to settle their long-running border disputes.

They also pledged to draw up a roadmap to reach a “dynamic balance” in trade between the two emerging economic powers.

The announcements were made after Premier Li Keqiang held talks with officials including his counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.

The two leaders said they viewed each other as “partners with mutual benefits rather than rivals or competitors”.

They also witnessed the signing of eight co-operative deals covering areas including agriculture, water resources and sewage management.

A three-week border stand-off in the Depsang Valley in the Ladakh region had threatened to overshadow Li’s visit, with India accusing Chinese troops of trespassing into its territory.

Beijing and New Delhi have held 15 rounds of talks to resolve the border issues, but made little headway. Singh said that “peace and tranquility” on the borders was the basis for the growth of bilateral ties.

He said: “We agreed that our special representatives will meet soon to continue discussions seeking an early agreement on a framework for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable boundary agreement.”

Li said the border dispute was a historical hangover and there was a desire on both sides to resolve it. “We have established the principles for settling the question,” Li said.

“Both sides believe that we need to improve the border mechanisms that have been put into place and make them more efficient … and appropriately resolve our differences.”

On the economic front, the two sides pledged to realise a trade turnover target of US$100 billion by 2015 and address a trade imbalance which has dismayed New Delhi. India ran a US$29 billion trade deficit with China last year and the measures include stronger Chinese co-operation with India’s pharmaceuticals and information technology industry.

Li said: “The two sides will discuss and explore ways to achieve trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation … and to work out a practical road map for achieving a dynamic balance in our trading relationship.”

A joint statement issued by the two nations said they would explore the development of an economic corridor that would link Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar, and co-operate on establishing industrial zones.

Li dismissed fears China was seeking to contain India by shoring up close ties with other South Asian countries such as Pakistan.

In an article headlined “Handshake across the Himalayas” in The Hindu newspaper, Li said the emerging giants could together become a new engine for the world economy.

“World peace and regional stability cannot be a reality without strategic mutual trust between India and China,” Li said in a speech at India’s presidential palace yesterday. “And likewise, the development and prosperity of the world cannot be a reality without the co-operation and simultaneous development of China and India.”

On Tuesday morning, he met about 200 Chinese people living in New Delhi.

Li told them China’s economic targets could still be achieved if its average economic growth rate was 6.9 per cent a year.

The premier noted that while China’s high economic growth rate of 7.7 per cent in the first quarter had sparked concern, it was within expectations.

He said the risk of an economic downturn in China still existed, but preventative measures would be taken.

Li also said the government would avoid intervening and let market forces operate.

During his speech to the Chinese community, Li stressed that Sino-Indian diplomatic ties were at a critical stage – although relations had generally been stable in recent years.

Li said India and China were unique nations – whose global and economic influence could not be ignored.

He said both countries had to accommodate each others’ concerns.

On a lighter note, Li said many Chinese enjoyed Bollywood films and Yoga, while many Indians admired kung fu.

He did not take questions from the floor during the speech.

Li leaves New Delhi on Tuesday for the country’s financial hub Mumbai, where he will meet business leaders.

Obama Must Protect Government Unions in IRS Scandal

“I think a lot of federal employees do their work under the  radar.”

– Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees  Union, which represents more than 150,000 federal workers including those at the  IRS, in a May 2012 interview with The Hill.

The White House has changed its story about who knew what and when as it  relates to the targeting of President Obama’s political enemies by the IRS.

That’s not a good thing. Prior to the story switch, the White House was able to  hold the line that Team Obama had been direct and forthcoming about the IRS  abuses and that the president and his top aides learned about the scandal in the  news. They were just as shocked as everyone else.

But now we know that White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough was clued in  about a damning report on IRS misconduct and that word was also sent to top  aides to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew so his department could brace for the news.  But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was adamant that no one told  President Obama.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew

There’s a question here about why the president’s top lawyer and chief of  staff kept this news from him, even as they were spreading the word beyond the  White House. One supposes it was to preserve plausible deniability for the  president and to afford him the chance to express shock when word came out. It  also bought Obama some more time to address the scandal.

There are some immediate repercussions to the changing story line.

First, it further damages the credibility of Carney and the White House  communications team, which in recent weeks has had to fess up about misleading  the press about a raid by Islamist militants on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in  Libya and try to explain away the heavy-handed tactics used against reporters by  the Obama Justice Department.

The president and his team have consistently limited their statements to the  report on the wrongdoing, not the wrongdoing itself. It remains unclear if there  had been any advance warnings sent to the White House about the misconduct  itself, rather than just the report. This may prove important later when  investigators are poring over emails and records, but for now it reinforces the  sense that the administration is withholding.

