Tuesday - May 08, 2007

Media Vultures And Euro Jackals

Far be it from me to insult the vultures and other carrion eaters of the animal kingdom but the similarities between these creatures and the Liberal American press is astonishing at time. Case in point: the NY TIMES.

What? Did you actually think I could go an entire week without blasting these bloviating blowhards? Guess again. They are in the BMEWS radar this time because they are lazily circling in the sky above the World Bank. They are marking the spot and targeting their next meal after the jackals and hyenas in Europe snap and claw at the heels of their latest prey ... Paul Wolfowitz, who is the US picked head of that organization.

I don’t know what jungle animal to compare Wolfowitz to so you’ll have to pick your own anthropomorphism. (Is that a real word? The spell-checker passed it. Well, I’ll be. Anyway ...)

In case you went out for peanuts and beer during the last three innings, let me bring you up to date:

• President Bush appointed Wolfowitz to head the World Bank in 2005. As is customary, the US picks the head of the World Bank and European leaders pick the head of the sister organization International Monetary Fund.


• When he arrived at the World Bank, Wolfowitz immediately notified the bank’s board that there was a conflict of interest because his girlfriend Shaha Ali Riza, who had been with the bank for seven years, held a high-level position and the slightest hint or appearance of favoritism toward his main squeeze might hamper his ability to do his job.


• Wolfowitz then made arrangements to get his gal a job a job at the US State Department and, to compensate her for ripping her out of a good career at the World Bank, she was given a hefty pay raise and put on a good promotion track at State.

You would think that would be the end of it, wouldn’t you? Mais non, ma petite merde! Les Europeons cried “FOUL!” and the NY TIMES immediately seized on the story and has been running with it for a week, carefully guiding the rabid pack dogs in for the kill.

Now, let’s examine the real reason why the Euro-Beasts and the NY SLIMES have their knickers in a wad.

• Paul Wolfowitz was chosen by President Bush to be Deputy Secretary Of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld soon after Bush took office in 2001. Strike One.


• Wolfowitz is believed by the Bush-bashers to have been behind the whole “Weapons Of Mass Destruction” argument about going into Iraq and his subsequent support for major wanker Ahmed Chalabi and the initial failures to stabilize Iraq immediately after the invasion, have been pinned on him since Day One. Strike Two.


• After Rumsfeld’s departure, President Bush sent Wolfowitz to the World Bank, whose board is comprised mostly of anti-American Euro-Jackals who take offense at the drop of a hat and don’t mind whining to the NY TIMES about every little thing. Strike Three.

Starting to get the picture yet? The story has been front-page news on the NY TIMES and WASHINGTON POST for over a week and they’re shagging this story like a horny chihuahua on a bedpost. Wolfowitz is a Republican, he was involved in Iraq, he is good buddies with Rumsfeld, Bush likes him. One more thing: Wolfowitz comes from a Polish-Jewish family. SACRE BLEU!

To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Ah, how do they hate thee? Let me count the ways.” Go take a look at today’s installment of “The Wolfowitz Saga” at the NY TIMES and keep the above in mind as you watch the Liberals and Euro-Peons rewrite recent events, point pudgy little fingers and make baseless accusations and hide behind a mask of duplicity and deceit. Here are a few choice excerpts:

Deal Is Offered for Chief’s Exit at World Bank
WASHINGTON (NY TIMES) — May 8, 2007

Leading governments of Europe, mounting a new campaign to push Paul D. Wolfowitz from his job as World Bank president, signaled Monday that they were willing to let the United States choose the bank’s next chief, but only if Mr. Wolfowitz stepped down soon, European officials said.

European officials had previously indicated that they wanted to end the tradition of the United States picking the World Bank leader. But now the officials are hoping to enlist American help in persuading Mr. Wolfowitz to resign voluntarily, rather than be rebuked or ousted.

Well before Mr. Wolfowitz took office in 2005, leading European countries had begun agitating to discard the custom that had existed since the 1940s of the United States choosing the bank president. The United States has that prerogative because it contributes the largest share of the bank’s financing.

The committee’s finding of guilt against Mr. Wolfowitz was tempered by a finding that the bank shared at least some blame for the failure of Mr. Wolfowitz to comply with its rules. According to people familiar with the report, it said the advice from ethics officials at the bank to Mr. Wolfowitz was less than clear and evidently subject to misinterpretation. Nevertheless, the report was clear in its conclusion that Mr. Wolfowitz breached his obligations.

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Posted by The Skipper     on 05/08/2007 at 03:08 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Euro-Peons • Iraq • Media-Bias •  
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   Monday - May 07, 2007

French Fries

Question: how can you tell if the French voters chose the best person to fix the mess they have dug themselves into?

Answer: all the “wrong people” get pissed off and start rioting and burning towns down again.

