I live in the UK, and to-day, I had an email from my MP to say that if I don't stop emailing her excerpts from various websites I visit, she will ask the local police to 'call' on me, I can only wonder on what that means, so, the truth is not wanted by the British MP's, well, what are we to do to make them wake up in the real world?
h/t Instapundit
President Obamas assertion of executive privilege today is a bit like the kickoff for the NFL regular season. It doesnt end the Fast and Furious scandal; it just takes it to another level. Everything so far was the pre-season. Now people will start to pay attention.
A president doesnt assert executive privilege lightly. It is a relic from the powers of the king. Some things were not for parliaments eyes, such as national security statecraft. This new phase of the Fast and Furious scandal begins with Americans who had paid no attention to the scandal hearing the news today and asking, what are they trying to hide?
#1
This new phase of the Fast and Furious scandal begins with Americans who had paid no attention to the scandal hearing the news today and asking, "what are they trying to hide?"
Those who listen to, read, or watch the old media may be hearing this for the first time. F & F has been flying under the radar is the media. I listened to Wolf Blitzer for as long as I could tolerate him and their spin was unbelievable. They are missing the whole point of the F & F investigation--not a whit of concern about justice for Brian Terry or concern for the few hundred Mexican citizens who have been murdered as the result of F & F. The MSM is all about protecting Obama and Holder. They neglect that Issa's committee is asking for documents about Operation Wide Receiver under President Bush as well.
[Dawn] WHERE cities are forever smarting under violence and where the grip of the law is loose, it is not unusual for citizens to act as police and judge. With faith as a motive the mix becomes lethal and the protesters turn into a vigilante mob with ready justifications for murder. Mob justice has been witnessed in several places, and lately the vigilantes have appeared in the lawless streets of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and near Quetta. On Sunday, a mob attacked a cop shoppe in Bloody Karachi, angered by the alleged blasphemous act of a man -- reportedly a drug addict -- who had been booked and enjugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! by the law-enforcers. The police managed to disperse the raiders with aerial shooting of bullets and firing teargas shells, even though the situation was tense enough for Rangers to have been called in. Given the prevailing atmosphere, this was an instance where an ugly incident was avoided. A similar angry raid on a cop shoppe near Quetta which was holding a blasphemy suspect on Saturday turned more violent. It ended in the death of one protester and caused bullet injuries to no less than 19 men, eight of them coppers.
Such incidents are linked in no small part to the blasphemy laws on our books and the increasing atmosphere of religious intolerance that is crowding out all voices of sanity. Moreover, a judicial system which has failed to deliver has aggravated the general frustrations of a society that has increasingly come to feel that for its grievances to be addressed adequately, it must take the law into its own hands. Rights activists, both in Pakistain and abroad, have time and again questioned the inability of governments in the country to effectively check these violent protests that have a tendency to get out of control and to result in acts of extreme brutality. Quite often, it has been noticed, the law-enforcers fail to fully anticipate the repercussions of holding a blasphemy accused and are late in putting remedial measures in place. While theirs is certainly a sensitive job, they must take all precautions to protect a suspect from the anger of the mob.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Karachi [+ rest of Pakland] having severe, seemingly routine = permanent? Power, Water, + Gas shortages doesn't help.
Cities have low or no Central Air, no Cold Water, Ice [Sewer?], + no fuel for Cars, Trucks, etc.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan ranked #13 on the list of Failed States.
RICH GET RICHER, POOR GET POORER = TALIBAN, AL-QAEDA = MILITANT TAKEOVER OF COUNTRY + NUKES COME 2014 OR SHORTLY AFTER [electorally, or violently]???
* E.G. IIRC TOPIX [old]> MINISTER:IMPORT OF LNG COSTS PAKISTAN US$1.0BILYUHN MONTHLY.
[Dawn] THE masks are off and daggers drawn. Pakistain's democratic process may once again become a part of history, leaving the world to wonder how we could so willingly poison ourselves in the belief that it would lead to better days.
