Bond scalping begins. Is the EU nightmare soon to end?

Germany’s top banker Josef Ackermann has been asked to orchestrate a private sector contribution to the Greek bailout.

So opens an article in this morning's The Times newspaper, read more here, appropriately enough perhaps on this May Day morning, reporting the beginning of the end of the corporatist/statist experiment that brought us the the disastrous "global civil society" experiment that is today's corrupt and non-democratic European Union. (My posting of 28th November 2003 on Ironies, covering the collapse of the Stability Pact, titled The EU's Problems from Greece to the Golden Gate, here, makes interesting reading, especially the link to khatimarini.

"You have destroyed the country" effectively accused Jeremy Paxman to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on BBC One prime time TV last evening, although it will no doubt be many years before that fact sinks into to the clearly deadened brain of this despicable man and his slimy co-conspirator, Tony Blair. (Read Blair's Presidential Ambitions from Ironies Archives 15th December 2003. (UK readers may view the TV broadcast from this link).

Even the Guardian newspaper has now abandoned the Labour Party, recommending its readers to vote LibDem in its editorial this morning.

The Telegraph Group with the Murdoch stable will of course back Cameron's Corporatist Conservatives (New Labour by another name) yet the leading financial journalist of the Barclay Brothers organs and the Daily Telegraph's Business Editor, this morning suggest, backed by columnist Simon Heffer, presumably bearing in mind the obvious ineptitude, experience and charisma short Shadow Chancellor Osborne, that should their paper's certain editorial advice be followed and succeed the first act of Vapid Cameron as PM should be to call in the IMF.


My posting of 5th February 2004is republished in full below as it is missing from the blog archives of Ironies

Enemies of Democracy in the EU and Beyond

It is now a year since I wrote ‘The Risk of Pan-European Totalitarianism’ for posting on the ‘Europa Discussion Forum’ run by the European Union.

Publication was refused, but I subsequently managed to get the item posted on the blog of Samizdata.net, which is linked here, and on the Discussion Forums run by the ‘Financial Times.’ I consequently started my own blogspot, Ironies, where this warning on the dangers of the EU Constitution which ignored the democratic ideals of Karl Popper, was one of the earliest posts.

It now seems time to revisit the topic, as substantial evidence has accumulated within the past twelve months, that far from being a co-incidental or inadvertent event, the destruction of European democracy now underway could be the real objective of those driving the EU project forward.

Why and for what motivations can such a scheme have been undertaken?

Democracy can be variously defined and interpreted, a fact of which its enemies make much use. I refer throughout this piece to “Democracy” in a Popperian sense as described here:-

Popper asserts “ …a theory of democratic control can be developed that is free from the paradox of sovereignty. The theory I have in mind is one which does not proceed, as it were, from a doctrine of the intrinsic good or righteousness of a majority rule, but rather from the baseness of tyranny: or more precisely it rests upon the decision, or adoption of the proposal, to avoid and resist tyranny”.

Continuing with this theme, Popper argues that there are two forms of government: those that can be got rid of without bloodshed (such as in general elections) and those that require a successful revolution to replace, or not at all. He labels the first sort ‘democracies’ and the second ‘tyrannies’.

Clearly, the concluding document of the Convention, chaired by the disgraced ex-French President Vallery Giscard d’Estaing, would have imposed (and still very well may) a Popperian tyranny on the twenty-five once democratic, once nation states, who will soon make-up the enlarged European Union.

The EU project has been largely driven forward by deception and lies, most notably in Britain have the true objectives been concealed, but in no country has the true scale of the project been openly disclosed to the citizens. Fifty years on, with the constitution framed and the convention which prepared it openly having refused to give either consideration or even discussion to the question of democratic structures, the truth is revealed.

Some open attempts are being made to justify the nature of the project. The proponents of Trans-national Progressivism at least struggle to openly elaborate their aims, as we have discussed previously as can be re-read from this link to our post of 7th November 'Multilateralism, Transnational Progressivism, the Aqui Communitaire and Howard's Tories': here.

On Christmas Eve we posted regarding the secretive nature of some of the organisations that seem strongly in favour of the kind of outcomes now envisioned, which can also be read from this link "The Eradication of the Nation State in the Cause of Peace"

I have just finished reading one of the most open attempts at justifying what is now taking place, being a book titled, ‘Global Civil Society’ written by John Keane, Professor of Politics at the University of Westminster, and founder of the Centre for the Study of Democracy! Published by the Cambridge University Press, Cambrideg in 2003 ISBN 0-521-89462- X. Extraordinary reading it makes too!

Much concerned with the effects of globalisation, Professor Keane advances some ideas on what he calls ’Cosmocracy’ in which he envisages the citizens of the world being ruled by something he defines as ’meso-governments’, which would ‘include territorially defined states and actual or proto-regional institutions, like the European Union, CARICOM and the ASEAN pact.’ (page 101).

There seems no place for Popperian concepts of ‘democracy’ in the ‘Platonic’ future foreseen by Professor Keane. On page 126 he addresses this future with this startling certainty: ‘Whatever comes to pass, it is safe to say that the global polity of the future will defy the simplifications and confusions of prevailing theories of globalisation that think in old fashioned terms of (potentially) ‘sovereign’ territorial states, or of 'muti-level governance’ or ‘cosmopolitan democracy’.

We will instead be left to the non-accountable elites emerging from the centres of indoctrination that even Professor Keane recognises institutes of higher education are now being allowed to become. These in turn staffing the mushrooming non-governmental or meso-governmental organisations that the Professor owns are mostly notable for their inefficiencies. The examples of a Global Civil Society at work that he cites would by most impartial observers be hardly considered as striking successes.

