DEDICATED TO EXPOSING DISINFORMATION AND PROPAGANDA AND TO PROMOTING UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS - WITH SHARP ANALYSIS AND BLUNT COMMENTARY. NO ADS. NO TIP-JAR. JUST THE TRUTH.
We posted on this story on 5/30/07 at 7:39PM. (We linked to SPACE DAILY.)(IsraelNN.com) The Tel Aviv Magistrates Court has found two policemen guilty of brutality against an "orange" anti-Disengagement protestor - thanks to an on-site video taken by Arutz-7 journalist-cameraman Tuvia Lerner.There's a video of this at the INN page, and if you have the stomach for any graphic acts that appear there, you can see it for yourself.
The two Yassam-unit policemen, Eran Naim and Eliran Avraham, were found guilty of beating demonstrator Akiva Vitkin without cause during an anti-Disengagement road-blocking demonstration on June 29, 2005. Naim is seen in the video appearing to be trying to pull Vitkin's nose off by sticking his fingers in his nostrils from behind and pulling up, and Avraham later beat Vitkin repeatedly in the police station.
Solid Evidence
The judge wrote that he had been presented with solid evidence by the plaintiffs, while the police defendants provided only weak testimonies in their favor. This, after observers said he appeared to express sympathy with the policemen at various points during the trial.
The policemen's lawyer claimed during the trial that Vitkin had committed grave acts by lying on the road and blocking traffic, including that of security vehicles. Orit Strook, of the Yesha Civil Rights organization, said that the judge ruled that police may use reasonable force when in danger or to make an arrest, but not as punishment. It was Strook's organization, together with Atty. Nadav HaEtzni, that filed the suit against the policemen.
Legitimate Tactic
The policemen's lawyer also stated that "fingers in nostrils" is a legitimate police tactic against demonstrators, one that is studied in the police martial arts school. The judge later stated that the major issue of the case is how to set the limits of police force against demonstrators.
Officer Eran Naim was caught on tape by Arutz-7’s Lerner taking part in what Lerner later said was a "cruel, shocking and pre-meditated attack." Despite attempts by the police to obstruct his view by standing tightly around the victim, Lerner managed to film the attack on a digital camera. Naim is first seen on motioning to his colleagues to help beat the demonstrator, after which they sit on him and stick their fingers in his nose and mouth, causing extensive bleeding and facial injuries. Naim is also seen beating 58-year-old Rabbi Dr. Yisrael Katz, after the Rabbi appealed to him to refrain from beating girls present at the road-blocking.
"Close to 300 Knoxville police officers, Knox County sheriff's deputies, and Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers kept close watch over a white supremacist rally Saturday in downtown Knoxville.
The 30 or so protestors came from across the United States to Knoxville to argue that national and local media are not giving enough attention to black-on-white crimes. The issue they are thrusting to the center of their message is the double murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.
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1) To the CIA inspector general, she said that she suggested her husband for the trip.
2) To the Senate Intelligence Committee staff, she said she could not remember whether she suggested her husband or if her boss did.
3) To the House Committee, she said she did not suggest him.
The report forwarded below has prompted me to send this on to you and request your comments and opinion. Briefly, it seems that Niger has signed a contract with Iraq to sell them uranium. The IC [Intelligence Community] is getting spun up about this for obvious reasons. The embassy in Niamey has taken the position that this report can’t be true — they have such cozy relations with the GON [Government of Niger] that they would know if something like this transpired.
So where do I fit in? As you may recall, [redacted] of CP/[office 2] recently approached my husband to possibly use his contacts in Niger to investigate [a separate Niger matter]. After many fits and starts, [redacted] finally advised that the station wished to pursue this with liaison. My husband is willing to help, if it makes sense, but no problem if not. End of story.
Now, with this report, it is clear that the IC is still wondering what is going on… my husband has good relations with both the PM and the former minister of mines, not to mention lots of French contacts, both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity. To be frank with you, I was somewhat embarrassed by the agency’s sloppy work last go-round, and I am hesitant to suggest anything again. However, [my husband] may be in a position to assist. Therefore, request your thoughts on what, if anything, to pursue here. Thank you for your time on this.
written to the CIA asking to interview the people said to be involved. He also wants to reinterview Valerie Plame Wilson herself.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cautioned against turning Europe into a "powder keg", referring to Washington's plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Europe.
"We consider it harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into a "powder keg" and to fill it with new kinds of weapons," Putin told a news conference after talks with the Portuguese prime minister in Moscow.
