Check out tonight’s “behavioral sink” stories from the UK. Every night there are at least a few, but tonight seems to have more than its share.Also, in case you haven’t been following the story, Obama will close Gitmo shortly after he takes office. The interesting thing will be what he decides to do with the Gitmo alumni…
Thanks to Frontinus, Insubria, Islam in Action, JD, LN, MESI, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Barack Obama’s Monopoly Money
President-elect Barack Obama’s enormous stimulus package would be scary enough without learning the details. To inject the same staggering amount of government-created or borrowed money into the economy as has already been spent or set aside for the government bailout when there’s no proof it will jump-start our economy and no thought given to how we’re going to recoup this money is madness. But when you hear some of the uses he has for this money, it is way beyond madness.
Let’s put aside for a moment our valid objections to the Keynesian idea that the government can create prosperity simply by printing and distributing money as if it were “Monopoly” money. If that were true, the only limit to our sustained prosperity would be the amounts of paper and ink we could produce.
Let’s also put aside the enormity of the liberal hypocrisy of railing against deficit spending for the past eight years, as Obama stands blissfully poised to dwarf those records.
Instead, let’s just examine Obama’s inflexible commitment to two conflicting goals, as evidenced in his interview on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos: 1) spending the “Monopoly” money in a way most likely to stimulate the economy (assuming here the validity of Keynesian theory) and 2) spending the money in a way most likely to satisfy liberal social planners.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bill Ayers to Speak at FSU Despite Protests
‘A university is a place where unpopular beliefs have to be allowed’
[Comment from JD: Note the article slant…]
Ayers, who was labeled a “terrorist” by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Palin, his running mate, became part of the 2008 campaign because he lives in the same Chicago neighborhood as Barack Obama and they served together on a community board.
Obama condemned Ayers’ illegal actions as a student radical almost 40 years ago, adding that he and Ayers are not close friends. The New York Times and other news organizations investigated the connections between Obama and Ayers and concluded the two did not have a noteworthy relationship.
Ayers, who was invited to speak at FSU by the student association Institute for Liberal Studies, is no stranger to controversy. In November the University of Nebraska withdrew an invitation for him to speak at the university.
“Threats have been made,” Ayers said last week during a telephone interview. “I haven’t taken it very seriously. Police have taken it seriously, but I guess that’s their job.
“I think a university is a place where unpopular beliefs have to be allowed to be heard in the broad marketplace of ideas — and I’m not saying I have unpopular beliefs.”
Ayers, a distinguished professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, will be talking about education reform, although he will take questions about any topic following his speech. He gives more than 50 talks a year at colleges and universities.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Burris Helped Blagojevich in 2006
Senate nominee did opposition research in re-election fight
Just days after Gov. Rod Blagojevich accepted his party’s nod for re-election in 2006, a letter arrived at state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka’s office seeking thousands of pages of documents Blagojevich could use as ammunition against her in their upcoming campaign.
The letter was signed by Roland Burris.
It was one of several requests Burris made to the treasurer’s office in 2006, a campaign practice known as opposition research in which candidates use public documents to question their opponents’ records.
Burris’ assistance for his fellow Democrat would typically draw little notice. But it comes to light as he is seeking to project his political independence from the scandal-plagued governor who appointed him to the U.S. Senate on Dec. 31.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California — Plush Hospitals for State’s Felons
Aerobics and yoga classes, workout rooms and open-air courtyards were just a few of the amenities recommended for California’s hospitalized felons in a draft report for the court-appointed receiver tasked with overhauling the state’s prison health care system.
The recommendations called on the cash-starved state to spend $8 billion on seven new hospitals — each roughly the size of 10 Wal-Mart stores — to replace a decrepit health care system that a federal judge says is killing an average of one inmate per week. Judge Thelton Henderson said state officials were incapable of fixing the system and handed the job to receiver Clark Kelso.
The draft report, posted recently on the receiver’s Web site, said the new hospitals’ environment “should be ‘holistic’ in expression.”
“In the place of sterile prison corridors or barren, large-scale ‘yards,’ both staff and patient should experience landscaped courtyards and places of rest and respite,” the draft said.
The report also suggested that the new prison hospitals include:
- Workout rooms to “promote wellness,” featuring exercise machines and space for “therapeutic activities such as aerobics, yoga, (and) group exercise.” Plus handball courts.
- Outdoor courtyards “where patients will be encouraged to participate in recreational therapy programs such as horticulture.”
- Gymnasiums with a basketball court and a music room, a crafts room, game room and therapy kitchen.
- Outdoor running tracks.
The report also said there should be day rooms for patients featuring a “quiet room for reading and study, as well as a separate room for group TV watching.” Each should include “a liberal use of sound attenuation materials and be designed to maximize natural light to create a normative environment,” the document said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats’ Assault on Working Folks
Nationally, our new president, Barack Obama, promises to end our economic crisis by spending more money the government does not have, the very thing that turned a recession into the Great Depression under Franklin D. Roosevelt.
His plans for meager tax cuts on individuals and business have outraged fellow Democrats and likely never will happen, and no doubt at some point in his tenure ruling (his word) America, he will seek universal health care paid for and controlled by the government, thus decreasing the quality and raising the cost of medicine.
Now another loopy Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, wants to make millions of acres of federal land off-limits for energy production. As the Democrats lock up more and more of our energy resources, they guarantee ever-increasing dependence on foreign suppliers (continuing to enrich countries that hate America) and higher costs to drive our cars and trucks, fly our aircraft, supply our military and heat our homes.