On page 121 the enemy of Professors Keane’s utopian dream is clearly identified as multilateralists’ well-known bogeyman, the USA: ‘If…the American empire consistently behaves as if it is morally entitled to run the whole world, and to act on its behalf, then almost certainly that roguery would have the effect of stirring up geopolitical troubles. That roguery would in turn work against global civil society, perhaps even wrecking the chances of its survival’.

If the enemy is unsurprisingly so defined as America, mainly by virtue of its undeniable power, while no evidence of what the author describes as roguery is, of course provided, a broad description of who the members of this ‘Global Civil Society’ is detailed. They are we are told ordinary people like you and me, going about their daily business such as dropping off the kids at school! But on page 205 the reality is revealed Global Civil Society is a militant ethic. It is unrelenting in its quest to secure freedom and equality and solidarity through non-governmental links that spread to all four corners of the planet. Peacefully? Earlier in that same paragraph we are informed 'Global Civil Society has no 'natural' tendency towards harmony....In the face of a challenge, it is not squeamish'

On page 144 however, the enemies of all that is good in this supposed utopian dream world are stereotyped as free/market ideologues, racists and nationalists peddling a Kafkaesque idea ‘that it is safer to be in chains’ .

The underlying anti-freemarket if not Marxist philosophy of the book’s author is clearly revealed in this passage quoted from page (139):

‘Global Civil Society enables individuals, groups and organisastions to organise and deploy their powers across borders, despite remaining barriers of time and distance. This society provides non-governmental structures and rules which enable individuals and groups to move and to decide things, to follow their inclinations, to bring governmental power holders to heel, to engage in many kinds of mutually beneficial exchanges, even to work for the socialisation of market economies so that production for social need, rather than for profit prevails’ . (my emphasis).

Note here the lack of any consideration of democratic consultation and the complete absence of the concept of accountability. The totalitarian Marxist ideal WILL, it seems prevail!

Don't Tell Kate

that three of her five full-time baristas just have had a rendezvous in a bistro and rather obscured cafe far away from Salemba.

It's labor day, for crying out loud.

EUROPE'S ISLAMIFICATION ISN'T JUST ITS DESTINY; EUROPE'S HISTORY IS BEING RETROACTIVELY ISLAMIFIED, TOO

ABSO-FRICKIN-LUTELY MUST SEE TV.

THIS IS PART 2 OF FIVE. WATCH ALL FIVE!

Living With Ourselves

The former president of the American Psychological Association, a native of Edmonton, Dr. Frank Farley, considers the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which now lists 357 types of psychiatric afflictions to have outgrown itself: "I think it's just gotten out of hand ... How many vote for this, how many vote for that? It's a problem. The science of human behaviour has gone way beyond that."

Normal human behaviours in all their rich and varied manifestations have come under the close scrutiny of a microscopic classification. The better to assess and diagnose us with. We cannot enthusiastically, innocently, incorrectly, eccentrically, adversely behave any longer as we will, for fear of being identified with a troubling pathology.

One which, furthermore, must be attended to medically and chemically. For our own good. And the greater good of society. Oh, and by the way, the growing authority of the psychiatric community of medical professionals. And just incidentally, their partners in this crime of pathologizing human behaviour, the pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Farley contends that the DSM seeks to conformalize and abnormalize human behaviour. Anything that remotely resembles non-conformance; extreme reactions are no longer in the realm of normal human behaviour, but instead constitute behaviours seen through the lens of pathology. "So we begin thinking of too many things in terms of sickness. We're going to treat you to make you normal."

Quirks and eccentricities are no longer admirable, nor are extreme reactions, nor insistence in individualism, thrill-seeking, adventure-clinging, discovery-prone attitudes to life. These must be muted, treated, pacified. To be dull, conformist, disinterested, removed, is to be normal. If that state of being cannot be reached by sheer will alone, the psychiatric profession stands ready to step in and rescue the situation.

They will prescribe the proper medication. And if that medication doesn't work, and instead creates troubling physical and mental conditions arising out of their use, why then, other pharmaceuticals can be tried until the correct combination is finally found that will deaden all human sensation and make one comatose to 'being'.

Gently Rebuked

A little like the wisdom of Solomon. No wonder Parliamentary Speaker of the House Peter Milliken is well respected for balanced impartiality and intelligence. Guess we should add cerebral creativity to that too, now. And a well-deserved bit of chiding going out in both directions. Mostly, to remind all sides in the House of Commons that they are adults with seemingly mature minds, and it's time to put their brains back to work.

They've become addled of late. Slightly more than usual. Chimpanzees gone amok in the mirrored funny-house.

Yes, the opposition opposes, but it also supports, doesn't it? Reasonable government-led initiatives, that is...? And most Conservative-led government initiatives to date have been fairly reasonable, and sometimes verging on excellence. Which is why, one supposes, that in turn, the NDP and the Liberals have seen fit to support the government on occasion.

And which also explains why the Bloc Quebecois, in its Quebec-first-and-only fixation rarely fails to slam the government.

It's a sham of the most blatant order to begin with, to haul Parliament into an uproar of pretentious concern over the purported welfare of apprehended Taliban in the hands of their Afghan confreres. It is simply that any trumped-up allegations of wrong-doing on the part of the government suits the fancy of the opposition.

Principally the Liberals in the instance that if they were governing the situation would have been no different.

And the NDP, who deplore Canada's presence in Afghanistan - in an attempt to overcome the designs of the Taliban, to assist the current Afghan government, corrupt as it is by Western standards, to meet its obligations to its people - insisting on an immediate troop withdrawal, while simultaneously championing Canada's military entering Democratic Republic of Congo conflict, at the UN's behest.

All the parties behaving as though they're collectively in a state of apprehended adolescence, rather than behaving as mature parliamentarians. The Conservative government is unwilling to disclose documentation to the tender mercies of the Liberals anxious to pounce on anything that would leave a scintilla of doubt whether government or the military was aware of 'torture' in Afghanistan's prisons.