You just knew this was coming, didn’t you? When a liberal, socialist or communist wins an election anywhere in the world the rest of us just shrug, vow to do better next election and go about our business. When a moderate or conservative wins an election the whining pissants rise up and raise hell. Whether it’s Jesse Jackson rousing the rabble in the US or the African invaders and “disaffected youth” in France the result is always the same - riots, baseless claims of disenfranchisement and/or just plain passive-aggressive, psychotic behavior ... the pod people always scream bloody murder.

I am just about getting sick and tired of this. We need to start having “rest periods” after every election. Everybody goes home and shuts the heck up for one week. No ifs, ands or buts. And while we’re on the subject ... who in hell decided Americans should hold elections on a Tuesday and Euro-Peons get to take their time voting on weekends? That ain’t right!

Regardless, Sarkozy won the election in France and we shall see if he is indeed going to turn France around. It can’t get much worse. If you’re keeping count on the “World Leaders Upheaval Showcase” lately, this is only Round One. Next is Tony Blair’s departure in Britain this month or next. Then comes the big Surprise Russian Elections next March when we find out if Pooty-Poot steps aside or not. Finally, in November of next year, America goes to the polls and decides whether we’re going to be an “Obama Nation” or not.

“Interesting times”, indeed. I predict nations worldwide are about to take a definite rightward tilt in the next eighteen months and the rioters, liberals, socialists, just plain assholes and the “Arab street” are about to get a lesson in civility. The majority of the world just wants to get on with the business of making our lives better and there is just no room for this silliness any more.

That’s the thing about pendulums, whether they be in clocks or political climates ... they never stand still. They always swing back in the opposite direction after a time. The angry, so-called “deprived” of this world are just getting in the way of progress. Their train left the station months ago ....

French Police Arrest Nearly 600 People In Post-Election Violence
PARIS, May 7 (AP) - May 7 03:31 PM US/Eastern

French police have arrested a total of 592 people across the country as bands of rioters protested conservative Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential election victory Sunday, French media reported.

The police said a total of 730 vehicles were torched and 28 police officers were injured in violent incidents from Sunday night to Monday morning. Police fought stone-throwing rioters with tear gas, but it was not clear how many rioters were injured, according to Radio France.

On Sunday night, about 5,000 people gathered at the Place de la Bastille, a favored gathering spot for right-wing supporters during the election. Other fights with the police broke out in Toulouse, Marseilles and Lyon.

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/07/2007 at 10:03 PM   
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   Sunday - May 06, 2007

Vive Les Frogges!

Sarkozy Takes French Presidency
(PARIS (BBC) - Sunday, 6 May 2007, 19:35 GMT 20:35 UK

Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has won the hotly-contested French presidential election, according to projections made from partial results. Mr Sarkozy is estimated to have won 53% of the vote, compared with 47% for socialist Segolene Royal.

The turnout was the highest for more than two decades, at about 85%. Mr Sarkozy, 52, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, takes over from the 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, who has been in power for 12 years.

Thousands of his supporters in the Place de la Concorde burst into applause and wild cheering as the result came through. In his victory speech, Mr Sarkozy said he would be the president of all the French.

“I love France. I love France, just as one loves someone who is very close to one,” he told crowds of cheering supporters. “France has given me everything, and now it is my turn to render to France what France has given me.”

Mr Sarkozy said the US could count on France’s friendship, but called on Washington to take a lead in the fight against climate change. He also said he believed deeply in European integration, but appealed to France’s European partners to understand the importance of social protection. After he finished speaking at his party headquarters, jubilant supporters sang a rousing rendition of the French national anthem.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/06/2007 at 03:40 PM   
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   Sunday - April 29, 2007

Europe’s Armory

You probably know how gun-shy Euro-Peons are and how they have so many laws to keep firearms out of the hands of their citizens, don’t you? Well, for every rule there is an exception. Recent small arms surveys showed the US to be the most heavily armed country in the world with 90 guns for every 100 citizens. Guess which country is in second place?

Hint: According to the same small arms survey there are 46 guns for every 100 citizens but the last time this country fought a major war of invasion was against Julius Caesar. The answer is under the fold ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/29/2007 at 12:59 PM   
Filed Under: • Euro-Peons • Firearms •  
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   Saturday - April 28, 2007

EPA Estimate: 2.5 Miles Per Cow

Euro-Peons are about to go to war ... over cows. In Britain, they’ve been processing cow guts after our little milk-producing friends are sliced and diced. They are using the gunky stuff to produce biofuel to drive “green” trains.

The peasants on the continent have different ideas. They are somewhat concerned over the amount of greenhouse gases these same udder buddies are producing ... i.e., too many farts.

Now, somehow I just can’t picture British spies sneaking into France just to find a cow who will moo “pull my hoof, mate.” Either way someone is going to have to grab the bull by the horns and squeeze out a solution. Beano, anyone?

