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Christine Seib in New York : Three city mayors, two state politicians and five rabbis were among 44 people arrested across New Jersey yesterday when federal agents cracked an alleged Sopranos-style crime ring accused of bribery, money laundering and trafficking body parts and counterfeit handbags. In a sweep that shocked even residents hardened to the state’s endemic corruption, officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) raided synagogues, government offices and a Jewish school early yesterday before busing suspects to the FBI headquarters in Newark. Outside, cars were backed up four deep as agents processed those arrested, including Peter Cammarano, the Mayor of Hoboken, Anthony Suarez, the Mayor of Ridgefield, and Daniel Van Pelt, a member of New Jersey’s lower house, the assembly. Ralph Marra, Acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey, said that the sweep demonstrated “the pervasive nature of public corruption in this state”. “The politicians willingly put themselves up for sale,” he said, while “clergymen cloak their extensive criminal activity behind a façade of rectitude”. He spoke of “a corrupt network of public officials who were all too willing to take cash in exchange for promised official action. It seemed that everyone wanted a piece of the action.” He added: “The corruption was widespread and pervasive.” Federal agents used an informant, a member of the close-knit Syrian Jewish community from the seaside town of Deal, to infiltrate political and religious circles. The informant, who had previously been charged with bank fraud, posed as a property developer to conduct a sting, allegedly agreeing bribes with the politicians in return for public building contracts and other favours. Mr Marra’s office charged Mr Cammarano, who took office at the beginning of the month after working as a councillor since 2003, with taking $25,000 (£15,000) in bribes, including $10,000 as recently as a week ago. Mr Cammarano, who at 32 is Hoboken’s youngest-ever mayor, allegedly met the FBI informer at a diner where he agreed to help the mole with building projects, telling him: “You’re gonna be treated like a friend.” In payment, he allegedly received bundles of cash that were stashed in the boot of the informant’s car. Joseph Hayden, Mr Cammarano’s attorney, said that his client was innocent. “He intends to fight them with all his strength,” Mr Hayden said. Dennis Elwell, the Mayor of Secaucus, was charged yesterday with accepting $10,000 from the informant, as was Mr Van Pelt, Mr Suarez and Mariano Vega, the president of the city council in Jersey City. Leona Beldini, the 74-year-old deputy mayor of Jersey City, was accused of accepting $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions. The FBI informant also helped investigators to trap rabbis allegedly involved in using religious charities to launder money as part of a network that ran from New Jersey to Switzerland and Israel. According to the charges, they included Saul Kassin, the Grand Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community in the United States, who allegedly helped the informant to launder about $3 million between June 2007 and July 2009 from the sale of fake Gucci and Prada handbags. As part of the same sting, Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, a Brooklyn resident, was charged with conspiring to broker the sale of a human kidney for a transplant. Mr Rosenbaum allegedly solicited kidneys by promising donors in Israel $10,000, then sold the organs to recipients for $160,000. Mike Winnick was praying at the synagogue in Deal when it was raided by federal agents yesterday morning. He said that the FBI escorted a rabbi from the synagogue into an office and blocked the door. “Everyone was looking at each other, like, ‘What’s going on here?’,” Mr Winnick said. Jon Corzine, the Governor of New Jersey, condemned the alleged widespread criminality. “The scale of corruption we’re seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated,” he