Claiming, logically, that under the circumstances, classified documents must be protected in the interests of national security. While Members of Parliament insist that they have the parliamentary right to view all such documents. Of course memory is not that distant of classified documents being left in the possession of unauthorized individuals, resulting in the hasty demotion of a Cabinet Minister.

In this instance, that is not the issue at hand, but the principle of the issue, and Speaker Millikan has done a fine high-wire balancing act respecting his office and his reasoning process. It would be very nice if we had a non-partisan parliament, but we do not. It would be reasonable to anticipate that elected officials see themselves as serious representatives of the public weal; they appear to have problems with that.

They behave as childish caricatures of serious lawmakers, mawkishly insisting that they have the interests of the public in mind, and the reputation of the country to uphold, while they make a mockery of both in their obvious self-interest. All parties descending to the unfortunate level of street-playing, hormonally-maladjusted adolescents.

Thus, giving the belligerents an opportunity to think a trifle more deeply about their disparate positions, and offering his opinion that he has trust in their eventual ability to regain their collective senses and do justice to their elected positions, there is yet hope that reason may prevail.

One supposes.

JOKE OF THE WEEK: @gpollowitz: wouldn't it be funny if arizona police asked everyone for their papers at the big ariz immigration rally?

HEH:

@gpollowitz wouldn't it be funny if arizona police asked everyone for their papers at the big ariz immigration rally? 4/30 1:53 P.M. -

JUST THREATENING TO WOULD CUT THE SIZE OF THE RALLY BY 50%!

BRITISH BOOKIES: ODDS IMPROVING FOR TORY MAJORITY

I PREDICTED A TORY MAJORITY TWO WEEKS AGO.

NOW, THE BRITISH BETTING PUBLIC SEEMS TO BE AGREEING, MORE AND MORE.

MY REASON: PEOPLE WILL FLOCK TO CAMERON WHEN THEY REALIZE/ACCEPT THAT THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE IS A HUNG PARLIAMENT WITH LABOUR AND THE LIB-DEM COALITION.

WE SHALL SOON SEE...

• IN OTHER PATHETIC AND REVEALING BRIT ELECTION NEWS:

• IT SEEMS THAT JACK STRAW MIGHT HAVE BROKEN THE LAW WHILE PANDERING TO THE MUSLIM VOTE IN HIS DISTRICT.

• NO SURPRISE: LABOUR AND THE LEFT NEED THE MUSLIM VOTE. AND THEY HAVE WORKED FOR THE LAST FEWA YEARS TO GET IT.... IT'S CALLED DHIMMITUDE. AND BIRDS OF A FETHER. AND THE LEFTIST-JIHADIST ALLIANCE.
  

FOX NEWS GAFFE: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS HOT AIR AND JAMMIE WEARING FOOL BY A DAY

• HOT AIR AND JWF TODAY.

• THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS YESTERDAY.

REGULAR READERS KNOW THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.

SPREAD THE WORD.

WHAT IF OBAMA HAD WRITTEN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE?

JEFFERSON:

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

OBAMA:

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one multicultural society to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another society, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station, then public relations demands that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are equal, that they are endowed by the State with certain - but mutable rights, and that among these are health-care, food, shelter, clothing, a living wage that's within tolerable limits set by the State.

That to secure these rights, factions and parties and unions are instituted among the people, deriving their powers from their ability to intimidate other groups.

That whenever any group of people become destructive to these ends, it is the right of the factions and parties and unions to attack and belittle them, and to institute new laws, laying its strategy on anything that shall to the coalition seem most likely to effect their ability to hold power and dole out patronage to factions and parties and unions in the coalition.

Jefferson's version helped give rise to the greatest democracy and most prosperous nation the world has ever known.

And Obama's!?!?

Obama's has given rise to Chicago's and Illinois' and California's and Michigan's and New Jersey deficits and historically corrupt governments.

As Jesus said, "... by their fruits shall you know them."

But beyond the fact that the Democrat/Liberal/Leftist coalition has destroyed the economies of wherever it was in power, beyond that there is the fact that the Democrat/Liberal/Leftist governing strategies are unprincipled except for one imperative: taking care of the coalition.

The Founding Fathers of this great land had deep and abiding principles - eternal principles - based on Natural Law.

Governing according to principles - and not horse-trading, boondoggling, arm-twisting to satisfy this faction or that and win this vote or that - are what made this country great.

Without them we go the way of other once great nations.

THIS NOVEMBER WE CAN CHOOSE WHICH PATH OUR NATION WILL TAKE: WE CAN EITHER STAY ON OBAMA'S UNPRINCIPLED PATH, OR RETURN TO THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR NATION'S FOUNDING.

IT HAS BEGUN: REPORT: OBAMA TO ABSTAIN FROM PROTECTING ISRAEL AT UN SECURITY COUNCIL

US may stop using UN veto on resolutions targeting Israel'

'Guardian' says US official assured Abbas Washington could consider allowing such measures to pass if there's provocative settlement activity.)

In an attempt to launch indirect proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the US has given private assurances that it would consider not using its veto power against UN Security Council condemnations of any significant new settlement activity, the Guardian reported.

A Palestinian source quoted by the UK paper said David Hale, a deputy of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week that if there was "significantly provocative settlement activity," including in east Jerusalem, Washington may consider allowing UNSC resolutions censuring Israel to pass. According to the paper, the source said "it was understood that meant the US would abstain from voting on a resolution rather than use its veto."

WE PREDICTED THIS DURING THE 2008 CAMPAIGN.

OBAMA IS AN ANTI-ZIONIST TO THE CORE. JUST ASK RASHID KHALIDI.

IN OTHER MADDENING DEVELOPMENTS:

Abdullah: Israel playing with fire

Jordanian monarch reiterates warning over J'lem, W. Bank policies.

Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday reiterated his warning to Israel over its policies in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

“Israel is playing with fire concerning Jerusalem and it must stop all unilateral moves in the occupied territories,” said the Jordanian monarch.

ER UM... AS IF BUILDING APARTMENTS WAS MORE DESTABILIZING THAN IRAN'S NUKE PROGRAM.

ABDULLAH AND OBAMA SEEM TO BOTH FEEL THIS WAY.

IT'S INSANE!

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE

A shot in the arm when we're feeling discouraged as to the direction America is presently taking:

UPDATED: OBAMA'S MISTRESS - VERA BAKER - BACK IN THE NEWS.... IN FRANCE

THE FRANCOPHONE WORLD (FRANCE, BELGIUM, SENEGAL...) IS BUZZING:

GOOGLE NEWS:

Barack Obama: des rumeurs d'infidélité pour le déstabiliser?

‎

Elle - 1 hour ago Pis, même Michelle Obama « avait rapidement soupçonné Vera Baker d'exercer un charme dangereux sur son mari », affirme le magazine. Six ans après les faits, ... Scandale : Barack Obama au coeur de méchantes rumeurs d'adultère...‎ - Pure People Une maîtresse mise sur le dos d'Obama‎ - 20 minutes.ch Barack Obama infidèle ?‎ - Entrevue.fr

BECAUSE OF A OUR PREVIOUS POSTS ON OBAMA'S ALLEGED AFFAIR WITH THIS LOOKALIKE OF HIS 1/2 SISTER, AND THE ALLEGED COVER-UP - WE'RE GETTING NEARLY 1000 HITS AN HOUR THIS MORNING ON THIS...

STAY TUNED...

ANOTHER RECENT POST HERE.

POLITICAL APE HERE SPECULATES ON WHETHER OBAMA IS BEING BLACKMAILED!

UPDATE: A TRANSLATION FROM "PURE PEOPLE: - LINK ABOVE:

testimony of a former driver, Barack bright, very ambitious, so race and in 2004 for the Senate seat in Illinois (he was elected in November of that year), have maintained an extramarital affair with Vera Baker, 29 years, he has known for many years.

The driver told reporters escorted to have an evening after a campaign rally at the George Washington near the Capitol, said that Ms. Baker had asked him not to wait.

He does not, however, if Miss Baker had planned to spend the night in this hotel, as is customary when colleagues are away ...

However the paper goes further and asserts the existence of a video surveillance rather damaging for the 44th president of the United States.

Worse, he suggests that software engineers would be on a serious lead on the exchange of e-mails with pretty unequivocal Vera Baker.

STAY TUNED . . .

UPDATE: WZ IS REPORTING THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER SAYS THERE'S VIDEO OF OBAMA MEETING VERA BAKER IN A DC HOTEL FOR A TRYST.

MORE PROOF OF THE AXIS OF TAXES: AVG FED WORKER PAID $120G'S

WASHEX:

Data compiled by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis reveals the extent of the pay gap between federal and private workers.

As of 2008, the average federal salary was $119,982, compared with $59,909 for the average private sector employee.

In other words, the average federal bureaucrat makes twice as much as the average working taxpayer.

Add the value of benefits like health care and pensions, and the gap grows even bigger. The average federal employee's benefits add $40,785 to his annual total compensation, whereas the average working taxpayer's benefits increase his total compensation by only $9,881.

In other words, federal workers are paid on average salaries that are twice as generous as those in the private sector, and they receive benefits that are four times greater.

ALL THIS IS THE RESULT OF THE BIG WHITE-COLLAR UNIONS FOR DECADES PAYING-OFF THE DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS TO EXPAND FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND INCREASE WAGES FOR FEDERAL WORKERS IN THE NEA, THE SEIU, AND AFSCME.

IT'S THE CONGRESSIONAL-UNION COMPLEX AND WE HAVE TO DISMANTLE IT.

WE CAN THIS NOVEMBER: VOTE GOP.

VIA GLENN.

FIRST ADVERTISEMENT FROM KEEP ISRAEL SAFE

This is a debut advertisement from Keep Israel Safe, a new organization whose website isn't quite done, but will probably be ready by Sunday. (via the Weekly Standard and Hot Air.) It's modeled in some ways after Keep America Safe.

SOY JISM?!

VIDEO.

Lacking Synergies

Can't blame a fellow for exploring all opportunities for self-advancement now, can we? Especially when a hitherto cushy employment fell flat because voters clued in on the fact that there was something not quite right about one's commitment to the job at hand...? But where there's a will there's the way appealing to be manipulated in just the right way. All in the family, after all. If one's wife has the inside skinny, why not share the opportunities?

"We realized after a few meeting with Mr. Gillani that our firms were different and didn't have synergies." - Rahim Jaffer on Nazim Gillani.

"Mr. Jaffer seemed to state to this Committee last week that he ended our relationship months ago. This was untrue." - Nazim Gillani on Rahim Jaffer.

Two unprincipled scoundrels. Whom to believe? Well, both and neither.

Mr. Gillani, most inconveniently for Mr. Jaffer produced a copy of a signed contract, ensuring a "finder's fee" would complement energetic insider lobbying successful in helping Mr. Gillani with financing for his business projects. That kind of synergy. Business is business, after all. And landing big ones is the name of this game.

To which end, is utilized such official government-provided appurtenances as make for needed electronic equipment in a Cabinet Minister's office. Handy to use a parliamentary email account with the logo of the Government of Canada and the imprimatur of a Cabinet portfolio on it to entice clients to believe they'll get their money's worth, and more. "Rahim, here."

It's just human nature, after all, isn't it? Got valuable government contacts? Well, use them!

