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Immune systems (Financial Times - Editorial comment)
"We have been here before, and it is no better second time around. Silvio Berlusconi’s success this week in getting the Italian parliament’s approval for legislation protecting Italy’s top four elected officials from prosecution while in office makes the heart sink – just as it did when he pursued the same route the last time he was in power.
It says much about the prime minister’s priorities that having won the election fewer than 100 days ago, he devoted such effort to the swift passage of this law. As before, Mr Berlusconi’s focus is not on Italy but on himself. ..."
Link all'articolo: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19fb86d2-58e6-11dd-a093-00007... "We have been here before, and it is no better second time around. Silvio Berlusconi’s success this week in getting the Italian parlia... more -
Chavez calls for Russia alliance
Hugo Chavez has called for a strategic alliance with Russia to protect Venezuela from the US.
The Venezuelan president's call came as Moscow and Caracas agreed to extend bilateral co-operation on energy.
Speaking during a two-day visit to Russia, Mr Chavez said oil and military cooperation were vital to guarantee Venezuela's sovereignty.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said three Russian energy companies are to be allowed to operate in Venezuela.
He gave no details of an anticipated arms deal between the two countries. But Mr Chavez seemed upbeat about the prospect of military co-operation.
"If Russia's armed forces want to be present in Venezuela, they will be given a warm welcome," he told a news conference after the meeting.
He said Venezuela would pursue new Russian arms deals "because the North American empire... has plans to invade Venezuela, to disarm Venezuela". Hugo Chavez has called for a strategic alliance with Russia to protect Venezuela from the US. ... more -
Berlusconi wins immunity from prosecution
"The Italian parliament approved a law on Tuesday giving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity from prosecution, a victory for the conservative billionaire who has long complained of being hounded by 'biased' prosecutors.
Despite protests from the weakened centre-left opposition, the senate gave final approval for legislation halting criminal trials against Italy's top four elected officials, including Berlusconi, while they are in office.
Berlusconi, elected to a third term as premier in April with a strong parliamentary majority, says politically motivated prosecutors have been out to get him since he entered politics 14 years ago.
Critics said the measure was custom-designed to rid the 71-year-old media mogul of legal headaches."
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A little recap of Berlusconi's "legal headaches":
- 2,500 hearings
- 587 visits by the police
- 174 million euros in legal fees.
"The Italian parliament approved a law on Tuesday giving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity from prosecution, a victory for the... more -
Corruption exposed at network of 22 US and Canadian children's hospitals
A confidential "Interim Report of the Special Investigative Committee of the Joint Boards of Shriners Hospitals for Children" describes how immediate past potentate Bernard Lemieux appointed a committee to investigate the conduct of Shriner leaders, Ralph Semb, Chairman of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Board of Trustees and Gene Bracewell, Imperial Treasurer Shriners International Imperial Divan. The report was leaked online at Wikileaks.com and can be found here.
The April 10, 2008 document describes how Lemieux appointed committee members on September 20, 2007 to "inquire whether Semb and Bracewell engaged in unethical conduct by intervening in the executive evaluation process (the so called 360 degree review) of Edgar McGonigal, Director of Development of SHC during the year 2007."
It is believed that this is the first time that an Imperial Potentate has appointed such a committee to investigate allegations that top Shriner leaders behaved unethically.
The report reveals how Semb and Bracewell pushed hard for continued contracts with one specific fund-raising company, Vantage Direct Marketing Services. Vantage raised over $46 million between 1999 and 2003 on behalf of SHC with only $2.5 million going to the hospitals.
In other words, if someone donated $100 during these campaigns, $95 was kept by Vantage with only $5 going to the hospitals.
Bracewell admitted to committee and board members that he got at least one free trip from Vantage in 2007.
The report suggests that Semb retaliated against McGonigal, who opposed Vantage contracts, by unilaterally firing him on October 31, 2006 without first consulting the joint boards or HR.
The report suggests that both Semb and Bracewell were attempting to accomplish their purpose by using subterfuge rather than by directly making their views known by "compromising the 360 degree review process in an unprecedented way." The committee reported that Semb and Bracewell contacted confidential employment reviewers in an effort to further retaliate against McGonigal by having him removed for poor job performance. This was done after executive vice president James Full allegedly violated employment confidentiality to "in part, avoid a confrontation with Mr. Semb." A confidential "Interim Report of the Special Investigative Committee of the Joint Boards of Shriners Hospitals for Children" describe... more -
Chavez set to spend big on Russian weapons
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Moscow Tuesday to discuss a deal to spend billions on Russia weapons.