Cows Make Fuel For Biogas Train
(BBC) - 24 October 2005

You have to tell yourself the cows are going to die anyway. Inside the abattoir at Swedish Meats in Linkoping, the cows stood patiently, occasionally nuzzling the lens of our camera. From there, it was a short walk past the white-walled butchery, down the steps to the basement where the raw material for biogas, slid greasily down a chute.

Still bubbling and burping, and carpeting you with an acrid stench, came the organs and the fat and the guts. Enough, from one cow, to get you about 4km (2.5 miles) on the train.

A tanker collects the organic sludge and makes the short journey to the biogas factory, where the stinking fuel is stewed gently for a month, before the methane can be drawn off.

The world’s first biogas-powered passenger train is taking its first passengers between the Swedish cities of Linkoping and Vastervik. And the biogas comes from the entrails of dead cows.

The boss of Svensk Biogas, Carl Lilliehook, is a proper, serious Swede. But his eyes twinkle at the biofuel “revolution”, as he calls it. You don’t have to look far beneath the number-crunching CEO to find the muesli-crunching environment-lover.

Yes, he says, the train between Linkoping and Vastervik will cost 20% more to run on methane than on the usual diesel. But the oil price is going up and up, and in any case, Swedes care about being able to pick our mushrooms and their fruit.

Nor is it just trains. In Linkoping, the 65-strong bus fleet is powered by biogas. Indeed the city boasts that it was the first in the world to try out its buses on methane. The taxis, the rubbish trucks and a number of private cars also fill up at the biogas pump, housed under a dinky green corrugated iron roof.

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/28/2007 at 01:08 PM   
Filed Under: • Animals • Euro-Peons • Odd-Strange •  
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   Tuesday - April 24, 2007

Francistan

More bad news for France - it seems a large part of the increase in voters was due to the Mooslims banding together and registering to vote against Sarkozy, who called them “scum” during last year’s riots and wants to run them out of France.

If Sarkozy is defeated, the Decline And Fall Of Gaul will proceed at breakneck speed, thanks to millions of Mooslims living off of state welfare, burning down the cities when the mood strikes them and socialism for all.

The future of Europe may be decided on May 6 when the runoff elections take place. Will it be the beginning of Socialist Eurabia? This bears watching closely - from a distance ... a great distance.

France’s Ghettos Hope to Beat Sarkozy
_{CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France - April 23, 2007, 2:24 PM EDT}

Many blacks and Muslims in the troubled neighborhoods ringing French cities voted for the first time, saying they were motivated by one desire: to stop law-and-order, tough-on-immigrants Nicolas Sarkozy from becoming president.

Sarkozy, the front-runner after Sunday’s first round of voting, is deeply unpopular in housing projects populated largely by second- and third-generation immigrants, many of them Muslims from former colonies in North Africa who live mired in poverty and joblessness.

Voters in several poor districts favored Segolene Royal, the Socialist campaigning to be France’s first woman president. She was second in the overall vote, finishing ahead of 10 other candidates and earning a spot in a May 6 runoff election against the conservative Sarkozy.

Sarkozy’s campaign has been haunted by his use of the word “scum” to describe young delinquents days before widespread riots erupted in 2005 in the bleak suburbs on the outskirts of the country’s cities. Some youths took Sarkozy’s comment as a declaration of war.

“If Sarkozy wins, there will certainly be riots here in Clichy and all over France,” said Mohammed Saidi, a first-time voter who was born in Morocco. The 43-year-old electrician and father of four voted in Clichy-sous-Bois, where the riots broke out and spread nationwide. Another first-time voter, 20-year-old Fatma Celik, said that if Sarkozy wins the runoff May 6, “people are going to go crazy here.”

Sarkozy has reached out to minorities by promoting a policy akin to affirmative action. But many in France’s housing projects—and beyond—despise the tough police tactics he instituted as interior minister, his uncompromising language and his sometimes roughly executed drive to send illegal immigrants home.

The favorite in poor neighborhoods was Royal, who casts herself as a maternal figure in sharp contrast to Sarkozy’s law enforcer image. Final results nationwide gave Sarkozy 31 percent of the votes to Royal’s 25 percent, but she won more than 40 percent in towns like Clichy-sous-Bois and others where Sarkozy’s sometimes abrasive rhetoric touched a nerve.

Voter registration was up throughout France, rising 3.3 million to a total of 44.5 million voters, and few areas experienced as dramatic a rise as the poor suburbs. In Seine-Saint-Denis, the rough region where Clichy-Sous-Bois is located, registration rose 8.5 percent—more than twice the average nationwide increase of 4.2 percent, the Interior Ministry said.

After the riots, suburban neighborhoods were targeted by an extensive voter registration campaign as one way of drawing in young minorities who feel France has never accepted them.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/24/2007 at 06:35 AM   
Filed Under: • Euro-Peons • Muslims •  
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   Monday - April 23, 2007

French Runoff

No, “French Runoff” does not describe military strategies of France. Well actually it does but this post is about an election, not a war. The field has been narrowed down to two and France is headed for a runoff election between the conservative candidate and the socialist candidate. Sarkozy will probably win but I wish Royal would win. Why? She would continue to lead France down the self-destructive road of socialism and before long France would cease to matter at all on the world stage. Then we could kick the Frogs off the UN Security Council and the EU could ignore French attempts at leadership. The Downfall Of Gaul, so to speak.

