[An Nahar] A Belgian court refused Friday to ban the sale of "Tintin in the Congo," rejecting arguments by a Congolese man that the iconic comic book was filled with racist stereotypes about Africans.
The Brussels court ruled that Belgian anti-racism laws only apply when there is a willful intention to discriminate against someone, said an attorney for Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, the man who tried to get the strip off bookshelves.
The court argued that given the historical context -- the book was written during the colonial era in 1931 -- the author, Herge, "could not have been motivated by the desire" to discriminate, the lawyer, Ahmed L'Hedim, told AFP.
For the past four years, Mbutu Mondondo had sought to get the book banned or at least force stores to place a warning label on the cover or add a preface explaining that it was written in a different era, as English versions do.
"It is a racist comic book that celebrates colonialism and the supremacy of the white race over the black race," he said last year.
Both of his requests were rejected but Mbutu's lawyers said he would appeal the decision on Monday.
A representative for French publishing house Casterman and Belgian firm Moulinsart, which holds the rights to the Tintin franchise, welcomed the decision with "great satisfaction."
"This decision is very sound. You have to take the work in its context and compare it with the information and clichés of its time," said Alain Berenboom, who had warned that a ban would amount to censorship.
Herge, real name Georges Remi (1907-1983), justified the book by saying it was merely a reflection of the naive views of the time. Some of the scenes were revised for later editions.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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Uh, uh, RIN-TIN-TIN + RUSTY HAD A "CONGO/ AFRICA" EPISODE???
#2
The court argued that given the historical context -- the book was written during the colonial era in 1931 -- the author, Herge, "could not have been motivated by the desire" to discriminate, the lawyer, Ahmed L'Hedim, told AFP.
So Racism is an invention of the post-colonial period?
#4
The horror! The horror!
/channeling Joseph Conrad
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2012 13:29 Comments ||
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#5
Can we get the un-censored original versions of Tom Sawyers and Huckleberry Finn back?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/12/2012 13:51 Comments ||
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#6
don't be looking for Disney's "Songs of the South". It's been pulled
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2012 14:20 Comments ||
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#7
As I recall, the three big tourist purchases in
Brussels were chocolates, lace, and Tintin. He even has his own shop, just off the Grand Place. No judge is going to rule against such a traditional cash cow, not in the city whose mascot is the statue of a peeing toddler whose wardrobe probably by now rival's that of the queen of England, and especially not now that times are so difficult.
[IOL News.za] Agovernment minister in Zim-bob-we says work has stopped on new reservoirs because workers have been scared off by mermaids, a report has said. "Yeah! Mermaids! Big 'uns!"
According to orangenews.com, Minister of Water Resources Samuel Sipepa Nkomo reportedly told a parliamentary committee that terrified workers were refusing to return to the sites, near the towns of Gokwe and Mutare. "I thought mermaids were supposed to be good-looking?"
"They are! But they smell like fish!"
He said the only way to solve the problem was to brew traditional beer and carry out rites to appease the spirits. "See? First I get 'em liquored up! Then you show up with the deodorant!"
"All the officers I have sent have vowed not to go back there," Zim-bob-we's state-approved Herald newspaper quoted him as saying. "I mean, they can't get rid of the smell by taking a bath, can they?"
The senior politician allegedly said mermaids were also present in other reservoirs around the country. "Yeah. You can smell 'em a mile away on a hot day!"
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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He said the only way to solve the problem was to brew traditional beer and carry out rites to appease the spirits.
That may be the unexpurgated and barely edited headline of the year.
[Daily Mail] A man died after falling off a bucket of mayonnaise and stabbing himself in the heart with an electric drill. Ayup. Y'don't see that'n every day...
Araz Saleh, 23, was balancing on the industrial-sized bucket while drilling a hole in a wall when he slipped, accidentally driving the power tool into his chest. "You ain't got a ladder for me to stand on?"
"Nope."
"A step stool?"
"Nope."
"Whaddya got?"