Chavez will meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russia's new President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian news agency, Interfax, said
The two countries hope to sign an agreement for Venezuela to buy Russian military equipment, said Vyacheslav Davidenko, a spokesman for Rosoboronexport, Russia's government agency in charge of arms exports.
The agreement will allow "quick deliveries of arms and military hardware in the interests of Venezuela's security with the observance of international obligations and the laws of both countries," Davidenko told CNN.
Davidenko wouldn't elaborate on the types of weapons that Venezuela wanted to purchase -- or the cost. Previous military-technical contracts had been worth $4 billion, he said.
Interfax quoted an "informed military expert" as saying Venezuela planned to purchase up to 10 air defense systems, three diesel electric submarines, six more non-nuclear powered submarines and several surface vessels.
Venezuela also planned to discuss the possibility of buying certain aircraft, including combat helicopters, the expert said.
The Associated Press reported the deal could be worth $2 billion.
Venezuela is expected to spend over $30 billion under a program to rearm its armed forces up to 2012, the Interfax source said. According to Russian media reports, Russia could provide a loan of about $800 million to Venezuela to finance the arms deals.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Moscow Tuesday to discuss a deal to spend billions on Russia weapons. ... more -
Chavez may hug king, won't shut up
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he would like to give the king of Spain a hug when he visits Europe next week, but the outspoken leader, referring to a diplomatic spat last year, said he will not shut up.
King Juan Carlos sparked a furor in November by shouting "Why don't you shut up?" at Chavez when he tried to interrupt a speech by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at the Ibero-American summit in Chile.
Ties have improved since then and the Spanish government said last week that Chavez will meet the king on a visit to Spain next week.
"I'd like to give the king a hug, but you know, Juan Carlos, that I am not going to shut up," a smiling Chavez said on his weekly television show before setting of to Russia for the first leg of his tour.
"We will keep talking for ourselves, for a just and equal world," the left-wing president said.
The king's November outburst made headlines around the world, spawning songs, jokes and even a ringtone for mobile phones.
Chavez threatened to review diplomatic and business ties with Venezuela's former colonial power, a major investor in the region.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he would like to give the king of Spain a hug when he visits Europe next week, but th... more -
26th Parallel: Video: Miami in the Early 80s
I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave which hit Miami in the late 70s and early 80s, right around the time of the infamous Time Magazine article "Paradise Lost". A central theme of the video is the supposed role played by Colombian drug traffickers and people who came to Miami via the Mariel boatlift of 1980 in the sharp increase in homicides during that era.
A little context: the video was posted by a group called Immigration Control Florida (ICF), whose opening paragraph on their website states:
ImmigrationControlFlorida.com / ICF requests that Americans join our group to support our stated goals to save America. Our group worked to stop the 125,000 Mariel Cuban refugees that illegally invaded Miami-Dade County that destroyed Miami with 50,000 murderers, psychopaths, criminals, criminally insane, hitmen, drug pushers, and enforcers making "Miami the murder capital of the world" with 615 murders in only 1 year with so many bodies that the Miami Medical Examiner had to rent a refrigerated truck to store the excess bodies at a cost of $150 million in 1 year making "Miami a 3rd World Country" ! (U.S.News & World Report -Jan.16, 1984 - page 29).
Let me make something totally clear: I am against illegal immigration, but ICF doesn't even try to conceal their disdain for any immigrant group, in particular Cubans from Mariel. Yes, there were criminals mixed in with regular folks who came over via Mariel. Yes, there was a strain on the services the Miami community could provide, but I don't know where and how ICF got the "50,000" number they use to slime an entire community. As we know, the collective group from Mariel has turned out to be yet another in the long tradition of Cuban-American success stories, despite the initial shock of Miami having to absorb 125,000 new arrivals in Miami in only a few short months.
In short, ICF sounds like nothing more than a bunch of bigots and racists who give reasonable folks' objections to illegal immigration a bad name (as well as provide unnecessary fodder to those who feel naturally inclined to bash anything resembling securing borders).
Some of the quotes in the video are quite over-the-top and no doubt representative of the ethnic conflict which gripped Miami during that time. Riots in Liberty City in 1980, Mariel a few months later, passing of "English Only" ordinances in Miami, huge law enforcement scandals. It was a pretty turbulent time. For those of you who weren't here during that time, it's worth your time to view the video below. For those of you who feel that Miami and South Florida are currently living through bad times never seen before, the video offers some much needed perspective.
H/T Rubio for the video.
