Rep. Joe Walsh Educates Martin Bashir: ‘Your Profession Did Not Vet’ Obama
September 2, 2011 No Comment
Republican Congressman Joe Walsh and left-leaning MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir got into a contentious exchange over Barack Obama on Friday. The Congressman bluntly explained to Bashir, ” Your profession did not vet [Obama]…”
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MPs back compromise amendment as Nadine Dorries comes under pressure to reveal allies The campaign to toughen Britain’s abortion laws was losing momentum as Tory MPs on Friday backed a rival amendment and questions emerged about links to Christian counselling services that might benefit from the proposed reform. Legislation initially proposed by Nadine Dorries and Frank Field would strip abortion providers such as Marie Stopes of their counselling role and hand it over to “independent” organisations not linked to abortion clinics. But Dorries confirmed to the Guardian that the organisations supporting her campaign include a “crisis pregnancy centre” (CPC) – a type of advisory service often linked to religious anti-abortion activists. Dorries is coming under pressure to reveal how her allies are funded. One of the most vocal public supporters of the Right to Know campaign backing the Dorries amendment to the healthcare bill is the lobby group Christian Concern, which is linked to a wealthy US evangelical organisation, the Alliance Defence Fund. Meanwhile, political support has been ebbing away since fellow Tory MP Louise Mensch tabled a compromise amendment, which would allow women to choose whether they received counselling from faith-backed pregnancy centres or existing charities such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. The public health minister, Anne Milton, took the unprecedented step of emailing all MPs to set out the government’s voting decision. Although emphasising that the vote on the amendment would be free, she wrote: “On the issue of preventing abortion services from offering counselling, we disagree with the [Dorries] amendment. If pressed to a vote, my ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health and I will vote against the amendments. This is because the amendments exclude existing abortion services from offering counselling.” Conservative MPs were shocked by the letter, saying its statement of the government’s preferred view was “unheard of” ahead of a free vote and reflected the state of coalition relations, with the Liberal Democrats “running the show”. Dorries insisted she would go ahead with her amendment to the bill, despite its waning parliamentary support. Dorries and Field want to offer women the option of independent counselling, delivered by an organisation other than the abortion provider. Dorries said she did not want it to be a religious organisation, but “one of the 36,000 BACP [British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy] professional counsellors across the country who are prohibited at present from working with pregnant women”. However, healthcare organisations and pro-choice campaigners are concerned the gap would be filled from the ranks of the hundreds of CPCs, which are often overseen by religious anti-abortion groups. Dorries confirmed that her campaign was being advised by Dr Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship, a lobby group which says that more than 4,000 doctors are members, and “a number” of other organisations, including “one that runs crisis pregnancy centres”, but she refused to either name them or describe their role. The Dorries-Field amendment is expected to be selected by the Speaker when parliament returns from recess, and one of the first items on the parliamentary agenda is the health and social care bill on Tuesday and Wednesday. The prime minister, David Cameron, was at first said to be sympathetic to Dorries’s view that women should be offered independent advice, but he became persuaded by the view of campaigners that the planned amendment would prevent abortion providers such as Marie Stopes from giving counselling. The Department of Health has instead announced a consultation on the range of counsellors, and Lib Dems said they would be seeking to influence this. Despite Cameron withdrawing his support, on Friday Dorries insisted she would push ahead but did not appear to be gathering the support of her colleagues. Two Conservative MPs said they would be likely to support the Dorries-Field amendment, if selected by the Speaker, but they said the numbers voting in its favour would be low. However, they suggested the mood on the backbenches would be grim on account of No 10 conducting what they called a “secret whipping operation”, letting it be known that the prime minister would vote against Dorries’s amendment thereby piling pressure on his backbenchers to follow his lead and vote it down. Mensch’s amendment seeks to find a compromise by increasing the range of bodies offering advice but not ruling out Marie Stopes. She proposes giving women considering an abortion the choice of getting independent counselling on the NHS. Mensch’s amendment would allow a woman to choose a referral to any counselling service, including Marie Stopes and British Pregnancy Advisory Service – the two providers explicitly ruled out by the Dorries-Field amendment. Mensch had wanted her proposal to mean that any BACP-accredited counsellor who is an abortion provider, is a faith group or is ideological would be labelled as such, allowing women to make an informed decision, but she was unable to include that. Instead, she intends to lobby the Department of Health on this point. A Liberal Democrat MP, Julian Huppert, tabled an amendment seeking to strengthen the status quo. It read: “All organisations offering information or advice in relation to