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.
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Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan told Roman Catholics on Saturday that in an era when the church was fighting the government on several fronts, they needed to make their voices heard more clearly in the political sphere.
In a speech at a diocesan convocation on public policy at a high school on Long Island, Cardinal Dolan, who is the archbishop of New York and the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, “We are called to be very active, very informed and very involved in politics.”
...Several recent government actions have clashed with church teachings on social issues, including President Obama’s mandate that religiously affiliated hospitals and universities cover birth control in their insurance plans, which was upheld on Thursday by the Senate, and New York’s legalization of same-sex marriage last year.
“We live in an era that seems to discover new rights every day,” the cardinal said before a packed auditorium here at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School. He later added: “Who’s trying to impose what on who? We’re not trying to impose our teaching on anybody. We’re simply saying, don’t impose your teaching upon us, and make us do as a church what we find unconscionable.”RC CHRISTIANS SHOULD VOTE ACCORDINGLY - LIKE THE REST OF US WHO FAVOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND LIMITED GOVERNMENT.
By Graham Smith
- Footage of captured mercenaries suspected of fighting for Gaddafi regime is posted on YouTube
A shocking video that appears to show Libyan rebels torturing a group of sub-Saharan African detainees has appeared on YouTube.
The footage shows a dozen or so men - presumably captured mercenaries suspected of fighting for the toppled government of Muammur Gaddafi last year - held in what looks like a caged zoo enclosure.
They each have their hands tied behind their back and are sat on the cage's dirty floor.
More objectionably, each has the old Libyan flag stuffed into his mouth.
Scroll down for video
While a crowd of men gather round the enclosure jeering, their prisoners are made to hop on the spot.
The man filming the scene, who remains off-camera, can be heard shouting: 'Eat the flag, you dog. Patience you dog, patience. God is great.'
It is impossible to verify whether the video, which was leaked onto YouTube last week, is genuine and where and when it was filmed.
It has emerged as the UN this week said that the Libyan revolutionary brigades accused of torture still hold captive three-quarters of detainees from the country's civil war.
A lack of judicial police has prevented the government from taking control of more jails, the UN said on Wednesday.
Up to 6,000 detainees are estimated to remain in brigade facilities, while the Ministry of Justice has taken charge of eight detention centres holding 2,382 people.
The figures were revealed to the UN Security Council by Ian Martin, the UN special envoy for Libya.
Many of the detainees are sub-Saharan Africans whom their captors accuse of being Gaddafi mercenaries, based in some cases purely on the fact that they have darker skin.
Jeered: The men are likely captured mercenaries suspected of fighting for the toppled government of Muammur Gaddafi last year
The UN human rights agency and aid groups have accused the brigades of torturing detainees during Libya's nine-month civil war.
Mr Martin has urged the Ministry of Justice to accelerate the process of asserting government control over detention centres.
But he said: 'Progress continues to be complicated by insufficient numbers of judicial police.'
He added: 'We will continue to work closely with the authorities and to encourage them to ensure that inspections of known facilities are undertaken, that secret locations are identified and brought under government control, and that abuses are investigated.'
Accusations of the mistreatment and disappearances of suspected Gaddafi loyalists are embarrassing for Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, which has vowed to make a break with practices under Gaddafi and respect human rights.
It is also awkward for the Western powers which backed the anti-Gaddafi rebellion and helped install Libya's new leaders.
The UN Security Council meets in New York on Wednesday. It heard that up to 6,000 detainees are estimated to remain in Libyan brigade facilities
Racism? Rebel fighters hold captive a sub-Saharan African man suspected of working as a mercenary for the Gaddafi regime last August
Moody's has cut Greece's credit rating again, citing a risk of default despite a recent debt write-off deal. Moody's cut Greece's rating to "C" from "Ca", the lowest level on its scale.
The firm said on Friday: "Today's rating decision was prompted by the recently announced debt exchange proposals for Greece, which imply expected losses to investors in excess of 70%."
The deal writes off 107bn euros ($141.3bn; £89bn) of Greece's debt. Moody's said the planned debt exchange, which involves private investors of Greek debt writing off much of the 206bn euros in Greek bonds they hold, "would constitute a distressed exchange, and hence a default".IT IS A DEFAULT.
