Peter King Praises Gitmo As Better Than Any US Prison and Justifies Torture to Parliament
September 15, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Rep. Peter King was asked by the UK Parliament what kind of facility Guantanamo Bay is. This was after describing it as a vacation destination for prisoners. He was asked to justify how America could torture them and then call enhanced interrogation. It was just a little bit uncomfortable. He shrugged it off and said it wasn’t really that bad because our military trains with it and hey, if torture saved lives it was all worth it. Usually that’s the type of justification that you might hear someone from the Pinochet regime i nvoke. You can see why he was so eager to go to the UK and impart his wisdom on how we combat Muslim radicalization. King: I’ve Been to Guantanamo, it’s it’s modern facility. There’s one medical person for every two prisoners. (Gitmo has an excellent health plan) King: They are taught language, arts… (Forget about getting student loans for college, Gitmo has an education system that Michele Rhee would be proud of.) King: They are out playing soccer or football as you call it. (The MLS might find some untapped talent there) Have you visited? On how many occasions? King: Once. (That many?) Q: As you’re concerned the treatment is appropriate? King: Better than almost any American prison. Certainly better than any Army or Marine Corp training facility. MP Winnick: Water-boarding one hundred and sixty times of one prisoner. One hundred and sixty times. If that’s not torture Congressman King, what on earth is it? (After the first 150 times, what’s a few more?) King: To me it’s enhanced interrogation. I’ve Khalid Sheik Mohammad in person since then and he’s not all the worse for wear over it and he did provide information. Again, if you’re’ talking about moral equivalency here, you’re talking about a type of interrogation which was extremely uncomfortable, painful, I wouldn’t want to go through it. No permanent damage, at the same time if that led to the savings of 5, 6, 700 hundred people that didn’t have to jump through buildings or were burning to death, it’s a price I’ll pay. Enhanced interrogation isn’t torture to the Liz Cheney torture apologists because I guess they weren’t given the Children of Mengele treatment or weren’t just killed. No, it’s a price the prisoner paid and there is no evidence that they got any useful intelligence from the dissolving of our moral fiber, Congressman.
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• Hit F5 for the latest or use the auto-refresh button below • Follow all tonight’s European action on our live scoreboard • And email your thoughts to john.ashdown@guardian.co.uk Half-time email dept. “John, did you make it home in time to clean up before your girlfriend got home the other night, after the tennis?” wonders Eliot Crowe. “And, given that Spurs themselves aren’t even interested in this match, is there any chance you can entertain us readers by telling what happened on Top of the Pops ?” In answer to your first question, yes. In answer to the second, I think that particular story deserves better than this slightly underwhelming contest. Tell, you want – if there’s six or more goals in the second half I’ll spill the beans. If not, no deal. Half-time snack dept. Just a tea for me. White, no sugar. Peeeep! And the referee brings the opening 45 to a close. 45 min: Athanasiadis, whose name is causing me a few typing issues, does well to send a shot at goal under pressure from Corluka. It’s straight into Cudicini’s bread-basket. 43 min: Livermore, impressive thus far, is cynically chopped down by Pablo Garcia and picks up a booking. 42 min: “Thought I might tell you that Rubin Kazan just had a penalty brilliantly saved but, just before they got it, down at the other end Ryzhikov picked up the ball outside the box and it was ignored,” writes Brynmoor Pattison. “Interesting match underway in Tallaght! 0-1 to Rubin so far.” 41 min: Lovely work down the right from Spurs – Walker, Giovani and Falque combining to pick open the PAOK defence. The Spaniard dinks the ball back in and Pavlyuchenko whelps it off towards Macedonia. 40 min: … which Pavlyuchenko thumps into the roof of the net. On the outside of the goal. It was dipping, see. Cracking effort. 38 min: Bassong finds Pavlyuchenko with a lovely ball into the inside-left channel. The Russian gets the benefit of some Keystone Cops defending, cuts inside and wins a very dangerous free-kick … 36 min: Tottenham’s back four play a bit of keep-ball, before Giovani hops and pops forward once more and draws a free-kick. Arias gets a booking for his trouble. 34 min: The referee is doing his best to make this interesting – Tottenham concede a free-kick outside the PAOK area, but Livermore spanks a shot at goal. He gets a stern talking to from the man in yellow, who seems to fancy placing himself at the centre of proceedings. 33 min: And from the retake he drags it wide of Cudicini’s left-hand post! GO … NO! The Brazilian scoops it past Cudicini, runs off to celebrate … but the referee has ordered a retake! 29 min: PENALTY! And not to Spurs, but to PAOK! Cudicini pretty unnecessarily drags down Athanasiadis. 