History

The idea of creating long distance transmission lines in order to take advantage of renewable sources distantly located is not new. In the US in the 1930s, a proposal was made to ship hydroelectric power from dams being constructed in the Pacific Northwest to consumers in Southern California, but was opposed and scrapped. By 1961, U.S. president John F. Kennedy authorized a large public works project using new HVDC technology from Sweden. The project was undertaken as a close collaboration between General Electric of the U.S. and ASEA of Sweden and is now known as the Pacific Intertie.

The concept of a "Super grid" dates back to the 1960's and was used to describe the emerging unification of the Great Britain grid^[1]. What has changed during the past 40 years is the scale of energy and distances that are imagined possible in a super grid. Europe began unifying its grids since the 1950's and its largest unified grid is the synchronous grid of Continental Europe serving 24 countries. Serious work is being conducted on unification of the European UCTE grid with the neighboring IPS/UPS grid. If completed, this massive grid would span 13 time zones stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.^[2]

While such grids cover great distances, due to congestion and control issues, the capacity to transmit large volumes of electricity remains limited. The SuperSmart Grid (Europe) and the Unified Smart Grid (US) specify major technological upgrades that proponents claim are necessary to assure the practical operation and promised benefits of such transcontinental mega grids.

[edit] Concept

In current usage, "super grid" has two senses – one of being a superstructure layer overlayed or super-imposed upon existing regional transmission grid or grids, and the second of having some set of superior abilities exceeding those of even the most advanced grids.

[edit] Mega grid

In the "overlay", or "superstructure" meaning, a super grid is a very long distance equivalent of a wide area synchronous network capable of large-scale transmission of renewable electricity. In some conceptions, a transmission grid of HVDC transmission lines forms a layer that is distinctly separate in the way that a superhighway system is separate from the system of city streets and regional highways. In more conventional conceptions such as the proposed unification of the European UCTE and IPS/UPS system of the CIS, such a mega grid is no different from typical wide area synchronous transmission systems where electricity takes an ad-hoc transit route directly through local utility transmission lines or HVDC lines as required^[3]. Studies for such continental sized systems report there are scaling problems as a result of network complexity, transmission congestion, and the need for rapid diagnostic, coordination and control systems. Such studies observe that transmission capacity would need to be significantly higher than current transmission systems in order to promote unimpeded energy trading across distances unbounded by state, regional or national, or even continental borders^[4]. As a practical matter, it has become necessary to incorporate smart grid features such as wide area sensor networks (WAMS) into even modest sized regional grids in order to avert major power outages such as the Northeast Blackout of 2003. Dynamic interactions between power generation groups are increasingly complex, and transient disturbances that cascade across neighboring utilities can be sudden, large and violent, accompanied by abrupt changes in the network topology as operators attempt to manually stabilize the network.^[5]

[edit] Superior grid

In the second sense of an advanced grid, the "super grid" is not only superior because it is a wide area mega grid, but it is highly coordinated from a macro level spanning nations and continents, all the way down to the micro level scheduling low priority loads like water heater and refrigeration. In the European SuperSmart Grid proposal and the US Unified Smart Grid concept, such super grids have intelligence features in the wide area transmission layer which integrate the local smart grids into a single wide area super grid. This is similar to how the internet bound together small networks into single ubiquitous network.

Wide area transmission can be viewed as a horizontal extension of the Smart grid. In a paradigm shift, the distinction between transmission and distribution blurs with the integration as energy flow becomes bidirectional. For example, distribution grids in rural areas might generate more energy than they use turning the local smart grid into a virtual power plant, or a city's fleet of one million vehicles could be used to trim peaks in transmission supply by integrating them to the smart grid using vehicle to grid technology.

A 765 kV AC transmission grid designed to carry 400 GW of wind power to cities from Midwest at a cost of $60 billion.^[6][7]

One advantage of such a geographically dispersed and dynamically balanced system is that the need for baseload generation is significantly reduced since intermittency of some sources such as ocean, solar and wind can be smoothed.^[8] A series of detailed modeling studies by Dr. Gregor Czisch, which looked at the European wide adoption of renewable energy and interlinking power grids using HVDC cables, indicates that the entire European power usage could come from renewables, with 70% total energy from wind at the same sort of costs or lower than at present. ^[9][10][11]

To some critics, such a wide area transmission layer is not novel – pointing out that the technology has little difference from that used for regional and national power transmission networks. Proponents respond that beyond the qualitative smart grid features that allow instantaneous coordination and balancing of intermittent power sources across international boundaries, the quantitative comprehensiveness has a quality all its own. The claim is made that super grids open up markets^[12]. In the same way that freeways only revolutionized interstate transport and the internet revolutionized online commerce when comprehensive high capacity networks for them were built, it is argued that a high capacity super grid must be built in order to provide a distribution network so comprehensive and with such available capacity that energy trading is only limited by how much electricity that entrepreneurs can bring to market.

[edit] Technology

Wide area super grids plans typically call for bulk transmission using high voltage direct current lines. Europe's SuperSmart Grid proposal relies on HVDC, and in the US, key decision makers such as Steven Chu favor a national long distance DC grid system.^[13] There are industry advocates of HVAC. Although FACTS alternating current have drawbacks for long distances, American Electric Power has championed a 765 kV super grid they call I-765 that would provide 400 GW of extra transmission capacity required for producing 20% of US energy from wind farms based in the midwest. (See figure above).^[7] Advocates of HVAC point out that HVDC systems are oriented to point bulk transmission and multiple connections to them would require expensive complex communication and control equipment as opposed to the simple step up transformers needed if AC lines were used. Currently, there is only one multipoint long distance HVDC transmission system.^[14] In the more distant future the voltage loss of current methods could be avoided using experimental superconducting "SuperGrid" technology where the transmission cable is super cooled by a liquid hydrogen pipeline which is also used to move energy nationwide.

Coordination and control of the network would use smart grid technologies such as phasor measurement units to rapidly detect imbalances in the network caused by fluctuating renewable energy sources and potentially respond instantaneously with programmed automatic protection schemes to reroute, reduce load, or reduce generation in response to network disturbances.

[edit] Government policy

[edit] Significant scale

One study for a European super grid estimates that as much as 750 GW of extra transmission capacity would be required- capacity that would be accommodated in increments of 5 GW HVDC lines^[15]. A recent proposal by Transcanada priced a 1,600-km, 3-GW HVDC line at $3 billion USD and would require a corridor 60 meters wide^[16]. In India, a recent 6 GW, 1,850-km proposal was priced at $790 million and would require a 69 meter wide right of way^[17]. With 750 GW of new HVDC transmission capacity required for a European super grid, the land and money needed for new transmission lines would be considerable.

[edit] Energy independence

In Europe, the energy security implication of a super grid has been discussed as a way in part to prevent Russian energy hegemony. ^[18] In the U.S., advocates such as T. Boone Pickens have promoted the idea of a national transmission grid in order to promote United States energy independence. Al Gore advocates the Unified Smart Grid which has comprehensive super grid capabilities. Gore and other advocates such as James E. Hansen believe super grids are essential for the eventual complete replacement of the greenhouse gas producing fossil fuel use that feeds global warming ^[19].

[edit] Permits for corridors

Large amounts of land would be required for the electricity transmission corridors used by the new transmission lines of a super grid. There can be significant opposition to the siting of power lines out of concerns about visual impact, anxiety over perceived health issues, and environmental concerns. The US has a process of designating National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, and it is likely that this process would be used to specify the pathways for a super grid in that country. In the EU, permits for new overhead lines can easily reach 10 years.^[20] In some cases, this has made underground cable more expedient. Since land required can be one fifth than that for overhead and the permit process can be significantly faster, underground cable can be more attractive despite its weaknesses of being more expensive, lower capacity, shorter lived, and suffers significantly longer downtimes.

[edit] Business interests

[edit] Siting

Just as superhighways change valuations of land due to the proximity to the ability to transport valuable commodities, businesses are strongly motivated to influence the siting of a super grid to their benefit. The cost of alternative power is the delivered price of electricity, and if production of electricity from North Dakota wind or Arizona solar is to be competitive, the distance of the connection from the wind farm to the interstate transmission grid must not be great. This is because the feeder line from the generator to the transmission lines is usually paid for by the owner of the generation. Some localities will help pay for the cost of these lines, at the cost of local regulation such as that of a public utilities commission. T. Boone Pickens' project has chosen to pay for the feeder lines privately. Some localities, such as Texas give such projects the power of eminent domain which allows companies to seize land in the path of the planned construction. ^[21]

[edit] Technology preferences

Energy producers are interested in whether the super grid employs HVDC technology, or uses AC, because the cost of connection to an HVDC line is generally greater than that if the AC is used. The Pickens plan favors 765 kV AC transmission,^[7] which is considered to be less efficient for long distance transmission.

