It Was Never About Obama in the First Place — Why Barack is Merely Puppet o’ Hope
If the first debate between Barack and Mitt proved anything, besides this emperor having no clothes, it’s that the point of electing Obama was never about his “genius.” It was simply a convenient leftist power grab, obscured by a ridiculous cartoon of leadership. As has been richly illustrated, despite all his intellectual bluster—Barack is no Einstein. After exposure as a cocky, know-nothing parrot of others’ words, it became startlingly obvious Barack has a very limited pool of knowledge. Like a blind man searching for his cane all evening, was Barack Obama “debating.”
Now certainly those working with Obama the past 5-10 years knew of his inherent limitations, that he was essentially an unthinking figure head for their movement. Further, they wagered with his grandiose self-image, belief in his own inevitable rise, preposterously condescending manner, and photogenic style, he’d be a perfect Trojan-horse to ride to victory. But finally, Obama was revealed as a charlatan as silly as any from a rock-n-roll opera:
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So what has actually happened the last four years in the White House? Obviously, an elaborate fraud has been foisted upon a credulous, tired and intellectually inert American public. But why? Because liberalism is a movement so inherently illogical, unstable and anti-intuitive it needs leaders who are either dense blowhards, moral misfits, or literally insane to head the cause (see Sources of Madness—The Insane Thinkers of the Modern Age). Alarmingly, modern liberalism (socialism, Marxism, Fascism, etc) is a political religion intent upon converting the world, even by sword, if necessary. So the real star of Obama’s administration is this quasi-religious, atheistic world movement which finds a surprising ideological partner in classic Islam. This menacing, anti-liberty movement will not rest until it has enslaved the globe.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
John Kerry Wrong Mitt Romney Pretender
Every election campaign has its most laughable moment, and the Barack Hussein Obama one has (make that had) John Kerry.
According to Alexander Marlow, Managing Editor of savvy Breitbart news, “Team Obama Blames John Kerry for Debate Loss”.
Well, given that Kerry ran against him in 2004, guess that’s the closest Team Obama can get to George W. Bush.
In terms of rollicking laughter, Kerry as Obama’s sparring partner in practice rounds leading up to the first presidential debate, has gotta’ be right up there with Clint Eastwood’s Empty Chair.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Robotic Weapons to Replace Present Generation of US Drones
THE US military’s current fleet of drones will soon be overtaken by a new wave of robots that will be faster, stealthier and smarter — operating virtually without human intervention, experts say.
The Pentagon is investing heavily in “autonomy” for robotic weapons, with researchers anticipating squadrons of drones in the air, land or sea that would work in tandem with manned machines — often with a minimum of supervision.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Emperor’s Magic New Debate
The outcome of the debate between Obama and Romney had less to do with any extraordinary qualities possessed by Mitt Romney than with the purely ordinary qualities of Barack Obama. No matter how much Team Obama tried to warn the media faithful against any enthusiasm, the expectations were high and remained high until the Chicago Messiah began to speak. And then there was nothing.
Obama did not blatantly fail. He didn’t forget the number of states or stand there stammering for five minutes before throwing a chair and storming off the stage. That would have been extraordinary. Instead his performance was ordinary, a bland heavily rehearsed stew of big government talking points with nothing behind them. It lacked confidence and inspired no confidence.
Romney did not come to the debate and deliver a brilliant performance. The former Massachusetts governor is not Ronald Reagan. He was just qualified and that word is more damning than any other because it highlights Obama’s incompetence. His debate performance was the work of a professional politician who prepped for it, as he preps for everything.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of executives and companies are caught in a software patent system that federal judges, economists, policy makers and technology executives say is so flawed that it often stymies innovation.
Alongside the impressive technological advances of the last two decades, some argue, a pall has descended: the marketplace for new ideas has been corrupted by software patents used as destructive weapons.
This article is Part 7 of the iEconomy series, which examines the challenges posed by increasingly globalized high-tech industries.