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There is something fundamentally wrong with the insurance/contraception discussion.
For this discussion to have any meaning, there needs to be a woman at the relevant margin. What margin?
There needs to be a woman who is sexually active, does not want to have children at this point, and is on the pill (or, about to go on the pill). This needs to be true of her: she cannot possibly afford the $11/month or $32/month or whatever onerous sum it costs to buy these things. Like, there is literally no way she can spend money on these little pills, and still be able to pay her rent and buy food. It’s pills and live, or no-pills and die.
Meanwhile, due to some mind-boggling circumstances I cannot even begin to fathom perhaps involving a magical curse of some sort, her sex partner is physically/financially unable to obtain condoms.
And oh yeah, she works for a Catholic-affiliated employer.
If there is such a woman, then sure, this discussion is pivotal to her – her life outcomes and behavior hinge on it. Because if insurance covers her pills then she can have pills, and be sexually active without undue risk of getting accidentally pregnant, but if insurance doesn’t cover her pills, the only way for her to avoid risk of being pregnant is to abstain from sex. In order words, this discussion tangibly affects whether she (given her circumstances and preferences) can have sex altogether.
That’s the person this discussion is all about then.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say: there is no such person, anywhere.
Now, in sworn statements that seem likely to reignite the debate, two former senators who were privy to top secret information on the Saudis’ activities say they believe that the Saudi government might have played a direct role in the terrorist attacks.It really shouldn't be any surprise that a regime like the House of Saud run by Islamic savages who oppress women and allow goring of even minor criminals would be willing to support terrorist attacks on the US and other civilized countries. Saudi Arabia cannot be ignored on these issues.
“I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the September 11th attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia,” former Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, said in an affidavit filed as part of a lawsuit brought against the Saudi government and dozens of institutions in the country by families of Sept. 11 victims and others. Mr. Graham led a joint 2002 Congressional inquiry into the attacks.
His former Senate colleague, Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, a Democrat who served on the separate 9/11 Commission, said in a sworn affidavit of his own in the case that “significant questions remain unanswered” about the role of Saudi institutions. “Evidence relating to the plausible involvement of possible Saudi government agents in the September 11th attacks has never been fully pursued,” Mr. Kerrey said.
What will it take to convince supporters of Peace Now the imperative of their organization's name depends on the Arabs rather than the Jews? After 18+ years of Arab terrorism and rejection of peace offers since the Oslo Accords, it's hard to say whether anything the Palestinians could do or say would cause them to rethink their myopic view of the world.I suppose so. But I've often got the feeling that Peace Now's top brass have been aware for a long time of the true sentiments in the Muslim world, and don't want to admit it.
But give Americans for Peace Now's Lara Friedman a little credit. After schlepping to an Arab League conference on Jerusalem, she at least had the wit to notice that just about everybody else there was focused on delegitimizing Israel, denouncing its existence within any borders and denying thousands of years of Jewish history.
However, it's hard not to chuckle a little bit at the indignant tone affected by Friedman in her op-ed published in the Forward as she conveys her shock and dismay to discover the Arab world believes Jews have no rights in Jerusalem or any other part of Israel. She and her group had so convinced themselves all it will take to create peace "now" was for Israelis to support a two-state solution and negotiate, it appears they never took the time or effort to realize the other side has little interest in peace, now or at any other time. This gives her piece the tone of a parody worthy of The Onion even though it was written in deadly earnest.
| Vehicle | February 2012 Sales | Pct. Change from February 2011 |
| 1. Ford F-Series | 47,273 | +25.9 |
| 2. Toyota Camry/Solara | 34,542 | +26.9 |
| 3. Nissan Altima | 32,953 | +58.4 |
| 4. Chevrolet Silverado | 32,297 | +1.8 |
| 5. Honda Civic | 27,087 | +41.7 |
| 6. Honda CR-V | 24,759 | +29.7 |
| 7. Ford Focus | 23,350 | +114.6 |
| 8. Ram Pickup | 22,595 | +21.2 |
| 9. Toyota Corolla | 22,148 | -14.4 |
| 10. Ford Fusion | 21,773 | -5.8 |
The unemployment rate in the eurozone continued to rise in January, hitting another record high. The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the euro rose to 10.7% in January, while December's figure was revised up from 10.4% to 10.6%. There are now 16.9 million people out of work in the bloc, Eurostat said.THINGS ARE NOT IMPROVING THERE... OR HERE.
