THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

ONE in three NHS patients has to endure the indignity of mixed-sex wards and thousands of the most vulnerable are being left to starve, according to a damning report.

Figures also showed that nearly a third of patients had to share a bathroom, toilet and shower area with the opposite sex.

This latest indictment of the state of the NHS showed no improvements on the previous year and left in tatters Government pledges to ensure single-sex wards.

... Health campaigners have repeatedly condemned the Government for failing to scrap mixed-sex wards.

Labour promised to abolish them when it came to power in 1997 following Tony Blair’s condemnation of them as Leader of the Opposition.

... Despite Government and nursing campaigns demanding change, 18 per cent of patients are still being left without any help at mealtimes – the same figure as in 2002.

...This comes as statistics showed that the number of people going hungry in NHS hospitals has almost doubled since 1997 when Labour came to power – with as many as 140,000 patients leaving hospital malnourished.

WE MUST NOT LET OBAMA AND THE "PROGRESSIVES" DESTROY OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM AND TURN IT INTO THE NHS.

ANDREW SULLIVAN, THE ACLU, ABU GHRAIB, FIRE ISLAND AND POSTMODERN LEFTISM

YESTERDAY, TIME:

Five years ago, people around the world were sickened by photographs that surfaced showing U.S. troops abusing Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Act I resulted in an avalanche of congressional hearings, 15 Pentagon probes and courts-martial. More than 400 U.S. troops — but no senior officials — went to jail or were otherwise punished. Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act to try to prevent future atrocities.

But now a new batch of photographs, perhaps hundreds of images, of prisoners being abused is about to be made public. It comes at a time when the debate over prisoner mistreatment is still roiling America's political and public conscience. The new photographs are being made public in a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union.

BUT OBAMA HAS REVERSED HIMSELF, AND NOW SUPPORTS KEEPING THE PHOTOS SECRET:

President Barack Obama declared Wednesday he would try to block the court-ordered release of photos showing U.S. troops abusing prisoners, abruptly reversing his position out of concern the pictures would "further inflame anti-American opinion" and endanger U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House had said last month it would not oppose the release of dozens of photos from military investigations of alleged misconduct. But American commanders in the war zones have expressed deep concern about fresh damage the photos might do, especially as the U.S. tries to wind down the Iraq war and step up operations against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

THIS HAS OUTRAGED THE ACLU TYPES - LIKE FEINGOLD, AND JERKS LIKE ANDREW SULLIVAN.

WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS THIS:

THE ACLU AND SULLIVAN USUALLY DEFEND PEOPLE FOR DOING THE KIND OF THINGS IN THE PHOTOS;

HECK, SULLIVAN AND HIS "BUDDIES" PROBABLY DO THIS KIND OF STUFF EVERY WEEKEND IN FIRE ISLAND!
FOR ALL I KNOW, SULLIVAN'S PERSONAL SCRAPBOOK IS FILLED WITH IMAGES LIKE THESE! HEH!

SERIOUSLY - WHAT ARE THEY REALLY UPSET ABOUT!?

IT'S THAT WE ARE FIGHTING BACK - AND THAT WE MIGHT ACTUALLY WIN.
THESE GUYS ARE POSTMODERN LEFTISTS WHO REALLY WANT THE USA AND THE WEST - JUDEO-CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION - TO LOSE AND BE BROUGHT DOWN A NOTCH.
ANYTHING WE DO WHICH HELPS US WIN, THEY OPPOSE.
ANYTHING WHICH MAKES US LOOK BAD, THEY LOVE!

COMPLETE ROUND UP HERE.

IF YOU WANTED A WMD TO DESTROY THE WEST, YOU WOULDN'T PICK A BIO, CHEM OR NUCLEAR WEAPON; YOU'D PICK A CULTURAL WEAPON - and be patient

A bio weapon wouldn't work because the faster and deadlier a bio-agent is the more likely it is to burn-out before infecting and killing the entire West.

A chem weapon would be impossible to disseminate in a way that would kill everyone in the West.

