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October 13, 2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/europe/catholicism-vatican-synod.html
https://archive.ph/sesXo
Rome is a Catholic menagerie these days. An excommunicated woman dressed in red bishop’s robes is marching toward the Vatican behind a procession of would-be female priests. Conservative culture warriors are headlining theaters, delivering screeds against Pope Francis before marginalized cardinals and exorcists sitting in velvet seats. The abortion-rights leader of Catholics for Choice is knocking on Vatican doors. Progressives will hold a meeting this week that includes panels with titles such as “Patriarchy, Where Did It All Begin?”
They have all descended on the Italian capital hoping to share the spotlight cast on a major assembly of more than 400 bishops and lay Catholics, called by Pope Francis to discuss issues vital to the church’s future: the ordination of female deacons, the celibacy of the clergy, the blessing of same-sex couples.
The smorgasbord of juicy topics at the confidential Vatican meeting, known as the Synod on Synodality, has drawn every ideological stripe of Catholic activist, culture warrior and special interest group. The result is a Joycean “Here Comes Everybody” vision of the church that reflects all the gradations of faith, and all the flash points of division, across a broad Catholic spectrum.
“People are joining in, and that’s really great,” said the Rev. Tom Reese, a veteran Vatican watcher and senior analyst at Religion News Service. “The danger is if all these groups fight each other. The church is a family, but sometimes we have food fights.” It’s already getting messy. Miriam Duignan, a leader of Women’s Ordination Worldwide, said her group was worried enough about conservatives’ trying to shut down its events that it had kept secret the location of its first meeting in Rome, at a basilica dedicated to St. Praxedes, an ancient Roman woman who gave care to persecuted Christians.
snip
A secret Vatican conference attracts heterodox Catholics
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/europe/catholicism-vatican-synod.html
https://archive.ph/sesXo
Rome is a Catholic menagerie these days. An excommunicated woman dressed in red bishop’s robes is marching toward the Vatican behind a procession of would-be female priests. Conservative culture warriors are headlining theaters, delivering screeds against Pope Francis before marginalized cardinals and exorcists sitting in velvet seats. The abortion-rights leader of Catholics for Choice is knocking on Vatican doors. Progressives will hold a meeting this week that includes panels with titles such as “Patriarchy, Where Did It All Begin?”
They have all descended on the Italian capital hoping to share the spotlight cast on a major assembly of more than 400 bishops and lay Catholics, called by Pope Francis to discuss issues vital to the church’s future: the ordination of female deacons, the celibacy of the clergy, the blessing of same-sex couples.
The smorgasbord of juicy topics at the confidential Vatican meeting, known as the Synod on Synodality, has drawn every ideological stripe of Catholic activist, culture warrior and special interest group. The result is a Joycean “Here Comes Everybody” vision of the church that reflects all the gradations of faith, and all the flash points of division, across a broad Catholic spectrum.
“People are joining in, and that’s really great,” said the Rev. Tom Reese, a veteran Vatican watcher and senior analyst at Religion News Service. “The danger is if all these groups fight each other. The church is a family, but sometimes we have food fights.” It’s already getting messy. Miriam Duignan, a leader of Women’s Ordination Worldwide, said her group was worried enough about conservatives’ trying to shut down its events that it had kept secret the location of its first meeting in Rome, at a basilica dedicated to St. Praxedes, an ancient Roman woman who gave care to persecuted Christians.
snip
October 13, 2023
If you have 56 seconds...
https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1712176284477116555
October 13, 2023
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/afghanistan-earthquake-women-children-killed-un-b1113190.html
More than 90 per cent of the people killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were women and children, UN officials have said. reported Thursday.
Taliban officials said Saturday's earthquake killed more than 2,000 people of all ages and genders across Herat province. The epicenter was in Zenda Jan district, where 1,294 people died, 1,688 were injured and every home was destroyed, according to UN figures.
Women and children were more likely to have been at home when the quake struck in the morning, Siddig Ibrahim, the chief of the UNICEF field office in Herat, said on Thursday.
"When the first earthquake hit, people thought it was an explosion, and they ran into their homes," he said. Hundreds of people, mostly women, remain missing in Zenda Jan.
snip
Afghanistan earthquake: Over 90% of people killed were women and children, says UN
Women and children were more likely to have been at home when the quake struck in the morning, said a UN spokespersonhttps://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/afghanistan-earthquake-women-children-killed-un-b1113190.html
More than 90 per cent of the people killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were women and children, UN officials have said. reported Thursday.
