Category: World News
Absolute Courage – 7 Year old boy dies trying to protect sister from Rapist
This comes via Breit Bart:
The Back Story via Russia Today:
Just over two months ago Galina lost her son and she’s still struggling to get over the shock.
Zhenya was brutally murdered by a robber, as the boy was trying to save his 12-year-old sister from being raped.
It all happened in late November, in the small military town of Noginsk-9 – a place where even small crimes are rare.
Around midday, a man rang the bell of the flat where Zhenya and his family lived.
“I asked who it was. The man said he was the postman, and he needed to give us a telegram and get a signature. So I opened the door,” recalls Zhenya’s sister Yana.
The little girl says the man held a knife to her throat, and demanded that her brother bring him all the money he could find. Zhenya did as he was told. But when the man started undressing his sister it was more than the boy could bear.
Zhenya seized a knife from the kitchen and plunged it into the man’s back. This didn’t kill the attacker, but it was enough to set Zhenya’s sister free. She ran for help. But it was too late for her brother – he was stabbed eight times.
Thirty-five-year old Sergey Kiyashko is in custody accused of the murder. Police say they have all the evidence they need to convict him.
There is indeed a special place in Heaven for young boys like this. May he rest in the Holy Peace of Christ. May the foul beast that committed this horrible crime to this young boy never see the outside of a jail cell again. 😡
Sickening Report: World Bank Destroys Albanian Village and then Covers it up
This is absolutely sickening to read. 😡
Managers at the World Bank provided false information to the agency’s board of directors about a $39 million, politically-connected European “coastal cleanup” project that led to the destruction and destitution of a powerless village in Albania in 2007 — and then spent nearly two years trying to cover it up, FOX News has learned.
Bank insiders also misled and stonewalled a panel of independent investigators commissioned by the board to investigate the scandal, according to the investigators themselves.
World Bank sources tell FOX News that the panel’s report, submitted to the 24-member board in late November, is one of the most damning independent assessments of the anti-poverty agency’s behavior in the bank’s 60-year history. The bank, the world’s largest and most influential anti-poverty institution and part of the U.N. system, is doling out $100 billion over the next three years for development projects.
For its part, once the report leaked in Albania last week, the bank announced that further disbursements of the loan for the Albanian project had been temporarily suspended on Jan. 9 “due to certain outstanding policy and operational issues.” A World Bank spokesman did not comment to FOX News by press time.
via MyFox Springfield | World Bank Spent More Than a Year Covering Up Destruction
I hope like hell, whomever was responsible for doing this, is brought to justice. The very notion that the organization like the World Bank can just come in and destroy someone’s home is disgusting. May whomever carried this out rot in the Devil’s hell.
Don’t expect our Government to say anything about this, as it is well-known that the World Bank controls much of what goes on in this country as well.
(H/T Freedom’s Phoenix)
Fire strikes Beijing Hotel Complex
Holy Moses…. This is wild…:
Via the New York Times:
A fierce fire engulfed one of the Chinese capital’s most architecturally celebrated modern buildings on Monday, the last day of festivities for the lunar new year when the city was ablaze with fireworks. By late evening the blaze was still raging and the cause remained unknown, but it seemed clear that the 34-story structure, not yet completed, had been rendered unusable. The building, a luxury hotel and cultural complex designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, is part of China Central Television’s new headquarters, an angular two-legged behemoth built to coincide with the Beijing Olympics last year.
Firefighters, their ladders only reaching up a dozen or so floors, could do little to contain the blaze, a spectacular wall of flames eerily reflected in the glass skin of the adjacent CCTV tower.
The CCTV complex was a hugely expensive trophy of the pre-Olympics building boom, the result of many billions of dollars that the ruling Communist Party had devoted to making Beijing a city of the future. The main CCTV tower appeared untouched by the fire.
The 241-room Mandarin Oriental hotel, which had been due to open this summer, was unoccupied at the time, hotel executives said.
According to Chinese television, the fire began at 8:27 p.m., although witnesses said they spotted flames as early as 7:45 p.m. Within 20 minutes, they said, the fire had spread from the lower floors to the building’s crown. Black smoke drifted across the night sky, obliterating a full moon.
The authorities blocked off a thoroughfare known as the Third Ring Road, which runs adjacent to the complex. Subway cars running underneath the site were briefly halted, stranding thousands of passengers. Frantic police officers tried to shoo away huge crowds as sirens wailed and fireworks lit up the skyline. People watching noted that the timing of the fire — coming at the end of the spring festival — was inauspicious.
While errant fireworks were suspected as a possible cause, fires of such magnitude are nonetheless highly unusual in Beijing.
Videos:
Of course, the Alex Jones crowd is trying to compare it to WTC-7. Proving that you cannot fix stupid. What happened at WTC-7 was that airlines destroyed the Twin Towers and the falling debris from the towers damaged key structural members and the resulting uncontrolled fires led to the collapse hours after the rest of the complex. Anyone who says otherwise is insulting the dead. Which is something Alex Jones is good at. 🙄
Why can’t people just accept the damned truth and be glad they even got it. Damned morons. 😡
Australian Fires Devastate
I have not blogged about this, because it really didn’t not hit close to home. However, I was over reading in the comments section at Rachel Lucas’s Blog.
