Ozzone - 8-14 Are you in a right relationship with God? Are you willing to be disciplined without whining or complaining in order to get there?

 

Corruption is Everywhere - But Northern Ireland's Ian Paisley?

DUP meets to discuss Paisley’s political future

after Sri Lankan holiday scandal

DUP MP Ian Paisley apologises to the House of Commons in London for failing to register two family holidays funded by the Sri Lankan government, which he previously estimated was worth £50,000. Photograph: PA Wire

Senior DUP personnel met today to discuss the political future of North Antrim MP Ian Paisley.

The party did not reveal the outcome of the meeting but said it may issue a statement on the matter early next week.

Mr Paisley made an emotional statement to the House of Commons this week, apologising for his failure to declare two luxury holidays that were paid for by the Sri Lankan government.

A parliamentary watchdog has called for the North Antrim MP to be suspended for 30 sitting days because he failed to declare the holidays, which were worth more than £50,000.

Another DUP MP, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC today that his party was not going to take “a lynch mob approach”.

Speaking on the Today programme, Sir Jeffrey said Mr Paisley’s behaviour had been unacceptable.

However, he added: “Ian is entitled to have his case heard, he is entitled to fairness.

“We are a democratic party - the clue is in our name - and this matter has been referred to our party officers. They will consider the report prepared by the standards committee, they will consider what has happened and they will come to a decision.”

Sir Jeffrey said that Mr Paisley had apologised and acknowledged that what he had done was unacceptable.

In Belfast on Friday, Mrs May sidestepped questions about the impact the Commons suspension of Mr Paisley would have on future legislative Brexit battles she will face.

But she said the confidence and supply agreement with the DUP had allowed the Government to deliver “key decisions”. Mrs May said it was a “matter for Parliament” how it dealt with breaches of its rules.

Mr Paisley’s trips also included meeting with Sri Lankan governmental figures. The threshold for registering such hospitality in 2013 was around £660. He subsequently wrote a letter to the prime minister arguing on behalf of the Sri Lankan government. Mr Paisley has faced calls to resign his seat and there is a prospect of a by-election as a consequence of the sanction.

At times struggling to maintain his composure, Mr Paisley apologised to the House, to his colleagues in the DUP and to his constituents.

“I take my duties as a Member of Parliament seriously. I believe that I conduct myself with colleagues with integrity and openness, which is why I have such remorse about the matter, as I believe it goes against the grain of who I am, especially how it is portrayed,” he said.

“It is to my constituents, who have sent me here since 2010, that I make the profoundest of all apologies. They have honoured me with unwavering support to be their voice and I hope that they will continue to have that confidence in me in the future.”

Denied

When the Daily Telegraph broke the story of Mr Paisley’s holidays in Sri Lanka, where he was accompanied by his family, he initially denied the reports and threatened to sue the newspaper.

The holidays included business-class air travel, accommodation at first-class hotels, helicopter trips and visits to tourist attractions for Mr Paisley and his family.

Mr Paisley said that mistakes made by those in public life were amplified and that they ought to be.

“That is the nature of the job that all of us do and all of us understand that. However, I believe in a politics and in politicians who can admit to human frailty, who can apologise, mean it, and move on, because that is what real life is all about,” he said.

“It is often said that it is how we respond to these challenges in our lives that defines who and what we are, and defines our character and demonstrates to us where the true source of our personal strength rests. The 8th-century (BC) prophet Isaiah said, ‘You were angry with me, that anger has turned away, you comfort me.’ I hope to learn that lesson.”

The Commons Standards Committee on Wednesday outlined the sanction for Mr Paisley, son of late DUP founder the Rev Ian Paisley, saying he had committed “serious misconduct” and his actions “were of a nature to bring the House of Commons into disrepute”.

Mr Paisley’s potential suspension would start in September if MPs approve it.

Members who are suspended from the Commons for more than 10 days are open to a recall petition. A by-election would be triggered if 10 per cent of the electorate in Mr Paisley’s North Antrim constituency sign that petition.– PA

Stormont, NI

South Africa’s Anti-Smacking Law: Lessons from New Zealand

Family First NZ, a leading family group in New Zealand, is warning South African families that a smacking ban will do more harm than good by criminalising good parents, and harming children and families with little effect on the real issue of child abuse.

“A decade on from the passing of the controversial anti-smacking law in New Zealand, the law has maintained its very high level of opposition, but most significantly the law has had a ‘chilling’ effect on parenting and rather than tackling rotten parents who are abusing their children, it has targeted well-functioning parents,” said Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“An independent legal analysis at the end of 2014 by a prominent NZ public lawyer of court cases involving prosecutions for smacking found that statements made by politicians that the smacking ban would not criminalise ‘good parents’ for lightly smacking their children are inconsistent with the legal effect and application of the law.”

A report at the beginning of last year analysing the 2007 anti-smacking law, “Defying Human Nature: An Analysis of New Zealand’s 2007 Anti-Smacking Law”, found that there was not a single social indicator relating to the abuse of children that had shown significant or sustained improvement since the passing of the law.

Police statistics show there has been a 136% increase in physical abuse, 43% increase in sexual abuse, 45% increase in neglect or ill-treatment of children, and 71 child abuse deaths since the law was passed in 2007.

A survey this year found that two out of three New Zealanders said they would flout the law.