"It creates new unneeded risks for the entire system of international and European relations," he said.
WE HEARD THIS KIND OF ACCUSATION FROM THE LEFT IN THE 1980'S. THEM THEY ACCUSED REAGAN OF BEING A WARMONGER, WHEN HE REBUILT OUR MILITARY DEFENSES.380 Pershing II missiles were made. They were first deployed in West Germany from January 1984 and the European deployment was completed in late 1985 with a total of 108 launchers.I WAS OPPOSED TO REAGAN AND THE PERSHINGS AT THE TIME - AND I MARCHED WITH A MILLION OTHER LEFTIES IN CENTRAL PARK; THE EURO-LEFT PROTESTED EN MASSE, TOO. THEY HATED REAGAN THEN AS THEY HATE BUSH NOW.
BUSH IS RIGHT, NOW: WE NEED NMD.YET THE DEMS WANT TO CUT NMD.
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to secure a big majority in parliament next month, according to a poll for the Paris Match magazine released on Wednesday.THE ELYSEE IS THE NEW CAMELOT - NYTIMES:
An Ifop poll gave Sarkozy's ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) 41 percent of the vote in a June 10 first round ballot, a rise of 4 points on the previous poll.
... Ifop said the survey suggested Sarkozy's party would win 410-450 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, with 90-130 seats for the Socialists.
To their admirers, the Sarkozys are the French Kennedys: the president is outdoorsy and athletic, the first lady beautiful and designer-dressed, the passel of children smiling and photogenic. ... At least for now, some of the fiercest critics of Mr. Sarkozy are dazzled by his energy and hopeful that he will fulfill even some of his promises for reforming France quickly....
Activism is the leitmotif of this presidency. Mr. Sarkozy has been described as the “lapin Duracell” — the Energizer bunny — of politics. Perhaps a more apt comparison is Alice in Wonderland’s white rabbit, perpetually rushing to a very important date. ...
Mr. Sarkozy’s style has translated into a historically high popularity rating. According to a poll published Sunday in Le Journal du Dimanche, 65 percent of those questioned are “satisfied” with their new president, the highest early rating since the beginning of the Fifth Republic in 1958, according to the polling institute IFOP.
“Kennedy has come back,” wrote Le Point. “He’s named Sarkozy. Never has a president shown such a relaxed nature, such an absence of complexes.”
Michael Griffin NASA Administrator has told America's National Public Radio that while he has no doubt a trend of global warming exists "I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with."
In an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep that will air in Thursday's edition of NPR News' Morning Edition ...
INSKEEP: And I just wanted to make sure that I'm clear. Do you have any doubt that this is a problem that mankind has to wrestle with?
GRIFFIN: I have no doubt that global -- that a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with. To assume that it is a problem is to assume that the state of earth's climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn't change.
First of all, I don't think it's within the power of human beings to assure that the climate does not change, as millions of years of history have shown, and second of all, I guess I would ask which human beings - where and when - are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that's a rather arrogant position for people to take.
ARMITAGE WAS THE LEAKER, NOT LIBBY.ARMITAGE WAS NOT INDICTED BECAUSE IT DID NOT FIT THE STORY TEMPLATE, WHICH WAS THAT PLAME'S NAME WAS LEAKED BY THE WHITE HOUSE/CHENEY TO GET BACK AT JOE WILSON.
ARMITAGE WAS THE LEAKER, NOT LIBBY.
ARMITAGE WAS THE LEAKER, NOT LIBBY.
- THOSE 16 WORDS BUSH SAID IN THE SOTU WERE TRUE THEN AND ARE TRUE TODAY.
- CONGRESS HAD ALREADY VOTED ON THE AUTHORIZATION, (SO THOSE 16 WORDS HAD NO EFFECT AND COULD HAVE NONE ON OUR "RUSH TO WAR").
- WILSON'S REPORT TO THE CIA DID NOT DISPROVE THOSE WORDS.
- ARMITAGE LEAKED THE PLAME-WILSON CONNECTION TO BOLSTER WILSON, NOT AS RETRIBUTION.