PARIS (INTERNATIONAL HERALD-TRIBUNE) - Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal triumphed in the first round of the presidential elections Sunday, giving French voters a clear choice for the May 6 runoff: The next president will either be a center-right Atlanticist who wants them to work more and pay fewer taxes or a woman with a leftist economic program and a declared ambition to modernize her Socialist Party.

It was an affirmation of France’s traditional left-right divide over new and fringe rivals. Sarkozy, the tough-talking former interior minister whose presence in the runoff was widely predicted, won 30.49 percent of the vote Sunday, according to preliminary results from the interior ministry. Uncertain until the very end of whether she would make it, Royal ended up with a strong showing, getting 25.03 percent and moving one step closer to becoming first French female head of state.

Sarkozy told a cheering crowd of supporters in central Paris that the result was a “victory for our democracy.” “By placing me into first place and Madame Royal in second position they have clearly marked their wish for a debate between two ideas of the nation, two visions for society, two value systems and two conceptions of politics,” Sarkozy said.

François Bayrou, a centrist who briefly looked like he might actually overtake one of the main party contenders, fell short in the end. But his block of 18.35 percent of voters could hold the key to the outcome of the May 6 second round - and is certain to be courted.

Royal needs Bayrou’s votes more than Sarkozy’s. The combined far-left vote, along with the Greens, amounts to 11 percent, bringing Royal’s voter base to about 37 percent. Sarkozy has 14 percent to draw on from the far-right, giving him a total reserve of about 45 percent.

In a field of nine other candidates, the far-rightist Jean-Marie Le Pen took 11.20 percent of the vote. Le Pen, who said he would not run for president again, stunned France in the 2002 election by unexpectedly making the runoff.

The shock and shame of the 2002 result seemed to have resonated this year. On a sunny spring day, the balloting was marked by a high turnout across France. About 84 percent of the country’s 44.5 million registered voters cast ballots.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/23/2007 at 09:38 AM   
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   Sunday - April 22, 2007

Frogs Choose Head Toad

Not that anybody on this side of the pond really gives a damn but the French are choosing a new President today. They are going to the polls in record numbers, according to AP, to choose a replacement for Jacques Chiraq, Yassir Arafat’s little buddy. I will be glad to see Chiraq depart the scene. Twelve years of his anti-American, pro-terrorist, EU-promoting bullshit is enough. Perhaps he and Bill Clinton can get together with Jimmy Carter and have a “Useless Has-Beens Convention”?

Polls Open In French Presidential Vote
PARIS (YAHOO) - April 22, 2007

France began choosing a new president Sunday after a frenzied campaign among a dozen contenders in a race with unpredictable results. Only four of the candidates, including conservative front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal, placing No. 2 in polls, had a real chance of making it to a final round of voting May 6.

The new president will replace Jacques Chirac, ending 12 years as head of state at the close of his second mandate. With unusually dynamic front-runners and a suspense-filled campaign, the election was bringing in voters who sat out the 2002 election or cast protest votes for the extreme left and right.

Sarkozy, blunt, reformist and pro-American, was frightening to many French. Royal presented a smiling, feminist mother-figure. Scholarly farmer’s son Francois Bayrou could pull off a surprise win, and the anti-immigrant nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen was still counting on big support, in hopes of repeating his shock 2002 second-place finish.

Turnout was likely to be high, with voter registration numbers up nationwide — especially in rundown immigrant neighborhoods wracked by rioting in 2005. The successor to Chirac must steer a nuclear power in an insecure world, revive a large and listless economy, invigorate a downbeat work force, incorporate alienated young Muslims.

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So what are the Frogs going to stick the rest of the world with for at least the next six years? Take a look at the three faces below. One of them will be the face of France for some time to come. Sarkozy is leading in the polls but Le French could easily choose Royal as their first female leader (as opposed to previous male leaders who acted like women). The dark horse candidate is Le Pen, who believes France should be for the French and all Muslims need to just go back to wherever they came from. You can probably guess who my favorite candidate is. I encourage all French persons who have any sense at all to stuff the ballot boxes with votes for Le Pen.

Nicolas Sarkozy Conservative	Segolene Royal Socialist	Jean-Marie Le Pen Nationalist

France Looks Ahead, and It Doesn’t Look Good
EDITORIAL (NY TIMES) - April 22, 2007

Today the French will begin to vote for a new president, and soon Mr. Chirac, the 74-year-old incumbent, will pass from the scene unmourned. Over a political career spanning nearly five decades, during which he was mayor of Paris, prime minister (twice) and president for 12 years, Mr. Chirac appears to have achieved little.

