Wonder Why the Zimbabwe-China Connection?

Have you ever wondered why there is a coalition forming between the leaders of China and Zimbabwe, a sort of despots admiration society? That great, reknowned humanitarian, Mad Bob (Mugabe) must have wet himself in delight, being embraced by China's President, Hu Jintao, as it seems they have more in common than a few trade deals. Although not everything is roses, whether or not their domestic policies run the same course, the lives of their peoples mean: "ZILCH"

They came to the village of Shengyou, south of Beijing, in the early hours of the morning.

A gang of more than 100 men wearing camouflage gear and construction helmets, some armed with hunting rifles, clubs and shovels, clashed violently with local villagers. Six people died.

The riot in Shengyou in June was actually nothing new. Such skirmishes over land are getting increasingly common in China.

But what was different about this one - and what ultimately made it stand out as an example of a much wider problem - was that the incident was filmed by a local resident and smuggled out to the international media.

"Legal entitlement of farm land is not clearly defined in China. It looks like it belongs to the farmers, but if the government wants to take it away, it's very easy," he said

Question answered?

Thank You Everyone

It seems like a lifetime has passed me by over the last few months with my mother's illness.

Joe and I put our lives on the back burner for a short spell to ensure that I had the necessary time to assist in my mother's recovery. So I am glad to announce she is fit and running. How can I tell that it is a complete recovery? Like any son or daughter, I am getting on her nerves and she mine...(big grin). So thank you everyone for your prayers, kind words, and thoughts; they were such a pleasure to read and were a great pick-me-up when I didn't have any energy left in reserve.

Kisses to all.

All Bark, No Bite

After a long spell away from the blog, I had a spare moment yesterday to check some of my weird and whacky news sources. Imagine my surprise (NOT) at this discovery, the very first site I chose to look at. If you are not slightly disturbed by the following, DO be, as this is what the moonbats worldwide will endorse with vigour:

WTI Demands Bush And Blaýr Indýctment At ICC
Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 12:54 pm
Press Release: World Tribunal on Iraq
World Trýbunal On Iraq Demands Bush And Blaýr Indýctment At Internatýonal Crýmýnal Court

Interesting headline, don't you agree?

1 August 2005, Istanbul, Turkey – The Final Statement by the Jury of Conscience of the World Tribunal on Iraq calls for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict, prosecute, and punish the perpetrators and collaborators for the aggression against Iraq and the related international crimes arising from the subsequent occupation of the country. The statement lists the violations in international law committed during and after this war and also provides recommendations for the prevention of future illegal and illegitimate action.

Now that I have your complete attention, would it not be more sensible for both President Bush and Prime Minister Blair to start taking real affirmative action to justify the actions by groups such as this? My humble opinion may mean absolutely diddly squat, however, at this point, both mens careers being final terms for both, let them stand up and be recognised in history as saviours of freedom, not squanderers of power. The political party animal attitude has to go. They both have nothing to lose but their belief in their cause, and if they don't have the balls to do the job right they should both never have attempted to free the Iraqis in the first place. Why do they not say or act with the attitude of, "WE have nothing to lose now but the right course of action , so let's do the job properly?" MSM and liberals be damned; there is only one way to secure control over these Islamic murderers.

The Statement relies upon the extensive testimony given in written and oral form by international law experts during the Culminating Session of the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) in Istanbul between 23-27 June 2005. It also reflects the testimony and submissions on related issues of war crimes and the failure of the United Nations to protect Iraq against aggression.

Laughable, is it not? Crimes to protect Iraq against whom? Where were these fucktards when 10's of thousands were being murdered by Saddam? To hold themselves as being capable (their own minds may regard their superirority, me, NOPE) of being able to discern injustices is ludicrous.

