JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - Police in Zimbabwe have released nearly 200 opposition supporters arrested during a weekend raid on their party headquarters, their lawyer said Monday. They were not charged with any crime.
Police on Saturday stormed the headquarters of the Movement for Democratic Change in the capital, Harare, and arrested 197 activists attending a meeting, many of them from the party's youth wing.
``They've all been released,'' lawyer Alec Muchadehama said by telephone. He said the party supporters were released in groups with the last 41 freed Sunday evening. ``Some of them were alleging they had been assaulted by police,'' Muchadehama said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
For now. Some might require repatriotation if they don't get the hint.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Hours after President Hugo Chavez shut down Venezuela's main opposition broadcaster, his government demanded an investigation of news network Globovision on Monday for allegedly inciting an assassination attempt on the leftist leader.
Chavez took Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, off the air at midnight on Sunday and replaced it with a state-run channel to promote his socialist programs. The move sparked international condemnation and accusations from the opposition that he was undermining democracy in the OPEC nation.
Protests over the closure of RCTV, Venezuela's oldest private channel, simmered in several Venezuelan cities on Monday. In some locations, the police used tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Seizing on the momentum of RCTV's closure, Communications Minister Willian Lara presented a case to the state prosecutor's office saying experts hired by the ministry had found that opposition broadcaster Globovision was inciting assassination attempts on Chavez. As evidence, he cited Globovision showing footage of an assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981 accompanied by the song "This Does Not Stop Here," sung by Ruben Blades, now Panama's minister of tourism. "The conclusion of the specialists ... is that (in this segment) they are inciting the assassination of the president of Venezuela," Lara told reporters at the prosecutor's office.
They must be hoping for a Carter appointee as a judge.
Globovision was not immediately available to respond to the government's charge, but one of its reporters at the prosecutor's office said the footage was taken out of context. The journalist said Globovision had been showing archive footage from RCTV accompanied by songs with a farewell theme the week before RCTV's closure.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/29/2007 00:57 ||
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#1
LOL! I see marathon Cuban tractor documentaries soon.
#3
Hours after President Hugo Chavez shut down Venezuela's main opposition independent broadcaster, his government demanded an investigation of news network Globovision on Monday for allegedly inciting an assassination attempt on the leftist leader.
Jason Chue used to knock off at five oclock sharp, leave the office and go and enjoy his evening. Now he routinely finds himself stuck there long into the evening answering the plaintive e-mails of hundreds of Venezuelans pleading for information on how they can emigrate to the United States.
For the past eight years, rich Venezuelans have been trickling out of the country, spooked by the socialist bluster of their populist President, Hugo Chávez. But since being inaugurated for his third term in January, Mr Chávezs talk has begun turning into substance, with an evermore radical series of moves to transform Venezuela into the worlds first 21st-century socialist state. Now the super-rich are being joined by middle-class professionals and, increasingly, families.
We should take them all. The Canadians will pitch in. Chavez's loss will be our gain.
Theyre professional people with good jobs, Mr Chue, a consular officer at the US Embassy in Caracas, explains. But theyll say they want to leave because they are frightened for their future and their children.
And apparently they have good reason.
At the US Embassy, citizenship claims and visa enquiries have doubled since January. A Canadian job fair, with a capacity of 500, was swamped by a crowd of 1,500. Every morning snaking queues form outside the embassies of Australia, Spain and Portugal to inquire about emigration there.
In Caracas, billboards and murals of Mr Chávez are everywhere, showing the smiling President clasping a child or surrounded by adoring crowds. Just as ubiquitous now are the huge red posters, each illustrating one of the five engines of the revolution unveiled by Mr Chávez in January. The first of these, already in place, is the law handing Mr Chávez the power to rule by decree for the next 18 months, circumventing such unrevolutionary nuisances as Parliament. The second is the constitutional reform, which translates as the removal of presidential-term limits, allowing Mr Chávez to govern indefinitely. The remaining three, sceptics say, might as well just say anything Mr Chávez fancies because the first two enable him to do exactly that.