Nuke explosions make huge areas uninhabitable and they destroy valuable infrastructure. Nuke poisons are tough to spread over an area wide enough in amounts big enough to be lethal.

The ONLY way enemies of the West could hope to destroy the West is by CULTURAL attack - and this is precisely what the postmodern left and the "creeping sharia" jihadists are doing.

Patiently undermining our economy, our national defense, our ability to exploit the natural bounty around us, undermining ancient institutions and and values - like marriage, and inculcating a desire to be childless. And undermining our will to defend our civilization.

And so we may very well disappear with a whimper and not a bang.

WMD: a whimper of mass destruction.

MUSLIM PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS WORLDWIDE

Hat Tip: Bare Naked Islam

Note the all important date of September 11, 1683 corresponding to the Batttle of Vienna.

MORE PROOF RC CHURCH IS DEAD: BENEDICT CONTINUES TO APPEASE ISLAM

NYTIMES: In Bethlehem, Pope Laments Israeli Wall

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Pope Benedict XVI spoke Wednesday at a Palestinian refugee camp, expressing his solidarity with “all the homeless Palestinians who long to be able to return to their birthplace, or live permanently in a homeland of their own.”

He reiterated his support for a Palestinian state in the shadow of the barrier that divides Israelis from Palestinians, one of the most contentious issues in the Holy Land.

With Israel’s security fence rising prominently in the background, he criticized the structure that Israel has called key to its security, calling it “a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached.”

“In a world where more and more borders are being opened up — to trade, to travel, to movement of peoples, to cultural exchanges — it is tragic to see walls still being erected,” Benedict said.

“How we long to see the fruits of the much more difficult task of building peace!”

THE OBSTACLE TO PEACE IS NOT THE FENCE - BUT ISLAMO-TERROR.

THE FACT THAT THE HEAD OF THE RC CHURCH CAN SAY THAT THE FENCE IS BAD AND NOT BE CRITICAL OF JIHADISM PROVES HE IS AN OLD USELESS COWARD AND HIS CHURCH A USELESS VESTIGE.

THE POPE AND THE RC CHURCH HAVE ONE PURPOSE: SPREAD THE FAITH.

BY APPEASING THE ISLAMISTS - WHO ARE THE TRUE INTERLOPERS AND INVADERS IN THE HOLY LAND - THE POPE ACTS IN A WAY WHICH IS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO THAT PURPOSE.

BY FAILING TO FULFIL THIS PURPOSE, THE POPE CONDEMNS HIS CHURCH TO DEATH, FOR UNDEFENDED IN TODAY'S WORLD IT WILL SURELY DIE.

PITY.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION:

I HAVE NOT BEEN BIGOTED IN THIS ATTACK ON BENEDICT, JUST BLUNT.

AS BLUNT AS I ALWAYS AM WHEN ATTACKING APPEASERS OF ALL STRIPES: OLMERT; LIVNI; BUSH; OBAMA - AND YES: EVEN NOW THE POPE.

I DID NOT CRITICIZE THE RC FAITH. OR CATHOLICS IN GENERAL.

JUST IT'S CURRENT LEADER. WHO IS A FLAWED MAN, NOT A DEMI-GOD.

BENEDICT IS A DISAPPOINTING POPE WHO IS NOT EVEN DEFENDING CHRISTENDOM.

AND A POPE WHO AIN'T DEFENDING CHRISTENDOM AIN'T WORTH CRAP.

THE RC CHURCH NEEDS ANOTHER PJP2 - HE WAS A FIGHTER!

I PASSIONATELY BELIEVE THAT THE RC CHURCH DESERVES A BETTER POPE. I WOULD NOT FERVENTLY BELIEVE THAT IF I HATED CATHOLICISM OR CATHOLICS.

BENEDICT IS AN APPEASER.

THE RC CHURCH NEEDS A FIGHTER.

AND THE WORLD NEEDS THE POPE TO BE A FIGHTER.