[edit] Competition

In the 1960's, private California power companies opposed the Pacific Intertie project with a set of technical objections that were overruled. When the project was completed, consumers in Los Angeles saved approximately U.S. $600,000 per day by use of electric power from projects on the Columbia River rather than local power companies burning more expensive fossil fuel.

en over de Europese Supergrid vonden we dit pleidooi:

Christian Kjaer

Why Europe needs an electricity Supergrid

Christian Kjaer, chief executive of the European Wind Energy Association, argues that a supergrid is essential to EU efforts to cut carbon emissions

BusinessGreen, 11 Mar 2010

Over the next 12 years 360GW of new electricity-generating capacity – 50 per cent of Europe's current supply structure - needs to be built to replace ageing power plants and meet the expected increase in demand for electricity. The time is ripe for a complete overhaul of our electricity supply structure. We must use the next ten years to change the way the electricity is produced, transmitted and consumed in Europe.

Europe must use this opportunity to construct a new, modern power system capable of meeting the energy and climate challenges of the 21st century, while enhancing Europe's competitiveness.

Europe's current electricity structure still bears the characteristics of the time in which it was developed. It is national in nature, the technologies applied are ageing and the markets supporting it are underdeveloped. Given the international nature of the energy challenges we face, it is astounding that 24 years after the Single European Act was signed, we still do not have an internal market for electricity.

We urgently need to establish the free movement of energy; the Supergrid will be fundamental for establishing that freedom.

The power system must be supported by modern infrastructure technology, research and development, and well functioning markets for electricity and transmission in which investors, rather than consumers, are exposed to fuel and carbon price risk.

Supporting the expansion of wind energy and other renewable energy technologies, Europe needs dramatically improved competition in the Internal Energy Market, through new electricity infrastructure, changes in system operation and development of effective electricity markets throughout the EU.

While the EU's climate and renewable energy targets have set the direction for renewable technology and CO2 reductions in the short term, the missing element today is a common European vision for the architecture of a future modern pan-European electricity network – onshore and offshore.

The Supergrid provides such a vision.

A single European grid and effective competition in the European power markets are essential elements, not only for the integration of large-scale wind power and other renewables, but also to ensure that European consumers have access to affordable and domestically produced energy.

By 2020, most of the EU's renewable electricity will be produced by onshore wind farms. Europe must, however, use the coming decade to prepare for the large-scale exploitation of its largest indigenous resource, offshore wind power.

We must stop thinking of electrical grids as national infrastructure and start developing them – onshore and offshore – to become European corridors of electricity trade. And we must start developing them now. The faster it is developed, the faster we will have a domestic substitute if future fuel import supplies are disrupted or the cost of fuel becomes prohibitively expensive, as the world experienced during 2008 when the oil price touched $150 per barrel for the first time.

Christian Kjaer is chief executive of the European Wind Energy Association

13-04-2010 om 22:34 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

12-04-2010 om 21:27 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Juridisch spierballengerol

BIZARRE DEMARCHE VAN JANSSENS EN ANTWERPS GERECHT

• zaterdag 10 april 2010
• 
  

11-04-2010 om 11:58 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Van der Hoeven neemt afstand van eigen duurzaamheidsbeleid

Van onze verslaggever Michael Persson op 29 maart '10, 19:11, bijgewerkt 30 maart '10, 11:18

Zonnepanelen in Amersfoort (Marcel van den Bergh / de Volkskrant)

AMSTERDAM- De subsidies op duurzame energie kosten de overheid miljarden euro’s en maken ze bedrijven lui.

Dat schrijft demissionair minister Maria van der Hoeven van Economische Zaken dinsdag in de Volkskrant.

Met het stuk neemt Van der Hoeven afstand van haar eigen beleid van de afgelopen drie jaar, waarin juist subsidies werden ingezet om de ontwikkeling van wind- en zonne-energie te stimuleren. De zogeheten SDE-regeling (subsidie duurzame energie), die twintig jaar lang geld toelegt op elke duurzame kilowattuur energie, was het belangrijkste instrument van het vorige kabinet om de klimaatdoelen voor 2020 te halen.

Niet effectief

Volgens Van der Hoeven is dat beleid niet effectief. ‘Duurzame energie is de komende jaren nog een te beperkte en te dure optie voor CO2-reductie. We moeten niet onbeperkt en tot in lengte van dagen het verschil tussen marktprijs en kostprijs blijven subsidiëren.Daar moeten we vanaf’

Ook signaleert zij ‘subsidieoorlogen’ tussen verschillende Europese landen, omdat windparken op zee daar worden gebouwd waar subsidies het hoogst zijn.

De directe betekenis van de demissionaire opinie is beperkt. Maar het is een bevestiging van de stemming op het ministerie van Economische Zaken, waar het enthousiasme voor groene energie volgens ingewijden tot onder het nulpunt is gedaald. In januari stelde topambtenaar Chris Buijink in het economenblad ESB al dat het Nederlandse klimaatbeleid pragmatischer moet.

Nieuwe wig

Daarnaast kan de interventie van Van der Hoeven een nieuwe wig drijven tussen haar partij, het CDA, en voormalig coalitiepartner PvdA. Een van de belangrijkste duurzame voornemens van het vorige kabinet was de overheveling van de SDE-financiering van de begroting naar de energierekening. Juist door dat plan zouden de miljarden worden gevonden die nodig zijn om duizenden windmolens op zee te financieren.

Van der Hoeven ziet groene energie vooral in economische context, en niet als middel om de opwarming van het klimaat tegen te gaan. ‘Minder CO2-uitstoot moet niet voorop staan in het beleid voor duurzame energie.’

Alleen windenergie

Concreet wil zij dat alleen windenergie en bio-energie nog vier jaar staatssteun krijgen, omdat die voor de economie kansrijke opties zijn. Zonne-energie zou helemaal afvallen.

Wel stelt zij zich voor dat energieproducenten duurzame verplichtingen worden opgelegd, om de Europese klimaatdoelen te halen (20 procent minder broeikasgasuitstoot in 2020). Van de Nederlandse doelen, die met 30 procent reductie ambitieuzer zijn dan die van Europa, wil zij helemaal af.

en vandaag stond in De Standaard een zeer interessant dossier over de subsidies aan de windenergie:

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=PS2OL6U6

De dure rekening van windenergie

DOSSIER

• vrijdag 09 april 2010
• 
  
• 
  

Meer windenergie in de Belgische Noordzee betekent dat de elektriciteitsfactuur van de gezinnen en bedrijven in ons land fors zal stijgen. Dat blijkt uit berekeningen van het Energie-instituut van de KU Leuven. De hogere kosten zijn te wijten aan de groenestroomsubsidies voor de windparken op zee, die worden doorgerekend aan de verbruiker. Vandaag gaat het nog om zeer kleine bedragen, maar tegen 2020 is er sprake van een verzeven- tot verveertienvoudiging. De chemie-industrie heeft een voorstel klaar om de toekomstige facturen te drukken. Ze suggereert onder meer dat de overheid een deel van de financiële inspanning draagt.

09-04-2010 om 22:17 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Antwerpen wint kortgeding tegen Sharia4Belgium

Benno Barnard

08-04-2010 om 22:07 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Sociaal conflict bij Godiva zit muurvast

VRT

VRT

wo 07/04/2010 - 07:01 Update: wo 07/04/2010 - 16:36 Bij chocoladefabrikant Godiva in Koekelberg zit het sociaal conflict voorlopig nog muurvast. Vandaag houdt de directie de deuren gesloten, en door die lock-out mag het personeel mag dus niet binnen om te werken. Het conflict draait rond een herstructurering, die 90 banen zou kosten.

VRT

De werknemers zijn tot actie overgegaan. Halfweg maart blokkeerden ze al de poorten van het bedrijf en ze zijn ook trager beginnen te werken. "Al een week kunnen er geen goederen binnen noch buiten. De arbeiders werken heel traag. De productiviteit is er niet meer. Dat kost ons enorm veel geld. En nu dreigt er een escalatie van geweld", zegt Nicolas Bouwe, managing director bij Godiva (foto).

"Het enige dat wij doen, is een beetje trager werken", zegt Erica Bauwens van de socialistische vakbond ABVV. Sinds vanmorgen dreigt het conflict te escaleren. "We zijn deze morgen aangekomen om te komen werken, maar we stonden voor de deur. De baas heeft de deuren gesloten en we mogen niet binnen", aldus Bauwens.

Belga

De directie wil de fabriek echter alleen maar openstellen onder bepaalde voorwaarden. "Wij willen opnieuw kwalitatief kunnen produceren, met een redelijke naar garantie voor productiviteit", zegt directeur operaties Peter Van Ingelghem van de directie.

De vakbonden denken er ook aan om juridische stappen te ondernemen zodat de lonen ook tijdens de lock-out kunnen worden uitbetaald. Via het kabinet van Joëlle Milquet, de minister bevoegd voor sociaal overleg, wordt geprobeerd om het overleg tussen beide partijen weer vlot te trekken.