Muslims are involved in violence in every part of the world.An outburst of violence in a remote desert region of western China has underscored tensions over Chinese rule in ethnic-minority areas just days before an important national policy meeting here in Beijing. About 20 people were reported killed on Tuesday night in clashes in Xinjiang province in China’s far west....As with virtually all such events in remote parts of China, there were competing accounts of the violence on Tuesday, which took place in the town of Yecheng, known in Uighur as Kargilik. The town is populated mostly by Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking group whose members generally practice Sunni Islam.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 4 percent from a year earlier, after decreasing 3.9 percent in November, a report from the group showed today in New York.
... Home prices in 20 U.S. cities dropped more than forecast in December to the lowest level since the housing crisis began in mid-2006, indicating foreclosures are hampering the industry’s recovery. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 4 percent from a year earlier, after decreasing 3.9 percent in November, a report from the group showed today in New York.
Distressed properties returning to the market mean prices will stay depressed, prompting buyers to wait for cheaper bargains and impeding construction.
While sales have begun to stabilize, a rebound in home values may take time, underscoring Federal Reserve policy makers’ concern that weakness in housing is blunting their efforts to spur the economic expansion.
“We’re still dealing with a lot of distressed properties and very low absolute levels of demand,” said Sean Incremona, a senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, who accurately projected the 4 percent drop. “We’re not seeing any of the stabilization in housing activity filter through to prices.”
A separate report today from the Commerce Department showed orders for U.S. durable goods fell in January by the most in three years, led by a slowdown in demand for commercial aircraft and business equipment.
.. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years slumped 4 percent, more than forecast, after a revised 3.2 percent gain the prior month. Economists projected a 1 percent decline, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.AND THIS - BE SURE TO CLICK HERE AND RTWT:
Ben Bernanke struck a downbeat tone on the health of the US economy - in spite of an upward revision of growth in the fourth quarter of 2011 - leaving it unclear whether the Federal Reserve would further ease monetary policy.
In testimony to Congress on Wednesday, the Fed chairman said that the labour market was doing better, but the fundamentals supporting consumer spending “continue to be weak”.
The US Navy is developing an electrically powered rail gun capable of firing missiles between 50 to 100 nautical miles at seven times the speed of sound.
The 40ft (12.19m) long gun that shoots rounds at several times the speed of sound — is being developed for US Navy warships whose current 5in (12.7cm) guns have a range of about 15 miles (24km).
Known as an electromagnetic rail gun, the weapon consists of parallel rails and uses a magnetic field and electric current, instead of chemicals, to generate the energy required to fire the rounds.The US Navy revealed a private sector built prototype is being tested at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre Dahlgren Division in northern Virginia, who released a short video showcasing the weapon's incredible power.
Scientists are currently focused on measuring the life-expectancy of the gun's barrel and its structural integrity given its capability of firing rounds at up to 5,600 miles per hour (9,010kph), or more than seven times the speed of sound.
More here.It is estimated that five more years of research may be required to develop cooling systems that will allows the gun to cope with being fired repetitively. According to the Navy officials the desire is for the super-gun to fire ten rounds a minute and shoot missiles up to an astonishing 220 nautical miles.
A poll recently quizzed 1,142 women (aged 18–25) about what they valued more, brains or beauty, to better understand perceptions that women have of beauty.
While more than two fifths would rather have bigger breasts than a high IQ, 24%, said it was because bigger breasts would make them ‘feel happier’ and a third said they'd swap their IQ for bigger breasts.
A GUY INTERVIEWS 2 WOMEN FOR A JOB AS A RESEARCHER.
THE THIRD HAS AN IQ OF 135 AND WENT TO STANFORD AND HARVARD AND YALE GETTING HER BA, MA, AND PHD.When the crew of the Virginia scallop trawler Cinmar hauled a mastodon tusk onto the deck in 1970, another oddity dropped out of the net: A dark, tapered stone blade, nearly eight inches long and still sharp.
