Monthly Archives: September 2008

Somali Pirates Dying Strangely From Iranian Cargo

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Wow, talk about an interesting way to expose what Iran is doing:

A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates.

Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died.

Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.”

The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels.

Sounds like symptoms of radiation poisoning!

 The ship is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, or IRISL, a state-owned company run by the Iranian military.

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The ship set sail from Nanjing, China, at the end of July. According to its manifest, it was heading for Rotterdam where it would unload 42500 tons of iron ore and “industrial products” purchased by a German client.

At Eyl, the ship was secured by more pirates — about 50 on board, and another 50 on shore.

But within days those who had boarded the ship developed mysterious health trouble. Continue reading →

McCain Targeting Obama’s Tax Policy

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McCain is targeting Obama where he should be targeted, and that is on the great mythology surrounding his tax policy:

Sen. John McCain told voters Monday that Sen. Barack Obama isn’t being honest about his tax votes and said the Democrat is “always cheering for higher taxes.”

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“Two times, on March 14, 2008 and June 4, 2008, in the Democratic budget resolution, he voted to raise taxes on people making just $42,000 per year. He even said at the time that this vote for higher taxes on the middle class was ‘getting our nation’s priorities back on track,’ ” McCain said at a rally in Columbus, Ohio.

“Then something amazing happened: On Friday night, he looked the American people in the eye and said it never happened. My friends, we need a president who will always tell the American people the truth,” McCain said. Continue reading →

IRS Targeting Political Churches

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There is some obvious controversy oging on as naturally the right wing Churches are being targeted for their pending endorsements of conservative leaders.

But, like always, there really may be a loophole:

 During sermons this Sunday, some 35 pastors across the country will tell their congregations which presidential candidate they should vote for, “according to the Scriptures.”

Their endorsements represent a direct challenge to federal tax law, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations from engaging in partisan political activity.

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“This is not a free speech issue,” says the Rev. Eric Williams, pastor of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio. “Any person, including a pastor, can endorse a candidate as a private individual. And if a church wants to do it, it can give up its tax-exempt status.” Continue reading →

China’s Tainted Milk

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One has to sift through a lot of the information to really find where the malfunction is and what is being done with it:

In recent days, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has apologized for a scandal that has sickened 53,000 children, killed at least three and devastated China’s dairy industry, which he has promised to reform.

But a year ago, Mr. Wen made a similar pledge to overhaul safety regulations for food, drugs and other products in response to other safety scandals. His government authorized $1.1 billion and sent 300,000 inspectors to examine food and drug producers, but regulators could not prevent China’s biggest dairy producers from selling baby formula laced with an industrial additive called melamine.

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Officials now acknowledge that China’s leading dairy companies — including the Sanlu Group, the worst offender in the scandal — were exempted from mandatory government inspections. In hindsight, inspections might not have mattered: in May, the government’s top food quality agency rated dairy companies among the safest producers in China’s food industry, reporting that 99 percent of them passed safety inspections for their infant milk formula. Now, the government says that 22 dairy companies, including export brands like Mengniu and Yili, have produced powdered baby formula that contains traces of melamine. Continue reading →

British Soldier Denied Lodging At Hotel

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I am not sure how this happened…

A wounded British soldier home from Afghanistan on sick leave was forced to spend the night in his car after a hotel refused him a room.

Corporal Tomos Stringer was told by staff at Metro Hotel, in Woking, that it was company policy not to accept members of the armed forces as guests. The 24-year-old had traveled to the Surrey town to help with funeral preparations for a friend killed in action.

It was so late that Cpl Stringer, who had broken his wrist jumping off an Army truck as it was attacked, had no choice but to sleep in his tiny, two-door car, arm covered in plaster. Continue reading →

Palin Was Unavailable To The Media?

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This is kind of surprising…

Reporters were told 20 minutes ahead of time that, after a visit to ground zero in lower Manhattan, Palin would make a statement and then there would be an opportunity for questions.

In her first media availability of the campaign, Palin spoke only to a few reporters, not her full press corps.

After her statement, she answered four questions about the war on terrorism, the re-election bids of Alaska’s Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, and the bailout legislation in front of Congress. Read the transcript Continue reading →

Myanmar Rebels Set Off Bomb For Anniversary

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Interesting — these guys spirit are not diminished as they attack near the capitol:

An explosion rattled Myanmar’s main city, Yangon, on Thursday morning, the eve of the one-year anniversary of a junta crackdown on anti-government protesters, police said.

A bomb, placed by a fence at a downtown park near City Hall, injured seven people, police said.

The military regime has tightened security and has been carrying out patrols in and around Yangon throughout the week amid rumors of another uprising this year.

As many as 110 people were believed to have been killed last year when security forces clashed with thousands of protesters led by Buddhist monks on September 26. The dead included 40 monks.

CNN

They were going only for what was basically political targets as it was done near city hall.

Sarkozy Warns Iran Of The Obvious

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The French President has been right on in assessing the situation and has even taken the initiative to tell Iran the obvious… That they should probably not play the nuclear game with America and Israel watching:

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Iran on Thursday it was taking a dangerous gamble in seeking to develop nuclear weapons because one day its arch-foe Israel could strike.

Western powers accuse Iran of seeking the atom bomb under the cover of a civilian nuclear program but Tehran denies the charge, insisting it only wants to master atomic technology in order to generate electricity.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if the dispute cannot be settled through diplomacy. Continue reading →

Palin Doesn’t Care About Blacks, Jews?

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Liberals will tell you that there is some sort of ‘anti-intellectual movement’ on the right wing and dare say that Gov. Palin is a part of it… Meanwhile, at the Democratic bat cave, we get to enjoy anti-intellectualism on newer, more profound levels where we are told that an Alaskan who enjoys hunting could never possibly care about minorities:

Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings on Wednesday warned two minority groups to beware of Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”

Hastings, who is black and a Democrat, made the comment in Florida at a panel discussion hosted by the National Jewish Democratic Council. The group recently criticized Palin’s invitation to an anti-Iran rally held during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad’s visit to New York to speak before the U.N. General Assembly.

Hastings was explaining what he intended to tell his Jewish constituents about the presidential race.

“If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Hastings told the audience, which burst into laughter and applause, according to individuals present.

 Fox

The only thing I got from this is that there is an inherent hatred of some of these Florida Democrats towards the sort of Americans who enjoy such criminal activities as hunting and owning guns.

It reminds me of Obama trying to explain why so many Americans latch onto ‘guns’ and ‘religion.’

Are Democrats capable, in the least, of relating to the average American? Or better yet… Are Democrats even capable of respecting the average American?