Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2004 (16. évfolyam, 5-50. szám)

2004-03-05 / 10. szám

AMERICAN English yntjti Hungarian Journal Ernie Könnyű, better known as Könnyű Ernő in the Hungar­ian community of California, is running for office again, and with a pretty good chance to win, as the article below proves. We wish him the best of luck, (the Editor) Opposition Fidesz Solidifies Its Lead Over Socialists Three Republicans Set Sights on Assembly Seat Candidates say incumbent may be vulnerable in fall The San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, February 27, 2004 One of the Repub­lican candidates seek­ing to represent south­ern Silicon Valley in Congress had big-name recognition once, but that was a long time ago. The other two are largely unknowns in the world outside of local politics. And if lacking name recognition isn’t enough, former Rep. Ernest “Ernie” Könnyű, marketing consultant ____________________________________ Fred Jankowiak and Ernest “Ernie” Könnyű sales management spe­-------------------------—-------------------------- cialist David Redick have something else in common: They are paying their campaign costs mostly out of pocket. What drives them, they say, is a passion to take on incumbent Democrat Rebecca Cohn for the 24th Assembly District in Novem­ber. On Tuesday, voters will decide which one it will be. Könnyű, whom some voters may remember from his days as a South Bay assemblyman and then as a member óf Congress when Ronald Reagan was president, is perceived as the leading contender, based on name recognition. The 67-year-old tax consultant from Saratoga served in the state Assembly from 1980 to 1986 and in Congress from 1987 to 1989. He lost his congressional seat that year in the GOP primary to po­litical newcomer Tom Campbell, who had portrayed him as too conservative for the district. The same may be said today in a district that gives Democrats the edge in voter registration. The 24th Assembly District takes in the cities of Campbell and Saratoga, sections of Santa Clara and San Jose and portions of Cupertino and Los Gatos. Democrats make up about 45 percent of registered voters and Republicans about 31 percent. The remaining 24 percent of voters declined to state their party or picked another category. With those kinds of numbers, a strong GOP candidate with a big campaign treasure chest and support from major Republicans such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could conceivably win in the dis­trict, said San Jose State University political science Professor Terry Christensen. But that’s not likely in this race, he said. “I don’t think the GOP has come up with the A-team here,” Christensen said. “Könnyű should win the primary because of his residual name identification. He’s also pretty good about getting out there and being seen and heard.” But he’ll be at a distinct disadvantage against Cohn in Novem­ber, Christensen said. Könnyű said he is mindful that he’ll have a tough race against Cohn should he win the primary. But, he said, Cohn is vulnerable as an incumbent because of the state budget crisis. “Rebecca Cohn has voted to wreck the financial structure of California with her deficit spending,” Könnyű said. “I would have voted against that kind of irresponsible spending. I proved in 1983 when we had the same deficit problem, albeit smaller-sized, that you could address it without tax increases, instead using spending cuts and some fee increases.” Redick, who twice ran for Congress in the 1980s and lost, is campaigning as a non-politician under a “less government” banner. He said he is driven by the principle that the role of government is to protect the personal and property rights of its citizens. “It’s become predictable in California that the legislators prom­ise things to get elected,” said Redick, 68, a San Jose resident and telecommunications and sales management specialist. “They’re ushers at the trough, as if they’re saying, ‘Give me a tip and you get a place in line.’ It’s turned government into a honey pot, whether you’re a CEO or a welfare mother. It ends up with too many people dependent on the government as opposed to exercising responsibil­ity-” Redick said Schwarzenegger’s win bodes well for conserva­tives. > March 5, 2004 ly AMERIKAI tfagyur Hírlap BUDAPEST - Public support for the opposition Fidesz alliance is currently 34 percent and for the ruling Socialists (MSZP) 24 percent among all voters, a Szonda Ipsos poll showed. Among voters with definite party preferences, MSZP’s ap­proval rating fell to 36 percent from 43 percent last autumn, while backing for Fidesz rose from 47percent to 53 percent, ac­cording to the poll published in the daily Nepszabadsag. The polling firm recalls that the ratio was similar halfway through the government term four years ago, when the then opposition Socialists held the lead. Were elections to be held now, 3 percent of all voters would choose the junior coalition Free Democrats and 1 percent the Democratic Forum. The radi­cal national Justice and Life Party, which failed to enter Par­liament in 2002, would also re­ceive 1 percent, the survey found. Voice Of America Takes Hungarian- Broadcast Off Air WASHINGTON, February 27 - The Voice of America (VOA) on Friday stops broadcasting in 10 Central and Eastern European languages, including Hungarian, now that its focus has shifted to other regions of the world, its di­rector announced on Thursday. David Jackson said in a statement published on VOA’s website that the termination of broadcasts in Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak and Slovenian came after Congress adopted in late January a 2003 White House proposal to shut down the above language departments. The director praised the commitment and dedication of VOA staff who had “greatly contributed to building democ­racy worldwide”. Auschwitz March First Attended by Hungarians BUDAPEST - Hungary will be a first-time participant at the annual March of the Living commemoration beginning in Auschwitz on April 17, a Hun­garian organizer said Thursday. The United States-lsraeli­­organized