World Politics

[patricknd]

Military given go-ahead to detain US terrorist suspects without trial

Civil rights groups dismayed as Barack Obama abandons commitment to veto new security law contained in defence bill



more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/15/americans-face-guantanamo-detention-obama


Would I be right in thinking that people of all political persuasions are opposed to this outrage? I am...not sure of the right word here....seriously disappointed......ah, ********, I am really ****ed off with him for bottling the veto he had previously promised. Funny how they're almost trying to 'hide' this with the great 'withdrawal from Iraq' extravaganza. Bah.

surprise, surprise. it seems that constitutional rights don't rank as highly as re-election.

 

[Amsterhammer]

surprise, surprise. it seems that constitutional rights don't rank as highly as re-election.

How does this non decision help his election chances? Won't it just lead to lots of people who voted for him before, and who can't possibly vote for the other side, simply not voting this time?

 

[patricknd]

How does this non decision help his election chances? Won't it just lead to lots of people who voted for him before, and who can't possibly vote for the other side, simply not voting this time?

i think it's a more popular stance than you may think, and with people that you would never imagine could go that direction.

 

[Amsterhammer]

More Dronegate.

Iran to exhibit US and Israeli spy drones

Iran says it will put on display a series of foreign spy drones that it claims to have obtained, including four Israeli and three US unmanned aircraft, according to a state-run newspaper.

Iran's English-language newspaper, the Tehran Times, quoted "an informed source" as saying that the exhibition will be held "in the near future", and that foreign ambassadors based in Tehran and local journalists would be invited.

"The latest domestically manufactured electronic warfare equipment will also be put on show at the exhibition," the newspaper said. "The foreign unmanned aircraft that Iran has are four Israeli and three US drones."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/15/iran-exhibit-american-spy-drones

All of a sudden they've got seven of them??

 

[craig1985]

Gaddafi's death maybe considered war crimes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16212133

 

[ramjambunath]

They took their time to come to their senses. It is definitely a war crime but as always the ICC will go against the weakest fish like Gbagbo and al Bashir (who deserve to face their time there but wouldn't have if they were part of a stronger country).


Russia circulates UNSC resolution aimed at resolving the crisis in Syria
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16210330

I was tuning into the World service day before yesterday and a journalist who went underground and into Syria said that people were in support of international intervention but these same people had fought against the "imperialists" in Iraq. Says a lot about both the countries' respective situations.

 

[craig1985]

Santa in Holland is racist apparently:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/...d_s_favorite_racist_christmas_tradition_.html

 

[El Pistolero]

Santa in Holland is racist apparently:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/...d_s_favorite_racist_christmas_tradition_.html

Biggest BS article I've ever read. Santa Clause is kerstman in Holland. Sinterklaas is the real thing where Santa clause is based off. We just have both here, but Santa is NOT Sinterklaas.

As for it being racist, it's not. And my country certainly doesn't need to be judged by the USA - where racism was still extremely common as late as the 1960s.

You don't see us complaining about the USA army not allowing homosexuals to enter. Well, they can of course... If they keep it a secret

 

[craig1985]

One of the responses:

Schom
See, that’s what I like about the Dutch: they’re one of the few Western cultures not wringing their hands over their brutal and bloody past and the traditions that spring from it.

So what if the legend of Zwarte Piet arises from slavery? Sinterklaas himself is an icon of an Eastern religion imposed on native Europeans. Even worse, he’s from Spain – Holland’s former colonial masters and one-time bitter sectarian enemies. Let’s not forget that the Catholic Church declared the entire nation “heretical” at one stage, which allowed the Spanish to murder and repress at will.

Besides, it’s not like Americans can cast stones without sin. The American mythmaking industry – and in this case I’m talking Disney, not left-leaning academia; the latter is far less interesting but far more absurd – is polluted with stories of absolute monarchy, reinforcement of hierarchical/class society, subservience to authority and passive roles for women.

People gonna have their traditions, and they ain’t much gonna prettify them without a great deal of backlash and resistance.

“In the Netherlands, race is inextricably connected to immigration—something many Dutch people do openly have a problem with…”

Liberals make me laugh. I don’t even know where to begin with this.

“How dare those clog-wearing bigots apply democracy to such a sacrosanct topic! Don’t they know that discussion of mass-immigration, and the preservation of native culture, is off-limits to the great unwashed?”

Much as I can’t stand Conservatives, at least they have the decency to admit they’re Judaeo-Christian anachronisms in business suits. Liberals replaced God, kept the mentality, beefed up the ‘ressentiment’ and changed the idols. Same old church, though.

