The Bahrain Google Earth Photos That Sparked A Revolution: Photos
THE images you are about to see were circulated in Bahrain at the time of the (so far) failed attempt to overthrow the ruling dynasty. The Government was aware of these images and blocked Google Earth. But the internet will have its way and the pictures were loaded onto a PDF guide and distributed by email.
The NYT’s Tom Friedman says the photos are one of the “not-so-obvious forces” that fed the mass revolt.
Posted: 4th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Anti-Semitism Is Dying: Yemen And Libya Counter The Accepted Celebrity Racism
ANTI-Semitism has made a comeback of late. Charlie Sheen, Julian Assange, John Galliano (sacked by Dior for his alleged anti-Jewish comments or anti-Asian ones?), Mel Gibson – he’s in a new Hollywood film called The Beaver: so much for the Jewish control of the place – and Iran have been giving the old staple an airing. When Aaron Porter, the NUS president was heckled with cries of “Jew” by some students there was no mass protest.
The racism never went away in the UK, of course, it just slid into the cracks in liberal dinner tables, often masked as anti-Israel rhetoric – that’s a democratic country of all colours with equal rights for women and gays being held accountable to standards that seem higher than those applied to other nations.
Posted: 4th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Laurent Gbagbo: Christianity’s African Bulwark Against Islam Murders Women Protesters
IN the Ivory Coast, the leader Laurent Gbagbo will not go peacefully. These are other people’s political affairs in the Heart of Darkness, right? Does the civilised West move in and teach these people what is right? The AP reports:
Soldiers backing Ivory Coast’s defiant leader mowed down women protesting his refusal to leave power in a hail of gunfire Thursday, killing at least six and shocking a nation where women’s marches have historically been used as a last resort against an unrestrained army…
Last week, [Laurent] Gbagbo’s security forces entered the Abobo neighborhood and began shelling it with mortars, a shocking escalation indicating the army is willing to use war-grade weapons on its citizens…
…Gbagbo, a former history teacher, has refused to cede power, even though U.N.-certified results showed he had lost the race by half-a-million votes….
Posted: 4th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Hosni Mubarak’s Pin-Striped Suits Spell His Name In The Thread
DEPOSED Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is either dodging Jewish sharks in Sharm el-Sheikh, undergoing chemotherapy for colon and pancreatic cancer at a military hospital in Tobuk, Saudi Arabia, playing a fiddle in the Dolphin Centre in Poole, or spending time with his suits.
Posted: 4th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Will This Wiki Find Plagiarism In Saif Gaddafi’s PhD Thesis?
DID Saif-al -Islam, Colonel Gaddafi’s son last seen talking of civil war in Libya at no risk to himself, plagiarise his Ph.D in economics from the LSE?
If he did cheat then Saif’s current job as dad’s next in line must be in jeopardy. Saif may need to prove his intellect in some other way, say, by working out how many big sticks it takes to secure your billions, investing in his wardobe or juggling.
As a result of the school’s links with Libya, Sir Howard Davies has resigned as the director of the London School of Economics. He says:
“I have concluded that it would be right for me to step down even though I know that this will cause difficulty for the institution I have come to love. The short point is that I am responsible for the school’s reputation, and that has suffered.”
Posted: 4th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The Roma Are Coming: 100,000 Migrants To Live On UK Benefits
BACK in 2004, when the EU enlarged, in 2004, transitional arrangements barred new arrivals from claiming dole. Workers were allowed to come and work, and only once they had worked continuously for 12 months could they qualify for benefits.
It was a huge deal. Tony Blair, the then Prime Minister, salved fears about mass immigration by stating:
“No one will be able to come to the UK from anywhere in the enlarged European Union simply to claim benefits or housing”.
Of course, this being Tony Blair, the truth was little less black and white. There is a time limit on the rules that would be applicable for seven years from 1 May 2004.
Posted: 4th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Kenyan MP Dresses To Represent Youth: Nick Clegg Wears Same Pants For A Week
GIDION Mbuvi is 35. He’s an MP in Kenya. That’s him sat in Parliament. Yeah, he’s the one in the ear studs and sunglasses. His attire is getting him chucked out.
He’s not happy. He says his vines represent who he represents:
“I represent the youths who elected me to parliament.”