"Mr. Jaffer and I were to travel to China together on April 13, 2010. Yet Mr. Jaffer seemed to state to this Committee last week that he ended our relationship months ago. This was untrue."

"It formalized its services in a contract with my company ... which states that: "The consultant warrants and represents that it is in ongoing dialogue with, and has valuable connections to and with, the Government of Canada and various departments, ministries, and wholly or partially owned entities thereof, all for the purposes of providing participatory and non-participatory government funding (and other incentives) as well as ongoing support for various prospective private sector projects, ventures and initiatives."

Sounds like a well-written document, a prettily made up conceit of parliamentary privilege and entree to any areas of interest conceivable. Anyone see anything wrong with that? Calling in old friends and doing a little bit of prodding here, and suggesting there, and recommending over there...?

"Lobbying isn't the nature of our business and we know the rules." Rahim Jaffer

"I sent the email that referred to Mr. Jaffer as "The Canadian government money accesss point", based on my understanding of what he and Mr. Glemaud did for a living." Nazim Gillani

It truly is unfortunate when people somehow manage to confuse issues and get an entirely erroneous opinion of what you're offering and what's legal and what's somewhat illicit. Just can't figure out why everyone is coming down so hard on poor Mr. Jaffer and his colleague.

"We didn't enter into any contracts with him whatsoever", avowed Mr. Glemaud when he was interviewed by those pestiferous MPs on the committee of enquiry.

Sheesh!

VA AG SUBPOENAS MANN OVER CLIMATEGATE

THE HOOK - (WUWT):

In papers sent to UVA April 23, Cuccinelli’s office commands the university to produce a sweeping swath of documents relating to Mann’s receipt of nearly half a million dollars in state grant-funded climate research conducted while Mann— now director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State— was at UVA between 1999 and 2005.

If Cuccinelli succeeds in finding a smoking gun like the purloined emails that led to the international scandal dubbed Climategate, Cuccinelli could seek the return of all the research money, legal fees, and trebled damages.

“Since it’s public money, there’s enough controversy to look in to the possible manipulation of data,” says Dr. Charles Battig, president of the nonprofit Piedmont Chapter Virginia Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment, a group that doubts the underpinnings of climate change theory.

… The Attorney General has the right to make such demands for documents under the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, a 2002 law designed to keep government workers honest.

AWESOME!

THE FIRST ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST OBAMA: FAILING TO ENFORCE Article IV, Section 4

Article IV, Section 4:

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

OBAMA HAS REFUSED TO SECURE OUR BORDERS WITH MEXICO.

HE IS ALSO NOW ATTACKING ARIZONA FOR PASSING A STATE AW EMPOWERING THEIR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO ARREST PEOPLE IN VIOLATION OF IMMIGRATION VIOLATIONS.

BOTH OF THESE ARE IN VIOLATION OF HIS OATH OF OFFICE.

HE SHOULD BE IMPEACHED FOR THIS.

(THE 2ND ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT WILL BE LYING TO THE FBI ABOUT BLAGOJEVICH.)

Must We?

Canada must officially do its utmost to help where it can, to ameliorate horrible living conditions for people living in third-world countries. Countries which have never been able to manage to govern themselves well and responsibly, countries dependent on aid from wealthy nations of the West, countries whose tribal traditions leading to suspicion and hatred of others and resulting in incessant warfare has ensured their conditions would never improve.

It's a holding pattern, nothing less. Transferring vast sums of money over the space of decades to countries within the African continent, some of which manages to trickle down usefully to modestly help those in need whose plight is ignored by their own government. But most of which aid funding goes directly into the pockets of corrupt rulers and their corrupt followers.

Funding that should be used for medications, for access to clean water, inoculations against dread illnesses.

The need to help those helpless people who live in unendurable poverty and endemic sickness - whose plight is never alleviated, and where children are unable to grow beyond infancy, their mothers languishing in ill health, if they survive maternity, all of them susceptible to malaria and dreadful water-borne illnesses, culminating in utter human misery - is dire.

Compounded by ongoing internal warfare and the resulting situation where women become prey for tribal vengeance through rape and children are often kidnapped to be trained as foot soldiers in militias who prey on the population. Where the country's own official military treats the vulnerable population in an equal manner to the militias they purportedly battle.

And the United Nations invites Canada to join it in Democratic Republic of Congo, as soon as Canada disengages from Afghanistan, as a peace force. Canadian military to go from battling the Taliban, to overseeing 'peace' in Congo by separating the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda from government forces, joining the UN's MONUC mission set up a decade ago to enforce a ceasefire in the wake of a multi-party civil war that has killed 4 million people.

Join the United Nations in one of their African peace-keeping missions. It is Rwandan Hutu militants primarily preying on Congolese, having fled Rwanda after the genocide they perpetrated there, upon the Tutsi Rwandans. During the genocide taking place in Rwanda, with the UN's mission headed by Lt.Gen. Romeo Dallaire, Rwanda's emissary to the UN was on the Security Council.

Reporting directly to the Hutu genocidaires what the United Nations and its peacekeeping forces in Rwanda were attempting to do, to maintain order, to desperately attempt to forestall ongoing mass murder, attempting to protect Tutsis huddling within the UN compounds with their children, fearful of imminent death. Lt.Gen. Romeo Dallaire, as head of the UN Rwandan mission was forced to stand by and witness the endless slaughter.

No help was forthcoming from anywhere in the world, much less the United Nations which had other, more pressing problems to attend to, elsewhere in the world. This is the same United Nations which implores Canada to become involved in Democratic Republic of Congo. And, in fact, also pleading with Canada to become involved there is none other than now-Senator Romeo Dallaire.

Can we not say thanks, but no thanks...? We've had those experiences. They've been utterly fruitless. We do desperately wish to save lives and save people from the misery of their dreadful existence. But will the additional sacrifice of more of our young men and women in uniform result in that kind of success?

