U.S. Policy to Address Internet Freedom
By MARK LANDLER - THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: February 14, 2011
WASHINGTON — Days after Facebook and Twitter added fuel to a revolt in Egypt, the Obama administration plans to announce a new policy on Internet freedom, designed to help people get around barriers in cyberspace while making it harder for autocratic governments to use the same technology to repress dissent.
The State Department’s policy, a year in the making, has been bogged down by fierce debates over which projects it should support, and even more basically, whether to view the Internet primarily as a weapon to topple repressive regimes or as a tool that autocrats can use to root out and crush dissent.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will lay out the policy in a speech on Tuesday, acknowledged the Internet’s dual role in an address a year ago, and administration officials said she would touch on that theme again, noting how social networks were used by both protesters and governments in the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries.
The State Department plans to finance programs like circumvention services, which enable users to evade Internet firewalls, and training for human rights workers on how to secure their e-mail from surveillance or wipe incriminating data from cellphones if they are detained by the police.
Though the policy has been on the drawing board for months, it has new urgency in light of the turmoil in the Arab world, because it will be part of a larger debate over how the United States weighs its alliances with entrenched leaders against the young people inspired by the events in Tunisia and Egypt.
Administration officials say that the emphasis on a broad array of projects — hotly disputed by some technology experts and human rights activists — reflects their view that technology can be a force that leads to democratic change, but is not a “magic bullet” that brings down repressive regimes.
“People are so enamored of the technology,” said Michael H. Posner, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. “People have a view that technology will make us free. No, people will make us free.”
Click On Link To Read The Entire Article:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/world/15clinton.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=globaleua2
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The Telegraph:
Silvio Berlusconi faces nation's women as a million protesters take to streets
A million protesters, many of them women, took to the streets across Italy [Israel] on Sunday calling on scandal hit Silvio Berlusconi [Leib Tropper] to resign.
By Nick Pisa in Rome 8:01PM GMT 13 Feb 2011
Marches were held in 200 towns and cities throughout the country as Italians [Israelis] voiced their anger and frustration at the 74-year-old Italian prime minister [60+ year old EJF head], who is facing charges of having under age sex with a prostitute and abuse of power.
The aim of the rally was for women to protest at how their dignity and the image of the country had been offended by the media tycoon’s [rosh yeshiva's] obsession with young girls [convertees/BTs].
Protests were held in Milan [Monsey], Genoa [Jersey], Naples [NYC] and Bari [Brooklyn] but the largest was in Rome [Jerusalem] where thousands packed into the Piazza del Popolo [Kotel plaza] which two months ago had been the scene of violent riots after Berlusconi [Tropper] won a confidence [Moetzes] vote.
Demonstrators, including prostitutes and nuns, carried banners saying: “Berlusconi [Tropper] resign now” while another said “No prostitutes, no Madonnas [Convertees], just women.”
The protests came a week after demonstrators had also attempted to march on Mr Berlusconi’s [Mr Tropper's] home at Arcore [Kol Yaakov yeshiva] near Milan [Monsey], where the alleged parties were held, in an attempt to throw knickers into his garden but police prevented them.
Among those who spoke at the Rome [Jerusalem] rally was lawyer Giulia Bongiorno [Notta Schiller], who is a member of a party that broke away from Mr Berlusconi’s [Mr Tropper's] ruling coalition, who said: “I am not here to criticise Berlusconi’s [Tropper's] sex parties but I am here to criticise when they are used as a selection process.
“If you stay silent in situations like this then you become an accomplice.”
Wiretaps leaked from more than 600 pages of the prosecution file suggest he surrounded himself at parties at his home with starlets and other women hoping to use their looks to gain positions in politics or within his Mediaset TV [Brainwashed BT] empire.
Organisers called the protest “If Not Now, When?” which is also the title of a famous novel by the Italian [Jewish] award winning writer Primo Levi [Yehuda HaNasi] and which tells the story a group of Jewish partisans behind German lines during World War II as they seek to continue their fight against the occupier and survive.