"A bucket of mayonnaise."
"That ain't big enough!"
"It's a giant bucket of mayonnaise!"
An inquest at Oxford Coroner's Court heard the 23-year-old was fixing metal panels to the side of a friend's fast food kiosk when he lost his footing. "My footing! I've lost it! I'm fallingggggggggg!
He had been balancing with one foot on the bucket and the other on a table. "Araz! Are you sure that's safe?"
"I'm balancing with one foot on a giant bucket of mayo and the other on a table with wheels for feet. What could go wrong?"
As he fell his left shoulder hit a wall [BUMP!] "My shoulder!"
and the drill, "rrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRR!"
which was in his hand, was pressed into his chest. "My chest! Aaaiiieee! The pain!"
His friend Salam Kiras said: 'Then I saw blood gushing out.' "Hey! Watch it! That stuff's getting in the couscous!"
He told how he tried desperately to stem the blood flow before running to a nearby kebab shop to get help. "Lemme try to stem the blood flow! How about this thing?... Whoa! Popped it right out!... How about the end of the mop handle?... Hmpf! Tilted right over! Maybe I should push it in a little further?"
"Aaaiiieee!"
"Don't go nowhere! I'm gonna get help!"
"Where?"
"At the kabob shop, where else?"
Staff in the kebab shop raised the alarm "ALARM! ALARM!"
with paramedics who rushed to the scene, in Gloucester Green, Oxford. "We're trained medical professionals! Who needs help?"
"The guy on the floor, with the mop handle in his chest!"
Mr Saleh, of Greater Leys, Oxford, was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital where he died the following day, December 1, 2010. "He's dead, Jim!"
Detective Inspector Suzette Allcorn told the inquest at Oxford: 'It was an incredibly unusual injury. But there was no evidence of any foul play, and the police conclusion was that this was a stoopid tragic accident.'
Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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Wonder if he's in the running for a Darwin award?
BTW, great in-line, Fred.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/12/2012 8:55 Comments ||
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Reads like this happened in GB. For all their governmental work rules, this accident is a cluster &^%$. I looked at an accident in the U.S. where a worker was providing OJT for another worker. He instructed the newby to not stick his arm in the machine "like this" and proceeded to demonstrate by sticking his arm in the panel opening--where I might add there were rotating and moving parts. He lost his arm.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2012 13:26 Comments ||
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#10
"pay no attention to the drill shavings in the Mayo"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2012 14:17 Comments ||
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#11
Guns don't kill people, condiments do.
(Someone had to say it.)
Posted by: no mo uro ||
02/12/2012 14:55 Comments ||
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#12
I once worked Maintenance for Goodyear, they assigned me to Build a rack hanging from the ceiling, and were amazed when I used a Vise Grip to hold on, (There was NOTHING to hold on to)I guess it never occurred to them that I might fall.
Workwd fine.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/12/2012 23:37 Comments ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zim-bob-we's President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... will be barred from contesting in future polls if the draft constitution is adopted.
The draft constitution bars candidates above 70 years or those who have served two terms from vying for seats in elections, a provision widely seen as targeted at President Mugabe.
The Constitution Select Committee on Friday said it had completed the first draft of the supreme law, which is now being reviewed by a team of technical experts.
But the clause which says "a person is disqualified for elections as President if he or she has already held office as President for one or more periods, whether continuous or not, amounting to 10 years" has already sparked a heated debate.
The state-owned Herald newspaper said the clause appeared targeted at President Mugabe, who has ruled Zim-bob-we since independence in 1980. He is turning 88 on February 21 but has been endorsed by his Zanu PF as its candidate for elections he wants held this year.
"It is clear this is a Mugabe constitution," the Herald quoted an unnamed political analyst. "Here is a constitution that is being drafted by three political parties seeking to disqualify the leader of one of the political parties."
A decade ago, another attempt to re-write Zim-bob-we's constitution failed after the drafters ignored people's views regarding presidential term limits.