SOLID EVIDENCE THAT EVEN DEMOCRATS KNOW TAX CUTS ARE A BENEFIT TO BUSINESS, THE ECONOMY, AND THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE

Washington's Democratic Governor has approved state tax cuts to help the newspaper business.

From the Seattle Times:

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire has approved a tax break for the
state's troubled newspaper industry.

The new law gives newspaper printers and publishers a 40 percent cut in
the state's main business tax. The discounted rate mirrors breaks given in years
past to the Boeing Co. and the timber industry.

Newspapers across the country have resorted to layoffs and other
cost-cutting moves to deal with a wounded business model and a recession-fueled
drop in advertising.

President Sets Deadline for Health Care Reform

Less than 48 hours after I predicted that a White House meeting of “health care reform stakeholders” would produce a plan “by 5 o’clock,” my prediction came true. Unfortunately, however, it appears to have taken Press Secretary Robert Gibbs a while to craft the message for dissemination to the public.

Read all about it here.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

SORRY ANCHORESS; SORRY K-LO: THE POPE'S MIDDLE EAST TRIP PROVES BENEDICT IS USELSS AND THE RC CHURCH IS AS GOOD AS DEAD

SAD.

FALLACI LOVED THE GUY, AND AT FIRST HE TALKED A REAL GOOD GAME.

I LIKE MUCH OF WHAT HE'S WRITTEN AND SAID.

THIS BLOG HAS DEFENDED HIM IN THE PAST.

BUT IN EUROPE THE CHURCH IS STILL DYING.

AND HE HAS FAILED TO ADDRESS THE PRIESTHOOD ISSUES - ALL THE HOMOS AND PEDOPHILES ARE STILL THERE.

AND HE HAS FAILED TO SPEAK THE BLUNT TRUTH WHILE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

EVER SINCE REGENSBERG HE'S BEEN ON THE DEFENSIVE.

IF THE POPE CAN'T LEAD A CRUSADE AGAINST GLOBAL JIHAD WHAT USE IS THE POPE OR THE RC CHURCH!?

NONE.

AS OF NOW, THE RC CHURCH IS USELESS.

SORRY K-LO. SORRY ANCHORESS.

BUT IT'S TRUE: THIS TRIP... THE NOTRE DAME HONOR FOR OBAMA.... THE RC CHURCH IS DEAD.

ANOTHER INSTANCE OF LIB HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE STANDARDS IN THE MEDIA

CHENEY SLAM DUNKS GORE - IN HIS FACE!

HAYEK RULES!

THE ROAD TO SERFDOM WOULDN'T BE BAD IF IT LED HERE....

UNFORTUNATELY, THE REAL ROAD TO SERFDOM LEADS FROM RHODESIA TO ZIMBABWE, FROM SOUTH KOREA TO NORTH KOREA, FROM THE BROAD SUN-LIT UPLANDS TO A THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS...

CHINA AND INDIA AND RUSSIA AND ALL OF EASTERN EUROPE GOT OFF THAT ROAD.

WHY DOES MISTER OBAMA WANT US TO GO DOWN IT!?

INSTAPUNDIT AGREES WITH THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: OBAMA WRECKING OUR NATIONAL SECURITY

GLENN REYNOLDS:

If Obama were trying to wreck America as a superpower, what would he be doing differently?

NOTHING.

OR AS WE WROTE ON APRIL 7, 2009:

IOW:
IF OBAMA WANTED TO MAKE THE USA WEAKER - ECONOMICALLY AND MILITARILY...
... WOULD HE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT?

OBAMA IS A TRAITOR.

NYTIMES: MEDICARE WILL BE INSOLVENT IN 2017

NYTIMES: Insolvency for Social Security and Medicare Is Seen Closer

The financial outlook for Medicare and Social Security has significantly worsened, as the bad economy and mounting job losses have pushed both programs years closer to insolvency, according to a grim report issued Tuesday by the Obama administration.

The new projection, in an annual report from the programs’ trustees, says that Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund will be exhausted in 2017, just a year after President Obama would leave office if re-elected to a second term.