An earlier survey in 2011 – four years after the law was passed – found that almost a third of parents of younger children say that their children have threatened to report them if they were smacked, and almost one in four parents of younger children say that they have less confidence when dealing with unacceptable behaviour from their children.

“New Zealanders predicted all of this before the law was passed, but their concerns were ignored. The politicians and anti-smacking lobby groups linked good parents who smacked their children with child abusers, a notion roundly rejected – and still rejected – by NZ’ers,” said McCoskrie.

“The anti-smacking law assumes that previous generations disciplined their children in a manner that was so harmful that they should now be considered criminals. But anti-smacking laws are problematic because they contradict many adults’ own childhood experiences with discipline and their long-term outcomes.”

“We would warn South African parents that this law will harm and rip apart families. Even just an investigation – without prosecution – by the police or social services is hugely traumatic and destabilising to families.”

“The supporters of smacking bans such as the UN are influenced by political ideology rather than common sense, good science and sound policy-making. Parents use occasional smacking because it works and it’s appropriate. Criminalising good parents who simply want to raise law-abiding and responsible citizens is bad law-making,” said McCoskrie.

Thai Buddhists Get Strict on Adherents After Financial, Sex Scandals

© Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters

Thailand’s Buddhist monks have reportedly been told to adhere to tighter discipline, and been banned from collecting donations or selling holy objects at temples. The crackdown comes amid temple scandals over sex and money laundering.

The monks have been instructed to follow new rules, designed to make temples’ financial records more transparent, according to Reuters, which saw the written orders.

Senior monks will also watch out for “inappropriate use of social media” by monks. Adherents in a group of temples in the northeast region were also instructed to report misbehaving fellows.

“Please take care of any monks who are not practicing discipline,” Reuters cited the rule, issued in September.

Although these regulations have existed before, “their implementation may have been lax,” according to Phra Phrom Moli, a member of the Sangha Supreme Council, the governing body of the Buddhist clergy.

“We must examine ourselves, listen to the people and see what is and is not appropriate for the sake of the public's faith in the religion,” Phra Phrom Moli said.

The strict measures were introduced starting from September, according to Reuters. These are apparently aimed at cleaning up the tainted image of Thailand’s dominant religion, which has more than 300,000 monks and around 40,000 temples.

The clergy has been tarnished by a series of high-profile scandals over rape, drugs and embezzlement allegations, with the ruling junta trying to reorganize Thai Buddhism. In summer, the government came up with the idea of smart ID cards for monks – which would allow the verification of their background and tracking of any drug or criminal offences – instead of paper documents. 

Buddhist Monk Uses Shocking Language Against Female UN Envoy

Thai Tiger Temple Monk Caught Fleeing with Skins, Fangs

Stories from Thailand, Canada, Ireland & UK (4) on Today's Global P&P List - Extradited Thai monk accused of sex with minor

A Buddhist monk in Germany was sentenced to 8 years in prison for sexually assaulting 7 young boys

The news comes as Thailand is set for the funeral ceremony of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej next week, as well as the coronation of his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Sex, Gluttony and Golf: Chinese Communist Party's Deadly Sins

China's ruling Communist Party has adopted new rules on clean
governance and discipline, according to state media

AFP 
China's Communist Party has banned its members from "extravagant eating and drinking", engaging in "improper sexual relationships with others" and playing golf, state media reported Thursday.

The ruling party's Political Bureau adopted new rules on clean governance and discipline earlier this month, the official Xinhua news agency said, describing the measures as "a moral ethical code that members must abide by".

Party members were already barred from "keeping paramours and conducting adultery" but the new rule on sexual activity was stricter, Xinhua said.

Hmmm. I wonder what is included in 'improper sexual relationships'? Is this an attack on homosexuality? I don't hear the western media screaming yet?

Playing golf and excessive eating and drinking were explicitly listed as violations of discipline for the first time, it added.

OK, excessive eating and drinking I can probably live without, but 'no golf'! This could destroy the Communist Party from within!

The regulations -- which apply to everyone in the 88-million-strong Communist Party -- also forbid forming cliques within the party and nepotism.

I'm surprised that there are only 88 million Communists in China; I thought it would be 10 times that number. I believe that if you want to work and advance in any government position, you probably have to be a Communist.

Since ascending to the party leadership in 2012, President Xi Jinping has launched an austerity drive and a sweeping crackdown on corruption, with thousands of officials falling from power.

China's Communist Party has 88 million members (AFP Photo/Liu Jin)

But critics of the campaign liken it to a political purge targeting Xi's opponents.

Spending on luxury goods and in high-end restaurants has plummeted amid the crackdown, with government officials intimidated by high-profile corruption prosecutions.

The document did not detail punishments for violating the new rules, but the party maintains its own feared internal disciplinary system, which operates without judicial oversight.

Party discipline superseded criminal law, Xinhua said.

The Communist Party has long had an ambivalent relationship with golf, which is a lucrative opportunity for local authorities and a favoured pastime of some officials, but is also closely associated with wealth and Western elites. 

This is Communist paranoia. They see anything western as an attempt by western powers to destroy China, including western religion. Wherever Communism exists, or has ever existed, paranoia is/was extremely prevalent.

Central authorities ordered a nationwide moratorium on new golf courses in 2004, but development continued as revenue-minded local officials went their own way, even offering tax breaks for operators of new courses in places such as Hainan province.

The number of courses in China has grown from fewer than 200 at the time of the ban to more than 600 this year, according to Xinhua.