It seems that Australian Conservative Blogger Tim Blair has really been covering this story big time:
Here are his postings:
FIRE LATEST
STATE RALLIES
BRIAN NAYLOR
FIRE WITHOUT END
STATE ABLAZE
It my understanding that some of the blazes were intentionally set.
Google News has much more on the fires.
The Australian Red Cross is taking donations.
Japan could serve as a lesson to the United States
Barack Obama could learn a lesson from Japan. There’s a very good article in the New York Times today, on the mistakes made by the country of Japan in the 1990’s to fix their failing economy:
The Hamada Marine Bridge soars majestically over this small fishing harbor, so much larger than the squid boats anchored below that it seems out of place.
And it is not just the bridge. Two decades of generous public works spending have showered this city of 61,000 mostly graying residents with a highway, a two-lane bypass, a university, a prison, a children’s art museum, the Sun Village Hamada sports center, a bright red welcome center, a ski resort and an aquarium featuring three ring-blowing Beluga whales.
Nor is this remote port in western Japan unusual. Japan’s rural areas have been paved over and filled in with roads, dams and other big infrastructure projects, the legacy of trillions of dollars spent to lift the economy from a severe downturn caused by the bursting of a real estate bubble in the late 1980s. During those nearly two decades, Japan accumulated the largest public debt in the developed world — totaling 180 percent of its $5.5 trillion economy — while failing to generate a convincing recovery.
Now, as the Obama administration embarks on a similar path, proposing to spend more than $820 billion to stimulate the sagging American economy, many economists are taking a fresh look at Japan’s troubled experience. While Japan is not exactly comparable to the United States — especially as a late developer with a history of heavy state investment in infrastructure — economists say it can still offer important lessons about the pitfalls, and chances for success, of a stimulus package in an advanced economy.
The Lesson to be learned here is:
“It is not enough just to hire workers to dig holes and then fill them in again,” said Toshihiro Ihori, an economics professor at the University of Tokyo. “One lesson from Japan is that public works get the best results when they create something useful for the future.
But the real lesson to be learned here is the follow and pay special close attention to what is said here:
In the end, say economists, it was not public works but an expensive cleanup of the debt-ridden banking system, combined with growing exports to China and the United States, that brought a close to Japan’s Lost Decade. This has led many to conclude that spending did little more than sink Japan deeply into debt, leaving an enormous tax burden for future generations.
Gee, is that not what Ron Paul said ALL ALONG, while he was running for President of the United States? For Ron Paul’s troubles and hard work he was slandered, maligned and marginalized by the Neo-Conservatives who hated him and the Liberal Democrats who were sacred to death of him.
I highly suggest that you read the rest of this article. The United States could learn much from this lesson that Japan had to learn. We could very well end up causing more harm than good to our economy.
Others: Glenn Thrush’s Blogs, Hot Air, A Blog For All, Cafe Hayek, Weekly Standard and QandO
Panasonic to eliminate 15,000 Jobs
Another victim of the worldwide economic collapse:
Panasonic on Wednesday said that it was shedding 15,000 jobs, the second significant layoff in Japan’s electronics industry in less than a week, and the latest example of how Japanese companies, exporters in particular, are scrambling to cut costs as demand evaporates.
Panasonic, along with Mitsubishi Motors and Mazda, also joined the rapidly lengthening list of companies to sharply revise their full-year outlooks Wednesday, with Panasonic now projecting a net loss of 380 billion yen or $4.2 billion for the year ending March 31, rather than the 30 billion yen profit it forecast on Nov. 27. Mitsubishi expects a net loss of 60 billion yen and Mazda 13 billion.
The speed of the demand downturn in recent months has taken manufacturers and economists by surprise, and forced many companies to sharply lower profit warnings made only months or even weeks ago.
I hate to sound like I am repeating myself. But this is more damage done by the Clinton Administration and the inaction of the Republican Majority of 2003. The easing of the housing loan regulations is what created all this, thus creating a economic bubble. Which has now burst. Of course, throwing money at it, will not fix it. Now, we have the tech sector taking the hit, because of the downturn in the economy. Expect more of this to come as time goes on.
India warns that Obama “is barking up the wrong Tree” when it comes to Kashmir
This might present a challenge to the new President:
India has warned US President Barack Obama that he risks “barking up the wrong tree” if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
MK Narayanan, India’s national security advisor, said that the new US administration was in danger of dredging up out of date Clinton administration-era strategies in a bid to bring about improved ties between the two nuclear armed neighbours.
“I do think that we could make President Obama understand, if he does nurse any such view, that he is barking up the wrong tree. I think Kashmir today has become one of the quieter and safer places in this part of the world,” Mr Narayanan said in an interview with CNBC TV18.
“It’s possible that at this time there are elements, perhaps in the administration who are harking back to the pre-2000 era.”
The warning comes as Richard Holbrooke, Mr Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, prepares to come to the region for the first time in his new capacity. Mr Narayanan is close to Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, and Sonia Gandhi, the president of the ruling Congress Party.
It seems that Obama is not going to the force that rights all the wrongs that are in the world after all. This will another in a series of challenges for the new President. I wonder what he will do in response?
