Gay pride parade draws 200,000 to Tel Aviv

JTA

Approximately 200,000 people, including many tourists, gathered in central Tel Aviv for the city’s 23rd gay pride event.

The event, whose theme this year is women in the gay, lesbian and transgender community, kicked off Friday morning at Gan Meir, a park that houses the Tel Aviv Municipal LGBT Center. A representative of the center presented an award to journalist Ilana Dayan and to Ilana Shirazi, an organizer of lesbian marriage ceremonies.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai then gave the signal for the Gay Pride Parade, which features a procession with floats and music terminating at a beach party in south Tel Aviv.

Among the first-time foreign participants this year in the parade is Buck Angel, a transgender male adult film producer, actor and motivational speaker from California. “This is my first time in this side of the world,” he told Ynet. “It’s exciting to see the gay community being accepted in the Middle East, and it’s generating change.”

Elsewhere in the region, homosexuals — gay men especially — are subject to legal persecution. Countless homosexuals have been murdered in the region.

Same-sex marriages are not performed in Israel, where Jewish marriage is the purview of the Chief Rabbinate. Muslims and Christians have corresponding religious bodies.

Last year, Yishai Schlissel, after being released from prison for stabbing several people at a 2005, Jerusalem gay pride parade In 2005, stabbed victims at the gay pride parade in Jerusalem, killing a 16-year-old participant and wounding several others.

Despite these incidents, violence against homosexuals is relatively rare in Israel, which is rated by many LGBT publications as one of the world’s best and safest travel destinations.

Also taking part in the parade were members of a week-long LGBTQ mission to Israel sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America. During the mission, which officially ended Thursday, more than 100 participants met with leaders of Israel’s LGBTQ organizations, LGBTQ leaders from Israel’s political parties, Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro. Participants included Stuart Kurlander, an attorney and former president of the Washington, D.C.-area Jewish federation, and Matt Nosanchuk, a senior advisor at the U.S. State Department and former White House liaison to the Jewish community.

(jewishjournal.com)

Record 94,708,000 Americans Not in Labor Force; Participation Rate Drops in May

The unemployment rate in May dropped to 4.7 percent, BLS reported, less than half of its Obama-era high of 10 percent in October 2009. But the labor force participation rate has deteriorated over Obama's two terms.(AP File Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - A record 94,708,000 Americans were not in the labor force in May -- 664,000 more than in April -- and the labor force participation rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 62.6 percent, near its 38-year low, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.

When President Obama took office in January 2009, 80,529,000 Americans were not participating in the labor force; since then, 14,179,000 Americans have left the workforce -- some of them retiring and some just quitting because they can't find work.

"By almost every economic measure, America is better off than when I came here at the beginning of my presidency," President Obama told the people of Elkhart, Indiana three days ago. "We cut unemployment in half, years before a lot of economists thought we would."

The unemployment rate in May dropped to 4.7 percent, BLS reported, less than half of its Obama-era high of 10 percent in October 2009.

But the labor force participation rate has deteriorated over Obama's two terms.

When Obama took office in January 2009, shortly before the recession ended, the labor force participation rate was 65.7 percent. The following month, it reached an Obama-era high of 65.8 percent, and then it began its seven-year downward spiral, hitting 62.4 percent in September 2015, its lowest point since 1977.

The 62.6 percent participation rate in May 2015 compares with 62.8 in April and 63.0 in March. (BLS noted that the rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point over the past two months, offsetting gains in the first quarter.)

In May, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 253,174,000. Of those, 158,466,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.

The 158,466,000 who participated in the labor force equaled 62.6 percent of the 253,174,000 civilian noninstitutional population.

BLS points to retirements among the aging baby boom generation as a key factor affecting the labor force participation rate. But the weak job market has caused other Americans to give up job-hunting in favor of staying home or going back to school.

BLS said the economy added a disappointing 38,000 jobs in May, well below analysts' estimates of 158,000. Over the past three months, job gains have averaged 116,000 per month.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 5,923,000 people in May as "persons who currently want a job," up 130,000 from 5,793,000 in April.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.2 percent), Whites (4.1 percent), and Hispanics (5.6 percent) declined in May. The rates for teenagers (16.0 percent), Blacks (8.2 percent), and Asians (4.1 percent) showed little or no change.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined by 178,000 to 1.9 million in May. These individuals accounted for 25.1 percent of the unemployed.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (also referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased by 468,000 to 6.4 million in May, after showing little movement since November. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

Job growth occurred in health care. Mining continued to lose jobs (-10,000), and a Verizon strike resulted in job losses in information.

Health care added 46,000 jobs in May, with increases occurring in ambulatory health care services (+24,000), hospitals (+17,000), and nursing care facilities (+5,000). Over the year, health care employment has increased by 487,000.

Within manufacturing, employment in durable goods declined by 18,000 in May, with job losses of 7,000 in machinery and 3,000 in furniture and related products.

Employment in professional and business services changed little in May (+10,000), after increasing by 55,000 in April.

Employment in other major industries, including construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and government, changed little over the month.

In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents to $25.59, following an increase of 9 cents in April. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 3 cents to $21.49 in May.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for March was revised from +208,000 to +186,000, and the change for April was revised from +160,000 to +123,000. With these revisions, employment gains in March and April combined were 59,000 less than previously reported. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 116,000 per month.

(cnsnews.com)

ACLU BOSS QUITS AFTER DAUGHTERS ENCOUNTER MEN IN BATHROOM

'My children were frightened, concerned about safety and left asking lots of questions'


Published: 2 days ago

Poland plans 35,000-strong paramilitary force to deter ‘Russian threat’

Paramilitary groups are to be formed in Poland to enhance its military capabilities as part of the preparations for a possible ‘hybrid war’ with Russia, the Defense Ministry said.