said. The arrests come at a sensitive time for the Democratic Governor, who faces a re-election battle in November in which his biggest challenger is Christopher Christie, a Republican former US Attorney for New Jersey, who made his name fighting corruption. Ed Kahrer, who heads the FBI’s white-collar and public corruption investigation division, said: “New Jersey’s corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation. Corruption is a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state.” Residents in New Jersey, which is known as the Soprano State because of its long history of backhanders and kickbacks, showed their support for yesterday’s arrests, with hundreds of comments filling a local news website. “Keep going, feds, send them all to jail,” one correspondent wrote. “Greedy creeps who steal from the taxpayers and honest business people, we’re sick of you.” New Jersey crooks ?The Lucchese crime family, one of New York’s notorious “Five Families”, ran a particularly brutal operation in New Jersey under the leadership of Michael “Mad Dog” Taccetta. As head of the North Jersey faction, the hugely obese Taccetta was accused of a number of murders and kidnappings. In 1986 he was finally indicted but, after a 21-month-trial — the longest in US history — he and all other defendants were found not guilty. He was later convicted of murder and racketeering. The character of Tony Soprano is said to be modelled on him. ?In 1980 the New Jersey Senator David Friedland was convicted of taking $360,000 in bribes. He agreed to co-operate with authorities in return for clemency but was later convicted of defrauding a pension fund. While awaiting sentencing Friedland faked his death in a scuba diving accident and disappeared. He was caught two years later in the Maldives where he was living an opulent life and owned a string of diving shops ?Dutch Schultz was one of New Jersey’s most notorious gangsters in the 1930s, making a fortune with his speakeasy cafés during the prohibition era and regularly brutalising his rivals. He became increasingly erratic, however, and his fellow mobsters decided he had become a liability and finally ordered his death. He was murdered in the men’s room of the Palace Chop House and Tavern. Source: Times database
Hello. Hello. Hello. She replied "Who is the speaker?" He answered her "May God extend your lifespan". He added that he is an honest citizen. In addition, he asked her if the ambassador is in his office? She replied to him that she is his sister. Then, he responded to her saying "welcome sister, who is neither from maternity nor paternity". Then the line went dead. He repeated the call. Hello. Hello. Hello. She replied to him saying affirmative. He asked her if the ambassador is in his office? She replied to him that the ambassador is a political agent, useless, exploitational and lacking in competence. That is true my dears, the ambassador is borrowed person. She asked him, "May I connect you with garrulous ambassador?" Yes, nothing does remain, except garrulous ambassador, and a blonde secretary, who's her hair, was twistly braided. She is gorgeous although, she hates the date palm trees as well as camels. Their legend and logo are making mockery of issuing passports, ordering the payment of fees in advance, and also making a comedy of taking finger prints. هلو... هلو... هلو... أجابت وقالت مين؟ قال لها أطال الله عمرك. أنا المواطن أمين. هل السفير موجود؟ أجابت لا. وقالت أنا الأخت. رد عليها وقال أهلا بالتي هي لا من الأمومة أخت ولا من الأبوه أخت. حينها انقطع الخط. أعاد الاتصال. هلو... هلو... هلو... أجابت نعم. فسألها من جديد هل السفير موجود؟ أجابته بأن السفير مأجور. نعم أعزائي فالسفير مأجور. ثم قالت له هل أعطيك الصفير؟ نعم لم يبق إلا الصفير. وسكرتيرته شقراء شعرها المضفور ضافر ضفير. حسناء هي لكنها تكره شجر النخل وكذلك البعير. وشعارها من شعارهم جدد جوازك وادفع الرسوم مقدما وابصم بالخمس وبالسادس من اليد الإصبع الأخير.