Taliban officials said Saturday's earthquake killed more than 2,000 people of all ages and genders across Herat province. The epicenter was in Zenda Jan district, where 1,294 people died, 1,688 were injured and every home was destroyed, according to UN figures.
Women and children were more likely to have been at home when the quake struck in the morning, Siddig Ibrahim, the chief of the UNICEF field office in Herat, said on Thursday.
"When the first earthquake hit, people thought it was an explosion, and they ran into their homes," he said. Hundreds of people, mostly women, remain missing in Zenda Jan.
snip
October 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1712547250382188883
BNO News is an international news agency headquartered in Tilburg, the Netherlands. It provides news wire services to media organizations.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) calls for Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to be expelled after new charges.
"We cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate," he says.https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1712547250382188883
BNO News is an international news agency headquartered in Tilburg, the Netherlands. It provides news wire services to media organizations.
October 13, 2023
The U.N. said the order to move about 1.1 million people living there to the southern half of the territory within a 24-hour deadline would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/12/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas/israel-un-gaza-evacuations
https://archive.ph/Nbksq
Israel’s military has informed the United Nations that the entire population of northern Gaza should relocate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, the U.N. spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said late on Thursday night, adding that such a movement — involving over one million people — would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
The message came just before midnight in Gaza, he said in a statement. The U.N. has “strongly appealed” for the order to be rescinded, the statement said, to avoid making “what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.” “The same order applied to all U.N. staff and those sheltered in U.N. facilities — including schools, health centers and clinics,” Mr. Dujarric said.
Israeli military officers conveyed the information to the leaders of the U.N. Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza just before midnight local time on Friday, the U.N. statement said. The U.N. was told that the marker dividing the north from south was Wadi Gaza, the statement said.
The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Friday afternoon in a closed consultation format. The Council has not yet issued a statement about the conflict between Israel and Hamas because a statement requires the approval of all 15 members, and there have been divisions on language that would condemn Hamas’s attack but not address Palestinian grievances and the siege of Gaza.
Israel Tells U.N. That All of Northern Gaza Should Evacuate Within 24 Hours (1.1 Million People)
(my add: this was late Thursday night Israel time, which is 7 hours ahead of East Coast US time, so the 24 hours is up around 5 PM East Coast US time today, Friday)The U.N. said the order to move about 1.1 million people living there to the southern half of the territory within a 24-hour deadline would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/12/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas/israel-un-gaza-evacuations
https://archive.ph/Nbksq
Israel’s military has informed the United Nations that the entire population of northern Gaza should relocate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, the U.N. spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said late on Thursday night, adding that such a movement — involving over one million people — would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
The message came just before midnight in Gaza, he said in a statement. The U.N. has “strongly appealed” for the order to be rescinded, the statement said, to avoid making “what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.” “The same order applied to all U.N. staff and those sheltered in U.N. facilities — including schools, health centers and clinics,” Mr. Dujarric said.
Israeli military officers conveyed the information to the leaders of the U.N. Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza just before midnight local time on Friday, the U.N. statement said. The U.N. was told that the marker dividing the north from south was Wadi Gaza, the statement said.
The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Friday afternoon in a closed consultation format. The Council has not yet issued a statement about the conflict between Israel and Hamas because a statement requires the approval of all 15 members, and there have been divisions on language that would condemn Hamas’s attack but not address Palestinian grievances and the siege of Gaza.
October 13, 2023
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nj-sen-bob-menendez-accused-of-acting-as-foreign-agent-in-federal-superseding-indictment/4763173/
snip
The FBI said Menendez provided sensitive U.S. government information to Egypt in exchange for the alleged bribes.
Federal prosecutors now allege in the superseding indictment that Sen. Robert Menendez’s wife Nadine Menendez and a New Jersey businessman Wael Hana “worked to introduce Egyptian intelligence and military officials to Menendez for the purpose of establishing and solidifying a corrupt agreement in which Hana, with assistance from Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe, the defendants, provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to Menendez and Nadine Menendez, in exchange for Menendez’s acts and breaches of duty to benefit the Government of Egypt, Hana, and others, including with respect to foreign military sales and foreign military financing.”