“Aujourd’hui on veut notre emploi,
et rester tous chez Godiva
C’est pas nous qu’il faut licencier
mais c’est Nicolas Bouve
Car pour lui il y a pas de pitié
car son salaire est assuré
Il faut rester tous motivés
allez les gars, il faut continuer”

Godiva: les syndicats dénoncent la situation de lock-out

La FGTB et la CSC secteur Alimentation et Services ont tenu à dénoncer, mercredi après-midi, lors d'une conférence de presse commune au siège du syndicat socialiste à Bruxelles, la décision prise le matin même par la direction de Godiva de bloquer l'accès de l'entreprise aux travailleurs. La direction du chocolatier a invoqué pour justifier sa décision des raisons de sécurité tant au niveau des personnes que du processus de production ainsi que le non-respect par le personnel de ses obligations contractuelles de même qu'une série d'actes de violence. Les syndicats et le personnel contestent formellement ces affirmations et la situation de lock-out - exceptionnelle dans l'histoire sociale belge - qui en découle et dénonce "l'attitude suicidaire et jusqu'au-boutiste" de la direction de Godiva qui n'est là, selon leurs dires, que pour exécuter "la sale besogne". Godiva n'a jamais tenté, selon Baudouin Ferrant (FGTB) et Patrick Vanderhaege (CSC) de nouer un véritable dialogue comme le prévoit la Loi Renault afin d'éviter ou de limiter au maximum le licenciement des 90 travailleurs du service emballage que l'entreprise entend externaliser auprès d'une entreprise de logistique qui aurait elle-même recours aux services d'un atelier protégé, ont souligné les permanents syndicaux. Syndicats et personnel contestent également que la fermeture et l'externalisation du service d'emballage manuel annoncée lors d'un conseil d'entreprise extraordinaire le 2 mars dernier, ne permette à l'entreprise chocolatière de sortir de sa situation économique difficile. Personnel et délégués syndicaux placent, enfin, beaucoup d'espoir dans l'intervention du cabinet Milquet. Belga

07-04-2010 om 22:25 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

06-04-2010 om 22:26 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

John Paul ‘ignored abuse of 2,000 boys’

When John Paul II died five years ago the crowd that packed St Peter’s Square for his funeral clamoured “Santo subito (Saint now)!” in a spontaneous tribute to the charisma of the Polish pontiff.

As the faithful marked the anniversary of John Paul’s death on Good Friday, however, he was being drawn into the scandal over child abuse in the Catholic church that has confronted his successor, Benedict XVI, with the worst crisis of his reign.

Allegations that the late pontiff blocked an inquiry into a paedophile cardinal, promoted senior church figures despite accusations that they had molested boys and covered up innumerable cases of abuse during his 26-year papacy have cast a cloud over his path to sainthood.

The most serious claims related to Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, an Austrian friend of John Paul’s who abused an estimated 2,000 boys over decades but never faced any sanction from Rome.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Groer’s successor, criticised the handling of that scandal and other abuse cases last week after holding a special service in St Stephen’s cathedral, Vienna, entitled “Admitting our guilt”.

Schönborn condemned the “sinful structures” within the church and the patterns of “silencing” victims and “looking away”.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — who became Pope Benedict — had tried to investigate the abuses as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Schönborn. But his efforts had been blocked by “the Vatican”, an apparent reference to John Paul.

Asked by The Sunday Times whether John Paul’s role in the cover-up of abuse should be investigated, Schönborn said: “I have known Pope Benedict personally during 37 years of amiable acquaintance and I can say with certainty that ... he made entirely clear efforts not to cover things up but to tackle and investigate them. This was not always met with approval in the Vatican.”

The Groer affair became public in 1995 when former pupils of an elite Catholic school accused him of sexual abuse.

After an outcry, Groer was replaced and made the prior of a convent. He was never punished and issued only a vague apology in 1998 before retreating to a nunnery where he lived until his death in 2003. Some of his victims were offered “hush money” from the church.

Michael Tfirst, 54, one of Groer’s victims, claims to have reported the abuse to highranking church officials from the 1970s onwards. He says the church paid him £3,300 in 2004 under a contract that obliged him to keep quiet.

“There is no question that Ratzinger knew all the details of reports on abuse within the church, as there is no doubt that John Paul, his superior, took part in a massive and systematic cover-up,” Tfirst said.

John Paul also faced criticism last week from Poland for protecting Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, who was accused of abusing trainee priests. Letters detailing the charges were sent to John Paul’s office and to Ratzinger in 2000 but were ignored. Paetz resigned in 2002 when the allegations became public.

Stanislaw Obirek, a Polish theologian and a former Jesuit priest, said: “I believe John Paul is the key person responsible for the cover-up of abuse cases because most of it occurred during his papacy. How can someone who is to blame for this be beatified?”

In America critics pointed out that although Benedict has borne the brunt of criticism over ignoring the scandal of Father Lawrence Murphy, accused of molesting 200 deaf boys at a special school in Wisconsin, Ratzinger had acted on the authority of John Paul.

Another beneficiary of John Paul’s discreet approach was Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest known as Father Maciel, who founded a conservative religious order. He was accused by former members of abuse in 1998. John Paul blessed Maciel in the Vatican in late 2004, at a time when Ratzinger was investigating him. A year after Ratzinger became pope, the Vatican ordered Maciel to lead “a reserved life of prayer and penance”, effectively removing him from power.

John Paul was also accused of ignoring controversy over John Magee, a former private secretary to three popes including the Polish pontiff, who named him Bishop of Cloyne in 1987. Late last month Magee was forced to resign after an independent report found that his diocese in Ireland had put children at risk.

In the Vatican the spiralling allegations have prompted a siege-like mentality. Father Federico Lombardi, Benedict’s spokesman, declined to comment on John Paul’s handling of abuse cases. “We’re busy with Easter celebrations, let’s focus on the homilies,” he said.

The Polish cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s private secretary for four decades, rejected as “unfair and misleading” any attempt to distinguish between the approaches of the two popes to abuse cases. “Benedict is strongly committed to clearing things up, like a father,” Dziwisz told La Repubblica, the Italian newspaper.

In Europe there are signs of the faithful turning their backs on the church in large numbers. In Austria alone more than 20,000 Catholics left the church in March.

In America there was a furious response by Jewish groups to a Good Friday sermon by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Benedict’s personal preacher, in which he compared the wave of attacks on the church to anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, of the American Jewish Committee, protested: “So far I haven’t seen Saint Peter burn. The Vatican is trying to turn the persecutors into victims.”

John Paul was expected to be beatified in October but the process may be delayed. A French nun who appeared to have been miraculously cured of Parkinson’s disease through his intercession has reportedly been found to be suffering from a different illness.

Giancarlo Zizola, a leading expert on the Vatican, said the church officials who had gathered documents and questioned witnesses about John Paul’s suitability for sainthood had examined “negative” aspects of his papacy, including his handling of abuse cases.

“There’s no chance of Benedict delaying the beatification because of the abuse scandal,” Zizola said. “On the contrary, I expect he’ll accelerate it.”

Allegations

Critics say John Paul II:

Failed to encourage bishops to report accusations of paedophilia by priests to the police.

Ignored accusations against senior members of the clergy, at times promoting them to higher office.

Allowed many priests accused of paedophilia to be transferred to a new diocese without anyone being warned of their record.

Decreed that “pontifical secrecy” must apply to cases of sexual abuse in church trials.

05-04-2010 om 22:14 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Eugene Terreblanche murdered at his Ventersdorp farm

Leader of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) Eugene Terreblanche was attacked and killed at his farm 10km outside Ventersdorp on Saturday, North West police said

Eugene Terre?Blanche

Related Articles

• Terre Blanche killed

Captain Adele Myburgh said Terreblanche, 69, was attacked by a man and minor who worked for him after they allegedly had an argument over unpaid wages around 6pm.

"Mr Terreblanche's body was found on the bed with facial and head injuries. There was a panga on him and knobkerrie next to the bed.

"A 21-year-old man and 15-year-old boy were arrested and charged for his murder. The two told the police that the argument ensued because they were not paid for the work they did on the farm," she said.

Myburgh said Terreblanche was alone with the two workers at the time of the attack. She said the two would appear on charges of murder in court soon.

The Democratic Alliance in the North West expressed its "outrage and concern" at Terreblanche's murder. "This happened in a province where racial tension in the rural farming community is increasingly being fuelled by irresponsible racist utterances by the leader of the ANCYL Leader Julius Malema and the North West Cosatu secretary Solly Pheto," said DA MP Juanita Terblanche.

She said the DA did not share Terreblanche's political conviction but an attack of this nature could be regarded as an attack on the diverse components of the South African democracy.

North West MEC for Public Safety Howard Yawa reacted with shock at the news of Terreblanche's death and appealed for calm in the province.

Yawa condemned the "callous murder in the strongest terms possible" and also called to the people to allow the law to take its course.