Last year the trustees said they expected the fund to last until 2019. ...

The two programs, which serve more than 50 million people, are caught in a difficult dynamic linked largely to the recession: Millions fewer people are working and paying the taxes that support the programs; yet health care costs are continuing to soar, millions of baby boomers have begun receiving Social Security retirement benefits, and Americans are living longer.

Medicare expenses are now expected to surpass Social Security’s in 2028.

RTWT.

I RAN INTO AN OL' LEFTIE PAL WHO JUST QUALIFIED FOR MEDICARE AND WAS RAVING ABOUT IT.

THE LOON. AS IF HE WAS GETTING FREE CARE!
I GUESS HE FORGOT HE'S BEEN PAYING IN FOR FORTY YEARS.
HE'S A HEALTHY GUY - WHO WILL LIVE A FEW DECADES BEYOND THE DATE WHEN MEDICARE GOES BELLY UP.
LIKE THE REST OF US, HE'D A BEEN BETTER OFF PUTTING ALL HIS MEDICARE TAX DOLLARS AND MUCH OF HIS HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS INTO A MEDICAL SAVINGS ACCOUNT.
HE REFUSES TO LISTEN TO MY ARGUMENTS AGAINST NATIONALIZED HEALTH AND MEDICARE.
BECAUSE HE'S A DUPE WHO REFUSES TO LISTEN TO THE CONSERVATIVES ANY ISSUES.
LIKE A JUROR WHO REFUSES TO HEAR THE DEFENSE CASE AND YET STILL MAINTAINS HE CAN RENDER A JUST VERDICT.
LIKE IDIOTS WHO HATE RUSH - BUT HAVE NEVER LISTENED TO HIM.
LIKE IDIOTS WHO HATE FOX - BUT HAVE NEVER WATCHED IT.
OR LIKE ALL THE IDIOTS THOUGHT BUSH WAS DUMB - BUT NEVER WATCHED HIM GIVE A SPEECH.
IDIOTS.
CLOSED-MINDED KNEE-JERK LIBS.
WHO WILL WAKE UP IN 2017.
OR SOONER - LIKE WHEN THEY GET THE OBAMA TAX BILLS FOR CRAP LIKE CAP & TRADE AND NATIONALIZED HEALTH!

THE FEDS WILL RUN HEALTHCARE AS WELL AS THEY RUN FANNIE MAE AND THE NHS AND THE SEC AND MEDICARE/MEDICAID - WELL, YOU GET THE PICTURE!

DISSENT ACCORDINGLY.

YOUR DAILY NHS NIGHTMARE: BABY WAS KILLED BY NHS INCOMEPTENCE

BBC: NHS criticised for Baby P errors

A catalogue of failings by the NHS meant a series of opportunities that could have saved Baby P's life were missed, the health regulator says.

The toddler, who has now been named as Peter, was seen by health services 35 times before his death in August 2007.
Two doctors involved in his care have already been suspended.
But the Care Quality Commission said services across Haringey in London were poor, prompting an apology from the NHS trusts involved.
Baby P suffered over 50 injuries by the time of his death aged 17 months.
The catalogue of abuse he suffered emerged during a court hearing at the end of last year that led to the conviction of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger for causing his death.
The case led to heavy criticism of local social care arrangements with some council staff losing their jobs as a result.

There were clear reasons to have concern for this child, but the response was simply not fast enough or smart enough

Cynthia Bower, of the Care Quality Commission

The 35 contacts with the NHS covered visits to a GP, health visitors, consultant paediatricians, hospitals and walk-in centres.
The regulator criticised three trusts in particular - Haringey, which was responsible for the community services, North Middlesex Hospital and the specialist children's hospital Great Ormond Street, which provided the paediatric staff for both the local trusts.
It said system failure meant medical records were not shared between different health services and NHS workers did not properly alert social services and police to their concerns.
Staff shortages and delays in assessments were also noted.
Despite this, all three trusts have in previous years reported that they complied with official standards covering child protection.
This issue is now central to the second report the CQC is compiling into the way the rest of the NHS carries out child protection duties.
Scans
But the CQC pointed out that staff did not follow protocols when they were in place.
Bone and skeleton scans were not always carried out to give a clear picture of Peter's injuries.
The report said the consultant who saw Peter two days before his death and noted bruises and marks over his body did not alert a social worker.
The paediatrician was Dr Sabah al-Zayyat, a locum who is one of two doctors suspended and being investigated by the General Medical Council.