Specifically, the superseding indictment released Oct. 12 charges Menendez and others with, “From at least in or about January 2018 through at least in or about June 2022, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, ROBERT MENENDEZ, NADINE MENENDEZ, a/k/a “Nadine Arslanian,” and WAEL HANA, a/k/a “Will Hana,” the defendants, and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed together and with each other to have a public official, to wit, ROBERT MENENDEZ, act as an agent of a foreign principal, to wit, the Government of Egypt and Egyptian officials.”
snip
NJ Sen. Bob Menendez accused of acting as a foreign agent in superseding indictment
The latest charges against Menendez come a month after the original indictment that charged the senator with federal bribery charges stemming from his alleged relationship with three businessmenhttps://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nj-sen-bob-menendez-accused-of-acting-as-foreign-agent-in-federal-superseding-indictment/4763173/
snip
The FBI said Menendez provided sensitive U.S. government information to Egypt in exchange for the alleged bribes.
Federal prosecutors now allege in the superseding indictment that Sen. Robert Menendez’s wife Nadine Menendez and a New Jersey businessman Wael Hana “worked to introduce Egyptian intelligence and military officials to Menendez for the purpose of establishing and solidifying a corrupt agreement in which Hana, with assistance from Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe, the defendants, provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to Menendez and Nadine Menendez, in exchange for Menendez’s acts and breaches of duty to benefit the Government of Egypt, Hana, and others, including with respect to foreign military sales and foreign military financing.”
Specifically, the superseding indictment released Oct. 12 charges Menendez and others with, “From at least in or about January 2018 through at least in or about June 2022, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, ROBERT MENENDEZ, NADINE MENENDEZ, a/k/a “Nadine Arslanian,” and WAEL HANA, a/k/a “Will Hana,” the defendants, and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed together and with each other to have a public official, to wit, ROBERT MENENDEZ, act as an agent of a foreign principal, to wit, the Government of Egypt and Egyptian officials.”
snip
October 12, 2023
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-10-12-capitalists-against-capital-standards-banks/
In late July, the three major bank regulatory agencies proposed regulations that would modestly increase capital requirements for banks. The most immediate impact is on banks with assets of between $100 million and $250 million, which were previously exempted from higher capital standards. But all large banks would have to hold slightly more capital against loans and other investments. The regulations are blindingly complicated, based on complex formulas and risk-weights, but on average they will increase capital holding requirements for large banks by about 20 percent. These higher capital requirements are nothing but good, a reflection of changes that reformers have urged for decades. They will serve to dissuade speculative investments, since more of the bank’s own capital would be at risk. By reducing leverage ratios, they will reduce risks.
The requirements explicitly do not affect community banks with assets under $100 million, the kinds of banks that do not pose systemic risks in the event that they go bust. On the contrary, when the speculative activities of big banks cause a major collapse, as in the 2008 financial crisis, government typically bails out the largest banks but lets the community banks go under. Some 400 community banks failed between 2009 and 2011, mostly through no fault of their own but because the crisis caused by the large banks put their collateral underwater. An epic example was ShoreBank of Chicago, the model community development bank, which served small businesses and homeowners on Chicago’s mostly Black South Side.
ShoreBank did not go in for subprime mortgages, but the subprime crisis destroyed property values on the South Side. The Treasury could have saved ShoreBank for a tiny fraction of what it spent bailing out Wall Street. But ShoreBank and other community banks were not too big to fail; they were too small to matter. So better capital standards for large banks are very much in the interest of community banks. Yet the community banks and small businesses have been used as fronts for the biggest banks in the industry’s hysterical lobbying campaign to roll back the mildly higher capital standards.
I recently received a hilariously revealing email from a PR firm working with Goldman Sachs. The sender must have lazily sent it to any journalist working on financial issues. The email, from Ben Sheidler, a principal of the CGA Group, touts a front group created by Goldman called Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. Sheidler repeats the large-bank talking points, warning that higher capital standards will reduce access to investment capital. In his words, this would squeeze smaller borrowers, make borrowing more expensive to smaller businesses, and even “diminish global competitiveness,” ignoring that banks in other nations will be subject to comparable capital standards under the international Basel Accords, which the regulation on capital standards carries out.
snip
The biggest banks are using community bankers to front for the self-interest of Wall Street
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-10-12-capitalists-against-capital-standards-banks/
In late July, the three major bank regulatory agencies proposed regulations that would modestly increase capital requirements for banks. The most immediate impact is on banks with assets of between $100 million and $250 million, which were previously exempted from higher capital standards. But all large banks would have to hold slightly more capital against loans and other investments. The regulations are blindingly complicated, based on complex formulas and risk-weights, but on average they will increase capital holding requirements for large banks by about 20 percent. These higher capital requirements are nothing but good, a reflection of changes that reformers have urged for decades. They will serve to dissuade speculative investments, since more of the bank’s own capital would be at risk. By reducing leverage ratios, they will reduce risks.