Poor people are the main beneficiaries at the present time of Chávismo, as the doctrine is known, and at 80 per cent of the population, it is what they think that counts. Mr Chávezs strategy to win hearts and minds has been simple; with wealth and charisma, he buys their love.
Wait til his pockets are empty and he resorts to naked repression. Then everyone's going to complain why they weren't warned.
Venezuelas Orinoco oil belt holds the worlds largest deposits of oil, and soaring oil prices have provided him with almost bottomless coffers of petrodollars to lavish on the poor. Oil analysts say that production at the state oil company, PDSVA, has already been hampered by the haemorrhage of expertise and the squeeze on foreign oil companies may only make things worse.
Right now, it is the third engine of the revolution morality and enlightenment that is spooking the middle classes. They are terrified that a socialist curriculum is about to be imposed in schools. Rumours swirled about everything from the abolition of dual nationality to a law putting minors in state custody so they cannot be taken overseas.
#1
Oil money is the only reason he is in office. With oil infrastructure falling apart and minimal development...it's just a matter of time before he ends up in Switzerland.
#2
Inflation is jamming along at 20 percentum plus as admited by the government. Likely more than 30 percetum real lifery. Variety is going away at the supermarkets, markets soon to become mercal comissaries. Just plain damn stupid.
#7
Yes, but socialism is still a darling of the MSM, regardless of its failure after failure after failure. The virulent form killed 100 million in the 20th century, but our MSM doesn't care. The less virulent strain introduces slow entropy and ultimate decay. However, it too remains a darling of the chattering MSM class. It's about their power and their self righteousness not about the victims. For MSM its all about show, not about results.
#8
For once, just once, in my lifetime, I would like to see and hear the MSM ask Jimmah about his support of Hugo, and why he did it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/29/2007 10:43 Comments ||
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#9
Via LGF - why are we not surprised, nor would we be surprised that they refuse to move there to live out their dream....
"Meanwhile, at the lefts premier progressive web site, the Daily Kos Kids are supporting Chavez and his thugs: Daily Kos: Deterring Democracy In Venezuela."
#11
Venezuelans pleading for information on how they can emigrate to the United States.
We can no longer take you. We have too many illegal immigrants from Mexico. My advice to you is to over-through your crappy worthless socialist dictator who is imposing his will on you.
#12
related to this (sort of): Did anybody else listen to the Indy 500 on the radio? CITCO was not only the race sponsor but also bought many spots. They were in huge damage control mode, extolling the virtues of their community involvement, while at the same time, flat out stating that they had access tot he largest known reserves of oil in the Western Hemisphere, in Venezula. Reminded me again why not to buy from them.
#13
USN, the Indy 500 would sell ads to ANYONE with $$$ to spend. That dumbass Tony George ruined what was once the greatest race in the US if not the world. It is now just a farce. I grew up in Indianapolis and loved the race and the Champ Car series. It just makes me sad to see what damage one really stupid egomaniac could do to 94 years of tradition.
HONG KONG (AP) - Hackers allegedly hijacked satellite TV signals in southern China to broadcast anti-government messages, news reports said Thursday.Viewers complained that their TV screens went blank for nearly two hours or showed anti-government messages for 30 to 40 seconds Tuesday evening, the Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News said in a report on the Web site Sohu.com. The report didn't describe the content of the messages that aired in Guangdong province.
TV station operators told viewers that hackers may have hijacked their satellites, the report said. But a receptionist who answered the phone at a cable TV operator in Guangdong said the incident involved a satellite problem that has been fixed. "The satellite's reception wasn't very stable," said the receptionist, who declined to be named because she was not a spokeswoman.
Calls to Guangdong's broadcasting authority went unanswered.
Previous cases of jammed satellite signals in China have been blamed on the spiritual group Falun Gong, which is banned in the country as an evil cult. The group has said it doesn't have the technological expertise to launch such attacks.
Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper said the Chinese government censored news reports about the satellite interruption.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/29/2007 00:00 ||
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China's former central food and drug chief, Zheng Xiaoyu, was sentenced to death by a Beijing court on Tuesday for graft and dereliction of duty, the state media reported. The 62-year-old Zheng was the first director of the State Administration and Drug Administration (SFDA) in 1998 until he was sacked in June 2005. His six-year tenure was riddled with corruption scandals, even involving his relatives and subordinates, and a series of food safety scares, Xinhua news agency said.
Zheng was under disciplinary investigation and expelled from the communist party in March this year before he went on trial from May 16 for taking more than 6.4 million yuan (RM2.9 million) in bribes and for dereliction of duty. Last November, his former secretary and ex-director of the SFDA medical devices department was jailed for 15 years also for bribery. The SFDA former drug registration director had been under investigation since January last year, Xinhua said.
The local media reported earlier that the probe into the scandal involved 31 people, including Zheng's wife, son and a number of drug companies. One pharmaceutical from south China's Hainan province was alleged to have bribed Zheng to approve 277 medicines, mostly high-profit antibiotics. Meanwhile, the government is drawing up regulations to recall unsafe and unapproved food products following a spate of food safety scares.
"All domestic and foreign food producers and distributors will be obliged to follow the system," Wu Jianping, director-general of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, told China Daily. Banned dyes in duck eggs, fish bred with cancer-causing feed and tainted milk powder mass food poisoning cases had raised questions of the standard of food security, he said.
#4
This was solely done for American consumption : there is a tidal wave of negative publicity coming from the tainted food/pet products/toothpaste reports; and the PRC is trying to get ahead of the wave. This execution will have ZERO impact on the continuing dangers of Chinese contaminated products, since the person involved was removed from office 2 years ago. If the PRC was to execute the current head of their FDA, it might have some impact.
This is China's economic version of the Palestinians' sewage tsunami. All that we have yet to see is several dozen Americans killed by some sort of industrially tainted food product. One of the major reasons China is able to sustain such explosive growth is a near total lack of comprehensive regulation. Much like Mexico, if China had to meet proper environmental impact regulations, USDA level health inspections and code compliance, in-house QA/QC record keeping plus verified and traceable supply chains for critical ingredients, suddenly the big profits would vanish overnight.
This is merely one of many ways that China tilts the playing field to their immense advantage. We need to remove that incentive by penalizing them for this economic mayhem. Already, China is responsible for 80% of the world's ascorbic acid production. This is a vital preservative and is used in myriad food products. It makes little or no sense to let them have have control over such a critical food ingredient. Handing the reins over to a communist thugocracy is just plain suicide. We should know better.
#7
The death penalty for lobbying, corruption, Congress critters pork barrel deals, influence pedaling, etc. would definitely put a crimp in the style of many in the U.S. government. Can you image putting to death some guy in the U.S. FDA or Department of Agriculture for letting tainted shit into the U.S.A.?
#8
I'd like to say that I can't imagine why we let anything from China into this country let alone ag products or anything else that might be ingested. But I'm afraid I understand all too well. It's all about greed and corruption. Show me a candidate with the balls to tell the chicoms to FOAD and I will vote for that candidate. But none of them will even talk about China.
Russia asked the depositary of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty the government of the Netherlands to call an extraordinary conference of the member states in Vienna on June 12-15.
The appeal is one of the measures aimed at realising the policy with regard to the CFE Treaty stated in Russian President Vladimir Putins Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, a Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
From Bob Shrum's book, "No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner" p. 210-211:
Clinton announced in October and stories like this, accurate or not, were everywhere with political insiders and the press. Pamela Harriman told me she'd always liked Clinton, admired his political skills, but frankly, he had "a zipper problem." She recalled how he'd stayed over at her Georgetown home several times, and on one occasion come in late with a woman and they spent the night together. Pamela was hardly a prude, but she was angry with Clinton: it was reckless, just the kind of thing that destroyed Gary Hart. She knew Hillary well and she didn't like her own home being used that way."
Page 212:
I ran into Don Sweitzer, a Democratic operative who was close to DNC chairman Ron Brown. Naturally, we started talking about the coming presidential race. He told me that at a recent party confab, Bill Clinton had spied Ron Brown's daughter in the audience, didn't know who she was, and tried to pick her up or as Sweitzer put it, "hit" on her.