Obama and his fellow leftists seem intent on creating a system of uniform misery much like that of the old Soviet Union. When Polish railway worker Jan Grzebska awoke from a 19-year coma in the summer of 2007, he was stunned to see the economic progress Poland had made after discarding Marxist economic policies.
“When I went into a coma, there was only tea and vinegar in the shops, meat was rationed, and huge petrol queues were everywhere,” he said.
At one time, Ireland had one of the world’s poorest economies, with high government spending and taxation and dismal economic growth. Then the Irish rejected leftist economic policies and did what always has worked: They reduced the size of government and dramatically cut taxes.
Writes Marc C. Duff, senior research and policy director for The Taxpayers Network: These steps resulted in “economic growth and booming employment in Ireland, thus helping to create the ‘Celtic Tiger.’ Over the past 10 years, over 700,000 jobs were created, with the bulk of the gains located in the market services and construction sectors.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gay NH Bishop to Offer Prayer at Inaugural Event
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The first openly gay Episcopal bishop will offer a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial at an inaugural event for President-elect Barack Obama.
The selection of New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson for Sunday’s event follows weeks of criticism from gay-rights groups over Obama’s decision to have the Rev. Rick Warren give the invocation at his Jan. 20 inauguration.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Go East, Young Man — Californians Look for the Exit
The number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net total of 144,000 people during that period — more than any other state, according to census estimates. That is about equal to the population of Syracuse, N.Y.
The state with the next-highest net loss through migration between states was New York, which lost just over 126,000 residents.
California’s loss is extremely small in a state of 38 million. And, in fact, the state’s population continues to increase overall because of births and immigration, legal and illegal. But it is the fourth consecutive year that more residents decamped from California for other states than arrived here from within the U.S.
A losing streak that long hasn’t happened in California since the recession of the early 1990s, when departures outstripped arrivals from other states by 362,000 in 1994 alone.
In part because of the boom in population in other Western states, California could lose a congressional seat for the first time in its history.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Leading Economist Fears Decade of Weakness in US
One of the world’s leading economists has given warning that the United States is facing a decade of financial misery, with the number of unemployed Americans set to continue to rise for years.
Robert Shiller, Professor of Economics at Yale University, who predicted the end of the internet bubble seven years ago, said: “We could have many years of a very weak economy. Big recessions are followed by years of weakness and typically unemployment keeps rising.
“To say that this will last years is not a dramatic statement. What is happening now is much worse than 1990. We could be facing a decade of real weakness.
“This is no ordinary recession. There are signs that people see this as a different story. People are talking about a depression, something that we haven’t seen previously.”
| [Return to headlines] |
NY: Waiter Disrupts Jewish Wedding With Arabic Chants
Long Island waiter Stephen Buttafuoco who was working at a Jewish wedding, took it upon himself to give the marrying couple a gift that they will never forget.
| — Hat tip: Islam in Action | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Preparing Order to Close Gitmo
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U..S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.
It’s unlikely the detention facility at the Navy base in Cuba will be closed anytime soon. In an interview last weekend, Obama said it would be “a challenge” to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.
But the order, which one adviser said could be issued as early as Jan. 20, would start the process of deciding what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held there. Most have not been charged with a crime.
The Guantanamo directive would be one of a series of executive orders Obama is planning to issue shortly after he takes office next Tuesday, according to the two advisers. Also expected is an executive order about certain interrogation methods, but details were not immediately available Monday.
The advisers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the orders that have not yet been finalized.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama to Tap Tech Adviser as FCC Chief Article
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama intends to nominate his technology adviser, Julius Genachowski, to head the Federal Communications Commission, a Democratic source close to the Obama transition team said.
[…]
During the campaign, Mr. Genachowski served as the top technology adviser to Mr. Obama, putting together a detailed technology and innovation plan that expressed support for open Internet or “net neutrality” protections; media-ownership rules that encourage more diversity; and expansion of affordable broadband access across the country…
| — Hat tip: LN | [Return to headlines] |
Radical Islamic Networks in America
By Jamie Glazov
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Ryan Mauro, the founder of WorldThreats.com. He is currently a national security researcher for the Christian Action Network and a researcher for the Reform Party of Syria. A frequent guest on radio and TV programs, he is the author of Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq. He can be contacted at TDCAnalyst@aol.com.
FP: Ryan Mauro, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Mauro: Thank you.
FP: I’d like to talk to you today about radical Islamic networks that exist in the U.S. Tell us about them.
Mauro: Many Americans seem to think the War on Terror is a synonym for “War on Al-Qaeda,” but Al-Qaeda is just one small, dying portion of the entire radical Islamic movement that seeks to enslave the Muslim community to its ideology and attack the United States. Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and virtually every terrorist organization has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, which can be said to be the “mother” that gave birth to today’s terrorists.
FP: Tell us about the Muslim Brotherhood and how it mothered terrorist groups in the U.S.
Mauro: The group is radical Islamic in nature and has worldwide goals, as repeatedly stated in its internal documents. It worked with the Nazis during World War Two.
| — Hat tip: Frontinus | [Return to headlines] |
Student Auctions Off Virginity for Offers of More Than £2.5 Million
The student who has a degree in Women’s Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself.
Miss Dylan, from San Diego, California, USA, said she was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Teen Convicted of Killing Mother Over Video Game
ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) — A judge Monday rejected the defense that a teenage boy opened fire on his family because he was addicted to video games, convicting him of wounding his clergyman father and killing his mother after they fought over a game.
