(SomaliNet) A French MP of the ruling UMP party has shot dead his mistress in the northeastern town of Thionville before taking his own life.
Jean-Marie Demange recently lost his position as mayor of Thionville in local elections, and apparently took his defeat as a serious personal failure.
The former mayor, who was thought be suffering from a severe depression, was also in the middle of a divorce. So far, the UMP has refused to comment on the tragedy.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I think I saw this opera...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 7:52 Comments ||
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any other nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here died that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall have not died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
- Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/19/2008 09:01 ||
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#1
government of the people, by the people, for the people
The best definition of American democracy ever.
Compare to the UN/EU/O-cult definition: government of the elite, by the elite, for the elite
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/19/2008 10:23 Comments ||
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#3
After all, European Conservative, tomorrow it won't be the anniversary... although I s'pose one could read it again tomorrow to commemorate the day after the anniversary ;-)
#4
Speaking of elites, the London Times had this commentary on Linclon's Address:
The ceremony was rendered ludicrous by some of the sallies of that poor President Lincoln. Anything more dull and commonplace it would not be easy to produce.
#5
I put the "Today in History" items under "SAST" because they don't necessarily fit anywhere else.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/19/2008 14:20 Comments ||
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#6
Do you Americans realize how important this moment was?
At this point in time, all the large democracies in the world had failed. The Kings and Counts had returned to rule in Europe, and exerted their control in the colonial areas.
The European aristocracy then, as now, looked down on the USA as commoners and barbarians. They expected such low class people to be incapable of governing themselves without the guidance of their betters.
The aristocracy were expecting the USA to demolish itself, as had the French Revolution and other attempts at democracy. They were waiting for the ruling class to emerge and impose itself, dispose of the rights of the individual, and assert the rights of Kings.
At Gettysburg, it can be said that history was on a knife's edge balance.
Had the US torn itself permanently asunder, then a truly republican democracy, where rights are vested in the individual and the state is restrained, would have faded from the world in the aftermath.
Truly, the heroes of Gettysburg won this battle for all the world, and all the freed peoples, by insuring "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
President Lincoln was wise beyond his time and place when he wrote those words.
#7
Short Attention Span Theater?
Seeing as that the world little noted nor long remembered what was said there, and all...
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
11/19/2008 16:03 Comments ||
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#8
However...Emancipation Proclamation annexes allowed residual slavery - including some in Gettysburg - until the death of current slaves.
The North didn't confront the South to advance "freedom": the purpose was to "Preserve the Union." Hell is full of politicians who attached "freedom" to private agendas.
"Government by the people"? Hitler was popular until the demise of his regime. Put OUR security concerns over freedom claims of savages. Yah, the Iraqi and Afghan wastes of flesh can go to hell.
#9
Hitler most certainly was popular, but his rule could hardly be characterized as democratic... and his ascension to power was a perversion of the Weimar system as well, as I recall.
As for the Proclamation annexes, Mr. Lincoln was a child of the American frontier; hence he was very aware of the real-world limits to idealism, despite his personal hatred of slavery.
#10
The North didn't confront the South to advance "freedom": the purpose was to "Preserve the Union."
Strange how rationalizing people ignore the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. It wasn't a coincidence as to when and why they were passed.
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment 15 - Race No Bar to Vote. Ratified 2/3/1870.
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
(SomaliNet) A group of armed criminals have attacked and killed a six-year-old albino girl in Burundi. The attack took place at the girl's home in Bugongo, more than 200 kilometres east of the capital Bujumbura. The girl was decapitated and her arms and legs were cut off.
Last month, two other albino people were killed elsewhere in Burundi. Police say the body parts and organs of albinos are sold to 'medicine men' in neighbouring Tanzania, who use them to make amulets. More than 27 albinos, most of them women and children, were killed in Tanzania last year.-
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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HAVANA (AP) China's president was signing dozens of trade and investment deals with communist ally Cuba on Tuesday, part of a Latin America trip on which Chinese businessmen have been snapping up all manner of raw materials.
