The police and military could benefit from any legal benefits offered toFARC guerrillas as an incentive for their disarmament, according to President Juan Manuel Santos.

Speaking at a promotion ceremony for officers of the National Police, Santos said that those officers who “for some reason have had problems with justice” could be dealt with under the Legal Framework for Peace. This law was established to support the peace talks with the FARC in Havana, and grants Congress the power to declare certain offenses (excluding genocide and crimes against humanity) as political crimes.

Santos said that he would not permit that “if the enemy is given some legal benefit, that these are not transferred to the Public Force”.

The issue of impunity for guerrilla crimes has proved politically explosive, with cross-party condemnation greeting the president’s comments that “flexibility” be applied to FARC crimes, and that narco-trafficking and benefiting from narco-trafficking be treated as political crimes.

MORE: Santos wants drug trafficking to be considered political crime

The government is also under pressure to advance the Havana peace talks by creating opportunities for FARC guerrillas to participate in politics in the future, requiring the establishment of some form of amnesty or diminished or suspended sentences.

The president has previously said that members of the armed forces who committed “errors” during the armed conflict could be given shorter sentences or have their crimes absolved if it would contribute to a lasting peace.

“It’s a question of symmetry: If soldiers and policemen, through fighting in the same conflict, have fallen foul of the criminal law, it would not be fair… for the terrorists to ask for zero days in prison, and the soldiers to face 50 or 60 years in prison.”

Former soldiers have argued for security service veterans and personnel to receive the same leniency as that applied to the guerrillas.

Jamie Ruiz, president of Arcore (Association of Retired Officials of the Security Forces) last year said: “It’s a question of symmetry: If soldiers and policemen, through fighting in the same conflict, have fallen foul of the criminal law, it would not be fair… for the terrorists to ask for zero days in prison, and the soldiers to face 50 or 60 years in prison.”

MORE: Colombia military deserves immunity if FARC not punished: Retired soldiers

Santos now claims that “the legal framework for peace is the most ideal and most effective way” to address offences by the security services, as it has been approved as being in line with the Constitution and can allow as yet unknown benefits “without incurring impunity”.

Many disagree; Gustavo Gallon of the NGO Colombian Commission of Jurists said “Instead of achieving maximum justice in adverse conditions, it allows you to reduce the duty to administer justice under the pretext of peace”.

MORE: NGOs slam Colombia’s transitional justice law at constitutional court

The president has argued that it would be impossible to provide legal redress to every offence committed during 50 years of conflict, and wants the military to share the leniency granted through a “flexible” approach. “We have to find a sensible formula to give closure so that there is no doubt as to the future legal certainty of our forces”, he added.

The president then took the opportunity to praise the way in which he claimed the Colombian military had operated according to “a constitutional mandate, in defense of a legal and constitutional order and under orders from civil authorities”. This was in contrast to many countries in the region, and Santos emphasized the “legitimacy with which our armed forces operated, and that can never be forgotten”.

RESUMEN

Santos afirma ahora que "el marco jurídico para la paz es la manera más ideal y más eficaz" para hacer frente a los delitos por los servicios de seguridad, ya que ha sido aprobado como estar en consonancia con la Constitución y puede permitir que hasta ahora desconocidos "beneficios sin incurrir en la impunidad ".

Muchos no están de acuerdo; Gustavo Gallón de la ONG Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, dijo "En lugar de lograr la justicia máximo en condiciones adversas, que le permite reducir el deber de administrar justicia bajo el pretexto de la paz".

MÁS: ONGs critican la ley de justicia transicional en Colombia en la corte constitucional

El presidente ha afirmado que sería imposible para proporcionar reparación legal a todos los delitos cometidos durante los 50 años de conflicto, y quiere a los militares a compartir la indulgencia concedida a través de un enfoque "flexible". "Tenemos que encontrar una fórmula sensata para dar cierre a fin de que no hay ninguna duda en cuanto a la futura seguridad jurídica de nuestras fuerzas", agregó.