The Chair of the Jury of Consience in Istanbul, Arundhati Roy, said in India “We, the Jury of Conscience, hope that the scope and specificity of these recommendations will lay the groundwork for a world whose future cannot be shaped by multi-national corporations and Heads of State in violation of the explicit and stated will of the people they claim to represent, where journalists and intellectuals will not remain mute, where human security will prevail over the drive for political, economic and cultural hegemony, the insatiable greed of the military-industrial complex and the quest for corporate profit.”

And, as usual, the typical spouting of corporate gain and allied country leaders wanting to be dictators is used as a mantra. However, the word "oil" is not mentioned here. Why? Could it be that, without oil, there would be little or no wealth at all held by any middle eastern country or citizens? How many millionaires and billionaires of Islamic descent are there due to the fact that the western corporations taught them how to mine their liquid gold? As for the MSM and intellectuals being mute, this statement to me is the most disturbing of the above. Since Vietnam, the MSM/intellectuals/actors/actresses have been on a roll, crushing all forms of patriotism and belief in their countries, fighting wars for any against their governments, both vehemently and deceptively corrupting right to wrong, wrong to right, portraying scenarios to their audiences that corrupt morality from within. I found a few of the Jury named at the World Tribunal site along with the supposed charges and courses of action they want. Go read it in all it's glory. Below you will find the named Jurists and snippets of the charges and actions this organisation seeks:

Arundhati Roy, India, Spokesperson of the Jury of Conscience
Ahmet Öztürk, Turkey
Ayşe Erzan, Turkey
Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysia
David Krieger, USA
Eve Ensler, USA
François Houtart, Belgium
Jae-Bok Kim, South Korea
Mehmet Tarhan, Turkey
Miguel Angel De Los Santos Cruz, Mexico
Murat Belge, Turkey
Rela Mazali, Israel
Salaam Al Jobourie, Iraq
Taty Almeida, Argentina

I. Overview of Findings:

1. The invasion and occupation of Iraq was and is illegal. The reasons given by the US and UK governments for the invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003 have proven to be false. Much evidence supports the conclusion that a major motive for the war was to control and dominate the Middle East and its vast reserves of oil as a part of the US drive for global hegemony.

2. Blatant falsehoods about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and a link between Al Qaeda terrorism and the Saddam Hussein régime were manufactured in order to create public support for a �preemptive� assault upon a sovereign independent nation.

3. Iraq has been under siege for years. The imposition of severe inhumane economic sanctions on 6 August 1990, the establishment of no-fly zones in the Northern and Southern parts of Iraq, and the concomitant bombing of the country were all aimed at degrading and weakening Iraq�s human and material resources and capacities in order to facilitate its subsequent invasion and occupation. In this enterprise the US and British leaderships had the benefit of a complicit UN Security Council.

4. In pursuit of their agenda of empire, the Bush and Blair governments blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history.

II. Charges

On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents indicated in the appendix, the jury has established the following charges.

A. Against the Governments of the US and the UK

1. Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.
Evidence for this can be found in the leaked Downing Street Memo of 23rd July, 2002, in which it was revealed: �Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.� Intelligence was manufactured to willfully deceive the people of the US, the UK, and their elected representatives.

2. Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure by intentionally directing attacks upon civilians and hospitals, medical centers, residential neighborhoods, electricity stations, and water purification facilities. The complete destruction of the city of Falluja in itself constitutes a glaring example of such crimes.

Finally, after all these crimes, causes, and justifications from this group, they post an explanatory note. Why? To confuse, of course. If you read it, they are using the laws of International peace as being their justification, however, note in the second paragraph an ad-hoc disclaimer of their not being a body composed of jurists and international law experts; and ask yourself, "Who are they to be laying such claims against the USA and United Kingdom or President Bush or Prime Minister Blair?" Their group is in place to smear and lay blame on everyone but the terrorists that are doing 99% of the killings of Iraqis in Iraq.