As mayor from 1977 to 1995, he oversaw a steady rise in political corruption and municipal graft (albeit both at insignificant levels by American big-city standards). As president, he abandoned his promises to resolve shortcomings in France’s employment laws and social services in the face of street protests. And he has done little to redress the grievances of France’s minorities or the anxieties of young people. On both sides of the Atlantic, Mr. Chirac’s political obituary is being written in distinctly unflattering terms.

But is the French situation really so dire? From every quarter one hears calls for “reform” to bring France more in line with Anglo-American practices and policies. The dysfunctional French social model, we are frequently assured, has failed.

In that case there is much to be said for failure. French infants have a better chance of survival than American ones. The French live longer than Americans and they live healthier (at far lower cost). They are better educated and have first-rate public transportation. The gap between rich and poor is narrower than in the United States or Britain, and there are fewer poor people.

Yes, France has high youth unemployment, thanks to institutionalized impediments to job creation. But the comparison to American rates is misleading: our figures are artificially lowered because so many dark-skinned men aged 18 to 30 are in prison and thus off the unemployment rolls.

On the global stage, he has been perhaps the most outspoken major world leader on global warming, warning that “humanity is dancing on a volcano.” And, of course, he initiated and led international opposition to President Bush’s war in Iraq.

Let’s not forget the hysterical Francophobia of 2003: not just the imbecilities of “freedom fries” but xenophobic outbursts from Congress, the Bush administration and the mainstream American press, where prominent commentators called for France to be thrown off the Security Council and offered to let French “weasels” hold our coats while Americans once again did their fighting for them.

It wasn’t only Americans who objected. When in 2003 Mr. Chirac told the Eastern Europeans who backed Mr. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain on Iraq that they had “missed an opportunity to shut up,” his blunt talk upset a lot of people and did little for France’s popularity.

But in all of this, he has been proved right. By standing up to Mr. Bush and instructing his representatives at the United Nations to block a rush to an unprovoked war, the French president saved both the honor of the United Nations and the credibility of the international community.

- More (requires subscription) ...

[Chiraq] “saved both the honor of the United Nations and the credibility of the international community”? I think I’m going to gag. Somebody help me, please. Before we move the United Nations to Khartoum we need to move the NY TIMES to France. Now there’s a marriage made in hell.

Keep your eyes peeled on today’s Frog election, kiddies. This is just the first of four changes in world leadership that will occur over the next eighteen months. Next, we will have to worry about what the Brits are going to stick us with as Tony Blair steps down next month. Then Vladimir Putin will be stepping down as Russian leader (maybe) and finally Bush will be departing the White House, leaving all of the Bush-bashers with nothing to do. As Bob Dylan sang a long time ago, “The times they are a-changing”.

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/22/2007 at 05:09 AM   
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   Tuesday - April 17, 2007

European Hysteria Over Firearms Begins

Surprise! Europeans think Americans are wild and wooly, bloodthirsty, gun-totin’, suicidal madmen, ruled by the NRA and driven by a wild west mentality to run around the streets and into schools as nothing more than wild gunslingers. (LINK: Der Speigel) Euro-Peon newspapers have spent the entire day today psychoanalyzing the American mentality and pointing out all of our obvious defects - as opposed to their “civilized” gun laws over there.

Need I remind our Euro-Peon friends that if the Jews in Germany in 1934 had owned guns, the Holocaust probably would never have happened and those crazy, gun-totin’ Americans would not have had to trot over the ocean to stop the bloodshed. Besides, with Euro-Peons disarming the public in recent years, crime rates have soared. People who live in glass continents ... etc. ...

THE INDEPENDENT (UK)

“The passionate feelings of the gun lobby may be traced to the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, enshrining ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms’. Although the provision stems from the times when ‘well regulated militias’ were deemed necessary to protect against a British attempt to regain the lost colonies, it is the default position of any argument against greater gun control here.”

“As such, it has trumped every other consideration, not least the fact that on any given day about 80 people are killed by firearms, the vast majority by murder or suicide. Gun violence may cost $2.3 billion each year in medical expenses, but it is a price, gun supporters believe, that is worth paying to protect a fundamental freedom ...”

TIMES OF LONDON (UK)

“The trauma of the death of the students at Virginia Tech that will spread across the university and the whole country will be magnified by the feelings of so many people who feel that they should have been able to prevent it.”

“Doubtless there will be a call to review the availability of firearms. The National Rifle Association’s (NRA) response is predictable too. They will point out that events such as this are not carried out by a rifle-wielding member of a weekend militia. There is no doubt that access to rapid-action shotguns makes these events even more destructive but as we have seen with suicide bombers, who are closer to spree killers than is often realized, if a person really wants to take their own life and kill others in doing so it is exceptionally difficult to prevent it.”

LE MONDE (FRANCE)

“The shooting at Virginia Tech ... is a dramatic episode of school violence that fits into a long series of such episodes, a series topped by the drama at Columbine, the school attacked by two adolescents in 1999 ...”