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The US Government Today Has More Data on the Average American Than the Stasi Did on East Germans
We’ve written plenty about how the US government has been quite aggressive in spying on Americans. It has been helped along by a court system that doesn’t seem particularly concerned about the 4th Amendment and by the growing ability of private companies to have our data and to then share it with the government at will. Either way, in a radio interview, Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin (who’s been one of the best at covering the surveillance state in the US) made a simple observation that puts much of this into context: the US surveillance regime has more data on the average American than the Stasi ever did on East Germans. And, of course, as we’ve already seen, much of that data seems to be collected illegally with little oversight… and with absolutely no security benefit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Wear Radio Chip or Leave, School Tells Students
Superintendent issues warning: ‘There will be consequences’ for not submitting
Brushing aside privacy concerns by parents and civil rights activists, a Texas school district has gone live with a controversial program requiring all students to wear a locator radio chip that will enable officials to track their every move — or face expulsion.
At the beginning of the school year students at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School within the Northside Independent School District were told their old student ID badges were no longer valid. During registration they were required to obtain new badges containing a radio frequency identification tracker chip.
Students refusing the chips were reportedly threatened with suspension, fines, or being involuntary transferred. Unlike chips used by retailers to track inventory which activate when scanned by a reader, these chips contain batteries and actively broadcast a continuous signal.
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Heather Fazio, executive director of Texans for Accountable Government, said the district has not been willing to take steps to listen to parent’s concerns over the chips.
“After paying a $30 fee with the FOIA request I was able to get every student’s name and address,” Fazio explained. “Using this information along with an RFID reader means a predator could use this information to determine if the student is at home and then track them wherever they go. These chips are always broadcasting so anyone with a reader can track them anywhere.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Irish Hatred for Israel is Embodied by Gerry Adams, Claims Journalist
Israeli newspaper claims Irish are worst anti-Semitic people in Europe
Ireland has been described as the most anti-Semitic country in Europe in an Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva op-ed. The paper and media company Channel 7 is a religious Zionist publication.
The writer is Giulio Metti, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, He claims Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams embodies the anti- Israelei .
“The Irish hatred for Israel is denationalized and secularized, internationalist, universalist and third-worldist. It’s embodied by Gerry Adams, who has led the Irish Republican movement for four decades. He donned a kaffiyeh when he went to Israel to make a TV documentary about Jesus and he met with Hamas’ leaders.”
Metti recalls the anti Jewish riots in Limerick in 1904 quoting a priest John Creagh at the time “It is madness”, the Christian leader declared, “for a people to allow an evil to grow in their midst that will cause them ruin”. Orders were given to the Jews’ customers not to buy their goods and to repay their loans. If the Jews walked in the streets they were beaten, confronting crowds shouting “Death to the Jews!” and “Hunt them out”.
Now Meotti says anti Semtic sentiment is rife again in Ireland . “A century later, a committee in Ireland’s Oireachtas, the country’s legislature, called for a national ban on imported products from “Israeli settlements considered internationally as illegal”.
The Irish government will also try to take the lead in the European Union in establishing such a ban and will champion an EU-wide ban during Ireland’s EU presidency next year,” he notes.
“Ireland, the last state in the European Union to have full diplomatic relations with Israel, is one the most anti-Semitic countries in Europe.
“Last November, an anti-Israel display was held on Dublin’s main pedestrian street, presenting IDF soldiers as Nazis.
“According to the Israeli Embassy in Dublin, not a single Israeli dance or theater company, musician or filmmaker has been invited to Ireland for a decade.
“The Irish government also recently decided to upgrade the Palestinian diplomatic mission in the country. Ireland is the first European Union member to announce such a move, which was initiated by the foreign minister.
“In 2010, town councilmen in Carrickmacross voted to rip out a page of a town’s visitors’ book because Israel’s Ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, signed it.
“Today no senior political figure in the Republic of Ireland would come out on Israel’s side. The only Jewish deputy in the Parliament,, Alan Shatter, and the Israeli ambassador, were both compared to the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels by Sinn Fein MK Aengus O Snodaigh, “ He noted,
| — Hat tip: McR | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ex-Berlusconi Minister Faces 16 Months for Rigging Tenders
Raffaele Fitto ‘fixed public contracts worth over 15 mln euros’
(ANSA) — Bari, October 5 — Prosecutors on Friday asked a court to convict ex-regional affairs minister Raffaele Fitto and sentence him to 16 months in prison for allegedly conspiring to rig tenders worth over 15 million euros. Investigators say Fitto, who was the governor of Puglia at the time of the accusations, rigged public contracts in favor of a company called Cedis, which ran supermarkets in the region. A decision is scheduled for October 22.
