"Is America Racist? Watch This & Then Decide! by Larry Elder" on YouTube

"Is America Racist? Watch This & Then Decide! by Larry Elder" on YouTube

Debt - If the USA was a person

On the 4th July

As the United States of America celebrates Independence Day and a statue of Ronald Reagan is unveiled in Grosvenor Square I thought some Ronald Reagan quotations would be in order, do read them and think about what they say:

"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so."

"Admittedly there is a risk in any course we follow other than this [surrender], but every lesson in history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face — that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and it gives no choice between peace and war, only between fight and surrender. If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand — the ultimatum. And what then? When Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be? He has told them that we are retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary because by that time we will have weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically. He believes this because from our side he has heard voices pleading for "peace at any price" or "better Red than dead," or as one commentator put it, he would rather "live on his knees than die on his feet." And therein lies the road to war, because those voices don't speak for the rest of us. You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing in life is worth dying for, when did this begin — just in the face of this enemy?"

"The size of the Federal budget is not an appropriate barometer of social conscience or charitable concern."

"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin."

"I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts."


And finally a quotation that is often attributed to Ronald Regan but is actually one of Gerald Ford's:
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."

Working outside of the law in the USA

''Forget About the Law' Union Bosses & White House Advisors Bob Park & Rich Trumka Admitting They Are Overriding US Law & Sovereignty With The International Labor Movement'

America; welcome to the rule by Trade Unions that did so much for the UK during the 1970s.

A sign of the times in the USA?

Engadget reports that:

'The Athlon-powered M5030 from Dell... is being released with its keyboard and Windows 7 installation customized in Spanish, neither of which would be unusual were it not for the fact that it's going to be on sale in the US. It's not exactly a vast overhaul, as only a couple of physical keys are swapped out and switching Win 7 into and out of Spanish mode can be done in the time it takes to click a mouse, but still, it's significant in that it services the speakers of the States' second most commonly used language...'

Interesting?

Israel assisting the coalition against Colonel Gaddafi but not formally acknowledged

Here's an interesting tweet from last night

In case you don't know, the E-4B is a Boeing 747-200 converted to act as an 'Advanced Airborne Command Post'. The E-4B is an incredible plane, is actually designed to survive an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP), one of the results of a nuclear explosion, with systems intact as well as possessing direct fire countermeasures. Because of its command and control function and the need to survive an EMP the E-4B uses analog instruments. The E-4B operates, depending on mission, with between 48 and 112 people which makes it the largest crewed plane ever in USAF history.

With all that in mind it is interesting that according to FMCNL the USAF chose to land it in Israel rather than one of its European allies which are no further away; why?

Is there a new member of the PIIGS

'Jim Leaviss, head of retail fixed interest at M&G, the fund management arm of the Prudential, said France remains “the AAA economy closest to a downgrade” and that the US “will lose its AAA rating – but not in 2011″ as the two countries grapple with debt.'

If France and the US are close to a downgrade, can the UK really be that safe? And how far behind the PIIGS are they really?

It's not just in Europe

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that:

'A University of Manitoba Muslim student leader says CSIS investigators told him that three students who have disappeared in Pakistan joined the jihad.

"They specifically said they are going for the jihad, they are going for religious fighting," Shariq Kidwai, former president of the U of M Muslim Students Association, said Friday.

Kidwai said Canadian Security and Intelligence Services investigators interviewed him about U of M students Ferid Imam, Muhannad al-Farekh, and Miawand Yar shortly after he became association president in 2008. They disappeared in 2007.

"I was told they (the three students) wrote some notes, which were very discouraging: we are saying final goodbyes to our families, we won't see them again," Kidwai said the federal agents told him.

The Globe and Mail reported Friday of an international search for the three young men involving CSIS, the RCMP and the FBI. The three young men flew to Pakistan in 2007 without notifying their families, according to the Globe.

"Ferid, he was president before me," said Kidwai, who did not know the three young men very well, but encountered them while attending daily prayers on campus.

"When I was president, CSIS, they called and asked if I know these three persons," Kidwai said.

When the agents interviewed him face-to-face, Kidwai said he told them, "I know them, they were coming here," he said, indicating the campus Muslim prayer room outside which Kidwai spoke Friday.

...

While Muslim students gather together on campus for prayers and for social discussions, "We do not know what is in your heart," he said.'