27 min: Giovani robs Vieirinha 30 yards from goal – the PAOK whistle their disgust. Kane goes down in the area … it looks like a penalty and quacks like a penalty … but it’s not a penalty. Kane gets a booking for simulation and replays show it wasn’t particularly deserved. It certainly looked like Contreras caught him. 25 min: … cleared away with little fuss. And on the break Giovani skitters and skips away from a couple of defenders, raising the pulse for just about the first time in this opening half. The move breaks down soon enough, but at least it was a brief injection of pace into a game that’s being played veerrrryyy slllooooowwwwllllllyyyyy. 24 min: Salpingidis wins a corner … 22 min: Former Uruguay international Pablo Garcia is the pivot in midfield for PAOK, but he’s operating in areas deeper than the Mariana Trench so struggling to cause any damage. 20 min: Townsend dinks in a cross, Kane heads straight at the keeper. It’s been a low key, middling-quality start here. And the match hasn’t been much better. 19 min: Vieirinha again causes trouble, shimmying his way into a shooting position, but then blazing over 18 min: … whipped in, but well held by Cudicini. 17 min: Vierienha again gets a little space, 25 yards from goal. Decent effort, deflected over. Corner … 16 min: Vierinha pokes a through-ball into the box, but it’s too heavy for his team-mate. 14 min: Tremendous atmosphere at the Toumba Stadium, despite Spurs monopolising possession. Kane gets down to the byline, but can’t work space for the cross. 13 min: “I wonder if a team from that Welsh railway station, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch will ever get a team in the Europa league?” writes Ben Bamford. “That would give these Greek chaps something to think about …” They’d have to go some to beat Bangkok Bravo (full name: Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit Bravo Association Football Club ), though I suppose they’d have to meet in the World Club Championship. 11 min: CLEARED OFF THE LINE! Livermore does superbly to wriggle his way in to the box, lays the ball off to Falque who manages to find the only PAOK defender on the line. 10 min: With Andros Townsend struggling, Etto gets clear down the right and drags in a low cross that reaches a PAOK shirt in the box. The shot is well blocked at close quarters. 8 min: The Greek side have definitely upped their work-rate and are snapping at Tottenham heels higher up the pitch now. And in doing so giving away a couple of free-kicks. 7 min: Salpingidis, a veteran of 50 caps for Greece, whups another ball into the penalty area, but this time it’s aimless. 6 min: Dangerous cross into the box from Salpingidis, after nice work from Etto, but there’s not a black and white shirt in the box. 4 min: Falque picks the pocket of a PAOK defender but his attempted one-two doesn’t come off. Plenty of eyes on 21-year-old Spaniard tonight. 3 min: Shamrock Rovers are already 0-1 down at home to Rubin Kazan. 2 min: Free-kick to Spurs over on the right, whipped in left-footed by Tom Carroll (whose team-mates presumably call Christmas. Or Lewis. Or Andy). Straight into the meaty paws of Kresic in the PAOK goal. 1 min: Bassong does a little tidying up at the back as PAOK break forward, but then there’s some early pass, pass, pass from the visitors. Peep! Off we go then. Spurs, all in what Dulux or Crown might call Space Lilac, kicking from right to left. Click-clack, click-clack … The teams are in the tunnel. Something that could be Highway to Hell belts out from the Tannoy. 5.57pm: An alternative view dept. “Last season Harry ran his top players ragged, playing them every game and giving little opportunity to younger players,” writes Martin Wills. “Maybe he’s learned something from that.” 5.55pm: PAOK Salonika’s full and proper name is Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstantinoupolitón. A mouthful, that’s for sure. But not quite Nooit Opgeven Altijd Doorzetten Aangenaam Door Vermaak En Nuttig Door Ontspanning Combinatie Breda ( otherwise known as NAC Breda ). 5.52pm: Harsh words dept. “I think this team selection, and Harry’s attitude towards this competition, betrays a real arrogance,” writes William Hardy. “They obviously think of themselves as a Champions League club, but they’re not going to be getting back in it any time soon, and they could win this if they took it seriously. Harry has only won one trophy in his whole career, and they could get a big draw if they stay in. One of Man City’s group will be entering, imagine Spurs getting Bayern, or Villareal or Napoli? Arrogance, that’s what I put it down to. Misplaced arrogance at that as well.” 5.49pm: Quite enjoying the fact that PAOK have got a Lino in there first XI. He’s a Brazilian – slightly disappointingly his first name isn’t “Oi!” and his surname isn’t “Getyourflagup”. He’s Dorvalino Alves Maciel. And it’s probably pronounced “Leeno” if we’re being honest with ourselves. Preamble: Evening all. Are we well? I’m dandy thanks, basking in the warm glow of a day’s work well done. Today I scrubbed the flagstones on my balcony and then re-pebbled the gutters – and, no, neither of those are euphemisms. And if that were not enough, there’s an evening of Europa League action to look forward to. Unlike many, I really like the Europa League. It’s full of big, old teams – names from the past that modern football has left behind: Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Lazio, Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas, Paris St Germain, Malmo, Austria Vienna, Club Brugge, Celtic, Rennes, Atletico Madrid, Steaua Bucharest, AEK Athens … and plenty more. Tottenham don’t seem quite so enamoured. What makes me say that? Here are the teams: PAOK Salonika: Kresic, Malezas, Contreras, Lino, Etto, Pablo Garcia, Fotakis, Arias, Vieirinha, Athanasiadis, Salpingidis. Subs: Chalkias, Balafas, Robert, Papazoglou, Ivic, Sznaucner, Tsoukalas. Tottenham: Cudicini, Bassong, Corluka, Walker, Livermore, Townsend, Carroll, Pavlyuchenko, Giovani, Falque, Kane. Subs: Gomes, Fredericks, Nicholson, Pritchard, Parrett, Stewart, Barthram. Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia) Europa League 2011-12 PAOK Salonika Tottenham Hotspur Europa League John Ashdown guardian.co.uk
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South Korea’s Kolon found to have stolen trade secrets of fibre in largest ever settlement in intellectual property trial The industrial conglomerate DuPont has won $920m (£583m) in damages after a US jury ruled that a South Korean firm had stolen trade secrets about the high-strength fibres used in its Kevlar body armour. Kolon Industries mounted a “concerted, orchestrated and persistent effort” to steal confidential information, DuPont’s lawyer Thomas Sager said. The Korean firm said it would appeal and was “confident that a fair and favourable decision will be reached on appeal”. The firm is also countersuing DuPont. The jury in Richmond, Virginia, took two days to find in favour of the US firm, which sued Kolon two years ago. DuPont argued that Kolon had conspired with a group of former employees to steal the secrets of its top-selling fibre. Michael Mitchell, a former employee whom the US authorities said gave Kolon proprietary information about Kevlar, is now in prison. The US firm alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) after learning Mitchell, a former DuPont engineer and Kevlar marketing executive, had confidential information on his home computer. The FBI searched his house and found DuPont documents and confidential information belonging to DuPont, federal prosecutors said last year. Mitchell was sentenced to 18 months in prison last March after pleading guilty to theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice. Kolon recruited other former DuPont workers, from both the US firm and its Japanese subsidiary, as part of a “concerted effort” to obtain information about Kevlar, according to court filings. Kevlar, created by DuPont in 1965 and originally used in racing car tyres, now accounts for $1.4bn of DuPont’s sales and is used in bullet-proof vests, army helmets, snare drums, suspension bridge ropes and fibre-optic cable. “DuPont’s investment in developing this information, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars over many years, was thereby essentially lost,” the company said in a court filing in October. “Kolon is now able to compete against DuPont in the aramid [the class of synthetic fibres that includes Kevlar] marketing using DuPont’s own information against it.” The “jury decision is an enormous victory for global intellectual property protection”, Sager said. “It also sends a message to potential thieves of intellectual property that DuPont will pursue all legal remedies to protect our significant investment in research and development.” Kolon’s rival product is called Heracron. The Korean firm accuses DuPont of creating unfair competition by requiring customers to buy 80% to 100% of their Kevlar or equivalent fibres from the company. The case is set to go to trial next March. A Kolon spokesman said the verdict was: “The result of a multi-year campaign by DuPont aimed at forcing Kolon out of the aramid fibre market. Kolon had no need for and did not solicit any trade secrets or proprietary information of DuPont, and had no reason to believe that the consultants it engaged were providing such information. Indeed, many of the ‘secrets’ alleged in this case are public knowledge.” Press Millen, an expert on trade secrets cases and attorney at Womble Carlyle, said it was the largest settlement in a trade secrets case he could recall. “In order to get a settlement this large there has to be a real sense of egregiousness and the jury has to buy into that,” he said. He noted similarities to the last big trade secrets lawsuit in which the Barbie toy firm Mattel was ordered to pay $310m to a rival, MGA, in a dispute over the origins of the Bratz doll range. He said the jury’s familiarity with Kevlar may have contributed to their willingness to reach such a large settlement. “Kevlar is also a well-known product, bought in civilian as well as military contexts. It’s a brand name and a lot less abstract than a formula,” he said. The appliance of science Best known for bullet-proof vests and army helmets, and found in a range of sports equipment – such as bicycles, snowboards, rackets and hiking boots – Kevlar has also been to Mars on the Pathfinder spacecraft and used by drug-traffickers for the hulls of submarines. Discovered in 1965 by Stephanie Kwolek, a DuPont scientist, Kevlar is a light and flexible aramid fibre five times stronger than steel. It is also found in military vehicle armour, oil and gas pipes, aeroplane wings and helicopter blades. Oren Gruenbaum DuPont Manufacturing sector Intellectual property United States South Korea Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …English city riots involved ‘hardcore’ of repeat offenders, first analysis shows