It turns out Shrum repeating what Sweitzer told him to George McGovern would have major aftershocks. Page 223:
The enmity, I discovered, was real. When Carville suggested that I be brought on board after Kerrey's withdrawal, Hillary had responded with an angry no and then stopped talking to him for several days. "James was sent to Siberia," Begala told me afterwards.
Gee, why would anyone be nervous about this marriage being back in the White House?
Posted by: Mike ||
05/29/2007 19:41 ||
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#1
can you imagine Bill with all that free time? No intern would be safe
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2007 20:52 Comments ||
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Seeking to add heft to his presidential bid, Democrat Barack Obama is offering a sweeping plan that would provide every citizen a means to have health coverage and calls on government, businesses and consumers to share the costs of the program.
Obama said putting in place universal health coverage has been debated for decades, but the time has finally come to act. He said his plan could save the average consumer $2,500 a year and bring health care to all. And ponies for everyone, too!
"The time has come for universal, affordable health care in America," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at the unveiling of his plan Tuesday in Iowa City.
A copy of his remarks and documents describing the program were obtained by The Associated Press.
Under Obama's proposal, every American would be required to carry health insurance, and the Illinois senator would create a National Health Insurance Exchange to monitor insurance companies in offering the coverage. In essence, Obama's plan retains the private insurance system but injects additional money into the system to pay for the expanded coverage.
Those who can't afford coverage would get a subsidy on a sliding scale depending on their income, and virtually all businesses would have to share in the cost of coverage for their workers. The plan that would be offered would be similar to the one covering members of Congress.
His package would prohibit insurance companies from refusing coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Filed under "Lurid Crime Tales" for a reason.
Moved to Politix where it belongs, since you often can't distinguish crime and politix :-) AoS
#4
There is a massive, government program that is inflexible, hard to wade through the paperwork, filled with waste and nearly impossible to work with.
#5
Under Obama's proposal, every American would be required to carry health insurance, and the Illinois senator would create a National Health Insurance Exchange to monitor insurance companies in offering the coverage.
Ya' know, there's this little tick I get in my eye every time I hear some politician say something stupid like every American would be required to. I guess it's something to do with that pesky "freedom" idea and that dirty old scrap of paper called the Constitution.
Not that either of those mean anything to someone with the power hunger of Obama or the Hildebeast.
#6
Under Obama's proposal, every American would be required to carry health insurance, and the Illinois senator would create a National Health Insurance Exchange to monitor insurance companies in offering the coverage.
Ya' know, there's this little tick I get in my eye every time I hear some politician say something stupid like every American would be required to. I guess it's something to do with that pesky "freedom" idea and that dirty old scrap of paper called the Constitution.
Not that either of those mean anything to someone with the power hunger of Obama or the Hildebeast.
#7
--virtually all businesses would have to share in the cost of coverage for their workers.--
Don't they already?
--every American would be required to carry health insurance--
Ohhh, the Indians are a separate nation, wait until the Akaka bill passes - both opt out - people won't like that.
And legal immigrants just might stay legal immigrants because they won't be required. Conversely, businesses can say, "You're not an American - I'm not going to pay for your insurance," - wait, we already have it.
How are they going to find the homeless to make them carry insurance? They move from city to city.
#8
And another argument from 1993-4 - why in the world would the post office or any members of an org which has wonderful bennies want to get their bennies cut?
#9
In his next proposal, he'll explain how he'll control health costs by requiring every American to spend twenty minutes a day exercising, banning red meat, alcohol, soft drinks, tobacco, and unprotected sex.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/29/2007 12:02 Comments ||
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#10
During the Clinton administration. Cinton's VP, Al Gorge, was from Tennessee. Tennessee was used as a trial baloon for universal health care for the poor. The health care system caused Tennessee to go from a healthy balanced budget to one that hemorrhage red after several years. The health care system was a dismal failure that tax payers could not afford. It was recently scrapped. The donks are good at spending other people's hard-earned money.
