Meretz party leader MK Zehava Gal-On on Wednesday proposed a new bill to fix what she views as undue constraints that current Israeli law imposes on journalists from uncovering illegalities and corruption in government.
According to Gal-On, the current law "suffers from an anomaly which has lasted for years" which pits the journalistic ethical requirement of exposing and reporting to the public illegality and corruption, with overly broad laws with the purpose of protecting national security secrets and documents from being divulged.
Gal-On did not quarrel with the law protecting actual national security secrets and characterizing and punishing one who reveals such secrets as a spy.
Rather, she said that the law should distinguish between cases where valid national security interests are being protected and where illegalities and corruption are being covered up and shielded from the public under the guise of "national security."
The backdrop of the proposed law is the government's current prosecution of Haaretz reporter Uri Blau.
Many journalists, including the Jerusalem Journalists Association, have loudly protested Blau's arrest, even demonstrating outside the Justice Ministry in the capital over Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein's decision to indict Blau.
Weinstein previously announced that he would charge Blau with possession of classified military documents, which he received from former OC Central Command secretary Anat Kamm. The decision follows a 2008 story in which Blau, using leaked documents, revealed that the military planned in advance to assassinate Palestinian political leaders and fighters, but then passed their deaths off as mishaps during “failed” attempts to arrest them.
Blau is to be charged under the Penal Code with aggravated espionage, which stipulates that obtaining, collecting, preparing, recording or keeping secret information without authorization, but without intent to harm state security, is punishable by seven years in prison.
The attorney-general explained that before deciding to indict the reporter, he had taken into account “all the relevant considerations,” which he said included the need to preserve the character of a free press and allow the media to carry out its “essential role” in ensuring the public’s “right to know.”
However, Gal-On suggested that the current law puts journalists in an impossible catch-22, between doing their job and committing a crime.
Her proposed law would declare journalistic conduct that was within the confines of official journalistic ethics of exposing illegality and corruption to be outside the definition of illegal conduct under the national security protection laws.
In the future, if a journalist like Blau exposed an illegality or act of corruption by divulging documents which the law would otherwise prohibit anyone from sharing with the public, the journalist would not have committed a crime because their conduct would be within the new exception to the law.
Gal-On also said that the new proposed law would protect journalists from civil defamation lawsuits for their actions where it was found that the journalist had acted according to journalistic ethics.
Joanna Paraszczuk and Ruth Eglash contributed to this story.
Source: www.jpost.com
Georgia panel backs changes in education finance law - Florida Times-Union
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ATLANTA - A dozen laws would be eliminated or relaxed under recommendations approved Tuesday by a subcommittee of the State Education Finance Study Commission. The major task of the commission is still ahead: revising the formula in state law ...Source: jacksonville.com
Sussex skies light up as the Jubilee beacons blaze - The Argus.co.uk
Sussex skies light up as the Jubilee beacons blaze
10:06am Wednesday 6th June 2012 in News By Bill Gardner
Night skies glowed as dozens of Jubilee beacons were set ablaze across Sussex.
Thousands of people flocked to watch the fires on Monday night which formed part of a ‘chain of light’ to celebrate 60 years of the Queen’s reign.
In Brighton and Hove, a trio of fiery beacons were lit in Rottingdean, on Hove promenade and on Brighton seafront.
The fires were lit by the mayor of Brighton and Hove, Bill Randall, council leader Jason Kitcat and the Royal British Legion.
Near the Palace Pier, crowds danced to music from brass band Fanfara and steel band Euphoria.
Dozens of other fires were lit across the county.
In East Hoathly, a 30ft wooden sculpture of Britannia complete with trident, shield and helmet was set ablaze. Sculptor Keith Pettit took three weeks and three lorry loads of scrap wood to make the female warrior before it was burned to the ground.
The beacon at Shoreham Fort took a while to get going despite the efforts of East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton.