Iaia Caputo [Steve Riskin], of the organising committee, said: “The Ruby [Orand]] case has revealed a system of political selection based on an exchange of sex and power.
“If we accept this as normal, we risk prejudicing the free choice of women.”
For almost a month now billionaire media [billion conversions] tycoon Mr Berlusconi [Mr Tropper] has been in the spotlight over claims of stripping nurses and policewomen at his infamous “bunga bunga” parties.
Mr Berlusconi [Mr Tropper] has insisted that the parties he held at his mansion at Arcore [Horizons] near Milan [Monsey] were nothing more than convivial social events.
Preliminary hearings judge Cristina Di Censo [Tzipora Heller] is not expected to announce before Monday or Tuesday whether she has granted the prosecution request to send the case to trial and if approved it could start as early as April.
Mr Berlusconi [Mr Tropper] was said to have watched the rally on TV but made no public comment.
Mariastella Gelmini [Avi Shafran], the education minister, said: “It’s just a small protest from trendy radical chics,” while another minister Daniele Santanche [David Zweibel] said: “It’s a shame there is so much hatred towards one man"."
The Telegraph:
"Silvio Berlusconi: 'I make all women feel special'
Silvio Berlusconi [Leib Tropper] has dismissed the hundreds of thousands of Italians [Israelis] who took part in protests against his involvement in sex scandals, claiming he has always tried to make women feel "special".
By Nick Squires, Rome 2:37PM GMT 14 Feb 2011
The prime minister [rosh yeshiva], who is due to hear this week whether he will be sent to trial on allegations of abusing his office and paying for sex with an under age prostitute, said he had always behaved with "respect" towards women.
Prosecutors in Milan [Monsey] allege that several showgirls and alleged escorts "prostituted themselves" with him in exchange for bundles of cash, jewellery and help with their showbusiness careers.
But Mr Berlusconi [Mr tropper] dismissed the nationwide protests, held in more than 100 Italian [Israeli] towns and cities in Italy [Israel] over the weekend, as being manipulated by his political opponents and a biased judiciary and media.
"I saw the usual partisan mobilisation against my person by a Left-wing [Jews blogging] that uses any excuse to try to beat an adversary they have not been able to beat democratically at the ballot box," he said, defying calls for his resignation...
"Every woman that has had the opportunity to know me knows my regard for them: I have always behaved with the greatest attention and respect towards them," the billionaire businessmen [billion conversionaire] said. "I have always made it so that every woman feels, how should I say, special."
Hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets on Sunday to protest against Mr Berlusconi's [Mr. Tropper's] alleged liaisons with prostitutes and his attempts to propel glamour models and show girls into politics.
They carried placards which read "I am not for sale", "Enough!" and "We like sex, not bunga bunga" – a reference to alleged orgies at the prime minister's residences.
Anna Finocchiaro [Tsipora Heller], a senior member of the main opposition Democratic Party [Neve Yerushalayim], said: "We know only too well what kind of 'respect' Berlusconi [Tropper] has for women and how he makes them feel 'special'.
"Instead of spouting tiresome banalities and rubbish, he should open his eyes and take account of what is happening in this country." Rosy Bindi [Bruria David], an opposition MP whose physical appearance Mr Berlusconi [Mr Tropper] denigrated two years ago, said: "Berlusconi [Tropper] fears the strength and determination of Italian [Jewish] women. That's why he can do nothing other than dismiss an extraordinary day of mobilisation by women." Gianfranco Fini [Noach Weinberg], a former ally of the prime minister [rosh yeshiva] who is now one of his most trenchant critics, said Mr Berlusconi [Mr Tropper] had made Italy {Israel] "the laughing stock of the Western [Frum] world." But Mariastella Gelmini [Avi Shafran], the education minister, dismissed the protesters as "the usual snob heroines of the Left [Blogs]" and accused the Opposition [UOJ] of "trying to burn Berlusconi [Tropper] at the stake like the witches of Salem [Tzelem]".