The first is a great article from last year outlining the failures of the National Health care system in Great Britain. Link
The second, watch what happens in Massachusetts. Before Governor Romney left office, a plan for required Health care for all Massachusetts citizens was passed. It kicks in on July 1st and it will be interesting to see what happens down the road.
See article:
Pros & Cons of Massachusetts' Mandatory Health Insurance Program Link
#13
Hey, it's gotta happen eventually. I submitted an article just a couple minutes ago about how the US has an upcoming liability of something like $40 Trillion for upcoming Social Security. This would make a big chunk of that vanish.
Hey, it's either that or leave your parents by the side of the road when they don't want to go on anymore.
The idea of executing child rapists, even when there in no loss of life, is making headway in the United States. Believe it or not there is a downside to legislation like this. Read on.
The Louisiana Supreme Court last week upheld the death sentence for a pedophile, and the governor of Texas is soon to sign into law legislation to that effect.
In 1995, Louisiana was the first state to adopt legislation authorizing the death penalty for child rapists.
Ten years later, the movement to make pedophilia punishable by death really picked up steam after nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was raped and buried alive in Florida by a man with a prior conviction for sex crimes. Too bad people have to almost be first-hand witnesses to this kind of crime to figure it out.
Various versions of the "Jessica Law" sprang up all over in the country, imposing in most cases a minimum 25 year jail sentence and the wearing of an ankle bracelet for life for raping a child aged 12 or younger. They can make a special bright red one. With the first name of the kid they raped engraved on it as a reminder. And anyone who removes it goes straight to prison for the rest of their hopefully short and miserable lives. They should take the batteries out and bury them with the bracelet on when they die, too.
But in some states, elected officials amended their versions of the "Jessica Law" by adding the possibility of condemning a pedophile to death. If they have incontrovertible proof, go for it!
They include Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia and Montana.
An overwhelming majority of lawmakers in Texas chose to join the list. Texas is responsible for a third of all executions carried out in the United States in the past 30 years and for two-thirds of those conducted so far this year. The draft law is now on the desk of Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has promised to sign it.
The idea seems to go against the grain in the rest of the country, where the death penalty is losing ground because of grave judicial errors and botched executions. I don't know if botched is the word I would have chosen.
How could it be 'botched'? The convicted felon ended up dead, didn't he?
Organizations defending the rights of crime victims have differing views on the proposals. "We are very concerned that this may reduce reporting of sexual assault, since most child abuse is made by someone close to the child," said Karen Rugaard, a spokeswoman for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. Yep, that's gotta suck.
"It is already difficult to report about a father, an uncle, a family friend ... It will be worse when the child knows they can spend a very long time in jail or be sentenced to death," she said. Make the death penalty optional to the victim, to be decided when they darn well feel like it after age 30. Maybe they can decide on the length of their incarceration then, too. But in any case they get to wear the ankle bracelet for life.
Can't punish these folks because that will reduce the odds that they'll be punished. Orwell would be so proud ...
"We are worried that legislators did nothing to help prevent the violence," Rugaard added, expressing regret that the draft law does not call for any preventive measures. I'd worry more about the legal system doing stupid things that actually encourage this kind of crap. Agonizing over what is cruel and unusual punishment for this crime is one of them.
Moreover, it is uncertain that executing non-murderers will comply with the US constitutional mandate barring "cruel and unusual" punishment. OK, how 'bout they get strapped over a pommel horse and get gently reamed by a frustrated stallion? Or three.
The only man among more than 3,300 prisoners on death row who stands to lose his life under the new law is 42-year-old Patrick Kennedy, who was sentenced to death in Louisiana in 2003 for raping his companion's eight-year-old daughter. Hey, Pat! Was it worth it? $100 and a hotel room would have been a lot easier!
In 1977, the US Supreme Court invalidated the death sentence of a rapist, arguing the punishment was disproportionate to the crime. Hmm. I wonder what Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the like would have said about that.