(H/T Drudge)
Trackposted to The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Wingless – Alastair Crooke on Gaza & Hamas – living in the twilight zone!, DragonLady’s World, Wingless – Sura 5:32 – When Killing isn’t Murder, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, Nuke’s, Allie is Wired, third world county, Faultline USA, Woman Honor Thyself, Wingless – What Lead to Cast Lead, The World According to Carl, Walls of the City, Wingless – Cuba: Beautiful Country, People…Not so Beautiful System…, Rosemary’s News and Ideas, The Pink Flamingo, Wingless, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Ouch: US Loses two major supply lines to Afghanistan
This is not good, at all:
The U.S.-led campaign against the Taliban suffered two logistical blows Tuesday as the president of Kyrgyzstan announced that he’d shut a U.S. airbase in his country and insurgents in Pakistan blew up a bridge, disrupting the main U.S. supply route into Afghanistan.
The developments were the latest reminders of the vulnerability of the long and complex transportation system on which the 60,000 U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan depend for fuel, ammunition, construction materials and a great deal more.
The announcement by Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev that he will close the Manas Air Base also gave President Barack Obama a first taste of the challenge he faces from Russia, which is trying to restore its clout in countries that were part of the former Soviet Union.
Bakiyev made his announcement in Moscow, not in his own capital, shortly after the Russian government reportedly agreed to lend Kyrgyzstan $2 billion, write off $180 million in debt and add another $150 million in aid. The timing and place of the announcement indicated the Kremlin’s involvement.
“It’s a direct challenge to the new American administration. Russia is going out of its way to close an American base,” said Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based military analyst.
via McClatchy Washington Bureau — U.S. supply routes to Afghanistan suffer two huge blows.
I tend to agree with Ed Morrissey who writes:
The problem was never in Krygyzstan. Biden predicted that world leaders would challenge Obama and his inexperience within the first few months of the adminstration, but they’ve already started to line up in the first few days. Iran launched a satellite on an ICBM to show they could go ballistic once they have nuclear weapons. North Korea reportedly has set up another ICBM for a test to threaten Seoul. Now Russia has flipped an ally in the war on terror — and all of this in the first 14 days of Obama’s presidency.
Indeed, I believe this is simply Russia trying to test Obama, to see how he will react. Also, Russia is having problems with it’s people. They are bit angry about the problems with the economy. As I so blogged about yesterday. It could very well be that Putin is attempting to save face with the citizens of Russia by trying to show a little aggression towards Obama and by proxy; America.
Breaking Local News – G.M. to offer buyout packages to all union employees.
This is interesting…:
General Motors Corp. will offer buyouts to all of its hourly employees, a spokesman confirmed Tuesday, as the troubled automaker continues to slash costs.
GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said the buyouts will mainly target GM’s 22,000 retirement-eligible hourly employees, though any union employee can take the offer.
News of the buyouts first broke on Monday. A union official told The Associated Press then that GM would offer $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 car voucher for workers who retire early and those who simply leave the company. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because workers were not yet notified of the packages.
via GM To Offer Buyouts To All Hourly Employees — WDIV Detroit.
Just another sign of the times. For the record, G.M. has done this in the past, when times were bad. Hopefully some of the guys that have been with the company and are about ready to retire will take this buy out. Hopefully, this will help the problem and G.M. will become viable.
Should we give incentive bonuses to Wall Street Watchdogs?
I have fixed feelings about this, and I will explain why a little further down.
An Article in the New York Times Dealbook Column asks a question whether Wall Street Regulators or Watchdogs should get performance bonuses.
Maybe someone deserves a bonus.
Like someone who sniffs out the next Bernie Madoff. Or jousts with tomorrow’s gonzo bankers. Or defuses the Next Big Crisis in whatever Next Big Thing is dreamed up by Wall Street.
Someone, in short, who regulates.
It is clear that the nation’s financial regulators were no match for Wall Street last time. The financiers were always one step ahead. But maybe that isn’t surprising. The financiers, after all, have a big incentive to outsmart the financial police. It is called a bonus. Wall Street lures a lot of bright minds with money. How can federal agencies compete? They can’t.
So, of course, The Government of Singapore’s head honcho says we ought to incentivize watchdog process.
Tony Tan Keng Yam, deputy chairman and executive director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, suggested that one reason American regulators fell down on the job was that they were paid too little.
“You must have as good people working in the government in the regulatory authorities as those that are working in the private sector,” Mr. Tan said. “You do need, particularly in these very difficult times, capable people in central banks, in government, in the Treasury who can effectively supervise.”
Mr. Tan knows about this firsthand. He is a former regulator himself, and Singapore has a different view about compensation.
“We pay our politicians and our government servants very well,” he said. “We lock remuneration to the market.”
While Singapore’s watchdogs aren’t paid enough to afford private planes, some in top positions make seven-figure salaries.
At first blush, this would seem to be a great idea; however, if you think about it closely, this would not be such a good idea. Because of the following:
Some at Davos thought the bonus idea could work. But anxiety over that approach was palpable. “They already treat us like criminals,” one hedge fund manager said.
A few said giving bonuses to regulators would be like giving bonuses to the police for issuing speeding tickets. Maybe the regulators, like Wall Streeters, would start thinking about the money, rather than what is right. But maybe that’s exactly what Wall Street needs to slow down.