And if it does ever come out that anyone in Obamaland had warning of the  actual misconduct, legalistic answers will be little protection, especially from  reporters and congressional investigators. As on the Benghazi raid, it wouldn’t  be much help to rely on parsing.

Second, the Monday story shift raises some questions of competency. What kind  of a White House counselor and chief of staff would try to keep a lid on a  scandal that involves the most disliked federal agency targeting the president’s  adversaries? Doing so in furtherance of a weak communications strategy would be  very poor judgment indeed.

Whatever reasons Obama’s top advisers had for keeping the news from him and  then allowing the communications office to put forward an inaccurate narrative,  it is important to understand that the underlying motives here go beyond dealing  with the press and public.

With some 100,000 employees fanned out across the nation, the IRS is one of  the brightest stars in the constellation of government worker unions. And  government worker unions are perhaps the most important, most influential part  of the Democratic coalition. Whatever the president does concerning the federal  workforce is a matter of massive political significance.

Some conservative outlets have pointed to a March 31, 2010 visit by Colleen  Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, to the White House  campus as evidence of some collusion with the president to target his enemies  since the visit came just before the targeting of Obama’s enemies began. That’s  poppycock. She was there for a big dog and pony show on “workplace flexibility,”  not some hush-hush huddle with Obama.

But Kelley has been a frequent visitor. Excluding five executive branch  visits for big events and parties, records show another five visits by a Colleen  Kelley for high-level meetings that go un-described, including a December 2011  visit to the West Wing with Obama as her host.

Kelley’s access and influence reflects the clout of her union, especially  ahead of Obama’s re-election effort.

With private-sector unions spinning down to insignificance, government worker  unions are the only growth area for organized labor. But even that has been  problematic, as states continue to crack down on powerful government worker  unions and local governments find expensive payrolls and benefits packages  unaffordable. On the federal level, pay freezes and furloughs have taken their  toll too.

Obama has been able to keep his political patrons on board by reminding them  how much worse things would be under Republican control. But they still want  much more from Obama than he has been willing or able to provide.

Consider, then, what would happen if the White House really got serious about  the IRS scandal and appointed an outsider to come in and start scouring.  Government worker unions would be furious and the chance that a low-level  employee would make a high-level accusation of wrongdoing would go way up.

Obama is obliged politically and practically to protect unionized government workers. He owes them and they may hold the key to insulating his administration from the worst of the scandal. While it might help with the press and public to crack down on the IRS as former President Bill Clinton once did, Obama may not be able to take on this key part of the Democratic constituency. Times have changed and so has the Democratic base.

The involvement of these powerful political patrons may help explain not only  why Obama isn’t showing more spine on the scandal but also why his top aides  were so anxious and secretive about news of the scandal itself.

Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News, and his  POWER PLAY column appears Monday-Friday on FoxNews.com. Catch Chris Live online  daily at 11:30amET  at  http:live.foxnews.com.

Read more:  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/21/obama-must-protect-government-unions-in-irs-scandal/#ixzz2Twni1Lzk

 

Chinese troops suffering post-traumatic stress disorder in Tibet

China Troops in Tibet:  The battle to keep Tibetans under control is inflicting severe psychological damage on Chinese armed police, an internal training document has revealed.

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Advice has been offered to members of the People’s Armed Police on combating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Photo: CAI JUN/EPA

By Malcolm Moore, Beijing

The Telegraph

The leaked 25-page training manual was given to members of the People’s Armed Police charged with keeping order in Tibetan areas of Sichuan province.

Among the advice it offers are ways of combating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for paramilitary troops involved in recent atrocities.

One section is titled: “How should you deal with flashbacks of brutal episodes?” It specifically refers to an incident in Aba county on March 16, 2011 when a Tibetan monk named Phuntsok self-immolated in a market and to a protest on March 18, 2009 in Seda and Ganzi counties where Chinese armed police, confronted by protesting Tibetans, fired into the crowd.

“For some of the troops who joined these operations, there may be brutal scenes that reappear in their minds, causing nightmares and insomnia. These are called flashbacks, a symptom of PTSD,” the manual states.

“If you are suffering flashbacks, you should close your eyes and imagine that you are zooming in on the scene like a camera. It may feel uncomfortable. Then zoom all the way out until you cannot see anything. Then tell yourself the flashback has gone.”

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The manual was unearthed and distributed by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a non-governmental organisation staffed by Tibetans in exile in Dharamsala, which said it exposed the falsity of claims that life is “harmonious” under Chinese rule.

Since February 2009, at least 109 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest, of whom at least 89 have died.