[…]
Mark Petric, who is a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, testified that his son came into the room and asked: “Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you.”
The father testified that he expected a pleasant surprise. Then his head went numb from a gunshot and he survived. His wife, Susan, 43, died of gunshot wound to the head.
Kersey said during the trial that when the teenager fled the grisly scene, he only took one item with him: the “Halo 3” game.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Traitors in Congress
On January 8, 2009, with no objection being raised, Congress — House and Senate — voted unanimously to certify the Electoral College.
Not one legislator, Republican or Democrat, Senator or Representative, could or did refute even one of the undisputed facts concerning the eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama to the office of president under Article II, Section 1, United States Constitution. Not one!
Those undisputed facts are as follows: […]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Washington’s Wealth Boom
Take a look at this map. The areas shaded in red are the 100 wealthiest counties in America according to per capita income. At first glance, it’s a little misleading, because in the American West, counties tend to be larger in geographic area. But look closely, and you’ll see that after the New York City metropolitan area, the largest cluster of wealth in the U.S. is huddled around Washington, D.C.
[…]
The Washington wealth boom is the result of the massive expansion in government over the last 10 years, which has populated the region with an increase in well-paid federal employees, and wealthy federal contractors and lobbyists.
[…]
The outlook from here is grim. As bad as the Bush administration has been about expanding the size and scope of government, President-elect Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress aren’t exactly promising cutbacks. They’ve promised to expand the federal budget, the federal payroll, and the federal government’s influence over the private sector. Obama’s stimulus package calls for 600,000 new government employees.
And then there’s all of that bailout money. At its core, the concept of a bailout is for the government to take money from people and businesses that didn’t make mistakes, and give it to businesses that made lots of them. The waste comes not just from the initial cost to taxpayers, but also in all the money companies will then pay high-dollar lobbyists in Washington to procure a part of it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Develops RFID License Plate Tracking
European Union spends $10 million to develop advanced system to track motorists and issue tickets for minor infractions. The European Union is spending 8.1 million Euros (US $10.3 million) on wireless tracking systems designed to allow authorities to issue automated tickets for increasingly minor traffic infractions. Pilot projects underway in Finland, France and Germany use systems designed by the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland as part of a project called ASSET-Road. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a key component in achieving the goal described as “traffic violations detected in a flash.” Many of the ideas have already made their way to the United States.
“The intention is to elaborate for public authorities new innovative solutions and technology to gather traffic data and utilize it in traffic enforcement and surveillance,” VTT explained in a statement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: WWII Supreme Court Explains Why Germany Must Pay Atrocity Damages
(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — Italy’s highest court on Tuesday explained a landmark sentence requiring Germany to pay compensation to the victims of a WWII reprisal on the grounds that no bilateral accord exists that exempts Germany from damage pay-outs.
Germany claims that a 1961 accord discharges it from responsibility for crimes committed by Nazi soldiers and has since appealed against the ruling to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
But the Cassation Court said Tuesday that the accord only governs compensation claims that were pending at the time and not those that have been brought since.
Upholding a 2007 appeals court decision, the supreme court ruled in October that Germany must pay 800,000 euros in damages to a small number of relatives of people killed by German soldiers in three Tuscan villages during a WWII massacre.
A total of 203 men, women and children were shot dead in the towns of Civitella, Cornia and San Pancrazio on June 29, 1944 in retaliation for the murder of three German soldiers by Italian partisans.
While individual ex-soldiers have been sentenced in absentia to long sentences by Italian courts, this was the first time Germany itself was formally asked for compensation.
In the appeal Germany filed with the ICJ in December, Germany accuses Italy of “falling short of its obligations to respect the immunity of a sovereign nation such as Germany by virtue of international law”.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has said Italy respects Germany’s decision to appeal and will also respect any ruling from the ICJ.
Italy and Germany have set up a joint commission to look at all outstanding issues stemming from the Second World War that is due to hold a conference near Lake Como this spring.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
No Dialogue With Hamas Says Frattini
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JANUARY 13 — Dialogue with the Gaza-based militant Islamist group Hamas is not possible, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Tuesday. Hamas must stop firing rockets from Gaza into Israel and recognise Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, he said. “Dialogue with Hamas is not possible because we cannot legitimise a second Palestinian state,” Frattini said as Israel stepped up an 18-day offensive in Gaza which has killed 900 Palestinians. “Hamas must do one thing only: stop firing rockets, recognise Mahmoud Abbas’s authority and avoid building in Gaza a second state that breaks the unity of the Palestinian state”. The position of not negotiating with Hamas was shared by United States President-elect Barack Obama, Egypt and the European Union, which “in fact lists Hamas as a terrorist organisation,” the foreign minister said. Frattini is due to visit Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Syria later this week in a bid to open up unrestricted aid to Gaza and secure its border with Egypt under Abbas’s authority. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Madrid Prosecutor to Look Into Madoff’s Links With Santander
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 13 — Madrid’s anti-corruption office has opened an inquiry into Banca Santander for its relations with a suspect pyramid scam perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, which lost customers of the Spanish institute 2.3 billion euro, according to a report in today’s Wall Steet Journal. The bank under Emilio Botin itself lost 17 million euro, but investigators want to find out what its relations with Madoff were and when Santander first became aware of the problems of the US financing body. Madoff, released on bail on Monday, extended his influence through an international network of sources which channel money belong to his clients in an alleged pyramid scheme. The potential damage to the reputation and earnings of Santander is especially serious in Latin America above all, where the bank has a third of its business concentrated and where two thirds of its losses are said to be located, say sources cited in the paper. The inquiry is aiming at finding out why Santander sent emissaries to New York to meet Madoff a week before the bankruptcy of financier Rodrigo Echenique, a person close to Emilio Botin. Sources are saying he met Madoff at the end of November and the inquiry wants to clarify whether Santander was made aware of the fraud on that occasion. The bank and Echenique himself have not made any comments to the WSJ on the meeting. According to the state prosecutor’s sources, the inquiry is centring on the relationship between Santander, investment fund Fairfield Greenwich Group and the Madoff funds. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Council Tells Couple They Are Too Fat to Adopt
A married couple have spoken of their shock after being turned down to adopt on the grounds that one of them is too fat.