I must say, that I highly disagree with this idea. Why? While I believe that moderate regulation is a good idea on Wall Street; I believe that incentivizing the Wall Street watchdog process will result in a overzealous regulatory process, that will be solely based upon monitory compensation. This would be absolutely disastrous to the free market process in America. As well all know we already law enforcement that borderlines upon a police state. Doing this to Wall Street would cause a fear mentality amongst the financial sector and discourage investment.
We need regulation, not a financial police state.
The Mining Industry feels the pinch
It is not just the auto industry that is feeling the pinch of the economy, it seems that the mining industry is feeling it as well.
BIG mining companies have suffered an astounding reversal of fortunes in the past few months. As boom has turned to gloom, commodity prices have slumped, leaving mining firms with painful decisions to make. Rio Tinto is the latest to suffer. On Monday February 2nd the Anglo-Australian mining giant was forced to confirm press speculation, acknowledging that it is in talks with Chinalco, a state-owned Chinese aluminium maker. The Chinese firm may agree to a deal to help to alleviate Rio’s debts which were taken on before the credit crunch led to a foundering world economy.
Rio’s debt pile of some $40 billion was mostly run-up through its purchase of Alcan, a Canadian aluminium firm, in 2007. Around $9 billion is due later this year, and refinancing will be a tricky proposition given the parlous state of debt markets. Another $10 billion must be repaid in 2010. Rio has started a firesale of assets: it raised $1.6 billion last week by selling iron ore and potash businesses in Brazil and Argentina to Vale, a Brazilian rival. But prices are depressed and making a sale is not always possible—Rio has still not managed to offload Alcan’s packaging business, although it is reportedly in talks with a potential buyer.
via Rio Tinto, deeply indebted, seeks investment from China The Economist.
More fall out from a concept floated by the Democrats, that was based entirely upon risk. Thank you Bill Cinton for ruining America. 🙄
Japan’s Economy on the verge of collapse as well.
Russia is not the only one. Japan now is on the verge of collapse as well.
A reader chided me for not making note of the truly dreadful factory output figures released last Thursday, which showed a fall of 9.6%.
I have to confess that I have fallen into “Japan bad news” syndrome, in that I expect bad news out of Japan and therefore did not focus enough on the details. And while I do not aspire to covering every financial news story (that’s what the MSM is for), the latest figures paint a grim picture, even by our new, desensitized standards.
It wasn’t simply that December was truly awful, but it came on top of a nearly-as-bad November
via naked capitalism: Veneroso: Japan on the Edge of the Abyss.
Again, this is what happens when you inflate a money supply and create a bubble.
Yves continues:
Yves here. I only get the privilege of reading Veneroso now and again, but I cannot recall him taking a tone remotely like what follows:
I have been writing about an Asian black hole for almost two months now. I have been crying from the rooftops about an emerging depression in Japan. It has been as though a neutron bomb had gone off in the world. There was no one who seemed to notice, no one who seemed to listen.Every week it gets worse and worse and worse. Today it was Japan….
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN DATA THIS BAD FOR ANY MAJOR ECONOMY – EVEN IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION. December industrial production came in down 9.6%, worse than the METI forecast. It is now down almost 21% year over year. METI forecasts a further 4.7% decline in February. The inventory to production ratio soared again. Maybe METI will be correct.
If it is, Japan industrial production will have fallen 28% (non annualized) in four months. It will have fallen by a third in about a year. Nothing in the history of major nations compares. A 28% decline in four months would be more than half of the entire decline in U.S. industrial production over the 3 years and nine months of the U.S. Great Depression.
It would be a greater decline in four months than in any 12 month period in the Great Depression in the U.S. We are literally looking at the unimaginable. (I am attaching the U.S. industrial production index from the Great Depression for comparison).
IT’S A DEPRESSION IN JAPAN – ALREADY – PURE AND SIMPLE.
If this is true, unless President Obama can pull some sort of a miracle out of his rather skinny ass. We are in deep trouble. The reason I say this is because we are in a Globalist Economy, whether we like it or not, and Japan’s failures are our failures as well.
I think it will get much worse, before it gets any better. 🙁
(Via Freedom’s Phoenix)
Communism on the rise in Russia
Looks like the fall out of the economy is finally hitting Russia.
Russia was rocked today by some of its strongest protests yet as thousands rallied across the vast country to attack the Kremlin’s response to the global economic crisis.
The marches, complete with Soviet-style red flags and banners, pose a challenge to a government which has faced little threat from the fragmented opposition and politically apathetic population during the boom years fuelled by oil.
Pro-government thugs beat up some of the protesters.
About 2,500 people marched across the far eastern port of Vladivostok to denounce the Cabinet’s decision to increase car import tariffs, shouting slogans urging Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to resign. Many there make their living by importing cars.
Meanwhile in Moscow arrests were made as about 1,000 diehard Communists rallied in a central square hemmed in by heavy police cordons.
Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov told them the Kremlin must throw out Western capitalism and impose sweeping nationalisation.
via Violent clashes in Russia as angry protesters call for Putin to resign over economy | Mail Online.
This is what happens when you inflate the supply of money, it causes things like this. I think before it is over, you will see a return to the cold war in America. I hope this not to be the case, but I believe the outlook is bleak.