The manual also advises troops to avoid depression by taking walks, listening to music, playing sports and games of cards and by writing a diary. It says if officers begin to “feel numb” to the world around them, they should put a bunch of wild flowers in their room.

Two military psychiatrists said special teams have been making trips to Tibet and to Tibetan areas of China for the past decade, sometimes spending months at a time counselling Chinese troops.

One said the lack of oxygen at high altitude can “decrease rational thinking and lead to short temper or depression”.

In March, seven teams from the Third Military Medical university in Chongqing visited various Tibetan areas to conduct psychological surveys and treat more than 1,000 individuals. The exact number of troops from the PAP and the People’s Liberation Army keeping order in Tibet is unknown.

A paper published in February in the Modern Clinical Medicine Journal suggested that there should be teams of psychiatrists “at every level of the forces” in Qinghai province.

Wu Chuke, a professor at the Ethnic Minorities University in Beijing poured scorn on the idea that Chinese troops are suffering psychologically from policies in Tibet.

“Any sensible person knows that what they experience in Tibet can be no worse than in the rest of the China. Psychological problems cannot be significant for them. They are armed police! They must have seen worse things”.

As China battles to contain the problems in Tibetan areas, the authorities have introduced a new, microscopic surveillance system to keep watch on the ethnic population and reduce the risk of troops being exposed to traumatic incidents.

Outlined in an annual report in February, the “grid” management divides Tibet into units of as few as five or ten households, each of which is watched over by at least five administrative and security staff, according to Human Rights Watch.

The staff are also charged with collecting information about their grids in order to nip any problems in the bud.

Official statements in Tibet praise the new system as “increasing harmonious factors and minimizing the factors of disharmony”, while Yu Zhengsheng, a member of China’s Politburo Standing Committee, said in February that the grid would form “nets in the sky and traps on the ground”.

Sir David Nicholson of Britain’s National Health Service, Announces He Will Retire, After Severe Hospital Scandal

Britain: Sir David Nicholson, the NHS chief executive, has announced that he is standing down in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal after admitting that the health service “can still sometimes fail patients”.

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Sir David Nicholson has been forced to correct himslf over evidence he gave to MPs about the ‘whistleblower’ Gary Walker. Photo: PA

By Peter Dominiczak, Political Correspondent

The Telegraph

Sir David, who came under intense pressure to resign following his admission of personal failings over Mid Staffs, will step down in March next year.

He had previously resisted calls to resign over Mid Staffs, where poor care contributed to 1,200 deaths.

David Cameron had repeatedly backed Sir David to stay in his post, insisting that he had “full confidence” in the NHS chief.

Announcing his plans to retire Sir David made clear that the fallout from Mid Staffs has contributed to his departure.

“Whilst I believe we have made significant progress together under my leadership, recent events continue to show that on occasion the NHS can still sometimes fail patients, their families and carers,” he wrote in a letter obtained by the Health Service Journal.

Related Articles

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• Gagged NHS whistleblowers free to speak, Sir David Nicholson says18 Mar 2013
• NHS head’s pledge to protect whistleblowers thrown into doubt15 May 2013
• NHS chief Nicholson grilled by MPs18 Mar 2013
• Sir David Nicholson ‘to quit in September’18 Mar 2013
• Nicholson doesn’t deserve to be hounded out06 Mar 2013

“This continues to be a matter of profound regret to me but please know that on a daily basis I continue, and will always continue, to be inspired and moved by the passion that those who work in the NHS continue to show.”

The Telegraph in March disclosed that senior Government figures had been considering a plan for Sir David to “pre-announce” his retirement as chief executive.

Whitehall officials and ministers wanted Sir David to step down after managing the NHS through the first months of major Coalition reforms starting next month.

Charlotte Leslie, the Tory MP for Bristol North West, said she was “absolutely sickened” that Sir David has been able to retire on his own terms.

“I’m absolutely sickened and if accountability means anything he should be fired now,” she said.

Miss Leslie said that it is a disgrace that Sir David will “go away with a huge public sector pension in his pocket”.

She said: “While whistle-blowers who raised serious concerns about patient safety were sacked, and had their careers ruined, a man who mislead Select Committees, did not intervene as promised in whistle-blowing cases, who implied those raising concerns about mid-staffs were simply ‘lobbying’ and who presided over the culture of fear and bulling in the NHS walks away with a large public sector pension.”

Julie Bailey, from the campaign group Cure The NHS, has led the calls for the under-fire boss to resign.

Ms Bailey, who set up the group after her mother Bella died at Stafford Hospital in 2007, said that since the Mid Staffordshire public inquiry report was published, Sir David’s position had been “untenable”, adding: “It is fantastic news.