El entonces presidente aprovechó la ocasión para elogiar la forma en la que afirmó que el ejército colombiano había operado de acuerdo con "un mandato constitucional, en defensa de un orden legal y constitucional y bajo las órdenes de las autoridades civiles". Esto fue en contraste con muchos países de la región, y Santos destacó la "legitimidad con la que nuestras fuerzas armadas operan, y que nunca se puede olvidar".

     
      FN                                    FV

    THE                           AFFIRM  THAT SHE IS GUILTY.


      FN                                     FV

      WE                              FORGET THE TASK OF TEACHER

   
      FN                                     FV

   CAMILA TO THE       SILVER IN THE BANK


     FN                                      FV

   THEY                             ARE SITTING ON THE BENCH


    FN                                    FV

THEY                               ACHIEVE THE PARTY

The government is also under pressure to advance the Havana peace talks by creating opportunities for FARC guerrillas to participate in politics in the future, requiring the establishment of some form of amnesty or diminished or suspended sentences.

The president has previously said that members of the armed forces who committed “errors” during the armed conflict could be given shorter sentences or have their crimes absolved if it would contribute to a lasting peace.

Respect the privacy of my child: Shakira

Shakira has asked the media to let her son Milan have “as normal a childhood as possible”, and to cease reporting on him now that he is no longer a baby.

Colombia’s global pop sensation gave birth to Milan in January 2013, and posed with the baby and partner Gerard Pique for photos which were posted on UNICEF’s web page to raise funds for the UN’s children’s agency.

Shakira told Spanish newspaper ABC that she has enjoyed being able to share photos of the child with “fans and with the people who have always supported us” in the first months of her son’s life, but she now wants Milan to grow up with some privacy.

She added that the child “still doesn’t realize that Gerard and I are famous”, because he doesn’t yet realize that other children’s parents aren’t also on television.

Barranquilla-born Shakira met Pique at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in 2010, and the couple live together in Barcelona where Gerard plays center-back for Barcelona FC. They are currently expecting the birth of their second son due in January.

In 1997 the singer founded the Barefoot Foundation which provides education and meals for 4000 children in displaced and vulnerable communities across Colombia. The star is the highest-selling Colombian musician of all time, having sold more than 75 million albums.

Colombia military to benefit from legal concessions made to FARC: Santos

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The police and military could benefit from any legal benefits offered toFARC guerrillas as an incentive for their disarmament, according to President Juan Manuel Santos.

Speaking at a promotion ceremony for officers of the National Police, Santos said that those officers who “for some reason have had problems with justice” could be dealt with under the Legal Framework for Peace. This law was established to support the peace talks with the FARC in Havana, and grants Congress the power to declare certain offenses (excluding genocide and crimes against humanity) as political crimes.

Santos said that he would not permit that “if the enemy is given some legal benefit, that these are not transferred to the Public Force”.

The issue of impunity for guerrilla crimes has proved politically explosive, with cross-party condemnation greeting the president’s comments that “flexibility” be applied to FARC crimes, and that narco-trafficking and benefiting from narco-trafficking be treated as political crimes.

MORE: Santos wants drug trafficking to be considered political crime

The government is also under pressure to advance the Havana peace talks by creating opportunities for FARC guerrillas to participate in politics in the future, requiring the establishment of some form of amnesty or diminished or suspended sentences.

The president has previously said that members of the armed forces who committed “errors” during the armed conflict could be given shorter sentences or have their crimes absolved if it would contribute to a lasting peace.

“It’s a question of symmetry: If soldiers and policemen, through fighting in the same conflict, have fallen foul of the criminal law, it would not be fair… for the terrorists to ask for zero days in prison, and the soldiers to face 50 or 60 years in prison.”

Former soldiers have argued for security service veterans and personnel to receive the same leniency as that applied to the guerrillas.

Jamie Ruiz, president of Arcore (Association of Retired Officials of the Security Forces) last year said: “It’s a question of symmetry: If soldiers and policemen, through fighting in the same conflict, have fallen foul of the criminal law, it would not be fair… for the terrorists to ask for zero days in prison, and the soldiers to face 50 or 60 years in prison.”