These stories are becoming all too common.

Americans discover their version of the Norman Tebbit cricket test

American Power Blog discovers that not all Americans support the USA, in this case preferring Mexico, just as in the UK so many British born Pakistanis support Pakistan rather than England at cricket.

US economy is heading for collapse

Coyote Prime has written a well researched and very scary piece of analysis and prediction. Please take a read but prepare to be very depressed by it.

Land of the free?

Not in Arizona it would seem...


Or Los Angeles, does that look like the USA or China?

If Joe Biden is the most pro-Israel senior member of the administration then I wouldn't like to meet the least

Double Tapper dissects Joe Biden's real record on the Middle East - pro-Iran and anti-Israel.

"The fact that before becoming vice president Biden had one of the most pro-Iran voting records in the Senate has done nothing to mitigate this perception. Indeed, despite the fact that Biden voted repeatedly against sanctions on Iran, claimed that Iran’s quest for nuclear bombs was understandable and called for the US to sign a nonaggression pact with the mullocracy while threatening to move for president George W. Bush’s impeachment if he were to order a military strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons programs, Biden continues to be mistakenly viewed as a solid supporter of Israel.


During USA Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel this week, he spoke a lot about how Israel should change it's policies to move the Obama peace plan forward and explicitly warned Israel against venturing to attack Iran without prior American permission, but neglected to make any statements on the Hamas policy of spreading hate and encouraging terrorism. "

Not bad for a Brit

You can take this very US centric quiz here.


Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot, but not for outscoring me by two...

"I can charge you with whatever I want to charge you with"

Officer Wesley Cheeks Jr explaining the death of free speech in America. Welcome to the proto-fascist state that we in the UK have been enjoying for the last 10 years or so.

What's sauce for the goose...

"Dear President Obama, U.S. Senate and Congress:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my husband's health, and I would like to ask you to assist me. We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. All Mexico government forms, printed in Spanish, need to also be printed in English.
4. I want my kids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.
5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school.
7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico, but, I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I, probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.
13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say a critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

Sincerely,
U.S. Citizen & Taxpayer"

The above is doing the rounds of email but this is from a good spot by Eye on the World

Pravda predicts

Not the BBC this time, but the original Russian Pravda. Pravda predicts for many countries in 2009, here's a few:

"Russia

There will be scattered protests and some will turn violent as the economy worsens. The government's plans to sustain industrial production, in the heavy industries, and to weaken the ruble and implement high tariffs will have the desired effects of keeping the nation from all out recession. Inflation will continue, though at a smaller pace, due to the overall global deflationary manner. Over all, the Russian economy will prove one of the strongest in the general world collapse.

The Russian military will continue to rebuild, as part of the government spending programs to keep heavy industry going. Weapon sales will also increase as wars and tensions spread due to the crisis.

The Anglo-Marxist drive to start a new Cold War will only increase and monies spent on "democratic" initiatives will increase. This will cause Other Russia to be emboldened enough to create more spectacles for Western financing and consumption. Eventually one or two will turn very violent and there will be deaths. The Russian government will label the National Bolshevik Workers' Party as a terrorist organization and arrest its leaders. The NBWP will turn to actual terror and there will be a small home grown terrorist threat throughout Russia. In general, the government will launch a major drive to clamp down on the skin heads. Gary Kasparov will flee to America where he will become rich making anti-Russian speeches and creating new anti-Russian hatred in the Anglo-Marxist sphere.

The demographic upswing will also suffer with fewer births, requiring more spending by the government to encourage people to continue having children. On the plus side, the inflow of the diasporas will increase, as conditions outside of Russia deteriorate and Russophobia spreads in the Anglo-Marxist sphere. "

No sign of bias there, it's like reading Nick Robinson analysing the prospects for the UK.

"America

The new year is going to bring major suffering to the US economy and society. On the one hand, the Bank Panic of 2008, started in and by America, will continue to ravage the recessional economy. On the other hand, large swaths of the American demographic, who voted for Obama, are expecting miracles that the US government simply can not provide.

As industry after industry lines up for government handouts and large scale money printing to meet those demands escalates, the depressionary bought will, by mid year, turn into a raging inflationary bonfire. Savings will disappear over night. Add to this continued mass layoffs that will reach another 2 to 3 million people, and an unofficial unemployment rate of 15%+ (official US statistics are so doctored as to make them worthless), a series of wars that will continue to drain lives and treasure and the dashed hopes of tens of millions and the US is in for a very hot and horrid summer.