unplanned pregnancy choices must follow current evidence-based guidance produced by a professional medical organisation specified by the secretary of state.” Crisis pregnancy centres are independent of the NHS and offer counselling on pregnancy choices, and sometimes free testing and other services. Some are independently run, as charities, often with church backing, while others are part of more established networks, such as that run by Life, a charity opposed to abortion in all circumstances. The largest network – more than 100 CPCs – is run by CareConfidential. Neither Dorries nor Field, nor the Right to Know campaign – which was set up to lobby for support for the amendment – will reveal the details of who is involved with Right to Know and who has funded it. It has paid for a poll of MPs carried out by the private pollsters ComRes as part of a lobbying operation. MPs who are opposing the amendment have called on Dorries to reveal the full sources of the backing for the campaign. Luciana Berger, the Labour and Cooperative MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said: “It’s only right that people know where the resources have come from in advance of the vote.” Abortion Conservatives Health policy Health Women Public services policy Ben Quinn Polly Curtis Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Incensed That Obama Speech Pushed Back a Day, NYT Whines Boehner Needs to ‘Grow Up’
September 2, 2011 No Comment
Speaker John Boehner politely suggesting that President Obama can be accommodated to give an address to a joint session of Congress a day later than the date he originally requested is “contemptuous,” “cynical” and “craven” to the New York Times editorial board. In their top editorial headlined, “Oh, Grow Up,” the Times childishly whined about Speaker John Boehner's “unprecedented” request. But by the end of the 12-paragraph editorial it was perfectly clear the Times was really angry at President Obama for having “caved, to no one's surprise,” on the timing of his speech. “One day won't make a difference,” the Times admitted, “but the political spectacle and the final result only served to further underscore the president's weakness.” “Worse, the vital importance of the speech — and the need for Congress to take its full responsibility for creating jobs and reviving the economy — was upstaged by yet another Washington soap opera,” the Times huffed. But in fact this is a “soap opera” largely of the media's invention , including the Times .
Continue reading …Incensed That Obama Speech Pushed Back a Day, NYT Whines Boehner Needs to ‘Grow Up’
September 2, 2011 No CommentSpeaker John Boehner politely suggesting that President Obama can be accommodated to give an address to a joint session of Congress a day later than the date he originally requested is “contemptuous,” “cynical” and “craven” to the New York Times editorial board. In their top editorial headlined, “Oh, Grow Up,” the Times childishly whined about Speaker John Boehner's “unprecedented” request. But by the end of the 12-paragraph editorial it was perfectly clear the Times was really angry at President Obama for having “caved, to no one's surprise,” on the timing of his speech. “One day won't make a difference,” the Times admitted, “but the political spectacle and the final result only served to further underscore the president's weakness.” “Worse, the vital importance of the speech — and the need for Congress to take its full responsibility for creating jobs and reviving the economy — was upstaged by yet another Washington soap opera,” the Times huffed. But in fact this is a “soap opera” largely of the media's invention , including the Times .
Continue reading …Police involved in the fatal arrest of Smiley Culture will not face any charges
September 2, 2011 No Comment
Met officers cleared of misconduct, but IPCC admits operation to arrest reggae star David Emmanuel was ‘not satisfactory’ Police officers who carried out the raid in which the reggae star Smiley Culture allegedly stabbed himself to death are unlikely to face criminal charges, disciplinary action or be officially questioned, the Guardian has learned. The disclosure comes despite an admission by the Independent Police Complaints Commission that the operation at the singer’s home in Warlingham, Surrey, on 15 March was “not satisfactory” and that the actions of at least one officer have been criticised. In a confidential letter to the singer’s family, Mike Franklin, commissioner of the IPCC, said: “The [IPCC] investigation has identified aspects of the operation which were not satisfactory, and criticisms have been made of some of the officer’s actions. However, these do not meet the threshold for misconduct under the police misconduct system.” The family of Smiley Culture, whose real name was David Emmanuel, has bitterly criticised the Metropolitan police officers involved, none of whom have been suspended, and the IPCC’s decision that the officers were witnesses and not suspects, meaning they cannot be compelled to submit to a formal interview. They want to know why the four officers handcuffed 48-year-old Emmanuel after his fatal injury. An independent pathologist’s report has stated that the stab wound would have “cause[d] rapid collapse and death within a few minutes”. They also question why the officer in the kitchen at the time of Emmanuel’s death refused a direct request by the IPCC’s lead investigator to give a formal interview. “Even if foul play didn’t happen that day, the officers should be being held responsible for being so incompetent that my dad died, ” said Shanice McConnachie, Emmanuel’s 17-year-old daughter. “Whatever went wrong and led to my dad’s death, it’s the officers’s fault for not doing their job properly. My dad was in their care. “Their story just doesn’t add up and until