March of the Living, first held 12 years ago, prompts thousands of people to visit for­mer death camps and commemo­rate the victims in Auschwitz and Birkenau every year. Participants will cover the three-kilometer distance from Auschwitz to Birkenau on foot, with a letter from Nobel Prize-winning Hun­garian author Imre Kertesz to be read at the joint ceremony. Top Rebel Delays Attack on Haiti's Capital PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Pro-govemment mobs that were looting and shooting up the Haitian capital withdrew from the streets Saturday, obeying an plea from President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A rebel leader said he would honor a U.S. appeal not to attack. Though violence subsided, doctors said the morgue at Port­­au-Prince's only hospital was full, and that 25-30 bodies were brought in recently — raising the death toll to more than 100 in Haiti's four-week-long rebellion. The United States urged both sides in the conflict to end the violence that broke out Feb. 5. Rebel leader Guy Philippe, speaking to from a key northern city in his control, said his fighters would not attack the capital "for a day or two." France, Brazil, Canada and the United States sent military planes with soldiers Saturday to evacuate citizens. At the airport, about 20Ó people tried to get on a nine-seat plane flying to the Do­minican Republic. Most airlines have canceled flights to Haiti, where there are an estimated 20,000 foreigners. Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, held fast in his refusal to leave office until his term expires in February 2006 — defying calls from the United States and France to step down. " I will not resign," he said. "I will fulfill my turn and I will not allow criminals and terrorists to take over." Aristide went on television Friday night to call for calm and end of the violence, saying "looting is bad." Earlier Saturday there was looting at the capital's seaport, with people hacking into about 500 containers of U.S. aid and carrying away sacks of lentils. (AP) AI Qaeda Builds a Euro Army WASHINGTON, DC. - Warnings of al Qaeda’s continuing threat came Tuesday, February 24, from Washington and London as well as one of its top leaders. Addressing the Senate intelligence committee, CIA director George Tenet spoke of the spread of al Qaeda’s radical agenda to local groups who now threaten the United States and are capable of 9/11 scale attacks. British interior secretary David Blunkett, announcing new stringent measures to combat terror, said a terrorist attack on Britain was “inevitable.” Pointing up these statements, Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ay­­man al-Zawahiri gave not one but two signs that his group was still after “Crusader” blood. Two recorded audiotapes reached the rival Arab TV stations, al Jazeera and al Arabiya. In one he threatened the United States with fresh attacks; the other condemned the French for banning the headscarf for Muslim schoolgirls. Even more disquietingly, al Qaeda is discovered to be recruiting manpower in Europe at a brisk pace in a push into the continent per­sonally advocated by Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden urged fostering the war on the “far enemy” (Europe) rather than concentrating the move­ment’s fury on the “near enemy” (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, South Asia). The European arena, often neglected by American counter­terrorism agencies, is showing a dangerous dynamism. Data assem­bled for a preliminary assessment show al Qaeda in the process of evolving from terrorist networks and cells into a professional fight­ing force with military features. According to French counter-intelligence, al Qaeda has re­cruited in France alone between 35,000 and 45,000 men and is or­ganizing them into military-style units. They meet regularly for training in the use of weapons and explosives, combat tactics and indoctrination and are controlled from local and district command centers under the organization’s national French command. In Germany, Al Qaeda has recruited 25,000 to 30,000 men. The British domestic intelligence agency MI5 estimates 10,000 faithful have joined up in Britain, providing Blunkett with more than ample cause for concern. Al Qaeda is a lot less active in Italy, where alQaeda does not need an important foothold because it already maintains a thriving presence next door in the Balkan countries of Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia, from which weapons, money and false documents are easily secreted to its European bases. But un­known numbers are enlisting in Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, Sweden and Norway. Recruitment across Europe continues apace and in greater se­crecy than ever as a result of a switch to new recruiting techniques and appeal to fresh target-populations for building the Euro army. Al Qaeda, intent on beating surveillance and penetration by intelli­gence services, no longer selects combatants at its usual hunting grounds in mosques, Islamic culture centers and Muslim immigrant neighborhoods. Instead, native Europeans freshly converted to Is­lam are targeted. The new campaign is styled “the white recruitment drive” or “coffee shop conscription”. Operational cells and recruit­ing agents patronize ordinary cafes on the high streets of Europe’s major cities where they blend into the crowds. The new conscripts defy identification by European intelligence services because their Islamic lives are lived completely underground. There is no way of finding their addresses telephone numbers. Unit-level meetings or training sessions, attended by 30 or 40 men, may take place under cover of social activity such as a holiday camp in a remote part of Europe. Tracking them down is getting harder as bin Laden’s new Euro army expands at the rate of tens of thousands and when “white” recruits may already form some 25 percent of the total. Source: DEBKA Watch the programs of PUNA TV daily 3:30 pm till closing at the CSARDAS Hungarian Restaurant. 323-962-6434.

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