Demonstrations, riots and looting will break out in various sections of the country, hardest hit by the collapsing economy. The government, which in the US has a history of using draconian tactics once violence starts (or as in the case of Seattle in 1998 there was no need for violence for the police to unleash hell on peaceful demonstrators) will lead to casualties and an escalation of tensions. The US army's North America command will be called in to affect areas, forcing martial law and gun confiscations.

By late summer, early fall, the foundations of the Civilian Defense Corp will be laid down. Echos of the Waffen SS anyone?

On the international front, the US will continue its imperial hubris, though maybe with a little more of a kinder face, but do not bet on it. Europe's disappointment will come fast."

Worryingly the above is a possible scenario.

"UK

The economic collapse in the UK will continue a foot with the US. Rights of the citizens will continue to be usurped by the state and all pretences of civil rights will disappear after the Islamics in the city center start to agitate and push out through direct violence all remaining British nationals. England will start to look a lot like Sweden with the cities owned by the immigrant Islamics and the refugee locals forced to pay the Islamics' welfare.

Once the majority starts leaning to the hard right and violence starts to break out between the military Islamics and the ultra nationalists, the UK government will drop all pretenses of the citizens rights and clamp down with martial law. Welcome to the Police State. If the public does not rise up at this point, the UK is lost.

To keep the audience nice and fearful, look for the British powers to escalate a Cold War with Russia, at any cost. "

Maybe a bit apocalyptic but the lines "Rights of the citizens will continue to be usurped by the state" and "the UK government will drop all pretenses of the citizens rights and clamp down with martial law. Welcome to the Police State. If the public does not rise up at this point, the UK is lost." are hard to argue with.


The sections on Poland, the Baltics and the Balkans are interesting exercises in Russian wish-listing. Whereas the sections on the Ukraine and Georgia are quite scary, borderline threatening:

"Ukraine

Ukraine's economy will continue to collapse and the Western puppet Oranges will continue to bicker and feed off of the suffering of the people as they maneuver for power against each other. The crisis point will come this spring, when no obvious economic turn around will be on the horizon. Ukraine will more than likely split in two. The east/south will become a close satellite of Russia, while the west will struggle on. Whether this is peaceful or violent will depend directly on how much the West stays out of this. "

"Georgia

Unbelievably, Saakashvili will continue to cling to power through the first half of the year. Under Washington's prodding, in early spring, he will relaunch the war and than be removed in a coup by his former allies. Moscow's response will, more than likely, be to not stop until Tbilisi. What will follow next will depend on how strong Russia feels, how weak and slow the West's response is, but annexation is not out of the question."

Pravda's predictions for the Middle East are interesting too:

"Israel

Israel will face a protracted series of wars on its borders, primarily in Lebanon and Egypt's Sinai and Gaza. Syria will also attempt to start one in the Golan Heights but this will pitter out. Olmert will finally be put to pastor, in a nice jail cell as he stands corruption charges. Netanyahu will more than likely be president, and being a pragmatist, he will take a much closer position to Russia, as Washington's influence falls. Russia will be pressed further to stop sales to Arabs of weapons, in exchange for Israeli loyalty and investments. "

All quite possible but I think Olmert is more likely to put out to "pasture" than to "pastor", unless he is a closet Christian of course.


Read the sections on Pakistan and India and wonder if they make sense.

Read the sections on China and wonder how much is wishful thinking, although the last paragraph is believable:

"Either way, look for US/Chinese relations to be down right hostile by the end of 2009. Internally, China will suffer much instability and rioting, as hundreds of millions of unneeded factory workers are forced back into their dirt poor farming villages. Luckily for the Chinese authorities and no so luckily for the citizens, extreme violence is always a top option for China's authorities ad will be used often and to effect."

I found the section on Japan interesting as the angle is quite positive... why?

"Japan

While Japan's export base economy will suffer for the same reason the rest of the world is suffering, Japan still retains a strong, well educated and affluent society. Along with strict cultural cohesion and a high rate of savings, Japan will maintain much of its wealth. Protectionist measures have secured most of Japan's industry inside of Japan.