A coalition of opposition parties and civic groups successfully campaigned for a 'No' vote at a referendum on the new constitution in 2000 and delivered a crushing defeat against President Mugabe.
According to the Herald newspaper, which usually reflects the thinking in Zanu PF, the experts described the new draft constitution as "an originally flawed regime change document that does not reflect the view of the people."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Britannia's ambassador to the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... has warned Argentina that UK would "robustly" defend Malvinas Islands if necessary, insisting UK would hold talks with Buenos Aires on any issue except the islands' illusory sovereignty.
Mark Lyall Grant pointed out the British government's controversial stand over the disputed islands after Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman paid a visit to UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... and the president of the UN Security Council to call on the UK to stop militarizing the region.
"We are not looking to increase the war of words, but clearly if there is an attempt to take advantage of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war by Argentina, then we will obviously defend our position and defend it robustly," Lyall Grant said.
His comments came only a day after Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... announced he would defend the archipelago "properly."
The war rhetoric between London and Buenos Aires over the oil-rich islands have heightened as the 30th anniversary of the Malvinas (Falklands) war approaches.
Argentine condemned the constant military threats of the UK government and made a formal complaint to the UN to voice its opposition against the dispatch of an heir to throne, the Duke of Cambridge, to the islands along with the deployment of destroyer HMS Dauntless and an advanced nuclear submarine.
The British envoy neither admitted nor rejected reports that UK was sending its most sophisticated nuclear-armed submarine to protect the islands from Argentine's possible counter-move.
"We do not comment on the disposition of nuclear weapons, submarines, et cetera. But it is well known that ... as part of our overall defensive posture, there are submarines on patrol all around the world at any time. So it's not a question of anything new in what he (Timerman) is suggesting," Lyall Grant said.
While Ban Ki-moon called on the two nations to resolve the problem through dialogue, Lyall Grant ruled out the possibility of getting involved in further negotiations.
"We have always been open to dialogue with Argentina. ... We had a dialogue with Argentina and they broke it off. we are not going to discuss illusory sovereignty," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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Argentina nationalized private pensions so they need more money, another revenue source. Yeah, start another war. That will be a success like last time. Think about what happened to the General Belgrano before you go off half cocked.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2012 13:43 Comments ||
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#2
Met a lady from Port Stanley at Hotel Kandahar. She says it's just a matter of time till the Argies try it again. It's the oil this time around.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2012 14:20 Comments ||
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#4
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [BBC News = Alan Little]FALKLANDS ISLANDS: A SHORTAGE OF EGGS [ + Veggies], due to Christina's blockade by Air + Sea. | FALKLAND ISLANDS FACING SHORTAGES OF FOOD DUE TO ARGENTINA'S BLOCKADE.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has undergone a second surgery on his digestive system, TRT Haber TV Channel reported on Saturday. The operation lasted 30 minutes. The Prime Minister is in good health.
Mr Erdogan underwent the first operation at the İstanbul Marmara University Hospital last year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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Too bad he's not in for a brain transplant.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/12/2012 8:52 Comments ||
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I think they're still rummaging around his lower system looking for the old brain.
[An Nahar] A top U.S. diplomat Saturday ruled out snap elections to defuse a political crisis in the Maldives as its new president agreed to probe allegations that a military-backed coup vaulted him to power.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian affairs Robert Blake said there should "breathing space" from this week's violence and a vote could be held after strengthening the elections commission and police.
"I don't think anyone believes that elections can be properly held right now," Blake said after talks with President Mohammed Waheed, his predecessor Mohammed Nasheed and civil society representatives.
The new president has also ruled out an election before his term ends in November 2013.
Nasheed, who claims a military-backed coup forced him to step down last Tuesday, had insisted snap polls were crucial to end the political crisis.
There was no immediate comment from the ex-president on Blake's statements.
"In a situation like this everyone must compromise," said Blake, who was on a lightning 12-hour visit to the luxury resort archipelago. "In the days ahead, everyone should look for ways to bridge the differences."