An examining magistrate in Milan [Monsey] is expected to come to a decision this week on whether to grant prosecutors' request for Mr Berlusconi [Mr Tropper] to be sent immediately to trial.
Opinion polls showed that despite all the scandals, Mr Berlusconi's [Mr Tropper's] People of Freedom Party [Horizons Outreach Organization] still commands 27 per cent of the vote and his Northern League [Agudas Yisroel] coalition partners nearly 12 per cent, compared with the Democratic Party's [Modern Orthodox's] 24 per cent."
The Telegraph:
"Silvio Berlusconi: I am victim of a 'Stasi' witch hunt
Silvio Berlusconi [Leib Tropper] has admitted he has been a "sinner" but claims he is the victim of a judicial witch hunt worthy of East Germany's [Jewish Blog's] former Stasi [Yekkishe] secret police [bloggers].
By Nick Squires, Rome 12:03PM GMT 11 Feb 2011
The Italian [Israeli] prime minister, 74, [rosh yeshiva, 60+] who could be sent to trial within weeks over allegations that he paid for sexual relations with an underage prostitute [convertee], lashed out at the Milan [Monsey] magistrates [rabbonim] who are pursuing the investigation.
In an interview published on Friday in Il Foglio [Yated Neeman] newspaper, he condemned what he described as an attempt "to turn farcical inquiries into an international scandal worthy of the spy hunts into the 'lives of others' carried out in communist [Yekkishe] Germany [Blogosphere]".
Repeating claims that he has made throughout his 17-year political career, he said the Italian judiciary [Israeli bateidin] and media were rife with "anti-Berlusconi [anti-Tropper] lobbyists".
The prime minister [rosh yeshiva], who has previously admitted that he is "no saint [tzadik]" and that he loves the company of beautiful women, said: "I, sometimes, am a sinner, just like everyone."
He has denied allegations that he slept with the teenage nightclub [convertee] dancer, known as Ruby the Heartbreaker [Shannon the Dallashottie], or that he abused his office when he personally intervened to have her released from police custody last May.
His links to the teenager [convertee], whose real name is Karima El Mahroug [Mrs Shannon Orand], were exposed through hundreds of telephone conversations and text messages intercepted by investigators.
Franco Frattini [Yaakov Perlow], Italy's [Agudah's] foreign minister, has said the wiretaps represent a serious violation of privacy and that Mr Berlusconi [Mr Tropper] could take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg [American Bais Din of Agudas Yisroel in Williamsburg].
On Thursday the president of the Constitutional Court [Rabbinical Council] described Mr Berlusconi's [Mr Tropper's] accusations that the judiciary were chronically biased as "neurotic".
"We are not Bolsheviks [Agudists]," said Ugo De Siervo [Basil Herring], adding that the prime minister's [rosh yeshiva's] constant denigration of the court [RCA] system was "gravely offensive"."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/world/europe/16italy.html?hp
By RACHEL DONADIO
15 minutes ago
A judge on Tuesday ordered the prime minister of Italy to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then tried to cover it up.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/business/15charity.html
I.R.S. Takes on Tax Abuse by Charity Support Groups
The Village Voice, part 1:
"The Boss Will See You Now
Lawsuit alleges politically connected ambulance mogul [yeshiva dean] demanded sex for raises
By Tom Robbins Tuesday, Mar 16 2004
Steve Zakheim [Leib Tropper] and his private ambulance corps won acclaim for handling delicate emergencies, like giving an ailing 800-pound man a free trip [kiruv] to the hospital—via forklift [yeshiva-via brainwashing]. Zakheim [Tropper] also won notice when his firm, MetroCare [KolYaakovyeshiva], received permission from a friendly Giuliani [Fruchthandler] administration to install 911 radios [koshernet] in his fleet, a move that outraged city paramedic unions [kiruv worhers].