The requirements explicitly do not affect community banks with assets under $100 million, the kinds of banks that do not pose systemic risks in the event that they go bust. On the contrary, when the speculative activities of big banks cause a major collapse, as in the 2008 financial crisis, government typically bails out the largest banks but lets the community banks go under. Some 400 community banks failed between 2009 and 2011, mostly through no fault of their own but because the crisis caused by the large banks put their collateral underwater. An epic example was ShoreBank of Chicago, the model community development bank, which served small businesses and homeowners on Chicago’s mostly Black South Side.
ShoreBank did not go in for subprime mortgages, but the subprime crisis destroyed property values on the South Side. The Treasury could have saved ShoreBank for a tiny fraction of what it spent bailing out Wall Street. But ShoreBank and other community banks were not too big to fail; they were too small to matter. So better capital standards for large banks are very much in the interest of community banks. Yet the community banks and small businesses have been used as fronts for the biggest banks in the industry’s hysterical lobbying campaign to roll back the mildly higher capital standards.
I recently received a hilariously revealing email from a PR firm working with Goldman Sachs. The sender must have lazily sent it to any journalist working on financial issues. The email, from Ben Sheidler, a principal of the CGA Group, touts a front group created by Goldman called Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. Sheidler repeats the large-bank talking points, warning that higher capital standards will reduce access to investment capital. In his words, this would squeeze smaller borrowers, make borrowing more expensive to smaller businesses, and even “diminish global competitiveness,” ignoring that banks in other nations will be subject to comparable capital standards under the international Basel Accords, which the regulation on capital standards carries out.
snip
October 12, 2023
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-10-12-everyone-will-be-speaker-for-15-minutes/
There was no House floor vote for Speaker yesterday. There won’t be a Speaker vote today either, in all likelihood. Any reasonable calculation, in fact, would lead you to the conclusion that there will never be a vote for Speaker. The numbers are simple. To become Speaker requires a majority of the House. Democrats will vote for their own candidate, Hakeem Jeffries. That leaves the 221 Republicans, out of which you’d need 217, given two current vacancies. At first glance, there is nobody alive and eligible in America today who is able to corral those 217 votes.
What about Donald Trump, you may say. Lost in the struggles of Steve Scalise to garner the necessary support after winning yesterday’s straw vote is the fact that Jim Jordan had Trump’s full endorsement. This allegedly lockstep, top-down, authoritarian party heard the call from their leader, the man currently sweeping the GOP presidential primary, and that endorsement couldn’t even garner Jordan a majority of House Republicans. Maybe if it weren’t a secret ballot, the fear of crossing Trump would surge Republicans into the arms of his handpicked selection. But the idea that 99 measly votes for Jordan is a “serious showing” for a political movement that won the presidency and ran the government for four years is really grading on a curve.
Scalise won with 113 votes, after boasting that he would get 150 in the first round. He won a temporary reprieve when the caucus rejected a rule requiring 217 votes of support for the Speaker among Republicans before coming to the floor. But there are enough hard no votes to deny him the gavel many times over, and everybody knows it. The Speaker Steve Scalise era is as over as the Speaker Jim Jordan era. Kevin McCarthy is about two minutes from putting up posters throughout Capitol Hill that read “Miss Me Yet?” but that era is over, too. The era of atomized self-aggrandizement is upon us. There is no advantage in the Republican Party for reaching consensus among themselves, let alone the opposition.
Republican members of Congress are essentially influencers who dabble in policy on the side, and when faced with the choice they’re all too happy to give up the side hustle of policy in favor of the influencing. Some circles of the left have informed me to stand in muted praise of this small-d democratic effort to change the rules of the swamp, in contrast with the tendency for progressive Democrats to cede to their leadership. But what’s being fought for is about as fanciful as fighting for the right to wear ice cream as a hat. The hard-liners, rooted in anti-government principles, see the opportunity to grind the institution to a halt. The conflict is the intended goal, with nothing beyond it. That’s why this could really go on indefinitely.
snip
In the Future, Everyone Will Be Speaker for 15 Minutes
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-10-12-everyone-will-be-speaker-for-15-minutes/
There was no House floor vote for Speaker yesterday. There won’t be a Speaker vote today either, in all likelihood. Any reasonable calculation, in fact, would lead you to the conclusion that there will never be a vote for Speaker. The numbers are simple. To become Speaker requires a majority of the House. Democrats will vote for their own candidate, Hakeem Jeffries. That leaves the 221 Republicans, out of which you’d need 217, given two current vacancies. At first glance, there is nobody alive and eligible in America today who is able to corral those 217 votes.