Any more instability could jeopardize the Indian Ocean country's lucrative tourist trade, where hundreds of thousands of high-end travellers and honeymooners visit its pristine islands each year.
Waheed told news hounds separately that he had informed Blake of his agreement to probe the circumstances that led to his rise after serving Nasheed as his vice president since the country's first democratic vote in 2008.
"I am fully committed to an independent investigation," Waheed said.
Nasheed has accused Waheed of being part of the plot to turn him out of office.
Waheed said the international community "had not questioned the legality" of his presidency "but there are questions about the circumstances and I am prepared to have them investigated."
Washington on Thursday recognized Waheed's administration but then stepped back from the declaration, saying "circumstances surrounding the transfer of power need to be clarified."
Nasheed's exit from office followed months of protests over high prices and calls for more religiously conservative policies in the nation of Sunni Moslems.
Rioting erupted across the country Wednesday when Nasheed said he was the victim of a military-backed coup and his party's senior members were beaten during a rally in Male. Dozens were maimed, but there were no deaths.
Blake said Nasheed's MDP party was responsible for the violent demonstration and added the police and the Maldivian Defense Force were also responsible for unleashing violence in the southern atolls.
At least 18 cop shoppes were torched and dozens of vehicles, court houses and government buildings were destroyed in remote islets of the archipelago, police said.
Police confirmed they were carrying out mass arrests of troublemakers while Nasheed said 350 people linked to his administration had been jugged within three days of his resignation.
Waheed said he would form a national unity government "in a day or two" and leave several positions open for former president Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
Waheed acknowledged Nasheed was a "celebrity and popular on the streets," but urged him to restrain his supporters.
Nasheed had become an environmental star for urging global action to tackle climate change that he said threatened to submerge his island nation.
There is a warrant for Nasheed's arrest but Waheed insisted he would not be taken into custody. There has been intense diplomatic pressure on the government not to detain Nasheed and escalate unrest.
A U.N. special envoy, Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, arrived in the Maldives Friday and met both sides.
A delegation from neighboring India was also visiting while an EU mission was headed for the tropical nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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Fear not, America = Amerika, INDJUH [India] has a contingency mil intervention plan in place iff the the Maldives' new Prez requests it.
#3
If state is concerning themselves with pin prick sized island nations - perhaps they should be arranging a takeover of the Caymans that lets in FBI and IRS auditors?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
02/12/2012 12:35 Comments ||
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#4
Because congress critters have some of their stash there, H2O?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/12/2012 13:51 Comments ||
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If state is concerning themselves with pin prick sized island nations
[Dawn] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... has said that corrupt politicians of the ruling parties could not stop his `tsunami` because they have given the masses nothing except the burden of new taxes and inflation in the last four years.
Addressing a big public meeting at Shewa playground here on Friday, Mr Khan said that the PTI`s massive rallies in Lahore and Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... had unnerved the ruling politicians because they had nothing show to the masses.
"We want to make our country economically stable and politically mature," he said.
Mr Khan said that his party would introduce great changes in the system for the benefit of masses. He alleged that that the government devoured billions of rupees in corrupt practices during the last four years and the rulers still continued to accumulate wealth through illegal means.
He said that due to corruption the country faced economic crisis and the entire burden had been shifted to the masses.
"The imposition of taxes on the people is an utter failure of the government on the economic front," he said.
He came down hard on President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... , Azam Khan Hoti and Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... , saying that they indulged in massive corruption. He alleged that Mr Fazl had been deceiving the people in the name of Islam. He said that Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... was also an equal partner in the government`s corrupt practices by giving it support while sitting in opposition.
"Nawaz Sharif raised the slogan of `Go Zardari Go`, but when he was ready to go he used the tactics to stop him. In fact, they are partners of each other," he said. Mr Khan said that both Sharif and Zardari were united for the 18th amendment and now embraced each other for the 20th amendment."
