21 Jan 2011
Drug-Friendly Netherlands to Close 8 Prisons -- Not Enough Crime
For years prohibitionists, including our own Drug Enforcement Administration, have claimed — falsely — that the tolerant marijuana policies of the Netherlands have made that nation a nest of crime and drug abuse. They may have trouble wrapping their little brains around this:
The Dutch government is getting ready to close eight prisons because they don’t have enough criminals to fill them. Officials attribute the shortage of prisoners to a declining crime rate.
Just for fun, let’s compare the Netherlands to California. With a population of 16.6 million, the Dutch prison population is about 12,000. With its population of 36.7 million, California should have a bit more than double the Dutch prison population. California’s actual prison population is 171,000.
So, whose drug policies are keeping the streets safer?
Doping Up the Troops
U.S. Central Command policy allows troops a 90- or 180-day supply of highly addictive psychotropic drugs before they deploy to combat, reports Nextgov.
The CENTCOM approved drug list is a mixture that includes drugs like Valium and Xanax, used to treat depression, as well as the antipsychotic Seroquel, originally developed to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, mania and depression.
CENTCOM policy does not permit the use of Seroquel to treat deploying troops with these conditions, but it does allow its use as a sleep aid, and allows deployed troops to be provided with a 180-day supply.
In an e-mailed statement to Nextgov, Col. John Stasinos, chief of addiction medicine for the Army surgeon general, and Col. Carol Labadie, pharmacy program manager in the Directorate of Health Policy and Services for the surgeon general, said soldiers are supplied with up to 180 days of medications because they "serve in remote areas without easy access to pharmacies. It is important that soldiers on chronic medications do not run out of them during combat operations, because not taking the medications can be as dangerous as taking too much medication."
FBI arrests 127 in its biggest ever Mafia crackdown
In a devastating blow to the organised crime families of the north-eastern US, more than 800 FBI and police officers made the largest roundup of Cosa Nostra bosses and soldiers in US history. Some 127 mafia members and their accomplices were charged.
The arrests in New York, Newark in New Jersey and Rhode Island were both an indication of the mafia's enduring power in the US and of the determination of the FBI to regain the initiative in its struggle with the organisation.
Announcing the arrests, Eric Holder, the US attorney general, said they "send a clear message that we are committed – and determined – to eradicate these criminal enterprises once and for all and to bring their members to justice".
The sweep struck seven families: all five with headquarters in New York – the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese – as well as the largely New Jersey-based DeCavalcante family and the New England branch centred on Providence in Rhode Island and Boston. Among those in custody are top figureheads, including the former boss of the New England branch, Luigi Manocchio, 83.
20 Jan 2011
Lukashenko Preparing "Tough Measures" in Response to Sanctions
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko instructed to prepare a response "up to the toughest measures" to the Western countries' possible sanctions against the official Minsk. As the head of state informed at the meeting on some domestic issues on January 20, the Government of Belarus will be responsible for the development of concrete steps.
"If someone tries to impose economic or other sanctions on the country, we must respond immediately, up to the toughest measures. We won't let anybody make us bow. This should affect absolutely everyone, trying to oppress and block the country - whether it's a separate group of countries or even the EU as a whole," said President of Belarus, BelTA informs.
Alexander Lukashenko instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop and provide "concrete proposals to combat anti-Belarusian campaign abroad." "We need to develop a set of measures to prevent our country from being a pawn in someone else's game, as well as from destruction of our economy, security and sovereignty," added the President.
Swedish Government staff knew of Stockholm bomb threat
A Swedish government employee allegedly knew ahead of time about last month's suicide bomb attack in Stockholm, but failed to inform Swedish security service Säpo, according to new media reports. Citing several sources with knowledge of the on-going investigation of the bomb attacks carried out by Taimour Abdulwahab, Swedish tabloid Expressen reported that an employee at a government agency knew in advance about the attack.
The day following the December 11th attacks, Swedish news agency TT reported that an Armed Forces employee had sent a warning to an acquaintance several hours before the bomb attack. In the message, the military staffer warned the acquaintance to avoid Stockholm's main pedestrian shopping street. "If you can, avoid Drottninggatan today. A lot could happen there...just so you know," the message said, according to TT.
Following an internal investigation carried out by the Military Intelligence and Security Service (Militära underrättelse- och säkerhetstjänsten -- MUST) the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) dismissed the allegations, Expressen reported on Wednesday. Säpo, which is still investigating the reports, said it never received a warning. Despite the denial, Säpo is continuing its own investigation into the allegations.
Creating The Enemy
Propaganda and the endless pinpointing of enemies for war and profit. The Schell Perspective
China banks lend more than World Bank
The China Development Bank and the China Export Import Bank offered loans of at least $110 bn (£69.2 bn) to governments and firms in developing countries in 2009 and 2010.
Between mid-2008 and mid-2010, the World Bank's lending arm issued loans of just over $100bn (£63bn). The two Chinese banks do not publish a detailed breakdown of their overseas loans, so this research is based on public announcements about specific deals from them, their borrowers or the Chinese government.