MORE: Colombia military deserves immunity if FARC not punished: Retired soldiers

Santos now claims that “the legal framework for peace is the most ideal and most effective way” to address offences by the security services, as it has been approved as being in line with the Constitution and can allow as yet unknown benefits “without incurring impunity”.

Many disagree; Gustavo Gallon of the NGO Colombian Commission of Jurists said “Instead of achieving maximum justice in adverse conditions, it allows you to reduce the duty to administer justice under the pretext of peace”.

MORE: NGOs slam Colombia’s transitional justice law at constitutional court

The president has argued that it would be impossible to provide legal redress to every offence committed during 50 years of conflict, and wants the military to share the leniency granted through a “flexible” approach. “We have to find a sensible formula to give closure so that there is no doubt as to the future legal certainty of our forces”, he added.

The president then took the opportunity to praise the way in which he claimed the Colombian military had operated according to “a constitutional mandate, in defense of a legal and constitutional order and under orders from civil authorities”. This was in contrast to many countries in the region, and Santos emphasized the “legitimacy with which our armed forces operated, and that can never be forgotten”.

Chikungunya virus infects 20,000 across Colombia 

Authorities in the north of Colombia have reported a dramatic rise in cases of the dangerous Chikungunya virus in the past days.

After an initial outbreak of the virus affecting 5,000 in September, the virus is reportedly spreading again.

MORE: Colombia on verge of Chikungunya outbreak

In the past few days, multiple cases have been reported in more than 40 municipalities in the Norte de Santander state, located on the Venezuelan border.

The sudden rise in the number of patients has driven several medical centers in the capital of the state, Cucuta, to the verge of collapse.

In the city of Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, local reports revealed whole neighborhoods infected with the virus.

Chikunwhat? The Chikungunya virus is spread by mosquitoes and causes sudden onset fever usually lasting two to seven days, and joint pains typically lasting weeks or months, sometimes even years. No specific treatment is known, but medications can be used to reduce symptoms.

In order to combat further expansion of the virus, local authorities have announced measures such as fumigation campaigns and pest control, as well as improved waste water management in order to avoid the spread of mosquitos.

The National Association of Hospital Workers of Colombia (Anthoc) in the Santander state indicated that the preventive actions have to be taken as soon as possible to anticipate the proliferation of mosquitoes.

The president of Anthoc, Aristides Hernandez, told Caracol Radio: “we are not doing enough. The fault should be attributed to the sanitary authorities in municipalities which haven’t even fully committed themselves to fumigation, let alone other preventive measures.”

Hernandez expressed his deep concern with the situation, suggesting that according to the Anthoc data the number of Chikungunya cases has now reached 20,000 people of various age.

In Santa Marta around 350 people from the Luis Carlos Galan neighborhood were diagnosed with the virus. On Monday, the District Department of Health has ordered to isolate the neighborhood and sent doctors to carry out home visits. Clinics, health centers and hospitals in Santa Marta and Magdalena present alarming reports about the virus spread in different areas in this region.

The Health Institute of the Norte de Santander called on the residents and citizens of the state to be alert to any flu-like symptoms, and to constantly clean their water containers.

Chikungunya, meaning “to bend up” in reference to the joint pain the virus causes, was originally transmitted to humans in southern Tanzania in 1952.

The virus transmitted by mosquitoes and symptoms similar to that of dengue fever, such as fever, joint pain, muscle pain, headaches, nausea, lethargy and hives. Despite the symptoms, the World Health Organization claims that the virus is rarely ever fatal, although symptoms can last for years in some cases.

The virus is most often found in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia, while cases in the Americas have been few and far between.

CHRISTMAS SONGS

CHRISTMAS CAROLS

CHRISTMAS IMAGES

I WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

NEWS

James Rodriguez, the most consistent player at Real Madrid

The Colombian wheel has played every game so far this season.