- GLOBAL WARMING IS ANTHROPOGENIC, AND MUST BE HALTED - AND CAN BE BY LIMITING MAN-MADE CO2;
- GOVERNMENT REDISTRIBUTION OF PERSONAL INCOME IS THE BEST WAY TO HELP THE POOR;
- NMD INCREASES INSTABILITY;
- THE UN IS A FORCE FOR GOOD INTERNATIONALLY;
- AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS IS GOOD;
- THERE IS NO AL QAEDA IN IRAQ - AND SADDAM NEVER HAD ANY CONTACT WITH THEM ANYHOW;
- ISRAEL AND BUSH ARE THE CAUSE OF GLOBAL JIHAD;
- THE WEST IS THE CAUSE OF THIRD WORLD POVERTY;
- ABORTION IS FINE;
- NATIONALIZED HEALTHCARE IS EFFICIENT AND COST EFFECTIVE;
- AND SO ON.
Britain's University and College Union (UCU) voted Wednesday to promote a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, protesting Israel's policy on the Palestinians.RANT ALERT:
Jewish and Israeli officials in the United Kingdom and Israel reacted with outrage to the motion which, for the most part, is a rhetorical move. The motion was approved by a 158 to 99 vote, and called for freezing European funding for Israeli academic institutions, while condemning "Israeli academia's cooperation with the occupation."
In addition, the UCU decided to bring the question of whether to boycott Israel up for discussion by all the union's members, numbering about 120,000. The discussions are scheduled to take place over the next 12 months. The motion encouraged union members to "consider the moral implications of conducting ties with Israeli academic institutions."
It looks like Fred Thompson will officially jump into the Presidential Race for the Republican nomination over the 4th of July holiday. I know this news is making many conservatives happy including myself. We want an appealing alternative to the current crop and are hoping to make Fred Thompson a viable, top tier candidate. It is especially encouraging considering Newt Gingrich's latest disappointing statements.
"A Canadian organization that promotes multiculturalism is filing a complaint with the federal human rights commission over an animated Internet video depicting an African cannibal dubbed Kunta Kinte who is seen cooking a stew whose main ingredient is two white people.
The race-relations group Quebec Pluriel served legal notice April 18 to the company that made the cartoon, Salambo Productions, and the show's broadcast partner Bell Canada, to stop showing the video and apologize.
Since Salambo refused to remove the show from the Web site and apologize, Quebec Pluriel said Thursday that it intends to file a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
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When it gets colder, it's weather.And fire never melts steel. And Bush lied. And Gore won. And there's no al Qaeda in Iraq. And it's the Israel Lobby's fault. And federal deficits are out of control.
Only when it gets warmer is it the climate.
(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be forced to stand before the Knesset Tuesday afternoon and explain his response to the Winograd Committee's interim report in a session entitled, "The Prime Minister's Refusal to Surrender his Position Following the Winograd Report."I wonder if he'll be stuttering as he appears before them? But he certainly does have a lot explaining to do.
PM Olmert has, until now, avoided offering an explanation to the Knesset, where outbursts and recriminations are a part of most addresses.
Forty MKs signed a petition forcing Olmert to answer questions regarding his decision to stay in power following the damning report.
CAIRO, Egypt — An American member of Al Qaeda warned President Bush on Tuesday to end U.S. involvement in all Muslim lands or face an attack worse than the Sept. 11 suicide assault, according to a new videotape.
Wearing a white robe and a turban, Adam Yehiye Gadahn, who also goes by the name Azzam al-Amriki, said Al Qaeda would not negotiate on its demands.
"Your failure to heed our demands ... means that you and your people will ... experience things which will make you forget all about the horrors of September 11th, Afghanistan and Iraq and Virginia Tech," he said in the seven-minute video.
As confirmed by a new poll of Muslims in four major regional countries, conducted by the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, Muslims continue to support and defend the goals, efforts and sacrifices of their brothers and sisters, the Mujahadin, and continue to demonstrate broad awarenes of the evil nature of America, and the threat posed by it.
I was stopped by someone the other week who said it was not surprising there was so much terrorism in the world when we invaded their countries (meaning Afghanistan and Iraq). No wonder Muslims felt angry.
When he had finished, I said to him: tell me exactly what they feel angry about. We remove two utterly brutal and dictatorial regimes; we replace them with a United Nations-supervised democratic process and the Muslims in both countries get the chance to vote, which incidentally they take in very large numbers. And the only reason it is difficult still is because other Muslims are using terrorism to try to destroy the fledgling democracy and, in doing so, are killing fellow Muslims.
What’s more, British troops are risking their lives trying to prevent the killing. Why should anyone feel angry about us? Why aren’t they angry about the people doing the killing? The odd thing about the conversation is that I could tell it was the first time he had even heard the alternative argument.This extremism can be defeated. But it will be defeated only by recognising that we have not created it; it cannot be negotiated with; pandering to its sense of grievance will only encourage it; and only by confronting it, the methods and the ideas, will we win.