Damien and Charlotte Hall approached Leeds City Council about adoption after discovering that they were unable to have children of their own.
They were told that Mr Hall’s size, at six foot one and a weight of 24-and-a-half stone (156kg), made him morbidly obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 42.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Harriet Harman is an Ultra-Feminist Gender Warrior Trapped in a Student Radical Time-Warp
Her Orwellian ‘equality’ agenda is not just sinister — it’s unhinged.
Today’s White Paper on social mobility should concern anyone who cares about justice and liberty, for it is not about social mobility at all.
It is in fact a blueprint for imposing “equality” through every single arm of government.
Already, every public authority in Britain is legally bound to ensure that policies do not unfairly discriminate on grounds of race, gender, disability or sexuality — a requirement which has actually brought about much injustice. Now they will be similarly bound to bridge the gap between rich and poor.
And how are they going to do this? Inescapably, by taking away from the better off what they have achieved on the basis that this is unjustified “privilege”, and giving it to the poor on the basis that they are unable to achieve by themselves.
And this from a government which has itself spent the last decade destroying the life chances of millions of poor people by undermining the nuclear family, bringing the education system to its knees and trapping more and more people in welfare dependency.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour’s Class Law: Legislation to Order Every Public Body to Tackle Divide Between Rich and Poor
Labour is poised to introduce sweeping new laws to force public bodies to tackle the class divide in Britain.
One Cabinet minister has dubbed the plan ‘socialism in one clause’.
Under the radical drive, every authority from Whitehall to local councils will be legally bound to bridge the gap between rich and poor.
Already they need to assess the affect of policies to ensure they do not unfairly discriminate on grounds of race, gender, disability or sexuality.
Now ministers are considering making them take class background into account when making decisions.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Fire 50,000-Volt Taser at Pensioner, 89, After Threat to Kill Himself
Police fired a 50,000-volt stun gun at an 89-year-old pensioner after he threatened to cut his own throat with broken glass, it emerged today.
Officers use the Taser — which can trigger heart attacks and has led to the deaths of 270 people in the U.S. — after the man had escaped from a care home.
Fearing the pensioner was going to commit suicide they fired the stun gun, which pierced his body with two dart-like wires and knocked him to the ground.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Robbery Suspect Goes Free After Judge Bans Victim From Giving Evidence — Because She Was ‘Too Believable’
A yob accused of robbing a driving instructor walked free from court after a judge ruled his alleged victim was ‘too believable’ to give evidence.
Mother-of-two Denise Dawson, 36, was praised for being ‘honest, utterly decent and brave’ when she testified against Liam Perks, 20.
But the trial was stopped on the first day because Judge Jamie Tabor QC ruled her good character may unfairly sway the jury against the defendant.
He decided that her solitary, split-second identification of the man accused of robbing her was simply not enough.
Judge Tabor said he feared the upstanding member of the community might just sway the jury in a case where the evidence fell short.
(…)
The driving instructor was attacked by a gang of yobs as she was teaching a pupil on an estate in Bristol in December 2007.
They were practicing hill starts when the gang surrounded the car and smashed the rear window with a brick before reaching in and grabbing a laptop.
Mrs Dawson chased him and asked for it back but he refused. When she returned to her car, she found another man rifling through her glove box.
She managed to grab him and have a good look at his face, later identifying him as Perks at an identity parade. He denied to police that he had taken part in the robbery.
In court, the judge ruled her evidence alone was not enough and that she could influence the jury in her favour because of her good character.
(…)
[In another case,] Judge Tabor gave Yvonne Godwin, from Cheltenham, a 12-month suspended sentence after she admitted trying to poison her husband after he cheated on her.
She put rat poison in a cake baked for him but the judge said she should not be jailed because she was not a ‘criminal in any shape or form’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Too Fat for Justice
The 40st thug who will serve a shorter jail term because of his enormous bulk
A morbidly obese thug who attacked two men with a baseball bat was handed a lenient sentence because of his enormous size.
Peter Owens, who weighs 40 stone, will serve just 15 months in jail after a judge ruled he was too fat and unhealthy to serve the full four years maximum.
It means he could be free in just seven months.
Owens has problems with diabetes, angina, incontinence, septicemia, ulcers and tumours.