Those in power have consistently let their people down -- ruthlessly. But no one is being fooled. They may feel helpless in the face of manipulation by everyone trying to save their skins -- the judiciary included -- but as the courts have often held themselves the truth does eventually prevail.
In the meanwhile, the country is headed for another phase of political instability that may finally lead to yet another autocracy. Sense may prevail at the end, but in the process, many heads will roll and hopes will be demolished. These are sad days for Pakistain.
Four years of democratic rule have given people little to rejoice about. Memories of dark nights and empty stomachs will begin to symbolise democracy. Political parties will be judged by their rowdy TV shows and insincerity. The judiciary remained the only institution in which people put their faith. Over the years that too has eroded. Many judgments appear self-laudatory and judged with different yardsticks. Those who follow constitutional rulings may disagree on every aspect of the judgments delivered by the Supreme Court (SC), but there is ample evidence to show that the standards applied in the selection of suo motu ...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard... cases, the admissibility of cases under Article 184(3) and the process adopted do not follow similar criteria...
Sadly, the democratic process may prove shortlived. The establishment has played its cards well. It has masterfully used the hands of civilian institutions to cut each other down to size.
There will be no winners as the one who survives will also suffer in isolation. A mere stroke will paralyse the victor too. After all, democracy rests on all three pillars of the state and no one pillar alone can bear the weight of this complex system. We are moving fast in this unfortunate direction and unless we reverse it now, it may be too late.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
no evidence for Israel helping Assad except a single unnamed 'source' who says Israel and others have given covert assistance without describing the assistance.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
06/20/2012 11:30 Comments ||
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#2
In some ways, Assads destruction would suit Tel Aviv
I emphasized the part that tells you all you need to know about the author.
#3
I have only a tiny resource these days in North Africa (as in, one person) but that person told me last night that another State is also supplying Assad with various forms of assistance: Israel.
I find that a bit hard to believe. Syria is no friend to Israel or vice versa.
Pol Pot was no friend of the US - yet we funneled aid to him after the NVA invaded Cambodia. Similarly, Stalin was no friend of the US, but Operation Barbarossa led to major Lend Lease aid to the Soviets. Hafez Assad used Arab Nationalism (of which Baathism is one variant) to unite Sunni Arabs around the notion that Alawite rule over Sunnis was legitimate and perhaps even desirable. He might even have had visions of becoming, like Muhammad, the man who unified Arabia under his personal rule. The slow but inexorable advance of Sunni Islamism has exploded any hope Assad Jr might have had of keeping Arab Nationalism in Syria alive. Where neighboring Sunni Arab countries condoned Assad Sr's destruction of Hama in the 80's, they are now actively funding and equipping the Sunni Arab rebels in Syria.
From here on, he will have to seek allies among non-Sunni Arab communities and any foreign country that will help him, no-questions-asked. Israel is one of those countries. A Muslim Brotherhood government in Syria is terrible for Israel, given the possibility that Egypt and Syria could then perhaps attempt to revive the corpse of the United Arab Republic that was mummified all those years ago, except as a caliphate.
First, there was the Trayvon Martin boondoggle a few months ago.
Then yesterday, evidence of some creative editing regarding Mitt Romneys visit to a Wawa in Pennsylvania.
Today, we have Andrea Mitchells spectacularly lame followup to criticism of the Romney clip edit which amounted to Ms. Mitchell saying, with a sigh and a frown, Oh, bother. Fine. Heres what we left out. She failed to acknowledge what the criticism entailed; she neglected to point out how the editing misrepresented the event being covered; and she offered nothing resembling an apology or an admission of responsibility for something that was, as a matter of fact, irresponsible.