(Note: make sure to identify the journalists in the video. It's a who's-who of local and national personalities). I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave ... more -
McCain Aide Scheunemann Linked to Bush Library 'Cash for Access' Scandal
We all know the names of professional athletes and actors that have little to do with our lives. Now it is time for us to get to know the corrupt men who have a lot to do with the way this country operates. Let me introduce you to:
Earlier this month, the Sunday Times caught longtime Bush associate Stephen Payne on tape offering access to top Bush administration officials in exchange for “six-figure donations to the private library being set up to commemorate Bush’s presidency.” Payne, who is now being investigated by the Homeland Security Department and the House Oversight Committee, made the offer to Kazakh politician Yerzhan Dosmukhamedov, who is also known as Eric Dos.
The Times reported that Dos had previously worked with Payne to arrange a 2006 visit by Vice President Dick Cheney to Kazakhstan. Dos claims that in exchange for arranging Cheney’s trip, “a payment of $2m was passed, via a Kazakh oil and gas company, to Payne’s firm.” Payne denies that any such arrangement existed.
But the Times reports today that Payne may be lying about his business dealings and that the money may have been funneled through a sister company to Payne’s lobbying firm:
The Sunday Times, however, has discovered the existence of a channel through which funds from the Kazakh government could have been readily transferred.
A sister company to WSP, Worldwide Strategic Energy (WSE), of which Payne is also president, has a subsidiary, Caspian Alliance, which is the sole US representative for KMG.
The Times reports that a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, lobbyist Randy Scheunemann, has direct ties to the company that is alleged to have funneled the funds:
Randy Scheunemann, chief foreign policy and national security adviser to John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, was listed in the WSE brochure as part of its executive team. Scheunemann and Associates, his lobbying firm, is reported as having represented the Caspian Alliance in 2005. We all know the names of professional athletes and actors that have little to do with our lives. Now it is time for us to get to know... more -
War Video Warning:Graphic
7 years!
I have gathered an exhibition of graphic and bloody videos. 30 in all.
I believe you'll find them sickening and hard to watch.
I encourage you to view as many as possible go gain insight into the issue I'm presenting.
Watch and learn about the reality of war.
Barack Obama and John McCain want this to continue...
How can anyone see the sense or goodness in this.
Please add any links you have.
Let others know your thoughts by commenting below. 7 years! I have gathered an exhibition of graphic and bloody videos. 30 in all. ... more -
Police taser naked man 3 times
Officers were dispatched to the area of 28th Street and Iris Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a nude man who was rolling around in the street. When they arrived, they found Christopher Dornfield crawling on a nearby patch of grass, police said.
When Dornfield refused to comply with officers’ orders to hold still, he was shot with a Taser. He was shocked twice more after he tried to get back on his feet and advanced toward officers, police said.
The incident began Wednesday when Dornfield split a hit of acid with one of his friends, 22-year-old Boulder resident Brian Skutch, and went “out of control,” another one of his friends told police.
According to the report, Dornfield’s friends tried to calm him down by taking him for a drive after he became agitated. When Dornfield jumped out of the car and took off his shoes and pants, his friends wrestled him back inside.
A short while later, according to police, Dornfield hit Jacob Ottenstein, his roommate, in the face. At that point, the group decided to call police and kick Dornfield back out of the car, leaving him alone at about 28th Street and Iris Avenue.
They must have good acid in Colorado.
I posted this article because I think the police used excessive force shocking the guy 3 times.
They could have killed him. He was trippin, and didn't know what was happening.
What do you think? Comment below. Officers were dispatched to the area of 28th Street and Iris Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a nude man who was ro... more -
Zimbabwe: Inflation 'highest in the world'
Official inflation soared to 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe -- by far the highest in the world -- and has shot as high as 70 million percent in the past year for some basic goods sold on the black market, the state central bank said Thursday.
Worsening shortages of basic goods, and the deadly political and economic turmoil surrounding the national elections March 29 and a disputed presidential runoff vote June 27, helped spur the spike in inflation in recent months.
The last announcement of official annual inflation, in February, put the rate at 165,000 percent.
Zimbabwe Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono announced the new figure at the launch of a program to sell subsidized food through selected shops and a system of coupons issued to the needy, state radio reported Thursday.
The central bank also released a schedule showing what it called distortions in prices caused by black market trading and profiteering by businesses.
It said laundry soap on the black market went up by 70 million percent, cooking oil by 60 million percent and sugar by 36 million percent -- far higher than the official inflation rate of 2.2 million percent calculated by the Central Statistical Office on basic goods subject to price regulation and price increases approved by state National Prices and Incomes Commission.