THE DEMOCRATS ARE DOMINATED BY DENIALISTS, APPEASERS AND "ANTI-WAR" DOVES WHO HAVE ALWAYS BLAMED AMERICA FIRST.BTW: I HAVE LONG WORRIED ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAVE TO HAPPEN HERE TO GET THE LEFT BACK ON OUR SIDE FOR KEEPS.
AND THE UK'S LABOUR PARTY, AND THE REST OF THE CHIC DEGEGERATI OF THE CONTINENT'S POSTMODERN LEFT BLAME THE US, ISRAEL AND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN/RACIST-WESTERN CIVILIZATION.
BLAIR IS THE EXCEPTION ON THE LEFT. ALONG WITH LIEBERMAN.
The demands are emphatically stated by Gadahn [Azzam al Amriki] to not be construed as negotiations, for Muslims do not negotiate with “baby killers and war criminals”. These entail the removal of American military forces from Muslim lands, cease of encroachment into the political, social, and economic affairs in these countries, and to free Muslim captives from prisons.LOOKIT FOLKS: This tape is a traditional Koranic WARNING required before they undertake a MAJOR attack which will kill thousands at the least.
Should these demands not be met, Gadahn states, “means that you and your people will- Allah willing- experience things which will make you forget all about the horrors of September 11th, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Virginia Tech.” Withdrawing from Iraq alone, Gadahn states, does not qualify as acceptance of terms, and he mockingly advices for Bush to stop his “futile farcical maneuvers on Capital Hill.”
The Bush administration is perilously close to jumping the tracks. I’ve
supported the President through the long course of the war that began on
September 11, but it’s starting to look like he’s simply getting tired; he won’t
defend his administration against attacks, he won’t defend the country against
illegal immigration, he won’t do anything to stop the media leaks that cripple
our national security ... and now this: U.S., Iran end 27-year diplomatic freeze.
"Some would call it the Devil's work. Two ancient religions have locked horns in a bizarre "freedom of speech" row that is echoing around the corridors of one of Scotland's oldest academic institutions. The University of Edinburgh has granted permission to the Pagan Society to hold its annual conference - involving talks on witchcraft, pagan weddings and tribal dancing - on campus next month. Druids, heathens, shamans and witches are expected to attend what is a major event in the pagan calendar.
But the move has enraged the Christian Union, which accuses the university of double standards after banning one of its events on the "dangers" of homosexuality. Matthew Tindale, an Edinburgh-based Christian Union staff worker, claimed some faiths and beliefs appeared to be more equal than others on campus. "This seems to be a clear case of discrimination," he said. "It's okay for other religions, such as the pagans, to have their say at the university, but there appears to be a reluctance to allow Christians to do the same. All we are asking for is the tolerance that is afforded to other faiths and organisations."
The Union has won strong backing from the Catholic Church in Scotland, whose spokesman, Simon Dames, felt that allowing the pagan festival to go ahead while barring the Union meeting was an example of "Christianphobia". "This appears to be a clear case of double standards," he said. "The principles of a pluralistic democracy revolve around an acceptance of competing ideas and universities should be enshrining this principle. Anti-racism groups would never be asked to put up posters saying there are alternative views."
The row has its roots in last year's decision by university officials to ban the Christian Union from using campus premises to run a course which claimed that gay sex was morally wrong. The course was deemed to be in breach of university anti-discrimination guidelines although a compromise measure was later offered to allow the course to take place if posters offering differing views were prominently displayed. Much to the displeasure of some campus Christians and the Catholic Church, no such conditions will be attached to the pagan gathering.
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Thanks to a link from Kathryn Lopez, I saw on the Bluey Blog that Bob Feller participated in today's Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C.1942-43-44 In Military Service.Bob Feller, the greatest pitcher of his time, enlisted in the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor, and served as a gun crew chief on the U.S.S. Alabama (BB-60), a 35,000 ton South-Dakota-class battleship. While aboard, he earned 5 campaign ribbons and 8 battle stars during patrols that took the Alabama from island to island, all the way to Japan.