But the 38-year-old was fit enough to burst into a house and carry out his sickening attack — the latest in a long list of crimes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Renews Support for Croatia EU and NATO Bids
(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB, JANUARY 12 — Italy strongly supports Croatia’s bid for membership in both the European Union and NATO, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Monday. Speaking on the sidelines of his official visit to Zagreb, Frattini said he believed negotiations for Croatia’s EU membership bid could be completed this year, with Croatia entering the EU in 2010. “Zagreb has already made very great efforts towards reform and now must move ahead (by addressing) justice, the fight against corruption and reform of public administration,” he said. He also urged a rapid solution to a dispute with EU member Slovenia over maritime borders in the northern Adriatic, which has slowed negotiations. The issue has caused friction between the two countries since the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1992. Frattini added that he hoped Croatia’s NATO membership would be inked in time for Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to participate at the next NATO summit in Strasbourg in April. Frattini met with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Jandrokovic and President Stipe Mesic during his visit. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-EU: Put Pressure on the Netherlands, Foreign Minister
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, JANUARY 13 — Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic announced a common action by Belgrade and other EU countries, particularly Spain, to put further pressure on the Netherlands to remove a veto and allow the application of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) to Serbia, an important step in their integration into the EU. “We hope that in the upcoming weeks, it will be possible to apply the necessary pressure within the Union, and Spain has taken an important stop in this sense”, said Jeremic to state broadcasting agency, Rts. The Netherlands is the only one of the 27 EU member countries blocking the application of the SSA, stating that it will give the go ahead when Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic are arrested, the only two ex war criminals still in hiding. Yesterday Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos — speaking in Belgrade — asked the Netherlands to remove its veto and to allow the application of the SAA reached between Belgrade and the EU. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Petition Asks Bouteflika to Leave Med Union
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, JANUARY 12 — Algerian intellectuals, militants from the Human Rights League, artists and students have launched a petition asking President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to withdraw Algeria from the Union for the Mediterranean. In a letter addressed to the Head of State, writes daily newspaper El Watan, the Algerian Coordination for initiatives of solidarity with Gaza asks for “the immediate withdrawal of Algeria from the Union over its complicity with Israel. The aggression against Gaza confirms the criminal nature of the Zionist organisation. By continuing to sit next to Israel, whose presence violates the principles of the Charter in the organisation, Algeria would become a de facto accomplice in these crimes”. Algeriàs Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci declared during a meeting of solidarity with the Palestinian people that “events in Gaza will influence the mechanisms of the Union for the Mediterranean. It is still too early to talk about it. We are still considering, but the day will come when Algeria will give its opinion on the functioning of the organisation.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Threatened Algerian Writer One Year in Italy
(ANSAmed) — POTENZA, JANUARY 10 — Potenza, along with Grosseto and Chiusi one of the three Italian towns belonging to the international network of “shelter towns”, will have Hamza Zirem as a guest for one year. He is a “threatened Algerian writer”, as Potenza’s mayor Vito Sanarsiero described him when he introduced him to news people. Potenza had Zimbabwe’s movie woman director Francisca Uniri as a guest for one year recently. “Our institutions — the mayor said — show a high degree of response to solidarity. We believe that, precisely through these projects we can provide an opportunity for growth to our community. Besides, this is an alternative way to make the best use of European Union funds from the project, enjoying also the backing of the Basilicata Region, ‘Peoples — New Relations among Peoples in the east Mediterranean” of the Interreg III B”Archimed” European Programme”. Replying to news people’s questions, Zirem said he had to flee Algeria since he was “one of the opponents of the regime ruling the region where I was born”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Emigrant Revenue Grows by 10% in 2008
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JANUARY 12 — Revenue from Tunisians resident abroad rose last year by 10% compared to 2007, reaching 2.3 billion dinar (about 1.2 billion euro). As for the purchase of foreign currency, by Tunisia, revenue from emigrants is in fourth place after revenue from exports of textile-clothing, mechanical and electrical industry, and tourism. The number of Tunisians resident abroad recently went above one million; 83% are in EU countries. The figures were supplied by the Ministry for Social affairs, Solidarity and Tunisians abroad. (ANSAmed) .
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Guess Who Cares About Dead Palestinians?
For those individuals — such as nearly all members of the world news media — who, in light of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, see moral equivalence between Israel and the Palestinians, here are some clarifying thoughts.
First, it would be difficult nearly to the point of impossibility to find Israeli or other Jews who celebrate the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Jews both within and outside of Israel cringe when they see pictures of dead Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza. For thousands of years at their Passover Seders, Jews have removed wine from their cups to weep ceremonially for the Egyptians — their erstwhile slave owners for 400 years — who died during the Jews’ exodus. Jews have never stopped weeping for enemies.
The opposite is the case with the large majority of Palestinians. It would be quite difficult to find many Palestinians who do not celebrate the deaths of Israeli Jews or non-Israeli Jews. This is not only reflected in Palestinian polls that show majority support for terrorism — and terrorism means killing innocent Jews — it is also reflected in Palestinian media, Palestinian schools and Palestinian mosques that routinely glorify murderers of Jews and refer to all Jews as “monkeys” and the like.
[…]
The second point to be raised is about perspective.
If during World War II, Western news media had reported German and Japanese civilian casualties in the same detail and with the same sympathy they report Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza, it is doubtful that the Nazis and the Japanese militarists would have lost that war. Certainly, at the very least, the anti-Nazi, anti-Fascist war effort would have been severely compromised..
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s Right to Exist
England’s Prince Harry used the slang “Paki” in a private video to refer to a Middle Eastern friend, and the world is outraged. He is forced to publicly apologize and is reprimanded by his military superiors. But when pro-Hamas demonstrators rally in the streets of Fort Lauderdale a few weeks ago calling for Jews to “go back to the ovens,” there isn’t even a blip on the screen. A pro-Hamas rally in Copenhagen, Denmark, this weekend chanted: “We want to kill all the Jews,” “All the Jews should be slain,” “They have no right to exist..” Where is the outrage?