That means the figure arrived at for the amount of Chinese lending is more likely an underestimate than an overestimate because some - more sensitive - loans will not have been made public. The Chinese lenders are so-called policy banks - they have a mandate to further whatever Beijing sees as its national interest.
One of China Development Bank's specific tasks is to try to alleviate and, where possible, eliminate bottlenecks in supplies of raw materials or land for China's economy. It also tries to open up foreign markets for Chinese companies.
19 Jan 2011
Berlusconi criticised for 'use of policewomen's outfits at "bunga bunga" sessions
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, today came under attack from a new and unexpected quarter when a police trade union objected to the reported use of policewomen's outfits for striptease shows at his home.
According to prosecution documents delivered to parliament, so-called "bunga bunga" sessions at Berlusconi's villa near Milan involved female guests putting on – and then gradually taking off – skimpy nurses' outfits and police uniforms.
Berlusconi, who denies any wrongdoing, said yesterday he had no intention of resigning because of the latest disclosures, adding: "I'm enjoying myself."
Giorgio Innocenzi, the secretary general of the independent police trades union confederation, said that, if the accounts were borne out, "it would be a very serious development that impugns the high levels of professionalism guaranteed by women in the police".
Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat
Gen. McBrayer discusses how valuable homosexuals are, and why we must never put their lives at risk by allowing them in the military.
Americans Face Guantanamo-Like Torture Everyday in a Super-Max Prison all over the USA
“They beat the shit out of you,” Mike James said, hunched near the smeared plexiglass separating us. He was talking about the cell “extractions” he’d endured at the hands of the supermax-unit guards at the Maine State Prison.
James’s story illustrates an irony in the negative reaction of many Americans to the mistreatment of “war on terrorism” prisoners at Guantánamo. To little public outcry, tens of thousands of American citizens are being held in equivalent or worse conditions in this country’s super-harsh, super-maximum security, solitary-confinement prisons, or in comparable units of traditional prisons. The Obama administration— somewhat unsteadily—plans to shut down the Guantánamo detention center and ship its inmates to one or more supermaxes in the United States, as though this would mark a substantive change. In the supermaxes inmates suffer weeks, months, years, or even decades of mind-destroying isolation, usually without meaningful recourse to challenge the conditions of their captivity. Prisoners may be regularly beaten in cell extractions, and they receive meager health services. The isolation frequently leads to insane behavior including self-injury and suicide attempts.
Editor's Note: Courageous WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning is reportedly suffering some of the same horrible experiences detailed in the article below, including 23 hours a day of solitary confinement, which has been labeled torture by numerous prison and psychological experts.
Romania border police
Romanian border police officers patrol a railway border crossing point between Romania and Moldova in Ungheni, Romania on Tuesday. Romania has accused France and Germany of discrimination after the EU's two most powerful countries joined forces to block the Balkan country from joining Europe's Schengen open borders zone.
Charges filed against 'Baby Doc' Duvalier in Haiti
Extraordinary drama unfolded Tuesday in Port-au-Prince as charges were filed against former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, government sources told CNN. The charges are related to financial corruption and may also include human rights violations, a source in the court told CNN.
A judge will have 30 days to investigate and decide whether the accusations merit moving forward with a case against Duvalier. Earlier in the day, the former leader was taken into custody at his hotel and transported to a downtown courthouse for a hearing. After hours of questioning, Duvalier was allowed to return to his hotel. A flurry of intense legal activity preceded Duvalier's emergence from the Karibe Hotel, where he had been since his mysterious return to Haiti on Sunday. More on CNN
Haiti's former leader Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier has been charged with corruption and embezzlement during his 1971-1986 rule, prosecutors say.
Mr Duvalier was allowed to go free after questioning, but a judge will decide whether his case goes to trial. BBC
18 Jan 2011
Baptism of fire for horses at Spanish festival
Every year on the night of January 16, the eve of Saint Anthony's day, the patron saint of animals, the paved streets of San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, of 600 people are transformed into a sort of racetrack in which the fences are burning logs.
"It's a festival in which the horses are sanctified by the flames, they are liberated from all their ills," said Quique, 30, who takes part in the festival every year.
Tree branches for the fires are collected for weeks ahead of the festival. The flames are regularly doused with water to produce columns of smoke intended to purify the animals. The tradition is under threat from animal rights groups, who say the horses suffer as they leap over the flames.
Why Do US Political and Media Establishments Ignore Many Americans Economic Suffering?
This is what a broken economic model looks like: record profits for corporate America, Wall Street paying out fat bonuses to its execs and the wealthy doing well enough to create a surge in demand for luxury items, while most of the rest of us struggle just to make ends meet in a devastated economic landscape.
You've no doubt heard about the unemployment numbers and the alarming number of Americans losing their homes, but a series of reports that paint a stunningly vivid picture of the human toll of the meltdown – the intense pain felt by the unemployed, the under-employed and the working poor – have gotten less play, in large part because while most of the U.S. remains in the grip of what appears to be a Second Great Depression, the political and media establishment largely ignores -- or at least underplays – the economic catastrophe a huge number of families are experiencing.