September 15, 2011 No Comment
More than 70% of the 1,715 brought to court had previous convictions or cautions, but many youngsters had clean records The riots that swept through English cities last month involved a hardcore of repeat offenders but also drew in others, particularly youngsters, who had no criminal history at all, the first official analysis has found. Detailed Ministry of Justice scrutiny of the 1,715 defendants on riot-related charges who have faced the courts also show that magistrates and judges have taken an even tougher approach to sentencing than previously thought. London courts are dealing with convicted rioters more harshly than those in other cities, according to the analysis. The figures show that 90% of those before the courts were male, and most were young – with 21% aged 10-17 and 31% aged 18-20. The analysis confirms the claims by the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, that “existing criminals were on the rampage” with its data showing that 73% of those before the courts had been previously cautioned or convicted. Clarke said the figures lent weight to his intention to bring in radical prison reforms to prevent this “hardcore of repeat offenders” simply going round and round the system. The “hardcore” claim is bolstered by figures showing 25% of those charged had been convicted of more than 10 previous offences and had previously served a jail sentence. About 10% of those brought to court were either already serving a community order or had been released from prison on licence. But beyond that the evidence is more complicated. While it is true that 77% of adult riot suspects had a criminal history, this falls to 55% among juveniles – indicating that many more of those defendants had been drawn into the criminal justice system for the first time. The former Labour lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, has also questioned whether the previous convictions were simply cautions for shoplifting or lengthy prison sentences for serious violent attacks. Here the figures are less conclusive. The 1,100 or so riot suspects with a previous criminal record are said to have committed a total of 16,598 previous offences between them – an average of 15 each. But the detailed breakdown shows that 39% of these are described as “summary and breach offences”, ie more minor crime, and 9.6% of the total were dealt with by a caution. The 61% of previous convictions for more serious indictable crimes include mainly theft and handling stolen goods and drug offences. The MoJ analysis also shows that the courts have actually been handing out tougher sentences than previously thought. So far 315 people have been sentenced, of whom 176 were given an immediate jail sentence with an average length of 11.1 months. For the magistrates this represents an imprisonment rate of 43% for riot cases compared with just 12% of cases for similar offences in 2010. In theft cases, the imprisonment rate has risen to 67% – compared with 2%. At crown courts, which have so far dealt with 79 cases, the immediate custody rate has risen to 89% compared with 33% normally. Sentence length is also longer – up to two or three times longer than the normal term for similar offences. Theft cases have attracted an average sentence of 7.1
Continue reading …Bioethicists Offer $11,000 for Medical Proof of Bachmann’s ‘Mental Retardation’ Example
September 15, 2011 No Comment
enlarge Just note that of the eight candidates running to be the GOP nominee – the looniest ones are the incumbents: Rick Perry, Ron Paul and Michele “Government Injection” Bachmann. Minnesota, the state that holy-rolled Michele to DC, is trying to redeem itself. Local bioethicists are calling Bachmann’s bluff : A University of Minnesota bioethicist is offering $1,000 for medical proof that a woman’s daughter suffered mental retardation from the vaccine for human papillomavirus virus, a story that was told by Rep. Michele Bachmann after Monday’s debate. Bachmann has come under fire from the medical community for suggesting the vaccination for the HPV virus, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, is linked to mental illness. Steven Miles, a U of M bioethics professor, said that he’ll give $1,000 if the medical records of the woman from Bachmann’s story are released and can be viewed by a medical professional. His offer was upped by his former boss from the University of Minnesota, Art Caplan, who is now director of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics. Caplan said he would match Miles’ challenge and offered $10,000 for proof of the HPV vaccine victim. Yep. That’s $11,000 to produce this mother and verify her claim. Bachmann has an imaginary friend. The Iowa Straw Poll winner has a made-up crying mother straw man. I think Bachmann actually meant to say “autism” and instead said mental retardation (not the same thing). There’s been an autism-is-caused-by-vaccines myth for a decade. The ” doctor ” who did that debunked and bogus study has since lost his license. While last year 10 infants in California have since lost their lives in a whooping cough epidemic as a result of his “work.” Bachmann has never met a conspiracy theory or spooky sound bite she didn’t repeat – so here we are…again. But as Sarah Palin so perfectly clarified when she went after Rahm Emanuel for calling liberals “retards,” when Republicans (like Limbaugh) use the word – it’s satire. So just like with Bachmann’s claim that God wanted us to cut spending because there was an earthquake in Eric Cantor’s district, the Congresswoman from the great state of Minnesota is yet again – joking! The mental retardation claim is just Michele “Psych!” Bachmann’s renown sense of humor. She’s just creative, people. An artist. You know, just kidding.