 

[El Pistolero]

Yup, Walt Disney was a racist and also antisemitic. Something you actually see in the stuff he and the company produced(same goes for Tintin and Hergé by the way).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-snfaG2JH8

Love this joke from Family Guy.

 

[craig1985]

So you consider Tintin racist? I'll be honest I actually loved it as a kid, but then I obviously saw and read the English versions of the comics and not the French version and it was before I learnt about imperialism and slavery.

 

[El Pistolero]

So you consider Tintin racist? I'll be honest I actually loved it as a kid, but then I obviously saw and read the English versions of the comics and not the French version and it was before I learnt about imperialism and slavery.

Slightly racist yes, but I still love it. Some of the villians in the Tintin comics are stereotypical Jews. Hergé also worked for the Nazis as a cartoonist under an Alias during the War.

The Shooting Star is an example of slight antisemitism:

The Shooting Star was first published in serial form in the newspaper Le Soir in black and white in 1941. It was subsequently published in a colour album in 1942, the first Tintin album to be in colour. It was also the first Tintin story that was restricted from the start to what would become the standard fixed length of 62 pages. The previous stories had all been about 110 pages long in their original incarnations due to the size of the panels.
The original version had some significant differences from later editions; for example the rival expedition is from the United States. There are also villainous Jewish characters which led to charges of anti-Semitism against Hergé: when the end of the world is announced, two stereotypical Jewish men are seen hoping that the disaster will mean they do not have to pay off their creditors. In addition, the main villain of the piece is an American financier with a Jewish name, Blumenstein.
The two Jewish debtors were removed when the story was published in book form. In post-war editions of the book, the villains hail from the fictional country of São Rico, and Blumenstein's name becomes Bohlwinkel, a name less immediately identifiable as Jewish. Despite these changes, traces of the original version remain: the Sao Rican ships still have American names (the Peary and the Kentucky Star) and Tintin uses a World War II Arado 196 German reconnaissance aircraft.
Finally, references to God were removed from the English language version to avoid offending the church. In the original French, in the scene depicting Philippulus at the top of the ship's mast, Captain Haddock claims that he is the only master of the ship after God and orders Philippulus to climb down. But Philippulus rejects this by claiming it is he who is the only master after God. Tintin also claims to be the voice of God the Holy Father when he uses the megaphone to tell Philippulus to climb back down.

Source: wikipedia

Disney is a lot more antisemitic than Tintin though. At least in the past.

 

[BroDeal]

So what happens if China implodes? Are we all boned?

http://thecommongood.net/2011/12/will-china-break/

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Only caught it out of the corner of my eye on the CBS News, but Congress approval rating is apparently down to 11% in the latest poll, with 2% rating them "excellent". This is the lowest in history.

Imagine if this were you at your job and this is what customers thought of you.

 

[ChrisE]

Only caught it out of the corner of my eye on the CBS News, but Congress approval rating is apparently down to 11% in the latest poll, with 2% rating them "excellent".

Imagine if this were you at your job and this is what customers thought of you.

Why, those customers would still keep using your services, of course.

Now, everybody go vote like good dems and reps.

 

[blutto]

....a wee bit of pre-Holiday reading about applying the concept generally known as boiling frogs...

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/hungarys-constitutional-revolution/

http://www.salon.com/2011/12/16/three_myths_about_the_detention_bill/singleton/

Cheers

blutto

 

[Bala Verde]

The NDAA is a civil liberties abomination, with opposition only from 13 senators, and the likes of Udall and Rand Paul opposing it for that particular reason.

Further news, pitting EU against the US:

EU court upholds carbon trade plan for aviation

U.S. air carriers failed Wednesday to block a law charging airlines flying to Europe for their carbon pollution, yielding to a sweeping measure intended to curb climate-changing emissions from international aviation.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg dismissed arguments that imposing the European Union's cap-and-trade program on flights to and from European airports infringes on national sovereignty or violates international aviation treaties.

European Union restricts sale of lethal injection drugs to US, tightening scarce supply

The European Commission said Tuesday it would strengthen export controls on the sale of sodium thiopental, a sedative used as part of a lethal injection combination, as well as other drugs that could be used for executions. The commission said it wanted to “prevent their use for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

This one probably won't have much of an impact, but at least they stick to their principles.

On the money front:

Proposed FCC 'reform' could temper its bite

Businesses are upset about net neutrality and the prevention of an oligopoly in the phone carrier market (blocking AT&T/T-Mobile merger), so the FCC needs to be reformed. Sometimes they actually prove to have consumers best interest in mind

A half-dozen Republicans who sit on the telecommunications subcommittees were quick to point out in recent interviews about the FCC the issues on which they think the commission has abused its mandate — net neutrality, the AT&T/T-Mobile deal and Universal Service Fund reform, to name just a few.