Posted: 3rd, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Tony Blair’s Role In Colonel Gaddafi’s Downfall, By Cherie Blair
CHERIE Blair, wife of Colonel Gaddafi glad-hander Tony Blair, was been on ITV’s This Morning show telling us how awful the Libyan despot is. She goes on to say that she does not want to meddle and tell the Prime Minister what to do.
This is the same Cherie Blair who said she can sympathise with Palestinian, jihadis and Islamist suicide bombers who attack Israel. (She made her thoughts known after 19 people, including schoolchildren, had been murdered by a bomber on a Jerusalem bus.)
In the video below you can hear her talking about strengthening Africa’s legal systems.
Posted: 2nd, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (3) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Ahmadinejad’s 1977 Peugeot Sells For $2.5m: Money Will Build Jails
MAHMOUD Ahmadinejad, of the Confederation of Unelected Nation Tyrants, is delighted that his 1977 Peugeot has been sold at auction for $2.5 million.
As reported, the money will go to good causes:
The 34-year-old white sedan was put up for auction in January in a move by the president to appear to fulfill a campaign promise to put a roof over the head of every Iranian.
Posted: 2nd, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The Three Most Stupid Things Said About Libya By Western Experts
LIBYA is not so bad.It’s not bad bad. It’s not like, say, Poland under the Nazis, or Iran.
Martin Kramer has compiled a list of the three most stupid things Western boffins have said after visiting Gaddafi’s Libya.
3. The Shores of Tripoli by Stephen Walt:
“Libya doesn’t feel like other police states that I have visited.”
Posted: 1st, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Libya: The SAS Have Gaddafi In Their Sights: But What’s The Exit Strategy?
THERE’S a US warship off the coast of Libya. The American Sixth Fleet is in the area – at least one aircraft carrier and attendant ships. The SAS are in the country. We told you that before anyone else.
Colonel Gaddafi will comply and leave or else be made to go.
The SAS are not going to leave soon.
But when their do leave, they had best have an exit strategy this time.
Do our politicians have a plan other than to get rich and keep their hands clean?
Posted: 1st, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Why Arabs Should Thank George Bush For Revolution In Egypt, Tunisia And Libya
DID Abu Ghraib and US torture and abuses in Iraq and beyond open the eyes of the Arab world to the value of Human Rights? Shadi Mokhtari says they did.
The Arabs could see the US as the bad guy- and that made Human Rights and the demand for them easier to swallow. Human Rights were now a universal issue. Egypt under Mubarak became just like America. And Egypt could be changed.
Only, what comes next? The Middle East has a history in one hideous regime after another. The US had a vote.
Posted: 28th, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
North Korean Soldiers Starving: Army to March On Kim Jong-eun’s Stomach
IN North Korea, the people are starving. Not all of the mind. Kim Jong-Il’s son Kim Jong-eun has been fattened up as an emergency source of protein for the hungry.
Yonhap reports on the Paek Hwa-seong, who slipped over to the boarder to south Korean by disguising himself as a twig:
“I was 155 centimeters high and weighed 42 kilograms when I entered the military, but my weight was reduced to 31 kilograms in two years. My hair almost fell out after turning yellow and I was bony.”
Posted: 28th, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Chuka Umunna’s Joke Of The Day
SAYS Labour MP of the moment Chuka Umunna:
“We’ve had enough of people going into politics for self-aggrandisement.”
What other reason does anyone go into politics for?
Posted: 28th, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
SAS Poised To Grab Gaddifi’s Collar: British Troops Hunting Libyan Leader
LIBYA and Gaddafi: THE SAS home camp in Hereford saw a lot of activity on Wednesday and Thursday this week and Old Man Anorak got a couple of tips one of the UK’s elite fighting units was likely to be heading south.
It was decided to say nothing and wait and see. Not a long wait since last evening the announcement was made two Hercules aircraft had flown into the Libyan desert south of Benghazi to airlift civilian oil-workers. Last night’s news came after the “extractions” , the arrival of the first plane in Malta and hinted of a bridgehead airstrip where the civilians had been told to assemble.
Posted: 27th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Charlie Gilmour’s Spirit Lives On In Wisconsin Protests: War Memorial Desecrated
TO Wisconsin, where the spirit of berth blocker and Centotaph Swinger Charlie Gilmour lives on at the state Capitol where the memorial to the fallen has been turned into a tatty protest sign curated by the kind of entitled, middle-class, educated, spoilt, soft, Western poltroons who make any protest all about them.
The more they explain their ignorance, the worse it gets:
Posted: 26th, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Obama Plans To Import 100m Middle East Muslims To United States, Source Says
BARACK Obama’s plan is to save the Middle East by relocating the region to Washington, Montana and and any empty office space in New York. Richard Bartholomew writes on the latest Obama conspiracy theory:
DAVID Corn has some fun with conspiracy theorist Avi Lipkin:
…here’s the mother of all right-wing conspiracy theories: Obama is scheming to bring tens of millions of Muslims—perhaps up to 100 million—from the Middle East into the United States in order to turn this country into an Islamic nation by the end of his second term.
Fortunately, this diabolical plan has been exposed by an American-born Israeli named Avi Lipkin, who says he once was a translator for the Israeli government, and an outfit called Special Guests, which books conservative commentators and advocates on popular television and radio talk shows. Lipkin’s website claims that since 1990 he has lectured on various topics—including the threat of Islam and Israel—in over 1000 churches and synagogues in the United Sates, Canada, England, Greece, Israel, and other countries. His bio notes that he heads the Judeo-Christian Bible Bloc party in Israel.
Posted: 26th, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Life In Photos: Women, Enemies And Fashion
TWO things about Colonel Muammar Gaddafi stand out. Ok, three things. 1. He’s a murderous gangster who threatens to murder anyone who opposes his rule. 2. He travels with a female praetorian guard – like a stage musical tough. Gaddafi is an approximation of a sun-stroke maddened Pope impersonating The Fonz. 3. He dresses well. He dresses very well. When he goes – and good riddance when he does – Libyans should save his chattels, mad jottings (his Little Green Book is nuts) and wardrobe for posterity lest people not believe what once went before. Enjoy the gallery…
And for the film, get me Scarlett Johansson for the botox-nursed leader and tell Mickey Rourke he ready for his close up.
Posted: 24th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Gaddafi’s Killer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi Heads Back To Safety Of Scottish Jail
LIBYA and The Gaddafi Duck: The Daily Probe had it right back in 2004 as the world shook hands with the Libyan des/chocolate tea/pot and made profitable arms and oil deals.
North Africa’s vicious (and maddest) old gal Imelda Gaddifi gets ready for a quick hat-buying trip to London and a holiday with old pal Tony Blair.
Anyone heard anything from the Middle East Envoy lately?
It;s rumoured Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi would like his old rooms back at the very comfortable suite built for him inside Greenock Jail, Scotland now Libya’s former justice minister has blown the myth of innocence out of the firmament and told a Swedish newspaper Colonel Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing.
Mustafa Abdel-Jalil told Expressen he had proof the Libyan leader was behind the bombing of Pan AM flight 103, which killed 270 people in 1988…and instructed Megrahi to organise it. He has yet to produce that proof.
Britain’s worst ever convicted mass murderer may now only have one safe house…back in Scotland. There is as yet no word on how Scottish legal services (duty-bound to keep an eye on the released bomber) are going to manage the necessary home visit to Tripoli.
Ashes to ashes? – AW
Posted: 24th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (3) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The Death Throes Of Civilisation: Egypt, Tunisia, Libya And Belgium
WHAT we are watching, therefore, is death throes – Tunisia, Egypt, Libya … the collapse always starts at the fringes. But add Belgium, a country that has now broken the world record for the most number of days without a government – and also add Greece. Ireland will follow shortly, and behind that, Portugal, Spain and then who knows … Italy, maybe. Even Germany. Dark things are happening there.
Greece, needless to say, is dead man walking, or more like live country rioting. Violent clashes, in a long line of violent clashes, broke out again yesterday – between protesters and the police. Now there’s a surprise. Police have a punch-up with rioters. Well, I never.
Posted: 24th, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (7) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Saudi Arabian King Tries To Buy Off Revolution By Forgoing Umpteenth Private Jet
IN Saudi Arabia, the returning King Abdullah has gifts for his people:
As part of the Saudi scheme, state employees will see their incomes increase by 15 per cent, and additional cash has also been made available for housing loans.
Posted: 23rd, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (2) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Gaddafi Knocked Out For Airborne Face Lift Flight To Venezuela
LIBYA: When Foreign Secretary William Hague said Colonel Gaddafi was in Venuezla, we believed him. If Hague says it’s true it must be true. Of course the woman he overheard revealing Gaddafi’s travel plans to the pigeons in the shopping precinct might not be the best source.