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British PM and French president receive enthusiastic welcome in Tripoli less than a month after Gaddafi was toppled David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy flew into Libya on Thursday and warned Syria and other regimes across the Middle East and north Africa that “the Arab spring could become an Arab summer”. In a measure of how quickly order has been restored in Tripoli, the prime minister and the French president touched down in the capital less than a month after Muammar Gaddafi was toppled amid heavy fighting. The pair were given an enthusiastic welcome at a hospital – the kind of reception the two could only dream about in their own countries – and a calmer, but no less warm, greeting by Libya’s interim rulers. Although anxious to avoid perceptions of a victory lap given the ongoing fighting and the failure to capture Gaddafi, Cameron and Sarkozy cited the Libyan experience as a beacon for the region. “This does go beyond Libya,” Cameron told a press conference at the Corinthia hotel. “This is a moment when the Arab spring could become an Arab summer and we see democracy advance in other countries too. “I believe you have the opportunity to give an example to others about what taking back your country can mean.” Sarkozy used the moment to turn the spotlight on Syria, where an uprising has so far been brutally repressed and foreign support has been less forthcoming. “As I flew over Tripoli today, I thought about the hope that one day young Syrians will be given the opportunity that young Libyans have now been given,” he said. “Perhaps the best thing I can do is dedicate our visit to Tripoli to those who hope that Syria can one day also be a free country.” Apache helicopters flew over the Mediterranean and parts of Tripoli were in security lockdown for the surprise visit – the first by western leaders since the capital fell to rebel forces. Sarkozy, who said he was “deeply moved” by the welcome, was accompanied by dozens of French riot police. The leaders, along with the foreign secretary, William Hague, visited a hospital in the heart of Tripoli. There was chaos as security men had to force a way through and the politicians were mobbed by ecstatic Libyans eager to thank them and shake their hands, chanting: “Thank you, thank you,” and “Libya is free, Gaddafi go away.” On the orthopaedic ward, Cameron and Sarkozy spoke to rebel fighters and Libyans injured in the battle for Tripoli, as well as to patients recovering from torture in Gaddafi’s prison cells. The leaders were careful not to sound triumphalist over Nato’s controversial intervention, emphasising that the mission to protect civilians would go on so long as the fighting continued in the regime’s last strongholds. Cameron had a blunt message for Gaddafi and his supporters. “It is over. Give up. The mercenaries should go home. Those who still think Gaddafi has any part in any arm of government in any part of this country should forget it. He doesn’t,” he said. “It is time for him to give himself up. It is time for the Libyan people to get the justice they deserve by seeing him face justice, and we’ll go on helping the National Transitional Council [NTC] to make sure that happens, and this country can move on – it shows every sign of wanting to move on.” But he warned: “I would accept that the hardest work is still to come, of making sure that everyone has a future in this country, getting it back on its feet. These will be difficult times but, so far, what I think we have seen from the National Transitional Council , what we are seeing here in Tripoli, is a remarkable and impressive recovery from a very difficult situation.” Cameron said he did not know where Gaddafi and his family were, but added: “There are still parts of Libya under Gaddafi’s control, Gaddafi is still at large, and we must make sure this work is completed. “We must keep on with the Nato mission until civilians are all protected and this work is finished. We will help you to find Gaddafi and to bring him to justice, and we want to help you to take the dangerous weapons out of Libya.” Amid the metaphorical back-slapping, there have been questions over whether France and Britain will expect payback from Libya’s new leaders when they award lucrative contracts. Sarkozy insisted no promises had been given or sought. “This is a very important issue and I want things to be very clear to all the Arab world,” he said. “What we did was for humanitarian reasons. There was