While the Sun Sentinel never even mentioned the chant in the article that covered the Fort Lauderdale event, they did quote one pro-Israel protester, Allyn Kanowsky of Coral Springs, who summarized what is going on very well: “If the Palestinians laid down their arms, there would be no war. If the Israelis laid down their arms, there would be no Israel.”
That’s what it’s all about. Israel’s right to exist.
[…]
Around the globe, Jews are being assaulted and are the subject of protests. There have been arson attacks against Jewish congregations in England, France and Sweden. Feder said what’s happening in Europe is “the worst anti-Semitic violence since Kristallnacht.”
Former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat — now a pro-Israel Christian — was a guest on my Faith2Action radio program last week. He committed a capital offense in Muslim law by converting to Christianity when he spent six-months studying the Bible in an effort to discredit it and to convert his wife to his Muslim faith.
I learned something in that interview. In a response to a caller’s question, Shoebat gave some of the “names for Allah,” which are nothing like the description of the Judeo-Christian God. Our God is referred to with names such as, Father, Savior, Prince of Peace, and Comforter, just to name a few. But the names of Allah he listed are: “the most proud one,” “the creator of all deceivers,” the one who causes death,” and “the afflicter.” Quite a contrast.
No, Islam is a “religion of peace” — suggest otherwise in, say, a cartoon, and you can count the dead bodies to find out just how peaceful they are.
Now, not surprisingly, President-elect Obama is reaching out to meet with the Hamas terrorists. What did you expect? They endorsed him, after all.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tactics of the Hamas Front Organisations and the Extreme Left in the UK Gaza Protests in London
by Atma Singh
This article highlights the involvement of two key controlling revolutionary organisations involved in these London protests through their “front”organisations or politicians (the list includes STWC; British Muslim Initiative and Ken Livingstone as a political personality through his advisers), through an examination of the key objectives and political methods of these modern revolutionary socialist and Islamist UK actors. Specifically, attention will be given to analyzing how the organisations manipulate and infiltrate state agencies and mobilise public opinion. By doing so they influ ence public policy on the questions of terrorist non-state actors in the Middle East, such as Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement), which has been declared a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States of America, and their positions of opposition to legitimate nation-states like Israel.
Protests such as this one, which mobilise the Islamic and peace constituencies in the UK, put the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary under pressure regarding their policy towards Gaza. The primary aim is to shift UK policy away from supporting Israel’s sovereign right to defend itself against Hamas attacks, whilst a secondary aim is to legitimise Hamas. Furthermore, these constituencies seek to rally the forces opposed to the two-state solution and build an anti-Zionist (i.e., not recognising the right of the state of Israel to exist) position amongst Islamic, peace and left wing groups in the UK. A distinction should be made between these acts and the legitimate democratic right of any member of the UK’s general public to protest, criticise and oppose state policy.
The national demonstrations on the current events in Gaza, held in the UK, are a product of the work of MAB and Socialist Action, two entryist organisations, through their roles in STWC, the BMI, as advisers to Ken Livingstone and in other organisations. The role of revolutionary entryist actors in the UK in supporting Hamas and opposing Israel has been significant. The UK government has taken significant steps to contain the advocacy of terrorism. The media is also helping in exposing terrorist sympathisers in the UK. Both need to be aware of the use, by these two revolutionary movements, of entryist tactics in order to influence public policy on the Middle East. They must be vigilant in challenging the legitimacy of these organisations, as their policies are directly opposed to a diplomatic peace settlement on the Israeli-Palestinian question. It is necessary for all political, media and government bodies in the UK to articulate a strategic two-state solution in order to achieve a full and urgent settlement of the Israeli-Palestinia n question and avoid being manipulated by entryist revolutionary socialist and revolutionary Islamicist actors, their front organisations and political personalities…
| — Hat tip: MESI | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Log on to Mork and Mandy in Labour’s La-La Land
[Commant from JD: Summary: Virtual reality politicians to “connect” with voters. Scroll down at URL for Richards blurb on Gaza entitled “Don’t bring Gaza war to the streets of London”]
AAARGH! As if one of them wasn’t enough, Peter Mandelson is being cloned in cyberspace. A cartoon-like image of him will soon appear on a new website.
The computer-generated Mandy, called an avatar, is — believe it or not — designed to give him a more human image and will use his real voice. Since his real voice sounds as if it has been generated by a computer, how will anyone be able to tell?
Cyber Mandy will debut on Second Life, the virtual world created for people who don’t have a real life, and is the brainchild of his former sidekick Dolly Draper — aka Mr Kate Garraway ? another member of Labour’s Living Dead now back in the fold.
According to Mandelson’s blog, the project is designed to ‘embrace and engage’ voters in the age of the internet. In the past, he admits, ‘sometimes we were our own worst enemy’. Not while I draw breath, you’re not, petal.
Don’t bring Gaza war to the streets of London
This column’s support for Israel is well-known. I dug out what I wrote at the time of the war in Lebanon a couple of years ago. Substitute ‘Gaza’ for Lebanon and ‘Hamas’ for Hezbollah and nothing has changed.