“This is the start of the cure for the NHS,” she said. “We can start to look to the future now. He was part of the problem – not part of the solution. “We now need a leader who will galvanise and inspire the front line, not bully them.”

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said: “Under Sir David Nicholson’s leadership, NHS waiting times have fallen, infection rates reduced, and mixed sex accommodation is at an all-time low.

“His job has often been incredibly complex and very difficult, and yet he has always had a reputation for staying calm, and maintaining a relentless focus on what makes a difference on the NHS frontline. I am also grateful to him for overseeing the successful setting up of NHS England and giving us an orderly period in which to select his successor.”

Oklahoma Twister: Some of The Worst Destruction Ever — “Almost Beyond Belief”

A family of four that included a baby has emerged as casualties of the monster tornado that has claimed at least 91 lives in Oklahoma, a new report has revealed. The family members, who have not yet been identified, were killed as they scrambled to seek shelter from the storm in a freezer, KFOR reported. It was a one of many heartbreaking stories that emerged hours after a deadly tornado ripped through the Oklahoma town, as well as incredible stories of survival. One was of a teacher who threw herself on top of six children to protect them. They survived, but she was left seriously injured.

• Family’s  death is one of many tragic stories to emerge from devastation of Oklahoma  tornado
• As many as  91 people, including at least 20 children, have been confirmed dead, including  seven at Plaza Towers Elementary School
• Teacher  hailed a hero for saving six children in a school bathroom after she laid on top  of them
• More than  150 patients reported at area hospitals

By  Thomas Durante and Reuters Reporter

A family of four that included a baby has  emerged as casualties of the monster tornado that has claimed at least 91 lives  in Oklahoma, a new report has revealed.

The family members, who have not yet been  identified, were killed as they scrambled to seek shelter from the storm in a  freezer, KFOR reported.

It was a one of many heartbreaking stories  that emerged hours after a deadly tornado ripped through the Oklahoma town, as  well as incredible stories of survival.

Numerous stories of heroes and ordinary  residents who narrowly escaped death have been reported.

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Devastation: Two girls stand in rubble after a two  mile-wide tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma

Into the light: A family leaves an underground bunker in  the wake of the destruction caused by the natural disaster

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A parent’s worst nightmare: A woman carries her child  through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School

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Survivors: A child is pulled from the rubble of the  Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, and passed along to  rescuers

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Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary  school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City,  Monday

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Exhausted children wait for their parents to arrive at  Briarwood Elementary School

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Relief: A parent rushes to embrace her child as a  teacher escorts her away from Briarwood Elementary school

Relief: A child calls to his father after being pulled  from the rubble of the Tower Plaza Elementary School. Right, an American flag  sways in the wind

Among them was a teacher at Plaza  Towers  Elementary School, who reportedly laid on top of six children in a school  bathroom as the tornado struck.

The teacher is said to have been seriously  injured.

Lando Hite, found shirtless and covered in  dirt by a KFOR reporter, was trudging along what was left of his horse farm.

He told the station: ‘I  lost everything. We might have one horse left out of all of them.’

He added that he sought refuge in one of the  horse stables and waited out the storm. When the storm passed, about 100 of his  horses were dead.

He described the tornado was ‘unbearably  loud’ and ‘straight out of the movie Twister.’

Appearing on KFOR, one woman credited her  son’s teacher at Briarwood Elementary School, with saving her son’s life.

She said that Cynthia Lowe, who teaches first  grade, lifted a wall off the boy as the tornado pummeled the school.

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Loss: A man with his children surveys the damage. He has  only owned the home for two months

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Nature’s fury: Cars were flipped over by the sheer power  of the tornado

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Devastation: A fire burns in the Tower Plaza Addition in  Moore, Oklahoma, following a huge tornado

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Emergency services workers pull a woman out from under  tornado debris at the school

‘Everything’s gone. We get to start over’ Woman  has lost…

Oklahoma tornado video: storm tears through  elementary school

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Dejected and exhausted people are seen next to a damaged  house and vehicles in Moore, Oklahoma

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Debris: This aerial photo shows the remains of homes hit  by a massive tornado in Moore, Oklahoma

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Path of destruction: This aerial photo shows the remains  of homes hit by a massive tornado in Moore

Debris: The deadly storm laid waste to hundreds of  Oklahoma homes in its path

Brady, a sixth grade student at Briarwood,  said that he and other students ran into a bathroom to escape from the  storm.

‘Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on  them but they were underneath so that kind  of saved them a little bit, but I  mean they were trapped in there,’ he  told KOCO-TV.

One woman who was overcome with emotion, told  CBS affiliate KWTV:  ‘Everything is gone… Our whole house is gone.’

She got into a bathtub with her young  children and had to grab her daughter’s hair  as the strong winds tried to  pull her away.