The energetic Zakheim [Tropper] founded Metropolitan Ambulance [Kol Yaakov yeshiva] in the 1980s, and later made millions by merging it with a national company called Transcare [Leor Energy]. Still, he stayed aboard as chief operating officer [rosh yeshiva] at his bustling headquarters on Foster Avenue [Maple Lane] in Brooklyn [Monsey].
Busy as Zakheim [Tropper] was, however, according to a lawsuit quietly settled this month, the ambulance [conversion] tycoon also spent a good deal of time hitting on and harassing his female employees. The suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn [Monsey], was brought by 10 current and former staff members who worked for MetroCare [EjfHorizons]. The workers claimed that Zakheim [Tropper] often set upon employees from the day they were hired, demanding sex in exchange for raises, boat rides, and tickets to Yankee games [Agudah conventions].
One woman, an emergency medical technician [baals teshuva], said in legal papers that Zakheim [Tropper] and another company official called her to say that she "owed" them a sexual favor because they had allowed her to transport Derek Jeter [Ephraim Buchwald] to the hospital after he injured his knee in a July 4, 2002, game at Yankee Stadium [Yeshiva University], where MetroCare [Yeshiva Kolyaakov] provides ambulance [kiruv] service.
Zakheim, 49, [Tropper, 60+] refused to discuss the lawsuit, which was withdrawn pursuant to an undisclosed settlement this month. "He denies all allegations set forth in the complaint," said his attorney, Mercedes Colwin [Dovid Zweibel]. "The parties have now resolved it to their satisfaction."
Arnold Kriss [Esther Jungreis], who represented the plaintiffs, also refused to talk about it. "My clients have instructed me not to make any comment," he [she] said.
The lawsuit itself, however, was filed in the public record in July 2003, and came to light after Zakheim [Tropper] encountered other legal trouble last year. In November, the ambulance tycoon was arrested by the FBI and charged with using employees to make illegal campaign contributions to several political committees, including those of former mayor [Nasi] Giuliani [Scherer] and U.S. senator [YU president] Chuck Schumer [Richard Joel]. Two weeks after that, federal attorneys in Brooklyn filed a civil fraud complaint against Zakheim [Tropper] and his companies [yeshivas], claiming they ripped off federal Medicare [Tzedaka] funds for more than $32 million through improper billings—and then forged records to cover it up.
Zakheim [Tropper] pled not guilty to the campaign [tzedaka] contributions charge, and he has yet to be formally indicted in the case. Court records show he is involved in ongoing plea negotiations. In the fraud case, he has insisted he acted properly and has moved to dismiss the complaint."
The Village Voice, part 2:
"The Boss Will See You Now
The harassment lawsuit, however, depicts another side of operations at MetroCare [KolYakkovyeshiva], which calls itself the region's largest private provider of medical transport [kiruv outreach]. Covering events during an eight-year period from 1994 to 2002, the suit offers a long, sad litany of abuse, one made all the more disturbing because of the number of women relating it. Zakheim [Tropper] allegedly taunted and teased older employees, they claimed, while preying on the youngest. His office antics allegedly included grabbing employees' hands and placing them in his opened zipper, and giving unrequested shoulder massages as women sat at their desks and peeking down their blouses.
"Look at the view," Zakheim [Tropper] allegedly said out loud as he stood behind Patricia Attanasio [Ivanka Trump], a 36-year-old clerical employee. "You've got nice tits," he told Patricia Flournoy [Shannon Orand], a 50-year-old woman who worked for the company for five years, according to the lawsuit.
Behind closed doors in his office, Zakheim [Tropper] supposedly turned up the heat.
A woman who was 18 when she was hired by MetroCare {Kolyaakovyeshiva], in 1998, said that in her first week on the job, Zakheim [Tropper] summoned her to his office and grilled her about her personal life. A few weeks later, the woman said, Zakheim [Tropper] offered her a ride home, only to lock the doors and grab her breasts as soon as she sat down in the passenger seat.