The plan is aimed at deterring Russia in its attempts to seize Polish territory “by infiltration,” as Poland’s authorities believe it has done in Eastern Ukraine, AFP reports.

Read more

One NATO battalion would help deter Russia until allies gather forces – Polish Def Min

"The territorial defense force is our response to the threat associated with hybrid warfare," said Polish Defense Ministry official Grzegorz Kwasniak, who is responsible for the creation of the new paramilitary group.

The new force will comprise 35,000 civilian volunteers that will undergo military training. Each Polish province will then receive one brigade of the territorial defense force, consisting of volunteer battalions, with the biggest and most populous Mazovia province getting two brigades.

The eastern Polish provinces of Podlachia, Lublin and Podkarpachie will have priority in deployment of the paramilitary units as they are deemed to be most exposed to the perceived Russian aggression.

"Enrollment of the first members of the territorial defense force will start in September," Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said on Thursday at a conference of paramilitary organizations in the northern Polish town of Ostroda, AFP reports. He also said the group’s command structure and senior appointments had already been decided in April, as reported by the Polish PAP news agency.

The personnel of the newly formed paramilitary units will receive a monthly payment amounting to 500 zlotys (€125), according to dpa.

Read more

3 US B-52 heavy bombers fly to Europe for joint NATO Baltic military drills

Earlier, Macierewicz said that a single battalion of rotational NATO troops would be enough to help Warsaw’s military to fend off a potential Russian attack on Polish territory until its allies gather their forces and respond.

His statement came after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that additional troops will be stationed in Poland and the Baltic states after the upcoming NATO summit, which is to be held in Warsaw in July.

NATO currently plans to station four battalions in the region – one each in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. In May, at a pre-ministerial press conference, Stoltenberg said the NATO military buildup on the territory of Eastern European countries is a response to“Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Russia added NATO’s expansion to the East and the buildup of the alliance’s presence near Russian borders to the list of strategic threats in 2016.

“The Russian side has repeatedly stated that the buildup of the NATO military presence near Russian borders violates the spirit of the basic Russia-NATO pact and cannot be left unanswered by our country,” Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov said in late May, adding that “we are bound to secure the safety of our state.”

In the meantime, Poland already has a paramilitary group called “a riflemen's association” (Strzelec in Polish) comprised of around 12,000 people, many of them youngsters, who are receiving military training, as reported by AFP.

Read more

‘It can’t go unanswered’: Russia will respond to NATO buildup near its borders, senior diplomat says

For the first time, Poland’s paramilitary units will take part in the major Anaconda military exercise conducted by the US Army Europe on Polish territory from June 7 to 17.

According to the US Army Europe’s official website, the drills are also designed to “support assurance and deterrence measures by demonstrating allied defense capabilities to deploy, mass and sustain combat power.” The exercise will involve more than 25,000 soldiers from 24 nations.

Russia is planning its own set of measures aimed at counterbalancing NATO’s increased presence and activities near its borders. These measures particularly involve deploying three new divisions in Russia’s western and southern regions.

“The Defense Ministry is taking a number of measures to respond to the NATO military buildup at the Russian border,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in early May. “Before the year's end, two new divisions will be formed in the Western Military District and one in the Southern Military District.”

“Our security interests are to be firmly protected. Deployment of the three divisions announced by the defense minister is only one of the measures, which should be considered in this regard,” said Russia’s envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko.

(RT)

Polish Hospital Stops Performing Abortions After Every OB/GYN Refuses

RZESZOW, Poland — A hospital in Poland has stopped performing abortions after every single OB/GYN at the facility signed a conscience clause opting out of having any part in ending the lives of unborn children.

The doctors work at Specialist Hospital Pro-Familia in Rzeszow. Abortion is illegal in Poland except in the cases of rape, genetic abnormality and the life of the mother, but the the hospital had been the center of attention in 2014 when a midwife came forward as a witness to abortions allegedly occurring at the facility.

Hospital Pro-Familia had threatened to sue Agata Rejman over her statements that the facility “kills children,” but Rejman left her job instead. Pro-life groups such as The Right to Life Foundation picketed the hospital and were met with both criminal civil litigation, as officials asserted that they had tarnished Hospital Pro-Familia’s reputation by equating abortion with murder.

Hospital director Radosław Skiba has confirmed that the facility is no longer performing abortions.

“[I]f the hospital most aggressive against pro-life activists can stop killing the unborn, then any and every hospital can and should do it. Only courage and perseverance are needed,” Mariusz Dzierżawski of The Right to Life Foundation told reporters.

As previously reported, the pro-life group Fundacja Pro (Pro Foundation) has been collecting signatures in an effort to do away with the abortion exceptions in the country. The move was was sparked by outrage over a recent botched abortion at Holy Family Hospital in Warsaw in which the 24-week child, who had been diagnosed with Down Syndrome, was left unattended to die.

“The scream of this child was so traumatic for the personnel that they declared that they will never forget it,” Polish reporter Anna Wiejak told the outlet Church Militant.

The matter sparked outrage among Catholic leaders in the country. Over 90 percent of Polish citizens identify as Roman Catholic.

“[The citizens bill] removes the three existing circumstances under which an abortion is currently permitted,” explains the legal group Ordo Iuris, which wrote the proposed language of the measure. “The initiative requires the state to support families raising handicapped children or children conceived in in circumstances related to the commission of an offense.”