Steve Wilkerson told CNN that he is in shock  over what happened.

Aid: A woman is treated for her injuries at a triage  area set up for the wounded

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328096/Oklahom
a-tornado-2013-Moore-family-die-including-baby.html#ixzz2TvT3142M

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Justice Department Targeted At Least 2 Fox News Reporters and a Producer

James Rosen

• Inspector General report found agents read  emails, tracked phone records
• Reporters James Rosen and William  La  Jeunesse, producer Mike Levine were the subject of subpoenas but never notified  by the government
• Fox News says U.S. journalism ‘up until now  has always been a free press’
• An FBI agent swore out an affidavit claiming  that Rosen had broken the law, ‘at the very least, either as an aider, abetter  and/or co-conspirator’
• New allegations add fuel to the fire started  with a DOJ investigation into the Associated Press

By  David Martosko In Washington

The Fox News Channel is outraged over new  revelations that three of its reporting staffers were targeted by the U.S.  Department of Justice in criminal investigations related to their attempts to  obtain information from government sources.

James Rosen, the network’s chief Washington  correspondent, has become a First Amendment cause celebre over his treatment by  the Obama administration. But the DOJ, Fox says, also investigated the Emmy  Award-winning investigative reporter William La Jeunesse and Fox News producer  Mike Levine.

Rosen, according to affidavits filed by FBI  agents, was considered a possible criminal co-conspirator.

SCROLL DOWN FOR  VIDEO

Fox News’s Shannon Bream (R) and Megyn Kelly (L) broke  the news Monday that the DOJ had targeted three of their journalist colleagues  in criminal investigations for seeking classified information from willing  government sources

The Washington Post reported Monday morning  that Rosen was the subject of a Department of Justice probe in relation to his  reporting about North Korea’s likely reactions to new UN sanctions in 2009.  Federal investigators read his personal emails, obtained his phone records, and  tracked his comings and goings through government buildings.

An FBI agent filed an affidavit in that case  claiming that he thought Rosen had broken the law, ‘at the very least, either as  an aider, abetter and/or co-conspirator.’

 

More…

• Conservative  senator, liberal broadcaster are the latest voices to call for Obama’s attorney  general to get the axe
• Eric  Holder points finger at his DEPUTY who secretly obtained journalist’s phone  records as Obama is forced to say he has ‘confidence’ in the Attorney  General
• Hand  on heart, it wasn’t us! Obama and his Attorney General stand side by side in  blaming others for three scandals engulfing the White House
• During  Rose Garden press conference, Obama refuses to apologize for secretly seizing AP  phone records, shifts blame to Congress for Benghazi security lapses, and dodges  question about White House IRS knowledge

None of the three journalists targeted by the  Obama administration was notified that the government was spying on his records  and emails.

‘All three of our colleagues say they were  never contacted by the government,’ Fox News  Channel correspondent Shannon Bream reported on  Monday afternoon.

James Rosen (L) attracted the Justice Department’s  attention in 2009 when he reported on North Korea’s plans to engage in  additional nuclear tests following new UN sanctions. William La Jeunesse (R)  broke news about Operation Fast and Furious, allegedly with the help of willing  informants from inside the U.S. government

La Jeunesse and Levine were targeted in a  separate Department of Justice investigation into leaks related to Operation  Fast and Furious, a scandal-plagued DOJ program that sent illicit guns across  the Mexican border to drug cartels in the hope of tracing the guns’ path to the  narcotics gangs.

The federal government lost track of the  majority of approximately 2,000 firearms that were allowed to cross the southern  U.S. border. More than 300 deaths in Mexico, and the death of at least one U.S.  Border Patrol agent, were linked to those weapons.

La Jeunesse broke stories outlining  several  key elements of the Fast and Furious scandal. Monday’s Inspector General report  from the DOJ directly quotes his emails, as well as some from Levine, the Fox  News producer.

‘What we don’t know at this point,’  Bream reported, ‘is if the sources within the Justice Department may have shared those  emails  with investigators, or if the Fox employees’ accounts were  directly accessed by  investigators. It’s simply a question we cannot  answer at this  point.’

Fox News Channel producer Mike Levine’s emails were read  by DOJ investigators, but his employer isn’t certain whether it was the result  of a subpoena, or of agents swapping information inside Main Justice

Fox News Channel released a pointed statement  from executive vice president of news  editorial  Michael Clemente.

‘We are outraged to learn today that  James  Rosen was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his job as a  reporter,’ Clemente said. ‘In fact, it is downright  chilling.’

‘We will unequivocally defend his right to  operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free  press.’