Dood Terreblanche 'oorlogsverklaring'

(Novum/AP) - De moord op de leider van de extreem-rechtse blanken in Zuid-Afrika, Eugene Terreblanche, is een oorlogsverklaring van de zwarte aan de blanke bevolking. Dat heeft Andre Visagie, een belangrijk lid van de Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) waarvan Terreblanche de leider was, zondag gezegd.

Visagie zei, net als andere leden van de AWB, dat een controversiële toespraak van Julius Malema, de leider van de jeugdliga van het ANC, heeft geleid tot de moord. Malema riep in de bewuste toespraak studenten op een lied te zingen over het doden van blanke Zuid-Afrikaanse boeren.

Het ANC en Malema ontkenden dat de toespraak een aanleiding zou zijn voor de moord en betwistten de oorlogsverklaring. "De zwarte gemeenschap heeft nog nooit de oorlog verklaard aan een andere nationaliteit in Zuid-Afrika", zo zei Jackson Mthembu, een woordvoerder van het ANC. "Het is feitelijk incorrect en dit soort gevoelens verergert de polarisatie binnen de Zuid-Afrikaanse bevolking."

De Zuid-Afrikaanse president Jacob Zuma riep op tot kalmte. In een verklaring vroeg hij de bevolking 'niet toe te staan dat provocateurs van de situatie profiteren door aan te zetten tot rassenhaat'.

Visagie zwoer de dood van Terreblanche te wreken. Hoe hij dit wil doen, wilde hij niet zeggen. Hij zei wel dat de AWB voetbalteams vanwege mogelijke gevaren voor de veiligheid zal vragen niet naar het Wereldkampioenschap voetbal te komen, dat deze zomer zal plaatsvinden.

Terreblanche werd zaterdag dood op zijn bed gevonden met verwondingen aan gezicht en hoofd. Vermoedelijk is hij doodgeslagen door twee medewerkers van zijn boerderij, omdat ze niet betaald hadden gekregen. Twee verdachten van 15 en 21 jaar zijn aangehouden op verdenking van moord.

Eugène Terre'Blanche

Uit Wikipedia, de vrije encyclopedie

Eugène Terre'Blanche
Naam	Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche
Geboren	31 januari 1941
Overleden	3 april 2010
Land	Zuid-Afrika
Opvolger	n.n.b.
Partij	Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
Politieke functies
1973–1997	Partijleider AWB
2008–2010	Partijleider AWB
Portaal Politiek

Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche (Ventersdorp, 31 januari 1941 - Buitengebied Ventersdorp, Zuid-Afrika 3 april 2010) was de voorman van de extreemrechtse Zuid-Afrikaanse Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB).

Terre'Blanche groeide op in Ventersdorp en rondde in 1962 de middelbare school in Potchefstroom af. Al als scholier richtte hij de Jong Afrikanerharte op, een beweging die de belangen van de jonge Afrikaners moest behartigen.

Na zijn middelbare school werkte hij bij de politie en diende als vrijwilliger in Zuidwest-Afrika (het tegenwoordige Namibië), waar hij officier was. Na zijn militaire dienst werd hij lijfwacht van premier John Vorster.

Na vier jaar verliet hij de politie, werd lid van de rechtse Herstigte Nasionale Party (HNP) en was kandidaat voor de kieskring Heidelberg voor de verkiezingen. Op 7 juli 1973 richtte Eugene Terre'Blanche met zes anderen de AWB op. Doel van de AWB was de oprichting van een eigen Volksstaat voor Afrikaners. De AWB werd al snel als neonazistisch gekwalificeerd.

In december 1982 werd Terre'Blanche aangehouden wegens verboden wapenbezit. In juli 1983 werd hij vanwege verboden wapenbezit en terroristische activiteiten tot 3 jaar voorwaardelijk veroordeeld. In 2000 kreeg Terre'Blanche hiervoor amnestie.

In 2000 werd Terre'Blanche vanwege verschillende gewelddadige conflicten met zwarte Zuid-Afrikanen veroordeeld tot zes jaar cel. Van april 2000 tot juni 2004 zat hij hiervoor gevangen.

Op 3 april 2010 werd Terre'Blanche in zijn eigen huis doodgeslagen met pijpen, stokken en hakmessen. Zijn gezicht was met kapmessen bewerkt.^[1][2] en een knobkerrie.^[3][4] Volgens Zuid-Afrikaanse media zijn de daders jonge zwarte Afrikanen in dienst op zijn veehouderij.^[5]

04-04-2010 om 23:26 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

"Laissées pour mortes. Le lynchage des femmes de Hassi Messaoud"

L'histoire contée ici ne commence pas avec cette terrible nuit du 13 juillet 2001, à Hassi Messaoud, grande cité pétrolière du Sahara, au cours de laquelle 39 femmes furent sauvagement agressées, frappées, violées. Une expédition punitive menée par trois cents hommes encouragés par un imam local, sans autre raison que celle de s'attaquer à des femmes seules. Des femmes modestes, venues travailler sur les sites des sociétés étrangères installées au coeur de l'Algérie.

L'histoire commence avant, à Oran l'industrielle, sous les traits de Rahmouna Salah. Cette femme, qui figure parmi les victimes d'Hassi Messaoud, remonte d'abord le fil de ses relations meurtries depuis bien longtemps avec le genre masculin. Fille délaissée par son père, soeur maltraitée ou rejetée par ses frères, épouse malheureuse, battue, et reniée. Premières noces : "Il m'a annoncé la couleur de notre avenir commun : pas de maquillage, d'épilation, de coiffeur, de sorties ou de visites." Deuxième mariage : "Il y aura des conditions. Je serai le seul à décider (...), prévient l'époux. Il n'est pas question qu'elle travaille, ni même qu'elle sorte de la maison."

Survolés, les faits, les dates rapportés par la comédienne Nadia Kaci n'ont guère d'importance. Le récit est simple, à la va-comme-je-te-pousse. C'est le portrait d'une vie amère, un cri de rage qui culmine après cette terrifiante nuit du 13 juillet 2001, et qui continue sur le ton du désespoir, quand il devient impossible aux victimes d'obtenir réparation du drame. Seule, toujours, pour Rahmouna Salah, avec ses enfants qu'elle place chez sa mère et qu'elle récupère parfois pour les élever tant bien que mal. Mariée, pour Fatiha Maamoura, qui fournit le deuxième témoignage de ce livre, et qui ne se remettra jamais vraiment de son calvaire, elle qui fut atrocement battue et aux trois quarts enterrée vivante à Hassi Messaoud.

Les agresseurs n'étaient pas des inconnus, mais des épiciers de quartier, des employés locaux, des voisins. Des hommes ordinaires. Procès, harcèlement, menaces, peur de représailles ont formé pendant des années le quotidien des malheureuses d'Hassi Messaoud, décrites par un quotidien comme des prostituées.

Quelques lignes de réconfort fugaces apparaissent parfois, vite noyées dans l'amertume des relations hommes-femmes en Algérie.

L'histoire contée ici ne commence pas avec cette terrible nuit du 13 juillet 2001, à Hassi Messaoud, grande cité pétrolière du Sahara, au cours de laquelle 39 femmes furent sauvagement agressées, frappées, violées. Une expédition punitive menée par trois cents hommes encouragés par un imam local, sans autre raison que celle de s'attaquer à des femmes seules. Des femmes modestes, venues travailler sur les sites des sociétés étrangères installées au coeur de l'Algérie.

L'histoire commence avant, à Oran l'industrielle, sous les traits de Rahmouna Salah. Cette femme, qui figure parmi les victimes d'Hassi Messaoud, remonte d'abord le fil de ses relations meurtries depuis bien longtemps avec le genre masculin. Fille délaissée par son père, soeur maltraitée ou rejetée par ses frères, épouse malheureuse, battue, et reniée. Premières noces : "Il m'a annoncé la couleur de notre avenir commun : pas de maquillage, d'épilation, de coiffeur, de sorties ou de visites." Deuxième mariage : "Il y aura des conditions. Je serai le seul à décider (...), prévient l'époux. Il n'est pas question qu'elle travaille, ni même qu'elle sorte de la maison."

Survolés, les faits, les dates rapportés par la comédienne Nadia Kaci n'ont guère d'importance. Le récit est simple, à la va-comme-je-te-pousse. C'est le portrait d'une vie amère, un cri de rage qui culmine après cette terrifiante nuit du 13 juillet 2001, et qui continue sur le ton du désespoir, quand il devient impossible aux victimes d'obtenir réparation du drame. Seule, toujours, pour Rahmouna Salah, avec ses enfants qu'elle place chez sa mère et qu'elle récupère parfois pour les élever tant bien que mal. Mariée, pour Fatiha Maamoura, qui fournit le deuxième témoignage de ce livre, et qui ne se remettra jamais vraiment de son calvaire, elle qui fut atrocement battue et aux trois quarts enterrée vivante à Hassi Messaoud.

Les agresseurs n'étaient pas des inconnus, mais des épiciers de quartier, des employés locaux, des voisins. Des hommes ordinaires. Procès, harcèlement, menaces, peur de représailles ont formé pendant des années le quotidien des malheureuses d'Hassi Messaoud, décrites par un quotidien comme des prostituées.