(Via Freedom’s Phoenix)
See Liberals? We did win.
I am so happy to read about this.
The Video:
Voting was extended by one hour due to a strong turnout, including among Sunni Muslims who boycotted the last polls.
The first nationwide vote in four years is being seen as a test of Iraq’s stability ahead of a general election due later this year.
Thousands of soldiers and police were deployed around polling stations.
The election is also being seen as a quasi-referendum on the leadership of Mr Maliki.
“This is a victory for all the Iraqis,” he said, after casting his vote in Baghdad’s highly-protected Green Zone.
He said a high turnout would be an indicator of “the Iraqi people’s trust in their government and in the elections” and “proof that the Iraqi people are now living in real security”.
via BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraqi PM hails vote as ‘victory’.
Of course, the New York Times cannot provide a positive outlook on the election there. That’s because it messes with the script that the liberal media must stick to. You know, that the war in Iraq cannot be won, that we must retreat in shame and lose. The usual for that crowd. Notice how they drudge up crap from like 2007 and previous to that? Why can’t they just report the positive stuff and not remind people of the past?
I wish the people of Iraq all the best for their future. 😀
I think I would be speaking for many, if I said that every Military death in Iraq was worth the pictures up there in that video. I admit, there were screw ups. But we did finally get it right. That video is proof of that. I believe that somewhere in the distant future, George W. Bush will be remembered for Democracy that exists now in Iraq. However, those on the far left will never let the world forget that the WMD thing was a mistake. Which I think, was unfair. Bush acted on what he knew at the time.
God Bless Our Troops. 😀
Others: Hot Air, RedState, Neptunus Lex, Don Surber, QandO and More via Memeorandum
So much for that idea!
How’s that appeasing the terrorists idea working out for ya Barry?
The Video: (via BreitBart)
The Story:
US President Barack Obama’s offer to talk to Iran shows that America’s policy of “domination” has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.
“This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed,” Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.
“Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change,” he added.
After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to “unclench its fist”.
In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its “crimes” against Iran and saying he expected “deep and fundamental” change from Obama.
Iranian politicians frequently refer to the US administration as the “global arrogance”, “domineering power” and “Great Satan”.
Tensions with the United States have soared over Iran’s nuclear drive and Ahmadinejad’s vitriolic verbal attacks against Washington’s close regional ally Israel.
Former US president George W. Bush refused to hold talks with the Islamic republic — which he dubbed part of an “axis of evil” — unless it suspended uranium enrichment, and never took a military option to thwart Tehran’s atomic drive off the table.
The new administration of Obama has also refused to rule out any options — including military strikes — to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies any plans to build the bomb and insists its nuclear programme is solely aimed at peaceful ends.
One would think that the Democrats would learn from history. But, as we all know, Liberals have short memory spans. Kind of like the rest of America. 🙄
Obama would be wise to wait till after the elections in Iran to try and do this, because right now, that meatball Ahmadinejad is in power; and that guy is about nutty as they come. I’ve read before that not all of Iran likes the guy, especially among the people on the ground in the cities. So, the election should tell it, unless it s rigged, like the rest of that part of the world.
But then again, we are talking about Liberal Moonbats. 😛
Others on the subject: Townhall.com, Little Green Footballs, Jihad Watch, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Don Surber and Newshoggers.com
(For those coming over and wondering why I trackbacked the wrong story… sorry, I make a mistake, I quickly fixed it…)
Why does America always do stupid things like this?
I will never, ever understand why America does stupid things like this right here, ever!
The Obama administration on Friday made an emergency contribution of more than $20 million for urgent relief efforts in the Gaza Strip, a day after the United Nations launched a flash appeal for $613 million to help Palestinians recover from Israel’s three-week military operation there.
The State Department said President Barack Obama had authorized the use of $20.3 million from the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for humanitarian assistance to the 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza.
The money will go to U.N. agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which are distributing emergency food assistance, providing medical care and temporary shelter, creating temporary employment and restoring access to electricity and potable water, the department said in a statement.
The Israeli offensive killed nearly 1,300 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $2 billion in damage, Palestinian officials say. The assault was launched to halt years of Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel.
You want to know where this money is going to end up? In the hands of Hamas, the very terrorist organization that was attacking Israel, in the first place. This money is supposed to be reserved for American Citizens, not for foreign countries! You know, I find it absolutely amazing that the United States of America, would support a military attack on Gaza by Israel to defeat terrorists; only to have them send aid to the very people that Israel attacked. Not only this, our government is using money that is specifically earmarked for the people of the United States of America. This is an outrage! Someone should be complaining to the high Heavens about it!
The reason this outrages me so much is this; yeah, that money might go to American agencies approved by our Government, but ultimately, it will end up right back into the hands of the Hamas terrorists.
I will never understand why America continues to prop up those they claim are terrorists.
Not Good: Jewish Rabbi distributes hate leaflet
Yikes!
The Israeli army’s chief rabbinate gave soldiers preparing to enter the Gaza Strip a booklet implying that all Palestinians are their mortal enemies and advising them that cruelty is sometimes a “good attribute”.