What about Donald Trump, you may say. Lost in the struggles of Steve Scalise to garner the necessary support after winning yesterday’s straw vote is the fact that Jim Jordan had Trump’s full endorsement. This allegedly lockstep, top-down, authoritarian party heard the call from their leader, the man currently sweeping the GOP presidential primary, and that endorsement couldn’t even garner Jordan a majority of House Republicans. Maybe if it weren’t a secret ballot, the fear of crossing Trump would surge Republicans into the arms of his handpicked selection. But the idea that 99 measly votes for Jordan is a “serious showing” for a political movement that won the presidency and ran the government for four years is really grading on a curve.
Scalise won with 113 votes, after boasting that he would get 150 in the first round. He won a temporary reprieve when the caucus rejected a rule requiring 217 votes of support for the Speaker among Republicans before coming to the floor. But there are enough hard no votes to deny him the gavel many times over, and everybody knows it. The Speaker Steve Scalise era is as over as the Speaker Jim Jordan era. Kevin McCarthy is about two minutes from putting up posters throughout Capitol Hill that read “Miss Me Yet?” but that era is over, too. The era of atomized self-aggrandizement is upon us. There is no advantage in the Republican Party for reaching consensus among themselves, let alone the opposition.
Republican members of Congress are essentially influencers who dabble in policy on the side, and when faced with the choice they’re all too happy to give up the side hustle of policy in favor of the influencing. Some circles of the left have informed me to stand in muted praise of this small-d democratic effort to change the rules of the swamp, in contrast with the tendency for progressive Democrats to cede to their leadership. But what’s being fought for is about as fanciful as fighting for the right to wear ice cream as a hat. The hard-liners, rooted in anti-government principles, see the opportunity to grind the institution to a halt. The conflict is the intended goal, with nothing beyond it. That’s why this could really go on indefinitely.
snip
October 12, 2023
https://www.thelocal.se/20231012/swedish-court-convicts-quran-burner-of-hate-crimes-in-landmark-trial
https://archive.ph/SBOwy
It comes after a spate of Quran burnings in the Nordic country sparked debate on whether or not it should be criminalised, and the trial is the first of its kind in Sweden. However, the current case is unrelated to recent Quran burnings and dates back to the autumn of 2020. The court heard that the 27-year-old man filmed himself burning a copy of the Quran on a barbecue alongside bacon – eating pork is forbidden in Islam. He then filmed himself leaving the burned Quran and the bacon outside a mosque in the city of Linköping, along with signs reading “Muhammed was a paedophile” and “No to Islam”.
A video of the event was later spread on social media, where it was paired with music popular in far-right groups, which was also played by the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attack during his attack in 2019, where 51 people were killed and at least 50 more were injured. Linköping District Court on Thursday found that the context in which the book was set on fire was enough to classify it as agitation against an ethnic group, as the charge is called in Sweden. This was, it argued, because the video meant to target Muslims, and not Islam as a religion.
"The court's assessment is that the chosen music to a video with [this] content, can't be perceived in any other way than as a threat against Muslims alluding to their faith. The other parts of the video can in context not be perceived in any other way than as an expression of disrespect," said the court in a statement. "The video was published anonymously via, among other things, a Twitter account. It was not a question of an ongoing debate at a meeting where the statement could immediately be countered. The video's content and choice of publication channels can hardly be said to have invited to a factual and valid discussion," said the court.
Quran burnings have become a hot topic in Sweden in the past year, after far-right activists Rasmus Paludan and Salwan Momika set the books on fire at a series of separate protests in the country. Muslim countries have criticised Sweden for allowing the protests to take place, but according to Swedish laws police are unable to deny a permit to demonstrations unless they pose a concrete threat to public order. Both Paludan and Momika are also under investigation for suspected hate crimes at their Quran-burning protests. It is likely that as in the case of Thursday's verdict, the context will determine whether the incidents are seen as legal political criticism of a religion or hate crimes.
snip
Swedish court convicts Quran burner of hate crimes in landmark trial
https://www.thelocal.se/20231012/swedish-court-convicts-quran-burner-of-hate-crimes-in-landmark-trial
https://archive.ph/SBOwy
It comes after a spate of Quran burnings in the Nordic country sparked debate on whether or not it should be criminalised, and the trial is the first of its kind in Sweden. However, the current case is unrelated to recent Quran burnings and dates back to the autumn of 2020. The court heard that the 27-year-old man filmed himself burning a copy of the Quran on a barbecue alongside bacon – eating pork is forbidden in Islam. He then filmed himself leaving the burned Quran and the bacon outside a mosque in the city of Linköping, along with signs reading “Muhammed was a paedophile” and “No to Islam”.