Quelques lignes de réconfort fugaces apparaissent parfois, vite noyées dans l'amertume des relations hommes-femmes en Algérie.

L'histoire contée ici ne commence pas avec cette terrible nuit du 13 juillet 2001, à Hassi Messaoud, grande cité pétrolière du Sahara, au cours de laquelle 39 femmes furent sauvagement agressées, frappées, violées. Une expédition punitive menée par trois cents hommes encouragés par un imam local, sans autre raison que celle de s'attaquer à des femmes seules. Des femmes modestes, venues travailler sur les sites des sociétés étrangères installées au coeur de l'Algérie.

L'histoire commence avant, à Oran l'industrielle, sous les traits de Rahmouna Salah. Cette femme, qui figure parmi les victimes d'Hassi Messaoud, remonte d'abord le fil de ses relations meurtries depuis bien longtemps avec le genre masculin. Fille délaissée par son père, soeur maltraitée ou rejetée par ses frères, épouse malheureuse, battue, et reniée. Premières noces : "Il m'a annoncé la couleur de notre avenir commun : pas de maquillage, d'épilation, de coiffeur, de sorties ou de visites." Deuxième mariage : "Il y aura des conditions. Je serai le seul à décider (...), prévient l'époux. Il n'est pas question qu'elle travaille, ni même qu'elle sorte de la maison."

Le Monde, 17 mars 2010

Algérie

Le cauchemar des femmes lynchées d'El Haïcha

Par Anis Allik, publié le 12/02/2010 à 13:00 - mis à jour le 15/02/2010 à 14:33

RYAD KRAMDI/MILLEMO/MAXPPP pour L'Express

L'émotion submerge rapidement Fatiha (en bleu) et Rahmouna (en voile), lorsqu'elles évoquent cet épisode.

Un deux-pièces, quelque part près d'Oran, dans le nord-ouest de l'Algérie. Trois femmes sont assises dans un obscur petit salon, où flotte une odeur de soupe et de détergent. Un épais foulard sur les cheveux, la maîtresse des lieux débarrasse la table du midi et sert le café avec raideur.

Oranaise de souche, mère divorcée, Rahmouna, aujourd'hui âgée de 44 ans, a travaillé pendant cinq ans comme femme de ménage et cuisinière, à proximité du chantier pétrolier de Hassi Messaoud, une ville perdue dans le désert algérien. Avec Fatiha, une amie proche, âgée de 35 ans, elle y a mené une rude vie d'ouvrière. Des centaines de femmes vivaient là-bas, à la recherche d'un salaire décent. Elles y ont vécu un cauchemar.

38 femmes en proie à des criminels déchaînés

Cette nuit du 12 au 13 juillet 2001, Rahmouna et Fatiha étaient chez elles, comme chaque soir, dans leurs maisons du bidonville d'El Haïcha, près de Hassi Messaoud. Dans cette favela saharienne au toponyme horriblement prédestiné (El Haïcha veut dire "bête sauvage" en arabe algérien), elles vont connaître l'horreur. Avec 36 autres femmes, elles sont la proie de criminels déchaînés.

Pendant près de cinq heures, aux cris d'"Allah Akbar" et d'appel au "djihad", elles sont tabassées, injuriées, violées, souillées et mutilées par une horde de voyous "talibanisés". Un imam intégriste leur avait mis dans la tête que toute femme travaillant et vivant seule, "portant hijab ou pas", ne pouvait être qu'une prostituée et une menace pour la sérénité de la communauté. Ils commettent l'innommable.

Comédienne et militante féministe, Nadia Kaci a suivi leur combat et publie ce mois-ci en France leur témoignage (1). L'épisode atroce est connu en Algérie et déjà fait l'objet d'un film (2). Mais l'originalité du livre tient au récit mené à la première personne: le drame est raconté "de l'intérieur", par deux survivantes. Neuf ans après, l'horreur est intacte.

Les assaillants étaient une centaine, explique Rahmouna: "Ils m'ont lacéré les cuisses et le ventre. Tout mon être et tous mes membres étaient en sang. Ils étaient plusieurs sur moi." Fatiha intervient: "L'un d'eux, un monstre, m'a jetée sur son épaule comme une bête d'abattoir et traînée jusqu'au cimetière proche pour me violer, en menaçant de m'égorger avec un morceau de ferraille." Ce soir-là, conclut Nadia Kaci, l'une et l'autre sont "laissées pour mortes".

Depuis lors, beaucoup des survivantes vivent dans le silence et la honte. Elles craignent les représailles et restent victimes de l'opprobre social. Rahmouna et Fatiha auraient pu retourner à l'existence auxquelles elles semblent destinées - celle typique des filles de condition modeste, privées d'enfance, sorties de l'école avant l'âge, jetées dans l'univers violent des mères répudiées et rendues coupables de mariages ratés. Il en sera autrement.

Raconter le calvaire

Rahmouna et Fatiha refusent de baisser les bras. Dans la douleur, bravant le mépris et l'ignorance, elles font le tour des tribunaux autour de Hassi Messaoud et racontent leur calvaire afin de confondre les auteurs du crime et leurs complices. Pour rappeler à la bonne société, aussi, qu'elles ne sont "ni des prostituées ni des femelles dépravées", mais des victimes d'individus "imbéciles et barbares".

DR

Laissées pour mortes, le lynchage des femmes de Hassi Messaoud, éditions Max Milo

A l'issue d'un procès, en 2004, trois hommes sont condamnés à des peines de prison - huit, six et trois ans respectivement - tandis que six autres sont acquittés. "Surtout, précisent-elles, 20 condamnations à vingt ans, 4 à dix ans et une à cinq ans l'ont été par contumace". Ces coupables-là courent toujours. Rahmouna et Fatiha craignent chaque jour d'en croiser un dans la rue. Elles cherchent à tourner la page, sans pour autant oublier: "Nous avons refusé d'être sacrifiées une deuxième fois, disent-elles. C'est l'essentiel."

Ces dernières années, Fatiha a épousé un ancien collègue de travail qui l'a soutenue dans son épreuve. Cette union lui a permis de se réconcilier avec ses parents, qui ne voulaient plus entendre parler d'elle. Rahmouna, elle, regrette de ne pas avoir pu revoir son frère aîné avant la mort de celui-ci. Il l'accusait d'avoir sali la réputation de la famille. Elle aurait tant voulu lui expliquer...

03-04-2010 om 22:40 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

'De stad, die toeziet op de veiligheid en het respect voor de wetten, met inbegrip van de mensenrechten, kan niet aanvaarden dat de vrije meningsuiting ondermijnd wordt. Om dergelijke voorvallen in de toekomst te voorkomen, spant de stad nu een kort geding aan tegen Sharia4Belgium. In dat kort geding zal Antwerpen vorderen dat alle inbreuken op de vrijheid van meningsuiting, de antidiscriminatiewetgeving of de antiterorismewetgeving bestraft worden met een dwangsom van 25.000 euro', aldus het schepencollege.

Tegelijkertijd worden evenementen die een mogelijk risico vormen, voortaan onderworpen aan een meldingsplicht. De stad gaat ook onderzoeken op welke wijze er bijkomende (financiële) sancties op zulke overtredingen in het politiereglement kunnen worden opgenomen.

Website offline

De controversiële website sharia4belgium is niet meer bereikbaar. Wie naar de pagina surft, krijgt een vermelding dat de pagina ‘bevroren is’. Het is momenteel niet duidelijk door wie de site offline is gehaald.

Gisteren kondigde minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Annemie Turtelboom (Open VLD) aan dat de site permanent zou gevolgd worden. Als er sprake was van strafbare feiten zouden die worden doorgespeeld aan het gerecht.

Koen Bauters

© Benno Barnard

02-04-2010 om 00:00 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

'Medicijnenbank' voor Amsterdamse arme

Gepubliceerd: 1 april 2010 14:16 | Gewijzigd: 1 april 2010 14:18

Door onze redacteur Karel Berkhout

01-04-2010 om 22:00 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Where Two-Thirds of Boy Inmates are Brutalized

Inside Afghanistan's Jails

By GARTEH PORTER

Nearly two of every three male juveniles arrested in Afghanistan are physically abused, according to a study based on interviews with 40 per cent of all those now incarcerated in the country's juvenile justice system. The study, carried out by U.S. defense attorney Kimberly Motley for the international children's rights organization Terre des Hommes, reveals a justice system that subjects juveniles, many of whom are already innocent victims, to torture, forced confessions and blatant violation of their rights in court.

Motley, who may be the only practicing Western defense attorney in Afghanistan, tells me that the study shows the need for alternatives to introducing juveniles into what she calls the "injustice system". The author personally interviewed 250 of the 600 juveniles in jails and rehabilitation centers across the country, including half the 80 girls and 40 percent of the 520 boys, as well as 98 professionals working in the system.