International Law Appendix
Explanatory Note

This international law appendix is intended to back up the Jury Statement that rests its assessments primarily on a moral and political appraisal of the Iraq War. The Statement relies upon the extensive testimony given in written and oral form by international law experts who have a world-class scholarly reputation during the Istanbul Culminating Session of the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI). It also reflects the testimony and submissions on related issues of war crimes and the failure of the United Nations to protect Iraq against aggression.

The Jury of Conscience was not a body composed of jurists or international law experts. It did not hear arguments supporting the legality of the invasion of Iraq as would have been made before a judicial body under the authority of either the state or an international institution acting on behalf of the international community. The World Tribunal on Iraq throughout all of its session proceeded from a sense of moral and political outrage of concerned citizens from all over the world, with respect to the war. The Tribunal was not interested in a debate solely as to legality. The legal issues were relevant to the extent that they added weight to the moral and political purpose of the Tribunal, which was to expose the Iraq War as the crime it is, appealing to and drawing upon the deep bonds that link us all in our humanity. Therefore the Tribunal sought testimony and evidence to call into question the mantle of respectability thrown over the Iraq War by the aggressors, and the false impression disseminated by mainstream media, that the Iraq War was in any sense justified by political circumstances, moral considerations, or legal analysis.

So what does it all mean? Absolutely nothing. There is one element missing from the "plan:" They have no army to enforce their "rulings." Only the moonbats will wail triumphantly, "Gotcha!" But court rulings only have weight when there are men with guns to back them up. So this is nothing more than an exercise in mental masturbation, something the Left is VERY good at.

One thing is certain, however: Their "sympathy for the devil" attitude will most certainly embolden the enemy further, resulting in more deaths of Allied troops and innocent Iraqis.

Misleading Headlines and MSM Bias. Or, What Else is New?

This just pisses me off, but it is a tactic as old as the media themselves: Using misleading or false headlines to generate newspaper sales, TV news viewership, and more recently, "hits" at online news sources. This is an effective tactic because most people will not go past the headline, much the same as they don't go past the soundbite. The average anti-American, anarchist, socialist, tree-hugging, MoveOn.org-reading, pansy Leftist will take a headline like this and run with it as Gospel fact (well, maybe not Gospel, because most of them are Godless pagans, too; but you get the idea.) But if you critically read and deconstruct these articles, you will soon find it easy to sift through the bullshit.

Here's the latest I caught today on my "My Yahoo" homepage:

Steroids Headed for Troops in Iraq Seized

By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer Mon Aug 1, 4:09 PM ET

ROME - Italian police seized 215,000 doses of prohibited substances as they smashed a ring that supplied steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs to customers around the world, including American soldiers in Iraq, a police official said Monday.

OK, I'm expecting a story with specific names of soldiers and FPO's in Iraq - conclusive proof, a direct link to back-up such a definitive claim in the headline. I read further:

The U.S. military in Iraq had no immediate comment, but the popularity of steroid abuse has long been discussed as American troops and contractors in Iraq work out in gyms set up in bases and even in the mirrored halls of one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.

Joe Donahue, program director for the Vietnam Vets of America Foundation, who spent 16 months in Iraq — often lifting weights in the Green Zone gyms — said steroids were on offer for those who wanted them.

Hmmmm....so far, not so good. An offer is not a direct link. The article continues:

"I had them offered to me by an Iraqi guy who sure as hell looked like he was using them," Donahue said. "There were guys I'm pretty sure were juicing, but not a lot of them."

He said a pair of Iraqi bodybuilders known casually as "the large brothers" sold steroids and other supplements in the Green Zone building where he worked. "I can say with no equivocation, I was offered steroids," Donahue told The Associated Press.

Still, so far all I know is that Mr. Donahue says he was offered steroids by Iraqis, and that he thinks that some troops may be using steroids. Are you starting to get the picture, beginning to see how to read between the lines?

Now we switch gears to the private sector:

Private security contractors told AP that steroid use also is a problem among their employees because the drugs are readily available in Iraq — as easy as buying a soda from the local stores, according to one contractor.