And it not only turns out that the old actor is in Libya but that if he does head to Venezuela he will be drugged – possibly anesthetized for an in-flight face lift:
Only a few days ago, as Colonel Muammar Gaddafi faced the wrath of his own people, he met with an old Arab acquaintance and spent 20 minutes out of four hours asking him if he knew of a good surgeon to lift his face.
As Wikileaks told us:
Qadhafi appears to rely heavily on XXXXXXXXXXXX and reportedly cannot travel with his senior Ukrainian nurse, Galyna XXXXXXXXXXXX. He also appears to have an intense dislike or fear of staying on upper floors, reportedly prefers not to fly over water, and seems to enjoy horse racing and flamenco dancing.
If any cruisers out there see a man wearing a huge taffeta dress, sat on a rocking horse and holding an umbrella as the boat heads to the Americas, let us know. And we’ll tell William Hague’s pigeon fancier…
Posted: 23rd, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (4) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The United Nations Hits Israel And Ignores Libya – Member Of Its Human Rights Council
DID you know that Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is a member of the UN’s Human Rights Council? At the council’s last meeting in January 11, 2010, guess which single country was debated?
Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories …
Item 7:
Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories
It might be an idea for the UN to ask Israel if it can export democracy, women’s rights and gay rights to a region it thinks is such a supporter of human rights…
Anne Bayefsky further investigates how the United Nations pays no interest in the crimes of Middle Eastern despots:
Number of UN Security Council presidential statements or resolutions on the current atrocities perpetrated by Arab and Muslim dictators in Iran, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia,Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain.
ZERO
Number of meetings called by the Security Council to discuss and consider a possible resolution or presidential statement on any of these countries.ZERO…
Number of special sessions called by the Human Rights Council to draw attention to, discuss, consider a possible resolution or decision on the current atrocities perpetrated by Arab and Muslim dictators in Iran, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia,Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain.ZERO
Number of resolutions or decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council about the lack of democracy and brutality of the governments of Arab and Muslim dictators in Iran, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia,Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain.ZERO….
Number of Special Sessions on country situations called by the Human Rights Council on Israel
50% (6 of 12)
Number of Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council critical of the human rights record of specific states directed at Israel
50% (41 of 83)
Anyone else think the United Nations has an agenda?
Posted: 23rd, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (4) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
When Libya Was The Model Of A Saved Rogue State Gaddafi Never Changed
LIBYA: Remember when Colonel Gaddafi was the model for how the enemy could be brought in to the fold? The Colonel never abandoned terrorism. Sure, he renounced it publicly and thus allowed the US to restore full diplomatic relations in 2006. He turned his back on WMD. But he sends in warplanes against his own people.
Nothing changed. He never changed his ways. Libya never changed. The West just changed it view to suit the moment.
Gaddafi acted out of fear that after Saddam was beaten in Iraq, he would be next on the Americans’ list. America acted out of military necessity. The UK was driven by money.
Gaddafi know says:
“I will not leave the country, and I will die as a martyr.”
If he wants to be martyr and serve his country, the self-styled “leader of the Arab leaders, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of the Muslims” should leave Libya now.
Was anyone fooled?
American and Iraqi officials have stepped up their criticism of Syria in recent days in what some analysts believe is the beginning of an attempt by Washington to repeat the “Libya model” – total political and economic isolation to compel a U-turn in regime behavior. – Nicolas Blanford, Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 2005
The proposal being negotiated in Beijing for ending North Korea‘s nuclear program would include agreement to turn over all equipment it bought from a disgraced Pakistani scientist, the New York Times reported.
“This is the Libya model,” the Times quoted a senior administration official as saying, referring to Libya’s decision in late 2003 to turn over all of the equipment it had purchased from the secret nuclear network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, to produce fuel for a nuclear bomb. - Reuters, Feb 2007
Posted: 22nd, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Passports Are No Good In Libya
CNN’s Ben Wedeman is the first Western journalist to enter Libya:
“Your passports please,” said the young man in civilian clothing toting an AK-47 at the Libyan border. “For what?” responded our driver, Saleh, a burly, bearded man who had picked us up just moments before. “There is no government. What is the point?” He pulled away with a dismissive laugh.
On the Libyan side, there were no officials, no passport control, no customs. I’ve seen this before. In Afghanistan after the route of the Taliban, in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Government authority suddenly evaporates. It’s exhilarating on one level; its whiff of chaos disconcerting on another.
Posted: 22nd, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