Confrontation of languages is an old and continuous phenomenon, and it is a part of civilizations' clash. It appears implicitly and explicitly in minds along with our practical life. It shows in the paradox of the responsible people during the decision-making, the dilemma, which influence on the image of our countries and its' beautification and transparency, and shows the new tendency toward new forms of discrimination. It is true that language binds people together, where other differences in ethnicity and background segregate and isolate them from each other. It is also a reality that every person believes that his language is not only the most useful and expressive tongue, but also the most important one. Moreover, when groups of people feel that their language is threatened, they feel that their existence is in jeopardy too. In this essay I will explain my analytical point of view, which depends not only upon contemplation and experience in the field of learning, teaching and practicing the languages, but also on researching, analyzing and measuring the behaviors and attitudes of randomly selected group for this purpose. Its objective is to demonstrate and express the multilingual-environment of teaching and learning tongues and their dialects at government and non-government institutions and establishments, and to depict and scripture the image of the languages' harmony in daily activities. In addition, to understand and apprehend the influence and the effect of the social powers, intermediaries, ties and their correlations. We see obviously these facts not only in the French- Canadian society, but also in Amazigian society, North African countries, Kurdish society in the Middle East and Spanish society in United State of America. On the other hand, some African and Mediterranean countries have three to five tribal languages and hundreds of dialects, which stymie the development. Therefore, thirty percent of the African counties decided to use French as an official language. Likewise, societies, which widely have used the English language as official tongue has helped them, solve organizational, social and economic problems as shown in India and Pakistan. Having one official language contributes to an administration, which is free of conflicts. I found that there are many psychological, ideological, political, economic and social aspects of this conflict, and it is rooted to the ancient historical periods. Educational policy and the rights and freedoms could be abused, misused or misunderstood, consequently; it produces a field of contrasts which result in many problems and obstacles. I bring into being also that there are organized and random conflicts among the languages of the majority which is represented by the official languages of English and French, and also among the majority and minorities groups of the community's languages in Canada's society as well as the others of the World characterized by the corruption and bureaucracy. In addition, most of the communities are negatively active in maintenance, integration and promotion of their languages and cultures, which means in one hand that they have tendency toward discrimination, chauvinism and nationalism, and on the other hand, they often become vulnerable to mental illness such as seclusion, isolation , reclusiveness etc., and mostly they become merely assimilated by the system too. The public and the government's opinions about this issue have been divided to numerous outlooks. For instance, thinkers and specialist of the social, psychological and anthropological sciences realize that it is necessary to preserve one's language. Others advocate that the establishment of a single language that is accepted by all leads to unity. In some counties , that are multicultural an ethnic unit realizes that it is guaranteed by exercise of its particular lingo. However, a wise government allows a language division to converse in its native tongue. Finally, I would like to say and recommend that it is essential to provide monolingualism to the government organ of administration in order to eliminate the bureaucracy and the corruption. An administrational