The booklet, entitled Go Fight My Fight: A Daily Study Table for the Soldier and Commander in a Time of War, was published especially for Operation Cast Lead, the devastating three-week campaign launched with the stated aim of ending rocket fire against southern Israel. The publication draws on the teachings of Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the Jewish fundamentalist Ateret Cohanim seminary in Jerusalem.
In one section, Rabbi Aviner compares Palestinians to the Philistines, a people depicted in the Bible as a war-like menace and existential threat to Israel.
In another, the army rabbinate appears to be encouraging soldiers to disregard the international laws of war aimed at protecting civilians, according to Breaking the Silence, the group of Israeli ex-soldiers who disclosed its existence. The booklet cites the renowned medieval Jewish sage Maimonides as saying that “one must not be enticed by the folly of the Gentiles who have mercy for the cruel”.
Breaking the Silence is calling for the firing of the chief military rabbi, Brigadier-General Avi Ronzki, over the booklet. The army had no comment on the matter yesterday.
Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of the Rabbis for Human Rights group, called the booklet “very worrisome”, adding “[this is] a minority position in Judaism that doesn’t understand the … necessity of distinguishing between combatants and civilians.”
via Army rabbi ‘gave out hate leaflet to troops’ – Middle East, World – The Independent.
Let me simply say this, extremism, on both sides of this conflict, is not a good thing. Hamas is a extremist Muslim group. Just as well, this Rabbi is promoting a extremist view of Judaism. This does nothing to solve this conflict. The scary part is that he is a Rabbi in the Israel Army. Not a good thing, at all.
(H/T Anti-War.com) (Via Lew Rockwell)
Barack Obama’s pledge to disarm America hits some speed bumps.
Uh-oh…
via Challenges loom as Obama seeks space weapons ban | U.S. | Reuters:
President Barack Obama’s pledge to seek a worldwide ban on weapons in space marks a dramatic shift in U.S. policy while posing the tricky issue of defining whether a satellite can be a weapon.
Moments after Obama’s inauguration last week, the White House website was updated to include policy statements on a range of issues, including a pledge to restore U.S. leadership on space issues and seek a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites.
It also promised to look at threats to U.S. satellites, contingency plans to keep information flowing from them, and what steps are needed to protect spacecraft against attack.
The issue is being closely watched by Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp, the biggest U.S. defense contractors, and other companies involved in military and civilian space contracts.
Watchdog groups and even some defense officials welcomed the statement, which echoed Obama’s campaign promises, but said it would take time to hammer out a comprehensive new strategy.
Enacting a global ban on space weapons could prove even harder.
Of course, we all know that the Obamassiah will get his way, he will destroy those who stand in his way. Just ask Larry Sinclair.
In case you forgotten, here’s Obama making his promise to disarm America:
Others: Macsmind, Atlas Shrugs and Sweetness & Light
First Lady Michelle Obama, “Don’t be using my kids as a marketing tool!”
Oh brother!
They’ve been in the White House less than a week, but the first daughters have already been co-opted by marketers — and Michelle Obama isn’t happy about it.
Ty, the toy company responsible for the popular Beanie Babies dolls, is now marketing “Sweet Sasha” and “Marvelous Malia” dolls.
The first lady’s office said Friday Ty was out of line. “We feel it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes,” said a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama in a statement.
A Ty representative told CNN the company generally avoids naming dolls for “any particular living individual,” because doing so might interfere with how kids use their imaginations to play with them. But they wouldn’t reveal the source of their inspiration for the new figures, telling CNN that information relating to the development of the company’s merchandise — including how it comes up with products, product names, and trademarks – is proprietary
via CNN Political Ticker: Michelle Obama: ‘Inappropriate’ to use daughters to sell dolls
But yet the first bitch will put her daughters on Access Hollywood, magazine photo shoots, and parade her girls front and center wherever she goes. But she bitches about this?
As they say in the ghetto here in Detroit….. NIGGA PLEASE! 🙄
If the first harpy does not want her “Babies” out in the public, keep them out the public eye. Otherwise, shut the hell up, and be glad your stupid idiot husband got elected, despite that 45 percent; or more if the truth me known, considering the election was rigged as hell, and he basically bought the damned election from all those off-shore donations from terrorists. 😡
….and for it’s worth, Bambi is NOT my President. He’s just stupid uppity idiot that won, because he was black; and that’s ALL that Magic Negro will be to me!
Others: The Impolitic, JammieWearingFool, Joanne Jacobs, Macsmind,
The Media Honeymoon is just about over for President Obama
Uh-oh…. It’s already Starting:
The Video:
President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press corps Thursday night, but got agitated when he was faced with a substantive question.
Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.
“Ahh, see,” he said, “I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can’t end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I’m going to get grilled every time I come down here.”
Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, William J. Lynn III, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter’s shoulder and staring him in the eye.
“Alright, come on” he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. “We will be having a press conference at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys – that’s all I was trying to do.”
The president was quickly saved by a cameraman in the room who called out: “I’d like to say it one more time: ‘Mr. President.’ ”
via Obama flashes irritation in press room – Jonathan Martin and Carrie Budoff Brown – Politico.com.
Look for that Politico reporter to turn up in Gitmo; as a suspected terrorist, For daring to ask “The One” a question. What I just do not get, why can’t the President just answer a damn question??!?! Is he that much of a empty suit, that he cannot answer a straight question?