“If Columbine left such a strong impression, that was because it was one of the first dramas of school violence that received broad coverage in the media. Americans were informed of what was happening in real time, via TV and the radio. The students called their families or CNN even as the killers were still roaming the corridors of the schools. ...”

LE FIGARO (FRANCE)

“It was all too easy easy for the elected representatives of the United States, from the White House to the Congress, to express their sadness yesterday; America’s problem with fire-arms represents a political issue for which they share responsibility. Here is a country that represents the vanguard of development and democracy while it is legal to carry a gun in 45 of 50 states, as long as the gun is not loaded. ... At the end of 2004, the Republican-controlled Congress allowed a law to expire that prohibited the sale of semi-automatic and military weapons. Thereafter, legal changes were made to protect the producers and vendors of fire-arms from being held responsible for the actions of gun owners.”

“Contrary to what one would imagine, this backward stance is not something left over from the Wild West. It goes back to the creation of the United States and the War of Independence against the English. ... While most states have issued laws designed to control the sale of arms, the NRA ensures they remain inefficient or are not applied. Strongly linked to the conservative fringe of the Republican Party, the NRA spent $400,000 a day to prevent the election of the Democratic candidate John Kerry during the 2004 presidential elections ...”

IL MESSAGGERO (ITALY)

“The bloodbath on the university campus is the work of a suicide killer—an American suicide killer who, differently from Muslim killers, did not act out of religious motives but was driven instead by the unrest affecting broad layers of US society. America is a nation that has for some years been in danger of becoming more and more unloved in the world, especially in the poorest countries. During the period following World War II, America was seen as the guardian of democracy and was equated with the defense of liberty; today, America is a superpower that begins wars and lives with the constant necessity of having to defend itself against the enemy—whether this enemy be called Islam or whether it bears the face of the neighbor who has done you wrong.”

EL PAIS (SPAIN)

“The president of Virginia Tech called it a tragedy of monumental proportions. But similar comments could already be heard following previous tragedies of this kind. The shooting spree at the Columbine high school in Colorado, for instance, revived the debate on the necessity of better controlling access to weapons. This led to some laws being toughened and security at schools being improved. But the measures are decided by the individual states and are constantly side-stepped by means of an exaggerated interpretation of the US constitution.”

BILD (GERMANY)

“Now we will probably begin discussing the overly lax gun laws in the United States. There, buying a machine gun is often easier than getting a driver’s license. And a new ban on violent games and killer videos will also be put back on the agenda. But in the end, nothing is likely to happen. And the next killer already lives somewhere among us. But we have little reason to point an accusing finger at the Americans. Despite strict gun legislation, we (in Germany) have experienced the school shootings in Erfurt and Emsdetten. We have to consider the problems in our society. And we have to take care of our fellow humans.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/17/2007 at 01:41 PM   
Filed Under: • Euro-Peons • Firearms •  
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   Saturday - April 14, 2007

The French Are Depressed

I just got back in from another afternoon down at the NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibit. The freezing rain and almost-snow kinda put a damper on things but the Americas Center was crowded both days. I picked up a ton of literature from vendors and got a peek at some new firearms for 2007. Lots of other goodies too for the hunter/sportsman.

I didn’t get any pictures for you wankers. Sorry. I didn’t see anyone else taking pictures so I put the camera back in the Jeep at lunch yesterday. Then I got too busy talking to vendors and even spent some time in a few training sessions. The general feeling I got from the crowd was it was mostly middle-class, well-dressed, polite people just interested in something they like. The questions and comments I overheard at the booths were informed and informative.

Which is why I needed some comic relief when I got home. I got it at AP News a few minutes ago in a news article entitled “France Wrestles With Its Own Decline”. Somehow I couldn’t visualize France joining the WWE so I had to read on.

“It’s a feeling of lost glory,” said Perrossier, sheltering under the arch from a spring squall. “The French have lost the aura they once had, and France—barring a few small exceptions—no longer occupies the place it used to internationally.”

Philippe Souleau, a history teacher shepherding a party of schoolchildren, was gloomier still: “France no longer has military strength worth speaking of. It is no longer economically competitive, and all this means is that it has become a second-tier nation internationally and diplomatically. Its voice is no longer heard by all.”

Chirac sparked a brief uptick in French confidence by going toe-to-toe with President Bush against the war in Iraq. “It was a moment when France looked at itself in the mirror and found itself beautiful,” says Emmanuel Riviere of the TNS-Sofres polling agency.

But the war went ahead, anyway, and some believe that the strain in relations with Washington was too great.