A video of the event was later spread on social media, where it was paired with music popular in far-right groups, which was also played by the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attack during his attack in 2019, where 51 people were killed and at least 50 more were injured. Linköping District Court on Thursday found that the context in which the book was set on fire was enough to classify it as agitation against an ethnic group, as the charge is called in Sweden. This was, it argued, because the video meant to target Muslims, and not Islam as a religion.
"The court's assessment is that the chosen music to a video with [this] content, can't be perceived in any other way than as a threat against Muslims alluding to their faith. The other parts of the video can in context not be perceived in any other way than as an expression of disrespect," said the court in a statement. "The video was published anonymously via, among other things, a Twitter account. It was not a question of an ongoing debate at a meeting where the statement could immediately be countered. The video's content and choice of publication channels can hardly be said to have invited to a factual and valid discussion," said the court.
Quran burnings have become a hot topic in Sweden in the past year, after far-right activists Rasmus Paludan and Salwan Momika set the books on fire at a series of separate protests in the country. Muslim countries have criticised Sweden for allowing the protests to take place, but according to Swedish laws police are unable to deny a permit to demonstrations unless they pose a concrete threat to public order. Both Paludan and Momika are also under investigation for suspected hate crimes at their Quran-burning protests. It is likely that as in the case of Thursday's verdict, the context will determine whether the incidents are seen as legal political criticism of a religion or hate crimes.
snip
October 12, 2023
New York-based studio Schiller Projects has converted a former Brooklyn carriage house into a single-family residence using mass-timber construction and re-purposed materials. According to Schiller Projects, it is the first single-family residence in New York City to be built using mass timber construction methods.
"In response to the dual environmental and housing crises, our studio set ourselves the task of dismantling and recycling the existing, but damaged, components from the original structure, dating to 1880, then reforming and enlarging the existing building using new components that could themselves be recycled or reworked in 100 years without loss or degradation," said the team.
Located in the Clinton Hill neighbourhood, the red brick facade of the house was restored to harken back to its 1873 origins, with arched windows and central garage doors painted in black. The brick facades conceal the remodelled interior of the home, with a completely new floor for the primary suite at the top of the building.
At its back, it faces a Gothic Revival cathedral, which can be seen through the windows on each of the house's three floors. Inhabitants enter past the garage at the front of the property and enter into a first-floor kitchen and dining space that looks out over a backyard. Inside, a three-storey Douglas Fir glued-laminated timber (glulam) staircase sits to the side, with an old coal ash pit converted into a planting bed installed at the base. A skylight and second-floor bridge allow light to filter down through the centre of the stairs and its slatted wooden treads and railings.
snip
Schiller Projects turns former carriage house in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn into mass-timber residence
https://www.dezeen.com/2023/10/04/schiller-projects-carriage-house-mass-timber-residence/New York-based studio Schiller Projects has converted a former Brooklyn carriage house into a single-family residence using mass-timber construction and re-purposed materials. According to Schiller Projects, it is the first single-family residence in New York City to be built using mass timber construction methods.
"In response to the dual environmental and housing crises, our studio set ourselves the task of dismantling and recycling the existing, but damaged, components from the original structure, dating to 1880, then reforming and enlarging the existing building using new components that could themselves be recycled or reworked in 100 years without loss or degradation," said the team.
Located in the Clinton Hill neighbourhood, the red brick facade of the house was restored to harken back to its 1873 origins, with arched windows and central garage doors painted in black. The brick facades conceal the remodelled interior of the home, with a completely new floor for the primary suite at the top of the building.
At its back, it faces a Gothic Revival cathedral, which can be seen through the windows on each of the house's three floors. Inhabitants enter past the garage at the front of the property and enter into a first-floor kitchen and dining space that looks out over a backyard. Inside, a three-storey Douglas Fir glued-laminated timber (glulam) staircase sits to the side, with an old coal ash pit converted into a planting bed installed at the base. A skylight and second-floor bridge allow light to filter down through the centre of the stairs and its slatted wooden treads and railings.
snip
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: London
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