I’m not going to revisit all the arguments. This has less to do with the Palestinian cause and everything to do with the global jihad and Iranian-sponsored terrorism aimed at wiping Israel off the face of the Earth.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: PM Defends Himself From Criticism Against Israel
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JANUARY 13 — Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected criticisms that he was too harsh towards Israel over its military offensive against the Gaza Strip and in turn accused “media who have Jewish support” of spreading unverified news. Erdogan made the statements during a meeting held before the parliamentary group of his Development and Justice party (AKP, with Islamic roots) during which he said: “I am a leader who in the past said that anti-semitism is a crime against humanity”. The premier was referring to the comments made days ago about the Israeli military operation ‘Cast Lead’, which he described as “a crime against humanity”. However local analysts maintain that Erdogan’s statements against Israel — far from damaging the strong strategic links which bind Ankara and Jerusalem — were made solely for domestic propaganda goals in view of the coming administration elections in Turkey in March. “Some people say that the Turkish Prime Minister’s statements are too harsh (towards Israel). But my words are no harsher than the phosphorus bombs”, weapons which — according to humanitarian group Human Rights Watch — Israel used during operation ‘Cast Lead’. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Mouthwash Linked to Cancer
AUSTRALIA’S top-selling mouthwashes can cause oral cancer and should be pulled from supermarket shelves immediately.
Leading independent experts have issued this strong warning after investigating latest scientific evidence linking alcohol-containing mouthwashes to the deadly disease.
Their review, published in the Dental Journal of Australia, concludes there is now “sufficient evidence” that “alcohol-containing mouthwashes contribute to the increased risk of development of oral cancer”.
The ethanol in mouthwash is thought to allow cancer-causing substances to permeate the lining of the mouth more easily and cause harm.
Acetaldehyde, a toxic by-product of alcohol that may accumulate in the oral cavity when swished around the mouth, is also believed to be carcinogenic.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mauritania: Minister, Protests Infiltrated by Extremists
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, JANUARY 12 — Demonstrations in protest of the Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip which occurred last Friday in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott, during which violent clashes put law enforcement forces against demonstrators who called for the interruption of diplomatic relations with Israel, were enflamed by “political groups known for their extremism and opportunism”, affirmed the Mauritanian Interior Ministry, promising “to track down and punish the responsible parties as well as all who protected and incited them”. The statement does not mention any group, but according to observers, the extremist Islamic party Tawassoul is being accused, as it is very active in pro-Gaza demonstrations, practically a daily occurrence in the Mauritanian capital. The trouble makers, according to the ministry, “attempted using the protest marches on Friday to cause anarchy, and disturb public order”. Violent clashes opposed authorities already on January 4 to students from the University of Nouakchott during an attempt to assault the Israeli Embassy of Mauritania. Noukchott has held diplomatic relations on the level of ambassadors with Israel since 1999, despite perennial controversy in the country. After the initial raids on Gaza, Mauritania recalled its ambassador from Israel. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bush on Border Agents: ‘I’m Not Talking Pardons’
Laments failure of immigration reform, gives agency executive $60,000 bonus
President Bush has extensively discussed his immigration reform policy in exit interviews and given a $60,000 bonus to a Border Patrol chief who has been criticized for not supporting Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean — but he refuses to talk about whether pardons could be in store for the imprisoned agents.
In a Jan. 6 interview with John Gizzi, political editor of Human Events, Bush said he regrets that the comprehensive immigration bill he endorsed did not prevail.
“Well, I’m sorry it didn’t pass, because I felt strongly that the comprehensive approach to immigration reform was necessary for border enforcement, as well as recognizing that there are people willing to do work Americans won’t do,” Bush said. “[W]ithout the law, by the way, we did put fence up, and the border is becoming more secure. People are now recognizing the truth that there are fewer crossings, and we’ve ended the catch and release and issues like that.”
Bush expressed concern for illegal aliens who risk their lives to come to the United States.
“I don’t like it when the law is so antiquated that people who are willing to do hard work become contraband, they get stuffed in the bottom of 18-wheelers in order to come and do a job that others aren’t willing to do. I don’t think that’s right,” he said.
Only two days later, the Washington Times reported Bush awarded a $61,200 bonus to Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar, who has been criticized by members of his own agency for refusing to support Ramos and Compean after they were sentenced to 11 and 12-year prison sentences, respectively, for shooting at an illegal alien drug dealer while he attempted to smuggle 750 pounds of marijuana across the border.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Illegal Landings Fall by 25%
(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 12 — The reinforcement of border controls, expulsion procedures, re-entry incentives, and the operational cooperation of the European Union and the countries of origin of immigrants, above all the west coast of Africa. These are the reasons behind the positive balance gained against illegal immigration to Spain during 2008, according to Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. Presenting the figures today in Madrid, Rubalcaba said that 13,424 illegal immigrants landed last year, 25% fewer than 2007, when the total was 18,057. In the Canary Islands the fall was even more marked, at 26.4%, with a total of 9,181 arrivals in 2008 compared to 12,478 the previous year and 31,678 in 2006. The situation was the same for the Spanish peninsula and the Balearic islands, where arrivals of illegal immigrants fell by 23.9%. The Interior minister expressed his satisfaction that “almost nobody can come in without the Civil Guard knowing about it”. Rubalcaba also said that actions by the Government had reduced repatriations by 17% in 2008 compared to 2007, but only “because arrivals have fallen in real terms”. Last year immigrants from a total of 29 countries were returned to their country of origin, compared to 22 in 2007. This was thanks to the fact that repatriations had increased to countries such as Nigeria, Mali, Mauritania and Guinea Conakry, whereas arrivals from Morocco and Senegal had fallen due to action by border controls. The efficiency of controls is also reflected in figures related to the repatriation of people turned away at the borders, at sea and air ports, falling from 24,355 in 2007 to 17,317 in 2008, a reduction of 28.9%. This is the result of the creation of a First response brigade against immigration, part of the general Commission for foreigners and documentation, which operates at all foreign borders. Police at border controls have increased by 53.4% in the last five years. The number of expulsions for violations of laws relating to foreigners has also increased, from 9,467 in 2007 to 10,616 in 2008, a 12.1% increase. Rubalcaba pointed out that seven European countries are involved in the Frontex operations in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with technical, naval and air means, which was launched in August 2006. Frontex has doubled its investments in Africa since its launch from 12 to 24 million euro. The positive effects can be seen in the fall in flows of illegal immigrants to Spain, which continues to be the largest beneficiary of EU funding for immigration. With regard to funds from Border and Return, managed by the Ministry of the Interior, the Madrid Government will receive 131 million euro for 2009-2010, or 27% of the total sum available from the European Union for this purpose. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Abortionist Fakes Sonogram to Avoid Age Limit
While Kansas doctor George Tiller is still fighting accusations of illegally aborting 19 viable babies, an undercover sting operation conducted by a pro-life organization revealed his clinic intentionally underestimating fetal age and viability to dodge state laws.
