Headlines:
- US Court Legalises Same Sex Marriages
- Default looms for Greece
- Pakistan Heat Wave
- Britain Turning into a Police State
US Court Legalises Same Sex Marriages
The US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a legal right across the US.
This means the 14 states with bans on same-sex marriage will no longer be able to enforce them.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the plaintiffs asked “for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.” President Barack Obama said the ruling was a “victory for America, when all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free,” he said. The plaintiff who filed the case Jim Obergefell, said Friday’s ruling “affirms what millions across this country already know to be true in their hearts: our love is equal. There was some opposition to the law, former Senator Mike Huckabee said: “They either are going to follow God, their conscience and what they truly believe is what the scripture teaches them, or they will follow civil law.” Since the Defense of Marriage Act was signed in 1996, only 25% of the American public supported same-sex marriage, but this support has gradually increased ever since. The liberalization of society has led to many liberal laws being passed, despite a conservative section of the US public. But US policy makers and legislators face a number of problems now. Why stop as same sex marriages, what about group marriage of polygyny? What about incestuous relationships and what about human-animal relations, which is legal in many European nations. The argument used by almost all advocates of same sex marriages is if two people love each other the law should recognize this. Taken to its logical conclusion there should be no limit any type of relationship.
Default Looms for Greece
The Greek crisis has now reached terminal point, after years of negotiations Greece is now at crossroads and will need to decide if it makes painful reforms in return for cash or if it defaults and deals with the repercussions. Greek unemployment is now at 26% of the workforce, whilst over 50% of its youths under the age of 25 are unemployed. The IMF and EU lent money to Greece for over two decades, when the Economic crisis began, Greece was struggling to repay these debts. The EU – namely Germany, stepped in to prop up Greek Banks, who owed considerable sums to German, French, British and Spanish banks. Negotiations ensued on the money the EU would lend to Greece to prop up the country, protect the wider EU and ensure a regional banking collapse didn’t occur. These negotiations were led by technocrats and finance ministers, but eventually turned to presidents, prime ministers and chancellors. At this point the issue was no longer financial or economic but political. Germany wanted cut backs, wage cuts, pension cuts and austerity in return for further bailouts. With the Greek economy already on the verge of collapse and with the left wing Syriza party taking power to reverse austerity this terminal point was inevitable and has now been reached. The deal being offered to Greece, for it to repay debts due in the week of 29 June will now go to referendum. A ‘no’ vote is a rejection of the EU proposal and would mean Greece leaving the Eurozone. A ‘Yes’ vote will see painful reforms implemented.
Pakistan Heat Wave
The severe heat wave continues in Pakistan and the death toll continues to rise. As of 29 June 2015, more than 1,400 people have died, mostly in Karachi. This heat wave has caused the highest recorded temperatures in Karachi since 1979. This has followed a heat wave in India which killed 2,500 people in May 2015. Repeated power outrages across Sindh, and particularly in Karachi, exacerbated the situation. Some Karachi residents told Al Jazeera they were without electricity for more than 12 hours every day, making it nearly impossible to find respite indoors. When temperatures hit 45 degrees Celsius, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared a national emergency.
Heat waves are not new to Pakistan, although the current high temperature is unprecedented, but this time of the year is the summer season and temperatures exceed 30 degrees. But the Interruptions in the electricity provision has added to the underlying problem of state failure in the energy sector. K-Electric’s power outages have only added to the underlying problem of over 500,000 of Karachi’s residents being homeless, so heatstroke and dehydration has been a common occurrence. Whilst the heat wave is a natural occurrence, homelessness and the lack of water provision is not
Britain Turning into a Police State
UK Prime Minister David Cameron took full advantage of the attacks in Tunisia to press ahead with his agenda to peruse the Muslim to integrate in the UK, his new snoopers charter and to lay blame at the Muslims for the attacks that took place. David Cameron in a number of speeches said the extremist threat behind the Tunisia beach atrocity can be defeated in the long term with a “full spectrum response” focused on radicalization in the UK as well as overseas, even though the attack in Tunisia had nothing to do with the UK. He also said the “existential threat” posed by the emergence of ISIS Iraq and Syria is “the struggle of our generation and we have to fight it with everything we can.” The British government has given unprecedented powers to its intelligence and police services who can hold people on mere suspicion as criminals. The Tory government has already placed a new statutory duty requiring all public bodies – from schools to prisons – to take steps to identify and tackle radicalization. However Mr Cameron has said he wants to go further. New measures could include powers to ban extremist groups not caught by existing anti-terror legislation and close down premises for extremist meetings, his includes banning Hizb ut Tahrir, as David Cameron recently reiterated on radio. Britain is turning into a police state and the Muslims are the new Jews.