“In France, there is a particular strain of melancholy,” political philosopher Chantal Delsol said in an interview. “The British tell themselves, ‘We are no longer a great power, so we will live as a middling one.’ But the French don’t say that. They say, ‘We are intrinsically a great power, so why isn’t it working in reality?’ For a while we try to shut our eyes, but that doesn’t work for long. When reality truly dawns, then the first phase is extreme sadness, and that is the phase we are in now.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/14/2007 at 05:35 PM   
Filed Under: • Euro-Peons •  
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   Monday - March 26, 2007

Joke Of The Day

I know I’m gonna catch hell from our Brit readers, especially Bulldog but here goes anyway ....

Changing A Bulb Is Risky At BBC
(Sunday Telegraph-UK) - 12:00am GMT 25/03/2007

With a few simple precautions, thousands manage it every day. Yet BBC staff have been stopped from replacing lightbulbs because of concerns for their health and safety. Instead, the corporation is paying up to £10 for each replacement bulb to be fitted.

The situation came to light when Louise Wordsworth, a learning project manager with the BBC, complained. “I called up to ask for a new lightbulb for my desk lamp and was told that this would cost £10,” she wrote in a letter to Ariel, the corporation’s magazine.

“On telling them I’d buy and replace the bulb myself (bought for the bargain price of £1 for two bulbs) I was told that it was against health and safety regulations. So guess how many BBC colleagues it finally took to change a lightbulb (risking life and limb to do so)?”

A BBC spokesman confirmed that there had been a number of complaints, but said that each request was judged on its merits to save staff time. As for Ms Wordsworth’s unanswered question, three years ago it was calculated how many people it takes to change a BBC lightbulb.

The member of staff left in the dark would need to find a clerk to get a reference number so that the repair could be paid for, then report the fault to a helpline. An electrician would ask the store manager for the part and install the bulb, making a total of five people.

_{(-- Hat tip to James Taranto at WSJ’s Best Of The Web Today for this one! --)}

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/26/2007 at 03:44 PM   
Filed Under: • Euro-Peons • Humor •  
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   Wednesday - March 14, 2007

Green Britannia

Can someone explain to me why the Brits haven’t crept out in the dead of night and tossed all the tea in to the London River and had their own little “London Tea Party”? Over 250 years ago we told the British government to f**k off when they tried to interfere too much in our lives. Now that same government is doing it to its own citizens at home.

Of course, we’re partly to blame since Al Gore is over there this week indoctrinating the government bullshitting the politicians in his vision of glowbull warming. We’re sorry, chaps. Try to ignore him as best you can ...

Warning To Homeowners As The Green Vision Is Unveiled
_{(DAILY MAIL-UK) - 00:29am on 14th March 2007}

Homeowners who refuse to make their properties energy efficient will face financial penalties under drastic government plans to transform Britain into the world’s first ‘green’ economy.

Ministers yesterday promised deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions that they warned would mean everyone in the country having to ‘live, work and travel differently’. They compared the scale of change that was necessary to reduce emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 to the industrial revolution of the 18th century.

The Government said that every new home should be ‘carbon neutral’ within ten years - and existing properties subject to a ‘home energy audit’ to assess how green they are.

Householders would be given access to ‘hassle-free’ renovation services to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. They would be able to ‘buy now, pay later’ for green improvements as their fuel bills decreased.

Zero carbon homes are insulated to reduce heating costs, use solar panels, windpower or other renewable energy sources, are made with environmentally friendly materials and use energy efficient light bulbs and appliances.

Critics said the plans raised the prospect of ‘eco-snoopers’ inspecting homes. Blair Gibbs, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s bad enough that politicians want to take so much of our money away in tax. For them also to intrude into our homes in order to have the ability to penalise us even further is simply unacceptable.”

Unveiling the plans, Environment Secretary David Miliband said it would be “painful” to continue to have an “energy inefficient home”. Those that did would face higher bills, he added.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/14/2007 at 01:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • Euro-Peons •  
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   Saturday - March 10, 2007

Most Ridiculous Item Of The Week

You’ve got to hand it to the Liberal, nanny-state government in Great Britain. They have outdone themselves this time. You see, they’re trying to get everyone in Britain to apply for and start carrying national ID cards ... which requires the applicant to submit to fingerprinting and tell the government all kinds of private information about oneself.

They have attempted to calm fears of Big Brother by clearly stating over and over that the new system is entirely voluntary. Now, here comes the punch line (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) --- if you opt out of the ID program then you cannot get a passport to travel abroad ... you must stay home and never go anywhere - not even to Euro-Disney World in France.

Don’t you just love it when our friends in Britain pull this off long before our own government pulls the same crap? If you don’t think the US Congress will try to pull off the same crap then you need your head examined - and that information will go on your “voluntary” national ID card someday.

Don’t Like ID Cards? Hand Over Your Passport
_{(DAILY MAIL-UK) - 23:09pm on 9th March 2007}

Anybody who objects to their personal details going on the new “Big Brother” ID cards database will be banned from having a passport. James Hall, the official in charge of the supposedly-voluntary scheme, said the Government would allow people to opt out - but in return they must “forgo the ability” to have a travel document.