it does, I can’t believe that my dad killed himself, ” she added. “My dad was under arrest and had an officer specifically allocated to his care. How could he walk around the kitchen and grab hold of a knife, without that officer seeing? And why would he? Even the police who were there admit he had been completely calm and cooperative up until that point.” “After he was stabbed, why did they police handcuff him? Our pathologist’s report says he would have died almost instantly,” she asked. “The police should have been focused on keeping his bleeding to a minimum and calling an ambulance. The IPCC and police don’t seem to care about helping us get to the truth of what really went on.” In his letter to the family, Franklin said the IPCC cannot force the officers to be interviewed because they “have always been witnesses [and] as a witness, police officers … cannot be compelled to be interviewed about what they have seen”. He added: “As they are not suspects, they will not be formally interviewed.” In the absence of further information from the officers, Franklin said the IPCC has “not found any evidence which would suggest any criminal acts were committed by any of the officers in the house”. Because Emmanuel’s death will be the subject of an inquest, he refused to elaborate on how this decision was made. The four officers have given voluntary accounts of what happened, but Franklin admitted these did little to clear up the mystery. They do, however, confirm initial reports that Emmanuel, who faced drugs charges, “remained calm and compliant throughout and as [the police] were clearing up and the search had concluded, [his] demeanour suddenly changed.” Franklin has refused to give the officers’ accounts to the Emmanuel family, saying the coroner “has asked that there is no disclosure at this time.” In the leaked letter, Franklin admitted there were no fingerprints on the knife found plunged into Emmanuel’s chest. “Contrary to public perception, this is not unusual and can happen for many reasons,” he wrote, adding that DNA matching Emmanuel’s was found on the hilt. Because the officers’ actions are not classed as misconduct, the only formal disciplinary action they can now face is if the Met initiates an unsatisafactory performance procedure. The IPCC cannot direct a police force to initiate this procedure and although it can lead to dismissal, that will only happen if the officers do not improve their performance over a period of time. The Met said the force cannot comment until after receiving the IPCC report. If the report indicated there may have been a criminal offence committed, Franklin would send the investigation report to the Crown Prosecution Service. Given his admission in the letter that the investigation did not find any evidence of criminal acts by officers, this seems unlikely. The family hired Dr Nat Cary, one of Britain’s most eminent consultant forensic pathologists to conduct a second post-mortem on Emmanuel. His report, which has been seen by the Guardian, , concurred with the official cause of Emmanuel’s death: a single stab wound to the heart. “I would expect such a stab wound to cause rapid collapse and death within a few minutes,” he said. He also acknowledged: “There is no evidence of any sharp type injuries to the hands, including no evidence of defensive type injuries against sharp weapon attack.” But he added: “In many cases with a single stab wound, no defensive type injuries are seen, including in cases with third party involvement.” Cary concluded: “Whilst it is clearly possible that the fatal stab wound was as described a self-inflicted injury, on pathological grounds alone there is nothing to determine that this was in fact the case, although it is fair to say that the site chosen is one of the sites that may be used in self-infliction.” Metropolitan police Police Independent Police Complaints Commission Crime Reggae Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Unions warn councils against copycat tactics after Unison banned from talks
September 2, 2011 No Comment
Unions stand together to say derecognition will not work after Plymouth politicians lock Unison out of budget cut discussions Britain’s three largest trade unions have warned councils against a copycat escalation in anti-union tactics after politicians in Plymouth barred Unison from talks in a dispute over budget cuts. The Conservative-run city council derecognised Unison and locked its representatives out of negotiations after failing to agree an overhaul of staff pay and conditions to save £18m. The move prompted Unite and the GMB to pull out of the deal. The council had planned to go ahead with unilateral contract changes for thousands of staff this week but put the process on hold in the hope of reaching a compromise. Union leaders are concerned about the tactics of council leaders as they cope with cuts in central government funding. Southampton city council has fired more than 4,000 staff and then re-hired them on lower pay and different conditions, in a move being copied by Shropshire council and Birmingham city council. A Unison spokeswoman said she hoped other councils would see that barring unions would only lead to a more protracted dispute: “The lesson is that it is a bad idea all-round. Other councils will see that the negative impact is not worth the risk.” Unite and the GMB responded to the Unison derecognition by refusing to finalise a deal over the contractual changes, which include alterations to overtime and maternity pay. Unite’s national officer for local government, Peter Allenson, feared that other councils, striving to cut millions of pounds from their budgets, would follow suit. “It is always worrying when you start to see employer behaviour developing that could become a trend. We have already seen the dismissal and re-engagement