Meaning, Congress ought to have final oversight.

Meaning, Congress will decide the rules.

Meaning more potential revenue for Members of Congress in exchange for legislation and business protections.

That's probably also the reason they want to curb the 'independence' of the new consumer protection bureau.

One of these bright bulbs (Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry,, or as Politico describes him "a telecom veteran") was also the sponsor of this gem:

HR 3035: Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011

amending current law that prohibits certain calls,

unless the call is made for a commercial purpose that does not constitute a telephone solicitation;'.

glad they killed that one.

 

[VeloCity]

Only caught it out of the corner of my eye on the CBS News, but Congress approval rating is apparently down to 11% in the latest poll, with 2% rating them "excellent". This is the lowest in history.

Imagine if this were you at your job and this is what customers thought of you.

Problem is most people like their own representative(s) and think it's all the other ones' fault and we end up with a 90% or whatever it is re-election rate for incumbents.

 

[Bala Verde]

Is big drone behind this?

More Predator drones fly U.S.-Mexico border

It's also really efficient:

The Predators reached a milestone in June, having flown 10,000 hours. The Homeland Security Department reported their drone operations led to the apprehension of 4,865 undocumented immigrants and 238 drug smugglers since the program began six years ago.

Those numbers are not very impressive. Some 327,577 illegal migrants were caught at the southwest border in fiscal 2011, meaning the drones have contributed to tiny fraction of arrests.

With an hour of flight time costing $3,600, it costs about $7,054 for each illegal immigrant or smuggler caught, based on numbers calculated from a recent Government Accountability Office report to Congress. The government has spent $240 million buying and maintaining its domestic drones, which does not include their operation.

The authors of the GAO report were not so sure.

They highlighted an obscure program called “Big Miguel” run by the Joint Task Force North out of the U.S. Army’s Biggs Field in El Paso that leased a piloted Cessna with an infrared sensor that cost $1.2 million for the year and assisted in the apprehension of 6,500 to 8,000 undocumented immigrants and seizure of $54 million in pot, according to defense officials. That would make the Big Miguel cost per undocumented immigrant caught about $230.

 

[redtreviso]

What's that humming noise?---- paper shredders at RAYTHEON.


""The Finnish authorities have impounded an Isle of Man-flagged ship bound for China with undeclared missiles and explosives, officials say.

Police are questioning the crew of the MS Thor Liberty after what were described as 69 Patriot anti-missile missiles were found aboard.

...

It was bound for the Chinese port of Shanghai but there was no indication for whom the military cargo was destined.

Routine checks by Finland's traffic safety authority revealed a load of up to 160 tonnes of improperly packed nitroguanidine, a low-sensitivity explosive with a high detonation speed.
""

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/finnish-police-find-shipment-of-patriot-missiles-in-ship-destined-for-shanghai/2011/12/21/gIQA1sEA9O_story.html

 

[BroDeal]

What's that humming noise?---- paper shredders at RAYTHEON.


""The Finnish authorities have impounded an Isle of Man-flagged ship bound for China with undeclared missiles and explosives, officials say.

Police are questioning the crew of the MS Thor Liberty after what were described as 69 Patriot anti-missile missiles were found aboard.

...

It was bound for the Chinese port of Shanghai but there was no indication for whom the military cargo was destined.

Routine checks by Finland's traffic safety authority revealed a load of up to 160 tonnes of improperly packed nitroguanidine, a low-sensitivity explosive with a high detonation speed.
""

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/finnish-police-find-shipment-of-patriot-missiles-in-ship-destined-for-shanghai/2011/12/21/gIQA1sEA9O_story.html

Jebus. How does someone buy Patriot missiles?

 

[redtreviso]

Jebus. How does someone buy Patriot missiles?

They just call the BCF

 

[BroDeal]

They just call the BCF

I guess we should not complain too much. The West has done everything it can to build China's economy at the expense of its own. Why not build their military as well?

 

[redtreviso]

I guess we should not complain too much. The West has done everything it can to build China's economy at the expense of its own. Why not build their military as well?

The BCF people at Raytheon probably figure they can get to build 100 more patriots for each one that China gets.... in the name of National Security of course.

 

[redtreviso]

""Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), known for his cantankerous ways and for not speaking to media unless it’s his idea, was overheard at the Delta Crown lounge at Reagan National Airport today talking on his cellphone about an incident he said occurred three weeks ago while at an Episcopal church auction. Please note, a church auction.

Our source, a Democratic operative who heard the whole thing, said he was “very loud”. Sensenbrenner was overheard saying that after buying all their “crap” (his word) a woman approached him and praised first lady Michelle Obama. He told the woman that Michelle should practice what she preaches — “she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”
""