It acknowledged that private consultants calculated overall real inflation closer to 12.5 million percent. The bank attributed black market inflation to shortages of hard currency that pushed the black market exchange rate to at least 90 billion Zimbabwe dollars for a single U.S. dollar, compared to the official bank exchange of 20 billion to US$1.
It said a 4-pound (2-kilogram) bag of sugar cost about 20 billion Zimbabwe dollars ($1) at the government's fixed price, and 90 billion on the black market ($1 at the black market exchange or $4.50 at the bank exchange rate.)
In the economic meltdown, unemployment has reached 80 percent and unskilled workers still in jobs earn up to $10 a month.
The price of scarce gasoline has soared, along with commuter bus fares that often exceed monthly earnings, forcing workers to walk to their jobs, or sell vegetables and other goods on the streets to make up the shortfall.
The economy was a key concern in the first round of presidential voting March 29, when opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat longtime leader Robert Mugabe and two other candidates but did not win the 50 percent plus one vote necessary to avoid a runoff.
Tsvangirai later pulled out of the runoff because of a campaign of violence against his supporters. Mugabe went ahead with a June 27 vote widely denounced as a sham. Tsvangirai's name was kept on the ballot and Mugabe was declared the overwhelming winner.
Launching the subsidized food program on Wednesday, Mugabe said basic commodities subsidized by the central bank were to be distributed across the country, enabling an average family to pay just 100 billion Zimbabwe dollars (US$5) for a basket of items -- including cooking oil, the cornmeal staple, flour and soap -- that would last a month.
At present, a single loaf of bread costs nearly 100 billion Zimbabwe dollars.
It was not immediately clear how the central bank would finance the subsidies, with health and other public services already facing collapse because of lack of state funding. Official inflation soared to 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe -- by far the highest in the world -- and has shot as high as 70 million ... more -
Taser death ignites racial tensions
What happened in the 39 minutes in between--during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser device, while reportedly pleading for mercy--is now spawning fears of a political cover-up in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.
Even more ominously, because Pikes was black and the officer who repeatedly Tasered him is white, racial tensions over the case are mounting in a place that's just 40 miles from Jena, La. Jena is the site of the racially explosive prosecution of six black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. And in a bizarre coincidence, Pikes turns out to have been a first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.
No novelist could have invented Winnfield, a place so steeped in corruption that they built a local museum to try to sanitize it all.
Here in the birthplace of two of Louisiana's most colorful and notorious governors—Huey and Earl Long—the police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying.
Just four months later, the district attorney killed himself after allegedly skimming $200,000 from his office budget and extorting payments from criminal defendants to make their cases go away.
The current police chief is a convicted drug offender who got a pardon from Edwin Edwards, the former Louisiana governor who is serving time in federal prison for corruption convictions.
All of that tangled history is now wrapped up in the Pikes case, because Scott Nugent, the officer who Tasered him, is the well-connected son of the former police chief who killed himself—and the protégé of the current chief, who hired him onto the force.
"A lot happens in this town and it just gets swept under the rug," said Kayshon Collins, Pikes' stepmother, who has participated in several local protests over the case. "What the police did to Scooter just isn't right. They would never have Tasered a white kid like that." The official police version of what happened to Pikes on that brisk January afternoon reads like a sad but familiar story in Winnfield's local newspaper.
Nugent spotted Pikes walking along the street and attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for drug possession, according to Police Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter. Pikes took off running, but another officer cornered him outside a nearby grocery store. Pikes resisted arrest and Nugent subdued him with a shock from a Taser.
Then on the way to the police station, Carpenter related to the newspaper, Pikes fell ill and told the officers he suffered from asthma and was high on crack cocaine and PCP. The officers called for an ambulance, but Pikes later died at the hospital.
Six months later, the Winnfield police are standing by that story. Meanwhile, the Louisiana State Police are investigating the case, and no charges have been filed against Nugent or two other Winnfield police officers who assisted him in arresting Pikes, although the City Council did decide to fire Nugent from the force in May.
Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils says he expects to present the case to a grand jury after he receives the results of the state police investigation.
But there is already abundant evidence contradicting the official police version of the incident.
An autopsy determined there were no drugs in Pikes' system and that he did not have asthma, according to Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner.
Moreover, Pikes did not resist arrest, and he was handcuffed while lying on the ground, according to Nugent's police report of the incident. It was only after Pikes refused Nugent's command to stand up that the officer applied the first Taser shock in the middle of his back, Nugent wrote.
