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.
The medical care index rose 0.7 percent, the largest rise since January 2007.
REPEAT: The largest rise since January 2007
ANOTHER LIE.IF THESE SOCIALIST SCHEMES EVER WORKED THEN THERE WOULD STILL BE A USSR AND CHINA WOULD STILL BE MAOIST, AND VENEZUELA, ONCE ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS NATION IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, WOULD NOT BE SUFFERING SHORTAGES OF EVERY KIND - AND THE NHS WOULD BE OPERATING WONDERFULLY.
Global stocks rose and bond yields fell on Friday, as investors shrugged off slowing global growth and focused instead on the continued stimulus provided by the world's major central banks.
Wall Street's record high on Thursday lifted Asian stocks on Friday, a day that will be packed with key European and U.S. economic data as well as speeches from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.China's main index leapt nearly 3 percent to a fresh 7-year high, rounding off a weekly gain of 8 percent, its best week this year. Boosted by hopes of further central bank stimulus, it has risen 45 percent in only six weeks.
European shares struggled to match that, but the leading index of European shares was still poised for its biggest gain in six weeks and Germany's DAX its best week since January.
A batch of soft manufacturing data on Thursday from the United States, China and Germany pointed to sluggish global growth but cemented investor hopes that central banks will continue to do all they can to support activity.
A suicide bomber has attacked a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, causing casualties, state media say.
One witness told Reuters news agency there was a huge explosion at the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh.
He estimated there were at least 30 casualties in the attack at the mosque, where more than 150 people were said to be praying.SAUDI ARABIA IS SURROUNDED BY THE FLAMES OF JIHAD - FLAMES IGNITED IN PART BY THEIR SUPPORT OF RADICAL IMAMS.
[1]Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and a former member of the California Democratic Party’s executive board, has been defeated in his first run for public office [2]. An anonymous flier stirred some controversy during the race, but key background on Elkarra failed to emerge.And thank goodness Boxer withdrew the award she initially gave to Elkarra too. The reporter who tried to attack her for that is the one who should be ashamed.
In late 2006, California Senator Barbara Boxer gave Basim Elkarra a certificate of appreciation “in recognition of his efforts to protect civil liberties and to build bridges among diverse communities in California.” The senator quickly revoked the award, explaining that her California office had not vetted CAIR sufficiently. In “Senators for Terror,” [3] Joe Kauffman charted CAIR’s connections to Islamic extremism, and cited evidence that, “Elkarra himself is a radical, apart from his connection to CAIR.” Elkarra had defended Lodi, California, imam Shabbir Ahmed, [4] who urged Pakistanis to wage jihad against Americans. Another local imam, Mohammed Adil Khan, was building a madrassa to recruit children for violent acts against the United States. Elkarra described Khan, who was later deported, as “a pioneer in interfaith work.”
In 2007, Basim Elkarra refused to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups. He has also suggested that “Islamophobes” be prosecuted like Holocaust deniers. In April of 2000, as a member of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at UC Berkeley, Elkarra moderated an event featuring Hamas operative Mohammad Salah, labeled a terrorist by President Clinton. Even so, Elkarra had his defenders in northern California.
“I know Elkarra,” wrote Ginger Rutland, then associate editor of the Sacramento Bee. “I don’t believe he supports terrorism.” [5] Rutland described Elkarra as a “personable young University of California, Berkeley, graduate” who had “assumed the helm of the local CAIR chapter at a perilous time for Muslims in this country.” Senator Boxer “must understand what her casual withdrawal of a casually awarded tribute means to a Muslim American at this moment in American history. Shame on her.” But Boxer defended her actions [6].
“I’m just doing what I think is right,” the California Senator told reporters. Elkarra charged that Boxer had “succumbed to pressure from those who would marginalize American Muslims using smears and guilt by association.” He also claimed he received death threats after the award’s withdrawal but the FBI told Boxer’s staff that the threat was “not credible” and Elkarra maintained a high profile with CAIR. In 2010 the Muslim organization gave a $250 campaign contribution to Ami Bera, a local Democrat running for Congress against Dan Lungren. When local Republicans questioned whether the money came from a terrorist, Bera duly returned the contribution [7] to Basim Elkarra because of questions about CAIR’s affiliations.
The State Department is expected to release the first batch of emails from Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private email address in the coming days.
The emails set for release, drawn from some 55,000 pages and focused on Libya, have already been turned over to the special House committee investigating the 2012 attacks on the United States outposts in Benghazi. They capture the correspondence and concerns expressed among Mrs. Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time, and her advisers following the attacks, which claimed the lives of the American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans.