THE NHS SUCKS.

BRITS HATE IT.
LABOUR PROMISED TO FIX IT BUT IT'S GOTTEN WORSE AND IT'S COSTING THE PM BIGTIME.
YET OBAMA AND THE LIBS WANT TO BRING IT HERE.

DON'T BE DUPED.

DISSENT ACCORDINGLY.

WHITE HOUSE MEMO PROVES THAT BEHIND CLOSED DOORS THEY KNOW AGW IS BS, CO2 HARMLESS - AND CAP & TRADE AN ECONOMIC DISASTER

ED/HOT AIR:

The internal memo, marked “Attorney Client Privilege”, did warn about the negative impact EPA regulation of CO2 would have on the economy. But The Hill reports that it also challenged the notion that the EPA or anyone else had proven CO2 or other greenhouse gases to be harmful to humans:
An EPA finding last month that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health rests on dubious assumptions and could have negative economic impacts, a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) warned.

The memo has no listed author but is marked “Deliberative–Attorney Client Privilege.” A spokesman for OMB told Dow Jones Newswires that the brief is a “conglomeration of counsel we’ve received from various agencies” about the EPA finding, the conclusions of which would trigger regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

The author(s) of the memo suggest the EPA did not thoroughly examine the relationship between greenhouse gases and human health.

“In the absence of a strong statement of the standards being applied in this decision, there is concern that EPA is making a finding based on…’harm’ from substances that have no demonstrated direct health effects,” the memo says, adding that the “scientific data that purports to conclusively establish” that link was from outside EPA.

The memo then borders on secular heresy by suggesting that if warming was indeed the result of man’s activity, it may have beneficial effects rather than being a net negative:

RTWT AND WATCH THE VIDEO.

BOTTOM-LINE: AGW = BS.

CAP & TRADE IS A TROJAN HORSE FOR SOCIALISM.

DISSENT ACCORDINGLY.

TO THAT UGLY SKANKY LEFT-WING NO-TALENT PIECE OF CRAP GAROFALO: STFU!

Garofalo: No, seriously, tea partiers are racists

The evidence: A single sign she saw at a single rally which, as Ace notes, almost certainly didn’t have any racial intent.

But if St. Janeane, virtuous progressive, saith there be racism, then racism there be.

My favorite part is when she wonders why tea partiers weren’t out in the streets last year protesting Bush’s then-record budget deficit;

a better question, one Griff Jenkins lamentably didn’t think of, is why leftists who grumbled about Bush’s spending aren’t out in the streets now that Obama’s quadrupled it. Below the clip of Garofalo you’ll find the MoveOn ad from last March that Red State rediscovered last month. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more traction in conservative media, so perfectly does it capture liberal hypocrisy on this topic.

I WAS AT THE NYC TEA PARTY AND I AM NO RACIST.

I MARCHED WITH DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR.
AND I BROKE BREAD WITH BLACK PANTHERS.
I GREW UP WITH BLACKS AS NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS.
15 YEARS AGO, I THREW A BIG 40TH BIRTHDAY BASH IN HARLEM.
SO GAROFALO - YOU UGLY STINKY SKANKY NO TALENT PIECE OF SHIT:
GO FUCK YOURSELF.
YOU ARE AN IGNORANT STUPID UGLY BITCH.