This, coupled with the weak US, will prompt Japan to recreate, albeit without war this time, a new Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, drawing into it's orbit various other local nations. Through 2009 there will be polite friction, as Japan pushes US influence out of central Pacific rim and south east Asia. As the dollar falls to hyper inflation, the Yen will be seen, by the second half of 2009, as the standard barer of Asian stability and success and will come to replace the dollar as the dominant power in that portion of the world.

Japan will see Russia as, at once, both a key energy supplier and trade partner and as a competitor to Asian domination, though a minor competitor. With China ripped by strife, Japan will have a free hand in Asia. "

All interesting stuff, no?

Are Channel 4 taking the piss on Christmas Day?

This year Channel 4's Alternative Christmas message will be delivered by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Channel 4 state that:

"He will be delivering a spiritual message and his broadcast will also feature a message of seasonal goodwill."

Here's an extract:

"If Christ was on earth today, undoubtedly he would hoist the banner of justice and love for humanity to oppose warmongers, occupiers, terrorists and bullies the world over"

I wonder which countries Mr Ahmadinejad has in mind as "warmongers, occupiers, terrorists and bullies"; somehow I think he is thinking of the USA, UK and of course Israel rather than China or Russia or Iran (via its proxies) or any other Islamic country.

Then there is the matter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's documented anti-Israel and holocaust denying comments. Do Channel 4 think that they should give a platform to a holocaust denier? Will they be allowing David Irving a platform to speak, maybe on Yom Kippur 2009?

Do Channel 4 think they are "just" being edgy and controversial or do they actually support the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?


Maybe they could introduce Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by playing this introduction to an address by him, this speech being by Columbia University President, Lee Boolinger:


Somehow I doubt that they will be anything like as "controversial".





Thanks to Donal Blaney for the video spot.


Thanks to AZ StarNet here is a transcript of Lee Boolinger's speech:

"I would like to begin by thanking Dean John Coatsworth and Professor Richard Bulliet for their work in organizing this event and for their commitment to the School of International and Public Affairs and its role -- (interrupted by cheers, applause) -- and for its role in training future leaders in world affairs. If today proves anything, it will be that there is an enormous amount of work ahead of us. This is just one of many events on Iran that will run throughout the academic year, all to help us better understand this critical and complex nation in today's geopolitics.
Before speaking directly to the current president of Iran, I have a few critically important points to emphasize. First, in 2003 the World Leaders Forum has advanced Columbia's long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate, especially on global issues. It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas or our weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naivety about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open our public forum to their voices; to hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible.
Second, to those who believe that this event should never have happened, that it is inappropriate for the university to conduct such an event, I want to say that I understand your perspective and respect it as reasonable. The scope of free speech in academic freedom should itself always be open to further debate. As one of the more famous quotations about free speech goes, it is an experiment as all life is an experiment. I want to say, however, as forcefully as I can that this is the right thing to do, and indeed it is required by the existing norms of free speech, the American university and Columbia itself.
Third, to those among us who experience hurt and pain as a result of this day, I say on behalf of all of us that we are sorry and wish to do what we can to alleviate it.
Fourth, to be clear on another matter, this event has nothing whatsoever to do with any rights of the speaker, but only with our rights to listen and speak. We do it for ourselves. We do it in the great tradition of openness that has defined this nation for many decades now. We need to understand the world we live in, neither neglecting its glories nor shrinking from its threats and dangers. It is inconsistent with the idea that one should know thine enemy -- I'm sorry -- it is consistent with the idea that one should know thine enemies, to have the intellectual and emotional courage to confront the mind of evil, and to prepare ourselves to act with the right temperament. In the moment, the arguments for free speech will never seem to match the power of the arguments against, but what we must remember is that this is precisely because free speech asks us to exercise extraordinary self-restraint against the very natural but often counterproductive impulses that lead us to retreat from engagement with ideas we dislike and fear. In this lies the genius of the American idea of free speech.
Lastly, in universities we have a deep and almost single-minded commitment to pursue the truth. We do not have access to the levers of power, we cannot make war or peace, we can only make minds, and to do this, we must have the most fulsome freedom of inquiry.
Let me now turn to Mr. Ahmadinejad.
First, on the brutal crackdown on scholars, journalists and human rights advocates. Over the past two weeks, your government has released Dr. Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Azima and just two days ago, Kian Tajbakhsh, a graduate of Columbia with a PhD in Urban Planning. While our community is relieved to learn of his release on bail, Dr. Tajbakhsh remains in Tehran under house arrest, and he still does not know whether he will be charged with a crime or allowed to leave the country.
Let me say this for the record, I call on the president today to ensure that Kian will be free to travel out of Iran as he wishes. (Applause.) Let me also report today that we are extending an offer to Kian to join our faculty as a visiting professor in Urban Planning here at his alma mater in our Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and we hope he will be able to join us next semester. (Applause.)
The arrest and imprisonment of these Iranian Americans for no good reason is not only unjustified, it runs completely counter to the very values that allow today's speaker to even appear on this campus, but at least they are alive.
According to Amnesty International, 210 people have been executing In Iran so far this year, 21 of them on the morning of September 5th alone. This annual total includes at two children, further proof, as Human Rights Watch puts it, that Iran leads the world in executing minors.
There is more. Iran hanged up 30 people this past July and August during a widely reported suppression of efforts to establish a more democratic society. Many of these executions were carried out in public view, a violation of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party. These executions and others have coincided with a wider crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a so-called "soft revolution." This has included jailing and forced retirement of scholars. As Dr. Esfandiari said in a broadcast interview since her release, she was held in solitary confinement for 105 days because the government believes that the United States is planning a velvet revolution in Iran.
In this very room, last year we learned something about velvet revolutions from Vaclav Havel, and we will likely hear the same from our World Leaders Forum speaker this evening, President Michelle Bachelet of Chile. Both of their extraordinary stories remind us that there are not enough prisons to prevent an entire society that wants its freedom from achieving it.
We at this university have not been shy to protest the challenge -- and challenge the failures of our own government to live by our values, and we won't be shy about criticizing yours. Let's then be clear at the beginning. Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator. And so I ask you -- (applause) -- and so I ask you, why have women, members of the Baha'i faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country? Why, in a letter last week to the secretary-general of the U.N., did Akbar Ganji, Iran's leading political dissident, and over 300 public intellectuals, writers and Noble Laureates express such grave concern that your inflamed dispute with the West is distracting the world's attention from the intolerable conditions in your regime within Iran, in particular the use of the press law to ban writers for criticizing the ruling system? Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?
In our country, you are interviewed by our press and asked to speak here today. And while my colleagues at the law school -- Michael Dorf, one of my colleagues, spoke to Radio Free Europe, viewers in Iran a short while ago on the tenants of freedom of speech in this country -- I propose further that you let me lead a delegation of students and faculty from Columbia to address your universities about free speech with the same freedom we afford you today. (Applause.)
Secondly, the denial of the Holocaust. In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as "a fabricated legend." One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers. For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda.
When you have come to a place like this, this makes you, quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated. You should know -- (applause) -- please -- you should know that Columbia is the world center of Jewish studies -- us a world center, and now in partnership with the -- Institute of Holocaust Studies.
Since the 1930s, we provided an intellectual home for countless Holocaust refugees and survivors and their children and grandchildren. The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history. Because of this, and for many other reasons, your absurd comments about the debate over the Holocaust both defy historical truth and make all of us who continue to fear humanity's capacity for evil shudder at this closure of memory, which is always virtue's first line of defense. Will you cease this outrage?
The destruction of Israel. Twelve days ago you said that the state of Israel cannot continue its life. This echoed a number of inflammatory statements you have delivered in the past two years, including in October 2005, when you said that Israel "should be wiped off the map", quote-unquote. Columbia has over 800 alumni currently living in Israel. As an institution, we have deep ties with our colleagues there. I have personally spoken -- personally, I have spoken out in most forceful terms against proposals to boycott Israeli scholars (in/and ?) universities, saying that such boycotts might as well include Columbia. (Applause.)
More than 400 -- more than 400 -- more than 400 college and university presidents in this country have joined in that statement.
My question then is, do you plan on wiping us off the map too? (Applause.)
Funding terrorism: According to reports of the Council on Foreign Relations, it's well-documented that Iran is a state sponsor of terror that funds such violent groups as Lebanese Hezbollah, which Iran helped organize in the 1980s, Palestinian Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. While your predecessor government was instrumental in providing the U.S. with intelligence and base support in the 2001 campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan, your government is now undermining American troops in Iraq by funding, arming and providing safe transit to insurgent leaders like Muqtada al-Sadr and his forces. There are a number of reports that you also link your government with Syria's efforts to destabilize the fledgling Lebanese government through violence and political assassination.
My question is this: Why do you support well-documented terrorist organizations that continue to strike at peace and democracy in the Middle East, destroying lives and the civil society of the region?
The proxy war against the United States troops in Iraq -- in a briefing before the National Press Club earlier this month, General David Petraeus reported that arms supplies from Iran, including 240- millimeter rockets and explosively formed projectiles, are contributing to, quote, "a sophistication of attacks that would by no means be possible without Iranian support." A number of Columbia graduates and current students are among the brave members of our military who are serving or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They, like other Americans with sons, daughters, fathers, husbands and wives serving in combat, rightly see your government as the enemy.
Can you tell them and us why Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq by arming Shi'a militia targeting and killing U.S. troops?
And finally Iran's nuclear program and international sanctions: This week, the United Nations Security Council is contemplating expanding sanctions for a third time, because of your government's refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program. You continue to defy this world body by claiming a right to develop a peaceful nuclear power, but this hardly withstands scrutiny when you continue to issue military threats to neighbors. Last week, French President Sarkozy made clear his lost patience with your stall tactics, and even Russia and China have shown concern.
Why does your country continue to refuse to adhere to international standards for nuclear weapons verification, in defiance of agreements that you have made with the U.N. nuclear agency? And why have you chosen to make the people of your country vulnerable to the effects of international economic sanctions, and threaten to engulf the world in nuclear annihilation? (Applause.)
Let me close with a comment. Frankly -- I close with this comment frankly and in all candor, Mr. President. I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately I am told by experts on your country that this only further undermines your position in Iran, with all the many good-hearted, intelligent citizens there.
A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country, as at one of the meetings at the Council on Foreign Relations, so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party's defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more. (Applause.)
I am only a professor, who is also a university president.
And today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for. I only wish I could do better. Thank you. "