Taking the long view at a time of financial crisis, China is investing heavily in commodity-producing countries, and Cuba is no exception. The deals agreed to by President Hu Jintao included purchases of Cuban nickel and sugar, along with pledges to send food and building materials to help the Caribbean nation recover from three major hurricanes. Other deals promise stronger ties in the future, such as a Chinese commitment to help renovate Cuba's aging ports, which are vital since Cuba receives virtually all its imports by sea.
Hu also thanked Cuba for sending doctors to China after last year's devastating earthquake, and for educational programs on the island attended by about 2,000 Chinese citizens, including medical and tourism students.
Cuba depended heavily on Soviet largesse and turned a cold shoulder to China during the Cold War's Sino-Soviet split. But ties warmed after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Cuba now has no problem dealing with both Beijing and Moscow. With bilateral trade topping $2.6 billion a year, China is Cuba's No. 2 trading partner after Venezuela, where socialist President Hugo Chavez provides nearly 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island at favorable prices.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Courtesy of the American consumer, business and political classes.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 6:33 Comments ||
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Taking the long view at a time of financial crisis,
Their only view is the "long view." Here's an early prediction. Obama drops the US trade embargo against Cuba and China Whalmart immediately begins construction of factories and massive distribution centers within an hour's drive of Havana. DHL, FedEx, and UPS offices open the following day. You don't like products MADE IN CHINE? Well you may soon have a choice.
#3
i said this yesterday about China not hleping out with the financial crisi, they are our enemy and just found new buyers for all their cheap crap
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:17 Comments ||
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Uh, what? If Cubans have any money for cheap Chinese crap, it's only oil subsidies from the Venezuelans. The only reason Cuba hasn't starved like North Korea is because they're in the Caribbean, not on the frozen ass-end of the Sea of Japan.
But really, the Chinese *like* deranged little communistic hermit kingdoms like Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Cuba. And the Gulf-of-Mexico oil claims is just the sort of detail to make Chinese resource-strip-miners just go absolutely stiff with anticipation.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/19/2008 8:50 Comments ||
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#5
i'm sure they could prob talk havana into making a gambling hayday comeback with a little beijing money maybe not cheap crap but still an enemy getting alot closer
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 10:20 Comments ||
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You better watch Cuba... their offshore oil reserves match those of the U.S.
Once they manage to tap them they will just laugh at the embargo
Chinese are not dumb
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/19/2008 10:22 Comments ||
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#7
Raul Castro sang a song (in Chinese) praising Mao Zedong.
He still hasn't mastered the kow tow. That will come soon.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 12:53 Comments ||
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#8
It's easy to match the US's offshore reserves when the only place they'll look offshore of is Louisiana.
#9
ION CHINA, WORLD MIL FORUM > CHINA WARNS INDIA NOT TO MILITARILY INTERFERE IN BRAHMAPATRA RIVER DAM PROJECT + CHINA FEARS RUSSIA'S NEW ULTRA-NATIONALISM AND MILITARY ASSERTIVENESS, US-NATO EASTWARD EXPANSION, JAPAN REARMAMENT.
ALso from WMF > CHINA TO DEPLOY "RED FLAG 9" LONG-RANGE AIR DEFENSE MISSLE SYSTEMS TO PROTECT NUCLEAR FACILITIES AGZ US-NATO AIR ATTACKS FROM AFGHANISTAN + CHINA TO BOOST PLA FORCES ALONG PAKISTAN BORDER.
Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin who is a man has been ordered to appear in court in connection with an alleged smear campaign that targeted President Nicolas Sarkozy, sources close to the case said Tuesday.
"Nothing can justify this decision..." Villepin said, reacting to the order, in a statement received by AFP. "Throughout the investigation, the truth of the facts and the law have been diverted for the benefit of one civil party who is at the same time today President of the Republic (Sarkozy)," said Villepin.