no hidden agenda.” But Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the NTC, sharing the platform, was less clear cut. While agreeing there were no previous agreements with the NTC’s “allies and friends”, he added: “But as a faithful Muslim people, we will appreciate these efforts and they will have priority within a framework of transparency.” He also said existing contracts signed with the Gaddafi government would be reviewed. “The previous contracts, we have respected them … all legitimate contracts. “This means review of these contracts for whatever financial corruption may have tainted them. As a member of the previous government, I know well that these prices were above those used globally.” Cameron praised the NTC, saying it had been “consistently underrated and underestimated” as he expressed optimism for Libya’s future. He said: “This is your revolution, not our revolution.” Britain announced measures to help with mine clearance and the decommissioning of weapons as part of a post-conflict package of assistance. Cameron also set out a new scheme – funded by Tripoli – to treat some of the most badly injured Libyans in UK hospitals using expert surgery techniques. He said he hoped the first to benefit would be Abdul Ahmed, the Libyan boy who was wounded by a grenade left in his school and whose plight has been featured on British television. Britain and France would also press for a fresh UN security council resolution on Friday to unfreeze all Libyan assets, the prime minister said. He used the visit to announce the planned delivery of the latest tranche of around £610m of assets that were frozen in the UK. Libya Middle East Africa Syria Nicolas Sarkozy Muammar Gaddafi David Cameron Foreign policy Arab and Middle East unrest David Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …That’s What Freedom is All About: Ron Paul’s Former Campaign Manager Had No Health Insurance, Got Sick and Died in Debt
September 15, 2011 No CommentThis story says it all: conservatives really don’t care about anyone who isn’t rich. Even the people working for them. When Ron Paul was asked by Wolf Blitzer if a person should simply be left to die in his world view, the audience cheered and Paul gave a sickening response. Gawker enlightens us with information about the man who helped Ron Paul make the plunge into presidential politics. A man Paul should owe a lot to and a man who lost his life in almost the same way that Blitzer described. Ron Paul’s Campaign Manager Died of Pneumonia, Penniless and Uninsured Should the state pay his bills? Paul responded, “That’s what freedom is all about: taking your own risks. This whole idea that you have to take care of everybody—” He never quite finished that point, letting the audience’s loud applause finish it for him. So Blitzer pressed on, asking if he meant that “society should just let him die,” which earned a chilling round of approving hoots from the crowd. Paul would not concede that much outright, instead responding with a personal anecdote, the upshot being that in such a case, it was up to churches to care for the dying young man. So basically, yeah. He’d let him die. As it turns out, Paul was not speaking purely in hypotheticals. Back in 2008, Kent Snyder — Paul’s former campaign chairman — died of complications from pneumonia. Like the man in Blitzer’s example, the 49-year-old Snyder (pictured) was relatively young and seemingly healthy* when the illness struck. He was also uninsured. When he died on June 26, 2008, two weeks after Paul withdrew his first bid for the presidency, his hospital costs amounted to $400,000. The bill was handed to Snyder’s surviving mother (pictured, left), who was incapable of paying. Friends launched a website to solicit donations. According to the Wall Street Journal ‘s 2008 story on his death , Snyder was more than just a strategic ally: He was the only reason Paul thought he ever had a shot at the presidency in the first place. “It was Kent more than anyone else who encouraged and pushed Ron to run for president,” said Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Mr. Paul. “Ron would not have run for the presidency if it had not been for Kent. Ron was really hesitant, but Kent drove him forward.” And so, what started in February 2007 with one laptop in Snyder’s Arlington, Va., apartment, quickly grew into a $35 million campaign employing 250 people. In the fourth quarter of that year, Snyder raised a stunning $19.5 million for Paul — more than any other Republican candidate had raised at the time. After Snyder’s death, Paul posted a message to the website for his Campaign for Liberty — a pre-Tea Party organization which served Paul as both presidential marketing tool and platform to promote his non-interventionist, free market ideals. He wrote: “Like so many in our movement, Kent sacrificed much for the cause of liberty. Kent poured every ounce of his being into our fight for freedom. He will always hold a place in my heart and in the hearts of my family.” And that, friends, is what freedom is really all about. *The Kansas City Star quoted his sister at the time as saying that a “a pre-existing condition made the premiums too expensive.” [The Political Carnival, photo via Ron Paul's Flickr] Think Progress adds : On June 26, 2008, exactly two weeks