A raft of regional corruption cases involving various parties have recently come to a head in Italy, culminating in the arrest of former Lazio caucus leader Franco Fiorito from former premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party. Fitto served as regional affairs minister under Berlusconi from May 2008 to November 2011.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fiorito Says Regional Council Pres Knew About Corruption
Ex-caucus chief points fingers during questioning
(ANSA) — Rome, October 4 — Franco Fiorito, the disgraced former caucus chief in the Lazio region of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party, said the president of the regional council Mario Abruzzese was aware of how the funds at the center of a scandal were divided up.
Fiorito, who was being interrogated after his arrest earlier this week for allegedly embezzling public money, said “Abbruzzese was aware of how the funds were being divided up” and helped those doing it.
Fiorito was arrested and taken to prison on Tuesday after a judge agreed with prosecutors that there was a risk he could reoffend or tamper with evidence.
He denies any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors on Thursday seized more than 1.3 million euros’ worth of assets from Fiorito.
The case, which exploded when Fiorito was put under investigation earlier this month, caused the PdL’s Renata Polverini to step down as governor of Lazio last week.
The scandal is seen by many as a threat to the centre-right PdL’s chances of maintaining its position as the biggest party in parliament in next year’s general elections.
Berlusconi’s party currently trails far behind the main centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in the polls.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: St Peter’s Protester Abandons Dome After 24 Hours
Trieste businessman who scaled St Peter’s agrees to be rescued by firefighters. Minister Moavero’s assurances: government is seeking solution
ROME — Marcello Di Finizio, the businessman from Trieste who climbed onto the dome of St Peter’s in protest at the government’s economic policy, is back on the ground. After spending an entire day aloft, Mr Di Finizio agreed to be rescued by firefighters, who had arrived equipped with ropes. The banner was taken down. Mr Di Finizio received assistance and his position is currently being assessed by Vatican gendarmes.
MOAVERO: WE WILL FIND A SOLUTION — Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it is “actively committed” to finding a solution for the implications of the Bolkenstein directive for bathing station licences, which was the reason for Mr Di Finizio’s protest. The minister for EU policy, Enzo Moavero, said at the end of a Palazzo Chigi meeting with his German counterpart, Michael Link: “Minister Piero Gnudi and I are seeking a solution. We sympathise very much with Marcello Di Finizio’s situation but the government also has a duty to comply with European regulations that have been in force for years and which been incorporated into Italian law. We hope that a climate of faith and dialogue can be instituted between the government and categories affected by the Bolkenstein directive, and that this will make it possible to work to best effect towards a shared solution. We are following this matter closely. Several elements of the government are involved but the issue is not straightforward as it requires a joint effort of government and Parliament. The search for a solution demands a legislative response”, concluded Mr Moavero.
ON THE DOME — Mr Di Finizio, who was displaying a banner with the legend “No More Monti, No More Europe, No More Multinationals”, refused to comply with invitations to come down from Vatican gendarmes and Italian police officers. He spent the night on the dome, despite falling temperatures. “I love life so much I am prepared to risk it. If the government wants to kill me, it can go ahead. I’m right here”, Mr Di Finizio told RCD, “I ask Monti to draw a line under licences for the use of public land”. During a live interview with Corriere TV, Mr Di Finizio added that his demand was for “access to bank credit. No government has been able to take the situation in hand. For months, I’ve been looking to contact the powers that be. Chatter, that’s all. It’s time to bring things to a head. People are going under. My sector represents ten per cent of the economy and my business is sound and productive. Did you ever see a bank that acted for the good of humanity?”
SECOND TIME — On 26 March, yesterday’s dome-climber carried out another ascent, scaling Trieste’s emblematic 80 metre-high Ursus crane, coming down four days later after receiving assurances that he would be able to speak to EU policy minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi. The outcome of the meeting, which took place on 30 April, did not match Mr Di Finizio’s expectations and on 30 July he was protesting again, this time in Rome. He climbed 135 metres onto the roof of St Peter’s to attack the Bolkenstein directive. At about 5 pm on Tuesday, he was back. He slipped into St Peter’s like any other tourist, climbed to the top level and emerged from the window of the dome. Vatican gendarmes attempted without success to convince him to terminate his perilous protest…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
‘Nigerian Prostitution Gang’ Busted in Italy
Suspected of human trafficking, ‘enslaving’ women
(ANSA) — Bari, October 5 — Italian police on Friday said they had smashed a Nigerian prostitution ring acting across northern Italy.