Real Madrid have reached the break of selections with a player who has played every game.
Is James Rodriguez, who has participated in 19 official games he has played the white team in the five competitions they have participated to date. No other member of staff Madrid presents this record.
The Colombian has played 11 league matches (four goals), four in the Champions League (a goal), one Copa del Rey, Supercopa of Spain two (one goal) and one in the European Super Cup. In addition, he has started 16 of the 19 games in which he has participated.
Next on the list
Behind James come Kroos and Isco. The German accumulates only 18 games and missed the Copa del Rey in Cornella. The Malaga, meanwhile, adds 17 games: 11 in the league, three in the Champions League, one European Super Cup, one Cup and one Super Cup Spain.

America Honors Its Veterans With Words and Action

Today in the United States, it is not unusual for passersby to take the time to stop someone wearing a military uniform and thank them for their service.

As America commemorates Veterans Day on Nov. 11, the men and women who have fought her wars are generally embraced by a grateful nation.

And while that sentiment has usually been the case throughout America’s history, there was one glaring exception during the Vietnam era in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“They were not treated right,” said Joe Lewis, communications director for the group, Veterans of Foreign Wars. “They were spit on. They were called baby killers. They were blamed for starting a war and then blamed for losing the war.”

Many returning Vietnam veterans were casualties of growing unrest and opposition to the war in American society. By contrast, their fathers who fought in World War II were hailed as heroes and are now called “the greatest generation”.

“America forgot how to separate the politics of war from the warrior fighting the war,” Lewis said. “People have to remember politicians start wars, politicians end wars. The military does their job.”

Military service veterans march in the Pittsburgh Veterans Day parade on Nov. 8, 2014, in Pittsburgh War II was also different in that almost every American was impacted by the conflict in some way: either a loved one or someone they knew had gone off to join the fight.

By contrast, today many Americans are largely insulated from the country’s wars and the people who fight them.

America has had an all-volunteer army for 41 years, since 1973. Those service members currently make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population. If you include the country’s 23 million vets, they still account for less than 10 percent of the overall population.

That difference is also apparent in the U.S. Congress, where about 20 percent of the nation’s lawmakers are veterans. That’s a marked change from the days when up to 75 percent of Congress, many of them having fought in World War II, were veterans.

Despite this increased isolation between service members and the general population, Lewis credits the lessons learned during Vietnam with the American public’s current predisposition to treat veterans with respect, even when opposing the conflicts in which they serve.

Today’s Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are coming home to a war-weary public that, while appreciative, worries about the returning warriors’ well being.

“There is great respect for all of America’s veterans but there is also an underlying concern that some of them might be broken because of years of war,” Lewis said

They say the best gifts are “the ones that are made”.

Brock McGuire Band - Top Quality Irish Music

November 15, 2014

The Band are Paul Brock, Manus McGuire, Garry O'Meara & Denis Carey. Paul - multiple All-Ireland champion. His solo album, “Mo Chairdin”, was described as “a modern masterpiece of accordion music”. Manus - an Irish fiddler who blends dazzling technique with faultlessly far-ranging taste. Garry - banjoist, mandolin player & vocalist has toured with among others, The Fureys & Stocktons Wing. Denis is a musician/composer/arranger whose compositions have been performed by orchestras worldwide.

Bi-Lingual Table Quiz WINTER Nov 18th 2014

November 18, 2014

Join us for our highly popular and 3rd bi-lingual Table quiz November 18th!

Irish Movie Night - The Yellow Bittern (2009)

November 15, 2014

The Yellow Bittern, a 2009 feature documentary from Alan Gilsenan, is a revealing and surprising portrait of the last surviving member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, and the man that Bob Dylan called “just the best ballad singer I’d ever heard in my whole life”.

Por qué el capitalismo no ha triunfado como sistema

John Gray, filósofoEspecial para la BBC

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China se ha convertido en la segunda economía del mundo.

El capita

ism seems the "fittest", but can stop or reverse the policy or human events, it claims the political philosopher John Gray in this article for the BBC.
In boardrooms, banks and governments is rooted belief that the advance of capitalism is irreversible. The system, developed in the West, has spread to almost everyone.
The central economic planning in the former Soviet Union and Mao's China no longer exists as a separate system. It may persist in North Korea, but really is only one kind of economy.
Faced with the almost universal triumph of market forces, many have concluded that capitalism won in an evolutionary process similar to the species.
Intensely innovative and highly productive, capitalism seems to be pushed to extinction all other types of economies.