The BBC and their hatred of a Republican run USA and Israel

The BBC "report" on the latest Reporters Without Borders annual report on press freedom around the world. Here are the opening lines of the BBC report, which are all that many will read as they scan the news:

"Security worries can erode freedoms even in democratic nations and undermine press freedom, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says.

The warning comes as the group publishes its annual 173-nation index of press freedom around the world.

RSF cited poor rankings by the US and Israel, and called for US political leaders to improve its situation.

Iceland topped the list while the US was 36th. North Korea, Turkmenistan and Eritrea were the lowest-ranked nations.

The Paris-based press freedom body described those three countries as "unchanging hells" in which the population is cut off from the world and is subjected to "propaganda worthy of a bygone age"."

So the two countries that the BBC report Reporters Without Borders have described as having poor ratings are the USA and Israel. The BBC push this point with this sentence:

"Although the US rose from its 2007 position of 48th to be ranked 36th, Israel fell two positions to 46th in the list."

Let's have a look at the data... You can see the report here and I reproduce the list from 1 to 173 at the end of this piece. What is odd though is that the BBC have picked on USA and Israel. Shall we take a look at where Israel's neighbours figure on this report?

66 - Lebanon
146 - Egypt
159 - Syria
163 - Palestinian Territories

How about some other Islamic nations:
69 - United Arab Emirates
74 - Qatar
96 - Bahrein (better spelt Bahrain)
111 - Indonesia
121 - Algeria
122 - Morocco
123 - Oman
132 - Malaysia
135 - Sudan
143 - Tunisia
152 - Pakistan
153 - Somalia
155 - Yemen
156 - Afghanistan
158 - Iraq
160 - Libya
161 - Saudi Arabia
163 - Palestinian Territories
166 - Iran

Now why would the BBC decide to criticize Israel when they rank so much higher than all of their neighbouring countries?


Now let's compare the USA with the world's other superpowers both current and future. The USA are criticised for rising to position 36, so what about its rivals:

118 - India
141 - Russia
167 - China

Now why would the BBC decide to criticize the US when they rank so much higher than their Superpower rivals?


How about one of the BBC's favourite countries, the one that they love to praise for its magnificent health system and all but perfect education system - Cuba? Well they aren't bottom, not quite, placing at 169 - above just Burma, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.