Forty years later, this rediscovered prehistoric slasher has reopened debate on a radical theory about who the first Americans were and when they got here. Archaeologists have long held that North America remained unpopulated until about 15,000 years ago, when Siberian people walked or boated into Alaska and down the West Coast. But the mastodon relic turned out to be 22,000 years old, suggesting the blade was just as ancient.
Whoever fashioned that blade was not supposed to be here.
Its makers likely paddled from Europe and arrived in America thousands of years ahead of the western migration, argues Smithsonian Institution anthropologist Dennis Stanford, making them the first Americans. “I think it’s feasible,” said Tom Dillehay, a prominent archaeologist at Vanderbilt University. “The evidence is building up ...RTWT!
The Jerusalem District Court made history Wednesday when it convicted Ibrahim and Basma Joulani for holding a young woman in conditions constituting slavery. There have been no previous convictions for the crime in Israel.If there was one case of this sort discovered among Muslims in Israel, there could be others taking place around here as well. The problem isn't likely to be over.
The court found that the couple held a young woman from the Philippines in their home in the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat in Jerusalem for one year and ten months, and forced her to work for them. In addition, they took her passport from her.
Mitt Romney has received a larger share of the vote than in 2008 in 62 of the 76 Michigan counties to have reported at least some results so far.
This is a good sign for him and indicates some breadth in his numbers.TRICKY RICKY GOT MORE UAW VOTES THAN MITT, AND THESE CROSSOVER VOTERS TRYING TO DERAIL MITT ARE THE ONLY REASON WHY SANTORUM MADE IT CLOSE.
Romney carried conservatives, Republicans, Catholics, those who believe working in business is better prep for the presidency than working in government, and those who are most dedicated to voting against President Obama.TRICKY RICKY SHOULD WITHDRAW.
Can anyone recall another candidate having as much trouble in a home state primary as Romney's having in MI? I can't.ER UM... YES:
The Afghan government has announced that two Muslim delegations have met with NATO officials, and that NATO has "promised to meet Afghan nation’s demand of bringing to justice, through an open trial, those responsible for the incident . . ."From here.
Yes, Americans are going to stand trial for burning Qur'ans that were used to spread messages among terrorists.
In other words, NATO has agreed to enforce Sharia.
The Socialist favourite in France's presidential election, Francois Hollande, has said top earners should pay 75% of their income in tax.
"Above 1m euros [£847,000; $1.3m], the tax rate should be 75% because it's not possible to have that level of income," he said.LEFTISTS ARE DANGEROUS IDIOTS.
Much of the reason Iranians were so anti-American in 1979, after all, was the unlimited backing we had given to an unpopular dictator, the Shah. Likewise, much of the reason Egyptians are anti-American is because of the unlimited backing we gave to another unpopular dictator, Hosni Mubarak. It did not matter in either case that at the last minute, when both men were in danger of toppling, the U.S. effectively withdrew its backing. All that the people of Egypt and Iran would remember was the decades of support for a dictator which preceded the regime’s demise.Interesting. What it suggests is that, when you blandly tolerate the kind of autocracies being run under Islamofascism, you can't be surprised if anti-Americanism, anti-semitism and racism reign supreme, even behind the scenes.
Member of PLO Executive Committee tells Ma'an news agency that PA is mulling whether to spark a 'popular uprising' against the Israeli occupation.OBAMA AND HIS POLICIES AND APOLOGIES MAKES US AND OUR ALLIES SEEM WEAKER AND THIS INVITES FURTHER ENCROACHMENTS, ATTACKS AND ADVENTURISM - AND HENCE MAKES US LESS SAFE.
It's no secret that most Democratic strategists consider Mitt Romney the GOP contender who poses the biggest threat to President Obama. It's also no secret that Michigan, the state where Romney grew up, is a must win for him.
Combine those two dynamics, add in the fact that any registered voter is allowed to vote in Michigan's open primary, and you get a recipe for Democrats to make mischief.
Michigan Democratic strategist Joe DiSano ... says he targeted nearly 50,000 Democratic voters in Michigan through email and a robo call to their homes, asking them to go to the polls Tuesday to vote for Rick Santorum in attempt to hurt Romney.
Ann Coulter