He said that his party would support the Afghans, but the Americans would never be backed in the war-ravaged country.
The PTI chairman vowed to introduce reforms, conduct accountability of the corrupt politicians, bring economic revolution by broadening tax base, develop the education sector, stop drone attacks and uphold the supremacy of the judiciary to make Pakistain a strong country.
Javid Hashmi and other leaders of the party also spoke on the occasion.
The ground where the public meeting was held was jammed-packed, while roads leading to the venue and the Shewa bridge remained blocked due to rush of people.
Asad Qaisar and Khawaja Mohammad Hoti were prominent among those sitting on the stage with Mr Khan. On this occasion, several local leaders of other political parties announced to join the PTI.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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MALE, Maldives: The new president of the Maldives said Saturday that he was ready to face an independent investigation into the transfer of power in the Indian Ocean nation that his predecessor alleges was a coup.
President Mohammed Waheed Hassan said he had given an assurance to visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake that he was willing to submit to a probe by an independent body as questions had arisen about his takeover of power.
Blake flew into the Maldives early Saturday and also met with Nasheed, who resigned Tuesday after police joined months of street protests against his rule and soldiers defected. He was replaced by Hassan, his vice president.
Nasheed later said he was ousted in a coup, and there is an arrest warrant against him. The new government denies the coup claims and insists Nasheed stepped down voluntarily. It has made no move to arrest Nasheed, who is living openly in his home in the capital, Male.
Soon after the meeting with Blake, Hassan told journalists that he wanted an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to Nasheed's removal.
"There are constitutional mechanisms to do that," Hassan said.
He insisted that no one had questioned the legality of his assuming office. However, "there are some questions as to what preceded my assumption of office. This is why we are saying we are completely open to an independent investigation," Hassan said.
Hassan urged political leaders to eschew violence, alleging Nasheed's supporters had torched police stations and a court house in the southernmost atoll, Addu, on Wednesday.
The region was now calm, Hassan said.
Hassan has announced his intention to form a coalition to help restore stability ahead of presidential elections due next year. He said Saturday there wasn't a need for "a snap election," saying that "the country is deeply divided and the political landscape has many potholes." However, Nasheed is calling for early elections, insisting his party would emerge victorious.
Nasheed said he told Blake that he was not willing to working with the current government. "Only an early election will stabilize the country," Nasheed told journalists.
The United States initially recognized the new Maldives government on Friday. It later backtracked, saying the situation was unclear and called for an investigation into the transfer of power.
Nasheed, a former human rights activist, came to power after elections in 2008 ended 30 years of autocratic rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Nasheed has said his ouster was engineered by rogue elements of the police and supporters of the country's former autocratic leader. Others have blamed Islamic extremists.
Over the past year, the Maldives witnessed demands for more religiously conservative policies and widespread protests over soaring prices. Last month, Nasheed's government arrested the nation's top criminal court judge for freeing a government critic and refused to release him as protests grew.
Male remained peaceful Saturday. There were no signs of extra security on the streets and people went about their normal lives.
Tourism is the main industry in the Maldives, a chain of nearly 1,200 islands off southern India blessed with sandy beaches and coral. Most resorts are located near the beaches and remained mostly untouched by the protests in Male and Addu.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2012 00:00 ||
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Malaysian authorities have deported a Saudi newspaper columnist accused of insulting Mohammed in a tweet. Police have confirmed that Hamza Kashgari was sent back to Saudi Arabia on Sunday despite protests from human rights groups. Kashgari's controversial tweet last week caused more than 30,000 responses and several death threats.
Kashgari, 23, fled Saudi Arabia last week and was detained upon his arrival in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. He had tweeted of doubts about Mohammed on the prophet's birthday last week. Saudi clerics condemned his remarks as blasphemous. Kashgari apologized and deleted the tweet, but when the threats continued, he left for Malaysia.
Mr Kashgari's lawyer had obtained an injunction on Sunday to permit him to stay in Malaysia until his case was heard, but it was too late.
