Headlines for Friday, October 5, 2012

Jordan’s King Abdullah dissolves Parliament, protests follow

Thousands protested in Jordan today after King Abdullah dissolved the Parliament, calling for new elections by the end of the year.  The demonstrations are reportedly the largest in the country since anti-government protests swept the region in 2011.  Today’s 15,000 person protest was called by the Muslim Brotherhood.  Video from the AP shows thousands of men holding banners and chanting in the capital Amman.  They called for democratic reforms, an independent judiciary and an end to government corruption.  A demonstration in support of the government was cancelled at the last minute.

Canada to fire all non-Christian prison chaplains

The Canadian federal prison system is getting rid of all non-Christian prison chaplains.  Prisoners of all faiths will now all have to go to Christian chaplains for council.  Sikh prison chaplain Harkirat Singh spoke to the CBC.

“How can a Christian chaplain provide spirituality to the Sikh faith? Because they don't have that expertise.”

The government says it won’t pick and choose which religions get “preferential status through government funding.”  But critics say that’s exactly what it’s doing in only keeping Christian chaplains.

Los Angeles LAPD Chief announces plan to scale back cooperation with Secure Communities

Police Chief Charlie Beck is proposing a change in LAPD policy whereby police would no longer hand over undocumented immigrants accused of committing low-level crimes to the federal government.  Under the federal Secure Communities program, local police forces are required, upon request, to hold undocumented immigrants for federal processing.  Chief Beck said the change was about building trust with the immigrant community in the city.

“ I think most people, if you have a discussion with them, don’t believe that families that exist here in Los Angeles should be torn apart because an individual gets arrested for a very petty crime.  An individual that does not have a criminal record; an individual that is not a gang member.  I don’t think they believe that.”

Beck said about 400 of 3400 federally-requested deportation holds in 2011 would not happen under the policy change.  But immigrants who have a violent criminal past, even if the current arrest is for a minor offense, would still be handed over.

Protests planned to mark anniversary of Afghanistan war

The US war in Afghanistan is the longest war in US history.  The Obama Administration has promised to withdraw troops from the country by 2014.  But this has not quelled anti-war activists in the US and abroad.  Demonstrations are being planned in at least 20 cities throughout the world to mark the 11th anniversary of the war.  FSRN’s Mark Taylor-Canfield has a preview of this weekend’s events from Seattle.

The United National Antiwar Coalition says protests will be held across the US with solidarity rallies in Canada, Pakistan, Iran and the UK.  Today members of the Iranian student movement have scheduled anti-Afghanistan War protests in Tehran after the traditional Friday prayers.

Here in Seattle, three days of events are planned to coincide with Occupy Seattle’s one year anniversary and Columbus Day protests.  Antiwar activists will be picketing a military recruiting center and holding rallies and marches at Westlake Park.  Mark Taylor-Canfield, FSRN, Seattle.

Maine Republicans attack World of Warcraft-playing Democratic candidate

And finally, in one of the more unique political attacks in a long while…  The Republican Party in Maine has sent out mailers “slamming” Democratic State Senate Candidate Colleen Lachowicz for playing World of Warcraft, a popular on-line fantasy role-playing game, and blogging about her character stabbing things.  Her avatar in the game is an Orc Rogue Assassin named Santiaga.  The Democratic Party is trying to leverage the attack into support from the gaming community.  The so-called Friends of Santiaga have launched a donation site asking people to –quote- “support a gamer who’s under attack.”  Lachowicz is trying to unseat the incumbent Republican in a state Senate race that’s expected to be close.