Now some facts:

The police investigation in Italy began after a post office in Trieste, in northeastern Italy, reported that U.S. postal authorities in Iraq returned hundreds of packets of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs because they were improperly addressed, according to Mario Bo, head of the Trieste police department's criminal division.

He said authorities arrested two Slovenians last month when they raided an apartment in Trieste. Sasco Tacs, 30, and a 20-year-old woman, Vesna Milosevic, were charged with trafficking in prohibited substances.

The drugs had been ordered over the Internet, and Italian officials presume some reached their destinations, police said, adding that steroids were also sent to customers in Europe, North America and Australia. They estimated the ring may have had as many as 1,000 customers around the world.

Now a brief description of what steroids are and what they can do:

Synthetic derivatives of testosterone, anabolic steroids are thought to enhance aggressiveness.

Steroids have serious side effects, encompassing both psychological disturbance and physical symptoms, such as the development of breasts in men, baldness and cancer, as well as major depression, mania and other mood problems.

Now this next part is deviantly brilliant:

Every war seems to have its drug of choice. German soldiers were said to have been given steroids during World War II to make them meaner. The stress of combat led to use of marijuana by some American soldiers fighting in Vietnam.

Do you see the line of implication the author is trying to draw? The undertone is that: Our troops are using steroids.>Steroids make you meaner.>The Germans used steroids for just that purpose.>Our troops are just like the Nazis!!! Furthermore, the author slips in that little factoid about Vietnam, the conflict the Left loves to compare Iraq to as an unwinnable situation.

Now we have something to exhonerate the troops in Afghanistan and isolate the problem solely to Iraq:

U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan submit to regular drug tests but are not routinely tested for steroid use, according to a report in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

In Afghanistan, U.S. Col. James Yonts said: "We do not issue steroids to soldiers for any reason, bodybuilding or whatever, other than for medical purposes. I'm not aware of any investigation or any problem of steroid use by soldiers in Afghanistan."

Inside one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces on the sprawling Tikrit base, a mirror-walled gym rivaling many in the West is routinely packed with heaving soldiers pumping iron on bench presses, arm curls and other equipment.

I love the language, too - "heaving soldiers, pumping iron." Oh, my! Guys sweating and breathing hard while they're lifting weights in a gym?!?!?! How dare they!!! Sorry, but this is nothing new. First, in the USMC if that equipment is available, it is provided by Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR), a private organization. Second, this is only available in "green zones" and other fortified areas. Third, I'm willing to bet that most of the guys working out regularly are not the guys who are out fighting. They are generally the clerk types or those "in the rear with the gear." The guys out kicking ass are using whatever down time they have to rest before the next mission. Trust me on that. The time for working out a lot is back in the States or in Okinawa when you have a lot of time on your hands. Trust me on that, too.

Now we get to the part of the story, conveniently buried near the bottom, where we find out it is yet another story about nothing:

Some soldiers have questioned how some of their more rippling fellow soldiers could have built up such bulk while in a war zone, suggesting that steroid use may have been taking place. But they had no independent confirmation to back up their suspicions.

So, we have the headline that reads "Steroids Headed for Troops in Iraq Seized," and ends with "no independent confirmation to back up their suspicions." In the meantime, the author has maligned our troops as narcissistic, steroid-crazed baby killers with nothing more than a headline and a story loosely fit, via inuendo, around an anti-American agenda. Mission accomplished, just that easily.

Now here's the, "Aha!! This is how it could be happening" part, a sort of disclaimer:

Troops and some contractors receive mail at inexpensive domestic U.S. postal rates, allowing soldiers to order almost anything online. Packages mailed from home are one of the chief smuggling routes for alcohol, which the U.S. military prohibits its soldiers from drinking.

The story fizzles from there, and ends with absolutely nothing.

You can read the rest if you so desire.