Currently evolutionary ideas are everywhere, and it seems natural to extend beyond the domain in which they were first applied. But it is not clear that any evolutionary process works in society.

DEFINITIONS READING

Reading es una ciudad y autoridad unitaria en el condado de Berkshire, en Inglaterra, Reino Unido.^1 2 Situada en la confluencia de los ríos Támesis y Kennet, la ciudad está a medio camino entre Londres y Oxford, al borde de la autopista M4. La pronunciación inglesa de este nombre es /ˈrɛdɪŋ/ (en la notación del Alfabeto Fonético Internacional). Obsérvese la diferencia con la forma verbal homógrafa reading ("leyendo"), cuya pronunciación es /ˈri:dɪŋ/.

El distrito tiene una población de 142.800 (2006, est.) habitantes. Reading es probablemente el centro de negocios más importante del sudeste de Inglaterra, aparte del Gran Londres. La mayoría de las compañías importantes de Gran Bretaña tienen su sede en la ciudad, que también alberga numerosas multinacionales. El Centro Europeo de Meteorología tiene su sede aquí. Es además una ciudad universitaria con una importante comunidad estudiantil.

El centro de la ciudad está situado cerca de las confluencias del Támesis y el río Kennet, lo que refleja la historia de la ciudad como puerto fluvial. Antes de la confluencia, el Kennet se extiende por una estrecha abertura para formar la planicie fluvial del Támesis. Reading está a 64 kilómetros al oeste del centro de Londres y a 40 kilómetros al sudeste de Oxford.

READING QUOTES

Quotes About Reading

Quotes tagged as "reading" (showing 1-30 of 3,000)

“We read to know we're not alone.”
― William Nicholson, Shadowlands

tags: misattributed-to-c-s-lewis, reading

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

tags: read, readers, reading, reading-books

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

tags: books, reading

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

tags: books, power-of-words, reading

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
― Oscar Wilde

tags: books, reading

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
― Groucho Marx

tags: books, humor, reading, television

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
― C.S. Lewis

tags: books, inspirational, reading, tea

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”
― Oscar Wilde

tags: books, reading

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

tags: learning, reading, seuss

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

tags: authors, books, literature, reading, writing

“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.”
― John Green, An Abundance of Katherines

tags: books, reading

colombiareports.com

ELN insists ongoing peace talks with Colombia govt should be public

Nov 4, 2014 posted by Adriaan Alsema

(Photo: Parker Crooks)

Colombia’s second largest rebel group, the ELN, on Monday expressed its discomfort over the confidentiality of ongoing peace talks with the government. According to the guerrillas, these should be held publicly.

PROFILE: ELN

In a statement published on the guerrillas’ website, the ELN’s Central Command said that “for us it would’ve been better if we could permanently inform about the way these talks are going and the country objectively could know the steps of the talks.”

According to the rebels, the government insisted on secrecy, making this elementary for the talks to take place.

However, “we have never shared this criteria because a real peace process should be carried out facing the nation”

“It would have been in the interest of all sectors of society to know the issues related to the setting of an agenda and the framework  to guide the process towards peace,” said the ELN.

The ELN on several occasions has expressed frustration about the talks, their progress and the agreed confidentiality.

However, President Juan Manuel Santos said last month that the peace process with the ELN will remain confidential until there is something concrete to announce.

MORE: Absolute secrecy on negotiations with ELN rebels for now: Santos

Santos announced the existence of the talks in June, only five days before elections in which he secured a second term in office in spite of low approval ratings.

MORE: Colombia govt, ELN rebels announce formal peace talks

However, according to the ELN, these talks have “hardly” made progress since then.

MORE: ELN boss says ongoing peace talks are ‘important’, but ‘difficult’

The group, exceeded in size only by the FARC, has been fighting the Colombian state since 1964. The guerrillas made several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace with the state over the past decades. The rebel organization is thought to have some 3,000 armed fighters and another few thousand unarmed supporting activists mainly in their strongholds and in public universities.

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