To be fair, Bush did so the same things when he was office, and yes, I did criticize him for it.
This whole thing of shooting down questions from the media; by the President, totally pisses me off. That’s the media’s job. Try doing yours, “Mr. President”, and answer their questions.
Others: The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, CBS News, Pirate’s Cove, theheretik.us, Time, USA Today, Swampland, Gawker, Don Surber, Vox Popoli, Hot Air, FishBowlDC, Sister Toldjah, Betsy’s Page, RedState, Pajamas Media
(Via Memeorandum)
President Obama to order gitmo closed in 12 months
This is a big change from Bush’s policies.
President Barack Obama will begin overhauling U.S. national security policy Thursday with orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, review military trials of terror suspects and end harsh interrogations, two government officials said.
Together, the three executive orders and a presidential directive will reshape how the United States prosecutes and questions al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters who pose a threat to Americans.
A senior Obama administration official said the president would sign an order Thursday to shutter the Guantanamo prison within one year, fulfilling his campaign promise to close a facility that critics around the world say violates domestic and international detainee rights. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the order has not yet been issued.
A draft copy of the order, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, notes that “in view of significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally, prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained at Guantanamo and closure of the facility would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.
via Sources: Obama to order Guantanamo closed – Yahoo! News.
I have mixed feelings about this. I think it is good that this nightmare for the United States is basically going to be going away. But on the other hand, I do not like the idea of releasing possibly terrorists, who might want to harm us again.
Either way, it is quite the mixed bag. I just hope this new Presidential Administration makes the right call.
(via Memeorandum)
Former French President gets pounded by his pooch….
Man, I’ve heard of screwin’ the pooch….But:
Former French president Jacques Chirac was rushed to hospital after being mauled by his own ‘clinically depressed’ pet dog.
The 76-year-old statesman was savaged by his white Maltese dog – which suffers from frenzied fits and is being treated with anti-depressants.
The animal, named Sumo, had become increasingly violent over the past years and was prone to making ‘vicious, unprovoked attacks’, Chirac’s wife Bernadette said.
via Mail Online.
I suppose in this case, the pooch would be a “Screwin” him! I feel for the guy, nothing like moody mutt to make a man have a rough day. As if the ol’ Geezer ain’t got enough troubles.
Others: Fausta’s Blog
(via)
Trackposted to Nuke’s, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, third world county, Allie is Wired, Walls of the City, The World According to Carl, DragonLady’s World, The Pink Flamingo, Leaning Straight Up, Wingless, Conservative Cat, and Wingless (BBC Parody, Hilarious!), thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
My Opinion on the Geert Wilders Movie and charges being filed
First the Story via BBC NEWS:
Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
“In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to… draw a clear line,” the court in Amsterdam said.
Mr Wilders said the judgement was an “attack on the freedom of expression”.
“Participation in the public debate has become a dangerous activity. If you give your opinion, you risk being prosecuted,” he said.
Not only he, but all Dutch citizens opposed to the “Islamisation” of their country would be on trial, Mr Wilders warned.
“Who will stand up for our culture if I am silenced?” he added.
The three judges said that they had weighed Mr Wilders’s “one-sided generalizations” against his right to free speech, and ruled that he had gone beyond the normal leeway granted to politicians.
“The Amsterdam appeals court has ordered the prosecution of member of parliament Geert Wilders for inciting hatred and discrimination, based on comments by him in various media on Muslims and their beliefs,” the court said in a statement.
“The court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders,” it added.
The court’s ruling reverses a decision last year by the public prosecutor’s office, which said Mr Wilders’s comments had been made outside parliament as a contribution to the debate on Islam in Dutch society and that no criminal offense had been committed.
Prosecutors said on Wednesday that they could not appeal against the judgment and would open an investigation immediately.
Gerard Spong, a prominent lawyer who pushed for Mr Wilders’s prosecution, welcomed the court’s decision.
“This is a happy day for all followers of Islam who do not want to be tossed on the garbage dump of Nazism,” he told reporters.
Okay, here is my opinion on this situation. Before I voice my opinion; let me say in the interest in full disclosure, that I fully believe that radical Islam is a threat to our way of life. Further more, I will be the first to say that it is very difficult to determine who among the Muslim community is radicalized and who is not. I also feel that if continue to allow Islam to be practiced in our country unchecked, doing so could result in a major terrorist attack in our Country again. I am, unashamedly an advocate of freedom of Religion; But when that Religion purposes to threaten the way of life of all Americans; it is no longer a Religion, but rather an instrument of terror. Having said thus, I believe that the United States of America would be abdicating the responsibility of the well being of its citizens by allowing the practice of Islam in America to continue unchecked.
Having said all this, seeing that I am more of a Libertarian and a Moderate politically; I will be the first one concede the fact that Wilders my have brought this prosecution unto himself. Yes, I know, I posted the video here, on more than one occasion as a matter of fact. The reason I did, is because that most people are intellectually honest enough to know, that the video was about radicalized Islam and not Islam in General. However, as well all know, intellectual honesty does not usually extend to those of the Liberal mindset or those within the Islamic community, who have a agenda to paint those who are opposed to radical Islam as racists or hatemongers.