Although only two of the girls interviewed reported being beaten by police, 130 out of the 208 boys under the age of 18 interviewed said they had been beaten. The interviews were carried out by Motley in 28 provinces from September through December 2009.

Those statistics parallel the findings of a study published by the U.N. Children's Fund and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission in 2008, which found that 55 percent of boys and 11 percent of girls reported having been beaten upon their arrest.

Virtually all the male juveniles said the police beatings were aimed at forcing them to sign a confession. They said they had signed either while being beaten or threatened with being beaten, and that the confessions were then used to convict them.The testimony of the juveniles themselves on brutalization by police was consistent with Motley's interviews with juvenile court judges. Forty-four per cent of the judges interviewed indicated that juveniles complained routinely about torture and physical abuse by police officers. Another 33 per cent refused to answer when asked whether they had heard such complaints.

Many of the boys interviewed by Motley reported that they been beaten by several police simultaneously. In one case, a 17-year-old said he was "kicked liked an animal" by six or seven policemen after his arrest.One juvenile charged with putting up signs around the city threatening terrorist acts told Motley that he signed a confession only after having been subjected to electric shock and hung from the ceiling by the National Security Police. The torture continued for more than two months, according to the boy.

The prosecutor in the case admitted to Motley that she had not only been aware of the accusations of torture but had seen marks on the boy's body indicating that the confessions had indeed been obtained under torture.
The prosecutor further acknowledged that no witnesses or other evidence had been presented in support of the charges against the boy.

The judge in the case told Motley that when asked in court why the case had not been dismissed as required by Afghan law, the prosecutors admitted that it was because they were afraid of the National Security Police and felt they had no choice.

In addition to the male juveniles who had signed coerced confessions by their thumbprint, 24 per cent of all the male and female juveniles interviewed told Motley they had signed confessions prepared by police without realizing it until they had gone to court. In some cases, they were tricked into signing a blank sheet of paper which was then used for the confession.

Almost half the children brought before a court in Afghanistan are also denied the right to speak in their defence, according to Motley's study. Forty-seven percent of those interviewed, including 62 percent of those in the western region, were not allowed to testify on their own behalf.

One of the male juveniles denied the right to testify in court was a boy charged with pederasty, or sexual relations between an adult male and a child. As is often the case, he was the victim of rape, after having been kidnapped by three adults, all of whom were released and never charged.
When the boy tried to explain in court that he was raped, he was told by the judge not to speak or even look at her, Motley recounts. The attorney for the child "barely spoke out for him," and he was sentenced to five years in jail.
Motley also found, however, that 71 per cent of the judges surveyed expressed the view that, if a juvenile remains silent in court when asked questions by a judge, they must be guilty.

Mohammad Ibrahim Hassan, a human rights activist in Afghanistan for two decades, told me the bias against presumption of innocence is deeply imbedded in Afghan culture. "A majority of the people in Afghanistan are against the presumption of innocence," he said in a recent interview in Kabul.

In the Afghan justice system, he observed, "When they arrest somebody, they think you have to expect the worst punishment."

A recent visit to the Kabul juvenile rehabilitation centre, on which this reporter was accompanied by Motley, further confirmed the prevalence of brutalization of juvenile males by police.

In one the centre's male dormitory rooms, which was chosen at random, the 10 juveniles present were asked through an interpreter how many had been beaten by police after their arrest.

Half of the boys raised their hands. One recalled having been subjected to electric shock in order to get him to sign a confession. "They put the cables on my toes and fingers," he said, "and they turned on the electricity many times for a few seconds."

He agreed to sign, and the police handed him a piece of paper on which to put his thumbprint.

Describing his treatment at the hands of the police, another boy said, "They would ask us, 'have you committed this crime?', and if we said no, they would beat us."

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist with Inter-Press Service specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006.

31-03-2010 om 22:58 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Brendan DeMelle

Freelance writer and researcher

Posted: March 30, 2010 01:23 AM

BIO Become a Fan

30-03-2010 om 23:22 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Een Kerk van gezonde minnaars

SCHANDALEN ZIJN ROTTE PLEKKEN, DE APPEL IS GEZOND

• maandag 29 maart 2010
• 
  

De schandalen worden ook gebruikt om een algemene afkeer van de Kerk te etaleren. ap

© SANG TAN

De Kerk bestaat niet uit louter heiligen, zoveel is duidelijk na de recente pedofilieschandalen. Maar ook de tegenstanders van de Kerk tonen zich op dit moment niet van hun mooiste kant, vindt JÜRGEN METTEPENNINGEN, die als katholiek het recht opeist daartegen te reageren.

Kerkschandalen dreigen steeds het beeld te creëren van een schandaalkerk. Sommigen geven dat beeld graag nog een duwtje in de rug. Laatst (DS 26 maart) nog Oscar van den Boogaard, auteur van onder meer de roman Meer dan een minnaar. Maar zelf duidelijk geen minnaar van het méér! En het mocht wel ietsje meer zijn, afgelopen vrijdag in zijn column. Daar goot hij sans gêne het kind met het badwater weg. Kort samengevat gaat zijn 'visie' als volgt: de Kerk wordt geleid door een schijnheilige man, die absoluut geen enkel vertrouwen waard is, laat staan dat heel de Kerk die hij leidt dat al waard zou zijn. De recente boost van beschuldigingen van kindermisbruik door katholieke geestelijken en het net dat zich zogezegd zelfs rond de paus zou sluiten, geldt als argument voor de vereenzelviging van kind en badwater. Als katholiek voel ik bij de actualiteit en het lawaai van verschillende commentaarstukken verontwaardiging, die me tot vier beschouwingen brengt.

Emotioneel oneerlijk

Ten eerste: de Kerk is niet te vereenzelvigen met haar leider en ook niet met de ontsporingen die binnen haar schoot hebben plaatsgevonden, en beide - paus en ontsporingen - zijn op hun beurt niet op dezelfde lijn te plaatsen. In verschillende commentaarstukken word ik als katholiek getroffen door zoveel emotionele en intellectuele oneerlijkheid. Immers, ook al is de paus het opperhoofd van de Kerk, de Kerk is veel meer dan de paus. En al zijn er heel wat verwerpelijke zaken gebeurd binnen de Kerk, de Kerk is veel meer dan die misstanden. Naast de misplaatste reductiefouten, leidt bij degenen die ze maken de zogezegd 'logische redenering' tot de conclusie dat de paus en de verwerpelijke zaken op eenzelfde hoogte staan. Ik stel deze redenering aan de kaak. Wie in de val van de reductie stapt, dreigt niets af te (willen) weten van de rijke kanten van de Kerk en vervalt in zwart-witdenken. En daarmee wil ik de zwarte kanten niet verdoezelen of 'ontkerkelijken'.

Ten tweede: geloof en Kerk zijn onafscheidelijk. Ik begrijp niet dat men een radicale scheiding maakt tussen het geloof waarbij Christus centraal staat, en de Kerk die dat geloof belijdt. Met de bijbelse briefschrijver Paulus kan ik niet anders dan geloven dat Christus het hoofd is van de Kerk. Wat heeft het ook voor zin om geloof en Kerk van elkaar los te wrikken? Het is immers eenvoudiger dan het lijkt: er zou geen Kerk zijn zonder geloof, en er zou geen geloof meer zijn zonder Kerk. Het geloof is trouwens het eerste en voornaamste wat we aan de Kerk te danken hebben. Het is tevens haar grootste schat en bestaansreden. Waarom dan terugkeren naar de slogan 'Jezus ja, Kerk neen', of 'geloof ja, Kerk neen', of 'christendom ja, katholicisme neen'? Zinloos, want het is alsof men de pit van de appel wil scheiden. De rotte plekken in de appel maken nog niet dat de appel weggegooid hoeft te worden. Door de enorme mediaheisa dreigt op dit vlak echter het juiste onderscheidingsvermogen verder in crisis te geraken.

Ten derde: van alle rotte plekken in de appel behoort seksueel misbruik door geestelijken tot de ergste en al helemaal als het in de doofpot wordt gestoken. Dergelijk misbruik en schuldig zwijgen is door niets of niemand goed te praten. Ook niet door verantwoordelijken binnen de Kerk. Zowel de paus in zijn brief aan de Ierse katholieken als de Antwerpse bisschop Johan Bonny heeft in die zin vorige week klare taal willen spreken, en dat deed deugd. In België bestaat er al een decennium een kerkelijk meldpunt voor seksueel misbruik, waardoor ons land vandaag niet in het middelpunt van de aandacht staat. Dergelijk meldpunt kan helpen op de weg om zowel iedere daad van seksueel misbruik als iedere misplaatste beschuldiging ervan zo scherp mogelijk te veroordelen.