According to a sworn statement, a pregnant mother calling herself “Shaye” received a sonogram from Tiller’s clinic determining her baby was beyond the allowed legal age of abortion, but the test’s administrator “threw it into a trashcan” and recalculated a lesser gestational age. The clinic scheduled Shaye for an abortion four days later.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Universal Healthcare and the Waistline Police
We risk a nanny state contrary to American ideals.
Sedalia, Colo. — Imagine a country where the government regularly checks the waistlines of citizens over age 40. Anyone deemed too fat would be required to undergo diet counseling. Those who fail to lose sufficient weight could face further “reeducation” and their communities subject to stiff fines.
Is this some nightmarish dystopia?
No, this is contemporary Japan.
The Japanese government argues that it must regulate citizens’ lifestyles because it is paying their health costs. This highlights one of the greatly underappreciated dangers of “universal healthcare.” Any government that attempts to guarantee healthcare must also control its costs. The inevitable next step will be to seek to control citizens’ health and their behavior. Hence, Americans should beware that if we adopt universal healthcare, we also risk creating a “nanny state on steroids” antithetical to core American principles.
Other countries with universal healthcare are already restricting individual freedoms in the name of controlling health costs. For example, the British government has banned some television ads for eggs on the grounds that they were promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. This is a blatant infringement of egg sellers’ rights to advertise their products.
In 2007, New Zealand banned Richie Trezise, a Welsh submarine cable specialist, from entering the country on the grounds that his obesity would “impose significant costs … on New Zealand’s health or special education services.” Richie later lost weight and was allowed to immigrate, but his wife had trouble slimming and was kept home. Germany has mounted an aggressive anti-obesity campaign in workplaces and schools to promote dieting and exercise. Citizens who fail to cooperate are branded as “antisocial” for costing the government billions of euros in medical expenses.
| [Return to headlines] |
Microsoft Partners With Implantable RFID Chip Maker VeriChip
Dec. 2, 2008—Microsoft plans to make VeriChip’s VeriMed Health Link system accessible through Microsoft’s HealthVault platform, a secure, online repository that consumers can use for free to manage their health records. The VeriMed Health Link system includes implantable passive RFID tags used for human patient identification and medical records tracking, as well as a hosted database for storing electronic medical records. According to Sean Nolan, the chief architect for HealthVault, VeriChip is the first RFID company to partner with Microsoft on the online platform.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
6 comments:
What a world...what a world.
Here are a few things I came across that I found interesting.
Freedom In The World 2009 Index.
Imams for St. Petersburg 'Muslim Republic'
EU Referendum speculates that Russia might be running out of gas.
An interesting turn-up. Without Russian gas the EU will become incredibly dangerous to its denizens, and to the wider world.
The article re the Traitors in Congress is an excellent compilation of the legitimacy claims against Barry Soetoro - that Obama for you new readers.
Those who are charged with upholding the law and the Constitution have rebelled and are now usurpers.
About that Guantanamo thing: As to relocating the prisoners, at least three state Governors have told Obama, "Not in my state!!".
A news report cited the case of two ex-Gitmo denizens: One had a prosthetic leg done there, was released, later captured in battle over there, still with his wodden leg.
Another was identifed by DNA (not much left of the body) after a suicide bombing.
Maybe Oregon or Michigan might consider accepting the prisoners.
Based on your report on California prisons, that might be their first choice.
The choice of Bishop Robinson might be an attempt to placate the people who were annoyed by the choice of Rick Warren, but I think the end effect will be that everybody is annoyed.
Enjoy this Cerny Czech artistic "controversy" to be exhibited in the EU headquarters by fictitious 27 EU artists
or google more "Entropa" - hahaha outrage!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7827747.stm
Czechmade
I look at the first piece of art, so much trash hanging off a scaffold, and I just have to laugh!
Was anyone paid for this crap?
The Bulgarian toilet thing though... Yeah, that is the only country I have ever been in where I had to line up with the little feet and let it go into a hole. And, I paid for the pleasure! I even got a receipt which I used as a bookmark for many years!
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