The employee said she later agreed to have sex with Zakheim [Tropper], who is married [twice], an affair carried out for months in his office and aboard his 37-foot pleasure boat. It ended, she said in the complaint, when she learned that her boss [roshiva] was having affairs with others in the office [yeshiva] as well. Even after the woman became pregnant from a separate relationship, Zakheim [Tropper] allegedly continued to press her for sex, saying, "We don't have to worry about you getting pregnant."
According to Geraldine Aronofsky [Esther Jungreis], 52, who worked as manager of the call-receiving department, Zakheim's [Tropper's] standing orders were to hire only young, attractive women for the office, regardless of their experience.
"Once the individual woman applicant was hired, Defendant Zakheim [Tropper] attempted to date them," the complaint stated.
Former employees of Zakheim [Tropper] said that such women became known as "Steve [Leibels] Specials."
"You could tell who they were, because they were young, good-looking, and didn't know how to do anything," said another former MetroCare [Yeshivakolyaakov] employee not involved in the lawsuit, who asked to remain anonymous.
According to Aronofsky [Orand], Zakheim [Tropper], an orthodox Jew [Haredi rabbi], taunted her and others, saying: "Have you ever had Jewish meat before? Kosher meat is the best"."
The Village Voice, part 3:
"The Boss Will See You Now
Aronofsky [Jungreis] said in legal papers that she repeatedly protested Zakheim's [Tropper's] behavior, telling him it was "inappropriate and unprofessional." She said Zakheim [Tropper] insisted he would act how he pleased. "I can, and I will," she quoted him as saying. Another supervisor brushed her complaints aside, saying it was just "Steve [Leibele] being Steve [Leibele]."
Tara Bongiardina [Sara Hurwitz], 25, described in the complaint how she too received the full Zakheim [Tropper] after being hired in 1999. On her first day of work, she said, Zakheim [Tropper] asked her about herself, while standing embarrassingly close and leering at her body. A few weeks later, Zakheim [Tropper] allegedly called her into his office and offered her tickets to a Yankees game [Agudah convention]. "What am I going to get in return?" the boss allegedly asked, adding that he had "dreamed about" her the night before.
Aronofsky [Orand] and another of the plaintiffs, Adrinne Forrest [Tziporah Heller], said in the lawsuit that they were fired following a 2002 incident in which they complained to the company's human resources department. They said Zakheim [Tropper] had berated workers in the ambulance [kiruv] firm's call-receiving office when he couldn't get through to them. Zakheim [Tropper] had allegedly asked Joann Febre [Neve Alumna], another plaintiff in the lawsuit who was a dispatcher in the office, whether his workers were "reading comic books, playing with themselves, or masturbating."
Several workers later wrote a letter of protest to company personnel officials about the incident. "It's my fucking company," Zakheim [Tropper] allegedly later yelled at Aronofsky [Jungreis] and others, adding, "You can stop going to Human Resources [Moetzes Gedolim] [or] get the fuck out."
A letter was later issued by company [Agudah] CEO Matthew Harrison [Jack Perlow], saying that Zakheim's [Tropper's] comments were inappropriate. Zakheim's [Tropper] alleged response was to tell Aronofsky [Perlow], who had worked at the firm for more than a decade, that he "didn't trust her [him] anymore." A few weeks later, he terminated her [his] employment.
The harassment suit was settled before it even made it to the discovery stage, during which Zakheim [Tricky Tropper] and his lawyers would have been free to test the women's stories in sworn depositions. Unmentioned in the legal papers, however, is that this isn't the first time Zakheim [Tropper] has been accused of sexual transgressions. In 1983, he was found guilty of misdemeanor sex abuse, a conviction he failed to report on his state license [yeshiva semicha] applications. The city's [yeshivas'] EMS unions [Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah], furious after Giuliani [Tom Kaplan] gave MetroCare [Yeshivakolyaaakov] the 911 contracts [$911 million donations], unearthed the conviction and reported it in 2000. Zakheim [Tropper] later paid a $6,000 fine [and laughed at the Moetzes]."
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