Or is it finally necessary for the African continent to police itself, for the leaders of Africa to turn away from tribalism and vengeance and greed?

THE LEFT LOSES AGAIN: A CLEAR MAJORITY OF AMERICANS FAVOR THE ARIZONA IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT LAW

ACCORDING TO GALLUP:

YET DESPITE THIS, THE DEMS OPPOSE IT - AND THEY ARE USING LIES TO ATTACK THE LAW AND THOSE OF US WHO SUPPORT IT.

IT'S GONNA BE ANOTHER FIASCO FOR THEM - LIKE OBAMACARE.

YOU CANNOT BE SUCCESSFUL IN POLITICS BY CONSTANTLY ATTACKING THE MAJORITY.

YOU CAN BE AN OUT-OF-TOUCH ELITE, TOUGH.

AND THAT WHERE THE DEMS ARE HEADED.

GUARANTEED REAL NYTIMES HEADLINE: Europe Moves Swiftly on Long-Delayed Greek Rescue Plan

Europe Moves Swiftly on Long-Delayed Greek Rescue Plan

SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN.

THE FOLKS AT THE NYTIMES NO LONGER EVEN KNOW HOW TO WRITE AN OBJECTIVE HEADLINE, LET ALONE NEWS STORY.

HERE'S A REAL HEADLINE FOR THE SAME STORY:

EUROPE'S DANGEROUS FOOT-DRAGGING AND CALAMITOUS IN-FIGHTING
ON THE GREEK BAILOUT MAY BE ABOUT TO END

SIGNS OF IMPENDING WAR IN LEBANON?

AP:

Lebanon's foreign ministry and the militant Hezbollah group have criticized a visit by a U.S. security team to the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The American Embassy says Wednesday's visit was planned months ago and took place in coordination with authorities here.

The visit comes days after Israel accused Syria of providing Hezbollah with Scud missiles. Syria has denied the allegations, as has Lebanon's Western-backed prime minister.

... Lebanon's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday it was not informed in advance about the visit by the U.S. team to al-Masnaa border crossing.

GOV:

A Lebanese correspondent for Tundra Tabloids has filed a report that discusses the imminence of a war between Hizbullah and Israel, as well as a possible civil war between an alliance of Christian groups and Hizbullah within Lebanon:

Below are some excerpts from the report by “The Patron of Beirut”:

The situation in Lebanon so far doesn’t look so good. There is tension in the air due to the municipality elections taking place next Sunday. There is a threat for the Christians in the region, if a war breaks out between Hizbollah and Israel, the Shiia, the Hizbollah will take over the Christian areas in Beirut and in the South.

I have received messages from two sources with close contacts with the Christian parties, the Christian military forces there, that they are preparing for a war between them, (if Hizbollah starts a war with Israel) if Hizbollah starts to act against the Christian forces in the area, if they try to take over the mountain areas overlooking Beirut. They’re saying that Hizbollah will start the war by doing some kind of military operation in the south.

RTWT.

IT MIGHT BE A GOOD THING FOR ISRAEL TO SMACK-DOWN SYRIA AND HIZBALLAH ONE MORE TIME BEFORE WHACKING IRAN...

STAY TUNED...

FOR CRIST'S SAKE

CRIST'S MOVE IS ENTIRELY SELFISH, SELF-CENTERED AND SELF-DESTRUCTIVE: CLASSIC NARCISSISM.

NO WONDER HE LIKES OBAMA!

BRRRRRR!: ARCTIC SEA ICE ABOVE NORMAL!

WUWT:

NANSEN is reporting that both Arctic Sea Ice area and extent are above the normal line. Usually we don’t see both in this mode. Here’s area:

And here is extent:

Source: http://arctic-roos.org/observations/satellite-data/sea-ice/ice-area-and-extent-in-arctic

IOW: AGW = BS.

POLLS: CAMERON WINS FINAL DEBATE

AWESOME.

I PREDICT THE TORIES WILL GET TO 40% AND WIN PARLIAMENT.

Make Wall Street Pay

Richard Trumka: Make Wall Street Pay

So now we learn that as millions of America's families were losing their homes, Goldman Sachs cheeredbecause it stood to make huge money betting on a housing market gone bad. Is that Wall Street's vision of American values? It's not mine. And it's not the values of the thousands of working Americans who are marching on Wall Street today in person with me and online.

Our message is simple: Big Banks tanked our economy and took our money when they needed a bailout. Now they're thumbing their noses at our communities but making billions in profits. It's time they pay up.

Pay up by investing in communities to create jobs for the millions of unemployed workers -- like Terry in Florida, who was laid off a week before Christmas. Being forced to return his family's Christmas gifts to the store was just the beginning of his pain. While the corporation he worked for is turning a profit, he fears his family will be homeless by summer.

Meanwhile, in 2009, 25 hedge fund managers were paid the equivalent of the salaries of 680,000 school teachers. That's in 2009, when we taxpayers spent billions of dollars bailing out the financial sector. If Goldman Sachs is cheering at the collapse of the housing market, what's the rest of Wall Street saying? Thanks, suckers?

Those may be Wall Street's values. They're not America's.

In a stunning new Pew poll, more than half of those surveyed say within the past year a member of their household has been out of work -- up 15 percentage points since last year. Fully 70 percent of Americans say they have faced one or more job- or financial-related problems in the past year, up from 59 percent in February 2009.

And homelessness no longer is a scourge of the most troubled of our society. Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, describes the nation's epidemic of homelessness as reaching crisis proportions not seen since the Great Depression -- and it stems directly from the Big Bank-fueled recession in which millions of workers lost jobs and savings and can no longer afford their mortgage or rent.