Feller's patriotism was not exceptional in his day, but it is no less admirable because of that. A pitcher's career is limited by time, and at the height of his powers, he accepted hazardous combat duty instead. Even though President Roosevelt had offered deferments to all Major League ballplayers.Turnout in Syria’s referendum to endorse a second term in office for President Bashar Al Assad was unprecedented, the nation’s interior minister said before results were announced yesterday.MORE:
“The Syrian people spoke out yesterday. Participation in the referendum was enormous, never before seen in the country’s history,” Bassam Abdel Majid said in remarks carried by the press.
He gave no figures but his ministry is due to announce the results of Sunday’s vote at a press conference. Assad, who first took power in 2000 on the death of his father Hafez Al Assad, was standing unchallenged in the referendum, which was boycotted by the opposition and followed a crackdown on political dissidents.
In the last referendum, Assad won 97.29 per cent of the vote, according to official figures.
The results of Syria's presidential referendum due to be released on Monday will instead be made public on Tuesday, Syrian interior minister Bassam Abd al-Majid has announced. He gave no reason for the delay in the results of the vote which featured a single candidate, current Syrian president Basher al-Assad. Polls on Sunday opened three hours after they were initially scheduled to do so because of what al-Majd said was "an exhuberant turnout of citizens wanting to cast their ballots".NOW I KNOW WHY PELOSI ADMIRES ASSAD: SHE WANTS THAT KIND OF "ELECTORAL" VICTORY FOR THE DEMS!
Voters were called to either vote "yes" or a "no" for al-Assad who was nominated as the sole candidate by the Syrian parliament which is dominated by the ruling Baath Party and its allies.
Opposition groups boycotted the election alleging that it would be rigged in the president's favour.
Last week, on the eve of Shavuot, a group of National Religious leaders convened a meeting in the bomb shelter of Sderot's hesder yeshiva to launch what they promised would be a nationwide campaign to support the beleaguered townspeople and to reclaim what they described as Israel's lost self-respect.They're right, it's everyone's problem, since it could happen in other places just as easily.
It appeared to be a last-minute affair in which flyers announcing the meeting were distributed haphazardly in downtown Sderot only an hour or two before the meeting was scheduled to begin. Perhaps as a result, virtually no one from the town showed up.
But some of the key rabbis in the religious Zionist movement were on hand, including former MK Rabbi Hanan Porat, former MK Rabbi Haim Drukman and the former rabbi of Gush Katif, Yigal Kaminetzky.
Although the subject of the meeting was Sderot, the searing memories of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip were clearly present in the speakers' minds.
Porat, who has established a group called "Raising the Flag for Sderot," charged that by not taking effective measures against the Gaza terrorist groups that were firing Kassams at Sderot and the western Negev communities, the government was "desecrating God."
"It is our job," Porat declared, "to arouse the nation so that this disgrace will not continue. We must lead the nation into standing erect. We should not be afraid of talking about Jewishness and nationalism."
Kaminetzky charged that in its alleged failure to protect Sderot, the government was once again proving that "it has disengaged from the value of joint responsibility. Disengagement from our Jewish roots brings about disengagement from responsibility."
He declared that the terrorist attacks in Sderot and the surrounding communities were not the problem of the residents alone but everyone's problem. Like Porat, the former Gush Katif rabbi declared that it was a desecration of God to allow the terrorists to "shoot at Jews without responding."
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it 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.--Ronald Reagan
bumped" let us die to make men free, ...- this is a noble cause, one history proves our armed forces have long been devoted too.
Our armed forces are once again deployed in war zones defending liberty.
Nevertheless, every single solitary Democrat candidate for the presidency 
and the entire leadership of the Democrats in Congress are either pushing for a withdrawal of US forces by a date certain or regardless of how well the nascent democracy of Iraq is doing or whether they are in a position to defend themselves.
The Democrats have staked out this shameless, defeatist position because they are once again the party of the Left, a party run by McGovernites - the doves who think it's okay to end a war by retreating, surrendering.
There was once a time when people who self-identified themselves as Leftists VOLUNTEERED to fight on foreign soil in defense of a nascent democracy and against fascism.
I asked some old-time Lefties, who had friends in the Lincoln Brigades, (the international brigades for US citizens), if they thought FDR was wrong to stay on the sidelines, and if their friends were right and good and noble to go to Spain to fight fascism.
Iran and Al Qaeda are counting on this. These enemies are dying and killing to make men and women subservient to them and their totalitarian islamo-fascist ideologies.
We must be willing to die to make others free. And to protect our freedom. As so many members of the US armed forces have - from 1776 on these very shores, too 2007 in Mesopotamia.
