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Majority of Karzai cabinet nominees rejected
The Associated Press
Afghanistan’s parliament has dealt a stinging rebuke to President Hamid Karzai by rejecting 70 per cent of his nominees for a new cabinet.
The Saturday voting in which 17 of 24 nominees were turned down confronts Karzai with a severe challenge as he tries to get his second term in office into full swing.
Not really surprising, but the first comment I saw on the post was near perfect. Here it is, thank you ‘appraiser from Ontario’:
“Karzai is widely viewed within Afghanistan as an American puppet. It should be no surprise that most of his choices for cabinet have been rejected.
There should be riots in the streets over the blatant corruption and ballot-box stuffing that has ocurred. But having hundreds of thousands of NATO troops and various other U.S. friendly foreign mercenaries on Afghan soil tends to dampen dissent. The entire situation is a complete fraud, propped up by the imperial war machine that is America.”
I don’t think I could have said it better myself.
What happens when an empire is in decline? The natives start getting restless…
In the lawless shamble that is occupied Iraq the private mercenaries have, and continue to run amok.
“Saad al-Muttalibi, an adviser to the Iraqi council of ministers, said on Friday that if the [5] guards did not receive a just sentence for the killing of 14 Iraqis in 2007, the issue would complicate relations between Iraq and the United States.”
Not particularly surprising. Gunning down innocent people is usually frowned on, unless of course they the enemy. Then it is O.K..
” Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government spokesman, said in a statement: “The Iraqi government will follow up on this issue in strength and resolution to bring those murderers of Blackwater to accountability in order to return the rights of iraqi people who are the victims of this crime.”
He said “the investigations carried out by the specialised Iraqi authorities confirmed with no doubt that the guards of Blackwater company have committed a criminal murder act and they have violated the combat environment rule to use force while there was no threat against them”
The Iraqi authorities are justifiably pissed off as Blackwater has had a history of shooting and looting in their country and want to see justice done. Yeah right:
“Ricardo Urbina, a district judge, dismissed the charges against the five men on Thursday, saying US justice department prosecutors improperly built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity.
Urbina said the government’s explanations were “contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility”.”
Technicality observed. Get out of Jail Free card handed out, problem solved.
One of my first posts was about the silly legislation that was going to codify the insipid notion of blasphemy. Well it happened and an Irish Atheist group is fighting back.
They have set out 25 statements that contravene the law and here they are:
“If you run a website, blog or other media publication, please feel free to republish this statement and the list of quotes yourself, in order to show your support for the campaign to repeal the Irish blasphemy law and to promote a rational, ethical, secular Ireland.”
List of 25 Blasphemous Quotes Published by Atheist Ireland
1. Jesus Christ, when asked if he was the son of God, in Matthew 26:64: “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” According to the Christian Bible, the Jewish chief priests and elders and council deemed this statement by Jesus to be blasphemous, and they sentenced Jesus to death for saying it.
2. Jesus Christ, talking to Jews about their God, in John 8:44: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.” This is one of several chapters in the Christian Bible that can give a scriptural foundation to Christian anti-Semitism. The first part of John 8, the story of “whoever is without sin cast the first stone”, was not in the original version, but was added centuries later. The original John 8 is a debate between Jesus and some Jews. In brief, Jesus calls the Jews who disbelieve him sons of the Devil, the Jews try to stone him, and Jesus runs away and hides.
3. Muhammad, quoted in Hadith of Bukhari, Vol 1 Book 8 Hadith 427: “May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their prophets.” This quote is attributed to Muhammad on his death-bed as a warning to Muslims not to copy this practice of the Jews and Christians. It is one of several passages in the Koran and in Hadith that can give a scriptural foundation to Islamic anti-Semitism, including the assertion in Sura 5:60 that Allah cursed Jews and turned some of them into apes and swine.
4. Mark Twain, describing the Christian Bible in Letters from the Earth, 1909: “Also it has another name – The Word of God. For the Christian thinks every word of it was dictated by God. It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies… But you notice that when the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, adored Father of Man, goes to war, there is no limit. He is totally without mercy – he, who is called the Fountain of Mercy. He slays, slays, slays! All the men, all the beasts, all the boys, all the babies; also all the women and all the girls, except those that have not been deflowered. He makes no distinction between innocent and guilty… What the insane Father required was blood and misery; he was indifferent as to who furnished it.” Twain’s book was published posthumously in 1939. His daughter, Clara Clemens, at first objected to it being published, but later changed her mind in 1960 when she believed that public opinion had grown more tolerant of the expression of such ideas. That was half a century before Fianna Fail and the Green Party imposed a new blasphemy law on the people of Ireland.
5. Tom Lehrer, The Vatican Rag, 1963: “Get in line in that processional, step into that small confessional. There, the guy who’s got religion’ll tell you if your sin’s original. If it is, try playing it safer, drink the wine and chew the wafer. Two, four, six, eight, time to transubstantiate!”
Via the CBC.
“Denmark’s intelligence service says police have foiled an attempt to kill cartoonist Kurt Westergaard — the artist who drew cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, causing outrage in the Muslim world.”
Let us celebrate the forces of anti-modernity, anti-rationality and anti-intelligence. The man’s crime against Islam? He drew cartoons. Yes, and now he deserves to die:
“akob Scharf, who heads the PET intelligence service, said a 28-year-old Somalian man was armed with an axe and a knife when he entered Westergaard’s home in Aarhus.”
Armed with an axe and a knife, the Somalian man was not there for tea and crumpets. Pumped up past rationality and reality, this religious fanatic was going to murder someone to clean his imaginary goddouche’s reputation.
It is actions such of these that further confirm the inanity, cruelty and delusional nature of religion.
What? The Canadian Government have to comprise? I don’t think so. Harper and his merry band of plutocrats are considering proroguing parliament again. Essentially wiping the slate clean for the next session. It would cost the conservatives as they have much of their treasured neoconservative agenda at risk:
“If Harper were to prorogue, the Consumer Product Safety Act, as well as several crime bills dear to the Conservative government such as those dealing with auto theft, email spam, sex offenders, conditional sentences and white-collar crime, would be wiped off the legislative agenda.”
A small price to pay though to avoid the torture scandal that is brewing over the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. There is mounting evidence of Canadian wrongdoing and that would be bad for the polls, so indeed it might be worth it to sacrifice current legislation.
“Moreover, parliamentary committees — including the special Commons committee probing the issue of possible Afghan detainee torture — could not sit.”
Ahh…well things become more clear now. The last minority government was brought down because of an inquiry. We certainly cannot have that, as the ethical treatment of other human beings is much less important than staying in power.
A update before the post has gone to press. Look – Harper is going to do it anyway.
A second update, the disdainful deed is done. Shame on me for scheduling this post for the new year, as I underestimated Steven Harper’s capacity to fail.
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