after Paul ended his bid for the presidency, Synder passed away due to complications from his pneumonia. Snyder experienced Paul’s world of free market health care, a peculiar system that distinguishes the United States as the only Western country that does not provide basic care to its citizens. A look back at the charity effort launched to save Snyder’s life reveals a grim failure. Despite Paul’s insistence that charity is the appropriate response to America’s uninsured crisis, Snyder’s friends raised $34,870.53 , far short of the $400,000 necessary to pay his bills. Politically correct news outlets covering health policy issues refuse to note that the far right and corporate lobbying effort to repeal health reform would restore America’s system where 45,000 Americans die every year because of lack of health coverage. Although CNN scorned politicians in previous years for suggesting that health reform saves lives, Blitzer’s question to Paul has actually forced a discussion of how politics affects every day lives, interrupting an otherwise vapid discussion of horse race presidential reporting. Snyder played a leading hand in developing the “Tea Party” and “money bomb” fundraising efforts for the Paul campaign, a strategy that helped the candidate break small donor fundraising records. “It was Kent more than anyone else who encouraged and pushed Ron to run for president,” said Jesse Benton, a Paul spokesman in a Wall Street Journal piece about Snyder’s life.
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Investigators accuse Bill Lowther of paying for son of Vietnamese bank governor to attend Durham University Anti-bribery investigators are prosecuting a British businessman for allegedly conspiring to corruptly pay for the son of a top-ranking foreign official to be educated at Durham University in a clandestine deal to land a profitable contract. The Serious Fraud Office has charged 71-year-old Cumbrian businessman Bill Lowther as part of a growing bribery investigation that has already seen a string of prosecutions, arrests and raids across three continents over suspected multi-million pound payments spanning a decade. The SFO, along with police in Australia and Asia, has been investigating alleged corrupt conduct by a banknote printing firm which is half-owned by a company based in a small Cumbrian market town. The SFO confirmed that Lowther was charged on 8 September with taking part in a conspiracy to help secure a university place for the son of the then governor of Vietnam’s state-owned bank and paying his fees and accommodation costs. Lowther is due to appear at City of Westminster magistrates court in London on Tuesday 20 September. The move comes after seven senior executives from the banknote printing firm , Securency, were charged over the summer by Australian police for allegedly funnelling bribes to officials in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. The SFO’s prosecution is being mounted at a time when the British government has stepped up its attempts to crack down on corporate corruption. A stronger law aimed at prosecuting executives who pay backhanders to foreign politicians and officials to win big contracts overseas came into force in July. It was introduced after Britain endured constant criticism for managing to prosecute only a paltry number of firms for the offence. The SFO and Australian police allege that the Securency executives bribed Le Duc Thuy, the then bank governor, to induce him to award the firm a contract to print Vietnam’s currency in 2003. His son, Le Duc Minh, completed a postgraduate course at the university’s business school in 2003-4. This summer the Guardian tracked down the son, in Hanoi. He denied his education was funded through corrupt payments and said both the fees for his studying and his living costs while at Durham, totalling more than £10,000, were paid by his family. He said : “I believe that none of my school friends or lecturers at Durham ever thought that I looked like a rich boy at school.” Lowther is the first to be charged by the SFO during its investigation into Securency. The investigation came out into the open last October when the SFO arrested and later bailed Lowther and four other individuals , and raided eight homes across the UK and an office. Lowther, a former Securency director, has been awarded a OBE and CBE during his business career as well as an honorary knighthood from the king of Belgium, according to a local press report. After his arrest he resigned as deputy chairman of Innovia Films , a specialist manufacturer in Wigton, Cumbria which owns half of Securency. Both Innovia and the Australian central bank which owns the other half of Securency have been trying to sell their stakes in the firm since last November. Securency, which prints special durable currency used in 31 countries, was reportedly in line to win a contract to print the £5 banknote , but the Bank of England recently cancelled the deal. In another strand of its inquiries into Securency, the SFO has been scrutinising suspected bribes to Nigerian officials. Richard Alderman, the director of the SFO, told MPs in July that his agency was investigating “about 26″ cases of bribery. Serious Fraud Office Vietnam Australia Banking Durham University Higher education Rob Evans John Burn-Murdoch Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Europe’s debt crisis prompts central banks to provide dollar liquidity