The news broke as White House Press  Secretary Jay Carney was preparing to deliver his daily briefing to  reporters,  but with correspondents away from their television sets and  unaware of the  development, questions focused on the first incarnation  of the Obama  administration’s press freedom scandal, involving the  Associated  Press.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney fended off  questions about the press freedom scandal on Monday, claiming President Obama  aims to balance the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with the need to  protect state secrets

Attorney General Eric Holder has denied  having any knowledge of a probe in his agency that saw the phone records of  approximately 20 AP employees turned over to federal investigators who sought to  determine who had leaked information about the CIA’s role in a foiled terror  plot in Yemen.

Holder claimed in a congressional hearing  last week that he had recused himself from the investigation since he himself  was interviewed as a possible suspect or witness.

Carney has denied that Obama was informed  about that probe, and said Monday that the president ‘is committed to the  press’s ability to pursue information and protecting the First  Amendment.

Obama is ‘also mindful,’ he added, ‘of secret  and classified information needing to stay secret and classified for national  security reasons.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-232803
1/Report-Justice-Department-targeted-TWO-Fox-News-re
porters-producer-talking-government-sources.html#ixzz2TvPvKJGa

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In this Sunday, May 19, 2013, photo provided by CBS News, Gary Pruitt, the President and CEO of the Associated Press, discusses the leak investigation that led to his reporters’ phone records being subpoenaed by the Justice Department on CBS’s “Face the Nation” in Washington. Pruitt says DoJ’s seizure of AP journalists’ phone records was “unconstitutional”, and that the secret subpoena of reporters’ phone records has made sources less willing to talk to AP journalists. (AP Photo/CBS, Chris Usher)

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AP CEO calls records seizure unconstitutional

Storm clouds gathering — your safety, your freedoms and the Obama White House

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

Published May 16, 2013

FoxNews.com

Read more:  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013
/05/16/storm-clouds-gathering-your-safety-your-f
reedoms-and-obama-white-house/#ixzz2Tv1r25CB

Government is bad for personal freedom. That argument is premised upon the  truism that everything government does interferes with freedom because it either  prohibits or compels.

Everything it owns it has taken from others. Much of what  it says is divorced from the truth.

President Obama, like President George W. Bush, has argued that his first job  is to keep America safe, and if he impairs personal freedom in the process, that  is a small price to pay for safety. Many of my colleagues in the media on the  left and right have bought this argument, notwithstanding its fallacies.

Until now.

This past week, we learned that the IRS has targeted for additional scrutiny  the tax exemption applications of groups with whose messages it disagrees. We  also learned that the Department of Justice obtained the personal telephone  records of hundreds of reporters and editors employed by the Associated Press  without a search warrant issued by a judge. And during this past week we learned  that the White House, the Department of State and the CIA all engaged in a  conspiracy of disinformation so that the official version of events of what  caused the murders of four Americans at our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, would  not impair Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012.

Whose personal records will the government authorize itself to seize  next?

The common threads in all of this government secrecy and lying are a general  rejection of government’s moral obligation to tell the truth, a disturbing yet  brazen willingness to evade and avoid the restrictions the Constitution has  deliberately built around government, and a glib admission that the government  can do as it pleases so long as it can politically get away with it.

The Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause requires that the government treat  all similarly situated entities in a similar manner. The Constitution’s First  Amendment prohibits the government from using the speech and expressive  activities of persons in America as a basis for the disparate treatment of  them.

Thus, on its face — that is, on the basis of what the IRS has admitted and  without any further investigation — we have violations of these constitutional  principles. If the IRS were to examine the applications for tax exemption of  Media Matters with the same level of scrutiny as it does with Tea Party  Patriots, it would not run afoul of these principles.

But Congress has given the IRS broad latitude to scrutinize the behavior of  the taxpayers it chooses to scrutinize, and the IRS has given itself  authority to probe, prod and plunder wherever it wishes. 

I say “given itself,” because the IRS has rule-making power, which when  overlooked by Congress (as is almost always the case) actually serves to enhance  IRS powers beyond what Congress permits.

Short of criminal behavior such as bribery or conspiracy, the IRS employees  who have singled out applications for tax exempt status for more scrutiny based  on anticipated political expression are subject to removal from office, but they  cannot be prosecuted or sued.

Here again, Congress is to blame, as both Republicans and Democrats have used  and abused the IRS to their advantage, and neither party inwardly wants laws  that will prevent it from doing so in the future.

Is this what you expect of our tax collectors?

The First Amendment also assures the right of professional journalists to  seek and protect their sources, and it gives them immunity from government  prosecution or retribution for truthfully publishing matters of material public  interest, even when it involves information stolen from the government. The  Supreme Court taught us this in the Pentagon Papers case.

