"And if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern"

The words of Henry Kissinger in 1973 as reported by Dry Bones from an article by Arutz Sheva. Here is some more:

'"White House adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once told President Richard Nixon, "And if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern,” according to newly-released tapes from the Nixon library.

The shocking statement from Kissinger, a Jew, was followed up by an agreement from Nixon, who said, "I know. We can't blow up the world because of it."

Kissinger also advised Nixon when he was president during the campaign to free the Jews from the Soviet Union, “The emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union is not an objective of American foreign policy."'

I wish that those people who say that Henry Kissinger was a pro-Israel voice in the White House would recognise the truth.

In the same newly released documents Kissinger also refers to the Golan Heights as "Syrian territory" and the Syrians as "my friends." He also confides to an Algerian diplomat that "a (new Arab-Israeli) war wouldn’t be so bad for us. … We could show (Israel) we are tough." Us? Not a great friend of Israel was he?

As Moshe Dyan said of Kissinger in a 1974 speech:

"It is painful to think that someone who fled Nazi persecution as a young boy in 1938 should do so much damage to the Jewish State. Yet, a closer look shows that Kissinger has, at best, a tenuous connection with his Judaism. Rabbi Norman Lamm, former chancellor of Yeshiva University, spotted this early. In his article “Kissinger and the Jews” (Dec. 20, 1975), a devastating critique, he writes, “Dr. Kissinger is an illustration of how high an assimilated Jew can rise in the United States, and how low he can fall in the esteem of his fellow Jews.”"

The voice of the UK's Islamic youth?

'Around a third of young British Muslims favour killing in the name of Islam, according to a survey revealed by the WikiLeaks' publication of U.S. diplomatic cables.

A survey of 600 Muslim students at 30 universities throughout Britain found that 32 per cent of Muslim respondents believed killing in the name of religion is justified.

A U.S. diplomatic cable from January 2009 quoted a poll by the Centre for Social Cohesion as saying 54 per cent wanted a Muslim party to represent their world view in Parliament and 40 per cent want Muslims in the UK to be under Sharia law.'

You can read more in The Mail but is anyone really surprised? I remember reporting similar polls over the last few years and nothing concrete is ever said or done about the major problem brewing in our universities and in the community.

Stuxnet worm update

The Economist has a fascinating article about the Stuxnet worm infecting Iran's nuclear facilities, here's an extract:

'According to Symantec, a computer-security company, the worm performs an inventory of the systems it is running on, looking specifically for “frequency converter drives” made by two firms, one Iranian and the other Finnish, running at speeds between 807 Hz and 1210 Hz. (These high frequencies correspond to the rotation speeds of centrifuges; America tightly controls the export of frequency converter drives able to operate at frequencies above 600 Hz.)

If it finds the right configuration, Stuxnet sabotages it by making subtle changes to the speeds of the centrifuges over several weeks, while displaying normal readings to cover its tracks.

That is not all. Ralph Langner, a German researcher, says Stuxnet has a “second warhead”. It targets a different industrial-control system that just happens to be used at Bushehr, Iran’s much-delayed nuclear-power station, replaying previously recorded normal readings as it causes havoc.'

maybe those people laughing at the UK finally spending some money on cyber warfare defences should wise-up to what is really happening out there.

13 years of Labour's inadequate funding of the armed forces mean this...

The Telegraph reports that:

'Vintage VC10 pressed into service with RAF's transport fleet
A vintage aircraft that has been banned from flying passengers bar “exceptional circumstances” has been pressed into service with the RAF’s transport fleet at breaking point.'

Thank you Gordon Brown.

Robert Peston opines

Read Robert Peston's words of wisdom re Vince Cable and ask yourself whether Robert Peston ever asked if the last Labour government were in any way 'repaying the support given to the Labour Party by Mr Murdoch's newspapers' in the general elections of 1997, 2001 & 2005? You might also wonder

Vince "I have declared war on Mr Murdoch" Cable

I fail to see how this man can keep his government job other than because he is a useful fig leaf.

What no mention of Phil Woolas?

The BBC happily report Ed Miliband's assertions that 'Prime Minister David Cameron had made ''the wrong judgement'' in keeping Mr Cable in office.'. They don't query whether Ed Miliband made the wrong judgement when appointing Phil Woolas to his shadow cabinet whilst he was under investigation. One law for Conservative leaders and another for Labour ones?

Security Profiling

Thanks to Dry Bones for the great cartoon and Theo Spark for beating me to the spot.

Religious/Media Hypocrisy

Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Targeting a currency over the Christmas/New Year period

The City and indeed most financial markets are winding down now and will be all but closed from 24th December to 4th January. I wonder if this is when a campaign targeting a currency could be more easily launched. If so which currency? My money would be on the UK's Pound Sterling. Let's hope that I am wrong.