Several Nigerian nationals were arrested for forcing women from Nigeria into prostitution.
They are suspected of human trafficking, slavery, inducement into prostitution and living off immoral earnings, police said.
The gang also allegedly forced the women to have abortions.
Arrests were carried out in the northern cities of Turin, Novara, Vicenza and Piacenza.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland Yard is investigating claims that MI6 and MI5 officers who interrogated a British man held at Guantanamo Bay were fully aware he was being brutally tortured by his American jailers.
Shaker Aamer, 46, whose wife and four children live in South London, alleges that during his ten years of captivity at the US naval base, British agents visited him three times.
Mr Aamer’s British lawyers have handed detectives 56 pages of hand-written notes and typed depositions in which he lays out his allegations. The Mail on Sunday has been told that Scotland Yard has formally asked the US government to allow them to question Mr Aamer in Guantanamo.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cleaning Up Algeria, New Government Motto
Against waste and illegal dumps, for new mentality
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, SEPTEMBER 28 — The Algerian government has launched a campaign to remove all the garbage and dirt polluting much of its territory.
Amara Benyounes, minister for the environment and territory, presented the initiative saying that although ‘we are in the habit of carrying out great campaigns and then nothing’, the government is extremely serious about the environment. He said the campaign will be long-lasting and signal a general change in perspective to support the environment. The first sign of this is that its main sponsor is President Bouteflika.
‘We will clean up all Algeria, not only its cities’ said Amara Benyouned, anticipating that the change in this sector will be initiated with the drafting of a plan providing for the project to continue beyond its initial phase.
The minister told national radio that each province will have its own incinerator. ‘We have chosen to buy three great plants of this type for the three main cities (Algiers, Oran and Constantine). Algerians need to know that each incinerator costs between 150-160,000 euros’, he said, signalling that the plan is expensive as well as ambitious.
The project also provides for significant changes in the current management of dumps whose use will now be rigidly regulated and, if necessary, dumps will be moved or closed.
Illegal dumps will be eliminated.
All of the country’s 48 wilays (provinces) have already received the new regulations as they will be first in charge of implementing the measures given the budget crisis of city governments. A small but relevant change involves the role of the ‘concierge’, as the buildings’ guardians are called, who could be charged with a role of responsibility in preserving the local environment.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Did Iran Spy on French Alps Murder Victim’s Satellite Firm?
The satellite firm that employed Alps murder victim Saad Al-Hilli may have been targeted by Iranian intelligence agents desperate to get their hands on high-resolution images of their enemies’ defence and weapons sites.
Mr Al-Hilli, a British Iraqi, had been working on a secret aeronautical project at Surrey Satellite Technology in Guildford.
The Mail on Sunday has established that part of his role was with the company’s renowned digital imaging enterprise, based close to its headquarters.
The 50-year-old engineer, his wife Iqbal, her mother and an unrelated French cyclist were shot dead in a wood near Lake Annecy on September 5.
His daughters Zainab, seven, and Zeena, four, survived the attack.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Drastic Reduction in Saudi Religious Police Powers Begins
The Mutawa will no longer have the power to make arbitrary arrests and interrogations. The change comes after recent criticism from citizens tired of the religious police excesses.
Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Arbitrary arrests to punish women with too much eye make-up, chases through the streets of Riyadh over a load car stereo. These are just some of the abuses dealt by the Mutawa, the feared Saudi religious police, who have of late witnessed a drastic fall in popularity among the population. In recent months there have been dozens of complaints against the excesses of the agents in the control of dress codes, customs and observance of Sharia.
In recent days, Abdul Latif Abudl Aziz al-Sheikh, the new reformist head of the religious police since January, announced a reduction in the powers of the Mutawa; they must yield the power to make arrests and interrogations to the normal security forces. Known as a man of broad views, al-Sheikh was chosen by the establishment to improve the reputation of Saudi Mutawa which has fallen sharply after a few agents provoked a fatal accident on the streets of Riyadh in pursuit of a man who had refused to lower the volume of his car radio.