tactics that started in Southampton. We condemn the situation in Plymouth, which is quite complex, but derecognition is a retrograde step,” he said. Brian Strutton, the GMB’s national secretary for public services, said Plymouth’s tactics would fail. “I can understand Plymouth council’s frustration which led them to derecognise Unison and try to do a deal with GMB and Unite but it was a naive and, in my opinion, unlawful plan. “Unions will not be complicit in each others’ derecognition and Plymouth were mistaken to believe we would be.” By derecognising Unison last month, Plymouth has barred the union from its offices and from taking part in collective bargaining. GMB, Unison and Unite members had balloted for changes to pay and conditions but Unison said the turnouts were small and the agreement was riddled with legal uncertainties. The council said the proposed changes, which include alterations to overtime and maternity pay, were part of a wider package to save £18m over three years. The new agreements were due to be imposed on Wednesday, but the council announced it was allowing extra time in the hope of reaching a deal with the unions. A spokesman confirmed Unison remained derecognised. “We have received written correspondence from Unison officials in response to the council’s derecognition to which we have now responded,” the council said in a statement. “We have consistently said we are prepared to talk to Unison. We are unable to comment further.” Unions are responding to public spending cuts with their own tactical innovations, in an unfolding game of cat-and-mouse with government bodies. At Southampton, Unison and Unite have orchestrated walkouts that have focused on revenue-generating services such as the city port and toll collection. Unions representing NHS employees are considering “smart” strike action in the autumn that would maintain levels of service and guarantee patient safety but could see the cancellation of elective surgeries and non-crucial appointments. The growing conflict between trade unions and local authorities has echoes of a showdown in the US earlier this year, when tens of thousands of demonstrators staged protests in Wisconsin against what they claimed was the most sustained “union-bashing” measures proposed in decades. Opponents said the state had become a test-bed for Republicans attempting to push a radical anti-labour agenda – seeking to remove union rights and cut benefits in states facing huge holes in their budgets. Unions, backed by Barack Obama, mobilised workers throughout the country. Anti-tax activists including Tea Party advocates launched counter-protests. Opponents said the Republicans provoked the Wisconsin confrontation by trying to pass legislation to remove the collective bargaining rights of an estimated 300,000 workers, ranging from teachers to prison guards. Trade unions Unite Local politics Public sector cuts Dan Milmo Matthew Taylor guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Chuck Hagel, former Senator from Nebraska, says his fellow Republicans acted irresponsibly in the debt-ceiling debate. Some of his choice quotes during the interview with the Financial Times : “Irresponsible”…”Disgusted”..”Astounding lack of responsible leadership” “The irresponsible actions of my party, the Republican Party over this were astounding. I’d never seen anything like this in my lifetime. I was very disappointed, I was very disgusted in how this played out in Washington, this debt-ceiling debate. It was an astounding lack of responsible leadership by many in the Republican Party, and I say that as a Republican.” Beholden to the tea party “I think the Republican Party is captive to political movements that are very ideological, that are very narrow. I’ve never seen so much intolerance as I see today in American politics.”
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Breakdown of survival rates of those treated for life-threatening conditions by paramedics released Treatment times and survival rates for heart attacks, cardiac arrest and stroke victims vary by region, according to new figures outlining the performance of ambulance trusts. The statistics reveal that the survival rate for patients resuscitated by ambulance staff after an unwitnessed cardiac arrest varied from 0% for those treated by the Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust to 12% of patients attended to by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The national average rate was 6%. It is the first time a breakdown of clinical outcomes at different ambulance trusts has been published. The statistics – relating to ambulance treatment and outcomes in April this year – take a number of clinical quality indicators into account. The data showed that nationally, 90.8% of heart attack patients eligible for primary angioplasty received the treatment within 150 minutes. For patients treated by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust the same timeframe was achieved in 82.3% of cases, compared with Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust which achieved 97.6%. Nationally, 66.2% of suspected stroke patients who were assessed face-to-face arrived at a hyperacute stroke centre within 60 minutes. Regionally, that figure varied from 0% in the Isle of Wight to 90.9% for patients treated by the North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The proportion of suspected stroke patients assessed face-to-face who received an appropriate care bundle varied from 84% to 100%, with a national average of 91.3%. The Department of Health said the figures would be used as a tool to identify areas in need of improvement, but stressed that it was too soon to draw conclusions from a month sample. The results could also be affected by trusts’ differing patient numbers and case mix, a