Don't you find the BBC's reporting of such stories most revealing?



Here's the list from 1 to 173:
Rank Country
1 Iceland
- Luxembourg
- Norway
4 Estonia
- Finland
- Ireland
7 Belgium
- Latvia
- New Zealand
- Slovakia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
13 Canada
14 Austria
- Denmark
16 Czech Republic
- Lithuania
- Netherlands
- Portugal
20 Germany
21 Jamaica
22 Costa Rica
23 Hungary
- Namibia
- United Kingdom
26 Surinam
27 Trinidad and Tobago
28 Australia
29 Japan
30 Slovenia
31 Cyprus
- Ghana
- Greece
- Mali
35 France
36 Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Cape Verde
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- United States of America
42 Macedonia
43 Uruguay
44 Italy
45 Croatia
46 Israel (Israeli territory)
47 Mauritius
- Poland
- Romania
- South Korea
51 Hong-Kong
- Liberia
53 Cyprus (North)
- Montenegro
- Togo
56 Chile
57 Panama
58 Kosovo
59 Bulgaria
- Nicaragua
61 Kuwait
62 El Salvador
63 Burkina Faso
64 Serbia
65 Timor-Leste
66 Botswana
- Lebanon
68 Argentina
69 United Arab Emirates
70 Benin
- Malawi
- Tanzania
73 Haiti
74 Bhutan
- Ecuador
- Qatar
- Seychelles
- Zambia
79 Albania
- Fiji
81 Guinea-Bissau
82 Brazil
- Dominican Republic
- Tonga
85 Central African Republic
86 Senegal
87 Ukraine
88 Guyana
89 Comoros
90 Mozambique
- Paraguay
92 Congo
93 Mongolia
94 Burundi
- Madagascar
96 Bahrein
97 Kenya
98 Moldova
99 Guinea
- Honduras
101 Guatemala
102 Armenia
- Turkey
104 Maldives
105 Mauritania
106 Tajikistan
107 Uganda
108 Peru
109 Côte d’Ivoire
110 Gabon
111 Indonesia
- Kyrgyzstan
113 Venezuela
114 Sierra Leone
115 Bolivia
116 Angola
- Lesotho
118 India
119 United States of America (extra-territorial)
120 Georgia
121 Algeria
122 Morocco
123 Oman
124 Thailand
125 Kazakhstan
126 Cambodia
- Colombia
128 Jordan
129 Cameroon
130 Niger
131 Nigeria
132 Malaysia
133 Chad
134 Djibouti
135 Sudan
136 Bangladesh
137 Gambia
138 Nepal
139 Philippines
140 Mexico
141 Russia
142 Ethiopia
143 Tunisia
144 Singapore
145 Rwanda
146 Egypt
147 Swaziland
148 Democratic Republic of Congo
149 Israel (extra-territorial)
150 Azerbaijan
151 Zimbabwe
152 Pakistan
153 Somalia
154 Belarus
155 Yemen
156 Afghanistan
- Equatorial Guinea
158 Iraq
159 Syria
160 Libya
161 Saudi Arabia
162 Uzbekistan
163 Palestinian Territories
164 Laos
165 Sri Lanka
166 Iran
167 China
168 Vietnam
169 Cuba
170 Burma
171 Turkmenistan
172 North Korea
173 Eritrea

"Fundamentally sound"? - Yeah right

Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Oh those Russians - reprise

There were many limp brained lefties who excused Russia's invasion of Georgia because Georgia wanted to join NATO and the EU as though that was a good reason for one sovereign nation to invade another and kill many civilians and make over 100,000 people homeless. I wonder if they will now excuse Russia for threatening that

"Poland is making itself a target. This is 100 percent"

General Anatoly Nogovitsyn is reported as saying also that

"It becomes a target for attack. Such targets are destroyed as a first priority"

Apparently the General also said that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons

"against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them"

Strange the way that many lefties are ready to condemn the US for practically anything and yet excuse the Russians and Chinese for practically everything. Do they believe that Russia and China are in any way Socialist paradises? Surely all the evidence points to them being rather nasty totalitarian regimes. I suppose that so long as they are anti-America then they will get the unconditional support of many on the left in this country and elsewhere.

I suppose that we have enough Poles in this country to start a pretty decently manned Polish Air Force again.