Zoekend en tastend

Ten vierde: vergeten we niet dat de Kerk voornamelijk bestaat uit 'gezonde' minnaars: mensen die zoekend en tastend geloven, die afhankelijk van het thema en de eigen achtergrond weifelend of overtuigd vasthouden aan de leer van de Kerk, die dankbaar zijn voor alles wat binnen de Kerk aan goeds gebeurt, die eucharistie vieren en die zich optrekken aan de gemeenschap die daar samenkomt in Gods naam. De Kerk is geen gemeenschap van louter heiligen, noch van louter mensen die doodzonden begaan. De Kerk tilt zichzelf soms ver boven haar menselijke mogelijkheden uit, maar blijft soms ook ver onder de maat. Ongezonde minnaars zijn degenen die hun kerktaak misbruikt hebben door zich bijvoorbeeld te vergrijpen aan kinderen, of degenen die 'de Kerk' goedpraten of alles wat in haar schoot mis is gegaan 'goedzwijgen', of degenen die op grond van wat fout gaat in de Kerk hun eigen afkeer voor de Kerk willen etaleren. Heel veel gezonde minnaars hebben pijn van wat de ongezonde minaars zeggen en zwijgen, doen en laten.

Indien de Kerk gereduceerd wordt tot alles wat mensen niet aanstaat over wat de kerkleiding zegt over seksualiteit en tot alles wat kerkmensen op seksueel vlak hebben mispeuterd, hebben katholieken het recht om op te staan en de puntjes op de i te zetten.


JÜRGEN METTEPENNINGENWie? Theoloog aan de faculteit Godgeleerdheid, KU Leuven. Wat? De Kerk krijgt meer kritiek dan ze verdient. Waarom? Pedofilieschandalen inspireren antiklerikalen tot een oneerlijke afrekening.

29-03-2010 om 22:17 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Teelt van biobrandstoffen verergert klimaatverandering

PERSBERICHT

Automobilist betaalt voor slecht klimaatbeleid

27 maart 2010 - Het Nederlandse en Europese beleid voor biobrandstoffen werkt niet, omdat het de uitstoot van broeikasgassen niet vermindert, maar juist vergroot. Dit komt omdat biobrandstoffen naast de bekende effecten ook een ‘verborgen klimaateffect’ hebben, waarover nu steeds meer bekend wordt. Nederland moet in de komende maanden een standpunt innemen over dit verborgen klimaateffect, omdat de Europese Commissie daar dit jaar over beslist. Mirjam de Rijk, directeur van Stichting Natuur en Milieu: “Dit verborgen klimaateffect leidt bij vrijwel alle biobrandstoffen die geteeld worden tot meer uitstoot van broeikasgassen dan fossiele brandstoffen. Automobilisten dreigen meer te moeten betalen voor biobrandstof, terwijl het klimaatprobleem er alleen maar door verergert.”

In het rapport Het verborgen klimaateffect van biobrandstoffen beschrijft Natuur en Milieu de risico’s voor het klimaat van de huidige biobrandstoffen op basis van wetenschappelijke onderzoeken. Daaruit blijkt dat bijna alle biobrandstoffen die geteeld worden negatief zijn voor het klimaat, als je de effecten van vergroting van het wereldwijde landbouwoppervlak meerekent.

Het verborgen klimaateffect ontstaat door de enorme vraag naar extra landbouwgrond die het Europese biobrandstofbeleid genereert. Omdat wereldwijd alle beschikbare landbouwgrond nodig is voor de sterk stijgende voedselvraag, moeten hiervoor natuurgebieden gecultiveerd worden. De enorme hoeveelheden broeikasgassen die dan vrijkomen uit de bodem en oorspronkelijke begroeiing doen de positieve effecten van biobrandstoffen geheel teniet.

Als er bijvoorbeeld door de aanleg van een palmolieplantage elders tropisch veenbos gekapt wordt voor nieuwe landbouwgrond, duurt het vierhonderd jaar voordat die broeikasgassen weer uit de atmosfeer gehaald zijn met biobrandstofproductie. Pas daarna is sprake van klimaatwinst. Biobrandstoffen vragen om veel grond. Zo zijn er 260 voetbalvelden landbouwgrond nodig voor één retourvlucht Amsterdam – New York van een Boeing 747.

Natuur en Milieu vindt dat de overheid moet stoppen met het stimuleren van biobrandstoffen waarvoor landbouwgrond nodig is. Met reststromen uit industrie, landbouw en duurzaam bosbeheer kunnen wel duurzame biobrandstoffen gemaakt worden. Die reststromen en groen gas kunnen ongeveer voorzien in 5% bijmenging van biobrandstoffen. De belangrijkste klimaatwinst in het verkeer kan bereikt worden met veel zuinigere auto’s. De rest van de beoogde CO2-vermindering kan behaald worden met elektrisch rijden.

28-03-2010 om 21:48 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Amid recession, Memphis becomes America's hunger capital

By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It wasn't long ago that Rachel Cales volunteered at her church's food pantry, bagging canned goods and emergency provisions for families that had fallen on hard times.

Last May, however, Cales lost her job managing a yogurt shop. Her elder daughter was about to be married and her two teenage children were living at home and looking for work. Suddenly, she couldn't afford the groceries her family needed, and she had to turn to the pantry for help.

"I never thought we'd have to ask anyone for food," said Cales, who lives on a tree-lined street in eastern Memphis, in a two-story house with prim blue shutters.

She's far from alone. This Southern city, long famous for blues and barbecue, has earned a grim new distinction: the hunger capital of the United States.

As more and more Americans struggle to pay their bills, a recent survey co-sponsored by Gallup found that 26 percent of people in greater Memphis couldn't afford to buy the food their families needed at some point over the previous 12 months, the highest rate in the nation.

The nationwide recession has compounded the region's economic woes, which experts say stem from the steady decline of family farms, a shortage of skilled workers and few major employers. Slammed with job losses, many middle-class families such as the Caleses find themselves forced to choose whether to pay their house, car, utilities and medical bills — or buy groceries.

"We have seen need grow at certain times, but we have never seen a national economy like this," said Susan Sanford, who's headed the Mid-South Food Bank in Memphis for the past two decades. "And we have never seen so many middle-class people lose their jobs and have to depend on emergency food assistance."

Last year, some 186,500 people in 31 Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee counties that surround Memphis relied on agencies for their next meals, a 28 percent increase from four years ago, the food bank reported. Paradoxically, the region also suffers from high rates of obesity, which experts say is the result of families eating cheaper and less nutritious food.

"It's no surprise that this is a very poor area," Sanford said. "But I never would have expected to be No. 1 in food insecurity in the entire country."

'THERE WAS NO WARNING'

Cales never thought she'd be in her position, either. She and her husband, Donald, bought their home seven years ago and felt comfortable enough to spring for a few creature comforts: a big-screen TV, the premium cable package.

While her husband's job as a truck driver covered most of the family's bills, over three years Cales worked her way up to become the manager of a TCBY yogurt shop. Her $13.50 hourly wage gave the family a slight financial cushion, but last May the owner came in and told Cales that her position was being eliminated.

"There was no warning," Cales recalled. "She said I could be a regular employee at $7 an hour ... and I told her, no, I didn't want to do that. So she told me to get my stuff and leave."

Now the premium cable is gone. Cales and her husband shopped around and found a cheaper car insurance policy. Every Friday after he's paid, they huddle around a computer and pay their bills, hoping there's some cash left over.

"Groceries are always last on the list," Cales said. "We pay our house note, pay the bills, get all that stuff out of the way, and sometimes there's just not enough left."

There's always something in the cupboard at home — pasta, maybe, or some instant meals — but when there isn't money for fresh meat and produce, Cales visits the food pantry at her church, Raleigh Assembly of God.

Her husband was reluctant to ask for help at first. Even now, Cales won't take a full bag of free groceries, like the ones she used to pack as a volunteer. She takes just enough to get the family through until her husband's next payday.

With tired eyes, she looked across the living room at her 19-year-old daughter, Tiffany, who was preparing for her wedding by making bouquets of plastic flowers, a cost-saving measure.

"With my income, we were doing it," Cales said. "But without it. ... " Her voice trailed off.

A NATIONWIDE PROBLEM

At Memphis' food pantries — most of which are run by faith-based groups and staffed by volunteers — the demand has never been greater. Any day of the week, families troop in for sacks loaded with an assortment of food, most of it nonperishable: beef ravioli, ramen noodles, pinto beans, canned carrots, peanut butter, chili.

The scenes are playing out nationwide as food shortages become a growing national problem. Feeding America, the country's largest network of emergency food providers, reported that its pantries, soup kitchens and shelters served 37 million Americans last year, a 46 percent jump from 2005.

In a recent national survey, nearly half the group's clients said they had to choose between paying for food and paying their heating or electricity bills. More than one-third of the people it served were children.

The growing demand comes amid a fundamental change in the way that nonprofit food banks operate. For years, regional food banks, the primary suppliers to pantries and kitchens, filled their stockpiles primarily with surplus food donated by giant food manufacturers.

"When I arrived at this food bank 20 years ago, the food that we had to distribute, we just sat here and waited for it to come in," Sanford said. "And there was a lot of it."

