By Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

BAGHDAD When Haider Abbas applied for a refugee visa to the U.S. more than a year ago, moving to America seemed like a no-brainer.
An American contractor for whom Abbas had worked in Baghdad early in the war told him he could get him a job at his Northern Virginia company. And Abbas' younger brother, who was among the first to win the special refugee visas being allotted to Iraqis, was already on his way to the United States.

Then, earlier this year, the U.S. economy soured. Abbas' former boss told him he probably couldn't help him find work after all. The younger brother, an engineer by training, could find work in America only as a pizza delivery man.

Now, Abbas is uncertain whether he should stay or go.

"This is something I have wanted for such a long time, but now with the U.S. economy the way it is, I worry how I'll be able to find a job and care for my family," said Abbas, 37, who recently was informed that his visa was approved. "I feel very confused."

There are signs that Iraqis who win refugee visas are increasingly having second thoughts about moving to America.

In the fiscal year starting in October, about 8.1% of Iraqis who receive asylum have been "no-shows" for their U.S. government-paid flights out of Iraq, effectively turning down their chance to resettle in the United States, according to State Department data.

That compares with a 5% no-show rate for the previous year.

Tough making ends meet

Iraqi officials and refugee advocates say the reluctance is a reflection of the difficulties faced by thousands of Iraqis who have arrived in the U.S. since 2006.

Lina Omar, a foreign service officer in the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, also said that some Iraqis are reconsidering their options in light of improved security in Iraq.

"Many families are hearing from those who have already arrived that the financial support they are going to receive is for a very limited period of time, and that making ends meet will be difficult," Omar said.

A few have become so discouraged that they've given up on the U.S. altogether. Omar said the Iraqi government is helping several Iraqi refugee families, who said they can't make it financially, return to Iraq.

Returning to Iraq after living abroad comes with its own difficulties, said Mohammed Fadhel, 38. He is a refugee who fled to Germany and recently came back home.

After returning to Iraq in May, his two young children were constantly sick, unable to cope with Iraq's poor water quality and searing heat. While his job in Munich working at an Internet cafe paid enough to get by, the best job he could find in Baghdad had a salary of just $345 per month.

"To anyone that has left Iraq for the U.S. or Europe and is thinking about coming back, I would advise them, 'Don't do it,' " Fadhel said. He recently moved back to Munich.

Overqualified, unemployed

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), a New York-based refugee advocacy group, released a report last month based on interviews with Iraqi refugees that offered a dire assessment. Many refugees in the United States are finding it difficult to find jobs, and some are facing evictions because of a lack of income, according to the report.

"Most Iraqi refugees who were interviewed painted a picture of despair and frustration," the report said.

For this year, the U.S. government has set a goal to resettle at least 17,000 applicants in the U.S.

Almost all refugees receive some aid in the state where they settle. The average assistance for a family of four is $575 per month, according to the IRC. The State Department issues a one-time $900 grant per refugee to cover immediate needs such as rent, food and utilities.

The IRC said in its report that the amount of assistance provided to refugees is not enough, and it is urging Congress to allocate more money toward aid for newly arrived refugees.

Even without the stresses of a tough economy, the Iraqi refugee population has been one of the more challenging populations to resettle in the U.S., said Seyoum Berhe, director of the Arlington Diocese Refugee Services in Virginia.

Much of the population is "highly educated," Berhe said, and many have a difficult time accepting that their first job in the U.S. may not be in their chosen field.

"There are certain expectations of what the U.S. should or could do for them, because of the efforts and sacrifices many of them made assisting the U.S. government in Iraq," Berhe said.

Zeena Ahmed, 30, whose family is in the process of applying for admission as refugees, said she has had heart-wrenching conversations with her parents about moving. Her entire family is convinced a better life lies ahead in the U.S., but she is skeptical.