Im tired. Truly. Ive grown weary of trying to defend the indefensible and explain the inexplicable. For years, people have stomped their feet and pounded their fists and snorted Liberal media bias! and Ive always tut-tutted and shooshed them and said, No, no. Calm down. They meant well. It was just a misunderstanding. A mistake. These things happen. I spent over 25 years working in the oft-reviled Mainstream Media and I saw up close and personal how the sausage was made. I knew the people who wielded the knives and wore the aprons, and could vouch (most of the time, anyway) for their good intentions.
But now?
Forget it. Im done. You deserve what theyre saying about you. Its earned. You have worked long and hard to merit the suspicion, acrimony, mistrust and revulsion that the media-buying public increasingly heaps upon you. You have successfully eroded any confidence, dispelled any trust, and driven your audience into the arms of the Internet and the blogosphere, where biases are affirmed and like-minded people can tell each other what they hold to be true, since nobody believes in objective reality any more. You have done a superlative job of diminishing what was once a great profession and undermining one of the vital underpinnings of democracy, a free press.
#4
Take away the boodle and they hate you. Mitt has said... "we can no longer afford to subsidize NPR, it must use advertising to support itself like other media outlets."
Deacon Greg Kandra is a Roman Catholic deacon serving the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. A veteran broadcast journalist, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News in both New York and Washington. He now serves as the Executive Editor of ONE, the acclaimed magazine published by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA). In addition to receiving two awards from the Catholic Press Association, Deacon Greg has been honored with every major award in broadcasting, including two George Foster Peabody Awards, two Emmy Awards, and four awards from the Writers Guild of America.
#8
You have done a superlative job of diminishing what was once a great profession and undermining one of the vital underpinnings of democracy, a free press.
As in the 'oldest profession'? Once again I'll point out the confusing the means of technology (circa 1792), the printing press, with the intent, free flow of information. It's the same confusion advocates try and often get away with in dealing with immigration in that there is legal and illegal immigration. They engage in dishonest rhetoric conflating the two concepts together in desperation to advance their agenda.
#11
Dressage has been considered the ultimate form of horsemanship for more than 2500 years. The horse Olympics has been one of the premier equestrian events in the world for more than a century. I wonder if NPR knows how many millions of people they have just insulted around the world. Attacking Ann Romney in the United States is not a good idea. Attacking her on the world stage is just stupidity. This will not only be bad for NPR but also a blight on Obama. Like the Deacon said, "What the hell is wrong with you people".
#12
We know what's wrong with them....they're liberals - A terminal disease that's nearly un-curable and results in millions of deaths around the world.
Apparently the snobbery horse ballet was important enough for no other than General George S. Patton to raid Czechoslovakia to save the historic breed.
They had a show out here in good ole John Wayne land...for a packed house.
Yeah, insulted every member of the horse clans. Movie Warhorse - horse ballet. Heroic charge during battle of Helms Deep - horse ballet.
#15
They have also insulted my wife. She was an equestrian when I met her and after several years I actually learned which end of the horse went first.
She was certified to teach up to elementary dressage (equivalent of the dressage component of 3 day eventing, one more mistake in the article) by the State of Massachusetts. And yes that was just one more $ grab by the Dems. like you need a license to teach riding. But still it is expensive to own a horse but it can be done by most anyone with a little land and "all" it takes is hours of back breaking labor and worry.
These ba$tards should be tarred afeathered and dropped off in the Marianas Trench.
#16
More and more people are on to these 5th columnists of the 4th estate lame stream media. If the MSM propagandists go broke because no one pays attention anymore and they all lose their jobs, it is deserved for the pack of lies they are trying to peddle. There is little difference between Hitler's & Goebbel's Nazi press or Pravda of the Communist USSR.
#17
"Apparently the snobbery horse ballet was important enough for no other than General George S. Patton to raid Czechoslovakia to save the historic breed."
For history buffs it is a great story to google. Patton knew of their heritage, and also knew the Russians would eat them. His decisions saved the breed.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
THE masks are off and daggers drawn. Pakistain's democratic process may once again become a part of history, leaving the world to wonder how we could so willingly poison ourselves in the belief that it would lead to better days.
Seriously.