The order drawn up by judges Jean-Marie d'Huy and Henri Pons was signed on Tuesday evening requiring Villepin to appear before the court over alleged "complicity" in slander, the sources said.
Villepin is suspected of helping to orchestrate a leak in 2004 of what turned out to be a faked list of account-holders at the Clearstream bank in Luxembourg which included Sarkozy's name. The named individuals were supposed to have benefited from illegal commissions from arms sales.
At the time, Villepin and Sarkozy were rivals to succeed then president Jacques Chirac.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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I want to know where he stands on having Lance Armstrong ride the TdF in 2009...
A former Elmhurst College student who claimed she had been attacked on campus because she is a Muslim pleaded not guilty Monday to falsifying a police report.
Safia Jilani, 19, was charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly telling police she had been attacked by a masked gunman on Oct. 9 after speaking at a diversity rally at the private, west suburban college. Authorities ultimately concluded Jilani concocted that story and filed the criminal charge against the sophomore, who has since been expelled from the college.
Her attorney said Jilani is "in treatment'' but wouldn't disclose any details, though he said that could have some bearing on the case against her. "I just hope the public withholds judgment on her actions until all the facts are known and all her treatment is done," defense attorney Terry Ekl said.
Police said Jilani told investigators she was attacked in a school restroom by a gunman after she found anti-Muslim graffiti scrawled on a mirror there.
Jilani, who has no prior criminal history, is free on bail. She left the brief hearing without commenting. She faces a maximum 3-year prison sentence if convicted, though she also is eligible for probation.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 08:21 ||
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"treatment" as in "quit lying you attention whore"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/19/2008 8:45 Comments ||
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Her attorney said Jilani is "in treatment'' but wouldn't disclose any details
#3
Her actions should be tried as a hate crime. Her lies made other Muslims nervous about their safety when no nervousness was warranted. Her actions made whites and others feel guilty when such guilt was unwarranted. The effects of her lie are as bad as if it had been an actual hate crime so she should be tried. That would help put an end to the stream of fake hate crimes and when the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes drops to near zero the lie that the US is anti-Muslim will die as well.
#4
Authorities ultimately concluded Jilani concocted that story and filed the criminal charge against the sophomore, who has since been expelled from the college.
Y'all missed this completely
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/19/2008 12:29 Comments ||
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#5
Yup. College did the right thing. We don't have the details as to how they figured it out, but it's generally a good bet that whenever a student or academic person claims to have been attacked, for found a noose, or found hate symbols on their door, etc., etc., etc., it's a fabrication.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 13:23 Comments ||
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#6
As has been repeated by the race industry charging someone for a crime is not enough. Racism is equal to terrorism in that the effects are designed to effect farther than the immediate target. She will probably be charged with filing a false report, in addition to that she should have every hate crime law that applies, otherwise the hate crime laws shoudl be stricken as racist themselves (being designed only to work against whites).
#7
Authorities ultimately concluded Jilani concocted that story and filed the criminal charge against the sophomore, who has since been expelled from the college.
The sophomore was expelled??? Has he since been reinstated? Or is this gonna be like Duke University where the young men are guilty until proven innocent? If I was a reporter I wouldn't want to leave such a big, obvious question unanswered.
Toba Tek Singh police arrested two Christian boys from a village in Gojra tehsil on charges of blasphemy on Tuesday, a private TV channel reported.
According to the channel, Rasheed Masih and Babu Masih had been charged in March 2007 with desecrating posters carrying the name of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The police had registered a case under Section 295-c of the Pakistan Penal Code against them after riots broke out in the town and the houses of some Christians were also attacked. However, the two boys had not been arrested until now.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(SomaliNet) A French MP of the ruling UMP party has shot dead his mistress in the northeastern town of Thionville before taking his own life. 
Monday's earthquake has displaced at least 10,000 people in Indonesia's Sulawesi island after killing six people, according to officials.