September 15, 2011 No Comment
European and US stocks surge on news that world banks will flood markets with dollars in coming months Fears of a deepening of Europe’s debt crisis have prompted the world’s leading central banks to pump US dollars into the financial system, in a co-ordinated action designed to boost market confidence. The Bank of England joined the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan on Thursday to announce that they would flood money markets with dollars over the coming months. The move, on the third anniversary of the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers, sent shares soaring in banks heavily exposed to debt default by Greece and the other struggling members of the 17-nation eurozone. Under the terms of the deal, banks will be able to bid for unlimited amounts of US dollars at fixed interest rates in three separate auctions. The first of these will be on 12 October. Nick Parsons, head of strategy at National Australia Bank, said the decision to provide unlimited to liquidity well into 2012 was a big show of support to the global banking system. But he added: “If Greece were to default, an announcement that there would be unlimited liquidity available from central banks is one of the things you would want to have in place beforehand.” In London, the FTSE 100 index jumped 125 points to 5352, up 2.5%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index gained 1.2% to 11385. French bank stocks jumped, with BNP Paribas gaining 12%. The euro also jumped more than one cent against the dollar to $1.3886. European debt crisis European banks European Central Bank Europe Bank of England Lehman Brothers FTSE Dow Jones Dollar Stock markets Greece Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I’m not seeing a lot of buzz about this, but there should be. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has unveiled their framework for jobs, which augments and expands upon the President’s American Jobs Act. The CPC’s Rebuild The American Dream Framework has six parts to it. Specific policy proposals will be forthcoming, but here is the high level overview: Make it in America Again – focus on bolstering U.S. manufacturing Rebuild America – focus on infrastructure as a larger part of the jobs policy than the White House proposal Lead the Green Industrial Revolution – blending the first two elements into a focus on green industries and products Jobs for the Next Generation – Job training and education for young people Not Just Jobs – Good Jobs – Reinforcing Americans’ right and access to collective bargaining, promoting jobs that provide wages, benefits and security that will preserve the middle class Fair Taxes – Shared Sacrifice – Pay for the program by taxing the wealthy in this country At a time when poverty in this country has risen to one in six Americans, where joblessness among young people is at its highest level since the Great Depression, and jobs are the single biggest issue on the table, this framework is most welcome. It’s the product of discussions caucus members had during the summer as they toured the country and spoke to people about what most concerned them. While I haven’t heard all of the specifics yet, I think there are some cues to be taken from progressives’ budget proposal released earlier this year, which proposed a 45 percent tax rate on the wealthiest earners in this country, ending the wars, and preserving the social safety net for generations to come. It’s important to recognize that progressives are not trying to compete with the American Jobs Act, but instead have offered proposals which dovetail and augment his. I interpret that message as one of support not just for his plan, but for a larger vision of what can be done with the support of the American people. It’s that support part that’s a challenge. Progressives’ voices seem to be a focus in the mainstream media only when they are opposing the President, not when they’re stepping up alongside and strengthening what has been proposed. I would love to see a movement to get behind every one of their proposals with full-throated force, in the hopes of widening the benefits of whatever jobs package ultimately squeaks through this crazy Congress. Most importantly, the CPC proposal reflects what the majority of people in this country not only want, but need. It reflects a value system that doesn’t applaud dead uninsured people, but seeks to put an end to a situation where people die from lack of access to health care. It reflects a value system where every citizen of this country is given the same opportunity to succeed and improve their lot in life. It reflects the greater good a government should be doing for the governed. Reality may dictate that this Congress offers no hope for getting any of these proposals through. But we have an opportunity to rally around it anyway, and begin to change the narrative away from the right-wing cynical, selfish world view to one that’s centered around real people and real struggles. My hat is off to the CPC, and I’m looking forward to writing more about their specific bills as they emerge.
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