With one in every eight people saying they will refuse to sign-up, up to five million adults could effectively be refused permission to leave the country. Campaigners reacted to Mr Hall’s remarks with fury, saying they were yet more evidence of the lurch towards “Big Brother” Britain.

Phil Booth, of the NO2ID group, said: “The idea that ID cards scheme is voluntary, and people can opt-out, is a joke. “There are all sorts of reasons why people need to travel, not just for holidays. There is work, visiting relatives.

“What are these people supposed to do? It stretches the definition of voluntary beyond breaking point. They will go to any length to get personal information for this huge database. Who knows what will happen to it then?”

Mr Hall, chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service, delivered his warning during a Downing Street “webchat”. One concerned member of the public, Andrew Michael Edwards, asked what would happen to people who refuse to join the £5.4 billion scheme.

Mr Hall replied: “There is no need to register and have fingerprints taken - but you will forgo the ability to have a passport”. Officials later explained the meaning of his remark. The first ID cards will be issued in 2009, to anybody who applies for a passport.

People will be required to give fingerprints, biometric details such as a facial scan and a wealth of personal details - including second homes, driving licence and insurance numbers. All will be stored on a giant ID cards Register, which can be accessed by accredited Whitehall departments, banks and businesses.

While The ID Cards Bill was going through Parliament, peers agreed an “opt out” with Ministers for people who needed a passport, but did not want to participate in the ID cards scheme.

It was the only way the Lords would accept the legislation, amid howls of concern that it represents yet another move towards a surveillance society. But, as Mr Hall’s comments this week make clear, the opt-out only applies to being physically issued with a card.

In order to get a passport, people will still have to hand over all their personal details for storage on the ID cards Register - where they will be treated in the same was as those who agreed to sign-up.

They simply avoid getting the card - even though they will have to pay the full combined price of £93 for an ID card and passport. It means that, despite the Government repeatedly insisting the scheme is voluntary, the only way to avoid signing-up is to never obtain or renew a passport.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/10/2007 at 01:30 PM   
Filed Under: • Euro-Peons •  
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   Tuesday - March 06, 2007

No More Ninjas In Britain

OK, people. Show of hands here. Raise your hand if you didn’t see this coming. - - - - OK, I see. It seems no one is surprised at this latest Nanny State Nuttiness.

Yes, believe it or not, Britain is now banning citizens from owning sharp knives. Rumor has it that in June the Liberal government will add sharp sticks and rocks to the list of banned items.

Finally, sometime next year the use of the phrase “self-defense” will be severely punished as being politically incorrect and a threat to society as a whole. Individuals who are attacked by criminals will be encouraged to keep a stiff upper lip and not resist as they are beaten, stabbed and shot to death.

The second verse of “God Save The Queen” (the British national anthem) pretty much sums it up ...

O Lord, our God, arise, Scatter her enemies, And make them fall.
Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix, God save us all.

Samurai Swords To Be Banned
_{(TELEGRAPH-UK) - 2:08am GMT 06/03/2007}

The sale of imitation samurai swords could be banned by the end of the year, the Home Office announced today. Importing or hiring the weapons could also be made illegal following a string of samurai sword attacks in recent years.

Breaching the ban, which is targeted at cheap imitation samurai swords rather than the more expensive genuine collectors’ items made by licensed swordsmiths in Japan, would result in up to six months in jail and a £5,000 fine.

Collectors and martial arts enthusiasts owning or using genuine samurai swords would be exempt from the ban.  According to Home Office estimates, there have been at least 80 serious crimes involving the swords in England and Wales over the last four years.

One MP recently warned that they were being used by criminal gangs as the preferred weapon of choice after guns. Last month, amphetamine addict Hugh Penrose was jailed for at least 19 years for hacking a 21-year-old woman with a samurai sword and then deliberately running her over.

In October, Bradley Moran was jailed for 17 years for murdering another man with a samurai sword following an argument in a nightclub. It is currently legal to buy samurai swords - which are freely available at martial arts shops and on the internet - provided they are not brandished in a public place.

The Home Office now wants to ban their sale as part of a wider crackdown on knives and bladed weapons. Carrying a samurai sword in a public place already attracts a maximum jail sentence of four years.

Vernon Coaker, the Home Office minister, said today: “Samurai sword crime is low in volume but high in profile and I recognise it can have a devastating impact. “Banning the sale, import and hire will take more dangerous weapons out of circulation, making our streets safer.

“We recognise it is the cheap, easily-available samurai swords which are being used in crime and not the genuine, more expensive samurai swords which are of interest to collectors and martial arts enthusiasts.”

“It is already illegal to have a samurai sword in a public place but I want to restrict the number of dangerous weapons in circulation to enhance community safety.”

The plans are outlined in a consultation paper, Banning Offensive Weapons, published by the Home Office today. At present there are 17 weapons, including knuckle-dusters and batons, on the Offensive Weapons Order.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/06/2007 at 05:01 AM   
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