The incident sparked the ire of the population, especially young people, who, seeing as they could not publicly criticize the institution, created groups of protest on Twitter and Facebook . In recent years these social networks have become the only haven of pseudo-freedom in the whaabita regime.
According to experts, the move by al-Sheikh is a sign of greater responsibility by Saudi institutions in recent months he has given a series of interviews to the media to respond to the concerns of the population. He is also working on a new code of conduct for his agents. For decades, the Mutawa have been tasked with enforcing a strict Islamic code which are obligatory even for foreign personnel and companies. Only two weeks after his appointment al-Sheikh banned volunteers among the ranks of the religious police and suspended several officers accused of “excessive zeal” in the application of their duties.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Fires More Retaliatory Strikes at Syria for Fourth Consecutive Day
Turkey yesterday launched retaliatory strikes against Syria for the fourth consecutive day.
They were ordered after mortar bombs fired from Syria landed in a field in southern Turkey earlier in the day.
The Turkish response followed Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s warning to the Syrian regime that his country would not shy away from war if provoked.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man, 38, Dies From Deadly Tropical Disease After Returning to the UK From Afghanistan
A man diagnosed with a tropical disease after returning to the UK from Afghanistan has died in hospital, it has emerged today.
The 38-year-old was fighting for his life in a high security isolation ward at the Royal Free Hospital in London after contracting the deadly Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF).
He was transferred by the RAF on a C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Brownlee Unit in Glasgow to the specialist high security unit at the Royal Free London on Thursday.
It is the first laboratory-confirmed case of CCHF in the UK, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA).
Other passengers who sat close to him on an aircraft are undergoing daily health checks.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chavez Wins Re-Election, Electoral Council Says
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s electoral council says President Hugo Chavez has won re-election, defeating challenger Henrique Capriles.
National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena says that with most votes counted, Chavez had about 54 percent of the vote.
It was Chavez’s third re-election victory in nearly 14 years in office. The victory gives Chavez another six-year term to cement his legacy and press more forcefully for a transition to socialism in the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
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California Mom Jailed for School-Skipping Kids
Lorraine Cuevas, 34, is currently serving a 180-day jail stint after authority’s in Hanford, California busted the mother of two for keeping her school-age children at the home more often that the law permits.
Throughout the Golden State, a relatively new legislation limits the amount of days parents are allowed to let their children skip out on school. Under the law, the state can seek punishment for parents that let their children miss out on more than 10 percent of any given school-year. Officials in Hanford say Cuevas shattered the limit when she kept her kids home for 116 days.
Now for not letting her children — one second grader and a third grader — attend class regularly at Monroe Elementary School, both kids will be without their mom while she serves nearly six months behind bars.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lord Carey: Gay Marriage Could Have ‘Drastic’ Consequences Including Risk of Polygamy
The former Archbishop of Canterbury will set out his reasons why he believes gay marriage would ‘strike at the very fabric of society’ at the Tory party conference.
David Cameron’s plans to allow gay marriage could have ‘drastic’ consequences, even allowing men to marry more than one woman, the former Archbishop of Canterbury will warn Conservatives tomorrow.
In a speech at this week’s party conference, Lord Carey will say same-sex marriages ‘strike at the very fabric of society’.
He will say it is difficult to know at this stage what the consequences would be if gay marriage were introduced, according to a draft seen by The Mail on Sunday.
But he will cite developments in other countries where the law is being liberalised, including France, where the government intends to ban the words ‘mother and father’ from official documents, replacing them with ‘parents’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Leading World Bank Demographer: Vaccination Campaigns Part of Population Reduction Policy
On October 2nd a retired demographer at the World Bank admitted that vaccination campaigns are an integral part of the World Bank’s population policies. John F. May, the Bank’s leading demographer from 1992 to 2012, told the French web journal Sens Public (and in turn transcribed by the think-tank May works for) that vaccination campaigns, especially in so-called “high-fertility countries”, are means to achieve population reduction in those countries. May:
“The means used to implement population policies are “policy levers” or targeted actions such as vaccination campaigns or family planning to change certain key variables.”
Defining “population policy” as “a set of interventions implemented by government officials to better manage demographic variables and to try to attune population changes (number, structure by age and breakdown) to the country’s development aspirations”, May continues to explain that the World Bank is taking up the lead role in achieving general population reduction.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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