Later, evoking "evolving standards of decency," the court also rejected the death penalty for criminals who were minors or mentally retarded at the time they committed their crimes. I can hear it now: I was mentally retarded at the time, but I'm feeling much better now!
But on Tuesday, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Kennedy. Pappy, I'll need that sympathy meter back when you're done with it.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/29/2007 7:35 Comments ||
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#2
Life sentence in an open prison unsegregated from other inmates would probably achieve the same effect and remove those burdensome qualms some people have with misplaced morality.
#3
I have a better idea: in case a reincident sex offender rapes then a child hang the people who liberated him/did not sentence him to life. And add a dozen bleeding heart "antideath penalty/ anti life without parole" people for good measure.
#6
Sounds draconian but there is NO cure for pedophilia NONE, ZIPPO, NADA. The only SURE way to stop them from repeating the crime is to keep them locked up or remove them from the population.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/29/2007 10:07 Comments ||
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#8
Mandatory castration sounds like a viable alternative. If carried out on a regular basis it would no longer be "unusual" and, given we are "saving" the perp from his urges, we have to be cruel to be kind.
Also, brand the word "Mohammad" on their foreheads.
#10
The devil is in the details. Right now you can be labeled a sex offender for life for as little as public urination while intoxicated. So unless the rules as to *exactly* what merits a death penalty are established, this might be a disaster.
1) A 17 year old who lied about their age, even having a fake ID.
2) Consensual sex between a 16 year old and their 17 year old boy or girlfriend.
3) Previous sexual history, if they have had voluntary sex several times before with other people.
4) Actual physical and psychological damage resulting from the sex act.
5) Crimes associated with the sex act, such as kidnapping, attempted murder, and other aggravating circumstances and actions.
6) Offense committed against family member(s) only, or strangers.
7) Forensic evidence.
8) Confessions and admissions.
Many of these things have already been decided, one way or another, with typical penalties. However, a death penalty trial is almost like a second trial, with very different standards of evidence, and a lot more rules.
For example, in a regular trial, testimony by the molested and prior sexual history might be excluded; but in a death penalty trial they would almost have to be included.
Finally, the appellate rules are going to be complex as hell.
#11
Not a child rape but an example of how bleeding heart liberalism kills.
First a bit of context:
In order to try to conciliate with the progressists in Europe and America late franquism adopted in its penal system all the ideas in vogue during the late sixties about the poor criminal being a victim of society and needing reinsertion (you can drastically reduce your sentence by doing activities like... plying football) an,d grotesquelly reduced sentnces if you were minor.
For details of the following googgle for "Sandra Palo" (there is a petition for reforming the law)
In May 2003 a 22 yers old girl, a retarded girl (incidentally the daughter of one of those working class families the left pretends to defend) was picked by 4 guys, 3 of them minors but all with b>criminal records and carried to an unhabited zone,
First she was beaten to a pulp, then raped repeatedly, then they put her with the back against a wall and ran their car to crush her against it. She was still alive, so they travelled to gas station, bought a can of gasoline, returned and burned her alive. One of minors completely unrepentant minors will be free in the following months. Just 4 years, for the beating, and the rapes and the sadism and the fact the girl was retarded and the murder. The two other minors will do a mere 8 years jail time. They will be free before being 26 years old.
In a "normal" system the girl would be still alive because her muderers would have been in jail for their previous offences. Instead she is dead and it is highly probable she will not be the last victim of her murderers. More murders are to follow. More girls will be killed for pleasing liberals.
#12
Forgot to tell that the preceeding happenned in Sain and that the petition for reforming then law has zero chances of prospering due to the opposition of the socialists and specially of Zapatero.
#13
From a previous post
Hirsi Ali has written that under Dutch law, Mohammed's marriage to six-year-old A'ishah (whose age is disputed by (a few) Muslim scholars) and his subsequent consummation of the marriage when she was nine would make him a pedophile.
Let's ask CAIR if he should pay the price for his perversion.
Should be interesting to watch them try to wiggle their way out of a "Slam dunk" case.