As food manufacturers have become more efficient, however, those surpluses are disappearing. In recent years, food banks have had to buy food from brokers and retail stores.

Sanford said that more than 10 percent of the food that was distributed to Memphis pantries and soup kitchens last year was purchased, and that share figures to increase as the recession's impact lingers.

"What we know from studying earlier recessions is that unemployment is a lagging indicator ... and poverty lags unemployment by one or two years at a minimum," said Elaine Waxman, the director of social policy research for Feeding America. "We're not likely to get back to the poverty rates we saw pre-recession for at least the next 10 years."

THE NEW HUNGRY

The profile of hunger has changed dramatically, said Mike Brown, who runs the pantry at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in depressed central Memphis, on a street fringed with boarded-up shops.

"We see people come up (driving) nice cars; people dressed nice," Brown said. "They just don't have the money."

One of the city's "new hungry" is Debra Williams, 45, who was laid off from her job as a school janitor last May after eight years. She lives with her husband and two children in a single-story frame house with a patchy lawn and a rusting Mazda sedan parked in the driveway, its left taillight busted.

Her husband's steel factory job pays $400 per week — barely enough to cover their bills — and they don't qualify for government assistance, she said. Two years ago, the couple declared bankruptcy after running up about $25,000 in credit card debt. Her cell phone had just been cut off and she was debating whether to give up their land line.

She started visiting church food pantries on weeks that their money ran out. She and the children don't have health insurance and haven't seen a doctor in more than a year, so she's tried to ensure that the family eats healthfully: cooking at home almost every night, meat whenever possible and not skipping meals.

"There was a bigger choice" before she lost her job, she said. "Now you have to get what you can afford. You might not have steak; you might have to have chicken two days in a row."

As she searches the want ads fruitlessly, there's one bright spot: Her 16-year-old son, Jordan, just started a job as a cashier at a McDonald's, working after school and on weekends. Whatever he earns he'll keep for himself, Williams said; she'd rather he learn how to manage his own finances. The family will continue to scrape by with help from their church.

"We're living day by day," Williams said, wiping away a tear.

27-03-2010 om 23:33 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Wisconsin priest accused of molesting 200 deaf boys

By The Associated Press

March 25, 2010, 6:07PM

Vatican Declined to Defrock U.S. Priest Who Abused Boys

The Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, with hands together, at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Wisconsin in 1960.

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: March 24, 2010

Enlarge This Image

Jeffrey Phelps for The New York Times

Arthur Budzinski, at a cemetery behind St. John's School for the Deaf, says he was first molested in 1960 when he went to Father Murphy for confession.

The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.

The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer.

The Wisconsin case involved an American priest, the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who worked at a renowned school for deaf children from 1950 to 1974. But it is only one of thousands of cases forwarded over decades by bishops to the Vatican office called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led from 1981 to 2005 by Cardinal Ratzinger. It is still the office that decides whether accused priests should be given full canonical trials and defrocked.

In 1996, Cardinal Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee’s archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican’s secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Father Murphy’s dismissal.

But Cardinal Bertone halted the process after Father Murphy personally wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church’s own statute of limitations.

“I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood,” Father Murphy wrote near the end of his life to Cardinal Ratzinger. “I ask your kind assistance in this matter.” The files contain no response from Cardinal Ratzinger.

The New York Times obtained the documents, which the church fought to keep secret, from Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, the lawyers for five men who have brought four lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The documents include letters between bishops and the Vatican, victims’ affidavits, the handwritten notes of an expert on sexual disorders who interviewed Father Murphy and minutes of a final meeting on the case at the Vatican.

Father Murphy not only was never tried or disciplined by the church’s own justice system, but also got a pass from the police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims, according to the documents and interviews with victims. Three successive archbishops in Wisconsin were told that Father Murphy was sexually abusing children, the documents show, but never reported it to criminal or civil authorities.

Instead of being disciplined, Father Murphy was quietly moved by Archbishop William E. Cousins of Milwaukee to the Diocese of Superior in northern Wisconsin in 1974, where he spent his last 24 years working freely with children in parishes, schools and, as one lawsuit charges, a juvenile detention center. He died in 1998, still a priest.

Even as the pope himself in a recent letter to Irish Catholics has emphasized the need to cooperate with civil justice in abuse cases, the correspondence seems to indicate that the Vatican’s insistence on secrecy has often impeded such cooperation. At the same time, the officials’ reluctance to defrock a sex abuser shows that on a doctrinal level, the Vatican has tended to view the matter in terms of sin and repentance more than crime and punishment.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, was shown the documents and was asked to respond to questions about the case. He provided a statement saying that Father Murphy had certainly violated “particularly vulnerable” children and the law, and that it was a “tragic case.” But he pointed out that the Vatican was not forwarded the case until 1996, years after civil authorities had investigated the case and dropped it.

Father Lombardi emphasized that neither the Code of Canon Law nor the Vatican norms issued in 1962, which instruct bishops to conduct canonical investigations and trials in secret, prohibited church officials from reporting child abuse to civil authorities. He did not address why that had never happened in this case.

As to why Father Murphy was never defrocked, he said that “the Code of Canon Law does not envision automatic penalties.” He said that Father Murphy’s poor health and the lack of more recent accusations against him were factors in the decision.

The Vatican’s inaction is not unusual. Only 20 percent of the 3,000 accused priests whose cases went to the church’s doctrinal office between 2001 and 2010 were given full church trials, and only some of those were defrocked, according to a recent interview in an Italian newspaper with Msgr. Charles J. Scicluna, the chief internal prosecutor at that office. An additional 10 percent were defrocked immediately. Ten percent left voluntarily. But a majority — 60 percent — faced other “administrative and disciplinary provisions,” Monsignor Scicluna said, like being prohibited from celebrating Mass.

To many, Father Murphy appeared to be a saint: a hearing man gifted at communicating in American Sign Language and an effective fund-raiser for deaf causes. A priest of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, he started as a teacher at St. John’s School for the Deaf, in St. Francis, in 1950. He was promoted to run the school in 1963 even though students had disclosed to church officials in the 1950s that he was a predator.

Multimedia

Victims give similar accounts of Father Murphy’s pulling down their pants and touching them in his office, his car, his mother’s country house, on class excursions and fund-raising trips and in their dormitory beds at night. Arthur Budzinski said he was first molested when he went to Father Murphy for confession when he was about 12, in 1960.

“If he was a real mean guy, I would have stayed away,” said Mr. Budzinski, now 61, who worked for years as a journeyman printer. “But he was so friendly, and so nice and understanding. I knew he was wrong, but I couldn’t really believe it.”

Mr. Budzinski and a group of other deaf former students spent more than 30 years trying to raise the alarm, including passing out leaflets outside the Milwaukee cathedral. Mr. Budzinski’s friend Gary Smith said in an interview that Father Murphy molested him 50 or 60 times, starting at age 12. By the time he graduated from high school at St. John’s, Mr. Smith said, “I was a very, very angry man.”

In 1993, with complaints about Father Murphy landing on his desk, Archbishop Weakland hired a social worker specializing in treating sexual offenders to evaluate him. After four days of interviews, the social worker said that Father Murphy had admitted his acts, had probably molested about 200 boys and felt no remorse.

However, it was not until 1996 that Archbishop Weakland tried to have Father Murphy defrocked. The reason, he wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger, was to defuse the anger among the deaf and restore their trust in the church. He wrote that since he had become aware that “solicitation in the confessional might be part of the situation,” the case belonged at the doctrinal office.

With no response from Cardinal Ratzinger, Archbishop Weakland wrote a different Vatican office in March 1997 saying the matter was urgent because a lawyer was preparing to sue, the case could become public and “true scandal in the future seems very possible.”

Recently some bishops have argued that the 1962 norms dictating secret disciplinary procedures have long fallen out of use. But it is clear from these documents that in 1997, they were still in force.

But the effort to dismiss Father Murphy came to a sudden halt after the priest appealed to Cardinal Ratzinger for leniency.

In an interview, Archbishop Weakland said that he recalled a final meeting at the Vatican in May 1998 in which he failed to persuade Cardinal Bertone and other doctrinal officials to grant a canonical trial to defrock Father Murphy. (In 2002, Archbishop Weakland resigned after it became public that he had an affair with a man and used church money to pay him a settlement.)

Archbishop Weakland said this week in an interview, “The evidence was so complete, and so extensive that I thought he should be reduced to the lay state, and also that that would bring a certain amount of peace in the deaf community.”

Father Murphy died four months later at age 72 and was buried in his priestly vestments. Archbishop Weakland wrote a last letter to Cardinal Bertone explaining his regret that Father Murphy’s family had disobeyed the archbishop’s instructions that the funeral be small and private, and the coffin kept closed.

“In spite of these difficulties,” Archbishop Weakland wrote, “we are still hoping we can avoid undue publicity that would be negative toward the church.”

26-03-2010 om 22:31 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever