Libyan leader says he will send hundreds of supporters to ‘martyr’ in Europe in revenge for NATO campaign Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to send hundreds of Libyans to launch attacks in Europe in revenge for the Nato-led military campaign against him. In a speech on Libyan television the Libyan leader said: “Hundreds of Libyans will martyr in Europe. I told you it is eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. But we will give them a chance to come to their senses.” The Canary Islands, Sicily, other Mediterranean islands as well as Andalusia in southern Spain were Arab lands that should be liberated, he said. Gaddafi, whose forces have been battling rebel fighters increasingly encroaching on his territory and Nato warplanes, was speaking to a crowd of about 50,000 in the desert town of Sabha, about 500 miles south of Tripoli. The speech appeared designed to show that he still enjoys support in the areas of Libya still under his control. “You will regret it, Nato, when the war moves to Europe,” he said. “The Libyan people have no problem, the colonial powers are the ones who have a problem. They want to control our oil. They are jealous because God gave us the gift of oil,” Gaddafi said. “We do not fear them. We have no choice but to resist, become martyrs and fight on till the end.” Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Africa Nato Arab and Middle East unrest guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I think most of us are already aware that the new healthcare law is a piece of Swiss cheese, and now David Sirota points out where some of the biggest holes are: With 60 percent of all bankruptcies related to medical costs; with many of those medical-related bankruptcies occurring among those who have private insurance; and with the fear of medical bankruptcy encouraging the insured to unduly skimp on medical services, the Obama healthcare bill did purport to address the issue via caps on out-of-pocket expenses. But those weak caps — and the bill’s failure to achieve universal coverage — promise to allow the medical debt problem to continue, just as they have in the state whose “reforms” most closely mimic Obama’s bill. As the Los Angeles Times recently reported: Studying medical bankruptcies in Massachusetts, whose recent healthcare reform was a model for national reform, researchers found that while new insurance rules increased the number of people who had coverage, those rules did not improve coverage — leaving many still struggling with medical debt… Proponents of the national healthcare reform passed into law last year have claimed that it would reduce medical bankruptcy in the United States by helping more Americans get insurance. This new study, which was published Tuesday in the American Journal of Medicine, suggests that a reduction in bankruptcies is unlikely. Add to all of this a new Center for Public Integrity report about how American wages are still being eaten up by private health insurance premium increases, and the trajectory is clear: Events are proving that “real reform” and strengthening insurance industry power are mutually exclusive goals. That is, they are proving the veracity of progressives’ original criticism of President Obama’s healthcare legislation. This is, to be sure, a politically inconvenient truth to both parties and their insurance industry benefactors — but alas, it is the truth. The longer we simply stare at it — or pretend it doesn’t exist — the longer the healthcare crisis will continue.
Continue reading …Liberal Diane Sawyer Swears Neutrality: ‘People Will Know What the Truth Is’
July 8, 2011 No CommentWorld News host Diane Sawyer swears she simply “brings the facts” and makes sure people “know what the truth is.” The anchor appeared on Thursday's O'Reilly Factor to promote her new special on kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard. O'Reilly pointed out that such stories of brutality anger him and are the reason he's a commentator and not a straight journalist. Asked if she ever shows anger as a reporter , Sawyer professed, ” No, I get purposeful, which is different. I always think that my job is to marshal facts and bring the facts out and let the facts deliver whatever information there is to deliver.” Touting her objectivity, the ABC journalist continued, “And at the end of the day, people will know what the truth is. And that's got to be my job.” Of course, as a Profile in Bias by the Media Research Center proved , Sawyer is anything but neutral. From gushing over Nancy Pelosi (“galvanized steel with a smile”) to dreaming about Bill Clinton, Sawyer definitely delivers her facts from the left. Asked if she feels an obligation to “educate” Americans about evil, Sawyer didn't exactly answer the question. She dodged, “I think we have a responsibility to tell the stories of real lives and, to the extent they bring us lessons about who we are and what we might do, and also about who we want to be and what we want our justice officials to do and how we want to react, absolutely.” Sawyer has repeatedly hyped Democrats, including this praise of John Edwards and Ted Kennedy: “Today is the day the Senate may pass that patients’ bill of rights, which would guarantee your right to sue your HMO. When that happens, one big winner out of Washington will be one of the bill’s key Democratic backers, North Carolina’s newcomer John Edwards. He is said to have the combined political skills — are you ready for this? — of Clinton and Kennedy, Kennedy and Clinton together, and also to have a very good shot at the White House.” — Sawyer on Good Morning America, June 29, 2001. “An incredible night: A return and a roar from the lion of the Democrats….You can almost still feel and hear the echo of the roar that went up last night when Senator Edward Kennedy returned to the convention….People were overwhelmed, simply overwhelmed. They knew it was a night to remember for all ages.” — Sawyer on the first night of the Democratic convention, August 26, 2008, Good Morning America. She even once compared Hillary Clinton to Jesus Christ: “As we know this morning, there is another ground-breaking, crossroads moment. That is for Senator Hillary Clinton, who ran her campaign on her own terms. This woman, as we said, forged into determination and purpose her whole life. As someone said, ‘No thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.’” — ABC’s Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, June 4, 2008, quoting a 17th century discourse about Jesus Christ. For more on Sawyer, see her Profile in Bias . A transcript of the July 08 O'Reilly Factor exchange can be found below: BILL O'REILLY: Do you- I had Peter Jennings on, the late Peter Jennings on a program a few years ago, and I said to him, “You know, I get really angry at these stories.” As you know, I'm furious about this Casey Anthony verdict. Furious. SAWYER: I know. O'REILLY: And I show I it, which is why I'm doing commentary now and not anchoring news someplace. Do you get angry about it and not show it? SAWYER: No, I get purposeful, which is different. I always think that my job is to marshal facts and bring the facts out and let the facts deliver whatever information there is to deliver. And at the end of the day, people will know what the truth is. And that's got to be my job. I think that- that there are different functions. And I love the dialogue between the two, but I really do think they are different and should stay different. O'REILLY: So you feel that it's your responsibility to step back from the anger and just present the facts, whereas I feel it's my responsibility as a commentator to show the audience that I'm angry and tell them why. And I think both are necessary in the discourse in this country. SAWYER: Right. And our job is to watch you and, I hope, watch me. O'REILLY: All right, Diane. How's that? Diane? Is that good?
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America saw the power of the eye-candy factor when JFK out-handsomed Richard Nixon in the first televised presidential debate. Fifty years later, a new study digs into exactly how much of an advantage it is for candidates to “look the part” and what kind of voter is most swayed by the facial region. The study
Continue reading …The wait is over! Palin’s ‘Undefeated’ movie trailer: Pure essence of propaganda
July 8, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Most normal moviegoing folks — especially those of us with kids — are looking forward to July 15 for one very good reason: It’s the release date for the final Harry Potter film , and the trailers look terrific. The end of Voldemort, at last! Then there are the hapless conservadweebs who instead will plunk down their hard-earned dollars to endure two hours of propaganda devoted to singing the praises of Sarah Palin titled The Undefeated . Of course, this is kind of a strange title, considering that Palin indeed was defeated in her campaign for the vice presidency. And for some reason, they didn’t title it The Uncompleted as a way of actually describing her term as governor. Or The Quitter, which would also be more accurate. Anyway, Andrew Breitbart plumped the first trailer for the movie yesterday. You’ll notice that he didn’t bother to mention to readers that he’s in the trailer. There is no need for full disclosure at propaganda mills like Breitbart’s operation. Indeed, the Palin trailer — and no doubt the movie itself — reminds me of the propaganda techniques identified half a century ago by the long-defunct Institute for Propaganda Analysis , because each of them can be seen at work here: — Name Calling, or hanging a bad label on ideas or persons. — Card Stacking, or the selective use of facts or outright falsehoods. — Band Wagon, or claiming that everyone like us thinks this way. — Testimonial, or the association of a respected or hated person with an approved or despised idea, respectively. — Plain Folks, a technique whereby the idea and its proponents are linked to “people just like you and me.” — Transfer, or an assertion of a connection between something valued or hated and the idea or commodity being discussed. — Glittering Generality, or an association of something with a “virtue word” to gain approval without examining the evidence. Now, you may ask yourself: Why would Sarah Palin put out a propaganda movie about herself right now if she weren’t running for the presidency? And that would be a good question. The answer, of course: She wouldn’t. Meanwhile, look for a fresh bumper crop of “Republicans for Voldemort” bumper stickers.
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Gang member used Facebook as part of a campaign to sexually abuse more than 100 schoolgirls in the Torbay area A member of a gang believed to have sexually abused more than 100 vulnerable schoolgirls in a seaside resort has been sentenced to 10 years in custody. Jake Ormerod, 20, used Facebook as part of his “campaign to groom naive and immature girls” and then “mercilessly corrupted” them to satisfy his “insatiable need for sex”. He admitted 13 counts of sexual activity with eight girls. He plied victims with drink and drugs in the Devon resort of Torbay, before having unprotected sex. Some were virgins and in one session he had sex with three children within 90 minutes, Exeter crown court heard. Sending him to a young offenders’ institution, Judge Philip Wassall said some victims were “so stupefied they did not find out until later that you had had sexual intercourse with them”. After the sentencing, Devon and Cornwall police said they believed Ormerod was part of a wider group of young men in Torbay who had abused girls as young as 11 who went missing from home. Police and other agencies have acted to safeguard 139 girls who are believed have come into contact with members of the group. Sources believe there have been at least 40 victims of the gang, though others may have been assaulted but are too traumatised or frightened to give evidence – or else remain loyal to the abusers. Police refuse to say how many other suspects they are hunting, only saying it is “fewer than 10″. Detective Inspector Simon Snell, who is leading the inquiry, codenamed Operation Mansfield, said Ormerod was guilty of “classic grooming behaviour” to make the victims feel wanted and loved. As well as grooming them on the internet, the men would meet the girls at school gates or on the streets of Torbay, police say. The case is another example of the worrying number of girls who are victims of street grooming. A report from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre published last month revealed many victims were runaways. Andrew MacFarlane, prosecuting, said a large number of girls aged 12-15 who had gone missing were regularly found at Ormerod’s home. MacFarlane said: “The defendant took advantage of their vulnerability. He mercilessly corrupted them in order to satisfy his apparently insatiable need for sex. “He never used a condom. He never took no for an answer. He lowered what resistance they had mostly by the ready provision of drink and cannabis in significant quantities.” The house Ormerod shared with his mother in Torquay was described as filthy by some victims. But MacFarlane said: “The lure of drink and drugs appears to have overwhelmed their disgust.” MacFarlane said: “For many it is no exaggeration to say that their lives have been damaged permanently and what remained of their childhood years have been destroyed.” One victim, who was 14 at the time she was abused, tried to kill herself. She said Ormerod pinned her down and had sex with her when she was a virgin. Later she described herself as horrible and called Ormerod “blatant scum who never washed and was a creep”. A 13-year-old girl said Ormerod had a “bad boy image which girls found attractive”. Another 13-year-old said he had sex with her as she drifted in and out of consciousness “after getting wrecked”. Yet another girl aged 13 said he plied her with drink and drugs and having sex was “like necrophilia”. She added she “will never be the person I was”. Defending, Paul Dentith, denied Ormerod was a predatory paedophile. He said: “He is not the Pied Piper of Torquay.” Dentith said there was a hate campaign against Ormerod and he would never be able to return to Torquay. But outside court one victim’s mother said: “He has cherry-picked these girls because they are vulnerable and he has gone on to sexually exploit them. “He has pretended to befriend them, shown them kindness and that he is a really decent, gentle guy – he isn’t. I’m glad he is locked up. He started the exploitation of young girls years ago.” Police said the hunt for other men suspected of abusing girls in Torbay was continuing. Officers also conceded that questions needed to be asked about the way police and other agencies worked together to prevent vulnerable runaways being abused and to identify those who were targeting them. Crime Steven Morris Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk
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Court gives woman go-ahead to take controversial section 60 to task over allegations it discriminates against black people The high court has agreed that a full legal challenge can be brought against a police stop-and-search power alleged to be used in a racist way against African-Caribbean people. The challenge follows officers stopping and searching a 37-year-old woman with no convictions, after they claimed she was holding onto her bag in a suspicious way. The woman, Ann Roberts, ended up being held down by officers on the floor in front of other people, handcuffed and taken to a police station where she was wrongly accused of being a class A drug user and placed on a treatment programme under the threat of arrest if she failed to attend. Roberts was stopped under section 60 of the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, brought in to tackle illegal raves. The power allows police to stop and search people without having a reasonable suspicion they are involved in criminality. Roberts, a special needs assistant, argued that a disproportionate number of black Londoners are searched in violation of article 14 of the European convention on human rights, which bans discrimination. Her lawyers say statistical evidence implies that a black person is more than nine times more likely to be searched than a white person. They go on say section 60 is “incompatible” with three articles of the convention: 14, 5, which protects the right to liberty and security, and 8, which protects the right to private and family life. Police say section 60 is a valuable tool which has been used to tackle areas plagued by violence. On 9 September 2010 Roberts was on a bus when an inspector found she had insufficient money for her journey on her prepaid Oyster card. Police were called when she could not produce identity documents. According to her lawyers, she was searched under section 60 after a police officer took the view she was holding on to her bag in a manner that suggested she had something to hide. She was told the area she was in was a “hotspot” for gang violence and the possession of knives. Few, if any, acts of gang violence are committed by married women in their mid 30s. Roberts asked to be searched in a police station rather than in public in case it was seen by young people with whom she worked. Police refused and when they tried to seize her handbag a struggle followed which led to officers restraining her on the floor. Three bank cards with different identities were found in her bag. She explained they were in her name, her maiden name – having recently married – and her son’s name. She was told she was being arrested on suspicion of fraud and taken to Tottenham police station. She was subjected to a drugs test which she was told showed small amounts of crack cocaine, but a later test showed she was clear. After being put in a cell, she was interviewed and told she was no longer suspected of fraud but was being detained on suspicion that she had obstructed a police search. Later a caution was administered for obstruction. Stop and search Race issues Police Equality UK criminal justice Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Turnaround is Fair Play – Ezra Klein Creates New Twitter Hashtag to Ask Questions of John Boehner
July 8, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media After President Obama held his first Twitter town hall this week and took a question from Speaker of the House John Boehner among many others, The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein who was filling in for Martin Bashir decided that turnaround was fair play for John Boehner. Klein has started a new hashtag on Twitter where you can ask questions you’d like to see John Boehner answer and he promised to read some of them on the air this Friday. The new hashtag is #ASKBOEHNER for anyone on Twitter that would like to submit a question. My question would be “John Boehner, where are the jobs?”