***story continues, click link to read*** What happened in the 39 minutes in between--during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser devi... more -
A Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign Policy
WASHINGTON — Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions, accompanied by suggested answers, that the candidate is likely to be asked about international relations during the day. WASHINGTON — Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mail... more
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Iran deems US threat to be 'serious'
Commander of IRGC's ground force Mohammad-Jafar Asadi has described recent US threats against the Islamic Republic as direct and serious. Commander of IRGC's ground force Mohammad-Jafar Asadi has described recent US threats against the Islamic Republic as direct and serio... more
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McCain-As-War-Hero Myth
NEW YORK — Every presidential candidacy relies on a myth. Reagan was a great communicator; Clinton felt your pain. Both storylines were ridiculous. But rarely are the constructs used to market a party nominee as transparent or as fictional as those we’re being asked to swallow in 2008.
NEW YORK — Every presidential candidacy relies on a myth. Reagan was a great communicator; Clinton felt your pain. Both storylines wer... more -
WTO publishes trade ruling against China
GENEVA - The World Trade Organization has made public the first official condemnation of Chinese commercial practices, an auto parts ruling that sides with the United States, the European Union and Canada.
The verdict released Friday in Geneva finds that China was breaking trade rules by taxing imports of auto parts at the same rate as foreign-made finished cars. The Associated Press first obtained the findings in February.
The sweeping decision rules against China on nearly every point of contention with the U.S., the EU and Canada. It says China subjected foreign auto parts to less favorable treatment or higher charges than Chinese-made car parts.
It ordered China to comply with WTO rules. China can still appeal.
GENEVA - The World Trade Organization has made public the first official condemnation of Chinese commercial practices, an auto parts r... more -
Venezuela neglecting battered women
Venezuela is dragging its feet in establishing a support system for battered women, Amnesty International said in a report issued Wednesday.
President Hugo Chavez's government passed new domestic violence legislation in March 2007 requiring that, among other things, Venezuela's 23 states and more than 300 municipalities construct women's shelters.
But more than a year later, no new facilities have been built, London-based Amnesty said.
ust two such shelters exist across this nation of 27 million people — and both were up and running two years before the law was passed, according to the National Women's Institute. But the government-run institute reported that at least three more are under revision or have been approved by local authorities.
Venezuela is dragging its feet in establishing a support system for battered women, Amnesty International said in a report issued Wedn... more -
Chavez party seeks changes for 3rd term
Venezuela's ruling party pledged Thursday to seek to reform the nation's constitution to let President Hugo Chavez seek indefinite re-election.
Proposed changes to end the two-term limit for presidents will be presented to Congress or the National Electoral Council and ultimately to voters after state and municipal elections now scheduled for November, said Freddy Bernal, a leader of Chavez's United Socialist Party.
"The purpose of this amendment is to ask the country if they want or don't want the re-election of President Hugo Chavez," Bernal said in a televised interview. "If we want peace, tranquility and development in the country, Hugo Chavez must continue being president."
Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, is barred from running again when his term expires in 2013.
Venezuela's ruling party pledged Thursday to seek to reform the nation's constitution to let President Hugo Chavez seek indefinite re-... more -
Beijing tells spectators to leave banners at home
Beijing has advised spectators coming to next month's Olympics to leave their banners at home, even if they do not contravene rules forbidding the airing of political or religious views at venues.
Beijing authorities have long been concerned that its citizens will take some of the gloss off the August 8-24 Games through bad manners and on Monday released its "Spectators House Rules" along with a "Good Habit for a Good Games" campaign.
The rules, which Beijing organisers said were "virtually the same as for the Athens and Sydney Olympics", ban banners and flags larger than two metres by one metre although officials said they would prefer that even smaller signs were not displayed. Beijing has advised spectators coming to next month's Olympics to leave their banners at home, even if they do not contravene rules fo... more -
No repeat of Beijing banner ban at 2010 Games
Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada are not likely to follow the lead of China, which banned spectators from bringing banners to the Summer Games in Beijing, officials said on Wednesday.
Beijing unveiled "house rules" this week for spectators coming to next month's Games, prohibiting all banners, even if they do not contravene rules forbidding the airing of political or religious views at Olympic venues.
Vancouver does not expect to do that for the Winter Games in Canada, said John Furlong, chief executive of the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC).
"Clearly, what we will be trying to do is to live up to the promise that we gave many years ago that the Games of Vancouver 2010 will be about sport and celebration," he told reporters following VANOC's regular board meeting.
Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada are not likely to follow the lead of China, which banned spectators from bringing ban... more
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Corruption