[...]
The emails also show that Mrs. Clinton was circulating information about the attacks in Benghazi that contradicted the Obama administration’s initial narrative of what occurred, and that she was concerned about how Republicans could use the incidents to undermine President Obama.
It's the real thing (Coke ad) - made famous once again by MAD MEN:
MY UPDATED VERSION:I'd like to rid the world of thugs,
People seem more upset about made-up horrible things happening on "Game of Thrones" than Boko Haram doing horrible things to real woman.
— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 19, 2015Trying to do some good with United Nations comics project on Kickstarter. Help if you can. https://t.co/4LNIcenwzJ #ComicsUnitingNations
— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) May 20, 2015Updated data from NASA satellite instruments reveal the Earth’s polar ice caps have not receded at all since the satellite instruments began measuring the ice caps in 1979. Since the end of 2012, moreover, total polar ice extent has largely remained above the post-1979 average. The updated data contradict one of the most frequently asserted global warming claims – that global warming is causing the polar ice caps to recede.AGW AKA "CLIMATE CHANGE" IS BS.
Driven by worries about a string of disappointing U.S. economic indicators and the strength of the dollar, global investors cut their allocation to U.S. stocks to 19 percent underweight from 12 percent underweight the month before. That's according to the monthly Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of 169 fund managers who run $479 billion of funds, which was conducted May 8-15, and comes just as the S&P 500 .SPX hits record highs. "Relative positioning of the U.S. vs the rest of the world is now at the most extreme since November 2007," BAML said in its report. "Contrarians would go long U.S. equities relative to the broader market."REUTERS: The euro slid to a two-week low and a rally in European shares stalled on Wednesday after a Greek official said the country may not make an upcoming repayment to the International Monetary Fund.
The euro's fall follows remarks from a European Central Bank board member on Tuesday that the central bank could increase the pace of its bond-buying in May and June, bringing its losses against the dollar this week to as much as 3 percent. "With Greek government liquidity particularly tight and reports suggesting the IMF payment on June 5th is under question, then we expect further turmoil ahead before any deal is ultimately reached," Royal Bank of Scotland rates strategists said in a note on Wednesday. The euro fell as low as $1.1065 EUR= early on Wednesday, off almost three cents since ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said this week that the bank may "moderately" increase its bond-buying programme in May and June. It was last down 0.3 percent on the day at $1.1110. The Greek government's parliamentary speaker said on Wednesday that Athens will not make a payment to the IMF that falls due on June 5 unless it has reached a deal with its creditors by then.ADDITIONALLY:
On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Civil Service listed on its website eight new job openings for the position of executioner. The job responsibilities will likely include beheadings and amputations–two of the most prominent punishments for violations, including drug smuggling, arms dealing, murder, and rape.Truly sick. But would they really punish rapists? I think the chances they'll enact serious steps against rapists is inaccurate, because in regimes like Saudi Arabia, it's the victims who're victimized further. So I don't get why they put in that part about rapists being decapitated, since the notion rapists are punished under sharia is pretty exaggerated.
According to The New York Times, pay was not listed, and there are few prerequisites for the job, which might be a laborious task when considering the Saudi Kingdom has already committed 85 executions this year; that number is just three shy of the 88 individuals who were beheaded in 2014 alone. Their only requirement for the role of headsmen? “Carrying out the death sentence according to Islamic Shariah after it is ordered by a legal ruling.”
The Times notes that in Qassim Province, a swordsman could fetch more than $1,000 per head for an execution. The individual beheaded Sunday was executed for a nonviolent drug offense; 38 of the executions so far have been drug-related. Beheadings are reportedly considered the most efficient way to deter crimes in Saudi Arabia, notes the Times. According to the International Business Times, Saudi Arabia consistently ranks in the top five among world nations that put people to death. It ranked third in 2014, after China and Iran.
WASHINGTON — Islamic State fighters used a sandstorm to help seize a critical military advantage in the early hours of the terrorist group’s attack on the provincial Iraqi capital of Ramadi last week, helping to set in motion an assault that forced Iraqi security forces to flee, current and former American officials said Monday.
After 30 years of neglect, the Ammunition Hill Memorial Site revealed a new Memorial Hall, the first part of its multi-million dollar makeover on Sunday, Jerusalem Day, the celebration over the reunification of the city in the 1967 Six Day War.That's good.