I AM A FORMER LEFTIE WHO SAW THE LIGHT:

THE BLACK FAMILY SURVIVED SLAVERY, JIM CROW, TWO WORLD WARS,
BUT NOT THE "GREAT SOCIETY" OR THE WELFARE STATE.
LEFTISM FAILED - AND IT HURT BLACKS THE MOST.
I SUPPORT WHAT WORKS: NOT MARX, BUT HAYEK AND FRIEDMAN;
NOT LIBERAL BIG SPENDING, BUT REAGAN AND THATCHER AND LOW TAXES AND SMALL GOVERNMENT.
THAT'S WHAT TEAS PARTIES WERE ALL ABOUT.

UPDATE FROM GEORGIA:

SMS from Tiblisi: "President of Georgia met with opposition leaders yesterday but no agreement reached and demonstrationis will start in regions. Situation is described as tense and unpredictable..."

Monday, May 11, 2009

PETRAEUS ASCENDANT: AFGHAN COMMANDER DISMMISSED AND REPLACED WITH JOINT OPS PRO

NYTIMES:

The top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David D. McKiernan, was forced out Monday in an abrupt shake-up intended to bring a more aggressive and innovative approach to a worsening seven-year war.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced the decision in terse comments at the Pentagon, saying that “fresh eyes were needed” and that “a new approach was probably in our best interest.” When asked if the dismissal ended the general’s military career, Mr. Gates replied, “Probably.”

... Defense Department officials said General McKiernan, a respected career armor officer, had been removed primarily because he had brought too conventional an approach to the challenge.

He is to be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. He served in Afghanistan as chief of staff of military operations in 2001 and 2002 and recently ran all commando operations in Iraq.

Forces under General McChrystal’s command were credited with finding and capturing Saddam Hussein and with tracking and killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. His success in using intelligence and firepower to track and kill insurgents, and his training in unconventional warfare that emphasizes the need to protect the population, made him the best choice for the command in Afghanistan, Defense Department officials said.

... The change also reflects the influence of Gen. David H. Petraeus, who took over last fall as the top American commander for Iraq and Afghanistan.

General Petraeus served under General McKiernan in Iraq only to surpass him quickly in his rise through the ranks. The defense officials said the two men did not develop a bond after General Petraeus inherited General McKiernan as his Afghanistan commander.

PREDICTION: BIN LADEN AND ZAWAHIRI DEAD WITHIN SIX MONTHS.

BECUASE OF PETRAEUS AND MCCHRYSTAL - NOT OBAMA OR BIDEN.

SECOND GAS ATTACK AGAINST GIRL'S SCHOOL IN AFGHANISTAN

REUTERS:

Nearly 50 teenagers were admitted to hospital after a suspected mass poisoning at an Afghan girls' school, a doctor said Monday, in the second such incident in a month.

The headmaster rushed his students out of their classrooms in the northern town of Charikar after they smelt an unusual odor and started feeling nauseous and dizzy, a 17-year-old victim told Reuters from her hospital bed.

"I am pretty sure whoever has done this is against education for girls, but I strongly ask the parents not to be discouraged by such brutal action and send their children to school," said Noor Jahan, a ninth grader at Ura Jalili Girls' High School.

In another room a mother sat beside her unconscious daughter's bed, crying and rubbing the girl's forehead. Around her lay several dazed and pale schoolmates.

"I was in a lesson when suddenly two classmates lost consciousness and collapsed," said Nabila, a 21-year-old in one of the beds. Years of war and unrest mean children often finish school late in Afghanistan.

She said the room had filled with an odor like insecticide at around 11 a.m., and some girls started vomiting.

Police declined to comment.

THE DAILY TIMES (PAKISTAN):

More than 60 Afghan schoolgirls were admitted to hospital on Monday with symptoms of poisoning, apparently from a gas, in the second case in the same town in two weeks, officials said.

Concerned relatives crowded the hospital in the town of Charikar, about 50 kilometres north of Kabul, after the apparent mass poisoning at the Hora-i-Jalali Girls’ High School.