I'm afraid that wouldn't do any good. Rape is a crime of violence, not of sexual passion. Hence the torture death of the poor girl in JFM's example, and why there are those who rape using foreign objects... and even why some rapists are twangerless females. Even chemical castration only removes the sexual aspect of the drive to rape, not the need for violent domination.
#15
A drunk coed who shows her boobs on spring break can be considered a sex offender. Any laws must take that into account and either clarify the definition of sex offender or specify pedophiles.
Save the boobie flashers, the sex offenders we don't mind.
#16
JFM: Forgot to tell that the preceeding happenned in Sain and that the petition for reforming then law has zero chances of prospering due to the opposition of the socialists and specially of Zapatero.
Thank you - if this had happened stateside, they would have spent the rest of their lives in prison - or at the wrong end of a needle.
#17
'moose makes some damn important points. Just as children might be reluctant to report a close family member, they might also falsely report someone out of vindictiveness. Kids have zero concept of legal implications much less death sentences. All they would know is that they were getting someone into trouble. There is also the issue of "implanted" or false memories. Many people have already suffered because of that psychological conundrum.
A death penalty verdict would necessarily have to rely, as gorb mentioned, on incontrovertible proof. DNA evidence springs to mind but the entire issue is still rife with possibilities for error. Also, as Jackal correctly observes, the death penalty might spur offenders to more often kill their highly vulnerable victims.
While child molestation is indeed a heinous crime and worthy of severe penalties, assigning capital punishment to it is another matter. It is an understandable gut reaction, no doubt about it, but one that merits intense and lengthy consideration.
The Chinese government will maintain its friendship with Thailand despite changes in the international situation and the two countries' domestic situations. China regarded Thailand as a close, trustworthy and cooperative friend, and respected the development path chosen by the Thai people, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Monday afternoon while meeting with visiting Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont.
Hu said the two countries had enjoyed a sound and deepening development of relations on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence since the establishment of diplomatic ties 32 years ago. The two countries were set to sign an action plan for strategic cooperation on Monday. Hu hoped the plan would inject vitality into the development of bilateral relations, and the two countries would seriously implement the tasks in it and promote bilateral cooperation. He also appreciated Thailand's adherence to the one-China policy.
Surayud expressed gratitude for the consistent support and understanding of the Chinese government for Thailand. He said Thailand would continue close coordination and cooperation with China. He said the Thai government regarded the plan as an opportunity to enhance strategic relations with China, and deepen cooperation. Surayud said the Thai government would maintain its one-China policy.
Surayud arrived here on Monday on a two-day official visit as the guest of Premier Wen Jiabao. This is his first visit to China since being appointed Prime Minister in October 2006.Surayud will also visit a temple and Olympic Games facilities in Beijing and tour Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.
A roadside bomb exploded during the evening rush hour near Sri Lanka's capital killing seven civilians. Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said a truck carrying police commandos to the capital was hit by the blast in Ratmalana, a suburb of Colombo. Samarasinghe said seven civilians died and 33 others were wounded in the blast. Four police commandos were among the wounded.
"We suspect that the bomb had been planted on the roof or the wall of an abandoned shop," Samarasinghe said.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan denied that the Tamil Tiger rebels were responsible for the bomb.
The explosion occurred during the evening rush hour as many workers were returning home. It comes amid a worsening separatist conflict in Sri Lanka that has killed more than 5,000 people in the past 18 months, shattering a 5-year-old, Norway-brokered cease-fire viewed as the best opportunity to solve the two-decade-old crisis.
On Sunday, police commandos found a bomb in Batticaloa, in Sri Lanka's restive east, weighing 25 kilograms (55.12 pounds) and defused it hours after an explosion elsewhere in the region killed three civilians, Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse of the Defense Ministry information center said.
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.
Jason Chue used to knock off at five oclock sharp, leave the office and go and enjoy his evening. Now he routinely finds himself stuck there long into the evening answering the plaintive e-mails of hundreds of Venezuelans pleading for information on how they can emigrate to the United States.
The idea of executing child rapists, even when there in no loss of life, is making headway in the United States. 