Meanwhile, the Big Banks announced massive first quarter earnings -- Citigroup, $4.4 billion; Bank of America, $4.2 billion; Goldman Sachs, $3.46 billion; JPMorgan Chase, $3.3 billion; and Morgan Stanley, $1.8 billion. It turns out that much of that money was made by the same risky trading practices that cost taxpayers a $700 billion bank bailout.

The damage inflicted has deepened economic inequality, which has gotten worse since 2007. The richest 10 percent now control nearly 70 percent of the wealth. Those with incomes in the bottom 50 percent have a little more than 2 percent of the wealth.

The bottom line is Wall Street should pay to clean up the mess they made and Congress must enact strong Wall Street reform. We are supporting four ways for the Big Banks to pay -- President Obama's bank tax, a special tax on bank bonuses, closing the carried interest tax loophole for hedge funds and private equity and, most important, a financial speculation tax levied on all financial transactions -- including derivatives -- that would raise more than $150 billion a year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The financial speculation tax would have a negligible impact on long-term investors but would discourage the short-termism in the capital markets that led to so much destruction over the past decade.

Congress also must aggressively address the jobs crisis now -- if not because it's the right thing to do, then because of November 2010. That Pew poll I cited above? It found Americans united in the belief that the economy is in bad shape: 92 percent give it a negative rating.

Wall Street's values are based on greed. The American people's values are rooted in working hard, playing fairly and doing right by our family, neighbors and friends.

If you can't march and rally with us on The Street, join us live online today at 4 p.m. EDT. We'll be 10,000 strong on the ground and marching for tens of thousands more who have signed up to take part in our virtual march.

Working people are angry -- and we are right to be angry at the betrayal of our economic future. Help us turn that anger into the energy to create jobs, fix our economy and build a stronger nation.

 

Related News On Huffington Post:

Does The Combination of Sun, Geogrpahy, And Farming Cause Air Pollution?

Forbes came out with its list of "Most Polluted Citites" in the United States today.

There is something strange here:

The metro areas with the nation's poorest air quality

President Obama's recent proposal to open some areas along the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coastline and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling elicited praise from drilling advocates and oil companies as well as sharp criticism from environmental groups and citizens near the areas that might be affected.

The environmental impacts from doing so won't be felt for some time. What's affecting Americans today? Poor air quality. This matter often gets buried under more high-profile concerns like climate change, but it is particularly important as summer approaches because sunlight is a key ingredient in making harmful ozone, a ground level gas that contributes to urban smog and inflames the lungs, causing shortness of breath, wheezing and throat irritation.

Sunny areas like Los Angeles face the harmful effects of ozone year-round. In fact, the Los Angeles metro is named the country's worst for ozone by the American Lung Association's State of the Air 2010 report, released Wednesday. The ranking is worrisome for the city's residents because inhaling ozone is akin to "getting a sunburn on your airways," says Dr. Norman H. Edelman, the ALA's chief medical officer.

Other California metros didn't fare much better: Bakersfield, Visalia, Fresno and Sacramento round out the five worst regions for ozone. The problem is statewide because of both California's exposure to sunlight and a natural geography that allows pollution to hover rather than diffuse to other areas, says Janice Nolen, the ALA's assistant vice president for policy and advocacy.

The State of the Air report also ranks cities based on short-term and year-round particle pollution, which are caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide, carbon and nitrogen oxides. The short-term measure ranks metros by periodic spikes in airborne particles, and Bakersfield, Calif.; Fresno, Calif.; Pittsburgh; Los Angeles; and Birmingham, Ala., were, by this measure, found to have the country's five worst.

Some of these cities also show up in the rankings for year-round particle pollution, which measures the daily average level of airborne particles. The five worst areas are: Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Los Angeles; Visalia, Calif.; and Pittsburgh.

Behind The Numbers

State of the Air 2010 ranks metropolitan statistical areas and combined statistical areas based on data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) between 2006 and 2008. Both the ozone and short-term particle pollution rankings are based on spikes in their daily measurements and were calculated using weighted averages; each level of the Air Quality index was given a numerical weight, and these values were then multiplied by the number of days each metro reached them. Contrarily, the year-round particle pollution rankings are based on the average daily airborne particle levels during the three years studied.

The ALA found that over 175 million Americans, or 58% of the population, live in counties with unhealthy levels of either ozone or particle pollution. Worse, almost 24 million people live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone and both short-term and year-round particle pollution.

Poorer populations are especially vulnerable. "People in poverty often live near major highways, near sources of pollution," Nolen says.

5 Worst Cities For Ozone Pollution

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
Total Population: 17,786,419
Pediatric Asthma: 442,040
Adult Asthma: 1,094,827
Chronic Bronchitis: 556,68
Emphysema: 200,338

2. Bakersfield, Calif.
Total Population: 800,458
Pediatric Asthma: 22,479
Adult Asthma: 46,597
Chronic Bronchitis: 23,265
Emphysema: 7,790

3. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
Total Population: 426,276
Pediatric Asthma: 12,749
Adult Asthma: 24,202
Chronic Bronchitis: 12,169
Emphysema: 4,249

4. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
Total Population: 1,057,486
Pediatric Asthma: 29,351
Adult Asthma: 62,100
Chronic Bronchitis: 31,280
Emphysema: 10,965

5. Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Yuba City, Calif.-NV
Total Population: 2,417,404
Pediatric Asthma: 55,670
Adult Asthma: 153,359
Chronic Bronchitis: 78,640
Emphysema: 29,653

First, all five of these areas are valleys. The cities all nestle up against mountains. Los Angeles' valley opens up onto the sea, but the Hollywood hills make it a real valley. In other words, there is nowhere for air to escape to but upward.

Here is a map of California:


So, you can see, topographically, how these areas are climate traps.

Add to this the fact that three of the four chemicals being discussed here as "pollutants" are, indeed, known to be abundant elements in a healthy ecology; Ozone, Nitrogen Oxides, and Carbon.