Malaysia's home ministry made a statement saying, "The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities."
Amnesty International has warned that Kashgari could be executed if he is found guilty of apostasy. Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui of Amnesty's Middle East division said, "If the Malaysian authorities hand over Hamza Kashgari to Saudi Arabia, they could end up complicit in any violations he suffers."
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2012 12:37 Comments ||
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#2
He will be tried, found guilty and executed by the Saudis. The criminality of the Wahabbi Islam. The day is coming where destroying it (and the house of Saud) will need to be done.
#3
The day is coming where destroying it (and the house of Saud) will need to be done.
It has needed destroying for a long time. The final recognition and acceptance of that fact is what is coming. Soon I hope.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
02/12/2012 17:22 Comments ||
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#4
He will be tried, found guilty and executed by the Saudis. The criminality of the Wahabbi Islam. The day is coming where destroying it (and the house of Saud) will need to be done.
The Sauds are actually the moderates in the country named after them. The population of the country they rule is the real problem, and nothing short of a Muhammad-in-reverse type of coercive effort (i.e. renounce or die), coupled with the execution of all Islamic holy men will resolve that. Note that the Mongols (no stranger to atrocity and the massacre of entire cities) who conquered parts of the Middle East had to convert to Islam in order to have a quiet life.
New migrants should get taxpayer subsidies to visit overseas relatives, an Islamic group has told the Federal Government. Can it be one way?
The Islamic Women's Welfare Association also says Muslims prefer to live close to their own people and Australia should consider how to "facilitate the purchase of homes for new migrants". I'd love to see a western goverment announce that it was going to apply the same rules on immigrants that their country of origin does. We're not any better than them, right? What better way to show it?
In a submission to a federal multicultural inquiry, the association has urged the Government to give tax deductions to newly arrived migrants so they can visit relatives in their homelands. More idiocy at the link, I snipped it because I'm not sure how news.com.au likes cites handled and, well, it's pretty much your standard idiocy we've all come to love.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/12/2012 19:04 ||
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Story Link. Apparently I did it wrong above, sorry.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/12/2012 19:14 Comments ||
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#1
A legal strategy pioneered by His Excellency Mayor Bloomberg. This action does say that Indians are incapable of self control and adult responsibility and the whole effort smack of paternalistic nannyism for the poor creatures that simply mimics 18th and 19th Century attitudes of the 'white mans culture'.
#2
The stores sold nearly 5 million cans of beer in 2010. Only about 10 people live in the town. How many people live on the reservation?
tribe members have suffered from high poverty and alcoholism rates. The nanny reservation? Seems to work about as well as inner-city projects where drugs usage and crime are high. Ah, the compassionate liberal solution for nearly everything--keeping people on one plantation or another.
#4
The reservation system is terrible. It's a mess. It keeps people down. That was the original intent, of course.
There is no need for it anymore. Abolish it and have the feds compensate native Americans properly for the value of the land, etc. Heck, if we are to throw money around for a 'stimulus', this is a situation where the money really would help. The native Americans then can live wherever they want.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2012 11:02 Comments ||
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#5
As for keeping the reservations, as long as States look hungrily at them for assets and sources of revenue to support their spending habits, it's best to treat them like national parks or reserves to keep the despoiling claim jumpers off.
#6
Question. Does the reservation allow folks to drive on and buy beer and avoid taxation or anything (like a PX). If so that might explain the high sales numbers vs low population on the reservation.
#7
The largest liquor store in the world is just across the state and reservation border in Nebraska from the reservation. South Dakota and the Sioux have trouble regulating that. I remember Russell Means brother explaining the problem in detail to a bunch of us in late 70s when asking us not to drink at some events co-sponsored by the Sioux.
Fetal alcohol syndrome is endemic on the reservation. The very best thing that could happen to the Indians would be to disband the Bureau of Indian Affairs and let the tribes live their own lives as citizens. BIA is too intrusive and controlling.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
02/12/2012 12:24 Comments ||
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#8
In the new FEMA region nation to come, the great White Black Father will provide Agency Store coupons.