spokeswoman said. The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, said: “Transparency is at the heart of our plans to modernise the NHS. We know that it can be a powerful tool to help improve services, foster innovation and empower patients and clinicians. “The data published for the first time today shows that there is variation in the results for patients across the country. “By making this information available we are giving the NHS the tools to identify areas where they can improve and take action. Patients should be able to expect a 24/7 accessible and safe emergency care service. I expect all ambulance trusts, commissioners and the wider NHS to look at the data for their region and work towards reaching the levels of the best.” Professor Matthew Cooke, National Clinical Director for Emergency and Urgent Care said: “Publishing patient outcomes is vital in order to identify areas in need of improvements across the whole emergency care system. “The new ambulance quality indicators offer an opportunity to ensure that we always strive to improve services for patients. It also provides patients with crucial information about their local services.” NHS Health guardian.co.uk
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Maimoun Zarzour believed to have been strangled in his office at Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park, London Detectives are searching for the motive that led to the killing of a blind imam inside a mosque in north London. Maimoun Zarzour, 39, an imam at Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park, north London, was found dead in his office at the mosque on Friday morning . Mosque officials believe Zarzour may have been strangled. Police and mosque officials said they did not think the killing was a hate crime. Shortly after Zarzour’s body was found, a man gave himself up to police and is the prime suspect. He is believed to be Muslim, and to have asked for an appointment to see Zarzour after early morning prayers, suggesting that he was known at the mosque. Muslim Welfare House is one of two mosques in the Finsbury Park area. It is moderate and orchestrated the ousting of the firebrand Abu Hamza, who is now in jail. Worshippers at the mosque, which is known for reaching out to other faiths, had celebrated Eid on Tuesday, one of the biggest Muslim festivals of the year. A former mosque trustee, Mohamad Kozbar, paid tribute to Zarzour. “He was a well known imam, humble and kind,” he said. “To be killed in this way is a crime, and the person or people who did this should be brought to justice.” Abdul Abdi, the project manager for Muslim Welfare House, which runs the mosque, said: “It’s tough for the community. He was someone who was dedicated and worked more than his scheduled hours. He accepted anyone to his office at any time, even if it wasn’t a convenient time. “He was friendly and a man who united the community in this area. During his short time here he became well known and respected.” In a statement the Metropolitan police said: “Police were called by London ambulance service at 1021hrs on Friday 2
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• Press refresh or turn on the auto-update for the latest • Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • Follow Simon Burnton’s Euro 2012 qualifier clockwatch • Keep up with all tonight’s international goals here Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium) England: Hart, Smalling, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Walcott, Parker, Barry, Downing, Young, Rooney. Subs: Stockdale, Jagielka, Baines, Milner, Lampard, Johnson, Defoe. Bulgaria: Mihailov, Zanev, Bodurov, Milanov, Bandalovski, Ivanov, Georgiev, Martin Petrov, Stiliyan Petrov, Popov, Genkov. Subs: Vladislav Stoyanov, Iliev, Marquinhos, Sarmov, Raykov, Kostadin Stoyanov, Kostadin Stoyanov. The pitch: Good for grazing. England team news: Frank Lampard is dropped in favour of Stewart Downing, who plays alongside Theo Walcott, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney in an attacking line-up. At the back, Chris Smalling is handed his debut, while Gary Cahill gets the nod alongside John Terry. Kick off: 7.15pm BST. This should be a shoo-in for England, you’d think. “A win for England is virtually taken for granted,” writes our man in Sofia, Kevin McCarra, riffing on Fabio Capello’s excellent away record (nine wins in 13). Let’s see, then. Bulgaria’s main goal threat: Film noir’s Dimitar Berbatov, who has prematurely retired from international football, in order to suck down filterless cigarettes, wear wide-brimmed hats, discuss existentialist philosophy in bistros over very strong cups of coffee, and listen to west-coast jazz. Historical records only count for so much, that is true. But the last of those nine games was a 4-0 tonking at Wembley 364 days ago, in the opening game in this Euro 2012 qualifying group, Jermain Defoe the hat-trick hero. Today’s England line-up includes Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Theo Walcott, all of whom are bang in form, excellent in attack during that 8-2 game at Old Trafford last weekend as they were. Bulgaria’s attack, meanwhile? Their main man Stiliyan Petrov says it all: “Our game plan is to frustrate England by staying solid at the back then exploit their growing anxiety with a winning goal. The problem is where that goal might come from.” Good evening, dear people. Now then. England have a very good record against Bulgaria. In nine games since the two teams first met at the 1962 World Cup finals in Chile, the English have won five times, drawing the other four, scoring 13 goals along the way while conceding a mere two. Euro 2012 qualifiers Euro 2012 Bulgaria England Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
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