separation the two official languages is needed to enhance the image of the country and to save money and time. It is also necessary to direct some communities to the maintenance of their languages and promote their cultures positively. There is a need for further studies upon the clash of the languages in order to make it less work and cost consuming without negative impact of the basic or ethnic languages. Truly, it is the time to declare and put into practice that the languages are blessings and not curses. تحدي اللغات من الظواهر القديمة والمستمرة وجزء لا يتجزأ من صدام الحضارات والذي يظهر ظاهريا أو ضمنيا في عقولنا خلال حياتنا العملية كما يظهر في متناقضات الأشخاص المسؤولين عن صناعة القرار مما أدى إلى دخولنا في مأزق وأثر على صورة بلادنا وجمالها وشفافيتها وبدأ ظهور الاتجاه الجديد نحو التفرقة والتمييز. صحيح أن اللغة صلة تواصل وترابط بين الناس في حين أن الاختلافات العرقية و الجذور الاجتماعية تؤدي إلى عزل الناس عن بعضهم. إلى جانب أن هناك حقيقة تؤكد أن كل شخص يؤمن بأن لغته هي الوحيدة القادرة على التعبير عنه والأكثر إفادة، كما أنها الأكثر أهمية في نظره. وإذا شعر مجموعة من الناس بأن لغتهم مهددة بالخطر، فإنهم يشعرون أن وجودهم نفسه مهدد معها. في هذا المقال سوف أقدم وجهة نظري المبنية ليس فقط على توقعاتي وخبرتي في مجال التعليم والتعلم والعمل باللغات، بل أيضا على البحث والتحليل وقياس السلوكيات والتصرفات المختلفة لمجموعة عشوائية اختيرت لهذا الغرض. و الهدف من ذلك هو عرض وتوضيح البيئات متعددة اللغات في التعلم والتعليم بألسنة مختلفة ولهجاتها العامية في المؤسسات والمعاهد الحكومية وغير الحكومية ثم وصف وبيان صورة الانسجام اللغوي في الأنشطة اليومية، بالإضافة إلى فهم وإدراك المؤثرات وتأثيرات القوى الاجتماعية والوسائط والروابط وعلاقاتها. نحن نرى بوضوح هذه الحقائق ليس فقط في المجتمع الفرنسي الكندي، بل أيضا في المجتمع الأمازيغي و دول الشمال الأفريقي و المجتمع الكردي في الشرق الأوسط و الأسبان في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية. على صعيد آخر نجد بعض الدول الأفريقية و دول البحر المتوسط لديها بين ثلاثة إلى خمسة لغات قبلية و المئات من اللهجات العاميّة مما يضع التطور في حرج لذا قرر 30% من دول أفريقيا استخدام اللغة الفرنسية كلغة رسمية و بالمثل فالمجتمعات التي استخدمت اللغة الانجليزية كلغة رسمية ساعدها ذلك في حل الكثير من المشكلات التنظيمية و الاجتماعية و الاقتصادية كما في دول الهند و باكستان. وبذلك نجد أن وجود لغة رسمية واحدة يسهم في تواجد حكومة خالية من الصراعات والإشكالات الإجتماعية والثقافية . لقد وجدت أوجه كثيرة نفسية و اجتماعية و أيديولوجية وسياسية واقتصادية لهذا الصراع كما أن له جذور تاريخية قديمة. فسياسات التعليم و الحقوق و الحريات يمكن أن يساء استخدامها و فهمها وبالتالي تنشأ بيئة من التناقضات التي تؤدي إلى ظهور المشاكل والعقبات. وقد لاحظت أيضا, أن هناك صراعات منظمة و عشوائية بين اللغات التي يستخدمها الأغلبية الممثلة في اللغات الرسمية كالانجليزية و الفرنسية و أيضا بين لغة الأغلبية و الأقليات في مجتمع كندا و أيضا في دول أخرى تتميز بوجود الفساد و البيروقراطية. بالإضافة إلى سلبية المجتمعات تجاه الحفاظ على كيان لغاتهم وثقافتهم وتعزيزها مما يعني أن لديهم ميولاً نحو التفرقة والشوفينية (الغلو في إظهار الوطنية والقومية) ومن ناحية أخرى يكونوا معرضين للأمراض العقلية ; كمرض العزلة و الانطوائية والخ., و معظمهم يصبحون فقط مماثلين للنظام. إن آراء العامة و الحكومات حول هذا الموضوع انقسمت إلى وجهات نظر متعددة. على سبيل المثال, المفكرين و المتخصصين في الشئون الاجتماعية و النفسية و الأنثروبيولوجية يؤكدون على ضرورة الحفاظ على لغة الفرد بينما يزعم آخرون أن إقامة لغة واحدة مقبولة لدى الناس يؤدي إلى وحدة الأطراف. في بعض الدول ذات الثقافات المتعددة، نجد هناك وحدة عرقية يدعمها اللسان الواحد بين أفرادها. و على رغم ذلك فإن الحكومات الرشيدة تسمح بانقسام اللغة ليتحدث كل فرد بلغته الأصلية. و أخيرا أود أن أقول و أوصي على ضرورة توحيد اللغة في كيان الحكومة و الإدارة للقضاء على الفساد و البيروقراطية. كما أن الانفصال الإداري إلى لغتين رسميتين من شأنه تعزيز صورة الدولة و حفظ وقتها و أموالها. و من الضروري أيضا توجيه بعض المجتمعات إلى حفظ لغاتها الأصلية و تعزيز ثقافتها بشكل إيجابي. إن هناك حاجة ملحة لمزيد من الدراسة لمشكلة الصراعات الناتجة عن اختلاف اللغات لجعلها أقل و الاستفادة من هذه التعددية دون التأثير على اللغات العرقية. في الحقيقة أرى أنُّه آن الأوان لنعلن و نطبق حقيقة أن هذه اللغات هي في الأصل" نعمة و ليست نقمة".