Ammunition Hill was the site of a battle waged by the Paratroopers’ Brigade during the war. The outpost’s bunkers and trenches, which made the battle so difficult to win, still criss-cross the hill and have long served as a destination for school children and tourists, learning about the battle over Jerusalem.
The site, viewed by many as symbolic of the city’s reunification, remained in need of renovation for more than 30 years and was almost closed down due to lack of funds.
It was then classified as a “national heritage site,” which paved the way for plans to preserve and renovate the site.
FACT: FOR A GOOD CHUNK OF THAT TIME, NANCY PELOSI'S FAMILY WAS A BIG PART OF THAT MACHINE.
- Fact: The last Republican city council member in Baltimore City left office in 1942. That is 73 years of solid Democrat city councils.
- Fact: The last Republican mayor of Baltimore City left office in 1967. That is 48 years of unbroken control of the mayor's office.
- Fact: The Maryland Senate is currently 33 Democrats to 14 Republicans.
- Fact: The Maryland House is currently 90 Democrats to 50 Republicans.
- Fact: The last time Republicans held both the Maryland Senate and the Maryland House of Delegates was 1897.
- Fact: The last time Republicans held even one chamber of the Maryland General Assembly--the House--was 1917.
- That is unbroken Democrat control of the Maryland legislature since 1918--or nearly a century of Democrat control.
- Fact: 7 out of 8 members of the Maryland delegation in the U.S. House are Democrats.
- Fact: The last Republican U.S. senator from Maryland was elected in 1980.
Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Maria Petronilla (née Foppiani) and Tommaso G. D'Alessandro, who were born in Montenerodomo, Abruzzo, Italy. He was married to Annunciata M. ("Nancy") Lombardi[1] (March 25, 1909 - April 3, 1995).[2] The couple had six children: five sons and a daughter. D'Alesandro attended Calvert Business College in Baltimore. Before beginning his political career, he worked as a broker and in insurance, a career he returned to after his political service.
A Democrat, D'Alesandro served as a member of the Maryland State House of Delegates from 1926 to 1933. After serving in Annapolis, D'Alesandro was then appointed as General Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, a post in which he served during 1933–1934. He then was elected to serve on the Baltimore City Council from 1935 to 1938.
D'Alesandro was then elected to the 76th Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1939, until he resigned on May 16, 1947. ... Following his service in Congress he was Mayor of Baltimore for 12 years from May 1947 to May 1959. He was defeated for renomination by the Democrats in the March 1959 primary election. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in 1958.
D'Alesandro ran for Governor of Maryland in 1954, but was forced to drop out due to being implicated in receiving undeclared money from Dominic Piracci, a parking garage owner convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.[4]D'Alesandro was a delegate to every Democratic National Convention from 1944 to 1968...HER BROTHER, THOMAS D'ALESSANDRO III:
After military service, D'Alesandro entered into politics, becoming president of the Baltimore City Council in 1963.[1] He ran for mayor in 1967 as a Democrat and easily defeated Republican challenger Arthur W. Sherwood.[3]
His one term as mayor was dominated by civil unrest and budgetary troubles.[4] In 1968 D'Alesandro ordered the relocation of the East-West Expressway unstarted since 1941 to be rerouted through the Western Cemetery, followed by cancelling the project, followed by implementing a HUD program to finance 475 of the vacant homes abandoned after they were previously condemned to create "homes for the poor". The homes were demolished in 1974, with the Rouse Company creditors abandoning the project.[5][6]
He was unable to respond effectively to the Baltimore riot of 1968 that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and National Guard troops were called in to control the situation. He would never run for another political office, choosing to go into private law practice.WASHINGTON POST ON WHERE PELOSI LEARNED POLITICS:
Pelosi learned politics beside her mayor dad
Likely speaker hails from political family
By LYNNE DUKE
The Washington PostSaturday, November 11, 2006
When she wasn't racing to school at St. Leo's in her blue uniform or buying sweets in Mugavero's Confectionery or playing on front stoops up and down the block, Little Nancy sometimes worked the front desk at the family home at 245 Albemarle St. in Baltimore, taking down the requests and sad stories of the folks who arrived to seek help from Big Tommy, her dad.
Or maybe she was riding around with her dad and his bullhorn, as he touted his candidacy from a convertible. The late Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., also known as Old Tommy or Tommy the Elder, was the flamboyant and legendary machine politician, a Roosevelt Democrat, whose only daughter is the woman poised to be the speaker of the House, second in line of succession from the presidency.