"What happens if we go and can't find jobs?" she said. "Who will take care of us then?"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-07-07-iraqrefugees_N.htm

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And all of this controversy circles me
And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me
So I point one back at 'em
But not the index or the pinky or the ring or the thumb
It's the one you put up when you don't give a ****
When you won't just put up with the bull**** they pull
Cause they full of **** too

Racial hate groups erupt on Facebook
Darren Pauli
12.06.2009 kl 13:34 | IDG News ServiceA A A Racist Facebook groups have sprung up in the wake of ethnic violence in Sydney's West.

Racist Facebook groups have sprung up in the wake of ethnic violence in Sydney's West.

Retaliation attacks were launched against a group of men of Middle-Eastern appearance following the alleged bashing of an Indian student four nights ago in Sydney's Harris Park.

One group dubbed "F--- off we're full" with almost 65,000 members contains a topic "will Indians race-rioters be hunted down..." created immediately after the attacks.

Other threads include "all foreiners (sic) need to be euthanised" "and "Indian stupidism (sic) on a new high". Many bloggers are members of similar groups including "f--- India" and "kill a Muslim day that would be a good start".

The groups are flouting State and Commonwealth law, according to Australian National University senior lecturer Dr Matthew Rimmer, and are infringing Facebook policy.

While defamation in online media is "an undefined grey area" according to one government source associated with racial defamation, Rimmer said Facebook could be forced by law to dismantle the groups according to the outcomes of similar court cases.

"It's not too much of a stretch to see the application of [similar cases] to facebook," Rimmer said.

"Facebook doesn't want to get into censorship but it would want to clear itself of legal ramifications."

Electronic Frontiers Australia chair Geordie Guy said people joining the groups should be aware of racial hatred and discrimination laws which can apply to online content.

"People you are joining these groups need to be very careful because Australian laws prevent [discrimination] and they aren't constricted to TV or simply stomping your feet in Martin Place," Guy said.

"There are situations where people are acting illegally and there is scope for police intervention... no reasonable person would have a problem shutting down these groups."

"There is a real chance they could face legal trouble... it's not like a protest where you are a face in the crowd... it is linked back to everything about you," he said, speaking of a blogger with links to Microsoft US.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and other government agencies may investigate complaints by "aggrieved" individuals, but removal of the sites will likely be left to Facebook.

The ACMA will investigate any complaints it receives in relation to Facebook groups. An agency spokesman said the Online Content Scheme under the National Classification Scheme: "does not deal specifically with themes of hate (racial or otherwise), discrimination or vilification, but material may attract a prohibited content classification if it contains - for example - detailed instruction or promotion in matters of crime or violence, very detailed depiction of violence, or the material is considered high in impact and there are no access restrictions".

Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities states that users will not post content that is threatening, hateful... or discriminatory.

Earlier this year a members of a Facebook group faced legal trouble after it posted details about alleged Victorian bush fire arsonist Brendan Sokaluk.

http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=D4BB7A36-1A64-6A71-CEA7973410417C30

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And all of this controversy circles me
And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me
So I point one back at 'em
But not the index or the pinky or the ring or the thumb
It's the one you put up when you don't give a ****
When you won't just put up with the bull**** they pull
Cause they full of **** too

Study finds employers shun minorities

Reporter: Emma Griffiths

MARK COLVIN: An unusual experiment on Australian employers has led researchers to conclude that bosses are much more likely to offer a job interview to applicants with Anglo Saxon names.

The ANU economists sent out fake CV's, all with the same characteristics except the name and found those called, for instance "Betty Japananga", "Mario Bianchi", or "Bilal Kasir" were less likely to get a call-back about the job.

Employer groups have reacted angrily.

Emma Griffiths reports.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: At Auburn town hall today in Sydney's west, job seekers rolled up looking for advice. The careers expo had been organised by Auburn Diversity Services, a migrant resource centre trying to address an estimated local unemployment rate of about 10 per cent.

ELENA BERROCAL-CAPDEVILLA: There was a parade of people going in and around and asking and taking the leaflets, and thinking, and you know, it's extremely difficult for people to find a job.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: The centre's executive officer Elena Berrocal-Capdevilla has personal experience of the frustrations of job knock-backs faced by non-Anglo Saxon applicants.