Abu Dhabi Now Creating ‘Man-Made Rainstorms’
Abu Dhabi now controls its weather with giant ionizers, the Telegraph reports: A secret £7 million weather project in Abu Dhabi has resulted in dozens of man-made rainstorms, according to reports.
Scientists employed by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE and leader of Abu Dhabi, successfully created more than 50 rainstorms in the state’s Al Ain region last year, mostly in July and August when there is virtually no rain at all. It is believed to be the first time the system has produced rain from clear skies.
They have been using giant ionizers, shaped like giant lampshades, to generate fields of negatively charged particles, which create cloud formation.
17 Jan 2011
Bill Gates wants to register all new babies on the planet for vaccines
Bill Gates is promoting a plan to use wireless technology to register every newborn on the planet in a vaccine database.
In a keynote address to the mHealth Summit, which focuses on using mobile technology to improve health care, Gates said that improving survival rates among children under the age of 5 would benefit not just individual families, but societies and the planet as a whole.
"The key thing, the most important fact that people should know and make sure other people know: As you save children under 5, that is the thing that reduces population growth," he said. "That sounds paradoxical. The fact is that within a decade of improving health outcomes, parents decide to have less children."
The number of children who die before their fifth birthday has already dropped from 20 million in 1960 to 8.5 million today, a statistic Gates attributes mostly to vaccination.
"About one-third [of that improvement] is by increasing income," Gates said. "The majority has been through vaccines. Vaccines will be the key. If you could register every birth on a cell phone -- get fingerprints, get a location -- then you could [set up] systems to make sure the immunizations happen."
Sal the Cat summoned for service in US and court rules he 'must attend'
A pet cat has been summoned for jury duty in the U.S. - and has been told by courts he 'must attend'
Despite owner Anna Esposito's protestations that a mistake has been made, a jury commissioner has ruled that Sal must attend the court. She wrote that Sal was 'unable to speak and understand English' - and included a letter from her vet saying that the animal was a 'domestic short-haired neutered feline'.
There are ten statutory disqualifications preventing people from serving on a jury - and Mrs Esposito said Sal was not suitable because he could not understand the language. However, jurors are 'not expected' to have a perfect command of the English language. The other exemptions did not apply because Sal was not ill, too old or a convicted felon.
Ex-dictator 'Baby Doc' returns to Haiti
Ousted strongman Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti on Sunday after some 25 years in exile as the country wrestled with a post-election crisis.
Duvalier, wearing a blue suit and a tie and accompanied by his wife, was making his way through customs at Port-au-Prince's international airport after arriving on an Air France flight, an AFP journalist witnessed.
The 59-year-old ex-dictator was ousted from power in 1986 by massive anti-government demonstrations after his family and supporters were accused of plundering tens of millions of dollars of state funds. AFP/Yahoo! News
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais Opening Monologue Golden Globes 2011
Gervais, 49, who was presenting the show for the second year running, caused some controversy with typically biting humour that targeted some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
He opened proceedings with a sip from a beer glass and said: "It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast."
Blue Monday
According to psychologists, a combination of filthy weather, financial strains and shattered new year's resolutions has conspired to make today the most depressing day of the year.
16 Jan 2011
The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator is about the violence of war, the corrupting influence of power, decency struggling against madness, and the persecution of Jews during World War II. It’s also one of the funniest movies ever made, and such a pleasure to watch that you’ll barely notice that it’s deeply political and deadly serious.
Charles Chaplin made the movie while the U.S. was still technically at peace with Nazi Germany, and many were still pushing to keep Americans out of the “European war.” The full horrors of the Holocaust hadn’t yet come to light, but Chaplin’s film was a prescient assault on Hitler and National Socialism. (About.com)
Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia
Tunisia’s Constitutional Council has announced that ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who fled the country on Friday and arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia early on Saturday morning, has been officially removed from office and has appointed the speaker of parliament as the interim president.
On Saturday, the Constitutional Council declared that the head of state had “definitively” left power and appointed Foued Mebezza acting president under the constitution in a communiqué published by the official news agency TAP.
The council made its ruling at the request of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi. Responding to Tunisians’ mounting demands for him to step down, Ben Ali fled the country late on Friday in a dramatic end to his 23 years in power.
Saudi Arabia welcomed Ben Ali and his family on Saturday, a day after they fled a mass uprising in their country. A statement issued by the Saudi monarchy said the decision to welcome Ben Ali was based on appreciation of the “exceptional circumstances” in Tunisia. “Out of concern for the exceptional circumstances facing the brotherly Tunisian people and in support of the security and stability of their country… the Saudi government has welcomed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family to the kingdom,” the statement said.
Oh remember:
On this day 16th January 1979 the Shah of Iran fled into exile never to return to Iran. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi and his wife, Empress Farah fled Tehran flying to Aswan in Egypt to escape violent protests against his rule. His youngest children were flown directly to to the United States. allvoices.com