She grew up stuffing envelopes for her dad. She grew up watching how the political game was played.MORE ON THE D'ALESSANDRO MACHINE:
Most of you know her as Nancy Pelosi. When I first met my one-time neighbor, she was daughter to one Mayor of Baltimore, Tommy D’Alesandro, Jr., and sister to Tommy, III, who’d later become Mayor.
Some of the stories about her, as she prepares to become Speaker of the House, have mentioned her past, but not honestly. At most, the glowing stories refer to the Baltimore City politics she grew up in as “rough and tumble.” Politics there and then were much more than rough and tumble. They were crooked as a dog’s hind leg.
I know. I grew up there. I made my first run for public office there, in 1971. Lemme tell y’all how Baltimore politics were conducted, then.
First, it was all Democrats. The last Republican was elected to the City Council in 1943. And among the Democrats, the law of the jungle applied. The strongest won, and prospered. The weakest lost, and were destroyed.
Elections in Baltimore were run by the machines, which had a feudal relationships like barons in the Middle Ages. Strongest was the D’Alesandro machine. Second to that, but working hand and glove with it, was Jack Pollack’s machine. Pollack personally was a frugal man, never accused of taking a penny for himself. But he kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in safe deposit boxes, to be dispensed as needed. Pollack had, in his pocket, many politicians including Congressman and State Senators, plus more than a few judges.
Election day funds were called “walking around money.” Each precinct captain got a stack of money proportionate to the vote he was expected to produce. Sure, the captain would keep some for himself. But a wise captain would keep his greed within limits, and use most of his allotment to buy votes.
Was this illegal? Absolutely. Then, now, and all years in between. But that’s the politics that Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi grew up in. And what did the successful politician do in Baltimore when he, and now she, had won? Reward your friends. Punish your enemies. Start gathering the money and allies to win the next election.
Honesty or corruption had nothing to do with this process. Results were all that counted. This was displayed in the D’Alesandro family history. Tommy, Jr., was never indicted for anything. But Tommy, III, was sloppy.
He was indicted for rape as a young man. He was indicted for corruption as Mayor. Both times, the charges were dismissed when the principal witness made herself / himself scarce until the charges were dismissed. In the latter case, the witness turned up alive and well in a Las Vegas casino, after the charges against D’Alesandro were dropped. The same charges against Councilman Mimi DiPietro, had not been dismissed. When I as a candidate pointed out that DiPietro could still be tried for corruption, the D’Alesandro response was to send a compliant State’s Attorney before a compliant judge, to drop those charges also.
Satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been accused of hypocrisy after it suspended a journalist who has received death threats for her articles attacking Islamic extremism.Is this how to treat somebody who's been threatened with death? Absolutely not, and if the editors really don't want people to think they've turned full-fledged cowards now, they'll cease all acts of negativity against the woman immediately. They could end up losing audience if they go the dhimmi route for real.
Zineb El Rhazoui, 33, was called to a preliminary dismissal hearing to remind her of her ‘obligations’ towards the French weekly following ‘numerous incidents’.
The French-Moroccan columnist accused her employers of trying to ‘punish her’ for speaking out about the direction of the magazine four months after the jihadist attack which left 12 dead.
‘I am shocked and appalled that a management that has received so much support after the January attacks could show so little support for one of its employees, who is under pressure like everyone in the team and has faced threats,’ she told Le Monde.
‘My husband lost his job and had to leave Morocco because the jihadists revealed his workplace. I am under threat and having to live with friends or in a hotel and the management is thinking of firing me. Bravo Charlie.’
The move has prompted outrage on social media with thousands calling the decision ‘absurd’ and bewildering’.
Mrs El Rhazoui and her husband, Moroccan writer Jaouad Benaïssi, received death threats on Twitter from people claiming to be from Islamic State in February.
Photoshopped images of the couple dressed as ISIS prisoners about to be executed emerged on social media along with a map showing the places the journalist often visited.
According to another memo dated September 16, 2012, just FIVE DAYS after the attack on the ‘consulate’ in Benghazi, the Obama administration via the DNI concluded that the terrorist attack had been planned at least 10 days before the attack occurred and that it wasn’t a coincidence that it happened on the anniversary of 9/11. If you recall, the Obama administration was lying about it, saying it was a demonstration against a film about the Prophet Muhammad that got out of control. They were saying this on the very same day this DNI memo went out to different agencies including the National Security Council and the State Department.Now, the real picture has been uncovered, and it's simply awful.