ELENA BERROCAL-CAPDEVILLA: That I didn't have enough experience in this country, that I didn't have referees for instance from this country which was a big challenge. Cause even if I had recommendation letters, those recommendation letters were in Spanish so it wasn't easy to convince employers that there were adequate and appropriate letters.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: Researchers at the Australian National University have found evidence of substantial racial discrimination - right at the beginning of the recruitment process.

Economist professor Andrew Leigh:

ANDREW LEIGH: We sent out over 4,000 fake CVs. What we did with the CVs was we changed the name to denote ethnicity. So for example, one CV might carry the name Brian Robinson and another CV might carry the name Bilal Kasir and then that allows us to look at whether or not hiring discrimination varies systematically with the ethnicity of the name on the CV.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: And the findings were stark.

ANDREW LEIGH: We find that there is substantial hiring discrimination. We find that if you're an Indigenous applicant you need to put in 35 per cent more job applications to get the same number of call backs. A Chinese applicant 68 per cent more, Middle Eastern applicant 64 per cent more, an Italian job applicant has to put in more applications but only 12 per cent more than an Anglo-Saxon job applicant.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: So can we conclude from these findings that bosses in Australia are racist?

ANDREW LEIGH: So it's not clear whether our finding are driven by a small number of employers who are very strongly discriminating, or a large number of employers who are potentially discriminating just subconsciously.

We have pretty good evidence out of sociology that a lot of discrimination is non-intentional; it's just that some names feel more common to employers, others feel a little odd, and so the person doesn't get a call back.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: But one employer group doesn't believe there's any discrimination involved at all. The acting chief of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is Greg Evans.

GREG EVANS: If you look across the Australian workforce. The Australian workforce is made up of the same sort of ethnic backgrounds and diversity as wider Australian society and I think you know perhaps the researchers need to get out of the sheltered world of the university quadrangle and actually see the diversity of ethnic backgrounds that are evident across all Australian workplaces.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: Professor Andrew Leigh is convinced the study has measured discrimination because all of the applicant's characteristics were constant except the name. And he found discrimination across a range of jobs.

ANDREW LEIGH: We found the largest level of prejudice in the wait staff jobs which I think is consistent with wait staff employers thinking not only about their own discrimination but also potentially about how their customers might react to someone of a particularly ethnicity.

But we also find discrimination in data-entry jobs and that's not consistent with a customer-based discrimination story, given that we see discrimination in data entry that has to be employer based discrimination or co-worker-based discrimination.

EMMA GRIFFITHS: It's already difficult for people in these ethnic groups to get jobs knowing where the economy's going. What are you predicting for them?

ANDREW LEIGH: I would expect that it's going to be harder for everybody to find jobs in the current economy. I wouldn't expect that the level of discrimination will increase but that the gap will remain constant. In some sense, the labour market faced by a Chinese or a Middle Eastern job seeker in 2007 was tougher than the labour market that currently faces Anglo-Saxon job seekers now.

So you could say that Anglo-Saxon job seekers are getting a taste of the sort of economy that the Chinese and Middle Eastern job seekers looked at in boom times.

MARK COLVIN: ANU economist Andrew Leigh speaking to Emma Griffiths.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2601101.htm

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And all of this controversy circles me
And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me
So I point one back at 'em
But not the index or the pinky or the ring or the thumb
It's the one you put up when you don't give a ****
When you won't just put up with the bull**** they pull
Cause they full of **** too

This Week in Capitalism: September 22nd 1980

The Iran-Iraq War officially began on September 22nd when Iraq invaded Iran. The war resulted in 1 million casualties and cost $1.19 trillion in USD. Although there had been border disputes between Iraq and Iran since they were called Mesopotamia and Persia, the hostilities between the nations grew intense as oil was discovered under the disputed territory of Khuzestan. Other territories, such as the Shatt al-Arab waterway, were also called into question. Iraq encouraged Arabs in Iran to rebel against their government, while Iran encouraged Kurds in Iraq to do the same against Iraqs leadership.