Sixty-one schoolgirls and a teacher were treated for symptoms such as headaches, vomiting and giddiness, said the head of the main hospital, Abdul Jalil Farhangi. Some had been discharged. “I smelt something rather good, like a perfume,” one pupil, who gave her name only as Khatera, said from her hospital bed. “I came out of the class and then I collapsed. When I opened my eyes, I was in the hospital,” said the girl, aged about 16...

Blood samples had been sent to Kabul and to the medical facility of a nearby US military base, said provincial health director Muhammad Qasim Sayedi.

THE AIM (OF AL QAEDA AND/OR THE TALIBAN) IS PROBABLY TO FRIGHTEN FAMILIES AND MAKE THEM CEASE EDUCATING THEIR DAUGHTERS.

AND/OR A RUN THROUGH FOR A SIMILAR ATTACK IN THE WEST...

LEBANON CLAIMS TO HAVE ARRESTED 17 MOSSAD AGENTS SINCE JANUARY

DAILY STAR (LEBANON): New ISF unit behind arrests of alleged Mossad agents

The capture of several alleged Mossad spies in recent months is the result of a new counter-espionage strategy put in place by Lebanese security agencies, intelligence experts told The Daily Star on Sunday.

More than 17 suspected spies have been arrested since January, including four on Friday, prompting the leader of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Ashraf Rifi to declare their capture "the strongest security strike against the Israeli Mossad."

The new plan, put in place in the aftermath of the summer 2006 war, saw a specialized counter-espionage unit created as part of the ISF, with specially trained officers taking over a role that had previously been fulfilled by the Lebanese Army.

HMMMMM... 17 SINCE JANUARY...

GEE, WHAT A CO-INKY-DINKY: THAT'S WHEN OBAMA TOOK OVER.

AND SINCE THEN WHAT ELSE HAS OBAMA DONE?
HE'S RELEASED GITMO DETAINEES...
AND TOP SECRET CIA MEMOS...
AND HERETOFORE UNPUBLISHED ABU GHRAIB PHOTOS ARE ON THE WAY...
AND CANCELED MANY DEFENSE SPENDING PROGRAMS...

HMMM... YA THINK MAYBE HE'S OUTING MOSSAD AGENTS!?

OR IS IT ALL A COINCIDENCE?

NHS NURSES AFRAID TO REPORT PATIENT SAFETY ISSUES

SKY NEWS: 'Whistleblowers Ignored By NHS Managers'

Whistleblowing nurses who raise concerns about patient safety are being ignored by NHS managers, unions claim.

The RCM says many nurses fear being victimised if they raise their concerns

More than one in five (21%) have also been told by their superiors not to report concerns or have been discouraged from doing so.

That is according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) which is holding annual conference in Harrogate.

Speaking on the first day, RCN general secretary Dr Peter Carter said nurses feared being "victimised" if they spoke up.

One nurse told how she had been marginalised for raising fears over patient safety and for failing to "go with the flow" in her NHS trust.

... A survey of 5,428 nurses for the RCN found that 99% understood it was their professional responsibility to raise concerns. But only 43% said they would be confident to report them without thinking twice. Almost eight in 10 (78%) said they feared being victimised or losing the chance of promotion if they spoke out.

The poll comes a month after nurse Margaret Haywood was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for exposing poor care at the Royal Sussex Hospital.

A report in March from the Healthcare Commission found appalling standards of care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust put patients at risk and led to some dying.

Between 400 and 1,200 more people in its care died than would normally be expected over a three-year period.

Dr Carter said: "Sadly the recent example of Mid Staffordshire shows us what can happen if genuine concerns are dismissed or not investigated properly.

THE FEAR THAT THE NURSES FELT WAS THE DIRECT RESULT OF THE STALINISM OF THE NHS - A GROUP-THINK WHICH IS ALMOST ALWAYS CONCOMITANT WITH LARGE STATE-RUN OPERATIONS.

IT'S YET ANOTHER REASON WHY THE NHS SUCKS - YET OBAMA WANTS TO IMPORT IT HERE.

DON'T BE DUPED.

DISSENT ACCORDINGLY.