#10
Have worked with schools on Indian reservations. In the norther Arizona Apache reservation schools, saw 1st graders, in school, drunk.
The return rate of young adults back to the reservation, after entering the "real world," remains high. They come back to the reservation because they can't handle the "real world." Too different for them.
#11
Mexican press last month quoted a local Catholic mission in western Chihuahua who said that Tarahumara Indians suffered an alcoholism rate of 67 percent.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/12/2012 18:30 Comments ||
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#16
Native Americans are free to live wherever they want in the USA - that was not always the case. At times in the 19th century they needed permission from a federal official to leave a reservation.
The following, from the Aberdeen News, is necessary to begin to grasp the Sioux situation: Land was never for sale
The dispute is more than 130 years old.
In an 1868 treaty, the U.S. government agreed that a huge area west of the Missouri River would be set aside for use by the Sioux. After gold was discovered in the Black Hills, miners and other fortune-seekers flocked to western South Dakota. That led to military battles that culminated in George Custers defeat at the Little Big Horn in 1876.
When the Sioux refused to ratify a new treaty giving up the Black Hills, Congress passed a law taking the land in 1877.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 upheld a lower court ruling that awarded eight Sioux tribes $106 million in compensation, the 1877 value of $17.5 million plus interest. The nations highest court said the government had to pay for taking the tribal property, and Piersol said that award has now grown to $650 million or more.
All the Sioux tribes have refused to take the money, with tribal officials and others saying the Black Hills are not for sale.
Individual remedy
The lawsuit by the individual tribal members also sought distribution of a smaller amount of money awarded for land taken in the 1868 treaty. Filed two years ago, the lawsuit argued that because the court system cannot return the land to the Sioux, the only remedy is to distribute money to individuals.
Piersol said federal law provides that no money from the Black Hills case can be distributed until Congress appropriates funds and federal officials agree with the tribes on a distribution plan. Congress has not provided money and all eight tribes have passed resolutions opposing distribution of the money.
The return of any land is up to Congress, the judge said.
The fact remains that resolution by the courts is at an end. If there is to be any result other than the current stalemate, then it must come from tribal government and the Congress of the United States, Piersol wrote.
The eight tribes listed in the lawsuit were the Crow Creek Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, Lower Brule Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Oglala Sioux, Fort Peck Sioux and Santee Sioux.
That land was stolen from the Sioux in violation of an existing treaty, and the USSC partially ratified compensation for this theft, which nowadays is a piddling $600 million, a small fraction of what that land is worth and in comparison to what has been extracted from it. They want their land back. They don't want the money, and money would not help them. They ain't gonna get the land.
#17
I've worked near reservations for Navajo, various Pueblo peoples, Yankton Sioux & even at Pine Ridge. The personality types common among the Pine Ridge people were so different from those of the other tribes I knew, they have to stem from the old culture. Pine Ridge people were to Navajos the way, say, the Irish were to the Germans. One PHS doctor insulted someone at the Pine Ridge IHS hospital & received a nighttime visit from a Sioux carrying a rifle. He left his position immediately & never returned.
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.
[IOL News.za] Agovernment minister in Zim-bob-we says work has stopped on new reservoirs because workers have been scared off by mermaids, a report has said.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zim-bob-we's President 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
David Cameron
[An Nahar] A top U.S. diplomat Saturday ruled out snap elections to defuse a political crisis in the Maldives as its new president agreed to probe allegations that a military-backed coup vaulted him to power.
Asif Ali 
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Malaysian authorities have deported a Saudi newspaper columnist accused of insulting Mohammed in a tweet. Police have confirmed that Hamza Kashgari was sent back to Saudi Arabia on Sunday despite protests from human rights groups. Kashgari's controversial tweet last week caused more than 30,000 responses and several death threats.