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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is once again getting a disproportionate share of attention for alleged “gaffes” compared to President Obama. The latest, a dubious Democratic claim that Romney flip-flopped in his remarks upon the state of the economy during the Obama administration, made Wednesday’s print edition. It comes courtesy of Jim Rutenberg, following Romney on the campaign trail in New Hampshire: “ Romney Questioned on Critique of Economy Under Obama .” But as Mr. Romney has finally started to campaign in earnest over the past couple of weeks, the dangers of his perceived leading status are coming into view, with a more intense focus on his every word. And in the past few days, it has revolved around three words in particular: “things are worse.” During his campaign swing through this crucial state this week, Mr. Romney has been faced with repeated questions about the consistency of his commentary on President Obama’s handling of the recession and the subsequent economic recovery. To recap: On Thursday, when asked by a journalist in Pennsylvania to jibe his assertions that “things are worse” under Mr. Obama with various signs of economic improvement since the president took office, Mr. Romney replied, “I didn’t say things are worse,” adding, “What I said was the economy hasn’t turned around.” Democrats accused him of “flip-flopping” on a central assertion of his candidacy. Attending Fourth of July festivities in New Hampshire on Monday, Mr. Romney reasserted that “the recession is deeper because of our president” and that the recovery was more anemic because of him as well. (The recession was declared officially over as of June 2009, but the recovery, especially in employment, has been weak and inconsistent.) Notice Rutenberg never actually quoted Romney saying the phrase “things are worse,” though that’s certainly how a reader would interpret his quotation marks. Times Watch could not locate an instance of Romney uttering the phrase in quotes, although Romney has used various iterations of what he said during his presidential announcement: ” Barack Obama has failed America. When he took office, the economy was in recession. He made it worse .” But that's not quite the same thing. Ace of Spades untangled the web of the media and the Democratic Party accusing Romney of a flip-flop:
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WWF demands full environmental impact assessment before Shell starts work near the Ningaloo marine park, north of Perth Conservation groups in Australia say a decision to allow Shell to carry out exploratory drilling near Australia’s newest world heritage site, Ningaloo marine park, could devastate the area if there was a spillage. “It beggars belief that the government is not requiring a full environmental estimate of this drilling proposal,” said Paul Gamblin of the World Wildlife Fund. Instead, the enrgy giant must abide by certain conditions, including visual observations for whales. The Australian government said Shell’s proposal did not require further assessment. Ningaloo reef, about 750 miles north of Perth, is best known for its whale sharks, the world’s largest fish. The 160m long reef is also home to rare and endangered wildlife including whales, sea turtles and birds. Ningaloo marine park, which includes the reef, was designated a world heritage site last month. The exploration well will be dug 30 miles from the edge of the park, primarily in search of gas. In a statement Shell said it was “mindful of significant biodiversity and heritage values of the Ningaloo region and plan to continue our operations accordingly”. The proposal said in the unlikely event of a spillage travelling towards the reef “there is sufficient time to collect dispersant and boom…to contain any damage.” Several drilling and floating platforms already operate to the north of the reef but conservationists say this well – to the west – would expose a much bigger section of the reef to danger. “One of our main concerns is a spill off the side of the reef because of the way the winds and currents work – there’s only so far for a spill to go before it ends up hitting the reef,” added Gamblin. The area is also prone to cyclones. Two years ago Australia suffered its worst oil disaster in the Montara oil field off the northern coast of Western Australia. It took three months go bring the spill, which led to 2000 barrels of oil spewing into the ocean each day, under control. The government says since Montara it has adopted a “more rigorous approach for the assessment of offshore drilling”. Australia Marine life Royal Dutch Shell Conservation Wildlife Oil Oil and gas companies Alison Rourke guardian.co.uk
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