Sulfur Dioxice, it is true, has no role in mammalian biology. And, I guess, what does not make us better will kill us. So, let's call Sulfur Dioxide a true pollutant.

But, carbon is the basic building block of human beings. Additionally, Carbon Dioxide is what we exhale, and it is what trees inhale.

Nitrogen is an important element of healthy soil, so it no surprise that, where there is healthy soil, there is also an abundance of nitrogen atoms which combine with oxygen atoms to create nitrogen oxides. During the day, there is more nitrous oxide and ozone, and during the night time there is more nitrogen dioxide.

And finally, on the subject of Ozone; it is said, by scientists to be good up high in the stratosphere, but not so good for humans. Too bad it is a naturally occurring element in sunny areas:

Strong sunlight and hot weather cause ground-level ozone to form in harmful concentrations in the air.

So, we see that, if four of the five most polluted cities in the United States are mostly rural farm communities, and all five are valleys in the sun, then sunlight, and the warmth it provides must be the main culprit in "air pollution".

Maybe Obama can begin taxing the sun. After all, it is putting out more than it's share of light.

Arizona law criminalizes immigrants

Arizona has a severe state budget crisis.  They are cutting police officers, schools, medical clinics, and public services ( as is California).  What is the cause of this crisis ?  It was caused by the great bank heist of 2008, finance capital and banking, mostly on Wall Street , Goldman Sachs, Chase Banks, Bank of America, AIG, and others, robbed the banks.  This cost millions of jobs and the pension savings of millions.   BTW. Almost all of the bankers who stole the money were White.

The Republicans and the Tea Party in Arizona is responding by assaulting U.S. citizens of Mexican descent, immigrants, and anyone who might look like an immigrant.  Peter Wilson and the Republicans in California did the same in 1994- and won re-election.  But, that did not resolve any of the problems. 

Arizona, like  California, has a crime problem.  If you want to be responsible about this issue, we should increase significantly the number of police on the streets.  And, to avoid making the problem worse, we should significantly increase the number of teachers in the schools. 

Duane Campbell

Immigrants and Arizona law

by Darlene Sylva, Sacramento
I just got off the phone with my youngest sister, who lives in Phoenix. She is upset and nervous.

Arizona's new immigration law has her asking me, her sister, the attorney, does she have to carry a certified copy of her birth certificate? How does she prove she's a citizen?

Under the new law, set to go into effect within a few months, any law enforcement officer may, based upon a "reasonable suspicion" ask her to prove her legal status. The law makes it illegal to racial profile, but the only reason to ask my sister would be because she just looks illegal, in other words, existing while brown.

Has the heat finally taken its toll on a majority of the voters in Arizona? Are they so lost in their insecurities they don't see the harm they do to fellow Americans?

Why is it that every time there is a downturn in the economy, those of us born brown become the focus of Anglo insecurities?

This time, without even a hint of shame, Arizonans, mostly immigrants from frigid climes, support action to implement their bigotry in the name of protecting our borders.

They speak about crime, homeland security, drug cartels, terrorists and a burning desire to give meaning to immigration laws, but all of these issues are simply a way of rationalizing and giving public voice to their ugly side; that little inner voice that needs to feel superior, to find a scapegoat for the devastation in our economy, for the insecurities they feel about their futures within a rapidly changing demographic. Without shame, they have portrayed themselves as heartfelt patriots while throwing the security and rights of Hispanic Americans not just to the back of the bus but under it.

My family has lived in Arizona since before statehood, before it was a territory, and my mother's family goes back to the Native Americans who have lived in the Tucson area for hundreds of years. Now, because relatively new émigrés to Arizona are feeling economically and socially insecure, my family is asking me how to prove they are citizens and what to do if they are asked. This is beyond outrageous.

I knew when I decided to leave Arizona in the early '70s that there was bigotry against Latinos, but I always assumed that it was composed of a small fringe element. Now I know that Arizona, a once proud, pioneering state, has been overrun by the insecure and shameless.

In a recent trip to visit family in the Phoenix area, all the talk was about the new law. Anxiety, anger and uncertainty was everywhere. Would the governor sign or simply let it become law by default?

There was speculation: What will the law do to those tens of thousands of blended families who could be riding with friends and family only to be stopped by law enforcement and asked to prove up? Will citizens be detained and/or arrested for failing to compel friends and/or family members to prove up their citizenship before getting into the family car for a trip to the movies?

My brother-in-law, the owner of a small structural engineering and home inspection business in Phoenix, shared an experience he had even before the law was proposed as an example of mounting tensions. While driving between appointments near Peoria, he was stopped by an officer who asked, "Do you know why I stopped you?" My brother-in law responded, "Yes, I am brown and driving an older model truck."

The officer, appearing flustered, denied that was the reason and stated that it was due to a problem with his brake lights. After testing them several times it was clear that there was no such problem so the officer, without apology said that he would let him go, this time. According to other friends and family, such a scenario is commonplace.

My family is asking questions that no American should be forced to ask. It doesn't take an attorney to understand the issue. This is about moral imperatives, right vs. wrong. It isn't about using fear-mongering and pandering to gain talk-show ratings or to attain and retain public office. It's about recognizing that government cannot and should not use the tyranny of the majority to place its citizens in jeopardy, and that is what the new law does.

We must come together as a country, as a people, to prove to the world that we are not about spouting empty rhetoric about freedom and protection of rights for citizens. We must send a message to all Hispanic Americans that as a people of conscience we stand with them. We must save Arizona from itself and stop its misguided attempt to solve a national challenge at the expense of fellow Americans.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

   Darlene  Ruiz, a Sacramento Attorney.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/29/2713618/embarrassed-to-be-from-arizona.html#ixzz0mVSvLhMX