The reason I believe that Wilders might have brought this upon himself is because the video, if you watch it. Does send an unspoken message that all Muslims are terrorists. It is not spoken nor printed in the movie at all. However, it is the inferred message within the actual movie itself, that is the cause of the outrage among the Muslim community and is the reason for the conviction.
So, while I believe that the sounding of the alarm about radical Islam is legitimate pursuit, I also believe that framing of that pursuit is very important and will do more to bring light to that issue in a proper manner, without offending those in the Muslim community who do not subscribe to the radical mindset.
Update: Neo-Conservative Ed Morrissey shows his abject Hypocrisy:
Freedom of speech, in a democratic system or any other, requires tolerance by the populace of unpopular ideas and criticisms. Popular speech requires no protection. Imposing limits on what can and cannot be criticized and opposed through rhetoric and peaceful assembly ends freedom and starts totalitarianism. If Wilders cannot criticize Islam openly and freely without the government requiring permission, then the government can declare all dissent illegal through “hate crimes” legislation based on the whim of the government in question. It won’t be long before the ruling class in Holland discover that they can protect their own status through such prosecution and attack dissent accordingly.
The reason I say this is the fact that, anytime someone says something unpopular over at HotAir.com, like dropping the “N Word”, when talking about a black person or possibly making a negative comments about Jews and Neo-Cons, they’re banned from commenting. In fact, I was banned from the chat room on his show, because I happened to speak my mind about Obama once there. So, that little song and dance is a crock of crap. Neo-Con’s are just as bad about censoring free speech as Liberals. Nice try Ed, but I know better. Identity Politics is just as bad in Neo-Con circles as it is in Liberal circles. 🙄
Others: Harry’s Place, Israpundit, Hot Air, Samizdata.net, Gateway Pundit, Gates of Vienna, QandO, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs
Israeli/Gaza Conflict: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
I must say this crap is most pathetic. 🙄
First off, we have terrorist supporter and America’s worst former President and Commie Liberal traitor, Jimmy Carter in the WaPo:
I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel’s withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel’s unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of “combat,” the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized agreement monitored by the international community. The next possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.
Disgraceful. The old bastard ought to be charged for Treason and sent to a reeducation camp, along with the rest of Liberal America. 😡
I mean, just who the hell does that old duffer think he is? This is the same damned President who economic policies were a complete disaster. If it had not been for Ronald Reagan this country would have went into a full scale depression back in the 1970’s. Luckily Reagan made some very much needed changes and rid the country of some of the waste, which in turned staved off a depression and thankfully, we only experienced a slight recession. Again that recession was due to the disastrous polices of Carter. Hell, even Bill Clinton could not stand the old man, Clinton refused to meet with Carter at all. Which caused a major problem during his administration.
On the other hand, Marvin Hier makes some very valid points in a Wall Street Journal in an opinion piece:
At the U.N., no surprise, this double-standard is in full force. In response to Israel’s attack on Hamas, the Security Council immediately pulled an all-night emergency meeting to consider yet another resolution condemning Israel. Have there been any all-night Security Council sessions held during the seven months when Hamas fired 3,000 rockets at half a million innocent civilians in southern Israel? You can be certain that during those seven months, no midnight oil was burning at the U.N. headquarters over resolutions condemning terrorist organizations like Hamas. But put condemnation of Israel on the agenda and, rain or shine, it’s sure to be a full house.
Red Cross officials are all over the Gaza crisis, describing it as a full-blown humanitarian nightmare. Where were they during the seven months when tens of thousands of Israeli families could not sleep for fear of a rocket attack? Where were their trauma experts to decry that humanitarian crisis?
There have been hundreds of articles and reports written from the Erez border crossing falsely accusing Israel of blocking humanitarian supplies from reaching beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza. (In fact, over 520 truck loads of humanitarian aid have been delivered through Israeli crossings since the beginning of the Israeli counterattack.) But how many news articles, NGO reports and special U.N. commissions have investigated Hamas’s policy of deliberately placing rocket launchers near schools, mosques and homes in order to use innocent Palestinians as human shields?
Many people ask why there are so few Israeli casualties in comparison with the Palestinian death toll. It’s because Israel’s first priority is the safety of its citizens, which is why there are shelters and warning systems in Israeli towns. If Hamas can dig tunnels, it can certainly build shelters. Instead, it prefers to use women and children as human shields while its leaders rush into hiding. – Read the Rest
I suggest you go read that entire piece. It is filled with truth. I mean, people sure have short memories when it comes to Israel, Gaza and Palestine. Some people must have forgotten that Israel totally pulled out of the Gaza Strip, gave the Palestinians that land, that was rightfully Israel’s and let them live there. So, what does Gaza do? Elects a terrorist organization to govern and then they whine and cry when Israel invades that land! Fata was at least honorable enough to uphold a peace agreement, more than I can say for Hamas. The people in Gaza had better be glad I am not running that war campaign for Israel. They think the human toll is bad now? Ha! I’d bomb gaza into the damn stone age. Which is what Israel should rightly do, and take back their damn land from those arab scumbags.
Others on the right side of this conflict: QandO, , A Blog For All,protein wisdom, Don Surber, Little Green Footballs, Pirate’s Cove, Macsmind, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, Yourish.com,Jules Crittenden, neo-neocon and Jihad Watch
(Via Memeorandum)