After the event, Mr Loughton joked on social networking website Twitter: “We got the beacon alight eventually – aided by a Calor Gas blowtorch – but it was worth it.”
In Bognor, a Royal British Legion brass band played as a beacon was lit on the Place St Maur. Sky lanterns were released into the sky along with 60 helium dove balloons.
Scouts and Guides led the celebrations in Littlehampton with a colourful procession along the seafront led by a marching band.
Afterwards the mayor of Littlehampton, Coun Emma Neno, lit the flame, helped by the winner of a children’s fancy dress contest held in Mewsbrook Park.
Revellers in Seaford were treated to a hi-tech laser show at Seaford Head before the traditional beacon was lit by laser from the ancient Martello Tower above Seaford Museum.
Source: www.theargus.co.uk
Meet my mother-in-law, Turkey's very own Wonder Woman - Daily Telegraph
Strange though it may seem, one of the most helpful things in those early days of getting to know my new "mother" was my total lack of Turkish. I had a vocabulary of precisely five words I'd picked up from my husband: deli ("crazy"), essekogluessek ("donkey"), ay lan! ("Oi, buddy!") and seebop (no direct translation). I had a sketchy grasp of what these words meant and my (not yet) husband's instructions that I shouldn't use any of them in front of his parents.
My mother-in-law spoke no English, but had a smattering of German. Having studied that language for two terms 10 years previously I was equipped to tell her that "I have a flower shop" (lie) and that "I have short blond hair" (also untrue). However, all was not lost. I am beyond brilliant at charades. Seriously. I am the person you want on your team. I've been known to guess gems like The Brothers Karamazov from just an eyelid flick and a slightly upturned elbow.
We laughed often. She explained to me the dangers of going out with wet hair (it makes you susceptible to the bubonic plague), and how I should always, always wear slippers (there's not enough space to list all the bad things that will happen if you don't).
She intuitively understood that where coffee is concerned, my priority is not that the cup has a matching saucer but that its volume exceeds that of the average bathtub. She whizzed around doing what she does best: cooking beans for 550 guests – only four of them actually expected – and removing dust with some kind of magical, lemony, homemade cleaning product.
Of course when you are welcomed into a family because you are pregnant, eventually the day comes when the baby has emerged and he becomes their primary concern. You are a concern only so far as you keep the baby healthy. This was the point when our lack of a common language came into its own. The Turkish way of raising children is a little different to the English way. "If you don't wear slippers your breast milk will dry up," she chided.
"The baby needs a fleece blanket pulled up over his face and the room kept at 30C."
"If he doesn't wear socks his hair will fall out!"
As charades is infinitely more difficult when your baby is disabling both your arms, I got my husband to teach me a new word: hayir! ("no!") and that was the end of the discussion. Fortunately my sockless son remained in robust good health. I lost my status of crazy foreigner, and we bonded afresh.
I think I finally charmed my way into my mother-in-law's heart when after our first year she and my father-in-law decided they weren't getting enough out of their retirement in Ankara and decamped to the coast. She returns every winter for an extended visit of four months or so and spends nearly the whole time at our house. Unlike every other family member who welcomes her into their home with a three-foot list of tasks they'd like her to do, I never want her to do anything. Unless she wants to.
She loves cooking, cleaning windows and settling back to watch Turkish TV with a vat of tea and her knitting. I'm more than happy for her to indulge her passions. I explained her routine to my husband. That she often even has a little nap while the TV blares in the background. He was shocked. He had no idea his mother ever sat down during the day.
Eight years on from those early days, I am my mother-in-law's biggest fan. I don't know how she makes everything so sparkly. I have no idea how she creates entire meals from an onion, a spoon of tomato paste, and half a packet of lentils. The amazing job satisfaction she gets from being Superwoman is beyond my comprehension. But I know for sure that when my husband grows up I want him to be just like her.
Do you have an expat tale to share? Email submissions of no more than 1,000 words to weeklyt@telegraph.co.uk
This piece was originally published in the Telegraph Weekly World edition
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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