Moreover, the Fourth Amendment requires that if the government wants private  information about who stole its secrets, it needs a search warrant from a  judge.

But the Patriot Act, which was celebrated by some in the media whose  telephone records have since been seized, permits federal agents to write their  own search warrants when they seek records from a third party like a telephone  company and can claim that pursuit of terrorists is at stake.

The Patriot Act makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment, and the government  knows that.

When the government chills free speech, we all suffer. Thomas Jefferson  preferred newspapers without government to government without newspapers. Whose  personal records will the government authorize itself to seize next?

The lesson of Benghazi is that we had no lawful right to interfere in the  domestic affairs of the Libyan government.

It was unlawful for Obama to bomb Col. Qaddafi without a congressional  declaration of war. The organized assault on our consulate was the unintended  consequence of us using force to infuse American-style democracy on a people  whose culture is unable and unwilling to accept it.

But the president’s people were terrified that the murder of our ambassador  to Libya during the 2012 presidential campaign might impair Obama’s re-election  chances. So they and he tried to rewrite history, and the more they and he lied,  the more they and he needed to lie to cover up their original lies.

Would you retain an employee who lied to you about the deaths of innocents  and lied more to cover up the original lies?

Now, back to Bush and Obama and the president’s job. According to the  Constitution, the president’s first job obligation is to preserve, protect and  defend the Constitution. 

According to the Constitution, that means preserving Americans’ freedom first  and safety second.

Freedom is our natural state and is the ultimate natural right. Safety is a  need that we ourselves can provide when unimpeded by the government.

If the president keeps us safe but not free, he is not doing his  job.

Do you know anyone who feels freer or even any safer because the government  trampled personal freedoms and so far has gotten away with  it?

Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New  Jersey, is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel. Judge Napolitano has  written seven books on the U.S. Constitution. His latest is “Theodore and Woodrow: How Two  American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom.”

In this Sunday, May 19, 2013, photo provided by CBS News, Gary Pruitt, the President and CEO of the Associated Press, discusses the leak investigation that led to his reporters’ phone records being subpoenaed by the Justice Department on CBS’s “Face the Nation” in Washington. Pruitt says DoJ’s seizure of AP journalists’ phone records was “unconstitutional”, and that the secret subpoena of reporters’ phone records has made sources less willing to talk to AP journalists. (AP Photo/CBS, Chris Usher)

AP CEO calls records seizure unconstitutional

Read more:  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/05/16/storm-clouds-gathering-your-safety-your-freedoms-and-obama-white-house/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz2Tv1VUM4O

Philippines President Aquino: Taiwanese Fisherman Shooting Investigation Nearly Complete

President Benigno Aquino III

By TJ  Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

1:27 pm | Tuesday, May 21st,  2013

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday that the National  Bureau of Investigation’s probe into the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman  by the Philippine Coast Guard earlier this month was complete except for the  examination of the fishing boat in Taiwan.

“I talked to Secretary Leila de Lima. She said the investigation is finished  except for the physical examination of the subject boat,” (in Taiwan) he told reporters in  an interview in Cavite aired over government radio.

“Since it’s in Taiwan, they’re waiting for the clearance from the team to go  there to inspect visually the boat to complete the thorough investigation,”  Aquino said.

The President had ordered the NBI to conduct an investigation into the  killing Hung Shih-chen by the crew of a Philippine Coast Guard patrol boat in  northern Philippine waters May 9. The Coast Guard crew claimed that the  fishermen had tried to ram their patrol boat.

Aquino said he was grateful to Taiwanese leaders for appealing to their  people to stop attacks on Filipinos in Taiwan.

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/75117/only-ins
pection-of-taiwanese-fishing-boat-lacking-in-nbi-probe-aquino#ixzz2TuuSh4n0

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Taiwanese businessmen want sanctions on Philippines lifted

Taiwan Will Begin Fishing Closer To Philippines

Taiwan, The Philippines Agree To At Sea Shooting “Coordinated Efforts”

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South China Sea dispute: Taiwan flexes its muscles

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Photo: Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng, 65, was killed at sea aboard the vessel “Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28″ seen here —  by Philippine coast guard sailors  in disputed waters, Thursday, May 9, 2013.  (Liuqiu Fishermen’s Assn. / EPA / May 10, 2013)

Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou

The real problem in the South China Sea is a lack of total agreement on who may fish and explore where….

Vietnam’s National Assembly Opens: Focused On Economic Recovery, Land Reform

The 5th session of Vietnam’s National Assembly, which opened this morning in Hanoi, is expected to decide on a raft of important issues, including the revised 1992 Constitution draft, revised land laws and confidence votes for senior positions.

Speaking at the session’s opening ceremony, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung urged for comprehensive measures and efforts to overcome current challenges and successfully achieve the country’s socio-economic development plan for 2013.

President of the National Assembly of Vietnam Nguyen Sinh Hung

ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Hung said the country had faced many challenges due to unstable marco economics, bank system restructuring, bad debts, stagnant goods and real estate, as well as increasing numbers of bankrupt enterprises.

“The draft of the revised 1992 Constitution has been seriously researched and perfected for submission to the NA with spirits of honestly receiving, researching and filtering public opinions and fully,” said Hung.

On behalf of the NA, Hung also welcomed the suggestions to the draft of the revised 1992 Constitution made by local people and those overseas.

The NA chairman asked deputies to continuously discuss and perfect the revised land law on legal and reality aspects to ensure its feasibility and ability to handle obstacles and shortcomings in implementing current land regulations.

“Confidence votes for positions elected or approved by the National Assembly or People’s Councils have been seen as a an important step in the country’s political reform with the aim of clarifying Party guidelines, laws and regulations, while strengthening the voice of the people through implementation of the NA’s right to supervise key positions in the Party and Government,” said Hung.

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Xinhua

Deputies of Vietnam’s 13th National Assembly (NA) convened its fifth session in capital Hanoi on Monday to review the country’s socio-economic development and legislative work.

In his opening remark, NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said that in the first five months of 2013, domestic economy witnessed higher growth than the same period last year.

Inflation has been curbed, prices stabilized, interest rates lowered and export turnover increased, Hung said. However, he pointed out that the macro economy was not yet stable, inventories are still high, along with an increasing number of businesses shutting down or dismissing.

This situation “requires us to have positive solutions and comprehensive efforts to overcome difficulties and challenges to successfully implement the socio-economic development plan in 2013, creating impetus for sustainable development in the following years,” Hung added.

A highlight of the session’s working agenda, which is scheduled to last till June 21, will be the conduct of poll and vote of confidence for the first time on 49 high-ranking officials elected or approved by the NA or the people’s councils. Those who poll less than 50 percent will face a no-confidence vote or be called to resign.

The officials, including top leaders of the assembly, the state and the government, have submitted reports on their work performance and results, mentioning law obedience, ethics and lifestyle to the NA deputies 20 days before the voting day, for consideration.

During the one-month session, deputies will consider and adopt one resolution and 10 bills, including Law on Land (amended), Law on Prevention and Combat Terrorism, Law on Defense and Security Education, and give opinion on the draft amendment to the Constitution 1992 and seven other bills.

On the first day of working, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc presented a report giving more details in task performance in 2012 and in the first months of this year as well as major solutions for the remaining months of 2013.

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The Vietnamese economy is still facing a myriad of challenges, ranging from the large amount of nonperforming debts to the rising number of bankrupt businesses, the government and the Committee of Economic Affairs reported at the National Assembly’s fifth session on Monday.

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The first day of the 5th session was reserved for the NA to listen to reports on socio-economic performance in 2012 and the first four months of this year, which is forecast by both of the reports to remain in a tough spot.

“Although the socio-economic situation posted certain positive signs in the first four months, its development remains slow and unsustainable,” Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said to begin the government’s report.

The economy is still under pressure of high inflation and vulnerable to macro-economic instability, while the lending interest rates remain out of borrowers’ reach, the report said.

Credit growth lagged far behind the 12 percent a year target, and the rate of nonperforming loans remained as high as 7.8 percent by the end of last year, according to figures from the State Bank of Vietnam.

State Bank of Vietnam

The gold market management system has also failed to mobilize gold from the public to pump into the economy.

The government’s report also pointed out that market consumption remains low and a number of commodities still have high unsold inventory stocks. The number of businesses forced to dissolve or declare bankruptcy continues to rise, while the realty market is still struggling to escape from its frozen state.

“Policies have been issued to help solve the problems, but most of them either lack guidance for implementation or are slowly implemented,” the report concluded.

As for solutions in the near future, Phuc said the government will prioritize pulling down the average lending interest rate and achieve the credit growth target of 12 percent a year.

Chief of the NA’s Committee of Economic Affairs, Nguyen Van Giau, also delivered the committee’s report, which shares many mutual points with that of the government.

“The task to improve the situation in the remaining months of the year is a very tough one,” commented Giau.

As much as 69 percent of businesses nationwide reported losses by the end of 2012, according to the committee.

“The problem is how to ensure that both the targets of boosting GDP growth and combating inflation can be achieved,” Giau said.

The committee thus suggested that fiscal and monetary policies should be released to boost consumption, besides implementing the solutions to support businesses with production and bank loans.