Is the only answer to the economic disaster, that we are experiencing, complete monetary reform

Bill Still thinks so and explains why, scary stuff!


Thanks to A Tangled Web for the video spot and the sleepness night that resulted.

Euro Synchronicity

I note that just as the ratings agency Moody's announce that they have put Portugal on watch prior to a possible credit rating downgrade from its prized A1 status, the death of one of the founders of the Euro currency, the Italian economist,  Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa was announced. I believe that is what is called synchronicity...

Opting in to Internet porn

I read that:

'THE UK Government is to combat the early sexualization of children by blocking internet pornography unless parents request it, it was revealed today.'

A few thoughts: first I doubt that this will not just apply to parents but in fact to every internet user, second how long before the names of those who opt in to accessing pornography are stored on a database and thirdly how long until that database is leaked?

The one hundred and tenth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's prize goes to the BBC for their headline regarding a US Congressional inquiry which runs thus:

'US Lockerbie report: Scotland pressured to free Megrahi'

"No shit, Sherlock"

"I deeply regret the comments I made and apologise for the embarrassment that I have caused the Government"

Vince Cable is quoted as having apologised for his comment that "I have declared war on Mr Murdoch and I think we are going to win".

His apology runs thus: "I deeply regret the comments I made and apologise for the embarrassment that I have caused the Government."
Am I right in reading that as he regrets making the comments and the embarrassment caused but not the sentiment behind the comments?

Will this put Vince Cable back in the BBC's good books?

It is being reported that Vince Cable stated that "I have declared war on Mr. Murdoch."


If true this might get him back in the BBC's good books, having blotted his copybook by going into coalition government with the evil Tories. However if the Business Secretary did say that then he should be fired.

Mind you I doubt that The Sun or The Times will be reporting this news particularly favourably!

Reporting Michael Moore

The BBC love lefty film-maker Michael Moore, his views tieing in so closely with the BBC's on US politics obviously, but also Cuba. So I was intrigued that a search of the BBC news website for "michael Moore found no mention of the news that:

'WikiLeaks: when Michael Moore's Sicko film was shown to Cuban doctors, they were 'disturbed at the blatant misrepresentation of healthcare in Cuba' '

No Parasan has the details:

'Cuba banned Michael Moore's 2007 documentary, Sicko, because it painted such a "mythically" favourable picture of Cuba's healthcare system that the authorities feared it could lead to a "popular backlash", according to US diplomats in Havana.

The revelation, contained in a confidential US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks , is surprising, given that the film attempted to discredit the US healthcare system by highlighting what it claimed was the excellence of the Cuban system.
But the memo reveals that when the film was shown to a group of Cuban doctors, some became so "disturbed at the blatant misrepresentation of healthcare in Cuba that they left the room".
Castro's government apparently went on to ban the film because, the leaked cable claims, it "knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them."
…according to the FSHP, the only way a Cuban can get access to the hospital is through a bribe or contacts inside the hospital administration. "Cubans are reportedly very resentful that the best hospital in Havana is 'off-limits' to them," the memo reveals.
…The memo points out that even the Cuban ruling elite leave Cuba when they need medical care. Fidel Castro, for example, brought in a Spanish doctor during his health crisis in 2006.'

 I wonder how long before the BBC report this particular Wikileak? When hell freezes over would seem a fair estimation, although the way the weather is going that may not be too far off!


UPDATE:
It seems that SICKO may well have been shown in Cuba...

What does the EU really cost us?

Dizzy Thinks has a summary but the item that caught my eye was this:

'from Chris Huhne's Department of Energy and Climate Change... Directive 2009/28/EC, which is about promoting the use of energy from renewable sources (sounds like legally required advertising doesn't it?) which they do know the cost of, and, helpfully the alleged cash terms benefit.

This little treasure will cost £19.85 billion to transpose into law, yes, £19,850,000,000, and the benefit? Well that's going to be £11 billion, which by my simpleton GCSE maths means it's being implemented at a loss of £8.85 billion. Bargain!'

Look around you, can you see any better uses for £8.85 vbillion? In fact let's be reasonable do you really think that the £11 billion of benefits can be justified?

'SNOW UPDATE: Flight delays to continue until Christmas Eve Lack of preparation is 'nothing short of a scandal', says AITO'

'SNOW UPDATE: Flight delays to continue until Christmas Eve

Lack of preparation is 'nothing short of a scandal', says AITO'

As reported by Travel Mole this morning...

An idea for Flight Control

Firemint's Flight Control is the game du jour of Mr & Mrs NotaSheep; totally addictive. Mrs NotaSheep has an idea for an update - runways that turn white so stopping all planes from landing for a time...