Saddam had entertained the idea of successfully invading Iran since before he was president. Such a takeover would strengthen his oil trade and elevate Iraq as a great regional power. In 1979, the pro-western Shah of Iran was ousted in the Iranian Revolution, and replaced by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The Ayatollah despised the secularism of Saddam and the Baath Party, and threatened to spread Islamic revolution throughout the Middle East. However, due to the degenerating state of Irans army and the destabilization of the country, Saddam saw this as the perfect time to strike.

After the Iran-Iraq War had been raging for two years, the US started to make its backing of Iraq more public and normalized relations with its government. The US began to openly supply Iraq with intelligence, economic aid, and weapons. President Reagan declared that the United States could not afford to allow Iraq to lose the war to Iran, and that we would do whatever was necessary and legal to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran. This policy was formalized by Reagan in the National Security Decision Directive in June of 1982.

In 1987, the US itself started to actively attack Iran by destroying its oil platforms and gunboats. In 1988, while in Iranian waters, a US cruiser shot down Iran Air Flight 655, resulting in the death of all 290 passengers. Because of the bad press, the US eventually paid compensation but never apologized. In 1984 Iraq started to use chemical weapons against Iran. Nonetheless, from 19851989, US companies sent numerous fatal biological cultures, including anthrax, to Saddam. These transactions were all done with the approval of the Reagan and the first Bush administrations. Eight shipments of cultures, which were later classified by the Centers for Disease Control as having biological warfare significance, were approved by the Department of Commerce. Iraq received at least seventy-two shipments of clones, chemicals, and germs, all with chemical and biological warfare potential. The Saddam Regime further used chemical weapons against the Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988, yet the U.S. continued to ship them deadly substances.

However, America was not only supplying Iraq with weaponry. According to a report put out by the US Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, the sale of U.S. arms to Iran through Israel began in the summer of 1985, after receiving the approval of President Reagan. These covert sales to Iran included over 2,000 anti-tank missiles, 235 parts kits for surface-to-air missiles, 18 F-4 fighter-bombers, 46 A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers, and almost 4,000 missiles. Additionally, unverified reports alleged that Israel agreed to sell Iran AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, radar equipment, mortar and machinegun ammunition, field telephones, M-60 tank engines and artillery shells, and spare parts for C-130 transport planes. The London Observer estimated that Israels arms sales to Iran totaled $500 million USD a year while Time Magazine reported that the Israelis had set up Swiss bank accounts for obvious reasons.

What is widely known, but seldom discussed is that in 1980 Saddam was not only an ally of America, but encouraged to invade Iran (a country three times that of Iraq) with US support. The US was weary of the Iranian Revolution, for good reason, and wanted to prevent Iran becoming the regional superpower. However, the US did not want Iraq to dominate either. Therefore, the US decided to conduct a policy of duel containment. Henry Kissinger made the policy clear when he said, The ultimate American interest in the war is that both sides should lose. After eight years of bloodshed and tremendous debt, with none of the issues that started the war being resolved, neither country emerged victorious except for America.

http://www.jwharrison.com/blog/2006/09/23/this-week-in-capitalism-september-22nd-1980/

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And all of this controversy circles me
And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me
So I point one back at 'em
But not the index or the pinky or the ring or the thumb
It's the one you put up when you don't give a ****
When you won't just put up with the bull**** they pull
Cause they full of **** too

Man Sydney is a ****hole.

Retaliation attacks were launched against a group of men of Middle-Eastern appearance following the alleged bashing of an Indian student four nights ago in Sydney's Harris Park.

Never understood why the Lebs started beating on the Indian students.

Siege of Tobruk - One German POW said: "I cannot understand you Australians. In Poland, France, and Belgium, once the tanks got through the soldiers took it for granted that they were beaten. But you are like demons. The tanks break through and your infantry still keep fighting." Rommel wrote of seeing "a batch of some fifty or sixty Australian prisoners ... marched off close behind usimmensely big and powerful men, who without question represented an elite formation of the British Empire, a fact that was also evident in battle."


"As a Internet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

"Never understood why the Lebs started beating on the Indian students"

well all look a like to you guys

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http://www.republicbroadcasting.org/

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for
people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

-Noam Chomsky